What Are You Looking At?!

I went to the gym after work yesterday to do the first round of Workout B.  It was completely different than Workout A, which is good because I’m pretty sure I would have had complete failure if I’d had to do A again! 

 

My warmup I ran 15 minutes on the treadmill, first 5 minutes at 4.5 0.5% incline, second 5 minutes at 5.0 1% incline and last 5 minutes at 5.5 1.5% incline.  I worked up a good sweat fairly quickly….which was what reminded me that I forgot to bring a towel to the gym.  Lovely!  Then on to the weights:

• Deadlift ~ 2 sets of 15, first set with just the Olympic bar (weighs 45lbs) and second set with the bar + 10 pounds
• Overhead Dumbell Press ~ 2 sets of 15, both sets with 10lbs each hand (which is my max, I won’t be going up from there for a couple days)
• Widegrip Lat Pulldown ~ 2 sets of 15, first set 35 pounds, second set 50.  For some reason I have strength in this muscle group.  Weird.
• Weighted Lunge ~ 2 sets of 15, first set with 10lbs each hand, second set with 7.5lbs each hand. Yep, I had to go down on the second set
• Swiss Ball Crunches ~ 2 sets of 8, first set with huge ball, second set with smaller ball which makes it a little more difficult because of the angle

 

Again, I did better than I thought I would.  Definitely need to work on my form for the deadlifts.  And doing the weights, you spend a lot of time looking at your body in the mirror.  Where, during the squats, I noticed that I can see in my upper legs where the fat ends and the muscle begins.  It’s actually quite pronounced, at first glance I thought I had a huge scar running down the length of my thigh.  But, that’s alright….as things progress there should be less fat and more muscle so that line will fade!

 

Now, while I was working in the free weights section, I had my iPod on and was carrying on in my own little section and I kept feeling the hairs on the back of my neck go up.  Eventually I turned around and saw this teeny, tiny, very fit woman staring me down, giving me the dirtiest look!  At first I thought maybe my iPod was too loud….but she was a good 20 feet away from me and it really wasn’t that loud.  I carried on and every time I looked over, she was staring me down!  I gave her the “What’s up?” look and she just glared harder. 

 

I’m not sure what the issue was except that she’s possibly territorial about the free weights section (so few women use it that you can almost feel like it’s YOURS when you’re there).  She was in a different area though and the space is large enough for three or four women to do their thing and there’s lots of equipment.  Or…..she’s a bitch and would prefer that she was the only one pushing heavy weights so that she can feel superior?  Barbie weights are useless and a waste of time and yet most women are using them and doing useless exercises that don’t build muscle.  And then all of a sudden there is someone else who does the same thing you do, heavy weights, full body exercises.  Maybe, I don’t know.  This woman was hella fit though and super tiny so she certainly shouldn’t have been intimidated by my novice activities and much less fit exterior.  Who knows.  It pissed me off though!

 

Anyway.  When I got home from the gym after work I suggested a beer in the driveway since at the moment it wasn’t snowing or windy.  Dinner last night was a huge ribeye steak that we barbequed and then shared.  I also roasted some yams and some cauliflower.  And then we went and ran an errand and stopped for a sundae at Dairy Queen.  Aaaaand…that was the last treat I’ll be having for the next 6 weeks or so.  I’m reading The Paleo Solution right now and it’s explaining in scientific terms what happens when you drench your system in carbohydrates and the results, my friends, not good.  Kind of scary, actually.  Now, I realize that there could very well be a book that could counter everything this one says and tell you scary results from eating high fat & high protein.  But knowing how I feel on high protein/fat, low carb vs how I feel when I’m eating carbs, I choose to believe that low carb is the way to go.  Lots of fruit, veg, protein and fat and no grains.  Also?  No sugar.  NO.  MORE.  SUGAR.

 

I am reminding myself that high fat combined with carbs is a recipe for weight gain.  And not that I’ve been eating a lot of sugar, but it’s a slippery slope.  With paleo/primal you really can eat whatever you want under the umbrella of fat, protein and fruit/veg, which is all very satisfying.  Add in a glass of wine a couple of times a week and I’m set!  No more sugar.

 

Also, given that I’m committed to doing this weight training program, I really want to give myself the best possible chance to garner as much success as I can and get some visible results.  Lindt bunnies & chocolate sundaes do nothing to facilitate that!

 

Ray is working OT tonight so I’m going to zip down to the mall and look for an easter dress and then come home and do some housework.  Fun stuff!  Tomorrow I’m meant to go to the gym at 5am for Workout A.  Yesterday I didn’t think I would be heading there given how sore I was but that seems to have eased so there’s no reason not to get my lift on!

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