Sorry about the bumps in the road. I've been wondering how you were lately so I'm glad you posted! Hang in there and give us a wave now and then when you get the chanc.
Let me apologize for how long it's been since I've popped back in here and posted, it was one of those cases of how "meaning to do it tomorrow" somehow turned into a month!
I was talking to Ginger yesterday and mentioned what an ass I felt like for not keeping up with things here and she encouraged me to get back in here, so here I am! Thanks to all who posted while I've been MIA, good to know you all still miss me even though you KNOW I'm an ass!
I had mentioned in my last post that I was just all over the place with basically everything health and fitness related, but I'm thrilled to say that something magical has taken place this last week or so and I've never felt better about where I am and the course I'm on. I had a 3-day weekend all to myself last weekend and had some much overdue time to catch up on some reading and self-reflection. That prompted deep thoughts and some perspective on just what the hell was up with me. Sounds corny, but I just kind of had that "A-Ha!" moment and things just started clicking again for me in a way that I don't think they ever have before. In a quest to constantly soak up information, I had kinda lost the ability to find a way to logically decide what concepts and ideas were really right for me. Basically, I was second-guessing everything from workouts, diet, supplements, rest, you name it. So, I decided to strip things down, clearly identify my goals and just get back to basics.
I'm putting in 6 workouts a week, 3 weight days and 3 days of cardio. On my weight days, I'm doing a total body weight workout and keeping it to one set of 15-20 reps of one exercise per muscle group, but performing them with high weight and slow measured raising/lowering times that allow me to reach failure within that one set. It feels fantastic and I've seen wonderful results in my body! Most of my cardio is HIIT-based, and I'm doing one day a week of pushing myself to my absolute maximum exertion, and the other 2 days are cardio intervals performed at slightly lower intensities. I'm mixing up my cardio, doing some on the bike, some on the treadmill and I'm just loving it. I had really gotten away from putting that much time and effort into cardio workouts, but after one week of serious dedication to this workout schedule, I just feel great!
So, I'm eating clean, but more importantly I'm not beating myself up if I eat a little outside my plan on occasion or have that glass of wine. My weight had experienced a pretty bad jolt a couple weeks ago due to a disasterous decision to adhere to a "specific diet plan" which not only caused me to pack on some serious weight in a very short period of time, but also resulted in making me cranky and mentally off. I've shed the weight gain, plus a couple of the other pounds that had settled back on, and as of this morning, I'm back down to an even 145 pounds!
Sorry for the rambling on and on, there are just a lot of great people here, and I didn't want anyone to think I had abandoned my health or was blowing this off. What was really stressful about the imbalance I was in was not even how much it was affecting me personally, but how it was affecting my training being provided to my clients. I knew I needed to step back and get myself together and find a way to put that clarity back into my life which would result in better service for them. It was bad enough feeling like I had lost focus on my own training, let alone thinking that I was letting my own issues affect someone else's training and success.
I promise not to stay away so long, and I'll be checking out everyone's progress pictures for May! I promise to post some update pics on here so nobody thinks I've just been lying on the couch eating ice cream!
I just have to pipe in and say it's great that you found the balance that is working for you. I think it's so important to listen to our bodies and do the combination of exercise and diet that works for us individually.
I just have to pipe in and say it's great that you found the balance that is working for you. I think it's so important to listen to our bodies and do the combination of exercise and diet that works for us individually.
so no ice cream, ha?! Can't wait to see the pics!
Nice to have you back stranger!
Will have my photos up by tomorrow, gonna have the man take them tonight. You look AMAZING in your May update photos!
Quote:
Originally Posted by foodfromafar
I just have to pipe in and say it's great that you found the balance that is working for you. I think it's so important to listen to our bodies and do the combination of exercise and diet that works for us individually.
Oh, and welcome back!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bytsi
X2!
Thanks!! X2!!!!
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Originally Posted by GinnyLou
Yay! You're back!
Just like a bad penny, I'll always turn up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nutbar
I so get what you're saying and think it's incredibly cool that you've come out the other side feeling better about things!! Welcome back!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kfisherx
Oh good the naughty little apple is back. Seriously it sounds like you have been really growing (in a good way) in your absence.
I am really touched by the support of all of you guys and it is just so wonderful to be among people who can understand the whole "process". I think I had to hit some personal lows to really appreciate what I was doing for myself. I'm once again reminded what a large part emotions play into all of this!
I have to throw up some new personal bests that I hit last week:
HIIT Cardio-12 intervals at 10mph, 10% incline, 30 secs. work, 50 secs. recovery.
Bicep Curls-5 reps. with 25 lb. db's, raising for 5 seconds, lowering for 7 seconds. (I actually did 6, but the 6th was total shit as my muscle fibers were hovering the fine line of snapping in half.)
Yesterday, I did those awful box squats that Ginger described in her log and can barely hobble around today! My thighs feel like victims of a Singapore prison caning. I literally had to grab the tops of my pants to move my foot back and forth from my gas pedal and brake on my way to work this morning. Utter, utter cruelty.
My thighs feel like victims of a Singapore prison caning. I literally had to grab the tops of my pants to move my foot back and forth from my gas pedal and brake on my way to work this morning. Utter, utter cruelty.
Oh, good. Your description has me giggling here at work. Glad they treated you like they treat me. But as Christian says "these are to build your strength"... um, really? In the heat of the moment I have to refrain from calling him and his mother names.
__________________
Ginger
"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." ~ John Bingham
Okay, so here are some pictures that I ended up having to take myself, so I apologize for any blurriness and the fact that I'm twisted all weird trying to make them work.
I couldn't get a good one of my back and ended up taking several pictures of my hair before I got smart enough to pull it back. I'm not officially in the challenge any longer, but wanted to throw up some progress pics just to keep myself in check! I went back to my online photo album and pulled up my starting pics, but they are so stinking blurry, it's ridiculous. Didn't bother putting them up, so the ones with the green background are from February 2008 and the ones with the white background (where I'm holding the camera like a doofus LOL) are today's. I guess I didn't have a back shot from February, but after all I went through to get a semi-decent/not terribly blurry shot today, I figured I'd post it anyway.
While I was on here, I thought it would be good for me to come back and log my workouts. Got out of that habit, and it makes any pain and suffering so much more rewarding when I can look back and see what I've done! So, here's workouts for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Monday:
Did my 2x a day, with light cardio. and weights in the AM and some HIIT in the PM. AM:
Angled Biceps Curls-1x15x15, 1x12x20
Overhead Tricep Press-1x15x10, 1x12x12, 1x8x15
Upright Rows-1x15x20, 1x12x25
Lat. Raise from Rear-1x15x10, 1x8x12
Push-Ups-1x20xBW, feet on small swiss ball
Lat. Side Pulls-1x15x10, 1x10x12
Shoulder Press-1x15x20, 1x12x25
Short Arm Flyes-1x15ex12, 1x8ex15
Leg Extensions, Front (bringing knee up and then extending), Side&Back-
2 sets each leg/direction x 20 x 5lb. ankle weights
Ab. Roll-Ups-2x15x8's
Rowboats-2x30x8's
Alt. Knee Drops-2x20
Side Planks-2x60xeach side
Prone Cobra Raises-6x30 secs. x BW
"Box Squats" a.k.a. Hell Squats-1x10x85, 1x10x95, 1x15x105, 1x8x115
Cardio. was 40 minutes of fast walking still wearing the ankle weights with 8 med. speed jogging intervals of 60 seconds each. PM:
16 Sprint Intervals, 100-yard sprints / 200-yard recovery. Did these outside, and my sprinting partner commented that our speed was "running to beat hell", so I'll call these maximum effort.
Tuesday:
Woke up with horrific soreness in my inner thighs-so bad that I consulted my detailed muscle charts to positively I.D. the source of pain. That damn semitendinosous! Haven't firmly decided if it was the result of the box squats or that muscle doing so much stabilizing work during the leg extensions. Regardless, it hurt like a mutha. After doing some serious stretching, I did Man up some cardio energy.
50 minute bike ride in high resistance gear on some county roads that actually offered up some hills! Kept a good steady pace and really felt a good burn in my quads, checked HR at mid-point and end, and it was 126 / 119 respectively, so was quite okay with that.
Bicycles-2x40
Forearm Plank-2x60 secs.
Screwed around the house for a bit, then thought that getting out and doing some walking would help with the stiffness. Walked for approx. 20 minutes, then jogged (lightly) 3/4 mile, walked another 15 minutes home.
Wednesday:
Dedicated Weight Day!
W.U. 5 mins. on treadmill, 100 Jumping Jacks to get HR up.
DB Bench Press-1x15x30 / DB Incline Bench Press-1x15x25
DB Upright Row-1x14x30 / Combo. Lat. Raise-1x12x10
Lying Angled Tri. Extension-1x15x12 / Single Tri. Kickback-1x15e x 15
Mixed Grip BB Bent-Over Row-1x24x55
Push-Ups-1x15xBW
Rear Lunge w/Forward Reach-1x12e x 15 / Walking Lunges-1x20e x 20
Sit Squats-1x15x20's, 1x15x30's / Hack Squats-1x15x20's, 1x12x30's
Calf Raises-2x20x45
Preacher Curls w/EZ Bar-1x15x45 / Hammer Curls-1x12x15(up 4, down 8)
Hip Circles-15 each front/back, each leg w/5lb. ankle weights
Medicine Ball Sit-up & Throw-2x20x10lb. ball
Crossover Crunch-2x15x8 db's
Reverse Crunch-2x12x10lb. ball/8lb. db's
Incline Twist-1x30 totalx10lb. ball
*Kept rest to a minimum and HR stayed in the 130's throughout the workout.
Hi there. I can't see your pictures on this computer, but I will check back tonight. I'm sure you are looking fantastic, I hve no doubts.
Your workouts are killer, Girl. Keep up the good work!
__________________
Ginger
"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." ~ John Bingham
Hi there. I can't see your pictures on this computer, but I will check back tonight. I'm sure you are looking fantastic, I hve no doubts.
Your workouts are killer, Girl. Keep up the good work!
It's awesome to be back, thanks for the pep talk! Like a vast majority of people on here, I look at my photos and question my progress, but in the interest of maintaining my newly re-discovered positive attitude I've decided that any negatives I see I will chalk up to bad camera angles caused by having to self-photograph.
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Originally Posted by nutbar
I can't see your pics for some reason (stupid technology) but nice workouts!! Did I mention I'm glad you're back?!
Thanks Diane! I was actually really bummed about the quality of the pics. We had to get a new computer over the weekend and the resolution that showed up on "My Pictures" when I uploaded them was awesome. For some reason, it wouldn't let me copy and paste from that file, so I had to transfer, blah, blah, blah. . .and the ones I posted looked pretty shitty. I hate technology as well.
I'm glad to be back!!
~~~~~~~
Well, the forecast for Indiana today is "Expect non-stop Crappiness" and for once, it was right on the money. Been fighting that all-over headache-y feeling all day and still dealing with some residual soreness in my legs, so all in all not such a great day. Could really feel the effort of yesterday's workout, so decided to do some HIIT and some abs and be happy. Scaled back my calories to compensate for lower activity level and I keep telling myself that I shouldn't be trying to kill myself every day. So, here's the workout for Thursday:
Pilates 100 (on reformer), 2 sets
Swiss Ball Crunches, 2x15x10lb. plate long-arm
Swiss Ball Oblique Crunches, 2x30x8 db's
Plank (feet on ball), 1x75 secs.
HIIT-12 work intervals @9.5mph, 5% incline, 30 seconds each.
Rest intervals @3.5 mph, 5% incline, 50 seconds each.
*Had that whole dripping in sweat but covered in goosebumps thing going on, which is just gross and weird. Felt a little lightheaded afterwards, so even though it wasn't my strongest effort, it was definitely the strongest effort I could muster up today!
Needed to get back in here and catch up on some logging of workouts! It's been a pretty good week, and every day I seem to feel a little more energized than the one before. Food has been good-still fighting the late-evening snacking demons, but I'm trying to make good choices when I do give in to the urge.
Monday 5/12:
Back-weighted Squats- 1x10x95, 1x15x105, 1x12x125 *have been staying away from these trying to keep the low-back pain at bay.*
U.H. Wide-Grip Lat. Pulldowns-1x15x50, 1x12x60, 1x8x67.5
Seated Rows-1x15x55, 1x11x60
Deadlifts-1x15x85, 1x12x95, 1x10x105
Bicycles-2x50
Jackknives-2x15
Push-ups-2x15
HIIT-12 intervals, 30 secs. work @ 10mph, 6% incline, 50 seconds recovery @ 3.5 mph, 3% incline.
Tuesday 5/13:
Tri. Kickbacks- 1x15e x 10, 1x12e x 12, 1x8e x 15
Concentration Curls-1x15e x 15, 1x7-left/8-rightx20
Went outside and enjoyed the beautiful day, several intervals of running, light jogging, some hill sprints, and 4 sets of 40 (total) walking lunges. Part of this done in the A.M., part in the P.M.
Frog Crunches-2x20
Side Planks-3 each side x 45 seconds w/scoops
Arms Overhead Crunch-2x15x8 lb. m.b.
Wednesday 5/14:
Arnold Press on Swiss Ball-2x15x15, 1x12x20, 1x8x25
Lat. Pull-downs-1x15x60, 1x9x70
BB Bent-Over Rows-1x20x45
Squats to Chair-2x15x20, 2x15x30
All 4's Leg Extension/Lift w/Rest. Band-1x15e
" Bent Leg Lift-to-ceiling w/Rest. Band-1x15e
Plie Squats-1x20x25, 1x20x30
Pendulum single-leg balance-4x20 secs. each legx15
1 min. Mountain Climbers
Kick-outs-2x15
Bicycles-4x30
Reach Through Crunch-2x15x10 db
20 minutes of Kickboxing--really felt some activation in the shoulders/upper back!!
Haven't firmly decided if it was the result of the box squats or that muscle doing so much stabilizing work during the leg extensions. Regardless, it hurt like a mutha. After doing some serious stretching, I did Man up some cardio energy.
Been fighting that all-over headache-y feeling all day and still dealing with some residual soreness in my legs, so all in all not such a great day. Could really feel the effort of yesterday's workout, so decided to do some HIIT and some abs and be happy. Scaled back my calories to compensate for lower activity level and I keep telling myself that I shouldn't be trying to kill myself every day. So, here's the workout for Thursday:
Linear Mode
