Where to start?

Well I guess Friday is a good place. We stopped at the Vitamin Shoppe Friday after work. My fiancé wanted to pick something up to give him a little ‘boost’ during his workouts (like acceleraide) and I wanted to pick up some Betagen. We started looking around and I quickly decided I didn’t want any acceleraide because it looked to be pure sugar. I really don’t need that kind of boost. So we looked a little further and found this stuff called No-Xplode. Granted, the package promised the world – and I was skeptical. But it did say it would boost energy, plus it had creatine in it AND no sugar. The over the top claims of more mental focus and mind body connection, I was willing to take a with a grain of salt. So I bought some to try.

Saturday we did our weekly stop at Target. We’re trying to slowly add more workout clothes to our wardrobe so we’ve been setting aside a little out of each check to purchase some. While scanning through the book section I spotted this book in called “the Abs Diet – Eat Right Every Time Guide.” I gave it a quick glace and decided to pick it up. It seemed perfect for my honey because he doesn’t want to diet, but simply wants to be better educated and make better choices. So this was perfect for him. I read it over the weekend and frankly am using the plan for myself as well. I love the simplicity of it.

Sunday came the big test. I had missed a workout on Wednesday so we decided to make it up over the weekend. We got up and after changing had a serving of the No-xplode. It’s nasty tasting… we both agree with that. Super Sour, with a little of the sliminess of Gatorade plus another taste that can be described other then to say it’s BAD. But it’s only 8oz. If I put my mind to it I can get it all down in one good ‘chug’. About 30 minutes after taking it (we have a 30 minute drive to the gym) I noticed I was getting warm. That wouldn’t seem odd to most people except I’m ALWAYS cold. I figured that was a good sign. By the time I hit the door of the gym I was sweating. Interesting. I can honestly say that I didn’t feel a burst of energy or anything like that. But I’m a caffeine addict so I’m not really expecting much. What I did notice was: I could lift more. Common with creatine use I know, but it still surprised me. I was warm and sweated GALLONS. I’m normally a sweater anyway, but I tend to reserve the ‘dripping off the hair’ for cardio days. But Sunday I was literally DRIPPING just while working chest and triceps. I’m hoping that’s an indication that my metabolism is speeding up. When I took Ephedra it used to up my body temperature too. My mood was incredible. Yeah – the package talks about mental focus, and frankly that was the part I scoffed the most about, but it certainly was the one I noticed the most. I was literally DANCING between sets to the corny gym music, smiling between exercises. It was amazing. And lastly, when I left the gym I was still feeling good. I was muscle tired but not exhausted like I normally am. I literally had to tell myself ‘it’s time to stop’. Rather then lay there thinking “I can’t do any more’. The best part of all – it had the same effect today when I got up at 4:00AM to train. WHOOP! (Fiancé noticed all the same effects though he got an energy burst – and this morning when taking two scoops it bothered his stomach)

This last bit of news is the most exciting. (at least to me it is). This morning I climbed on the recumbent bike to warm up. The ones at our gym have arm rests and because I’m just warming up, I use them. As my RPM’s go up I tend to press down on them to give myself some leverage. So I’m peddling away when I look up into the mirror and notice my arm. “Wow,” I thought, “that shadow make it look like I have a separation between my arm and delt. How cool.” Then I lifted my arm off the rest and noticed that the ‘shadow’ was gone! I put my arm back, nothing, pressed down and ‘poof’ there it was again! That wasn’t a shadow it was *gasp* definition! I quickly poked my fiancé on the bike next to mine and whispered, “Can you see that? There’s a line in my arm” He had to disappoint me by saying he couldn’t see my arm from where he was but then I got a bright idea and checked out my left arm. Glory be – there was a line in that one too! I got the attention of my fiancé and pointed it out to him. “See! Do you see that?” He could see my left arm in the mirror and was happy to confirm that yes, indeed there WAS a line in my arm. I could have gone home happy at that point, but it didn’t stop there. As it happened today was bicep day. So after working my legs (I squatted 130 lbs today yay me!) I went over to the dumbbell rack to do curls. So, I grab my 20 lb dumbbells and go stand facing the mirror. As I start to curl I notice my delts ‘pop’! My entire arm cap stood up under my skin so clear I could see serrations. I nearly passed out with joy! Me – the chubby girl – I have muscles! The only reason I think I never noticed before is that I normally wear shirts with sleeves but today – I chose a tank top. All I can say is I think I’m going to go out and buy some more tank tops! And I can’t wait till the fat thins on the rest of my body so I can see what’s hiding under there too.

Other good news? I’m losing fat – finally! It’s starting to finally get noticeable. My hip measurement (which included my horrid tummy pouch) has dropped form 50 to 48.5 (in 9 weeks) and my ‘side boobs’ are going away. I also think I’ve lost a few rolls off my back, but I’ll have to wait for picture day to be sure. In the past week my weight has dropped from 203.8 to 203.4 and body fat from 50% to 49%. I think that’s a 2 lb fat loss and that’s all I’m asking for!