V-Diet: Day 1

I've decided to paste the entries I make on my thread at T-Nation about the diet I'm on here. These are going to be long and comprehensive, but might prove interesting. Also, there will be references to supplements that you very likely don't know. If there's enough interest, I'll put a glossary up. Enjoy!

3/30/2009: DAY 1

Well, I had a tremendous first day on the V-Diet. I felt great pretty much all day! My energy levels were almost completely level all day, my stomach had no disturbance whatsoever, and I was able to get everything in despite an insanely packed day.

At 5:25 AM I woke up and consumed my first ever HOT-ROX, and man, was that a rush! I've handled Spike perfectly fine in the past, but this was at another level. The feel-good quality it gives you is unreal. The best part is that it didn't make me jittery or dizzy or anything, just pleasantly high on life. What terrific stuff!

At 6:00 AM I made my first shake, a Chocolate shake, and as I posted above, it was really delicious. Superfood definitely didn't look like I expected it to, but it tasted just fine. I almost always skip breakfast, so having a shake to start the day was perfect. After the diet is over, I will almost certainly continue having a shake for breakfast to guarantee that I get a solid nutritional start to the day and that I have breakfast. I should also note that I loved chewing on the flaxseeds in the shake; it just felt different and like more work than just drinking a shake. I bet I'll appreciate it even more as I get deeper into the diet. I also took Flameout.

I then drove to work (I work in the Disabled Students department at Santa Monica College in Los Angeles as a test proctor and in-class note taker), which was kind of interesting on a HOT-ROX buzz. When I got there, I discovered that the co-worker who assists me wasn't going to be there, and that I'd have to manage by myself. Usually, this would stress me out and make me irritable, but because of the HOT-ROX and breakfast, I took it in stride and went about my long, exhausting day.

Despite being more stressful at work than usual, I was able to get all of my shakes in; I actually brought MD, L-Leucine, Flameout, and Surge to work and just shook them up them while proctoring.

At 9 AM I got a bit hungry, so I munched on two Fiber Choice tablets. I figure since they're optional that I could fudge this aspect of the diet a tiny bit, and since the RDA on the bottle says two a day, I stuck to that. I'll probably keep doing that throughout the diet.

At 12:10 I had my lunch shake, a Vanilla one, along with another Flameout. The Vanilla wasn't nearly as good as the chocolate flavor, but still went down very smoothly and was just fine. I felt pretty full and satiated. I should note here that already by this point I had taken in more water than I usually do on any given day. That's another habit I'm desperately trying to break.

At 2 PM I had my second HOT-ROX of the day. I didn't really feel the buzz the same way I did from the morning HOT-ROX, but not a big deal. I also felt my first tiny craving for food around this time, and I got a bit sleepy. I usually get sleepy around 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon. The difference was that this went away much more quickly than usual, and I didn't feel sluggish like usual. Good stuff.

At 3 PM I had my mid-afternoon shake, another Vanilla, with Flameout. One thing I was realizing at this point was that as a runner, I'm used to eating lots of carbs, and this diet is obviously quite protein-centric. It'll be a transition, but based on how I did today, I think I'll manage.

I got off work at 4:30, and sped over to the gym to do my first workout. I'm doing the Advanced version; I have over six years of weightlifting experience, and my strength gains from powerlifting have somewhat remained. I'm also a very fit athlete in terms of cardiovascular ability, so I figured it'd be good to start at the top and if it's too overwhelming, go downwards to the Intermediate level.

My workout went brilliantly. I felt really strong and man, the short rest periods were exhausting! I timed them to the second, and I was huffing and puffing after the first two exercises like crazy! Here are my numbers:

All Heavy, All 20 reps (4-5 rep max), 30 second rest periods

Bent Over Barbell Row (underhand): 135x4, 135x4, 125x4, 135x3, 135x3, 135x2

Overhead Squat: 75x4, 75x4, 75x5, 75x4, 75x3

Dip: 193x5 (BW +15 pounds), 193x4, 193x4, 193x3, 193x2, 193x1, 193x1

Ab-Wheel Rollout: 4 sets of 5 (I'm not sure how to increase the difficulty on this exercise. Wear a weighted vest, maybe?)

Again, I was exhausted at the end of this, and sweating quite a bit. I started the workout at 4:50 and ended at 5:25. I got into the car, shook up some Surge, and slammed it down at 5:30.

I then drove home, and went out to dinner with some good friends from New York City. That's right, on the first day of my V-Diet, I had to deal with eating out with friends. And not just eating out at a nice restaurant, but also going out for frozen yogurt after the main meal!

I was able to do it; I brought my dinner shake to the restaurant (which I made Strawberry/Vanilla, by the way) and sipped on it throughout the meal, from about 7 to 7:45 PM, along with Flameout midway through the shake. I actually didn't crave anything except the frozen yogurt at the end, but I held my ground. That was a powerful motivator, actually, being able to survive going out to dinner no problem. It just required willpower and commitment to the diet, and with those two things, I had virtually no problems.

I got home very late (about 9:30), changed clothes, and went on my NEPA walk. I walked for about three and a half miles in fifty minutes or so; I was actually breathing pretty hard during it, which surprised me considering my running background. But I had a non-stop day, and I was walking at a steady clip.

I got back from my walk about 10:25, whipped up my bedtime shake (I got organic almond butter from Whole Foods; soooooo good), downed it at about 10:35 with one last Flameout, cleaned my shakers and my blender, and sat down to write this post.

All in all, a terrific first day. I had a lot of challenges to meet today that I don't usually have, from the long stressful day at work to the new dietary regimen to having to survive going out to dinner with others while on this diet. But I met them all, and felt pretty great the whole time. If I can make it through a day like this, I know I will succeed!