Floater's diary

I´m still good doing the GVT program for a few more cycles I think, but after that I need to start mixing things up to not make my workouts stale. Obviously flat bench instead of incline, but I´m also thinking lat prayers instead of lat pulldowns for a meso.

Gonna get another body comp scan towards the end of next week. I´m ovulating (based on bodily symptoms, the tests still don´t work...) so my fat has that cottage cheese look from fluif retention that I don´t love but the fat pad on my belly keeps shrinking slowly but steadily. Did some scar care on my stretch marks last night, and more of them are getting sturdier and losing that papery thinness so I´m every happy about that. TBH it´s probably time and weight loss that plays a bigger role in this than the scar care but it´s nice to compare the fresh ones to the ones I got in puberty. The fresh ones will never be as smooth as the puberty ones due to my collagen being of worse quality now that I´m middle-aged but that doesn´t mean there couldn´t be improvement.
 
Did 10x10 squats with 55kg today. Had to take 2min breaks instead of 1min between last sets. Overhead DB presses 6kg. Third day of GVT in a row.

Rest day tomorrow.
 
Rest day almost over. Tomorrow is bent over rows and DB chest flys. Got a migraine today. It resolved with a migraine spray, NSAIDs, and electrolytes.

On one hand, good thing I can recover this quickly from GVT, on the other, tells me I gotta reprogram soon.

Dysphoria was bad last night. Took a lot of photos of problem areas. It's not helpful.
 
Yesterday was bent over rows and db chest flys. Today is deadlifts and delts. I´m gonna go get a body comp reading and then have lunch in the city before I hit the gym. I paid for my new mattress,: emptied my savings account, but I do sleep better now that´s for sure. And sleep is invaluable.

Pro and con list of keeping going with GVT:

cons: stimulus is no longer as good as it used to -> maybe risking not getting as much growth
pros: I am under high stress currently, and I enjoy the familiarity of the program.

I guess I´ll see what the bodycomp machine says and use that in decision making as well.
 
The bodycomp machine said I've gained 600g of muscle and 1kg of fat in two weeks. It did note that my water mass is high, which makes sense as I should be in the ovulatory phase now. As always, the readings are approxximates and useful in long term. Gonna get a new reading in a week or so when I should be luteal.
 
Doc went well today and I treated myself with some yummy foods and hit the gym hard in the evening. Psychological factors defo play in to how hard I can go. Also, found really tasty rice at the Asian grocery close to my gym and will buy more of it when it runs out. I´ve been eating a lot of marinated eggs and rice with a side of baby carrots lately.
 
Rest day today. Going to take care of chores, time bills, go for walks. I noticed that my face is a bit puffier since I started using Minoxidil and this is a relatively common side effect but should subside as use continues. I hit the gym yesterday and had the best workout in a while. Feeling altogether happy and content.
 
Mm okay the Minox may not be for me, because I have gained a ton of fluid during these 2 weeks and it might legit strain my heart. Face looks swollen too
 
Yesterday I modified my GVT program a bit by doing my overhead presses with the Smith machine and behind the neck. I had heard that it can be bad for the shoulder joint but I read up about it and apparently unless there is pain or limitation of movement, it should be safe for as long as good form remains. I had a lot of fun doing it, no shoulder discomfort and I could feel my back really activate and teh new stimulus was refreshing. Going to keep doing it for a bit, carefully with the load of course.

I squatted 10x10 with only 50 kg but focused on squatting deep and got so sore that walking was really hard for a good 15 mins after I finished.

Water retention is real. Swimming would probably help flush it out of my system. But first I need to clean up the apartment and the chinnie cages.
 
Happy Halloween! Went aqua jogging for the first time in a while. It always helps with fat loss. I took it easy and only went for 30 mins but I really needed it, it´s so relaxing.

Bought healthy whole foods on my way home. now having salmon and parsley on cold rice.
 
Floater said:
Happy Halloween! Went aqua jogging for the first time in a while. It always helps with fat loss. I took it easy and only went for 30 mins but I really needed it, it´s so relaxing.

Bought healthy whole foods on my way home. now having salmon and parsley on cold rice.
Click to expand...
Happy Halloween!!
 
Calculated my workout days for the months of this year. On some days I did two workouts but I didn´t take that into account in my workout day numbers because to be honest I don´t want to encourage myself to do that, it makes me burn myself out. And of course, some months I have had reasons like migraines, flus, a tattoo in August etc that required some time off from the gym and the pool.

January: 14
February: 12
March: 19
April: 22
May: 19
June: 13
July: 15
August: 11
September: 13
October: 15

I have went from 82-ish kg to 88-ish and while some of it is muscle gains, taking my hormonal IUD out has caused me all kinds of issues I didn´t have when I was on it. Menstruating as a trans guy has been ROUGH mentally and physically. However, from comparing pics from Jan and now I can tell that the number on the scale is not the whole story. I look impressively muscular and I´m very happy with that.

Now I´m gonna focus on eating whole foods and aiming for 20 days of working out per month. I have running shoes now, so the options are gym, pool, and running. A hike is also acceptable and I´ll go on one tomorrow if the weather is decent. Because I tend to get migraines before and during menstruation, and hard exercise is not recommended during them, I think that 20 is a realistic number of monthly workouts that I can hit.
 
Had a salt beef, parsley and egg sandwhich for breakfast. It was great. Took care of some chores and bills and stuff and next I should do some food prep. I have zero motivation, but it just has to get done, period. I have two portions of cold rice in the fridge and they have to be eaten today. I think I´m gonna prep a batch of baked potatoes for carbs over the next couple days.

---

Got distracted! But yeah prepped four portions of baked potatoes as well as three portions of minced beef+ chickpeas + sauerkraut which I seasoned with fish sauce, chili oil and parsley + coriander. Turned out great. Had one portion of beef with rice and am now contemplating braving the weather for my hike. Rain and sleet. I guess I´ll go out see where my feet take me.
 
Weather was way too bad for a hike, but I stayed active by organizing my home instead, and took a shorter walk. Bought healthy whole foods. Had the rest of leftover rice with guacamole. Gonna have an egg sandwich and 250g of cherry tomatoes before bed, and eat more if necessary.
 
Mentally depleted. Had two cupcakes for dessert after lunch, but otherwise a good day food-wise, with lots of fruit and veg and enough protein.

I had planned to go to the gym but to be honest I do not feel well. I did go for a walk, but I've had to lie down a lot because even sitting up feels exhausting. I could try to take a nap and then hit the gym. We'll see!
 
I think that resting yesterday was a good decision. I started to menstruate this morning, and even though I have some cramping and pain my mood always picks up when the menstruation finally starts. Going to hit the gym soon, it helps with the cramping and seems to flush the junk out quicker.

I programmed my next two weeks of exercise yesterday, and I´m going to focus on running. To be honest I´m not looking forward to it because I´m good at lifting but not very good at running, but there´s only one way to get better at it. And the two weeks might suck but they´ll give me a general idea of how I´ll recover and how to plan going forward. I´ll still hit the gym twice a week to not lose gains.

Made some lovely roasted eggplants yesterday. Food prep is very grounding and I´m glad to be able to focus on it again after months of relying on microwave stuff.
 
Floater said:
I think that resting yesterday was a good decision. I started to menstruate this morning, and even though I have some cramping and pain my mood always picks up when the menstruation finally starts. Going to hit the gym soon, it helps with the cramping and seems to flush the junk out quicker.

I programmed my next two weeks of exercise yesterday, and I´m going to focus on running. To be honest I´m not looking forward to it because I´m good at lifting but not very good at running, but there´s only one way to get better at it. And the two weeks might suck but they´ll give me a general idea of how I´ll recover and how to plan going forward. I´ll still hit the gym twice a week to not lose gains.

Made some lovely roasted eggplants yesterday. Food prep is very grounding and I´m glad to be able to focus on it again after months of relying on microwave stuff.
Click to expand...
I feel the same way about running and cardio in general. I realised I also dislike high-impact exercises in which I have to jump around a lot.
 
ChocolateBunny said:
I feel the same way about running and cardio in general. I realised I also dislike high-impact exercises in which I have to jump around a lot.
Click to expand...
I don't mind cardio, but I guess running reminds me of my chest so it bothers me. Jumping... Yeah. I hate the jiggle.

Today was last German Volume Training session for a while. I was pretty wiped out. But I'll do another meso of GVT in the springtime. The gains are real, the program is worth the fatigue.

Bad news. I contacted the health clinic about symptoms I have had after I had my IUD taken out, and apparently it could be endometriosis. I'll have some labs taken tomorrow. I feel exhausted. It's like I just can't win, ever.
 
Floater said:
I don't mind cardio, but I guess running reminds me of my chest so it bothers me. Jumping... Yeah. I hate the jiggle.
Click to expand...
I can understand that!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top