Go with the flow!

[Espi]

Yesterday I wolfed down 2900 kcal . That was actually about the amt of calories I think to have burnt as I also cycled for over an hour.
It's been a while since I was that hungry, and it's the cardio that does me in most of all. Cardio doesn't even burn all that many calories, it just makes you hungry.

I've rearranged my diet so that the only deficit comes from rest days. Hopefully I'll still be able to hit an average daily deficit of 350 kcal (700 kcal on 3 days and 350 kcal on the 2nd consecutive rest day). Training days will be feeding days. I'm assuming about 2500-2600 kcal for Saturday. Which means that today it's not going to be more than 1150 kcal (assumption = 1850 kcal for expenditure).

In the past month(s) I was able to adhere better to my diet, since the lack of cardio takes away most of the appetite while working out still keeps metabolism relatively high. However, too good adherance resulted in metabolism dropping by around 400kcal! This body really adapts to lowered and raised intakes quickly. Too good adherance to diet = bad news.

Yesterday's bike ride was to visit a specialist. It was confirmed that indeed my thyroid is a tad slow. He left it up to me to decide whether or not take Cytomel (T3). Right then my first thought was that I wouldn't need it since I feel so much better nowadays with methyl-B12 and Fortega (sulbutiamine). BUt energy is still not where it should be. When I'd go back to full-force HIIT 3 or 4 times a week, I can see the energy just sapping out of me.

He suggested to get my heart tested with an ECG because of a flutter in the chest and lowish blood pressure (100/75) combined with low HR (<40 when resting). We made an appointment for September and I agreed to have free T4/T3 and TSH tested again 1 month before.

[UConnJulie]

I hope this specialist give you some answers ...

[Espi]

He did. And I'm acting stupid by not directly accepting the use of Cytomel, a thyroid drug. I just hadn't thought it'd be that bad. I know that it's a tremendous problem to lose weight/fat ,but after all those years I've finally hit the best way to do it as a combination of
- weight lifting
- interval cardio
- lowcarb diet with frequent refeeds
- eat very little one day and then jack up intake to very high numbers the other day
And right now I'm only about 1.7 kg away from the desired weight at a normal bf% level (don't even want to reach a lower level since that would require too much fanatism to adhere to)

But I tend to forget that I'm tired more easily than others, viz. only outside the gym.. (inside I'm going balls -to-the-walls so to say), have gray hair, very low HR, used to feel cold all the time, and a terrible memory.

Some of these problems were solved using B12 and now even go better with Fortega (our vitamin-B powerhouse supplement). But it only takes a day like yesterday with weight lifting and lots of cardio to make me feel completely wiped out. I used to just vegetate in between lifting days. I don't ever want to have that happen again.

One of the most interesting observations he made was that my squinting and astigmatism are very tiresome for the brain. Perhaps that's the reason why I burn through B-vitamins more than others, apart from bad absorption? And calories too?
Another observation was that my blood pressure was rather low, only 100/75 while my HR (seated behind pc) is only 40bpm. He wanted me to get an ECG done and get back to him for the results.

[Espi]

Saturday May 12
TRAINING NROL Break-In week 1
all weights in kilograms

DYNAMIC STRETCHING /BW exercises
1 supine row (10 reps)
2 knee pushup (10 reps)
3 UB Russian twist (10 reps)
4 lateral lunge (10 reps)
5 windmill (10 reps)

A1 front squat
29 x 17-17
almost same amt of reps, but now 1 kg more


B1 db static lunge
(2x11) x 14/14-11/12

Dying while doing it.. esp on left leg. Just can-not-do-this-properly. It won’t help to decrease wt , perhaps the opposite.


A2 2-point db row
13 x 17-16
1kg more , same amt of reps

B2 push up
BW x15 – 9 (normal)+ 6 (knee pushups_


A3 Swiss ball crunch
(BW+4) x 20 – 20

A4 pullup
BWx1 while waiting for the TM . No more energy to do 2 of them.

Cardio : Metabolic Overdrive 1
WU: 4,6 – 5,0 km/hr @ 10% incline
Interval speed: 8,3 km/hr (up 0,1km/hr) for three 60s/120s intervals @ 10% incline
Cool down : 5 km/hr @ 10% incline
HR: up to 156 bpm
Watts: 215W for the rest/intervals
193kcal – 579kcal/hr (-6 compared to May10)
1,85km – 5,55 km/hr (-0,15 compared to May10)

General: so NOT going to repeat that breakfast of this morning. Instead of the usual fluffy apple-coconut omelette , I had a savoury one: eggs w ham, mushrooms, zucchini, ajvar and a bit of cheese. Prolly the ham & cheese did me in, as I was nearly coughing up breakfast. Never had this happening with the apple omelette. Starches go down badly as well. You live & learn.

Training statistics
Volume: 10864 kg
# of sets: 17 (incl. WU)- # of reps: 214 - avg reps/set :12,6 - kg/rep 50,9 kg

[Espi]

Guess what just arrived by snail mail? A recipe for Cytomel!

I'd explained to the doctor that my partner thought it'd be better to start with Cytomel after all. I'd said no at first to it, since my T3 values are only a hair below the normal range.

Since I skipped doing cardio around February, I'm no longer crashing badly after a training and manage to get things done. But my work capacity is still lower than that of others. And while memory is way better thanks to the B-vitamins (nethyl-B12 and sulbutiamine) it sometimes relapses. So I explained that I was curious as to whether I'd feel fitter and have a better abilty to get work done with Cytomel.

I could probably use it, since now I am doing cardio again, I see myself slipping back into tiredness, unless I eat a shitton of calories that day (will be eating close to 2600 kcal today = calculated expenditure).

I'm extremely curious to how untired I'll be feeling. Perhaps I'd finally do some gardening and house cleaning which I've been postponing for ages!!!!

[Espi]

Oh noes.. just like on Thursday after the 2nd Break-In+Metabolic Overdrive Session, I had a huge snack attack in the late afternoon. There's no way that an increased metabolism by interval training can counterbalance eating twice my current maintenance in 1 day!

Plus, more alarmingly, some symptoms I've had recurred again:
- blurry eye vision
- extreme tiredness

The feeding frenzy resulted in a huge carb coma. Fortunately I'm OK again after a nap. Seems that I'll just stick to 2 cardio sessions/week and not increase any further until I get things sorted out. I'm too fond of my higher energy levels that reappeared when I stopped doing all cardio.. I want to get things done at home instead of just vegetating behind the 'puter like I did when I wasn't seeing how interval cardio was draining me big time.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by Espi

Those 2 db static lunge scared me witless as I feared to fall sideways at just about every rep. It really drained me in a very different way than a normal exercise would.

Hi Espi...I read your log with interest recently. Congrats on starting NROL. I agree with what others have been suggesting to you regarding training your body to learn balance, and from my experience with the program, NROL is well-suited for that. Anyway, it got me to thinking, what if you could do the static lunges standing between two bars that would be at your sides. I'm not sure how you'd go about creating that, but it would offer you some peace of mind that if you began to list to one side, the bars would brace you and keep you from falling, then you could regain your balance and continue the lunges. Kind of like the side rails on a treadmill.

Just a thought...best of luck with NROL!

[Espi]

Thanks for stopping in Victoria and your advice!

You got me thinking. I can come up with 3 possible options
1 do it in between benches, but I might hurt myself?
2 do it next to the Smith machine and set the bar at about chest height so I could brace myself one way. The other way is a window pane.
3 do it on ab mats so I'd fall softly. However there's too much junk lying around (ab roller, Bosu ball) to still get hurt

#1 isn't very good because I need that space for the front squats, and I wonder if it's not more unsafe to do it in between benches
#3 isn't very good either as it's on another floor and I need to superset with front squats
leaves #2 and do it next to the Smith. This might work.

The area where I do the static lunge right now is a (hard) rubber mat. Slightly softer to fall on I guess than on the carpet that is next to the Smith.

I guess that I'll just need to lay off the fear and be more confident.
Confidence will certainly help as well as putting down my feet firmly and not start the exercise until I feel stable.
If the need does come up when HR hasn't dropped enough, I could cheat on the 60 seconds I'm supposed to wait in between sets.


Are you supposed to wait 60 seconds when switching from left to right or do you switch sides immediately?

[Victoria]

hmmm...

#1 - I don't think the benches would be high enough, if you did lose your balance too much, could be a tough fall onto and then over the bench..and with weights in your hands.

#2 - sounds like it might work as long as you are also close enough to the window. How about next to any wall and somthing else on the other side, maybe even a person?

#3 - still requires falling to the ground. Doesn't sound fun, plus I think you'd be worrying about falling instead of thinking about the exercise.

...there's got to be a way...

I think the fear may not be a bad thing. It's just your body's way of telling you to be careful, no? The confidence will come in time as you progress with the exercises and start to gain more balance. What has helped for me is concentrating on concentrating. I think about what I'm going to do before I do it, kind of like visualizing the movement, thinking "I am balanced", rather than, "will I lose my balance", if that makes sense. Like you said, making sure your feet, and the rest of your body, are set, and not starting until you feel stable. Then progressing throughout the movement with purpose and concentration. If you start to lose balance in the middle, stop, reset, and start again. Also, starting with lighter weights would probably make it easier to get the balance down first, you may already be doing that.

As far as switching legs, I think you are supposed to go right from one leg to the other. But, I usually have to stop for a second or two (well...maybe 5 or 6 secs) to catch my breath and let the burn pass enough to resume.

I'll be interested to see how you progress with this...good luck!

[Espi]

Next to a wall would always be a good idea and actually right behind the Smith is about the only piece of wall+window that's relatively free.

Fortunately the rack for the barbells isn't too far away. I'll have to walk from that rack to behind the Smith and back again for the supersets.

[UConnJulie]

You might also get more benefit from a balance standpoint by doing them with no weight initially ... really concentrate on the form and on keeping your balance without any external support ... that would be my recommendation ... and doing them next to the Smith set at about waist height (simulating a parallel bar). By overloading with the barbell, your body will be able to cheat the form a little and you won't have to force the balance as much ... JMO ...

[LisaS]

can you use any vertical surface as a just-in-case device? Not to assist in the exercise but just as a touch point? for instance, if you would fall left with the right foot out front, can you just touch the upright of a squat cage with just the fingertips of your left hand? or just circle your fingers around a dowel placed vertically on the ground?

[Espi]

I actually had the idea the static lunges would be easier with more weight. I could start again with lower weight and feel the difference.

When I think about it, the main thing that would help is to get into position for the lunge long before the 60 seconds are over and focus on stabilizing my foot.

[Espi]

No workout today. Woke up really late and am quite busy most of the day, since we'll be gone for 2 days for business with lots of driving involved.

The bad news is that I've got an appointment with a cardiologist. That scared the crap out of me. But perhaps it's just a formality. Thing is: my new specialist heard what he calls a 'souffle' and what you guys call a murmur?


I got so scared because I'd been experiencing chest pain lately and hadn't given it any thought. Would it be related?
Then all of a sudden I realized that with the NROL I'm increasing the intensity of my chest workouts because of going to absolute failure with the pushups! Phew... what a load got lifted (nearly literally) from my chest. At least, I'm nearly certain it's just plain old DOMS.

The actual referral though was bradycardia (slow HR). If it's just the bradycardia, I'm not concerned. Have had this all my life, and only once went to my own physician to get it checked upon since HR dropped to 29 (normally it drops to around 32 when I'm fit & cycling lots).

So, understandably, I'm still frightened enough to lay off the cardio until I've seen the cardiologist. I'm also a bit bummed by how much cardio completely drains my energy again. After I dropped all of the cardio back in Feb, I've been feeling great. Now I'm easing into the Metabolic Overdrive I'm feeling the post-WO exhaustion /lethargy come back.

Will let you know what is happening next week.

BTW, I'm seeing that specialist because friends insisted I'd be checked on my thyroid function. He looked at a great # of other stuff too and then physically examined me. Upon which he referred me to get an ECG made.
As of tomorrow I'll be starting on 12.5 mcg Cytomel (T3) since my T3 was a tad low. I'm not sure whether I'll need to eat at maintenance for that treatment or can eat below maintenance?

[ljk]

29? Is that even ALIVE?
My lowest ever was 49.

[Espi]

When I'm unfit, resting HR in the morning is around 40. When fit it's 32. But 29 freaked me out a lil' bit, so I had an ECG made. Doc told me I was just fine. That was back in errr 2002 (time flies) a couple of days after I'd received a yellow fever vaccination since I was going to spend 3 mo. in Brazil.
Perhaps it dropped again, as I just counted once again. And right now (11pm), sitting at pc it's 40. It should be around 48. When I had the ECG made, it was 42 and I was even stressed