Never 2 Late 2 Chase the Dream (it's better than liposuction)

[stingo]

Impressive shot of your back - front is looking good. Nice work indeed.

[kfisherx]

Okay just had a kick-ass workout and you talk about vascular... Holy crap I looked freaky. I think it is tied to the carbs. I have been averaging 150g a day instead of 170g from last week and I feel like I have less energy but the 2lbs are gone (at least as of this morning) and my cuts look really good. I am thinking that is the secret of the low carb thing. It takes out water from the body and makes the skin stickier to the muscles. That is why they call it "dry" when a bber goes into a deep cut and why low carbs are needed for this.

Well, I ain't gonna do it for too much longer 'cause I do have a longish bike ride planned this weekend with a friend. Now that I know (or think I know) how to take it off and put it on I can eaily keep it on and keep up the power.

Tonight's workout kicked my ass royally. I felt like I wanted to quit the whole while but I pulled out a PR instead. :P

Shoulders, Pecs, bis

Warmup SuperSet
db alternate lateral raises (front and side) 3x10 (each)
db flat bench flye 3x15 (30lb) e

bb flat bench press
1x15 (45lb)
1x12 (64lb)
1x8 (95lb)
0x115lb (fail)
1x5 (105lb)

Working superset #1
Arnolds (db)
1x10 (15) e
2x8 (20)e
Close grip bench push ups
3x15 (bw)

Working superset #2
db x-over curls
1x15 (15)e
2x8 (20)e
twenty ones
1x40lb
failed second attempt at 40
2x20lb

1/2 push ups (finisher)
4 (bw)
2.5 (bw) failed both these sets on the 3rd one. I needed a spotter today.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention. Rests were over 1 min and sometimes over 2 min. I simply could not get the workout done quickly. Tom showed up and we did IM for awhile in between working out. That made rest times more fun!!! I don't work out at home nearly enough.

[stingo]

Oh, that's what you were doing... Nice workout by the way.

[kfisherx]

LOL!!! Yeah, I started in pretty much as soon as 5:30 hit here and I could pull away from work. You came on my screen just at the point where I failed my Arnold set. I was pissed and you made me smile so it was good timing. I hate failing.

[kfisherx]

This morning it was hammies and abs! Another at home workout. I love working out in my living room. I really trash it with all the equipment though. LOL!

Yesterday I was able to snag some more dumbells from Craigslist from a home right on my way to work. I got 260lbs of weight for 60 bucks!!! I did not even try to negotiate with the guy. This completes my home set for as long as I can lift. What is cool is that I now have size 3, 5, 8, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 all in fixed weights. I mostly use these weight sizes right now anyway. For anything above that I now have collars, plates and dumbell handles now. I have 4 pairs of handles and lots of plates so I set one up for 40lb and one up for 22.5lb. Craigslist rules!

Of course now I have to keep my eye open for a rack as I can no longer line these up nicely on my mantel. There were a bunch of db racks on CL a few weeks ago so keeping my fingers crossed. Right now I have less than 380 dollars into my home setup including, dbs, oly bar, oly plates, squat rack and bench, mats and swiss ball (Goodwill rocks too) I have also discovered that workout clothing, bike pants, etc can be found at Goodwill virtually unused. I love the good intentions of all these buyers! LOL!

Oh yeah the workout today done in the AM (which is really weird for me) I have a concert to perform this evening so wanted to get the physical stuff out of the way so I can play and nap until it is time to get on stage. I managed to eeek out 3 deads at 185lb which is actually amazing with my deficit and my 121lb weight this morning. My form was just not good enough though so I quit at 3. I can't wait to start a bulk again to see where my top end is now on these.

Warmup
Jump rope (200 succesful rotations)
Alt toe touches

Deads
1x15 (95lb)
1x10 (135lb)
1x3 (185lb) - Form sucked so I quit before finishing set
1x8 (155lb)

Ab Superset (3x15)
Russian Twists (+20lb)
V-ups

Swiss ham curl
1x15
1x10 (fail)
1x13 (fail)

Swiss crunches
3x15 (+25lb)

Pile Lunges
1x15 each leg

The last exercise I did as it claims to work the inside hammie. I found it worked more the quads so I stopped after 1 set. I have a date with a 40 mile cross country bike trail tomorrow and do not want to start that with sore quads!

[Bytsi]

Wow - that's an amazing deal on the weights - wow wow wow!!!

[sveta]

Karla- thanks for stopping by!
Your progress pix are uber-impressive Legs and back are just killer, and next time please smile

[kfisherx]

Uh oh... Did I screw up? Where did I forget to smile? Oh... You mean in the pics I bet. I hate having pics done.

[tcoy777]

Great workout! Glad the cut is going well.

[kfisherx]

The cut is going AWESOME... I am still gaining weight and losing bf%. I don't know how I am doing it but going to keep on doing what I am doing. LOL!

Great bike ride today. Nearly 40 miles on mixed terrain. I figured out today why it is that I will never be a good off-road rider. You simply cannot control the bike on rough ground. You basically just point the tire and power through stuff and the bike goes where it wants to go. You have to be real loose and just have faith that you are going to make it through the deep gravel or loose dirt or whatever. Since I am a control freak it turns out to be something I am not very good at.

At the halfway point of our ride there is a town that sits on the banks of the Nehalam River. The town's people built a damn and swimming pool area by the bridge. There is also a park there and picnic tables. My friend and I decided today to go for a swim after our picnic lunch. I had a one piece swimsuit with me that was given to me by a friend. I had never worn it before and hadn't seen myself in it. I put it on and went to the pool area. People all seemed to be staring at me. One guy kept looking over at me and looking away. I felt very self-consious and kept checking to see if I had pubs hanging out or boobage or something. I always hate the way I looked in a swimsuit.

There was this small framed black woman sitting near the pool's edge playing with a small child. I commented on the child and the woman informed me it was her 21st grandbaby. I could not believe my ears. The woman looked to be in her 30s. I told her that she looked amazing. And she looked at me and said, "So do you sister" "Yeah I noticed that..." she looked up and down at my body. "Way to go" She smiled at me then and nodded approvingly. That is when it hit me... I don't look bad in a swiming suit anymore. The people who were seemingly starring at me were not seeing the old Karla but the new one.

When I got home I quickly went to the bathroom and stole a peek at me in this swimsuit. I actually gasped. The legs are cut high so my quads show very nicely. The muscles were poping out everywhere in the legs and calves. The definition in my arms and shoulders were also beautiful. The fat around my belly did not show. The colour of the suit actually fit me well too. I was actually quite beautiful in this swim suit. Almost like from a book.

I don't know how long it will be before I get used to the fact that I am different now. I still see the old me in my mind's eye. Today was definately a turn around time for me and self-image. I am strong and beautiful right now. I actually have reached a very satisfying place in my body recomp goals. Not only do I accept this new me but I embrace it. I don't think I will ever again be self consious in a swimsuit because people are looking at me. They look for the same reason that I look at a work of art. They appreciate the work and time, or maybe they think I am a lucky bitch. I don't know, but I do know that it is all good!

[Espi]

How awesome! You know I almost was expecting something like "hey you put the swimsuit on in reverse" .. I'd have done something as dorky as this.

Re the MTB-ing.. I've never really done it as a sport but have had occasions in which I simply had to go over a dirt road with a loaded touring bike.. and to tell you the truth: I *hate* it with a passion! Not sure if I'm a control freak, but I'm easily spooked because of lacking confidence in my own bike handling skillzz. It totally spoils whatever beautiful views you may have in that area, as 101% of your attention has to go to the situation in front of you.
This is what made me decide against spending time in Chile & Argentina, which had been my plan late 2003 before I decided I'd rather stay in the NLs because of the poor road condtions as well as my then new boyfriend . It didnt'get toutched upon a lot in the stories I'd read, since somehow most cyclists don't seem to care as much, but it was enough to make me stay home.
If there's 1 country in the entire world that's perfect for cycling, it's FRANCE. One of the reasons being the totally awesome road conditions.. the amount of roads that were in poor condition and required careful cycling were less than 5. It's wonderful to not be afraid of attaining superhigh speeds going downhill. And while doing so looking around and be inspired by the scenery.

You be proud of what you've achieved re your fitness levels and bf%. Seems like you're now in that 'sweet' spot = gaining LBM & dropping fat. Remember that when you start wanting to cut body fat faster. .

[foodfromafar]

I hear you, Karla! I still wonder why people look at me...even my husband. I say, "What?" and he just rolls his eyes and says, "How many times do I have to tell you there is no what...you just look good!"

[tcoy777]

Great story!! It does take a while to get those evil thoughts out of our own heads.

[stingo]

Conquering a negative body self-image is a major step on the road to contentment. Congrats.

[kfisherx]

Originally Posted by Espi

How awesome! You know I almost was expecting something like "hey you put the swimsuit on in reverse" .. I'd have done something as dorky as this.

Me too which is why I felt so horribly self-concious. I was squirming it was so bad.

Originally Posted by Espi

Re the MTB-ing.. I've never really done it as a sport but have had occasions in which I simply had to go over a dirt road with a loaded touring bike.. and to tell you the truth: I *hate* it with a passion! Not sure if I'm a control freak, but I'm easily spooked because of lacking confidence in my own bike handling skillzz. It totally spoils whatever beautiful views you may have in that area, as 101% of your attention has to go to the situation in front of you.

I am with you 100% on this. I could not even begin to look around because I was so focused on where I needed to go to avoid crashing. I did learn though that I could relax if I rode behind my friend and just followed him. That is what I mostly did.

Originally Posted by Espi

You be proud of what you've achieved re your fitness levels and bf%. Seems like you're now in that 'sweet' spot = gaining LBM & dropping fat. Remember that when you start wanting to cut body fat faster. .

This is why I think it is 100% essential for people to have some means of measuring their bf% on a daily or weekly basis. If I did not have this, I would be freaking out about the weight gain. Instead I see the bf% going down and it assures me that it is safe to eat. I am sticking to eating 1600 or so cals a day and it seems to be fueling me just right. I also don't feel too horrible on this number of calories so the deficit is working well for me.