[Georges] Accountability supports my goals.

[Georges]

Tomorrow's Monday, and I get to try out the new work schedule.  Also, I weigh in and notice that I'm not losing any weight.  But new work schedule means new eating schedule, so it's a good time to rework what and how much I eat.

... weigh in was down 2.5 lbs.  Some of that was water, some of the stall was probably PMS.  But 2.5 is a lot.  I don't want to have to erase my progress bar next time I weigh in, so I think I'll use the average of the last 2 or 3 for the progress bar.

Did not eat enough before work.

Had to eat too fast between work and workout, but I will fix that Wednesday by using my car.

Felt well enough fueled for workout, so that's good.

Should have refueled after with some protein, but I just don't eat when I'm not hungry, because I need to be eating fewer calories.

 

I forgot my workout log at the gym    It will probably still be there tomorrow, though.

 

I'm at such low weights that I haven't really been doing "warm up" sets, but today I did.  Only one set, and only a little below working weight, but it's a start.

Got on the treadmill after lifting, but only for 10 minutes because it was closing time.  I think it felt good.  I haven't used a treadmill since rehabilitating The Knee, so I'm a little wary, but I'll know in a day or two.

I found out that Step Aerobics is officially go, the week after Kettlebell ends.  I realized today that I also haven't done that since rehabilitating The Knee, but stairs in general seem okay, so I'm optimistic.

[Georges]

Also, this is sort of like a mini-woot:

I got my first "What, do you live here?" at the gym today. 

(my reply was "I wish.")

[Georges]

I think I've been trying too hard to keep my back "flat" instead of neutral on squats and deadlifts, and now I just wasted half the day looking around for info online to either refute or back it up, since it's a gut feeling rather than feedback from anyone.

 

/sigh.

 

Obsessive checking with Amazon shows that my copy of Starting Strength has a shipping label now, even if it hasn't left the warehouse.

 

Okay, I will turn off the compy now and go live my life a little.

[Georges]

6 Jan (Tuesday)

 

Got things done (dishes, laundry, gasoline in the car, grocery, bill paid) and got Kettlebell class in there, too.

 

7 Jan (Wed)

 

Woke up feeling a little run down.  Tried egg in my oatmeal for breakfast.  Had trouble finishing breakfast. 

Got to get ready for work and get there.

[Georges]

Wed, Jan 7 (continued):

 

Made it through work.  (I brought an extra bottle of water and 3 carrots for a snack.  Didn't really drink enough water, was pretty hungry by end of day.)

 

Worked out like a champ.  Mostly.  At gym closing time, I hadn't gotten to any cardio.  I also skipped curls.  Are they even a useful thing?  They must be for more than vanity biceps, right?

 

Anyway, I figure it's a good trade off, as I made time to do warm up sets for stuff (warm up sets are new this week).

 

Weigh in this morning was down.  I think that and my tiredness level means I'm not fueling quite enough.  Tomorrow is Rest Day, though, so I'll feel better.  I just need to figure out fooding for Friday.  It's not even a question of not being able to eat enough, it's just a question of eating enough without eating too much.  And timing it around work and workout.

 

Obsessive Amazon check:  book still in warehouse.

[Georges]

Thursday, Jan 8, 2015

AM

(Much needed) Rest Day.

Obsessive postal tracking:  book is in NJ! 

This morning's weigh in was exactly the average of the last three...

which matched my progress bar...

but means I'm supposed to change it. 

 

 

PM

so hangry.  and trying to pretend that I'm not.

[Georges]

Friday, 9 Jan

 

AM

 

Was horribly ill after dinner last night.

Feel better this morning.

I'm wondering if my "hunger" was some kind of mis-perception of the beginnings of gut distress.

And I'm a little worried about eating breakfast.

Also, probably dehydrated.

Sigh.

 

Book tracking hasn't updated.  >.<

 

PM

 

Didn't breakfast.  Did have a snack at work (orange).  Did eat several ounces of chicken between work and workout.

 

Workout was meh.  My brain was already on weekend.  Squats went well because I love them.  Bench went horribly badly.  I still can't find my lats and keep my shoulders happy.  Deadlift went okay, but my grip is already becoming the weak spot.  I didn't feel like doing anything else, even treadmilling.  I got some advice on lat work, from someone who isn't certified, but has obviously worked on his lats.  Bent rows and the rowing pulley machine will now get added into the mix, and I'll review my dumbbell row form.  I just need to work them enough to learn how to engage them properly, and then they'll get worked when I bench, right?

 

My poor book is still in South Jersey.  I wish I could txt it and have it pick up a decent bagel for me on its way here.

[Georges]

Sat, Jan10

 

AM

 

Posting is really frequent when I can't get things done that I want to get done...

 

Week 3 of the year (my wall calendar numbers the weeks, nice for long term thinking) is going to be a backing-off week, so I can

• get over the ick that hit me Thursday night (Mr.Georges was sick for about a week)
• focus on reading Starting Strength (It's in Springfield, MA now)
• get happier with my bench form (still having problems with activating lats/engaging back/keeping shoulders safe)
• not get run down, which was looking like a problem at the beginning of Week 2

I just need to keep in mind that for the long term stuff, this week is useful work (even though it feels like junk miles).

 

Anyway, today is Saturday, which is housework, balance, core, and naan.  I can do this, because I had breakfast and coffee and winter light.

[Georges]

Jan11 (Sun)

 

Apparently, I'm not adding core/balance work yet.  Not until I don't feel so tired on the weekends.

 

My book made it to Maine.  USPS does not seem to update their tracking much.  Anyway, it should get to me tomorrow or Tuesday.

 

I'm really not happy today.  I have all the dishes since last time I did them to do, plus laundry (it's a bit of a hassle because we don't have a dryer) plus trying to get the house to warm up.

I'm putting of the trash run until tomorrow (no curb side pickup here).

I didn't do any housework except a load of laundry yesterday, so it's not like I didn't get a day off, but I'm cranky and resentful today.

Maybe I will feel better if I eat a proper meal.

[Georges]

Jan 12, 2015 (Monday)

 

My book is at the post office. (Because when you live in the middle of nowhere, sometimes there is no home post delivery.  But there's post on Saturdays, so we're still one up on Canada.)

 

My food was not great today.  I'm pretty sure toast with peanutbutter should never be more than one meal per day.  That was breakfast and after work.  A bananananana and an orange at work.  And now I'm eating a sweet potato.  I'll try for more protein tomorrow.  ; ;  I like to pretend that peanutbutter is a good source of protein, but it is really not a good choice for someone who needs fewer calories.

 

Actually, I just popped over to myfitnesspal, and it's telling me 1608 calories, 46g protein.  Not as bad as I thought, but not as good as I want.

 

Lifting (I've added warmup sets to the big 3, although I'll probably ditch them for deadlift):

 Squats @ 75lbs

 Bench @ 65lbs

 Deadlift @ 135

 Tried Press for the first time (bar only)

 Dumbbell rows

 

My bench form is still atrocious.  Dumbbell rows are to work on lat isolation, because I still can't.  There is a lat pulldown machine, but I didn't feel like I could remember what I'd read about using it specifically to target lats.  I'm frustrated with the whole thing.

 

When I'm done being frustrated with that, I'll move on to my weak grip.  It is already a problem with my deadlift, at less than bodyweight.  This Friday will be grip day, with some dead hangs for time at the end of the workout.

 

What I really need is a multi-hour run to clear my head.  I hate January.

[Georges]

Tuesday, Jan13

 

AM

 

Tried something new for breakfast today.  Mr.Georges reminded me about the tub of protein powder gifted to us and the tetrapac of soymilk we have.  The soymilk wasn't in the fridge, but it is now.  So I mixed the powder with vanilla almond milk, because it was that or water.  It was everything I expected it to be, which means it was meh in flavor, mildly unpleasant in texture, but drinkable, and my arms were telling me that I can't slack off about protein.

 

PM

 

No ill effects from protein drink this morning, yay! 

Last Kettlebell class today.    Next week, it will be replaced by a step aerobics class (as long as there's room in the class).

Boring grown up day, in which I ran (figuratively, I actually walked instead) some errands.

I did get Starting Strength finally, so that's exciting

I thought about starting mfp use again, but I don't think I am going to at this time.

 

Off to start the chapter on bench press.  Wish me luck.

[Georges]

Wednesday, Jan 14th

 

Protein powder in soymilk for breakfast today.  Giving it a few more days before I decide whether it agrees with me or not.

 

Worked.  Worked out.  Did kind of the bare minimum (Squat, Press, Deadlift), and was going to treadmill, but the treadmill had other ideas, so only got a couple minutes in.

 

Read the Starting Strength Bench Press chapter.  Lots clearer now.  Will have to re-read, though; it's a lot more technical of a book than I'd expected. <3  Nerding out a bit.

Skimmed the Programming chapter after my workout, so I'm feeling better about doing the bare minimum.

 

Rest Day & Work tomorrow.  Probably feeling this tired because it's Wednesday and I need a rest day.

[Georges]

Thursday, 15 Jan.

 

AM

 

I hate the protein drink.  By which I mean, my weight is up, kind of by a lot.  I'm still giving it some time, in case it's temporary GI adjustment.  But I have some bad feelings about my weight already, and this makes them louder.

Also, I'm using this as an excuse to not update my status bar until Tuesday (one week on protein).

 

 

PM

 

Busy (but not productive) day today at work.  I'm ready for Friday.  Because Friday is a workout day.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Is the protein shake instead of your normal breakfast or in addition too?

[Georges]

Is the protein shake instead of your normal breakfast or in addition too?

Instead of.  My work schedule changed from 8 am starts to 11 am starts (Jan. 5), and I've been having trouble figuring out when/how much to eat since. It's 250 calories.  Real food breakfasts used to vary from about 150 - 400+ calories, depending on how hungry I was and how lazy I was.

 

[Georges]

Friday, Jan 16th

 

Worked.

 

Workout:

Squat (warmup sets first) 3x5 at 85lbs

Bench (warmup sets first) 3x5 at 65lbs

Deadlift 1x5 at 135 double overhand, 2x5 at 135 with mixed grip

Deadhangs 3x 15secondsish, 1x 5 secondsish  <--might request a clock in view of the pullup bar...

Treadmill 18 minutes, because that's how long I had until closing time.  1.5 miles.

 

I can't decide if I just want to work on my grip and keep deadlifts at this weight, or use the mixed grip and add weight.  Everything I'm reading implies that if I add weight and use mixed grip, my grip will still get stronger, so I'm leaning toward that.

 

I don't know why my squat is sooooo tiny.

 

I'm still having problems with my bench form.  I had an awkward re-rack today.  I can't add weight until it's sorted.  Except for that awkward re-rack, things (shoulders, back) felt better today, but it's kind of moot if I miss the rack, drop weight on my head, and die.  I'm going to look at the other benches and see if they might be usable, like if the incline bench adjusts to horizontal, or something.  I wish there was a power rack, because I would use the hell out of it, and probably so would those guys who were "bench pressing" in the smith machine...

[Georges]

Saturday, Jan 17.

 

Rest day.  Did dishes, helped with painting, watched Netflix.

Not as brain-restful as I needed.

Probably more of the same tomorrow.

 

Still too soon to be certain, but I think the weight spike was more about

my guts getting used to the protein drink breakfast than anything else.

 

At some point, though, I'll have to face the fact that running and losing weight and lifting heavy

are not the easiest goals to combine.

[Georges]

Sunday, 18th

I feel like my weekend was stolen away from me by people who make plans without asking me first.

Another day painting.  Also, freezing up chicken in meal portions.

Stayed up too late trying to have time for myself.  Ate badly.

 

Monday Jan 19

 

AM

 

Tired, resentful, not ready for the week.

Heading into work, bringing my SAD light because I chose to shower instead of using the light before work.

Need to get my mind and soul into a better place.

[idealistinfire]

Hard when people plan your time for you - I know that feel all too well ....and my bf probably does too

[Georges]

Monday Jan 19th

PM

Worked.

Came home to change for workout and got cross again.

Worked out.

Home now, feeling a bit better.

Day off tomorrow, plus new step aerobics class (space permitting).

 

Did a 'bare-miniumum' workout (warm up sets and work sets of 3 lifts only), because I'm just effing tired of it all today.  Not feeling run down physically, but everything else.  Maybe January is just catching up with me.

 

work sets:

Teeny-tiny squats at 85 lbs.  Could not have done more.

Press at 55 lbs. (first time adding weight to the bar, sets were 5, 5, 4 because that bar wasn't going up again.)

Deadlifts at 145 lbs. (1 DOH grip, 4 mixed)

 

I still haven't wrapped my mind around metric weights (I feel like it should be easier, after all the miles-kilometers conversions from running), but the calculator tells me that's

squats at 38ish

press at 25ish

deadlifts at 65ish

 

because I am a beginner.

[Georges]

Hard when people plan your time for you - I know that feel all too well ....and my bf probably does too

One day I could probably have dealt with.  Maybe even both days if Mr.Georges had been there too.  But now I just need a day off.  Hopefully, tomorrow will help, even though it will probably be a whole day of doing all the housework I didn't do on the weekend...

[idealistinfire]

I hear ya! I'd love a day for myself, the whole thing and congrats on doing a mini workout while tired!

[Georges]

Tuesday, Jan 20

 

Weighed in today, after one full week using protein powder.  173.

 

Mr.Georges told me to rest up today, because he is awesome and recognizes that I am feeling unrested after the weekend.

I'll still be doing housework, but not stupid-crazy amounts.

18 Freedom degrees outside, so I'll probably still walk errands, because I miss being outdoors.

 

I have a hard time not comparing myself to others (which doesn't go well), and I've been feeling kind of bad about not being able to work on my bench press, and only just starting with the overhead press, and wondering why my squat weight is so tiny....

so I turned my numbers into less judgemental data.

 

As a percentage of total weight for all four:

(5RM)

Squats: 24.3%

Bench: 18.6%

Press: 15.7%

Deadlift: 41.4%

 

So now I can get some numbers for more experienced female lifters and see if I'm super-unbalanced or just a little unbalanced.

 

And yes, I'd love to have access to a power rack, but the only lift I can't work on right now is the bench press, until I find a safer rack or someone to help.

 

Working on optimism today.

[Sloth the Enduring]

IIRC this is a new experiment. Did you lose, gain or maintain using protein powder? And was that the intent?

Edit: after a quick scan, you work out a lot, was it to support recovery?

[Georges]

IIRC this is a new experiment. Did you lose, gain or maintain using protein powder? And was that the intent?

Edit: after a quick scan, you work out a lot, was it to support recovery?

This was the first week.  I ended up at the same weight (my goal is to lose weight at about 1 lb/wk).  Protein didn't upset my digestion, but it changed it enough so that my weight has become a bit more inconsistent - bigger fluctuations from day to day - so I'm not sure if maintaining this week means anything for trends.  I'll find out over time.

 

I started using the protein powder because I've been feeling like I wasn't eating enough protein.  Meals/cooking have gotten weird with Mr.Georges working more and my work schedule changing, and we had a tub of protein powder.  I'm not super scientific about data collection or variable isolation, but between extra protein and reducing my lifting to mostly the Starting Strength novice program, I'm feeling like recovery is pretty much spot on.  My goal is to continue the Starting Strength program and add running, then to increase running (but not so much that I'm overtraining).