Writers block!

I had it all planned out. This post was going to be magnificent! It was going to be a fabulous post about controlling insulin levels and how I was planning on doing it, and what it might mean in a vegan diet...yada, yada, yada. But something horrendous happened! Outta nowhere came this HUGE thick fog that just enveloped my entire brain. I tried everything to shake it. But the harder I tried, the thicker and more insidious it became until finally I fully succumbed! It was writer's block AHHHH!!!


So, what now? Want to have a staring contest? Bet I can beat ya! Betcha!! Huh? Huh?








Ha! You blinked! Yes you did! You know you did!

Today’s Workout

Kicking it up a notch, by adding in a couple of x-rep sets except on DL, don’t want to injure myself…and kinda hard on pull-ups and ham/glutes. So, ya, well X-reps on final sets of rows and curls ;)
Deadlift………………………………………………BB + 100 x 10, 9, 8, 7, 5 ½
…(full contact as per Craig’s Vid here)….
Pullups……………………………………….………6, 5, 4
…(numbers went down with doing DL’s first)
Partial ham/glute raises …………..……….5, 5, 5 (these hurt so good!)
Incline hammer bicep curls…………….….17.5’s x 12, 10, 8 (and 6 X-reps)


Today’s foods

M1…banana, BCAA’s, Greens +
M2…Vega in coconut water
M3…SW salad filled with red beans, corn, avocado, peppers and red onions
M4…goji berries, pistachios and cacao nibs
M5…left over soup from yesterday

S-L-O-W days

Sorry for deserting everyone yesterday. Sure, I could dream up some wild excuse for my absence...bears were chasing me,

a pack of swine came rummaging through kitchen, the daisys in my front yard came traipsing in and proceeded to choke the very life out of me, aliens, sea monsters, fell into a big gulp...




Speaking of big gulps, who the heck drinks those? Have you seen the size of them? OMG!!! I think it would literally take me a week to drink that! JEEZ! And people drink these in addition to meals?? Oh, sorry...promised to play nice :) Or not. Heck, it's my blog right?

No, I simply got caught up trying to decipher some scientific studies about brain energy pathways and fatigue. And ironically.... I GOT TIRED!!! LOL!!! I was so cross eyed by the end of the night that if I had even tried to write a word it would have seemed even more gibberish than usual! (like that's even possible!! LOL!!!)

But here I am, head down, hoping you'll accept my daily assignments even though they are a day late. I understand if you need to dock me points or lower my grade level ;)

Yesterday's workout

Squats…………………………………….BB + 70 x 12, 12, 12, 10, 10
DB Upright rows……………….…....27.5’s x 12, 10, 8
Goals posts………………………….….15’s x 8, 6, 6
BB chest press………………….……..BB + 60 x 10…8…6
Incline DB flys……………………….…20’s x 12…10…10
Incline close grip bench press….EZ + 25 x 18…15…14

Yesterday's foods

M1...BCAA's and greens +
M2...Vega in coconut water
M3...Protein oatmeal
M4...Green smoothie with spinach, wheat grass shooter, apple, banana, hemp seeds
M5...Salad w/ romaine, red peppers, red onions, clementines, tofu, and topped with a dressing made from OJ, lime Juice, agave, a smidge of Macadamia Nut oil, and hot sauce, and toasted sesame seeds. With a small piece of vegan corn bread on the side.

Today's workout

Ya, about that... made an executive decision. Mind kinda wanted to workout, well my mind is eager to uncover those abs! But my legs...well, they were a different story! They were crying and carrying on like a 2 year old! "I don't wanna"...STOMP, STOMP, STOMP. "I'm tired"...screeched in a tone that can only be described as absolutely torturous. "NO, Make Me!" Sit down, fold hand over chest, nod head in a very authoritative manner while staring at your unlaced shoes with a furrowed brow and pouted lips. Ya, my legs really did do all that! They were quite adamant. Wish you could have seen them! So I cleaned off my desk instead. Man, what a workout. PHEW, all that dusting, and stapling, sorting and piling! WOW! :P

Today's foods


Way too much fruit!

M1...banana and BCAA's and Green's +
M2...banana, clementine, grapes topped with hemp seeds
M3...grapes and pecans
M4...apple and almond butter
M5...Asian soup with tofu, udons, shiitakes, green onions

I'm seeing a bit of a problem here skipper! Ya see it? YUP, I'm seeing a grave lack of adherence to my carb cycling idea! Hhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....breathes loudly and shakes head. I took measurements and photos (still not posting :P) and I have done a really poor poor job of testing it out. pfft. Gonna have to give myself a serious talkin' to!

I promise to play nice today :)

Hey everyone! Hope you're still hanging with me and my rant of yesterday didn't send you racing for cover! ;)

Today was a fairly quiet today filled with errands and cleaning :(

I was originally planning on hitting some plyos or cardio today, but my hamstrings were sore. POOH. So, on the recommendation on a friend, I got this instead...



Cool huh? Alright, you probably already have one so :P PPLLLTTTHHHH! (translation = RASPBERRIES!) :D

OK, so now I gots my brand new toy, but what do I do? I know! Hit kids over the head with it! No, No, Umm...yes, spank BAD hubby's with it! No? Wow, thought I had it that time. I know! I'll google it!

Unfortunately I am VERY technologically inept and try as I may to figure out how to insert a video (you Tube) it is just too stubborn. Double :P But here are 2 excellent videos I found here and here

I have not tried it yet but plan on it before the evening is out!

Today's foods

M1...banana, clementines, blackberries sprinkled with hemp seeds
M2...Big bowl of Lentil soup
M3...Goji berries, pistachios and cacao nibs
M4...Left overs from last night

So, is there any questions you have for me? Any ideas? Any rants of your own? Any Snuffalupaguses peering over your right shoulder breathing into you ear with a long drawn out raspy chesty breath? Oh, sorry. That's me! Yes, I have a very weird and sometimes slightly uncensored imagination that often runs a muck... Speaking of muck and weird things, why do they say something "runs a muck"? Have you ever seen muck? ...


............It surely doesn't "run" and one cannot run too fast in it....? Things to ponder! BaDumDumDum..................

Rant warning

I'm starting off this post with a warning, what you are about to read is a rant. It is nothing more than my own deeply seeded opinions. If you are in NO way interested, feel free to skip ahead to my eats and workout report, I will not be offended! Heck I won't even know if you did! :)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Start of Rant <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Sorry about this, but I just CANNOT play nice any longer!! Oooo, Two things I read this morning just really got my blood boiling….





First…WHY do people always say that “you lose muscle after age 30”? Is there some magical thermostat that goes “Bing” at the stroke midnight of your 30th birthday and suddenly your muscles magically melt away and the fat fairy comes and waves her magic wand and suddenly a beer belly appears?





Really folks! NO!! You get lazy! Careers spent chained to a desk in the cage of a cubicle all day followed up by fast food dinners and time spent staring at the TV or computer screen happened! We get tired… too tired to move, too tired to cook, too tired to play…the list goes on and on. We don’t lose muscle! We forget how to move! We forget that out bodies were created for fresh food and lots of movement. We’ve become not much more than caged zoo animals, only our troughs are surrounded by golden arches and our cages are the endless maze of cubicles lining the floors of most office buildings. LOSE MUSCLE?? Who wouldn’t under these circumstances! WHO WOULDN’T????

Second rant is totally related to the first. I don’t know if you are familiar with Susan Powter (of Stop the Insanity fame). Don’t care if you love her or hate her, personally I listen to her podcast every week during my Wednesday workouts. I bring her up because she and I have the same view of the world. People have given away their freedoms. They have forgotten how to think for themselves. Everyone is so doped up on sugar and refined garbage masquerading as foods that they’re brains are no longer working at optimal levels! Seriously! How many people do you know that get up, go to a job they dislike, mindlessly going through the motions (usually chained to that cage) just to get to the magical 5 pm hour. They then grab grub from their favorite trough (fast food) and head home to either zone out on the couch, drink or eat to desensitize from the drudgery they just endured all day, or sulk and complain through the laundry, dishes and housework. We look for quick fixes and greedly lap up any information the “establishment” feeds us. We look no further than the leading news bites or headlines. We except it as fact, because after all…so and so said so! Who the heck are these so called experts and what makes them experts? Are they in any way profiting for spouting off the beliefs they so readily cling to? Who is financially backing the latest and greatest experiment that is sure to save us all from all our maladies? Will stocks suffer, book sales decline, reputations be brought into question if their “backed studies” don’t support their preconceived hypothesis? Were these studies done in a fair, objective manner? Was all of the data included in the final analysis? Was the experiment done on enough people, for an appropriate length of time? Would more having time or a including a larger cross section of the population possibly altered the outcome?

Are people thinking for themselves?? Not many! As I said, too many are doped up on sugar and refined carbs. The very chemistry of their brains have been altered by this garbage masquerading as nutrition. And the lack of movement/oxygen has left everyone too tired to care. Everyone is nutrient and oxygen deprived! We are in desperate need of a wake up call! We, as a nation, are digging our graves with our forks! Our first line of defense should not be the nearest pharmacy or the latest pill, we shouldn't be filling our children with sugar filled chemically enriched, glow in the dark, can sit on a shelf for forty years food. It’s time to rise up and start a revolution! GEEZ!!! ARGGHHHH! HELP!! PHEW…OK rant over!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> end of Rant <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Today’s eats…

M1…BCAA’s and greens + pre workout
M2…Vega in coconut water PWO
M3…1 bunch grapes (46 grapes) and 1 sm handful pecans (9)
M4…1/2 c edamame
M5…Veganized this Rachel Ray recipe for spring stroganoff (http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/spring-stroganoff/) and served it over some Trader Joes’ Chickenless strips instead of pasta to cut down on carbs and bump up protein.


Today’s workout…


Pull-ups……………….7…6…5

Circuit 1

DL…………………B+80 x 15…12…10
BB rows………...B+80 x 10…12…10
Burpees……………………20…20…20

Circuit 2

1 arm wide elbow DB row…………………….………35 x 12…12…12
Strict EZ bar bi row
.. (back against wall so NO body swing)…….EZ + 25 x 10…8…8
DB Overhead walking lunges………..…..2 (20) x 12 steps…12..12

Circuit 3

Prone incline bi row……..2(15) x 15…15…12
Jumping lunges…………...15 ea side…13…11…DIED! PHEW!! :D

Wow, 3 days in a row???

Today I decided to tackle the age old question, the one question that will breathe life into your every goal or leave it broken and splattered on the floor like an organic watermelon tossed off the roof of a 12 story building.



The question? Well isn’t it obvious? Why? No really? I mean “why”? Why do I want to attain that fitness competitor look? Why do I want to push my body? Why do I want to build more muscles? Why do I want to permanently wave bye-bye to those last 5-10 stubborn pounds of fat? Why do I want to embrace clean foods while kicking the Oreos and Cheerios to the curb? ….(insert LONG pause…)
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Sorry, distracted by that last thought! ;)

O yeah, back to “why”. In my earlier years that question would have immediately brought to mind horrible visualizations of beaches, pool parties, and muffin tops. OK, maybe I’m not totally above all that, but with age does come wisdom. What good is all of that if you risk your health and lose yourself in pursuit of a fleeting moment. No, they must not be mutually exclusive! Vanity and substance…surface and depth….a beauty that radiates from deep within…Health, beauty, longevity, strength, and a rockin’ body. Do you know what I mean? To have your mind as sharp as the lines chiseled into your midsection. Your thinking as crystal clear as your skin and eyes. The pumping of your heart as strong as the pump in your bicep. Your mental reactions as quick as your physical agility. The inside as strong, beautiful and healthy as the outside. To be able to look in the mirror and actually feel as good as you look.


In the past defining such goals as “losing weight” would have me running to the nearest, latest and greatest fad that promised to help you drop 10 pounds in 14 days. Now, I want more. I want that and radiant health!

What does this have to do with a “why”? Not sure yet. Sometimes when I begin to think out loud I end up going off in tangents. Sometimes things end up coming full circle, and sometimes it just kinda dead ends….Maybe time will tell.

Back to “WHY”. Why do I want all that I just rambled on about? Why? You want to know why? Because for the first time in my entire life I believe I am WORTHY of it! Why? You know, perhaps "why" is not the right question after all. Maybe the correct question should be “why not”! What do ya think about that!!! WHY NOT! Why not reach for it all?? Why not shoot for the stars? Why not demand more from yourself? Why would I not be worthy? Why should I be willing to settle for anything else? THAT’S WHY!

Today’s eats…
M1…4 meatless breakfast sausages, 1 red pepper and ½ onion sautéed in a small amount of Macadamia Nut oil
M2…1/2 c edemame
M3…pistachios, goji berries and cacao
M4…hummus and cucumbers
M5…left over Mexican bowl from last night

Today’s workout…
My muscles were tight today so I opted to try something new. Yoga! I acquired a collection of DVD’s from my mom and decided to finally pop one in and hit play! Good news..I lived. Bad news..harder than I expected LOL!!

So what else? I don’t know, I think I am done rambling on for today. Don't forget, I probably won't be checking in tomorrow because my husband and I will be out all afternoon celebrating. YAY! And I can guarantee you that I will not be eating 100% clean nor will I be exercising. Twenty years only comes around once in a lifetime after all! So I guess you can tune back in on Monday for more crazy stuff! Till then Train hard and keep your goals forever in the forefront of your mind! :)
 

I'm Baaacckk!

Hey Hey Hey! How ya been? I hate to brag, but the weather was absolutely glorious here! Oh, and I think I found my dream job! Do you think I’ll have too much trouble finding someone to pay me for sitting out in the sun, relaxing with a great book or magazine, with the smell of the newly emerging flowers wafting ever so lightly in the background? Ha? Ha? Do ya??



Bummer!

Alrighty, well then on to business it is…:(

If you remember, I originally said that Fridays would be a higher carb day. But you see Sunday my Husband and I are going out to celebrate our 20 year anniversary and Low Carb just sounds like, well, No Fun! So I decided to swap today’s high carb with Sundays low carb for this week. Meaning today became a mostly veggies and protein day. Here’s how it hammered out today…

Today’s eats…

Today’s food stuffs was lower than I would have liked. I know, I know! But my lovely daughter was off school today so I got a late start (too busy snoozin’!) And then there was the lovely sun just calling my name,and yes, I always train on pretty much an empty stomach. YIKES! CRINGE! Me bad!

M1…BCAA’s and Greens+
M2…PWO of Vega (vegan protein powder) in almond milk
M3…HUGE bowl of broccoli, cauliflower, grape tomatoes, and baby carrots served with 1/3 c hummus
M4…Mexican bowl..simple…shredded lettuce topped with refried beans; black beans that were prepared with salsa, black bean dip, cumin, thyme, garlic; fresh tomatoes; cilantro; and tofutti sour cream

I made plenty of the Mexican bowl stuffs for tomorrow too!

Today’s Workout

I decided I wanted to work on TUT today. TUT means Time Under Tension. Here, I’ll let someone else explain it better. According to Muscle and Fitness magazine

http://www.muscle-fitness.com.au/466.html

Time Under TENSION
BY DWAYNE N. JACKSON AND JIM STOPPANI

Hey, you’re less than one minute away from bigger and stronger muscles with M&F’s scientifically engineered set-timing technique

Give us a few seconds and we’ll give you stronger and bigger muscles. No, we’re not promising that you can work out for less than a minute (different magazine, different day). What we are promising is that if you focus on a specific range of seconds, you’ll challenge your muscles in an entirely new way. You see, while reps, sets and rest time are important variables in your workout, the total amount of time you spend actually doing each set of an exercise can also be critical to reaching your training goals. However, this time component rarely has been taken into account when putting together a weight-training programme… until now.

Time under tension (TUT) is a way of calculating the total amount of work you place on a muscle. It refers to the total time a muscle resists weight during each set. For example, if you did the barbell curl and it took you two seconds to curl the weight up and another two seconds to lower it, that’s four seconds of tension per rep. Performing 10 reps at this pace would take a total of 40 seconds. Therefore, the TUT for that set is 40 seconds. If you increased the speed of those reps to about three seconds, then it would take you only 30 seconds to complete a 10-rep set. Although the number of reps and the amount of weight are the same, the second set might not increase your muscle mass to the same level as the first. And that’s the basis of TUT training: focus on sets that last for a certain amount of time based on your training goals. For maximising strength, the ideal TUT is about 20 seconds or less; for muscle mass, it’s at least 40 seconds; and for muscle endurance, it’s at least 70 seconds.

Don’t abandon set and rep ranges just yet, though — you have good reason to focus on them. Research shows that the best way to gain muscle strength is by performing 1–6 reps per set; for muscle growth, your ideal rep range is 8–12; and for muscle endurance, 15–30 reps prove most beneficial. The problem is that all these ranges assume that each rep takes about four seconds to complete. If you extrapolated those figures, you’d assume that the best TUT ranges are 4–24 seconds for strength, 32–48 seconds for growth and 60–120 seconds for endurance. However, strength coaches and training experts have tweaked those values based on their own experience: Although no controlled research has been done on the subject, their anecdotal evidence suggests that the best TUT ranges are 4–20 seconds for strength, 40–60 seconds for growth and 70–100 seconds for endurance.

Armed with that information, I decided on 45 seconds TUT and created 2 tri-sets to hit my quads, shoulders and triceps. The trick is to choose a weight that is heavy enough for you. Don’t wimp out on me! By the end of the 45 seconds you should only be able to do partials! This is what I did...

Narrow stance DB squats…………35’s X 13…13…13
Arnold shoulder presses…………..17.5’s X 14…14…13
Close grip incline bench press…..EZ bar + 20 X 20…20…19

Front squats………..Bar + 50 X 12…9…11 (wrists not quite right on 2nd set)
Upright rows………..EZ bar + 20 X 18….19…23
Band pull aparts……heavy band X 50…51…47

And now there you have it! A day in the life of me.

The set up!

Sorry, had to blow off the dust there, cough, cough ;)

So where did I go? Well I've been locked away in a dreary dungeon busy self evaluating and trying to tap out some new goals on my stone tablet. Tap, Tap, Tap! Who do I want to be when I grow up? What do I want to do before I die? What do I want to be remembered for when my days on this earth are over? And of course..Oh crap, it almost summer! What do I want to look like on the beach? Do I want to carry myself confidently or do I want to be stumbling around spending all my time trying to figure out how to hide my pouchy belly? Not a good visual, sorry :(

Luckily there's still time! Not much, but some. And not much calls for some immediate action...




And their off! Oh wait, silly me, it's me who needs to step up to the line! So what do I want? Well only to be ripped, built, confident, to have a sleek flat quarter bouncing tight belly, shoulders that pop and biceps that rock. I want energy that never ends, skin that radiates across the room, the flexibility of a gymnast, the agility of Spiderman, the speed of Underdog and the strength of Superman! Not too much for a girl to ask? Oh, wait, I forgot to add that I want all of this on a vegan diet!

Impossible? Some may say. I say :P

A plan. Who has a plan?? Is there a plan?? Help....!

Ahh, there it is ...


Since time is running short, I'm pulling out all the stops and I am going to experiment with carb cycling. I have never done this so I am hoping all the hype lives up to it's claims. My week will be organized like this...

S…Low Carb…Protein, veggies
M…Moderate Carb…Protein, veggies and adding in fruit
T..Low Carb…Protein, veggies
W…High Carb…adding in unprocessed carbs to protein, veggies, fruit
Th…Low Carb
F…High Carb
Sa…Low Carb

And as for my workouts…

Ok, confession!! I have workout ADD! I like change, I get bored. For the most part I am hitting the weights every M,W,F alternating push and pull muscle days. Sometimes I am in the mood for heavy straight sets; sometimes I feel like adding in plyos and creating a circuit workout; and sometimes using drop sets, x-reps, rest pause…sounds like fun. I do keep a detailed excel sheet to track my weights and reps so no matter what I am in the mood for I know how to challenge myself.

Then on T, Th, Sa I do some kind of cardio…sometimes long slow steady, sometimes HIIT, and sometimes plyometrics or Taekwondo inspired (2nd confession…while I LOVE hitting the iron…the cardio not so much, so consistency has been a problem for me in the past) But that was the old me right? Now I am consistency personified ;)

Beginning stats…Icckkk!

Age...................44 y/o
height................5’ 2 ½”
Weight................124.6
shoulders.............38 1/2"
Waist at thinnest.....27 1/2 "
Belly button..........30 1/2"
Abs at widest.........32 1/8"
Hips..................34 3/4"
Thigh.................21 1/8"
calf..................14"
Flexed bicep..........12 5/8"

Where am I going from here? Will I be back? Am I going to hide back in my dungeon? Will I be captured and eaten by bears? Oh gosh I hope not!

But starting tomorrow I will log my foods and workouts. I will probably redo the measurements every 2 weeks?? Maybe, or 3?? Not sure, but stay with me and I promise I'll hammer it out! And I may even ramble on about life, obstacles, other hopes and dreams, or some more incessant babbling about who I want to be when I grow up!

Till tomorrow!