The Best is Yet to Come

Find a well-paying job in Chicagoland. Preferably in hospitality.

That’s in addition to beating MrDawnMarie and Ohiolifter to 180 and in addition to losing another 35 more pounds after that.

…..on the fact that I’m one of only a few people in my gym who actually squat or deadlift?

Number of people I have seen squat: 3, and that’s only if I include myself & #1!

Number of people I have seen deadlift: 2 - again, me and #1 - which means NOBODY else in my gym ever deadlifts, at least not when I’m there. I’m sure somebody has done it at some time, I’ve just never seen it. Same for the squats.

Anyway, had a super deadlift workout today….back at week 1 of my new powerlifting cycle. So, it was one warmup set, then 2 sets of 12 at 135 lbs. Went up easy. Did all of the other assistance exercises and got the heck out of there! Now, it’s time for more -  you guessed it - more CARDIO.

Somebody stop me - no, really, I would LOVE somebody to stop me from doing cardio - I HATE CARDIO!!!! But I will do it anyway, since I want a smaller, firmer body.

I did complete my full bench workout in the gym. Yippee for me! Got in my 30 minutes of cardio too and threw in a session in the tanning bed for kicks.

And, of course, I did my normal routine where I tell myself that I’ll just get in my bench, then it’s let’s just add the barbell curls, ok, I’m here, might as well do a little tricep work, and so on and so forth until before you know it, I’ve managed to complete the entire workout that I was so dreading before I walked into the gym. 

Plan on finishing another hour of cardio yet tonight before going to bed. I don’t quite think that walking the malls - yes, there were TWO - counts as exercise. It was; however, great retail therapy!

….but, I didn’t even put up a fight. I haven’t had ice cream in like forever….I can’t even remember when I had more than one spoon. So, it was a fast food day from he!!.

Had to go to court this morning with my girlfriend J, and our other friend Kooky Heather so she could enter her plea in her drunk driving case. Ate an egg mcmuffin on the way down with some coffee, then we had Taco Bell at the mall for lunch. Because, what else would the three of us do with the whole day off but shop!?!?!? So it was steak taquito and pintos n cheese for lunch with a big water.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Kooky decided we wanted dessert. So, where else do we go but Cold Stone Creamery at the mall. Up until then I made a half-a$$ed effort choose the least evil option from the fast food monsters, but the ice cream did me in. I am now in a food coma, haven’t taken my thyroid pill yet today……thought I tossed them in my bag this morning, but like a dip$hit, left them at home.

Now, I am forcing myself to get off my ice-cream butt and go to the gym. Going to do bench presses today, still feeling cruddy so I may or may not do the rest of my workout……..we’ll see what happens.

I’ll let you know later……

Ice Cream - 920 calories, Egg McMuffin - 300 calories, Taco Bell - 420 calories, having the dang determination to stop typing and get my lard butt into the gym??????

PRICELESS

I kinda’ screwed up my weight workouts this week since I’ve been a little under the weather.

So, today I went and got my squat workout in….and while I was in between sets the guy squatting next to me told me I had good form. No, he wasn’t hitting on me, and a very informative discussion ensued regarding squats…he actually asked me if I compete! I said no, but my #1 does, and we talked about that for a while. This was kind of cool, since I’ve NEVER seen anyone else squat in my gym with the free weights besides me and Pete! Lots of bodybuilders, but not may serious powerlifters.

#1 is, once again, #1. Boys clearly don’t do well with diets.

I swear, after this damn competition, I am going to feed him pasta, bread, rice, cereal, ice cream, candy bars…..ok, maybe I won’t go that far, since he is looking mighty fine these days.

Zippidy-doo-dah, Zippity-yay….my oh my what a strange screwed up wonderful day…..there’s no fricking sunshine, but that’s quite okay……My #1 is back to normal….so it’s a great frickin Land of Cheese day!!!!!

Especially #1. That’s all I have to say on that. Going to the gym now.

Wore shorts and a tee to the gym yesterday, and that’s pretty much what I have on today too! It’s a balmy 57 degrees here in the Land of Cheese. Going to get in a great workout today - twice!

Looking forward to March 31st and the competition that #1 is going to be in. He’s stressing the last couple days over the 5 pounds he has to lose to get under 198 and qualify for his weight class. Me, frankly, I’m looking forward to the night after the competition when we can go out and he can actually EAT and enjoy his food, instead of having to be so careful while he’s been cutting. I actually prefer him with a little more meat on his bones, although the crazy definition he’s sporting these days isn’t about to make me kick him out of bed either!

Of course, those of you who know me are well aware that I wouldn’t kick #1 out of bed for just about anything. I must say, Maddi’s hormone issues are spreading all the way up here….I’ve been a little antsy myself lately…UGH.  Gotta’ say that there is something about a tanning bed and fantasies of topless beaches that really gets to me. I WILL get rid of this energy somehow………..

            MUST              WORK                  OUT                     MORE

As for #2, he is quite happily entertained with his new lady friend. YAY!!!! It was a little weird after I told him we could only be friends with no hanky-panky involved, so I’m very happy that he’s found his lobster (yes, that is a Friends reference), as I have already found mine.

You know, lobster is sounding dang good right about now….mmmmm, tasty!!!!

Keep in mind that everybody’s different and what worked for me may not work as well for others, but that being said, here’s how I did it:

Eat differently - not necessarily less, but better. Make healthy food choices, and be informed about what you put into your body. Also, if you’re going to lose weight, you MUST follow some type of weight training program in addition to cardiovascular exercise - this is crucial, since the muscle you build is going to be the foundation of your new shape, and ALSO burns more calories resting than all that icky fat. Cardio is great for burning calories, but if you’re not increasing your muscle strength/size your skin won’t have anything shapely to mold itself to.

1. I started out following Bill Phillips’ Body for Life program - if you haven’t tried it, go check out the website or buy the books…..basic fundamentals of eating right - 6 small meals throughout the day, each meal consisting of a protein and a carb. Also, start following the weight training program he describes in the book and on the site. It seems a little confusing at first, but is really simple once you do it a couple times. I always printed out the workout sheets and took them with me to the gym.

2. From there I moved on to a powerlifting workout at the suggestion of my boyfriend (#1)…he’s been powerlifting for years. While this workout is great for me since I’m aiming to increase strength and size, it may not be right for everyone. I do find that I’m able to get my weight training done quicker than when I was doing BFL, and my muscle gains are greater doing the PL workout. I work legs - squats -  on Monday, chest and biceps - bench - on Wednesday , back and shoulders - deadlifts -  on Friday. In addition to the main three, I also do at least 5 or 6 other exercises to work these muscle groups, as well as working abs every other day.

MONDAY - Squats, then leg press alternating with calf raises, on to lying hamstring curls, then leg extensions and finishing with abs

WEDNESDAY - Bench, then close-grip bench, barbell curls, hammer curls, flyes, skullcrushers (sometimes I do overhead barbell extensions), tricep kickbacks and finishing with abs

FRIDAY - hyperextensions, then deadlifts, on to bent over rows, followed by alternating front/lateral raises, then dumbbell military press, lat pulls, again finishing with abs

3. I aim to complete at least an hour and a half to two hours of cardio every day. Consists of one hour on the elliptical in the morning, and on cardio days (Tuesday and Thursday) another hour in the evening. On weight training days, I do a 15 minute warm-up and a 15 minute cool-down. Also, I’ve found that incorporating backwards pedaling on my tiptoes on the elliptical is great for my calves.

4. I also added whey protein into my daily nutrition. I generally have a scoop in my coffee in the morning, another scoop in the afternoon and ALWAYS after a weight lifting. I also take GNC Women’s Ultra Mega Active formula multivitamins.

5. My current diet consists of 1,300-1,500 calories per day. I purposely avoid carbs only because I end up eating plenty of them per day without trying to. Generally I aim for 130 grams of protein, 130 or fewer grams of carbs and about 30 grams of fat per day. I do occasionally modify the following diet, but this is the general plan.

DRINK LOTS OF WATER….

Breakfast - 1 serving Oatmeal, 8 oz skim milk

Snack - 1 scoop of whey protein in my coffee

Lunch - 3 slices of lean deli meat with 1 thin slice of swiss cheese with 8 ounces of V8 or a small salad with those yummy new salad spritzers sprayed on (Wishbone makes them, they’re 1 calorie per spray and fantastic!) Sometimes I do have ONE slice of whole wheat bread

Snack - 1 scoop of whey protein

Dinner - 1 chicken breast, salad, sometimes 1/2 cup of Uncle Ben’s rice, 8 oz V8

After workout snack - 1 scoop of whey protein, 8 oz of skim milk

This is generally enough for me to feel satisfied throughout the day, if I find I’m getting hungry, I drink more water before eating something healthy. I will also add more veggies if they’re around. The main key is to avoid processed foods, sugar and starches. Also, if I’ve missed dinner and I’m at the gym, I will sometimes buy a smoothie from there - my gym makes these awesome Extreme Blendz smoothies.

Anyway, that’s all for now…..ask questions if you have ‘em, I’ll answer the best I can.

Happy lifting!

I’ve decided that even though I’m currently NOT working during the week, I am still going to keep my regular workout schedule, so as not to fall into a rut. I figure that since I hope to be gainfully employed again soon, I should make sure that I don’t screw up my workout schedule too much.

So, it’s back to going to the gym at 5pm in the mornings, and again in the evenings. The workday will be reserved to finding a new and better job.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya’, tomorrow…….because it’s back to the free weights tomorrow! Well, tomorrow evening anyway, since tomorrow morning will consist of an hour of cardio on the elliptical.

My diet has pretty much remained the same, I haven’t really strayed at all and have actually been eating a little better. Go figure…….I haven’t had any "Nobody-loves-me Ice Cream" at all. That in itself is something to be proud of. Of course, there was all that drinking…but I figure I’ve now hit my alcohol quota for the last three and the next three months as well.