Week Five, 2014: Turning Corners

I re-read my blog post from 2012 when I made it to Week 5 the first time I took a stab a diet and exercise.  The post can be found here.  When this adventure was brand new to me in 2012, it took me 5 weeks to cut out coffee creamer, diet soda, and actually cook my own meal for the first time.   I also indicated that I hadn't noticed any physical changes, though I had so much energy (didn't need to take naps before my afternoon workouts) and my skin and hair looked shiny and smooth.

I am so proud that the groundwork I laid in 2012 has stuck with me through now.  I never did go back to coffee creamer (I drink my coffee black, if ever) or diet soda; I cook ALL my meals now; and I continue to have great energy levels.  I actually can't remember the last time I felt like I needed a nap?

Anyway, enough reminiscing... :)

Weekly Update:

The updates for week 5 are as follows:

1. My back bothered me for much of last week, likely because my muscles were fatigued and sore.  And they were fatigued and sore from my workouts of last weekend -- the hike and the run, in conjunction with my normal workouts last week, really did me in.  So I took a rest day on Friday and Sunday -- Sunday I literally did nothing but lay on the couch and watch the Olympics.   My back has thanked me a million times over, and I'm ready for my workouts this week!
2. I have continued to increase the pace of my runs and the intensity of my lifting -- back in 2012, I rarely increased my weights.  I was much more focused on completing my target of 4 sets of 12 reps.  This year, I am trying to do it the right way - continue to increase the weight so I can barely crank out 8 reps per set.  Last Thursday I did a 45lb barbell bicep curl, which is the heaviest I have ever done.  I did 4 sets of 8 reps and just about died on the last 2 reps of each set. I feel it in my biceps today.
3. I played volleyball on Saturday and it kicked my butt.  I really love that sport, but it's becoming abundantly clear to me that I much more prefer the safety and structure of gym training.  Whenever I get on the beach, I fear I'm going to do something to tweak my back.  I'm beginning to really question allowing volleyball in my life -- at least, at a competitive level.  I wore a heart rate monitor on Saturday.  It was actually for only 3 hours of game play (I forgot to turn it off for almost an hour afterwards.)  And this includes about 20 minutes of rest between games... beach volleyball is seriously serious.  (See photo below).

1820 cals in 3 hrs of volleyball & 51 mins of laying around

In other news, I've begun doing research on how I can honestly start putting on real muscle.  I understand now that I need to have a caloric surplus to grow, and that scares me.  I only have about 4 or 5 pounds more to go before I am sufficiently lean and ready to start amassing muscle.  I just wish I could burn fat AND gain muscle at the same time.  Is that not possible?  I dunno.  I'm still trying to figure it out.  I'm down about 2 lbs from when I first started, which puts me right on track for loosing 1/2-lb a week, which was what my goal was, and I achieved it by taking in the caloric load that the online calculators suggested, which is nice.  I just fret about how to turn that corner -- it's something I have never, ever, EVER done.  I have NEVER willingly ate a caloric excess to gain muscle weight.  I don't know how to do it, I don't know what it will look or feel like.... getting into shape has only ever looked and felt like a moderate restriction and change of macro composition to limit carbs and unnecessary fats.  

Because I am beginning to notice changes in my body much sooner than I did back in 2012, I credit that to knowing what to do this time around, based off of what I learned to work in 2012.  Because of that, within the next month or 2 I should be in a position to take on a new project: learning how to grow muscle.

I feel fortunate in having a boyfriend who's been there and done that, but something about his indoctrination to Crossfit has me cautiously skeptical of certian tips or his, or fitness advice.  Regardless, we've discussed it and he's going to help me build a workout program once I've leaned out enough.  I really appreciate his gentle encouragement not to cheat.  As I've stated before, it's difficult sometimes because I'm trying to cut while he is trying to bulk, so I have to be mindful not to follow his eating patterns when we're together, and he has to be mindful not to influence me, either.

I cannot, positively CANNOT wait to get my leanness knocked out and start the journey to putting muscle mass on.  That has been something I've looked forward to now for many years, and I hope to figure it out and share my journey here for others who are in the same boat as me now.

What's In Store This Week?

This week, I plan on pursuing the following goals:

1. Stick to the same diet as last week - it worked well.  
2. No cheats for Valentine's day.  Last weekend I had a huge sushi feast on Saturday night, and not the best adherence to my macros on Sunday.  So I'm gonna be good on Friday :)
3. Continue to drink a minimum of 80 fl oz of water a day.
4. Increase my weekly run to 45 minutes at a 1.5% incline and 6.8 - 7.0 mph consistent pace.  2 Weeks ago I was going 45mins at 1.0% include and 6.0-6.2 mph.  Last week, I did 45 mins at 1.5% @ 6.5-6.8 mph.
5. Increase ALL my lifts by 5lbs-10lbs (depending on muscle group) with the exception of my barbel curls, which I just increased by 10lbs last week.
6. I want to try carb cycling - low carbs on my non-training day by cutting out my afternoon banana and replacing it with a protein shake.

I think those are manageable goals that keep me on track, for now :) Omg... I PROMISE TO POST PROGRESS PHOTOS!!  I just need to pick them out and edit them all together.  Stay tuned!