Just letting everyone know I am here today. Did my upper body muscle rounds in the AM, went for a 30 min walk with my dog late morning, and had Jujitsu tonight. I think I fulfilled my workout quotient today! Legs sore from yesterday so that's good. I was also researching Precision Nutrition today after reading about it in Lilla's post. Will keep looking over the info, it seems like a good way to transition into a permanent lifestyle change after this round of MS. Plus, my husband has not been losing weight on the current plan I made for him from BFFM so I want to look into something else and see if that will make a difference. All we can do is switch it up and see what happens, right? What have we got to lose? So I'll be around tomorrow. See ya!
PS Put chia seeds in my apple oatmeal protein pancakes this morning. yum yum.
Showing posts with label MS round 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MS round 2. Show all posts
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Day 150 - 5 months!
Here's yesterday's post, a little late:
So it's been that long (and that short!) of a time since I started this blog. What a ride it's been so far...there's so much I have learned from this experience, but here's a few things that stand out to me:
1) Strangers can unite over common life struggles, work toward goals together, and become much closer to each other in the process than you thought you could be to people you've never met.
2) Putting on your bikini every day and posting a picture of you in it on the internet is a great motivator.
3) Having a strong community and accountability structure is ESSENTIAL to long term weight loss success.
4) There IS such a thing as too much fruit.
5) You don't have to be perfect, you just have to show up and keep working, and the results will follow.
There are many more, and maybe I'll start a long list somewhere, but that's all I'm going to get philosophical about for now. Today's workout was lower body muscle rounds and that's always a killer for me but it was great. Upped my weight in squats and calf raises but couldn't yet in deadlifts. My back was already tired from the squats so I had to kind of short the hamstrings today. No biggie - they will get more work next time. Nutrition was low fat today - I haven't been calorie counting so I know that's not good but I have been keeping to the fat numbers so it can't be too bad. Still, I need to make sure I do not go over 1600 cals for this stage.
I also finally got my vitamins today, I have been waiting for them for over a week. So I had my first dose of glutamine yesterday, we'll see if that makes any difference, and I also did end up getting chia seeds so I'll be having fun with those over the next few days. I put them in some crystal light lemonade and it made it very filling. I was expecting them to dissolve more and they didn't, so though you could not taste them, you could see little black seeds floating in the cup. Kind of weird but whatever, I'll try almost anything once. So more on that later, for now gotta get going. ECSS is so close!!!!
So it's been that long (and that short!) of a time since I started this blog. What a ride it's been so far...there's so much I have learned from this experience, but here's a few things that stand out to me:
1) Strangers can unite over common life struggles, work toward goals together, and become much closer to each other in the process than you thought you could be to people you've never met.
2) Putting on your bikini every day and posting a picture of you in it on the internet is a great motivator.
3) Having a strong community and accountability structure is ESSENTIAL to long term weight loss success.
4) There IS such a thing as too much fruit.
5) You don't have to be perfect, you just have to show up and keep working, and the results will follow.
There are many more, and maybe I'll start a long list somewhere, but that's all I'm going to get philosophical about for now. Today's workout was lower body muscle rounds and that's always a killer for me but it was great. Upped my weight in squats and calf raises but couldn't yet in deadlifts. My back was already tired from the squats so I had to kind of short the hamstrings today. No biggie - they will get more work next time. Nutrition was low fat today - I haven't been calorie counting so I know that's not good but I have been keeping to the fat numbers so it can't be too bad. Still, I need to make sure I do not go over 1600 cals for this stage.
I also finally got my vitamins today, I have been waiting for them for over a week. So I had my first dose of glutamine yesterday, we'll see if that makes any difference, and I also did end up getting chia seeds so I'll be having fun with those over the next few days. I put them in some crystal light lemonade and it made it very filling. I was expecting them to dissolve more and they didn't, so though you could not taste them, you could see little black seeds floating in the cup. Kind of weird but whatever, I'll try almost anything once. So more on that later, for now gotta get going. ECSS is so close!!!!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Day 149 - On the bandwagon
Today was not too exciting...first day on low fat so I got to eat regular carbs again (yay!) and lots 'o protein since I was deficient from yesterday. All day I was hungry but I ate the right foods so I was still on plan all day. I did not, however, get in my weight training. I had Jujitsu tonight so that was a workout but still need to catch up with my regular workout tomorrow. The only other piece of news is that I am jumping on the Mike and Michael bandwagon and deciding to not post any pics until ECSS. I am already behind on posting them anyway, so what's a few more days? So no more for two more weeks. I will continue to take them so I have them for my transformation video and other documentation, but no one will be seeing them. I would rather do that than do pics with regular clothes on, since I still want the others for my records. So no pics today, hope I have something exciting to reveal in 13 more days!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Day 148 - Yay fruit
It's funny how much I look forward to having fruit after the low carb phase and then how quickly I get tired of it by the end of the day. Oh, well, I'm enjoying it for now - it's still early! :)
So here's my measure data for this morning:
Weight: 148 lbs (loss of 2# this week, loss of 4# in M3, 18# overall)
Omron bf: 23.6% (loss of 1.5% in M3)
MS bf: 18.4% (loss of 0% in M3, loss of 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" (loss of .25" this week, .25" in M3, 3" overall)
Stomach: 31.5" (loss of 0" 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: 40.5" (loss of 0" this week, .5" in M3, 3" overall)
Thigh: 24.75" (loss of .5" this week, .5" in M2, 3.5" overall)
Total inches: loss of .75" this week, loss of .5" in M3, LOSS of 18.5" overall
So I am back on the trend of loss for inches, scale weight, and body fat this week which is a relief. I have been going up and down slightly in at least one of these categories every week since I began mission 3. I guess that is a reflection of the fact that I started to slack off once my 100 days was over, but with ECSS coming up I have done much better the past two weeks. So that shows, except of course not as much as I had hoped it would by now, but at least they are going down. I think as far as my measurements go, I was a little aggressive with them early on so I may have pulled a little tight on some of them before, which is why I am showing a gain now. I just think I am being more accurate and consistent with my tape now. I only have 8 more pounds to go in the weight department but 6% in the body fat (according to the Omron) and I don't know how many inches. According to the MS calculator, if I lose only 1 more inch in the waist and am down to my goal of 140#, I will be at 17% bf. I don't know about that. I wish I knew what my measurements were back when I was 17% before, I would have something to go by, but those records are long gone. I do know that I could wear those jeans I have been trying on for the clothing challenge and I can't get into them yet so I definitely need to get rid of some more inches. My original goal by ECSS was to lose 30 total inches and I have only gotten to 18.5 so that's 11.5 more and I don't know whether that is realistic. I don't want to lose any more in my arms or chest, and my waist is pretty low already. Maybe another .5" but I don't think much more will come off of there. I could definitely lose about 2" off my stomach though. And more than that off my hips and butt, maybe 3" each. And probably 2" off each thigh. That would be pretty awesome. So let's see, thats...12.5" so yeah, I guess 30 total inches is pretty good. Not by ECSS of course, but ultimately, that seems about right.
I am happy for the little things so far, though, like being able to fit into more of my clothes comfortably (and some I couldn't fit into at all), seeing some abs again, and my thighs not rubbing together anymore. So that's the story for now, today is a rest day because it is all fruit but I may post later on tonight just to catch up on how much I am tired of fruit by then :) Keep up the good work, all, and can't wait to see the rest of the NY4 in 2 WEEKS!!!!
So here's my measure data for this morning:
Weight: 148 lbs (loss of 2# this week, loss of 4# in M3, 18# overall)
Omron bf: 23.6% (loss of 1.5% in M3)
MS bf: 18.4% (loss of 0% in M3, loss of 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" (loss of .25" this week, .25" in M3, 3" overall)
Stomach: 31.5" (loss of 0" 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: 40.5" (loss of 0" this week, .5" in M3, 3" overall)
Thigh: 24.75" (loss of .5" this week, .5" in M2, 3.5" overall)
Total inches: loss of .75" this week, loss of .5" in M3, LOSS of 18.5" overall
So I am back on the trend of loss for inches, scale weight, and body fat this week which is a relief. I have been going up and down slightly in at least one of these categories every week since I began mission 3. I guess that is a reflection of the fact that I started to slack off once my 100 days was over, but with ECSS coming up I have done much better the past two weeks. So that shows, except of course not as much as I had hoped it would by now, but at least they are going down. I think as far as my measurements go, I was a little aggressive with them early on so I may have pulled a little tight on some of them before, which is why I am showing a gain now. I just think I am being more accurate and consistent with my tape now. I only have 8 more pounds to go in the weight department but 6% in the body fat (according to the Omron) and I don't know how many inches. According to the MS calculator, if I lose only 1 more inch in the waist and am down to my goal of 140#, I will be at 17% bf. I don't know about that. I wish I knew what my measurements were back when I was 17% before, I would have something to go by, but those records are long gone. I do know that I could wear those jeans I have been trying on for the clothing challenge and I can't get into them yet so I definitely need to get rid of some more inches. My original goal by ECSS was to lose 30 total inches and I have only gotten to 18.5 so that's 11.5 more and I don't know whether that is realistic. I don't want to lose any more in my arms or chest, and my waist is pretty low already. Maybe another .5" but I don't think much more will come off of there. I could definitely lose about 2" off my stomach though. And more than that off my hips and butt, maybe 3" each. And probably 2" off each thigh. That would be pretty awesome. So let's see, thats...12.5" so yeah, I guess 30 total inches is pretty good. Not by ECSS of course, but ultimately, that seems about right.
I am happy for the little things so far, though, like being able to fit into more of my clothes comfortably (and some I couldn't fit into at all), seeing some abs again, and my thighs not rubbing together anymore. So that's the story for now, today is a rest day because it is all fruit but I may post later on tonight just to catch up on how much I am tired of fruit by then :) Keep up the good work, all, and can't wait to see the rest of the NY4 in 2 WEEKS!!!!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
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!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
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!
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!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Day 85 - All about the stats
So let's start with the measurements:
Weight: 155 lbs (GAIN of 1# this week, loss of 1# in M2, 11# overall)
Bicep: 11.25" (loss of .5" this week, .5" in M2, 1.5" overall)
Chest: 35.25" (loss of .25" this week, .25" in M2, 1.25" overall)
Waist: 28.25" (loss of .25" this week, .75" in M2, 2.75" overall)
Stomach: 31.5" (loss of 0" this week, 1" in M2, 3" overall)
Hips: 38" (loss of .25" this week, 1" in M2, 3" overall)
Butt: 41.25" (loss of 0" this week, .5" in M2, 2.25" overall)
Thigh: 25" (loss of 0" this week, .5" in M2, 3" overall)
Total inches: loss of 1.25" this week, 4.5" in M2, 16.75" overall
As far as bf% goes, I got an Omron BIA Scale for Christmas and just started using it. So I don't have a baseline on it from day 1 so here's where the results get confusing. It came in at 26% today, which sounds high to me, but I'll see what it looks like in the coming weeks to see if I really believe it or not. When I was 17% bf, I had someone else measuring me with an electronic caliper at a gym so I know that was way more accurate than anything I am doing here. And according to the calculator in MS, I started with 23% bf. So it definitely is lower than reality, but if I go with the trend, today it said I was 17.9%, meaning that I have lost just over 5% bf, and 10.5 of the 11# I have lost were fat, only losing .5# of lean mass over the last 12 wks. That's pretty impressive I think! So I am going to continue to use this calculation as well as the Omron and just see what I come up. Although I didn't lose weight this week, I still lost inches, so I am chalking that up to muscle gain (hopefully!) and continuing on, more strict on myself, from today.
Next topic: The Pushup Challenge!
Today was my first official workout for the pushup challenge so I am a little behind everyone else, but my starting count (27) puts me in the third column of week 3 (following the 100 pushups plan) As a side note, Suzette was talking about how the women don't seem to go down as far as the men on their form, and I have a few answers/theories about that. First of all, I didn't go down as far as I usually do in the video. I guess I was just concentrating on getting a lot in and making the video so much, that my form suffered a little. However, usually I start the "up" movement when the fronts of my thighs touch the floor, not when my chest does (which is supposedly correct form) so I still don't go as far as the men. A couple of reasons for that, personally: first of all, I have bad shoulders. I am very careful about what I do to them so I try not to extend them too much beyond 90 degrees. Second, this sounds weird, but I have done pushups in my Jujitsu class for 14 years now and we wear a gi in there, which is loose, so when the front of it hits the floor, that's when I go up, so I have inadvertently trained myself to not go all the way down. And third, yes, women are just not as strong, in the upper body especially. Hate to admit it, but it's a fact of life when it comes to biology and average strength. However, the more often we practice exercises like the pushup, the better we'll get, Suzette, so I say just do what you can for now, be happy that we are able to do more than most of the female population, and just keep working toward those goals so we'll end up better :) Okay side note over. I did well on the pushups until the last series - I rested 3 min before to try to work up enough energy to do at least 25 on the last set and I still couldn't make it. I only did 20 but I will keep working at it :) Then I did my regular workout - light/heavy lactic acid training on the legs and then I was totally wiped. In a good way :) So all I have tomorrow is HIIT and abs so that will be exciting!
For my nutrition today, I didn't track it exactly but I did well except that I only had 4 meals. I also have ran out of some of the things I was eating every day since Jeff is eating them now too, and they go quicker. So I need to make a run to the store tomorrow to stock up and get both of us back to total tracking. Then I will feel better knowing EXACTLY where we are. But I am confident that we are doing well enough as far as calories go at least, which is the most important part for now.
I was going to post my new Goals / Accountability List today but I'm afraid I'll have to give you all a rain check on that - it has gotten late and one of the things I have committed to do is wake up on time and to do that I have to go to sleep on time. And I'm already 1/2 hr later than what I was really aiming for, so I'll sign off for now and have more on that subject tomorrow, as well as my pics that I am behind on posting. Talk to everyone soon!
Weight: 155 lbs (GAIN of 1# this week, loss of 1# in M2, 11# overall)
Bicep: 11.25" (loss of .5" this week, .5" in M2, 1.5" overall)
Chest: 35.25" (loss of .25" this week, .25" in M2, 1.25" overall)
Waist: 28.25" (loss of .25" this week, .75" in M2, 2.75" overall)
Stomach: 31.5" (loss of 0" this week, 1" in M2, 3" overall)
Hips: 38" (loss of .25" this week, 1" in M2, 3" overall)
Butt: 41.25" (loss of 0" this week, .5" in M2, 2.25" overall)
Thigh: 25" (loss of 0" this week, .5" in M2, 3" overall)
Total inches: loss of 1.25" this week, 4.5" in M2, 16.75" overall
As far as bf% goes, I got an Omron BIA Scale for Christmas and just started using it. So I don't have a baseline on it from day 1 so here's where the results get confusing. It came in at 26% today, which sounds high to me, but I'll see what it looks like in the coming weeks to see if I really believe it or not. When I was 17% bf, I had someone else measuring me with an electronic caliper at a gym so I know that was way more accurate than anything I am doing here. And according to the calculator in MS, I started with 23% bf. So it definitely is lower than reality, but if I go with the trend, today it said I was 17.9%, meaning that I have lost just over 5% bf, and 10.5 of the 11# I have lost were fat, only losing .5# of lean mass over the last 12 wks. That's pretty impressive I think! So I am going to continue to use this calculation as well as the Omron and just see what I come up. Although I didn't lose weight this week, I still lost inches, so I am chalking that up to muscle gain (hopefully!) and continuing on, more strict on myself, from today.
Next topic: The Pushup Challenge!
Today was my first official workout for the pushup challenge so I am a little behind everyone else, but my starting count (27) puts me in the third column of week 3 (following the 100 pushups plan) As a side note, Suzette was talking about how the women don't seem to go down as far as the men on their form, and I have a few answers/theories about that. First of all, I didn't go down as far as I usually do in the video. I guess I was just concentrating on getting a lot in and making the video so much, that my form suffered a little. However, usually I start the "up" movement when the fronts of my thighs touch the floor, not when my chest does (which is supposedly correct form) so I still don't go as far as the men. A couple of reasons for that, personally: first of all, I have bad shoulders. I am very careful about what I do to them so I try not to extend them too much beyond 90 degrees. Second, this sounds weird, but I have done pushups in my Jujitsu class for 14 years now and we wear a gi in there, which is loose, so when the front of it hits the floor, that's when I go up, so I have inadvertently trained myself to not go all the way down. And third, yes, women are just not as strong, in the upper body especially. Hate to admit it, but it's a fact of life when it comes to biology and average strength. However, the more often we practice exercises like the pushup, the better we'll get, Suzette, so I say just do what you can for now, be happy that we are able to do more than most of the female population, and just keep working toward those goals so we'll end up better :) Okay side note over. I did well on the pushups until the last series - I rested 3 min before to try to work up enough energy to do at least 25 on the last set and I still couldn't make it. I only did 20 but I will keep working at it :) Then I did my regular workout - light/heavy lactic acid training on the legs and then I was totally wiped. In a good way :) So all I have tomorrow is HIIT and abs so that will be exciting!
For my nutrition today, I didn't track it exactly but I did well except that I only had 4 meals. I also have ran out of some of the things I was eating every day since Jeff is eating them now too, and they go quicker. So I need to make a run to the store tomorrow to stock up and get both of us back to total tracking. Then I will feel better knowing EXACTLY where we are. But I am confident that we are doing well enough as far as calories go at least, which is the most important part for now.
I was going to post my new Goals / Accountability List today but I'm afraid I'll have to give you all a rain check on that - it has gotten late and one of the things I have committed to do is wake up on time and to do that I have to go to sleep on time. And I'm already 1/2 hr later than what I was really aiming for, so I'll sign off for now and have more on that subject tomorrow, as well as my pics that I am behind on posting. Talk to everyone soon!
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Day 84 - Has it been 12 weeks?
WOW. I can't believe it has been that long already. I'll have my 12 week stats up tomorrow to mark this milestone - I usually do my measurements on Monday morning so I thought I would wait until then. As far as this weekend has gone, I have done okay...I missed my workout yesterday because I had a meeting in the morning and then just never made time the rest of the day to do it. That's why I plan to work out in the morning because if I don't do it then, I usually don't do it at all. Nutrition-wise, I did okay. There was breakfast at the meeting so I didn't do very well then, but the rest of the day was good so I think I was still under for calories, just not in good ratios. Today was kind of the same story - went places I couldn't control the food, so just tried to make okay decisions and think I did okay. I did work out this morning, too, so I think everything was okay. It's so much easier to stay home and make my own food, though, then I know what I am eating. It's just really anti-social. I guess I'll see the results tomorrow when I do my weigh/measure. It's been a while since I did measurements, before Christmas, so I'm excited to see where I am. That may change once I see them :) But it's only really been half a week since I got back on a program so I'm not sweating it, it's just that it would be nice if I had some good results to show for my 12th week.
Otherwise, this weekend I have been doing a lot of planning and goal setting to decide what I want to do and how I'm going to do it in several areas of my life. Since I have been happy with my progress in this physique transformation so far, I have been trying to find a way to translate that to other goals I have yet to achieve. How do I duplicate the accountability that I have found here that has helped me so much? I'm not totally sure how, but I do have more of a plan now as to what I want to do daily to achieve my goals. I also know that I have to take responsibility for achieving everything that I want instead of the fearful attitude that I have had as of late in certain areas. So I am holding myself accountable for completing certain things every day like some of you other shredders out there, only I'm making the list of things in all aspects of my life. I'm giving myself a point for each thing I complete each day, hoping that will keep me more on track. I'll post the list up tomorrow with my stats, since tomorrow is the first day I am starting this. More on this later, gotta go for now.
Otherwise, this weekend I have been doing a lot of planning and goal setting to decide what I want to do and how I'm going to do it in several areas of my life. Since I have been happy with my progress in this physique transformation so far, I have been trying to find a way to translate that to other goals I have yet to achieve. How do I duplicate the accountability that I have found here that has helped me so much? I'm not totally sure how, but I do have more of a plan now as to what I want to do daily to achieve my goals. I also know that I have to take responsibility for achieving everything that I want instead of the fearful attitude that I have had as of late in certain areas. So I am holding myself accountable for completing certain things every day like some of you other shredders out there, only I'm making the list of things in all aspects of my life. I'm giving myself a point for each thing I complete each day, hoping that will keep me more on track. I'll post the list up tomorrow with my stats, since tomorrow is the first day I am starting this. More on this later, gotta go for now.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Day 82 - Drop and give me....
So that's my starting count for pushups. Sorry if I Americanized the counting too much for those Japan-dwellers out there, that's what we use in Jujitsu but I've only ever heard Americans pronounce them so they may be off :)
Anyway, I'll just let the video pretty much be it for today, I've got a lot going on, but things are going well and I am so happy to be back in my regular routine. Looking at my pics, I know I could have made so much more progress by now if I had not taken off that time, but that's in the past and I am moving forward. Still trying to decide if I should adjust my Mission 2 goals now or just wait for Mission 3. Any thoughts on that? I don't want it to be negative to change them but I just think at this point they are unrealistic. I'll think some more on it. Anyway, today is rest day and reward meal day. Jeff and I decided that Friday's lunch will be the reward meal of the week because he only works half a day on Fridays and we usually go out to lunch because it is less crowded and cheaper than dinner. So I said we could keep doing it but I would have to pick out what he was eating, unless he wanted that to be his one meal, and he chose it to be the reward meal. I know it's only been 3 days but this week is funky anyway. So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. As far as I go, I'm not sure that I will really eat anything too bad because I am trying to make up for lost time anyway, and although I know you need to get a break every once in a while, I think I can wait until next Friday. So we'll see. I guess it depends where we go for lunch.
So hope you like the video and I'll catch up with you all later. Have a great Friday!
PS Here is another one of my christmas presents from Jeff and here are my daily pics:
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Day 81 - That's what I get
Soreness....didn't work out for 10 days and I am feeling it today! I cut out some of my sets today on my workout because it was late and I had not eaten anything and I know from experience that if I try to push that I feel like crap so I just did 4 sets of each insted of 7 so I got around to all the body parts before I had to eat. Anyway, I feel SOOOOOOO much better about things now that I am back on my routine, but tomorrow is already a rest day and I don't want to lose my momentum so I think I start my pushup challenge then so I am still doing something. Haven't done the test at my best yet so I don't know what I can do, but my goal is 30 so I can say that I can do as many as Adam :) Don't want people thinking I'm some sissy girl. Just kidding, but really, I hope I can do that many. And I'll do a video of it since I got....wait for it...a new video camera for Christmas!! Woo hoo!! It has a hard drive so I can just pull the stuff off of it and put it on the computer quick. Hopefully. In theory :) I am so excited about messing with it, though, I haven't gotten much of a chance to record anything since Christmas so it will be fun. Santa was really good to me this year. I got some other cool fitness-related stuff but I'll save that for talking about tomorrow because I'm a little pressed for time today. I almost forgot to send the pics to Adam for the weekly accountability and then realized that I didn't have to have them in until midnight tonight, not noon. Oh, well, nothing wrong with being early, it was just funny because I really was worried about them being late! But no worries. My first day switching over to BFFM was good, my ratios were very good but I only had 5 out of 6 meals and was under in total calories as a result. But not hungry so I'll keep working on that. Today was a late start, too, so I only have in 1 meal so far and will at most get in 5 today. But for women, that's okay, the only reason I was aiming for 6 was because I usually have a protein shake directly after my workout before I get ready for the day, then breakfast, and I was going to count that as a meal, but I haven't been able to fit that in lately. I'm going to work on it, because I do want the extra protein. Also, I ordered the egg whites from egg whites international the other day so they should get here in a week or so. I am excited about that because my husband does not eat eggs so it's tough to get protein in for him in the morning, but supposedly you can put these in milk and they are tasteless so that would be excellent to do for him. Plus, it would be easier for me, too, because the protein shake that I have is almost gone and the taste is getting a little tiresome. I bought chocolate to change it up but it's pretty bad. So you can put the egg whites in anything and I would be able to do that easily. So that's the plan once they get here. Anyone have any experience with them? It was a company recommended by Nick Nilsson so I'm finally giving it a try after thinking about it forever. That's pretty much the update for me.
As far as Jeff (my husband) goes, he will not be blogging his journey, he didn't even let me take before pictures, but I did do his measurements so that will be good. I'm not even really sure he realizes that I put all of my pics up on the web. He doesn't go to the blog or anything, not that I'm keeping it from him, he just doesn't really ask about it. So anyway, I'll just blog for him and say he did well on his first day. Six meals a day is tough for him to do, he only had 5 yesterday but that's still good. He usually has 2 or 3 and a VERY slow metabolism so I want him to eat more often to speed that up so it's something he's working on. Right now he feels like it's too much food but I think he's just so used to eating junk that has no nutritional value that good food fills him up more. But I just give him his menu every day and he does what he can. And he lifted weights for about 1/2 hr yesterday, starting slow because he hasn't done that for while and doesn't want to overdo it, so he's doing a little every day. Although this morning he did say he thought he hurt his arm but hopefully that's short-lived. So that's his story, just wanted to put some of his journey out there too (what I know of it) in case he wants to see where he came from in a year when he's all buff. ;)
I'll put up my pics later on today, but didn't want to skip any more posts. Thanks for all the comments, guys, it's so great to be back in action with all of you. The next few months will be so exciting! I'm sure it will be here before we know it, and as an added bonus, it will make the winter go by quicker (not a fan of the cold!). So I'll see you all soon!
As far as Jeff (my husband) goes, he will not be blogging his journey, he didn't even let me take before pictures, but I did do his measurements so that will be good. I'm not even really sure he realizes that I put all of my pics up on the web. He doesn't go to the blog or anything, not that I'm keeping it from him, he just doesn't really ask about it. So anyway, I'll just blog for him and say he did well on his first day. Six meals a day is tough for him to do, he only had 5 yesterday but that's still good. He usually has 2 or 3 and a VERY slow metabolism so I want him to eat more often to speed that up so it's something he's working on. Right now he feels like it's too much food but I think he's just so used to eating junk that has no nutritional value that good food fills him up more. But I just give him his menu every day and he does what he can. And he lifted weights for about 1/2 hr yesterday, starting slow because he hasn't done that for while and doesn't want to overdo it, so he's doing a little every day. Although this morning he did say he thought he hurt his arm but hopefully that's short-lived. So that's his story, just wanted to put some of his journey out there too (what I know of it) in case he wants to see where he came from in a year when he's all buff. ;)
I'll put up my pics later on today, but didn't want to skip any more posts. Thanks for all the comments, guys, it's so great to be back in action with all of you. The next few months will be so exciting! I'm sure it will be here before we know it, and as an added bonus, it will make the winter go by quicker (not a fan of the cold!). So I'll see you all soon!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Day 80 - AAAAHHHHH
Okay so it's the New Year - great excuse to get myself back into the swing of my daily accountability. It's only been 10 days since my last post, but it feels like forever! My routine is so messed up now, I can't believe it. I have been doing okay in my program for the last few weeks, basically maintaining, but not going to go into it, just picking back up from here.
Can't believe I only have 20 days left until the end of Mission 2 (100 days). From what it looks like now, my goals will be way off, but I am still glad to be where I am now, and I am so much further along than if I had waited until the new year to start, right? So I'll make the best of these next 20 days and then move on to the big mission 4 where I get ready to meet Adam, Tom, and the East Coast Shredders! Yikes!
So I am picking up on round 2 of MS - did my first workout for that today and it was great. I also decided to do the push up challenge after I saw what was going on with the shreddersphere but I had already done my chest workout for the day so my results are probably less than what I can really do, but I did 20. We do all kinds of pushups for Jujitsu and I have to be the one pushing everybody else to do more so I am usually setting the example. After what we do in class, regular flat-handed pushups are much easier. But I can still only do so many right in a row so I am going for the challenge. I'll just have to work it in with my regular workouts.
I have also decided to make a change in my nutrition, mainly because my husband has decided to start losing weight (YAY!). So we are both doing the BFFM plan at a 20% caloric reduction for 3 days and maintenance level calories for 1 day, with one reward meal per week. I kind of am a little unhappy about counting calories again but once I get the basics menus down it shouldn't be that bad. Plus it will better prepare me for eating "regularly" since the low carb/low fat alternation is only for weight loss and not for life. I'm excited to be trying something new, although I have done it before. Hopefully I will get the same (or better) results as I was with the MS nutrition or else I will be going back to it. We'll see. I haven't done my measurements in a week but I'm just going to wait for my regular Monday checkup and see what my progress has been since I stopped posting.
As far as workouts go, I am continuing the MS workouts because I really like them, and Jeff has his own workouts that he wants to do so I'm not messing with him on that one. If he's not seeing the results he wants, I'll have some things to suggest but for now anything is better than nothing as far as I'm concerned and he has done this before too so it's not like he'll be hurting himself. My only concern is that he's a cardio-hater like I am so I don't know that he'll be getting enough calorie burning going on but he's going to give it a shot and see what he comes up with.
So, anyway, it's good to be back. I have missed checking up on everyone and did a little of that earlier, but I still have so much to read! Hope everyone is well, glad to see some new shredders with us, and Happy New Year to all! See you tomorrow!
Here are today's pictures:
Can't believe I only have 20 days left until the end of Mission 2 (100 days). From what it looks like now, my goals will be way off, but I am still glad to be where I am now, and I am so much further along than if I had waited until the new year to start, right? So I'll make the best of these next 20 days and then move on to the big mission 4 where I get ready to meet Adam, Tom, and the East Coast Shredders! Yikes!
So I am picking up on round 2 of MS - did my first workout for that today and it was great. I also decided to do the push up challenge after I saw what was going on with the shreddersphere but I had already done my chest workout for the day so my results are probably less than what I can really do, but I did 20. We do all kinds of pushups for Jujitsu and I have to be the one pushing everybody else to do more so I am usually setting the example. After what we do in class, regular flat-handed pushups are much easier. But I can still only do so many right in a row so I am going for the challenge. I'll just have to work it in with my regular workouts.
I have also decided to make a change in my nutrition, mainly because my husband has decided to start losing weight (YAY!). So we are both doing the BFFM plan at a 20% caloric reduction for 3 days and maintenance level calories for 1 day, with one reward meal per week. I kind of am a little unhappy about counting calories again but once I get the basics menus down it shouldn't be that bad. Plus it will better prepare me for eating "regularly" since the low carb/low fat alternation is only for weight loss and not for life. I'm excited to be trying something new, although I have done it before. Hopefully I will get the same (or better) results as I was with the MS nutrition or else I will be going back to it. We'll see. I haven't done my measurements in a week but I'm just going to wait for my regular Monday checkup and see what my progress has been since I stopped posting.
As far as workouts go, I am continuing the MS workouts because I really like them, and Jeff has his own workouts that he wants to do so I'm not messing with him on that one. If he's not seeing the results he wants, I'll have some things to suggest but for now anything is better than nothing as far as I'm concerned and he has done this before too so it's not like he'll be hurting himself. My only concern is that he's a cardio-hater like I am so I don't know that he'll be getting enough calorie burning going on but he's going to give it a shot and see what he comes up with.
So, anyway, it's good to be back. I have missed checking up on everyone and did a little of that earlier, but I still have so much to read! Hope everyone is well, glad to see some new shredders with us, and Happy New Year to all! See you tomorrow!
Here are today's pictures:
Friday, November 16, 2007
Day 33 - No time
Just wanted to do a quick update because I am getting ready to go to sleep. Today was not where I wanted it to be food-wise but not too far over the edge. Workout was AWESOME and know I'll be feeling it tomorrow. Working most of the day so I won't have time to worry about it, though. Also tomorrow is my rest day + reward meal so I don't have to exercise and don't know what I am going to eat. But it will be interesting. Hope it's a good one....see you all later!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Day 32 - Sore is good
I was sore today but actually I didn't mind because I know it means I am getting stronger. And tonight when I taught Jujitsu, even though my pecs were sore from the chest presses yesterday, I did 55 pushups along with the class. I didn't have to do that many - I can have them do whatever, but I just felt strong and wanted to see if I could do it too. I am proud of myself. I will pay for it tomorrow :)
Anyway, the day was not exciting, busy but didn't get the important things done as is par for the course lately. I'll get to the bottom of it I'm sure.
Tomorrow the workout looks killer but I am looking forward to pushing myself and seeing what I can get done. Only two days until cheat meal although I really don't feel that deprived. Am thinking I will have pizza though. Not sure yet.
Can't believe it's Friday again already. How time does fly. Well, gotta get some sleep and as you can see I am totally random right now so that's not helping anyone. Am hoping to get a video up soon, though, and still need to work on the MS postings...but only after work hours so we'll see how that goes. Until tomorrow...here's today's pics:
Anyway, the day was not exciting, busy but didn't get the important things done as is par for the course lately. I'll get to the bottom of it I'm sure.
Tomorrow the workout looks killer but I am looking forward to pushing myself and seeing what I can get done. Only two days until cheat meal although I really don't feel that deprived. Am thinking I will have pizza though. Not sure yet.
Can't believe it's Friday again already. How time does fly. Well, gotta get some sleep and as you can see I am totally random right now so that's not helping anyone. Am hoping to get a video up soon, though, and still need to work on the MS postings...but only after work hours so we'll see how that goes. Until tomorrow...here's today's pics:
Day 31 - More insight requested
Yesterday was a really good day, mainly because I was totally on program all day. Well, actually, I didn't eat breakfast since I got up late, but I did have a protein shake after my workout and then ate an early lunch so timing wise things were still in sync. Anyway, I don't know, it just felt good to be doing what I was supposed to be doing (back to the integrity thing), not that I haven't been for most of these 30 days, just I guess it is getting easier. Feels more like a habit when I am on it, and more foreign to me when I am off. That's so exciting. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit but I guess for me it's more like 30 :) I am sore this morning from the muscle rounds but I got the whole workout in without feeling like passing out (ahh protein) and stayed under my fat gram target for the day, even though my dinner felt like a reward meal. Another advantage to cooking rather than buying - I can sneak in low fat stuff and still make it taste good. We had venison steak with twice baked potato and corn. Alot of carbs, yes, but that is not the goal this week. I made the potato with fat free sour cream, low fat cheese, and low fat bacon. One potato was still probably 10g of fat but I had probably only 10 more the whole day so it was totally worth it :) Also, when you don't have junk all the time, it really makes you appreciate when you have something really good tasting and not bad for you. We get so used to eating for pleasure that nothing is even that good anymore. Does that make sense? It's like a drug addiction - once you are hooked, it's never enough and you never get back that initial high and things start to lose meaning (so I'm told, don't actually know from personal experience). But once you quit, meaning starts to come back and you appreciate little things more. I don't know, but it's kind of like what Christy was saying about peanut butter and such. Once you really take the time to enjoy it and don't just mindlessly eat, food takes on a different meaning and I think everything tastes better.
Okay, so on to why I put the title of this entry as I did...when I started this journey, it was pretty much a snap decision. Of course I had been wanting to do it for a long time, had planned off and on some things to get me back on track, etc, but I didn't really jump into it until I revisited Adam's blog and decided to have daily accountability. And from then on it was something I worked on every day and plan to continue (obviously), and as I said earlier, it seems to be getting easier.
So how do I translate this to other areas of my life?
I have trouble sticking to any plan I make for myself in any other part of my life: financial, career, household...I am a planner, I can really easily break things down and see what needs to be done daily to work toward a goal, and I do it for a week or so, but I am never dedicated enough to see it through to getting the goal achieved. Thus I have a lot of disappointment (in myself) in life. I am big in thinking and small in action. Self-discipline, motivation, I don't know what you call it, I am seriously lacking in it. And it's really becoming an issue. I have so many goals and I am so tired of missing them again and again and again and AGAIN. Let's take the biggest one for an example - to promote myself in my in-home business. It is a sales business and I know exactly how many people I need to meet, calls I need to make, bookings I need to hold, product I need to sell, etc to get to my goals. The numbers are quite clear and well tested in my company. So why don't I do what I say I want to do? Every day I think about it and think about it and do very little. Some days are better than others. But I rarely do all of the things I should do in a given day, and even more rarely do I repeat those actions daily like I know I need to in order to achieve my result. And now with this body transformation mission, I have proven to myself that I am capable of taking daily action and getting results, but it has not traslated to other things as I thought it might have. What am I doing wrong? I thought it was maybe the accountability factor - but I have several people who I talk to daily and weekly who are tracking me and that doesn't seem to help. I just keep letting them (and myself) down over and over. It is beyond frustrating. I have this dream in my heart and my head won't do what I need to achieve it. Why not? Part of it is fear I know. With the weight loss, I really have no fears, nothing to lose (except fat!) and everything to gain. Also, I guess, because I have done it before, I am insulated by the fact that I know that it is achievable personally for me since I have been there. And this goal in my career, I haven't been there, only part way and slid back, and I have stupid irrational fears about a lot of things. I guess the main one is of hearing "no" which is dumb because I have heard it a million times and it really doesn't bother me when I think back, and I really don't care what strangers think of me, so what if they tell me no? But for some reason when I think about making phone calls or going out to meet people, I get really nervous and my mind finds other things to do that take up the time I would use to do that so then I can say "oh, I didn't have time". It makes no sense to me. Why am I self sabotaging so much? What is it about this transformation journey that makes me able to do it that I can use in other areas of my life to achieve other goals? A different kind of accountability? Some other approach I have not thought of? I need to figure out something soon and decide how to apply it everywhere because I am really having a lot of trouble. Pretty much the only things that are going right in my life right now are my marriage and this program. And actually even my marriage is a little strained because of my career and financial issues. So getting to the bottom of this would solve a lot of problems for me. I know this is kind of off topic, but I think these journeys we are on are more about self improvement overall than any one fitness goal. Maybe there are others with similar issues since we all seemed to have similar mindsets before we began this.
Has anyone been able to use what they have learned about the discipline of this program in other aspects of their life?
I welcome any insight you all have, you can comment or email me. I am getting pretty desperate and honestly if something doesn't change by the end of the year, I will have to go back to a full time desk job and that would really kill me. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
P.S. Here's the day 31 pics
Okay, so on to why I put the title of this entry as I did...when I started this journey, it was pretty much a snap decision. Of course I had been wanting to do it for a long time, had planned off and on some things to get me back on track, etc, but I didn't really jump into it until I revisited Adam's blog and decided to have daily accountability. And from then on it was something I worked on every day and plan to continue (obviously), and as I said earlier, it seems to be getting easier.
So how do I translate this to other areas of my life?
I have trouble sticking to any plan I make for myself in any other part of my life: financial, career, household...I am a planner, I can really easily break things down and see what needs to be done daily to work toward a goal, and I do it for a week or so, but I am never dedicated enough to see it through to getting the goal achieved. Thus I have a lot of disappointment (in myself) in life. I am big in thinking and small in action. Self-discipline, motivation, I don't know what you call it, I am seriously lacking in it. And it's really becoming an issue. I have so many goals and I am so tired of missing them again and again and again and AGAIN. Let's take the biggest one for an example - to promote myself in my in-home business. It is a sales business and I know exactly how many people I need to meet, calls I need to make, bookings I need to hold, product I need to sell, etc to get to my goals. The numbers are quite clear and well tested in my company. So why don't I do what I say I want to do? Every day I think about it and think about it and do very little. Some days are better than others. But I rarely do all of the things I should do in a given day, and even more rarely do I repeat those actions daily like I know I need to in order to achieve my result. And now with this body transformation mission, I have proven to myself that I am capable of taking daily action and getting results, but it has not traslated to other things as I thought it might have. What am I doing wrong? I thought it was maybe the accountability factor - but I have several people who I talk to daily and weekly who are tracking me and that doesn't seem to help. I just keep letting them (and myself) down over and over. It is beyond frustrating. I have this dream in my heart and my head won't do what I need to achieve it. Why not? Part of it is fear I know. With the weight loss, I really have no fears, nothing to lose (except fat!) and everything to gain. Also, I guess, because I have done it before, I am insulated by the fact that I know that it is achievable personally for me since I have been there. And this goal in my career, I haven't been there, only part way and slid back, and I have stupid irrational fears about a lot of things. I guess the main one is of hearing "no" which is dumb because I have heard it a million times and it really doesn't bother me when I think back, and I really don't care what strangers think of me, so what if they tell me no? But for some reason when I think about making phone calls or going out to meet people, I get really nervous and my mind finds other things to do that take up the time I would use to do that so then I can say "oh, I didn't have time". It makes no sense to me. Why am I self sabotaging so much? What is it about this transformation journey that makes me able to do it that I can use in other areas of my life to achieve other goals? A different kind of accountability? Some other approach I have not thought of? I need to figure out something soon and decide how to apply it everywhere because I am really having a lot of trouble. Pretty much the only things that are going right in my life right now are my marriage and this program. And actually even my marriage is a little strained because of my career and financial issues. So getting to the bottom of this would solve a lot of problems for me. I know this is kind of off topic, but I think these journeys we are on are more about self improvement overall than any one fitness goal. Maybe there are others with similar issues since we all seemed to have similar mindsets before we began this.
Has anyone been able to use what they have learned about the discipline of this program in other aspects of their life?
I welcome any insight you all have, you can comment or email me. I am getting pretty desperate and honestly if something doesn't change by the end of the year, I will have to go back to a full time desk job and that would really kill me. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
P.S. Here's the day 31 pics
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Day 30!! - Can it be?
I can't believe it's been 30 days since I started this blog. Time flies when you are having fun, as the saying goes. And overall, it really has been fun. I enjoy it much more knowing that others are seeing it as opposed to the first few days when no one was out there and I was talking to myself! So happy one-month anniversary to me!
Today started out...interesting. When I got up I was so focused on getting to my workout (I missed it after all!) I forgot to have my protein shake, which, after the all fruit day, is VERY necessary. I learned this the hard way during my first set of muscle rounds when I tried to do lunges and nearly passed out after the only the first two sets. And I mean the mini-sets, so 8 reps per leg and I was TOAST! Light headed, dizzy, nauseous, weak, all of it. AAAAHHHHH. So I pushed through (with much longer rest times than listed but I just literally couldn't go any quicker) and did half of the workout. I was supposed to do 3 rounds of quads and I did 1-1/2, then I was supposed to do 2 each of hams and calves and I did 1. It was all I could do to just get through that much, but because I had already started my workout, I couldn't go up and eat something and then exercise later because I didn't have the time. And I really wanted to get a good workout in after skipping those other days. So I guess it was probably a combination of not working out for 4 days and what I will now dub "Fruit Day Hangover". It sucked big time. I was really disappointed because the muscles weren't exhausted, it was my whole body, if that makes sense. I know it will to all of you. So Note to Self: Remember the protein first thing!! I'm sure I won't forget again after that experience. But I think I still got a halfway decent workout because now, 16 hrs later, I am feeling a little soreness in the legs so I must have gotten some muscle breakdown. Good deal.
The rest of the day was uneventful, on low fat so I that is always the easiest part of this program for me because I already pretty much do eat low fat as long as I cook for myself and don't eat out all the time. I get myself into trouble when I am lazy. Between that, emotional eating, eating past full, or just plain eating when I am not hungry is what got me to where I was in the first place. Not really the type of food itself, just the quantity and timing. So when I concentrate on it, these days are not that tough at all because I like most healthy food and I do already have whole grains, vegetables, and lean protein on hand.
So that's the story of today. I'll post my pics tomorrow because it is getting late but I do also want to just throw out there that due to popular demand (okay, like 2 people, but still) I am going to be doing a series of posts specifically on MS and my experiences with it as a female. I want to be careful not to tread on Nick's territory as he deserves every dollar he earns on that e-book because it is really a great program, but I think a little more info should be out there specifically regarding the "woman's perspective", without giving too much away. I also do not want to appear in any way as an expert on the subject. Although fitness is a long time interest of mine, this will only be my opinions and should not be substituted for medical or professional advice of any kind, of course. Okay, disclaimer over, I'll talk to you all soon!
Today's pics:
Today started out...interesting. When I got up I was so focused on getting to my workout (I missed it after all!) I forgot to have my protein shake, which, after the all fruit day, is VERY necessary. I learned this the hard way during my first set of muscle rounds when I tried to do lunges and nearly passed out after the only the first two sets. And I mean the mini-sets, so 8 reps per leg and I was TOAST! Light headed, dizzy, nauseous, weak, all of it. AAAAHHHHH. So I pushed through (with much longer rest times than listed but I just literally couldn't go any quicker) and did half of the workout. I was supposed to do 3 rounds of quads and I did 1-1/2, then I was supposed to do 2 each of hams and calves and I did 1. It was all I could do to just get through that much, but because I had already started my workout, I couldn't go up and eat something and then exercise later because I didn't have the time. And I really wanted to get a good workout in after skipping those other days. So I guess it was probably a combination of not working out for 4 days and what I will now dub "Fruit Day Hangover". It sucked big time. I was really disappointed because the muscles weren't exhausted, it was my whole body, if that makes sense. I know it will to all of you. So Note to Self: Remember the protein first thing!! I'm sure I won't forget again after that experience. But I think I still got a halfway decent workout because now, 16 hrs later, I am feeling a little soreness in the legs so I must have gotten some muscle breakdown. Good deal.
The rest of the day was uneventful, on low fat so I that is always the easiest part of this program for me because I already pretty much do eat low fat as long as I cook for myself and don't eat out all the time. I get myself into trouble when I am lazy. Between that, emotional eating, eating past full, or just plain eating when I am not hungry is what got me to where I was in the first place. Not really the type of food itself, just the quantity and timing. So when I concentrate on it, these days are not that tough at all because I like most healthy food and I do already have whole grains, vegetables, and lean protein on hand.
So that's the story of today. I'll post my pics tomorrow because it is getting late but I do also want to just throw out there that due to popular demand (okay, like 2 people, but still) I am going to be doing a series of posts specifically on MS and my experiences with it as a female. I want to be careful not to tread on Nick's territory as he deserves every dollar he earns on that e-book because it is really a great program, but I think a little more info should be out there specifically regarding the "woman's perspective", without giving too much away. I also do not want to appear in any way as an expert on the subject. Although fitness is a long time interest of mine, this will only be my opinions and should not be substituted for medical or professional advice of any kind, of course. Okay, disclaimer over, I'll talk to you all soon!
Today's pics:
Monday, November 12, 2007
Day 29 - I hate falling off the horse & I need help!
A metaphorical horse, of course, because today I am back in the saddle! I'll be honest (because I know by now you expect this of me), Friday night through Saturday was not good. Potato Wedge Philosophy begins now (which can heretofore also be called Red Lobster Biscuit or Cheese Curl Binge Principle). It all started with giving blood on Thursday, like I talked about in an earlier post. I was not allowed to lift weights for 24 hours. Well that 24 hours turned into several days and then for some reason my resolve to eat well vanished along with my workout. Also because I wasn't feeling all that well but really I was not sick enough to even use that excuse. But really when I look back, I was conscious of not eating the right things before I took the first bite, making me not eat nearly as badly as I have in the past. Just the awareness of not wanting to see the results of that bad eating was enough to curb me somewhat. But not totally. I did so good Friday, we went out to dinner and I had seafood and one biscuit which was my treat for having almost no carbs all day, still within my limit. Then I did a youth activity at the church later on that night, and something just gave way. It was only a chicken finger and a cup of soda, so that wasn't that bad, after eating clean all day, but I just totally was unable to resist for some reason. Well, I was thirsty and there was no other choice but soda so that was a little out of my control, but the chicken? I wasn't even hungry. I don't know. I probably didn't go over my calories, but definitely went over my carbs. Then Saturday I did not feel like doing anything. No excuse, feelings really do not need to rule my life because they are not truthful to what I really need, but I did not get up and exercise as I should have, so there goes workout #2. I ate a good breakfast but when lunch came around I just imploded. Two Red Lobster biscuits, cheese curls, small kit kat, more cheese curls, two cookies with milk. Then calzone for dinner and I went to a party at my sisters and had all kinds of no good party food. It was bad. I don't know what came over me. But I got it out of my system thankfully and started anew on Sunday. However, I still did not do my cardio I was supposed to do. I just didn't get up early enough and then put it off all day. But it was my all-protein day and I ate exactly what I was supposed to, despite making junk food for all of our family and friends visiting who were watching the football games all day. I don't know how it was so much easier, maybe because I had just had junk and didn't like the feeling of eating it or it was just a craving that my body needed to give in to and then get over, I don't know, but I was glad to be sticking to it. Now today is a rest day so I don't have to feel guilty about not exercising, I am looking forward to doing it tomorrow better than ever, and it is all fruit day which I am doing fabulous with! By the end of the day I will be needing some protein I am sure but I can do this!!
So here's the weirdest part...I think part of my binge was because I had weighed myself mid-week and had not lost any, maybe even gained a half a pound, and I was disheartened after last week only losing a half. But when I weighed myself today for my weekly check-in, I am down by 2 pounds!! So how does that work? I talked to Andrew about this earlier and he said it takes 2-3 days for excess calories to show up on the scale so maybe that's it but I don't know if I buy that. I mean, it's already in my body, right, shouldn't it show up somewhere? I don't know, but hopefully it won't show up later on in the week because I am happy now and ready to keep up working that's for sure. Results really make you motivated.
So here's where I need help:
On the unmotivating side, I bought a new scale that does BF% and I hate it. Hate it hate it hate it hate it. It says I have 33% BF!! How is that? The weight is 2 lbs more than my other scale as well. Did I mention I hate this thing. I am taking it back, seriously. I may need to lose BF but 33%? That is ridiculous. I think it must be because it does BIA for the lower body and that's where I carry all my weight so it is doing what would be the BF% if someone had that amount of fat all over, but my upper body is no where near that! Also, I did that thing on the internet that you put some measurements in and it calculates you BF based on that, and it was around 30% as well. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? I'm just being realistic - I KNOW I am not over 30% BF, more like somewhere in the low 20s I hope. But now I am so confused. This is really bothering me - does anyone have any advice on this? I used to use an Omron at the gym and I want to find another of those because that does upper body and it was much easier to take years ago when I used that. When I was at my lowest, I had my trainer test me with calipers (4 sites I think) and that's when I was down to 17%. I know just seeing a change from one number to another will be good because it shows a loss of fat not muscle, but I really would like something more accurate that possibly 10% off, come on! I have calipers but I just can't get consistent readings doing it myself. They are just all over every time I use them and it is not useful info. So please help me with this I really want to get it resolved in time to post my stats next Sunday for Adam's Shredder Council update.
In the mean time, here are my updated measurements and comparison pics. I have been taking pics the other days I didn't post them, but here's the newest ones, I can't figure out how to change the order of posts to go back and put in the older pics. Comment away!
Weight: 157 lbs (loss of 2# this week, 9# overall)
Bicep: 11.5" (loss of .5" this week, 1" overall)
Chest: 35" (loss of .5" this week, 1.5" overall)
Waist: 29.25" (loss of .25" this week, 1.75" overall)
Stomach: 32.75" (loss of .0" this week, 1.75" overall)
Hips: 39.25" (loss of .0" this week, 1.75" overall)
Butt: 42" (loss of .25" this week, 1.5" overall)
Thigh: 25.5" (loss of .5" this week, 2" overall
Total inches lost: 11.25"
P.S. Now my Day 1 pics crack me up because I look so pissed in them! Like mug shots, really. Glad I am happier and able to stand up straight now!! However, I am losing my tan drastically :( ha ha ha
So here's the weirdest part...I think part of my binge was because I had weighed myself mid-week and had not lost any, maybe even gained a half a pound, and I was disheartened after last week only losing a half. But when I weighed myself today for my weekly check-in, I am down by 2 pounds!! So how does that work? I talked to Andrew about this earlier and he said it takes 2-3 days for excess calories to show up on the scale so maybe that's it but I don't know if I buy that. I mean, it's already in my body, right, shouldn't it show up somewhere? I don't know, but hopefully it won't show up later on in the week because I am happy now and ready to keep up working that's for sure. Results really make you motivated.
So here's where I need help:
On the unmotivating side, I bought a new scale that does BF% and I hate it. Hate it hate it hate it hate it. It says I have 33% BF!! How is that? The weight is 2 lbs more than my other scale as well. Did I mention I hate this thing. I am taking it back, seriously. I may need to lose BF but 33%? That is ridiculous. I think it must be because it does BIA for the lower body and that's where I carry all my weight so it is doing what would be the BF% if someone had that amount of fat all over, but my upper body is no where near that! Also, I did that thing on the internet that you put some measurements in and it calculates you BF based on that, and it was around 30% as well. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? I'm just being realistic - I KNOW I am not over 30% BF, more like somewhere in the low 20s I hope. But now I am so confused. This is really bothering me - does anyone have any advice on this? I used to use an Omron at the gym and I want to find another of those because that does upper body and it was much easier to take years ago when I used that. When I was at my lowest, I had my trainer test me with calipers (4 sites I think) and that's when I was down to 17%. I know just seeing a change from one number to another will be good because it shows a loss of fat not muscle, but I really would like something more accurate that possibly 10% off, come on! I have calipers but I just can't get consistent readings doing it myself. They are just all over every time I use them and it is not useful info. So please help me with this I really want to get it resolved in time to post my stats next Sunday for Adam's Shredder Council update.
In the mean time, here are my updated measurements and comparison pics. I have been taking pics the other days I didn't post them, but here's the newest ones, I can't figure out how to change the order of posts to go back and put in the older pics. Comment away!
Weight: 157 lbs (loss of 2# this week, 9# overall)
Bicep: 11.5" (loss of .5" this week, 1" overall)
Chest: 35" (loss of .5" this week, 1.5" overall)
Waist: 29.25" (loss of .25" this week, 1.75" overall)
Stomach: 32.75" (loss of .0" this week, 1.75" overall)
Hips: 39.25" (loss of .0" this week, 1.75" overall)
Butt: 42" (loss of .25" this week, 1.5" overall)
Thigh: 25.5" (loss of .5" this week, 2" overall
Total inches lost: 11.25"
P.S. Now my Day 1 pics crack me up because I look so pissed in them! Like mug shots, really. Glad I am happier and able to stand up straight now!! However, I am losing my tan drastically :( ha ha ha
Friday, November 9, 2007
Day 24 - Just pics
Seeing if I can put these up and move the post to the right day since blogger wasn't cooperating earlier in the week...
Day 26 - I'm blaming the Shredder Council
Well, certain members anyway, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE because I am starting to GET SICK!!! It's like a different kind of computer virus - one transferable to people!! Just kidding, I still love you guys, but what's up with that? Today I have a sore throat and am starting to feel blah so I can feel it coming on. I took extra Vitamin C today and I think I'm going to get some Zinc later but I will be ticked if it takes full hold! Anyway, whine session over. Yesterday was my rest day but I haven't been able to do my workout today because I gave blood and you aren't supposed to do any heavy lifting for 24 hrs so I have to get my workout in after 4:30p today. Which is a challenge, especially on a Friday, but I'll work it out somehow. I just hope I won't be feeling even worse by then and unable to do it. Nope, delete that thought delete delete I will be feeling GREAT by then! :)
In other news, it seems I have inspired Adam to make a video of his own about us and that was pretty cool, ha ha I'm such a "character". Really, Adam, you meant weird it's okay you can say it, I get that all the time. I am a nut. It doesn't really show on this blog because I can edit it but in real life people just don't know what to do about me most of the time. That's, okay, I like being unique! :) So thanks for the video, it was cool, and I'll be doing more of my own because I really liked it and I hope it will get other shredders to do the same so we can get to know each other better.
So when I looked at the video again, here are some fun facts I saw (did anyone pick up on these things?):
1) My dog Jedi makes a guest appearance at the top of the couch. He was in it more in the unedited version but had to be cut out. He'll be in the next one. (and hopefully his face this time)
2) Behind me (slightly to the left) is a huge Transformers poster (one of two). If you don't know what that is, you probably don't recognize it, but my husband is a huge TF nerd and we have that stuff all over the living room. He lives in the 80s I swear.
3) Behind me to the right (through the wall opening into the other room) is a Fathead of a NASCAR car - Bobby Labonte to be exact - also my husband's. It's yellow and light blue and the room is green and mauve. Does not match anything in any way. This makes me realize I let him decorate entirely too much.
4) I talk with my hands a lot. You can't see all of it because of the camera angle but I do and it's funny I think. My family is Italian so that's where that is from (shout out to the Italians, Massi!).
5) I say "you know" entirely too much. I didn't know this until I heard myself so I guess I do this in everyday conversations as well or it would not have happened. I didn't count how many times but it was, you know, a lot :) Need to break that habit.
6) That is the last time I will be wearing that red sweater. That day Jedi jumped on me and got his nail caught in it and ripped a hole in the sleeve. So it will have to live on in cyberspace because it has been retired.
So just thought I would share that because I don't have a lot else to say today since I am feeling under the weather and wanted to cheer myself up by being funny. I crack myself up.
See, I am weird!
In other news, it seems I have inspired Adam to make a video of his own about us and that was pretty cool, ha ha I'm such a "character". Really, Adam, you meant weird it's okay you can say it, I get that all the time. I am a nut. It doesn't really show on this blog because I can edit it but in real life people just don't know what to do about me most of the time. That's, okay, I like being unique! :) So thanks for the video, it was cool, and I'll be doing more of my own because I really liked it and I hope it will get other shredders to do the same so we can get to know each other better.
So when I looked at the video again, here are some fun facts I saw (did anyone pick up on these things?):
1) My dog Jedi makes a guest appearance at the top of the couch. He was in it more in the unedited version but had to be cut out. He'll be in the next one. (and hopefully his face this time)
2) Behind me (slightly to the left) is a huge Transformers poster (one of two). If you don't know what that is, you probably don't recognize it, but my husband is a huge TF nerd and we have that stuff all over the living room. He lives in the 80s I swear.
3) Behind me to the right (through the wall opening into the other room) is a Fathead of a NASCAR car - Bobby Labonte to be exact - also my husband's. It's yellow and light blue and the room is green and mauve. Does not match anything in any way. This makes me realize I let him decorate entirely too much.
4) I talk with my hands a lot. You can't see all of it because of the camera angle but I do and it's funny I think. My family is Italian so that's where that is from (shout out to the Italians, Massi!).
5) I say "you know" entirely too much. I didn't know this until I heard myself so I guess I do this in everyday conversations as well or it would not have happened. I didn't count how many times but it was, you know, a lot :) Need to break that habit.
6) That is the last time I will be wearing that red sweater. That day Jedi jumped on me and got his nail caught in it and ripped a hole in the sleeve. So it will have to live on in cyberspace because it has been retired.
So just thought I would share that because I don't have a lot else to say today since I am feeling under the weather and wanted to cheer myself up by being funny. I crack myself up.
See, I am weird!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Day 25 - The end of the beginning!
Well it is morning here for me on Day 25 of 100 (1/4 of the way through!) and day 14 of the group shred. I thought I would do a quick update on yesterday and share a little about the shred, as it comes to a close. Yesterday I did antagonistic jump sets and fat loss circuit training in line with my second round of MS. I have been able to do the workouts pretty easy in this Level 1 version of the plan so I know that I'll be ready to go to the full program when Mission Two comes along because I am not pushing myself as hard as I could go. Part of that is my fault, because I could do more weight but I have just been testing the waters a little to see what each workout is like before I ramp it up seriously. When I looked at my goals at the top of the page, I have not reached all of them, but you know, I don't really care becuase I am working toward them and I have achieved a lot more intangible results that I could not have hoped for so overall I can't be disappointed. However, I haven't lost any weight in the past few days so maybe I should start working harder. I feel guilty because I know some of you out there are really going all out and I just have kind of been saving a little back to make it through the long haul. I guess that's okay. I love the group shred but at the same time I have my eye on the larger goal of getting through 100 days so I don't want to burn out. Anyway, still doing low carb, I have been good with that but I felt like I had a lot of fat yesterday. I know that I can have some but I don't want to go over calories so I can't have too many days like that. And I was craving something sweet in the evening so I made myself some sugar-free jello and added protein powder to it so it would have some nutritional value. It tasted great! I highly recommend it if you need a low carb dessert because there isn't much out there!
Today is a rest day and I am glad for it because my neck has been hurting for about 4 days now and I am not sure why but exercising definitely aggravates it so hopefully with a day off I can get over it. So not much going on today, technically my pics are a day ahead so I already took my day 14 picture so even if I did have a workout today it wouldn't count toward the shred. But I wish everyone out there good luck today, I'll be checking all the blogs to see the results, but I know this is only the beginning for most of us, I am so excited for the future! But I did want to post my comments that I put on Adam's blog here just in case someone who's not on the shred would be interested in it. Here's what I said:
Wow what to say about my experience so far...??? For me, it is actually hard to describe because I have struggled so much in this area and this shred has been, to be honest, pretty easy comparatively. I used to have such a mental battle ALL THE TIME, and I guess since so many are watching and counting on us to succeed, I just don't fight that battle as much, I just do what I know I need to do. Not that there aren't tough times, but before I just felt so stressed and guilty and down all the time and during these 14 days I have felt excited and uplifted. And when you are doing what you committed to do, you don't have the guilt because you are doing the right thing! And you think less about it because you aren't analyzing decisions you made or didn't make over and over again. Like I said, hard to explain, but the biggest change I see in myself is mental and I think that's the hardest battle we all fight. If we didn't have a mental struggle going on inside of us, we wouldn't have let ourselves go physically in the first place. We would eat what we know is healthy and exercise regularly like we all know we are supposed to do to just be a healthy person. Doing this together in a group is so much better than doing it alone. I mean, this has been proven because even if you look at a program like Weight Watchers, the people who go to meetings are MUCH more likely to succeed than those who don't but it's tough to put yourself out there in the beginning and admit you are out of control. And then to take the pictures and prove where you are starting from. That was my first obstacle. But after the decision to do it was made, it got easier all the time and I am so glad I did it because I can see such a difference that I wouldn't have given myself credit for. And really, although the first smile was a little forced, the ones after that did get bigger and bigger like you said because I really am happy to be doing what I am doing and I am proud of myself. People don't usually give themselves enough credit, like I think it was Mike was saying, we never acknowledge our own success in a healthy way, and I agree. I am usually the first one to wave off encouragement because I don't want to seem like I am vain but I really am proud of my accomplishment so far and I am looking forward to the next phase of this journey so I can keep giving myself reasons to be happy. So anyway, the best experience that I take away, and that I can tell other potential shredders, is to take the chance on yourself because you will learn that you can overcome the battle in your mind, stop feeling guilty, have the chance to do it alongside others who are going through the exact same things, and learn to love yourself and the journey. And that all happens in a very short period of time, you won't even believe how fast you can turn it around if you really commit!
Here's my Day 25 pics, I am putting my Day 24 in a separate post.
PS Check out my pic on Adam's blog, it's a little different than the one here!
Today is a rest day and I am glad for it because my neck has been hurting for about 4 days now and I am not sure why but exercising definitely aggravates it so hopefully with a day off I can get over it. So not much going on today, technically my pics are a day ahead so I already took my day 14 picture so even if I did have a workout today it wouldn't count toward the shred. But I wish everyone out there good luck today, I'll be checking all the blogs to see the results, but I know this is only the beginning for most of us, I am so excited for the future! But I did want to post my comments that I put on Adam's blog here just in case someone who's not on the shred would be interested in it. Here's what I said:
Wow what to say about my experience so far...??? For me, it is actually hard to describe because I have struggled so much in this area and this shred has been, to be honest, pretty easy comparatively. I used to have such a mental battle ALL THE TIME, and I guess since so many are watching and counting on us to succeed, I just don't fight that battle as much, I just do what I know I need to do. Not that there aren't tough times, but before I just felt so stressed and guilty and down all the time and during these 14 days I have felt excited and uplifted. And when you are doing what you committed to do, you don't have the guilt because you are doing the right thing! And you think less about it because you aren't analyzing decisions you made or didn't make over and over again. Like I said, hard to explain, but the biggest change I see in myself is mental and I think that's the hardest battle we all fight. If we didn't have a mental struggle going on inside of us, we wouldn't have let ourselves go physically in the first place. We would eat what we know is healthy and exercise regularly like we all know we are supposed to do to just be a healthy person. Doing this together in a group is so much better than doing it alone. I mean, this has been proven because even if you look at a program like Weight Watchers, the people who go to meetings are MUCH more likely to succeed than those who don't but it's tough to put yourself out there in the beginning and admit you are out of control. And then to take the pictures and prove where you are starting from. That was my first obstacle. But after the decision to do it was made, it got easier all the time and I am so glad I did it because I can see such a difference that I wouldn't have given myself credit for. And really, although the first smile was a little forced, the ones after that did get bigger and bigger like you said because I really am happy to be doing what I am doing and I am proud of myself. People don't usually give themselves enough credit, like I think it was Mike was saying, we never acknowledge our own success in a healthy way, and I agree. I am usually the first one to wave off encouragement because I don't want to seem like I am vain but I really am proud of my accomplishment so far and I am looking forward to the next phase of this journey so I can keep giving myself reasons to be happy. So anyway, the best experience that I take away, and that I can tell other potential shredders, is to take the chance on yourself because you will learn that you can overcome the battle in your mind, stop feeling guilty, have the chance to do it alongside others who are going through the exact same things, and learn to love yourself and the journey. And that all happens in a very short period of time, you won't even believe how fast you can turn it around if you really commit!
Here's my Day 25 pics, I am putting my Day 24 in a separate post.
PS Check out my pic on Adam's blog, it's a little different than the one here!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Day 23 - Attempt at something new...
Day 13 of MS, Day 12 of Group Shred
So here is a video that I hope you all can see and hear. I thought it would be fun to try out so let me know if it works. It is about 12min long and not very good quality but oh well. It's also chopped up because I was trying to get everything in and I kept stopping and re-recording, so it's the best I could do. Maybe I'll get better at it but for now we'll see. Anyway, hope you can see it and enjoy it. See you soon!
Okay damn I can't see it can anyone else? I guess I'll put it on youtube...okay, youtube rejected me...it won't let anything over 10 min. This has been a learning experience for sure. I am going to cut it down or else do two smaller ones, not sure yet...to be continued...
Okay, I got it down under 10 minutes, it's uploading now so hopefully you'll be able to see it soon.
And here are today's pics:
So here is a video that I hope you all can see and hear. I thought it would be fun to try out so let me know if it works. It is about 12min long and not very good quality but oh well. It's also chopped up because I was trying to get everything in and I kept stopping and re-recording, so it's the best I could do. Maybe I'll get better at it but for now we'll see. Anyway, hope you can see it and enjoy it. See you soon!
Okay damn I can't see it can anyone else? I guess I'll put it on youtube...okay, youtube rejected me...it won't let anything over 10 min. This has been a learning experience for sure. I am going to cut it down or else do two smaller ones, not sure yet...to be continued...
Okay, I got it down under 10 minutes, it's uploading now so hopefully you'll be able to see it soon.
And here are today's pics:
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