Fear -> Awareness -> Reaction -> Tactics

I set up my home gym and had my first workout in it. Not too bad, I would say that it's a fine alternative to driving to the gym late at night but not really fully featured enough to get a full workout in. Next step is to hang my heavy bag for some striking practice.

Going to MMA tonight to prepare for the belt test that will be taking place some time this month. I think it's going to be next week some time.

Still not feeling quite right regardless of my clean bill of health. I've got a full physical at the beginning of next month so I can continue to plead my case with the doctor. Maybe I should just find another that is more inclined to listen to my actual symptoms and run the appropriate tests then just telling me he "thinks" I'm ok...

• Meal 1: 1c all bran buds, 1/2c skim milk, 1 tbsp sultana raisins.
• Meal 2: 3 tbsp organic almonds, 2 tbsp sultana raisins
• Meal 3: 1 serving Ab's diet Mas Macho Meatballs, 2c mixed greens, 3 tbsp organic sesame ginger dressing.
• Meal 4: 1c Blueberries
• Meal 5: 1 scoop kaizen protein powder, 2 scoops L-glutamine, 1/2c skim milk
• Meal 6: 2 slices chicken and spinach harvest wheat pizza, 2c mixed greens, 1 green onion, 1 medium tomato, 3 tbsp organic ginger soy dressing (60 cal)

MMA once again was a swift return to intense unarmed combat. Over an hour of sparring, and striking drills. For me at least I've discovered that sparring has a few phases.

#1 - Fear. I was intensely scared for the longest time when I sparred.
#2 - Awareness. As I grew more comfortable with the event I was able to mount a decent defence and understand the dynamic of the fight.
#3 - Reaction and Tactics. After becoming aware of how a fight takes place against a skilled opponent I have been able to employee defensive maneuvers and tactics to set up combos.

I'm getting better and it fills me with confidence. Not only that people who I haven't seen for a while have been commenting about how much weight I've lost. It feels great.