Well, I had some surgery which kept me out of the gym for two months. Arg. It really drove me crazy. But today was my grand return and I hit it with a vengence. I'm actually a little dizzy today, and think I might have shocked my body a little bit, but I plan to push through it. It's gonna be a power-filled September!

So I'm back in the swing of things. I lost 5 pounds while I was sick so I have some ground to make up. I'm still riding my bike, so I'll bike and lift in the mornings before work. Day one was great! I'm also focusing my workout on fast lifts (while maintaining proper form). Just switching things up a bit. And eating, eating, eating (good food).

sorry I haven't been posting. here's the latest update. I got super sick again, which put me out of commission for two weeks. But I recovered and recently I've started riding my bike to work (1 1/2 mi) which has turned out to be great fun, a good start and end to the work day, and a huge help with the rising gas prices. However, I've got to admit that I'm starting to get pulled back into my bad cycle of high stress and losing weight again which puts me farther from my goal. And I'm using the excuse again "if I can just get through the next two weeks..."

So I started a new workout, just to switch things up. Even though my workout times are cut in half, this is the first time I'm really feeling the 'burn.' My weight gain is creeping up ever so slowly, but my body is looking great so I'm not worrying about it too much. I'll reach my goal eventually. Slow and steady wins the race!

Wow... just had one of those days where I just didn't want to work out. I still went to the gym, but I'm pretty tired. Maybe I'll take a few days off. The 10 pounds I have to go until my goal feels so daunting!

ugh... what a frustrating March. I got sick and that set me back two weeks. On top of that, stress keeps piling up. I'm still making progress, but it's been hard keeping my focus. I'm hoping for better luck in April. Maybe I'll take some vacation time. :)

First day of the new workout and it felt great. My spring body is on the way. I lost some weight with all the running last month, but I feel like I'm in a good starting point from where I started 6 months ago. (I can't believe it's been that long!) Still not to my goal yet, but my body has had a bit of a chance to adjust to the new muscle mass, so I think I'm ready to put on some more. I'm going to really monitor my diet over the next couple weeks and compare my progress.

Sup! I've been hanging around. My two day a week workout was a huge success with some great gains. It really made me realize what progress can be made on minimal workouts, if you keep it intense and plan them well. I did crash with a horrible HORRIBLE cold at the end of December and took the entire month of January off. Haven't really been tracking my stats since, but I've been getting back into the swing of things in Feb. I've really been enjoying running and have structured my workouts around cardio, before I hit the weights again in March. It's also given me the chance to focus on some of the stabilizer muscles I've neglected in my weightlifting so far. Since I haven't been emphasizing gaining, I'm going to miss my overall goal date of mid-February but think I can make it by the end of March.

Oh, I know, THE COOKIES!! I am going to make a HUGE batch of delicious, nutritious cranberry-almond-oat granola to divvy up for my fam and friends. Trying to undo some of the cookie-damage. Here, have a cyber taste:

And super job on your progress, keep up that training! Amy

Letting my diet slide a bit... I didn't make any progress this week. Damn holidays. Cookies everywhere!!!

161... yeah! Working out fewer days a week is making it easier to gain. Although I'm going to start folding in some more cardio this week. The biggest frustration I face is warming up for the full body workouts. I used to be able to warm up just one muscle group, but now I have to warm up each group before I can even start working out if I want to avoid injury. It doubles my workout time. Arg.

*Correction... 3 lbs.

I'm back! Alright... so I took a three week break instead of two with tons of bad eating. But I'm ready to jump back in. With guess what? A brand new program. My previous traineo workout worked so well... I made more then half my 6 month goal in only two months and I look and feel great. But I want to try something different. I'm going from working out every day... to doing full body workouts only two days a week focusing on big gains, and then phase in a core workout with sprints by Christmas. I've never done full body workouts before, so I'm interested to see how my body handles it. Mondays my first official weight in. Here we go again!

Rest... Taking a break. See you all in two weeks!

I GAINED AGAIN... UPPED ALL MY REPS... I'M EATING EVERY HOUR... MY MUSCLES ARE EXPLODING... I'M OUT OF CONTROL.

WHOA... Up to 158 today! Huge weight shift. How is this physically possible? Powering through to the end of the week...

But, I really want to sleep in on weekends! No, I know, you're right. I got some great suggestions, I think you identified the crux of the prob, I'm thinking of nothing but gray tonight....easier said than done, but I'll give er a shot.

And good luck to you with your goals, here!

So this week I upped my calorie intake by 500 calories, added 2 hours of rest a day, increased my water consumption, and majorly intensified my workout. I did my first weigh in of the week and I lost two pounds!! How is that possible! I was swearing and throwing things around the locker room. How can I eat so much and still lose weight! I've never been more self-disciplined in my life. The perfect workout. The perfect diet. For two freakin months straight. I haven't gained anything for the month!! (although I do look much better and am noticably stronger). My measurements should be increasing not going the other way. This is my Olympics and I just came in 4th. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

WEEK EIGHT: Ultimate Body Straining Mind Blowing Teeth Rattling Power Week. This week I'm going to the max. Hardcore everything!!!! It's the end of two months of ultimate training. No excuses! I think I can hit 160 by the end of the month.

WEEK SEVEN: Earth Shaking Power Week. I think I might be overdramatic about the plateau, because although my arm size has stayed constant, my weight did drop by 4 lbs while I was sick... so that's almost an increase of sorts. My weight's steadily climbing again, so we'll see what happens when I break through 157. Plus, my muscles are looking more defined, and I'm definitely stronger. To be continued...

Everytime I tried to bulk and reached a plateau, it was because my diet was off. During my bulking phases, I would eat 3400-3800 cals per day with lots of food variety and supplements depending on my workout. I was around 205 pounds, 6'1", 21 years old. Have you tried re-arranging your diet?

PLATEAU... I've never reached a plateau in my life. But I've hit three straight weeks with no increase in arm size. Getting sick might have something to do with it (as well as my boozing over the weekend). I might be over-training too. But I'm going to stick with my program until the end of the month like I originally planned.

WEEK SIX: Bone Crushing Power Week Redux. I feel like I'm playing catch-up. My weight is barely going back up and I've made a slight loss for the month... ack! I WILL shock my body into submission. I'm stepping up my diet again this week by completely cutting out processed sugar!

My freakin goodness!!.... I lost a ton of weight while I was sick. This totally sinks my goals for the month. I was in such a good rhythm and now I'm all out of wack. I'm going to try and kick start my program and see if I can get back on track.

SICK... ugh. I've taken two days completely out of my rotation. I've gotten better though, so I'm back on. It seems my immune system has become incredibly strong since I've been working out so much. It usually takes me so much longer to recover. I'm still pissed off though. I had the entire month of workouts planned out and now everythings all screwed up. Oh well... back to the gym tomorrow.

oh yeah that guy juiced, I've never heard of anyone gaining that much weight in such a short period of time. Maybe he has mutant genes or something.

WEEK FIVE: Bone Crushing Power Week. After only a month, my progress has been amazing. Let's see if I can keep it going. I killed myself in my workout this morning. I'm going to up my rest periods to add more recovery time.

Whoa. My stomach freaked out today. I just couldn't handle all the constant eating anymore... I only ate 5 meals instead of 7.

Broke the 154 lb barrier! I was having a hard time breaking through this point, but I finally made it... It's been somewhat of a strange week. I switched up my routine a lot to keep things fresh and doing some more isolation exercises. So I'm a little out of sorts until all the new stuff sinks in. But the tweaks to my diet are coming along great.

WEEK FOUR: Super Power Week. Power on! Although, I might go easy on legs this week... I'm having a bit of trouble recovering from the last session and it doesn't help that I walk up and down stairs all day at work. I also switched legs to their own day. It just takes so long to go through the whole leg workout that I can't pair them with another muscle group.

I reanalyzed my diet and discovered why I've been losing so much weight. Even though I've been eating seven meals a day, they're all high protein, super low carbs and calories. So I've switched to a more balanced diet and I've noticed a difference in one day!

HOLY COW! Major weight drop. What's going on? I'm eating 7 meals a day and more calories than ever. How is this possible?

WEEK THREE: power week. Had a great bicep workout today... Score.

Tweaked my routine again. I decided to move abs to their own day. I've always just tacked it on the end of my other days of weight lifting and it just ends up making my work-outs to long and short-changes my ab work-outs.

Gained 1/4 inch on my arms this week... Score.

WEEK TWO: power week. Workouts are going great! I'm gaining weight and feeling great. Although I'm adjusting my over-all plan from a 5 day rotation to a 6 day rotation to allow a longer recovery period.

WEEK ONE: day one got off to a great start! Adjusting to my new program. Eating more. Feeling good.

I did my official weigh-in this morning. It was even less than I expected!! This is bad for a guy like me, who has trouble gaining weight. But I'm eating a lot more good food and I'm ready to start packing on the muscle.

I've been ramping up my diet and excersize so I'm not jumping back in cold turkey. Getting my body back in workout mode, and familiarizing myself with the gym. I can already start to feel the difference. I am starting my official workout plan in 4 days... I can't wait!

So I've been looking at different gyms and I finally signed up with 24 hr fitness. It was a good price and they have a lot of locations across town, so no matter where I'm at I can stop in and workout... No excuses!! It can get REALLY busy there, but no one works out early in the morning anyway when I'm planning on going. I also like that it's open 24 hours, because I hate worrying about whether or not they'll be open.

Got new shoes for the gym. $20 at Target. I give them two months before they fall apart, but they'll be perfect to work out in for the price. Breaking them in today. Love the "new shoes feelin." Score.

I hate traffic!! And one positive side-effect of my total week training plan will be to skip morning traffic. Since I'll be going to the gym first thing in the morn, I can zip across town while everyone else sleeps in, work out, shower, and head in to work nearby. Score.