Recovery.

Man, ever since i've been increasing the intensity of my workouts. 

It's been harder to get my body to recover. 

I wake up every morning like someone just beat the SH!T out of me!! 

(I mean, that's pretty much what happens when i go to the gym) 

BUT, I need to recover faster!! 

Weird thing is, once i get a good sweat going and get the blood flowing, I'm a beast when it comes to working out. 

It's just getting my body to even get up to go. 

The goal is to hit the gym EVERYDAY (or at least 6 HARD days). 

Time to do work. 

In a positive note. This week is probably one of my best weeks ever. 

Diet. Working out. 

Just an overall productive week. 

Let this continue and be consistent and I'll be back to what i use to be in no time!! 

To health. 

BST.TLF. 

Russy 

P.s. 

I wanna get into mixxed martial arts. 

I think it's possible.

I mean, I know it's only the 2nd day of school...but I've managed to stay on my diet && go to the gym for 2 consecutive days (During a SCHOOL WEEK!!) 

That may not mean a lot to many of you, but it does to me. 

I know I've told my story countless times, and it reappears in many of my existing blogs, but i went from being: the guy you had to drag out of the gym, the guy who went to the gym twice a day for 3 hours a session. 

To: the guy who you couldn't pay money to lace up a pair of sneakers and hit the gym. 

It got so bad that I had gained nearly 90lbs in the 3 years that I was in nursing school. 

Weird thing was, everyone around me would tell me things like... 

"Russ, you're not even fat" 

"OMG, stop being so paranoid" 

"Come on Russ, just eat out w/ us" 

"Russ, seriously, you don't need to go to the gym" 

"Duude, you look the same as you were back then, I can't even tell" 

// 

I'm not sure if you guys were lying and just being nice, or you absolutely didn't see it. 

It sucks to know that people only started saying something to me when I had reached a size 44 pair of pants, wore a double X shirt, I weighed a whopping 230+ pounds, and would sweat just sitting there. 

SCHOOL WAS ALWAYS MY EXCUSE!!! 

It was always my way out...a reason to eat. a reason not to go to the gym. 

One thing i wished i did, was budget my time a little better. 

All I really needed to do was set a tight schedule, so I could get all my studying in, plan my meals, and also get in the hours i need to study. 

//

With that said, I know this year is going to be different. 

Senior classes aren't as time consuming w/ studying...yes, w/ projects and papers. 

BUT now that i have a 24 hour fitness pass, I can go anytime (NO EXCUSES) 

I know it's only 2 days in, but i already feel the change of focus. 

DO WORK. 

To health. 

BST.TLF. 

Russy 

P.s. 

Biggest loser was freaking amazing again tonight. 

I'm not gonna lie. I cried again. Damn it. 

But it sure is a motivating tool. If ya'll haven't watched it. 

WATCH IT. 

I will conquer!

THE DREADED STAIR MASTER!! 

I have absolutely grown to hate it. that's it. 

New week/New School Year

And the challenge begins. 

This will be the first time I will challenge myself keeping a gym regimen, a eating plan, while going full time back to school. 

It's definitely going to be a challenge. But I have to keep a determined spirit and mind. 

To health. 

BST.TLF

Russy 

The weekend curse.

Ever since this diet/workout plan started...I've FAILED. 

I mean, I've really let myself down, EVERY weekend! 

I go from being "Mr.Healthy" to "Mr. WTF are you doing to yourself" in a matter of a couple of hours! 

Something about friday evenings, then saturdays, and sometimes even sundays that seem to get in the way. 

I probably would be a whole lot more fit if I carried on the whole week, or better yet just didn't cheat so badly. 

// 

I'm hoping this weekend is different. 

I wonder how much more I would lose, or how much better I would feel if i just stayed consistent. 

Well...here is my chance. 

I'll check in at the end of this weekend, and hopefully i'll overcome the dreaded weekend curse! 

Do work. 

To health. 

BST.TLF. 

Russy 

When clothes don't fit, buy new ones?

How many of us are guilty of trying to compensate for our weight gains by simply buying the size bigger than we already wear?

Why do we spend that extra money, when all it really takes is some gym time and a watchful eye on the diet?  

Well, that's been the story of my life the past couple years. 

//

When I started nursing school, we had to buy these clinical uniforms that I have definitely wore out. 

At the beginning I dawned a medium top and bottom and it fit great. This was when I was about 150-160. 

As time when on, I gained the weight slowly, by my 3rd quarter things were fitting a little tighter and were getting a little uncomfortable, but still doable. 

My mom noticed, so she said..."Let's buy you a large!", I thought to myself, I'll wear the large size in the mean time while getting in shape to fit the medium again. 

Another quarter went by, and another...I was probably in quarter number 5 or 6, where the LARGE was getting tight. 

So my mom bought me another pair of tops and bottoms, this time they were EXTRA LARGE!! By this time, I had realized I had gained a whole lot of weight. 

I was reaching the 190's, and probably more so, close to 200 at this point. 

// 

So the past school year I've been sporting that sexxy XL outfit, and for some reason I stopped caring. Completely stopped going to the gym, and just ate and ate and ate. 

By the end of last year, as you may have guessed...the EXTRA LARGE started to fit horribly tight. I was probably 215 at this point. 

It was half way through the quarter when I was actually about to go to the store and buy a new set of scrubs, this time a double X. 

Then it finally hit me...am I going to be doing this until I reach a size I can't even fit into? 

Luckily, I managed to get through the quarter q/out buying a new pair of scrubs. 

I haven't tried any of my scrubs over the summer, but I'm gonna stay true to my goal: 

LEAVE NURSING SCHOOL THE WAY I CAME IN!! 

// 

I have refrained from buying new clothes lately. 

Just because I have so many clothes in my closet, WAITING for me to wear!! 

I mean, they'll be some instances where I'll need to go and get a shirt or what not, BUT from now on, I will not buy any clothes until I start fitting into my old ones. 

I'm starting to wear LARGE again!! after getting a little scared wearing the 2XL. 

Time to do work. 

To health. 

BST.TLF. 

Russy 

Cleasing: Day 3

2 blogs a day? 

guess so :) 

Wednesday also known as hump day?!

But we will try not to ever have such a day. Don't really like the name HUMP anyway ;) haha. 

Anyway... 

Although I have changed my course and plan. I've added (oatmeal in the morning) and protein shakes. 

So, pretty much it's the regular diet I'm on...but will end the week (fri, sat, sun) w/ only fruits and veggies. 

It's not a sign I'm giving up, but damn...these workouts i'm doing are getting intense. 

I'm doing nearly 3 hours in the gym at one time. (hopefully starting to do 2/adays again) 

Although I have gone back to the regular diet of consuming only 1200-1500 calories and day...

I feel so much better already. 

The cleanse will continue this weekend. I don't know if my body could even take the full week of eating nothing but that (I've done it before, but i guess i gotta start slow!) 

So here it is. Cleansing/diet week is going GREAT. 

I look forward to waking up every morning to tackle the day w/ the same determination. 

The beard is still going. 

Might be a couple weeks, who knows...just depends on how much work I truly put in. 

The body doesn't lie when you're looking for results. 

It only tells you how much you are putting in and putting out. 

So, after my 3 hour (almost passing out) workout today and eating quite healthy, which i'm pleased, I'm ready to take on the next. 

I wanna break the Thursday/Friday hump for me, because those are the days that always seem the hardest for me. 

So here we go again. 

I guess I can go to bed early tonight because I got my workout in earlier :) 

Hope you all are finding your motivation. 

To health. 

BST.TLF.

Russy