In Which RedTomato501 Tries to Ketchup to Her Potential

[redtomato501]

While a warrior is not the guild I ultimately would like to end up in (sorry!), I'm having a lot of fun right now playing around with heavy things. Having been unable to exercise in my preferred method (ultimate frisbee) since an injury sidelined me in January, I finally joined a gym in early summer and have slowly been learning my way around. I started doing deadlifts in maybe June, took a little over a month off due to a burglary and two weeks out of town (working at a camp! Yay!), and finally jumped back into it a couple weeks ago. In that time I have now also learned how to do barbell squats and (as of Wednesday!) bench presses, and with the addition of barbell rows and overhead presses (which I'm sure I can figure out), it looks like I'm on track to start the Stronglifts training guide! 

 

Why StrongLifts? I liked a lot of what I saw of it, and it was recommended in a number of locations by a number of people, as well as the Starting Strength guide. Reading through the website, I saw some stat about how 95% of the followers were men, and so the founder didn't bother to do much for women, and so in my contrary nature I decided that I'm going to be a part of a that 5% just to help boost the ranks. Not that it matters to anyone but me.... Plus, it incorporates the basic movements of deadlifts and squats that I've seen so many people proclaiming the virtues of. The only thing that make me sad about it is that I'll only get to deadlift every other workout. Sad story. I figure I'll try it for 6 weeks, and evaluate after the challenge if I should continue with that model, or reclaim my regular deadlift. Rawr!

 

MAIN QUEST: To be stronger and healthier! Weight loss would be a bonus, since I'm at the heaviest I've ever been, but not my focus since I'm not going to be actively changing my diet this challenge.)

 

Goal 1: Do the StrongLifts program. As noted above, I've gotten most the basic movements down, thanks to pestering different trainers to show me the exercises, so I think I'm ready to start this. I still need to check form for the row and the overhead press, but those are a little less scary than the barbell squat and deadlift were, so I'm feeling confident about being able to jump in on those. While I'm not tracking this aspect, I am also trying to make sure that I'm consuming protein before and after each workout to help muscle growth! Hopefully I'll make some more homemade jerky with my food dehydrator one of these days...

 

Goal 2: Track what I'm consuming. My diet really suffers right now, especially when I'm working some Saturdays, some 13 hour days, ugh. When I am home, I'm exhausted and not thinking about how to prepare food for later in the week, so I'm really missing out on healthy eating right now. I'm not looking to change what I'm eating right now (although I know that will happen just from "I don't want to write this down, so..."), and really struggle any time I try to track the nutrition facts for what I eat (e.g. eating from my local vegan place, what the h is mumbo sauce, all sorts of recipes and lack-of-recipe food creations), so I figure a good step will be to at least write down what I eat and when. If nothing else, I'll notice patterns such as not eating breakfast until 10:30 at work, or how much coffee I'm really drinking. Good news is that I just finished off the last few pieces of my homemade baklava today, so I won't have to track that tomorrow!

 

Goal 3: Sleep at least 7 hours per night. Yikes. I did this in my last/first challenge (#27) and it was scary how little I actually achieved this, especially when I seem to thrive on 9 hours per night. Add in the fact that weightlifting increases the need for sleep, and this goal is essential. Ideally I would say 8 hours a night, and even more on weightlifting nights, but that won't happen, especially since I'm a late-night gym goer (so that I don't have to fight for the equipment). I'm doing 7 hours because while it's not where I need to be, it's definitely achievable if I put my mind to it.

 

Side Quest 1: Do what needs to be done for CowCat. I foster cats, and currently have a loud and annoying single cat who has anxiety and poops all over the place. Funny how I love her anyway. In any case, I need to make sure that she's comfortable, get her using the litter box regular again, and otherwise make sure she's entirely taken care of. I also need to get a couple better pictures of her for the adoption site so that she's a little more likely to get picked up - everybody loves pretty pictures.

 

Side Quest 2: Speaking of pictures, ZOMG. I'm overwhelmed with the number of pictures I have that need to be edited, including the second half of a wedding, two different events with a major sponsor for work, a couple other days at work (and program graduation is coming up so we need those edited), and some pictures that I'm getting paid for. Yeah, so I should probably get those done. I keep putting it off for fun things like creating my challenge thread here (oops) or actually having a social life outside of my 13 hour work days, but it needs to happen... and I will feel so much less stressed when it does!

 

(Yes, I know one should ideally only have 2 side quests, but both of these have to happen. I'm over it.)

 

Starting Stats:

Height: 5' 7.75"

Weight: 195 lb

Deadlift: 135 5x5

Barbell Squat: 115 5x5

Bench Press: 55 5x10 (first time doing these today!)

 

So, hurray! I'm excited to be hanging out with warriors and lifting heavy things!

 

BTW, am in a Nerd Fitness group on Fitocracy, and use the same name (redtomato501) on there, if anyone wants to be Fito friends. 

 

Emma (Parenthetical Phrases #1 Phan)

[EmCee]

I see what you did there. 

[Erick the Red]

I made good initial progress with Stronglifts.

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[ElbowRocker]

Good luck Red! Especially with the cat. That seems like your most important goals, as it involves making sure fecal matter stays contained in the proper locations.

[Skywalker]

Hey I totally get the contrary nature that made you want to say - only 5% are female - make that +1. That's totally something I would do as well.

Good job that homemade baklava didn't go to waste.

And good luck with cowcat!!!

[redtomato501]

I see what you did there. 

 

I was pretty proud of it...

 

I made good initial progress with Stronglifts.

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

Good, glad to hear it! That does seem to be the consensus, that it's a good starting point. It'll be a little weird deloading from my current reps, but if it gets me the results, hells to the yes! And thanks!

 

Good luck Red! Especially with the cat. That seems like your most important goals, as it involves making sure fecal matter stays contained in the proper locations.

 

Yeah... about that. No bueno! Annoying thing is that I completely dumped the litter out last night before bed and put a fresh load... and woke up to evidence that she had gone on the mat just outside the box. Grrr. (At least it's the mat?)

 

Hey I totally get the contrary nature that made you want to say - only 5% are female - make that +1. That's totally something I would do as well.

Good job that homemade baklava didn't go to waste.

And good luck with cowcat!!!

 

Ha ha, yes, homemade baklava will never go to waste! Thanks!

 

 

Day #1 Update: So, 11 hours into the challenge, and I already forgot that I was tracking my food and ate two pseudo-croissants with plenty of Boursin. Left-over potluck food = free = irresistible. 

 

I'm trying to decide if I should work out today - I powered out yesterday, so I should let my body rest.... but I'd rather be on a M/W/F schedule, and will be using lower reps than I have lately for the first week or two. Hmmm? Then again, maybe I should do T/R/S this week, since I'm making pasta W night with friends, which means I won't be able to do my usual late night gym visit, which means I'd have to fight people for the equipment, and then only take one weekend rest day to get back on M/W/F for next week. Decisions!

 

In other news, is anyone following the DC Navy Yard shooting? It's right by where I live and work, so yikes. 

[ElbowRocker]

T/R/S sounds like a good plan. I'm already having to adjust my schedule as well.

Hadn't heard about the shooting. Ugh. Scary.

[Erick the Red]

Please be careful going to and from work today.

Don't get hit!

[Fonzico]

I love hearing about ladies throwing around the iron! I plan to get there someday.. I guess kettlebells are technically iron. Heh.

 

Best of luck with all your goals! Did you learn anything from your sleep goal last time that will help set you up for success this time? I've had luck in the past with setting a "go to sleep" alarm (yes, seriously), which means it's time to start the bed ritual - face wash, lotion, have a drink of water and then read for half an hour.

 

I'm sending good vibes to your poor kitty - hopefully she will improve once she realized she's in a safe place.

[redtomato501]

T/R/S sounds like a good plan. I'm already having to adjust my schedule as well. Hadn't heard about the shooting. Ugh. Scary.

 

T/R/S will work for this week (although R would be rough with Girl Scouts until 8), but I'll definitely have some Saturdays that it won't work for. *sigh* Busy life! And yeah... scary for those involved, but also sad. Sounds like at least 4 victims dead so far.

 

Please be careful going to and from work today.

 

Don't get hit!

 

Thanks! I should be fine at work - I'm across the river in a neighborhood, so my chances of being shot are probably not changed from the regular, but it will make getting home interesting, considering my usual route is blocked off and likely to remain so, seeing how this is going. 

 

I love hearing about ladies throwing around the iron! I plan to get there someday.. I guess kettlebells are technically iron. Heh.

 

Best of luck with all your goals! Did you learn anything from your sleep goal last time that will help set you up for success this time? I've had luck in the past with setting a "go to sleep" alarm (yes, seriously), which means it's time to start the bed ritual - face wash, lotion, have a drink of water and then read for half an hour.

 

IRON! RAWR! Ha... I think the only thing I realized from my sleep goal the last time was how much I suck at going to bed, since even an active attempt only netted me a 50% success rate. Yikes! I'll have to consider doing the sleep alarm, but take out the reading part.... half hours tend to turn into 5 or 6 hours, with me. Last night being case in point... in bed by 11:30, didn't stop reading until about 5. Oops.

[Fonzico]

It's funny, I pretty much always read before bed, to the point that reading has become a sleep trigger for me. This was not a good thing when I was in university. But the point is moreso to build a routine, the specifics of it don't really matter (as long as they don't involve lighted screens or whatnot) but if your body gets used to doing 1, 2, 3 and then going to bed, I find it makes getting used to a regular bedtime easier.

 

What was that quote from Tumblr? Something like:

 

When I was a kid, I thought being a grown up meant not having a bed time. Now I realize it means being in charge of your own bedtime, and I'm really not ready for that responsibility!

[Jo2926]

Love love love that you are doing strong lifts. You are my new hero. I soooooo want to do that sort of thing, but as a short overweight girl I'm too self conscious in my tiny gym (that only has one barbell)

 

How are you tracking your food? Old fashioned paper and pen or an app? 

[Matt_72]

Your goals look great and well structured for success.

Can I get a precise on what the StrongLift program involves?

[Skywalker]

That's one thing about following everyone's threads. Now I want to do strong lifts too!

[Dragoness]

PUNS. I LOVE PUNS.

 

Ahem. You've got some awesome goals. (Poor sweet little kitty!) Best of luck, and I hope you stay safe :S

[redtomato501]

It's funny, I pretty much always read before bed, to the point that reading has become a sleep trigger for me. This was not a good thing when I was in university. But the point is moreso to build a routine, the specifics of it don't really matter (as long as they don't involve lighted screens or whatnot) but if your body gets used to doing 1, 2, 3 and then going to bed, I find it makes getting used to a regular bedtime easier.

 

What was that quote from Tumblr? Something like:

 

When I was a kid, I thought being a grown up meant not having a bed time. Now I realize it means being in charge of your own bedtime, and I'm really not ready for that responsibility!

 

yeah... I have no concept of a routine! It's really not the falling asleep part that's an issue, as I'm usually fighting my body to say, "just one more page... one more chapter... one more book!" As your quote says, I'm really not ready for that responsibility!

 

Love love love that you are doing strong lifts. You are my new hero. I soooooo want to do that sort of thing, but as a short overweight girl I'm too self conscious in my tiny gym (that only has one barbell)

 

How are you tracking your food? Old fashioned paper and pen or an app? 

 

"I can be your hero baby!" heh... but YOU SHOULD DO IT. Seriously. I couldn't even make myself walk into those sections because they freaked me out so much at first, but I"m so happy that I did. Getting one training session and saying, "I want to check my deadlift form and learn squats" was what made the difference for me - having the trainer there gave me "permission" the first time, and made it easier to force myself in there the next time because I had been there already. Now, I get annoyed when other people are using "my" rack!

 

As for tracking my food, I'm using Google Drive, just a basic spreadsheet - I always have access via my phone, can fill it in quickly if I'm on my computer, and even have it set to offline on my phone so that I can fill it in without internet access if I need to. Still not perfect, but I avoid losing the paper/pen, and don't have to work within the restraints of an app. For example, I was at a conference on Tuesday with fancy food, and "dinner" was all sorts of tiny little hors d'oeuvres, some of which I didn't even know what I was eating. I'm okay with just putting in "various hors d'eourves" in my spreadsheet, but can't put it in like that with MyFitnessPal or Lose It. And that's really why I'm not tracking the macros of my diet - I have all sorts of these random days and foods that I just can't track!

 

Your goals look great and well structured for success.

Can I get a precise on what the StrongLift program involves?

 

Thank you! StrongLifts beginning strength program is basically a schedule of 5 different exercises that you do, with the idea being that you are working your full body through those exercises. Mehdi maps it out into two different workout routines that you alternate on 3 days a week over the course of 12 (or more if needed) weeks. Workout A is barbell squat, bench press and barbell row, Workout B is barbell squat, overhead press and deadlift. You start the program using fairly low (for most people) weights, and each time you do the exercise you add 5 or 10 pounds. This means that by the end of 12 weeks (with some exceptions if you have to deload because you aren't meeting the weight/rep/set expectations) you should have added about 170 pounds to your squat and deadlift, and about 90 to the other 3 exercises. If you want to take a look at it, you can get the program (for free!) by clicking here. 

 

That's one thing about following everyone's threads. Now I want to do strong lifts too!

 

YOU SHOULD! DO IT! GIVE IN TO POSITIVE PEER PRESSURE! 

 

PUNS. I LOVE PUNS.

 

Ahem. You've got some awesome goals. (Poor sweet little kitty!) Best of luck, and I hope you stay safe :S

 

Ah! Don't encourage me, I come from a whole family of incorrigible punsters! And thanks!!

 

 

PROGRESS UPDATE:

 

I'm not doing awesome with my goals so far, ha ha!

 

I completely missed the first day of the StrongLifts program, and decided to jump in on day two, but.... I just couldn't do it! You want me to squat 65 when I've been squatting 115? Deadlift 90 when I just did 135? I just couldn't do it. So, I decided to compromise, doing somewhere between my PR and the program. So, last night I did 95# on the squats (compromise between 65 and 115), and 100# on deadlifts (compromise between 90 and 135), and did the 45# OHP as scheduled. I'm going to progress a little slower on the squat until it lines up with the program a little better (maybe adding 5# every other day instead of every day), and I figure that will balance things out enough. It basically boiled down to a motivation thing for me: I didn't want to go to the gym and only squat 65#, so the compromise makes me happy about going again!

 

Sleep... yeah, that's a joke. Haven't slept 7 hours yet - best night was 6.8, worst night was 3.7. Again, not because I wasn't tired or couldn't sleep, but because I was reading. I think I need to just forbid myself to read after 11, or something - which is seriously going to affect my goal of reading over 180 books this year (last year's number), but I think I'll be the better for it....

 

Eating - I haven't tracked everything in the moment, necessarily, but I have gone back in and tried to fill in the spreadsheet. I can't remember if I ate anything else on Tuesday night now, though, which means I need to be better about day-of tracking.

 

Side quests: I completely emptied out the litter box of all litter and filled it with fresh on Monday night before I went to bed in order to make it more enticing... and woke up to a deposit just outside the box. Grrr! Going to need the thinking cap for this one. Pictures.... I've done nothing. Thought about it the other night, but with the lack of sleep, I'm so tired and only have the energy to read, which just perpetuates the bad habit cycle.

 

So, a low start.... but I can only go up from here, right? Eh...

[Fonzico]

Hmmm... have you tried putting the kitty's erm "deposits" into the litter box instead of removing them? Sometimes the scent of their own stuff can encourage them...

 

And yes, you WILL only go up from here! May I suggest a mini-challenge of sorts? Just forbid yourself to read after 11 (or whatever) just for the rest of this week. Just four days. That's it. You can do that, right?

 

Good compromises with strong lifts - I'm assuming that it begins with the assumption that you aren't already lifting more than that? (That's a lot of assuming... someone's got to be an ass in this scenario ) I think it'll be good once it balances out, but it doesn't really make sense to take 3 big steps backwards like that! You'll figure it out though, I have faith.

[redtomato501]

Hmmm... have you tried putting the kitty's erm "deposits" into the litter box instead of removing them? Sometimes the scent of their own stuff can encourage them...

 

And yes, you WILL only go up from here! May I suggest a mini-challenge of sorts? Just forbid yourself to read after 11 (or whatever) just for the rest of this week. Just four days. That's it. You can do that, right?

 

Good compromises with strong lifts - I'm assuming that it begins with the assumption that you aren't already lifting more than that? (That's a lot of assuming... someone's got to be an ass in this scenario ) I think it'll be good once it balances out, but it doesn't really make sense to take 3 big steps backwards like that! You'll figure it out though, I have faith.

 

Thanks for the kitty suggestion! I tried that last night... I know she likes a clean box, but I put a little pile in the far corner... saw her in the litter box this morning and got super excited... looked back 5 minutes later and there was a deposit outside. *sigh* I'll keep trying!

 

I didn't read after 11 yesterday! Started to, and then told myself no! (So I played Candy Crush until 2 am... d'oh.)

 

You can actually put in your max, and the spreadsheet will adjust the plan someone based on your weight/rep combo - so regular squat starting weight is 45, but because I put in 115 at 8 reps (or something), it's "letting" me start at 65... which is still too low for me! Ha ha... but yes, it will take into account the weight that you already move. Mehdi does warn you that you'll start low, but I'm happy with my compromise, especially since it's just the one exercise. Can't wait to get back into the gym tonight! I'm going to try the bear complex for this weekly finisher, which will be interesting since I've never done a power clean, a front squat or a push press, but there's a first time for everything!

[Matt_72]

How is your food tracking going?

Are you finding any surprises?

[enderatrd]

It's funny, I pretty much always read before bed, to the point that reading has become a sleep trigger for me. This was not a good thing when I was in university. But the point is moreso to build a routine, the specifics of it don't really matter (as long as they don't involve lighted screens or whatnot) but if your body gets used to doing 1, 2, 3 and then going to bed, I find it makes getting used to a regular bedtime easier.

 

What was that quote from Tumblr? Something like:

 

When I was a kid, I thought being a grown up meant not having a bed time. Now I realize it means being in charge of your own bedtime, and I'm really not ready for that responsibility!

 

Love the quote!

 

Red - totally love the puny title

For sleep -  I have no concept of a routine! It's really not the falling asleep part that's an issue, as I'm usually fighting my body to say, "just one more page... one more chapter... one more book!" 

 

I hear you on this one. I'm like this myself and I adore books so reading is not going to put me to sleep, it'll keep me up all night.  I've found a few things that have helped me, one is if I meditate it seems to settle my head enough that I can get sleepy and go to bed, but it's not my favorite thing to do.  What I typically do these days is get audio books of my favorite books, it has to be stories I know really well and play them while I go to sleep with a sleep timer on.  It can't be a new story or one I haven't heard in a long time or I just revert to the same problem as reading a new book where I'm too absorbed to sleep.  

 

Anyway, as you say, it can only go up from here.  I'll be rooting for you and looking for some good news this week.

[redtomato501]

How is your food tracking going?

Are you finding any surprises?

 

Ha ha... my food tracking is miserably non-existent! That being said, I'm practically living off of free food when in the office, and outside the office am eating difficult to track stuff, so I feel entirely justified in not trying to track the macros right now. I mean, I'm not sure how to track vegan mac and cheese and vegan pepper steak when I'm not exactly sure what is in it even, for example.

 

What I typically do these days is get audio books of my favorite books, it has to be stories I know really well and play them while I go to sleep with a sleep timer on.  It can't be a new story or one I haven't heard in a long time or I just revert to the same problem as reading a new book where I'm too absorbed to sleep.

 

Ooo, interesting idea! I'll have to check that out... I've actually listened to a few audiobooks now - it's not a regular thing for me, but it was GREAT when I had a 13 hour drive home from my parent's house in August. I'm still in the middle of that book, but had to return it to the library so am waiting for it to be available again... I'll have to see what the library offers in the way of sleep-inducing books.

 

PROGRESS UPDATE

 

I'm really treating this three goal challenge like it's a one goal challenge, focusing on the StrongLifts! I'm super excited about that goal, and very "eh" on the others, as important as I know they are. Sooo.... StrongLifts! Yesterday was the 4th workout day and ohmigod the OHP kills me! I was able to do 45# last week - barely, but it happened - but couldn't make it with 50# this week. Sets 3 and 4 only had 4 reps, set 5 had only 3 reps! I tried to do a sixth rep with 45#, and that too was only 3 reps! I'm sure the lack of sleeping is messing with my ability, since I felt overall weaker yesterday than I usually do, so maybe I need to refocus on that goal.... I felt good about the rest of it, although I moved up to 115# in deadlift instead of 110# (from 100# - supposed to be a 10# increase) because I was too lazy to reorganize the plates to get to the 2.5# ones. Had a moment of amusement with the guy that made some aggressive sounds after finishing his deadlifts while coaching his friend, so that kept me amused despite my lack of headphones. So, I'm on track with my modified StrongLifts 5x5 program, and am excited to keep going with it tomorrow!

 

Sleeping... yeah, no. To be fair, I did hit my 7 hours both nights this weekend... but internet! Books! Cooking food! Cleaning! So many reasons to stay up late! I'll have to try the audiobook idea mentioned above, though - I have a feeling that even if it's another book option, choosing one that I can "read" with my eyes closed may work better than the eyes-opened variety...

 

Eating - I haven't tracked in a few days, sadly, but I know that I'm 1. eating like shit and 2. eating all the free food I can find (hence hearkening back to #1). Some efforts to improve this include eating oatmeal at the office for breakfast (no McD's, keeps starvation-style lunches from happening), and buying a ton of food this weekend, cooking some of it up on Sunday night (chicken in a ginger/coconut milk curry, and an eggplant "lasagna", so almost all veggies with a little mozzarella.) to eat off of this week. Coffee - until I improve on the sleep, coffee and creamer combo just isn't going to change!

 

One interesting (well, to me) thing is that I just bought my first ever thing of protein powder! I'm still not super keen on the idea (except for the fact that it tastes like a milkshake - that I like!), but I figured having it on hand to boost protein levels or get protein in quick after a workout was useful. It already came in handy last night - after my workout, I was too tired to even heat up the precooked chicken, so I mixed some protein shake up quick instead.

 

So... nothing super exciting for anyone to read about, sorryz, but it's going!

[Matt_72]

I make this chicken curry regularly and the depth of flavour actually improves over a couple of days so it might suit a big batch.

 

I had an oatmeal smoothie for breakfast this morning and I enjoyed it. It was nice just grabbing it out of the fridge on the way out the door and drinking it at work.

[redtomato501]

Thanks for the recipes, Matt_72 - that chicken curry looks especially good!

 

Progress Update

 

I think I've subconsciously given up on the food and sleep goals: I'm just not doing anything for them. Hello, staying up until 5 am watching "free" movies and tv shows via Amazon Prime while eating General Tso's chicken.

 

However, I'm still rocking out on the StrongLifts goal! Friday I ended up doing other important things after work, so I made up my workout on Saturday, and I think that will actually work out really well since I can't work out next Monday, and I really shouldn't work out next Friday. I won't be able to get my third workout in on Saturday, even switching to a Tuesday/Thursday schedule this week, but I'm okay with that since I'll be at an all-day ultimate frisbee tournament on Saturday - I"ll be working my body hard!

 

I'm a little nervous about the tourney since I'm still not running on solid ground, but I'm starting to think that my running shoes just don't give me enough arch support - I walked to the gym (2 miles) in my Chacos and was fine, but the walk back in my running shoes got my foot hurting for the next 48 hours again. However, it was the same case (well, worse) during the other tournament in July, but I didn't have an issue running in the sand barefoot with my foot taped and braced, so it's just the pre-tournament training that lacks. We'll see how well weight-lifting can prepare me for a day of running.   Otherwise, I plan to see what kind of arch support inserts I can find at CVS and try that.

 

Life Goals

 

I'm optimistic about the cat goal, since I've finally finished the horrible 40 lb bag of non-clumping litter, and cleaned up the whole space. I've noticed that CowCat doesn't even like to step on clothes if they are on the floor - she's so tentative in putting her foot down until she knows it will hold her, I guess - so that's definitely made me careful to keep the floor space clear for her. All deposits have been in the box for the last 48 hours, no strays! Yay... Picture-wise, I've gotten no where, but I've also just come off a week where I would leave my house at 8 am and not get home before 10 pm everyday, so I didn't exactly have free time for it (or anything else). This week? Maybe?

[Matt_72]

How long or how many matches are involved in the tournament?

[redtomato501]

I think we usually end up playing about 5 games, with the potential for 6 if we play astoundingly well (which we never do)!