The TFP Health Club

Working out helps lower the homicidal tendencies that I have at my crappy job. Even though I wasn't motivated I still went, and even pushed through legs. Squats were 315x6, 335x5, and 365x2. Haven't been under 365 for some years. I turn 43 in 10 days. My stepmother is coming to town Saturday evening to visit me and her grandkids. My next workout will probably be next Thursday due to her visit.

 

99kg, but not changed for a week. Probably need to move about more.

 

Ankle swelled up Sunday, and I've been mostly out of commission this week. Today cardio and some weight machine work. Worked arms, traps, back, abs, and quads. Felt good and my foot isn't complaining.

 

Better than zero, which is what I've had.

I'm 5 pounds down, 20 to go, before reassessment. Gonna try to do something towards fitness every day, whether cardio and/or weight training, or even just a stretching session, if I'm pooped. I think my new meds (wellbutrin) are helping with my impulse control and I'm more successfully sticking to my calorie limits.

 

Stayed home and benched. Lots of warmup and stretches and some pulldowns followed by bench. 135 185 225 x 10 reps 275x9 reps 315x4 275x10 225x11. Felt kind of weak on the bench, but I have taken time off from benching so much and had a couple of weeks of light work. I did feel good the whole time though, so I got that going for me.

 

Since hurting my foot again, I've only done leg work on machines. Bench on the other hand today went great, considering how 'weak' I've become from my time off the heavy stuff.

BP: 135 185 225 275 x10reps 315x5 335x2 315x5 275x10. My energy is very low lately, probably in part due to calorie restrictions, but I've got to lose some weight.

On the other hand I bought two extra 45 pound plates on Craigslist for $10, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.

 

Since I started the "new" job, I've been pretty much ignoring anything health-related. I was also still in the mindset that "I can eat anything I want on my days off." Works well when you have two days off...not so much when you have almost four. I noticed last week that I feel heavier, and sure enough...stepped on the scale and I've gained eight pounds.

I was a little bummed, but not really distraught about it. Until I went to karaoke and had someone record one of my songs. Watching the video was a wake-up call that I'm slowly slipping back to where I was before, and no thank you, I want no part of that. Started tracking calories again this week, we went hiking yesterday (and are planning to go regularly now), and I'm starting the Nerd Fitness beginner body weight workout again. Hopefully that extra eight pounds is gone by Con.

 

Still going to the gym when I can, which is usually thursday, then Sunday Monday Tuesday. I am trying to lift slightly higher repetitions and volume, because I tend to want to lift heavier and I need the variety. So Thursday my first set of bench presses was 225x11. That is really high reps for me. Five sets of lat pull downs too. I did have some nice DOMS for the next couple days, so that was good.

 

What I was doing was working, I just...stopped doing it. There are other factors in the mix, and I've been meaning to blog about it but haven't gotten around to it yet. Basically, this damn job has been draining my motivation & energy, my ability to care about things, and made me a grouchy bitch who started comfort eating again. So ready to be done with it.



Edited to add: Worth noting that I'm *sort of* low carb, but I don't follow any specific diet or track macros too closely. Once I made the distinction that high protein/high fat food kept me full for longer, I significantly cut down on things like pasta and bread and rice. Still love my waffles, though.

Edited to add again: When I was regularly losing, I weighed myself every morning, and recorded on a tracker once a week. Something else I got away from that I've started doing again.

 

Planet Fatness: Bike, some arm work, and home for squats.

135, 185, 225, 275, 315, 365, 315 x5 reps. Warmed up a lot before squatting. 365 was a bit shaky but I've been taking it easy for a while and am satisfied. The lifting shoes with a heel, and a gel pad for my heel spurs helped too. Squatted a lot more upright than usual, and my back isn't fried, for once. I'm still having trouble finding my bar path sweet spot. I probably need to build up my rear delts, they seem flat.

 

38 Days to go before Dragoncon. Slowly but surely dropping carbs until 2 weeks out and I go high protein, low fat/low carbs. I'd say I'm around 12% bf and I'd like to get as low as possible before DC. I can't get any bigger before then but I can get as cut as possible. I won't have the mass I want but I'll have abs. Then it's a week of not counting calories and then I start my bulk cycle. I can not wait til I get to bulk, I'm tired of people looking at my arms when I talk about the gym. I know they are small, I can't do a damn thing about it right now.

My motivation for things has dropped majorly. I can't really throw everything into workouts anymore, I just hate this cut. I've been cutting for so long, I just want to be able to eat real food once again. 38 more days and I get to really shape my body how I want too. Way less stress once I march in the parade.

 

Still mixing it up, something I'm not used to. Also playing around with training more for the pump. So I did smith machine squats today. Haven't used a smith machine in a decade or more. Feet about 6-8 inches in front of me to emphasize the quads. 5 sets of that followed by leg extensions really got a good pump going in my quads. Something different for me to try. Won't be all the time though, because using the smith machine like that deemphasizes the hamstrings and glutes, and doesn't create tension around the knee which stabilizes it. So more quad emphasis means more knee stress.