Hi guys!
So last Thursday marked one month of Operation Increase My Metabolism. I’m happy with the results so far! As well as increasing calories I also cut down cardio dramatically and focused on heavy weight lifting in order to gain a few additional pounds of muscle. Here’s what I’ve noticed:
- I have V-Cuts in my abs now!!
- I have increased my strength. In one month I’ve already increased weights! For example, I was doing 70 pounds with squats when I started and now I can do 100 or more (depending on the reps.) And on the seated row I went from 55 pounds to 70 pounds!
- I have much better muscle definition.. I’ll post pictures soon!
- I have much more energy!
Honestly, I don’t know how I ever lived off 1300 calories. With the strength training I do I NEED calories! I haven’t gained a single pound either. At some point I’m going to actually start eating OVER MAINTENANCE calories to help increase my muscle even more, but I’m going to do that slowly to minimize fat gain.
Anyway, for some reason I was just exhausted yesterday! I fell asleep early and felt much better this morning. Before the gym I ate 3/4 cup Daisy 2% cottage cheese mixed with 1/2 banana, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla stevia, and Capella French Toast Flavor Drops:
190 calories, 23 grams of protein, 21 carbs, 3 grams of fat
And then I headed to the gym for a Pull workout (back, biceps, and abs.) I haven’t been able to make my back sore for the past 2 weeks.. I know soreness isn’t an indicator of being sore but I’m one of those weirdos that is sad if I’m not sore! Haha. So hopefully today’s workout did the trick:
- Bent Over Row with 3 second pause @ top of contraction- 70 pounds, 4 sets of 6
- Inverted Row (feet on the ground)- 3 sets of 8
- Wide Grip Assisted Pull Up with 2 second pause @ top- 40 pounds, 3 sets of 8 SUPERSETTED WITH:
- Barbell Bicep Curls- 30 pounds, 3 sets of 10
- Seated Row with V-Handle- 70 pounds, 3 sets of 8 SUPERSETTED with:
- Russian twists on the edge of a not flat bench (lol)- holding 20 pounds, 3 sets of 20
- Cable Row While in a Squat- 3 sets of 12 with 85 pounds, 1 set of 8 with 100 pounds, SUPERSETTED with:
- Hammer Curls- 30 pounds, 2 sets of 10
- Captains Chair Raises with 4 pound ball between knees- 3 sets of 12 with 2 second pause @ top
- Weighted Swiss Ball crunches (arms never pass ears)- 12 pounds, 3 sets of 10 SUPERSETTED WITH:
- V-Up/Knee In Combo- 12 pounds, 3 sets of 20
- Hyperextensions- 4 pounds, 2 sets of 10
I was exhausted afterwards! I do not have a problem cutting down on cardio anymore.. if your working hard enough and lifting heavy enough you won’t have enough energy for cardio! (Or at least in my case )
I came home and made a nice post-workout breakfast. It was my German Chocolate Pie Protein Oats with a twist! Instead of plain water I cooked the oats in peppermint green tea and at the end I added in a spoonful of 100% cocoa powder, a splash of peppermint extract, Capella Hot Cinnamon Flavor Drops, cinnamon, ginger, and 89 grams of an apple. (About 1/2 medium one.)
375 calories, 40 grams of protein, 40 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fat
It was yummy but I’ve found that my body doesn’t like an equal amount of protein and carbs. It definitely likes a bigger ratio of protein and fats! Despite the huge bowl I still felt empty. So about an hour later I snacked on a slice of Low Carb Sweet Bread with 1 tsp Vermont Green Goodness PB:
140 calories, 9 grams of protein, 3 carbs, 9 grams of fat
High in protein and low in carbs- that did the trick!
After playing with bacteria in my microbiolgy lab I headed home for about 30 minutes since I got out of lab early. I had my next meal of the day- a Blueberry Protein Breakfast Cake! I had planned to eat it with 1/4 cup 0% Fage and 1/2 oz raw almonds but I ended up eating the two separately.. the cake was amazing on it’s own! Exactly like a fattening muffin but not
285 calories, 27 grams of protein, 13 grams of carbs, 8 grams of fat
A couple hours later after developmental psychology I came home and had my next meal- just 4.5 oz chicken breast, 3 oz baked sweet potato, and 5 oz of steamed broccoli with Braggs, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, ginger, and all natural/low sodium habanero hot sauce:
250 calories, 31 grams of protein, 19 carbs, 2 grams of fat
So simple but so good!
Dinner was also simple- 2.5 oz baked salmon (probably 3 oz raw) smothered in cayenne pepper and roasted aspargus with cayenne, black pepper, and balsamic vinegar on the side:
190 calories, 20 grams of protein, 5 carbs, 12 grams of fat
Dessert is still undecided but it’ll be a protein and fat combo per usual 
I hope you all had a great day- I missed you all this weekend!
aww april i am so glad to hear that you enjoyed the increasing your metabolism month!! i bet your have super abs now!!
lovely eats
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So glad that this has been such a great month for you!! Your results couldn’t have been better!!
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So glad you are doing great girl and seeing changes!!! Woohoo!!!
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so amazing! I am so happy you are seeing results and also getting stronger!! of course you needed more cals girl! you are a working machine!!!
keep up the great work!
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has it really been a month? wow, time is flying by!!
congrats on your results, you are definitely working hard for them!
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ahh gotta find time this week to make a low carb sweet loaf!! i miss it
and i totally need to make those blueberry protein cakes
your recipes are ridiculously awesome haha. glad this met boost is doing good for you 
can’t wait to see the results!
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Way to go with the calorie increase! I used to live off of 1200-1400 calories a day too…miserable! I probably eat over 2,000 a day now and I’m so much happier, yet all of the weight I’ve gained has been intentional (and much needed). Major props!
Your dinner is one of my favorite combos- love salmon and green veggies!
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Wow girl I am so proud of you!!!! Yay for the Vline!!!! wooohoo! Cant wait to see pics!!!
The blueberry breakfast cake looks amazing!!!!
U should be proud of yourself!! You are a strong girl, I cant believe how heavy you can lift now!!
Have a good night love!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Awesome job! I love wide grip pull-ups. They always make me sore! Can’t wait to try the breakfast cake, yum.
LC
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I am doing my own operation increase my metabolism.. dedicated to you
Gosh, I feel a difference in energy and didn’t realize it until now.
Can’t wait to see progress pics!!
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Congrats girl! I should probably put all of this in an email, but…
You’re my hero! Being of a similar height, it’s SO INSPIRING to see someone around my age LIFTING! But I have to ask – what would you do if you didn’t have access to a gym? I SO want to copy you and put on some muscle instead of being a cardio queen/addict, but I don’t have a membership to a gym, and even if I did I’d be SO scared to try the machines. Would you ever consider doing a no-gym challenge, where you’d only do body-weight exercises?
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im not surprised at all to hear you haven’t gained, but so glad you recognized your body needs more
all the eats look awesome! you are so strong..it’s inspiring!!
xoxo
shelley
http://findinghappinessandhealth.wordpress.com
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It’s been a month? Holy smokes life is flying by! Awesome results
<3 jess
xoxo
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Great news, April!! I’m workin’ on my Vcuts
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Congrats chica!!
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thank you for sharing about your month! AWESOME girl! im gona have to post pics soon too!! do you find yourself getting like really full then STARVING? that has been happening to me! so weird! gurrrrl we gona be so ready for bikini season..whoo!
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I notice my body like high fat diet. Glad you are having such great results
Keep listening to your body!!!
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I’m so happy that you achieved all that in just a month! Work it girl!
I can’t wait to see your pics!
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These are great results! Congrats!
I’ve never thought of using peppermint tea instead of water for oats.. Seems like a fabulous idea.
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The before and after pics are sure to be amazing! They’ll probably help motivate you to push even harder (if that’s possible!)
I MUST make the low carb sweet bread and breakfast cake. We’re supposedly getting hit with a ton of snow tomorrow. So, if I’m stuck home, I might have the time to finally bake some up. At least, I hope so.
Awesome workout!!! You go, girl!
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GREAT WORKOUT!!!! Go April!
I love that food stuff! I bought my wheat bran so going to make the sweet bread! I also made that pumpkin cake in a cup thing yesterday but I added cinnamon to it. GOOD!
As for cardio & weight training, I will say that every body is different & a person needs to make sure & understand how their bod handles things. I still had to do cardio even when I was lifting heavy so some can do what you do & others like me, with a tough body type, have to work a bit harder at keeping the weight off even with good eating & cardio.
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v-cuts?? i can’t even imagine having those! girl your intense
mmm cake for breakfast (protein or frosted) i’m all about that.
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Gosh has it really already been a month??? Where does the time go! I am so proud of you girlie! You are learning so much about yourself and really perfecting a healthy lifestyle. Let’s see some progress pics!
Oh and you’ll be glad to know that I didn’t eat less than 1600 cals last week and actually felt leaner this week for it (before the candy run-in hubs and I had last night lol). Yay for eating more!
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That blueberry cake looks good!!!
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ohhhh i can’t wait to see those stellar muscles! seriously. and, nobody should ever live off of 1300 calories – that is just not enough!
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That is some awesome progress to have in just one month!
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You’re killin’ it on those hammer curls. woo-haaa!!
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Hey! thanks so much for commenting on my blog…it enabled me to find yours!! I must say that you are my long lost soul sista with the protein creations!…especially the cakes! I make almost the same exact thing, and call them protein cup-cakes!…the protein creations you have look amazing! I love that you use protein powder is so many different ways! and sweet potatoes! (I have one almost everyday) I don’t eat as high protein as you do because I’m a bit of a cardio freak and found out the hard way that my body needs more carb than pro. I LOVE the “increase your metab” experiment you have done, so exciting to play around with food as fuel! hehehe…I thought I was the only girl to be excited about having oblique-ab definition (V-cuts)! I love having sculpted abs! And congrats you are totally rockin’ the weights!! I’m excited to continue reading your blog! I hope you’re having a great day! xoxo!
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You rock girl! I just skipped ahead and saw your bikini photos – the fact that you need to eat MORE to look ripped is really something that I forget (I often eat too little, forgetting that my muscles need more in order to grow). You may have posted this somewhere already, but how many cals aprox do you eat in a day? And do you calorie count, or just wing it?
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April Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 11:08 am
I calorie count and I aim for 1800-2000 a day. Although lately I’ve been getting around 1600-1900.. but my goal is to get above 2000 here pretty soon!
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^ sorry I just realised you do cal counts for your meals. Duh
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