The start of the new year…

The last two weeks were a blur and I am glad my routine is getting back to normal.  I was able to stick to my eating and workout plans as I wanted.  It was the unplanned sickness (a cold) that drained my energy to the point of exhaustion.  Perhaps it was some much-needed recovery.  That was last week and I can still feel the muscle aches and stuffy nose lingering…not to mention the raspy smoker’s voice.

So today is Monday…and eating included:

Meal 1:  5 eggs, 3 pieces of toast                                                       

Meal 2:  50gram protein shake, 3 Tbsp of LBAs, an apple                     

Meal 3:  Protein bar, cup of oatmeal, 2 Tbsp natural peanut butter, mandarin oranges.                                                                                           

Meal 4:  50 gram protein shake, 3 Tbsp of LBAs                                  

Meal 5:  2 cups brown rice, 4 eggs, 2 turkey sausage

And here is the workout (chest, triceps, abs):
Bench Press: 4x15, 10, 8, 6
Decline Press: 3x15, 10, 5
Cable Crossover: 3x10
Cable Pressdown: 4x8 superset with Dips:  4 to failure       
Leg Raises:  3x20

The extra oatmeal prior to the workout gave an extra boost to my energy levels.  My focus for this training plan is gaining 5-10 pounds per exercise.  So far I am hitting that goal.  Bench press is the one exception.  It’s the first on the list, so I should be making the biggest gains here.  But I’m stuck.  It was going so good.  I need to work on this next week.  Perhaps drop weight on my warm-ups or try to hit a higher weight for lower reps.  Adding 10 pounds feels like I am adding 100 right now.  The trainer and I are in the process of locking down the competition and therefore the actual date.  Count back 16 weeks and we’ll know when the fun begins.