4 months of NROL4W and IF To Hit Hot Mama Status

[sarasayshi]

I've been lifting hard, watching my nutrition for almost 5 months and have very little progress to show for it. In fact, my weight is pretty much right back where it was when I started hitting the gym.

I started The New Rules Of Lifting For Women training about 2 months ago. This program is a 6 month long program with 6 different training phases. I just ended phase II and begin my Phase III in 2 days. I have 4 months left of this program that somehow times perfectly to end by the end of December.

I decided to create this log because my former log was pretty lonely in the women's training section. Also, I figured it was time for a new log since I dropped my calories last week and I am finally seeing results. In just the last 4 days I have dropped -2.2 lbs.

My Training:

I'll be following the NROL4W workouts as outlined in the book which are full body training sessions that take about 1 1/2 - 2 hours in the gym and there are 3 days of training per week.

I am also doing 50 min of LISS on my rest days. These are usually boring treadmill walks or easy paced bike rides on the spinning bike.

Nutrition:

I will be following IF as outlined on www.leangains.com. I have a 16-17 hour fasting window which means between the hours of 9pm-2pm I am in fasting mode and taking in only BCAA's pre-workout. My window to have meals is between 2pm-9pm.

I am eating 1,784 calories on rest days and 1800-1900 on training days.

Starting weight as of August 27, 2011: 192.8 lbs

I'm ready to get serious now. All those months of busting my booty in the gym and seeing the scale go up is disheartening. I feel fatter than before I began. So this past week, I changed my eating (relying less on supplements for nutrition) and really following the IF guidelines of eating lower fat, higher carbs and moderate-high protein on training days and then lower carbs, moderate protein and higher fat on rest days.

Plus I added in the LISS and I think I just need to come to terms that if I want to hit my goals by the end of this year, I need to do some form of exercise on my rest days.

I'm ready to do this!

[sarasayshi]

Today was my rest day but I ended up going to the gym for 50 min on the spinning bike. I did my best to avoid making it an interval workout, so I would ride for about 10-15 min until my crotch felt it was on fire and then I would stand for 1-2 minutes for pressure relief. But the majority was sitting down at a good pace. I burned 465 calories in 50 min.

Nutrition:

M1: 1 fish taco (3 oz red snapper + corn tortilla), 6 oz red snapper with chipotle seasoning pan fried with bell peppers (made like a fajita mixture) and topped with 2 tbsp sour cream and dessert was 1 chobani fat-free blueberry greek yogurt.

725 cal, 93g p/ 47g c/ 13g f

M2: 3oz pork loin terriyaki marinaded, 3 small gold potatoes roasted with olive oil & dried french onion mix, 4 oz of raw veggie tray (jicama, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas and carrots) and 70g of ranch greek yogurt dip (idea stolen from Dave and his bacon ranch greek yogurt dip).

540 cal, 35g p/ 41g c/ 26g f

M3: 2 cups of Dreyer's triple chocolate peanut butter sundae topped with just under 1 TSBP of peanut butter

516 cal, 15g p/ 67g c/ 22g f

Today's totals:
1,781 cal
143g p
144g c
61g f

[BellaValerina]

Glad to see you back!!!!!

[sarasayshi]

Glad to see you back!!!!!

Thanks Val! I'm ready to get fit! I will do this, this time!

[sarasayshi]

I went to a BBQ this evening and I walked in the door with 900 and some odd calories to eat with. They were serving burgers (no cheese ), someone brought zucchini strips, watermelon and grapes and I brought a pasta salad I made that had feta and a bunch of olive oil!

My rough estimate on my dinner calories at the BBQ is 891 calories. I got a burger and did without the bun. I put a little bit of guacamole on it, had a small portion of pasta salad and filled the rest of my plate with watermelon. Dessert was mixed fruit with a fruit cream cheese dip. I got one scoop of fruit and about 2 tablespoons of the dip.

So here are my estimated total calories and macros:

1,751 calories, 97g p/ 98g c/ 87g f

Fat is a little high here today and that's because of two things. I am guessing the burgers that were served were 85/15 because they looked really big going out to the grill and they shrank to half the original size. Plus they were charred pretty good, so this is a good indication there was a high fat content in them. I also had 2 slices of bacon chopped and tossed in my egg scramble I had in my meal one today. So, it was a fatty day. Oh well, I feel satisfied.

Tomorrow starts workout 1 of Phase III. What's going to be interesting is that plyometrics is being introduced at the end of the weight lifting session. I'll have to do squats, lunges, then lunge jumps and end with squat jumps. I am sad to see that there are no squats with a barbell in this phase. Squats don't get brought back until Phase IV. I hope I don't lose any strength on my squats.

The other thing I notice is that I am suppose to do 6 reps and 3 sets instead of the usual 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps.

Oh well, this phase consists of doing both workout routines a total of 4x each (8 workouts total) so that's about 2 1/2-3 weeks to complete.

[sarasayshi]

Things are looking good. Today's weight is 191.4. I think I am going to make Monday's my official weigh-in day. I am already down -3.6lbs since I dropped my calories last week! Yee-haw!

I had to watch a few youtube videos on how to do a one-arm db snatch since that is totally foreign to me. I found this great video that Neghor demonstrates with ease and good form. I love her because she is a badass! So I did them like this.



I was surprised that I was able to work up to a 20lb db right away. I think I probably could have done a 22.5 or 25 db even! Friday will be the day to see if I can.

Here was my first workout of Phase III. I was exhausted after the bodyweight matrix section. In fact, I had to stop and rest a second after hitting only 12 jump squats, but I didn't give up. I went back to my position and finished them out.

Phase III Workout A1:

Goals are 3 sets of 6 reps-

One-armed dumbbell snatch
12.5/6, 20/6, 20/6 heavier maybe?

Alternate:

Dumbbell single-leg romanian deadlift
15/6, 17.5/6, 17.5/6
Barbell bent-over row
40/6, 40/6, 40/6

Alternate:

Dumbbell single-arm overhead squat
7.5,15/6, 7.5,15/6, 7.5,17.5/6
Dumbbell incline chest press
15/6, 15/6, 17.5/6
Alternate:

Plank (90 sec)
82,71, 58 (this is a killer. I couldn't make it to 60 sec on my final one)
Reverse wood chop
17.5/6. 27.5/6, 27.5/6

Body weight matrix:
24 squats
12 lunges
12 lunge jumps
24 squat jumps

Today's nutrition was 1,879 calories.
Macros: 141g p/ 196g c/ 59g f

I am satisfied even though my first meal had the majority of it's protein coming from supplements. I only had enough meat for dinner tonight so tomorrow I'll be stopping at the butcher shop to pick up my meats for the week and to get a yummy BBQ fryer. They also offer a tritip deal for $20 which includes a soda and a side so I may do that for dinner tomorrow. I love me some tritip!

Tomorrow's plan is to do 50 min LISS. I haven't decided which I wanna do; boring treadmill or easy spinning.

[sarasayshi]

Oh yea, I forgot to mention this. look what came in the mail today! Truetein protein powder samples. I got a CinnaBun, Chocolate-dipped strawberry, chocolate covered banana, chocolate-peanut butter cup and a vanilla. So excited to try these flavors and order some new protein powders, if they are tasty!

[66jzmstr]

NICE!

IN and SUBBED, Sara!

I've really fallen prey to those Chobani cups - decent size, too. Supposedly my Costco usually carries flats of 'em but are currently out of stock. I'll definitely jump on 'em when they come back. Good job working in that ice cream, too!

My five-pounder of Trutein Cinnabun comes in Wednesday afternoon. STOKED! Please let us know how you find that and the other flavors! I thought their PB&C was well done, better than that of other incarnations I've tried.

[BellaValerina]

I'm so excited to hear your reviews of Trutein! Currently I use:

1. MusclePharm Combat Banana Creme mixed with water post workout
2. ON gold standard double chocolate mixed with 2% milk in the morning with breakfast (if I skip pro-oats)
3. XF UP 2.0 (Strawberry and Lemon Creme Pie for sludge with yogurt or cinnamon roll mixed with instant oatmeal maple brown sugar for breakfast)

[sarasayshi]

NICE!

IN and SUBBED, Sara!

I've really fallen prey to those Chobani cups - decent size, too. Supposedly my Costco usually carries flats of 'em but are currently out of stock. I'll definitely jump on 'em when they come back. Good job working in that ice cream, too!

My five-pounder of Trutein Cinnabun comes in Wednesday afternoon. STOKED! Please let us know how you find that and the other flavors! I thought their PB&C was well done, better than that of other incarnations I've tried.

So far I tried the chocolate peanut butter cup and I must admit, for only 115 calories mixed with water only, it was pretty darn tasty! I've tried 2 other chocolate pb flavors and hated them both so Trutein is a winner on this flavor! I can't wait to try the others. I will be trying the CinnaBun mixed as pro-oats tomorrow since that is typically how I eat my XF UP Cinnamon Roll and looking for an XF replacement if possible. I love XF...I love it too much but if I can cut back by 65ish calories, it's worth it to me to try another brand, just as long as it's tasty because XF UP has totally won me over.

I'm so excited to hear your reviews of Trutein! Currently I use:

1. MusclePharm Combat Banana Creme mixed with water post workout
2. ON gold standard double chocolate mixed with 2% milk in the morning with breakfast (if I skip pro-oats)
3. XF UP 2.0 (Strawberry and Lemon Creme Pie for sludge with yogurt or cinnamon roll mixed with instant oatmeal maple brown sugar for breakfast)

Hi Bella! I haven't tried XF's strawberry and for me I liked the LCP. In fact, I even had it as pro-oats as my PWO meal and it was a tasty treat. I'll be sure to let you know how the Trutien goes. I love that you can sample before committing!

[sarasayshi]

Feeling pretty good today. Lats were slightly sore and my right calf has been sore for about 4 days now but feels like its improving.

Today I went to the gym and rode the spinning bike for 40 min. I got off and forgot to look at my calories burned! Doh!

Afterwards, I stopped by the meat market (literally called that) to pick up some meats for this week. I got a BBQ whole fryer and a couple of pounds of lean ground beef.

I am so full right now and I even ate under my target calories! Yay me!

Nutrition:

M1: 12oz of dark chicken, 1/2 black beans, 3 oz of raw veggies, 1/2c of ranch greek yogurt and 1 banana (790 calories)
M2: Homade Goolosh (ground beef, spaghetti sauce, zucchini, olives, mozzarella cheese and brown rice pasta) (360 calories)
M3: 1 Trutein Chocolate-peanut butter cup protein shake and 3 servings of dreyer's low-fat rocky road ice cream! ( 475 calories)

Total calories: 1,625
Macros: 131g p/ 161g c/ 55g f

Tomorrow is my 2nd workout of phase III and it's different than Monday's. It also includes 15 min of HIIT after. I sure hope that I can make it through my HIIT session without my calves cramping up like Friday's failed attempt!

[66jzmstr]

So far I tried the chocolate peanut butter cup and I must admit, for only 115 calories mixed with water only, it was pretty darn tasty! I've tried 2 other chocolate pb flavors and hated them both so Trutein is a winner on this flavor! I can't wait to try the others. I will be trying the CinnaBun mixed as pro-oats tomorrow since that is typically how I eat my XF UP Cinnamon Roll and looking for an XF replacement if possible. I love XF...I love it too much but if I can cut back by 65ish calories, it's worth it to me to try another brand, just as long as it's tasty because XF UP has totally won me over.

That's good to hear! I'm actually doing the same tomorrow. I discovered Quaker Honey Bun-flavored oatmeal, which I haven't had but sounds good enough, and will probably mix that with some nonfat organic milk and two scoops from my Trutein CinnaBun tub, which arrives tomorrow. I'd love this pre-workout, but UPS doesn't usually get here until later, so I'll try it out with my post-workout meal.

Let us know how the chocolate-dipped strawberry is when you have the chance. I've heard good things, but I'm reluctant to commit to an entire tub of such a specific (and seemingly not so versatile) flavor.

Best of luck with the calves!

[sarasayshi]

That's good to hear! I'm actually doing the same tomorrow. I discovered Quaker Honey Bun-flavored oatmeal, which I haven't had but sounds good enough, and will probably mix that with some nonfat organic milk and two scoops from my Trutein CinnaBun tub, which arrives tomorrow. I'd love this pre-workout, but UPS doesn't usually get here until later, so I'll try it out with my post-workout meal.

Let us know how the chocolate-dipped strawberry is when you have the chance. I've heard good things, but I'm reluctant to commit to an entire tub of such a specific (and seemingly not so versatile) flavor.

Best of luck with the calves!

Ok, I have to be honest. Trutein's CinnaBun doesn't taste as uber as XF UP's Cinnamon Roll. It wasn't bad but it doesn't take first place with my taste buds. So, I'll be sticking with XF Cinnamon Roll. But I am still looking forward to trying out the chocolate dipped strawberry and choco banana. Not sure which ones I'll try tomorrow. Possibly both!

[sarasayshi]

Woke up super early this morning. 5:30 am! So I knew that by the time noon hit, I was going to be ravenous. My stomach growled driving to the gym at noon and it growled while I was in the locker room putting my things away. I quickly got into my workout and the hunger subsided.

Today's workout was fun! Different. I pushed myself and got some new PRs.

Workout B1:

Barbell romanian deadlift/bent-over row
50/8, 65/8, 75/8 (PR) I actually felt I could have lifted maybe another 10-15 pounds


Alternate:
Partial single-leg squat on a bench (awkward at first but I felt the burn!)
Bw/6, bw/6, bw/6

Wide-grip lat pulldown
90/8, 105/6, 105/6

Alternating sets:
Back extension with weight
12/6, 15/6, 15/6

YTWL
5/6, 7.5/6, 7.5/6

Alternating sets (abdominal circuit)

Swiss ball crunch
15, 8, 15

Prone Jackknife (I was amazed that I could do 15 reps without a huge struggle. Last few of the last set was tiresome but I still went through without a break)
15, 15, 15

Swiss ball side crunch
6, 8, 8

Prone cobra (oops! totally missed doing this one!)

15 min HIIT on the elliptical trainer

Nutrition

M1: 1 scoop Trutein CinnaBun protein powder and 1/2c quick oats, 1 scoop XF UP Cinnamon Roll protein powder and 1/2 c. quick rolled oats, 1 banana, 4oz roasted chicken breast, 1 small gold potato, 3oz raw veggies and 55g ranch greek yogurt - 959 cals

M2: 3 pumpkin protein pancakes (1/2c multigrain pancake mix, 1 egg white, 1/2c canned pumpkin, ground cloves, ginger, cinnamon and 1 scoop XF UP Cinnamon Roll protein powder), 2 TBSP blackberry jam and 1 slice of apple smoked bacon - 686 cals

M3: 150g of Dreyer's triple peanut butter sundae ice cream - 286 cals

Total calories: 1,931
Macros: 132g p/ 259g c/ 45g f

Tomorrow I would normally do a boring LISS session at the gym but I am meeting my aunt in the morning and we will be walking for 2 1/2 hours so there is my LISS!

I'm going to be stopping at the butcher shop tomorrow partially to sneak a peak at the cute guy there that I am almost certain is interested in me but also because I only have about 6 oz of chicken breast left and 1 lb of ground beef left to get me through my next shopping trip which is next Tuesday!

[sarasayshi]

Today's LISS was a 2 1/2 hour walk with my aunt. I stopped by Walmart on my way home to try and track down that bacon ranch dried mix that Dave mentioned but they didn't carry it. I did notice their Ben & Jerry's ice cream was $3.89. My local grocery store never has it any cheaper than $4.99, so I will be buying it at Walmart. Most of the food at Walmart was about $1 cheaper on average so it's smart!

I came home and showered and then set off to the meat market to see if cute butcher guy was working and to pick up my meat for the weekend. I ended up getting some lamb shoulders, a few new york sirloins and a few T-bones. Sadly the cute butcher was not at the meat counter and just as I paid for my stuff, I looked up and there he was behind the meat counter. he smiled and waved at me and I smiled and waved back. darn! I then went to the grill side and picked up 2 1/2 lbs of BBQ tri-tip and they sliced it for me and I picked up a tri-tip burrito. Since it's a rest day and for IF I need to have higher fat but lower carbs, I asked them to make it a burrito bowl instead. So no tortilla.

I came home and opened up my tri-tip bowl packages. They had given me 5 1/2 oz of tri-tip sliced, some fried potatoes and some chili beans with cheese. I dumped the potatoes in a bowl first, then poured the beans and cheese on top and then the meat. Oh man it was 878 calories of pure bliss!





Today's nutrition:

total calories: 1,717
macros: 154g p/ 105g c/ 76g f

m1: tri-tip bowl (878 cals)
m2: 2 - 4 oz 97% lean ground beef burgers, 55g ranch greek yogurt, 3 slices of tomato, 1 cup of grapes, 1 Truetein Vanilla protein shake (619 cals)
m3: 120g dreyer's rocky road ice cream (220 cals)

Truetein Vanilla review - I give it a taste rating of 4/5. It wasn't horrible tasting but it didn't excite my taste buds. The very first taste reminded me of powdered milk like I had as a kid. Blech! But instead of the taste getting worse after each sip, it seemed to improve. I am curious if it is much better when mixed with milk but I am dead set on trying powders with water first because if they can be mixed with water and taste great, they are a winner!

Oh and the scale said 192.2 today. Still losing, so that's great! I also noticed my stomach is changing. The love handles hanging off my ribs are flattening! I'll probably update pics on Monday!

Tomorrow is a busy day. I am hitting the gym at noon, gotta shower quickly, stuff my face, pick up my son from school and then I drive him to his dad's for the weekend (2 hour drive) and then I am meeting up with a friend for dinner while in town there. Not sure what where we are planning on eating yet.

[66jzmstr]

Those burrito fixin's look AWESOME! *salivates*

Interesting reasoning for trying the powders in water, but it makes sense. (I haven't tried any protein in water since I gave away my Trader Joe's powder, which I was happy to do.) My Trutein vanilla tasted exactly like vanilla milkshake - but then again, I mixed it in milk.

My butcher shop had good eats today which I partook in as well. Butchers FTW!

[sarasayshi]

Those burrito fixin's look AWESOME! *salivates*

Interesting reasoning for trying the powders in water, but it makes sense. (I haven't tried any protein in water since I gave away my Trader Joe's powder, which I was happy to do.) My Trutein vanilla tasted exactly like vanilla milkshake - but then again, I mixed it in milk.

I bet it tasted better with milk.

[sarasayshi]

Today's workout was pretty good. had some new PRs and I momentarily forgot how to do proper form for my snatch, so I snuck away to a quiet corner and tried to doa few with a lighter weight and then got my grove back and was ready for increasing the weight.

Workout A2

One-armed dumbbell snatch
15/6, 22.5/6, 22.5/6, 22.5/6 (pr)

Alternate:
Dumbbell single-leg romanian deadlift
15/6, 20/6, 20/6 (pr)
Barbell bent-over row
50/6, 70/6, 70/6 (pr)

Alternate:

Dumbbell single-arm overhead squat
7.5, 17.5/6, 10, 22.5/6, 10, 22.5/6
Dumbbell incline chest press
17.5/6, 22.5/6, 22.5/6 (pr)
Alternate:

Plank (goal is 90 sec)
89, 50, 63 (totally sucked on planks today)
Reverse wood chop
27.5/6, 30/6, 30/6

Body weight matrix:

24 squats
12 lunges
12 lunge jumps
24 squat jumps (much better this time. I stopped at 18 for a second and then continued the rest)

I had a busy afternoon. After the gym I had to race home and had 15 min to prepare my first meal and eat it. I didn't have enough time to eat it all so I tossed out about 1/3 of how much I was originally going to consume.

Was on the road for 2 hours to take my son to his dad's for the weekend. There was a huge accident going the opposite way (back towards my home) so I thought I would kill some time there in town by visiting the Walmart. (My friend had cancelled dinner plans on me since her parents arrived in town early.) So I checked out the Ben & Jerry ice creams there since jacklcrow and Dave got me craving the darn B&J ice cream all the time now. I actually took Jak's idea and ended up buying a pint of Bonnaroo Buzz and ate it for dinner.

Weight was 192.2.

Nutrition

M1: 13oz chicken breast and 1/2c black beans with 55g ranch greek yogurt and 1 banana (622 cals)
M2: 1 pint of Ben & Jerry's Bonnaroo Buzz ice cream (1,120 cals)
M3: 1 scoop of Ultimate Muscle protein chocolate shake and 2 triple strength fish oil capsules (150 cals)

Total cals: 1,892
Macros: 128g p/ 189g c/ 67g fat

Tomorrow is our annual labor day weekend block garage sale and I am not looking forward to that at all but my mom just had surgery on her wrist yesterday (she broke it in 2 places on Saturday when she slipped getting out of the shower) so I am gonna help her. She is nervous about being alone and my dad has to go out of town for the day so she asked if I wouldn't mind going to the gym earlier while my dad is still there so I hope I can hold off on my fast even though i will be working out 2 hours earlier than normal.

[sarasayshi]

Today was a rest day but for me, a rest day just means no weight lifting but that I still do 45-50 min of low intensity cardio. So today's poison was 50 min on the spinning bike. Said I burned 480-something calories but of course it was the generic calculator that didn't have my weight or age info.

Today's nutrition was pretty good but I really wanted to eat more tonight. My first meal was pretty large so it left me with just a bit over 800 calories for dinner.

M1: 3/4 c. Cinnamon Life cereal with almond milk and 1 scoop of XF Up Cinnamon Roll, 6oz of tri-tip, 1 small gold potato, 55g ranch greek yogurt (I am so addicted to this right now but I think it's a mental thing. In my mind I have convinced myself it's a big helping of ranch dip. lol) - (922 cals)

M2: 6 oz of new york steak marinated, 3 slices of a large tomato, 1 oz feta cheese, 1 cup of blueberries (528 cals)

M3: 132g mint chocolate chip ice cream (320 cals)

Total cals: 1,780
Macros: 142g p/ 141g c/ 72g fat

The scale is being friendly every day. I only had one day this week where it stayed the exact same number for 2 days in a row. I'm looking at 6 pounds dropped in 12 days so far. but Monday is my official weigh-in and not gonna like the number there since it will be my 2nd day of TOM which will totally reflect a gain on the scale. I'll even post photos then too!

[66jzmstr]

3/4 c. Cinnamon Life cereal with almond milk and 1 scoop of XF Up Cinnamon Roll

Damn, that sounds good! Any "sweet carbs" for the remainder of my cut will come from ice cream, but when I bulk (or even when I just go back on maintenance as a "diet break" for the two weeks before bulking), I'm definitely going to get a box of Cinnamon Life (my go-to cereal - a quarter-century ago, lol!) and spike my Trutein Cinnabun proatmeal & protein pudding with it. Thanks for the idea, Sara!

The scale is being friendly every day. I only had one day this week where it stayed the exact same number for 2 days in a row. I'm looking at 6 pounds dropped in 12 days so far.

Stoked to hear that - good going!

[jon1995]

hi =D. In lol nice job.

[sarasayshi]

Damn, that sounds good! Any "sweet carbs" for the remainder of my cut will come from ice cream, but when I bulk (or even when I just go back on maintenance as a "diet break" for the two weeks before bulking), I'm definitely going to get a box of Cinnamon Life (my go-to cereal - a quarter-century ago, lol!) and spike my Trutein Cinnabun proatmeal & protein pudding with it. Thanks for the idea, Sara!


Stoked to hear that - good going!

It's heavenly! It's best to whisk the protein powder with the almond milk to dissolve it better then add your cereal. The almond milk has less calories than 2% milk and even non-fat milk too. It's so sweet and cinnamony tasting! I love it after a hard training day!

Yes, things are going really good now. I'm quite happy to see some changes and the number on the scale dropping fast! It's motivating me to keep on trucking!

hi =D. In lol nice job.

Hi Jon. Thanks!

[sarasayshi]

Rather a busy day. I went to church, came home and stuffed my face with leftover steak from last night (nom, nom, nom), went shopping with my mom, came home then took off to my Aunt's house for a BBQ. I stuck to my calories too! At the BBQ there was chips, corn bread, chili beans, corn on the cob, fruit salad, broccoli salad, macaroni salad and a jello salad. I grabbed 2 slices of trip-tip, 3 pork ribs and 2 helpings of fruit salad. Saved room for a tiny piece of apple pie too! Not too shabby for having all those delicious foods. It's funny because I had been looking forward to pie since I woke up this morning so nothing else was going to come before that pie. I didn't mind forgoing the cornbread and all the other sides, just as long as I got my pie! It was heaven but would have been better with some vanilla ice cream. Unfortunately no one brought any ice cream.

Total calories: 1,836
Macros: 128g p/ 168g c/ 76g f

Stay tuned for pics tomorrow even if I am bloated from TOM.

Doh! I forgot to mention the thing that made my day. Today at church my good friend told me "Jeff (her husband that's a cop and about 40 yrs old) leaned over and told her "I can tell Sara has dropped weight. With the weight loss you can see how much more attractive she has become." Then she told me "If Jeff is gonna check out a woman, its going to be a blond so for him to say that about you, that's a huge compliment."

[sarasayshi]

Official weigh in: 190 !!!! That is -2.8 lbs down since starting this new log and a total of -5 pounds since I dropped my calories a few days before starting this log (Aug. 24 which I posted in my previous log here).

This is good news considering today is my 2nd day of TOM in which I should be weighing heavier since I typically weigh 3-5lbs heavier the first few days of TOM.

Today was Labor day and I labored in the gym!

Workout B2

Barbell romanian deadlift/bent-over row
65/8, 85/8, 85/8 (new PR!)

Alternate:
Partial single-leg squat
Bw/6, bw/6, bw/6
Wide-grip lat pulldown
92.5/6, 107.5/6, 107.5/6 (almost didn't make the last rep. Theses were tough and I barely got the cable past my nose to count. New PR too though!)

Alternating sets:
Back extension with weight
15/6, 25/6, 25/6
YTWL
8/6 (rough), 8/6, 8/6

Alternating sets (abdominal circuit)

Swiss ball crunch
15, 15, 15
Prone Jackknife
15, 15, 15
Swiss ball side crunch
15, 15, 15

Prone cobra
90, 90, 90

15 min HIIT on the spinning bike

I then came home, and tossed my T-bone steak into the oven. It came out rare and was beautiful! Just right! After I stuffed my face, I was off to get my son from his dad's ( 2 hour drive) and I was already planning on eating a container of Ben & Jerry's as dinner. It was going to be a dinner on the road kinda night and what better way than to have ice cream for the same amount of calories as burrito and greasy burger would have been with the same equal price too! Well the ice cream was probably a bit cheaper.

Nutrition

M1: 6oz T-bone steak marinated in a hawaiian honey terriyaki sauce, 1 cup of almond milk and 2 scoops of XF UP Cinnamon roll mixed in a blender (855 cals)
M2: 106g (1 container) Ben & Jerry's Half Baked ice cream (1,080 cals)

Total cals: 1,935
Macros: 131g p/ 162g c/ 98g f (fat was a bit too high today because of the ice cream)

And now some pics! So this is after about 2 weeks of IF. I will use these to compare the next few months of following IF and NROL4W. Not so pretty looking but I can see the changes.

[66jzmstr]

Congrats on the progress!

How was Half-Baked?

Also, I couldn't help myself: So were they Romanian deadlifts, or barbell rows?

[sarasayshi]

Congrats on the progress!

How was Half-Baked?

Also, I couldn't help myself: So were they Romanian deadlifts, or barbell rows?

Half Baked was pretty good but not as good as Bonnaroo Buzz! I have been craving that since I ate it Friday!

And to answer your 2nd question; it was both! You do a bent-over row and then when you lower the bar back below your knees then you perform the Romanian deadlift then back to a bent over row.

[sarasayshi]

The scale is so darn cruel! Today I woke up to see 188 lbs on the scale. But Sara, why do you say that is cruel if that is lower than yesterday's weight of 190??? I'm glad you asked. I say it's cruel because yesterday was my official weigh in day and today is not. So now those -2 lbs will count towards next week's weigh in! *pouts*

Ok, so I am 99.9% sure my butcher is into me. We have had some conversations every time I have gone in now and today he was stocking the deli meat section so I kinda stalled a bit as if I couldn't decide which lean ground beef to get when I already know which one is the leanest and that I NEVER get the 15% fat one. But anyhow, his coworker came up to me to help me and as he was helping me he nonchalantly walked up to us and stopped and proceeded to open a box or something right next to his coworker. I was watching the butcher weigh my beef and I could see out of the corner of my eye that he was looking at me and waiting for me to take notice of him. So the butcher hands me my meat and I look up at him and say "hey, how's it going?" He responds and then says "Oh, I see you just came from the gym as usual". We start talking about how it's best to get the gym over with earlier versus later and then I ask him if he enjoyed his day off yesterday and then he proceeds to tell me he did and how he is going to enjoy tomorrow off too. I smile and wave goodbye to him and he smiled and waved back and said "See you next time". And I said "See you next time" back. lol Why does he have to be so darn shy????? I'm thinking he is trying to build up a friend level or something before he asks me out. I am pretty certain he is into me so it's bound to happen.

Anyhow, today was a rest day so I rode the spinning bike for 40 min.

Nutrition looks good today and I even made room for pie! It was good. I love IF!!!

M1: 6oz of T-bone steak, 1c cottage cheese, 1 banana and 159g of watermelon (815 cals)
M2: 4oz Lamb shoulder chop, 2oz Feta cheese, 1c broccoli (450 cals)
M3: 1 scoop of XF UP Cinnamon Roll as a shake with water and 1 small slice of Costco apple pie (496 cals)

Total calories: 1,761
Macros: 117g p/ 115g c/ 92g f

Tomorrow is my 3rd workout in Phase III and one arm db snatches! I love those now!

[sarina1113]

You go, girl! Me, you and Bella are in this to win this. Let's knock this out, ladies!

[sarasayshi]

You go, girl! Me, you and Bella are in this to win this. Let's knock this out, ladies!

Totally ready to win this fat battle and get my fitness on!

[BellaValerina]

You go, girl! Me, you and Bella are in this to win this. Let's knock this out, ladies!

cha cha cha! AGREED!