"TLFC" exercise and accountability support!

Strength: Upper Body, DB Day

DB Bench Press <<superset>> 1A DB Row 3x10
Incline Cable Fly 3x10
1A Pulldown 3x10
DB Shrugs 3x10
DB Arnold Press 3x10
DB Hammer Curl <<superset>> Lying DB Extend 3x10
Cable Woodchopper 2x10 «alternate with» Palloff Press 2x10s

Food: Dinner last night was ground hamburger with rice and sautéed mushrooms

Strength: Leg Day

Squats 5x10
Deadlifts 5x5
Seated Calf Extend 2x10, 2x20
Leg Extension 2x12
Leg Curl 2x12
Cable Crunch 2x10 <<superset>> Machine Low Back Extend 2x10 <<superset>> Plank 2x90s

Food: Last night was homemade pizza

Strength: Upper Body, BB Day

Bench Press 5x5,4,3,2,1
BB Row 5x5
Incline Bench Press 3x10
Pullups 3xAMRAP
BB Shrugs 3x10
Seated BB OHP 3x10
Preacher Curl 4x10,15,20,25
Cable Pushdown 4x10,15,20,25
Cable Woodchopper 2x10 «alternate with» Palloff Press 2x10s

Analysis: My left shoulder has been bothering me slightly for a few days, right where the lateral delt connects to the humerus. Didn't think anything about it until I set up for the OHP. Simply stretching my arm into position overhead wasn't going to happen, let alone doing it under weight.

Food: Dinner last night was chili.

Life updates: after several weeks of feeling twinges throughout my abdomen, I called my oncologist and she moved up my labs and scans from early June to last week. The good news: no evidence of cancer anywhere. Bad: I still have a hernia at my incision site (scar tissue also) and maybe those are pulling, especially with sit-ups or other core-based exercises. They don't think I should stop working out, though. I was thinking of adding deadlifts to my strength training but maybe I should wait until I don't have an ongoing medical issue in my stomach area.

Since my 4/5 indoor tri, I've switched gears a bit to focus on my running. I ran 2 twenty min. back-to-back sessions on Wed with a 5 min. walk break in between. Thurs. was 25-30 min. on the exercise bike plus strength training and calisthenics, and today I rowed on the Concept 2 at my gym for 20 min (and got blisters on my hands). Also outdoor walks every day. My Coros watch says my training is "optimized." Yes!! Next Saturday I've got a 5K.

I'm still losing weight: 15 pounds off since mid-February; or 27 lbs lost since the first week of Jan; or 34 lbs down since early Oct. I've been lifting dumbells consistently to try to insure that whatever weight I lost wasn't lean mass. My arm muscles look bigger and I have new muscle lines in my legs—from biking. I'm not such a fan of the muscle-y woman look (for me), but I am a fan of being stronger generally. The BMI charts say I'm at a 29 ("overweight") now, with 25 getting me in the "normal range". I was at a 25 during my last year in college, as I recall, and I didn't have the level of muscle I do now. My waist measures at 32.5" so I'm really not far from my college stats. When I scrub my face in the shower I can feel my bone structure, my collar bones are showing more, and looking in the mirror is weird these days: sometimes I don't look like myself, sometimes I do.

What I'd like to do is post photos where you regulars can see them (and validate my progress-ha!) but then take them down within the hour, before the scammers / weirdos zero in. I also don't want a permanent record on the internet.

By the end of April I'm going to start a 3.5 month maintenance phase, with at most a loss of .5 lbs / week. I'm probably still 20 lbs away from a "normal" weight for my height, or a little less because of weight training.

Suggestions and tips are welcome from anyone who posts here on the regular. Thanks for reading!