To Hell and Back (mel's log Act II)

[mel]

Wow, I'm so behind on my logging activities!

Tuesday night was an off day for NROL lifting, so I did a boxing workout Chris and I do sometimes. 5 minutes of jump rope, 3 mins of combo punching with feet moving, 1 mins rest, 3 punch/1 rest, 3 punch/1 rest, 1 punch/1 rest, 3 punch, 5 minutes jump rope cool down. Combos are jab/jab....jab straight...jab straight hook...straight hook straight....hook straight hook.

I must admit that my intensity wasn't what it should have been. American Idol was on, and I did my jump rope in there...so not so focused. I went at the bag pretty hard. I love boxing. I sometimes wish there was a gym here so I could really learn. Hitting that heavy bag makes me feel so powerful.

Last night my son had a basketball game, so I squeezed in my workouts with no HIIT after.

Here's the numbers:

Was A workout, 3rd time. 2 sets of 12 reps. Alternating super sets except for squats. 60 seconds rest after each.

Squats 95 105

Pushups bw Bw
Seated Row 70 80

Step Up 10s 10s
Prone Jack knife bw bw

Thoughts:
*Some numbers started lower than they should have because I had done all my A workouts at the school gym, and this one was in my basement gym. I was worried about the numbers transferring. stupid worry though. Right now, I have done parts of this workout in three different gyms.

*subbed T push ups for regular. That was a tough workout. Yay for this board and the idea for that! I don't remember who was doing those, maybe Dianne?

*Step ups dropped so I could work out form. I'm getting Frustrated. I'm hoping Chris can watch me and see if I've stopped cheating so I can work on going back up in weight a little.

*My challenge to myself on the Prone jack knives is to get my body completely vertical and get the ball and my feet as close to my hands as possible. I'm getting closer. I think I was at about an 80 degree angle on a few of them.

Nutrition Highlights:
*I'm hitting the macros pretty well. Getting good at correcting through the day as I plan. It's allowing me to eat pretty flexibly and also well.
*Had Qdoba again last night....what a good idea that place is. Mexican is no longer so unhealthy since I can order it without any of the bad stuff.

Tonight was an off night again, and I've always been curious about the elliptical. I had never tried one, so I tried it tonight. I actually planned to do the stair climber, but it wasn't available. End result....not for me. I'd rather run, lol. What is wrong with me? hehe.

Tomorrow I'll be back to lifting...Workout B for 12s the first time.

mel

[nutbar]

Workout is looking good! I think Tracey (Victoria) was the T-pushup queen? I'm jealous of the boxing. I'd love to beat the crap out of something on a regular basis!

Originally Posted by mel

Diane, believe me when I tell you I always preview the thing before I send it out, and the sig worked two different times in preview mode. We tried again, and I think we’ve got it this time!

It works! It works! I can now retire from my sigline-proofing career.

Originally Posted by mel

I’m way too old to cheer, LOL.

You look SO young in your pic that I just assumed you were college-aged.

Originally Posted by mel

Sorry I’m not faster on the replies!

It's the internet. It'll wait. It'll even be ignored on occasion and not complain much.

[Littlemermaidklb]

Originally Posted by mel

*Step ups dropped so I could work out form. I'm getting Frustrated. I'm hoping Chris can watch me and see if I've stopped cheating so I can work on going back up in weight a little.

I just posted a question about cheating on step-ups last night on the NROL4W thread and some people gave some great advice on how not to cheat. Check it out, it might help :-)
Oh yeah, and great job as always!

[dillytl]

Boxing sounds like fun.....DH and I have toyed with the idea of putting a heavy bag in our basement gym!!

[mel]

Answering the mail:

You look SO young in your pic that I just assumed you were college-aged.

Aww, thanks Diane. Actually, I'm 32, have a teenage son, and have been married for 14 years.

I just posted a question about cheating on step-ups last night on the NROL4W thread and some people gave some great advice on how not to cheat. Check it out, it might help :-)
Oh yeah, and great job as always!

Thanks Kara. I checked it out. At this point, I'm not even sure I'm cheating anymore, especially because I am doing all those things. I did love the one point that was made about what the focus of the exercise should be. Now, I'm looking forward to trying them again.

Boxing sounds like fun.....DH and I have toyed with the idea of putting a heavy bag in our basement gym!!

Dilly, we have a tower that has a pull up/chin up station, a heavy bag, speed bag, and agility bag. We use the heavy bag the most. It has been an awesome addition to the gym. I love feeling like a badass, LOL.

Well, let's see.....I have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to post about.

Well, Saturday and Sunday will be easy because Saturday was consumed by meetings and cheerleading and today is a rest day. I actually took a mental health day today and had a total cheat meal at Bob Evans. Raspberry crepes.....I actually dream about crepes sometimes. It was amazing.

So, that leaves Friday's workout to stick in. It was the first 12 rep workout of Stage 1, B. I did it at school after tumbling practice and before the bus left to go to the game. The school workout room was crawling with students--I like it when it's empty. I was a little distracted at first and forgot to move the weights up right away on deads because of the rep drop, but overall, the workout went well. Here's the numbers:

Alternating supersets, 2 sets of 12 reps each, excepts deads, which stand alone. 60 seconds rest between exercises.

Deadlifts 110 115

Db shoulder press 20s 20s
Wide grip lat pulldown 70 80

Lunge 25s 25s
Swiss Ball Crunch 20db 25db

Bike 15 min 7 work load 1/1 of 85/100 rpm



Thoughts:

*was a wuss on the shoulder presses....I just *knew* 25s wouldn't happen...should have tried them though.
*Pretty pleased with the lunge numbers. I could really feel each rep, and that's where I wanted to be.
*I used dbs for the crunches behind my head because the school gym has no cable tower. Worked okay in a pinch.

Biking is okay. Can't wait for it to be warmer. At least then I can run outdoors. Course, by then cheer season will be over and I can hit my actually gym/gyms more regularly.

Nutrition Hightlights:

Went through sort of a brain crisis this weekend. A small, mixed up part of me is still struggling with all the food and just *knows* that gaining even a lb means i am gettin FAT. Even though the rest of my brain knows this is not true, the little part is pretty insistent. This morning, to prove it to myself, I did my weekly measurements. All the same. I. Am. Gaining. Muscle. This is good. repeat....repeat....repeat....

So, to reward myself for muscle gain and sticking with the macros for the program so far, I ate at Bob Evans. I had to convince myself to go. I will NOT overly obsess about this. I will eat. I will eat and get strong. Sheesh.

Tomorrow, it will be an A day, the second of 12 reps. With all those crepes in me, I should be really strong. Will be squeezing the workout in before a game, but I think I'll have time to do it at home. Weee!

mel

[sveta]

Some pretty impressive lifting here! WTG!

[Bill2380]

Good work Mel. What's that slacker Chris been up to?

[dillytl]

Went through sort of a brain crisis this weekend. A small, mixed up part of me is still struggling with all the food and just *knows* that gaining even a lb means i am gettin FAT. Even though the rest of my brain knows this is not true, the little part is pretty insistent. This morning, to prove it to myself, I did my weekly measurements. All the same. I. Am. Gaining. Muscle. This is good. repeat....repeat....repeat....

[Karen411]

Mel, very good workouts! It's hard for me to up my eating to maintenance level when I've been working to lose for so long, but I'm making the effort and having faith that it will work in the long term. I have to assume that it is working somewhat as I am down 1 pound (with 9-12 to go). I can just imagine how it would feel to have to work my mind around to the gaining mindset. Keep up the good work!

[gizmogirl]

Awesome workouts, Mel. You're so strong.

[Chris-STL]

I tweaked my Achilles a bit again last week, so I gave it some extra day's off. I'll be back at it today.

[LWilson212]

Hi Mel-

Your workout sounds great. I'm glad you enjoyed your breakfast out! It is hard for us women to get rid of that mindset that gaining weight = getting fat.

I think of it this way. I look at the men at work that are into lifting. Although we chat about it and they say they eat clean most of the time, I see them eat cookies and donuts in meetings once in a while. They can do that because they have lots of muscle to burn it off. If we build enough muscle we can eat donuts once in a while and not get fat like the guys.

[mel]

Answering the mail:

Some pretty impressive lifting here! WTG!

Thanks Sveta!

Good work Mel. What's that slacker Chris been up to?

Thanks for stopping by Bill. He's been a little hurty. Back on the wagon today, and he's got Zach started too!

Dilly that emoticon is fab! Thanks for it!

Mel, very good workouts! It's hard for me to up my eating to maintenance level when I've been working to lose for so long, but I'm making the effort and having faith that it will work in the long term. I have to assume that it is working somewhat as I am down 1 pound (with 9-12 to go). I can just imagine how it would feel to have to work my mind around to the gaining mindset. Keep up the good work!

Thank you Karen. It is a daily challenge. I feel so good, though, so I know it's right.

Awesome workouts, Mel. You're so strong.

Thanks Giz! Funny story about that. I'm 5'4 and pretty small boned. I have a cheerleader that sprained her ankle. Her dad came in to get her, but because he has a bum shoulder, he couldn't pick her up and take her to the car, so I just scooped her up and took her out. You should have seen his face. Now granted, she's not huge, but she's taller than me, LOL. It was pretty sweet.

Hi Mel-

Your workout sounds great. I'm glad you enjoyed your breakfast out! It is hard for us women to get rid of that mindset that gaining weight = getting fat.

I think of it this way. I look at the men at work that are into lifting. Although we chat about it and they say they eat clean most of the time, I see them eat cookies and donuts in meetings once in a while. They can do that because they have lots of muscle to burn it off. If we build enough muscle we can eat donuts once in a while and not get fat like the guys.

Hey L! Those crepes were freaking amazing. I'll be thinking about them for months! You are so right about the boys. Course, I could never eat as much or cheat as much no matter how strong I get, lol. Chris makes me jealous sometimes.

Worked out today. Will input the numbers tomorrow. It's late and I'm sleepy!

mel

[DanceDiva]

Originally Posted by mel

Thanks Giz! Funny story about that. I'm 5'4 and pretty small boned. I have a cheerleader that sprained her ankle. Her dad came in to get her, but because he has a bum shoulder, he couldn't pick her up and take her to the car, so I just scooped her up and took her out. You should have seen his face. Now granted, she's not huge, but she's taller than me, LOL. It was pretty sweet.

As the mom of a 5'4" used to be high school cheerleader (senior in college Hallelujah), I found this to be hilarious. I still pick her up when she comes home.

[mel]

As the mom of a 5'4" used to be high school cheerleader (senior in college Hallelujah), I found this to be hilarious. I still pick her up when she comes home.

LOL. I can still throw my son around pretty well, but I bet it won't be for long.

Yesterday was my fourth A Day of Stage 1. I actually did the workout in my basement gym this time and then went to the gym to run intervals on the treddy.

Here's the numbers:

2 sets of 12 reps. Except for the squats, alternating super sets with 60 seconds rest each exercise.
Squats 110 110

Push up bw-dec bw dec
Seated row 85 90

Step up 10s 10s
Prone jack knife bw bw



Finished with 15 mins on the treddy. I went 1 up/ 1 down and alternated 7.5 with 8 on the ups and 5.5 on the downs for a total of 1.71 miles.

Thoughts:
*I did the push ups with my feet off the squat bar with it on the third peg from the ground. I'm going to try moving it up each time. These weren't too bad, even though the peg was considerably higher than the bench.
*Step ups are still a pain. Had Chris watch me, and I cheat every time. I move my shoulders and body forward and push up like that. I'm frustrated. I've tried all the tips. Grr.
*I'm loving trying to get straight up and down on the jackknifes. I think I got about 4 a set with a totally perp. torso. One time, though, I fell right over my head and somersaulted. Glad I was at home.

*On the treadmilly, I liked the challenge of the 8s and was breathing heavy at times with some sweat. good stuff! I've been wondering, though, if this is truely HIIT. Are my on/off times big enough extremes to be considered HIIT?



*Overall, i felt pretty strong and enjoyed my time in the gym.



Nutritional Highlights:
It was national idiot day for me. First, I forgot a post wo shake. I had run home to workout and then head to the gym to finish then back to school for the game. I grabbed this awesome organic frozen dinner, but forgot my shake. Mistake one.



Then, I heat up the dinner, which was a multi grain foccacia stuffed pizza like thingy. So, I left the box in the room with the microwave and went to eat in the cafeteria where I could still watch the girls cheer. I couldn't wait to eat since I was starving due to forgetting my shake.
So...I'm eating along, loving it. I keep eating, thinking, wow, this is a big serving. I finish the whole thing, go back to dump my plate and look at the box. Duh. A serving was 1/3. I ate 3 servings of dinner at 275 cals a serving. So, It was about 800 calls worth of food all at once. In the end, I only ended up going over for the day by about 300, and interestingly enough, my macros were perfect, lol. What a dork!




mel

[missjane]

Mel, I totally hear you on the step-ups, and I'll bet most are