I have to keep a workout log. This writing it down on whatever notebook or piece of paper that happens to be within reach just is NOT working. Duh.
And, it gives me a reason to blog/bitch/rant/whine etc.
I’ve been struggling a bit lately. Weight loss began to slow due to too many cheat days - I had 2 in one week - unplanned meal at Cheesecake Factory when Mom came to visit one Saturday. Mom always wants to go out to eat. So, that’s what we did. Hey she paid, can’t pass up a free meal. I had the Mahi Mahi, my favorite fish. I was fine the whole meal, despite all the bread they kept throwing at us and the the guacamole and warm still dripping with oil tortilla chips someone ordered. Then came dessert. To go. WTF??
Had they just eaten it there I would have been fine. But no, they had to bring it home!!!To MY home. Chocolate cheesecake? I love chocolate cheesecake. So, I decided to switch cheat days. I could have just said no. And so that’s what I did. I said no. I said no to cheat day being Tuesday.
Uhm, so, my surgery is scheduled for June 25th. I still want to lose 7-10 more pounds, so far as I can tell. My ass is still a huge lumpy mess. All that weight is sitting on my butt, hips and rear/outter thighs. I’m sick sick sick of looking at it.
I’ve been “dieting” for two years. Although, I’ve only been on a 15-20% calorie reduction since September. Still, I was getting sick of the slow losing and being hungry a bit more often than I cared for. So, this past week I’ve upped the cals, intending to get on maintenance and then finish after the surgery. Well, I haven’t been able to go a week. Well, I have, but this not losing weight thing doesn’t feel right to me. It’s like I have nothing to work toward.
So, I decided to shoot for a figure competition in early November. But the more I think about it, it just doesn’t seem doable given the surgery and needed recovery time OUT of the gym. <cry>
I need to shed more fat. OK want to shed more fat. And yeah absolutely HAVE to lose fat for a figure competition. I could just do as I planned and diet after surgery. BUT, I hate this fat on my ass!! So, I’ve decided to do 4-5 weeks of carb cycling along the lines of the Ultimate Diet 2.0, and then do maintenance for 4 weeks prior to surgery. And yes, I am going to “read the fucking book” as they like to say over on the forums, I just don’t have $40 right now. Literally. That’s what happens when you put money in an account your college student daughter has access to. In her defense, she thought I put the money there for her. I didn’t. So, now I’m about ready to go panhandle.
Anyhoo, I’m still trying to put together a workout program to go along with the eating plan. I need to definately focus on abs/core and my fat freaking ass. I don’t know. I lunge and squat and step up so much that my knees are about to go on strike any day now and still my rear is just a big squishy ugly lump. I’ve backed off anything involving too much tension on the knees this past week. I haven’t stepped on the treadmill in over a week probably. Given the cranky knees and soft butt I think must have glute activation issues, so I’m trying to find ways to correct that. I know it’s not hamstrings. My hams are solid. Perhaps a bit overactive I guess. Maybe quads are a bit under active or just weak. I have to read up some more. I feel like I’m becoming obsessed. All I do is workout or read about working out, diet, nutrition, physiology etc.
So, what workout to do?? I was going to do HST. I tried it for lower but I couldn’t break a sweat. I need to sweat. If I don’t sweat I get cranky. At the time I was also thinking I wanted to go for hypertrophy. After a few days of being a fat ass I decided I want to go back to fat burn for a few more weeks. So, this week maybe has been good just as a break from calorie restriction if nothing else.
Today I tried to do this German Body Composition workout designed by Poilquin. I had some issues finding exercises that fit in terms of my gym setup and equipment, BUT, I really do like this workout much better. I think it should work well with the carb cycling in that perhaps I can get maybe some LBM gain. Maybe.
And, I just like moving heavy weights. I like working to failure. Usually I reach the stick point and just stop. Yesterday, I think for the first time, instead of quitting after I stuck, I stayed and kept pushing for maybe 4 seconds and low and behold, I was unstuck!!!! So, I guess what I though was failure wasn’t failure? Didn’t try another rep after that as it was the last of the set anyway. OK enough mindless rambling dribble no one, including myself, wants to read.
Here’s today kinda messy routine:
Hip Abduction - static - 3×10x1, reps - 1×12x1
Glute/Ham raise - 3×8x7
Set A:
Front Squat (smith) 2×6x60
EZ Bar Squat (wtf this was supposed to be a glute exercise. Didn’t feel like it.) 2×12x50
Flutters - eh, didn’t like this much, 2×25xBW
Set B:
Quad Extension - 1×6x100, 1×6x105 - 105 seems good here
Back Extension - 1×12x30, 1×12x40 - seems like 40 should do it
Lying Ham Curl - 1×25x30, 1×25x40 - even 40 was too light.
So, still gots to tweak. A lot. But I do like this workout. Hard and fast. Just the way I like it!
Oh then I did abs, uhm,
Plank on stability ball - 2×60 sec
Hanging leg raise - 2×10
Horizontal woodchop - 1×12x1, 1×12x2
And 30 min on the Arc Trainer. I couldn’t get my HR up over 155. Gotta remember to do a resting tonight.
