Brandi's Diary

B

Brandi

0
Hi all :)
So I'm not the best at putting things down in writing but I'll do my best!

About 2 months ago I decided I had to get more active, eat healthier, feel better! I have never been a runner but I decided I was gonna start. I started training (running) 2 days a week using a train for a 10k program I found online. Basically its doing intervals of run/walk, increasing the running as you progress. Things have been going pretty good in that respect. I am going to try out a 5k trail run at the end of August and see how I do. (yikes!)

3 weeks ago I started a 'bootcamp' that a friend of mine runs. I love it!! I look forward to every session. mon, tues, thurs, fri; with thurs being more of a "flush day" Around the same time I made the proper changes in my diet, up till then i wasn't eating regular meals or enough quality ones. Now I am eating 5-6 times a day, healthy choices with protein carbs and a fat at every meal. Logging my meals as well. Well in that short time my clothes have gotten too big! I'm sure I started some of the slimming with the running and didnt notice but wow I'm happy! Now I would like to tone up and build strength.

Right now tho the only problem is, I tore my quads (so I was told) doing sprints a week and a bit ago so my running is set back slightly as well as some aspects of my bootcamp. Frustrating haha:canadaf: HAPPY CANADA DAY!
 
lol first canadian i found im in Toronto for school but hometown is northern ontario

i also started my big change in life 3 weeks ago now i workout 6 days a week and try to watch what i eat and record it using fitday lol small world both canadian and started exercising around same time

i guess i will have to make a diary to and post my progress with pics im on day 21 of a 90 day program so i will post my day 13 pics because it took forever for a cam lol vs my day 30 then 60,90 and so on

keep it going and hopefully you will get great results like i am

and happy :canadaf: day to you too

Chris
 
Welcome to the forum. It sounds like you're about to try some strength training - I know pairing cardio and strength training helped me progress. And of course, good results are some of the best motivators in the world.
 
Today bootcamp got cancelled which was a bummer. I went for a long walk today running errands and grocery shopping, 4 hours in total. Tried out one of the HIIT programs I read in here but my quads were still a bit too sore so I did some skipping, crunches and pushups. I got Fitday PC yesterday and began logging all my food on there, its very interesting to see what I actually consume in a day. I found out after using the calorie calculator that I may be consuming a bit too low of calories. which explains why I have been more tired overall (still have enough energy to workout tho) and have dark circles under my eyes after a good nites sleep. Either that or maybe I'm lacking some nutrient? Looking forward to bootcamp tommorrow!:boxing_smiley:
 
I'd be interested to know what your take on Fitday PC is. I've used the website, but haven't been interested/motivated enough to keep the logging going.
 
I have to say so far I love Fitday PC (maybe a little obsessive LOL) it has totally helped me really SEE what I'm eating. I made some of my meals I eat often into custom foods so its easy and faster to just click on them.

K so today I have decided to set some real goals besides just the general one of "getting healthier". My stats:

female
29 years old
5'4" tall
122lbs
23.6% body fat
21 BMI

the calorie calculator gives me this:
Maintenance:
1849 Calories/day
Fat Loss:
1480 Calories/day
Extreme Fat Loss:
1110 Calories/day

the last couple days my calorie intake has kinda floated in between fat loss and maintenance. I would like to get down to 18% body fat as my first goal (more from there after but just to start!) build muscle and strength, as well as my endurance. From what I have read so far here it sounds like I should concentrate on the fat loss first. Aim for about 1480 cal/day, lots of cardio/HIIT. Currently in bootcamp which has a bit of everything in it except weights. Today we skipped for probably 15 min in total, 10 straight min of core/ab strengthing with no rest (thought I was gonna die lol) about 50 push ups while moving, running stairs for 5 min and some plyometrics(?) he called them (jumping basically). How does this sound so far to you guys?

Here is a breakdown of what I ate today:

730am
singapore spinach omelete 96cal, 0g fat, 4g carbs, 19 pro
coffee 4cal, 1g carb

1030am
15 almonds 123cal, 11g fat, 4g carb, 5 pro
1oz dried cranberries 94cal, 25g carbs

1pm
turkey wrap (turkey, ww tortilla, romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, mustard, hummus, hemp oil) 407cal, 21g fat, 45g carbs, 19g prot

330pm
1cup fatfree cottage cheese 180cal, 1g fat, 12g carbs, 30g protein
1cup sliced strawberries 50cal, 1g fat, 12g carbs, 1 g protein

6pm
slice banana loaf 263cal, 6g fat 49g carbs, 3g protein

bootcamp from 7 til 8

8pm
protein shake in water 132cal. 1g fat, 2g carbs, 30g protein

9pm dinner
boneless skinless chicken breast on salad (romaine lettuce, arugula, spinach, green onion, cucumber, 1T hemp oil, 1T balsamic vinegar)
198 cal, 15g fat, 6g carbs, 11g protein

TOTALS
1561cal, 57g fat, 163 g carbs, 117g protein
40%carbs 30% protein 32% fat


So from reading this I can see what I should have cut out (it was bad planning on my part) If i had cut out the hemp oil on my wrap and the banana loaf it would have brought my totals down alot! Oh well now i know!

If anyone has actually read all this thanks! LOL Any feedback would be greatly appreciated :)
 
While Fitday and other programs like it are excellent tools, it's easy to become obsessed with them, so be on guard for that. Also, you might consider setting yourself a performance goal rather than a weight goal because the latter is apt to have you thinking the fewer calories is best, but it's not. You need to eat to lose weight - sounds contradictory almost but it's true. Having a performance goal might be better because then you'd be able to make a better connection between your activity and the food that fuels it. In other words, the better and harder I'm able to work, the more calories I'm able to burn, which, as a byproduct, will help take off weight. Speaking of activities, some strength/weight training (as in a full body workout 3x a week) might be beneficial - I know it's worked wonders for me.
 
Thanks Stingo I really appreciate the feedback :) Yeah I think I will start doing some wieght training 3 days a week along with my bootcamp. I'm not totally clear on what you meant by performance goals. Would it be like having a goal to be able to run 10k comfortably? more push ups? things like that?
 
I forgot to log my day today lol. I felt great all day today. Ate well and found that eating a banana on the way to bootcamp helped with my energy level. Bootcamp was good, got to beat up on my trainer :boxing_smiley: (i love punches and kicks!) and noticed a huge improvement on my cardio level when we do the running. Still can't skip worth a damn tho! Feel like I just can't get the coordination down...I'll keep working on it. I think I may do a short pilates workout tonite to help with my core strengthening.
 
Brandi said:
Thanks Stingo I really appreciate the feedback :) Yeah I think I will start doing some wieght training 3 days a week along with my bootcamp. I'm not totally clear on what you meant by performance goals. Would it be like having a goal to be able to run 10k comfortably? more push ups? things like that?
Click to expand...

Yup, that's exactly what I meant - it might help give you focus for your training and your nutrition.
 
If you're looking into strength training, you might want to take a look at The New Rules of Lifting, by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove. The book is pitched to guys, but the information presented applies to both men and women.
 
So the last couple of days have not been very productive fitness wise. Helped some friends out at the restaurant (working) and then my regular job. I did make sure to eat well tho. My next month of bootcamp starts at 7am tommorrow morning which is way better time wise for me. I will now be able to start doing some weight training in the evenings. One of my friends is concerned that 3 days of weights (FB) a week with my 4 days of bootcamp may be over training. Any thoughts on this?

I am having a bit of confusing about the nutrition aspect. I feel like if I lose more wieght (i'm 122 lbs right now) that it would be too much. but I want to be leaner with more muscle. So would I cut calories or increase them to build muscle? lol I almost think I have been reading too much stuff and its all getting jumbled in my head and confusing me!:11doh:
 
I think the general rule is:

Calorie deficit = weight loss (cutting phase)
Calorie surplus = muscle growth (bulking phase)

Brandi said:
I feel like if I lose more wieght (i'm 122 lbs right now) that it would be too much. but I want to be leaner with more muscle.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing what you meant is that you want to be around the same weight but to look leaner at it. You might want to get your body fat percentage checked as that will give you a better understanding of where you're at. Gemerally though I think people usually get their weight down first then start building muscle. Depending on what you do for bootcamp, you might be able to count it as your cardio if it keeps your heart rate up.
 
So I had a great day today all around :) Up at 5:45 headed to bootcamp, it was the begining of a new session so we did fitness testing. I was very happy because my fitness has improved alot over the last month! Afterwards me and my girlfriend and our trainer (who is also a good friend) went and had breakfast on a patio and talked about what we wanted to achieve from bootcamp. I talked to him about weight training to see what his thoughts were and he was all for it! (i knew he would be lol) Me and my girlfriend made plans to go ocean kayaking later in the day, but once we got down there it was too windy and they wont rent them out then. So instead we spent the afternoon enjoying the sun :cool: Went to the gym this evening to set up my FB workout with a trainer but there was none available this evening, I have an appointment tommorrow evening and he will set me up and go over everything with me. So I went for a run on the treadmill and did some core exercises while I was there. ON my way out I stopped out the supplement shop just to check somethings out. While I was talking to the girl I impressed myself with how much I knew just from reading the forums!!! So thanks guys, you have already taught me soo much and I have just started!!:hug2:

So I didnt do tons today but I feel great because I'm focused and excited about everything I'm learning, and how I'm feeling!!
 
Haven't posted in a few days but heres the low down lol
My appointment with the trainer at my gym went well but just a small misunderstanding haha, he thought I meant a full body work out spread out over 3 days, so after 45 min of legs he was like k and your done! I said "uhmm what about the rest of my body??" But it worked out he gave me a list of exercises to do split into 3 days and gave me a run down of the exercises. So tuesday I had a great morning of bootcamp then a great leg workout!

Wednesday there is an off day for bootcamp so I hit the gym and started on my FB workouts. I left the legs off that day since we had trained them pretty hard the day before. This is what I did:

Front raises 3 sets of 15 8lb
bicep curls 3 sets of 15 12 lb
pushups 3 sets of 15
crunches 3 sets of 15

felt good, but I know there is more I should do cuz that definetly didnt hit every body part. I am going to get the book Stingo mentioned and research a bit more, if I can find it! :) Until I get a chance to do that I will do what I have from the trainer.

Today (thursday) was cardio day. Felt great!! I'm loving my energy level and the way I'm feeling all around. Excited to do more!!
 
What'd you do for legs? Just curious...

Just to give you an idea of what NROL has, this is workout A from the BreakIn program - you'd do 2 sets of each exercise with 60 seconds rest between each exercise.

Squats

Static Lunge supersetted with
2 Point Dumbbell Row w/Elbow Out

Pushups supersetted with
Swiss Ball Crunch with Medicine Ball
 
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On tuesday the legs he had me do was this:
lunges, wall sits, one leg press, leg extensions...with skipping or using a step up and down in between each set.


Today was great!!! I had boot camp in the morning, we ran and did stairs for a bit, then did some drills that consisted of punching (jab, cross, 3 knees), running while passing a ball with your feet, crunches passing a ball to your partners hands, push ups around both ways in a circle, pull ups on a bar(?), walking sideways puch ups, punching up wards while kneeling...hopefully people know what I meant by that lol. Had a bunch of skipping in there, then did some work with resistance cords: biceps, triceps, shoulders

Afterwards I had breakfast with my trainer, then I headed to the gym.

Wallsits
1 leg press
tricep extension
incline press
crunches
leg raises
ran 20 min on the treadmill

its a start but i still know somethings lacking in the workout, doesnt seem as complete as it should be (FB). Still looking for that book (NROL) .

I do have to say tho, lately I have been feeling the best I think I have ever felt in my life, and I think people can see it too. It seems like people are more drawn to me (I dont mean that in a vain way lol), picking up on my energy i guess. My sister said on the phone she can hear how great I feel and how happy I sound. So I must be doing something right:)
 
Hey Brandi, keep up a good work. This is a fun thread to follow.

If you want to find a cheap copy of NROL Amazon.com has it for $17 while in bookstores it is for $25

What is this FitDay thing? It sounds helpful I might start logging my diet in the journal on these forums too.
 
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It sounds like your wallsits are like ball squats against a wall. Are they? Sounds like you had a good workout - are you increasing weights with each strength workout? What are your sets/reps like?

That's one thing I can say about NROL, its full body workouts are indeed full body - and with an economical 6 exercises per workout.

Dave, I'd just get it from Amazon, since the more time you're without it, the more time you're without the benefits of using it.
 
AZN_Dave said:
Hey Brandi, keep up a good work. This is a fun thread to follow.

If you want to find a cheap copy of NROL Amazon.com has it for $17 while in bookstores it is for $25

What is this FitDay thing? It sounds helpful I might start logging my diet in the journal on these forums too.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much Dave:)

checkout fitday.com, it has an online version of the program to help you log your food. I found the PC version much better. I make custom foods out of most things I use so it is more accurate (by using nutrition labels and things)
 
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