2 week challenge
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Beeps - I just looked at your pics. WOW, your transformation is inspiring. You look great! I even called my husband over to look. "See honey, she lifts weights!!" (explaining this is the reason I am transitioning to heavier weights / lower reps mix).
What do you suggest instead of the smith rack? I took a little personal training and that is what she had me do, so I have continued with it. However, I am open to suggestions for trying something else.0 -
Thanks again to all for the welcome!!
This week I lost 2.2 lbs. My bodyfat measurement clocked in at 25.4% (1% down in the last month and down from 32.9% in January)
All in all good news, except the last bit of body fat came directly out of my chest. No other measurements have changed at all since my last measurement. Down 2 inches in my chest....grrr...not exactly where I want or need to lose, but I guess you can't pick that sort of thing. I thought that was happening, but was trying to fool myself into thinking it was in head. On the bright side, chances are the next few % points of body fat have to come from my waist or hips, since there's not much left on my chest!
Today with my goals I did fairly well.
- Ate healthy overall today. One processed food item, but it was a lentil soup with lots of veggies, so not the worst thing.
- Did some heavier weights using a 25 lb kettle bell for goblet squats, 12.5 dumbbells for bicep curls (could only do 4 on the last set), 30lbs doing bulgarian split squats.
- Tried some new exercises - I especially liked the "Frog" on the TRX. However, I will not be doing the TRX suspended lunge again as that felt completely awkward!
- Sipping water now, just need to keep clear of the chips and carbs counter in the kitchen.0 -
No smith rack. Choose either a front squat (with barbell across shoulders) or a back squat (with barbell across top of shoulder blades) - you can google - "Mark rippetoe" has some awesome youtube videos!
If those seem too tough, or you don't have a power rack, then choose:
1. dumbbell squats
2. goblet squats
3. bowler squats
The body movement on the smith machine isn't good for you, imho. Better to use free weights, make sure you are squatting deep (just below parallel) and that your knees are falling in or falling out. Bret C. ("the glute guy") also has good squat articles on his website.0 -
I kind of like TRX, kind of don't. What's the "frog exercise"?? I do use TRX for warm-up and when I think about it, it's pretty good for planks. It's on the opposite side of the gym where I'm doing free weights, though, so I feel DUMB leaving my stuff on a bench in the weight room to dodge off to do TRX stuff.0
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I'm busy planning a 50th wedding anniversary party for my parents. How awesome that they've been (happily) married for 50 years! How TERRIBLE that they totally said they would "plan their own party" and then, 2 months ago, simply dropped the ball and said, "you kids do it". Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.
My brothers don't care and are otherwise uninvolved. My sister has done TONS since she lives in their same city. From a distance, I'm doing as much as I can....but it's very frustrating.
Anyway, 3 weeks until THAT event and since I already have a full-time job and motherhood/wife duties, this is DRIVING ME BONKERS.0 -
Busy board! I want to say something individual to each of you, but alas, I'm supposed to be working and am going out to lunch instead of eating my sweet potato with chicken, cheese, and salsa. Bad Ashley. I'm hungry today.
I had a great lift yesterday. I started the KISS workout (http://ezinearticles.com/?Kiss-Body-Building-Workouts-Goodbye!&id=2589470) yesterday again (I did right before I got prego 2 years ago) and it was good. There are some new things I need to work on my form before I up my weight. Tehcnically yesterday was "strength" so 5 sets of 5 reps each.
I did chin ups, so for me I use my bar on my rack, put my feet on a bench, so my body is at about 45 degree angle, and pull up. It's hard.
I also did front squats and am having a hard time, as Beeps just mentioned, using my shoulders to support. My wrists kept wanting to do the work and hurting. I got better by set 5. Even though I can back squat about 130, I only did 60 on front squat. BTW lamb, I think the bottom line Smith machines are poo pooed on is because everything is harder when you're not supported. Maybe a Smith machine is good to master form, but if you have nothing helping, you will work harder.
Speaking of....another exercise I did was standing dubmell overhead presses, and man does that make a difference! I was up to 25 lb DBs while seated, completing 6-9 reps, and I was struggle with 5. I was working my abs and triceps and all sorts of good stuff.
Also did 1 legged deads with 15 lb weights. I really struggle with these. My therapy for my "injury" has a lot of lower core and balance stuff, so these I think are good. Which I am back to doing my therapy; my hips and back seem to be slipping back to bad ways again.
I finished up my wokrout with some ball rolls.
I feel GREAT today! And I wore my HRM and it said I burned over 200 calories lifting in about 36 minutes. I know Kate had told me about Oxygen something or other when I first was so thrilled at all my calories burned while lifting heavy, so I just used the MFP calcluation.
Diet has been much better. Had a little wine with my sushi last night but didn't go over too much and was under Monday and Tuesday. I need to have a great weekend and feel back on track!
Oh, and lost a pound. Was shocked.
Have a great rest of the week ladies!0 -
Wow, Better - this is ALL GOOD NEWS! A new (old) work-out! A lb lost! Moving UP in strength!! YAHOO!!!0
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Beeps--I know, I really need to make myself exercise daily while I can. Good luck with the party planning!
Ashley--sounds like a great workout yesterday! Amy, you did the KISS workout a while back, didn't you?
Today I got in a quick morning workout and a walk at lunch. I have a busy weekend coming up (we're throwing a party at our house on Saturday), so exercise will be harder to fit in, but my goal is to fit in at least short runs today and tomorrow morning and then to lift at least a little on Sunday. Maybe I can convice my husband to take a nice long walk with me on Sunday, but I know I shouldn't count on it.0 -
Ris - good job on taking walks at lunch. What a great way to incorporate some mid-day exercise!
Better - Do you have a home gym? It kinda sounds like you do from your comments. The chin ups sound awesome at a 45 degree angle, so good job! I haven't done one-legged dead lifts. l hope your injury isn't too serious.
Beeps - good luck planning the happy 50th. That is so sweet they have been together that long!! How frustrating that you are losing weight so slowly. Though you look great, I know how frustrating is it when you just want to lose that 5 lbs! It seems like such a tiny goal, but so hard at the same time!
Today for me was a great workout day. i had to work late at a work event after hours, so I got up at the crack of dawn to race to gym before all the kids and hubby get up.
- easily pushing more weight with my legs - wonder how much I can push. Today I did 70lbs in kettle bells and i know that I could do more (I was able to do 3 sets of 10 ok).
- Nutritionally I was half and half. Started out great with some greek yogurt and black beans, plus quinoa and edamae salad. Then came the after hours work event with the food buffet and open bar....that is just asking for trouble. I had some fruits and veggies, but yes, also went to the dessert bar, then threw in the towel at home with a large portion of chips.
- Mixing up my workout, so that is great.
Thanks Beeps for the recommendations on the squats. I will look into that for this weekend.0 -
OH, here is the TRX frog, though I make it a little harder by bringing my knees all the way to my elbows for a little extra work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztNg7frzW_g
This is my first time trying to post a youtube on MFP, so don't know how it will land. Let me know if you can see it0 -
Hey chicks. Yes lamb, I have a very small home gym. LIke so small I have to do squats and deadlifts one way only because the bar is too wide to fit the other way. Still it works! I have a rack with bar and plates, bench, dumbells and a treadmill that gets little use these days.
I went biking yesterday for the first time in years. It felt great so I think I'd like to try to start biking more. I'm going to find a pull behind thing so I can go ride and then pick up my kiddo from day care some days. Lifted this morning: incline DB bench, sumo deadlifts, 1 arm rows, Bulgarian split squats, and crocs. Crocs are great! Video below; I totally had to Google it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGYJaaRVamc
Need to have a good food day today, but I see at least a little wine in my future. Have a great weekend ladies!0 -
Better - that's cool about the biking & yay for all the good news, enjoy your wine later
Beeps - good luck with the planning, I am so bad at that stuff, thankfully I have a couple of sisters who love that sort of thing so I always rely heavily on them for family events & parties
Lamb & ris - glad you both had a good workout
I've got two dress rehearsals down and one more to go tonight & then three shows this weekend - ugh! At least between being so busy and the fact that it's freakin hot on stage and in the dressing room I haven't been super hungry. I've also been drinking water like crazy.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Hopefully wherever you are is nice weather. Here it has been rain, rain & more rain.0 -
Ris - hope you have a SUPER-DUPER party! Have fun!
lambentjewel - youtube is blocked from my work computer - but I'll try and take a look at the TRX move this weekend - thanks for posting it!
Better - you have a good weekend, too!
abigail - enjoy your weekend...I know you'll have run, it's all good!
HEAT WAVE has finally struck. 10 days of 30+ degree weather. YAY! Monday is our holiday (Happy Birthday Canada) and I have that day off! so, great weather, a 3-day weekend, and I can get photos/measurements out of the way FIRST THING upon waking up Sunday morning.
No lifting today - it's "staff bbq" at lunch so I have to stay. Boo.
Alas, I'll fast tomorrow so that my waist measurement comes in as low as it can - if I hit 26", I HIT VENUS!0 -
Hey friends! Happy Friday! Just wanted to check in. Beeps, I posted some pictures/a paragraph on the change I've seen in crossfit.
Beeps - look luck with the party and enjoy the bbq!
Abigail - way to stay hydrated, I let the ball drop sometimes when I get busy!
lamb - a 70 lbs bell is no small feat! Are you goblet squatting or swinging it or what? Good for you!
Clean pulled chicken stuffed peppers for dinner tonight! YUM. Have a great weekend!0 -
Yes, I did KISS, I liked it! With the pullups you could do the "reverse negatives"
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/yes-you-can-do-pull-ups-for-major-reps-heres-how.html
I keep wanting to train to do a pull up, maybe in the fall I can get serious. I think it would be so neat to be able to do a real one. I envy the chicks at the gym who can...
I have had a busy week but I have managed to run or Spartacus everyday except Wednesday and that was just a serious attitude problem on my part!
I will do it tonight before burgers and beers with Mike.
I took my dad to a second opinion at the University Hospital yesterday and he will likely get involved in a phase 1 trial if they confirm that it is the collecting duct cancer that is spreading. He actually had two types of cancer and they assumed it was the rarer, more aggressive one that had spread, but just to rule out the slim possibility that it was the other type (clear cell renal) because if it was the other, then there would be other treatments to try before a phase 1 trial.
I read this really interesting article, I will try to find a link, but it was basically explaining why it's hard to eat right and exercise when you are stressed. Basically, your brain short-circuits to the part that doesn't think long-term, instead, "instant reward" which means often being lazy and eating fast food, or sugar or comfort foods. One of the recommendations, a way to reduce stresss essentially, is to stop making some "decisions" you know, just have a schedule and routine, even if it means eating the same thing for breakfast and lunch all week, not making those decisions can help your brain save energy for long-term plans!0 -
Good morning gals!
Better - I am totally impressed that you are able to work out at home with a child(ren?). I have 3 kids (just turned 4 yo girl, 5 yo boy, and sweet 12 yo girl, stepdaughter who we have most of the time). We could never consistently get a good workout at home with all the interruptions. My husband and I finally joined a gym with a kiddie care in January 2012 and that is when we really started to get serious about exercise. BTW I am going to try the croc today if the gym insn't too crowded.
It actually does look like a crocodile!!
Abi - what are your dress rehearsals for? Do you do theater?
Beeps - did you hit VENUS???? :-) I am rooting for you!! Also, I am going to do some of the squats today that you recommended and look at the videos prior.
Chul - Thanks for the encouragement!! I was doing dead lifts (regular and straight legged) with a 20lb kettle bell in each hand. A few weeks ago I started experimenting increasing my weights and lower reps. I have been amazed at home much more weight I can do with my legs especially - up to 35 kb (70 total) in each hand now and still pretty easily able to do 10 reps, so I am going to increase again. Am I alone in this? Did anyone else get surprised when they tried to lift more weight?
Asj - sorry to hear about your dad. That has to be hard. I hope he is better soon. The article on decreasing your decisions when you are stressed makes sense. Sometimes even simple decisions can be too much when you've other things to deal with!
Since I started lifting heavier weights, I have had massive cravings for protein. I downed an entire can of plain black beans last night after my dinner with lots of protein like edamame + quinioa salad, plus tofu, kale salad, and some greek yogurt. When I have food cravings, it's usually for carbs or sweets, so i like the switch. Hopefully it will continue. Anyone else crave proteins when they started lifting heavier?
Ok, time to put together my workout and get to the gym. Have a great weekend all!!0 -
Here's my progress report - 18 months now...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1032054-from-pear-to-hourglass-with-heavy-lifting-for-women0 -
Hey ladies! Hope you all had a great weekend!
Beeps- Even though I have been keeping up with your progress on here, it is amazing to see it all laid out like that! Amazing transformation!
lamb- Yes it is amazing what our bodies our capable of when we really push ourselves!
Amy- thinking of you and your dad!
I had an ok weekend with eating, no great, not bad. Last week I went over cals by 700 total for the week. Not too proud of that, but baby was hungry what can I say
I did get in 5 walks last week and 4 DVD workouts which was the goal. This week I get to switch to Month 6 of my Pregnancy Project DVDs. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. 4 months to go! Keeping the goals the same. Scale is still skyrocketing up, but all I can do is keep up with being active and eating as healthy as possible (with giving into my daily ice cream craving of course, I mean I am pregnant 
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Beeps! WOW! Very inspiring. If I look like you at 44, I will be happy with a capital H!
Amy, I hope your Dad is well and the treatment is helpful. Hugs.
Lamb, I just have one 17 month old. I just get wokrouts in when I can. This morning she was up early, so I took her on a 2 mile stroller run and went into work a little late. I have a flexible schedule. I also have one day a week off. But I have been trying to get morning workouts in. My workouts tend to be in the 25-40 minute range. I do what I can. Thanks!
Kate, your transformation is amazing! I commented on the photo in the thread, but I see so much change especially in your shoulders. Great work.
Everyone else, hope you are well!
Well....my weekend was fail and success. I quit logging Saturday and don't really have any intentions on back logging. Eric and I had a great date night. I didn't do as bad as I could. Drank quite a bit and felt crappy yesterday morning, but rallied for my BFF's baby shower where I ate too much hummus and crackers. Felt kinda crappy today but my run helped quite a bit. Also walked some Friday evening, ran a mile with the family Saturday morning and then walked from farmers market to coffee and then home (about 40 minutes round trip) and then went for an hour bike ride later. No workout yesterday. I need to get back on track with diet. I do have to say I'm having a bit of a struggle. I realize if I want to get the body I want in my mind, I really need to clean up my diet. LEss carbs, less splurges, less alcohole, less meals out. I LOVE food. I love going out to dinner. I really love wine. I feel like I'm constantly guilting myself for enjoying these things and then I wonder, do I REALLY want that body? Or should I just be satisified with the one I have (while always still working on my physique; my abs are my struggle) and enjoy the lifestyle I want within reason? Some days the answer is yes and some days no. Anyways....just a little food for thought. It's all about the balance I guess.
I've got a 4 days weekend coming up; off for the 4th and taking my day off Friday so I need to get some workouts in. I am very happy to be back on my bike again. I really enjoyed my Saturday ride. I'm going to get a little pull behind thing and convince my husband to get a new bike so we can do family rides. Have a great week ladies!0 -
HAPPY CANADA DAY!0
