Making_A_Change’s BodyBlog

For most of my life I have had bad posture. I have to be very cognizant of standing or sitting upright especially in formal settings because poor posture in a meeting , for example, can make you look…well…sloppy, bored and disinterested. Lately, I have been feeling the urge to stand more upright in an almost unnatural way. And it is more comfortable that my usual slouchy stance, but not completely. I don’t want to look like I am trying to poke my boobs out or anything, that is so 5th grade. I can only assume that working my back and abs is giving some support and balance; and working out, in general, in tightening me up. But has any else experienced this?

Signed,

Headlights in the Bay

I can’t ell you the last time that I got 8 full hours of sleep. I had no homework, my duaghter went to sleep early, and I just crawled into bed and went to sleep. I decided to push my workout until this evening, so I could just lay in the bed. It was wonderful. We went out for Mexican food last night. I had tacos al pastor (pork tacos), and some beans. I savored every bite. So tonight, I will be sure to push myself and work really hard and drink lots of water today. I got my Banana Nut Bread protein powder and I am so juiced about that! I don’t mind drinking that a couple times a day. I still have yet to cook, been doing alot of microwave cooking. Thank goodness for A1 Steak Sauce. I’ll record my WO, tonight.

 And I finally ordered got new tennis shoes. I ordered them off of e-bay and got a good price. I love Adidas’ shoes, they’re cute! This week has been a very low energy week. It’s been hard to wake up and get in good work outs. Hopefully, I can recharge over the next couple of weeks and see some real improvement.

Tonight marks the end of a semester for me. I will be putting in quite a few hours tonight to complete a paper that I should have completed a very long time ago. So, I imagine that I will spend up to 6 hours getting that done. But after than I will be finished and free to fill my ’summer’ with some research-related reading and, of course, my fair share of contemporary love novels. Woo! I did cardio this morning. It was so week, I actually got off the recumbant bike after 21 minutes, but turned around, lowered the tension and completed my 45 minutes. My eating has been a little off in terms of timing. As we get closer to opening the charter school there is meeting, after meeting, after interview, after meeting. And unfortunately I don’t think my egg whites and seafood would be appreciated. But I plan to do a bit of cooking tonight and tomorrow and will be breaking out the chicken breasts. My daughter and I made some delicious strawberry and whipped cream parfaits, with a little graham cracker crust on the bottom for Mother’s. They are really good and do little damage.

My plan, if it isn’t too late, is to do a short workout this evening and hit my weak parts like: shoulders, calves, and abs. Progress pictures are coming in around two weeks, so I am look forward to seeing how far I have come. I did some measurements and they have changed little. But I have noticed that things are filling out and shfiting upwards. I have this black wrap dress that continues to look better and better. I wore it today and I didn’t have to do any pulling to keep things closed. I’ll be working on that summer wardrobe come June!

To all of the Mother’s, mother-figures, mother’s to be, surrogate mothers, and fathers who must be both–Happy Mother’s Day!!

Man, ignorance can, indeed, be bliss. For the past couple of days I have been looking forward to having a brownie sundae. I have eaten clean, kept to my workout schedule and thought it would be a great treat. Well, here I am today and it just isn’t as appealing. I figured that just partaking would ‘erase’ the equivalent of two workouts! That is too much work lost, too much sweat wasted, my sore muscles would mean very little. It would be like losing a week’s worth of training! And it would set me back for heyzues’ personal body challenge, in which my goal was visible abdominal muscles. And I am not talking about a six-pack or anything, just a noticeble improvement.

So, last night I was hungry and ‘treated’ myself to a bowl of raisin bran wth non-fat milk. Who would have thought that a bowl of rasin bran would taste so good and be so satisfying. Tonight, my treat will be a nice steak, some good protein, and some veggies. And the treat will be a new pair of shoes and, of course, my protein powder!

Last night, I ended up doing a abbreviated leg workout. I jsut focused on compound movements:

Walking lunges (0#, 20,20,15), Laying ham curls on the ball (0#, 15, 15, 15), seated leg press (50#, 12, 11, 12), calf fress on leg press( 50#, 30, 30, 30), Step-ups (12# dumbells, 12, 10, The lunges and the step-ups really burned! So They are definetly something I need to do often. I also worked my abs as hard as I could. They seemed like they were still weak from the last workout–I think that was a few days ago. Seems like my hips aren’t tightening up as fast as my legs are. My morning workouts are so much better. I think I am a bit fatigued. So, as much as I don’t want to, I am going to take today off and just do a nice, long stretch. Or maybe I’ll walk around the lake with the Little One–she loves that.

For those of you, who like me, are interested in posting those side-by-side comparison pictures, here is how I’ve done it:

(1) Open Publisher or PowerPoint                 
        

(2) Select your images and add descriptive captions, if you wish, using the text box option

(3) Save your creation. Go to ‘File’ and ’save as’ (ctrl+s)

(4) Name your comparison picture

(5) Here is the important part: Go to: ‘Save as type’, scroll down,  and choose ‘JPEG File Interchange Format’

(6) Your new document can now be read as a photo and can be uploaded to your bodyspace page

Shoot! I have to wait until Friday to order my protein powder. I am left with the bland vanilla flavor and the chocolate. Well, at least I have some powder to work with. That Banana Nut is so good! I didn’t set my alarm clock right, so I didn’t get to do my morning workout. I’ll be going this evening. My back and triceps are SORE! Yes. I found a workout that really got me good. Tonight will probably be legs, if I have the energy. If not, chest and biceps. I would rather do legs in the morning–I feel a bit fresher. I have put the running on hold until I get some decent shoes. But that doesn’t stop me from getting a good session in.

As far as today’s workout, I’ll have to go @ around 10 p.m. when Husband gets back from watching basketball with his friends. But I won’t be missing it, though.

Just when I was talking about pushing myself a little further, heyzues909 posts a challenge–how timely. The objective is simple. Name your goal and meet it in three weeks. 21 days. Name it and claim it. My goal is to create some visible abdominals. So, the same way that I have been giving the calves some TLC, so goes the abs. I know I have been slacking a bit on the water intake, so that’ll be the first thing that I do–make sure I get all of that water down. Which means getting my first 32 oz. down by 9:00 a.m. Tomorrow begins Day 1.

I got up this morning and got to the gym ar around 5:20 a.m. I did a 15 minute warm-up on the recumbant bike and went to work my back and triceps. The biceps are coming along, but those triceps are lagging and jiggly. I am focused and decided to use lighter weights and focus on form, my muscle contractions, and getting a nice burn. I look up at the clock to see how much time I have left and it is already 6:15, leaving me around 10 minutes to wrap it up. I stretch and then go home. I can’t say I was having ’fun’, but I was focused. I did discover that I really like doing seated rows with a wide grip. It felt like it activated more muscles back there, more than the standard grip. That is defintely a keeper. Today’s workout was something like this:

WO: lat pull down (wide grip): (50#, 20, 20, 20), tricep press down (40#, 15, 12, 20-pushed to failure), seated row (wide grip (liked this one), 50#, 20, 20, 20), overhead tricep press (40#, 20, 20, 10/10-struggled on the last set), calf raises (105#, 30, 30, 30), adduction (pulsing) (60#, 20, 20, 20)

Last night’s WO: 30 minute on the recumbant bike (random, Level 11) 30 minutes (tough!) and 20 minutes on the treadmill at a 7.5% incline @ 3.2 m.p.h (tough!)

As I mentioned before, I am going to really put alot of emphasis on the abs over the next couple of weeks and see what happens. Hopefully, the next progress pictures will show a noticeable difference. I know I have said that I would like to wear shorts this summer and I can say with confidence that I will. Now, I am going to push myself further and really try to lower the bodyfat some more and flatten the pooch a bit. That’s all, just a firming of the fat flap that I currently just tuck away–that’s realistic. I am really surprised at how much I need to get my WO’s in, now. I try not to think of it as an inconvenience but simply a time to gain some balance. It is my time. I answer to no one. I listen to my music. Sometimes I people watch and see how people are progressing. When I go in the mornings, it’s a pick me up. I feel good knowing that I just did something great for myself and am a day closer to my goals. When I go in the evenings, it is a wonderful feeling to take a hot shower, lay down, relax every muscle, and go to sleep just exhausted.

Today, I thought about how long I have been going to my gym and how much time and money has been wasted with my inconsistency. Had I been focused and really applied what I did know at the time, what a difference that would have made for me. I have made more progress in the past 8 weeks or so than the three years that I have been a gym member! Geesh. Live and learn I suppose.

I just had to add this: My co-worker and I just went to the local coffee house and I ordered what would normally be my usual a large hot chocolate. I ate the whipped cream–yummy and when I got to the car I realized I didn’t know what type of milk they used. Was it whole, low-fat, or non-fat. I know it wasn’t soy, because I didn’t ask for that. I took a few sips because I paid for it and to really see if I liked it. I don’t want to drink it. There has to be at least 24 oz. of milk in that cup! I have been drinking maybe 12 oz. of non-fat for the day with my protein shakes! I went on fit day and that drink is 364 calories with 14 grams of fat, 35 grams of carbs, and 24 grams of protein. Wow!! And to think I had these things regularly.

Geez. I have been trying to get an accurate weight, just for my information. The broken down scale in the women’s gym changing area says: 182-183. At one point it was saying 189, so that mug is broken. The gym scale on the the floor says: 180-182. I broke down and purchased one of those body fat scales for my personal use and now it says: 170-172. Now, I would like to believe that all of the eating, cooking, working out, eating, cooking, working out and working out would put me down 10 pounds.  Oh well, I am 3/4 of the way through my gallon of water and need to pee.