Silo

Blergh. I just had a terrible workout, courtesy of my period. Ridiculously weak and wobbly, to the point where I said forget it and quit. I haven't bailed on a workout in ages but I'd rather do a redo tomorrow than hurt myself today.

My gym has free coffee for members and then also sells smoothies. It might sell something else but I'm not sure. I kind of ignored the snack area until I figured out that the coffee was free.

I love chocolate milk after working out. Well, I love it anytime but working out is as good a time as any to have it.

Don't Bro me if you don't know me!

 

This sounds much better than "Don't Brah me if you don't gnaw me!"

Thank you both

Day 30 (3/24/15) - 5 minute warm up walk, 43 minutes @ 3.5 mph & 4% incline, 5 minute cool down. I've been doing the same week over and over for a few weeks now. The next week goes up to, I think 45 minutes, and for some reason I feel like I cannot commit to another 2 minutes of walking. When I really think about it, that makes me laugh. It reminds me of last summer when I was running a few times a week, trying to add mileage. The one day I ran 4.99 miles and then stopped because I felt like it was plenty. I just couldn't handle .01 more miles to make it an even 5 miler. Anyway, 53 minutes of walking is plenty so I'll probably stick with it for the time being. I might futz around with speed and incline though.

Day 31 (3/25/15) 

Front squats - 5x72.5, 5x72.5, 5x72.5. Hmm. What to say about squats. I'm not sure I'll ever like heavy squatting. 72.5 isn't heavy to a lot of people but just getting to this point is a huge deal for me. I'm going to keep at it and keep trying to move up but I don't expect to ever hit really hit big numbers. Getting to 90 pounds seems like a pipe dream. I'm not trying to add weight each heavy squat workout now. Instead, I'm working on 3 sets of 3 reps, then add a rep, then add a rep, and then on the fourth workout I'll add 2.5 pounds. It'll be slow progress but I'm fine with that.

Deadlift - 5x135, 5x135, 5x135

Zercher squats - 10x35, 10x35, 10x35

RDL - 8x80, 8x80, 8x80

Hip thrusts - 10x130, 9x130, 8x130

So is bro pronounced like broe or like the first three letters of "brother"? And is there a difference between brah and broh? Or is it like Dawn/Don where half the population will say yes and half will say no?

People ask me if I want to go hiking. I pull out this gem in response.

 

https://youtu.be/O6SEXp3-lo8

That sounds like me when people talk about going camping.

this can be avoided with intermittent fasting 

She's coming over this weekend and I am going to tell her this to see what she says.

What's this supposed to mean?

That's a mystery that has not yet been solved. I guess it is an old saying but I cannot figure out exactly what it means. She usually used it when she thought we were being too silly. It just made us laugh harder, though, and then she would end up laughing too.

Gems from my mom:

 

"What makes you think YOU'RE so important that people care what you're wearing?"

"Do you ALWAYS want to be known as 'That idiot withe the orange hair'?"

"Trust me, Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go to the Party"

My mom:

"If you laugh before breakfast, you'll cry before supper."

"Enough is enough and too much stinks."

"Oh hell's bells, I can't reach that. I NEED A TALL PERSON IN HERE!"

Silo, seriously, props. You look decades younger from your original standing shot with the new look (the cut may have a little to do with it but I think that it's mostly that you are just exuding confidence!!!) Also, I hope you bought that dress, it's hot/professional/cute all at once!

I did not buy the dress but I am thinking about going back to get it. It's a bit dressy for work. I texted my husband from the store and said that we needed to do something that required a fancier dress so I could justify buying it. His response was "but that means I'd have to get dressed up too."   Maybe my sister and I will have to have a night out instead.

You have to scroll a bit within the respective pages Silo linked to.

 

These are the direct links to those posts:

 

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=123726731&p=988049093&viewfull=1#post988049093

 

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=123726731&p=1036930863&viewfull=1#post1036930863

 

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=123726731&p=1335515021&viewfull=1#post1335515021

 

 

And to reiterate: That you're more in the 30-35% range is excellent news as you'll have a much less difficult time to get to ~20% than you'd have to get from ~20% to say 15%. This is a lot of information to process, you're barely dipping your toes into the whole calorie counting thing which in itself can be pretty overwhelming. Just take it one step at a time and learn as you go.

Thank you. I could not figure out how to do that (the linking.)

I saw someone in the gym today walking sideways on a treadmill, is this a thing I'm unfamiliar with or is he just an idiot?

Getting ready for the beach?

I have no idea who put those body fat image charts together but the first one makes me roll my eyes. Here are some pictures of DEXA scanned women:

1. Scanned at 25.7% - Post #259 (compare this to Ms. 25-26% above)
2. Scanned at 17% and 27% - Post #284 (a bit softer than #1 but not nearly Ms. 25-26%)
3. Scanned at 31% - Post #356 (reasonably similar to Ms. 30% in the second bf% chart)

Many of these crazy people seem to end up being accountants later on in life. I have had several coworkers who have left me speechless at the lunch table as they've detailed stories similar to Mark D's above. It seems like you'd have to be a bit crazy to admit that you'd done all of that so I've tended to believe them.

put under a spoiler to make it smaller

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

reposted (all o this) from the NFA page 

Those arms? 

Bench 100# (work weight)

Skull crusher 65# (work weight)

Ohp 85# (work weight)

Tricep pull down rope 1rm 125#

Those legs? 

Biked 160 miles in 4 days (3.5 really)

can squat 135# (working weight)

can leg press 460# (working weight)

Hiked the entire state of Maryland last year (twice actually) 

Can bike a six min mile sustained

Can run 18 min mile (down from 30 min mile)

Can hike a fifteen mile day

Can climb elevation gain of 3k feet day after day

Are planning a 2200 mile hike (well the legs aren't but you catch my meaning)

My cellulite. ... my fat. ... doesn't DEFINE me. ... it's part of me. .. it doesn't make me less of a woman. ... it doesn't make me less of an athlete. ... I know skinny people (women AND men) who can't keep up with me. ..

This body. ... fat and stretch marks and cellulite ands excess skin is MINE and is pretty fricken awesome

 

Not trying to brag. ... just saying. ... the cellulite is one small (ok big by volume but I think it's a weighted average here  ) part of who I am

 

 

I HAVE NEVER FELT MORE IN LOVE WITH MY BODY THAN TODAY!!!

 

I wrote all that out today and I couldn't stop bawling... 

 

I forget how awesome I am... and how much I can do... and I focus on the things I am NOT and I can not do... 

 

 

but I really do love all the things my body can do!!!

Your skullcrushers are jawdropping to me. I mean, everything on the list is absolutely terrific but that one really blows me away. Fantastic! You are awesome.

At the beginning of this thread I referred to myself as rather potato-ish shaped. Well last week I tried on dresses and, shazam, I had an actual semi-indented waist finally. Here I am with my least favorite before picture ever (the standing side shot) and one from the dressing room.

Just thought I'd share this fun comparison.

 

So I don't know how many of you know about Overwatch, but it's a new team-based shooter game coming out soon, and there is the character named Zarya, who is like pure muscle. ANYWAY, I realized that we have the same size arms. Sure, mine is 99% fat, but the size is the same. (I have always been super self-concious about my arms, never wearing tanks etc.) 

 

But yeah, realizing this made me feel a bit better about my arms. Now I just need to work on swapping that fat for muscle! 

 

 

Also, real life arm goals, for those who prefer actual people instead of video game characters as fitness inspo hahaha. 

 

I don't know if my arms will ever get that large muscle wise (though it would be amazing if I could achieve that) but I feel a bit better about wearing tank tops while working out.

I totally see the likeness. That is so cool.

I have one of those with clasps and I hate it. I only keep it as an emergency "oh crap I haven't done laundry" bra. I prefer the kind with no clasps that you just put over your head.

You might look into Strong Curves by Bret Contreras. He's known as the "glute guy" but don't let the moniker make you think he's all fluff. His book (Strong Curves) has four different programs. One is lower body only and is a mix of bodyweight and weight lifting. One is full body and all done bodyweight style. The other two are full body and a mix of bodyweight and weightlifting. You can do them each 3x a week. Contreras actually writes that the ideal is to do them 3x a week and then do a 4th day of lower body only, as women respond well to more frequent training of their lower bodies. I'm not sure how it would work best with your particular biology but I have had a good experience doing the 4x/week thing. I highly highly recommend getting the book but if you want to look at the programs first, he makes them available on his website (which I also suggest checking out.) If you google "strong curves pdf" it will get you there.

I forgot to add something good about last week--It looks like I'm officially down to size 8 now. I've been wearing a pair of size 8 pants for a couple of weeks but last week I tried on dresses and those fit in size 8 too. Interestingly, I had tried on size 8 dresses about a month ago and they didn't fit then. So clearly my body shape is still changing, even while my weight has maintained or slightly increased. I'm putting a photo in my spoiler below, showing my before pictures and then two "now" pictures.

Day 27 (3/21/15)

Front squats - 30x8, 30x8, 30x8 (The original PHUL program calls for back squats on the power lower day and front squats on hypertrophy lower day. Back squats and I don't get along so I'm doing front squats for both. Since the reps are higher on this day, I'm lowering the weight. I'm hoping that this ends up helping me on the higher weight days since it will be more practice, form-wise.)

Bulgarian split squats - 2 sets of 5 (Originally planned to do these for 3 sets of 8. However, my form was so bad even with just 12.5# and then 10# dumbbells that I decided to switch over to goblet squats. I'll get back to BSSs sometime but for now I'll stick with goblets.)

Goblet squats - 25x8, 25x15, 25x15

Romanian deadlift - 65x12, 65x12, 65x12

Leg curl - 25x8, 25x8, 25x8 (I have an old secondhand bench with a leg curl attachment that I'd been meaning to take off because I hadn't used it. This new program calls for leg curls so I thought I'd try it out. I was surprised that 25# ended up being pretty challenging.)

Hip thrust - 115x15, 115x15, 115x15

Seated band abductions - 50, 50

Lying abductions - 15 left, 15 right

Day 29 (3/23/15)

Barbell bench press - 87.5x5, 87.5x5, 87.5x5

Incline dumbbell bench press - 50x10, 50x10, 50x8, 50x8

Bent over row - 77.5x5, 77.5x5, 77.5x5, 77.5x5

Lat pull down - 5x8, 5x8, 5x8

Overhead press - 45x8, 45x8, 45x7, 45x6

Barbell curl - 25x12, 25x12, 25x12

Dips 8, 6, 4

Weekly review

Exercise - Lifted weights 4x, doing new program. I like the new program, it's nice to have a bit of a change up. My only qualm with it is doing fewer days of hip thrusts/glute bridges, which I've found work better for me when I do them 4x a week (and Bret Contreras also has written extensively about women's lower bodies responding well with more frequent training.) Starting this week, I'm going to add a couple of sets of them plus maybe a set or two of RDLs to my walking days. I walked once last week. This week I plan to get in two walks, likely Wednesday and Saturday.

Sleep - Caught up on sleep last week and over the weekend. Last night I went to bed earlier. This area is my biggest challenge but I feel positive about it this week.

Diet - Hmm. It wasn't a bad week, as in going crazy off the rails eating, but it was kind of "meh" in that I had a hard time eating enough to meet my goals a couple of days. I ended up eating extra yesterday (over 3000 calories) to bring the average up to 2500. I'm going to stick with the 2500 average for now. It looks like my average for last week was 150.5 pounds, which would be a half pound more than the average two weeks ago. That feels good to me for now and I'm just not feeling like I can eat more without eating a lot of junk. I don't mind eating some (and it is kind of nice to have treats) but I don't want to go crazy and wreck the good habits I've worked hard to form. My plan right now is to keep eating in this tiny bit of excess until May 18, when I'll cut my calories so I'm eating in a 10% deficit. I think that will allow me to lose around 10 pounds by the end of the year, even with a few week-long maintenance breaks.

Another great Sunday.  I had to wait a while for the temp to warm up, but I took the bike out and rode over to one of the local parks and did laps.  It was a good idea, because the weather was fantastic.  It kicked my butt a bit because it introduced some hills into my riding.  Most of central Illinois is pancake flat. This park has a nice hill built into it so I had to work for it today.  12 miles, plus some traffic each way to and from the park.  Happy about it!

 

Chili is almost done cooking, so dinner will be awesome.  This week should end on a high note, as long as I get some sleep tonight.

 

Viva la Rebellion!

Nice weather and a nice ride. Can't ask for more than that. The hills sounds like a nice challenge.

(I am laughing at myself because I just realized that I posted in your previous challenge's thread last week.)

Day 24 (3/18/15)

Walking - 5 min warm up, 43 minutes @ 3.6 mph & 2% incline, 5 min cool down

Day 25 (3/19/15)

rest

Day 26 (3/20/15)

Incline bench dumbbell press - 15x5, 15x5, 25x8, 25x8, 25x8

Flat bench dumbbell fly - 10x8, 10x12, 10x12

Band row (red band) - 12, 12, 12

Dumbbell row - 35x8, 35x8, 35x8

Alternating dumbbell raise - 7.5x8, 7.5x8, 7.5x8

Barbell curl - 30x8, 30x8, 30x8

Cable tricep press - 2x8, 2x8, 2x8

Last night I was crossing the street to get the mail when a neighbor stopped her car in the middle out of the road, rolled down her window, and shouted "you look amazing!"

Lmao, yea, I've been on both sides of this.  My experience when I was "younger" is that most guys don't care if you have a boyfriend 5 feet away, let alone 1500 miles.

My ISTJ/rule follower personality is aghast   lol.

For me, I don't think it is a self-confidence issue as much as it's the fact that I am not looking for a partner so I just assume that means that nobody looks my way. My husband and I dated all through high school. We went to separate colleges in different states (me-Ohio, him-Florida), but were still a couple. There was a guy who went to my college who had gone to high school with us. One day he asked me to go to dinner and a theater performance. I told him that would make me uncomfortable (I may have used those exact words.) When I told my now-husband about it, he said "So he asked you on a date." No, I think he just had an extra ticket. He knows I am dating you. Why would he ask me out on a date? "Umm, because I'm 1500 miles away right now?"