Here is an article on the workout CD I did this morning.  

caloriecount.about.com/can-jillian-michaels-30-day-shred-b501722-1

I too feel like I haven't lost much weight. While I haven't weighed myself yet (remember I was going to last week but couldn't wait for my free day and took it early. Didn't want to weigh myself after a free day!!!) I still feel like I weigh the same. I know that sounds weird how you can "feel heavy" but I do! I see results in my arms and legs, but I am definitely certain my belly and butt haven't shrunk much! I soooo badly want to see the lbs off my tummy! TAZDEIVILWILD I am eating even less than what you are, am I too sabotaging this whole thing? I'm not tired or hungry either?!? I have the mindset that if I eat more I would be gaining weight! But then again, I guess I can't really track my progress and know if I need to change things up if I haven't even weighed in or taken measurements since day 1! Man I feel like I am rambling!

We all need to remember what EVERYONE says about the "Week 8 miracle", heck there is even a chapter dedicated to that in the book! Let's not get discouraged and give it a few more weeks! I'm sure we will all feel differently then!

Woke up feeling a bit of a cough in my chest, coughing up junk! Was still able to do my HIIT, but I hope it wont get worse!

I also don't get sore much anymore either. Especially in my UBWO's. My legs and butt tend to have a tiny bit of soreness depending on the day. I too, change things up constantly and am lifting my max weight, but maybe it's not good enough? Perhaps if we try to really concentrate on the muscle we are lifting and do the 2 second count up and 1 second down, or is it the other way around? Anyhow, here I go rambling again. If anyone has suggestions or thoughts I'd love to hear them!

The Jillian Michaels DVD sounds great! I've got the INSANITY workouts and they are crazy hard too! They however, are 30 - 60 min. long so Jillian's DVD sounds like it would be perfect!

BHPINK - I was having a Protien shake (Higher Power 100% Whey Power, 5 Lbs., Vanilla) as 3 of my 6 meals.  Found out from Fabulously-me that I wasn't getting my Carbohydrate serving in there with it.  So after I changed that and either ate and apple or an orange or a fruit with that shake, I started having more energy.  She said you have to feed your body.  The book states, 6 small meals a day, 1 serving of protein, 1 serving of carbohydate and a seving of vegetables with at least 2 of your 6 meals.  Your body will go into starvation mode and hold on to the fat it has if it feels its not getting the food it needs.

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE 8 WEEK MIRACLE!!!!  COME ON MELT!!!!

My soreness coems and goes.

I would look at your diet plan and make sure you are eating enough, start there.  I'm not an expert, so please don't think I have the answers!!!  This is just a suggestion. :-)

Hello ladies! Just finished reading the PDF document written by Mike Harris. Well actually it's written by many many different women who experienced frustration at not losing weight and/or inches until late in the game and compiled into one place by Mike Harris. I strongly suggest anyone who is feeling down about their progress read this document! It really helped me!

Today I decided to weigh in and take measurements. While my weight has only gone down .3lbs (notice the point in front of the 3!) I have lost 4 total inches including 1 1/2 inches from my waist. While this is not super exciting for me, I am embracing the fact that I have made improvements and I know they will continue. I am going to have a positive mental outlook and always strive to do better than I did yesterday, whether it's with my eating or my workouts. Anyhow, reading the PDF document seriously has given me a new determination and made me feel 100% better.

Give it a look, I promise you will NOT be dissappointed! To get to it click on Media Gallery under the COMMUNITY TAB, then click DOWNLOADS. It's called the "Famous Ladies Success Document".

bhpink, that's the email from Mike I've been telling everyone I'll post when they need it.  That's so great that it's now on the site for everyone to read.  

Free day today, yea me!!!!  I've been grazing all day, had a sub way egg white melt on a light ww English muffin for breakfast, had a mocha skim milk iced latte, 6" low fat subway cordon blue, small yogurt peanut butter swirl ice-cream and a few chips from a loaded nacho tray, yummy!  I'm having a nice glass of red wine "mommy time out", and am thinking about going out for some pasta but I'm not that hungry.  

I haven't weighed or measured since the eve of day #1.  But, I took a quick look at my thigh tonight with pants on and I'm down at least 1.5 inches, yea!!!  This works!!!!!!  I plan on making my first weigh in on week #6.  How's everyone else doing???

Good job everyone!!  Once again a very exciting bunch of posts to read!!  Thank you.

We went camping this weekend to the Spring Camporee.  We got 6 inches of snow on Saturday!!  Boy was it cold Saturday night (low was 27 degrees)!  hahaha

Anywho.  Followed through with my eating on Friday.  I had my cheat day on Saturday and boy am I glad I did.  We were having to eat more than normal because of how cold it was throughout the day.  I did not binge, just ate until I was satisfied.  I did "cheat" on Sunday morning (first time in 5 weeks!!  GRR!!).  It was 30% outside and we were tearing down camp and laoding everything up so instead of cottage cheese and yogurt, I had the bisquits and gravy for the extra carbs I needed.  However, I ate good for the rest of the day.  I did my LBWO this morning.  Eating like I am suppose to so far today.

Hope this finds everyone doing a great job and having a wonderful day!!  I hope the bisquits and gravy I had Sunday morning do not ruin all the progress I have made..........

I have to share because it was a shocker to me!!

I'm at the gym, minding my own business, doing my own thing and the gym owner's girlfriend (of whom has been gone taking care of a sick parent for 2 months) walks up to me and asks how I am doing I said good and then just bluntly "I can see you have lost weight, how much?"  I told her and she got the biggest WOW face I have ever seen!  I said Thank you.  ME!!  I have never taken a compliment!!  It was wonderful.

THEN, as I am walking out of the gym, there are 2 guys sitting by the front door (they are there everyday and have seen me working out).  One says to me "We are going to start making you do a weekly weigh-in"  I said "I already do"  He then says (and this is funny) "I know that men are not suppose to talk to woman about their weight but how much have you lost, cause I can see a big difference"  I said "I have lost 17 pounds and on Sunday I will be half way through my 12 weeks"  Well, I got 2 WOW faces on that one.  And they both said how they could see a difference and to keep up the good work and they can't wait to see me get to my goal.

I knew I was changing, your clothes don't lie, but I didn't know "other" people were noticing and then for them to just come out and say it, amazing.

So, anyways, I did my UBWO today.  Pushed myself very hard.  I even made grunting noises!!  hahaha  Got my new Protein powder in, cookies n cream, feels like I am eating desert 3 times a day!!  I get my sweet and chocolate fix, all in one!!

Have a great day!!

Taxdevilwild.... wow, that is great and to hear it from not just one but three people in one day!! Good for you..... I know you were floating out of the gym on a cloud!

Me? Well, I am sailing along and down 7 pounds now and my body has definetly changed. I have not missed a work out or cheated yet!  I say yet, because I am soooo exhausted and sore today that I am for the first time, talking myself out of working out today.... two days ago, I did my cardio and almost fained afterwards... I always do it in the morning on empty stomach and for some reason Tuesday morning.. I went to get ready for work and felt dizzy and cold sweats and was scared that I would actually faint.. I had to wake up my husband......... I even stayed home from work because I felt so crappy... and today I am exhausted and sore from Monday's lower body workout.... I will feel so guilty if I miss one work out.. but I am sooooo dang tired... and I have 3 kid functions after work to do! Ughhhhhh,..... I keep hearing.. perfection isn't good.. I know.. I have issues!!! ;)

Tazdevilwild.... wow, that is great and to hear it from not just one but three people in one day!! Good for you..... I know you were floating out of the gym on a cloud!

Me? Well, I am sailing along and down 7 pounds now and my body has definetly changed. I have not missed a work out or cheated yet!  I say yet, because I am soooo exhausted and sore today that I am for the first time, talking myself out of working out today.... yesterday, I did my cardio and almost fainted afterwards... I always do it in the morning on empty stomach and for some reason Tuesday morning.. I went to get ready for work and felt dizzy and cold sweats and was scared that I would actually faint.. I had to wake up my husband......... I even stayed home from work because I felt so crappy... and today I am exhausted and sore from Monday's lower body workout.... I will feel so guilty if I miss one work out.. but I am sooooo dang tired... and I have 3 kid functions after work to do! Ughhhhhh,..... I keep hearing.. perfection isn't good.. I know.. I have issues!!! ;)

Tazdevilwild that is just incredible! I can't wait to start getting those compliaments!  My husband of course has noticed changes and is so sweet to say so, but it would be great to get those from total strangers I see daily at the gym!

Everyone has been pretty quiet lately. Hopefully everything is going well for all of you! As for me, life is just moving right along. Nothing new to report. I just got some new supplements I am going to start taking CLA and Glutamine. Probably should have been taking them earlier, but for some reason I just yesterday realized I should be taking them! I took my free day lastnight and will not be having another one until Easter sunday. While that seems like a long time away, I am trying to think positively and tell myself that it will be in no time at all!

What are all your thoughts on salt? I've been using it very sparingly on my broccoli and wonder if this may be detrimental to my diet? Thoughts?

Sactee I am so sorry you've been feeling a little less than great. hopefully a day or two of rest will get you back on track. Stick with it,7lbs lost is wonderful! I've lost ZERO! I've seen inches lost but no weight yet, it will come though! hopefully! Stay focused and know that if you missa workout you can always add it to the end of the 12 weeks. Remember this is Body for LIFE anyway right! Missing a workout isn't going to derail your progress.

Have a great day!

Thanks bhpink.... After I wrote that went home and missed my very first work out.. but ate well.. I realized I am gonna be okay! and I feel much better today and got my cardio in and felt back to normal.  Thanks for your support.... you're right ....this is not just 12 weeks but for life!

You mentioned taking CLA and glutamine supps... not sure what those are... should we all be taking those.. what exactly do they do?.... maybe I should be doing the same.. do share!

I got up today and did my Jillian Michaels workout.  I thought it was suppose to get easier?  It felt very difficult to pull off this morning.  I was sweating so bad and was exhausted!!  Guess thats a good thing.

Sactee and bhpink - Thank you!!

Sactee - I use salt (sea salt) on my food.  I have never in my life eaten my baked potatos plain so that gives it some flavor for me to get it down.  I don't know if its good or bad, but I do it.

Bhpink - yes please tell us about these supliments.  I am only using Higher Power 100% Whey Power, 5 Lbs., Cookies & Cream right now.  I do 3 shakes with water for 3 of my meals.  I have to add an apple or fruit because it does not have the carbs I need.

I do not know how to post pictures on here yet but I would like to share my 6 weeks picture.  If anyone is interested, email me at dhrealtors4@citlink.net.

Thanks.  Have agreat day.

Morning all!

Sorry I've been quiet lately.  I have been reading everyone's posts, and I really admire all the hard work you're putting into this.

I had a pretty rough first half of the challenge, and I found myself using my "lack of willpower" as an excuse. No more!  My new mantra for the final six weeks is "I am in control!" Ultimately, I am.  Nobody else shoves unhealthy foods in my mouth or forces me to stay home from the gym. I do.  

While I may not see the results I initially wanted due to my many mess-ups, I really need to go all out these last six weeks to prove to myself that I can.

@Tazdevilwild: I think posting pictures would be a fun and motivating way to keep me going. If I knew I had to post them I think mentally it would give me the extra push to do everything to a T! For those of you who are wary about posting pictures, you can always crop your face out of them before posting, this is what I plan to do. Also, I wont be taking pictures till week 8, perhaps those of us that want to post can all do it at the end of our 8th week?

@LydiaSarah: Good for you to just pick your self up and dust yourself off! Never give up completely just because you had a rough day, rough week, or rough month! Start again and keep pushing. You may just surprise yourself and make it all the way. Imagine the sense of accomplishment that will come from 12 weeks of discipline, hard work, and determination! You can do it!

@Sactee and Tazdevilwild: I can't remember where I first saw it, but it seems as though I saw perhaps earlier on in this forum, or even in the BFL Book where Glutamine and CLA were talked about. I recently came across these two supplements again talked about on a blog I read. She listed the benefits of why she takes them and how they've worked for her. *Note: the woman blogging about them did BFL about a year and a half ago or so and these supplements were part of her daily regimen. I've copied and pasted what she said about them below:

"Glutamine - Anyway, i take glutamine because studies that show glutamine will in fact increase fat burning when taken after meals. you probably have seen a lot of people taking glutamine supplements or adding it to their post-workout shake. well, it hasn’t done me wrong, so it must be doing something right."

"CLA is short for “conjugated linoleic acid” and it reduces fat—namely abdominal fat. i know this works for me because of experience and i swear by the stuff. of course, it has it’s pros and cons. you can read about them here. i saw on wikipedia that the food that has the highest concentration of CLA is kangaroo meat… well, i am not going to be eating any kangaroos any time soon (or ever) so i will stick to the pills. i take two in the morning with breakfast and two after lunch."

Anyhow, that's why I decided to take these supps. I'll let you know if I notice a difference. Keep in mind the CLA she is using is THERMOCLA I guess it's a little different than just regular CLA. THat's why she talked about the Pros and Cons part. The THERMO part can make some people feel woozy according to her. Does anyone else have much experience with these two supplements, or are currently using them?

Good Afternoon.  Today is my free day because we have a presentation we are going to tonight and I want to eat what they have there.  I still did get up and do Jillian Michaels-30 day shred-20 min workout just cause I could.  It felt good.  I had 2 eggs, 1 slice of bacon and a pancake for breakfast.  I had a banana for a mid morning snack.  I have a portion of lasagna for my lunch and then another banana for mid aftyernoon snack.  Not sure what dinner will be yet.  Then I wont have a free day again until Easter Sunday.  

Bhpink - Thanks for the info, I will look into it!!  Also, I would be more than happy to join in the 8 weeks pictures.  I am amazed by the difference in my 6 week pictures, thats why I offered to send to anyone interested.  Just need an email :-)  Mine is dhrealtors4@citlink.net

LydiaSarah - Great attitude!!  Jump back up on that wagon and get'r'done!!  Your next 6 weeks will be amazing!!!

And to all of you of whom haven't posted for awhile, I MISS YOU!!!