The Chronicles of Turkey!

[beefcake66]

Anyway. I am tired today. I definitely move around more in the evenings now that we have our own place. I think I'm a clean freak. lol!!!!! Ok, I'm off. Happy Thursday!

You're more than welcome to come visit my place and clean hahaha

[gobbles23]

You're more than welcome to come visit my place and clean hahaha

lol!!! Wonder how long the craziness will last!!!??

************************************************** **

Starting to go crazy from not lifting! I'm really, really missing it! If only I had time to lift today! I don't care what happens tomorrow; I'm doing legs! That's it! lol! Hopefully we'll have internet by the weekend too so I can type it up! I found a 3 piece olympic bar that I forgot we had, lol, so I'm going to see how that goes together and then hopefully I can do some ~200lb deadlifts! The bar we have now is too weak for that much weight. I have, lets see, 205lbs in total with the oly bar... :/ But it'll do for now. After Christmas there'll be lots of squatting and deadlifting, hopefully

[beefcake66]

I really want to invest in some of those colorful bounce plates for my deadlifting... butttt they're like twice as expensive as the plain black rubber ones! SADNESS.

I'm not sure if you have a "fitness depot" in your area... but if you need awesome supplies at great prices, they're my go-to.

[gobbles23]

I really want to invest in some of those colorful bounce plates for my deadlifting... butttt they're like twice as expensive as the plain black rubber ones! SADNESS.

I'm not sure if you have a "fitness depot" in your area... but if you need awesome supplies at great prices, they're my go-to.

lol! Rubber ones would be awesome!

Yeah, this place sucks for cheap equipment. ON was waaaayy better. I'm just making due for now though until after Christmas. Our friend's gym that I'll be going to then has EVERYTHING. Just waiting for his brother and girlfriend to move out and then the place is aaalll ours for the using!

[thehobbes]

I really want to invest in some of those colorful bounce plates for my deadlifting... butttt they're like twice as expensive as the plain black rubber ones! SADNESS.

Heehee, I feel bad for colorblind people who oly lift, srs, that would be soooo confusing to use those colorful plates.

[gobbles23]

Heehee, I feel bad for colorblind people who oly lift, srs, that would be soooo confusing to use those colorful plates.

lol!!!! That is a very valid point!!!

[gobbles23]

Sooo last night as soon as we got home mom and my two brothers and my nan and my brothers girlfriend came over and we had some birthday cake/celebrations. It was nice!!! So awesome to have your own place you can invite people over to! Only thing is we just have a couch. No dining room table yet so nowhere to sit. Our friend gets home today and he's coming over for a visit probably with a few other people and he's giving us his leather couch so now we need a place for the leather futon.

We're also getting a single bed for the spare room and hopefully a table soon. Then partying later. Tomorrow we have to go to a birthday party in the afternoon for my nephew and we were invited upstairs to a party in the evening. Getting internet installed today so dad and step-mother are house sitting for us and hopefully the landlord will put the blinds up while they're there.

So much stuff to think about! And we're both dying to lift. I'm thinking Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon/evening. Then Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday, lol! Gotta get as much in as possible before the holidays too! Christmas is coming! Anyways, gotta order a comforter set before work starts. Happy FRIDAY!

Edit- Oh, and for the record; My tummy issues and sleeping issues are no better during this period of complete rest. If anything my sleeping issues have worsened, lol! Too idle. Raynauds has been 10 billion times worse :/ Yellow/purple splotches at rest, burning red after blood gets flowing. And I'm so cold all the time. Circulation is crap. It's so not cool. I need exercise to live, lol!

[beefcake66]

Heehee, I feel bad for colorblind people who oly lift, srs, that would be soooo confusing to use those colorful plates.

lol!!!! That is a very valid point!!!

I think they're all different widths.... and labelled... (at least the ones ive seen)
but yes

[thehobbes]

Jeez Turkey, there is some underlying thing going on there for sure, that stuff is not normal. Glad you're getting the new place all set and furnished, definitely need somewhere to sit to rest those quads of peace.

I think they're all different widths.... and labelled... (at least the ones ive seen)
but yes

Ohhhh, the weight plate company does have a solution, kinda of like how all traffic lights have the colors in the same order so people know. I have such concern for the colorblind people.

[gobbles23]

I think they're all different widths.... and labelled... (at least the ones ive seen)
but yes

I like Hammie's theory, hahahaha!

Jeez Turkey, there is some underlying thing going on there for sure, that stuff is not normal. Glad you're getting the new place all set and furnished, definitely need somewhere to sit to rest those quads of peace.

Ohhhh, the weight plate company does have a solution, kinda of like how all traffic lights have the colors in the same order so people know. I have such concern for the colorblind people.

Hopefully the more extensive blood work next month will shed some light

Hahaha!

[gobbles23]

Had an awesome first weekend in our new apartment Friday night we hung out, Saturday we lifted weights, shopped, went to birthday party, went out for supper, and crashed Sunday we hiked for 2 hours, cleaned, chilled out, looked at our cookie ingredients/recipes to see what we needed to make things with, watched a movie, etc. It was nice

Finally have all the house stuff taken care of (to an extent....we still need a lot of odds and ends but it's good for now) I have all Stephen's shopping done and just waiting on packages. Gotta pick up stuff for the family this week/weekend, bake a few batches of cookies, and get some workouts in The tere is up and finished! I will post a picture later Next week I'm only working the first two days and then I'm off for 5, then I work one or two and a half, then off for another 4 or 5. So exciting!!! This is my last full week of work for the next two weeks!

Today will be a workout day. I'm thinking chest and biceps or shoulders and triceps. The legs, then back. Seems like it's going to be a mild winter this year. It's 8 degrees Celsius outside :/ it was 11 yesterday. I didn't wear a jacket hiking, just a t-shirt So much for skiing. Anyway. Workout post to follow. Happy Monday!

[gobbles23]

A rogue workout appears!!!!!

Full Body!!!!!!!!

DB Squats: 3-4x3-6 (power)
35’sx12
60’sx5
80’sx3
90’sx5
90’sx4
90’sx5

A1- Chest Presses:
3.5x12
7.5x4
7.5x4
7.5x3 (PR! + 3 reps)

B1- DB Step-Ups: ***
35’sx6
35’sx8
35’sx7
35’sx7

B2- UH Pulldowns:
4.5x8
8.5x4
8.5x4
8.5x4

C1- Hanging knee/leg raises:
kneesx17
legsx10

C2- DB OH Presses:
35’sx6
35’sx5

D1- G/H Raises:
x8
x8

D2- Dips:
x10
x6

*** Did these without fully resting my other foot on the floor. Kind of like static step-ups...They burned sooo good!

Pretty good workout overall! Did it in the morning which is always worse for me because I'm usually stiff and dehydrated so I wasn't complaining

[gobbles23]

Yesterday I went for a lovely walk at lunch I walked fast up the big hill for ten minutes, then walked on the flat trail to chill out a bit, then found some hills to sprint up and did some sprinting mixed with periods of walking. Did that for about 25 minutes, then walked for a few minutes to cool down. Found a bench and did some stretches on it, then I walked back to work feeling like new Legs felt so strong, my sprinting was awesome I can leap so far!!!! So much fun!!!!

Then in the evening I did chest and biceps! I did a heavy full body and maxed out on chest press on Saturday, so I knew going in there I’d probably be better off keeping the weights lower, but I tried the heavy ones just in case I was wrong but I was not. They were too heavy so I accepted it and used lighter weights, which were no easier, lol! Chest and back started to feel sore once I got going.

For chest press I focused on my sticking point so I made the weight stack thump back down after every rep and started each rep from a dead stop. Not much rest between and sets last night. Finished it in about 45-50 minutes.

Power/Muscle/Burn - Chest and Biceps + Abs!!!!

Chest Press: 3-4x3-5
3.5x12
7.5x0 -> tried 6.5x0 then 5.5x8
5.5x10
5.5x8
5.5x8

A1- DB Curls: 3-4x3-5
10’sx15
30’sx5
35’sx6
35’sx6
35’sx5
30’sx7

B1- Chest Dips: 3x6-12
x10
x8
x6

B2- Rope Curls: 3x6-12
2.5x13
2.5x12
2.5x12

C1- DB Floor Presses: 3x10-15
35’sx10
30’x14

C2- Low Pulley Swiss Ball Crunches:
1.5x15 halfsies (too much weight so just did half reps, lol!)
0.5x3 (Full ROM)

Hanging Knee Raises:
x20

D1- Rope HG Curls: 1-2x40
1.5x40
1.5x40

D2- Chest Press: 1-2x40
2.5x32 dropped to 1.5x8

Machine Flies:
1.5x40

Good workout! I don’t know what it is that’s going on but I’m seeing some awesome changes in my body! I’m eating a lot of food and I think I’m getting leaner. My waist and legs have really shrunk but I keep retaining water. It’s like I’ll be puffy for days then BAM! Lean and tiny. And the cycle repeats, hahaha! NEAT has gone through the roof these days though since we moved, plus the extra walks/runs during the day when the weather permits (usually 2-3 times per week) Plus the walking/hiking on the weekend. Lots of food and lots of fun activity!

I think drinking even one beer, or doing lots of activity, or not drinking enough water, or lots of carbs one day and lots of salt the next day, all these different little things make me retain water so I’m puffy more than not. But even when I'm puffy I look great! I look like I have more muscle and definition; it’s really cool The rest week last week really helped too I think. I feel stronger and better. I need to take some pictures just as soon as the landlord puts some blinds up to the windows and we have some privacy

Also WAY less stressed since moving out. It’s like this HUGE feeling of relief has washed over me. My stomach feels better, like there was a giant knot in it constantly but now it feels relaxed and happy. Acid reflux is settling down...I can drink a beer again! Even getting deeper sleeps now that there's no one getting up at 3:30 am to go to work every day, or dogs barking in the middle of the night. Things are great I feel great! Everything is great!

Anyways, rest day today! Cost-co trip for groceries/cookie ingredients, then maybe cooking baking later! Happy Tuesday!

[beefcake66]

Thats super awesome. More food and less life stress = happier gobbler lol

[gobbles23]

Thats super awesome. More food and less life stress = happier gobbler lol

Yes, exactly.

[Echo814]

All that made me smile. MOAR food, tummy issue settling, sleeping better and awesome workouts. So happy for you

[dreahere]

So happy you're happy, chickie.

[gobbles23]

All that made me smile. MOAR food, tummy issue settling, sleeping better and awesome workouts. So happy for you

So happy you're happy, chickie.

Thank you both!!! I didn't realize how living with people was so stressful in itself. I was constantly having to be quiet because of everyone's schedule so there were cut-offs in the evenings for what I could do because of noise issues. I was barred up in our big but cluttered bedroom every evening with nothing to do but watch Netflix. Having to take turns washing clothes, having to make sure we went to get water downstairs before the dog went to bed or it'd bark and wake everyone up, having to constantly try to keep the peace and not upset anyone, etc, etc. I was just so used to it that I had accepted it. It was slowly driving me crazy!

Having my own space to do whatever the hell I want in is sooo different! I always felt like I had nothing to look forward to every day other than seeing Stephen and working out. It's not like that anymore, now I can't wait to go home and spend time in our own home and hang out/do things together. We've been cooking meals together, baking cookies together, rocking out to metal really loud while drinking beers, listening to Christmas music while we decorate the tree, entertaining guests, buying things to decorate the house with, etc. I can have people over now for visits instead of having to rely on going to everyone's else's place. It's a whole new world that I felt I was missing out on I'm loving it

[gobbles23]

Yesterday was the worst day of work, ever. Everything just kept going wrong. I hate being an assistant sometimes. You try so hard to constantly make everyone happy and the minute you screw one thing up BAM! Everyone's mad at you :/ I am annoyed, lol! I don't think I want another assistant job. Once this mat leave position is over I think I will be happy. I'll just go back to my previous slightly boring/brain dead position and make the same money but be less stressed, lol!!!

Another job would be cool but it's hard to find something that pays more. Where I live if you're not with the government or an oil and gas company you're pretty much making the same salary everywhere in whatever field you're in. Hard to find something higher paying that'd be worth my while leaving this place. Unless I can get on with Stephen with the government. They'll be hiring after christmas so I'll be trying hard to get on there. I'm hoping they extend his contract too in March. Stupid work.

Anyway! I was planning on doing legs today but my glutes/hips feel funny. When I sit my legs go to sleep and my glutes go kind of numb, lol!!! The right glute more than the left which is what I hurt last year...They feel tight and Stephen massaged them for me last night (dug his elbows into my glutes) and it felt better but you could feel the muscle knots and weirdness as he was rubbing. It felt messed up so I think a light walk at lunch and maybe either shoulders and triceps or back tonight might be best. I may lay off the DB squats for a while too because I think last year I strained my right glute, I don't think it started in my back but my glute pain aggravated my lower back and I don't want that coming back.

One of our friend's gets home this evening so we may be hanging out afterwards. Groceries after work tomorrow, and hanging out on Friday so maybe I'll push legs until Saturday or Sunday. Hmm, maybe back today then and shoulders and triceps on Friday....Yes......

Happy Wednesday!!!

[gobbles23]

Went for an awesome walk/jog yesterday at lunch!!! It was awesome, I went on a new adventure that was really cool and now I'm dying to go back and see where the trail I found goes. I might get to go back today if it doesn't rain

Then in the evening we went over to Stephen's parents house and lifted weights, then he ate supper that his mom cooked, then we went home for a second so I could eat and freshen up, then we went over to a friends house. Got home around 9:00ish. The poor truffles are mixed in the pot and in the fridge for rolling and we bought a lot of cookie ingredients but I don't now when we'll have time to bake more!

This evening we're going to cost-co and then we have a few more stops to make and Stephen's mom is having a meal of pheasants that they raised and killed themselves so we have to go there and try that. I have laundry in baskets and in the dryer for putting away too! So I may lift tonight spending on when we get back from town and depending on how long supper will take to cook. If I have a 40 minute wait I'll go lift, but if not it'll be tomorrow.

I'm clearly not eating enough calories for walks at lunch + lifting. I've been eating about 2000-2100 calories daily and my body media tells me on a day where I walk/jog and lift I burn 2400 and on a regular day with moderate activity (no workout, just a workout or just walking down to the grocery store at lunch) I burn about 2100. Or if I walk down to the supermarket and lift then probably around 2400 again. Because it's like a twenty minute walk plus the walking in the store and I'm not sedentary at work all the time.

I am starting to look ragged out. I'm getting a solid 7 hours of sleep a night, with 82% efficiency of higher (because I'm dropping by the time we go to bed) and I have these dark bags under my eyes and they feel heavy. Stephen's brother told me I looked tired last night during our workout. I look lean and muscular as hell though, lol, I'm not being weird but I'm impressed these days when I look into the mirror. My waist is tiny and my arms are outgrowing my shirts. My abs are popping. Even my lower back area has tightened right up. All my shirts just kind of hang these days. I think I'm in the best shape I've ever been in! But I'm tired as hell! I just need a few hours of extra sleep and some more food...

Anyway. Today will most likely be a rest day with some light walking at lunchtime. I never stay in at lunch. I think I did once in the past 9 months. I feel like it should be a relaxing day. Tomorrow can be legs or shoulder and triceps. Both of those will happen in the following 3 days.

Happy Thursday! Workout post to follow!

[gobbles23]

Power/Muscle/Burn: Back!!!

UH Pulldowns: 4x3-6
4.5x12
8.5x5
8.5x3.5
7.5x5
7.5x5

A1- Inverted Hammer Grip Rows: 3x6-12
x8
x9
x8

A2- Hanging Leg Raises:
x10
x10
x10
x24 (knees)

B1- WG Pulldowns: 3x6-12
4.5x8
3.5x12
3.5x11
3.5x11

B2- Standing Rows: 3x6-12
2.5x12
2.5x12
3.5x11
3.5x11

Face-Pulls: 3x10-12
3.5x8 dropped to 2.5x4
2.5x12
2.5x11

Cable Bent-Over Rows: 1x40
2.5x10 dropped to 1.5x30

Face-Pulls:
1.5x40

40 reps of anything is so hard when your back is fried! I mean, I have a huge pain tolereance for these 40 rep sets but 40 reps for back is always so intensely brutal, lol! My eyes are closed and my teeth are gritted and I’m wincing throughout the whole set just waiting for it to be over, hahaha! Oh! We have blinds in the windows now! I'll try to take some progress piccies on the weekend. Also going to buy a weight scale today and see what the hell my body is actually doing

[beefcake66]

pheasant is yummy!
I love chicken, like turkey, and hate duck... pheasant is great. you should enjoy it!

MOAR FOOD

[gobbles23]

pheasant is yummy!
I love chicken, like turkey, and hate duck... pheasant is great. you should enjoy it!

MOAR FOOD

Still never had any! We went over there at 7:00pm and it wasn't going to be ready until 8 ish and we hadn't gone home yet at that point so we quit and left Hopefully there'll be leftovers....

[gobbles23]

Today it is beautiful outside! I rested yesterday...I was exhausted after all day. Just stressful and then so many errands. I was cranky! I need a good night of sleep + sleeping in. I always feel so drained at the end of the week. Thank goodness it's Friday! Going walking today for sure though!!! Since it's so busy lately I may just resort to a few full body workouts for the next little while. I was going to lift tonight but I'm feeling run down/stressed. I may wait until Sunday and do another power full body. Then lift on Wednesday or Thursday. Then maybe Sunday.

I can't get sick over the holidays and with the lack of sleep/late nights sometimes and the stress I have to be careful. Apparently I get stressed out easily and it takes me a while to recover from it. That's something new I just learned, lol! I had two stressful bouts at work this week and I've been feeling this weird anxiety/exhaustion over it for a day or more afterwards. Lifting tends to help with it but last night I could have cried I was so tired and frustrated/stressed when I was at Stephen's parents house waiting on supper. I am just TIRED.

But then, walking/jogging three times a week, hiking for 2 hours on the weekend, and four lifting sessions is a bit much. That's like, 9 hours of exercise a week. I love my walking though, it's therapeutic. As is lifting but I'll have to gradually build up to it all.

Tonight we are stopping into a few places for gifts, then we are going to go hang out. Tomorrow is hiking and cookie baking + tree hunting for Stephen's family's tree (I may bail on this and do a full body workout), and Sunday is cookie baking, errands, lifting weights, decorating the tree at Stephen's parents place, and visiting mom.

Then only two days of work next week and oh my god I need wrapping paper. Next week is Christmas! How fast is time going at all. I remember commenting in DM's journal about how awesome it was that she had all the gifts wrapped early. Was that really two weeks ago!? What's going on!? lol!!!! I am still waiting on two gifts for Stephen to arrive in the mail and I need to wrap the other ones I have for him. We bought a nice plate set for mom for Christmas yesterday and they were regular 100 dollars but on for 30 and the plates in the box were broke and we have to bring those back and pick up gift cards/some other things. It's SO CLOSE now ..... I'm not ready!

Anyway. It's Friday! Happy Friday!

[gobbles23]

Oh, the busy-ness! lol! This weekend consisted of hanging out, cookie baking, hiking, lifting, cleaning, etc. Craziness! It was nice, but I feel like we don't stop! Today I need to pop down to the grocery store at lunch and buy things (gift cards and wrapping paper and such) then tonight we need to wrap presents and bake a batch of cookies.

Tomorrow evening we are going to our friends annual Christmas eve party (the day before but it works better for everyone that way) so I'll need to bake another batch of cookies after work tomorrow. We have four different kinds made so far so two more should make for an awesome bunch of cookie trays And I want to bring one to the party.

So then the day after that is Christmas and there's no way we'll be lifting on that day, lol! Too many places to be. Maybe on Thursday, I'm thinking on Thursday there'll be another full body workout happening Then I'll get back to my normal schedule.

I'm excited now because everyone's home so we will be using the awesome gym from now on I'm going to bring over my DB handles and then I'll be able to make whatever weight DB's I want. Which is pretty cool! And I can bench press and squat and stuff again. I'll probably get back into box squats and get a hexagon bar for deads. Not going to worry about much until after the holidays. Then I'll be sure to try to progress in everything and set goals, but for right now I'm just trying to maintain what I've got

I'm terrible, I meant to post some pictures ages ago of a few different things (progress, tree, apartment, hikes, etc.) but I just don't have computer time when I get home! Anyway, workout post to follow! Happy Monday! Only today and tomorrow for me and then I get a break

[gobbles23]

Full Body!!!

Bench Press:
65x12
95x5
115x3
105x4
105x3
85x9

DB Squats:
60’sx8
80’sx5
100’sx5 PR!!!

Seated BB Presses:
45x12
65x5
85x0
75x4
75x3
55x10

T-Bar Rows:
+45x16
+90x8
+90x8

Deadman’s:
x16
x16
x15

G/H Raises:
x8
x8
x4

Oh the pathetic-ness! lol!!!!

[thehobbes]

I see you are typing in red and green... I assume that is no accident. What kind of db handles do you have? That's awesome you'll be able to make any wts with those. And holy ham how are you holding the dbs on squats? Straps or just beasting it?

[gobbles23]

I see you are typing in red and green... I assume that is no accident. What kind of db handles do you have? That's awesome you'll be able to make any wts with those. And holy ham how are you holding the dbs on squats? Straps or just beasting it?

Hahaha! No, I enjoy the festive font!

They're from Cost-co, they look like this:



I love them!!!! I can use olympic weight plates with them so it works well If I wanted I could put three 45's on each side of each DB for a combined total of 270lbs per DB, or 540lbs for two of them Now my DB squat poundages are limitless, muahahahaa!

Straps for the 100's, my left hand is too weak! 90's are ok, but the 100's are too much

[gobbles23]

I was thinking of taking tonight off to bake cookies/do things before the party but Stephen wants to lift tonight so it'll be an upper hyper kind of night. I like P/M/B a lot but when workouts are few are far between I want to get the biggest bang for my buck and splits just won't cut it. Then in the next few days I'll do legs and then the workout after that will be P/M/B style.

Tonight is....errands after work, going to Stephen's parents to pick up the packages in the mail, lift so Stephen can eat supper there afterwards, then beat it back to the house and I'll cook supper and wash up, then we're going partying. Not staying out late because Stephen has to work tomorrow (half day) but I'm off!!!! Woot!

Therefore I'll be sleeping in tomorrow a bit anyway. I'll catch up on laundry and bake thimble cookies tomorrow morning and clean the house and wrap presents We were invited out to my brothers house but that will be a lot of running around since that means Stephen has to go on four 40-50 minute car adventures on christmas eve :/ Such a pain when people live so far away...Still lots of houses to visit.

Anyway, Stephen is feeling too inactive lately and wants to turn up the hiking and lifting, so I imagine our holidays will be full of hanging out, lifting weights, and adventuring I love having an active boyfriend He keeps me on my toes!

Well, I'm going to go do stuff. Happy Tuesday that's like Friday! 5 days off after today and then 2.5 days of work followed by another 4-5 days off. JOY!

[Euqinom]

Happy Holidays, Turkey!