Day 8: I Do Love Cardio

First off, i only ended up losing 3lbs last week. Now, I know most of you are saying "wow that's so awesome!" but really, not so much. This is why I say that. I'd be super happy with 3lbs, if I was on week 3-22 of my diet, not week 1. I understand and appreciate that muscle weighs heavier. But I also understand, the first week is when you drop water weight. I should have lost closer to 5lbs. I also looked back at my logs (from last week and last year) and realized that if I eat more than 1200 calories in a day and don't work out hardcore, I won't lose weight. Now, I don't know if this was because I wasn't doing too much weight training lost year or if my metabolism really just sucks that much. I hate the fact that I essentially almost have to eat an unhealthy amount of calories to drop weight. If I go over 1300cals I'm done. I won't lose weight for that day. I also know this because of my obsessive weighing in on a regular basis. I also decided to measure myself a couple of extra times this week. wouldn't you know, the morning after, a seemingly regular eating and exercise day, i would gain back a little weight AND inches (ok, not FULL inches, but little tick marks on the measuring tape). If I don't go big, I may as well go home and that sucks and it's unfair. I have done all the formulas imaginable to figure out what I should be eating calorie wise to lose weight and let me tell you, they all put me up higher than what I'm eating. If i eat my recommended amounts for weight loss (towards a little bit on the higher end), I'm LUCKY to maintain. I don't advise anyone to do what I'm doing with how little claorie wise I eat and how much I have to bust my ass all at the same time. But for me, if i'm going to drop lbs, I think this is what I have to do.

So I know the Abs Diet says not to over do the cardio, so you don't breakdown your muscles you're building. BUT i also read in the book to do what works for you. So on that note, I decided to do what works for me. I did cardio after my lifting tonight. I feel so GOOD and happy after doing the cardio. I have decided, to try to prevent injury, that I'm not gonna jog every day. I'll only jog on my designated cardio days. On my lifting days, I'm going to use the eliptical since it low impact. Now, I already know of a couple of days where my schedule is going to get changed, up, so as only as I do what was originally planned for that day, I'll be set.

So a lot of my fellow MSMers are doing Jillian's 30 Day Shred right now and I'm super jealous! I really do miss the shread, but since i'm lifting now, I don't want to over do it and fatigue my muscles out. I really want to improve and get to a point where, when I do the shred, I can use more than just 8lbs and not feel like I'm gonna die.

I also hoping I'm pushing myself enough with my lifting. The weights class I took in college, warned that we don't push ourselves enough. I noticed that my lifting has stayed close to the same and I feel like I need to bump it up a notch or 12. I got a HUGE reality check today too. Back in my lifting prime in college, I went from doing a 125lb leg press to a 225lb leg press in the matter of a semester. I could barely do 3 good reps at 160lbs tonight. I know I keep everyone not too push themselves too hard and get back into the routine, so I think I will do that for the rest of this week and then I think I need to start varying up the exercises (still same muscle groups) and continue on like that. I think I'm sorta anxious b/c I know Jillian's "winning by losing" has a lot of variations and breaks up the work outs more. I am kind of torn though because I do like the full body lifting, but if I start doing EVERYTHING, i'll never get through lifting! I guess I just need to sit down and figure out a plan.

Anyway, the return of the breakdowns!

5 min warm up on eliptical

Abs Workout-
Standing Crunch- 1 set, 15 reps, 25lbs
Pulse Up- 1 set, 12 reps
Saxon Side Bend- 1 set, 10 each side, 15lbs each arm
Side Plank- 2 on each side, 30 seconds each
Back extensions- 1 set, 12 reps, 10lbs

Lifting (all 2 sets, all 10 reps unless otherwise noted, 2 circuits)
Squats- 12 reps, Bar and 30lbs
Bench Press- Bar and Bar
Pulldowns- 60lbs; 50lbs
Military Press- 12lbs each arm; 15lbs each arm
Upright Row- 12lbs each arm; 15lbs each arm
Tricep Kick Backs- 12lbs each arm; 12lbs each arm
Leg Extensions - 12 reps; 70lbs; 80lbs
Bicep Curl- 12lbs each arm; 12lbs each arm
Leg Curl- 12 reps, 60lbs; 70lbs

40 mins of cardio on the eliptical

116oz water
20oz coffee

Food Totals-
Calories- 1002 (actually this might be higher. I did some grazing after my workout on some almonds, raisins, and hummus ( to go with some carrots). Total is probably closer to 1100)
Fat- 33g
Fiber- 23.7g
Protein- 65g