Shannon’s BodyBlog

I get to have a week off from the gym….to do these:
Monday - 500 pushups
Goal is to beat my previous time of 1 hour 45 minutes.  Make a bet whether I’ll beat that time by 15 or more minutes…I’m counting on more.
Tuesday - 500 squats (no weights)
Wish me luck.

Thursday - 250 pull ups
To be done on my hand dandy Iron Gym.  Deep breath in…slow breath out.

Friday - Walking lunges (one lap around the track = 1/4 mile)

Someday I’ll be assigned to do 1 MILE of these suckers.

Q:  What do you get when you cross Harry Caray and the guy who found the horse’s head in his bed in The Godfather?

A:  Another character at my gym.  (P.S.  If you don’t know who Harry Caray is, Google him before you move on to read the rest of this.  Must see glasses he wears).

We spotted each other across a crowded room and stared each other down.  I was mesmerize by his HUGE ass glasses and his big owl eyes being magnified behind his Coke bottle lenses.  They were a weirdly stylish set, like funky sort of, like he was artsy.  I know I complain about people staring at me, but in this case, I lost my head.

I’m pretty sure he could spot the Hubble telescope in those things.  Or should I say, I think he could OUTSPOT the Hubble telescope and tell us about things that the Hubble had never found before.

Anyway, it doesn’t stop at the glasses.  So we passed each other by and went about our business with our workouts.  (I won the staring contest, btw).
I’m resting between sets when I see him looking at a piece of equipment to start on.  Because his glasses weren’t so mesmerizing to me anymore, I noticed the rest of him.

This guy is probably in his late 60’s.  He’s got satiny black basketball shorts on that come down to his knees, white calf-high socks, sneakers and…….

…..a black buttondown shirt with white pinstripes.  The kind of shirt you would wear with a suit.   Oh my goodness.

In other news, can I just say that I keep good company here?  Between Janthony who helps me and sends me awesome workouts and support, and seeing the women here and what they’ve accomplished strength-wise, it really helps me to rise to the occasion.

There is the belief that in order to improve and be the best, you should compete with people who are better than you.

Well, there are a lot of women here who are better than me in the weights they can lift and move around.  I love looking at their stats and realizing that while I still have a long way to go, I can achieve a lot more than I have already by seeing the possibilities they’ve presented.

Let’s call it…friendly competition.

Breakfast:  1 whole egg, 4 egg whites (21g prot)

oatmeal (5g prot)

coffee w/ milk (4g prot)

Snack:  tuna mixed w/ cottage cheese (38g prot)

Pregym:  protein shake w/ milk (32g prot)

Dinner:  steak (40g prot)

macaroni (7g prot)

This boy wants to fly.

Weight Training:  legs

Cardio:  500
Breakfast:  2 whole eggs, 3 egg whites (24 g prot)

maltex (5g prot)

milk (4g prot)

coffee

Snack:  chicken (21g prot)
cottage cheese ( 12g prot)

Pregym:  protein shake w/ milk (32g prot)

Postgym:  protein shake w/ milk (32g prot)

Lunch: salmon (20g prot)

pineapple

Dinner:  steamed shrimp and mixed vegetables (20g prot)

I was thinking back to when I was just a babe in the woods at the gym and how nervous I was about making my way through the equipment.

I was so afraid of looking like an idiot, struggling with trying to figure out how the equipment works and not getting in someone’s way in the process.  How stoopid.

And then I get my first routine from Janthony and he wanted me to use the leg press and hack squat machine.  But when I saw them, I got scared.

I thought of myself loading the weights and then getting on the leg press and getting squashed underneath it because of the inability to push the weight back up.  I pictured myself with my knees up around my ears like a damned frog, helpless to get myself out.

Same with the hack squat machine.  I was nervous to use that too because of the same scenario….being bent up, trapped, not being able to get out.  And WORSE, someone having to come and save me.

I told Janthony that I skipped those two.  He asked why.  I dreaded that question, but anwered, "Because I was afraid of being crushed."  His answer:  "WHAT?"

I know, I was stoopid.

It was then suggested that I try out the equipment without the weight to get a feel for it.  OHHHH, why didn’t I think of that?  Because fear made me stoopid.

But fear made me smart as well….after I was stoopid.

I attached a bar to one of the cable machines and removed the plate pin thigamajigger to adjust the weight.   When I removed the pin, the bar fell on my head….just missing my skull cap…my ponytail getting the brunt of it…..and the gym was crowded.

UGH, I didn’t look around as I lifted the bar from my neck and replaced it with a lighter one.  I wasn’t hurt, but my ego had a contusion the size of Texas.

After I read the label indicating that failure to follow their instructions could result in serious injury or even DEATH, I found out that a lighter bar has to be used.  So now I know which bars to attach.  I got smart

Now I’ve been going to the gym on nearly a daily basis and feel at home there with my comfort level being sky high.  I could care less what people think or how long I’m lingering at a piece of equipment studying the directions.  I don’t want to DIE, MAN.

Breakfast:  1 whole egg, 4 egg whites (21g prot)
oatmeal (5g prot)
coffee w/ skim

Snack:  greek yogurt (15g prot)

Lunch:  Chicken (40g prot)

"mac and cheese" (whole wheat mac w/ cottage cheese) (15g prot)

Snack:  protein shake w/ skim (32g prot)

Snack:  protein shake w/ skim (32g prot)

Dinner:  salmon (40g prot)

asparagus

The guy in this makes me LAUGH.

Weight Training:  back, calves, abs

Cardio:  600

Breakfast:  3 whole eggs, 1 egg white (21g prot)

oatmeal (5g prot)

coffee

milk (4 g prot)

Snack:  greek yogurt (15g prot)

fish (20g prot)

Lunch:  tuna (26g prot)
whole wheat pasta (3g prot)
carrots

Snack:  protein shake w/ skim milk (32g prot)

Dinner:  Chicken (40g prot)

whole wheat mac (3g prot)

Snack:  casein shake (32g prot)

My gym is located in a shopping center surrounded by a Kmart, a pool hall, a laundry mat, a Chinese restaurant, a liquor store, and a dollar store.

So I get my daily dose of motivation….to be NOTHING like the people who I see walking in and out of these places.

I don’t want to be the 300 pound woman walking out of Kmart to her handicap spot where her car is parked (nod to Janthony’s blog).

I don’t want to be the woman smoking a cigarette outside of the laundry mat in 12 degree weather because she can’t bear to be without it for an hour.
I don’t want to be the bloated people getting their liquid lunches from the liquor store.

And I certainly don’t want to be the overweight mom with the muffin top, stringy hair and a cigarette dangling from her lips who drags her child by the hand into the dollar store.

There are some women on this site whose pictures I like to see because it reminds me of what I want to achieve and I like that visual because it helps me believe that having the body I want is possible.

But to see such a contrast in people where my gym is located, that helps me to RUN toward my goal rather than take my sweet ass time like I used to do.

I wasted so many years of my life thinking that I have plenty time to get where I want to be and procrastinated in doing something about it.  What would I look like today if during all those years I had the motivation I have now.

I can still use improvement on making the best use of my time.  I will never be satisfied and I should never be satisfied with the progress I’m making.  That would cause me to be stagnant and there’s no way I’m letting myself settle for "good enough" and stopping there.

Weight Training:  chest, calves

Cardio:  500

Breakfast:  Oatmeal w/ 1/2 scoop protein powder (17g prot)

Greek yogurt fat free (15g prot)

coffee w/ milk

Snack:  tuna mixed w/ creamed eggplant (26g prot)

Pregym snack:  protein shake w/ milk (32g prot)
almonds (3g prot)

Postgym:  protein shake (24g prot)
Lunch:  tuna (26g prot)
whole wheat (8g prot)

Dinner:  fish (32g prot)

whole wheat macaroni (3g prot)

mixed vegetables

Snack:  casein shake (24g prot)

Breakfast:  eggs (30g prot)

oatmeal

tea

Lunch:  turkey meatballs (40g prot)

pasta (7g prot)

Snack:  protein shake w/ milk (32g prot)

One of the challenges of eating clean is making sure you’re getting enough protein, carbs, fats, vegetables, fruits, what kinds of meats, etc, etc, etc, etc.

But man would it make life soooo much easier if there was food you could just take a scoop of 2 or 3 times a day and it gives you all the nutrients and energy you need for the day.

You can buy it dry in a bag and eat it in a bowl like cereal or snack on it like popcorn.

Or you can buy it wet in a can, like Alpo if you want a moist variety.

I wouldn’t be bored with it at all.  There would be plenty of variety of flavors except for tuna.  No tuna flavored people food.

Cottage cheese flavored people-Alpo would be good.

Breakfast:  1 whole egg, 4 egg whites (21g prot)

oatmeal (5g prot)

coffee w/ skim milk

Snack:  can of tuna (26g prot)

Lunch:  trout (27g prot)

brown rice (3g prot)

Pregym snack:  protein shake w/ skim milk (32g prot)

Captcha made me spell weiner for a comment I left.  I felt all funny inside spelling it out….all giggly and embarrassed.

It dawned on me later that it was likely the alternate term for hot dog.

Breakfast:  1 whole egg, 4 egg whites

oatmeal

coffee w/ skim milk

Lunch:  trout (30g prot)

macaroni w/ tomato sauce

Snack:  protein shake w/ milk (32g prot)

Breakfast:  1 whole egg, 4 egg whites

oatmeal

coffee w/ milk

Lunch:  chicken (30g prot)

1/2 cup brown rice

Snack (pregym):  protein shake (32g prot)

Snack (postgym):  protein shake (32g prot)
Snack:  cottage cheese (12g prot)

Dinner:  Trout (40g prot)

macaroni (4g prot)
mixed vegetables