Week 10

Today is the beginning of week 10! Since I have upped my calorie intake 100 calories, I am feeling much better and I have lost another pound. It is still very strange for me to get through my head you can eat more and still lose weight (eating clean foods). I am excited for the next 3 weeks. I have almost reached my short term goal of 10lbs and 6% body fat and I know it will probably take me almost another challenge to meet my long term goal of total body fat 19% and scale weight around 110 lbs. I plan on sticking with the program even after I meet my long term goal. I will just move into maintenance mode. 

The next challenge I have decided to not use a trainer. I am comfortable with the equipment at the gym and the different exercises that I want to come up with my own workout routines. This is a huge change for me. A year ago, I was so intimidated with all the machines and didn't know where to start and how to work the machines. I was afraid everyone knew I was new to the gym and they were all laughing at me. Now I am comfortable and realize there are a lot of people there who felt the same way as me. But the funny thing is....no one is even paying attention to anyone else unless, you fall off the treadmill or something then everyone is watching and laughing. But other than that they are all just doing their own thing.

I'm Hungry!

I have noticed over the last week I have been more hungry than normal. I thought it was because of the marathon I ran. But after talking to a few other people, my metabolism is running full speed in this point of my challenge and my body needs more calories. So I am adding about 100 more calories to my diet for a week and go from there. I may need more. But here is my latest meal plan starting now until the end of week 10.

6am- Workout 16oz Water

8am Breakfast-4 egg whites & 1 whole egg scrambled with onion, banana peppers, spinach and a slice of 2% milk   cheese on top. With 2 pieces turkey bacon and a banana. 8oz Water

10-11am Snack- Steel Cut Oats with skim milk, 1/2 scoop whey protein, cinnamon and apples. 8oz Water

1-2pm Lunch- Boneless skinless chicken breast, steamed broccoli and brown rice. 16oz Water


3-4pm Snack- Myoplex Lite Bar. 8oz Water


6-6:30pm Dinner- One of the following with 8-16oz Water
                      Protein Sources: Salmon, Chicken, Ground White Meat Turkey and on occasion Steak or Pork
                      Vegetables Steamed: Broccoli, Green Beans, Cauliflower, Carrots or Asparagus
                      Complex Carb: Brown Rice, Pasta, Beans, on occasion Sweet Potatoes or Red Potatoes

8-8:30pm Snack- Tried Cottage Cheese but I couldn't get myself to eat it daily so I am going back to my Plain Greek Yogurt with walnuts and raisins added. 16oz Water


I will update how this works out next week.

Have a good day!

Second day after.

WOW! Today is day 2 after the race. I really had a hard time moving this morning. Today is cardio day too! So I sucked it up and went to the gym. Why do they have the gym on the second floor? Ugh! LOL! I made it slowly up the stairs and onto the bike. I did 10 min warm up on the bike followed by 10 min walk on the treadmill increasing my speed and inline every min. Then I did some ab exercises and then some good ol' stretching! I am feeling better. The stairs are not my friend today!

I almost took the day off to rest but I decided to go for just a light cardio today and loosen up my muscles some. Tomorrow is lower body! I will be soaking tonight and more stretching before then.

I will see how I feel in the morning. I may do another light warm up for a few min before I start my workout. I am starting a new routine tomorrow too. This should be interesting. :) But I am WOMAN, hear me ROAR! LOL!

Have a good day!

8 Week Measurements

Today I did my measurements and I have lost 5 lbs, 2" total and 2% body fat. I am not sure if this is where I should be at this point. But any loss is a gain in my book!

Starting Week 9!

Ok today is the start of week 9. It was supposed to be a lower body workout but....I think I more than did my share yesterday between lower body and cardio. So, I decided to give my legs a rest from the run yesterday and start with upper body. I am also once again making a change to my meal plan. I am taking out the turkey bacon with my eggs and adding in steel cut oatmeal. I don't like oatmeal but I want to maximize my last four weeks. I also will be adding back in a carb at lunch, taking out carb for dinner and switching to cottage cheese for my last meal. This should do the trick!

My First 1/2 Marathon!!!

A sign I saw towards the end.

Start line of the 1/2 Marathon

8 Mile Marker

Me at the 10 mile marker!

Finish Line!


March 18, 2012 I ran my first 1/2 Marathon! I  was averaging 9 min miles at the half way point. Then from miles 6-8 my knees really started hurting me and by mile 10, they were shot. My time dropped dramatically from that point on. But I finished in 2 hours and 52 min. Not great but not bad! I wasn't last either! I even managed to update Facebook as I was running. Boy! Did I get harassed for that! LOL!  The pics above are from my fb updates!

Race packet pick up

    

I picked up my race packet today!

Got my shirt and sticker ready for the race on Sunday.

Shamrock 1/2 Marathon 2012 here I come! 

Shamrock 1/2 Marathon here I come!

Today is my last day working out for the week. I technically still have 2 days but I need to rest for the 1/2 marathon on Sunday. I don't want to get injured by doing to much before the race. Today I was a cardio day. I switched it up a bit and did half of my time on the bike and the last half on the treadmill running on a high incline. It felt good. The ab workout was a bit tough today since I did a full ab workout yesterday. But I wanted to get in a good last workout in.

I am very nervous about the 1/2 Marathon. I have never run that far before. I just started running about 6 months ago. I started with a 10k then a 10 miler and now the 1/2 marathon. I have never been athletic before in my life. This all new and exciting for me.

So Sunday, all I can do, is my best. It's not about perfection! I am not doing this to break any records, I am doing this just for me. To prove to myself that I CAN do it! That age is just a number and your only as old as you feel. Keeping in mind on Monday I may be feeling pretty old! LOL!

3 days till the big run!

Week 8

Today is the beginning of week 8. I am excited and scared at the same time. Does this make any sense? Today I was nervous to start this week 8. I have this thing in the back of my head saying, "What if everything they said will happen, doesn't?" This makes me scared. I know I am not the only one to get to this point and get a little scared. At the beginning of my challenge I had read where some people got to week 8 and quit. I didn't understand why go that far and quit right when the biggest result weeks start. I understand now how they were probably feeling. I have built up weeks 8-12 in my head so much that now that they are beginning, I am fearful.
Does this mean I'm quitting? Heck NO! In the past I probably would have, but not this time!

In the next few weeks I will have run in a 1/2 marathon, turned 40 years old and completed my first BFL Challenge. All of which make me nervous, but I am doing them! Well except for turning 40, this doesn't scare me at all! I am in better shape now that I was when I was a teen. I have never been athletic growing up. The only sport I played was softball and I was really bad at that! lol! I couldn't run a block without stopping, until just 6 months ago when I ran my first marathon.

6 days until the Shamrock 1/2 Marathon!

End of week 7

Today is the end of week 7. Bring on the magical weeks 8-12! Whoo Hoo!!!!

Cardio

I am continuing to run on the treadmill. I have my 1/2 Marathon in 8 days and I have been working on endurance. During my BFL 20min Cardio I have been really pushing myself hard especially the last 5 min. I start at a speed of 6 and an incline of 3 and work up to an incline of 7 and a speed of 9! I tried 9.5 but I almost fell off the treadmill. I almost found out the hard way that my legs can only go so fast! LOL! So I will keep raising my incline for intensity.

I may run stairs for added intensity once I max out on the incline of the treadmill, since I don't know how high it goes.

I don't mind the cardio so much anymore. I am really close to doing 2.5 miles in 20 min!

I feel like this is making me stronger so I can be stronger for the Marathon!

Famous Lady success Doc

http://bodyforlife.com/community/boards/bfl/m/mediagallery/462/download.aspx

I just read this document about real women who did the BFL program in the past. I cried reading their posts. It was like they were reading my mind a long my journey. I know believe I too will have the same results others have had. I have been following the program to  T and I use the website and forums daily. I even try to help others who are just starting by motivating them when they are feeling discouraged. It feels good to pay it forward.

Whenever I get discouraged I just say; "What do I have to lose?" I've been working out for 3-4 years without hardly any results and I keep going. So why not continue and see what happens in these 12 weeks! I am sure glad I have! 4 more weeks to go and already I have seen more results in these 7 weeks than the last 4 years of working out!

Ground Turkey

I have been eating ground turkey for a few years now, thinking I was making a better choice! Just this last week I found not all ground turkey is created equal! In the past, I always made sure the package said lean ground turkey but I never looked on the back of the package. A fiend of mine told me to look at the nutrition facts the next time I bought some. So when I went to the store I picked up what I would normally buy and WOW! I was surprised to see 17g of fat per serving. My friend said to look at White Meat Ground Turkey, I did and WOW! 0g fat! How did I go so wrong? I will be buying only white meat ground turkey for now on. I thought I was doing good by grabbing the "lean". But if that is lean, I will do without!

Just making this change alone I should see a difference in my weight!

Just some food for thought!

By the way I'm down another 1/2 a pound! Whoo Hoo!

Stuffed Peppers

Serving size 2 pepper halves

3 green peppers
1 lb white meat ground turkey
1 can black beans (low sodium)
1 can died tomatoes
Chopped red, yellow & orange peppers
Chopped onions
Spinach leaves
Garlic
Top with 1/2 piece 2% cheese slice

Cover with foil and bake.

2g sat fat
6g carbs
10g protein

Vegetable & Ground Turkey Soup

1lb white meat ground turkey
1 can black beans (low sodium)
1 can died tomatoes
1 can stew tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
Frozen veggies
Red, green, yellow & orange peppers chopped up.
Chopped onions
Garlic
Seasoning

0g fat
6g carbs
10g protein

New Changes

Today, I woke up and noticed more changes happening with my body. It's like it happened over night! lol How do you go to bed and wake up looking different? I'm not sure but I am not complaining! I have noticed more in my abs, legs and behind. I am beginning to look like I have a behind and not like someone smacked my behind with a 2x4. It used to be wider and flat. Now it is getting smaller and lifting! Whoo Hoo!!!
That's another thing I have never had before besides abs was a behind. It's getting to look like I am looking down at someone's body, and not my own. It will be strange for awhile. But I think I can learn to deal with it! LOL!

Burn Supplement

I decided not to continue taking the burn supplement any longer. Yesterday was the second day and it upset my stomach and I felt nauseous all day. I could only eat a couple pieces of turkey bacon in the morning and then I was OK until dinner, when it seemed to act up again, and I found it hard to eat dinner. I had to eat a few crackers first. (I only took one pill that day)

It was supposed to be added to my regular pills I was taking but I found I couldn't take any of the others while taking that. It upset my stomach even more taking anything else. So for now I will stick to what I am taking unless I find something without a stimulant in it.

Achieving my goals and sacrificing my health is not worth it. So, I will do it without the extra boost. I guess some people can handle stimulants and some can't. Besides what's the point of giving up caffeine if I'm just replacing it with a different kind of caffeine. Trying to do this for life not just till I achieve my current goal. This is just my first goal. I plan on doing another 12 weeks after I complete this 12 weeks. One day, week, month, challenge at at time! :)

Thanks for reading!

Mid 7th Week

Today, I am in the middle of my 7th week. I am feeling great! I am seeing changes happening in my body. I am excited to do my measurements next week.

Today was a lower body & ab workout day. I really pushed it today and really concentrated on slow and controlled movements. I do notice it is much harder to do higher weights when you do them slow and controlled. I see people in the gym just pumping rep out like they are in a race. I don't know which is best but right now I know slow and controlled works for me. It may be good to incorporate both into a workout? I will ask my trainer in 2 weeks when I get my new routine.

When I did my ab workout today I really pushed myself. I did 5 different exercises twice and did as many as I could each time. I cannot wait for this lose skin and the little bit of fat I have left to melt away so I can see what I have been working so hard for.

Husband gone :(

My husband left for a work trip for a month. What is a girl to do? I guess this is a good time for hi to be gone as I start my 7th week of this program. They say you will see the most results in weeks 8-12. Well, since he won't be back until the beginning of my 11th week. He should see a huge difference when he gets back. This is am really looking forward too.

When he goes out of town for work, I always find a project to do while he is away. So my project this time is to continue working on me and my BFL Challenge. I will also take this time to work on organizing this office too.

I am super excited for these next few weeks and the differences I will see in my body. Not only in my body but each week I see and feel a difference in myself. I like that a lot!

Added a new supplement today

Today, I added an new supplement. It was recommended to me at my local supplement store from one of the guys doing the Body for Life Challenge too. He suggested a product Burn. It is a fat burner and metabolism booster. I decided to wait until now to start taking it. I am very sensitive to stimulants and become jittery easy. So, I started with Green Tea first and now decided to try this product. It says to take 30 min before a meal or working out but I decided to take it with my breakfast. I'm glad I did too because here it is 2 hours later and I am hyped up! My hands are jittery and I feel like I need to go take a run to burn off some of this energy. Even sitting here typing my hands can't keep up with my brain. I think I will only take one of these a day until I get used to this and my body becomes accustom to it.

Good thing is I will get a lot of things accomplished today! I just hope my hands quit shaking before my first client comes today so I can cut their hair. LOL!

Hard to Imagine!

Everyday I go to the BFL website and read some of the success stories. I can't believe these people actually accomplished what they did in 12 weeks. I keep reading for a clue that it took the 2-4 challenges to to reach these goals. Can it really be done in 12 weeks? I keep asking myself this. I believe they did do it in 12 weeks, I just can't imagine that I too, will look like them. I keep thinking, "Is it too good to be true?" "Can I really look like them in just 12 weeks?" Here I am ending week 6 and even though I see results, I still can't picture "ME" looking like them. In the same breathe I can't wait until week 12 to see my results and my new body in my after photos.

One thing I noticed this week was, I am really starting to feel abs! I can feel my abs and back are stronger and my muscles are doing what they are supposed to do. It is a weird feeling, I almost feel like I am wearing a corset. It is nice a tight but not restrictive. I wonder if anyone else has experienced this same feeling when they first started to firm up and develop muscles? It is only going to get better from here!

Paying it forward

I am seeing some great changes with my body and sole since I started the BFL program and I would love to help others to start the program too! I have a bunch of people in mind but how do you encourage them to try it out without them taking it the wrong way and hurting their feelings. Some of these people need to lose weight and exercise because medically they need to now, to prevent or reverse medical issues. I am hoping as the weeks go on they will see tremendous results with me and they will come to me and give me just a small sign they want help. Because we all know you can't help someone if they don't want the help and you can't do it for them either. But I will keep trying!

Chuckle of the day!!! Must Read!!

Abs??? My husband laughed at me the other night because I asked him to feel my stomach. I said; "What is this?" thinking something was wrong a hernia or something. His reply; as he chuckles..."That's a four pack you have going on!" I was shocked and amazed! I have never had abs before, it's all new to me. I still have a protective covering over top of them but as soon as I shed that....Look out! I just may turn into the guy from the Planet Fitness commercials; "Anyone lose a wash board? Cuz I found one over here!" ROTFL!!!! I would never do that but it is funny to think about! lol

Now I've got it!

I finally feel like I have this program figured out (at least until my next plateau). I am feeling great and not just physically but emotionally too! I feel like I am back to my old self and my patience with other people and situations is improving everyday! I am finishing my 6th week and the weight seems to coming off faster. Since my last weigh in 2 weeks ago I have lost another 3.5 lbs! That is huge for me since I usually average 2-3lbs a month. So to lose a little over 1.5lbs a week now, is great! I use the BFL website almost everyday to get advice and to try and help others with what I have learned so far.

Great cardio workout today!