New Rules Update

It has occurred to me that I have not updated you all on my weight lifting in quite some time. Remember when I was coming back from my wrist injury and was devastated that I had lost so much strength? Well I am happy to report that I was almost back up to full strength about a week later and I have gained back my confidence in the weight room. I have also officially completed Stage 4 of New Rules and I feel great.


I know that a bunch of you are following the New Rules program so I thought that I would give you an overview/list of random thoughts associated with it. Ready? Here we go!

1) When I first started the program, I was STARVING the day after lifting. I have to admit that the program still makes me pretty hungry but it has calmed down now that my body has adjusted.

2) I make my recovery/protein shake before heading to the gym, keep it in my locker, and chug it as soon as my workout is finished. I find that this aids in recovery and keeps me from searching out a pizza come lunch time.

3) In general, I crave protein more. Usually I eat vegetarian during the week (with the exception of tuna or sardines at lunch) but now by the time Friday night rolls around I am seeking out some serious meat…usually chicken but sometimes beef.

4) My body, particularly my legs, are tired all of the time. They are exhausted after lifting…then I put them through torture in power yoga…then I make them run. I do have a rest day once a week and I have subbed out a power yoga class for a gentle yoga class, but still my legs are tired.

5) Stage 3 is really boring. Really, really boring.

6) Stage 4 will destroy you, particularly if you do all 3 sets (you get a 2 or 3 option). This destroying is due in large part to the return of the Reverse Lunge with Forward Reach (I really, really tried to find a video of this torture…but couldn’t). Ouch.

7) Underhand Lateral Pull-Downs are what hurt my wrist. I must go overhand despite what the book says.

8) Planks for 2 minutes do not exist. At least not in my world.


I would love to hear any thoughts or questions those of you trying out the program may have!!

Lifting + Aerobics + Yoga + Sick = Stupid

Stupid.  That is how I feel.  I have been sick since Tuesday with what I thought was a sore throat...though I should have known better since Bill's been sick with a fever and cough since last week.  My sore throat has since moved to my lungs.  So what did I do yesterday?  Dig myself a nice cozy sick bed. 

First I went to the gym at break...around 2 p.m. I think.  I tried to do 20 minutes of intervals on the treadmill as a New Rules warm-up only to be sidelined after 5 minutes with a burning throat and fluid filled lungs.  I then went up to the big boy weight room  to complete Stage 3 Workout B.  This work-out seemed pretty easy....probably because I skipped the required intervals.  I felt pretty good after besides the burning throat and cough, so I thought I would try and catch a Yoga class at Revelation.  I hadn't been back to this studio since the wine tasting extravaganza and I was interested in its Internal Muscle Shift Class. 

Now, I was completely aware that this class had a cardio component...I figured this would be a fast paced vinyasa flow start similar to Victoria's class.  Boy was I wrong.  Turns out that the cardio portion was a spin on kick-boxing, step-aerobics, weight lifting and a gazillion squats.  All with yoga breathing.  For 45 minutes.  Oh, and Pilates.  Followed by 45 minutes of yoga.  Really.

I should have left.  My lungs were wheezing and I was pretty sure I was going to puke.  This is a yoga studio so no air conditioning...and I, thinking regular yoga, didn't bring any water.  Right.  Can you picture this?  But the ego, despite all I have learned in yoga, is a funny, powerful thing.  So I stayed and I gave the entire class my all.  And despite the fact that I felt like my legs were going to fall off and my lungs were going to collapse, I really enjoyed it (though I will never, ever do it again following a New Rules workout).  I also LOVED the yoga portion.  So much so that I signed up for their 1 month unlimited plan.  I'll be cutting it close to make any of the 6:30 p.m. classes but they said its cool if I am a few minutes late.  Yay!

I actually felt pretty good when I left the class despite having basically lost my voice.  So where does that leave me now?  Today is my vinyasa class with Victoria and tomorrow morning is a long run with my sister-in-law.  I know I could make it through Victoria's class...I am doubtful of the run...but I may, unfortunately have to skip both and try to get into the doctor's today. 

I hate being sick.  I hate being sick and aggravating it even more because I am too stubborn to sit out a few workouts.  I would throw in a 'lesson learned' here except that this is a behavior I repeat pretty consistently...so lets just say 'lesson noted' and leave it at that.

Body Weight

Thanks for all of the feedback yesterday!  I'll respond in the comments section to that post later today.

So I am not brave enough to post my weight for world to see - at least not yet.  I will say that according to the BMI scale I am overweight bordering on obese.  I can assure you that I am not overweight bordering on obese.  I am average (with a more than average butt).  I am also able to mentally step away from the scale enough to realize that it is not the number that defines me.  The size clothes I am comfortable in, that defines me.  The amount of weight I lift, that defines me.  The amount of miles I run, that defines me.  The time I post in a race, that defines me.  The small, almost imperceivable adjustments I makes in asanas, that defines me.  My weight, however, has nothing to do with who I am.

Why then, am I afraid to post it?  What is it about that random number on the scale that is so scary?  How are you supposed to get passed it?  I will tell you this - weigh yourself first thing in the morning - naked, before water, before you brush your teeth.  Then weigh yourself after breakfast ... maybe mid-day.  BAM you gained 3-5 pounds.  What the hell happened?  Did you get fat in the last few hours?  No, of course not.  But man, will that number mess with your head.  This is especially difficult, and an important concept,  if you are lifting weights or following The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess.  Since starting New Rules, I have lost maybe 5 pounds?  But I have lost almost two complete sizes.  If I were just watching the scale, I would think no progress was being made, when in fact I am leaps and bounds closer to healthy.  The scale?  It doesn't lie - its tells you the truth.  But that truth includes water weight from too much salt.  Water weight from swollen, repairing muscles.  That truth includes the weight of your bones.  And your hair.  And it includes the weight of the food (even the yucky-but-weighty-foods like baby carrots) that you ingested.  Weight is funny like that.

So what are you to do?  Not weigh yourself?  No ... well ... maybe.  Here is the deal - and I cannot stress strongly enough that this post DOES NOT apply to anyone with an eating disorder or other self image distortion - if you need to lose weight, you know it.  Really, you do.  Your clothes don't fit the way you want.  You are not comfortable.  You cannot move the way you want.  Seat belts are your actual enemy.  But you are probably lying to yourself ... "Its not that bad"... "I'm just big boned" ... "I carry the weight well"... ... ... Okay.  You - if thats you - do yourself a favor and step on a scale.  Being confronted with that number is a serious shocker.  And it will make you take action.  Sometimes we need to force ourselves to do the uncomfortable, to face the truth.  Then we do something about it.

So what about average people?  What does the scale mean to us?  For me, I weigh myself out of curiosity.  If I gain a pound, I try to look at it logically - is that a pound of cake or a pound of water?  If I lose a pound, I know it is probably meaningless, but I still get excited.  If I lose three pounds...okay, that might be something to celebrate.  If I drop a clothing size - BUST OUT THE CHAMPAGNE!!! If I PR in a race, watch out world!  But the scale and body weight itself...its just to keep tabs on the everyday ins and outs.

Weights

When I started this blog, I was on a rest week: semi-rest from running (only 6 miles total I think) and a rest from lifting. I seriously needed the rest from lifting. If you have ever lifted heavy (as I am SUPER EXCITED a bunch of you are trying out!) it leaves you really tired (and hungry). Not so much sore as “when can I go to bed…and can I eat a pizza and a chicken first?” kind of tired (and hungry).  The rest week had become pretty much non-negotiable – my muscles were useless, my wrists were achy and my ankles felt like they were going to crack down the middle. Still, I was extremely nervous about rest week. Would I come back weak? Would I have to start at the beginning? I always do better with a schedule, with a steady rhythm. It is easier for me to stay busy all the time than some of the time, otherwise I get lazy. So I was worried rest week would throw off my rhythm and I would stop lifting all together. Bizarre, I know, but inner thoughts and fears are usually totally bizarre and illogical.


I am excited to report that I got back into The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess  this week and completed Stage 2, Week 2. And I assure you that I am Hungry. And Tired. But I am also stronger! That’s right blogfans, I took a week off and came back stronger than before. I went up in almost every weight across the board! Yahoooo Rest Week! Who can deadlift 85 pounds from a step-box? This girl!

Celebrating aside, I saw something in the gym today that made me sad (and a little angry). My gym has a regular weight room and a “man” weight room. You know the one I am talking about, right? With the men and the big men weights? Okay, so (for me at least) it takes a fair amount of nerve to head up to the man room the first time…but that’s where the good weight are, so up you go.  So today, I am up in the man room doing Bulgarian Split Squats while balancing a 35 pound bar on my shoulders when this very much overweight woman and her friend come in and take up the spots next to me. This made me happy the way new runners make me happy. I want to shout “Go you!!! You rock!!” Except that this woman proceeded to give me dirty looks while she did bicep curls with a 5 pound weight. Now, dirty looks aside, I would not have judged the woman at all (oh the lack of yoga in this post) if she had been struggling with that weight, but she was tossing it around like a feather. And boy did that make me sad/angry/annoyed. If you are brave enough to walk up into the man’s room (in a flowered moo-moo like shirt no less) and actually lift weights, why not pick a weight you have to try to lift? All of that bravery and this woman will see zero results. And maybe I would have overstepped my bounds and looked like a complete jerk and offered her advice if, at the very moment I am thinking all these thoughts, she didn’t meet my eye in the mirror and say to her friend “here, use this weight – there’s no need to show off with heavy ones.”

Excuse me?

And then I started to question myself.  Am I showing off?  Who am I to judge another's workout?  Then a ray of light as I was leaving the gym - some big lifter dude walked out with me and said “You know, you do some serious workouts in there…some people waste their time with little weights, but not you. You get right to it.”

Again I say, Yahoooo!!!!!

Lifting

As promised, my lifting post. When I was in undergrad, I was in the gym lifting all the time. I mean hours a day. I would run a little and then lift, lift, lift. But never more than a 10 pound dumbbell. At the same time the running went away, the lifting went away. End of fit cycle one. Fit cycle two was a completely different animal. There was no lifting - I joined Weight Watchers, ate within my allotted points, and ran, and ran, and ran. This worked out just fine. Until I stopped running insane amounts of miles (for me) and started eating more than 1,200 calories a day...I also pretty much doubled my stress level at the same time. Crash - end of fit cycle two. So this time around, I had to figure out a way to eat more than air with peanut butter on it and still stay fit and sane. Enter The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess. This little book has made all the difference. The idea is this - lift heavy weights, build lots of muscle that doesn't actually make you look like a man, bump up your metabolism, get to drink more wine and eat cheese. Hooray!

Okay, so there is a bit more to it than that. Like the hours I have to take away from running and give to lifting. But my shoulders are really looking good. And there is how much I have had to increase my protein. I drink the Jillian Michaels Protein Powder and I buy it from Walmart. Its cheap and sweetened with Stevia...It is one of the few non-natural things I eat now. More on that later. Overall I am aiming for 80 grams of protein on non-lifting days and 120 grams on lifting days. This is a serious challenge for me. But I will hold off - I think I said diet on post four, right?

Here is the other thing about lifting heavy. It makes you hungry. Like really, really hungry. I have upped my calories to 1,500-1,800 a day (not including weekends) and I am still hungry. Hungry, Hungry, Hungry. That's all there is to that.

But I am much stronger. And I have obliques!!!