Do dailies, get XP

[shaar]

GIIIIIIIIRL

 

 

YOU'RE GONNA GET IT.  Back in the fray, let's goooooooooooooooo!!!

[ShadowSilk]

Overslept this morning.  Nuts.

 

But 15 minute walk achieved, half a cup of coffee -- I don't know, maybe I oughta switch back to tea -- and 3/4 cup of cottage cheese this morning so far.

[ShadowSilk]

To finish up yesterday -- kept pretty on track calorie wise, walked the dog again.

 

Today -- 3/4 cup cottage cheese, 30 minute walk with dog, and most of the Shaarway Lifting Circuit   Routine One, done.  Quite honestly, I don't know that I can do three sets of seven of the whole thing -- but I did all but the chest press, as I really don't have anyplace to do that that the dog won't try to come lick my face.

 

AND IT AIN'T EVEN NINE A.M.

[shaar]

YOU ARE FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Back on that wagon and kicking it's ass, yeah!

[ShadowSilk]

**See below

[ShadowSilk]

YOU ARE FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Back on that wagon and kicking it's ass, yeah!

Adding: went to WalMart, bought bagged salad and Kraft Raspberry Balsalmic Vinaigrette Lite -- two tablespoons is like 40 calories, I honestly don't remember at the moment but it wasn't much. 

Now let's all remember, Shadow doesn't usually like salads.  But Shadow was feeling adventurous today -- trying to distract herself from some really crappy shit going down in her life -- and decided to try something new.  Now, do we all remember when Shadow went to Red Shellfish for her mother's birthday?  There was an AMAZING blueberry balsalmic vinaigrette for the salad.  Seriously, it was really good.  So I decided I would get something like that if my WalMart had it.

 

Y'all, I may go a little salad dressing crazy over the next few weeks, because there were actually far too many options.  There was the Kraft Lite Raspberry V, there were several other raspberry and strawberry vinaigrettes -- I do want to try a strawberry, but not right now -- and there was an Asian Sesame Seed Lite, and I actually found a LIGHT poppy seed dressing.  The first salad dressing I ever remember trying was a poppy seed dressing.  I liked that.  But I digress.

 

Brought the salad stuff (bagged salad (Romaine Premium), cherry tomatoes, salad dressing) home, dealt with a lot of crap that I'm pretty pissed about, came home from dealing with that, got irritated, it's now five in the afternoon and I have had nothing to eat since 5:30 this morning -- made my salad.  5 oz of salad mix, 3 oz tomatoes, 4 tbsp dressing, 5 oz baked ham (no glaze -- hubby is diabetic).  Mixed all that together and it was so very, very, very good, you guys.  So salad is definitely on the menu from now on.  I had 3/4 cup of cottage cheese as well, and my entire dinner was, according to MFP, 477 calories. 

 

Then went for another 30 minute walk with the dog in this heat.  I'm on my fourth or fifth bottle of water for today.  I have to work late tonight, and I still have 352 calories left for a snack later if I need one.

[shaar]

I am a fiend for salad. I never used to be but there are so many ways to make it yummy AND healthy. My go to is romaine, black beans, avocado, grilled chicken, corn, and light honey mustard dressing. YAAASS.

[ShadowSilk]

*sigh*

 

Just got up to find my son did NOT do the dishes like he was supposed to.  *annoyed* 

Haven't had breakfast yet, I will.

Not lifting today, it's rest day, tomorrow is Routine 2.

Lots of work to get done today and tomorrow, and I'm in a nasty mood, and just -- *ROWR*.

 

RE: salad -- I honestly never thought that salad dressing could be tasty and not overwhelmingly cloying and sweet.  I'm not a ranch person, and Thousand Island used to be my go-to.  French and Italian dressings -- I think I tried them as a kid and didn't like them.  I should probably try them again.  It's really good to find that there are tasty, light options, though.  Salad wasn't something we grew up with, it was the annoying appetizer course that I would eat the tomatoes out of and kind of push the lettuce around.  And I had been under the impression that for salad to help with weight loss, you had to leave the meat out of it.  It's good to find out I'm wrong.  Ham, chicken, hard boiled eggs, there's some really good things I can add to a salad in moderation and add to the flavor.

 

ETA:

3/4 cup cottage cheese

20 minute walk with dog -- we shaved 10 minutes off our time due to him pulling me!  Seriously.  His harness has started chafing his -- leg pits?  -- really badly, so I just used his collar today.  JESUS.  Neighbor man told me I should just get a little cart and have the dog pull me behind it.  He pulls even with a no-pull harness (D-ring is on the chest, supposed to make him stop pulling, it doesn't).

 

Same salad as last night for lunch -- *sad face* -- how am I almost done with this bag of greens already?

 

Dinner -- 7 oz grilled chicken breast, some grilled green and orange bell peppers chopped up and mixed together, along with about a cup of broccoli and a cup of carrots steamed in the microwave.  then played badminton with daughter.  Which mainly consists of hitting her the birdie, her hitting it back about 60% of the time, my hitting it back to her, her missing.  a lot of walking and standing and encouraging. 

 

Still about two hours of work to get done before bed, and about six to do tomorrow.

[ShadowSilk]

Behind in work so breakfast is coffee and a slice of ham

Morning walk right out.

Lifting after work.

 

Scale this morning was at 225.6.    I know it's just water weight -- there's no way that's a sustainable loss in less than a week.  Sunday I weighed 230.2.

At the same time, it helps motivate me.

 

ALSO!  Have discovered that 4 tbsp of dressing is too much.  Three tbsp is really too much by the time you get to the bottom of the bowl.  going to try it with two (the actual recommended serving size) next salad.

[shaar]

I have found that less is more with salad dressing.  I hate the soupy mess it leaves sometimes.  Just enough to give a bit of flavor... nom.

[ShadowSilk]

Okay.  Skipped walks yesterday but played badminton with the Princess.  Which, again, consists of hitting the birdie to her and lots of walking.  She's getting better, though!  So much better!  She had a couple of double returns last night!

Did Routine 2 of the Shaarawy Lifting Circuit afterward.  3 sets of 7.  Seem okay this morning.

Will likely skip walks today because 1. slept late and it's muggy, and 2., ladyparts.

 

Funny thing; read about Lose It on /reddit, downloaded it, set it up -- it's recommending 1450 calories daily where MFP has me at 1200.  Thoughts?

[shaar]

1200 seems low... I don't trust MFP's automatic calorie-settings, I always go and tweak them myself. I'm on mobile so I can't find the right sites right now, but I'd try a few different calculators (like IIFYM, or Google macro calculators, there are some good ones out there) and maybe for starters take an average of the results they give you as a benchmark to start?

[ShadowSilk]

OHAI DOMS

 

Shaar, your lifting circuit is da bomb.

Yeah, I didn't feel it yesterday, but today my thighs are asking me why I hate them.  That's okay.  I've got Routine One to do yet today, walked 1.5 miles running around doing the shopping -- bought a huge amount of salad stuff.  I'm going to eat a salad w/o meats every night before dinner and eat salad w/meats for lunch, see how that works out for me.  I think that will help things. 

 

Tonight's dinner is all da barbecue everz.  Potatoes in coals, roast corn on the cob in coals, grilled ribeye and mushrooms.  Father's Day.  In fact, I need to go start the coals in a bit.  Wondering if I should go ahead and grill up some chicken tenders for the lunch salads today, or just grill them on the George Foreman grill daily. 

 

Lose It has me at 1450

MFP at 1200

IIFYM TDEE: 2321 -- to lose, it would be I think around 1900? 

Calorie Count.com -- 1273

 

Average -- 1455 which is about what Lose It has for me.  So there we have it.  About 1450.

 

ETA:  Badminton with Baby Girl, then did Routine One.

[ShadowSilk]

Tacos for dinner!  For everyone else, and I had taco meat and taco rice mixed together and wrapped in romaine leaves.  Very good.  I had some of the salad I made, but not a lot -- just wasn't in the mood for it, I guess.  I put it back in the fridge for tomorrow's lunch.

 

Comparing the calorie count for Lose It and MFP is amazing.  According to LI, I'm 200 calories from done.  According to MFP, I have 350.  And the craziest thing is, LI is set for 1445, and MFP is listed for 1200.  I read somewhere (I think on Reddit) that LI is actually more accurate than MFP calorie count wise, and it's interesting to see how amazingly different they are.

[ShadowSilk]

Shaar,  when do you know it's time to switch to the next highest weight?  I'm not ready to yet (which is sad sad sad) but I'd like to know.

 

Same old, same old for breakfast. 

Gonna wait a while then take the dog for a walk.  The scale is dropping -- I'm doing something right!

 

Had a tomato sandwich for lunch, no mayo.  Again, didn't feel like salad -- gonna have to start feeling like it, though, my fridge is full of it!

 

Dinner was divine.  Boneless skinless chicken thighs and some boneless pork loin chops, chopped up with chopped bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, and mushrooms over rice.

Sort of a stir fry thing. 

REALLY, REALLY good.

 

OH!

 

My daughter had her first "private session" at the sports training facility my son goes to today!

Her trainer told hubby that she's really strong for her age, but needs to work on her conditioning, her core, and her balance. 

So I showed her how to do knee planks to help strengthen her core.  I know she doesn't really understand how to tighten her tummy, but just getting in the position will help some, as will our daily badminton sessions. 

I just need to start lengthening them a little at a time.

[shaar]

When I could do 3 sets of 10 reps of each thing pretty easily (minimal struggle), it was time to bump it up.

 

YEAH SCALE GOING DOWWWWN!

[ShadowSilk]

Mmm.  The lateral raise -- the one where I bring my arms to a T -- I hates it.  Hates it, hates it, hates it.  And that's only with the five pound weights, so I've got a way to go.  Thanks, love!

[shaar]

Giiiirl lat raises will take.  Forever.  You might be stuck at 5's until pigs fly and that's ok.  I can do 6-8 reps with 10lb weights and it's hell every time.  Something about how it utilizes tinier muscles in your shoulders, IIRC.  Shoulder stuff is tough.  But gives you those ~*~cool arms~*~.

[ShadowSilk]

I don't know if I've just got no control or what, but it kind of makes me feel that way.  Like "form, what form?"  Even on the very first one, when I'm trying my absolute best to have good form. 

[shaar]

It's an awkward movement to add weight to.  (Unlike a bench press or something where your body's really stable.)  Maybe try sitting down, or stand with your feet in a wider stance.  It'll take a while and you'll feel kinda silly - I'm glad I started at home where no one could see me!!~

[ShadowSilk]

Breakfast this morning was leftovers from last night's stir fry, and it was yum.

Things are going well!

Did routine two last night, decided instead of doing weighted squats, it would be better to do bodyweight squats, but I'm still screwing them up -- my weight coming up usually ends up on my toes and the balls of my feet rather than my heels.  I need to figure that out.  Other than that, I think I did pretty well with it.

Walked a mile with the dog....dog is happy....I'm happy...except I have a deadline to meet....

[shaar]

Have you watched any videos on squat form?  It might be worthwhile, I know Staci made some for a NF article once.  

 

(  http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2014/03/03/strength-training-101-how-to-squat-properly/ )

 

Gotta stick your butt out!  It's a weird motion to get used to but it'll save you so much trouble (and also save your knees) in the future by doing it right off the bat.

[ShadowSilk]

Have you watched any videos on squat form?  It might be worthwhile, I know Staci made some for a NF article once.

 

(  http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2014/03/03/strength-training-101-how-to-squat-properly/ )

 

Gotta stick your butt out!  It's a weird motion to get used to but it'll save you so much trouble (and also save your knees) in the future by doing it right off the bat.

 

Thanks, Shaar!  Yeah -- I think part of it might be my feet aren't positioned properly.  She says matching your hips, I've usually just got them under me, if that means anything -- lined up differently, anyway. 

Anyway, I'll see about maybe squatting into my chair or something, because I'm not doing it right for sure.  Maybe have the boy watch me a couple times.  see if he sees anything off about my form other than I prefer ATGs to PCs.

(Boy is going to have to learn ATG rather than PC, for sure, with all the weight training he's going to be doing for the next four to eight years....)

[ShadowSilk]

Today.....

slept late, skipped breakfast.

lunch -- 1 cup cottage cheese, a foldover peanut butter sandwich, and a whole tomato, eaten like an apple. 

 

Walked around WalMart a bit, but didn't track it.  Tonight is badminton, Routine 1 of the weight routine. 

Think when I get done with the five pound weights, I'll buy some eight pound weights before moving up to ten.  That might work better for me.