[hibiscus09]

Actually, I have CitriMax Plus in my supp stash - just forgot about it. I'll have to ask my nutrition lady about it.

Thanks for the encouragement!

[Thing]

Originally Posted by hibiscus09

Thanks, Dan!

Thanks, Lynne! It's so nice to see you here!

Actually my leggies got a bad report card today.

I haven't cheated any and my diet was kept the same, but my cardio was upped by 2 sessions a week over the last two weeks. Anyhoo, my tricep, subscapular (back), and suprailiac (hip) measurements were the same as 2 weeks ago; my umbilicus was down 1mm; however, my freagin thigh measurement went up 4mm! How can that happen? Pooey. My diet lady said it more than likely water retention in my legs. Figures -- my legs retain everything.

Anyway, my bf% was up .8%, so that's not the right direction.

Workouts have been going great! I've been strong and consistent, etc.

I'm going to start seeing the nutrition lady weekly now, and these are this week's directives:

170P
100gC
80gF

3 1 hour am cardios (before breakfast), keeping heartrate at 120bpm

4 30 minute sessions this week also, of moderate to high intensity cardio in the afternoon whenever during the week.

So, 7 cardios total.

She also suggested I started doing high rep extensions or drop set extensions at the end of my leg workouts.

That's all. I feel like this about this week's report:

You better get on the damned cardio wagon young lady, Thing will be angry!!
ROB AKA GREENFEATHER

[hibiscus09]

LOL! I was just thinking, I had to go see what someone named "Thing" had to say! Hey sweetie!! Glad to see you here!

I'll post my workout today. I decided to do higher reps on some things to switch stuff up and I about killed myself.

Quads

Warmup 11 minutes on the bike (a friend was talking to me, so I pedaled beyond my normal 5 minutes).

Leg Press

20 reps X 225lbs
15 reps X 315lbs
10 reps X 405lbs
10 reps x 495lbs
8 reps X 585lbs *lately on leg presses I've been having this spongy/a little crunchy sensation above my knee area. I've never had knee issues. That's probably not a good sign.

Lunges

Around the track holding 20lb dumbbells -- about 40 lunges each leggie.

Hack Squats*kept these lower weight, higher rep today.

20 reps X 130lbs
20 reps X 130lbs
20 reps X 130lbs
25 reps X 130lbs *just did 5 more for funsies

Lunges

Around the track holding 20lb dumbbells -- about 40 lunges each leggie.

Sissy Squats*Now, I was sweating and my leggies were feeling a little poopied at this point. I barely made it up on the last set of sissy's and I was thinking, ut oh -- it's going to be hard to burn out on extensions like Pam told me to do. :p

10 reps holding 25lb plate
10 reps holding 35lb plate
10 reps holding 45lb plate

Extensions*Thinking I'll do drop sets of 10, I begin. . .

80lbs X 8 reps, 60lbs X 5 reps, 40lbs X 6 reps *LOL! Maybe if I hadn't done all that stuff before, 10 reps each could have actually happened. :p

50lbs X 15 reps *I suck.
40lbs X 20 reps *burning
40lbs X 20 reps *burning more, exhausted, etc. I give. White flag waving.

And ewwwww, the machine was all wet/sweaty from me. I prefer to just glisten. I wiped it down real well like a good gym member.

Okie dokie, now -- I'm still supposed to do 30 minutes of freagin cardio. So, I do 30 minutes on the treadmill at 15% incline and 3.8mph. That's all I had in me.

We're going to go see "Cinderella Man" this afternoon. Fun!

Ya'll have a Happy Saturday!

[1stindoor]

Originally Posted by hibiscus09

And ewwwww, the machine was all wet/sweaty from me. I prefer to just glisten. I wiped it down real well like a good gym member.

So how many guys ran over to your machine to wipe the sweat for you?

[hibiscus09]

I wiped it up myself. LOL I try to keep my headphones on, have a serious look on my face, and stay so busy people don't interrupt me at the gym, but that is not always successful. :p

[Josie]

LOL I do the same!!!

Once a guy literally removed the headphone off my ear!!!

I was so mad at him, I just screamed "DONT YOU DARE TOUCH ME!"

[1stindoor]

Originally Posted by Josie

I was so mad at him, I just screamed "DONT YOU DARE TOUCH ME!"

Slowly..very slowly...I back away.

[hibiscus09]

LOL, 1st!

Josie, have you ever notice how some of them drop their voices an octave and do that slow up and down thing with their eyes when they go into full lust mode? "You look very good" or "You're in great shape" actually sounds like "Can we have sex right now?" when they're in that mode.

The best one I ever got was "I like your belly ring. It's really nice. When you're at home, do you play with it?" I just walked away. I did have to laugh when I got far enough away from him.

Ooh, ooh and the one that asked me out and I told him I was married, and he said "Well, we could invite him too."

This all sounds vain. I don't mean it to. It's just too funny sometimes.

Oh -- and I forgot to say -- yesterday and today I did cardio for an hour before breakfast at 120bpm on the heartrate monitor. It's kind of boring. I watched The Today Show and said my prayers during that hour. :p

[kimsquit]

Hiya Hibs


The "gettin'-hit-on-at-the-gym" thing happens to us guys too

(although admittedly not as often as we'd like *chuckle*)

[hibiscus09]

Hiya, Chris! I'm sure it does happen to you! These guys were actually pretty humorous and I feel kind of guilty when I send them on their way, although if they are doing it nicely, I'm as gentle as possible. LOL Brian says, "Just keep doing what you're doing, honey! Shoot them down!" It's kind of funny, though, as it feels strange because I like me just fine, but never really think stuff like "Oh, I'm looking good!" and I actually feel like someone who has been married 23 years (and am glad I have) and a mommy of two children who are starting to look like adults. :p

[kimsquit]

*chuckle* I should hope Brian encourages you to shoot them down!

For guys, it's usually just a nice ego-boost to be hit on, but I guess women always have to worry about some yahoo taking it further.

[hibiscus09]

Okay, now I want Kentucky Fried Chicken. LOL

I don't mind when guys flirt, if they don't get gross. :p These guys were pretty funny -- it's just not quite as funny when your hubby is in the room! LOL He did laugh about it and asked me if the goobers were trying to get a hookup.

[SouthCaliDiva]

Hibby, your workouts are amazing.

This is cracking me up:

I'm still supposed to do 30 minutes of freagin cardio. So, I do 30 minutes on the treadmill at 15% incline and 3.8mph. That's all I had in me.

Whaddaya mean that's all? Your one leg day is like three of mine.

[hibiscus09]

Awww, thanks SouthCali! You're so sweet!

[hibiscus09]

Did my long, slow cardio again this morning -- an hour at 120bpm. Not very exciting, but at least I can watch The Today Show or something. That was the last session of the long, slow and boring for this week. I also had to do 4 sessions of moderate to fast 30 minute sessions.

No lifting today.

EME, I was thinking about the fats and what you said, and of course I'm going to do what the nutrition lady tells me, but it will be interesting to see what my body does this week. She raised my calories from 1,580 to 1,800 and my protein 10 and my fat 20 (grams) after I showed a gain in bodyfat. If it goes up again (cry), then I'll start thinking my body doesn't like the high fats so much either. Of course, it does help stave off hunger, which is nice. We'll see.

Ya'll be good and have a fantastic day!

[EME]

Hey Hib...

Here is my opinion about fats while cutting. I know we've discussed this briefly before, but let me just mention again for the sake of discussion.

Maintaining healthy macronutrient levels is essential when bulking or cutting, and there are certainly many methods and ratios that can be effective for both goals. I don't pretend to claim that only one ratio will work.

Also, it is certainly true that if you reduce your dietary fat intake too low, your body will not function effectively and you will cease to burn fat. Eventually, with severely reduced fat intake the health of your body will be compromised.

So, we know you need to include dietary fat. However, fat intake is only part of the equation when it comes to your success on a cutting program.

The biggest factor in determining your success when cutting still comes down to how many calories are you taking in, and how many are you burning each day.

1 gram of Fat equates to approximately 9 calories, while 1 gram of protein and carbohydrates each equate to approximately 4 calories.

When you increase your fat intake by 1 gram daily, you have reduce your total protein and/or carb intake by 2.25 grams daily to maintain the same level of caloric intake.

If you have enough dietary fat in your diet to maintain healthy body function and your total calories are high enough to maintain healthy metabolic function, adding more fat to your diet, and reducing your protein and complex carb intake is not going to make you burn any more fat, and may very well result in muscle loss.

Carbohydrates and Protein are muscle sparring macronutrients and they are essential in cutting diets if your are interested in maintaining your hard earned muscle.

Provided you already have enough dietary fat intake, I just don't agree with increasing your fat intake, and thereby causing a two fold reduction in the intake of your essential carbs and protein when your weight loss stalls, or when your weight increases.

If your total calories need to be increased, you would be better served by adding more protein and complex carbs, at strategic times of the day, than by increasing your fat intake beyond what is needed for healthy body function.

Now.. this is my opinion, and I understand there are other opinions out there.

But, if you find you aren't making the progress you think you should be, it's definitely something to think about.

- EME

[hibiscus09]

Thanks, EME! I appreciate all the typing you put into that post. I don't necessarily disagree. I'll just see how things go this week and then I'll discuss it with Pam. I do think different bodies react differently. Over the years, I've noticed my body is not a big fan of high fat and seemed to be doing better in the 40g to 50g range, but we'll see. I definitely notice my abs smooth out when I do higher fats and I hate it. The only time I see them is first thing in the morning, but they're looking pretty good then! LOL

As for the caloric intake, she did raise that from 1,580 to 1,800 with the increase in protein and fats. I'm not sure if that was to jumpstart my metabolism or what. I'll start asking more questions as I go along if the bodyfat goes up again or doesn't come down any. I havne't cheated ANY (amazing! LOL) and I know each body is different and it's difficult to figure out what works for each person, but when I'm doing everything as suggested, it is nice to see results. Perhaps, it was just a plateauish sort of thing or I was just retaining water. I dunno.

Oh, and as for the how many calories I'm burning -- Lordy , I don't know how it couldn't be enough with 3 hour long sessions, 4 30 minute sessions, plus the intense way I lift. :p

[EME]

I agree Hib. I don't think the amount of calories you are burning is an issue.

If I were designing your program, I'd have you on a very different macronutrient ratio... but.... that's not my business....

I wouldn't read too much into the one higher weight and b/f measurement you had. When you are monitoring progress, trends are what you are looking for. You can always have a single random measurement that doesn't fit in, or that doesn't accurately reflect your overall progress.

However, if you start to see a trend of your measurements going in the wrong direction, it's time to make the necessary changes.

I think you'll be fine.. but definitely ask questions and ask your trainer to explain the science behind their decisions and the reasons behind their particular plan for YOU. What you don't want to hear is "This worked for me, so it will work for you too", because we all know that isn't necessarily true.

- EME