susan slattery

Okay, last week was “break week”… not really, I did three body weight workouts — no weights, but still good workouts. Got good and sweaty.

This is my Workout A for the next four weeks, and I did it this morning and didn’t feel compelled to follow it with a cardio blast, given the nature of box jumps:

Side plank with elevated feet (3 times each side, hold for 30 seconds each time)

Single leg hip raise (this is quite a lot harder than I thought it would be–I felt pathetic, like I could not lift my hips high enough!)
Dumbell Rows–I used 25 lbs. in each hand, and struggled to bang out 12 each set with good form
Alternated between these two exercises to do three sets of each…

Then:

My personal favorite of this workout, the last combo set:

20 box jumps
20 close hand pushups–killer stabilizer in addition to well, chest and arms … I felt like a ROCK doing these
20 box jumps
20 close hand pushups
20 box jumps (you can bet I was holding my knees by this set)
20 close hand pushups… by the end I was doing 5, pant, pant, pant, 5 pant, pant, pant, 7 pant, pant, 3.

I did a jumpy bouncy little warmup before all this and a bit of fretful stretching when it was over.

NO SUGAR TODAY. Really. I wanted chocolate in the worst way. I ate chicken salad instead. Of course I know all this, but occasionally I have to read something that reminds me why I shouldn’t eat chocolate–and I’m talking about the less-than 70% kind here–eating bittersweet is okay, but lately I’ve been eating things that were previously verboten. (In particular, Fruit and Nut 5-Star Bars–little 300+ calorie bombs–plus the sugar of the dried fruit within.) Plus, dates. Bananas. Sheesh, I am not even really a big banana person. They are like my least favorite fruit. But in the last two weeks, I’ve eaten 5 or 6 of them! Sometimes two in one day! I think I am eating them in place of something else (unconsciously) like eating them instead of a spoonful of honey or a chocolate bar. Oh, and I’ve had a few hot fudge sundaes at Ben and Jerry’s in the last month…

You know, when I eat that dish of ice and whipped creams, chocolate fudge and nuts, I can almost feel it. It’s a kind of dulling, a mental soothing, like I’m laying a thick warm blanket over my brain. I feel, well, like I imagine a cow must feel when chewing cud or possibly being milked. Mindless. Placated. It’s a drug. Sugar is a drug.

Today:

Large coffee with cream, no sugar, I never really have sugar in coffee… like I don’t even like to stir my coffee with the spoon Don uses, since he does put sugar in his coffee. (What’s the matter? he says. I didn’t lick it.)
Organic raspberries and blueberries with 1/3 cup of canned full fat coconut milk–gah, so GOOD
Big giant handful of curried cashews
Lunch was about 4 or 5 ounces of excellent leftover pork roast with chopped roasted and reheated asparagus

Late in the afternoon, 1/3 pound of chicken salad–basic, nothing fancy–chicken, mayo, onions and a few raisins
Yeah, so, I still craved something after this, but I just waited… and pretty soon the craving went away. Yay!

For dinner I’m gonna roast some beets and cook an enormous dish of roasted broccoli. I will eat a portion as big as my head.

Over the weekend I went through mounds and mounds of paper. I cleaned out one box of “files” which are really just papers we don’t know what to do with. I have two more boxes and I’m pretty sure most of this paper will be shredded at the end of it all. One thing I threw into the recycling was a multipanel “quick start guide” that was a free gift when I purchased an exercise DVD set. Anyway, I considered keeping it, but then I looked more closely at it and realized I would simply never eat this way–puny portions with elaborate ingredient lists and more than 5 minutes of prep. Is eating a tiny portion of something that requires two ounces of tuna, 1 t. fat free mayo, 2 romaine leaves, a small bunch of herbs and 7 carrots really going to do it for me? I’m much more keen to eat giant portions of healthy things like broccoli. I don’t think anybody ever got fat eating broccoli.

If I wrote my own quick start diet guide, it would have recipes like this:

Take the meat out of the fridge and let it sit there on the counter for 30 minutes anyway. Then fix it up however you like it and insert it into the oven. Ditto for veggies. Into the oven. It’s done when it smells good. Seriously. Even cooking fish, I can’t remember the last time I used a timer. Comes out perfect every time, too.

I’m into “wash it off and throw it into the oven and go for a walk.” Which is what I’m gonna do with the beets. They’re organic, so I won’t even peel them. I’ve been peeling the beets, but I’m thinking of not doing that anymore. I mean really, think of the time I’ll save!

Ditto for sweet potatoes. Why am I peeling my organic sweet potatoes? The skin has most of the fiber and vitamins, so my peeler can take a break.

Anyway, I tossed that little diet guide pretty quick!

This morning I did my last Workout B from Workout ONE. This was 5 minutes of warming up, then side planks for 30 seconds each side, 3 times on each side. This is harder than it sounds.

Then walking lunges with 20 pound weights in each hand and seated lat pulldowns. Three sets of each. I did 30 walking lunges each set, and 15 pulldowns of 110 pounds each set.

Then straight leg barbell deadlifts and shoulder presses. I did 20 deadlifts with a heavy barbell then 12 shoulder presses with 15 pound weights in each hand.

Five exercises, right? Took me 45 to 50 minutes!  Then I did Countdowns: 10 squat jumps, 10 explosive pushups, 9 squat jumps, 9 explosive pushups, 8… well, you get the idea.

About 55 to 60 minutes total–it’s unbelievable to me that it takes that long. But I am careful and watch my form, and have started to slow the second half of each exercise–some books recommend this to build muscle faster.

In the mirror over the weights this morning, I admit I am pleased with my arms–especially from the front–they are pretty ripped.

So, to recap–I’ve spent the last four weeks with my self designed workouts A and B. Since March 14 I have been going to the CRA every morning on the weekdays and usually one day on the weekend. I’ve rediscovered running–I have started interval running on the treadmill. For a few workouts, I did a 30 minute interval run, combined with one of my workouts, including the countdowns–after these days I truly was pasted… took me hours to recover my energy. Then I started doing the half hour intervals on my other days–instead of the 60 minute walks on the treadmill (it’s still quite dark at 5:30 a.m. folks, otherwise I’d take it outside, the walk would be far less tedious, I’d have more fun and it would all be generally better for me.) How efficient–is what I started thinking–do it fast and get it over with in 30 minutes–jog and then SPRINT.

But now I am remembering the primal rules. Walk walk walk. Sprint once a week. Lift heavy things. I really should do that sprint style interval workout ONCE a week and do a long walk on the other days … Like the walking of the dogs after work–that counts for something. For my morning workouts though, I could just wear warmer things, wear my reflective vests and headlamp and start taking the long walks off the treadmill and around downtown Dalton on those days. Even earbuds on the treadmill don’t take the drudgery away. I could just do the 30 minute interval sprint work once a week. 30 minutes of treadmill once a week–that is starting to sound better.

Generally I have felt tired after 60 minutes on the treadmill. Better after 30 minutes of intervals, but really, the most effective thing would be the longer walk outside. The time passes more quickly, the air is fresh, generally I feel GREAT after a long walk.

I’m not losing weight–well, it’s been up and down. Lately more up. I have to confess to myself, really, that I have been eating too much. I have written this a few times in my journal. And always right after that I write, “But I can’t help it! I am ALWAYS hungry!” Also more sugar and junk have found their way back into my diet. Bullox.

So I just came home and polished off the rest of the chocolate covered nuts. I got a mixed pound of dark chocolate covered nuts earlier this week at Catherine’s. I felt this was a sensible indulgence–dark chocolate (healthy), nuts (healthy). I got walnuts, almonds and Brazil nuts–a pound total. The healthiest nuts around, really.

Well. Maybe you can eat 2 or 3 of them, but I can’t. I would eat 10 or 15 of them at once! “How can I be this gluttonous?” I asked myself. Oh right–NUTS. When do I ever eat 3 almonds? NEVER. I eat about 24 of those in a serving. That they were this week wrapped in dark chocolate seemed to have little impact on me. Oh well. Note to self: Do not buy these again.

But back to the hunger–I am realizing it’s because I am not eating enough in the morning. So for a while I was having two hard boiled eggs. Good solid protein and all that… but then 20 minutes later I’d be eating the snacks I’d packed for the day–almonds, pears, apples, little cubes of hard cheddar… by 11:30 all that was left was lunch and the long stretch of afternoon until dinner. I found myself picking up something else to eat–it was generally healthy, but still. And then we are eating dinner now VERY late. The other night I was cooking lamb patties and I said, “Jesus Christ, it’s 9:33. I should just pack this up and bring it for lunch tomorrow and go to bed right now.” And I should have, really because I have been getting up at 4:50 a.m. OUCH. I should not be eating this late. I should be going to bed earlier. Should. Should. Should. My life seems full of that lately.

So there’s strike 3: not getting enough sleep.

My puny little hour of exercise can’t offset all this! Well, that’s the state of things. Today I ate leftover roasted broccoli for breakfast and the rest of the chocolate covered nuts for lunch. It’s nice out and I left work early so I’ll take the dogs for a long walk. I’ve resolved (again) to cut out junk and even “healthy” chocolate nuts–I will have to have my nuts and chocolate separately. Usually I cannot eat enormous quantities of bittersweet (which is the straight chocolate I usually have around). I expect most people use it for baking or something but I just eat it in chunks. It’s good when you want something “sweet” because it’s not actually sweet and feels kind of decadent, but is not the kind of taste that inspires loss of control.

Also, I do suspect that I have added a few pounds of muscle–it’s not just my arms. My legs and glutes are taking on a little more definition. I mean–I was muscular before, I’m just seeing more of it after four weeks of dedication.

ANYWAY… I have designed my new A/B routine for the next four weeks:

Monday–Workout A
Tuesday–Long walk outside (an hour or so)
Wednesday–Workout B
Thursday–Sprint
Friday–Workout A
Saturday–Long Walk

Then the next week I will do B-A-B on M-W-F.
Third week, A-B-A.
Fourth week, B-A-B.

It may seem complicated, but having this plan makes it so easy, I just know what to do every day. I’m not grasping about for what to do for exercise on any given day. It’s been strangely rewarding.

Workout A

1. Elevated feet plank (3 x 30 seconds)

2A. Barbell Step-Up (12, but I’ll probably do 15 to 20 on each leg)
2B. Let Me Ups/Inverted Rows (12 to 15)

Finish 3 sets of 2A and B alternating between them–so one set of step ups, one set of inverted rows, etc. Then do the same here:

3A. Sumo Squat
3B. Spiderman Pushup

Leg Matrix after this workout
Do this whole sequence now twice:

24 Body Weight Squats
24 Body Weight Alternating Lunges
24 Body Weight Split Jumps
24 Body Weight Jump Squats (OMG, this will be hard–just ten are taxing! I’ll be wiped by this point.)

Workout B

1. Mountain Climber (3 x 30 seconds)

2A. Barbell Side Lunge
2B. Standing Cable Pullover

3A. Barbell Deadlift (bending knees, keeping back in natural arch)
3B. Dumbell Push Press

Squat Series after this workout
Do this sequence 3 times:

Body Weight Jump Squat (20 seconds)
Body Weight Squat (20 seconds)
Isometric Squat (30 seconds)

I will be taxing my lower half a lot in this next month. All those jump squats should tighten things up a bit!