Fit by 50 - Week 2 & 3

This week has been a period of learning and adjustment. I wasn't really feeling connected to the workouts I had planned so I created a Franken-workout from the pieces I did like. So now I present the plan going forward. Three days a week, no stressing about finishing the program "on time" and I don't have to worry about getting off track. I have my honeymoon in July and I'm moving at the beginning of September so I already know I'll be taking those weeks off. 

Lower Body: 4x6-8

• barbell squat 💩
• barbell Romanian deadlift 💜
• barbell standing calf raise💜
• barbell hip thrust💜
• barbell rack pull💜
• dumbbell Bulgarian split squat 💩

Full Body: 3x8-10 (seems like a lot but some of them are bodyweight only)

• dumbbell single leg Romanian deadlift 💜
• dumbbell step up 💩
• dumbbell rear delt row 😩
• dumbbell curl 💜
• alternating leg raise 💜
• dead bug 💜
• dumbbell shoulder press💜 
• dumbbell back fly 😩
• floor glute kickback 💜
• oblique side raise
• dumbbell kickback 💜
• barbell close grip bench press 😩

Upper Body: 4x6-8

• dumbbell bench press 😩
• dumbbell skull crusher 💜
• dumbbell lying row 😩
• dumbbell pullover 😩
• dumbbell fly 😩
• dumbbell overhead triceps press💜

I'm completely over tracking my food already. Hate it. HATE. IT. It's worse when I have a whole ass recipe I'm dealing with because I don't really have the time to log a bunch of shit into a nutrition calculator on my phone then convert it to points/bites and enter it in Healthi. I use Paprika Recipe Manager for everything. I bought it for my phone and my laptop, and I'd buy it for iOS if I had an Apple product. There's even a bookmarklet so I can send recipes to the app directly from Chrome. I love Paprika. The only drawback is that it doesn't have a nutrition calculator and I haven't figured out how to easily export recipes into a calculator I like. 

Fit by 50 - Week 1

Welp, today is the day. I weighed in at 181.8. Bah. But I've been sticking to the Healthi plan, staying in my points. And as per usual when I'm tracking, I'm not eating enough. 

First workout was rough. I definitely wasn't pulling the numbers I was back in early 2011. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, even at lower loads. I'm using the Caliber fitness app - I think it was developed by a guy who frequents the fitness boards on Reddit. Man, I love Reddit.

Workout two was better. I did it the morning after my evening workout one. By the time the end of the second day came, I was really feeling it, and by the time workout three came along the next day, I was REALLY feeling it. 

And one thing I have discovered is that I absolutely cannot do five workouts per week at this point. Between work and school and preparing to move, I'm going to have to cut it back to three days a week, with Mondays always off due to not getting home until 8 PM.

So here is how the workouts are structured. Each phase, as written, is 8 weeks long, then the 9th week is a deload week. There are five workouts per week (again, as written). I'm just going to do a workout every other day. I had to substitute some exercises because I don't have cable machines. Or simply because I despise the actual exercise. I'm not doing something I hate. Dumbbell lunges will likely get subbed at some point. 

Here's what Phase 1 looks like.

Workout 1A - Lower Body A:

Barbell Squat 3x6-8

Barbell RDL 3x6-8

Heel Raised Squat 3x6-8

Dumbbell Lunge 3x6-8

Workout 1B - Push:

Barbell Bench Press 3x6-8

Dumbbell Fly 3x6-8

Dumbbell Bench Press 3x6-8

Seated Triceps Press 3x6-8

Workout 1C - Pull:

Barbell Deadlift 3x6-8

One Arm Dumbbell Row 3x6-8

Dumbbell Pullover 3x6-8

Barbell Curl 3x6-8

Workout 1D - Upper Body:

Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press 3x6-8

Barbell Close-Grip Bench Press 3x608

Dumbbell YWTL 3x6-8

Dumbbell Rear Delt Row 3x6-8

Workout 1E - Lower Body B:

Barbell Squat 3x6-8

Dumbbell Single Leg RDL 3x6-8

Dumbbell Lunge 3x6-8

Barbell Hip Thrust 3x6-8

I'll probably do every other day, with Mondays always off until I finish school December 8. At that point, I may keep the EOD lifting schedule and add some Turbo Jam to the other days (except Monday - Mondays will forever be "rest" days). I miss Turbo a lot. But I have to get some of this weight off so I can move my body a little bit easier. 

I think back to that day in June 2011 and hate myself for eating that ice cream...

Speaking of eating. I tried to track everything in Healthi but by the end of the week, between my birthday and going out for dinner with my husband and brunch with my friends, I gave up on that. Dinner out wasn't horrible. I had sushi. But brunch - I got pancakes with chocolate chips and I probably shouldn't have.

.

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And now that my week is over, I need to revamp my workouts. I'm going to sort of mesh them together to create an upper body, a full body, and a lower body. I barely have three days a week to get exercise in. And the 15 minutes 5 times a week feels like cheating. I'd rather do 30 minutes 3 times a week.

So tune in for Week 2...

Fit by 50 - Coming Soon!!!

 I really wish I could blog like I used to. Between working, getting a 2nd master's degree, getting married, preparing to move, being exhausted - I just don't have time for shit. Ok, that is a lie. I have time to read and play word games and watch Power. Fuck, I love Tommy Egan - my obsession with him led to a very appropriate quote:

Anywhoooooooooooooooooooooooooo....

My doctor is up my ass to get healthier. I'm tired of being tired and feeling like flaming garbage all the time. My mental health is great - I'm on a fantastic combination of anti-anxiety and antidepression meds. I'm happy. I've never been happier, and that's the truth. 

The only thing I'm not happy with is my physical health. I'm overweight, have high cholesterol and blood pressure (despite medication) and am pre-diabetic (unmedicated). I am, admittedly, a giant sloth. When I get home from a long day, I like to veg on by bed with one of my million Kindles. My fitness equipment remains untouched. At least by me, anyway - my son does use it regularly. I recently ordered a new bench and squat rack and gave the old, bulky ones away. It's been over two weeks and I still don't have my weight bench. 👎😡

I have not moved in with my new husband yet, as my lease isn't up for another five months or so. I was going to get rid of my exercise crap and just join a gym because there is limited room at his place. But fuck that. I've been collecting these weights and shit since I started Body For Life back in 2007. I'm so glad I started this blog, but I really wish I hadn't spent the last 13 years fucking off. I specifically recall the week everything fell apart. And I know I've popped in over the years to day I'm going to get my shit together but this time I really mean it. I'm going to be half a century old next year and I don't want to die a fat-ass. 

I don't plan on daily blogging. I'm hoping for weekly check ins, at least until I'm done with school in December. I need to be in good enough shape to start Jen Sinkler's Bigness Project by February 1 - it's a 13-week program that will lead right up to, and end on, my Big 5-0. It really is a damn shame that Jen's programs are so hard to find now. All her links seem to be dead. I plan on sailing the high seas soon. I already have Bigness Project, but I would love Unapologetically Strong, Life Weights Faster, and Unapologetically Powerful. I may delay Bigness by a few weeks to do Thinner, Leaner, Stronger by Michael Matthews. That's 54 weeks long but the workouts are simpler. I think I will like it. It reminds me a bit of the OG New Rules of Lifting. I actually have quite a few Michael Matthews books so I might even put together my own thing. I don't fucking know. 

As for food, I will be living on chicken, eggs, and broccoli. Just kidding. I'm going to stick to whole foods though. I actually - finally - gave up coffee creamer recently and am using half & half instead. That's going well. I don't hate it. I don't love but it's drinkable. Right now I'm tracking in the Healthi app but I think I will switch to the Fitbit app. I hate track. HATE IT. It's so tedious. And one reason I eat the same things over and over. 

Actually, I found TLS v4 floating around so I modified it based on the equipment I have and this is what I'm going to follow. 

2020 - Week 13 & 14

More of the same. Working from home sucks. I'm eating everything in sight and not getting my steps in.

2020 - Week 11 & 12

Food is still sucking. I'm not following my low sodium diet at all. I'm mostly on a Girl Scout cookie diet. With the Captain Tripps going around, everything is jacked up. I am still working in the office four days a week, one from home. I never had a social life so at least I don't need to worry about that. I had a follow up with my doc this week - she'd been ordered to work from home so it was just a phone call. I'm relieved I didn't have to go in to get weighed. I told her I'd been slacking on taking my blood pressure every day. She told me to go back to taking it every day, and she added a calcium channel blocker to my list of meds. I ended up canceling next week's appointment with the vascular specialist because all he was going to do was tell me to keep taking my medicine. For $250, I can figure that one out myself.

2020 - Week 10

Finally some mother fucking progress. Not with food. That has been atrocious but I started lifting again this week and it was amazing. It's just a short workout but it makes me feel so damn good. I managed two work outs this week.

2020 - Week 9

Oh look. More suckage.