4 months of NROL4W and IF To Hit Hot Mama Status

[sarasayshi]

Today's workout was tough and I mean TOUGH. It was harder than the last 2 times doing it because I realized something as I re-read the Phase 3 instructions. I was suppose to be timing the body matrix part and I was suppose to do the drills 3x!!! I was only doing them once and never timed. Boy was I in for a rude awakening! Those rounds totally wipe me. I seriously thought my legs were going to let me drop on the last set.

Workout A3

One-armed dumbbell snatch
17.5/8, 25/6, 25/6 (PR)

Alternate:

Dumbbell single-leg romanian deadlift
17.5/6, 22.5/6 , 22.5/6 (PR)
Barbell bent-over row
60/6, 70/6, 80/6

Alternate:

Dumbbell single-arm overhead squat
10,20/6 , 12, 25/6, 12,25/
Dumbbell incline chest press
20/6, 25/6, 25/6 (PR)


Alternate:

Plank (90 sec)
77, 64, 41, - I am getting weaker on these darn planks. I couldn't make it to 60 sec on the last one.

Reverse wood chop
25/6, 32.5/6, 32.5/6

Body weight matrix aka The Kill Sara Now Section:

24 squats
12 lunges
12 lunge jumps
24 squat jumps
Time 3:02 , 3:34 (did 24, 12 lunges per leg 1st lunges), 2:57 (screw that!!! went back to 12 lunges total or 6 per leg)

This workout still took me almost 2 hours to complete!

Nutrition

M1: banana, 6oz T-bone steak, 2 oz feta cheese with 3 large slices of tomato, 212g watermelon and a chobani (838 cals)
M2: 2 - 93% lean ground beef patties, 55g of ranch greek yogurt (370 cals)
M3: 2 1/2c of Mint Moose Tracks ice cream (800 cals)

Total calories: 2,008
Macros: 123g p/ 170g c/ 95g f

Tomorrow is rest day and meat market day!!! Which means 50 min low intensity cardio followed by seeing the cute butcher! I dunno what I am gonna pick up for sure except my BBQ fryer. I haven't had chicken in over a week now. It was a nice break. lol But whatever I buy, it's gotta last me until Tuesday!

[sarina1113]

You're barbell bent-over rows are awesome! You're so strong

When I was on that stage, I was lazy with the Body Weight Matrices. I ended up skipping then

Pushing out 3 rounds must be killer. Rock on, Sara!

[sarasayshi]

You're barbell bent-over rows are awesome! You're so strong

When I was on that stage, I was lazy with the Body Weight Matrices. I ended up skipping then

Pushing out 3 rounds must be killer. Rock on, Sara!

Thanks Sarina!

Yea, I hate the matrix section. I would skip them if I could too!! lol But then I will feel guilty later on for not doing them. haha

[sarasayshi]

Ok...so now I am 99.9% sure my butcher is interested in me. When I went in today, he was in the kitchen getting some meat ready to put placed in the meat counters so a different butcher was helping me but he walked past me and said "hey, how's it going?" I answered as he continued to walk by but he maintained eye contact with me. So then I started checking out a fish seasoning they had that was on the counter infront of me and the next thing I know, he is standing right next to me! So then he continues to chat with me and then we walked slowly up towards the register and he was still chatting with me. Ughhhh...just ask me out already!!!

Anyhow....

Today was rest day but I did 50 min on the spinning bike. Burned 438 calories.

Nutrition:

M1: Philly Cheesesteak sandwich, 5oz additional tri-tip (879 cals)
M2: 5 oz Tbone steak, 1/2c cottage cheese, 1/2c cauliflower in light cheese sauce, 50g ranch greek yogurt, 280g watermelon (608 cals)
M3: 1 scoop of Trutein chocolate covered banana and 1/2c of Mint Moose tracks ice cream (275 cals)

Total cals: 1,762
Macros: 147g p/ 107g c/ 85g f

So tonight I got around to trying the Trutein Chocolate Covered Banana and it wasn't too bad. I give it a 4/5 on taste. I must admit that these Trutein powders blend really well! Not sure if I will be ordering them though. I like the 120 calories but they are not wowing me.

[LMHJr]

haha, that's funny. Going to the meat market to pick up men. lol....... Good luck on your fat loss endeavor. how much weight have you lost since you started?

[sarasayshi]

haha, that's funny. Going to the meat market to pick up men. lol....... Good luck on your fat loss endeavor. how much weight have you lost since you started?

I know it's totally nuts huh? lol

Thanks!

Well, my highest weight was once 275 lbs. I managed to drop 110 lbs prior to getting pregnant in 2001 and then during the pregnancy I gained 80 lbs. So pretty much if you count this second attempt to lose weight, my starting weight was 242. It's just taken me going through a divorce and a few years to get serious about it now though. So if I count my after birth weight, I have lost about 53 lbs. I want it so bad now though. I'm in a totally different place mentally. I know I can do this and I am addicted to weight training now. It makes me feel sexy and strong. Before I just wanted to lose weight so that my then husband would stay attracted to me etc. Now I want it for myself!

[sarasayshi]

Today's workout was pretty good. Still thinking that my stomach fat is slowly diminishing. It's weird but I can see the changes even though strangers may not be able to tell.

Today was the last day of TOM so the numbers reflecting over the next 2 days on the scale should be accurate. today's weight said 189.4 which is slightly up from yesterday but no biggie since weigh in isn't until Monday.

Workout B3

Barbell romanian deadlift/bent-over row
70/6, 85/6, 85/6 (PR) the last few reps were hard

Alternate:
Partial single-leg squat
Bw/6, bw/6, bw/6

Wide-grip lat pulldown
92.5/6, 107.5/6, 107.5/6

Alternating sets:
Back extension with weight
25/6, 30/6, 30/6 (PR)

YTWL
8/6, 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 (darn it! forgot to do this again)

15 min HIIT on the elliptical

nutrition

My son has been asking for pizza for dinner for 2 weeks now. I figure he has put up with eating a lot of protein for dinner since I make something for dinner we both can eat every night, I just will forgo rice, pasta or bread if I serve him some and I tend to stick with just whatever meat is served, veggies and fruit on my plate. So, since I knew I would be picking him up a Little Caesar's pizza as a special treat, I ended up having this bad boy for dinner!



M1:
8oz rotisserie chicken breast meat
1c steamed broccoli
1/2 c ranch greek yogurt
1 banana
280g watermelon
1 Truetin chocolate dipped strawberry protein shake (This was really good. It was really smooth and not too sweet but just sweet enough.)
Calories: 602

M2:
Beverly International Nutrition - Ultimate Muscle Protein Chocolate, 1 scoop
Ben & Jerry's - Coffee Heath Bar Crunch, 2 cup(s)
Calories: 1,240

Total calories: 1,860
Macros: 138g p/ 189g c/ 75g f


I wanted to share something that I saw I had posted a year ago today on my ********. I was going through P90X at the time.



Well, today I wanted to see how far I have come so I did the wheel and was able to hold it for 50 seconds! HUGE improvement! I am so proud. I probably could have even help it a little bit longer but I was pretty beat this afternoon from my training session at the gym.

One bad thing to report was that either my douchebag UPS driver stole my BB package or someone else did. I was expecting my new order of XF UP Cinnamon roll, my creatine chews and my multivitamins to arrive yesterday. They never did so I figured that UPS was lagging and they would arrive today. By 8:00pm I started to get suspicious. So I double checked the UPS site and it was reported my package was delivered yesterday afternoon at 3:37pm. When I was home!! My son gets home from school at 2:45pm so I am always home after 2:00pm for certain. I never heard the doorbell ring or a knock on the door. So I called BB.com tonight and they were on it! They got my new order set up filed a claim with UPS about my package not arriving and that the driver did not knock or ring the bell. This is not the first time he hasn't rang the bell when delivering. He has done this about 5 times now and it pisses me off for this exact reason. All it takes is someone following behind him and picking up packages left on door steps. So despite me having to wait to get my new order, I appreciate BB.com's fast response and making things right.

Tomorrow is my son's first scrimmage soccer game. I am hoping he finds it to be a fun experience so that he is excited about the next 8 weeks of of the season. His game starts at 9:30am so I figure I'll still be able to get my cardio for tomorrow's rest day in. Probably end up doing 50 min on the spinning bike.

[sarasayshi]

Today was a long day. It started off waking up at 7:45am so that I could get my son up and ready for his soccer game this morning. Then he ended up having a pre-game practice plus over an hour long game. Then, the couch wanted to treat the kids to ice cream so we went to Yodiggity and the kids got ice cream. I was the only adult that passed on ice cream. That was hard because these new trendy frozen yogurt places where you grab a bowl and fill it up with whatever ice cream you want plus toppings. But it was only 11:30 am and I couldn't break my fast early plus I still had to do my LISS cardio for the day. So, at noon I got my son home, fed him lunch and took off to the gym.

Workout
Rest day but did 50 min on the spinning bike and burned 462 calories.

Nutrition

M1:
7.7oz roasted chicken (dark meat, no skin)
1 roma tomatoe
1c grapes
280g watermelon
1/2c ranch greek yogurt

M2:
Red Lobster - 1/2 lb crab legs with no butter and I didn't touch even 1 biscuit because I had my eye on dessert and wanted to blow the majority of my calories on it.
apple crumble a la mode

Total calories: 1,661
Macros: 102g p/ 179g c/ 63g f

I am pooped already! Found my BB.com order sitting on my neighbors entry way to his front door...soaking wet. Grrrrrr!!!! UPS delivered it to the wrong house! So I started taking my creatine chews today. Hopefully I don't see a huge gain on the scale.

[sarasayshi]

I made fish tacos for dinner and was willing to eat just one taco so that I could waste my carbs on ice cream tonight. Still have a Ben & Jerry's chunky monkey sitting in my freezer calling my name but I think I will save it for my next Friday night indulging meal. I don't want to get in the habit of having 1100 calories of ice cream a day.

Rest Day
Today truly was a rest day for me. Went to church, came home and played chess with my son; ok tried to play chess with my 9 yr old son. He had to remind me which pieces can move which direction.

About A little after 4pm I had convinced him to go to the park where we could work on his soccer skills. Since his dad is not around much and doesn't really help him with this sort of thing, I have had to step up to the plate. I don't wanna see my son not be picked or the other boys not wanting to pass the ball to him because he sucks. Not my words, he told me during soccer camp a few weeks ago that one of the other boys came up to him and said "No offense but you suck". So I reminded him that it's his first year playing and we just gotta practice in order to improve but assured him he will get better. Anyhow, we practiced for about 40 minutes and I was full on sweating since i was making it be my bit of cardio for the day as well.

I then came home and made fish tacos for dinner and they tasted pretty amazing!

Nutrition

M1:
3oz leftover Tbone steak
6oz Chicken Breast - Roasted, Skinless
1/2c ranch greek yogurt
1 roma tomato
1 oz feta cheese
280g watermelon
1c red grapes

M2:
4oz red snapper cooked in 1 tsp olive oil
1 handmade style corn tortilla
1 roma tomato
1/2c cottage cheese 4% milk fat
1 scoop Beverly International Nutrition - Ultimate Muscle Protein Chocolate

M3:
1c Sunnyside Mint Moose tracks ice cream

Total calories: 1,636
Macros: 145g p/ 128g c/ 61g f

Tomorrow is my official weigh-in. Hoping to see 187. That would really make my week start off well. Today I saw 188.6 on the scale but I am hopeful.

[sarasayshi]

Well, I got what I was looking for. 187.8 baby!!!

Weekly Weigh-ins
=========================
Aug. 24th: 195* ending weight of old log and started getting real with IF
Aug. 27th: 192.8
Sept. 5th: 190
Sept. 12th: 187.8

Wow, that is much more motivating seeing the numbers dropping each week like that. I am not used to seeing such consistency since the past several months my weight was yo-yo-ing! I totally love IF now!


Workout A4
======================
One-armed dumbbell snatch
17.5/6, 27.5/6, 27.5/6 (PR, was hard last few)

Alternate:
Dumbbell single-leg romanian deadlift
20/6, 27.5/6, 27.5/6 (PR)

Barbell bent-over row
80/6, 80/6, 80/6

Alternate:

Dumbbell single-arm overhead squat
12.5, 22.5/6, 12.5, 22.5/6, 12.5, 25/6 (PR)

Dumbbell incline chest press
27.5/6, 27.5/6, 27.5/6 (PR)

Alternate:

Plank (90 sec)
82, 64, 51 better on my planks this time!

Reverse wood chop
27.5/6, 27.5/6, 32.5/6

Body weight matrix:

24 squats
12 lunges
12 lunge jumps
24 squat jumps
2:49, 3:35, 3:07 (much better times on body matrix and I wanted to die on the 2nd round!)


Nutrition
=========================
M1:
2 scoops of XF UP Cinnamon Roll
1 cup quick rolled oats
1 banana
3 large eggs

M2:
7oz Turkey Tenderloin
2 tbsp Terriyaki marinade
3/4c mixed veggies
1/2c cottage cheese 4% milkfat
280g watermelon

M3:
1 cup Mint Moose tracks ice cream

Total calories: 1,925
Macros: 148g p/ 180g c/ 68g f

One thing I have noticed is that 1-2 days a week, typically my hardest training days, I find that I am completely beat about 1-1.5 hours after eating my PWO meal. Is it the huge meal making me sleepy or is it the intense workouts? I've been hitting the sack around 10pm now too and I wake at about 7:30 so I am getting adequate sleep. Today I was completely drained and had to lay down at about 3:30pm but didn't actually sleep because my son kept asking for help with his homework. lol

[66jzmstr]

Congrats on the new numbers, and good-sounding eats, too!

[sarina1113]

Congrats on the new number !!!

[LMHJr]

i think the big meals are making you sleepy. i know when im restricting calories and i eat a huge meal it makes me sleepy. big meals make me feel sick too fwiw. thats good progress for 4 weeks. i kind of stalled out myself for the last 2 weeks. can't seem to break 210 lbs. Are you upping your calories at all during the week or is everyday sub 2000 cals? .........on the subject of your son doing better in soccer i would encourage him to be more physically aggressive....you gotta fight for the ball if you want to do well in that sport.

[sarasayshi]

Congrats on the new numbers, and good-sounding eats, too!

Thanks Dave!

Congrats on the new number !!!

Thanks Sarina! Now for my next goal of 185!

i think the big meals are making you sleepy. i know when im restricting calories and i eat a huge meal it makes me sleepy. big meals make me feel sick too fwiw. thats good progress for 4 weeks. i kind of stalled out myself for the last 2 weeks. can't seem to break 210 lbs. Are you upping your calories at all during the week or is everyday sub 2000 cals? .........on the subject of your son doing better in soccer i would encourage him to be more physically aggressive....you gotta fight for the ball if you want to do well in that sport.

Yea, it could be the large meals making me sleepy. It's kinda like the tryptophan myth about eating Thanksgiving turkey. lol

Everyday is below 2,000 calories. My rest days are under 1,780 and my training days I am eating about 1,900-2,000 calories.

Yea, I agree my son needs to be more aggressive in soccer. Totally new for him because he is really passive but I fear of him growing up to be TOO passive. Women hate wimps and men that are too passive. I'm doing his future wife a favor! lol

[sarasayshi]

Today was success in eating below 1,700 calories on a rest day! I got creative with a can of salmon and made Salmon Cakes. So darn tasty and even tastier with that Rooster Asian Chili sauce!

Nutrition
======================

M1:
2 salmon cakes ( 1 can of salmon, 1 piece of whole grain bread shredded, 2 large egg whites, garlic salt and dried parsley pan fried in a TBSP of butter)
3 large eggs and 3 large egg whites scrambled
1 oz of shredded colby and jack cheese over my eggs
1 sliced roma tomato

M2:
2 - 4 oz 93% lean ground beef hamburgers
1 Sara Lee thin bun
1 oz of colby & jack cheese
1 large dill pickle

M3:
1/2c Mint Mouse track ice cream

Total calories: 1,687
Macros: 149g p/ 80g c/ 74g f


Workout:
========================================
50 min spinning at average 91 RPMs and resistance level 11. Burned 487 calories

Tomorrow is my final Phase III session of The New Rules of Lifting For Women and then on Friday I will start Phase IV! I am excited about entering Phase IV because front squat/push/presses are re-introduces and wide grip deadlifts too! I am curious to see if I have lost any strength since Phase III didn't have those exercises incorporated.

[sarasayshi]

Doh! Forgot to post my photo of my salmon cakes. Here they are!

[66jzmstr]

Doh! Forgot to post my photo of my salmon cakes. Here they are!

Those look AWESOME! And you put Sriracha on 'em? NICE!

[sarasayshi]

Those look AWESOME! And you put Sriracha on 'em? NICE!

LOL that you knew that Rooster sauce! Yes, was SOOOOO good!

[LMHJr]

which brand of salmon did you use? everytime i think of buying canned salmon I see how many calories are in that one container and i back away slowly from it. the frozen salmon doesn't seem to have as much.

[BellaValerina]

WHOA 50 minutes of cycling at level 11. Girl you are powerful!!!

[sarasayshi]

which brand of salmon did you use? everytime i think of buying canned salmon I see how many calories are in that one container and i back away slowly from it. the frozen salmon doesn't seem to have as much.

That one was Bumblebee. I was really surprised that it didn't taste fishy like I had expected. I got the one that was packed in water. The color is not real pink. In fact it does look like tuna but the taste is definitely salmon. I think this was 80 calories per serving with 2 servings in a can.

WHOA 50 minutes of cycling at level 11. Girl you are powerful!!!

Thanks Val! Working hard everyday....no days off! (That's just a saying. I don't do a darn thing on Sundays. )

[66jzmstr]

The Kirkland brand sold at Costco is hands-down the best canned salmon I've ever had. This link details it better than I ever could here. (Mack, when you get your Costco membership up thar in Edmonton, get this stuff! )

[sarasayshi]

Phase III of New Rules of Lifting in the bag baby!! Onto Phase IV starting Friday.

Workout B4 - Last one!
=============================
Barbell romanian deadlift/bent-over row
75/6, 90/6, 90/6 (PR)

Alternate:
Partial single-leg squat
Bw/6, bw/6, bw/6
Wide-grip lat pulldown
100/6, 107.5/6, 107.5/6

Alternating sets:
Back extension with weight
25/6, 30/8, 30/8
YTWL
8/6, 8/6, 8/6

Alternating sets (abdominal circuit)

Swiss ball crunch
15, 15, 15
jackknife
15, 15, 15
Swiss ball side crunch
15, 15, 15

Prone cobra (dang it! forgot it again!)

15 min HIIT on the elliptical



Nutrition
=========================

M1:
10.3 oz turkey tenderloin
1 small gold potato
1/2c ranch greek yogurt
3/4c veggies
fruit salad (280g watermelon, 1 banana, 1 cup grapes)

M2:
6oz pork tenderloin
1c brown rice
1 roma tomato
1 oz feta cheese

M3:
1/2c mint moose tracks ice cream
1 1/4c Light Moose Tracks with PB cups ice cream

total calories: 1,898
Macros: 160g p/ 219g c/ 48g f

Tomorrow is going to be another session of riding the spinning bike for 50 min followed by a trip to the meat market!

[BellaValerina]

I'm doing "touch my toes" deadlifts with just the bar -- I could not even imagine doing it with 75lbs! Dang girl...you must have legs of steel. My legs are my worst feature by far!

[diesel_3]

The Kirkland brand sold at Costco is hands-down the best canned salmon I've ever had. This link details it better than I ever could here. (Mack, when you get your Costco membership up thar in Edmonton, get this stuff! )

Sweeeeeeeeeeet, I think i'll be getting the membership sooner rather than later! I had one in 2008 and actually found the card last night, will it be cheaper to 'renew' it, or is it too old to consider 'renew'?

Either way, I'm getting one after next pay day....I need to buy one of those stand-up chest freezers cuz both myself and my new roomie love having a stocked freezer, this way I could give him the whole fridge freezer and take the chest freezer.

I'm doing "touch my toes" deadlifts with just the bar -- I could not even imagine doing it with 75lbs! Dang girl...you must have legs of steel. My legs are my worst feature by far!

My favorite hockey player is from Livonia, Michigan! Reps!

[sarasayshi]

The Kirkland brand sold at Costco is hands-down the best canned salmon I've ever had. This link details it better than I ever could here. (Mack, when you get your Costco membership up thar in Edmonton, get this stuff! )

Oh wow, thanks Dave! The most disturbing part of that article was reading how farmed salmon has that greyish color and that wild is orange. I'll be checking out the Kirkland one now!

I'm doing "touch my toes" deadlifts with just the bar -- I could not even imagine doing it with 75lbs! Dang girl...you must have legs of steel. My legs are my worst feature by far!

I think for standard deadlifts I am at 120 lbs but with this barbell row/romanian deadlift combo, my upper body strength is definitely weaker so that is why I barely made it through with 90 lbs. lol

Yea, my legs are my powerhouse! just need to get this darn belly fat to go away! Your arms are your powerhouse. I've seen your biceps! They are fierce!

[sarasayshi]

Today the darn scale was flipping out and said I am up 2 lbs. I'm thinking it was the sodium from the pork loin that was Terriyaki marinated. It will be better tomorrow!

Today was rest day but I did 50 min on the spinning bike, again at level 11, average RPM was 95 and burned 562 calories. Woohoo!

I felt like getting a fryer at the meat market only they were out and the ones on the grill wouldn't be done for 20 min! Nooooo! So I ended up getting a full rack of pork spareribs. I ate 6 of them for lunch. They were alot of calories but sooo good!

Nutrition
============================

M1:
6 pork spareribs with BBQ sauce
1c of chili beans
1 banana

M2:
1 XF UP Cinnamon Roll shake
1.5c Light Turkey hill ice cream (so looking forward to my pint of chunky monkey for dinner tomorrow)

Total calories: 1,678
Macros: 104g p/ 127g c/ 89g f

Tomorrow is day one of Phase IV of my New Rules Of Lifting! I'm gonna be awesome! What I am not looking forward to is that my planks are suppose to be 120 seconds. i barely made it to 90 this whole last phase and in fact on my 2nd and 3rd sets I couldn't even make it to 90. I am also glad to be done with body Matrices! I hated that section!

[LMHJr]

what are planks? it seems like the scale is not being nice to alot of people these days. I consider it my enemy now.

[sarasayshi]

what are planks? it seems like the scale is not being nice to alot of people these days. I consider it my enemy now.

These are them and I hate them with a passion!

[nockowt1]

Doh! Forgot to post my photo of my salmon cakes. Here they are!

Those are some good looking eats.