Lifting for 4-28-9

So, let’s start with Sunday. Went for my jog, ate, relaxed, went to work. I’ve been getting hungry earlier and earlier, so that wasn’t a huge surprise. I ate a little and continued. Except. I was still hungry. Waiting a couple hours, I ate a little more. I was still hungry. Got home, ate dinner. I could feel my stomach distended from my banana/strawberry/yogurt/oatmeal smoothie, yet despite this, I STILL FELT HUNGRY.

It was the weirdest thing to feel simultaneously full and hungry at the same time. I had to keep myself from gorging on Cheez-Its at Candi’s.

I wake up, eat some All-Bran, and I’m still hungry afterwards. Now, Monday after class, we went to go out to eat at a non-diner restaurant. I’ve been slowly craving On The Border. More specifically, their black beans. It’s hard to describe why, but their black beans (and their rice, to a lesser degree) that’s served with your average meal are absolutely delicious. That’s something that keeps me coming back. Good primary entreés are nice, but being able to love everything on your plate is freaking awesome.

I sat through Candi’s class, because she had nowhere else to put me. They actually just watched a Sherlock Holmes movie. Candi wasn’t in the mood for On The Border. But. I needed it. NEEDED. The nachos and salsa tasted so freaking awesome. And since it was midday, my food was out in seriously three minutes or so. The beans tasted awesome. The rice tasted awesome. And my chimichanga tasted awesome. I cleaned my plate. I even licked it for comic effect. I was full, I was sated. I haven’t had a full meal in weeks. Finally, I stopped feeling hungry. FINALLY!!!

Needless to say, if you like mexican food, On The Border is deee-lish. I think it’s eclipsed Chevy’s in my mind. (Given that Chi-Chi’s is out of business, that is.)

Candi went to a place called Mitsuwa. Japanese marketplace with food venders along the wall. Interesting set-up. I tried a bite of what she was eating and. I feel bad, my taste buds just don’t like asian food. She felt disheartened because she wished she could enjoy something she does. It’s not for lack of trying. I joke that I’m easy to please because I can consistently be fed the same things and be happy, while she needs something different regularly. Just a matter of how you look at it. I kind of wish I enjoyed more “exotic” things. It would make it easier to take me new places without me being intimidated, let alone literally unable to eat anything.

She had some printing to do, so we abused her school’s printers. Afterwards, she was still in the mood for something at Chili’s I believe she called a volcana ice cream cake. Chili’s doesn’t have fantastic food, but this thing is pretty tasty. The cake itself was tasty as hell, and I actually ate some of the ice cream. No, I didn’t eat more than my fair portion, as it was her treat. I just know that one person seriously can’t finish it without a tummyache. And her tummy gets angry a lot.

I made the observation that I don’t really crave ice cream. I have a small container of mango ice cream in my freezer that I’ll be nursing probably until next winter. When my friends and I go out for ice cream, I find myself passing because it just isn’t that awesome. I used to get something anyway out of social compliance. But on this occasion, the ice cream actually tasted… good. It tasted good. I just never crave ice cream, that’s all.

So. Back to the gym this morning.

NROL, Fat Loss II
Day B, Workout IV

Rest: 60 sec between exercises

Alternating Sets
Snatch-grip Deadlift: 12, 12, 10 @ 155 lb (+20 lbs)
T-Push-up: 3×8 @ 20 lbs

Alternating Sets
Bulgarian Split Squat with Overhead Press: 12, 11, 8 @ 10 lbs
Supinated Lat Pull: 12, 12, 9 @ 120 lbs (-10 lbs)

Alternating Sets
RDL with Row: 3×12 @ 80 lbs
Lower Body Russian Twist: 3×12 @ BW

Metabolic Overdrive: 4 rounds on elliptical (1 minute hard, 2 minutes recovery)

I added 20 lbs to my snatch-grip deadlift because I just had a feeling I could handle more. I was right – though I’m glad I don’t need to repeat with this same rep range. I’ll probably stay with 155 lbs for the next workout.

I maintain my assertion that T-push-ups are deceptively hard. There’s something uniquely metabolically challenging about them. They knock the wind out of me far more than a simple bench press could. My form got better, in terms of balancing myself on three points and rowing the weight. I was probably making a lot of noise, just exerting myself, but whatever. This is why I could never workout at Planet Fitness – I’d get kicked out so quickly. I had a discussion with my dad regarding a Planet Fitness that openned up near us. As I explained their judgemental anti-fitness mentality, he replied, “Oh, so it’s the McDonalds of gyms.” Or something like that. It was oddly witty.

Bulgarian split squats were hard, though that’s a given. I actually got 10 reps on the last set with my first leg, but with second leg I was struggling and struggling, after the 8th rep I must have gotten the wind completely knocked out of me because my leg just didn’t want to move. I dropped the weights and stopped. Even after the lat pulls, it took a while for my hearing to return to normal and for me to stop panting. I’ll stay with 10 lbs next workout.

I wisely didn’t increase the weight for RDL rows. It was hard last time to get the last repetitions, and it was hard this time to get the last repetitions.

HIIT felt hard. I had my usual bouts of trying to hang on for dear life after each interval. Not to mention the cardio room was warmer and had bad circulation. The downstairs (where the weights are) had the doors open and there was lots of air flow. Heat is one thing. Stale air is just atrocious when you’re exerting yourself.

Those black beans got my thinking. Maybe I’ll find a recipe for beans online and actually eat them as a separate dish. I do toss black beans and pink beans in my chili when I make it, but something about having the beans separate tasted awesome.

First third of Fat Loss II is over. It’s all downhill from here! Next workouts the rep range drops to 10, and the rest drops to 45 seconds. Woohoo for masochism!

Also, I do believe there’s only two contestants for DateATimmy. Oh well.