vodka and creatine

[gobbles23]

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

[BananaOats]

I am! I really like it a lot. It's the first time I've worked in the 5 rep range, and while I still feel pathetically weak when I compare myself to other people on here, it has helped me make some very nice strength gains. The only adaptations I've made to it is that I've sorta stopped doing abs twice a week. I feel like the squatting and SLDLs and rack pulls etc hit my core enough without doing more ab work. Oh, and I don't do a 5x5 for biceps on Liz's recommendation.

I was doing a bit of work in the 5 rep range before this and I'm still so weak too lol. I love the set up of this program and I'm hoping it will bring some great progress. Glad to hear you like it

Happy Thanksgiving

[ms_mac]

I hear ya on the peanut butter - right now in my cupboard I have 10....thats right.....10.....jars of assorted nut butters. Most are home made: pecan butter, almond butter, mac nut butter, home made nutella and a home made peanut butter. I also have some store bought crunchy pb and ab. Then today I came across a little seasonal store that was getting ready to close for the season so all their stuff was marked down 50% off. I got a jar of cinnamon almond butter, an organic peanut butter with honey, and an organic peanut butter with cocoa.....

I never have any problem meeting my fat macro

[dreahere]

Hope you Canadian ladies all had a wonderful feast!

home made nutella

Ooo! Recipe, please?

Yesterday's "walk around, drink in the sun, and eat crap" was wonderful, except for the fact the sandals I had on chewed up my feet. I had to stop in CVS and buy blister bandaids and moleskin but by then it was too late. I'm kinda hobbling today because I have a big weird blister on the bottom on my right heel. After our long walk, we ended up at a rooftop bar overlooking the harbor. It was ridiculously gorgeous, not the least of which was sitting there in October in a sleeveless shirt, cropped jeans and sandals. I had this drink which I can't remember the name of, but which was sparkling wine, pineapple syrup, and bitters. Very delicious, but it was at this point I stopped tracking, 'cause I had no idea how to count that. I'm assuming it was pretty caloric because it was sweet. Then I had a glass of plain prosecco. We also had some hummus with tosted pita points to nibble on. Eventually we went down the street to a sports bar to watch some of the Rangers-Tigers game. I had a cheeseburger and sweet potato fries. Oh, and there was something wrong with their taps or something, so they had NO DRAFT BEER (in a sports bar? really?) and the bottled beer was swill, so I had (half of a) regular Coke. OMG. I don't really drink soda anymore, and the last couple times I've tried to drink diet soda it tasted really nasty, so lacking delicious, delicious beer, I had high test It felt weird, hahaha.

Anyway, you get the point. I had approximately a zillion calories yesterday, so I'm hoping I can kill it at the gym later. Hamstring dominant day + triceps. Easy peasy lemon squeezy

Happy Tuesday that feels like a Monday!

[ms_mac]

Ooo! Recipe, please?

QUOTE]

Here you go:

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups hazelnuts
6 oz. baker’s chocolate (6 squares)
3/4 cup honey
4 tbsp. safflower oil
1/2 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used Bourbon Vanilla from Trader Joe’s)

Directions

Step 1 – Place the hazelnuts on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F. for about 15 minutes. The flesh should be a nice golden brown and the skins should be closer to black in color.

Step 2 – Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Step 3 – Put the hazelnuts on a dish towel and rub until the skins come off. You may need to help some of them along with your hands, but most of the skins should come off with the towel.

Step 4 – Put the hazelnuts in a food processor and blend until you have a nut butter consistency. It may not be perfectly smooth, but you’ll know it when you see it. It takes a few minutes in the processor, so just keep blending.

Step 5 – While the hazelnuts are in the processor, put the chocolate squares in a bowl and microwave for about 3 minutes. Stir, and then continue to microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each one, until the chocolate is melted.

Step 6 – Stop the processor and add the chocolate, then the honey and oil. Mix as much as you can. The mixture will be very thick, so it may put a little bit of strain on your mixer. At that point, start adding your milk slowly, a little at a time.

Step 7 – Lastly, add the vanilla extract and blend for a few moments more just to combine everything really well.

Step 8 – Transfer the nutella to a jar and store in the fridge. It will get thick like peanut butter does when it’s cold.

This was super sweet..I think if I were to make this again I will reduce the honey to 1\4 cup instead of 3\4 cup. I also used macadamia nut oil instead of safflower oil....just becasue I had some here that I wanted to use up, but I am sure any oil would work. Let me know if you make it and if you like it...

[dreahere]

Thanks for the recipe! Tomorrow's my day off, so maybe I'll get a chance to buy the ingredients for this and try it. Is honey necessary texture-wise, I wonder? I'm not a big fan of the flavor of honey, so I'd rather use another sweetener if possible.

So, hamstring dominant/triceps day went well. So.many.dips. I left out the step ups I usually do because my back/hip were feeling a little funky (probably from limping on my blister :eyeroll: ) and step ups bother me a bit when my hip's not right. I did extra leg press instead: an extra set of high foot placement, then, at the end of my workout, three high rep sets of regular. I've been having kind of a fat bulking day today (bloated.jpg) but I'm trying not to care. I'm also still hungry even though I've had 2226 calories today. Might say fukc it and have a bedtime snack.

[dreahere]

I did have a bedtime snack yesterday which brought my cals to 2386. We will credit that with today's SICK workout. I did:

lat pulldowns 113x5x5 <--personal best

Hammer high row 120x8x3

assist pullups (37.5 assist)x8x3 (25 assist)x5x3

db sh press 25x8x2 25x7x1 25x8x1 25x7x1 <--personal best, and the last rep of the last set was accompanied by a grunt that made the guy next to me turn around...oops

reverse pec deck #6 (no idea, lol) x8x4 <--these were hard after the shoulder presses

standing calf raises 140x16x3 <--gotta go up on these, too easy

plank x3

Afterwards I stretched and stretched, trying to work out my left hip. I think it helped. Oh, and I walked to the gym today. That's 3.4 miles of warmup

I got up in the weight room at 2:50, *just* getting to the lat pulldown and the Hammer high row before the influx of the afterschool kids, and thus was not irritated when they descended like a swarm of slightly noisy locusts. What was cool today was that one of them was actually a little girl who was using all the Hammer machines. I think I've seen her before, but to be honest, she wears a hat and when I've seen her before, she was wearing baggy pants and a big shirt, and I think I assumed she was a boy with a ponytail. Today she had on a tank top and, yeah, she's definitely a girl. She was in the locker room with her little friends who'd been doing cardio, changing to go swimming, when I was leaving. If she hadn't been with her posse, deeply involved in conversation, I'd have complimented her on having the balls to go into the weight area with all the guys and really lift. I'd probably have phrased that more delicately. Ahem.

Addendum: I forgot to say, after yesterday's "fat" bulking day, today I had a skinny bulking day. I liked how I looked in what I wore to the gym today, lol.

[dreahere]

I didn't sleep hardly at all last night , pretty much because I was having an anxiety attack. But nevertheless, I'm intending to go to the gym after work if at all possible and, if it's not so busy that I have to arm wrestle for the squat rack, I'm going to try to do squat day today instead of tomorrow. Then tomorrow I can either skip the gym or go to yoga, depending on how the day shakes out. If I get to the gym today and it's too crowded, I'll just do some cardio. And/or maybe grip training! Flexible. Must be flexible.

Right now it's pouring outside and I am procrastinating taking a shower and going to work, hoping the weather will become slightly less miserable. However, since the earlier I get there, the earlier I can leave, I should really get a move on. Why hasn't anyone invented teleportation so that on days like this a person could get from their house to their office without ever encountering the elements? One of yous should get right on that. (See, this is what I'm like when I've had 3 hours sleep. It's not pretty. And neither am I, btw. There's no amount of undereye concealer that's gonna fix this mess today.)

Happy Thursday! Wear your rain boots if applicable.

[BananaOats]

Yep, rain here too It's making me not want to get out of bed!

I've been wanting to try yoga for the longest time. I wanna be flexible too! So I got a yoga dvd the other day. Haven't tried it yet, but the plan is to start doing it at least once a week Do you do yoga often?

[dreahere]

Yep, rain here too It's making me not want to get out of bed!

I've been wanting to try yoga for the longest time. I wanna be flexible too! So I got a yoga dvd the other day. Haven't tried it yet, but the plan is to start doing it at least once a week Do you do yoga often?

Not as often as I should, unfortunately. Even when I make the time to just do a few hip openers after I lift or do cardio, it makes a big difference in how my body feels. And when I actually do a full class, at the gym or at home, I feel fabulous. You would, therefore, think I'd do it regularly. But you'd be wrong

Oh, forgot to say earlier: 119 today after a week back eating solidly above maintenance.

[dreahere]

Exhaustion caught up with me around 4:40 when I was getting ready to leave work. So I hit up my boss for some candy, and even better, he had chocolate covered butter cookies. So I had two of those and felt fortified to hit the gym. A guy was in the squat rack when I got there, but it didn't look as if anyone else was waiting, so I figured I'd do my little bicep accessory exercises while he finished. But then he was still in there DLing in front of it. I figured my options were, give up, do do cardio and come back Friday to do quad day minus biceps, OR squat in the Smith, OR find something else to do for a few more minutes and hope he'd be done then.

So I did some bonus grip training, doing farmers walks (where I could see him, so I'd be ready to pounce as soon as he was done, lol.) And that worked out perfectly. Was a little afraid that the grip training before SLDLs wouldn't be optimal, but since it my lighter weight, higher rep day for those it was fine. I actually did really well, I thought. The little sugar buzz honestly seemed to do the trick.

I did:

Quads
BB squats 45x8x1 warmup, 105x5x5 <-- actually more reps, because I didn't count the ones I thought might be too shallow; should have tried a set w/ 110 or even 115, but I wimped out

leg press 220x8x1, 240x8x3

Hammies
SLDLs 105x8x1, 110x8x1, 115x8x1 <--on this last set, on a couple of reps, I felt like a funny pull in my left pec of all places; it wasn't actually pain, more like the feeling you get when you're stretching something out to the point of slight discomfort; then it was fine, so I don't know what that was about

Biceps
cable curls #6 (no idea)x8x4

preacher curls 30x8x1, 40x6x1, 35x8x2

Bonus grip training
farmers walk 20 and 25lb db, random distances to near failure

No idea what I'll do tomorrow, if anything. It worked out that I'll have to be in work by 7, so I'm sure I won't be staying till after 5 just in order to go to 6:15 yoga. And if I come home in between I know I won't go back.

[dreahere]

So, yesterday I went to the gym after all. I was sitting all damn day in work and it was raining on and off all day (so it wasn't as if I could just go take a nice pleasant walk) and I felt sluggish. My original plan was to do cardio, but I didn't have the right shoes with me to walk/run--the shoes I lift in are so thin-soled, they actually hurt my feet on the treadmill--which meant my other option was the bike. And my ham-glute tie-in was so sore from squat day that doing anything that leg intensive was NOT appealing. But I was full of energy (two of my boss's cookies again before heading out, who needs an effin' preworkout?), so I convinced myself that I could/should do horizontal plane, back/chest, even though that meant I was lifting 4 days in a row and 5 days in a calendar week.

Guess what? I did it, and it was fine. Good, even. I didn't go up in weights on anything, but I added an extra set to my rack pulls and db bench (so 5x6, instead of 5x5). Otherwise I am stuck on 125 on the rack pulls because my hands give out I'm really at the point where doing 5 reps at 125 isn't difficult for my back at all, but my grip's giving way. Maybe next week I'll do a 5x5 w/ 125 and then see if I can do a few sets of 135 even if it's only 2 or 3 reps each. I don't know how else I'm gonna go up on these right now. In any case, other than a little frustration/puzzlement with that, it was a good workout. I'm pretty happy--I haven't had a really off day in the gym for quite awhile now, even though if I look at what my bodymedia tells me, my sleep is pretty damn crappy. I guess all the food I'm eating is making up for that.

Today I have the right shoes with me to do cardio, so I'ma do some non-strenuous biking and/or incline walking, then stretch, then go in the sauna and steam room. Ciaou!

[2ndfloor]

Hi! Saw your comment on the rack pulls. Have you tried doing them with chalk? For deadlifts, at least, I find that the difference between "hanging on for dear life" and "gosh, I could hold onto this forever" is chalking up really well.

[thehobbes]

Chalk is a good idea, you should probably be using chalk on DL too, but for just rack pulls I've always used straps, it's just what I like to do. IMO it won't interfere with my grip strength for actual DL since I can rack pull around 75lbs more than I can DL.

[dreahere]

Hi! Saw your comment on the rack pulls. Have you tried doing them with chalk? For deadlifts, at least, I find that the difference between "hanging on for dear life" and "gosh, I could hold onto this forever" is chalking up really well.

Chalk is a good idea, you should probably be using chalk on DL too, but for just rack pulls I've always used straps, it's just what I like to do. IMO it won't interfere with my grip strength for actual DL since I can rack pull around 75lbs more than I can DL.

Thanks, ladies. My problem with the idea of chalk is a.) I have never seen anyone in my gym use it and b.) [embarrassed] I'm afraid I won't be able to stand the feel of it on my hands[/embarrassed]. I should probably get over that. I should also look into the straps. I do definitely have the feeling I could go up on the rack pulls a lot if my hands weren't giving out.

So yesterday I had an amusing(?) conversation at work. To set this up, I need to tell you that this woman I was speaking to had a kinda...unusual...sense of boundaries. I mean, she started out admiring my boots and asked me where I got them. "DSW." Where's that? I told her, but also told her that I was pretty sure there was also one at [place closer to where she lives]. Oh. Do I know anyplace else that sells boots like that? Uh, no, sorry. Seriously, lady? Do I look like your personal shopper or something? So THEN she noticed my bodymedia, which was underneath my sleeve but does make a lump on my arm. "What's that on your arm? Is that one of those power bands?" I laughed and said, no, it's a bodymedia, it's my little toy, it tells me how many calories I burn in a day and how many steps I take and stuff like that. Oh, that's cool. What's a good amount of calories to burn? 300? LOL, wut? So I told her that, no, someone our size burns maybe 1400 calories a day just breathing, never mind walking around your house or actually exercising, and that I burn over 2000 calories a day. So this lightbulb goes on over her head and she says, "Oh! And you eat that back!" Right, right, right. If you burn 2000 calories and you eat 2000 calories, then you stay the same weight. This seemed to be a novel and exciting concept to her. Sigh. No wonder the American public falls for the shake weight and the Cortislim and whatever else they're shilling on the infomercials. This is what we're dealing with.

Anyway. I did 45 minutes of cardio yesterday, 23 minutes on the treadmill, 22 on the bike. I brought my kindle with me to read on the bike and started The Hunger Games. ****. I coulda stayed on the bike for about two hours, lol. That book *really* pulls you in. Anyone read it? I could not stay on the bike and read forever, though. It was getting late and I had to get home and cook. I did briefly go in the steamroom--and I mean briefly, because someone had the temperature set to "parboil"--and then ten minutes or so in the sauna, which was lovely. On the way out, I got a nice look at myself in a locker room mirror in my bathing suit and I found out what I have outgrown on my bulk: those bathing suit bottoms. Holy crap, were they unflattering. Lulz. So then I pulled up the top of my bathing suit and examined my abs, and they looked good, so I felt better

Now I really must go shower and get my (fat) azz to the gym so I can be home in time to re-watch 6 1/2 hours of The Walking Dead on AMC before the new season starts tonight. You think I'm kidding? I'm not.

Happy Zombie Apocalypse!

[BananaOats]

So yesterday I had an amusing(?) conversation at work. To set this up, I need to tell you that this woman I was speaking to had a kinda...unusual...sense of boundaries. I mean, she started out admiring my boots and asked me where I got them. "DSW." Where's that? I told her, but also told her that I was pretty sure there was also one at [place closer to where she lives]. Oh. Do I know anyplace else that sells boots like that? Uh, no, sorry. Seriously, lady? Do I look like your personal shopper or something? So THEN she noticed my bodymedia, which was underneath my sleeve but does make a lump on my arm. "What's that on your arm? Is that one of those power bands?" I laughed and said, no, it's a bodymedia, it's my little toy, it tells me how many calories I burn in a day and how many steps I take and stuff like that. Oh, that's cool. What's a good amount of calories to burn? 300? LOL, wut? So I told her that, no, someone our size burns maybe 1400 calories a day just breathing, never mind walking around your house or actually exercising, and that I burn over 2000 calories a day. So this lightbulb goes on over her head and she says, "Oh! And you eat that back!" Right, right, right. If you burn 2000 calories and you eat 2000 calories, then you stay the same weight. This seemed to be a novel and exciting concept to her. Sigh. No wonder the American public falls for the shake weight and the Cortislim and whatever else they're shilling on the infomercials. This is what we're dealing with.

LOL. Most of my friends are like this. But they will NOT listen to me! Its so sad. A while ago my friend saw my tub of whey protein powder sitting on my dresser and immediately freaked out telling me to stop using it or else I'm going to gain so much weight. Sigh.

[dreahere]

A while ago my friend saw my tub of whey protein powder sitting on my dresser and immediately freaked out telling me to stop using it or else I'm going to gain so much weight.

You should probably put that in a closet. I'm sure just looking at it is gonna make you fat LOL I don't know where people get their ideas, honestly.

So yesterday was hamstring dominant day and all went well. I did my SLDLs at 135, and unlike the last time I tried that weight a couple weeks ago, it wasn't too heavy, and it wasn't effing up my form. Plus! I had no problem with my grip. Have no idea why, other than it was the day after a rest day, so maybe that makes a difference in my hand fatigue? Anyway, I was looking at this stuff: http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/li...quid-grip.html It gets good reviews, so maybe I'll buy some the next time I order something, just to see. I'm getting low on creatine, so I will be ordering soon.

Then I made protein muffins again while I was watching the zombie apocalypse. I really needed to, because though I hate to say it, I am kinda getting sick of sludge for breakfast everyday, even in its myriad variations, but if I don't have something with PP in it in the morning, I struggle to get my protein macro met. NOT an eggs-for-breakfast person. Anyway, I had stopped at the supermarket on the way home from the gym because I knew I needed almonds to make the muffins. However, I forgot that I was also out of eggs. Through the miracle of the interwebs, I discovered that I could substitute one banana and 1/2 tsp of baking powder for 2 eggs. And it worked! In fact, the slight banana taste this imparted was an improvement. I also added some DaVincis sugar-free Irish Creme syrup to them to sweeten. Oh, and I used olive oil, because I also forgot I was out of vegetable oil. Unlike the sad occasion that I used olive oil in brownies, lol, you couldn't tell. My point is, with all my substitutions, they turned out well. I had one for breakfast today with some F.a.g.e 2% and it was a nice change. I gotta research some more protein powder recipes.

The scale was wavering between 118 and 119 this morning, then settled on 119. So, staying the same, despite being in a solid surplus all last week. My frightening encounter with my bathing suit bottoms over the weekend, however, is making me think I may just do that dieting down for a month after my b-day thing like I'd been thinking about. I've got a month to decide.

Back/shoulders plus cardio today. Happy Monday!

[dreahere]

118 this morning. Boo. Once again, bulking, yur doin it rong.

Vertical plane back/shoulders yesterday. Went up on the Hammer high row to 130 for my last two sets, though on the last set I really got 6 good reps and two sh*tty half ones, especially on the R side. Ever since I had that elbow/shoulder problem back in late May/early June, I have continued to be slightly weaker on the R side, upper body. I can't really tell until I get to failure, but the R always fails two or three reps before the L will on unilateral stuff. But, anyway, I looked back to see what I was doing when I started doing the high rows back in July, and it was 70lbs. Probably started out too low, but I'm still pretty happy w/ that increase. That's the good news. The bad news is that the last time I did db shoulder press w/ the 25s, I got 8-8-7-8-7, and last night I got 8-7-6(!)-8-7. So I threw in another set of 5. I think the reason I did crappy on those yesterday is b/c this one guy I really don't like was there and he makes me self-conscious. He always makes "jokes" to me about how little I'm lifting, and I get pissed off and unsettled. I kinda think he thinks he's flirting, but seriously, dude, you're just being a douchebag. Go away. I try to keep my iPod in and not make eye contact so he won't speak to me, but it doesn't always work (because obviously he has even worse social skills than I do.) Thankfully, we're not there at the same time very often anymore.

Then I did more cardio than I really intended because I started reading The Hunger Games on the bike again. Oops, 45 minutes just went by? Are you fukcing kidding me? I finished it last night, so at least that won't happen again, lol. (Tell me that's why I'm down 1/2 a pound this morning )

I've got gym clothes and squatting shoes with me today so I can squat after work if the spirit moves me. I've been really feeling the urge to go to the gym and do *something* every day lately. Which I'm sure will pass shortly. I haven't had a complete rest day since Columbus Day, and that day I walked all over the city, so that probably doesn't even count. (There's gotta be a correlation between this and the fact that my hammies are sore every freaking day of my life lately, hahaha.) Maybe I'll take a rest week in November. I haven't taken one since that first week in July, so it'll be time soon, I think.

Well, enough thinking out loud, as it were. Happy Tuesday!

[dreahere]

Squat day happened today. Soooo close to squatting my body weight for reps. Maybe I'll try 115 next week and call it. (First person who tells me I'm closer to 120 than 115 gets a dumbbell to the head.) Good lifting day today, anyhow. No trouble w/ grip on the SLDLs. I saw something on one of the other forums here about making sure to get the bar right in the middle of your palm, not too close to your fingers, and I think paying attention to that helps a bit.

I celebrated my good lifting day that didn't have any cookies preceding it by getting my yearly DD pumpkin muffin afterwards. Every October I buy one, every October it kind of sux, and yet I keep hoping they're gonna improve the recipe, lol. Usually I eat one and then think, shiz, that was a waste of 600 calories and 83g carb (srs! look it up!). But since I need all the calories I can get this year, today I ain't even mad.

[BananaOats]

I celebrated my good lifting day that didn't have any cookies preceding it by getting my yearly DD pumpkin muffin afterwards. Every October I buy one, every October it kind of sux, and yet I keep hoping they're gonna improve the recipe, lol. Usually I eat one and then think, shiz, that was a waste of 600 calories and 83g carb (srs! look it up!). But since I need all the calories I can get this year, today I ain't even mad.

Haha, that's awesome

[dreahere]

Rest day! Day off from work and it was miserable out, so I didn't even leave the house.

Did a little bit of fall cleaning: threw some more stuff out of the basement, spent *an hour* cleaning my microwave (don't ask), stripped my bed, including the bedskirt, washed everything, and remade with the winter stuff, including getting out the down comforter and stuffing it into the duvet cover. <--(that was fun, for some definition of fun; one that involves masochism, ahem.) Should have flipped my mattress but it's too hard to do by myself with the amount of room I have to work with in the room. Vacuumed and dusted everything and cleared up some clutter that had accumulated in the bedroom.

According to my bodymedia, this all uses far fewer calories than one would think, lulz. I probably shouldn't be eating bulking calories today, but eh. I'm at 2044 and I'm gonna have something else.

Tomorrow: back/chest horizontal plane and cardio again.

Good night!

[dreahere]

Yesterday: back/chest + 30 mins cardio (on the bike, reading). Didn't go up in weight on anything, but snuck in extra reps/sets where I could. Satisfactory After two days of serious fulking, I'm back up to 119. Starting to feel a little chunky, especially in the love handle region. There's definitely, um, "flesh" there that wasn't there 4 months ago. Not too worried about that, that'll come off quick when I decide to lose a few pounds. My legs feel much more solid and less squishy than they did, so that's the upside. I think my quads and hammies have grown a lot on this bulk, though with the amount of fat over them, they certainly don't look impressive to anyone but me. Again, that's ok. I'm the only one who counts

Today: cardio again and maybe grip training and maybe yoga, though I don't have my mat with me. We'll see what happens.

Happy Friday! Kill it, all y'all!

[dreahere]

30 minutes cardio yesterday on the bike + bonus grip training Got the big swole in my forearms doing farmers walk w/ the 25s and 30s. Cracks me up. Also did some plate pinching. I've heard that the bodymedia underestimates your calories biking and after yesterday, I have to agree. My burn was (supposedly) pathetic, yet I was sweating buckets. I coulda literally rung out my sports bra when I took it off, and my beater too. I had to have used more calories than what my readout said. Grr. Maybe I'll try putting my armband on my calf while biking and see what it says.

Today will be hamstring dominant and triceps day. Also will do cardio again. My NEAT has dropped through the floor, so I gotta get some movement in.

That's all for now--gotta get to work! Ciaou!

[dreahere]

I tried writing this earlier and lost it all. Here are the cliffs:

1.) SLDLs at 135 SUCKED today. Figured out this was because when I did them successfully last week I had on 35s and 10s, not 45s (because I'd gone up from 125), and when I tried them w/ the 45lb plates today, I had to take an extra step back from the rack to have room. Apparently holding the bar for those extra few seconds it took to step back the extra distance and settle myself was enough to effect my grip endurance. N E way, I only got 5-5-3-5-3-2. I was so pissed off by this I then did 8-8-5 with 115. I assume my hammies will hate me in the morning.

2.) Mr Douchebag was at the gym, staring at me when I did the first set w/ 135. Then he came over and nodded w/ mock approval at what I had on the bar, so I said, with my usual charming sarcasm, "So do I get the thumbs up today?" He said, yeah, okay, but was I sure I didn't want another plate, which is his usual "joke." Then he went off to, like, uh, actually work out or something. When he came back, I had dropped down to 115, so he had to comment on that. Then he kept talking to the point I had to pop out an earbud and actually listen to him. What he was asking was how many reps I was doing. I told him the 135 was my 5x5, and I was doing 8 w/ the 115. Believe it or not, he was impressed with the 8 and said so. Awww. Now maybe me and Mr Douchebag can have a gym friendship based on mutual respect. Or not.

3.) Rest of workout was fine.

4.) Popped the bodymedia off my tricep and stuck it on my calf to get on the bike and it gave me a much more reasonable reading when I synched.

Sh*t, Andrea, those are the cliffs?

Yes. Yes they are.

[dreahere]

Wasn't sure I was going to go to the gym yesterday. Slept till after 10(!!!) which obviously I needed after getting 4 hours and change of sleep a couple days last week, but when I woke up everything hurt. My legs were dragging and I somehow slept wrong such that my neck was tight and my right shoulder twinging. But I ate a huge breakfast and drank a lot of coffee and released a few trigger points in my own R trap, haha, and then I was like, eff it, Sunday's your favorite gym day: go do it! So I did.

Vertical plane back/shoulders. My "5x5" with the db shoulder press at 25 was 8-8-8-7-8, so I have to (wo)man up and try to get the 30s up sometime soon. I had so much trouble transitioning from the 20s to the 25s that I think I have PTSD but I gotta stop screwing around and just go for it. Lat pulldown at 113 is getting easier. So are assisted pullups with 25lb assist. Went up on the reverse pec dec thingy to "#7" (whatthefukever weight that really is) for my last set. When I first started doing those back in March I was doing #2, so yeah. Felt good and strong yesterday, and my shoulder wasn't twinging at all when I was actually lifting. I think *using it* warmed it up and loosened it.

Also, when I was getting dressed yesterday, I spent a lot time of examining my naked body with dissatisfaction. Then I went to the gym and, in my beater and leggings, I liked what I saw. (Especially doing the shoulder presses--arms, shoulders, and chest all looked really good.) Moral? Keep my clothes on at all times.

And finally, I was back down to 118 for the last couple days. I looked back in fitday to see when I first logged my weight at 118 and it was at the end of freakin' July. I have bounced up to 119 and 120 since, but then I bounce back down, so I have not actually gained any weight for like three months. I hope I am at least recomping if I'm failing at this bulk. After discovering this, I a.) had a giant brownie after the gym and b.) baked banana bread. It's not like I'm not trying, yo.

[Euqinom]

Also, when I was getting dressed yesterday, I spent a lot time of examining my naked body with dissatisfaction. Then I went to the gym and, in my beater and leggings, I liked what I saw. (Especially doing the shoulder presses--arms, shoulders, and chest all looked really good.) Moral? Keep my clothes on at all times.

ADvice: if you've gone through the trouble of undressing, might as well be proud. Much more fun.

[dreahere]

ADvice: if you've gone through the trouble of undressing, might as well be proud. Much more fun.

Good advice is good. I wish I could follow it.

[Euqinom]

the first times it will be a conscious effort, but you'll get the hang of it.

[dreahere]

I've been seriously thinking about calling my bulk. If I do, I'm not going to try to lose weight. I'm not going to try to maintain my weight. I'm not going to try to gain weight. Ideally, I will just eat to appetite, keep doing BGB because I'm having fun with it, focus on continuing to make strength increases little by little, do as much cardio as I want, no less and no more, and let my weight/body do whatever it does. That would be my ideal, but obviously, I'm not sure I can go through with it or I wouldn't be writing this.

I've talked about this before, but I am not sure that all this counting and tracking and, yes, obsessing is in any way healthy for me. I also feel like focusing on what my body looks like rather than what it can do is, and has always been, a step back towards craziness and an unhealthy relationship with my body, whereas focusing on what my body can do (how strong and flexible and well-conditioned it is) has always been a step towards sanity and healthy self-esteem. (I have a whole blog post half-written about this, which I've been working on for like 10 days. Maybe some day I'll sort my thoughts enough to finish it coherently ) I love that bulking has helped my strength gains. And I love what my muscles look like when I'm not obsessing that they should look better by now. But I'm realizing that, for me, the healthiest relationship I can have with my muscles (oh, god, what a douche I sound like; yeah, me n' my muscles have a relationship, we're BFFs, you know) is to look at them as a by-product of doing what I love to do, i.e. lift weights, and not as something to be striven for. To think of myself as an athlete (though I'm not) rather than an object to be looked at (by myself or other people.)

I dunno. Every time in the past 9 months that I've said I'm gonna stop weighing and tracking my food, the resolution lasts about three hours. Lulz. I know what I should do, but that doesn't mean I do it.

Happy National Confusion Day! (oh, wait, I just made that up)

[thepowerwithin]

I've been seriously thinking about calling my bulk. If I do, I'm not going to try to lose weight. I'm not going to try to maintain my weight. I'm not going to try to gain weight. Ideally, I will just eat to appetite, keep doing BGB because I'm having fun with it, focus on continuing to make strength increases little by little, do as much cardio as I want, no less and no more, and let my weight/body do whatever it does. That would be my ideal, but obviously, I'm not sure I can go through with it or I wouldn't be writing this.

I've talked about this before, but I am not sure that all this counting and tracking and, yes, obsessing is in any way healthy for me. I also feel like focusing on what my body looks like rather than what it can do is, and has always been, a step back towards craziness and an unhealthy relationship with my body, whereas focusing on what my body can do (how strong and flexible and well-conditioned it is) has always been a step towards sanity and healthy self-esteem. (I have a whole blog post half-written about this, which I've been working on for like 10 days. Maybe some day I'll sort my thoughts enough to finish it coherently ) I love that bulking has helped my strength gains. And I love what my muscles look like when I'm not obsessing that they should look better by now. But I'm realizing that, for me, the healthiest relationship I can have with my muscles (oh, god, what a douche I sound like; yeah, me n' my muscles have a relationship, we're BFFs, you know) is to look at them as a by-product of doing what I love to do, i.e. lift weights, and not as something to be striven for. To think of myself as an athlete (though I'm not) rather than an object to be looked at (by myself or other people.)

I dunno. Every time in the past 9 months that I've said I'm gonna stop weighing and tracking my food, the resolution lasts about three hours. Lulz. I know what I should do, but that doesn't mean I do it.

Happy National Confusion Day! (oh, wait, I just made that up)

I like this post of yours, and I can relate. I don't know in which thread I recently posted (prolly bulking) that I have a great desire to just "be." I forever live with my eye on the prize and find that I am missing out on what is NOW, which is good and better than ever as far as my physical condition is concerned. I am still trying to drop a few lbs, but there is no sense of urgency and I am relaxed about it.

OH, btw, I am just getting back from vacay, when/where I decided to give IF a try. I broke fast at noon with lunch and enjoyed a great dinner. It certainly made my vacation way more pleasurable than trying to restrict. I am not 100% committed to it, but I am going to try it this week too. I really, really like it so far.