modest alchemist

drawing challenge

2011-09-09T22:44:00.001-04:00

modestalchemist sent you this page: allison lehman : show + tell / 30 Day Drawing Challenge

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nkotbsb

2011-07-27T01:00:00.001-04:00

Nkotbsb new kids on the back street boys does not sound like they put enough thought into it because it sounds like they are on them. They should have. Had 2 bs and have one of them backward.

Kevin and howies hat died in a terrible school bus accident. Howie buys a new hat which happens to be kevins reincarnated soul. Only Howie can hear him, but for some incompent reason he doesn't tell the others. Kevin tries to communicate with them, but gets nowhere. Meanwhile, aj also bought a hat.

The bsb. Often turn into knotb. But they are unaware of their own alternate identities. Howies new hat which is kevin, also has a knotb alternate identity.

Ideas for bsb fan satire stick figure comic.

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back on it! woo vacation!

2011-06-12T23:01:00.003-04:00

hey! yesterday was my birthday, and i've had a killer busy weekend. but i'm back on it!

ok, on wednesday, i went hip hop at LA Fitness, and then i tried to do some yoga before bed, but i couldn't finish the video. Today is sunday, and i did an extra 45 minutes of Yoga today to make up for it.

thursday, i didn't work out because after work, i came home and spent several hours going through my things and getting ready for my yard sale. Friday, i worked a double, and didn't have time to work out, and also spent the night setting up for my yard sale. i was probably up until 4 am saturday morning. so i missed legs and back and ab ripper x. I just did those today as well to catch up. Saturday, i did my yard sale, and then went to work, and when i got home, i was exhausted from the previous two nights, so i went to sleep and slept till about 1 PM today! ya for sleeping.

today, i made up for the yoga that i missed, and did the legs and back and ab ripperx to make up for wednesday and thursday.

today, i missed chest and back.

tomorrow, i am going to the zoo. i will try to fit in kenpo and then go to my yoga class which is scheduled for mondays. i will also do chest and back to make up for today. I will be trying to get a pull up bar which i can put in my closet door frame so i can make the most out of that routine.

tuesday, i will do shoulders and arms (and ab ripperx) when i get up, and then i will do plyo before i go to sleep. this will catch me up for wednesday!

now this is the plan, let's see if i can stick to it!

update, i weighed myself today, and i am 175pounds. that's 5 pounds in a week! that's a lot, but i suspect a lot of it is water weight. Also i used a different scale, which my mom says is off, so i don't really know how accurate this measurement is, or if it even compares at all to the one that i normally use. but we won't know for sure until i go back to work next week.

goals for this week:

1. catch up with the program by tuesday

2. buy a pull up bar

3. increase my weight or reps (depending on which thing i'm doing)

4. make it to the first water break in the plyometric routine without wimping out. and then complete the routine at my own pace.

5. find my water bottle so i can drink my shakeology. it's probably in the car.

well it is 11:23. it is time to shower, and then go to bed, so i can BRING IT tomorrow!

try to do kenpo before 10:00 AM cause i'm going to the zoo at 10:30.

update

2011-06-10T13:05:00.001-04:00

got pretty busy last night, so i skipped the legs and back. I also have to work till 1 am tonight, and will be very busy tomorrow as well. i should be back on track by sunday, and i will be on vacation next week, so i can catch up by doing a week of doubles! woot!

candy

2011-06-09T18:04:00.001-04:00

i don't know why i eat the stuff.. i guess i'm just a grazer, and it seems to be the only thing around here sometimes. oh well, i'm still well below my daily intake, and that already includes my plan for dinner. :)

legs and back and schedule modification

2011-06-09T14:10:00.002-04:00

Doing legs and back tonight. I am excited, as i feel that my legs are my worst feature. also strengthening my legs and back will help with my hip issue.

tomorrow, and every friday, i work a double, so i am going to switch my rest day and my kenpo day.

fail

2011-06-09T00:02:00.003-04:00

yoga x was fail... but in my defense, i did do hip hop before then, and it did go over by about 20 minutes.

the yoga video is 90 minutes give or take, and i did about 10-15 minutes before my new roommate showed up to move in the rest of his stuff. so i had to pause for that, and then he wanted to try the program too, so i restarted the video and we did half an hour together, pausing about 15 minutes in to plan a meal with that chicken i've been thawing out. He's a big guy, so the activity takes a lot out of him. and then we went back for another 15 minutes before it was about midnight.

all in out with the hip hop being about 80 minutes, and doing roughly 45 minutes of yoga x, i did 125 minutes of activity, so 2 hours. I had planned to about half an hour more than that, with a bit less cardio and a bit more yoga. But it works out. I was exhausted.

then we decided to go to the grocery store at midnight to get some lettuce, and some other things to make a salad, and also milk and eggs.

yesterday i ate a wopping total of my soup and a shake, half a cereal bar, and a sammich.

this morning, i weighed myself, and i am down to 177.5 pounds! less than i have been in several months. this does lead me to believe that the soreness i was feeling earlier in the week was attributing to the extra weight. as in a previous post, a blog from Chalene Johnson says that when your muscles are recovering, they hold a lot of water. Since today, i am no longer sore at all, and since i brought it to Hip hop last night and sweat my butt off, i probably lost all that water. i will not see this as an official weight though, and will weigh myself on Monday to get a full week of results. but anyway, yay! -2.5 pounds from start!

I'm also taking pics Monday for my reference, and to be able to do a before and after. woot! and i'll take pics every time i complete a phase.

hip hop hustle

2011-06-08T21:46:00.002-04:00

was awesome tonight! just sayin :) i was totally beat by the end. my face is all salty gross. gonna chill for a bit and then kick the ass of yoga x!

soreness

2011-06-08T18:40:00.002-04:00

i was noticing today that i'm not always sore. But i am definitely covered in sweat after the workouts... i wonder if i'm doing it wrong. I mean i'm really expecting to hurt... does this mean i need to up the weight i use?

Wednesday!

2011-06-08T14:13:00.002-04:00

it's humpday everyone! Time to get over that hump!

Going to Hip Hop hustle tonight! Woot! Then heading home to do Yoga X. then i'm sorting out some junk for my garage sale on Saturday!

Today i've eaten a big bowl of the soup i made with tons of veggies, and delicious catfish. a couple spoons full of peanut-butter and a shakeology.

Update Tuesday night

2011-06-07T22:46:00.003-04:00

shoulders and arms is fun. I definitely need to get some 15 and 20 pound weights. i've been using 10 pounders, and for some things, they're too light to get a good burn. as i work up, that will be a good investment.

had pizza for dinner (about 1/2 hour before working out), but it was pineapple and almonds on thin crust, so i at least cut out the greasy meat, and still got protein from the almonds. i had about 3 slices (it was cut in squares, so it's hard to estimate). i also had one shakeology throughout the day as well as half a grilled chicken wrap with lots of veggies and minimal cheese. I drank at least 60 oz of water by itself, and about another 24 oz mixed with the shakeology (i water that stuff down a lot. still only use one scoop though, and i don't even use the full scoop).

man, my shoulders hurt.

i also did ab ripper again as instructed. I really suck at this one, but i'm sure i can do better if i keep doing it. i take a lot of breaks, but i get right back into it, and i can do about 1/2 to 3/4 of every routine.

to help keep track of my goals at home, i wrote down the program on a dry-erase calendar with a goal date in sight. on july 2, i will complete phase 1. and hopefully, by then, i'll see some sort of change. if not able to see it physically, or by the numbers on the scales, i should at least improve during the workouts. maybe i'll even hit my goal of not wimping out during plyos before the first water break. (fyi, i complete the whole DVD, but i take a lot of water breaks, so i do about 1/2 of what they're doing. also, i have a bad hip condition, so i step through almost everything instead of hopping about, but Tony says that's ok... i do feel a bit one upped by the guy with the fake leg though.... )

Tomorrow is Yoga X, and i'm also going to my hip hop hustle class at the gym!

answer to my question

2011-06-07T17:07:00.000-04:00

I found this post on a discussion board

Why the Scale Goes Up When You Start a New Workout Plan

By Chalene Johnson

Probably the most common question I get when I release a new exercise program is, "Help! I'm gaining weight! Am I doing something wrong?" This is a common phenomenon with any new exercise program, such as Turbo Kick, Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Hustle, or others! It's especially common (and temporary) with intense strength training programs like ChaLEAN Extreme or Tony Horton's P90X.

The motivation to start a new exercise program is almost always to lose weight. However, what most personal trainers know--and most at-home exercisers do not--is that a new exercise program often can cause an immediate (and temporary) increase on the scale. (Notice I didn't say weight gain! I'll explain.) This common increase in the scale is also the reason why perhaps millions of people start and then quickly quit their resolution to get fit.

The temporary weight gain explained:
When someone starts a new exercise program, they often experience muscle soreness. The more intense and "unfamiliar" the program, the more intense the muscle soreness. This soreness is most prevalent 24 to 48 hours after each workout. In the first few weeks of a new program, soreness is the body trying to "protect and defend" the effected or targeted tissue. Exercise physiologists refer to this as delayed-onset muscle soreness, or DOMS.

This type of soreness is thought to be caused by tissue breakdown or microscopic tears in muscle tissue. When this happens, the body protects the tissue. The muscle becomes inflamed and slightly swollen due to fluid retention. This temporary retention of fluid can result in a 3- to 4-pound weight gain within a few weeks of a new program. Keep in mind that muscle soreness is not necessarily a reflection of how hard you worked. In fact, some people feel no signs of muscle soreness, yet will experience the muscle protection mechanisms of water retention and slight swelling.

Most people are motivated enough to put up with this temporary muscle soreness. Yet, many, especially those who really need immediate weight loss to keep them motivated, become discouraged and quit!

When I worked with a group of 70 test participants during the development stages of ChaLEAN Extreme, this happened. Who was the most upset and discouraged? You guessed it... the women! I'm happy to report absolutely for every single woman (and man) in our group, the weight increase was temporary and never lasted more than two weeks before they started to see a major drop in the scale. However, these people had the advantage of working with someone who was able to explain to them why this was happening and assure them the weight would come off if they stuck to the nutrition plan and stayed true to the program.

If you follow a multi-phase exercise plan, such as ChaLEAN Extreme, keep in mind that when you start each phase, your body will be "in shock" again. Don't be surprised or discouraged if you experience a temporary gain on the scale the first week of each phase.

My own personal example of this is running 10Ks. I don't do it very often, maybe once or twice a year. Even though I run on a regular basis, when you run a race, you push much harder. It's natural for me to be insanely sore the next day. It’s also very common for me to see the scale jump 4 pounds the next day from forcing fluids post race and the resulting DOMS. Even though I know the cause of it, it's still a bummer. We're all human and hard work should mean results. Hard work equals results, but our bodies are amazing machines and they know how to protect us from hurting ourselves. Soreness forces you to give those muscles a break. Ultimately you will lose the weight and you will change your metabolism in the process.

The key is understanding that this is a normal and temporary and stick with the program!

update

2011-06-07T16:27:00.002-04:00

i want to know how i gained 2 pounds. I did expect to gain some weight at first from doing this, but i weighed myself what Monday and i was at 179.5 and now i'm at 182..... Maybe it's water weight, or i haven't completely digested all that junk i ate last night. i will continue with the program and check again tomorrow to see if today is just a fluke.

i hate coming up with titles

2011-06-07T14:35:00.004-04:00

Did plyos last night! i'm pretty proud of myself, though afterwards, i was starving, so i ate a bunch of junk. I should have just made another shakology instead. oh well... live and learn.

today, i have done a pretty good job so far. I have yet to finish my shakeology, and i had lunch a little later than usual, so i probably won't be starving by the end of the day like yesterday. so no battle with cheetos!

On the docket for today is shoulders and arms, and ab ripper x. my chest and back are feeling pretty good from monday, but yesterday, i was pretty sore. Hopefully today, i can get more out of the ab ripper than i did on Monday.

Also, yesterday as i was doing plyos, i realized that my sweat was pretty thick, so i'm probably dehydrated. I joined the water club at work today, where basically, we chip in to pay for a water cooler. otherwise we are stuck drinking the tap water, and this building is really old, so you never know if the water is going to be good. It usually tastes terrible, and sometimes it's brown from the old pipes. And i have drank 20 oz of the water club water so far today and have another bottle full and ready to go.

throughout the videos, tony is always telling you to make goals for yourself. My goal for Plyos is to be able to keep up until the first water break. I am terribly out of shape right now, so i stopped twice before the first water break this last time. but i always tried my best :) This goal should be pretty easily attainable if i just stick with it.

Oh! i almost forgot! before i did this workout, i went to the gym and did an hour of Yoga with a class. i thought it would be good to get centered and eliminate the stress from the day before doing such an intense workout like plyos. Also, i try to go every monday anyway.

Tomorrow, i will be doing YogaX, which i have done before, and it's not too difficult, and i will also be going to the gym for Hip Hop Hustle. it's a lot of fun! I will probably hip hop before the yoga, so i can use the yoga to cool down and head to bed.

yoga

2011-06-06T20:30:00.001-04:00

Went to the gym and did some yoga. It is definitely helping my back. Came home and had a bowl of cereal. Bringing my calories to 111% not bad. Im going to take a nap and then do plyo and then pick alex up from work.

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nutrition while at work

2011-06-06T16:46:00.002-04:00

i'm going to have to do better planning for eating while i'm at work. I should either eat a little later so i don't have such hard cravings, or bring an additional healthy snack.

stupid cheetos. why do you have to be so good?

Craving some cheetos!

2011-06-06T13:56:00.002-04:00

i really want some flamin hot cheetos. I've almost finished my shakeology for today, and i've already had a bowl of the soup i made last night (which was pretty disappointing as far as soups go). The hard part is, i'm stuck at work, and there is very little healthy variety here. I have to choose from a vending machine and a gift shop, and McDonalds. If i can just wait till i get home, i can make another shake, or have a bowl of cereal (i have special k and cheerios). or i can make an omelet or something. anything would be better than McDonalds.

Also, update on my weight:

i was tipping the scales at 180-181 last week, and now it's a balancing act between 179 and 180. I think adding in the home workouts will be the difference i needed.

Feeling it

2011-06-06T12:21:00.002-04:00

OUCH! i'm definitely feeling it from yesterday. My back hurt almost immediately after my workout yesterday, and my shoulders and chest were feeling it this morning. Now, since i've eaten lunch, my abs are totally feeling it. I'll admit, i was skeptical of a 10 minute ab ripper workout, but this one has got it going on!

i really need to invest in a pull up bar, and some free weights. I will do so if i actually stick with the program, i have a terrible habit of quitting.

Chicken

2011-06-05T22:43:00.002-04:00

I'm thawing out some chicken to make some soup for this week as well as other tasty chicken meals.

I will make soup with chicken breasts, onion, vegetable stock, garlic, salt, pepper, cayanne pepper, and whatever veggies i can find in my freezer.

I will marinate some chicken for later grilling (or baking) and maybe make some brown rice and broccoli with that.

probably do a stir fry as well.

p 90x

2011-06-05T21:15:00.002-04:00

What does the P stand for?
Who knows :)

This evening, I started P90X. The calendar for the classic run suggests that I start out with pushups and pullups for an hour, and then do the ab ripper video, which surprisingly is only 10 minutes. I really suck at upper body, so that part was really challenging, but if you stick with it, you feel really accomplished by the end of it. I am definitely sore, but mentally, I am not exhausted as I usually am after working out. Can I attribute this to shakeology?

Tomorrow, I am scheduled to do plyometrics... I wonder how this will play out. Also, tomorrow I go back to work, and I typically don't feel like doing anything after I get home from work. I am also going to the gym tomorrow for an hour of yoga. I find it nice to do yoga in a group, and it is free with my membership at LA Fitness. Yoga has also been helping a lot with my f-d up back.

I guess we'll see if I can keep up with the routine. Wish me luck.

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day 3 of 3

2011-06-05T21:06:00.002-04:00

Shakeology cleanse day 3 of 3

I don't think I have actually lost any weight however I have noticed a significant change in appetite. I am far less hungry than usual, although I am still eating a lot of junk.

I had
One shake which I drank throughout the day. I have found that I like the shakes better if I make them with 2 cups of water as opposed to the one cup it requires.
I also had a chicken nugget happy meal from mcdonalds
My brother's family had a cookout where I had some grapes, mac and cheese, green beans, and various smoked meats. I drank half a dr pepper, and ate a handful of goldfish.
When I got to work, I ate chili cheese fries, with only 4 oz of chili and cheese combined, which is better than the usual 8.

I spent the better part of the day driving in the car over to kevin's house, which is about 20 miles north of Louisville ky. I live in Indianapolis near the speedway, if that helps with the visual.

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Farewell, food pyramid — USDA is now serving up nutritional advice on My Plate

2011-06-03T12:53:00.001-04:00

Farewell, food pyramid — USDA is now serving up nutritional advice on My Plate

The other day, Michelle Obama gave a speech regarding the new nutritional chart for the US. It represents a more balanced diet in a picture we can understand. As opposed to the recent "My Pyramid", "My Plate" shows a better representation of how your plate should look at meals. Though they seem to be having some trouble incorporating exercise into the logo.

day 2 of 3

2011-06-03T12:28:00.003-04:00

Today will be a difficult day as i am working my usual friday double. 8 hours at IU and then about 5 or 6 hours at Tibbs Drive-in. Hopefully they replenished the fruit bowl, because that will be one healthy choice i can make as far as snacks go.

Today, i have consumed:

1 shakeology shake made with water

2 pieces of pizza from hotbox and two breadsticks with cheese (again, i am eating too much)

i have, now, but have not yet consumed

2 bottles of water, and

1 shakeology shake made with water.

Shakeology cleanse

2011-06-02T14:33:00.005-04:00

Hi All,

I'm currently doing a shakeology cleanse. I think it's basically 3 shakes a day and a salad. Shakeology is a nutritious meal replacement that is only 150 calories per serving. Today is my first day, and at this time, I have consumed

1 shake

1 large salad with grilled chicken and balsamic vinegrette

2 hershey's candies (shut up!)

The point is, I feel full, and I still have 2 shakes to go. I usually would break down right about now and go get a bag of flamin hot cheetos, which is really a bad idea.

Current Weight, 180 pounds

Update:

I have had another shake. This time i made it with 1.5 cups of milk bringing the calorie count to 300 for this shake. One more shake to go today if i so feel like it. But again, i am pretty full.

Update: went home and took a nap. afterwards, i had about:

1/2 cup of goldfish and

1 piece of pie

i eat terribly.

sweat

2011-05-22T20:59:00.002-04:00

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sad night last night

2011-03-22T12:03:00.003-04:00

Last night was tragic. I had just finished watering my ducks when their ramp to the roost came loose and crashed down on one of them killing it instantly.

I cried all night, needless to say. Im going to get another one to replace it so the remaining duck will not grow up alone.

here is the only video of them together.