[rixatrix]

Workout B6, 10x3
Deadlifts - 75, 75, 75
Shoulder Press - 22.5, 22.5 (9), 22.5
Bent over rows* - 45, 55, 65
Lunges - 12.5, 15, 15
Swiss-ball crunch - 12 (arms over head), 12 (plus 10lbs over head), 12 (10lbs)

*So, funny story...when I went to do the Lat Pulldowns, the cables were gone. I stood there staring at them for a while, trying to figure out what was going on - I thought maybe the cables on the other side were somehow switched up - until a Y Staff member came over and told me they were taken down because they were fraying. Yikes. So I did some bent-over rows, but they didn't feel quite as good. Still, better than nothing.

I upped my calories this week to "maintenance" - and I put it in quotes because Cassandra acknowledges it's just an estimation, not a law. Upon weigh-in this morning, I found I'd gained a bit. Went from 188.4lbs last week (at 29.6% bf) to 191.2lbs this morning (still at 29.6% bf).

Okay, so, obviously I know there's a break in period when going up in calories, and people hold onto water, and I know I didn't gain three pounds of fat in a week of eating a couple hundred more calories a day. But I'm weighing my options, because I do have a lot of fat to lose.

Options:
1) Keep calories the same, exercise the same, and evaluate after another week.
2) Keep calories the same, do 20-minute HIIT sessions Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.
3) Lower calories by 300 (2100 lifting days, 1800 every other day), coupled with either option above (same exercise or add HIIT).

Right now, I'm leaning toward option 2. And if I'm not doing any better after an honest week of that, option 3.

I've eaten 100% clean since Monday. I want to have a full five days worth of untainted data to plug in.

My big concern is that trying to lose fat and get stronger are opposing goals and if I pursue them both, I won't do well at either. That's something to think about, I guess. But! I suppose I won't know how my body will do at the workouts on fewer calories unless I experiment and try it for myself. If I did cut calories, I might keep them the same on workout days and lower them more on off-days (and effectively zig-zag calories without a lot of additional thought).

I'll think about it more this weekend and start fresh with my new game plan on Monday.