Musings of a Crazed Gym Rat!

OUCH! I totally THRASHED myself in the gym today and feel awesome! I was not very good at eating clean over the holidays and felt so disgusting physically, literally sick because of it. I guess I’m used to the clean food now and my body really knows junk when I shove it in there. We had alot of snow which made it difficult to get out of the driveway, let alone to the gym. I did a bit of home exercises, but I my home isn’t very well equipped for that.  Anyway I finally got out there and worked super hard. Feeling AWESOME! Oddly enough I seem to be stronger than I was before Christmas. Can do more pullups and tricep dips, more reps, heavier weights, pushups and sit-ups galore! WOW! Just felt like a power machine today! Who knew! I’ve heard that taking a break can do a body good, I guess its true. I was off for about a week. Anyway, I’m back at it and looking forward to more results in the coming weeks.  Best wishes to all for 2009 and hoping you all meet your goals!

My workout yesterday sucked. I did the cardio warm up, it seemed harder, I did chest, triceps, abs workout, triceps seemed more difficult and I felt weak although I used the same weight as previously this week.  I ended with 20 mins. cardio and quit then as I had no energy left to do 30 to 45 mins.  Is this overtraining? Did I not eat enough (none - it was no carb day) carbs before? I took creatine in morning, and before and after working out. Creatine is new to me, but I thought it would give me more pump, but not yesterday.  Taking today off, other than more snow shovelling and maybe a good walk to look at the winterwonderland. Any tips here?

SNOW!!! Looks pretty, and great if you’re a skier / snow sports buff, but generally it wreaks havoc on the schedule.  It’s been dumping a ton on us today and its looking like I won’t be able to get out to my gym today!!! DANG! Guess, I’ll get some cardio and upper body work shoveling it, do a few chin ups on the bar in the door jam of my son’s room, do some housework (not such a huge work out) and make some more holiday treats (no tasting!). Disappointed I can’t get to the gym though. Must find other ways to burn off this mountain of energy I have lately. WHAT IS WITH THAT? Is anyone else getting these spells of massive energy or is it just too many things to get done at this time of year and getting all antsy about it?

I’ve reached my short term goal and am thrilled.  I’ve lost the 10 lbs I’ve been trying to drop for ages by using the Carb Cycling diet that I found on BodyBuilding.com.  That 10 lbs came off in about 3 weeks and I plan to loose the next 10 on the same diet.  I use the diet as though I am leaning out for competition and workout hard in the gym too.  Gaining muscle is also my goal. In the past few weeks I’ve lost 13 lbs of fat and gained 5 lbs of muscle. It seems to all be coming together, I think I get it now and I’m meeting my goals! SHOOT FOR THE MOON, IF YOU MISS YOU LAND AMONG THE STARS!

I missed a work out on Friday, but wasted no time in the gym today. Was able to amp up the reps and weight in the majority of the exercises.  Totally kicked A** in kickboxing yesterday. Can now do pushups and make them fly (bounce off the floor), not as many as I’d like maybe 6 or 8 in a set. Getting stronger!!!

WOO HOO! GIVE ME FIVE! I just hit 139 lbs.  I LOVE THIS SITE! It keeps me so motivated. Still not seeing the abs, but wasn’t expecting to yet. I plan to keep at it through the holidays. BEHAVE, BEHAVE, BEHAVE. The diet seems to have been the key thing for me this month. The workout has remained pretty much the same consistency with a bit heavier lifting.

It’s sometimes difficult getting that perfect balance. I think it really is a personal battle within. Sometimes your working out like a maniac, but the diet’s not coming together or your eating more because you think you can over compensate due to all the exercise your doing. Other times your diet is pretty good, but maybe your not into getting all you can out of your cardio and training. Or you totally blow it each weekend by going overboard with food and drinks (pure sugar).

For now, I seem to have got the balance and its working.  As with all things, it will probably need adjustments in the future.

Good luck to everyone in your efforts. Keep striving to be your best!

Wow! I have made more progress this last few days since my first blog.  I’ve lost a bit more weight and am lifting heavier. Measurements down.  I was a saint on the weekend with diet.  I did have a couple of glasses of wine (on high carb day). I used to throw in the towel on weekends and eat and drink too much, but it totally stalled my results and wasted a weeks worth of hard work.  So now I’m eating clean, using the carb cycling diet and suddenly I’m down 10 lbs (was at 151 in the 3rd week of November). I haven’t been this light in years. I didn’t update my profile because the changes are fairly minor.

Thanks for the comments, its great motivation
I didn’t get to the gym yesterday and was so hyper all day long without that release that I could have done handsprings around the neighbourhood.  Didn’t sleep well either because I was still way too hyper.  Headed to the gym as soon as the kids were out the door and blasted my way through the weights for about 2 hours (a little bit of cardio in there too)! Still not tired.  No, I’m not taking too many fat burners, its the same amount every day and they are all herbal (no ephedra), but WOW energy overload! Maybe its all the brocolli I’ve been eating.

Things are heating up with the holidays coming up, hope you can all stick to your programs / diets through it, if you slip up, don’t give up, just get back on the horse!

A couple of questions:

- What does the reputation thing mean on our profiles?

- How does the Fans, Friends, Stalking work (how can I add friends)?

I have just lost almost 10 lbs. this past 3 weeks with clean eating and following a carb cycling plan that i found on Bodybuilding.com which has been amazing.  I feel great and not hungry. Have been hitting the gym hard. I was a cardio fanatic for a long time, but didn’t see a lot of huge results in the past year until I started getting very serious about weights.  I am lifting heavier and heavier each few weeks.

I also took up kickboxing a year and a half ago and am now totally addicted to it.  It’s a huge cardio workout and made a huge kick (no pun intended) in a plateau I hit. Generally I’m soaked through mess, hair and all, by the end of it, but I know I’ve just burned off 800+ calories.  I’m thinking of taking Tae Kwon Do, but don’t want it to eat into my weight training time.

I’m trying to lower my BF percentage, but I don’t really know where I want it to be. Likely I will just be going on appearance, how cut my muscles are.  I think my BF is currently around 24 - 25%.  Just need to keep up the work and dieting through the holidays and have given myself a bit of extra time to reach my goals in case I slip up.

Will post some pix soon!