Gemos Log~<3

[greasygemo]

I actually started this program on wednesday, so i'll include those workouts here as well.

23 yrs old, female
5"7
155lbs
approx 21% body fat, but thats with a handheld not calipers.. so It's probably off. I think I'm closer to 24-25%. Will update once I get calipers.

I'm not doing the 6 meals, I have found that personally, I get by better on 3. I am however, having a small protien/carb snack pre-workout (cottage cheese and a few berries usually) and a post-workout shake of whey and unsweetened almond milk with 1/4 cup berries or 50g banana.

I friggin hate grains, I'm super intolerant to wheat, and I just don't really enjoy oats.. so I'm going to stick to fruit and veg for carbs I think.. but only 1-2 servings a day of fruit. I eat TONS of veg, 1-2 cups each meal. Peppers, broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, onions, spinach, mushrooms.. mmmm

I'm eating zip for junk food. No cheat meals for me baby. F*** that S***. Sweets make me feel like a nut case, and I'm one of those people that is NEVER satisfied with a bit, it just makes me want MORE. So I just don't eat that crap. Period. Dried fruit is my guilty little pleasure, if I need one.

Trying to keep my calories above 1400 but below 1700, as I am trying to lose fat so I need a negative balance.

I take an iron-free multivitamin and a EPA rich, pharm. quality fish oil suppliment in the morning, and whey after workouts. I also take hydroxycut max before workouts.

I've been doing alot of shoulder dislocations, soft tissue work with a tennis ball and some squat stretches and glute activation to stay limber as well.

On to the logs..

Wednesday March 18th

Squat 45lbs
5/5/5/5/5
Bench Press 45lbs
5/5/5/5/5
Inverted Rows
Tried to do them, and couldn't! But I did 6 partials..
Push-ups
15/11/7
Reverse Crunch
No anchor weight
12/12/12
+ 20 mins HIIT on the elliptical, max heart rate 185

Friday March 20th

Squat 50lbs
5/5/5/5/5 - still pretty easy
Overhead Press 45lbs
5/5/5/5/5 - Easy weight wise, but I'm concerned that it feels awkward..
Deadlift 65lbs
5
- tried for 85lbs first, but felt too heavy. This was a little bit hard.. I think I'll stall quick on this one.
Pull-ups
1 Partial
6 with someone helping me
8 jump-ups and slow lowerings / declines, i think they are called
Prone Bridge
3 x 30 seconds

Saturday March 21st
45mins moderate elliptical cardio - max heart rate 142

Thats about it so far.. Gosh, I feel so weak!!! I hope I can see some improvement in these numbers soon! holy crap!

[greasygemo]

I should have mentioned that as far as goals go, I want to be able to do 15 pull ups x 3, squat 120lbs, bench press 100lbs and have 16% bodyfat by August 13th (my birthday!)

[greasygemo]

Sunday March 21st

Squat 55lbs
5/5/5/5/5
Bench Press 55lbs
5/5/5/5/5
Inverted Rows - feet on the floor
6/4/4
Push-ups
18/11/9
Reverse Crunch
No anchor weight
12/12/12
+ 30 mins elliptical, max heart rate 149, 139 average

I added 10lbs instead of 5 to the press this week, it's just too light and I am comfortable / confident that my form is proper..

Still having a lot of trouble with the rows.. but putting my feet flat on the ground helps a lot. I did squeeze out a couple more partials that I indicated, but I only count the full ones..

[spellcrafted]

Still having a lot of trouble with the rows.. but putting my feet flat on the ground helps a lot. I did squeeze out a couple more partials that I indicated, but I only count the full ones..

The rows were really tough for me at first, too. Putting your feet flat on the floor at first and bending your knees does help a lot. I could only do 4 or 5 a set at first, and just today I did 6 on my heels my first set. You'll progress pretty quick, you just have to keep at it.

[greasygemo]

Thanks! I'm going to keep trying hard!

[Jcraig]

Eat more.

[johnjohn]

Mm, agree with Jcraig, you probably need to eat more. (There are a bunch of mathematical formulas for calculating calorie intake, check them out for yourself and see which one you like.)

Other than that, keep up the good work.

[greasygemo]

??
eat more? But... why?

[Jcraig]

Simply put, you are not eating enough to fuel the type of lifting that you are doing.

[lovestolift]

I'd suggest running the equation in my signature. It'll give you an idea of how much you need to eat.

[Mouse]

??
eat more? But... why?

Gem
Look at this in context.
Conventional 'wisdom' has you eating practically nothing to lose weight.
These yo-yo diets work to a point, you lose weight, but that's muscle and fat. Then your body starts to go into starvation mode and stores fat so you stop looking good and end up putting weight on.
This is when people give up and end up stacking on even more weight than they started with.

What you're doing differently is progressively lifting heavier weights. By eating more you'll build more muscle which will burn more calories.

Start with BWx16 for daily calories - so 155x16 = 2480
Give that a go for 2 weeks and check your progress - if you've not lost bodyfat (notice I didn't say weight) reduce by 500 calories for another 2 weeks.
Tricky part is remembering as you gain muscle, lose bodyfat and perhaps increase weight, you have to adjust your calorie intake so as not to drop into starvation mode.

lovestolift's equation is great, but the above is a bit more simplistic !!

Have a read of some of the blog posts on the subject.

Another tip is to take photos of yourself. Retake each week or fortnight or month to compare.
Great for motivation.

[Jcraig]

I take photographs of my biceps every week.

[Mouse]

When you starve the fat, you also starve the muscle. When you starve the muscle,
you lose muscle along with the fat. When you lose muscle, your metabolism slows down
and your body enters the “starvation mode.” When your body enters starvation mode, fat
loss comes to a screeching halt as your body tries to conserve its energy. When the fat
loss stops, you either give up (and gain back the fat you lost), or you grit your teeth and
drop your calories (starve yourself) even more. If you drop your calories even more,
your metabolism slows down even more. And if your metabolism slows down even
more, fat loss comes to a screeching halt again. Eventually, you always end up throwing
in the towel because you can’t keep dropping your calories forever. It’s a vicious cycle.
You just can’t win the very-low-calorie-diet game.

Said a bit better than my ramblings

[greasygemo]

hmmm.. is there some scientific studies / references to back this up? I'm a little freaked out about eating that much.. Maybe for men its ok.. but, i dunno..

[greasygemo]

Sooooo, my gym was CLOSED on wednesday for some kind of water leak / maintenance!! Shit! So, therefore I missed my wednesday training... But i picked up where I left off..

Friday March 27st

Squat 60lbs
5/5/5/5/5
Overhead Press 55lbs
5/5/5/5/5
Deadlift - 70lbs
1x5
Inverted Rows - on heels, knees bent (better, better)
3/2/2
Threw in 5 10lbs get-up's while waiting around the mat room
Prone Plank
3 x 30sec

+35 mins of elliptical cardio, Max heart rate 150, average 135
split into 3, 10mins before squats, 10mins before rows, and 15 min after I was all done.. The gym was friggin busy and I figured I might as well be doing something while I wait..

Ate like 4 large oatmeal cookies today.. god. So much for a clean diet.. Carb-o-mania....
All bran for breakfast, instant Oatmeal for a snack, 4 great big oatmeal cookies from 12:00 - 4:00.. plus and apple, some almonds, some more all bran and some smoked herring, and like 4 coffees with cream and splenda today...

At least I had SOME good food in there.. but man I really lost it on the junk today. Shit. Piss.
I am having a hard time with clean eating. I have no willpower. I just can't stand the discomfort of saying no to my sweet cravings.. I had such high hopes for myself.. sigh. oh well. I can only just keep on trying I guess.