Maiwen

Just a quick post to say that yesterday I managed the full 5x5 squats at 155! I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish the workout but I dug deep and conquered it! Tomorrow is 160 pounds which will mean that I will be squatting my body weight for 5x5 which is my first goal! I'll keep you posted!

I did it! And I survived! I hurt. I hurt so freaking bad today. I didn't want to run; I had to dig so deep inside of me to find the will to start and even deeper to keep putting one leg in front of the other. I didn't finish in my goal time of under 60 but I don't even care given how little I wanted to do it. Today is going to be a relaxing - do the least amount of walking possible - kind of day. I am going to the movies tonight to see Pitch Perfect 2 (yay!) and it's going to be an inside battle to avoid eating popcorn. I am hoping my hips are good for squatting tomorrow. I'd be sad if I had to skip a day. Cheers!

That's what i thought, unfortunately. Thanks guys!

Ugh. I do not want to do this race today. My entire being is screaming it's disagreement. Have I told you guys I hate running? Yeah, I hate it. I kept signing up for these races the last 2-3 years but never really committing to the training because... you guessed it - I HATE running. Now that I've found my passion in powerlifting, I have even less motivation to go out running long distances. If you don't hear from me by Monday night it means I died this afternoon. I'm just telling myself I only have 1 race left after this one. I got this, right? Send me some positive vibes if you're reading this!

Heya guys! Quick questions for the community... I know they say to usually measure meats and such when it is raw. What about sweet potatoes? The weight difference from raw to cooked it quite huge so I am wondering when I should be measuring their weight for my macros. Thanks! -Mai

I hate night shift! I feel like it always screws me up internally even though I've been doing it for over two years now. Dragon boat practice yesterday was brutal to say the least. I could definitely feel my stronglifts workout during the practice. But I gritted my teeth and got'er done! She made us do several 3 minute series which are so demanding. If you've ever done dragon boating you know how it feels. Today I woke up around 12:30 after night shift and had some breakfast. I went to the gym around 3 for my final 5x5 of the week: Squats: 5x150# 5x150# 5x150# 5x150# 5x150# My butt hates me right now but I love it! Oh Press: 5x75# 5x75# 5x75# 5x75# 5x75# Boy! The last two sets were hard on me - I had to dig deep to get that extra push for the 5th rep of each set. Deadlift: 5x230# I came back home and made some awesome paleo tortillas that I've fallen IN LOVE with. I made some tuna spicy salad (with homemade mayo) and made wraps. It was really good and so easy to make! Tonight I'll be having some beef with veggies and sweet potato fries. Tomorrow is the Ottawa Race Weekend here in Ottawa. It's a huge weekend long event with races from 2.5K to full marathon. My parents are coming up from Montreal to do the 10k with me for the second year in a row. I'm not going for time as my legs will probably be really sore and running just isn't fun to me. I've actually decided that after my half marathon in September, I won't be signing up for anymore races. I'll keep my running to 5k or less and just work on speed. If I eat all my food today (which I might not given that I woke up at 1230) my macros would look like this: Cals: 2125 Fats: 78g Carbs: 180g Fiber: 30g Sugar: 47g Protein: 173g Now it's time to do a little more stretching and relax before the run tomorrow.

Quebec city isn't that cold! It's summer time now! I grew up in Montreal which has the same type of weather

What a great post! It's so rewarding when we achieve something we didn't think we had in us. Thanks for the inspirational post! Hopefully I can do the same for my stronglifts today as I know it'll be a hard one.

Thank you for the awesome and informative post! I'll definitely be looking into that book. I've finally done the plunge and decided to try paleo (80/20 most likely). I got rid of EVERYTHING in the house that was not approved. This week has been going really well. I'm actually cooking more and finding my meals more flavourful. I agree with you on the calorie counting. It's such a chore! I decided that because I am trying to build strength I will keep an eye on my carb intake to ensure I have enough but I will just eat when hungry! Hope everything keeps going well for you

Me! Me! Me! Near the airport for myself.

Wow was it a rough week last week. I had no time to write in my battle log. Had lots of training to do with the military and had some official functions to attend on top of normal work hours. I won't lie to you guys... my diet suffered but I kept consistent with the gym. But I shouldn't be making any excuses! This week has also been pretty busy but not as frantic. I have been hitting the gym and eating right. I've removed all the non paleo things from my house and have been eating really well. I managed a DL PR of 255# which I was quite happy about. Slowly on my way up to my goal. Yesterday's workout was another 5x5: Squats: 5x145# 5x145# 5x145# 5x145# 5x145# Bench: 5x95# 5x95# 5x95# 5x95# 5x95# BB Row: 5x95# 5x95# 5x95# 5x95# 5x95# Never thought I'd see the day where I could PROPERLY squat 145 pounds once - let alone 5x5. The breathing technique I learned from browsing the forum has made such a huge difference. Today I have dragon boat practice which is usually a good workout. Now that my schedule has calmed down - I will be posting some more! Cheers, Mai

I'm going to be giving paleo a try starting next week (being a shift worker next week is Friday for me). Slowly giving away the stuff in my pantry and fridge away so there's no temptation. I was eating pretty close to it anyway minus the occasional lunch or dinner out. Being In the military I can't always control what I eat but when I can I'll definitely be going as paleo as possible. I'm hoping that cleaning up my diet even more and closely tracking my food will help me get a better understanding of what my body needs. I'll be opening up my food diary on MFP for accountability so hopefully that'll help too! I'll always be aiming for 1g/pound for protein but I think I need to up my carb intake quite a bit if I want to make some strength gains! I'll keep y'all updated. Again, thanks for giving me your opinions!

Today was a shitty day. I didn't log any of my food and I did nothing physical. Was planning on going for a quick run but I got distracted. AND my hockey team just got eliminated from the playoffs. I did however try make a mango & avocado salsa from nom nom paleo and holy mother it's so tasty! I got rid of a few things in my pantry to slowly start the switch to paleo (or 80% paleo). Tomorrow is a new day! Will be going to the gym for some squats, OH Press and DLs so I am excited about it. Also I get to see my mom tomorrow! Driving the 2 hours that separate us so we can go get our hair done together haha. What can I say? I'm a girly nerd. I am doing 5x5 at 130# for squats tomorrow and I am a little nervous! Will see how it goes. Now it's bed time! Cheers!

HAHAHA. I cheated - I had two quest bars yesterday because I was short on time. Yes I am on MFP - kbussepl is my login on there. Thanks for checking in

Ohh yes quite close! I try to go hiking in Gatineau when I can. Oh that would be fun!