In my last update, I was in the middle of Jamie Eason’s LiveFit Trainer and was enjoying it! Unfortunately I never ended up finishing the program since the workouts were just too long. Perhaps I’ll try again when I foresee more free time!

I went on vacation mid-May and basically undid the progress I made doing LiveFit!  So I joined a 98-Day challenge on the Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle (BFFM) website.  BFFM was actually the first book that got me to change the way I thought about food and exercise, so I figured if there’s a system that’ll get me out of my rut, this is it!!

And boy was I right! I’m 5 weeks into the BFFM Summer Challenge, and I’ve lost 7 lbs: 6 lbs of fat and 1 lb of muscle!  I still have another 9 weeks left of the challenge, and I’m looking forward to continuing the progress I’ve made! 

My favorite part about the BFFM system is that it’s pretty flexible and you can choose the various parts. The main focus is mindset/ goal setting, and then measuring the outcomes and tweaking your strategy until you get the desired results. So it took me the first 3-4 weeks to find what works for me, but now I’ve found it and plan to continue with what I’m doing as long as it’s still working!
I’d love to do a better job documenting my journey on here, so consider this my first official post of my BFFM transformation journey!  

I can’t believe it’s been another 6 months that I haven’t blogged!

I’ll admit it was because I was busy taking care of everyone and everything else except myself.

I was in a good routine of lifting and eating well.  Then the holidays approached and I was busy with work, family, holidays, tri club, and everything else.  No time for the gym.  No time to cook.  No time to think about my own health.

I finally got back on the gym bandwagon around February.  But things have still been on and off.

Work’s been crazy.  There have been so many days that I’ve gotten off work super late and have been too tired to do anything but grab fast food on the way home, then go to bed.

My volunteer work with my tri club’s been crazy.  We have so many new volunteers and so few people to show them the ropes!  I’m hoping all our newbs have it handled from here on out because I’m feeling the volunteer burnout.

I’ve started another lifting program- Jamie Eason’s LiveFit trainer.  It’s more of a bodybuilding routine, which I’m surprised I’m liking!  It’s a pretty high volume program, though, so we’ll see where this takes me!

I’m in Phase 2 right now, and I’ll admit I’m falling a bit behind.  It’s 6 workouts a week, and I’ve been averaging closer to 4-5.  It might not have been the best program for me given my work and volunteer commitments, but I’m losing weight and getting stronger.  So in that sense, it’s working as planned even though I’m not following it strictly.

It’d be really interesting to see my results if I can do it as directed!  In the meantime, I’ve already been researching other programs to do after this one, that are closer to 3-4x/week.  That’d be more manageable!

In any case, my main reason for posting today is to record that I’m going to commit to take time out for myself, regardless of how busy things get!  I need to make healthy eating and working out a priority.  Period!

After 3 weeks of going back to the basics and focusing on increasing strength for the 3 big lifts, I finally stalled on my deadlifts (155 lbs), and was approaching stalling on my bench press (around 100 lbs) as well.  My squats didn’t seem close to maxing out at 160lbs–old logs have shown I’ve gone 200+ for bb squats before–so it would have been nice to see where my max is for that.  I’ve been wavering back and forth as to what to do once I hit this wall– either continue trying to improve sheer strength, or go back to kettlebell training, which has a huge metabolic training component to it.

I’ve decided just to go back and doing Lean & Lovely Phase 3 and do it without any modifications.  I think it’s more my style.  I used to so straight-up heavy lifting with my friend Lake a few years ago, and I remember being very antsy since it didn’t feel like I was *doing* anything during my workouts.  Yes, it’s hard to do lifts when you can only eek out 3-5 reps, and yes, it’s pretty cool to see such big numbers in my training log.  But it just doesn’t feel like very much!  I think I like the higher density training of supersets etc even if it’s higher reps and the numbers aren’t as impressive.

In any case, I had bought the L&L program along with a companion program, Super Heroine Fitness, which was designed to be done after completing L&L.  So I think I want to finish those plans before jumping ship and doing something else instead!  I took a closer look at the SuperHeroine training program, and it does include some HEAVY lifting– sets of 12×3 for Deadlifts, 8×4 of Squats, and 6×6 of Bench Press.

If I finish up the L&L and SHF programs as they’re designed, that would take me through June.  From there, I can re-assess my goals and decide on a course of action.

Reflections of Gratitude

I’m grateful to have found such a strong interest in improving my health and fitness.  Even if I’m not always that great at following through, it definitely helps that I WANT to workout more, eat cleaner, and keep improving.  There are definitely worse  problems to have than that there being so many workout plans I want to follow that it’s hard to stick to one!  Plus, life is long, so I’m sure if I keep plugging away, maybe someday I’ll be able to do all of them!

Also grateful to have the opportunity to register for a major triathlon for free today, due to a generous donation.  I hadn’t had any races planned this season, but now that I’m registered, hopefully this will give me more focus.  The race is at the end of August, so if the SHF training takes me through June, then I can spend the summer focusing on endurance training.

This is my second week of focusing on basic weightlifting moves- the Squat, Deadlift, and Bench Press.  To be perfectly frank, I’m kind of getting bored with just doing the same 3 exercises each time.  Plus, I found some old notebooks, and I’m no where near my old PR’s.  I probably just guessed too low when picking my weights for the exercises this time around!

Here’s my workout plan for the rest of February.  I’m close to maxing out on my deadlifts, and I can already feel my grip strength failing.  I’ll continue increasing the weight for that exercise by 5 lbs each time I lift, but using the same weight throughout each single session.  Last Friday, I deadlifted 135lbs, so tomorrow my DL set will be 3 x 5 at 140lbs.

I’m no where near my old PR’s for Squat and Bench Press, however.  So for both of those, for my next session, I’ll do as many reps as possible for those exercises, starting with 5 lbs heavier than what I did on Friday.  So I’ll start off of 140 lbs for Squat and 85 lbs for Bench.  I’ll increase the weight by 5 lbs for each set, but still doing as many reps as possible for those.  I’ll continue with the 3-set format (not counting warm-up sets), and if I’m still doing more than 5 reps for the 3rd set, I’ll use that as my starting weight for next time, and keep repeating this format.

I’m just worried that because I guessed wrong, I’ll be stuck with too-low weights for bench and squat moving forward.  I do want to find out what my 5-rep max is!

I think I’ll also add in some metabolic work at the end of each workout.  Probably involved KB’s — like swings, snatches, cleans. etc.  I’m missing my Kettlebell routine!  Once I’ve reached my max weights for Squats and Bench, I think I’ll go back to Lean & Lovely Phase 3, but substitute in Barbell work for the squats and deadlifts.  It’ll be good to work on sheer strength, but I don’t want that to be the only thing I’m doing!

Reflections of Gratitude

I’m grateful for being able to continue to find ways to keep things interesting while also improving myself.  While I’ve decided I’m not all that interested in strength for its own sake (I really don’t care how much I can bench!), I do like to see where my limits are and playing with them.

Since getting derailed over the holidays, I’ve decided instead of jumping back on the Lean & Lovely bandwagon, that I’d go back to basics for a bit.  For my lifting sessions, I’ve been doing Squats, Deadlifts, and Bench Press.  That’s it.  I’ve also been adding in some yoga and running.  Keeping it simple for now!

After about a month of consistency, I’ll plan on adding more– perhaps just expanding on my basic routine.  Or perhaps going back and finishing Phase 3 of L&L, which is where I’d left off back in October/ November.  In any case, I’m currently just planning on staying with my basic routine until I stall out on these basic exercises.  The beauty of keeping it simple is that it’s easy to see gains and feel strong.

Reflections of Gratitude

I’m grateful for my yoga practice, which helps me feel centered and calm, reminding me that its’ about the journey and not the destination.  I’m so much less flexible and balanced than before due to years of endurance training and not practicing yoga as much as I’d like; however, I still find joy in each pose even if I’m not able to go as deeply or into as advanced as stage as I’d previously been able to.  I’m finding that the more I do yoga, the more I can appreciate other aspects, such as running and lifting, in the same manner.  It doesn’t matter that I may not run as fast or be as strong as I was before, but that I’m enjoying each moment while I’m participating in these activities.

Hello blog, it’s been a while.

I won’t make any promises that I’m back for good, but at least I’ve remembered to come in here and post something.

Needless to say, my big plans to get back on the fitness/ blogging/ blogging-about-fitness Bandwagon, have stalled.

It’s just the usual story.  I had great intentions, then when life got busy, my intentions went to the wind.  I went to Kentucky for a race and it messed up my workout schedule.  A few weeks later, it was a week-long trip to New York and a wedding.  A few weeks after that it was Thanksgiving, then Christmas.  Then New Years.  Now it’s February and I’ve succeeded in forgetting all my plans and gaining my holiday weight anyways.

Well, the least I can say is that I enjoyed the holidays and spending time with family and friends, even if it threw me for a loop in terms of sticking to my diet and exercise goals.  Now it’s definitely time to get back on the wagon of eating right and exercising.  Whether I record it in this blog, who knows?

But to lay it out there, here are my goals for February 2015:

1. Lift 3 times a week
2. No booze this month.
3. Pay attention to my macros – focus on protein, and limit carbs to around workouts.

Hopefully I don’t get derailed this time!

Reflections of Gratitude

I’m grateful for having the ability to get back on the wagon after I’ve fallen off.  Yes, I do need to hone in my skills of being able to enjoy friends and family while still staying on track with diet and exercise.  But life is a big learning process.  I’m just a slow learner!

I’m feeling so sad with this post.  It’s hard to think of something to be grateful about when I’m writing about not being able to participate in a sport I love!

I will say that I’m grateful to have so many other interests to keep my occupied when I can’t participate in triathlon.  I am enjoying being back in the gym lifting and doing yoga on a regular basis.  My only regret is that I don’t have the community feeling in those sports as I do with triathlon.

Perhaps I should look into befriending more lifters and yogis?

I’m thoroughly enjoying the Lean and Lovely workout plan!  So much so that I’m contemplating buying kettlebells for my mom’s house so that I can continue my workouts at home when I visit.

I love that the workouts are designed to be efficient.  Usually I only use 2-3 kettlebells in a workout.  I don’t have to wait around for equipment to free up, like the squat rack, or have to spend time changing out plates on a barbell when I want to change my load.  I feel like I get so much work done in the gym in less time.

It also makes it easy to NOT skip workouts when I know I can be in and out of the gym quickly, regardless of whether it’s busy or not.  Usually I avoid the post-work rush at 5-6:30 pm since it’s crazy crowded and hard to get a good rhythm going with so many people around.  The compact nature of the kettlebell workouts makes it easy to do my thing in a small amount of space even when there are tons of others on the workout floor.

I definitely plan on incorporating kettlebells into future workouts once I’m done with the Lean and Lovely program!

Reflections of Gratitude

Gorgeous fall days when I can walk around outside enjoying my neighborhood without being too hot or too cold.  I know everyone’s sad that summer is leaving, but I love fall so much.  BRING IT!

The next week will be a challenge.

I have SO MUCH going on.  I’ll really need to concentrate and manage my time wisely to get in my workouts and be pretty conscious to stay on track of my nutrition.  It’s SO EASY to get off schedule and off track when life gets in the way!  

With this weekend being Labor Day, I’m actually visiting my parents for the weekend.  It’s a great way for me to see family and relax/ recharge out of the city.  It’s a great calm before the storm.  

Tomorrow is Monday, but it’s also Labor Day.  And it’s also my birthday!  My friends are throwing me a birthday barbecue.  Most of my closest friends are coming, even ones that no longer live in Chicago and happen to be in town for the weekend.  I always say people aren’t around for my birthday because often folks go out of town.  BUT that also means folks are IN TOWN visiting as well!  It’ll be pretty fantastic being surrounded by old friends and catching up.  

Tuesday, I actually have a reservation for one of my favorite restaurants in the city, as an extension of my birthday celebration.  Wednesday I was meant to help out for an event with my triathlon club (of which I’m one of the volunteer organizers), but I was able to earn a reprieve from having to attend since another friend has agreed to take charge of that event.  I am, however, required to oversee an event on Thursday.  Then Friday through Monday, I’ll be in Madison camping and volunteering for the Ironman with my tri club!

To make sure I stay on track, I plan on lifting Monday (birthday session!), Wednesday (thankful for my reprieve!), and Friday (before heading to Madison!)  I won’t be too crazy about sticking to any nutrition plan for my bday bbq or the dinner on Tuesday and just enjoy the food and the company.  I’ll also try to squeeze in some runs or other cardio on Tuesday and Thursday, as well as doing a long run on Saturday while I’m in Madison.  I’ll also make sure to pack some relatively healthy snacks (fruit!!) for my camping trip and not fill up too much on S’mores!  

Reflections of Gratitude
I’m grateful to have so many friends and activities planned, even though it makes it hard to stay on track.  I’m excited to see my closest friends tomorrow, especially the ones visiting from out of town.  I’m looking forward to spending time with my tri club friends Thursday through Monday.