Rachel's Diary

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staySTRONGnCARRYon

staySTRONGnCARRYon

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Name: Rachel
Age: 25
Height: 5'8
Current Weight: 201lbs
Goal Weight: 155lbs

Started off my weight loss journey at about 305lbs a few years ago. Cardio 6 days a week for an hour & a half a day. Would walk the dogs for an hour each day. Did not count calories but cut out soda, fast food, junk food etc.

After about a year, Cut down to 3-4 days at the gym & still walked the dogs for an hour almost everyday. Started tracking calories through a genertic app. Slowly introded weights about a year & a half ago. I was able to get down to 178lbs.

Last March, a change in jobs, depression, & anxiety took over. I was also over-doing do it (I am a dog groomer. I was not lifting at the knees properly, constant bending, not taking breaks etc.) So I also hurt my back. So between the new hour commute to & from work, depression, & anxiety, & back injury I always made excuses not to go.

Since March I have gained 23lbs & I am devastated.. I am so upset that I was so close to my fitness goals & I let it slip right through my fingers. I'm completely disgusted with my body, I cannot even stand to look at myself in the mirror. I am so depressed about it & finding it so hard to get back on track ..
 
Welcome to the diaries! This is a great place for accountability and getting encouragement. You've done an amazing job so far - losing over 100 pounds and keeping most of it off for a few years is seriously hard!!! Please pat yourself on the back for me. Tracking calories is really important for me - I can't just wing it because my tendency is to overeat. Getting back in a routine with exercise and diet will get you where you want to go. What is your plan?
 
I had a long week this week, gunna try to get to the gym today or tomorrow (ideally both!). I wanna start of slow. Do weights 3-4 times a week with cardio. Will have a day to day plan by the end of today hopefully! Gunna try to post a few times a week here!!
 
Hi, Rachel & welcome to the forum. You should be very proud of how far you have come already & how much you have achieved. Depression & anxiety suck. Please don't be so hard on yourself. It is much more difficult to find the motivation to lose weight if you are not looking at yourself with love. You deserve to be slim, fit & healthy & you can do it. 23 lbs regained, leaves you 46 to go, with 104 lost. WOW!!! You know how to do it obviously. You now also have a support crew xoxo
 
I'm not sure what is best to do.. split workout routine or full body.. I want to make sure I am working everything properly. I plan on doing some research but in the meantime I am going to do full body 3 times a week.. this is what I will be doing for weights. I will increase weight slowly every week & record my progress.

triceps cable pushdown-
wide grip lat pulldown-
dumbbell overhead press-
hammer curls-
dumbbell flat bench press-
one arm row-
dumbbell side bend-
forward front dumbbell raise-
inclinded crunches-
lunges-
sumo squat-
leg press-
leg extension-
 
My weekly workout routine starting this coming Monday will be...

Monday- Full Body Workout
Tuesday- 30 mins cardio at the gym / walk the dogs for 30 mins
Wednesday - Full Body Workout
Thursday - 30 mins cardio at gym / walk the dogs for 30 mins
Friday - REST
Saturday - Full Body workout
Sunday - 20 mins of Yoga / REST
 
full body can work well but if it is making your sessions extremely long then that is when you will need to change to a split routine. Are you doing any exercises for lower back ? I also do not see any exercises to maintain the health of your rotator cuff and serratus both important to maintain good shoulder function.
 
Not to discourage you, but 13 exercises does seem like a bit much. If you're doing 3 sets for each, that's 39 sets! I dunno bout you, but 21 sets total is plenty for me, and sometimes pushing it. I might go for the split routine.
 
Trusylver said:
full body can work well but if it is making your sessions extremely long then that is when you will need to change to a split routine. Are you doing any exercises for lower back ? I also do not see any exercises to maintain the health of your rotator cuff and serratus both important to maintain good shoulder function.
Click to expand...

My lower back is already so strained at work I'm nervous to work it at all right now. I've been having issues with it.
 
Jenniquest said:
Not to discourage you, but 13 exercises does seem like a bit much. If you're doing 3 sets for each, that's 39 sets! I dunno bout you, but 21 sets total is plenty for me, and sometimes pushing it. I might go for the split routine.
Click to expand...

Think so? I did to but I always feel like I'm never doing enough!
 
This was my other option that seems a little more realisic to me. I don't really want to be killing myself for more than an hour at the gym. I was running into knee & back problems because I think I was over-doing it..


12 Week Workout Plan


MONDAY
[upper body A]
------------------------
barbell bench press -
barbell row -
dumbell lateral raise -
wide grip lat pulldown -
triceps push down -
curls -

30 mins cross trainer


TUESDAY
[lower body A]
-----------------------
leg curls -
leg extension -
leg press -
crunches -
leg raise -

Bike 20 mins


WEDNESDAY
[REST]


THURSDAY
[upper body B]
------------------------
dumbell bench press -
one arm pull up-
pull ups-
dumbell row -
shoulder press -
triceps extension -
dumbell curl -

30 mins cross trainer


FRIDAY
[REST]


SATURDAY
[lower body B]
-----------------------
squats -
leg extension -
leg press -
standing calf raise -
plank -
knee raise (abs) -

30 mins cross trainer


SUNDAY
20 min yoga workout
 
Perhaps your plan is something you can work up to. It must be difficult to have let things slip for a while and expect to get back to full on hardcore without some adjustment. That would seem real daunting to me and seriously undermine my motivation. You have a formula for success that has worked for you and I understand that it makes sense to you to return to what you know. It is not necessary to do 1.5 hours of cardio 6 days a week or to spend hours in the gym to halt the slide and make some progress towards your goal.

Like you, I don't count calories, but I do find that getting active automatically gets me focused on improving my eating habits. What makes my plan work for me is patience. Perhaps the gym environment motivates you to workout, but have you tried to have a home workout alternate? There are body weight exercises and calisthenics that can give you a decent workout without the commitment and the performance demands you put on yourself to meet the levels of workout you previously managed. Hauling a couple pails of water up and down the stairs a few times can get your heart pounding pretty good. A couple gallon milk jugs of water can be great resistance and cardio needn't be further than an extension cord held at a convenient length as a skipping rope. I'm sure you can get to your goal calmly and surely by getting into the swing of things a bit more gently, both starting out and in the long run. It's great that you can workout in a gym and it may get you quicker results, but not an absolutely necessary element to succeed.

You've got this.
 
Hale said:
Perhaps your plan is something you can work up to. It must be difficult to have let things slip for a while and expect to get back to full on hardcore without some adjustment. That would seem real daunting to me and seriously undermine my motivation. You have a formula for success that has worked for you and I understand that it makes sense to you to return to what you know. It is not necessary to do 1.5 hours of cardio 6 days a week or to spend hours in the gym to halt the slide and make some progress towards your goal.

Like you, I don't count calories, but I do find that getting active automatically gets me focused on improving my eating habits. What makes my plan work for me is patience. Perhaps the gym environment motivates you to workout, but have you tried to have a home workout alternate? There are body weight exercises and calisthenics that can give you a decent workout without the commitment and the performance demands you put on yourself to meet the levels of workout you previously managed. Hauling a couple pails of water up and down the stairs a few times can get your heart pounding pretty good. A couple gallon milk jugs of water can be great resistance and cardio needn't be further than an extension cord held at a convenient length as a skipping rope. I'm sure you can get to your goal calmly and surely by getting into the swing of things a bit more gently, both starting out and in the long run. It's great that you can workout in a gym and it may get you quicker results, but not an absolutely necessary element to succeed.

You've got this.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the words of encourgement.. I usually start the day off pretty good & usually okay for lunch. Its when I get home or if I don't go to the gym, I'm kinda like 'well I already let myself go this far so whatever.' Happened to me tonight .. I refuse to step on a scale until the end of ths month where I hope I'll have made some sort of progress, but I just feel awful..
 
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