Building Muscle - My Diet and Exercise Plan

Saturday:
Breakfast - peanut butter and banana on toast (2), apple
Post workout - 1/2 banana, Vitatop
Lunch - falafel pita, carrots and celery with hummus
Snack - cafe misto, almond butter on rye crackers
Dinner - grilled scallops and edamame, glass of wine
Dessert - cookie dough ice cream
Workout - 8 km run
 
Sunday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast (2), apple
Post-workout - vitatop
Lunch - spaghetti with tomato sauce, 2 spare ribs, 1 polpetta (homemade Italian meatball type things), 1 zucchini pancake (another Italian appetizer sized thing), salad with oil and vinegar
Dinner - falafel pita
Snack - popcorn, almond butter (not together... obviously)
Workout - Bodystep
 
Monday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast (2), apple
Post workout - Banana and skim milk
Lunch - cheese and spinach tortilla, carrots and celery with eggplant hummus
Snack - mango
Dinner - salmon cakes, broccoli and sweet potatoes
Snack - Vitatop
Workout - 2A + 20 min treadmill intervals
I didn't make much improvement my second time around with workout A. The weights area was crowded on Monday morning and the squat rack was constantly in use so I didn't use the olympic bar for the FSPP, and I also didn't get in my regular squats. Bleh...
Front squat push press - 2x10x40
Dumbbell step ups - 2x10x10, six risers
One point dumbbell row - 2x10x15 (tried it with 20 lbs... wasn't happening)
Lunge rear foot elevated - 2x10x20
Push ups - 2x10
Horizontal wood chop - 2x10x17

Tuesday:
Breakfast - PB & Banana on toast (2), skim milk
Snack - Kashi bar
Lunch - leftover salmon cakes, broccoli and sweet potatoes
Snack - yogurt and blueberries
Dinner - pork chop and egg noodles
Snack - Vitatop
Workout - Body Flow
 
Wednesday:
Breakfast - PB & Banana on toast (2), skim milk
Post workout - Kashi bar
Lunch - spinach and cheese tortilla, baked sweet potato fries, carrots and celery with hummus
Snack - tuna on crackers
Dinner - whole wheat penne with olive oil, snap peas, mushrooms and goat cheese
Dessert - Vitatop
Workout - 8 km run

Thursday
Breakfast - peanut butter on toast (2), scrambled eggs
Snack - Kashi bar
Lunch - leftover pasta
Snack - yogurt and blueberries
Dinner - bean pasta with parmesan cheese
Post workout - tuna on crackers
Workout - NROL4W 2B
Deadlifts -- 2x10x70lbs
Split squat - 10x25lbs; 10x10lbs
Underhand lat pulldown - 2x10x60lbs
Reverse lunge with forward reach - 2x10x12.5lbs
Cuban snatch - 2x10x6.6lbs
Stability ball crunch - 2x10
Reverse crunch - 2x10
Oblique crunch 2x10
 
Friday:
Breakfast - peanut butter on toast, skim milk, blueberries
Snack - Kashi bar
Lunch - chicken, avocado and sundried tomato in a whole wheat pita
Snack - tuna on crackers, apple
Dinner - went out for tapas so had a bunch of little appetizers -- 4 small slices of bread, 1 with oil and balsamic vinegar and the other 3 with a chickpea, almond and roasted red pepper dip; 1 duck stuffed empanada; 1 veal and chorizo sausage skewer with avocado salsa; 1 beer braised meatball; 1 pastry with pancetta, onion and red pepper; fried calamari and shrimp; 1 pepper stuffed with cheese, lamb, olives and peppers and some french fries. I realize this looks like an alarming amount of food but the portions were teensy so that I was full but not stuffed at the end of the meal. Which is why tapas is awesome.
Workout - Rest Day

Ran 10 km this morning and am now starving even though I've eaten a ton...
 
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Saturday:
Breakfast - PB & banana on a whole wheat english muffin, skim milk
Post-run - banana (I find it difficult to stomach anything else after a long run)
Snack - cup of chocolate milk
Lunch - curried shrimp with mango couscous
Snack - carrots and eggplant hummus, handful of almonds; coffee with milk
Dinner - glass of wine, 1 crab cake, 8oz salmon
Dessert - chocolate cake
Later - 1 beer
Workout - 10 km run

Sunday:
Breakfast - english muffin with almond butter, apple; coffee with milk
Post-workout - chocolate milk
Lunch - whole wheat pita with chicken, avocado and hummus
Snack - peanut butter on crackers
Dinner - curried shrimp with mango couscous
Snack - chocolate frozen yogurt with M&Ms
Workout - Body Pump + 2 miles on the treadmill @ 6mph
 
Monday:
Breakfast - PB and banana on whole wheat english muffin, apple
Post workout - chocolate milk
Lunch - whole wheat pita with chicken, spinach, tomato and hummus; tbsp almond butter for dessert
Snack - carrots and hummus
Dinner - peanut shrimp with bok choy, carrots and egg noodles
Snack - almond butter on rye crackers
Workout - RPM + Body Flow
 
Tuesday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, apple
Snack - kashi bar and coffee w/ milk
Lunch - leftover shrimp and egg noodles
Snack - blueberries and yogurt
Dinner - ratatouille quiche
Snack - banana, rye cracker with almond butter
Workout - 8km run with speed intervals

Wednesday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, scrambled eggs
Snack - coffee with milk, Kashi bar
Lunch - 1/2 thin crust pizza with chicken, onion, red pepper and provolone cheese
Dessert - 1/2 serving tiramasu, coffee w/ milk
Dinner - chicken pita with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, peppers, mushrooms and tzatziki
Snack - almond butter
Rest day

I'm currently training for a half marathon at the end of September so I'm putting the muscle building on the backburner for now. Running a half marathon is something I've wanted to do for awhile and I'll be working full time starting September so I want to do it while I still have lots of time to train. I'm still planning to lift 2-3x a week but I won't be focusing as much on consciously trying to build muscle or seeing physical results, as I've heard that endurance training isn't exactly condusive to getting lean. Once the half marathon's done at the end of September, I'll re-evaluate the situation and see where I want to go from there...
 
Hey, I'm still around... thanks for checking in. :) Any luck with the job search?

I just took a little break from logging this week to figure out a few things about my training for the next two months... basically, I'm trying to decide whether I should continue with NROL4W while training for the half marathon or wait until October to start Stage 3. I was talking to a friend of mine who is a PT and she said to avoid overtraining/injury, I shouldn't try to do both at once... she said I should continue to strength train two days a week to maintain muscle mass but I shouldn't increase weight or do anything that my body isn't used to while training for the half marathon. I'd love to get your input on that... I want to do well on my half marathon but I also don't want to lose the strength gains I've made over the past few months.

This week, I tried the approach outlined above by doing Body Pump and staying at my last recorded BP weights:

Sun - RPM
Mon - Body Pump + 3km run
Tues - rest
Wed - 8 km run
Thurs - Body Flow
Fri - 11km run
Sat - Body Pump

This schedule worked out really well in terms of recovery -- I was pretty sore after Monday's BP class but after taking a rest on Tuesday, I was fully recovered for Wednesday's run. Similarly, doing yoga on Thursday night (instead of a weights workout) resulted in a really good long run on Friday morning . Whether or not I continue with NROL4W, I'm definitely going to scale back to two weights workouts a week with a day of rest or yoga between weights and running. After the half marathon, I'll go back to 3 a week.
 
No luck on the job hunt as of yet. Time will tell. Hopefully I'll get employed sooner than I did last time I was on the job market (something like 6-8 months went by unemployed).

I don't specialise in endurance events, so I wouldn't treat what I have to say as having any authority, but I'd say the majority of your training should be devoted to the half marathon, and strength training should definitely take a back step. I'd probably go for 3 runs per week and do strength training twice a week. You could still do NROL4W on that template, just doing each day once per week, rather than 3x/fortnight. I wouldn't say that you should avoid adding weight to the exercises, but certainly be more conservative with it. It might be worth your while to continue doing phase 2, rather than moving on to phase 3, because what you probably don't want or need right now is to have to learn new exercises. I'd wager that maintaining and gradually increasing strength in the exercises you're already doing without messing around with the exercises is the best way to maintain strength and muscle and allow you to focus on running. Less distractions, basically.

ETA: In the last 3 weeks before the event, I'd back off on the strength training. 3 weeks from the event, cull all the abdominal/core exercises. 2 weeks from the event, drop everything back to 1 work set. 1 week from the event, don't do any strength training, or do only 1 session. This should help you peak for the run.
 
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Thanks for the advice... I think I'll stick with the Stage 2 workouts and Body Pump for now... I don't want to start Stage 3 and not be able to give it my all and like you said, I don't really want to be learning new exercises either. I'm pretty comfortable with the Stage 2 exercises so I'll be able to continue doing them and even add a little weight every week without having to devote too much energy to them.

Anyway, time to get back to tracking my food intake... I actually ate pretty well last week, I just didn't feel like logging. I know as I increase mileage, I should keep track of what I'm eating a) to figure out what foods work best pre and post run and b) because I've heard that endurance training makes you hungry and causes you to eat way more than you need. I'll have to be extra conscious of eating properly especially as the month progresses, otherwise I'll have to rename this journal "Gaining Fat - My Half Marathon Training Plan." ;)

Yesterday:
Breakfast - peanut butter and banana on toast, apple
Post workout - 1/2 banana and skim milk
Lunch - tuna on crackers, hard boiled egg, Kashi bar
Snack - almond butter on rye crackers
Dinner - chicken, spinach and cheese in a whole wheat tortilla
Snack - popcorn
Workout - RPM
Not the best day diet-wise. I don't think I ate enough at mealtimes, which made me snacky all day, especially in the evening.

Off to tackle 10km!!

Thanks again for the input, always appreciated!
 
Monday:
Breakfast - PB and banana on toast, skim milk
Post-run - 1/2 banana, cup of chocolate milk
Snack - fruit (apple and a peach)
Lunch - chicken, cheese and spinach tortilla, blueberries
Snack - kashi bar
Snack - beef jerkey
Dinner - pork stir fry with brown rice
Workout - 10 km run -- this was not my best run mostly because of the heat. It's been 30 degrees and humid pretty much everyday for the past few weeks... I can't wait for it to cool down a bit.
 
Tuesday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, apple
Snack - coffee + kashi bar
Lunch - leftover pork and rice
Snack - Greek yogurt and blueberries
Dinner - beef and vegetable stir fry w/ brown rice
Snack - banana and peanut butter
Workout - BodyFlow

This morning, I finally got back into my NROL4W workouts after a week off... I did workout 2B using my last recorded weights, except I took it down a bit for deadlifts. At the heavier weight, I find my hamstrings are sore for at least a couple of days and I want my legs to be nice and fresh for Friday's long run (I'm attempting 13K for the first time). After finishing my weights, I did an easy 3 km run on the treadmill... at least I think it was 3 km. Knowing how slowly time passes on the treadmill, I was trying really hard not to look at the time/distance display... then I accidentally hit the emergency stop button and had no idea how far I'd gone... based on where I was in my running playlist, I estimated I'd done about 2km and re-set the machine to run the rest of the distance. Cardio machines... ughhh.
 
Wednesday:
Breakfast - PB & banana on toast, skim milk
Post-workout - smoothie (1 cup chocolate milk, 1/2 c. frozen strawberries, 1/2 banana)
Lunch - chicken, cheese and spinach wrap, 1/2 mango
Snack - almond butter on rye crackers
Dinner - whole wheat penne with snap peas, mushrooms and cheese
Snack - kashi bar
Workout - NROL4W 2B + 3 km (?) treadmill @ 6 mph

Thursday
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, apple
Snack - kashi bar, coffee with milk
Lunch - leftover pasta, grilled chicken
Snack - yogurt and blueberries
Dinner - pasta ***ioli
Post run - almond butter on toast, skim milk
Workout - 12km run

So I was thrown a bit of a curveball at work yesterday... my current part-time job was supposed to become full-time in September but they asked me to start immediately (as in today, which is why I re-scheduled my 12k run for last night instead of this morning). This will obviously change my training schedule and will require a lot of planning on my part. Yay adulthood!! :|

(Oh no my dinner got edited!! LOL)
 
Friday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, 2 eggs
Snack - yogurt and berries, coffee w/ milk
Lunch - leftover pasta, grilled chicken
snack - almond butter on rye crackers, iced coffee
Dinner - pita bread with baba ganouj, salad
Rest day

Saturday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast
Post-workout - chocolate milk
Lunch - curried shrimp and mango couscous
Snack - apple
Snack - skim cafe misto, clif bar
Dinner - jerk chicken and mango salsa open face sandwich
After dinner - 1 coors light
Workout - Body Pump
 
Sunday: went to niagara for two days of wine tasting/dinner with the boyfriend for our six year anniversary so Sunday and Monday were far from ideal diet-wise. Actually, they weren't great exercise wise either lol
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, apple
Snack - vita top
Lunch - falafel pita and lentil soup
Dinner - bread and butter, roasted veal tenderloin with pasta, ricotta cheese and eggplant :p
Dessert - chocolate marquise cake
Drinks - let's just quantify it as a "lot" of wine
Sunday turned out to be an unplanned rest day thanks to some crazy soreness going on in my legs. I don't know why but Saturday's BP class destroyed me....

Monday:
Breakfast - smoked salmon hash, 1 croissant, lemon cake, mini-muffins and a scone... and some yogurt and granola to balance out all the empty carbs :S
Lunch - we split a meat and cheese platter and some grilled flat bread with goat cheese and duck confit
Drinks - more wine...
"Dinner" - peanut butter and banana on toast, skim milk
Workout - 3km reasy run

We had a great weekend but I'm definitely on decadent food overload. It feels good to be back on track again today.
 
Tuesday:
Breakfast - greek yogurt and granola, apple
Snack - almonds
Lunch - soba noodles, tofu and vegetable stir fry
Snack - blueberries
Dinner - bean pasta with parmesan cheese
Snack - vita top
Workout - RPM + Body Pump

Wednesday:
Breakfast - PB and banana on toast, apple
Snack - almond butter, coffee with milk
Lunch - leftover soba noodles, tofu and vegetables
Snack - carrots and eggplant hummus
Dinner - chicken, carrots, fennel and whole wheat couscous
Snack - Vita Top
I'm resting up my legs today in preparation for 13.5 km tomorrow.
 
Thursday:
Breakfast - PB and banana on toast, apple
Snack - coffee w/ milk; almonds
Lunch - leftover chicken, carrots and couscous
Snack - blueberries
Dinner - leftover soba noodles and tofu
Post run - banana and a vita top
Workout - 13.8 km - my goal is to run 15 km by the end of August so I'm pretty happy with my progress so far. This was not the greatest run though... my legs were really stiff and tired the entire time, even though I took a rest day on Wednesday. But I think those tough runs are just as important as the good ones when it comes to mental preparation.

Friday:
Breakfast - breakfast wrap and skim cafe misto from Starbucks
Lunch - chicken guacamole sandwich
Snack - another skim cafe misto, granola bar
Dinner - 2 brie pekoras; half an order of butter chicken with Naan and rice
Dessert- 3 scoops of gelato
Workout - 6km run - went for an easy trail run with a friend of mine... I usualy zone out to music during my runs so this was a nice change. I also really liked running a trail instead of the road... I need to seek out some new running routes in my neighbourhood.

Saturday:
Breakfast - same as Friday
Post-workout - 1 cup chocolate milk
Lunch - grilled vegetables and cheese on foccaccia bread
Dessert - red velvet cupcake
Snack - granola bar
Dinner - chicken satay skewers, chicken dumplings in peanut sauce and edamame
Workout - Body Pump + 6km
 
Sunday:
Breakfast - peanut butter and banana on toast, apple
Post-workout - 1/2 banana and skim milk
Lunch - 2 hard boiled eggs, tuna on whole wheat toast
Snack - two mini zucchini pancakes
Dinner - home made burger, salad and grilled zucchini
Dessert- ice cream in a waffle cone
Workout - RPM

Monday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, apple
Snack - coffee with milk, greek yogurt and blueberries
Lunch - 1/2 Amy's pesto pizza
Snack - carrots and eggplant hummus
Dinner - whole penne with tomato sauce
Post-run - banana and milk
Workout - 11 km run with speed intervals -- I really hate speedwork sessions but I really pushed myself with this one and felt good about it after. I have easy runs for the rest of the week so it was nice to get this one over with!

Tuesday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, apple
Snack - coffee with milk, almonds
Lunch - 1/2 Amy's pizza
Snack - yogurt and berries
Dinner - grilled chicken with avocado and corn salsa
Post workout - Vita top
Workout - Body Pump
 
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