Day 24. End of Round 2… and some stats… well…

Round 2. Phase 3. Day 5. Rest and reward meal.

Hi everybody, well, first of all, yesterday I couldn’t sleep well. I don’t know if I was to anxious, too tired, too… I don’t know… I woke up very early in the morning (5 a.m.) and almost decided to go to run, but remembered the soccer finale and stayed in bed… I checked my weight and took measurements (I haven’t take them since the end of my first metabolic surge round) and I’m going to post them.

I really really want to thank you people.. you’re such a great family: Mike, Ron, Suzette, Mark, Jason, Adam, Larry, Michael, Lilla.. (I hope I’m not forgetting anyone), you’ve been such a great support. I really feel I have you guys near in case I want to say something or if I’m not feeling good or… I don’t know… you’re my inspiration all the time…

I really had to brain wash myself a lot for me to put this picture… and I regret so much that I wasn’t holding a paper for the date… I just want to say that it was at the beginning of my first metabolic surge round (about 2 months ago.. I’m gonna check the exact day in the spanish blog) …October 6th was the start (I’ve just checked it … lol). So it’s a little bit more than 2 months. And this is a comparative picture: OMG!!!

Comparative picture..

 

 

Well, that was hard to post… seriously… I can’t believe I let myself turn into that.. sporty Celina was looking like a never-holding-a-weight person!.. well.. I’m glad I decided to start blogging and feel the postive pressure Adam was talking about.

Well… after this tough moment, I know I could’ve left this things for the end of this Metabolic Surge mission, but I couldn’t wait to share with you all the feelings this things bring to us, and make us remember why we are trying so hard everyday… well, enough, I will leave the other pictures and the stats …

 

 

Shredding with SuzetteGetting lean - Day 24

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                              

                                          ZERO              1st round             D 24-2nd round              Total diff.

WEIGHT KGS               66.200                60.500                 58.500              (-7.7 kg)

WEIGHT LBS.                145.6               133.1                    128.7                 (-16.9 lbs)

WAIST (narrowest)             77 cm               69 cm                 68 cm           (- 9 cm / -3.5 in)

 WAIST (navel)                  N/A                 72 cm                 69 cm.                      *

CHEST                           92 cm                 90 cm                87 cm.               (- 5 cm / – 2 in)

HIPS                             N/A                  97 cm                 94 cm.                            *

BICEP (relaxed)        28.5 cm               27 cm               26.5 cm                 (- 2 cm / -0.8 in)

THIGH (Right)           57.5 cm              55 cm              54    cm                  (- 3.5 cm / -1.3 in)

NECK                     33 cm                32 cm               31   cm               (- 2 cm / -0.8 in) 

Day 23. Round 2 almost done..

Round 2. Phase 3. Day 4. Prefatigue supersets and low fat (high carb)

Hi, well, today was a tough day. Yesterday  I did play and WE WON! so we’re in the finals (next wednesday). So after the game I didn’t drink my whey protein but ate the salad! So everything went fine.

Today, I woke up and decided to do the workout in the afternoon, when the gym is more empty and I can use the weights freely. So I packed my meals:

Meal 1: 5 egg whites + 1/3 cup of oats + 1/4 apple

Meal 2: Whey protein shake

Meal 3: Chicken breast + broccoli and lettuce + small apple

 I went to the gym and began my workout, I want to say a few things here, the program said that an ambicious combo for the BACK SUPERSET was bentover rows + deadlifts, and that’s what I did, so did 3 x 10 reps with 60 kilos for the deathlifts…

For the chest, I supersetted DB FLYES with BENCH PRESS and was able to bench 3 x 8 with 40 kilos…!! good… (those two last reps were tough!!)… For the legs: wow, I can feel it right now, I did LEG EXTENSIONS + SQUATS (3 x 8 with 70 kilos!!) I guess I’m gaining strength!.

For shoulders I did lateral raises + DB shoulder press. For biceps: preacher curls + DB bicep curls. For Triceps: tricep pushdowns + lying tricep extension. For Hamstrings: lying leg curls + stiff legged deadlift (I felt those on the lower back too!) and for calves I did standing + seated calf raises! Wow, I could barely had energy for the 7 intervals (30/30) but I did them… I only have to say I could feel my body shaking after this workout, my mouth was entirely dry and walking back home was something nice to remember!

I dran my postworkout whey protein shake and after a few hours, ate another half chicken breast with broccoli… I guess I did everything according to the plan, gained some numbers, I’m weighting 58.5 kilos, I’m happy with how I feel… tomorrow’s the end of round 2, cheat meal and even though the program orders REST, I have the soccer finale.. so.. let’s see… I’ll leave you with my pictures… I hope everyone’s doing fine! Dare to change!!!

Shredding with Suzette

 

 

 

 

And here’s my today’s picture…

Getting lean - Day 23

Day 22. DOMS & morning fasted cardio…

Round 2. Phase 3. Day 3. H.I.I.T. Cardio and high carb (low fat)

Well, today I woke up at 6:00 a.m., usually on Mondays I stay at work until late (from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm and then I rehearse with the band). Today, I have a soccer game which I still don’t know if I’m going to assist, cause I have to tell the girls from the band I’m not going or viceversa… since my computer’s broken, I’m bloggin from the office, a little bit earlier…

So, in the morning I was so into doing the cardio, but at 6:00 I was feeling the cold weather and my legs & gluteus DOMS.. I guess, that little change on the 4th round to Lunges for the Quads’ was a good change, I can .. well, my gluteus can tell you why!… anyway, I decided to jump out of the bed and grabbed my ipod, checked my weight (58.3! even on creatine which  I think didn’t give me much weight (I’m only taking about 10 gms daily) and went out to the park… I started warming up and there were a few people walking around the park besides me, so it made a little difficult the Interval thing, that’s why I combined, steady state and intervals for, I don’t know, perhaps 30 minutes…

After that I did some core training and got a shower, took my Meal 1 (whey protein + 1/4 banana + creatine shake), and prepared my next meals:

2)5 egg whites + 1/4 cup oats + 1/4 apple

3)1/2 cup cottage chees + 1/4 cup blueberries

4)chicken breast + 1 cup broccoli + sweet potato

If  I play soccer I will take a protein scoop shake and maybe a chicken cesar salad after that, if I don’t play, I guess I will only eat the salad…

Well, that’s it for today, I told almost everything trying to substitute my accountability charts… see you tomorrow, shred hard! Dare to change!

Shredding with Suzette

I was looking at some pictures (before pictures) and I couldn’t believe it, I can’t wait to compare but I regret so much that I wasn’t holding a newspaper for the date! Anyway, you would have to believe me… See you tomorrow!

Getting lean - Day 22

Day 21. What a Sunday..

Round 2. Phase 3. Day 2. Muscle Rounds 2 and high carb (low fat).

Well, yesterday, I went to one of the Christmas parties we celebrate here in Mexico, I don’t know how you guys call them but we gather together before Christmas, the name here is Posada… anyway, I went to just to say hello to a dear friend (host of the Posada) expecting to return not so late to sleep well, as I knew I was having muscle rounds next day.

Getting lean - Day 21

 Well, the evening was great, very cold by the way, but I met a great person, and we talked and talked and the time just flew… she’s from Costa Rica and is a great person, with a lot of subjects to talk about, and at her young age, she’s been traveling a lot, and studying in several countries as well… so she speaks two or three languages, and we talked a lot,.. the point is that, I wanted to come back early (maybe 1:00 a.m.) but I talked until I guess 2:30 a.m… but what a great person! you know!

So I slept quite late… and in the morning I tried to wake up so I could eat breakfast early, and by 9:30 I was already eating my egg whites with oats and apple, then I went with my mom to buy some stuff. We came back and I ate protein oatmeal (Adam’s recipe..). After 3 hours I was really procastinating about starting working out, I was convincing myself to do it late at night.. but no! my parents went to a party and before taking my third meal, I decided to start warming up… well, it was a tough workout, that’s all I have to say… I did inclined bench press (3 rounds), bent over barbell rows (3 rounds), barbell shoulder press (2 rounds), dipps and tricep extensions (2 rounds), and barbell bicep curls (2 rounds)… My arms were really swollen after this workout… I don’t know if you can appreciate that on the picture.. or maybe I’m just hallucinating… well, after that, I realized that my computer failed and had to take it to get fixed, …

So I just took my postworkout (whey + 1/4 banana + creatine) shake, and about two hours later (not hungry at all) ate my chicken breast + broccoli + sweet potato. For the last meal, I ate a tuna salad, but I still didn’t feel hungry, I ate anyway, so that I could feed my body…

   Well, enough for today, I would have to leave the accountability charts until my computer comes back, but I will try to, somehow, remain myself accountable on the posts… I hope everybody is doing ok! The one’s that are fighting against some sickness get very well soon! Take care…

   Fewer days until Christmas… let’s shred hard..

Shredding with Suzette

Day 20. Muscle Rounds.. uff

Round 2. Phase 3. Day 1. Muscle rounds and high carb (low fat)

Well, today is the beginning of Phase 3. That means a change in the diet, instead of low carb, we have to start eating carbs again. I follow very strictly the meal plans that come with the program on the low carb diet, but I’m afraid of eating to much simple carbs after the all fruit day… I don’t know.. I guess I will stick to oats and sweet potatos, maybe some flourless bread or brown rice.. I guess I’m going to see what happens.. I really want to follow Nick Nilsson’s advise and John Berardi (the one the designed the meal plans) knows his stuff.. so.. I will not be afraid of carbs.. that’s my new mindset… I have to pack some muscle and that’s what I need..

Well, yesterday while on the all fruit day, I was cooking and decided to investigate if I could make something with whey protein, egg whites and oats… I really enjoy breakfasts that include those three.. usually, on high carb days, I put 5 egg whites + 1/3 oats + 1/4 apple with some splenda in the microwave and tastes pretty good (similar to Lilla’s recipe – pancake a la Tom Venuto) but without cooking it in a pan.  So, I did some “cookies”, I know I have to improve the recipe but it’s kind of something new after a lot of time I’ve been eating the same things… the cookies are made with 2 egg whites, 1 1/3 scoop of chocolate whey protein, 2/3 oats, 2 splendas, 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp of calorie free maple, and 1/4 tsp of olive oil. They were pretty good, but I think I will mix the ingredients better. Each cookie has 15 grams of protein, 9 of carbs and I think 1 gram of fat.. so it’s pretty good to pack in some protein… well… my cooking skills are not very good… anyway

I woke up today and drank my protein shake, as recommended after  the all fruit day. An hour after, I ate 2 cookies. Two hours after the other 2 cookies with some coffee with my mom…(my mom’s at home right now – she works on another city). Two hours after, I did Muscle Rounds… man, that was tough! I was thinking on using a new weight for the squats but… no! I guess that because of my bodyweight, I might be struggling with the weights (happened all the time while I competed). But any way, I manged to do 2 rounds of Muscle Rounds with 60 kilograms on the squat, a third with 62.5 and changed to Lunges for the 4th round…

If you really think that squats don’t work your middle section, try muscle rounds… I don’t know if I have abs.. but they were in pain, as well as my back… every muscle in the core works on muscle rounds… I was breathing as if I were doing interval training and sweating and … uff… well,  I decided to take it easy on stiff legged deadlifts and loaded the bar with 45 kilograms, did 2 rounds.. still breathing hard… and for the third round, I used 47.5 kgs.

I finished calves with 70 kilograms on the bar, and tried a little bit more reps than the recommended to feel the burn, as I did this workout in my home gym.. well, that was it for training.  After finishing I drank a protein shake with 1/4 of banana and creatine. A few hours later, chicken breast with sweet potato and we are expecting visitors tonight as one of my stepfather’s friend was a box champion and they are gonna see the fight between Oscar de la Hoya (mexican-american) and don’t-know-who, but it’s a good reason to make some BBQ and party and alcohol (of course I’m gonna try to stay away from unplanned things)… I guess that’s it for today, I’m still here trying to stay focused…

 

 

 

 

 

This is day 13 of the Christmas Sprint.

Shredding with Suzette

 

 

 

 

This is my today’s picture… hope everyone is doing fine.

Getting lean - Day 20

Day 19. All fruit day… finally Friday

Round 2. Phase 2. Day 2. All fruit day.

Well, today I woke up and before eating my first fruit, I checked my bodyweight and I think it’s my lightest. 59 kg flat… well.. I’m happy with that, but I see that after all, I realized the importance of bulking. Michael will be happy with this!.. but I won’t lie if I say it’s a great motivation to finally see the muscles you appartently have… I’m talking about my huge past! enormous legs (25 inches each), enormous back, etc… finally I’m able to see the progress I was talking about… when I walk I feel more confident about myself, because I don’t feel the softness I was feeling when I was carrying excess of water combined with excess of fat… I STILL HAVE EXCESS OF FAT.. but I’m sure each day will be less.. I’m now planning on my next program…. deffently, I need to eat in maintenance levels and lift intense and heavy so that I can give my body some shape!.. well.. I still have the rest of Metabolic Surge to plan that…

Well… the season is not helping much with fruit variety, so I stuck to 2 apples, 2 pears, 3 oranges, 1 mango, 4 small peaches and 2 plums. I’m not sure if it’s too much or too little… just ate it, and was tired of fruit after mid day… can’t wait to eat my protein…

By the way, while getting ready for tomorrow, I baked some whey protein cookies (they only have whey protein, egg whites and oatmeal.. and a little bit of extra virgin olive oil).. so I’m planning to have those for the beginning of my high carb and protein loading day, also cooked some chicken breast and sweet potato, oh, and ordered some whey protein, because I have very little left… … well… tomorrow’s muscle rounds and I’m really planning to eat more during the day, I really need to pack something for the end of this mission.

I’ll leave you with a small tour of my humble home gym (I’m planning to invest a little bit more this year on it), a picture of me throwing the discus (my beginnings in track & field) and one of my step father.. now, he was an Olympic Discus Thrower in Montreal 1976 Olympic Games, representing Cuba.. my first coach and mentor, my guidance, my teacher… my father. (Just for the record, his best personal best on the bench press was 250 kgs (550 lbs) he was famous for that… well, enough for today, it’s pretty late and I’m seriously falling asleep..

 Everybody have an excellent weekend.

Some days I lift here

 

My step father and I.. some medals

P.S. Keep this weekend your mindset on… there are just a few days before Christmas and the new year!! Have a nice weekend!! Celina

Day 18. Protein and lots of work..

Round 2. Phase 2. Day 1. Protein and cardio.

Hi, I hope everybody is doing well. Christmas is coming and with that  joy, family warmth, goals, dreams, presents and FOOD!. that’s why I’m kind of working hard to deserve that day with my family, feeling good about myself, the way I used to be.

I was arguing with my brother because he used to be regular working out and eating clean, he was getting a great shape and suddenly, his habits changed, he’s smoking everything he sees, the cigarette is taking him out of control, he’s no longer going to the gym and drinking beer and sleeping late at night everynight… does that sound familiar? Yeap, a lot of people does that as a regular schedule, I don’t disagree with them, I just keep thinking about it myself, I’ve done that a few times, and you really get used to it, but if you are consistent, two weeks exercising regularly and eating clean, and you drink beer and eat a hot dog at 3:00 am to survive the night, go to sleep at 5:00 am, I bet you’ll wake up at 9:00 am running to the bathroom feeling that hot dog still in between your throat and your stomach.. let’s not talk about the horrible headache you might be experiencing and the BLOAT on your face and eyes and hands.. and… did I say something attractive here?

My point is that my brother was feeling awful when he saw his friend’s picture, he was cutting to compete, he was feeling ashame of himself, he knows he wants to go back to the gym and says that he threw all those months of discipline to the trash, and that was the point of our instant message conversation.. nothing’s lost.. we never lose the work we’ve done.. but the body responds easily to everything we do and everthing we eat … two days will never destroy what we’ve done in several months, even 1 month won’t destroy what we’ve done in three… one year, never destroys what a trained person has been doing all of his or her life… the problem is going back on track… everyone of us should think what we were doing when we were doing every thing fine… we should go back there! we should sit, and start looking for motivation and finding those personal reasons why so that we can turn our mindset shift ON and feel great again…

   I’m talking frecuently with my brother so that he gets motivated again…. he needs it… well, enough of this… today was a great but tough day, I only ate protein as planned (chicken breasts and tuna… I think a light soda just for a change..) and walked to work and back, walked a lot in my city’s downtown in the morning (work stuff), walked a lot!!, climbed a lot of stairs as well and drank a lot of water… did some skipping because I was so tired to do the HIIT planned, and slept little.. sorry for that… anyway.. I’ll leave you with a picture of my city, this is precisely where I went walking in the morning, is pretty close to my work, but hey, just to change a little…  have a nice day and remember your goals so that you keep going towards…

 

A Fountain in La Macro Plaza

I went to those buildings ...

P.S. Tomorrow’s my all fruit day… see you, it’s pretty late…

Day 17. Feeling stronger…

Round 2. Phase 1. Day 5. Lactic Acid Training 2.

Hello, well, today was a cold day (for me) here in Monterrey. Actually is not cold, but I usually need long sleeve blouses to survive to cold weathers. I woke up at 5:45, and felt the cold weather (12° C), and with muscle soreness from yesterday, so I thought well and decided to recover a little bit more going back to sleep and hitting the gym in the afternoon… and that’s what I did.

So, at 7:00 I jumped out of the bed, took a bath, and since I prepared the food the night before, had no problems packing it (egg whites with broccoli, a whey protein scoop + almonds, and chicken breast with peppers and lettuce + almonds) 1st, 2nd and 3rd meals.

I was feeling slow, not much energy, and my brain was trying to convince me to modify my plan and maybe doing the workout tomorrow or something… but hell no… just grabbed my ipod and started walking towards the gym. When I got there, the warm up gave me a boost of energy and started my training feeling strong.

First SHOULDERS: lateral raises (10 lbs) for more than 20 reps alternated with shoulder barbell presses for 3 or 4 reps (25 lbs DBs). Resting 20 seconds between sets. That’s what I did for 8 sets… Then TRICEPS, which, by the way, haven’t recovered from the Fast Loss Circuit Training and did Pushdowns alternated with Dumbell Tricep Extensions (15 lbs – those were hard!!).

I then went to hammer the QUADS, doing extensions alternated with squats (I squatted 4 series of 3 and the last one of 5) with 70 kgs!!.. I haven’t used that weight for a lot of time!, I felt those fine… At last, Lying Hamstring Curls alternated with Stiff Legged Deadlifts (60 kilos)…

I was sweating and could feel my heart beating fast.. absolutely the heaviest weights I have used since starting metabolic surge, or even, since I left weightlifting… and I’m not feeling bulky! that’s my greatest feeling… well… I feel good, a little bit tired, but happy to achive small goals day by day… thanks everybody for your support, I keep thinking on you when I feel weak…

 

 

 

 

Believe ir or not, I remember you while training, while eating, and keep thinking on those words you told us on that magnificent post! thank you…

 

 

Shredding with Suzette

 

 

 

 

 

Well, here’s my today’s picture…. Dare to Change…

Getting lean - Day 17

Day 16. Waking up late… skipping breakfast.. good workout

Round 2. Phase 1. Day 4. Lactic Acid Training 1 and Low carb.

Well, today, my alarm sounded as usual at 5:45 am, but I (don’t know how) turned it off. Then reopened my eyes and 7:45… what???? I jumped out of bed, took a bath (I ate late at night, remember?) it really helped with energy levels, and allowed me to get to work only 8 minutes late… fortunately, I have “emergency meals” (haha.. it doesn’t even sound as a plan!). I took a ready to eat tuna pack (it’s packed empty – I don’t know how to say that), my almonds and some flax seed oil pills, also, I have whey protein portions on small plastic bags just in case I need to take them without having to take the bottle.. so, after all, I ate my first meal at about 12 am (wasn’t hungry at all), which was the tuna with almonds and pills, and at 2:00 pm took a protein shake. I got home and got ready for my today’s workout.. .. LACTIC ACID TRAININING ALTERNATING LIGHT AND HEAVY WEIGHTS! :S …

  Well,  I started with CHEST (push ups and flat barbell bench press)… my personal best, doing pushups, was 29… today, on my first set (without push up training) I did 30 reps, then did 3 reps with 40 kgs on the bench press… I alternated that for the 10 sets… but, of course, I could only do 8 reps on each push up set… the most!!! even my triceps were hurting… then the BACK: narrow grip pull downs alternated with deadlifts. The weight for deadlifts was 60 kgs (132 lbs – almost my bodyweight) and felt them, not too easy, not too hard… it worked!…

For the biceps, I should’ve read what Nick Nilsson says about choosing a weight lighter than you think because biceps get tired fast when done properly!! huh?… well, I could barely complete the first 20 reps of the first set with barbell bicep curls and alternated it with inclined dumbell curls with 15 lbs.. Finally, calves, I alternated standing with seated raises (I could feel the burn)…

   Well, after that, I did the 7 Intervals (30/30 rest) for the cardio session and was really tired after that, I took my picture, my protein shake and went straight to buy some stuff I needed… I guess it was a good workout, my legs feel tired and tomorrow is the Lactic Acid Training 2, and I’m planning to do it in the morning…

  Well, I guess that’s it for today, the only problem was that I didn’t take Meal 1, but I guess I ate before going to sleep and is not doing much harm… keep it up everybody, let’s finish this year in a great manner! See you tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suzette: I can’t believe is day 9 already…

Shredding with Suzette

 And here’s my today’s picture… I can tell you, Nick Nilsson even knows when you’re gonna feel tired, when you need rest… the man knows his program… Dare to change!!

Getting lean - Day 16

Day. 15. Rest… and planning

Round 2. Phase 1. Day 3. Rest.

Hi, well.. Mondays are very busy days for me as I have to stay late at work.. that means from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm and from 5:00 to 8:00 pm, also, have rehearsal with the band I play. So, on Sunday, I cooked fish with veggies, chicken breasts with veggies, the egg whites and carried two scoops of whey protein for the shakes. So in the nutritional side, I had everything under control. I was so glad that, today was a rest day on the metabolic surge program.

  During the day I was feeling weak, slow and perhaps hungry, but ate my meals and l ate according to time.. when I arrived home, very late, I decided to eat a little bit more, before going to sleep, so I ate medium chicken breast. So, now, I’ll better go to bed.. I hope it won’t change things to eat that late, even though it was protein and no carbs and fats but the ones that the chicken already has. I guess my body was asking for it.. tomorrow, I will wait for the afternoon to hit the Lactic Acid Training 1 planned for day 16… so, no picture today as I’m really late posting… but tomorrow, will pay my dues. It’s December!!! The last month of the year! Let’s hit it!