Thanks all

[OUtwister]

I finally decided to register after reading the board for several months. You all are so inspirational and help keep me motivated. I joined a gym over 3 years ago and it's the best thing I've ever done. I dropped 45 pounds from Jan '02 to April '03 and so far have been able to keep it off. I am 5'6, 145 pounds and had my body fat tested last summer at 19.5% (calipers).

Within the last three weeks I've finally decided to clean up my diet thanks to everyone's posts/logs. I still have a long way to go as far as what to eat when, but I'm getting there.

My situation is a little unique in that I work shifts and I rotate each week. So my lunch or dinner often comes at 3 in the morning and I'm very rarely hungry then. It's all I can do during midnight shifts to eat every 3 hours when all my body wants to do is sleep. Is anyone else in this situation? It also affects my working out. While I would love to lift six days a week, it's all I can do to drag myself to the gym after only 4 hours of sleep. I make it a committment to go at least 4 times a week with two leg days, one day for back/chest/shoulder and one for biceps/triceps.

I should point out that I am not training for a competition. I just want to lose some bf, drop another 10-15 pounds and actually see some muscles for once in my life. I'm extremely pleased with the progress I've made to this point - I just need to jumpstart my workout that will also accomodate my work schedule. Thanks for all the inspiration and advice!

 

[The Shadow]

Post diet and training split

 

[*Bunny*]

I finally decided to register after reading the board for several months. You all are so inspirational and help keep me motivated.

Welcome to EF!

Congrats on your progress thus far
Stick with it, the results you want WILL happen...
I found my eden

 

[Sassy69]

Congrats on your great progress to date & welcome to the boards!

What a bunch of (bodyfat) losers we are

 

[OUtwister]

Post diet and training split

Sorry, should've done this earlier.

Typical diet:

Meal 1: High fiber cereal with skim milk
Meal 2: Turkey and lettuce in whole wheat tortilla with balsamic vinagrette,
steamed broccoli or peas
string cheese
Meal 3: handful of blueberries/ 3-4 strawberries
Meal 4: 4 oz chicken
steamed veggies
salad
Meal 5: apple with 2 Tb peanut butter or dried prunes
Meal 6: Protein drink (1 scoop whey protein with 8 oz skim milk)

I also have a post-workout protein drink. The diet varies from shift to shift. This is the typical diet I follow on days and evening shifts. On midnight shifts I sometimes won't eat a large meal 2 or 4, sometimes it's just an apple or another piece of fruit simply because I'm just not hungry.

Workout:

Legs (twice a week):
Leg Extension (3 sets 8-10)
BB Squat (3 sets 8-10)
Leg Press (4 sets 8-10)
Hack Squat (3 sets 8-10)
Stiff-legged deadlifts (3 sets 8-10)
Abductor machine (inner and outer 3 set 8-10)

Back/Chest/Shoulder
Assisted Pull-ups ( 3 sets 10)
Low Row (3 set 8-10)
Stack Row (3 sets 8-10)
Bent-over BB Row (3 sets 8-10)
Push-ups (3 to failure)
Cable Flye (3 sets 10)
Superset: Bench Press (2 sets of 10, 1 set of 8)
DB Flye (2 sets of 10, 1 set of 8)
Superset: Upright row (3 sets 10)
DB lateral raise (3 sets 8-10)
Front raise (3 sets 8-10)
Overhead Press (3 sets 8-10)
Bent-over lat raise (3 sets 8-10)

Biceps/Triceps
Alternating DB Curls (3 sets 8-10)
Concentration Curl (3 sets 8-10)
Cable Curls (3 sets 8)
Flat bar cable curl (3 sets 8-10)
Pressdown (3 sets 8-10)
Kickbacks (3 set 8-10)
Overhead extension (3 sets 8-10)
Bench dips (3 to failure)

I try to mix up my routine every 4-6 weeks. I've tried doing one body part a day and just can't seem to fit in 6 days of lifting every week. I try to do the 6-sec rep at all times and I push the weight until failure. If I can do 10 reps on my last set, I up the weight next time around.

I do abs approx 3 times per week and calves 2-3 times per week.

I'll do light cardio after weights ~ 2 times per week. HIIT cardio twice a week on days I don't lift. I am also planning to run a 5K at the end of May and will be trying to run (once the weather's warmer) 8-10 miles per week.

 

[Evil_Frisky]

Welcome to EF

 

[jenscats5]

Welcome!!

 

[PaganPunkstress]

Hello and welcome!!
Congrats on having made it that far! thats great keep it up

 

[miz L]

Sorry, should've done this earlier.

Typical diet:

Meal 1: High fiber cereal with skim milk
Meal 2: Turkey and lettuce in whole wheat tortilla with balsamic vinagrette,
steamed broccoli or peas
string cheese
Meal 3: handful of blueberries/ 3-4 strawberries
Meal 4: 4 oz chicken
steamed veggies
salad
Meal 5: apple with 2 Tb peanut butter or dried prunes
Meal 6: Protein drink (1 scoop whey protein with 8 oz skim milk)

I also have a post-workout protein drink. The diet varies from shift to shift. This is the typical diet I follow on days and evening shifts. On midnight shifts I sometimes won't eat a large meal 2 or 4, sometimes it's just an apple or another piece of fruit simply because I'm just not hungry.

Workout:

Legs (twice a week):
Leg Extension (3 sets 8-10)
BB Squat (3 sets 8-10)
Leg Press (4 sets 8-10)
Hack Squat (3 sets 8-10)
Stiff-legged deadlifts (3 sets 8-10)
Abductor machine (inner and outer 3 set 8-10)

Back/Chest/Shoulder
Assisted Pull-ups ( 3 sets 10)
Low Row (3 set 8-10)
Stack Row (3 sets 8-10)
Bent-over BB Row (3 sets 8-10)
Push-ups (3 to failure)
Cable Flye (3 sets 10)
Superset: Bench Press (2 sets of 10, 1 set of 8)
DB Flye (2 sets of 10, 1 set of 8)
Superset: Upright row (3 sets 10)
DB lateral raise (3 sets 8-10)
Front raise (3 sets 8-10)
Overhead Press (3 sets 8-10)
Bent-over lat raise (3 sets 8-10)

Biceps/Triceps
Alternating DB Curls (3 sets 8-10)
Concentration Curl (3 sets 8-10)
Cable Curls (3 sets 8)
Flat bar cable curl (3 sets 8-10)
Pressdown (3 sets 8-10)
Kickbacks (3 set 8-10)
Overhead extension (3 sets 8-10)
Bench dips (3 to failure)

I try to mix up my routine every 4-6 weeks. I've tried doing one body part a day and just can't seem to fit in 6 days of lifting every week. I try to do the 6-sec rep at all times and I push the weight until failure. If I can do 10 reps on my last set, I up the weight next time around.

I do abs approx 3 times per week and calves 2-3 times per week.

I'll do light cardio after weights ~ 2 times per week. HIIT cardio twice a week on days I don't lift. I am also planning to run a 5K at the end of May and will be trying to run (once the weather's warmer) 8-10 miles per week.

First of all, welcome.. and congrats on your progress thus far!
Second, for your evening shifts, just bring a bag of peanuts or something to hold you over until you can eat your next real meal.
Third, you don't really need to train your legs twice a week like you are doing now. Instead, I'd suggest taking out one of the muscle groups from your back/chest/shoulder day (that seems like a long hard training session). You can change your second leg day to a day of abs and either back, chest, or shoulders.

My $0.02

 

[OUtwister]

Third, you don't really need to train your legs twice a week like you are doing now. Instead, I'd suggest taking out one of the muscle groups from your back/chest/shoulder day (that seems like a long hard training session). You can change your second leg day to a day of abs and either back, chest, or shoulders.

Thanks for the feedback. I added the second day of legs in because I was making very little progress with just one day a week. It's so frustrating when the circulation gets cut off because my jeans have gotten too tight. For some reason, that second day makes a difference. But that was before I cleaned up my diet (which may have been the culprit).

I may try your advice and tweak the "looong" day. Took me an hour and fifteen today and now I can barely move my upper body - and that was without cardio.