Lindsay's Ramblings

As I mentioned, I've been tracking my food intake for the last few days, and well...now I remember why I DON'T track. It's already giving me anxiety! Tracking is great for some people, and I do think that it's a good idea to do for a few days just to get an idea of what you're taking in and where you can adjust. But for ME, I've found that it just makes me think about food WAY too much, and that is what I'm trying to get away from. Food should not consume your thoughts, and that's what tracking does to me! I find myself thinking at totally random times, "Am I eating too much? Not enough? Should I add more? Should I take out some fats? Should I add more carbs here?" It's just not good for me. I want to be able to grab bites of things here and there without worrying about if it's going to "mess up" my macros. I want to be able to make things like chili or soup and not measure out each individual ingredient to figure out the ...

I cannot sleep lately!! I hate it! I have gone through these phases in the past, so I'm hoping it's just a temporary thing. Like, I will feel so tired at night to where I can't keep my eyes open after reading for a while, but then I lay in bed and all of a sudden I'm wide awake, my mind is racing, my heart is beating fast-what is up with that? The other day I was wide awake at like 2:30 in the morning. And I am definitely not someone who can function on low sleep. I need my 8 hours! So I've tracked my eating for a few days, which I like to do only every now and then to check up on where I'm at and make sure I'm taking in enough. And I see that I'm still on the low end for where I want to be with carbs, even after adding some things in. Honestly, I love how I look and feel right now, so I am NOT going to get into macro obsessing. That gives me too much anxiety. I could care less if I hit certain percentages, but I do want my calories to be a tad higher....

This week I kind of just wanted to switch things up from the plan I've been following for the last 4 weeks. I do have an idea what I'm going to do before I go to the gym but  most of the time I really like just training intuitively and not using percentages or anything like that. I often like to choose weights and reps based on how I feel that day. It works for me for now, as my main thing is just to have fun with my training! I'm going to write out a plan for the next 4-6 weeks, and then I'll think about changing things up a bit or maybe following a more structured strength focused plan...or not, who knows! MONDAY UPPER BODY  I decided to lower the weight and go for more reps on bench this week. I like to keep my reps as explosive as I can and stop before they get too "grindy". I also did my weighted pullups first and added weight this week. Again, on pullups, I try to avoid slow, grinder reps and stop when I can't keep my shoulders ...

Happy Friday! It's been a great week, but I'm glad the weekend is here! I decided to do a little different "Five Things Friday" post this week, hope you like it! 5 things I ate: I still look forward to my weekly Quest bar!I don't limit myself to just one a week for any reason other than I don't want to go through them too fast because I'm cheap! No flavor has yet to beat cookie dough, but  I am really wanting to try the S'mores one-just haven't been able to find it yet! It had been a while since I've had my french toast egg, bacon, cheese sandwich. It really is one of my favorite meals, and so easy to make. I had some bananas that were going bad, so I made these yummy banana bread protein muffins. They're always good, but this time they turned out reeeally good!  I love having these as a post workout treat, snack, or dessert. They're made with just protein, oats, bananas, cinnamon, egg whites, baking soda... and chocolate ch...

I'm not a big recipe poster, since my meals are usually super boring, but I did recently find a yummy recipe though that I thought was worth sharing!  I had been craving soup for forever , but could never find a recipe that was simple enough for me! Until I came across this  Nia Shanks post . When I saw the word "laziest" I knew it was the recipe for me! I pretty much stuck to the exact recipe. I used a pack of 99% lean turkey and a pack of 93%. I used just one can of fire roasted tomatoes and chicken broth instead of beef broth. Ingredients: 2 pounds beef or turkey, browned and drained 1 jumbo bag (about 2 pounds) of frozen mixed veggies  2-4 diced potatoes (optional) 2 tsp Italian seasoning 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1 15oz cans of Italian or fire roasted tomatoes (may also use fresh) 6oz can tomato paste 1 quart chicken or beef broth (may want to use a bit more, depending on how much broth you like) Directions: Put all the ingredients in t...

MONDAY UPPER BODY This week on bench I was able to work up to a heavy set of 6 with 110 lbs, then did some back off sets after that. Got an extra rep with 95lbs this week on my all out set! Also did an extra set of weighted pullups and was able to get an extra rep with the 50s this week, woohoo! Now I gotta get back to doing 8 reps like I was before! 1)Bench press: 95x6/105x6/110x6/105x6/95x10 2)Weighted  pullups (wide grip/fat bar): 15x4x5/ 1x9(bodyweight) 3a)Tbar row: 55x10/8/8+ drop set x 5 3b)DB chest press: 50x6/45x8/ 40x9/35x12 5a)EZ bar curls: 50x8/40x10/ DBs-17.5x8+ 4(drop set) 5b)Lsit hold: 4x15 seconds 6a)Calf raises: 3x20 6b)Pull-aparts :2x25/1x20 1 arm plate carry: 25lbs x 15seconds x2(each arm)/ Overhead dumbbell carry 40lbs x 25 seconds x3 (each arm) WEDNESDAY LOWER BODY Great leg workout this week! My squats have just been feeling really great, I love it! I have narrowed my stance some since the meet, which...

Just some thoughts I wanted to share! This year I've decided that my focus is not on trying to change anything about my body-not to get leaner or bigger, but on learning to love my body just as it is. To love it on the days when I feel soft and scrawny as much as on the days that I feel super lean and muscular! My goal is to continue to strive for balance when it comes to fitness and nutrition-for it to be just a  part  of my life, not what my life REVOLVES around. I want to fuel my body with healthy foods but also not stress about eating perfectly all the time. I don't want to let loss of strength or a bad training day effect me, but instead just be thankful for a strong and healthy body. As much as I want to inspire people to be physically fit and healthy, more important than that, I want people to realize that  there is more to life . That it IS possible to enjoy life to the fullest and not be consumed by the constant striving f...

MONDAY UPPER BODY This was a great workout! I went up 5 lbs on bench press for 2 sets of 6, then did a back off set with 95 lbs, and got an extra rep than I did 2 weeks ago on my all out set.  I increased the weight I used for pullups this week also.  And for chest presses I tried the 50lbs dumbbells and was able to get 5 reps-it's been so long since I've used the 50s, so I gotta get my strength back on those! Also decided to go heavier on bicep curls, which I never do(usually I just go for the pump, yo!), and was surprised to get 8 reps with the 50lb bar pretty easily. 1)Bench press: 95x6/105x6/105x6/95x9 2)Wide grip fat bar pullups: 15x3x5/bodyweight x9 3a)Tbar row: 55x2x10/45x13 3b)DB chest press: 50x5/45x8/40x10/40x10 4a)EZ bar curls: 50x2x8/40x12 4b)Lsit hold: 3x15 seconds Farmer's walks(60lb dumbbells x25ish seconds, 3x) + pull-aparts(3x20) 1 arm overhead carries(40lbs x 25 seconds, 2x)+calf raises(3x20) WEDNESDAY LOWER BODY Squats felt SO good this we...

Happy Friday ! Here are just a few of my favorite things of the week! Post workout poptarts Yup, I jumped on the poptart bandwagon. I totally forgot how good they were! Cara Cara oranges  I can only find these certain time of the year, but they are sooo good! Great addition to my breakfast for lunch! Yummy protein shakes... and a "secret" ingredient: Cool Whip. Who knew? It was awesome mixed in with my vanilla ice cream Iso-whey! Healthier pizza I've been on a pizza kick lately. Last weekend we made a pizza at home, then had this for dinner Tuesday night...and we're going out for pizza this weekend! Guess you can never get too much pizza! ;) Waffles for dinner! Usually I have eggs for lunch but my schedule was a little out of wack yesterday and I wasn't able to eat much throughout the day, so I made a big bunch of eggs and a couple of waffles for dinner. So yummy!   Jodi Picoult  I'm a big fan of Jodi Picoult boo...

It's that time of the year again when many people decide to start going to the gym, which I think is awesome! Sadly, however, the majority of people just don't last. Over time, the motivation fades, life gets in the way...and what was a daily thing becomes something that gets pushed to the back burner, or something you do if you can "find" time...which usually ends up being never. Here are a few simple tips that I hope will help you stick with your fitness routine! -Start slowly   If you haven't been working out consistently, don't try to go to the gym every single day right off the bat. Commit to twice a week for 30 minutes- that is all you need! Then you can eventually try to add in a day or two more if your schedule allows, or just go to the gym 2-3 days a week and walk outside at home 2-3 days a week. Even though your motivation may be super high right now, trying to do too much too soon will mostly likely burn you out at some point. -Don...

This week's workout's went well. Right now my focus is on maintaining my strength while keeping the reps more in the hypertrophy range. While I enjoying following a plan, I also train intuitively based on how I feel from day to day. Sometimes I may skip an exercise I have planned, swap it for something different, or do more or less sets/reps. I'm liking my workouts right now, but I downloaded Brandon Lilly's Cube method, and I'm contemplating starting that in a couple months. Has anyone tried that one? MONDAY UPPER I was able to go up five pounds on bench press and still get the same number of reps. I also did an extra set of pullups with weight and was also able to get 2 sets of 8 reps with the 45s on dumbbell chest presses. Gonna go for the 50s next week and see how many I can get! 1)Bench press: 95x6/100x6/100x6/100x8 2)Wide grip fat bar pullups w/weight: 12lbs x4x5/ bodyweight x6 3a)DB chest press: 40x8/45x8/45x8/40x10 3b)Seated cable row: 2x8/1x12 4a)...

Happy New Year!