BabyG79’s BodyBlog

It’s been a good week.  I’ve been hitting the gym consistently all week.  TB hasn’t been so pumped to workout this week but at least my workout buddy at work has remained on trakc with me.  She’s pretty much been having me guide her with the strength training since she’s really never done it before.  I think that she might think I"m trying to kill her though.  She’s probably been more sore over the last two weeks then she’s ever been.  At first she seemed a little concerned but I think I’ve convinced her that being sore isn’t a bad thing as long as it’s not completely debilitating.  I’ve noticed that so many people (especially women) have the mentality that if you are sore the next day then you did something wrong.  This baffles me.  I feel like I wasted my time if I’m not feeling it for at least two days after a workout.  I remember the first time I ever touched a weight, when I was 14 in the high school weight room, I was thrilled that I could actually squat my body weight.  My legs were screaming for the next 4 days but I loved it.  I could feel them changing.  To me that’s what it’s all about!  Anyway, I digress….we workout out together every day except for TUesday.  I actually did a split routine on Monday doing 1 hour of cardio and abs in the afternoon with her and an hour of upper body in the evening.  We went to the stability ball class yesterday and I didn’t feel so stable since we also worked out chest, biceps, triceps, lats and shoulders the day before on Wed.  I kept falling off the ball!  Oh well.  We didn’t do toomuch on lower body this week outside of the ball class and the cardio so we’re going to hit glutes, quads, calves and hammys today so I can have the weekend to recover.

I officially set my shoprt term goals this week to be:

1) DO 5 unassisted pull-ups

2) Lose 20 lbs

…target date is 5-2

Oh, where to start.  I knew I was off track but I finally got the courage to add it all up today.  I took new pictures which I’m calling my starting (yet again) pics.  From what I can see all my progress sinc this time last year is ruined.  I’ve only been out of the gym 4 months and have managed to undo 12 months worth of work.  Technically I have only gained back 10 lbs of the 21 that I lost, but it sure feels like 50.

Ok, enough of the pity party.  What am I doing about it?  Everything that I should be.  I’ve been back in the gym for about 3 weeks.  I’m at the point where I’ve gained a little muscle but havne’t seen much fat loss yet so the scale is a little discouraging.  I know that I’ll be seeing resultls soon though.  Another big change for me this time aound is that I have a gym buddy (aside from TB).  I go to the gym with TB at least 3 nights a week and we do our cardio and weight training together.  But recently I have started working out with a lady that I work with.  We just finished week 1 and I"m optimistic.  Right now our plan is to go Mon, Tue, Thur & Fri.  We willdo 30 min of cardio and 30 min of strength training (breaking up lower body and upper body on different days).  Then we do a stability ball class on Thursdays. 

 So I have it all mapped out.  My biggest challenge will be if TB or my workout buddy at work backs out on me.  Then I will need ot find the motivation to go on my own.  That’s always where I get stalled.  I"ll just have to get past that I suppose.

 Food wise I"m still following the basic South Beach diet.  I’ve digressed into phase 3 permanently, so I"ll be going back to phase 1 this week which basically eliminates sugars and carbs.  It will be rough getting rid of my carb cravings again but as long as TB is on board, which he says he is, that will make it easier.

Ok, I’ll skip the usual excuses for why I haven’t blogged…they have all been said before.  I’m busy, tired, hungry, lazy…whatever, I haven’t been blogging.  Moving on…

…so, despite my lack of presence on bodyspace, I have made wonderful progress in the last few months.  I have stuck with my new diet since Jan and it’s really paying off now.  It’s basically a common sense diet inspired by South Beach, where I have little or no refined sugar, bleached flour, and all the other evil stuff.  I am getting my sugar mostly through fruit (which I’m loving by the way) and I get plenty of healthy whole grains (triscuits, whole wheat bagels, brown rice, etc).  I also get my fill of poultry and lots and lots of veggies.  The progress on this diet is obviously slower then, lets say, Sugar Busters or Atkins, but this is also maintainable for me.  I’m made a solemn vow with myself not to exclude good carbs adn fruit form my diet anymore because i just can’t maintain a diet without them.  Now I think my body has finally come around   I’m only down another 6 lbs since March (from 152 to 146), but I’ve also really toned up, so I think there’s some exchange of fat to muscle that’s not reflected on the scale.  BF% is down to 23% so I’m thrilled!  I really need to post some new pics to show my progess.  I’m thinking that I’ll do that right before we leave for our cruise.  I bought a new bikini that I’m determined to look good in   So, for the next 2 1/2 weeks, I’m hitting the gym often and really watching my intake.  For the last few days my diet has been 3 or 4 protien shakes and day and a dinner consisting of a protien, a veggie and a grain.  It works out well because I really love my protien shakes:

1 scoop Vanilla Body Fortress Whey Protien (delivers 23 grams of protein per one-scoop serving, 110 calories, 1 carb, and 35 grams of cholesterol. Unlike some of the more expensive brands that list dozens of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals)

 8 oz Minute Maid Light OJ

1/2 cup of fresh mixed strawberries, blueberries and pineapple

1 egg white

…it’s like going to Jamba Juice 3 times a day!  I’ve been drinking these babies for about a month and it really curbs the hunger without overfilling me.  It’s nice and easy for breakfast too.  I’ve started making them for TB in the morning too.  He begrudgingly drank them at first since he would rather have 32 oz or thick chalky crap with 100 grams of protien, but think he’s come around…he really seems ot like them despite himself

Ok, I better get back to work!  I’ll try and keep up with my blog at least for the next two weeks while I’m getting ready for the cruise!  I’ll get new pics up soon.

 Cheers!

I have not dropped off the face of the earth, I promise.  I am still working out an deating healthy, I just have seriously neglected my blog.  I have had zero time to log on for the last several weeks but I plan to post some new pictures and current stats in the next few days so keep your eyes peeled

Ok, I have not fallen off the wagon, Ijust haven’t been logging in.  I have not made it to the gym except once this week so I feel bad about that, but in my defese, I haev been getting used to my new school schedule.  I’m in class three nights a week now until 10:00 so I trying to figure out when I will be fitting in my workouts.  I guess I"m just goign to have to get up earlier!

 I have, on the other hand been faithful to my diet.  I have not dropped much more this week but I also haven’t ganed back anything I’ve lost.  Since I started three weeks ago I’m down 9 lbs and counting.  I even started introducing fruit back into the diet this weekand I have not noticed any gain so I’m thrilled about that.  It gives me faith that I can eat wel, eat healthy and not deprive myself completely of the whole fruits and grains that I love…next comes whole grains and brown rice…we shall see.

I’m going to tyr and squeeze in a workout before sundown, more later…

Well, I started school again this week so I didn’t get a chance to workout Monday or Tuesday night.  I have school again on Thur night so I’m for sure going to the gym tonight.  I’m actually really sore from my Sunday night workout still but I’m not going to let that stop me.  I’m getting more and more frustrated about not being able to do any real cardio so I’m trying to come up with a good alternative…haven’t come up with any so far.  In the mean time I’m just watching very closely what I eat.

The diet is going really well.  So far I’ve lost about 4.5 lbs since I started a week and a half ago and I’ve mainted that loss without starving myself for the last 5 days.  I’m hoping to drop at least another 2 or 3 before induction is over.  I know I can do it, I’m carrying at least that much in water weight I’m sure.  I’m halfway through the second week of the induction phase and I don’t find myself missing the sugar, bread or bad carbs for the most part, unless it’s right in front of my face.  The only setback I’ve had is when someone brought in donuts to work the other day   I hadn’t eaten breakfast like I should and, being the recovering chocoholic that I am, temporary insanity made actually cut out a single bite of a one of the choolate glazed (much to everyone’s irritation in the office).  I gobbled it up and it was gone in an instant.  I instantly felt guilty too, and mad that it just didn’t last long enough.  I felt like a drug addict.  Later I realized the true consequences of veering off my diet even a little bit…cravings for all kinds of terrible yummy things like cheeseburgers and enchiladas.  I battled through the withdrawls and cold sweats like any good addict ready to change, and rededicated myself to my diet.  Luckily I didn’t do too much damage.  I’ve been “chocolate-free” again for 5 days

It’s been a couple of days since I posted mostly because I have not worked out since Thursay (the 1st).  SB got home from his trip on Friday and we’ve been going back and forth about nutrition all weekend.  We’re trying to get on the same page (a.k.a I’m convincing him to be on my diet ).  I’m too weak to watch him eat chocolate cakes and mashed potatoes in front of me therefore he doesn’t get them…that just how it has to be!  So I think now we’ve come to an agreement.  We’re both happy with lots of veggies, legumes and lean protien, so that’s what we’re going with for the forseeable future.  I also started supplementing with Lipo6 today. I’m really hoping it works as well for me as ephedrine used to, we shall see.

So, I’m feeling good after getting through my first week on the new diet.  I only worked out 3 days, which is two days less then I intended to, but I really needed the rest so I’m not going to dwell on it.  I was feeling very exhausted by Friday yet very proud that I did not cheat or deviate from my diet.  Normally this is when I would reward myself with a plate of cheeses enchiladas or a pint of ice cream, instead I took off from work early and got a deep tissue massage and a facial.  More expensive?  By far.  More enjoyable?  By far.  I left the spa feeling incredible (I actually fell asleep during a deep tissue massage, that’s how tired I was).  I got a great nights sleep that night, especially since SB showed up shortly after I got home and I hadn’t seen him in 5 days. 

Onward and upward!  SB and I are both very "pumped" (pun intended) about setting, meeting and exceeding our new goals.  So much so that we got up this morning and watched Pumping Iron over lowfat baby quiche LOL   It’s amazing what watching that caliber of athlete does for your motivation.  We’re heading to the gym shortly and I’m looking forward to getting a good workout in.  The old foot is still bothering me quite a bit so I will skip the bike tonight, but I do plan on punishing my upper body and abs so I’ll be glad to have an excuse not to do the cardio.  We plan to take new pictures tonight so I’ll probably be posting those (along with my TRUE starting pictures from a year ago) later tonight.

More later…

 …ok, it’s later.  I’m just updating with my workout from last night

 Super sets

Dumbell bench press (30 lbs x 5 sets) with dumbell flys (15 lbs x 5 sets)

Dumbell shoulder press (20 lbs x 4 sets) with lateral raises (10 lbs x 4 sets)

Dips (120 lbs x 5 sets) with tricep pushdowns (40 lbs x 5 sets)

Abs/Ab bench (body weight, 20 mins)

So, I skipped the gym yesterday and when I woke up this morning I was sure I would skip the gym again today too.  I’m sure my body is just getting used to the exercise again, either that or I have narcolepsy, one way or the other it’s all I can do to drag myself out of bed for the last two mornings.  It doesn’t feel like second day soreness either, it just feels like mild body aches and a major wish to go back to bed.  By the time I got home from work tonight I was ready to hit the couch and turn on the TV.  Luckily for my goals something sobering happened when I walked in the door.  My cats, they were in the SAME EXACT place on the bed that they were when I left for work.  THEY"VE DONE NOTHING TODAY!  I thought they looked a fatter then I remember noticing before too.  They were practically begging me to lay down on the bed and give up on my dreams of being a size 5 again.  Those furry little devils.  Tonight they would not entice me to be lazy!  I must go work out!  I did.  It was awsome   It only took my lazy feline friends to motivate me back into the gym tonight, even when I was so tired, and because of that I found strength I didn’t know I had, at least not tongiht :)

Look at them!  Don’t let this happen to you!

Ok, so I’m not talking about doing crunches, I didn’t make it to the gym today.  I wound up working late and when I got home I realized that if I didn’t lay down I was going to fall down.  What I mean is taming my indegestion.  It’s been awful today.  Somehow, strangely, eating healthy seems to be wreaking havoc on my intestines.  I’ve had this nagging sensation of being full all day even when I had eaten nothing.  It did make it difficult to eat but, on the other hand, I also didn’t crave any bad food…so there is always a silver lining

Breakfast - 2 hard boiled eggs (threw away 1 yolk), 2 slices turkey bacon, 6 oz. decaf coffee w/sugarfree sweetner, bottle of water.

Morning snack - 1 piece of celery with 1 wedge of laughing cow light cheese spread, bottle water.

Lunch - Baby greens with albacore, avacado & cherry tomatoes, no dressing, 1/2 can Fresca.

Afternoon snack - sugarfree jello, 6 oz. decaf coffee w/sugarfree sweetener, bottle water

Dinner - Baked chicken breast with tomatoes and spinach in low sodium chicken broth.

Dessert - 1/4 cup sugarfree/fat free chocolate pudding

…tomorrow morning, back to the gym!

So I officially started the famous South Beach Diet today.  I always feel silly starting a fad diet but I think I can safely say that this isn’t so much a fad, it’s just a healthy way of eating and a new way of thinking about food with a trendy name attached.  I’m ashamed that I knew so little about trans fats and HFCS before reading the book.  I’m feeling very posative about this diet and think I will be sticking with it.  I know in the past I’ve felt a marked difference when I eat whole foods & cut the sugar, saturated fat and starch so I think this will be right up my alley.  Day 1 of inductions has bene no problem for me.  I haven’t missed the sugar or bread at all (yet).  We’ll see what day two brings

 I also hauled myself to the gym today, boot on my foot and all.  I’ve been wondering whether I could handle the seated bike or not…now I know.  It didn’t feel too bad when I was doing it, just a little uncomfortable, but my foot is screaming now.  I think I’ll stick to the Torso Master for at least another few weeks.  The foot didn’t stop me from hitting the free weights though.  The workout was nothing to write home about, but it got me feet wet again.

 Workout

Cardio - 30 min / seated bike

 Abs - 20 mins / ab bench

Chest - 5 sets of 12 / 25 lb dumbells

Shoulders - 5 sets of 12 / 20 lb dumbells

Biceps - 5 sets of 12 / 15 lb dumbells

Food

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 2 pieces turkey bacon, 8 oz coffee w/1% milk and splenda

Mid morning snack - celery stick w/1 wedge light laughing cow swiss cheese

Lunch - skipped lunch (I know that’s bad, but I woke up late so breakfast was like lunch)

Afternoon snack - also skipped afternoon snack

Dinner - Caprese Style Chicken with Broccoli (SBD pre-packaged frozen dinner)