[Moet et Kirst-don]

My main goal here is to get some muscle definition showing. Exercise wise I'm all good, but seeing as I'm not doing a lot over the summer, apart from dossing about, I'll probably train more frequently. My main concern is diet; I always try and aim to be healthy, but will usually cave for the less-healthy stuff after some time, as everyone around me, from my boyfriend to my family, doesn't pay so much attention, and I also reassure myself that the occasional 'treat' is okay, as I'm a decent size. Problem is, occasional turns into daily, and I'm stuck with a hideous muffin top and top layer of flab. Ugh...

But enough blabbering, and I'll get to the good stuff.

Body stats
Height 5"5'
Mass 9 and a half stone
Bust 32in
[B]Waist[B/] 28in
Hips 34in
Pictures are in the competition thread, I may post them here later when I can be bothered.

2/7/2012
breakfast
Porridge made with semi-skimmed milk, orange juice (125mL approx.), and a mug of black coffee
lunch
A can of tuna (in spring water), mixed with a teaspoon of greek yoghurt, on a slice of sunflower and chia seed bread and a handful of spinach
afternoon snack
Black coffee, 50g of unsalted pistachios and 1 granny smith apple
dinner
Chicken fajitas (2xwraps with 1tbl salsa, handful of grated cheddar and a handful of spinach in each), along with a handful of lightly salted tortilla chips (cf. family influence)
mug of semi-skimmed milk
post-workout snack
1 chicken leg, mug of semi-skimmed milk and 3tbl of greek yoghurt (full fat) mixed with 1 teaspoon of honey

Today's diet was okay I guess, I need to finish putting it onto mfp for calorie count. One thing I'm on stuck on at the moment is whether or not I should be eating at maintenance (2040 kcal) or in a deficit. As although I want to reduce overall body fat, I don't want to be losing muscle/ I want to be building muscle, so I am unsure on what to do. Any pointers?

As for the workout, I went along to an hour long yoga session with my mum (she usually goes with my sister, but she's on holiday, so I thought I'd go along to give it a try; flexibility is supposed to be quite important in lifting.) I'm not gonna lie though, it really is more taxing than I thought.

[RhiiSparks]

Posting to sub

We seem to have pretty much the same body stats and goals so it'll be interesting to read how you get on.
I've been eating at a deficit but making sure I get a heap of protein and cutting down on carbs which hopefully will prevent me from losing muscle fingers crossed! If you find out that's not the case let me know so I know if I'm going about it all the wrong way!

[Becca]

What kind of lifting routine are you on?

If I were you, I'd eat at maintenance and just don't eat back your exercise calories. Should create a nice small deficit to lose fat, and if you're weight training you won't lose strength. Just a thought, as juice is bascially just very sugary...have you thought about eating a whole orange with breakfast instead of a glass of juice - nutritional benefits of fibre etc as well as keeping you fuller?
It's not a big deal, your diet looks really good (never thought about mixing tuna with yoghurt, but it actually sounds nice!) overall. Maybe think about introducing more veg with dinner - some steamed broccoli or green beans?

[Aisha~~]

Honestly I'd bulk to my ideal muscle mass and then cut the fat...I hate the painfully slow clean bulks and prefer cutting overall. Sacrifice looking like hot **** for a little while to speed up the process.

Post lifts maybe?

[commandant]

(Original post by Aisha~~)
Honestly I'd bulk to my ideal muscle mass and then cut the fat...I hate the painfully slow clean bulks and prefer cutting overall. Sacrifice looking like hot **** for a little while to speed up the process.

Post lifts maybe?

how does it speed up the process? you end up wasting a lot of time shifting all the fat

I'd rather stay lean and look good year round

[Aisha~~]

(Original post by commandant)
how does it speed up the process? you end up wasting a lot of time shifting all the fat

I'd rather stay lean and look good year round

Because I seem to be able to shed fat at a phenomenal rate, but gain muscle at a fairly leisurely pace.

[Moet et Kirst-don]

(Original post by RhiiSparks)
Posting to sub

We seem to have pretty much the same body stats and goals so it'll be interesting to read how you get on.
I've been eating at a deficit but making sure I get a heap of protein and cutting down on carbs which hopefully will prevent me from losing muscle fingers crossed! If you find out that's not the case let me know so I know if I'm going about it all the wrong way!

Yeah, I think I'm gonna try eat to maintenance. As long as I'm eating cleanly, all should be good

[Moet et Kirst-don]

(Original post by Becca)
What kind of lifting routine are you on?

If I were you, I'd eat at maintenance and just don't eat back your exercise calories. Should create a nice small deficit to lose fat, and if you're weight training you won't lose strength. Just a thought, as juice is bascially just very sugary...have you thought about eating a whole orange with breakfast instead of a glass of juice - nutritional benefits of fibre etc as well as keeping you fuller?
It's not a big deal, your diet looks really good (never thought about mixing tuna with yoghurt, but it actually sounds nice!) overall. Maybe think about introducing more veg with dinner - some steamed broccoli or green beans?

At the moment is in season, so I'm trying not to lift too heavy, and focus more on explosive movements (I do athletics, hammer throw!). I'll put down my last two workouts, as I probably won't get to the gym until tomorrow now.
21/6/2012
Power session
Hang Cleans:
1 x 3 20kg
1 x 3 30kg
1 x 3 32.5kg
1 x 3 35kg
Power Cleans:
1x1 35kg
3x1 37.5kg
2x1 40kg
2x1 42.5kg (both failed)
Jump Squats:
1x3 20kg
1x3 25kg
1x3 27.5kg
Dumbell Snatch:
2x6 (3 reps each side) 10kg
2x6 12kg
1x6 10kg
Finished off by 7min on the treadmill, 20:40s split

26/6/2012
Strength session
Bench Press:
1x5 20kg
2x5 25kg
1x5 27.5kg
1x5 30kg
1x5 27.5kg
Front Squats:
1x5 20kg
4x5 30kg
1x5 32.5kg
DB incline press:
3x5 8kg
Deadlift:
1x3 50kg
1x3 55kg
1x3 57.5kg
1x3 60kg
1x3 65kg
1x1 67.5kg
1x1 70kg
Was pretty pleased with the deadlifts, usually I start struggling around 60/62.5kg, but this time, instead of thinking about it for a few seconds before lifting the bar, I just did it.
Now I'm back home, I plan to start going to athletics training and well, so I'll incorporate some sprint work alongside more technical stuff. Hopefully the rain will keep off for tonight as well, but that's looking very unlikely at the moment.

[Becca]

Excellent, so cool to see another girl train strength and power barbell movements!
I do weightlifting.

Will be following

How often do you compete?

[Moet et Kirst-don]

(Original post by Becca)
Excellent, so cool to see another girl train strength and power barbell movements!
I do weightlifting.

Will be following

How often do you compete?

To be honest, not too much at the moment. I've competed 3 times this season. I kind of lost track of everything with uni, which is disappointing, as one of my main reasons for choosing Bath was the amazing sports facilities. Hopefully I'll get back up to speed next year though.

I do enjoy lifting. I was introduced to it when I was 15, but having been lifting very intermittently since, hence my lifts aren't as high as time would suggest. But I'm determined to stick with it now

Did my first weights session since getting back home; the weights room was empty and there was no music, it was quite lonely, but I got through it:
Hang Cleans
1x3 20kg
1x3 30kg
1x3 32.5kg
1x3 35kg
Power Cleans
2x1 37.5 kg
3x1 40kg
3x1 42.5kg (only failed the middle attempt)
Jump Squats
1x3 20kg
1x3 25kg
3x3 27.5kg
DB snatch
2x3 10kg
1x3 12.5kg
1x3 10kg
Finished off with 7min HIIT on the treadmill.

Here is a link to mfp profile, were I'll be keeping record of my diet:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/kmilne9

[Moet et Kirst-don]

Wooo! Day off
Not that I'm being lazy, but I've done some form of training for the last four days, and after lasts night's training session (just some techincal stuff), I was exhausted, and my muscles definately felt used. Although my boyfriends is down to visit this weekend, so not sure how I'm gonna fit going to the gym in. Might just do some bodyweight exercises at home while he is still asleep in the mornings...
Still eating relatively healthy. I've made a home-made turkey curry for tonight . Although I am struggling to make maintenance each day, might need to buy some more whey protein for while I'm at home, just to make sure I'm getting enough calories/ protein.

[Moet et Kirst-don]

Okay, I've had a slightly unhealthy weekend, which included a few biscuits, which were too good to resist! I didn't really do much exercise, apart from a few sets of press-ups on sunday morning (sets of ten, I lost count, but it was around 6 or 7). And to top it off I had a McDonalds yesterday Well I suppose it helped me hit maintenance...
I did do an hour yoga session yesterday evening, and I've got athletics training again tonight, so all is okay.
Bodywise, no visible changes, didn't get round to weighing myself or taking measurements, but I'm sure there is little change.

[xoxAngel_Kxox]

(Original post by Moet et Kirst-don)
Okay, I've had a slightly unhealthy weekend, which included a few biscuits, which were too good to resist! I didn't really do much exercise, apart from a few sets of press-ups on sunday morning (sets of ten, I lost count, but it was around 6 or 7). And to top it off I had a McDonalds yesterday Well I suppose it helped me hit maintenance...
I did do an hour yoga session yesterday evening, and I've got athletics training again tonight, so all is okay.
Bodywise, no visible changes, didn't get round to weighing myself or taking measurements, but I'm sure there is little change.

I'm awful for using junk to make up calories. Shouldn't make too much difference as a one off though so don't worry about it!

[Moet et Kirst-don]

Sorry, I've been away for a few days, may have been a bit bad over the last few days, but now that my boyfriend has, sadly, left mine, I can get back on track with things again
Today I did a strength session, which was pretty tiring! I'm gonna blame it on the combination of not training regularly with TOM.

Back Squat
1x5 20kg
1x5 30kg
1x5 35kg
1x5 37.5kg
2x5 40kg
Overhead Press
1x5 20kg
2x5 22.5kg
2x5 25kg
1x5 27.5kg
Good Mornings
3x5 20kg
DB Bench Press
2x5 8kg
1x5 10kg
1x5 8kg
I'm not used to using dumb-bells, I much prefer a barbell, but the rules of my home gym require at least 2 people to be in the room in order to use the bench (health and safety bs). I was all alone in the weights room, thus I didn't want to risk being kicked out.
Deadlift
1x3 45kg
1x3 55kg
1x3 57.5kg
1x3 60kg
1x3 62.5kg
I was pretty shot after all this.
Also I've decided to give the 100 push-up challenge ago. Started on friday, so I'll be doing day 2 when I get up tomorrow. At the moment, I can manage 10 consecutive push-ups, so I did the 2nd column.
I went shopping this morning with my parents, and got 2 new pairs of trousers, as my current ones were hanging off me, and they must have felt bad

[Moet et Kirst-don]

Pretty peeved right now. Went to the gym with the intention of doing a nice power session, only to be told by the receptionist that the free weights room is closed for two weeks! Probably so that olympic athletes can train. So instead of paying four pound for a compromised workout in the more conventional gym, I walked home in the rain, and did some drill work (with one of those light bars that you can pick up from argos) and some core work at home, and will probably go to yoga later, so I don't feel too bad for missing out.
Due to this let-down, I think I'll be trying out the other gym, which supposedly has a free weights section, on wednesday. I think there is a deal where is £14.99 for a monthly direct debit, but with no monthly contract, so when I go back to Bath in a month, I can just cancel...well this is what I plan anyway.

[Moet et Kirst-don]

Having a pretty good day today
Just been to the gym (a new one, which is surprisingly decent for how cheap it is!), and did a power session, and I'm gonna go to yoga later. I even managed to do day 3 of week one of the 100 push-up challenge!
Yesterday and tomorrow will be technical sessions, and then I'll finally have a rest day on Friday, before competing on Saturday.
For those who are interested, here's todays session:
Hang Cleans
1x3 20kg
1x3 30kg
Power Cleans
1x3 32.5kg
1x3 35kg
3x1 37.5kg
1x1 40kg
3x1 42.5kg
2x1 45kg both failed
Box Jumps
1x10 low
3x10 medium
1x5 high
(Corresponding to the height of the jump)
DB Snatch
2x3 12.5kg
1x5 10kg (Had to move down a weight, as I felt I couldn't do another with the 12.5s)

[Becca]

Any ideas why you failed the last 2 power cleans?

[Moet et Kirst-don]

(Original post by Becca)
Any ideas why you failed the last 2 power cleans?

I wasn't pulling the bar up high enough, so will probably have to work on that (some high pulls, maybe?). This maybe have been a confidence thing, as I was lifting 42.5kg quite comfortably.

[Becca]

(Original post by Moet et Kirst-don)
I wasn't pulling the bar up high enough, so will probably have to work on that (some high pulls, maybe?). This maybe have been a confidence thing, as I was lifting 42.5kg quite comfortably.

Anything where your hips stay above parallel counts as a power clean, sounds like you just need a bit of confidence pulling yourself under the bar, although without seeing a video it's hard to tell. High pulls where you get under the bar might be helpful

[Moet et Kirst-don]

Haven't updated this in a while...that doesn't mean I haven't been training though, just too lazy to enter it here!
Monday 23rd
Back Sqauts
1x5 bar
1x5 32.5kg
1x5 35kg
1x5 40kg
1x5 42.5kg
1x5 45kg
Military Press
1x5 bar
2x5 25kg
1x5 27.5kg
1x5 30kg
Overhead Squat
2x3 20kg
1x3 22.5kg
Bench Press
1x5 20kg
2x5 25kg
1x5 27.5kg
1x5 30kg
Deadlift
1x3 50kg
1x3 57.5kg
1x3 60kg
1x3 62.5kg
1x3 65kg
1x1 67.5kg
1x1 70kg
Followed of by an hour's yoga session in the evening.
Tuesday, 24th
Athletics training, involving lots of throws in the warm weather...lovely! I also spent the day walking around shops in Cardiff, as well as a 20minute walk to and from my house.
Wednesday, 25th
Hang Cleans
1x3 bar
1x3 30kg
1x3 35kg
Power Cleans
2x1 37.5kg
3x1 40kg
2x1 42.5kg
1x1 (plus 2 fails, again) 45kg
At least I got 45 up at least once, which is an improvement Think I'll be doing some high pulls tomorrow, to strengthen up, practise pulling the bar high enough with confidence.
Jump Squats
1x3 20kg
1x3 22.5kg
2x3 25kg
1x3 27.5kg
Quick Drop
1x3 20kg
1x3 25kg
1x3 27.5kg
DB Snatch
1x3 10kg
3x3 12.5kg
1x3 10kg
Followed by a very sweaty yoga session.
Today will be another athletics session, and then I'll finish the week off with another weights session tomorrow. This will probably be quite light, as I'll be pretty tired by then.