Dora's (long:) road to fitness competition journal

hugerthanalluvU · 10-22-2005, 02:40 PM

Hello there... the idea of starting a personal exercise journal and then putting it online for all to see is still a little bit weird to me, but I'll take a shot at it. I of course welcome any feedback, and hopefully I'll figure out how to post some pics soon too.

A little about me: I’ve been walking, running and weight lifting off and on for the past year or so, but I didn’t start a serious program until the beginning of July. I started out investing a lot of time in running, and soon found out that apparently shin splints are a lot easier to get than when you’re a kid. Whoops. So I’ve taken it easy on the running til the leg healed and started spending more time biking and swimming. This goes toward preparation for a little sprint triathloning I’m planning to do early in the new year.

Just graduated from FSU in 2004. I did a lot of walking and bike riding around campus in the collegiate years, so I didn’t gain the notorious freshman 15 til after finishing my education. My immediate goal in the next two months is to get my body back into form and take off the extra 10 pounds, as well as build some solid muscle to work toward future plans.

My ultimate goal in all of this is to create and perform my own fitness routine. I spent 12 years in gymnastic growing up and then another 2 in cheerleading and dance in high school. And then there was circus class in college (how’s that for your liberal arts education?!) which was a good refresher course on the gymnastics-but I still have to master the strength moves and put the routine together. I haven’t actually met anyone who does fitness, and have only ever seen one routine performed live, so any advice or experience anyone out there has to offer is certainly appreciated. That goes for the diet and general exercise plan as well. Speaking of which…

The diet: Tried the whole chicken, rice and veggie diet my bodybuilder friends were on for a bit, but after experiencing nightmares about how my life had evolved into a living hell of never-ending grill sessions and heaping piles of seasonless steak and chicken, I decided maybe a bit of variation would be good for the soul. A friend showed me anabolic x’s model diet, http://www.anabolicx.com/articles/Anabolic_Growth1.pdf, which didn't seem too bad given all the good stuff I’ve read recently on dairy diets (ignoring the standard hyperbolic plugs for the use of the company’s own product, of course). I’ve tooled around with the diet for a few weeks at a maintenance level and have gradually been increasing my cardio and weightlifting. I prefer to implement variations in diet every couple of months to keep it interesting, but this is the plan for the next 2 months til the weight is off.

Meal 1-8am: 2 eggs, 1/3 cup oats, raisins, flaxseed oil, sesathin, vitamins.
Workout
Meal 2-10:45 am: 1/3 cup oats, 1 scp whey protein, ethyl ester creatine.
Meal 3-1:15pm: 3/4 scp casein, 1/4 cup oats in shake, glutamine.
Meal 4-3:30pm: 1/4 cup rice, can of tuna in water, sesathin.
Meal 5-6pm: 3/4 scp casein, 1/4 cup oats in shake, glutamine.
Meal 6-8:30pm: Spinach salad, 4oz chicken, 1/3 cup oats, creatine, antioxidants.
Meal 7-11pm: 1/2 cup cttge chz, 1/2 scp casein, 1/8 cup almonds, sesathin
TOTALS: Calories-1632 Carbs (g)-127.5 (31%) Protein-158.5 (39%) Fat-42.5 (24%)

Workout schedule:
Tuesday: High intensity cardio/abs
Wednesday: Swim
Thursday: HIC AM, Shoulder & arms PM
Friday: Lower body/abs
Saturday: Off (2x walking cardio)
Sunday: Chest/back, HIC/abs
Monday: Off (walking cardio if haven’t made weight goal for week)

I’ve starting biking to and from work (8.5 miles/40 min each way) on some weekdays in addition to my regular workouts, and on these days I add 550-600 calories in protein and nuts. (When I don’t do this, I have been doing one or two 45 min walking cardio sessions a day). Concerned about muscle loss because of so much exercise, I’ve started supplementing BCAAs (15-20g/day) and have since then noticed improvements in recovery from weight lifting sessions. Hopefully with this plan by December I’ll be conditioned enough to start gymnastics and strength training moves for the fitness competition next year. Then all I have to worry about is the relatives doing me in with their holiday baking ordeals. *Sigh* One obstacle at a time...

ShapingUp · 10-22-2005, 06:14 PM

Hi there and Welcome!

Just reading your posts gave me an inspiration. Thanks!

I have been toying with the idea of a cheat meal or cheat day, which I haven't started yet - instead I quite often find myself cheating just a little bit every couple of days or so. From now on I'm going to weigh myself on Saturday morning like I usually do, and if I'm down, then I'll have a cheat meal or cheat day. If not, then then no cheat. I luv it! Thanks!

For your pics - under Additional Options see Manage Attachments. The instructions are there, but if you have trouble just ask.

I used to run every morning at the Y in the 80's till I got 2nd degree shin splints, orthotics for my shoes and electric impulse treatments along with other rehab treatments. The only thing that ever really worked for me was to give up running. Hopefully you caught yours in time and can work something out.

Circus Class sounds like a blast!!! Never heard of that before. Your competition will make all the work worthwhile. I just started this summer myself and have no plans of competing, but I wish I could.

I looked at the link you posted, but couldn't really follow it. I found it a little annoying.

Meals 2 and 3 don't have much real food in it. Sorry, I'm not the right person to be giving advice on nutrition, but from what I've learned recently that's what strikes me as something that could be improved on. It seems to me that you take a lot of supplements. Meal 6 should probably have green beans instead of oats. Someone else will straighten out your diet for you.

Mmmm . . . christmas cookies, chocolate/orange balls, chocolate initials, hard Christmas candy, candy canes, ooh baby!!!! Yah!

I also love that you add more cardio after you see if your weight is showing no improvement. That's a great idea. Thanks!

When is the competition? I'll be following along. Do Good!

freakeefranky · 10-22-2005, 06:18 PM

heyaz welcome n good luck!!!

fellow gymnast n fitness freak,

xxxxxxx

hugerthanalluvU · 10-24-2005, 10:31 AM

Thanks for the input, ShapingUp…I’ll definitely be careful with the running-I had no idea shin splints could get bad enough to need that kind of treatment. I do need to work on maintaining a bit more of a balance of alternating carb & no-carb meals throughout the day. A lot of times I do my HIC/abs after I get off work at night, though, so I feel like I need the 8:30pm carbs before that workout. Other days I’m thinking I should definitely work on a substitute. Well, I didn’t get a chance to journal yesterday (2nd day & I’m already slacking-not a good sign!) so here’s Sunday:

45 min AM walking cardio

Chest/Back:
Superset-10x10 each:
Incline barbell press-45lb
Wide grip lat pull-downs-70lb*

Superset-2x15:
Chest dips-machine assisted 70lb*
Seated rows-60lb*

Superset: 2x15
Lat raises-8lbx2
Upright rows-8lbx2
(* = to failure +/or OUCH)

Kinda passed out in the middle of a movie at home, so I didn’t quite make it to the evening cardio. Did really well on the diet (no midnight snacking-yeah!) so no worries. Oh yeah, realized I never included stats with my first post. I started one week ago at just about 150; my goal is to get down to 140 by December. Stats as of yesterday are as follows:

Age: 22
Height: 5’5”
Weight: 147
Chest: 36”
Waist: 30”
Hips: 37.5”
Thigh: 23”
Calves: 15”

Did some AM walking/elliptical cardio for 45 min today before breakfast…was hoping that thanks to this whole hurricane thing I’d get the day off to tool around on the internet and do some reading up on fitness, but as is usually the case, no such luck. Looks like I get to head in to the job now…

vanessa40 · 10-24-2005, 11:08 AM

Hi and Welcome...
I'm a runner also..i've had to scale back my running to due to a heel injury..i run about 3 days a week now and lift 4-5 days..your workouts and diet looks great.

Vanessa

hugerthanalluvU · 10-25-2005, 09:23 PM

Took Monday easy after making it to 147 as planned. Maybe a little too easy…woke up with my hand in a can of cashews in the middle of the night. Don’t know if anybody else shares my unsettling penchant for nighttime kitchen wandering, but man is it freaky. Just when I think I’ve gotten over it, I wake up one morning with a protein bar wrapper next to my bed and no clue how it got there. Well, actually the clues are pretty easy to follow, but it’s kind of scary to not remember what must have been at least five solid minutes of getting up, searching the pantry, opening and then chowing down the night’s selected indulgence. I’ve seriously been considering handcuffing myself to the headboard before I go to sleep, but I think I'll save that as a last resort. I would think maybe I'm not getting enough calories, but this has happened in the past on cheat days and days when I wasn't even following a diet. Weird. But moving on… today’s workout:

Arms/Shoulders:
Superset-8x8
Incline dumbbell curls-15lbx2 for 6, 12lbx2 for 2
Lying triceps extensions-35lb (E-Z bar)*
Dumbbell shoulder press-20lbx2

Superset-2x15
Neutral grip chin-ups-80lb assisted*
Bent-over lateral raises-5lbx2*

Gonna get some walking cardio in tonight for 45 min, then it’s off to visions of sugar plums. Just hope to god they’re not dancing in my mouth this time.

ShapingUp · 10-26-2005, 05:25 AM

Woah! That would be scary! Good thing your subconsious craves food and not paper or feathers or something! Better hide the pets. Seriously, I'd have that checked out.

Re: exercise and nutrition - keep up the good work. Oh yeah, congratulations on losing 3 pounds already!

hugerthanalluvU · 10-26-2005, 08:13 PM

Nuthin much to post today, which I guess is actually for the best. Slept thru the night solid yesterday (*whew!*) and have been good all day on the diet. Did abs last night after cardio and tonight it'll be HIC for 20 min on the treadmill, sprint 30 sec then jog 60.. I do pretty well on that now & have been working my speed and sprint duration up over several weeks, but it's so tough to do late at night, so who knows how tonight will go.

Thanks for the laugh, ShapingUp...I'm glad my flying squirrel is too quick for me to pin down, or I might just be worried after that comment! Guess I'm hoping that if I keep my body pretty exhausted from daily exercise and a low carb diet for a while so that I'll be so tired I won't even wake up in the middle of the night. Maybe I can retrain whatever messed up internal clock it is that's going off to just sit the night out eventually.

vanessa40 · 10-27-2005, 12:53 PM

Dora,
I use to be the same way..i would always get up in the middle of the night and go crazy...i found that if i have a protein shake or some cottage cheese before i go to bed it helps..

Vanessa

hugerthanalluvU · 10-27-2005, 08:15 PM

Getting hyped for the weekend! Today's workout was killer, despite being brain dead for most of it thanks to less than 4 hours of sleep last night. Gonna make it up with plenty tonight, though. Didn't have time for cardio today thanks to overtime at work, but weight lifting was more than enough to do me in.

Legs:
Superset-7x10
Leg extensions-60lb
Lying leg curls-60lb
Hack squats-70lb

Superset-2x8
Lunges-20lbx2
Lying leg curls-60lb

Hip adductors-75lb, drop 55lb-2x12
Abductors-55lb, 2x12

Mmmmmmm....nice & wobbly afterward!
Time for some stretches.

vanessa40 · 10-28-2005, 06:50 AM

Great leg workout....

Vanessa

KiwiNovice · 10-28-2005, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hugerthanalluvU

Getting hyped for the weekend! Today's workout was killer, despite being brain dead for most of it thanks to less than 4 hours of sleep last night. Gonna make it up with plenty tonight, though. Didn't have time for cardio today thanks to overtime at work, but weight lifting was more than enough to do me in.

Legs:
Superset-7x10
Leg extensions-60lb
Lying leg curls-60lb
Hack squats-70lb

Superset-2x8
Lunges-20lbx2
Lying leg curls-60lb

Hip adductors-75lb, drop 55lb-2x12
Abductors-55lb, 2x12

Mmmmmmm....nice & wobbly afterward!
Time for some stretches.

Nice workout ... I love supersetting, trisetting etc ... it's a great way to get more done in a shorter time!!! Gotta love that eh?? Hope you enjoy your weekend!!!

hugerthanalluvU · 10-30-2005, 12:47 AM

Thanx Kiwi & Vanessa-I always appreciate positive feedback! (Constructive criticism is welcome too, of course!) Hope your weekend is great as well. Seeing as it's almost 3 in the morning, I'm gonna keep this one relatively short and sweet and do some more posting in the morning.

Friday-25 min HIC: 5 min warmup walk, stretch, then 15 min intervals alternating 30 seconds 8.5 mpr/60 seconds 6.0 mpr, 5 min warmdown run at 6.0 mpr

Saturday-Legs feeling nice and sore from Thurs/Fri's workouts. Have been super-strict on the diet all week so I decided on a small cheat meal today. Had 4oz aztec chicken at Red Lobster with steamed broccoli and squash along with one of their to-die-for cheese rolls...mmmmm, so good I'll be dreaming about another trip to Red Lobster for weeks to come. (Which is pretty amazing considering I don't even eat seafood!) Spent 3 hours out at the bar with friends for Halloween partying & didn't even touch a drink or hors deuvre the WHOLE TIME-I'm still not sure how that was managed, but hell yeah am I proud. Got in 45 min walking cardio tonight and now it's pass out time. This was a truly awesome week and I'm really hoping this success will keep up in the weeks to come...now comes tomorrow with the weigh in!

IronMaiden1522 · 10-30-2005, 09:33 AM

Hey and Welcome!!

Good luck for your goals

hugerthanalluvU · 10-31-2005, 08:40 PM

So the weekend's over and it's time to get serious again. Was feeling pretty beat up yesterday still, so after 45 min morning walking cardio I took it easy the rest of the day and got all that other stuff in life done. Woke up this morning bright and early for the weigh in, found out I actually overshot my goal a bit-woohoo! Hit 144 today, which did give the start of my day a nice kick. The rest of it's been pretty rough, though. Felt lousy enough to put off chest/back day tonight until tomorrow...went and started turkey trot prep instead. Ran about 3 miles at an 8.5 mile pace, not too bad, although I won't pretend I wasn't wheezing a bit the last mile or so. Now it's time to load up on some sleep before another long day tomorrow.

vanessa40 · 11-01-2005, 07:48 AM

You sound like me...i've started my training for the turkey trot also...mines only an 8k...so it won't be so bad..hope you are having a nice day

Vanessa

hugerthanalluvU · 11-01-2005, 08:18 PM

ONLY an 8K, Vanessa?!? Geez, I'll be lucky if I can make the 5k at this rate-give yourself a pat on the back for going 8! I think I'm finally getting back into the groove of things after a couple of bum days... had an awesome workout tonight, just got a meal in and I'm about to head to the fitness center at my apartment complex for a late night jog.

Chest/Back:
Superset-10x10 each:
Incline barbell press-45lb*
Wide grip lat pull-downs-70lb*

Superset-2x15:
Chest dips-machine assisted 70lb*
Seated rows-60lb
Hyperextensions-10lb added*

Superset: 2x15
Lat raises-8lbx2
Shrugs-20lbx2

Felt some definite improvement from last week on the chest exercises, which is exciting! Maybe soon I'll even be able to add some weight to the barbell...hehe. It's definitely hard to catch that hot guy's eye in the gym after you've just finished reping out on the bar.

vanessa40 · 11-02-2005, 10:34 AM

LOL...see that why i need to go to a gym and workout..the only hot guy here is my hubby..i need some eye candy...lol..

Vanessa

kasso99 · 11-03-2005, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hugerthanalluvU

Took Monday easy after making it to 147 as planned. Maybe a little too easy…woke up with my hand in a can of cashews in the middle of the night. Don’t know if anybody else shares my unsettling penchant for nighttime kitchen wandering, but man is it freaky. Just when I think I’ve gotten over it, I wake up one morning with a protein bar wrapper next to my bed and no clue how it got there. Well, actually the clues are pretty easy to follow, but it’s kind of scary to not remember what must have been at least five solid minutes of getting up, searching the pantry, opening and then chowing down the night’s selected indulgence. I’ve seriously been considering handcuffing myself to the headboard before I go to sleep, but I think I'll save that as a last resort. I would think maybe I'm not getting enough calories, but this has happened in the past on cheat days and days when I wasn't even following a diet. Weird. But moving on… today’s workout:

Check these out: (read the thread)
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=614345
GABA
Phenibut
L-theanine

hugerthanalluvU · 11-03-2005, 09:26 PM

Didn't get a chance to post yesterday, but I took a day off to recover anyway so there wasn't much to tell. Tomorrow will make 60 hours at work this week which means the fatigue is setting in...only thing keeping me going is how nice that paycheck will be next week. Today was a kickass diet/workout day.. not a cheat in sight and going strong. As for the workout tonight:

Arms/Shoulders:
Superset-8x8 (alternated 2 sets of one, then 2 of other)
Incline dumbbell curls-15lbx2
Lying triceps extensions-35lb (E-Z bar)
Dumbbell shoulder press-20lbx2
+
Lever preacher curl-20lb
Lever overhead triceps extension-60lb*
Dumbbell shoulder press-20lbx2*

Superset-2x15
Neutral grip chin-ups-70lb assisted*
Bent-over lateral raises-5lbx2*

About to collapse...maybe some sleep is in order?

hugerthanalluvU · 11-04-2005, 09:07 PM

Stayed light on the sleep again last night, but somehow today just flew by anyway. Didn't feel too fatigued during the day, then hit the gym for legs n abs tonight and was going strong.

Legs/Abs:
Legs:
Superset-7x10
Barbell squats-45lb (2), 65lb (2), 85lb (3)
Crunches (7x20)

Superset-6x10
Lying leg curls-60lb (2), 70lb (4)
Lying straight leg hip raises (6x20)

Walking lunges-2x10, 15lbx2*
Smith standing calf raises-4x15, 50lb (2), 100lb (2)*

Noticed some definite gains in the hamstring department-woohoo! Keeping my squat weight pretty low still while I get a feel for this high volume workout program, so hopefully my technique will be improving as well.
Stretched and then followed this up with 40 min walking cardio. Whew! Time for some long and eagerly anticipated shuteye.

vanessa40 · 11-07-2005, 10:27 AM

Hi,
Your workouts are looking great..hope you had a nice weekend...

Vanessa

hugerthanalluvU · 11-08-2005, 04:56 AM

Had a good weekend of workouts, except that the Sunday post I completed was apparently only a figment of my imagination and didn't actually occur on this website, or any other that I know of for that matter. Whoops. So here's the scoop on the weekend:

Saturday-20 min fast run in the afternoon, 45 min walking cardio before bed

Sunday-
Chest/Back:
Superset-10x10 each:
Incline barbell press-50lb (6), 45lb (4)*
Wide grip lat pull-downs-60lb

Superset-2x15:
Chest dips-machine assisted 70lb*
Seated rows-60lb

Superset: 2x15
Hyperextensions-5lb added*
Lat raises-10lbx2
Shrugs-20lbx2

Did 30 min swimming cardio after this (1000m or so) on Sunday.

Made 143 as planned on Saturday (a day early!) but Monday went the way of the Pizza Hut.. had a rough day all around, I think I may have taken a couple steps back as far as the diet goes. Hopefully the damage won't be too extensive.. we'll see by the end of the week. *Gulp*...for now, it's back on the treadmill.

ShapingUp · 11-08-2005, 04:58 PM

I was going to suggest that maybe your workout was a figment of your imagination as well, but you lost another pound!!!! You're dropping pounds like flies! You must be doing something right! I'd better start paying more attention in here.

How's your flying squirrel? And how's the hot guy?

kasso99 · 11-08-2005, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShapingUp

And how's the hot guy?

I'm doing fine!

Great job on 143, Dora.

hugerthanalluvU · 11-08-2005, 09:57 PM

The squirrel is doing awesome, thanks for asking ShapingUp! Although she's spent the past two days pouting because I accidentally stepped on her tail when I was chasing her around my room trying to get her back in her cage. She's such a spoiled little brat, I don't know what I'd do if she wasn't so cute! As for the hot guy, nice try Kasso... you may get brownies for winning at All South, but that's about all you're getting. Good job on the show, by the way. Your willpower with the diet was inspiring.

Speaking of willpower, ohhh, did the guilt set in hard this morning...my own little slice of pizza remorse hell. So I decided to have a sort of catchup day...ate a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, had 2 lone chicken breast meals & two protein/oatmeal shake meals, then finished the day with a 20 min run, 20 min walking cardio, abs and then a whey protein shake. My stomach is ready to murder me right now, but hopefully I made up for some of yesterday's indescretions. Only time and the measuring tape will tell. Night!

hugerthanalluvU · 11-09-2005, 09:39 PM

Got all my workouts in today, which was good, but my right shin started to ache though after my quick 20 min run at lunchtime. This is the same weird recurrent thing that started this spring when I began running again after taking a year or so off. I guess I just need to take it really, really slow whenever I up my mileage, and maybe someday I'll get over it. As for now, the running's definitely off until Sunday at the earliest. I applied ice packs 3 times today, and once was right after I finished the run, so hopefully that'll help a bit. After work it was time for arms, though it was too late to hit the gym so I had to make due with the equipment at my apartment complex's fitness center. It wouldn't be so bad for lower body, but was kind of crappy for arms since the only thing available for biceps is either 10lb dumbbells (too light) or 20lb dumbells (too heavy). So I made due...

Arms/Shoulders:
Superset-8x12
Incline dumbbell curls-10lbx2
Cable triceps pushdowns-20lb
Dumbbell shoulder press-20lbx2

Finished up with 30 min walking cardio at 130bpm and some streches.

hugerthanalluvU · 11-10-2005, 06:45 PM

Getting pumped for the weekend...last weekend I spent way too much time online and let my imagination run wild, which translates into maxed out credit cards and a crapload of gifts and craft supplies coming in the mail today and tomorrow to make Christmas baskets for all my cheesehead relatives up in Wisconsin. Only thing I forgot to think about is how I'm going to fit all this stuff in my suitcase before the plan trip up there-doh!
Been super strict again today on the diet, which translates to about 1100 calories, mostly protein. Surprisingly, I'm feeling pretty good though.. I think the BCAAs help a lot with that, although maybe it's just a placebo effect. Either way, I'll take what I can get. Gonna head on home from work in a bit, do 45 min walking cardio, ice the leg a bit more and hit the sack. Looking forward to a short day tomorrow and hitting the gym for legs after work!

vanessa40 · 11-11-2005, 11:54 AM

I know how that is...i love to shop online too..no crowds...have a great weekend..

Vanessa

ShapingUp · 11-11-2005, 07:10 PM

I have Never Ever pictured a female flying squirrel. Ha ha ha ha. I wonder if our little animals ever get tired of being so cute?

Too bad your leg is being so difficult. Injuries are so inconvenient!

I have a theory about guilt - it makes you eat bad stuff - so stop thinking like that right now!

Have a great weekend.