Winding Down This Wednesday

Trigger Warning. For those who are currently struggling or are triggered by the discussion of exercise, psychological struggles, pictures, food, etc please refrain from reading this lil update. The goal here is to ensure everyone remains in a safe place mentally when on my blog!

My friends.

Do you know how much it has hurt me not to be able to chatter with you much this semester? I have my moments where I wonder if you are feeling let down or frustrated with me thinking that I just don’t enjoy or want to blog anymore but please believe me when I say that is far from the truth.

I miss you all and I miss sharing things with you! 

I have tried to push aside the guilt about not blogging and focus on the fact that I’m finishing up my semester hopefully on a high and that I am actively working to bring back up my health status…

My health. How is that progress now that I mention it?

I owe you an update.

I have been officially been working with my coach, Mike, since the beginning of January. I had brought it up before then but we didn’t really gett’er going for real until then. So I suppose I’m wrapping up my third month with him. So what has that brought?

Weight Gains?

Can’t say really because Mike doesn’t want me weighing myself. I will be honest and say that I was initially weighing myself because I felt as if I needed to know when the scale began to tip up. You heard about my lil meltdown I had previously when it did increase a bit and so I have been forbidden to get on it since. To be rational though, that number really truly DOESN’T matter. Your weight tells you nothing about what is going on with your body really. It doesn’t tell you whether you’ve gained fat, water, muscle and so forth. It doesn’t tell you if your organs are repairing themselves. Whether your hormones are regulating. NOTHING. So really, all it does it make you obsessed with a number for no apparent reason.

So with that in mind,  I do weekly progress pictures with Mike and he makes changes as we go…which is EVERY SINGLE WEEK.

Food Gains?

Duh…

I’m not going to say what my specific current numbers are, but to give you kind of an idea…

I’m almost eating my weight in fat (number of grams to number of pounds).

I’m eating triple my weight in carbohydrates.

And around double my weight in protein.

And this is only the beginning. Pretty much without fail, with each passing week, I get another increase. The struggle is real, ya feel? Guys may not (4000+ cals would get their attention), but ladies, do you know how much food that is. Geesh

What I will say is that is just another piece of evidence to show you that you don’t need to be restricting to 1200 calories to maintain your weight or even loose weight! Yes, everybody’s body is different and they all metabolize and respond to nutrients differently but let me be an example to you. Eating high carbs doesn’t make you fat. Eating more then 1200 calories per day doesn’t make you fat.

I may be 5 feet tall but I train hard and so my metabolism is basically a beast…err efficient. I’m truly learning that I need a lot of food just to keep up with it, let alone, make it grow.

BUT! Even if you don’t train, you need to fuel your body sufficiently.

Strength Gains?

Oh yes my friends!

My pride and joy right now is my squat. Since reading week (mid February) my back squat has increased 25lbs! I’m now squatting more then 1.5 times my body weight which is so exciting as that was a lift that really took a hit when my body basically gave up on me (i.e. my strength took a nose dive) in the gym after the weight loss. I’m pushing so hard to reach that 135 ASAP!

Overall though, I’m much more energetic in the gym, my lifts have been feeling amazing and almost everything is just going up. I PR at least once a week in something and it’s just an amazing feeling.

GIMME ALL DEM GAINZ!…

Please…

Mental Gainz?

Lots! Yes, I have had my share of mini meltdowns throughout this process and things may have taken longer then they should have sometimes, but the point is that I not only have to fight the physical but I’m also fighting back the mental as well and that is tough.

I get frustrated with myself sometimes because I wish I could be like everyone else and be happy to be told to eat more food, but I have to take a step back though and realize what significant barriers I have broken down!

~It may have taken me 3 weeks longer then it was supposed to but I managed to add 4 tbsp of nut butter to my day ON TOP OF what I was already eating in my morning oats. This was huge because I had this ‘rule’ in my head that said I was only allowed to eat 1 serving a day MAX (2 tbsp).

~I still have my treat meals (almost still weekly) despite the increases. That was hard for me because I felt that I should stop eating ice cream every Friday due to my already eating more then normal.

Jays is back open for the season! Let the spoiling begin!! Homemade Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter gelato (right) and my ultimate favourite, Salty Caramel (left). All their products are made in store. Drools….

~I realized I still get hungry despite eating more. That was another big thing for me. You see, for me, my struggles surround feelings of fullness. I don’t necessarily freak out over calories per say, but I freak out thinking I’m going to feel more full because when I’m more full my tummy will stick out and that’s when I have issues. When you start to feed your body properly after a time of restriction, your body starts to realize that it’s getting more and with that, it can then allow itself to use those additions and ASK for those additions through hunger or other signals. Often times you may think something is a lot but then the next day your stomach will start growling for that extra food because it wants it. It’s proof that your body is efficient. More food or just enough food means that your metabolism is able to be the most efficient and use those nutrients to the best it can, making you an optimal burning machine.

~I haven’t gotten fat. Despite a fairly big increase (in my opinion) to what I’m eating, I have not gotten fat. Instead I have gotten stronger and I have been getting comments that I look healthier (despite the fact that I still really haven’t gained that much). My coach tries to keep me on the straight and narrow about that whole situation but it’s hard for me not to be negative sometimes. That, my friends, is a work in progress.

Any Negatives?

Any change won’t come without it’s share of some not so nice things. For me, the biggest struggle, other then my mind (I’m looking at you ED!), has been my IBS kicking up a fuss with every damn increase pretty much. If any of you have irritable stomachs you know how moody you can get when your stomach decides to screw with you. It sucks, like hard. I’m learning the very weird limits my stomach has and I have had to adapt and try to work with it or else I will just spend all my days with excessive and painful gas, no hunger (because of said gas) and bloating. Sorry TMI but it just doesn’t make this process any easier physically or mentally.

I’m still pushing though and I have so much love and support plus an amazing coach who is backing me up and having patience with some of my irrational thoughts and whining. I will do this and I will come out on top.

….

So, I don’t know if you have been wondering what I look like at the moment as my selfie game has been weak for the past lil bit…

I was super hesitant to post this because I was afraid of what you might think. I was afraid that you would think I looked gross and too skinny. Well the fact is that I am too skinny but I’m moving in the right direction and I should be proud of the gains that I have made regardless of how small they may be. This is my starting point and I’m full speed ahead towards my goals.

The left was the first progress picture I sent to Mike. The right was two weeks ago. Again, the changes may be small and I’m still small but I’m making progress and he was super happy to tell me about it by putting this shot together for me to compare. 

If you have continued to stick by me during this dry period that is this semester, I appreciate it so much and I cannot say sorry enough for not bringing you the content you deserve. I hope that I can do better now that this crazy semester is coming to an end.

I love you all and lets hope my blog can be a bit more active once again because lets be real, my chattering and random thoughts just cannot be contained!

❤

-Chelsea

Dem Gains Doe…Fitness Friday

Hey Friends,

Another late Fitness Friday post due to workin my lil tush off all day. Gotta share those workouts and progress reports though right? 😀 I had a really good set of workouts again this week that involved lots of PR’s and just pushin around some heavy weights. Just the way I like it 😉 Without further ado, I give you my week of sweatin it out in the gym. Oh and don’t forget to check out the wonderful Lindsay and her Crossfit workouts over at The Lean Green Bean!

Sunday was Back and Biceps

Warmup: Decline weighted (30) oblique situps + weighted (7.5) leg raises on captains chair x 3 sets = Superset

Unfortunately for me, my lovely workout had to be cut a lil short due to having to run off to work for 11am. I really wish my gym’s hours didn’t change on the weekend….8:30 really?!? Ain’t nobody got time for that! Anyways, still managed to get almost all of it in before I flew out of the gym at 10:30 to bike to worky. I chose to do wide grip pull-ups at our squat racks this week as a lil challenge. This meant no added weight, but they did NOT need it. Wide grip is super tough all on their own. Still good numbers though as I managed to bang out 7-8 good reps for all 5 of my sets 😀 I did another week of dumbbell rows with the 40’s and they are still feeling pretty good, although my grip strength is terrible! Curse you small hands! It seems not matter how long I do back for, my forearm and grip strength just does not improve because my hands are soo small they are always straining. Any tips?

Monday was Chest and Calves as per usual

Warmup: Decline weighted (35) situps + pikes using the exercise ball x 3 sets = Superset

New PR on incline chest press! Well, actually I have tried the 35’s before, but never for this long and for this many reps, so I would say that is a gain for sure. 😀 I really surprised myself by working at about 6 reps per set. Much better than I thought I would do! If you take a closer look at the rest of my workout you can see a slight trend….My stamina starts to die off slowly. I decided to be all cocky and go for 35’s on flat bench directly after my incline press and, well, I was too optimistic for my own good. Without a spotter on my first set with the 35’s I struggled too much to get the weights up and was only able to do 3 (to get those reps up I did a drop set with 25’s). The second attempt was much better after a spotter helped me get the weight up. My dumbbell flies were still strong, but by the time I hit my last superset my muscles were a lil tired so I had to drop the weight on my peck deck by 5lbs. Ugh. 😦 I suppose that means I drained my chesticles (as my bf would call them) of all their energy.

Wednesday was Shoulders and Triceps

Warmup: Decline weighted (30) oblique situps + weighted (7.5) leg raises on captains chair x 3 sets = Superset

I decided to try something a lil different on this day. Nothing too crazy but I wanted to see if I felt the burn in my shoulders more if I did ALL of my shoulder work first and left dips to the end. So what happened? Well I was able to do heavier dips than normal! It’s been a while since I have done 90lbs in my lap woo 😀 I would say that was a success. What else was successful? Having the guy who was helping me to pile on my plates for dips ask me “you want ALL of that weight?” Yes, yes I do 😀 Still going hard with those 30’s for shoulder dumbbell press and still loving to hate that exercise 😉 Also, just cuz I added 3 sets of tricep pushups at the end of my workout…cuz I’m a workout-aholic. One thing I have thought about is whether I should isolate my shoulders and delts to one day and work tris in somewhere else. I really want to bring up my shoulders and because of this I don’t feel my tris are getting enough attention. Despite my biceps requiring only a few isolated exercises to pop, my tris are not as nice and need a lil more work. Hmmm things to think about.

Today (Friday) was Legs

Warmup: Decline weighted (40) situps + rope cable crunches (52.5) x 3 sets = Superset

Man oh man, do I ever kill my legs every time I work’em. I love knowing that I have demolished them, but the process is a tough one to keep plowing though. I PR’ed on barbell squats, upping my weight to 140. Yes, only 5 total points extra, but hey, any gain is a good gain! I was also informed that I tend to dip a lil to the right when squatting unintentionally. Not by much, but still something I definitely need to correct. One thing I want to mention is that if you have never tried supersetting a leg exercise with weighted wall sits, you are missing out on a world of pain! Please, tell me on a scale of 1-10 how much I have made you want to work those into your routine? Lol. I generally like to finish my workout with quad extensions to completely burn out that muscle and it’s even more ‘fun’ when I do those wall sits too. On a positive note, still rocking the minute and a half on those babies 😀

Well that’s it for tonight, time for my snacky before beddies. Mmmm peanut butta and chocolate Casein puddin 😀

Keep rockin those workouts!

-Chelsea

I may not be the strongest. I may not be the fastest. But I will be damned if I’m not trying my hardest.

Just Workin’ on my Fitness with Fitness Friday

Hey Friends,

Due to me just getting off of worky, this post will be short and sweet…just like me 😉 Like always if you are interested in seeing where this awesome idea of a blog event came from and for more fitness inspiration check out Lindsay’s page at The Lean Green Bean. You won’t regret it!

Anywho onto the main event…What did Lil Miss Fitness Freak do in the gym this week?

1. I kept going with my goals of pushing myself hard to maintain those 5×5 sets for my first major exercise of the day and let me tell you, it feels amazing to do so! I have made quite a few gains this week, which I will share as I go through my workouts
2. What happened when I didn’t sugar load this week? ….well I can’t give a confident statement that anything changed because I was dead tired this morning for my leg day due to not getting my snoozies on til late last night. Ooops. Despite the weights hitting me a lil bit harder, I still surpassed some of my normal weights and rep ranges! In any case, the experiment presses on and I will continue with the lesser amount of sugar next week too and keep you posted!

Alrighty, on to the workouts!

Sunday was Back and Biceps

Warmup: Decline weighted (30) oblique situps + weighted (7.5) leg raises on captains chair x 3 sets = Superset

New PR! I did 10 chin-ups without weight! Wooo 😀 I have never done that before as I find chins harder than the various pull-up variations. I was so happy! I also managed to bang out 4 sets of weighted chin-ups (10lb dumbbell between my feet). Another smaller accomplishment, although still means I’m gettin stronger, was that I got another rep with the 17.5’s for seated hammer curls. My biceps were killin it that morning as those were after triangle pull downs which also place a heavy emphasis on bicep action. Baby biceps are lookin to push some weight!Monday was Chest day + Calves

Warmup: Decline weighted (35) situps + reverse situps on the decline bench x 3 sets = Superset

This was the day…the day I was going to push those 40lb dumbbells for my decline chest press. Guess what? I did it! Biggest accomplishment and moment of self-pride for the week. First set I got 4 on my own (no guidance from spotter) than aid on the last rep. The second set was frustrating because my right wrist gave out on the 3rd rep and led to the dumbbell collapsin on my chest (to my spotter…thanks for saving my face!). That was annoying because I knew I could have done more! For the last set with the 40’s it appeared that I was fired up from the frustration from my previous set as I banged out 5 on my own and then on the 6th I had help from the spotter to complete the rep before my wrist gave out. (dumbbell splat again..). Sooo apparently my wittle wrist needs some conditioning. Breaking that mental block I tell you! Also, side note, by biceps killed after this workout. Still tired from Sunday’s action I suppose.

Wednesday was Shoulders and Triceps

Warmup: Decline weighted (30) oblique situps + weighted (7.5) leg raises on captains chair x 3 sets = Superset

I was determined to do more sets with the 30’s and so I ended up doing 4 and did really well. I would hit about 5 on my own which is better than last week even! Again, that self-concept is suuuper important for your lifting progress. My overhead barbell presses felt great that day too! The 50 bar seemed lighter (shoulder boulders be growin!) and I felt a really good squeeze on those lateral raises. Overall, great workout for the shoulders that morning. I was content.

Today (Friday) was Leg Day

Warmup: Decline weighted (40) situps + weighted leg raises on captains chair x 3 sets = Superset

Wowza was I ever tired this morning. Didn’t end up sleepin until fairly late last night so I walked into the gym feelin like I was rockin those heavy eye bags hardcore! Despite the fact that the sleepiness made the weights feel a bit heavier on the first round of my first exercise (perhaps that’s a mental thing too…?) I bumped up my barbell squats for the first super set (was workin with 105 the last time I worked them in with lunges) to 125! NOTE that this weight is directly following walking lunges using a weight that is more than me (100lbs). I then proceeded to push my leg press (close feet) up to 250 which is 20lbs heavier than the last time. It shows me that maybe tiredness is truly a mental block as well and doesn’t actually make you any less capable of progressing and doing well in the gym!

Anyways, like I said, short and sweet. I just want to mention that I love pushing this hard and seeing gains so I will continue to keep progressing and seeing what this lil body is made of! Perseverance can be tough but the results make it all worth it!

Keep sweatin,

-Chelsea

Fitness goals are attained not by strength but by perseverance. ~ Felicity Luckey