30 Day Challenge

[runner03]

I have been struggling the past few years after getting down to a meek 92 lbs @ 5' 5". I now am about 143 lbs and stronger than I ever have been. The problem is that no matter what I do I can't get the stubborn fat to go away! I have done everything wrong and everything right, it seems my body is my worst enemy. I have overdone cardio and not lifted enough, I have eaten too little, I have binged and purged etc. I also have spent the last 2 years lifting seriously and still doing too much cardio. Now the past 2 months I decided my body needed a break so I was going to focus on just lifting and eat more (about 1600 cals a day which is a lot for me) to see if I could stabilize and then add in cardio later. Well later is almost here....I gave myself December and I am thinking I will give myself January as well. I have seen big gains, I now am squatting 135 lbs and benching 105 which I am proud of. I can tell I am stronger but would like to cut the fat.

My 30 day challenge is just my idea of cutting the bull ****. I am a scientist at heart and for real so I like to experiment.....I have abided by all the laws of weight loss and have not succeeded as calculated so here goes my own self-experiment. You can hate it, love it, criticize it etc. The point is to see what happens and how it goes. I figure 30 days is a fair amount of time for me to commit.

The Plan:

4 x Day---
1 Serving Oatmeal
1 Serving Whey Protein
1 Tbsp Flax
Total: 314 calories ( I will give macros later....not on hand at the moment)

2 x Day---
Soy Joy Bar
1 Small Apple (app. 70 grams)
Total: 210 calories (again I will give you macros later....)

Total in a Day:
1676

This is 4 meals + 2 snacks
It's clean and easy. I will also add in some fish oils to bring up the fat just a little.
This may seem stupid and maybe against a lot of "rules" but I am trying to break out of the box and find something that works for me. I am thinking that for 30 days I should be able to go w/out any cheats and with my calories still at a good level I am not too worried. The SoyJoy bars are just for me since they are yummy, made from natural ingredients and I will enjoy those...they should keep me from missing much!

I will continue doing my split which is chest/back, legs, arms/shoulders high reps alternated with the same split going heavy. I have seen good gains with this set up and don't get bored doing it. For cardio, I am thinking I will not worry about getting cardio but if I have the opportunity I will throw some in...it just won't be a requirement of mine. We are hopefully going to be getting a home cardio machine and in that case I would do like 20 minutes a day or just take the dog for a walk....if it's warm enough.

Tomorrow 1/14 will be my first day!

Happy Training

[fitrunnernj]

Good luck with the experiment. I will be following.

[runner03]

So Day 1 went pretty good. It was my day off so I went to work and didn't do much physical activity. I came home and actually got a nap which was lovely! Then had a headache from all the sinus congestion....must be allergies?

Either way, my diet ended like this (I use thedailyplate.com)
Day 1 (1/14)
1696 calories
143g Protein
203g carbs
48g fat

I have to do chest/back tonight so I will post that up later....

[runner03]

Day 2 was better than Day 1. I decided instead of just protein powder that I would do egg whites and chicken w/the oatmeal to switch it up which is so delicious this will be no problem! Plus, I went with the Lara Bar instead of Soy Joy. The Lara Bar ingredients are: cashews and dates for the Cashew Cookie which is awesome. It's 60% raw, completely unprocessed so it is no different if I ate some cashews and dates!

I have been getting at least 2 liters of water too which is a bad habit of mine...not getting enough. I weighed myself today and I am down 0.4lbs from when I started a couple days ago.

Yesterday was chest/back. I managed to bench
5x95
1x110 and then 2 more past failure with a little help
5x105

I felt strong and have never attempted 110 before so that was pretty exciting.

My macros as of Day 2:
1700calories
127gprotein
227carbs
49gfat

Today, Day 3 I had leg day.

Squats
5x75 (warm up)
5x100 (warm up)
5x120
5x130
5x135
** I did not put a belt on until 130 and 135. I try to not squat with it on but getting up to that amount puts too much on my lower back.**

I also did leg press, leg extensions, dead lifts, and lunges.
Btw, I hate lunges! Ugh, those things suck.....

[runner03]

So far so good...I am doing well on the diet. I feel good and not bloated. I have only felt hungry on occassion which really is more of a mental thing than a physical thing. I did eat one extra serving of oats today but with such a clean diet I am not too worried about that...I did do a little cardio so I won't beat myself up! I baked cookies for a friend and want one sooo bad! But I am resisting the temptation...lol

Today I lifted heavy arms/shoulders. I was so proud I got 2x5 @ 35lbs DB on overhead press and then managed to get 2 reps @ 40lbs which is my best so far! I also did dips, hammer curls, preacher curls, side and front raises, cable cross over curls, and a drop set of tri-cep pushdowns. I finished off w/some ab work. I also have incorporated the hulahoop filled w/H20 that I have been doing inbetween sets to keep my heart rate up. The deal on the hula hoop is 10minutes per day and you see results...I have only been doing them for a few days now but do feel firmer in the stomach! yippy : )

[runner03]

So I have aborted the 30 Day challenge mission of eating oatmeal for 30 days. I am not cut out for that apparently....so I guess it's a fail after 5 days but I am going to continue my journal as an overall body re-comp journal. I am going to stay @ my 1700 calories p/day and add in cardio to start cutting. I have been maintaining for a couple of months now eating more than I ever have so I am going to start adding in cardio again...I am hoping to be about 15lbs lighter (fat loss) in the next 3-4 months...so basically in time for summer!