Final Results

Well, I'm a bit tardy on reporting my final results of the 12 week Body for Life program but I do feel very successful. My results were very satisfactory and here they are:

Body Fat reduced by 3.6% - AWESOME!
Measurements: Arms - .625 inches lost
Belly - 3.5 inches lost
Hips - 2 inches lost
Bust - 2.75 inches lost
Thigh - 1 inch lost

The scale was not as kind as I only lost 7 pounds total from beginning to end but as I always say, the scale is deceiving. Not to make excuses but my doctor took me off of all my medicines two weeks before the end of the competition which could have easily contributed to the weight gain (water weight due to hypertension pills). It was a big milestone to eliminate high blood pressure meds and high cholesterol meds from my daily regimin so I'll take a little water weight any day giving I had lost so many inches and body fat.

My journey doesn't end here. I've continued to eat the Body for Life way. I don't count calories and continue to eat as healthy as I can. I have continued with my exercise plans and even bumped up an additional day of jogging a week while the weather is so nice so I'm exercising 7 days a week now but still don't feel like I'm over doing it. I will continue to use the pyramiding technique to my weight lifting and continue to strive to hit that "high point" each time I exercise. I've enjoyed teaching weight lifting classes at the gym and continue to share my experiences with others in a quest to help others just get healthy! Keep in touch and I will as well as I continue to reach my goals! Thanks for reading!

Week 12

Why oh why did the labor day holiday fall on the last week of the challenge for me? I have to admit, I fell off the good eating wagon this past weekend. I think a combination of stress in my personal life and holiday cheer got to me. It is bound to happen to the best of us. I continue to do well on my exercise but I had 4 days of out of control eating! Yikes! I refuse to get on the scale until the bitter end this Saturday but I may have done some damage. Oh well, it was bound to happen and is all I can do is look ahead to doing better today! I ran a 5K run on Labor day and my goal was to complete it in under 35 minutes and run the entire way. I'm happy to say that I accomplished both! My time was 34 minutes and change and I ran the entire way. I'm not going to win any speed contests with this time but it was a heck of lot better than my time last year. I've decided that I need to keep improving my running and ran a full 10 laps around the track by the gym today. It felt good. That first mile or so is hard as your lungs expand and take in the air but after that, it seems a lot easier and then it's concentration on putting one foot in front of the other. I want to start doing some sprinting and walking in more interval fashion as that is also a great way to do more in less time. Many argue that this is a better workout for those of us not interested in duration or marathon training but focused on burning fat. I'll keep you posted if that makes a difference! I'm happy that I'm in my last week of the challenge but know that this is not the end for me. I will continue to use the body for life method of training and eating and hope to be at my goal by the end of the year. Wow, that's not very far away. Just think, if you started now, you too could be at your goal. It all starts with your mind and your body will follow. I will post my final results at the end of the week and keep the diary going as I continue to strive for my ideal fitness!

Completing Week 10

I'm now rounding the corner of week 10 with only 2 more weeks to go. Hard to believe that this much time has passed. As I preach to others, the scale is not aways kind to your progress and I'm no exception. There's nothing reflected on the scale this week but I won't be discouraged because I decided to do a body fat measurement instead to boost my enthusiasm this week and low and behold, after 9 1/2 weeks of hard work, there is progress. Visible progress that doesn't always show on the scale but everyone has complimented me on how I look thinner and isn't that what counts? I officially have gone down in a pant size and have lost an average of 1.8 inches across my entire body or a total of 10.75 inches and 2.6% body fat. Just think what you can do if you set your mind to focusing on a daily routine of eating right and exercise. Of course this isn't something that I plan on doing for a short term committment. This is a lifelong committment that requires a daily focus. For as hard as it is to take the weight and fat off of my body, it isn't something that I want to ever repeat doing. Maintenance is s a breeze but still requires a focus on making good choices every day. At my current rate, I should be at my goal by the end of 2008! Wow, that's not very far away at all! Wouldn't you like to be at your goal? What's stopping you?

For those of you who keep procrastinating on "getting started", look how fast 10 weeks passes by and even if you don't quite have the focus needed to make the most progress possible, a little step forward is better than not taking a step at all. Any progress forward is worth the effort and thinking about it too long will never create momentum. What are you afraid of? Take the challenge and start making your dreams come true to live a long and healthy life! Need help? We can and want to help you! Nothing is more rewarding than seeing someone begin a transformation and stay with it regardless of setbacks. Setbacks are part of the process and they make us stronger so no more excusses, get off that computer and quit reading about it, JUST DO IT!

Week 9????

Wow, time sure does fly. Can it be true that I am nine weeks into the program with only 3 full weeks left? I jumped on the scale yesterday and I'm a total of 14 pounds lighter since the start of this journey. Staying on track is really easy at this point and it just take a routine of making my snacks and lunch the night before or in the mornings each day. I avoid eating out and when I do, I try to make the best choices on the menu as I can and just not eat everything served as they are way beyond what is reasonable for a person to eat and stay healthy. I must confess that I had dessert the other night as it was my 30th wedding anniversary and while my husband enjoyed drinking his beer, I enjoyed sharing a dessert with my daughter. I had a salad for supper so what's the harm in a little endulgence on a special occasion. Obviously nothing if the scale reflected an additional 2 pounds lost from the week before. So there you have it, you can have your cake and eat it too! Just in extreme moderation.



I'm still having trouble reaching my "high point" with my lower body and am now doing all my lower body work on the Smith machine at the gym where I can really load up the weights for deadlifts, squats, etc. I'm usually packing on around 80 pounds but I think I can do more so I'll just have to keep experimenting until I get it at my max without injuring myself. I've incorporated jumping squats that I think are awesome. I think the most effective exercises for me are: Jumping squats, squats, deadlifts, swiss ball extenstions, step up's with weights, and I always like the leg press machine. Upper body, I really like bench dips, hammer curls, pec deck, bench press, and lat pulldowns. Really anything with my upper body, I can achieve my high point. I usually do a variety of ab routines and super set them so I can get the most out my ab workouts. I still run at least 3-4 times a week and incorporate a few group fitness classes as well.

While the workouts are wonderful and I can see wonderful muscle tone in my body, the key to success is a healthy diet. I really adhere to the 5-6 meals a day with a carb and a protein at each meal and then incorporate a veggie at two of the meals. I believe that drinking 8 glasses of water a day is a key element as well as I think it is a great cleansing mechanism and is crutial to losing weight. I've tried losing weight before while being a diet pepsi addict and I can tell you, it never worked. Even though the calories were absent it had so many bad attributes that it sabotages your good eating efforts. I eat really poorly on Sunday's as that is my free day but I've learned to eat "less poorly" so I don't feel so bad on Monday morning but Monday roles right back around and I'm back to my routine. It takes will power and alot of diversion around the house when I think I just want to munch I just go do something else.

1.5 pounds a week is what I'm averaging and I plan on continuing down this path until I lose all the weight I had set out to lose. I have 28 more pounds to lose and that is a managable number from where I started several years ago. While this may not seem like a lot a week, I know it is the only way to lose weight and therefore I take each loss as a huge win and never get discouraged when the scale stays the same. Afterall, it isn't about the scale, it's about how you feel, and I FEEL GREAT!

Starting Week 8

I only have 5 weeks left of the 12 week program but a lifetime of tweaking my diet and exercise beyond that. This continues to be a great program to help me learn some of the fine tuning needed to lose weight. My last two weeks haven't been extremely productive on the scale but I still feel like I'm making progress. I've lost a total of 10 pounds and find that I have to control my "free day" to moderate lapses in judgement when it comes to food. I still feel like I'm winning as I've gotten off of my plateau that had me stymied for about 6 months. I do tend to enduldge in too many sweets on my free day and then I feel sick for the next day until I get my body re-metabolized for the week and by the end of the week I'm feeling great again. I'm just like everyone else and fall into the weaknesses of my cravings. I'm hoping that by the end of the 12 weeks I won't feel that need to give in to cravings as they are all phycological at this point and not metobolic. I did better yesterday as I bypassed my favorite food in the grocery store (peanut butter M&M's - the devil's candy) and held my sugar intake to a moderate amount for the day. I'm having trouble getting to my high point on my lower body and have modified my routine to do more on the Smith Machine at the gym where I can add more weight to my deadlifts, squats, etc. If I'm not sore the next day, I know I didn't reach my high point. My arms are getting stronger as I have noticed that I can pyramid hammer curls and end 6 reps with two 20 pound weights successfully whereas when I first started, I couldn't finish the hammer curls with that level of weight after having already done 3 other sets of reps with lighter weights. Yippee! I can definately see more muscle tone in my arms and am loving the definition. I'm hoping with the change in my lower body routine, I can get even more definition in my legs and with the trainers help and encouragement, I know it will work!

Week 6 ending?

Wow, I'm halfway through the program and continue to feel great and continue to see improvements. Not much happening on the scale this week but continuing to feel "skinny" and seeing differences in my body shape. The fat that is hanging on continues to get looser and looser which is a good sign. Not feeling overly motivated this week but still sticking with it. Not only am I sticking with it but even more importantly, my daughter is! Mallory's body is really responding well to the workouts and even though she might not be as dedicated on the eating side, she sure is making a difference with her workout routines. I love the fact that I'm making a difference in, not only my life, but my daughters as well. I pray for her to maintain a healthy lifestyle her entire life so she doesn't battle this later in life like I've had to. It isn't easy to lose weight and get fit and much easier to stay in shape. I wish I could stand at the top of the mountain and reach everyone early in life as to how much of a difference it will make. It's so easy to stay in shape....just 20 minutes or so 3-5 days a week! As opposed to dropping weight and getting your shape back....30-40 minutes a day 6 days a week and maintaining a strict diet with no indiscretions while working on the weight loss. EVERYTHING you put in your mouth counts and it is easy to slip in a bite of this or that thinking it's only 50 calories here or there. When you're maintaining weight and working out, it isn't a big deal but when you are losing weight it matters! Again, I don't believe in counting calories but I do believe in eating clean and eating completely clean can be hard some days! Looking forward to reaching my goal and nothing is going to get in the way no matter how long it takes. RAGRAI is going on this week and one of my friends is making a few of the days trip. I'm totally inspired to start training to do it next year. I should be at my goal by then and in great physical shape. Hopefully, you'll be hearing from me in a year on how I made the Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa! 500+ miles of pure fun!

Rounding into Week 6

I'm just completing week 5 and feeling great! I weighed myself earlier this week and had lost a total of 9 pounds since I've started this new journey and I feel great. Today was my upper body workout day and I really tried to push myself to that ultimate "10" highpoint for each exercise I did. Bench presses, inclined dumbbell bench presses, dumbbell presses, bentover dumbbell raises, dumbbell bench pullovers, inclined dumbbell bench rows, bench dips, kickbacks, standing barbell curls, and inclined dumbbell curls are all part of my upper body routine right now. I always include some ab work when I do a routine at the very end to ensure I pay attention to my core strength as well. I decided I was officially tired of salmon though. I've had it for 4 meals this week because I made it one night for supper and seems that I had plenty left for lunches this week. You can OD on salmon so I think I'll skip it next week. I usually try to make it once a week for a meal but 4 times in the week was a bit much!