Day 118.

Day 118 photo

Consumed 2400 calories. Did the "max interval sports training" workout.

Day 117. Too much exercise

Day 117 photo

Consumed 2700 calories. Did the "max cardio conditioning" and "insane abs" workouts, lifted weights at the gym, and commuted to work by cycling.

Way too much exercise today. Over 1100 calories burned! I need to cut down on my exercise.

Day 116.

Day 116 photo

Consumed 2300 calories. Did the "max recovery" workout, pole danced, and commuted by cycling.

I've been terrible at updating this blog with my daily pictures lately. I do take the pictures, I'm just too lazy to post them. Sigh.

Day 115.

Day 115 photo

Consumed 2500 calories. Did the "max interval plyo" workout, lifted weights, and commuted to work by cycling.

I've pretty much doubled the amount of exercise I'm doing with very little loss in workout intensity or energy. I'd like to attribute this seemingly superhuman ability to the cordyceps I've been taking. Following my workouts today, I realized that I really should be eating a ton more food than I have been since I'm burning a lot more through exercise now and I shouldn't have more than a 10% caloric deficit. So from now on, I'll be eating 2100-2500 calories/day depending on how many calories I burn.

Day 114.

Day 114 photo

Consumed 1900 calories. Did the "max interval circuit" workout, pole danced, and commuted to work by bicycle.

Most exercise I've done in one day in a while! I still have energy too, which is pretty amazing. Oh cordyceps, you so crazy...

Day 113. Hitting the weights

Day 113 photo

Consumed 1900 calories. Pumped iron and cycled :)

First day hitting the weights. The 2-min interval between sets feels like forever.

Day 112. Week 16 stats

Day 112 photo

Consumed 1700 calories. Rest day.

Week 16 stats (in bold):

Stomach: 30.25 in -> 30.0

Chest: 30.0 in -> 30.25

Biceps: 10.0 in -> 9.5

Hips: 35.5 in -> 35.5

Thigh: 18.25 in -> 18.25

Calf: 13.0 in -> 13.25

Waist: 27.0 in -> 26.5

Weight: 124.6 lbs -> 123.6

So... the personal trainer who helped me to come up with a strength training program told me to have no more than a 5-10% caloric deficit while strength training. That means I'll be increasing my daily intake to 1900. More food? YES PLEASE

Day 111.

Day 111 photo

Consumed 1650 calories. Did the "max interval plyo" workout and had a personal training session to set up a strength training routine.

My 5 rep max (RM) for the following exercises:
dead lift: 60 kg
squat: 40 kg
bench press: 22.5 kg

Day 110. Skinfold test #3 + Clenbutrx

Day 110 photo

Consumed 1750 calories. Did the "max interval circuit" workout.

Got my body fat measured today and it came out to 18%!!!! That's a loss of 0.8% in the last 3 weeks compared to a loss of 0.6% in 4 weeks previously. Furthermore, all my fat loss this time came from my abdomen. It seems the safflower oil supplement does work.

After the test, I decided to start taking Clenbutrx. Took the first dose of 1 ml right after breakfast and within minutes I felt wired, but nothing else out of the ordinary. I'm really glad I didn't take the full recommended dose of 3 ml. I'm not too big a fan of the wired feeling. 6 hours later I took the second dose of 1 ml, but I didn't get the same wired feeling as I did in the morning. An hour later I did my workout. During my workout, I noticed that while I didn't feel like I needed to take breaks (probably due to the Cordyceps), my heart rate went up faster and stayed up longer. I took multiple breaks to lower my heart rate, and at the end I saw that I had burned more than my previous session where I took less breaks. I wonder if it's the Clenbutrx that's causing this since it's a thermogenic. I really ought to take only one supplement at a time so I could assess the efficacy of each one, but god, I just couldn't wait to try out the Clenbutrx after reading all the rave reviews about it!

Day 109. Normal

Day 109 photo

Consumed 1750 calories. Did the "max recovery" workout.

Felt completely normal during my workout today- not sluggish, not like superman- even though I took another dose of the Cordyceps yesterday. Hmm.

Day 108. Not much energy

Day 108 photo

Consumed 1750 calories. Did the "max cardio conditioning" workout.

I didn't have much energy for my exercise today for some reason- I mean, less than I have had in the last two months or so. I had very very slight DOMS today in my abs and quads, certainly not enough to affect my workout significantly. I'm still sick, but less so than before. The only reason I can think of is that the effects of the Cordyceps I took 3 days ago have worn off. I took some more today after my workout, so we'll see if tomorrow is more productive. If it is, then I may have to consider that the effects of the Cordyceps (600 mg pure extract) last only 2 days.

Day 107.

Day 107 photo

Consumed 1750 calories. Did the "max interval plyo" workout.

It seems the Cordyceps really does boost energy. There's no other way I could have kept up for as much of the workout as I did considering the fact that I still have a cold. I don't feel any different throughout the day, but I have much more stamina and endurance during my workout.

Day 106. Cordyceps sinensis

Day 106 photo

Consumed 1750 calories. Did the "fit test" and "max interval circuit" workouts.

Last Thursday I started taking 600 mg pure Cordyceps sinensis once every three days. It's supposed to boost energy levels with effects lasting days. Today was the first time I'd been able to do a proper workout since getting sick on Thursday so I finally got to assess the effectiveness of the Cordyceps. I managed to get through both workouts while still sick without once feeling like I had to stop. Usually I have no energy to do anything when I have a cold, but wow, yesterday I probably could have done at least another half hour before tiring out. We'll see if I feel the same after tomorrow's workout.

Day 105. Week 15 stats

Day 105 photo

Consumed ~1500 calories. Played ping pong.

I had the best veggie stir-fry today in years made for me by a really awesome guy that I met yesterday. Wow, he can really cook! I'll definitely need to enlist his cooking skills often in the future.

Week 15 stats (in bold):

Stomach: 30.0 in -> 30.25

Chest: 30.0 in -> 30.0

Biceps: 10.0 in -> 10.0

Hip: 35.5 in -> 35.5

Thigh: 18.25 in -> 18.25

Calf: 13.25 in -> 13.0

Waist: 26.75 in -> 27.0

Weight: 125.2 lbs -> 124.8

Day 104. Happy St. Patrick's Day

Day 104 photo

Consumed ~2000 calories. Played ping pong.

So I made chocolate-beer cupcakes in celebration of this holiday that is really just an excuse to drink excessive amounts of beer. I don't drink alcohol, but I feel that my cupcakes made up for that. They were mmm so yummy!

Day 103.

Day 103 photo

Consumed 1600 calories. No exercise because I've caught a cold.

Pretty much spent all of today in bed. I feel slightly better, but still yuck.

Day 102. Sick

Day 102 photo

Consumed 1550 calories. Did the "core cardio and recovery" workout.

As I was about to start my workout, my nose got runny. Afterward my workout, my throat wasn't feeling all that great. I think I caught a cold. I probably got it because I stressed my body too much with yesterday's Insanity marathon. I hope it goes away soon...

Day 101. Insanity marathon

Day 101 photo

Consumed way too many calories (>3000). Did an Insanity marathon. Commuted to work by cycling.

So there was a party at work today. I wasn't going to eat any food, but then I saw how good it all looked and I just couldn't resist. It was all homemade and soooo yummy! And then the desserts... Oh god. So I ate and ate and ate. When I got home I started my Insanity marathon. First pure cardio (still had a lot of energy after this), then plyometric cardio circuit (took a lot of breaks during this one), and halfway through cardio power and resistance I physically could not continue. Seems I depleted all my blood sugar.  So I stopped, lay on the ground for a few minutes recovering, and then downed a sports drink to replenish my electrolytes. I feel somewhat better now about my splurge. Tomorrow, cutting out some carbohydrates to try to balance out today.

Day 100. Day 100 already??

Day 100 photo

Consumed 1750 calories. Did the "core cardio and balance" workout.

I can't believe it's been 100 days since I started this whole exercise and diet thing. I'm pretty happy with my results so far, and I'm really glad I decided to do this. Here's to another day of healthy eating and exercising!

Day 99. Diet calculator

Day 99 photo

Consumed 1750 calories. Did the "core cardio and balance" workout.

Today I discovered a neat online calculator for daily calories and macros. When I finished entering in all my information, it gave me numbers that were very close to what I had calculated by hand for myself based on various formulas that are available online. On the last page of the details generated by the calculator, it shows a weekly breakdown of what my body fat percentage would be if I stuck to my diet. So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to follow my diet religiously until my next skinfold test, which is in 2 weeks, and see how close to the calculated body fat percentage I can get. According to this calculator, in 2 weeks I should be at 17.9%. Let's do this!

Here's the link to the calculator: http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

Day 98. Week 14 stats

Day 98 photo

Consumed 1600 calories. Rest day.

Week 14 stats (in bold):

Stomach: 30.25 in -> 30.0

Chest: 30.75 in -> 30.0

Biceps: 10.0 in -> 10.0

Hip: 35.75 in -> 35.5

Thigh: 18.5 in -> 18.25

Calf: 13.5 in -> 13.25

Waist: 27.25 in -> 26.75

Weight: 125.8 lbs -> N/A

Alright, I've fixed week 13's undoings. I did weigh myself, but I'm not sure the weight I saw (123.2 lbs) is true since yesterday I was very dehydrated. There's no way I lost >2 lbs in one week on my small calorie deficit. So I'll weigh myself tomorrow morning and record that one.

Edit: weighed myself Monday morning: 125.2 lbs. That's better.

Day 97.

Day 97 photo

Consumed 900 calories. Did the "plyometric cardio circuit" workout.

Hung out with a friend today so I didn't get to eat all my meals.

Day 96. Betta Sweet

Day 96 photo

Consumed 1750 calories. Did the "pure cardio" and "cardio abs" workouts.

Made another protein cheesecake today, this one was Earl grey and lemon flavored. I used a product called "Betta Sweet," which is a mixture of erythritol (from corn) and rebaudioside (from stevia), as my sweetener. I tasted it prior to using it in my recipe- it's quite a bit sweeter than sugar, so I used 3/4 tsp Betta Sweet to 1 tsp raw sugar. Why must these zero calorie natural sweeteners be so expensive?? Oh well, it's worth it! We'll see tomorrow if my cheesecake came out tasting good. It sure does smell heavenly.

Day 95.

Day 95 photo

Consumed 1800 calories. Did the "cardio recovery" workout.

Bought some stevia today. Going to try to lower my sugar intake because it is way too high.

Day 94. Protein cheesecake update

Day 94 photo

Consumed 1800 calories. Did the "plyometric cardio circuit" workout. Commuted to work by cycling.

Had a piece of the protein cheesecake I made yesterday. It was SO GOOD! It tasted really close to a real cheesecake and had just a fraction of the calories. I made a banana-blueberry sauce to go on top. Oh my god. I want to stuff my face with this cheesecake all day everyday.

Day 93. Protein cheesecake

Day 93 photo

Consumed 1800 calories. Did the "cardio power and resistance" workout. Commuted to work by cycling.

Today I discovered a recipe for a protein cheesecake. Just reading the ingredients list was enough to convince me that it was a good recipe. This could be the start of a new era of satisfying my sweet tooth in a ridiculously healthy way. We'll see tomorrow if it came out tasting as good as it smells. The original recipe uses fat free cottage cheese, fat free Greek yogurt, splenda, and 1% milk. I could not find the fat free versions, so I got the lite versions. I don't like cow's milk, so I used rice milk. As for splenda, I'm too health-conscious to use artificial sweeteners in favor of lowering the carb content, so I used raw sugar. Following is my modified version. I may change it further after tasting it tomorrow.


Protein cheesecake recipe
makes 4 servings

12 oz lite cottage cheese
10 oz lite Greek yogurt
2 whole eggs
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup rice milk
2 scoops vanilla protein powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Bring all ingredients to room temp. Preheat oven to 325F. Mix. Cover the bottom of a 6" springform pan with parchment paper. Bake for 30 min. Turn the heat down to 200F for 1 hour. Let cool to room temp. Refrigerate overnight.

Macros per serving:
286 calories
37g carbs
22g protein
5g fat

Day 92. Supplement

Day 92 photo

Consumed 1700 calories. Did the "pure cardio" and "cardio abs" workouts.

Starting today I will be taking a weight loss supplement that supposedly targets stomach fat loss. It's a mixture of dietary fiber and highly purified gamma linoleic acid from safflower oil. This is a new product that is not yet on the market, and I'm one of the guinea pigs. Should be interesting. I'll update on this in ~3 weeks.

Day 91. Week 13 stats

Day 91 photo

Consumed 2400 calories. Rest day.

Week 13 stats (in bold):

Stomach: 30.0 in -> 30.25

Chest: 30.5 in -> 30.75

Biceps: 9.75 in -> 10.0

Hip: 35.5 in -> 35.75

Thigh: 18.25 in -> 18.5

Calf: 13.25 in -> 13.5

Waist: 27.0 in -> 27.25

Weight: 124.8 lbs -> 125.8

Ugh, I've been awful with my diet this week and it shows in my measurements. Oh well. This coming week I'm back on the 1750 cal/day and healthy eating thing. Here we go!

Day 90. Pole party

Day 90 photo

Consumed 2100 calories. Did a TON of pole dancing.

Invited a few friends over today and we pole danced our hearts out for more than 3 hours. It was so much fun! And then we went for pizza afterwards. Excellent day.

Day 89. Skinfold caliper test #2

Day 89 photo

Consumed 2000 calories. Did the "cardio power and resistance" workout.

Went for my second body fat test today. Results: 18.8% body fat! Lost 0.8 lbs fat, gained 0.8 lbs muscle. I do wish the results said a lower number, but I really can't complain considering my diet these last three weeks has been heavily supplemented with chocolate and muffins. Also, this past week I've been eating about 2000 cal/day, so no fat loss happened at all this week.

Based on the test, all the fat I lost came from my butt and thighs. I'm not sure why I didn't lose fat from all over my body, but oh well, fat loss is fat loss. I wonder when the fat on my stomach will go away...

Day 88.

Day 88 photo

Consumed 2000 calories. Did the "cardio recovery" workout and some pole dancing.