Emi Wants to Be an Introvert

[EmiWantsToLiftThings]

So, I haven't been posting here as much but I've actually been staying pretty well on track.  I'm still drinking waaaayyyy too much booze, but I've been working out consistently and eating well (still pre-making most of my weekday meals and not eating much sugar, though I do splurge sometimes!).

 

So why the reboot?  I hate people, that's why.

 

Ok, I like people well enough, 1 on 1, or in social situations, but I hate when the relatively large gym I go to at work is FULL OF PEOPLE and what should be a 30 minute workout takes over an hour or I end up having to skip exercises or sets because the equipment I need is never open when I want it.  I've tried several different times during the day over the last few weeks to try to compensate, but the real problem is that the kids are back (college) so it's going to be busy now no matter when I go, because they live here, and they don't all have class at the exact same time, sooooo.  No more gym for me.

 

Yeah, that's what I decided.  I'm not going to the gym while the kids are on campus.  I hate it.  My workouts are incomplete, or I rush through sets and my form suffers, they don't clean up after themselves well, and I spend way too long looking for equipment that isn't where it should be, whine whine whine, it's just not good.  So it's not worth it.

 

So here's the plan.  I'm switching to the bodyweight version of the Academy workouts (and I'll use my dumbbells when appropriate) and I'm going to do them at home either first thing in the morning or before bed (experiment!) and maintain that same workout routine of MWF.  I'm going to keep up my eating habits, but I'll track again just to be sure I'm still where I want to be.  And I'll switch to a modified SL 5x5 program during breaks when the kids aren't on campus and the gym is more usable. Power lifting is my main long term goal so I don't want to drop that completely.

 

The weekly goal break down:

 

1. Do an Academy workout at home MWF

2. Take at least one 20+min walk at work every day

3. Track my food here daily

 

First long term check in (Oct 17th, first short break of the fall when the kids are likely to be gone): 

 

Go to the gym Monday and meet or beat my most recent PR's for 4 major lifts*

 

- 4r 60 lb overhead press

- 3r 80 lb bench

- 4r 130 lb deadlift

- 4r 90lb squat

 

 

* barbell rows aren't in the level of the academy I'm on yet, but dumbell rows are, and I can continue those at home because I have the dumbbell weight I need

 

If I can meet or beat my PR's I will consider this experiment a success and will stick to it!  I will try it out again with Thanksgiving break as the next milestone, and I will use Winter break as a solid lifting progression month to set new PR's.

 

If I can't meet or beat my PR's I will reevaluate my options (buy more home equipment, join a local *quiet* gym, practice my withering glare and fight the college kids for the racks, something...) 

 

Here's to being an introvert! *climbs back into my blanket fort*

[EmiWantsToLiftThings]

Day 1ish (Day 3 of the week, maybe I'll just go with Day 3 then) went not so bad.  I did manage to work out at home and surprised myself with how well I could do one legged squats.  I worked out at 7:30pm, got a shower, then basically went to bed.  I didn't get to sleep until around 10pm though.  I think working out that late makes it harder to get to sleep early.  Maybe Friday I'll aim for a bit earlier.

 

I did not go for a walk   Got distracted by actual work while at work, which almost never happens.  It's raining today, but I'll get a walk in even if I look like I'm melting afterwards.

 

I'm feeling pretty good about the effectiveness of the bodyweight workouts, and while I've had to do some tweaking to make it work with the equipment and space I have, I worked up a good sweat and I feel it a bit today.

 

Food Log:

 

Breakfast

- iced coffee with unsweetened coconut milk

- got sidetracked and forgot to eat until is was basically lunch anyway...

 

Lunch

- small bowl of leftover smoked cheddar broccoli and potato soup with red peppers and onions

 

Dinner

- about 3/4ths of a Chipotle sofritas bowl with guac and the usual, eaten with chips

- one church brew works oktoberfest (best beer in the universe)

 

Goals:

 

1. Do an Academy workout at home MWF (2/3)*

2. Take at least one 20+min walk at work every day (2/5)

3. Track my food here daily (1/5)

 

* I'm counting Monday and Tuesday as work out and walk days since I did stick to the old routine those days before switching it up Wednesday, I'm only counting the food log goal for the relevant days this week though

[The Ox King]

Huzzah for smoked cheddar broccoli!

I do think you can do better on food. It seems that you are eating very little food, and compensating it by eating calorie-dense food. My suggestion seems contradictory, but is to keep your portion the same, but add more vegetables and add one or two more meal times.

So breakfast can be a shake, lunch 1 is a salad at 10am, lunch 2 is a sofrito and broccoli at 1pm, snack at 4pm is fruit and a small starch, and dinner is potato soup, steak, and asparagus at 7pm. (I typically workout right after work, so the fruit becomes my energy for the workout, and I'm ready to eat a cow by the end of it) 

At what speed/intensity are you doing the Academy workouts?