Shoulders and Back

3/5/2013
Target includes Shoulders, Trapezius (Traps) and Latissimus Dorsi (Lats) muscles...

Photo Cred - forum.bodybuilding.com

Today was another two hour long workout with the hubs. This, by far, is my least favorite workout and it's always a relief to be finished with it for the week. My arms are frail, but I'm working on them. I get frustrated because I feel like I should be able to lift much more than my arms allow.  



 

Close Grip Front Pulls - 30 lb. Weight - 30 Reps

 

 

T-Bar Rows - 35 lb. Weight - 30 Reps

 

Note to self: Flatten out my back!

 

 

Machine Rows - 80 lb. Weight - 30 Reps

 

Machine rows are my favorite exercise of the group. I wish I had more time to play with different grips (e.g. wide, reverse, etc.).

 

 

Dead Lift - 30 lb. Weight - 30 Reps

 

 

Lat Raise - 12 lb. Weight - 30 Reps

 

Note to self: Keep my head straight! I think I have a tendency to lean toward my left (weaker) side.

 

Reverse Overhead Lat Raise - 8 lb. Weight - 30 Reps

 

 

Plate Raise - 15 lb. Weight - 30 Reps

 



Wondering what the white stuff is on my arms?

I had a shoulder injury about six months ago. Day 1 of a new P90X program, I was doing Dive Bomber Push Ups when I dislocated my left arm from my shoulder. In the previous workout (Reverse Overhead Lat Raise), my arm has a tendency to slip backward with the weight in my hand. To avoid another dislocation, the hubs has to support my arms with his hands. He works out with me and uses corn starch as an assist to grip the weights, so I have to deal with corn starch hand prints on my shirt. ;-) I am hoping that eventually I will strengthen the muscles enough so I no longer need the help.

 

Dive Bomber Push Ups

 

Side Lying Lat Raise - 5 lb. Weight - 30 Reps

 

 

I can only use a small weight for any straight arm or overhead exercise because of the shoulder injury.

 

 

Upright Rows - 20 lb. Weight - 30 Reps

Shoulder Shrugs - 55 lb. Weight - 30 Reps

 

 

I always stretch and have a snack after every workout.

 

 

Much love! <3

 

 

-Theresa

An epiphany...

I woke up this morning feeling very thin, :-) so I decided to step on the scale to see if my suspicion was right. Lo and behold, I lost another two pounds! I really could not believe that I had lost weight after eating yummy chocolate cake last night. The cake itself really isn't that bad; it's the peanut butter-fudge frosting that I was worried about!


Then, I started to think about why I would have lost so much weight in the last couple of days. Today is Saturday, and apart from four hours of house cleaning and chores yesterday, I haven't done any type of exercise in the last 2 ½ days. In fact, I wasn't feeling well on Thursday and I just laid on the couch all day. I ate all my regular meals though. I track what I eat with Weight Watchers, so I'm always sure to eat my allotment every day. Therefore, the weight loss wasn’t because I went hungry that day.


Going back through my daily meals, I realized that I hadn’t eaten any blended fruit meals Thursday or Friday. This is a big deal for me because 1. I LOVE FRUIT! and 2. I usually have a meal like this every day. My most favorite type of fruit meal is blended frozen berries and grapes topped with granola, raisins, and papaya. With Weight Watchers, unsweetened fruit is zero points meaning that they don’t count against one’s daily point allowance. Anyway, I was tracking the point values for the raisins and the granola, but not counting for the fruit. Normally, this would be fine. However, for me, it is apparently a problem because I eat way too much fruit when I have the chance.


I haven’t had a problem losing weight in the last several weeks, with the exception of one week, in which I thought dried dates were zero points (they’re NOT, by the way). Thank you friend (you know who you are) for setting me straight on that one. The moral of the story is: I will be more diligent with tracking point values for fruit if I think I might be eating too much. ;-)


Back to the point, I lost another two pounds. Yay! I was calculating my weight loss earlier and it dawned on me that I have lost a whopping 99 pounds! I am one pound away from an enormous milestone in my weight loss journey. I never thought this was possible for me. At 255 pounds, three years ago, it was all a losing battle. I was tired EXHAUSTED all the time. I couldn’t run. I didn’t want to leave the house. I avoided cameras at all costs. I had preventable health problems. I was a miserable human being. I know what it feels like to think that weight loss goals are unattainable. Three years ago, if someone would have given me a chance to see the future me, I never would have believed it was me.

I don't avoid cameras as much anymore.

My advice to anyone who is struggling with weight loss is to stop making excuses, eat the right foods and the right portions, and move your tush! Do something…ANYTHING that will get you off the couch and moving around. If you simply can’t miss your show, walk on the treadmill while you watch. I would never be where I am today if I continued making excuses for why I couldn’t lose weight. I think that is the biggest obstacle for most people. If you get your mind right, it’s much easier to tackle such a task.


Much love! <3


-Theresa 

Arms and Chest

Monday 3/3/13

I did a nice two hour long arms and chest workout with the hubs today. We usually devote an entire workout to arms and then another to chest. However, today we felt like combining a few of our favorites from each. So, that's just what we did... 

Our first and second exercises of the workout were preacher curls and reverse preacher curls. The two look very similar, with the exception of hand grip. Palms face up during regular preacher curls and face down during reverse preacher curls.





Preacher Curls - 20lb. weight - 30 reps





Reverse Preacher Curls - 20lb. weight - 30 reps

 

Barbell Press - 30lb. weight - 30 reps

 

3-Part Curl (21s) - 15lb. weight - 21 reps

 

There are 3 sets of 7 reps in 3-part curls, hence the name 21s. Each set is a little different. For the first 7 reps, I begin with my arm extended downward, curl the dumbbells half way up with my arms parallel to the floor, and then return back down to the starting point. For the next 7 reps, I begin with my arms bent and parallel to the floor, curl the dumbbells to my shoulders, and then return to the starting position. For the last 7 reps, I begin with my arms extended downward, curls the dumbbells all the way up to my shoulders, and then back down to the starting position.    

Concentration Curl - 20lb. weight - 30 reps (each arm)

 

Machine Fly - 30lb. weight - 30 reps

 

 

Dips - 60 reps

 

 

Wrist Curl - 20lb. weight - 30 reps

 

 

Skull Crusher - 10lb. weight - 30 reps



 

Pull Downs (regular grip) - 60lb. weight - 30 reps

 

 



To wrap it up, I did some stretches and ate a small, healthy pre-workout snack. I was exhausted after this workout. Now it's your turn. Go move your tush!

 

Much love! <3

 

-Theresa



Leg Day!

Okay, so I still cannot walk normally today. Two days ago was leg day and everyone knows what that means; the inability to get off any toilet unequipped with handicap bars for the next couple days!

Here's the breakdown...

Warm-up

TreadClimber - 25 Minutes

 

This was my solution to waiting for the hubs to get done with his school work so he could spot me and be my photographer.  

 

Heavy Squats & Half Squats

Heavy Squats - 50 lb. weight - 30 Reps
Half Squats - 100 lb. weight - 30 Reps

 

I think these are the worst workouts of the group, so I like to get them done at the beginning of the workout. My knees pop and crack the whole time, but these MUST be done!

 

Leg Presses

120 lb. Weight - 30 Reps

 

These are my favorites. I can lift much heavier weights this way because I don't have to use my balance and my back is completely supported. They also kick my butt...literally.

 

Lunges

20 lb. Weight - 30 Reps

 

I look the most ridiculous doing lunges. I stumble throughout the entire workout. This time, I actually fell. My knee gave out from under me on one of the step-backs. It's a good thing the curl bar was fully supported on my shoulders or else I could have really injured myself. I think I'll stick to forward lunges. Is there really a difference in the two? From what I have read, forward lunges are actually harder. Step-back (reverse) lunges are actually recommended for beginners. Nevertheless, it's forward lunges for me from now on.

 

Leg Extensions



75 lb. Weight - 30 Reps



 

My photographer (the hubs) caught me in mid-extension. I'm not that much of a weakling. :-)

 

Leg Curls

35 lb. Weight - 20 Reps

 

I'm not sure why I have such a difficult time with this exercise. I can only curl 35 pounds and have difficulty making it to 30 reps, like I do with all my other exercises.

 

Calf Raises

150 lb. Weight - 30 Reps

 

Calf raises are the easiest exercise in this group (for me). I stand on a 2x4 to get more range of motion. The only problem with this exercise is the pressure it puts on the back of my neck...it really hurts. I have a makeshift pad from a blanket that I use, but I really need to invest in a barbell pad.

 

Stretch

Much needed!

 

And that's all for this workout. Please send me your best wishes in hopes that I can walk tomorrow! Also, if you have any constructive criticism, please leave me a comment. I would greatly appreciate advice or tips.

 

Much love! <3

 

-Theresa



My Story

To start off, I have been on a long weight-loss journey; I am talking from 2009 to present. It all began when my daddy passed away in October 2009. :,-( He suffered a lifetime of heart disease and other related issues. He never took care of himself, binged often on decadent treats, smoked nearly his entire life, and all around mistreated his body.

It wasn’t until he passed away that I knew I had to get serious about my health and, to start, I NEEDED to lose weight. I am 5’8” tall and, at the time, I weighed 235 pounds! My heaviest weight was 255 pounds. I had high blood pressure and I was taking medication to lower my numbers. Prior to his passing, I lost 20 pounds ‘sort of’ trying to lose weight. However, It took months to lose that little bit of weight. Once the initial grieving was over (that fog that you go into when a loved one passes), I became serious about my health.

 

(End of 2008)

 

January 2010, I signed up for Weight Watchers' online program. I followed the program exactly as outlined. I did very little exercise because I was lazy and had little-to-no energy for that sort of thing. I got creative and found ways to divvy up my points in a way that kept me full. I went to bed hungry once or twice because I either miscalculated something or ate something 'blindly' without knowing the point value. Aside from those few times, I never felt deprived. It really wasn’t that bad and the weight was melting off.

To make a long story short, by mid-2011, I weighed 160 pounds. That’s a whopping 75 pound loss on Weight Watchers and 95 pound overall loss! I tapered off on the weight loss at that point following a non-weight-loss-related surgery and six month recovery period.
 

(End of 2011)

 

Once the healing was done, I started working out to P90X. I started the program three separate times and quit, on average, around the 60th day. I never did finish an entire 90 days of the program. I started and stopped a couple exercise programs over the course of about a year, but I kept mostly active. During this time, I slacked off on the nutritional aspect of losing weight because I figured since I was working out so much, I could eat what I wanted…not entirely true by the way!

August 2011, I became pescetarian. This is someone who eats a vegetarian diet with the addition of fish meat. The diet was energizing, but I still needed my blood pressure medication. My goal was to lower my blood pressure and get off the medications that my dad once took. I knew that the high blood pressure and medication was causing internal damage. I began to do more research to help resolve this issue.

February 2012, the hubs suggested we try a plant-based diet. A plant-based diet is one that excludes consumption of ALL animal products (i.e. meat, dairy, eggs, and for some, honey). I thought he was crazy and I resisted, but not for long. I am one for supporting him and decided to back him in his decision. It was a decision that changed my life. My blood pressure was finally normal! I went to see my doctor as soon as I could and asked to be taken off meds. That was the most liberating day of my entire life. Since that day, I have never looked back.

Even so, I did not lose the remaining weight on this lifestyle change. In fact, I actually gained about seven pounds. So, here I am today three weeks back into the Weight Watchers way of life and I have lost the weight I regained. I unofficially broke 160 pounds. Today, I did a ‘cheater’ weigh-in and I was 159 pounds. I officially weigh in every Thursday, so I will post a little update at the end of each week.

I hope you enjoyed reading. I look forward to inspiring others, even if it is just one person, to get healthy.

Much love! <3

-Theresa

 

:-)

New to this...

I'm new to blogging and new to a consistent workout schedule. I intend to dedicate myself to strength training exercises at least three days out of the week for (at least) the remainder of this year. My exercise regimen will include at least three days of cardio as well. I also intend to document my journey on this blog to give myself some extra motivation and accountability. I will record each exercise, rep, set, weight, measurements, and whatever else comes with it. I’m excited to put my workouts on “file” because it will allow me to go back through my prior workout history and see what worked and what did not. I can then make changes or additions. I really need this blog because I have a bad habit of starting something, working at it for a few weeks, and then just giving up. I don’t know what leads me to quit; it just happens. Anyhow, this blog is my tool. It was recommended by a friend that I start the blog and I really think it is just what I need. I have people that I do not want to let down. I have hopes that informing those people of my schedule and intentions through this blog will deter me from falling off track again. 

In addition to my weekly goals, I will find a new workout video to try each month. I intend to make it something different each month. For example, one month will be Zumba, one month Pilates…yoga…boot camp…belly dancing, etcetera. I am on the lookout for something different and exciting to keep my interest. I get excited about trying new things, so why not incorporate that feeling into exercise? Feel free to follow along in my journey. I would love to have you…maybe inspire you. Time for me to Move My Tush! Let's do this together.

Much love! <3

-Theresa

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