Weeks # 4 and 5 had to be the most challenging for me as we were in the middle of a major project at work which required over time and worked some weird hours. This has taken away from my blog time as well as some other projects that I’ve started and will become reality soon. Taking into consideration all these factors, I was able to successfully maintain my gym routine and still manage to keep within the same weight.

Week # 4 included my workout rituals but threw a curve ball at me diet wise. Instead of packing my lunch and snacks we’d generally go out for lunch which was a major test and I failed. My diet consisted of everything I shouldn’t have had and the scale reflected that. Week # 4 brought me a 3lb gain and it wasn’t from the working out. My eating out contributed to that and I totally take responsibility for that. The stress and weird hours affected me mentally and I immediately turned to my comfort food as we all do in times of stress. While the workouts were as strong as they ever have been I found my moments of weakness with my sweets ultimately won and I was left to face the consequences of my actions.

Week #5 turned out to be an awesome week as my workouts continued to be just as strong as the previous week and it was showing in my gains. I was able to make considerable gains on the amount of weight I was doing and the fatigue from those increased weights were not apparent. This did leave me wondering if I had sold myself short when I initially setup my workout. Another surprise week #5 brought me was a present which I received when I went to that evil scale. Thru gaining control of my diet and a little bit of sweat in the gym I was able to counteract my damaging actions of the previous week within .4lbs which I’ll gladly take any day. This made me smile and was reminder of how we as individuals control our destiny and are ultimately responsible for our progress. Yes it’s easy to blame many other things but I’ve come to realize it doesn’t do any good so take ownership of those moments of weakness and learn from them.

Running continues to be part of my workouts and I’m running 6 days a week. The days I workout I’ll start with a moderate run on the treadmill which is the equivalent of a ½ mile at a fairly aggressive pace. My days outside the gym include running with the wife 3 days a week. Our runs during the week are generally around 3.2 miles and we’re usually out around 5:30am to beat that Florida heat. Sunday’s are the longer ones which we generally run a minimum of 4 miles (it all depends on her training schedule as she’s training for her first full marathon in November). Her training will allow me to push myself to the limit and test just how far I can take my running and survive. One thing I do want to mention and this should be everyone’s focus whether running, biking, paintball or any other activities is HYDRATION. Please remember to hydrate and I’m not talking about grabbing a water to take with you as you head out the door. In order to truly hydrate I generally start at least 24 hours before, but then again I’m drinking more water these days and less soda.

What’s been your worst week ever? How did you recover from falling off the wagon?