Day 133 - Killer leg day

Well today things went well. It was the start of the low fat phase of MS and I did well with that even with going out to lunch this afternoon with my sister. I made sure I got in enough protein today as well, I was supposed to have at least 150g and I got more than that, so I am very happy with that, as well as the fact that I stayed under 1800 cal. Yay me. Then the workout today was muscle rounds for lower body and it was really killer but great. I think it might have been the most intense leg workout I have done since I started back in October. I only had to do 3 body parts so I could really concentrate on them, and with what I learned last week about the amount of weight I could handle, I upped the amounts I used for these exercises and it was great. I think I got the weights to almost exactly the right numbers because I was definitely DONE when it was over. I'm sure I'll be complaining about this tomorrow and Tuesday but for now I am happy to have given it my all and hopefully be making progress on my lagging lower body transformation. I also did a little abs and I always like that - I'll be SO excited when I can see my abs because I know they are in good shape, just hidden under some fat still. So tomorrow I do upper body and the pushup challenge so I'm looking forward to having some good numbers to give you for that. I know I am lagging behind in my picture posting but rest assured I am taking them, I just have to do the editing and posting still. Tomorrow should be the day for that. I will be in Virginia tomorrow evening for a Mary Kay event (close to DC) so I have to do my entry early in the day and I'll be home late so my schedule might be strange on Tuesday but it's all good I'll work it out. That's the update from Shred Central, or at least one of the Shred Centrals....Adam should have more about ECSS on his blog today but I don't see it yet - I'm sure he's really busy but keep checking it out to see because it will be cool I'm sure...See you soon!
PS Seems some girl named Lilla has challenged the rest of the NY4 to a little competition. Well, as you all might have guessed, I am not the competitive type so I don't think I can respond to that...NOT...okay I'm extremely competitive so I'm going to have to now totally kick some booty. Not that I didn't have enough motivation already but now it's also for glory. BRING IT ON!!!

Day 132 - 30 Days and counting...

So today marks 30 days until ECSS and to celebrate we have some new page elements that Adam has put together for those of us who are going aka "The New York Four". ECSS is, in case you don't know, the East Coast Shredder Summit, which came about because of Adam's milestone of completing 500 days and the opportunity he has to work out with the author of BFFM himself, Tom Venuto. When he confirmed his trip to the East Coast, those of us who live near to NJ and NY, where he will be, asked for an opportunity to get together with Adam, and he graciously accepted, as long as we were to make a serious commitment to a physique transformation by then. So 4 of us ended up being able to take him up on that, and we even are going to be able to work out with Tom ourselves! For me this is so exciting because I originally found Adam's blog through Tom after being part of his BFFM inner circle, and then got involved in the Group Shreds and the ShredderSphere with Adam, so being able to meet them both will be really cool, as well as getting to meet some of my fellow Shredders who have been supporting me along the way in my journey. All of that is really great motivation for me to complete the larger part of my transformation in the next 30 days and complete the goals I have set for myself since beginning my journey October 15th. Things are going well in this stage, having switched between Metabolic Surge and BFFM during the different missions and currently finishing up day 7 on MS today. So the rest of this push will be on MS and meeting most of my original goals to be at my very best for Adam and Tom. That's the plan anyway.
So today was all fruit, always a tough one, I just want something SALTY!! I also went to the grocery store today to get things for the next 10 days so that was tough because I just wanted to eat everything!! I don't know what it is, but no matter how much fruit I eat, I never feel full. But that's okay, I'll live through it and have some great low fat meals tomorrow. The day of rest from exercise has certainly helped as well, I am feeling much better in the muscles and will be hopefully totally healed up for the next workout tomorrow.
One thing I have not done is that I was planning on making menus for all my meals ahead of time and I didn't do it for the low carb days, but I will certainly have to do it for the low fat days because last time through MS I think that was my minor downfall. I also have not done the glutamine as planned, but I am waiting for my GNC discount to kick in next week :) and I'll stock up then. Hey, gotta save money where I can!
So that's the background on ECSS and the update for today, going to get my graphics all up now so let me know what you think. Talk to you soon!

Day 131 - Tough day

I'm going to make this short - lots to post tomorrow but I wanted to do today's update at least. Today was rough because it was all protein and I was in a lot of pain. It was all soreness but it really felt bad today as far as stopping me from moving at all sometimes. Plus I didn't have to work and it was snowy here so I didn't leave the house and I think the less I move around, the worse it is. However, I started to do my cardio this morning and I just couldn't get through it. Between the pain and low energy, I had to quit. I didn't want to have to say that I did, but that's the reality. I guess all that work the last few days has really caught up with me, as well as the lack of carbs shorting my energy. I was good for a while, but after 5 days of it, I think my body is ready for something. Then of course it was all protein today so that was tough as well but I hit all the parameters I was supposed to. Tomorrow is all fruit so at least I get carbs but I know that is the toughest day. Then I have 10 days that will be easier to handle. Plus tomorrow is a day of rest so hopefully I can recover fully. I guess I overdid it being gung-ho to get back on MS full throttle. But that's not going to stop me from keeping that intensity when I work out next because that's what I have to do to get results. Michael commented that I should change my lower body workout if I am unhappy with the results and I think that I already have, actually, since I was unable to do squats for a very long time and then when I could, it was during last month when I was not very dedicated to my workouts. So I think that I will improve from here, or at least I hope I do. If not, I'll make more changes, but I have been through enough change for this week :) Thanks for the advice Michael. So that's today, I'll have my pics up tomorrow and hopefully more energy and less pain. Hooya!

Day 130 - Klutzy goofy me

I don't know why, but I have been really uncoordinated today. I have been dropping things and hurting myself in minor ways all over the place. I hope it is over now. I have a burn on my right hand and blister on my left. Thankfully I didn't kill myself at Jujitsu. :) Anyway, today was good though, because I almost chickened out on my workout and was going to trade tomorrow's HIIT for today's lower body training since I was still sore but I said NO, GET DOWN THERE AND DO IT and I did. Lactic acid training - more squats, hamstring curls, shoulders, triceps. All good stuff. I am better about that kind of training anyway because you are trying for high reps at first and then after that it's just however many you can do, so I never short myself on that like I tend to do on the low-rep stuff. However, I forgot to mention yesterday that I did skip my HIIT then so tomorrow I have to be sure to get in a good one. I just couldn't face it yesterday after the pushups and the soreness and all. I also forgot to mention though that I took a stab at one-armed pushups. I only managed 5 pretty bad ones per arm but it was still cool if you ask me. So I didn't have to do cardio today but I did have some during Jujitsu so that should make up for some of what I missed yesterday. It's funny - I can be so sore when I get to class, but when I'm in there fighting I don't notice it at all. It's great. Wish I had discipline like that in every area of my life. But I digress....tomorrow then is pushups and HIIT and all protein. I am trying to finish out my day with a protein shake now but I experimented with it and it's kind of weird. My blender must be on the fritz or something because the ice just didn't blend. So it's kind of the consistency of snow. Ha ha ha. Jedi seems to like it, but don't trust his judgement, he also licks his butt. Just kidding, it's not really that bad, actually still probably better than straight protein powder in water. It is SOOOOOO much better in milk - one thing I miss about the low carb days. So I guess that's enough babble for now - I must be getting delirious. Hey my mom said I looked skinny today, or something to that effect. That's a lot coming from her, she's pretty critical. She said she could see it in my face. Yeah, that's exactly where I'm trying to lose it :) Just kidding, I appreciated the noticing...So, more excitement tomorrow. For now here's my pics - I think I can see some thinning out of my waist probably from this low carb cycle, and my back and arm muscles are showing up, but what's with the lower body? Come on now, it's killin' me!

Day 129 - DOM DOM DOM DOMS

So yeah I'm still sore - I think it's getting worse. Glad those squats were good ones! I don't really have anything else interesting to say tonight except that I definitely reached my carb limit today, but it was mostly from veggies so that's good. And I still don't know if you can subtract fiber or any of that like in Atkins but whatever. What I did realize is that today I passed 100 posts in my blog so yay me. Obviously I have not been posting every day since it is day 129 but it is cool to have over 100 in the books. Never thought it would be this big when I started. So that's about all I have to say tonight, gotta make Jeff some lunch. Love to all the shredders and here's hoping Adam's back soon!

Day 129 - Whining

Today I am feeling pretty tired, sore and achy. I did lower body yesterday so my legs are sore, then Jujitsu last night so I am a little beat up, and then upper body lactic acid training with the pushup challenge workout this morning so I am tired. Man what a complainer I am. But it's all GREAT! No, seriously, I am making great progress this week so I am not going to be upset about a little pain, I am used to that. I just don't want to injure myself and have to stop but I think I will be fine. Besides that, I feel good...okay that sounds weird but I guess I mean mentally because I have been doing what I am supposed to and the low carb has been no problem for me. I need to go shopping though, in preparation for my all protein and all fruit days coming up. That's all for now, hopefully I'll be back tonight with something more interesting...

Day 128 - Pushup video & Pics

And here's my clothing challenge picture - Hey what do you know, I made progress! :)

Day 128 - Speedy

Just a quick note so I am holding up my accountability but I have to go to bed - last night was bad after I went to bed at 11 the dog kept waking me up until about 1am so I did not sleep well. I had to have a nap this afternoon I was so wrecked but anyway other than that it was a good day. Got in my lower body fat loss circuit and I realized that in the past I have been way too easy on myself for the amount of weight I was lifting. I don't know what connection I wasn't making in my mind but I was choosing a weight to do for the specified number of reps and then just doing as many as it said instead of pushing until I couldn't do any more. This time around on MS I am going to failure (or close) and the reps are way higher than listed which means that my weight could go up alot. So I need to work on the intimidation factor of that. And also I don't feel like I am doing as much when I am only getting in 4 reps by the last set. I don't know, I'll have to get used to it, but it's a work in progress and I can't believe I didn't even realize I was doing it. Nutrition was good - I actually am really good with low carb for short periods of time so for now I'm actually enjoying it. That will change in 2 more days but I can already feel a difference. So that's the story for the day - did pushups as well and I'll put up the video for that tomorrow along with my daily pics. See ya!

Day 127 - LATE!

Okay, well I did not get my workout in today - I wanted to make sure I had my shake before I worked out so after my measurements this morning I had that, but then my husband got up and since it was a holiday, he had all kinds of things planned that he needed to get done before his new job starts tomorrow morning. So I had to hurry up and get ready to get going with him and we spent all day running around for stuff he needed. Then I was going to workout in the late afternoon, but Jeff and his brothers were using the bench and I needed the bar for my squats and deadlifts, so I couldn't do it then. Then I had my regular Monday MK meeting from 6:30-10 (stayed late and talked to my director, plus it's 1/2hr away from my house and I stopped to get milk). Then once I got home, I still had to do laundry because Jeff needed certain clothes for tomorrow, iron his shirt, plus I made his lunch, so here it is 11pm and I never got my workout in. So I went ahead and had my evening shake and am calling it a night. I wanted to do another evening workout and was planning to on my ride back from my meeting, but forgot about all the other stuff that remained to do for him and decided to switch my rest day of tomorrow with today and I'll just do today's workout tomorrow. I know that sounds like a big pile of excuses, but the workout was honestly on my mind a lot, I didn't just give up on it when I didn't get it in as scheduled in the AM, which for me is progress. Moving it to tomorrow will give my lower body one less day between workouts, but I'll survive. I don't want to count an actual missed workout, just a rescheduled one. Otherwise, things are going really well. Under carb and calorie count today. Having this short deadline is much better for my motivation.
Oh, crap I just realized I was supposed to do my pushups today too. Well I guess that's tomorrow as well - I'll get this right some day. Too much going on today! Anyway, talk to you all tomorrow!

Day 127 - Morning Stat Update

Here are my latest measurements - the loss and gain numbers are actually over 2 weeks since I was injured last week and did not do them. These will be my base numbers for the start of this 36-day sprint to ECSS.

Weight: 152 lbs (GAIN of 1# this week, loss of 0# in M3, 14# overall)
Omron bf: 25.4% (GAIN of 0.7% this week, GAIN 0.3% in M3)
MS bf: 18.4% (loss of 0.4% in M3, 4.7% overall)

Bicep: 11.5" (loss of 0" this week, GAIN of .5" in M3, LOSS of 1" overall)
Chest: 35" (loss of 0" this week, 0" in M3, 1.5" overall)
Waist: 28.25" (loss of 0" this week, 0" in M3, 2.75" overall)
Stomach: 31.5" (GAIN of .5" this week, GAIN of .5" in M3, loss of 3" overall)
Hips: 37.5" (loss of 0" this week, .25" in M3, 3.5" overall)
Butt: 41" (loss of 0" this week, 0" in M3, 2.5" overall)
Thigh: 25" (loss of 0" this week, 0" in M2, 3" overall)
Total inches: GAIN of .5" this week, GAIN of .75" in M3, LOSS of 17.25" overall

Okay, some of these numbers are kind of weird. The Omron says that I gained body fat while the MS bf calculator says I lost it. However, the Omron is based on hydration level, and although I try to do it at the same time every time, first thing in the morning before I have had anything to drink, I'm sure that, as a woman, the amount of water in my body is not always normal. And the MS calculator is based on weight and waist measurement, which makes sense that I lost fat because, although my waist measurement stayed the same, I gained a pound, so the calculator is assuming that pound is muscle. Sounds good, but that doesn't account for adding inches on other parts of the body. And since I did add a little bit to the stomach area, that could be off as well. I'm not too worried about it, really, because I am proud that I have maintained well over the last two weeks with minimal training (none at all the last week). So that's the story for now. I'm sure that after this first intense week my numbers will drop all over and I'll be back on the road to my goal weight.
Speaking of my goals, I was looking them over and in order to meet them I have to lose just over 2# and 2", as well as 1.5% bf every week until ECSS. Now I realize that those are pretty high expectations, but I don't want to adjust my goals until I see what I can do these next 5 weeks, and even if I am not all the way there I will sure be happy with making good progress by then. And maybe after my recovery period I'll do one more round of MS to burn off the last little bit, and then I can focus on maintaining or adding more muscle. Not worried about that right now, just trying to go short term and I'll assess the results afterwards.
So that's it for now, be back with another update this evening.
P.S. I finally put my pics in the Day 125 post and here's today's pics: