I'm learning to do barbell full squats - a la Krista Smash - to the ground, butt almost touching the floor. But when I get down that far with any kind of weight, two things happen: 1) my center of gravity gets so low it's hard to get back up and 2) I get light headed/dizzy. Is this a low blood pressure thing or am I doing the squat wrong?
Neither happens when I go down just far enough so my thighs are parallel to the ground. I'm been at the Krista Smash site trying to get my form right and I think I've got it other than the dizziness.
I've experienced this not with squats, but with lunges. I *think* it's my breathing. I have to really focus on how I breathe with lunges, I tend to hold my breath OR breathe too fast/too shallow. Not sure if that helps, but that's the only time I've run into that issue.
Ilene, the PFA is the Personal Food Assistant which is part of Physique Transformation. It uses the ESHA food database and has the standard P/C/F grams of food items as well as sugar, fiber, sodium and about 20 vitamins and minerals. I am really feeling the benefits of eating according to PT, but I don't think I could do this just on paper/pencil. It really helps to have such an extensive database helping me track everything.
I've missed you guys. Welcome to all the new members--it's very exciting to see this group grow!!! Hi to all the regulars...it's so nice to log in here and see all the familiar faces and everyone doing so well!!! This group is the GREATEST!!!
I'm back to the gym tonight! I thought I would be back last week but my dr wanted me to have some chiro/massage therapy work first. So I had to wait until this weekend but I get to go back tonight!!! I'm very excited. I'm going to swim a bit and do a few light weights. Nothing heavy but I have to move things around. I'm still doing physical therapy too and it's helping though sometimes it makes me very very sore. I have a chiro session this morning. I've been driving about 3 weeks. It's going okay. I thought for a while I'd never get back behind the wheel of a car (or worse, on a motorcycle!) but now I am pretty sure I can do both. I bought a new car and though I can't afford it (yet!), it's nice to have.
I graduated on the 24th and have been deep in bar study ever since. I'm getting extremely sore from all the sitting and studying. I'm going to the gym tonight and today I'm going to call about getting a massage. I don't think I can handle 7 weeks of bar study without getting up and moving once in a while.
Susan !! Nice to see you, and to hear you are doing so well, GOOD LUCK, I have great faith you can do it girl!!
Clover -- Yes weight training is a wonderful thang, helps in all aspects of the physical and spiritual self...
Beth -- I can't really help you with the squat I've never gone that low... The only time I get dizzy is when I do hyperextensions, so I just stopped doing that all together...
Susan- SO glad to here from you, I was thinking about you yesterday and wondering how you were doing. Congratulations both on graduating and getting back to the gym. I'm sure both have made you feel much better. Are you staying in California or did you end up taking the Texas job? Where or how many bar exams do you have to take?
OK, bad food day here, too. I've been super clean for 2 weeks and seen zippo results. If eating clean and eating crap produced the same result.....I know, that's not true, but it did cross my mind as I wedged a handful of cheese doodles into my mouth. and swallowed. I don't even like them!
Ilene- laughed so hard about your parking lot story. I Once got stranded in a 7 hour traffic jam in a snow storm ( in Pa of course, everywhere else I've lived they know how to get rid of snow!). I was so desperate I peed in the kleenex box in the car. Of course, I was wearing a suit with a tight skirt and pantyhose, and driving, so this was quite an accomplishment. Also very necessary.
I had the most grueling chest workout today. I played "cards" with a guy that I occassionally workout with. We put down a deck of cards (they were in his gym bag?). First person turns over first card. Do the # of pushups on the card (face cards are 10, Aces are 15, jokers are 18). Second person watches, hoping to get a low card. Second person goes....keep at it until you are through the deck. I got really lucky- he got 3 aces and both jokers. I unfortunately got an ace for the very last card. Then we did a regular chest workout.....
Mel-- Cheese Doodles! I personally hate them (is that color supposed to resemble CHEESE??? ) I once had a boyfriend who told me that while in college (at MIT) he and his fraternity brothers got drunk and wrote the Cheese Doodle cookbook. They took all these traditional recipes and substituted cheese doodles for the main ingredients like beef stroganoff...instead of noodles, use Cheese Doodles! Cheese Doodle pizza, cheese doodle blintzes! they went on and on... At every party they would add to the Cheese Doodle Cookbook....gross!!!!!!!!!!
I'm going to take the Texas job and take the Texas bar in July and then within a year or two transfer to NYC (my hometown!!!) and then take the NY bar (two little tiny bars from two tiny states... I'll miss California but I want to go back east and Texas is a means to an end. The economy is horrible here. About 1/3 of the graduating class at Berkeley are without jobs (pretty odd for Boalt), some of my smartest and most hardworking friends have nothing lined up for after the bar I'm lucky to have a job at this point. I do have to get my ear reconstructed (it was severed in the accident) and start work 9/15 so I hope I have time to get it worked on (I might do some face work at the same time) and move and go back east for a visit. It will be a busy August. One of my motivations to get to the gym is to look GOOD when I go back in August.
I've tried a few times this week to the host, but my Dragon software keeps having errors and losing everything. Hopefully it'll work this time! It looks like things have been busy, as usual, around here lately. I've missed keeping up with you and it being in on all the great discussions around here, but life keeps getting in my way.
Welcome to all the newbies I've missed greeting! I'm sure there are a lot of you.
Mel, that "Kick and Core" class sounds good. Be sure to let us know how you like it. I'm trying some new classes at my gym, too.
Jessica, congrats on the new house! It sounds great!
Robin, congrats again on completing Cycle 1! Enjoy Cycle 2; I think it's my favorite cycle!
Meg, I use wrist straps, but not for pullups. I can't do pullups because of my tendinitis. However, when a friend and I worked out together recently, she borrowed my wrist straps for pullups and thought they helped.
Nola, $3000 for a training program? Even translated to $1500, that's ridiculous!
Beth, I don't think it's necessary to have a trainer stand over you and count reps all the time, either, but I'm sure a good one can give an extra push when needed. I've hired a trainer a few times and it was definitely worth the money. I purchased several sessions with a trainer when I was getting ready to start my first BFL challenge because I'd never lifted before and wanted to start with good form. I'm very glad I did; it made a big difference in my confidence level in the weight room. The only other time I hired a trainer was when I started using the barbell and doing barbell squats. At my old gym I couldn't get any help in the weight room without paying for it. At Gold's I've had trainers offer to help me for free when I mentioned I was not sure about my form on an exercise. Making the move to Gold's was a smart move in so many ways.
Clover, I see now that you were kidding the other day, thank goodness! I hadn't seen your previous posts. I should have recognized the sarcasm; I use it a lot, too, and it sometimes gets me in trouble when people don't recognize it as such on the boards.
I love water! It's my beverage of choice. I feel better what I drink a lot and I know I get better results. I don't go anywhere without a liter of water.
Counting calories seems to make me very hungry, which makes me eat more! I do better counting grams and making sure I get my nutritional requirements in. That's more important than calories anyway, IMO. I've also had my best success eating more calories than I thought possible while following Body Rx.
I agree that we've all got to find what works for us. That doesn't mean that other ideas don't have merit. I really enjoy hearing about the different ideas that everyone here experiments with. I learn a lot that way that I wouldn't otherwise.
Paula, WTG!!! You're doing great!
Ilene, your cottage cheese/fruit/Jell-O story made me smile. I'd rather blame the gain on cottage cheese than potato chips, too!
Karen, oh what a funny story! What's the deal with kids and public restrooms, anyway? My nieces and nephew, 5 & 6, never, ever use public restrooms, even if they're away from home all day long!
Tidey, , I'm sorry your stressed out about seeing your parents! Hang in there! (Deep breath in...exhale every bit...repeat...)
JC, I'm so sorry about your father. I'll keep you both in my prayers. You're right, it's not an excuse, but it is a reason.
Sel, I thought I had Murphy's Law all to myself! Murphy certainly seems to be spending more than his share of time with me lately!
Susan, congrats on getting back to the gym! You've handled all that you been through so well. I'm sure you'll be back to 100% very soon!
*** Murphy's Law...
I've been busy. It's one thing after the other. On Monday I was laid off. My boss told me the store is losing money and may be closed. He said he'll call me if things pickup. I was shocked, to say the least! I was two days short of completing my probation period and he told me himself that if I had completed it would've been difficult to let me go. While I was upset, I figured maybe it wouldn't matter, since I was pretty sure I was about to be offered a position with Department of Children and Families. I'd had a great interview and when I spoke to them last Friday they were about to call my references. During my interview I'd been told that they would not be calling references until they were about ready to make you an offer. I decided to call this morning and see what was up because hadn't heard from them. As of Monday, the day I was laid off, Department of Children and Families is under a job freeze. No hiring until after October 31. Right. I really should've expected that. I'm applying for lots of retail positions and have some other leads for jobs that might help a little while I continue to look for a "real" job. I have no idea how I'm going to pay my bills, not to mention my food and other necessities. I'm having to charge things like toilet paper, veggies & bags of frozern chicken breasts. I need to find something ASAP.
Despite the job/financial situation, not everything is bad. My eating is squeaky & my workouts are great. I went to my first yoga class yesterday after spinning/abs. What a great stress reliever! I'll definitely be going again. I started a new plan on May 26th & and am seeing great results; I've lost 12.5 lbs. so far. There's no way I'm going to mess that up with comfort/junk food! Timing is everything! Thank God I started this plan a week before I got laid off. I'd been struggling and not seeing progress. I might have let my eating go if I'd lost my job at that time.
I'm working hard to keep a positive attitude, because the alternative is unacceptable. It's not easy sometimes. There are times when I feel like having a long cry, buying up all the old junk food and having myself an old-fashioned pity-party, but I know that would only make things worse. Things will work out. I know they will. I just need for something to happen very soon. Even with my paycheck, I could barely cover the rent and had next to nothing for my bills.
I'm going to thonk of something nice to do for myself this weekend. Maybe give myself a pedicure or something. Maybe relax a little with a good book...about something other than nutrition!
Have a great weekend Everyone!
Deb
Difficulties show men what they are. In case of any difficulty remember that God has pitted you against a rough antagonist that you may be a conqueror, and this cannot be without toil. ~ Epictetus
Deb -- you seem so ambitious I'm sure something will come your way....
Another toilet story:
D is gone to a sleep over, left around 4PM.... I went shopping came back around 7:30, DH says I had to go pick D up, she had to go to the bathroom for a #2 and wouldn't go at her friend's! So he picked her up, came home, took her back to the party!! He asked her what she would have done if we would've been gone, she said wait it out!!!! Good grief!
Mel, your story made me laugh too... I'm sure you weren't the only one doing something to that effect in a traffic jam...
Thanks for all the kudos. I feel pretty proud, but was also nervous because I have always stopped at 30 lbs. -- not neccesarily intentionally, but because that is where i always plateau. Well...I took a look back at old journals (clearing room to make space for children) and noticed that I was not eating nearly ads clean and balanced as I am now and I was only fiddling on the weights -- so I know this time will be different!
I am totally wiped out from the week. Ate clean, got my workouts done, until 5:30 pm last night when I met up with my 2 buddies from my old job..... had 2 Bacardi's and shared a plate of nacho wedges, they were divine.
Still proceeding with free day today, wrote last night off as life in general.... well except for taking the train by myself at 9:30 with the 'footy crowd'. Yikes, many drunk blokey blokes!! Funny how a group of loaded older men tend to call you sweety every sentence, I could tell they were looking out for me, and one grandfatherly man offered his mobile phone when he saw that mine was flashing red meaning low battery when I rang hubby to come pick me up at the station. I felt 'safe' but I will not be doing that again!! ha ha ha
JC - thanks for the advice about ordering from overseas, I usually just order books/dvd's from a canadian website, a bit different than food!! ha ha ha I found a place a few burbs over that sells Myplex pretty cheap and we have been using "Horleys" PP which on the label compares quite a bit like myoplex. Hubby said he hated the vanilla myoplex, too goopy for him..... so problem solved.
WW issue - I am still doing the weight recording on Sat mornings for WW.... the last week I was really unmotivated to continue with it, but today was a good meeting. It was on 'diet saboteurs' and it seemed that everyone could contribute a story about someone who has tried to stall their process.... I have one of those in my life, and she is coming over tonight for dinner. Thank goodness for free day. It got really bad between us around Christmas, and now it is bad again. My hubby told her hubby (who is his best friend - - confused yet?) that I was doing BFL, and she tried it and did not get past week 4. I heard all the stories about how WW is wrong from her 6 months ago (she is a doctor who is overweight!!) and now will likely hear it all again, especially with my calendar on the fridge showing stars for the days of the 84 I have completed so far!!! I am a visual person, and like shiny things, so a spreadsheet with stars is my motivation!! Oh well.... I will suck it up, smile, and then eat my slice of peach/mango cheesecake I bought for dessert and tomorrow start week 7... just like I have every Sunday lately!! With fire and determination!!! GGGRRRRR!!!!
I had a great phone call with my mom today. I miss her heaps! I tracked down a camera shop near where I used to live and have ordered a digital camera for them, as this year's birthday/anniversary/christmas presents. The store is going to ship it to her work for free (they live 2 hours drive away from a major city) and even tossed in a 32 MB card for her. My dad is the anti-geek and is even thinking of how he can use it. I just miss the photos of what is happening over there, the seasons, their calves this spring, the baby kitties.
I am feeling a bit down today, it is my 2 year 'landing' anniversary. 2 years ago today I stepped off the plane to start my new life. I am missing my friends heaps, my family, my 'old' life and yet I am realising how far I have come as a person over the last 2 years. Living in a new culture, working on my career in a much much larger city, making friends, being a 'wife', doing BFL.... I could go on and on. More of a reflective mood than sad....
One more story...... then I will let you guys off the hook for the 'nola rant' for the day. When I lived in Canada, I had a beautiful siamese cat. She had the light coloured points, more of a peach colour and was like my child. I had her for 4 years from a kitten stage. Two days before I left for Aus, I cancelled the plans to have her shipped over. She had to wait another 6 weeks before they would send her because of the timing of her shots. Probably the hardest decision I made during the whole process of moving here. My best friend is a single mom and I spent the last 6 weeks in Canada living with them after I sold my house. The girls had bonded with the cat, and the cat to them, so I knew I was leaving her in a great home. This was in June. In September, the cat was 'stolen'. I am not joking, the neighbour saw a woman come into Natalie's yard and leave with the cat!! What sick person steals a cat from a family? That was 18 months ago!!! In the process to bring the cat over to Aus, I had her microchipped.... and last weekend, Nat got a call from the animal shelter saying they had found her flame point siamese!!! I was so excited on Monday when Nat called me at work!! I had to take a walk and get my emotions under control. The cat is settling in with her 'new' family and I have had a couple of photos sent. It is a feel good story, and my heart is happy that the cat made it back to my friend's house. Looks like she was taken care of and is healthy. Which is the most important thing!
Well... I am off to enjoy my free day, make my grocery list for tomorrow and to suck up the comments from my saboteur tonight!!
Nola what a great post! I enjoyed it all, and I loved the cat story, yea I can't believe someone would STEAL a family pet, geez what is this world coming to....
it hurts to sneeze because you did decline lower leg raises a la BFL two days ago and middle tummy muscles hurt like HECK!
you can spend extended periods of time lovingly staring at your emerging bicep
you cant walk by a mirror without hitting at least 3 poses.
you wish you had Gene Simmons' tongue so that you could thoroughly clean the inside of your shaker bottle/blender
everyone at your work keeps asking "what were you doing last night" cause your moaning when you walk, stand up, sit down...
you see how many plastic bags full of groceries you can carry in one hand and then wonder what dumbbell weight that would equate to.
you go to give blood you look forward to the nurse complimenting you on how easy it is to find your veins.
flexing while you're driving so you have your hands high on the steering wheel and wonder if anyone else notices?
you look into the next car where the driver has their hands at 10 and 2 to see if their triceps are showing (and wonder whether yours do at that position)...
you bring MRPs for snacks to the office
your cardio on the recumbant bike earns Frequent Flier Miles for you!
you finally make the decision that 93 cottage cheese containers ought to be enough, and start throwing them out when you're done with the cottage cheese.
you go to put leftovers in the refrigerator, you have to move your 16 dozen eggs around to find room.
you take the fridge your neighbor offers you and put it in the garage to hold all the produce, eggs cartons and chicken breasts!
the muscleheads at the gym ask where you were yesterday, and FINALLY stop staring at your (disappearing) boobs and look at your quads and biceps instead!
"routine" no longer means "boring"
"bodybuilding" and/or "nutrition" are now used in 98% of your web searches.
you feel strangely compelled to wear sleeveless shirts in the middle of winter.
work your abs while playing with your baby on the floor
in the fridge the eggs take up one shelf, and the cottage cheese another, ...
your 4 year old asks, "mommy, is today free day?"
you kick yourself when you walk downstairs and *don't* feel sore
it's suddenly not the end of the world when the closest parking spot to the store is at the far end of the parking lot
you can pick up a box of 12-20oz bottles of water in each hand and wonder why it used to take 2 hands to carry one.
you walk into the sports store and breathe in like you used to when you walked into a bakery
All weights are buy one get 50% off the next. Time to get more dumbbells for the kids. Hey that means they are too, we were going through the Sunday paper and that was the flyer they brought me! Life is good!
your coworkers wait for you to change the water bottle and you do it in about 2 seconds and don't spill a drop. A wink and a smile and you walk away.... (piece of cake)..also because it is obvious you are the only one drinking it!
the "dust" in your house is made up strictly of protein powder.
you start admiring the physiques of both women and men in the gym.
pain becomes a relative term.
you cringe when people tell you they are on Weight Watchers or the Slim Fast (AKA Fat Chance) Program.
your lunch cooler is larger than your briefcase.
protein powder actually starts to taste good
you purposely leave the gym with sweat still in your eyes, chalk still on your hands, and blood still on your shins......... and make it a point of walking around town that way!
you purposely hang your bare arm out the car window in 20-degree weather, just in case there's anyone in the three-county area who has not seen your tricep yet.
you get stuck on the toilet becuse you just had a awesome leg workout.
you can't wash your hair because of the shoulder, bicep, tricep workout you just completed.
you bend over and rip a pair of pants because your thighs are too muscular, not your @$$ too large.
your diet consist of sweet potatoes, oatmeal and chicken breast.....everyday!!
Nola! I loved the cat story! Don't you *wish* that cat could talk? I'd love to hear the adventure. You know... I know I didn't move to another country, but I did something similar almost 8 years ago. I packed up a few boxes, gave everything else I owned away, left everything I'd ever known, and moved from Alaska to Georgia. I had never been out of the state of Alaska, and I was 35 years old. Once in a while, I still look around me and wonder what the heck I'm doing in *GEORGIA*. But it was the right thing to do. It sounds like your move was the right move, too.
Ilene - Ok, that's scary. My son (who is 11, but ..) asked me when free day was this week. And yes, I finally am throwing away the cottage cheese containers! Yay me! That list was a little too close to home!
Deb - Sorry to hear about your job. You sure write very well so I assume you'll find another soon. Smart people like you are needed everywhere! I have found that weightlifting has made me stronger mentally and emotionally. Things that used to be hard for me (like meetings with my boss, or telling someone 'no' or talking to strangers) have gotten a lot easier. I have wondered if weightlifting would help get me thru something big like illness or money problems. I'm glad you have a good healthy exercise program in place - doubly important in times of stress like you're going thru now. Good luck to you.
Illean - your list cracked me up. 'Course they don't all apply to me yet but several hit home. I LOVE carrying groceries now. Especially when the clerk gets all big eyed and says 'Are you sure you don't want any help with that?'.
I am nursing my first ever sports injury. I fell on the treadmill while warming up. I caught myself with my left hand and strained a muscle in my chest. No pain at the time, just embarrassed. I have been trying to work on my balance so I decided to close my eyes on the treadmill. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was falling off the back end of it within about 5 strides. The pain started out as a 'stitch' the next day so I resumed my activies. Started my lawnmower, swam, tried to do my weightlifting routine. I quit while doing benchpresses. What started out as a stitch kept getting more and more painful. Finally saw doctor four days after accident. So I have been taking it real easy. It is unpleasant but I am ok, more a blow to my ego. I have had so many people tell me not to hurt myself over the past 6 months, since I started going to the gym. Well, at least I hurt myself on the treadmill which is universally acknowledged to be 'safe'. Altho, I bet (here's another one of my wild speculations) they are probably the unsafest piece of equipment in the gym.
I am so new and have so little trust in myself that any deviation from my routine makes me feel nervous. Not being able to work out is a little scarey for me but not as bad as I feared. I've been going to the pool (no swimming though) and strolling a lot. See, I have all this energy now and can't get thru a day without SOME activity. Life is good.
Welcome to all the new members--it's very exciting to see this group grow!!! Hi to all the regulars...it's so nice to log in here and see all the familiar faces and everyone doing so well!!! This group is the GREATEST!!! 
I'm applying for lots of retail positions and have some other leads for jobs that might help a little while I continue to look for a "real" job. I have no idea how I'm going to pay my bills, not to mention my food and other necessities. I'm having to charge things like toilet paper, veggies & bags of frozern chicken breasts. I need to find something ASAP.
There's no way I'm going to mess that up with comfort/junk food! Timing is everything! Thank God I started this plan a week before I got laid off. I'd been struggling and not seeing progress. I might have let my eating go if I'd lost my job at that time. 
