Dinner: chicken fajita and brownie (i know, i know....)
Don't beat yourself up over having a little dessert. The worst thing is completely cutting out things you love to eat especially when they are already eaten in moderation. You already look amazing hun, trust me, you're doing great. Mwah!
Hey, thanks for checking out my workout logs, and congrats right back at ya for joining this challenge and on your workouts thus far!
I have to definitely agree with the several others that commented on your "before" pictures--you look great and have a wonderful foundation upon which to build some "sculpted perfection". Welcome to the challenge and keep up the good work with your workouts!
Hello there! Nice to see another member from Connecticut. I have a friend who is going to UNH but I have never been there. Forensic science sounds like pretty interesting stuff. Nice lifting so far too.
Make sure you take pictures if you visit the body farm!
HAHAHA! That cracked me up :-) If I ever go I will be sure to do that.
Lorianne, thanks for the comments! I'm not officially in the challenge because I found this site too late and was therefore not allowed, lol. But I'm doin a challenge against myself, so that's all that matters I suppose
Eric, thanks for the comments. What is your friend studying at UNH?
Today's food:
Breakfast: two eggs over easy with whole wheat toast and orange juice
Lunch: Lean cuisine meal (garlic chicken in some ginger type sauce)
Snack: Tomato and Mozz salad with red wine vinagrette dressing
Dinner: Turkey Chile with sweet potato fries
Snack: Apple with peanut butter (will be having this later )
Tomorrow is supposed to be a workout day but I think I will wait until Saturday to do it. That way my bf can help check my form when he's here. (He's a trainer) Thanks Bri
I believe interior design. She is into the athletic programs too and seems to like it there. How are those lean cuisine meals? recommend them? I was thinkin about popping one or two in the freezer for a somewhat ok snack when I get back to school.
Yeah they're not bad... depends on the one you get. The one I had today wasn't my favorite... but they're definitely not bad as far as snacks or lunches go. I'm not an overly picky eater, but for whatever reason I'm only picky with lunch... so they work pretty well for me. :-)
Hey Kara...you may not officially be in the challenge, but you are doing great, none the less. I'm intrigued by your studies and prospective job. I have a couple ideas...being from CT and all...but I don't want to blow your cover!
And, the next time Julie, Cass and I get together for some liftin' we'll definitely let you know! Keep up the good work!
__________________
On Krista mistressing the chin-up, "It's amazing", said one gym source, "considering that for months she just hung there like a dead fish."
You may not officially be in the challenge, but you are doing great, none the less.
And, the next time Julie, Cass and I get together for some liftin' we'll definitely let you know! Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much!! This forum is amazing for my motivation. People say things like that and it makes me want to keep going! It's such a neat feeling to have people I've never met routing for me
Thanks again!!!!
Well today is supposed to be a weight day but I'm putting it off until tomorrow like I said. However, I feel like I need to do something... so I think I'm going to go do some intervals on a treadmill for bit... We just got some bad news that a very close friend of the family passed away this morning and I think some sweating will help get my mind off it.
That's 2 people in 5 months that were taken from us way too soon, both age 51....
RIP Mrs. P. We love you
Well today is supposed to be a weight day but I'm putting it off until tomorrow like I said. However, I feel like I need to do something... so I think I'm going to go do some intervals on a treadmill for bit... We just got some bad news that a very close friend of the family passed away this morning and I think some sweating will help get my mind off it.
That's 2 people in 5 months that were taken from us way too soon, both age 51....
RIP Mrs. P. We love you
Wow...that's terrible news. I'm sorry. Do what you need to do to get through it.
__________________
On Krista mistressing the chin-up, "It's amazing", said one gym source, "considering that for months she just hung there like a dead fish."
Squats:
warm-up set with bodyweight
2x15 with 30lb preset bar
Superset of pushups and Rows
2x15 pushups at 45 degrees
2x15 of T-bar rows with 20lbs
Superset of Step-ups and jack-knives
2x15 step-ups with bodyweight (step came up to knee-level)
2x8 of jack-knives.
Notes:
Had to do T-bar rows cuz we went to a different gym and couldn't find the cable one, but this worked. I always feel things in places I'm not supposed to, even though my form is apparently fine. I felt the rows in my arms, but I think that's cuz they're weaker than my back, lol.
Push-ups felt good :-)
I tried the pike-style jack-knives and was actually able to do them!!!!! That totally made my day :-)
Yesterday:
Breakfast - 2 eggs overeasy with whole wheat toast and orange juice
Snack: Tomato and mozzarella with red wine vinagrette dressing
Lunch: Leftover Ground Turkey chile
Snack: Apple with peanut butter
Dinner: Fajitas with ground turkey, peppers, and onions
After dinner: Out for cappucino and split a pumpkin cake with the bf
Today's food:
Breakfast: Hearty oatmeal pancakes from NROL4W
(had breakfast at about 1pm.... we slept waaayyyyy too late... so it was actually kinda like lunch)
Post workout shake in yogurt
Dinner: Pizzadillas courtesy of one of the posters on here (they were quite good!)
And I'll probably have cereal for a snack in a little bit, I bought Kashi cereal today so I'm excited to try it :-)
I can't believe how late we slept in... but that's what you get for staying up till 3:30 watching Casino Royale (awesome movie btw if you haven't seen it)
Well it was an interesting weekend... good and bad. Today's food intake was not exactly the best, but the workout went well! Here's the details:
Warmup 5 minutes on Arctrainer.
Deadlifts
2x15 with 40lb preset bar
Superset of wide grip lat pulldowns and shoulder presses (DB)
Lat pulldowns: 1x15 at 45lbs, 1x15 at 60lbs!
Shoulder presses: 2x15 12.5lb DBs
Superset of Lunges and ball crunches:
Lunges: 1x15 BW, 1x15 with 10lb medicine ball
Ball crunches: 2x15 with 10lb medicine ball to chest.
Notes
-I went up 10lbs with my deadlifts! I know this is still a really low number compared to most people, but I think my form is still lacking or something.. I still feel it mostly in my lower back... how do I fix this??
- I went up 15lbs on my wide grip lat pulldowns!! These were a bit rough, but they didn't have the in-between plate things and 45lbs was too light.. so there ya go.
- Shoulder presses were harder today than last time I did this workout... not sure why that is.
- I hate lunges! I do them with bodyweight and it feels hard but I could do a lot more.. so I added a 10lb ball. My balance sucked both ways. How do I get better at these?
-I went up 10lbs with my deadlifts! I know this is still a really low number compared to most people, but I think my form is still lacking or something.. I still feel it mostly in my lower back... how do I fix this??
Going up 10lbs is an amazing increase for the weight you were previously doing... give yourself some credit babe I'm soo proud of your achievements so far and you're going to keep getting better. As for form I'll try to get you a good link to a site that might help (well when I get out of class haha). Anyways I should be getting back to the lecture but I definitely think you should be as proud of yourself as I am of you Mwah!
- I hate lunges! I do them with bodyweight and it feels hard but I could do a lot more.. so I added a 10lb ball. My balance sucked both ways. How do I get better at these?
Keep doing them....
Nice workout, Kara!
__________________
On Krista mistressing the chin-up, "It's amazing", said one gym source, "considering that for months she just hung there like a dead fish."
Workout 3A (2x12 of everything, 2x10 of jack-knives)
Warm up: Walking on treadmill at 3.5 for 4 minutes, jog at 5.5 for 1.5 minutes.
Squats:
1x12 x45lbs
1x12x50lbs
Superset of Seated rows and Push-ups: Pushups:
1x12x45 degrees
1x12x~40 degrees Seated rows:
1x12x40lbs
1x12x50lbs
Superset of Step-ups and jack-knives: Step-ups:
1x12x5lb DBs
1x12x5lb DBs Jack-knives:
2x10xBW
Notes: Squats: I used the big girl bar!! I hadn't done it with the oly bar yet because I was woried about my form (and about the weight being too high, lol) but I did it! And it was actually easier than I thought so I was able to put 2.5lb plates on both sides and do 50lbs for the 2nd set. GO ME! Push-ups: Not sure about the actual angle of these... I had to use the squat rack as the Smith machines were taken by guys who don't know Smith machines are bad to do squats and benches in, lol. So I had it on the lowest rung for the first set, and lowered it to the safety bar level for the 2nd set. I have no idea what actual angle this is, but it was lower to the ground and I guess that's all that matters, lol. Seated rows: felt pretty good. This is the first time I've been able to actually do the seated ones. First time was DBs, 2nd time was T-bar rows at a different gym, so this time was the first time doing them the way I'm "supposed" to. 40 was a little too easy, 50 was rough, but do-able. Step-ups: I do not like these. I find it sooo hard not to use my back foot to cheat, but I am trying like woah. I tried scrunching my toes of the back foot since I saw that in someone's log, and it did help a bit. I added 5lb Dbs this time too, I had been doing them with just BW Jack-knives: First time doing them in a crowded area, haha. Though I was facing a wall I could feel all the eyes on me... didn't help my butt was facing people... maybe I should turn around and put my but to the mirror side next time, haha.
So far I have been consistently going up in weights on almost every exercise... which is an awesome feeling! I think it's just because I'm finding the "right" weights to use... I was probably underestimating myself before.. but I was also checking form, so it's a good thing I suppose.
Nutrition note: I do not like putting my protein powder in water or milk... so I have been putting it in yougurt... is this ok? Sometimes I put it in a blender with a banana and the yogurt too... Thanks guys!
I used the big girl bar!! I hadn't done it with the oly bar yet because I was woried about my form (and about the weight being too high, lol) but I did it! And it was actually easier than I thought so I was able to put 2.5lb plates on both sides and do 50lbs for the 2nd set. GO ME!
WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!
Quote:
Nutrition note: I do not like putting my protein powder in water or milk... so I have been putting it in yougurt... is this ok? Sometimes I put it in a blender with a banana and the yogurt too...
Warm-up: walking/jogging on treadmill for about 5 minutes
Deadlifts:
1x12 of 45lbs (graduated to the big girl bar on these too!)
1x12 of 55lbs
DB Shoulder Presses:
1x12 with 12.5lb DBs
1x12 with 15s
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown:
1x12 with 60lbs
1x11 with 65lbs (just couldn't pull out that last one.. )
Lunges:
2x12 with 10lb medicine ball
Ball Crunches:
2x12 with 12lb plate to chest.
Notes:
- Finally corrected my form on the deadlifts... I'm not using primarily my back anymore, yay! Now that I learned to do them right, the 45lbs felt kinda easy so I added 10lbs for the 2nd set.
-Shoulder presses and lat pulldowns went well today... upped the weights on both for the 2nd sets. The 65lb lat pulldowns were rough though.. couldn't eek out that last rep.. grr argh.
- Lunges felt easy today for once! My balance was better and I felt pretty strong, so next time I may use DBs instead of the ball and see what happens.
- Ball crunches still feel easy... I tried to go slow and I used a 10lb plate, but by the end of the set I feel like I could still go forever... I hear about people using the cable to make it more challenging.. maybe I'll try that next time.
Nutrition:
Has been pretty good recently. I stopped putting the food in here and finally joined that fitday site everyone was talking about. It's pretty cool how it tracks cals and macros for you, I'm too lazy to do it myself, lol. When the week is over I'll post my average nutrition for the week like I saw someone else do. (I had pizza yesterday though... and it was darn good! But it had chicken and veggies on it.. so it wasn't toooo bad for me, hehehe)
I've been tracking my food info in fitday and I wanted to post the info from the week in here to get some feedback on any tweaks I should be making. According tot he book I should be eating 1971 cals on non workout days, and 2217 on workout days. I have not yet come close to that, but I feel like I eat well and I have plenty of energy to do the workouts. I eat 5 or 6 times a day depending on if I'm working out or not, and I've been trying to up my protein. (I still need to find a way to lower my carb intake... I loooove carbs, lol)
So here it is: Monday (workout day):
Total cals: 1608
Fat: 33%
Carbs: 45%
Protein:22%
Tuesday (no workout):
Total cals: 1375
Fat:32%
Carbs:49%
Protein:20%
Wednesday (workout):
Total cals: 1736
Fat:23%
Carbs:45%
Protein:31%
Thursday (no workout):
Total cals: 1666
Fat:29%
Carbs:51%
Protein:20%
Friday (workout):
Total cals: 1498
Fat:23%
Carbs:43%
Protein:33%
Saturday (no workout):
Total cals: 1412
Fat:32%
Carbs:34%
Protein:33%
So as you can see I'm very short on my calories, but I don't know how to up it. Also, my carbs are too high, but I'm eating healthy so I don't know how to fix it... I guess I just need more chicken, lol. Any suggestions or comments would be very appreciated
It doesn't look like you are incorporating any protein shakes in your diet. I do one before and after a workout (24 grams of protein each). That would really help you with the protein.
It doesn't look like you are incorporating any protein shakes in your diet. I do one before and after a workout (24 grams of protein each). That would really help you with the protein.
Actually.. I am... I have been putting my protein in yogurt since it makes me gag if I just put it in water or milk.. and I don't have a blender so the yummy-looking ones are out too
Actually.. I am... I have been putting my protein in yogurt since it makes me gag if I just put it in water or milk.. and I don't have a blender so the yummy-looking ones are out too
Kara, what brand of protein powder are you using? I LOVE my post workout shake - it's one of my fav parts of working out! If it's making you gag, maybe you need to find a different brand - some of them are very tasty!!!
Kara, what brand of protein powder are you using? I LOVE my post workout shake - it's one of my fav parts of working out! If it's making you gag, maybe you need to find a different brand - some of them are very tasty!!!
Well, I'm looking at it now and it says Precision Engineered Whey Protein, Creamy Vanilla flavor. I got the vanilla because I figured it would go with pretty much anything. When my bf would buy protein for the both of us he would get chocolate... and the only way I liked it was when I had a sip of his since he added weight gainer to it and it made it taste better... but please believe I do not need weight gainer! Haha! I tried this one with water and I think I just don't like protein drinks, especially in water. And I'm in desparate need of going food shopping so I have no milk right now, haha. Putting it in yogurt has been working well for me. I put it with a banana and yogurt too sometimes in my make-shift blender that's really a very small food processor.
What kind and/or flavor do you reccommend?
Designer Whey makes some really good ones. I've also heard some good stuff about Muscle Milk Light, but haven't personally tried it yet. I've seen Wendy (fengshway) talk about it in her log!!!
Welcome to the challenge and keep up the good work with your workouts!
That totally made my day :-)
Mwah!
)
If it's making you gag, maybe you need to find a different brand - some of them are very tasty!!!
Linear Mode
