February 2015 Challenge: The Conclusion

"You have to participate in the process..."

Earlier this month, I wrote a blog on doing a nutrition and fitness challenge for 28 days. 

In my previous blog for the start of the February Challenge, I mentioned that I was going to keep a log of what I ate and the work out I did, but during the challenge, I got a new phone and switched services and my notes got deleted from my previous phone.

Anyways...

I wanted my nutrition to be something close to what the Whole Life Challenge offered, which was no carbohydrates, no soy, no beans, no starch, no corn, no dairy of any kind, no sugar what-so-ever, no processed or artificial food and no soda, alcohol or juice.

Before: February 1st at 182 pounds.

But I didn't want it to be that strict so I added carbohydrates, dairy and sugar to my diet but only took a small portion throughout the month. 

During the month of February, my meals included eggs, bacon and/or breakfast sausages for breakfast, a bunch of protein such as steak and chicken with a side portion of rice and/or vegetables for lunch and whatever my mom made for dinner. I also drank coffee and fish oil everyday. And water, lots of water.

I also bought into protein shakes for meal replacements so I can save a little bit of money and food for the month.



For my workouts, I planned to work out 5 days out of the week. I went to Deuce Gym twice a week and also to a global gym twice a week as well. The other remaining day, I wanted to get in a cardio day, but that only happened less than a handful of times.

My workouts consisted of a lot of lower body movements because I was skeptical of injuring my right arm again because it wasn't 100 percent healed. But towards the end of the month, a lot of upper body movements were involved in my workout and the pain came back again. None the less, I kept going.

In the 28 days or so days during my workout, I met a personal record of 400 pounds on my deadlift. The last time I did a heavy rep of a deadlift was in December 2014, which was at 375 pounds. I also PR'd on a 5 rep deadlift at 345 pounds. Needless to say, I felt like I was getting stronger throughout the month. 

The biggest thing for me during the challenge was eating right food. 

Prior to the challenge, I would "try" to eat "healthy," but didn't really take it seriously. I would go buy a burger from time to time, eat pizza that my job provided once a week. You know what I'm talking about here.

After: February 28th at 175.5 pounds.

But during the challenge, I was a little more strict on myself with what I want I was going to eat. But there were a couple of time that I "cheated" on my nutrition plan. When my cousins was visiting the States for the first time, my family and I tried to take her to some "American" food places so I ate some burgers and greased up food in the 3 days I hung out with her and her husband. Another time, I went to go get a gourmet burger and a beer with a co-worker after a long day of work. Lastly, after another long day at work, I went to go grab a few drink with some other co-workers. In the total of 28 days, I had 3 beers during the challenge. I didn't want to intake any alcohol during it but not even drinking a handful of an alcoholic beverage had a big part in my diet.

Im not really a big weigh guy ever since my coach at Deuce, Logan, told me something along the words of being functional fit and being able to do everyday stuff through those movements, I'll be fine. But the little part of me still wants to know how much I weigh and get results from working out.

So on the last day of February, I weighed myself in the morning at 175.5 pounds, where on the 1st day I weighed about 182 pounds. Not that much of a difference in weigh but I feel as if the fat in start of the challenge turned into some muscle in the end.

At the end of challenge, I felt better and healthier about myself. I knew that I had to put in the hard work, time and effort to make the changes. I was going to end the challenge at the end of this month but I'm going to try to continue this for the whole year.

Put the time and effort in if you want to see changes, not just in seeing result with your body, but also in life. 

Nothing comes easy.

Jun