Day 175 - Damage Control

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

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

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!

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...

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%

Day 171 - The plan

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:	%

Day 170 - No April Fools!

Okay, so who wants to see a truly hideous before picture of me? Not me, but I thought I would share this just to remind myself not to ever go back. I have been getting comments on my "new" suit that I have been wearing in my BBS pics but I have actually had that suit for a while. It was from Victoria's Secret because that's the only place where I could buy a top and bottom at different sizes. You can see if you compare this before pic from May 2007 with my side shots from today, it is fitting me much better these days. (Yes, the top is different - I bought two with the one bottom - one for activity, one for tanning - it's a girl thing...) Actually, it might end up too big for me, I think I might have stretched it out (yikes!) I still have progress to make, but it is so much better now than before. So here's a tiny piece of redemption...(see, my picture can't even look at itself!)

OUCH! That was very painful. Everything all hanging out...delete delete delete! Okay, on to better times: TODAY! First off (well, I guess second actually) before I get to the nerdy chartyness, I thought I would share some Shredder Scripture. This is especially for someone who I now consider a very good of mine, but it is also for anyone else who wants some inspiration. Here goes:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11

And finally, when you don't think you can get in one more rep...
"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." Isaiah 10:29 :)

So that's my message for the day...things went pretty much according to plan again today, it started raining during our walk so I cut it short by about 5 min (Mr. Delicate Jedi doesn't like rain) but got most of it in. Then Jujitsu tonight topped it off with a nice workout as well so I feel pretty good. Nutrition was good, I did have two feedings with starchy carbs instead of just one but both were within 3 hrs of exercise so I think I was still good there. I tried quinoa today! It was the recipe Lilla had on her site and it was great (Thanks!). More on that in upcoming days...Anyway, I didn't have any carbs after my workout tonight so I'm thinking it all balances out. I had green tea in place of one of my glasses of water today and I'm just finishing up my last cup so I'm good to go with that. I gotta go now or I'll get negative sleep points so here's the chart:

DAY 1 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	9:30a - omelet & oatmeal	1
Meal #3?	1p - grilled chix w/ quinoa salad	1
Meal #4?	4p - cottage cheese, fruit	1
Meal #5?	6:30p - chix & veggies	1
Meal #6?	10p - PN mixed nut cookies	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	REST	1
Cardio or Rest?	30 min walk	1
Sleep?	7.5 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	24 of 672
	Compliance:	100%

Woo hoo 100% still! I am so beating Lilla... ;)

Day 170 - BBS Heats up the ShredderSphere!

Well from looking around the blogs, I think fellow shredders Lynda, CeeKaye, and Bec are joining the NY4 in our Beach Body Shred. Any other takers? It is so exciting to be doing this as a group with the same finish date - it just seems to make things easier!
So after the new workout yesterday I am starting to get some good DOMS, can't wait until tomorrow when they really set in! I think the think that really did it was the split squats. I always used to just call those lunges but I guess the difference is whether you put your feet back together each time or not. At least, that's the only difference I can tell. Well, when I started out training, I was afraid of doing BB squats on my own, plus I didn't know how much weight I could do, and I did not have a bar pad so it killed my shoulders and neck. So all I did were DB lunges (which I guess were actually split squats because I didn't step back every time to save my knees). I eventually fixed all of those problems and worked up to higher weight so I couldn't even do DB lunges anymore because it wasn't enough weight. For some reason it never occurred to me to do them with the bar. Duh. So anyway, long story long, yesterday I did the split squat with the bar and it was quite a difference. Actually, I way overestimated how much weight I could do because I was comparing it with what I do for a normal squat, so I actually overdid it in the beginning, which is probably where some of the soreness is coming from as well. I should have dropped some weight. But it is definitely much more on the hamstrings and glutes than the regular squats so I am glad for that because I was getting tired of deadlifts.
So today my TT plan says to do 30 min of light activity so I think I'll go take a walk with my favorite little guy Jedi because it is pretty warm today. Plus I have Jujitsu tonight so that will be a little extra. Only doing 3 workouts a week scares me so I think I might be working in extra cardio/activity but I don't want to overdo it so I'll stick to the plan closely for the first week or two and then see by my results if I want to ramp it up some. Plus there are other TT plans to choose from so I can switch those as well, although I believe that most, if not all, of them are a 3 workout per week schedule. Just doesn't feel like enough but we'll see. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it. I am still also so excited that I got through the HIIT yesterday. You don't understand how much I hate (delete delete, I mean LOVE) cardio. Even HIIT has been tough for me in the past but I think it is more of a mental block than a physical one because I did it yesterday and I didn't die. And my knees and/or feet don't hurt today so I just need to get through it and I know I'll feel much better. Anyway, that's the rest of the story from yesterday, here's the plan for the day and my pics:

DAY 2 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	9a - omelet & oatmeal	0 or 1
Meal #3?	12p - grilled chix on salad	0 or 1
Meal #4?	3p - cottage cheese, carrots	0 or 1
Meal #5?	6p - chix & veggies	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?	30 min walk	0 or 1
Sleep?	7-8 hrs	0 or 1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	0 or 1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	0 or 1
	Daily Score:	0 of 12
	Cumulative:	12 of 672
	Compliance:	100 %

P.S. In case you are wondering, AVP stands for affirmation, visualization, and prayer. It is a habit that I have steadily been getting better at doing over the last few months and having it on my chart really helps reinforce this. I do my AVP for all aspects of my life, not just for my physique transformation goals, because I have many other things that I am reaching for in my life.

Day 169 - Evening update!

Well today went great! All nutrition was compliant and pretty much on time, some a little late but still within a close enough window. I drank all the water I was supposed to, and that's something I have struggled with in the past, but for some reason it was no problem today. The first TT workout I did was interesting - I wasn't sure if it was going to be hard enough because I am used to lifting heavier weights, but it was pretty good so we'll see after a few weeks. And I did HIIT as well, which was great because I have been slacking off on cardio lately and it got me back into it. So here's the log for the day:

DAY 1 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	1
Meal #2?	9:30a - omelet & oatmeal	1
Meal #3?	1p - grilled chix on salad	1
Meal #4?	3p - protein bar	1
Meal #5?	6p - salmon & veggies	1
Meal #6?	9p - PN mixed nut cookies	1
Water?	96 oz - 16 oz/meal	1
Weights or Rest?	TT Intermediate A	1
Cardio or Rest?	TT Beginner Interval A	1
Sleep?	7 hrs	1
Accountability?	pics, blog, chart	1
Visualization?	1 hr AVP	1
	Daily Score:	12 of 12
	Cumulative:	12 of 672
	Compliance:	100%

Yay me 100%!! I have so much to do tomorrow that I didn't get to today work-wise so I'll sign off now and get to sleep. Keep on shredding!

Day 169 - Mission 3 Phase 2 BEGINS!

Well it is finally here - the start of another SHRED! This will be my Mission 3 overtime since I did not fully realize all my goals from it yet, so I will continue on until I do so. The NY4 have decided to all shred together the next 8 weeks to get ready for summer, so we are unveiling the "New York Four Beach Body Shred" today, Day 1, which will run until Memorial Day weekend, Day 56, May 25, 2008. This shred will be my greatest ever, and will be successful because of the fabulous ladies I have have shredding along beside me: Debbie, Suzette, and Lilla. Check out their blogs and cheer them on!
My goals for this mission are outlined above, and I will reach or exceed all of them in the next 56 days NO MATTER WHAT! I will have two blog posts each day, one in the morning to lay out my plan for the day and post my daily pics, and one in the evening to show what I accomplished that day and post my daily accountability log. I also plan on doing some fun videos interspersed in there - at least one a week but hopefully more.
I will be using BFFM as my guidebook, as I always do, for all aspects of this mission, but also Precision Nutrition for the baseline nutrition and recipes, and Turbulence Training for the weights and HIIT.
So here's the scary part - I am committing to having my picture taken in a bikini with my car (aka The Shredder Mobile) at the end of the mission and posting the pics up here. That may sound weird since I already post pics of myself in a bikini up here every day, but this is different because the daily pics to me are more for documentation purposes, all business, and I routinely pick them apart viciously. These after pics will be fun and I will be happy with my body in them. That will be a change for me and makes me nervous, but in a motivating way. It's hard to explain, but I am going for something like this:



Only more muscular, not so skinny like they are - I couldn't find any with the right body and a car. My visualization picture for my body is this:

So, anyway, that's the big news that's been in the works lately. And here's my plan for the day, I get one point for completing it by the end of the day and none for not doing it, simple as that. I'll fill in the points in tonight's post:

DAY 1 OF 56	NOTES:	POINTS:
Meal #1?	6a - protein shake	0 or 1
Meal #2?	9a - omelet & oatmeal	0 or 1
Meal #3?	12p - grilled chix on 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 Intermediate A	0 or 1
Cardio or Rest?	TT Beginner Interval A	0 or 1
Sleep?	7-8 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:	%

And here are today's pics:



*******UPDATE******
Oh, duh, forgot to put up my measurements!!
Starting fresh with these, no credit for previous loss allowed...

Weight: 149 lbs
Omron bf: 24.6%
Bicep: 11.25"
Chest: 35"
Waist: 28"
Stomach: 31"
Hips: 37"
Butt: 40.5"
Thigh: 24.5"