So my wife found a link to my old blog from my teenage years. I have no idea how much she read or how deep she delved into the archives. I do know we're still married, so that's a good sign. Her review of my teenage writings sparked me to re-visit the site myself. I got lost in nostalgia. I laughed, I cringed (I cringed a LOT) and I learned quite a few things about myself that I had seemingly forgot..What I learned:
Young me was obsessed with Mountain Dew. The amount of references to the "Sweet Nectar" as I too often referred to it are uncountable. It's a miracle I didn't magically turn into a humming bird and fly away.
Young me would've starved to death if it wasn't for Spaghetti O's and a can opener.
Young me complained a lot. (some things never change.)
Young me really disliked girls. To clarify, I don't think young me really disliked girls, in fact I think young me REALLY liked girls. Problem being girls disliked young me. And young me had a LOT of resentment because of it.
And there's a lot more too, that which I don't really need to get into here. Anyways, since this is kind of a fitness blog about my journey let's talk about what got young me to the 135 - 140 lb bean pole status VS what got me to the 182lbs slightly bigger than bean pole status when I was (am?) old me.
Young me typical day of eating:
9:30 am : Red bull (sugar free)
11:30 am : Grilled cheese with french fries
2:30 pm : small kids burger with fries
3:00 pm : Red bull or coffee (sugar free)
After my kid's burger I would work until around 9pm, occasionally munching on a snack here and there with nothing significant.
10:00 pm : If there was no spaghetti O cans left I would find a snack around the house, popcorn, chips.. etc. Once or twice a week I would visit a taco bell and pound some soft tacos and mountain dew with the wrecking crew. (Taco Tuesdays anyone??)
As you can see not the most caloric dense OR nutrient dense meal plan. Now, lets compare to Old me style of eating, which helped me put on significant weight and muscle.
7:00 am - Coffee + Chocolate "Mass shake" (25g protein powder + 125g carb powder) ; Pear or Orange
10:00 am - 4 eggs (whole) 1 cup blueberries, 1 cup oatmeal (cooked), 1 hashbrown pattie or 1 small diced and cooked russet potato
12:30pm - 5 oz chicken breast with seasoning, 1 1/2 - 2 cups white rice w/1tbsp olive oil, 1 cup diced pineapple, 1 cup green beans or broccoli
3:30pm - Protein smoothie, 1 scoop whey, 1 cup frozen blueberries or other frozen fruit, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup carb powder
6:00pm - GYM
8:00 pm - 4-5 oz ground turkey, 1/4 avacado, 1 whole wheat wrap, 1 cup white rice, diced tomatoes, green peppers, spinach, sliced cucumber.
10:00 pm - one scoop protein powder
Old me focuses a lot more on whole foods with nutrients, a lot more overall calories and a lot more protein. I lack a bit of consistency but for the most part this is my current meal plan 4-5 days a week. Weekends are my biggest failure as the routine seemingly flies out the window if I'm not on my work schedule. A step to nail down failing forward. The BEST gains ever made was when I was tracking calories daily and paying attention to the macro nutrient ratios of my meals and total caloric intake. That takes time and effort, which I've been lacking as of late. I've been playing a lot of it by feel. Watching the scale and eating more if it's not moving up or less if I feel I'm gaining too quickly. I'm hoping to have the discipline to start tracking over all calories and nutrients again but for now we'll fail forward some more.
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