New App Recommendation: Fitocracy

It's been a while since I made a recommendation. A friend turned me on to Fitocracy. It's a social network for healthy people!

So, Fitocracy is not just an app, it's a true social network available both online and through the app. The reason this post is an app recommendation is because the app is awesome. Now, I'm also on Bodybuilding.com, but I find their app is clunky, lags horribly on my cheap smart phone, and crashes with an unfortunate frequency. It might really be my phone's fault, given that the Buzzfeed app also crashes, but I digress.

The great thing about Fitocracy is how easy it is to use. It even has a cool section where if you don't know how to do an exercise, there are either pictures or a thorough description. Creating a workout is a matter of hitting a little button and you can work off that same workout each time with no need to search for your exercises every time you want to log a workout. On top of all that, there's a points system!

Really, the points allow you to level up. Near as I can tell, there are no perks to leveling up, but it's a great mental reward. I'm a level 6 already. What does that mean? No clue. Am I excited about it? Yes!

New Scale, Bad News

My awesome new scale finally came in.

It's even solar powered!

Beautiful, right? Well, unfortunately that scale is an evil bitch.

It read 202.6 this morning. June 30th I was 196. This is lame. Maybe it's because I haven't been tracking what I eat? Maybe because I went to the gym yesterday and I'm retaining water? Or it could be the fact that I've cheated (only a little bit) twice this week. I have a bucket of artichoke jalapeno dip (<1 carb per 2 tablespoons!) and some brussel sprouts in the fridge. I think once those are gone, I'm going to try egg fasting again. My only concern is how the egg fast will affect my gym progress.

Measurement Monday: July 7th, 2014

I've done really well this week, and my numbers prove it!
Abdomen: 44 (-.25)
Waist: 34 (-.25)
Bust: 44 (+.5)
Chest: 37 (-.25)
Hip: 46.5 (0)
Left Arm: 14.25 (0)
Left Forearm: 11 (+.25)
Left Calf: 16.25 (+.125)
Left Thigh: 27.5 (0)
Right Arm: 14.5 (0)
Right Forearm: 10.75 (0)
Right Calf: 16.25 (0)
Right Thigh: 27.5 (-.25)
Neck: 14.5 (0)
Current Weight: ? pounds (?)
Inches lost: -.125
Running total: -2.54 inches,? pounds

Okay, so I didn't lose as many inches as I wanted, but nearly all my numbers went down. I don't know what's going on with my bust measurement, by the way. It's been all over the place (and seems to be growing?!). As for my weight? Well, I threw out my scale! Okay, no it wasn't some ephiphany that I'm more than a number on the scale, it was because my old scale was giving very inconsistent readings (195, 162, 187 all back to back!), and I wanted a new scale as a reward for sticking to it. Plus, I'm confident I'm officially in the 190s to stay. No more blips into the land of 200. So I bought a super cool solar powered digital scale! It's supposed to be here between the 10th and 15th. If we're lucky it'll be here before next Monday. My goal this week? Not be above 196 whenever I get my scale. Oh, and don't eat like crap.

It's Time for The Talk

Oh, no, not that talk. The supplement talk. Now, I've been having a certain problem recently...

Supplements are huge in the weightlifting community, but I've always been a firm believer that it's far better to get our nutrients naturally. Well, that's a great theory, but on a restricted Keto diet, it's tough. Seriously, do you know how hard it is to get fiber in when you don't eat any grains?! Well, good news!

By taking supplements, I've not only cured my constipation (which was getting to be pretty uncomfortable), but I feel much better and my weight loss has increased! Whoo!

So what am I taking? 2 fiber pills (per directions on the bottle), 2 magnesium citrate pills (again per the instructions) and 2 cranberry pills. Why? Well, the fiber should be obvious. The magnesium also helps with that. The citrate form is one of the most absorbable form, and what I'd recommend grabbing. It's known that ketoers often are low on magnesium and potassium. The cranberry pills are because I was fighting off a UTI. The bottle says two at every meal (three times per day). I did so while I was having symptoms, but since that has subsided, I'm down to just the two in the morning. They are great for a lot of reasons.

Still No July Photos?

Yeah, you may have noticed I'm now a full week late in posting my beginning of the month photo. I swear it's not due to procrastination or laziness. It's my photographer's fault. He's been sleeping in a lot.

First Day Back at the Gym!

Yesterday was like a dream - if dreams left you feeling beaten the next day. I cannot even put in to words how much my butt hurts.

I am so happy to be back though, despite the fact that it hurts to put on underwear. I just feel better knowing that I'm exercising along with my good diet. Although diet is the biggest contributor to success, I just didn't feel like I was doing enough. I'm an all or nothing person.

Now, my doctor was a little apprehensive about me returning to the gym, which I understand. On the other hand, she doesn't understand weightlifting at all and had very little advice. "Don't do crunches or squats" What? When was the last time I used my abs in a squat? She even said no body weight squats. What? No, can't do that.

So I headed over to a few bodybuilding forums and consulted the experts of "bro-science" and found some really useful information regarding weight lifting post abdominal tear. The good news? I can do a LOT of the exercises I love as long as I start at a lighter weight and gradually build up. Pretty much all lower body exercises are fair game, which is awesome. On the other hand, upper body sucks.

I wanted to work on my push press, because I hurt myself on the press portion of the clean and jerk. So I tried a stand press with two 20 pound dumbells. I previously used two 35 pound dumbells so I felt that this was a good enough concession. Nope. I felt that familiar pull and tenderness as I raised my arms. I had to knock my press all the way down to two 8 pound dumbells. Ugh.

Oh, and, something I didn't read on any of my forums was bench supported bent over rows. Yeah, almost ripped myself open again. I thought it wasn't a core exercise. It is, it definitely is. Despite having my body supported by one arm and knee on the bench, the slight rotation that comes with bring the weight up was enough.

I think my upper body progression will be really slow for a while. For now, I need to use the upper body exercises as a form of core strengthening, not to work my arms and shoulders. At least for the next three months. At least no one will accuse me of skipping leg day.

An Unrelated Success

For the last few years I've been writing a novel. Well, this past week, I finished it (okay, the 7th draft) and sent it off to my readers! This is so exciting. It got me thinking though, about plot. Plot is what makes the story move. It's what the story IS.

I think this is what the weight loss "journey" (I hate that word) really looks like as well (though I should hope your chart would be going down, not up!). I'm hoping that with enough patience I can get through this just like I got through my book.