Last week I completed all 6 workouts! Monday was Day 29 of the Female Training Bible, followed by 1 round of a mini murph, 1 walk, days 30 and 32 of the FTB, and 1 jog with Iron Woman.
Quintessential bathroom gym selfie
Motivation has always been tricky, sometimes it finds us and other times we have to cultivate ourselves. Other times, it's no where to be found, and even we can't muster the strength to get up off the couch or away from our desks to put in the love our bodies need to get healthier. A few things that worked for me last week, was knowing that was sister was also trying to make better food decisions. This woman gave up smoking cigarettes awhile ago, talk about impressive. It's weird to think that was something she did not only daily but every few hours. Now, it's no longer part of her life. For the past several weeks she has given of sweets. Her goal is to monitor her sugar intake to lose a few lbs.
It was because of her that I was able to focus my sweet tooth indulgences up until Sunday.HA! I beat my typical mid-week binge though, so I'm going to count that as progress.
I think another part of what's been working for my workout regime is that it's varied. Not only is it varied but each program progresses in weight and reps.
The Female Training Bible is a workout program I'm using from the Body Building App. It is free through the app, however it does not come with the added benefits of a meal plan if you were to purchase the program. It starts out fairly easy with a few handful of exercises throughout the week, but it encompasses all the muscles of the body to be targeted. On Thursday I will be starting week 6 of the program, this will carry me through to May.
Straight through this program would only take 12 weeks to complete but I have added in walking days plus a weekly training of the Murph. I am starting slow with a few rounds of pull ups, push ups, and squats.
Every few weeks I scale back the amount of rounds but go hard on the reps. Let me show you...
Jan 14th: 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups (on toes), 15 squats no added weight. Repeat twice.
Walking 1/4 mile before and after.
Jan 28th: Same
Feb 4th: Same exercises completed for 3 rounds, preceded and followed by a 1/4 mile walk.
Feb 11th: Repeat exercises for 4 rounds, same mileage
Feb 18th: I attempted to do each exercise to fail or to the max of reps. Supposed to be 15 pull-ups, I was able to complete 8 and 7. Max 30 push ups. 1st round: 12 on toes, 2nd round 10, 3rd round 8 modified. Max squats 30. 1 round 30. 1/2 mile jog before and after exercises.
Feb 26th: Repeat Exercises for 6 rounds, same mileage
March 4th: Repeat Exercises for 7 rounds, 1/2 mile before and after. Added 10lb weight during squats.
March 12th: Repeat Exercises for 8 rounds, 1/2 mile before and after. Added 10lb weight during squats.
March 19th: Max 25 pull-ups, 1st round: 5 2nd round: 10 3rd round: 10
Max 50 push ups. 1st round: 12 on toes, 2nd round 10, 3rd round 8 modified.
Max squats 75. 1st round: 40 2nd round: 35 with 20lb barbell weight.
1/2 mile jog before and after exercises.
The next few weeks will look like this, ramping up the number of rounds I do but then scaling back the rounds with the intent to reach failure on those days, while slowly adding weight. In April I will start training with the vest again. This will be my second year with the 20lb vest. After last year, I did find my vest to be a bit clunky... not sure I would recommend it but I also don't want to purchase another one. So there's that.
Lastly, having a calendar with my workout schedule really helps. I hate going to the gym and not knowing what to do with myself. I don't always get the best workout when I up and decide to work out something. When a workout regime is unstructured there's no gain or progress.
For instance if I did 1 day of yoga a month, and 3 lifting days a month that won't help with our overall body composition. While something is better than nothing, consistency will take you further than randomness.
As far as my diet, I had a little bit of chocolate each day but I was able to stick to a decent carb count, which got me closer to my weekly goal.
Keep in mind though, the most important rule for health... You can't out exercise a bad diet.
My diet has not been good and being in my 30's, things have definitely changed. I don't seem to tolerate a high fat diet as well, however I still have to have a lower carb intake. My poly cystic syndrome has really done a number on my system. By system, I mean my guts. In general eating a substantial amount of carbs helps high performance athletes. When completing challenges such as the Memorial day murph, I need carbs and fat for sustained energy as well as protein to repair damaged muscle tissue. One might wonder why I put myself through the abuse of tough workouts and long distance runs.
Honestly, I love movement. It's a kind of therapy for me. Releasing energy into each run, each workout. Allowing my brain time to refocus on my breathing instead of the thoughts bouncing around in my head or life's current stress.
My goal this year is too first reach a healthy BMI and secondly to balance my hormones while still working out. I will continue to eat as many vegetables as possible, some fruit, moderate protein, with limited sweets.
Alright friends...I gotta fire up the motivation station to get me to the gym tonight. I'll post again tomorrow.
Blessings,
A
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