Three days in a row....

three days in a row of getting up at 4:00AM. It's finally catching up with me.

the good news? I'm down, but not out! I'm tired but not using it as an excuse to eat poorly.

This morning I did a back/shoulder workout, then hit the eliptical for 10 minutes and finished up with a 20 minute HIIT workout. I was tired while doing my HIIT, but didn't feel anywhere close to 'bonking'. I guess I'm eating enough and getting enough sleep to keep my energy levels up for my workouts. That's encoragining.

today is the last of my 'lower calorie/lower carb' days. I'll have to pre make the next two days meals tonight. I've already planned them so it should be reletivly easy. I'm liking this new plan - a LOT.

By the way, in case your curious as to my new plan.. here you go.

Five days a week (Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat) are lower carb, lower calorie... This translates to 1800 Calories at 45% Protien/30% Carbs/25% Fat.

Two days a week (Thurs,Sun) are higher carb, higher calories. This translates to 2000 Calories at 30/50/20.

I'm working out 5 days a week - structured that is.

30 minutes weights and 30 minutes cardio every day

I have a three day split:
Chest/Triceps
Legs/Biceps
Back/Shoulders

I've not had a solid plan for cardio but I think I'm going to do HIIT Monday Wednesday and Friday then some sort of Moderate Tempo Cardio the other two days.

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I've been doing this for three whole days so far.. heh but I can say that I'm happy with my energy, and results so far. The best part has been how good I feel mentally... After working out yesterday I was walking around feeling like a million bucks. I felt tighter all over and more attractive. Granted, working out for three whole days in a row won't change your body that quickly, but I FELT like it had and that was enough to keep me focused on my goals and avoid anything outside my plan.

I'm really feeling positive right now and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

yeah, we're actually getting somewhere again.

I've gotten up at 4:00AM three (work) days in a row and made it to the gym. I'm so freeking proud of myself I can't even stand it!

I changed my plans again and did legs today instead of cardio only. Super Set of curls and extensions, split squats, leg press, calf press and then bicep curls. Then - because I hadn't punished my legs enough, I hopped on the stair master (you know the one that looks like an escalator) and did 20 whole minutes! It was awsome. The best part is that I feel so fantastic. yeah I'm achy and sore but my energy levels are through the roof - AND I've already dropped 1/2 a pound this week!

Food has been so easy - and right on the money. Planning three days at a time is such a great way to go! I don't have to worry about it at night, and in the morning I just grab one of each of my pre-prepared meals and out the door I go.

Life's been really easy so far - I'm going to enjoy it while I can.

Today is the first day of my new life.

Last week I heard about a figure compition that is going on in July of next year in my home town. For some reason the thought of that - The challege to get in shape to stand in front of my 'homies' lit a fire in me. It has sparked an excitement in me that I haven’t felt in a LONG time. Even if I didn’t enter (which I'm unlikely to do at this moment) I would like to see how close to ‘competition form’ I could get. It's such a great incentive. Today was the first day of my new commitment and my new ‘tighter’ program. I can’t wait to see the results.

So - I hit the gym at 5:00AM. I did chest, tris and 1 set of abs. I then jumped on the ol' treddie and ran for 20 minutes (25 if you include cool down). I feel the workout - there's no doubt about that. Tomorrow I think I'll do cardio and do a really intense Ab workout.

Last night I got REALLY organized and made THREE DAYS worth of lunches. I'm having the same thing every day for three days, but I should have no problem handling that. Wednesday night I'll create three more days worth of food. Thursday is my 'high carb-high cal' day so it will take a little extra planning and I may change my meals for Friday and Saturday. Sunday - I don't know if I'm going with a full free day or not. I'm still trying to decide. Anyone have any input? anyone? anyone? heh

I really did a number on my legs! I mean WEW! I hobbled and winced and had my legs giving out on me all day yesterday. So, I didn't workout.

BUT - this morning I was up at 4:00AM (that's right you heard me... the chick who couldn't get up before 8:00AM was up at 4:00!) and my honey and I drove down to the gym.

I started with a five minute warm up on the bike. My legs were SCREEMING, then I went over and did back and shoulders. I finished with some crunches and then headed over to the treadmill. I didn't do intervals, there was just no way my legs could take it, but I kept up a pretty high rate of steady state running.

My legs - hate me. Actually, I'm fine as long as I keep moving, but stop and then start again? ow!ow!ow!

I love it!

I hit the gym for the second time last night. It was PACKED again. The funny thing is, I think I see a BFL 'trend' in the place...

Monday night when I was there I was fighting for weightlifting time. Some people were rotaiting three to a machine! But, I noted that though there were a lot of people in the cardio area there were still machines available.

Last Night (Tuesday) I go in to do cardio and the oposite is true. There are people standing in line for cardio machines - as soon as one person got off, another was in their place. Other then maybe pushing someone off - there was no way I was getting an eliptical machine (something I was looking forward to trying) or even the 'escalator' style step machine. I ended up doing 5 minutes on a bike, 10 minutes on a traditional stepper, 10 minutes running on the treadmill (the hip handled it ok YAY!) and then five more minutes on a recumant bike. When I went to check on the weight area - sure enough there wern't a LOT of empty spots, but certainly more then the day before. IF I do end up working out in the evenings - I'm going to have to switch my days.

So, today I did my first morning workout. OF COURSE I have trouble falling and staying asleep last night. ICK. The alarm went off at 4:30 and it took all the will power I had not to hit the snooze button. But I did it - changed and headed out to the gym.

Well, I think I found the perfect time to workout - There were maybe six people in the weight area and maybe 7 on the cardio machines. You could tell they was a 'regular' crowd. People were commenting to each other as they worked out things like, "Hey you're late this morning!" or "Stop sitting around and get to lifting - only 30 seconds rest between sets" It was fun.

And I KILLED my legs! In the three years I'm been (trying to) doing BFL I have never had such a leg workout! Although I can do most everything at home that I did at the gym there is something about the atmosphere that really goads me into doing MORE. What really topped it off was getting to do the leg press machine to do calfs. It's the one body part that I can't seem to hit properly on my equipment at home, but loading 240lbs on the sled and pressing with my calves REALLY finished me off. I knew I had had a fantastic workout when, while leaving the gym I stepped off the curb and my leg gave out!

Driving the hour into work in a STICK SHIFT was agony - good agony, but agony non-the-less. My guess is that tomorrow won't be much better. It's a good thing I have access to a pool and will be able to swim for my cardio tomorrow...

So - that's my experiance - just had to share.

Saturday my fiance and I went out and did something I've been wanting to do for years! we purchased a gym membership. And BOY did we go all out - we're in for three years baby!
So last night I got my first chance to try it out.

There were negatives. The place was SO crowded - (so much so that it's almost converted me to a morning excerciser) and there were the normal smattering of posers and gym bunnies, BUT... I haven't pushed myself or worked that hard in what feels like AGES! Some of the reason may be that the crowded gym made me be a little creative with my workout, but most of it had to do with being around all those... PEOPLE. I had forgotten how fun it was to be around other people who are pushing themselves and how much that did to push me...

for the first time in a LONG time, I'm looking forward to working out again. YAY!

Indulge me a moment while I vent. I may offend some people, but heck it's my blog right?

Some days I just get so FRUSTRATED with the women who come on to the differnt boards I frequest all in an uproar over thier weight and/or body fat%. Not EVERY woman, but the ones who go... "Oh my GOD - I've got 20 lbs to loose, I'm such a COW...." or.."Oh no, my body fat percentage is 25... what ever will I do..."

I just want to grab them and shake them! I mean LOOK AT ME! I have 78.. that's right 78 pounds to lose... AND I'm at 51% body fat. Yeah!, HALF MY BODY is fat! HEL-LO! Can you just get off your pitty potty and get over it already!

BAH! I feel like having skinny chicks for dinner tonight - any volenteers?

Oh my,

So, how did the rest of my week go?

Well, Thursday was a typical day at work. In other words, it sucked. Then the ferry was super crowded, which always puts me in a bad mood. Then when I got to my car – it wouldn’t start. No, the battery wasn’t dead either, it’s something much more serious then that. My fiancé had to come and get me. He tried my car too, and – nothing.

Sooooo I get home tired, hot cranky and down right frustrated. I actually changed clothes when I got home, but was in NO MOOD to work out. I curled up in the chair and just sat there. That is until my fiancé asked me, “Are you going to workout or are you just going to sit there and pout?”

Frankly I was tempted to just sit there and pout. I had a really nice pity party going on and exercise was not invited. But I got up and ran anyway. I discovered something that annoyed me though. It’s impossible to be depressed while exercising. There’s just too much – something – going on when you push yourself. Whatever emotion you’re trying to suppress just comes bubbling up – and when you feel it, your forced to deal with it. And when you’ve dealt with it, there’s nothing left to feel sorry about. At least that’s what I’ve found.

Friday I was really good nutritionally all day. At 3:00PM when they announced that there was cake in the kitchen, I slipped down to the store and picked up my favorite meal replacement bar instead. That left me feeling like I’d had a treat, and there was no guilt involved. After work I had to make arraignments for my car to be towed. *sigh* Unfortunately, doing all of that took until after 10:30! So I went way too long without eating. Fortunately, I stayed on track and ate sensibly when I finally DID get home. For exercise I walked 2 miles at lunch (with a short break ½ way to get my hair done)

Saturday – ahhh Saturday my free day. After starving Friday night – I made it worse Saturday morning. Still taking care of car issues (the Jeep this time) and we didn’t get breakfast until 1:00PM! I was so hungry I was shaking. I managed to not snarf my food though and though I ate what I wanted I didn’t gorge. I snacked the rest of the day and then had an AMAZING dinner at Indian Oven that night followed by Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream when I got home. What a way to spend a free day.

Sunday I ate clean, shopped for this week and made up my lunches for today. I was really proud of myself for thinking ahead and doing some planning. Later in the evening I was working on the computer (my fiancés) trying to fix a problem when he did it to me again. “You need to do your workout – get out there”

I tried to come up with a reason why I shouldn’t, but he ‘made’ me. I love him for that. I ended up having a killer shoulder and arm workout and still managed to fix the computer problem in the end.

A Great end to a Great week!

Progress

So, other then my measurments - how did I do yesterday?

Food:
I had 1 extra meal yesterday then planned. I was just STARVING before my lower body workout so I went ahead and had a MRB. I still didn't manage to journal my food (left my software at work - duh!) so I think yesterday's food was about one quarter of a star.. heh

Excercise:
Legs and Abs! yeah, I got it done! I even pushed my deadlifts to new limits! I ended up doing 20 on the last set instead of 12. I think I need to up the weights a bit on that. I upped leg extensions 5 lbs as well. It's time to stop selling myself short. 1 star for working out!

Hydration:
I drank my limit of pepsi= YAY! and drank more water then normal, but not as much as I had planned. so 1/2 a star.

Attitude:
Journaled and checked in on the forums. Read through some blogs and was throughally focused and motivated 1 star!

Energy:
I got to bed on time. I had no choice. Ended up falling asleep on the couch shortly after 10:00 duh! didn't take my vitamines though. 1/2 a star

3.25 Stars Better!

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So, the Good:

I stayed away from sweets and 'junk' food. I limited my pepsi and did my workout. All things I've very proud of.

The Bad:

I didn't drink as much water as I should have. I ate one extra meal and probably over did it on dinner.

Better:
I need to up my water - I've no doubt of that. I'm stepping back a little on the cutting back of pepsi. I woke up feeling SO crappy this morning and there was no doubt in my mind it was lack of caffien. Maybe cut back slower? I don't know.

So my goals for today are:

Food:
Eat on plan and FINALLY write things down!

Excercise:
HIIT going to run today because I didn't bring my suit with me so that I could workout at the gym.

Hydration:
Drink more water! 96oz today! And I'm going to allow myself one additional 20 oz soda today. I hate waking up feeling like crap.

Attitude:
Jornal (check) Bodyforlife-tracker (check) blogs.

Energy:
In bed by 11:00 and girl - take some vitamins!

I've been so worn out lately that I'm seriously thinking of taking a day off just to sleep. I think I need it.

I bit the bullet last night...

Three weeks into this particularly DISASTEROUS challenge so I took measurements. It was pretty much as I suspected - no changes! Although I pretty much expected the results I got (you reep what you sew after all) it was still dissapointing.

BUT, every day's a new day - I'm on track to make this a 'perfect' week. I string a few of those together and things will start to happen...

The good news is that I started the challenge at the begining of this year in pretty much the same spot. Three weeks of 1/2 assed focus - no results and then BAM I got on a roll and by the end of 12 weeks I had lost 18 lbs. I know the program works when I apply it... here's to applying it!

I will NOT give up!

Oh yeah, goals for today:

Food:
Eat my meals as planned - all are packed and ready to go so there should be no big issues there. I also want to enter it into fitday... time to see where things need to be tightened.

Excercise:
Based on my new schedule it's legs tonight. I wanted to try out legs at the gym but I didn't pack my workout clothes, so unless I stop a the store and buy myself new digs... I'll be working out in the backyard. Nothing wrong with that though! Legs, and abs planned.

Hydration:
I will drink my 60 oz of pepsi and no more. And I will drink 96 oz of water - at least one 24 oz bottle of water for every 20oz bottle of soda.

Attitude:
I will journal (check) and check in on bodyforlife-trackers (check). I will also pick a new ab routine to try and read through everyone's blog that's on my list.


Energy:
I will take my vitamins and be to bed at 11:00 PM

I also need to start planning my weekend. My honey is taking me away for the weekend and I plan to once again not lose focus on my goals during that time.

so, let's rank yesterday:

Food
Nutrition was on, ate all six meals, well spaced. I didn't journal anything though so I have no idea how the ratios turned out. so for food I give myself 1/2 a star.

Excercise
Oh yes! Did my 20 minutes of HIIT. I feel like it's getting easier so next time I'm going to bump everything +.1 and see how it goes. All things consitered my feet feel really good. No lingering negative impact from my sidewalk running on Sunday. For that I'm really grateful! I also did 1 set of my 'ab series' pilates. Next Tuesday I want to add a second set. Excercise was CERTAINLY a 1 star day.

Hydration
I got home and my honey had bought me BIG soda. I drank it :( I didn't drink any water all day - so I would say a great big 0 in that department.

Attitude
I journaled, and journaled and read and posted motivation. 1 whole star there!

Energy
Not enough sleep, but I'm not sure if I'm capable of getting 8 hours of sleep anymore. I would have to be to bed by 9:00! I think I'm just going to try to get to bed consistantly at 11:00 for the rest of the week and work from there. Didn't take my vitamins either. I've been falling down on the job there - so another 0

Total - 2.5 stars

Good
I ate six meals and kept my portions resonable. My excercise was right on and I feel really positive about my progress there.

Bad
too much soda! not enough water! I ate too many Meal Replacement Bars too. I don't like subbing a meal like that. I don't think a bunch of cashews was a 100% good choice for meal five either. I need to plan better then that.

Better
I will plan and pack my meals before hand so I don't have to rely on MRB and nuts for meals. I will enter my food into a tracking software so I have something to base future changes on instead of just 'guessing' where I should be. I will also have to drink more water. I know it will make me feel better when I do, it's just a matter of DOING IT!

Overall I would say I'm 1/2 pleased with the day. Excericsise is going good, and I'm so excited about the possibility of joining a gym. Maybe by next week!

My fiance' says he can see I've made some changes. I'm kind of afraid to look. I think my measurements have changed some and I'm sure my body fat has gone down even though my weight isn't making any major drops. I know consistancy is the key. Now to find the key to consistancy.

Time to bring back my 'five star' raiting system...

Food
- journal
- nutrition
Excercise
- Weight training
- Cardio
- Stretching
- Journal
Hydration
- 62 oz of water
- Less then 62oz of Diet Soda
Attitude
- Journal
- Motivational Reading
Energy
- 8 hours of sleep
- Vitamins

So then, goals for today are:

Food
- 6 meals (BFL style) I'll record the totals at the end of the day for compairson and later 'tweeking'


Excercise
- 20 min HIIT (Treadmill Run) Basic 'Ab' Pilates workout

Hydration
- 62 oz of water
- Only 40 more oz of Diet Pepsi today

Attitude
- Journal
- Motivational Reading

Energy
- 8 hours of sleep
- Vitamins

I'll incorparate this with the "Good/Bad/Better" format I was using and see how it goes!

I'm getting so excited about this.

I was thinking about my workouts on the plane last night. Part of me dreaming about getting to join a gym sometime soon. (as in maybe this week!) The other thought was trying to cut my workout time down just a little... so... Here's my thoughts:

Monday: Weights - Quads and Hamstrings
Tuesday: Cardio/Abs - Treadmill Run (HIIT) and Pilates
Wednesday: Weights - Quads and Hamstrings
Thursday: Cardio/Abs - Swim (If I have a pool) otherwise Treadmill and some Ab work, not sure which yet.
Friday: Weights - Shoulders and Arms
Saturday: Cardio/Abs - Treadmill in the winter otherwise, whatever we're doing on the weekend, Hiking, bike riding etc. and Ab Bootcamp

The point here is, although I would love to make some amazing 12 week transformation, I need a program that works for me - FOREVER. I think this will let me see steady results, and allow me to work with something that's going to be long term.

I'm at least going to give it a three week trial.

Saturday I went to the gym and did my UBWO. It was intresting working out in a gym. I havn't done it ever while doing a BFL challenge. Getting the weights worked out was an interesting challenge, but it was fun! I may be joining a gym soon so it was neat to see what I might be letting myself in for.

Sunday I went for a run - outside- in the park - in LA! *cough*cough* I normally run on a treadmill in the bedroom of my house so to run outdoors, in front of people in the Southern California heat and smog was a REAL challenge! I did it and felt GREAT for doing it.

Monday I had thought to hit the gym for a LBWO, but we ended up being way to busy getting ready to leave. BUT, I've got time to make up that workout this week, so I'm not too worried about it.

What's great is that I worked out 2/3rd of the time. That's 2 more times then I normally would have. I'm proud of myself!