So I am almost one month into a 12-week intensive boot camp sort of thing. I have a nutritionist working with me and I am on a very strict and closely monitored diet. I have to weigh literally every ingredient of everything I eat. That means I cannot eat anything I don't prepare at home. And I am going to a gym 3x a week for high intensity (for me) workouts to strengthen muscles and help burn fat. Plus, every day I have to get in so many steps. The diet thing is killing me. Oh, I am eating enough. In fact, I think I eat more on the diet than I did before, sometimes I would go a day or two without eating a meal. The problem lies in the amount of carbs, fats, and proteins. I cannot go over the limits set and I struggle to get enough protein. Ever try to smash a half pound of baked chicken breast when you have no appetite? Venison and antelope are very low in fat, so that helps.
After physical therapy last winter, I meant to get active this last summer and do it myself. That was a failure, so I found a program that has rigorous, even militant, accountability. It seems every few days I am getting texts from coaches/trainers pointing out where I missed the mark. Ty is kinda cool, not a gym bro at all, and he straight out calls me on it. But when he feels he has my attention he turns to encouragement and challenging me to meet goals. What really hurts is when Danielle gets on me. Yikes. She sounds so personally hurt that I am not making expected weight loss, or not lifting the expected weight totals, or coming up short on protein yet again for the 4th time in a week. She just guilts me into a blubbering baby promising I won't let her down again and that I'll do better, just watch. LOL
For all that, SHE is the one that scares the bejeepers outa me in the gym. She's up in my face like R. Lee Ermey with a flaming case of hemerrhoids and a hangover from heck. AND I constantly have to watch her! I cannot let her out of my direct line of sight because she'll stack more plates on whatever lift I am doing when I ain't looking. Last week was a heavy week in the rotation, we're supposed to keep adding weight at each set until we are at the point of failure on the final rep. I was stepping up to the Hex Bar Deadlift and one of the young guys coaching said he had me set up at my prior max, wanted to run me heavy start to finish. I finished the first set and told him something felt bad in my left quad. He pulled me off the floor and the team's massage therapist had me go through some foam roller exercises to relax any knots/etc. We went back a few minutes later for the second set. He helped me dial in the rhythm and things went smoother. I walked off for 90 seconds before coming back for the third set. I told the coach I wanted to add another pair of 5 lb plates. He laughed and set me up. Polished off set #3 and walked it off. That's when I saw Danielle across the room with her arms crossed and looking at me with a vicious grin on her face. As I walked over to her, she said, "HAHAHA! Started you off on the Hex Bar 30# over your last max and YOU added another TEN! HA! Nailed you!"
She's vicious, like I said.
The doctors said this is good and that if things go well with this 12-week health kick, I will likely be in shape to fight. So, I guess I am not quite ready to quit this crazy ride quite yet.
I fight on.
