Hilarious moment from the gym just now:
M2 was on her final set of landmines. It’s at the end of the workout; she’s lifted more by a lot than she ever has in her life, she looks like she’s going to kill me, and here was her only thought at that moment: “I don’t care what you say, I’m having cupcakes tonight.” lol. Okay fine. You can have some cupcakes. I got home, told the boyfriend and he was like “Good for her!” lol.
This last week I finally started to see some progress in the mirror in addition to what I’ve been doing in the gym.
Some summary notes:
I’ve been doing a two day a week program I posted a link to on one of these previous pages. I’m not really impressed with the cardio results, but I am seeing steady progress with the weights. I change all of the exercises once a month, but keep the theme the same (how big and complex the exercise is, what body parts it hits, what the rep scheme for it is). That has really helped with staying motivated as I tend to lose interest in my workout exactly at the one month point and start missing days.
My diet has been pretty consistent: eggs and meats for breakfast, chili or another soup for lunch, chicken, steak, or fish with an entire bag of frozen veggies for dinner, and a protein shake with nut butter inbetween if I’m hungry.
I found an extremely awesome chili recipe that I’ve been making a big batch of once a week, dividing into containers and freezing. This week was the first one where I didn’t eat out once and also downsized dinner from two giant chicken thighs to one, and it’s the first week that I’ve seen the changes I was looking for with my body. Coincidence?
Yay for body changes! Its great you can keep it up being so busy.
Mmm, cupcakes!
[quote]minimaltechno wrote:
Yay for body changes! Its great you can keep it up being so busy.
Mmm, cupcakes![/quote]
My boyfriend and I were forced to eat most of those cupcakes. We’ve been having one a day for nearly a week now. Inspite of this, I can see more of my abs than I ever have before!
M2 crapped out on me for the first time in a month two days ago. She said she was sick… I think she was just scared of high rep deadlifts and doesn’t realize that the exercises changed so she wouldn’t even have to do those.
So we’re working out tomorrow. Sadly, I finished the last cupcake this morning.
So I’m pretty sure M2 quit on me. She kept moving workout times, then started cancelling with “I’m sick” while appearing great the following day. Then, this last time, she told me to call her when I was going to workout after my lab, but never answered her phone or called me back when I did. In a way, I’m sad to lose another workout buddy. On the other hand, she often didn’t wear deodorant, seemed either depressed or hyper at any given moment, and as I mentioned, didn’t have much of a badass spirit to her (not that she wasn’t awesome in her own way. She just wasn’t the energy you normally thrive on in the gym).
I’m really thinking about putting an ad on craigslist.
People seem to differ…
But for the most part I actually prefer training by myself. I’m able to focus totally on what I’m doing and it is wonderful ‘me’ time. People often say that good workout partners are invaluable… That is probably true… But for the most part I find other people get in the way. I had a great training situation in my other gym where people would turn up at a regular time and each do their own thing… But the atmosphere of intensity was something that I think we all profited from. I didn’t even know their names, though, and would very rarely interact or talk with them at all. You might find that you are better off training by yourself. Or if you keep your eyes out you might start to notice other gym regulars who have similar training schedules to you.
[quote]alexus wrote:
People seem to differ…
But for the most part I actually prefer training by myself. I’m able to focus totally on what I’m doing and it is wonderful ‘me’ time. People often say that good workout partners are invaluable… That is probably true… But for the most part I find other people get in the way. I had a great training situation in my other gym where people would turn up at a regular time and each do their own thing… But the atmosphere of intensity was something that I think we all profited from. I didn’t even know their names, though, and would very rarely interact or talk with them at all. You might find that you are better off training by yourself. Or if you keep your eyes out you might start to notice other gym regulars who have similar training schedules to you.[/quote]
I do like training by myself but with school being what it is, I have the problem of finding reasons not to go unless I have someone else who’s counting on me to be there.
Lately I’ve had two revelations:
Surround yourself with people who are on the next level.
Give yourself something to look forward to on a weekly basis.
Long story short, I have a new training partner. This time, I picked a guy who’s been working out consistently for years and loves to talk shit about “lazy fat-asses”. He doesn’t skip his gym time, he amuses me, and I know that if I miss a day he’ll give me a hard time about it. This is different. In the past I’ve always looked for someone to bring up to my level, maybe so I can feel better about myself. But, in reality, that’s not what I need.
Also, this weekend the boyfriend and I scrapped the books Friday night, got pretty sloshed off of “Admiral Nelson”(lol) and house cleaned while listening to all sorts of old-school songs. That may sound boring as hell, but we actually had fun just the two of us and decided that from now on, this is how housework should be done.
I’m also pretty excited about Halloween coming up, and the combination of two nights ago with the fun of Halloween has improved my outlook on life quite a bit. In the past, I’ve never planned fun events while in school and depression normally sets in halfway through the semester. Now, I’m happier than I’ve been in a year.
So, two changes in philosophy in about a week. And I worked out today.
I like where your head is at IC.
1- being the strongest in your pack will not push you to be stronger
2- work hard can only be properly accomplished when you learn how to play hard.
what do you have planned for Halloween?
Glad to hear you found someone so experienced. Ah yeah, I remember being told when growing up, always hang around people smarter than you. I’ve gotten myself a “sometimes” partner as well, unfortunately our times don’t match up mostly, but its great to be able to talk, text, etc with someone non-virtual. And she’s a grrrr-girl. Her boyfriend also does oly lifting.
nlmain- I’m planning a small house party right after a chemistry test that night. It’ll be interesting to see what some of these people are like outside the classroom.
minimaltechno- It does make things much better to be able to connect off of the internet. I’ve always found people who were smarter than I was to hang out with, but often they had some other flaw that made me feel more balanced out around them. Fuck that. I’m going outside of my comfort zone and reaching out to those who intimidate and amaze me. We’ll see what happens.
Housework sounds like the best time ever!!!
I don’t think I could pull that off with two kids, LMAO!!
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
Housework sounds like the best time ever!!!
I don’t think I could pull that off with two kids, LMAO!![/quote]
I was totally wondering in the back of my head if there was a way to pull this off with kids! Not kidding! I was thinking “well maybe if you gave them apple juice and let them pick the songs as well…hmmm…would that be setting them up to be future alcoholics?” lmao. I’m always wondering about that kind of stuff as the biological clock has officially gone off this last year.
I totally agree with your philosophies. I always like to have something to look forward to - it’s what keeps me going. And a good way to do housework. I usually put music on when I do it but I don’t usually drink…heh.
[quote]nlmain wrote:
I like where your head is at IC.
1- being the strongest in your pack will not push you to be stronger
2- work hard can only be properly accomplished when you learn how to play hard.
what do you have planned for Halloween?[/quote]
True dat.