@heretolog Your pupper sounds quite intelligent and helpful as well! Perhaps she saw you wanted to relax and was trying to suggest a nice chew toy. They are certainly a blessing.
@donnerschweer Thank you! As for yours 
that’s a strong dog! Sounds like a painful surprise.
10 Jan Log
Overview: Felt good today. 0430 workouts aren’t killing me yet (as long as I get my butt in bed on time), and while today’s tempo run was definitely challenging, I didn’t feel quite as drained during it. Also happy to ride out the weekend’s food prep until tomorrow - certainly makes it easy to log when it’s just copy/paste from yesterday. Big fan of less time cooking during the week and more time for board games and relaxing after work.
Strength:
Lower Body Pump x 3 rounds:
MetCon Circuit x 4 rounds:
Cardio: Steady state run, 10 min warm-up, 10 mins between 8:14-8:34 min/mi pace, 5 min optional, 10 min cool-down. Hit target for the run (8:29/mi avg pace), didn’t do optional, walked first half of the cool-down and jogged the rest. Felt ok, not like I wanted to move much faster, but capable of meeting the requirement.
Nutrition:
11 Jan Log
Overview: Rest day today, and took it as a true rest day. Slow day at work, but productive. Hoping my body got the most out of the rest, because I’m not looking forward to a group PT we have tomorrow morning.
Back is still a tiny bit sore, but on the up and up and overall feeling good.
Nutrition:
12 Jan Log
Overview: We had group PT in the morning, and it felt better than I expected. We planked for 7 mins (2 mins front, 1 min each side, 1 min front, 1 min each side, no rest between), then ran about 2.7 km (including a decent-size hill) and did “Stairway to Heaven” twice (286 steps of varying width), then ran back for a pull-up ladder. The stairs just suck (nobody in the group ran them- even walking them has your muscles burning), but in a weird good way. I was smart this time and brought a headlamp, because last time I couldn’t see in the dark and it made going down the stairs way slower as I discovered a previously-unknown fear of heights. Definitely a good choice. Followed that up with an upper body workout in the evening.
Strength:
Morning: 7-min plank (as described above), pull-up pyramid (2-3-4-4-3-2)
Evening:
OH press: 5x5 @ 60 lbs
Superset: Eccentric OH press 5x5 @ 45 lbs and KB swings, 5x5 @ 45 lbs
BB Row: 2x8, 2x7 @ 70 lbs
Cardio: I counted our PT as the “easy” run for my running program. Watch finished near the end of the Stairway to Heaven, so it didn’t include our run back. So. Many. Stairs.
Nutrition:
13 Jan Log
Overview: Definitely feeling my calves today thanks to the Stairway to Heaven, and I suspect I’ll be feeling them tomorrow too. Otherwise, pretty good day, feeling good and starting to feel the beginnings of really enjoying getting the workouts in versus having to talk myself into it.
Strength:
Upper Body Pump: 3 rounds
Lat Raise: 15 reps @ 20 lbs (10/arm)
Lying Tricep Extension: 15, 14, and 12 @ 30 lbs (15/arm)
Seated DB Press: 15, 14, 13 @ 30 lbs (15/arm)
METCON: 4 rounds
Row 500m, 10 push-ups. Kept split around 2:08-2:12.
Cardio: None.
Nutrition:
This guy did wonders for my culinary skills - https://www.youtube.com/@OnePotChefShow . Easy to create, bake/cook and clean!
Thanks for the tip, I’ll check it out!
14 Jan Log
Overview: First time going out for some drinks this year, and I spent quite a while trying to figure out how to factor it in. Had a long run, so I wanted to fuel that effort with a normal breakfast. I wanted to hit my protein goals (even if it meant going over total calories), and had some tuna and protein powder to achieve that. Not perfect, but more deliberate than when I usually go out. We did end up listening to an 80s-themed band far later than intended, so I’m feeling sleepy today, but not hungover.
Strength: None.
Cardio: Long run. 5-min warm-up, 40-min between 9:04-10:04 pace, 10 min optional, 5-min cool-down. I’m focusing on trying to keep the easy runs really feeling easy without focusing on where I am in the pace range. Today’s run felt decent, better than the long run last week. Slow, but I’m trying to accept being slow on the easy run days if it means I can put out during the speed work, and trying to trust myself and the program. Walked the cool-down, didn’t do the optional.
Nutrition: It was enlightening seeing how adding drinks to my log made the calories go up without hardly shifting the macro counts - I know alcohol is empty calories, but seeing that visual hit different. I had about 2.5 drinks (small beer, margarita, a second beer that I didn’t finish), and had a good time. Didn’t eat perfect, but didn’t eat too crazy either - grilled chicken at one place, three wings at another, and some edamame. Overall, I feel good about my choices.
15 Jan Log: Rest day. Slept in, took it easy around the house and went out for some ramen for dinner. Cronometer showed me 15g below my target for fat, but I wasn’t sure if I was under-estimating the fat content of the ramen broth, so I decided not to try my luck by eating more.
16 Jan Log
Overview: Felt really good today. It’s the MLK Jr. Day 96 (aka Mon and Tues off work), so I went slightly insane meal prepping, didn’t fully consider how much food I was making, and now I have 18 servings so I sure hope my husband likes what I made. Also realized that 18 servings is definitely the logistical limit of our leftover containers.
Strength: Squats felt tough today but do-able. Glad that what’s typically the longest workout in the Hard Body Training for Women Program got knocked out on a day off work, so I didn’t have to worry about morning routine timing.
BB Squat: 5x6 @ 108 lbs
Superset: Eccentric BB Squat 5x6 @ 90 lbs with DB jump squat 5x6 @ 50 lbs
BB Hip Thrust: 4x8 @ 75 lbs
Ab Ripper X
Cardio: Today was the first run of the program where I haven’t felt like I was slogging through. Definitely cooler out than it has been, which helped. My HR results on my watch matched up with my feeling that this run felt smoother and more comfortable. 5 min warm-up, 20 min between 9:04-10:04 pace, 10 min optional, 5-min cool-down. Did the optional portion for the first time since starting this program.
Nutrition:
17 Jan Log
Overview: Last day of the long weekend, felt good. Optimistic that the habit is building to make getting to the gym something that feel automatic.
Strength:
Lower Body Pump:
Leg Curl 3x15 @ 40 lbs
Leg Extension 3x15 @ 30 lbs
Lunges 3x16 @ 20 lbs
METCON: 6 rounds
1 min jump rope
30 BW squats
10 vertical jumps
Planks (continuous/no breaks): 2 min front, 1 min each side, 2 min front, 1 min each side = 8 mins totals
Cardio: Felt good again today. Another “steady state” run, 10 min warm-up, 10 mins at between 8:14-8:34 pace, 5 min optional, 10-min cool-down. Felt challenged but strong during the run, didn’t do the optional but trotted the cool-down instead of walking it.
Nutrition:
18 Jan Log: Rest day. Went slightly over macro goals in fat content and protein (so 102% for total caloric goal). Fat was because I didn’t look closely enough at how the meals I prepped this weekend would pair from a macro standpoint, and protein was because I decided I’d rather go over slightly in total calories if it meant hitting my protein target. Not being as diligent about getting to bed on time this week, and I can feel the difference.
19 Jan Log
Overview: Felt pretty good today. Tired (need to get to bed earlier), and very nearly fell back into the bad habit of telling myself I’d run when I got home after work instead of getting it knocked out during the day. In the past, I’m almost always a liar when I tell myself that.
Strength:
OH Press 5x6 @ 70 lbs. Grinded out the last rep of each set.
Superset: Eccentric OH Press 5x6 @ 45 lbs and KB swing 5x6 @ 45 lbs
Bent-over row: 3x8, 1x7 @ 70 lbs. I always feel like I’m noticing my triceps fatiguing more than anything else during this exercise, which I know means I’m probably doing it wrong.
Ab Ripper X
Later in the day: Pull-up/push-up pyramid (2 push-ups for every 1 pull-up): 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1, total 25 pull-ups/50 push-ups. This is the first time this season that I got to 5 on the pyramid, which is typically where I end up staying. Going to see if I can’t extend the pyramid further this year.
Cardio: Short easy run, felt fine but was a little short on time so didn’t do the optional. 5 mins warm-up, 20 mins between 9:04-10:04 min/mi pace, 5 min cool-down.
Nutrition:
20 Jan Log
Overview: Very nearly didn’t get the strength workout in today. Work was busier than expected and had an after-work event. I knocked it out around 7 PM, not ideal but I’ll take it.
Strength:
Upper Body Pump: 3 rounds
METCON: 5 rounds of 500m row and 10 push-ups, 1 min rest between rounds. Rows steadily decreased from 2:16 down to 2:07 on the final set.
Cardio: None.
Nutrition: Fat is high because of the meal-prep meals that I have left (turkey meatballs in tomato sauce), but I’m trying not to stress too much over it.
Just curious, what are your energy settings in Cronometer? Do you have TEF turned on? At what level is your activity set? Are you on a weight loss, maintain, or gain setting?
I dont have TEF turned on, and I have activity at a moderate setting. It’s on a maintain weight setting, but I manually set my overall caloric and macro goals based off a resting metabolic rate test I did in Jan. I just use Cronometer to track my nutrition vice using it to set my goals.
Do you use it for any of those features? If so, how do you like it?
I see. I let Cronometer calculate my metabolic rate and I calculated it on my own and they matched. I use the sedentary activity level because my job is at a desk. I add in exercise on my own. I also do use the TEF and my setting includes a .25 lb/week gain goal. My macros are based on P30%, C50%, F20%. I hit that sometimes and sometimes I’m a little off. So far it has been almost perfectly precise. I’m right at a gain of .25-.28 lbs per week over the last 5-6 months. So far I have been happy with it.
Gotcha, you had me curious so I just messed with the settings and it calculated a BMR of 1438 vs my RMR of 1584 that was measured with a breathing test machine. Interestingly, when I told it I had a moderate activity level and wanted to lose 1 lb a week, it estimated daily intake of 1658. I’ve been averaging 2 lbs a week at 1800 cal/day and considering increasing calories to slow down slightly.
[quote=“LoganAY, post:35, topic:280677”]
So far it has been almost perfectly precise. I’m right at a gain of .25-.28 lbs per week over the last 5-6 months. So far I have been happy with it. [/quote]
That’s awesome, sounds like it gets close enough to get you to your goals, which is really what matters.
Right on. I would probably trust professional grade machines over an app. Sounds like the app. would have set you on a very different path!
Just curious, what’s the “uncategorized” in your Cronometer log?
I ask this because it will adjust what you should eat (calories wise) when you input exercise and based on what you eat (TEF). My starting calories every day is 2068. My rest days usually adjust to about 2400-2500. My workout days usually adjust to about 2800-3000. I wonder if you use TEF and track exercise if you would end up averaging about 1800-2000 calories a day given a 1 lb./week loss goal. 
That’s a very good point.
I don’t enter my exercise into the app, primarily because I don’t necessarily trust what my Garmin tells me I’m burning (for cardio or strength); also, I like to pre-plan my entries for each day to ensure I’ll hit my nutritional targets, and that’s easier for me with static targets vs targets that adjust during the day.
There’s nothing in the Uncategorized part of my Cronometer diary unless I forget to categorize food as part of a meal - or do you mean somewhere else in the app?
Oh I see. Uncategorized is a shell that you don’t put anything under. Got it!
Yeah pre-planning makes sense. Easy to compare adjustments that way.
