Week Four, Day Five -- Still Alive!

Well, today is nearly the end of the fourth week. Princess says I look better but I still have to achieve my goal so there's more work to be done! Tonight I worked legs after the most amazing Kaiseki-type Bento Box that Princess expertly prepared and presented. She made Swordfish, Tofu, Brown Rice, and lots of veggies and everything was very delicious. When I was at the gym (Bally Manhattan Beach) I found that my legs are growing extremely strong. I hope that my arms come along soon!

Tomorrow Princess and I will work Cardio together. Beginning Tuesday I'm officially upping my Cardio to 30 minutes. I do high impact Cardio, increasing my speed at least 4 times during the allotted time until I can't go any faster. I find that the bursts actually help me extend the time (I experimented with 40 minutes of Cardio on Tuesday).

I've been adding egg yolks to my shakes in the morning, as our new hotel does not offer a viable breakfast option (but at least I have a fridge in my room!) The guys are getting a little sick of my food schedule but, hey, they can just go where they want for lunch if they don't want to eat the same food every other day.

I only need to keep this up for 8 more weeks! Now, it is getting exciting. :)

The New Me... Week Three, Day Four!!

Well, I've almost made it through week three on the road. My diet is still going strong and yesterday we actually went and worked out twice (swimming in the AM, Legs in the PM). We went out to a nice dinner at Keegans (it was Pork Tenderloin night). Funny thing is everyone on the project, if they want to eat with me, has to go where I am planning on going. Everyone is like "why do we have to go all the way over there"!

Eating well on the road has not presented me as much of a challenge as I thought it would. Moved over to a Marriott now, so no more fridge sagas. I was able to buy the makings for my 10 PM snack with one trip to the store and actually store the food right there in my room. What a posh thought... being able to store my fridge food in the room!

Esby finally got back from the Uk and I sucked him into this project. He and I are working out together. He is much more fit than I, so I get to look at him and better visualize my after picture! Quite motivating.

Tonight I'm on Cardio... only after a delish feast of Fusion Orange Roughy with Miso marinade. Yummy!

Peace out.

The Saga of the Fridge

As many of you know, I'm a loyal Marriott person. I belong to their rewards program, earning Platinum status (75+ nights per year) for a while now. Even though my loyalty with Marriott is still there, I decided to take advantage of a deal with Starwood (a competing program) and stay at the Sheraton Phoenix Airport.

Now, I need a fridge due to my special diet, and I requested one upon my "week one" check in. I was promised the fridge and never got it. No big deal. On "week two" I called ahead and requested a fridge, and was told one would be in my room when I arrived. There was no fridge, so I called the front desk. I was told my fridge would be brought up. It never arrived. I called again, and was told they had no more fridges. So, I complained to the Sheraton site, sending an e-mail.

I heard from the front desk manager the last night of my week two stay. I was told that a fridge would be reserved for me and that I would definitely have one for my upcoming stays. He also left a voice mail asking if everything was OK with the fridge in my room. (There was no fridge in my room)

"Week three" I was certain I'd get my fridge. I walked into my room. No fridge. I called the front desk, and delivery was promised. Never heard anything else. I e-mailed the Front Desk manager again, cc'ing the General Manager (who was cc'd on an e-mail that was sent to me). I then got a voice mail from a front desk person telling me that there were no fridges available. So, I e-mailed again and then canceled my upcoming 14 weeks of reservations with the Sheraton. Then, I went to eat and work out.

When I arrived back to my room, there was a fridge there. Also, my voice mail light was blinking and a voice mail from the front desk manager explained how, even though he told his staff to provide the reserved fridge to me, they were somehow confused.

My only question is: What's wrong with these people? If they had never promised the fridge in the first place there would never had been an issue.

No Bread & Butter Please!

Well, I've been doing my new program for one week now. I feel great. Over the weekend I did have some bouts with exhaustion. I attributed this to my intense upper body workout on Friday night. Saturday I felt sick, like I was getting a cold. I figure this was just toxins from my muscles spilling into my system, as I felt like I do after a really intense massage. I'm drinking plenty of water and keeping myself hydrated. Sunday I was really sore, finding it hard to lift my arms. At least I know it is all working and I feel better today.

The Sheraton has once again failed to give me a fridge. This will become a problem when I get busier on this project and have to buy and store food ahead of time. For now, I'll keep complaining and see if I can get them to understand. Last week I was given 1,000 star points, a free pay per view movie, and, quite oddly, two free beers from room service. Shame that even if I was drinking beer at this phase of my diet I wouldn't have a fridge to keep them cool in!

Being on the road presents a whole new challenge when you're trying to eat right. The glare of fast food signs is overwhelming. I combat this with a strict approach of keeping my daily menu pretty much the same and mapping out restaurants that I know can serve it. It really isn't that hard. For instance, last night I got to eat beef, and I did so at Outback. Along with it I had a dry sweet potato and green beans. I also get to eat a lot of fish (The Fish Market) and even Pork Tenderloin on Wednesdays (Keegans Grill, Phoenix). It was fun finding the food I need, such as Sushi with brown rice (Sushi 101, Tempe) and even better when I can find a more than one required dish at the same place (Thursdays - Tofu Stir Fry, Sushi 101, Tempe). For breakfast I eat at the hotel, ordering an Egg White Omelet with Mushrooms, no butter for preparation and dry whole wheat toast. Or, I'll get some oatmeal. Most of the time they get it right and understand I'm avoiding fat.

The best part is when the restaurant staff brings over the bread and butter and I send them away, along with the five or six others who bring it back, thinking the wait staff has made a mistake. Funny thing is at Outback the waitress knew I was on a diet, just from how I ordered. No bread was offered.

When I refuse bread, people assume that I am on a low carb diet. This is not true. I'm on a protein + carb diet. My six day a week workout routine requires me to eat a ton of protein. The carbs counter along with the protein to give me the energy I need to put that protein to good use. It is a back to basics approach for me and pretty simple for me to follow.

What I do avoid like the plague is fat. I don't want the bread and butter because I don't want to sit there and pass the time between order and delivery by munching on fatty butter and extra bread. Other thing is: Nothing but water. I drink Water with lemon now. Not sugar filled sodas, or even diet soda for that matter. Everyone's body is different but I find that soda of any type bloats me up the size of a Thanksgiving Day parade float.

So tonight's exercise is Cardio, right after some Sushi, Seaweed Salad, and brown rice of course.

My Chemical Romance at The Forum

Well, I'm a big fan of My Chemical Romance. We went to the concert tonight, first listening to "The Black Parade" (My Chemical Romance alter ego?) for about 90 minutes until they finally came out and played "The Ghost of You", "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)", and "Helena". I realize now that I am a bigger fan of the "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" album, as I love all three of those songs! I'm not going to discount "The Black Parade" album just yet, as I owe it a good listen.

All in all it was an excellent show, except for the girl next to me who was bouncing around so much I think she missed her medication. :)

The New Me... Day Two...

Well, I began my new diet and exercise plan yesterday. Everything is going great. I already feel better, have more energy, and have better mental focus. Last night I went over and got a membership at Lifetime Fitness in Tempe. Funny thing is the sales rep was thrown back in his chair on how much of a hurry I was in to sign up. Even in today's world of free flowing information, sales people still don't realize folks actually do reasearch prior to arrival. I wasn't interested in his song and dance because I already read it all online. I just wanted my membership! Sorry if I moved to fast for you Michael (it was only his second day). :)

Now that's sorted so while I'm over here in Phoenix on this project, I'll be able to enjoy excellent work outs without having to cram myself into a tiny hotel gym.

I think the routine ritualistic nature of my new plan is quite refreshing to my unusual Asperger Syndrome cognitive processes. My brain feels like it is on vacation because every meal is pre-planned out exactly (time, place, entree). So, I'm sure I'll follow it quite religiously. I've detailed out my meal plan, exercise plan, and have signed up for a few online "track your results" type sites. Plus, I plan to blog my progress here to ensure that all of you (you know who you are) keep me focused on my goals.