Yeah, ok, so it's been nearly I month since I blogged here. Bad, bad, bad. All my blogging energy has been going elsewhere.

Well, I did make it through the final two weeks of Meso 3, although it took me three weeks to do it. The extra week was due partly to a sudden lack of motivation made worse by fatigue, due in large part to a lousy diet. Also, distractions caused by events both within and outside my control. You know -- life.

At any rate, I finished my 5-1/2 STS rotation, and am pleased with the results. My upper body strength definitely improved more than 5%. I'm lovin' that. Lower body strength increased 5%, however, my knees are suddenly very sensitive on certain moves (squats, mostly). I have to be extremely conscious of my form. I don't understand what's going on, since I'd expect the strength gains to help my knees.

I’m disappointed with the visible results from the waist down, but I know it's due entirely to my sloppy diet and lack of HIIT-type workouts. The STS side of the equation worked just fine. I really enjoyed lifting heavy, and love that the results are so visible and come so quickly. Unfortunately, I've let my diet get sloppy and I'm back to consuming way to many processed carbs. I know that contributed to my fatigue, and made HIIT-type workouts difficult to impossible. Also, it just doesn't take long for the side-effects to show up on my butt and thighs. I’m not happy about it, but the only person I can blame is myself, and blaming myself isn't going to get the fat off. So, I'll suck it up and get back to work.

What next? I want to maintain the gains I've made in upper body strength, and get my lower body back to the point where I'm comfortable tucking in my shirt. It was so nice to walk out the door without obsessing about appropriate butt coverage.

I'm going to start with the June '09 rotation -- really like that it includes so many STS workouts -- and will make modifications based on my DVD collection. Also, I broke down and ordered Insanity over the weekend. I love the challenge of hardcore workouts like that, and will try to carefully work them into the rotation. Probably no more than one per week.

I started refocusing on my diet a week or so ago. First step: Eliminating the processed carbs. Pretty much rid of the junky junk. Now I'm working on reducing, and then eliminating the "health" junk. The key is to take it gradually. The time of year helps. We're harvesting our tomatoes, and there is still plenty of good produce available at roadside stands.

I'll try to get back to blogging about my progress. It definitely helps keep me focused and accountable. Plus, I miss keeping up with my fellow bloggers!