Ramona's NROL log for 2009

Ramona · 03-01-2009, 08:26 AM

Hi there - I have been reading this message board periodically for several months but haven't posted much. My focus has intensified as of late so I am hoping I can keep an ongoing log.

About me:

Age: 33
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 153
BF: Somewhere in the mid to upper 20's. Our digital calipers put me at about 26% but my husband isn't trained to use them past reading the instructions that came with them. Online neck/abdomen calculators have me higher - closer to 29%.

I have been doing the program from NROL4W since last October with a few breaks here and there. This was my first experience lifting free weights in any serious way and I love it! I would be moving on to stage 6 but am making a shift to the fat loss routine from NROL. I am a little clearer on my goals now and what I really need to focus on is fat loss. I followed the nutrition advice in NROL4W for a few months but found I wasn't really losing much fat, even when I cut out the extra 300 calories.

I am dying to purchase and read The Fat Loss Troubleshoot. But, since for the time being I am poor I have been having to try and satisfy myself with reading whatever I can that is available for free (sorry!). My hope is that over the next few weeks I'll be able to gather the extra funds. Just weighing everything I eat down to the gram has been extremely helpful. I have been aiming for 1400 calories and 135g protein.... my carbs end up at about 110g. I've never aimed for less than 1500 calories before but I am finding it is not so bad. I am definitely dropping scale weight so in that sense it is working extremely well.

I am very motivated to finally stop messing around with losing a few pounds here and there and constantly living on a sort of semi-diet that isn't really working. I am finally back to the weight I was before becoming pregnant with twins 4 years ago but I want to finally drop all the extra fat and become the stronger more athletic person I have always wanted to be.

To that end I am starting this log for 2 reasons:

1) Tracking, loggin, and monitoring my progress helps me to stay motivated and focused on my goals.
2) While my family is very supportive I am not really a part of a community where I can receive much advice or feedback - so anything I can get from you kind people is greatly appreciated!

NROL break-in
(I love love love this workout, by the way - also seems like it is over in a flash compared to the NROL4W workouts I was doing previously). I have no idea what I was thinking but I accidentally did Workout A twice instead of doing Workout B. So I may just do Workout B an extra time at the end... or something....

Here are my first 2 workouts - both A

Workout 1A and 2A

Squat
2x15: 50, 50
2x15: 50, 50

Static Lunge
2x15: 20, 20
2x15: 20, 20

2-pt Row with Elbow Out
2x15: 20, 30
2x15: 30, 30

Push-ups 0-deg
2 x 15: 10+5, 12+3
2 x 15: 12+3, 10+5

Swiss Ball Crunch
2 x 20: BW, BW
2 x 20: BW, BW

I have been lifing entirely from home. I have a membership at a gym but I can only go a couple times a week so I use it to do HIIT since i don't have any cardio equipment at home and live in a cold climate. Also, to be totally honest, I have been a little freaked out by the equipment there. There don't appear to be any trainers at my gym.. just this one beefy guy who owns the place. So I finally worked up the courage to ask him to show me around some of the equipment this coming Tuesday. It will be so much more convenient be able to do my routine at the gym on the days I'm there anyway.

kmnutt · 03-01-2009, 11:26 AM

Ramona, good luck. I'm newish to this site and have found everyone very helpful and reading some of the other training logs and entries seems to help keep the motivation up. The nutrition area is also a good read. Keep it up!

Ken.

clubchub · 03-25-2009, 09:01 PM

Ramona, we have a lot of things in common. I just finished NROLFW and loved it. It helped me become fitter and stronger. And as it was my first experience with free weights, I learned a lot. I really want to buy FLT too, but $77 is too steep for a plan I might not be able to stick with. I just started NROL (I'm beginning with Fat Loss II) and started a training log on these forums.

Good luck with your goals. I'll be following your progress.

stingo · 03-25-2009, 10:52 PM

Good idea getting the owner to show you the equipment. I'm not sure what gear you have at home, but NROL is pretty much based on the assumption you've access to a good amount of gear (assuming you wanted to do it exactly as written, without substitutions). If you aren't already, take midsection measurements along with your daily weigh-in. Sometimes the scale won't show movement but your waist will. Good luck with your journey - will be following along.