lmlage’s BodyBlog

I have been a good girl since my last post on December 13th. Finals week was a setback in my exercise habits but I’ve been back on track lately. I have been lifting frequently and have stopped eating junk at the mall where I work (mostly because I didn’t have any money). I think this was a HUGE difference, though I still indulge in a Minute maid cranberry grape every once in a while, but I am trying to convert to Vitamin Water. I plan on doing a body fat measurement here soon. Everyone has noticed the changes in my body, and thats awesome! My size 10 pants are looser now and I actually have to pull them up and wear a belt. I am concerned with the chest pains that I have been having when I’m running. My heart rate gets up to 190 or 195 and I have bad chest pains.

I feel like the holiday season isnt going to be much of a temptation. Last night I ate crap food and had a mountain dew and today I’m sick of it. Happy holidays to all!

Looking through my progress pictures I am noticing such a huge difference. I’ve been lifting a lot lately, which has been hard because it’s been so hard to get past the stigma of weight. I was 165 lbs recently but without much muscle tone. At 175 lbs now, I am lifting hardcore and running so much!!! I’m putting more of a focus on my abs (progress picture up to date), and my body fat % is 21%. While this is great, it’s not where I want to be quite yet. My final goal is 18% body fat which is amazing!!! The average body fat of a woman of my age and height is around 25%, so I’m much better than that now.

It’s so hard to get past the "scale syndrome". Here’s some things I need to stay focused on:

- I’m in great cardio shape

- I’m  getting very toned

- My body fat % is great

- I wear size 10 jeans or 30 inch waist.

These are all great things so I just need to focus on them.

Okay so here I am, day 9. I am ohhh so hesitant to weight myself because I know I will have gained weight. But I know at the same time that it is muscle since I’ve been lifting hard core lately. This morning I went working out and enjoyed that a lot except I felt really weak. I guess I will keep at it. Pics to come soon!!!

So technically its day 2 of my training month. But I just started today and didn’t do too well. I am training this month because I have not been keeping up with being in shape. I am 170 right now, wearing a size 9/10 which makes me SOOO HAPPY! But I’m flabby. Not much use fitting into those size 9 jeans if whats underneath is just… skin. My stomach has improved which is most definitely a positive. All I eat anymore is crap food and partially I blame that on the mall where I work. I leave my house at 7 a.m. to go to school and don’t get home till 10 at night because of work, so I’m literally gone ALL day long. I just need to find healthy food choices. I’m also getting bored at work which leads me to eat.

And I know the drill about how cutting everything bad on your "diet" doesn’t work in the end. So this week I am putting focus on withdrawling from non diet pop and sugar. I dont think this is a huge sacrifice because I can just drink diet sunkist and if I have sugar cravings, I can have an apple. What is so difficult is that I work RIGHT next to this cookie place. ugh!!!

So week 1 is dedicated towards getting a specific lifting, eating, pill taking schedule. Here’s my weigh in with pics to follow:

Weight: 170

Goal weight: 155

I’m also taking lipo 6x which I do like, I just need to get on this schedule of taking it regularly. And since I’m a dork, I’m going to make a SWOT analysis on my dieting.

Strengths: My gym is convenient and my Lipo 6x does seem to work. Also I am fiting into clothes I never thought Id fit into.

Weaknesses: Food at the mall, and my boyfriend since I’d rather be with him than working out.

Oppurtunities: Work out place is convenient, just need to get on a set schedule.

Threats: cookie place, mall.

Plan: Go to the store, buy a cooler that can hold food in there for a whole day. Buy good food.
Lifting schedule: I figure that I can lift Tuesdays and Thursdays anytime of the day since I usually have those days off. I get done with class at 11:45 and have to be at work by 1. This gives me enough time to at least do a 30 min cardio session.

I’m going to do this this week, Iwill be posting to let you all know.

It’s been awhile since I’ve been on this site and have even posted. I took a break from this site because I think it made me too focused on the goals but actually made me discouraged and so "weight" conscious that it was more of a deterrent. I’ve been focusing on losing fat, and have watched what I’ve ate as well as run  when I can. I’m also on Lipo 6 which has been pretty good. Currently I’m at 165, the smallest I’ve been since my freshman year of HIGH SCHOOL. (So in 6 years time). My goal is to get to 155, as that will put me in the middle of my weight range. Once I get there I want to lift more and get stronger.

Yesterday I had a happy moment when I looked down at my hands. My veins are popping out much more on my hands and wrists than I’ve ever seen before. This makes me joyous, and I’m not sure exactly why. I think it is definitely safe to say that my bodyfat is decreasing. I haven’t taken much to actually checking it because i have my doubts in the realibility. FOr example, a physical trainer said, according to the calipers, that my bf was 30% aka borderline obese. Right now if I had to make a guess I’d say less than 25% easily. I’ve had a lot of progress these past two weeks, and found my problem in my delayed weight loss. I was killing myself over cardio and was doing cross training strength classes, but since adding more strength training I’ve noticed a big difference.

I’m also submerged in information on nutrition and how people on this site go about with their eating habits.  Diet plans I’ve seen have been so strict– egg whites, salmon, steel cut oats, etc… Well, that sounds more like prison food and definitely not something I’d want to stick to, no matter how bad I want to be sexy awesome in shape.  I’ve also been talking with women who look sexy awesome and they eat like normal people, but just watch what they eat in general, and choose healthier alternatives. So I think I’m going to take that route, because it will be much easier to stick to in the long run. I do have even more ambition than ever to stay on track because I dont think my boyfriend particularly likes the way I look. That isnt a reason to do anything, but it does help motivate.

I put a hold on my keto diet this week because this was the last week to spend with my boyfriend till he left for the summer, and I spent a lot of time at his parents, and his mom is a GREAT cook! I found out some interesting news this week and I’m hoping this will help me going forward. In my previous posts I mentioned I had a miscarriage about a month ago. Well on Wednesday I started having some troubles and had to go to the doctor, where they told me I never fully miscarried. My body still thought I was pregnant, which explains my extreme fatigue, bloating, and difficulty in my progress. I hada DNC and now I’m thinking things will be much better from a fitness standpoint. I plan on starting back up next week, though I’ve continued to run and lift this week.

Okay, so my first cycle yielded amazing results. I lost 6 pounds, which I’m attributing to mostly water weight, but still happy none the less

I dreaded doing a carb up. Ate some chicken alfredo at olive garden and lots of candy which was a BIG mistake because my blood sugar spiked and I became very sick and almost passed out. Didn’t know that’d happen since I’m hypoglycemic, but because Keto controls insulin levels, and I was being a bad girl with a dirty carb up. After the carb up, my muscles looked much fuller and noticed changes all over my body (not big changes in my stomach but that will be the last to go!).

Today I started my ECA stack, and didn’t eat lunch so I couldn’t do HIIT because I felt so dizzy, but my lifts were awesome! I’m still a weakling but I’m making gains. That is what is amazing about this diet. Any other cutting diet you would lose muscle, but not this one! I think after my 4th cycle I will put up pictures, but for right now, I want to keep you all waiting in anticipation

Lift results for arms: (no laughing)

Barbell curls: 30 lbs  3 sets of 8 NO BREAK with Dumbbell curl
Dumbbell curl: 12.5 3 sets of 8 NO break with barbell curl
Pectoral Fly: 45 lbs 3 sets of 8
Rear deltoid: 45 lbs 3 sets of 8
Bench: 65 lbs 3 sets of 8
Chin ups: *Lift half of my body weight so far for 3 sets of 8*
Dip Assist: *Lift half of my body weight so far for 3 sets of 8*
Seated Row: 60 lbs 3 sets of 8

Also ran 2.5 miles last night… Yes!

Alright, so today was a great day! My macro breakdown was 65, 34, 1 . I did HIIT today and wow, I must say I’m proud of myself. After 2 minutes I felt sick and wanted to stop. But I knew it was a mind thing telling me to give up and I persisted. A few more minutes into it I felt GREAT and I’m so proud I finished it. Unfortounately at the end of it I couldn’t see well and things started to get blurry but it went away pretty quickly.

Looking into the mirror today I realized how much work needs to be done! I have most/all of my excess fat in my stomach area (probably from eating SO MANY CARBS!), and I have a lot of fat to lose if I ever want to see those sexy abs that I want sooo badly! The only other area I’m carrying excess fat in is my upper thighs. But the work is worth it and its always good to have a goal to shoot for, and I’m sure the stomach area is going to be the last place to lose fat.
A problem from the KETO diet is  that it doesnt help that I have IBS. The grease and fat is not the best on my digestive system, and I guess with finals and work the stress makes it worse. In the end its all worth it. I’m sure it will get better with time.

Tomorrow is my carb up and I’m not looking forward to it I’m going to try and put a negative take on carbs and try to convince myself I dont really like them, that way going back into ketosis will be a desire and doing the carb up will be because of a have to. Its amazing what you can do with your brain.

Also I have lost about 5 lbs this week but probably a lot of water weight. Pics will be up soon, and thank God I have my supplements in now!