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!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
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!
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!
Monday, August 4, 2008
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!
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