Bookworm's Ascent

Thanks Nae & Stingo! I didn't think anyone was really reading my diary. :)

Not much to post today... last night took a bit of turn away from the healthy since I went out for a friend's birthday and had a few drinks. Thus, I woke up late today and all I've eaten is a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and a turkey sandwich for lunch. Tonight I'm playing soccer, should be fun, even though it is very chilly here today.

A few more minutes of browsing the forums and then back to filling out the application from hell. I'm a law student planning to take the bar in Feb. and I need to retrace my life history in extensive detail on a form that does not like to stay properly formatted as I fill it in. And I get to answer random questions about whether or not I've ever been treated for pyromania. Ummm, relevance?
 
Over the past few days I have played two full 90 minute soccer games because not enough people showed up to play. I have NO idea how the pros do it; my legs were so tired muscles were randomly twitching yesterday! I also had some occasional cramping and skipped a planned lifting session. I'm not complaining though, it was good exercise and I obviously love to play. Diet has not been very good this weekend, unfortunately. We'll see how that plays out in my Monday weigh in. Lazy day today...
 
Well, my weekend indulgences did not show up on the scale this morning and I am down 2 lbs from last Monday!

My friend who was working with me on my deadlift form has offered to be my lifting partner and kick my ass regularly in the weight room. He's pretty hard core about his workouts, and I think it will be good to try some new things and a different routine for a while. Today we did mostly back and legs:
Pull ups (assisted)
Squats - warm up set then 3x10 @95
Deadlifts - warm up then increasing weights each set 3x10, last set @85
One armed Rows - 3x10 @30
Biceps - curls w/15s

B: oatmeal, coffee
PWO: protein shake
L: chicken & veg on whole wheat pita w/hummus
the rest of the day, not sure yet on foods; meeting a friend for dinner to catch up tonight, so I may save a few calories...
 
A workout partner can be a great asset in training, for moral support if nothing else. Out of curiosity, why are you doing all compound exercises save for the last one?
 
stingo said:
A workout partner can be a great asset in training, for moral support if nothing else. Out of curiosity, why are you doing all compound exercises save for the last one?
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My friend is designing the workouts, and I think his goal is to do a split of back, legs, biceps one day, and chest, shoulders, triceps, abs for the other. I am willing to try it because it will switch up my usual routine for a while. I usually do compounds, but full body, so no time for isolations, but I noticed yesterday the muscles that were the sorest were my biceps!

Yesterday and today I did cardio, running yesterday, spin today; I haven't been good on my food log. Since I've been tracking for a while I do have a good sense of how much/what I need to eat, but I still like the definitiveness of my food log and the accountability. Gotta get back on that!
 
stingo said:
How many days do you strength train per week? I'm hoping it's more than 2...
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I was doing full-body 2-3 days per week, but I found if I did not have 2 full days between lifting sessions, my body would not respond well to the workouts. I wouldn't enjoy them, I wouldn't be able to lift as heavy or as hard, and I just wouldn't see or feel improvement. Because of my soccer team commitments, and my love for that activity, my lifting has to be scheduled around that, and 2x per week full-body was what I have been able to fit in for a while.

The new split that I'm starting with my friend does have me questioning the 'only doing one day per week for each muscle group', but he's done similar things before that have worked well for him, so I'm game to try it. My soccer commitments will be cut back a bit soon, and I may add back in another day per week. I do love the cardio, though, and one of the primary goals of this diary is to train for altitude and get to the top of Kili next year. This means my body needs to be trained to function with less oxygen, and living practically at sea level, the primary way I've read that I can train for this is focusing on cardio and endurance. I'm trying to strike a balance with all my fitness activities. That was a long answer to a simple question, huh!
 
Yesterday ended up as a rest day, because my evening soccer game was canceled for bad weather. :( Food wise, I didn't track calories, but my day went something like this:
B: the usual
S: i suddenly can't remember - something small, I know!
L: eggs w/tomato and dill on whole wheat toast
S: snap peas & hummus
D: went out for juicy lucy's w/the team since the game was canceled; so bad yet so good! no beer for me tho.

This morning I lifted, did chest, shoulders, triceps, and abs, then jogged a bit and did some deep walking lunges to try and work out some tension I have been feeling in my hip flexors. ABout a 50 minute workout, 300 cals burned.
 
Bookworm54 said:
Yesterday ended up as a rest day, because my evening soccer game was canceled for bad weather. :( Food wise, I didn't track calories, but my day went something like this:
B: the usual
S: i suddenly can't remember - something small, I know!
L: eggs w/tomato and dill on whole wheat toast
S: snap peas & hummus
D: went out for juicy lucy's w/the team since the game was canceled; so bad yet so good! no beer for me tho.

This morning I lifted, did chest, shoulders, triceps, and abs, then jogged a bit and did some deep walking lunges to try and work out some tension I have been feeling in my hip flexors. ABout a 50 minute workout, 300 cals burned.
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Keep attacking and getting after it!


Best wishes,


Chillen
 
I didn't lose any weight this week, but I haven't been great about tracking things, so should I be surprised?

Yesterday I lifted legs, back, and biceps. My form on my deadlift is getting much smoother, and my goal is to start increasing weight on those soon. My neck and shoulder have been bothering me a bit since last Friday, so things like one arm rows were a little uncomfortable. I don't know what I did, maybe slept wrong. I've always carried my stress in my upper back/shoulder area, but these days I don't have much to stress about (yay!), so who knows! Today I'm going to have a rest day, and try to get ahead on some school work.

Food yesterday was within calorie limits, though I know I could have made a better choice than the chips and guacamole for my afternoon snack... Going to stay on track today as much as possible. Work event tonight with food, and am hoping there will be lots of veggies to snack on.

I'm getting excited for halloween...
 
I have still been slacking on tracking my food, but I've been working out hard at least! And trying to make wise food choices even if I've been lazy counting calories. I do weigh myself almost every day, even if only one day is official, and I seem to be alright... The workouts I have not yet posted: Wed. spin, Thurs. soccer, Fri. chest, shoulders, triceps, and holy abs (they are sore today!), and another soccer game this morning. My Halloween costume involves a skirt, but my legs are seriously bruised up from some soccer collisions, so I'm not sure if I'm going to look bad ass or battered. :)
 
What is stopping you from tracking your calories and deficit to increase the odds of you losing weight........this is a HUGE problem.......as a friend I need to tell you...........that


:(
 
Chillen said:
What is stopping you from tracking your calories and deficit to increase the odds of you losing weight........this is a HUGE problem.......as a friend I need to tell you...........that


:(
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Yes, I'm being a little lazy about physically sitting down and entering and tracking my calories. That said, I have done it long enough that I do have a decent sense of the amount of calories within most of the foods I eat, and the portion sizes/meals I should stick with. I think the main thing that is stopping me right now is my social life - I have been quite the social butterfly lately and having a lot of fun spending time with friends. Not a lot of going overboard crazy partying or anything, but just more relaxed than I have been on my calorie counting.

Now THAT said, I'm going to fess up to the junk food I ate today - dome dog and a pretzel w/cheese at the Vikings game. Bummed my team lost. No work out today.
 
Monday morning weigh in had positive results - lost the 1/2 lb. I had gained last week PLUS 1 1/2 more. I'm mildly suspicious because I was exhausted yesterday and slept about 11 hours, so hadn't eaten or drank anything in a while, but it was motivational to see the scale drop to say the least!

B: oatmeal w/banana & walnuts, milk, coffee

workout: 10 min. warm-up jog + 50 min. spinning class; HRM stats = 62 mins., 558 calories burned, avg. HR 146, max. 176 (which is supposedly over 90% of my max!). For some reason, once I got in the zone in my spin class, all I could think about was what I wanted for lunch... It amuses me that is where my thoughts drifted to.

PWO: protein shake (ON vanilla ice cream + apple + cinnamon + milk + a couple almonds = apple pie a la mode flavored post-workout deliciousness! :) )
L: tuna w/spicy mustard, chopped jalapenos, lettuce, tomato on whole wheat pita (yes, this is the meal I daydreamed about in spin class!)
S: kashi granola bar
S: whole grain crackers w/mozzarella & cucumber slices

cals so far: 1390, 26% F, 33% P, 41% C
My target for today will be between 1700-1800 calories, so dinner will likely be some protein w/veggies/salad.

Beautiful fall day outside today!
 
flyinfree said:
OK, now i am in love.
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Aw, shucks. :p

Today I've been fighting some sniffles. Bah. Anyway, here's how it looks:

B: banana walnut oatmeal and the usual morning coffee

Workout: legs, back, & biceps
10 min light jog warm up
4 sets assisted pull ups - 2 close grip, 2 wide grip
squats - 2 x 10 @85 + 1 x 8 @95 (I have dropped down my weight on these a bit to really focus on going deeper in the squat, and I felt really good today)
deadlifts - same reps/weights as the squat! I know the dead is supposed to be heavier, but I haven't been doing them for very long, so I'm working on it.
cable rows - 3x10 - my upper back has been sore/tight for at least a week and a half now, and it is making me mad.
biceps - seated curls 1x12 @15
HRM: 50 mins, 270 cals burned, max was only around 75%/140-something

PWO: another vanilla whey protein shake w/ apple cinnamon goodness
L: salmon w/tomato, cucumber, jalapeno pepper, hummus on whole wheat pita
S: kashi granola bar
S: handful of whole grain crackers
D: salad w/chicken
I estimate my cals between 1700-1800, a little high for what I wanted today, but lifting makes me hungry even if it doesn't burn as many calories as cardio!
 
Halloween was a bit too treat filled... the library had junky snacks set out all day and I couldn't resist one or two. No work out yesterday because my quads were seriously BURNING from the training the day before. Sore to the touch even!

Today should be good, though. No class today so I'm chilling at home with some reading for class and healthy food only. A soccer game tonight. Only one more after tonight and then outdoor soccer ends until next spring/summer. I'm particularly sad about this because I plan to be traveling next summer and will miss my favorite teams, BUT I will be on quite an adventure so I guess I'll have to get over that... somehow... ;)
 
I have not logged in for a few days... distractions, primarily in the form of a new guy I've been dating, so I can't complain...

Outdoor soccer is officially over for the fall. This means time to start thinking more strategically about training specifically to climb a mountain next year! The only reason I'm not playing indoor is because it is too expensive - I am obsessed with my rec league sport and am going to miss it, so focusing on a new goal will help.

Yesterday's weekly weigh in held even from last week. It was also the first day of my period, so I'm satisfied that it did not go up from the bloat. I also started to come down with a cold. I went to a spin class and my heart rate was flying - hit a max at 95% of my max HR. I burned almost 600 cals yesterday in that workout. Unfortunately, the illness had me picking at food all day. But, some cold medicine and a good night's sleep has battled off any serious illness, and today I felt much better.

B: oatmeal w/banana & natural PB, coffee
L: whole grain pasta w/turkey & veg
S: cottage cheese, apricots, almonds
S: kashi crackers

WO: assisted pull-ups - tried to decrease the amount of assistance by one plate, which definitely lowered the reps, but I got a few good ones in
squats - did a couple warm ups then 2x10 @95
deadlifts - my form was off today... didn't feel like I really got in a great set, because I stopped tracking reps to focus on form
one arm rows - 2 x10 @ 25, 1x8 @ 30
abs - hanging leg raises, side planks

PWO: whey protein shake w/apple & milk
D: chicken breast & veggies w/a little hummus
cals: 1580, P/F/C = 33/22/45
 
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