I am new to this thread but am in real need of some support! I was doing so well up until week 6 and then I had almost 10 days of "falling off - I am still eating clean for the most part but have had a glass of wine here and there (never more than 1) but then it still affects my diet, b/c I end up snacking here and there too (and again, nothing too crazy) but also my workouts have been hitting only 9s and I have lost motivation.
The free days really kill me and I need so much recovery, that by the time I feel awesome again, it is thursday, and then my free day is supposed to be Saturdays! And I don't feel like I deserve a free day if I didn't follow the program 100%. I want to continue this bfl lifestyle for life, but I am going to have to adjust the free day somehow, b/c I feel like crap and depressed for a few days after every one. I want to feel as good as I do or can all the time, or at least 6 days out of 7. Right now I am recovering from a very sore throat and so skipped my wkout yesterday, and so probably why I am so negative, so I am going to do Upper Body now and get back on track.
I want great results and hope that 1 week out of 12 won't affect it!
Good UBWO this morning - three "10"s, five "9"s, and two "8"s both of which were on my back exercises. That's probably my toughest upper body part to work out effectively.
Boosting calories and protein percentage seems to be breaking the fat loss plateau. The next three weeks will be interesting though, since (being Eastern Orthodox) that's the Apostles' Fast and my diet will have to go practically vegan. Keeping the protein percentage high means I'll probably be living on Boca Burgers and soy protein shakes :-).
@Shellnikk - you might try cutting back your free day to one or two free meals and the rest "by the book"; from what I've read on this forum, plenty of people seem to do it that way (after all, it's a "free" day, so you're not only free to "cheat", you're also free to keep following the plan as much as you want). You might try making sure the last meal of your free day is a "by the book" meal, to help recover the feeling of "I'm doing it right" to start the upcoming week.
Only hitting "9"s and losing motivation could easily be related to your sore throat - last time I had one, my doctor told me I'd had an infection that probably started several days before I noticed anything, and if that's what happened to you it could have been invisibly sapping your energy and drive. Hitting "9"s in that case is still an accomplishment!
Biggest thing I can recommend is not to punish yourself or beat yourself up for perceived "failures". There are two ways "messing up" one week can mess up your whole Challenge - (1) if you let it get you so down you give up, or (2) if you seriously overdo your workouts as a way to either punish yourself for failures or to try to "make up for them", and wind up overtraining and maybe even injuring yourself. If you just do what you said and "get back on track", you should be fine.
Mstickles - thank-you for your kind and inspiring words! I am ready to get back on track and feel a lot more positive today, likely because I had a good sleep and not sick anymore! I am craving a gym workout!!! And the "free" to choose to eat by the book - LOVE it! You are so positive!! Thank-you again!
OMG!!!! I didn't just fall off the wagon today...I dove...headfirst...and then realized we had been riding next to a cliff!! I kind of figured it was getting ready to happen though. I have caught myself over the last week or so stepping out of bounds a little more often; half a cookie here, half a cookie there, a little more meat than usual on my turkey sandwich, etc, etc, etc. Well today we had a meeting where folks brought in food from home. Well someone brought in a huge pan of lasagna. But it was good!!! as well as the antipasta salad and banana pudding!
I paid for it when I got home though. I didn't run this morning and had plans to do so when I got home. I kept those plans and hit the treadmill. About halfway into it was when I think I started tasting lasagna. I never puked but I felt like I wanted to. I will take this as my free day rather than Sunday and also run again on Sunday. Nothing to harsh, but enough to try to balance out what I did today. This shall also serve as a good reminder of why I am doing what I am doing and help me get back on track again. I'm 25 down with 20 more to go.
@Mike (mstickles)....I am very impressed with the way you are keeping up with things. I have actually lost my measurements that I took when I started. I recorded them in an excel file, tossed the paper I wrote it down on and then inadvertently deleted or over wrote the file I saved the measurements in!!!! But back to you...you are doing a great job and I have no doubt you will reach whatever goals you have set for yourself!
@shellnik....been there and done that a couple times, as should be obvious if you have read this entire thread. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back on the horse. You're not starting over, you just need to pick back up where you left off. There's no doubt that 6 weeks into this you have made some gains. You didn't lose those gains over 10 days. Just go back and find the reason that you started to begin with...dwell on it for a little while and decide if it's reason enough to keep going. If it is, then as Nike would say...Just Do It! Don't dwell on the negatives, learn from them. What caused the downward spiral? Try to figure that out and not let it happen again. Dwell on the positives...let the positives lift you back up and put you back on the track.
Be Safe!
Harry
Mediocre cardio today - instead of peaking at 9-9-9-10, it was more like 7-7.5-8-8.5 (maybe stretched to touch a 9 at the end). I strained my quad yesterday at the company picnic while playing volleyball, and after the first interval stair-stepping realized it wasn't going to last pushing the extra weight I carry, so I ditched the weight and blipped outside to give running another try. I survived it, but just couldn't get the intensity up any higher without risking injury. On the plus side, I was seriously considering skipping the wrokout when I got out of bed, but found myself two minutes into the workout before I quit debating with myself. Guess this is really becoming a habit :-).
@Shellnikk - you're quite welcome, and thank you for the kind words! On the days when I've struggled and wanted to just pull the covers back over my head instead of hit the weights or the step, those kinds of encouragements are the things that get me moving.
@fivtwenty7 - I can relate - overdid it at the company picnic yesterday on food too, and when I came home and worked out the calories (I wrote down everything I ate) I found I'd gobbled down over 1600 in the 2 hours before volleyball started! I'd figured on hitting 800 and "contingency planned" for 1200 by trimming before and after meals, but this was way too much. I'll be doing the same thing as you, treating yesterday as my free day, doing Sunday "by the book" and adding some cardio Sunday.
Hi everyone!!!
School is finally over for this quarter and I am so relieved! Ive been working out in the mornings for the past week and it works for me so much better than working out at night. I am doing a lot better than I was a few weeks ago. I missed a couple workouts getting back into it....but slowly and surely found my way back and dropped all the guilt feelings which felt heavier than the extra weight i have to lose. Mike you are so right about not punishing ourselves for our perceived failures....Fivtwenty and Shell just pick up where you left off. On the UBW or LBW days that I really felt like I didnt want to do anything.....I at least got out and did cardio....at least it was something instead of nothing.
Shell....good to see you over here i guess everyone fell away from our original thread....remembering what you wrote since the beginning....i conclude that its the wine that makes you feel like crap. I know its great while you are enjoying it....but looking at it objectively....you get so down after your free day and it doesnt sound like you overdo it on eating.
I am still not 100% with the food either .... I dont think i was eating enough before which is one of the reasons why i think i veered off track. i was too sleepy all the time....maybe not enough carbs???
Mike and Jodi keep up the good work....you are inspiring...
Hello - I am really enjoying this thread - there is so much positive!
I did it AGAIN. I went out last night, said I wouldn't have any wine, but then indulged (only had 2 glasses), but felt like crap today. Because of it, I decided to skip the free day which is usually today, b/c I took it last night with wine, but b/c I feel like crap, I am craving salty heavy foods and I am so tired. It is my day off from the gym and am looking forward to tmrw's workout, but why can't I just say NO to the wine. I truly enjoy it while drinking it, Diane - just as you said it - but b/c I have struggled with depression my whole life, I think it really, chemically affects me. I actually want to try to cut it out of my life all together, as I have a history of addiction in my family, but also don't feel like I need to go as far as AA b/c I don't have a drinking problem (or maybe I do?). It just triggers overeating, which in some respect is just like a drug addict who stops drinking b/c it triggers the useage of drugs. Off on a tangent here but need to figure this out. I felt SOOO good the first 2 weeks of the program, and many days the following weeks, but this free day is what brings on those depressive days.
My clothes are fitting better, which is great and certainly puts me in a good mood, but now I think I am doing this for the way I feel, almost as much as the "look good" aspect. I LOVE this way of life and I LOVE working out, and just need to figure it all out, welcoming any advice while I vent.
Diane - I took my measurements the 1st day and then measured at the halfway mark only to put on inches everywhere, even though my clothes were smaller - well - my husband informed me that I didn't start at the zero - I had used a measuring tape that had an extra inch and a half that I was using as the "0" mark, and so I guess I did lose inches. I am not, however, remeasuring until the 12week mark, and going solely by my clothes' fit, NO scale. Scales are never a good thing and I almost always gain weight when I start working out - my sister is the same way - even though our clothes fit better - so NO scale!!!
Thank-you everyone for your inspiration! Keep at it!
WEEK SEVEN PROGRESS REPORT
Weight: Down 0.6 lbs to 224.8 (lost 5.6 lbs total; first time since June 2010 I've been below 225, or first time since August 2009 if you don't count sickness-assisted episodes)
Belly: 41-3/4", down 1/2" (4-5/8" total)
Body Fat %: Down 1.0% to 25.4% (down 8.7% total). This is the lowest it's been since I started keeping records in April 2006.
Waist: Down to 40-3/4", total drop of 1-7/8".
Fat weight: Down 2.3 lbs to 57.2 lbs (21.4 lbs total loss)
Lean weight: Up 1.7 lbs to 167.6 lbs (10.1 lbs total gain compared to pre-Lenten state)
I'm seriously considering picking up one of those Accu-whatsit calipers and body-fat testing myself with it since the local Y apparently doesn't do that anymore. I'm still really suspicious of the speed at which my lean mass is going up, and am wondering if my body-fat-calculating spreadsheet isn't as accurate as it used to be anymore.
No report on yesterday's LBWO because it didn't happen - we let the kids have a Friday night "slumber party" in the family room, and I realized the next morning that (a) I couldn't get to my weight bench because one of the kids was sleeping in front of the door to the basement, and (b) even if I could get there, I'd wake them up with weights clacking. No opportunity the rest of the day, so I'm going to work it in this afternoon (heh - my "free day" keeps shifting around).
Great job on the progress!
Had a great HIIT this AM - seems like my appetite is increasing but also like I can burn it off. Anyone else in the same boat?
Never got my weekend LBWO in, had needed maintenance chores around the house and some "Dad's taxi service" runs that wound up taking all my time. Not worried, though, after getting so little sleep for so long I think it helped to take an extra day off the workouts while catching up on sleep. Don't want to make a habit of it though.
Got my HIIT cardio in last night instead of in the morning, felt more energetic than usual (probably due to getting three consecutive nights of 7+ hrs sleep for the first time in months). I'm having trouble maxing now, my last interval I ramped up to 40 steps per minute at the high point with 22 lbs in my backpack, and I don't think I quite reached a "9". That pack won't take much more weight and I was stepping as fast as I could, so I'm going to have to find another way to bump up my intensity. Maybe add dumbbells, or try to bounce it like Jazzercise or something.
Shellnik - I'm seeing the opposite, my appetite is decreasing. However, my current meal plan gets me the same calories with more "bulk", which probably has something to do with it - I feel fuller quicker.
Gaaaah - missed another workout! I didn't want to try getting my LBWO in this morning after doing HIIT cardio so late last night, so I was going to do it this afternoon, but the day slipped away in traffic, chores, and 1001 other things. Now it's too late - I literally have no time tomorrow to fit cardio in except at 4AM, and I don't want to do two workouts that close together. If I have to sacrifice weights or cardio right now it'll be weights, so I'll do the cardio tomorrow and UBWO Thursday.
That'll make it a long time between LBWOs after missing Saturday's, but I've been having tendinitis issues again in my feet & ankles so maybe the rest will help 'em settle down.
Whew - HIIT cardio was finished over an hour and a half ago, and I'm still feeling it. Interval peak intensities went 6-7-8-10. The last interval I tried adding a pair of 4-lb dumbbells to my 22-lb backpack to get "over the hump", doing a dumbbell press in 4-beat rythym (right foot up/weights to shoulders, step up/weights overhead, right foot down/weights to shoulders, step down/weights to sides). It worked so well that even without stepping at max speed, by the end of the second minute my legs went to jelly and I had to stop. I'd "zoned out" and lost any real sense of intensity so I didn't realize I was hitting my "10" until my legs gave out; only after stopping could I really feel how intense it had been (heart pounding, shortness of breath, hot flushed feeling, etc.). Didn't stop sweating until over half an hour later.
Given the feelings in my calves and quads, this almost doubled as half a LBWO, so I don't feel quite as bad about missing yesterday's workout. And I was able to get through without any tendinitis flare-ups, so maybe my legs needed the rest.
Good UBWO, hit three "10"s, four "9"s and three "8"s (nice symmetry :-). Significantly upped the weight for chest, shoulders, back and triceps over last week, stayed about the same for biceps. Two of the "8"s were in my back exercises, where I'm already using my heaviest dumbbells (30 lbs) for all sets; it's getting tough to get the intensity I need with the exercises I'm using, but while some other ones I've tried could get me to "10" with less weight, I haven't been able to hold my form in them through all sets and usually wind up hurting something. I may need to spring for a barbell for my work apartment, though I have no idea where I'd put it.
After the jump-start last week, fat loss appears to be hitting a plateau again. It's another of those weird moments though - my belly measurement is unchanged since Monday, but Monday I could still fold my hands and rest them on my belly; now they won't stay put but just slide off. At least when I stop seeing progress in one area, I start seeing it in another, so there's always something I can be encouraged by :-).
Mstickles - Great job on the workouts! I have been upping my weight for UBWO too but finding I am getting sore in the nexk, and had a herniated disc in my C-spine 4 yrs ago, which all started with a stiff neck, so I get very nervous when it comes to my neck and find I am limiting my 10s. I am, however, very happy with my upper body. It is showing real definition (I am a gal with a very petite frame on top and plenty in the hips, bum area) and so the upper body looks super fit (when I am woking out and have been a little leaner) and there is still plenty of work to be done in the lower body - soft and flabby.
I have been struggling with diet lately and been way too lenient too many days out of the week. I can feel the definition that was coming disappear and I know if I just stick to the diet to a T for even 3 days, I will get back on track, but there have been so many birthdays and parties lately that I have slipped up too much. This weekend I am cleaning out the body and ready to lean out. Only 2.5 more weeks for me and so I want to work towards that. And when this is over, I am not yet sure what I will change but I will stick to clean eating for sure!!!
Shellnikk - probably smart to self-limit that way, a "9" is way preferable to a "4 weeks or more off for recovery"! I'm in the opposite situation from you, my best definition is in my legs while my flab is all in my gut, sides and chest. Plenty of work to do all over, though!
Good cardio today, not sure if I hit a "9+" or a "10", got weird feelings in my chest halfway through the high point minute so I bailed out and started cool-down just to be safe. I have a scheduled physical this afternoon; I'll ask my doctor what things I should be watching out for physical-feelings-wise.
I had been keeping a real consistent diet this week, about 2050-2100 calories with about a 40% carb / 45% protein / 15% fat ratio. And my fat level stayed, well, level while my lean mass inched up. Yesterday afternoon on the way home from my work apartment, I did a minor binge on chips and soda when I stopped for gas, so my day's totals were closer to 3000 calories and a 41%/32%/27% ratio. And this morning my testing showed my fat weight had dropped. I'm not sure if this shows I need to bump calories back up farther, or that I need to cycle them high-low-high-low, or even neither.