Benching, Bloating, and Binging!

Tuesday began like any other day, I woke up excited for a day in the gym…and then I stepped on the scale.

For the past week I have been slowly packing on the pounds, in what I can really only attribute to as water weight. It culminated to a massive 5lb gain as off yesterday morning, in the span of 3 days. My skin hurt, my clothes fit horribly, my ego/soul/motivation tanked. The desire to just say eff this and binge was so intense I had to leave the house just to get my head together.

Here’s what I know, when things get wonky, my gut reaction has been to sink into temptation because why not? I felt like my body had betrayed me so why not sulk and eat a carton of ice cream and endless rows of cookies?

I also know that is absolutely the worse reaction I could possibly have, and so despite my body aching (more than usual), I gathered my wits and headed to the gym where I spent two hours benching my heart out.
I was so excited to start this cycle and it was just utterly disheartening to be feeling so out of sorts. I managed my  first couple of 5 sets @70 and 80 and while it felt heavy, I plowed ahead with my 5+@95 and rocked it out for 8 reps.

My 5×10 OHP @45 didn’t do so smooth, but it very rarely does.

My bro stuff went great! While I didn’t managed the 35lb unilateral incline presses I was chasing, I did hit 30 for 5-6 solid reps on each side for 4 sets. It was rough but left me feeling rather rejuvenated. I actually decided to do something I have not done in 4 months. I decided to superset my dumbbell flye’s with my close grip bench! I kept em both light with low reps but it felt so good I added pause bench afterward. I think next week I’ll do a giant set of the three. I’m trying to challenge myself this cycle, both physically and mentally. I finished up with some tricep push downs and a bit of conditioning and abs. Even though I wanted to go home, I pushed through the burpee long jumps, though admittedly I took longer rests than I should have. I still rocked my hex walk, 16 steps out, set down to turn around, 16 steps back and then a 10s hold, @155. I did this for 4 sets and my hands were raw but it’s been worth it to watch my grip increase.

Once I was home I was faced with conflicting temptations. On one hand, I craved the Lenny and Larry’s cookies I have in the pantry, and on the other hand, I was tempted to just not eat at all and hope that starving myself would cure my bloating. Both options seemed illogical, so I settled on my typical protein shake and then about an hour later, had my typical giant ass salad. While the urges to both binge and starve remained all night, I kept to my guns and simply ate what I normally would, when I normally would eat it. It amazed me how doing such a simple thing such as exerting self control resulting in such a victorious feeling.

The greatest thing I gained from yesterday is the assurance that I have moved beyond simply giving up when things don’t go my way. I have finally garnered a bit of resiliency and the gumption to not quit or give up when things get dumb. That momentary set backs like bloating, and not looking (or feeling) 100% doesn’t signify the end of the world. I am getting older and as such, my body doesn’t recover the way it use to. Moving forward, I am super stoked for deadlifts! Even if it’s rough, it doesn’t mean it can’t happen!

On a side note,