Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

I figured I would update everyone on my whereabouts and fitness adventures these past few months. First off, a lot of things have changed within these last couple of months that I should probably update on:

1. I’ve decided that my landing zone after college is the city of angels…Los Angeles, California. I really enjoy camera work and hope to do some shorts and commercial work. I will be moving right away in May after I graduate.

2. I have a boyfriend, who I have been dating under the radar since the 30th of January, but officially since Valentine’s day. He was an army sniper and just recently pulled out of the army after seven years of dedication. He’s going to school here at UMD also as a bfa theatre major, so it’s clear that this relationship is only going to last until I move (because, let’s be honest, neither of us theatre majors can do a long distance relationship), but we’ve decided not to talk about that and live in the moment rather than look to the future. Some of you here on tumblr may think it a silly and ridiculous thing to commit to someone when you know you’ll have to say goodbye, but I find it as an opportunity to live in the moment, and to learn to trust someone and break my walls that I’ve so strategically built against guys these past 21 years.

3. My show is going incredibly well. I am in Coriolana, which is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. I’m really delving into my character (Aufidia) and it’s terribly frightening how easy it is for me to relate to her, but I have a habit of always trying to find parallel qualities between me and my characters. She is Coriolana’s arch nemesis, and even though both Coriolana and Aufidia do terrible things, it’s not difficult for me to empathize. Each person on this planet, regardless of how awful the crime, has an underlying reason for it that they justify in their minds. We try to justify everything we do because it’s a way to protect ourselves from believing we are bad people who have done things that are wrong.

4. Speaking of my boyfriend, he also used to be a bodybuilder and is one of the trainers for Coriolana. I only say this because in Coriolana we have been weight training and working out like crazy to produce strong and physically believable warriors. I have decided that, even though it’s going to kill me and wear me down, I’m going on a ketogenic, low-carb/high-fat diet in order to lower my body fat percentage and show toning/muscle. David (the boy) used to cut carbs completely for his bodybuilding competitions, so I thought I’d give this a shot.

Basically, how it works is this:

65% Fat

30% Protein

5% Carbs

With a ketogenic diet, you are forcing your body to make a transition from using carbs as energy to using fat. When this happens, your body goes into “ketosis”. I’ve done a lot of research since discovering this. I’ll admit that when I first started this several days ago, I didn’t know my body would react the way it did. Severe nausea and the infamous “keto flu” hit me hard, and I also wasn’t aware it would be so easy to go into ketosis so quickly…but I took a test and, sure enough, my body adjusted. It takes several weeks for your body to recover completely and start acting normal again, but I feel fuller than I’ve ever felt with the high intake of fat, and I’m still under my caloric limit, which means I’m definitely losing fat, without actually losing muscle.

It is optimal to take in 1 gram of Protein per pound of body weight, so I take in about 135 grams of Protein. The rest comes from fat, and minimal amounts of carbs. If anyone’s interested, there’s a keto calculator here if you follow the link:
http://www.phlaunt.com/lowcarb/DietMakeupCalc.php

I am aware that many people believe this is a dangerous approach, but people do, in fact, use this diet for medical purposes. It has been known to treat Epilepsy in children since it controls insulin levels , and I just refuse to knock something before I try it. If I still feel lethargic and sickly after the first few weeks, I may consider a new approach, but I’m hoping to give it at least until the show opens (approximately two months). 

I’ll write more on this later and what I’ve been intaking (primarily protein and dairy) since I have to work on a ballet midterm, but I really do feel good about this one. 

Cheers everyone, and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Core:

2:15 plank

1:15 side planks

1 set crunches 30r

Back Squats:

75lb x 10r

75lb x 10r

95lb x 5r

95lb x 5r

105lb x 3r

105lb x 2r

Bent Over Row:

17.5lb x 10r

22.5lb x 10r

22.5lb x 10r

Lat Pulldown:

55lb x 10r

70lb x 4r

70lb x 5r

55lb x 10r

Deadlifts:

85lb x 6r

85lb x 10r

95lb x 5r

95lb x 4r

Leg Curls:

65lb x 10r

80lb x 4r

65lb x 9r

Leg Extension:

70lb x 10r

85lb x 6r

70lb x 6r

Lunges: 25lb

Reverse Flyes:

10lb (each hand) x 10r

12.5lb x 10r

15lb x 10r

15lb x 10r

Split Squats:

45lb x 5r each leg

45lb x 4r each leg

Leg Press:

90lb x 10r

90lb x 10r

110lb x 10r

140lb x 7r

Calf Raises (bodyweight): 3 sets of 25r

Good Mornings:

30lb x 10r

40lb x 10r

40 minutes running 5.5 mph

2:00 plank

1:00 side planks

2 sets crunches 30reps each

2 sets Russian twists 6lb med ball 30reps each

100 push ups

200 sit ups

1:00 back plank

1 set 30rep scissors

WEEEEEEE

15:00 running

Core:

2:00 plank

1:15 side planks

1:00 back plank

I didn’t do any more core because there was a class going on where I usually do core…and since the gym I’m at for this month is so small I figured I could just do some core at home.

2:00 Arm Circles

Shrugs:

30lb x 20r

35lb x 16r

30lb x 15r

10 push ups

Bench Press:

45lb x 10r

45lb x 10r

55lb x 5r

55lb x 5r

55lb x 6r

55lb x 4r

65lb x 6r

Deltoids Side/Front:

10lb (in each hand) x 10r

12.5lb x 5r

10lb x 8r

20 Tricep Dips w/ bench

Bicep Curls (super hard for me today):

15lb (each hand) x 10r

17.5lb x 2r (pathetic)

15lb x 5r

Wrist Curls w/ Barbell:

30lb x 7r

30lb x 7r

30lb x 8r

Reverse Grip Wrist Curls:

30lb x 10r

30lb x 10r

30lb x 10r

Tricep Extension 1 Arm:

10lb x 10r

12.5lb x 7r

10lb x 10r

Arnold Press:

15lb (each hand) x 10r

20lb x 5r

17.5lb x 9r

Flat Dumbbell Flyes:

12.5lb x 10r

15lb x 9r

12.5lb x 10r

Dumbbell Press on Incline:

15lb (each hand) x 10r

20lb x 4r

17.5lb x 8r

Skull Crusher w/ Barbell:

20lb x 10r

30lb x 10r

20lb x 10r

Pec Dec:

40lb x 9r

55lb x 4r

Upright Rows:

10lb (each hand) x 10r

17.5lb x 10r

15lb x 10r

PS… working out without music is HARD. I had no idea how much motivation my music brought me until my I found out my ipod was dead even though I charged it to full this morning. Irritating, and interesting.

35 minutes running 5.5mph

3 sets Russian twists w/ 6lb med ball 30r

3 sets crunches 30r

1 set bicycles 25r

1 set scissors 15r

Frog Balance

Headstand Balance

Shoulder stand Balance

1:45 Plank

1:00 Side Planks

1:00 Back Plank

100 Push Ups

200 Sit ups

Warm-Up+Core:

15 minutes running

1:45 plank

1:00 side planks

3 sets crunches

3 sets Russian twists 6lb med ball

Legs+Core:

Squats:

65lb x 10r

75lb x 7r

75lb x 6r

Bent Over Row (each arm):

10lb x 15r

15lb x 15r

12.5lb x 15r

Lat Pulldown:

55lb x 10r

70lb x 7r

55lb x 10r

Shrugs:

20lb x 28r

25lb x 12r

11.5lb x 17r

Leg Extension:

55lb x 10r

70lb x 10r

70lb x 8r

Deadlifts:

65lb x 10r

85lb x 7r

85lb x 7r

Leg Curls:

50lb x 10r

65lb x 7r

50lb x 10r

Single Leg Squat (this is where my legs start to get tired…should have done this right after regular squats):

55lb 6r each leg

55lb 4r each leg

I also later did reverse flyes (I don’t remember the stats) and my 100 push ups and 200 sit ups.

I’m a super-noob at this so any feedback would be great! In terms of what I should be doing on leg/back day and/or anything else that comes to mind! :) Just shoot me a message!

200 sit ups and 50 push ups down, and the remainder of my core day is as follows:

50 more push ups

2:00 plank

1:00 side planks

1:00 back plank

3 sets of Russian twists, 25 reps each side

3 sets of crunches, 25 reps

1 set each side—> side plank raises (hip motion up & down) 25 reps

1 set bicycles 25 reps

1 set scissors 25 reps

balances: frog, shoulder stand, head stand

For cardio: since my gym is not open on Christmas day, I have no access to equipment, so Russian twists will be without a medicine ball (probably a good thing since I upped my weight in that yesterday), and for cardio I’ll have to throw in an insanity workout or something.

Me every time I see impressive muscles at the gym.

Ok but really though.

(via just4thehealthofit)