Day 158 - Yay workout

Man it was so good to be able to work out today! Plus I think it helped banish the last effects of this cold away as I don't feel it at all now! Still was low carb today so the energy was waning a little for the workout, but otherwise it was good. Upper body fat loss circuit so lower body circuit is tomorrow and then I get to pick up Suzette from the airport!!!!!! I am so excited!!!!!!
Still wish I had more shredding I could do before Monday but it's not enough time to get to where I really want to be before seeing the other shredders. Oh, well, I'm still a work in progress...don't have 500 days under my belt like Adam but still I wasn't working as hard as he was that's for sure. Need to get more focused on that in the months to come before summer is here!! Good news is that my husband and his brother are on board for the next round of shredding (here at home at least) so they will be my guinea pigs for being somewhat of a (rookie!) fat loss coach myself. We will all be going on the Precision Nutrition plan for the next mission. My husband did not do well on BFFM and I think it's because he needs a lot less carbs. However, he also doesn't like a 'low carb diet' per se because of the limited food choices and the lack of energy. So PN looks like hopefully a happy medium because they limit carbs and time them specifically, but do not cut them out radically and there is still a lot of food variety. I am also interested in it because it feels more lifestyle based and involves making the change to constant eating habits that will allow you to lose weight and then maintain it when you are ready without being on a 'diet'. I know that some cringe at the idea of counting portions and food types rather than calories but it isn't really one or the other, it is choosing foods that, based on the fact that they are whole foods and not manufactured, can only have so many calories and those are nutritious calories, not empty ones. And then balancing the different types of food so that in reality you are "watching" calories because you can only have so much of each thing. That's probably not a good explanation, but suffice it to say that at this stage of the game, my husband needs something that he can follow rules for, not have to specifically chart everything and count it, and I am close enough to my goal to have the luxury of seeing if it works and then changing it if I don't see results. In fact, the program expects you to track results very closely and then change things based on that. So we're giving it a try. Also, my brother-in-law needs to gain muscle (he's tall and thin) so it will be interesting to have someone who is a hard-gainer around. It will be a learning experience for me for sure and I find this kind of stuff very interesting. I was going to be a personal trainer at one time but never finished the school for it so this kind of feels like having some clients. The only think I don't like about PN specifically is that they do not include any workouts with it. Not that there's not tons to choose from all over the place, but it would have been interesting to see what they recommend to go with the eating side. As it is, on their forum they have some workouts, just not in the original book, so I'm going to be checking those out as well.
So, I gotta go, the dog's acting up. Talk to some of you here soon, and some of you I will see in a few days. WOO HOO!!

Day 157 - Recovering...

Thanks to everyone who wished me better health - I think I am coming out of it now and am planning on being back in the game totally by tomorrow. I have to get some workouts in, I really need the extra energy I get from them. And I have a lot of catching up to do - Tom's gonna kick my butt come Monday!! Otherwise, I have been sticking to low carb this week so my nutrition has been excellent even though I have felt like eating everything in sight. I get like that when I don't feel well. Some people don't feel like eating anything, I'm the total opposite. Anyway, I'm going to get to bed to recover some more but wanted to check in and update you on my status...talk to you all soon! Here's to a better day tomorrow!
P.S. Can't believe ECSS is nearly here! Adam's in the US!! (again!)

Day 155 - Hit a snag

Well tonight will be short even though I haven't posted for a few days...it seems that I have picked up the bug that is going around and have not felt up to par in several days. Today was not good either, didn't work out again. It's killing me to be skipping workouts so close to ECSS but I just don't have the energy. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Nutrition has been okay. Weekend was not too good but was totally compliant today so at least I have that going for me. Just trying to keep this sickness from getting me totally down. Be back soon...

Day 146 - Tired!

Things have been good the last few days - everything on plan, just have been really busy trying to get my business in gear. I did have to cut my workout a little short today because I was running late, but I think I will be fine, I'll make up the difference tomorrow. Today was the last day of low carb and tomorrow starts nutrient isolation days, first protein and then fruit, so that is the hardest stretch. It is so worth it, though, I have gotten several comments in the last week regarding how I look and my abs. Yay! I also tried on my jeans for the clothing challenge but didn't take a picture so I'll have to do that tomorrow or Monday because they were definitely getting closer to fitting. Not quite there yet, but they are my skinniest clothes I own. I did wear a suit the other day that I could not comfortably fit into before, and it was much more flattering not bulging out all over the place. It's like having new clothes! So that's what's been going on - I will be better at getting on here daily from now on, I just had a lot going on lately, but I will be back in better habits come Monday. I think I finally have my new schedule figured out. Tomorrow (tonight) is daylight saving time here so we the clocks are going forward an hour. It's 1 am here now so it's like it's really 2 am so I'm sure I'll be sleeping in tomorrow since today was a long day. Catch up with you all sometime later on in the day and I'll have something more intelligent to say then. See ya!

Day 142 - Back in the game

Well I had to take some days off there to rest and heal up from some injuries both new and old but I am back today and better than ever. I pretty much let my meals go haywire over the weekend after my reward meal on Friday, but even haywire is not nearly as bad as it used to be. Sure, I had pizza, but I only ate twice that day (I know, that's not good either) so overall the calories could not have been too bad. Since yesterday I have been doing low carb, though, like I am supposed to be doing for Round 2 of MS and it is going well. I started back working out today with Fat Loss Circuit Training Jump Sets for the upper body and everything was back to normal. So I guess I needed the rest or at least it didn't set me back because when I weighed myself this morning I was as low as I have ever been after all the drama the past week. Women's bodies are so annoying. So I'm over it.
In other news, I got to talk to my fellow NY4 peeps on Sunday so that was cool as usual. We are going to have such a great time at ECSS, I don't even care what we do any more as long as we get a chance to get to know each other better. It is so cool that it has worked out that we can get together. I wish more of the ShredderSphere could be there, but maybe next time it will happen. I am so thankful to have met the people in this group and to be able to take part in this after what seems like such a short time, but has in actuality been a long time coming for me and will cap off 6 months of real-time commitment. What a ride. So in celebration of that and my "back in action" self, I give you my latest and greatest discovery: MORE ABS!! Not one, not two, not three, but I think FOUR abs. It's so exciting!! Still have that slight muffiny-ness to work on (again, woman thing), but my upper body is coming along nicely. And after all the concern about losing strength! Who knew? Also check the tricep oooohh yeah. Okay, enough of that, I know, there I am in my living room taking pictures of my abs. No wonder my dog is like "What ARE you doing?" What can I say, I'm a nut, I had a double espresso this morning and it's just been that kind of day :) Talk to you tomorrow!

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 - 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:

Day 126 - Quick update

Just doing a quick post to say that Day 1 of MS is complete. It was a challenge because it was a weekend but it was good because it forced me to be compliant right out of the gate in a tough situation. And I did it! Under 30 carbs and under 1800 cal today, had my vitamins, and did my workout. I didn't get to the workout until about an hour ago, but I made myself do it and it felt great! Then I had my post-workout nutrition and I am going to relax for a little while before going to bed. But first I wanted to make sure to fulfill my commitment of posting every day. So that's it for now. New pics and stats tomorrow.

Day 61 - 12/14/07

Here's today's pics:

Day 60 - 12/13/07

Here's today's pics:

Day 59 - 12/12/07

Here's today's pics:

Day 58 - 12/11/07

Here's today's photos:

Day 57 - Day 1 of Mission 2

So here are my end of Mission 1 / Beginning of Mission 2 measurements:

Weight: 156 lbs (GAIN of 1# this week, loss of 10# overall)
Bicep: 11.5" (loss of 0" this week, 1" overall)
Chest: 35.5" (GAIN of .5" this week, loss of 1" overall)
Waist: 29" (loss of 0" this week, 2" overall)
Stomach: 32.5" (GAIN of .5" this week, loss of 2" overall)
Hips: 39" (GAIN of .25" this week, loss of 2" overall)
Butt: 41.75" (GAIN of .25" this week, loss of 1.75" overall)
Thigh: 25.25" (loss of 0" this week, 2.5" overall)
Total inches: GAIN of 1.5" this week, loss of 12.25" overall

So I have definitely gained some (however, my measurements aren't always totally accurate, I'm sure) but to be honest, after 10 days of eating pretty much whatever I felt like and only exercising twice (I skipped my last 2 workouts), I can't really be upset. I think this goes to show that my metabolism has sped up because I only gained one pound over all that time, plus having to skip some of the last days of the regular program as well due to injury and such. So I am happy with my results overall, it would have been nice to at least maintain my highest losses from day 43, but still not bad for basically two weeks "off". And really, it was hard to be off that long, I am really excited to get back on plan and working out regularly - obviously I will feel much better when I am moving forward in my goals rather than staying the same or going backwards!
I have posted my new goals at the top of the page so if you stop by, keep me on track! For this mission, I am also going to do comparison pics every day instead of just weekly, to keep up the accountability, as well as going along with whatever accountability method Adam decides that we are going to do when we reset the clock for Group Shred 2. Gotta go workout now - see you later!

Okay here are my Day 1 pics...new mission, new suit, so here goes nothing... :)

REWIND - Day 39 - Thanksgiving!

I was so proud of myself on Thanksgiving. I only had two eggs for breakfast and then we went to dinner at 3:30 so I was really saving all my carbs. And I did exactly what I said I would do - the only carb I had with dinner was cranberry sauce and it was homemade so probably a lot better than the store bought kind as far as sugar goes. I filled up on turkey and green beans with a little portion of squash. And since there was a vegetarian there who could eat way less than I could, nobody said a word to me about my choices. :) Then I did have dessert but I could really enjoy it because it was planned and I knew I had been good all day. Plus I wasn't so full like in past years so I wasn't just forcing some other food down without regard for taste or hunger. Was I really like that? So glad it's in the past and now I control the food, not the other way around.
The one setback was in my workout. I slept in so I didn't start my workout until 10am and I didn't realize it at the time, but it had been over 12 hrs since eating anything and I usually eat something by 7am. So I was 3 hrs overdue for a meal (at least) and I totally crashed 2/3 of the way through my workout. It was like a car running out of gas - I was fine and then all of a sudden during my lunges BAM! I couldn't do any more. I tried to just move on to hamstrings since I had already done extensions and my quads had at least gotten some work, but I had nothing left. It was crazy. Well, not really, I know why, but it was interesting because it was just so obvious that my body ran out of protein to burn and it was not going to work any more. So I got most of it in and had a protein shake immediately and felt better. But it was that exact same feeling I had when I tried to do my workout after the all fruit day without taking in some protein first. I have got to remember that! But the workout prior to that was great and things are going fantastic!

Day 38 - Preparing myself for the feast (and the family)

So tonight will be a quick post - have been doing well with workouts and nutrition, just looking forward to making the right decisions tomorrow for Thanksgiving. It will be my last low carb day and although it probably won't be as good as a normal low carb day, I think I will be able to do pretty good. I plan to not have any carbs all day to save up #1 and then also just enjoy myself and my family, avoiding the worst of the carb hangups with a few treats. I won't have trouble not eating stuffing, potatoes, or rolls because they aren't that big of a deal to me, the biggest thing will be cranberry sauce actually because I really love it. So that will be my little reward and possibly a tiny tiny dessert but I'm not much for that either especially since I will be filling up on turkey as much as possible. Good low fat protein mmmm mmmm. So that's the plan. I have a workout in the morning as well so that will kickstart my metabolism for the day, then it's on to the hardest part of the round, the all protein and all fruit days. I am going to have to modify that a little as well because I am cooking a Thanksgiving dinner at my own house on Saturday (tomorrow I am at my Dad's). That is supposed to be my all fruit day but I think if I stop protein by 6pm on Friday, then do fruit from then until 6pm Saturday, it will still be 24 hrs of fruit and I can just start my low fat day a little early. I think that's fair. So hopefully all this planning works out as I envision it and everyone is understanding of my reasons for being "picky" with what I eat. It's so sad that people question our want to be healthier, but I'm sure it will come up. Oh, well, I can take it. I can just think about how great my pics will look at the end of Mission 1 and how happy I'll be that I didn't give in for one stupid meal anyway. Not worth it. So, I'll post my pics later but I do have them for today, just getting late. See you all soon and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who are celebrating it tomorrow!!

Day 37 - That's it, just day 37

I'm getting to the point where every day is just get up, work out, eat right, repeat. And it's great. Part of my problem has always been re-analyzing the same decisions over and over again. Do I really feel like working out today? Do I need to? I don't have to diet, I can just exercise. I don't have to exercise, I can just diet. I think I'll just start tomorrow, next week, next month, etc and on an on. I guess if I am honest with myself I just wasn't totally committed to making the results happen that I said that I wanted. I wasn't totally committed to the process. I think you have to fall in love with the routine becoming a part of your life. It's like a good marriage. You have to totally commit to the person and then never doubt that decision. It is made, done, there's no turning back. Now you are in the daily maintenance of that decision and you learn to love the routines. At least for me that's how it is. That's how you know you are meant for that person, when you can just do daily life and there's nothing you'd rather be doing. And so it is with this transformation journey - I had to move past the decision process and allow it to become a part of my life that I look forward to every day. Not that it's easy every day but it's certainly not a struggle any more and I work toward making it better all the time. And I love seeing the results of that daily activity, it makes me secure in knowing that I have all that much more incentive to continue in it. Anyway, that's how things are now, in the thick of it, looking forward to GS2 and completing M1 but just enjoying the journey all along and the benefits that I see and feel with each good decision each day. This is what it feels like to have made a lifestyle change, not just a "diet program" or "exercise program". Now it is truly beginning to feel like a Way of Life. Thanks to all of you who have helped me get there and who have become such an important part of the daily activity of my life. I truly hope we can continue this for a very long time and one day all be able to meet face to face. We will all be changed forever by this. I look forward to every minute of it.