BlamedCat

Summary: W3: Day 1 1. D -> Smashing my sweet tooth. None Now, I did accidentally take a swig of my wife's rootbeer while at Jason's Deli today, but that was wretched and I'm not counting an accident like that. 2. D -> Gut my grain intake Dinner is dirty rice and chips. 3. F -> Go to the gym. Nope, rest day. 4. FB -> Walk at Work Nada. 5. LUYL -> Snag more sleep I ended up taking a 3 hour nap today, so I doubt I will get in bed before 10 tonight, so I'm not expecting to make my goal tonight, but I'll update this accordingly tomorrow morning. Also, on an interesting side-note. It seems SIL and husband (mainly her husband) wants to start buying their own groceries. No ill will there, HE wants to cook for his wife and I'm sure that'll work out just fine for them when it happens (as long as he stays consistent and she doesn't end up having to pick up the slack lol). That actually takes a LOT of stress off of my wife (and our grocery bill) so we will happily share the fridge with them and let them mark things that our there's. We'll also be going GF or low grain and totally not have to worry about anyone else. It's rather quite liberating, TBH. Not tooting any horns, but my wife and I are very giving and loving people, so we often over-extend ourselves on things like this, so this is good for us in many ways.

Friday Workout report Date Exercise LBS S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 Diff Progress 11/11/2016 SQ 95 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 11/11/2016 BP 85 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 11/11/2016 BR 85 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 It's official, our gym doesn't have 2.5 LBS plates, SSSOO I shall be upping weight accordingly I'll just be mindful of the increase and handle it like I did last time if it's a struggle. After all, if it's one thing I have learned, it's that it's okay to struggle. That's necessary for growth. Week 2 Summary 1. Smashing my sweet tooth. Application: Go 6 days per week without consuming a sugary concoction. Sugar free is better, but no sugar/chemicals is best. PASSED 2. Gut my grain intake Application: Attempt to reduce all grains with every meal, shoot for 3 days without grains per week. PASSED Reduced to one meal for 2 days and 5 days of no grains/gluten free 3. Go to the gym. Application: Go to the gym 2-3 times a week with a plan. PASSED 3 exercises this week! Knocked it out of the park AND it felt good to go consistently. 4. Walk at Work (bonus) Application: 2+ walks a week of 30+ minutes each. FAILED Nope, no walks this week. 5.Snag more sleep Application: Get to bed by 10pm at the latest during the work week, try to dial this down to 9pm and see if I can start waking at 5am, so I'm not rushing in the morning. This applies to the following nights, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. FAILED Technically 3 out of 5 nights. Sunday night I'd consider a wash since I slept 5 hours during the day, so that would be 4 of 5. So I'm getting better on this, but it's helping that I didn't have to take my SIL to work as often this week.

Good morning everyone! Today is a delightfully crisp Saturday morning. [emoji74]I did get my workout in last night and I'll be posting my recap later. Right now I'm sitting here waiting to pick up my SIL from work so I can be a good husband and let my wife sleep in this morning [emoji106] I hope y'all are having a great morning too!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I hope your headspace is better today. I know how nasty that can get in my own life. Keep yer chin up, the weekend is nigh!

Summary: W2: Day 5 1. D -> Smashing my sweet tooth. No worries here 2. D -> Gut my grain intake Same on this one. Had a baked potato with bbq again, yum (actually half of it, having the other half for lunch today) 3. F -> Go to the gym. Nope, rest day. Seems I recovered rather quickly though, still no DOMS. (I'll make sure I don't do something stupid like injure myself today.) 4. FB -> Walk at Work Nope and not likely today either due to scheduled meeting this afternoon. 5. LUYL -> Snag more sleep YES! I lucked out of taking my SIL to work (her husband took her this time before he headed off to his own work). So I got to bed at 10

Summary: W2: Day 4 1. D -> Smashing my sweet tooth. Again, no issues, i've got this in the bag! 2. D -> Gut my grain intake I had a delicious sausage, egg, and potato skillet to avoid the beef stroganoff the rest of the family had. I also got to make enough that I had some for breakfast too 3. F -> Go to the gym. I did the thing and this time someone was nice enough to let me use squat rack! (Yay!). Date Exercise LBS S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 Diff Progress 11/9/2016 SQ 85 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 11/9/2016 OHP 55 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 11/9/2016 DL 105 5 x x x x 1 1 Squats went well, I took my time, don't feel much soreness today, we shall see how tomorrow goes. Overhead Press was good, my shoulder was pinching a little, so I'll have to play with adjusting my grip and watching my elbow location. Deadlifts were super easy, I can't wait to get back to 135+ so I don't have to stoop down as much lol. I'm not going to rush this though. 4. FB -> Walk at Work Nope. 5. LUYL -> Snag more sleep YES YES YES YES YES YES!! FINALLY, I got to bed on time, even after throwing clothes in the dryer and NOT having to take my SIL to work. I feel SO much better this morning.

Summary: W2: Day 3 1. D -> Smashing my sweet tooth. Score! 2. D -> Gut my grain intake Yes! This worked out well. Breakfast and Lunch were good to go and I grabbed a BBQ stuffed baked potato for dinner. YUM! 3. F -> Go to the gym. Rest Day 4. FB -> Walk at Work Nope. Rain. 5. LUYL -> Snag more sleep Nope. I had to take my SIL to work again. With everything else going on, I stayed up to watch an episode of The Flash. I think in the future, if I have to take the SIL to work, I'm gonna make it a mental point to just go straight to bed once I get back home. I'm ssooo tired this morning.

On another note, yesterday my wife took our son to the pediatrician for his check-up. They did all the typical stuff, checking weight and height and all. Well, while the doc was talking to my wife, she made mention that my son is overweight for his age. Granted, he carries it really well, but it's gonna be a problem. She also mentioned that our daughter was looking a bit overweight too. Nothing alarming, just 'hey, you might wanna be mindful about things' etc. So she suggested that we put the kid on a grain free or low grain diet (since we don't let them drink soda or eat candy or sweets often) to help curb the weight gain, etc. I'm shocked and actually pleased by this, not because my kids need to go on a lifestyle change, but because our doc actually isn't the type to just throw pills at a problem. AND because now this aligns with my goals. Of course, we're gonna do the Spezzy thing and work through the rest of our pantry and just shift over as we go as a family as a whole. Good thing is that my wife's sister is also on board. She understands and now that there's a medical person saying "hey the kids need to eat healthier" she's fine with it. Now, she'll just need to talk with her husband and see what he thinks. I'd rather have us all on board, but if it comes to it and he wants all his pasta and such that he loves, then we'll just have to agree that he fends for himself with his own stash and the rest of us will go through this together.

Summary: W2: Day 2 1. D -> Smashing my sweet tooth. Yes! Done! 2. D -> Gut my grain intake Score! ZERO grains. 3. F -> Go to the gym. YES. I went, even after I got stuck in rain and traffic to swing by there. Though I had a a complication with my workout routine. Not sure what to think of it, but I made the most of it. Date Exercise LBS S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 Diff Progress 11/7/2016 SQ 100 5 6 5 5 6 1 -1 11/7/2016 BP 80 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 11/7/2016 BR 80 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 So you might be asking why I have 100 on my squat and a -1 on progress but I completed it all with flying colors. I shall tell you why.... So while at the gym, apparently there's a lot of gymbro's that like to do their entire workout at the Squat Racks. My gym has two. When I got there, both were open as far as I could tell. I hopped on the treadmill and warmed up. By the time I got finished there was some guy at one (or so I thought) and the other one was taken up by the resident, I'm guessing buff guy who claims two machines for a circuit. Anyway, I digress. I decided to do my bench first. While doing that, I realized that actually both squat racks weren't actually being used, but since I was already set up for Bench, why run off, right? So I knocked out my bench press and turned to grab a squat rack. One Old Gym Bro was at one, chatting away with some younger gym bro... then the Buff guy had finally made his way over to the squat rack.. where he did all his squats. So I went to do my Barbell Rows, had to keep things going. By the time I finished that, Old Gym bro was finally into his sets... and the Buff guy had stolen the squat rack bar and cage for deadlifts and I'm not talking just 1x5 and done, I watched him for a few minutes as he kept going through sets... THEN he was finished, so I was like "oh here's my chance!" And I start walking and bam, snagged by someone else before I made it over in time. So I gave up. I headed over to the leg press machine and added 15 lbs to what I was gonna be doing free form and decided to knock out what I could there and head home, since it was already late enough. I get that people gotta workout, I just am at a loss for how to deal with this, IF it can even be dealt with. I spoke with Janeil at the front desk and ask his thoughts on it. He said that Monday's were pretty bad for finding time on the squat racks, so I might have to adjust my days or just plan on staying late to get it in properly. I don't know yet. Anyway, in the end, I got a workout in and I didn't call it quits, so I'd say that's a win. 4. FB -> Walk at Work No walking. Work flew by due to something being broke, fun times in tech support. 5. LUYL -> Snag more sleep FINALLY! I got home to relax and talk with the wife and my daughter (son was already in bed), cook some eggs and potatoes, and watch an episode of The Flash (Season 2). Then I slipped off to bed before 10.

Summary: W2: Day 1 1. D -> Smashing my sweet tooth. Done! 2. D -> Gut my grain intake No, this was not one of those days. I had tacos and a cupcake and some Cheetos, spread out through the day, but still. 3. F -> Go to the gym. Nope. 4. FB -> Walk at Work Nope. 5. LUYL -> Snag more sleep Nope. I had laid down after church and lunch for a nap. Didn't wake up for 5 hours. That was not intended, so because of that, when it came time for bed, I was super wide awake. I decided to catch up on some The Flash and then went to bed around 11:15, finally fell asleep around 11:30ish.

Week 1 Summary 1. Smashing my sweet tooth. Application: Go 6 days per week without consuming a sugary concoction. Sugar free is better, but no sugar/chemicals is best. PASSED I actually didn't have any trouble avoiding this at all. I'm rather pleased with myself. 2. Gut my grain intake Application: Attempt to reduce all grains with every meal, shoot for 3 days without grains per week. PASSED I reduced my grain intake almost every day and managed to end up with three days without them! 3. Go to the gym. Application: Go to the gym 2-3 times a week with a plan. PASSED I managed to go twice. I would have went once on the weekend, but we got super busy on Saturday. Then on sunday I laid down to take a nap after church and ended up sleeping for 5 hours! That was NOT what I had planned.... 4. Walk at Work (bonus) Application: 2+ walks a week of 30+ minutes each. FAILED I got in one walk, but not another one this week. This is a bonus goal so it's not terrible if I miss it. 5.Snag more sleep Application: Get to bed by 10pm at the latest during the work week, try to dial this down to 9pm and see if I can start waking at 5am, so I'm not rushing in the morning. This applies to the following nights, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. FAILED I didn't realize just how many days my sleep was affected by others. I failed this rather soundly. On one point, side, I got to sleep at my ideal time on Sunday, then the rest of the week was wrecked. On a good note, I managed to wake up with my alarm at 5am without an issue. There were a couple of days I cited 5:10, but I was thinking more coherent wakeupness than anything.

@Tanktimus the Encourager Thanks! I'll get a Week 1 summary up soon. The B-Day was low-key and low-budget, but he had a blast. I've never seen someone so happy to receive hot wheels and a ream of paper (you heard that right). He loves to draw, so his aunt and uncle got him 1500 sheets of paper and a book that shows him how to draw pictures via shapes. Pretty nifty!

Woohoo! What veggies are you gonna try it with? Oh my, taco bowls sound delicious! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Have you had a chance to try doing the veggies with olive oil yet?

Oh man, shoulder injuries SUCK! I hope you get better soon though, with all of that. Either way, keep checking in, even if it's to share more of the same. We'd rather be here for you all the time. After all, accountability and support doesn't take the day off Also, good luck on the job front!

Today is also a very special day. My son turns 5 today! This is so surreal, I mean I've got a daughter who is 8 (will be nine in December). Anyway, this is in honor of him. Isaiah likes Spiderman, sooo...

It's always a pleasure to have you along for the ride, be that IG or here!

Summary: W1: Day 5 1. D -> Smashing my sweet tooth. No problems here. 2. D -> Gut my grain intake Nailed it! Dinner was going to be pizza rolls, so on the way home from the gym (with the wife's permission), I stopped at Jason's Deli and chowed down at the salad bar, yum! 3. F -> Go to the gym. Yes, I did it. I'm still sore, but it was fun. For once, I was able to snag a squat rack without issue Date Exercise Lbs S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 Difficulty Progress 11/3/2016 SQ 85 5 5 5 5 5 2 0 11/3/2016 OHP 45 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 11/3/2016 DL 95 5 x x x x 1 1 I found out that the gym I'm going to doesn't have the 2.5 lbs plates, so I had to up my weight on the squats a bit more. No biggie right now. I still need to be mindful of my form and drive from my hips. The squats got a difficulty of 2 because they were tiring and I was still working through DOMS from Tuesday. I'll be holding at this weight on Saturday, giving my body a chance to catch up, and then I'll up it the next time I go. All in all, I completed the whole workout well. 4. FB -> Walk at Work Nope, no walking at work, but I did have a tasty lunch in the breakroom. 5. LUYL -> Snag more sleep Again this was shot by familial obligations. On top of that, my mind was racing when I got back, which lead to me getting to bed way later. Funny thing is that I feel pretty good, but I can tell you this. I am going to enjoy sleeping in tomorrow.

@Tanktimus the Encourager Thanks for the advice. I do love sweet potatoes so that won't be an issue at all Tonight's workout was good. I did have some squat trouble, recognized I was using bad form because my knee started to hurt, caught myself before I got an injury (instead just a little tweak) and corrected my form. Hurray! And I'll celebrate by sharing my IG pic that I posted for my workout. One of these days I'm going need to get with someone to help me go over my squat form live and in person so I can understand how it's SUPPOSE to feel when I do it right. I don't get why I have so much difficulty with this, I get all the other exercises down with no problem... live and learn Oh and once again it appears I shall be driving my SIL to work. Her husband got called in earlier than expected. So another knock against my sleep plans. Perhaps next week will be better, eh?

Summary: W1: Day 4 1. D -> Smashing my sweet tooth. No problems here! I did grab an energy drink to stay up long enough to take my SIL to work, but that was SF. 2. D -> Gut my grain intake Breakfast and Lunch were really great. Dinner was actually not bad either. Had ham, oven roasted potatoes, and salad. 3. F -> Go to the gym. Nope, rest day. (Apparently my body is complaining more today than Wednesday lol.) 4. FB -> Walk at Work Nope, got to work late, took a short lunch in the office to make up for being late n all. 5. LUYL -> Snag more sleep This was shot due to having to take my SIL to work again. Got to bed around 11:05 PM (I don't really mind taking her to work. I just wish the discipline I want to apply here would be ABLE to be applied here. Maybe tonight I won't have to take her to work.) Now I do have a question. I know my focus is grain intake, but should I be concerned about having potatoes? I mean, I know they aren't a grain, but should I be avoiding them? Thoughts? Btw, I'm not looking at this for an excuse to have french fries/waffle fries/or mashed 'poe-tae-toes', just oven roasting for the future.

Lunch was awesome! I'm pleasantly surprised by this little gem.

My wife is the other way around. If I shave, I become baby-face and she doesn't wanna kiss me. She likes the beard.

Summary: W1: Day 3 1. D -> Smashing my sweet tooth. Easy peasy, lemon squeasy! Er... no suggary drinks. I did have half a coke zero (which I'm finishing this morning) but other than that, tea all the way. I did purchase some diet lipton citrus tea to keep at work in case I get a craving for something different. Have I ever mentioned that WINCO is a great place to shop? 2. D -> Gut my grain intake So yesterday I had chicken alfredo for lunch, but the other meals were clear. We had oven roasted chicken and salad for dinner it was yummy. 3. F -> Go to the gym. Yes!!! Date Exercise LBS S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 Diff Progress 11/1/2016 SQ 75 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 11/1/2016 BP 75 5 5 5 5 10 1 1 11/1/2016 BR 70 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 On the bench press, I wanted to see how much gas I had left in the tank, I was pleasantly surprised. On another note, I am sore this morning. Not devastatingly so, but my quads burn just from my walk down the isle here at work. I think I did things right For the notes in the spreadsheet, Diff is 1-3 easy, moderate, hard. Progress is 1 or 0 is a quick way to see what I need to work on 1 = all sets and reps completed, 0= failed along the way, stay at this point. Shamelessly copied from someone else's shared SL5x5 spreadsheet. 4. FB -> Walk at Work Nope. 5. LUYL -> Snag more sleep This was a failure, but something positive came out of it. I had to take my SIL to work, so that put me at getting home at 10:30, so I swung by WINCO and did some shopping so I could A ) Save money in the long haul for lunch & B ) Stock up on some needed cheeses, meats, and veggies. I'm also trying out a healthy frozen meal that I spotted there.

Oooo, looks yummy!

@darkfoxx You did a thing! Many things! Good job! However, I have to ask.. what are "Fat Bomb Cubes" is that cheese? >_>