Lindsay's Ramblings

"Flexible dieting is much bigger than simply allowing more variety into your diet; flexible dieting, REAL flexible dieting is a MINDSET and an ATTITUDE towards food, dieting, etc.   In my opinion, this anal retentive need to perfectly hit macronutrient goals for the day is majoring in the minor. Being an obsessive number cruncher and calculator carrier does not line up with the MINDSET of flexible dieting. “Oh darn, I’m a few grams off from the macros my diet says I have to have, so I can’t have this.” Sure you can, who cares? It’s REASONABLY CLOSE. Adjust elsewhere in the day. Hit your calories first and foremost. Get reasonably close to your macro goals. You do NOT have to perfectly “fit your macros”. Just as clean eating is not a fat-loss requirement, neither is perfectly hitting your macros. The mindset of a true flexible dieter is that of a lifestyle, not a set of rules. It’s a way of thinking about food, diet, exercise, your fitness journey, etc. When y

MONDAY UPPER HEAVY +GLUTES Push jerks felt pretty good this week. Didn't go heavier but just did an extra set. I was able to get 3 sets of 6 on dumbbell chest press today, and supersetted those with overhand grip pullups this week. For the glutes this week, I did kettlebell swings and seated abductions, then a couple extra sets of band walks after that. 1)Push jerks: 125x3x2/ 115x3(push press) 2a)Overhand grip pullups: 10lbs x6x5 2b)DB chest press: 50x3x6/45x6 3a)TRX reverse fly: 2x12 3b)TRX pike: 15/12/Dragonfly: 2x8 4a)KB swings: 60x3x12 4b)Seated abductions: 1x30/3x25 5)Band walks: 2x12 WEDNESDAY LOWER This was a deload week for deadlifts, so I decided to go heavier on front squats. It was my first time using a belt for front squats! I definitely had a rep or maybe 2 left in the tank with 135, so next week I'll try to increase up to a 5 rep max. After front squats I just did some posterior chain work, calves and abs, then a 5 minute finisher of slams and clam ra

Creatine is backed by research and has proven to be a legit performance enhancing supplement for over 20 years, but many people, especially women, are hesitant about taking it. Despite what you may have heard, creatine is NOT a steroid, and it is not bad for your kidneys. “To date, creatine is clearly the single most effective dietary supplement for enhancing gains in anaerobic performance as well as increasing lean body mass and muscle fiber size.”  -Jose Antonio PhD I think that one of the main reasons why women are fearful of supplementing with creatine is due to the fear of bloating and/or weight gain, or it could be simply a lack of understanding as to what creatine actually is and what it does in the body. The reality is, there is nothing to fear about creatine. So what IS creatine? Creatine is made up of 3 amino acids, ( L-arginine, glycine, and L-methionine )   and is naturally occurring in the body's skeletal muscle, as well as in certain foods.  How does it wo

I decided for this WIAW, I'd show what I ate yesterday,  a rest day, since my Wednesday meals are pretty much always the same! On rest days I eat 3 full meals, and 2 snacks/mini meals. I don't track anything. The only thing I weigh is my meat, and I just use a measuring cup to scoop out my oats. I have a big thing of nuts that I just take a handful out of for my morning snack, and I definitely don't know if my spoonful of peanut butter is a tablespoon or not! That's the freedom of not tracking macros! I don't know what the calories are and don't really care, to be honest. It's enough for me to maintain where I'm at and feel satisfied and never hungry. And I enjoy all of my yummy meals! Workout days are usually more calories and carbs, since I have an added post workout meal and bigger carb portions on those days. 7:00  Coffee with Stevia and whole milk 8:00 1/2 cup oats, spoonful of peanut butter, 1 scoop protein 11:30  4 oz chicken, a handf

MONDAY -UPPER BODY HEAVY I did push presses this week instead of jerks since the CrossFit area was closed, and I didn't have access to bumper plates. They felt really strong though! Dumbbell chest presses still felt pretty hard with the 50s. Was only able to get 6,but I did add an extra set this week. I'll aim for 3 sets of 6 next week. I supersetted those with weighted pullups, and then finished upper body with some face pulls. Legs were still a little sore from Saturday, but I decided to go ahead and do a glute circuit anyway. Was definitely feeling the burn! 1)Push press: 115x4x3 2a)DB chest press: 50x6/6/5/45x9 2b)Pullups(neutral wide grip): 15x5/5/5/4+bodyweight x4+2/ bodyweight x8 3)Face pulls: 3x12 Glute circuit: Single leg foot elevated glute bridge x10 Cable pullthroughs x 10 Seated abductions x20 4 rounds WEDNESDAY -LOWER BODY HEAVY Loved this workout! Front squats felt great! I was able to add 5 pounds this week for 3 sets of 5.  I think I've realiz

It's Fridaaay!!  After two weeks of nonstop rain, it's finally been sunny lately, and I'm about to go get my float on here shortly. I'm hoping that it will continue throughout the weekend!  Tonight is burger night, tomorrow is church and dinner at home, and then Celeste's birthday party is Sunday! I can't believe she'll be two years old tomorrow! She's growing up toooo fast.  On to the things I'm loving lately... ~Getting a haircut! I finally got my hair cut yesterday after 4 months. Boy, did it need it! I go way too long between cuts. ~Summer fruit Usually we stick to apples, oranges and bananas in the winter, but Summer is for melon, and strawberries and these yummy organic grapes that I got on sale the other day! ~Cream cheese I've really been loving this Greek yogurt cream cheese on my toast! It's so good. ~Sherbet Ice Cream I had this sitting in my freezer for like a year and just suddenly had

A while back I posted a blog about my nutrition journey to show how it took me MANY years to get to the way I am eating now. I thought I would do the same with my training journey to show how I started and how my training has evolved throughout the years. Phase 1 1997-2003:Lifting weights for softball It all started 17 years ago, with a little set of pink dumbbells just like this: Most of you all know my story-I was a softball pitcher and my dad wanted me to strengthen my arm with some strength training exercises. I did what he told me, and all I can say is that I fell in love with it. It went from something to make me better at pitching to something that was fun! That was when my love for muscles began, and I found that weight training was a way for me to  build up my scrawny frame. Of course, I eventually "outgrew" the little pink dumbbells, so my dad got me a heavier set. I continued lifting weights in my bedroom religiously, all through middle school and high

MONDAY UPPER BODY HEAVY Push jerks felt pretty good this week, even though I was still sore in my upper back, I guess from cleans on Friday. I did dumbbell chest press this workout and moved bench to Friday. I had to skip the glute circuit this week because I was waaaay too sore still from Saturday! Just did some overhead weighted carries instead. 1)Push jerks: 95x3/115x3/125x2/2/2 2a)DB chest press: 45x6/50x6/50x6/45x8 2b)Weighted ring pullups: 15x6/6/6/5/ Fat bar chinup x8(not to failure, NEVER to failure!) 3a)Ab wheel negatives: 3x8 3b)DB seated "cleans": 3x12 4)Overhead dumbbell carries: 45x3x25ish seconds WEDNESDAY LOWER HEAVY My glutes and hams were finally not sore by Wednesday, thank goodness. I really enjoyed this workout, probably because it's not my higher rep leg day! I added 10 pounds to front squats, and they actually felt pretty good. This week for deadlifts was 5x3 at 75% of my max, which was 185. They felt pretty good. Not easy, not crazy hard.

HAPPY FRIDAY!! 1. I've been studying through Psalm 119 the last few weeks.  What I'm doing is writing out 8 verses a day, then doing the Love God Greatly bible app and applying the SOAP method in my journal as well. I encourage you do it with me!   2. This came in the mail last week, and I was so excited to try it, if only for the flavor! I love it. I am not a big pre-workout person, but I do like to use it for leg days when I know I need the extra boost! 3. Friday is Quest bar day! Not because I "limit" them to Fridays or anything silly like that, but just because usually by Friday I've ran out of meat, so I use this instead for my afternoon snack. Look at this beauty!  4. I saw this on LBC's Facebook page, and I really want to try this for a post workout treat sometime!   Have any of you tried it? I think this would be a great addition to my post workout treat options, in addition to my cereal, ice cream sandwiches, and banana marsh

“Next to praying there is nothing so important in practical religion as Bible reading. By reading that book we may learn what to believe, what to be, and what to do; how to live with comfort, and how to die in peace.” Happy is that man who possesses a Bible! Happier still is he who reads it! Happiest of all is he who not only reads it, but obeys it, and makes it the rule of his faith and practice!”  ―  J.C. Ryle

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend!  Saturday was my little cousin Trinity's first birthday party. She is such a cutie! I have a beautiful family. ;) I got to see Celeste, too, which made me sooo happy. :) She is just so sweet and adorable. I enjoyed lots of treats while there- a hot dog, meatballs, chips, potato casserole, and of course, cupcakes and ice cream- yum! I can't believe I didn't get a pic-I guess I was too busy stuffing my face! Haha. . One thing I like to do is make any social functions that come up be my "treat meal/free meal", so that I don't ever feel deprived, or feel like I "can't" eat something. It's all about balance, and to me, that means being able to go to a family function and eat like a normal person for a day, not packing around tupperware. If that's your thing, great, but it's not mine! Anyway, how freakin' adorable is Celeste is? I love this picture-my sister look

MONDAY UPPER BODY HEAVY + GLUTES It felt good to be back in the gym this week. I started this week with heavy push jerks and bench press. Push jerks felt easy, bench felt okay. I'm sort of just stuck on bench and not really sure how to progress at this point. :/ I've decided I'm gonna stick with my narrow grip on bench rather than trying to go wider. I'm not a powerlifter, so there's no reason to change what just feels best to me! I did some weighted ring pullups, and I was happy that they didn't bother my shoulder at all! I missed my pullups! I finished up with abs and rear delts and then a glute circuit. After this week I'm gonna move bench day to Friday since I just want to change things up a little! 1)Push jerks: 115x3x3/Push press- 105x5 2)Bench press: 95x5/105x3x5/95x8 3)Weighted pullups on rings: 15x6/6/5/5 /0x6 (+2 muscle ups) 4a)Trx rear delt flyes: 3x12 4b)Reverse crunches on bench: 3x12-15 Glute circuit: 4 rounds- Back extensions w/25lbs