Fri April 29

I walked around today in a haze, really. I had some really bad sleep last night, I think because of the youngest child waking up two or three times. I kept being interrupted in the worst part of dreams; I have several images in my head that I just couldn't shake.

Ya know, I know I posted a poem/prayer yesterday ... but these lines from Hamlet seem most appropriate:

"O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a
king of infinite space—were it not that I have bad dreams."

It's just the way these times go, I think.

I ate fairly well today, despite the party to celebrate the British freaking wedding at work.

Breakfast: juicy roast beef and poached eggs. Coffee on the way in

Snack: more coffee and six meat balls.

Lunch: buffet in the lunch room. It was good: veggies, meat balls (I prepared those) vegetarian samosa, two salads of green leafy stuff and a small piece of Williams' chocolate cake. Yeah, the last one was less than the size of my thumb.

Snack: water and more veggies.

Dinner: small bowl of pasta, water to drink.


I did get a workout in, although a short one, as I have a game of rugby tomorrow.

I did this for four rounds:

30 BW squats
10 bicep curls
10 triceps extensions
30 two handed KB swings, 20 kg kb used
10 snatches each side
30 regular push ups

It felt good afterwards. Now for a relaxing night with my wife to try and recharge my batteries for tomorrow and tomorrow night. w00t!

Thursday April 28

Oh, man. I'm tired and cranky today. Things just aren't going my way. I understand that people elsewhere on this planet are having a much worse day, but ... man, today just sucks.

Headache, tired... ugh.

Here's something I've not tried yet... a prayer:

Beannacht, John O'Donahue

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.
And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

I feel better, anyways.

I ate this:

Breakfast: roast beef and poached egg. Water to drink, coffee on the way in

Snack walnuts and water to drink

Lunch: tuna sandwich with tuna also on salad. Not carrots no green pepper left, so I went without. Water to drink.

Snack ... water.

Dinner: he he he .. it was only really well prepared roast beef. that's it. It was awesome. I only had one hand to eat ... so I ate beef. Water to drink

After rugby training snack: 2 pints of beer and more roast beef when I got home.

Workout for the day was a rugby training session at my local club. Started at 7pm, ran until dark, about 8:30 these days. I did four rounds of this at the end:

50 m sprint
30 BW squats
20 feet up push ups
20 lunges

I was pretty tired at the end of that. The 90 minutes of rugby were fun, but muddy and tough. Lots of contact, lots of running and physical contact. I almost missed that stuff.

Wed April 27

This was an ok day - the weather was crappy, but I got an outdoor workout in, so it's all good. Seriously, I spent the day inside, although that was ok, as the rain was just brutal. On the way home from work I got to check out a local butcher ... the first thing I saw when I walked in the door was my favourite thing, Chimmichurri Sauce... on sale.

It was an omen.

There were a lot of items I've read about in Paleo Solution, so I know I'm going back there when i have time and a bit of coin. Still not sure if the sauce was Paleo in nature, but it is friggin awesome with steak.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: roast beef dipped in ketchup. Yup, dry and getting worse. Almost done. Walnuts, water and a banana. Coffee on the way in

Snack: Walnuts and carrots with hummus

Lunch the usual, tuna on salad, carrots and green peppers on hummus, water to drink.

Snack after work: chimmichurri sauce and steak. Kicked major butt

Dinner was a small piece of homemade lasagna, walnuts and salad. Water to drink.

After dinner, I had a nap with my boy to get him asleep. The sun came out, and I asked my wife if she wanted to go for a walk. She said no, so I jumped at the chance to get out of the house and go to the local park for a workout. Simply awesome.

I did this five rounds:

30 TH KB swings 30 lb kb used. Need to get another KB in the van
20 one handed snatches
10 one handed flips
20 feet up push ups
30 bw squats - also used the 50 lb backpack for two rounds
20 lunges

This took me about a half hour; I got all muddy, too. But the mud was warm, so it was all good.

Tuesday April 26

To was off to a great start ... and things kept rolling along. Work, even though it is very stressful at the moment, is going smoothly. Nothing worse than a stressful turbulent work environment, man. Nothing.

I'll be at this until mid-May, and I got a few calendars counting down the days for me.

All I can really do is just keep plugging away at things; make sure that people around me do their work and that's enough. My stuff is back on the go after a few days off.

Here's what I ate, man:

Breakfast: roast beef and poached eggs. I need to stop overcooking the pot roast. Seriously.

Snack water and a handful of walnuts.

Lunch: the usual of tuna on salad, hummus and carrots and green pepper. Water to drink.

Snack: stress. and two slices of pepperoni pizza with hummus. Meh, that'll be my cheat for the week.

Dinner: small - I mean tiny bowl of pasta with a huge salad. Water to drink. I saw this as punichment for me - I wasn't going to make my kids each stupidly dry meat. I am the only one that needs to suffer in that way...

All in all, not a great day for a Paleo type of diet. I am liking it, even if I am a little bored with what I am offering myself. However, I will be taking advantage of Robb Wolff's recipes, and those of others in the know, and getting a varied menu shortly. Seriously, it's good.

My wife asked me to get my son to sleep, so I do what I do best... I fell asleep with him in the rocking chair. My wife came in about 9pm to wake me up and put my son in the crib. We'd been like that for almost two hours, she said. Cute, but not very functional. I got up, she went swimming at the local YMCA and I worked out.

I did this five rounds for a workout today:

20 BW squats - should make this a bit harder next time, perhaps with a sandbag/BTB
20 regular push ups
10 bicep curls
10 triceps extensions
8-10 deadlifts 190 lbs
10 TRX body weight rows
10 ab roll outs
20 two handed KB swings
10 snatches each side 30 lb KB used.

Not an awesome workout, but it got the job done. I'm feeling stressed from work, and this is more or less a maintenance thing with me, I think. At least I am working out, prepping for rugby season, some grappling tournaments and such in the summer. Oh, and my Spartan Race, too. Man, I'm looking forward to that.

Monday april 25

oh, there are days when I want to work for myself. Seriously, there are. And then, days like today make me thankful that I don't. It was a stat holiday in the province of Ontario ... and so I hung with my kids. For most of the day.

I ate this:

Breakfast ... bowl of chilli ... with had lentils in it ... beans, peas, corn, ground beef... delicious, but not Paleo as I later found out.

Lunch was a black coffee with some roast beef.

Snack was a handful of walnuts with some grapefruit juice

Dinner was roast beef, potatoes, corn, peas and a large (I mean large) piece of carrot cake leftover from yesterday at my parent's place. I was kinda sick after sticking it in my gaping wadi.

I finally got a copy of The Paleo Solution today. Kind of an interesting read - the sections I read covered the whys and the whats... I get into in later on this week.

I did this workout five rounds:

20 BW or with 50 lbs extra squats
20 feet up push ups
20 two handed kettlebell swings (30 lb KB used)
10 KB snatches each side
10 overhead presses with a 60 lb backpack
10 ab rolls outs.



I discovered that there are a lot of odd people around the rugby club during the day. Of course I already knew that there are a lot there during the evening ... ha hah ha h aha...

Seriously though, I saw this video about how low I should be getting with the ab rolls outs. Can't say I'm as low as this, but it's a good goal for which to shoot:

thursday, Friday and Saturday

This was not a good couple of days.

Thursday, ate thi:

Breakfast was coffee on the way into work

Snack was walnuts and water to drink

Lunch was not good, a tim horton's chilli and bun.

Dinner was lasagna - pasta, lots of ground beef, cheese, spinach and other veggies. Salad. water to drink

Friday was a day off.

Breakfast was salad and tuna about 10am.

Snack was coffee, waluts

Dinner was steak and salad. Chicken breast, too. Rice, veggies on the side.

White wine later as I helped a buddy with her Macbook.

Saturday was just not a great day, either

Breakfast was some left over steak while holding my son and watching Super 15 rugby on my laptop.

Lunch was more steak on salad. Water to drink.

Dinner was some paleo chilli I put together: ground beef, corn, peas, beans, mushrooms. pretty good. White wine to drink. Yeah, I know.

Did this workout for five rounds on Saturday, finally:

20 BW squats
20 feet up push ups
10 ab roll outs
5 chin ups
10 TRX BW rows
20 two handed swings 30 lb KB used

Wed April 20

I really hated today. I hate the fact that people choose to complete losers today and champion the cause of something as destructive to families as alcohol. The again, I really can't stand St Patrick's Day either, for basically the same reason.

In any case, work was that much more difficult today, as people left early to go smoke dope. I was stuck with a mess on my hands; my boss was basically chewing my butt on their behalf. I like my boss, I deserved it, sort of. In any case, tomorrow is another day.

I did eat fairly well today, at least until I got home for dinner. Still everything is still cool, although I still need to pick up the Paleo Solution, I did listen to a few of the episodes of Robb Wolf's podcast today on the drive in. Interesting stuff.

I ate this:

Breakfast: chicken and salad/veggies. OJ to drink

Black coffee on the way in (no dairy in a paleo diet)

Coffee with milk as a snack, with prunes and a handful of walnuts, carrots with hummus.

Lunch was the usual of tuna on salad, carrots and hummus, walnuts, water to drink.

Dinner was a very meaty lasagna; spinach, ground beef with some cheese.

Yes, kind of disappointed with the amount of dairy in today's meals. However, when presented with a gift of coffee, one doesn't turn it down. I also don't turn down lasagna when it is made by my six year old daughter. If you turn down either one, it is just bad karma. I also am getting rid of the almonds in my diet, as they as just too many calories; I really really like them, and I just have to put them to the side, at least for this week. Walnuts look like brains to me, by the way....



he he he he ... zombies... I hate them, but they are just so "there".

Did five rounds of this:

20 Bodyweight squats
20 feet up push ups
20 kettlebell two handed swings
10 kettlebell snatches (both hands)
10 ab roll outs
20 step ups with 10 lbs in each hand - 20 inch step
10 bicep / triceps with 50 lb barbell

a good workout; I would still like to be able to afford to do some Bjj, but between childrens' stuff and a mat leave, there's just no coin left over for it. Meh, I know I need to start running again. Cheaper and probably better for my sore neck in the long run.

Tuesday April 19

...and the hits just keep on coming.

Ugh.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: chicken breast and poached eggs, water to drink

Coffee on the way into work

Lunch: tuna, green pepper with hummus, prunes and almonds, water to drink.

Dinner: stewing beef, broccoli, carrots, other assorted veggies slow cooked. It was pretty good. I ate early, thinking I was going ot rugby training. I was wrong.

Instead, I held a barfing boy for a few hours while he, well.... barfed. He's getting pretty good with his aim, I must say. The other two children were out of range for a four month old stomach, but he was close to getting them.

I also read an email from a buddy who has now officially moved to China. His family is coming later. Kind of a shock to me; I mean it's his life, I'm just going to miss him. Makes me want to learn Mandarin and go for a visit. Sort of.

I also just saw a small mouse in my basement. Drag. At least I now have coin to go and buy some traps. Will report later on how many I catch.

The last kick in the chops for the day was that I didn't get a workout in.

Monday April 18

Ya know, there was something in the air today that was intent on crapping all over my head. I'm glad that I ahve the patience to out-endure people and ideas like that. Speaking plainly, I forgot to eat breakfast this morning, still have no coin to grab anything bigger than coffee on the way in... and was rewarded with fresh fruit the minute I got in to work.

Seriously, check out my breakfast:



Yes, that WAS as good as it looks. The funny thing is that I really could have scrounged up enough money to get a Belt at Tim Hortons, but didn't. I could have set up another tab with the cafeteria lady, but didn't. I dunno why I didn't perhaps it was fate helping me keep to my diet today. Whatever else it was, it was also delicious.

Breakfast: coffee, 6 almonds, 6 prunes

Snack: that friggin awesome bowl of unified fateful fruit seen above.

Lunch: tuna (no salad) almonds, prunes. Water to drink.

Dinner: meat casserole; ground beef, veggies (a lot of veggies) with some spagetti sauce and a few crumbles of cheese. Last half glass of white wine to drink.

I did this very simple workout for four rounds

20 BW squats
20 push ups, feet level
20 lunges
10 knee to chest while on chin up bar
20 kettlebell swings to catch to two handed press

after this, I was sweaty. The n I rolled on my ITB bands, my quads, my glutes ... legs were rolled all over. Man, they were just balls of hurt.

I also started a new Personal Learning Project today - well, made the official start, anyways. First thing Imma do is look into buying a copy of Paleo Solution. I'm already listening to Robb Wolf's podcast, so I might as well jump right in..

Sun april 17

I've been moving furniture all day - stuff from the basement to the second floor, and vice versa. Laundry, friggin groceries without any money ... that was interesting. Have you ever spent fifteen minutes pouring change into one of those change counting thingys? Man, what a drag.

It was a long day.

A ate this today:

Breakfast: coffee and chicken/salad wraps. Water to drink

Lunch: roast beef, almonds as a snack. OJ to drink.

Dinner: roast beef with veggies and rice. Carrots with dip. Red wine to drink.

I did this for seven rounds:

20 BW squats
20 feet up push ups
20 Two handed KB swings - 20 kilo bell used
5 chin ups
10 bicep curls
10 triceps extensions
10 knees to chest while hangin from the chin up bar


Anyway, I'm pretty sure that if I want to start cutting the weight off in a serious way, I need to lock down my diet a bit better and start running. I've been off of that for a while and I'm thinking it's time to start that running obsession again.

Saturday April 16

Ah, man. I had a choice to make today: play rugby in Hamilton or go to a KB event at Strength Box. What did I choose? The third option, which was staying at home to help my wife take care of our three kids.

Which, to be honest, wasn't much of a choice. I was needed at home. The boy was crying, the girls were fighting most of the day. Bascially, I function in my house as a gooey gel that gets things moving smoothly. I was that goo today.

I did get a chance to workout, and I did this workout six times:

20 BW squats
20 feet up push ups
20 step ups, last four rounds with 10 lb in each hands
20 two handed KB swings, last two rounds it was 20 snatches each side
10 t-bar lifts, 75 lbs (see pic for further details or comments)
10 bicep curls
10 triceps extensions
10 ab roll outs

I was pretty tuckered out by the end of it. I also had to put away all the stuff my kids took out and played with while I worked out. I was pretty frazzled, man.

Fri April 15

Today was just messed up from the start and I just couldn't get any purchase on it to change it. I did what I could with a crappy hand. Tomorrow should be better.

I woke up early, held my wonderful boy in my arms from about 4am until it was time to get ready for work at 6:20am. We tried to sleep, but we napped instead. Short periods of sleep, rough interrupted by my boy's need for fussing.

It made for a long day - made longer by apathy. Not mine, but rather it reflected off of people around me. It's just a sign that perhaps I am the sole object of derision and scorn ... at least that is what it felt like today at times. Meh, it should be water off of a duck's back by now, but it's one of the things that makes my job just that much tougher. It's a lot tougher when you need sleep.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: coffee on the way in

Snack: coffee and water

Lunch: I was at a small Friday gathering. My diet was off as a result. Lots of carbs and sugar. Coffee, tiny donuts, samosas, water later on.

Dinner: chicken, salad. My kids kept offering me their french fries. I love them, but it was their treat for the week. I had a glass of white wine to drink. Kinda left my stomach a little bitter.

I didn't work out today, as I feel asleep with my son after his bath. We lasted a few hours, then I fed him again at 1am. It's been a long day, man. A long day.

Wed and Thurs April 13 and 14

Imma give me a bit of a passover the last two days: I turned 41. When presented with a cake for your birthday by your six year old, you never say "nope, can't eat that, it's too many calories.

What you do offer, is to share it with your workmates, which is what I did.

Wednesday I ate this:

Breakfast: roast beef and veggie wrap, GJ to drink

coffee on the way in

lunch was two pieces of questionably nutritious carrot cake, water to drink

dinner was two slices of pizza with red wine to drink. I fell asleep by 9pm.

Quite frankly, how often does a person turn 41? And what does it say about that person when they don't care about presents and they go to bed shortly after their children?

Well Thursday I ate this:

Breakfast: frozen fruit smoothie with OJ and green goo

coffee on the way in

Lunch was the stand by of tuna on salad, hummus with carrots and water to drink

Snack was a lot of water to drink

Dinner was a slice of left over pizza

after 90 minutes of rugby training workout I drank three beers with my neighbor. I just can't say no; he's a dude.

I did no workout on Wednesday, but on Thursday I did two.

Thursday's workout was a 90 minute rugby session. I followed that with four rounds of this:

25 BW squats
20 feet inclined push ups
10 ab roller roll outs
10 60 lb sand bag overhead lifts.

Short and simple, but kinda chilly - a lot more wind outside the rugby club than I'm used to inside a garage gym.

I'm tired and I have to stay up to feed the youngest. Proud to do it; proud to be a father. I'd never trade, never in a million years. Too many hugs to give up.

Tues April 12

This was a long day - it started early, and it hasn't quit ended yet. Highlights include a new blog/research project on "Eating like Encino Man" a project for work, dedicated to learning how to eat like a cave man.

Yes, I have other highlights. I ate with my family. I picked up my kids from work - when I picked up my eldest, she ran right at me, and I was able to lift her into my arms. The lady running the day care thought I was going to hurt myself. It felt really cool to still be able to lift her into my arms.

I felt like a strong man that she needed me to be.

I ate this today:

Roast beef and veggie wraps. GJ to drink.

coffee on the way in.

Lunch was the usual...tuna on salad, carrots with hummus. Water to drink. Prunes.
This is one meal I need to learn how to replace, man.

water to drink

Dinner was roast beef, mash potatoes, veggies and salad. Yeah, that was kinda repetitive, but I gotta tell you, it's damn good roast beef. Red wine to drink.

I was supposed to go to rugby training tonight, but I just couldn't leave my wife in the state the house was in. Three children, two were screaming for attention and the third was aching for attention but was trying to stay out of the way. They are awesome kids.

So, I calmed everyone down, stayed talking to my wife until 9:15ish, then went to the garage and did five rounds of this workout

20 BW squats, nice and low and slow
20 feet up push ups
5 chin ups
10 knees to chest on the chin up bar
30 KB swings/snatch with the 30 lb KB

nice and quick, got me going, kept me on the right path.

Mon April 11

Ya know, I really like the Interwebs. Some really out there people get to tell me about really cool stuff. I don't know why I would want a kettlebell in the shape of a human skull, but I'd probably get one and then leave it as a show off piece.

And now .... I can get one. Or at least order one, anyway. From Ironskull Fitness. Awesomesauce.

In any case, so far today, I've had a pretty good day.

Breakfast was roast beef and veggie wraps with hot goo and some ketchup. GJ to drink.

Coffee on the way in to work.

Lunch was tuna on salad, water to drink. Almonds, carrots with hummus. Prunes.

Snack was almonds.

Dinner was chicken with rice and a big salad. OJ to drink. Frozen berry smoothie for dessert. (frozen fruit, GJ, green goo in a blender...)

After dinner, I hung with the youngest, watched the two other ones make a mess in the yard, and then got them all in bed. After they were asleep for a while, I did this workout:

20 BW squats
20 feet up push ups
20 step ups ... two rounds with 10 lb weights, last two rounds with 30 lb weights
20 KB OH swings, both sides with a 30 lb KB
20 KB alternating cleans
20 KB TH swings
10 bicep curls, 40 lb weights
10 triceps extensions, same
10 ab roll outs
6-8 deadlifts, 190 lbs - I felt so good, this weight is not near my max, but it is the max that I can afford at the moment. I'll keep my eye out for heavier weights, perhaps even a longer bar...

I felt really good after that workout. Honestly, the room was so warm, I was working out in only a t-shirt and shorts. I checked later, and it was 15 degrees in there.... which, to my American friends, is a nice pleasant afternoon. I can hardly wait until I get outside to do these workouts.

I have been putting together a plan in my head for a new homemade prowler. I had my basement finished a while ago, and I have these 2x4's sitting in my basement. I'd rather put them to use that to put them into a fireplace somewhere. So, I'm starting with them for a durable, portable prowler.

Sunday April 10

Just thought I'd put this out there:



Right, today was pretty damn relaxing, I have to admit. Got up, did my stuff, hung out with my kids and generally had one of those days that makes you want to invent a time machine to relive it over and over again. I did manage to overcook the dinner, which, in the end, wasn't that big of a deal.

I ate this today

Breakfast: eggs and bacon. Fruit. Coffee to drink. At Cora's. Man that was awesome.

Lunch was not very much, I was still pretty full from breakfast: water.

Snack: went to the rugby club and had a beer.

Dinner: Salmon, asparagus, grilled zucinni with some rice. Salmon was overdone, but that was my fault. I have to remember to not preheat the BBQ so hot for next time. Medium heat will do the job better than high heat.

Right, off for a run, then groceries.

Sat April 9

I'm going to just put this out there: this was a weird day.

It started waaaaay too early for a Saturday, with my two older children jumping on me as I tried to sleep in. Yeah, they were up and so, I guess I had to be, too. I'd done the 2am feeding last night and my wife thought I needed to start my day at 6am. Nice

I got the family coffee and muffins, then went for my workout. The youngest feel asleep and so I had a few minutes to myself. I did five rounds of this:

20 BW squats
20 feet up push ups
20 step ups, later rounds with 10 to 30 lbs in each hand. The last round was killer.
10 t-bar lat pulls. An barbell with 75 lbs on one end, lifted towards the chest.
20 kb TH swings. 20 kilo bell used
10 ab roll outs.
8-10 bicep curls
8-10 triceps extensions - both with 60 lb barbell. Also quite a challenge

A good sweat. But right after this was done, the rest of the day unravelled. My middle child's nose was out of joint and so, rather than be able to go out and have fun, we were all stuck at home being miserable. Just stuck.

Instead of letting that dictate my day, I got on the BBQ and got cooking. The salmon was pretty good. Later on I was able to get to the rugby club for a memorial for one of the gentlemen of the club who passed away last Saturday. Dave was 70, was just a good guy. Man, I really am not liking the way this season is looking from here. I got home in time to go to my eldest daughter's swimming event, took lots of pictures then got home for dinner with my parents.

I ate this today:

breakfast: coffee

Lunch: salmon, asparagus, glass of white wine

Dinner chicken, salad, and a bun from Swiss Chalet. Water to drink.

After the day was done and kids were all in bed, I went back to the rugby club for a short while. I promised to attend a fundraising for some soccer club, and I do things I promised I'd do. I got there, bought a ticket, had two beers, then went home. Seriously, I was so tired I feel asleep on Saturday night at about 9am. I woke up a short while ago, at about 2am. I'm going to finish this post, go upstairs to check on my children, then go bad to bed.

Fri April 8

Today was pretty good. Seriously, I've been stressed as of late and today was a nice release valve. I got a lot of work done and I've been given a rather bright and shiny way forward. One of those lights that actually makes you look forward to Monday. Seriously.

One of the rather creepier things that has been working its way into my digital life is that I need to have an echo of my personal life. That is, this particular life is rather too connected to my professional one. If you read that and have no idea what it is I do for a living, it is because I have never shared with you. I have a full time job that I worry about losing if I blog about it too extensively.

And yet, I feel the need to blog.

So, what if I created a sinister "other" me? Something rather untraceable to my current profession? Another email address, another ISP number, anther friggin' digital life. Hmmm.. interesting, interesting. However, this, my friends, is probably not the place or time for these thought experiments.

I had work to do today, and I got it done:

six rounds of this:
20 BW squats
20 two handed swings 20 kilo Kb used
10 DB rows
20 push ups, feet elevated
5 chin ups
10 knees to chest on the chin up bar

I ate this today:

Breakfast: steak and eggs, coffee to drink

Coffee when I got to work, water to drink

no lunch

Dinner was a steak sandwich with almonds for dessert. Wine to drink.

All in all, not an awesome end to the day, but something that is working for me better than last year. Someday my collective agreement will eliminate this crappy part of my life, but not yet, not yet.

Meh, at least I ate steak. (I did a lot more other stuff, too. I owed it to myself and taxpayers to make sure I got a lot of crap done today. Rest assured, Canadian citizen, I got a lot of stuff done today.)

Seriously, though. I want this guy's money.

I still don't believe the hype.

Thurs April 7

It's Thursday and it should be rugby night. And you be right - except I was needed at home. Crying children and a wife who just needed me. So, no rugby.

Ya know, in years previous, I might have been horribly annoyed. This year ... meh. I think I saved myself calories as I didn't have any beer after the training session I didn't attend. It worked out ... which is kinda funny when you think about it.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: steak and veggie wraps. OJ to drink

Coffee on the way in, a second coffee when I got there.

Lunch was the usual, except under the pressure of time. Tuna on salad, green pepper and hummus, almonds. Coffee.

Dinner was not as good as it should have been. Pizza. I'm thinking this meal needs to be changed next week.

I'm glad that tomorrow I get a chacne to get caught up at work.

Wed April 6

OK, today was a little less of a drag than yesterday. That statement, followed closely by "it also went by very quickly" both impresses me and scare me a little. Yes, I did a lot of stuff today - Kids to school, to work, ate well, praised people around me, made my wife laugh, few my youngest, worked out ... but it went by so quickly.

I got up, blinked and it was 9:45 pm.

On that note, I ate this today:

Breakfast: roast beef and egg ... please note that there was just one this morning. The other egg was stolen ... um ... taken by my middle child. Grapefruit juice to drink.

coffee on the way in, water when I got there.

Lunch was the usual, which I have to admit is not yet getting old. Tuna on salad, almonds and green pepper with hummus, water to drink.

Dinner was chicken breast wraps; salad leaves, chicken breast in a wrap with hot goo. Water to drink.

Snack: almonds and water.

When it came time to get the workout in, I discovered my wife had put the car in the garage. Not only that, but she'd parked it in waaaaay to in. I had limited space to workout in. Did seven rounds of this:

20 BW squats
15 pike position push ups
5 chin ups
10 knees to chest while dangling from the chin up bar
10 bent rows with a 30 lb dumbbell. (both sides)

I had a sweat by the end, it was all good.

Tues April 5

So far, this day is working out rather well. I weighed in this morning, I'm a little lighter than yesterday ... nothing significant.

Ate this today:

Breakfast: roast beef and eggs. Grapefruit juice to drink. Simple yet really good food.

Coffee on the way into work. Lots of water throughout the day.

Lunch: the usual; tuna on salad, green peppers with hummus, prunes, almonds. Water to drink.

Dinner: Bowl of pasta with tomato sauce, salad, red wine to drink.

I had a lot of water today. I just kept drinking it, like it was ... well, water. Kind of embarrassing how much water I drank, really.

I did this workout six times, though:

8-10 deadlifts, 190 lbs
20 KB swings, 20 kilo bell used
20 feet up push ups - see picture for height. My feet were on top of the red sand bag
10 knees to chest while hanging off the chin up bar
20 step ups - again, onto the red sand bag - at or above the height of my knee.
10 bicep curls
10 triceps extensions both with 50 lbs
20 BW squats
10 ab roll outs

That was a pretty complete workout - I was pretty sweaty at the end. My wife said some nice things about my body today; that in and of itself is pretty darn cool. Work is going very quickly, but I can hardly wait until this "panic time" I'm in kinda settles down, I'm hoping for in a few weeks. A lot of stress, man. Last year, I stopped working out by this point in time and was a lot heavier by May. This year, I have a few races I'd like to do, including the Spartan Race mid June. That's going to be epic. All in all, though, today was a very fast day. I will now take some time to appreciate what it is that I have. I am extremely lucky to have what I have, and I know it.

Monday April 4

Ya know, it just isn't a good start to a week when you hear screaming - I mean SCREAMING - through a baby monitor when it isn't your baby... it was creepy, man. All I could do was turn it off and listen for my child to cry.

It was a long night, man.

I got up, ate well, kept it up through the day:

Breakfast: roast beef and veggies, GJ to drink, coffee on the way in to work

Snack: water

Lunch: tuna on salad, carrots and hummus, prunes. Water to drink.

Dinner: Roast beef and veggies. Salad. Water to drink.

Went for a 5k run; I need to calibrate that silly Nike+ sensor. Unreal.

After the run, did some rolling and stretching. My body is just aching, and needed some help. After the session, felt a lot better. Ready for tomorrow.

Sunday April 3

I wanted to get out of the house today - and it happened, just not as I had envisioned. my wife wasn't feeling up to par, and so to leave her with three kids, just wasn't on for today.

I made a day of it, but first ... made sure I let people know I wasn't coming, then worked out.

I did this as punishment, and with two daughters running around the garage gym with me at the same time. Try doing THAT at the average garage gym, I tell ya...

Five or six rounds of this (seriously, it could be either, I was run ragged between exercises and sets ...)

20 BW squats
20 KB swings, with the 20 kilo bell, facing the wall
8-10 KB rows
20 feet up push ups
20 second hold of a hand stand
10 ab wheel roll outs
8-10 bicep curls (50 lbs used)
8-10 tricep curls same 50 used .... a step up from the 30 lbs I used to use.

I made a heavier curl bar with the new weights I bought over the weekend. I was getting close to failure on the last set ... which felt good. Hand stand holds were new, though. Can help but think I get better at them at some point ... just not yet.

I finished this workout before 8am, then got some coffee for my wife and I, read the paper, took my girls out to rollerblade, fed my youngest child, discovered a new website for children's movies and watched one with my middle child, feed my youngest again, got barfed on and then cleaned the house. I did grocery chopping, laundry and dishes, too.

And .... what the hell else ... man, that was a long day. Still up to feed the boy at midnight and THEN hit the sack. Father's job is never done.

I ate this today:

breakfast: coffee

Lunch: steak, dipped in ketchup, coffee to drink.

Dinner: roasted chicken, veggies. White wine to drink. Almonds throughout the day.

I just did about 6 minutes of ass to mat squats. It was kinda weird how they felt, but I have to admit, I'm impressed with the flexibility and power I showed myself. Seriously, I didn't think I had it in me, but fooling around in the gym ... interesting...

Fri and Sat April 1 and 2

Meh, this last two days has been a real pain in the butt.

I ate this Friday:

Breakfast: steak and eggs - coffee to drink.

Lunch was a social affair at work, a pot luck. Had meatballs, samosa, pizza and water to drink. Three salads, too. Hummus and veggies galore.

Dinner was a slice of pizza at a union meeting. It was rather stale, but at least the company was pretty cool. Learned a lot about my pension. And my co-workers.

Snack - one more slice of pizza at home. My wife ordered in. Meh, s'ok.

I had to care for my boy, so there was no workout.

Saturday, well, I had to make up for Friday:

Breakfast: coffee after a workout

Lunch was steak with some veggies. This was more of a brunch, really.

Snack: almonds, water to drink.

Dinner: burger with salad. Beer to drink.

Workout for the day was five rounds of this

6-8 190 lb dead lifts. Finally got some more weight on the bar.
20 BW squats
6-8 chin ups
10 knees to chest on chin up bar
20 KB swings 30 lb kb used.

Just a basic workout, but got me pretty worked up and ready to go.

Rest of the day was spent with my kids - we went to a park, went rollerblading/biking, went for a walk, to church and then finally out to dinner. I even found my old video camera and downloaded all the vids on there onto this hard drive later on at night. They all feature my family just fooling around, being us. Hilarious.