Monthly Project Update #3
Feb 24th
Hey all, thanks for tuning in! I apologize for being so late again, I’ve just been so busy with school and other commitments.
Wow, last week must’ve been my best week so far! Motivation stayed high, no temptation to cheat, made it to the gym for every session…feelin’ good 
. I think it’s pretty safe to say I’m falling in love with the natural high that comes from working out. The diet part, I’m not too crazy about yet, I love food too much haha =P
I made some minor tweaks to my program last week. I’m now watching my protein, trying to get at least 100g/day (largely influenced by my browsing of forum.bodybuilding.com lately lol).
I can post up detailed progress of my being on the Warrior Diet if anyone requests, but I’m going to be making some tweaks to it. The two main reasons I started the Warrior Diet was because I thought it would help me stay on track by feasting every night and I wanted to experiment to try and get more energy. While the former was successful, I did not notice any changes in my energy levels throughout the day, which disappointed me. I think it’s safe to say my body has adapted to the diet; there’s no hunger and energy is fine, but it’s just the same as before. I haven’t experienced the crazy alertness and focus that others have reported to feel.
As a result, I’m going to modify my diet to resemble the one meal a day aspect of the Warrior Diet, but not follow it to a T (nothing wrong with the diet btw, I guess my body just isn’t suited for it, but as with everything, try it for yourself and see!).
My diet will simply adhere to the following 2 rules:
- Modify caloric intake based on goals
- At least 100g of protein per day
That’s it 
. I’m going to follow a one meal a day outline just because I like the fullness it gives me, but other than that I’m not going to restrict myself. Life’s too short to not enjoy everything you’re doing, who’s with me?
Stay tuned for the next update! Leave a comment and tell me what you think!
Will’s Wisdom
Feb 23rd
I apologize for being late with my weekly updates, but in the mean time, I want you all to watch this amazing video I came across. It’s a compilation of interviews Will Smith has given over the years and contains countless words of wisdom. He talks about several things like work ethic, achieving your goals, being successful, you name it. For anyone who dreams to be outstanding (which is all of us here ), this is definitely a MUST WATCH video. Without any further ado, here you go ladies and gents…
If you want to read more on the subject, here is the blog of the person who posted this video.
Leave a comment and tell me what you think of the video!
An Exercise in Self-Discipline: Cold Shower Challenge
Feb 19th
I’ve been reading a lot of stuff over at Scott Marcaccio’s blog, he’s got some awesome stuff over there, I highly recommend you check it out. He posted one article about a cold shower challenge.
The premise is basically that while you’re enjoying your nice, hot shower, you give yourself a test in self-discipline and focus. You give your back to the shower and focus on a spot on the wall. Then turn the water to 70% cold. You’ll start to get really uncomfortable and have trouble catching your breath. Once you calm yourself down and get your breathing under control, turn the water the coldest it’ll go: this is the real test, your chest will tighten like no other and your body’ll go numb. Once you stabilize your breathing, count 15 breaths and you’re down. You have conquered the cold shower challenge .
“Do you have the will and self-control to master your fear and stand strong in spite of that fear?” -Scott
That’s really what it’s all about: will and self-control. It’s nothing your body can’t take physically, it’s just hell on your mind. You need an intense amount of focus to complete this exercise. But if you can do it, it’s a great and simple way to learn about yourself and improve yourself. For example, someone on Scott’s blog post commented that this resembles how in your life you’ll never be completely ready for the challenges that await you. Sometimes you just have to plunge into things headfirst. Look at that, a deep contemplation came out of something as simple as a shower .
My personal experience? Ridiculously hard lol. It was a couple of days ago so, looking back on it, it doesn’t seem like it was that hard, but I’m not letting that fool me haha. It was really difficult and took a lot of effort. Personally, I didn’t feel much difference going from 70% cold to the coldest, it seemed like most of the effort had to be used during that transition. But it helped me learn a lot about myself. Firstly, I’m scared. It’s extremely difficult to start and there’ll always be an element of fear when you’re about to take on a challenge, but you can use that fear to your advantage and let it psych you up. Second, I learned that I’m capable for a lot more than I give myself credit for. I have a tendency to discourage myself and convince myself I can’t do something, but what do ya know, turns out I can . Lastly, the amount of focus you can achieve is incredible. This is not something that you can just accidentally go in and accomplish, it takes an extreme amount of discipline and focus. Your mind is stronger than your body and you have to focus in letting your mind take over.
So, why not try this challenge out for yourself and practice the fine art of self-discipline?
Anyone who tries this, come back and let me know how it went! Leave a comment or e-mail me at ordinarytooutstanding@gmail.com
Also, be sure to stop by Scott’s blog! You’ll definitely thank me
My First Day As A Warrior – The Warrior Diet
Feb 17th
You heard me right, today is my first day as a warrior! I mentioned yesterday that I came across something called the Warrior Diet and I was interested to try it. Yesterday, I read the book by Ori Hofmekler (or most of it at least =P) and today is my first day.
What is the Warrior Diet?
Basically the Warrior Diet consists of two periods: a 16-18 period of undereating (controlled fasting) followed by a 4 hour window of overeating where you eat a ton to compensate.
During the undereating period (which is supposed to be during the day), you are supposed to drink water, coffee, or tea and eat “live” vegetables and low GI fruits. This is a chance for your body to detox and it’ll give you a LOT of energy during the day because you’re not using that energy to digest any food.
Then at night it’s time to overeat to compensate for the fasting period. There are certain rules for this part which Ori outlines in his book, but pretty much you’re supposed start out with veggies, then move to protein, then on to carbs. And it’s all supposed to be whole and unprocessed for the most part. The idea is that throughout the whole day your body and metabolism are in a very energetic state and then when you go to feast, your body will absorb the nutrition like crazy and the act of feasting will boost your metabolism even more.
I’m no scientist, but it has something to do with triggering your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The point is to simulate the lifestyle of a warrior: very high energy during the day (hunting and killing), followed by feasting on the kill at night.
Why I’m doing it:
The main reasons I was interested in this is because of the high energy and the feasting. I’ve noticed I’ve been a little sluggish lately, no matter how much I sleep, and hopefully this’ll give me an extra boost.
And as you all know, I’m a sucker for overeating and the idea of feasting every night really appeals to me . Hopefully it’ll cut out that feeling of deprivation that comes along with dieting.
My Specific Plan
The types of foods you should be eating on the Warrior diet are supposed to all be fresh and natural and there should be a certain order to which you eat during the feast. However, due to practicality reasons, I’m just going to apply the concept of the Warrior diet and eat all my calories during the feast, with no huge regard for the type of food I’m eating. Other than that, I’m following the undereating period he lays out pretty closely.
Write now it’s about 9:45 AM on my first day and I feel good, not much noticeable change but it’s only been literally hours lol. All I’ve drank is some water, I have some strawberries and celery for later if I get hungry. I’ll have more to report later
If you’re interested and want to read more, Scott Marcaccio wrote an awesome article on the Warrior diet here, and he even has follow ups with pictures.
Also there’s a thread over at bodybuilding.com here if you want to read more.
Leave a comment or e-mail me at ordinarytooutstanding@gmail.com!
Monthly Project #1 Update 2
Feb 16th
Hey all! Hope you all had a great long weekend!
Not really much to say for this update, progress is going well, gotta keep working hard though. I’ve been reading about this thing called the “Warrior Diet” and I’m interested in trying it. Pretty much, it’s based on the theory of intermittent fasting, going the whole day without eating, then eating all your calories in a 2-3 hour period at night. The idea is that you’ll have a lot more energy and be more focused during the day and when you finally eat at night, your body will burn through the food like no other and absorb all the nutrients really efficiently. I want to try it mainly for the energy boost effects and I think it’ll be a lot harder to overeat. And, I think you’d feel more satisfied since you’re feasting every night.
Not much else to say, just that the longer you do something, the easier it gets to do. But you’ll always have those times where you just wanna give up. The trick is just don’t let those thoughts even enter your mind. Keep your eye on the prize and keep on going!
Anyone else heard of the Warrior Diet? Let me know your experiences with it, leave a comment or e-mail me at ordinarytooutstanding@gmail.com
