shiny1’s BodyBlog

So yeah…not such a good day yesterday, but today has been SWEET so far, in a totally different way lol! I didn’t feel great this morning and I was still full from yesterdays indulgences, but I had my breakfast even though I didn’t feel like it…flaxseed cereal with oats and almonds. So, instead of giving in to another day of non nutritious food, I decided to do an intense workout afterwards and it was so RAD.

I dug my heels in today and did 30 mins of great HI cardio, and it flew by, and it felt so good! Then I decided to work chest/tri’s. Lots of dumbell chest presses on the flat bench, incline and flyes then some machine work…I hadn’t done that much for chest in a long time. I noticed the weights I am able to do are totally down, but that’s ok it will take no time and I’ll be using the heavier ones again, I like working chest with heavy weights! Then I did 2 exercises for triceps (as I was tired lol) but they got some work with the chest exercises too. Then I did 3 different exercises for abs, I didn’t feel awesome with those but that’s because of all the sugar/carbs last night. I figured I better do a bunch though because it makes me feel more toned even if I"m not and keeps my motivation up there…So overall, very proud of myself for bouncing back from yesterday!!

Anyone whose ever read my profile knows that I fall off the clean-eating-working-out-givin-it-all-I-got wagon SO easily! It’s happening again….it’s about the time it usually happens…been about a month since I started going hard again, almost - and it’s not that I’ve done anything super "wrong". Au contraire - but at the same time I can feel myself sliding down that slippery slope!

Lots o’ carbs late at night the other day, lots of extra baked good yesterday, and today ALOT of chocolate and just cheese and not the best snacks all night long while watching a movie! I have been working out, but for me diet is like 90% of my muscle building progress, and I have definitely made some! And I have convinced myself this week at the gym that "I don’t need to work out THAT hard…" BAH! haha! Why am I self sabotaging…AGAIN!!

OK so here’s the deal, I need some encouragement! I think I asked y’all for some a while back but didn’t get any love haha! So if you’ve ever been in these shoes, I’d appreciate some support THANKS so much guys!! *off to try and  sneak in one more sweet snack..*

So I was NOT looking forward to my workout this afternoon, since I had some cactus cut potatoes last night at Boston Pizza - sort of thin cut potatoes deep fried (Ugh I know.)  I figured I’d do 10 mins of extra cardio and lift some heavy iron…so yeah anyways when I get into the weight room, it’s slow on SAturday which is the usual, but it’s a bit different than usual too - first of all, there was way more women than men, which made me more comfortable than usual…plus there were 2 women that were totally hittin’ it hard, one girl was doing bi’s and the other one was doing tri’s…seriously nice big,toned muscles on them - and it seemed every single guy in there was probably in their early twenties or so, and they were all pumped up and working out hard too, but you could see their eyebrows raise and their mouths practically drop when they saw these buff chicks workin’ about twice the weights they were doing LOL. Anyways it made me chuckle while I was doing my leg raises, and I was smiling for the rest of my workout!

UGH what a day. No gym, no energy, tired as all get out and SNOW yes you heard right I woke up to that white stuff this morning! So today was the very first day since I started just over 2 weeks ago now that I officially had a crappy day lol. We’ve all been there done that right.

Then tonight I decide I am going to have some snacks because I am still hungry, which I was…but I overdid it a bit! After my dinner I had a couple large handfuls of flax seed organic tortilla chips with 2 slices of cheddar cheese - YUM but a bit high in fat for what I"m trying to achieve right now. Then had some extra almonds and raisins…That’s not gonna help my abs show lol! No biggie in the big picture I know, but a bit disappointed in myself.

So next up - hit the weights hard the next few days filled with extra minutes of cardio!! I could use some encouragement - I feel like my goal is so "unreachable" on days like today, even though it’s so close!!

So yeah..random title but have lots to get out!

I FINALLY lost a bit of weight, almost 2 lbs, it seems minimal I know, but I have been working pretty hard for almost 2 weeks now so I am very happy!  I thought  the scale might not move, or even go up, since I am lifting quite intensely but it’s great to see the number dwindle. On another note, I have great energy and am feeling much tighter overall.

Did a 40-minute leg workout today, it was ok. I almost convinced myself to not go to the gym today, but I read an article on BB.com about motivation. The main jist was to go to the gym even if you think you might have a "bad" workout, just get there. And so I did, and it wasn’t my best workout but my legs were wobbly by the end of my lunges so it was all good! Anyone ever do some stairclimber with their leg workouts as a part of it, I did it for 10 mins and burned 100 cals - it was pretty intense after my entire workout!

And…one more thing, anyone have good recipes for sweet potatoes? I bought a bunch as I am making some meals for this week and would love to get my hands on some tasty recipes!

OK so feeling weird writing 2nd blog of the day between doing laundry and organizing stuff…but really wondering how many calories I have eaten today and would love help counting this up! I used to be able to just "guesstimate" but those skills aren’t in tip top shape yet (again) lol! 

So, I calculated what my caloric intake should be for "fat loss", and my counter said about 1900-ish calories, which I thought was a bit high but w/e I’ll do it! So here’s what I had today, what do you think about how many cals?

 3/4 c.oatmeal, few raisins, 1/4 apple & 1/2 c.ff yogurt flavored

1/2 yam, 3/4 c. light cottage cheese

Romaine lettuce, 1 sm. tomato, 1/2 avocado, balsamic vinegar, protein shake/w.water

1 can tuna w/4 small pickles, hot mustard, balsamic vinegar, 1/4 gr.pepper

Maybe 2 kiwis later tonight; oh yah had handful almonds too!

My guess is around 15-1600?

OK so last night was my first big "test" with my diet. I had a family & friend birthday party get together. And I am so proud of myself, I stuck to a good diet fairly well. I had buffalo chili (which I asked and there was only 2 tbsp of added oil), greek salad (with only tiny bit of dressing and a  bit of feta), and one small flax seed homemade bun. So that means I said "NO" to my mom’s homemade fried chicken, garlic mashed potatoes and extra helpings!! And to top it all off, my major accomplishment - since I have a BIG sweet tooth - no birthday cake yaya! I was taking pics while everyone else ate their piece. Then I had an orange when I got home to get rid of the craving. I have to admit, I think reading a few of ChickenTuna’s blogs helped too - she talks alot about having to sacrifice things to get the body and shape we want. Anyways, can’t wait to train shoulders today (my fave!!).

I am wondering if anyone can give me some tried and true advice about taking creatine and the when’s and how’s and dosage for women…? I have tried plain creatine monohydrate in the past and it definitely increased my muscle mass but made me quite bloated all over. Then in the past 2 weeks I have tried NO Xplode several times and it definitely gives me great pumps when lifting weights, but the bloating lasts for days and it’s just so uncomfortable. So, what has been your experience?

If anyone wants to take a peek at my progress pics, I don’t think I really need to do any bulking up, I have quite a solid frame to start from, I just need to cut down the fat mostly….so do you think creatine would be beneficial for me - any advice would be very much appreciated!!

So yeah, I knew it was coming..eventually…I just didn’t want to plan for it since when I do that, I usually end up having too much "cheat food". So I just went with it…I had a larger portion of carbs at dinner, to satisfy my lack of eating throughout the day - I went to the dentist today and had to have those stupid needles for freezing and damn it hurt!! Still sore…but I couldn’t get anything down from 11-5pm due to the soreness. I don’t know if I was actually craving ice cream or just feeling icky cuz it’s my first "off" day from everything as well, but I had some with chocolate and coconut after the extra carbs….and that’s it. So that’s not too bad considering I’d normally have an all out pizza or chinese food fest…lol

Anyways,eating well for 8 days is pretty good for me especially since I"m essentially just starting out again. I’ve had a bit of extra snacks throughout the week, mostly fruit and veggies, so I’m hoping after this coming week, it will become easier as time goes on. I just have to make sure to keep grocery shopping every week for all those healthy snacks and good protein sources! Looking forward to tomorrow morning…back and cardio here I come!!

…ok I just had like 10 mini pickles and a slice of cheddar cheese…before that a bit of extra brown rice to try and get rid of the carb craving…just here to stop eating lol! One slice of cheese is better than five…so I"ll just tell you a bit about my day.

Had a great chest/tricep workout this am before work…felt great to get back into chest presses with free weights again. And those flyes…so good! I will be sore tomorrow for sure, but that’s what I’m aiming for. Then I did a mini ab workout. Had a great day with diet overall..until now. I have had enough snacks, so here I am!! OK feeling better now…sipping the h20..

I think if I’m feeling brave I might do a weigh-in check this weekend sometime…and maybe I will post a pic or two to keep myself accountable…

Anyways hope you all have a great day/night wherever you are!!