Lakergirl's J.. It all starts here

[lakergirl]

Hey everyone, Im pretty new to this site, and to the whole exercising thing.. I would like any/all comments from you wonderfully knowledgable people. Before I begin, I'll say a little about my goals here. I am a complete fitness novice here. I am starting weight training tomorrow, with my friend who is on the basketball team I manage, she is crazy jacked, I hope to someday look half as cut as her. I am also starting out with cardio, and am trying to change my eating habits. Reading all of the journals out there (esp you JEN!) I have nothing but upmost respect and admiration to you all, but I will say my diet will never be quite that rigid, nor will my training ever be that intense (or at least I dont think I will get there). So basically, this is for me, and its for me to feel good about myself, and get into shape, and be happy. I would LOVE any suggestions, but please dont make fun of me and the level I am starting out at.

Breakfast
-English muffin with natural peanut butter
-2 egg whites
-1/2 grapefruit

Snack
-Strawberry smoothie (strawberries, ice, water, skim milk)

Lunch
-Salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, chicken, and a bit of cheese
-Non fat italian dressing

Snack
-A serving of barbecue crispers

Dinner
-Chicken
-Vegetables

And Ive drank like almost 4 nalgene bottles of water, this is another new thing for me, Ive completely eliminated everything besides 1 glass of fruit juice (such as cranberry) a day.

Because I was running a basketball tournament I was not able to get my cardio in today, but Im going early tomorrow to make up for that. Tomorrow will be my first realy entry I guess.. I jsut wanted to get this started now
~Lakergirl

[atherjen]

Hey girl! I am SO glad to see that you decided to start a journal here, smart move for sure!! your on the right track girl and you defintly having the determination!
couple suggestions I might make on the diet, is maybe a lil protein with that shake. cottage cheese or something would be easy!
is the english muffin whole wheat?
and ahh crispers arent the best choice either! but hey, as you said yourself this is for you,and nothing too rigid or drastice!
I look forward to following girl!

[SurfinAmy]

I bet your friend IS jacked!!!! I've been trying to get one of my friends to lift with us for months!!! (so how long has she been trying to talk you into it??? lolol)
Good for you!
-Amy
p.s. I can't ever imagine anyone on this board making fun of ANYONE on their lifts!!! I never got anything but encouragement

[Lady C]

Glad to have you aboard! We're all here to help. Even if it is emotional support, which is all you need sometimes, the mental part of this will kill the best intentions and ruin the diet and workout. Good Luck and ask questions :

[Iain]

No-one is going to make fun of you. Everyone here seems to get that we are all at different places. Welcome to the board, starting a journal is a really good opener.

[lakergirl]

Hey everyone,
well I had my first ever real work out today, it was triceps and chest, and Im so sore that it feels funny typing, but its SUCH a good sore, ya get what Im saying? Im sure you all do.. Anyhow, it was great this morning, my friend was awesome encouraging, the only thing that shocked me and really pissed me off was the fact that I was so lopsided on my right side (im left handed). I couldnt life ANYTHING with that arm and it totally messed me up. Anyway, tomorrows schedule is Legs/Biceps.. ok here we go

-23 minutes of cardio on bike
-3 sets of 10 reps for each exercise btw-
-incline benchpress on smith machine -60
-flat bench press on smith machine -60
-Incline dumbbell press -10 I couldnt do ANY more than this without my right hand quivering!
-Flat dumbell press -10
-Cambered bar tri extensions (this KILLED!!)
-Cambered grip bench press
-Cable pushdowns
-Fly press (I think its called that?) -80

Diet
-Breakfast
Whole weat sesame seed bagel with non fat jam and low fat cream cheese

Snack
Strawberry smoothie

Lunch
veggie baugette (whole wheat, but I ate it with the top piece of the bread off of it, tomoato, cucumber, carrot, lettuce and .5 slice of cheese)

Snack
fruit to go
3 crackers with peanut butter

Dinner
Salad with non fat dressing
chicken carbona (I ate maybe three bites, I wasnt hungry, this was the healthiest thing the cafe was offering tonight!)

Lots and lots of water!!
Anyone have any good ideas for what to put in pitas/wraps or good soups to eat. I have not gained teh freshman 15, in fact I think I have lost a bit, I felt really good today, when looking in the mirror I can start seeing definition in my arms and my pecs, like between my collarbone, straight down, if that makes ANY sense to anyone. I was really upset with the 10 pounders, but I guess it will get better with time.. I will make sure it gets better with time. It was really fun today,and challenging, but so good. I am really sore today, but I cant wait for tomorrow! Also, any ideas to keep the time passing for cardio? I get sooo bored. My discman was stolen last week too!! So I need a solution and hockey highlights only satisfy my eye for so long!! thanks so much everyone!! Ill be back tomorrow for sure hopefully with sore legs to take my mind off of my arms and chest!!
~LG

[sillyme]

Welcome lakergirl. Nice to have another woman on the board. Looks like your working out hard

[cursor]

Yeah! Glad to see that another is dedicated enough to get a journal going. :

[atherjen]

Heya girl! glad to see you had an awesome workout! hope you have another great one tonite!
sore any today?
hmm some ideas for those pitas. go for whole wheat, get it with grilled chicken and a ton of veggies. a lowfat sauce or salsa on it too if you wanted.
as for cardio.. LOL I hate it too.. boring! that sucks that your discman was stolen! hope you get it back! hmm how about getting a good magazine or a good book to read? or perhaps even going over notes from class. I prefer HIIT cardio just because I have to stay so intuned to what Im doing that the time passes so much quicker!

Have a great day girl

[lakergirl]

wow! I woke up today, and I didnt think I was going o be able to dress myself!! My arms were soo sore, as was my chest wow! It felt so good though, and I was really looking forward to todays workout, legs and biceps. I got to the gym at 6:40ish to discover I had left my id/membership card on my desk, the powers of persuasion were beyond me that early in the morning so I had to walk all the way back and get my card, I ws kinda out ofmy pumped mood by then. So I get in the gym, my friend is going away on the treadmill, waiting for me, so I do my 22 minutes of cardio on the bike (I was freaking TIRED today!!), then got ready.
Im not sure about the names of everything, so what I dont know I will just explain.
Again, 3 sets of 10 reps

ok, quick question, when you add weight to the bar, you only count what is on each side right, like not the total from both sides?

Workout
-22 minutes cardio on bike

-Hamstring extension/pullback (you lay down on your stomach on the bench thing then you pull the weight up with your legs?)
-30

leg extension? (where you sit in the chair thing and put your feet under teh weight thing and pull your legs up so they are straight out with the weights on top)
-45

sqats on smith machine (I guess the bar weighs 45 like a normal bar, so 45 plus whatever you add)
-20

-Machine where you lay down and put your legs in the air on a plate thing, nd you do calf raises and then like bring your legs into your chest with the weight bearing down, works your quads I think.
-25 calf raises three times with 45lbs.
-then 3 sets of 10 with the 45lbs for the things where you bring your legs down to your chest.

That was all we had time for today, as the gym was busy and I had class at 8.Tomorrow is shoulders and back day, with a bit of biceps thrown in there too.

Im starting o feel it in my legs already, but Im loving th feeling, It IS addictive!!

[atherjen]

Hey girl! its so great to hear your workouts are going awesome and your already becoming addicted!!

oh and when you add the weights to bars, I count the total weight. so barweight +added weights. then just count 1dumbell. for example say I was doing db militray press I would just say 10/40 (10reps with 40lbs) .

Things are looking great, keep up all your hard work!
(and dont forget your membership card tomarrow! lol )

[Wolfnatas]

Originally Posted by lakergirl

Anyone have any good ideas for what to put in pitas/wraps or good soups to eat.

Here's a good pita/wrap recipe stolen from Cursor's corner. He probably wont mind that I took it, but if so this may be the last you hear from me. I eat them all the time, and change up the recipe often. I usually add in some peas & spinach, and double the salsa.

chicken-stuffed pitas

Finely dice the cooked chicken breasts and mushrooms. ° Slice the olives. Combine these three ingredients and mix in a bowl with the corn (thawed), brown rice (steamed), salsa and olive oil.° ... uh ... the wine is for me

Stuff the six pita halves with equal portions.° Lay each on on it's side and press flat, using a spatula or turner to make sure the ingredients don't squeeze out.

Place on a hot grill (we love cast iron) slowly brown both sides (slowly, because you'll want to make sure that you warm the stuffing as well as toast it). There is no need to use oil when browning.°

Portion out on serving plates. ° Don't eat more than you are due. Put away any excess before sitting down to enjoy your food. Leftovers can be pulled out of the fridge at any future meal and toasted/heated up on the grill.

nutritional data (p, c & f units are grams)
106p 000c 14f – skinless chicken breast – cooked (16 oz)
003p 003c 00f – mushrooms (4 oz)
006p 038c 02f – corn, frozen (1 cu)
000p 005c 13f – olives (3 oz)
000p 000c 09f – olive oil (2 ts)
005p 043c 02f – brown rice, cooked (1/2 cu, measured after cooking)
000p 024c 00f – salsa, Pace Picante (3/4 cu)
012p 051c 06f – wheat pita pockets, Sara Lee (3 ea)
caloric breakdown: 33%p, 41%c, 26%f
each 1/2 pita : 22p 27c 08f = 268 calories

Make sure that the food components that you buy and use have similar nutritional profiles. Pitas, for instance, can have drastically varied values. I'll try and list brand names, for your reference, whenever possible.

Enjoy!

[lakergirl]

Well well well.. AM I EVER SORE TODAY!! my ass is KILLING, and I am currently feeling muscle groups I didnt realize I had. Also, somehow I managed to KILL my left calf yesterday while I am almost fine in my right.. hmm.. My left side is my dominant side too. oh well.. It feels good to know I was working hard.
I had class at 8 this morning, and a friend called me from BC last night at 2:30, so I skipped cardio today, WHOOPS!!! my leges were pretty sore anyway.. So, I went in at 1:30pm for shoulders and back. This was my first time doing shoulders ever, and I felt it. wow

Workout
shoulders
-Lateral raise -3 sets of 10
-5 (!!!!!) pounds in each arm I was sooo pissed, I felt crazy doing this, Im not sure Im doing it right, like i couls get my arms out but then it felt like I had to cringe to PUSH them up and parallel if that makes any sense.
-Shoulder press -3 sets of 10, w/5 lbs.
-Smith machine shoulder press - 3 sets of 10 , w/ bar +35 lbs
-DB front raise 3 sets of 10 w/ 5 lbs I feel pathetically weak, I want to improve this NOW!!

I did some other exercises I cant find on the site with the pictures, with the machine with the par you pull down.. Some of them were with this thing pushing my legs down so I could lean back and not fall (I was sitting down) and then bringing the bar to my chest, then again with my hands close together, then a differnt kind with my back straight.. I did 3 sets of 10 reps of those three with 40lbs.
I didnt get to do biceps, but we are going to leave them and do them on saturday. I feel I am jumping into this, but I really WANT to be able to get through the lateral raises better on saturday, WITHOUT cringing,, any ideas?

Diet
Breakfast
-w/w sesame seed bagel with light cream cheese and sliced strawberries

Lunch
-Salad with non fat dressing
-Pasta noodles with olive oil based dressing (I only had maybe 1/2 a cup of this, I wasnt hungry)

snack
-Banana

Dinner
-Garden vegetable soup (all natural)
-Veggie baugette (w/w)

snack
-non fat raspberry yogurt w/ almonds in it

Any comments or suggestions? thanks so much so far guys, youve been great!

[Lady C]

You need to eat protein. Are you vegetarian? if so, Add beans and other vegetable proteins to each meal.

If not, Add eggs to your breakfast, add chicken breast or tuna to your salad at lunch add cottage cheese to your snack and add some meat to the baugette.

[Iain]

You did a lot of shoulder-specific exercises last time, that's the way your split works I presume? Things like lateral raises and front raises humble us all when we don't train for them specifically. Aside from doing military press and the odd set of cuban press I let the bench and the other exercises take care of the shoulders at the moment.

Can you post up the general split you are working on eg:
Mon - legs, biceps
weds - back, shoulders etc.