Madi-J starts a journal...finally...

[Madi-J]

I've been putting off making one of these for far too long...I am terrible about sticking with things and was afraid of the potential level of accountability. Time to shake that off and start working towards an actual goal!


A little bit of background...
I have always had an interest in lifting/bodybuilding as my mom competed some before and right after I was born. Splitting from my dad put a pretty swift end to all of that though, and since I had a wicked metabolism as a kid I never really got a grasp on how important it is to eat well and exercise. I was only mildly active and athletic; as I got to my teenage years I became more of a bookworm than anything else. Fast forward to my 20's, where my addiction to carbs has finally caught up with me, and my lack of knowledge for healthy living looms over my head like a big black cloud. In summer of 2010 I started playing on a local roller derby team which introduced 2-3 days a week of pretty intense cardio, however as anyone who knows anything about derby can guess, I made up for all that calorie loss with beer intake...and new skaters wonder why they gain so much weight their first year playing...HA! January last year I decided to quit being so scared of failure and to put what I was reading in magazines like Oxygen to use. I quit drinking (much to the annoyance of my drinking - er - derby.....team) and started fixing my own meals at home and paying closer attention to my macros with the help of MyFitnessPal and the nutrition stickies on here. I did pretty well for a while, and started getting into weights thanks to meeting someone who is into lifting and eating well. I fell off the wagon a bit this past fall due to high stress from quitting derby and a crappy class schedule, but am getting back on track and hoping that starting this log will keep me from rationalizing my way into a big bowl of mac n' cheese and a beer!

Diet
I started carefully tracking my food/calories again this week; the man and I temporarily relocated to Dallas, TX this past Thursday, and I figure what better time to restart the lifestyle I began back in January since I won't be tempted with my mom's delicious (carb-y) food! Diet goal right now is to use the four months that we are down here to get into a routine for cooking my own food, and get comfortable with as many modes of prep as possible to minimize/eliminate my room for making excuses. Though I had a lot of success with changing my diet this time last year, I think that a lot of my falling off was because I had no routine and minimal knowledge of cooking. Way too many times I would be out of food with no time to cook what I knew how to make. Poor excuses for hitting up the drive thru.

Exercise
My man has been such a huge help for me in this area. I was totally one of those girls who would go for the lightest weight possible and call it "lifting" just because I was working with free weights/machines. He has pushed me to push myself, and I am pretty proud of the improvements I've made strength-wise! This morning I woke up and stretched and realized that I'm starting to get some noticeable muscle in my biceps! My main goals here are to continue to improve my overall strength, and to work on form - especially for detecting when my form is deteriorating and I need to drop weight.

Overall
My overall goal is to get back into the lifestyle that I started last year and improve it in order to change my body into something that I am proud of.
One dilemma that I am having right now is what approach to take for getting where I want to go... the man has been dropping hints about popping the question, and I want to make sure that I look just as good in the engagement pics as I will at our wedding... I have some fat to lose for sure, but I am by no means overweight. I have a decent amount of muscle, but fear that I might not have as much as I think I do and would end up looking scrawny if I cut. However, I am not happy with my body in the condition that it's in now, and wonder if dropping some fat would improve my confidence and motivation....you can see the back-and-forth going on here, haha. For anyone else who has been through this limbo: what helped you to make up your mind? For those who have helped others: what advice/pointers do you have that will help me figure out how I want to go about reaching my goals?

For right now, I am just cleaning up my diet without restricting calories too much (1500-1600) and lifting as heavy as I can to see what changes that brings.



I'll get some pics up tonight with the day's report, the only pictures I have right now are from last year, and I'm curious to to compare now with then to see if there are any noticeable differences.

[Anthony.b]

in.

[Madi-J]

Ok, here's today so far, I'll edit and add dinner later.

Workout - Shoulders, Calves

Rear delts on machine (did not like the handles on this one, and the arms were out of balance. Felt like my right was worked 1.5 times harder than left.)
20 for 10
40 for 10
30 for 2x15

Rear delt DB fly
15 for 12
22.5 for 12
27.5 for 12
Would have kept going up but Man said to stop. Wanted to start with 20s but both sets were taken; next time I'll just start with 22.5. Not sure why I didn't since we had already done some rear delt work on the machine...oh well. Learning experience lol.

OH shoulder press
20 for 10
25 for 8
30 for 3x6
Wanted more out of the 30's than just one set of 6... my forearms seem to tire out fast when I get towards my limit, usually psyches me out and I get afraid that I'm going to drop a weight on my head. No more being a pansy.

Lateral raise
10 for 3x10
I am so weak with these. But, I found an awesome tip from Bosgirl09 in megdaig's journal that helped me focus on my shoulders and not feel like I'm lifting more with my traps. For the first time ever I actually felt a burn in my delts!

Standing calf raise machine
30 for 3 x 15
30 for 10
20 for 10
Weak. Need to figure out if it's only weakness, or something else that makes my entire leg burn after ~15 of these.

Almost forgot to mention that I did 20mins on the step mill...ooooops! Started with 50spm increasing by 5 approx every 2mins for the first 10. Went back to 50 and stayed there for the last 10. I was sweating like a mouse in a snake pit.

Food
Breakfast: 5 eggs (2 whole, 3whites) with spinach, cooked in 1 tsp coconut oil
Lunch: 5oz chicken breast with 4oz sliced cucumber
Intraworkout: 1/2 scoop Gatorade in water. Love that stuff.
Post WO: 1/2 slice of pineapple, 1.25c halved strawberries, 30g whey in water.
Dinner: 4oz chicken breast, 1c raw spinach, couple slices of red onion
Snack 1: Banana!
Snack 2: 1c plain Cheerios, 4 whole eggs.

Calories: 1436

[Madi-J]

in.

You cheeky...

[Madi-J]

Been slacking on this thing...the man started his internship Monday and I have been a bit distracted with maintaining the apartment and his meals...Moving on.

1/7/2013

No workout today, the man got off later than we expected which left us battling through Dallas evening rush hour at it's worst point...not fun at all! He still had a good 2hrs of training stuff to do when we got home, so we decided to just stay in. Just as well, because I did not do very well with regular meals and was way under my calorie goal.

Diet

Breakfast: 5 eggs (3 whole, 2 whites) and .5c oatmeal
Lunch: 2oz tuna, .5c blueberries
Dinner: 5oz chicken breast w 1c white rice
Snack: 2c plain Cheerios

Calories: 1112 (I shudder just looking at this.)



1/8/2013

Workout

LEG DAY!!! I hate and love this day, lol. Today was all love, because the man didn't kill me. Though I kinda wish he would have because I certainly had the energy for it.

No squat racks were open when we got there so we warmed up on the leg press.

ATG Squat (I think it's supposed to be known as olympic squatting...ass to grass...):
5 at 95lb
4 at 115lb
3 at 145lb
3 at 165lb
1 at 185 (PR!)

Leg press (again)
1 pps for 6, 15, and 20x2

Standing ham curl
10x2 at 10lb
These were a lot harder than I thought they were going to be...I've never even seen one of these machines before. Must say I prefer laying down or sitting, standing feels really awkward.

Glute machine/butt blaster
15 at lvl 5
15 at lvl 6
This machine didn't have any weight markers which I found mega annoying. Would have done more and gone heavier, but the man was doing hack squats on the other side of the room and I couldn't watch my things and spot him at the same time...seeing as this machine was right around the corner from the exit, I decided to move my things.


All in all not necessarily a bad day, but I definitely wanted to be there longer to do more. This is the first time ever that we have had a leg day and two days later I was not whimpering every time I had to walk somewhere. Kinda disappointed...even though I got a PR in squatting, I don't feel like I did anything.

Diet

Breakfast: 5 eggs (2 whole, 3 whites)
Midmorning : 3/4c oatmeal
Lunch: 4oz tuna w 1c white rice
Dinner: 4.3oz chicken breast with .5c mashed sweet potatoes
Post wo snack: 12oz Dreyer's Drumstick Ice Cream
Bedtime snack: 7 slices deli shaved chicken breast

Calories: 1572

Today was MUCH better on the calorie intake! Long-ish story, but the man has been experiencing a reaction to some antibiotics which affected his appetite. He couldn't even touch the oatmeal that I made him for breakfast, so I scarfed it down shortly after getting home from taking him to work because I was still hungry...and like hell am I going to let good oatmeal go to waste! I vastly learned my lesson from the day before about only having one can of tuna, and upped my lunch by quite a bit. I knew it was leg day, and the man usually has tricks up his sleeve on leg day, so I wanted to make damn sure I got in as many calories as I could before our workout.

[Madi-J]

1/9/2013

Workout

Chest!

Incline press:
10 at 20lb
5 at 25lb
8 at 30lb
6 at 32.5lb
Tried to jump from 30 to 37.5...major fail. I almost lost my face. Turns out I was kicking up wrong, and the man didn't realize it until I was completely done...needless to say, I was pretty annoyed lol. Mostly annoyed at the weird weak points in my arms...with the 37.5, I could have got them up if it weren't for the fact that, hard as I tried, I COULD NOT extend my arms at the elbows. Later learned that part of that is because I was kicking off wrong and not positioning myself correctly... Either way, I don't know what muscle is responsible for that part of the motion, but it seriously needs to get it's act together, lol. It makes these and shoulder presses harder than they need to be, because even though he's spotting and lifting at my elbows, if I can't push my lower arms up from the elbows to raise the dang weight in the air then it's just going to fall on my head...like it almost did...grrrrrr. Will just have to accept the fact that I am not ready for 37.5 yet. Soon, my pretties....you will be my b*tches...

Chest fly? Dumbbell fly?
10 at 15lb
Have never done these before, not sure why he only had me do one set other than I was obviously still annoyed over the failed press and he wanted to move on lol.

"Isolateral" bench press
10 at 20lbs
10x2 at 40lbs

Tricep push down (cable machine)
10 at 50lb
10 at 60lb
6? at 80
5 at 80
5 at 60
This thing rustled my jimmies sooooo bad. Was part way through set of 80 when the ****ing attachment caught my headphone cord and ripped them out of my ears. I was so mad that I forgot where I was in the set...so 6 is a guesstimate.

Did 100 bw standing calf raises. Thinking I may start trying to do 100 every day...my calves need some work.

Also did about 10mins on the treadmill, 3mph at 6% incline. Would have been more but the man's been having issues with his left calf hurting.

I'll add in diet tomorrow as I haven't had my night time snack. Restocked on eggs and salsa yesterday, so will probably indulge in some delicious eggs and salsa! NOM NOM NOM.


Diet

Breakfast: 30g each True Nutrition whey and waxy maize in water
Lunch: 6oz chicken breast with 1c mashed sweet potatoes
Snack: .5c oatmeal
Snack: 8oz drumstick ice cream, 30g TN whey in water
Dinner: 4 eggs (2 whole 2 whites), 14 slices deli chicken breast, 1tbsp salsa.

Calories: 1627

I felt physically exhausted yesterday...not sure why. But I ended up sleeping from when I got home around 9 until almost 2pm. EEK! Been a bit bad the past couple of days by treating myself to some ice cream post workout...Good thing the tub is almost gone because the man eats so much more of it than I do, haha! Appetite was weird after we got home from the gym yesterday...didn't get hungry until it was almost time to go to bed. I need to get better about just making myself eat when it's time to eat, rather than snacking around until I'm actually hungry. Mreh.

[Madi-J]

1/10/11

No workout again today...Man had a work social over the dinner hour when we usually go to the gym. However, he took me to a skating rink after the social and let me skate for an hour! It felt so good to get back on eight wheels...I haven't even put my skates on since the championship game last August... The rink was pretty nice, kind of out in the middle of nowhere...but they definitely need some stricter management. Little kids where all over the place skating the wrong way, I had no choice but to fall over one little girl...busted my knee pretty hard. Somehow got 3 rink rash spots, and a giant bruise. Hoping this is the extent of the damage, because we have legs on Sunday.

Diet

Breakfast: 3 whole eggs with deli chicken breast
Snack: .5c oatmeal
Lunch: .5c white rice with 4oz tuna
Snack: 30g each True Nutrition whey and waxy maize
Bedtime snack: Same

Today was weird food wise...My intake was pretty great during the first part of the day, but around dinner time my appetite just disappeared. Very curious what is going on with that. Not going to worry about it too much right now but if it continues into next week I'm going to have to examine things a bit closer.

Pretty excited for the weekend! The man and I have planned to check out Twisted Root burger joint, and are meeting up Saturday night with some of his coworkers to go out. Will be so nice to have a reason to dress up and look pretty!

[Roxyraver]

Hey Madi*J!

Your day looks really good! Sorry to hear you busted your knee while skating... that sucks. Hopefully it won't put you out of commission on your workouts???

PS - I wish my appetite would disappear!!! LMAO!

[Madi-J]

Hope this works...

The pictures that I meant to put up a few days ago. Ones with bathing suit are from 1-24-12. Ones with shorts are today. Debated really hard on posting last years'...last time I ever wear something like that for these types of pics! So exposed! But maybe the mild embarrassment will help keep me going...

Front view crop.jpg
Side view crop.jpg
IMAG0610.jpg
IMAG0611.jpg
IMAG0613.jpg

[Madi-J]

Hey Madi*J!

Your day looks really good! Sorry to hear you busted your knee while skating... that sucks. Hopefully it won't put you out of commission on your workouts???

PS - I wish my appetite would disappear!!! LMAO!

Hey! Thanks for stopping in! It hurt SO BAD when I fell, haha. I'm so used to falling with knee pads, it's a huge shock when I fall and don't have them on. I was worried last night because my knee felt a bit swollen and was really tender at the point of impact, but I popped some ibuprofen before going to bed. No swelling this morning, and so far it has felt just fine functionally. Most likely going to have a big bruise, though.


I will trade you some of my lack of appetite! It drives me freaking crazy! I used to be able to blame it on my ADHD medication but lately it seems to bother me whether I take the meds or not.

[Roxyraver]

Hope this works...

The pictures that I meant to put up a few days ago. Ones with bathing suit are from 1-24-12. Ones with shorts are today. Debated really hard on posting last years'...last time I ever wear something like that for these types of pics! So exposed! But maybe the mild embarrassment will help keep me going...

Attachment 5271353
Attachment 5271363
Attachment 5271373
Attachment 5271383
Attachment 5271393

I think you look amazing! You can DEFINITELY see quite a difference. And I love your tats!!!

[Roxyraver]

Hey! Thanks for stopping in! It hurt SO BAD when I fell, haha. I'm so used to falling with knee pads, it's a huge shock when I fall and don't have them on. I was worried last night because my knee felt a bit swollen and was really tender at the point of impact, but I popped some ibuprofen before going to bed. No swelling this morning, and so far it has felt just fine functionally. Most likely going to have a big bruise, though.


I will trade you some of my lack of appetite! It drives me freaking crazy! I used to be able to blame it on my ADHD medication but lately it seems to bother me whether I take the meds or not.

That's great news about your knee, then I had some knee pain a while back, went to an ortho and everything. come to find out, I had bruising under my knee cap... who knew?!

I can see how the lack of appetite would be annoying, too... We have to eat to get results, so that could be frustrating... Hope it picks back up soon!

[Madi-J]

I think you look amazing! You can DEFINITELY see quite a difference. And I love your tats!!!

Aww thank you! Tattoos are dangerous...rarely can a person only have just one! I'd really like to get another, just don't have $$$ and can't settle on what I would get...

[Madi-J]

That's great news about your knee, then I had some knee pain a while back, went to an ortho and everything. come to find out, I had bruising under my knee cap... who knew?!

I can see how the lack of appetite would be annoying, too... We have to eat to get results, so that could be frustrating... Hope it picks back up soon!

Oh man, that sounds painful! Any idea how it happened? That's a weird spot to bruise without bruising on top too...

You hit the nail on the head with the eating for results...As tasty as the clean meals the man and I eat are, sometimes I just REALLY want something disastrous like spaghetti! Gotta hold out though. We're splurging a little this weekend to have a cheeseburger at a place close by that has had really good reviews. I'm pretty stinking stoked for it, I haven't had a burger in months! Getting to have an occasional cheat makes it a lot easier to avoid my beloved comfort food during the week.

However, it's all a big pain in the butt when I'm not hungry at the times I need to eat...I fear trying to get more calories in the morning though, because Murphy's Law states that the minute I do that, I will become RAVENOUS at night and not have any room left for more food.

[Roxyraver]

Oh man, that sounds painful! Any idea how it happened? That's a weird spot to bruise without bruising on top too...

You hit the nail on the head with the eating for results...As tasty as the clean meals the man and I eat are, sometimes I just REALLY want something disastrous like spaghetti! Gotta hold out though. We're splurging a little this weekend to have a cheeseburger at a place close by that has had really good reviews. I'm pretty stinking stoked for it, I haven't had a burger in months! Getting to have an occasional cheat makes it a lot easier to avoid my beloved comfort food during the week.

However, it's all a big pain in the butt when I'm not hungry at the times I need to eat...I fear trying to get more calories in the morning though, because Murphy's Law states that the minute I do that, I will become RAVENOUS at night and not have any room left for more food.

No clue how it happened - the doc insisted I must have fell on it - but I definitely didn't... I think I would know haha!!

I agree with you re: the occasional treat. I wouldn't make it through life knowing I couldn't have a splurge every not and again! Enjoy your burger. I hope you will be hungry for it!!!

I would say eat a larger breakfast, but I can understand your hesitation on doing that... if you're anything like me, once the flood gates open, they ain't closin'

[twinklebeef]

Following along

What's the tattoo on your leg, if you don't mind my asking. im big tattoo fan and have been considering getting something on my leg but not sure about it

[jrod67]

Your doing great. I just joined,... so I'm just getting into the routine. Eventually i will start one of these like you.

[Madi-J]

Following along

What's the tattoo on your leg, if you don't mind my asking. im big tattoo fan and have been considering getting something on my leg but not sure about it

She's my gorgeous saloon girl! The product of boredom, time, and a friend that is a really good tattoo artist, haha. I don't know how sensitive you are, but for me tattoos are pretty painful, and the front of my thigh was AWFUL. Contrary to what I thought before getting it, the parts closer to the outside of my leg, and down by my knee were the worst. Like having to hold myself back from squirming in the chair bad. But inner thigh and up closer to the hip area wasn't as bad, just felt weird because of it's proximity to a certain area and the higher amount of fat that I have on my inner thighs vs outer. She was well worth it though!

[twinklebeef]

She's my gorgeous saloon girl! The product of boredom, time, and a friend that is a really good tattoo artist, haha. I don't know how sensitive you are, but for me tattoos are pretty painful, and the front of my thigh was AWFUL. Contrary to what I thought before getting it, the parts closer to the outside of my leg, and down by my knee were the worst. Like having to hold myself back from squirming in the chair bad. But inner thigh and up closer to the hip area wasn't as bad, just felt weird because of it's proximity to a certain area and the higher amount of fat that I have on my inner thighs vs outer. She was well worth it though!

i never experienced pain till i got 'real' tattoos, tattoos that took more than 40 minutes to do. i had 2 small tattoos on my back, one has been covered by a floating fairy and the other blended into a kneeling fairy with butterflies. the second was ridiculously painful from the minute the needle touched my skin...then i passed out kinda fun/scary!
its made me think twice but i want to get something to represent my holiday to Rio in approx 8 weeks. so i'm thinking the nation bird or something.

i thought it was good to have it on fat? thats why i wanted one on my leg, thought i wouldnt feel a thing

[Roxyraver]

I have one tat, on the middle of my upper back. I loves it! I want more, but don't know what to get or where. SO, I'm just not thinking about it for now. Working on getting myself in tip-top shape first!!!

Ultimately, I would love for the one on my upper middle back to be tied to one going around my side and down. That would be awesome. That might be my 'reward' for getting myself in shape!

[twinklebeef]

ive got one lower back (cheesy, i know) and i would love to tie that into something flowery/buterfly-y all the way up my back, but like i sed, im scared
maybe mini tattoos for hitting mini goals....no wait, i meant to be saving for holidays.
dam.

[Madi-J]

Haha, twinklebeef you are partially right. I think the best overall is a light fat covering or muscle. Too little fat and it's skin to bone and hurts like hell (experienced that with my foot) but even that is not as bad as an area with a lot of fat covering (love handles. I have one there and it was AWFUL). Reason for that being, if the artist can't get enough grip to pull the skin taught and you can't stretch in a way to make it so, they have to literally dig the needle into the area to make sure the ink is put deep enough to not come out during healing. At least that is how my artist explained it to me while doing the one on my "love handle"...We put my body into some weird positions trying to pull the skin tighter so that it didn't hurt as much, and was easier for her to get straight lines.

That said, you also have to take into account the sensitivity of an area. I am obnoxiously ticklish on my legs and sides, so tattoos in those areas have been insanely painful. The one on my foot was my first; I was told before getting it that the foot is one of the most painful areas....psssssh! Yes, it hurt like the dickens because of the lack of fat to cushion the area, but it was not NEARLY as bad as my side and leg tattoos. My wrists, though not a fatty area, did not hurt much at all because I don't have as many nerve endings there. The most surprising one has been the swallow on my clavicle/shoulder. I thought it would hurt so bad because it is a sensitive area and there isn't much fat...so far it is the least painful one I have. I hardly winced at all; probably could have fallen asleep if I was tired at the time, haha.

Regardless of all this, if you want a tattoo in a certain area, get it there. Do not shy away from what you want because you're afraid of the pain; the pain is temporary. That tattoo will (hopefully) be there forever, and you don't want to kick yourself later on for being a pansy.

[Roxyraver]

I'm LOLing at your comment of being a pansy... LMAO!!!!

I will say, having it on my upper middle back hurt like a mofo. Right on the spine. I cried like a little bitch... oh well!

[twinklebeef]

hmph pansy? not a pansy...just delicate
my wrist didnt hurt one bit, my hand flapped around a lot because of the weird positioning, made me laugh quite a bit. was almost uncontrollable!
i was going to get my 2nd fairy on my leg but my tattooist sed it might be too suggestive/tacky having butterflies going up to my....lady bits.

my partner dared me to get something as epic as his half sleeve, and i want to, but i find it hard to find inspiration for it as not many women do it, not on their legs anyway.
i just want to cover my stretch marks really

[Madi-J]

WOW the past few days have been busy! Rather than detail everything, I'll give a short run through of everything...

Workout

1/11/13 - Back & Bi

Lat pull down
10 at 60
8 at 75
8 at 90
8x2 at 105 - heaviest I've gone with these, was pretty impressed with myself!

Cable row? - Still learning the names of things...kinda embarrassed, but at least I know how to do the exercise I guess...
12 at 50
10 at 75
8 at 90
3 at 105
6 at 90, 75, and 60
10 at 50
Tried 105 but it didn't feel right, felt like my form was horrible and I wasn't using the right muscles to pull it back. Next time, won't do so many reps at lighter weights...and might start off heavier. Should get it then.

Isolateral Row Low
10 at 25
8x2 at 35

Vert Row
8 at 50
10 at 50
8 at 60
I thought I hated the isolateral row, and thought I was to small for that thing...have developed a new appreciation for it after this. At least with the isolateral I can grab one side, then the other. This one only has one handle, and I have to lean pretty far over the chest rest to reach it. I felt like I was having to use a lot of energy just to get in position...likely won't use it again since there is no way to adjust the seat closer to the handles. No more complaining about the isolateral row after experiencing this thing! Ha!

Hammer Curl, Cross-Body Curl, Reg Curl (guessing on names again...lol)
10x3 at 10, one set each right after another then rest, repeated thrice. Every time I have tried to go above 10s with dumbbell bi curls, my right bicep starts hurting like I've pulled it. Even just a couple reps at 15 makes it angry. SO ANNOYING. So I'm figuring that I will just kill them with a weight that doesn't hurt, and hope that will strengthen them enough that I can move up someday...

"Skull Crushers"
6x3 at 20
8 at 20
At least I can go above 10lbs with this...tsk tsk.


1/13/13 - Shoulders
So weak today because we went out with a few of the man's coworkers Saturday night. Had a lot of fun, and a lot more to drink than I should have. Lesson learned. Just glad that he switched leg day to Monday...can only imagine how much today would have sucked trying to do squats!

Rear Delt Fly (cable machine)
10 at 20
8 at 30
8 at 50
8 at 60
8 at 40
10 at 20

Rear Delt Dumbbell Row? Not sure of name...
8 at 20
8x2 at 30

OH Shoulder Press
8 at 25
4 at 32.5
10 at 15
Was amazed at how much of this I couldn't do. 25s are easy these days, but felt so heavy because of dehydration...

Lateral Raise
10x3 at 10
Yet another exercise that I can't go above 10s without hurting... Even with just raising my arms without any weights, my left shoulder pops/crunches. Sometimes I can get it to not crunch if I bend my elbows a little and lean very very slightly forward. It's so annoying. With 10s it doesn't hurt, but every time I have tried to move up to 15s it hurts quite a bit when it crunches. I'm trying rounds of three different exercises to help out my bis, does anyone have suggestions for shoulder exercises that I can stack with the lateral raises to try and strengthen my medial delts? One thing I've found is upright rows...will throw those in next time.
Side note: After doing a little internet searching, it turns out that elbows slightly bent and leaned very slightly forward is the position you're supposed to be in? Ah, the things the man doesn't tell me that would be super helpful...lol.

Standing Calf Machine
10x10 at 40
Can't wait to be strong enough to do more than 10-15 of these (any calf exercise, really) before "the burn" sets in. Especially since it isn't only in my calves...it goes all the way up the back of my leg! Someday...strong calves will be mine.



1/15/13 - Legs

Warm up on leg press...felt that something on the outside of my knee was popping, like a tendon or something slightly out of place...freaked me out quite a bit. This was the first time doing legs since falling hard on my right knee at the skating rink last week, starting to wonder if it did more damage than just bruising... The popping didn't hurt, however, so I kept going.

Squat
5 at 95
3 at 115
8x3 at 135
10 at 95
Didn't feel knee pop when squatting with weights, but could with just body weight. Figure having something on my back was a strong enough distraction to not notice it.

Leg Press
10x2 with 1pps
Can feel knee pop really well with these, freaked me out a lot even though it doesn't hurt so only did two sets. Hoping this goes away with time, it's so distracting!

Standing Ham Curl (machine)
10 at 15
10x2 at 10
Feel so weak when doing this machine compared to laying down since it is one leg at a time. Seems that left leg is slightly stronger - hopefully that will even out as I do the same weight and reps for both legs, and it's not the most noticeable difference.

SLDL
10 at 70
10? at 90 - Got distracted and forgot where I was around 6...the man wasn't paying attention either so this is an estimate.
10 at 50
8 at 90
8 at 70
8 at 50

Really hoping that the knee popping resolves itself...can't afford a doctor visit right now.



1/16/13 - Chest

Decline bench
Warm up with bar - been a while since I've done decline, didn't want to surprise myself.
5 at 55
10 at 65
Not sure why the man didn't push for more on this, but I didn't complain. I've been working on not using gloves and the bar was hurting the middle of my hand, lol.

Fly machine
10 at 40
5 at 50
10 at 60
10 at 50
6 at 40
Did a bit too much on this one...got some really good work with the drop set, but couldn't do dumbbell benching after wards. Not to mention I am terrified to kick back the way the man is telling me to... Arms straight out, and basically roll back....yea no. I can just see myself rolling straight off the bench. Plus my left shoulder was starting to hurt a little...that is usually the signal that it is time to stop unless I want to be in pain for the next week.

Tri cable pushdown
10 at 50
8x3 at 70
Don't feel like I got as much out of these as I normally do, probably because the damn bolts on the attachment kept threatening to rip my headphones out of my ears and I was too stubborn to stop and fix it, lol. Gotta start remembering to move the cords behind my head for these.

Hanging leg raises
10, and 15x2
First time doing these in a long time. Much needed though, my lower back was hurting toward the end of every set. Need to add core work somewhere as a regular thing.


Diet

Not going to go into too much detail. Since the last update, the average calorie intake has been around 1600, surprisingly. Saturday and Sunday were around 2000 cals because of drinking (Sat) and still allowing myself a cheat meal (Sun), however Monday I wasn't feeling well and hardly ate anything at all other than a banana for breakfast and some dinner.

Going back to the cheat meal, since I made kind of a big deal about it...IT WAS AWESOME. The man and I checked out Twisted Root on the recommendation of someone he works with, and were so not disappointed! We both got the Big Tex burger which had fried onion strings and guacamole and chipotle sauce on them. I also got an order of fries and a White Chocolate Raspberry shake. OMG it was fat kid heaven. And I discovered after getting home and getting a guesstimate log from MFP that it wasn't as detrimental calorie wise as I had thought it was. Granted, it was a pretty rough guesstimate, but even then...not nearly what I expected it to be. The man asked me the other night what I wanted for this week's cheat...I kind of want to go back and try another of their burgers. If anything so that I can pair it with that amazing shake and fries, lmao! Hopefully you all can view this, I took a picture!

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...28058949_n.jpg

[Madi-J]

I'm LOLing at your comment of being a pansy... LMAO!!!!

I will say, having it on my upper middle back hurt like a mofo. Right on the spine. I cried like a little bitch... oh well!

Oh man, I can only imagine! I was shaking and crying while getting the tattoo that runs down my left side from ribs to hip. No joke, I almost told the guy to forget the whole thing after the first line it hurt so bad. And was white knuckled gripping the chair during the leg tattoo. Pain and I are not friends!

hmph pansy? not a pansy...just delicate
my wrist didnt hurt one bit, my hand flapped around a lot because of the weird positioning, made me laugh quite a bit. was almost uncontrollable!
i was going to get my 2nd fairy on my leg but my tattooist sed it might be too suggestive/tacky having butterflies going up to my....lady bits.

my partner dared me to get something as epic as his half sleeve, and i want to, but i find it hard to find inspiration for it as not many women do it, not on their legs anyway.
i just want to cover my stretch marks really

I hear you on delicate...Sometimes I feel like I'm the most "delicate" of them all for how much I whine and squirm, hahaha. Depending on how tattoo-covered you plan to be, I wouldn't worry too much about butterflies going to lady bits being too suggestive. Once other surrounding areas get something put on them, it won't stick out as much. Another way to battle this is to make everything bigger. Cover the whole leg with a design of, I don't know, a fairy "dancing" amidst three large butterflies? Like one spanning from mid outer thigh to just above the knee, one going along the inner thigh to cover stretch marks, a third up by the hip possibly stretching onto side, fairy spanning from just above knee to hip area....A lot of how it would turn out depends on the creativity of the artist and their talents at creating 3d space on a 2d surface.

[twinklebeef]

god love a cheat meal (day)

[twinklebeef]

with the 2 fairies i already have im not sure about another...i did want a nice/sxy looking lady deadlifting or doing a bicep curl and still sort of do. might be able to sneak it into a butterfly/flowery/viney/birdy/ haven.
basicly just a mess of stuff that makes me happy and gives me good memories.

i have a good tattoo artists that has done my last 3, he loves art and gives good suggestions/ideas. with all the holidays coming up i might just work on it for next year.

gives me time to forget the pain/passing out from the last one.
i hope.

[vanessa40]

Just wanted to stop in and say hi
I saw you posted in a few journals i read and i saw we are about the same in stats..well except for age...lol
Love your tattoos..i wish i had the guts to get one

[Madi-J]

with the 2 fairies i already have im not sure about another...i did want a nice/sxy looking lady deadlifting or doing a bicep curl and still sort of do. might be able to sneak it into a butterfly/flowery/viney/birdy/ haven.
basicly just a mess of stuff that makes me happy and gives me good memories.

i have a good tattoo artists that has done my last 3, he loves art and gives good suggestions/ideas. with all the holidays coming up i might just work on it for next year.

gives me time to forget the pain/passing out from the last one.
i hope.

Definitely a good artist, fairies are easy to mess up in the wrong hands but yours are awesome; hopefully he never moves far away from you, finding a tattoo artist that you really like and trust can be hard! Some friends of mine became loyal to a certain artist while he was working on the husband's sleeve...a year or so ago he moved to a different state, so now they have to plan road trips whenever they want work done.


Vanessa - Welcome!