50?! That is impressive. I am in awe.

You do realize your "off-day" is more of a workout than a lot of people ever do, right? Your dedication will pay off.

Hi Alisa...thank-you. I'm not always so ambitious.

(Moved this week's work-out to this page.)
12-28: I sorta changed up things a little bit. I'm going to do legs by themselves and pair up back and biceps. No big deal. So I did legs today. Good work-out. I also did stretching afterwards...I'm getting a little more flexible. Now in a pike position, I can plant my face into my knees. And in a straddle I can lay my face on the floor, but my tummy isn't touching the floor yet, so I still have a ways to go there. I'll get there.
Eating is going well today. I printed off Mark's book today, finally.

12-29: Off day, so I just did push-ups, cardiabs, and HISS on elliptical. AND...on those push-ups....I FINALLY did 50!!

12-30: Chest, triceps and stretches. I did flat bench today. Haven't done it in awhile. I decided to follow Mark's plan a little closer. I wasn't sure what to expect since, I can't remember when I did them last. So I went ahead and did 135. I was able to get 8 reps with the first set 7 second set. Then on inc. bench I used 40 lb. dumbbells. I got 14 first set, 11 second, so I'll go up to 50s next week. Everything else went fine, making the increases I needed to make.

12-31: Off day so I did abs and stretches. Nothing to tell about the abs...BUT...I got my tummy, chest and face to the floor in my straddle stretch today!! I think I'm as excited about that as I am about the push-ups!!

What a way to end 2008. 50 push-ups AND complete straddle stretch. *singing*> I feel good, nah-nah, nah-nah, nah-nah, nah...I knew that I would....

1-1: So today I started the back and biceps day. No cardio.
Pull-ups 6, 5, 4, 4
BOR 110 x 10, 9, 8
Deadlifts 110 x 12, 10, 8
Standing alt. db curls 30 x 9
inc. db curls 20 x 14, 11
EZ curl 53 x 13, 10, 9
cable preacher 20 x 11, 10, 6
side curls 25 x 9, 8 + 15 x 10 twists

1-2: Yay for Friday! Tomorrow I rest. However today I didn't...today was shoulders and HISS. Felt good, even with these real low carbs.
Standing military presses 55 x 12 / 70 x 12, 9, 7
side laterals 30 x 13, 11, 11
rev. flies 25 x 13, 11
lying facepulls(dropset) 40 x 11~ 20 x 11 / 40 x 8~ 20 x 8
shrugs 200 x 14, 13
hanging shrugs wide- 14 triangle- 15
Then 20 mins. high intensity steady state on elliptical

Good week. Felt good, until I saw my pictures... *ahem*.. and my work-outs progressed well.

Measurement time.

January 1, 2009

Weight: 139.6
Tape measure not pulled snug.
neck: 12.5
shoulders: 41.5 flexed: 43
back: 35.75 flexed: 37
chest: 37.75
below chest: 30
waist: 27.5
tummy: 31
hip bones: 33
hips: 37.75
thighs: 36 L:21/ R:21.75
left mid thigh: 18.25
left knee: 14.25
left calf: 13.5
left ankle: 8
left wrist: 6
left forearm: 9.75 flexed: 10.5
left upper arm: 12.5 flexed: 13.25
bodyfat: 25.3% on musclehack calculator

My goal is to get my weight down to 125 and waist 26 and hopefully bodyfat 18%ish. Everything else will fall into place.

I'm working at losing 2 pounds a month. To reach goal by September 1, 2009.
Right now my eating plan is lowcarb and weight training THT. Still following Mark's stuff.

And...I can't think of anything else I want noted. Love the edit button.

Your "before" pics are WAY better than mine!!!!

I think you already look exceptional! I can't wait to follow your progress. You are so inspiring.

Thanks Lena and Alisa. Clearly I was pretty embarrassed by them, but I do appreciate y'alls sweet comments.

1-4: 141 I'm not saying anything about it . Just this...I haven't been eating badly...just too much, I guess.
O.K. today was, of course, leg day. My very favorite exercise in the whole wide world~ squats. They went well, and now I have to wait a whole nother week before I get to do them again.... Then there was RDL. I had been doing good mornings for a few weeks, but went back to RDL and went up to 155, so they went well too. Then I worked calves. THEN...I did HISS on elliptical and that was it. DONE!

1-5: 141 again. Today was off day. I just did abs and stretches...and then went and played guitar.

1-6: 140.2. Today was chest and triceps. I did:
Flat bb bench press: 135 x 9, 6, 8
inc. flies: 35 x 12, 12, 10
CBPO 50 x 11, 9, 7
close grip bench press: 85 x 12, 7 (missed second set by 2 )
dec. ext.: 35 x 14, 10
rev. grip pushdowns: 20 x 8, 6 ss with lunge ext. 20 x 2, 2
20 mins. HISS on elliptical
Mood: good.

1-7: Today is one of my "off" days. Today's stuff was:
Military push-ups:
52, 20, 19
rev. grip 45 degree pulldowns
20 x 16, 11
straight arm pushdowns:
20 x 10, 8
walking lunges:
40, 40
jagar squats:
50, 50
cardiabs
Weight: 139.4 However I'm loading Creatine again, so ~ I'm expecting bloat. I'm figuring on it leveling out quickly because my new thing is to take 15 g. 3 days on 3 days off. Mark says that's the best way.
Mood: Good

1-8: 139.2 Nothing noteworthy. Made necessary increases.
Back and biceps.
Pull-ups: 7, 6, 5, 5
BOR: 115 x 11, 10, 9
Deadlifts: 115 x 10, 10, 9
Standing db curls: 30 x 10
inc. db curls: 20 x 15, 13
EZ curls: 58 x 13, 10
db preachers: 15 x 8, 6 / 10 x 16
cheater chins: 6, 4
HISS and stretches
mood: kinda blah

1-9: 139.6 I ate something that didn't set very well so I was feeling sick during today's work-out.
Standing overhead bb presses" 55 x 12 / 65 x 13/ 70 x 10, 8
side laterals: 30 x 14, 12, 12
rev. flyes: 25 x 14, 12
face pulls: 40 x 10, 11 dropset 20 x 10, 11
shrugs 200 x 15, 14
hanging shrugs: wide~ 14, triangle~ 15
HISS 20 mins. elliptical
a few stretches

1-11: 140
Legs
45 x 12
walk-outs 205 x 60 secs. / 45 secs.
squats: 115 x 14, 12, 12, 11
RDL 155 x 14, 12
Hypers: 60 x 12, 11
Calf presses: 200 x 61
stretches
Good work-out. My pride has settled down now with the decrease in weights lifted. I'm happy with how things are feeling and coming along.
Mood: Good.

1-12: 142
Abs, HISS and stretches

1-13: 140.4 Chest, triceps and HISS
Flat bench:
warm-up 45 x 15
135 x 10, 8, 7
inc. flyes:
35 x 13, 12, 11
cbpo: (cross bench pullovers)
50 x 12, 10, 8
close grip bench press:
85 x 13, 8
decline ext.:
40 x 12, 9
rev. grip pulldowns
20 x 9, 7
superset w/
lunge ext.
20 x 3, 2
20 mins. HISS

1-14: 140.4
I forgot to bring my notebook up, but nothing interesting to tell except for I finally got 53 push-ups. It about killed me...but I got them. Now I can do my age in push-ups.

Last week was week 10, which is the required week off. I came back stronger...and heavier, but we'll focus on the stronger part.
144.6
1-26: Legs
warm-up squats: 45 x 15
walk-outs: 236 x ?, 40 secs. (couldn't see my clock on first set)
squats:
115 x 15, 14, 14, 14
RDL:
155 x 14, 13
Hyperextensions:
60 x 14, 13
calf presses:
200 x 30, 20, 12 (no rests just foot position changes)
stretches
Next week increase all weights.

142.4
1-27: Chest, tris and HISS
Flat bench:
45 x 15
135 x 11, 8, 6
inc. flyes:
35 x 13, 12, 12
CBPO:
50 x 13, 11, 9
close grip bench:
85 x 85 x 12, 9
nose brkers:
40 x 9, 8
rev. grip pushdowns:
20 x 10, 9 + ss lunge ext. 20 x 4, 3
20 mins. HISS
Notes: Not bad. Some lifts were disappointing. Changed the form on nose breakers and it was tougher.

142
1-28: OFF day
cardiabs and stretches

142.4
1-29: back, biceps and HISS
pull-ups: 7, 7, 6 + 1 set band support 7 reps.
1-arm pulldowns: 20 x 10, 5
BOR 115 x 13, 12
Deadlifts: 115 x 14, 12, 12
standing db curls: 30 x 12
inc. db curls: 25 x 11, 7
EZ curl 60 x 14, 8
db preachers: 15 x 16, 13, 11
Notes: abs are feeling good from yesterday's cardiabs.
I'm o.k. with the increases today.

143.4
1-30: shoulders and HISS
Corner presses: 46.5 x 15, 14, 13
side laterals: 30 x 12, 10, 10
cable rev. flies: 10, 10, 10
shrugs: 200 x 20, 15 hanging shrugs: 12, 12

Hey look- here I am in your gym log!

So, I've been wondering for awhile about your cardio. Like, when you say you do HISS on the elliptical, what exactly do you do? Also, what is "cardioabs?"

I guess I was just thinking that it might benefit your weight loss a lot if you could do maybe 2-3 25 minute sessions of HIIT on your elliptical per week, like:

*5 minutes warm-up at a lowish speed
*Then 1 /12 minutes at a pretty good (medium) speed
*Then 30 seconds as fast as you can, (you know, like a tiger is chasing you. I prefer to think of a werewolf chasing me- don't ask why)...
*Then back to the medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes
*Switch back and forth until you hit 19 minutes
*Switch back to medium speed for 3 minutes
*Back down to low speed for last 3 minutes.

That session will give you the six to seven speed bursts that everyone says you need in a session in order to really dip into your fat stores, (and you can actually cut one of the ones in the above routine, like if you're too tired to do the last one or if you want to cut one of the middle ones out and go at medium speed for a little longer).

Ignore this if you absolutely refuse to do intervals, but I've just been wondering if all you really need in your routine is a little more (and more intense) cardio. But then again, I don't know what your cardio looks like right now, so maybe I just need to shut up...

Hey Lena, and thank-you very much.

HISS (High Intensity Steady State) for me is keeping my heart rate within the 145-165 range.
Cardiabs is when I work abs for 20 mins. in a circuit keeping my heart rate up. I just named it cardiabs for ease of noting.

When I do HIIT, I still just do the 20/40. 20 secs. high intensity 40 secs. slow down. And I've never done more than 6 sets. I absolutely NEED to do HIIT more often, and increase the intensity. Thanks for the gentle push in that direction.

Oooo...new month already.

141.6
2-1: Legs and stretches
warm-up squats: 45 x 15
walk-outs: 235 x 35 secs., 35 secs.
squats: 120 x 12, 10, 9, 8
RDL: 165 x 10, 8
hypers: 75 x 12, 10
calf presses: 200 x 57
4 mins. stretching.
mood: crappy

139.8
2-2: Chest, tris, HIIT
flat bb bench press: 45 x 15
135 x 11, 8, 6
inc. flyes: 40 x 11, 9, 7
CBPO 50 x 13, 11, 6
close grip bench press: 85 x 12, 9
nose brkers: 40 x 10, 8
pushdowns: 20 x 13, 11 (new form)
HITT 20/40 x 6
notes: didn't make the progress I wanted on bench, so next week I'll either go down in weight, or do inc. db presses.
went up in weight on flyes. Felt good.
CBPO last set, I didn't rest long enough. Should have gotten 9 or 10.
Liked the new form for pushdowns. Thanks Mark.
Flexed arms: 13.5 inches.
mood: still really tired today. Not as moody...but just as tired.

Hey, I just saw this add at the bottom of your page here, and I'm actually interested:

http://www.elasticsteel.net/Articles.asp?ID=156

I think I need it!

Ooooo...I'd love to be that flexible. Let me know if you get that. I think I'll start doing some gentle stretching during commercials each night.

I forgot to take your HIIT plan down today, but I did do HIIT. Thanks to you. I'm thinking I'll try to do a HIIT and a hill repeats each week to start. I'm not declaring...just planning.

• If you don’t eat it it cannot make you fat
• Having junk food “for guests in case you get company” means you will sooner or later eat the junk when you are not having company.
• Boredom is the mother of cravings and urges to eat crap
• No cardio routine will make up for binge eating. If you train intensely and say you burn 500 calories, that’s not more than a slice or two of pizza. Then imagine a half day of junk food all you can eat marathon and you should realize no cardio will compensate your pigging out.
• Women don’t have a lot of muscle, so stop worrying about working out hard. It’s the fat on top that makes you thick, so get rid of it.
• There is no forbidden food, but all the small extras become one big forbidden habit since the calories add up.
• It does not matter how healthy a food is, it STILL has calories. You get the same calories from “whole grain” as you get from the white flour stuff. You get more micronutrients with the former, but still, calories are calories.
• Eating a lot of veggies does not make you fat just because you get bloated from the fiber.
• salt does not make you fat, it makes you retain some water.
• Don’t bother “gotta sweat” when you work out: it is just heat leaving your body, NOT fat.
• I don’t believe you get fatter from eating at night as long as your total intake is on track.
• I don’t believe you need to eat every two hours to stay lean.
• Squats is the way to get a killer tight butt. No kicking, no squeezing will produce the same results as does some real good squatting.
• You won’t get a fitness model body in three months if you don’t happen to be a former well-trained person.
• Living off yoghurt, fruit and dried fruit makes you look like a soft skinny model. not firm and toned.
• To look “just about the right fitness look” you must be extremely dedicated and persistent.
• No cardio will make your legs firm: weight training and sprint work will.
• Women should train the same hardcore way as men. In general.
• Staying lean means always paying severe attention to your diet.
• Your body does not WANT to be as ripped as YOU want. There is no magic formula except for discipline and dedication.
• What looks healthy and “perfect” is usually an end product of super extreme lifestyle.
• You cannot have the cookie and eat it. Stop looking for a short cut and embrace a dedicated lifestyle.
• Peaking for a show is pretty easy, keeping it is not.
• If you obtain a certain condition with a certain diet, a certain amount of training, that same formula will keep the fat away. If you slow down and eat more you will regain the fat again. Obvious but still confusing for a lot of people.
• You won’t die from decreasing starches in your diet. You don’t NEED them to survive.
• OTC painkillers are bad for your liver, your stomach and your muscle growth. Work on your weaknesses instead with correct training instead of popping pills.
• fatburners help only when diet and training is right on.
• vascularity comes form being lean, having salt in your system and having a lot of muscle.
• healthy muscle look “loose and soft” when not flexed and pumped and hard when flexed. Having a constant pump is not “normal”.
• you will not be a big big muscle woman from hitting the gym hard. Not you men either, haha.

• You cannot diet to get lean if there is no real muscle volume underneath the fat! A lot of women in particular want to get lean, when as a matter of fact there is nothing to lean up! First you need some meat to your bones, THEN get rid of the subcutaneous fat.
• Ladies, your legs are seldom that muscular and big as you believe. They appear that way due to a lot of body fat on top…. So either you diet harder and lose the fat slowly but steady or you go for keeping the jiggling yet smaller legs… Your call.
• Men, you too have legs! It does not matter how impressive that upper body is if it does not come with matching legs! If you have a hard time getting some mass on the wheels, that’s ok, what is NOT is avoid training them!
• Ladies AND men, crunching does not give you lean and sexy abs… You gotta work your whole body! Going in for cardio and abs is inefficient. Go squat instead and not in the smith machine but the real thing and your abs will look so much better when combined with a great diet.
• when you walk on a high incline treadmill, don’t hold on to the rails….. it’s YOU who should walk the treadmill, don’t let the treadmill walk YOU.
• Avoid getting banana legs. DO those straight leg deads, curls and good mornings.
• Whole food market is wonderful, but all food in the store is just as calorie dense as anywhere else. The granola, the take away, the subs, the yoghurts, the dried fruit are JUST as calorie dense as anywhere else…
• There are no protein bars that are as clean as real food.
• If it looks like a candy bar, it is a candy bar.
• Having three bars a day on a restricted diet is not what I call eating clean!
• You don’t die from not having cereal in the morning.
• If you don’t get lean from your diet, it’s probably because you eat too much! And yes, your body does not care if it happens to be “clean” food, it is still calories that are too many.
• there is nothing wrong with YOU just because your body does not shed fat like a maniac. It’s NORMAL. Losing weight is a battle against your genes and evolution…The human body is PRO at surviving, you should be happy for it in case there is a disaster!:-)
• Yes, being lean all the time makes it harder to get even leaner and everybody loses a lot of weight first on a diet. That is because you have a lot to lose.
• “I always lose the 10 first pounds with ease then I cannot do it anymore, I get stuck”. It’s the common plateau, just deal with it. People yoyo diet and lose the first pounds and then go up again when it gets tough. Stop yo yo dieting, it won’t all the sudden get easier…
• “I gain muscle so easily I am afraid to get too big” is a very common explanation I hear….It is never true!
• When you say you get fat from creatine it’s usually because when you did go on it you ate like a pig since you thought it would make you gain muscle. You just got fat. So next time you try it, don’t over eat and you will get stronger but not just fat. Creatine adds WATER to your muscles, not FAT.
• You can not and I tell you again, can not change fat to muscle. You can build muscle and BURN fat.
• Your body has NO need for junk food. Your brain might have a conditioned need for it but that is what it is.
• Being hungry does not kill you. It’s annoying but not dangerous at all.
• You won’t be catabolic from missing a meal here and there….
• Eating chicken and rice, chicken and rice is not healthy just because many bodybuilders eat that way.
• There is no such thing as “you deserve a nice physique”, you can only achieve it!
• If you feel you work harder than anyone else you can be sure you have not even reached 20% of your potential.
• Your mind sets your limits, not your body.
• Don’t just walk into the gym and do your sets and reps. FEEL it, LIVE it, LISTEN to your muscles, SPEAK its language. Keep your focus. A great physique does not happen by accident, it happens by dedication.

Discipline your Dedication.

http://fighterdiet.com/blog/?cat=5&paged=2