7 days of sprouting (chia seeds)!

Fool ya with the title, huh?!

So it’s been 7 days since I started the chia seeds, sufficient time to put in a word or two on them. Mind you, my total consumption a day is probably less than a teaspoon – sprinkles on my lunch oatmeal and dinner pasta does not amount to much. The seeds, while, tiny but can really fill you up – I know coz on my virginal eat, I used a teaspoon and had a tough time finishing my dinner. I cut that back to half a teaspoon (for the oatmeal, it is even less) and so far, it is working out well. An interesting observation: if I leave the chia seeds to sit in liquid, it puffs/swells up into a jelly-like casing similar; this probably explains the “fill-up” effect. The seeds are crunchy to bite even after the swelling.

One of the key proponents is its ability to fuel endurance events, providing energy and keep the eater filled up and hydrated (again the jelly effect I guess) – think Tarahumara tribes and their days long hikes/hunting expeditions. I have not exactly been bursting with energy but my sometimes sleepiness and tiredness throughout the day (hey who gets sufficient rest/sleep when working in a city?!) have been noticeably reduced. Training and runs wise, no drastic changes to the fatigue equation. It is still the early days and I will continue with the monitoring and key in again at the end of the month.

Oh my…the legs are on their way to being shox! This morning’s workout was a combination of free weights and TRX training – the latter is tougher than anyone would have you believe!

Supersets of:

a) Cybex hack squat (failed at the 600lbs!)

b) Cybex plate loaded leg press (why do I keep getting breathless after this every time?!)

c) Combo of BB squats and overhead shoulder press

Supersets of:

d) TRX hamstrings interspersed with scissors for inner/outer thighs

e) DB lateral raise

f) Technogym cable bend over reverse rear delt

g) TRX single leg squats

We finished off with abs crunches on the fit ball. Michael asked if I wanted to try out kick boxing (FOC session) to improve my agility and kick start the fast twitch muscles. Yeah, I suck at flexibility and coordination – left is left, right is right, no left, right, center, back combos for me! I am thinking, I am thinking, I am thinking. It all depends on how quickly the left foot returns to “regular programming”. Yes, it’s so much better today – now it feels more like a tight stretch of the muscles from the top of the foot to the ankle. Perhaps after CNY.

Ronnie is organizing an LSD tomorrow morning and naturally, it will be an LFD session instead. Kenny and Lai will be hiking tomorrow morning and since Kei Ming has a scheduled track training in the evening, I will probably head to the gym for some time on the elliptical cross trainer. Unless Aron/Yuki are planning a 10km DH (double hill) session – I still feel bad about standing them up on Sunday morning.