Hanging in There

Today marks Day 22 of the Velocity Diet, and I'm still alive.  Woo!  I've maintained about 80-90% compliance on the diet, although Dave and I have implemented solid meals with the same protein-fat-carb breakdown as our dinners a few times a week.  I know that takes away from some of what the people who market that diet so fanatically advocate, but from reading other V-Dieter's blogs, this alteration is VERY common and still produces pretty much the same results.  The whole point of the V-Diet is mental discipline and strictly portioned meals, and if the solid food comes in those exact proportions, you're accomplishing the same thing.  Sorry, T-Nation.  ;)

I have been really busy at work, so the blog posting has been less frequent than I'd like, as have the weigh-ins and measurements.  I will do another weigh in and measurement next week to check my progress.  A lot of changes apparently happen during the 2 week period following the initial 28 day super strict timeframe, but everyone responds differently.

As far as MY progress: Physically, my weight has fluctuated day to day (like usual), but overall I'm down about 6-7 lbs.  I've lost more in the way of inches than anything else.  My clothes fit more loosely, and I noticed that my bodyweight exercises like pull ups and rings feel easier.  It's amazing what a small weight fluctuation can do to those movements!  In terms of energy and attitude, it's been rough.  I get tired in the afternoons due to the very low carb levels, and I really don't like "meal" times because I dread the shakes.  They really don't taste bad; I'm just freakin' SICK of them. 

I'll just do a catch-up summary of a couple of my workouts below and add more as I find time:

9/2/10 Workout

Quads Gym

Warm Up: high incline walking - 15 min. (I was feeling particularly sluggish this day and needed to loosen up a lot)

Good Mornings (in kg): 20 x 10, 30 x 5, 35 x 8, 40 x 8

Press (in kg): 30 x 5, 35 x 3, 40 x 2

Note: I have been doing presses a lot lately, and there is some interesting anecdotal evidence from Dan John that women should be pressing every day.  Check it:

"'Press more' in terms of volume, of course…women should press probably every day, doing something in a pressing movement. I didn’t say heavy, I didn’t say 100 reps. In the same vein, wom[e]n should stop stretching all the time. They are predisposed to flexibility, yet lack in pressing strength. No, for total candor, I like the female design and I am not being critical. My point is that everyone likes to play to their strengths and ignore their weaknesses. Women need to press. Women tend to have a narrow shoulder base vis-à-vis the waist and it is difficult to press with that issue. I would argue that a guy can get away with just one press in his program, but a woman should master every variation they can find. I have had some great insights, by the way, from training women, as working with this 'problem' has given me some insights to improve my own lifting. So, I decided to add more variation into my training and it has made it more fun and more productive."

Source: http://www.begin2dig.com/2010/06/pressing-matters-wee-chat-with-dan-john.html

3 Round Circuit:

Incline Single Arm DB Press: 25 # x 10 each earm

25 Sit Ups

9/3/10 Workout

CrossFit

Squats (5-5-5): Bar x 10, 145 x 5, 165 x 5, 190 x 5 --> felt WEAK.  Ugh.

MetCon (rx'ed): my breakdowns of reps are listed after rep scheme

30 Pull ups -- 23-4-3

30 Front squats (65#) -- 19-6-5

30 Kettlebell swings (35#) -- unbroken

1k Row

8:19

Shorter Time Domains

The recommendations for the first 28 days of the Velocity Diet are to focus on lifting 3 times a week, general active behavior (long walks are encouraged), and limited cardio.  I was trying to ignore that last bit for awhile, but after how Sunday's soccer game made me feel, I acknowledged that it probably makes sense to focus on shorter duration metcon -- at least for now.  A calorie restrictive diet based mostly on protein doesn't do much for one's cardio energy, and I'm learning that lesson.

9/1/10 Workout

Press 5-5-5+ (60-70-80%):

55 - 63 - 72 x 15

21-18-15-12-9-6-3:

SDHP (55 lb)

Push Press (55 lb)

6:48

The rest of the 7 PM class was doing a FGB variation that was taking people anywhere from 13 - 20+  minutes, so I went with a shorter metcon that still focused on 2 of the key FGB movements.  Workout went pretty well; the round of 21 was unbroken.  I got a bit lightheaded toward the end, but overall I felt alright.  

 

Post WOD:

One-handed handstands

Butterfly pull ups: got 10 in a row, then 8 (rhythm was solid on the first set but fell off on the 2nd)

 

Confession #1: I missed 2 of my shakes during the day because I got buried with other work and tightly scheduled conference calls, so I was at a severe calorie deficit for the workout.  I really have to make sure I get the shakes in, even if they are starting to make me gag just thinking about them...

Confession #2: Dave and I used the same macro nutrient breakdowns as the "dinner shake" after the workout (40g protein, 20g fat, 10g carb), but we made salmon and green beans instead because my momma was in town, and I'd feel like a horrific hostess making her drink a shake for dinner after she drove all the way here (with a bunch of our wedding gifts in tow)!  Dave and I have talked some about subbing in a solid meal every few days -- just for dinner -- if the headaches and stomachaches don't subside.  A lot of V-Dieters have used that modification with pretty much the same results.  We'll see what happens. 

7 Days Complete

I've survived 7 days on the Velocity Diet so far, and I'm still going.  I wouldn't exactly call it going "strong", but I'm slogging through.  I'm battling a lot of boredom already, and I have gotten a few headaches.  The shakes are no longer treats, and my stomach turns a bit when it comes time for another meal, but I have always had a reactive stomach and am not that surprised.  Haven't been able to get away from the office in time for CrossFit yet this week, but the plan is to go tonight. 

On Sunday, I had my team's championship soccer game.  I play for a pretty high level league in the city over at the Rauner YMCA on Western.  Our halves for the championship were 35 minutes, and WOW did I feel it.  We only had 1 female sub, so I had maybe a 5 minute break each half.  Normally this isn't much of an issue, but I now understand why the V-Diet advises that you don't engage in long, high intensity cardio.  I was utterly drained.  Luckily, the team we were playing in the finals didn't pack too much of a punch, and we won either 8 or 9 to 1. 

Sunday also marked Dave's and my very first HSM (healthy solid meal) of the 28 day diet, so as soon as I got back from the game, we headed to Whole Foods to do some damage.  The great part of the HSM is that you don't have to worry about quantity at all -- just HIGH QUALITY food.  So here's what we did:

Appetizer (Dave did this on a whim since the oven was taking too damn long to get to 350 degrees)
Seared steak with some salsa tossed in -- We ate this right out of the pan.  Yeah, we were excited for solid food.

Dinner
Chilean sea bass filet -- oven roasted with butter, salt, pepper
1/2 baked sweet potato -- mashed with cinnamon and a little butter
Sauteed green beans and red peppers

Dessert
Sliced pineapple

We were so stuffed after this meal that both of us were completely dazed for the rest of the evening.  The bad thing was that we were so full that we missed our bedtime shakes.  Oh well.

I weighed myself this morning (morning of Day 8), and I've lost 4 lbs so far.  I am going to try to drink more water today to see how that impacts the headaches, nausea, and general lack of energy.