After the four-day-a-week Four-Month Total Transformation course with Blaine we transitioned into a twice-weekly schedule that I thought would be easier. I thought wrong.

Here’s today’s workout, we started with a barbell complex consisting of these exercises followed by this:

A dumbbell and kettle bell complex that included an inclined chest press and a kettle bell single leg Romanian dead lift that required massive amounts of balance from already fatigued leg muscles and then for a little breather we transitioned into this:

A Physio Ball reverse hyper-extension where you lay tummy-down on the ball and raise your straightened legs backward as far as you can. We did two sets of max reps and then went to this high-intensity finisher:

That really makes the ‘ole butt burn…

And last but not least, this was what Blaine put on the board to top it all off:

Usually we do this portion of the workout on our own later in the day and (full-disclosure) sometimes I don’t get around to it…

Don’t judge! Also FYI, I usually post these photos through the Knife Challenge Twitter feed and you can find that here.

My girlfriend’s daughter Anna visiting the ICG

“Why are you here?,” is a common question I’ve heard over the course of the last few months. It’s usually thrown out there during a particularly painful moment of the workout, designed to get the mind off the temporarily-excruciating present and keep your eye on the bigger picture.

The first few times Blaine asked that question I didn’t really have an answer. But I began to think about it after workouts. Why AM doing this? It’s really hard. The workouts are long and grueling, the diet is tough and I’m constantly sore. But it also makes me feel fast and strong and fitter than I have been in years. But why am I really doing this?

I’m doing it for the control. Over myself, my body, my situation and my future.

The responsibility. To commit to something and accomplish it. I haven’t been as faithful as I should have been but I’m gonna finish strong.

And for the discipline – to gain it. The interesting thing about something that requires you to be strong is it shows you your weakness.

This experience, like any lunge, squat or deadlift, is making me stronger so I can meet real-world challenges. The reason I’m here is because I want to be healthy, strong and stable for myself and for the people I love.

So you you might have read in an earlier post that I haven’t been the healthiest of eaters. Prior to this endeavor I would usually start the day with a nice black cup of coffee, or six.

Typically I wouldn’t eat anything until about 2 p.m. on an average day.

Then, once the dam broke, I’d pretty much nosh on anything and everything within arms reach until 11 p.m. PLUS I’d get up at 2 a.m. or so for a bowl of cereal that I’d hurriedly slurp in my kitchen by moonlight.

That was THE FIRST thing Cathy decided I should change about my nutrition and lifestyle. So for the last three weeks I’ve been trying to eat at least a bagel by 9 a.m.

But just that little change in my diet has made a PROFOUND change in my eating/sleeping schedule.

Since I started eating a bagel with my coffee at 8:30 I’ve been getting hungry again at noon so that’s led to eating lunch at lunchtime (which is also a new thing to me). Making a conscious decision to eat in the morning also leads me to make better nutritional choices at lunchtime.

That isn’t a billboard for the healthiest meal ever constructed but it was what I had for lunch today. And I like the photo. I do social media for Iwa Sushi and Tuesdays are “take a picture of the specials” day so I get to eat what I shoot (not a bad deal, huh?)

But anyway, if I eat lunch I’m not absolutely starving by mid afternoon and that means I don’t gorge and ruin my dinner. So I’ve been eating dinner at a regular hour and not getting hungry in the early a.m. hours. And that means I’ve been getting a better night’s sleep these days (especially since I’ve been working my butt off in the gym, which tires a boy out).

And it’s been taking effect. I’m more rested, I’m noticing positive changes in my body and my brain is sharper throughout the day (not just when I’m jazzed on caffeine).

It’s a wonder what a little breakfast can do…

It all starts with the baseline. It’s a way to gauge fitness levels. Or, for me, a way to find out how out of shape I am. It consists of:

500m row

40 air squats

30 sit ups

20 pushups

10 pull ups

*Full disclosure: I couldn’t even do ONE pull up by myself. And FYI, having a 5-ft-nothing tall woman helping you heave yourself upwards to finish a set of 10 pushups is an exquisitely embarrassing situation.

I finished this baseline workout in 9 minutes and 37 seconds – and was only sore for the rest of the week!