FAT-OFF, DAY THREE

Well, Day 3 has come and gone. That means I have made it through all of my body parts and survived. Time to start over with chest and triceps tomorrow . . .
My story for the day is about a housewife I see infrequently at the gym. Her husband is a fellow firefighter, and I must say she is one of the more attractive ladies in the gym. But she is not meeting her fitness goals. She often asks for tips on different exercises and the way to perform them to best benefit, and I help all I can, but the conversation we got into the other day explained why she hasn't--and unless she changes her attitude never will--meet her goals. It's because they aren't really "goals." She won't eat the way she's supposed to because, in her words, she has to eat the way she fixes food for her children. Okay, there are two things I would say to this: One, you might watch more carefully exactly how you're feeding your children, because chances are pretty good you're not doing them any favors either. And two, then you don't want it bad enough. Even when I'm the one making the meals at home, I feed myself differently than I feed everyone else. Not that they eat an unhealthy diet, but the fact is if you are trying to burn fat to be in competition-shape you CANNOT eat like the rest of the world. That is a fact. But remember what I said before: Nothing tastes as good as being fit and looking good feels. You have to want this, my friends. You really have to want to look good unless you're one of those freaks of nature with metabolism on your side. And even then, ANYONE CAN IMPROVE.

Today's body parts: Back and biceps
Today's body weight: 211.75

Workout time: 9:03-9:44 for weights
Intervals (alternate sprinting/walking) 25 minutes
Forearm workout, 8 minutes

Deadlifts: 3 sets, 15, 12, 10
Bentover rows: 3 sets, 15, 12, 10
Pullovers: 3 sets, 15, 12, 10

Dumbbell curls: 3 sets, 15, 12, 10
Concentration curls: 3 sets, 12, 12, 12
Hammer curls: 3 sets, 15, 12, 10

Remember, on the weights you should be raising the amount of weight for each set of an exercise.

Also remember to only rest one minute or less between sets of the same exercise and no more than 2 minutes before starting the next exercise.

Because of the radically short rest periods, you should be pretty drained by the end of the weight routine. Get five or ten minutes rest, drink 16 oz or so of water to rehydrate, then get on your cardio machine of choice. Mine is the treadmill (or as it's spelled on a sign in my gym, "tredmill). I was running at an incline of 3.5 and did 8 sprints (the workout is Sprint 8) at 12 mph.

Forearm work: 6 sets, 1 each of 6 different exercises


The day's routine would read something like this:

7:35: Up and at 'em!
7:40: 16 oz water, take all vitamin and mineral supplements (see previous days)
8:07: 3/4 cup potato salad, 1 1/2 TBS coconut oil, grape juice/spinach smoothie (680 cal)
9:00-11:35: Protein drink, 12 oz water during workout (160 cal)
11:45: 12 oz water
1:00: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, cucumber slices with artichoke dip, 1 TBS coconut oil, 1 clove raw garlic, 2 green tea capsules, 3 fish oil, vitamin B-100, 32 oz water: 360 calories
3:45: Scrambled eggs: two whole, 4 whites, 1 clove garlic, 4 whole-grain crackers, cheddar cheese, 16 oz water, all supplements, including another shot of green tea capsules (580 calories)
6:45 2/3 cup cottage cheese, 1 scoop protein powder, 8 oz water (380 calories)

Total calorie intake: 2160
A good day: I'm down almost a pound in three days.