Beauty and the Beast... A Dark Journey and Joint Log: feat Artemis00 and CHOOSE

[Artemis00]

Another one who would prefer to just take off versus lift light with high reps. Not a fan of high reps. And by high I mean over 5 LOL.

I think taking a week away from the gym is worse mentally for me than going light. I hate going light, but I can't stand not going to the gym. I feel so lazy when I even miss one day. As for high reps, other than the major compound lifts, most of mine are at least 8 reps or higher...so that isn't as much of a problem. Just hate not being able to push myself...but hopefully it will help.


Need to contact a chiropractor. The first one I called on Friday still hasn't returned my voice mail. Makes you wonder if they actually want business. Will try another one today.

[Artemis00]

Tuesday

Chest

Barbell Bench Press
- 5 x 08 - 65.0 lbs

Barbell Decline Bench Press
- 5 x 10 - 70.0 lbs

Butterfly Machine
- 5 x 08 - 40.0

Push Ups
- 5 x 10


Shoulders

Standing Shrug Machine
- 1 x 15 - 90.0 lbs
- 4 x 08 - 180.0 lbs
First set was way too light

Cable One Arm Upright Row - Modified
- 5 x 08 - 15.0

Dumbbell Shoulder Press
- 5 x 08 - 20.0 lbs

Hand Stands
- 1 x 08
- 1 x 06
- 1 x 05
These started to hurt my hands too much. Was only able to get to a 2-3 count as best. Also found my hamstrings were really tight today which made getting into a hand stand harder


Notes:
Don't know why, but both of my shoulders and my back is hating this deload week. They are more sore this week than last week along with my back. So don't know what the problem is but not gonna stress about it too much. Nothing feels like a significant injury, just soreness...but different than DOMS soreness.

Anyway, called a different chiropractor (the one I called last week never returned my call and I'm not waiting anymore). They are able to fit me in for an appointment at 6:15 PM today. So I won't be going to the powerlifting gym since I don't like the idea of leaving my dogs home for that long. Don't know if I'll be going to the gym after the appointment (doubt it, but who knows...if they don't do anything, I will). But hoping this helps, especially since the soreness really reminds me of what I used to get when I was in college and I didn't do any lifting back then.

Update on Rex...
Well the oral chemo they had him on isn't working...so we are now going to be trying another one. Should be getting that sent to me tomorrow. And in addition to that, my vet has recently stated training on acupuncture and Chinese herbs for treatment of dog illnesses. So she offered that as an option. Also, since she technically isn't certified in those two things, she said she wouldn't feel right charging me for it...so Rex gets to be her practice guinea pig. She actually already tested some of what she learned to reduce his anxiety for the ultra sound and it worked, which is good since she doesn't like the idea of sedating him since his liver function is already compromised.

[Artemis00]

Wednesday


Back

Barbell Bent Over Rows
- 1 x 08 - 45.0 lbs
- 1 x 05 - 65.0 lbs
- 3 x 05 - 75.0 lbs

Dumbbell One Arm Row
- 1 x 05 - 35.0 lbs
- 4 x 05 - 45.0 lbs

Cable Seated Row
- 5 x 05 - 80.0

Cable Rope Face Pull - Alternating Grip
- 6 x 10 - 30.0


Legs

Barbell Front Squats
- 1 x 05 - 45.0 lbs
- 1 x 05 - 55.0 lbs
- 1 x 05 - 65.0 lbs
- 2 x 05 - 75.0 lbs
Decided to get back into doing these

Barbell Split Squats - Not Alternating
- 1 x 05 - 45.0 lbs
- 1 x 05 - 55.0 lbs
- 1 x 05 - 65.0 lbs
- 2 x 05 - 75.0 lbs
I decided not to alternate these so it would hit it a little harder. Definitely found even with the lighter reps that it was definitely harder than if I alternated


Notes:
Didn't go to the Powerlifting gym on Wednesday cause I managed to get an appointment with a chiropractor around that time. Well got a complete check up and in a sense, things look good. Basically went in for issues with my neck / back. He did adjust those but based on his experience, he said that for someone that beats themselves up at the gym almost every day, that the texture of my muscle is in really good shape compared to other patients he has that lift weights. No major knots or anything like that in my back / neck that he would expect to see. Basically nothing really wrong with my back than needed a little maintenance. He attributed the good muscle texture to my nutrition and I had to laugh at that. Didn't realize high sugar / low protein diet keeps the muscle subtle. LOL. I did also talk to him about my shoulder issue. He ruled out the typical shoulder concerns and found out the issue was with the proximal bicep tendon. When I hurt it back in June, it may have been a partial tear but nothing major or that would require surgery. Basically he did something similar to a Graston Technique where he rubbed/raked a stainless steel tool over the tendon area to try to resolve the adhesion. Nothing really caused any pain or too much discomfort and he ask if I was going to the gym after cause he definitely felt that was a good idea to get the blood flowing into that area. So I'll be going to see him again on Friday and working with him the next few weeks to work on improving the bicep tendon. Also thinking about maybe going there at least once a month for adjustments to keep ahead of everything.

He also recommended a few things...More rowing exercise, icing the shoulder, reducing my reps, focusing more on the eccentric movement and the worst possible thing he could tell me...TAKE A WEEK OFF OF DIRECT BICEP WORK . I almost cried. So last night I kept with a deload but devoted an entire back workout to rowing movements. I have to agree with him in that regards...although I always do have a rowing exercises in my routine, I have been focusing more on working my lats than my lower/middle traps. And I'm causing a bit of an imbalance since I really love to work my upper traps, but I definitely don't put as much effort into my middle/lower traps. So debating how I'm going to compensate for this. Thinking of putting face pulls on chest day to balance that out a bit, splitting up back into two days...one for deadlifts/lats and the other to focus on traps, or at least making sure I have two rowing exercise on back day (one heavy / one pump).

Also I understand what he means when he is recommending going heavier with less reps. The tendon needs more of a break and it is less stress for the tendon to move a heavy weight less times than a lighter weight for countless reps. So if it is an exercise I like to go heavy, I'm keeping reps down to 3-5 (instead of 8-12 for biceps curls). I still want to do an exercise for pump with my biceps routine, but after this week off :'(...I'm going to try the same exercises drag curls/perfect curls/28s but seeing if I can get the pump by really focusing on the contraction and a long eccentric rep. Will see.

I must admit, the chiropractor was a cutie (which didn't hurt at all) and he practically had me swooning when he mentioned that I had a very well developed upper trap region. That is the perfect compliment for my mentality. He also said I was probably the only woman he ever met that lifts but hates leg day. LOL.

Oh yeah, weight loss is going great. Dropped another pound. Energy levels are good and deload is going fairly well (keeping sane). Today is gonna be the hardest day of the week to stick with losing weight. I have to get my carb level high enough to fuel an hour of grappling. But the hard part is after grappling...I'll easily lose a lb of water weight and then come home and have a tendency to binge on mt dew and food. Easily gaining back the lost pound plus adding another one so need to watch it.

[VmissileX]

Ooh, where did you go for this chiro? (mind shooting me a PM). I, for one had a hard time finding anyone good in the LV area.

Its good to hear that he said that everything looks good.

And now you mentioned, i never heard of a woman hating leg day. It's usually whiny guys...lol. I personally hated doing legs when i did splits, but now i know getting back to it (if i ever did), wouldn't matter.

Good to hear weight loss is going good. I'm the first to feel cranky the second i lose a pound.

[Artemis00]

Ooh, where did you go for this chiro? (mind shooting me a PM). I, for one had a hard time finding anyone good in the LV area.

Its good to hear that he said that everything looks good.

And now you mentioned, i never heard of a woman hating leg day. It's usually whiny guys...lol. I personally hated doing legs when i did splits, but now i know getting back to it (if i ever did), wouldn't matter.

Good to hear weight loss is going good. I'm the first to feel cranky the second i lose a pound.

PM coming your way. Hard to say right now how good he is...I've just heard too much of chiropractors gouging their patients with multiple visits a week until their insurance runs out and that is for minor things that a simple adjustment would correct. From the way he talked, granted...sounds like he wants to get me in frequently at first but that isn't related to my back at all...just to focus on the tendon. And based on everything I have read online regarding the technique and actually a concern I did have regarding the shoulder freezing up in a sense during the recovery process...I do feel it is needed. But he really did seem to be very knowledgeable and it was so nice to be able to talk to someone face to face and not have to explain everything cause they don't have any experience with lifting. Not sure how much lifting this guy does, but he is very knowledgeable about the activity, gave some great advice. Plus he did say he looks forward to working with people that are athletic.

I've always hated legs. I don't neglect them...but I hate that day. And that hate grew to an even bigger level when I started to put more emphasis on squatting. I find it to be so boring. And yeah, I know what you mean...most women love working legs to the extent where they neglect other body parts. I've just never had that mentality, but then again...the more I interact with other women, the more I realize I really don't think much like them.

I never really feel cranky losing a pound. But I could see if you do it slowly, yeah...that would make me cranky. I mean right now I'm looking at 1-2 weeks of keeping a light diet and then back to maintenance to let everything level out. If I had to do months with keeping a light diet...I'd shoot myself. I did that before for almost 6 months and I hated it even though I got used to it.

[VmissileX]

PM coming your way. Hard to say right now how good he is...I've just heard too much of chiropractors gouging their patients with multiple visits a week until their insurance runs out and that is for minor things that a simple adjustment would correct. From the way he talked, granted...sounds like he wants to get me in frequently at first but that isn't related to my back at all...just to focus on the tendon. And based on everything I have read online regarding the technique and actually a concern I did have regarding the shoulder freezing up in a sense during the recovery process...I do feel it is needed. But he really did seem to be very knowledgeable and it was so nice to be able to talk to someone face to face and not have to explain everything cause they don't have any experience with lifting. Not sure how much lifting this guy does, but he is very knowledgeable about the activity, gave some great advice. Plus he did say he looks forward to working with people that are athletic.

I've always hated legs. I don't neglect them...but I hate that day. And that hate grew to an even bigger level when I started to put more emphasis on squatting. I find it to be so boring. And yeah, I know what you mean...most women love working legs to the extent where they neglect other body parts. I've just never had that mentality, but then again...the more I interact with other women, the more I realize I really don't think much like them.

I never really feel cranky losing a pound. But I could see if you do it slowly, yeah...that would make me cranky. I mean right now I'm looking at 1-2 weeks of keeping a light diet and then back to maintenance to let everything level out. If I had to do months with keeping a light diet...I'd shoot myself. I did that before for almost 6 months and I hated it even though I got used to it.

Saw your PM. Will do a bit more research. That is what i want to be careful about...the insurance gauge. This is good to know.

I've been growing more fond of them. I have nothing against squatting, it just gets annoying to have some soreness once in a while. Most women loving training legs for more than the obvious reasons and avoid upper body to have less of a masculine look (even though they wont).

[Artemis00]

Saw your PM. Will do a bit more research. That is what i want to be careful about...the insurance gauge. This is good to know.

I've been growing more fond of them. I have nothing against squatting, it just gets annoying to have some soreness once in a while. Most women loving training legs for more than the obvious reasons and avoid upper body to have less of a masculine look (even though they wont).

Yeah, my sister has worked as a chiropractor assistant with a few different locations and a couple were really bad regarding gouging their clients. Granted, I could have gone to the place my sister works, but honestly, I wouldn't trust my sister's recommendations. And this guy really seems pretty good and is closer to home, so can't complain.

I'm good with soreness. That part never bothers me...granted, I might whine on days where I can barely get out of my car...but still feels good in a way. It is just a mental thing for me. And yeah, I'm completely the opposite way most women are. I want big traps and arms...could care less about the legs. LOL. Fortunately, I doubt I would be ever able to get the chicken leg syndrome cause I still do work my legs and I can't build that much upper body mass to make it that obvious. But hey, I don't even hate on guys that have that problem...as long as they have big traps/arms. LOL

[Artemis00]

Bought some new toys today. Got a pair of fat gripz...



I did find that when I benched with a fat bar at the powerlifting gym, that I actually liked it. Want to give these a try with some other things as well.

Also with going to the chiropractor and issues with my back, well I was debating between getting an inversion table or gravity/inversion boots. Gravity boots are cheaper and can do the same as the inversion table, but you don't have any assistance to get yourself back up after you are upside down like the table does. But I figure I've got the power rack, so I can set the safeties to a level to help assist getting down, plus I can do upside sit ups with the gravity boots...can't do that the inversion table. So I ordered these...



I think these are eligible for Amazon Prime so I should be getting them on Monday at the latest if the damn delivery companies stop pulling their BS cause the road is closed and there is a lot of construction going on. Already had the FedEx guy claim that he couldn't deliver something today because I wasn't home. I'm working from home and I didn't get one knock on the door. Basically he was too damn lazy to walk around the construction equipment to try to deliver it. So I'm guessing my cheese is going to go bad this month cause I'm sure he'll pull the same sh*t tomorrow unless it is a different guy.

[VmissileX]

Nice buy!
For Fedex - give them a call. You can probably just pick it up at their storage location. I know UPS does this.

[Artemis00]

Nice buy!
For Fedex - give them a call. You can probably just pick it up at their storage location. I know UPS does this.

This is actually the second time I've had to deal with this because of the construction. I'll have to do that tomorrow if they don't attempt today again. But pretty irritating cause I understand that they don't know to go beyond the construction and stuff...but c'mon...don't lie and say you attempted to deliver it an I wasn't home. I'm hoping that the Friday guy puts a little effort into it. There are like 20 guys walking around right now getting ready to pave the road...ask one if you can drop it off.

[Artemis00]

Thursday - GRAPPLING!!!


Figured since the Chiropractor said nothing was wrong with my back, that I'd go to grappling. Plus also figured the shrimping warm up would let me be able to evaluate if the raking is helping the shoulder. Actually shrimping felt good with my left shoulder but now my right shoulder is really starting to act up. So definitely gonna ask him to take a look at that. If he can get the right shoulder to now feel like the left shoulder...that would be great.

As for the grappling, well the drills were a bit difficult. I'm not even gonna try to get into what we were doing. There are two moves that I particularly like. Both of them are escapes from the mount. The one basically if you have the flexibility to do it, it makes you un-mountable. I mean someone can technically mount you but won't be able to keep the mount long enough to get points (3 seconds). I wish I could find a video cause hard to explain. But basically put your hands in their arm pits and push them up...at that point you quickly lift your legs up and hook them around the opponents waist. From that point you have a few options, roll them to the side or back over. Either way gets you out of mount. The other one, you straighten out your left leg, take your right leg and place it over your left leg but hook under their leg with your right foot. You use that to then lift that foot to give you enough space to get your left leg out. You can then take that left foot and put it right between the space made by their leg and your right leg and turn them which puts you into half guard with potentially a double underhook.

Anyway, during the 15 minutes between the beginner class and the advanced class, the instructors recommended that the new girls try some rolling. Okay, just a little rant but damn these girls...spent more time talking about how they didn't know what to do rather than just trying something. So I was trying to talk them thru what options they have or what they need to do depending on the position they are in. Basically just talking about improving your position. Very basic stuff and I may have been going about 20% at best. Just enough to make them have to work a little bit. Actually most of the effort I put in was after they improved their position, pulling them quickly back into the original position since they aren't very good at holding a position right now in order to even start working with submissions.

I did let the one girl try a few submissions and did talk her thru some ways of using her body to her advantage when doing these submissions. My only concern with her is she has a tendency of trying to rush all the moves which is good in a sense, but she doesn't understand she needs to be a little more careful when doing some of these submissions cause she is going to eventually hurt someone with an arm bar or something cause instead of slowly working it until you get the tap (so you don't hurt anyone), she just rips it on quick. To the point where I don't have much time between tapping and an injury. I'm gonna end up having a talk with her soon about if...if that doesn't work, I'm going to start being a bit rough with her so she understand the point I'm trying to make. Actually she worries me a bit since she was asking the instructor about take downs. He ended up having to spend about 5 minutes explaining to her that it is best to not go over them too much since they are areas where it is easy to get injured. And for practice, you aren't trying to get injured. She sort of then explained to me the reason she wanted to know take downs...because encase she wanted to show her friends what she is learning with grappling. That scares me because having a newbie trying to execute a take down to a person that doesn't even know grappling/wresting in order to show a move that she just learned...yeah, she is gonna hurt someone. I don't think she is one of those people that is trying to be a huge bad ass or stuff like that, I just think she is excited about it all and very naive to how much you can really hurt someone with these moves if executed wrong.

But anyway, it was good to get in a little bit of rolling. Did give me an opportunity to break a sweat. Do have to work on my heel hook though.

Oh yeah, and fortunately I managed to nail exactly what I needed to in order to fuel myself with enough energy for grappling without having a need to binge afterwards. Got finished with class and didn't feel hungry or thirsty at all. I made sure prior to class that I had sufficient liquids. And the only thing I really did different than the other days is definitely added a lot of carbs right before heading out for class. Basically a small piece of chocolate cake...which between the chocolate and the sugar, really helped to provide sufficient energy. Hell, I didn't even need a nap yesterday like I normally want. So basically I'm down to 118 lbs Friday morning.

[Artemis00]

Good news. Fedex delivered my cheese . And also got a surprise...UPS delivered my fat gripz and inversion boots. Trying to get in my leg workout without getting distracted attempting to test them out.

[lschepis]

Some weird chit going on in here...cheese delivery and inversion cuffs; I always picture someone getting dropped on their head.

Def in on front squats, been loving those lately too. They give me legs DOMs which I don't get from regular squats which neither of us is fond of. I like the challenge of going deep while keeping the bar on your shoulders vs the challenge of keeping ur back from bending forward on a back squat...that's just annoying.

Sorry to hear about the no direct biceps works from the chiro. I kinda agree on a rest. We both go bat chit on weight on bi's and it gives me forearm tendinitis sometimes. I think every lifting problem is probably an imbalance.

Rex with needles in him? Awwww, but if it gives him relief, it's worth it.

I see a lot of guys use fat grips for biceps too. I think it's less stress on the elbows or something. Might be something for u.

Missile boy, not all of us fear upper body muscles...there are some of us real women out there

[Artemis00]

Some weird chit going on in here...cheese delivery and inversion cuffs; I always picture someone getting dropped on their head.

SOON

Def in on front squats, been loving those lately too. They give me legs DOMs which I don't get from regular squats which neither of us is fond of. I like the challenge of going deep while keeping the bar on your shoulders vs the challenge of keeping ur back from bending forward on a back squat...that's just annoying.

Sorry to hear about the no direct biceps works from the chiro. I kinda agree on a rest. We both go bat chit on weight on bi's and it gives me forearm tendinitis sometimes. I think every lifting problem is probably an imbalance.

Rex with needles in him? Awwww, but if it gives him relief, it's worth it.

I see a lot of guys use fat grips for biceps too. I think it's less stress on the elbows or something. Might be something for u.

Missile boy, not all of us fear upper body muscles...there are some of us real women out there

I'm also gonna try some regular back squats. But starting with only the bar and going until failure for as many reps as I can. And do that for a few sets. Up the weight 5 lbs every week and see where that takes me. Figure it should at least eventually help with form. But yeah, just prefer bending at the hip too much and good morning the weight. Fortunately I can at least do that heavy. LOL

Yeah, was practically crying at the chiropractor to the point where he was even backing off the recommendation. But I caved. I will say, whatever he did to my shoulder really helped...a lot. Gonna have him do the same to the right one as well.

I'm not sure if she is going to do any needle work with acupuncture, I think she is going to do more massaging pressure points. But I have no idea.

I actually prefer it with the benching but I figure it can't hurt to try it with curling or a few other things.

And yeah, real women CURL...guess I'm not a woman for a week

[Artemis00]

Friday - Part 1 (At Home)


Legs

Body Weight Wall Squats
- 1 x 20

Body Weight ATG Squats
- 1 x 10 (standard)
- 1 x 10 (narrow)

Band Assisted Pistol Squats
- 5 x 07 (1 Orange)
Still seeing some progress. Going to need to find a way to get to the next level...that may be trying a unassisted one, but may not have many reps in me if any at all. Did attempt a few reps holding my left toe when doing the reps with the right leg. Not strong enough for that with my left leg. Need to really improve my hamstring flexibility.

Barbell Squats
- 1 x 20 - 45.0 lbs
- 1 x 21 - 45.0 lbs
- 1 x 25 - 45.0 lbs
- 1 x 26 - 45.0 lbs
- 1 x 20 - 45.0 lbs
Had to lower the safeties after the first set. Kept banging them. Could have maybe grinded out some more reps but my neck wasn't having it.

Notes:
Well have to get ready and head off to the chiropractor. Then will hit the gym on the way home to finish the workout.

[VmissileX]

Wait what? you do half your workout at home then the other half at the gym? damn.

[Artemis00]

Wait what? you do half your workout at home then the other half at the gym? damn.

Yeah, I find I'm more focused at the gym...so I'll start the workout at home and then finish at the gym. Most of the time it is because I need other equipment...but I do have enough equipment right now that I can get in a good workout regardless what body part I'm working on.

[Artemis00]

Friday - Part 2


Triceps

Dips
- 5 x 08
Paid special attention to make sure I wasn't leaning forward at all so I wasn't hitting the pec

Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension
- 5 x 08 - 30.0 lbs

Barbell Close Grip Bench Press
- 1 x 08 - 45.0 lbs
- 4 x 08 - 60.0 lbs

Triceps Cable Rope Pushdowns - 28s
- 5 x 28 - 20.0
Had to make sure to flare out my arms more so it wasn't hitting the pecs as much


Notes:
Well got another adjustment at the chiropractor. Turns out I needed it cause my left upper trap was a bit off. He worked on my left shoulder with the raking and was happy with the improvement...both with me saying it feels noticeably better and I guess he could feel the difference. Had him check out my right shoulder. I thought it was the same thing but it turns out it was the pec. So he was doing some type of move where he was gouging his thumb into the area that hurt and then had me push my arm back. Damn, it hurt...but it already feels better. I need to ice it this weekend and he recommended foam rolling it along with doing a similar movement to what he did in the office to try to work out the adhesions. I'm pretty sure I had that problem the first day he saw me, but pain/discomfort is weird. You don't notice some soreness when other areas are hurting more.

[Artemis00]

Saturday


Abs

Dragon Flags
- 1 x 04
- 3 x 05
- 1 x 02
Last set held for 7 seconds but then dropped it so didn't count. Two actually sets were held for 5 seconds. Tried another one but landed on the bench

Barbell Decline Bench - Sit Ups
- 1 x 08 - 45.0 lbs
- 1 x 05 - 55.0 lbs
- 3 x 05 - 60.0 lbs
Going to try with 65 lbs next time I do these

Hip Thrusts on Smith Machine
- 1 x 10 - 90.0 lbs
- 1 x 10 - 120.0 lbs
- 1 x 10 - 150.0 lbs
- 1 x 10 - 170.0 lbs
- 1 x 10 - 195.0 lbs
Was gonna go light but then decided to go all out


Compound Set

Upside Down Crunches
- 5 x 10

Back Levers
- 1 x 01
- 4 x 02
Managed to get deeper with the tuck. Definitely got my back more parallel to the ground. Tried a few times to get one leg extended but didn't make it all the way out...but definitely making some progress with these. Needed to be a little more careful with these since I had to make sure I didn't go too far that I would hurt the shoulder

Front Lever
- 2 x 02
Gave up after 2 sets cause I was definitely loosing energy

Hand Stands
- 1 x 05
- 1 x 05
- 1 x 06
- 1 x 04
Managed to get at least once where I was balancing for 4-5 seconds. Need to find a way to track these for improvement. So going to target 8 attempts. But if I get at least one rep that hits 4-5 seconds...I'll stop there, rest and go to the next set. Then the next week shoot for 5-6 seconds
Gave up after 2 sets cause I was definitely loosing energy


Notes:
Was surprised with this workout. Was really feeling low energy due to the cut. And I didn't want to eat lunch prior to the workout since abs and sushi never go well together...just a little too heavy. So I managed to consume enough food to give me some. Was considering doing a deload for abs but figured, screw it and went all out. Maybe did a little too much but actually my back feels really good. Maybe later tonight I will play with the gravity boots to help out my back.

But definitely feeling better with the progress of the Levers and Hand Stands. The progress feels slow but I'm not doing them that often, so any progress is good. Plus don't want to push too much with the back lever cause of my shoulder/pec issues. Was doing adhesion release the Chiropractor showed me yesterday for the pec while I was doing laps for rest period. Definitely could feel it help. So will keep doing that and icing it later tonight. But too tired right now, need a nap and then got a lot of stuff to do. Like henna my hair (not looking forward to that) and baking some cookies.

Diet is going well. Basically sticking with sushi as my filler, cookies/candy corn for calorie dense foods and wraps / toast for snacking in between when needed. Oh yeah, lots of butter on the toast to keep cals higher. Got down to 117 lb this morning. So from Monday I weighed in at 123 and now Saturday morning, I hit 117. Six pounds in 5 days. Two more to go before maintenance.

[Solomonlike]

Candy corn cookies?? Now I'm a cookie monster and I've never heard of those.

I'll have to ask my mom about those. I'm pretty sure she's heard of them. I'll get her to make me some when I go home.

[Artemis00]

Candy corn cookies?? Now I'm a cookie monster and I've never heard of those.

I'll have to ask my mom about those. I'm pretty sure she's heard of them. I'll get her to make me some when I go home.

Yeah, started making them around 8:30 PM, by the time I got finished the batter...it was 9 PM. Didn't realize they needed 3 hours to chill in the fridge before baking. Plus they recommend making sure to keep the candy corn buffered by batter so they candy corn doesn't get in contact with the baking sheet cause they melt and make a mess. So spent time being careful with that. Was planning on making them in the morning...but I was up around 12 AM so I made a batch of 8. They all ended up having a piece of candy corn touching the pan, but I got new silicon baking sheets so they came off easy. Which is good, cause that way next time I won't care...otherwise, I never would make these again cause it was a pain to keep the candy corn protected by the batter. Also, had to drastically reduce the amount of candy corn and white chocolate by half cause seriously it was way too much.

They came out fairly good, but I only had a fraction of a piece last night. Will have to test better this morning.

Yeah, if you can get your mom to make them, do it. They were such a pain. But I did make a second batch and froze it...plus I have enough to make another 12 cookies in the fridge that I'm gonna end up freezing and making later since I won't eat more than 8 cookies a week.

[Solomonlike]

Now those look good!! Nom nom nom.

For as long as I can remember my mom has always loved cooking and baking. Now that her and my dad are retired, she's practically stuffing him with all the goodies she makes. She especially likes cooking/baking for us (her 5 kids and 5 grandkids). She'll be excited that I want something "new".

[Artemis00]

Now those look good!! Nom nom nom.

For as long as I can remember my mom has always loved cooking and baking. Now that her and my dad are retired, she's practically stuffing him with all the goodies she makes. She especially likes cooking/baking for us (her 5 kids and 5 grandkids). She'll be excited that I want something "new".

I love baking as well, but being single and only baking for yourself...plus I like a lot of variety...hate making something that I'm then stuck eating for the rest of the week. But I've recently finally started to freeze some of this stuff...actually really considering getting a small cube freezer for some of my baked stuff along with my vodka.

These are how mine turned out (with half the candy corn and white chocolate based on the recipe)...



They really are good. Definitely worth it...Love candy corn and love white chocolate. So gonna take a lot of effort to not eat more than one cookie a day.

Oh yeah, and the base batter was really good and can be used for anything else...got a batch frozen as well so may mix it with chocolate chips next time or something else...maybe dates. Love dates.

[meimonsta]

Wow, that weight loss is so fast! 6 pounds in 5 days?! Also, since when do you do handstands? That's awesome. You must be very coordinated.

[PappaBear76]

Awesome work in here!

[Artemis00]

Wow, that weight loss is so fast! 6 pounds in 5 days?! Also, since when do you do handstands? That's awesome. You must be very coordinated.

Yeah...I really love fast cuts. I don't think I could ever tolerate a long, slow cut. Having to pay attention to what I'm eating for longer than two weeks is way too much effort for me. Didn't lose any weight yesterday, but I'm guessing it is all water weight thanks to my abs workout. I usually hold onto more water when I have DOMS.

I wish I was that coordinated on my hands. I'm a work in progress with the hand stands. Trying them against the wall. Have only managed 4-5 seconds hold before I fall against the wall or back down. I figure even if I'm not holding it yet, it is strengthen my wrist cause damn, the hands really hurt after a few sets of just trying to do a hand stand against the wall.

Awesome work in here!

Thanks

And I love candy corn. I went a few years where I didn't have it that much, but this year I'm going over board. I'm gonna be hitting all the grocery stores just around Halloween to get my supply up so I'm good all year round

[Artemis00]

Sunday

Chest

Barbell Bench Press
- 1 x 02 - 45.0 lbs
- 1 x 02 - 65.0 lbs
- 1 x 02 - 85.0 lbs
- 1 x 02 - 105.0 lbs
- 1 x 02 - 115.0 lbs
These felt okay. Not ready to push to 120 lbs yet consider I'm a little concerned about the pec right now

Dumbbell Bench Press
- 1 x 08 - 25.0 lbs
- 1 x 08 - 27.5 lbs
- 1 x 08 - 30.0 lbs
- 2 x 08 - 32.5 lbs

Dumbbell Incline Bench Press
- 1 x 08 - 20.0 lbs
- 1 x 08 - 22.5 lbs
- 1 x 08 - 25.0 lbs
- 1 x 08 - 27.5 lbs
- 1 x 08 - 30.0 lbs

Barbell Decline Bench Press
- 1 x 05 - 45.0 lbs
- 1 x 05 - 65.0 lbs
- 1 x 05 - 85.0 lbs
- 1 x 05 - 95.0 lbs
- 1 x 05 - 100.0 lbs
Was a little disappointed with these since I know I can do a lot more weight with these, but considering all the pressing, not too surprised.


Notes:
So I decided to somewhat take it easy today with chest...even though I did go for 115 lbs for 2 reps. As of right now, until my shoulders start feeling 100%, what I'm gonna do is keep the reps really low...only 2 (since more volume at moderately heavy weight is probably worse for my injury than heavy weight with less volume). So each week I'm gonna use the micro plates and add 1-2.5 lbs to the bar...basically taking a slow and gradual progression so that I don't over do it and exacerbate the injury but also making progress.

Don't know when I'm going to get back into doing fly work. Right now since that hits the pecs the most, I'm a little iffy on doing those. I was doing the pressure point technique again during the rest period and that was very helpful. Also from what I've read, if the pressure point technique is supposed to help workout the adhesions...I believe that may also contribute to some weakness in the beginning.

Well gonna try to get in a quick nap before I have to get cleaned up for a Breaking Benjamin Concert. My favorite song of theirs...

[ememmcfly]

I'm in.... mostly because I assume if you get stuck hanging upside down in your inversion cuffs I can come and save you.

Really mostly because you'll give me good ideas for when I throw my "program" out the winder.

[Artemis00]

I'm in.... mostly because I assume if you get stuck hanging upside down in your inversion cuffs I can come and save you.

Really mostly because you'll give me good ideas for when I throw my "program" out the winder.

Thanks . I may need it. LOL. Then again, if you don't see me post in a while...like a couple of days, I'm probably stuck. LOL

And yeah, I love getting and sharing ideas regarding workouts. Some of my favorite exercises came from somebody's suggestion...and you usually won't find those exercises in any program.

[Solomonlike]

I love baking as well, but being single and only baking for yourself...plus I like a lot of variety...hate making something that I'm then stuck eating for the rest of the week. But I've recently finally started to freeze some of this stuff...actually really considering getting a small cube freezer for some of my baked stuff along with my vodka.

These are how mine turned out (with half the candy corn and white chocolate based on the recipe)...



They really are good. Definitely worth it...Love candy corn and love white chocolate. So gonna take a lot of effort to not eat more than one cookie a day.

Oh yeah, and the base batter was really good and can be used for anything else...got a batch frozen as well so may mix it with chocolate chips next time or something else...maybe dates. Love dates.

Those look good! White chocolate in it too?? White chocolate > all other chocolate.

All that's missing now is a big plate of nachos! Oh man, I'd better stop before I get myself in trouble. I just started a cut.