HAPPY FRIDAY WEEK 2!

Hope everyone is doing well.  I, unfortunately, have been overtaken by the head/chest cold that has plagued our family for the past month.  I dodged the bullet up to this point, and now that everyone is pretty much recovered in the house...I get it.  I started immediately with decongestants and stuff.  I decided NOT to workout this morning, opting for the rest instead.  God willing, I'll do my LBWO tomorrow morning and my HIIT Sunday morning before heading off to church.

I got sick in the middle of my very first BFL challenge last year at this time.  I took everything down just a bit in intensity, but kept pressing forward, and managed to defeat it without losing much progress.

Reaching your "10":   Following talk on some threads about reaching a "10" being muscle failure or near failure.  While I am not going to discourage anyone shooting for complete failure if that's what they want, I would like to slightly adjust the thinking on a "10" intensity:  This intensity should be an all out effort for sure, but you should still be able to maintain GOOD FORM.  If you are able to squeeze out one last repetition IN FORM, and know that if you attempted another rep you would fail...then you reached your "10" - move on to the next exercise.  The difference between an 8, 9 and 10:  An "8" you would finish the set knowing you could get 2-4 more reps if you tried.  A "9" you should finish the set knowing you could get maybe 1-2 more reps but no more than that.  A "10" you KNOW you couldn't get another single rep in.  But in ALL cases, you are able to finish your final rep IN FORM and without muscle failure, in a controlled manner.  Your first week or two should be experimentation to find what weights for each exercise fit your intensity levels, and from that point on:  You use what you understand a "10" to be, to always be alert to when you need to maybe ADD more weight to keep your muscles challenged.  A "10" weight in week 1 may only elicit an "8" in week 4, so you add some weight to hit that "10" once more until the next progress.

Thanks for the great advice and encouragement, Stephon.  I struggle to hit 10s because it's so subjective.  I hope that you're feeling better very soon!  I think you are wise to take it easy today.  It's helpful to hear that you hit an illness setback during a challenge yet didn't let it stop you.

42Feelbetter, that's a great idea about bringing along a cooler with my healthy foods to the hospital.  Now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure each room has a mini-fridge.  The nice thing is that this is a brand new Children's Hospital and each room is large and private.  I could probably bring along my free weights and do some exercises while baby naps!  My suitcase is going to be heavy!

HAPPY SATURDAY WEEK 2!

Head cold update:  I medicined up after dinner (grilled chicken breast / Fire roasted veggies) and sipped a big hot cup of Celestial Seasonings tea and a magnesium tablet.  I cashed in and went to bed about 9 o'clock! (amazingly early for me).  I woke up on my own this morning about 7 am.  Although I didn't feel very good, I rolled out and did my HIIT on the treadmill.  It was good to sweat it out and force my lungs to breathe even though a little congested.  I worked through a cold last time, and I can do it again!

SCALES:  Been watching the debates of "to watch the scale or avoid it".  I think there is a fairly logical and objective way to decide this:  

USE IT If it is obvious that you have more weight to lose than muscle to gain, then I think you should use the scale as a weekly benchmark for whether or not you are moving in the right direction (example:  If you have 50 lbs of fat to lose, even if you gain 10 lbs of new muscle over the challenge you should see the scale weight going down through the challenge).

DON'T USE IT if your body fat percentage is in normal range OR you only have "a few pounds" of body fat you'd like to lose (say 10 lbs or less).  The reason it changes here, is because it is entirely possible for you to gain new muscle and lose fat at a rate that keeps the scale unchanged.  In fact, you might see the scale going up!  It would be a shame to become discouraged simply because you think success is only measured by the scale going down!

BEST SCALE:  Go by how you feel.  Notice the bounce in your step that wasn't there before.  The energy that you have more of with each passing week.  How much looser those pants feel around your waist, or the lack of a "bulge" when you sit down.  Go by the compliments you get.  Most of us cannot look objectively at ourselves in a mirror - we all have the tendency to NOT see progress, because we don't look like a magazine photo or a model.  

Toss all that out the window and rest on the fact that TODAY I am going to be a good steward of my body, and even if I don't SEE a difference; I know that I'm better off than if I followed my old eating and lazy habits!  Fitness is like a savings account that you put a small amount into each day:  For a long time you will just see "small change", but with time and consistency - You will discover you have accumulated a fortune!  PRESS ON!

What a great post, Stephon!  I'm really struggling with the scale issue.  In fact, I even confessed it to my priest.  I realized I was breaking the first Commandment... Thou shall have no other gods before me.  My scale was becoming my god.  It was what I thought of first thing in the morning and the last thing I thought about as I went to sleep at night.  I worked to serve it all day.  What I ate was either a pleasing offering to my scale or a betrayal of its unchanging law:  One's weight is calories consumed versus calories burned.

But you're right... we should focus on being good stewards of our bodies.  Eating right and exercising are not about serving the scale but taking care of our bodies so that we can do what we're put here to do.  When I make bad choices I'm reminded of Romans 7:15... For I do not that good which I will; but the evil which I hate, that I do.

Or put another way... the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak!

But every day we can begin anew and this is a good Monday for me.  I had a great workout and my eating plan is back in place.

I hope that all of the 40-somethings have a great third week!!

Happy Monday Week 3...

Just checking in to let y'all know that I've been down with this cold/flu for two days!  I Got up Saturday and did HIIT as already reported, and just went down hill physically all day.  I crashed really early after taking some Niquil and didn't wake up for 12 hours!  Spent Sunday on the couch watching football and snoozing, and missed work today.  I have missed Friday and Monday, and will probably not workout tomorrow either...

WHAT is the point?  I don't want to waste an opportunity here to make a point with some who might have an "all or nothing" mentality to a challenge.  You know what I mean:  You start a challenge, everything is ticking along beautifully according to your well laid out plans written neatly in your journal two weeks in advance.  When suddenly, you get sick, or depressed, or sidelined by something unexpected that makes you feel like you've BLOWN IT!  What now?  Well, if you had asked me on my first challenge, I might have just thrown in the towel and decided to try again later...maybe never.  But I've been through alot of these "surprises" in the past 12 months of living on BodyforLife, and fortunately; I reminded myself that this is FOR LIFE and that life doesn't go perfectly according to my journal!  You simply do whatever it takes to get back to doing what you've learned how to do as quickly as possible and KEEP GOING.  Believe me, I look back on the last year and those things which seemed like "deal breakers" when they happened; ended up being of no consequence at all in the big picture!  So bottom line:  Don't let something like this wreck your drive to keep going!  I'm going to miss close to a week of workouts with this virus...and SO WHAT?...I'll be right back at it in a week...THAT'S LIFE!

I hope that helps somebody out there who maybe needed to hear just that to keep going!  Blessings to you...I'm gonna go nap now - this made me tired!

VillageJen - Thanks for the encouraging words!  May God Bless your efforts to be a good steward.

Happy Tuesday on Week 3 all, it has been a while since I have posted and I missed 3 days last week of working out and yesterday :(  After reading VillageJens post on the perils of not planning I have definitely lived that for the last 5 days and have been feeling guilty for not getting to the gym.  This morning I got up at 5:00, was in the gym by 6, did the HIIT and UBWO and am now feeling 100% better than I was yesterday.  On Sunday we met family at Disneyland and of course I pigged out on bad food that was not good for me (even though it was my free day).  I am now back on the schedule and need to plan each day.  I think I will use a blog like VillageJens to do this.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY WEEK 3!

Just a quick note.  Still down with this virus.  Looking forward to getting back in the gym once this runs it's course.

Marauder - Shake off the guilt, and just press forward.  If you are not a planner at heart (I am not) just stock your kitchen with plenty of compliant choices that you can build quick meals out of, even the grab a snack variety.  I always have plenty of bananas, raw almonds, apples, protein bars, canned tuna, wheat tortillas and a container of grilled chicken breast.  Plus, do some homework on what "fast food" menu choices are good for when you are caught out there on the go, and find you didn't bring a snack.  Subway, Taco Bell, Hardee's and even Arby's have choices to keep us on track.  And for eating out with the family:  You can't beat Outback, Olive Garden, Red Lobster for their grilled Salmon and other good choices (as long as you can resist the "not so good" choices also available!).

Stephon, sorry to hear that you are still ailing.  I really appreciated reading your thoughts about temporary setbacks.  You described me to a T... I get things all planned out pretty and then something comes along and throws me off track.  I laughed in recognition at your "Life doesn't go perfectly according to my journal.".  Ain't that the truth!

I'm really trying to embrace your conviction that what we must do in those times is to get back on track as soon as we can and to keep going.  In the past I would decide that the challenge was blown, so "I'll start a new challenge soon".  Well, soon never came.

I already know that this won't be a "perfect" challenge.  I will miss a few workouts and have a few more free days than the challenge allows.  We've got some major travels next month and then baby's surgery.  But I'm not going to let those obstacles torpedo the challenge for me.  How many champions really did every single day according to plan?  Everyone who lives for three months encounters setbacks in that time.  Who has three solid months of perfection?

Marauder, I highly recommend keeping a blog.  It helps me to focus all of the thoughts that I have swirling in my head.  I'm also hoping that it will help me in the upcoming weeks to look back and see what worked for me and where I could make some improvements.

I hope you had fun at Disneyland!  All that walking should count as some cardio, right?

HAPPY MONDAY WEEK 4...

I think I "over-did" my first workout back after being out for a week with a virus.  I was only going to do a run without any weights to ease back into things, but I felt pretty good after a 2 miles run HIIT.  So, I decided to go through some new exercises to try them out.  So I did a set of T-pushups, low back extensions, pullups, side raises, curls, hanging leg raises, crunches, dumbell squat swings.  I did them circuit style with no rest, so at this point I hit the wall and stopped.  I did 10 minutes of stretching and drank a Myoplex.  I feel totally exhausted, and only got ONE SET of exercises in!  It sucks getting sick and losing everything gained in the first two weeks...but it will all come back soon...I just gotta keep it moving!

Thanks VillageJen for your positive feedback and well wishes.  Speaking of the "perfect challenge", I'm on my fourth challenge and none have been perfect.  Nevertheless, I just kept building and progressing.  Even with 2 steps forward and 1 step back, you move forward over time!  I stumbled through 3 challenges in 2011 and still found myself at the end of it losing 52 lbs, and being in the best shape of my life, and now I just have to maintain it.  Keeping it off is MUCH easier than taking it off.  Just resolve to keep moving no matter what, and you'll see that you make progress.

So I will be 40 in October and have 90 pounds to lose. I plan to do three challenges (losing 30 pounds each 12 wks) and should be at my goal Spetember 18th. I started on Jan 3rd. It has been going great and I lost 6 pounds the first week and 5 the second week. But this week it looks like I only lost 2. Trying not to get discouraged this morning. I ruptured my achilles in July so there are a lot of things that I can't do yet that are high impact, but I am swimming, biking, and I tried the elliptical for cardio. I am trying to follow the WWO tot he T. Totally feel like if i use the free day to indulge I am back to square one. Anybody find that to be true? I just don't want to lost sight of the goal and I was looking for any ideas...I really want to be able to run at least a 5K in November-competitively for this age group....Thanks!

Soccermom, I admire you beginning your challenges in advance of turning 40.  I had planned on doing the same thing... but then greeted my 40th birthday six months pregnant!  Baby is now 17 months so no more excuses.

I started eating carefully back in August and relatively quickly lost 20 pounds.  I've been battling the last ten since November.  It seems that weight comes off encouragingly fast-ish in the beginning.  That gets you motivated to continue on.

But don't get discouraged if the scale slows down.  You've lost 13 pounds in three weeks!  That's great but now that you've lost extra water weight it becomes fat loss... and muscle gain.  That can make the scale discouraging.

(I'm such a hypocrite.  I live by the scale.  Bleh.)

hope the program is working for you.i did prograk 12 years ago.i needed to get back in shape so im doing what i know works body for life.you have what it takes.i started jan 16th.

HAPPY THURSDAY WEEK 4...

I hope everyone is doing well.  I am struggling physically this week.  The virus has not completely cleared out of my system, and I just feel extremely fatigued.  As I posted on Monday, I "overdid" my first workout coming off the sick week; and it definitely set me back a bit.  I've been taking it easy and doing "workouts" that I wouldn't call a workout based on my past challenges.  However, it's all about HEALTH and LONGEVITY and STEWARDSHIP; so sometimes you just have to swallow your ego (do you know a man who doesn't have an ego?) and just do what it best for your body.  There is still 8 weeks remaining and I have plenty of time to get back to 100% and make some progress.

I have been maintaining clean eating, and even scaled back my intake about 500 calories/day in order to compensate for the decreased activity level; and I am back to week two weight of 180 and holding.  So the 5 lbs I dropped on this challenge hasn't retaken me...that's good!

Here's a phrase I've derived from all the different podcasts, BFL book and just living the program.  It helps me to keep a perspective on where I'm going, what I am doing consistently day after day, and not fret over an occasional "Free" or "Holiday" meal, treat, dessert or whatever.  Use it if it helps you too:

The occasional food indulgence won't make me fat; no more than the occasional workout will make me fit!  How I choose to eat & exercise everyday between the "occasions" is what will make me fit or fat.  I WILL be what I choose...so I will choose WISELY!

Hello everyone, I am also 40 years old and looking to loose about 50 pounds....I've already lost 15 and I start on Jan. 2nd as well.  My wife is doing the Program with me so we have both been workout buddies, and both eating the same healthy meals.  I'm glad to be part of the forum and wish every one well.