April 18th

I'm Back. Had a bit of a technology time out as school got down to crunch time with a bunch of assignments and tests and that. I still have one exam left but its in a week so no worries. Rugby training has been going very well and I've started doing contact and the knee feels great, no problems at all. I actually just got back from a practice with the Ontario Blues; the mens provincial team. I was surprised to be asked out so early after my return to play but went out and felt pretty good. It was a good fast paced session and I held my own. I still have a lot of work to do to get back to the level I was playing at before the injury but I'm fairly happy with how things have gone so far. That was my workout for today and I have a club practice tomorrow night so just have to rest up for that. Here's what I ate today:

10am Muesli with soy milk
1pm Smoothie - pineapple, mixed berries, soy milk, spinach, flax meal; vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
5:30pm Homemade Vegan Quesadilla
Gatorade during and after training
10:30pm Stir fry - red and green peppers, chilli peppers, green onion, carrot, edamame, peanuts, natural peanut butter, pineapple, noodles
12am fish oil capsule

Its about a week since I've decided to go vegan prior to the start of my season. I ate a lot while training to develop size and strength so now that I'm just maintaining strength and focusing on being healthy and energetic for rugby I decided to go back to veganism for a bit. I feel much healthier without the animal products in my diet and I'm losing fat which isn't the goal but a nice bonus. I feel a little more comfortable at a lower body fat percent then I'm at anyway and looking good never hurt the confidence. So far I feel great despite being in exams and a little stressed.
The Vegan Quesadilla was a recipe I came up with as I was grocery shopping today. I sauteed up some red peppers, red onion, jalepenos, and garlic, then mixed it in with some chopped spinach and an avacado. Mashed all that together with some lime juice, chipotle chilli powder, paprika, cumin, sea salt, and pepper. Then put the filling between two whole wheat tortillas and put it in the oven until the tortillas were crunchy and served it with some salsa. This recipe kicked ass and I'm rather proud of myself for coming up with a great tasting vegan version. Didn't miss the cheese or meat at all, I actually prefer the version I made

Thurs March 17th

St. Paddy's day. Didn't get drunk though, just a couple pints after rugby training. Spent the entire day before rugby doing homework. For some reason I tend to have assignments due or an exam the day after St. Paddy's; this year is no exception with a short nutrition assignment due. Just analyzing a study on the impact of a caffeine and 6% carbohydrate solution (think putting caffeine into Gatorade, not a red bull which has way too much sugar). According to the study, the group that got caffeine and carb mixture had much better endurance than a control group that received only the carb drink over a ninety minute soccer simulated training session. Might read a bit more into this kind of research and see if its worth trying. Anyways, the rugby session went well. Really starting to get my quickness and sprinting speed back and getting back used to reading situations. My fitness level is already starting to get much better also. Here is what I ate today:

8:30am Muesli with soy milk
10:30am 2 eggs, spicy genoa ham, spinach, tomato, cheddar on whole wheat
1pm Whole wheat spaghettini, tomato, spinach, walnuts, basil pesto
3pm Whey protein, peanut butter, natural honey, soy milk
5pm Beef and Guiness stew
9:30pm Steak and mushroom pie, mashed potatoes and gravy, beer (Cheat meal)

The beef and guiness stew was homemade, big chunks of beef, carrots, potatoes, peas cooked in a rue of spelt flour and guiness. It was pretty good but not the best stew I've made before. Made a big batch so I'll toss a couple servings into the freezer for quick meals. Had the pie and potatoes and beer after rugby in the clubhouse to celebrate the festive occasion. I was done my assignment by then so I could have had more drinks but just didn't really feel like it. That's all for now I guess.

Tues March 15

Woke up early and got to the pool. I am not a swimmer in any sense of the word. I can swim, I'm just not efficient at all. That being said I was focusing on a few aspects of technique; unfortunately I don't have a swim cap yet so I couldn't keep my face straight down so I'm going to buy one asap. Due to my lack of good technique I am not very good at pacing myself. It was a good workout though; swam for about thirty minutes, consisting mostly of about 2-3 lengths followed by either a short rest or switching to the breast stroke for a few to catch my breath. Spent the rest of the day in class or working on an assignment. Here's what I ate:

9am - Protein shake, apple
10:30am - Muesli with milk
12:30pm - Turkey, cheddar, spinach, tomato, mustard on whole wheat; 2 clementines
3:30pm - Amy's Organic Vegetable Barley Soup, 2 slices whole wheat bread
6:30pm Whole wheat spaghettini, spinach, tomato, walnuts, pesto
10pm - Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, spinach, flax meal

Pretty normal day food wise. Not a very exciting day in general; just the swim and some homework today.

Mon March 14th

Had a good training session today. Lifted heavy but cut down on the number of sets because of it being a deload week. Body felt good. Squats are almost at my pre-surgery weight; that being said I never used to squat as much as I should have. My modified glute ham raises are getting very strong. Also been getting some definition on my abs. This is just a bonus as it was never really a goal... It also goes to show you that you don't need to do 100s of crunches or sit ups. The only time I ever do them is at rugby training because the team is doing them. I just focus more on things like planks and rollouts and avoid spinal flexion exercises. I do need to start working on my cardio a bit more though. I did ten minutes of intervals on the treadmill at the end of my workout and although not terrible I need to put some extra cardio work in. Here's what I ate today:

7:30am muesli with soy milk
10:30am Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
11:30am Turkey, spinach, tomato, mustard on whole wheat
3pm - Smoothie - mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, flax meal, spinach, olive oil
7pm - Gnocchi, bacon, onion, mushrooms, olive oil, lemon juice, sage
10:30pm - almonds, peanuts, cashews, pecans, raisins, dates; fish oil capsule

Happy with my diet today, my dinner was really good. Bought some stewing beef and other stuff at the grocery store today so I think I'm going to make a beef and guiness stew for St. Patrick's day this thursday, and make enough to freeze for future meals. I'll post the recipe I come up with. Never made one before but I've had enough to know the ingredients; so I'll just figure it out from there (who needs recipes when you can experiment). I've decided to go swimming tomorrow morning to get that cardio work in while not beating the body up too much, hopefully I can do this once or twice a week until the end of school. Off to bed so I can get up and get to the pool.

Sun March 13th

Another day of mostly school work. Did some reading on Lionel Conacher for an assignment. He was one badass dude. First off his nickname was The Big Train. In one day he scored 15 points for the winning Toronto Argonauts in the Grey Cup final then rushed across town to help win a hockey game. Another day he hit the winning double in a baseball game then went across town to help his lacrosse team that was down 2-1; he scored two goals and they won (What did you do today?). He was a national light heavyweight boxing champ, won a couple Stanley cups, and was named Canada's Outstanding Athlete of the Half-Century. Oh he then went on to become a member of provincial parliament for Toronto. Like I said... badass. Makes me feel like I waste a lot of time. Anyway here is what I ate today:

9:30am Muesli with soy milk
12:30pm Bacon, egg, spinach, tomato on whole wheat; vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
4pm Smoothie - Banana, soy milk, whey protein, peanut butter, natural honey, oatmeal
8pm Salmon, baked potato, asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms
10:30pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, flax meal, spinach; fish oil capsule

Ate pretty well today; slept in a bit though because of the time change and a late night out last night. Got in a fair amount of fruits and veggies today though which makes me happy and healthy. Gonna go plan out my workout for tomorrow and get stuff packed up.

Sat March 12th

Hit the gym today; I love my school gym on the weekends when everyone is too hungover and busy recovering to get to the gym. Never have to wait for anything. Nice easy workout to start my deload week and finished off with some sport specific medicine ball passes off a wall. Other than that I relaxed a bit, did some school work, and watched the Canadian University Seven's Rugby Championships online. Saw UBC take down Mac for third place then UVic beat Western in the final. Neither of the games were close; likely because the teams out east are coming to the end of their season while Mac and Western came together for this tournament. That being said UVic and UBC always have strong programs and have a few national players. Also went to the movies at night and saw Drive Angry 3D; it was surprisingly great. Over the top, cheesy action movie full of terrible one liners... all that in the greatest way possible. This is what I ate today:

9:30am Muesli with soy milk

11:30am Chocolate milk; vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)

2pm Cheddar cheese scrambled eggs, bacon on fresh baked roll

5pm Whole wheat rotini, spinach, capers, tomato, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice

8:30pm Gnocchi, spinach, tomato sauce

11pm Almonds, peanuts, cashews, raisins, dates

12:30pm Fish oil capsule

Had the nuts and dried fruit at the movies (sneaky sneaky) instead of candy and crap. Another pretty good day of eating. Had the chocolate milk post workout. Should have had more fruits in my diet, especially since I've been fighting off a cold lately. Oh well, just another lesson for tomorrow.

Fri March 11th

Took a day off today from lifting and training. Much needed with how I've been feeling over the last few days. So I spent the day cleaning and doing chores. I have a bunch of assignments coming up and I hate working in a mess so got my room nice and organized. That's really all I did today, went out for dinner later and just relaxed at night. Here's what I ate:

9am - muesli with soy milk
11am - 3 egg spinach and cheddar omelette on whole wheat; vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
3:30pm - Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, soy protein, flax meal, spinach
7:30pm - Bacon poutine, chicken wings, beer (Cheat meal)

Didn't eat a whole lot throughout the day when I was cleaning just because I was sidetracked but ate a few pounds of wings later that night at Wild Wing. Have a workout planned for Saturday so I'm looking forward to that after a nice bit of rest today.

Thurs March 10th

Been feeling a little under the weather as of late but it will pass. Training makes everything alright though. Was a little sore from the deadlifts Wednesday but not too bad. Got to go to rugby training and once again the knee felt great. I was getting a little frustrated at times with people screwing up the basics but it happens; at least we are doing the right thing and working on them early before the season so everyone is on the same page when games come around. Felt good to do some positional work and get back into that frame of mind of controlling the play and directing the flow of the game. It's been a while since I've had to analyze situations on the field while playing so I'm a little rusty and found myself putting my head down instead of reading the defence at times, but not too bad. Here is what I ate:

8am - Muesli with Soy milk
11:15am - Chocolate milk, apple; vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
1pm Steamed veggies, tofu, rice
5pm - Spicy Genoa ham, mushrooms, onion, cheddar, whole wheat panini; vit.c
9:30pm - Protein shake, apple, banana
12am - Whole wheat rotini, garlic, spinach, capers, tomato, olive oil, lemon juice; vit. c

The panini I made was really good, I had a craving for one and thats what I came up with based on what I had in my fridge. Worked out well. Stepped up the vitamin c intake to help try to fight off this cold. Nose has been running like crazy and is generally gross. Gonna take Friday off to recover and hopefully get over the cold then back at it on saturday to start a deload week that is much needed.

Wed March 9th

Deadlift day today. I'm happy with how the workout went overall. Felt good to move some heavy weight. Also got some things checked off the to do list. Still a long list though, with lots of assignments coming up soon so I'm going to have to make good use of my free time. Also had some classes today but not a whole lot else going on with me today. Here's what I ate:

7:30am - Muesli with soy milk
10:30am - Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,fish oil)
11:30am Turkey, cheddar, spinach, tomato, mustard on whole wheat
2:30pm 2 poached eggs, salsa, cheddar, onion, green and yellow peppers on whole wheat
6pm Salmon, sweet potatoes, asparagus, broccoli
10pm almonds, cashews, pecans, peanuts, dates, raisins; fish oil capsule

Came up with the poached egg dish today and it was pretty damn good. I cooked the peppers and onion with smoked chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. It ended up like some kind of Mexican eggs benny. Gonna make that one again for breakfast for sure, maybe even get some spicy sausage and mix that up with the peppers and onions. That's all the noteworthy stuff for today so off to bed.

Tues March 8th

Gotten pretty busy lately with assignments and the like but got some marks back today. Got an A+ on a presentation on ACL injury prevention (love the irony of that one) and a B+ on a research summary for a paper I'm doing on concussions in minor hockey. I've been kicking ass this semester so all my hard work is paying off. Had a hands on class for assessment and treatment of the cervical spine which was really cool. My hard work in the gym is also paying off, I'm getting stronger all the time. I have been pretty tired lately so after tomorrows workout it is the start of another deload week which is much needed. Nutrition has been pretty good also. My program had a pancake breakfast today but I resisted temptation and just had some fruit. Speaking of food, here is what I had today:

7am Muesli with soy milk
9am Apples; vitamins (multi, b, fish oil)
12pm Whole wheat penne, asparagus, brocolli, shrimp, tomato sauce
4pm Chicken roti
10pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy protein, soy milk, flax meal, spinach
11pm Fish oil capsule

Well it is getting late and I have an early date with some deadlifts tomorrow so off to my bed.

Fri March 4th

I surprisingly wasn't very sore today after rugby training last night. My legs were actually completely fine, my upper back and traps are a little sore but that is more likely from the shrugs earlier in the day. I had my last clinic shift of the school year today. It was a good year and I learned a lot. Way more than I did at my placement last year. I also made a good impression on the head therapist and all the coaches and athletes I worked with. The head therapist is a great reference to have and is someone I will try to keep in contact with in the future; who knows what kinds of jobs will come up. Also got an email about possibly working a spring football training camp. I emailed back so hopefully I get the chance to work it. Here's what I ate today:

6:30am Muesli with Soy milk
10am Spicy Genoa ham, egg, lettuce, tomato, cheddar on whole wheat; vitamins (multi,b, fish oil)
1pm Protein bar
6pm Grilled veggie, black bean, rice, lettuce, tomato, monterey jack, salsa, red onion, jalapeno, guacamole, whole wheat burrito
10pm Smoothie - 3 bananas, soy milk, whey protein, natural peanut butter, natural honey, oatmeal; fish oil capsule

I needed a nap after class and woke up without much time to make food so I just grabbed a protein bar. Other than that it was another good day of eating. I switched up my usual smoothie, and this one was very good. The chocolate protein powder tasted great with the banana and pb. I added the oatmeal to thicken it up a bit and a bit of texture. It worked out really well so I'll likely make this again. I don't have time to post that nutrition analysis assignment but I will as soon as possible.

Thurs Mar 3rd

Woke up early and hit the gym before class. My squat is getting much stronger and I'm back up to about 200lbs; still have a lot of work to do in order to get my squat back up to where it was pre-injury. More importantly my Glute Ham Raise is getting way stronger then before and my hamstrings are getting some good size back. This is a good thing as the hamstrings help protect the ACL. After my workout I did some cool low back assessment stuff and had my back/ posture analyzed. I do get low back pain from now and then when I stand for a long time so what was said wasn't much of a surprise. I have some things I'm going to do to correct it and hopefully that pain and stiffness will go away. At night I went down to my rugby club for the first pre-season training session. I'm definitely in much better shape then just about everyone there, but more importantly my knee felt great. Taped it up with a custom tape job and tossed a neoprene brace over top. I even did a little contact, not any tackling but running into a contact pad and going to the ground. I didn't notice my knee at all, fatigue or anything. My hands and timing were a little off but that will come back quickly so I'm not worried. Overall very happy with how I felt, and is a sign of how my training and hard work has paid off. Good nutrition is a big help with that so here is what I ate:

6:30am Muesli with soy milk
9am Apple, Banana, Vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
11:30am Chocolate milk; Grilled veggie, lettuce, tomato, red onion, cheddar, cucumber, green peppers on whole wheat wrap
3:30pm Gnochii, chicken bacon, onion, olive oil, sage
5:45pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy protein, soy milk, flax meal
9:30pm Chicken, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, mustard on whole wheat; apple
11:30pm Amy's Organic Vegetarian Chili; fish oil capsule

Good day of eating, the gnochii dish I made was really good. Would have been better with actual bacon but was still very good. Ended up staying up a little late to do an assignment but not too late as I already had most of it done. I'll talk about it on Friday's post; that's all until then.

Wed Mar 2nd

Today was a rest day so no workout, just a lot of homework, classes, and clinic. Got one assignment back that's worth 15% of my final mark and got an A so I'm happy. My prof likes my insight and wants me to contribute more to discussions in class (sometimes its a nuisance being smart). I've generally been pretty tired as I usually work out the morning of and have a class just before; also these classes were usually after a late basketball practice which is over now so I can get to bed earlier. I guess I should speak more and get the free participation marks. Almost done my nutrition assignment so I'll likely comment on it in friday's post. I'm looking forward to tomorrow as it is a lifting day, followed by a class on lower back assessments which I look forward to learning; but at night I'm going to go down to my rugby club for the first training session of the year and to meet the new coach. I'll bring my brace but I'm gonna see what I can do with a little tape. Here's what I ate today:

8:30am Muesli with soy milk, vitamins (multi, b, fish oil)
11:00am Two scrambled eggs, chicken bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheddar on whole wheat
2pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, soy protein, flax meal
6pm - Curried chickpea, red lentil, and quinoa stew
8pm - Smoothie - banana, pineapple, coconut milk, vanilla frozen yogurt, soy protein
10:30pm - Almonds, cashews, peanuts, raisins, dates; apple; fish oil capsule

Ate well today, got a little lazy while doing homework so had another smoothie then homemade trail mix and an apple. Can't really complain though as it is all pretty healthy. Once again it's nice to be back into a routine; now just to keep it that way. On that note... early day tomorrow to hit the gym so off to bed for me.

Feb 25th-Mar 1st

Spent the weekend in Montreal. I woke up early in order to get a workout in, did some deadlifts and other lifts then packed and got on the bus for montreal. It's a long bus ride and I can't read on buses or I get sick so I just kind of zoned out, napped, listened to music, and watched movies. Worked the soccer tournament the next day and had one of my athletes get a nice cut along their eyebrow requiring 3 stitches on the inside and another 9 on the outside. It was a good one but it meant that I was waiting for the doctor to come and do the stitches for a few hours. She did a great job though and all was well. Ended up going to a pub with one of the other therapists for some food and beers and watch the UFC (Can't believe they called the Penn vs. Fitch fight a draw). That was meant to be my cheat meal but while on my way back I had a burger due to lack of options and no food left. I felt like shit after that so I remember why I never eat fast food crap. Got back on track on Monday though after sleeping in. Made an awesome pasta bake dish with roasted vegetables (tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms) and some cheeses and bread crumbs.

Tuesday I woke up and had a good workout; glad to be back in the gym training after a long weekend of working. Also had a great day of eating. I don't have time to post everything I ate but I will start that back up again with daily posts as of Wednesday. Although my work schedule will be backed off a bit now; the assignments and tests for school are just starting to take over my life. I'm almost done an assignment on analyzing my diet for three days; I'll discuss it when I'm finished. Also just finishing up a program I designed for my brother like I mentioned last post. I enjoy doing this but tend to prefer doing it for more experienced lifters and people who care about their diet. Oh well he's my brother and the reason I will get free electrical work in the future. See you tomorrow.

Feb 17th-24th

I've been very busy lately, having been out of town for three days while working badminton provincial championships, then the day I returned I worked a Rugby Ontario training camp for the U18 and U17 teams. Both were fun and good experience, I hope to work more and more rugby and build a good reputation for it. Went to see my family and catch up with some friends the day after that, then had an away basketball game to work on the wednesday. Although I wasn't posting, I kept up with my workouts, even adding a couple interval treadmill running days (I have to start improving my cardio for the upcoming season). Ate pretty well the whole time (not going to post because I just don't have the time). Had a cheat meal with a friend at Boston Pizza and had a small pizza and a very large beer; but I also had a couple drinks and a piece of cake over the weekend with family and meeting my girlfriend's brother who lives out of province. But after a good workout I went and played squash without my brace on. This was a great test for whether or not my knee can handle intense agility work; and it went extremely well. No problems at all, even when my foot slipped while making a cut. Very happy about this and shows that I am progressing; still need to keep up the hard work though.

I'm writing this in the clinic of the college I work for while waiting to leave with the indoor soccer teams for a weekend trip to montreal. I will have my computer with me for this trip so I will do my best to keep up with the posts. The hotel has a large salt water pool so I'm hoping to get some laps in one morning before going to work. I don't swim as often as I would like to; it is a great cardio workout and easy on the knees. Made a bunch of food to lessen the amount of food I have to buy this weekend and to ensure the health and nutritional content of it. I'm also hoping to get at least one assignment done this weekend, as well as make a training program for my brother who had the same surgery as me but a year earlier and finally wants to get back to playing rugby. Wish he had told me more then two months before the start of the season but I'll do what I can, he's more of a beginner lifter so I'll have to keep it simple, and deal with some mobility issues he has. But since he is a beginner I'm expecting he has some quick strength gains as long as he sorts his diet out (it isn't the greatest... he hates vegetables and fruits; typical meat and potatoes guy). That's all for now; I'll do my best to post over the weekend.

Wed Feb 16

I was pretty damn stiff and sore today after yesterday's workout, Upper and lower back as well as my forearms were quite sore. Did some stretching and foam rolling to help which I believe it did. Spent the day finishing an assignment, in class, doing laundry, and preparing a bunch of food for this weekend. I'm travelling to London (Ontario) with the school I work for's badminton team for the provincial championships. The hotels usually have continental breakfast with lots of fruit, but I'm going to bring muesli as cereal choices tend to be high in sugar. I'm also bringing some healthy bean and pasta salads as I'm not sure whether I will have access to a microwave; also some chorizo sausage, homemade trail mix, protein powder, and a sandwich for the road. If their is one thing I've learned from travelling with sports teams is that preparation is everything if you want to continue eating healthy. Speaking of healthy eating:

7:30am Muesli with soy milk
10:45am Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, soy protein, flax meal, spinach; vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
1:30pm Tofu with steamed carrots, broccoli, and red cabbage, and rice
4:30pm Spicy tuna salad, tomato, spinach on whole wheat
6pm Chorizo sausage, asparagus, sweet potato
9:30pm Spicy genoa ham, mozzarella, basil, tomato, olive oil on whole wheat
11pm Protein shake, apple, fish oil capsule

Ate well today, spent about 3 hours in the kitchen between preparing today's meals and ones for the weekend. My modified caprese salad sandwich that I came up with for my 9:30pm meal was really good. I'm going to have to make that again. That's all I have for today, off to bed so I can wake up early to hit the gym before early class.

Tues Feb 15

Deadlift day. It's been a while since I've deadlifted heavy, but I think it went well. I was more so concentrating on form but still put up some good weight for me so I'm very happy. Definitely going to be sore tomorrow; as my upper and lower back both felt fairly fatigued all day. Guess that is why most good trainers recommend only deadlifting heavy once in a while. Jason Ferruggia actually did a post on deadlifting on monday which was great timing for me. It has some great advice in there. It was a rather exhausting workout but I love a workout like that every once in a while. Just means I'll have to focus on recovery over the next few days. I decided to use the straight up pronated grip instead of the alternate grip that many people use; I just did that to try and increase grip strength. I think I'll keep doing that except on instances of doing things like 3-5 rep maxes. Did I mention I love deadlifting; along with squats, pull ups and glute ham raises they are my favorite exercises.

Food went like this:

7:30am Muesli with soy milk
11am Protein shake, apple, banana, vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
12:30pm Leftover chickpea and spinach curry from last night
3pm Turkey, cheddar, spinach, tomato, dijon mustard on whole wheat
5:30pm Turkey, bacon, hummus, tabouleh, lettuce, tomato, cucumber on whole wheat wrap
9:30pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, soy protein, spinach, flax meal; fish oil capsule
11:30pm almonds, cashews, raisins, dried cranberries

Ate a lot today once again. Been getting hungry quite often which hopefully means I'm growing. I've seen small gains in muscle but very large gains in strength so far. It's only been about five weeks so I'm not expecting to see any size changes yet. Overall I'm very happy; it's more important for me to be strong than to be big as my goal is to be able to play rugby. Any size gains are just an added bonus of having some extra weight to throw around.

Mon Feb 14

Happy Valentines Day; a great day of turning down free candy. Which I did on several occasions, and people thought I was weird for doing so. Oh well, it doesn't really matter what they think, its much more important to me that I know I won't compromise for my goals. Spent the day in class, doing an assignment, working, and spending time with my girlfriend. Even made her dinner, a nice healthy dinner... I'm oh so romantic. Today was a rest day, so just some stretching and foam rolling and treating other people's injuries. Here is what I ate today:

7:30am Muesli with skim milk
10am Turkey, cheddar, lettuce on whole wheat
1pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, banana, dates, soy milk, soy protein, flax meal, Olive oil
4:30pm Almond butter and organic honey on whole wheat
7:30pm Greek pasta salad, quinoa salad
10:30pm Stuffed mushroom caps

I had stayed over at my parents house over night which is why the muesli was with skim and not soy milk, and why the sandwich lacked spinach and tomato. I made the mushroom caps; some as stuffed with a chickpea, spinach curry, others had a tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil and chorizo sausage. The latter was the better of the two but I made a lot of the curry stuffing which will make a nice lunch for tuesday. Speaking of tuesday, it will be a deadlift day. I haven't done a heavy deadlift in a while so I'm excited about that. Talk to you after that.

Sat/Sun Feb 12/13

I've been pretty busy so combined the two posts. Had a game to cover on saturday which I was really busy at because the other team didn't have a therapist and a couple of my players have some nagging injuries that need a fair amount of attention in order for them to play. It's actually really fun to be that busy and kind of running around at times and having to think quickly. I was sore from the day before and the leg workout so I did a bunch of foam rolling, stretching and had an ice bath. This is what I ate:

Sat:
9am 2eggs, 2pcs bacon, 2 slices whole wheat toast
12:30pm Protein shake, banana, vitamins (muli,b,c,fish oil)
4pm Craft Spicy Organic Burger, fries (Cheat Meal)
7pm Smoothie - mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, soy protein, flax meal, spinach
10pm Pecans, peanuts, dates, raisins

Sun:
8:30am Muesli with soy milk
12:30pm Smoothie - mixed berries, banana, dates, soy milk, soy protein, flax meal, spinach
3pm Whole wheat penne, onion, tomato, walnuts, basil pesto
6pm Chicken breast, roasted potatoes, broccoli
8:30pm Homemade Chilli
11pm Protein shake with OJ, apple, banana, fish oil capsule

I'm happy with how I've been eating. I've always found it fairly easy to stay disciplined in regards to nutrition but having a goal in mind of returning to play rugby certainly helps keep me doing everything I can to stay healthy and help see my goals fulfilled. I also had a workout on Sunday in a nice and quiet gym. Session went really well, did more agility work and increased the difficulty a little bit. Just like how in order to get stronger you have to increase weight (progressive overload), in order for my knee to be able to handle the stresses of contact and high speed changes of direction in rugby I need to progress and constantly challenge myself. Going to workout tuesday and thursday as well because I'll be away working badminton provincials and don't know the kind of time or access I'll have to workout. Anyways, that's all.

Fri Feb 11

Had a very good workout today. It included some squats which I started off pretty light for today but I will move the weight up a fair bit next time. Just had to get used to squatting again and make sure my form was good. I'm definitely a lot weaker at the squat then I was before the surgery but I know that even after a few weeks I'll be putting up fairly good numbers for me. Also did some Glute ham raises. My gym doesn't have a glute ham bench so I had to macgyver one up by hooking my feet under the foot pads of a bench and put my knees on a dome side up bosu. It worked fairly well, I just used pushing myself up off the floor for assistance when needed to get to different rep ranges. As for food:

7:30am Muesli with soy milk, coconut water
10:30pm Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
12:30pm Spicy Genoa Ham, egg, red pepper, onion, spinach, tomato on whole wheat
2:15pm Pecans, cashews, peanuts, raisins, dates
4:30pm Steak, baked potato, asparagus, mushrooms, broccoli
7:15pm Brown rice, spinach, sundried tomato, chickpeas, mushrooms, red pepper, walnuts, balsamic vinegar on whole wheat wrap
11pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, soy protein, flax meal, spinach; fish oil capsule

Ate a fair bit again today; made myself a nice steak dinner. Unfortunately I don't have a bbq here at school so I had to pan fry it but it was still pretty good. Also tried coconut water for the first time today; I've heard/read some good things about it's hydration abilities; to be honest I didn't really notice anything but I may try it again during rugby season after a game to see if it helps then. I like experimenting with things like this, only way to find out what works right. That's all for today, just looking forward to tomorrow and the muscle soreness that it brings.

Thurs Feb 10

Had to post this on Friday because of some internet issues thursday night. It was a bit of a crazy day. Got up early to work on an assignment, went to class, finished assignment but had the power go out for about 30 minutes while I was trying to finish (thank god for laptop batteries); it was kinda dark so hard to read but got it done. Went to print it in my program's study office but no ink, so I went to the school's computer commons where I had to borrow a friend's login info because setting mine up would have taken half an hour; only to find out just before I print it that all the printers are down for at least another 20 minutes or so because of the power outage. Still got it handed in but it almost made me late for work. Then when I got home, the internet wasn't working as I said earlier. Oh well, no use in getting stressed over it, shit happens. Still had a good day of eating despite it being a hectic day:

7am Muesli with soy milk

8:30am Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)

12pm Tofu, steamed carrots, broccoli, purple cabbage, zucchini, rice

3pm Apple, banana

5:30pm Brown rice, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, edemame, chicken, tomato, bean sprouts, red onion, red pepper, spicy peanut sauce

10pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, spinach, flax meal, soy protein; fish oil capsule

Excited about Fridays working, I have a feeling it will leave my legs sore for a couple days after but I am a bit of a masochist so muscle soreness here we come.  

Wed Feb 9

It was a long day. Big assignment due Thursday so spent a lot of time doing that but also had class and clinic hours to do. Ended up being a late night as it took much longer than anticipated to finish the assignment but it got done and done well. Pretty uneventful other than that. Here's what I ate for the day:

8:30am Muesli with soy milk
11am Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soymilk, spinach, flax meal, soy protein; vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
1:30pm Turkey, spinach, tomato, mustard on whole wheat
4:30pm Amy's Organic Chili
7pm Apple, Banana
9:15pm Almonds, pecans, cashews, peanuts, raisins, dates
11:30pm Protein shake, apple, fish oil capsule

Ate a lot today. I've been pretty hungry lately so its not even like I'm forcing food down to try and grow muscle. Kind of curious if I'm doing anything negative to my insulin sensitivity and resistance. Soon enough I'll be switching back to a normal eating pattern and probably will go back to the Eat stop eat style of intermittent fasting which helps regulate insulin sensitivity amongst other things. Thought I would try a can of Amy's chili, many different vegetables in it and all organic. I heard about it on Craig Ballantyne's blog and thought I would give it a go. I had the medium chili with vegetables (its a vegan chili). It was very good, filling and much cheaper than many other quick on the go options (I have a microwave at the clinic I work at so I emptied the can into some tupperware at home and brought that for dinner). I'll probably get a few more cans and maybe try a few more of the companies products.

Tues Feb 8

Today has felt like a pretty long day mostly due to the fact that I spent most of it reading research studies for an assignment I'm working on. I did train this morning though and had a good workout. Felt good to be working full out again following a deload week. Also did some more agility work afterwards that felt good. I expect my agility to improve rather quickly as it has always been a strength of mine. Had a very short nap after class before going to work to try to keep my energy up, did the job until about ten then I started getting tired again. Here is what I ate today:

8am Muesli with soy milk
10:30am Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
11:30am Roast beef, spinach, tomato, dijon mustard on whole wheat
1pm Tofu, steamed carrots, broccoli, red pepper, zucchini, rice
5:30pm Turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, tabouleh, hummus, jalepano on whole wheat wrap
9pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, soy protein, soy milk, 2 bananas, spinach, flax meal; fish oil capsule

Good day of eating I would say. I was hungry after my workout, hence eating three times in three hours. The wrap I had was really good so I might get that again, its from Fit for Life which has a location in one of the campuses of the college I work for. Looking at how I ate today I had a pretty wide variety of foods especially veggies which I'm quite happy about so I'll have to keep that going. That's all for now, gonna be a long day tomorrow as I have a bunch of work and studying to do so my post might be delayed until tursday.

Sun/Mon Feb 6/7

On Superbowl sunday I spent most of the day doing homework. Ended up going to my rugby club for the game and that is where I had this weeks cheat meal. It is easy to tell which one it is:

8am 2 egg shrimp, asparagus and goat cheese open faced omelette with 2 slices whole wheat toast
11:30am Smoothie - mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, spinach, flax meal, whey protein; vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
3pm Salmon sushi, salmon and avacado rolls, and salmon rolls
During the superbowl: Pizza and a few beers

Monday food:
9am muesli with soy milk
11am Smoothie - mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, spinach, flax meal, whey protein; vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
1:45pm 3pcs bacon, egg, cheddar, on whole wheat toast
4:30pm apple, banana
7:30pm Curried chickpea, quinoa, and red lentil stew
9:30pm Almonds, pecans, cashews, peanuts, raisins, dates
11pm Protein shake, fish oil capsule

Going to work out tomorrow instead of today, didn't sleep the best as all the pizza I ate wasn't sitting very well. Not used to eating that much greasy food anymore, which is a good thing I would say. This doesn't throw off my schedule at all so its not an issue. Going to be busy over the next few days as I have an assignment due thursday and a fair bit of studying to do. Thats all for now, just off to bed to get up to train.

My Story

This post is to expand upon the small "About Me" section:

Chris Kelly is a student at York University in Toronto, studying Athletic Therapy while obtaining a Ba in Kinesiology. He is a rugby player recovering from ACL reconstructive surgery and this blog is about the process of getting back to game shape and overall health and fitness.


I have been playing rugby since I was 13; so its been about 10 years now. I have been very successful, representing the province of ontario at multiple age groups and as a member of the senior mens team at the age of 19. I have also represented my region at the under 20 level for numerous years including winning a national championship, and at the under 18 level winning gold at the ontario summer games. I have also won two provincial championships as a junior with my club the Burlington centaurs.


I have always been a rather small player both in height and weight/muscle. Below is me at 16 playing in a senior mens game and as you can tell I had always been rather skinny.

Despite my lack of size I'm proud to say I've never been afraid to run into much larger players and adapted a style of play based around my agility and quickness. I started working out in the gym seriously around the age of 18 and quickly grew from around 130lbs to 150lbs. Still rather small but a dramatic increase. I followed a very basic workout then that generally used upper and lower body splits. It worked well for me as I stuck to the same program for several months with regularity.

In the off season leading up to the 2009 season I had been working very hard and got up to 165lbs and was fairly lean but more importantly I was the strongest I had ever been and I had developed a lot of power in my pass which is an asset for my position (scrum half). In my mind I was poised to have a very successful season. Unfortunately while playing indoor touch rugby my cleat got caught in the fake turf and another player collided knee on knee with me while my leg was extended and slightly twisted. This resulted in an ACL tear. I worked with an Athletic Therapist and managed to regain my strength in time for the season, but at a tryout for the regional team my knee once again buckled (either fully tearing the ligament or it had already been fully torn but my muscles had allowed me to continue without one). After this I went to my sports med doc, had an mri, and went to a surgeon. 

I had the surgery on April 29th 2010. I waited a year due to my school because I have to be able to run out onto sports fields, gyms, and ice to treat injuries and emergency situations. It was really successful, and my surgeon is one of the best in Ontario, probably Canada (he is one of the surgeons for the CFL's Toronto Argos). Right from the start I progressed quickly with the hard work I put into it. I was off crutches in 5 days and had my full range of motion back within about 3 weeks. This allowed me to focus on strengthening. At the month mark I was progressed to running in straight lines. Most of the recovery was based around increasing the size and strength of my severely atrophied left leg. At about 8 weeks I was allowed to do agility work and plyometrics with my brace on (some people think this is early but I felt great and had the blessing from my surgeon and therapist). By five months in my bad leg was actually slightly stronger than my right leg (kind of overshot that and created an imbalance but it's pretty much back to normal now). Soon after I was out of the therapy clinic and just focused on getting into game shape and increasing general strength, size, and fitness while ensuring that my leg is strong and able to handle the demands of contact rugby.

Due to my severe loss of strength and size throughout my body I decided to use a program from trainer Jason Ferruggia called Triple Threat Muscle. This program is designed to increase size and strength while keeping agility and athleticism in mind. This is the exact mix that I require in order to return to rugby which starts at the end of April usually. This gives me only about four months to get into game shape and that is why I chose this program. I have been reading and following Jason for over a year now and have complete faith that this program is the best option for me and better than one that I could formulate for myself at this time. I have and will continue to make minor modifications to it based on the needs of my knee (for example: doing more agility work to replace certain finishers he advises); but for the most part I'm sticking to every word and rep of his original plan. 

Having just finished the first month of the program I am very happy with the results so far. I started at 160lbs and am now 164lbs but I have also gotten visibly leaner. I didn't get fat percentage measurements done due to my hectic schedule but my educated estimate is I'm down to about 12% maybe a bit less but still not 10%. This happened while seriously overeating; eating healthy but much more. At the end of this program I will be switching back to a much more plant based diet and will drop fat quiet easily as I normally do (In September I lost 5lbs of fat in two weeks while doing a vegan experiment with no weight loss goal in mind).

Anyways that is about it. Sorry for the length but I thought I would put down pretty much everything in order to get it off my chest and so that I am held accountable in regards to doing everything I can on my return to playing. This is what the whole point of this blog is. To monitor my progress, and to write down and analyze my actions and learn from both my successes and failures. 

Sat Feb 5

Had a good day of training, did my weights as the last workout of my deload week then did some agility ladder work. This is a big deal as it is the first time I've done this kind of training without my brace since the surgery. It went really well; I started off by easing into it but by the end I was going full speed. Worked on things like one legged hops both forwards and sideways and different footwork patterns. The lateral movement stuff is what tends to be the issue with ACL injuries so I was glad to be where I am. This is just a starting point and I still have a long way to go. I will do this for a few weeks and build up the muscles used before advancing to more difficult moves that mimic sidestepping in game situations (much more weight on the single leg while cutting) and finally into touch rugby, then contact. My calves will be a little sore tomorrow so did some anticipatory foam rolling and had an interosseous release and some trigger point work done by my girlfriend who is also in athletic therapy. Here is what I ate today:

8am Muesli with soy milk
11am Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
1pm 2 eggs, 2 slices whole wheat toast, potato with bacon, onion, spinach, oregano, parsley
5pm Homemade protein bar
8:30pm Whole wheat spaghetti, sausage, green pepper, onion, broccoli, mushrooms, tomato sauce
11pm Smoothie - mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, spinach, flax meal, whey protein; fish oil capsule

Ate well today, and tomorrow is a cheat day. Going to save my cheat meal for during the superbowl which I'll be watching at my club. I'm thinking Pittsburgh is going to take it but I'm happy as long as its a good game. Off to bed for me now though. Enjoy the game tomorrow.

Fri Feb 4

Exam went well today, I expect a pretty good result. There wasn't a whole lot else going on today just some work on an assignment, a nap, and a practice. Have the weekend off so I'm planning on getting a lot of school work done and not procrastinating (I don't feel like doing that yet). Here is what I ate today:

9:30am Egg, 3pcs bacon, cheddar on whole wheat toast
12pm Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
2:30pm Granola, homemade protein bar
6:30pm Brown rice, chicken, black beans, avacado, tomato, red onion, red pepper, corn, salsa
10:30pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, spinach, flax meal, whey protein; fish oil capsule

I was pretty focused on doing research for an assignment hence all the protein bars and shakes instead of making a meal. Got a bunch of work done though. More to do tomorrow as well as a workout in the morning. I'm pretty tired so tonight's post is going to be kept short. Have a good one

Thurs Feb 3

Got up extra early this morning to make up for the missed workout from yesterday when the gym was shut. Had a good workout, didn't push myself a whole lot because its a deload week but still got the muscles working and finished by jumping rope. I'll go to the gym saturday then I'll be back to my mon, wed, fri, routine next week and no workouts will have been missed. Spent the rest of my day in class, studying, working, and a short nap thrown in (I was close to falling asleep in my one boring class but made it through). Have a nutrition exam tomorrow morning and I feel pretty well prepared; just have a few things to go over before bed and when I wake up but I'm not too worried because I already knew a lot of the stuff in the course before the class started. Just concentrating on specific wording and things like that. For a practical use of my nutrition knowledge see my diet for today:

6:30am Muesli with soy milk
9am Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
11am Roast beef, cheddar, spinach, tomato, dijon mustard on whole wheat
1pm Curried red lentil, chickpea, and quinoa stew
5:30pm Whole wheat penne, tomato, spinach, walnuts, onion, basil pesto
10:00pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, banana, soy milk, whey protein, spinach, flax meal; fish oil capsule

I actually have an assignment due in a month where I'm meant to analyze a three day diet using software I got with my nutrition textbook. Should be interesting to see if I'm lacking anything or an overabundance of anything. I don't supplement with any of the fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K) so I can't forsee their being an issue. My protein intake may be a little higher than the suggested percent range of the Canadian food guide but that is for the average person and not an athlete training for muscle and strength gains. On that note, back to the books.

Wed Feb 2

Snow day today at my school which unfortunately meant the fitness center was closed. The college I work for was also closed so I couldn't go there to train either. This just means I'll have to wake up extra early tomorrow to get to the gym before my early class. Spent the day studying and preparing food. I have a nutrition exam on friday so I'm getting ready for that. I also have a class on plyometrics tomorrow and we have a test each class so had some reading up to do on that. Other than that, not a whole lot going on today in the white wonderland that is Toronto. Here's what I ate today:

10am Broccoli and cheddar 4 egg scramble, 2pcs bacon, 2 slices whole wheat toast
12:30pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, spinach, flax meal, whey protein; vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
3:30pm Rigatoni, sausage, onion, spinach, walnuts, olive oil
8pm Curried red lentil, chickpea, and quinoa stew
10:30pm Protein shake, apple, fish oil capsule

Made another big batch of the Curried red lentil stew. Have two portions in the freezer and one in the fridge for when I'm busy. I've found cooking like this a great way to eat healthy when I'm running around and don't have time to cook. Also made the protein bars I've talked about for quick snacks that pack a lot of protein and calories. I'm definitely not one to buy protein bars as they are often expensive and filled with a bunch of sugar and other crap but this way I know what is in my food. Like I said I have to get up extra early so I'm off to get my school stuff and clothes ready so I can get moving quickly in the morning.

Tues Feb 1

Was a little tired for a bunch of today. Woke up at my normal time and got a few things done, went to class, had a short nap then off to work. Body feels pretty good right now. Played a little dodgeball and a basketball based game called bump at the basketball practice I was working. Knee felt great; not a whole lot of cutting but some strong weight transfer was involved. I'm going to be working on agility stuff without my brace in the next few weeks starting with planned agility like ladder work, then progress up to reactionary work and maybe try to play some squash for some competitive and intense agility work. I need this kind of ability for the rugby field to be safe and effective. Food:

9am 3 egg omelette with onion spinach, mushroom; 3 pcs bacon, 2 slices whole wheat toast
11am Smoothie - mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, spinach, flax meal, whey protein; vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
1pm Turkey, cheddar, spinach, tomato, dijon mustard on whole wheat
5pm Brown rice, chicken, avacado, black beans, corn, tomato, red pepper, red onion, salsa
9pm Rigatoni, sausage, onion, spinach, walnuts, olive oil
11pm Protein shake, fish oil capsule

Ate fairly well today, bit more meat than usual but only because I am trying to build a lot of muscle in a short period of time. When my season starts and I'm no longer in building mode I'll be switching back to a much more plant based diet. I purposely have some leftovers from my 9pm meal for tomorrow so that will save me some time. Their is meant to be a snowstorm over night so possibly a snow day tomorrow. I may have to call the gym to see if they are still open, as tomorrow is meant to be a training day. If it's closed I might bring my stuff down to the college I work for and try to work out there. I would feel crappy if I didn't do whatever I could to get my workout in. Hopefully it all works out.

Mon Jan 31

Started a deload week today. This is fairly new to me, as I used to just take about five days off training or so but I prefer this more active approach to rest where I keep challenging my muscles but not taxing my nervous system. I think I'm going to have to start waking up ten or fifteen minutes earlier than I have been just in case buses are late or anything like that. Shouldn't be too bad though as I've gotten used to waking up early for a student. Here's what I ate:

8am Muesli with soy milk
10:30am Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
11:30am Turkey, cheddar, spinach, tomato, mustard on whole wheat
2pm Homemade protein bar
5:30pm Spicy tuna, spinach, tomato on whole wheat
7:30pm Apple, Banana
10pm Almonds, cashews, pecans, dates, dried cranberries; fish oil capsule

Was pretty tired when I got in from work so I just had the nuts etc. instead of making anything. Also got some studying done for an exam I have on friday. That's all I have for today, short and sweet.

Sun Jan 30

Woke up normal time today in order to keep a routine going and did some housework. It's been a while since I've been able to do any laundry because my dryer is pretty slow. I now have clean clothes, a clean room, and a restocked fridge. Also took my girlfriend out for dinner; went to a place called Annona right across the Royal Ontario Museum. Nice restaurant and they were taking part in winterlicious so had a nice prefixed dinner menu for fairly cheap in comparison to usual. Food was great for the most part. My whole day of eating looked like this:

8:45am 1 egg, 2pcs chicken bacon on whole wheat toast; and a slice of ww toast with almond butter

11am Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)

1:30pm Homemade protein bar

5pm Smoothie - banana, peach, mango, guava, passion fruit

8:30pm Sweet potato poutine with beef brisket, cheese curds, natural jus; Duck confit and brown butter Gnocchi, brussel sprouts, chantrelle mushrooms; Mini maple creme brulee, apple tarte, cinnamon ice cream

10:30 Fish oil capsule

Can you guess which of the meals was from the fancy restaurant? (Hint: they served more than a fish oil capsule). Obviously this was my weekly cheat meal. I planned on this as my cheat meal from the beginning of last week so it was rather easy not to stray from eating healthy. The sweet potato poutine was absolutely amazing, as was the gnocchi. The duck was fairly good, and the dessert was good but I don't really have much of a sweet tooth. I decided not to drink at all tonight as even though a drink or two a week won't hurt me very much, I'm under the idea that it won't help me either so why bother. Who knows, I may have a couple while watching the superbowl next week if I have the night off. Still have to write out my workout to follow tomorrow morning so off to do that then get a good night's rest.

Sat Jan 29

Had a pretty long day today; about 2 hours on the subway, 6 hours on buses, 4 hours in a gym (2 watching, 2 working). Had to wake up early for the trip, didn't actually get to sleep on the bus despite my efforts. Got in around 9:30pm and had a low key night. Gonna do some grocery shopping tomorrow, and go out for dinner.As for what I ate today on my travels:

6:15am Muesli with soy milk
9am Homemade protein bar, apple
12:30pm Black Angus Sub, Vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
2:30pm Apple, banana
5:30pm Turkey, cheddar, spinach, tomato, mustard on whole wheat
8pm Whole wheat bowtie pasta, spinach, garlic, white kidney beans, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice
11pm Protein shake, fish oil capsule

Pretty good for a day of travelling; only bought one meal which was the sub. The homemade protein bar was  good. I got the recipe here. Luckily I had frozen it and it didn't melt on me before I ate it. I have another four of them left in my freezer so I have a few snacks premade for the future which is always a good thing. Tomorrow I'll be going out for dinner and it's a festival called Winterlicious here in Toronto where a bunch of restaurants have cheaper than normal prefixed menus. Still have to decide the restaurant but we'll see what I feel like for a cheat meal. Also going to do some planning for the upcoming week food and such tomorrow. As I said earlier its been a long day, so bed for this guy

Thurs Jan 27 & Fri Jan 28

Thurs Jan 27

Very long day. Class then travel downtown to get the bus to belleville (about 2.5 hours away) for two basketball games. Then back to downtown Toronto then back up to York. Went to bed as soon as I came in (around 1am) so I could get up for my workout the next morning. Had to plan my food ahead of time and that helped as the only food around the college was cafeteria/fast food. Here's how that went:

8am Muesli with soy milk
11:30am Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, spinach, flax meal, protein; vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
2pm Brown rice, chicken, tomato, black beans, corn, red onion, red pepper, salsa
5pm 2 apples
7:30pm Turkey, cheddar, spinach, tomato, mustard on rye
10:30pm Whole wheat bowtie pasta, spinach, white kidney beans, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, tomato
1am Protein shake, fish oil capsule


Fri Jan 28

Once I got moving I was just fine despite a late night. I'm travelling all Saturday so I couldn't push my workout back a day. Have to commit to get the results though. Workout was great especially for not being well rested. I really stepped it up on a few exercises like my dumbbell military press and reverse lunge. Later I had clinic to work for a few hours and I'm really starting to gain more confidence while doing injury assessments. I have been studying hard so I'm glad to see it paying off. Food was pretty good for the day and looked like this:

7:45am Muesli with soy milk
10:30am Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
12:30pm 1 egg, onion, red pepper, spicy genoa ham, 2 slices rye toast
4:30pm Turkey, cheddar, spinach, tomato, mustard on rye
7pm Apple, banana
9:30pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, spinach, flax meal, whey protein

Ate well today. As I said I'm travelling all day tomorrow so I made a pasta salad for tomorrow and tried out a protein bar recipe I found. They're setting right now in the fridge so I'll let you know how they work out in tomorrow's post. Gotta get to bed for a very early rise tomorrow so that's all.

Wed Jan 26

Another great workout today, a bunch of new post surgery personal records. Definitely feeling much stronger since starting the program. I can tell my cardio is getting better as well. My core is getting much stronger and gaining the endurance needed for a long contact game of rugby but still have a fair way to go. Did some more trap release work on myself today and some foam rolling. Shoulders were a little tight but the lower body foam rolling was just to keep them nice and loose. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow with a class then going to Belleville for two games then back. Probably won't get in until late so may have to do tomorrow's post on friday.
My food for the day:

8am Muesli, soy milk
10:30am Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
11:30am Turkey, cheddar, spinach, tomato, mustard on rye
3pm Brown rice, chicken, carrots, broccoli, edamame, celery, tomato, mushrooms, red onion, red peppers, spicy peanut sauce
8pm Roast beef, lettuce, tomato, red onion, green peppers, black olives, honey mustard on whole wheat
10:30pm Smoothie - mixed berries, 2 bananas, flax meal, spinach, soy milk, whey protein; fish oil capsule

Food was pretty normal for my Mon, wed, fri, routine so not much to say about it. Had to go get more of my multi b vitamin but that is where my dietary excitement ended for the day. I'm exhausted and have to get up early to prepare food for my long day tomorrow so that's all for now.

Tues Jan 25

Today was a fairly regular day, just had a lot of school stuff to do. My only class of the day got cancelled so I got a fair amount out of the way. Also had a basketball practice to cover. During the practice I did some foam rolling and later I used a tennis ball to roll out my shoulders followed by a cane to do some muscle release on my traps. Like many rugby players, my neck and shoulders are prone to tightness and general soreness. After a long lay off from actual contact rugby the problem had gone down a fair bit, just a bit of soreness every so often. With my increased training volume that has been occurring as I prepare to make my return this tightness and aching pain is starting to resurface so this time I'm going to try and manage it much better. A little prehab goes a long way is something I've learned since since starting athletic therapy, and also from years of abusing my body. Now for something completely different:

8:30am 2pcs Chicken bacon, 1 egg, spinach, tomato on rye
10:30am Protein shake, apple, banana, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
1pm Turkey, spinach, tomato, mustard on rye
5:15pm Brown rice, chicken, avocado, tomato, red onion, red pepper, black beans, corn, salsa
9pm Smoothie - mixed berries, banana, soy milk, spinach, whey protein
11pm Almonds, dates, fish oil capsule

Ate pretty well today. My dinner was pretty good, I like mexican food, and love how cheap black beans are.Had a quick shopping run for fruit and veggies. Proud that I'm going through them quickly and not wasting much. I travel with my team on both thursday and saturday so I'll have to do some good meal planning ahead of time in preparation so I don't have to eat crap fast food (which the athletes eat both before and after the game; I can't imagine downing a burger a couple hours before trying to perform at my best). More importantly though, I have Sunday off which I am really really looking forward to.

Mon Jan 24

Woke up today and it was still really cold up here in the north end of Toronto. About -20 degrees Celsius and had to wait 25 minutes for a bus that is meant to come every 5 minutes. This made me later to the gym than I wanted and didn't have time to do my planned finisher of interval skipping. Was kind of annoyed with public transit here over the last few days as the wait times have been crazy then buses on the same route are right behind each other which is completely useless to everyone. That's my rant for the day. Other than that my workout was good, more great gains. I'm flying through the strengthening and starting to look and feel leaner while staying the same weight so I'm thinking the muscles are starting to grow. Here's what I ate:

7:45am Muesli, soy milk

10:30am Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)

11:30am Turkey, cheddar, spinach, tomato, mustard on rye bread

2pm Whole wheat penne, onion, garlic, spinach, tomato sauce

4:45pm Banana, apple

7pm Curried chickpea, red lentil, and quinoa stew

11pm Protein shake, banana, fish oil capsule

Food was good today but I ran out of frozen berries for my smoothie so I'm going shopping tomorrow. Need to pick up a few other things as well. In awesome news, I got a deal on organic meat through one of those group coupon sites. I did it through webpiggy which got me a $100 certificate for $40 at The Butchers in Toronto. Looking at the kinds of meat they have I'm looking forward to dropping by when I have a day off. I'll let you know what I get. Gotta get up early to get some transcripts for scholarship stuff so off to bed for this guy.

Sun Jan 23

Kind of a long day today. Up early to get the train from Burlington to Toronto, then work women's basketball without having much to do (got some school stuff done). Went home, fit a short nap in; a little football while eating then off to the hockey arena to work. Much the same there; not much going on but got school stuff done. Short post today as it is getting late so onto the food:

7:45am Muesli with skim milk
11:15am Protein shake, apple, banana; vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
2pm Pasta salad - fusilli, broccoli, sun dried tomato, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, rosemary, basil
5pm Spicy genoa ham, cheddar, onion, spinach, tomato, on rye bread
7:30pm Smoothie - mixed berries, 2 bananas, flax meal, soy milk, spinach, whey protein
11:45pm Almonds, dates; fish oil capsule

Made the pasta salad last night so I wouldn't have to buy food; it turned out really well (I poured some of the olive oil from the sun dried tomato jar in with more oil for extra flavor). Unfortunately it wasn't whole wheat pasta as my parents didn't have any but oh well. Gotta get up tomorrow to train so off to bed I go.

Sat Jan 22

Actually writing this on Sunday morning at work. Covering a women's basketball league. Just as first aid though, so I can sit in the office and study and do things like this. Also have to cover first aid at a hockey arena tonight, same kind of thing but much colder. Posting in the morning because last night I was getting food prepared and bags packed to leave in the morning to come back to Toronto and when I was done it was past my self enforced bed time. During the day I spent time with the family and met up with a couple good friends and went for a late lunch. One of my friends is a triathlete, so we talked a little about training and stuff; He also has the robbie burns day 8km run sunday morning. Its gonna be nice and cold for him. I brought up how I'm likely going to do Burlington's good friday 5k race; still have to register but you'll hear more about it in the future. Food for the day:

9am 4 egg scramble with broccoli and cheddar cheese, 2 slices whole wheat toast
12pm Smoothie - 2 bananas, mixed berries, OJ, pecans, whey protein; Vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
3:30pm BBQ pork, wonton, and egg noodle soup (carrots, broccoli, and celery were in there too), Coconut smoothie from Saigon on Brant
7pm Rainbow trout, potatoes, green beans; fig goat cheese and crackers
11pm Protein shake, Fish oil capsule

Today was a cheat meal day for the week so the plan was for the Vietnamese dish to fill that role but when I got what I ordered it actually wasn't that unhealthy at all. Their wasn't much of the pork, and I expected the wontons to be fried but they weren't. So I had the fig goat cheese and crackers to fill my cheat quota of the week (also to make up for the blandness of dinner; the fish was good but as mentioned yesterday the potatoes and one veg are kinda lacking in flavour).

Fri Jan 21

Had a good night of sleep last night and woke up and got moving quite quickly this morning. Got to the gym early as a result so I had a nice long stretch, foam roll, and warm up before my workout. Workout went absolutely amazing. Showed serious strength gains on every exercise I was doing; and my technique is starting to get better with the Turkish get ups. Had a class then went to clinic for a few hours and took the train home to visit my parents in Burlington. Staying here tonight and tomorrow night, gonna try to get some work done and spend some time with the family before going to work on Sunday morning. Food today:

7:45am Muesli with soy milk
10:15am Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
12pm Spicy genoa ham, egg, red pepper, onion, spinach, tomato on pumpernickel rye toast
5pm Whole wheat bowtie pasta, rapini, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, white kidney beans, walnuts
8pm Chicken breast, potatoes, green beans
10:45pm Protein shake, banana, grapes, fish oil capsule

Felt pretty good about what I ate today with the exception of my 8pm meal. Healthy but very bland. This is the kind of cooking I grew up with (Irish/ Scottish family). Dry chicken, potatoes or rice, and some kind of vegetable usually green beans or broccoli. This might be why I enjoy cooking and trying new flavors out as much as I do. I have a cheat meal in the cards for tomorrow or sunday so I'll probably use it tomorrow and avoid some bland cooking. I don't see why you can't eat healthy and enjoy it at the same time (happy mind, healthy body). That's all from this end.

Thurs Jan 20

Man these last two weeks have flown by. Between training, classes, work, and planning/preparing food and for workouts it feels as if I haven't had a second of being still. I rather enjoy this though, as this is when I tend to succeed and make the most progress in most aspects of my life. As long as I don't have time to sit on my ass and watch tv I tend to study hard in the time I have available and be much more efficient with my time. I've had lots of energy and not been that sore from my workouts. I know I've been working hard so I can easily conclude that my recovery has been good (from both nutrition, and things like stretching, foam rolling, etc...). This is what I ate today:

10am 3pcs Chicken bacon, 1 egg, onion, spinach, tomato on pumpernickel rye toast; vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
1:15pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, flax meal, spinach, whey protein
4pm Leftover bean salad from yesterday
6:45pm The Trainer's Bowl from Live - Quinoa, tofu, tempeh, steamed broccoli, black bean hummus, sprouts, some kind of vegan whole oat breadstick
11pm Protein shake, apple, fish oil capsule

Another good eating day. Live is a restaurant just by dupont station in Toronto that specializes in vegan and raw food. I've ate here a few times, mainly when I did a two week veganism experiment in September (I'll talk more about that in a later post... sometime soon). It was very good, especially the black bean hummus. It is a little pricey (for a quick meal for a student) so not somewhere I go very often. I only got it today instead of preparing a meal because a friend of mine asked me to help them with an assignment on designing a workout program for a scrum half (just happens to be the position I play), following an injury (this is starting to sound real familiar). That's all I have for tonight, now off to bed to wake up and get to the gym.

Wed Jan 19

Training day today. Felt really strong with one leg Romanian deadlifts so very happy about that. The hamstrings are very important at keeping the tibia from moving forward on the femur which helps reduce the load on the ACL so my vast improvements in strength are a good sign. Finished the workout with mountain climbers and my hip flexors felt very tight so did some stretching for that and I.T. band and TFL because the tightness was also coming on in a little to the side of my hip. Also a quick foam roll on the spot of tightness. This had a huge impact and was loosened off in no time. Much better to treat it quickly then at the end of my workout than to spend a few days of soreness and tightness trying to work it out. Eating today went a little bit like this:

8am Muesli with Soy milk
10:15am Protein shake, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
11:30am spicy tuna salad on whole wheat
2pm Almonds, pecans, cashews, dried cranberries, dates
8pm Mixed beans, sun dried tomatoes, rapini, walnuts, red onion, basil pesto
10:30pm Smoothie - mixed berries, 2 bananas, spinach, soy milk, whey protein; Fish oil capsule

Good day of eating; got a little hungry around seven but was busy working so I ate the pre-made bean salad on the subway home afterwards. I modified the recipe to try to use up some of the rapini I had in the fridge and ended up tasting way better so I'm gonna keep this recipe. Gonna have a lot to do over the next few days in order to go home to visit family on saturday so planning and time management is going to be key. Will probably end up working on assignments at my parents house for some of the time but gonna try to limit that as much as possible. Speaking of time management I'm gonna go and do some work now.

Tues Jan 18th

Today was a pretty relaxed day... one class in the afternoon so woke up at my normal time and got some stuff done. Got a call about some work during the summer and possibly after I graduate and become a certified Athletic Therapist which is a nice plus as things have been going well school/career wise. Just a bit of light stretching today; traps and upper back were a little sore today so focused on them and will do some extra foam rolling of them tomorrow in my warm up. Figured I'd be home late after working an away basketball game so I had a short nap after class, still a bit of challenge keeping naps to only around twenty minutes but I'm getting better. Food:

9:30am Red pepper, red onion, mushroom, and chicken bacon 3 egg scramble with 2 slices whole wheat toast; vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
12:30pm Smoothie - mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, spinach and arugula, whey protein
3:15pm Almonds, pecans, cashews, dates, dried cranberries
6:15pm Curried chickpea, red lentil, and quinoa stew
11pm Protein shake, banana, fish oil capsule

Pretty standard day nutrition wise. Will have to pick up some more fruit and spinach tomorrow after clinic as I ran out of the greens and the fruit will be finished tomorrow. Can't complain about going through fruit quickly though (I don't know anyone who gets fat from eating a lot of fruits and veggies). Just gonna finish getting things ready for the morning then off to bed.

Mon Jan 17th

Felt pretty good for a Monday, started off moving a little slow but once I got going I was fine. Early workout and their was a bit of a crowd in the gym for that time of the morning but wasn't much of an issue. Really good workout, put up some serious improvements numbers wise in just about everything. Gotta take advantage while the gains are moving so fast. My split squat is improving a lot which is important in gaining the leg strength needed to protect my new ligament when rugby season comes around so I'm happy about that. Also did ten minutes of interval style skipping of 30 seconds hard then 30 seconds off. Its been a while since I've jumped rope but I did surprisingly well, especially with the one legged skipping on my repaired knee. Oh and I saw something amazing at the gym; I watched a guy eat ribs in between exercises... at 9 in the morning... after finishing a set of bicep curls in which I think he used every muscle in the body except his biceps. My more logical food choices included:

8am Muesli, soy milk
10:30am Protein shake, Apple, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
11:30am Turkey, cheddar, spinach and arugula, tomato, mustard, on whole wheat bread
3pm Whole wheat penne, tomato, spinach and arugula, walnuts, basil pesto
6pm Apple, Banana
10:30pm Curried red lentil, chickpea, and quinoa stew made yesterday

Pretty normal day for me diet wise. Not much to comment on really; didn't have a smoothie today based on when I was home and don't know how much my roommates would appreciate a blender at certain times. But oh well. Bed now, gotta get up and do some readings for an injury epidemiology class (sounds exciting, I know).

Sun Jan 16th

Finally a day off of class and work. Spent some time with the girlfriend, did some school readings, some laundry, and cooked for a few of this weeks meals. Also got to watch some of today's football games which I've been missing this season. Overall a pretty relaxing day which is always a bonus for a healthy lifestyle. It was a pretty good day food wise. Woke up early when I didn't have to in order to keep a routine going then did some work before eating breakfast so that was later than usual but no biggie. Here's the breakdown for the day:

11am Mushroom, rapini, and red onion 3 egg omelette, 2 pcs of chicken bacon, 2 slices of whole wheat toast, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
3:30pm Smoothie - mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, spinach and arugula, flax meal, whey protein
6pm Curried red lentil, chickpea, and quinoa stew (carrots, onion, celery, tomato, garlic, ginger, spices and the previous mentioned ingredients)
9pm almonds, pecans, cashews, dried cranberries, dates
11pm Protein shake, apple

The stew is a recipe I got from the nutrition part of Triple threat muscle and it is great. Very tasty, filling, and nutritious. Made a big batch and put some in the fridge for the next few days a froze a serving for another time. The omelette was my own creation and tasted pretty good despite forgetting to season it but oh well, the veggies had lots of flavor. It is now getting later than I wanted to be up so bedtime for me.

Sat Jan 15th

Its Saturday (yay), but no day off (aww). Woke up just before eight (early for a student on saturday) and started organizing some things before breakfast so after I could just leave and get to work early. Good thing I did because the roads were pretty shitty up where I am and the buses were nice and slow. Still got to work a little early though and fit in some reading for a class. Didn't have to do a whole lot at work today but getting experience hours I need to become certified and helped get me out of bed. After the game made a quick shopping run for some fruit and laundry detergent. Clean clothes is another healthy habit I like to keep going (I'm sure the people around me appreciate it). Food:

9:15am Spicy Genoa ham, red peppers, red onion, spinach and arugula, tomato, egg on whole wheat
11:45am Protein shake, banana, apple, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
4:30pm Crazy Burger from Craft Burger - Fresh beef patty, jalepeno havarti, coleslaw, chipotle mayo, bbq sauce, hot peppers, lettuce; fries and a strawberry shake
10:30pm Protein shake, apple, fish oil capsule

Had my weekly cheat meal today and it was pretty damn good. Craft Burger is just down the road from my work and is where I tend to eat my cheat meals. They use fresh local meat and prepare it after you order and they have some great signature burgers. My favorite is the Craft Spicy (Best burger I've had in my life), but I'm trying all the different options. They offer organic grass fed beef on a whole wheat bun for a dollar or two extra with all their signature burgers so I think I'll start doing that. Anyways, I highly recommend going to a Craft Burger if you are in Toronto. Can you tell I like them? Other than that I didn't eat a whole lot today. The burger meal was filling. My breakfast sandwich was good and something I'll probably make again. I enjoy cooking and trying things out, but time and money seem to be the limiting factors but to be honest I don't mind spending a little extra money to eat well and healthy. No workout today just rest, stretch, and recover. See ya tomorrow.

Friday Jan 14th

Today is a training day. I like training days. Had a good workout, some challenging weight and did a couple lifts that I don't often do. One of them being Turkish get ups, a great exercise and something I just started doing. Form is improving but still a little off at times, I started a little heavy and felt it in my shoulder but no actual damage and now I know a good working weight. I was pretty busy today between the workout, class, then covering some basketball at night but ate pretty healthy:

8am Muesli
10:15am protein shake, apple
12:15pm Asparagus, broccoli, spinach and arugula, and hot sauce 4 egg scramble and 2 slice chicken bacon on whole wheat; vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
4:15pm Warrior Chicken Bowl from Freshii - brown rice, chicken, corn, red onion, tomato, carrot, low fat ranch
7pm Half of a Turkey, lettuce, tomato,red onion, green pepper, black olive, and mustard whole wheat sub
10:30pm Ate other half of my subway sub on the subway going home (sorry I had to)
11pm Fish oil capsule

Like I said I'm fairly happy with today's food. One thing I would change is that I'm not getting the warrior chicken bowl again. It didn't taste that bad but it had way less veggies than I thought it would and a little heavy on the low fat ranch. I usually avoid low fat options of things as well as the normal fat version because of the usual take fat out so must add sugar to keep flavor mentality of companies but looking at the nutritional breakdown it didn't seem that bad. Oh well, lessen learned. Bed just after fish oil as I have another game to cover tomorrow and there is another snow storm expected tonight so I'll have to leave early.

Thurs Jan 13th

Today was a pretty good day. Learned some new techniques in a clinical skills based class in the morning then had a nice stretching and foam rolling session. I have been pretty stiff and sore so I decided to do a nice contrast bath. If you have access to a hot and cold tub they are great for helping temporarily get rid of the soreness and some studies show they help quicken the healing process. If you don't have access to tubs, cranking your shower all the way down for a minute then back up to nice and hot for two to three minutes should work alright. I found it beneficial, so on Thursdays if I'm sore I think I'll keep doing them (its the only day I'm free when my school clinic is open). No workout today, just the recovery work which I did rather extensively. Food consisted of:

8:15am Muesli
11:15am Protein Shake, Apple, vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
1pm Turkey, cheddar, tomato, spinach and arugula, mustard on whole wheat
3:15pm Spicy Tuna Salad, Spinach and arugula, tomato on whole wheat
6:15pm Smoothie - mixed berries, 2 bananas, soy milk, spinach and arugula, whey powder, flax meal
11pm Almonds, cashews, pecans, dates, dried cranberries; Fish oil capsule

Another pretty good day of eating, and I'm starting to get back into a proper sleep/wake routine which makes life much easier. I had a short nap in the afternoon which I actually kept to about twenty minutes, I'm happy about this because my naps tend to turn into sleeping for a few hours and keeping me up late. Felt pretty refreshed after that and went to work, got home, ate, and bed with some school reading done at various times throughout.

Wed Jan 12, 2011

Woke up today and went to the gym. Was a little later than usual due to a snowstorm that hit over night. Great session though and I haven't seen the gym this empty in a long time (thank you storm; also got to see who some of the other committed people are and the start of the new year resolution crowd wash out). Still a little stiff from the session on Monday but felt good after a stretch, foam roll, and got the blood pumping. As for my food intake for this nice cold Canadian winter day:

8:15am Simply Delicious Muesli
10:30am Small Chocolate Milk, Apple, Vitamins (multi,b,c, fish oil)
11:30am Chicken, Spinach and arugula, cheddar, tomato, mustard on whole wheat
2:30pm smoothie - 2 bananas, mixed berries, soy milk, whey protein
6pm half of a roast beef, lettuce, tomato, green peppers, red onion, black olives, mustard on whole wheat sub; and left over pasta dish from last night minus the sausage
10:30pm other half of roast beef sub
11:30pm protein shake

Ate a fair bit today, guess I'm starting to get my appetite back after being sick and more so from the workouts. Found a new quick breakfast option at the grocery store. I attached the link for the website. It's from a company called Dorset cereals in England. All nuts, seeds, grains, and dried fruits without added sugar and preservatives; and pretty good so I'm happy and I'll try some more of their stuff. Had a chocolate milk post workout because I forgot my protein shake. I used to drink it after every workout but I find I feel better with only eating a small amount of dairy so I switch to a shake and fruit instead. It was a long day as I had class then clinic followed by a basketball game to cover so I got in late so bed after the shake.

Tuesday Jan 11, 2011

As expected I am nice and sore/tight today. A little muscle soreness never killed anybody though, I actually rather missed it (I may be slightly masochistic). A nice foam rolling and stretching session seemed to help. Benefits of working in an athletic therapy clinic and for sports teams definitely include the availability of foam rollers and other cool things. No workout today, just rest and mobility work to keep the muscles and joints healthy. No early class on Tuesdays so I slept in pretty late; something I'm going to try and avoid so I can keep a routine of waking up and going to bed at the same time every night. Food today went a little like this:

10:45am 2pcs of chicken bacon, 3 egg scramble with broccoli, spinach and hot sauce on a slice of whole wheat toast; also my vitamins (multi,b,c,fish oil)
12:30pm Smoothie - Banana, mixed berries, soy milk, flax meal, spinach, whey protein
4:45pm Asian Noodle Bowl from Freshii - Rice Noodles, chicken, cucumber, carrot, edamame, wantons, peanut sauce
10:30pm Rigatoni, Rapini, Sausage, Red onion, garlic, parmesan, lemon juice, walnuts; and a fish oil capsule

I'm happy with how I ate today. Freshii is a healthier option for quick meals and is on the way to the campus of the college I work for (Was in a rush to get to work a basketball practice). Pretty tasty also; I usually go for the vegan wrap but decided to switch it up a little. Also have a small amount of the rigatoni dish I made left over for part of a meal tomorrow.

Day One - Monday Jan 10, 2011

Just starting a new muscle building program today designed to get my strength and athleticism back into rugby shape for the upcoming season. I had ACL surgery back on April 29th 2010 and the rugby season starts late April to early May usually. Up until now most of my training has been focusing on my one leg while maintaining general health and fitness. Now things are switching up and I'm building strength and size that remains functional for the physical needs of a rugby match while ensuring that my knee is able to handle the agility and contact demands.

On this blog I'm going to post my nutrition, thoughts, and how I feel about my workout of the day. I am using a program designed by Jason Ferrugia. The one I'm using is Triple Threat Muscle . After following Jason's Blog and reading his views and methods I felt confident that for my needs it would be far better than something I could design myself at this point. Out of respect for Jason I'm not going to post my workouts (Would probably get sued as well and can't afford that) but I will comment on how I felt about them and my progress.

My food for the day:
8:30am Vector, almonds, raisins, soy milk
10:30am Protein shake, Apple, Vitamins (multi, B, C, Fish Oil)
11:30am Turkey, Cranberry Jelly, lettuce, tomato on ciabatta bun
3pm Whole wheat penne with red onion, mushrooms, spinach, walnuts, tomato sauce
6:30pm Large Coffee 2 milk
7:15pm Apple
10pm Smoothie - Mixed berries, 2 bananas, Soy Milk, Flax meal, Spinach, whey protein; and a fish oil capsule

Workout was great. Very excited about starting the new program and hope to keep this momentum going. I know i'll be sore/tight over the next few days as I'm coming off being busy with exams into the flu so had some workout-less time. Will have to do a lot of foam rolling and stretching in the near future to combat this. As for the nutrition part: felt pretty good about it. Not a huge fan of using a boxed cereal like vector but I'm looking for a better quick option. I train in the morning before class so I try to be in the gym by 8:45 (also the only time my university gym is nice and empty and I don't have to wait for many things), so I'm still trying to get that routine back and slept in a little. My 11:30am sandwich was bought from the overpriced crappy cafeteria on my way to class (Nutrition class of all classes); which means most likely shitty meat and canned full of sugar cranberry jelly as well as just didn't taste that great. This was just lack of preparation on my part and that is something I will have to improve upon. Other than that I felt great, a little tired around 6:30pm (hence the coffee) as I started work but overall a good day. Can't wait for the morning and the muscle soreness it brings.