Tonight's Dinner & Snacks

I'm pretty thankful that I enjoy healthy-ish food. It would be a lot harder to maintain physique and training intensity if I didn't primarily eat lean chicken and turkey, enjoy oatmeal with protein powder, prefer my veggies grilled and have a strong dislike for most candies. That said, obviously you can do without any of these and still train hard and be healthy, but what I have found works for my body is following a *mostly* "healthy" eating plan. (Please note: I believe a lot of  eating plans are "healthy"... it's really about finding the one best suited for your body)

I haven't yet become brave enough to put a lot of variety in my diet to see how it affects my training. At some point I would like to. I am definitely not as strict as many fitness models or competitors. Whenever I view their "typical" daily diet on Bodybuilding.com -- or any other site that profiles and details such things -- their diets mainly (and I am not joking) are limited to:

• Lean chicken/turkey
• Fish (mostly tilapia and some grilled salmon)
• Veggies 
• Oatmeal
• Almonds
• Rice cakes with PB
• Brown Rice
• Egg whites
• Sweet Potato
• Small amount of fruit (banana pre-workout being the most common)

Now, I enjoy a lot of things on this list, but I definitely could not eat a combination of this every day. Even though I don't value variety that much, I most definitely need to have some "cheat type" foods in there. I try to make healthier versions of sweets such as Jamie Eason's Cinnamon Protein Bread and  Layne Norton's Brownies. But I also allow myself veggie chips, grits (since I'm in the south!) and PB Ice Cream (as we all know I love!) once in a while.

                                            

Tonight's Dinner: Grilled Chicken and Veggies                                      

One thing that I've learned from Ryan is that you can eat these sorts of things (amount depends on your body) and have it not negatively affect your training or physique. Now sure, if I were dieting down for a competition or a shoot then I would have to watch this a lot more closely. But if what I'm trying to do is build muscle and stay lean, its the overall diet that matters and not that I eat from the list above every day without exception.

Tonight's Snack Part I

Tonight's Snack Part II

At some point I may test out a stricter diet, just to experiment and see. But my feeling is I won't enjoy it enough to make a lifestyle change out of it...and that's the important part. 

A good article.

This article really gets at the core of what I believe needs to be focused on most in training. It was great to read and quite inspiring. Despite the "Testosterone Nation" title and about half the articles that focus on building a better chest and benching, I enjoy reading this blog and specifically this author's posts on it.


http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/learn_only_1_lesson_in_2013


Read it. Enjoy it. Live it.

New Trends I'm likin'.

So I've been training on the same program (ish) for roughly 7 months. I don't do the same exercises I did in the beginning, but I still have the same body part split and do many of the exercises I was doing months ago. That said, I like to add some variety to the workouts, especially when I see a body part lagging behind (like my arms). That said, here are some of the things I've been trying (and liking!) recently to keep my muscles guessing and my mind engaged.



Slow Negatives

In the past couple months I haven't played with the speed of movements at all. I was more focused on getting the movements down, the weight up, and sticking to the routine. Recently I've been trying slow negatives, which is where the negative part of the movement (usually the "down" in curling/pressing/body-lifting movements) is slowed down by at least a factor of 2 as the "up" or the contraction of the muscle.

I have been told many times that this part, the negative movement, is what actually builds the muscles (dominantly). I've also been told that time under tension (TUT) really matters. If these are true, then negatives seems to be perfect exercises for building muscles. I have been experimenting with them dominantly in the following categories:

• Bicep Curls with EZ Curl Bar. The slow negatives really get the muscles burning. In my experience so far, I can feel my arms burning more than they do with higher weights and low reps.
• Pull-ups. As you may recall, I really would like to be able to do 5 legit pull-ups (starting with 1 is good too!). In order to build more core strength, along with back and lat strength, I have started doing slow negatives on the pull-up bar after doing some assisted ones and trying unassisted ones. I have recently read a few T-Nation articles and Bodybuilding.com forums about the benefits of these as well!
• Shoulder presses. I love shoulder presses on the Smith machine to build my shoulders. Slow negatives really help keep me focused on the movement.

The final, and one of the most important side effects of slow negatives is that I have begun to notice a stronger mind-muscle connection. I have to concentrate on keeping the motion slow and am therefore, much more in tune to my body, the way it is moving, feeling, and what muscles are being activated.

Burnout Sets & Lifting to Fatigue

I recently started doing sets in which I didn't have a specific number in mind, I just wanted to go until I couldn't. I don't think this is appropriate for every exercise. Since I very easily dislocate my shoulders, I tend to keep this method to biceps, cable crosses and other exercises that don't put backwards torque on my shoulder.

• Bicep Curls with Dumbbells. I will do a series of exercises without stopping or pausing in between such as 6-8 regular alternating one-arm curls, 6-8 (or how many ever I can) half-curls (top half) and the the next 10-12 (or how many every I can) rotation standing dumbbell flyes exercises. This seriously gets my whole bicep & shoulder area burning. I can barely pick up a 10 lbs. dumbbell after a couple sets of these
• Cable shoulder rotation. I do these to help strengthen my rotator cuff so that my shoulders don't come out of joint as easily. I tend to do more reps -- until I can feel a good burn, and go through the sets rather quickly with little rest. 

Pushing to fatigue, when your muscles literally can't lift anymore because you've exhausted them is a good feeling. I find that this feeling is satisfying in the same way not being able to lift anymore because you've lifted your new 1 rep max for 2 reps is satisfying. Either way, you are awesome because you are pushing your body to its limits.

What new things have you been trying in the gym?

A day without DOMS

Now, does a day without DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) exist when you push yourself to the limit with most every workout and you're a relatively new lifter? The answer for me is "no". Not a day goes by where something on me isn't stiff or sore. It's a rewarding kind of sore, and one I think I would miss if I didn't feel it for a few days. With that said, I'd like to talk about the different days of DOMS for me, what exercises produce the most post-workout soreness, and if the soreness is necessary.


Day 0 DOMS:

((This is when whatever muscle group I worked out that day is sore several hours later.))

Typical muscle groups: Shoulders, biceps

My interpretation:

This type of soreness seems to happen only under a few circumstances--

• When I switch up training a certain muscle a certain way
• When I really overdo it
• When I've done some other activity that utilizes the muscles I train that day (for example walking a lot on leg day, or raking leaves on back day)

What I do: Usually I just take some Alieve if it's bad before bedtime and try to get A LOT of sleep.

Day 1 DOMS:

(( The day after my workout when I either wake up sore or it sets on early-ish in the morning ))

Typical muscle groups: Legs, Lower back, Glutes

My interpretation:

This type of DOMS tends to happen when I have a particularly heavy workout usually with:

• Heavy Squats
• Heavy Deadlifts
• High Rep Hyperextensions

Usually this means on Monday after Sunday Leg Day I will tend to feel it if I've pushed myself hard. It isn't a bad type of sore, but not the best type either.

What I do: Typically, I make sure to get fluids and a good amount of protein that day. I am also mindful that I need to take it easy and rest that specific muscle group more than others.

Day 2 DOMS:

(( This is two days after a lift and is by far the most common type I get ))

Typical muscle groups: All -- as long as I push myself!

My interpretation: My muscles are inflamed as a result of me tearing them through weight training. They will grow back bigger. Yay!

What I do:  Nothing! I kinda enjoy this type.



Day 3 DOMS:

(( Three whole days after a lift, so since I lift in the mornings if I am still sore after I get up and move around three days later...thats the "3-day-DOMS" ))

Typical muscle groups: Lower back, hamstrings/glutes

My interpretation:

I go back and forth between thinking it was good I pushed that hard and thinking it was bad that I pushed that hard. If Day 3 DOMS is worse than Day 2 DOMS, I typically think the latter. This almost solely seems to occur after leg day with a lot of hamstring/glute work or after a hard day of both DLs and Hypers combined.

What I do: Whine, mostly.

What are your days with DOMS like?

Sunday -- Leg Day

This is the last training day of the series that I do. The others include:

• Chest & Shoulders Day -- Tuesday
• Back Day -- Thursday
• Arm Day -- Saturday

Although I love all of the days I get to be in the weight room, some of my favourite exercises fall on leg day, namely squats, lunges, and glute bridges. Also, since I train legs on Sunday I never feel like I am in any rush to get to work. With that, here is my routine any given Sunday...

Yesterday I got 175 lbs x 3 on the squat! My 1RM is probably around 185-190 lbs. I'm super excited that I hit the first of my squatting goals for the New Year. Next up 196 = 1.75 x BW!

Search for HPCCC* (Part 2)

where HPCCC* stands for high protein chocolate chip cookie and the * denotes "the best".

Try 2:

This week I'm trying a recipe from the following website:

http://www.stephaniedotfitness.com/2011/06/oatmeal-chocolate-chip-protein-cookies.html

The picture featured on the blog look amazing...hopefully mine will look half as good!

Baking away

I actually didn't make any substituions in the recipes, except for the brand of protein powder. The other thing was that I didn't have any parchment paper, so I sprayed a little extra PAM olive oil on the cookie sheets.

Apparently my rack in the over is a bit too low for these cookies because the bottoms got pretty dark in under the allotted cooking time. Other than that, they baked pretty well.

Finished cookie!

Pros:

• Really good taste. They were sweeter than the last batch, which I like.
• I like the thinner cookie. Although drop cookies are good, I really prefer thinners cookies (takes me more bites to finish!)
• Easy to prep!
• Ryan really liked these!

Cons:

• Again, I don't really like the consistency. They have more of a cake/pancake consistency than that of a regular soft chewy cookie. The recipe did say this was to be expected though
• It might have been my oven or lack of parchment paper, the the bottoms cooked way too fast

Overall, a really good-tasting cookie with great macros! Next up will be peanut butter chocolate chip protein cookies.

Supplements -- the short stack

There was a recent article posted on T-nation about a new supplement stack. It cost 300$. That, I would say, is a lot of money. I'm not bashing it, because everyone is different and there are some who gain a lot more from supplements than others. There are also some who need it more because it gives them an edge on their very specific training goals. I simply don't happen to need a huge complicated stack...

Let me explain a little more. I in no way think that most supplements are bad or "cheating" and I definitely don't work out 100% efficiently or eat a diet such that I get absolutely everything I need from it. And I definitely use a few supplements as I will detail below. However, being relatively new to the lifting game, I am still at the point where I have done most of my growth through just learning the movements and learning what my body can do. I haven't really plateaued yet (which will happen eventually) and have seen a lot of "beginners gains" as they call them. Therefore, I haven't felt the need to sink a lot of money into getting a very detailed stack. I am not a bodybuilder nor am I training to be a fitness model or for an IFBB competition. If I were, then I would probably take more. For now, my body seems to do well with the simple basics:

1) Whey Protein Powder

Brand: Optimum Nutrition
Flavour: Vanilla Ice Cream

Comments: I've tried various protein powders before, but I always thought they tasted weird and chalky. They were one of those things that the first few sips were kinda good, the next one or two only ok, and then the last 3/4 of the drink just awful. Until I found this flavour from ON. I love this stuff. I can actually drink it in shakes although it's not my preferred method. Mostly I love having it every morning in my oatmeal along with some PB2 and I used it in everything I bake (protein cinnamon bread, protein brownies and protein cookies!) Along with protein it also features BCAAs and Glutamine!

I love you.

2).  Energy/Amino Acid supplement

Brand: Optimum Nutrition Amin.O Energy Chewables
Flavour: Fruit Punch

Comments: These little guys contain a bunch of vitamins, as well as certain amino acids (including the popular beta-Alanine which is said to improve performance, strength, and endurance) and caffeine  I take 2/3 of a serving (serving = 3) before workouts and 1/3 of a serving on non-workout days. I've noticed that it gives me energy, but not as much as something like coffee would. However, I don't get jittery from it like I do with highly caffeinated products. The drawback is that the beta-Alanine causes a side-effect called paraethesia, which is the tingling/itching and/or flushing of the skin. It especially happens to my hands and feet and once in a while, my face. It goes away quickly (within about 10 minutes) and doesn't bother me too much. The side effects decrease with more constant use or breaking up the dosages.

Energyyyyy!

3). Multivitamin

Brand: Optimum Nutrition Opti-women Multivitamin
Flavour: N/A

Comments: I definitely like these vitamins in the quality and price. However they have a very powder-y weird taste which I strongly dislike. I take them every other day.

Chick Vitamins 

4). DMAE

Brand: The Vitamin Shoppe
Flavour: N/A

Comments: These are a supplement which claim to help focus and mental acuity  I was exceptionally skeptical at first but was willing to try. I found, personally, they actually do help me focus. I am a lot less "zone-y" at work and in the gym.

Big Brain Supplements

I'm currently debating whether to take another BCAA supplement after the gym if I'm not having my protein powder then. Which one/ones do you like? What does your stack look like?

Searching for HPCCC* (Part 1)

....where HPCCC* = High Protein Chocolate Chip Cookies and the star denotes "the best". 

This is Try # 1:

I have scoured the internet with possible recipes for high protein chocolate chip cookies because it is one of my absolute favourite "sweets". Along with it are PB ice cream and brownies. I have already discovered Layne Norton's protein brownies on proteinpow.com which are fantastic. I sometimes just give into my ice cream craving and have Edy's Slow Churned PB Ice Cream, but my self-appointed task for the past several months has been to find a much healthier version of the warm-gooey-soft chocolate chip cookie with at least one of the ingredients being protein powder.

The first recipe I tried I didn't even bother writing about because it was so bad. The cookies were like liquid and stuck to the foil on the baking sheet. They also tasted bland and just like plain oats. So I went back to the drawing board (aka Google) and found another recipe.

The website: http://ittybitsofbalance.com/2011/09/04/chocolate-chip-protein-cookies/

I made a few substitutions in the recipe:

1. I used 2 TBSP Skippy Natural + 2 TBSP PB2 (to cut calories and fat while keeping the protein)
2. I used ON Vanilla Ice Cream Protein Powder (2 scoops = 2/3 c instead of 1/2 c)
3. I used 2 TBSP Organic Cacao Chips instead of 1/4 c regular baking chips
4. I used ~2 egg whites (Egg beaters) instead of 1 whole egg (reduces cholesterol and fats)

Macros: (per 1 cookie of 10)

Cal: 100

Carbs: 11 g

Sugar: 5 g

Protein: 8 g

Fat: 3 g

Fiber: 1 g

Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies

Pros:

• Recipe had few ingredients, all of which I could pronounce, and was quite quick and easy to make
• Cookies tasted good
• Ryan really liked them!
• Good macros
• Pretty filling (which is good when you tend to want to eat at least 5, like me!)

Cons:

• I personally didn't like their texture a lot. They weren't soft and gooey as much as oat-y and solid.
• Kind of small (even though filling)

Verdict: Cookies were good, convenient, and easy to make. Will definitely make them again, but I will be looking for other healthy protein cookie recipes as well.

Do you have any healthy protein cookie recipes you'd like to share with me?

Glute Bridges

Squats (Box, Front, Goblet etc..), Barbell/Dumbbell (Walking) Lunges, and Leg Press are pretty much the big three when it comes to upper leg development. Some would also say the DL and I would also agree, although I do this on back day. I could probably get most of my quad and hammie development mostly from the four exercises listed above, and I probably have. But I want to talk about one of the gems that I have recently incorporated into my workouts: the glute bridge (with barbell).


I began thinking about picking up the glute bridge as an exercise after reading several T-Nation articles ("Glutes Gone Wild") about it. It seemed like an exercise that I could easily do in the biomechanical sense. It wouldn't put too much strain on any one part of my body. So I tried it. Here is the analysis and results.


The method: 

Take a 30 lb (or whatever weight you feel most comfortable with) short barbell and lay it across your lap on a workout mat. Bend your knees and plant your feet on the floor. Keeping most of your weight on your heels, contract your glute muscles and raise your butt and lower back off the floor along with the weight. Basically, thrust your hips in the air without straining your back too much. Repeat.

Glute Bridges Exercise (minus barbell)

The pros:

• Really isolates the glutes better than any other exercise I've done.
• Easy to feel mind-muscle connection
• Doesn't require much equipment (if any).
• Really good workout for the glutes as primary muscles (a.k.a, nice firm butt!)

The cons:

• Can look a little weird doing (hip thrusting in the air when everyone else around you is doing crunches may elicit some looks)

A protein cupcake sort of day...

It's Friday. It's dark and rainy. It's one of those curl up with a blanket and read a good book sort of Fridays. It also is one of those "take the afternoon to try to bake protein cupcakes" sort of Fridays. I will do both.


The Book: Completed
Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Author: Stephen Chbosky

Since this book had nothing to do with food or fitness this time, I will not review it other than to say that I really liked it.


The Cupcake: Completed
Recipe: Frosted Coconut Protein Cupcakes
Author: Jamie Eason!

So, before I review this, I just want to say that I love Jamie Eason's recipes. And I should probably also say that since I hate coconut, I decided to make these cupcakes...my own way...which probably isn't the greatest thing.

They weren't terrible, but definitely not going to be made again, at least in the way that I did it. First I took out all of the coconut ingredients (coconut milk, coconut extract etc...) I replaced the coconut milk with almond milk which should have been a fine substitution. I also added in 1/4c of PB2 (regular) in hopes of giving them a peanut buttery flavour.

Experiments: Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't!

The good: They didn't taste too bad. They cooked well and the batter smelled really good. Plus, they are quite healthy for you.

The bad: The bottom of the cupcake and some of the sides stuck to the muffin wrappers I used. They didn't really have much of a flavour, in fact I thought they were pretty bland. Ryan thought they were ok-good. They definitely had the consistency of a "protein muffin" instead of a light 'n fluffy cuppy.

Protein Cupcake

Hopefully they will taste a bit better next time. Up next: Protein cookies! Wish me luck :-)

Favourites

Everyone has certain exercises that they love doing and ones that they don't love doing quite as much. Some of the ones that fall into the later category we keep on doing because they are exceptionally great exercises for us and others we stop because the gains we get from them don't outweigh the discomfort we feel doing them. I decided to record my 2-3 favourite exercises per body-part and some of my least favourites, if I still do them or not, and why.

Favourites:

Chest:

• Incline dumbbell press
• Machine Flyes

Back:

• Deadlifts (also counts in glutes)
• Hyperextensions

Biceps:

• One arm alternating hammer curls
• One arm alternating dumbbell curls

Triceps:

• V-bar cable pushdown
• Triceps extension (machine)

Shoulders:

• Shoulder Press on Smith Machine
• Dumbbell Flyes

Calves:

• Seated Calf Raise
• Calf Raise with Dumbbells

Quads:

• Squats!
• Lunges

Hamstrings:

• Lunges
• Kickback (Machine)

Glutes:

• Squats
• Glute bridge with weighed bar
• Deadlifts

Least Favourites:

1. Bench press (Chest) -- puts weird tension on my shoulder, don't like being inverted, hits hand nerve. Still try them every week, but I don't push it
2. Cable curl with any bar (Biceps) -- mechanics feel terrible. Don't do them anymore
3. Seated cable row (Back) -- tears up my hands. Still do them because I got lifting gloves and because they are a great exercise!
4. One arm triceps extensions (Triceps) -- how I dislocated my shoulder. Don't do them anymore!
5. Triceps dips (Triceps) -- too much pressure on shoulder. Don't do them anymore.
6. Machine curl (Biceps) -- my body never fits this machine correctly. Don't do them anymore. Replace with dumbbell curls and rope curls
7. Seated leg curl (Hamstrings) -- knee cracks and puts too much torsion on single leg. I do these with double legs on a different machine now.
8. Rowing machine (Cardio) -- I don't know why I hate this so much, but I do. I avoid it.

There aren't a ton of exercises I really detest doing, but I have learned that if I really don't like one, or feel like my biomechanics aren't suited for it, then I stop doing it. There are so many ways to hit muscles and stimulate growth without having to do some specific exercise you dread. And at least for me, I don't want to dread anything in the gym. It's one of the few places I'm usually content and I will continue to do the exercises I love (or at least like) to keep it that way. 

:-)

Dear Frat Boy Lifter

Today marked the first wave of "resolutionists" in the weight room/gym. Since I go to a university gym, and spring semester doesn't start until Jan 9th (Wed), the students didn't start coming back to campus until today. So my normal, 10-person Sunday morning gym somehow jumped up into frat boy haven with at least 30-40 people meandering around trying to lift weights. That said, I will warn you that this post will be my most sarcastic and "mean" one I will probably ever write. I just need to get it out there and then get over it.

The patient part:

Now, it's so important for me to keep in mind that I was there once too. Sure, I didn't start on Jan 1st (or 6th). I started somewhere in the beginning of the summer and so I am in no way one of the regulars (like Ryan who has been going there for the past 2.5 years straight), but I do feel some slight annoyance at all the newbies who have inundated one of the few places I tend to find peace, calm, and some amount of composure.

However, when I examine this thought more, it's not the fact that a lot more people who are learning to lift are there that bothers me -- I love that there are more people trying to get strong and improve their stamina and physiques. What I don't love is the entitled attitude that seems to be inevitably brought in by the college crowd.

The not-so-patient part:

That said, the following is a list of things I would love to have posted in the gym (minus all the sarcastic comments):

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Frat Boy Lifter,

While I'm glad that you are trying to better yourself by lifting weights and working out, please keep the following things in mind as you embark on what will probably be the next month of your lifting life:

• You don't need 9 guys to help you bench. They simply take up space around the surrounding 5 machines. You only need one to spot you, given that you are trying to lift way more weight than you've trained for in order to impress the other 8. Stick with a workout partner or by yourself and ask for a spot. And try to use appropriate amount of weights so you don't get pinned every single time.
• Spend more time lifting, less time talking. While we are all interested in how smart you are talking about micronutrient timing (that you no doubt read on some lifting forum and are passing off as your own), please save this 20 minute conversation with your bro for the dorm room and not while you're sitting on a machine that maybe someone else might want to use. 
• Rerack your damn weights. I know you've been kinda spoiled for most of your trying-to-pass-for-adult life, but the people who work at the desk are not there to pick up after you. Nor am I. I'm there to lift and part of lifting involves putting weights on AND taking them off the machine you are using. I don't want to spend 5 minutes taking off all 10 of your 45 plates from the leg press that you barely managed to do once before your round of high fives from your 9 spotters took place.
• Given that you don't rerack your weights, I'm guessing theres no hope to wipe down your machine after using it. No worries, I wipe them down before use. But seriously...if you are drenched and you have covered the machine in salty water, please consider using a towel when you lift. It'll make you look a little more hardcore and keep me from using up all the towlettes.
• Don't frantically drop (throw) your dumbbells near me. Or at all. Dropping the olympic bar/ weights are ok, as well as heavy dumbbells  Dropping things near your bench or under you: also ok. Throwing your weights as a sign of badassery is just stupid, and dangerous. If you have enough energy to throw your "heavy ass" weights at the end of your sets, you may want to add a few more reps in there.
• Keep the high fives and the screaming "YEA BRO" to a minimum. You don't need all that ruckus before curling 20 lbs. Save the screaming/moaning/groaning to when your body is actually about to give in and you need it. Also save the ostentatious high fives for after more than just a single pull up. Normal high fives are fine. Subtle ones are even better.
• Please realize that the best lifters in the gym are the ones that keep their head down and work hard. They aren't there to show off; they are there to challenge themselves. They ask for help or a spot when they need it. They take care of their bodies.  They work on their form. They don't care just about benching. They are who you should be looking up to. They are willing to help you if you ask for it. Please keep this in mind the next time you walk into the gym with your head up thinking you're the best lifter in the world. You probably have the capability to be one of the best, but first you need to get quiet for a minute, focus, and get ready to work.

Best,

Hannah

For the reading crowd...

I've always been a big reader. Unfortunately graduate school makes reading for pleasure tough, because every time I pick up a book, I feel like I should read one of my physics papers instead. Over this past winter break though, I decided that it was only going to be "fun" reading (even though some of my physics papers are pretty fun!) and so I started and finished a book and read several magazines. Most of the books I get are on fitness and food or dog training because those are two passions that I enjoy spending the most time on. Since this is not a dog training blog (although I hope to be starting one of those in the future!), I will focus on the foodie/fitness books and magazines I read.


Book: Integrative Nutrition
Author: Joshua Rosenthal

Summary:

This nutrition book goes over ideas and some details of a lot of popular diets as well as different cultural diets and ancient habits of eating. It is pretty comprehensive in the nutrition theories it covers and I liked the brief summary of each of them in which pros and cons were examined. It is more than a diet book in the sense that it goes over various eating models, but also delves into a lot about nutrition as a lifestyle. It talks about "primary" food which isn't really food but aspects of life that can be used to make your life more full and happy so that "secondary" food (aka actual food) is needed less as cravings to fulfill empty voids in your life. The author is a big fan of clean eating in the sense that the closer to the natural state a food is, the better it is for you. He talks a lot about the energy of food and where it comes from and concludes the book by detailing the benefits of cooking ones own food and a whole chapter on recipes.

Not my cup of tea, but contains interesting ideas.

Pros:

• Good background on various types of diets
• Interesting theory on why we crave foods
• Some scientific evidence presented
• Solid idea that everyone's body is different (bioindividuality) and therefor there is no one right diet for everyone.

Cons:

• Book has a lot of pretty "out there" ideas. Some things like how people tend to look like the food they consume which is called "transference", suggesting tarot card reading, and a mention of vitamin "L" where L stands for the love the food was prepared with and how this makes it better for you. Didn't back up any of these claims with scientific evidence, just anecdotal stories
• Lots of stories, not so much science
• Terrible editing (which really bothers me)
• A bit full of himself and his "inclusive" theory.

Magazine: Fitness Rx for Women (Feb.)

Cover Model: Jamie Eason!!! (she's my favourite fitness model :-) )

Summary: 

2013 New Year's edition has just as much great info packed into its pages as it usually does. I really love this magazine. It gives a good (yet still quite air-brushed) perspective on how being fit and sexy can look. The girls have a lot of muscle, even though they still have low BF, but what I loved most about this edition is that Jamie Eason was on the cover! Jamie has been a big inspiration of mine ever since I started lifting. Admittedly, I was one of "those girls" who was afraid of "getting bulky" and basically looking like an IFBB Figure athlete during competition. I didn't realize what was involved in actually accomplishing this look, but this was the picture I had in my mind as I refused to weight train seriously and loaded up on the cardio. Jamie was the first model that I looked at and was like "Damn, that girl is really fit, feminine, and doesn't look bulky". (As you can see below). This issue is filled with many good foodie tips and workout routines. I love all of their science-based snippets. If you haven't had a chance to pick up this issue yet, I highly recommend it!

Yay Jamie!

What are your favourite fitness books and magazines?

Training after a week off...

....is hard. In fact, I almost gave up today and just walked out. I didn't finish two of my typical exercises and only made 3 out of 4 sets on a few others. But bad gym days make good ones even more enjoyable. At least that's what I'm telling myself. :-)

I had a few minor successes today, but overall it really didn't feel great. I felt light-headed and dizzy a lot. I got an overwhelming sensation of weakness and my body felt heavy and lethargic. I realized I really didn't have enough energy to complete a full workout. So, with that said, here is my game-plan for the future.

When I take a week off, the week I come back to lifting I will:

• Focus on more low weight/higher rep work
• Not expect to hit PRs
• Focus on the movement of the lift instead of the weight. Using lighter weight and higher reps allows for more careful attention to the details, in my opinion.
• Realize that getting there is the important part. Practice, regardless of how much weight, is still practice.
• Take more rests throughout the workout (active rests for those who like to keep moving like me are also good!).
• Eat more
• Note: I'm beginning to be able to tell whether the fatigue in a workout is the good or bad kind and whether the bad kind is due to diet, lack of sleep, or just more of a mental/CNS exhaustion. Today, I definitely felt under-fueled so I will try to up calories and carbs for the next few days and see how Sat/Sun go.

Short post today since I need to go eat and get some sleep! Hopefully your workout today was less frustrating than mine!

Tuesday --Chest & Shoulders Day

I've gone over my routines for both my favourite day (Back Day!), my trouble spot day (Arm Day), but there are still two more lifting days in the week for me. Hence I give you this post: chest & shoulders day. Now this is typically done on Tuesday mornings before work, but seeing as yesterday was New Year's day and the gym wasn't open, I did this routine this morning. So without further ado....

Now chest & shoulders day used to be just "chest day". And to be honest, I really didn't like it at all. I don't like benching because it puts a lot of strain on my shoulder joints and because I don't like in any way being inverted. I also don't like sitting a lot in the gym, which benching, incline benching, decline benching etc... seem to need. I also prefer pulling to pushing movements, hence my love affair with back day.

To increase my motivation to get up early on chest day, I decided to make it chest and shoulders day, with a little bit of arms thrown in. I did this to:

1. Motivate me to go more
2. Build extra shoulder muscles because I think they look pretty sexy on both guys and girls
3. Give my weak spot (arms) another lift so I'm doing one hard arm day and one easy arm day
4. Because one of my New Year's Resolutions is to bench 75 lbs.

Now, I'm starting to like "chest day" a bit more. I love working out my shoulders (even though it's more of a pushing motion!) and I like thinking about building chest muscles as useful for maintaining balance with my back. The stronger my chest, the stronger my back can get without developing imbalances!

Now, I just have to prepare for the New Year's Resolution crowd about to hit.....

What does your split look like? Do you have a separate chest day or combine it with shoulders or arms?

2013

I have a thing about numbers: I hate odd ones. I hate prime numbers even more. I loved 2012, I will love 2014, but I really dislike the number 2013. But even so, I'm optimistic that this will be a great year for my diet and fitness goals. More importantly, I'm convinced it will be a much better year for me with acceptance, confidence and self-forgiveness. (At least this is one of my resolutions).

I love making concrete resolutions, so while "be more forgiving of myself" is definitely one of them, the others are more concrete.

Here are my fitness/diet goals for 2013:

1. Deadlift 1.75x bodyweight (196 lbs.) || Goal 1: 175 Goal 2: 200
2. Squat 1.75 x bodyweight (196 lbs.) || Goal 1: 175 Goal 2: 200
3. Bench 75 lbs.
4. Do 1 full pull-up
5. Do 5 full pull-ups
6. Run a 24 minute 5k
7. Take 10 spin classes and 5 yoga classes
8. Maintain weight within 7 lbs range
9. Get BF% to 16-19% (Athlete) and visible 4-pack
10. Attempt and perfect 10 new recipes/dishes
11. Write 100 posts on Bunny Ears!!
12. Learn to either like (or just suck it up) and drink more water 

So I technically added the last one in there because I couldn't end on 11 resolutions. That said, I hate water. I detest it. I don't know why. I also dislike lime and lemon in water. It makes it worse in my opinion. I don't really like Crystal Light or any of the squeezy flavoury things that you're supposed to add to it. So number 12 will be a big challenge for me.

You look so good...how come I don't like you!?!

I'm pretty excited though because I've already reached one of these! Last time I measured my body fat (several times) with calipers and then had Ryan redo it because I needed a second opinion, I was ~20% BF. Today when I measured I was 17%!!! Definitely got number 9 down! So I'm pretty stoked. Mostly, I'm just encouraged that I can do a recomp. My body weight has stayed the same, but my muscle mass has increased visibly while my BF decreased. This is technically known as a recomposition, where you don't change weight, just change the ratios between fat and muscle weight. I'm totally stoked these are the results I'm getting with the current routine I have!

Hopefully I measured right!

There were a lot of pretty major changes in my diet and fitness routine in 2012, and with them, a lot of drastic changes in my body. Some of these were good and healthy, while many others were not. In 2013 I look forward to continuing some of the changes I started in 2012 with lifting and running and cleaner eating, but doing it more slowly. I need to be prepared to accept much smaller changes and to be ok with seeing the same number on the scale and slower "progress" in lifting. As long as I keep looking longer term, I think it'll be a great year!