GOOD MORNING ANNE AND EVERYONE!

It's been an odd day, started out on cloud nine, then got quite a shock....

It's just gone 9.00pm on Saturday night and I just got home from dinner with my family.... boy what a day....

3 weeks ago my stepdad was flown to Adelaide by air ambulance to a city hospital, we thought he had a spider bite and an allergic reaction to steroid creams, turns out it is this thing called "Bullous pemphigoid" - horrible blisters all over the body... was doing well a week ago, then caught a damn "staff lacocous" infection in the hospital...  long story short, my mum was staying with my brother in Adelaide the past 3 weeks, they were due back today and I hadn't heard about the latest complication or anything else, so I went to her house to see if they were home and I see a removal truck out the front and several cars....  My mum, brother, his wife and a couple of friends were here to pack her up and move on back to Adelaide - 440km away - same place Dougy has his chemo...  well, to say I was shocked is an understatement....

Don't get me wrong, I think it's the best thing to do for mum, because we don't know how long her hubs will be in hospital, but just a shock, if anything happens to Dougy in the future I'll be all alone and so far away from everyone... so that's why we went out to dinner, she leaves in the morning..

Now for the good news that happened this morning...

HAPPY DANCE HAPPY DANCE!

Remember how I told you about the darn spinnach yesterday... haha, dropped a kilo - 2.2 pounds yesterday - that means I'm now 59kg - wooop! under the 60kg mark for the first time since last September (just beforre my visit to America). So week 8 is done and I've worked off 5kg - 11 pounds of fat and gained xxx amount of muscle! I was so happpppppy this am after being super clean and sugar free this week!  So went to TRX class on a real high...

Different trainer today - he announces we are going to do "Tabata style" workout! OMG!  8 rounds of each exercise 20 sec on 10 sec off, then 30 sec rest, then on to next exercise - for a freaking hour!  It was awesome! I was the only one that managed the 8 rounds of 20sec on 10sec off for the "plank" which was 3/4 way through the workout - all the young chics kept dropping to the floor at the 10 sec mark!  I was rockin it - never sweated so much in a workout before! Freaking awesome!

So, this was one happy girl, this am!

Morning CC!

Had a good HIIT this morning.  I was able to go up on my 10 and my distance was up not just the amount the last few times.  I went 1.79 miles which is.01 up.  Its was good cause I know I gave it all I had this time for sure.  There was nothing left in the tank.  I finished 35 minutes ago and I am just now recovered enough to really think about typing this. :)

Great pics Optigirl!

Morning Anne!

Morning or should I say evening Debs!  Did you do TRX today? Thanks for the drop box invite.  I can't wait to look at it all.

Morning Legs, Donald, and the rest of the Crew.  Wakey wakey eggs and bakey

Sorry, haven't got time to read anything now, very tired, been an emotional day, my "no grog" record is still in tact - 6 weeks now..... good lord, I would never have believed it possible....  My choice of meal out tonight (first time I can remember going out for a meal in must be 8 months or so....  I had the warm chicken salad with the dressing on the side and was totally happy with that! Yippeee - all the dots are lined up for sure! I felt "slim", "young" and "happy".... my brother hasn't seen me for a year and said I looked "tiny" hehe - I guess it's starting to show.... BRING ON THE NEXT 4 WEEKS AND THEN LIFE! I'm ready!

G'DAY TRAVIS!

WOOHOO FOR YOU MATE, that goal is going to tumble for sure! We were posting at the same time!

Not much "reading in the dropbox", more mp3's and I want to put all the "elite fitness guru's interview" in there, please let me know if you can open one of the pdf files, so I know if it's compatible or not, and if it is, I'll put some more pdf's on for a short time, then take them off before I get in the *** for it! Cheers!

OPTIGIRL! FANTASTIC PICS!  I WOULD LOVE TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT! Always love the "GI JANE" movie! LOL!

Good Morning Goal Setters!

Opti - loved those pictures. Boy that looks fun. I can imagine it would be great just watching all those strong bodies hoist themselves up and over. Jumping fire? - Crazy. Good for you lady! Enjoy your holiday.

Debsy - dang it woman!! Look at you go! In my head you will always be tiny Nashville-size you. Im glad to hear you so happy and strong again! Your core IS strong and damn right you can beat those teeny-bopper-bikini strutting kids! You got it goin on woman! ;) Heck, those abs held you half way in/out of a car when Patti drove in to TN remember? he he Sorry to hear about all the unexpected stress too. There is always something that can bring us down - always....we just need to remember the good we are doing and are capable of doing and let things take care of themselves. Easier said than done, but just talking to myself here...we cant help everybody all the time. There are times we just need to let go, stand back and let someone stronger take over. For now. For a day. YAY on your scale again too! Holy hell! Great news from down under today.

Donald - hey Mr. CF liftheavycoloredcirclesfreak! How does the body feel today? Blissfully sore I suspect! YAY!! You win again!

Travis - WOOP! another increase for you with HIIT! Way to go brother! I smiled big when I read that. We get to watch another runner conquer his goals right here on the Crew. Love it! You are keeping us all waiting for the next HIIT just to see if you get it again. he he. Like a show on tv...just when you think its going to happen - it gets a bit faster then "tune in NEXT week" and we all think YAY, another SHOW!! :)

Anne - your nuts. When Jim left for work this morning at 4 my body was naturally awake and I almost got up with him and grabbed some coffee. I thought...hm. ..wonder who is up. Anne would be! I could talk to her! :) But then I thought I really need to sleep more...and did. An extra 4 flippen hours. Sure cuts a dent in my day, but I feel better for it.

Is it just me or do you all hear drums. ;)

Time for me to get off to the gym for "arm" day and all kinds of  curls, extensions and pressdowns. WOOP!

Sure is quiet around here....Crew Members Behaving Badly, or Crew Gone Wild... must be the main event today. He he he.

SO - thanks for all the interrruptions while I have been studying all day. ; / ! Got lots done and feel drained.

Just came across this pic and wanted to share...for all of you that feel weak today, or felt this past week wasnt your best - take a good look in the mirror tonight as you head to bed. What do you see when you look at yourself. Truly.

I hope you see what I see in you all - true fighters. Strugglers, achievers, strong, athletes. People who have been through hell and are now on thier feet and giving back to themselves.

Tomorrow is another day to make this change continue in mind and body.

Let's hear that ROAR!

Me again!

Morning Crew! Happy Sunday. Happy Free day to many. Enjoy it!!

I'm off to the gym to "elongate" my legs with lunges, plies and superman moves. (I like that name ....SuUUuuperman moves to make these legs fabulous!) he he

Congratulations Orrin on completing another challenge! BOOM BABY! Hope you heard me hollering at you while you finished those last few minutes!!

Enjoy your  very active rest  (VAR) leading up to Mexico beach lounging and gawking with dark shades. Thanks for sharing your journey, your struggles in this challenge, the highs and lows, the honesty. The for life part.

I called Purdys.....they'll let you in now. :)

howdy folks,

Debsy, down on the RNG well done, you are doing so well, way to teach everyone to workout EVERY DAY, and keep those self promises.

Orrin, Challenge done, well done bud, now for the pics.

Legsy, Sunday workouts? when's rest day?

went to CF this morning, did CF royalty, "Fran", what a bltch of a WOD.

stuffed.

ok well hectic day today, new staff member starting, 2nd one in a week, and off to see the bank manager, definitely seeing her today, 11a.m. so lets see what happens.

cheers folks, gotta run.

keep on posting, loving all the activity.

Optigirl, great pics, thanks for posting.

cheers

GOOD MORNING ALL!

You must of all been very busy this weekend!

Monday night is apon me and my 3 day weekend is nearly done, first weekend of daylight savings - yay - gotta love it! Another clean weekend for me - 8 weeks in the bag and ready to raise the bar for the last 4 weeks.  Been doing a lot of reading this w/e, I have so much stuff of my computer, e-books give me the irrates really, I much prefer a "hard copy", but printing them off isn't the same as a good old fashioned book - is it Orrin!

ORRIN, Think your last day is today - so as Legsy said - CONGRATS TO YOU MATE! Remember week your stuggle at week 7 - betchya glad you refocussed on your goals - WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO???

LEGSY! LOVED your kitty cat and lion graphic - so true....

DONALD! Hope your meeting went well and your new staff members get up to speed very quickly - big things for you Jenny, I'm not normally one that focuses on this sort of stuff.... but pleeease be careful about over stretching financially with the way Europe and America are, it will affect us down under especially if china has a big slowdown......... Ps/ Great pic and you seriously look like you are busting your pooper valve! hehe!

PIA!

WEEK 11 - PUSH IT LADY - LET US KNOW HOW YOU ARE GOING!

A FEW WAYS TO "MIX IT UP"

For those experienced BFL'RS, not first time challengers........ - this is part of something I read on the W/E - thought I'd put this page up! This is from an article by Mike Geary - Truth about Abbs - the full article - "Training and Nutrition Insider secrets for a Lean body" is in dropbox called "Leanbody". Enjoy!

Most people stick to workouts where they do something along the lines of 3 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise, with 2-3 minutes rest between sets. Booooorrrrring!!!! Here are a few examples of different methods to spice up your routine.

1. Try 10 sets of 3, with only 20 seconds rest between sets.
2. Try using a fairly heavy weight and complete 6 sets of 6 reps, doing a 3 minute treadmill sprint between each weight lifting set.
3. Try using a near maximum weight and do 10 sets of 1 rep, with only 30 seconds rest between sets.
4. Try using a lighter than normal weight and do 1 set of 50 reps for each exercise
5. Try a workout based on only one full body exercise, such as barbell clean & presses or dumbbell squat & presses, and do nothing but that exercise for an intense 20 minutes.
6. Try a workout based on all bodyweight exercises such as pushups, pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, bodyweight squats, lunges, up and down stairs, etc.
7. Try a circuit of 12 different exercises covering the entire body without any rest between exercises.
8. Try that same 12 exercise circuit on your subsequent workout, but do the entire circuit in the reverse order.
9. Try your usual exercises at a faster repetition speed on one workout and then at a super-slow speed on your next workout.
10. Try completing six 30 minute workouts one week, followed by three 1-hr workouts the next week. This will keep your body guessing.
11. Try doing drop sets of all of your exercises, where you drop the weight between each set and keep doing repetitions without any rest until complete muscular fatigue (usually about 5-6 sets in a row).

There are many more ways to continue to change your training variables. This was just a taste of your possibilities. Be creative and get results!

12

Morning Coffee Crew,

Dear Morning... we are SO not friends anymore. 3am is just to early, I'm just sayin'. As for you, Coffee Maker... how YOU doin' hot stuff?

Nothing like waking up with GOD by your side and COFFEE in your cup!! :~)

Morning aussieDebs,~ and good night to ya, girlfriend.~ Sweet Dreams.~ Debsy, down on the RNG Thats Awesome girl keep it up.

Orrin ~ Challenge done, Well done, Congrats to ya man.

Donald~ keep up the great  workouts man.

Legs~ Wakey Wakey Girl, I've been up since 3am. And I know you get up early to. LOL =)  Legs I know you want to get allll shakey and everything... =)

Week 9 here weEeEeE come.. OoHhHh Yeah. =)

Hi All!

I've been lurking all weekend.  

Debs-I hope your StepDad feels better soon, prayers go out to you

Orrin-CONGRATS on finishing!!!!

Legs-Superwoman!! Have a great day!

As for me....AR is officially over!  It has been a very long and crazy work weekend, I'm ready to get some sleep.  When I wake up I'm gonna head over to Tony's and we are doing yard work,  My time back in the gym will start this evening :-)  I'm excited!!  Good night all!  Have a great day :-)