Building Muscle - My Diet and Exercise Plan

B

BurningItOff

0
Hi everyone,

I'm Christine and I'm a long time lurker here. My current goal is to build muscle and increase my upper body strength. I recently lost 15 pounds and found it was pretty easy in terms of figuring out how much to eat and exercise, but when it comes to building muscle I'm not entirely sure what to do. The current plan is to eat more and do more strength training but I imagine it's more complicated than that and there's bound to be some trial and error involved. With that in mind, I want to keep track of my progress to see what works and what doesn't and also to get feedback from people who know more about this than I do ;) So here goes...

Current stats:
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 115lbs
Body Fat: 20.3%
Current workouts: 3 strength training sessions per week (usually Body Pump), 2-3 cardio sessions per week (I mix it up between spinning, step, sports conditioning, running and boot camp... can you tell I get bored easily?) and occasionally a yoga class
Diet: 1800-2000 calories per day, trying to cut back on refined sugar
Goal: I don't have an exact goal weight I want to reach, I just want to be able to see a bit of muscle definition in my arms and abs... in other words, I'll know it when I see it!

Here's what yesterday looked like:
Breakfast - Almond butter on whole wheat toast, skim milk and an apple
Snack - Greek yogurt with blueberries
Lunch - Peanut shrimp with bok choy, carrots and egg noodles
Snack - Carrots and hummus
Dinner - Spaghetti squash with roasted tomatoes and beans
Snack - Rye crackers with peanut butter
Workout - 50 minutes RPM (interval based spin class)
 
Wednesday, March 23:
Breakfast - peanut butter and banana slices on whole wheat toast (2 slices), skim milk, apple
Lunch: Leftover spaghetti squash
Snack: Greek yogurt with blueberries
Dinner: Chicken cacciatore with whole wheat pasta
Snack: Rye crackers with almond butter
Workout: Body Pump

I've been slowly increasing my weights on the barbell and while I notice it's a lot harder during the exercise (my legs were burning at the end of the squat and lunge tracks), my muscles are no longer sore the next day. When I was using lighter weights, I didn't feel it as much in my legs during the workout, but my hamstrings, butt and quads would kill the morning after. Today, I don't feel a thing. Weird...
 
Thursday, March 24:
Breakfast - almond butter on whole wheat toast (2 slices), apple
Snack - Greek yogurt with blueberries
Lunch - lefotver chicken cacciatore and pasta
Snack - carrots and hummus
Dinner - Extreme Pita Fiesta Mexicana pita
Workout - scheduled rest day
I'm pretty much out of the house from 8am to 9pm most Thursdays, so I've made this my scheduled rest day from the gym. I also don't have to time to go home and eat dinner, so I usually pick up something from Subway or Extreme Pita.

Friday, March 25:
Breakfast -peanut butter and banana slices on toast (2 slices), milk
Snack - walnut halves
Lunch - spicy turkey wrap on whole wheat
Snack - peanut butter on crackers
Dinner - went to a Persian restaurant where I had a glass of white wine, 1 piece of flatbread with butter, pita bread with a yogurt and shallot dip, and sauteed eggplant with Basmati rice.
Dessert - slice of lemon meringue pie :p
I usually work out Friday mornings, but I was asked to come in to work at the last minute. Didn't have time to hit the gym, so I'm looking forward to this morning's workout!
 
Saturday, March 26:
B - peanut butter and banana on toast (2 slices), milk
L - chicken quesadillas with salsa
S - apple, carrots and hummus
D - goat roti
W - Body Attack (60 minute sports conditioning class with some strength work - push ups, lunges, planks and crunches)
 
Sunday, March 27:
B - almond butter on toast, glass of milk and an apple
S - beef jerky
L - breaded chicken cutlets with sweet pepper and roasted tomato sauce; mashed potatoes; salad with oil and vinegar; handful of strawberries
D - baked eggplant melt
S - carrots and hummus; peanut butter on rye crackers
W - Body Pump

I convinced my boyfriend to come with me to my Pump class yesterday. I suspect he was under the impression that Body Pump is some kind of watered down strength workout for girls because he suggested we do some free weights together after the class... I just smiled and said "we'll see." He was also worried he'd be the only guy in the class; not only were there other guys there, but the instructor turned out to be male (and a rather large one at that).

Well, after an hour of squatting, pressing, curling, lifting and lunging, he was ready to admit that Body Pump is a tough workout. By the end of it, he was beat and had no interest in the post-Pump strength session he had proposed earlier.

Anyway, I think I'm ready to increase my weights again this week. My current weights are (and this is pretty pitiful, but please keep in mind that I'm fairly small and haven't done much strength training in my lifetime, lol):
Squats - 12kg
Chest - 7kg
Clean and press - 9kg
Triceps/biceps - 5 kg
Lunges - 7kg
Shoulders - 5kg
 
Monday, March 28, 2011:
Breakfast - almond butter on whole grain toast (2 slices), milk, banana
Lunch - chicken quesadillas with salsa
Afternoon snacks -coffee with milk, apple, Greek yogurt and blueberries
Dinner - pork tenderloin in a curry sauce with tomatoes and cashews, brown rice
Evening snack - peanut butter on rye crackers
Workout - Body Step (60 minutes)
 
Tuesday, March 29, 2011:
B - almond butter on whole grain toast (2 slices), apple
S - Greek yogurt with blueberries
L - leftover curry
S - handful of walnuts
D - stir fry with beef, broccoli, carrots, onions and brown rice
S - half a banana and a glass of milk
W - 50 minutes RPM
 
Hello, thought I'd come say hi to your journal.

Looks like you're pretty consistent with getting to the gym and tracking your meals. That's a good thing.

As far as your goals are concerned, sounds like "tone" or definition is the main thing, which really just means having some muscle mass and a low enough body mass to see it. In that case, you can probably stand to stay the same weight you are now, if not gain weight (considering the fairly low bodyfat% you have right now; you wouldn't want it to get much lower, and remember muscle adds weight). I'd probably look at either staying the weight you are now, or slowly going up to 120-125lb. So you can probably afford to increase your daily calories by 2-300kcal/day, and so long as you train appropriately it'll go towards muscle mass rather than fat.

Also, while bodypump will certainly leave you exhausted, not wanting to go back into the main area of the gym and lift more weights afterwards, the amount of weight you can lift in the pump clas speaks for itself. Your squats are your heaviest load, and they don't even add up to an empty barbell. Granted, pump doesn't have you just doing something standard like 2-3x8-12 reps of an exxercise after 2-3 lighter warm up sets, but you would probably benefit from replacing at least one of your pump classes with getting under an Olympic barbell, focusing on form through a full range of motion, and building strength week by week in those basic exercises
 
Hi Goldfish,

Thanks so much for the feedback. I'm up one pound as of this morning, although I don't know if it's actual weight or just day to day fluctuation.

I'm eventually planning to increase my daily calories but I was in a deficit for so long that I'm still getting used to eating 1800-2000 per day. I do find my appetite has been huge this past week... don't know if it's the added strength training sessions or just my imagination but I've been ravenous lol...

Anyway, thanks for the tip on weight training (that's the area I'm most clueless about). I guess I'm kind of intimidated by the prospect of going into the weights area and doing free weights by myself, which is one of the reasons I like Pump because there's someone there guiding you through all of the movements. Maybe I'll get my brother-in-law to take me and show me around (my boyfriend doesn't actually belong to my gym, I just brought him as a guest last week).

Thanks again for your comments!

Yesterday's eats:
Breakfast - peanut butter and banana on toast, milk and an apple
Lunch - whole wheat chicken wrap with lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, chipotle mayo and cheese
Snack - almond butter on rye crackers
Dinner - leftover stir fry
Workout - Body Pump; increased my weights on the chest, triceps, biceps, lunge and shoulder tracks. I was okay for most of them, with the exception of the biceps track where I had to skip a few reps... my biceps are so weak. I also made it through a set of push ups near the end of the class without dropping to my knees (I can do "real" push ups when I'm not tired, but after 50 minutes of body pump, I usually have to do them on my knees)
 
Good on ya for increasing the weight. IMO, don't worry too much about biceps/triceps. As you increase weight on squats, lunges, pulling exercises (eg RDLs, rows) and pressing exercises (chest, shoulders), your arm strength will follow. So focus on the compound movements, and the isolations will get easier all on their own.
 
Goldfish said:
Good on ya for increasing the weight. IMO, don't worry too much about biceps/triceps. As you increase weight on squats, lunges, pulling exercises (eg RDLs, rows) and pressing exercises (chest, shoulders), your arm strength will follow. So focus on the compound movements, and the isolations will get easier all on their own.
Click to expand...

Good to know, thanks!

Yesterday, was not great food wise. I didn't have any leftovers to bring to work and was on the go around dinner time, so both lunch and dinner were crappy take out sandwiches. Oh well, I'm going to a fancy restaurant tonight so that should compensate for the boring food I ate yesterday :p

Breakfast - almond butter on toast (2 slices), skim milk, apple
Snack - Greek yogurt with blueberries
Lunch - Buffalo chicken panini from Mr. Sub (the Canadian equivalent of Subway)
Snack - carrots and hummus
Dinner - a ridiculously expensive Sante Fe Chicken panini from Starbucks
Snack - almond butter on rye crackers
As usual, yesterday was my rest day from the gym.
 
Friday:
Breakfast - peanut butter and banana on toast (2 slices), milk
Snack - Greek yogurt with blueberries
Lunch - whole wheat pasta with roasted eggplant, parmesan cheese and olive oil (a surprisingly good lunch I improvised using what was left in the fridge/pantry); Kashi bar (I'm trying not to eat these anymore due to the high sugar content, but I was still hungry after lunch and there was one left in the cupboard from a couple of months ago...)
Snack - almond butter on rye crackers, milk
Dinner - bread and butter (3 slices... oops), glass of wine, seafood risotto and 1/2 an apple crumbe with ice cream
Workout - 5K run. This was my first run since December; I'm looking forward to starting up again now that it's finally warmer outside (I don't deal well with winter). My legs are pretty sore though, I guess because it had been such a long time since my last run. I also played some Dance Central on my friend's Xbox Kinect. I'm proud to say I now know all of the moves to Soulja Boy's "Crank That" dance... yeahhh
 
Saturday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast (2 slices), milk
Lunch - chicken quesadillas with salsa
Snacks - apple, carrots and hummus, banana with peanut butter
Dinner - chicken shawarma in a pita
Snack - rye crackers with hummus
Workout - Body Pump. Used the same weights as Wednesday. I think I'm ready to add more squat weight, but my legs were still a little sore from Friday's run so I held off yesterday.
 
Sunday:
Breakfast - peanut butter and banana on toast (2 slices), milk
Lunch - chicken quesadillas with salsa
Snacks - apple, almond butter on rye crackers, Greek yogurt and blueberries
Dinner - baby eggplants stuffed with lean ground beef, parmesan cheese and bread (get the recipe ... this is the food/fitness blog I started... cause, you know, there aren't enough of those floating around the Internet!)
Workout - Boot Camp (60 minutes) - this is the most challenging workout at my gym. The instructor changes up the routine every week, so it's something different each time. Here's what we did yesterday...
each combination consists of three to four different exercises, usually one minute in duration, and is repeated twice in a row.

Warm Up:
Dynamic stretching followed by two sets each of push ups, jogging on the spot for one minute, and one minute of jumping jacks.

Combination 1:
Jogging on the spot with hand weights
Bunny hops using the step bench
Squats (pulse for twenty seconds, hold for ten, repeat three times)

One minute of jumping jacks between combos 1 and 2.

Combination 2:
Plank row using 3kg hand weight
Shoulder exercises – one minute each of front raises, side raises and overhead presses using 2kg hand weights
Skater exercises

Combination 3:
Squat jump/burpee combo using the bench
Skull crushers using a 14lb body bar
Tricep dips

Combination 4:
Side plank with a twist (30 seconds each side)
Side plank hip raises (30 seconds each side)
Front plank with leg lifts (30 seconds)
Scissor abs (30 seconds)
Bridge (1 minute)
 
Monday:
Breakfast - PB & Banana on toast (2), skim milk, apple
Lunch - leftover stuffed eggplant
Snack - almond butter on rye crackers
Dinner - home made japchae (Korean dish with soba noodles, enoki mushrooms, red peppers, onion, garlic, carrots and spinach in a soy/hot pepper paste sauce... soooo good!)
Snack - Greek yogurt and blueberries
Workout - Pump... added another 2kg to squats.
 
Tuesday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast (2), skim milk, apple
Snack - handful of walnuts
Lunch - leftover japchae
Snack - blueberries
Dinner - spaghetti squash with home made tomato sauce and parmesan cheese
Snack - banana with peanut butter
Workout - RPM
 
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Wednesday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast (2), apple
Snack - 1 cup chocolate milk
Lunch - leftover spaghetti squash
Snack - peanut butter on rye crackers, glass of milk
Dinner - breaded chicken cutlet, sweet potatoes and avocado salad
Snack - banana
Workout - Body Pump... same weights as Monday.
I'm up to 117 lbs this week but I don't think I've been eating enough for it to be either muscle or fat gain. Maybe it's water retention? I'm not overly concerned though cause I know the scale isn't the best indicator of progress, I just find it curious because my weight hasn't fluctuated at all between January and now... in other news, my abs are slowly becoming more visible -- it's a miracle!
 
Thanks Steena! :)

Yesterday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast (2) and skim milk (and no I'm not getting bored of this... I've been eating nut butter on toast for breakfast for the better part of the past 15 yrs... somehow it never gets old!)
Snack - Laughing Cow cheese dippers
Lunch - leftover chicken, potatoes and salad
Snack - blueberries
Dinner - whole wheat falafel pita with feta cheese and tzsatziki sauce
Snack - peanut butter on rye crackers
Weight is back down to 115 after yesterday's rest from the gym so I'm going with the water retention theory. Time to up those calories (I'm not counting my calories very carefully these days, just kind of 'ballparking' it, but I think I've been eating too close to the lower end of maintenance to build any muscle... bigger portions and some higher calorie snacks should do the trick)
 
Friday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast (2), skim milk
Snack - Laughing Cow cheese dippers
Lunch - plate of food from Whole Foods... mix of butternut squash, chickpeas, broccoli, quinoa and rice...
Snacks - apple; banana and peanut butter
Dinner - pint of beer; bread with hummus, olive oil and balsamic vinegar; 1/2 small-ish pizza topped with gorgonzola cheese, sweet potatoes and caramalized fennel; cheesecake
Workout - Body Attack
 
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