Day 1 of the 2010 Double-T Sports Transformation Challenge

[Niki24x7]

Don't worry.. I'm not going to write a post every day and bore the sh*t out of you! I'm going to write a post once a week, when I hit milestones or if something crazy happens that I want to share!

AHYWHO!!! So day one begins. Woke up exhausted. Set my clock so that I made sure I got 8 hours of sleep (although, I definitely could of gone back to bed.) I'm going to try to stay in a routine of sleep, especially since I figured out that sleep deprivation leads to my failure big-time!! Took one capsule of Keto-Cuts, and 2 capsules of N.O. Beta on an empty stomach. Not sure if taking them together, or if because I took them on an empty stomach or if it's the supplements themselves but I did feel a little sick afterward. A little stomach ache. I'm taking the stuff slow to access my tolerance. I'm not interested in having a heart attack at the gym. Started meal one off with good old fashioned oatmeal. Oatmeal with milk, flaxseed, raisins, cinnamon, almonds and 1/2 scoop of protein powder. I figured out all calories , protein and carbs and I'm not pleased with the calorie intake. 398 calories. So tomorrow, I'm swaping out milk for water, raisins for fresh red raspberries and add a full scoop of protein instead. That will save me a little over 100 calories and I'm trying to make all the meals around the same amount throughout the day.
My meal times are every three hours at 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm and 9pm. Two of those meals will be protein shakes for the next two weeks (only because I'm broke till payday.)

Meal 2: 1 1/2 scoops of ON's 100% Whey (1 scoop of Cake Batter + 1/2 scoop of Chocolate), 1/2 cup of organic (yes, I buy most things organic) skim milk, ice, and a tiny squeeze (around 1 tablespoon) of Hershey's LITE chocolate syrup, blenderize it and you got yourself a protein shake that tastes almost identical to a Wendy's frosty! lol

Meal 3: 1 egg and 1/2 cup of eggwhites with goat cheese.

1/2 grapefruit

Meal 4: chicken breast and steamed broccoli

Meal 5: Casein shake.
Ok... onto the training:

Cardio of choice for the week is: ta-da: the ELIPTICAL!! And I'm going to throw in my butt videos. Only did 15 minutes today. I haven't done it in about 2 weeks, so when I get back to it, I'm always dying the first day.

Weights:

Leg Abduction: 2 sets, 12 reps of 110lbs

Leg Adduction: 2 sets, 12 reps of 80lbs

Seated Leg Curl: 2 sets, 12 reps of 50lbs

Leg Extension: 2 sets, 12 reps of 40lbs

Prone Leg Curl: 2 sets, 12 reps of 35lbs

Leg Press: 2 sets, 12 reps of 180lbs

Weighted Bar Lunges: 2 sets, 10 reps of the 18lb body bar

After the leg extensions, my legs were shaking like crazy and everything started getting harder and harder. Needless to say, I feel like jello now.

Off to do homework now.... until next time! Toodles!

[tiffanee777]

Looks great!! Good luck to you.

[Greek_Elite]

Lookin good, good luck with the contest/transformation!

[Credz]

Nice! Good luck!!!

[CaitlinP]

Hey girl, i would recommend trying to post more than once a week, apparently its part of the judging (20%) so i would say give us all the boring details of everything lol As for the oatmeal, i eat mine every morning with some sugar free strawberry jam, its tasty but best of all its only 10 cals and 5 grams of carbs for every TBS. How do you like the cake batter protein? i'v been trying to finish off my chocolate mint asap to try some

[Niki24x7]

Hey thanks for the advice! I'll have to try the sugar-free jam.. it sounds delicious! The cake batter is pretty good. It kinda tastes like a buttery, french vanilla.... or more like a butter recipe cake batter (real cake batter I mean.) I've been making use of my blender, so mixing it in a normal shaker cup tastes so blah to me. How's the chocolate mint working out for ya? I'm not a mint fan... I bought the variety pack and strawberry was pretty good. Cookies and cream was the worst!

Hey girl, i would recommend trying to post more than once a week, apparently its part of the judging (20%) so i would say give us all the boring details of everything lol As for the oatmeal, i eat mine every morning with some sugar free strawberry jam, its tasty but best of all its only 10 cals and 5 grams of carbs for every TBS. How do you like the cake batter protein? i'v been trying to finish off my chocolate mint asap to try some

[Niki24x7]

Thanks everyone for the good lucks! I do have a forum question though.... (since this is my first time.) Everytime I want to post something new, do I create a new thread each time or do I come back onto here and reply? Probably a stupid question, I tend to ask those! lol

Nice! Good luck!!!

[Credz]

Everytime you want to post something new about your log post it back into this thread.

[castille]

Good luck Nicole, I know you will do great!!

[luthien]

Good luck! Definitely, I will follow your log

I am too not into writing about my journey every day. Truly, I do not see a reason to share with details about my training and diet. It's so boring!

[Niki24x7]

Thank you Mark and Luthen for the good lucks!! (And to everyone else.) It's easy to let myself down but if I have people behind me pushing and supporting me, then I definitely won't let you guys down! Mark (Castille) is always checking up on me. It's awesome! He keeps me focused. Thank you.

CaitlinP is right... I should log more. Although, there isn't a set number of logs that you should have, I did read over the log format on Double-T's website and they want you to be as descriptive as possible about my experience, training, supplements, etc... I'll try to be entertaining.


Apparently I didn't start off my first post correctly... no one knows anything about me and I just skipped the introduction and got to business. Who has time for small talk anymore, right? lol

"Good afternoon class, my name is Nicole and you're going to be with me for the next 4 months, so kick back, get comfy and let's do this." I am 28 and a full-time surgical tech student who is slowly working toward becoming a physician assistant. I have a full-time job as a chemist (Gas Chrom. /Mass Spec. analyst, to be technical) where I test water and soil samples for companies like the DEC, CSX and Waste Management. The work isn't bad but sometimes I wish I could fire the people I work with. I have my own little place in the city because I love the citylife. Single- never married nor do I have children. Enjoy martinis and wine tasting, long walks on the beach, watching the sunset and wishing upon the stars, kissing in the rain, yada, yada, yada, etc, etc, etc.... sorry, it started to sound more like a dating story.

So lets get to the good stuff... the reason why we're allllll here: to live healthier lives!!! YAHOO!!! I seriously would like to live to be a hundred... you know how cool that would be? To be a century old?? So I better start good habits now!

On day two (yesterday) I took in a total of 1343 calories, 144.5 grams of protein and 76g carbs. Yesterday's meals plans were pretty much the same as day one's except the whole swamping out milk for H2O in my oatmeal and replacing the raisins with fresh raspberries. That alone knocked off a hundred calories and it tastes much better. Got to the gym at around 11:30 and I only had time for a cardio session. Did 25 minutes of HIIT on the eliptical and came home. I had A LOT of things going on yesterday and I was working on a project that was due today. Once school is over, I will NOT have any excuses for skipping anything or doing the minimal amount of work.

Instead of taking the Keto Cuts and NO Beta together, I took one cap of K.C. when I woke up (9:30am) then 2 caps of NOB right before I went to the gym. It didn't bother my stomach then, so not taking them together may be the trick. My thighs are still sore from Monday's leg day but I was killing it on the eliptical. My quads felt tight and strong. Not sure if it was because of the NO Beta. I've never taken a nitric oxide supplement before so if that's what I'm supposed to feel, then it was definitely awesome! It made me feel like I could push harder and stronger. Mama likes!

I've seen a lot of great reviews on Credyl... curious to see if you've tried it or if you are taking it now. And what flavor do you recommend? And how do you mix it or take it? I'm looking to pick some up next week!

Day Three (today) is a repeat of day two... tomorrow is arms and shoulders...
I PROMISE I will follow up on other peoples logs. I'm extremely interested to see their results, their experiences and see what is working for them; I just haven't had time yet
Until next time.......

[allieninja]

Thank you Mark and Luthen for the good lucks!! (And to everyone else.) It's easy to let myself down but if I have people behind me pushing and supporting me, then I definitely won't let you guys down! Mark (Castille) is always checking up on me. It's awesome! He keeps me focused. Thank you.

This. I find myself more interested in logging my diet and exercises if I know people are watching and want to help push me along.

I've seen a lot of great reviews on Credyl... curious to see if you've tried it or if you are taking it now. And what flavor do you recommend? And how do you mix it or take it? I'm looking to pick some up next week!

I have it, I got the orange. It tastes pretty rad. Just mix it with water. It's kinda like Orange Kool-Aid. I'm still building up my tolerance (don't want a tummyache) but going up to a scoop and a half tomorrow... will let you know how it goes!

[Niki24x7]

Thanks for letting me know!! If I'm gonna jump in 100%, might as well try everything.. lol

This. I find myself more interested in logging my diet and exercises if I know people are watching and want to help push me along.



I have it, I got the orange. It tastes pretty rad. Just mix it with water. It's kinda like Orange Kool-Aid. I'm still building up my tolerance (don't want a tummyache) but going up to a scoop and a half tomorrow... will let you know how it goes!

[allieninja]

Thanks for letting me know!! If I'm gonna jump in 100%, might as well try everything.. lol

That's exactly what I did. I couldn't decide whether to do NO Beta or CreaDyl and then I was like you know what? I'm just going to go all out.

[Simpy]

Hi Nic! I'm so glad to see you started a journal, and so sad to see that I found it a bit late.

You're off to a great start. I do have a question about your caloric intake, though. Are you taking in around 1300-1400 cals every day? That seems a bit low for a starting number,imo. If you hit a plateau, it will be hard to plow through without dropping calories, and you can't go much lower than what you're already doing.

As for the Creadyl, I definitely recommend the orange, not that the lime is bad. . . it's just not orange, ya know?

Best of luck. I'll be following along.

[Niki24x7]

Hi Nic! I'm so glad to see you started a journal, and so sad to see that I found it a bit late.

You're off to a great start. I do have a question about your caloric intake, though. Are you taking in around 1300-1400 cals every day? That seems a bit low for a starting number,imo. If you hit a plateau, it will be hard to plow through without dropping calories, and you can't go much lower than what you're already doing.

As for the Creadyl, I definitely recommend the orange, not that the lime is bad. . . it's just not orange, ya know?

Best of luck. I'll be following along.

Thanks Leah..

Well to be honest, if I keep my meals up at every 3 hours and fill up on water, I'm content the whole day. I'm only taking in 5 meals a day but I'm sure I can squeeze a 6th in. I average between 240-300 calories per meal. I try not to go lower or higher than that and to stay around the average for all meals. I definitely need to lose fat. I'm at 27%BF so should I up my caloric intake? Should I wait to see if I plateau or is it wiser to start off big, then drop if I plateau? I'm not looking at my scale either.. every time I switch things up, it discourages me.. This time around I'm only going to weight myself every 2 weeks and really go by inches lost and BF lost.

[Simpy]

Thanks Leah..

Well to be honest, if I keep my meals up at every 3 hours and fill up on water, I'm content the whole day. I'm only taking in 5 meals a day but I'm sure I can squeeze a 6th in. I average between 240-300 calories per meal. I try not to go lower or higher than that and to stay around the average for all meals. I definitely need to lose fat. I'm at 27%BF so should I up my caloric intake? Should I wait to see if I plateau or is it wiser to start off big, then drop if I plateau? I'm not looking at my scale either.. every time I switch things up, it discourages me.. This time around I'm only going to weight myself every 2 weeks and really go by inches lost and BF lost.

I love that you said that! The scale is a fickle thing and not at all representative of body changes.

In general, I believe it's best to start off with higher calories and then drop when you plateau. At some point you'll plateau with 1300 calories, and then where do you go? 1200? 1000? 800? (Yes, I've seen it.) There are calculators that tell you what your maintenance calories are, but they aren't always accurate as they don't account for you individualized metabolism. If I were you, I would try to figure out how many calories you take in to stay at your current weight, and then subtract about 300-500 calories from that. For instance, I can eat right around 2300 calories to maintain my weight, but I'm hoping to cut a bit for summer. I would drop to 1800-2000 a day. Because I'm trying to cut quickly, I've dropped it a bit further than that; but I don't have as much to lose (only about 5 pounds, really) so I can afford to drop lower. As it is, I'm still getting 1500-1600 calories a day, and I've managed to drop around 7 pounds in 2 weeks.

[Synapsin]

Yeah, do what Simpy just said. Its best to figure out maintenance and drop your daily KCal count moderately so you can pace yourself and see how it works out. You have a positive attitude, these things take time and the scale isn't always the best representation of success, keep up the good work!

[Niki24x7]

Today happened to be birthday day for the April birthday's at work. Wasn't thrilled... cookies and cake all over the place. Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a sucker for cake. Doesn't even have to have frosting on it, just the cake itself. I read somewhere that fitness and nutrition is 90% mental and 10% physical so I made sure that I said that in my head over and over again. "Don't touch it, it's a mental game. You really don't want it." haha, I probably need a psychologist more than a nutritionist.

What definitely helped was an EAS Myoplex bar as a snack. I used to be big on protein bars (waaay back in the day) then I heard that you really shouldn't eat them often. Only when you're in a pinch. I wanted to try it because on some days, I AM in a pinch. For example, on Thursdays and Fridays I have my clinical rotations in the operating room. It's a 6hr clinical that runs from 1pm to 7pm. As students we are allowed a minuscule break of less than 10 minutes around 3pm. Unfortunately, I can't break out and heat up a mini meal just because I'm on a special, eat clean diet. So these will come in handy (any suggestions on some tasty bars, let a sister know.) Two more weeks until clinical is over anyway.

Day three was a little rough. I was up till 4:30am finishing a project that needed to be handed in at 10am. So I had gotten very little sleep and since I work evenings, I didn't have any time to put into the gym. I didn't take any of the supplements today either because I knew today was going to be unproductive. However, I stayed on the course as far as my diet and increased my water intake. Tomorrow is a new day....

[castille]

Great job on avoiding the cake, it gets easier the more times you avoid temptation. I use to always eat if it was free food but over the last couple of years I have become more disciplined and now my co-workers know I won't eat whatever treats they bring.

[Simpy]

I'm a sucker for cake, too. Cookies. . . not so much. My husband and son brought home cake for my birthday last weekend, and I've yet to even have one smidgen of the icing. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for that.

[Niki24x7]

Great job on avoiding the cake, it gets easier the more times you avoid temptation. I use to always eat if it was free food but over the last couple of years I have become more disciplined and now my co-workers know I won't eat whatever treats they bring.

Man do I hope so! Yeah we have free stuff ALL the time at my work. There are so many meetings with auditors and clients so my company would have food catered and whatever was left over (which was usually a good amount) they would put it in the breakroom. I don't work today and it's a good thing.... I'm missing bagel and donut day (not that I care about the donuts but a toasted wheat bagel with vegetable cream cheese... mmmm.)
By the way, I'll talk about food a lot in my log because I LOOOVE to cook and I always wanted to go into culinary school. So I'm always looking for new recipes, new ideas, new ingredients...

I'm a sucker for cake, too. Cookies. . . not so much. My husband and son brought home cake for my birthday last weekend, and I've yet to even have one smidgen of the icing. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for that.

Aww girl... you can't celebrate one day out of the year??? My bday isn't until September! So I'm in the clear during the challenge! lol

[Simpy]

Aww girl... you can't celebrate one day out of the year??? My bday isn't until September! So I'm in the clear during the challenge! lol

Ha! I celebrated. Thai food to excess and Central Kentucky's best margaritas. I thought cake would be a little much.

[Niki24x7]

Woke up with ZERO patience today! Took 2 N.O. Beta caps as soon as I could open my eyes. 30 minutes later, cooked up some oatmeal and took 1 KetoCuts cap. Did some homework then got ready for the gym. On my way there, I needed to stop for gas and grab a bottle of water. I swear I aged 10 years waiting in line. The cashier couldn't have been any slower. Took another 2 caps of N.O.B before I got to the gym. Didn't have much time to spend there, so I made sure I got my weight training in.

Arm curls: 2 sets of 12 reps at 30lbs
Abdominal 1: 2 sets of 12 reps at 70lbs (this machine is the one where you're semi-sitting and with arms extended, you push the bar while flexing your abs. Supposed to work all abdominals (minus the obliques.))
Smith Machine- Bent Over Row: 2 sets of 12 reps at 10lbs (10lbs is the added weight, I don't know how much the actual bar weighs.)
FT 360 S: Close grip front lat pulldown: 2 sets of 12 reps at the #10 bar set. This machine is weird because there aren't actual lbs posted on the weights. It just goes 1-15.
Wide Grip pulldown (behind the head): 2 sets of 12 reps at the same #10
Abdominal 2: 2 sets of 12 reps at 75lbs (this is the crunch one where your triceps rest on the pads.)
Preacher Curl: 1 set of 12 reps at 35 lbs. By this point, I was so weak and shaking no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get that bar up!

When I did the first set of arm curls, my veins were POPPING OUT!! It was super gross and really cool at the same time. I will do another round of the same sets/reps/weight then increase my sets for a week before I increase my weight. When I do increase my weight, I will drop back down to 2 sets/12 reps for a 2 week routine, increase my reps for the 3rd week, then increase my weight again... if that makes sense (every time I increase weight, I'll jump back down to 2 sets of 12 reps.)

Back to my impatience- I stopped at Vitamin World to pick up something and I specified exactly what I wanted and said "that's all I need" yet she was still trying to sell me everything in the store! Apparently the words, "That's all I need for today" does not register with people in retail. Then the way home from that, I swear I was behind every 80 year old on the street. No matter what road I took.... Ever have one of those days where you're moving at the speed of lightening and it seems like everyone else is getting in your way on purpose?

I probably need to go back to bed, but at the same time, I have A LOT of crappy things going on in my personal life, so maybe I'm just stressed.

[allieninja]

I hate those days. Hopefully the rest of your day will be better.

[castille]

Woke up with ZERO patience today! Took 2 N.O. Beta caps as soon as I could open my eyes. 30 minutes later, cooked up some oatmeal and took 1 KetoCuts cap. Did some homework then got ready for the gym. On my way there, I needed to stop for gas and grab a bottle of water. I swear I aged 10 years waiting in line. The cashier couldn't have been any slower. Took another 2 caps of N.O.B before I got to the gym. Didn't have much time to spend there, so I made sure I got my weight training in.

Arm curls: 2 sets of 12 reps at 30lbs
Abdominal 1: 2 sets of 12 reps at 70lbs (this machine is the one where you're semi-sitting and with arms extended, you push the bar while flexing your abs. Supposed to work all abdominals (minus the obliques.))
Smith Machine- Bent Over Row: 2 sets of 12 reps at 10lbs (10lbs is the added weight, I don't know how much the actual bar weighs.)
FT 360 S: Close grip front lat pulldown: 2 sets of 12 reps at the #10 bar set. This machine is weird because there aren't actual lbs posted on the weights. It just goes 1-15.
Wide Grip pulldown (behind the head): 2 sets of 12 reps at the same #10
Abdominal 2: 2 sets of 12 reps at 75lbs (this is the crunch one where your triceps rest on the pads.)
Preacher Curl: 1 set of 12 reps at 35 lbs. By this point, I was so weak and shaking no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get that bar up!

When I did the first set of arm curls, my veins were POPPING OUT!! It was super gross and really cool at the same time. I will do another round of the same sets/reps/weight then increase my sets for a week before I increase my weight. When I do increase my weight, I will drop back down to 2 sets/12 reps for a 2 week routine, increase my reps for the 3rd week, then increase my weight again... if that makes sense (every time I increase weight, I'll jump back down to 2 sets of 12 reps.)

Back to my impatience- I stopped at Vitamin World to pick up something and I specified exactly what I wanted and said "that's all I need" yet she was still trying to sell me everything in the store! Apparently the words, "That's all I need for today" does not register with people in retail. Then the way home from that, I swear I was behind every 80 year old on the street. No matter what road I took.... Ever have one of those days where you're moving at the speed of lightening and it seems like everyone else is getting in your way on purpose?

I probably need to go back to bed, but at the same time, I have A LOT of crappy things going on in my personal life, so maybe I'm just stressed.

You sure you are not on the good stuff and getting a little roid rage...lol
I seem to experience this every couple of days, good thing I workout once I
get home to take out my frustration.

[Niki24x7]

I hate those days. Hopefully the rest of your day will be better.

Thanks chicka.. when I focus on this stuff (getting my meals ready for the next day, writing down my training and writing to you guys) it get's my mind off of things...

[Niki24x7]

You sure you are not on the good stuff and getting a little roid rage...lol
I seem to experience this every couple of days, good thing I workout once I
get home to take out my frustration.

hahahaha Mark! Roid rage minus the steroids... maybe?? Maybe these supplements are making me ANGRY! lol Whatever happened to happy endorphins that take over when you exercise? I'll have to check my bottles to see if there's an endorphin bocker on the label.

[Jonesie031]

Thanks chicka.. when I focus on this stuff (getting my meals ready for the next day, writing down my training and writing to you guys) it get's my mind off of things...

Good luck and things always get better! I am subbed. You are one of my 5 bloggers that I will be reading everyday.

[dabbe]

woo subbed , Everything looks good in for further workouts and results!!