Monthly Archives: May 2007

TT HCFL W1D4: Time to Catch Up

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Whew…I hope everyone had a great three day weekend! I was so tired after my three days “off” that I felt like I needed another two days to recover. Chris and I wound up using the weekend to tie up some more loose ends for the wedding.

Friday: Kicked off the weekend with cheat meal dinner at Olive Garden with Chris and a 10 PM showing of Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Crawled into bed at 2:40 AM.

Saturday: Woke up in a panic when I realized that I had a hair appointment with Dante at 10:15 AM and had to motor at high speed to the salon. Left a while later a bit lighter on my pate and wallet with an appointment set for the morning of the wedding for a trim and style. Drove directly to DSW Shoes in Altamonte Springs to look for a pair of shoes to wear on the big day. Realized with some annoyance that my feet must have shrunk in the past few years or shoe makers are indulging in vanity sizing for bloated American feet as well as inflated American waistlines. (I normally wear a size 8 or 8.5 running shoe, but in dress shoes I could wear anything from a 6.5 up to a 7.5 at the store. WTH?) Found a few okay pairs of shoes, but nothing I considered worthy of a $49.95 price tag. Spent next few hours scouring Shoe Carnival, Ross, TJ Maxx, Macys, Dillards, Charlotte Russe, Shoe Dept., Journeys, Payless, and finally Sears before finding cute, not too high, comfortable, and under $30 shoes at my final stop. (I got them in a pale silver, not the pictured black.) Drove home at 5:30 PM starving and in a grumpy mood from being forced to spend the day in crowded malls and stores. That was way too much humanity for me.

Spent rest of day online examining photos and price tags of flower arrangements, bouquets, and party favors while bulk cooking some more food. Went to bed appalled at how much people spent on wedding junk.

Sunday: Hit the country club where the wedding and reception will be held with Chris to iron out details like number of tables, how much alcohol to order, and what decorations will be needed. Visited Old Time Pottery and Lowes afterwards and bought enough red glass bowls, mirror panels, and tea lights for 20 centerpieces for under $43 total. Will be snipping free gardenias off our bush next to the garage to float in the bowls as a finishing touch. Also stopped by Joann’s Fabric where I used a 40% off coupon to score a fake pearl and rhinestone tiara and gave Chris the 10% off total purchase coupon for a few other wedding decoration items, including a $14.99 veil.

Got home with swag, split up as Chris went to geek out with his buddies and I placed some online orders for more wedding stuff. Played around with veil and tiara and decided that tiara was a bad idea with current edgy razor cut, layered hairdo as there wasn’t enough hair left for a secure mounting of sparkly headgear. Determined that tiara must go back to store for full refund Monday. Not so sure about veil either.

Monday: Returned tiara, but kept veil. Went to grocery store to buy salad fixings and fruit. Attended Memorial Day BBQ at friends’ house and ate too much. Develop a migraine headache by 6 pm and have to go to bed early after taking two extra strength Tylenol knock off caplets to get rid of it.

Tuesday: Planned on starting TT Hard Core Fat Loss manual, but was awakened by loud PDA alarm reminding me of 7:10 AM dental appointment to put in a new porcelain crown. Settle for a quick 30 minute YF cardio session before appointment instead. Get pretty new crown installed and fitted, then drive directly to gym where I defaulted to a TTFW weight workout and 30 minutes of intervals on a stationary bike. Worked late.

Wednesday: Finally did a TT HCFL workout (Day 3). Was bummed to see that it included more front squats as I was getting tired of them from TTFW Phase 4. Did them anyway. Stayed late at work again, partly to finish a Star Wars UI redesign and partly to participate in a company-sponsored life drawing session for staff artists. Got home around 9 PM, watched DVR’ed History Channel special on Star Wars, and fell asleep reading David Bach’s Smart Women Finish Rich.

Thursday: I got my workout done this morning:

– 30 minute TT interval B run on the treadmill (60 seconds @ 8.5 mph/ 90 seconds @ 4 mph x 6 sets plus 10 minutes steady state at 6.5 mph)
– 30 minute recumbent bike at level 6-8 / 80 rpm

Depending on how late I have to stay at work, I may do 30 minutes of YF flex or cardio tonight.

I’m extremely hungry right now, but I am holding out until my next meal at 6 pm. I am officially giving up on the 1250 calorie low zigzag days. I just blow meal 6 and add extra carbs when I try to stay that low and usually wind up right back at 1400-1500. I can still lose fat at that range, so why set myself up for failure?

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TODAY’S EATS
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1) 1.5 c. oat cereal, 3 walnuts, 1/2 c. light soy milk, 1/4 scoop protein powder
2) Pineapple soy protein smoothie
3) 3 oz. grilled pork loin, 1.5 c. asparagus veggie mix, 1 pear
4) 2 unsalted rice cakes, 1 T. all natural peanut butter
5) 3 oz. lean beef with salsa, 3 c. lettuce/spinach/tomato salad, 2 T. light French dressing
6) 1 c. light soy milk, 1/2 scoop protein powder, 1/2 oz. walnuts/almonds

TTW20D5: Lethargy and TT Hard Core Fat Loss

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138.0 lbs this morning–A thousand curses upon the demon of female water weight fluctuation! 😆

I’m snarfing down lunch now, but I’ll be doing a 25 minute outdoor walk right afterwards. No workout this morning due to late wake up and general feeling of lethargy which I think is due to low iron from my decision to drop overall calories and blood loss from both TOM and blood donation all in the same week.

Poor planning on my part, that’s for sure.

I’ll hit the weights tonight when I am hopefully a bit more fueled up for my final TTfW workout :claphigh: and be back on the morning workout track with YF and Forza in the morning. We don’t have any social plans this weekend before Monday (besides my regular 6 week hair cut appointment tomorrow morning), so I’ll have plenty of time to look over the TT Hardcore Fat Loss (HCFL) program and familiarize myself with the exercises before I start it up on Monday. The program includes some new exercises for me, including a BB clean and press, a BB complex with four lifts, Spiderman push-up, and siff squat. This one also differs from the other TT programs I’ve done in that it includes 4 days of lifting and 4 sessions of interval cardio instead of the 3/3 built into most of the other Turbulence Training programs. The blurb on the HCFL program claims that it is the most advanced fat loss Turbulence Training regimen in the library.

We’ll see in four weeks, eh? :dbell:

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TODAY’S WORKOUT
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– Outdoor walk (4 mph/25 min)

– TTfW Phase 4 Workout B (35 min)
Warm-up (8 min)

A1) DB Step-up (3×8 @ 40 lbs)
A2) DB Incline Press (3×6 @ 40 lbs)
B1) 1-Leg Hip Ext. plus 1-leg Stability Ball Curl (3×12 for each)
B2) Bodyweight Rows (subbed in for Wide-grip Seated Row) (3×8)

– Bodyweight Interval Circuit (20 min)

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TODAY’S EATS
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1) 3 egg whites, 1/2 c. light soy milk, 30 g oat cereal, 25 g Go Lean Crunch cereal
2) 1 small banana, 0.5 oz. pecans
3) 3 oz. lean beef round, 1 c. asparagus veggie mix, 1 medium pear
4) 1 T. ANPB, 2 unsalted rice cakes
5) 3 oz. lean beef round, 3 c. spinach/lettuce salad, 2 T. light dressing, 1 small orange
6) 1/2 oz. almonds, 1 c. light soy milk, 1/2 scoop whey protein

Supps: 1 multivitamin, 1 calcium 600+D, 3 fish oil caps, 1 serving l-glutamine

TTW20D4: Hello 137!

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I did get to the gym after work last night (drove straight there before going home because I would NEVER have gotten around to it once my butt hit the couch at the house) and did 30 minutes of interval sprint/walk on the treadmill, my OARS for the day, 15 minutes of elliptical and 15 minutes of stationary bike. I hate long, steady-state cardio, so I find it helps to just keep switching machines every 10 to 15 minutes.

Add that to the 35 minutes of TT lifting I did in the morning and I had quite an active day on just 1550 calories.

Which is probably why I was SO bonked out this morning when I fired up my Xbox to do my Yourself Fitness workouts (15 minute Physical Challenge and 45 minute Cardio). I swear, I was ready to quit after the first 30 minutes, but I sucked it up and finished the full hour of workout and didn’t wuss out on any of the sequences, not even the $#$!# 10 minutes of jumping jack variations.

I could tell that the glycogen levels in my muscles were completely depleted from last night’s cardio, though; I was wide awake, but my arms and legs just felt like they weighed a ton and did not want to move. I have to remember to down a banana or other quick snack before I start even my cardio workouts as long as I am at such a significant deficit. If all of my workouts start to feel like this morning’s, I am going to be hating the next 45 days.

On the plus side, I finally broke through to the 137s this morning: 137.8 lbs. 5.8 lbs to go! Tightening up the nutrition always works wonders for me when it comes to fat loss. It doesn’t matter how good I am about hitting my workouts; if I don’t keep tabs on my food intake, I just don’t make progress.

My calories are lower today since it is cardio-only, so I am trying to have more bulky, solid foods and veggies to keep myself from feeling too hungry, sad, and deprived. I’m also bumping up healthy fat intake a bit to help with satiation.

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TODAY’S WORKOUT
======================
– YF Physical Challenge (15 minutes)
– YF Cardio (45 minutes)
– YF Yoga (15 minutes – PM)

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TODAY’S EATS
======================
1) 2 egg whites/1 whole egg spinach omelette, 1 small orange
2) 2 egg whites/1 whole egg, 1 banana
3) 4 oz. beef round in Asian lime marinade, 1 c. asparagus veggie mix, 1 medium pear
4) 1 c. light soy milk, 1/2 scoop butter cream toffee protein powder
5) 4 oz. coconut chicken breast, 3 c. spinach/lettuce salad, 2 T. Kraft Free French dressing
6) 1 c. light soy milk, 1/2 scoop protein powder, 1/2 oz. almonds
(Optional: 1 c. mixed veggies or 2 c. salad if still hungry after meal 6)

Supps: 1 multivitamin, 1 calcium 600+D, 3 fish oil caps, 1 serving l-glutamine

More Turbulence Training Member Bonuses for May (5 TT Programs for $9.95)

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I posted back in April that May was a great time to sign up for a basic Turbulence Training membership for just $9.95 (monthly subscription that you can cancel at any time) at TTMembers.com because of the great combination of 4-week TT manuals being offered at the time:

– April 2007 – Mass At Home 4-week program

Build muscle at home using only dumbbells and your bodyweight.

To build muscle, you don’t need expensive machines or over-priced supplements. You just need hard work, some free weights, and an appetite. Use this 3-day workout to build mass in your home gym.

– May 2007 – TT “300” Workout 4-week program

An intense, advanced 4-week fat loss program using a variety of rep ranges to get more results in less time. Also includes a “300” TT workout to be done as a challenge at the end of the 4-week program.

Train 3-days per week with weights. Do 2 interval workouts per week after 2 of the weight workouts. Stay active for 30 minutes on off-days.

Includes optional barbell exercises if you have access, otherwise, you can do everything with a bench, dumbbells, and a ball.

And finally, challenge yourself to the TT “300” workout. An intermediate workout challenge. Not as hard as the original “300”, but still a tough 10-minute challenge for Coach CB (who did the original “300” workout in 20-minutes).

– Original 4-week TT bodyweight program (Bodyweight workout for fat loss that can be done anywhere)

The 1st Bodyweight Workout ever written for Turbulence Training. And this one contains an incredible, self-testing challenge that will ensure your workout is super-intense at any fitness level. Give it a try the next time you don’t have access to weights. A 4-week bodyweight TT workout that you can do at home, in the park, or in your hotel. There are 3 levels so that anyone can use it.

– TT Nutrition Guidelines by Dr. Chris Mohr (The nutrition plan that works hand-in-hand with the TT workout manuals)

And, of course, you still get the other perks that come with the basic membership for a full month:

– The Workout of the Month
– The Fat Loss Expert Interviews
– The Fat Loss Teleseminars
– The TT Discussion Forums (Get fast and direct answers to your TT-related questions, post a workout/diet log, etc.)

I thought the above was pretty nifty and already well worth the price of a lunch and tip at a local eatery, but it turns out that Craig Ballantyne has gone ahead and added two more bonus 4-week workout manuals to the list of goodies for May:

– January 2007 – Fat Loss

Alligators, Grasshoppers, Pushup Burpees, Stability Ball X-Body Mountain Climbers…

…these are just 4 of the 32 exercises that will work your abs, boost your metabolism, and help you burn calories this month…

This month I’ve built 2 TT Strength Workouts, 2 TT Ab Circuits, 1 Bodyweight Circuit, and 2 Interval Training Sessions into a plan that can be adapted for 3-day training programs or even 6-day per week programs.

There are several new exercises (including the Grasshopper Pushup that you’ll just have to see to understand).

The workouts are fast and fun. After all, just because the holidays are over doesn’t mean you have 2 hours (or even more than 45 minutes) to spend in the gym.

2007 – The year you lost fat without slow, boring cardio…

– November 2005 – Barely Legal Mass Gain

This phenomenal program is a follow-up workout to a wildly successful program that was featured in Men’s Fitness, November 2005. This program kicks butt, period. It’s tough, you’ll get strong, and you’ll build muscle.

Folks who have already signed up should have access to these two new workout manuals already, but if you’ve been on the fence about trying out the program before investing in the main Turbulence Training for Fat Loss manual, I still think this is one of the best (and cheapest!) ways to do it.

Just make sure you sign up on or before May 31, 2007 if you are going to bite because Craig has announced that he will be raising the price of the TTmembers.com subscription to $19.95/month for basic membership and $297/year for platinum membership.

:eekb:

$19.95 still isn’t bad for five full TT workout manuals and the nutrition plan, but, well, any tightwad fitness fanatic knows that $9.95 is a much better deal, so get in on it soon if you have been hesitating. 😉

(However, if you do sign up before the price hike and decide to keep the membership going after the first month or year, you will be locked in at the current rates of $9.95 for basic and $147 for platinum.)

TTW20D3: Slow But Steady

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Calories hit 1700 yesterday, darn it, but with all of the exercise I did, I still had a nice 700+ calorie deficit overall. The tricky part about reducing calories is NOT overdoing the exercise to the point where you are ready to gnaw on your running shoes when you leave the gym.

Today I’m shooting for the higher end of my zigzag because I lifted this morning. I’m happy to report that I am still pulling five sets of 8 full unassisted chin-ups in my TT workout without too much trouble, and push-ups to max are holding steady in the 40-50 range on average when supersetted with 40lb DB rear lunges. I think I have better shoulders, back and biceps now on the TT program (having done absolutely no isolation exercises for any of those body parts) than I have ever had on more traditional body part splits. I’ll try to take some pics tonight or tomorrow morning. I’m not shedding scale weight very fast this time due to my smaller caloric deficit and reduced cardio, but I sure am holding onto my lean mass in my upper body a LOT better!

Bicep curls with 20 lb weights are kind of a joke anyway after doing 5 sets of 8 bodyweight chins when you weigh close to 140 lbs.

I am even happier to report that this morning’s workout was the last TTfW workout I needed to complete that included front BB squats. YAY. I loathe front squats. One major criteria for the next TT program I choose to follow will be the complete absence of front BB squats.

Meals 1 and 2 are down the hatch, and 3-5 are in the work fridge waiting for me. I need to get in my TT intervals at the gym after work and an additional 30 minutes of MISS on the elliptical.

Weight: 139.2 lbs
BF%: 19.8%

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TODAY’S WORKOUT
======================
– TT for Women Phase 4 Workout A
A1) BB Front Squat (3×8 @ 115 lbs
A2) Chin-ups (3×8)
B1) DB Reverse Lunge (3×8 @ 40 lbs)
B2) Pushups (3x Max reps – 54, 30, 43)

– Outdoor Walk – 4 mph/13 min
– TT Intervals – Stationary bike (30 min – after work)
– Elliptical (30 min)

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TODAY’S EATS
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1) 30 g oat cereal, 20 g Kashi GoLean Crunch, 1/2 c. light soy milk, 3 egg whites
2) 1 banana, 1 small orange
3) 4 oz. beef round steak, 1 c. asparagus veggie mix, 1 pear
4) 2 rice cakes, 1 T. peanut butter
5) 4 oz. chicken breast, 3 c. spinach/lettuce/tomato/onion salad, 2 T. light French dressing
6) 1/2 scoop protein powder, 1 c. light soy milk, 1/2 oz. almonds

Supps: 1 multivitamin, 1 calcium 600+D, 3 fish oil caps, 1 serving l-glutamine

TTW20D2: Learning to Breathe

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Chris is starting to swim again for cardio, which is cool. I had him give me a basic swim lesson refresher this weekend in the dinky neighborhood pool. I apparently kick fine, but have not mastered the important skill known as “How to Breathe While Swimming” yet.

:tongue:

I think I will attempt to practice my swimming (or breathing, really) at least 2 days a week for the entire summer.

Yesterday was good on food and exercise. I closed the day at 1550 calories, and felt good about my TT workout and intervals in the morning. This morning I opted to do another outdoor run (I know, I know…two days in a row. It’s a wonder the earth hasn’t fallen out of its orbit from the shock.) for 20 minutes of steady state and 10 minutes of intervals. I’ll be hitting my abs during lunch with some stability ball moves, and then YF flexibility for 30 minutes at home tonight.

Food will be at 1250-1300 calories and lower carb today, so the goal is to keep myself busy enough to not notice the hunger pangs and carb restriction grumps.

:grumpy:

Weight: 139.5 lbs
BF%: 19.4%

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TODAY’S WORKOUT
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– Outdoor Run (20 minutes medium-intensity steady-state, 10 minutes HIIT)

– Core and OARS #2 (15 minutes)

– YF Flexibility (30 minutes)

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TODAY’S EATS
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1) 30 g raisins, 30 g oatmeal, 3 egg whites
2) 1 small banana, 1 medium pear
3) 4 oz. tilapia, 1 c. asparagus veggie mix, 1/2 c. brown rice
4) 1.5 scoops whey
5) 4 oz. coconut chicken breast, 3 c. spinach/lettuce salad, 2 T. Kraft Free Sweet & Spicy French dressing
6) 1 scoop whey, 1 c. light soy milk

Supps: 1 multivitamin, 1 calcium 600+D, 3 fish oil caps, 1 serving l-glutamine

TTW20D1: Cheapass Gardening

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I donated blood yesterday after waking up late, so there was not much in the way of exercise after that! I did do a little bit of gardening over the weekend however, and kept the eats pretty clean.

140.0 lbs this morning due to the cheat meal lunch I had at a local diner with friends. I’ll see if I can deflate back down to 138 territory tomorrow.

This morning’s workout was TT Phase 4 Workout B followed by a 20 minute outdoor interval sprint session. I haven’t performed that workout in over a week and was low on iron due to TOM and blood donation, but I found that I didn’t need to drop any of my weights, so all was good. I am just glad that all of that is out of the way already. I skipped the outdoor walk since it was $#$!@ hot outside and I had already gotten in my outdoor activity when the sun wasn’t blazing so enthusiastically overhead.

With my nutrition and exercise back on autopilot, I have been able to focus on some of my other hobbies. Last week was spent organizing my personal finances again, and this week is devoted to finding ways to have a decent flower and vegetable garden with a budget of, oh, $50 for the entire 2007 year.

I’ve been a very tardy gardener so far this year, barely doing anything besides a bit of weeding, removing exhausted plants from last season, and transplanting three or four purchased pepper plants into the dirt in my square foot garden plot. Heck, the only reason I even have a tomato plant and Thai giant peppers right now is because some unharvested fruits fell off of some plants last year, and the seeds came up all by themselves in my paved courtyard off the master bedroom. I currently have one or two monster tomatoes in there and five small hot pepper plants.

And weeds. Lots and lots of weeds.

The seed starting that should have been done around December/January finally got completed this Saturday with about 27 little homemade origami newspaper seedling pots (2007 cost: $0) being populated with a variety of eggplant, pepper, cherry tomato, malabar spinach, corkscrew vine and geranium seeds (2007 cost: $0 – Seeds were all acquired last year or before). I probably should have gone for something more heat tolerant than geraniums, but I figure that I can just get a flat of cheapo marigolds from Wal-Mart this weekend for under $4 and save myself the germination time. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that winter will be mild again this year, because my little seeds aren’t going to have a lot of time to get going. As it stands, we’ll soon be in full-blown 98 degree/99% humidity Florida summer nastiness down here, and only the heat-loving veggies I listed above and a few other selections (okra, sweet potatoes, cucuzzi) will survive and produce anything under those conditions.

At least the fruit trees I planted in 2006 are doing well–a dwarf banana (that is rapidly approaching 6′ in height), two lychees, two mangos, and four types of figs. Florida may blow chunks when it comes to many types of veggies, but we are aces for fancy tropical fruit!

The strawberries I planted last year (and chose not to pull out) are starting to produce lots of small, sad berries now. I have to forage amongst the dense leaves every morning to catch the stunted little fruits before the local squirrels and bugs get them.

As far as other stragglers from 2006 go, I still have about half a dozen sweet potato vines I should probably dig up and somehow figure out how to propagate so I won’t have to purchase more slips. There is also a little Fairy Tale hybrid eggplant that is making a valiant comeback in the SF garden, a giant Brazilian orange eggplant that looks more like a decorative flowering shrub than a vegetable, a square of green onions, another square of chives, a pineapple, and two bell peppers that I really need to yank out. The non-veggie 2006 plantings are doing a lot better. We have three brugmansia (Angel’s Trumpets) that are taking off like crazy in the heat and over a dozen daylilies that are blooming their heads off already.

If I didn’t love fresh garden veggies so much, I could happily plant nothing but fruit trees and easy-care perennials.

Anyhow, with $32 of my $50 gardening budget already gone, I’ll be doing my best to start my own perennial flowers from my embarrassingly large collection of seeds instead of paying outrageously high prices from catalogs and local nurseries. It’s going to take a LONG time–the sago palm seedlings I started last year are still only 6″ tall for instance–but I think it will be worth it in the end.

Besides, I have to justify the cost of the seedling heating mat I bought last year somehow.

:whistle:

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TODAY’S WORKOUT
======================

– TTfW Phase 4 Workout B (35 min)
Warm-up (8 min)

A1) DB Step-up (3×8 @ 40 lbs)
A2) DB Incline Press (3×6 @ 40 lbs)
B1) 1-Leg Hip Ext. plus 1-leg Stability Ball Curl (3×12 for each)
B2) Bodyweight Rows (subbed in for Wide-grip Seated Row) (3×8)

– Outdoor Interval Run (20 min)

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TODAY’S EATS
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1) 3 egg whites, 30 g raisins, 30 g oats
2) 1 small banana, 1 small apple
3) 4 oz. tilapia, 1 c. asparagus veggie mix, 1 medium pear
4) 1 T. ANPB, 2 unsalted rice cakes
5) 4 oz. coconut chicken breast, 3 c. spinach/lettuce salad, 2 T. light dressing
6) 1/2 oz. walnuts, 2 T. raisins, 4 oz. tilapia, 1 c. asparagus veggie mix

Supps: 1 multivitamin, 1 calcium 600+D, 3 fish oil caps, 1 serving l-glutamine

TT W19D5: Progress & Perfection In The Home Stretch

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I am doing my outdoor walk now as I post via my Treo. I have to confess that workouts have been off or haphazard for about five days now, but I am ready to hit it hard through the rest of this Get Out(doors) PinkDumbbells.com challenge all the way through July 7. I’ve been working out without a real break for over three months now, and I think I just needed some time to let my body fully recover for a change.

Yesterday I wound up just taking an outdoor half hour walk with Chris around the neighborhood and was at maintenance level for food. I was clean but too high for a deficit – Not a horrible day, but definitely not getting me anywhere near my goal either. I went to bed determined to get myself back in line.

This morning I discovered that TOM had arrived two days early, which explains some of the evening carb cravings I have been feeling. Anyhow, I am not going to make any more asinine excuses for myself (justified or not) when it comes to my program. It is officially progress and perfection time again for me, and that is that.

I’ll be zigzagging my diet plan at 1450, 1450, and 1850 (including one cheat meal) on my three TT lifting days, and staying around 1250 (cries a little bit on the inside) on the other four days.

I’ll also be doing HIIT interval cardio for 20 minutes six days a week and an additional 30 minutes of general exercise of my choice on the non-TT days as recommended in the TT program.

Frankly, I know the dieting is going to suck in terms of hunger and lowered energy levels and performance in my workouts, but it is time for me to just commit to the diet portion of my cut, even if my workouts start to feel like @$$.

Speaking of workouts, I want to mention that this morning’s TT phase 4 workout A was pretty good after my 5 days of rest. I did front squats at 115 lbs, and for the first time ever I managed to do all 8 of my chin up reps for all five sets!

Funny thing–I brought my Omron handheld digital body fat analyzer to work today so one of my co-workers could check his progress. I designed a nutrition plan for him about two months ago–based on the standard of six small meals a day composed of ONLY healthy foods that he likes–that he has been following like a trooper, and so far he is down to 266 pounds from a starting weight of 289 pounds. Even better, his starting body fat percentage was 45%, and today he got a reading of 34%. He just turned 24 today, so his progress was a nice bonus. I think he will be at his goal of 5’11” and 180 lbs by his next birthday.

Anyway, after he checked himself, pretty much 3/4 of the guys in my office (which is nearly 100% male) came by my desk to get their body fat measured, too. The results ranged from 8.0% up to 34%. The average was probably in the upper teens to 22%. The guys pretty much hovered around waiting to see/hear each other’s results. It was pretty much like a competition.

None of the three women besides me in the building volunteered to try it. (Really says something about how differently men and women are psychologically-conditioned, doesn’t it?)

My reading was 20.2%–not bad for a woman, but still 5% away from my wedding day goal.

Which is why I put the Hotties Boston Creme doughnut that my co-worker had saved for me back into the box.

There will be plenty of doughnuts available for purchase AFTER I reach goal. I refuse to walk down the aisle with that doughnut stuck to my backside or triceps.

😉

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TODAY’S WORKOUT
======================
– TT for Women Phase 4 Workout A
A1) BB Front Squat (3×8 @ 115 lbs (up from 105 lbs last time)
A2) Chin-ups (3×8)
B1) DB Reverse Lunge (3×8 @ 40 lbs)
B2) Pushups (3x Max reps – 50, 40, 40)

– Outdoor Walk – 4 mph/25 min

– TT Intervals – Stationary bike (30 min – after work)

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TODAY’S EATS
======================
1) Dymatize Cocoa Oats ‘n’ more with 1/2 c. Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal
2) 1 banana, 1 tangerine
3) 4 oz. tilapia filet, 1 c. asparagus veggie mix, 2/3 c. cooked brown rice, 2 T. salsa
4) 2 rice cakes, 1 T. peanut butter
5) 4 oz. chicken breast, 3 c. spinach/lettuce/tomato/onion salad, 2 T. light French dressing
6) 1.5 scoops protein powder, 2 c. spinach raw spinach

Supps: 1 multivitamin, 1 calcium 600+D, 3 fish oil caps, 1 serving l-glutamine, 2 servings BCAA