Saturday Sept 25 - High Carb/Calorie Day

Weight - 144.3

Meal #1 - Steel cut oats w/ cottage cheese, raspberries, stevia
Meal #2 - Summer chicken, sweet potatoe, cucumber slices
Meal #3 - Chicken breast, Black Japonica rice w/ tamari sauce, green pepper

Workout: Shoulders & Lats

Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press - 12x6/16.75x4/20x4x4/21.25x4
Neutral Grip Pulldowns - 40x6/75x4/80x4x3/82.5x4x2
2 depletion circuits (30 minutes)

PWO Shake - Protein powder, soy milk, pumpkin, SF caramel syrup
Meal #5 - Summer chicken, green & yellow beans; fish oil
Meal #6 - Cottage cheese, peanut butter & stevia; fish oil

Calories - 1785; Protein 145g (33%); Carbs 159g (36%); Fat 62g (31%)

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I'm starting to adapt to my routine. I changed my pulldowns to a neutral grip. I sure can feel it tonight.

Wow, I'm starting to get strong. I'm increasing weights on my depletions to get me to the minimum number of reps and I'm taking them to the maximum number. But I still have the hardest time with shoulder exercises in terms of strength. I thought I'd be able to increase my weights on the standing press, but I was only able to increase my last set slightly.

So overall, I'd say things are going great.

Wanda

144! Congrats Wanda! That's awesome!

It's working!

Hugs
red

wow both your bench and your rows look pretty good...great program huh...it really makes you stronger. I was reading about the philosophy behind doing opposing muscle groups like that...it is called antagonistic training and it allows you lift more that you would normally. Great progress, I am sure you are going to see amazing results...make sure to take pics...you would be amazed the subtle changes you will not pick up cause you are used to seeing yourself.

wanda oky doky on the bi curls instead of declines...those are hard on the back..I don't do them much either

Wanda, as I was driving into town tonight, I remembered something.

Estrogen sits at the same receptor site as thyroid hormones. High levels of it can actually block hormones from reaching these receptor sites, making you seem hypothryoid.

I know that progesterone can increase the availability of thyroid hormones.

This might be something to explore with your natural minded MD.

Hope I haven't confused you too much.

At any rate, be sure and get the free T3. This test is usually readily available.

Good luck!

Maggie

Wednesday Sept 22 - Low Carb Day

Forced Rest Day

Meal #1 - Protein Shake
Meal #2 - Cottage Cheese, Peanut Butter & stevia
Meal #3 - Cottage Cheese, Peanut Butter & stevia
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Went to the dentist and then had to have an IV Vitamin drip afterwards. Couldn't really eat so I had mushy food.

Thursday Sept 23 - Medium Carb Day

Meal #1 - Protein shake; Steel cut oats, blueberries, stevia
Meal #2 - Chicken breast, sweet potatoe puree, raw broccoli
Meal #3 - Cottage cheese, peanut butter & stevia; raw broccoli

Workout: Quads
ATF Squats - 30x4/70x4x2/80x4x3/85x4
One Legged Calf Raise - 35x6/85x4/90x4x4/95x4
2 depletion circuits

Meal #4 - Protein shake w/ soy milk, butternut squash & pumpkin pie spice
Meal #5 - Chicken breast, fish oil
Meal #6 - Cottage cheese, peanut butter & stevia

Calories - 1498; Protein 147g (39%); Carbs 113g (30%); Fat 53g (32%)

Friday Sept 24 - Low Carb/Calorie Day

Rest Day

Meal #1 - Cottage Cheese, peanut butter & stevia
Meal #2 - Chicken salad w/ fish oil & balsamic vinegar dressing
Meal #3 - 2 hazelnuts
Meal #3 - Summer chicken, broccoli, fish oil
Meal #4 - Cottage cheese w/ peanut butter & stevia; fish oil

Calories - 1267; Protein 112g (36%); Carbs 20g (7%); Fat 79g (57%)

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The end of 3 crazy days is over. Food and exercise has been a challenge, but I did the best I could. Ate less than I should have and missed cardio twice. At least my lifting sessions weren't compromised.

I planned on cardio, but at the last minute, I had to go look over a property then run to work. I left work really late, rushed home to prepare dinner, then spent the rest of last night discussing business with DH. Fun!

Wanda

good job Wanda....shoulders are a tricky one, they are actually a very small muscle group and as such do not need really heavy weight, more strict form. They are the one muscle group you do not want to go too heavy on any way because they are prone to injury. Even some of the "big" guys in the gym rarely go real heavy especially with dumbells...with barbells you can go a little heavier, but always err on the safe side with this area.

Standing also makes it harder...if you feel like you back is tweaking a bit try these seated instead, you will find you can lift more weight sitting than standing...and your back will not feel it as much.

Hey Wanda your're welcome. All the tips you have supplied have been greatly appreciated as well.

The journey is more fun though.

The hard core leg press machine is the one that I used to be afraid of where the weights are like up in the air as opposed to the seated one which I normally do. It has a safety lock. This dude told me that on time this lady was lifting using it and the weights came down on her so I was scared of it.

Sunday Sept 26 - Medium Carb/Calorie Day

Meal #1 - Steel cut oats w/ cottage cheese, blueberries & stevia
Meal #2 - Chicken breast, butternut squash, green beans
Meal #3 - Cottage cheese w/ almond butter & stevia

Workout: Hamstrings/Biceps

Stiff-Legged Deadlifts - 45x6/100x4x3/110x4x3
Barbell Curls - 17x6/32x4x6
2 depletion circuits (30 minutes)

Meal #4 - Protein Powder, soy milk, butternut squash, SF caramel syrup
Meal #5 - Chicken salad w/ fish oil & balsamic vinegar dressing
Meal #6 - Cottage cheese, peanut butter & stevia; fish oil

Calories - 1516; Protein 143g (38%); Carbs 100g (27%); Fat 60g (36%)

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I eliminated the decline situps and changed to barbell curls. Wow, they are weak just starting out. I can hardly wait to see how my biceps improve. The barbells are a good exercise to build the inner head, right?

Wanda

I did not even notice the weight loss...congrats Wanda that is awesome !! The SLDL's ...that is good 110lbs....you are gettign stonger too. Keep up the good work girl.

Quote:

Congrats on the deadlift! Man, you are strong!

Thanks Red, you ain't doin' too bad yerself, girlie! I was using an e-z curl bar to do my deadlifts before (b/c I hated moving a 7 foot bar around my gym) so I couldn't lift as much for some reason. I guess the power bar is better distributed???? So it appears like I've really increased in strength when I think the bar was the difference.

The funny thing is that I don't feel it in my hamstrings during the exercise, so I keep thinking I should do more -- except that I can't get the bar off the ground when I go up more. Do you find that too?

SLDLs seem to be the only leg exercise I can get really aggressive with b/c of my knee. I'm always walking that thin line between injury and pushing myself with the others (leg press and squats). Still waiting for my knee to get more stable with all this lifting. Haven't seen it yet after a year of lifting.


Wanda