Category Archives: New Rules of Lifting for Women

NROLW and a humid day.

Lots of interesting comments on the Glamour photo.  Thanks!

It’s Friday!  I do have to work some today.  Well, I don’t have to work, but I will be picking up a couple hours to make up for Monday not working from Jury Duty.

Pre-workout snack:  Crunch!bisc

Went outside and it was like swimming – so humid!  I cannot remember the last time I felt this type of humidity (maybe Japan?).  Although it is not hot temperature wise, thank goodness.  Biked the 2 miles to my gym.

Here is a stealth shot of part of the free weight area.  The color is funny because all the equipment is purple, but doesn’t show.  It’s right by the big windows, too.gym

Did Stage 4B today:

  • Wide grip deadlift: 1 x 8 55 pounds, 1 x 8  65 pounds, 1 x 8  70 pounds
  • Bulgarian split squat: 2 x 8  25# plate, 1 x 8  35# plate.
  • Underhand grip lat pulldown:  2 x 8  60 pounds,  1 x 8  70 pounds
  • Reverse lunge with forward reach:  1 x 8  8 pounds, 2 x 8  10 pounds
  • Dumbbell prone Cuban snatch:  2 x 8  8 pounds,  1 x 8  10 pounds
  • Ab circuit (crunches, reverse crunch, lateral flexion)  3 x 8
  • Prone cobra:  3 x 2 minute holds

I tried to challenge myself today on a couple.  I increased the last set of the split squats to a 35# plate.  Then I used 10 pound dumbbells for the last 2 sets of the forward reach.  This is hard.  I then did one set of the snatches with 10 pound dumbbells.  Gosh that is so hard!  Funny how adding 2 pounds on each side makes a huge difference.  Then I walked on the treadmill for a bit and biked home.  I have to say that I love how close this gym is to home.  It saves me so much time, plus I get a bit of workout biking there and back.

Made protein pancakes for breakfast topped with maple banana topping:

cakes1

I used a frozen banana for this and it was runnier than than fresh, so not sure I’ll do that again.

Relaxed a bit and ate a somewhat early lunch.  Grilled chicken with Lauging Cow spread on a wrap (I just wrote warp LOL).

lunch12

Did a little work, then headed down to see my nieces in a sing/dance performance.  I can’t believe I forgot my camera!  I had it right by my bag, but not in my bag.  They were cute as buttons with the singing and dancing, too.  Storms blew through, but no relief from the humidity.

Came back and did a little more work before dinner.  John cooked up a couple burgers.

dinner13

We used Ezekiel bread for buns as we are out of sandwich thins.  I had mine open-face, which is weird for a burger, but oh well!  And an apple.  John is the apple king, but give me berries!  I can’t wait to go apple picking this fall.  I love tart apples, this one was too sweet for me.  John likes the sweet ones.  I love Granny Smiths and Pink Ladies.

Post dinner,we were going to stop at a new cafe, but they were closed when we got there.  John and I seem to have that problem.  Places always closed.  Have to wait on that, so stopped at Cool Beans instead for a coffee and a raspberry bar.  Yum!

cb

Now back home and I have Sweeney Todd from Netflix to watch.  Mmmm… feel like some pie 😀

Question:  Tart apples or sweet apples? Have a favorite type?

NROLW and green eggs, but no ham!

Don’t forget to enter the Fullbites giveaway! It ends tomorrow!

Went to my new gym this morning.  There were only about 3 people there, so that was nice to get used to a new environment.  It definitely seems much smaller than the Y (because it is, duh…), so it feels a little cramped to me.  At least it is clean, though and the people there were good about wiping down equipment (yay!).  I was also totally excited about the cable machine because it is adjustable!  The one at the Y, I could only to a reverse or regular woodchop because the pulleys were stationary.  Today I could actually do a horizontal woodchop, like is called for in NROLW!  Happy me!

Here is a video of the horizontal woodchops:

Anyhoo, the workout today.  Oh, I biked to the gym, which is a shade over 2 miles from home.

  • Barbell squat/push press:  3 x 8 at 45#
  • Dumbbell 1 point rows:  3 x 8 at 25#
  • Step ups:  3 x 8  at 30#
  • Push ups:  3 x 8
  • Static lunges with rear foot elevated:  3 x 8  with 25# plate
  • Cable woodchop:  3 x 8  50 pounds
  • Plank:  3 x 2 minute holds (dying!)

It’s going to take me a while to feel at home at the gym, I think, but I’ll get there.  I do have to say that I do *not* like that they play music.  What they play is not even close to what I want to hear.  At least it wasn’t blaring, so I could put on my headphones and not hear much of it.  Listened to Sweeney Todd!

John met me at the gym and we then biked for bagels!

p8190003

I was a little tired after the weight workout to do road biking, but I knew the end result would be worth it:

bagel6

New employee was a little skimpy with the cream cheese…

Then I had to bike home!  Total bike trip was around 11 miles, so definitely a good workout today.

I made something interesting for lunch:

lunch10

It’s a tuna pancake!  It was supposed to be a tuna burger, but I think I needed more tuna.

  • 1 – 2.5 ounce can of tuna
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons of oat bran
  • lemon pepper seasoning

Mix together and spread into a heated frypan.  Cook a couple minutes on each side until golden brown.  I served it on top of a bed of greens with a bit of feta cheese.  It was interesting, I’ll say that.  I was going for a tuna burger, but I think I needed more tuna as I could not form this into patties.  And… the last of the fresh blueberries (other than the ones I froze).

Work, work, work, then dinner!  I got a late start on dinner because of doing some stat files.  I continued the egg theme to dinner.  I sauteed up some broccoli, then minced it really fine.  Beat 1 egg with 2 egg whites, added the broccoli and scrambled it up.  It made my eggs green Sam I am!  Topped with some Laughing Cow.  This was excellent.

dinner12

After a late night of work, John and I went out for coffee.  Decaf skim latte (the ‘why bother’ drink).  With a touch of honey and nutmeg.

latte

It’s finally supposed to be cooler tomorrow!  I have been wanted to make some biscotti, so maybe that will be my chance.

Question:  Do like tunes when you work out?

NROLW and Amazing Grass

Hope you are all having a great day!

Still muggy around here.  Today was the B workout of Stage 4 (not 5, like I said the other day) for New Rules of Lifting.  Preworkout snack was 1/2 of this bar  (I ate the rest with lunch):

odcran

John brought me a couple bars back as a little present when he was away this weekend.  How sweet 😀  It was pretty good, like a soft granola bar.  Not much protein, but that is okay preworkout.

odwa

The lifting:

  • Barbell deadlift: 1 x 8 55 pounds, 1 x 8 65 pounds, 1 x 8 70 pounds
  • Bulgarian split squat: 3 x 8 25# plate
  • Underhand grip lat pulldown: 1 x 8 50#, 1 x 8 55 #, 1 x 8 60#
  • Reverse lunge with forward reach: 3 x 8 –  8 pound dumbbells
  • Prone Cuban snatch: 3 x 8 – 8 pound dumbbells
  • Swiss ball crunch: 3 x 8
  • Reverse crunch: 3 x 8
  • Lateral crunch: 3 x 8
  • Prone cobra: 3 x 2 minute holds.

Now I feel tired holding the prone cobra for so long.  I actually think I felt something in my back, maybe it does do something after all.   Then I did some recumbent biking.

Got a text from John that he was biking to meet me – so off I went for Bagel Day, jr. (Sunday is official Bagel Day).

Now *this* is a cup of coffee!  I don’t know if you can appreciate how big this cup is that they gave me!

coffee1

Plus the star of breakfast.  Num.

bagel4

I am just feeling off today.  Definitely not radiant, and I’m not sure why.  I have gotten a headache in the afternoon for the last 3 days and I don’t know why.  I haven’t changed any eating patterns.  Maybe it is the heat.  I have been guzzling water, so I doubt it is dehydration.  But I am definitely a wee bit cranky, too.  Of course, that makes me snacky.

Because it was hot, I decided to try the sample of Amazing Grass  for lunch that I got from Annabel.  This stuff is flying around the internets.

am

I used 1/2 of a frozen banana, 1/2 cup of milk and 6 ounces of water.

Ingredients as follows (if you can read it).

ing

I have to say, it didn’t look very appetizing.  Gray looking.  Not like the colorful spinach smoothies!

agrassAt first I took a sip and liked it, but then I got a very bitter after taste.  It was almost like a Splenda back taste, but there is no fake sugar in it.  Weird.  Each time I sipped I thought I liked it, then the bitterness set in.  Maybe it’s the kale?  Anyway, doubt I would be purchasing this anytime soon.  Although I am really glad I got a chance to try it!  I did like the bars, they were date bars like Larabars.

Afternoon snacky.  Instead of dealing with my crankiness, I ate this.

snack1

I laid down around 4:00 after taking some ibuprofen to get rid of the headache and dozed a little.  Not sure why it takes so long for stuff to kick in.  After an hour, I was tempted to take more, but just waited it out.  John offered to cook me a hamburger for dinner, but that was totally unappealing.  So I had a dinner of champions:

dinner5

Baked tostitos, salsa, and cheese.

Just finished up with work for the day.  Only 1 day left before the weekend!  Tomorrow is payday, too.  Yay!

I am feeling ice cream coming on tonight.  I mentioned it to John, and he is all for it, so probably will be going out for the real deal (no yogurt).

Question:  Have you tried any Amazing Grass Products?

NROLW and fruit day!

I wasn’t sure if I was going to take a whole week off of lifting, but since this is my last week at the Y, decided to get right back to it!

Had a preworkout snack of Ezekiel toast with cashew butter and some of my strawberry jam.  Sooooo good!

toast

This was stage 5 of NROLW:

  • Barbell squat/push press: 3 x 8 –  45 pounds
  • 1-point dumbbell rows: 3 x 8 –  25 pounds
  • Step-ups: 3 x 8 – 30 pounds
  • Pushups: 3 x 8
  • Stationary lunges: 3 x 8 – 25# plate
  • Plank: 3 x 2 minute holds (hard!!!!)
  • Cable woodchop: 1 x 8 – 50#, 1 x 8 – 55#, 1 x 8  – 60#

Holding the plank for 2 minutes was killer.  It was made doubly hard because I was so sweaty from jogging a mile prior to starting and the humidity that I was sliding on the mat.  I had to touch my knees down a couple times on the last set.  I love how the plank looks so innocuous, but is a killer total body workout.

Came back and made protein pancakes with the banana maple topping.  I think we are finally getting through all those bananas.  I did cut a bunch in half and froze them, though.

cakes

Lunch was a tuna and hummus sandwich with another of those incredible raspberry pluots.  I need to get some more of those!

lunch6

I got this in the mail – eek!

jd

Yay…. not……  Starts on Monday.  Maybe I won’t get picked to sit.

It’s really hot and humid today.  I  didn’t feel like cooking anything for dinner, so I had some yogurt, berries and cereal.

dinner4

Go to quick and easy meal.  I think I have had this for, what – 3 days in a row now for a meal?  It’s also light, so I don’t feel all bogged down with food.  Heat and humidity really keep me from being hungry, which I guess is a good thing!

I also snacked on some blueberries.  I may have to go again this weekend to pick, as they are winding down for the season.  Then I will have to cry!

It was quite the fruit-filled day!  (Oh yes, and a tablespoon of chocolate chips!)

Question:  Jury duty anyone?  Or did you get excused?

NROLW and Beck Diet Tips

Monday, Monday.  Although I have worked one day already 😀

I felt full when I got up this morning, so decided against eating prior to workout.  Not too common for me, but I decided to listen to my body after putting too much food into it the last couple days.

Got to the Y and hardly anyone there.  Guess everyone is on vacation.

NROLW   Stage 3  (final week)

  • Romanian deadlift with row: 1 x 6 at 45#, 1 x 6 at 60#, 1 x 6 at 70 #, 1 x6 at 75 #
  • Single leg partial squats 3 x 6
  • Widegrip lat pulldown: 1 x 6 at 50#, 1 x 6 at 55#, 1 x 6 at 60 pounds
  • Back extension: 3 x 6 at 90 pounds
  • YTWL: 3 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

2429_heart_eyes.gif I love the deadlift/row combo!  I was a little nervous doing the single leg squats, as that is how I hurt my hammie last week, but no problem today.  I don’t know what I did before to cause the problem.  YTWL is so hard with the 8 pounds weights.  I was doing a bit of quiet grunting LOL!

Came home and had some pumpkin oat bran topped with cranberry preserves:

brekkie1 Uber yummy.

Then came lunch after a slow work morning.  Monday mornings are always slow as the clinic I transcribe for is in CA and I am in NY and it isn’t open on weekends.   I made another tasting plate – also known as party leftovers!

Tuna with hummus, carrots, strawberries, pita points.

lunch

I really love to cook, but lately I have been all about super easy/throw together meals.

Dinner was one of those.  I had some leftover brown rice, cooked chicken, broccoli that I stir fried with coconut oil and a mixture of a couple sauces from the fridge for an asian style sauce.  Served with a side of black grapes.  Another winner!

dinner

I did eat a few other things today (Amazing Grass bar, latte, crackers with nut butter), but wanted to get to the Beck Book rather than posting more food.

On day 33, the chapter is about eliminating emotional eating.  Since I had been doing some stress eating, I am reading this chapter again.  I think she makes a good point that it is okay to have the negative feelings.  I think so often we want to bury them or at least be distracted from them (by using food).

Try these things next time you are feeling the need to emotionally eat:

  1. Be specific in the feeling by labeling it. “I am upset by x”.
  2. Do not give yourself the choice of eating when you are upset.  The more you practice this and not give in, the easier it will get.
  3. Imagine the aftermath and how you will feel if you give in.
  4. Distract yourself in other ways like reading, taking a walk, calling a friend.
  5. Try relaxation techniques such as deep breathing.
  6. Make a list of all the reasons you want to be healthy and read it.

Dr. Beck points out that it will become easier to deal with the problem itself once you have calmed down the emotions  you are experiencing because of it.

So, I am going to practice these if I feel the need to stress eat this week.  And maybe even just do some of these things as practice.  It can be very hard to just try them in the heat of the moment, right?

Question:  What are your stress busting techniques?

Think I am doing the big run tomorrow – 7 miles (gulp!)

NROLW

Bonus post!  Work is slow right now, so thought I would take time to post my morning workout.  My evening posts can be really long, so I am thinking about splitting them into a morning fitness one and an evening food one.  If I have time.  Might play with that.

New Rules of Lifting for Women Stage 3 B workout:

* Romanian deadlift with row: 1 x 6 at 45#,  1 x 6 at 55#, 1 x 6 at 65 #, 1 x6 at 75 #

*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: 3   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

My new favorite combo exercise is officially the romanian deadlift/barbell row combo.  I have always liked the R deadlift (also called a stiff-legged deadlift) better than a straight dead lift because it works the hamstrings more.  I love the combo of that with the row!  Yay!

I need new gloves.  Here are my poor gloves that I use for lifting and biking:

sadglove

Stretched out with holes.   Some of the weights and handles have a rough surface, which is eating up my gloves (better than my palms, though!) Gotta love it!

Did 15 minutes on the recumbent bike and then it was time to meet John for breakfast out!  I won’t post the bagel picture, but I will leave you a picture of the nice view of downtown from the coffee shop:

coffee1

Do you treat yourself midweek?

Bagel Day and back to lifting!

Excited to be back to working out again!  I decided to bike to the Y, which is around 7-8 miles or so from home.   Since I didn’t have to swim, I just biked for the cardio as I was only going to use the weights at the Y.

Fueled up with a wheat english muffin with a bit of almond butter;

muf

The workout:

New Rules of Lifting for Women (NROLW) Stage 3:

  • 1-arm dumbbell snatch 1 x 6 at 10, 1 x 6 at 12, 1 x 6 at 15#
  • Dumbbell single-leg deadlift:  1 x 6 at 15, 2 x 6 at 20# (or is that 40?)
  • Barbell bent-over row:  1 x 6 at 45, 1 x 6 at 50, 1 x 6 at 55
  • Dumbbell single-arm overhead squat  3 x 6
  • Dumbbell incline bench press:  1 x 6 at 20, 2 x 6 at 25#
  • Planks:  90 second holds 3 times (dying on these!)
  • Reverse woodchop:  3 x 6 at 50 pounds
  • Bodyweight matrix (kicked my ass!!)

This was a really hard workout.  The bodyweight matrix included 24 squats, 12 lunges on each side, 12 jumping lunges on each side, and 24 jump squats.  Do 3 times.   HARD!!! OMG.  I actually am going to modify this, because I do not think plyometrics (jumping lunges, jump squats) are all that great to do, and I am very sensitive about what I do to my knees.  I actually did the matrix later in the day because of the biking to and from the Y – cheater, but I wanted to make sure I got home!

Met John for bagels, which was on the way home.  Multigrain with maple.  It was soooo good after the workout.

bagel2

Lunch today was something new.  I have been in a very pumpkiny mood this week, so I mixed some pumpkin with vanilla oikos and stirred in Post Cranberry Almond cereal.  Yum!

yogurt

Worked hard today as I got a late start due to a lazy breakfast 😀

John made lattes (which he liquored up with a shot of creme de menthe!)

latte4

He even dusted it with cocoa powder, what a gourmet!

Plus a bar – I couldn’t help myself, I was hungry!

zone2

I won’t bore you with the dinner picture, as you have seen chicken,broccoli,and strawberries so many times already!  Tasty, though.

Might do some running tomorrow, first time since Sunday.

Question:  Do you often modify exercises to fit you?

Thank you!!

Thank you so much to everyone for their wonderful comments and emails on my anniversary post yesterday!  It made me so energized to keep going and helped me have a great workout this morning!

Preworkout fuel:

kashi

This was tasty, kind of like a Luna but crunchier and chewier.  It only lasted me about an hour, though and my stomach was roaring!

Jogged for 35 minutes and then did NROLW:

Barbell squat/push press:
1 x 10 22 pounds
2 x 10 45 pounds

Step ups
2 x 10 with 30 pound dumbbells

Dumbbell 1 point rows:
2 x 10 with 20 pound dumbbells

Static lunge with rear foot elevated:
2 x 10 25 pound dumbbells

Pushups (man -style!)
2 x 10

Plank:
2 x 60 second holds

Cable woodchop:
1 x 10 45 pounds
1 x 10 50 pounds.

Came back to some banana/PB2 oats.  This is soooo good!

oats2

Pretty much enjoyed my day off, not doing a whole lot but hitting the library, the smokehouse and the natural food store (they have 1# Fage tubs for $4.79!!).

Made some almond butter today, so I had to have a snack with that.  I dearly love almond butter!  This is dangerous stuff to have around when I have a spoon in my hand.ab

Highlight of dinner was some of the Maple BBQ sauce from Susan.  Fresh chicken from the smokehouse on the grill.  Yum!

dinner3

John and I watched Hitchcock’s “The Rope” tonight.  Very good movie.

We are actually going to go out tonight for something other than just coffee.  Either to listen to some live jazz or possibly the cafe cabaret and see what’s playing there.  That’s something for us homebodies!  Let’s just see if I can stay awake 😀

I’ll let you know tomorrow where we ended up.

NROLW Stage 2

So, today I got back to lifting.  Yay!  I also need to get back in line with food.  Today was a good eating day.

New preworkout fuel was A Stonyfield yogurt smoothie!   I drank half of it, and think this is definitely about at the top of the list.  This may be what I take with me on the tri.  I’ll have to experiment with a brick to see how it works.

Today’s strength workout:
New Rules of Lifting for Women Stage 2A

Barbell squat/push press:
1 x 10 –  15 pounds (hit myself in the chin, too ooppppppppps.gif )
1 x 10  –  22 pounds
1 x 10  –  45 pounds

Step ups
2 x 10 with 30 pound dumbbells

Dumbbell 1 point rows:
2 x 10 with 20 pound dumbbells

Static lunge with rear foot elevated:
2 x 10 25 pound dumbbells

Pushups (man -style!)
2 x 10

Plank:
2 x 60 second holds

Cable woodchop:
1 x 10 40 pounds
1 x 10 45 pounds.

Good workout.   Still finding my way on the exact weight amount to lift, but getting close.  The planks were easy at 60 seconds – I never knew my core was that strong still.

I was embarrassed to hit my chin with the bar, but at least it was with the test bar and not the Oly!

At the LARAC show on Saturday, I bought a piece of pottery from a local artist and I love it!

bowl

So I had my oats in it this morning.  I tried some canned squash instead of pumpkin (the store was out of small cans of pumpkin).  It was almost like pumpkin but not quite as pumpkiny – so not sure I would buy canned squash again.  It also was more liquidy.

oats1

You all saw my lunch earlier with the spinach smoothie.  I have to say that this did not fill me up for very long.  2 hours later and my tummy was rumbling, so I had a Zone bar with my latte.

Dinner was so tasty and quick.  I had cooked chicken breast on hand (love having extra of this stuff around).  I sauteed my broccoli in coconut oil, then tossed in the chopped chicken and some Indian simmer sauce.  Quick and delicious.

dinner1

I will tell you, I have had a lot of servings of veggies and fruits today!  It’s exciting! LOL  (okay, does that mean I do not have a life??)

I think I need to get some lifting straps or something.  I am struggling to hold on to the 30# dumbells.  I just don’t have the grip strength.  My arms are okay, but the hands have trouble.  Do any of you use the straps?

Thinking I’ll have a random musings  post tomorrow on something I have been mulling around in my head for a couple weeks.

Challenge Day 9 and workouts

Today was a bit of a struggle food-wise. I fueled with a protein drink before hitting the Y.

Ran for about 3.5 miles with pace work and then did one of the bonus workouts from NROLW. This was to show the progress I had made and was supposed to do as many reps as possible with the starting weights from 2 months ago. It would probably have been more dramatic if I had started with no weights LOL!

For today:
Squats with the 25# bar = 30 reps  (finish weight was 110#)
Shoulder press with 15 pound dumbbells = 21 reps  (finish weight was 25# dumbbells)
Wide grip lat pull down at 40# = 25 reps (finish weight was  60#)
Lunges with 20 pound dumbbells = 20 each leg (finish weight was 30# dumbbells)
Swiss ball crunches = 32

I definitely have gotten stronger in the last 2 months. I will post workout B in a couple days after I do that. Then a week off from weights!

Anyway, I was eating well up until dinner, and I just got a snack attack big time while we were cooking dinner. I started munching on wheat thins and then some Kashi cereal. Ugh. Probably an extra 400 calories (so much for the run today). I did stop myself from having a donut though, John wanted to go to Dunkins, which is only a mile from our house. So I walked with him and had a coffee with skim milk and decided against the donut, which I really, really wanted – but certainly did not need. I am fighting that “It’s not fair” feeling today.  Think it is PMS or something.  Ever get those feelings?

I did try something new today:
attune

I had some coupons for these, they are really expensive, so it was certainly a treat.  These are very, very good!   3 grams of fiber and 100 calories, sweet and crunchy.

Plus it had blueberries in it!  I also had some fresh blueberries today:

blueberries

I am a berry girl.  I eat strawberries almost every day – for some reason, upstate NY has berries available at a really good price year round, which is amazing.   Fresh blueberries only come in season in early summer, so I eat as many as I can during that time!  The pint packages are available now, which makes me happy!