WOW!  So this is your 5th challenge?  Well welcome back actionyak!  Best of luck on your new journy!  

Awesome!  2007 was my first challenge year, too.  This program is so amazing...I am back at it, too.  Started my challenge yesterday!  Stress is my kryptonite and it is a daily visitor!  All my best to you and others beginning a new challenge!

I love your description of your kyromptonite, unfortunately, donuts is only one of my many kyrptonites..I have several.  Getting ready to start on Monday, I too, have a long way to go.  This will be my first time actually starting and finishing the challenge, as I have, like most, started but never finished. At 52, it's time to stop playing and getting it done.  I, of all people, should know better, I used to teach aerobics years ago and I'm ashamed to even tell anyone but I'm ready to make this change.  I don't have another choice.  I admire your determination and your strength.  Keep it up!

Hi all,  thanks for the encouragement.  I love donuts, but that definitely isn't my only potential hangup.  

quadsmom, stress is a big one for me too.  

I almost lost it last night.  Running errands with the wife and kids that took way longer than supposed to.  Going on 4 hrs without food, and then my wife getting ticked off when we finally got home and I didn't want to eat the 25% fat ground beef she bought.  "But it's organic!"  She doesn't get it.  I was ready to plow through the entire pantry, fridge, and freezer.  

Instead, I drank 32 oz of water, had a myoplex lite shake, then an hour or so later had some leftover turkey taco meat on whole wheat toast.  Not exactly gourmet, but kept me from wrecking myself.  

Today is a new day, and the 20 min HIIT felt great this morning.  

Week two starting off well.  Great LBWO this morning, and so far so good on the eating.  (Despite the huge pan of brownies in the breakroom)  

I'm going to mix up my schedule a little compared to '07.  I'm going to have free day on Saturday instead of Sunday.  Seems like we just have more food-centric activities on a Saturday as a family.  I loved free day!  I ate a lot of all kinds of junk, but hey, that's what free day is for.  The challenge was making sure I didn't carry it over to Sunday.  I made it!  Got some extra sleep Sunday morning, then headed to the gym and did my 20 min HIIT, and ate clean the rest of the day.  Even broke out the Eating for Life book and reminded myself of all the great recipes in there.

I'd love to see results fast, but I'm going to stick with the weigh in schedule that was recommended in the book, and which is what I did in '07 - only once every 4 weeks.  Hopefully some real progrees will be evident by then.    

Man there were a lot of temptations yesterday!  I survived the day pretty well, though.  No candy, no chocolate, no cakes, no alcohol.  Way too much protein at dinner, but I just couldn't pass it up.  My wife ordered two live 3 and a half pound lobsters, scallops, and filet mignon for valentines dinner from lobstergram.  We froze the scallops and the steak is in the fridge for later this week, but we tore those lobsters up!  Holy cow that was a lot of meat on a 3.5 lb lobster.  Only used lemon juice though, no butter.  Didn't even have room for any sides.  I ate a handful of grapes just to get some carbs in after cleaning everything up.

My other experiment for the day was a handful of peanuts before dinner.  I can say that one failed.   I get home from work starving, and if it's an hour or more before eating I'm ready to tear up the pantry.  I decided I'd try a handful of unsalted peanuts when I got home.  That went okay, but as the lobsters took longer, it was too easy to go back for another handful, or two.  That was way too many extra calories.  So, no more peanuts after work.  I'll have to get some celery or cucumbers or something I can munch on while dinner is getting ready, and drink an extra quart of water.

Day 12 and going strong.  Still kryptonite in the breakroom, but I'm building up a little stronger resistance.  Today there were more donuts and also pastrys from Panera Bread, but I filled up the third quart of water for the day and didn't give them another look.  The workouts have been feeling great.  The worst of the soreness has passed, and now I'm really trying to work to find those 10's.  I've been increasing weight each workout, but that's mostly because I've found I started way too light.

This weekend will be tough, since Monday is a holiday for me.  Hard enough to keep free day from stretching into Sunday, much less Monday also without the regular routine.  If the weather is nice I'll get the kayak out on the lagoon and see if any fish are biting.  

If I bring a cooler on the yak with a myoplex lite shake, a turkey sandwich, and an apple and two light cheesesticks, and that's it, I should be good to go.  Can't worry about eating any junk if I'm out on the water for 8 or 10 hours and I don't have any with me.  

"I'm light, I'm strong, and I've only got 20 minutes to make this work."  That's my mantra I repeat over and over as I bust out the HIIT cardio.  I'm far from either of the first two, but that's what I tell myself to keep it going and make it count.  

This morning was tough, because I played an hour and a half of racquetball last night and went to bed much later than normal.  It was tempting to say, "Ah, last night's racquetball can be my cardio," and sleep in today, but I got up anyway and hit the gym.  I'm glad I did.  The workout felt great, and I don't feel like I fell off the wagon.  

Coming up on the end of week three, and I'm very focused.  The eating has been great and I look forward to the workouts.  

Hi, I'm glad I found this thread. I know how it feels to go from blugh to awesome to blugh again. It's so frustrating. And while I didn't gain a bunch of weight (30lbs or so) the clothes don't freaking fit and the person I see in the mirror looks sad and unhealthy.

I am on D3 and I am now remembering why I loved who i was a bit back. I had energy, I felt strong, and most importantly I felt HEALTHY. You know that feeling where you feel like your insides are coated in grime? Thats how I've felt - and now, only 3 days into the BFLC I am starting to feel WAY less toxic. It's like a cool breeze is sweeping through my insides and it's fantastic. I don't want to lose this feeling.

I like your mantra - I am stealing it.

I'll keep my eyes on you in this thread so you and I can keep ourselves in check.

Best to you!

Annakristina

AnnaKristina, glad you like the mantra, you're welcome to it!  I'm with you on how I feel.  I like the description of the cool breeze.  Not much change outside yet, even three weeks in, but I feel much better.  Tired a lot, especially if I don't get to bed as early as I'd like, but overall feeling much better.

Finished week three today with an intense UBWO that I'm still feeling.  Looking forward to free day tomorrow!  

Those UBWO def leave me feeling it - the other day I found it difficult to drive because my arms were so sore. I love it!

I can't wait til I have 3 weeks done.. it feels like it's going to creep so slowly. Only on D4 and it feels like I've been doing it for weeks now.

Today I am on LBWO and I can't wait til I get to walk up and down the stairs in my house tonight and tomorrow. That right there ends up being the biggest challenge.

So how is your diet today? Last night I got so freaking hungry that it made me feel sick and I couldn't eat hardly. Today not so bad - I think the thing that keeps me from cheating is thinking about what I like more: Prize money or something that tastes good for a few seconds.

Which reminds me of one of my mantras that comes from a tv ad years ago: a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.

Have a great day actionyak!

Start of week 4, and feeling good.  I'm looking forward to a weigh in at the end of the week to see where I'm at.  

Annakristina, keep at it and the days start to fly by, which turns into weeks flying by.  That's great you keep an eye on the prize money.  I haven't given it too much thought yet.  I think that's because I'm guessing it will probably take me at least 4 rounds of challenges to get in the shape I'd like to be.  I've got a long way to go, one workout and one meal at a time.  

Hi all,

I also started the challenge on 2/6 and am entering into week 4 (this is my first challenge). I am starting to think that the more support I have in this challenge, the better, thus I have decided to join in on your chat. My boyfriend is also doing the challenge with me, which has been a great support.

I must admit that I am a slave to my scale and, entering into week 4, I find myself a little frustrated. The number just will not go down. However, I am starting to see little results, nothing drastic, which has been encouraging. (*Trying to focus on building muscle!*)

I'm wondering, What results have you all seen thus far?

I'm trying to remind myself that I'm not in this just to see that number go down, but to live a healthier lifestyle, overall.  

Hey Sis180, welcome aboard!  Glad to hear from someone else that started the same day.  

As for results, I haven't stepped on the scale since I started.  I've been tempted more than once, but I'm only going to weigh in once every four weeks.  I'm hoping that will give me time to actually see some progress on the scale without driving myself crazy.  

However, I can certainly see and feel some improvements already.  I can put my shoes on easier, and in fact had to tighten up the laces just because my feet aren't so swollen.  I can head upstairs to put the kids to bed without being so out of breath.  I was able to play racquetball the other night for a solid hour and a half, and still felt strong in the fourth game.  I helped my wife dig out flower beds all of Sunday afternoon, and I didn't once feel like I was about to die.  My arms don't fall asleep driving to work nearly as bad, I would assume due to improvement in circulation.  These are small, but important improvements that really show how far I have to go.

I can recognize that I have to be doing my body a favor everytime I eat my blueberry and protein shake in the morning instead of half a dozen donuts in the break room at work.  Heck, that goes for every single meal choice I've made in the past 3+ weeks.  I've enjoyed my free days, but even then the types of foods that were my kryptonites a month ago don't have quite the same power over me.

In short, all of the above is much more significant to me than whatever number shows up on the scale on free day morning this week.