I’m a NROL4W Dropout

It’s official, I’m a drop out. NROL4W got…boring. Too many squats, not enough upper body. Too many lunges. My knees ached and cried for help. My solution was to quit.

I admit it. I quit. I wasn’t getting results, I dreaded the workouts, so it’s time to do something else. I got through Phase 2, but I just couldn’t push to Phase 3. I need to figure out a good split routine to do in addition to running. Another thing for the to-do list I guess.

NROL4W…Stage 1

Did you catch that?  NROL4W (aka New Rules of Lifting for Women) is my new quest to gain a bit of muscle, lose a couple inches and lose a couple pounds in the process.  I am just OK with my weight; I can’t decide if it’s my new “happy weight” or if it’s just my “I’m lazy” weight.  Not that I’ve been lazy lately, but I haven’t exactly been the goddess of good eating in the past several weeks.

The workouts are simple; it’s three days a week and my first workout took about twenty minutes, although I’ve been told to expect significantly longer workouts toward the end.  It’s a (roughly) six month program divided into seven stages.  Along with the strength workouts come suggestions for cardio workouts, including HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training for those who aren’t familiar with that acronym).  This book has some really good, solid recommendations on cardio workouts and really spells it all out for you when it comes to interval training.  I have found it slightly confusing to follow the workout plan, but I do think I have a handle on it now.  Although it’s a bit dated, this blog by Maggie Wang has a really good spreadsheet that does all of the caloric intake work for you, as well as providing a place to input your weights per workout.

To top it all off, the book has eating suggestions and takes multiple cracks at the fad diets that are out there.  Finally, a real person’s “diet” that fully sustains the body’s caloric needs.  Lou Schuler gets into what your resting metabolic rate is (RMR) and how it relates to what your body needs each day to function.  Schuler breaks it down so that people can really start to understand why those 1200 calories/day just aren’t cutting it.  Sure, you’re losing weight, but not the right kind of weight.  You’re sending yourself into starvation mode.  He is pretty set on a higher protein diet, making sure you have recovery shakes after a strength workout, but I’m probably going to vary from this a bit and just make sure I have a higher protein snack after my workouts.  I’ll probably venture back into the land of SparkPeople over the next couple weeks to see how my calorie intake is and what my carb, protein and fat ratios are.  Overall, Schuler recommends 40:30:30 in a roundabout way, which is doable.  It’ll take a bit of effort, but definitely manageable in a day to day meal plan.

I do confess that I didn’t read the whole book.  I skimmed most parts and read things that were of interest to me.  I just didn’t have the motivation to read it all, especially since there really wasn’t anything earth shattering when it came to new information in there.  For some people who aren’t very educated on macronutrients, lifting, interval training, and food/meal planning, it’d be a worthwhile read.

Overall, the first workout went well.  It was quick but it felt like a good, solid workout.  I did this workout after a poor excuse for a run (1.07 miles) due to the leftover ice on the roads, hopefully Wednesday will be better.  My new hot pink shoes are good motivation to get out there!  The only move in this workout that I had slight difficulty with was the Swiss Ball Prone Jackknife, but once I reinflated the ball and concentrated on getting my butt up in the air, life was good.  I’m sure I’ll be sore tomorrow!

I am doing measurements and pictures again, the pictures will remain tucked away on my hard drive unless requested, but here are the starting measurements.  For reference, I’ve included the last measurements of P90X Lean in the first column, today’s measurements are listed second.

Weight: 147.2/147.8
Waist: 30″/30″
Hips: 41″/41.5″
Left Leg: 25″/25″
Right Leg: 25″/25″
Chest: 37.25″/37.25″
Right Arm: 12″/12″
Left Arm: 12″/12″