Posts Tagged ‘workout’
Um… Time to bare it…
Posted on: May 6, 2013
I have been taking before and after shots since I started working with Nick. Just recently I had a meltdown because I wasn’t seeing/feeling any different. I knew I was getting stronger, but I didn’t feel like I was getting any leaner. I was frustrated and complaining to both Link and Nick about it. Frustrated doesn’t even really come close to how I felt to be honest.
I am all for getting stronger. I have been promoting the benefits of lifting for some time now. I love the benefits I’ve been reaping thanks to lifting. I apparently still need some help to get over my mental road blocks. I still find myself turning to food to help deal with stress. I still see myself as “chubby” and I am very critical of myself.
Here are my original before and afters:
It took Tom pointing out the difference because I honestly could not see them. I see them now and feel crazy for not having seen it before. No, they’re not drastic, but they don’t need to be! It’s progress and that’s what I need to be concerned with!
I showed them to Nick as well. He made a valid point… I need to get out of the shorts! How am I going to see the progress in my legs if I’ve covered them up? I have always had major insecurities with the “thickness” of my legs and booty, which is why I put the shorts on. So, I’ve got new before pictures. In a triangle bikini no less. I took them last night and it was like some weird form of torture. I like being on the seeing side of the camera, not the seen. I cannot thank Link enough for helping me with them. I felt awkward and exposed. Not the best feeling in the world, let me tell you.
But, after looking at them, I can see even without pictures to compare them to, I know I’ve made progress. Of course there are things I don’t like. I’m trying really hard to not focus on those parts. In order to keep with the whole honesty idea of this blog, I’m sharing these pictures with you. And I may or may not be planning to compete in an ACTUAL fitness competition come September which is where the poses are coming from.
oh, and um, don’t mind my crazy, it’s way past my bedtime hair 😉
Most recent workout
Posted on: April 28, 2013
First and foremost: LINK IS HOME!!! His two week “vacation” started this morning, so I was crazy getting the house and kids ready, which is more or less the reason I haven’t posted much in the past week (ish).
Now, onto blog business. A quick update with my “no scale” challenge. It’s been hard. Honestly. I hate not knowing how much I weigh. At one point, a couple of weeks ago, Nick wanted to get my stats, so I found out then what my weight was, and seriously, it was like getting taking a huge breath after you’ve been underwater to that point just before you know you might want to consider coming up for air. I haven’t looked since though. I’m starting to feel the “itch” though. LOL May 4th is the day my scale comes back out. One more week.
On Friday Nick decided it was a good day to work my entire back half. Wow. Lots of dead lifts. Lots and lots of dead lifts. I was actually able to do 185 pounds, whereas last week I could only do 165 pounds. 20 pound difference in a week? I’ll take it! I try to tell myself those are the numbers that matter, even if it doesn’t sink in every time.
We also did some ab work on the TRX. It’s a great training area/device/contraption/torture device if you can find the right form. Some of the exercises are a bit hard to find the right form, at least for me they are, but I think that’s what I’m going to start working on because I really do like how it works.
I’ve included a couple of pictures that Nick took while I was working with cables and while on the TRX.
—Take care of your body, it’s the only one you have!
Another well-paid for workout
Posted on: April 10, 2013
Nick has done it again. I swear, he gets a kick out of torturing me, and I love him for it! Here’s how today went:
I saw him finishing up with his earlier appointment, so I let him know he could find me warming up on the treadmill. Not even 1 minute later he comes over laughing at me, telling me to get off. There was my first big indicator that today I was going to sweat… a lot! I could see it in his eyes! LOL
He hands me a jump rope and off I start. Today was a “go until you lose your rhythm (mess up) and well do one exercise”. So in between my “mess ups” we took care of the prehab stuff. He made me focus considerably more by putting half a foam roller on my back so I would isolate the right muscles/joints without shifting. The supine bridge was intensified by doing them one legged on the bosu, and we did another prehab called the “reach, roll, and raise” (or something like that). It focuses on the mid-back.
Then we go into the “heavy” stuff. It started with a kettle ball exercise that I can only describe because I have no idea what it’s called. It’s double-armed, and you swing them until they’re almost parallel to the ground then you use your traps and lats to “punch” them back. I know that’s a horrible description but I have no idea how else to describe the motion. LOL Then onto dead lifts, morning glories, inverted rows, presses and donkey kicks all on the smith machine except for the first two. There was huge progress made from last time I tried inverted rows. Not gonna lie, I felt pretty awesome (tired) afterwards.
Once the heavy was done we moved back to our starting area and did some ab and endurance training. This was the circuit I had to complete as many times as I could in 15 minutes. Donkey kicks, fire hydrants, plank (on elbows), alternating side planks (holding for 1-2 secs each time) for 10 reps, wall sit for 30 seconds, then upright rows. The wall sits damn near killed me!! I hated them in the army and I hate them just as much now! After all of that was done, then I had 20 minutes of cardio.
So yes, I sweat my a$$ off today, and it felt awesome. I have noticed when I’ve gotten in a great training, I am so much more apt to keep the momentum going into my dietary needs. Granted, today was Boston Market Wednesday, I still behaved so much better than I think I would have normally, and I still made nutritious decisions without totally depriving myself. All in all, a good day!
Didn’t realize I did this…
Posted on: March 19, 2013
I was talking to a friend the other day and she asked me what I’ve been doing to keep my stomach flat. First, I laughed at her because my stomach is FAR from flat. She got it. She then said, “I mean, what are you doing to not be poochy?” Oh! So here’s the thing. The ladies in my family seem to be just as prone to get that lower belly pooch that so many other women get, most noticeably after pregnancy. I’ve never really had one. Even when I was super über fat! It all “pooched” together LOL I told her that I haven’t really been doing much of anything. I said that I give most of the credit to when I decided to have these crazy painful injection shot into my gut fat to hopefully minimize the fat cells.
taken 3/18/13 after working out at the gym
(It was a series I couldn’t finish because it was so painful! The company I was going through eventually stopped offering them because clients weren’t finishing the series and thusly were not getting the results they were expecting.)
back to my story
She asked me what I did before that. Now I was looking at her like she was crazy. Yes, I was in Army for a bit, but I was never super fit. I could pass my PT test, but that was about the extent of it. Then it hit me! Something I have been doing since I started driving.
How do I know this happened when I started driving? Because it was the only time I would do it.
If you’ve read my history you know that I had some serious self-image issues. I didn’t have much of a muffin top but the fat on my stomach still bothered me so much that while I was driving I would always “suck it in.” Yup. That roll that hung around my midsection was so embarrassing for me. As the years progressed, I stopped “sucking it in” as much as I would keep it contracted. I honestly don’t know when the change happened. And I literally do this ALL THE TIME. Like now, I’m sitting here, belly contracted inwards. I do it when I’m driving, while I’m doing strength exercises, while I’m doing my cardio, while I’m eating dinner. Literally…. all.the.time.
It’s the only thing that I can think of that I do that stops me from getting the pooch. Now, catch me a day after I’ve eaten my weight in sodium (i.e. anything from a fast food joint), and you’ll tell me I’m full of it. LOL
So maybe while you’re driving, contract your belly in, hold it at the stop lights. It might make a difference, it might not. I honestly can’t say for sure, but if nothing else, it keeps your core stable and that can only be a good thing!
If not for the skinny jeans... 