A Journey to Remember - Day 1 & 2

As of right now it has been two days since I started working out and familiarizing my prep plan that my coach - Brain Duaqui - has given me. I have to say that I never realized how little I ate during the past few months. It definitely has been pushing my body to not only consume more food but also to use the food that I consume into fuel to workout better.

The day I received my prep plan from Brian I was pretty pumped. I read everything over a couple of times just to make sure that I understood everything that I had to do leading to the competition. Two quotes that struck me when I was reading the plan was, “There is no such thing as dirty foods” and “Train like there is always a competition” (Duaqui). These two quotes really stuck with me because I always thought that in order to be built, fit, and….BE BUILT you had to eat correctly as well as workout moderately. But to understand that “there is no such thing as dirty foods” blows my mind. Of course you would have food in moderation and be food cautious about what you’re having however, you are not restricted to just eating greens, chicken breast, tuna, salmon, etc. you are able to have other options that are able to benefit you and your body. As well as with the other quote, “train like there is always a competition” gives me the motivation to train everyday as if there is a competition. I wouldn’t go into the gym and compete with a guy that is squatting 4 plates of 55lbs on each side, no, I’m only competing with myself from what I did previous. For example, if I did 45lbs plates on each side of the bar one day then I would challenge myself to add more weight. Both quotes I will be holding to continually motivate myself in pushing through.

On my first official day I was pretty excited but nervous at the same time. I felt as if I was relearning everything - eating and exercising - all over again. Luckily I have a few workout buddies like Yu and others, as well as Brian my coach who are able to help me out if have any questions or problems with training and/or what food to consume. What kind of caught me off guard was the amount of food that I had to consume. I was mentally prepared to lift a lot of weight but I was not prepared to eat the amount of food that I have to consume. I became so use to not eating so much from when I was slimming down over the summer and now I have to eat pretty much double the amount of carbs and proteins than what I use to eat.
As far as working out on the first day it was a pretty new workout program that I was doing. The program that  Brian gave me was different than what I was use to. Usually I would focus on a group of muscles for example, I would focus on chest with triceps or I would do abs and shoulders. The program was comprised of power push and pulls and hypertrophy push and pulls. I am not going into much detail about it but I am sure a lot of people recognize this form of working out. When I started  I noticed that my body was not use to the program. I kind of felt like I was working out for the first time all over again, but instead of giving up like I have done in the past, I kept going.

On my second day I noticed that my body was kind of recognizing what I needed to do. It was interesting because from only one day my body was recognizing things that I had to do such as prep food and workout. I’m still having a bit of trouble when it comes to food consumption though. Most know about counting macronutrients or macros. I am still fairly new to the concept because I always counted my calories rather than my macros. Now that I have to actually count my macros I have to make sure that I meet the goal amounts. Working out however, is enjoyable. I always get pumped up when I get to the gym or even before I go to the gym; it’s as if I get a boost of energy before hand and actually workout. Once I am at the gym I’m in the zone. When I am at the gym I am focused on what I need to do and what I need to work on, I don’t waste time, which really bugs me when I see a number of people just sitting there for 5 minutes or more. Don’t get me wrong you need rest, but don’t comprise your workout. Rest for 1-2 minutes then go back at it, unless you have some occurring pain. Regardless of that I enjoy working out.

As of right now I am still currently getting use to the program that Brian provided me. The workouts are difficult only because I’m pushing and pulling weights that I have not tried attempting before. I am glad that I can have people around me to help spot just in case I cannot handle the weight. So far, I’m enjoying the program and I know I need to work harder more and more as days pass and I progress because typically I want to have a body like Ryan Reynolds but in order to achieve that I have to “train as if there’s always a competition”, a competition with myself to do and be better than before.