Lindsay's Ramblings

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you enjoyed your favorite foods with no guilt, no restrictions, and no "working it off"  by doing extra cardio the next day. I had a meal at my Mom's Thursday and then Saturday at another family gathering. I went all out Thursday and then kept things a little more in check Saturday, but still didn't worry about macros or anything like that whatsoever. It's always good to spend time with family and be able to play with Celeste! :) I'm thankful that I have a family to spend the holidays with, because I know not everyone has that. Losing my dad to cancer and almost losing Mom after her car wreck definitely makes you appreciate the time you have with loved ones more.   Friday I went iceskating with my sister and her boyfriend and his kids, and it was so much fun! I grew up ice skating like every single weekend, but I haven't been in a few years. It was just like old times with my sister! Als...

I've been weight training since I was 13 years old...which means I've been at this for a LOOOONGGG time. It also means that I've experimented with many different styles of training and training splits. I've done bodybuilding workouts, CrossFit, and powerlifting. If you aren't familiar with what a training split is, it's simply how you split up the way  you train your muscle groups throughout the week. The most common splits are the typical "bodybuilder" splits, where you train one or two muscle groups each day, usually training each muscle group once a week. While this can be fine for "enhanced" bodybuilders, I'm not a huge fan of that type of split for the general population. For one thing, most people don't have 6-7 days to commit to the gym, and for most people just wanting to lose fat and gain some muscle tone, there is no reason to hit one muscle group every workout with a million different exercises. Instead, I prefer trai...

Hope y'all are all having a great weekend! Ours has been kind of rough. We ended up taking Asher to the animal hospital last night because he was acting strange-not wanting to lay down, yelping if he tried to, and just not acting himself at all. We waited a couple of hours, but then figured it was better to be safe than sorry.  They did an X-ray and blood work on him and were mostly worried about stomach bloat. But his stomach was fine, and they didn't didn't find anything except that he has an ear infection and really bad bone spurs all along his spine, which is probably causing him pain. So they gave him some pain meds and medicine for his ear infection.  This morning he was acting about the same-not able to lay down-but now he seems to be better after we gave him the pain meds. He's actually sleeping on the couch right now, which he wasn't able to do previously, so at least that's an improvement. It's just so hard knowing your baby is in pain and not...

This is what I'm currently.... Eating: Tacos! I've been loving our Friday taco nights. We still do burgers sometimes, but we have just been in the mood for something different lately. We use Old El Paso shells, lean ground beef, low sodium taco seasoning, and salsa. Always with a bunch of veggies on the side. So yummy!  Reading: Book #36 for the year! This was pretty good. Doing: I've partnered with PrayFit to help raise money for special needs children and those without access to clean water. I'm dedicating my workouts to the cause, and I would  sooo  appreciate it if you would consider making a donation or joining my team to help fundraise!  Check it out here:  https://www.crowdrise.com/lindsay-squats-for-a-cause Wearing: Booties! Is that even what they're called? Ankle boots? Who knows. Anyway, I'm not trendy whatsoever, but I think these are really cute! Smiling: when I see photos like this on...

Barbell hip thrusts have become allll the rage in the past few years thanks to Bret Contreras, aka "The Glute Guy". Because everybody these days wants a big bootayyy, right? I know I do! Some people consider them to be in the same category as the "big 3"(squats, deadlifts, bench press). Let me start off by saying that I think hip thrusts, if done correctly, are a great exercise. I did them for years and actually got pretty strong on them. I was able to get up to 275 for 5 reps at one point. But in the last few months, I haven't been doing them. Why? Well, really for no other reason than that I just don't really like 'em anymore! Not only that, but I didn't see much improvement in the size or shape of my glutes, and that's really the main reason I was doing them. Plus, they're also a pain to set up, and sometimes I just didn't feel like I was getting anything out of them. Just like with any exercise, if something doesn't feel...

Happy Sunday!  Matt's parents were in from New York for the week, so it was nice to spend time with them. Saturday we all went out for pizza for Matt's birthday.   This is one of our top fave New York style pizza places. It's so good. Workouts were good this week. Squats felt strong, and my back is feeling better. I did block pulls this week with a sumo stance and they were 10x easier... so I probably should do them conventional and not go for what's easier, right? ;) Friday I used 50s on chest press for the first time in a while and was really surprised to get 8 reps. They felt strong! Deficit deadlifts Saturday were still freaking hard for me, but what's hard at the moment is going to be what makes you better! I tried to do front squats this week, and after the few reps decided not to risk it and did leg press instead. I hate it because front squats are such a good exercise, but it's the only thing that really causes actual pain in my back. It's...

I don't have "fat days" or "fluffy days" anymore, because quite frankly, I don't care. I refuse to let something like three pounds of water destroy my day. I know now that I'm healthier than I ever was at 130 pounds. My hormones aren't out of whack, I'm not moody or depressed, I don't have random headaches, I'm not constantly fatigued, and I don't feel weak. Unfortunately, there's a widespread belief that equates health to six-pack abs. This might be true for some people, but for the majority it's not. I can lift more, sprint faster, and am healthier now than I ever was. There is beauty in strength.  I don't just say it, I   know   it. -Karina Baymiller

Happy MONDAY!  Hope you all enjoyed your weekend and had a treat or two, with no guilt. ;) This weekend I finally got the pumpkin spice donuts I've been wanting from Krispy Kreme! They are sooo good.  Of course, I had a chocolate cream filled because those are my FAVE. Donuts never disappoint.  Workouts this week were good, nothing crazy. Back is still really tight, so I gotta figure out what to do about that, because nothing I'm doing is helping(massage, smr, streching). It's just annoying, and besides not lifting heavy anymore, I don't know what else I can do. I'm also annoyed by the fact that despite all I've been doing-eating more, gaining weight, adding in more glute isolation work, higher reps, etc.-my glutes have not grown. I hate to blame genetics, but at this point...what else could it be? What seems to grows on me when I gain weight is my back and arms-what I don't even want to grow! I'm totally the opposite of most women. Gu...

Being on a "diet" or a meal plan is easy. You eat what foods you're told to eat, and you don't eat foods you're not "allowed" to eat. The problem is, you don't ever learn how to eat when you AREN'T on a diet or meal plan. When it comes to dieting and nutrition, so many people end up with the "all or nothing" mentality of either eating super "clean" or eating like crap; there is no in-between. And those are the people who are always "on again, off again", never able to get results and actually keep them.  See, extremes are easy. Finding balance and moderation to eat well consistently is actually the hard part, but it's what brings long term success. Now, I'm not saying that following a meal plan or a diet is EASY, what I'm saying is what's actually harder is being able to know how to eat when you're NOT on a meal plan or diet. What's harder is finding balance and consistency with a...