Hello, 2015!

Hi!  Well, the fall semester is over, and I managed to keep my 4.0.  Which is the driving force behind my lack of updates.  The last few months have consisted of school, studying, gym, food and sleep.  Little else.  It was worth it, though, I ended up with 105% in my anatomy class, which has a fairly high fail rate.  So, uh, pleased to say the least.

It's been nice having some time off, I cleaned the house in a serious way - something that has taken a back burner and has been driving me bonkers.  I'll be gearing back up for school soon; I'm taking part 2 of the classes I took last semester, so I already have the books... I haven't missed them yet.

Christmas was great; we spent Christmas Eve with my parents, and did Christmas Day at home.  Nice, quiet, perfect.  I got a very amazing gift from my boyfriend, but it's not quite together yet, there will be pictures.   Let's just say that the basement gym is coming along nicely, and perfect timing.  The New Years resolutioner crowd is already in full force, curling in squat racks and stuff.  Despite being on vacation, I've been getting up at 5 to make it to the gym before it's obscenely crowded.  Worth it.

New Years Eve will be spent at home, and I'll undoubtedly be in bed by 9pm. Boyfriend is grilling, I have some baking to do, and I'm just looking forward to relaxing together.  My parents are coming over tomorrow to watch football and hang out, also looking forward to that.  Now for some pictures:

Per unwritten white-girl law, I pumpkin binged this fall.  I also made sure to drink a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte while wearing yoga pants and Uggs.  Jokes and jokes and jokes, kids.

I wouldn't have survived this semester without help from Willie.   Or bf.

Study time.  

I was the note card queen.  5 almost-full gallon baggies of these bad boys.  

The last few months have involved a slow, planned caloric increase.  Heavenly.  

My prize for a 4.0.  This picture doesn't do it justice; I'll put another up once it is fully healed.  Per usual, Sean is amazing. 

Have I mentioned how much I love this whole eating all the time thing? #gainz

We got a tree this year!  Willie was convinced it was a present for him, just like everything else in the house.  

We got festive this year.

I am not a fan of New Year's resolutions.  If that works for you, more power to ya', but in my opinion, if you want to make a change, if something is important to you, you don't need some arbitrary date to start.  Just stop being lazy and do it.  And yeah, I'm one of those jerks who doesn't like the influx of stupid into the gym this time of year.  Is it March yet?  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for people making positive changes in their lives, and getting healthy.  I'm most certainly pro-fitness, but again... you don't need to wait.  GO.  Go do it.  And if you're new to working out in a commercial gym, maybe google "gym etiquette" or something.  Now that I have my very own squat rack, I'm slightly less concerned about waiting for bro-dude to finish curling or monkeying around in the rack, or the yoga mom squatting the bar, but come on.  And staring?  It's got to go.  I work out in old ratty T-shirts, no makeup, and a hat because I'm not there to talk.  Or meet people.  Take the hint.  

In happier gym-related news, here are my GOALS for 2015:

• Deadlift > 250 lbs
• Bench = 130 lbs
• Clean/Press > 120 lbs
• LEARN THE DANG SNATCH, FINALLY (this is my personal "lazy")

I have zero excuse not to master that lift.  I have been slowly upping my overhead squat... fingers crossed, this is my year. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful (and safe) New Years!

SUMMER!

Oh, hey there, still alive.  Again.  Survived the summer five week microbiology session, which had been my excuse for not updating earlier.  Or doing much of anything aside from studying and going to the gym.  And eating.  Getting an A in that class is probably my proudest accomplishment to date.  More than passing the PHR (and outscoring my boss substantially) or graduating with honors from CSU.  On par with quitting smoking, as far as the "hardest thing I've ever done" aspect.  I busted ass and was rewarded, and it was actually a very fun class.  At first, I was sad it was over, I liked the subject matter.  Just not getting up at 4:30, going to class an hour early to study, coming home, gym, and then reading/making note cards for 3 hours every day.  That part, I don't miss.
Took a trip with my boyfriend the week after class ended, which was fun.  I love being in the car and seeing new places, but I was also happy to get home.  The older I get the more habit-based I become. I really do find comfort in routine, and I need to curb that before it starts dictating what I do, or want to do.
I started a cut on Monday, following THIS program.  I picked it because I was feeling lazy and it was easier to follow something pre-made than design one myself (which I generally do for my building workouts) and so far, so good.  I also chose it because I like a lot of the bigger lifts that it incorporates.  I'm not about to give up dead lifts or clean/press for more than a couple weeks.  Nope.  I was a little worried because the workouts are shorter and use fewer exercises than I'm accustomed to.  Needless worry, I'm so sore right now it's not even funny.  The cardio sucks, but I'm sucking it up and finishing it every day.
Of course, as always, diet is key.  Which is the hardest part, for me.  The gym is FUN.  I like that challenge.  The challenge of not eating what I want, when I want is not so fun.  But I've stuck to my macros and finished a gallon of water every day this week, which is (sadly) a record for me.  Especially with the water.  I could probably drink a gallon of coffee with greater ease.  Bodybuilding.com is a great resource.
Speaking of the gym, yesterday I got to go workout HERE and it was awesome.  Such a different experience than a commercial gym.  I was in shock when I walked in, like, "TOYS! New and exciting toys everywhere!!!"


And now a bunch of pictures.

Let's just call this "before" - decent shoulder day.

I got some work done on my sleeve, and I LOVE it.  Can't wait to finish it.

Took my mom to Falling Water.

Typical.

Willie likes summer, too.

Bf got me a Ninja when my $20 Walmart blender finally bit the dust.  No comparison, I adore this thing.

I've gotten to lay out a few times. Well, like twice. Summer rocks.  

Bicep progress.  Not horrible. 

We still love the grill.

This was the grand total of note cards for microbiology.  I killed some trees. 

My "congratulations on surviving that class" gift.  Best boyfriend ever.  

The Mackinac Bridge, which was a little scary, trucks racing in the dirt, and my favorite Flag nor Fail hat.  

So, yeah, I've gotten to enjoy about a week of summer so far and I've certainly had a blast.  Three more weeks of awesome, another trip... then school starts again.    

The most epic, out of control cheat meal, and CHICKEN & WAFFLES. Yeah.

Lately, my cheat meals have been steak, veggies and a sweet potato.  We love the new grill and have been taking every opportunity to use it.  I usually have a Quest bar or a container of Arctic Zero or banana soft serve depending on a) my mood and b) how my week went (do I need more carbs, or was it a bad week?).  Well, last night my boyfriend looks at me and says, "you know what I want?  A Blizzard." As in, from Dairy Queen.  If memory serves me, I haven't had something like that in well over 10 years.  Before the fitness obsession, I was vegan, and before that I was fat-phobic in a big way.  So, yeah, it has been a good 10+years since I've had something like that.  My week had been ok but for some reason, maybe because it's finally feeling like summer around here, I was like, "yeah, this is gonna happen" and immediately pulled up their website.  Still wanted to have an idea of the nutritional content... lack there of... OH MY GOD.  So freaking bad.  Like, way above and beyond the kind of cheat meal that I need right now, holding at a slightly higher than optimal body fat %, but I found one that I could deal with, mentally.  So, yeah, last night I had a Strawberry Cheesecake Blizzard and it was freaking awesome.  No regrets.  Had a great leg day today, totally burned out my hammies & still managed to suffer through cardio.  With cardio 4 days a week, on a split with 3 leg days, it pretty much is inevitable that I have cardio on a leg day every now and then and IT SUCKS.  But I survived, and then made this:

Chicken and Waffles

I posted a picture of this on Instagram earlier with the following caption: ...file this under #soundsgrosstastesgreat.  Or something along those lines.  It sounds kinda, um, gross? but I love it.  I've made it two ways; this was how I had my sweet potato last night & I had the above for lunch today.  I like today's better, I used mashed sweet potato as opposed to the grated sweet potato I used last night.  The waffle recipe is based on this one, from the Fit Men Cook website.  I omitted the whole egg, because I keep fat as low as I can for meals 2-4, especially on cheat day. The chicken and the rest were inspired by this recipe, but I mean loosely-based-on... basically, I used a mild horseradish mustard and then topped it with sugar free maple syrup, but I got the idea for that combo on the Allrecipes site.  And now it's all I want to eat.  I'm falling in love with the waffle iron, all over again.

Have a great week!

Still alive!

I am the world's worst blogger these days.  Here's what's been going on:

School - got all A's for the first semester, had a couple of weeks off, and start summer classes in a week.  Taking Microbiology this summer, a five week class.  I keep reminding myself "you can do anything for five weeks" in an attempt to not completely freak out over this one.  Then in the fall I have Organic Chemistry, Human Anatomy I and their accompanying labs, and a nutrition class.  I like taking the hardest classes together, of course, that was intentional.  Ha, ha, ha.... slow clap... it was the only way I could schedule this semester.  I had no intention of tackling the two classes with the highest failure rates in my program at the same time.    Barf.  Yay for science, says the HR chick...
The other day my boyfriend said something that included the sentence, "... and this major is much more difficult than your first one" which delighted me... that he is aware of the fact that science is hard and business was memorization and common sense.  I'm not smart enough to have chemistry come as "common sense" to me.  Double barf.

Gym - I took a week off from lifting, which I try to do every 12 or so weeks, but hadn't done since Christmas.  I did, however, do cardio all week to keep myself sane.  This is my first week back and it's been awesome.  I also took that week off of pre-workouts, and have reintroduced a fat burner, so I'm full of chemically-induced happiness and energy.  I'm on the same split, which I started about 2 weeks before the rest week.  6 days of lifting, hitting glutes three times a week (two leg days, and on one of the back days), shoulders twice, back split into two days... it's a beast but I love it.  I'm even OK with the fact that I can't, uh, sit down without wincing.  My hammies and glutes hate me, but I love it.  I had been doing it straight through, but I think it's gonna start looking like 3 on, 1 off, mostly because I'm being a baby.  However, I don't like going to the gym on Sundays (or Saturdays for that matter, it's been busier and busier lately... gross) but it looks like I may have to suck it up.

Food - still the weak area, but vastly improved.  I'm slowly leaning out for summer, which is awesome, but man I love food too much!  This about sums it up:

(Although I truly detest the first quote.  Gotta throw that out there. Whoever came up with that has obviously never had peanut butter.) Same food plan, just actually sticking to it, and seeing results.  My plan is to slowly lean down through the summer, then spend the fall/winter reverse dieting back up and focusing on building MOAR MUSCLE!  GRRRR!  I've added cardio back in, which of course I hate, but I do love the results and the sense of accomplishment that comes from sticking out something you detest for an extended period of time.  When I get frustrated with my "slow" results, I have to stop, remind myself of where I came from, and what it took to get where I am now, and that I should be proud, even if I'm not where I want to be just yet.  At my worst, about 3 years ago, I weighed 92 lbs and ate around 700-800 calories a day.  I did 30+ minutes of cardio intervals every day, usually twice, and was so miserable I can't begin to describe it to you.  I thought about food every second of every day.  No fun.
I eat about 3 times that now, and can walk up stairs without wanting to die.  One day I will post comparison pictures, but right now I can't look at that version of myself without feeling like garbage.  I know I've talked about this before, but honestly, I need to remind myself.  Some days, it's tempting to say screw it, and go back to my cardio queen ways.  No dice.  No. Effing.  Dice.

Other - of course, related to gym/food.  I'm working out with my former trainer today, which I haven't done in a month or two.  Those workouts are always fun.  I'll be grateful to him forever-ever.  He knew me at my worst, never pushed the food issue (which you may or may not know will really backfire on you when you're dealing with a person that has food-problems), and nudged me in the right direction.  "Cardio AND?" was the extent of the pushing.  (I used to do some light ab work to be able to reply with something other than a blank look, my have things changed.)  #hero

Competition - still a no.  I keep getting asked if/when I'm competing and I generally just say no, stare at my feet, and brush it off.  Primarily because I don't like chatting at the gym, but also because "no, I'm in recovery from an eating disorder and it's probably not a good idea for me to get so obsessive about something" is a little too personal for gym-strangers.  (But not internet strangers, logic at its finest.)  So, still no.


The rest:

This little bit of awesome entered our lives recently.

And makes cheat meals even better.  Steak and veggies.

I love my boyfriend enough to do yard work.  If you know me, you understand the significance.  

Seriously, though, it was 11 yards of mulch, which (apparently, i had no idea) is a lot.  I did a big chunk of the loading and pushing the wheelbarrow.  Luckily this happened during my "rest" week so I was eager to do something that resembled lifting.  Good timing, sir, good timing.  

I travel light.  Also, the gallon jug on the left is amazing.  A) it benefits a great charity, B) it keeps me on track, and C) drink all the water, pee all the time!!!!  If you're interested, here's the link: JUST DRANK!  

Slow and steady wins the race.  Slow progress is still progress.  I can't wait to see what's under the blubber.

Willie is still a cathole.  

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Photo update

So, I'm taking a little break from studying for two tests tomorrow... Quick break, so here's what's new and/or exciting:

New shirt. Don't worry, I don't wear it out of the house...

My newest obsession:  Protein donuts.  These are cinnamon & vanilla with a maple glaze.  

Jawbone UP24, replacing the original one.  Jawbone, you get ONE LAST CHANCE.  Redeem yourself!

I like to pretend that they're real donuts...

I don't typically like orange flavors, but man, this is good.

Ok, back to the grind.

How is it March already, and why won't the weather cooperate?!?

Hi!  Still alive, just insanely busy.  School has been going really well, I have A's in both of my classes.  It has been keeping me so, so busy, between the gym, food prep, school, and periodically cleaning the house, I've had minimal (read - zero) time to write.  Or do much of anything else.

I've gotten my diet back on track, and I'm about 3 weeks in to a new split - 3 distinct upper body workout days, each with an area of focus, and 2 lower days, one hamstring focused, one quad focused, both hit calves and glutes.  It's too soon to say how effective it's been, but I'm enjoying it.  The basic outline of the upper days is two "big" lifts (bench press, push press, bent row, etc.) followed by a handful of smaller exercises.  Leg day is the same, one has front squats and deads, the other has traditional squats and stiff leg deads.  I kind of like having my dead lifts on leg day, as opposed to part of back day.

What I should be doing right now is studying for a nutrition exam on protein.  I love that class, and I'm so happy about that, because it kind of reaffirms my decision to go back to school.  For my big psychology paper, I choose the topic related to recruiting and organizational behavior.  I figured it would be easier, given my background.  I have a degree in Labor Relations, I'm PHR certified (still, not for too much longer), and I worked in HR for four years.  It did make it easier, and the whole thing, writing it, was an exercise in gratitude.  Yes, organizational behavior is still interesting to me, and I do enjoy the theoretical side of human resources.  (Practical not so much.) I was amazed at the amount of information I retained from college, but it also reminded me of how happy I am to have the opportunity to go back and pursue something that I'm genuinely passionate about.

We got a new dishwasher, and it's pretty awesome.  The fact that I'm excited about household appliances makes me feel so old and boring.  I was just telling my best friend that four years ago, I owned one pair of tennis shoes (that I never wore) and maybe one pair of yoga pants.  Now I have a sneaker obsession and way more gym clothes than "grown up" clothes.  No more cigarettes, booze, crazy late nights... I barely remember being that person.  Grateful for that, too.

Within the last month, I've had 5 different people, strangers, come up to me and ask me if I was getting ready for a competition.  Which, to me, is the highest compliment.  Like, ever.  No, nope.  No contest.  Then they always ask why.  I typically quip back with something about liking food too much and just let it go.  But that stuck with me... why not?  And I know.  The answer is twofold.  A) the diet, being that strict, and the cardio commitment... I don't know if that's a good idea for me, given my background.  And the fact that I am insanely busy right now.  And B) I like my legs the way they are and I KNOW I'd have to build my quads to successfully compete.  And I don't wanna. But still, I love that question, because it means I  must be doing something right.  And I met a really nice girl at my gym that is getting ready for the Lakewood show coming up this month.  My trainer buddy is doing that show too, and hopefully I will be there.

Sixpack bag, finally.

It's hard to tell in this tiny picture, but I need to stop scraping my collar bone doing squats.

These are pre workout gummies, I'll post more about these later.

Seriously, this thing is the best. 

New workout gear courtesy of the best boyfriend ever.  

So, yeah, that's about it.  It's sunny outside, which is so refreshing, I can not wait for spring!  Take care!

I'm alive.

Really, I'm alive.
I've got a ton of studying to do today, and probably shouldn't be procrastinating online, so I'll give you a brief summary of the last few weeks.

1) School started and I love it.  My classes are harder this time around - which is most likely due to the fact that I'm not used to thinking so much (haha), and I haven't had a real science class in over a decade.
2) I got a new car!  2012 VW Tiguan, it rocks.  I'll put pictures up later.
3) GAINZ!!! I've been enjoying my time at the gym again, thank goodness.  I've been making steady progress, and have been focusing more on basic compound lifts.  I'd like to get back into Olympic lifting, and have been talking to a trainer friend at my current gym about that.  We shall see.

That's the short list, but hopefully I will have a little more time to update soon.  Off to memorize the parts of the brain.  Seriously, even my highest level management/economics/finance/accounting classes were easier than, of all things, psychology 101.  Too.  Much.  SCIENCE!!!

I do love it, though.

Cat + cold + insomnia = CHRISTMAS POST!

Apologies for the lack of blogging action lately, between the Holidays and gearing up for school, I've had my hands full. Oh, and I've been kind of unmotivated, so that factors in there as well.  I'll write more about that - motivation - shortly.
I seem to have caught one of the many, many nasty little bugs that has been floating around Northeast Ohio, and I'm pretty miserable.  Not as bad as what my boyfriend had, thank god, this is more cold than flu, but still.  (I'm fairly certain he had a mild form of the plague.)  Can't stop coughing and nothing tastes right, which is a real bummer.  Since I slacked around Thanksgiving, I made sure to properly document my mother's awesome adventures in the kitchen at Christmas, while still being 'in the moment'.  Also known as "I took a few pictures and then got lazy" but here ya' go:

My silly little fake tree.  Willie is investigating.  (My house.)

Parent's house, Christmas 2013

We had tea.

My mom collects Christmas "smokers"

We played board games.

We stopped keeping score because my mom always smokes us at trivia games.

More decorations.

The table.

Forgive the horrible lighting, all pictures taken on my phone.

Oxtail soup, which is phenomenal, and a total treat.  Takes FOREVER to make.

Brussel sprout salad.

Escargot.  She made mine with olive oil which was actually pretty awesome!  Yeah, not the buttery delight of the typical preparation, but seriously good.  

Horrible picture, but lobster thermidor, obviously not for me. 

I even put on "grown up" clothes.  Grudgingly. 

Yeah, that's a Christmas apron.

I had exactly two drinks.  Once glass of red, and one glass of this amazing ice wine.  My mother knows my weaknesses.

I stopped taking pictures of the food after the first few courses.  We had smoked pheasant, well, I had smoked pheasant. Since I couldn't have the lobster course, which pretty much filled everyone to the point of no return, I had unfettered access to the bird.  Which I devoured.  NOM.  Dessert was a red wine mousse and coffee and ice wine.  Yes, I had dessert.  Yes, I had a glass of ice wine.  Yes, I wanted to drink the entire bottle.  

I took a few pictures of the presents, not many.  I gave my mother two Le Creuset things, one casserole dish and a baking dish.  A book on Frank Gehry.  Boyfriend sent them two nice bottles of wine and this really neat dual wine chiller.  Dad got a bottle of Remy Martin XO and a book of classic PGA shots, which he seemed to enjoy.  

It was a really, really nice evening.  I would definitely classify dinner (dessert and wine, specifically) as a treat meal but it was well worth it.

I'm also glad that the Holidays are over and things are going back to what passes for normal around here.  I start school in a week, which means I really need to live up my last week of "stay at home Michelle".  I have a rough outline of my weekly schedule, and it's not bad.  I'm taking classes Tuesday/Thursday, pretty much all day.  I reworked my split, and did a little tinkering to my food plan to accommodate the scheduling changes.  I'm also giving serious consideration to competing next year.  2015 next year.  It's a huge commitment of both time and energy and I want to make sure that I'm fully prepared for what it entails before I make that decision.  

Hope everyone has a wonderful 2014!  2013 was not kind to so many of my friends and loved ones and honestly, I'm glad to see it go.  Oh, and I was in bed at 9:30pm on NYE, cause I'm super awesome like that.  My parents?  Up until 2:00am.  My parents are cooler than I am, but that's not news.  

Mid-February can't come fast enough.