It was a somewhat busy day but I didn’t get much done. I did the shopping in the morning (Costco, groceries, school stuff) and then had planned to work outside. The plan was to trim the pots and fertilize as I went. I found as I started that most of them really needed water. Since I can’t get around all the pots in one day usually (lots of pots) I decided to fertilize. By the time I was done I realized that it was pretty freakin’ hot out (not complaining, just noting). So I chased the cats in and finished up the last of the zucchini, making it into more cake.  After lunch I did some back-ups on the computer, had a swim, basically just wasted time until dinner. Tomorrow and Monday I’ll have to work on trimming up the pots again. Also, if I’m going to do my walking outside tomorrow I might have to do it pretty early. We’ll see how that goes.

Food for the day:

Total: 2165 (28% fat, 34% carbs, 33% protein)

Breakfast: two fried eggs, zucchini bread, jam, nectarine (437)
AM Snack: blueberry bran muffins (198)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, eye of round roast, cheese, nectarine (508)
PM Snack: hummus, carrots, jack daniels & lemonade (240)
Dinner: baked chicken with tomato/wine sauce and cheese, edamame, salad w/dressing (438)
Late Snack: protein shake, peach, nectarine (344)

Just adding in the bread and cake recipes….

A Recipe for Weight Loss: Chocolate Zucchini Cake (with protein powder) <— recipe

A Recipe for Weight Loss: Zucchini Bread <– recipe

btw - don’t mind the picture for the bread - I had to take a couple of frozen slices out to take the picture!

Well, the good thing is that I’m not in too much pain tonight so that should mean that tomorrow isn’t too bad.  The only annoying issue is one of the muscles on the top of my right knee.  It is a little painful, so I hope that it’s transitory.  Hmmm… now I’m thinking the workout should have been harder.

Oh, yes, I made more high-protein zucchini cake this afternoon (and will probably make one last batch tomorrow).  With my mother eating it as well we will go through it pretty fast.

Total: 2414 (26% fat, 37% carbs, 35% protein)

Breakfast: two scrambled eggs, zucchini bread, jam, plum (396)
AM Snack: protein shake with frozen berries (282)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, mustard, smoked turkey, cheese, nectarine (433)
PM Snack: hummus, carrots, chocolate zucchini cake (209)
Dinner: turkey/beef burgers(2), roll(1), condiments, salad w/dressing (782)
Late Snack: protein shake, peach yogurt sorbet (312)

I started with a 5 min warm-up outside. Then did:

A: Barbell Squat (did front) - 75t/8, 75t/8
B1: Static Lunge, rear foot elevated - 20e/15, 20e/15, 20e/15, 20e/15
B2: Push-up - 15, 15, 15, 8… 7 more
B3: Barbell Romanian Deadlift - 75t/15, 75t/15, 75t/15, 75t/15
B4: Dumbbell Bent-Over Row - 35e/15, 25e/15, 25e/15, 25e/15

35 mins total… oh my god. And I think I even took a few extra seconds of rest here and there.

HR Monitor: 273 cals, Max 161 (90%), Min 138 (78%)

I had problems with the barbell squats - almost dropped the bar the first set. Guess I was leaning too far forward. This was a hard workout for me, really hard. The only one that perhaps wasn’t too tough was the deadlifts. On looking back I suppose I should have pushed them up a bit. The push-ups, as expected were the hardest part. I had to take a little, umm pause, during the last set. Yep, we’ll call it a pause! No matter though, I have a better feel for the next workout.

Nothing super exciting today. Baked some zucchini bread this morning. Fixed the problem I had last time (too dry) and it turned out really quite well. Took about 30% of the calories out from the original recipe (I’m going from memory here since it’s not actually in front of me). That’s not too bad considering that 1/3 of the remaining calories came from the fruit (dried cherries) and nuts (pecans) which I specifically didn’t cut back on.

Not much needed doing outside, so just looked around and such. Okay, there needs to be some general trimming and tidying done, but it was cold. The forecast is calling for warmer and dry weather over the weekend so I’ll do it then. I did get my sheet ready for Stage 7, workout 1 and OMG - just realised that I’ll need to do 60-80 push-ups. Yikes. Not sure how I’ll do with that part of the workout. I picked some starting weights so we’ll see if I can go higher or if I’ll have to go lower. Or collapse on the floor after the first set of 15-20 push-ups….

Food for the day:

Total: 2145 (21% fat, 41% carbs, 32% protein)

Breakfast: protein pancakes, jam, peach (369)
AM Snack: zucchini bread, butter (151)
Lunch: whole wheat pasta with sausage sauce and parmesan cheese, peach (523)
PM Snack: hummus, carrots, jack daniels & lemonade (264)
Dinner: pork souvlaki, broccoli, butter, salad w/dressing (526)
Late Snack: protein shake, peach yogurt sorbet (312)

So, what did I do today? Oh yes, I took a trip out of town to the old city I used to live in (about 30 mins away) to see about getting my winter coat altered. I can likely take in the tops later on that I want to but the coat requires some professional help. My mother was going there anyway so it wasn’t like making a separate trip. She’s going to charge me $15 so I figure it’s worth a shot. I considered just wearing it the way it is, but… she’s taking ~12″ of material out (ie. 3″x2 on each side). So I think it had to be done.

I also went over to the college to get my Student ID. All I can say is “yikes”.

I also picked up my books while I was there, and broke down and bought a recommended calculator for my math class. It had a few more functions than my stats one, just what I need! Came home, had a late lunch and then sat and read on the patio for a little while. Oh, and I trimmed some of the leaves off the big tomato plant hoping that I could get a few to ripen.

And I found a ripe one! Along with a few more that might be ready in a few days. That’s extremely late for here. Usually you’ll see tomatoes at the start of August. The plants have grown beautifully and there are a lot of tomatoes on them, just not ripe ones. It’s just been a weird summer.

I’m not sure what’s on the plan for tomorrow. I’m thinking maybe I’ll do some baking and if it’s not raining (who knows anymore) I’ll work in the garden for a while. I also need to get some kind of log ready for my workout on Friday. I haven’t got a clue about what weights to pick, with them going to higher reps, lower rest and all. Hmmm… I’ll have to think about that. I know I pushed the weights up in Stage 5 since, hell, I only had to lift them 4 times at once.

Food for the day:

Total: 2164 (29% fat, 35% carbs, 32% protein)

Breakfast: two fried eggs, honey oatmeal bread, peach (407)
AM Snack: fruit & nut squares (147)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, bbq pork, cheese, peach (502)
PM Snack: hummus, carrots, flatbread, jack daniels & lemonade (330)
Dinner: boneless chicken thighs with curry sauce, broccoli, butter, salad w/dressing (494)
Late Snack: protein shake with blackberries (284)

Well, although it wasn’t a truly busy day I got a few things accomplished. I cleaned off the rest of the desk area and there’s only a few things I need to find a home for tomorrow. The most important thing though… I finished all of my math upgrades to a level better than 80%! This is something I needed to have done before my first math class (Sep 8th). I was going to wait until I picked up the textbook tomorrow but decided to take one more crack at the section that was giving me troubles. I got 100% on it (yay me) and then figured I might as well try the next two. They were easier and (oh my) I think in the last section I actually remembered some of it.

So tomorrow I’m out of town for a bit, seeing if I can get my winter coat altered. I decided not to take her anything else as I’ve got enough that’s ‘close enough’ for the fall. These are (for the record) most of the clothing that were in the ‘too tight’ category in the spring. In fact, there are really only three or four pieces that still fall into that category, and a whole bunch in the ridiculously large one. However, I thought I’d leave some of them until later. I can decide as I continue to lose weight if I want to have them altered or get new stuff. The catch is I can probably have them made smaller cheaper until I’m of a size that I can shop in regular sizes. So I’ll probably go that route.

Food for the day:

Total: 2153 (27% fat, 36% carbs, 34% protein)

Breakfast: protein pancakes, jam, peach (334)
AM Snack: blueberry bran muffins (198)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, mustard, turkey, cheese, plums (457)
PM Snack: hummus, carrots, fruit & nut square (239)
Dinner: szechwan beef stir-fry, salad w/dressing (698)
Late Snack: protein shake with mixed berries (227)

Well, I really didn’t do much in the afternoon. Continued with the tidying up (managed to clear a shelf on the bookcase) but there’s still more to do. I’m such a pack rat, something my mother is as well. This means we have a house full of stuff that neither of us really wants to get rid of.

After that just looked around the garden, but nothing needed water, and had a swim. Tomorrow I have to try on some clothing as we’re visiting the family friend who does alterations on Wednesday. I want to see if she can take in the coat I’ve worn for the last two winters. It’s way too big (I think it was even big when I bought it two years ago) but it’s very lightweight and very warm. I’m going to see if there are any tops she can take in as well.

Food for the day:

Total: 2408 (21% fat, 41% carbs, 35% protein)

Breakfast: protein pancakes, jam, peach (350)
AM Snack: protein shake with frozen raspberries and blackberries (263)
Lunch: sausage sauce with whole wheat pasta and parmesan cheese, plums (582)
PM Snack: hummus, carrots, chocolate zucchini cake (225)
Dinner: szechwan beef stir-fry with rice (723)
Late Snack: protein shake with blackberries (265)

I warmed up with a 5-min walk outside. Then I did:

A: Barbell Romanian Deadlift/Bent-over Row - 120t/4, 120t/4, 120t/4, 125t/4
B1: Partial Single-leg Squat - 4, 4, 4, 4
B2: Wide-grip Lat Pulldown (Pullover) - 42e/4, 42e/4, 42e/4, 45e/4
C1: Back Extension (Good Mornings) - 55t/4, 55t/4, 55t/4, 55t/4
C2: YTWL - 15e/4, 15e/4, 15e/4, 17.5e/4
D1: Swiss Ball Crunch (Long-arm) - 4, 4, 4, 4
D2: Prone Jackknife - 4, 4, 4, 4
D3: Lateral Flexion (Hannah side 3) - 4, 4, 4, 4
E: Prone Cobra - 120sec, 120sec, 120sec, 120sec

And then I did the HIIT. Finished up with a total session of 100 mins.

HRM: 446 cals, Max: 171 (96%), Avg: 102 (57%)

I went outside for the D exercises, the Prone Cobras and the HIIT portion so that the silly cats could come with me and do their usual lurking around.

I’m so glad we’re past these exercises. During the rest periods of the prone cobras I’m going down to a resting rate (saw 57 at one point). I feel like I could nod off during that part of the routine. However, I know that if the earlier part was harder that I wouldn’t have anything left for the HIIT. I did back off on the weights for the good mornings though as my shoulder killed last week. It’s not the lifting the weight up, but getting it behind my head. Until I have a squat rack (and that may be a while) I’m not going to try lifting heavy over my head.

So, this is where I started in Stage 3 compared to where I ended in Stage 5.

First, the A set:

A: One-armed Dumbbell Snatch - from 20e to 45e
B1: Dumbbell Single-leg Romanian Deadlift - from 20e to 35e
B2: Barbell Bent-over Row - from 75t to 125t
C1: Dumbbell Single-arm Overhead Squat - from 10&5 to 45&22
C2: Dumbbell Incline Bench Press - from 20e to 40e
D1: Plank - 90sec (45-degree) to 120sec (45-degree)
D2: Reverse Wood Chop (on floor) - from 25t to 45t

The planks I started with a 45-degree (done badly) and then switch to 20/30 sec floor planks (also done badly) so at some point I decided to go back to 45-degree and work on form. So, little to no improvement is obvious, but I do feel the difference when doing them.

Then, the B set:

A: Barbell Romanian Deadlift/Bent-over Row - from 80t to 125t
B1: Partial Single-leg Squat - N/A
B2: Wide-grip Lat Pulldown (Pullover) - from 27.5e to 45e
C1: Back Extension (good mornings) - from 25t to 80t
C2: YTWL - from 5e to 17.5e

On the good mornings I didn’t start them until #2B in Stage 3, and I actually did 25/45/50 pounds on that first day. I also backed off on them today back down to 55lbs as I’m having troubles getting the bar over my head into the starting position. I decided not to risk really screwing up the shoulder just to push the weight up.

Well, that’s it for Stage 5. I’ll be moving on to Stage 7, probably Friday as I usually do for new Stages (that way I can be in pain all weekend and not worry about it).

So I was really slow getting into the swing of things this morning, and so I got rained on during my first 30-mins of walking. It wasn’t a heavy rain, but I chased the cats inside and finished off on the treadmill. It was a good choice as it was raining quite steadily by the time I was finished. Of course the sun came out during my second set on the treadmill. What weird and wonderful weather we’re having this summer.

I’m not sure of my afternoon plans but I’m thinking maybe I should just give up and try cleaning up inside. Nothing will need watering so it might be a better plan.

From the HR monitor:

So, I got the bookcase organized enough that I had some space to unpack the school stuff I’d collected. I did realize though that I will likely need to clear off a shelf for, umm, books. Oh well, plenty of stuff to do next week!

Food for the day:

Total: 2403 (25% fat, 35% carbs, 35% protein)

Breakfast: protein pancakes, jam, peach (335)
AM Snack: blueberry bran muffins (198)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, turkey meatloaf, salsa, cheese, cheese, peach (515)
PM Snack: cheese spread, flatbread, jack daniels & lemonade (276)
Dinner: sirloin steak, corn, butter, salad w/dressing (852)
Late Snack: protein shake with blackberries (226)