Breenee’s BodyBlog

Thoughts to reflect on…

I thought it would be easy to up my calories and really it is.  The problem lies in how much more food I have to eat.  It’s funny how when you’re eating unhealthy foods, you can max out or go over your caloric limit quickly and never even feel full. But when you’re eating healthy foods that is not the same issue.  You actually get to eat more quantities because they aren’t that high in calories.  Where am I going to fit all that food???  I got back from the gym today and started preparing my meal….I measured everything, weighed it, logged the calories that I had set aside for this meal and proceeded to feast…..I couldn’t finish it…. I just couldn’t, my stomach was starting to hurt and I still had more veggies and meat to eat….I had to laugh when this happened.  The clueless people around me looked at my meal and said, "aren’t you eating too much?  Didn’t you go to the gym?  you should have a small salad…"…..LOL…if only it was that easy…..so I saved what I couldn’t eat for my next meal…but I still have so many calories left to get in to meet my limit…never thought I’d say….I’m dreading my next few meals!!!  LMAO!!

Thoughts to reflect on:

Today is Saturday the 29th of August and it is exactly 1 week since I had gotten sick.  Recovery has taken a whole week, but except for a bad cough, I’m fully recovered.  Finally, I’m heading to the gym.  I know I shouldn’t overdo it the first day back, but I will push myself as much as I can.  Being sick made me realize two things:  I’ve got to be more consistent with my supplements and my diet has been wrong.  I believe the slow recovery was due to hitting my body hard at the gym, but not getting enough of the nutrients needed to recover.  I have been very inconsistent with my supplements, which include a lot of vitamins/minerals such as B12, multi, glucosamine sulfate, chromium piccolinate, magnesium, potassium and so on.  I have a medical condition that makes it very easy to lose a lot of these vitamins/minerals, so that is why I have to take the supplements.  It’s a drag when I look at 13 pills to drink; I consider that a meal in itself.  (No, a multivitamin alone does not contain all the things I need, so just taking a multi is not an option).  While I was sick, I started tracking my diet and I was surprised to find out that I’ve been eating around 1500 calories!  This makes sense to me when I think of my progress and how I’ve stopped losing any weight.  I’m going to up my calories to 1800 as of today to help with it.  This whole week while I’ve been recovering, I’ve been consistent with my calories at 1500 so my body is ready for the additional amount.  Hopefully, this will help or if not, at least will get me fully operational at a 100% healthwise.

Thoughts to reflect on..

I took my progress pictures yesterday and I was blown away!  It’s hard to believe what a difference a few weeks of consistent weight training and cardio can do.  As I’ve mentioned before, injury to my back had me sidelined for a long time.  My nutrition was already adjusted to healthy eating due to me being a Celiac (gluten intolerant), but I had already had plateaued with weight loss.  I needed exercise, but each time I’d be 2 weeks heavily into my routines, my back would sideline me again.  Then I’d have to wait a few weeks or months before I could continue.  The doctor was even talking about surgery, but then I decided to visit a chiropractor.  That’s the best choice I could have made.  With their help, within a week I was ok’ed to start lifting again.  Why am I writing all this?  Because the progress in my pics are varied; they are sporadic and time had passed in between some of them.  But the recent ones have been accomplished ever since I started lifting again this summer….roughly in an 8 week period!  Now, I know I’m still so far from where I want to be and some people might not even notice or think I’ve done anything that significant….but for me, its a BIG change and the spark that I needed to keep me working hard towards my goal…finally, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel….and as my daughter would say……SWE-E-E-E-E-E-T!

Thoughts to reflect on…

I can’t believe the summer is "over"…I return to work officially this Thursday, but starting tomorrow I will no longer be on vacation.  I can’t believe how fast the time has gone by and yet how long it seems.  The person I was at the start of the summer is not the same person typing this.  I have grown and changed so much with regards to my physical well-being.  Oh, I know I still have a long way to go before I can call myself a "bodybuilder" physically…..but mentally I’m already there.  My nutrition and workout routine are constantly being tweaked by me to obtain the best advantage for my strength and physical goals; I can no longer live without the gym, in fact more than a day and I get so cranky with everyone that I sense that need and desire to be there.  It is now an addiction for me; I love the way I feel while I’m working out and afterwards it makes me more calm.  I officially left the lady’s section at Gold’s Gym and am now working out in the regular "open" area (mainly the gym has two free weights area, the regular one and the advanced).  It sort of happened by accident, all the benches were taken in the lady’s area…so I had to either wait, go home or workout where the big boys work out…so I said to hell with my fears and just grabbed a bench and some weights and started my routine…felt right at home…truth be told there were only 2 big boys at 5am, so it wasn’t THAT intimidating, lol…this is huge especially since at the beginning of the summer I was working out at home because I was too self-conscious to go to the gym….my next goal will be to take off my long pants and workout in my shorts….yes I work out with two pants on and its very uncomfortable…I’ve had the support of the community here, especially my bodyspace friends to motivate and help me, but now I will not be on as much and so I must learn to sink or swim on my own….

Thoughts for me to reflect on…

Progress is…going up on cardio equipment: from a level 3 to a level 7…from 20 minutes to 60…from holding the stationary bar to using the moving arm handles…from a maximum heart rate of 142 to 172 without struggling…

Progress is….noticing that my stomach finally showing the division of my upper and lower abs…

Progress is….holding the fridge door open and noticing that my arm is showing bicep definition and my triceps are firmer…

Progress is….looking in the mirror and noticing a new birthmark….only to realize it’s the one I’ve always had but instead of having to look over my shoulder to see it, the fat loss has moved it to the top of my shoulder…

Progress is….thinking my lingerie had stretched out…..when after trying on the fifth pair it finally hit me….they’re big because I’ve lost a LOT of inches and my thighs/butt are firmer…..

Progress is….my collarbone(clavicle) finally showing again…

Progress is….staring at myself in the mirror for a long time, looking at all the areas that have improved and figuring out how to improve it more…instead of running away from the mirror after a few seconds…

Progress is…finally accepting this way of life and no longer stressing about how long it’s going to take….loving the gym and not wanting to leave…

Progress is….taking the battery out of the scale, no longer weighing myself because I FINALLY don’t care about the number on the scale and refuse to let it affect me……(betcha liked that one CARTER!! LOL…)

Well, what more can I say?  Progress is….definitely being MADE!!  :)

Thoughts to reflect on:

Last week ended badly, as I got very sick and was in a lot of pain.  I had to stop training on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Today I’m feeling better and am ready to hit the gym tomorrow.  I was very upset because I just started  a new routine last Monday, so now I have to start over.  But Saturday my brother came to see me and he was impressed by the changes I’ve made, so much so that he’s motivated to get himself back on track.  We set up his Bodyspace account and I showed him some of the progress my Bodyspace friends have made, which helped fuel his desire.  He lives far away from me, but through here we can be workout buddies and motivate each other.  It’s funny to be the one motivating him, because years ago he did the BFL challenge and was the one who introduced me to bodybuilding.

I’m at a positive mindset and am ready to attack the weights, cardio, and nutrition hardcore this week.  I’m completely weaned off my caffeine fix and will be making sure I get in all my meals.  My water intake has been great and it has helped thin me out a LOT.  What’s weird is I’ve been bedridden these past few days, yet I’ve lost weight…lol..the body is so weird!  I guess my body needed a short "break.  I return to work in less than 2 weeks and I will finally post some new progress pics to document my summer accomplishments.  The ones I have posted now are old.

Thoughts for me to reflect upon: 

With two weeks left before my vacation is over, my motivation has dipped somewhat.  I had pictured myself looking way different than I do at this time.  Why should that matter when I’ve gained so much more in such a relatively short time?  It’s not that I look exactly the same because I don’t. Two months ago I walked around hunched over due to the pain in my lower back and had trouble bending or lifting my leg.  I always had trouble falling asleep.  My stress level was very high and my patience level was very low.  I had low energy levels and needed to drink lots and lots of coffee to keep me going.  In short, I looked and felt like sh*t!  But I made a vow to myself that final week of work at the beginning of June before classes let out that I would spend my summer finding that balance and getting back into physical training.  To my credit, I did start that following Monday and have not stopped this whole summer.  Combining my routines with going to get my back problems worked on by a chiropractor has been a Godsend for me.  Today, I had the best news when the chiropractor said I had met all his expectations and now I’m ready for the maintenance level which is once every 5 weeks.  He was impressed because he said I was in such a mess when I arrived that he thought it would take longer.  He credits the fact that I’ve been working out consistently for these 2 months and tells me how much of a difference and help that really is.  After I wrote that last sentence, it made me realize that I need a hard kick in the rear.  I mean the clothes I wore today should be enough evidence of the changes in my body: the pants I couldn’t get into 2 months ago and the shirt had fit me tight around the waist and arms.  Today the pants were loose and the shirt was so loose it hung down past my butt and the short sleeves reached my elbows!  Plus…. I no longer walk hunched over, no more back pain, stress level is very low, patience is very high, I can bend a lot further than my toes, I can easily lift and hold my leg a lot higher, I’ve stopped drinking coffee, and I have no problem falling asleep.  So I guess I really have nothing to gripe about and just continue what I’ve been doing…progress is slow but steady….and very gratifying when you reach it!