Mama Said Knock You Out - Rixatrix's Training Log

[MuscleMom23]

Originally Posted by dillytl

Glad to hear you are feeling better today!!!

As for your polar plunge - you are WAAAAY braver than I! I would do exactly what Jesca said.....a pinky toe in and that would be enough for me!!!

You must have a personal smiley maker somewhere LOL!

[rixatrix]

Originally Posted by jesca

Have fun with that freezing cold water. You put it so poetically it almost sounds interesting.

Originally Posted by MuscleMom23

I'll watch you from the shore with little icicles on your nose.

Originally Posted by dillytl

As for your polar plunge - you are WAAAAY braver than I! I would do exactly what Jesca said.....a pinky toe in and that would be enough for me!!!

Originally Posted by Kirjava

Polar bear plunge........nope.........NEV ER.

Haha, I love that little guy! "Crazy" seems to be the general consensus, but there's a history of this stuff:

Ice swimming - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Finns do it, the Chinese do it, the Russians...okay, now I'm reminded of that song, "people say in Boston, even beans do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love."

Except let's fall into Lake Michigan!

It's supposed to be invigorating and help your circulation. I think of it as sort of a man vs. nature, man vs. himself sort of task - this is my body, this is my brain, what can I withstand? I also think of it as a sort of joie de vivre thing - like cliff-jumping or skydiving or tasting the first strawberry of the summer - one of those times when you can't help but be so totally immersed in the moment that nothing else matters. Believe me, you're not thinking about money or body fat percentages or you crappy ex-boyfriend when you're in ice-cold water from head to toe.

So let's just say it's a Zen thing. Because I've been feeling very scattered lately, with my seven browser tabs open on the computer, unable to read anything for more than a second or two before flitting to something else.

Let's call it a ritual in centering oneself.

Eventually I'd like to work up to January. Although I dunno how I would cut through the ice - I did see Lake Michigan frozen over this year. Yikes!

The way I see it, you just gotta show that big, bad lake who's boss. And the cold is temporary and fleeting, and then the rest of your life goes on.

I hope I'm still doing this stuff when I'm 80.

[missjane]

I love the song "Lake Michigan" by Rogue Wave. You heard it?

[Cynthia]

Just swinging by to say hi.

I am going through the same issue right now as you with the calories and the weight/tape measure. I haven't really seen much progress in either regard since January and I lowered calories in mid-March. Still not much overall progress and I feel like I am starving myself for nothing (even though my overall avg is 1900, which is nowhere near starvation, LOL). I switched to Stage 7 (fat loss) of NROL4W this week so I will wait a few more weeks to evaluate.

Hope you are feeling better today.

[rixatrix]

Originally Posted by missjane

I love the song "Lake Michigan" by Rogue Wave. You heard it?

I haven't heard it, but I have a few friends who are fans of Rogue Wave. I'll ask around. I am a big fan of Sufjan Stevens, if you've ever heard of him. He's got a CD for Illinois and one for Michigan, and he claims he's going to write one for each state. (He's also from Michigan.) Very mellow music.

Originally Posted by Cynthia

Just swinging by to say hi.

I am going through the same issue right now as you with the calories and the weight/tape measure. I haven't really seen much progress in either regard since January and I lowered calories in mid-March. Still not much overall progress and I feel like I am starving myself for nothing (even though my overall avg is 1900, which is nowhere near starvation, LOL). I switched to Stage 7 (fat loss) of NROL4W this week so I will wait a few more weeks to evaluate.

Hope you are feeling better today.

Thanks, I'm feeling much better today. I hope you start seeing the progress you want to see. When I came into work today, my coworker/work partner said, "It's kind of weird, but today I can tell you've lost weight." Considering I see her every single day, all day, my progress must be starting to show. Take markers of your success when you can get them - even when they don't come from the scale or measuring tape or whatever.

[stingo]

Yup, when you start hearing it from others it means you've made some good progress. Nice job.

[rixatrix]

Originally Posted by stingo

Yup, when you start hearing it from others it means you've made some good progress. Nice job.

Thank you. I think what throws me off sometimes is that, mostly, I can feel my progress. Literally feel it. My stomach feels a little flatter. My quads are harder underneath my skin. Everything feels different. But "feeling" is sort of intangible and hard to measure. I think I'm on the right path though. This journey is helping my patience grow stronger too.

[dillytl]

Originally Posted by rixatrix

Thank you. I think what throws me off sometimes is that, mostly, I can feel my progress. Literally feel it. My stomach feels a little flatter. My quads are harder underneath my skin. Everything feels different. But "feeling" is sort of intangible and hard to measure. I think I'm on the right path though. This journey is helping my patience grow stronger too.

You are DEFINATELY on the right path!! And I'm sooo there with you on the patience!! It's so hard to be patient for the results to actually SHOW UP (even though you know you ARE getting results) - it's such an "I WANT IT NOW" world we live in!!!

[SpacecityPaula]

Originally Posted by rixatrix

The Finns do it, the Chinese do it, the Russians...okay, now I'm reminded of that song, "people say in Boston, even beans do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love."

Nothing like a little Cole Porter.

[MuscleMom23]

Its great when someone else notices. My best friend noticed. That made me feel good. She is a little person. I dwarf her in all aspects.

I liked that article about whoosh. Man, every little bit of info helps. You could almost write a book. What to expect from fatloss and why not to quit too soon!

Now THAT has never been done! Everyone goes around getting their panties in a knot trying to figure out if the new thing they are doing is going to put mega fat on.

oh BTW, I also put fat on in chunks. It stands to reason we would take it off that way!

[stephanie932]

Originally Posted by rixatrix

When I came into work today, my coworker/work partner said, "It's kind of weird, but today I can tell you've lost weight." Considering I see her every single day, all day, my progress must be starting to show. Take markers of your success when you can get them - even when they don't come from the scale or measuring tape or whatever.

Rixa.........I'm sorry that you had such an emotional week w/ your progress and eating (I'm just catching up on logs, today). But, it seems like this little get-away is just what you need. You'll come back home refreshed (and with little icicles hanging from your nose ) and ready to tackle your routine again.

I'm glad that you got some positive words from someone you see every day. You deserve those surprises!!! Keep working hard ..... I know you will keep getting the results you want.

[rixatrix]

So! No swimming in Lake Michigan this weekend - my friend had to work. Maybe next weekend. I'm not terribly disappointed - I go out there a lot in the summer to visit her and her family, and this gives me the WHOLE weekend to myself to just sort of clean and hang out and take it easy.

Workout FL1 B2
3x15, 75s rest
Deadlift - 70, 70, 70
DB Incline Bench Press - 22.5, 22.5, 22.5
Bulgarian Split Squat - BW, BW, BW (ow! pulled my groin, dangit!)
Mixed-Grip Lat Pulldown - 75, 75, 75
Romanian Deadlifts - 65, 65, 65
Swiss Ball Lateral Roll - BW, BW, BW (still feel like these are wrong)

Well, she's back on the horse, folks! This was a nice workout, because I got to "sleep in" (until 7!) and get to the gym on my own time. The workout went a little long, because the volunteer trainer guy, Don, was giving me some tips on form - keeping the bar closer to my legs in deadlifts, not bending my knees in romanian deadlifts, etc). So I just took my time, and now it's done with and I can rest all weekend.

After reading this article from Lou's Blog, I gotta say I'm pretty happy. As someone who doesn't drink a lot, but who most often doesn't drink at ALL, even when I might like to, because I don't want it to make me fat, that study seems brilliant. At the very least, it's made me loosen up a little. I doubt I'll go from being a teetotaler to an alcoholic - I still don't like to drink a lot - but I had a beer last night and it was AMAZING. So maybe I'll start giving myself permission a little more often. (Like once a week! Whoa, crazytown!)

After taking a few days off, I feel a lot better. Started to miss my endorphins (I was all grouchy and depressed for no reason, blah). I also ended up at the doctor's Friday (not sick - yeast infection) and my regular doctor was out, so I saw another one. I took it as an opportunity to bring up my fears of PCOS to a set of fresh ears, and she gave me the paperwork to go get some blood tests done. I know it's going to cost me an arm and a leg, but at best, my fears are put to rest, and at worst, I start treating something I've always suspected I have. So that's cool. Seeing as how PCOS can increase testosterone in your blood, it could also definitively explain why I've got so much lean mass and hopefully offer some peace on that front, too.

Thanks everyone for all your support and encouragement! It's so nice to have a group of people to check in with and feel accountable to - I kept thinking, "Rest, and then get back in the gym - you don't want to disappoint the girls!" Here's to hoping next week goes smoother.

[Bytsi]

After taking a few days off, I feel a lot better.

I'm glad you feel better!

I know the blood test will cost, but either way at least you'll know if you're dealing with PCOS or not - seems like you're pretty concerned, so it's best that you'll get an answer... good luck with it!

[realcdn]

Originally Posted by rixatrix

After taking a few days off, I feel a lot better. Started to miss my endorphins (I was all grouchy and depressed for no reason, blah). I also ended up at the doctor's Friday (not sick - yeast infection) and my regular doctor was out, so I saw another one. I took it as an opportunity to bring up my fears of PCOS to a set of fresh ears, and she gave me the paperwork to go get some blood tests done. I know it's going to cost me an arm and a leg, but at best, my fears are put to rest, and at worst, I start treating something I've always suspected I have. So that's cool. Seeing as how PCOS can increase testosterone in your blood, it could also definitively explain why I've got so much lean mass and hopefully offer some peace on that front, too.

The only time in my life I've had a yeast infection was while being treated for a pleural infection. It turned out that the drug they had me on actually encouraged the yeast infection to grow. Fun stuff.

I'm glad you're feeling better, and I think the blood tests are probably worth it. If you suspect you have PCOS (from what little I know about it) it's better to know, and then treat it.

I do hope that this week coming goes better for you. I'm thinking that skipping the dip in the lake probably wasn't a bad thing either this week. If the long term forecast holds you'll likely get better weather next weekend. It won't make the water warmer, but it might make coming out better.