Ruby: If it makes you feel better I've been eating jasmine rice for the past few days thinking it was ok. Its the same as white rice. I understand underplanning but definite keep on keepin on! Your doing so great and like Bill says in the book there will be slip ups and keep going!

You deserve the bead... you still made an effort and your continuing on with your goals.

Ruby - I know its easier said than done, but don't beat yourself up over it.  You messed up but you also learned something from it.  Planning is key!  Dont give up.  Tomorrow is a new day.  Start fresh.

I have never done weight training before (phys ed in high school 21 years ago doesn't count).   So I don't even know what a 5 let alone a 10 is.   My fiance used to be into power lifting.  Before I started this, we figured out what the maximum weight I could lift for each exercise was (doing 1 rep at what ever weight and then adding to it until I couldn't lift it.).   For bicep curls, my max was 60lbs.  So we took a third of my max and that is what I started with.  So I did 12 reps of 20 lbs at a level 5.  

I hit some 10s but certainly not all the time.  I am constantly tweaking my weights. Having never done weight training, I don't want to go all out and injure myself.  I cant afford to in my line of work.  I am like that with cardio as well.  I am an out of shape smoker.  I have to pace myself just to make it through the 20 minutes!   I am just happy that I am actually doing some exercise!!!  

Thanks for the support ladies. I knew i was not planning, and knew i shouldn't be eating what I ate, yet did it anyway. Such carelessness is what put me in this mess in a first place. I will try to concentrate on the next step. Lesson learned: I will never ever buy something I know I will binge on later. No more shopping ffor free day before it is actually here.

WLDR-GRL: the water in coffee and other drinks doesn't count. The body understands it as "food", and needs real water to flush the toxins of dealing with it. Coffee also changes the PH of the blood and for the blood to balance itself out it forces bones to secrete their calcium into the blood causing brittle bones on the long run (one of the major health problems here in the UK due to coffee and tea drinking). I say all that even though I drank three cups of tea three days ago. I am such a hypocrite lol

Ruby - I know the water in coffee doesn't count.  I drink 2 extra cups of water for every cup of coffee I drink and that is down to 2 a day now.  I cant see that going any lower either as I am not a morning person and cutting it out entirely would just give me migraines.    But it is better than it was!!

And that is a good plan for your free days.  :)

Hello! Congrats to all! I am on day 12! I feel great! I am also not going to step on the scale, or check any measurements until completing week 4.

Today I hit the beach with my kiddos and although visually there may not have been any changes I felt great and proud of working so hard in the gym and eating great that I couldn't help but truly enjoy the time spent playing in the sand with my little ones rather than be concerned with how I look out there! The confidence is amazing!

Thankfully it is grilling season! My husband and I are in a rotation of salmon, steak, and chicken on the grill with veggies from the farmer's markets!

We also made the cottage cheese salsa tonight and it was great!

All... I am a personal trainer of 10 years if you have any exercise questions.  

So far I am going strong.  It feels great to be "trained" by this program.  I am seeing great results, feeling energetic, and running like a well-kept machine.  

Keep it up everyone!!  You will be so glad in the end that you did... and kicking yourself (AGAIN) that you did not :) :) :)

hi reactive training,

You will be an asset to us here on the forums. Most of us learn as we go. I have one question, I lift as heavy as i can and keep form, yet i am not experiencing the muscle "failure" at my 10s except in my chest press, triceps and quads. is this normal? thanks.

I was dreading my cardio today. i almost always use the treadmill and my last two session left me with shin pain and stress in my arch.

I did rowing machine today instead. Not as effective for making my body heat soar and sweat, but it was so hard as well.

i think i will do the bike for one cardio session, the treadmill for one session, and the rowing machine for one session, then the week will be over. May be this is how i will minimize the pain or stress on my body. But the treadmill is the only thing that gives me that "10" feeling.

OK.. tomorrow is my free day. I bought some stuff just enough for breakfast tomorrow. No more shopping in advance for free day. I did it once before and I won the battle, then did it again this week and lost the battle.

I took pictures of myself naked. Bloody hell! Do I really look this obese?!!! It will be a road longer than i thought it will be, but that's fine. Quitting is not an option. I reckon it will take me a year to get where I want, that's nearly 4 challenges. I will just push as hard as I can, and let the results take care of themselves. I will also try to make this journey as comfortable as possible as a lifestyle for me to stay on it for good.

I bought myself bead No. 3. hehehehe.. It's on the bracelet right now. Although I bought a quirky shaped one because the week was crazy.

Love you all ladies. Stick with it, if you stumble and fall, get up, shrug your shoulders, and keep moving!

Ruby - I'm so glad to hear that you bought yourself bead #3.  :)  Do you wear insoles in your shoes at all?  That might help your arches.   Hope you have a fabulous free day tomorrow!!

Reactivetraining - I am also not hitting a lot of 10's.  I also don't want to over do it and injure myself as my job is somewhat physical (steel fabricator/welder).  

Ladies, this news just in (Although it has been rotting here on the site since two years ago!!!)... please read ... very important. I'am bummed out completely to read it only few hours ago:

The free day.... we can eat whatever we want.. whenever we want.. However, we should not turn a free day into a mad day.

Keep the free day between 2000 and 2500 calories. This is how you will not set back the rest of the week.

Every single free day i had so far including today (3 in total), i was eating close to 5000 calories (junk food, french fries, double chocolate croissants with nuts and honey, etc.). Way to go Ruby.

I am gonna have to burn my ass off in the gym for the next 9 weeks more than ever and bring the free day down to 2500 calories with fat intake of no more than 70 grams for the free day.

I am glad I knew about this today better than at the end of the cycle! Why didn't someone tell me before I bought that bloody pizza?! Baaaaah

Good luck to you ladies. Mucho Love.

HI MMB's! Keep hangin in there!  Quick question- can i use my free day for dinner tonight, and breakfast and lunch tomorrow? Or does it all have to be on the same day like Satuday for example?

No Chelsea you can't. The body's natural cycle does not understand the concept of 24 hours. It needs a cycle of morning and night when our hormone respond to sun/moon and the natural world around us. a "day" in our natural body language starts from dawn and ends around 10-11 pm, with a period of slowing down between 5 pm till 8 pm after which it slows down completely preparing for sleep whether we do sleep at night.

It will have to be all on one day when you wake up till you go to bed.  

Happy to post my WEEK 2 update! Wahoo! Hope everyone is had a great week!!

Here's my update!

Exercise:

This week I've had a little issues with the exercise routine. I guess you can call me an ignoramoose when it comes to weight lifting! I've been lifting way to much weight and as a result I think I've injured myself. I've been sore for the past 2 weeks and it really sux! :( I guess I took trying to reach my tens as increase weight each rep until you can do it anymore. Totally ignoring my form!

After about a 20 min lecture from my BF (thank god he tells it like it is). I know I need to lift to about 10 or 12lbs and stop!!! I've been going into the 20s-25s for shoulders and arms. Not very smart!

Other than that I'm stoked made it everyday to the gym. Freeday took my first Warm Room Yoga class... LOVED IT!

Food:

I did good still getting the hang of what different foods are e.g. corn= carb, potato=carb, bean= carb, and so on. The first part of the week I was a little shaky but I definitely think now I have the hang of it.

Last week I had decided to make Friday night and Saturday my two free days for food. But as Friday approached I couldn't keep to it! I did so good I'm so proud I decide to keep it clean Friday night and eat grilled chicken and veges fajitas. Because we were at a mexican restaurant I only ate very small portions and NO SOUR CREAM! lol

Saturday I used my free day as it was demed to be... French Toast, Fun size Snicker (1), 2 Chicken Wings, Half my fav pasta dish from Sal's, and Frozen Yogurt! ALL meals with Water.

Me:

I'm feeling great! I want to shout it from the mountain tops. My face is transforming... I think because of the all the water I'm drinking its glowing and looks healthy and dewy! Everyone keeps telling me how good my skin looks. God! I can't believe it! I'm ready to roll out week 3! Bring it is all I keep thinking. Freeday is just as exciting as doing all my exercises. I'm really looking forward to weight days to get a handle on using the proper weights. I love cardio days, I never thought of myself as a runner and for the first time I posted it on my facebook status... Going Running! Crazy! I can actually say I love myself for going forward with this!

Good on you berney.. keep at it.

When the pain eases off, and you feel well again.. there is no harm in lifting heavy under these conditions:

- you are able to keep form.

- you are not having shooting pain while performing the exercise

- you keep breathing properly - don't hold your breath or breathe shallow to gain momentum

- increase the weights from week to week ONLY if you feel the weights are getting a bit easier for you.

When you do increase, increase only very small percentages at first. If you feel you increased too much, stop and lower the weight.

The pain you have got is not due to too much weight. It is due to poor form. The weights you mentioned are on the very light side.

Women don't bulk up lifting heavy weights. For women to bulk up they need hormones available only to men or by artificial injections.

Remember that for you to get results, you need to lift to YOUR BEST.

Your BF is worried about you and worried you will look like Arnie in the end or out-muscle him lol, but it won't happen.

Regarding hitting a "10" during weight lifting:

  Hitting that glorious 10 is not always going to translate to muscle failure.  Yes, it feels awesome to push yourself to the point that you have to literally drop the weight or have someone catch it for you, but that is not the only way to get your 10.  Other ways?

1.  The "burn" is so intense that you have to stop

2.  You feel as though you cannot do another rep safely

AND, sometimes you cannot safely hit a 10 with an exercise.  Bar squats are a great example of this.  Do you really want to push yourself to failure with hundreds of pounds on your back w/o a spotter?  It can't always happen.  Enjoy it though, when it does!!!  

Also, the weight prediction is not always going to be accurate on what will get you to muscle failure or an intense burn.  This is why keeping a journal is soooo important.  You will know better next time.

The BFL book even mentions expecting to not always be able to hit that 10.

Think about it, are you always able to perform at your peak every single day?  Can olympic athletes always pull a 10 with their performance?  You will have some days that you cannot reach that 10... the most important thing is to try like hell to get it.  And love it when you do!!!