Weight routine for legcramps, Horn, or anyone else to comment on:
Upper body, 2 sets (sometimes 3 but not usually) of 15 reps, first set using 5lb dumbbells, 2nd set using 8lb dumbbells:
Lower body, 3 sets, 20 reps each, no weights:
Usually do one or the other, so that each (upper and lower) gets worked out for 3x a week.
Progress as of today: 59 lbs lost so far, only -9 lbs to go!
So many mixed emotions this morning, I do not even know where to begin. OK, let's begin with the number on the scale. Up 0.5 lb; the fancy Ironman scale had me at 129.6 this week, as well. At least it's under 130, so that's good, but still a little disappointing. As a "sanity check", I put on my wedding band this morning, and it was quite tight, so I'm retaining water, probably from too much salt and not hormones. Not sure. I do not blame the pepperoni incident one bit for any of this. Bone density measurement on the Ironman scale is at 5.0 which is always good to see.
I weighed in at the doctor's office. I had shut my eyes, as I told you all I would do, but the nurse taking my vitals was announcing everything to me aloud, so no escaping it. The good news is that I'm taller than I thought! I've always thought I was 5'3" standing up straight -- 5'2" if I relaxed in my normal state, or maybe part of "old lady shrinking". Turns out I'm almost 5'4"! She put me down as a SOLID 5'3.5". Woo-hoo - on a couple of levels. 1) I'm taller! and 2) I'm not shrinking yet! YAY!!!! (Bone health is very important to me.)
I have to go back on Thursday for fasting bloodwork, which means a morning of black coffee and plain water. Bleah. The bloodwork will be able to tell the doctor a better picture of my health, but she said I was doing very well.
Two things I took from the appointment:
All of my events were canceled due to the impending snow. Church ladies could have happened last night, sadly, as the majority of the snow didn't come until after 10p; church building closes at 9pm. There had been a dusting of snow around 4p and then it stopped. So that was too bad. But I'm quite relieved that legal clinic - my favorite thing I do - was canceled, because there was 8 inches of snow on the driveway. I think the kids shoveled last night - probably after midnight - because both good shovels had been moved. I shoveled about half of the driveway and then one of my neighbors - bless him - offered to snowblow the rest. I took him up on that offer. There's nothing so good in the world than good neighbors, that's for sure.
In order to shovel this deep snow, I put on a pair of windbreaker running pants from YEARS ago when I was running. The thing is, these are a size Men's Small, because I got them on sale at such a good price. I've been able to fit into them before, but they were always a little snug across the hips - not uncomfortably so, but just enough to notice, especially since my hips are not narrow. Well today, they are completely 100% comfortablely loose. So that is a non-scale victory there!
Progress as of today: 59 lbs lost so far, only -9 lbs to go!
I'm always excited for any signs of progress. The scale is the easiest to see since they measure in such small amounts (tenths of a lb). It's been awhile since I've had a non-scale change that I've noticed. The one that I keep waiting to see move is my belt notch. It seems like I've been stuck in notch #6 for the past few months. It's slowly getting to the point of being between notch #6 and #7, but hasn't quite moved to where #7 feels comfortable. It will be a happy day when #7 becomes the new normal......
lots of people do lots of things to look younger. she has money, probably, as a dr.
try not to compare yourself too much, focus more on continuing to work on yourself :) remember also you know your weight...so the scale is just saying what you know...maintenance stuff i mean...keep the perspective that you are in charge, not the scale :) the scale is a result of your work or unworking.!
you are getting LOTS of snow in Chicago. NY has been escaping it, as it keeps turning to rain.
Yesterday afternoon, for my 3pm snack, I ate an entire package of pepperoni. Yep. No shame. Not a binge. Just putting that out there to stay accountable.
So I am enjoying a "relaxing" morning before my doctor's appointment. I was anxious about this appointment yesterday. Today, though, I feel strangely calm. One thing that helped was that my daughter - who sees the same doctor - said that if they do bloodwork, they take it right there. For some strange reason, that helped. It is completely illogical that I am this stressed about the appointment. I don't dread a weigh-in (I'll keep my eyes shut), I am in pretty good health, this is a wellness exam, I know this doctor (from my daughter's appointments). It should be fine.
Then I'll come home, have lunch, change clothes for work and go to work -- because, as I commented on legcramp's diary -- I am a slave to emails.
I'm a little nervous about the impending snow storm we'll be getting here. Depending on which source I check in with, the snow should start anywhere from 3pm to 6pm, with definite snow by 8pm. I just wish my car handled the snow better. If I had 4-wheel drive, like a Jeep, I would be unstoppable, LOL.
Back to yesterday and eating observations, it was an odd or off day. I was definitely hungrier in the morning. This has been a struggle with me all week, actually, at work. I try hard to keep my overnight fast until 9:30am but that has not been easy to do this week. In fact, I'm having a protein bar right now and it's only 8:30a...
One thing positive to note though was that yesterday morning, I had very good weight training workout. I scheduled myself to go into work at 9:30a, which allowed me the time to do weights. I did upper and lower body, and the upper body session was very good -- I could really feel that I was challenging my muscles. However, I am not in the least bit sore this morning. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, LOL...
Revisiting the pepperoni: my meals and snacks for the workweek have NOT been on target - they seem skewed and off-balanced. The pepperoni incident is probably just this imbalance catching up with me. It was just such an odd occurance. I don't ever eat like that at work.
Progress as of today: 59.5 lbs lost so far, only -9.5 lbs to go!
We got our snow yesterday and this morning, but was only a few inches total. Tomorrow's supposed to be right back to 50 for a high, so just a little blip in this otherwise very mild Winter here. Wife has an all-wheel-drive, similar to Bear's and it's great in the snow. But with so little snow this year, hasn't really mattered.....
I dislike any dentist / doctor appointments and tend to get nervous about them a few days in advance. There's rarely a rational reason for my nervousness, but it just happens. As soon as the appointment's over, I'm instantly back to normal.
Growing up, though, my experiences with the doctor were less than pleasant.
Yes, those jeeps are def way better than cars at handling the snow. my car also doesn't handle the snow well at all and it's a rather major inconvenience to have to drive in it!
i do think the pepperoni indulgence may have been to calm you emotionally about the dr appt.
try to see...have you had less meat lately? that is weird, honestly in my opinion, to want so much pepperoni. ...have you had enough fat? or salt? is there something you were missing for a couple days?
I do NOT know where the love has gone, but it is not here. Feeling so unmotivated, so unspecial. I had that "special" feeling last week where I felt good about working a plan. Today would have been the opposite of that feeling, although, do not get me wrong: I still work the plan, I still exercise, but I'm just not feeling it. That's OK, because I'll just fake it until I make it. It could be seasonal, hormonal...
Actually, I tell you what a HUGE part of what's got me down is -- once again, no surprise here -- work. So my boss is out of the office this month, and I feel like morale is just at an all-time low. I was speaking to Male Co-Worker about this while everyone was out at lunch. I was mostly listening, but turns out Male Co-Worker is feeling this too, and he has relayed this to the boss. (HIm and the boss go way back, so Male Co-Worker can say things like that to the boss. If I say it, I'm just being negative and not a team player.) I'm at the point where if I thought my boss wasn't coming back, I'd start making other plans for myself. In past years, he's come back, and everything is happy again - at least for a while. The sad thing is that this year, I don't think the boss' return is going to make things better around the office. CHAOS.
Or maybe it's the impending doctor's appointment I have Friday morning that I'm dreading. Just going in for vitals and to request blood work. Seems like a waste of time, but I have to have this "wellness" appointment to establish this doctor as my primary care doctor, so that when something DOES go wrong, like my back or cancer, I will have a doctor who can refer me to a specialist. MADNESS.
Or maybe I'm somehow stressing out about the potentially big snow Friday into Saturday. Had plans on Friday night with my church ladies -- not sure that's going to happen. Have legal clinic on Saturday morning -- that will be really hard to miss, so I won't miss it but then that means death-defying driving to the clinic location. If you drive in snowy or icy weather, do NOT get a Prius. That's all I'm saying. INSANITY.
Going to get ready for bed. At least, hopefully that will be one thing that goes right for me. SMART.
EDIT: Oh and while I'm at it, would it be too much to ask to lose 0.5 pounds this week, so that I'm at an even 60 pounds gone? Is that too much to ask???
Progress as of today: 59.5 lbs lost so far, only -9.5 lbs to go!
I've been struggling with motivation / direction for the past couple weeks myself.
Sounds like you have a few Appts and events in the future which is on your mind - one day at a time - try to prep some healthy food for storm !
You got this !!
Today was so mind-numbing -- the weather, the job, my mood, my physical self (still feels like I'm fighting something, may be hormonally linked) -- even my clothese were grey today.
But I did manage to do some things for myself that were good. I did the mouthwash thing again after lunch. Also practiced portion control with the ranch salad dressing for my afternoon vegetables snack. I don't measure, but it was just a little bit over 1 TBSP.
One thing that I'm especially proud of happened Monday night. After I rode my bike, I took off my FitBit. Got distracted... then did a bunch of walking around the house to clean up before bed. Upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs, back and forth. Then when I was upstairs for good, I realized that none of those steps counted because I had left the FitBit in the basement. UGH!!! I had a moment where I was quite distraught and discouraged -- mostly discouraged -- but then I realized that the important thing is that I was doing the walking, not whether or not FitBit was counting those steps or not. So I calmed myself down and took pride in knowing that exercise still counts, even if it's not being counted (by the FitBit).
I'm hoping to get to bed early tonight. Not sure if it's the feeling blah, feeling tired, tired of feeling blah, or the blahness of feeling tired.
Progress as of today: 59.5 lbs lost so far, only -9.5 lbs to go!
Obviously just kidding. But that's what we're lead to believe, right? Deep down we know it's not true, but we still hope that it will magically make everything better......
Good job on getting the exercise in and not obsessing about getting FitBit "credit" for doing it.
Keep on stay positive it's the winter season :-)
Rather frustrated with myself this morning. After having "nothing to do" yesterday, of course I thought of a million things I should have done and, thus, really wanted to get them done TODAY -- the only problem being that I had to work today.
I managed to get most done, in spite of it being a workday. Right now, I am waiting for my baked eggplant to finish in the oven. Then I will go downstairs to ride the bike to decompress.
It was *wonderful* going to bed early last night. I would have gone to *sleep* earlier but stayed up 20 minutes extra trying to get my dumb FitBit to sync with my phone in order to update my stats. I still got over 8 hours of sleep -- despite the fact that someone had a loud late night snack and then the smoke detector batteries downstairs decided now would be a good time to expire.
I think I did well food-wise as well. Had lunch late, so I didn't have to deal with that 1p-2:30p uncertain time, because I was finishing up lunch at around 2:15p. One thing that I'm going to try next time is swishing my mouth out with minty mouthwash. I did that one day, and I had no problems. Killed my craving for munchies for about an hour, maybe even a little longer. I was also proud of myself today for limiting the amount of ranch salad dressing I used for my raw vegetable snack. Sometimes I use too much of that. I'd like to stop doing that.
Hoping for an early bedtime tonight as well!
Progress as of today: 59.5 lbs lost so far, only -9.5 lbs to go!
Smoke detectors have the most annoying chirps ;)
Can you pour out a certain amount of dressing to use and put the bottle away so you don't overindulge ???
You sound good, stay focused and healthy !!
Not feeling very motivated to do anything today. Since yesterday, I've been out to shovel 3 times, 2x yesterday and then 1 more time this morning to get rid of what fell overnight. News says just barely under 2 inches, but from I had to shovel each time, I'm sure we got closer to 3 inches.
I'm feeling those Sunday symptoms again where it's hard to enjoy the day in anticipation of Monday. However, yesterday, I did some research online and found a whole bunch of YouTube videos for things like Chair Yoga, Sit and Be Fit, etc., that I could do at work. I hate that I have the front desk, and not a more private office area like EVERYONE ELSE in the office has. Most folks coming in think I'm the receiptionist, when really, I handle a high load of files. So I could not do Sit and Be Fit if anyone comes in, or if my boss is around. However, I am glad that I found these tools to use, perhaps occasionally if nothing else -- that is, if I can *remember* to use these and not fall into the trap of trying to work harder to get ahead and then totally stress out.
EVENING EDIT: So I did a couple of things to help my anxiety. I had a high fat/protein snack and I took a nap. Both of those things helped. I'm rather proud of myself for the nap. You see, the new kitty is still rather skittish around me. (She adores the kids and my husband.) But she cuddled up next to me and had a nap of her own. My Fitbit signaled to me that it was time to get up and get in some steps for the hour - 250 steps an hour, for 12 hours, are the parameters I have set up for minimal activity - but I opted to let the hour pass, so that I could continue to sit with Miss Kitty instead.
I am pretty much ready for bed at 6:45p. I plan to read and go to sleep early. Maybe I'm coming down with something...
Progress as of today: 59.5 lbs lost so far, only -9.5 lbs to go!
Just a quick check-in this morning, because I want to do my shopping early on before it gets busy - and frankly, before it starts to snow. On my there or back, I plan to stop off at the library.
Weigh-in today was perplexing. My regular 0.5 scale weighed me in at the same number as last week. I consider this a victory, even if the numbers didn't go down. Feeling good, good energy levels, bloating & hormones kept in check.
My fancy Ironman scale (which weighs on the 0.2 - and which usually weighs me 1.6 heavier) weighed me in at 127.6. So the fancy scale dropped but the regular scale has me maintaining. That's an even bigger victory (in my mind) because if things follow as they have in the past, my 0.5 scale should have me dropping next week too.
What was even nicer was to see that the muscle number went up a little bit. So did bone density. As a woman in early middle-age (OK, middle middle-age - almost 50), this is what I want to be seeing now.
EVENING EDIT: One thing that shifting towards a keto plan is that it has me cooking and baking more -- especially on the weekends. I think my husband was happy that I made dinner, and he got a break today, and that actually kind of made me feel good.
Made meatloaf, low-carb biscuits, bosco breadsticks (for anyone not watching their carbs and if the biscuits don't turn out), green beans, and green salad.
In preparing this meal, I kind of have the feeling like we're celebrating -- OK, I'm celebrating everyone being home for dinner. My daughter, when she was in high school, told me that most of her friends do not eat dinner with their families. Either parent or parents aren't home, or they'd rather eat up in their rooms alone - probably watching TV or something on the computer. Kind of sad...
But what has me startled is that this relates to the discussion of using food as a reward. Not necessarily a reward, but in a celebration. Thanksgiving? We're cooking! Birthday? Big cake! Anniversary? Fancy dinner! Heck, when the kids would accomplish something at school or got hired at a job or something special, what would we do? Go out to eat!
So I can completely understand the temptation to celebrate weight-loss with food. After all, there is much to celebrate, right? I get it.
This ties in, somehow, with my journey into maintenance. I'm still using food to celebrate holidays, traditions, accomplishments. Life is to be celebrated!
(Not sure where I'm going with this and my keto biscuits are done, so I must leave the contemplation for later, LOL.)
Progress as of today: 59.5 lbs lost so far, only -9.5 lbs to go!
Also your meal sounds so good. So cool to use low carb rolls!
Nice job on the scale - - glad you are maintaining !
Glad to see the scale is cooperating even with your new plan of attack.
Had a good day yesterday (thank you, Maria!), I think. Tried the flannel pajamas last night -- ohhh they felt so good getting into after my shower last night --- but sadly, when I woke up in the middle of the night, when my husband came to bed and triggered a bit of chaos (not all his doing), I was overheated. So used the bathroom, and then changed into summer jammies.
I am feeling a bit driftless today, uncertain, but will do my best to stick to my Plan of Attack. Tomorrow's weigh-in does have me a little concerned, but I have to remember that my focus has shifted from numbers to performance & appearance. However, if my numbers have crawled back into the 130s, I can't say what my reaction will be. But for now, I'm keeping a positive attitude.
EVENING EDIT: I am very tired this evening, so I will get logging off soon to get ready for bed, but I did want to log in first just to stay accountable. Plus, this way, I put this week behind me and can focus on the weekend and things in my Real Life, and not write about work.
I think I did well eating-wise today, as long as vegetables are OK to eat. I ate a LOT of vegetables today. If self-control was a focus point today, then I failed miserably, because I kid you not, I ate a TON of vegetables, mostly raw, but had quite a bit of cooked kale.
No weight training today. Why? Because tomorrow is weigh-in day. Is that a stupid reason? (((Then we'll say that's Crazy Donkey talking.))) That was the first reason that popped into my mind, but then I rationalized it by saying I could do a better circuit Saturday, because I wouldn't' be rushed to get ready for work. (((This is Mature Donkey talking now.)))
But right now, my goal is to get sufficient sleep. I have gotten at least 7 full hours of sleep every night this week. A much needed improvement, I think. Tonight's fatigue is due mostly to hormones, I think. I seem to follow a predictable pattern 2x a month.
Progress as of today: 59.5 lbs lost so far, only -9.5 lbs to go!
I did better today, I think.... Well, at least I arrived at work on time, so I can say I accomplished at least one thing today. (Insert eye roll here)
I managed a 15.75 hour fast overmight. That was good.
I think the slight heaviness I was feeling in my legs in the morning yesterday (Wednesday) was hormone-related. I didn't feel it this morning. Today's morning workout still wasn't the AMAZING workout I had on Monday, but I kept a good, higher, steady pace throughout.
Having the protein/fat for 2nd breakfast was much better. I was ready for my walk at lunchtime. Unfortunately, it's so dang cold here --- and I know that this isn't really "that bad" as my co-workers were saying, but darn it, I was COLD! So it was another shortened walk. And by the time I got back to the office, I was wanting to remove my scarf, as I had sufficiently warmed up. However, my legs were frozen, even with wearing a long, thermal Lands End coat.
I made a concerted effort after lunch to enjoy a cup of coffee to stop from eating anything else. (I was craving a sweet.) That worked, but I did start my afternoon snack of raw vegetables with ranch dressing promptly at 3pm. But I controlled my consumption by saying, When the salad dressing is gone, I'm done. And I was done, except for a few more baby carrots. There was no going back downstairs for 2nd helpings on ranch dressing. THIS IS THE HARDEST PART OF MY DAY, EATING-WISE, it seems.
On my way home, I noticed that I was sufficiently hungry for dinner. Caught myself a couple of times eating too fast, I think, so I tried to slow it down a little.
I have to do lower body toning tonight, since I did not doing it in the morning. I looked into doing a "Yoga Stretch a Day" online while I was at work, during one of my mini-breaks. Standing poses maybe, but anything on the floor would be very awkward. I was grateful though that I found a corner where I could stretch out my upper back. I have this problem where I get so absorbed in my work that I start slouching over in my chair. (Some of this is stress related, too.) Male Co-Worker has this problem too and gets physical therapy for his upper body because it hurts so much. Anyway, I stand facing a corner. I put one hand flat on one wall, and the other hand on the other wall. Then I lean into the corner with my head so that my entire body is at an incline like this:
Kind of like doing a push-up, while standing up, facing a corner, with the walls supporting my weight as I lean in. Every time I needed to walk around to get FitBit steps, I went downstairs and did like 5 of those stretches.
So we'll see what the scale says on Saturday. My clothes still fit. I haven't really noticed anything else changing, other than having more energy and not feeling worn out. Oh, and tonight, I'm going to try wearing my flannel jammies and hope I don't get too hot overnight. I hope it works, because I love wearing them.
Progress as of today: 59.5 lbs lost so far, only -9.5 lbs to go!
You may want to use foot warmers or maybe is there a heat fan or heat warmer you can use at work for after your walk ??
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First, nice job! Kudos for putting in the weight work!! I know it is not well-liked by most, but I love working with weights!
Your upper body workout is already well-defined. My suggestions for upper body: do all 3 sets AND add more weight. You can move the reps from 15 to 10. Those chest presses could use A LOT more weight. Do you have weightier dumbbells handy? I would START you with 15lb dumbbells, and work your way up from there! You can do it. Same thing with the shoulder press, you can definitely do more than 5 or 8lbs, and once you do this for 4-6 weeks you'll see more definition in your upper body for sure.
I would also add weight to your lower body workout and lower your reps. Check out how to do a goblet squat with a dumbbell, and add that to your workout instead of regular squats. Another one I would start doing, with weight, is the reverse lunge or forward lunge. I like the reverse lunge better because it's much easier on the knees. You can hold a dumbbell in each hand, or you can hold one dumbbell goblet-style. If your knees can handle it, I would also add in lateral lunges. Google it so you know what it should look like. The only other lower body exercise I would add in right now is a deadlift. You can do this with dumbbells in each hand - careful with this one if you have any lower back issues - make sure your form is bang on!
My opinion - add that stuff, work on it for 4-6 weeks, then see if it makes any changes (it will) and slowly progress from there. I would love to hear if you end up making any of these changes!
horn_of_plenty on 01/23/2019:
Loving that you wrote out your routine. Loving the variety and amount of different types of exercises. Loving that you do two types of triceps moves because triceps are so hard to train and form, i totally think it's good to do the 2 types of exercises, yes!
Loving the two types of squats (my routine has 3 different squat exercises i do, so, yeah, keep on with that!) squats are major for shaping your body and keeping the important musclces for posture and to help you when you do cardio.
I wish you did 3 sets of upper body, also.
i def recommend a 3rd set for the upper body because that's the general recommendation that everyone follows. i really do feel you should add the 3rd set in.
i think that your exercises are all good and are all the best ones to be doing. i have nothing to critique negatively only to suggest you do the 3rd upper body set when you feel you have the time to put it in.
remember, to save time, you can do your whole 5 upper body exercises, 3 times in a row the whole series if you wanted...
i like to do a mix of two exercises at once: like biceps move, then a leg move...3 times in a row...instead of 3x biceps and then 3x legs...it saves me less resting time. i still do rest betweeen exercises especially during the second half, more tired, part of my workouts, but, i like to do at least alternating two moves as a way to save time and rest my muscles. not sure if i'm explaining this right.
i will say that i think your workout weights routine is excellent and to keep following thru. NICELY DONE.