It’s the penultimate week of the program so I’m buckled in to shoot for a big finish! With that said, the measurements included this week and next will be the bare minimum so I can make one last post after the program’s completion that will hopefully shed some light on how good the program actually was (with final numbers).

Speaking of bare minimum — let’s do it.

Weekly Weigh-in: 221.1 (0.8 Pounds Lost)

I’ll be completely honest — I’m surprised by this. Over the weekend I went a little hog wild with some of my favorite indulgences including a dinner date with Cara and her folks at Knoxville’s Brazilian steakhouse Brazeiros. It was at said churrascaria that I ate what may have been my body weight in bacon-wrapped chicken, chicken wings, ribs, bacon-wrapped filet, lamb chops and sausage. I rarely ever eat until I hate myself but I for sure did it Saturday night.

It happens, I guess.

With one exception, I haven’t had any alcohol since October 2018 yet I woke up Sunday morning feeling like I had a hangover. Add to that the soreness in my back, shoulders and abs given to me from the previous day’s bootcamp session and you’ve got a recipe for a Sunday where I just wan’t feeling it … or anything else for that matter. I even laid in bed until after 9am which never happens.

On Monday it was time to kick it again. And with a fully booked schedule and a fridge full of tasty food, I hit the ground running yesterday and hope to keep the momentum up all week.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

This Week’s Calorie Requirement and Macros

For the last couple of weeks I’ve debated not even posting this anymore because it doesn’t change (and will continue to not for a while) but I figure if I’ve already posted it for 10 weeks, why not two more, yeah?

Calories	3,000
Protein	219 Grams (876 Calories)
Fat	88 Grams (792 Calories)
Carbs	334 Grams (1,335 Calories)

This Week’s Meal Plan

Burgers! Probably my favorite meal plan of the bunch on this program. This week and next, I’ll be repeating this meal plan from weeks 5-6. Jalapeno-stuffed cheeseburgers with a side of chicken nuggets? I MEAN, REALLY.

This Week’s Workout Plan

So here’s the deal. I was already 2 weeks into a 5/3/1 program when I started Mount Crushmore so instead of starting over at week 1, I just kept working from where I was. The workout program cycles through every 4 weeks. What this means is that I finished a 4-week cycle with a de-load last week. Now, I could technically start a new cycle this week and just let it go on for two more weeks after the conclusion of Crushmore, but I’ve decided to start flirting with the next workout program I’ve built myself that I’ll be writing more about in the coming weeks!

Anyway, here’s what this week looks like:

• Monday: 5:45am Boxing60; Weightlifting — Squats 3×5 + Overhead Press 1RM Test; Endurance Training
• Tuesday:7:45pm Boxing45
• Wednesday:7:00pm MMA60
• Thursday: Weightlifting — Deadlifts 3×5 + Bench Press 3×5; Endurance Training
• Friday: 5:45am Boxing60
• Saturday: 8:00am Bootcamp
• Sunday: 11:30am MMA60

Anything Else?

Yep.

If you come to my class tonight you’re going to hear me talk about this but something has hit me really hard today:

How you do one thing is how you do everything.

How we treat the small things in our lives reflect how we treat the big things as well. While it may not seem like such a big deal at the time, if you’re not willing to do just a little bit more when it comes to small decisions, you’re certainly not willing to do just a little bit more when it comes to the important ones.

The metaphor is often used of the person saying they’ll give $100,000 to charity once they make their first $1 million. But truth is, if this person isn’t willing to give $1 when they have $10, they for sure won’t be willing to give $100,000 when they have $1 million.

The same goes for our time and effort, not just our wallets.

If you refuse to take your cart back to either the store or the corral after loading your car because it’s “not your job” … If you go for a 2-mile run but call it quits at 1.9 miles because it’s “close enough” … If you rely on “hacks” and “shortcuts” and “miracles” to get you to your weight-loss, fitness or productivity goals because it’s “too much work” to do otherwise … then think about how much you’re shorting yourself when it comes to the bigger decisions in your life.

It not only directly affects you but it’s also detrimental to your relationship with others.

So my challenge to you today is to be conscientious of your decisions both big and small, and when you get there ask yourself what can I do to take this one step further? It could be picking up after yourself, staying on that treadmill 30 seconds longer, throwing one more punch when you think you’re too tired to throw another or even giving one more dollar to a charity when you don’t think you can afford to give anymore (this one is huge for me right now).

One decision to go just a little further beyond your goal is enough to set off an avalanche of change.

Ever onward, fellow Heathens.

-JTF