Behind every great man...

This is what I see, every morning at 545

To harken back to the no man is an island mindset, I have to take a moment to give credit where credit is due.

While she can't walk on the treadmill, lift the weights, or cram the protein down, my girl has done everything she can to ensure that I reach my goals.

When the thought of washing another tupperware or cracking another omega 3 egg makes me want to puke, she's already done it without my asking. The other day I fell asleep on the couch and a little bird did all my morning prep work (Thank you checklist taped on the side of the fridge.) I'll hop out of the shower and see my cooler all packed up for the day. She's on it boy!

She's down in the gym too- if it's cardio, she's on there with me, same amount of time, same speed, same incline. Should she accompany me for training days, she's training DC style rest pause, extreme stretching and all.

Peep the front double bi!

This works as a positive feedback loop because not only am I trying to get in the best shape of my life, her participation reinforces my motivation because I dont ever want to dogg it half-assed because I know that she's there sacrificing part of herself too. She's just as quick to cut back to one drink when we go out with friends (while I chew on ice) as she is to down chicken, tilapia, salmon, tuna and top round ad nauseum.

So when the curtain is drawn and the lights come to- I'll be up on that stage, it'll probably be the first, and last, time throughout this process that I've been alone.

"Sure God created man before woman. But then you always make a rough draft before the final masterpiece." ~Author Unknown

i... Am... IRON MANNNN!!!!

Heroe's aren't born- they're built. Allegorical reference to Bodybuilding GO!... I personally can't wait for this movie!

BTW Much sharper version (which does it way more justice) of the trailer here:

I went to the wrong High School...

Morsels to Lift By, take 2

Saw this while on the treadmill, and snapped a pic while on the treadmill.

Day 1 Vs. Week 5

I posted this on another site, but figured I might as well do it here:

Day 1:

Day 35: (Week 5)

Girl Scout Cookies

My new phone has a great camera (esp compared to my old one.)
I step into a public restroom today and I see this-

Pictured: "Thin?" Mints Girl Scout Cookies Box Top

Now I try my best not to pass judgment, but I'm thinking if you need to hide your enjoyment of special snacks by eating them in the bathroom, you probably shouldnt be eating them. Also, if you simply can't wait to get off the toilet to tear into that box of thin mints, you probably DONT need to eat em either... Haha... You just can't make this stuff up...

Morsels to lift by...

"If it works, do it. If it doesn't, don't. My attitude is, don't agonize over why. " ---Dorian Yates

Week 5 Progress Pics

Posing Trunk (SPEEDO) ALERT!!!!

Progress pics now taken in posing trunks. You've been warned.

Starting weight: 184.5
Weight on Saturday 2/23: 172.8, after going pee, 171.8 (haha)
Weight on 5/12/2007 (last years competition): 169.5

Front Relaxed:Gotta get that left lat out!

Rear Relaxed:

Front Double Bi:I like the way the abs look better here than in my older shots.

Rear Double Bi:They say that turning your head to the right or left during the rear shots emphasizes the trap development. Looks ok here.

Abs/Thigh:Much tighter here. Serratus coming in. I didnt get into this kinda shape till like week 12 last time. Let's see how sharper it gets.

Most Muscular:Leg cuts better emphasized (thanks Gym Diva for the reminder.)

Bonus: Leg Shot!
I'm particularly excited about this one: although I have a laundry list of things I didnt like about my 1st performance, one of the things on that list was leg separation- and it's starting to come in (thank you cardio, lunges, and diet!) I was getting frustrated that these progress pics aren't capturing the full essence of my physique, but I was able to get this at a good angle to do it a lil more justice.

Eat Big

Be Big. Here:

Early Iron Influences Take 2

Oh Popeye. The original chemically enhanced super hero. Although he has been blatantly exploited to espouse as anti-Japanese propaganda
I can't be mad at him (don't hate the character, hate the animator.) I always liked watching popeye get that spinach in him and go from helpless weirdo to super-charged ass-kicker. It was cool when they zoomed in on his arms and you'd see little turbines in there, or some other type of super powered mechanism going on. I know I was many of the scores of children forced to get spinach down the hatch in the name of physical prowess and Popeyes name.

But let's keep it real, there's nothing in spinach that will do a thing to help build muscle. Dont get me wrong the healthful benefits of greens and fiber are there, but the low protein content will keep you looking like a vegan hippie walking around berkeley in a tie-dye shirt.

But if there was some of the cream or the clear in the spinach, we're talking a whole different story. So why are we mad that our athletes are doing it today if Popeye has been doing it all along?

But why does he have nipples on his knees? Gynecomastia from all that "spinach" i suppose...

Virtual Posedown: He-Man Vs. Popeye

While Popeye displays great forearms and calves, his complete lack of any other quality body parts and complete absence of proportion and balance does him in. Plus, he's got no conditioning whatsoever! I guess spinach is too high in carbs...
He-man hands down.

Early Iron Influences Take 1

He-Man would have been an amazing bodybuilder

While many bodybuilders come up idolizing actual bodybuilders, the muscular archetypes of my upbringing are much more subtle. I never thought, I wanna grow up and be big and strong (though mom did say I'll never be hulk hogan if I dont finish my milk,) but the influence of such icons on my sub conscience child brain would probably be hard to refute.

Let's start with probably the earliest influence- He-Man, the Master Of the Universe. I was about 3 or 4 when I started playing with these action figures. I had em all. I still have stinkor and a broken skeletor on my desk. I really think I had a ton of them because my pops was really into the chase of getting those hard to find characters.

But look at this guy- dense muscle heavily packed onto a small frame. His calves are massive and his quads could use more outer sweep, but I think in a pose-down with other action figures, his X-frame would be hard to beat.

What makes He-Man interesting is that he had this total alter ego in the form of Prince Adam- mild, unassuming, but still heavily muscled. Looking back it's sorta dope that they'd give him a more sophisticated organic side that shows he does more than whoop bad guy ass. haha. Now all the characters are just hardened uni-dimensional tough-guys. I can relate to his plight.
Dude was rockin the under-armor WAAAAAAY before NFL players. Yeah he had purple spandex pants, and dark purple furry Uggs, but look at those arms? You wanna be punched by this man? This man's gorilla suit speaks for itself and Im sure his fashion faux pas went unchallenged.

Corporate Shakedown

SO today in Corporate America we had an icebreaker at work to usher in a merge between my group and another group.

One of the questions was- "List your talents or hobbies."

I joked that I could forego carbohydrates (ie contest prep) for long periods of time and that I was a competitive bodybuilder.

The room was rather silent. Courtesy smiles galore.

So it got me to thinking again, as I talked about in my previous post, about the myths and stereotypes.

Someone in the room stated he was into hunting.
Let me translate that- "I kill animals for fun."

I said I'm into bodybuilding.
Let me translate what most probably immediately conjured- "I'm a numbskulled, vain, self-absorbed roid ragin drug addict who's partly responsible for tainting Baseball and the olympics."

If only they could see that I've made a pledge. When someone is married to the iron, it's a tough road that usually pulls you in for life. It's about having a personal conversation with your genetics, and saying no thank you, I don't wIf they could only know that it's a lifestyle much like veganism, or perhaps becoming a priest or nun. ant that for myself. I love when people take an interest because I could talk about this all day long. It's also ok when they are 'grossed out' at the thought because I probably don't want to know them anyway.

Oh well, I guess we'll always fear what we don't understand.

I know I'm a lil weary of the animal killer, hahaha...

I aint no horse

but i take horse pills--

These are the LEUKIC pills that my good buddy Hugh gave to me.
He wouldnt pay 70 bucks for a bottle, but he said they're not bad for free.

I used to hate hate hate taking pills.

One thing that bodybuilding teaches you is how to suck it up and put the quest for muscularity before anything else.

So aside from taking pills, I've also learned to be a big(ger) eater, to go to bed early, choke down liquid concoctions that taste like battery acid, and drink in moderation. OH yeah, and do cardio.

What's in YOUR wallet?

Week 4 Progress Pics

So far I've lost 10 pounds. Last year I stepped on stage at 169.5, this is after 16 weeks of dieting, and dropping water the last day. Right now I've been hovering at 174 for a week and a half. I want to lose 1-2 lbs/week in an ideal world, so since I was at a stand-still I cut my fat intake back a bit and upped the cardio. I didnt adapt last year and I think I stayed the same weight for 3-4 weeks at a time. Not good.

Warning: In the next few weeks, I'm gonna throw on some posing trunks for my progress shots, so DONT LOG IN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE ME IN SPEEDO-ESQUE ATTIRE, LOL. (if you're logging in just for the Speedo-esque attire, please dont log in either, haha.) You've been warned.

Update time!

Front Relaxed
I haven't really gotten the hang of how to pose my abs during this shot (and the front double bi, which I'll address below.)

Rear Relaxed
Ironically I only see my back once a week (when I take these pictures) but in my objective opinion, it's much more developed than my front. You can see the development of the middle back (trapezius/rhomboids) which has been developed by close-grip pulldowns and of course the dreaded deadlift.

Front Double Biceps
I'm actually experimenting with a couple of the front double bi shots- again with posing the aim is to "hide" the weaknesses and enhance the strengths. Here I'm tensing the abs in a more crunched position.

Whereas in this one I'm doing more of a vacuum pose, where I expand my ribcage and suck in my stomach. I think the first one looks better, and looking from last years pose, it looked funny. So i'll go with the former from here on out (as long as I remember to hit it.)

Back Double Biceps:
Detail coming in here, Im happy with how its coming along. My hamstrings need to be dug out though, they're virtually non-existent here.

Abs/Thigh:
I'm pleased with what I'm seeing in this shot. I dont walk around with abs all year, and at this time last year I was NOWHERE near this shape, so I feel like I'll be in better overall condition.

Most Musculars:
In this shot I need to flare my lates more. Also the cuts in my legs I can see with my own eyes aren't coming through in the photos. Hmm...

Gorilla Suit

Now I’m a nice guy, and go out of my way to be as polite and cordial as possible.

Conversely, and in true Gemini fashion, if I feel slighted by someone I react with equal and opposite energy if someone steps on mine toes.

Case in point- the parking situation.

Yesterday I’m driving down a 2-way street and a parking spot opens up to the left of me, on the other side of the street (which will require a U-turn and some parallel trickery.)

I engage my blinker indicating my move and lower my window to point to the spot, indicating my intentions to other drivers. A few cars pass and continue their search for a spot.

Then comes Mr. Grey BMW. He whips around another car on his side of the street who was waiting for another spot and despite my hand gesture and signal and prolonged honk (I layed the horn on for the entire time it took him to parallel, turn off his car, then exit the vehicle.) slides into my spot, effectively stealing the spot I was clearly waiting for.

UH-OH.

I’m sure to take a deep breath and put my cordial foot first.

“Excuse me sir, I think it was rather clear I was waiting for that spot, and would appreciate it if you would move.”

“Hey man, tough break, I’m not gonna move he replies.”

Exit: Cordial

Enter: Gorilla Suit

I then respond: “Ok. I want you to think about this- think about the things you’re gonna buy today. Think about all the little enjoyable purchases in your bags- now add about $1500.00 to whatever you spend today because if you take this spot, and leave your car I am promising you I will smash your f*****g windows out with my tire iron. And I’m a man of my word. I don’t have plates on my car and I’ll be long gone before the cops get here. That’s an expensive Banana Republic V-Neck don’t you think?”

“Well I’ll just stand here then.”

At this point I’m still in my car. And I get it- Asian males (aside from Bruce Lee) probably don’t get a lot of points on the intimidation scale. I also had my ‘nerdy’ eyeglasses on so I’m sure that didn’t help at all. At this point all this dude has seen of me is from the top of my shoulder up.

Let’s get acquainted with Mr. Grey BMW. White male. 140 pounds (maybe.) 5 feet 6 inches tall. Perhaps in his mid 30s. Balding. Rather pale and sickly looking. Yuppie type. Probably has never been in a fight in his life.

You see I’ve sized him up twice at this point. As far as my stature goes, the concealment of the Honda Fit has afforded him no such luxury.

“All right sir, I see that we’re going to have to do this the old fashioned way. I’m going to kick your f******g ass right here in the street in front of all these people and I’m going to physically move you myself.”

And with vigor I exit my car, remove my eyeglasses and my jacket with purpose, throwing them into my car.

As I make my way over to him, suddenly his countenance changes. I think he realizes that there will be consequences for his trespasses. If he were a dog his ears would have dropped and you would have seen his tail occupy the space between his legs.

“All right man if you’re going to be a baby about it, I’ll move” he wisely states. I think he sees that he’s grossly overmatched, outgunned, outweighed and outwitted.

“Yo man, I’m just saying to do the right thing- because if you don’t I’ll be doing the wrong thing to you and your car.”

He then gets in his car and drives off. The small crowd that has formed was damn near applause.

I then park my car and begin my shopping trip.

I enter Victoria’s Secret to retrieve a gift for my love when I’m tapped on the shoulder.

Security?

Mr. Grey BMW with some buddies?

Nope.

An admirer.

An older black dude who I’ve never seen before in my life stands before me and says: “Yo man, I usually don’t ever wanna step foot in this store without my girl, but I had to tell you that what you did to that idiot outside was TIGHT, what an A**hole!”

“I just wanna make sure people do the right thing,” I quipped back.

Bob Paris wrote a book called Gorilla Suit. It’s basically a symbol of how a bodybuilder has this shell that is perceived (usually with disdain) by the rest of the world. I think it’s a rather accurate description.

Now I’d never use physical intimidation where it is unwarranted, but the gorilla suit came in awfully handy in this situation.

I bet you Mr. Grey BMW will think thrice before thinking about doing that again.

World's Smallest Bodybuilder-

NO Joke: Here
Thanks Geoff for sending me this.

Hungry Like The Wolf...

Kai Greene- Nothing's stopping him.

Bodybuilding- The next generation

I have a mentee (a little brother thru the Big Bro/Big Sis of America to be more specific.)

He's 11.

I do my best to assert my influence in mindset and general goals more so than guide him to specific walks of life in our interactions. I cringe at the thought of being that Dad who makes their kid play baseball because Dad loves baseball. I want him to choose his own path.

Because he's 11 his attention span is somewhat non-existent.

I do have random bodybuilding paraphernalia laying about my place. Muscular development Magazine. Arnold's Encyclopedia. And of course, huge jugs of protein- but none of this do I force upon him.

When my lil bro and I watch movies (in theater or at home) he's always watching dust in the sunlight that pours through the window or he is busy flipping upside down in his chair- basically- he cannot sit still. It's endearing, really.

But about a month ago, he asked if I had ever seen a bodybuilder pick up a car. "Of course I have" I responded and I popped in Pumping Iron and fast forwarded to the part where Franco Colombu moves the car out of a tight spot for his dad or uncle. He was in shock and awe. Shawe.

He kept watching. And watching. I asked, "Hey V, wanna watch it from the beginning?"

"YEAH YEAH YEAH, Can we!?!?!!!"

LOL this guy is asking ME if we can watch Pumping Iron is like asking a fat man if he wants seconds....

So I pop it in and he is locked in. Tractor beam set. I can't believe it. He won't take his eyes away.

Lil V absolutely mezmorized by Pumping Iron.

Did I just witness the bodybuilding bug bite him?

The next time I come over he speaks of Kai Greene, and Victor Martinez and Dexter Jackson. He emulates some of the posing routines he's seen on Youtube. Instead of basketball he wants me to show him my weight room.

Now when he comes over he runs straight for the MD magazine. When I give him new issues, the kid is silent- and the last time I gave him a couple issues in the car on the way home- he couldn't wait- and tore through the book feverishly- holding up each page up so that the headlights behind us could satiate his hunger for all things Iron- reading madly as if it's correspondence from a long lost love.

As I said before it's more than moving weights-- it's a love affair...

Everything comes aroud full circle- Me at ~11 years old.

Week 3 Progress pics

So with the unforgiving flash in the OFF position, I was much more pleased with what I was seeing...

Front Relaxed:
The separation between my chest/delt tie in is slightly more pronouced, as well as the area between my chest/lats/serrati
Rear Relaxed:Ironically this shot is the only that benefited from the flash as it's hard to see some of the detail that was apparent in the flash.

Front Double Bicep:
Again the serratus is more pronounced, definitely in need of some more thigh separation.

Back Double Bicep:
The muscles of my back are definitely more pronounced with improved thickness from this time last year. Hamstrings need to be dug out with a shovel.

Side Tricep:I have striations on my delts year round it seems, but they are sharper, along with some thigh/ham separation. Chest appears to be a lil thicker from the side.

Abs/Thigh:
Obliques are coming in tighter but i really want to ditch that lower ab area (think the last 2 parts of the 6-pack.) It was stubborn last time, but with 7 days of cardio and 16 weeks of no carbs, I'm hoping it wont be much of a problem

Most Musculars:
This one really highlights how much my chest has developed (esp in the lower portion, even though I did 0 decline movements this off-season.) Left delt looks to be lagging.
Hand on hips most muscular:
This is a good shot for guys like me who are lagging in the capped delt area, again striations in the chest and delts. Also noted is the increased inner thigh mass (from using the adductor machine) which adds to the illusion of the x-frame.

Till next week!

Cheat meal #2

Crazy as it may sound but I wasn't as raring to go over this cheat meal. Perhaps it's because last time the layoff was 2 weeks, so I mighta hit the threshold.



Here's what went in:
5 slices of round table pizza (from a medium pizza so it was really like 3 slices)
Half of a budweiser
2 krispy kreme donuts
half glass of milk
a mini bag of popcorn
a handful of brown rice crisps
and a glass of OJ
a plate of cottage cheese with mandarin oranges

Not bad considering I still had a slice of apple pie and some fruit left to eat.

Next stop: Valentine's day dinner- yes it's on a Thursday but I want my girl to feel like a human being that day, so I'll bump the cheat up (and prob just have a lil something less dramatic come saturday, but we'll see.)

in case you can't tell, i did not get it.

dummy.

Glad to clear the age old argument up once and for all...

Picture courtesy: CM Chiu

you can't make this stuff up...

I may not have said this before, but I lift in a gym that is privately owned by my company and designated for the sole use of the employees and their families/friends.

There are pros and cons of lifting in a corporately owned gym.

Pros include- clean equipment, and the corporate masses tend to shy away from the machines that attract the muscle heads, so they're (usually) open for use.

Cons include (and they are many)- people treating the gym as a social outlet, people not knowing gym etiquette (like wipe down your bench, re-rack your weights,) the lacking of an air of intensity for serious training, and a new con I've never experienced ever in all my days of training.

Today I was having a pretty good leg workout. I had finished up my set of lunges and headed over to the leg press to blast my calves. From where I was I couldnt see if the press was occupied.

When I arrived at the machine I saw a lady sitting there resting. There was no weight, and her legs were up on the thing platform and her eyes were closed. Now I know how annoying it can be to be bothered in the middle of a set, and I'm always hesitant to even ask "how many sets do you have left" so I just went on to the donkey calf raise machine adjacent to the leg press.

First warmup set knocked out- she's still there, hasn't moved.

Second set she shifts a little, and even places her hand over her face to block out the annoying gym light that is interrupting her slumber.


Last warmup set her mouth is now open and her breathing changes.

She's fully asleep on the GD leg press that I want to use.

Finally working set time and I blast the heck out of my calves, and grunt a lil louder than usual in a futile attempt to wake the snoozing patron.

NOPE.

So then I re-rack all my weight and as soon as the last 45 plate is placed on to the tree- she comes to and dashes off to another station. Of course.

I take a peek at my ipod- she was resting her eyes for almost 10 minutes. Now THAT's intensity!

I need to find a new gym.

Genetics

I dont spend a lot of time on the bodybuilding forums.

But when I do, there are 2 things you hear in bodybuilding circles when addressing someone who has achieved a respectable physique. First, you usually hear that the only reason a guy looks a certain way is because of drugs. Then when drugs are not enough, superior genetics must be at work.

While chemical enhancement and pharmacology are current 'hot topics' I'd rather touch on the role of genetics as it relates to a person achieving their own personal goals.

I recently read the words of 6 time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates speak on the topic of genetics in his book "Blood And Guts." 20"+ arms are the hallmark of superior arm development in the world of bodybuilding. He goes on to say that guys with small arms they fret that they'll never achieve that size no matter how hard they try.

His simple reply to this notion was: "How do you know you can't build a 20-inch arm if you've never done so."

I think once you write something off as, "oh I can't do that because I dont have the genetics for that," the game is over, you're quitting and you've already lost. Bodybuilding in a lot of ways is a carrot that dangles in front of your face, perhaps never to be grasped, but you should relish the challenge and bask in the thrill of the pursuit of that prize, of that goal. When you lose that motivation your gains stall and your motivation to grind becomes non-existent.

Yes it's true, some guys have better biceps peaks or some guys have abs all year long (I dont, but damn you Zack!)

Bodybuilder and Amputee Melvin Henderson

Let's Take Melvin Henderson (pictured above.) He's a bodybuilder. No, that's not a photoshop or an optical illusion- he's missing a leg. You might think back to the article I cited (how to squat for big arms.) It's easy to see that Melvin doesnt do much squatting, but he doesn't use that as an excuse and it appears that Mr. Henderson's arms are managing just fine without his leg (which was lost in a shooting right here in SF. You can read his story here.)

Then there's IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Ricky Welling

Blind Bodybuilder Ricky Welling of the UK

I actually saw Ricky compete at the SF Pro back in 2005. I was confused at first as to why this dude was being walked out to the center stage by a stagehand. He then moved through his posing routine with grace and ease. Then the stagehand came back and he was walked off the stage.

I soon realized that dude is blind! Bodybuilding is a tough sport. It's the sport where natural gifts will only get you so far. You can completely ignore sports like basketball for a year (or 2 in my case) but still hit 3's after warming up a bit. Bodybuilding is a 24/7/365 venture. If you're not training, you're eating, and if you're not eating you better be drinking a ton of water to keep you kidneys working well with all that protein, and if you're not drinking water you better be doing cardio to keep fat at bay and if you're not cardio-ing you better be getting 8 hours of sleep because you only grow in your sleep. If you miss a month of diet/training expect to look and perform significantly worse than you did a month ago. Now repeat that but do it all while being blind.

Can you imagine this dude in the gym, hoisting slag heavy iron into compromising positions for the sake of muscle growth? Or what about measuring out 16 ounces of chicken. You think its hard to run on the treadmill? Try doing it with your eyes closed. This guy has every reason in the world to NOT succeed but still pushes on.

I found a few more inspirational images. I dont know their stories, but I do know this-- they're not letting life or their own limitations, genentics or otherwise, stand in the way of progress, so why are you?

Victor Konovalov 1996, 1997, 1997, 2004 Wheelchair Nationals Overall Champion

"Do or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

This gets me so AMPED!

this is what I use on days that I'm dragging in regards to intensity.

If you can't breathe, you can't get ripped.

So I've always suffered from this annoying nasal condition where I can only breathe out of one nostril at a time, with the occasional sinus headache. A coworker of mine sent me a link to this thing called a "neti pot" where a small teapot is filled with some lukewarm saline and placed in one nostril, to have the contents of the pot flow out of the other. This serves to flush out the sinuses and keep congestion to a minimum. While I haven't perfected it, I gave it a shot.

You can enjoy it here. And NO it doesn't come out your ear, it comes out your other nostril. Just in this case I had no clue what I was doing...



It's almost like eating wasabi- the nasal passages sting a lil bit and there's a lot of stuff that comes out. Hell, it's been in there for 26 years.

Bottom line: if you can't breathe, you can't get big, can't get ripped, can't achieve your goals. LOL.

1st Cheat Meal Aftermath...

So I decided after being tortured at the mall by jacme's (which is my affectionate name for my childhood friend Jimmy and his girl Jacquie) taco lunch I decided it was time for Chevy's.


So Here's the damage:

Chicken Fajita platter with rice/beans/condiments

Chevy's ooey gooey chocolate xplosion (3 scoops of ice cream atop a warm brownie topped with whipped cream and a plate drizzled in caramel/chocolate.

I would have taken pictures of everything, but we woulda ran out of film (yes it was a digital camera, 2 gigs is not enough! lol)
Not Pictured:
3 baskets of chips n salsa
Pineapple Lemonade
Butterscotch kiss from see's candy
Bite of white chocolate chip cookie
sip of carrie's vitamin water
Red velvet cupcake from Teacake

2-3 days out from a show, bodybuilders do what is called a "carb up." While the term in endurance sports like marathon running or other sports where the stored energy will come to help, the carb up in bodybuilding is to draw water into the muscles and allow the competitor to get their pump It was crazy, since I hadn't eaten carbs in 2 weeks, I immediately became vascular and I felt this rush of tightness in some of my muscles as the water rushed back in. I tried to capture it.

See the crazy carb-up pump, I was just sitting there and boom, all of a sudden i got this pump going!

Anyways, with each bite I felt this rush, and it was nice to feel like a normal human being again. After dinner I felt pretty weird for a while. I definitely got some food coma going and was bloated till about midnight. It's nice knowing that I won't have to wait another 2 weeks. I think 1 week is good enough time as that cheat meal comes just in time to save you from straying yet keeps you satiated till next week.

This is the aftermath!

Back to that grind!