Making_A_Change’s BodyBlog

I am happy that I made it to the gym and worked out for an hour, chest and triceps, it definitely wasn’t up to par BUT I was there. I used my normal weights, but on many occasions was not able to do 12-15 reps, having to stop around 10. I noticed that my left arm was weak. I am taking note of all symptoms, b/c if I still feel this way by Sunday evening, I’ll be going in for a check-up on Monday. I am also going to track my diet more carefully. I’ve noticed that I am eating twice in the evening and sometimes getting up at 2 or 3 a.m. to eat. Has my metabolism just gone wild? Could this contribute to the dizziness? Maybe I need more carbohydrates? Has anyone experienced this? I typically keep carbs low and eat them when I need them. But I think I’ll throw a yam back in the mix or something.

I took a day off yesterday in hopes that, if I have some sort of cold/flu/virus, that I’d let my body rest and finish off the week. Last night, I experienced dizziness and some nausea, again. In the meantime, I’ll have to give the SP a rest. I don’t know if there is any correlation, but it seems like the best thing to do until I feel better. You’d swear I was pregnant…

…okay, I satisfied my curiosity. I’m not pregnant.

So, last night I had some achiness. Ugh. I could feel s something going on and hoped that things would get better by the time that I met with Billy this morning. Well, we get started and I couldn’t believe the words that came out of my mouth, I just can’t do this, today. I was prepared to give him his money and walk out. Everything shook. I was sweating profusely and just wanted to grab one of those funky blue mats and lay in a corner. He just said, Where just going to change it up, but you are going to finish. We focused more on strength moves for the back and shoulders, rather than the compound ones he had planned. There were waves when I believed that I would recover only to be smacked down. We did do a new ab move on the back extension equipment that I really liked. It made my obliques really sore. In the end, I was glad he made me finish. I told him about my week and how inconsistent it was–I made it only 5 days instead of week. He just laughed–shoot, some people don’t even make it three. You look good. Just keep doing what you are doing. And I will.

I just logged in my ‘new’ weight of 147. I realized that I have been at 148-ish for over 5 weeks and that it was fine. I have been doing what I am supposed to do and trying to do it better. I am noticing even more vascularity in my hands and arms that are present even without lifting. I have also noticed that my hips are gone. I’m not too thrilled about that, BUT if I fill out my butt and my waist continues to ‘lean out’  it’ll all even out, I suppose.

The weather has been absoluted beautiful and has reminded me of what is to come–dresses, sandles, tank tops, and shorts. I need to start working on my feet, now. They have been so neglected…so very, very, neglected.

Today’s workout went off without a hitch–45 minutes on the elliptical and about 40 minutes of abs. I had a little under one scoop of SP, so I think that is the amount that works for me. I felt energetic and focused without feeling ‘frantic’ or nauseous.

I have been doing alot deadlifts and, with the help of SP, alot more squats I have begun to feel changes in my glutes. When I squeeze them, I can feel the muscle contract. And sometimes I can feel them while walking. Occasionally, I can see a ‘dimple’ when I am laying down. I can’t see a difference, yet, but I know something is happening.

1/4 cup SP gives a subtle effect. 1/2 cup of SP gave me more focus. A full scoop of SP has me doing 200 lunges with ease. A heaping scoop leaves me nauseous and wired. I decided to get a full 8 hours of sleep yesterday and work out in the evening. My husband picked up our daughter and decided to just make frozen pizza. Hey, pizza night..sweet. I feel like a competitor (Wink to DawnMelanie). I’ll have a couple of slices chug down some SP and go to the gym. Sounds like a plan to me. I ate the mediocre delight, which tasted pretty good since the diet has been simple all week. I threw in a big scoop of SP in a cup and drank it. I was going to wait around 30 minutes and then go. I got the usual buzz then I was on my way. On the way to the gym the feeling intesified. I didn’t fee so good. Okay, just make it to the gym. Dang it, no parking. God, no place to pull over. Stomach contracting. Oooooh. I end up parking a block from the gym in a more secluded spot. Lots of corners and shrubbery. Good. I’ll find a corner and get sick there. Wait. I’ll walk the block. Maybe getting warm with help. I walked the block twice and the feeling worsened. It starts to rain. So, I am in the rain, trying to play off the fact that I feel like crap, I start ’stretching’ to again try to get myself together and not feel so foolish. While I am waiting a man walks by and says, "You have some beautiful legs." Thank you kind stranger. I manage a weak smile. I decided to get in the car and just go back home. The 3 minute ride seemed like an eternity. Lights were red. It seemed like every car wanted to make a right turn. I get home, run up two fights of stairs, bang on the door, and run to the bathroom where I wait. Now, the nauseau just lingered, but I felt wired. I wanted to lay down but I literally couldn’t. My legs were in constant motion. I paced. I stretched. I wretched. Nice. This lasted for a good 4 1/2 hours. I finally went to sleep at 1 a.m. exhausted. I think I am going to stick with 1/2-3/4 scoop. I’ll try, again, tomorrow and if I get a similar reaction I may have to go back to Lipo-6.

When I started using SP I began with 1/4 cup and alot of water. I slowly decreased the water and increased the SP until I was up to almost a scoop. I think I careless scooping was just too much. I didn’t use any for today’s workout, b/c I still felt a little pumped. Today, I did chest and shoulders with some abs at the end: chest press (20-25# db); push-ups; squat/front raises (20# db); squat/shoulder press; weighted cable abs, v-sits, seated knee lifts; 5 minutes of cardio @ 7.3 mph (my fastest speed, yet.). Tomorrow, is an ‘easy’ day. Cardio, calves, and abs.

I got up a little later than I wanted to but only by maybe 15 minutes? My initial plan was to do lunges, maybe six passes. Maybe it was the full scoop of SP that moved me, but I felt good. I did 12 passes–4 with 20# , 4 w/o weights, 2 with a 10# db doing a trunk twist, and 2 more w/o weights. I also did leg extensions, deadlifts, leg curls, and seated calf extensions. I love workouts like that–focused and strong. I finished it off with a 10 min. run. The plan for tomorrow is chest, triceps, and abs. They aren’t sore so I’ll hit them. I have to remember to do dips.

I took yesterday off, I had a ‘clicking’ in my shoulder. Today’s workout was labored, but I finished. I know my strength varies during the month, so this is to be expected. My weights were lighter, but I tried to keep the reps at 12-15. I didn’t even run for the full 10 minutes afterwards. It certainly wasn’t a waste of time; but one does get a little disappointed. I have been doing alot better with the water consumption and I have been keeping the diet super, clean so far. Surprisingly, the sweet tooth hasn’t kicked in. The plan was to practice my ’self-discipline’ and resist, but I don’t want what I would normally want at this time.

I went to my favorite store, The Grocery Outlet, and found some chipotle seasoned pork loins. They were so good. I put one over raw cabbage and it was good. Some lime would have made it even better. This week I’ve been eating some sort of protein over raw cabbage, raw spinach, or lettuce. I haven’t felt like cooking, so raw worked for me.

Tommorow is going to be a leg day, so I am going to get to the gym no later than 4:40 to give myself plenty of time to lunge, lunge, lunge. Instead of using 8# weights, I am going to use the 10 # dbs. I’ll see how many passes I can do.. Last time, I was unable to do anything that targeted the quads, at least not after the 198 lunges! I am going to see if I can focus on the hams and calves, and then hit the quads, again.

I was praying that Billy would work my back and I got chest. I felt so weak this morning, but I have to admit pushing through the weakness felt rewarding–afterwards. I don’t know if it the DOMS (I was till sore in the chest and shoulders) or a subtle bout with a cold, or my oncoming TOM but I felt rubbery or something. I am going to make the best out of those workouts, though. Those are the ones that make me want to go home, but I am going to make those count–whether I reduce the weight and increase the reps or some other adjustment I will press on.

This cycle has been unique. My cravings for cheese are insatiable–is it dairy? the sodium? Normally, I would want something sweet and ice cream is my treat of choice. But I am still on this cheese kick, which works well since I have decided to clean up the diet a bit more. I like the idea of having a sumptuous meal instead of something sweet. Pizza sounds divine. Sushi is always a favorite. Indian food is great.

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Update:Gaa! I’m so sore. I just have to keep whispering to myself–soreness is growth and change. I am closer to creating a new body. And Aunt Flow is here. So, tomorrow’s workout should be awesome! Onward. 

My back, chest, and leg workout have somehow decided to produce DOMS at the same time. The result? This morning I could barely move–awesome! I took some glucosamine and had a protein shake. Today was supposed to be my off day, but I may just go in for 30 minutes of cardio to relieve some of the stiffness, but I will definitely be stretching alot today. Tomorrow, Billy and I meet to do some damage. He will will be focusing on my back and shoulders and probably abs. I am going to be a tighter with the diet to see what kind of results I can yield over the next few months. I have become good about watching my portions, good with my choices dining out, and I’m very conscious of the effects that my food choices have on my body. So, I woud like to see what happens if I take it a step further and really stick to the ‘once per week cheat’. I think I just want to the extra challenge–to test my discipline.

That is approximately the number of lunges that I did today. It wasn’t an exact science or perfect count, but I did 12 crosses across the studio floor. Each pass was about 18 steps. Had I done an exact count I would have thrown in another 6 or so to say that I did over 200 lunges! That sounds impressive!

I did 6 passes with two 8# db and 6 with empty hands. I was sweating like crazy and the pump in my thighs was dizzying. I didn’t waver, every lunge was right on. I was focused and didn’t stop when I reached the other end of the floor. I pivoted and kept going. I finished off by doing leg curls, calf raises, seated calf raises and hip abductions. Then, some cable abs. I would have done more but I felt like I was going to puke (I worked it.). I then exacerbated the problem when I panicked b/c I didn’t have anything to eat. I ran to the store next door with my last dollar and bought an over priced apple only to find the protein bar that I thought I put in there. I am proud of my new personal lunge record. That SuperPump is something else. I’ll have another leg day during the week probabably Wednesday. I am going to make sure that I do legs on the weekend b/c I have the time to spend a little longer in the gym and during the week.

I saw this woman today with the most awesome physique. She had these thick gorgeous legs. And even though she was wearing a long sleeve shirt you could see her shoulders and triceps. What is funny is that someone with a well developed body seems odd in the gym. You are used to seeing ‘average-everyday’ bodies like ‘man with HUGE upper body, pot belly, and skinny legs’, ’low/flat booty lady (or man)’, and ‘chunky trainer’. I didn’t want to assume that she competed, but if she didn’t she should. I found myself self looking at her, then she would look at me. I then decided to say something to her really quickly in case she thought I was some sore of stalker-weirdo. I told her that I was admiring her physique. And I used the word physique–’body’ would have been sooo-oooo common. LOL! Got to use my bb.com vernacular, right? She just smiled and said she appreciated that. Then I went on my way and she continued to do her thing.

It has been one year since I posted my first progress pictures and posted my profile. I remember taking those pictures and thinking that that those were the last days that I was going to stay that way. I decided that I was going to do something about my body. I remember weeks prior to that I stopped complaining to my husband about the way I looked or the way that clothes fit, because that was futile. I also had to come to the harsh reality that I lied to myself about how hard I was really working. I have always thought having a gym membership was important and when I went I would work out and stop before it go too uncomfortable.  I could even where my gym clothes twice–I’m serious. And when I went for a few weeks and nothing changed, I would become discouraged and stop going to the gym only to have to start over erasing any progress that I had made.

DawnMelanie was one of the first people to give me advice about cardio re-introducing me to the benefits of the recumbant bike. This helped me see some major improvements in my legs. I listened. FlexAppeal helped me make HUGE changes in my diet by simplifying the whole fat/protein/carb thing. She showed me how to use fitday.com and where I was going wrong with my diet (and it was SO wrong). I learned that I could and should eat MORE and WHAT to eat. I listened. I remember trying to get to 1300 calories at one point and thought I would burst. I just wasn’t hungry and was used to eating just 3 meals per day. MsFitness showed me that I was underestimating my abilities and that not completing a full set and only doing 6 or 7 was okay–ork towards 12-15 and by the time you do that–you keep going. And more importantly, lifting HEAVY is good! I listened. I got alot of support from people that I didn’t even know. It was great to communicate with people who had similar goals and that didn’t think I was ‘obsessed’ or ’strange’ for my newfound interest. The site itself dispelled alot of myths. The ‘lose two pounds a week’ was a huge misconception that I had. I knew that that was considered ‘healthy weight loss’, but I was expecting to lose between 6-8 pounds per month–and with a poor diet and inconsistent training that ain’t happening. And furthermore, your body will respond however it will respond–it may be inches, feelings of wellness, fat loss–just watch watch your body will do when you treat it well. You’ll be surprised. To date, I have lost an average of 3-4 pounds per month. Sometimes it was weekly and sometimes the scale didn’t budge for weeks and then reveal a change after my cycle.  I had to let go of expectations and focus on consistency. This is truly and amazing site with amazing people.