Lots of text about recent experiences and habits:
Started seeing a trainer at our local gym about 10 weeks ago. Going three days a week at 6am, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. On Mondays and Thursday I do Yoga in the afternoons. Think I'm the worlds worst morning person and hate to admit that I'm loving the morning workouts. Gym is empty, roads are empty, and get a boost of energy to start the work day. Thursday is a long day with 6am weights, work all day, then 6pm Yoga. Main goal was to gain weight. I'm 5' 8.5" and started off about 139 - 142 lbs. Now I'm a pretty steady 150 lbs. So about 10 lbs in 10 weeks. Would probably like another 5 - 10 lbs and settle in to a comfortable, maintainable weight.
Basically let the trainer take care of the 'program' or what our morning routine will be. Some weeks it is pull day and push day, some it is front and back day. We also do circuits or tabata, and he's started to incorporate a little more cardio, but really only once a week. We also do not do much isolated bicep or tricep, which is fine with me. I'm seeing gains in strength and size regardless. Stabilizing the higher weights (dumb bell) on squats, flat bench, fly, etc... tends to work my arms at this point anyways. Oh he also sprinkles in abs / obliques at the end of the workout. We'll do hanging leg raise, planche stuff, and other fun things. He is extremely focused on correct form in every exercise. Always provides an example before the movement and helps me focus on where the effort should be coming from. Really makes a difference and is appreciated.
Been wearing a heart rate monitor during workouts to track calories burned. He's been on my case about eating enough, which has honestly been the hardest part of the last two months. I've started tracking everything with the MyFitnessPal app on my phone and website. If I had to guess, prior to tracking and working out, I was probably averaging about 1600 - 1800 calories a day, and was doing Yoga twice a week and some light running other days. Now I have been trying to net about 2300 a day. Typical morning workouts are probably a little over 600 calories burned in 50 - 60 minutes. Thursdays with Yoga it is a little over 300 in 60 minutes. It took me about a month to learn how, but now it isn't too bad to hit 2800 - 3200 calories a day depending on what was burned. Wake up at 4:45 and eat a decent sized breakfast at 5:00 - 5:15, so about an hour before working out. Protein shake after workout. Small snack at about 10:30 and then lunch is a PITA because there's nothing but trash around the office. Really considering bringing my own in. Probably have another small snack around 3:30 - 4:00. For dinner my fianc? and I have been using
eMealsfor the last year+. We switched the the Paleo diet for two about 4 months ago. We do home cooked meals each night, with lots of variety, for about $70 a week in groceries. Usually we veto two meals and only end up cooking 5, it's hard to cook when we get home from yoga at 7:30pm.
tl;dr: Loving the last two months, gained about 10 lbs and have noticed gains in body. Eating habit was probably the hardest part. Would like to gain a little more and then maintain.
