Jonahgirl’s BodyBlog

Today is my fourth week of my eight week ban on upper body workouts (mainly chest and some triceps exercises). Yesterday was my first day back after surgery and it was short (about an hour) compared to my usual workouts but very satisfying. I did some warm-up cardio followed by leg presses, leg extensions, step-ups, lunges, and squats. I finished up with 30 minutes on the treadmill on the hill program.
Today will be abs and biceps with more cardio. I will be ready for a break from the code I have been writing.

Thanks to all who have PM me to ask how I’ve been coming along since my surgery. All I can say is I LOVE THE NEW ADDITIONS! They are perfect.
(For those who are totally confused I had a BA on October 9th.)
The only "complication" I have dealt with is a problem sleeping. For the first two weeks I was sentenced to sleeping on my back and just couldn’t get comfortable. I am sure this led to my feeling of being tired and just out of it. At the end of last week I found I could finally roll comfortably on my side and viola! I slept like a log. Friday I felt like my old self again.
I did try to workout just a little on Monday and found that was not such a good idea. I was just going to do a little cardio and some lunges and squats. Although I was doing the elliptical (keeping my arms stationary on the handles in the middle there was still too much bouncing going on even with the sports bra from hell I am sentence to. I will try again on Thursday with two, yes two, sports bras from hell holding the girls still.

The time off at the gym could not have been planned better. My gym was closed several days due to fumes. They refinished the basketball court and the fumes were so bad they closed the fitness center for five days.
I’ve been making good use of my non gym time with a lot of freelance work.

Truth be told I haven’t disappeared but just so busy I haven’t had time to post. So must has happened in the past month that it all seems to be a blur.
I guess the story starts about six months ago when I started thinking about getting a BA (breast augmentation). Losing body fat has its consequences. I knew I would continue to lose what little I had as I built more muscle. I pushed it to the back of my mind since I was in the midst of doing the "training via web" with Steve Oldfield. Summer came and I thought about it again and mentally planned it for some time in the fall. Being the geek that I am I did thorough research online before finally deciding that October would be a good month.
In September I booked some consults with area plastic surgeons and chose the one I thought fit me best. I scheduled my surgery for October 9th.
I worked out right up until two days before my surgery. The surgery itself was easy and I felt a little discomfort but no real pain. I took  this week off from work to "recover".The hardest part of it all is knowing I can’t workout at all for about three weeks and those who know me know this is truly a sacrifice for me. Once I get the go ahead I can do cardio and legs only. At six weeks I hope to start adding upper body slowly back in. At eight weeks I can go back to doing chest with light weights. At twelve weeks I should be back to where I was pre-surgery.
Ironically, the day after I booked the surgery I got a freelance job to pay for the BA in full without touching savings.
So, how big did I go? Once the swelling goes down I should be a full C to a small D. I will post a new pic soon.

I admit it. I cried when I turned 30. It was depressing. Forty didn’t bother me much. Today I am 47. With all ego aside I know I don’t look my age. I can live with that.
If you told me a year ago I would be lifting weights nearly everyday. weigh 106, and wearing a size 0 I would have laughed in your face. So much has changed in the past two years I feel I should be celebrating my second birthday of a healthy life!

I am wonderful what is "normal". What is the expected weights I should be able to do based on my size, weight, frame, and experience.

I workout six days a week and have since November only missing three weeks to a broken rib back in April. I have no other woman to compare it to as the only others who seriously lift are guys and I don’t even come close to the weights they use.
I am five feet two and weight 106. I have a small frame (five inch wrist and wear a size 3 ring to give you an idea how small boned I am)
Here is what I can do:

Dumbbell Curl - 15lbs each hand. I can do a few reps at 20# but it hurts my wrists
I have done up to 60# on the curl machine. Started out at 5# dumbbells

Leg Press - 300 - (290-310 last week 10 reps) Started at 60#

Barbell Squat - 120. Started with 45#

Shoulder Press - 55 - definitely a weak area. Started at 15.

Bench Press - 70 (I’ve done 75) Started out around 25# on the chest machine until I could press the empty bar (45#)

Lat Pulldown - 100lbs. Started out at 50.

Seated Row - between 60-70. Started at 25.

One arm row 25lbs. Started at 8#

Tricep Overhead Ext. 35# Started at 12#
Tricep Machine Up to 60#

Push ups - Most at one time 55. Ave about 36 in a row. STarted at doing them on my knees (girly pushups) not sure how many I started with.

Pull ups - 10 in a row…none at the beginning.

I’ve obviously have made progress but I have a feeling I am being limited by my frame. My wrists are definitely my weakest point. I haven’t tried wrapping them for support yet.

Yesterday was a great day in the gym. Hit all my target weights and exceeded in reps in some working back and arms. I didn’t think I could top that until today. I did 290 on the Leg Press. Ten months ago I started at 60. 300+ here I come!

Oh, other things….posting those issues tomorrow. Still too upset to write about it.

Finally got around to getting some new progress pics posted. It has been two months since the last ones. I’ve been focusing on arms and back and can see some more definition. Going back to working legs more. Someday I will be happy with the thighs ….until then….

Got the call this afternoon. No work tomorrow to give everyone a chance to clean up their yards and repair any damage. Lots of small branches and leaves in the pool but no problems at my house. We still have power. I know it was off at work because email went down for a while and I had to remote in and restart voice mail. I missed my workout today but will go in tomorrow. It does pay to have a master key to the building.

Luckily, (for me) Gustav will be west of Mobile, Alabama where I live. It is still so surreal to see the weather channel forecast as rainy and windy until you see the wind speed at 40 -60 mph. That is all we are expecting here (besides torrential rain and possible tornadoes). I say that is all for wind since Katrina and Ivan (at 90+) makes is all relative.

Hurricanes make a good excuse to load up on junk food and snack your way through a storm. There isn’t much else to do. You watch tv until the power goes out then switch to other things (like reading or sleeping) all the while eating. Instead of soda, chips, brownies etc. I have fruit, yogurt, tuna, and water.
For obvious reason I won’t be able to make it to the gym tomorrow. Depending on the power issue Tuesday may be doubtful. Otherwise, I am all ready with supplies. Hurricanes always make for an interesting week.

I couldn’t resist posting this. I thought this was hilarious .