Nana Korobi Ya Oki

Day 67 - Progress!

2009-08-06T06:02:00.003-04:00

Thanks to everyone who has been checking in on me, sorry I have not been doing much updating here. Things are just busy, as I'm sure they are for all of you as well. I have been doing well on my program, some days better than others, but that's the way life is, right? I am finally seeing results, and I think that if I had been taking a daily picture like before I would have seen them earlier, but oh well. We took pictures in the beginning and again for a progress check after 2 months and I saw a lot of difference. Still not up to posting them yet, I am so embarrassed about how bad my befores are. But I am glad to be making progress and I can see it now on the scale as well as in some of my clothes. Yahoo!! According to my latest set of measurements, I have lost 6 pounds and 12.5 cm which is about 5 inches all around, and have gained 4 cm (1.5 in) in my shoulders. The shoulders thing is kind of weird, I have never done measures on that before, but I swear it goes up each time. There wasn't any fat on my shoulders and my arms have a lot more definition so I am going to say that it is muscle gain even though that's kind of a lot for that. We'll see, perhaps I am a little off on my measurements, that is a hard area to get just right and I am not used to doing it in centimeters. Anyway, I also have been using an Omron bf scale and even though it is not totally accurate, it does show trends, and that has shown that I have lost 2.4% bf. So by my calculations, that means that almost all of the weight lost has been fat. Hopefully that is true, I have for sure gained muscle so I don't know how that works since my lean body mass number is the same, but whatever. I am just glad to have visual and numerical progress. Some of my clothes are fitting much better, I am waiting until I have lost a significant amount before I try the jeans on because it is so depressing to not be able to fit into them.
My goal for the first 2 months of the LEP was to lose 12 lbs and 5% bf, and I did not hit that, but still I am happy with my progress because I feel like it is more permanent and that is more important to me than the numbers. I got almost exactly halfway to my goal, and to be honest, the first 3 weeks we were doing a lot of background and prep type things so we didn't do a real hard workout or have a lot of nutrition changes yet. So I guess looking back I should not have been that upset about not seeing results right away. The results I have now are really over about 6 weeks and that's not too bad. Am I rationalizing? Hope not. Anyway, the fight against fat continues...
So, things are good for now. I appreciate the comments, I do see them, again, I just don't get here often to respond or update. So hope all of you are doing well in your journeys, be back soon!

Day 45 - Still here!

2009-07-15T16:49:00.002-04:00

I know, I know, I haven't updated in quite a while, but I have spent most of my internet time on the PN member boards and I try to limit my web time, so I haven't been back here to update. As if anyone is paying attention anyway! But it doesn't matter, this still keeps track for me. So the last 30 days have brought 2 more nutrition rules: eat starchy carbs only after exercise, and eat lean protein at every meal. I have been doing well with these. Actually, all of the habits so far I have been pretty compliant with, and finally feel like I am making them real HABITS not just a diet. That's what I signed up for so that's good.
However, I have been struggling...sorry, challenged by the workouts!! I don't know what it is but suddenly I hate exercise. I thought by now it would come back to me, but most of the time I just have to drag myself down to the basement or outside to do my workout, whether it is cardio or weights. I am better at the weights, and now that our workouts are about 30 min instead of 1 hr I am doing better, but cardio is so hard to make myself do. I don't know how to make myself like it better, there's just no cardio activity I truly enjoy. I just push through it to get it over with. And sometimes I skip it. That is not good.
Last week I did all of my workouts like I was supposed to, both of my cardio (EEW) sessions, and did Jujitsu, but by Monday I was so not into it that I skipped that workout and the EEW yesterday, replacing it kind of with Jujitsu but not really because I spent most of my time teaching not working out. I did my weights today so I am back on track but man I wish it was as easy as it used to be. Don't know what's missing...
Anyway, the workouts are good and I do most of them so I'll just keep plugging away. The worst thing though is that I haven't lost any weight. 45 days in and I have lost maybe 2 lbs, which are those negotiable 2 lbs that come and go as they please anyway. I am so disappointed. For the first few weeks on the program, JB said to not expect weight loss, but I have really changed my habits drastically and to not see a change is very disheartening. I don't think my clothes are looser and if anything I have less energy not more than before. I don't get it. I contacted Krista my coach to see if she could help me with it so she's on the case but I miss the days of dropping 2 lbs a week for sure. But that weight all came back on so maybe I shouldn't wish for that.
But to think, I was eating bagels with cream cheese for breakfast, leftovers or take out for lunch, a decent dinner if I cooked, but at least twice a week and sometimes as often as 4 times a week eating out. And when we went to restaurants, all bets were off - whatever I felt like having, I had, and since I was depressed most of the time, I usually ate according to my emotions not my stomach. So you can guess where that got me. And I was not exercising at all. I did some jumping jacks, push ups, and sit ups at Jujitsu, threw a couple of throws, and that was basically it. So how can I go from that to 2x per week cardio, 3x per week weights, starchy carbs only once a day, clean food the rest of the time, only 2 reward meals per week, and not see any change? I do not get it. I must be missing something.
I guess I have seen one change, and that is in my mood. I am much less depressed than I was, but I feel like that's a result of just the decision to change and following through on daily activity rather than the actual activity if you know what I mean. I felt directionless before and now I have a goal and a plan so that alone could be what has brought me out of the funk. So again I say, I don't get it. Perhaps Krista will find some answers for me. I hope so, I really want to make lasting changes not just in my habits, but in my body too! Hopefully the next update will show some progress!

Day 18 - Great workout!

2009-06-18T21:29:00.003-04:00

Wow I totally almost bailed on my workout today. I missed it this morning, let myself go back to sleep when I should have gotten up, then it was raining and I felt crappy (mentally) and wanted to get work over with so I didn't do it then. After work I had to fix dinner, etc and round about 8pm I was really looking for a further excuse not to do it, but I finally talked myself into just getting something done and what do you know? I ROCKED IT! I don't know if I am just getting more used to them or because I added weight and it felt good or what but this was my best workout thus far on the program. I remember when I used to love lifting and so far this month I have had to drag myself down there every day to do my workout and was glad when I was finished. Not that I wasn't glad tonight, because it was tiring, but glad in a proud way, not in a "that's finally over" way. Maybe I was just kind of going through the motions before or I am just getting more energy or something but I am glad for whatever it is. I added weight and it was fantastic! Yay me!
As far as nutrition goes, we still haven't had any further direction other than taking vitamins and fish oil, so I can say that I have been compliant with that. I have been trying to keep my carbs only after workouts, but since I didn't work out this morning and I didn't have anything else available for breakfast, I still had a whole wheat bagel. And with dinner I had a piece of wheat toast as well and that was before my workout. Well, I am eating good foods at least, no junk, and for now I'm not going to overthink it. It's a journey not a destination.
Mindset-wise, we had a really good article on the PN site today that I thought I would share a little about because it was kind of what I have been thinking about anyway but it really put it into a good format. Basically it said that usually when we decide we want to change, and we set goals, we focus on the following two things:
What "pleasure" will you get if you "do" get your goals?
What "pain" will you get if you "don't" get your goals?
Often the more motivating factor is the pain side because most people respond more quickly to pain stimulus than pleasure. But the flip side of the equation that we also must consider is this:
What "pain" will you get if you "do" get your goals?
What "pleasure" will get if you "don't" get your goals?
I thought that was really interesting, because a big thing for me is complacency and procrastination, and answering those second two questions really made me look those bad habits in the face. Hopefully it will help me to recognize when I am falling into destructive patterns in the future because I have considered ahead of time what will be calling to me from the "dark side" when it happens. Because for sure it will. I am now prepared. Hope you all are too!

Day 16 - Checking in

2009-06-16T05:59:00.000-04:00

Well with everything else I am doing, updating my blog is going to have to be kind of low on the priority list. Getting in my workout and doing my nutrition habits are at the top so when I can get here I will but right now there isn't a lot to talk about. I failed to keep to anything this past weekend and I am disappointed in that, but my coach just encouraged me to put it behind me and concentrate on getting in the workouts on the weekends first. Right now nutrition is a bonus I think, since I am struggling right now. During the week I am fine, have been doing my workouts and finally got my fish oil in the mail yesterday so I am totally together with that. Need to get things going more smoothly in the morning, though. I was late for work yesterday. But I'll get it all together. Glad they are only giving things to us a little at a time because I would not be able to handle more with all that is going on in my life right now. Don't have a job after the end of the month and I don't know what I am going to do. Stupid economy. Anyway, I will worry about that when there is something I can do about it. For right now, I am applying everywhere I see a job, talking to people, and doing what I can to find something else, there isn't more I can think of to help. God is taking care of the rest I guess. Hopefully.

Day 11 - Starting the habit

2009-06-11T21:04:00.002-04:00

Well I have done my workout every day this week so I am pretty proud of myself. It is crazy how we get ourselves out of and into habits. I hope that this time it becomes ingrained enough that it never leaves. I really hate the way my body looks and feels right now. But not much has been happening this week, so I'll just keep to my assignments and trust that change will come. The first nutrition habit we have is to start taking fish oil and a multi. I had to order that online so I haven't been able to apply that habit yet but will when I get the delivery! I am so happy to be taking this one step at a time, that it definitely what I have been doing wrong before. Hope all of you are doing well on your various journeys. Bye!

Day 9 - In the zone

2009-06-09T22:38:00.001-04:00

Starting to feel like I am forming a habit of exercise again - YAY! Still have a long way to go but this one step at a time stuff really is what I needed. Past my bedtime now, don't have much else to say except that I hope I can start seeing progress soon. Those before pics are still haunting me...until tomorrow...

Day 8 – One step at a time

2009-06-08T16:47:00.000-04:00

I was feeling great this morning, got back on the workout wagon and didn’t kill myself doing so today, but since lunch I have felt like total crapola. I don’t know what it is, I thought at first that I just needed to eat, but even after lunch it came back. Mainly it is a really bad headache, but I am feeling kind of lightheaded also and generally without energy. I don’t know what it is, but it needs to stop. Maybe I just need to go to bed early, but it better not be more than that because I need to get a regular schedule going with my workouts so I can make it a habit. The lesson for today was to make one small change at a time and only focus on that one thing, because if you try to change too much too fast you will fail. I agree with that a lot because that is what I usually do. I am really gung ho and then I burn out, getting overwhelmed. So it is impossible to do that for now because all we have to do is workout daily and check in on the message board. Wednesday we are getting our first nutrition habit, but for now I am happy to just work on getting my workout in since I am even struggling with that. But thankfully I already did it today because if I had not, I would have to skip it since I am feeling so bad. I have to remember that – work out when you can because you never know when something is going to interfere with your ability to do so later on. I guess that’s the reasoning behind doing morning workouts anyway. I am totally not a morning person, but I think morning workouts are best for me since I do get sidetracked. Like all this weekend. So anyway, that’s what happening for today. I hope this freakin headache goes away soon because it is driving me nuts. I just want to lie down in a dark cool room. Probably won’t get to do that but hopefully it will go away despite my going on with my day. Hope all is well with anyone else out there checking in. Have a lovely day.

Day 7 - Disappointed

2009-06-07T21:37:00.001-04:00

Well I am pretty upset with myself because I didn't do any of my planned workouts yesterday or today. Time just got away from me, as it always seems to do on weekends. And my eating was atrocious. So I have a ways to go before I am going to be making any physical progress, that's for sure. I guess what I accomplished in the last week was just committing to the goal and starting the workouts, even though I only did half of the assigned ones. The upcoming week will be better. I am glad that they are only giving us things a little at a time because that has been my issue in the past, trying to implement too much at once. It is hard for me to go so slowly, but obviously I need it because new habits are extremely hard to ingrain. The coaches were talking about habits and were comparing daily habits like brushing your teeth and showering with getting into the daily habit of exercise, presumably that one day it will be automatic, you won't have to think about it. But to be honest, there are days when I don't feel like taking a shower and brushing my teeth and although I don't skip that more than one day, I do skip from time to time. So I guess that's okay if it is the same with exercise. Maybe the point is that it is more a habit to do it than to not do it and you don't want to go too long without it. I don't really know yet, it certainly isn't to that level with me yet, and in all the times that I have been in good shape, it hasn't gotten to that either. So we'll see if that changes. I am keeping an open mind, it's just obvious from the past few days that I still have very far to go. Nutrition habits start next week, too, so hopefully it will all start to click for me, because for some people they said it was like flipping a switch - they were immediately, completely on board with everything. But for me, it is still a constant struggle between the lazy depressed part of me and the wanting to get in shape side of me. Even with $10K on the line. You'd think that would be enough motivation, but I think these issues of mine go deeper than that. I'll have to work on them. We'll see. TTFN!

Day 5 - A little behind

2009-06-06T11:53:00.002-04:00

Ha ha ha when I was typing the title of this entry I thought "wow, I never get to say that I have that"! I'm weird what can I say? Anyway, I am behind since it is technically Saturday and day 5 was yesterday but wanted to keep the update on the right day. I worked both jobs yesterday and then we had to have an intervention of sorts for my husband's best friend directly after I got home from work and it lasted until midnight, so I did not get my lower body workout in yet. I am going to do it today and do upper body tomorrow instead of having a rest day. So I basically just moved my rest day to Friday instead of Sunday. There's actually a chance that may become a regular thing because Fridays always seem to get away from me and Sundays are much slower. We'll see. So not much on the fitness front, a little sore from the upper body w/o on Thursday, but in a good way this time instead of an "I think I might curl up in a little ball and cry" way like the lower body. So I have gotten to a good set/rep/weight combo on some of my exercises at least. I was going to go buy a pull up bar Friday afternoon but that plan got blown out so I guess I do that early next week. Would like to have the proper equipment, and that is the last thing I need so far. So, that's about it for now. Shout out to my long-lost shredder friends who may check in on me from time to time, hope you are all doing well. See ya!

Day 4 - Finally recovering

2009-06-04T21:57:00.002-04:00

Well I think that may well have been the worst case of DOMS I have ever had in my life, but it is finally fading away. I tried to massage some of it out last night and although I still had some trouble moving today, it was nothing compared to yesterday. Didn't have time to do my workout this morning, so I did it tonight, upper body today, and it was great. I am so glad to be back lifting. Still in the practice stages of this PN program, but I am so excited to be back a part of something with a supportive community behind me. I know how much that helps me. Weekends are my worst times, though, so I have to be extra vigilant to make sure I do my workout and not go crazy with food. But boy will it be worth it in the end. I have something really big planned when I get to the end of this contest, but I'm not going to share it just yet. But it will be much better if I win the contest as well, so I really have to work hard. Root for me! Be back tomorrow, I know you all can hardly believe I have actually been here 4 straight days. Miracle! Have a good night!

Day 3 – And again I say ow

2009-06-03T15:37:00.000-04:00

Wow the amount of soreness I have right now is ludicrous. People at work think I have something seriously wrong with me. I dropped a packet of Splenda on the floor this morning and couldn’t bear to bend down and pick it up. I need to go to the handicapped bathroom so I have those bars on the sides to lower myself down slowly. Crazy! I obviously way overestimated my current strength level. Live and learn. What makes me mad though is that I don’t think I’ll be able to do today’s workout. I think I will try to just do some bodyweight things or at the very least stretching to help the soreness, but I for sure cannot do the number of sets and reps I attempted on Monday. Even without weight. I’m not going to stress about it, I have 6 months to get it right, and I don’t want to burn out early so I’ll just see how I feel. Otherwise, don’t have anything else we are supposed to do yet, so I am kind of floundering in what to focus on for the other 23 hours of my day. Food consumes much more of my thoughts than exercise so it’s hard to decide what I want to do until they tell me what they want. I haven’t really been doing well with food and I have so much conflicting info in my head I don’t know what to do. So I am just eating how I was before this, maybe a little better, but I am kind of also finishing up the stuff we have at the house because I hate to waste food. And money. Oh well… I do have a lot of veggies at the house because my sister and I enrolled in this thing called a CSA which is a share of a local organic farm that we pay for once a year and get to pick out from their crop for 20 weeks in the summer. So far it has mostly been lettuce and strawberries, but hopefully there will be more variety soon. If it doesn’t get better, we won’t do it next year, but for now I do get fresh veggies every Saturday so that’s cool. Need to have more salad before it goes bad! So that’s the story of today. Hopefully I can face tomorrow without feeling like I need a walker. See ya!

Day 2 – Ow ow ow ow

2009-06-02T12:45:00.002-04:00

Yeah totally overdid it on the legs. Live and learn. That’s my punishment for quitting weights. Well, not quitting, just skipping about 365 workouts.  It has been almost exactly a year since my last real mission so it is a good time to get things back where they should have been. Today was upper body. Again just movement, 13 exercises, most of which I already knew, but took it easy with 3 sets of 3 each since I didn’t want to feel the same in my upper body as I do in my lower. For tomorrow I will lower the amount of sets and reps for lower body and raise it for upper body on Thursday. Right now that is the assignment for the week: lower MWF, upper TuThSa. Practice the movement. I will be getting additional upper body work as well since Jujitsu is tonight and we always do pushups. Unless I decide to make one of my students lead exercises since my legs may not function. Might be a good idea. Anyway, I am just getting back to daily blogging so I just want to keep up with it for now, nothing much earth-shattering going on. I posted yesterday’s message earlier since I didn’t have time yesterday and now I am all caught up. One thing I am struggling with right now is that they haven’t given us any direction on nutrition yet and that is what I need. I want my workouts to count so I don’t want to eat badly, but should I be doing the PN rules or something else? For now I am just watching my intake overall, avoiding sugar, and trying to add back the habit of drinking water. I have definitely been bad on that. By tomorrow I can ask questions and that will be what I want to know first. I also updated my sidebars and all for my new commitment, please keep me on track if anyone is out there. So otherwise, I’m just moving along in my day (slowly!). Have a good one!

Day One – again…

2009-06-02T11:53:00.000-04:00

Was it inevitable that I would be starting over based on the title of this blog? I hope not. But boy do I regret stopping weights after my workout yesterday. I enrolled in the Precision Nutrition Lean Eating Program and the first assignment was…movement! It wasn’t even supposed to be exercise, just familiarizing yourself with the movements, but heck if it didn’t kick my entirely too large butt! Clearly I have lost a TON of lean muscle mass in the past year. I guess when I wasn’t losing “weight” I was still losing muscle and gaining fat. Yay me. I know better, but I don’t listen to myself. Anyway, we had 13 lower body exercised to do. We were supposed to do 5 sets of 5 each but I had to drop down to 3 sets of 3 each by the end because I wasn’t going to be able to finish if I didn’t. I was hardly using any weight, too! Sad when body weight alone is enough to make your legs feel like jello. So I could barely walk up the stairs when I was finished and will be really hurting tomorrow since typically DOMS shows up for me on the second day after a workout. But even so, I am very glad to be back in the gym. It took a long time for me to come around, but I had to do something. I miss how I used to look and feel so much.
Also, I took before pictures yesterday and they were disgusting. Seriously. I cannot believe I have let myself go that bad and didn’t even know I was so gross. So those pics will not be posted until I have some results to go with them. But for reference, they are worse than my original before pics. So horrible. But if you are interested, they are still posted on this blog. No use taking them down now, but man I wish I was an after instead. I have 6 months to get in the best shape of my life. I have the rest of my life to keep it that way. I am really confident that this program is different from anything I have done in the past and thus have high hopes that it will allow me to maintain once my goals are met. As I have said before, that is the missing link, and PN promises to do that. Besides that, I have the motivation of winning the contest, which I really think I can do because I have so far to go. Kind of sad, but I could really use the money. Might be out of a job come the end of this month. So here’s to fresh starts and sore muscles! Have a great day to anyone who is out there!

Fall down seven times...(Part 2)

2009-03-15T16:10:00.001-04:00

2) Starting family
This one is a tough one to talk about, and I won’t go into much detail for many reasons, but for the year leading up to last June I was trying to get pregnant. Because it had been a year with no baby, that June we were diagnosed as infertile. We have since begun the testing and diagnosis stage of this, trying to find out why we cannot conceive and all the while still trying. It has been extremely stressful and has not contributed well to my problem with emotional eating, so continuing to shred and blog during this time was basically out of the question. Things have so far gotten worse for me emotionally, and physically no answers have come. I was able to cope well for quite some time, but in the last month or so our family has started to find out what has been going on with us (I had only told a select few close people) and it has led to more stress. Now just hearing people talk about babies, being pregnant, and the like makes me feel like crying, and has caused me to break down once. I am trying to not keep it in so much now because that obviously doesn’t help the situation, but I still choose not to talk about it mostly because I don’t like answering questions and don’t want to hear anyone’s stupid advice on the subject when they have not been through this. So hopefully there will be good news on this front in the future, but for now it is a constant source of pain and disappointment, as well as a part of every day of my life. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

The Biggest Reason…
1) No long term solution
This has been the major downfall of every weight loss attempt I have ever undertaken, and probably so for the majority of people trying to lose weight all over the world. I don’t really have much trouble losing the weight, it’s that once I lose it, I do not have any way to transition into making an everyday maintenance out of the program that I am on. I know that there has been much discussion of that in the Shreddersphere, pertaining to all the different types of weight loss that we have tried. And although there may not be any such thing as “maintenance” (I think TV said that), for me, there was never any way to make the change from the hard core fat loss mentality to being happy with my body fat percentage and just focusing on muscle preservation and metabolism upkeep. That’s not to say that PN, BFFM, MS, WW, Atkins, and all the other methods I have tried, have not addressed that issue. Some have better than others, but whatever they have said about it has either been a badly conceived method, or was just lost on me somewhere. I want to get to a place where I can have a good relationship with food. Right now I have a love/hate relationship and it may be too much to ask to get to that neutral ground, but I have always loved food, loved cooking, loved entertaining and eating, all of that, but hated the way that food made my body look and feel. I have never been able to face the prospect of eating virtually the same thing every day like some people I know (you know who you are!), or restricting my calories, carbs, fats, etc for every day of the rest of my natural life. I just can’t do it. Call me a quitter, but that kind of strict regiment is not how I want to live my life. I don’t have to be able to eat everything all the time, but I need something that is easily maintained, allows for my need to cook, my want to go out to restaurants, my Italian ancestry that must have pasta and bread. I’m not talking about restriction during a fat loss period, I understand that completely. But I want to have a plan in place ahead of time for when I have gotten to my goal or at least close enough that I am ready to move to the “everyday life” stage of the program. Who has the answer to this? Maybe no one and that’s why there are so many yo-yo dieters in this world, but I simply cannot face a life where I have to deprive myself every meal for the rest of my life. To be honest, I would rather be overweight. As much as I don’t like being the weight I am now, I am no longer gaining as I was when I first stopped shredding. I have achieved stasis with the way that I eat and my activity levels now. I believe that all things being equal, I could basically maintain this weight for quite a while with no additional effort expended. I know this because I have jumped up to this weight many times after stints in one program or another and I usually get to this general size and stop gaining. So I want to achieve that same kind of comfort level but at 30 pounds lighter. Is that too much to ask? Probably. But it does call into question the idea that there is no maintenance, because I have been doing pretty good with that here lately, I’m just not maintaining the level I want to be on. I want to find an answer for the long term before I embark on another journey of shredding. I want a plan in place so I will not let myself down again as I have done so many times. Some of you have found this answer, or at least a part of it, I believe, because you have had long term loss, but I need it to apply to a real life situation. How does the average person get by everyday as a shredder? I can’t deny myself food for the rest of my life, I know I will relapse, it’s just a given. I am too emotional of a person and I don’t think that will change. I would like to find the root of my emotional eating, and I think that would help a lot, but it would still not solve the overall problem. But after losing the weight that I did, using primarily MS, that routine is not even meant to be long term. It says so straight from the beginning, so while the results are great, the maintenance is left up to the individual, and I didn’t know where to go from there. All fruit days are not a part of a normal person’s life. I will never strive to be a professional bodybuilder or model. I just want to be happy with the way I look, feel, and fit into my clothes. I think that’s what a lot of people out there want, and I have yet to see a way to achieve it, unless I am missing something. Maybe I am. Maybe all this time away from you all has made me forget how I can do these things, but from where I’m sitting right now, I have no long term plan.
So I guess that’s why I’m back. I want to solve this aspect of my life, and the best way I have found so far is this community of people. The support is essential, I know that, but I want the whole answer. And I am unhappy with where I am now. I know I can do it, but I refuse to start until I have a clear cut action plan for the future. The happiness I felt at losing all of the weight has been far surpassed by the guilt and disappointment I feel for gaining all of it back, and I don’t want to go through that again. So, (Suz) I will get back up for the 8th (800th) time, but it will be on my own terms and for good. I am sure I have a lot of falling down to do in a lot of other parts of my life, but I could use a victory right about now and I would like it to be in this respect. Anyone who is still out there, still awake after my incessant ramblings, if you have advice, please help.
Thanks and I have missed you all,
JP

Fall down seven times...(Part 1)

2009-03-12T21:57:00.002-04:00

Well if any of you are still out there that previously followed my blog, thanks, and don’t have a heart attack upon seeing me post again after such a long absence. For those of you who weren’t here while I was actively blogging, thanks for stopping by and I hope you will be interested in the new things that I have to say.
For starters, let me get you up to speed on what has been going on in my life and why I have been “away” for so long. If you couldn’t care less, feel free to skip ahead, but I feel that I need to be totally honest with all of you and myself about the last 9 months before I can make any kind of fresh start. I have always shared not only my shredder life but also my personal life on this blog, so I wanted to start with that. I’m sure some of this will sound like nothing to some of you, and I specifically know of instances where shredders have gone through much more than this and gotten back sooner than I, but what can I say, we are all different and have different levels of tolerance for things.
Back on day 241 (June 11, 2008), I mentioned that I had a lot going on in my life. I tried a few times after that to kickstart something, but that was basically the end of shredding as I knew it. I never even made it a year. Things continued downhill, or maybe up and down, until now, which would technically be day 515 but I don’t think I can give myself credit for that day count. Interesting (or sad!) thing is, I have been NOT shredding now longer than I WAS shredding before – it’s been 274 days since that June entry. Anyway, I just want to clarify the things that I was referring to that have been my “life” issues. Some, or maybe even all, of these things could be classified as excuses, but for now I am not looking for anyone to point out to me how I could have avoided this lapse, I just need to assess where I am and move on. What’s done is done, and laying blame or feeling guilty does no one any good. (I say to myself…) But if anyone has any advice that can apply to the future on these issues, feel free to comment.

So here goes, the Top Five Reasons Joni Quit Shredding (and blogging)…

5) Injuries
As some of you may remember, I am quite prone to injury. It is both a reflection of my natural clumsiness/disregard for my own safety, and the fact that, as a martial arts student/instructor, injuries are pretty much a given. Back in June, I was nursing a wrist sprain that was a result of lining up a punch wrong to a punching bag. I healed up from that just in time for my annual Shiai in July, where I sprained my ankle pretty badly. A student of mine sprained it for me, actually, doing a submission. I actually heard the tendons snap. (Incidentally, I still earned first place in the Master Yudansha division that day, after I was injured…athletic tape does wonders!) Anyway, that was a month or so healing process just to get back to my regular activity level and then it was several more months before I could do particular movements, like squatting, kneeling, and rolls. It actually gives me a twinge from time to time even today. Then in September or October I broke my toe in class, which doesn’t sound like much of an injury, but if you’ve ever had one you can attest that it does affect your movement since you do put a lot of pressure on your toes for everyday walking, and I wear heels to work, so it was an issue. Since then (knock on wood) I have been injury-free, but a lot of that most likely has to do with my very reduced activity levels since I stopped shredding. I know that for me, injuries will always be a way of life because of what I choose to do, but the succession of the ones I had didn’t help matters along with everything else that was going on with me at the time.

4) Let Down / Rebellion
Whereas the last one was physical, this one was certainly psychological. After all the excitement over the group shreds, missions, challenges, shredder council, and the like, I experienced a tremendous let down in April and May once ECSS was over. I’m not sure if it was just the rebellious personality I have that silently made me quit after pushing myself so hard for so long, or if it is just that I didn’t have enough of a clear goal after ECSS, but each thing I tried after that point just didn’t have the same meaning behind it like the other missions. I was floundering even before I stopped blogging, and it was getting so hard to keep up with everything that was going on, I guess I just gave up. It wasn’t a conscious thing, though, it was just that I didn’t feel like I was a part of anything any more, even though I had all of you around just the same as before. I still can’t really put my finger on this one, but that doesn’t make the affect any less real. “Taking a break” is always dangerous if you don’t have your next crystal clear goal waiting for you beforehand, because it gets very easy to lose your way. I’m still trying to find my way back. This also ties into a later issue I am going to address, which is the struggle to make shredding lifelong, not just a mission, goal, or challenge. I thought I had this one down after a few hundred days or so but apparently not. So that thing about 21 days making a habit? Maybe so, but that doesn’t make it a lifestyle.

3) Lost business
Another thing which I am sure is affecting many of you out there is the job situation. For the last 5 years, I have been self-employed as a Mary Kay beauty consultant. While I have never had a love for sales, I enjoyed the work for the most part, and made enough money to not have to work full time. That ceased to be the case in June. After struggling for several months to pay the bills and to make sales, I had to go out and obtain a regular full time job. People did not have the money for the luxury of my products any more and the market totally dried up. Almost everyone I know in my unit had to quit. I had put it off for too long myself and now had an extreme amount of debt accumulated. I was lucky enough to get a job right away, and have been working there since, but it is through a temporary agency so my assignments are always on a short term basis and I never know if they will have something else for me. It has been very stressful on one hand because of all the adjustment, but a blessing as well because I am happy to have a job that pays well enough to start to pay some things off. The accompanying schedule restraints have of course limited the time I have to work out, and I haven’t had the resolve to make time to fit it in yet. I have also been battling some depression as a result of this, because I really feel like I let myself and my husband down by investing in a business that went down in flames, and it took some swallowing of my pride to go back into the workforce after I was so used to being my own boss. I continue to struggle with these issues some days and I am not sure how to completely shake them.

...Reasons 2 and 1 tomorrow and maybe a light at the end of the tunnel...

Day 310 - OHB Day 2

2008-08-19T22:33:00.002-04:00

Okay so I named my mission Operation Hot Bridesmaid, thus the "OHB" in the title of my blog today. Short one today and you may not hear from me for a few days because I am going to New York for the Bachelorette Party from Wed - Sun. I have been doing well so far, did my upper body workout yesterday: planche, pullup hangs, pushups, jacks, dips, and headstands. I know it sounds weird but I am going for core and functional strength. There's a method to my madness. Then tonight was Jujitsu so got a regular workout from that. Thanks to all that have stopped by so far with well wishes, will be around to check on you soon.
See ya!

Day 309 - Anybody miss me?

2008-08-18T16:13:00.005-04:00

Can't believe it's been 2 months since my last post, and I don't even want to say how long since I stopped my nutrition and exercise program. Not good. But there have been so many things changing in my life there was just no way. So I won't go into it, but as of today I am beginning a 4 week sprint to get rid of some of the fat I accumulated in the last 2 months in order to be ready for my sister-in-law's wedding on September 13th. So technically it's 26 days away, a little less than 4 weeks, but this past Saturday was not a good day to start. Anyway, I am going to focus just on exercise because right now, #1 nutrition isn't that bad and #2 I want to see how much difference I can do with just exercise. A little experiment. And I know you all are going to give me a hard time for this, but I am not putting up pictures. I just can't bring myself to do it. I haven't really gained that much weight but I know I have lost muscle and gained fat and I just can't bear to put up that pic yet. I promise, however, that I will take a pic today and save it for a reveal coming up on the day of the wedding. How's that?
So with that I am off and running. Well, not actually running because I still have a sprained ankle, but bodyweighting or whatever you would call that. I will not be able to daily check on everyone again just yet, I have so many obligations right now that is just not possible, but I do appreciate anyone who stops by and I do want to thank those of you who stopped by to check on me in my absence: Suzette (of course! thanks for everything!), Christy, Andrew, Michael, Jonny, Lilla, Buffedstuff, Diane, and Larry (who I don't even know!) I appreciate each and every comment that you left and all of your well wishes and thoughts. I hope I can repay the kindness soon.

Day 241

2008-06-11T08:25:00.003-04:00

Just popping by to tell you all that I am still around and thanks for all the comments and check-ins, I just have a lot going on personally right now and am not able to dedicate myself to blogging or any of the like. Sorry to all of you out there, I hope to be back in the near future, but for now an upcoming mission is postponed until I can work some things out. I'll be around here and there checking in. See you later.

Day 233 - Running around

2008-06-03T07:38:00.004-04:00

I spent today doing more things to get Jeff back on his feet and he even went into work for 3 hours but that was because he had a project he had to finish for someone because otherwise he is still not ready to work. I still have so much to do to get back into my regular routine it is a little overwhelming. I went to Jujitsu tonight, though, so at least I got that in. We are now starting to prepare for the tournament July 12 since we had promotions last week and everyone passed. So the next 6 weeks will be a little different for us all. Hopefully I will get in some harder workouts there and start lifting weights again at home. Sorry I have been so out of touch with everyone, there's just a lot going on here.

Day 232 - More life

2008-06-02T07:38:00.003-04:00

Well Jeff couldn't get out of bed today due to a flare up in his sciatic nerve so after seeing off our family, I spent the day taking Jeff to the doctors, getting prescriptions, and caring for him. So it's been one thing after another lately, hope I can get back on track. Nutrition has be atrocious pretty much since memorial day and workouts other than walking and Jujitsu have been non-existant. But here's a pic of me for today anyway.

Day 231 - Dover Race

2008-06-01T07:37:00.004-04:00

All weekend we have played host to 7 family members who were visiting in order to see the Dover NASCAR race with us today. It was interesting. I have never gone to a race before and I am totally beat. We took a lot of pictures and I got a lot of sun. I still have not decided what I want to do for my next mission so it won't be kicking off the beginning of next week as I had thought. I'll figure it out soon, but here's a pic just to document my in-between mission time. Thanks for checking in on me everyone, I should be back to regular shred-mode soon.

Day 228 - My Anniversary

2008-05-29T19:47:00.004-04:00

Just another quick post today because it is my anniversary and I am also preparing for family to be visiting all weekend so it's been busy. Things are going very well and I am excited to be getting back into shred-mode next week sometime. Haven't totally decided what the next goals are, but I'll be in much better shape to get them after this rest period. See ya!

Day 227 - Hanging in

2008-05-28T19:45:00.002-04:00

Well I don't have anything new to report after my eventful day yesterday. I am just taking off some time before I start a new mission, deciding what I want to do and giving my body and metabolism some time to rest and reset so the next mission will bring bigger changes. Talk to you all soon!

Day 226 - What a day

2008-05-27T21:54:00.002-04:00

Well today I certainly had God looking over me. I have a meeting on Tuesday mornings at 9:30am so I left for that and decided to stop at Dunkin Donuts to get some donuts for the ladies in my class with me. Obviously something I wouldn't normally do, but for some reason I just got it in my head to go there. I guess I was craving an iced coffee, but I could get that at a lot of other places around here, and to get to the Dunkin Donuts I actually had to take a different route to my meeting, but still I went. So as I was getting out of my car to go in, I noticed that one of my front tires was flat. I had not noticed while driving, but the tires on my car are low profile so they you can almost drive on them flat and not notice. Now I have had to put air in this tire before so I just thought "slow leak" and went ahead into the store, got my stuff, and left to put air in. I called one of the ladies at my meeting and told them I would be late, but to expect me shortly. The tire seemed to hold air fine so I started to head toward my meeting as usual. Before I could get far, though, the woman I had called to tell I was late called me back to say that there were only two others there and we just figured we'd cancel for today since everyone else was busy. So I turned around to go home, but decided that since I had the extra time, I would stop by the dealer and see if they could find a nail or something in my tire and plug it so I wouldn't have to put air in it any more. Well, I get in there and after they pulled the wheel off my car, the service guy calls me back and says "you have to look at this". I was saying "oh, it's like going to the principle's office or something, going into the back" and then he shows me the tire. On the inside, where no one could see it, that tire was absolutely shredded almost all the way around. You could see metal, not just a little metal, like a quarter inch of steel sticking out of the edge. Apparently, the alignment of my front wheels had been off and they were both tilted toward the inside of my car, so I didn't feel it pulling to one side or the other. My mechanic said it was a bomb waiting to go off. He actually couldn't even believe I had made it this far and thought that it would have had a blowout any time. And I am on the interstate all the time, 70 mph, and I don't need to tell you what a blowout at 70 can do. If I would not have stopped for coffee, I would have been on that highway going 70 this morning.
I'm sure some people will just see this whole experience as "luck" or "coincidence" but I know that God was watching out for me. There was a time in my life when I thought a comment like that was absolutely ridiculous - "God doesn't have time to worry about such trivial things", I would say. But I believe now that God is most often visible in the little things, the everyday occurrences that, if you aren't paying attention, you might miss. Those are the things that make up most of our lives, not the big, obvious, life changing moments. How many of those do you have in a lifetime? God doesn't wait for something rare like that to show us that Hhe loves us. He shows us each and every day, moment to moment, if we are just open enough to see it. And He takes care of all of us, even if we don't believe in him or give him credit, He believes in us. But all of our lives would be much better if we did notice and did give Him the glory for all of the things that He helps us through, because then others might understand how great life with Him really is. And we would have much more company in Heaven.
Have a wonderful day.

Day 225 - More later

2008-05-26T21:52:00.002-04:00

Sorry still in vacation mode with the holiday. And it isn't over really because we have a long weekend coming up with family visiting as well so all this week I am preparing for that. With the pressure off from SC 2.0, I won't be posting pics for this week and I'll start my next mission next week or so. I need a break! Talk to you all soon!

Day 224 - Memorial Day

2008-05-25T21:24:00.004-04:00

Well I can't believe it's already Memorial Day weekend. This Beach Body Shred has gone so fast and I did not make nearly the progress I had envisioned for myself. I'll have the final numbers tomorrow, but I wanted just to put up a quick post to say congrats to all my fellow shredders and the rest of the NY4 for finishing our latest mission in daily accountability. You are all my inspiration and example to aspire to. I want to do more soon, but have not yet decided what the timeline will be for next time. For now, I'll just say good night and that I'll be back tomorrow with more details on my final results from the BBS. See ya!
*****************************
Update: Here's my final pics:

Shredder Council 2.0 Accountability (Day 28)

2008-05-24T21:19:00.001-04:00

Day 223 - Down to the wire

2008-05-24T07:50:00.003-04:00

Day 222 - Pics Only

2008-05-23T07:29:00.002-04:00

Day 221 - Not much

2008-05-22T23:17:00.000-04:00

Nothing new to report, a lot of work to do today so haven't been able to edit my pics yet - they'll be up later. Sore today from the running yesterday but still glad I did it. I might do more this weekend, the weather is finally supposed to be nice. Nutrition was a weird today - my timing was off because I slept late and I had half a donut in the afternoon but still didn't go over on carbs because I had pretty much no others besides that and the nutrition info said 16g in half so I'm good. Thanks for all the well wishes for Gram, I hope to have some good news soon.

DAY 53 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	none	1
Meal #2?	12p - chicken & spinach	1
Meal #3?	2p - "free" snack	1
Meal #4?	6p - hamburger	1
Meal #5?	9p - nuts	1
Meal #6?	11p - Atkins bar	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	Jujitsu	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	11 of 12
	Cumulative:	?? of 636
	Compliance:	??%

Day 220 - Momentum building but tough news

2008-05-21T22:25:00.007-04:00

If you look at my log, I know my meals look weird today but I do take advantage of being on low carb and have some higher fat things sometimes. I never see adverse effects from it, so if I can't have other things I am craving with carbs, I at least let myself have some interesting proteins. Today I took Jedi to the big park about 15 min away from my house and we jogged/walked our way around the path there. It is 2.5 mi long and I would jog for .2 mi, the walk for .1, and so on pretty much all the way around. It took about 30 min. I know that's not that impressive but if you know me, you know that I am in no way a runner so jogging is about all I do and I was working hard enough to work up a sweat and give myself a blister so I think that was good for me. I wanted to do some outdoor cardio to start working on my endurance. I don't have machines at my house and jogging in place just doesn't cut it. So we'll see how often I put that in my routine, but Jedi loved it. He's a runnin' pup, that's for sure. Of course, he pretty much slept the rest of the day so I guess I tired him out. :) And my abs were actually a little sore today from Jujitsu last night, which is rare because it takes a lot to work my abs these days. So I was excited about that, need to do that new exercise more. On the "what am I doing with my life" front, things are generally starting to look up. I'll tell all of you about it some day when I figure it out myself. A lot still to work out on that.
The big thing today is that we got some bad news about Jeff's grandmother - she's been in the hospital upstate (NY) since October and just keeps having complication after complication, and she decided yesterday that she didn't want any more treatment and wants to be "DNR", meaning if something else happens to not bring her back this time. She's on a ventilator so it's only a matter of time before she begins to really deteriorate and we lose her. Probably a few weeks, or a month. So that's tough, I don't really know how to feel about that because right now, nothing has changed, you know, it's just the idea that she will probably not make it out of the hospital. She has given up, she's tired of fighting. So I'll pray for a miracle. I'll ask those of you who believe in them to do so as well if you would. I appreciate it. Talk to you tomorrow.

DAY 52 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	11a - eggs & bacon	1
Meal #3?	2p - chicken on salad	1
Meal #4?	5p - hot dogs	1
Meal #5?	7p - nuts	1
Meal #6?	9p - Atkins bar	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	jog/walk 2.5 mi	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	?? of 624
	Compliance:	??%

Day 219 - It's coming together

2008-05-20T22:04:00.007-04:00

Well I didn't get in a regular workout today but I did have a pretty good Jujitsu class tonight so I'm counting that. I have been on virtually no carbs starting yesterday and plan to continue that until the end of the week just to try to burn off those last few pounds that have been hanging on. Low carb seems to work well for me in the short term so we'll see - hopefully I'll see the results as long as I do enough exercise this week. I know it's kind of like cramming for a test, but I really want to show results this week so that I'll be okay with taking some time off after this mission. I haven't decided if I'll do that or not but it's looking like I will just schedule-wise. On that front, though, I do have some things in the works to both free up my time and make more efficient use of my time so I am excited to see how that works because I feel like I have been running around in circles lately when it comes to my work. Hopefully this new approach will help me out and then I'll be more confident about going on a new mission. I do have my tournament on July 12 so it's not like I can really "take off" but probably switch things up to more of an endurance program rather than fat loss. I'll have to check on how to do that exactly, I have done nothing but try to lose fat all my life so I don't really have any data on endurance. Funny. I still haven't decided what I am going to do about my cumulative chart number but here's today's. I'll have to put up my pics tomorrow morning, I am too tired to edit them right now, but they'll be there!

DAY 51 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	9a - coffee	1
Meal #2?	11a - hamburger & salad	1
Meal #3?	2p - cheese	1
Meal #4?	5p - chicken & green beans	1
Meal #5?	9p - sugar free jello	1
Meal #6?	none	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	Jujitsu	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	?? of 612
	Compliance:	??%

Day 218 - Questions questions

2008-05-19T22:06:00.005-04:00

Hey everybody - sorry I haven't been around lately, just posting pics and all, I don't really know how to explain what has been going on but some things are changing and I just haven't been able to really put any time into blogging and such lately. The last few days have also been pretty bad as far as nutrition and exercise. I got back on the wagon as far as nutrition goes today but not exercise, I hope to accomplish that tomorrow. I did get two comments from family members in the past few days about my arms looking good so that's positive still, I guess. It is important to me to finish out this last week strongly but I just have a lot of things vying for my attention so it is difficult to really concentrate. I want to thank all of you who have been checking in on me. I have been checking up on your blogs when I have a few spare minutes but have not left comments, sorry about that, I just haven't felt very "commenty" lately. So maybe I'll remedy that tomorrow, too. As far as my accountability log goes, it is obviously out the window the last few days so I don't really know what to do about that. I don't want to give up on it so close to the goal, but I don't really know how to score the cumulative stuff since it was so out of whack. I'll have to come up with a good compromise I guess. For now I'll put up my score for today and leave out the cumulative part. I also want to update my last few posts with time machine pics but don't have time for that now, so I'll just do my regular pics for today and I'll have to call it a night. Again I apologize for being such a poor role model for the shredders out there, but I can't really explain what has been going on with me. I'm too young for a mid-life crisis, and it's not even what I would call a crisis anyway, but I can't think of an accurate description. But I can say I am very much out of focus so I want to get that back and that's my number one goal right now - in many areas of my life. So pray for me on that and I'll be back soon. Thanks again all.

DAY 50 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	9a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	11a - spinach omelet	1
Meal #3?	2p - chicken & salad	1
Meal #4?	4p - almonds	1
Meal #5?	6p - lean hamburgers	1
Meal #6?	9p - Atkins bar	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	none	0
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	11 of 12
	Cumulative:	?? of 600
	Compliance:	??%

Day 217

2008-05-18T22:05:00.002-04:00

Shredder Council 2.0 Accountability (Day 21)

2008-05-18T19:27:00.002-04:00

Here's the pic for week 3 - hope everybody is doing well, I'll be around to check soon!

Day 216

2008-05-17T19:26:00.000-04:00

Day 215 - Pics only

2008-05-16T23:29:00.000-04:00

Be back soon...

Day 214 - Still busy...

2008-05-15T21:01:00.001-04:00

Trying to take care of a lot of stuff around here - I'll be around to check on everyone this weekend - have a great day!

Day 213 - Quickie

2008-05-14T22:14:00.003-04:00

Evening got away from me - gotta roll - be back later with my log but here's my pics plus a special guest.
Also a great big thank you again to my fellow shredders who offered insight into the issues that I discussed yesterday. All of the info was really helpful and I'll update you when something exciting happens (hopefully soon!). See ya!

Day 212 - I'm so strange

2008-05-13T22:00:00.005-04:00

A lot of today was spent trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. No lie. It is something that I have been struggling with lately - one of the issues I have been dealing with on these problem days you may have seen for me. I don't really want to get into details here, but suffice it to say I can see myself doing so many more and varied things than I do now that I can't even decide where to start. Does that make any sense? You'd think an almost-30 year old woman would have decided some of these things by now, but by nature I am what I refer to as a "jumper", meaning I jump from one thing to another a lot and never really see one thing through. So I have been trying to not be that way lately, trying to finish what I have started and follow through on projects, etc, but the itch to jump is coming up really strong in me these days and I really just want to leave the mess and start something fresh. And I guess that's really why I jump, is because I get excited about something new (I love the planning and setup stages) and then when it comes to execution, I get bored easily. I get in the midst of something and it gets more difficult or just not as exciting and I don't want to deal with the discipline of finishing it up. Sad to say, but that's how I am. I don't know why I am this way, but my mother is as well so I guess it's hereditary. Not that it is an excuse, but I am really trying to make myself more disciplined because I have a TON of unfinished projects that I am basically scared to look at because they will take so much monotonous work to complete. I have such a short attention span I swear. Anyway, not that you all wanted to know about that, but that's what my day was like. Just drifting between wanting to jump and telling myself all the reasons I should not. Physique transformation is the same way for a lot of people, though, I guess is my point, because in the beginning it's new and exciting, you see changes and everything is going according to plan. Then you get in the middle of things and you just get tired - tired of eating the same things, tired of exercising hard, tired of saying no to things you used to say yes to, tired of explaining to your friends and family what you are doing and why. And so what separates the ones who succeed is whether you choose to stick it out and bear the pain of discipline, or jump and live the pain of regret. It's your choice, and the end results are easy to see. So I guess what that means for me is, I know I can stick to something because I have done it with this body. It was a mess and it's not all the way cleaned up, but the worst really is over and I am seeing it through to completion. And so it is with the other looming projects all around me. If I want the results bad enough, I will be able to buckle down and focus on making it through the day to day, until I begin to see the light. And where that light is, success waits for me.

DAY 44 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	8a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	12p - "free" meal	1
Meal #3?	3p - mango	1
Meal #4?	6p - wheat pasta	1
Meal #5?	9p - nuts	1
Meal #6?	none	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	Total Body Ten	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	467 of 528
	Compliance:	88.4%

200 Day Group Shred Time Machine
So for those of you who have not been following my journey from the beginning, I started blogging just a few days before the original Group Shred. I was 11 days into my first mission when it began, and in a totally different state of mind (and body!) than I am today. So I thought it would be nice for you (and me!) to be able to see (remember) how far I've come! Looking at the pics, the look on my face says it all, I think.

On this day 200 days ago I wrote this post...
Day 12/13 - Busy busy busy!

Here is Adam's post for the day...
Day 353: RTP Group Shred, Day 2 - I'm Blown Away!

And here is my picture from 200 days ago...boy, I'm so miserable it's almost comical...

Day 211 - Two week sprint!

2008-05-12T10:34:00.008-04:00

Only two weeks left until the end of both the NY4BBS and the SC 2.0 eligibility phase. I really want to make some visible progress by then so these next two weeks are going to be intense. I just really need to plan ahead and I will be successful! Today was a good start, still need to get the week's plan down but I still didn't get derailed with anything even though my schedule was weird today. I also did measurements today but they were all the same so I won't post them now. Will do my next set for the final reveal in 2 weeks. Can't wait to see if I can make it to my goal weight!! So here's my day's log and pics and the first edition of the time machine!

DAY 43 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	8a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	11a - omelet	1
Meal #3?	2p - chicken stir fry	1
Meal #4?	4p - cheese & apple	1
Meal #5?	6p - chicken & salad	1
Meal #6?	9p - Atkins bar & cheese	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	TT 2K6 workout A	1
Cardio or Rest?	rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	455 of 516
	Compliance:	88.2%

200 Day Group Shred Time Machine
So for those of you who have not been following my journey from the beginning, I started just a few days before the original Group Shred. I was 11 days into my first mission when it began, and in a totally different state of mind (and body!) than I am today. So I thought it would be nice for you (and me!) to be able to see (remember) how far I've come! Looking at the pics, the look on my face says it all, I think.

On this day 200 days ago I wrote this post...
Day 11 - I FEEL GREAT!!

Here is Adam's post for the day, introducing the original Group Shred
Day 352: RTP Group Shred, Day 1 - Let The Shredding Begin!

And here is my picture from 200 days ago - wow I still hate looking at it, but it is a good reminder never to go back there.

Day 210 - Happy Mother's Day to All!

2008-05-11T22:42:00.000-04:00

Well today I worked for most of the day and I'm not a mother (except to Jedi) so I just spent time with Jeff in the evening. Anyway, unexciting day - also took rest from exercise but will be back with a vengeance on Monday. I have to get up to at least 90% by the end of the BBS, geez! I have been a real slacker this mission! Here's my pics and log:

DAY 42 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	8a - egg sandwich	1
Meal #2?	12p - caesar salad	1
Meal #3?	3p - cheese & apple	1
Meal #4?	6p - sushi	1
Meal #5?	9p - nuts	1
Meal #6?	none	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	11 of 12
	Cumulative:	443 of 504
	Compliance:	87.9%

Day 209 - More family time

2008-05-10T23:38:00.000-04:00

Today I did Mother's Day with my mom, grandmother, sister, and aunt because I will be working tomorrow and the restaurants are too busy then anyway. So that was nice and I stayed on plan actually. Then I spent a little extra time with my sister and came home to do some things around the house before we had Jeff's family over for the NASCAR race. So a pretty busy day running around but it was fun. I did good all day except I skipped my workout and had two drinks during the race. Just felt like it and I don't think it was really worth it. That usually happens when I think that I want something that I haven't had in a long time. It is anti-climactic. Oh, well. So that was my day. Here's my pics and log:

DAY 41 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	9a - protein bar	1
Meal #2?	12p - chicken lettuce wraps	1
Meal #3?	3p - cheese & apple	1
Meal #4?	6p - taco salad	1
Meal #5?	9p - nuts	1
Meal #6?	11p - mojitos	0
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	skipped	0
Cardio or Rest?	rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	10 of 12
	Cumulative:	432 of 492
	Compliance:	87.8%

Shredder Council 2.0 Accountability (Day 14)

2008-05-10T23:33:00.002-04:00

Shredder Council Pic for Week 2 - gotta get to sleep!

Day 208 - Time with family

2008-05-09T23:09:00.000-04:00

Well I'll update with more tomorrow but I'm late getting this up as it is. Lots going on this weekend - things looking up. Be back soon with more!
PS I put the wrong date on the photos but it is day 40...will fix later...

***********
Update: Okay, well, today I just spent time with my husband and brother-in-law. I have a busy weekend and knew I wouldn't be home much so I wanted to hang out with my husband and this past week was my brother-in-law's b-day, so we took him to lunch and the movies. It was a nice day but my meals got messed up because I had a little popcorn at the movies and it about made me sick so I didn't want to eat anything else for quite a while. Then we were busy and I waited too long to eat and that made me feel worse. Oh, well, I survived. Still low on water, though. So it was a pretty good day overall and things continue to look up. Here's my log:

DAY 40 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	9a - protein bar	1
Meal #2?	12p - grilled chicken	1
Meal #3?	3p - popcorn	1
Meal #4?	6p - skipped	0
Meal #5?	9p - grilled chicken salad	1
Meal #6?	11p - low fat ice cream	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	10 of 12
	Cumulative:	422 of 480
	Compliance:	87.9%

Day 207 - A BIG THANK YOU

2008-05-08T22:21:00.010-04:00

WOW I TOTALLY LOVE THE SHREDDERS. My post yesterday was kind of a pity party and I'm sorry for being so down, but it was what I have been feeling lately and I just didn't want to gloss over it any more. I like to be truthful in my posts and if I'm having a hard time I like people to know that you can be human and still do this journey. Anyway, several fellow shredders came to my rescue with loving words, advice, and inspiration, and I appreciate everything you guys did. I still have a long way to go to get out of this, but it really put me in a much better frame of mind than I was in and it made me feel like what is going on with me is important to you and that my success in this mission is as well. That means a lot considering that most of us only know each other through the web. It's amazing how much you can connect with people who are going through the same kinds of issues and also get to know them when they are truthful and revealing in their posts. I appreciate the honesty and candor I see across the blogs in this group because I think that is one of the key reasons we are sticking this out together. Shredder Council or not, new or longtime blogger, the people who I feel the closest to are the ones who are open and honest about not just their physique transformations, but about their lives in general and what gets them through each day. And who are willing to share with others what helps them, what they have gone through, and are doing whatever they can to support each other. It's so very cool. So this goes out to all the bloggers who check in and offer advice to me every day, but especially Suzette, Mike G, Rob, and Lilla, who were there for me yesterday when I needed a new outlook the most. If you are a lurker out there and have not had a chance to see these people in action, check out their blogs and start a conversation. They will not disappoint you!
Shredder Council 2.0 Bloggers:
Kali Lilla: My Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Mike's Blog: Aussie Bodybuilder
Suzette's Blog: Quest For Success
Future Shredder Council member: (I know you can do it, just stick to daily accountability and the day will come when you will be there with us! Plus you live close so next ECSS you are there!)
Rob’s from the inside-out transformation
As far as today goes, it started out as a continuation of yesterday but after reading the blog comments and having kind of a come-apart trying to get all this pressure to release in my life and get some peace, I think I got some. Like Rob said in his comment, I just needed to let it go some. So I think I am back on the way up. The rest of the day was better for sure and although the problems have not changed, as long as I keep my outlook as good as possible, I think I will continue to make progress. And that's all I'm asking for right now, is a little progress. Not just in my body, but mainly in my mind. I am tired of being in the wilderness and going around the same mountain over and over again. I am ready for the promised land. I'll let you know when the river is in sight :)

DAY 39 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	8a - pb & banana sandwich	1
Meal #2?	12p - wrap	1
Meal #3?	3p - grapefruit	1
Meal #4?	6p - wheat pasta	1
Meal #5?	9p - low fat ice cream	1
Meal #6?	none	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0
Weights or Rest?	TT 2K6 workout B	1
Cardio or Rest?	rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	11 of 12
	Cumulative:	412 of 468
	Compliance:	88%

Day 206 - Hmmm....

2008-05-07T20:43:00.006-04:00

Well I have gotten to everyone's blog but didn't post comments on all - sorry but like we are all saying it is tough to keep up with everything and "real life" too. Everyone looks like they are doing great and following their own paths yet we all walk together too. It is a great community. Thanks to Adam for being the catalyst for this all. Today was another ordinary day. I had to go to work early so I did not get in my TT workout today but I'm going to give myself a rest day (my calves are killing me!) and make it up tomorrow. I will lose a point if I don't get to it tomorrow but that won't happen so I don't have to worry about it! I know it isn't that late that I couldn't fit it in now but I am really beat. I did have a chance to do a little reflection earlier during my AVP and I still have so much mental work to do. It's kind of sad because I really felt like I was making progress but then I looked back and realized that man I have so far to go. I am glad for making any progress, that's for sure, but sometimes I think I need counseling or something because everything just shouldn't be this hard. I can't even describe what I am trying to say, it's just that I am having a lot of problems reaching all of my goals and I am spinning my wheels something fierce. Including on the physique transformation. Something has got to give soon or I'm going to have a serious problem. Anyway, you all don't want to hear about that, sorry, got a little lost in my issues for a minute. Meals were good today, had a lot of salad, but am still falling short in the water department. One thing catches up, another slides....story of my life. So tomorrow's a new day, right? I'll be here...

DAY 38 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	10a - ham sandwich	1
Meal #3?	1p - cobb salad	1
Meal #4?	4p - cottage cheese, mango	1
Meal #5?	7p - grilled chicken caesar	1
Meal #6?	9p - fruit bar	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	11 of 12
	Cumulative:	401 of 456
	Compliance:	87.9%

Day 205 - Stress relief

2008-05-06T22:13:00.002-04:00

Have been really having some stress issues here lately and today was not different. Started out well enough but went downhill so I had to get to Jujitsu to blow off some steam. It worked for now but I'm sure it will build up again soon. I need to get some of this off my chest but don't have time right now. Hopefully in the next few days I can work some of these things out because I am getting to the point where I can't even think straight - literally. So sorry if this doesn't make any sense but here's my log and pics for the day.

DAY 37 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	10a - egg sandwich	1
Meal #3?	2p - chicken on salad	1
Meal #4?	6p - pizza	0
Meal #5?	9p - nuts	1
Meal #6?	none	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	Jujitsu	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	10 of 12
	Cumulative:	390 of 444
	Compliance:	87.8%

Day 204 - Another busy one

2008-05-05T22:25:00.004-04:00

Wow I did so much today I don't even want to talk about it! It was good, though, because lately I have felt like I wasn't accomplishing anything day to day but after today I can for sure put away that notion. I caught up on pretty much every errand I have had to do for about the last 2-3 weeks. I was driving around everywhere! So it was a good day, did my workout first thing with the HIIT so I was proud of myself for that. I really make that cardio out to be worse than it is. The dreading it really makes it bad and then I do it and realize, hey, this is getting easier every time I do it, why did I put myself through all that? I need to remember that every time so I don't postpone it because then it gets skipped. And that's not good. Added one thing to my workout plan that I forgot I wanted to do - the Bodyweight 1000 workout. So I am getting rid of one of the SS cardios and putting in the BW1000 to try out. I'll let you know how it goes. Just another way to switch things up. Meal timing was a little off today so I only got in 5 but they were still spaced out, didn't really skip any, so I'm not taking a point away from myself. I am so lenient! Well, getting late so I gotta bounce - talk to everyone soon!

DAY 36 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein bar	1
Meal #2?	10a - omelet	1
Meal #3?	2p - chicken, apples	1
Meal #4?	5p - chicken, broccoli	1
Meal #5?	9p - grapes, cottage cheese	1
Meal #6?	none	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	TT 2K6 A	1
Cardio or Rest?	TT Adavanced Interval IIA	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	380 of 432
	Compliance:	88.0%

Day 203 - Aaah rest

2008-05-04T22:41:00.004-04:00

Today was finally a rest day from all of the work we have been doing around the house. As Sunday should be. I went to church in the morning and then relaxed with Jeff for most of the day. I read a book and he played video games. It was a nice day and it went way too fast. Back to the grind tomorrow :( Can't wait until we are independently wealthy and we can spend all day together all the time. It will be so nice...
Anyhoo, nutrition was good today, still need to lessen the carbs but overall still a win. I do need to pull all of this together to make a real transformation by the end of BBS and SC 2.0, though, because so far there is very little to show off. And I need to change that. Well, next week will hopefully be more in my routine - this past week was thrown off from the beginning with my nephew getting into trouble, having to watch him, then the dental thing, then the house remodeling. None of that was really planned, except one of the home projects that turned into much more. Anyway, it's back on schedule tomorrow, decided to do TT 2K6 as my workouts for the next few weeks, it includes the Total Body Ten that I did last week and I enjoyed that for a change of pace so I am going to see how that works all together for me.
For me it will look something like Monday - Workout A + HIIT, Tuesday - Jujitsu + Total Body Ten, Wednesday - Workout B + HIIT, Thursday - Jujitsu + SS cardio, Friday - Workout A + HIIT, Saturday - Total Body Ten, Sunday - SS Cardio. I want to see where this gets me until the end of BBS and then go from there. Might not be ready for my pics quite yet by Memorial Day but I will be soon enough. Traveling the journey still. Nutrition will still be PN, though I am pretty liberal with the "rules" of that so I need to reign that in as well. Like I said, less carbs and only after workouts. So I have some work to do for sure. Wish me luck. Thanks to all of you who wished me well the last few days, I will be around to do the same for all of you tomorrow, things just got crazy this week. If it wasn't for SC 2.0, I probably wouldn't have posted at all the past few days, so I am glad for the "forced" accountability. That is making this more "autopilot" for me at least. So until tomorrow, all, I'll leave you with my log and pics:

DAY 35 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	8a - none - slept in	1
Meal #2?	10a - protein shake	1
Meal #3?	1p - salad w/ salmon	1
Meal #4?	4p - grapes	1
Meal #5?	6p - low fat sloppy joes	1
Meal #6?	9p - nuts, fruit bar	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	11 of 12
	Cumulative:	368 of 420
	Compliance:	87.6%

Shredder Council 2.0 Accountability (Day 7)

2008-05-03T23:42:00.006-04:00

Hey all today was a supremely busy day and I'll have more detail later but didn't want to go to sleep without posing anything. So here's my pic that will serve as my first weekly comparison for SC 2.0. Be back later with more!

Day 202 - Catching up

2008-05-03T22:26:00.000-04:00

Wow today was another busy day. We have been doing home improvements all weekend and it has been very tiring. But I am happy with the results so far, it's just that every project seems to make more projects show up. New things make the other old things stand out more. So now the list of things to do has gotten longer. Sorry I have not been as chatty. Since Thursday and all the dental work, I have been either in pain or keeping myself busy non-stop. I have not done my scheduled exercise so I did not give myself any points for that, but I have been doing some kinds of exercise with lifting, moving, etc as we have been doing work on the house. But really, not enough to call it a workout because for the most part I have not been up for it. But done with that now so I am glad to be getting back to the right schedule soon. Maybe. Anyway, here's the rest of the documentation for today:

DAY 34 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	8a - shredded wheat	1
Meal #2?	12p - quinoa salad	1
Meal #3?	3p - fruit	1
Meal #4?	6p - salad	1
Meal #5?	8p - "free" meal	1
Meal #6?	11p - fruit bar	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0
Weights or Rest?	skipped	0
Cardio or Rest?	rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	10 of 12
	Cumulative:	357 of 408
	Compliance:	87.5%

Day 201 - No good

2008-05-02T23:32:00.003-04:00

Sorry still not up to par today - pics and log only :(

DAY 33 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	8a - egg salad sandwich	1
Meal #2?	12p - low fat sub	1
Meal #3?	3p - mango	1
Meal #4?	6p - quinoa salad	1
Meal #5?	8p - Arby's	0
Meal #6?	11p - fruit bar	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	10 of 12
	Cumulative:	347 of 396
	Compliance:	87.6%

Day 200 - Bad way to celebrate

2008-05-01T21:43:00.005-04:00

Well sorry to say I am not much in a "waxing poetic about my journey" kind of mood right now. I do want to do a landmark post for this auspicious occasion, but I spent several hours in a dentist's chair today, spent a serious butt-load of money that I wasn't planning on putting out, and am currently on Percocet. Not a friendly-chatter or refective-mood enhancing set of circumstances. So I will be back tomorrow with something, provided I am feeling better, but for now I am still just relaxing and trying to deal with this pain without being too whiny. On the upside, I have to restrict what I eat (can only chew on one side and nothing hard) so maybe that will keep my nutrition good, but to be honest, when I feel like crap food is the first thing I turn to. Thus today has been a soft junk food day. But only a little at a time because I just don't feel like eating much, although I get hungry and have cravings. It's weird. Anyway, it was a scheduled rest day so I didn't have to worry about exercise, normally I would have had Jujitsu as a bonus, but since I was on meds I didn't want to work out and couldn't drive anyway. That was my day - tomorrow we are supposed to be doing a lot of work around/on the house so it should involve a lot of physical activity as well as that I am going to do a TT workout, I'm just not sure which. The Total Body 10 was pretty good, I can feel some soreness, so with a little tweaking I could make it a great supplement when I get bored. Well, done babbling for now, don't feel like I'm making much sense anyway (another side effect of the meds?) and I'll be back with something better soon. My log's kind of in a shambles today but I'll make the best of it I can.
P.S. I finally read the enormous backlog of blog posts that I still had not gotten to since I don't know when. Anyway, hopefully I have commented at least once to everyone, I'm sorry if I missed anyone but it started to run together a little after a while. It is so inspiring to see so many shredders working together toward common goals yet each blazing their own trail. We owe it all to Adam. So thanks everyone for being so dedicated and of course the biggest thanks of all to our fearless leader ADAM!
P.P.S. I hate my pics today - looking and feeling bloated and overall not a happy camper. Guess I should have taken them BEFORE the dentist :)

DAY 32 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	8a - protein pancakes	1
Meal #2?	12p - salad, chicken	1
Meal #3?	5p - "free" meal	1
Meal #4?	8p - low fat ice cream	1
Meal #5?	10p - skipped	0
Meal #6?	none - slept in	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	10 of 12
	Cumulative:	337 of 384
	Compliance:	87.8%

Day 199 - Almost the big day!

2008-04-30T21:18:00.006-04:00

Well I haven't decided how I'm going to celebrate tomorrow but unfortunately tonight I am running low on exciting news and energy again. Today was a pretty good day. Ate at weird times but still healthy foods. Need to cut down on the carbs still, I think. Some days that's harder than others. I'm still hungry all the time, I don't know what the deal is with that. Did the TT workout Total Body Ten and it was pretty cool. I wanted to change things up so it is a circuit of 10 bodyweight-only exercises with no rest in between, then 1 min between circuits, done 3 times. I was toasted afterwards so it was a nice cardio workout as well as resistance training. We'll see just how good the training was tomorrow when I find out if I'm sore or not. That's how I judge workouts these days. Anyway, rest of the day was pretty mediocre. Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment so I am not looking forward to that and may be very unhappy come tomorrow night but I'll continue to think positive until then. So that's all for now, I'll be back tomorrow. Happy shredding!

DAY 31 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	9a - egg salad sandwich	1
Meal #3?	12p - sunchips	1
Meal #4?	3p - tilapia, quinoa, salad	1
Meal #5?	6p - chicken, caesar salad	1
Meal #6?	9p - low fat ice cream	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	TT Total Body 10	1
Cardio or Rest?	rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	327 of 372
	Compliance:	87.9%

Day 198 - Not much new

2008-04-29T22:18:00.005-04:00

Well I must have talked myself out last night because I feel like I have very little to say tonight. I am tired, though, so that is part of it. Had a good day compliance wise and thoroughly enjoyed my "free" meal. Maybe should have saved it for the weekend, but I needed it today for some reason. Anyway, I guess I will just say here are the pics and log for the day and wish you all happy shredding!

DAY 30 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	9a - pb toast, banana, egg	1
Meal #3?	12p - "free" meal	1
Meal #4?	3p - cheese & apple	1
Meal #5?	6p - taco salad	1
Meal #6?	9p - cottage cheese, oranges	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	Jujitsu	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	315 of 360
	Compliance:	87.5%

Shredder Council 2.0 Accountability (Day 1)

2008-04-29T06:40:00.009-04:00

Hello everyone! Monday, April 28th marks the start of a very important day in shredder history. I am proud to announce that I am one of the 11 fantastic shredders who have been given the opportunity to become part of the next generation of shredding - Shredder Council 2.0. Every candidate was hand-selected by Adam Waters based on their commitment to daily accountability and shredding over at least 100 days. The details are explained in this post on Adam's blog. The next four weeks will determine who is in and who is out. We have this time to prove that we can be over 95% compliant to our daily posts, pictures, and support of other shredders to make it into the coveted Council Boardroom. For me, it will be the next step in this wonderful shredder journey so far. This post is to introduce all of the other candidates and for myself, to pledge to achieve 95% compliance not only in the next month, but continuing beyond to cement my place on the council. This is no easy feat - 95% compliance only allows for missing 1 or at the most 2 days in a given month. My track record in the past has not been this good, so I need to be totally on top of things to make this work. But for me, shredding is a way of life, so just to add that little extra step of posting daily is a discipline I can pick up. I have done it in the past, I have just let myself go at times. So it's now or never. I have full confidence in myself and all of the other candidates that we will be able to make it as a whole, since we are all very dedicated shredders to begin with and we all understand what a great honor it will be to be in Adam's Inner Circle. So here we are at the start gate: LETS DO THIS!

PS - For continuity's sake, I will be posting weekly accountability posts and pics separate from my current BBS mission. So I have a mini-shred within the larger BBS, but they both end at the same time, so after these next 4 weeks I will begin a new mission with the Shredder Council 2.0 Members! Please see my sidebar for all of the candidates and support them in their daily journey - again, this isn't easy, and we need all the help we can get!

Day 197 - My soapbox

2008-04-28T21:16:00.009-04:00

Well today was better compliance wise, but I didn't get in my workout because I had to pick up my nephew from school unplanned (he got in trouble) so it messed up my schedule. But the meals were go so at least I am back on that part. I appreciate all the input about doing better on the weekends, it looks like it is a common issue amongst the shredders. I just fall into that trap way too easily and I need to plan for things a lot better. But I am getting a lot of things in my life in order these days so I feel confident that I will come around eventually. Even if it is not for this mission in particular, it is still a growing process for me so every day I learn something new to apply to future missions. Life is always happening. I want to get to bed early tonight but I did have something that has been on my mind since Friday that I wanted to get your guys opinion/comments on as well.
What happened was that I went out to lunch with one of my best friends and she was talking about all of the problems she has been having with her weight. She hurt her back some time ago and has been on disability from work for probably a year now and had steadily gained weight in that time period. Then she quit smoking and gained another 30 lbs on top of that so she was at about 220 at her highest. She is about my height so her ideal weight is probably somewhere around 140-150. Anyway, she has, in her words "tried everything" to lose this weight and is now under some kind of doctor's care. This "doctor" has her on some kind of pill to lose weight and told her that she doesn't need to change her eating habits at all, just take this pill and she will lose weight. He gave her a general eating plan to compare with how she is eating now and it was mostly comprised of carbs. He said something like "have 2.5 cups of cereal in the morning" - any kind of cereal. I don't know what kind of doctor he is but it sounded like such a bunch of crap to me - what kind of plan is this? She is excited because she lost 8 pounds in the first few days but I told her that would have happened no matter what she did because when you change anything you usually lose water weight, plus she started walking 3 miles a day so that alone could have done it. I was so shocked at what this guy was telling her to do and she wouldn't listen to a thing I tried to tell her about this group of shredders, the info we have available, the results we have shown, my own weight loss, etc etc. Wouldn't hear of it. Swore she had tried everything. Even Hydroxycut. Yikes! So my question I guess is, have any of you come across someone like this in your lives? Someone who you care a lot about and want to share this information we have learned with who won't take your advice? Who prefers to do some dangerous magic bullet type thing instead of trying for long term loss? She is getting married in a few months and is desperate, but I feel like there will always be something coming up that she will want to continue taking this pill for and she will never learn actual good eating habits. My heart breaks for her. At least she is over the hurdle of wanting to change, which is a big one for some, but she's doing these horrible things to her body that I feel will make it harder for her to lose real weight in the long run. She swears by this pill because a friend of hers took it and lost weight. But yet she won't listen to the way that I lost weight? Actually it kind of hurt my feelings but there was not talking to her about it. I dropped the subject eventually because it was just killing me. Anyway, thoughts? I just get so frustrated sometimes because it's either a scenario like this one or someone does ask me what I am doing/have done to lose this weight, I tell them, and they look at me like I have 2 heads or something. Like it's not obvious that this is the safest and most natural way to lose weight. Umm, eat the right foods, lift weights, cardio. This is not new, but people act like it's some crazy plan. I have no idea, it just gets so sad because I want to help people and they are just not listening. How can we get through to people that fads don't work? Or else they are just a different way of packaging the same things that you should have been doing all along. Take this P90X thing. Now, I'm not bashing it, I don't even know that much about it, but it seems to be the newest all the rage thing these days, I keep hearing about it. Don't know how long it's been around, but I have had my brother in law on a, I think, great program for the last month that he has said over and over that he likes the challenge, etc, and seems to be getting results from. But yet his friend bought P90X and all of a sudden he's jumping on the bandwagon, wanting to do that instead of what he has been doing. I mean, nothing was wrong, but it's just the shiny-newness I guess that intrigues him. I hope it does work for him but I bet it's much of the same that he has been doing already, just better marketed. I am guilty of that sometimes as well, or at least I used to be, until I realized that I was not giving programs sufficient time to even show results before I was on to the next thing, and I never really knew what worked and what didn't. Sure, you should change up to keep your body guessing, but to just overhaul everything without having good/bad results to back up your choices is just setting yourself up for failure. I don't know, maybe I'm just getting too into my soapbox tonight, but that seems to all be related in my book. Just stick with what works. The tried and true methods, because if there was a real magic bullet, the nation would not be as obese as it is now. It comes down to hard work. Some may see this as a bad thing, but I think I've said this before: nothing worth having is ever easy. You'd never appreciate it anyway. So be thankful for your hard-fought progress, how ever much it is, because you my fellow shredders have done it the right way. And you will reap the benefits from that for a long time to come. Congratulations on not falling prey to the hype - you know what it is really all about. And you are living it every day, as best as you can, and in your own unique way. Shred on!
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Update: Here are my latest measurements
Weight: 146 lbs (loss of 1# this week, loss of 3# in BBS)
Omron bf: 23.4% (loss of 1% this week, loss of 1.2% in BBS)
Bicep: 11" (loss of .25" this week & in BBS)
Chest: 34.5" (no change this week, loss of .5" in BBS)
Waist: 27.75" (loss of .25" this week & in BBS)
Stomach: 31" (no change)
Hips: 37" (no change)
Butt: 40.25" (loss of .25" this week & in BBS)
Thigh: 24.25" (loss of .25" this week & in BBS)
Total: loss of 1.25" this week, loss of 1.75" in BBS
Okay so I don't know what is going on - I have what I feel like is a horrible weekend compliance and I lose inches for the first time since the beginning of the BBS!? I guess it's just the cumulative work from the past 4 weeks catching up to me or something...I still need to do way better though!

DAY 29 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	10a - omlete	1
Meal #3?	12p - shrimp pasta	1
Meal #4?	3p - salad	1
Meal #5?	6p - chicken, broccoli	1
Meal #6?	9p - cottage cheese, strawberries	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	skipped	0
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	11 of 12
	Cumulative:	303 of 348
	Compliance:	87.1%

Day 196 - Still behind

2008-04-27T21:16:00.005-04:00

Well today wasn't what I thought it would be - it was relaxing to some degree but not at all on plan and I didn't get done anything that I wanted to do today. So tomorrow will be better but I did at least want to get my logs and pics up before I fall further behind. I didn't do well over this weekend again on my compliance - anyone else out there have that problem? During the week is so much easier to stick to a plan. The days are much more predictable. But weekends are just all over the place. What are your strategies for dealing with this? Any suggestions would help, especially with this next 4 week sprint toward the end of the BBS and the beginning of SC 2.0. I have got to get my weekends under control or I will not be able to show enough progress, that's for sure. So let me know what you think. And I'll leave you with my log for today (numbers really tanking, I have got to get my groove back!) and pics, and I have put in the rest of the weekend's info into their respective days. See ya!

DAY 28 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	9a - pancakes	1
Meal #2?	1p - cheese & crackers	1
Meal #3?	3p - pineapple	1
Meal #4?	6p - shrimp pasta	1
Meal #5?	9p - dessert	0
Meal #6?	none	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	skipped	0
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	10 of 12
	Cumulative:	292 of 336
	Compliance:	86.9%

Day 195 - Busy busy

2008-04-26T23:31:00.007-04:00

Well this weekend has been a lot of catching up around the house and haven't been in front of the computer so sorry for the lack up updates. I will get more up tomorrow afternoon since it will be the relaxation day but for now I'll just say things are going well and I'll have more going on to talk about later. Also I will put up my log for yesterday and today and my pics. So stay tuned, be back soon!

DAY 27 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	9a - shredded wheat	1
Meal #2?	12p - tuna on crackers	1
Meal #3?	2p - cottage cheese, pineapple	1
Meal #4?	6p - ribs	0
Meal #5?	9p - dessert	0
Meal #6?	none	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	skipped	0
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	9 of 12
	Cumulative:	282 of 324
	Compliance:	87.0%

Day 194 - Log only

2008-04-25T23:30:00.000-04:00

DAY 26 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	9a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	11a - peanut butter toast	1
Meal #3?	2p - cobb salad	1
Meal #4?	5p - cottage cheese, pineapple	1
Meal #5?	8p - "free" meal	1
Meal #6?	10p - nuts	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	skipped	0
Cardio or Rest?	rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	0
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	10 of 12
	Cumulative:	273 of 312
	Compliance:	87.5%

Day 193 - Tired

2008-04-24T22:29:00.006-04:00

Well I am pretty beat. Jujitsu was great tonight, one of my the other senseis was teaching so I got to partner up with one of the brown belts and really get in a good workout. I don't get to do that when I teach so it was a welcome change of pace. You'll probably be able to see the bruises in tomorrow's pics :) Today was a pretty good day - there was a birthday at the company where I do my accounting work so I had a half a brownie there but I'll go ahead and count that as another free snack because I think I still have one left. So it's all good! Was behind in my water until after Jujitsu and I filled back up with water and green tea so I made up the difference. Another 12/12!
Anyway, I am really tired now so I'll just get up my pics and log and say good night to all. Got a compliment tonight on my guns from one of my students. Yay me! TTYS.

DAY 25 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	9a - peanut butter toast	1
Meal #2?	12p - shrimp on salad	1
Meal #3?	2p - "free" snack	1
Meal #4?	4p - cottage cheese, pineapple	1
Meal #5?	6p - chicken caesar salad	1
Meal #6?	10p - nuts	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	Jujitsu!	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	263 of 300
	Compliance:	87.7%

Day 192 - The 10:30 pm craving

2008-04-23T22:21:00.000-04:00

Things were going well all day, lots of things to do, feeling like I am getting a handle on stuff, did my workout, had a great motivational meeting with my MK National, etc, and then on my way home from that meeting, BAM - had to have a milkshake! I have no idea what my deal was, I had been craving stuff all day, and had a danish earlier in the day that I thought satisfied that. I was going to count that as my free snack and move on, but after that meeting, it's 10:30pm, and my stomach had actually been killing me for about 3 hrs, ever since dinner, and for some reason I was on a mad quest to get a milkshake. I kept telling myself it would settle my stomach - what kind of logic is that? Serious demon in me...anyway, I went to Baskin Robbins and got one, it actually helped a little but not that much especially since I felt bad about having it and it ruined my 12/12 for the day. Poop. But it was done and I had to move on, so here I am now. Have tons going on and this next week will be crazy I think so I may be kind of short on my posts, but I will be here at the least with pics and log. So here's that for Wednesday, see you all later!

DAY 24 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	9a - omelet & grapefruit	1
Meal #3?	12p - grilled chix salad	1
Meal #4?	3p - "free" snack	1
Meal #5?	6p - chicken & veggies	1
Meal #6?	10p - milkshake :(	0
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	TT Original B	1
Cardio or Rest?	rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	11 of 12
	Cumulative:	251 of 288
	Compliance:	87.2%

Day 191 - On a Roll!

2008-04-22T23:11:00.005-04:00

Happy Earth Day! I did nothing to celebrate it with the exception of just telling all of you to be happy :) My husband works for a power plant, so the environmental consultant there gave everyone a solar-powered cell phone charger. Interesting...so if you're outside and need to charge up, it's got your back. Moving on...
Something happened to Boomshuffle, because my mix is gone and the site doesn't load the same anymore. Well, it was a beta, I guess something happened, but I am sad :(
Besides that, though, things are going well now. I am catching up on all the shredder blogs but still haven't been to see some of my favorite people. If I haven't been around lately, sorry for that, but I will be shortly, I had a backlog of over 160 posts to read through as well as some new entries into the ShredderSphere to read up on their entire 30+ day journeys so far. What a lot to take in! I am down to under 100 still left to read. So I am pretty beat and have to get to sleep or risk my accountability score, but just wanted to say thanks to all of you who have been keeping tabs on me and encouraging me during the tough times as well as the good. That's what makes this group of people so successful and special, because we all genuinely care about each other's progress. So thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I have been studying up on fighting my fears and getting myself organized lately with a few books I picked up over the weekend after my latest personal crisis, and they are really helping me. Hopefully in the next few days I will be able to share some of the insights I have received so far from reading them. I really enjoy self-help kind of books in general, but these two are really more about the actual activities and making progress instead of just talking about things. I'm all for the thinking side, to my own detriment usually, so sometimes you just have to get in there and do the work. So that is what I am trying to get through right now, all the work that I have let pile up lately during my undisciplined times. Thus the lack of interesting commentary, because life lately has been about grinding out some tasks that I have had sitting on my to-do list for too long. So sorry for the uninteresting posts, but that's what's going on with me. Another great score today, though, so I'm excited to be slowly inching up my percentage. What a hole I dug myself into. But climbing is good exercise, and I have a bunch of it to do to get myself back where I need to be. Here's the log and pics for today, and I'll be back tomorrow!

DAY 23 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	9a - eggs on wheat muffin	1
Meal #3?	12p - chili	1
Meal #4?	3p - cheese stick, mango	1
Meal #5?	6p - wheat pasta w/ meat sauce	1
Meal #6?	9p - almonds	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	Rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	30 min walk + Jujitsu	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	240 of 672
	Compliance:	87.0%

Day 190 - A good day

2008-04-21T21:27:00.003-04:00

Well today I am back with a vengeance and a 12/12! Woo hoo! Unfortunately, according to the math, the best I can get to by the end of this BBS is 94.6% and that's with every day being a 12. What a tall order. But quite a good challenge to keep me on top of things. I will need to do my best every day and that's what my life needs to be about from now on anyway. I have been giving myself way too much leeway lately to get away with things and not being self-disciplined, so now is the time to push myself beyond my comfort zone and achieve things I have never achieved before. I am excited to be making this journey and to have all of you here to help me through. Here's my log for the day. Talk to you soon!

DAY 22 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	10a - mexican eggs	1
Meal #3?	1p - grilled chix salad	1
Meal #4?	4p - almonds	1
Meal #5?	6p - free meal	1
Meal #6?	9p - fruit bar	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	TT Original A	1
Cardio or Rest?	TT Advanced A	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	228 of 672
	Compliance:	86.4%

Day 190 - Recommitment

2008-04-21T07:41:00.006-04:00

Wow 190 days - almost to 200! That's just crazy...never would have thought I could do it...just getting to 100 was big and each milestone feels better. Now I just need to make the results I want happen and I can be even prouder of 200. Anyway...
Okay everybody - so far today has been good. Granted, I've only been up for 2 hours but that's a win in my book the way thing have been going lately :) Already did my AVP and had my protein shake, updated the past entries with pics, and ready to do my TT workout. I need to work very hard at my workout because they are not like the workouts I have had in the past and I think I am not pushing myself enough since some of them are bodyweight exercises. Need to really concentrate on hitting the correct muscle groups. Also I was thinking I might add in one of the MS workouts during the week when I am not doing a TT workout because then at least I would be doing some heavy weights some of the time. Not sure, but for right now, I just need to get a workout of any kind in so the regular TT will do for today. Way too much else going on to worry about tweaking that right now.
Did my measurements this morning, and nothing changed, except my weight and bf%, which both went up. Not good, but it is to be expected since I didn't work out most of last week. Glad it's not worse. And the bf is not totally reliable because I did that after I already had my shake and I am supposed to do it before eating anything so that might be a hydration issue on that one. But here's the numbers:
Weight: 147 lbs (gain of 1# this week, loss of 2# in BBS)
Omron bf: 24.4% (gain of 1% this week, loss of 0.2% in BBS)
Bicep: 11.25" (no change)
Chest: 34.5" (no change, loss of .5" in BBS)
Waist: 28" (no change)
Stomach: 31" (no change)
Hips: 37" (no change)
Butt: 40.5" (no change)
Thigh: 24.5" (no change)
Still have a long way to go in the next 5 weeks!
I'll be back tonight with my log, gotta get to my workout, but here are today's pics:

Day 189 - Issues Issues

2008-04-20T21:47:00.011-04:00

Well sorry I have been so out of commission here lately, things have been crazy busy and I'm still trying to work it all out. And to top it all off, right now my memory card isn't working so I can't even post the pics I have taken the last few days. I will eventually put them up on the days I missed, but for now for the sake of efficiency and my sanity I am going to condense the last few missed posts into this one. I'll just say that a lot has been going on personally and professionally lately and the issues aren't really resolved yet so I may be pretty brief in my upcoming posts. I am certainly still committed to the NY4BBS, though, even though it may not look like it to the casual observer. The last few days have also wreaked havoc on my accountability log, not so much that I was not doing well (although that was the case sometimes), but that right now I am not going to put myself through trying to remember what I ate for every meal the last 5 days. So I'm just going to make things easy and say that I know that I was not totally compliant in either eating or workouts with all of this other "life" going on, so I'm going to give myself an 11 for the last day I counted (day 185-Wed) and a 9 for each day the rest of the week and start fresh with tomorrow. Today I made an all fruit day because I just felt like I needed to reset everything, so meals for today were of course very weird. So that puts my score currently at 216/252 or 85.7%. Not good. But I can make it back.
My workouts have been inconsistent lately too, so first thing tomorrow I will be getting that routine back as well. It was just that so many things that I don't usually deal with are happening that my daily routine went right out the window. But I won't despair, I still have time to make this shred awesome so pray for me and I'll be back soon with updates. Thanks to all who have checked in on me and commented - it means a lot to have you all seeing what I am (and am not!) doing. Talk to you soon. Promise :)
************
Okay, well I thought that I had taken more pics this last week...man I was really off in stress-land! Anyway, here's today's pics and I am good after this!

Day 186 - Pics Only

2008-04-20T21:47:00.010-04:00

No difference I can see...

Day 185 - Back on track

2008-04-16T08:53:00.011-04:00

Okay, well, it's only 10:30am so I don't have much going on yet, but wanted to get everything set up for today and be back on a good schedule. Haven't done my workout yet today, so that's not good because usually if I don't do it in the morning, I don't get it in at all, but I had to sleep in this morning, I was dead tired after yesterday, and I had a lot to take care of this morning, and wanted to get this blog up to date, so here it is now back in real time and I'll be back later with an update. I will plan on getting my workout in later tonight. Can't believe it's already been over two weeks into the BBS, I have got to really get rippin here! Here's the plan for today:

DAY 17 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	8a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	10:30a - omelet	0 or 1
Meal #3?	1p - chicken, salad	0 or 1
Meal #4?	3p - cottage cheese, carrots	0 or 1
Meal #5?	6p - chix & veggies	0 or 1
Meal #6?	9p - protein bar	0 or 1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0 or 1
Weights or Rest?	TT Original A	0 or 1
Cardio or Rest?	TT Original Interval A	0 or 1
Sleep?	8 hrs	0 or 1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	0 or 1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	0 or 1
	Daily Score:	0 of 12
	Cumulative:	0 of 672
	Compliance:	%

REWIND: Day 184 - AAAAH TAXES

2008-04-16T08:53:00.009-04:00

Okay well I spend pretty much all day doing my taxes, nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh? Never again, that was ridiculous. I was up until 11:30 pm getting them sent in and the website was soooooo slow because everyone else and their brother were trying to do the same thing. So yes, I need to be more organized. Something I am working on. I didn't even go to Jujitsu tonight, had to call another sensei to take over the class, because I just couldn't fit it in and get this done too. Sucked because that was my workout for today. Oh, well, it's over now, and I am so glad. I have so much to catch up on now, I was starting to get on a roll with doing some more Mary Kay business and then had to stop to do the taxes so now that that is over with, I can concentrate on it again. Along with the other 30 things I am trying to do. But need to focus for sure more on this shred - kind of have been half-hearted about it, especially today because I was so stressed out. Letting the free meals get a little too free...So now I will be able to get back to some serious shredding with all that behind me. Shoo what a relief! So here's the log (gotta get back into the 90s!) and pics for Tuesday:

DAY 16 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - apple oatmeal	1
Meal #2?	9a - skipped	0
Meal #3?	12p - "free" meal (Taco Bell!)	1
Meal #4?	3p - cheese	1
Meal #5?	6p - soup	1
Meal #6?	9p - fruit bar	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	skipped	0
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	9 of 12
	Cumulative:	169 of 672
	Compliance:	88.0%

REWIND: Day 183 - Work in progress

2008-04-14T21:31:00.015-04:00

So here's the updated entry for Monday (added log and pics):

Hey all I'm still here just very very busy with my taxes right now. Feeling better, thanks to all for the well wishes, I don't know I think I'm just stressed out. Talk to you soon! :)

DAY 15 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	9a - omelet	1
Meal #3?	12p - chicken	1
Meal #4?	3p - nuts	1
Meal #5?	6p - chicken, green beans	1
Meal #6?	9p - fruit	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0
Weights or Rest?	TT Original B	1
Cardio or Rest?	Rest	1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	11 of 12
	Cumulative:	160 of 672
	Compliance:	88.9%

REWIND: Day 182 - New tattoo!

2008-04-14T21:31:00.012-04:00

Hey, here I am catching up on these past few crazy days. This was Sunday, family still visiting so food timing and type not the best but I did as well as possible. We did a lot of activities today, though, so that was good because I got in a lot of exercise. We went frisbee golfing and Jedi went, too, so he got exercise as well! By the end of the day we were beat but it was nice to be able to spend time with everyone.
So here's my close up pics of my new tattoo! Thanks to all who commented on it, yes it's real and it says "nana korobi ya oki"! NO, I didn't get the name of my blog tattooed on me, it has been kind of my motto for quite some time and I was planning on the tattoo for a long time, but my husband wasn't that excited about it. So I finally talked him into it, but in the mean time, I had changed my blog name to it as well so it kind of looks like it was the other way around. Anyway, for those of you who may not have caught it when I first talked about this saying, it means "fall down seven, get up eight" as an expression of perseverance beyond all obstacles. That is how I plan to live my life - no matter how many times I stumble along my path, I will always keep going. The dragonfly represents change, since they go through a metamorphosis in their life cycle, and also wisdom and luck. So I got it to remind me that life always changes and you have to be okay with what comes along, and hopefully weather it with a little wisdom and luck. Finally, there are sakura (cherry blossoms) around the outside, and that represents the transience of life (since they only bloom for a short time) and serves as a reminder that I don't get much time here on Earth, so I should make the most of it while I am here. The tattoo artist added the one petal falling to be artistic, but it ended up fitting right into the symbolism of the whole thing because the flower already has a petal falling, so it adds to the urgency of it all. So did you get all that? I like my tattoos to have meaning, I wouldn't get one if it was not important to me, so that's why I got this one. It was my last. It stands to remind me of all those things each time I think about it or see it, and it is a commitment to follow through on all of those promises for my life. Here are some pictures of me getting it done, and how it looks now (still healing!):

And here's my log and daily pics for today:

DAY 14 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	slept in! no meal	1
Meal #2?	10a - omelet	1
Meal #3?	12p - grapes, cheese	1
Meal #4?	3p - lean hamburger	1
Meal #5?	6p - soup, sandwich	1
Meal #6?	9p - "free" snack	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	Rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	various activities	1
Sleep?	8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	0
	Daily Score:	11 of 12
	Cumulative:	149 of 672
	Compliance:	88.7%

Day 181 - Hmmm what's different?

2008-04-12T22:00:00.007-04:00

Well the family is still visiting, here watching the NASCAR race right now, so I don't have much time, but here's the log and pics for today. Didn't feel well today, and didn't exercise. Will make up for it tomorrow (I hope).

DAY 13 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	7a - hot tea, cheese	1
Meal #2?	9a - protein waffle, grapes	1
Meal #3?	2p - tortellini	1
Meal #4?	4p - apple	1
Meal #5?	6p - pecans	1
Meal #6?	9p - chicken caesar salad	1
Water?	not enough	0
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	skipped	0
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	10 of 12
	Cumulative:	138 of 672
	Compliance:	88.5%

So, notice anything different in the pics?

Day 180 - Log only

2008-04-12T08:14:00.004-04:00

Posted this late - this is from Friday...
Today was a very busy day with family, friends, and fun, so here's my log for the day and I'll be back with the Saturday surprise! As you can see, the day went downhill food-wise after lunch. We got together with some family that we haven't seen in a while and there was nothing but junk food. So I chose to eat it. So I am paying for it in accountability but I will make up for it in exercise tomorrow - it's supposed to be a big sports day with all of them! We'll see...

DAY 12 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	8a - peanut butter, banana	1
Meal #2?	11a - grapes, cottage cheese	1
Meal #3?	3p - "free" meal	1
Meal #4?	6p - none	1
Meal #5?	8p - hot dog	0
Meal #6?	10p - hamburger cheese dip	0
Water?	not enough	0
Weights or Rest?	Rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	Rest	1
Sleep?	8 hrs	1
Accountability?	blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	9 of 12
	Cumulative:	128 of 672
	Compliance:	88.8%

Damn it the 90s didn't last long did they? Well, I'll get back there, it's a journey not a sprint so I do the best with what each day brings and I refuse to make myself feel guilty about it. I knew what I was doing when I was doing it, and I can always do better, so no use worrying about the past. Here's to a new day...

Day 179 - Excited!

2008-04-10T22:24:00.004-04:00

Something cool is going on tomorrow - well, to me it's cool, maybe not to some, but I am excited about it all the same. So it's quiz time - what is it? Here's the hint: You'll know what it is by looking at my pictures on Saturday. I think that makes it pretty easy but maybe not.
So today was a good day but again super busy so sorry for not too much info again. Here's the log and pics:

DAY 11 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - cheese, hot tea	1
Meal #2?	10a - egg whites, veggie juice	1
Meal #3?	1p - tuna, veggie juice	1
Meal #4?	3p - cottage cheese	1
Meal #5?	6p - chicken on wheat roll	1
Meal #6?	10p - fruit & popcorn	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	Rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	TT Original HIIT B	1
Sleep?	8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	119 of 672
	Compliance:	90.2%

Yay I'm back in the 90s again - man it's amazing how fast that number goes down. Miss a thing here, thing there, have one bad day and bam its dropping fast. Good way to keep myself in check for sure!

Day 178 - In demand!

2008-04-09T21:32:00.005-04:00

Hey everyone! Still so busy, but it is better than feeling useless that's for sure. I have so much to do before the 15th it is not even funny so I probably won't be doing very long posts here, just know I am going strong and on a mission to be in the best shape of my life come summer. So here's today's log, not 100% but I wasn't feeling too well. It would have been way worse in the old days, I made myself do alot of things that normally I would have just written off as a bad day and went buck wild. So no terrible binges, still did my workout, etc. Making progress every day...

DAY 10 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	8a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	10a - protein shake	1
Meal #3?	12p - "free" meal	1
Meal #4?	3p - none	0
Meal #5?	6p - chicken caesar salad	1
Meal #6?	9:30p - jello & nuts	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0
Weights or Rest?	TT Original A	1
Cardio or Rest?	Rest	1
Sleep?	8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	10 of 12
	Cumulative:	107 of 672
	Compliance:	89.2%

Day 177 - Quickie

2008-04-08T23:25:00.008-04:00

Well I finally got around to everyone's blog to check on their progress and of course all are doing fantastic! I love that all of us are working so hard at the same time and have similar timelines. It really helps the accountability for me. It is getting late, however, so I don't have time to say much, but I did want to thank everyone who has commented on my blog the past few days - I don't have time to individually respond to all of them, but I will from now on since I won't be behind any more. But thanks for checking in and for all the continued support.
Things have been going well, I am enjoying the PN plan but not following it exactly. I am getting good results so far so I am not worried. I think I have found a good balance of what my body responds to (finally!). As far as TT goes, I am finding the workouts too easy for me so I am going to step it up to the next workout in the list tomorrow. I am supposed to give it until the end of this week and get in two more workouts, but I need something harder for sure. Plus, the current workout does nothing for shoulders or arms and has legs both days so I am doing legs three times a week plus cardio on the off days and that's too much. So I need to balance it out. If the next plan doesn't do this, I might do some kind of hybrid. I like the exercises themselves, I just don't really like the layout and frequency. There are only two workouts that I am supposed to alternate and that is pretty boring for me, I need at least 3 and preferably 4 so I can do something different each day of the week. So we'll see, I might have to do some switching around, but it is all good.
For today, I only had 5 meals because I got up late so I'm still giving myself the points because it was still every 3 hrs. I just couldn't get started today...Also I didn't do my HIIT as scheduled but I did have Jujitsu so I am still giving myself a point for that as well. Aren't I so nice to myself? Here's today's log and pics (back to the fun blue today!):

DAY 9 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	9a - veggie omelet	1
Meal #2?	12p - grilled chicken salad	1
Meal #3?	3p - apple & cheese	1
Meal #4?	6p - turkey & corn	1
Meal #5?	10p - fruit & nuts	1
Meal #6?	none - got up late	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	Rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	Jujitsu	1
Sleep?	8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	97 of 672
	Compliance:	89.8%

Day 176 - Still behind...

2008-04-07T21:46:00.005-04:00

Well it is crazy trying to catch back up on all the Shreddersphere blogging, and it was only 3 days. Man we are a busy bunch. Today was really much more on track, just have tons going on so not much time to really check in with everyone or go into much detail right now. Sorry I've been a little out of the loop, hopefully I will be able to make some more time to catch up soon, but for now things are really busy but in a good way and for a good reason that I will talk about later on. On another good note, though, I lost 3 pounds last week and over 1% body fat so yay me! So glad for that. Measurements didn't change much, but you know how that goes, everything doesn't change at the same time. Here's the stats:

Weight: 146 lbs (loss of 3#)
Omron bf: 23.4% (loss of 1.2%)
Bicep: 11.25" (no change)
Chest: 34.5" (loss of .5")
Waist: 28" (no change)
Stomach: 31" (no change)
Hips: 37" (no change)
Butt: 40.5" (no change)
Thigh: 24.5" (no change)

Talk to all of you more soon, I hope! Until then, here's my log:

DAY 8 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	10a - omelet & oatmeal	1
Meal #3?	1p - steak & salad	1
Meal #4?	3p - apple & cheese	1
Meal #5?	6p - wheat pasta & meat sauce	1
Meal #6?	9p - protein shake	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	TT Intermediate A	1
Cardio or Rest?	Rest	1
Sleep?	7 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	85 of 672
	Compliance:	88.5%

And here's my (not very good) pic from the conference that I went to over the weekend, with my MK friends, and my pics for today, with a little guest visiting:

Day 175 - Damage Control

2008-04-06T21:32:00.003-04:00

Well, I'm back but being away really set me back. I tried to plan as well as I could, and I started out good, but got worse as time went on. But I'm moving on and tomorrow will be better. But my accountability score is really crappy now. I'm really going to have to step it up to make things better coming up, but here's where I am now, all the missing logs. Gotta run, will be catching up more tomorrow!

Here's Friday, finished the day well and even resisted a pizza party that night.

DAY 5 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	8a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	10:30a - proatmeal pancakes	1
Meal #3?	1p - Red Lobster	1
Meal #4?	4p - protein bar	1
Meal #5?	7p - chicken salad	1
Meal #6?	10p - apple	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	TT Intermediate A	1
Cardio or Rest?	TT Beginner Interval A	1
Sleep?	10 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	58 of 672
	Compliance:	96.6%

Then Saturday came along, I worked out in the morning, but things deteriorated after that...also no official pics today but I have "travel" pics.

DAY 6 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	7a - proatmeal pancakes	1
Meal #2?	10a - sugar & fat free latte	1
Meal #3?	1p - free meal	1
Meal #4?	4p - m & ms	0
Meal #5?	7p - fish and veggies	1
Meal #6?	10p - fruit and nuts	1
Water?	not enough	0
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	30 min cardio	1
Sleep?	5 hrs	0
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	0
	Daily Score:	8 of 12
	Cumulative:	66 of 672
	Compliance:	91.6%

And here's today...I was home but just couldn't get back on track...no workout even though all I had to do was 30 min of light activity. Also no pics at all.

DAY 7 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	none	0
Meal #2?	10a - protein shake	1
Meal #3?	1p - chicken quinoa salad	1
Meal #4?	3p - apple and cheese	1
Meal #5?	7p - steak and salad	1
Meal #6?	9p - chocolate	0
Water?	not enough	0
Weights or Rest?	rest	1
Cardio or Rest?	skipped	0
Sleep?	8 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	0
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	7 of 12
	Cumulative:	73 of 672
	Compliance:	86.9%

So ouch on my overall percentage but this week I'll be back in the swing. If I am perfect all week I will be back up to 93%. Still not where I want to be, but it really makes it obvious where I am lacking in discipline. I'll keep on it. Also be catching up on everyone's blog posts tomorrow, I was working on business stuff most of the day so didn't check up. Talk to you all soon!

Day 173 - JP's cooking explosion

2008-04-04T11:29:00.007-04:00

Okay, as promised, here is the treat I was talking about: I did a cooking video! It is kind of long, but let me know what you think. Below is the written recipe (as I made it) and nutritional info in case you want to make it for yourself.

Lush Lime Quinoa
1-1/2 cups water
1 cup quinoa (rinsed)
2 Tb olive oil
1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1 medium cucumber, chopped
1-1/2 chopped bell peppers, variety of colors
1/2 cup almonds, chopped
garlic sea salt to taste
dried cilantro to taste
4 oz grilled chicken
Preparation:
1) Boil water in medium saucepan. Add quinoa, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes or until all water is absorbed.
2) Place all other ingredients in a bowl and add cooked quinoa. Gently mix well. Makes 6 servings
Nutrition Info: (approximate per serving)
Calories: 331
Fat: 13g
Carb: 21g
Fiber: 4g
Protein: 32g

without chicken-
Calories: 206
Fat: 12g
Carb: 21g
Fiber: 4g
Protein: 6g

I know it's kind of high in fat but it is good fat and can easily be reduced by only using 1 Tbs of oil or less almonds. Hope you like it!

As far as the rest of my day will be going, I am leaving at 4:30 for Baltimore so I won't be back on until Saturday night, but I made protein bars to take with me for snacks and I have some more proatmeal pancakes to eat for my breakfast tomorrow, the other meals will be out and I will just be having salads with chicken or some other protein/veggie combo that is available. There's a fitness center at the hotel so I will be doing my 30 min cardio there tomorrow morning.
So far today, things have been great. I did my workouts this morning and got to sleep in, going out to lunch with Jeff but that will still be a clean meal. Here's my log so far, and my pics. I'll update the rest tomorrow:

DAY 5 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	8a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	10:30a - proatmeal pancakes	1
Meal #3?	1p - Red Lobster	0 or 1
Meal #4?	4p - cottage cheese, carrots	0 or 1
Meal #5?	7p - chicken salad	0 or 1
Meal #6?	10p - protein bar	0 or 1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0 or 1
Weights or Rest?	TT Intermediate A	1
Cardio or Rest?	TT Beginner Interval A	1
Sleep?	10 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	0 or 1
	Daily Score:	0 of 12
	Cumulative:	46 of 672
	Compliance:	95.8%

Day 172 - Wrapping up a good day

2008-04-03T22:11:00.004-04:00

Well the day went well, good news all around and I got my points back up to 100% for the day so yay me! Jujitsu tonight was great again, I did ground fighting with 5 people in a row and still wasn't that winded. I am so happy! I haven't even been working on my endurance, but between doing regular HIIT and losing 18 lbs (more of fat), my abilities have really skyrocketed. I am so excited! So that was a great end to my day. I be back tomorrow with that special thing I promised and my plan for while I am in Baltimore. Thanks for all the comments and checking in everyone is doing, it helps me so much! Keep on shredding everyone - only 52 days left!

DAY 4 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	7a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	10a - proatmeal pancakes	1
Meal #3?	1p - grilled chix, quinoa salad	1
Meal #4?	3p - cottage cheese	1
Meal #5?	6p - lean hamburgers, salad	1
Meal #6?	9:30p - PN mixed nut cookies	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	REST	1
Cardio or Rest?	TT Beginner Interval B	1
Sleep?	7 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1/2 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	46 of 672
	Compliance:	95.8 %

Day 172 - A Run!

2008-04-03T11:25:00.007-04:00

So I actually went for a run today...those of you who know me best must now pick themselves off the floor because they fell off their chair from utter amazement. I'll give you a minute... :) Well I didn't die, as evidenced by this blog post, so it's possible that I will do it again in the future but man I am so not a runner. I don't even know how to do it right. I mean, I can make my legs go faster than a walk and thus be running, but I don't know how to breathe or anything. But what happened was I didn't do my HIIT after my workout yesterday, so I had to do the whole warm up and such, and it was going to take 20 min which I just couldn't bear to do running in place and it's kind of a nice day, so I thought I'd try it. And Jedi wanted to as well. So I can't run in my neighborhood, it's too dangerous for my little pup because he's a zig-zagger, so we went to the little park 2 minutes from my house and did our HIIT. It was a pretty easy set of intervals, but I needed to start as a beginner since I was doing a "real" run, not in place. It is so different. So we went 1.5 miles in 20 minutes total (counting warm up and cool down), alternating between running and slow walking in 2 min intervals. So technically I only did 6 minutes of actual running, but it was pretty good. Lungs burned a little, it was a little chilly. Jedi really liked it, he was so happy. And here I wasn't sure if his little legs would get too tired. Nope, he's a beast. So that's the workout for the day, food intake is good so far, but I gotta roll out and get some work done. Also, I am going it Baltimore tomorrow afternoon into Saturday and I will not be bringing the laptop so I hope all of you can survive 24 hrs without me :) I have to go to the MK Career Conference. It is usually pretty fun but I have to plan my meals carefully because they do not have good food choices there. They act like it is, but they have no clue. Anyway, pics will posted tonight, have a special treat for everyone tomorrow that I am working on, but here's the plan for the day:

DAY 4 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	7a - protein shake	0 or 1
Meal #2?	10a - proatmeal pancakes	0 or 1
Meal #3?	1p - grilled chix, quinoa salad	0 or 1
Meal #4?	3p - cottage cheese, carrots	0 or 1
Meal #5?	6p - lean hamburgers	0 or 1
Meal #6?	9p - PN mixed nut cookies	0 or 1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0 or 1
Weights or Rest?	REST	0 or 1
Cardio or Rest?	TT Beginner Interval B	0 or 1
Sleep?	7 hrs	0 or 1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	0 or 1
Visualization?	1/2 hr AVP	0 or 1
	Daily Score:	0 of 12
	Cumulative:	34 of 672
	Compliance:	94.4 %

P.S. I had planned on having my last meal last night while I was reading, but I ended up just going to bed I was so tired and actually still full from dinner so I went back and edited my score. Aaaah my % is going down...must...work...harder...

Day 171 - Weird Day...

2008-04-02T21:03:00.005-04:00

Well today did not go as planned but it was still okay. I decided to give blood this afternoon, so I did have a box of raisins after that at 1:45 that's not on the chart. It was better than the cookies and cheez-its that were the other choices. Then I decided to have a free meal for dinner because I was feeling a little run down, so it was unplanned but still allowed so I am giving myself a point still for that. Everything else was good today, so here's the chart and my pics:

DAY 3 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	9:30a - toast, banana, PB, eggs	1
Meal #3?	12:30p - pecan crusted salmon, broccoli	1
Meal #4?	3:30p - cottage cheese, cucumber	1
Meal #5?	6:30p - calzone - free meal	1
Meal #6?	9p - PN mixed nut cookie	0
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	TT Intermediate B	1
Cardio or Rest?	Rest	1
Sleep?	6 hrs	0
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	10 of 12
	Cumulative:	34 of 672
	Compliance:	94.4%

OOPS!!

2008-04-02T20:33:00.002-04:00

Okay, well I just realized today when I tried to show the ECSS pushup video to a friend that it was not the correct one with the whole video on it. I was wondering why no one had anything to say about it...so here's the right one...it starts off the same as the other one but is the entire contest...

Day 171 - The plan

2008-04-02T10:25:00.005-04:00

So I'm just going to do my plan right now, pics tonight, because I have a lot to get done IRL today, not that I wouldn't love to just sit here in front of my computer and wait for shredders to update their blogs all day, because I could do that seriously. It's like half my life now. Maybe more... :)
I already missed a point today because I didn't get enough sleep last night. Went to bed at 11:30 and woke up at 5, made breakfast and lunch for Jeff, had my shake, did my AVP, then fell asleep on the couch at about 6:30 for maybe an hour. I just was sitting there one minute, asleep the next. Anyway, that's what has put me behind today so I'll see you later!

DAY 3 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	9:30a - toast, banana, PB, eggs	1
Meal #3?	12:30p - pecan crusted salmon, broccoli	0 or 1
Meal #4?	3:30p - cottage cheese, carrots	0 or 1
Meal #5?	6:30p - lean hamburgers	0 or 1
Meal #6?	9p - PN mixed nut cookies	0 or 1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	0 or 1
Weights or Rest?	TT Intermediate B	1
Cardio or Rest?	Rest	1
Sleep?	6 hrs	0
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	0 or 1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	0 of 12
	Cumulative:	24 of 672
	Compliance:	%