Nubie's Getting Her Sexyback Challenge

[nubiennelady]

I've decided to move my bodyspace blog to the journals to get much needed support and motivation. I'm getting married in Maui in May and I already bought the dress in my current size. Though I look good in it now (so much for humility, eh?) I want to push myself to get my "sexyback". Now I have never had low self-esteem nor do I think of myself as ugly but for me being in control of what I put into my body and getting regular exercise makes me feel sexy. I gained a good deal of weight after high school and began training again in April 2005. I lost 20lbs and dropped 2 dress sizes. I felt good, I looked HOT and this confidence helped to improve my relationships, work performance and my progress toward my Ph.D. (doing revisions on the dissertation now).

2006 was a rough year - cross country move, local move, ill grandmother (stroke and lung cancer), financial problems, dissertating and I put back about 11lbs and my exercise consistency tanked. Well that is behind me now and my new challenge is about me re-establishing workout consistency, eating clean 90% of the time and getting adequate rest so I can get my "sexyback".

So here is the plan. My goal for the next three months (March 31st - Target Date) is (1) lose 24lbs and/or 8% of my current bodyfat (2) consistently follow the exercise program outlined below (3) track every morsel of food that I eat and plan meals ahead of time and (4) make time for some pampering (i.e. massages, pedicures, etc)

Exercise Routine: (1) Split Lift Routine (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Legs, Back, Biceps) - 3 times per week (2) Fusion Kickboxing (kickboxing, bag work and conditioning drills) - once a week (3) Steady State Gym Cardio (70-80% MHR) - 3 times per week and (4) Interval Cardio - twice a week.

Meals: Zig zag calories (1600 low days, 2000 high days) - 5 meals a day (protein and low GI carbs); 10 cups water. Supplements: Multivitamins, CLA

Reward: Tattoo of a Ying/Yang Symbol Surrounded by Pisces Fish on my Right Rear Delt AND Attendance at my Sorority's Regional Convention in Vegas.

Stats (as of 1/2/07)
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 214
Bodyfat %: 38
Lean Mass: 133lbs
Chest: 46
Waist: 38
Hips: 46
Arms: 14
Thighs: 26
Calves (uneven) 17" Left; 16.5" Right

Three Month Goal: 190lbs or 30% Bodyfat (I'm more concerned with losing inches to be honest)
Ultimate Goal: 160lbs or 20% Bodyfat

[nubiennelady]

(I just copied this from my blog since it was just written today)

January 5th.....

I received a 10 workout pass to a private kickboxing studio near my house for Christmas from my fiance. Anyone that knows me can tell you, I hate gym cardio. I complained about it so much that my fiance treated me to a gift certificate and today was the first class for me.

It was amazing!!! It was some of the hardest ****e known to man and I loved every minute of it. It’s like Tae Bo with resistance AND conditioning drills. We began with a walk then a jog around the gym multiple times then we did a series of jabs, uppercuts and crosses while continuing to walk around the gym. Next came roundhouse, front kicks, shuffles and kick (we are still walking around the gym mind you) and then we do walking lunges. That was the freakin’ warmup Next we put on boxing gloves and do bag work - jabs, kicks continuously for another 5-7 minutes. Then we break into push-ups and crunches. Next is more bag work - jab, jab, round, round, duck and kick, kick. I thought I saw Jesus at this point Next up we break into teams of two. We run to the end of the gym zig-zagging through the bags and on the turn back we punch and kick. We do 4 rotations. Then we play cops and robbers through the bags. Finally is more core work, tricep work and then stretching. I was drenched from head to toe but I loved it. It was so much fun and I’m sure I burnt at least 800 calories.

Alot of the folks, including the instructor complimented me on making it through the whole class without quitting I must be a glutton for pain because I’m going back next week and looking forward to another ass-kicking workout.


Nubie/Donna

[nubiennelady]

Week 1 Results
Lost 2lbs despite monthly bloat. Tracked calories and ratios each day which helped tremendously and increased my water intake over the course of the week. Very good week esp. considering fiance has been in and out of hospital.

Workout plans for Week 2
M - Unplanned rest
T - Legs, Back, Biceps and Abs + 40 minutes cardio
W - AM Jogging PM Kickboxing
Th - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Abs + 40 minutes cardio
F - Kickboxing
S - Off
S - Power Yoga

I didn't get into the gym as planned yesterday because I woke up with vicious cramps and a back ache. Plus, I've had insomnia for the last 3 days so my sleep pattern only got back to normal today. But I did manage to get in a good weight and cardio workout this morning.

Today was legs, back, biceps and abs.

DB Squats - 2 sets of 12 (20lbs db's)
DB Lunges -2 sets of 12 (15lbs db's)
Lat Pulldown - 2 sets of 12 (75lbs)
EZ Bent Row - 2 sets of 12 (60lbs)
Alternating Bicep Curls - 2 sets of 12 (15lbs db's)
Hammer Curls - 2 sets of 12 (15lbs dbs)
Double Crunch Machine - 2 sets of 25 (10lbs plate)
Weighted Oblique Twists - 2 sets of 15 (10lbs plate)

20 minutes Precor machine (cross training program) and 20 minutes upright bike (hill program).

Laters,

Donna

[LeilaM]

ohooo looks like a great plan. Have you zig zagged cals before? I've not tried it, but does it work similar to carb cycling where folks are zig zagging their carbs?

I'll see where I'm at at the end of the month, and may decide to give that a try if I'm not happy w/ progress...

woo kickboxing! I like my yoga class (slow, not power), there's kickboxing at my Y... hmmmm!

Hope your fiance is doing ok (hospital?). Congrats on your upcoming marriage, too! So soon, and in Maui too-- NICE NICE! And congrats un the upcoming Phd (in what?).

Good workout, maybe add calf raises and a hamstring thing and it'll hit the legs 100%. You doing the weights at home or in gym?

You've got great measurements starting out, by the way. Hourglass type figure, so you won't have to worry too much about turning into a human ruler or anything (I'm turning into a... tall rectangle at this moment).

Good, do-able goals, solid workout and eating plan I think!

[nubiennelady]

Hey Leila - Thanks for stopping by. Calorie cycling is similar to carb cycling. For three days, I eat about 1700 calories and on the fourth day, I consumed a little over 2000. It helps me from going nuts. I've done it before and had good results.

My fiance is healing quickly. I called him "Wolverine" the other day. LOL His face was sliced opened three days in a row and he was completely healed from the wound in less than 5 days.

I'm in the midst of dissertation revisions now and my Ph.D. will be in social and cultural foundations of education. I specialize in educational history with an emphasis on politics of curriculuar change.

I didn't post yesterday because I was dealing with some wedding drama actually. We had reserved a venue some time ago for the reception but the person I worked with left and our spot was given to someone else. This meant I had to find another spot for the ceremony and reception and all of the vendors I contacted had to either do a new contract or I lost them (the dee-jay) altogether. I finally got everything straightened out. Our ceremony venue is better than the initial one so I'm pleased. I like the reception location but must admit, I loved the first one much more. Oh well, I'm happy everything worked out and I didn't have to unleash my inner bitch.

Yesterday was just cardio...15 minutes of jogging and 15 minutes on the upright bike.

Today was chest, shoulders, triceps, abs, and mo' cardio

Chest
Flat DB Chest Press - 2 sets of 12 (with 20lbs db's)
Incline Chest Fly - 2 sets of 12 (with 15lbs db's)

Shoulders
Overhead Press with Rotation - 2 sets of 12 (with 15lbs db's)
Rear Delt Flyes - 2 sets of 12 (with 15lbs db's)

Triceps
Overhead Extensions - 2 sets of 12 (with 20lbs db's)
Rope Pushdown - 2 sets of 12 (with 55lbs)

Abs
Power (Double) Crunch Machine - 50 reps with 15lbs plates
Ball Oblique Twists - 50 reps

Cardio
20 minutes elliptical hill program (burned 300 calories)
20 minutes hill walking on treadmill (burned 150 calories)

Tomorrow is kickboxing...Wahoo!!! (the only cardio I seem to enjoy)

Laters,

Donna

[twinnett]

Hi!! Things are looking great! You're going to look amazing on your wedding day!! I got married in June..best day of my life!

[nubiennelady]

Hey twinnett...thanks for stopping by. I'm working as hard as I can so I can look good for my wedding and beyond. Actually, we want to get started on a family immediately after the wedding because of our ages (me 33, him 39) so getting in shape is also preparing me for pregnancy.

Kickboxing class wiped me out. We did lots of bag work (jab, jab, elbow, elbow, knee, knee), defensive moves with a partner (jab, duck, punch combos) , pushups that nearly killed me and wind sprints (forwards, backwards and side to side). I loved it though and I made a new friend so I'm going to keep going.

Tomorrow I'm doing back and biceps and some easy cardio. I'm going to just do legs once a week because with the kickboxing, I get alot of lower body work done. So no leg work tomorrow.

Donna

[LeilaM]

Originally Posted by nubiennelady

Hey Leila - Thanks for stopping by. Calorie cycling is similar to carb cycling. For three days, I eat about 1700 calories and on the fourth day, I consumed a little over 2000. It helps me from going nuts. I've done it before and had good results.

Sounds do-able. I may have to try that next time I plateau (hopeing I don't of course!) Still sitting at 199-200 now, but I call it New Years after effects. I may cycle if I'm the same by Valentines Day... (currently doing 1800-2000 a day here)

My fiance is healing quickly. I called him "Wolverine" the other day. LOL His face was sliced opened three days in a row and he was completely healed from the wound in less than 5 days.

That's what he gets for making you mad! heehe!

I'm in the midst of dissertation revisions now and my Ph.D. will be in social and cultural foundations of education. I specialize in educational history with an emphasis on politics of curriculuar change.

Curricular change sounds extremely interesting... especially in light of uhh modern politics and the no (every) child left behind program...

I didn't post yesterday because I was dealing with some wedding drama actually. We had reserved a venue some time ago for the reception but the person I worked with left and our spot was given to someone else. This meant I had to find another spot for the ceremony and reception and all of the vendors I contacted had to either do a new contract or I lost them (the dee-jay) altogether. I finally got everything straightened out. Our ceremony venue is better than the initial one so I'm pleased. I like the reception location but must admit, I loved the first one much more. Oh well, I'm happy everything worked out and I didn't have to unleash my inner bitch.

My inner bitch lives on the outer! Glad you got it straightened out, sheesh! Workout looks good!

[nubiennelady]

Week 2 Results - I'm down 0.5lbs but I checked my measurements and I've dropped 1" from my chest, 1" from my waist, 2" from my lower abs and 2" from my hips. I am really pleased with those numbers.

This morning I did a 20 minute jog (no walking finally) and 20 minutes on the upright bike. I'm spending the rest of the day doing revisions to chapter 4 of my dissertation.

Later,

Donna

[LeilaM]

VERY substantial changes, and sooo fast! WOW lady, nice nice job! 2 inches is no joke, I'm a turnin greeen a wee bit here (Im Irish, what can I say)

[twinnett]

Awesome progress so far!!!

[nubiennelady]

I haven't posted in a while because I'm dealing with wedding planning issues...AGAIN. The venue we settled on came back and said we can't have a dee-jay and dancing because they recently converted from a hotel to a timeshare and they have strict noise restrictions. I have found two promising venues but this stuff is getting on my nerves.

Leila and Twinnett - Thanks so much for the encouragement and support!!!

I went to kickboxing on Wednesday and I took a day off yesterday to attend a funeral for my best friend's dad. Today I went to kickboxing class. I did the whole workout but I got winded and had to stop on the running. I didn't sleep well last night which I think contributed to me feeling a bit run down.

I go back to work on Monday. I have to finish writing my syllabi and I'm trying to finish my revisions (merging chapters 2 and 3 and cutting chapter 4 down to 20 pages) before I head back to work. If I'm successful with these two things all I need to do is fix my citations and interview 4 Black Studies department chairs (doing phone interviews to save time and money). I could then add the interview data to the new chapter 4 and submit the revised draft to the committee by mid-February or early March. I cannot wait to get this beast off my back.

I got word that my grams' lung cancer (she's 76 years old; chain smoker and was diagnosed in March after she had a stroke in February) has spread and she's getting weaker I'm going to spend some time with her today. I know she's eating well but she's sleeping alot. The radiation treatment is now on hold and to be honest, I don't want her to go through that procedure if she's going to go through pain, lose her hair or get an infection that will take her out spontaneously. I'm trying to prepare myself for the real possibility that my grams isn't going to around much longer and it makes me very sad. This woman saved me from my mom's drug addiction and gave me and my sister and brother a future. She is my parent and I don't know what I'm going to do without her but I love her so much that I don't want her to suffer. And she would be mad as hell if she thought I was going to shrivel up in a corner and close off the rest of the world should she pass away. I can hear her now saying, "Donna, death is a part of living. I've told you that a million times. Now get on with your life. " We fight like cats and dogs but she's my hero.

Donna

[nubiennelady]

Rough couple of days. Fell off the wagon as I was stressed out about my gram's health. She's actually doing okay. The family is arguing however about whether she should undergo radiation treatment. I favor honoring her wishes which is to not do the treatment. She's quite capable of making this decision for herself but I think everyone else is reacting out of their own selfish emotions.

I managed to get 1/2 way through kickboxing class today and I ate really well and drank lots of water. I'm going to kickboxing class tomorrow and then I'm going to lift on Saturday. Next week I'm shooting for 3 weight training sessions and 3 days of kickboxing.

I started teaching again this week. I have a lighter load this semester so hopefully I can finish my dissertation revisions, finish this wedding planning (a complete PITA) and keep up with my diet and exercise without going crazy.

Donna