Arnie, it's great to hear that you're back at it! I echo both you and
nawchem; I totally dread the last cardio of the week, especially if it happens to come after LBWO. It seems that the better I do on those Squats, the harder the running is on the following morning.
Here's how my week went:
Hit all my workouts, although I had to rearrange them a little bit because of not feeling very well.
UBWO: I'm stuck on the bench and assisted chin-up. A couple of weeks ago I managed 104.5 lbs bench press, but then I raised all the weights in the pyramid to get a smoother progression, and my top set fell down to 99 lbs. So far, try as I might, I cannot get it higher. I think I just have to wait for everything to catch up as the muscles are doing more total work now.
I'm not sure what is wrong with the chins, but it may have something to do with my grip. It's my forearms that are feeling the pain, not my back...and I'm getting whole-body exhaustion on this exercise, as well. Perhaps that's an effect of the keto diet. Anyhow, I have lifting straps and I use them for the 8x, 6x and final 12x of the chins, in an attempt to give my back a good workout without killing my hands.
Shoulders, biceps and triceps are coming along extremely well. So at least I know that my problem isn't overtraining!
LBWO: All weights are up, and Squats are up to 121 lbs, which is the most I've ever squatted. I think I will hit or even surpass my goal of squatting 135 lbs x 6 reps by the end of this challenge. I changed from the Total Ab Machine (extremely efficient and difficult workout) to high-rep, bodyweight-only exercises (Swiss Ball sit-ups and Crunches) for now, because my abdominal muscles were starting to develop faster than the fat is going away...which ended in my stomach looking even bigger than it is. I don't mind developing my abs, but I'm just too vain to have a bigger stomach right now! But, sooner or later the fat will be stripped, and I'll go back to the Total Ab.
Diet: This was bloody murder all week. For whatever reason, my body is resisting the diet with all the stubbornness it can muster. I had intense hunger all week, despite keeping the same calories I've been eating this whole time; and massive sweet cravings, which are very rare for me. Unfortunately, I gave in several times, but the caving-in took the form of wine drinking rather than over-eating. I was amazed and grateful that I didn't end up going over my allotted calories, but as we all know, going to the gym with a hangover really sucks. And drinking screws up my water balance, so now I can't tell if I lost fat this week or not. At least I didn't gain, I'm sure of that.
I cannot think of why I'm suddenly so hungry, other than that I was this weight for quite a few years, and maybe there's a setpoint issue. But BFL-style eating and exercise is one of the best ways to blast through a setpoint, so I will keep going.
Onward!
Emily