Day #16: Back & Biceps Adding New Workouts, More Weights...

Day #16:  Back & Biceps  Adding New Workouts, More Weights...

I have to admit I'm feeling a little discouraged from time to time.  I know that I'm improving, but its kind of depressing at the same time that I can't SEE anything.  Then again, yes, I actually can feel a difference when I put on my jeans.  My belly is definitely less... bloated.  I think its that time of the month again, so I'm just feeling extra sensitive to everything.  I HAVE lost weight, but even losing 6-8 pounds and I'm still heavier than I've been before 2012.  It is really difficult for me to adjust to being this big.  I am struggling with feeling *good* about my progress... although I do vacillate between being totally thrilled that my muscles hurt and I know that I'm pushing myself and then feeling like I'm not doing ANYTHING.

Have I mentioned that I'm a teensy bit of a drama queen?  

And I might (just might) be a little bit black & white in my thinking.  

Source: startnow.stockphotosweb.com via Byn on Pinterest

I MUST keep this in mind!!!

And in my case, I think I'm harder on myself, so much so that I might not even notice before friends do!

But, I've managed to NOT pig out, to NOT get chocolate and instead I've stuck with my gym workouts.  I've managed to still keep tracking on my google drive document, and it feels great to see my improvements over even just a few weeks.

I'm planning on keeping this weightlifting workout and adding just a little, increasing my weight gradually.

My thoughts for Phase Two is as follows (not necessarily in any order):

1. Back, Biceps & Abs
2. Legs & Abs
3. Shoulders, Chest & Triceps
4. Full Body Workout (Tabata Style)
5. Rest Day
6. Full Body Workout (Choose one from my Pinterest Board)
7. Rest Day

I am also adding a daily challenge for myself in February.  My goal is to get myself moving in short spurts throughout the day, rather than letting myself get used to sitting on my ass all day before a nice hard workout.

*Daily Challenge  (Get February's Squatting Challenge Here)

Day #5, 6 & 7: Rest, Stretch & Cleanse!

My January workout schedule goes like this:

Sunday:  Weights, minimum cardio
Monday:  Weights, minimum cardio
Tuesday:  Weights (legs & abs) & cardio
Wednesday:  Weights, upper body, super sets and cardio
Thursday:  Rest/Cardio
Friday & Saturday:  Liquid Cleanse, Stretch/PiYo

I've worked really hard this week, even though I couldn't do much in the way of cardio, I think I'll really be able to improve on that even tomorrow.  My back is feeling SO SO much better and I know that the weight lifting has helped tremendously.

I'm using my pinterest to find different challenges to add to each month.  I am also trying to think of what I'd like to add to my "1st of the month" update video as far as my own challenges and goals.  I know things that I want to accomplish, but I'm not sure what reasonable goals are... so right now, I guess my first 'challenges' video will really just be marking where my starting point is.

How do you set goals/challenges?

I am finding TONS of motivation on Facebook... I definitely recommend finding some motivational pages for good inspiration, ideas, motivation and education.  Make sure to always research on your own as well, but there is a lot of good information out there!

For the rest of January, my workout will be the same, except that I'll gradually be able to add in those workouts that I had to skip due to injury as my back gets stronger.  I'll also be able to add in cardio at least 4 times a week starting tomorrow!  I'm excited to see this transformation happen!

Workout Day #2

I'm updating my workouts a day late, since we seem to end up working out in the evenings, all I want to do when I get home is have a nice hot bath and then curl up with a book.

Yesterday was odd.  I had slept well the night before, but I still felt tired.  Probably because I took 2 of the sleeping pills instead of the 1 that kept me up the night before.  I'm trying out a new sleep supplement, Dreamweaver, since I have pretty severe insomnia.  The Dreamweaver lives up to its name.  I feel like I am finally sleeping deeply enough to dream... and dream I do.  A LOT.

Anyway, by about 1:00 yesterday afternoon, I had a raging headache.  I don't know if my neck is out or this is just a fun little way of my body rebelling because it would rather sit around being a lazy ass at this point.  I took some pain reliever at noon, but by 1:00, my head was still killing me, so I went to lie down.  My hubby turned on the fan so that I would fall asleep... even though I was protesting that I just needed to close my eyes for a minute.

Two hours later, I woke up in somewhat of a daze.  My head ache was gone, though, so who was I to complain.

I have to admit, I'm still feeling edgy and overly sensitive to everything.  In other words, I'm being a bitch.  I know this is a side effect of no longer drinking, but damn, its hard to see anything rationally.  Everything my husband says pisses me off.  Everything he DOESN'T say pisses me off and leaves me feeling lonely and unsupported.  I know some of this is irrational thinking on my part and some of it is him trying to figure out the right way to respond (and his go to default is, "don't say anything that might piss her off")... its more of a workout getting through my own emotional landmines than it is to haul my ass to the gym.

I am seriously more frustrated with myself than anything else.  Remembering my level of fitness even one year ago, its so depressing to me that I can't even do cardio for more than 10 minutes.

Anyway, this was my workout:

Day 2
1/14/2013
Time  
Cardio Recumbent Bike 10 min @5 resistance (I could have went longer, but we were out of time)
Back/Biceps
High Lat Pulldowns 50x14 60x12 60x14
Dumbbell Rows 10x12 12x12 12x12
Front Lat Pulldowns 40x12 50x12 50x12
Preacher Curl 30x12 25x12 25x12

Ten Days Down. Let the Planning Commence!

So my husband, Patrick aka Personal Trainer gave me ten more days of down time for my back to heal.  Then I can start PiYo.  And get back to my TOTALLY AWESOME BODY TRANSFORMATION!!!  I hope to be strong enough by the end of the month to add in weights and other cardio.

My plan is to have a plan.  Deep, right?  I know:) I'm using Jamie Eason's fat loss workout plan from the Body Building website.  It is laid out in such a way that you can print out the workouts to keep track of your weight/reps, etc.  I'm excited to have something so well laid out.  I also plan on doing PiYo and extended stretching at least three times a week as well.

3 Month Goals!

*Beginning January 15, 2013

(vague until I am healed enough to get a measurable starting point)

• Increase flexibility (I'll set actual measurable goals once my back heals and I can see where I'm starting from!)  This is a big one for me because I have never been flexible and I know it is a big factor in my injuries.  I want that to STOP!
• Lower body fat (I ordered this electronic body fat analyzer today and I'm really looking forward to seeing how my body fat % is going down as I work out!)
• Lose 25-30 pounds.  I know this is a somewhat high amount, but I have at least 75 pounds to lose, so I don't think its unreasonable.  After the first 3-4 months, I plan to focus even more on strength training and developing those habits, but I really need to get a good portion of this weight off so that my joints and my back aren't under so much pressure.  
• Increase Cardio:  I want to be able to do 30 minutes (not counting warm up & cool down) on the elliptical with resistance/incline HIIT and not be dying at the end!  I'm starting at no resistance, no incline and doing just 30 minutes of that is tiring!  I want to improve this hard core!
• Increase Weights when lifting AND be able to do: 
• 3 full pull ups (I'm super pathetic in that area right now, but its very important to me to increase my upper body strength!)
• 10 pushups (no knees)
• 2 minute plank
• 5 Turkish Get Ups (weight TBD)
• Improved Nutrition:
• Isagenix:  EITHER one 9 day cleanse each month, or one 30 days cleanse to start.
• Cut wheat out entirely for the first 3 months
• Cut out refined sugars, HFC & MSG completely.
• Limit grains

Coming Soon!  My Six Month Goals

*Once I'm about a month or so into my first 3 months, I'll set definitive goals for the end of June

My husband and I Feb. 2011

**My 19th anniversary is at the end of June!!!  I want to have a formal party on our back deck and I want to look and feel fabulous when I celebrate with my amazing husband!  So some of my goals may be vague, but I want to have plenty of energy, I want to feel GREAT about myself and what I've accomplished... and most of all, I want to feel sexy:)  I mean, what could be better for celebrating 19 amazing years together?

When Working Out Makes you feel Pathetic

Holy shit balls.

So I went to the gym with Patrick tonight... and apparently he sadly over estimated my level of fitness.  He laid out the plan.  I was going to do 10 burpees (after a good warm up), then go hard on the elliptical for 3 minutes, then 10 burpees, then chill and go slow on the elliptical... repeat.

Anyway, I started on the warm up and good lord, the cramps started almost immediately.  Knowing that they tend to fade after a little bit of warm up, I decided to just keep going... and going.  The cramping was getting better until he upped my resistance and incline... and then it got worse.  Hip to toe, it seemed like every single muscle in my legs was knotted up in one hard knot of pain.  I tried going for a little bit and then it felt like I was going to literally tear something it hurt so much.

Patrick was standing there and asked if I was alright (this was literally in less and two minutes) and I said, "I think you are WAY overestimating how out of shape I am!"  He slowed the elliptical and asked what was going on and then told me to stretch.  Even stretching was painful as hell and I had tears running down my face.  Fortunately, I was in a downward dog type position, and I was sweating even more than I was crying, so I doubt anyone else knew, but it felt humiliating anyway.

I felt like a failure.  I had done two pathetic burpees and less than 8 minutes on the elliptical, and 6 of those were just slow warming up!

UGH!!!

Then he set me up on the treadmill and had me go slow for another 5 -10 minutes to warm up more slowly.  He checked on me every once in a while until I was ready to go at a higher pace.

Anyway, even longer story short, I ended up on the treadmill for about 45 minutes total (once I accidentally shut down the thing for a minute and restarted it), but I was really feeling shitty for not even being able to do 2 minutes on the treadmill.  I could see my reflection in the screen (I had forgotten my headphones, so there wasn't even anything to distract me) and I was so thoroughly upset with myself that it was all I could do to now just stand there and cry.

I hate how quick I am to think negatively about myself.  I hate how ingrained this negative self image is.  That may be the hardest part of this journey... learning to truly like myself and believe in myself.

What do you do to fight against that inner voice that is putting you down?

Day #4: Part Two: Late Night Workout

Because of our schedules yesterday, we didn't have the opportunity to go to the gym until 9:30 last night.  Since Patrick gets up as early as 5:30 in the morning, I didn't expect to get to the gym.  He surprised me by coming home and getting ready to go.

We went to the gym at 9:30 and I hit the elliptical for 20 minutes for a warm up.  I felt fine, but my HR is still getting higher than he likes it.  Then he had me rest to see what my heart rate recovery was.  These are his notes:

20 Min Cardio on Eliptical.  HR @ end of cardio *after a cool down 156.  HR @ end of 3 Min rest 126.  Need to improve HR Recovery rate.

Front Raise @ 8 Lb @ 20 reps, three sets

Lateral Raise @ 5 lb @ 20 reps, three sets

Lateral shoulder abduction on cable machine @ 15 lb @ 20 reps, two sets

Front Pull-down (opposite of lateral raise) on cable machine @ 45 lb @ 20 reps, two sets.

Plank on hands to failure.  1 min rest. Plank on elbows to failure.  1 min rest.

Leg raise w/ hands under lower back - 10 raises followed by hold for 30 count, 10 more raises followed by hold for 30 count, alternating leg raises (scissors) @ 20 count, hold heels off floor to failure.

Hip raise with feet on Bosu ball to failure.

Side leg lifts x 20 followed by hold for 45 seconds, both sides.

Reverse flies on 45 degree stand, 20 @ 8 lb followed by 20 @ 5 lb

Front flies on cable machine @ 30 lb to failure (about 35 or so).

Stretch.

(I wish I had the time on the planks and hip raises, although I'm sure my planks were totally pathetic.  I can not believe how much strength and aerobic fitness I've lost.  Its a little depressing)

My legs were cramping up a lot during the hip raises and the leg lifts, but I managed to get through it.  I'm surprised that I'm not more sore this morning.

Alcohol:  Still NO cravings.  What the hell?  I've apparently hit that perfect mind/body/diet connection and things are going so much more smoothly!  Whoo Hoo!!!  This is significant and I'm very very VERY happy about this change!  Read more about alcohol's affect on your metabolism/cheat day/leptin levels.

Anyway... onto today, December 20, 2012, Day #5 of my Awesome Transformation!

Day #3 of my Awesome Transformation: Insomnia, Sore Muscles & PiYo

Insomnia:  I knew that giving up alcohol was going to severely affect my sleep, it always does.  The only question is how long it will keep disrupting my nights.  I don't do well on lack of sleep.  I'm a huge ball of stress and moods whenever I'm lacking sleep.

Last night I wasn't even close to tired until 1:30am.  I finally fell into a fitful sleep around 2:00am.  Just before 4:00, I was up again.  I kept thinking I was hearing noises... I thought maybe the kids left the TV on or someone was outside.  I got up, checked everything, found nothing and stumbled back to bed.  I had a few hours of tossing and turning and finally fell back asleep around 6-7.  I tossed and turned some more and finally woke up at 10:00.  I'm trying to stay positive, but man, I hate not sleeping.  All of that tossing and turning has left me feeling like I was hit by a truck.

Sore Muscles:  I pushed a little too hard with arms on Monday, and my triceps are SO sore that it hurts to bend my arms.  I'm going to go easy on them for a few days and work with PiYo for my core and legs.  I may hit the gym for some more elliptical.  That seems to be the best bet for right now as its easy on my knees.

I started my day with protein (eggs & cottage cheese), ice water, cinnamon capsules, liquid B-12 and my Ionix Supreme... and a lot of ICE water.  So yeah, I'm huddled up on the counch under a blanket with an ice pack on my right elbow, since that's the most sore.

I had PLANNED to do PiYo* today, but the combination of sore, exhausted muscles and hyper emotional self due to nightmares and lack of sleep just wiped me out.  I ended up crashing at 3:30pm and slept hard until 7:30.  My sleep was still plagued with nightmares, though, so even once I woke, I was groggy and feeling upset.  After bursting into tears in the kitchen, Patrick just held me and reassured me that this is common and we'll get through this, too.  I complained that I felt lazy and he said that I needed the rest so that my body can recover and we can hit it hard again tomorrow.

PiYo:  Is a combination of Pilates, Yoga and Ballet.  There are a variety of levels and intensity.  I have some that are more calming and more yoga like, and some that are crazy cardio intense with a lot of movement between poses.  I like them both, but I think today I'm going to keep it low key so my muscles can recover.

I got certified to teach PiYo a year and a half ago and taught for a little while.  I couldn't find a place to teach it, though, and soon my health problems and ensuing depression had me sidelined anyway.  It is a fantastic workout for people with joint issues.  You can take it at your own pace and it builds strength, especially core strength without any impact.

 

It sounds like nothing, even to me, but today all I accomplished was resting, doing two 30 second planks and some stretching.  That's all I had in me.  The difference this time is that I am still staying positive.  This isn't even a set back, its just a rest day.

Hugs to you and I hope you had a wonderful day!

Day #2 of my Awesome Transformation

Yay! Today I stayed really hydrated. I kept my 51 oz. Cup filled with ice water or cold water and was drinking all day. By the time I went to the gym I was half way through my 4^th cup. That meant there was no cramping on the elliptical. My muscles were burning through the first 5-10 minutes, but then it was much easier. I got my 30 minutes in with little problem and I felt good.

Then we were going to work on legs, but my right knee is still a little... loose feeling, so I wasn't confident enough to do lunges. One of the leg machines were broken, so I did some machines that were like weighted squats and leg lifts.  I'm hoping to find the best exercises for strengthening my knees, as that is what sidelined me early this year.  I don't want to create any setbacks by choosing the wrong thing!

The last machine was freaking HARD.  I felt like I was going to throw up by the end of that.   Then I stretched for a while and we came home for some eggs and cottage cheese.

First Day at the Gym

After almost a YEAR off from working out, I am finally getting back to the gym!  I'm going to get back to myself!!!  (More on my backstory later!)

My upper body is SO sore!!! My husband aka Personal Trainer aka Patrick kicked my ASS at the gym yesterday.  Well, technically, I guess he kicked my upper body.  My ass didn't really figure into things.  I managed 30 minutes on the elliptical, even though my feet were killing me and I was listening to this horrific singer on The Voice... I still kept at it.  Then Patrick put me through several upper body work outs.  I don't even know what exercises I did because I was just in the zone and doing whatever he told me to do:)  I am going to start keeping track on fitocracy, though.  I want to see how far I've come 30 days from now and 60 days from now and... well, you get the picture.

I am feeling SO motivated and excited, though. I have been looking at body transformation photos from women over 40 and I'm inspired. I spent every minute at the gym picturing the "after" photos, especially when it felt like I couldn't possibly do another rep and felt like my arms were going to give out.

I didn't sleep worth crap last night. I didn't even fall asleep until 3:30. I do not know what I'm going to do about my sleep issues. I was hoping that the Armour would help with that, as that seemed to be a symptom that got noticeably worse around the same time as all of my other thyriod symptoms. I think that once I can get over the alcohol not being my sleep aid, the healthy slow carb/no grains eating plan will help tremendously with that. I just need to get through these first weeks without killing anyone. 

Challenge accepted.

Now its time to gear up for day two... lower body and maybe some cardio?  I plan to finish with some Bedtime Yoga that I found on this youtube channel and hope it helps with sleep.

I'm going to start uploading my own videos soon.  I'll be vlogging and doing some cooking videos with clean recipes as well.  Let me know what you'd like to see!