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It has been a while since I have been back to this board. But I need to keep this log to hold me accountable. I am a 46 yr. old female. After my last kid 10 yrs. ago I weighed over 200 lbs. I lost 50 lbs. over the course of years. I was at 150 lbs., but have gained weight and now weigh 164 lbs. My goal is to get down to 145 lbs. I did my body fat at one point I was at 24 % and I couldn't seem to get any lower.

I worked with two vegan trainers for about 4-5 months. I gained some muscle, but then I started putting on weight( not muscle, but fat around my stomach). So I went into the doctor and found out I have hashimotos and some adrenal fatigue. That was a few months ago.

I also injured my ankle. I tried paddle boarding in too shallow of water and fell off and tore a ligament and broke a small piece of bone off. That was 7 weeks ago. I am still working on getting it healed. I am able to do the stationary bike and the elliptical, but the elliptical is bothering it a little.

So I have had some things going against me lately, but I really want to lose the rest of this weight and gain some nice defined muscles. I love to lift weights. In fact I love it a lot more than cardio, but I know I need both.

Because of adrenal issues and hashimotos, I have to be careful not to overdo it on cardio. I do 2 days a week of HIIT training on the stationary bike for 15-20 min. and then one day a week I do the elliptical, just steady state for 40 min. I do 4 days a week of weight lifting.

 

So my goal is to track my nutrition and my workouts and hopefully I will get where I need to be.

 

Today: no workout- rest day

 

Food:

B: 1 c. gluten free oatmeal with pumpkin, 2 tbsp. hemp seeds, pumpkin pie spice, stevia( 4 c. lemon water before)

 

L: homemade split pea soup with a few rice crackers, 1 leftover gluten free waffle with jam

 

S: green smoothie- spinach, sunwarrior protein powder, strawberries,almond butter, almond milk

 

D: don't know yet.

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Looks to me that you could benefit from some water fasting (48 hrs no food just water) then going to a Daniel diet for at least 30 days. No exercise while fasting and use walking during Daniel diet to let your body heal itself and be renewed.

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That is a good idea with the Daniel diet. It is hard for me not to workout. I did spend 3 weeks after I injured my ankle with no workouts whatsoever. I did okay with it and I think my body really needed that break. I love to lift weights though and I take my two teenage boys who love to lift with me. It is a nice time together.

 

I did back and bicep today: everything was 4 sets

 

Seated row- 60-70 lbs.

assisted chinups- 50-60 lbs

rope lat pull- 70-90 lbs.

upright row with curved e-z bar- 40 lbs.

lat machine- 55-60 lbs.

single arm rows- 25-35 lbs.

incline bicep curl- 15-20 lbs.

face incline chair bicep with e-z bar- 30-40 lbs.

100 crunches

 

Here is my food( not a good day for me, I had to get groceries, I was low on a lot of things)

 

B: 4 c. water, 1 c. cooked gluten free oatmeal with pumpkin, hemp seeds and stevia

 

post workout: half of large green smoothie- sunwarrior protein powder, spinach, strawberries, pecan butter and almond milk

 

L: homemade hummus with rice crackers and other half of green smoothie

 

S: green juice, couple of handfuls of popchips( sea salt)

 

D: hashbrowns, green beans, refried beans with salsa

 

S: if hungry more oatmeal with a banana

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I had a good workout today, just a little tired though. I realized how little trainers at the gym know anything about vegan nutrition. I watch one of the trainers there. She trains one lady who is doing a bikini competition. The lady she trains has a great body with really nice cut muscles. That is what I would like to look like. I asked the trainer if she did any nutrition for vegans. She said she didn't really know anything about vegan diets.

 

I did buy the Shred book and love it. I think I will go back and look more at the nutrition section and work on that.

 

Here is my workout today: legs( all 4 sets of 15 reps)

 

lying hamstring curl- 45-60 lbs.

glute leg extension- 50-60 lbs.

leg extension-100-115 lbs.

squats( no weight- holding onto chair- still working on building up my ankle- 20 reps- 4 sets)

seated leg press machine- 85-100 lbs.

side steps ups- 15 reps each side

step ups with 10 lbs. weights- 15 each leg

stationary bike- 15 min.( 30 sec. fast as possible, 1 min. recovery)

 

Here is my food for the day:

 

B: 4 c. lemon water, 1 c. cooked oatmeal with pumpkin, walnuts, stevia, pumpkin pie spice

 

S:( postworkout) half of large green smoothie- same recipe as yesterday

 

L: 1 c. of green beans mixed with 1/2 c. refried beans and salsa, 1 c. shredded hashbrowns

 

S: other half of green smoothie

 

D: sloppy joes( plant powered families recipe) - made from lentils on a gluten free bun, salad

 

S: either oatmeal or quinoa

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I went in and got my ankle checked and it looks like it is healing okay, it is just going to take a while for the pain and swelling to go away. He told me that he had a bad sprain like I do a while back and it took him 10 months until he was able to play basketball with no pain. I guess it is going to be a slow healing process, but at least it is healing. I also had him check my shoulder because I have been having pain in it off and on. It looks like I have an inflamed tendon in my shoulder. So he gave me some physical therapy exercises to do and told me to watch the overhead and bench press type movements until it is healed. I am glad it is nothing else. I will just have to modify my chest day a little. Unfortunately I already did chest before I went to see him today.

 

Here is my workout today: 4 sets 10-12 reps

 

Bench press: 45 lbs.- 95 lbs. ( counting the weight from the bar)

chest fly on machine- 60-80 lbs.

chest press on machine- 70-95 lbs.

pushups- 15 reps

 

Giant set: tricep( 4 sets of 10 reps each)

 

tricep kickbacks- 15 lbs.

tricep pushups

Overhead seated tricep extension: 25-30 lbs.

tricep dips

 

My food wasn't that great today. I was watching my grandsons( 2 yrs. old and 6 months old).

 

B: 4 c. lemon water, 1 c. cooked gluten free oatmeal with pumpkin, walnuts, stevia and pumpkin pie spice

 

S: post workout half of large green smoothie( same recipe as yesterday)

 

L: gluten free bun with homemade lentil sloppy joe, other half of green smoothie

 

D: gluten free bun with leftover lentil sloppy joe, spring mix salad with raspberry vinegrette

 

S: gluten free oatmeal with banana and hemp seeds

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I am excited I just ordered Dani Taylor's " Flexible Dieting for Vegans". I need to try something different with my eating and I am excited to read it. I love learning about nutrition and health. One day I would like to do some official training in holistic nutrition.

 

Workout today:

5 min. warmup- 30 min. on stair stepper doing intervals

 

Food today:

 

I woke up late today. My body really needed the sleep though.

 

B: ( preworkout)- banana

 

S: post workout- half green smoothie- same as the day before

 

L: leftover sloppy joe lentils on a gluten free bun

 

S: other half of green smoothie, rice cake with almond butter

 

D: grain bowl- basmati brown rice, black beans, salsa, green beans, gucamole, olives

 

S: oatmeal with pumpkin, hemp seeds, stevia, pumpkin pie spice

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Today was shoulder day, due to my shoulder having some tendonitis, I had to modify some things so I didn't aggravate it. I did some physical therapy exercises on it yesterday and will continue to do some pt on it and not aggravate it until it heals up.

 

Here is my workout today: 4 sets- 10-12 reps.

 

alternate front and side shoulder raises-5-10 lbs.

single arm cable lateral raises- 10 lbs.

upright rows with e-zbar- 30 lbs.

cable deltoid- 20 lbs.

seated delt flys-15 lbs.

 

20 min. on ellitpical( 1 min. of hard fast, 1 min. steady)

 

Food:

 

B: 4 c. lemon water, 1 c. cooked oatmeal with pumpkin, pumpkin spice, stevia, walnuts

 

S: post workout- half of green smoothie

 

L: burrito bowl- brown rice, beans, guacamole, salsa, green beans

 

S; other half of green smoothie

 

D: homemade gluten free pizza with spinach, sauce, artichoke, salad

 

S: some sort of gluten free dessert ( it my cheat day)

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I did a 30 min. cardio on Saturday. I have been logging my food on fitness pal. I didn't eat that great this weekend. I am ready to start a new week.

 

Today's workout: 4 sets of 10-12 reps

 

seated row- 60-80 lbs

assisted chinup machine- 60lbs.

cable delt flies- 30 lbs.

delt rope pull- 70-90 lbs.

upright row with ez bar- 30 lbs.

single arm DB row- 25-35 lbs.

incline chair bicep curl- 30-40 lbs. with ez bar

incline bicep curl 15-20 lbs.

ab crunches- 100 reps

 

Food:

 

B: 4 c. lemon water, 1 c. cooked oatmeal with pumpkin, walnuts, stevia

 

S: green smoothie( same as last week)- half of large

 

L: leftover homemade tomato soup( Oh She Glows) with 1/2 c. roasted chickpeas

 

S: other half of large green smoothie

 

D: fried rice with veggies and tofu

 

S: quinoa or banana ice cream

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Yesterday was a crazy busy day. I didn't get a chance to post. I calculated my macros yesterday and decided to log them into my fitness pal. So for a while I will be doing that. I think that will really help. I tracked my calories for 4 days just to see how much I was eating. I was shocked. Most days were 2200-2300 calories. Leg day was 2500 calories( I usually am more hungry on leg days). So I cut my calories down to 1800 and figured out my macros. So I am going to eat according to my macros. Hopefully doing this I will lose some weight before my daughters wedding in November.

 

I did chest/triceps today( I am still taking care of that shoulder so weights for chest were pretty light)

4x10 reps

 

bench press- just the bar

cable chest fly- kept it light- can't remember

pushups- 4x12

chest press machine-50-65 lbs.

 

tricep giant set 4x10

 

Overhead tricep extension seated- 30 lbs.

tricep dips

tricep pushups

tricep kickbacks-15 lbs.

 

ball crunches- 4x25

reverse ab crunches-4x25

 

Food for today:

 

B: 4 c. lemon water, 1 c. cooked oatmeal with pumpkin, walnuts, stevia, pumpkin pie spice

 

S: green smoothie- 1 tbsp. almond butter, 2.5 c. spinach, 1 scoop sunwarrior protein powder,1 c. almond milk, 1/2 c. frozen strawberries

 

L: 1 c. basmati brown rice with veggie( like fried rice) with 1 c. cooked tofu with tamari sauce

 

S: green smoothie- same as above

 

D: planning on southwest quinoa salad- quinoa, black beans and veggies

 

S: orgain chocolate protein powder in almond milk, 1 apple

 

Don't know on dinner and the final snack how my macros are going to look, but we will see. My first time doing this. It is all new to me.

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I did ok on my eating yesterday. I did go over by 33 carbs. I think it is going to take a little to tweak it. Then I woke up at 3 am to go to the bathroom and was hungry so I had a almond butter and jelly sandwich. I really want to lose this weight. Just a little confused about how to do these macros and make it work for me. I am used to eating a lot more carbs.

 

Workout today: I did a body combat class. I got a good workout, but my ankle is still not where I want it to be. There were a lot of things I just couldn't do yet( side to side stuff especially).

 

Food: ( this is my plan, but I will tweak it if need be)

 

B: 1 c. cooked oatmeal with 2 tbsp. hemp seed, pumpkin and stevia- 4 c. lemon water before that

 

S: green smoothie- same as yesterday

 

L: tofu with 1/2 c. brown rice and green beans

 

S: green smoothie- same as above

 

D: planning on making mac-nificent baked mac and cheese from Plant powered families- don't know if this will fit into my eating or not, salad

 

S: orgain chocolate protein powder in milk, maybe an apple

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I messed around with my macros last night on Fitness Pal. I have the book " Shredded" and I love it. I got to looking back in it on macros and saw how other people didn't have a ton of protein and still got shredded. I tried high protein and not a lot of carbs, but found I was feeling deprived and hungry all the time. I feel better and more satisfied when I am eating more carbs. I found myself getting up in the middle of the night hungry and eating. So I changed things up. Today is going to be the first full day eating this way, we will see how it goes.

 

Here is the the breakdown:

 

carbs: 240 g

Fat: 45 g

protein: 110 g

calories- 1805

 

We will see how it goes,although usually on Friday nights I have a cheat meal.

 

My workout today: shoulders- still going lighter and avoiding overhead lifts to heal shoulder

 

lateral shoulder raises- 2 sets warmup( 5 lbs.) 2 sets drop sets( 15, 10 lbs.)

upright row with e-z bar- 4x15 reps- 30 lbs.

single arm cable lateral raise- 10-20 lbs. 4x10 reps

cable reverse delt fly- 4x10-12 reps- 20-30 lbs.

incline delt fly- 4x10 reps- 15-20 lbs.

 

elliptical- 20 min. 1 min. fast, 1 min. steady

 

Food:

 

B: 4 c. lemon water, 1 c. cooked oatmeal with pumpkin and 2 tbsp. hemp seed

 

S: green smoothie - same as yesterday

 

L: leftover mac and cheeze- plant powered families- 1 c.

 

S: green smoothie- same

 

D: veggie dog with gluten free bun, green beans or salad

 

S: almond flour chocolate chip cookies( cheat dessert)

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Hey Kathy,

 

I noticed you were doing upright rows. I have read that they can be an issue for some people.

 

Google upright row bad for your shoulders, and you'll see.

 

Also Google the Starr protocol for injury recovery. You may want to reintroduce the overhead movements very light for sets of 25. If you have the rom it could be worth it for joint circulation. Blood flow promotes the healing process.

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Have to second Eiji on the upright rows. If you are doing them with fairly light weight, and not for volume, I suppose they wouldn't be an issue; but what's to gain, really?

 

At one point (ignorantly) I was doing them fairly regularly, and got up to the 80lb range for 12-15 reps. Ended up injuring my right shoulder (probably mid-front delt area), which took me out of training shoulders for pretty much an entire year. So many other ways of training shoulders, not sure upright rows are worth the risk. FWIW.

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Thank so much for the advice. I do start a new 4 wk. workout next week, that doesn't have upright rows in it. I am going to cut those out. I have been doing some physical therapy exercises for my shoulder and it has a lot of band work. I think I will try doing some overhead work this week, but light and more reps. Thanks again.

 

Today's workout was a cardio:

10 min. elliptical

30 min. stair stepper 3 min. steady 2 min. at a higher level

Then I sat in the massage chair. It felt so good.

 

My eating has not been all that great today. I need to get back to eating healthy and not vegan junk food. I just feel better and have better energy.

 

Food:

B: 4 c. lemon water, 1 c. cooked oatmeal with pumpkin and 2 tbsp. hemp seed

 

S: green smoothie- same as above

 

L: 1 1/2 smart dogs with 2 gluten free hot dog buns, a few potato chips( horrible, I know)

 

S: green smoothie

 

D: don't know for sure- I need something healthy

 

s: protein shake, apple

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Today is my day off from working out. It is nice to just relax on Sundays. I have been struggling on and off with insomnia. I don't know if it is the thyroid medication or not. At my next apt. I will ask. It is very frustrating. I fell asleep around 11 pm, but then was up at 3 am until around 7 am. But then had to be up at 8 am for church this morning and to get everybody going. I really get tired of not sleeping well.

 

I take melatonin and use essential oils and take a hot bath before bed. Sometimes I do resort to unisom( although, I don't like it, it makes me groggy). I don't know, it could have been from not eating good either.

 

I am challenging myself by buying an outfit that is a size smaller and I am going to do before and after measurements, weight and pictures. I want to lose some weight before my daughters wedding on November 20th.

 

I will post tomorrow those measurements and weight.

 

Food today:

 

B: 4 c. lemon water, 1 c. cooked oatmeal with 1 banana and 2 tbsp. hemp seed and stevia

 

S: pumpkin breakfast cookie( from Strong magazine- without the egg)

 

L: homemade minestrone soup, 2 rice cakes ( one with almond butter), I did have a few chips while getting lunch together( that is gone tomorrow)

 

S: green smoothie

 

D: maybe more leftover soup, salad or more green smoothie

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I had a great workout today. I started a new one. I love new workouts. I think I will be sore tomorrow.

 

I started my new eating today, but it was hard to track calories at a local restaurant where I had tofu, veggies and a little rice with sauces. I love that place. It is called Mongolian grill and they have wonderful tofu and a lot of veggies. You put together your own food and then they cook it on a big grill for you. We went there with my daughter and my son in law for my daughter's birthday lunch.

 

Food:

B: 1 c. cooked oats with pumpkin, stevia and hemp seeds

 

S: green smoothie

 

L: mongolian grill- tofu, veggies, sauces and a 2 scoops of rice

 

S: green smoothie, 1/2 kind bar

 

D: leftover homemade minestrone soup, rice crackers

 

S: protein shake

 

Workout:

Chest/tricep/abs( trisets)

 

DB chest press- 4x12 - 20 lbs. ( keeping it lighter for my shoulder)

decline pushup- 4x12

incline chest press- 4x24 - 15 lbs.

 

Overhead tricep extension- 4x6- 35 lbs.

skull crushers- 4x12- 40 lbs.

tricep rope extension- 4x24-20 lbs.

 

Abs

1 min. plank x4

side crunches- 4x15

russian twist- 4x20 each side- with 10 lb. db

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About your sleep issues...

 

I find that ZMA really helps. Especially when I haven't been intentional about getting enough zinc and mangesium from pumpkin seeds and nuts. Obviously it's better to get the zinc and mag from nuts and seeds and B6 from greens but...

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Thanks for the recommendation to help with sleep. I really need it. I am going to check into getting some today. I had a terrible night of sleeping again last night. It is really starting to depress me. I use lavendar essential oils, and melatonin and it doesn't help.

 

I spent last night listening to Duran Duran to try and put me to sleep, it didn't help.

It didn't help my eating when I got up around 5 am and had a pumpkin protein cookie( I guess it wasn't a horrible choice). It would have been okay to get up then, if I had actually had some sleep.

 

I did have a good workout though. Man those tri sets are killer.

 

Workout:

 

Pullups- on assisted machine( I really want to do pullups on my own)- 4x8 reps( 70 lbs.)

Bent over row with ez bar- 50 lbs.- 4x 10 reps

pullups on assisted machine- 70 lbs. ( as many reps as possible- I got between 6-10 reps) 4 sets

 

straight arm pullovers on cable- 4x10 reps- 70-90 lb.

seated on floor cable rows- 4x 10 - 90-120 lbs.

 

seated bicep curls- 4x10 - 15 lbs.

preacher curl- 4x8-10 reps- added 10 lb.( don't know how much the bar weighs)

seated biceps curls- 4x as many reps as possible- 15 lbs. did 8-10 reps.

 

Rowing machine- 2500 meters took me a little over 12 min.

 

My tricpes were so sore from yesterday.

 

Food for today:

 

B: 1 c. cooked oatmeal with pumpkin, stevia, hemp seeds, and pumpkin pie spice- 4 c. lemon water

 

S: green smoothie- same

 

L: leftover minestrone soup with rice crackers and 1 smart dog with mustard

 

S: green smoothie- same

 

D: " fried rice" with veggies and tofu( maybe , haven't decided yet)

 

S: protein shake, apple

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I didn't get a chance to go get that stuff to help me sleep, so I had a horrible night last night sleeping. I don't think I got much sleep at all. When I don't sleep, I tend to suffer from a little depression. I am hoping I sleep better tonight.

 

The plus side is it is quiet in my house that time of night.

Killer workout today. It really kicked my butt. Could be because I am tired, but my son said the same thing.

 

All in trisets

 

leg press- 4x6( 130-145 lbs.)

bulgarian split squat-4x12 on each leg- I didn't do weights, I am working on balance still after my ankle

leg extension- 4x24 ( 100 lbs.)

 

stiff legged deadlift with ez bar- 4x6 ( 60 lbs.)

glute extensions- 4x12 on each leg- (55 lbs.)

lying hamstring curl- 4x24 reps( 40 lbs.)

 

step ups- 4x6 on each leg

sumo squats with 25 lbs. plate- 4x12

standing calf raise with 25 lbs. plate 4x 24

 

stationary bike- intervals- 15 min.

 

Food is pretty much the same as yesterday. I don't know what I am having for dinner yet.

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That is a good idea for increasing the fat and carbs. I am going to try that. I am still having a really hard time sleeping. I haven't posted lately, I have been really busy. I have enjoyed my new workouts though. I just need to sleep good.

 

My eating has not been the best, because of all the running around and lack of preparation on my part.

 

Thanks again for all the tips and help.

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I have increased my carbs a little. I feel better when I eat that way. I did sleep good on Saturday night, but last night I had troubles sleeping again. When I don't sleep good, I sit and watch Duran Duran videos( weird I know). I am hoping I sleep better tonight.

 

Here is my breakdown of how I am eating:

 

1820 calories

230 grams carbs

60 grams fat

90 grams protein

 

I am hoping this will be good for me and help me lose the weight I need to lose.

 

Great workout: Trisets

 

1. bench press- 4x6 ( 10-15 lbs. added onto bar)

2. decline pushups- 4x12

3. incline chest press- 4x24( 15-20 lbs.)

 

1. Overhead tricep extension- 4x6 ( 35-40 lbs.)

2. skull crushers- 4x12 reps ( 40 lbs.)

3. tricep rope extension- 4x24 reps( 20 lbs.)

 

Abs- 4sets

1. 1 min plank

2. side crunches- 20 on each side

3. russian twists 20 on each side

 

Food:

 

B: same as usual

S: green smoothie

L: leftover split pea soup

S: green smoothie, veggie chips

D: hummus on gluten free tortilla with lettuce and tomato, green beans, veggie chips

S: 1 c. cooked oatmeal with stevia and 1 banana

( I went over on calories by 29, spot on for protein and fat, a little over on carbs)

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I slept better last night, but used some sleeping aids to help me.

 

Workout: Trisets

 

1. pullups- 4x8-10( 70 lbs.) assisted

2. bent over row- 4x10 ( 50 lbs.)

3. pullups AMRAP- ( 70-60 lbs.) assisted- 4-8

 

1. straight arm pulldown- 4x10( 80-90lbs.)

2. seated on ground row- 4x10- 110-130 lbs.

 

1. incline bicep curl- 4x8-10 ( 15-20 lbs.)

2. preacher curl 4x8-10 ( added 10 lbs. to bar)

3. incline bicep curl- 4x AMRAP( 20 lbs)

 

Rowing machine- 15 min. - 3143 meters

 

Food:

B: same

S: green smoothie

L: brown rice tortilla with hummus, lettuce, tomato and 16 pop chips

S: green smoothie

D: homemade fries, spring mix salad with chickpeas, mango and strawberries

S: if hungry quinoa with almond milk

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