Day 64 Week 10 Push-Up Challenge kick-off!!

Oh my gosh! Week 10!!!!
I missed my first workout yesterday. The gym is closed today so I will be doing the Turbulence Training workout here at home. Today is the official start day for the Push-Up Challenge. I took the test last night and could not do one, despite the fact that I did 2 the other day. I'll start the training program today from 100 push-ups . I am still quite sore for my upper body workout on Friday.

We have had a few more people join in on the push-up challenge

UPDATED Push-Up Challengers and their Goals for March 24th

Ruthie - 50 push-ups
Michael - 50 push-ups
Christy - 1 push-up
Mike - 70 push-ups
JW - 25 push-ups
Lilla - 30 push-ups
Debbie - 40 push-ups
Angela - 25 push-ups
Josha - 30 push-ups
Odell - 50 push-ups
Suzette - 40-pushups
Lynda - 10 push-ups
Adam - 60 push-ups
Tea - 25 push-ups


If I missed anyones goals I am sorry please leave me a comment and let me know.
Suzette and Adam have posted cool vids of their push-up challenge, check them out!

I missed some questions in the comments section so I thought I would just answer them here.

Lilla said: Do you do BFL and TT? I pretty much just do TT (Turbulence Training) when I don't have access to a gym. I got the book, The New Rules of Lifting by Craig Ballantyne and I really like it, he has just written one for women, which normally you would expect it to be dumbed down and painted pink, but apparently its really good and even harder then his first one :)

Also if you want to know how to do any of the exercises like mountain climbers you can google the exercise and see examples or go to Youtube and type in Craig Ballantyne or Turbulence Training and he has them on videos.

I am really wanting to make some videos myself and post pictures, the whole Shredder Atmosphere is contagious! I will be working soon and plan to buy a camera/video gadget (yay!)

UPDATE:
I just did the first day of push-up training and the TT workout. By putting my hands further apart I managed 3 kind of sad wavering ones LOL. I am going to be sore tomorrow! I did 3 sets of 15 on my knees and 3 sets of 10 close grip.

I am excited to see so many people participating! Since training is 3 times a week for the push-up and chin-up challenge and I post daily I will just update for myself 3 times a week, for the Challengers I will update every Monday. I also plan to start listing my meals and other things that I have for extra accountability. I love Adam's idea on his blog, but I don't know how to create something like that in blogger lol.

Day 62 Week 9

Hello everyone, I did upper body yesterday and woke up so sore this morning. I am going to do the push-up test today and I am getting ready for the kick off of the Push-Up Challenge on Monday the 31st of December. I did 2 Real push-ups the day before yesterday! I tried again yesterday though and I couldn't do one, so I did push-ups off the table, and push-ups on my knees.

These are our Challengers:
PUSH-UP CHALLENGERS

Ruthie
Michael
Christy
Suzette
Adam
JW
Lilla
Mike

I'll post more later have to run.

Day 61 Week 9

I just woke up, I am having coffee and checking blogs and I just looked down and its 1:15pm!! =0
My goal for the pushup challenge is to be able to do 20 by March 24th.

Push-up Challenge

Ruthie
Michael
Christy
Suzette

let us know what your goals are!

ok I better get to the gym I can't even believe how late it is, I was up quite late, and I just carried my meals over , with Dan on vacation from work, our schedule is all skewed :P

Day 60 Week 9

So I survived Christmas, not totally according to plan, but not bad either, I did not stuff myself once, and I spread out my meals, here is what I ate:

1 pancake, 2 pieces of bacon and one whole egg with syrup and whipped cream

1 slice of cheesecake

1/2 sausage, 1 croissant with turkey and cranberry sauce and salad

2 slices (small) of lemon meringue cheesecake (My hubby came up with this idea and we made it it was sooo good!)

1 small pancake, 1 sausage and 1 whole egg with syrup and whipped cream

dark chocolate bar

I would like to see what others ate :P

I did HIIT on the stationary bike this morning and took it up a notch, it was HARD. Eating is back on today as well as water, my water the past 2 days has been low.

PUSH-UP CHALLENGE

So far we have :
Ruthie
Michael

Now I am off to do some reading on push-ups!!

Push-Up Challenge!!! UPDATED

Ok I did the Turbulence Training 7 min circuit and OMG it kicked my ass! If any of you have tried this, you know what I mean. The push-ups killed me and I am doing them on my knees, so I decided to have a push-up challenge. So for those of you that can't do a proper push-up with your legs out straight.....

Here is the challenge:
Who can do the most push-ups by March 24th

Leave a comment if you would like to do this. I like how Mike is doing his chin-up challenge so I post a weekly update on my progress and the progress of those of you who are doing the push-up challenge as well! Each week on Monday I will post how everyone is doing. I am also working on a plan to help you accomplish this.

UPDATE

I found a site HERE ,that shows how to go from not being able to do any push-ups to being able to do proper push-ups.
Also I am including the 1000 Push-Ups site

So lets set goals, decide how many push-ups you want to be able to do, also for those who can already do push-ups, they can either set a goal to do a certain number or they can choose a harder style push-up to master, check these out Craig Ballantyne's Push-Up variations
So Leave me a message stating your goals as well.

PUSH-UP CHALLENGERS

Ruthie
Michael
Christy
Suzette
Adam
JW
Lilla
Mike

Day 58 Week 9 Merry Christmas!

I got up at 6:45 and went for a run on the beach and MY PHONE'S MP3 PLAYER WORKED!! It was a pretty good run, but it could have been better, I felt very sluggish, probably because of the humidity, or the chocolate :) I wanted to let everyone know about Michael's Podcasts. I listened to them last night and they are very good!. I have added them in the sidebar under helpful links. Check them out!! Its a beautiful day, I need to get ready to cook breakfast, have a great Christmas!

Day 57 Week 9! Christmas Eve

Well today has gone mostly right :P Woke up got straight to the gym, had a great UBWO, came home had my PWO meal, showered and then Dan and I went up to the mountains for a BBQ, I had steak, and mushrooms, bell pepper and onion, it was superb, then came home and had 2 more clean meals. So I am short on meals as well. Then I started making cheesecake....and I had to taste it since I can't really remember the recipe, so I had to see if it tasted right. Then I pulled out some chocolate I bought for hubby and I tomorrow. So since I started all this at about 9:30 pm :s, I will have breakfast and lunch tomorrow free, and then back on track for dinner. I don't want to totally blow it.
My shoulder muscles are really visible today :D yay! I have also slacked quite a bit on my water , I think I have had 5 cups? So I will be drinking a few more cups before bed.

Tomorrow I am running on the beach and then having pancakes and bacon and eggs for breakfast and then a BBQ for lunch!

OH AND GUESS WHAT?!?! My stupid phone alarm went off, just when I totally gave up on it, its working totally normal, I even got my photos from way back off it and onto the computer! I also took more :P I may post them if I can get some good ones, these ones are quite blurry, or it may stop working again, I hope it works tomorrow for HIIT *crosses fingers* I am actually looking forward to running if I have my music! Thanks for all your visits to my blog!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Day 56 Week 8

Today is my day off from working out. I did go grocery shopping and get lots of good food, however I didn't eat my first meal till 10 am, about 3 hours after I woke up (bad Tea!!) there was literally nothing in the house to eat. Did some major housecleaning and now I'm just waiting for Dan to get home from work so we can enjoy the rest of the day together. When I woke up this morning I thought I looked smaller through my waist and hips, won't know till next weekend!

I have been messing with my camera phone, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. At First it only worked as along as it was plugged in, but now it won't turn on. Blah

Day 55 Week 8

I'm at the end of week 8!!! I have HIIT this morning on the stairstepper oi! I am not quite sure if there is enough gas in the car to get to the gym and back, if not I'll be getting extra cardio in, walking home! Our gas gauge only works when it wants to so its anybodies guess how much gas there is. So I better get to the gym! I'll update later :D

Update:

I did get my workout done on the stairstepper , It was INTENSE! I had no cheat today and funny thing is I didn't even feel like one. Today I have to go to the store and pick up some food and then later today Dan and I are driving up to the mountains and just spending the day together, maybe go for a hike,It should be fun, although its looking like rain :(

I went for a walk on the beach yesterday and then another walk later, in my effort to move more throughout the day. The 2 things I am correcting to hopefully see some faster fat loss:

1. No more then 2 cheat meals a week
2. Move more throughout the day

I was looking back through my journal, I have raised my squat from 67 lbs to 100 lbs, and my bench from 65 lbs to 72.5 lbs in the last 8 weeks. I am pretty proud of that. My goal now is to squat 110 in the next 4 weeks.

Romanian Deadlifts and Full Squats

I have been having issues with my neck just lately with these so I looked at how to do them again and found this very good article. It describes exactly what I am doing to have neck pain, so I tried doing it the way the article suggested and though my neck is still stiff, it didn't hurt to actually do them. The dumbbells my gym has are not conducive to proper form either, so I will start using the bar. The dumbbells have big plates on them so I have to hold them further from my body.

Here is a great article on how to do squats. I find that every now and then I have to go back and review my form. Try this and watch how fast your squat improves! With my form cleaned up, I am going to try for my goal of 110lbs next week!

Also Robertson Training Systems-------> link is in the sidebar on the right has some great articles on different lifts.

While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior.
- Henry C. Link

Day 54 Week 8

I did get my HIIT done later yesterday and in fact I was able to go up to speed 12 for the first time! When I was done our friend Dean said I was purple, he looked alarmed when he first saw me LOL.
I just got back from LBWO, someone was in the squat rack the whole time I was there, so I did leg extensions OUCH! I have discovered why my neck is so stiff. When I do Romanian Deadlifts the weight pulls on my shoulder blades , one day the top part of my spine was making popping noises from the weight, add to that my head position - looking forward when bent over = sore neck! I don't know what to do about that, its the way I have always done Romanian Deadlifts and I have never had these problems, maybe its the amount of weight I don't know, I used to be able to do 55lbs dumbells in each hand, now I am doing 44lbs and having this problem.

I switch up my workouts this weekend, and I will be doing a few Turbulence Training workouts as well this next 2 weeks. Here is the 7 min workout (its actually 21 min total )

bodyweight squats (10-12 reps)
pushups (10-20 reps)
reverse lunges (10 reps per leg )
plank (30 second hold)
close grip pushup (10-20 reps)
side plank (20 sec hold per side)
mountain climbers (10 reps per side)

Do this with no rest between exercises rest 1 min at the end of 7 min circuit and repeat up to 3 times.

This will kick your butt!!! The couple of times I have done this I was a shaky sweaty mess at the end.
I was thinking about Christmas, and maybe what I will do is have some meals prepared that are clean and then have 2 free meals and the rest clean, I am really anxious to see some results and I am afraid my free days have been keeping me from progress. I have just over 4 weeks, and I am expecting to hit my goals here!

Day 53 Week 8

I went to go to the gym this morning and my husband left no gas in the car and I didn't have money to put gas in, so I decided I would run on the beach. Then to make a long story short plugged my old camera phone in that I dropped in the ocean that no longer works, and it worked! So I made this post about how my phone worked , then I went back to get it and it had stopped working, its juts flashing on and off now :( So I came back and deleted the post about my phone working .
I just had to eat something because its been 2 hours since I woke up, and I was starving, I'll have to get my HIIT in later today.

I've been quite tired this week, its was really hard to get up this morning. I need to start going to bed earlier. I'll update later after my workout.

Day 52 Week 8

Yay! halfway through week 8. I am not taking cheat meals Saturday if thats what you think I'm cheering about. Nope. Here is my plan:

22nd - Meals on, workout at the gym
23rd - Meals on plan, no workout
24th - Meals on plan workout at the gym
25th - Turbulence Training 7 min workout at home, cheat day
26th - Meals on plan, Turbulence Training workout at home
27th - Meals on plan HIIT at the gym
28th - Meals on plan , workout at the gym
29th - Meals on plan except 1 small cheat meal
30th - Meals on plan, no workout
31st - Meals on plan, Turbulence Training at home
1st - Meals on plan , Turbulence Training at home

I did UBWO this morning, I seem weaker then normal this week, I have a week like that every now and then. I have also spent time thinking about figure competitions ..again.
I find myself thinking about it alot. First things first though, I want to finish this challenge, see how I did, take a week break, and then dive into my next challenge. when I am 16 weeks out I will decide if I have the resources, can make the commitment etc. I don't want to rush into it.


I was looking at my back after my workout and I am really liking what I see. My waist is getting smaller and I have a bit of a V taper going on . I would like my shoulders to get a bit bigger, I love my biceps, I can feel my tricep bulging but can't see it yet. My legs are shrinking however slowly, and my stomach is noticeably smaller. I have also noticed my size 14's are getting a bit more room in them

Now yesterday was a HIIT day so I had 1 serving of starchy carbs PWO - oatmeal. Today I did weights so I have had 1 med potato post workout with my egg whites and 1 med potato in the meal immediately following that one. The rest of the day will be fruits and veggies for my carbs, none starchy. I am trying to see if I get bloat from this. this morning my stomach was quite a bit smaller, we'll see what it looks like tomorrow.

I am really looking forward to the upcoming changes!!

Day 51 Week 8

Song of the Day - Kreo- Burning for You- club mix
Mood - Anxious
Flavor of the day - coffee

It is gorgeous outside, like THE PERFECT day. Its like that alot here, but I am usually sitting in front of this computer lol. I have HIIT this morning on the stationary bike which I need to get to pronto, I'll post again later! Train with INTENSITY everyone. Except for Ruthie, we need you to recover with intensity, get well Ruthie!

Take the water challenge with us! There is no deadline, just download a ticker from Ticker Factory
and post it on your blog!

At the end of this challenge I think I need a night out clubbing ;)

UPDATE
I just got back from HIIT on the stationary bike. I had a great workout, I going to shower have my poet workout meal and then I have a long list of things to do today!

How I get All My Water In

When I wake up I drink 2 cups, then I go to the gym and I have a water bottle that holds 3 cups of water, I drink that during my workout.
then with each of my 6 meals I have 2 cups of water = 17 glasses, sometimes I get behind, I just guzzle water whenever I can to make up for it. At first it was hard but over time you will find it gets easier. :)

Day 50 Week 8

Its late but I wanted to post real quick. I am keeping my water ticker off to the side rather then putting it in my daily posts. I had lower body today, It was a really intense workout, my legs were spasming on the way home. I am noticing that my legs are much smoother especially my thighs when sitting down. Yay! I actually got in all 16 cups of water and all 6 meals today as well.

On another note I was finally approved to work today, so I will start looking for a job tomorrow, wish me luck! :) I am off to bed now.

Day 49

Well my plan for free day ....didn't go as planned. I did my HIIT in the morning and then came home and had pasta and egg whites for pwo meal. Then I had nachos I made with doritos, salsa and cheese, a plate of that, then I had a chocolate bar and some tomatoe chili crackers, then we went out to eat for all-you-can-eat chinese food. I ate a fair amount especially the fried stuff like spring rolls and won tons *cringe* then I had a piece of cheesecake later.

Today I am back on my clean eating but I was so hungry this morning and I wanted pizza and chocolate so bad today. I didn't though.

I forgot to post my water for yesterday , so here is my water to date:
10 for Saturday and 10 for today added to Fridays total.

On To Week 8!!!!

I went over to Skwigg's site for some insight to my dilemma and I found it! Right here.

So Dan's dad is taking us out to Sizzler tonight, so that will be my free meal, they better have cake!! I like her approach to choosing what kind of free day or meal (s) you have based on results and how you feel. Sometimes a little wilder free day keeps you from cheating the rest of the week. Also days like Christmas day, like you know its going to be a free day unless your really hardcore or competing or something or just like to torture your relatives :P

ooh i just realized my next free day after today will be Christmas day! Wow I should be looking pretty good on Christmas day then :D I just went down to put a load of laundry in and my pants are falling off , I had to keep pulling them up, I can't wait to have to throw them out, I should have a pants throwing out ceremony!

Measurements - End of Week 7

I just did my measurements here they are:

Beginning

upper thigh 27.25
calves 16
hips 41.25
chest 34.25
waist 31 32
upper arm 14.25
above knee 19.5
widest part 48
forearm 9.75

Week 7

upper thigh 26.75
calves 15.5
hips 40
chest 33
waist 32
upper arm 13.75
above knee 19.5
widest part 47
forearm 9.5

I expected to see better results then this, on the other hand I am losing off my hips,and saddlebag area which is great. I have no idea why my waist is bigger, maybe because my back muscles are bigger? Anyway I've got HIIT this morning on the stairstepper and I'll weigh before I do that. I took caliper readings as well so I can estimate my bodyfat. Those I have to look at over the long term because they don't help much otherwise, they seem to go up and down.

I just got back from doing HIIT on the stairstepper. I hit a 10 several times on that thing, there is no easy warmup lvl, and it only goes to 12?! I hit the highest lvl for my "10" but like I said there is no easy hard hardest, their all hard!

I also weighed myself. 189lbs exactly like when I started. I am working my ass off here. I feel stronger and leaner but nothing else is reflecting that, other then my upper body is leaner and I lost a bit off my hips and saddlebag area. I went looking back through my journal and the only thing I can think of is maybe my free days (days, meals) have been too much, and also I have added in whole wheat pita post workout, and then added in potato and pasta at other times during the day because I was so exhausted, in correct portion sizes and all but maybe that has something to do with it.

I'll measure again in 2 weeks, so the next 2 weeks I will cut out all pasta and potatoes (except pwo) , and all bread. I know my workouts are intense enough, so it must be with my diet

Day 47 Week 7

I have just officially committed to daily posting. My blog is one of many that Adam Waters is featuring on his site. The blogs featured are people who are posting daily about their transformation and most are posting daily pics as well. So I will post weekly measurements, since I can't do pics for lack of a camera. I take measurements again tomorrow morning.

Yesterday I was absolutely wiped out after my workout and I took a 3 hour nap again in the afternoon, and then went to bed again about 10:30. I upped my meal portions a bit and added in some sweet potatoe and a baked potatoe. I don't know if the exhaustion is due to needing a bit more calories or what. I was so hungry yesterday I was dizzy. I did running for HIIT and MAN OH MAN! I was so nauseous afterwards.

I have upper body this morning. I can't even tell you how happy I am that tomorrow is free day! I'll report back after my workout. I took my husband's cousin with me so he could spot me during my bench press so I didn't get stuck under the bar again lol. It was an intense workout.

I am very stressed and unfocused at the moment, I am just trying to get my meals in now. I had a hard time finishing them yesterday because my stomach was upset. Its still not feeling great. :(

UPDATE

My meals for today:

1. 2 sandwich thin slices of lean ham, tiny piece of chicken breast, 1/2 c. sweet potato

2. (pwo) 3 egg whites 1 yolk with mushrooms & 1 thin slice lean ham , on whole wheat pita

3. 3 egg whites 1 yolk, 1 small potato baked, 1 T. salsa

4. 1/2 lrg. chicken breast 1/4 c. sweet potato & broccoli

5. 1/2 lrg chicken breast , 1/2 c. strawberries

6. 1/2 lrg chicken breast 1/2 c. strawberries

also 1T. flax oil





I am running quite low on food, but will do grocery shopping tomorrow, thats why I am having eggs so many times :P I also normally don't have potato, or pita bread either, but since I have been pushing so hard in the gym, feeling so hungry and so exhausted I have added in a bit more carb, I feel less tired today I noticed.

Oh and I am not taking an entire free day, I did that last week and I felt like I really needed it too. I am going out for dinner tomorrow night. So i'll be doing my 2 meals.

Oh man I always have to do a bunch of these, their addictive!

You Should Get a PhD in Liberal Arts (like political science, literature, or philosophy)

You're a great thinker and a true philosopher. You'd make a talented professor or writer.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

ooh! I always wanted to be a writer!

Guys Like That You're Charming

You're the girl most guys can't get out of their heads Even if they met you on a bad hair day :-) You just seem to "click" with everyone you meet So even if a guy forgets about you for a second... his friends haven't!

What Do Guys Like About You?

Haha....right

What Your Favorite Color Blue Says About You:

Emotional --- Affected --- Sensitive Peaceful --- Tranquil --- Connected Spiritual --- Experimental --- Deep

What Does Your Favorite Color Say About You?

I think this is right on except for the peaceful connected part lol

Your Theme Song is Back in Black by AC/DC

"Back in black, I hit the sack, I've been too long, I'm glad to be back" Things sometimes get really crazy for you, and sometimes you have to get away from all the chaos. But each time you stage your comeback, it's even better than the last!

What's Your Theme Song?

LOL

Day 45 Week 7

I just did HIIT on the treadmill, I feel sick blah. This was a different treadmill from the one I used last time and I am sure it is faster at each lvl then the other one LOL.

It feels so good to have your workout behind you and your post workout meal in front of you! :D I am really looking forward to the changes that are coming in the next few weeks, I can feel them coming. I am really looking forward to either cheesecake or chocolate cake this Saturday but either way.... there will be cake!!

Song of the day: Colors by Crossfade
Mood of the Day: Happy!!
Cheat food I am thinking of: Cake, but this color makes me think of key lime pie!!
Quote of the Day: Don't worry, be happy! (ok well, I threw this in last minute lol, I'll come up with better ones :))

Here is something fun:

You Are a Brownie Cheesecake

A little chunky and a little gooey, you pretty much run on sugar! You take hedonism to the extreme.. And people love you for it.

What Kind of Cheesecake Are You?

Day 45 Week 7

I had a great lower body workout , very intense and by the time I left the gym I was toast. By the time 10 pm rolled around it was all I could do to climb into my bed and pass out. So I got 5 meals in rather then 6. Considering it was an extremely emotionally draining day I am very pleased. I actually considered for a moment not doing my workout for today, but then decided no way was I going to let things mess up my workouts. Eating was clean today as well.

Day 44 Week 7

I did HIIT today on the stationary bike. Great workout! I have been on the phone alot today trying to straighten out some issues so my pwo meal was later then it should have been, but eating is on other then that. Feeling strong and energetic today. I have been planning what i will do the week of Christmas and New Years to stay on track. I am really looking forward to seeing some dramatic results!

Choosing to be happy,
Tea

Thankful

I am so thankful for the blogging friends I have made. You are truly wonderful amazing women!! You have already helped me through a very difficult time, even if you don't know it! I have alot of things going on that are out of my control. especially involving my children, that have been tearing me apart inside, which is really where my unhappiness with everything else has stemmed from. I have felt helpless and angry. I tend to really focus everything into my fitness because it is the something I can control. Now I see that by choosing to be happy I can do what I need to do for my children much better which gives me strength. Thank you dear friends :)

Enjoying The Journey ....Part 3

Well I asked blog readers to post about enjoying the journey in their blogs. I just read Josha's
post . You know how you hear things all your life and then suddenly you hear it again and it all makes sense? Thats how this post was. My husband always tells me " you can choose to be happy or choose to be sad" and I always think, yeah right. I think I get it now.

Enjoying The Journey....Part 2

Swimsuit season is upon us and I am basically miserable because I can't wear a swimsuit yet, not without scarring for life anyone who happens to see me, so I pretty much don't want to go anywhere and I don't like to be around people because I can be feeling pretty good about myself and then go down to the beach to see some girl who looks great in her bikini and I feel like sea scum again. I can't bring myself to wear revealing clothing in this shape. The most revealing thing I will wear is shorts that come down to my knees and a tank top. So I am extra miserable when it gets hot. This is making me feel really impatient to see results.

I am sitting here really thinking about what it means to enjoy the journey and this is what I have come up with.

1. Keep your eyes on your accomplishments and the goals and milestones you have reached, display them somewhere maybe a photo album, or a video, or blog. Ruthie has made an awesome video that is so inspiring!

Josha has a slideshow of her journey that is just as in inspiring!


2. Compare yourself only to yourself when you started this journey .

3. Reward yourself . Set strength and speed goals as well as fat loss and inches lost. When you reach your goal reward yourself. You could even just reward yourself for sticking to your plan for a certain length of time.

Reward ideas:
mp3 player
new workout outfit
new item of clothing
haircut
get your nails done
new cooler
new makeup
workout equipment for home
new piece of kitchen equipment (countertop grill, steamer, food processor etc.)
enrollment in a class (dancing, martial arts, rock climbing etc)
You get the idea!

4. Sharing with and helping others on their journey. This is something I love to do. Joining a group such as Body For Life Tracker, and offering your experience to help others and also receiving help when you need it definitely makes the journey much more fun.

So I am anxious to see what others come up with. I would like to be happy and feel good during this period instead of waiting till I reach my goal because, what if I am still not happy then?

Enjoying The Journey

This is not something I'm good at. I want to enjoy the journey but I am not sure how. Everyone who reads this tagged :) write a post in your blog about how you enjoy the journey. I used to reward myself and that helped, but I am on an ULTRA tight budget so until I get working there will be no rewarding that way.

Day 42 Week 6 Blah Blah Blah .......

Yesterday (Saturday) I was NOT in a good mood, I was feeling angry and depressed. The first half of the day I ate nothing, then I decided I better eat something so I had cottage cheese and pineapple. Then I went shopping starving and bought junk. Then I came home and ate and ate and ate. Who needs drugs? Just eat some sugar, I felt like I had been drugged. I felt so bad that I sat there trying to forever remember the feeling. I never wanted to eat again. How could I ever eat like this all the time? I still have Sticky date Pudding in my freezer, I'll try to just save it for next week, but I think my husband will probably eat it before then. I had lamingtons left over too. I started examining the package looking at the carbs fat and sugar, trying to see if I could justify eating it. Luckily at that moment Dan's aunt and Grandad came for a visit, snatching me out of that fat jaws of death, I served the lamingtons to them :) Disaster averted.

I did my HIIT today rather then yesterday because of the bad mood I mentioned. So yes I fell apart yesterday, but I am back at it today :)
I feel really good today, hard to believe I felt so shit yesterday. Now On to week 7!!! (Can you believe it?!)

Day 40 Week 6 I hit my goal!!!!

I set a goal to be able to squat 100 lbs Monday after I hit my goal to squat 77lbs and today I hit it!! It feels so awesome to be getting stronger and to keep doing more then I thought I could. Your limits truly are in your mind. I am eating my pwo meal and my abs are spasming. I gave them a hard workout today.

Deadlifts were better, but its my grip still. I used to be able to hold 22.5k (49.5 lbs) dumbbells in each hand, now 20 (44lbs) is hard, not sure whats going on there. Time to start some grip work I guess. I am really marveling over the strength gains. Maybe its the fact that I make sure I get all 6 meals in now, I don't know, but I was stuck for months at months and now I am just surging ahead.


There was something else I wanted to post about. Overthinking things. I tend to overanalyze everything to the nth degree, until I am so confused I am paralyzed. There is so much information out there , try to read it all and you will go insane. Now I am all for educating yourself, I think thats vital. However if you decide to do a program, and you see that its had huge success like BFL has. THEN DO IT! Make the decision and just do it. Losing weight is NOT easy and your kidding yourself if you think putting out a mediocre effort is going to get you anything more then mediocre results... or no results.

I used to feel like I shouldn't HAVE to worry so much about what I look like, I shouldn't HAVE to eat so clean, I should be able to just enjoy food. Well the fact is if I want the body I want, I HAVE TO or I better be content with how I am now. The other thing is the mental aspect. This is so vital. You have to have your head in the right place. You must truly believe you can do this, you must be able to SEE it. You won't always enjoy it or want to do it, sometimes you will even wonder if your goal is really worth it, maybe you'd rather just eat what you want and be happy. Stop thinking and Just do it! lol You'll be glad you did.

I have so much more to say on this subject but I am out of time, I'll try to gel my thoughts a bit better and post more on this later. In the mean time check Adam Waters site and also Bunklers in the links to the right. I am to lazy to post them here :P

By the way I had the biggest mental war with myself this morning. I DID NOT want to go to the gym, I wanted to take free meals today. I had to stop thinking , get ready and just go, just think I would have missed my PR is I would have stayed home.

Is BFL One Size Fits All?

I have heard people make comments about Body For Life being a One Size Fits All type program and saying they want something "customized"
If you read the book then you know that you customize it yourself. The programs are set up in a way as to keep challenging yourself, you change your exercise based on your preferences. You constantly strive to beat your best, therefore its never the same workout. The eating is very sound and balanced and gives you tons of energy. Some people do find that their choice in carbs will speed or slow their weight loss. If you look at the original food list its pretty basic wholesome carbs, just move toward less starchy carbs in the meals not around your workouts. I can't say enough about just following the program as it is written. It has a synergistic effect, it all works together, start taking it apart and you end up with...well I don't know what. I have done this several times. Everytime I have followed the program to a T I have been SHOCKED and AMAZED by the results.

Day 39 Week 6

Ugg boots for Ruthie!




Ok I went and ran on the treadmill today and OMG! I definitely hit a 10, I thought my lungs were going to explode, I felt like I just could not get enough air. I had that great euphoric feeling after.
yesterdays UBWO was... frustrating. I did bench press lets see... *looks in journal* I can't remember what I lifted, but I got stuck under it, here it is! Don't laugh, 67 lbs I was pinned under. Thats if that bar weighs 45 lbs likes its supposed to. I tried something new and did shoulder presses with a short olympic bar. That didn't work out well, maybe its because it was the first time and I was trying to judge the weight, and I hate those stupid spring clips that go on the end of the bars. I did kickbacks for triceps and they felt retarded this time, not sure why.

I can't believe its almost the end of week 6!! I have done so good this time. I am despising Christmas though, how dare my gym close! LOl Christmas day will be my free day, and no free day on the weekend. I am ultra focused right now and just don't want anything to derail me. I'll be doing bodyweight exercises on those days or running on the beach for HIIT. I have a Turbulence Training workout that I use for such emergencies. It looks so simple but man I nearly die doing it, I am a shaking, dripping mess by the time I have run through it 3 times.

Christmas here is wierd. Its hot and humid. Dan's mom wants to get together for breakfast and a swim. I can't wrap my head around it. Christmas is hot cocoa, and turkey or ham and mashed poatoes and gravy and hot apple pie. here iTs BBQ's, and cold salads, swimming and ......WEIRD!!

I haven't felt particularly motivated lately, I get it in bursts. Most mornings I don't want to workout. I know I have to though, whats that alternative? I do find as I see results though it makes me push harder, I know if I just keep going I'll get there, I don't have to want to, but if I just do it....

My BFL Tips and Tricks

So after reading Ruth's blog I decided to do my own Body For Life Tips and Tricks.

Make sure you have what you need on hand to succeed, food containers, a mini cooler, journal,water bottles, watch or timer etc.so you can plan ahead

Drink a gallon of water a day.

Take a T. of flax oil a day, and then after a couple months I take fish oil caps and then back to flax after a couple months.

Eat a starchy carb like oatmeal, potatoe, and very rarely bread, most often after my workout and the rest of the day have fruit or veggie carbs.

Figure out how much a portion is for you, and measure every now and then to make sure your portions haven't crept up in size.

Plan your meals ahead of time so you make sure you have the right things at the right times.

Eat 6 small meals a day.

Change up your workout every 4 weeks.

Keep your journal near you during the day and make sure you write down everything you eat , drink, how you feel, etc.

Read your goals everyday and every night, visualize success!

Have a motivation folder with pic of physiques that motivate you when you don't feel like working out, or when that "blah" feeling comes (and it will).

Make sure your workouts are INTENSE, set a record with every workout, lift more weight, do more reps, something more then you did last workout.

Go by your measurements and how your clothes fit rather then scale weight, get a pair of calipers and learn to use them, it doesn't matter so much if the body fat % is accurate, but if you learn to consistently measure you can track your progress.

Plan your workouts the night before deciding what you will do to make sure you set a record that workout.

Thats all I can think of at the moment. I need to get to the gym now, Have a great day!

Day 38 Week 6

here is a pic of the beach, I can't get over how beautiful the beaches here are.

Ooh Here is the link for the Before and After Youtube video, I still watch it for motivation even though its all guys, just shows what we humans can accomplish with our bodies :D

We need one like that of women.

So I am off to the gym for UBWO. I am upping my bench today so we'll see how I go :D

Day 37 Week 6 Skinny is NOT sexy

Shapely or Skinny?










I had a good workout this morning. I did intervals on the stationary bike, my legs are still shot.

Ok I have a rant. One of the girls that works behind the counter at the gym has the skinniest arms I have ever seen. So much so that I can't stop wondering why she doesn't do some weight exercises. Shes a pretty girl, very thin, but I can honestly say if I had to choose between her body and mine, I would choose mine. I see this all the time, super skinny girls, with not a sign of muscle except for the fact that they are moving therefore they must have some muscle. Yeah I know some people are just naturally really thin, but I see it too much for them all to be that way naturally. Their thighs are as big as my upper arm for crying out loud! Its such a bad example for our daughters. Muscles are so much sexier. I am not talking about ripped figure competitor muscles, with veins and striations. I am talking about the shape that muscle gives our arms, shoulders, legs, backs and waists.
I love Jillian Michaels Physique, she has great arms and shoulders!

Day 36 Week 6 Squat Goal Met, and Squishiness!!

I met my squat goal today! My goal was 77lbs, today I did 78 lbs on my 4th set of 6 reps. These are full squats lest think I am totally weak. So my new goal is to be able to squat 100lbs. I know I can can raise the weight next time too. I think I hold back when I do squats. Their kind of scary and then theres the thought of losing it and having the bar come crashing down. Deadlifts sucked today. I just could not hold the weights for long. My husband asked me to wear gloves when I lift because I have some serious rough callouses but they make my grip worse so I guess he'll just have to deal with it haha.

So the night before last night I am laying in bed on my back and marveling at how much my stomach has shrunk and how I can FEEL my hipbones, and how squishy my stomach and legs are, my legs have never been squishy like this! yay! Its going away. lat night we were laying in bed and Dan threw is leg over me, and then took it off real quick with "ow! whats that?!" haha my hipbone poked him hehe. He says we may have them removed lol.

I am glad that Christmas and Thanksgiving are not the big deal here that they are in America, its made it so much easier to not cheat .

Oh and my cheat meals, well day here is what I ate, we are pretty broke and this was cheap so....
Super Supreme thin crust pizza, I ate this over 3 meals, I had a small bowl of nutrigran cereal in the morning with fat free milk, and a small bowl before bed. I had some red licorice, thin mint type cookies and a kit kat bar. thats all I ate all day. I still ended up carb coma-ing and passing out lol

Oh and the stairmill thingy at this gym....LOL! This thing is a torture device and is way harder then the one at my other gym. I thought I was going to DIE! I didn't think I would be able to make all 20 min on the thing, but I did. If your doing it wrong the thing tells you too. I hate it lol, but if it makes my ass nice I'll do it .

Results from last 5 weeks

I just did my measurements this morning and my weight was taken yesterday.



here are the results from the last 5 weeks .....



upper thigh lost 1 in. off my thighs

calves lost 1/2 in off my calves

hips gained 1/2 in in hips (!?)

chest lost 1 in.

waist gained 1 in (!?)

upper arm gained 1/4



caliper readings are down

weight is 86 kilos same as when I started..