Leah's Lifting Log

[LWilson212]

Originally Posted by stingo

Regarding your fueling with brownies: I was in the cafeteria at work standing next to a woman who works in the same building I do and she was ordering her lunch, which was a turkey wrap. The server asked if she wanted cheese, and she said no because she'd been recently putting on some weight. The server then said that they had no pretzels so would she have some chips instead, and she said yes. Not that I haven't done the same thing myself, but I had to smile at the irony.

Tom that cracks me up. You're right though, we've all done it, although try not to.

Originally Posted by stephanie932

Leah........I could have written this part of your post. My DH is 6'4" and 180 pounds. He drinks 2 beers every night and can eat whatever he wants and not gain a pound. He, too, would have beef every night if I would cook it. I look at him and know he is constantly on the move so his NEAT is very high compared to mine......but, damn, life is not fair......lol Anyway, just know that you are not alone in this SO struggle. Just keep doing what you need to (like taking him shopping for beef.....lol) and it might get a little easier.

Thanks Stephanie! Shawn has a very physical job and he is just a hyper person so I guess it makes sense he can eat more than I can. Yesterday morning we were sitting at the table and finishing our coffee after breakfast and he was telling me a story. Every time he got to an important point, he jumped out of his chair and paced to the other end of the dining room, then walked back and sat down. It was making me tired just watching him! I like how Leigh illustrated the point about NEAT in her book. It has really made me think about trying to move more.

Originally Posted by realcdn

I don't know if you make it, but pork tenderloin is a nice option as well. If trimmed of all fat (and there's usually almost none on it) it's pretty close to chicken in calories. My favourite at the moment is one marinated in balsamic vinegar but there are tons of ways you can make it. The tenderloins I get here at Costco run about 1lb, which is a generous portion for two people. I'm probably odd in the fact that I can eat it, with a big side of broccoli (Costco again) and not miss any potato / rice / pasta. However, you can add a little of your choice and it's still a pretty decent meal. Also, speaking of Costco, I get pork souvlaki from there as well. It's, I think, the only prepared item we buy, but I know I wouldn't take the time to make them.

The other option is to make things like meat sauce (mix chicken/turkey and beef if you want) and serve him a larger portion. Same with things like chili and such. Back when I was only concerned about calories, and not specifically watching protein levels, I would sometimes mix beef and soy crumbles in things like chili and meat sauce.

Hey Anne - Pork tenderloin is a great idea! I haven't had one in a while. I love those gigantic bags of broccoli from Costco too. I like the idea of mixing meats in sauces. That should add richness and flavor but control calories and fat. I appreciate all you help with cooking ideas!

Originally Posted by missjane

Leah, I just want to stop in and say that I think you look GREAT. Your BF% HAS to be wrong -- and I mean several percentage points wrong! You are totally lean and I think you are at the perfect weight for your height and build. I know I tend to look at myself and be hyper critical. So, I just wanted to give you an outsider's perspective -- you look GREAT exactly the way you are!

Thanks for your kind words Jane. Part of it is just that having been heavy I think there is always that fear that I will go back there. I am hoping that in my conversation with Leigh Peele, I will be able to decide if I am willing to make the sacrifices I will need to make to take it to the next level. Maybe the decision will be no, I just want to have a balanced lifestyle and enjoy lifing and working out.

Originally Posted by nutbar

Just sticking my head in here to say hi! I've been reading but I get interrupted each and every time I try to post something to your log. LOL It's funny how that'll happen to me in the same person's log for several times in a row!

Enjoy your weekend!!

/quick, hit "submit" before something happens to this post again!

Hi Diane. I had some workouts like yours this weekend. Sun and Mon morning I lifted weights, then went outside for grass cutting cardio. Shawn's yard is about 2 acres and we had not cut it yet this year. He has a 1960 Cub Cadet lawn tractor which is usually on the fritz. Two years ago we went to Home Depot and indulged in a few brief fantasies about a new lawn tractor before settling on a charming green self-propelled lawn boy. Bagging all the clippings with the lawn boy makes it look gorgeous, but it takes forever and when the grass is that high, you have to dump the bag about every 60 sec. We spent about 8 hours with him cutting the high stuff with the weed eater and me mowing and we didn't even get finished! It sort of looks like crop patterns from aliens and the neighbors probably wonder what we were thinking. Oh well, there is always next weekend.

Sunday's workout:

Hyp II A7, 3x12, 60 sec rest

Superset of reverse-grip bent over row and bench press

70/12 70/12
70/12 70/12
75/12 75/12

Superset of wide-grip cable row and incline dumbbell bench press w/palms facing in - since I was at home I used a med band for the row

md/12 25's/7 + 20's/5
md/12 20's/12
md/12 20's/12

Dips between benches

BW/12
BW/12
BW/12

Swiss ball crunch

15/12
15/12
15/12

I did the mobility drills from Maximum Strength before this workout. I have never really warmed up before, I just usually do a few light sets of the first exercise before I start. I was really pleased with the results. I didn't feel all that strong or excited to workout, but I got that feeling out of my system on the warm-up instead of on my work sets. I was able to move up in weights on the bent-over row and bench from the last time I did this workout.

Monday's workout:

Hyp II B7, 2x25, 30 sec rest

Started with mobility drills from Max Strength.

Snatch grip deadlift

75/25
75/25

Superset of dynamic lunges and step-ups

45/25ea 15's/25ea
45/25ea 15's/25ea - Took a bit longer rests to keep my breakfast down.

Incline reverse crunch

BW/12
BW/12
BW/6 + 15 sec rest + 6

This workout was stronger too thanks to warming up!

My body feels like someone beat the crap out of me. Between the weights, the yard work and 350 miles on my bike this weekend .... But it was a super fun weekend with great weather! We rode through the Allegheny National Forest to Kinzua Dam and it was gorgeous.

Today:

Breakfast: 1 scoop chocolate prot, 1 cup 2% milk, 1/2 frozen banana, ice

Morning snack: cottage cheese w/frozen blueberries

Lunch: leftover spicy meatloaf, roasted potatoes, roasted broccoli

Afternoon snack: spinach and tomato salad w/1 can tuna

Dinner: beef stir-fry

Muay Thai & Kali class - hopefully my legs can move to kick!

[marthand99]

Sounds like you had a great weekend! So when I read 350 miles on the bike, I didn't realize at first that you meant motorcycle. I was thinking you went Tour de France style and my mind was blown.

And I want to second what missjane said. I also think that BF% is way too high and that you look great just the way you are!

[foodfromafar]

Can't wait to hear how your appt with Leigh goes!

[stephanie932]

Originally Posted by foodfromafar

Can't wait to hear how your appt with Leigh goes!

Yeah, when is that? I can't wait, either!

[LWilson212]

Originally Posted by marthand99

Sounds like you had a great weekend! So when I read 350 miles on the bike, I didn't realize at first that you meant motorcycle. I was thinking you went Tour de France style and my mind was blown.

And I want to second what missjane said. I also think that BF% is way too high and that you look great just the way you are!

Thanks Marty! Yeah, the 350 miles on a bicycle is beyond my capabilities.

Originally Posted by foodfromafar

Can't wait to hear how your appt with Leigh goes!

Originally Posted by stephanie932

Yeah, when is that? I can't wait, either!

Hey girls - I talked to Leigh yesterday afternoon and it was so exciting! She looked at my pics from my log and gave me a ton of great advice. I took a whole page of notes and now I have to decide if I want her to design a program for me or figure it out on my own. I am kind of leaning towards having her design it since she felt I need to do a ton of foam rolling, mobility drills, and stretching for at least the next month instead of lifting heavy weights for my lower body. She thinks I will have a much easier time eating at a modest deficit if I try to raise NEAT and increase lower impact cardio so my appetite will not be so out of control. I have felt very discouraged lately and I can't say how positive and excited this conversation made me feel. I have three workouts left in Hyp II. I am thinking I will finish the upper body ones and skip the lower body one, then embark on my next adventure.

Last night we went to Muay Thai and Kali classes. The kickboxing class was extremely intense, finishing with a drill where we did 100 round kicks with no breaks. My entire left forearm from wrist to elbow is black and blue from blocking my parter's kicks. It was really fun and energizing, though.

Shawn and I decided I am not going to get up with him in the morning anymore since he is pretty crabby and I can get an extra hour sleep to improve my energy levels. I just pack our lunches before bed and set the coffee pot timer. I definitely felt a lot better yesterday! I was tired after class, but good tired, not feeling like death.

Today:
164.2 25% BF - Had to face the music after this weekend, not too bad considering

This morning:

Hyp II C7, 6x3, 90 sec rest

Started w/1st set of mobility drills from Max Strength - felt goooooood

Superset of close-grip chins, barbell shoulder press

BW/3 70/3
BW/3 65/3
BW/2.5 65/3
BW/2 + 1 neg 65/3
BW/2 + 1 neg 65/3
BW/1 + 2 neg 65/3

Superset of wide-grip lat pulldown and dumbbell chek press

115/3 25's/3
110/3 25's/3
110/3 25's/3
110/3 25's/3
110/3 25's/3
110/3 25's/3

Towels bicep curls, cut rest to 60 sec

20's/3
20's/3
20's/3
20's/3
20's/3
20's/3

I skipped the abs because I was running behind. The bummer about doing these workouts in the AM is I feel rushed. I don't really feel like this is my time because I'm stressing about what I need to do at work.

Food:

Pre/post workout: shake w/1 cup milk, 1 scoop choc prot, 1 cup cott cheese, 2 tbls pb, 3 tbls oats, ice

Lunch: tuna sandwich and roasted broccoli

Afternoon snack: banana, apple, string cheese

Dinner: roasted tequila lime turkey tenderloin, mashed potatoes, broccoli

[Bytsi]

Originally Posted by LWilson212

Hey girls - I talked to Leigh yesterday afternoon and it was so exciting! She looked at my pics from my log and gave me a ton of great advice. I took a whole page of notes and now I have to decide if I want her to design a program for me or figure it out on my own. I am kind of leaning towards having her design it since she felt I need to do a ton of foam rolling, mobility drills, and stretching for at least the next month instead of lifting heavy weights for my lower body. She thinks I will have a much easier time eating at a modest deficit if I try to raise NEAT and increase lower impact cardio so my appetite will not be so out of control. I have felt very discouraged lately and I can't say how positive and excited this conversation made me feel. I have three workouts left in Hyp II. I am thinking I will finish the upper body ones and skip the lower body one, then embark on my next adventure.

Last night we went to Muay Thai and Kali classes. The kickboxing class was extremely intense, finishing with a drill where we did 100 round kicks with no breaks. My entire left forearm from wrist to elbow is black and blue from blocking my parter's kicks. It was really fun and energizing, though.

Shawn and I decided I am not going to get up with him in the morning anymore since he is pretty crabby and I can get an extra hour sleep to improve my energy levels. I just pack our lunches before bed and set the coffee pot timer. I definitely felt a lot better yesterday! I was tired after class, but good tired, not feeling like death.

I'm so excited for you - can't wait to hear what Leigh comes up with if you do her workout too

Your class sounds like fun, but I know how hard 100 roundhouse kicks are - yikes!!!

Enjoy your sleeping in - sounds like a great plan to me!

[dillytl]

YAY - glad to hear your conversation with Leigh went well - I KNEW it would!!!!

My body feels like someone beat the crap out of me. Between the weights, the yard work and 350 miles on my bike this weekend .... But it was a super fun weekend with great weather! We rode through the Allegheny National Forest to Kinzua Dam and it was gorgeous.

And here I was impressed with myself cuz we put a little over 100 miles on the bikes!!! WOW - 350 miles is a LOT!!! I bet your butt was sore after all that!!!

[LWilson212]

Originally Posted by Bytsi

I'm so excited for you - can't wait to hear what Leigh comes up with if you do her workout too

Your class sounds like fun, but I know how hard 100 roundhouse kicks are - yikes!!!

Enjoy your sleeping in - sounds like a great plan to me!

Hey Bytsi -

I'm excited too! So far the sleeping in hasn't gone that well. I was so excited and wound up after talking with Leigh and our classes that I didn't sleep so well Tues night. Then this morning I was up at 5 just lying there trying to sleep more. Oh well, I feel fine now, so that's what matters I guess.

Originally Posted by dillytl

YAY - glad to hear your conversation with Leigh went well - I KNEW it would!!!!



And here I was impressed with myself cuz we put a little over 100 miles on the bikes!!! WOW - 350 miles is a LOT!!! I bet your butt was sore after all that!!!

Yeah, between the yardwork and the riding, my butt was killing me! I did a lot of soaking in the tub. Especially since it looked like rain on the way home so we decided to take the interstate back. My little bike is just not that comfortable at 70 mph. And I have some luggage that sits pretty high so I get blown around by the wind more when I put it on.

Last night I did Crunch Candlelight Yoga again. Shawn was watching the hockey game downstairs and I was trying to relax so I lit a bunch of candles and shut the lights off. One of them must have been smoking because the smoke alarms started going off, so I had to blow them all out. Then Shawn kept yelling at exciting moments in the game and scaring the crap out of the cat, who raced upstairs and jumped on me.
Still, I did manage to relax and get into the poses and stretches. The hip flexor and hamstring stretches were absolutely agonizing, but I felt a hundred times better when I was done.

Today:
164.4 BF 25%

Breakfast: english muffin w/2 tbls peanut butter

Morning snack: 2/3 cup cottage cheese and 2/3 cup frozen blueberries

Lunch: 6.5 oz turkey tenderloin and 1.5 cups roasted red potatoes - hopefully I'll get out and get some broccoli and cauliflower as well

Afternoon: usually I am very hungry in the late afternoon and I feel pretty crappy by the time I get home. Today's strategy is to save 1/2 my lunch for around 2:30. When I get in the car to leave at 4:30 I'll eat my apple and string cheese.

Dinner: another 6 oz roasted turkey, 1 cup potatoes, and veggies

This is about 1700 cals, 35% prot, 40% carbs, 25% fat.

Tonight is Kali class, which is more technical, but less physically challenging. My foam roller is supposed to be delivered today, so I will try some foam rolling after class!

[GinnyLou]

I have felt very discouraged lately and I can't say how positive and excited this conversation made me feel.

So glad to hear that you are energized after speaking to Leah. I will be watching closely to see how you do with it.

Oh, was it you who mentioned Athleta clothing? I think it was. Anyways, I had ordered their catalog and have been drooling over the bathing suit options and I love that the models are sporting some beautiful muscles. anyways, if it was - Thank you!

[LWilson212]

Hey Ginger-

Yep that was me! That's where I got my new bikini. Shawn teases me that I am like a man looking at porn when I look at that catalogue. I love that dark-haired girl's body - I would be so happy to look like that.

[GinnyLou]

Originally Posted by LWilson212

Hey Ginger-

Yep that was me! That's where I got my new bikini. Shawn teases me that I am like a man looking at porn when I look at that catalogue. I love that dark-haired girl's body - I would be so happy to look like that.

I thought so! I love it. I just can't figure out what to buy first. How did the suits run? Small? Big?

[dillytl]

Last night I did Crunch Candlelight Yoga again. Shawn was watching the hockey game downstairs and I was trying to relax so I lit a bunch of candles and shut the lights off. One of them must have been smoking because the smoke alarms started going off, so I had to blow them all out. Then Shawn kept yelling at exciting moments in the game and scaring the crap out of the cat, who raced upstairs and jumped on me.

Sounds like something my cat would do!!!

[nutbar]

Okay, you guys, tell me HOW you mail/internet order things like clothes without trying them on for size?? I just don't get it. Maybe it's because I'm built funny or something but I have to try on clothes for freaking hours before I find something that fits right without bunching uncomfortably in strange places. If I could figure out this ordering without trying on thing, I might actually buy myself clothes more than once a decade or so!

[stingo]

Why? they'll come back in style... eventually...