Shannon’s BodyBlog

I finally got some progress pics put up.  I started really buckling down with the help of Janthony who put me on a 6 day a week weight training routine about 8 weeks ago.  He switched the plan at the beginning of January.  That, along with my January goal of doing cardio every day help with muscle gain AND weight loss.

I gained definition, but I also lost 12 pounds this month.  I first started out with the goal to burn 500 calories a day doing cardio, then when I found I was at a plateau, I bumped up the goal to a 600 calorie burn per day.

My son’s basketball team is 0 and 8.  I predict that after tonight’s game, they’ll be 0 and 9.

But you know something?  They play their little hearts out every single game like they’re going to win.  They’re hopeful each and every game.  They don’t quit playing when they see the score is 15 to 50.  They don’t get downtrodden when the ref tells the score keeper to stop keeping score in the middle of the game because the rift in the points is so damned wide.

Every game, all 10 boys show up to play like they’re going to win.  And at every game, us parents pray that they at least score into the double digits :S

Tonight, the coach is going with a different approach to coaching the kids to see if it’ll work in helping them get a win for the game.  He’s not giving up on them either.  He keeps trying different things to see what works.
What do I see amongst the adults on this site?  I see people who aren’t getting the results they want, so they sabotage themselves.  They eat junk to sooth themselves which sets them deeper into the trap of an unhealthy lifestyle.

I see people who aren’t losing weight as fast as they’d like, so they get depressed and they give up hope.

Did the pilgrims give up when they came to this land we now call The United States Of America after most of them were being slaughtered by Indians, dying from freezing to death during the winter and dying of measles and gonorrhea?

No!

Did they all say "Goddamn, nothing is going right here.  F*ck this!  I’m going back to England!"

No! they stuck it out and forged ahead and improved upon what they did wrong the last time.

This great nation wasn’t born from a bunch of quitters!

So if your diet isn’t working for you, try a different approach.  If cardio isn’t working for you, try burning more calories.  If you’re not gaining muscle, try a different weight lifting routine.

You’re not seeing results fast enough?  Well keep working and give up the "instant gratification" mindset.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Rather than getting all depressed that nothing is working, keep searching for what WILL work.

Weight Training:  bi’s and chest

Cardio:  600

Diet:  good

I don’t take very much personally at all.  Unless something insulting is directly said to me, I don’t assume to know what people think of me.  Nor do I really care…unless they think something good about me

So, when I go to the gym, there are always the same people there at the time I go.  The women who are always on the cardio equipment and the men who are down on the floor working out with the weights where I am.

None of the men ever said hello to me or gave me so much as a nod when we’d pass by.  If I said hello, I’d never get a response back, or it would be a quick mumble of sound.
I didn’t put judgement on any of it thinking that I’m not welcome in a predominately male section of the gym.

But, lately, the guys who I see regularly have begun to actually say things to me.  I feel like I’ve made a breakthrough like the woman who helped Coco the gorilla use sign language to communicate with humans.

On Tuesday, there were 45 lb plates on the Smith machine bar, but no one was near it so I asked a guy nearby if he or anyone else was working there.  He said it’s all mine and even went as far as taking off the plates for me since he was the last to use it.  Usually I’m left to my own devices which is perfectly fine.  But I thought it was nice that he did that.

And then I was over by the light dumbbell rack curling some 20 pounders   While I was resting, one of the regulars asked me if I was using the Cybex machine.  I said I wasn’t as I was about to pick up the 20 pounders again   He said, "Are you sure?"  And I said, "I’m positive…it’s all yours", as I began my curls

I was resting in between sets of the same exercise and was pacing a bit.  Another regular came over and asked if I was going to use the pullup machine.  I said, "No.  I’m not using it."  He said, "Are you sure?  You can use it if you need it."  I was like, "No, it’s all yours."

Afterward, I went over to use the preacher bench and I saw the JYD who let me work in with him working on a nearby machine.  He actually said "Hey how are ya!"

I felt like it was the dawn of a new era for me at the gym.

Weight Training:  shoulders, back, calves

Cardio:  600

Breakfast:  5 eggs (2 whole, 3 whites)

Maltex

coffee w/ milk

Snack:  banana

protein powder

Lunch:  steak

mashed potatoes (no fat)

Snack:  almonds, apricots

Dinner:  chicken

sweet potato

Daaaammmmnnnn.  No gym today.  I plan to do my leg workout at home doing what I can with what I’ve got…exercise ball and dumbbells.

Weight training:  legs

Cardio:  600
Breakfast:  5 eggs (1 whole, 4 whites)

whole wheat toast

coffee w/ milk

I’ve seen quite a few men on this site with something in a place where it shouldn’t be, IMO.  (It’s too late for the men who already have theirs), but men, if you’re ever thinking of getting a tattoo, I suggest you do one thing:

Enlist a friend to help you with this one.  Blindfold yourself and ask your friend to kick you square in the balls.  Make sure to tell him not to warn you when it’s coming.  You need to feel the FULL impact of the kick.

And then afterward, if you still think it’s a good idea to get a tramp stamp on your lower back or a tat around your bellybutton or right above or below it, then hey….go for it.   If you feel liberated enough with your masculinity to get a tattoo in where is traditionally a woman’s area, then more power to ya.

But who am I to tell you where you should get it.  I’m just sayin’ that’s all.

Weight Training:  chest, biceps, calves

Cardio:  600

Breakfast:  5 eggs (2 whole, 3 whites)

Maltex

coffee w/ milk

Snack:  protein powder and banana smoothie

Lunch:  Tuna, tomato, chickpea salad

small sweet potato
Dinner:  steak

mashed potatoes (mixed with chicken broth and skim milk)

lima beans

No sob story, but I wasn’t able to make it to the gym because of a migraine I came down with in the early a.m. and it just let up about an hour ago, so I made myself get down to my elliptical and got my cardio done.

Fuuuuuudge.

Cardio:  600

These guys remind me of Heckle and Jeckle for some reason (remember those two zany crows?).  I’ll let you all come up with your own commentary.

Cardio:  600

Why wasn’t the bodybuilder evicted?

Because he was squatting.

Breakfast:  1 whole egg, 2 egg whites

oatmeal

coffee w/ milk

Snack:  apple

Weight Training:  legs, tris

Cardio:  600

If I had never set a goal and written at the top for everyone to see (MAINLY myself) I would never have gotten my cardio done last night.

After 2 nights of nearly no sleep whatsoever, I was tired as hell.  I was getting pissed too because the chicken was taking too long to cook (friggin pop up timer), I was yelling at the kids for every little thing, and I wanted nothing more than to go to bed.

But I still had cardio to do.  I do it at night because I want to save the best of my energy for my weight lifting routine.
I hated every damned minute on that elliptical.  Nothing was going right.  My thighs were burning, I had no energy.  I didn’t want to be there at all.
But I kept thinking one thing:  My legs are still moving and are capable of moving.  I’m not sick, I’m not crippled, I’m not dying.  I’m just tired and that’s not such a big deal.

Plus, I’d hate to mess up the goal I set.  I like seeing a perfect lineup of goals that were reached each day.

Before I knew it, I was finished with what I had to do and crawled into bed soon afterward.  By 8:30, I fell asleep.

Now I feel fresh as a Daisy

If you ever need to push through a workout whether it’s weights or cardio, listen to this song:

Weight Training:  chest, biceps, abs

Cardio:  600 (****a****nut)

Breakfast:  1 whole egg, 3 egg whites

whole wheat toast

coffee w/ milk

Snack:  lowfat cheese stick

Lunch:  chicken

Lunch 2:  chicken sandwich w/ hummus spread

Dinner:  Mochicken

macaroni

Snack:  Almonds (and a small sprinkling of chocolate chips)

There is only one Smith machine at my gym and it’s the first thing I go to whenever it’s in my routine because it is ALWAYS being used.  So I get to it before anyone has a chance to take it over.

Well, yesterday there were some guys working out and I saw one of them kicking a DB bar out of the way and sort of pacing around the machine.  He’s a Junk Yard Dog.

The Junk Yard Dogs are blue collar workers with heavy Boston accents who come in to pump big heavy iron and they’re BIG.  They pretty much look focused on their workouts until they’re resting between sets where they talk to each other, and then continue their workouts.

They’re at the gym everytime I go in.

I went over to the Smith machine and asked the JYD if he was going to use it.  He said he was and asked what I planned to do.

I told him I was going to pop a squat (I left out pop, LOL).

I said I could come back to use it after he was finished…not a problem.  He said, "No, no, I have legs too, what weight do you do?"

I was like, Wow…me?….work in with him?….I’m actually legit now??

So I went over how I was going to do my sets with the weights and he said he didn’t plan to go high because he hurt his back, so we started out with my warm up set weight.

And then after a couple of sets at higher weights, he said he didn’t want to go any higher, so I asked how many sets he had left and told him to do the rest of what he had because I had to add more weight.

He finished up and asked how much more weight I needed.  I told him I wanted to go up to 70 and he said, "You want me to add a dime here?"

"Yeah, dime…two nickels…whatever you got."  LMAO…(I never said two nickels).

So he added on weight for me.

And then he asked me about my handy dandy little notebook I carry around with me.

"You take notes on what you do?"

So I explained how I need it to keep track of what I need to do and then I write down the weight so I can add or at least stay the same as last time.

"How much weight do you add?"

I told him sometimes just 5 other times 10 and I TRY to do that each week.

He said, "Huh, that’s pretty good."  And then he thanked me and went on with whatever else he had to do.

I was like, cool….he’s actually not scary.
Later on, I was doing hammy curls with a DB and after my first set, JYD came over to ask me about it.

He said he likes doing that, but always has trouble holding the DB between his feet and starting out on the bench.

So I explained how I did it and he asked if he could watch.  So I agreed.

He asked how much the DB was and I told him 30 lbs.  He smiled.

Was that a "I’m impressed" smile or "That’s it?" smile.

As I got the DB between my feet and got down on the bench, he tried it out and said it worked easier than the way he’s tried.

I told him I like doing DB curls way better than on the machine and he was all agreeable and said he liked it better too and then thanked me again for the demonstration.

So, I’ve gone from being nervous about working out in the Big Boys section of the gym to working WITH and helping out a JYD.

Weight Training:  back and shoulders

Cardio:  600 (fuuuucking suuuuucked kaaaakaaaa)

Breakfast:  2 whole eggs, 3 egg whites

whole wheat toast

coffee

Lunch:  salad with croutons, sunflower seeds

Snack:  banana