NROLling along the road to fitness

[karenmc6]

i'm karen and i am a participant in the women's NROL4W challenge. in september 2006 i weighed more than 330 pounds (my scale only goes to 330 - never in my dreams did i think i could weigh that much!) and after a wonderful trip to arizona made miserable by my general lack of fitness, i started a healthy food plan and fitness routine. i've shed more than 70 pounds so far and have made fitness and healthy eating a major part of my life.

starting stats:
age 42
height 5'6"
weight 260
Upper Chest 44"
Right Upper Arm 18"
Ribcage 42"
Waist 43"
Hips 45.5"
Right Upper Thigh 27.5"

[GinnyLou]

Hi Karen! You are on a roll. Congrats on your weight loss and welcome to the challenge!

[karenmc6]

01/07 - 1A
squat: 50+bar/15 & 70+bar/15 (machine)
push-up: 2x15 (on knees)
seated row: 70/15 & 75/15
step-up: 15/15 (lousy form!) 10/15 (much better form!)
prone jackknife: 6 & 8 (not even going to discuss form!)

01/09 - 1B
deadlift: 50+bar (not olympic)/15 & 70+bar/15
dumbbell shoulder press: 12/25 & 11/25
wide grip lat pulldown: 15/70 & 15/70
lunge: bw/12 (after dropping the 20 pound dbs - what was i thinking?!) & bw/8
swissball crunch: bw/8 & bw/8 (easy)

01/11 - 1A
squat: 50+bar/15 & 70+bar/15 (machine)
push-up: 2x15 (first three of each set on toes!! rest on knees)
seated row: 90/15 & 90/15
step-up: 10/15 & 10/15
prone jackknife: 8 & 8 (with much better form! but not perfect)

01/14 - 1B - changed gyms today & had a pt supervise my form
deadlifts: 115/14 & 115/15
dumbbell shoulder press: 20/15 & 20/13
wide-grip lat pulldown: 75/15 & 82.5/15
lunge: bw/15 & bw/15 (static at pt's suggestion)
swissball crunch: bw/8 & bw/8 (easy)


i am also following the nrol4w nutrition recommendations, but having a hard time getting all my calories in - i'm just not hungry enough! this week i am working on planning my meals a day ahead so i will get everything in. it seems i'd been eating 40p/30c/30f for a while now without working at it, so the ratio works pretty well for me.

i am loving this program! karen

[stingo]

Congrats Karen on your success already - 70 lbs is a lot to lose! Glad to see that you're liking NROL4W so much - if you need/want more of the same, you could pick up NROL too. (I'd also mention the TNT diet book also has Cosgrove-designed workouts in them too.)

[karenmc6]

Originally Posted by stingo

Congrats Karen on your success already - 70 lbs is a lot to lose! Glad to see that you're liking NROL4W so much - if you need/want more of the same, you could pick up NROL too. (I'd also mention the TNT diet book also has Cosgrove-designed workouts in them too.)

thanks, stingo! i actually ordered nrol and tnt from amazon and am eagerly awaiting their arrival. i guess you could say that i am a true believer!

[Fitwit]

Great going, Karen!

Another Karen

[UConnJulie]

Karen, I linked your log to your name in the participant list ... glad you made it through the 15 rep sessions ... they are killer!!!

[karenmc6]

01/16 - 1A3
squat: 45/15 & 45/15 - real squats, got to work on going lower
push-up: 5/7 & 0/12 - toes/knees
seated row: 75/12 & 85/12
step-up: bw/12 - couldn't finish - way too wiped from 01/15 plyometrics class
prone jackknife: zip

01/18 - 1B3
deadlift: 135/12 & 135/12
dumbbell shoulder press: 25/12 & 25/12
wide grip lat pulldown: 90/12 & 90/12
lunge: 10/12 & 15/12 (static)
swissball crunch: 25/12 & 25/12

01/21 - 1A4
squat: 95/12 & 95/12 - my form is much better with real weight!
push-up: 6/6 & 6/6 - toes/knees
seated row: 95/12 & 95/12
step-up: 10/12 & 10/12
prone jackknife: 10 & 8 - form is improving, but these things are hard!

weight:
01/07: 259
01/14: 259
01/21: 253 yay!
started the tnt diet this past week and i like it so far. hard (mentally) to give up my carbs, but really not so hard in practice. mainly i am concentrating on getting veggies in every meal/snack along with my protein. i was eating pretty low carb before, but i wasn't eating enough calories. i'm not counting calories with tnt, but i know i am getting more in.

karen

[stingo]

Well done - just remember that there's a chance you might feel sick as your body changes over from glycogen to fat as its fuel source. But hang in there - it gets better after that.

[karenmc6]

01/23 - 1B4 - really wiped today - blaming it on first week of tnt diet
deadlift: 155/12 & 135/12
dumbbell shoulder press: 25/12 & 25/10
wide grip lat pulldown: 90/12 & 90/12
lunge: 10/12 & 15/12
swissball crunch: 10 & 10

01/25 - 1A5
squat: 135/10 & 135/10 & 135/10
push-up: 10 & 10 & 10
seated row: 105/10 & 105/10 & 105/10
step-up: 10/10 & 10/10 & 10/10 working on improving form and strengthening right ankle
prone jackknife: 8 & 8 & 12 - final set was really decent form!

[LisaS]

stong work on those lifts!

[gregl515]

Nice weight on deadlifts and squats!

[karenmc6]

01/28 - 1B5
deadlift: 155/7 & 155/3 - strained something so i quit
dumbbell shoulder press: 25/110 & 30/10 & 25/10
wide grip lat pulldown: 97.5/10 & 97.5/10 & 97.5/10
lunge: 15/10 & 15/10 & 15/10
swissball crunch: 12 & 12 & 12

took wed & fri off to let myself recover from the strained muscle

continuing with tnt diet with high compliance

[karenmc6]

i'm pretty happy with my progress this month - i'm down 5 pounds and 3 1/2 inches, plus i've made real gains in strength. not seeing a lot of difference in the pics, but i'm okay with that. karen
Attached Thumbnails

[GinnyLou]

Hi Karen,
I can see a difference in your pictures, for sure! Keep it up. I'll be checking in to see how you are liking TNT, I've been thinking about making that jump, too.

[karenmc6]

started doing magnificent mobility (cat/camels through toy soldiers) before each workout this week

02/04 - 1A6
squat: 135/10 & 135/10 & 135/10 felt good & strong
push-up: 10 & 10 (form lagging on 9&10) & 10 (lost form on 10)
seated row: 105/10 & 115/10 & 115/10 115 plate kept sticking, so i thought - why not?
step-up: 15/8 & 12/8 & 10/6 these things wipe me out!
prone jackknife: 8 & 6 & 9 (all good!) mainly a problem with coordination

hiit-bike 9:30/1.56 mi: 3x30 work with 60 rest

02/07 - 1B6
deadlift: 115/10 & 115/10 & 115/10 dropped back on weight to avoid reinjury
dumbbell shoulder press: 30/10 & 30/10 & 30/6 + 25/4
wide grip lat pulldown: 105/10 & 105/10 & 105/10
lunge: 25/10 & 25/10 & 25/10
swissball crunch: 12 & 12 & 12

hiit-bike 9:30/1.64 mi: 3x30 work with 60 rest

02/09 - 1A7
squat: 155/8 & 155/8 & 175/8 (warm-ups: bar/8 & 115/8)
push-up: 8 & 8 & 8 kept good form throughout
seated row: 125/8 & 125/8 & 125/8
step-up: 20/8 & 15/8 & 15/8 form gets much better by third set, but these things are going to kill me!!
prone jackknife: 15 & 15 (break at 10) & 15 foot placement is everything!

hiit-bike 9:30/1.56 mi: 3x30 work with 60 rest

[nutbar]

Workouts are looking good! So how are the MM moves working for you?

Since I've recently started on TNT, I'd love to hear how you're doing on that, too!

[karenmc6]

i really like the mm moves - i feel like they are making a big difference, particularly in my squats and deadlifts. having a love/hate relationship with the foam roller right now tho - it isn't easy and it takes a lot out of this ol' heavy body, but i have noticed that some of the "hot spots" from my first couple of sessions have cooled a bit.

and the tnt is going really well. i haven't felt the need to "cheat" and i feel like i am actually eating enough. i plan to be on the first stage for a while and i think i can maintain that pretty easily. it is tough to get over the "fat makes you fat" idea that had really been driven into my head! how is it going for you? i remember that the first week was a little rough, so hang in there!

Originally Posted by nutbar

Workouts are looking good! So how are the MM moves working for you?

Since I've recently started on TNT, I'd love to hear how you're doing on that, too!