I've been wanting to see how many times I can do pull ups with 25% of my body weight attached to me so over the weekend I tried it out. I managed almost 5 pull ups, not in the most perfect form, but I was pretty proud of myself so I thought I'd just share it.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Strength Training Week 7 Update!
I'm back again on week 7 of my 12 week get fitter, lose some weight, challenge myself program and since my last update I've come up with a few more goals. I don't know if I'll reach some of these by the end of the 12 weeks but I will certainly try my best to progress.
When I last left you, I had managed to complete 20 chin ups and set a goal to master at least 1 muscle up. I'm still working on that and get a little closer every week. However, the new challenges I've set for myself are:
1) muscle up
2) plyometric pull ups (lower bar to top bar)
3) dumbell press my own body weight (currently weigh 41kg and aiming to lose 1kg and bench 40kg)
4) squat my own boday weight (currently weigh 41kg and aiming to lose 1kg and squat 40kg)
Well, I've managed some narrow to wide grip plyometric pull ups and managed my first lower to upper bar plyometric pull ups the other day but only a hand full and they scared me. I think it's just the fear of not being able to catch the top bar and falling off my step box. You can check out my narrow to wide grip plyos in the video below.
As for dumbell presses, I'm benching 16kg x 2 dumbells (6 reps). With dumbells at my gym going up in increments of 2kg, I'm just 2 dumbell weights away from benching my own body weight.
And finally, I've managed to squat 30kgs (8 reps). I have been experiencing knee problems for years and people always say you shouldn't squat with your knees past your toes, but I've been doing squats with my trainer the Polliquin way, all the way down, knees past the toes and my knees have never felt better. I'm not going to go into detail about why it's better because frankly, I'm not 100% clear on the explanation but if you want to find out more, you can google Charles Polliquin.
I am at the gym 5 to 6 days a week. I'm doing 3 days of bartendaz class, 1 day of leg training with weights including 30 to 40 min of muscle up practice, 1 day of upper body training with weights and 1 day of hula hoop.
So, I am doing 5 days of intensive training with 1 day of rest and 1 day of something fun and low intensity. I know it sounds like a lot but my muscles do get a rest 2 days a week and on Tuesday, my first day of bartendaz in the week, I feel rested and usually stronger than the last week.
As I mentioned before, I have a personal trainer who has been helping me with my knee rehab. We've been doing only legs for months but now, he's added upper body to my program in order to help me get stronger for my muscle ups.
My current upper body workout involves:
1) Weighted pull ups - 1 count up, 3 counts down and dead hang for 1 second (4-6 reps with 8.5kg this week)
2) Dumbell press (6 reps with 16kg x 2 this week). We've been doing these because the dip bars at the gym are very wide and although I can do weighted dips, the width of the bar puts a lot of strain on my shoulders as I have a very narrow frame.
3) Zottoman bicep curls (6 reps with 4 kg dumbells)
4) Tricep extensions (6 reps with 4 kg dumbells)
5) Seated cable row
I haven't dropped another kilo since my last update but to be honest I've been having a lot of difficulty in the last two weeks sticking to the low carb diet. I was hungry all the time last week and filling up on carbs, only to realize this week it's probably because I'm so bored of chicken breast...which I never really liked to begin with but eat all the time in my salad for lunch because its cheap and my husband likes it. And...because of this dislike for chicken breast, I haven't been putting enough in my lunch and therefore end up feeling super hungry because I'm not getting enough protein to fill my stomach. So, this week, I'm back on track with my salad topped up with smoked mackerel and mixed seafood. It's a bit pricey but not as pricey as running off to Pret for a couple sandwiches that don't even keep me full for long. I guess that would be my one tip for anyone trying not to overeat. When you're hungry, don't snack on cookies, biscuits or any other kind of carbs. Have more protein as it stays in your stomach longer and keeps you feeling full for longer.
In addition to that, I think I've developed some kind of mild elbow tendonitis. I may get it checked out, but so far, 2 days of rest a week, tennis ball massages, some NSAID and ice have been working and as far as I know, this seems to be very common with people who train in bartendaz or crossfit.
Anyway, that's the update for now. Check out my narrow to wide grip plyometric pull ups below.
When I last left you, I had managed to complete 20 chin ups and set a goal to master at least 1 muscle up. I'm still working on that and get a little closer every week. However, the new challenges I've set for myself are:
1) muscle up
2) plyometric pull ups (lower bar to top bar)
3) dumbell press my own body weight (currently weigh 41kg and aiming to lose 1kg and bench 40kg)
4) squat my own boday weight (currently weigh 41kg and aiming to lose 1kg and squat 40kg)
Where am I right now?
Well, I've managed some narrow to wide grip plyometric pull ups and managed my first lower to upper bar plyometric pull ups the other day but only a hand full and they scared me. I think it's just the fear of not being able to catch the top bar and falling off my step box. You can check out my narrow to wide grip plyos in the video below.
As for dumbell presses, I'm benching 16kg x 2 dumbells (6 reps). With dumbells at my gym going up in increments of 2kg, I'm just 2 dumbell weights away from benching my own body weight.
And finally, I've managed to squat 30kgs (8 reps). I have been experiencing knee problems for years and people always say you shouldn't squat with your knees past your toes, but I've been doing squats with my trainer the Polliquin way, all the way down, knees past the toes and my knees have never felt better. I'm not going to go into detail about why it's better because frankly, I'm not 100% clear on the explanation but if you want to find out more, you can google Charles Polliquin.
My training:
I am at the gym 5 to 6 days a week. I'm doing 3 days of bartendaz class, 1 day of leg training with weights including 30 to 40 min of muscle up practice, 1 day of upper body training with weights and 1 day of hula hoop.
So, I am doing 5 days of intensive training with 1 day of rest and 1 day of something fun and low intensity. I know it sounds like a lot but my muscles do get a rest 2 days a week and on Tuesday, my first day of bartendaz in the week, I feel rested and usually stronger than the last week.
As I mentioned before, I have a personal trainer who has been helping me with my knee rehab. We've been doing only legs for months but now, he's added upper body to my program in order to help me get stronger for my muscle ups.
My current upper body workout involves:
1) Weighted pull ups - 1 count up, 3 counts down and dead hang for 1 second (4-6 reps with 8.5kg this week)
2) Dumbell press (6 reps with 16kg x 2 this week). We've been doing these because the dip bars at the gym are very wide and although I can do weighted dips, the width of the bar puts a lot of strain on my shoulders as I have a very narrow frame.
3) Zottoman bicep curls (6 reps with 4 kg dumbells)
4) Tricep extensions (6 reps with 4 kg dumbells)
5) Seated cable row
Thoughts for the week:
I haven't dropped another kilo since my last update but to be honest I've been having a lot of difficulty in the last two weeks sticking to the low carb diet. I was hungry all the time last week and filling up on carbs, only to realize this week it's probably because I'm so bored of chicken breast...which I never really liked to begin with but eat all the time in my salad for lunch because its cheap and my husband likes it. And...because of this dislike for chicken breast, I haven't been putting enough in my lunch and therefore end up feeling super hungry because I'm not getting enough protein to fill my stomach. So, this week, I'm back on track with my salad topped up with smoked mackerel and mixed seafood. It's a bit pricey but not as pricey as running off to Pret for a couple sandwiches that don't even keep me full for long. I guess that would be my one tip for anyone trying not to overeat. When you're hungry, don't snack on cookies, biscuits or any other kind of carbs. Have more protein as it stays in your stomach longer and keeps you feeling full for longer.
In addition to that, I think I've developed some kind of mild elbow tendonitis. I may get it checked out, but so far, 2 days of rest a week, tennis ball massages, some NSAID and ice have been working and as far as I know, this seems to be very common with people who train in bartendaz or crossfit.
Anyway, that's the update for now. Check out my narrow to wide grip plyometric pull ups below.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Glitter Nail Art!!
For the last two weeks I went with some glitter. Well, for the last week I had a dark blue nail polish on, but on Thursday night at the gym had a friend put some glitter nail polish on top of it. It inspired me to do another glitter nail art look this week.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Halloween Nail Art!!
Last week I mentioned that I was going to fix my Pink Stripes and Polka Dot nails once I received my striping tap. Well, I didn't end up doing that yet but just wanted to show you how I fixed that look for the week.
In the spirit of Halloween and since I'm just a beginner at nail art, I've decided to go with an easy white ghost nail art using my dotting tool!!
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| I took this pic today before removing the polish so it's already pretty chipped. Sorry about that!!! |
Week 4 Fitness Program Update!
I've just reached the week 4 milestone of this 12 week "program" I've created for myself which if you weren't following from the beginning is basically a 12 week goal I've set for myself to work out 5 days a week, follow a healthy low-carb diet, get stronger and feel better overall. So here is the update on what has happened over the last 4 weeks.
So, to recap the last 4 weeks, I've pretty much followed my meal plan about 80% to 90% of the time. As you may recall, at the end of week 1 I went to a wedding and had loads of yummy food. I had done well up until that day and what was supposed to be a cheat meal ended up being a cheat day. Mondays to Fridays of the last 4 weeks have been good. I allow myself my much needed Sushi or Japanese bento lunch once a week and the rest of the days I have my usual chicken salad. As for snacks, I've been sticking to nuts strictly but allowed myself some Aero Mint chocolate this week.
Now, I have to tell you about last weekend's dinner. We had some friends over on Saturday night and one of our friends is vegetarian. Because I don't really know how to cook vegetarian meals my husband and I decided to order from a nice little local Indian restaurant down the street from us. It was Northern Indian food which for us non vegetarians included some creamy butter chicken, lamb cooked in creamy yogurt sauce, briyani, naan bread and a few other dishes. Dessert was a chocolate tart from Waitrose which after everyone left I ate another 2 pieces making my dessert count for the night 3 quarters of a personal pizza sized tart!!! I just couldn't help myself.
During this week, I also treated myself to a few little Parisian "twinkies" which my colleague brought for me from Paris. I know this all sounds like a lot but if you look at all the good meals and snacks I ate, the bad ones really only accounted for about 10% of my meals and snacks. The reason I'm pointing this out is because for those of you out there who feel guilty when you do allow yourself some treats like this, you shouldn't feel guilty. It's an awful and unhealthy mental cycle and as long as you're doing good most of the time, you should focus on that and not let yourself feel bad.
The first 2 weeks I managed to get to the gym 4 days but the last 2 weeks were 6 day gym days. As usual it was 3 days of Bartendaz, one day of leg training alone or with my trainer and for the last two weeks I started taking Hula Hoop class. It's offered at my gym and is just a super fun and surprisingly challenging workout. I did about 30 minutes of cardio before the Hula Hoop classes but that's about all the cardio I do. I'm pretty happy how well I've kept up!!
At the beginning of all this I mentioned I wanted to be able to do 20 chin ups and didn't think it would happen in 12 weeks but that I would keep trying. Well, some of you may have seen the video and surprisingly I reached the 20 goal already. I didn't think it would happen that quickly but it did and my new goal is to be able to accomplish a muscle up!!! This is incredibly hard and realistically speaking it could take months and months but I am working towards that right now. I've started training Bartendaz with 3kg ankle weights and hope to increase that slowly in order to get stronger.
Everyone always says that the diet and workouts go hand in hand and if you stick to both you will see results. I don't measure myself but in terms of weight, I have gone down 1kg in the last 4 weeks. Considering I don't do cardio I strongly believe none of that weight was muscle but more likely a combination of fat and water!!!
Here's some updated photos!! I think 4 weeks have made some sort of difference and I believe it's just a matter of commitment to see results!!
Diet Update:
So, to recap the last 4 weeks, I've pretty much followed my meal plan about 80% to 90% of the time. As you may recall, at the end of week 1 I went to a wedding and had loads of yummy food. I had done well up until that day and what was supposed to be a cheat meal ended up being a cheat day. Mondays to Fridays of the last 4 weeks have been good. I allow myself my much needed Sushi or Japanese bento lunch once a week and the rest of the days I have my usual chicken salad. As for snacks, I've been sticking to nuts strictly but allowed myself some Aero Mint chocolate this week.
Now, I have to tell you about last weekend's dinner. We had some friends over on Saturday night and one of our friends is vegetarian. Because I don't really know how to cook vegetarian meals my husband and I decided to order from a nice little local Indian restaurant down the street from us. It was Northern Indian food which for us non vegetarians included some creamy butter chicken, lamb cooked in creamy yogurt sauce, briyani, naan bread and a few other dishes. Dessert was a chocolate tart from Waitrose which after everyone left I ate another 2 pieces making my dessert count for the night 3 quarters of a personal pizza sized tart!!! I just couldn't help myself.
During this week, I also treated myself to a few little Parisian "twinkies" which my colleague brought for me from Paris. I know this all sounds like a lot but if you look at all the good meals and snacks I ate, the bad ones really only accounted for about 10% of my meals and snacks. The reason I'm pointing this out is because for those of you out there who feel guilty when you do allow yourself some treats like this, you shouldn't feel guilty. It's an awful and unhealthy mental cycle and as long as you're doing good most of the time, you should focus on that and not let yourself feel bad.
Workout Update:
The first 2 weeks I managed to get to the gym 4 days but the last 2 weeks were 6 day gym days. As usual it was 3 days of Bartendaz, one day of leg training alone or with my trainer and for the last two weeks I started taking Hula Hoop class. It's offered at my gym and is just a super fun and surprisingly challenging workout. I did about 30 minutes of cardio before the Hula Hoop classes but that's about all the cardio I do. I'm pretty happy how well I've kept up!!
Strength Update:
At the beginning of all this I mentioned I wanted to be able to do 20 chin ups and didn't think it would happen in 12 weeks but that I would keep trying. Well, some of you may have seen the video and surprisingly I reached the 20 goal already. I didn't think it would happen that quickly but it did and my new goal is to be able to accomplish a muscle up!!! This is incredibly hard and realistically speaking it could take months and months but I am working towards that right now. I've started training Bartendaz with 3kg ankle weights and hope to increase that slowly in order to get stronger.
Weight & Body Update:
Everyone always says that the diet and workouts go hand in hand and if you stick to both you will see results. I don't measure myself but in terms of weight, I have gone down 1kg in the last 4 weeks. Considering I don't do cardio I strongly believe none of that weight was muscle but more likely a combination of fat and water!!!
Here's some updated photos!! I think 4 weeks have made some sort of difference and I believe it's just a matter of commitment to see results!!
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Pink Stripes and Polka Dot Nail Art!
I did freehand stripes for this look but it's really hard to keep the lines straight. Next week I will redo this look using my newly ordered striping tape to show you how much more professional and perfect stripes can be with this look. But for now...here it is!!!
Friday, October 19, 2012
What You May Not Know About SUGAR!!!!
I love dessert and even when I'm on my 12 week low-carb diet I find it hard not to have a cheat meal every week or two that consists of dessert. I've always found information and documentaries on nutrition really interesting and over the last few years have started to get the idea that sugar is the devil!! It's worse than fat and it's probably the cause of all the obesity related diseases out there in the world. Having said all that, I do find it hard not to have dessert every now and then!
Many of you may not realize it but sugar in the form of fructose is found in all processed foods and it reacts in your body just like alcohol does. So, if you're a pregnant or breastfeeding mom, a parent who lectures their kids against drinking alcohol, someone who grabs the low fat food (which often has a crazy amount of sugar), someone who thinks that natural sugar alternatives like agave is okay for you or someone who has just never really given the negative effects of sugar much thought, this is a good video to watch!!
Many of you may not realize it but sugar in the form of fructose is found in all processed foods and it reacts in your body just like alcohol does. So, if you're a pregnant or breastfeeding mom, a parent who lectures their kids against drinking alcohol, someone who grabs the low fat food (which often has a crazy amount of sugar), someone who thinks that natural sugar alternatives like agave is okay for you or someone who has just never really given the negative effects of sugar much thought, this is a good video to watch!!
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