Elisa's Progress

[elisa]

This is my first post and I want to start a log to track my progress and get any advice that will be helpful.
I am a 44 year old female. I have always been active and started weight training over 4 years ago. I had undiagnosed Celiac (can't eat any gluten/wheat) for a number of years and it manifested itself in my body with a lot of muscle problems. I had a lot of inflammation, especially in my muscles. I began weight training and it was slow going for quite awhile. 5 pounds would be very hard for some things.
After a year of training and healing I have been pushing myself to get leaner and stronger but I don't seem to make much progress. I had one of those moments in December when I looked back and realized that I haven't made any progress because I haven't made any progress. My weights are basically the same. I knew I was supposed to lift heavy and thought I was (aren't all the weights heavy?) But I read about some actual numbers of how MUCH I should be lifting and realized that I am a long way from that.
One of my problems is that I go all out and push myself. Then injury or fatigue sets in, rest and recovery and then start over again. I start a program and after 3 or 4 weeks I don't see the results that I want, so I start another program. I have discipline and determination but I just don't if I am focusing it in the right direction. I tend to think that if they say to do x then I should do xxx and it will be better. I also start a new type of diet and then do a different one in a few weeks.

Then I stumbled across this fabulous site and the 5x5 method.

I have been all over this site and using the free download 5x5 workout program. I started on December 17, 2007. I had also started the Anabolic Diet one week before this.
I started out light.
I have a cheap bar (so it is light) and started out with 10# added to this bar. It did seem VERY light, but I have a tendency to over do it so I started light and added 5# each workout as specified.

I do my cardio after which consists of a kettle bell routine. The KB routine is set up so that I do a specified number of swings and snatches and you add 2 reps at each workout. The last two sets of snatches use a heavier KB and it would go something like this 5 snatches, rest 1 min, 10 snatches..... then the next workout it would be 6 snatches, rest 1 min, 10 snatches. You keep gradually moving up and after you reach a certain number of snatches you change the last set to a heaver KB and drop back down to 5 snatches. The increments are very small but over time you keep building to do more and more reps and the KB's keep increasing.

I am doing the Anabolic diet but haven't lost anything. I am pretty sure I am doing it right. I will post more about the diet in another post.

[elisa]

Started December 17 at 10# (not including bar)

Friday's workout I am at 45# 5x5 for my front squat. I was also at 45# on Wednesday.
When I did my overhead press last Monday at 45# I hurt my lower back. I realize that I was pushing the weight to make it happen and didn't have good form. So on most of my lifts I can no longer add 5# per workout.
This is where I usually move on to something new but I want desperately to build more muscle. I know that is what is holding me back from not looking better and losing the rest of this fat.

I am not sure if I should add another set or more reps? Or just add more weight (as the program says) and see how many sets I can do.

I will post Friday's workout to make it more clear.

Front Squat 45# 5x5
Overhead press (switched to BB because of the hurt back and dropped wt) 15# x5, 16#x5, 24#x5, 24# x 5, 16# x 5,
Deadlift 45# 2x5 (did 2 sets instead of 1, weight isn't that heavy yet)
chin-up 1
I am only doing one chin up because when I do more I end up pulling my neck muscle and having to rest it so I'm doing only one and next week plan to add just one more.

Did snatch workout #12 on my chart.

[elisa]

Anabolic Diet
When I started I weighed 128 pounds. Now I weight 132 pounds. I think I am going in the wrong direction.

Friday
2 eggs
turkey sausage
coffee w/ whip cream

(workout)

egg white protein drink
1T peanut butter
1 flax muffin

2 turkey sausage
1 red bell pepper

chicken w/ alfredo sauce (small serving)
broccoli

snacked on a few macademia nuts

venison sloppy joes with cheddar cheese (no bread)
pork rinds

sugar free jello with 2 T whip cream


Today is Saturday so I'm eating carbs
So far today,

1 GF waffle (GF means without gluten made with rice flour and such)
real maple syrup
coffee w/ half&half
1 scoop egg white protein

banana
sweet potato fries (baked)
apple

I plan to have some rice pasta and more potato and venison today.
any comments?

[Young Athlete]

I believe that you may have gained weight because you burned off fat cells and your body created new muscle cells. Muscle is heavier then fat which could explain a little bit of the weight gain. There is nothing wrong with weighing 132lbs either just keep working out if you continue to gain weight take away 250 calories. Your body will lose weight but adjust it self over time to the lesser amount of calories. If you continue to gain weight after taking away the calories add in a 10 more minutes of cardio.

[Young Athlete]

Keep working out you will gain muscle do a deload and work yourself back up to 45lbs. After this you might quit stalling. It takes months not weeks to build something great and of quality it's the same with your body to.

[Mehdi]

Welcome Elisa.
 
If you can't increase the weigth on the overhead press: try again up to 3 workouts with the same weight, this is to know if it was just a bad day or really fatigue setting in. If after 3 attempts you're still failing on that same weight, lower the weight by 10-20% and rebuild from there. If you're not confident about your technique: go for 20% decrease on the weight (or even 30%). One step back, 2 steps forward. Better to take more weight off, to focus on technique & speed, and then burst through plateaus. Plateaus are bad mentally. Taking weight off builds confidence. Do also sets accross: 5 sets of 5 reps with the same weight on every rep.
Overhead Press can kill your lower back (like any exercise) if you don't do them correctly. Make sure you squeeze your glutes hard, and shift your torso forward as soon as the bar is at forehead level. Don't allow your torso to shift back under the weight.
Stop also weighing yourself, and measure your body fat. If you gain muscle, you will be heavier but look better. Make weekly (or bi-monthly) pictures to track progress. After 4 weeks you can start cutting calories if necessary.

[elisa]

Thank you Young Athlete and Mehdi for the comments. I will post my workout & comments.

Today is the beginning of week 5 for my workouts.
Today was terrific.
did 50# 5x5 on all Front Squat, Bench Press, and Barbell row. I did my 1 chin-up and and plan to do another one later today.

I did my kettle bell workout and felt strong. It takes about 25 minutes. Then did stretching and foam rolling.

I love this workout plan because it is simple. Simple doesn't mean easy but it gives me something to look forward to. After a workout I can't hardly wait until the next workout to see if I can add more weight and do it again.

I'm not sure if I mentioned my goals but a few of them are to bench and squat 100# by my birthday in May. I have about 18 weeks so I need to increase my lifting weight by just over 2 pounds a week. It should be possible.

My muscles feel full and bigger. I can see and feel a difference in my forearms, upper arms and shoulders and legs. The only problem is that all of my fat is sitting on top of my gut, it seems more pronounced like it is all gathered up and pooching up like a fat man with a beer belly. My pants are tighter and the fat kind of rolls over the edge (like a muffin top). None of that was there before, my pants were actually lose. The pants are fuller through the seat and thighs so I know that I am building muscle. Maybe it is just because of coming off my carb weekend or I'm building muscle and the fat still wants to hang around. This is the beginning of week 6 on the anabolic diet. I will post my diet for today a bit later. I want to make sure I am not doing something wrong on it.

[Mehdi]

100lbs is very doable Elisa.
Keep getting stronger, and eating clean. The fat will take care of itself. You're adding some kind of endurance work to the routine too, so that will speed up things.

[elisa]

I am back to post my diet for the day. If anybody sees any problems with it let me know.

I will enter the basics

2 eggs w/ 2pc bacon, coffee w/cream

flax muffin (3T ground flax seed, 1 egg, 1T butter, stevia, cinnamon, dash baking powder - mix together, microwave 1 min)
egg white protein powder w/ 1 T peanut butter
3 t. cod liver oil

2 stalks celery

broccoli w/ olive oil and cheddar cheese & garlic
ground venison cooked w/ 1 piece of bacon

jello (sugar free, no carbs) w/ whip cream

6 natural beef little smokies

I entered the exact portions on fitday and came up with 1803 calories
35 carbs (not counting those excluded from the fiber so it would be more like 22
133 protein

64% fat, 5% carbs, 30% protein

that is pretty close to where I should be as far as percentages. I still feel hungry so maybe I should do more of something???
I weigh around 130 so my calories should be anywhere from 1950 to 2340. I am hoping to cut them back slightly this week to see if that helps.
It is only Monday and my head is in kind of a fog this evening, maybe I am finally flipping into the actual fat burning of my fat

We have company coming over and I have set out the chocolate for everybody. I usually don't have too much trouble watching others eat but tonight it sounds good. I really shouldn't set out desserts but my husbands thinks I should, so I did the chocolate so I wouldn't have to bake anything and have to smell it.

Tomorrow is my off day as far as workouts. I hope to keep the diet especially tight tomorrow. I have to be running around so it is harder when I have to pack things.

[Mehdi]

130lbs*18 = 2400kcal. You're at 1800kcal. don't forget you're working out & doing cardio. Let's be assume you burn 500kcal in one session. Leaves out 1300kcal/day. That's probably why you're hungry, body needs food for recovery.
i'd say go for 2400kcal on workout days (you burn 500kcal, so you're still lower in kcal) and go for 1900kcal on non workout days. Continue getting stronger, get a fat caliper to measure body fat, and try shooting pictures every 2 weeks (before the carb up best thing).
I like that flax muffin recipe, very creative

[elisa]

I like the idea of eating more because I am always hungry but I feel like I am gaining weight and feel as fat as a toad. I will take your advice and see what happens.

Today I felt terrible. I wonder if it is the "hit the wall" type thing where your body decides to start burning the fat. I had read that it can take 4 weeks to get into that stage.
I am starting week 6 and today I could eat about anything and have just been bitchy. I am not usually like that. Snapped at my husband. Head is kind of fuzzy like it is full of cotton. I was just reading about this in the Anabolic Diet book and it says to expect this the first week. I have felt fine for these past 5 weeks so it seems strange to be happening now but I am contributing it to my body adjusting and I will just keep at it and increase the calories.

[Mehdi]

Could just be because you're not eating enough, low on energy.
The mood swings shouldn't take place in week 5-6 anymore. If you're strict on the diet, and eating more doesn't help, it could be the A.D. messing with your hormones. See if it comes back in a cycle Elisa.

[elisa]

Thanks for your input Mehdi,
As far as the diet the funny thing is that I never had any symptoms the first few weeks. It was the easiest diet I have ever done. This week has been the hardest as far as how I'm feeling.
Today I'm at 1600 calories and I can hardly believe I'm saying this but I am tired of eating today. It is still early in the day so maybe I can choke down more food later tonight.

Missed Wednesday's workout so will just switch this week to Thursday/Saturday.
Today did
squat 55# 5x5
overhead press - did KB's of 12kg in each hand for 5x5. I will go back to the bar next time.
deadlift 55# 2 x5 this is easy for me so I hope to keep increasing
pull ups - just did 2 perfect ones (cold have done more but I'm worried about pulling my neck muscle again so going slow)

Did Kettle Bell workout #14.

Over all feeling harder. I noticed my forearms have muscles (whoo hoo) and I haven't done anything specific to get them. It will seem that the squats are too hard and then the next workout I add the weight to see how it goes and then I am able to do it.
I really tightened my glutes and other muscles on the overhead press and it makes a big difference.

Entering everything into fitday.com so far
eggs, bacon & coffee for breakfast
egg white protein,peanut butter, my own goat milk yogurt drink and flax muffin.
fish oil
ground venison (made up kind of like a sloppy joe with cheese and sour cream)
tuna melt (tuna, mayo, egg, onion grilled and sprinkled with cheese)

I still have to eat later today. Maybe little smokies and celery????
right now I am at 64/5/30 for fat/carbs/protein and 1600 calories.

Over all feeling like I am more muscular and not so toad like

[Mehdi]

High fat satiates, it can be tricky to get your calories on the A.D., that's why it's especially good at losing weight/fat. Make sure you get your cals on workout days.
You did understand what I meant with hormones & cycle I hope Elisa

[elisa]

ah, ok I get the cycle question now. I'm kind of slow sometimes:-)  No it was not the cycle time of the month for me to be bitchy. I guess that was just why it seemed so unusual.
Over all feeling better, by Friday i am sick of the fats and protein and I have my day all planned out tomorrow. I'll start off with a big bowl of oatmeal...... ah I can't wait.
Because my workout days were changed I am curious to see how a workout goes full of carbs.
Thursday night we had a get together and a friend made me some special cookies - just for me. They were macaroons and I usually can't eat regular cookies because of the gluten and he made these and was so excited and said they were all for me. Dang. That was so hard to not eat any. I did take one and nibbled on it and gave the rest to my husband. It was so good but I didn't want to blow my low carb day/week just to make him feel better.
And no, I couldn't tell them I was on a special diet...... i would have gotten the "what are you on a diet for" and had to answer a bunch of questions. I just wasn't up to it. I just ate some pork loin and a small salad and hoped that the rest of the cookies would dissapear.
Now if those cookies had appeared on the weekend.......... I would have really enjoyed them!
Calories still seem low today but keeping in the range of fat and protein. I never, ever thought I would have trouble eating more.
I made this tuna melt that seems to keep me satisfied for a long time.
1 can light tuna, 1 t mayo, 1 egg. diced onion. Mix together and cook in olive oil like a patti. Top with grated cheese. yum!
Oh and I made my flax muffin with chopped bacon and 1T bacon grease instead of the butter and some grated cheese. That was a nice change too.
Will post workout in the morning.