Mahmu

All is going well - except my eating. Yesterday's workout was great. Although I did try step ups on the larger step and my knee said no. The lower step weighted pretty heavy is okay, but the range of motion for the high step is just too painful. I finally figured out how to do hip thrusts with the Smith Machine, so now I no longer have to look like an idiot getting the barbell on and off of my on the floor. I finished several projects in organizing my bedroom. I have also started putting together a plan to redo our closet with a bunch of stuff from Home Depot. I do have to have someone come out and rip out some shoe racks that take up space all along the outline of the closet before I start. I think they will come out after Christmas, so for now I can just measure and figure out the plan for what I want to put in. I conquered a couple of the bookshelves and cleaned out lots of clothing I want to get rid of. I still have lots to do. On Saturday I am going to go through all the moves of stage 4. I'm going to do 1 set from both the A & B exercises and see if any of them irritate the knee. If I have no problems I'm going to start on Mon.

Good workout today. I added goblet squats in to my routine. Only 10 lbs. but my form was awesome and I was able to go well below parallel. No pain! I think I should be back to stage 4 next week. Skull Crushers - 10x6x3 - these were way too hard today. Romanian deadlift - 65 lbs - great form. I think I've finally figured out the hinge on this move. Goblet Squats - 10x10x3 (just testing out the knee with these) Seated Rows - 60x6x1, 70x6x2 Lateral Raises - 10ehx6x3 Core - ex. ball crunches, side crunches, and reverse crunches Tomorrow, I'm going to try my first HIIT workouts since I fell.

Great workout today. I tried the BW squats and had no pain and no stiffness. Woohoo. I did thirty squats to the bench which is not below depth for me, but since I wanted to really focus on form I didn't push it. Since those went so well I thought I would try step ups. I did the low step and weighted it 10 lbs. No pain. I am so glad I listened to my hubby and rested the knee for as long as I did. Every time I've tried a squat before it's been really painful, but today it was as if I never fell. I'm still going to do my own program for another week, but I'm going to slowly add weight to those squats and see if I can graduate to the large step for step ups. I'll need to test out lunges before I can move back into NROLFW, but I'm in no hurry to do that since lunges have always been painful for my knee anyway. Glute Bridges 45/55/65 x 10 Skull Crushers 10x10x2, 10x8x1 BW Squats 10x3 Bicep Curls 30x6x3 Step Ups 10x10x3 Incline Dumbbell Chest Press 20x6x3 Planks 60/30 - this still gives my knee such grief - grr... My eating has been awful. My hubby and I are going away to San Antonio this weekend and I'm going to enjoy the Mexican food to my hearts content since the kids won't be with us. But as soon as we get home I'm ready to get back on track. I hate derailing the progress I make in the gym with crappy eating.

Ack, my eating is a little off plan! I need to pull up the bootstraps and get it in line. Workout today: Romanian deadlift/barbell row - 65x6x3 - I don't like this move. I like each of the parts, but when I put it together I feel like my form suffers. YTWL - 8ehx6x3 Back Extensions - 30x6x3 Hip Thrusts - 20x10x4 got it to 20 lbs. knee handled it okay and only complained at the end Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns 70x6x3 - these were easy this time, but I'm still not ready to jump to 85 lbs. Planks 40 - 30 - these mess with my knee something awful. I'm just re-introducing them, so my times suck. Most all of these are NROLFW moves from the last stage I just finished. On Friday, I'll try some BW squats again, just to see where I am with the knee.

Today's Workout Wrist Curls Tricep Extensions Lateral Raises Overhead Shoulder Presses Ex. Ball Crunches Ex. Ball Side Crunches Reverse Crunches Straight leg lifts Hip thrusts - I added 10 lbs. to this for the first time since the accident. Knee didn't complain too much. I'm going to try upping the weight quite a bit and doing less reps next time and see how the knee does. If it can't handle it I'm going to go back to barbell glute bridges for a while, since I can really weight them heavy and they don't tax the knee the way the hip thrust does. Lots of auxiliary type lifts because I'm babying the knee. I miss squats and deadlifts. And if the truth be told lunges and bulgarian split squats.

Hello Warriors. This is my 3rd challenge, my first as a warrior. I found NF in July and started lifting 2 weeks later with my New Rules of Lifting for Women. I have hated exercise all my life until now. I love lifting. I’m a wife, a mother, a Texan, a Christian, a home schooler, a Whovian and I just turned 40. I’m on a journey to love myself again and to find happy – because I’m not so sure what that is for me anymore. Main Quest Goal - Get waist to 33-31" range. This is the official large size measurement on the size charts from 2 of my favorite clothing shops. Right now I am measuring 36". I'm down 4" since I started my first challenge last July. How I Want to Reach My MQ: Strength Lift 3x a week. I have been working through NROLFW, but since I busted my knee last challenge I have put together an alternative program. I would love to be back to NROLFW stage 4 by the end of this challenge, but so far squats are still out. And HIIT is out for now as well, hence only 3 workouts a week instead of my normal 5. I hope to ease back into intervals during this challenge as well. Diet No Sweets – except for 3 days during Thanksgiving week and then 1x a week in Dec. I want to be realistic since we have a lot of Christmas parties to attend. Tracking – every meal in mfp NO S – continue eating this way – no sweets, no seconds, no snacks, no sodas M-F 40/30/30 – I’m not going to be uber vigilant about this, but I want it on my radar, so for now it’s something I’m aiming for each day. There is a huge learning curve for me with this type of eating, so I’m going slowly with it. Life Organize my bedroom. Lack of storage makes quite an undertaking. - Clean out the dresser - Clean out the closet – get rid of all that doesn’t fit, etc. - Find a solution for sweaters and winter gear - Tidy all bookcases – 6, so 1 a week - Clean out under the bed - Do a super clean – baseboards, all the stuff I normally skip when too busy Motivation Hubs has set aside a sum of money for me to go shopping with. He is holding it for me until I say that I’m ready. I would really love to be ready by the 1st of the year. Secondary motivation. I will celebrate Christmas this year with my all my extended family. Some haven’t seen me in 2 years and I’d love to be trimmer before they do. I'll add grades later, I think. i usually do weekly updates and tend to rely on those instead of grades. So we'll see.

Lovely workout today. Dumbbell Skull crushers 8(eh)x3- love Dumbbell Incline bench press - stuck at 25 lbs. but my arms still barely make it through the last set Romanian Deadlifts 45/45/55 - worked on form with the bar and I think I finally got that hinge down - woohoo! Barbell Glute Bridges 44/55/55 BW Hip Thrusts - this is hard on my knee, but I just tried out 1 set to see how it felt - not bad, but not ready for weight Bicep Curls 20x3- I never do this, and it showed - grin. side lying clams - 30 reps each side side lying hip abductions - 30 reps each side plank - 40 sec. I'm working on my challenge. I'm stumped on how I want to approach my eating and fitness goals. So, I don't think I'll get it up until this weekend. Obviously I can't continue with NROLFW until the knee is healed. I have a routine on paper that I'm okay with for the next few weeks, maybe even the duration of the challenge. But I don't know how to come up with a goal for this. I think I'm going to post as a warrior for the first time. It's who I am. I liked the Adventurers board, but I think it's time to be the warrior I want to be - cheesy grin.

Happy Progress Update I was cleaning up in the bedroom this morning and my hubs asked me to come back in the room. He asked me to turn around and then he complimented my butt, saying it's getting nice and round. Ack - this makes me so happy!!! I have had a super flat butt all my life and thought I was stuck with it. All this stuff is really working.

Great workout today: Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns YWTLS Back Extensions Barbell Rows Barbell Hip Thrusts Crunches Side Crunches Reverse Crunches I love hip thrusts. NROLFW doesn't include this exercise, but since I am still resting my knee I got to put them in my workout. Super love them and the burn. Eating is still not as clean as I'l like it to be me. My meals are great, but I'm still splurging on a sweet here and there - not good. I'm back to tracking and I hope this will deter some of this. I want to get this under control before the next challenge starts. I have some fabulous meals planned this week to hopefully help me not miss sweets. I'm going to try the elliptical tomorrow. I'm going to take it easy and skip the intervals, but I'll quit the minute the knee cries uncle.

Today's Workout: Wrist curls Tricep Extensions Lateral Raises Seated Rows Supermans Planks Leg Raises My arms are jello. Those wrist curls were stinking brutal. I used a very low weight, but my wrists are super weak. This should be a fun day, but I'm a little worried about cravings. But I'm going to suffer through it 'cause i need to kick it in to high gear with my eating. I started my day right with my protein shake and an apple. And thankfully, the only kinds of halloween candy that are left is stuff I don't eat. I also went through my closet and weeded out the jeans and sweaters that no longer fit or are too dated to wear without shame - grin. I was pleasantly surprised that a lot of the jeans I had put away for whenever I lost some weight now fit. And I could zip the few pairs of size 10's I have, but they are still too snug in the waist to be comfortable. But they did look awesome on my legs and butt, so I'm getting there.

Yesterday was a good knee day. Finally. I plan on resting it today. I'm still super sore from Friday. I upped my weights on the YTWL's and boy do I feel it - everywhere. yay! I've been flying solo for the last week or so. Hubs has been working a migration for a company that was totally unprepared for it. It's been a mess and has kept him out of the house pretty much all week. I think I need to come up with something new for the kids today. I don't want to be housebound with them again today especially since our school week starts tomorrow. I think they need a break from me as much I need a break from them - grin. i have worked on putting together an upper body routine for next week. Last time i felt like I was just putzing around the gym and then when I worked my NROLFW routine on Friday I noticed such a difference. So this time I'm think I'm better prepared and should come away from the gym each day feeling like a beast. My eating has been dreadful. Halloween candy, pizza (a planned dinner), oh my. But the scale is going down faster than it has in weeks. I don't understand it one lick, but I'll take it. But I'm back on plan. I'm going to put my goals on the fridge and review them each day. My anniversary get away is in a few weeks and I would love to have a little more weight off, if possible.

I have been a little down because of my knee and have gotten a quite slack on my diet. I have drawn a line in the sand for tomorrow and I will reign myself in. However, the good news is that I'm at my lowest weight in a long time, so even though I was eating too many calories my body wasn't hanging on to them - yay! So the knee definitely has an issue and I am going to make an appointment next week to see an orthopedist. I think it's possible that I may have dislodged a screw in the fall. But in spite of my silly knee woes, I was able to finish NROLFW stage 3. I had to modify two exercises to accommodate the knee, but since the B workout was mostly upper body I was able to do it. It was positively wonderful to go to the gym and do a full hard core workout. I left feeling so strong and so tired - grin. I'll post a stage end update later on. Right now my kitchen looks like an episode of cupcake wars and I need to help the daughter with her Fall Fest baking for tonight.

Ack. I gave into the pumpkin bread. Last week I made 2 loaves. We ate one and froze one. I just don't do good with this type of thing in the house. I let my daughter thaw the 2nd loaf yesterday and basically that's what I ate for dinner. Now I have to say that even that was progress. I didn't eat dinner as well as the pumpkin bread. I also counted my calories and I didn't go over too terribly much. I also had told my family that would be the only time this season I would make it, so I don't fear a repeat. Workout this morning was pretty boring since I'm still taking it easy on my knee. Overhead shoulder presses, incline dumbbell press, back extensions and some core work. I also tried out the knee with a few bodyweight squats. It's still not ready - bummer. So very sore, but I don't notice anything out of whack which is wonderful. I was hoping to finish my final stage 3 workout on Friday, but it may be to soon.

Cardio day. 40 mins. on the treadmill. I was able to finish it, but it did bother my knee towards the end. So, I'll ice it and rest it the rest of the day. Having crazy cravings this week. I've been dreaming about tacos and this morning the junk food ads at the gym made me crazy hungry. The other day at the gym the attendants ordered a pizza and I noticed that I was sorely tempted. I think my carby treats this past weekend and probably pms are working against me. Yesterday, I tried on some size 10 pants for the first time and I could button and zip them. Still had oodles of muffin top, but they looked good and fit my legs and butt perfectly. Hopefully this means it won't be too much longer until I need to set a new goal!

Challenge Update All in all a good challenge. I survived tracking and am glad I did it and will continue to do so. No S and 5 workouts a week are becoming an easy habit to follow. I also learned I don't want to cut out treats if I can fit them in my calories for the day. And I also learned that you have to be home to organize your home. But the best part is today I went to Nordie's to try on pants. The 12's were too big in the style I wanted. So, I just thought I'd attempt a 10. And they fit. They looked pretty good. A little muffin top when I sit, so I didn't get them yet, but I could zip them and sit in them. Woohoo!!!! I'm on my way for sure.

I'm currently modifying my program this week to nurse my knee that I banged up in a fall. So this week I'm just doing arms and shoulders and very easy going cardio. Today: Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns 50 x 5 x 1 60 x 5 x 2 70 x 5 x 2 Seated Rows 50 x 5 x 1 60 x 5 x 3 70 x 5 x 1 Inverted Rows 4 sets of 5 reps Crunches 25 x 12 x 3 Reverse Crunches 12 x 3 Side Crunches 12 x 3 each side Roll Ups 6 x 3

I've decided to start a battle log since there are 2 weeks between challenges. Updating everyday has become a wonderful way for me to stay accountable to my goals and I don't want lose that for the next 2 weeks. A little about me. I'm a stay-at-home homeschooling mother of 2. I'm married to an awesome man who is super supportive. I live in TX, where it's still to stinking hot even though it's the end of October. I'm not overly nerdy, but I'm a dedicated Potterhead and Whovian, love Sherlock, and try super hard to read at least 1 book a week. I turned 40 years old this past summer and I decided that I was tired of being so frumpy and dumpy and wanted to make an effort to make my 40's fabulous. Just after my birthday I found NF and got a gym membership. I am now doing New Rules of Lifting for Women and loving it. I've done 2 challenges so far, lost 11 lbs., and 4" off my waist. My Current Main Goal is to get down to a size 10. How I plan to reach this goal: 1. I am going to cut out sweet treats starting Nov. 1 until Thanksgiving. (This is not something I want to do, but I have a huge family Thanksgiving to attend and I'd like to look my best.) 2. Tracking in MFP - I did this last challenge and it was probably the most effective thing I've done so far. I'm aiming for 40/30/30 and 1500 calories on workout days and 1300 on non-workout days. 3. No S diet - I eat no snacks, no sweets and no second helpings Sun. - Thurs. 4. Workout 5x a week. NROLFW 3x a week and HIIT 2x a week

Weekly Wrap Up: Tracking - A, I have a 40 day streak on mfp. Awesome NoS and 5 workouts - B, NoS was great, but I only got 4 workouts in due to my tumble. 1 Weekend Treat - F, I have tracked everything, but today i went a little bananas by having pumpkin bread and a Mars bar. House List Goals - F, Just an unrealistic goal I set for myself this challenge. I went to the gym today for the first time since I fell. I just did a gently cardio workout on the bike and treadmill. The bike was painful after 15 mins, so I switched to the treadmill. That was much better.

Good news here. My knee is doing much better. I still have some stiffness and bruising, but I'm finally walking like a normal person. I made it through my Potter event and a full day of outings with my family. I have to ice it and still take a bit of Tylenol when the pain flares up, but I'm definitely on the mend. Hubs doesn't want me to work out my legs next week in order to give it a proper rest, but we've come up with an upper body and core routine to work for the next week. I'll ease into a little time on the bike, too. I've had enough physical therapy with this knee that I feel comfortable to gauge what I can and can't do. I also think I know what to look out for in case I change my mind and decide to go to the doctor. So, I'm totally looking forward to the gym on Monday. Eating has been great today in fact a little sparse. I notice my Saturday's tend to be like that. So, since I have lots of calories left I decided to make pumpkin bread. It all makes me think of fall - even though it's still 90 degrees here. I make it every year, but this is the only time I'll do it this fall. I really would like to lose a bit more in either inches or pounds before Thanksgiving. So, I'm letting myself enjoy a splurge this weekend and then I'm going to try and do 30 days without sugar treats to help me try to reach this goal. The scale is up a pound or so, but I measured my waist this morning and it was down another inch. I couldn't believe it, so I kept measuring over and over. So goofy, but it was so hard to believe. If it was accurate then I'm down four inches total on my waist. Yahoo!

Nothing much going on here - grin. Obviously no workout this morning. But, I think the RICE thing is really working. I am almost walking like a normal person again. Every once in a while it acts up and won't take a full stride, but this morning I'm pretty sure I'm on the mend. I'm going to rest it as much as I can this weekend and then decide if I need to see someone or not. I do have a Harry Potter event to go to tonight. I'm meeting a friend there and taking my daughter and her friend. There is no way in hell I'm backing out. I'm going to leave early because the parking lot to the front door of the event is quite a considerable distance. After that I think I should be okay. The scale is up a pound or so and this pisses me off. But I haven't been able to cook, so it's been lots of eating out. I've been tracking and it all looks good on MFP, but I must be underestimating something. I'm even trying to eat on the light side of my calories since I'm not working out. But I've been extremely sedentary, so I might need to cut back even more - yuckorama.

Well, of course, no workout this morning. But, the knee is better than I thought. I don't have full range of motion yet, but I can hobble around on it. I'm hoping I can just RICE my way through this one. The only thing that concerns me is that I can't straighten it and it gets a little wobbly when I try full range of motion through a step. The hubs was brilliant last night. I was just starting dinner when I fell. So, he got take out Chinese for us even though he was at a meeting. I totally pigged out, I was in despair thinking I'd totally blew out my knee. But I didn't cave and have the Mars bar I have hidden in the kitchen. I even counted all my calories and tracked it. I did break an S and had seconds, but that's mostly because my daughter dished for me and was a little stingy. So my family put me on the couch, fed me loads of Chinese food and we had a Gilmore Girls marathon.

I cannot believe it. I fell in the kitchen and have done something to my knee. The knee I had ACL reconstruction on. It's a mess. I'm a mess. Why must I be such a klutz. I'm hoping I just sprained it, or something to that nature. Since I have a bunch of screws in that leg I'm keeping an eye out for blood clots and icing it. It's bloody hell to walk on and straightening it out is unbearable. But I will wait to go to the doc in the morning if it's still hurting. I don't have an orthopedist here, so I have no clue who to go to. The pain is mostly manageable by Tylenol and ice. I have minimal swelling, so I'm hoping it's not a big deal. I'm one workout away from finishing NROLFW stage 3. This is such a bummer.

Workout A for stage 3 is done. Unfortunately, I was unable to conquer the body weight matrix both times through. I achieved my best time yet on the 1st set, but I was once again only able to get 1/2 way through the 2nd set. This stupid sucker pops up again in stage 5 and I hope I'll be able to complete both sets then. I am worn out. My legs are shaky and my are arms are like jelly - a fabulous workout today! I have had a couple of rough days on the eating front. I haven't broken the No S rules, but I can't seem to eat enough. And I have been craving carbs like nobody's business. I think all my trouble stems to the fact that I have been caving into the carb cravings, which perpetuate my hunger and make me so sleepy. My plan today is to stick to my protein goals and make sure that the carbs I eat are good ones. I'm also beginning to wonder if i might need a few more calories now that my weights are getting heavier. I'll make the carb/protein changes first and then slowly increase my calories if the hunger issues still persist.

HIIT on the eliptical today. I've finally gotten to where I can 'run' 2.5 miles in 30 mins. I think this is pretty good for me especially when the interval part is pretty tough. Tomorrow is the last body weight matrix I have to do until stage 5 - Thank the Lord! I'm looking forward to getting it behind me. I just found out that there will be 2 weeks between challenges. Posting here everyday has been really helpful to me. I know my challenge threads are boring to pieces, but this process has helped me. It keeps me accountable, but also gives me a place to record my progress. So, I think I'm going to start a battle log for those 2 weeks. In unrelated news, the weather forecaster told us not to put away our summer clothes yet.

I'm glad the weekend is all done. I ate terribly. I stayed in my calorie ranges, but my meals were super carby. I had a date with my daughter on Saturday and she wanted pizza. So I chose to fast that morning until our lunch. This turned out to be a horrible mistake. We didn't get to lunch until 2:30. Normally I can handle a fast that long, but this time it did me in. By the time we got to MM I had a major headache and was dizzy. I think my blood sugar had plummeted way too low, just a few sips of my daughter's soda and I felt like a new person. Today was workout B of stage 3. This one is not as tough as A, but I like it. Finally, I felt like my partial leg squats were getting somewhere. I'm still having trouble mastering the hinge on the Romanian Deadlift, but I'm working on it. Two more workouts and I'm done with Stage 3. So, I'll finish it on Friday. I can't believe I'm so close to starting Stage 4 of NROLFW. I've never stuck with any workout program this long.