Day 54 - Some Encouragement!

This morning I was feeling a little discouraged as I went to meet Stefanie. After almost 7 full weeks I don't feel like I'm seeing the results I need to be ready in 6 weeks. I'm halfway there, but not halfway there. Then I got a little good news.

My body fat came in at 19.39% - FINALLY under 20%!!! Woo Hoo! So that was encouraging. Can I lose 7% more in less than 7 weeks? I'll definitely do my part.

Measurements last Wednesday vs. Today:
Shoulders: 40.75 - 40.5
Chest: 35 - 34.5
Waist: 28 - 27.5
Hips: 37.5 - 37
Thigh: 20 - 19
Arm: 10.5 - 10.5
Calf: 12.5 - 12.5

So overall, it was good, but not good enough for me. Stepping up the cardio to 6 days a week, will even see if I can get in 2 sessions a day twice a week.

Tried on and fit a pair of size 2 pants last night - wow!

I'm keepin on keepin on!


AM Weight: 132.5
PM Weight: 133.4
42 days to go...

Day 53 - Can I Get There???

I guess I'm feeling a little discouraged. I'm doing all the things I'm supposed to do, but I'm not seeing my body fat drop. I'm following this diet to the letter, not enough results and I'm halfway in.

I took today completely off from working out. I also decided to try on some pants and was able to put on, zip and button a pair of size 2 pants. Now they looked painted on but they were supposed to look like that and they were super comfortable. So that made me feel a little better.

I'm too far in to quit...

AM Weight: 132.7
PM Weight: 134.5
43 days to go...

Day 52 - So Sore!

My intention was to workout at 5am, then do weight class and go to Busch Gardens for my cardio, but it didn't turn out that way.

Was too tired to get up, so I ended up at the gym around 9am, then went to what I thought was Just Pump Class at 9:30. But it ended up being an Aerobic Weight Training Class. It was BRUTAL. This is by far the hardest class I've ever done at the gym. Well it definitely took care of the cardio AND the full body workout. I did chest and legs, which was great because it seemed the class was focused on that as well, lots of pushups, flys and squats. So I was SO sore when done and then went to Busch Gardens for almost 5 hours with Mom and Aidan. OMG, thought I was going to die!

So now it's 9pm and I'm SO sore! But I guess it's a good thing! Figured something new to do with my egg whites, mixed some chicken in with them and it tastes really good.

Will probably run tomorrow.

AM Weight: 132.5
PM Weight: 135.6
44 days to go...

Day 51 - 7 weeks to go...

Felt good today. I think about cheating a few times a day, but it's not an overwhelming urge. Then I start to think about my last cheat meal and how awful I felt during and afterward and the craving goes away.

I was going to use today as my workout day off, but I couldn't resist going out to run this evening because it was so beautiful outside. Felt great!

45 days to go...

Day 50 - Paying for the Cheat Meal!

Well my body didn't like my cheat meal, as I found out this morning! :-(

I started in my new routine today. At the gym at 9am, did 2 body parts for 30 minutes, then into the Just Pump Class for an hour of full body, then 30 minutes of HIIT Cardio. I was SO tired after all that!

I can't even believe I've come to love my chicken and am no longer craving other foods on a daily basis.

Body fat was down on my scale - 23.7% which is the lowest it's been on my home BF scale. So that's good.

7 weeks to go, can I be ready??? I don't know, but I'm not going to stop working towards it!

Morning weight: 133.4
Evening weight: 136.4
46 day to go...

Day 49 - Hating the Cheat Meal

Yesterday I didn't get to do the workout I really wanted but I did get a little swimming in, so that was good. But I wasn't feeling good that evening and went to bed a little after 9pm, and only had 4 meals.

Today was going good, but since I didn't have my cheat meal yesterday and I'm still allowed to have them, I was so excited about having it tonight! I wanted Nachos, but real ones, so I decided to make them myself. I was so excited to go to the store and buy the ingredients: shredded cheddar & jack cheese, jalapeno, olives, sour cream and Hormel Turkey Chili Beans (I couldn't bring myself to get the full fat ones). I had salsa at home so didn't need to get that. I made myself a two layer on a plate! Warmed it all up to melt the cheese and dug in! I couldn't even finish one layer before I was stuffed and sick of it! I crave the cheat meal so much then EVERY time I'm so let down! So maybe from here out I'll have "cheat bites" and some wine. The wine never disappoints!

Went for a 40 minute run today, which was great. Going to start a new Strength Routine, which is to do 20-30 min of two specific body parts, then go into a Just Pump class for an hour of full body workout. I'm really excited about this. I think I'll get more bang for my buck this way. Then I'll do 20 min of cardio since the class incorporates cardio. Want to see that fat DROP!!!


Morning Weight: 131.6
Evening Weight: 134.5
47 days to go...

Day 47 - Workin' this Diet Yeah Baby!

Yesterday wasn't a good day for me. Had a lot of things going on personally, emotionally. The good thing is that had this been 6 months ago, I would have turned to food and wine and thought "one day of eating crap won't kill me and I deserve it", but I just stuck with my diet faithfully. So I was proud of myself.

Today was a much better day, much more productive. Diet went well. Had a great workout. 30 Minutes with Stefanie, then I felt so energized that I did 45 minutes in the Just Pump Class, then 20 min on the TruStrider. So I got a serious workout in! I would love to do that 3 times a week. Will see if I can adjust my schedule to do 30 minutes of the body parts I want to work, then the class for full body.

My workout with Stefanie was grueling, but still prefer it over the Plyometrics! I felt like I did a million pullups using the Assisted Machine. She started me at 100 lbs and after 4 sets, got down to 25 lbs, which is just about my body weight. Gotta work that back!!!

Loving the protein I got (Beverly International Ultimate Muscle Protein - vanilla). 7 weeks to go, can I make it? Will my body get lean enough??? I will do all that I can to make it happen!

Weight this morning: 135.6
Weight tonight: 135.6

49 days to go...

Day 45 - More Results

Today, got weighed and measured.

Weight was 136.5 this morning and body fat on my scale was 24.8%. When I measured on Tuesday at the gym, it was 23.3% using the Caliper method, which is more accurate, so I'm sticking with that one. Either way, it's not moving fast enough for me! :-)

Measurements didn't change a lot. Here's what did change:
Bust - went up .5 inch to 35, however, I was wearing slight more padding today from the sport top. So next time, I'm going to wear exactly what I wore the first time I got measured and always wear the same thing.
Hip - down .5 inch, that's good.
Arm - down .25 inch, good.
Calf - down .25 inch, good
Waist - UP 1 inch - very bad - though I felt really bloated today, not sure what was going on with that!

Because of that, Stefanie had me do the whole session of Plyometrics! It's SO hard! My legs were jiggly the rest of the day.

Touched base with Maria R today. She lost body fat as well, which is great. She also sent me links for posing suits and shoes that are at a reasonable rate. I'm so happy she's doing this too.

Food was good today. Happy I got the 7-KETO supplements, they really help. I've got to get better at my sleeping. Gotta get my rest.

All else is good!

51 days to go...

Day 44 - Going Strong

Had a great workout yesterday. Did legs and biceps. Felt good, was able to do all bicep curls with 15 lbs. Can't wait until I can do 20 lbs.

I started using exercises from www.bodybuilding.com. Love this site! So much good stuff!

Found the Beverly International Ultimate Muscle Protein and got some 7-Keto for energy. Was just feeling so tired around 6pm from the lack of carbs. Today was my first time using the Keto and I felt like my normal self. Love the protein, tastes SO good!

Getting measured tomorrow, should be interesting. I can do this!

52 days to go...

Day 42 - Great workout

Had a great workout today. After last night, I decided I want to do 4-5 days of strength so I can really focus on all my body parts even more. I didn't understand until last night how important working out my back was. Stefanie had me doing a lot of it, and now it makes sense, after seeing those beautiful backs last night.

Did lats and tri's today.

Diet's going well. Cheated last night, had pasta w/Italian Sausage. Hope it wasn't too detrimental. I get conflicting advice, some say keep having a cheat meal, some say stop, some say never have cheat meals. But ultimately, I have to do what works for me, so each week, if I need one and I'm still getting results, I'll have one. Since I'm doing a lower carb meal plan, I need some supplements to make sure I keep my energy up. Will talk to Fernando at Max Muscle tomorrow.

54 Days to go...

Day 41 Watched my first Figure Competition Live

Wow, what an experience watching this live! It was so awesome to see my trainer up there, I felt so proud. She looked incredible! She asked me if it pumped me up for mine. I said "pumped up" really aren't the right words, but "terrified" is better. :-)

It made me feel super out of shape and motivated me to kick my workout into high gear. I want to look that good! And I know I can do it!

Looking forward to a great workout tomorrow! Loving this new diet, I know I'll see positive changes as long as I stay the course.

55 days to go...

Day 39 - Protein Protein Protein

So I changed up my diet today and I don't think I've ever had this much protein in my life!!! I'm almost at 200g and still have a meal to to! Very low carbs. Hope I can handle this.

Great workout today. Did biceps, triceps and quads, then did 30 min in the step class. Hate those classes! :-) But it was a good change. Was still able to do 30 pullups. Next week, going for 40. Did 40 lb barbell for my bicep curls and did 40 lbs for my Tricep pushdowns, so was proud of that.

Making progress. I really hope to start losing 2% body fat a week with this diet and workout!

Day 38 - Revamping the Diet

Well, I've been in a plateau the past few weeks and need to change my diet up. No more cheat meals, cutting the carbs after my 4th meal. Also cutting the fruit a little. We'll see if that helps.

Talked to Maria R, she's doing well. I can't wait to see her. We're going shopping for our posing suits together. Sounds like fun!

Day 36 - Keepin' on Keepin' on!

Well, kind of had a little bit of a meltdown this weekend, but I recovered and am back on track.

Did a 15k Saturday morning. Did fantastic, but wanted to eat everything in sight afterwards! I decided it would be a cheat day, a second one, and an all afternoon and evening one! But I also decided that I wouldn't have any more cheat days for the remainder of the training and had to mentally focus and prepare for this.

Over the weekend, I also got some additional motivation. I found a profile on Sparkpeople that totally motivated me (Susie Torres below).

So I was rejuvenated and ready to do this! Then today, found a great site with someone's complete training plan (Rebecca Slatt below). So more motivation. Guess these are my signs to not give up!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/becca2.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/female-transformation-susie-torres.htm

Day 33 - Almost through this Week!

This has been a tough week for me. I had a great workout on Monday, but didn't work out again until today. I've been SO tired this week. After talking to Stefanie today, I need to increase my carbs. This has been a struggle for me, but I will do it.

Through Sparkpeople, I connected with a woman named Susie who is such an inspiration. She went from 51% body fat 4/08 to 12% 14 months later! How incredible. So when I was feeling like "Do I really want to do this?" I found her site and it remotivated me.

I had a great workout today, did a HIIT 2.2 mile run, then strength trained with Stefanie. I feel like I'm back on track.

Doing a 15k tomorrow, looking forward to it, but glad to get it out of the way so I can just focus on my muscle building.

Day 31 - Not much new

Didn't work out yesterday or today, will be my two days off for the week. Eating's been fine, did my cheat meal tonight as we had a free dinner at a new restaurant I couldn't pass up! Working out with Stefanie tomorrow...

Day 29 - Almost of Month and Still Going

I totally forgot to blog all weekend! I didn't do much working out though. Well, did a 5k Saturday morning, but nothing on Sunday, since my nephew went to the ER.

But the eating was good all weekend. I made myself a ribeye with shrimp and scallops and wild rice. It was really good, but towards the end I was actually getting a little sick from the richness of the food. Trying to find balance in my cheat meals!

Today's workout was awesome. I did 3 sets of 10 unassisted pullups! The most I've ever done! I could have done more, but didn't as I was in a time crunch. I increased my weights in other areas as well and felt really good. I hope I'm sore tomorrow. I also ran 7 miles today to prepare for the 15k this weekend. Hope it doesn't hurt what I've been doing too much.

Feeling strong! Figured out how to roast my veggies the way I like them so I'm happy!

Day 26 - Feeling Stronger

Missed yesterday because I was so busy. Mom had surgery (went well) and that took up a large portion of the day, then meeting at my office last night. Boy was I tired. But the day wasn't all lost. I learned a few things:

1) I prepared and packed well for my time at the hospital, so I was proud about that. I had wondered how people with jobs can handle preparing all this food, but I know that if you take a moment to prepare, you can do it, so there are no excuses for not eating healthy, it's simply a decision.

2) I didn't get to do any formal cardio, so I used the stairs at the hospital, did some exercises from my chair and walked A LOT.

So today...

I was SO tired from yesterday, had gotten less than 4 hours sleep the night before, so was up from 3:45am - 11:30pm, then up at 4:20am with my husband, back to bed at 4:50, then up again at 7:40am to get ready for my 8:30am workout with my trainer (aren't you tired just reading this so far?)

The workout was nothing less than BRUTAL!!! But I did do leg presses with 230 lbs, which my trainer seemed impressed that I could do. And I actually wore a sports bra to the gym with no shirt over it. That was a big step for me. I only did it because my trainer asked me to, and I'm coachable! So it was a really good workout, I'm sure I'll really feel it tomorrow.

Eating was very good today. I'm spending the night at Mom's tonight so I packed well. Planning on doing a 5k in the morning, thankfully it's at 8am instead of 6 or 7.

Cheat meal tomorrow, wonder what I'll have??? I think I want a Ribeye Steak with Shrimp and I think I'm going to make it myself.

That's it for today!