A little check in and maybe reset. Still hitting it pretty much everyday but cardio is becoming laborious to say the least. I've tried the long walks(10,0000 steps) instead of the Airdyne bike but IT's hard on me to stay focused at such low intensity levels and I really don't like stopping and talking to my neighbors... Diet is not what it was when I was losing weight last year which is starting to "weigh" on my psyche a little....pardon the pun. As mentioned as far back as last fall I started adding calories after getting down to 215# because I felt my upper body just wasn't responding to my workouts despite still wanting to lose another 10-12#. I'm still following the same intermittent fasting schedule of eating between 11AM and 7-8PM.
Good part of the diet is still the same, Turkey, bacon, tomato and lettuce wrap, one sleeve of spicy peanuts and a plant based protein bar for the early feeding and sometimes an orange too. Second feeding begins around 5.30-6.00pm with a handful of fresh blueberries, a handful or 2 of baby carrots(protein shake if after weights) and then on to a dinner plate sized salad, followed by about 10oz of grilled or blackened chicken breast, or steak and usually some Moroccan couscous salad as a starch. So far so good....problem is over the last 2-3 months I've also added a second protein bar and sometimes even a small bowl of pretzels with cottage cheese after that....I'm also back up to consistently drinking 3-4 Mich Ultra's prior to and during this feeding time.
The results are mixed. I'm back up to 221-224# depending on the time of day and day of the week....Saturday's are Uber rewards day and we almost always order out that night so I'm a few pounds heavier until Monday mornings(I weigh myself 2-3 X a week). My stomach doesn't feel as flat as when I was around 215-216#. That's the bad news.
The good news is my shoulders, upper arms, back and chest have filled out or at least my shirts and mirror(along with my wife but we all know they lie about the size of things
) tell me so. Performance is also coming along fine(adding weights and/or reps at almost every workout. Almost no shoulder discomfort......Since I wear gym shorts about 99% of the time including at work I picked up the 34" waist jeans I pulled out a year or so back and put them on this morning...they're fitting just about the same as the last time I wore them probably 3-4 months ago(I'm not gonna lie there is about 1/2"-3/4" "rollover" or muffin top at the hips and under the belly button areas.
Question is how do I find a way to add strength and keep that "pumped" feeling/look between workouts while getting closer to the 205-210# range and how do I get back to the mindset to stop the excess calories again.... Maybe someone here has some Jedi mind tricks or motivational techniques to get me moving in that direction again? I won't stop working out but I feel like I'm going just through the motions. Any ideas?
