My missus, son and daughter have a cold at the moment. I don't think it is the one I had a few weeks ago as they had the same one then.

My boss at work also has a stonking cold and to top it off my training partner turned up with a cold. I was para about spotting him as I didn't want him to breathe near me.

The big question is, will the beta-glucan 1-3, 1-6 do it's job and keep me healthy (touchwood).

I have been eating raw garlic as well, below is my full supplementation program at present:

1,250 mg of Beta 1-3, 1-6 Glucan, split into 5 doses
3,200 mg of Turmeric, split into 4 doses
3,000 mg of Vitamin C as Ascorbic acid, split into 4 doses
33.2 mg of Zinc, split into 4 doses
533.2 mg of Magnesium, split into 4 doses
2 raw cloves of Garlic, split into 2 doses
1 Multi-vitamin
4,000 mg of Flaxseed oil, split into 4 doses

I consume the supplements with a meal or shake to try and maximise its absorption into the body.

At present I think supplements are over-rated, let's see how will they do to keep me disease free.

Peace

My son has adjusted really well to new baby, am really proud of him. Baby is doing well and am really enjoying my cuddles. Mother and Father not doing so well, I am knackered!!!

Managed to get to the gym today as Grandma was kind enough to look after son-son round hers.

Had about 3 hours sleep last night, however I managed to get about an hours sleep before the gym but felt groggy as hell when I woke up. Had a strong coffee to try and fire me up but this just made me feel sick.

The workout itself was just a maintence one for legs, lower back and shoulders. Wanted to go for 190kg on the deadlift but the tank was empty so stuck with an easy 180kg (even this felt super heavy). Still on relatively low protein due to gout (120-150g per day)

Cybex Squat Press - full range of motion reps
120kg x 10
160kg x 8
200kg x 6
240kg x 6
280kg x 6
320kg x 5
440kg x 6 (last rep was heavy, usually save a rep in the tank but knew I couldn't do anymore after this last rep)

Conventional deadlifts off floor
60kg x 10
100kg x 6
140kg x 5
180kg x 5 (felt real heavy, last rep form broke down a lot i.e. ended up yanking it up my shins)

DB Shoulder presses
20kg x 10
30kg x 8
40kg x 10 (elbow felt a bit better today, probably as I was really warmed up for previous sets)

Seated DB laterals
10kg x 10
18kg x 12

Warm down on exercise bike - 15 mins (abpm: 142)
Warm down on cross trainer - 5 mins (abpm: 140)

As I am off training, sick with a cold. I thought I would blog about my favourite snacks, on similar lines to my favourite meals post.

Have been following the mantra: feed a cold, starve a fever by eating tons of brocolli, grilled chicken, onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes, rice and drinking loads of homemade hot lemon.

As you can see this is pretty boring stuff and I have been craving junk food / snacks. Below are my favourites of all time.

Lebanese shawarma
A chicken and lamb shawarma like how they do in the Maroush restaurant. Plenty of garlic sauce please.

KFC
Variety meal(3 pieces of chicken (no leg), fries, 2 hot wings, 1 crispy chicken strip), Zinger burger, chicken fillet burger

Char urp farn
Chinese roast pork and duck with rice

Congee
Chinese rice porridge with chicken and preserved egg. Loads of white pepper, sesame oil and spring onions

Burger meal
Ideally Wendys but as they are no longer available in the UK (why???) it will have to be a big mac, large fries, 6 chicken nuggets with curry sauce, quarter pounder and a fillet fish

Indian Kebab
Chicken Tikka roll, Sheek Kebab roll. Both with plenty of onions, chilli sauce, garlic sauce and salad

Nandos
Half piri piri chicken (hot), fries, rice and a portion of wings

Caved in, couldn't resist temptation any longer and had some steak for dinner (kept my portion size down, to try and reduce any impact on my gout).

250g sirloin steak (appox 8.9 oz), fried egg, basmati rice, english mustard and brocolli, check out picture below. This is one of my favourite meals of all time - simple but tasty. My only improvement would be to substitute the sirloin with a 750g bone on rib eye steak (cooked to medium) and swap brocolli with sauteed spinach and fried mushrooms.

Talking about favourite meals below is my top 10 (not in any order)

• Full slap up traditional chinese meal
  Steamed turbot with soya sauce, ginger & spring onions
  Pork and squid stew with salted cabbage
  Stir fried gai lan with garlic and ginger (chinese brocolli)
  Pan fried dover sole
  Steamed Scallops with soy, chilli and garlic dipping sauce
  Stir fried crab with ginger, spring onion and brandy sauce
  Pork Egg Custard
  Roast Belly Pork
  Plain Rice
• Full English Breakfast
  Fried bacon, eggs, sausage, bubble, slice, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans, buttered toast and a strong cuppa tea
• Turkish mixed bbq cooked on a mangal
  Chicken shish, lamb shish, chicken wings, kofte served with turkish rice and bread (thick bread not pitta).
  Tomato, red onion and parsley salad
  Side of garlic sauce and chilli sauce
  Maybe some extra chicken donner meat
• A decent sushi and sashmi buffet + some tempura
  
• Fruit de mers
  Crab, oysters, langoustines, lobster, clams, sweet prawns, whelks
  Buttered brown bread, shallot vinegar, home made mayonnaise and fresh lemon
• Steak meal as explained above with the bone in rib eye
  
• Fish and Chips
  Skate and chips ideally cooked in dripping and smothered with loads of salt and vinegar
  Saveloy
  Gherkin
  Home made tartare sauce
• Curry meal
  Traditional chicken curry like how they do it in the Lahore Kebab house or Tayyabs
  Lamb birayani
  Keema nan
  Saag chicken
  Chicken Tikka
• Pan fried super fresh herring fillets, squeeze of lemon juice served with a simple dressed salad and buttered brown bread
• Full blown roast dinner
  Rib of beef (medium) or leg of lamb
  Roast potatoes in goose fat
  Baked sweet potato
  Roast parsnips, onions and carrots
  Gravy
  Brussel sprouts, brocolli

Damn, I am properly starving after writing that!

Seriosly can't get the thought of steak out my mind. Have cut out most red meats due to the gout flare ups and could really do with a big slab of red meat. Not sure how long I can resist.

This is what I have eaten in the last 2 days (weights are approximates)

Monday 2nd Nov

• Whey Concentrate shake (40g of protein)
• 2 Shredded Wheat with Skimmed milk + 2 teasponns of Xylitol, 500mg of vitamin C and 1 multi-vitamin tablet
• Half a cup of walnuts
• Chicken Curry and plain Basmati rice (200g chicken breast), 500mg vitamin C
• Chicken Curry and plain Basmati rice (200g chicken breast), 500mg vitamin C
• 350g of steamed white fish (haddock), brocolli, peas, 2 tomatoes, sweetcorn and mash potato, 500mg vitamin C
• Hot Lemon drink with fresh lemon + 3 teaspoons of Xylitol
• Whey Concentrate shake (40g of protein) and 1 multi-vitamin tablet
• Approx. 6 litres of water spread throughout the day

Sunday 1st Nov

• 2 poached eggs, tin of beans, 4 dry toast, 1 portabello mushroom, 1 tomato and 6 rashers of streaky bacon (I know, not very gout friendly but I needed something different), 500mg of vitamin C and 1 multi-vitamin tablet
• 250g steamed white fish (haddock), 2 tomatoes, plain basmati rice, 500mg vitamin C
• 200g steamed white fish (hake), mash potato and brocolli
• 70g dextrose, 50g whey concentrate, 10g glutamine - post workout shake
• 350g steamed white fish (haddock), mash potato, 4 slices plain wholemeal bread, brocolli, 500mg of vitamin C
• Hot Lemon drink with fresh lemon + 3 teaspoons of Xylitol
• Whey Concentrate shake (40g of protein)
• Approx. 4.5 litres of water spread throughout the day

On the 2.5 hour drive down to my dad's, I wanted to keep the old protein levels topped up, to help me repair after last nights workout.

So I mixed up the equivalent of 80g of whey protein and put it in an old water bottle. I took this along with 2 brown bread chicken and tomato rolls to last me the journey. The missus was driving, so it was pretty easy to eat and drink during the journey. Just needed to make sure I didn't require too many pisses as that would've done her nut. Anyways I munched the rolls pretty much straight away but sipped on the protein drink throughout the duration of the journey. This actually kept me feeling pretty full.

Which got me thinking, should I take a 2 litre bottle of pre-mixed protein containing maybe, a 120g of whey protein, to sip throughout the day at work on top of my 3 meals I eat there? This would mean I would be taking it to some next level shit and provide a constant drip feed of protein for my muscles and therefore helping me to progress my gains. I could do this as an experiment for 2 weeks? Not sure if this is a bit obbsessive or an actual worthwhile experiment - watch this space (no doubt when the strength gains stop, this experiment will stand more chance of coming about).

Staying round my Dad's for my bruvs wedding. Just had some quality home cooked chinese food.

Braised beef brisket with mooli
Steamed brill with soy, ginger, spring onions and fresh coriander
Baked spare ribs
Brocolli

and of course plenty of steamed rice.

WELL TASTY! and pretty healthy too, actually come to think of it, the amounts I ate probably negated any healthyness.

Also bought and ate some whelks earlier in the day. Smoothered them in malt vinegar and plenty of white pepper - the only way to eat them (I like them stir fried in chilli, garlic and ginger as well but malt vinegar stylee is still king).

Unfortunately it is hard to find live whelks or whelks cooked but still in their shells. These ones I bought where already de-shelled, which for some reason this means they just don't taste as good?? Also they were expensive. I bought them for £1.40 per 100g, my dad bought some earlier in the month which were alive and in their shells for about 30p per 100g. In terms of taste the ones my dad bought would have been 10 times better, even taking into account shell weight, they were a bargain compared to mine.