Bigger, faster, stronger.

Do you know what the most amazing feeling is?

Being able to lift more weight.
Being able to run longer distances.

It is absolutely amazing. I've been thinking about how much physical progress I have made since I started working out, because it has been around a year since I joined the gym. I compared before and after photos and I am so happy. But it's not just the way I look, it's what I can do.

When I first joined the gym, I was doing 8lb bicep curls--- that is a really small amount. I was extremely weak. Now I am doing 22.5lb bicep curls. Which is higher than most people at the gym do. Usually I see women doing 10-15lbs.

When I first joined the gym, I did like 75lb on the back extension. Now I am doing 195 lbs.

It's so crazy.

The craziest thing is how much easier it is for me to lift barbells now. Lifting and carrying a 40lb barbell for me at one point was a little bit of a struggle. Yesterday I was doing shoulder presses above my head with a 40lb barbell.

It's so hard to explain the way it feels. Lifting a 20lb dumbbell at one point felt really heavy, and now it is so light.

Recently I ran 30km for the first time. I was so worn out afterwards. I felt that same way after running my half marathon (21.1km). Yesterday I ran 21.2km, and today I was in no pain whatsoever, and I ran it 14minutes faster as well.

It's so crazy what your body can do if you just push it a little bit more each time.

Here are some pics of my progress. It's been a year and that is crazy.

I'm so excited to begin my second year.

My 30km run + Inspiration

I ran 30km for the first time today. My time was 3:00:15. 3 hours, 15 seconds. It's funny, because my goal to run 30k is to not go over 3 hours. 15 seconds. Really? Well my 30k run is not until March 24th. I can definitely scrape off 15 seconds. I hope I can scrape off at least 5 more minutes too.

The first 22ish km were pretty... well I wouldn't say easy, but it was simple. Once I got to around 24/25km in my run, I was so tired. I pushed on though. Once I eventually got to 28km, I began freaking out. I always get delusional in the last bits of my long runs, obviously from lack of water/nutrients/etc., and my right shoe untied 3 times. I was so delusional I cried every time it untied. Then I would start running again, and I would see that I was almost at 30k, and I would start laughing because I have almost completed my goal of running 30km! Once I finished it I was smiling so much, I was so delusional.

I did do something different this run: Caffeine pills. I have caffeine pills in 200mg doses (worth about 2 cups of coffee) and I took one before I started running, and then I took one after an hour and after 2 hours of running. I honestly think they helped a lot. Caffeine has a lot of positive effects on runners-- it reduces leg pain, helps speed up recovery, and increases alertness. Studies have also been done that show that it helps to increase running times, too. I know this from an essay I wrote last semester on the effects of caffeine on endurance athletes.

Now--- inspiration! I follow a lot of "fitspo" (fitness inspiration) accounts on instagram. I follow mostly women because I will see these muscular women and want their bodies. Especially their abs! They post quotes, images of their meals, etc. I think that by going over these instagrams, that it is actually helping me to be inspired to try harder.

I hope to find, maybe not a career, but a hobby out of my fitness regime. Right now the main goals I'm working on are building more muscle, losing more body fat, and increasing my distance and decreasing my running times. I am also working on eating healthier. I really think that by the fall of 2014, that I will have a body I am extremely proud of. I hope that I can gain an audience of others and inspire them to do the same and to start a healthier lifestyle, eventually. I want to be one of these people I see on instagram. I know that there are five in particular I like Bella Falconi (@BELLAFALCONI_FITNESS), Brittni Shae (@BSHAEFIT), Savannah Rose Neveux (@MUFFINTOPLESS), Jessie Hilgenberg (@JESSHILGENBERG_IFBB) and Maizee Demske (@MDEMSKE). These girls have amazing bodies!

I've been thinking about getting a fitness related tattoo, but I am not sure what. If I want some form of image or inspirational quote, or what. I don't want something cheesy like a barbell or a little dude lifting or something weird like that. I hope I find an idea. I might look for some quotes later.

Wouldn't it be amazing if once I achieve my body... or even in the meantime, that I can monetize my blog and youtube videos to earn money? Once I am 18/in university, I can do this. I really hope that I can make something out of this. I don't want my life career to be fitness oriented, but I wouldn't mind working for a gym during university, part-time, or doing something online to be inspirational.

Well. Only time will tell.

Failures

Failure is such a harsh word in the fitness community.

Sure, I have failed- but really, have I? If you get up and keep trying, you really haven't failed. Maybe you did something wrong that you had to reverse later, but eventually got back up there.

It's only failure if you stop trying.

I have this rule in which on holidays and celebrations such as birthdays, that I will eat whatever I want. On valentines day this year, I ate so much candy it was ridiculous. I am not sure how much it has affected my body because I am too afraid to take my weight and body fat %. But I must've had like 3000+ calories in candy. I might've gained 1lb. Which may not seem like a lot considering it was just one day, but when you are trying to reduce your body fat % significantly, pretty much everything counts.

I am actually kind of embarrassed about it, but I will talk about this anyways.

I wasn't going to admit this, but I've been eating candy pretty much all week since Monday. It is bad because last week I declared I was going to have the toughest diet now.

I did have a few triumphs in which I denied myself crackers and white bread, which is good. I should focus on my successes, but the chocolate is haunting me.

But I can't reverse what I did, and I am definitely not going to be bulimic.

So what am I going to do? Jump back on that horse. I am getting back into the swing of eating healthy. No more candy.

I know that it's bad to deprive yourself of candy and such, because then you will crave it more (obviously), but I don't do that. I am going to try to change my lifestyle up again. I am incorporating more dark green vegetables, less protein (because I was having too much), less "bad" carbs (like white bread, crackers), more skim milk and less chocolate milk. Removing candy, chocolate, chips, general junk food.

But again, I should focus on triumphs. I have been restricting certain foods in my diet for years. In the summer of 2010, I decided I would no longer drink soda. I had braces then, and you weren't supposed to have sugar soda with braces, so I had been drinking Diet soda, which has 0 calories. I sort of watched what I ate then, and so since diet soda had 0 calories--- I could have as much of it as I wanted? Wrong. I started having 2-3 cans of it a day. But it is still extremely unhealthy for you. So I stopped.
Since then, I have cheated and had some pop, but usually it's when I'm at a friend's house. I don't know for sure, but I have probably not had more than 20 cans/drinks of pop since 2010 when I decided to stop, and no less than 8.

Another triumph I've made is my reduction of ice cream intake. I used to eat an ENTIRE bucket of icecream/week. I realized this was bad, and I stopped. Of course I still eat ice cream (well I'm quitting it for a while to lower my body fat %), but not a bucket a week.

I also rarely eat hamburgers from fast food/restaurants. I've probably had less than 10 in the past 2 years.

Funny story about hamburgers. Over the summer of 2012, I was training for my half marathon. In August I started to crave an A&W hamburger. I told myself that a hamburger from A&W will be the first thing I eat after my half marathon, as a reward for my hard work. After I ran my half marathon, I was not even hungry. But my mom and her friend asked me what I wanted to eat, so I told them. My mom's friend then informed me that she doesn't think there are any A&Ws in Ottawa. What. What. What. There weren't any. So we went to a random hamburger joint. When we got there, I felt sick, and refused to eat any hamburgers. I think that night I drank a lot of water, I ate a yogurt, some random sample things I got from my swag-bag and maybe a banana or something. I remember I fell asleep munching on a box of cereal too.

Geez.

Well, I just hope that this can inspire someone to know that no matter if it's a diet problem or a workout problem, like missing a few workouts in a row, or eating unhealthy for a while, that you can always still go back to it and start over again.

Get back on that horse!

Changing up my diet

Okay, okay. I've been avoiding it for a very long time.

It's time to start eating healthy.

I do eat healthy, healthier than the average person, but I have a fitness goal to achieve, and that involves me lowering my body fat %.

Cardio + Portion control, is what I need to do. Since my cardio has stopped cutting it, it's time to eat healthier.

To start this off, I am doing the thing I did once before, where I cut all unnecessary carbs out, along with icecream, popsicles, candy, etc. So "unnecessary" carbs are bread, pitas, bagels, muffins, pasta, etc. I may eat some bread or something, once I start running again, but the majority of carbs are going to be coming from fruits and vegetables.

Secondly, I am cutting out some of my protein intake. WHAT?! Yes. I knew I was starting to have too much protein for my body weight, but I kind of wanted to be bulking (google what bulking is for bodybuilders, to understand why), so I did do a over-intake of protein. An excess of anything results in body fat storage, so... I have gained 2lbs of fat, likely from the combination of excessive carb and protein intake.

2lbs may not sound like a lot to some people, but 2lbs of fat is actually a big difference for my physique, especially because my fat usually accumulates around my stomach. So... there will be no instagram "ab shots" for a while until I lose this.

I think my biggest problems are;
1) I don't plan my meals
2) I snack/ eat excessively
3) I eat late at night

I'm mostly going to deal with #2. I eat when I'm not hungry, even though I am typically eating healthy food, too much of anything tends to be bad.

This is really funny that I am doing this now, because 2-3 months ago I had the problem that I wasn't eating enough, so I kept sneaking snacks into whenever. That progressed into eating crappy again.

So now, whenever I get hungry I will either drink coffee, tea, or water.

Blerg.

This will be hard. But the results will be worth it!

Just some Fitness Q+A's about me!

Quick Stats:
Age: 17
Weight: 120lbs
Height: 5'7''
Body Fat%: Approx 17-17.5%

How did I get started with fitness?
I started about a year ago, with just wanting to find a healthier way to like my body. Joining the gym was on my mind, but I rode my bike, and began doing pilates before I joined the gym. I still am not on an official health kick for nutrition, but I am getting there.

Where does my motivation come?
A couple of places. Firstly, myself. I motivate myself to achieve higher and higher goals and always crush them. Secondly, a few people in my life. None of them really motivate me, themselves, but sometimes when I am working out or running and I am getting tired, I think of them, and it gets easier.

What is your general routine like?
I honestly don't have set days for specific moves or parts, but I do have separate days for the following:
- Abs
- Legs + Glutes
- Triceps + Biceps
- Back
- Chest
- Deltoids

I do each of these for about 40-70 minutes (depending) and then I do cardio for about 40-50 minutes.
My workouts tend to be 1:45 long.

I used to combine deltoids with back and chest, or combine back and chest, but I have isolated them to really spend the time and effort on these parts, specifically.

What are your three favourite exercises?
1. Seated Row- I love working out my rhomboid, for no apparent reason.

2. Tricep extension, with rope. - Lately I have been obsessed over my triceps. I am starting to see more definition there.
3. Back extension!!!- Sorry, love my back :) - cept instead in this picture, holding a 35lb plate against my chest for resistance!!

Diet?
I don't count calories, which I should.
I don't eat anything special, which I should. This is my next step.

But I do focus on getting a lot of fruits and protein.

I use fiber supplementation, protein powder, and I eat lots of bananas for potassium. I also use caffeine and pre-workout for supplements, as well.


Funny Gym stories?
I have a few... some are embarassing for me, others, are about others.

1. One time I was drinking a weird pre-workout concoction I made, while on the elyptical, and it spilled everywhere.
2. I have broken/partially broken 3 treadmills. I didn't do anything. They just stopped working.
3. I was doing something with the stability ball and I was near the TVs and mirror and I jumped up and hit my head off the bottom of the TV.
4. Some random new guy decided to try to deadlift some other guy's set, and dropped it, causing everything to shake on the floor.
5. There was a guy in a leather jacket grunting and wailing and deadlifting everything. Did I mention the jeans and chains?
6. A guy was doing lat pull downs with a poncho. I have no idea.


Things that piss you off at the gym?
I can probably think of some...
1. When someone asks to hop on with you and then takes forever. If you don't know what this means, it's when you are using a machine or something, and you are resting, and someone asks to hop on with you, that means they want to take a turn and do a few reps. What pisses me off is when someone hops on with me and tries to do like 3 sets. Dude. Take turns, and take a rest, your muscles need it.
2. When people tighten the nobs too much.
3. When I can't find something I need for the lat pull down machine. I also frequently can't find the bar I use for tricep extensions and bicep curls.
4. Okay. So I always use this one locker at the gym, and about a month ago, someone permanently rented it out. Now I use the one next to it like a loser.


Favourite gym outfit?
I'd post a pic, but I don't have any. My capri yoga pants, vibrams, black tank top.

What are your three favourite body parts, three least favourite, and three that you most need/want to improve?

Fave:
1. Back, specifically my rhomboids and lower back.
2. Quads.
3. Triceps

Least Favourite:
1. Stomach/abs - I need to lose that belly fat. That means diet control. Ugh.
2. Calves - I feel like my calves are really small in comparison to the rest of my legs. Also, I think my Gastrocnemius is small, and my extensors are oddly developed, compared to the average person.
3. Forearms

Need/Want to Improve:
1. Forearms - I don't work them out enough. Barely get to them on bis and tris day.
2. Deltoids - I don't mind the way they look, but I want my shoulder muscles to be more proportionate to the rest of my arm. I like working out deltoids, it's just I haven't really isolated them until 2 months ago.
3. Glutes- I hate working out my glutes. I get them in with squats, but I don't do glute exercises as a rule.