#winningatpinning

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Short Update & Pic

Alright, so here are the pics to start the new year. Just to refresh everyone's memory a little bit here's a cut and paste of where I've been over the last 12 months.

Red #'s are January 2012 and Green #'s are November 2012. I did lose a bit more weight in December and dropped to 130, but I'm about 132-133 right now.

Upper Arms (at bicep, relaxed):

Left: 11" / 10.75" / 10.75" / 9.75"
Right: 11" / 11" / 10.75" / 10"

Waist (at belly button):

33" / 28.5" / 28" / 27.5"

Waist (at narrowest point):

28" / 26.25"/ 26" / 25.75"

Hips:

41.5" / 39" / 39" / 37.5"

Legs (mid-thigh, relaxed):

Left: 23" / 21.75"/ 21" / 20.75"
Right: 23" / 21.75"/ 20.25" / 20.5"

Waist to Hip Ratio:

.67 / .67 / .66 / .68

Weight:

152.4 / 145/ 140.2 / 133.6

So, this one was from yesterday. It's hard to get the pics exactly the same since I'm not in the same apartment anymore, but you get the idea. The one I took straight on turned out very blurry so I didn't include it. I still have a ways to go with getting into better shape, but I'm totally cool with the number on the scale. I'm 5'10" so it will be weird for me to be too thin and that's not the point.

Today was another day of rest because I was really sore and my day didn't go as planned. I will go tomorrow - at least to yoga. You would think it would be easier for me to go to the gym with my new schedule, but for some reason it hasn't been. That's 100% my fault. Resolve to do better!!

Monday, January 14, 2013

First Spaghetti Squash

Can we just take a quick second to acknowledge my small cooking accomplishment of making a spaghetti squash and sauce? ........................ ok. :) ....Wait.....another small pause for it being edible?! ............................and......we're good! Thanks!!

I decided that it was safe to go back to the gym today and my attitude was also in line for doing that. I thought it might be a good idea to dig out my old WCCF log book and see where I was with weights when I first started and maybe to try to mimic those percentages. That was probably a good idea because things went much, much better today. I took another couple of videos and I think they look better. I'll post them below. Can someone let me know if they don't work....because they work for me when I click on them.

I started with back squatting. When I looked back I was absolutely shocked that I was able to max out early on at around 100 lbs. I assumed that since that was after virtually zero lifting in my past that I could start around 65 lbs for my 55%.

Set 1: 65 lbs x 5 reps - This felt a little harder than I wanted it to, but I gritted through them in a row.
Set 2: 65 lbs x 5 reps - The second time I knocked out 5 of these it felt much better and much easier. I noticed that I still have a little sway when I'm standing up, but I think my right leg will even out and that will go away.
Set 3: 70 lbs x 5 reps - These went pretty well, but I couldn't do all 5 in a row. I had to break it up and shake my legs out after each rep. (Something to work on.)

I could tell that my legs were tired after this so I didn't push it with more reps. I didn't want to fail today because I thought that I needed to maintain my confidence after Friday. Okay, so far ....Erica 1, Squats 0 :)

I wasn't sure what to do next, but I thought that maybe I would snatch and keep the good vibes coming. I must say, I was really happy with how things went. Bare with me....they're low weights, though.

Set 1: 17 lbs x 5 reps
Set 2: 21 lbs x 5 reps
Set 3: 27 lbs x 5 reps
Set 4: 32 lbs x 5 reps

This is a video from set 4.

Food was decent today. I don't think my sauce or the chai latte I had was entirely paleo *wink wink*, but that's okay. I had some chicken and half a sweet potato for lunch. I also had some apple slices. For dinner I had the spaghetti squash with meat sauce.

Pics tomorrow when I get up. :) I promise!!!

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Sunday Funday

I am completely obsessed with food and finding new places and favorite things. I feel like food dominates my thoughts and my conversations. :) Sometimes, its hard to be a true foodie when I'm doing paleo, which is why going off paleo for a short bit is awesome. Take for instance my breakfast yesterday from Coobah's on Southport. AH - freakin' - MAZING!! I got the huevos benedicto or for my non-spanish speaking audience - eggs benedict. I'm not sure if anyone has ever ordered eggs benedict at Coobah's but you can get crab cakes with them instead of ham....holy shit! They come with a side of chili powdered tater tots. I must say that I never hear anyone talk about this place, but everything I've ever eaten there has been really awesome. I am a huge fan!

Interestingly enough to me...not to you...but to me....I had bought crab cakes to make for myself at Whole Foods on Friday night so I had some for dinner....and dinner again today. I think I've gotten it out of my system. :)

....and now I need to be back on the wagon again. :)

As you know, I had a take a couple of days off from the gym. I'm ready to go back, but I'm still not happy with the having to go light thing. Being hurt sucks worse than feeling weak. I'll get over it.

So, I really try very much to keep other personal things off of the blog, however, I guess I can just comment that I feel very out of sorts. I hope that things sort themselves out soon. Here's to pushing myself to do the best things for me.

Friday, January 11, 2013

My ego feels as bad as my back...

So....lifting went really shitty today. I'll post a couple of videos to prove it....in case you don't believe me. I was going to push myself a bit to see where I am with things realistically...not 1RM or anything...but just really grit a couple things out. This is important to me for a couple of reasons: 1) to see what I'm working with having taken 6 months off and 2) I have to be able to push myself when I don't have Mark or my friends around to watch me. My ego doesn't want to believe that I've become that weak and it doesn't want to be the one that's seen squatting a baby weight (as I refer to it).

About 3 lifts into the day something tweaked in my lower back and there wasn't really much I could do after that. I tried to push through and do a few more reps, but it just wasn't happening. I video taped a couple and I am so wobbly. The weight doesn't feel that heavy to me, but just looking at my form ... it's no bueno. I did a couple C and J's at 35 lbs...and that was easy. I video taped a C and J at 45 lbs and that's when my back felt like crap. I initially didn't think I could even do that weight, but after video review...its not pretty...but I don't even really have to drop down that much to get under it for the jerk. I did one more C and J at 45lbs with MUCH better form after that, but no video for that one unfortunately.

I switched over to back squat, thinking that it would be less tiresome on my back. The video I took shows me doing 65 lbs. It, again, didn't feel that bad, but my left leg compensates a lot for my right one in the video. Which is odd? I would think that my left would be weaker.

I decided to run on the treadmill so the rest of the trip to the gym wasn't a waste. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy that felt. I am not a runner and I have always hated doing it, but today felt pretty good. Yay endurance!! :) I did 20 mins - alternating sprinting and jogging.

So....I guess the moral of the story is that I have to accept the fact that I will have to start light and it's going to take me time to get back to where I was. I am worried, especially today after being upset about it, that it's going to be very hard to do this on my own. I get discouraged sooooo easily.

I'll probably have to take a couple days off to make sure I'm on the mend, but maybe Sunday I can back and front squat a little? We'll see how it goes.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Goals

I've had a couple of days to think about my goals for the new year so I'm going to detail those below, but before I do let me recap what I've been up to as far as working out:

Tuesday 1/8/13: Vinyasa Power Yoga (1 hr)

Back on Black Friday, Power Yoga Chicago ran a deal where you could do unlimited yoga for $59/mo for up to one year - cancel at any time. This seemed to good to pass up because if I went more than 3 times a month that paid for itself. Yay!
Let me first start off and say that I hated yoga initially. Have you ever done HOT yoga?! During my first experience I thought I might choke on the moisture in the air and I practically had a panic attack that I would pass out during class and everyone would think I was a huge loser. Am I over-dramatic? Yes, of course. That was April, and now here I am in January of the following year and I like it more all the time. I still HATE the feeling of that much sweat on my skin, but I always feel so good after I leave class that I get over it. :)
Class gets easier all the time so I must be doing something right. Let me just foreshadow to below where I talk about my goals that my abs are a focus. That said, I notice that when I go to yoga and eat paleo that my abs seem flatter and more defined all the time. This makes me happy!

Wednesday 1/9/13: Conviction (45 mins)

So, I got to the gym tonight and I ran onto an old friend from WCCF that I hadn't seen in months. I got side tracked talking to her and by the time I was done the platforms were taken. I was going to mess around with some weights, but I will do that tomorrow and give myself another day of rest on the squats. I am still very sore from Monday night.
I need to charge my iPod. #wowIgetboredeasily
Here's what I did:

Row: I love to row. I did a little bit tonight just to warm up. I'm not sure exactly how many minutes I went but I know that my average time for 500m splits was around 2:30. That's "average" speed when I'm not racing the person next to me. When I really pushed it I can get it down to about 2:05 and I can maintain that for a while before I need to back it down a bit.
Russian Kettlebell Swings: I did 45 of these (3 x 15) with the 16kg kettlebell. Nothing unusual to report here, other than a couple really stupid people walked behind me while I was doing them.

Okay, so on to my goals. I have some fitness ones, but also some life ones, too.

1) Goal #1 is to be less stressed. For those of you who don't know, I recently took a new job. Just the nature of my previous position lended itself to making me stressed out. This new position - I'm sure isn't without stress - but just a different, less intense type. In general I need to do things that make me happy and don't do things (if I can avoid them) that lead to stress. I have always tended to be a person who does for other people and really thinks about doing for myself last. I'm going to have to actively try to do things for myself this year and not be as concerned about the other stuff.

2) Go on vacation. I made a promise to myself that I would start putting a stamp in my passport every year after I went to Costa Rica in 2010. Last year, Mark and I went to Hong Kong. Who knows where this year will lead me, but I have a list of places that I'd like to start tackling. Tops on my list: Italy, Greece, Brazil, Turkey and Egypt (<-- I won't be there for a looooong time, but maybe one day.)

3) Abs. I'm this close to flattening them out. I may be a little consumed with this, but what a long way I've come in a year with this?? :) Paleo, strength work, yoga, and some cardio ....its made a huge difference. I will probably need to adjust my diet a little bit and maybe do another 30 strict days without dairy, but we'll see how it goes now that I'm going to be lifting again. It's easy enough to do now if I need to.

4) DRINK MORE WATER. This was a goal last year and I can't really say that I made much progress with it. I honestly do not drink much but water, but I don't drink enough of it. Between chai lattes (I know, I know) and a little bit of whole milk, all I drink is water. I constantly find myself feeling thirsty and I know that's a bad thing. I should be drinking proactively, not re-actively. Must. do. better. with. this.

5) Okay and for my last goal...squat my body weight. I'm guessing this is going to be a lot easier to do being 20 - 25 lbs lighter than I was last year. I will be figuring out here soon where I stand with squats and then I'll start working towards this. The last time I knew my "1RM" I could front squat about 50kg or 110 lbs and I was back squatting very similarly. I doubt these were true numbers because I could do them pretty easily. I think this should be attainable pretty soon, actually. :)

As promised, I will do the pictures soon-ish and if I think of anything else I'd like to add then I'll explain that out.

Thanks for reading. :)

Monday, January 7, 2013

A Year's Worth of Changes

Tonight was my first trip to Conviction Fitness in Lincoln Square....in other words my first time lifting weights since July. I had no expectations about how things would go. Luckily for me a couple of friends showed up at the same time and that decreased some of my "first time" anxieties.

I did a pretty light workout because I didn't want to push myself too hard and get hurt.

Hang Snatch: 5 x 17lbs, 5 x 21lbs, 5 x 27 lbs, 5 x 34 lbs

These felt pretty good, but shit, what a kick to my ego that I have to start at like half of where I was lifting before? A look back at my WCCF book says that I maxed out at around 33 kg's which is almost 70 lbs.
What I did tonight wasn't a 1RM at all, so I wonder what I could really do if I pushed myself.....maybe 50 lbs? That's not so bad when I put it into perspective.
Snatching, even from the hang, felt good. I was worried I might have lost this a bit, but it was more like riding a bike. Yay!

Hang Clean: We were supposed to use 75 - 80% of our 1RM. When I was in the swing of things I was doing around 45kg or 100lbs. Yeah, there was no way that I could really come close to 75% of that. I did a couple of sets pretty light, no more than 40 lbs. It wasn't that heavy but my form didn't feel right. I know I was chasing the bar out in front of me a bit like I used to do.

After sitting here on the couch for a while and assessing my soreness I know that I wasn't coming up from my squats using the right muscles. I'm sore in the quads, not up the back of my legs as much. Something to work on for next time. :)

Push Press: I did 3 x 10 sets at 27 lbs. I am not sure off the top of my head what my 1RM is on this one, but I would guess it was around 35kgs. So again, working at about half.

These felt good, challenging, but good.

Tomorrow I think I'll go yoga and give myself a day to be sore. I think the goal will be to lift at least 3 or 4 times a week and try to do yoga on my off-days. I looked at the kickboxing program tonight, but it seemed not what I'm used to. The 2 girls in class were off to the side doing their own thing and I thought that was sorta weird....maybe they were new? I surely hope so.

Paleo is back on and that's going fine. I don't feel like I need to detail that as much. It's not hard to do anymore. Working from home means I won't be tempted to eat out and I can make whatever I want.

I know in my last post before Christmas I detailed my last measurements. Right before the holidays I hit my lowest weight of 130 lbs. <-- Yes, that is not a typo. I never thought I would be 135, let alone 130. Taking a break from paleo over the holidays was a good thing but when I realized that I had "gained" 6 lbs I was freaking out a bit. In typical fashion, I probably overreacted because a couple of days of better eating and I was back to 133.

I'm not sure in what posts I wrote goals from last year, but from the ones I can remember I didn't do so bad. Push-ups happened and making progress on lifts happened. I also discovered a bunch of other things I liked....kickboxing and yoga. I do miss Crossfitting...there's really nothing like the feeling I have after I finish a WOD that kicks my butt. I may have to do some dropping in at WCCF occasionally. I also discovered during the year that I loved kickboxing. I hope that I can find a way to work that in sometimes because I feel like it was a good way to relieve some stress. I'm glad to be back lifting again...losing strength felt weird. I'm continuing to do yoga and I'm really liking that. Paleo has gotten easy. I do need to work more on drinking water and taking vitamins. I haven't been very disciplined with that stuff.

I'll work on my list of goals for this year and try to update with some pictures. As nervous as those make me to post, I've always gotten a bunch of encouraging responses from them so its not so bad.

Until next time!!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Results Update

So who wouldn't like an update about how things are going with my year of changes? :) I know that I have not been keeping up with this very well, but I hope that I can get inspired to write again. Maybe what I'm about to share will be enough?? It's pretty crazy to think about where I was in January when I look back at the old posts.

I have been kickboxing since August and I would obviously credit any of these additional changes to that and also this past month of paleo that I'm about to wrap up. I'm looking forward to the end of having to be 100% strict. However, it is easier to eat this way and cheating leads to a slippery slope. Prior to this month I was hovering right about 138 lbs and I had been there since the summer, which means that I've knocked off about 5 lbs this month from diet alone. I was sick for a week and I missed another week of kickboxing due to working late. I'll be going much more this upcoming month as I've really missed it. Mark and I went to class yesterday and it felt really good (even though I ended up with crazy bruises).

Here we go...