Still chugging along!

So, I know my posts are coming less and less. But that does not mean that my fitness journey has seen its better day! I decided it was high time to tell you guys what I have been working on in the last couple months!

First of all, an update on me! Unfortunately, 6 days after I posted my last blog, I lost my day job to the economy. While it has been tough to keep my spirits high, I have succeeded on all fronts in doing so and am simmering on a low boil until something comes up to fill my days again. I did get a job with Tom Douglass Catering, and for those of you who know restaurants, or well known chefs, this is actually pretty cool! Fun Fact: He beat the chef on "American Iron Chef". Lucky for him though, the secret ingredient was king salmon. Lol. Anyway, With the time on my hands though, I'm definitely getting in my workouts! And in July, I gave my trainer enough for a very nice buffer, knowing I would be making less money. Little did I know the reality of that statement at the time, but, training is my sanity. I'm not that upset about it!

As far as my fitness goes: i've been getting 5 strength workouts in a week. One chest day, shoulder day, back, legs, and some rehabilitative work (ok, you're right, so not so 'strength' after all on that last day, but still!) and for fun,I'll throw in arms on any of the mentioned days to make sure they are the primary rather then the secondary targeted muscle. My cardio is not as amazing as it used to be. I do decide from time to time, "I feel like doing 8 miles today!" and I'll break it up into 4mile segments. Or, I'll go do some erg sprints. But, I will say, I really have been working on my strength. Working to get stronger. My knee was causing some issues for awhile, and while that doesnt affect my upper body, It did affect my workouts for a bit. For about a month and a half, I didnt work out much (maybe once, twice a week), but my diet was clean (errrr... enough) and I was still training my clients. My strength declined, I went from an incline chest press of 45 for 8 (spotted) to 37.5/40-ish. While my legs still need work, my last chest work out I warmed up with 40 for 12, and then did 45 for 10 and 8! Ready to hit 50! Woot!

 I'm also quietly, and slowly, working on a side project that I hope to be fabricating sometime in the near future! More details on that soon!

 ALSO! My trainer finally got her site up! If you want to check it out, visit:
 www.amandajarstad.com
 and give her some love! She is definitely one of the leading reasons I am where I am today! She has been one of the most inspirational, motivational people I've known!

 I know, quick short update! But, I just realized, you have yet to see who came out to play!!

My top two! YAY! haha

 Signing off, for now! Will be back hopefully sooner rather than later!

 Cheers!

Something worth showing :D

So, I felt that the weekly posts were becoming a bit redundant, as my rate of change is continuing to slow. But, I woke up this morning and decided that today, I had something worth showing. We can call this the 1 year, 1 month mark. And Id say, that yes, I am actually pleased with this!

Another reason for not posting much is that I have taken a job at 24Hr Fitness, where I started my own journey and have been slowly building up a client base. It is a nice feeling knowing that I am finally doing something that is honorable, and noteworthy, and to the benefit of someone else. WHICH, in turn, benefits me. The way my heart wrenches over the need to help people. And now that I am? My heart constantly has a smile! My workouts have been a lil slow lately. To be honest. I have been working 70hrs, and getting my place all packed up and ready to move. Takes a toll after awhile! But,I have been doing at least something outside of work and moving daily.

Anyway, here is my update!

11 Months (Do over!) and WEEK 49! - April 26

WOW! I have no idea where the time has gone! OR went! But, all of a sudden, I've missed my first week of blogging since I started blogging, and I forgot photos for this past weekend. Funny thing is I took photos last week, but not this, and I'm blogging this week, but not last. Yes, life has been slightly crazy. My brother has been in town, I've been working out more, I've been working more, I've been doing more, it was Easter. All these are a bunch of excuses as to why I forgot to write my blog last week. And I'm sorry for that.

This has been a blog in process. I start, then go away for a day, then pick back up. Alright, So. Short and sweet, so I can get something posted.

I went almost two weeks without doing much of anything. Was so busy, and tired. And then, I decided, I had no more excuses. I have to get back on the train. My trainer is getting ready for nationals in Vegas in July, and I've decided to give her the support team she had for Emerald Cup. So, I'm dieting and working out, just as much as she. We actually did stairs tonight! And it was awesome! So, we are going to start doing that frequently, I believe! I'm excited! Ew! You guys should see this photo! I love it :D



I still find myself openning up this photo and just thinking "wow, I have definition!" It's crazy! Hard work does indeed pay off! Anyway. Will post again, on Monday. With photos! For sure! :D

Off the Hook

This is going to be short. I just realized. I'm letting myself off the hook. I'm not sticking to my diet 100%, even tho I do follow it pretty well. And on top of it, I'm stretched for time, constantly, and if I have time, I relax into it so much cause sometimes I feel my life is just way to chaotic that the second I get a chance to breath, instead of run out and do something else with that time I just hang out. Relax, actually allow myself to unload for a moment. But, I realized. The reason I dont stay strict to my diet is part of me wonders "whats the point??" No matter what I do right now, my stomach will not change much. It has lost all it can lose and while it still may lose some, I was overweight for ohhh..... 7years? Maxing out at 195lbs and, well, I would say that I averaged around..... 185 for the entire 7 years. I got to 175 like 4 summers ago, and then went back up to 185. 190 ish. And i guess its slightly discouraging. I wonder how much of me is lose skin. the fact that I can lift my arm up now and there are stretch marks in my armpit, or the fact that I feel like when I sit down, there is oh... a good pinch (no not mm pinch/skinfold pinch but thumb to middle finger pinch) of what seems to be lose skin. It's all around my body. My legs never carried a lot of fat, so they I think will be just fine.

So, back to why I let myself off the hook. I guess you can say its discouraging. To know, I could be at the gym, doing various cardio routines, switching from distance to HIIT and just constantly requiring my body to perform differently, keeping it on its toes, but my stomach wont change. So, why even diet...right? WRONG. Given, and this is hilarious to me, my craving, my "cheat" is no longer a bacon burger, its no longer ben and jerrys, or cold stone or a milk shake, or a slice of pizza from the amazing hot mamas.... you want to know what I crave now? Trail Mix. that's right, I said it. Trail mix. Not cake, not doughnuts, nothing like that. They must throw some coke, or some addictive additive into their mix because I want it, all the time. I am healthier, but that doesnt mean that I slack on my goals, and what I want for myself.

My goals dont change. Wont change. It doesnt matter, my stomach will get taken care of eventually. And when it does, I wont have these thoughts. But, for now, accept the frustration. Live it. BUT, keep myself accountable!!!

WEEK 47 - April 12

It seems as tho my official post day has become Tuesday. Mondays i'm running around with my head cut off. Tuesday is a much more relaxed (considering) day! Last week went better than the previous week for me. I ahve been so busy lately with training, and working, there were 2 deadlines last week at the office and I worked through the weekend! But, I did manage to the get to the gym to do some cardio on....... either wednesday or thurdsay. And I rocked it. I hadnt done cardio in a week and a half, and I get back and I did the stair mill and treadmill. I did level 8 for 5, and then level 14 for 15 on the stairmill, and then I had the genius idea of doing intervals for 10 mins, from ummmm 10.0 to 11.0 I think. My legs forgot how to work. Well, that is, until I got to session on Sunday!

Friday first though! Man oh man, I got there and she basically had me jumping around, running up stairs, squating, very active fast paced goodness. We did close to the same thing on Sunday. Just active session. We did a little bit of interval training too and I got up to 12.8.... for 10 seconds, I think any more than that and I would have pulled a Molly Shannon into the hurdles behind me. lol.

My goal/mission for this week is to get to the gym, no matter how tired I am, and get in my workouts. I have missed them. And, even though its important to focus on my jobs, there will never be a day when focusing on myself becomes unimportant. My own fitness goals are just as important! Til next week. And I will post photos next week. Well, I guess I will have too, since, after all it is my 1 YEAR MARK!!!!!! WOOOOOOTTT!!!! :D




This is an after thought. It will be week 48.... aka 11 months. I need to figure out where I went wrong!

WEEK 46 - April 4

So, this week, Has been pretty good! Still super busy! My own training has gone well! I tested my leg press PR on.... Friday night maybe? and I put up 7 plates each side, aka 630lbs! I was slightly shocked to see that! I went up to Edmonds to train a friend of mine. And i threw him into the leg press, and was like "woah, i can do that whole stack" lol Thats pretty cool! I think. Ummm... Havent PRed anything else recently. My trainer posted a photo post-back-wrkt mid week and I texted her saying "ugh, i want your back. I keep going back to that photo" and so Friday, she gave it to me! Im finally starting to feel a bit back to normal! Yes, I think so! Just did the muscle poke test to verify. Haha.

My training, as a trainer, is going well too! Keep diving in and trying to learn all i can about program planning. I need to get back into the nutrition and anatomy side of things. Definitely need a refresher course! Seems like I have clients lining up, but need to get them into the gym! Which is excited. thanks to my amazing bro, I at least have something for a website now. So, its not just a "Coming Soon..." site. Now I feel i can get out there and start marketing myself... in all my spare time ;) I do know that, once the ball starts rolling, i better be able to keep up! May go around to different gyms in the area and work out, see if I can meet people that way. Make lil mail box things for the local residents where the gym is. SO MUCH! haha.

I think 2 weeks ago I said I was starting a strict diet again. And I let the trail mix take over that. Don't ask me, my cheat of choice is trail mix. And its goood... lol. But, I did start a diet on.... hm. I'm not sure, well I started SERIOUS again on Friday. And have kept it going, just fine. No trail mix, no nothing. I went for a drink on sunday, and yesterday, and this coming saturday. Meeting up with old friends. But, sunday i did have some tortilla chips o_O Damn those chips. Could have been worse though. I could have thrown some cheese, and beans, and turned my plan tortilla chips into nachos. So, gotta stay positive! Right!? haha

I am going to give a shout out to my trainer, Amanda J! Who is just 2 weeks away from Emerald Cup 2011 at Snoqualmie Casino and is looking AH-Mazing! I wont be shocked when she takes 1st! She'll def be standing on the podium, or whatever you stand on for top 3 at these functions! lol If any Seattle locals are interested, go ahead and check it out! April 15th and 16th (she's bikini and is on Saturday). The work that goes into getting ready for such a show..... not easy stuff!

Alright, onto photos. (like i said, these aren't changing, that much. I'm going to figure something else out....)
Sorry for the blur!!

WEEK 45 - March 28

Week 45 has been nuts. And yes, this post is late. I was just so exhausted yesterday, I went home and went to bed. Life is crazy! Busy! But good! As always! Started to actually train people. Had an orientation of sorts on Saturday and Sunday, and a session with a client, an orientation and a monthly Monday morning. Feeling better about all of it and building a little bit of confidence! I found that last week, I did do a lot of working out. But it was more so for the clients, and what workouts I was going to do for them. And that is good, because even though I didnt use as much weight as I could for the workouts, I was still going through them... almost nightly.

I did try to test my PR on the leg press while finishing up a late night workout at Fuerte. I had 5 plates each side, and was still able to do 12-15 reps. And I was out of plates at that point. So, I need to go to 24 and see what these legs are made of! Strangely, the more i go over these workouts for future sessions, the more i feel i need to have a workout for ME. And that may seem selfish. Fine. But, to just drop the note pad, put the headphones in, blast the music, and get lost in the world I wind up in when my heart rate gets going. I crave it when I go without it.

I do love training though. Yes, I've only really been doing it for like 2 weeks, and not as often as I will be. but its good, and feels good, and Yeah, basically read last post and thats how I feel. It's comfortable. I think the issues that are arising now, is yeah, I can do these monthlys where the member will be like "we did an upper session last time, lets do lower this month" And my goal is to give them a wide range of exercises that they can form their workouts around. But a client you see 2x a week. You have to be creative, and you have to keep it fresh. Ahhhhh.... oooohhhhh haha. And I will get that. I have been going over bodybuilding.com's exercises library any second I can. I have it on my phone so I can always whip out the app and write more down when I have a moment to spare. I finally have learned the value of having a writing notebook with you at all times. I'm always writing in it. Ah, I cant wait til the day when I can just run someone through an upper wrkt and not reference anything. I should make a program..... the "Workout Randomizer" I'd make millions.

Fun news! I also made Jamie Eason's "INSPIRATION" album! 42,000 followers and I was the 6th photo she uploaded. Nice. Figured if I can use my story and my progress to motivate and inspire others, then that is a good day! Anyway, I know, I'm not changing much, probably, but here is Week 45!

11 Months! - March 21

Its Month 11! And its blog day! WOW! Life has been crazy the last week! Hard for me to grasp what time it is and where I'm at! But, with that, it works, and im happy!
I started to shadow, and get comfortable in a gym setting this past week. See this is bad, I cant even remember if its been a week or two weeks. I feel like it's been 2 weeks since I started working out of Fuerte Fitness..... but, wow. Anyway! With that aside, I've so far done two "orientation" sessions. I put someone through a core workout and had a "meeting" with a member where they basically have the opportunity to go over what they have been doing, talk about what may be working, what may not be working, etc. And I can throw in my corrections or update their plan, give them new exercises, etc. And... honestly? It's comfortable even though I'm not as knowledgable (clearly) as I am going to be in a year, or two, three...etc, you get the picture.

The other really cool thing is this: before I start the session, im wondering if people are going to be watching me... or "oh god, that person has been training for years, they probably look at me like im an idiot and new!" And then, I start talking to the member/client, and all that disappears and I don't even concentrate on it. I thought I would be afraid to touch people to help correct form, and im not. It's really refreshing and exciting to know that while, like I said, im not as knowledgable as I am going to be, I'm not really uncomfortable or afraid of it either.

I have decided (today actually) that they best thing for me to do is go through each body group, get basic, intermediate, advanced exercises for each (since my "off the top of my head" exercise bank is not yet extensive) and use them as cheat sheets. And also, go through common "ailments" (i.e. lower back pain, knee problems, elbow pain, shoulder ETCCCC....) and write down the more common reasons these occur and what is common to fix it, exercises, etc. And that would be a good couple sheets for me to have in my pocket at first. I'll tell ya though. I'm excited. For what reason, I have no idea, it feels natural. It feels good. And I wasnt quite expecting that. Like I said, its refreshing.


With that said!!! On with my week! I started in on a STRICT diet again. I get to session on..... Thursday, and I tell my trainer "I dont really want to remind you..." we took measurements, and as I had thought, I didnt really go much of anywhere since the last time. I lost half a pound, and had a mm or two fluctuation, but my pinch i think was about the same. My eating, had gotten to the point where I was relying on Zone Perfect's....... pure proteins, and not eating REAL food. Well, NOW.... I am! My diet is as follows (yes, I have a photo of what my trainer wrote out for me....scary thing: It's only monday, and I'm pretty tired! HELLO 5am!!!):

ADD 24 almonds to last meal.

And I have followed that, except for the steak, I eat chicken. I think I needed that little kick in the butt with the measurements, and i KNEW i hadnt made that much progress since last measurements, but it made me realize i gotta get back to it. Still got more to go!

My goal with cardio is too go for distance now. I hit 5 miles one day. Wait, I wrote about that last blog. And now, I need to still do the distance, but I've been running about 2-2.5miles and then hitting the stairs and doing lvl 14 for 15ish, taking it down to lvl 7 for a 30 sec break and then gunning it at lvl 16 for 5. At lvl 16 I can basically jog on the machine. I can walk too, but its at that speed where you can do either. It's tough. And as the last 5mins of a 40min cardio session. You better believe my mind is DEAD when i get done!!!

I also started doing PRs. My bi curl is 35lb x1, my tri pull down is 45 on the cybex, I'll go in tonight and see what my bent over ext is. My chest press on the cybex is 55. And as far as the other PR's there are, I'm going to redo them. I got 80 for the row and I know I can do 100 on another machine. To the Meat Market I go!!

Almost time for PHOTO TIME! I feel like with this month's photo, you can see more definition in my arms. But, if you see my hand, im trying pretty hard to flex it "incognito" lol. Even still, my arms have shown some change. I think that my ribs are more present.... maybe, but this spot in my dad's house shows my shadows really well, as I have mentioned before! I have an appt with Sono-HELLO! (tired lingo for sonobello) on March 30th to assess the current situation and see what sort of hit to the pocket i could be looking at. While part of me feels really guilty, and maybe, fake, for considering this option.... ive lost 65lbs (from my heaviest) by hard work, diet, dedication, determination.... and I will be, excuse me, damned if I let this skin stay there and laugh at me and remind me of a time that i could hardly walk on the treadmill for more than 5mins. No thanks! So, that will be an update for 2 weeks!

Alright! Enough of this jibberish!!! Here is the photo comparison and the month line! Next month!!! I get to put up my first YEAR comparison!!! WOOT!!!


And the month comparison line.... (sorry about 11 being smaller than the others!!!)


Cheers!

WEEK 43 - March 16th

Mid week post this time. I've been thinking about what I was going to do that isnt just pictures and talking about my wrkts. So, I decided to start pushing my PR's. Since I'm going without a spotter, i may do my best weight at 8 reps. And for those exercises where I can maybe do one rep, more than likely my bi curl. So, I may record a 1RM for that. Last week, rocked the cardio still. Been getting drenched, hitting level 16 on the stair master. It's been slowly killing me. But I keep going back for more! Love it! I am going to get my first recording tonight for what I can handle at 8 reps. May do upper body tonight and lower tomorrow. Or whatever works! But, by the end of the week, I'll have all my starting points! Will update blog then! And, yes, I do have photos. I may still post photo, because I'm used to it, but dont expect it to change THAT much!! So, I will post some photos on Sunday :) This is a text only post! WHAT! Alright, See you guys soon!

WEEK 42 - March 7th

Yes, I am a day late again. I've had some crazy thoughts going on this weekend and all yesterday. Saturday, I was informed that I have gotten my fat to the point where its going to be extremely hard to lose it. And that if I am to see my horizontals, I'll need to undergo surgery. This text conversation with my trainer led to a session of face to face conversation about every other thing I hold deep in my head and save for my trainer. It was good, needed, I've told you guys! She's amazing and serves far more purpose for me than just making me sweat. She is an incredible friend, motivator, inspiration, she's like family to me. Anyway, I'm fairly upset and not sure taking photos every week is going to show much anymore. Thinking about cutting back to once a month...or maybe starting up some PR's and pushing my weight. I need to move my "progress" to another arena. Maybe its to take photos every 2 weeks of flexes and show that my muscles are morphing and changing. I'm sure there is still some fat that can be shed off. But its going to be probably 3 full days of running to see a mm taken off :P haha. Well, here is week 42!

So, I will figure out what my posts will be from here on out!

WEEK 41 - Feb. 28

So, I know this is coming on March 1st, Tuesday. Funny thing is, I uploaded my pics yesterday, and got them cropped together, and then completely forgot to write my blog entry! Sunday night, I went for a little run on the Treadmill. I ran 4 miles. Thats a new level of endurance for me I think. I feel as though I kind of always had it... I just never let myself get to the point where I really test it. And why, I'm not sure. Maybe it's time to change that. Friday, my trainer gave me the assignment to just start running. And then we will jump back to interval training again in a few weeks. I saw her 2x, and was sore on my bottom half for a good.... 3 days or so. STILL feel a lil achy! My upper doesnt really like to get sore, but thats ok. One day it will. Yeah, I'm still thinking about the 4 miles. It felt awesome. In fact, I took a photo to document the feat lol. Me foam rolling just after:


So, anyway, on with the progress photos. I'm pushing the workouts, and myself, so I hope to see SOME of this fat start to fall off me. It will take time though :( haha

Just after shower :)

Finally found good lighting!

To show the definition I am beginning to have! Haha. I've been looking for a place where if I took a photo, it would capture the shadows. Alas, my dad's house has a place downstairs.... oh yes. So, this is a midweek progress photo update. I havent done this yet. But I got kinda excited. :D Anyway, more to post on Sunday. PSST.... I've been getting sore! AKA, im sore currently! Sweet!



And for fun :)

10 MONTHS - Feb. 21

So, this post marks 10 months. I'll be honest, I feel as though I havent gone anywhere in 2 months really. I havent been keeping to a STRICT diet, but I havent been eating terribly either. I have been getting to the gym about... 5-6x a week. Which is pretty good. But, I'm at the point, where my diet needs to be SPOT ON. So. Last night. I went out and told myself. ONE meal, and make you feel guilty. I went to the hot dog stands on broadway. Got me a hot dog. Ate it, felt guilty. And today? started in on my diet. Its time for me to start shredding more. That is for sure. So, gotta do what ya gotta do! So, I HOPE, these progress photos will start to...progress, a lil more! Anyway, TEN MONTHS!! Woot! I'm excited! Here is the pics!


10 Month Comparison Line.


I hope, hope 11 months looks a bit better!

WEEK 39 - Feb. 14

Will get the workout log up soon, but since this post is a day late, need to get it up!
So, week 39 started out awesome. Got in some great workouts. Friday I did a circuit at home using playing cards with bi curls w/ 15lbs, push ups, ball crunches, tri dips, and scissors sit ups. Took about 30 minutes to complete. Had me pumped pretty well! The weekend I missed all workouts. I had a deadline on Monday, and man, hence the reason the post is a day late. VERY busy. Had to pull an all nighter on Sunday! Ah! I do feel a bit better about the way I'm looking. I wish I could take a photo in the right lighting that shows that you can actually start to see my rib cage. On the front, and ribs starting to show through on either side. In the end, definitely a good week. Am ready to hit it hard again after going home last night and just going to bed. I only slept 10hrs from Saturday to Monday! AH! Feeling much more rested today. So, to the new week: Bring it on!!! Here is week 39!


WORKOUT LOG 2/7/2011 - 2/13/2011
Date: 2/13/2011
Day Off

Date: 2/14/2011
Exercises
Training Session (cant recall what we did.....
Warmed up jogging
Single leg smith squats

WEEK 38 - Feb. 7th

Last week was interesting. I had to take 7 days off. And it wasnt the easiest thing I had to do. Half the time I just had to go to sleep in order to stop myself from driving me crazy! And to top it all off, my diet kinda fell off a couple times. See. Tuesday was my birthday, so I went for drinks on Tuesday, and thursday and saturday. Saturday wasnt as bad as Tuesday and Thursday, but the food consumption on Tues and thurs. Aye ya! OOPS! I've decided to hit my diet hard again, and as well as the gym! I got to start working out again on Saturday. I was doing the stairmill, and I just had this look of complete.... hmmmmm....fire. Thats the only word that comes to mind for me. I was maniacally grinning, and my eyes, were fire. I was SO happy to be back sweating that the sweat didnt bother me! Anyway. This weeks photos. are going to be yuck. I feel. But, maybe not as bad as I think they will be. But, hopefully, next weeks? Will be GOOD! I worked out for 2.5hrs last night! FELT AMAZING! haha. Anyway, here is to week 38!


WORKOUT LOG 2/5/2011-2/6/2011

Date: 2/5/2011
Exercises:
Bicycle - Lvl 9, 90rpms, 15mins
Stairmill - Lvl 8 5mins, Lvl 14 for 15mins

How I felt:
I felt awesome! My legs got pretty tired on the bike. But when I hopped onto the stairmill, I was getting tired, but I was so alert. A week off, and I was more than ready to feel like that again! Didnt spend a lot of time, but wanted to get in before evening plans started.

Date: 2/6/2011
Exercises:
Bicycle - lvl 9, 90rpms, 15mins
Treadmill - 7.0 for 10mins
Weight ball crunches - 60lbs, 2x30, 1x40 full; 3x20 1"ers
Hanging Leg Raise - 3x15
Cable Row - 70lbs 3x12
Stairmill - Lvl 8 for 5mins, Lvl 14 for 15mins
BREAK
Arc Trainer - Lvl 30, 150 SPM, 15mins
Tri Dips - on step with stability ball at feet, 3x15
Straight Leg Dead Lifts - 95lbs 3x15 (little on the light side :( )
Tri Pushdowns - 35lbs, 3x12
Cable Row - 100lbs, 3x8

How I Felt:
I just kept going and going and going. I didnt want to leave. My plan originally was to do two workouts. But then I looked at the clock about 1.25hrs in, and realized it was getting close to 6. So, I just decided to take a little break in the middle. I grabbed a myoplex, and went upstairs to the stationary bikes and kept my legs moving. Nothing crazy. But it felt goooodddd... I'm slightly sore today.... Maybe I need to push myself harder. I think I'm seeing my trainer on Friday. She has been out of town, so I'll be left to my own devices til then. And I am no longer afraid of the meat market. Whatever, I have my tunes on, I know proper form, for the most part. Just do my thang! Anyway, Yeah, this workout had me pumped for a good..... 4hrs or so afterward! Felt good! Woot!

WEEK 37 - Jan 30th

So, last week I gunned it as shown in my fitness log below. My knee was feeling awesome, I was pushing my cardio more than I have since starting. I am really proud of my performance last week. Saturday, however, started a real mental test. My trainer hasnt been able to get me sore in awhile. My muscles are becoming too adapted to working out. So, I have been instructed to take a week off. That started on Saturday. I'm already starting to look googly-eyed at my stability ball in my apartment. But I have found things to occupy my time, luckily. Otherwise I would be going slightly crazy currently. Today is day 3. So, I think that by Saturday, I'll be back at the gym again! I do understand the point of taking the week off. But, its still tough! Especially when your trainer is off playing in waterfalls and on the beaches of Tahiti! Lol. I still am not very happy with this weeks photo. Which kind of reinforces the notion that a week off will be good. I'm not sure I have progressed much of anywhere in about a month, besides better cardio. Anyway, here is advanced warning, that next week's post may be slightly boring! Haha, no workouts to report on, maybe I'll go into detail about my workout(s) on Saturday. I could possibly do that and how out of shape I will feel! Alright! Here is to week 37!!!



WORKOUT LOG (1/23/2011-1/30/2011)


Date: 1/23/2011
Exercises:
Training Session
A lot of rotator cuff exercises.
^^^ A lot harder than it sounds.... lol

Date: 1/24/2011
Exercises:
Stairmill- lvl 8 for 5mins, lvl 14 for 25mins

How I felt:
My trainer asked me to do this on Friday, and I ended up not getting back to the gym that night after session. So, monday comes, I'm feeling refreshed, and, generally speaking, when my trainer gives me an assignment, I do it. So, I get on the stairmill and plug into my earphones and hop too! The longest I had ever done lvl 14 for prior to this was about 7mins. So, I wasnt sure how I would feel about 25. Needless to say, I did it! But was basically ruled brain dead for a good 2hrs afterwards. But, I felt fine!

Date: 1/25/2011
Exercises:
Treadmill- 4.0mph @ 10.0 incline for 5mins,
7.0mph for 10mins
8.0mph for 5mins
9.0mph for 5mins

How I felt:
This was awesome actually. It seems that more often than not, in the past, my knee starts to complain at any speed over.... 8.4-ish. Well, today, 9.0 felt fabulous. It was very relieving and inspiring and motivating that maybe my knee is getting the hang of this running thing. Well, running fast, that is.. So, good sign!

Date: 1/26/2011
Exercises:
Day off.

Date: 1/27/2011
Exercises:
Treadmill- 4.0mph @ 10.0 incline for 5mins,
7.0mph for 10mins
8.0mph for 5mins
9.0mph for 5mins

How I felt:
I decided to do this one again because it just felt awesome! I was a bit tired though. Wednesday, instead of working out, I started to clean my apartment. Well, I get into this mode where I become super anal cleaner. Yeah. It kept me up until about 3am and I've had a 6:15am wake up call for 2 weeks. So, Thursday was taken as a sick day basically after my 4hr job site visit. I slept for 3hrs and then headed straight for the gym! And it still felt awesome! I did start to feel a discomfort on the back inner part of my knee, that I have not felt before, and would come and go, but other than that, I felt great. Sweet!

Date: 1/28/2011
Exercises:
Training Session -
jump squats w/ weights
shoulder break downs
lat break downs
(no, i do not know technical names)

Evening Worktout:
Stability ball weight crunch-
60lbs, 3x40 full, 3x20 1"
Decline sit ups - 2x15, 1x20
Treadmill- 7.0 for 15mins
9.2 for 2mins
Stairmill- lvl 14 for 20mins

How I felt:
The training session worked me good. I felt pretty spent afterward, but refreshed as well. The cardio workout at night. Was rather funny actually. All systems were a go. When I got done, it took me about 2mins to walk about 30ft. And about 5mins to walk to my car that was just around the corner. I sat in my car for probably 10mins, not moving because I couldnt fathom moving any body part. I must have looked dead in my car. I reached for my water bottle, only to start crying when I found out it was empty. Lol. Man, my brain really left my body for those 10 minutes. Because I couldnt function! Thats sometimes the best workout though! Saturday is my last day of workouts before taking a week off. I'm still not sure how I'm going to get through the week. But hopefully my strength of mind will keep me from going to crazy.

Date: 1/29/2011
START OF WEEK OFF
Decided to start this today rather than push in some more workouts. Decided, just suck it up and take the week off already! It's like the last goodbye. Sometimes its better to just go. You know? haha

9 MONTHS - Jan. 24

Well. I had a new fire burning this month... that is for sure. Lets start with the most recent week. I will say, last week I was thrown a curve ball. I was, and still am waking up an hour earlier than normal, and its is kind of throwing my body into a weird "get tired way before normal" spin. I did see my trainer 4x actually. So i did get in 4 wrkts. And when Saturday rolled around, I was pretty sick that day :( so, no double workout as I had planned. I have started this week off right though! I went to the gym after my morning meeting and totally killed myself on the stairmill. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm back to normal brain function or not. Haha. As far as the entire month? I was on fire, I am on fire! This week, still an hour earlier than normal, and then my trainer is going to require me to take a week off. Aye ya! I guess she knows best though. And if my 8th to 9th month comparison shot is any clue to the fact that i am plateauing (I feel I look a lil bigger in the 9th month.... I could be being critical though!) then I do need a week off. It kinda sucks! You work your butt off, and then you look at a photo of yourself 4wks later and it looks like they should be reversed (8th month should be 9th month and vice versa). Oh well. One week to kill myself, one week to revive myself and then back into the swing of things! So.... here is the weekly and the monthly comparison line!

And the monthly....


What do you think? Am I being critical? or am I actually a lil bigger this month? :( haha

WEEK 35 - Jan. 17

Wow, Wow, Wow! My work out log is slightly scattered right now, so I will include that tomorrow, maybe in a new post. Or just edit this one. but I will say: last week rocked. I'm feeling better and better. It seems that I'm getting a lot of heat on various sites for my habits and the amount im working out. but frankly, I feel fine, if I'm tired, I dont go for the 2nd workout. For instance, tonight, I'm going home and going to bed! The workouts are going well. I am finding that my endurance isn't quite what i had hoped it would be by now. So, I'm going to start to work on that.
I think in the last post, I talked about me plateauing. Well, My trainer is going away for a week or so, and so am i, from the gym. I will take the full week off, enjoy my birthday, and rest up!
You'll have to excuse me, im pretty tired right now! The workouts have been good, the sessions have been awesome. I feel great after this week! On to Week 35 pics!

WEEK 34 - Jan. 10

So, This week I am going to try to start implementing more into my posts. My workouts from the week, We shall see how it looks if I add in what I ate. Anyway! On to the actual post!! WOW! I was a different person last week. I got in 2 doubles (which, yes I planned to do 2 (at least) yesterday, and by the time 9 o'clock rolled around, I was just really tired!) I've entered a new mode mentally. I'm listening to a lot of angry/bass-kicking rap lately. And that sounds retarded, but it keeps me in this "beast mode" as I called it one night where all I want to do is just kill my body (nicely) and yeah.... Training yesterday was interesting. I went in knowing I was going to be more focused than normal. And I ended up having to do a lot of wall sits. Which I havent done in a long time. And my trainer is sitting there talking to me, and I'm looking right above her head to a mental image of me @ 195lbs and I'm just yelling at this person, "This is for you! You like this burn? Huh? You like it? because I dont feel it. I know you! You feel it, and you're about to start crying, but me? No way, I dont feel a damn thing!!" And I did, it started to BURN! haha, I pussed out a couple times. But I really tried to stay down there. But, yeah, like I said, totally different person this week. Got in 8wrkts in 5 days... I think, maybe 6. I'm in power mode. And I LOVE it. Feels awesome!!!

Alright, so I think I'll go ahead and post my photos, and then below that will go into my workout log.... yeah. Anyway! Here are some photos. OH! And I'm pushin my abs more than I have since starting. I hope to get things tightened up in there!

(Also, I decided on sunday to start actually saying what I did at session, and I may start talking about how I felt, but training is training and if it burns, if its hard, its all good, I mainly do that "How i Felt" for cardio because my knee and talking about my endurance, etc. Alright!)


WORKOUT LOG (1/3/2011-1/9/2011)


Date: 1/03/2011
Exercises:
Day off.

Date: 1/04/2011
Exercises:
Training Session

Incline walk (5mins)
Jog (6.0 for 10mins)
Jog (6.5 for 5mins)
Jog (7.0 for 5mins)

How I felt:
After not working out for about a week-ish, this felt fine. I started on an incline walk because a.)you told me so, and b.) loosen things up. And then I decided to see how I felt running. And I felt fine. So, I ran. Ummm… I think at one point my chest started to hurt, so I took the speed down for my heart to get back on track and then picked it up. A lil sign of being slightly out of condition after a lazy weekend!

Date: 1/05/2011
Exercises:
Jumping Rope (20mins)
Stable Ball Crunch 20lbs (3x30)
Bike (10 for 15mins)
Run (6.0 for 15mins)
Stable Ball Crunch (35 for 3x30, 3x20 1”)
Decline Sit Up (3x15)
Run 6.5 (8mins)

How I felt:
This felt fine as well! I was sore after Tuesday’s session, so after getting off the bike felt like I could probably collapse. Quads were really very tight! Did a small stretch before hitting the treadmill. I learned the benefit of breathing while doing the second set of stability ball crunches with 35 at the gym. Proved to help with delaying the onset of the burn. The decline situps weren’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done, either. Second set stopped at 8 for a break to continue about 30seconds later. I cut the last run short because my knee began to talk. It was just a mumble, but figured I wouldn’t let it get too loud and suffer the consequences later. Left feeling fairly tired. And head hurt a bit (prob due to congestion).

Date: 1/06/2011
Exercises:
Day off.

Date: 1/07/2011
Exercises:
Training Session

Dip bar knee raises
Weighted Ball crunches (40lbs 3x30, 3x20)
TM Interval Training
-5mins 15.0 @ 3.5ish mph
-5mins -1.0 @ max (8.5-9.0)
-Circuited for 40mins

How I felt: I used a 40lb dumbbell, so that for whatever reason, didn’t seem to hurt as much as it should have. I will now use plates, no question. Interval training was interesting. I honestly felt that part of the reason it was slightly tough was I made up excuses. My iphone in my pocket was going nuts hitting my leg and such, the song wasn’t right. My trainer posted “Drop the World” by Lil Wayne Feat. Eminem on her FB site and said it was good for cardio. It was! I ran the entire duration of the song at one of the fastest speeds I’ve ran since starting to run (8.7, which hush, 6:40 used to be my avg mile, if I was trying I could do 6mins, but, I’ll get there!!!) My conclusion based on this workout, is I need to start going into “boss mode” and listen to music to pump up! Woot!



Date: 1/08/2011
Exercises:
Bike – Lvl 8-9, 95-100rpm, 30mins
SM – 5min @ Lvl 8,
5min @ Lvl 14
Circuited for 25mins
Stable ball w/ 50lbs – 3x30 full, 3x20 1”

How I felt: The bike was goooood. I would get tired, and just tune into the beat in my headphones and tell myself to shut up and just go. Would drop to 6-ish from time to time, just to chill out for a sec and recover… maybe for like 30 seconds, and then power it back up. Was completely drenched. Haven’t seen beads that big since, I started maybe? They were dripping off the bike like a slow dripping faucet. Tried to run after, hit the TM for 5 secs and knee was already talking: “fine.” Chose to go to the stairmill since that became my fav cardio about a month ago. Knee started out whispering, then it shut up after it realized it wasn’t as strenuous as it could be. Did 25 on that. Pretty sure my carbs were prob gone by that point. But went and grabbed 2 25s and did some crunches. I felt the burn this time for sure. Plates do the body gooooddd.  Overall felt spent (at the end). Felt good. Like I statused (yes, I did just do that), I felt like a beast! I didn’t want to leave, but, I knew my body was tired. Gotta listen to it!


Date: 01/09/2011
Exercises:
Training Session:
KB squats
SL DLs to push
wall sits
wall sits
wall sits
hanging knee ups

Talking at a person who no longer exists.

Who are you?
How on earth did I let myself get to be this person?! Sometimes I look at this photo and all I can do is try to fight back the tears and I get so angry. SO angry. That I let myself get to be this big. And this isn't HUGE, when comparing to other people in this expansive population that this world contains. But for me? This IS big. Ugh! How depressing. How.... how sad to think that I used to walk around in this body. It's bothersome. It drives me mad. And to think, I was blissfully unaware that this was what I truly looked like. It's only now, that I have lost 60lbs, and I look at this photo of myself, do I truly see me for what I was. And Who I was, and the weight I carried. Its..... I just want to scream. And find a blown up photo of this person, and give it hell! Beat it up, just rip it to shreds. I told my trainer at one point, that I feel like I'm deleting this person. That I won't truly be able to flourish until she is completely gone. This person. Was the reason I had no confidence, I was insecure, and still am to this day because in the back of my mind, I still think like I did when I was her, even if I have these daily moments where my life is a dream. And I really AM doing it this time!! She needs to go away, and I wont stop until I see absolutely no trace of her, whatsoever.

WEEK 33 - Jan. 3

So, Week 33. Was exactly eventful in the ways of working out. I was at the gym Monday night, trainer tues, day off weds. trainer thurs and then Cabin til sunday where I did not do a lot of working out, but it was the end of the year and we were up there celebrating New Years. Now that I am back in town, I have a cold! Woot! haha. So, I'm going to kill this cold before I kill myself, at the gym. But, Considering. I stayed pretty damn close to on my diet. And I hope I didnt put myself too far off track. We shall see though! Anyway, these photos are a bit bigger than normal because I dont have my simple resizing program on this computer. But wanted to get the post up. So, anyway, I will recrop and resize the photos tomorrow when I get to work.