Gapeach79 - 9 pounds is fantastic!  If other people are noticing, then you must be making great changes already.  Good for you cutting out sugar and exercising.  Keep going!  Try not to compare yourself with others.  I know I did, and I almost petered out during week 9!!!  My husband and I were just talking about this the other night - he remembers me crying for about a day because I was in week 9 of my challenge and I didn't think I could possibly get as ripped as Jen Weatherman (2006 Female Grand Champ) did in her Afters.  Then it occured to me that it really didn't matter if I didn't end up that ripped, because what mattered was how far I came from where I started.  Add to that the healthier eating, and the feeling of accomplishment, and the added ENERGY!  And of course, the self esteem.  These things are the biggest prizes of all.

Good luck, keep going!  You are obviously doing the right things!

Looks like you are on the right path.  Keep it up.

The only transformation you should be concerned about is your own.  The only measuring stick you should be using is your own body.  Everyone that accepts and finishes the BFL challenge and gives it there all is a winner and everyone that does that will come out the other side changed for the better.

You are a winner and you will get back what you put in.  

Sue, thank you so much!  Your words are so encouraging, and almost made me cry!  You are right, what matters the most is how far one has come.  Typing those words brings tears to my eyes.  To me, it's so much more than just losing weight and building muscle.  

I've overcame so much in my life, and still continue to do so.  I could have easily given up on myself years ago, and accepted life as it came, but I'm not that person.  I was born into a poor family, was sexually abused as a child and teen, had my daughter at 19, and did my best to give her the best life I could.  I'm now 31, married to a wonderful man, work full time, go to college full time, and raise my beautiful 11 year old.  

Sixteen months ago, at age 29, I had to have a hysterectomy due to Endometriosis, which I had two pervious surgeries for.  The doctor also discovered I had uterine fibroids and ovarian cycts.  My reproducitve organs were eating away at my insides, which was evident when my doctor discovered a hole in the muscle lining behind my uterus.  No one knows for sure, but I was most likely headed towards cancer.

With my father dying at age 41 from drinking, his brother dying 8 months later at 40 from a massive heart attack, and their sister dying a year after that at 39 from breast cancer, I knew in my heart it was time to make some important lifestyle changes.

The past few weeks have been eye-opening to say the least.  I feel better about myself, I feel better physically, as well as emotionally and mentally.  For someone who's lived the kind of life I have, feeling good about one's self is so very crucial, jsut as emotional health is also.  

I know in my heart this experience will be an enlightenment of sorts for myself.  I can feel it in my soul.  It's such a powerful feeling, and I wish I could find all the right words to express it.  I've rambled enough, and it's getting harder to fight back the tears.  

I hope everyone who is taking the challenge finds within themselves the motivation to see it through to the end.  Good luck!

Cynthia

FlipFlop, thank you for your words.  You are so right,  my main focus, my only focus, should be on myself and my results.  LIke the ads say "Results May Vary" :)