Stripping the Fat

I have to admit that I really like how my legs are coming along. Maybe it’s my imagination, or maybe not but they sure do seem to gain muscle pretty easily.  I do feel that I am a little partial to training my legs before I train any other body part although this weekend I noticed something that may make me change this habit. 
While at bowling this past weekend I noticed that a lot of women on my bowling league have nice legs but their upper bodies need a lot of work.  Well, actually that is being nice because it’s really from the booty on up that needs work!  LOL!  I think my butt actually looks a lot better than it did, which is a WONDERFUL thing, but I realize I better keep hitting the dip/pull up machine every other day as well and get at least 4 days of abs in per week.  The last thing I want is to look great from the waist down and have a flabby upper body.  Plus, I don’t like training arms much and notice that I only train them hard when working with my trainer.  I don’t feel as comfortable with free weights like I do with the machines, so I really need to work on changing that mindset.
Moving on…I am noticing some changes all over which seems a little strange because back in July it took a full month of working out to notice any differences.  I do need to hop on the scale tomorrow morning to make sure things are on track, I am usually a scale addict but lately I haven’t thought much of it. 
My best friend asked me to come visit her in February during the NBA All Star weekend down in Arizona, she and her boyfriend will be hitting all the parties and throwing a few at their pad as well.  I decided I will take her up on the invite but I know that means buckling down and hitting each month’s goals because by no means do I want to look like a “COUGAR” on the prowl when I go down there. LMAO!  My hope is to be close to my goal by February anyway, considering I’d like to wear that bikini by May for my trip to South Carolina.  Boy do I have a lot of work cut out for me…but I’m taking it one month at a time for now.
Well I off and heading to the gym for a few hours…it should be a good workout!
 

My trainer and I came up with a 90 day plan that I am really excited about.  It’s actually something I find challenging enough to "move" me, yet it still seems attainable. My only complaint is that I am focusing more on bodyfat loss than weight loss and she seems to zone in on weight loss alone.  Its sort of frustrating but I’m sick of trying to be heard…so I just keep in mind what my REAL goal is and let her talk. 

My next weigh in and measuring will occur on December 6th, and I have mapped out next week’s game plan so that I can clean up the diet a bit more.  I realized that I missed drinking my Dessert Protein shakes (for about a month) when I had one yesterday (with the instant coffee grounds in it) and couldn’t believe how tasty it was!  I guess I forgot!  I can’t wait to have a few today.  I’m also back to fish and veggies twice a day with eggs in the morning.

I have to admit that after yesterday’s leg workout, I didn’t feel as sore as I had the past few days, I simply worked out through the pain and today I feel great.  My abs and shoulders are a bit sore but I suppose that is pretty normal.  Tonight I will put in a long thorough workout before heading home.

I don’t ever want to take that long of a break from the routine again.  5 weeks of not really monitoring things or getting a daily workout in is just too much time.  Luckily I didn’t stray too far away from the overall eating plan or I’m sure I would have lost most of my "gains".

After work I went to the gym with the mindset that I would put in a long cardio session and talk with my trainer. Boy was I wrong.  I power-walked it over to the gym from work which took 35 minutes.  I put my things in the locker and proceeded to locate my trainer so we could “touch base”.  Once she spotted me it was HELL. LOL!  We immediately began a hard core workout which lasted 45 minutes, hitting a lot of the large muscle groups with very little rest in between sets.  I was exhausted by the time I finished but I still put in 45 minutes on the cross-trainer to make sure I got my “cardio” in for the day. 

I’m sore.  This is no surprise since it’s been over 3 weeks since I lifted weights (but I’ve done cardio during that time.)  I swear I feel likeI can’t sit down my butt hurts soooo bad!! 

I met with my trainer yesterday to catch up, take measurements, weigh in and today we will meet just talk about a game plan for the next 3-4 weeks.  I’m definitely in shape, meaning my stamina for cardio is awesome!  But my muscles are lacking the growth that they should have this far into the game so that is my focus for the remainder of the year.

We finally got over the tax deadlines with the last one being October 15th.  My aunt died on October 17th but since my cousin sent this "sad" news via a text message, I didn’t find out that she had passed away until the 20th when family members were collecting money to help fly out of town relatives in for the funeral.  Just ghetto I tell you…who sends a text notifying people that someone died???  Anyhoo, we had the funeral on the 25th and I THOUGHT everything would finally settle down and go back to normal

Well last week they began lay-offs and as much as I hoped it wouldn’t effect anyone in our group it did.  So I can’t begin to tell you that it has been a very stressful past two months.  All and all, I did not gain any significant weight even though I was not working out every day, but I did lose some LBM.

I have a lot of work cut out for me in the coming weeks, but I’m up for the challenge.