Yeah....what Tom K said....it may feel slow...but the rewards for sticking it out will be worth it...you just have to keep telling yourself that...and yes...venting here for SURE!
Thanks Tom for weighing in. It really does help to read your posts. The bicepital tendon is actually feeling better this past week. I am not sure what happened except that I apparently did not reinjure it last week in my lifting. I will protect it a bit this week too just to be sure. In any case am feeling worlds better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willie
....I have to get myself out of this cycle, but I'm not really sure how. I've been working out 9-11 times per week for 14 years. I'm worried about what will happen when I stop?
Sigh. I should probably cut and paste this into my own log just so that I can't deny that I wrote it...
Yes, you should cut and paste this. I have ALWAYS been freaked out by the amount of work that you do. (If I am impressed with somebody's workload that is saying something) For me, it took a pretty serious injury (hamstring muscle and tendon tears) to knock me to my senses. Even that did not happen right away. I fought my physical therapist so hard that he would not let me be released from his program until I had a trainer. Then I fought for some time with the trainer. Now I am pretty chill. The nail in the coffin for me wrt all the cardio and crazy (extra) work was the addition of Alan's program to my life. When he first sent me his program, he specified NO CARDIO. I argued with him and he consented I could do limited amount (3 times a week for 30 min) of cardio. I felt victorious. Then I started his programs and sheepishly had to go back to Alan and tell him that he was right. No cardio was better. My ass got kicked so hard from the volume that I could not even get the anxiet up to do cardio.
I really haven't done cardio on any regular basis for the past 8 months since starting his high volume crazy-ass program. I will occasionally take a run or walk but I cannot even remotely do anything on a regular basis. This bike ride is my first attempt and it did not work. I totally got my ass handed to me in the gym after doing it. It took four days to recover enough for me to do another one of his workouts. The two are just not mixing yet. Like I said... I will do some more experimentation and negotiation but am pretty sure at this point that my big plans of going crazy with cardio are going to all be shot down systematically....
Quote:
Originally Posted by sidonia
Yeah....what Tom K said....it may feel slow...but the rewards for sticking it out will be worth it...you just have to keep telling yourself that...and yes...venting here for SURE!
Thanks Kristen. The venting is actually a huge help to me. I used to never vent on this board but there is some sort of goodness to it.
__________________
The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Good to see you are only human, and yes, TomK is so right.
Willie.. just STOP doing the extra cardio on top of your lifting & rowing. It doesn't add much extra. Honest!
About a year ago, I'd stopped all indoor cardio and the only thing I do is just walking functionally and trying to not use my bicycle even for heavy grocery shopping.
And really, I don't miss it at all.. and maintenance hasn't dropped either. What's more.. I'm finally putting on muscle for the very first time in my lifting career!
I hope you find a cardio balance that works for you. I gotta say I continue to be impressed with how you grit your teeth and keep on keepin on with the diet.
__________________
"Time and patience are the 2 elements that most people don't include in their plans."
-Alan Aragon
"The scale simply tells you how much the earth loves you on a particular day."
-Ogedei (Keith)
Learning to drop the high-interval sweaty dripping mess daily cardio workouts was hard for me too... How many YEARS did I spin my wheels (or spin in my wheel?) before I finally read Leigh's stuff and gave "less is more" a try?
Yes, I still do karate - because, like you, I have a specific performance goal. And I do intervals as part of my training for that - but only 1/week. And I only lift 2/week now... many days, cardio involves strolling around at a leisurely pace... I used to say if you can't mop up the floor, you didn't work out. But I learned.
Thanks guys for stopping by. It means so much to me. I had a pretty rough day of it today. Not sure what is going on, but I am all sorts of emotional and nutso. I got a little bit snarky in my daily report. I wish I could recall that one because whenever I get a little bit snarky I always have to take pics. Bleh....
Did upper workout today and my bicepital tendon is sore again. Should have been more careful. I did not have a stellar workout overall but I did not completely feel defeated. It was just sort of meh. I am freaking out because I fear that I am losing strength. Like I always do at this bf%. Today I took a walk at lunchtime and my ass was dragging. We'll see how this plays out. For now I am just doing things one day at a time and trying my best to comply. Complying was hard today. I really wanted to eat naughty foods and lots of them. This whole hunger thing that Alan gave me is sort of a pain in the ass. I managed to be good though but am wasted tired.
I have been experiencing a very social time at the gym this week. This is a bit unusual as I typically work alone and very seriously. Last night, there was this cute East Indian woman who approached me after my deads and asked me all manners of questions about lifting. She was mightily impressed I guess. Tonight I had an INFBB rep approach me and talk to me about bbing events. He just picked me out of the crowd. The only thing I can think of is that as I shred down I become more noticable. I remember that from last time but I think I was a bit lower bf then. I am more muscled now though.
Anyway... Good and bad and nothing I can do but take it one day at a time. Just like you guys....
__________________
The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Sorry you were draggin....its nice to be noticed for your hard work in the gym though. I had a lady approach me once while I was doing front squats. She was much more lean and muscular then me so it was kinda cool to be noticed by someone like her. (although her lack of knowledge about squats made me wonder....)
Hang in there - it truly is one day at a time. I feel like I vent a lot in my log. Thing is, I don't have a lot of people that can relate to what we do and what we are trying to accomplish. That's why I love this place.
It was just sort of meh. I am freaking out because I fear that I am losing strength. Like I always do at this bf%.
I hate it when I know something intellectually, but I'm not able to control my emotions about it...damn human body.
I'm thinking about you Karla...you're amazing and I admire your singlemindedness.
Sorry you were draggin....
Hang in there - it truly is one day at a time. I feel like I vent a lot in my log. Thing is, I don't have a lot of people that can relate to what we do and what we are trying to accomplish. That's why I love this place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elisabethd
I hate it when I know something intellectually, but I'm not able to control my emotions about it...damn human body. I'm thinking about you Karla...you're amazing and I admire your singlemindedness.
Thanks girls. This place is the awesomest. Everything in my body wants to go out and DO something right now that I know will sabatoge what I am doing. I want to eat and to give up and/or turn to some sort of chemicals. The dark side of me takes over and I feel like all this work is going to shit anyway....
It feels great to have such a good support team of friends here to help me see things in a different light. Deep down inside I know what is right but there is this force that keeps pulling me.
Speaking of support team, my snarky daily report (with NO information or stats) was well played by Alan looking back over it. He simply replied back in an equally snarky tone (but with a smile and an "I love you") that I need to send in my daily report stats. (Have I ever told you guys how much I HATE doing daily reports?) Even with the smiles that reply actually pissed me off so I basically told him to screw off with his daily stats.... I figured that would get him off my case for awhile. He replied with a laugh and mentioned something about curling me. He completely and totally ignored my emotion and refused to play into it even. How can I win against that? (bastard) LOL! I gave up.
So he sux at drinking contests and eating contests BUT when the deck is stacked for me to sabbatage everything I have worked for, he plays a mean game and that is where it counts in my book. So... I agreed to start sending in my dailys again and am going to chill for a tiny bit to see what is next.
This is where the whole thing gets really, really interesting in my book. The thing that is bothersome to me right now is that I am at 15% (at the low end) bf right now and I am showing symptoms of a bber at much lower bf%. Or perhaps someone with an imbalance of some sort. I should not be seeing these sorts of troubles this early in the process. I don't know what this means, but hopefully the answer will come out in the next little while. I am guessing there will be some decisions to make soon....
__________________
The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Seriously having those two people single you out in the gym should only further your thinking that what you are doing it making a huge difference!
Also...good for Alan...and...good for you...if you can't be snarky at the one who's torturing you who can you snark out at?
It is true that things are changing. I know that and am pretty consoled by it actually. Alan told me, he was fine with the snarky because it all comes with the fiery warrior within thing in me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcoy777
Just dropping by to say Hi. Sorry to hear things are bit crazy at the gym these days. I am sure you will pull out of the funk soon enough.
Rest up a bit!
thanks friend. I will do...
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanceDiva
Hi sis. Why were you up so late?
Actually I am getting pretty excited about my next big adventure in life and was working on it. I am going to enter into a week-long Master Class in June (Classical Guitar) and at the end of that event I will be performing. I have been working on the Bach Cello Suite 1 for nearly 5 years and this year I will perform it for the first time in a formal setting. In a musician's life cycle, performing Bach respectably is a HUGE milestone in their career. So, yeah... The forum break was sort of a break from the guitar work... I generally stay up until 1 or 2AM anyway btw. (Esp Thrs-Sat nights)
Quote:
Originally Posted by stingo
I think Karla has something more than that to tell us.
Gawd Tom.... I guess I should confess my sins here too now and get it all out. So after a bunch of back and forth snarky emails Alan finally sort of lit into me a tiny bit and I promised to send him the daily reports to include the one I had missed. After I got home from a guitar performance practice, I sat down at my computer and started to put all the data in the Excel Spreadsheets for Alan. (Tom and I were IMing at the time and Jennifer joined in too at one point) Anyway... As I began to enter my data for the workout, I discovered that I had PRd in 4-5 different lifts. I did worse in flat bench and maybe one other but other than that the workout was actually pretty strong. So... all that fucking drama over losing strength when the facts are that I really am not losing strength.
Here are my quick thoughts on things that happened this week though. Yesterday I noticed that I felt strong again. I am talking about all over strong. You see the week before I felt almost like I had the flu sort of weak. I was actually dragging my ass just to walk to the bathroom. It was terrible. But last night on the way home from work I remember when this happened before. It was the first week or two of this diet. I lost my strength and went through some pretty weird ass emotional swings. So my theory is that this past weekend I did some pretty nice carb loading (one with the bike ride and the other on Sunday just because) and that caused me to have to go back through the low carb symptoms again. My bbing buddies are confirming that happens to some of them too but the symptoms of coming back from a refeed get easier and easier to adjust to with time and experience.
I really don't know if that is what happened but that is what I am goingn with for today. Mentally I am strong again. It is the emotional and mental part of this that is so weird and crazy. I swear I am so uptight and emotional that I am afraid for my ownself. It is like there is someone else in my body. I feel like I am not able to control things. Like the snarky email I sent. That is SO not me... It just doesn't make sense especially given the fact that I had not even compared the data. I was just tired, and sore and pissed about the flat bench lift being off which turned into all my LBM is going away and all these fitness professionals are fucking lying and out to get me. (It's really completely whacked and I know it deep down inside but I can't get the logic to take over my actions)
The other possibility here (of course) is menopause. In which case we are in for a very, long and scary ride now. LOL!
__________________
The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Actually I am getting pretty excited about my next big adventure in life and was working on it. I am going to enter into a week-long Master Class in June (Classical Guitar) and at the end of that event I will be performing. I have been working on the Bach Cello Suite 1 for nearly 5 years and this year I will perform it for the first time in a formal setting. In a musician's life cycle, performing Bach respectably is a HUGE milestone in their career. So, yeah... The forum break was sort of a break from the guitar work... I generally stay up until 1 or 2AM anyway btw. (Esp Thrs-Sat nights)
(It's really completely whacked and I know it deep down inside but I can't get the logic to take over my actions)
The other possibility here (of course) is menopause. In which case we are in for a very, long and scary ride now. LOL!
Karla, I'm so impressed with the Bach...I could do some Bach on the Violin when I was playing regularly, but I could never perform it...Although I think the inquiring minds were hoping for some smut.
On the menopause thing....sorry, babe, it's a very real possibility. On the bright side, you will love how you feel when the hormones are out of your system. I hate to say it, but during this whole process I have been much more able to control weight AND my emotions when I don't have the hormonal havoc...unfortunately it comes and goes for a while....I have been telling dh recently that the childbearing years were just one long hormonal hell, and I'm glad to be leaving them...
Quote:
Originally Posted by stingo
Well, on the positive side, you could just be crazy.
Yep souds like you were going through the 'induction flu' again like the Atkins people like to say. While your carbs aren't so low as theirs, your workouts have so much intensity the net effect is very similar..you originally do better on higher carb intake, so .. it takes more time to re-adapt to the low-carbing.
Some people always do better on high carbs, some always do better on low carbs, and some lucky bastards can flit back& forth between both types of diet w/o noticing.
Yet, take care of yourself.We only want you stronger & more muscular, not crazier or sick. That tale of dragging your ass etc. got me really worried.
I honestly don't believe menopause. Two reasons. 1. Neither my Mother nor my Grandmother had any real problems during menopause. 2. This is exactly the same thing that happened to me during my first weeks of this diet. It all started with this diet.
That said, it hits me emotionally like I hear menopause does. So... we'll see.... Like I said earlier this is a big game of WAIT AND SEE.
Espi, I appreiate your worry but I honestly don't think it is founded. On days that I ride my bike to work (the 52 miler) I am consuming nearly 3k of food. I hardly think that is under nurished. While there are only 230g of carbs that is still a goodly amount of carbs. Also keep in mind that I always do 120g of carbs a day anyway. I am hardly on a dangerously "low" carb diet and definately not at all at risk for being under nurished. As I play this game a little more, I will figure out where my tolerance levels are for low carbs, what triggers them, etc. As I understand it, it is beneficial to keep carbs lower for fat loss and esp the sort of fat loss that I want to do. I may never be able to do the crazy ass carb cycling diets such as UD2 though... I think it was smart of Alan to do it this way for me actually given my inability to cope with it. From my bbing sources, I understand that I can work through this and make it less and less painful. We'll see....
Today I purposely did NOT ride my bike to work. Giving everything a break this week and time to settle back. I am doing legs tonight. Have my fingers crossed for lots of mojo and brotastic-ness.
__________________
The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Yes, you should cut and paste this. I have ALWAYS been freaked out by the amount of work that you do. (If I am impressed with somebody's workload that is saying something) For me, it took a pretty serious injury (hamstring muscle and tendon tears) to knock me to my senses. Even that did not happen right away. I fought my physical therapist so hard that he would not let me be released from his program until I had a trainer. Then I fought for some time with the trainer. Now I am pretty chill. The nail in the coffin for me wrt all the cardio and crazy (extra) work was the addition of Alan's program to my life. When he first sent me his program, he specified NO CARDIO. I argued with him and he consented I could do limited amount (3 times a week for 30 min) of cardio. I felt victorious. Then I started his programs and sheepishly had to go back to Alan and tell him that he was right. No cardio was better. My ass got kicked so hard from the volume that I could not even get the anxiet up to do cardio.
I really haven't done cardio on any regular basis for the past 8 months since starting his high volume crazy-ass program. I will occasionally take a run or walk but I cannot even remotely do anything on a regular basis. This bike ride is my first attempt and it did not work. I totally got my ass handed to me in the gym after doing it. It took four days to recover enough for me to do another one of his workouts. The two are just not mixing yet. Like I said... I will do some more experimentation and negotiation but am pretty sure at this point that my big plans of going crazy with cardio are going to all be shot down systematically....
This is so timely, it's not even funny. As I wrote in my own log, I feel like shit... just completely run down, while also ravenous and light-headed.
I am slowly coming around on the cardio issue. I realize that until I stop rowing (when, perhaps, I can do no cardio?), which honestly is not likely to happen, I don't have the option of NO cardio. I do, however, have the option of not going to the gym to do extra cardio for no particular reason. I have to get rid of my "more is always better" attitude.
I'm hoping that our trip to Europe (which will also be a refeed ) will give my body some time to re-set itself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Espi
Willie.. just STOP doing the extra cardio on top of your lifting & rowing. It doesn't add much extra. Honest!
About a year ago, I'd stopped all indoor cardio and the only thing I do is just walking functionally and trying to not use my bicycle even for heavy grocery shopping.
And really, I don't miss it at all.. and maintenance hasn't dropped either. What's more.. I'm finally putting on muscle for the very first time in my lifting career!
This really is what I need to hear. I "get it" that I'm not going to suddenly gain 15 pounds if I stop doing 3 extra hours of cardio a week. Rationally, I understand that, but there is still a huge fear that I will explode.
I'm walking 60 miles for a breast cancer cure, September 11-13, 2009! Please support my walk and help me raise funds for cancer research by donating to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day: http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/...nal&fr_id=1300
This really is what I need to hear. I "get it" that I'm not going to suddenly gain 15 pounds if I stop doing 3 extra hours of cardio a week. Rationally, I understand that, but there is still a huge fear that I will explode.
I totally GET that it isn't as easy as just STOPPING the cardio. (See my post to Cloveapple today for some of my own history with this) Still you are taking first steps and that's what counts.
RL: I so LOVE you man. ROTFLMAO! If we could only keep the ovaries in tact that would be good.
To the rest of you: I am in the gym in less than 1 hour's time. I feel ready to kick ass. I'll be baaaaaack!
__________________
The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Well, on the positive side, you could just be crazy.
Thanks Tom for the vote of confidence...
Quote:
Originally Posted by elisabethd
Karla, I'm so impressed with the Bach...I could do some Bach on the Violin when I was playing regularly, but I could never perform it...Although I think the inquiring minds were hoping for some smut.
On the menopause thing....sorry, babe, it's a very real possibility. ...
Oh I got lots of smut I can share too. Just did not think that was highly appropriate for this board.
Tonight I went to this open mic in a small town near me to do a pratice performance of my pieces. This open mic has primarily strummers and singers in it so when I waltz in there is always an uproar of sorts. It is unique and fun to hear something new. The person who runs actually it credits me for starting the whole event because I was the first person who came to them back 4 years ago. Every time it is my turn to play, he tells the story and gives me a hug. I also fund them since becoming a 501 3c organization. So there are always a lot of hugs and compliments and even a few groupies are there. (People who follow me to all my performances) Needless to say, the performance went decently enough. It's funny when I am playing Bach for this audience (or almost anything for that matter) they NEVER seem to hear mistakes. I carry the melody and miss a note in the bass or middle voice and nobody seems to hear it. Now when I perform for a classical crowd..... Different story... In just 3 weeks the real pressure is on in the Master Class. Yikes!
Quote:
Originally Posted by sidonia
May the Power of the BROMASTER be with you:
That pic is freak'n priceless. Hey we can talk shit about Alan today through end of the month. He found my log once but he will never in a million years read it with AARR coming out soon. LOL!
Okay so drum roll please... Workout was more brotastic than not. I am happy. I feel like my mojo is back and that I am making progress again. I think Espi hit it on the head with the term, "Induction flu". I did some research on this and I am pretty sure I get it and that is what that was. So my question now is why the fuck my nutritionist did not warn me about this or point me to it? My guess is he figured I already knew about it. Or maybe he doesn't believe in it... I don't know.. That is my question for the evening. Heck, if I had known that this is what happens it would have saved me a lot of worry. I thought it was me going down for the count. I am nervous because my bf% is low enough now for the LBM to start leaving my body.
Anyway... it looks like I am back again. At least for now....
__________________
The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Yay for a good performance (with some flaws that nobody but an overly critical crowd would hear) as well as a bro-tastic workout.
And again, really it is not true that you can't be in ketosis above 100g of carbs.. it's just a matter of balancing input vs output. If your efforts are big enough and your body is in carb-burning mode , you burn through a lot more carbs than when you're in fat-burning aka ketosis mode. Some people just are able to transition from low-carb to high-carb and the reverse much faster and you are obviously not one of them.
For me, it took a pretty serious injury (hamstring muscle and tendon tears) to knock me to my senses. Even that did not happen right away. I fought my physical therapist so hard that he would not let me be released from his program until I had a trainer. Then I fought for some time with the trainer. Now I am pretty chill. The nail in the coffin for me wrt all the cardio and crazy (extra) work was the addition of Alan's program to my life. When he first sent me his program, he specified NO CARDIO. I argued with him and he consented I could do limited amount (3 times a week for 30 min) of cardio. I felt victorious. Then I started his programs and sheepishly had to go back to Alan and tell him that he was right. No cardio was better. My ass got kicked so hard from the volume that I could not even get the anxiet up to do cardio. 
Should have been more careful. I did not have a stellar workout overall but I did not completely feel defeated. It was just sort of meh. I am freaking out because I fear that I am losing strength. Like I always do at this bf%. 
Linear Mode
