Alaysia Gets Ready

[Alaysia]

3 hours ago, ixaera said:

I really should look into Minecraft...

 

The second series about Olaf IMO wasn't as funny. Still amusing, didn't have me rolling like the first though.

If you find you like Skyrim, I recommend the Homestead DLC! (Just be careful if you get a house in Falkreath... there's a giant that likes to visit. He killed my steward!)

 

Is a DLC an expansion pack-like thing? Geeze, is expansion pack still a viable term these days? I shall learn!

 

1 hour ago, Thom Ulfhedinn said:

'Do not fear failure, fear your kids wanting to talk to you about minecraft.'

Woden uses ravens, I use an iphone.

 

That and Pokemon. Pokemon is worse. Most of the words out of their mouth are made up. In my day, there were only 150 Pokemon and we were satisfied. Sure, we had to walk uphill both ways to train them, but we liked it better that way!

[Alaysia]

13 minutes ago, Alaysia said:

Workout A

• Squats 5x5 at 35lbs (Form Video)
  • Feeling much steadier and depth is fairly consistent, I think. Just wish I had given better videography directions to my son who was filming. Lovely ceiling the gym has, eh? And I have no idea how he got it to film sideways.
• Bench Press 5x5 at 50lbs (Form Video)
  • The app said to go to 47lbs, but my gym has nary a 1lb plate. I contemplated using the big collars, but didn't want to guesstimate on what I was pressing and figured if I couldn't pull off 50, that'd be my back up plan. The last rep on the last set was nearly a fail, but just as I thought I may need to call my son who was already reaching to grab it, I pushed hard and got it up there. Go, me!
• Barbell Row 5x5 at 60lbs. (Form Video)
  • Really wish I had been super specific with what needed to be in the camera lens. Sigh. Wish I could see my back better. I'm fairly sure it's not too curved... I do think I'm too high and need to lower my back a bit. I also tend to short myself an inch on the last one to two reps in each set, not pulling the bar all the way up. I'm a dirty, dirty cheater.

 

[Captain Badass]

Squats - I saw the bar go up and down in a straight line at least. This is a good thing!

 

Bench press - arms look great, are you going to arch your back and brace your legs at some point? I could be wrong, but it's what I've been doing anyway.

 

Barbell row - this is exactly why I do Pendlay rows. I'm also a dirty, dirty cheater, but the form on Pendlays is really strict and relatively easy to stay in.

 

Just my 0.13p

[Alaysia]

2 minutes ago, Captain Badass said:

Squats - I saw the bar go up and down in a straight line at least. This is a good thing!

 

Bench press - arms look great, are you going to arch your back and brace your legs at some point? I could be wrong, but it's what I've been doing anyway.

 

Barbell row - this is exactly why I do Pendlay rows. I'm also a dirty, dirty cheater, but the form on Pendlays is really strict and relatively easy to stay in.

 

Just my 0.13p

 

The camera angle is all wrong for the Bench. I do have an arch. Or, at least, I am attempting to arch. My lower back does not touch the padding. I'll get new videos of all of this (probably using my daughter who has natural cinematography instinct) and hopefully we'll all see if I'm doing what I think I'm doing.

I saw Allan Thrall do some Pendlays, and I can see how needing to put the bar back on the ground would help prevent going up too high. I'll do some more research and see if switching might help train me into better form. Thanks!

[Captain Badass]

Sorry about the useless comments on bench then! Yeah Pendlays kind of lock you into position, which sounds horrible, but isn't because it stops you rising up, shrugging, etc - well it sorted me out.

[Grymm]

The bench video is fine.  No angle is going to show everything.  One thing it does show is at bottom, your forearms look straight up into the bar, which is perfect.  

 

I only do Pendlay rows which you would want a couple blocks for since those plates aren't full diameter.  The chief difference is you'll be kind of over the bar like a deadlift, but with your butt high and shoulders low (back parallel to the ground).  It'll change the balance of which back muscles do most of the work.  Your rows will work the traps and maybe the outer deltoids more(upper back).  The Pendlays would work more lats, rhomboids, and posterior delts (mid back).  

 

Looking good!  Keep at it!

[Alaysia]

1 hour ago, Grymm said:

The bench video is fine.  No angle is going to show everything.  One thing it does show is at bottom, your forearms look straight up into the bar, which is perfect.  

 

I only do Pendlay rows which you would want a couple blocks for since those plates aren't full diameter.  The chief difference is you'll be kind of over the bar like a deadlift, but with your butt high and shoulders low (back parallel to the ground).  It'll change the balance of which back muscles do most of the work.  Your rows will work the traps and maybe the outer deltoids more(upper back).  The Pendlays would work more lats, rhomboids, and posterior delts (mid back).  

 

Looking good!  Keep at it!

Oh! Thank you! For the compliments and info. I'm so happy about my forearms. I always set up, making sure everything looks good, then think nothing of it while working that weight. Glad something is working without my consciously having to think of it. 

 

Hmm. Maybe I'll keep working on my form for the rows and do lat pulldowns for the, well, lats. My upper back needs more strength, but my lats feel so good when worked. I'm conflicted! 

[ixaera]

3 hours ago, Alaysia said:

Is a DLC an expansion pack-like thing? Geeze, is expansion pack still a viable term these days? I shall learn!

 

Sort of! And yes!

It's all very confusing and mish mash, different shops call it basically whatever they want. Skyrim calls it DLC~

A lot of Steam stuff uses the term DLC, too. And DLC can mean anything from, like, a single texture addition (so like a new color and pattern for an outfit) to a whole campaign of quests with dozens of NPCs to talk to. Whereas, we probably wouldn't call a single texture an expansion pack. If that makes sense

 

And if you ever play Sims 4, geez... They have "stuff packs" "game packs" and another specific name for something I can't remember now, but it's all just expansions/DLC, with differing prices based on how much content it actually adds.

[Alaysia]

Today is kinda sorta sucking. My kids have eaten everything I ever bought at a grocery store!!! Seriously, how do you go through 2lbs of trail mix, 48 granola bars, a tub of butter, a jar of mayo, two packages of sliced cheese, two packages of deli slices, 32 English Muffins, two boxes of cereal, three loaves of bread, and two gallons of juice in one week!!! Two kids. Just two. They ate everything!

 

Bear in mind that everything that can be vegan, is. Tofurkey slices, dairy-free cheeses, egg-less mayo, dairy-free butter. So, in short, expensive-ass stuff! They ate my entire grocery budget. I went to make my omelette and had no cheese. No cheese! I was so mad that I ate half a bag of Fritos. Not one of my finer moments, but I've yet to stop myself from emotional eating when I'm angry. And those Fritos were supposed to go with a planned dinner. Sigh. So my macros are jacked today. And the children will be existing on oatmeal and pb&js for the rest of their lives summer! As soon as I can afford to go shopping again. The next time either of them asks what they can eat, I'm giving them a ho and a packet of seeds.

I skipped Tai Chi and Zumba today because my shoulder do be killing me. It's the bit right under the shoulder blade. I get it sometimes, but the last two times have by-passed the normal nasty ache and right into "This bitch is killing me!" And those last two times were right after lifting. So it's either the Bench Press of the Barbell Rows. My money is on the rows. So I'll be trying out Pendlays next time to see if I can either fix it or pinpoint the cause. I've done some rolling with a ball, which usually sorts it, but it's not working today. At least pain relievers take the edge off.

 

I've gotten another two hours of cec done. Took me longer than two hours though, which irritates. I only passed the exam by damn near cheating. I hate when the material or questions are presented in double negative speak. Seriously, test my ability to understand the material, not my ability to catch your tricky way of asking a simple question. And I need 5 credits in a particular section of knowledge and, of course, the classes only give you 2 each. So I gotta give them an extra hour of my time in order to get the right amount. Bastards! 

 

And it's hot!

 

Ok. I think I've tantrum-ed enough.

[Grymm]

5 minutes ago, Alaysia said:

Ok. I think I've tantrum-ed enough.

It was a good tantrum, though.

[Alaysia]

14 minutes ago, Grymm said:

It was a good tantrum, though.

 

Thank you. When I blow, I like to blow with some panache.

[Grizzy]

Hooooow did they eat that much food?

[SevenofSeven]

54 minutes ago, Alaysia said:

Today is kinda sorta sucking. My kids have eaten everything I ever bought at a grocery store!!! Seriously, how do you go through 2lbs of trail mix, 48 granola bars, a tub of butter, a jar of mayo, two packages of sliced cheese, two packages of deli slices, 32 English Muffins, two boxes of cereal, three loaves of bread, and two gallons of juice in one week!!! Two kids. Just two. They ate everything!

LOL, yep, yep and yep! There have been times when I have literally put the groceries down, gone to get more bags, entered the kitchen again to find food had 1) been taken by a poltergeist 2) the free folk stole it 3) been inhaled by Lads that obviously had been stuck in a cave for two weeks with only a mars bar! 

It is frustrating beyond measure. Especially when trying to plan meals around a tight budget.

[Emerald_Dragonfly]

How old are they?  I remember my two teenage brothers going through an entire loaf of bread in one day.  And that wasn't even dinner that my mom had cooked.

[Alaysia]

1 hour ago, SevenofSeven said:

LOL, yep, yep and yep! There have been times when I have literally put the groceries down, gone to get more bags, entered the kitchen again to find food had 1) been taken by a poltergeist 2) the free folk stole it 3) been inhaled by Lads that obviously had been stuck in a cave for two weeks with only a mars bar! 

It is frustrating beyond measure. Especially when trying to plan meals around a tight budget.

 

I can't even imagine having 7. Two is too much to feed. And yes! So many times I've gone to make dinner and found that parts of it were already scarfed down!

 

23 minutes ago, Emerald_Dragonfly said:

How old are they?  I remember my two teenage brothers going through an entire loaf of bread in one day.  And that wasn't even dinner that my mom had cooked.

 

They've just turned 13 and 17. So, being turned out onto skid row by my teenagers is a a real thing. The worst thing, though, is my daughter who will not finish her food. I just found an apple with a couple bites taken out and half a plate of dinner in her room. And yet she is always starving. Argh!

 

I feel as if the Grinch came last night and took everything, including the last can of Who Hash.

[Grymm]

I remember what I ate when I was a teenager.  I probably ate 6000 calories a day.  3 gallons of milk a week from like June through November, grotesque amounts of meat and broccoli (some things never change), and the carbs, oh the carbs.  That's also when I started doing a lot my own cooking (probably like 16) because we didn't do a lot of family dinners and I needed to eat non-stop.  

[SevenofSeven]

4 hours ago, Emerald_Dragonfly said:

How old are they?  I remember my two teenage brothers going through an entire loaf of bread in one day.  And that wasn't even dinner that my mom had cooked.

I laughed when I saw this, my brothers would devour a loaf of bread as soon as it hit the counter, bread still in their mouths as the buttered and vegemited the next 4 pieces..........the memories!

[Alaysia]

3 minutes ago, Alaysia said:

Workout B

• Squats 5x5 at 40lbs
  • Very excited that next time I get to go back to the regular oly bar!
• Overhead Press 5x5 at 25lbs
  • Redid this weight. First on accident, but when I figured out I had grabbed the wrong weight, I was already struggling to finish each set. Besides, I was supposed to go up only 2lbs, but I'm using preweighted bars due to the low weight, so probably best I stay here until I'm ready to jump to 30.
• Deadlift 4x5 at 85lbs
  • Heh heh heh. I was a rebel and did more than the app said. I feel so naughty.
• Cable Horizontal Wood Chops 2x8 at 16.5lbs
  • Threw these in for funsies.

I feel pleasantly rubbery.

 

Oh, lawdy! I did not want to go to the gym today. Like, the idea of lifting was a yay, but actually getting dressed, going out, getting gas, driving over there, listening to my kid sing to every song on the radio whether she knew the song or not, and even scanning my card at the front desk felt like just, too. much.

I've definitely been over-medicating on my

 

BUT! I told myself that I just needed to go. I had a small errand that took me to the exact same freeway exit. So first I told myself that I would just wear my workout clothes because they were comfortable. Then I made my way there. Then made the right turn instead of left to actually get to the gym. I pretty much made deals with myself all the way up until I lifted my first weight. And then I felt aaall better. Until I got home. Heh. But still, I feel better for having gone and not messing up my long term goal with short-term yuck. I am so grateful for these challenges. Ya'll are what keeps me on target.

[ixaera]

Yay victory over the itis!!

[Alaysia]

Summary of week two:

 

I'm barely hanging on, but still on the road.

The core bits I was able to keep up with: 3/3 lifting days and 2/2 cardio.

I was also able to get my continuing education credit goal of 6/6 done, but only because I had a surplus from last week, that is sort of cheating. Still, though, I'm on course that's the important part.

Everything else is a fail. Only had one day where I got 100g of protein. I only made 1 out of 4 frozen meals I was aiming for. I completed no side quests.

Week one accrued 191 points. This week I only got 93. Boo.

 

Third week begins. Going to get back on track.

 

 

[RedStone]

8 hours ago, Alaysia said:

Summary of week two:

 

 

I'm barely hanging on, but still on the road.

The core bits I was able to keep up with: 3/3 lifting days and 2/2 cardio.

I was also able to get my continuing education credit goal of 6/6 done, but only because I had a surplus from last week, that is sort of cheating. Still, though, I'm on course that's the important part.

Everything else is a fail. Only had one day where I got 100g of protein. I only made 1 out of 4 frozen meals I was aiming for. I completed no side quests.

Week one accrued 191 points. This week I only got 93. Boo.

 

Third week begins. Going to get back on track.

 

 

 

 

Gee I dunno, lifting? Check. Cardio? Check. Education? Check. Hard on yourself much? Check and mate  Yeah, I know. When there's a long list it feels like a fail when everything isn't checked off, but it's a long process and some things are bound to roll over for further examination. Work in progress and all that! You're still showing up and doing your biz, so mad props for that! Week three, we're coming for you...

[Alaysia]

44 minutes ago, ~RedStone~ said:

 

Gee I dunno, lifting? Check. Cardio? Check. Education? Check. Hard on yourself much? Check and mate  Yeah, I know. When there's a long list it feels like a fail when everything isn't checked off, but it's a long process and some things are bound to roll over for further examination. Work in progress and all that! You're still showing up and doing your biz, so mad props for that! Week three, we're coming for you...

 

This is true. I'm doing the most important parts. And it's that consistency that is moving me toward my goals. And even if I'm not hitting my protein target, I am still aware of and working toward that target. I wouldn't be getting anywhere near it without doing so.

Thank you for the encouraging hit upside the head!

[RedStone]

9 hours ago, Alaysia said:

 

Thank you for the encouraging hit upside the head!

 

I was thinking more like...

 

And the horribly cliched yet true sentiment of 

 

 

(I dunno why Leo felt the need to be here... but in all honesty every single one of these memes were horribly cheesy so I guess it just goes with the territory...)

[Emerald_Dragonfly]

1 hour ago, ~RedStone~ said:

 

I was thinking more like..

 

 

(I dunno why Leo felt the need to be here... but in all honesty every single one of these memes were horribly cheesy so I guess it just goes with the territory...)

The cheesier the better!

[Alaysia]

You know that cliff I was hanging onto? I'm scrabbling down the side.

My stomach has been keeping me up at night and waking me in the morning with horrible cramps. So my eating has been based on the idea of "Don't anger the belly!" So easy carbs in the majority. The great majority. Like I only have one color on my nutritional pie chart kind of majority. It's not really easing the symptoms, but I feel safer sticking to my quasi-BRAT diet.

 

So poor eating and sleeping has thrown off my lifting. I was able to do light cardio this week and am going to attempt at least one lift day, damn it! I'm going in today. I don't care what I lift, I just want to pick something up and put it down again. 

 

On happier news, I got my Skyrim game yesterday. I completed one quest and then was killed by wolves. Mainly because in my panic I kept confusing my moving stick with my looking stick and spent the majority of the fight looking up my own skirt. So, I haz a ded. But I'm excited to get back in there. I read the manual and found out how to sneak. (Actually, I stumbled on that previously but I just spent a lot of time not understanding why my character was crab walking until I finally hit the button that stood her up again.) And learned how to fight... well, a little better. We'll see how I do.