I'm still Sure!

No, not my whole wheat pasta! How could you?? :)

That was a fantastic post. Thanks for the read. For the most part, we do have a good diet(with the exception of our love for pasta), but there are bits and pieces that need to be tweaked. We do also tend to go a bit overboard grilling hamburgers in the summer, too, which also goes hand in hand with me having a few beers while sitting on the back patio. Kara uses olive oil(extra virgin) in just about 99% of everything she cooks, which I love. Coconut oils aren't really an option for me as I am allergic to coconut. I would also be lying if I said that I didn't partake in ice cream with my girls, per their request of course, a couple nights a week. It's hard to say no to them. Overall, our diet isn't bad, but as you know, little things do add up. She's much better than I am, because of the diabetes, but if she says she can't eat a certain thing anymore, I won't hesitate to give it up myself to help.
 
Whole wheat pasta and pork cracklins, now there is some decadence!

In a way, I consider myself lucky in that I grew up with a mom who never believed that high carb/low fat was a healthy diet. My step-father (my dad for all intents and purposes) was diagnosed with type II diabetes about 25 years ago. It is rampant in his family and every bit of carb he ever ate seemed to deposit on his middle. He was constantly drinking big sugared soft drink and juice. My parents used the diagnosis as a wake-up call initially, and got really serious about trying to manage his disease with diet and exercise. He went very low-carb for many years. Mom didn't stick to the diet as well (I couldn't either if I tried!) and over time got very lax. Unfortunately as she put on weight, his blood sugar became less well managed because she sets the tone/lead for what is eaten in their home. Still he lasted 20 years without going on meds and another 5 before he ended up on daily insulin. My mom, who has been obese for many, many years, is insulin resistant, she just doesn't happen to have bad blood glucose readings. As she and I often talk, the blood sugar is the last thing to go!

When my carbs are higher, I put on weight easily and my blood sugar fluctuates like crazy. My triglycerides increase and that mucks up the ratio of triglycerides/HDL which is an excellent marker of inflammation in the body and has been shown to be a risk indicator for cardiovascular disease. But mainly, I feel so much better since getting rid of the processed foods. I eat very little grain and when I do I feel achy which makes me feel old and creaky and grumpy - don't want to go there so the easy solution is to keep the highly processed carbs (grains and sugars) to a minimum. When Tom (he is 54) eats more grain based products or more carbs, his foot neuropathy gets really bad and his back aches.
 
136.4 Was so late leaving home today I really didn't have time for a workout, but driving to town I could tell I really needed a workout, so in the interest of being a better boss, I worked out.

Deadlifts mixed with pushups and/or pullups: 8x55, 8x75, 8x95x3 (still being careful of form rather than increasing weight although this is likely the heaviest weight I've used)
- pullups 4,3,3
- pushups 10,10,10

One of my goals for the year is to bench 100 lbs, so decided I better get working on that...
Bench: 5x55, 5x75x2, 3x80
BOSU Lunges for 1 long song
Tick-tock lunges for a not quite as long song (these are just brutal, clearly I need to do more)
Goblet squats with 30lb kettle bell: 30
 
136.6 Got to admit it was one of those days when I wandered into the gym without a plan - I can see Ryan shaking his head, but... some days are like that. I was a little short on sleep last night (Charlie fat cat rolled out of his bed and fell 10 feet out of the loft, smacked a guitar and some part of his body on the way down... we don't know why but were up checking on him a few times to be sure he was OK - seems to be) so wasn't up for pushing to hard when I first arrived.

Treadmill, 6% incline walking at 4.6 mph for 30 minutes
Calf press/step ups:
8x240, 10x240, 12x240 calves
12x60, 8x70, 10x70 step ups

Hip flexors/ham string cables (increased weight on both)
12x22.5, 10x25x2
12x20, 10x22.5x2

On a happy note, we are hiring 3 people, on a not happy note, another employee seems to be flipping out. Sheesh, this stuff is never-ending!
 
Shaking my head? I improvise all the time! (I have a system through which I improvise, but you'd be amazed at how much of what I do in the gym is equivalent to mental coin-flip on the spur of the moment...even if it all looks neatly organised.)
 
136.2 TRX day with Stephanie. It is different, but I am liking working out with someone now and then. That cheering, encouragement, "how do you do this?" thing. I guess Tom and I do it when we are together, but it's different. Anyway, the TRX was good and challenging, something we do really makes my deltoids sore, not sure what, but I figure that must be good!

Worked with Stephanie some on pull-ups so got in a good number of them in addition to doing a bunch of negatives with her, a few T2B and some other playing around stuff.

Lunges on my own - picked Layla out of the play list to guarantee a long set on the BOSU, added 10lb plates part way through. Luck of the draw gave me a 6 minute song next, did tick tock and back step lunges, then with the last song, some step back and about a gazillion squats with and without weight.
 
Yeah, but you like that screaming stuff, Tony. Actually, I only have Layla in my lunge mix because of the length - many of the songs in there are not particularly perky (my preference for exercise), but steady and looooonnnnngggg. When I'm lifting I can do mellower stuff, but I don't really like to. Frantic suits me well for most everything.

136.8 Honestly, my plan for this morning was just to be a "cardio babe" as Tom calls it, but once I got started on the elliptical, the need to push myself took over, so I went with intervals the length of a song. The other "rule" I set for myself once I got started was that I had to maintain a step rate close to 180. There is a new race for our town in March with 5k, 10k, half and full marathon options. Like virtually everything around here it would be on trail, so not particularly fast, but we'll probably sign up for it. I'm thinking 10k.

1 song on (either resistance or hill), one song back at steady state with HR in the 140's. Hit the 160's on 2 intervals and then 172 on the last one. The 'fast feet' portion went well too as I maintained and overall average of 179.6.

Sure glad I don't care about calories - elliptical gave me 430 for 30 minutes, my HRM gave me 300. If I cared or thought that calories mattered, 130 is potentially something pretty yummy!
 
I prefer the lingo "cardio bunny." What is "perky" music? All I can think of is the last 30 sec of this:

[video=youtube_share;Dq4Kx51S-WM]http://youtu.be/Dq4Kx51S-WM?t=7m36s[/video]
 
Oh ouch! And yet, kind of... yes...

Keep in mind my musical tastes were formed in the 80's - I graduated high school in 1981 and was in college/grad school 81-87. When I'm poking about on iTunes for new music and checking to see what the weekly freebie sounds like, I am irresistably drawn to descriptions like "80's vibe". I own more REM, Depeche Mode, and The Cure/Clash/Fixx/Go Go's/Bangles than any grown woman should.

I don't want music to scream or yell at me, and too much guitar makes me grind my teeth (but I love a driving drum line - figure that comes from my bedroom being above my brothers when I was a kid - he played the drums so I either had to get used to it/like it, or go bonkers!).
 
Can't say I'm feeling refreshed or well rested after the weekend since I worked all day Saturday - 2 weeks until the conference - I can make it...I think I can, I think I can... Anyway, got home Saturday night and saw Tom's climbing pack on the bench outside the door... he was in bed. Sunday morning as we're puttering he says can we go climbing today? Part of me wanted to say no, but I learned a long time ago that given a choice between doing something and doing work (be that at the office or doing 'chores/housekeeping') do something! Besides, we haven't spent a day playing in ages!

I'm really glad I went. The day was warm, although the breeze at the top of the cliff was chilly, and we agreed before leaving home that we would just top-rope and not try to push too hard as neither of us has been climbing since November. We did 3 progressively harder routes and I was climbing well - even managed a section of off-width with only minimal cursing! We didn't try to stay all day and got home in time to take care of a few pressing chores. I won't be home enough this week to care that the house is a wreck!

138.6 - hmm, who knew I was 'bulking'? Whatever! Stairmaster level 10 for 35 minutes this morning, 194 floors climbed. Happy, sweaty, sanity-maintenance cardio.
 
137.6 So good to be sitting at my desk in a state of semi-exhaustion from a great workout (as opposed to just exhausted!).

TRX day for me, my partner had a medical appointment so I was on my own which allowed me to go at it more intensively than I would do with Stephanie. Guess that is part of the downside of training with someone - all that talking. Got in more sets, higher reps, and continuous motion as well as some new exercises.

Followed up with 15 minutes of lunges - BOSU, step back holding a 25lb plate, and tick tock until it felt like my quad was ripping - same feeling a day of telemark gives me - must be doing it right!
 
137.6 Had been thinking it might be a cardio day, but got to the gym and felt like lifting so I did. Given my current level of work related stress, my brain is slightly OCD of late and has phrases like "lift heavy/strong is the new skinny (what does that really mean)/I pick things up, I put things down (stupid ad from a gym I would not join)" running though it for the last couple of days. I don't even have TV and yet I still manage to get a silly amount of cultural stupidity trapped in my head. However, if it was motivational today, so much the better!

Supersets of OHP/squats - did try one round of low-back - hmm, that takes some getting used to! Did "normal" (high bar?) squats and didn't really seem to need the pad which was better for OHP.
OHP 5x45, 5x55, 5x60, 3x65, 4x60
Squats 8x55, 8x65, 8x75, 6x95, 6x95

Deadlift with pushups in between sets. Finally feeling confident enough with the lift that I am adding a bit more weight.
DL 8x45, 8x65, 8x85, 8x95, 8x95 (Lesson learned - do not load the bar unevenly! Accidently put a 35lb plate on one side, 25lb on the other - yikes! 1x105 was incredibly awkward although not necessarily because of the weight...)
Pushups 8,8,10

Calf press 240lbs 8, 10, 12
Step-ups with 70lbs 8, 10, 10
 
Low bar feels unnatural at first, keep expecting it to slide, but it doesn't.
Ah the joy of an uneven bar, it's usually squats for me when it happens. Stand up go, hmm strange, then realise.
 
I thought I had just grabbed the bar off center, checked in the mirror and saw that no, I was centered, then looked left and realized the plate was larger than it should be. Luckily I'm left handed and that is my strong side.

Knowing me, I'll conveniently forget about low bar squats now that I've decided I can do the others without a pad.
 
JustinRVA said:
I've never thought of super setting deads. You've got more energy than I do!
Click to expand...

More likely the difference is that I am not even lifting my body weight, let alone doubling or tripling bodyweight as I am certain you are doing. And I just hate the standing around in between sets - need to be doing something, so I just pick another part of my body to work instead. In the gym my mindset tends to be "if I'm not moving, what's the point?"

139.0 Always interesting to see what a week of stress eating pre-conference will do when combined with Chinese food. Figuring since I've had 3 days of good weight training/body-weight work, I'm just giving the body something to build with...

TRX today, training partner was supposed to be back, but she showed up 25 minutes after I had started saying she was still feeling the effects of the anesthesia and was too wobbly. I get that! Had a good session on my own, followed by pull-up sets - mixed kippers and toe touches, didn't have any deadhangs left in my arms/lats.
Knees to chest and toes to bar
BOSU lunges
Landmine twisters - my normal gym (there are 2 in town I can go to) doesn't have the landmine holder gizmo, just has a metal plate in one corner we can use. Interesting, the bar was definitely heavier than at the gym with the gizmo, guessing that one is less than 45 lbs.
 
"if I'm not moving, what's the point?"

That's a pretty good mindset.
 
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