My first week of cutting and increasing my workouts has yielded good results. I ate a little more than I had planned with 14,037 calories for the week (2,005/day). However, my workouts were very intense (more on that in a second) and I still lost 2.4 pounds (154.8 pounds). Likely a good portion of this initial loss was water weight from cutting out processed carbs and junk food. Only another week will tell!
154.8 pounds
Building a nice V-taper
I've been focusing on more power lifting-style strength workouts with accessory lifts that will build up my physique. This means lower reps with heavy weight for my main lifts (squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press) and lower weight and higher reps for my accessory lifts. I did a quick shoulder session plus 15 minutes of cardio on Tuesday. I believe it consisted of overhead press, front barbell raise, dumbbell lateral raise, front plate raise, and upright barbell rows. I was in a rush and did not write down what I actually did.
Wednesday I benched with a friend of mine. He is competing in a power lifting competition in May and has agreed to help me train for strength and size. Our workout was:
Warmup: Walk on treadmill 10 minutes
Bench Press:
8 x Bar (45 pounds)
5 x 5 @ 75, 95, 95, 105, 100 pounds
Incline dumbbell press:
10 x 10 with 20 pound dumbbells
Shrugs:
5 x 7 @ 135, 135, 135, 155, 155
Dips:
5 x 15 (I used 60 lbs on the assisted dip machine)
Friday I met my friend again for deadlifts and posterior chain (back) training. My workout was as follows:
Deadlifts:
8 x 135 pounds, 8 x 185 pounds
3 x 225 pounds
4 sets of 2 x 225 pounds
5 x 185 pounds
5 sets of 3 at 185 pounds
Deficit Deadlifts (standing on a 45 lb plate):
5 x 7 @ 135, 185, 185, 185, 185
Hamstring Curls:
4 sets of 10 @ 45 pounds
10 x 60 pounds
Barbell Rows:
4 sets of 10 x 95 pounds
On Saturday I went hiking in Ohiopyle with my boyfriend and his dog. We spent about an hour and a half doing a 4 mile hike out to see waterfalls and then back to the car. And on Sunday we went to see the Pirates vs. Cardinals season opener. There may have been some beers involved but I kept it to a minimum and we brought our own food to the tailgate and ate again at home after the game. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and we saved money too!
Ohiopyle hiking selfie
Some examples of my nutrition this week would be tuna, Greek yogurt, and lots of veggies. I also ate a good bit of salmon, beef, and chicken as well as sweet potato. I felt like this whole week was really hectic and didn't allow for much meal prep so I kept it simple and quick most days.
Mediterranean Style Tuna (from a packet), California blend veggies, and Greek yogurt
Salmon (marinated in soy sauce and ginger) with wilted spinach and strawberries
For week 2 I plan to drop my calories just a little lower (maybe 1,900 per day average) and continue to workout 4-5 days per week. I'd like to add in more cardio but that will depend on how I feel and my work schedule. I always start my workouts with 10-15 minutes of cardio but I would prefer to get a solid 20-30 minutes at least 3 times per week for health and the extra calorie burn.
And that concludes week one of my return to fitness! Please comment and share if you are following along!
I thought you were aiming at .5 to 1 pound per week. any reason for the change?
ReplyDeleteI believe that a good bit of my first week's loss was water weight. Carbohydrates are turned into glycogen and stored in the muscles and liver for fuel. In order to store glycogen the body must hold water (approximately 3 times as much water as glycogen). So when you begin a caloric deficit your glycogen stores become depleted (exacerbated by intense workouts) which leads to shedding water weight. It will take several weeks to determine what rate I'm actually losing fat at. I hope that makes sense!
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