It’s the first day of my weekend!  The NROLW meeting with my sis did not happen last night after all.  I was getting ready to leave the house and gave her a call.  The power was out in Saratago from the storms that just rolled through and the Y was closed.  So, we have a raincheck.  John and I went out for a run at home instead and I really had to slog through it.  It was hot and humid and my legs were sore.  Not sure why I really bothered to finish, but I did.  I hate workouts like that.  Here I was all soaked in sweat and crabby:

I also slept very poorly, so decided to forgo the Y this morning and go later.  Had some blueberry blintzes with blueberry sauce for breakfast.  Different, eh?

I have decided never to hit the gym between noon and 2.  Too many weight lifters that have no clue how to let others work in sets and just hog the weights.  You would think this guy thought he was the only one who used the squat cage – it was like he set up camp.  And he refused to let me work in, can you believe it?  All because he didn’t want to have to set up his barbell again inbetween his *5* sets.  Weenus.

So, I had to do the workout out of order.

NROLW  Stage 3 Workout B

• Single leg partial squats  3 x 6
• Widegrip lat pulldown:  1 x 6 at 50#,  2 x 6 at 60 pounds
• Back extension:  1 x 6 at 70, 2 x 6 at 80 pounds
• YTWL:  2 x 6  at 5#,  1 x 6 at 8 pounds
• Stability ball crunch:  3 x 6
• Reverse crunch:  3 x  6
• Lateral flexion:  3 x 6
• Prone cobra:  3 holds x 90 seconds
• Romanian deadlift with row:  1 x 6 at 55#, 2 x 6 at 65 #

I am going to split the questions into today and tomorrow, since I don’t want the post to be overly long.

Are you glad you bought the triathlon suit? Yes!! Yes!  I am one of those people who get very distracted by little things, like the way a shirt sticks to me when I get sweaty or if my shoelace flaps funny.  With the trisuit – it was clingy, so I never had to adjust it or even think about it.  No wedgies!  I am going to wear it often for bike rides and runs.

What caused you to decide to do this? What’s your best piece of advice? Are you returning to youthful athleticism or is this an entirely new turn for you? I am not returning to youthful athleticism.  I was pretty much always overweight.   Hitting the number 250 was kind of what really pushed me over the edge.  For whatever reason, that was a concrete number to me. I think my best advice to someone is to not overlook the simple things in living a healthy lifestyle.  It doesn’t have to be fancy.  Eat fresh fruits and veggies, lean proteins, healthy fats, whole grains and move some.  It doesn’t have to be complicated.  Or maybe I think the best piece of advice is to be patient.  I am set up to live this way for the rest of my life, so it makes it easier to look at than hitting a scale number on a certain date.  I don’t do well with time goals.  I see a lot of impatience on blogs, which really can lead to disappointment and beating oneself up (never good).

What work do you do from home? My husband and I actually have a business we run from home, although I have stepped away from that to work as a medical transcriptionist  so that I could get us covered with health insurance.  We are very lucky to both be able to work from home.

Do you ever suffer from body perception issues? I mean, do you ever still think of yourself as a heavier person? Yes, I think I do have body dysmorphia frequently, even though I have been at my current weight for pretty much a year now.  I see the pictures of me from the tri and my mind sees me at 250 pounds, which obviously isn’t true.  I don’t know how long (if ever) it will take for my brain to catch up.  I still get surprised at times by my own reflection in mirrors or windows or seeing a picture of myself.  There are times when I feel “normal-sized” and times when I don’t.  It is very strange.  However, I notice things differently and with joy, like fitting into airline seats or going on an amusement ride and not fearing that I won’t fit.  I don’t take those things for granted at all.

What is NROLW? New Rules of Lifting for Women.

Ideas as to how I can do the twisting exercises and the seated row at home with only barbells and a weight bench? If you can pick up some resistance bands, you can do seated rows and woodchops easily at home.  Otherwise, for the rows, I would just do bent over rows with dumbbells.  Same principle really (check http://trainwithmeonline.com for moves).

I’ll answer more tomorrow!

I will leave you with a picture of dinner.  The wrap has pan sauteed broccoli in coconut oil with chopped chicken breast and 40 spice Tribe Hummus.  It was delicious!  Plus a nectarine that was not as good as last week’s.