JessFit gets smarter, better, faster, and stronger

[Phatkid]

I picked it up because it was reccomended by awsome people! Haha I'm not a total fantasty junkie, I'm pretty well rounded in my book choices: history, fantasy, mystery, sci-fi, non fiction, literature, even the occasional romance novel. One of my favorite books for years has been Enders Game (more Sci-fi than fantasty), I've read some of his other stuff too. I Love the original 3 books of the dragonlance chronicles. I also quite enjoy Tolkien, but then who doesn't?

 

What about you?

 

Are you excited about the movie? I read Ender's game a while ago and absolutely loved it...I then read all of the series that were available at the time. 

 

I'm kind of a junkie...I've read all the popular stuff...Dragonlance, the entire Drizzt series, Game of Throne, LoTR, Wheel of Time(You need to read if this you haven't...13 books long but FANTASTIC)..Some not so famous series...The Black Magician Trilogy(Canavan)...The Black Comany series(Cook)...The Belgariad and it's sequels(Eddings)... The Elenium and The Tamuli(Eddings)

If you want a fun series check out Discworld(Pratchet)...It's very funny but tells a good story...

 

I've also read some more Sci-Fi stuff...Stranger from a Strange Land(Heinlein)...Hitchhikers Guide...2001 A space Odyssey ...Most of the Dune Series(Read the first 3 and you'll be good LoL...It kind of goes downhill after that)...

 

Wow...I guess I am kind of a junkie..I've never actually sat down and figured out all the series I've read...There's a couple missing too that I wasn't really into...but finished anyway...

[Phatkid]

Wednesday:   Kind of a failure, I didn't eat the pasta I had planed, my mom wanted something else for dinner so we did cook a chicken based meal. So I give myself points for cooking, there is my 2x making dinner a week. However it was pouring and lightninging (is that a word? Anybody?) so I didn't get a run in. I'm going to get 0 runs in this weekend unless it is super clear tonight and I'm feeling up to running after I lift. I'm going to be blunt and say it isn't very likely.

 

However I made salted carmel rice krispy treats with the recipe I found on the Live Big Eat Big website last night. They're AMAZING! Not healthy, but then the theory behind Live Big Eat Big sin't your usual workout buff's theory. And Since my doctor thinks I need more body fat on me and I'm going to see her in a week I figured this can't hurt. Plus they're SUPER YUMMY!

 

Keep at it! You'll be fine...Congrats on the Cooking for the week! Maybe instead of running you could do the bodyweight workout and give yourself a half point or something...I've always heard that doing something is better than nothing!

[JessFit]

Keep at it! You'll be fine...Congrats on the Cooking for the week! Maybe instead of running you could do the bodyweight workout and give yourself a half point or something...I've always heard that doing something is better than nothing!

Well, I lift 2-3x a week already so I avoid other strength stuff because I really need my recovery time, and I'm testing for a law enforcement position in a couple months and I have to run as part of the test, Believe me, that is the ONLY reason that it is on this list! I did Zumba Tuessday instead of run which was fun as heck, but you're right, maybe I'll work yoga or something in on the days I don't make a run.

[JessFit]

Are you excited about the movie? I read Ender's game a while ago and absolutely loved it...I then read all of the series that were available at the time. 

 

I'm kind of a junkie...I've read all the popular stuff...Dragonlance, the entire Drizzt series, Game of Throne, LoTR, Wheel of Time(You need to read if this you haven't...13 books long but FANTASTIC)..Some not so famous series...The Black Magician Trilogy(Canavan)...The Black Comany series(Cook)...The Belgariad and it's sequels(Eddings)... The Elenium and The Tamuli(Eddings)

If you want a fun series check out Discworld(Pratchet)...It's very funny but tells a good story...

 

I've also read some more Sci-Fi stuff...Stranger from a Strange Land(Heinlein)...Hitchhikers Guide...2001 A space Odyssey ...Most of the Dune Series(Read the first 3 and you'll be good LoL...It kind of goes downhill after that)...

 

Wow...I guess I am kind of a junkie..I've never actually sat down and figured out all the series I've read...There's a couple missing too that I wasn't really into...but finished anyway...

Hahaha yeah that might qualift as a junkie! I read so much that I do read my fair share of sci-fi and fantasty but it is only a small precentage of my total reading.

 

And I'm not sure how I feel about Enders Game becoming a movie. I wasn't thrilled with what they did to the Hobbit, and it reinforced my desire to steer clear of movies based off of my favorite books, so I'm not sure I'll see Enders Game until I read the reviews and find out if the readers of the world are happy or not.

[JessFit]

Hit the gym yesterday. My "B" workout is squat and shoulder press with some time spent on situps, pull ups, extra stretching, or soemthing else a little more amusing. Yesterday I focused on extra stretching.

Squat:

            2x5x45

            1x5x75

            1x5x105

            3x5x130

Shoulder Press

            2x5x45

            2x5x55 <- this should have been 3x5 but I haven't been at the gym as regularly as I would have liked lately so this has dropped drastically. I'll end up doing 55 again next B workout and progress from there.

 

And I did some super fabulous stretches! I love stretching.

 

I guess I'll assign each gym visit, each run, and each meal cooked a point and total at the end of the week. It seems to make sense for me to keep track myself so

Lifting: 2/2 points

Running: 0/2 points (I hate running)

Cooking: 2/2 points

Bonus: Zumba with gram .5 points

Total 4.5/6 points

[Phatkid]

4.5/6 and the week isn't even over! Get that running done today and tomorrow then rest on Sunday! You've earned it!

[JessFit]

To me Sunday starts the new week, plus I leave to visit friends straight from work today, so the weekend is going to be spent on a long awaited and much needed catch-up as well as some adventures. So I'm not planning to get any running in. We are going to be kind of busy and I don't want to count on the weekend and then be sad when I don't do anything.

[trendywendypdx]

Good job for the week!  I am going to follow along because your quest and goals are similar to mine.  Plus, you're rocking the squats and deadlifts.  I'm looking forward to when I can put up numbers like that! 

 

I ran the C25k program a couple of years back.  It was good getting started and pretty soon I could do a 5k with a personal best of about 31 minutes.  I can't do that now, but I'm going to work back up to it.

[JessFit]

Good job for the week!  I am going to follow along because your quest and goals are similar to mine.  Plus, you're rocking the squats and deadlifts.  I'm looking forward to when I can put up numbers like that! 

 

I ran the C25k program a couple of years back.  It was good getting started and pretty soon I could do a 5k with a personal best of about 31 minutes.  I can't do that now, but I'm going to work back up to it.

Thanks! My numbers are a little low now but I've only been doing it for a few months. My squat and Deadlift personal bests were 145. But with a loss in the family and sometimes not getting to the gym regularly there have been a couple times where I purposly dropped my numbers to focus on form and over come stress. How long have you been lifting? What method do you use?

 

Running will be the death of me, I hate it so. Ugh C25K is really reasonable though. I don't hate it as much as I normally hate running! haha

[trendywendypdx]

I hate hate hate running too! I have been lifting since I was about 13 off and on but didn't really start studying it intensely until about 2008.  I mean, I never lifted the "pink weights" - I was always trying to lift as heavy as I could - but I didn't know that compound lifts were the better way to go.  I'm really interested in Alwyn Cosgrove and his series New Rules of Lifting.  Those are fantastic and I am looking forward to picking those workouts back up.  For now, I generally do back/biceps, chest/triceps, legs (squats and Romanian deadlifts), and core days (planking, static holds, etc).

 

I'm totally with you on the form.  I'm still getting my form to where I want it to be so it's just been the empty olympic bar for a while.  I never feel like I get the form right on a standard deadlift (and I'm not positive about the RDL either).  I should take a video next time I do them and post it in my log for critiques.  I think that would be very useful!

 

Sorry to hear of your loss.   That's never easy but you look to be getting back into the swing of things so that's good!

[JessFit]

I hear NROL is good but I've never tried it. I've been sort of mostly doing Starting Strength, because I can do a few compound moves each time I'm there and then be done. Time is of the essence and getting to the gym daily is just not even remotely possible

[Teros]

Hey JessFit!  You using a crockpot?  I hate having to make food whe I get home and it's crockpot season. sticky chicken, stew, roast, chili, mmmmmm, mmmmmm

[JessFit]

Hey JessFit!  You using a crockpot?  I hate having to make food whe I get home and it's crockpot season. sticky chicken, stew, roast, chili, mmmmmm, mmmmmm

YES! Well, I haven't been the past few months, but normally, YES! I LOVE CROCKPOT EVERYTHING! Omnomnomnomnom

 

Anyone who wants to share crockpot recipes I would greatly appreciate it :-D I'm kind of a recipe swap slut, I'll do it with anyone.

[JessFit]

Hello my lovelies! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. I was out of town visiting friend's I haven't seen in a year so I had a great (and terribly unhealthy) weekend. Now to start a crazy week!

 

I'm sitting at my desk with hot apple clider and the best yogurt ever: plain greek yogurt, homemade apple butter (I'll post my crockpot recipe when I make it), cashews, and a little bit of honey. Really, I can't stand how ridiculously good it is. However I don't like to mix it and let it set so I can't mix big batches. Any jam works well in this, but I love apple butter, plus it is now autumn, and a cute little old lady gave me a super yummy preservative-less recipe so basically it is a win on all fronts.

 

That being said, today is 11 hours of work and other stuff after, left the house at 5:30 am, will be lucky to by home by 10 tonight. No chance in hell I will make the gym or a run. Tomorrow is work, internship, and zumba with gram, again leaving at 5:30 and lucky to be home by 8. Wednesday/Thursday some time is a wake I need to attend on top of work/work internship so I should be able to get a run in and a lifting session and hopefully two dinners, but then on Friday I leave work early to go visit my baby brother for family weekend at his college. I can probably get a run in down there, but for the most part this week is going to be a lot of eating out and crazyness. Plus I need to get to cleaning and laundry since two weekends out of town in a row makes for a messy week inbetween. So I'm going to struggle to meet goals this week. I'm looking at where else I can fit in a lift but I'm not overly confident.

[Jittersthe.Clown]

You'll find a way.  Keep your goals in focus.  If I recall correctly, Steve sent out an article about getting a workout where and whenever that was pretty good.  Keep at it.  That yogurt sounds wonderful.  

[JessFit]

That moment when you realize that you forgot that you have a work social thing Wednesday evening and have time for only 1 of 2 lifting sessions and 0 of 2 runs this week. WHY?!? Dear goals, I'm sorry, I'm not going to be spending much time with you this week. Sincerely, your disappointing mother

[trendywendypdx]

That moment when you realize that you forgot that you have a work social thing Wednesday evening and have time for only 1 of 2 lifting sessions and 0 of 2 runs this week. WHY?!? Dear goals, I'm sorry, I'm not going to be spending much time with you this week. Sincerely, your disappointing mother

 

Life happens some weeks.  Just keep your eyes on the prize!

 

Re: Crockpot recipes - I have two to share.  I'm not really much for measuring so please use your own judgment here...

 

Kalua Pork

Add one pork roast (I use the sirloin ones from Costco, but any roast will work).  Salt both side with Hawaiian smoked salt (or any good quality salt).  Add some liquid smoke.  Cook on low for a few hours, depending on the size of the roast.  When it's done, shred it with two forks. Store it in it's juices. Yummy and tastes pretty close to the original.

 

Pork Chile Verde

Cube a pork roast (again, any will do).  Add to crockpot with a jar of chile verde.  Cook on low for a few hours.  I add some chopped kale (and potatoes sometimes) towards the end.  Serve topped with sour cream or greek yogurt and tortillas.

 

Hope your week doesn't wear you out too much!

[JessFit]

Life happens some weeks.  Just keep your eyes on the prize!

 

Re: Crockpot recipes - I have two to share.  I'm not really much for measuring so please use your own judgment here...

 

Kalua Pork

Add one pork roast (I use the sirloin ones from Costco, but any roast will work).  Salt both side with Hawaiian smoked salt (or any good quality salt).  Add some liquid smoke.  Cook on low for a few hours, depending on the size of the roast.  When it's done, shred it with two forks. Store it in it's juices. Yummy and tastes pretty close to the original.

 

Pork Chile Verde

Cube a pork roast (again, any will do).  Add to crockpot with a jar of chile verde.  Cook on low for a few hours.  I add some chopped kale (and potatoes sometimes) towards the end.  Serve topped with sour cream or greek yogurt and tortillas.

 

Hope your week doesn't wear you out too much!

Those sound amazing! But what is liquid smoke? That is something I've never heard of before

[Jittersthe.Clown]

You can pick it up at most stores.  It adds smokey flavor, but use it sparingly.  Too much is overpowering.

[Jake1989]

That moment when you realize that you forgot that you have a work social thing Wednesday evening and have time for only 1 of 2 lifting sessions and 0 of 2 runs this week. WHY?!? Dear goals, I'm sorry, I'm not going to be spending much time with you this week. Sincerely, your disappointing mother

 

Ahhhh! Well... that's life. It happens. We do our best to plan for everything but it's just not humanly possible. I think the most important thing is to just jump right back up on it and avoid a defeatist attitude. Keep going!!

[Phatkid]

That moment when you realize that you forgot that you have a work social thing Wednesday evening and have time for only 1 of 2 lifting sessions and 0 of 2 runs this week. WHY?!? Dear goals, I'm sorry, I'm not going to be spending much time with you this week. Sincerely, your disappointing mother

 

Just make up for it next week...Do 3 sessions next week and 3 the week after. That's what my trainer tells me to do when I want to go have a Sunday Funday..

 

Life happens and you cannot spend all your time concerned about what if I eat this or drink this....go have fun...and come back refreshed and ready to bust some ass!

[JessFit]

Ahhhh! Well... that's life. It happens. We do our best to plan for everything but it's just not humanly possible. I think the most important thing is to just jump right back up on it and avoid a defeatist attitude. Keep going!!

 

 

Just make up for it next week...Do 3 sessions next week and 3 the week after. That's what my trainer tells me to do when I want to go have a Sunday Funday..

 

Life happens and you cannot spend all your time concerned about what if I eat this or drink this....go have fun...and come back refreshed and ready to bust some ass!

 

I know that you both are right! I'm working on rearranging my schedule a bit to try to fit in some of the things I would otherwise be missing. This is exactly why I made the number of runs/gym visits my goals instead of run time or weights or something. LIFE IS CRAZY!

 

The up-side, had a steak again last night, so I got one cooked dinner off of my goals list. Steak happens to be one of the only "healthy" things that can be made for my mom as well as me. But heaven forbid I suggest she have a sweet potato instead of a white one... We're Irish like that. Anyway 1/6 of my goals down for the week and I'm doing good on the budget for this paycheck. I've still got extra in the budget so I am looking good on my life goal for the first 1/3 of the challenge.

[Jittersthe.Clown]

Keep up the awesome work, Jess!  Just keep at it.  

[JessFit]

Good morning NF world! It's a great day to be a nerd! (Ok, that was a little bit Mr. Rogers and a little bit me hehe)

 

Zumba got moved to Thursday and so I got to lift yesterday, yay! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that somehow I can fit in a lift Thursday or Friday. I might not be going to the social that is planned for tonight because it is an hour away and I don't know if I can make the wake then. If I don't go to the social I should have time for one run and to make dinner. And I'm super sore from yesterday's lift because I owned it so there will be lots of pre and post run stretching.  Anyway, yesterday's workout:

 

Squat:

            2x5x45

            1x5x75

            1x5x105

            3x5x135 <- which was bodyweight! Glad I'm back up to bodyweight again

 

Bench:

            2x5x45

            1x5x55

            3x5x65

           

Deadlift:

            2x5x75

            1x5x115

            1x5x135 <- which was bodyweight! Glad I'm back up to bodyweight again

 

PLUS, I got the first batch of Christmas gifts in yesterday! Woohoo! I start ordering the next batch next week. Each paycheck I've got to chip away at the list so come December I won't be searching for pennies in the couch and under the car seats and I'm doing really well so far.

[Phatkid]

Damn girl! You rocked that! 

 

 

Well done on getting back up to body weight. I have not started doing deadlifts yet because my trainer has not started me on them. I think next challenge I will start them, I would like to see if I can deadlift my body weight. I'm sure it won't be easy! Your legs have to be amazing to do the squats and dead lift together! Keep it up!