Day 734 - X2 Ab Ripper & Chest + Back + Balance (2/2)

Well, it was a normal Tuesday workout.  Ab Ripper definitely didn't help my back issues, but I'm icing it down and hope that I can give it a break for a day or two to allow it to recover some.  I am continuing to control my eating in hopes of allowing that to help me drop a couple of the pounds that I've put on recently.

Day 733 - X2 Chest + Back + Balance (1/2)

After taking last week off as a rest week, I'm now back at it.  I also got in some golf last year in spite of the stretched muscle in my lower back.  I was feeling it a bit tonight, but was able to get through the workout okay.  I'm now icing the muscle in my back to help with recovery. 

Day 732 - X2 Yoga

Well, It's my birthday today.  I'm 49 years old and some days it feels like I am. Fortunately today was not one of those days.  Last night the family took me out to Joe's Crab Shack.  I got the lobster and Crab legs and avoided the corn and potatoes, so it was fairly healthy for a place like that.  This morning however was a different story.  We went out to breakfast at Shady Maple smorgasbord and I basically ate about 1000 calories for breakfast.  I would have been okay for the day on calories, but we had cake and ice cream tonight.  Oh well, luckily I don't do this every day.  X2 Yoga today was really good.  I did it right before dinner, so now I'm relaxing after dinner and enjoying the down time.

Day 731 - 5K morning run

I decided to not do a workout last night because I had a really tough time trying to sleep on Wednesday night and was feeling exhausted by the time I got home from work.  Last night I was able to sleep better and was feeling more refreshed this morning.  Tonight the family is taking me to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner for my birthday and then we're going to Shady Maple smorgasbord for breakfast tomorrow, so that puts a bit of a crimp in the plans to workout tonight or get a run in tomorrow morning.  So, I got my 5K run in here at work this morning early and I plan to do my yoga workout tomorrow as time allows.  I ran around the park and it seemed a lot easier than it was when I did it last week.  There was less wind today, but I also felt like my legs were stronger this week.

Day 730 - Ab Ripper & Chest + Back + Balance (2/2)

I started off the workout tonight with Ab Ripper.  I was able to attach it with more intensity than in past times doing it.  Also, the reps for the rest of Chest+ Back + Balance were a bit better than last week (especially on pushup moves).  I've decided that I need to cut back on my calories for a while, so dropping from 2400 to 2200 until I'm able to lose some of the "butter" around the middle.  I plan to try the reduced calories for the next 4 weeks to see how things go.

Day 729 - Chest + Back + Balance (1/2)

Well, I got in my normal Monday workout again this week.  I'm pretty happy that I'm continuing to find the motivation to keep going on phase 2 for this many weeks.  It's making a difference in my arms and chest.  I weighed myself this morning and am now up to 146,so I'm adding some weights. Some of it is muscle and some is not.  I think I'll need to go into a "cutting phase" for my diet soon where I will reduce carbs substantially for a few weeks to shed some of the extra fat that is accumulating.  Right now I'm happy that I'm gaining some weight in terms of muscle, so I don't want to drastically modify my diet just yet.

Day 728 - X2 Yoga

It was perfect Spring weather today.  I had been out for a run earlier in the week and my legs were still feeling pretty sore, so I decided to switch Yoga from Friday to Saturday.  Since I decided to not run today I set right to work getting some things done around the house.  I also got out and hit some golf balls at the driving range with my son Stephen.  After dinner I did Yoga and was glad that I did. A while back I had strained my lower back doing something (I don't even recall what it was at this point).  It's not a bad strain, but continue to nag me.  It seemed that doing yoga helped to stretch things out a bit and help it to feel better.