Getting back into shape

Few of you may know that I used to workout quite a lot when I was in Japan. I started out somewhere around 2009 and consistently continued doing so till my graduation day in 2011. I followed this very well known regime called P90X (I followed the program almost 90%) and I have to say the result that I got was very impressive, at least to my standard. I didn't even go to gym, not even one time, and the only equipments that I used were a few rubber bands, a push-up bar, and a pull-up bar. I didn't even use a dumbbell set. This is a picture taken back when I used to have a shape (other than round that I am now).

Picture was taken by a British friend of mine when I was in Tokushima, David Farries. Although I suspect that he had done some alteration on the picture cos I don't remember my abs were ever that toned, lol. So, if you actually read this post title, it says "getting back into shape", which implies that I am currently not in shape and have lost whatever I have built within the 2009-2011 period (well damn me). Behold, my current picture, after 1 year without working out. Well not really recent, but about 5 months ago.

This picture was taken by a cigar buddy of mine, Asyraf Fauzi during one of our cigar sessions. Man, I think I don't need to say how much about how much I hated myself for getting this complacent. The belly...oh god the manboobs. But now I've passed that self-hating and resenting phase, and from this point forward it's all about being determined to get back into shape. I think one of the reasons I get too complacent was because I was in "that phase" where I don't really care about how I look anymore cos it doesn't really matter, and I was happy. And another reasons was of course I was in a transition from a student that have aplenty of time to waste into a full-time corporate slave. My time management was quite bad, and my diet too. I couldn't find time to workout, or maybe the better phrase is, I was lazy. 

Anyway, now that I am back in the market, and back into the game, I figure that I have to shred all those bodyfat and get my abs ripped again (although I still didn't do that well when I used to have those abs). I have started working out again around early July this year, means I have worked out for about 3 months now. I'm still using P90X program as reference, but this time I don't really follow its schedule. By right P90X is a program that will get you ripped after 90days, hence the 90 in P90X. But I think that the 90days program is too intensive for me, and I wouldn't wanna go to work the next day all tired and sleepy. 

Currently, I work out 5times a day. 2 days for muscle, and 3 for cardio. This time I am using a 10kg dumbbell set instead of rubber bands. So far, even after only 3months, I think the result is pretty good. I think I'm losing some bodyfat, although my weight doesn't change, I am going to assume that it is because I am gaining muscle. I feel that this time, my biceps and triceps are gaining muscle at a quicker rate than before, most probably because I am using dumbbells set rather than rubber bands. Which makes me even more excited about my new job, since the company have a gym inside its building. Even though I am not sure about how well-equipped their gym is, but I am quite sure they have more than just one set of 10kg dumbbells.

After about 3months of working out, I am starting to increase the intensity of my workout and start playing out with the number of reps. As I am doing more in my workout, I am getting more tired the next day at work. I think one of the reasons is I am not eating enough to cover the calories that I used. Although this could result into me losing weight faster, but I will be too fatigue to keep doing workout, and I get tired easily during my workout. I mean I was really tired that the last 2 days I slept about 10hours, which I don't really do in the weekdays. Now I get a glimpse of idea of what Joe Rogan keep saying during UFC fights, that cutting weight can cause a very devastating effect on a fighter

So for the quick solution on this issue, I am planning to buy a workout supplement with high calorie to recover my energy, and probably some amino acid based supplement to help muscle recovery. I don't wanna start my new job being all tired and fatigued ;)