I'm still with the program. But life always seems to bust in and say me first, me first... Work outs are fine, doing in the morning is working out great, I will never go back to evening work outs. Once it's done, life can't take that away from you. But meals are going so-so, about 70% there. That is my weakness. Will be planning today on nailing down next week's meal plan. Like your meal method faithrainbow, might take some from it:)

I started on 3/26/2012 also.  Now as I am about to start week 3, I can't see any physical changes yet but I feel them big time.  My strength has increased by huge percentages on every lift.  I am making sure I record my weights, cardio times and intensity levels, and meals so I know exactly where my starting points were and how I am progressing.  I have posted my before picture on my profile and I plan on taking my second photo after week 4.  I look forward to making the journey with everybody!

I'm really proud of myself!  Today my gym was closed for Easter, and the weather was crappy, and I've gotten a yucky sore throat/cough, and I A-L-M-O-S-T didn't do my cardio.  But at 7:30pm I put on my gym clothes and got my ipod, and ran/jogged/stumbled up and down the stairs in our 13-floor apartment building for 20 minutes.  Whew!  It ended up being a great workout!   Real stairs get steep faster than the stairmaster, somehow... (or maybe I just notice how slow I'm actually going).  Woohoo!!

Easter Weekend is in the rearview mirror and so today I "begin" again.  I am taking my gym bag to work and will hopefully make it to the gym during lunch for a much needed workout.  I will report results later.

Have a GREAT Day~

Yes, week 3! Boy the sodium from the weekend takes a long time to get out of the system. Scale is slow but nonetheless it is moving in the right direction. Seems for me the family gets in the way... BUT if I lead they will follow.... hopefully and not the other way around.... It does feel good to be getting stronger...

Monday: got to the gym during lunch and did 15 minutes on the ARC trainer and 15 minutes on the recumbent bike.  Food was ok in the AM but went south in the PM

Tuesday: No gym and a repeat on the food / meals

Wednesday: Gym bag is packed again and I AM going to concentrate on eating right and eating healthy today

Will post results later.

Have a GREAT Day!

I started reading what I had written on the 'Crossing the Abyss' section in the BFL book . The book says to read it twice a day, so I did. I did commit to following the book, no more, no less. I was surprised of how it helped. I tweaked a few things to help add clarity, and now it's in my daily regiment to read twice a day. I can now see why this is the most important section in the book. Good stuff ...

Did pretty good on Wednesday ~ Thursday bad VERY BAD!!  I had been very busy on working on a new account that we were trying to win the business and ended up binge eating all day today.  No visit to the gym because I was afraid I would miss a phone call.  End of the day ~ we did not get the new account so I binged for no reason at all.

It's almost 6:30 pm and I'm trying to decide if I should just check off today as done or do I challenge myself to get on the treadmill for awhile.....hmmmm

Darn, got my butt kicked last week. I could only give myself a score of 60. I created a scoring system, makes it easier for me to apply a grade to my progress. As you can see the actual work out is only weighted to 30 points, I'm placing a lot of importance on all the other things that need to be followed.  Even though I just created this in my third week, when I applied it to my first 2 weeks I could only get mid 70's and 80's. But no problem, next week will be shooting for 100. I'm prepped and ready to make a strong push next week. I promised myself I would make it across the Abyss this time at all cost, and well, it's proving to be the challenge I knew it would be. There's no more slack left in the program. This will be a key week to get back up and moving. It's all mental :).    

Day Start Review Goals                                5

Workout Did you work out?                               30

Good form/work negative/hold for 1 count    6

Meal 1 On time approved foods            9

Meal 2 On time approved foods            9

Meal 3 On time approved foods            9

meal 4 On time approved foods            9

Meal 5 On time approved foods            9

Meal 6 On time approved foods            9

Day End Review Goals                               5

                                                                                      100

Good system, Nolan.  I expect we'll be hearing great things soon. Cheers to you,

Dee

Haven't been able to get to the Forum for awhile, great to come back and read everyone's posts. I've been doing pretty good, but like some others have a had some slips, though nothing hugely bad!  Miffed at myself for missing my cardio session yesterday.....thought I'd make the effort to include my  husband and go to the gym together. He's not on BFL but is a workout hound so wants to go to gym everyday, but his preference is later at night which I don't like. He was busy on a job but said he'd meet me at home at 7:00 and we could go then.....concession on my part since I normally would have been able to go at 3:30. He never got home until 8:30 which was too late for me, and I was p.o.'d. Lesson for me.....don't wait for anyone else.....go when I plan to and get it over with.  So much for my rant for the day.  Reading your posts is encouraging. I don't notice much change in my weight, but do feel stronger & healthier, and proud that I'm sticking to this. All of your advice helps, and we are all farther ahead than when we started!

Getting quiet out here. Only one or so post in the last week. Who all are still in???

I'm still in but still no 100 score yet. I scored 85.5 last week. That puts my first 4 weeks average at a 76.6. Nothing to talk about, but I am planning a comeback this week!

It seems as soon as you start this program everyone you know wants to do things that will side line your efforts. Almost as if to test you. But at the end-of-the-day it's really your fault, not there's. I had to tweak a couple bad habits last weeks, and had a serious discussion with a couple buddies who like to show up at the spur of the moment to celebrate anything, with beer in hand. They are now well aware of the seriousness of my mission.

If you are struggling, as I am :-), go re-read the chapter on Crossing the Abyss, I am today. I have failed this challenge to many times, I know the importance of this chapter!!

Keep pushing everyone  ...

I am still in there with you!  I just took my progress pictures after completing Week 4, I am seeing progress and it is motivating to say the least.  Keep your diet as close to perfect as you can, it makes the biggest difference compared to any other aspect of the challenge.  The biggest leap I made when I started the challenge was making myself think of eating as a way to fuel my body rather than somewhat of a tool to create a sense of happiness.  I quite drinking when I started the challenge and the ability to make myself say goodbye to alcohol made me realize I can confront other tough mental challenges as well, such as eating.  I am posting my new pics as soon as I can!!!

Wow, glad to see someone still alive in here. Hopefully others are still hanging in there but maybe too busy to post. I know I have dropped down to once a week, Sunday.  I agree 100%, the diet is critical. The workout is an event that is once a day, the eating is All Day! I did great last week only messing up on one day in the eating part. My best week so far, but I know I am running a little behind with the mid-point coming this week. I have already positioned my dieting this coming week as a critical turning point. I am also making mental note to turn up intensity on the workout, but no injuries. I plan to take pictures myself this Sunday, which of course will be the half way point.

Hang in there Jordan, it's time to get insane!!!

It's Sunday, so here I am doing my weekly. I won't let this forum die. Not sure who is still in, but I'll keep plugging for the team:) For those that aren't making it, maybe it's your first time. This is a damm hard challenge to get to the end. Mainly because we all have so many other life situations going on, and our brains are overloaded with stuff to think about other than this BFL. You can't just add this program into your life without giving up something. I gave up going to the lake a lot with Spring and all hitting, and all the activities that go along with that, it's been tough. I've been trying to get to the end of this challenge for a decade, really. So much of it is mental. But for me, I believe this will be my time. Last week was my first 100% week, like clockwork. My overall first 6 week score has been raised to 84%. Just starting to see results. If I can keep 100% for the next 6 weeks, I think I will make it across the Abyss.

Never give up!