Hi Everyone,

I'm currently on my Day 24 in my Body For Life program and I wanted to share with everyone on my progress. I'll will be posting on this site because I love forums and I love to be part of the John Stone phenomenon. Here is a little bit about my history in working out.

This is going to be the 3rd time I'm going through the Body for Life program. The first time I did it, I stopped after week 8. I got sick and I never bounced back. I got some decent results, but nothing spectacular. I think it had to do with a lot of my eating habits. I just didn't know enough about how important is plays in your work out routine back then.

The 2nd time I did the Body for Life, I was able to complete the 90 day program. Again, the work outs were great and I gain some mass, but my diet was not that strict. Also, I took pictures every month, but I did not measure my body or my body fat. So I was not sure what gains I had. From the pictures, it looked like I did gain some mass, but I did not lose as much fat as I wanted.

Timeline: 4/14/03 - 07/23/03 Then the next work out program I did was called "Power90". If you seen the informercial, you'll know what I'm talking about. The reason why I decided to do "Power90" was because it was very similar to the Body for Life program, 3 days weights, 3 days cardio, 1 day rest. Another reason was that I could work out from home. I this point in my life I was really lazy and I wanted the easiest, most convienent and time efficient way to work out. So I figured I can sacrifice 40 minutes a day and just follow some instructional dvd. This program was great for me because it taught me how important it was to watch what I ate. The work out were also challenging for me as well even though I don't think it's a mass building/muscle increasing work out routine. I had some pretty good results in this program and I was very happy in completing it. Actually I was very happy in completing the Body for Life program as well but the results wasn't what I was expecting.

From 8/03 to 12/03, I've been off and on in my work outs like always. Not very consistent. Not eating right.

Now we forward to the present. On Dec 23, 2003 I started making some very drastic changes in my life. From that day, I haven't missed a workout since Dec 23, 2003. I decided to start another Body for Life rotation for the third time on January 5, 2004. Today is my 24th day. I have a 6 month goal. Initially I was just going to do the Body for Life program for a month and then alternative to the Power90 program. But now I think I'm just going to do Body for Life for the whole 90 days. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do the next 90 days, but I'll figure it out by the end of Feburary.

I ran into John's site around January 6, 2004. I was very impressed with John's dedication and I'm glad he decided to form a community of people seeking similar paths and rewards. I like to contribute to the community as well and this is my contribution.

My measurements: (12/27/03)
Age: 28
Height: 5'8
Weight: 140
Waist: 32 1/2
Chest: 38
Left Arm: 12 1/8 (13 1/2 flexed)
Right Arm: 12 1/4 (14 flexed)
Neck: 14 1/2
Right Quad: 21 5/8
Left Quad: 21 1/2
Right Forearm: 11 1/8 flexed
Left Forearm: 10 1/2 flexed

Body Fat:
18.9% using the Sharper Image Body Fat Manager (not very accurate at all, but I'm hoping it's consistantly inaccurate)
12.7% using Accumeasure Calipers with chart. (I didn't like this because the reference chart was that percise)


My Goal for July 1, 2004:
Weight: 140 lbs
Waist: 30
Chest: 39
Arms: 13.5 normal, (15 flexed)
Quad: 24
R. Forearm: 12 flexed
L. Forearm: 11 flexed

Body Fat:
12.0% using the Sharper Image Body Fat Manager ( I doubt this will work, this thing is not budging at all)
8.0% using the Accumeasure Calipers

The purpose for me working out.
1. I want to get stronger. I will probably chart out specific weight goals I want to be able to lift.
2. I want to have the body I've always wanted. This includes a visual six pack. It's been a dream of mine for a long time and it's time to fulfill this dream.
3. I want to look good in fitted clothes and suits.
4. I want to be able to inspire others to be physically active and move their body.
5. I want to be able to run faster.

My work out routine is this:
Day 1 - Upper Body (Chest, Shoulders, Back, Triceps, Biceps)
Day 2 - Cardio & Abs- Run for 20 minutes
Day 3 - Lower Body (Quads, Hamstrings, Calves)
Day 4 - Cardio & Abs - Run for 20 minutes
Day 5 - Upper Body (Chest, Shoulders, Back, Triceps, Biceps)
Day 6 - Cardio & Abs - Run for 20 minutes
Day 7 - Rest Day. Next week start I'll do Lower Body twice that week and Upper Body once.

On days I go to the Gym (Day 1, 3, 5) For each body part I do 5 sets and I use only 2 different execerise for the body part. This whole routine takes about 60 for upper body, 35 minutes for lower body.
1st Set - 12 reps
2nd Set - 10 reps
3rd Set - 8 reps
4th Set - 6 reps
then super set 12 reps + 12 reps (Different execerise)

On day I do cardio (Day 2, 4, 6), I run using High Intensity Interval Training method. I usually run outdoors and try to sprint when I hit intensity level 9. After I'm done I do Abs (200 reps total. 10 different excerises, 20 reps each). This whole routine takes about 35 minutes.

I try to eat 5 times a day. I'm suppose to be eating 6, but it's not working very well for me. I just make sure I get as close to 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat. But I'm more guess based on portions, I don't count calories and am not that detailed like John.

My supplements per day consists of:
1 serving of whey protein
1 serving of creatine
1 serving of glutamine
1 multi-vitamn
2 serving of "green drink"

I'll post some pictures up from my previous progress soon. I expect to have some updated pictures by the end of this month (Day 30 pics!!!)

[update: 2/9/04]
Measurements for Day 35 stats (using Myotape):
My measurements: (2/8/04)
Age: 28
Height: 5'8
Weight: 140
Waist: didn't measure.
Chest: 36 3/4
Left Arm: 12 1/4 (13 3/4 flexed)
Right Arm: 12 1/4 (14 1/4 flexed)
Neck: 14
Right Quad: 21
Left Quad: 20 5/8
Right Forearm: 10 1/2 (11 flexed)
Left Forearm: 10 3/8 (10 3/8 flexed)

Body Fat:
18.7% using the Sharper Image Body Fat Manager (not very accurate at all, but I'm hoping it's consistantly inaccurate)
11.9% using FatTrack Digital Body Fat Caliper . (1st time using this)

Some notes:
I shrunk a lot in my neck, my chest and my legs. How? I have no idea, maybe it's the fat. I'm not sure. This is the first time I used Myotape since I just got that can be a factor (inconsistant measuring device). The last time I measured, someone else helped me and I wasn't using myotape. I was really discouraged when I saw that I shrunk. But after enough convincing, I finished my measurements and continue with what I needed to do. Plus, I like how I look now, so who cares about the numbers. I just have to readjust my goals for June so that I won't set myself up for failure. i.e. There's no way I'll hit a size 39 on my chest and still have a 6 pack at the rate I'm training. Yes, I know some of you know that it is possible, but not at the rate of my training regimen and align with my other goals (low body fat, cut abs, etc.)

I really hate measuring my body fat. Not that I'm in denial or anything, but I'm not sure how to do it accurately. The device ranges so much and it's so sensative. Urgh, I think I'm going to take pictures from the side of my bending my back and see how much fat rolls over. That's how I'm going to measure it. My goal, no rolls when I bent over. Yes, I want to be one skinny crack head.

Well, now that I got the intro out of the way, here is my work out today.

I did upper body today and it was great. It took my 71 minutes to finish though (I'm suppose to finish in less that 50 minutes). That was because I rested too long in between sets. But I had a very good work out and I can feel my body is just spent throughout the day. Good thing I'm fueling it with protein and water. I hit four intensity level 10s today. This is very rare for me. The only body part that I didn't hit a level 10 was shoulders. I think I could have if I went slower down on my shoulder flys. Other than that, I got some slow weight increases and I felt GREAT!

Tomorrow is Sprint day, so I look forward to see how well I do tomorrow.
Take care all,
-Frank

Man, doing Sprints is HARD. I mean, it's really tough. But it's so fulfilling after your done. Today, I was able to Sprint as fast as I can for a full minute in 3 intervals. On the fourth interval, I couldn't do a full 1 minute Sprint. I was just too damn taxed. Not to mention on the 4th internal, I'm suppose to Sprint for a 2 minutes!!! Yeah right. Not yet my friend.

The funny thing is today, I was running around the park in the morning and there's usually people that does their morning jog there as well. Well this morning, while was doing Sprints, on the my 4th and last Sprint, I passed up this old man, 50 years old or so, and I guess he's been seeing me doing my work out routine and for some god damn reason, he decided to start racing me when I passed him up. I was like "Hello!!! I'm trying to get my work out routine done here. I'm not trying to race you." But anyways, I felt like I was Seabiscuit and there was no way I was going to let this old fart pass me up. LOL.

Actually I enjoyed the competetion, it drove me to push harder. However, I knew he wouldn't be able to catch up because I know how hard it is to do a full sprint for a full minute. After all I just did 3 in the last sixteen minutes. Even though I was dead tired, I was determined to not let him pass me. Yes, he pushed me and I thank him for it. I just hope he didn't get injuried, that silly old man. You can easily pull a groan muscle or your quads if your not ready to do bursts of intense movements (if your body is not use to it). That's why I want to do this a regular basis so my body can go into burst mode and I don't have to worry about injury.

After that I did the Power90's Ab Ripper 200 routine. It was good. I was sweating like a pig. I felt good, then I drink my drugs.

Have a good day.
-Frank

Hi Everyone,

Well I did lower body today. I'd be lying if I said it was a great work out. The fact is, it was a hard workout. Hard in terms of mentally hard. I just did not feel like working out today. But the fact is, I still did it even though I did not feel like it. I made a commitment to myself a month ago that I was stick through this program no matter what and I would do my best to reach my goals at the end of six months. So with my purpose in mind and my goals driving me to do what I was dreading, I still finished my work out. I feel good now because I know I didn't just excerise my leg muscles today. Today, I really challenged my "will" muscles and my determinism and dedication. These days are the hardest and most challenging days because it asks me if I am really determined.

Life was asking me these questions today. "Frank, are you really determined?" "Frank, are you really dedicated?" "Frank, do you really have self discipline and a strong will?" For now, for the rest of today, I can say "Yes, I do." Tomorrow, it might be different, but for today, I maintained my integrity. Like always it feels GREAT after your work out (even though you didn't get a great work out) because you made an accomplishment for the day. But let me tell you this, it feels even better as I write this because my promises to myself are more rewarding and fulfilling than anything physical.

Good day to you all and I hope you can over come your whatever adversity that challenges you this weekend i.e. Lots of beer, chips, and junk food!!!

Btw, speaking of Super Bowl weekend. I, myself will personally be eating some junk food. I mean, it's Super Bowl weekend for christs sakes. I will enjoy my weekend, but I will enjoy it with moderation. Plus, UFC is on Saturday night and you know I'm going to having a cold one (or two) with my friends as I watch some ass kicking action in my living room. I'm not as strict as John Stone in my eating. I don't believe in being an extreme-ist and having a "all or nothing" approach. I believe in doing things in moderation. Temperance. I think eating bad one day (or in this case 2 days, since it's super bowl weekend and ufc weekend) is not going to destory your progress. I don't diet. I just have a standard eating habit that I try to follow in my daily life routine. That's why I don't mind when I eat bad once in while because of the time, I'm eating right. Psychologically, this is great for your body. You don't deprive your body. This is why I like the Body for Life eating plan where you get one free day a week where you can eat anything you want. Eventually, you don't even care that it's a free day because you know it's bad for your body. But on special social events, it's ok (at least in my rules) to enjoy yourself and enjoy food, friends, family, and the atmosphere.

Btw, I'm going to take my Day 30 pictures tomorrow (Saturday) before UFC and before Superbowl. LOL. I'll post them up to share with everyone.

Also, I wondered why my body was not feeling it today. I concluded with a couple of factors that affected my state this morning.

1. Yesterday I had a Spinich salad with bacon and oil. It has A LOT of oil in it and a lot of bacon. I think that had an effect on me because I really regretted eating it. I still regret it now. It was not fulfilling at all. It didn't even have a good portion of protein. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. Temptation tempted me and I bit the carrot.

2. I did not have any glutamine in my supplement in take.

3. I did not have any light force last night. My alkaline input was short.

4. I played video games last night instead of read. This may not have a direct affect to working out, but it affects my attitude toward life. I was determined to read last night and I didn't because I got this new game and I was eager to try it out. I've been waiting a long time for this game and it was finally in my posession. So instead of doing what I told myself I was going to do (which was to read), I played video games. The result, I violated my integrity last night. Plus, like as always, after I played the game, I felt empty, very not fulfilled. I think this trickled down to my work out this morning that spirtually, my body was just not happy.

5. I trained jiu-jitsu lfor 2 1/2 hours ast night and my body is just started to get over burned for this week. That's why I needed my alkaline and glutamine so bad. It's a drug. Yes, I'm dependent on drugs. I can't help it. I'm an addict. LOL

These are just some random thoughts and factors I think affect my performance this morning. Honestly, I think it's the video games. Btw, this is the first time in a month I didn't feel like working out. Usually when I start a 90 day work out program, these times (week 5, week 6, week 7) are the hardest time when you want to quit. Well, guess what, I ain't quitting so you can just scratch that idea. But at least I'm consciously being aware of all these factors. Nothing is stopping me, nothing.

Good day to you all.
-Frank

Today I ran outside and tried to do some sprints. I didn't go as hard, but I still got a great work out. I can feel my stamina getting better. It's a matter of time before I sprint and not have to walk right after. I can't wait when that day comes.

Today is also the day I take my Day 30 pictures even though technically, it's not day 30. But who cares. Like it matters these days. I just needs a monthly snap shot so I can track my progress. Btw, UFC is tonight and I can't freakin' wait. I'm going to go kickboxing and jiu-jitsu for a couple of hours and then rest, relax, and enjoy my Saturday.

Have a great weekend folks. Eating hardy, enjoy life, and don't go overboard.
Take care,
-Frank

Here's a link to my day 28 pictures in the Photo Gallery (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=577).

I did upper body today and god I am spent. I can feel my muscles all fatigued as I type this up in my desk. I guess that's a good sign since it means I had good work out today, which I did. However I still feel bad about all the crap I ate this weekend. I can totally feel the impact all that bad food had on my body, not to mention the beer! But the fun is over, now it's time to get back on track and focus on my goals for this month. Hopefully I'll be able to cut my body fat better this month by eating more cleaner foods.

Wish me luck folks.
-Frank

Well, it was raining outside today, so I decided I didn't want to run in the rain in the change that I might slip on my ass while trying to run as fast as I can. Actually, I really didn't feel like doing sprints this morning when I woke up, went outside and saw that it was raining, I was a bit relieved. The Gods must have been by my side today. So instead I did my 50 minutes cardio workout in my living room while following the Power 90 cardio work out dvd. It was not as intense as running, but it was good enough for me giving my state and mind set this morning. So I'm redemmed again this morning and I'm off to do my thing.

Goal of the day, eat right. Please, eat right dude.
-Frank

Hi everyone,

I guess today is a pretty good day. Not the fact that I had a pretty good leg work out and that I had a lot of energry. Or that fact that I'm so excited my Chinese class that I'm taking and all the crap I have to learn just so I can catch up to the class. Or the fact that I can't wait to start working on my web site. But the simple fact that I went up in weight in my 6 rep squats today. Oh yeah. Slowly I will go up even higher. I can feel it. I should try to get an exact weight and declare it in my 6 month goal. I will work on that soon, I promise. Having measureable goals (as in numbers) really helps gets you excited and progress on ward. Btw, I bought the digital body fat measuring calipers with myotape from bodybuilding.com that John uses. That sharper image body fat manager just does not move! I'll be updating my numeric stats soon.

It's funny, I look at my pictures around 12/26/03 and I just can't help laugh at myself and those pictures. Thank goodness I did something about them. Everytime I look at that picture, especially that 12/26/03, I can't help being embrassed a little bit. I worked so hard prior to that and just let all my hard work slip away but not keeping up with my eating habits and my work out. Well, it ain't going to happen again Mister. Not on my watch. Plus this time I'm tracking more stuff down in greater detail. It really holds you more accountable. Much like how if you take pictures of yourself everyday and post it on the internet for the world to see. But I must say I wasn't impressed with the picture taking by John as much as I was impressed by his daily menus and number crushing. Jesus christ that's dedication. I've been eating good the last 2 days. Getting in 6 meals!!! Man, I feel lucky/fortunate/grateful. I also feel that I'm getting stronger. It's the CREATINE people! That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Btw, in case you guys didn't know. It's Feburary (well, I'm sure you guys knew that already), and I turned up the heat and started doing 9 pull ups everyday (last month it was 8). If the planets are aligned correctly, I should be doing 20 pull ups by the end of this year. I can't wait for 2005 to roll around.

Good day to you all.
-Frank

Hi folks,

Well I did my running this morning. I guess I should call it running and not sprinting since technically I'm not sprinting that hard anymore. I can't get myself to do a full out sprint. I'm trying, but it's just so damn though. This is a hard ass cardio work out. Thank goodness it's short (20 minutes) or I wouldn't be able to make it all the way through.

First of all, I stayed up late last night doing my web page so I wasn't all gong-ho about waking up and getting ready to hit my work out (Although I should be. I should be like that dude on Jerry Maguire that goes, "I LOVE waking up in the morning. I clap my hands and I say to myself, it's going to be a GREAT day!") When I first started to jog, I felt the side of my stomache had a sharp pain. I thought to myself, "Oh great, watch me quit like a little weaklin' that I am." But I was determined not to quit because I missed my running last Tuesday and if I don't do it today, I'll never get better. So I sucked it up and I just took the pain for a little bit. After a while, I wasn't thinking about the pain anymore because I was too busy trying to catch my breathe. Jesus christ, I don't know what it is, but I just can't keep up a full hard run for a minute straight. Jesus man, it's ONLY one freakin' minute.

Anyway, by the time I was near the end of my work out, I had to try to make an attempt to hit a 10 on the intensity meter for today. But at this point, I was just spent. During that last minute, I really had to talk to myself about getting through it. I was telling myself, "You need to get a ten. Your tired, you got no energy in your legs but this is where your determination takes over. This is where you'll know if you deserve a 10 or not today." Well, after it's all said and done, today I say I deserver a 10 on that last sprint interval. It felt good because it was all in my mind in that last minute. I hit my high point for the day. It was short, it was brief, and it was intense. As Bill Phillips would say, "It's exactly where I want to be."

Then I went home and did the Ab Ripper 200 and I drank my mega nutriants for the morning and now I'm at work typing my silly ass away. Pretty good day so far.


Take care all,
-Frank

Well another day, another work out accomplished. But it wasn't without it's struggles. It was really hard for me to get up this morning. Extremely hard. I always wake up a 7am, no matter what. No matter what. Last night I went to bed at around 2am because my went to watch my friend play in his band at a club. The experience was great. I really enjoyed myself. However, while I was there I tried to fight the temptation of drinking alcohol, but I have to admit, I lost that battle last night. I was doing so well through out the night, until my friend offered me a half shot of left over whiskey that no one else seems to want to finish. How gay. I fought for a good half of the night and I caved in to left overs. Now I reflect on it, it's pretty sad. LOL I do have to admit I did losen up a little bit more after took that shot (errr.. half shot). It was just enough to get me going. But as soon as I drank it, I knew I had to dilute that crap in my body. "Bottle of water please. $10 bucks. No problem."

The reason I try to fight so hard not to drink was because I knew today was upper body day. I LOVE doing upper body days. My body gets so pumped by the end of my work out and I just love looking at the little striations forming on my muscles as my sets gets more intense. Yes, vanity is my sin, but looking at how my muscles are responding stress is so motivating and it helps push my efforts harder. I look in the mirror and I say to myself, "That's is exactly what I've been working for." LOL.

Also, another reason I knew I shouldn't do anything bad to abuse my body last night was because I knew I didn't sleep early the night before. I really thought out if I should go see my friend and drive all the way to the city knowing that I'll be coming back home late at night. I didn't give my body enough rest the night before (cuz I was doing my web page) and I was uncomfortable with the thought of not giving it the amount of rest it deserves last night. But none the less, I went to see the band with the intent of leaving early and trying to get to bed in a reasonable amount of time. Ofcourse that didn't happen.

Yet another reason why I didn't want to drink was because I knew today I was going to work out in the morning. But I also knew that I was going to go kickboxing and jiu-jitsu later on in the evening. That's 3 hours additional training. Plus on top of that, I have to wake up in the morning on Saturday, do my daily work out and do another 3 hours of kickboxing/jiu-jitsu. So in the time span of 36 hours I'll be doing a lot of physical activities, I'll be doing around 8 hours of physical activity. That's like a full days work! God knows I abuse the hell out of my body with all the physical activities that I do, and I disrespect it by not give it the rest it deserves. Furthermore, I poison it more with alcohol. Jesus man, have you no self control? Do you not give a shit about how well your body treats you? hahaha.

Seriously though, I do acknowledge how much stress I put on my body. That's why I'm being so anal about not giving it the time it needs to recuperate and for drinking. I do respect my body and what it does for me. That's why I make sure I feed it the MEGA-nutrients that it needs in forms of supplements and 5-6 meals a day. Ofcourse it also needs to rest and sleep. And god knows I love to sleep. So tonight, I will sleep like a newborn. 8 hours baby. (But ofcourse I know I won't sleep that long because tomorrow is the weekend and usually I can't wait to get up in the weekends cuz I don't have to go to work and I can focus on doing my own shit.)

Btw, I did feel the effect the lack of sleep and alcohol in my body in my work outs. I was weaker today. That is another reason why I'm so pissed off. I knew it would happen and I was right. I didn't get a 10 in my chest work out and usually I always get a 10 on chest. I was just tired and just did my best to finish my routine. However, when I did biceps today, oh man, was it great. I don't know where I drew the strength from, but I told myself in my last work out session that I was go up in weight. Well I did go up in weight and I paid for it big time. God damn that last set was hard. Yes, by the 8 and 9 rep, I was cheating like a high school junior with internet access, but those last reps was killing my biceps. "This is exactly where I want to be." LOL. I think I found a new appreciation of what a REAL level 10 feels like. Needless to say, I really felt that I deserved a 10 today in my bicep work out. It was a great way to end my work out and to start the day. I hit a High Point.

One last note, when I came home from the club last night I got my package from bodybuilding.com. I was so excited cuz I knew it was my digital calipers and myotape. I was going to measure my body fat and body right then and there but I was just too tired by that time. Plus, I got alcohol and in my body and probably 2 lbs of water I drank trying to dilute that crap to minimize it's effect. Plus I would of had to spend at least 1 hour trying to figure out all how to use the damn calipers and damn it, I needed to sleep. So I'll be doing my measurements tonight after jiu-jitsu. I'll post the results tomorrow. Yay for me, I'm a happy boy.

Take care peoples,
-Frank

I'm so glad I finished my workout for this week. Yay for me. Now I can do some work on my web page and study some Chinese. I ran today. I actually felt better today, like I had more stamina. I guess it was just one of those good days or maybe it's the alkaline talking. I don't care what it was. I'm just glad I was pushing myself at interval level 9 and I'm not such a pansy on the tracks no more. Jiu-jitsu for me in three hours, so I better get some work done before that or my would not be riding the wave of momentum that I started this morning. Booya!

Later folks,
-Frank

Well yesterday was rest day and today I'm back for more. I did legs today but it wasn't a great work out. First of all, I got knee-ed hard on the thigh on Saturday in kickboxing class. It feels like a really bad "charely horse." I thought it wouldn't bother me when I did my work out, but it did. As I was doing my squats, I was beginning to worry. It was starting to hurt more than I wanted to test it. So after 3rd set I decided to stop doing squats (even though I LOVE them) and just finish my quadricep work out with Leg Extensions. Good thing the leg extensions was not as painful. I was still able to get a 10 on the intensity meter today. Yay for me. I can usually get a 10 in my quadricep work out because squats and leg extesions kill me. Today the Leg Extensions did not fail me. After my super set (12 reps + 12 reps), I was crying like a little fat school boy that just shoved off the swing.

Yesterday was Sunday, my free day. Now it was my intent to eat good even on my free day, but Pride was on tv yesterday so I drank a beer (one beer, only one) and had some chips (very little) and some beef jerky (very little) and fruit while watching the event. I do feel a little sluggish this morning and I'm blaming it on the chips and beer from last night. But maybe that's all in my mind or maybe it isn't. Have I developed an acute sensory for ill nutriants that's damaging to my body? I highly doubt it, but it fun to believe (or make believe) that eating right making nurturing my body is developing sensory accuity for fat in my body.

Btw, I took some measurements yesterday. I'll update real soon.
-Frank

Hi everyone,

Well I ran today and it felt great. The reason being is that I'm can feel my improvement. I am able to run for a full minute now. Now, it's not a full sprint, but I'm pushing pretty hard and that feels great. On my last minute, I felt good because I was running like my legs were on automatic mode. It was just going, no more if I was tired. I felt this experience before on the trendmill but never on pavement. This is exactly where I want to be when I aim for a 10. Needless to say, I got my 10 today. Yes!

I still need to be more restrictive on my eating though. Yesterday I eat very well except the last meal. I was controlling my protions the whole day and then in my last meal, I over ate. That is real bad as we know that the last meal we should try to eat less (especially for me since I eat very late) before we go to sleep. Urgh, I paid for that one last night. Instead of my body burning off fat while recovering in my sleep last night, it was snuggling with the layers for fat, oil, and grease cumulated in my last meal. Never again. But I did get 6 meals in yesterday, so I'm a happy camper about that. Oh yeah, and I'm still a water guzzling tank.

Take care all,
-Frank

I did upper body today. What I thought was going to be a great workout because I was looking forward in tackling my upper body again, resulted into on an OK workout. I only got one 10 today and that was in chest. But it was a great 10. I had a spotter today and he helped me push a bit harder. However I couldn't get a 10 on any of the other body parts, including biceps. I always get a 10 on biceps, but I guess today it was just an off day. Still, I did what I needed to do and I feel great about my workout today.

Last night however I still didn't eat as good as I should have. I ate a little bit in excess again and I felt it again while working out. My body fat is not coming down. It's discouraging. I don't know what the hell I'm doing wrong except eating wrong. hahaha I guess I'll try to keep an closer lid on my eating tonight. I'll probably put away the "not so healthy" chinese food first before I sit down and have my chicken breast. I want to drop my body fat. Today I weighed myself and I gained 2 lbs. How? Impossible. It's wierd how my body fluctuates in weight. I range from 140-145 all the time. Day 60 is just around the corner, I better get my act together or else it's counting calories for me. hahaha. God I hope not.

Take care all,
-Frank

Well today I hit the tracks again. Not really, I just ran around a local park on pavement, but boy was it good. Actually, it was only good, not great. I say if I would give myself a score on the last ran to the nearest one/tenth decimal place, I'd give a 9.8. It wasn't a TEN. Mainly because I only ran and pushed myself for 55 and not the whole one minute mark. "Damn it Frank, you were so close and you gave up! You fuckin' quitter!!!" haha

Hey man, it's hard to run as fast as you can, while puffin' and huffin', and try to read the seconds hand on your wrist watch at the same time. You know how thin that seconds hand is on your wrist watch? Well try to imagine how thin that damn thing is when your vision is distorted because all your blood is being pumped through your lungs and legs? haha

But nonetheless, I was really amazed by my body today. It readjusts and adapts real fast. I only say this because today when I ran my first sprint, I felt great. I wasn't even that tired. Yes!!! I remember back in the days (a couple weeks before) when I ran my first one minute of sprints, I was crying like a pansy and I didn't even ran for the whole minute. Now, today, ha ha, it was a different story. This is exactly why I wanted to do sprints. To increase my ability to run faster and better. Ha ha, it's working. I love it when my plan works.

Anyways, I don't want to celebrate too early, but I'm just glad things slowly coming together. Yes!!! I can't wait to see how I'll respond come Saturday. Maybe it's the alkaline. haha Funny thing is last night I knew I was going to do sprints today, so I almost had to force myself to get up and drink that last serving of green drink at 10pm. Btw, it was worth it. Even though drinking that thing may or may not of actually helped me, but I don't care, psychologically, that shit was my lifesaver LOL.

Ok, I start Yoga today. Downward doggie dog here I come.
-Frank

Ok, today was one of those days were I just dreaded doing my workout. It was very hard for me to wake up in the morning. Very hard. I couldn't have been partially because I couldn't fall asleep last night and I stayed up until 2am. But regardless the reason, I still had to get up. So I dragged my silly ass out of bed and started to get ready for the day, whether I wanted to or not. My attitude is usually like this at the end of the week. I'm just so burnt out by this time, it's really a challenge to stay gong-ho about working out. Also, I also anticipate how hard the next couple of days is going to be on my body, and I think body is not looking forward to the abuse. I mean after all, yesterday I did ran, then I did yoga a couple hours later, then I did jiu-jitsu at night. Urgh. I love it all, they are my passion, but I think my body is saying "Yo! Slow down, I need to rest." And today, I knew I had to do legs in the morning and then possiblity kickboxing/jiu-jitsu tonight. Then tomorrow morning (Saturday) I have get my silly ass up again, do my run, and then a couple hours later do jiu-jitsu again. Oh yeah, come to daddy. Give me the pain. haha

I doubt I'll go do jiu-jitsu Saturday because I have to travel out of town that day and I can't do 3 hours of kickboxing/jiu-jitsu and except to make it to my destination on a reasonable time. But I still want to train. It's wierd. I just explained that my body is obviously saying "No mas" and I'm being a stubborn bitch and telling it shut the hell up and quit complaining and not listening to it. Without patting myself too hard on my back, but I think my will and desire is strong, stronger than I am physically capable of producing (even with the help of Alkaline). LOL. By the way, that's exactly what a 10 should feel like. LOL

Anyways, we'll find out what I do in the next couple of days. Now on to the workout. Even though I dragged my lazy ass to the gym, excepting to have a half-ass workout, I still got in there. And it's wierd how sources of motivation pop up out of no where. I workout at my work's gym. Not many people work out there and even less workout there in the morning. So the idea of seeing a slightly cute/attractive girl in the gym is usually out of the question. But today, low and behold, MOTIVATION was on the stair master. LOL.

Now I don't go to the gym to check out girls (obviously, cuz there ain't none at my work, duh), but there's something about having a cute girl working out in the same room as you that gives you a little extra push. For me, just knowing in the back of my mind that she can be possibly be checking me out while my muscles are ripped and pumped as I'm pushing for the last rep right will drive me to work harder. LOL. Hey, I will be the first to admit this is all played out in my mind and I'm just bull shitting myself and you know what, I don't give care! I will use any kind of instrument I can just get my little greedy hands on to help change my state and so I can get the best workout with my time spent. If I have to lie to myself, fuck it, I'll do it. I need to get through this workout. Shoot, I post half naked pictured of myself on the internet to get motivation for christ sakes, how much is little white tale of egotistical psychology is going to hurt? So as soon I stepped into the gym today, my whole attitude changed. No more feeling sluggish, no more "oh your body needs more rest, you weaklin'... your abusing your body". Nope, my energy level was back to optimal. It was like I just got injected with a pint of pure alkaline and I was ready to rock and roll. I was ready to hit them weights. Needless to say, I got a 10 on quads, 10 on hamstrings, and 10 on calves today. "Good work there Frank, redemption is oh so satisfying."

Now here is the kicker. The girl all was done with her workout while I was planning my workout and stretching. By the time I hit my first rep on my first set of squats, she was out of the buildling. LOL. But that doesn't matter, at that point, my state has already changed and my drive was back and totally different from what I felt when I woke up this morning. The moral of the story, just get your silly little ass to the gym and take it from there.

On more retarded thing that happened to me today. I weighed myself today and look WTF happened. I was at 139lb! What the hell is wrong with my retarded body? Wasn't I just bitchin' about being 143 a couple of days ago? You mean to tell me I did jiu-jitsu a little bit last night and dropped 4 lbs. Yeah, freakin' right. Anyways, I do have to admit, I did not eat that much last night. After jiu-jitsu I just had half a roast beef sandwich, a whey protein shake, and some Light Force green drink to replenish all that alkaline I left on mat in jiu-jitsu class. LOL. Anyways, my body weight is retarded and I wanted to share that with everyone.

Have a great weekend peoples,
-Frank

I'ved decided to not workout today. Acutally, I didn't really make that decision, my body did. It's still sick. I'm afraid if I try to push it too hard, I'm going to be really regretting it later. So for today and tomorrow, I will just rest my body and not do any physical activities. I hope by Monday, my body will be recovered. I feel really bad about this decision. Yesterday, I talked about will. And today, I feel like I'm giving up and that I have none. I made a declaration and I couldn't back it up. This is very hard for me to swallow, but I have to listen to my body and do what's right for it. I have to accept that there are conditions that I didn't anticipate, like getting sick, that will cause me to have some drawbacks. I guess the test is how I respond to those conditions. How do I respond to adversity? In this case, did I just give up? No. My will want to. I'm not trying to make excuses. There is nothing I rather do than to do some sprints, go train jiu-jitsu and then drive to my friends house later on today for his birthday. But instead, it looks like it will be me and my bed and some light reading and some Chinese memorizing for me today. I also feel bad about not being able to make it to my friends house. However, there is no way I can be on the road for 2 hours today. We will see what happens Monday.

Until then, take care peoples.
-Frank

I woke up this morning with a terrible headache. It didn't matter though, cuz I still had to wake up. "No matter what." So I got dressed and got out the door to walk my dog. During my walk, I felt pretty good. I didn't feel sick at that much, other than that pounding headache that only appears if I thought about it. Hmmmmm... should I train today? haha. My body was testing me. I told myself yesterday that I wasn't going to train today, but I felt pretty good today and ofcourse I wanted to redeem myself from being such a pansy yesterday. "Come on you little bitch, you want some?" That's what my body said to me. Oh yeah, it was on. I didn't think I was going to do sprints today because I thought it would be way too intense for my body at this state. But you know what? I felt good and most of all, I didn't care. I think I can handle it. Here was my experience.

So after I walked my dog, I got home, did my 9 pull ups which got the blood and oxygen going through my system and I start to stretch and prepare myself. "I could do it man." I felt excited as this thought came though my mind. I know I can. So I got out the door and started my walk to the park. Now the first interval wasn't that bad, until I started to jog. "Oh man, I'm breathing a lot heavier on this slight jog than I'm normally use to, but that's acceptable given the state of my body right now." But nonetheless, I felt good. Then my first interval of sprints came. I ran and ran, and then I just stopped. I have no endurance what so ever. My interval of sprints was somewhere between 30-40 seconds. That's it. But you know what? That was plenty good enough for me. I just needed to get through this workout.

My second and third interval of sprints was very similar to the first. I just didn't have the will to do it for a full minute. I didn't have the endurance to push myself that hard. I did good for the first 10-20 seconds, after that, as soon as I felt a little challenge, I caved like a little school boy handling his lunch money to the buddy. In the back of my mind, I really didn't want to push myself that hard. How much did I have to prove to myself today? Will I not be happy until I see flashing red lights and hearing sirens in the background? haha I may exaggerate a bit, but I was really testing my body. And that's what was. Just a test. To see how capable I was today. If I can only do sprints for 30 seconds or so, than be it. I'm very content cuz my silly ass is out on the tracks.. urhhhh.. park.

On my last interval, I felt great. In the back of my mind, I couldn't wait to finish. Not because I was tired, but I wasn't (it's the alkaline I tell you...). It was because I was so close in redeeming myself from my "lose" from yesterday. I was very excited coming in that last lap. In the last run, I had to do something to make it feel like I earned it. Usually I'm suppose to sprint for 2 minutes. Now I never done that yet, but I will eventually, but today I thought. I'll run hard for 30 seconds, rest for 30 then give it my all for 1 full minute. And that's exactly what I did. Pride was my alley today. God damn it felt good after the last minute was up. I was so happy. Redemption.

Then ofcourse when I got home I still had to do my Ab Ripper 200. Let me tell you, 200 sit ups have never felt so challenging as it did today. Yes, I cheated. Yes, I just doing the movements. I didn't care. I just needed to get through this. I didn't care about feeling that "crush" today. Today it wasn't about working the body. Today it was about working the will. I am very happy. And ofcourse immediately after I drank my MEGA-nutriants and my alkaline. I love my alkaline. It's full of shit, but I still love it. Now I'm going to sleep all day so my body can really fully recover. hahaha. I just wish I had some asprin around the house for this stupid headache. haha. Come on alkaline, work. Make me a believer. LOL

One more thing. It's the end of week 6. That means I'm half way there in the Body for Life program and I can now proudly say I haven't missed one work out yet. Yeah!!! Nothing can stop me. Not even all the germs and bacteria this side of California can throw at me. Yes, I rock man!!!

Just feeling good.
-Frank

Today, since I didn't have to go to work, I decided to stay at home do the power 90 circuit training program to substitute for my upper body program. However, I stayed up til 4 am last night getting drunk. Nonetheless, I still got my silly ass up at 7am and started my day. I did not however workout in the morning. My stomache was just not settled. Not to mention I ate some really bad (but good) greasy snapper at 3:10am and then went to sleep. WTF was I thinking? I don't know. Someone slap me with a trout.

Eventually after I took a nap I worked out. Today was not a good workout at all. I can feel the left over alchohal vapor coming up as I was catching my breathe. That sucks. I didn't really push myself that hard because I knew my stomache wasn't settled. Urgh. But I got my workout in, even though I wasted an "upper body" day. Oh man, I better tighten up my game because day 60 pics is just around the corner.

Today I wanted to see what state my body is currently at. Ofcourse I want it to be optimal, but that's not likely since I don't think I can recover from my sickness that quickly. Nonetheless, I was going to try to push it. So I did my run today and guess who was on the tracks today. Seabiscuit part II. haha

I was feeling ok this morning. My stomache was not settled? I don't know WTF is going on with my stomache. I haven't ate anything sent 10 pm last night. Something is still not right. I started my run and I wasn't sure if I was going to push myself hard today in case my stomache cramps up. I hate it when that happens. Oh well, only one way to find out if it will. So I got to my first interval of sprints. It felt ok, but I still get winded before the minute. But today I was able to attempt to keep running til the minute was up. Decent first lap.

On my second lap, I felt better more energy. Then on my 3rd lap, our paths crossed again. I was on intensity level 8 when I was just about to pass Seabiscuit. Today I really acknowledged his presence and I'm going to make sure he knows that I know. So I'm coming up behind him and he knows it. He's walking and I'm doing long strides but not running. I pass him and I look at him straight in the eye and I smile. As soon as he was no longer my visual peripheral, I hear his foot steps moving. Oh yeah, intensity level 9 is around the corner. I look at watch, wondering to see if this old man is going to try to to keep again. When that seconds hand hit 60, I wanted him to know that I know, so I looked back, smiled at him and and give him a salute. Then I was off. "I'm the real Seabiscuit you bitch." I was running. Carl Luis would have been shock his head in disgrace. But I don't care, I'm not black and I don't have big ass legs, but I did my best. However, my man did not follow today. I think he lose his will the moment I layed eye contact with him. haha j/k

I did not run that long in that interval. I think I used all my juice in the first 20 seconds when Seabiscuit needed to make a statement. haha. After the minute was over, I wanted to see how are he got. But he was gone. God damn, I ran so fast, my fast burners vaporized him. Poor old man, that's what you get for playing with fire. hahaha. Seriously though, he lives right on the edge of the house and I think he just went home after he will was crushed over by the my uhaul. haha. On my 4th lap, I saw him in his garage and as I passed him I gave up the good ol' *thumb ups* as he waved to me with a smile. I hope to see him on the tracks Thrusday.

-Frank

Sweat, beeds of sweat. It's been a while since I felt my the drip, drip, drip of sweat dripping down my forehead after the completion of my squat workout. I forgot this is how I was meant to train. I love how after my lower body workout, I dread the sight of a flight of stairs. Whatever I have, or whatever I had, I left in back in the gym. Today I had a great workout. I pushed hard. I was focused. My legs payed for it. The Gods must have been in a good mood today.

However, I did notice that I do not focus at the moment in my workouts. It's sad, I see myself thinking about the day in the middle of my sets. What type of lame concentration is that? I think about what my current experience and how I'm going to put it down on paper later on. Geezus man, where is your heart? I mean, I finish my workout and everything, but I think my can make my workouts even more intense if I focus on every rep, every muscle tissue being stretched, every fiber being worked. I need to focus more; more intensely. Day 60 is coming up.

-Frank

Another Thrusday, another day of cardio. I have to admit when I woke up this morning, I didn't want to run. I thought to myself, "Well I can just do cardio at home and do my Power90 cardio workout. It's still cardio." But it's not the same cardio as running. You don't push yourself as hard and you don't improving your running speed. The easy way out is always easy. So I sucked it up. I stretched. And I got myself out on the tracks ... errr... park.

I felt good today. It's easier and easier for me to start a fast run as soon as the seconds hand hits the beginning of the minute. Keeping it up for a full minute is still hard, but it is getting easier. I still don't believe I'm at 100% but I feel good. Today's run was still just a 9. There was a point in the last sprint of 2 minutes where I did not push hard in the beginning. Therefore, I'm going to be a bit tough on myself these days because my training is starting to be a bit easier.

Btw, I've been having craving for bad foods lately. Yesterday, I wanted chocolate. I wanted a sneakers. I wanted something to munch on. So last night, after my not so clean last meal (some Chinese food), I also ate some banana bread. That was good. I don't feel that bad for eating it though because I don't want to be too stern in my eating habits where I'm going to start hating my program. I guess all that talk about will is gone out the tube. LOL. Seriously, psychologically, eating bad once is while is good for you. It's ok for me. I didn't feel I damaged my integrity. Now if I said that everytime I had an urge or I used that as an excuse or I do it in excess; I'd feel bad.

Ok, take care peoples. Tomorrow is upper body day. I look forward to it all week (since I didn't get to do it on Monday... grrrr...). I feel hella skinny. I feel I lost a lot of muscle last weekend from the sickness. Time to get it back.
-Frank

I had a pretty good workout today. Everytime when I can feel my muscles all fatigued as I type in my journal, I can't complain about the workout. Today I had 3 10's in the intensity meter. I can't believe how hard I pushed myself in triceps. Sweat, sweat, sweat. I love it. I felt bad for not doing my upper body on Monday. I think it's psychologically playing a factor in my mind, like I lost muscle! I'm shrinking!!! hahaha. Well, today's workout will mend those woons. I'm still not getting stronger though. I need strength. I want it. I'm desperate for it. I'll do anything. ANYTHING. hahaha

Anyway, I'm going crazy and I'm running out of things to say so.
Have a great weekend peoples.
-Frank

So today it was sprinkling a bit outside. Did that stop the hammer? Oh no, I ran. I ran like a stallion in the meadows. haha. Well maybe not that fast or free, but I did what I needed to do which was to get my workout in for the day before my day starts. I love when I accomplish something productive first thing in the morning. A personal promise to yourself already validated before you tackle and interact with the rest of the world. Even though I truely feel I did not deserve a 10 in my workout today, I still feel great because I did what I promised myself I would. Another week accomplished. *Self High Five* for me.

It's so easy to quit. It's so easy to just give up. All you have to do is just stop. That's what did in my last interval. After 30 seconds, I stopped. I stopped because I wanted to rest for 30 seconds and then go for a full minute of hard bursts. Maybe that was my intent or maybe that was just an excuse to rest because I couldn't push myself hard enough today. I think it's a bit of both, but nonetheless, I quit pushing myself hard for that 30 seconds and I'm disappointed in myself. I'm harder on myself these days. I'm not going to give away 10 likes they're in season. Oh no, I'm going to make I earn that puppy. Today, I honestly feel I did not earn it. A 10 should be something I'm real proud of. A very satisfying accomplishment. My efforts today, although great, was not something I'd hang on my wall. I did give up for a brief minute and I will acknowledge that. But next time my friend... next time.

Mondays are always hard to up to workout for me. I think Mondays are easy for people that haven't been working out and are planning to "start anew" for this week. They have the attitude "I'm going to start working out next week" and they do. Monday workouts are easy for them to get up in the morning because they are at the beginning of something new, something exciting, something different. There's a potential for them to start a new trend, a different lifestyle. But for me, it's a different story.

Mondays are tough. There is no longer the excite of doing "something new". This is routine. This is upkeep. This is maintainence. This is a process of becoming a habit. It does get relatively easier since I'm getting so use to it. Sometimes, I look for to Mondays because I've rested my body Sunday and I have a lot of energy. Especially if I'm going to do upper body. I guess today I'm not feeling it because I didn't get great rest this weekend. It was busy and hectic, but very productive. Even though today is beginning of week 8, I should be very excited. It's pictures time at the end of this week. I guess part of me is not so excited because I had some set back. I got sick and I lost some progress. Nonetheless, I still think I got some good gains. Not great, but very good. I've also started to drink coffee now which I don't think is in tier 1 and 2 food groups. haha. I hanging around more coffee shops lately and I've been consuming more "unauthorized" foods than I should. So psychologically I know I'm taking a hit in my progress.

But still, I'm in week 8. I feel very proud of my progress. The hardest hurdles are all over. It's smooth sailing here. I'm actually looking forward to see my pictures this Saturday. But I still have to train hard til then. Good thing I did train hard today.

Even though I wasn't feeling it this morning when I got up, I still got myself in the gym. And lookie here, "motivation" was elliptical this morning. Man, I love cracker jack surprises. But really, I didn't really care. I was more motivated to see the "regulars" there today than seeing some random "Oh I need to start working out this week because I just ate half a cow this weekend" person. Don't get me wrong, I admire their desire to want to get into shape, but I way more inspired by the people I see in there week after week, day in and day out. Still, eye candy is eye candy, and we all love candy now don't we boys and girls. (Not me, it makes me fat!)

Seriously though, today I had no mercy for my legs. I focused hard on every rep of my squats. It felt great. Then after my last set, time to continue on with the super set with leg extensions. I told myself, "Now it's time to die you little bitch." And I literally killed my legs. "Ohhhh yeah, that's a 10." It was great workout. It was great because my quads, hamstrings, and calve were all burning after the last set. I was limping like I just got a "charley horse" on the thigh. I love killing myself. Self torture, self inflicted pain. Ahhhhhhh yeah....

So it rained last night and the tracks... err.... I mean the pavement was wet. I did not feel like taking a risk of falling on my ass while running so I decided to stay home and do the Power90 Cardio workout instead. I have to say todays' workout was not the best. It was not even a 8.5 on the intensity meter. But it doesn't matter. I did my 40 minutes of cardio and 10 minutes of abs. I'm a good boy and I did got my workout in for the day. I do have to admit that I ate some top ramen last night. I feel bad for it and I still am going to complain about not seeing improvement in my body fat reduction. Still I will try to keep at it for week 8.

Today was upper body day. I was looking forward to this workout. I love training upper body because I love seeing my muscles all pumped when lifting. It gives me a false perception that I'm actually bigger than I really am. haha. Seeing that your muscles working does give me some drive to train harder. Today however, I did not get a great workout. It was ok, but it wasn't great. I only got 2 10's on the intensity meter. One for chest and one for biceps. But I always get 10's on those 2 body parts. The problem is I think I still need a lot of work on my chest. I miss doing barbell presses. All I do now is dumbell presses and inclined dumbbell presses. Maybe I should switch to some other excerises like flys or something. Hmm..... maybe indeed.

I just finished my workout so I'm not sure how much I killed my body today. I can feel my forearms a bit tired from the curls I did, but usually when I do a good upper body workout, I can feel my whole body just beat and fatigued through the day. Hopefully I'll feel this later on in the day. Yeah, I know I'm sick in the head. I like feeling not 100% optimial. Then I know my time spent in the gym was efforts worth spending.

Good training to you all.
-Frank

Today is cardio day. I was debating if I should go out and run. I mean, the rain stopped but the pavement was still all wet. I didn't want to take the risk of slipping on my ass and getting injured. Not on week 8. I need to finish this program. But I wanted to run, so I decided to that today, I will run for 40 minutes (approximately 4 miles), but just jog the entire time. I figure my power90 cardio program is about 40 minutes, so I wanted to try it out to see if I have to cardio to go that long while jogging. I never jog/run for endurance. I wanted to try it to see how I liked it. Plus I wanted to see if I can actually do it. Usually my cardio workouts are short, fast, and intensive. Today it was a test of just doing a long, stretched cardio workout. Plus, I needed to plan my day so I figured I'd do it during my run. LOL

To make things a little bit more interesting because I had a feeling it was going to be a little boring so I thought I'd tried something I learned from yoga. "Miss. Yoga instructor, why do we breathe out through the nose?" "Because it give you STRENGTH." .... hmmm.. strength huh? "It's also good for sport activities too." Hmmmm... I kind of doubt that, maybe for like easy sports activities like the elliptical, but no way are you going to convince me that I should be breathing out through my nose when I'm sprinting my ass off. It's just too hard. How come Carl Lewis doesn't do it? But I don't know everything there is to know about anything, so I'll try it. I'll be gennie pig Frank again. So today during my run, I'm tried to breathe only in and out of my nose. It was interesting.

So I was running. I knew it was hard. I'm not use to it, but I wanted to see if it would make a difference. "Strength huh?".... Take the path of most resistence. It's good for you. It'll make your stronger. After the 1st 2 laps, I wanted to stop breathing out my nose. It was just too difficult. But I stayed with it. So I jogged and jogged and thought about my day. Man this shit is boring. How can people be running marathons. Now, I wasn't pushing for time at all. I wasn't trying to up my speed. I was just do a light jog today but for a longer period of time. After the 5 or 6th lap, I felt that I was getting use to breathing out through my nose. Cool. It's working. My persistence paid off. As I was jogging I feel like Forrest Gump, running across America. I wasn't sweating that hard or breathing that hard. I was excerising, but not really. Plus running this long a pavement is really killing my knees and ankels. I might need new running shoes. What color shoes should I get? What should I do this weekend? Geezus man, am I even working out here? What the hell am I doing here? So at the end of the 7th lap, I thought to myself, man this is hella boring. I'm going to sprint the last one and I'm going to try to sprint without breathing through my mouth. Let see if this yoga instructor knows what the hell she's talking about. I'm still gonna try to get a 10 today. hahahaha.

So on the 8 th lap, injury conscious or not, I ran. I ran like I was fueled by super unleaded gas with octane (in actuallity I'm fueled by Alkaline!!! LOL). I ran for one full minute, rested for 30 seconds and ran again for another full minute. I kept my mouth closed and my air intake and exhaust through my nose. It felt great. It was hard. I got my 10. I worked out for 40 minutes on cardio today. And best of all, I did what I set out to do and I accomplished it. Now time to go home and do some abs work. Good work today Frank, I make me proud.

Ah yeah.... it's near the end of the week. Last weight training session of the week is done. Today, my heart was not in my workout. Even after reading John's inspiring entrying yesterday about wobbling legs, I did not push myself to my limit today. It's ok, I still got a decent workout. Even though I did not give myself a 10 today, I still panted and struggled through my sets. I guess I didn't feel I deserved a 10 today since my heart and mind was not 100% commitmented to getting a great workout. I just matched my numbers that I recorded from my last workout session and did my reps. I was just a robot today. Although, I like to known as Drago from Rocky i.e. "He's not a man, he's a machine." Today, I was not on combusting like an engine. That's the type of machine I want to be. Not Mr. Roboto from the Jetsons.

Anyways, I'm still excited about day 60 pictures. Even though it'll actually be day 56 or so. But who gives a shit. It's the end of the month, it's the end of week 8 and I want to see my pictures and measurements. I'll be posting them up Saturday or Sunday depending on how many dates I have that night. LOL j/k

Btw, I started reading about Max-OT so I can start planning on what to do after my body for life program is over (after March). I feel like shit when I read that program because it's totally saying that I'm totally over training my body. Which I knew, but I like to live in denial. Anyways, I'm going to finish reading that and then read the HST program that John mentioned and decision which one I want to do in April.

Take care peoples. Get your silly ass to the gym and have a great weekend.
-Frank

Ahhhhh... sun. I love it when I wake up to the rising sun. I open the door to the bright, gleaming rays of mother nature and it immediately made my day. Oh yeah, I'm definitely going to run today. No rain, no wet pavement. Today, the tracks are mine!!!

So I'm excited for my run today. I wondered how well I would do today since I substituted the last two days of cardio for something else other than my regular "run your ass off" workout. Well I still have pretty deceit endurance? Only one way to find out.

So I started my run and I felt great. The sun was starting to rise, the air was as fresh as it can be for an suburan park, and my enthusiasm for today's run was pretty high. However, after my first lap, I realized that my physical energy couldn't met up to my expectations. I started off my sprint really well, Carl Lewis well (maybe not that well, but it felt great). The thing was I couldn't keep it up, not for a whole minute. After 40 seconds I wanted to stop. After 50 seconds, I did stop. Urgh. How painful it is to reflect that I gave up before I was allowed to. I felt bad at the time, but it's ok I'll make up the second lap.

The second sprint comes around. This time I try again. "Keep it up for one minute dude." Nope. Couldn't do it. Again, I stopped around the 50 second mark. Errrrrr... the pain. I couldn't bare it long enough.

On the 3rd lap, I was getting pretty tired. I didn't have the burst of energy like I did during the first lap. I had to start digging in deep. All these stupid bumper sticker slogans started to pop in my head. "Just do it", "No pain", "No fear"... urgh.. I hate these sayings. Don't get me wrong, these are great attitudes to have, but these slogans has been so washed out that I feel ashamed trying to use them. I was however able to finish the full minute on the 3rd lap, but that becauase I didn't start out as strong in the beginning of the minute. I paced myself on this one, which is exactly what I'm not suppose to do. It's called "intensity" for a reason you dork.

On my fourth and final lap I was determined to finish strong. It's week 8 gosh darn it. Today is picture day. I want to earn a 10 today. I will not quit and rest during the first minute of intensity level 9 interval and I will run my ass all the way to the bank during my 2nd minute at intensity level 10. More slogans poppped up in my head as I prepared for my final lap. "Pain is only temporarly, pride is forever." Urgh, wrestling slogan. But it's still true. It is only for 2 minutes man. You can do it.

I reflected back when I first started to do sprints I recall the times when I pushed myself real hard and remembered that at the end of intensity level 10, I wanted to throw up. That's when I knew I earned my ten for the day. Well, let's see if I can get the feeling again today shall we? So intensity level 9 interval comes around. I'll feeling tired already and it's only 30 seconds into the minute. "No, I will not stop and rest." Keep up truckin'. "Do it, do it, do it man." Eventually, that minute was up. Now for the final minute. Earn this shit big daddy, you only got one shot. I sucked it up and I yelled aloud, "GO!" and I was off. I was as "off" as I could be after 18 minutes of intense cardio, but I still wanted to push myself for the full minute. Oh boy did I dig in deep on this last run. Now my own sayings that I use started to pop up in my head. Not the over hyped, marketed statements you see on $5 t-shirts and Mountain Dew commercials. The ones I believe in. "Persist see", "Take the path of most resistence", "This is exactly where you want to be." I had to use them to get me through this minute. I saw my marker. I will not stop until I hit that fuckin' marker. A mini goal set within a minute. A mini goal fulfilled within the last 10 seconds of my run. Yes, I earned my ten today.

Now, did I feel like throwing up? Did I get to the point of where I wanted to be? Yes, for half a second I felt like throwing up, but I couldn't because I was too busy trying to catch my breathe. LOL. It felt good. During my warm down phase I walked with my hands interlaced behind the back my head trying to get more air in my lungs. I couldn't help to think this was a physical symbol representing my body surrendering to my will. "Ok, you won today 'will'. I was at your mercy," said my body. As I walked I felt fulfilled. I clinched my fist and I raised my bent right arm partially in the air. "Fuckin' redemption," I proclaimed outloud. I didn't give a shit if there was people that heard me or thought I was a wierdo because I was talking to myself. I felt too good at that point. I just redeemed myself for one more day.

Now, I can't really describe how great it really feels after that last run. It's something I hope everyone of you get to experience sometime in your own workout. Internal concurrence is one of the greatest feelings I can reward myself. I don't get this experience that often in my workouts. Maybe I get a sliver taste of it everday after I finish my workouts, but sometimes when I get have a big bite of it like I did today, I savior that flavor like it was the last meal I will ever have. I really do hope that we all get to experience this feeling. It makes every other tough workout day so worth while.

Have a great weekend peoples. See you on Monday.
-Frank

Here a link to my updated pictures thread in the photo gallery.
http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=577

Strength. Some days, your in the gym and you just feel stronger. I was very grateful that today I had the experience. It was fun seeing that I was slowly increasing my weights on certain excerises today. It's wierd because this morning I did not feel like working out. I mean I was looking forward to it because I always look forward to upper body day. But I wasn't gong ho about it but nor did I feel like not working out. I was just in a "blah" mood. Must be the 4 hours of sleep I got last night.

Nonetheless, after I got to the gym and did my first set, I felt pretty good. So I pushed and pushed my way through my routine and I was done after 1 hour and 15 minutes. I'm noticing that my workout sessions are way longer than they should be. I really try to cut down on my rest time, but I think I might be taking too long doing my reps. Usually I always try to go for a very slow negative. These days, I always do more than 12 reps on some body parts, like triceps. I'm deviating a little bit from the Body for Life program and I'm probably over training. But hey, I can't argue with visable results (just not measureable results.. *snob*). I'm kind of curious on how my body will react to my next workout program. Let's finish this one first buddy.

-Frank

Today I ran. It felt great. I pushed hard. I got a 10. I'm a happy boy.

Today "Seabiscuit" was out on the tracks again. This time though, my experience with him on the field as a little different. I started my jog and I passed him up. But today, I didn't really care if he was going to follow me or not. It just didn't matter to me. I'm here doing my thing, he can do whatever he wants. But it was no surprise to me that when I started to jog, he jogged along side with me. Yes, this time I saw it as "along side with me" not trying to compete with me. It was a very mutual experience. I felt good that he decided to keep pace with me. I felt we were working out together. We were working together in synergy. Him being along side with me, gave me strength. This happened for 2 minutes or so before I started my first sprint. During this time was a very fulfilling experience. Then the minute mark hit and BANG! I was off. Once again, I ran so fast, I vaporized him. After my minute was up, I looked back and he was no longer on the tracks. WTF happened to him? He dissenagrated.

Today I also discovered something new. Actually it wasn't a discovering per say but more of a reminder. I noticed that when I am truely running hard, trying to run as powerful and fast as I can, I pump my arms hard as well. I remember back in high school our track coach told us to use our arms as well when we're running (I never did dashes when I was in track, I only did long and triple jump). They called it "hammer" or "hammering." As in you swing your arms as if your hammering something. Alright, that's cool. I like M.C Hammer, I like "Too Legit To Quit", I like saying the term "it's hammer time." Now, it really is "Hammer Time!!!" LOL. So next time I run, I'll keep this little tid bit in mind.

-Frank

So it was lower body day today. My attitude today? Just get in there and get it done. Regarding what John posted on his message today about people's motivation starting to die down, I was feeling that today. I think the next time I feel this, I'm going to try to do what he suggested and recall my dreams. Recall something vivid, motivating, and inspiring. Nonetheless, I did my squats, I did my leg extensions, I did my leg curls, I did my lunges, my calve raisers, and lower back flexers and I finished my duty for the day. I accept that I can't always get a great workout day. However, I'm happy that I can still finish my call of duty even though I may not feel like it 100%. Like I said before, consistency is the hardest part. It's not something new and exciting. This is maintainence stage. Day in and day out. This is the real hard part of working out consistently. Just be consistent. Now matter what. Do it. Get in the gym. Start moving. Keep that promise. It's only one hour. Then the rest of the day, the sense of pride and honor stays for twenty three more hours.

I have to admit the last two to three days I have not been eating clean. Most of the day I eat well, but my last meal, that stupid last meal when I go home, I eat more that I should. It's going to bite me in the ass soon if I don't start being more conscious about this. So here is me being conscious about it. Try to stay strong tonight Frankie boy.

Take care,
-Frank

Oh yeah, Day Sixty. Thirty more days and then, PICTURES!!! haha Anyways, today was running day. I was surprised to see my old high school buddy walking his dog again today. I saw him last Tuesday, but I didn't have time to catch up with him because I was in the middle of my workout and there was no way I was going to do "remember the good ol' days" recap during my twenty minutes of fame. After my workout last Tuesday, I didn't feel like running up to him because at this point, I've ran enough for the day, so I just went home.

But today, I saw him out there again. He lives right next to the park where I run, so it's really convenient for him to just get up and go for a walk. To be honest, I was not expecting to see him again. Usually, people have these "cravings" to get it shape. It's not a real commitment, it's just something new and different from their everyday life of being out of shape. Their intent is good, just not their desire. So they think that "oh yeah, I'm going to get in shape next week" and they get all pumped and excited and get their new workout shoes and outfit. Only to workout for that one day and realize how hard it is to get up early, to accept how out of shape they have become, and to do it day after day after the excitement dies now. Now I don't mean to shit on people and their will, I mean, I've been through this cycle many times myself and I'm guilty of it. I know how hard it is. I still struggle with it everyday. And I don't like the idea that I see people's will in a negative way and not giving them the benefit of the doubt that they can change. Actually I know they can change, I believe it in my heart. I like to see people in a positive light. I really want to give them more credit. However, my point is that it's just not surprising to me if I don't see them doing it on a consistent basis. I understand how hard it is. However, in the future, the more times I see my friend out there with me, the more I'll inspired by him. Like when I see "Seabiscuit" and his crew walking every morning with me as I walk my dog. Man, I'm so lucky to be around such dedicated people. There's a set group of regulars every morning doing their morning walks. These guys are my embassadors of "will." I give them so much respect (much like everyone that's staying committed in these forums). There's something real powerful knowing that I'm doing this alone. There are people out there that have similar desires and strengths that is so strong, I can borrow from them even though they don't consciously realize their assistance to me. I can't help to be humbled and in awww of the commitment that these people have. *tear*

Anyways, I digress. So I saw my friend was jogging with his dog. He was ahead of me and I was about to do my first sprint run. So when the seconds hand hit the big six-zero and I was off. I ran right past him like I had absolutely no respect for his morning jog. I didn't really intend to do that (actually I did... heheh *evil smirk*), but I was just doing my thing and he happened to be a relative comparision this morning. I would have ran the same way even if he was not there, however my mind set would have been a little different. I wouldn't have been thinking, "Man, I'm going to burn this dude." So I ran for sixty seconds all the way this time. I felt good, actually I felt great, and I looked back and I became disappointed. He was still there. I didn't vaporize him with my fumes like I do "Seabiscuit". LOL.

The funny thing is, he eventually caught up to me because I usually walk for another minute after my sprint so I can recover and get ready for the next sprint. So we started to chat a bit while I was jogging on intensity level 6 and 7. I needed to end the conversation fast if I wanted to have a decent workout today. I'm didn't get my ass out of bed just so I have a high school reunion. So I told him I had to get back into my workout and continued with my run. Overall I had a good run today. Not great, just good. The final sprint I did not push super hard. I pushed hard, just not super hard. My didn't focus hard enough today because I got distracted with high school buddy being there. I didn't run with my arms today. I tried to, but I just didn't put enough focus on it. I'll try again Saturday. It was good seeing my friend though. I hope to see him there Satuday. Yeah right, on a weekend? No way dude, he ain't going to show. But I'll be hella impressed if he did though.

-Frank

Well today was upper body day. I don't know if I ever mentioned this before, but I love upper body day *smirk*. I'm so vain, I swear. I just like looking at my scrawny 140lb frame slowly get pumped up as I rotate my workout from one body part to another. haha. Anyways, today was a pretty good workout day. I was focused today. Usually Fridays are hard for me because I'm so beat from training throughout the week. Today was no different, but I used very little tool I knew to get me through my workout. Some things that I do to help me get the edge is I breath outloud hella loud. I don't know why this works for me, I guess just exaggerating my breathe gives me more energy. It is a wierd and retarder I know, but it works and I'll take it. Another thing I did today was mentally picturing the body part I'm working on. As I did flat bench presses, I pictured my chest expanding and contracting. I was focused today man. I was visualizing. By the way, I went up in weight today in my chest and arms. Yes!!! Creatine, THANK YOU! One more crazy thing that I do in the gym that's kind of nuts that helps pushes me to move is I mumble words underneathe my breathe. Ok, I don't actually mumble, I'm straight yelling at myself. Random words that would come out of my mouth would be things like, "Come on....", "Go, go, go", "Arrrgghhhhhh...." haha.

So there, my secrets of a successful Friday workout. One more thing that I like to share today. Heed these words, "Respect the whey protein." That shit is powerful. How powerful? Well, after my workouts, I usually drink my whey protein with creatine and glutamine on the side. I put all my servings in power form into my blender cup before I add water to it and start blending the crap out of it. However, today, I was totally dumbfounded on how strong whey protein is. I could not blend the shit. Even at the highest RPM setting on my blender. I'm was shocked as shit. I tried to shake it, I tried stirring it with a spoon, I tried different speeds on the blender, that shit would not budge. Then I smelled something in there air. *Sniff*sniff*. Holy shit, the motor in the blender starting to smoke. Geezus man, this is some strong ass whey protein. Now I know I'm taking the right stuff. LOL. So I'm without a blender now. My whey protein kicked it's ass and I'm going to have to use the "protein shaker" now. haha. Respect the whey protein peoples, it can kick major ass.

Have a great weekend,
-Frank

Oh yeah, the end of the week. Week 9, I just kicked your ass. Oh I love it when I kick someone or something's ass. It just feels so good to stick that boot so far deep into their ass I can feel their spine with my big toe. hahaha. Anyway, I had my run today but I really did not feel like doing it this morning. Maybe it was the 5 hours of sleep or me forgetting to drink my aklaline enriched "Light Force" green drink last night. Whatever the reason (I think it was the sleep), I still got up and did what I needed to do.

On my first sprint, I did not even try to push hard. I just ran fast, but not explosively. Who cares, I'm out here doing my thing. But I would be lying if I didn't say the thought of just saying "fuck it" today didn't cross my mind. "Oh no, no, no, you little bitch. You're not going to quit on me today fuck face." I like cursing at myself under my breathe, it builds up my self esteem. haha So I was running and I remembered, "Hey, my friend is not out here today. I was right in my prediction, human beings are so frivolous." After all it was the weekend, and he deserved to sleep in late today because of the long work week. Whatever. Say whatever you need to help get you up in the morning... or in this case, keeps your lazy ass in bed. I don't really care. I'm doing my thing. So I continue my run.

Then out of nowhere, I see a person leaving my friend's house with their dog. "Oh shit man, I'm so humbled." Yeah, I was wrong. I'll admit it. I'm so freakin' glad I was wrong. Human beings are so powerful sometimes, they put me in awww. In my quest to find any evidence to prove that my initial thought of my friend not being able to follow up today was correct, I instead got humbled by his actions. Cool, motivation just gave me the energy boost I needed for me to still claim my ten for the day. I can't be looking like a half-ass working out in from of my high school friend. I better show him what's up or he'll think I'm one those guys that comes out here because it's the 1st of the month and I just read an inspirational magazine article last night.

However, as I ran, I noticed that my friend had long hair. Wait, my friend doesn't have no long hair. Shit, that's not my friend at all, it's he's girlfriend that came out to walk their dog. HAHAHAHAHA, I was fuckin' correct, human beings are naturally weak willed. LOL. God damn it I wish that wasn't true, but all the evidence in the universe is proving me otherwise. It doesn't matter though, my friend being out or his girlfriend being out, I still got the motivational juice I needed to push hard in my last two runs. After all, she was a high school/college friend as well and there is no way I'm going to look like a chump in front of her given that I haven't seen her for almost five years. I have to make her believe I actually do this everyday. hahaha. Suckers.

Anyways, I acknowledged that her that I saw her there by saying hi but told her I cannot chit chat right then and there because I'm too busy pretending the cops are after me and I need to get this groceries back home or mama's got beat me with the whiffle ball paddle. So I ran freakin' hard. The 3rd lap, not so hard. After all, I didn't have my alkaline last night. But the 4th lap, oh that last lap, man I was jamming. The first minute, I pushed hard, but I knew I needed some reserved for the next minute. But I pushed for that first full minute. Then the next minute came up. I dug in deep and I just keeping pumping my arms. "Run with your god damn arms Frank," was the words I kept telling myself. I was breathing hard and I loved it. It gave me strength. Then the last 10 seconds I had one more challenge that awaited me.

When I run around the park but it's in a residential area. So when I run on pavement, it's actually the side of the road where cars drive. The part where I run is basically the side of the street which boarders the grass around the park. So everytime I run when there's cars passing by, and I'm trying intake air like I just stayed underwater for 5 minutes, I really don't appreciate all the fumes and smog that goes into my lungs. So today, on my very last sprint, for like a couple of seconds, I was running hard. Then this van crips up in parallel along side with me and started to accelerate hard. I mean, I heard that engine started to suck up that gas like it was big gulp. "Oh hell no man. Fuck that, you not showing me up you fuckin' car." Yes, I'm stupid and retarded, I know. I was trying to race a car like I was the "6 million dollar man." It only lasted for a couple of seconds, but I don't give a shit. I was so fuckin' shocked I still had some reserves lift. I dug my foot deep into the pavement in tried to hard to burst whatever ounces of energy I had left to try to keep up with the car. Needless to say, yup, I vaporized that car just like I did "Seabiscuit." LOL. j/k. Ok, so I didn't actually beat the car (as hard as that is to believe). But in my mind, for a sliver of a second I actually kepted up with it. A very short, minute, tens to the thousands decimal place, sliver of a second. But I don't care, it fuckin' pushed me to a place I didn't know exists and I got me a ten. Fuckin' high five for Frankie.

Alright time of Jiu-jitsu.
Take care all, have a great Saturday and go out there and race some cars.
-Frank

Today I did legs. As everyone and their grand childern know by now, Mondays are hard for me to workout. I just don't have a high drive to push myself in the beginning of the week. For me, Monday's workouts is something I have to get in because it drives my momentum for the rest of the week. Mondays are like warm up days. It tells my body to think in terms of working out and that it's going to be a tough challenging week coming so be prepared. So today, I just got a one ten on the intensity meter out of three body parts. That's ok. I'm still impressed that I can slowly adjust and add more weight to my sets. Oh the beauty of creatine.

In case anyone is wondering. I was able to fix my blender this weekend with some WD-40. That thing fixes any damn thing. I don't know how smart it is to spray WD-40 in my blender. Afterall I do drink out of that thing everyday. So now I guess I can add a dash of WD-40 to my list of supplemental nutriants. Whey protein, glutamine, creatine, mult-vitamin, alkaline, and now WD-40 for all my squeaky joints and rotator cups.

On a side note. I noticed that lately my entries have been a little more aggorant than I like to be. I apologize to anyone that's taking offensive to what I write as sometimes I say things without thinking about the reprocussions. I've been feeling really good about workouts lately and I try to ride my wave of momentum and excitement as far as I can. I do get carried away a bit and get a little big headed. I want to acknowledge that and try to balance that out as part of my process. Anyways, I just want to put that out there for anyone that is a bit sensative to some of the stuff that I write.

Take care,
-Frank

Alkaline? Check. A well rested sleep? Check. Hot morning sun bursting through the clouds. Check. Oh yeah, I'm ready for my run today. My knee is bothering me a bit, but not enough to stop this jerky from getting my ten for the day. I felt good today knowing that I did what I needed to do last night to get my body at optimal state for today. I love it when things workout synergistically and I can do my duty without much adversity for the day. It takes a lot of planning and preparation the night before, even the week in advance, but it makes having an optimal workout more easier. I don't plan my workout or my food as much as I use to. It's gotten to a point where it's routine. Hopefully within a few more months, it'll get to the point where it becomes a habit.

Today I discovered another new revelation. As I was trying my best to "run with my arms" by hammering down my fists as I did my sprints, I remembered something else I needed to do. I pretty sure my old high school track coaches also told me everytime I hammer, I should exhale. I couldn't comprehend this at first, I mean, how I can breathe at such a rapid pace. Do you know how fast and repetitious I "hammer" when I'm running. There was no way my lungs and heart can keep up with the pace I'm moving my arms and legs. Short, fast, and explosive breathes. I couldn't relate before because my aerobic capability wasn't up to per. How can it be possible to breathe at such a hard, fast pace? Well, today, I was very happy to have a glimps of this theory and try to understand it more through my training.

I can't believe I was actually capable of breathing at such a fast pace. This running crap is actually working. My lungs has a higher capacity then I thought it was possible. I couldn't even comprehend it's strength before and now I'm excerising it. I love discoverying revelations like this when I workout. It's a slow, growing, surprising process that's goes beyond the physical fulfillment of excerise. Needless to say, I will add this little tid bit the next time I run, along with all the other little motivational candy I use to get my through my workouts. "Breathe out with each hammer." Oh yeah, I got a ten today. Btw, I'm starting to yell at myself a loud a lot more than a sane man should when running by himself. So what, I'm already know I'm a little bit on the looney side. This is no surprise to me.

-Frank

Upper body day. The only upper body day I get this week. I better make it count. That was my intent going into the workout today. Actually I was looking forward to today's workout since Monday, but something happened last night which drained all my energy and I did not have that much reserves to use this morning. I still got a pretty decent workout today though. The lighting in my work gym is pretty good. Without trying to sound conceited or anything, but I'm seeing some strange muscle formations around my tricep and forearms. It looks like some crazy lines are forming around my tricep. It's looks cool but weird. I like it. I like wierd/cool things. Anyways, not much to talk about today except I feel great finishing my workout even though this morning I felt I had no energy. Chalk up another notch on the "determination" board.

Take care,
-Frank

It kind of feels good to be reminded what it's like to quit once in a while. This feeling sucks and I experienced it today. During my first run, for some reason I just didn't have the drive to go for it. My legs were tired. Why? I don't know. I guess I have a couple of theories like lack of sleep last night and very bad nutrition yesterday, but all that doesn't matter. Today I accepted that it was just one of those off days. Plain and simple. The gods were not looking after me today. If I wanted to make through this workout, I had to look after myself. So I dug in deep. Yes, "persistence" and "will power" stayed home today. Why? I don't know. They just did. It's wierd when I run, I also have to remind myself what these terms really mean. "What really is persistence? What really is determination? Do you know Frank? If you do, then prove it. You might have known it yesterday but unless you show me it today, you really don't have a clue." So I drove hard on my last run. It felt pretty good because my legs were burning as if I was doing leg curls. However, I did not get a ten today. My first two sprints were pathetic. I gave up so early before the minute was up. Yes, I quitted today. Not the entire workout, but during the small duration of my mini workouts. It sucked. I hate feeling like I have no will.

Now, more flame to the fire. Yesterday, my will power sucked even more as I mentioned earlier. I ate some pretty bad crap yesterday. Lasuana with cheese, a diet coke, and a bag of milk chocolate M&M's. Yes, that bag of M&M's was good and the Lasuana did satisfy my cravings for some really bad, nasty, chessey food, but at what price? I felt my body fat increasing by 2 to 3 percent for every bite that I gobbled. Yes, my fat cell acuity is just that sensative these days (LOL, just kidding). So this is my confession of my sins for yesterday. I better tighten up because the end of week 10 is just around the corner and week 12 is coming up. Also, I've been hanging out more these days in coffee shops so that means I've been drinking a lot more coffee and cider than I should. I don't recall coffee and cider being in the tier 1 and tier 2 food groups, so I better stop that crap out as well. I guess I'll just buy bottled water next time I lease a spot in the coffee shop. I honestly don't know how people can drink coffee every morning and add all the sugar and cream and crap in there. I drink mine black just because I don't want all those extra calories. I'm even more amazed how people can do that and still cut down their body fat. I'm not worthy.

I got in a pretty good leg workout today. Well at least in my quadracips. I finally felt my legs screaming in pain today. It's been a while since I got this feeling. I knew I was doing the right thing today. I noticed that I'm starting to get burnt out on my workouts. I just want to acknowledge this feeling even though I know that I have about two to three more weeks of training left on this program. It's wearing me down and it's harder and harder to stay on top of my workouts. Yesterday I had sugar free hot chocolate. Fifty god damn unpresented calories. I'm starting to break. I'm really looking forward to my two weeks of rest after this Body for life program is over. But until then, must... keep... moving.

Yes, it's the end of the week. Guess what? Week 10, I kicked your ass again this week. However, I lost the battle of nutrition this week. Yes, I was weak. I accept my defeat. The next 2 weeks should be interesting. My legs were very tired from my lower body workout yesterday so my run is a bit of a challenge. But it was a good challenge. I didn't go crazy until the last run, then I just let it all loose. When I run, I usually use markers along the side of the road like light poles and fire hydrants to measure how long I've been running without looking directly at my watch. I kind of know how far I can run within a minute these days based on using these "markers." Usually I like running along side all these people doing their morning walks because there's just "magic markers" everywhere to push me to run a little bit farther than I'm use to. "I'm going to catch up to this jabroni," is the thought that goes through my head. Ofcourse I don't really think they're jabroni's, I just like saying that as an after thought. When I'm running I just focus on hitting that new mobile magic marker. They really drive me to push hard. Plus, I LOVE just running right past them in the final stretch. hahaha. I'm evil.

Have a great Saturday everyone.
-Frank

My workout wasn't that great today. I had too much on my mind and I couldn't focus on the moment as much as I liked. Too bad because today was upper body. I'm thinking about my next workout routine after Body for Life. I think I will take 2 weeks off and then do 2 weeks of my Power90 in home workouts just because I really like the challenge for their circuit workouts. I breathe so hard by the end of the 40 minutes. I miss it even though the resistence training isn't as strong as with doing weights. But the intensity and the way it builds my heart and lungs, I really like. So far, I like the concept of the Max-OT workout program. Short intense workouts that is very focused. The only thing is I have to workout everyday. When will I do cardio? I'm still deciding on which route to take.

Hmmm.. let's see what nutrious foods I had yesterday ok. Shrimp cocktail and 2 steak tacos for lunch. Well, that wasn't that bad. Shrimp has decent protein and the steak tacos are pretty low in calories. How about after dinner? Pork skin. Mmmm..yum. That's tier 1 food for sure. How about Lay's potatoe chips? Yup, up there in the high nutrition low fat cataglory as well. hehe. Yesterday, I broke like a little kid in a candy store. There's something about just sitting on your ass, watching sitcoms and wanting to snack on something while your doing it. I'm not going to blame the sitcom. I was my fault. I broke down yesterday. This is not good. I've haven't been eating that well last week neither. I better straighten up before all this hard work I've put in all goes up in flames. At least I got my 10 for today in my run. I had a great run today. Maybe it was from the fat that I was a total pig last night and I needed to do something fast to get some instant gratification. haha. How lame. I think it was because I just had a good night's sleep last night and I was pretty energized this morning even though I felt sluggish from all that crap I ate last night. But yay for me, I was able to finish my workout.

Urgh. I'm sick. I woke up this morning with a soar throat. I was really debating if I should go to work today let alone go workout. I could use a rest day but for some dumb reason, I sucked it up and got my butt to work. And I worked out as well. It was an ok workout. I hit some good reps with decent weights. It was a respectable workout but nothing spectacular. I'm just glad I was able to actually do it. Now I'm going to drink pints and pints of orange juice and water. I'm going to make sure I eat well today and hopefully rest good tonight. I think the cause of my sickness was driving with the windows down last night and letting the cold night air take it's toll on me. I'm don't know what caused it.

Man, the run today wasn't all that great. I'm still a little bit sick so I'm wasn't expecting much from myself. Wait, what am I talking about. No wonder my run wasn't great. Look at this bad attitude I have going into it. Anyways, the only part of the run I was real proud of the 2nd, 3rd and last minute of the 4th lap. The 1st and first minute of the 4th lap was lame. I gave up on the 1st minute of the 4th lap. I think I started my minute too early and I couldn't tell how long I ran and the markers were all messed up and I just decided to stop and walk for a bit before the last minute. But the last minute, that was fun. I pushed hard. I felt my leg muscles burning and aching as I picked my legs up for long strides. I tried to explode with every last ounce of energy I had. I really enjoy this moment because I don't realize how much I can still give out. The last minute made the run really rewarding. But I have to admit, I am quite burned out. I just realized this is going to be a 13 week program not 12. Urgh. Oh well, I wanted to do upper body twice on my last week anyways and I need to monitor what I eat more carefully anyways.

Today was one of those good days. One of those days where I just go in the gym and I have energy beyond my belief. Yes, today I felt very ambitious and the way I attacked my weight showed it. I went up in weight today in my dumbell bench press. Although I did not get a full six reps on the weight I did, I felt great. I felt so strong. This was the weight I was planning on achieving in the end of my six months program. I'm very close it this goal now and it's only been three months. YES!!! Then I hit my shoulders. Again I went up in weight in my heavy set and again it was the weight I planned to achieve in my six month's goal. This time I got five reps. Double YES!!! Oh I have a feeling I can get six reps on both these exercise by the end of this workout session.

Oh man, I'm so feeling the effects of my workout right now. My body is screaming in recovery. Too bad I had spaghetti for lunch. Fuck. However, as for my third and fourth meal I plan on going to togos and get me this 102g of protein chicken sandwich. http://www.togosspeedlunch.com/TOGOsOnLine/PDFs/CaliforniaChickenSandwhich.pdf Can you fuckin' believe it? One hundred and fuckin' two grams of protein. That can't be right. It does come with a heafy price of 1030 calories though and hella sodium and hella calories. I don't care. I want to know what a 100+ grams of protein chicken sandwich tastes like. LOL.

Ok, great workout. Almost ended the week. Time to party this weekend. Voot for me.
-Frank

Today run was great. It was better than great, it was spectular. I felt so good today. It was weird because prior to the first lap I was all sore and stiff from training martial arts last night. But then after my first pathetic lap, I got pumped. Somehow I drew energy from the elements and I was on fire. I pumped hard with my arms today. I really forgot how good and strong this feels with my really over exaggerate my arm movements. It gives me so much power. Although I can't last as long if I waste so much energy, but who cares, I want a tough workout. Overall, it was just a great run because the last sprint, I pushed really hard. I always love it when I can really surprise myself on how hard I can push myself. I was a bit worried about injuries today because on my first lap, I felt a stiffness in my leg. I was scared I was going to pull something today but good thing the gods were with me and I came through today with no injuries.

Ok two more weeks to go and then I can rest this beat up body for a bit. Until then I have to stay strong and focused. Also, the togos sub I mentioned yesterday does not exists anymore. The California Roasted Chicken. But if you want togos, get the french dip. The regular size. It is decent in nutrition in case you need something on the go. No, it does not have 102 grams of protein like the California Roasted Chicken, but it's still good in case you need fast food.

Take care and have a great weekend everyone.
-Frank

Day 78. The beginning of week 12. And I'm sick again. Urgh. I'm not super sick, but sick enough to know that my body is not at optimal and I shouldn't be pushing myself that hard today. I'm just glad I was able to get up and hit the gym. It was not an easy process. I was at the gym and I know if I didn't write a journal and if I wasn't on a workout program and if I didn't record how much I lift for every session, I would have easily decided to not workout today. This journal and every other little thing I do keeps me committed to my workout routine. At times, it is very tough for me to feel that I have write something everyday. But it keeps me honest and aware of my progress and nutrition. It makes things more on the conscious level so during the times of tough decisions, it's harder for me to give in to the path of least resistence. I was really grateful that I write in this journal today.

Now my workout was not so great, but again the point is that it got done. I didn't get any 10's today at all. My currently energy state is really low so I'm just at the point where I'm grateful for what I have and if I can just maintain it, I'll be a happy camper. No high ambitions for me today. Just get a decent workout, fatigue my legs a bit, and then let my body recover. I'll hit legs again on Friday so I'll pay "you" back then.

On nutrition. I know I said last week I was going to watch what I ate. Well, I didn't so I'm going to try it again this week. It's harder now because I'm getting more cravings everyday. But I'm making some good readjustments. I bought me some protein bars in case I need to snack on something. Yes, the calorie and fat count are still a bit high, but it's not as high as a "Snickers" bar (I think). Plus it has protein. 31 freakin' grams of it. Nice. I hope I don't start eating it like candy. Another great substitute I've found for my trips to the coffee shops is tea. Green tea. I read it someone on the forums that it was benefitting someone. It got me curious and I did some research. I guess green tea is part of a fad these days as part of a weight loss program. LOAF. Whatever. But it has great benefits and no bad nutritional numbers. 0 calories, 0 fat, 0 carbs, 0 protein. It's absolutely nothing. The only "bad" effect is it has caffeine. Well, this is perfect for me because I need caffeine in my body because I'm sleep deprived, but I don't drink coffee. So I've been getting my caffeine from diet coke, but I know that's not a good idea even though the nutritional numbers are decent. So now I got a GREAT substitute. I'm going to drink this puppy like water. LOL. Wish me luck on my food intake this week peoples. I'm going to cross my fingers and try to stay strong.

-Frank

I'm still a bit sick and I had to wake up a little bit earlier because I needed to visit the eye doctor today. My run was very good. I pushed hard today and I really liked my effort. Therefore I give myself a 10 for my run and a *self high five* for putting in my hard work with lumps in my throat and all. I don't think these new protein bars are going to help me in cutting down the body fat. Genius thought huh? "You really don't think so Frank?" I'm still going to eat some though because I bought $30 dollars worth of bars and I ain't wasting my money. I think just the thought that I have them in my posession and I have access to them whenever I want will make me eat less of it. It's weird, I feel I can control my urges more if I know I can have it when I want it. Hopefully, I won't be eating more than one of these a day. That's my plan. I will eat/nibble on small pieces throughout the day just to get my fix in. Please god let this work and not give me a bunch of excess calories that I don't be needin'.

Geezus man, I can't believe I'm still sick. 'Theraflu' is not my friend. Usually when I take that puppy I recover real fast. This time around my recovery is super slow. Must be because my body is too busy trying to rebuild all those muscle fibers that I'm breaking down during my workout session. Yeah, that's exactly it. haha. Anyways, regardless of this sickness, I still worked out today. I don't care if it's counter productive. I'm on week 12 damn it. I'm almost done. And plus, today is my only upper body day this week; there is no way in 'heck' that I'm going to miss this day. I knew that I wasn't going to have the greatest workout today, but I still gave it my all. My efforts were appluasable given the current circumstances. I had a great back workout which is a rarity for me. Yes, 10 on my back today because I was stretching my lats like a rubberband. Full extentions and I felt each contraction as I squeezed my should blades together. Ahhhhh.. the power.

I'm still eating these protein bars like they're candy. Yesterday I had one and a half bars. I think I'm going to try to have just half a day. Maybe. Urgh, why did I buy them? The temptation is too strong for little ol' weak Frankie to fight. Oh yeah, I forgot, 31 grams of mega nutrients. Still that's a lot of calories to sacrifice for the protein. Maybe if I scrape off the chocolate or yogurt coating that surrounds the actual protein part of the bar, then I'll be able to get all protein without all the calories. Nah, I ain't that anal. Plus I'll end up eating it later anyways because I'm just that weak willed. Urgh, 10 days baby. Stay strong, stay on track, and keep on truckin'.

4 days in a row and I'm still sick as a bird. Why? I don't know. So what if I'm not sleeping anymore than I regularly would. Big deal. So what if I'm still pushing myself everyday and not just resting and relaxing. Ok, so many all this play into account so today I think I'm just going to stay at home and not go to work and see how long I can sleep. I'm also going to try to stay off of this internet thing and just veg in my bed and in front of my tv. But with all this planned, I still worked out. I don't know, I'm just crazy I think. I feel the sickness mainly in my throat but physically I don't feel sick. So I ran and ran like there was no tomorrow, although it was a hard decision for me to make. The only thing that pushed me was the fact that I'm on week 12 and that I only have a couple of more days to go until I'm done and I will never have to workout again for the rest of my life. hahaha. Today I did not get a 10. I stopped 5 seconds too soon. Oh well. I'll get 'em next time.

I hope you get better soon!

Well, I'm still sick, but I'm still dumb as ever. Yup, I worked out again today. Last weight training session of the week, so I can't go out like a 'sucka'. Anyways, I had a decent workout today. Even though my throat is dry is heck, I still managed to get a couple of good sets and felt some burn in my quads, hams, and calves. Now I plan on sleeping for the rest of the weekend. If I'm still sick come Monday, I'm going to be very upset at myself.

Alright, week 12 done. This week has been a hard struggle but I only have one more week left and then... REST!!! I love rest. Although I do have one more week of 2 upper body workouts and 1 lower body workout and then PICTURES. I'm not too thrilled about pictures this time around because of all these protein bars I've been eating. It's been reflecting in my gut too. haha. I better cut it out next week or else it's going to be backward progress for me. I've found out that black coffee has no calories. Isn't that cool? All black for me from now on and green tea ofcourse. Double Voot for me on that one. Anyways, my run today was good. I love just burning all these people strolling around the park as I run pass them and blow then top hats off and left up their skirts with my lighting fast speed. LOL. Yeah right. Do I look like I wear a red suit and have lighting bolt markers as my ears and on my chest? Didn't think so. Anyways, enough being a dork. Time to train the mind. Have a great weekend everyone.

Oh yeah, the beginning of week 13, my last week. I started my workout late today but I was able to get in a pretty good workout. I hit my goal of doing 6 reps of 150lbs on the flat dumbell bench press. Yes!!! I'm a goal achieving master. (Not really, but I'm riding my high right now, so I'm going to exaggerate a little bit more than usual). But I'm really glad I hit this weight. I was NEVER able to hit this weight before in all my past workout experiences, so I'm reall proud of this achievement. I feel good today so hopefully my nutrition will follow my lead this week and I'll have some decent results by the end of this week. Haha, it's funny how I think one week for real serious effort is going to make up for all the bad food intake I've been doing the last 2 weeks. Well, I'm at the end of the stretch, so I can only pray for the best (and do my best to get the best results). I'm excited people. I'm almost done. Voot! Voot!

So I had to come in early for work today for a morning meeting so I wan't able to do my run around the park like usual. So instead, after my meeting, I went out gym and tried to run on the treadmill. Man, trying to do high intensity training on the treadmill is not good for your health. Meaning it is very dangerous to manually adjust the treadmill speed while exhausted and running at the same time. I don't know how I did this before but I had some balls back then. So after the first internal, I decided to screw running on the treadmill and just jump rope with intensity interval trainning. This worked out well. I didn't know how to adjust to it because I don't know what feels like a "10" when jump roping. But by the end of my workout, I know exactly what I should do during the intense one minute bursts when I jump rope. What I ended up doing was just jumping high and trying to get the rope to loop around twice. And yes, I have to keep this up for a full minute. Yeah right, that was next to impossible. So the next best thing was doing 3 big jumps and then skip for 5 rotations and repeat. This killed my lungs. I was panting like a dog on a hot summer day. That's when I knew I found and alternative to running. When will I incorporate it into my workout? I don't know, but I like having options.

Man I feel good today. Tony Robbins good. Why? Because I've just finished my last lower body workout routine for the rest of my life. Yay for me. I really pushed hard today and I didn't even realize it was going to be my last legs routine until I hit the gym this morning. I guess that's what happens this workout thing slowly becomes a habit. I just get up and go do it. If I'd known today would be my last "legs day" or thought about it more last night, I definitely would have gotten more rest and prepared myself a little bit better.

But none of that matters because I still got me a great workout. 10's all across the board today kid. And on top of that... hmmm... let's look at Frankie's goals for end of June 2004 again.

My Goals for July 1, 2004 (Strength Measureable Goals)