Bad Carbs and Week 9 Goals

DAY 141/180
Phase 9
Weight Loss Stats:
Weight 252.8 lbs - Loss 48.8 - %Loss 16.2%

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Took the day off on Friday and did a little cheating on my diet. I found, firsthand, that sugar is EVIL!!! Having followed a fairly strict low-carb diet, it interesting how consuming just a small amount of sugar can trigger appetite mechanisms that result in an almost uncontrollable desire to "stuff your face." It's been shown that sugars stimulate the same regions of the brain stimulated by hard drugs and, coincidentally, result in a similar "fiening" for more nutritionally deprived carbohydrates. After eating just a handful of after-dinner mints and making a trip to the grocery, I was overcome by a desire to eat every piece of junkfood in sight. Whats more, I was also overcome by a splitting headache. It's strange that when I eat clean (i.e. low-carb), I hardly ever crave junkfood, but when I let myself "slide for ole' times' sake," I become consumed by the need to eat sugary foods and carbs. Low-carb is the way to go!

Training for the past couple of weeks has been spotty. I've managed to average 2-a-days - which wouldn't be considered "spotty" by anybody's standards - but I have failed to consistently follow my bodyweight training. I consider the P-90X workouts to be the bedrock of my training and yet it's the first thing to get dropped when I'm too tired from previous workouts in the day. I guess the failure is due to poor time management. It seems logical not to do the hardest workout after two hard workouts earlier in the day. The plan has always been to do fasted cardio first thing upon rising, followed by bodyweight training in the afternoon, followed immediately by light circuit training in the park for 30 minutes as a "finisher." The last two workouts should be done back-to-back making for a sort of "extended" workout. On the days when I'm too tired after my bodyweight workout, I would simply skip the circuit training and rest. Unfortunately, however, I haven't quite followed this plan. After my morning cardio, I don't normally get around to training until quite late in the afternoon, by that time, I'm forced to rush to the park and do the circuits before the park closes. I always do this with the intension of doing the bodyweight workout before bedtime, but alas, this hardly ever happens...I'm just too tired by then.

My goal for the next 5 1/2 weeks is to stick to my training plan exactly with the explicit goal to lose as much weight as is physically possible. The overriding goal is to lose about 22 more pounds and come in at 230 pounds on July 4th. I think this is perfectly feasible.

The goals for week 9 are the following:
1. Perform 1 hour of fasted cardio every morning, followed by 1 hour of bodyweight training every afternoon followed by an optional 30 minute circuit workout.
2. Drink 80 oz of green tea and 6 oz of orange peel tea (twice daily) every day.
3. Weigh 248 lbs by Monday, June 1.