Losin' the weight....Leigh Peele Style!

[dillytl]

Hi Stephanie!!! Looks like you are on the right track with your menus and your workouts!!

I took measurements today (do them every 29th or so of the month) and I was happy to see that I lost another inch off my hips and an inch off my waist. My body fat % is slowly dropping and I'm happy about that, too.

Sooooooooo.......I'm moving in the right direction, even if it's ever so slowly.

Congrats on the lost inches and body fat %!

[LoriAnne]

Hey Stephanie!

Just wanted to say great work with your workouts and your food, it sounds like things are clicking for you. It was great to read that you have seen losses in weight, inches, and BF%! Keep up the hard work, you are doing fantastic!

[stephanie932]

I just got done with my NROL4W B3 Workout! WOW.......I'm so excited! I got to up my weights today and I deadlifted 62 pounds!!! And......I did shoulder presses with 15 lbs. in each hand, wide grip lat pulldowns with 40 pounds on each side and 48 lunges holding 10 pounds in each hand!!! I never, ever thought I'd be able to do that! Yayyyyyyy!!! Sorry for the "coloring" but I'm stoked!!! LOL




Workout B3

Warm-up & cool-down from Cathe's Muscle Max DVD:

A: Deadlifts: 2 sets; 12 reps; 62 pounds
B1: Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 2 sets; 12 reps; 15 pounds
B2: Wide-Grip Lat Pulldowns: 2 sets; 12 reps; 40 pounds on each side of BowFlex
C1: Lunges: 2 sets; 12 reps; 10 pounds in each hand
C2: Swiss-Ball Crunches: 2 sets (knees & legs tight together); 20


I think I'm most amazed by my shoulder presses and my lunges. I just commented on another board to some girls doing NROL4W that I have to bow down to any of them who do them with 10lbs. or more. And I did that today!!! I am going to have to do something to make the Swiss-Ball crunches a bit more difficult......maybe hold a weight while extending my arms??? Any ideas?

I'm just so pleased because I really had to talk myself into working out today. My knees still ache from last week, I'm tired, I just had 2 days w/o lifting why not take another one.......you know I had all of the "excuses"......but, I did it. And I did it better than I had expected.

Off to make dinner and pound a whey shake!

[dillytl]

Originally Posted by stephanie932

I just got done with my NROL4W B3 Workout! WOW.......I'm so excited! I got to up my weights today and I deadlifted 62 pounds!!! And......I did shoulder presses with 15 lbs. in each hand, wide grip lat pulldowns with 40 pounds on each side and 48 lunges holding 10 pounds in each hand!!! I never, ever thought I'd be able to do that! Yayyyyyyy!!! Sorry for the "coloring" but I'm stoked!!! LOL




Workout B2

Warm-ups recommended in the book followed by:

A: Deadlifts: 2 sets; 12 reps; 62 pounds
B1: Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 2 sets; 12 reps; 15 pounds
B2: Wide-Grip Lat Pulldowns: 2 sets; 12 reps; 40 pounds on each side of BowFlex
C1: Lunges: 2 sets; 12 reps; 10 pounds in each hand
C2: Swiss-Ball Crunches: 2 sets (knees & legs tight together); 20


I think I'm most amazed by my shoulder presses and my lunges. I just commented on another board to some girls doing NROL4W that I have to bow down to any of them who do them with 10lbs. or more. And I did that today!!! I am going to have to do something to make the Swiss-Ball crunches a bit more difficult......maybe hold a weight while extending my arms??? Any ideas?

I'm just so pleased because I really had to talk myself into working out today. My knees still ache from last week, I'm tired, I just had 2 days w/o lifting why not take another one.......you know I had all of the "excuses"......but, I did it. And I did it better than I had expected.

Off to make dinner and pound a whey shake!

Stephanie -


on hitting all those milestones! Isnt that just the BEST feeling?? Especially after you have to talk yourself into it!!!

As for the crunches, someone else had pretty much the same question as you on New Rules forum - check out this post from Julie (UConnJulie) which has a video that might help you out!

[rixatrix]

Originally Posted by stephanie932

I am going to have to do something to make the Swiss-Ball crunches a bit more difficult......maybe hold a weight while extending my arms??? Any ideas?

I'm just so pleased because I really had to talk myself into working out today. My knees still ache from last week, I'm tired, I just had 2 days w/o lifting why not take another one.......you know I had all of the "excuses"......but, I did it. And I did it better than I had expected.

First, congrats on motivating yourself and having a wonderful gym session! It feels good, doesn't it? Next time you won't want to go, you'll remember this. One time I had PMS and ate a whole chocolate bar, and then was like, "Oh, I've blown it, I may as well skip the gym, too." But I talked myself into going and had the BEST lifting day. I guess all that sugar really pumped me up!

As for the swiss ball crunches, I'm doing them holding a weight. You can hold a dumbbell or a flat weight, and just keep your arms over your head. It feels really good! I want to puke by the fifteenth rep. (yeah! woo!) You can really feel your abs working.

And really great on those lunges! You're getting stronger. Lunges are my LEAST favorite so I really think your progress is great!

[stephanie932]

Originally Posted by dillytl

As for the crunches, someone else had pretty much the same question as you on New Rules forum - check out this post from Julie (UConnJulie) which has a video that might help you out!

Thanks so much for the video. I think my lower back may be positioned too far down on the ball as I can't lean back as far as he does. I definitely feel them working and I do tighten up my glutes and hamstrings while doing the exercise, but compared to the prone jackknives these are much easier for me. I'll also try putting my arms beside my ears for B4, too.

Originally Posted by rixatrix

And really great on those lunges! You're getting stronger. Lunges are my LEAST favorite so I really think your progress is great!

Thank-you! I have to say that they are probably my most dreaded exercise, too. But, once I'm done, I feel my butt and quads and know they are definitely targeting the area I need the most work on.




Here are my eats for today! My fat % is a bit high, but it's from trying a new recipe for a 1-minute flax muffin. If I hadn't had that, it wouldn't be nearly as high.

Breakfast: 1-minute flaxmeal muffin; 4 pc. canadian bacon; 2 cups coffee; 2 Tbsp. ff cream

Snack: None

Lunch: Grilled chicken salad in a tortilla bowl (only ate 1/3 of that) w/ cucumbers, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, pepperjack cheese; 1.5 Tbsp. Ranch dressing; lemon water

Snack: ON Whey shake w/ 1 cup 1% milk

Dinner: 1 cup brown rice; 2 oz. chuck-eye steak in a stir-fry w/ broccoli and onion

Snack: Fiber-One bar


Macros: Calories: 1881 27%c/30%p/42%f

[Karen411]

Stephanie, it looks like you're off to a great start! You're making great progress with the weights and doing well tweaking your diet, too.

[MuscleMom23]

Woohoo Steph on the weights. I had to take some knee time off and I came back stronger too. Must be the rest huh?

It is FUN to lift more weight!

[stephanie932]

Workout A4

Warm-ups & Cool-downs using Cathe Friedrich's Supersets DVD, then followed by:

A: Squats: 1 set; 12 reps; 55 pounds & 1 set; 12 reps; 45 pounds

B1: Push-Ups: 1 set of 12 reps @ 30 degrees & 1 set of 2 reps on the floor and 10 at 45 degrees!!!

B2: Seated Rows: 2 sets; 12 reps; 45 pounds w/ each arm w/ Bowflex

C1: Step-Ups: 2 sets w/ 10 lbs. in each hand; 12 reps; 12" bench

C2: Prone Jackknife: 2 sets; 10 (Much better today!)


I'm thinking of going even lighter on my squats and seeing if I can get more range of motion. Today w/o weights I was practicing before-hand and I can tell I'm improving.....but, with weights I lose the same ROM....maybe for A5, I'll focus on that more instead of the amount of weight.

[MuscleMom23]

WOW great on the floor push ups, I haven't tried yet

[stephanie932]

I guarantee they weren't very pretty.......LOL.........BUT.. ....I could never, ever do one from the floor before.

Even if they weren't the best, now I know I can at least try for a few out of my sets.

[stephanie932]

My eats for today.......were pretty spot on!


Breakfast: 1 cup 1% cottage cheese w/ 1 tbsp. chopped pecans, 1 tbsp. raisins, cinnamon and a splash of DaVinci's Caramel; 2 cups coffee w/ 3 Tbsp. ff Coffee-Mate

Snack: HB egg

Lunch: Spinach salad w/ 2oz. chicken, 2 cherry tomatoes, a HB egg, blue cheese and Ken's light Balsamic Vinaigarette dressing; 1 cup ff milk

Snack (pre-workout): 1 mini whole wheat bagel w/ 1 Tbsp. peanut butter

Snack (post-workout): ON Whey shake w/ 1 cup 1% milk

Dinner: 2.5oz. chuck-eye steak and 6 oz. whole wheat pasta w/ Mrs. Dash Steak seasoning

Snack: Fiber-One bar

1,834 calories: 35% c/33% p/31% f

[stephanie932]

I'm just basically bumping this up so I could find it. I've been down-and-out with the flu since the 8th of this month but I'm ready to start back tomorrow. I'm going to attempt to pick up where I left off to see how I do, but if I see that I can't do it, I may repeat a few workouts.

I feel the need to vent here because I'm so very frustrated with a friend of mine who I fear is really going to hurt herself with her training/eating. She recently got a private trainer and has been doing some kick-ass workouts that make me tremble just thinking about them. She is doing cardio and strength and working super hard.....I'm so proud of what she is doing (she even mentioned she has to go buy new clothes already).

The first 2 weeks of working with him she was eating about 1,600 calories. She hasn't lost a thing (except for inches, which she should be so proud of) so the trainer is dropping her to 1,300-1,400 calories. He said that since her BMR is about 1,600 and she is breaking even w/ her calories that she needs to drop to the lower calories to see a weightloss. Now, after giving her the advice that I really believe in with these NROL4W workouts, she has been offended and asked that I not talk about it anymore because she is paying a trainer to do his job. I'm sooooooo mad right now. I know I'm not a trainer and I know I should keep my mouth shut but this is just really bothering me. I'm so worried she is going to overtrain and hit rock bottom fast.

I told her that she should know that I'm only speaking out of concern but that I won't comment on anything dealing with her workouts or calories again.....but, I'm really saddened by her take on all of this. Maybe if I were paying a trainer, I would think the same thing......so, I'll just mind my own business.

Okay, I'm done venting and I feel a little better.........and, I'm all set for workout B4 tomorrow.

[prof41]

The first 2 weeks of working with him she was eating about 1,600 calories. She hasn't lost a thing (except for inches, which she should be so proud of) so the trainer is dropping her to 1,300-1,400 calories. He said that since her BMR is about 1,600 and she is breaking even w/ her calories that she needs to drop to the lower calories to see a weightloss. Now, after giving her the advice that I really believe in with these NROL4W workouts, she has been offended and asked that I not talk about it anymore because she is paying a trainer to do his job. I'm sooooooo mad right now. I know I'm not a trainer and I know I should keep my mouth shut but this is just really bothering me. I'm so worried she is going to overtrain and hit rock bottom fast.

I told her that she should know that I'm only speaking out of concern but that I won't comment on anything dealing with her workouts or calories again.....but, I'm really saddened by her take on all of this. Maybe if I were paying a trainer, I would think the same thing......so, I'll just mind my own business.

Okay, I'm done venting and I feel a little better.........and, I'm all set for workout B4 tomorrow.[/quote]


Hey Stephanie

Two years ago I hired a PT also, with a really good rep. In fact the workout he prescribed are very similar to NROLW, but he put me on a 1300 cal nutrition program. I did it for 3 months, but was so sick of eating so little that there was no way I would have continued. I've been doing NROLW for almost as long now and am nowhere being as crazy about food at the last time. I'm using maintenance levels according to the book which for me is about 400 - 700 cal more a day. I figure I have seen about the same results in this time frame. No much weight loss, but loss in inches.

I'm not sick, I don't feel like I'm starving and am looking forward to continuing the program. Plus on the previous program, people started asking me if I was sick not because I lost that much weight, but I think my fats were too low and I had this gaunt look to my face.

Sometimes I think PT's, because they are being paid by us, want to ensure we see results and the most ''Known'' way to lose weight is cutting calories. I told my PT there is no way I could eat like that on a long term basis.

Anyway, I suppose each person is so different, and we all equate low cal's with weight loss, so it ''makes sense'' to alot of people to do this.
If your friend sees your results, she may decide to reconsider...if she's hungry enough

Nothin better than results to make people pay attention.