I'm really excited to be starting this challenge, nothing like a bit of accountability to get your butt in gear! This first post is long, sorry!
Background:
I'm 5 foot five, 40 years old and have always been overweight, especially as an adult. The thinnest I ever was a size 12 as a freshman in highschool. I also have epilepsy and have taken Depakote ever since my senior year of highschool, which causes an average weight gain of 60 pounds, water retention, carb cravings, BUT yay, zero seizures! After being a size 12-14 through highschool, I ballooned to a size 22W(not blaming this solely on medication btw) and by early April 2007 even that size was starting to get tight. I estimate that my weight was 260-ish. My husband and I decided it was time to get healthy, so we started to eat better and cut portion sizes and the weight started to come off. Work had Kaiser come in and do body composition analysis for us, my numbers at that time were:
May 8, 2007
weight: 238 lbs.
body fat: 44.8%
fat weight: 106.7 lbs.
lean weight: 131.3 lbs
We joined a gym on August 8, 2007 and I have been faithfully going 5 days a week since then, doing a weight lifting and SS cardio on the treadmill. However, after about a year I really stalled out and it was time to Step Up My Game. Starting June 1, 2009 I began the NROL4W program and started to actually track and weigh my food. After a couple weeks, I found I had a much easier time when I lowered my carb percentage to ~25%, getting most of my carbs from fruits & veggies. Also found that I need to target ~1800 cals a day if I want to slowly lose weight. Wow! No more guessing games! Tracking food is great!
Okay, blah blah nyborg, enough with the talking, here's the dreaded photos I took today:
August 29, 2009
weight: 219.6 lbs
body fat: 37.5% (tanita scale)
clothes: size 18W
Got a waaaaays to go. *sigh* But hey, can you see the hints of muscle shapes poking thru the flab on my biceps and stomach. I've never seen anything but round blob before so I am totally psyched! Baby Gunz! okay, not really...
Plan:
1. Continue with NROL4W (starting Stage 2 next week)
2. Continue at ~1800 kcals per day
3. Continue to keep carbs at 25% and from fresh, non-starchy sources as much as possible
4. Log food intake at Fitday
Longterm Goals:
1. Get rid of the batwings! Geez, why can't all that fat be in my boobs instead?
2. Build lotsa muscle
3. Drop fat to 25%
Challenge Goals:
1. Break 200 lbs by New Year's
2. Fit into my size 16 skinny jeans - say No to muffin tops!
3. Keep up with healthy nutrition
4. Drink enough water every day
Thanks for reading this, I'm am feeling so great and have sooooo much energy now! Well, except for when I'm going, OMG MY LEGS!!!! when doing NROL4W.
I started this year at 224 and 48.2% BF. I'm now 197 (broke 200!!!) and 43%, but most importantly, my shape is totally different, and even with over 50 pounds to go, I now have NO cellulite! None. And just the one chin. So you can do it.
Have you checked out Precision Nutrition - that is a system that might work well for you and provide you with more structure (and recipes) to help you with your reduced carb plan.
Got a waaaaays to go. *sigh* But hey, can you see the hints of muscle shapes poking thru the flab on my biceps and stomach.
Hell, yeah! Go, girl!!! You are off to a great start on this challenge.
Don't feel bad about your photos, either. Seems like most people here feel the same way about their photos. We all (myself included) get so wrapped up in shame, regret, guilt, etc. over our bodies. It makes me sad that we waste so much energy feeling badly about body fat and not appreciating our general good health (not saying you don't, but I hope you know what I mean). How did we come to this place in our society? I would like to see all women rebel and refuse to feel like a second-class citizens because we have love handles. It's just freakin' fat, it's not evil!
I think you are a beautiful person and salute your motivation to improve your health!
step up: BW/3 steps 2x10
DB one point row: 10# 2x10
static lunge, elevated: BW 2x10
push-up: 45° 2x10
plank: 45° 45sec
horizontal wood chop: 10# 2x10
OMG! my legs, my arms, my abs! oy. The FSPP felt very awkward, I double-checked the FAQs when I got home and I think I was doing them right, just need to adjust my hand position. Elbows were down the entire time so hopefully I can fix that. I'm proud that I could do 30 lbs when 12.5 lb DBs were my max with the shoulder press.
The leg workouts were so hard! It's like doing BOTH stage 1 workout A and B in one session! I need to up the weights with the one point row (did 55# w/ seated rows in stage 1), but had a lot of trouble keeping my balance, so I dunno. Discovered that the planks give you plenty of time to devise creative ways to curse Alwyn Cosgrove and his forebears. It's gonna take awhile to get to 60 seconds. Doing planks elevated on a bench is easier than flat on the floor, right? Gawd, I feel so weak sometimes! I'm dreading Wednesday...
Huh. I started Stage 2 yesterday and no DOMS today, just a bit wore out. Wierd. Maybe I wasn't pushing as hard as I needed to because figuring out what the weights should be, getting used to what the exercises are and where's the best spot to do em, perhaps too much resting?
Stage 1 taught me that my lower body was very weak and very inflexible. I've been noticing for the last coupla days as I go about my day that I'm moving different and I dunno, I feel strong. Well, stong-er. Pretty cool. BTW, between my Kindle and my iPod I totally didn't notice how low-energy I was today. The time flew by on the treadmill, totally recommend them!
Discovery of the day: black seedless grapes! OMG sooooooo deliciouso! My last peach yesterday was mushy and the ones I bought at the store are still hard so I got these and wow! yummers! And, I think I don't really like walnuts just by themselves. Maybe I'll go back to cashews or I should think of another healthy-fat thing instead. Mind's blank. Water intake has been sucky, I keep forgetting to drink it! I need one of those drink hats for my water with a straw, people at work would have a laugh! Huh, does the condensation from the drinks drip on your head?
Workout:
(weight lifting rest day)
35 minutes on treadmill, easy peasy steady state
Don't you hate how difficult it is to predict peach goodness until you eat it?
I finally gave in and started putting flavoring in my H2O. I don't know why, but I will drink it a lot faster if it tastes a little like pink lemonade. I hated the thought of using artificial sweeteners, but it does work.
You may find when changing stages that you get DOMs more often, however, as you already had a background with lifting for a while before starting, you may not. I always found that they were really bad when I started (as I was a completely newbie). Now I never seem to get them as much, even when I slack off for a while.
Completed first Stage 2 workout B this morning... OMG! Cosgrove is a freakin' sadist! omg! two extra alt sets PLUS prone cobras (which sux) PLUS 15 minutes of intervals?!?!?!?!?! OMGWTFBBQ! Actually, it felt good how much I could do. Most were no sweat, I mean, I pushed myself but I could do them and it wasn't a terrible struggle. I am sooooo proud that I actually did both sets of prone cobras for 60 seconds! Yay me!!!!
I did the harder type of lateral flexion exercise (with calf and head going up) and when I was doing my right side, it was like, what's the big deal? Huh, am I doing this right cuz it's too easy. The left side was omg, this is HARD. Totally felt it in my hip flexors and then IT band area. Which TOTALLY makes sense because I've been struggling with hip mobility and ROM with squats etc. and I'm noticing that crossing legs, certain types of movements are MUCH easier with my right than with my left. So, this just confirms that I need to work on this area. Oh and am I the only one that feels like a damned beached walrus as I'm shifting and rolling my tired, sweaty body around on the mat?
Workout:
wide-grip deficit deadlift--40# preset on floor, 2x10 (poor ROM agains kicks me in the butt)
reverse lunge w/ forward reach--5#, 2x10 (felt WIERD, need higher wt)
DB prone cuban snatch--5#, 2x10 (OMG these are hard)
bulgarian split squat--BW/10#, 2x10 (HARD, will stay w/ BW for now)
underhand lat pulldown--45#, 2x10 (hard to get comfortable grip)
swiss ball crunch--2x10 (easy-peazy, need to make harder)
reverse crunch--2x10 (hard, pelvis bone painfully dug into mat-ouch!)
(lateral flexion--2x10 (right=EASY!, left=hard)
I always thought there was a method to the madness. Although the last half of the workout doesn't feel as hard, it leaves you with (hopefully) enough energy to do the intervals.
lol, I was thinking okay, the workout wasn't TOO bad, I'm tired out and I had to do 30 sec intervals instead of 1 minute but whatever... Then I just realized, ohmygawd, my abs hurt just sitting here at my desk! LMAO
Workout:
weight lifting rest day
Normally I go in for some easy-peasy cardio but I was still tired from yesterday's workout (2B1) so said screw it and slept in for an hour or so. mmmm... sleep...
Stats--1,712 kcals (100 cals lower cuz no workout)....44/23/33 % (PCF)
Thoughts for today:
I can tell I'm retaining water from muscle soreness, is there a way to make it go away (drink extra water?) or do you just wait it out? It would suck if my Friday posted weight was higher. Should I link my Fitday account to this log? The Bod Pod website has been changed to include a listing now for locations near you. There's a place nearish me that does it for $45, perhaps I should have it done now and at the end of the challenge... I could see how it could be depressing tho, and it would suck if they tried to do a bunch of marketing for their training plans. Yeah, yeah I know I'm fat, get me the damn numbers and let me get the f-- out. Finally, I will be SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo glad when this log hits page 2 so I don't have to keep looking at my pics!
Here's to trying to make it to page 2! You did the same workout yesterday as I did today. Is that stage 2? I'm on 4. Guess they are the same. See, I've forgotten already. In stage 4, you have to do the prone cobra for 120 seconds and it's reallllllllly hard for me! I just got home from the gym and I am all sweaty and tired. Good job on your nutrition.
The water seems to leave when it's good and ready, in my experience. Usually in one to two days, depending on time of the month and diet. That's why I weigh myself daily and take my week's average as my official weight.
Did my second Stage 2 Workout A (2A2?) today, and GEEZ it was so much harder now that I had the timing and weights down right (i.e., I wasn't taking extra time during the rests figuring out what comes next). Are the elevated planks really easier than the flat planks? so hard.
Weight:
221.0 That's a 1.4 pound gain but I know it's all water from the new workout combined with several days of 90°+ weather. I know from past experience that 1800 calories lets me slowly lose weight. Still sucks donkey balls.
Workout:
Front Squat Push Press--30/20# 2x10
I CANNOT figure out the form on these using the directions in the book, I could feel the strain on my wrists and forearms. Plus, I'm thinking there's just too much fat in my arms to bend my arm flat enough for my wrists to be comfortable. The last set I said screw it, lowered the weight to 20# and kept my elbows down, wrist straight and it felt right.
Step Ups--BW 2x10 (feel much better, more in control)
DB One Point Row--10/15# 2x10 (you're supposed to split the reps between the legs right? Increased weight. My balance sucks!)
Split Squat, Elevated--BW 2x10 (HARD!!!! 10 reps each leg right?)
Push Ups--45° 2x10 (really had to push thru these, running outta gas)
Plank--45° 2x30 seconds (couldn't do them as long, pooped)
Cable Wood Chop--10/12.5# 2x10 (yay, increased the weight!)
Nutrition:
Preworkout--whey powder, shit I forgot to eat some carbs!
Breakfast--LF yogurt & ricotta, strawberries
AM Snack--LF string cheese, cashews
Lunch--Cube steak, broccoli & cauliflower, plum
PM Snack--Chicken breast, green beans, grapes
Dinner--Cheat night! Going to Indian restaurant w/ DH. Usually get veggie dishes and will try have sensible portions
Bedtime--Probably nothing as I'll have extra cals at dinner
re: Front squat push press-- I just picked up Rippetoe's Starting Strength last week b/c MissJane keeps bringing it up in her posts. OMG! Wish I'd had this book before I started. It explains front squats, push presses, and all the moves in waaaay more detail than you could ever hope for. Might be a good resource for you. Also, you could prob find a post on FW/PP somewhere in the NROL4W forum.........
re: donkey balls-- hysterical. Why are donkey balls so f-ing funny?!?
yeah, I looked at those posts which is where I got the idea that it wouldn't be the end of the world if the elbows pointed down. I can see this exercise will be a challenge. I agree, I need to get the Starting Strength book, in the meantime I'll check for pointers in the Starting Strength wiki.
Man, it sucks! My left wrist has been a bit sore all day from the first set of too heavy/botched form FSPP's. Frustrating that I didn't get the most of the workout.
I'm also wondering if I should go to a dumbbell version of this exercise. I can do the 20-lb bar no problemo but the next one up is 30-lb which is obviously a problem. They do have 12.5# DB's, but is that really changing the movement? I wish they had those weight thingies to bump a barbell by a pound or two. Shit, they can't even get their act together to replace the only powercage they go rid of (it didn't match the rest of the new equipment - I kid you not), wtf am I thinking?
wait, are we supposed to go down to a full squat while doing this? I was doing some online research and quite a few said that you do like a half squat.
If we are talking of the Front Squat / Push Press it is two movements done back to back.
Front squat - all the way down (full squat).
Push Press - this is a overhead press where you use a little leg drive to push a little more weight - so it is like a little 1/4 squat or more a break the knees and drive up.
Damn! I was pretty good during the weekend but Monday was the Attack of the Carbs! Gah. Ended up with 2,234 cals, 25/45/30 % (PCF). Did Stage 2 Workout B (2B2) and while I was sooo happy that I was able to run for longer amounts of time, I ended up being pretty drained afterwards. Having a "treat" for breakfast ended up giving both of us hard-core crap craving all day long. Ended up having a healthy good dinner by a sheer force of will but still, oy.
Seriously thinking about upping my calories by 100 on Workout B days, maintaining 1800 cals on Workout A days and then 1700 the rest of the week. I'm going to wait for the official Friday weigh-in to decide though. I weighed myself on Saturday morning and even though we had our Friday night treat meal, my weight was .2 higher, my fat % was 2% lower! I weighed myself a couple times to make sure. So that's great but I really want that overall weight to go down too. I'm heavy enough that a bit of the ole recomp is NOT gonna cut it. Anyway, I'll wait and see what happens on Friday.
P.S. I actually had some scrambled eggs for breakfast on the weekend AND i didn't get sick! Just a few icky egg burps! Woohoo! I'm thinking of having eggs for breakfast on the weekends as a change of pace.
Today's workout (2A3) sucked big ole donkey balls. Went to bed at 10:30ish last night and then bing! wide-awake at 4am. I was tempted to go back to bed and try to sleep until the alarm goes off at 5:30, but figured I'd be a zombie so just stayed up. We went to the gym early (DH is an early bird and was already up and having a pre-workout nosh) and even tho I felt awake, I had ZERO energy, got in everyone's way, made the pile of barbie weights fall over and just... sucked generally. And the stoopid gym and stoopid music BLASTING in the free weight room. Bah.
Went home and had some b-fast, and started to fade FAST. Even felt chilled. Crawled back in bed and slept for an hour and half like I should have done in the first place. I'm gonna be discobomulated all day tho, I can tell. Ugh.
Zombieland Workout:
Front squat Push Press--30/20# 2x8
"bar should rest on your delts" Hah! I have no delts! The bar never touched them, even with the bar against my throat it would rest on my collarbones before making contact with my shoulders. I just did these with my wrists very straight (elbows down) and the bar pressed up against my throat/chest since I had so much wrist pain after the last session. I had to lower the weight to 20 lbs to squat low enough and have enough oomph but still couldn't do 10 reps either time. I still feel a bit of a strain/tightness in my upper neck where it connects with my head, like the muscles have to work harder when I keep my head facing forward thru the entire movement. Is that normal or am I completely f-ing up the form? I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad I only have to do these one more time.
Stepups--BW 2x10
One point row--12# 2x10 (5 each leg)
Could definitely tell my legs are getting stronger on the stepups - yay! But was very stumbly, with poor balance this morning. When putting away the 12 barbie weights (the step benches are by the girlie pilates area), I knocked about half of all the barbie weights off their stand. And OMGWTFBBQ! They have 1 pound pink barbells!!!!!!! WTF? What's the friggin' point of that? Seriously, in the 80's I had earrings heavier than that! LOL.
gawd-damn, when is it gonna knock over to the next page!?!?
I'll help you out by adding another post.
It sucks trying to exercise when you feel like a zombie. Hell, it sucks trying to do ANYTHING when you feel like a zombie.
Not to rub it in, but I'm sort of impressed that you were able to knock over the barbie weights.
And re: crappy gym music, my gym has been playing some satellite radio station of 90s pop hits for months and it is driving me nuts. The first time Ace of Base came on, it was sort of nastalgic and fun, but seriously every day!??!? And it's not like I feel like superwoman when "All that she wants is another baby" is playing in the background. Who knows, maybe that's empowering exercise music to some, but certainly not to me.
lol - thanks for your efforts! I'll be sooo glad when I don't have to look at my damn pictures every time I pull up this thread.
The actual music is not so bad it's just that they BLAST it. There's zero point to wearing my iPod and sometime it's hard to hear other people when they're talking to you. It's only this loud in the free weight room which is the one place you NEED a workout partner to be able to hear you if you're about to smush yourself with a weight. I guess weightlifters need loud music to teh testosterone flow and get ript?
WHAT THE HELL!?!? Who decided to ruin grapes and put seeds in them???? blech! Skin's icky chewy too... Bah, never buy unknown black grapes at the nearby store when you're too lazy to go to the good store that has black SEEDLESS grapes. Note to self: Niobell (sp?) grapes suck ass. srsly. I better get some honkin' good fiber out of it at least. grump grump grump...
I'm all bleh today as my period's about to ride into town which always affects my mood (evil grapes notwithstanding), but my weight loss is getting me down. I weighed myself this morning and it was 219.7 which is all tra-la-la compared to last week BUT I'm still at a gain compared to the start of my log! It's not official until tomorrow a.m., but... dang. Seriously thinking of dropping cal consumption to 1600 on non-lifting days and keeping cals at 1800 for evil-cosgrove-is-a-sadist days.
Oh snap! Just looked thru the NROL4W book to check out Stage 3 and WTF! Did cosgrove's parents beat him as a child or something? He needs to consider therapy or happy drugs. *whine* Shee-ite, I better be all muscle-y when I'm done! Stoopid body matrix and YTWL's.
Amazing how fast it goes by with an iPod and a Kindle. Sometimes I'll add a coupla minutes so I can finish the chapter. Huh, my knees and hips feel much stronger and I feel more steady on the machine. Cosgrove's still a sadist tho.
Batwings Begone - Women's Fall 2009 Challenge Log
okay, not really...
It's gonna take awhile to get to 60 seconds. Doing planks elevated on a bench is easier than flat on the floor, right? Gawd, I feel so weak sometimes! I'm dreading Wednesday...
That's a 1.4 pound gain but I know it's all water from the new workout combined with several days of 90°+ weather. I know from past experience that 1800 calories lets me slowly lose weight. Still sucks donkey balls.
And the stoopid gym and stoopid music BLASTING in the free weight room. Bah.
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