My journey

Checked my measurements this weekend and was pleasantly surprised.  Only 2.5% more body fat to lose to meet my goal of 20% by the beginning of June.  Lost another half inch on my waist, hips, and chest (much to my husband’s dismay, lol!).  I am feeling pretty good about where I am.  I can really see the muscle definition on my arms, shoulders, and legs.  Even on the upper abs.  Still have some belly fat to lose, but at least I am headed in the right direction.  I’m holding out to hit that goal, then I see a new wardrobe in my future….

I knew I had a lot to do yesterday, but thought I could still do pretty good with my diet and could fit in at least a half hour of Pilates or something.  Not meant to be.

 My older son made his first communion at 9:00.  Took some pics with him and had to race out to take one of my dogs to the vet to get stitches out from some minor surgery he had 10 days ago.  Ran around a good chunk of the morning getting stuff for the communion party next weekend.  Came back and started doing housework.

Turned around, looked at the dog, and realized his wound had completely re-opened.  Not bleeding (thank God, I probably would have passed out, thrown up, or both), but you could see his muscles and some bone.  Yuck.  Spent about an hour and half at the pet ER waiting to be seen.  Then left him there to be knocked out AGAIN (he’s 10 years old) and get restitched.  Then had to go back a few hours later to pick him up again.

So, the day was shot and being as worried as I was about my dog, I didn’t eat the best.  Oh, and the best part?  Had to pay $280 to get him restitched 5 hours after the stitches were taken out.  Will I be calling my vet tomorrow?  You bet.

This week my, well, let’s say eagerness, was definitely lacking.  Going to the gym felt like a chore.  5 am came way to early.  And I am starting to think that the protein shake I have before I go is not good enough as I get really hungry about halfway through.  That said, never once did it occur to me to not go.  Or to take it easy.  I dragged myself out of bed, got dressed, drove there, and pushed hard.

I definitely think I need to take a closer look at my diet.  I spent the first half the week exhausted all day.  Not getting enough calories or not the right kinks of foods, don’t know.  I started posting that here along with my workouts, then decided to start a journal on the forums.  Hopefully someone there can help me out.

Measurements to be taken tomorrow.  Hopfully I’ll see some more gains.

Workout:

• Leg press 90 lbs, 4×10
• Barbell lunge 60 lbs, 4×10
• Seated leg curl 50 lbs, 4×10
• Calf raise 70 lbs, 4×10
• Cable crunch 60 lbs, 4×10
• 20 minutes elliptical interval

Nutrition:

• 4:45 - protein shake with skim milk (preworkout)
• 6:20 - Gatorade (postworkout)
• 6:30 - 1 whole egg, 3 whites, 1/2 c oatmeal
• 9:30 - 4 slices deli turkey, 1 cup carrots, 1 T fat free ranch dressing
• 12:30 - 2 c romaine lettuce, 3 oz chicken breast, 1 T fat free ranch dressing
• 3:30 - 1/2 c cottage cheese, 15 almonds
• 6:30 - Ruby Tuesdays Chicken Bella

2100 kcal, 82 g fat (35%), 171 g carb (33%), 164 g protein (32%)

Workout: 

• Incline barbell press 45 lbs, 3×10, 1X8
• Machine Chest Press 20 lbs, 4×10
• Lat pulldown 50 lbs, 4×10
• Seated cable row 50 lbs, 4×10
• Dumbbell lateral raise 10 lbs, 3×10, 1×8
• Alternating dumbbell curl 15 lbs, 3×10, 1×8
• Cable pressdown 30 lbs, 4×10
• 20 minutes elliptical interval

Nutrition:

• 4:45 - whey protein shake with 1c milk (pre-workout)
• 6:20 - Gatorade (post workout)
• 6:30 - 1 whole egg, 3 whites & 1/2 c oatmeal
• 9:30 - 1/2 c non fat cottage cheese, 15 almonds
• 12:30 - 2 c romaine lettuce, 3 oz chicken, 1 T fat free dressing
• 3:30 - 4 slices deli turkey, 1 c broccoli, 1 T fat free dressing
• 6:30 - chicken jambalaya (chicken, celery, green pepper, carrots, white beans)

1513 kcal, 41 g fat (24%), 131 g carbs (34%), 159 g protein (42%)

I decided that the full body plan I was using was sucking my motivation.  Hard to psych up your whole body 3 days a week!  Instead I am trying a 4 day routine - Monday & Thursday upper body, Tuesday and Friday lower.  Did the first upper body routine today and I have to admit it felt a lot better.  I felt more focused.

 I also measured my BF% this weekend and discovered that I am only 3.5% away from my goal with about 6 weeks to go.  I feel pretty good about that.  Especially since I was a little lazy in my eating habits last week.  Helped me get back on track for this week (lol - it’s only Monday!).

Made it through the end of week 9.  I fell back asleep for about 5 minutes this morning, so I didn’t have time to do the elliptical after the weights.  It’s the first time I’ve missed any part of my workout, so I’m feeling pretty bad about that.  Especially since I need to take the kids somewhere right after work and can’t go back then.  I also didn’t feel like going yesterday after work (I blame the nice weather we are finally having), but I made myself go and pushed my self harder.  I have to admit, as much as I didn’t want to go, I felt really good afterwards that I didn’t cave and not go.  Once I start that, it’s a slippery slope and I’ll start skipping all of the time.  Hopefully next week will be better!

So, I posted progress pics that I took over the weekend at the end of week 8.  I received quite a few comments congratulating on my progress, which took me a little by surprise.  So I went back and took a look at the beginning pics next to the new ones.  I have been so focused on how much is left to do, I failed to take detailed notice of what I have done.  I did notice I lost some of the rolls on my back.  And you can’t see it too much in the pics (with me being the whitest person around!), but I am getting some definition in my calves, shoulders and arms.  So, I am now going to keep my eye on the end goal, but focus a little less harder on it.  And I will take the time to appreciate what I have done.  After all, I have gotten out of bed every morning for 8 1/2 weeks at 5 am.  I should look and remember why I do it.

…and I am so excited.  I think I finally have my nutrition worked out.  My motivation over the last couple of weeks has been a little low as I do not like certain parts of my workout plan.  My hubby looked at it with me last night and helped me tweak a couple of things to keep the same results with slightly different exercises.  I’m looking forward to next week when I can try it out (the changes were to my Monday and Wednesday plans). 

I have been trying to do HIIT the past couple of weeks by sprinting 30 seconds, walking 30 seconds.  I worked my way up to 5 minutes.  The problem?  Shin splints.  I had them when I was younger, and they never go away.  Add to that the fact that I already hate running (as I posted earlier), and I am not a happy camper.  I think I need to move back inside onto the elliptical.  Which kind of sucks as it is finally warming up outside.  Oh well.