Emma Lanni

Hey all.
New to the site and wanted to start recording my every day life here to see what kind of help, advice and pointers I can get to attain my goals.

I will appreciate all suggestions, so please write freely in my journal. Just to warn you all, Im getting a little frustrated with the plateau I think Ive hit so dont mind the venting.

It may help better if some (or one) of the mods can help me out day to day. Anyone interested?

~EL

dg806

Welcome Emma!

"So as we set out this year to defeat the divisive forces that would take our freedom away, I want to say those words again for everyone within the sound of my voice to hear and to heed, and especially for you, Mr. Gore. From my cold dead hands!"




"I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead."
Nov. 5, 1994 - Ronald Reagan

Emma Lanni

My stats:

-Female (25 years young) - was at my prime in 2000. Have total hotty potential, but may be fading a bit
-Muscular (150 lbs) - got strong legs, strong abs, strong back, flab in the love handles, back handles, inner thighs and tri's. Gotta get rid of them. They are not welcome here.
-Short (5'3) - I slim up real good in heels and a dress
-Bloated (size 6 on a good day, size 8 on a bad) - today I am a size 7.
-Active (will go over that)
-Salt addict (hence the bloatedness)
-Trying to resist becoming a chocoholic (need to get smacked a little here)

Have enormous dedication and will power with a tough trainer.

Will take measurements tonight.

Goals:
-To get back to my "prime" condition. Or at least looking like it.
-Avoid bulking up the muscles any more
-To develop a balance of healthy eating and proper exercising without restricting too much
-Get rid of the flab for good

Emma Lanni

Thx DG.

Excercise routine:
Mondays and Fridays - a.m. circuit training and light aerobic training (abs, legs/back, arms/chest, with light jog of 2 miles)
Circuit Training
Altered crunch x50
Obliques w/medicine ball 2 kg. 3X12
Squats w/2kg medicine ball, alternating knee up b/ween 3X12
superset - Front raises alternating flys, 8 lb DB 3X12
superset - on bench, extend tri pull alternating chest pres 8 lb DB 3X12
superset - bicep curls 8 lb DB 3X15 and chin up assist 6-12 or til failure
2.5 mile jog

Tuesdays and Thursdays - a.m. 1 hour lap swimming
alternating:
30 sec laps of Freestyle x3
45 sec laps of breaststroke x 5
2 mins rest between w/backstroke

Wednesdays - rest or p.m. 2.5 mile jog

Weekends - rest or leisurely jogs.

Meals:
On an average, looks like:
Breakfast - quaker oats, piece of cheese
Lunch - mesclun/romaine salads w/chx or beef
Mid p.m snack - 1 med orange
Dinner - varies. I avoid carbs at night, and usually has a small meat portion (chx, steak, etc)
Water is constant. Not a problem w/water intake.
Day to day cals apprx. 1450-1500

This is pretty consistent. The only time it changes is the weekends when I allow myself some treats here and there.

My concern is I need to rid my sweet tooth (enjoy chocolate, and can never eat just a piece), and I need to curb my salt craving. My body bloats real easy, so I need to keep myself properly hydrated.

I want to avoid "plans" because I dont want to lapse when I go "off" the plan. I want to step by step make alterations to alter my diet/exercise routine.

PRIMARY GOAL - To see progress.

ncgirl21

Hey Emma Welcome to IM

They sell this stuff called no salt as a salt substitue and it works awesome. You can also pick up some Mrs. Dash seasoning- it's salt free as well. I bloat VERY easily and this helps a lot.

Do you use dressing on your salad? Do you take any vitamins/EFA's?

http://stephlg.proboards44.com/index.cgi#general

Emma Lanni

Hey NC! Thx

I stopped taking flax a few months ago, it got too expensive and I fell off eating properly. I havent used that stuff since last summer. You think I need to get back on it?

I Take a woman's multi every morning.

On salad's I usually use any type I want, but stick to 1-2 TBS at the most. I stick to vinagrettes or caesar's. Try to watch the sugar content.

I kind of want to get my diet on track before the supps. Know what I mean?

2 years ago I was able to get my body exactly how I wanted it without protein shakes, or supplements, or anything. I just figured out what foods to combine with each other and eating them according to when I worked out. It worked.

But then I fell off the plan, and when I got back on, I realized it wasnt as easy for my body to kick it in shape. Frustrating..

ncgirl21

On the salad's I'd try to ditch the dressing and use oil & vinegar or no dressing. I know it sound blah.... but you get use to it!!

http://stephlg.proboards44.com/index.cgi#general

Emma Lanni

that makes sense...

thats exactly what I needed. Little tips here and there that will all slowly become habit.

thanks nc!

VonDrunk

Welcome Emma...is that you in your avatar?...very cool!

"Friends may come and go, but 200lbs is ALWAYS 200lbs"

-Henry Rollins

Var

Welcome Emma! Good luck!

But when you disarm them, you at once offend them by showing that you distrust them, either for cowardice or for want of loyalty, and either of these opinions breeds hatred against you.

-N. Machiavelli

Emma Lanni

hey.. thanks guys. Hello to you too.

PreMier

Fish oil is a better EFA source Welcome to IM.

P-side Inc.

"the post-workout high is more profound than any drug-induced rush imaginable." -Dante B.

atherjen

Hi Emma! smart move to start a journal! TONS of support and advice here!

I agree with Premier- I would defintly suggest adding some EFA's-preferably in the form of Fish oil to your diet at the least.
I also dont think your eating enough for your stats. you dont want to risk metabolic slowdown and loosing muscle.
adding in some EFA's and more protein(as I see your lacking in each meal) would help to bump the cals up some.

" To dream anything you want to dream: That is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything you want to do: That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits: that is the courage to succeed."

NPC Southern Classic, June 3rd
NPC Cajun Classic, June 10th
NPC Mississippi State July 22nd

hikerchick

Hi Emma and Welcome

I was just going to suggest the fish oil. There is a very affordable website to get it at a great price. www.fast4100.com or something like that. Nikegurl recommended it to me so she know it if that's wrong.

Anyway, good luck with your goals!

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is just a habit.
- Socrates


I am worth it!

Emma Lanni

Thx Premier, atherjen and hiker.

Fish oil comes in caps no? What is the recommended dosage per day? Hopefully it will be cheaper than flax.

Atherjen, I think your right with the amount of cals. I also dont think Im eating enough. My problem is that I will eat a small breakfast, usually late, a decent lunch and then I will be starving for dinner. I will usually give in to starchy foods mid afternoon, and when I feel like my calories have gone over, I dont eat any more.

Anyone familiar with the South Beach diet? I've heard good things and I am trying to figure out if its a "diet-diet" or a good way to start curbing my eating habits.

Emma Lanni

Tuesday May 11

a.m. swim - empty stomach (actually, had some coffee w/non-dairy creamer and splenda. 1/2 liter of aguaaa)

1 hour laps

3 laps consecutive freestyle - alternating -
6 laps consecutive breaststroke

3 minutes backstroke rest in between

My swim goals:
-Slow down my freestyle pace (currently 25-30 second laps, want to get down to 40-45 second laps) and increase my consecutive laps to build up endurance.
-Increase speed of breaststroke laps (currently 40-45 second laps) and amount to work out back more.

*havent taken measurements yet. have to dig out my tape measure*

ncgirl21

In my own opinion- any diet that eliminates a particular food group, even for a short period of time, is hard to stick to. Unless there is a reason you can't eat something (allergies) then I wouldn't. Just follow a balanced meal plan and I promise you'll get the results you want.

http://stephlg.proboards44.com/index.cgi#general

Emma Lanni

thanks nc.

Its true, I tried the low carb plans sticking to only slow burning carbs and zero starchy foods. I lost a tremendous amount of water weight and went down two sizes, but after three months, I would try out a sandwich and the bread would bloat me up a size. It was so much faster to gain weight after that plan.

Trying to do everything moderatly, but Im still very impatient. I like fast results.

Fitgirl70

Hi Emma, glad you found us here at IM. WELCOME
Jen's right, TONS of support and advice here.

You're right, it's always best to get the diet on track before you start supplementing w/ other stuff -- other than your normal vits that is. Although it impossible to get the vitamins and minerals completely from food and supplementation is necessary, depending on your goals you will need to do something. However, I don't agree about not having a plan. You know what they say, "if you fail to plan, then you've planned to fail". Just my two cents. I find that if I don't have a plan where my food and w/outs are concerned, I usually blow it off and have no plan at all -- to me, that's failing.

Good luck -- I'll be keeping up.

All the glory to God! We have a baby on the way.

ncgirl21

There are a lot of low carb foods that I buy though because they generally have less calories and more fiber in them. For instance, I get La Tortilla Factory Low Carb Tortillas- one tortilla has only 50 calories, 11 carbs and 9 grams of fiber. There's also low carb milk that has a lot of protein in it and is also low in calories, low carb yogurt, etc.

I really don't find the fish oil caps that expensive. You can get them at Wal-Mart. Get the ecentric (sp?) coated ones. I would guess you would need to take 8-10 a day but Jodi or Jen could tell you for sure.

http://stephlg.proboards44.com/index.cgi#general

Emma Lanni

Hi Fit, thx for your advice.
What I mean when I say I dont want to start a "plan", is really I dont want to start a plan with "set" foods with a scale and measuring cups. Here is why.

The last time I was on a plan, I followed it so strictly, I realized that instead of gradually reducing my meal portions, or switching to only the "good foods" (lean meats, fibrous veggies, slowburning carbs, etc), I just cut all the bad foods (mostly white carbs, and sugars) out of my diet entirely. Without "cheating". This may seem like a good thing - that I was being so hardcore about it all, but in the end, I felt like I had restricted myself so much that when I reintroduced certain foods back into my system (either as a "treat" or a "taste"), I gained everything back even worse than before I started. Does this make sense?

So rather than following a set number plan, I want to make sure that my goals are reached by small adjustments that will become things I WANT to do, rather than things I HAVE to do.

For example, right now I am eating 3 significant meals a day with snacks. rather than doing that, I want to start eating have my lunch at lunch, and the rest 3 hours later. That way I can get my body used to the adjustment. Later on, I will switch that lunch to even better foods and more reasonable portions.

I want to incorporate some EFA's with my meals little by little, and I want to go slow and steady on the sweets. This past week I binged every day. I curbed it to a little piece of chocolate when a craving gets the best of me rather than a whole bar. Or 3 bites of cake rather than a big piece. Then I would like to start eating berries instead of cake, and grapefruit instead of chocolate.. etc.
And slowly curb my sweet tooth toward the proper foods.

Im afraid to go so strict because it backfired on me when I went off the plan... I think the trick is to not think of it as a plan, because I always feel the need to get "off" the plan later and eat "normally". I want to tell myself that its a way of life, that way Ill never get off.

naturaltan

thinkig of your plan as a life change is a great way to start. I think the hardcore versions of eating plans should be left for those competing - that's my 2.354 cents.

Welcome to IM

just kick'in it in the ole Charger

Emma Lanni

Thx NT
Hopefully I will turn things into habit fast. I'm sick of being bloated.

So I went to the gym this morning and there was this older woman with a GREAT body. She must have thought I was crazy because I was staring at her wondering how the hell I can get my body to look half as good as hers

Needless to say, she motivated me. If chocolate comes my way, Im giving it the boot. Go on tempt me!!!

Wednesday, May 12 - missed Monday's circuit training. So it happened today

Crunches 3 sets of 25
bicycles 3 sets of 8
1 set bench jack knives x24 - was failure
tri rope pulldowns, 15 lb 3 sets 15
bent over one arm rows 17.5 lbs 3 sets 10 - (too heavy I think)
cable bar curls 15 lbs 3 sets 12
front raise - alternating side raise 8 lb DB 3 sets 12
Lat pulldowns 30 lbs 3 sets 15
calf raises, no weight 3 sets 12
ham curls 30 lbs 3 sets 12
cable flys 15 lbs, 1 set 12
squats - 2.5kg medicine ball 2 sets 12

Ran 1.5 miles, power walked .5 - total took me 20 mins. I must have been going real slow.

Emma Lanni

Thanks nc! Have you seen a significant difference in flax via fish oil?

Emma Lanni

Meals for today
Wed May 12

a.m workout empty stomach

12:00pm - oatmeal, small piece of cheese
3:00pm - 1 turkey burger (no bun) topped w/salsa, small salad (just romaine lettuce) w/1 TBS vinagrette dressing
6:00pm - 1 chicken breast w/jerk marinade, romaine lettuce w/balsamic vinagrette
9:00pm - 1 hard boiled egg

I think thats an improvement.

ncgirl21

Your doing good sweetie!! I never used flax so I can't tell you anything about it but I like the fish oil (I just hate swallowing pills).

http://stephlg.proboards44.com/index.cgi#general

PreMier

Im not NC, but I sure did. most noticably was the mood change. I feel so much happier.

http://www.1fast400.com/index.php?articleID=38&

http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/sh...threadid=18699 (Benefits of Fish Oil)

P-side Inc.

"the post-workout high is more profound than any drug-induced rush imaginable." -Dante B.