Greenhorn Gal gets Gorgeous!!

Hey Diane,

Just wanted to drop-in and give you a shout. Looks like your journal is coming along nicely and you've got some good supporters already chiming in here & there.

I was just browsing some of the pics in these journals....this guy Stingo is for real...he went from Jabba the Hut to 1/3 his size real nice; very impressive! I know you haven't posted any pics, but I sure hope you have some "before" shots picked-out that you can throw-up later. Speaking of which, I looked at some of my pics and I'm more then over-due for some new shots...I've made some progress as well.

Anyways...keep up the good work, stay the course and aspire to wear lycra! ;) :D
 
POST POST POST

I like reading your writing. And, if you work out all the better too.

for me, fitness is a lifestyle, and I like to fel improvement, strength, and have the ability to "do stuff." You are starting to experience that,. and that is totally cool GREENHORN!!!

SO- keep doing what you are doing, enjoy what you are doing, and when you don;t change it! But until thin, carry on honey!

yer doing FANTASTIC

Post your negatives too. When you don't do what you should be doing, it's ok to talk abotu that too, otherwise we will have to think you are super human :rolleyes:

Sweat Daily!
FF
 
HI, BSL! Thanks for dropping by.

I did not take pictures of myself "before", as I really did not want film evidence of what I looked like; I'm also not sure that I really thought I could do this. However, I started around the holidays and I know there are pics of me at Christmas and Thanksgiving which are maybe 10-15 lbs into the journey. I have pics from April, and will be taking some more shortly...now I'm interested in photographic proof of the progress!

I've heard of NEPA, too--Stingo is the first one to use NEAT that I've heard, but it works nicely with EAT!!

I weighed in this morning at 206--a bit less progress than what I was hoping for but progress nevertheless. My body fat, per my scale, is a little over 35%--yuck!

Legs feel rubbery today but good--top still somewhat sore but less stiff. Today's a no-gym day...
 
HI, FF! Thanks for your post...

I am in the midst of "honeymooning" with this whole journal thing. So far, I haven't done anything really naughty except having one drink on both Friday and Saturday night, and not quite eating enough yesterday. Accountability is key!
 
Yesterday was weight day...everything went well. I got to the gym earlier than I usually do and there was a personal trainer there who spent some time with me going over my form for a few exercises, including the lunges I've been struggling with. It appears that my range of motion at this point just doesn't allow for a full lunge to the floor without injury, but I learned where to place the weight to be able to do them successfully without pain, so I did! Unweighted...

I'm gonna work really consistently with some stretches for my quads and hip flexors--that will help. I'll keep working through the lunges and keep going lower and lower till I can get to the floor, then start adding weight.

So, no pain today--a little rubbery-feeling, which is good. I think I am too hungry today to make it on 1300 calories, so I'm gonna plan to weight train again today so I can eat 1700! Is that cheating?

Tomorrow I get to do cardio again after a 2 week hiatus--I am excited!
 
Greenhorn Gal said:
I think I am too hungry today to make it on 1300 calories, so I'm gonna plan to weight train again today so I can eat 1700! Is that cheating?
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No, but I'd do the cardio now (and tomorrow) instead. It's not as beneficial to hit your muscles again before they've had time to recover. Either way, though, no it's not.

It's smart. If you've "gotta" eat, burn some more. Just don't become bulimic or anything. :rolleyes: :)
 
Derwyddon said:
You're telling her to do cardio today and tomorrow why?
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Because it's better than strength training twice today, imo.


Edit: Ohhhhhh. I fail at reading. I gotcha, DW. Nevermind, gg, just ignore me. Yes, train again today, eat moar, do cardio tomorrow. :)

How much NEPA (non-exercise physical activity) do you get, bb? You'd be amazed at the difference it can make to add in an hour or two of walking or similar in addition to the actual exercise...I mean so you can eat more, but also increase your deficit, by not covering all of the calories with additional intake.
 
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Today has turned out to be kind of a sh!tty day, and I don't know if I'll be able to work out today because I'm thinkin' I'm gonna be workin late. I also only brought food with me for the normal work day, so will probably wind up low on calories anyway, plus having eaten the wrong composition...drat!

We'll have to see how things shake out...

I normally spend an hour or two a day outside with my dogs and kids and hubby and stuff, and/or hauling laundry baskets around or cleaning the house. I think I do OK with NEPA for the most part for a person with primarily a desk job. I don't sit really at all in the evenings, and can't remember the last time I watched even a 30 minute TV show!
 
OK, so Wednesday the day did settle down and I was able to go home and do my normal stuff and my weight workout. All was well.

Thursday was a very intense day at work and I was glad when the day was over. I blew off some steam with a great workout! I did my normal weight training routine and some cardio for the first time in 2 weeks. The weights took about 50 minutes. I'm getting the hang of the new routine and even lunges are improving. I can do them, but am still doing them weightless. when I work out today, I might put a little weight on but I'm still cautious. I am not very flexible in my upper thigh, so am working that area slowly and stretching daily in order to increase flexibility. Then, I did 20 minutes on the stationary bike--1 minute max effort, 1 minute moderate effort, and 1 minute low effort. I was sweating bullets--it was great! then, I finished off the night with 10 minutes on the treadmill--1 minute walk, 1 minute run, 2 minute walk, 1 minute run, 2 minute walk, 1 minute run, 2 minute walk. I was ready to puke--a good day at the gym!

Friday was an off day with lots of NEPA--I painted an apartment for about 4 hours, after my regular work day, into the night and wee hours of Saturday morning. Got very little sleep and was tired yesterday--hauled my butt to the gym for a 30 minute cardio session--HIIT/intervals. 5 minute walking warmup, run for 1 minute, walk for 2 minutes, alternating until complete. My heart rate was 171-185 at the end of the running intervals, and calmed down to 135-145 on the walks. I think those numbers are a bit higher than ideal, but I gotta do the work to get the progress, right? The first time I tried such a session, my HR topped 200 on the runs! :eek:

Today, since it's Sunday, I'm gonna do something similar to what I did the other night with a combined weight training/cardio workout. I'll have more time today for a double decker than probably later this week. Not sure how this week will play out with my work schedule and "extra" work schedule in the evenings.

Every day, I am gaining more confidence in my appearance. It is easier to see the problem areas on my body because I'm actually developing problem areas rather than the problem areas being "everywhere". My arms are starting to show peeks of the muscles lying beneath the fat...enough that I have to go back and reread the "Women and Bulky Muscles" thread to talk me down off the ledge!

I took my measurements this weekend--my waist is down 8.5 inches from when I started! My hips are still huge :( but progress is definitely being made. There is a chance that THIS WEEK I will dip below that 200 mark........HERE I COME!!!
 
Thanks, BSL!

Yesterday I did the full weight routine topped off with 10 minutes on the treadmill. I did really well with the lunges, even getting down all the way to the floor without pain most of the time--the stretching is really helping a lot! Tomorrow is a weight day and I will do 3 sets of them with light weights, one un-weighted. I added an arm movement, to keep my arms off of the top of my thighs (cheater!)--I just extend the arms forward and raise them on the way down. That really helps to keep my balance. I stretched the top thigh muscles out three times yesterday, and am happy with my progress.

After the weights, on the treadmill, I did 1 minute walking warmup, 1 minute run at 7.0 (high for me), 2 minute walk, 1 minute run at 7.5 (holy sheep!), 2 minute walk, 1 minute run at 6.5, then cooldown. I wanted to really pound away, and increase the "intensity" of the running intervals. I succeeded, without going too mental on the HR--170's on top, 140-150 on the bottom. My legs and booty feel the workout today.

I'm going in for a full cardio day today--not really sure what I'll do. My cardio workouts lately have been short, and combined with weights. It has been a long time since I did more than 30 minutes, and feel like I wanna shoot for 45 or more today. I really want to see that scale below 200! If I add 5 to the tread, I'll be able to add 2 more running segments to the HIIT run/walk, and maybe I'll start out with 15 or 20 each on elliptical and bike. We'll see--I'll post what happens. Tomorrow is weights.

Diet has been good except for Saturday I cheated somewhat--I won't say how, tee hee.
 
Good cardio session tonight. 15 minute "warm up" on the elliptical, HR's 135-150, 20 mins on stationary bike of 3 minute sets of alternating high, moderate, and low effort segments. Finally, did 15 minutes on the treadmill, but could only still squeak out 3 running intervals--I was totally spent.

Tomorrow is a hubby-inflicted off day, but I guess I'm about due for one anyway. I will probably do un-weighted lunges and thigh stretches at home because I didn't do them tonight. I will eat for an "off" day.
 
Enjoyed my off day yesterday, but the calorie intake for off days is very low so had a few episodes of lightheadedness and wooziness. I did my best to space out the nutrition. Both yesterday and today so far I am feeling really hungry, but have managed not to cheat, except for eating a few too many brussels sprouts yesterday! Didn't do lunges, did some stretching...getting REALLY CLOSE to 200!

Today is weight day, and I'll top it off with 10 minutes of intervals on the treadmill. I will be adding weights to my lunges, as quads continue to do well.
 
Weights went OK yesterday--I didn't feel like I had the powa, tho...not sure why. By the end of the second set, I was starting to have some serious lightheadedness and kept feeling like I was gonna pass out, in between each superset. I kept going, it progressively got worse, but I made it through the workout with the exception of cutting deadlifts and lunges in half. By the time I had gotten that far, I was becoming worried that I wouldn't make it thru all the reps.

Most of the carbs I ate yesterday, I ate after I worked out, and I think that is probably why that happened. I had had a fairly low-ish carb day prior, and I'm hoping that's all it was. I'm not really worried about it--I checked my blood sugar and my Bp when I got home and all was well--I was surprised that the sugar was normal for how I felt.

So, today is cardio--I'm hoping to work off some fat tonight! I feel pretty good today.
 
Hey! What about the Zyrtec experiment? The people demand to know! :p

Don't even give the strength thing another thought. Some days are better than others. Glad you feel better today. :)

Also, I thought your pup, there, was a seal.
 
Zyrtec experiment--surely you confuse me with someone else! What do you mean?

That's my little puppy, Max, when he was about 3-4 weeks old. He's 12 weeks old now, and I'll get a brighter picture of him to post so he doesn't look like marine life! He's much cuter than me, so he can decorate the fine e-pages of fitness.com for me!
 
Greenhorn Gal said:
Zyrtec experiment--surely you confuse me with someone else! What do you mean?
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You said you were going to start taking it again ... ohhhhh, wait. You are right. My bad.

Greenhorn Gal said:
That's my little puppy, Max, when he was about 3-4 weeks old. He's 12 weeks old now, and I'll get a brighter picture of him to post so he doesn't look like marine life! He's much cuter than me, so he can decorate the fine e-pages of fitness.com for me!
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I'd like to decorate your pages. :luxlove:

He is pretty cute, though. Whatever happened to the puppies thread.
 
Surely this can't mean what I think...that you're journaling with someone else, too? Egads, I feel so betrayed!:bncry:

Why don't you decorate little Miss Zyrtec's pages, Mister!!!

;)
 
Greenhorn Gal said:
Surely this can't mean what I think...that you're journaling with someone else, too? Egads, I feel so betrayed!:bncry:

Why don't you decorate little Miss Zyrtec's pages, Mister!!!

;)
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MAYBE I WILL. Hehe. Hope your day treats you well. ^_^
 
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