Thanks Faith!  I am a little worried about how many push-up in a minute I can do!  I have been focusing on sit-ups - test is a little different than what I remember as a kid, but I started with 30 & now I am up to 45-48!  So, we will see.  Of course, I am doing sissy push-up, but going work on doing standard ones after this.

Hi all. It sounds like everyone is going strong. I, once again, ate way too much on Sunday. I think I had in the back of my mind that I had already ruined the week   by having off plan days on the Monday and Tuesday. This is what i do! Needless to say, I'm very upset with myself and have committed to sticking to plan for the remainder of the 12 week challenge. I am the only person standing in my way and this is a cycle that I must break. I weighed in on Monday morning at 66.1kg -  heavier than when I started the challenge 4 weeks ago at 64.8kg. Talk about depressing. I weighed again this morning and I'm at 65.1. I had some serious carbs on Sunday (and calories) and I'm hoping I recover a bit more but I really need to break the cycle. This is no way to get ahead.

Now, on a positive note, I attended (as a spectator) a bodybuilding competition on Saturday here in Perth. I went with a friend (and raised eyebrows from my husband). It was small, but still impressive. I have a newfound respect for  the hard work and dedication these men and women put into looking like this. I'm looking into getting some help on the nutrition side  from one of the top trainers in Perth. That's  where I keep falling short time and time again. She's not cheap, so I've got to prove to myself that I can follow a "free" plan for the remaining 8 weeks before spending money on a trainer. The next 8 weeks are my test.

The blueberry muffin recipe (taken from another website)

40g (1/2 cup) old fashioned oats

5 egg whites

1 whole egg

76 grams blueberries

spenda packet, cinnamon

blend together in blender. pour into pam sprayed muffin pan

bake 350 for 30 minutes Makes 6 muffins

Calories: 337, Fat: 8g, Carb: 37, Protein: 31g (for entire batch)

My notes on the recipe are:  they fall apart with whole blueberries and they don't rise like normal muffins. They are rather flat. Also, I baked mine for 20 minutes and they were done, so check them halfway through. I did enjoy them, but my family would not. They like normal muffins. You could also use this as a protein pancake recipe.

I better be off now.

Tonja, I can't wait to hear the final stats!!!  Great job on completing this challenge.

-Ashley

OK, I have not lifted weights in over a week, but am keeping fit with the pool project.  I have 60 35# blocks to lay by Saturday.  Hope that this is the last of the heavy lifting, but I have a feeling that there are some pavers that need to go in place and one more gas line to dig - and yes you all are invited to the pool warming party.

I did a google on Planking.  My daughter knew what it was (although not in quite the same context).  I think I will stick to "Jessica Simpsoning" instead.  It seems like this static position does not really work the full range of the muscle.  I must be missing something.  Have fun with it, 'tho.

Diet is back on track after a divergence at the ball park - hot dogs, cracker jacks, garlic fries and barley sodas.  Getting back to my pre-illness weight, but still well within my target range.  Also, my illness may have been due to an oysterfest I had in Atlanta.  I ate about 18 (171 cal/6fat/9carb/18protein).  Of the six of us there, one man blew out his gall bladder, another woman ended up in the ER and I was losing my religeon for 3 days on the throne.  All of this occured three to five days AFTER we ate there.  Pretty odd coinsidence.  All's well that ends well as I am feeling normal again.

OK, what week are we in?  I lose track because this is BODY FOR LIFE - not body for 12 weeks.  Hope everyone is feeling that this is the new norm.  Enjoy the wins, forget the setbacks and move forward towards your goals!

Cheers,

Frick

Sounds like everyone is doing really well so far!

@Perth – You really should hide that scale for a while!!!  I purposely have not gotten on the scale for that very reason.  I don’t know if it will really show any of the hard work I’ve put in thus far and I don’t want to get discouraged.  You’re right though, we are the only ones standing in the way of our success.   You’ll do great the next 8 weeks!!

@ Mosher – You go!!!   Congrats.  It’s so nice to put on those old clothes again.  I put on a skirt this morning and people at work were asking what the occasion was….  I told them it’s because I’m able to start fitting into some of my nice clothes again!!  Woo  hooo!!

@ssm – making small changes in our everyday habits is a HUGE deal!!!  We have to all remember that these are life style changes we are trying to make!  So, it may not happen as quickly as some but it WILL happen!!  

Today was a great Zumba cardio workout!!!  And, I’m happy to say that I hiked up a very steep mountain/hill in Tucson on Sunday called Tumamoc Hill.  Now, that was a great workout.  Didn’t think I could make it to the top but I did!!!!

Happy Tuesday everyone!!

Hi Everyone,

The roller coaster ride continues.  The out-of-town-guests weekend was very fun, I ate pretty well but drank a lot more than I had in a long time.  Fun, although I'd forgotten how unpleasant hangovers are!

Then my hubby went out of town for five days to a conference in the States.  I've been back on wagon with food, but I've hardly gotten off the couch the entire time he's been gone.  My body feels stiff, and I have a lot of negative chatter running through my head.

The weather is nice today (cloudy but no rain) so, since the gym is feeling so hard for me, I think i will go out for a walk.  I'll wear my running shoes and sports bra, and if I feel inspired I might even run a little.  As Scarlett O'Hara always said, tomorrow is another day.

9ers - hope all are doing well this week...week 5 can you believe it.

Frick...yeah the plank is a static exercise... for abs, I am putting that into the ab work out and not just relying on it alone. I don't think I have been pushing the abs enough and haven’t had DOMS there in a while. Did 10-30 second planks resting 30 seconds …that was enough with the other ab work outs to give DOMS back to me in that body department? Just an add on!

I will be joining you again in the back yard department - 4 yard of mulch and 4 tons of rock .To ensure that I punish myself fully I am transporting it and unloading it and moving it myself...should be fun...sounds like you are getting a great work out with the pool build. I do hope it is moving along swell and that you are enjoying the workout. It is nice to mix up physical exercise a little bit every now and then!

I am moving forward with C2 but it is still (even at week 5) not as automatic as I hoped it would be this time. I need to get this together. It is showing a weakness in my ‘IT IS FOR LIFE PLAN!’ I have to live it and believe it and not struggle with it so much. Right? RIGHT!

OK on a lighter note…my wife signed us up last month for his and her colonoscopies…I hate being this old!

I told her next year I will do all the anniversary planning ;-)

Be strong 9ers hump day week 5…time does move along quickly!

Once again, yummy oatmeal/ eggs& salsa for breakfast after a great cardio session! All day I eat clean, but i seem to really slack at night with unauthorized snacking...I need to look at the pants picture more often, I guess.

I am looking forward to week 6 and measurements...I do feel lighter and more comfortable in my clothes...I wonder what the tape will say??!!

@ Frick- I once shucked oysters at an oyster eating competition...people were eating like 60, 70 in 5 minutes. I didn't see anyone "rejurgitate" them, but the mind reels with what an ugly sight that would be! Hope you are back on track !

@tonja- Well?! We're all waiting with (cue Rocky Horror)  Antici....pation.

BobbyA - love your comment... love that movie... just was wondering where in your mind you pulled that from ;-)

Sounds like you are doing strong cardio and morning eating wise with a little evening enjoyment in life....all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! I am sure the pants are just fine. I need about 10 more pounds then I will also try to pull some old favorites out of the closet.

@ bobby, yeah, great movie..."he'll do press ups, and chinups, do the snatch, clean-and-jerk.  He thinks dynamic tension, must be hard work..."

Great news here, I just got my labs back and am down ANOTHER 30 points on my cholesterol.  That's 40% lower than pre-BFL when I was 202.  I am now at 122 and bad cholesterol is down almost 50% from 162 to 82.  my LDL to HDL ratio is down from 5.1 to 1.7 - 1/3rd of what it was.  Owing it all to diet, exercise and BFL.

Doctor said I was in great health, but my testosterone level dropped substantially this year. I hope you all won't think less of me, but I'm crossing over to the dark side and am gonna try TRT to goose the number up - nothing crazy, just getting back to "normal" range.  Any comments out there on injections vs androgel cream?  I am hoping for more energy and enhancements to weight training.  

Live strong, gang.

@ Frick - looks like great job on the physical numbers... I got to imagine that while work outs help drive your cholesterol numbers down, that you have been pure on eating probably really pushed them to the low level.

Hey, do you know what they say the normal range is on T.

Just curious...I had a whole sweet of test run last month and never checked that...assuming they run it.

anyway glad you are trending in the right direction...actually it sounds like yo uhave arrived and you knocked it out of the park!

@Run4 - normal range is now 348 to 1197 ng/dl.  The normal range is now higher than it was last year when 249 was the lower range.  I suspect the pharma industry may have something to do with this based on the number of TRT  adds on the evening news.  My wife gave me my first injection tonight (IM, 150ml of 200mg/ml)  I felt like Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction.  I was checking this number more for an ego thing.  10% per year is a normal drop after 40 years of age.  Mine was trending that way for two years, but this year was a lot higher.  Just trying to justify it right now.

As for my cholesterol, I asked my doc what else I could to. He said exercise (with a smirk) and then alcohol.  That made me smirk.  All I could say is, "got you covered, doc".  LOL

HAPPY THURSDAY ALL....

Looking forward to a great cardio workout today.  Haven't done much w/ my weight traing these last two weeks....  Gotta get things back in gear come next week.

Since my cheat day is on Saturday and Sunday is Mothers Day I did decide to take the family on a hike for Mother's Day....  At least we're all together and I'm getting some exercise in too!  :-).

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Good afternoon,

I actually took a complete day off from TV & internet yesterday and went on a field trip with my son at the Children's Museum and yes, there was nothing adult there to do.  I wish I could've been a kid!  

I posted my pics on my profile in an spreadsheet to compare and I still have a ways to go.  Fitness Assement goal was met & I am now above average fitness, but couldn't print the report for other info, but I will update my profile later.  I still need to work on a few things - flexablity, more sit-ups & my RHT which right before I got paged to daycare immediately, but found out it wasn't my child.  I lost 12lbs too.

@Bobby, need to take a picture showing my old pant size - I notice the biggest difference and update my profile with difference in measurements!

@Run, thought about you when I putting mulch down in the front yard on Tuesday!  4 yards - ugh & I only did 6 bags!

I was planning on starting back up on Monday after my family left, but I already miss the gym & it just been one day........Also, enjoyed my 1st cooold beer after 12 weeks - so, sweet.

Everybody seems to be back to business now & thanks for all the encouragement!  

Tonja

Tonja, that's amazing!!  You MUST post a thumbnail of your final result on your profile too. It's very inspiring!!! You have no idea how much seeing your results just helps me want to keep plugging along.

@jnj- I agree about the scale, but now that I've started weighing i've been doing it EVERY morning. I think the most frustrating thing is that darned fat%.

My weight has come down over the last few days after my terrible week 4, which is a little encouraging. I started the challenge at 64.8kg and weighed Monday morning at 66.1.  Yesterday morning, I was 63.7, so I've  lost about 2 lbs. I really am planning to stay on track and I had a big pantry clean-out and got rid of so much junk. I hate wasting, but I realized that it's not good for me or my family to have those things.  I'm researching new recipes too to keep things more exciting.  I've recently discovered a raw food website that has wonderful ideas for healthy, nutrient dense dips and treats so that even if you splurge a bit, you can still do it in a healthy manner. This is a way of life and I'm slowly but surely changing my frame of mind from fast and convenient to delicious and healthy. Oddly, healthy is more time consuming and more expensive, but I feel so much better when healthy. Just a few days of eating better this week gives me a more positive attitude and outlook.  Of course, it helps to see results like frick's abs and tonja's shrinking to know that this is the way to go.

Report on the versa gripps: AWESOME.  I had absolutely no hand pain yesterday and even increased my weight for squat and deadlift. I was shaking at the end and found that because I wasn't focusing on the pain in my hands, I could actually focus more on the movement and targeting my muscles. I  highly recommend them.

Keep plugging along folks. We're nearly to end of week 5.

-Ashley

@Frick – thanks for the T range numbers. I ran off to work today and my wife checked my blood work results and said that they did not run Testosterone. I will have to request that the next time…but at least I now understand the ranges. You’ll have to let us know how the supplement is treating you…are you getting the results that you are expecting…etc! Again though amazing job on the cholesterol... someday I would love it if mine were that low! Another amazing feat by you!

@ Tonja – again great job on finishing up C1 strong and great results. I had to smile at your comment “........Also, enjoyed my 1st cooold beer after 12 weeks - so, sweet.” I had a beer in the fridge for 12 weeks during my C1 challenge…It was my ‘Wilson.’ It was definitely one of the best beers I ever drank…I am sure after 12 weeks your’s also tasted right up there with the best.

@Perth – I too am addicted to the scale. Don’t know why…it is just a number. I do know that I am about 3 – 5 pounds away from a milestone goal for me..A drop below 200 lbs. My body must know this for it is now plateau-ing and teasing me by bouncing around at 203 to 205. I know one day I will punch though this…but I know for my plateaus I will probably be at this weight range for about 3 or so weeks. OK...I know that…I will just continue to  work out and cycle some calories…That got me moving again last time and I have a road trip this coming week so I know I won’t be pure…close but not pure. I am at a hotel with a great workout facility so that should help.

My workouts this week have been a little sloppy... missed a cardio…will double up today.

Already today I had a ‘chain gang’ work out…loaded…moved…unload…wheel borrowed…and spread 1.5 tons of rock and a half ton of block.

Tomorrow, ‘chain gang’ workout 2 the sequel with 3 tons of rock.

OK I am off for a quick cardio and a lower body workout…and just a little bit of planking just for fun!

Enjoy 9ers…hey is this week five almost gone bye bye…Where does the time go!