I'm back

I haven't been posting because I was away on vacation and prior to that I've been extremely busy at work.

It appears that I'm back in the game, I just weighted myself 143.5! Who goes on vacation and drops off lbs? I'm happy, I just need to put some effort in to getting out of the 140s.

Today's my birthday but there's no cake involved, so I should be fine.

On another note, vacation was great, lovely weather but I couldn't go to the beach because all the beaches were closed due to extremely rough seas - bummer. I'll be back there in late August so maybe then, I can go to the beach.

Well that's all folks, I'll write more soon.

My how time flew . . .

I can hardly believe it has been two weeks since I've blogged.

Work and studies have been a real challenge, I feel like I have so many balls in the air and I'm hustling to keep everything airborne.

I'm sitting on my bed right now trying to recover from this evening's work out session - third this week. Honestly, my butt hurts - literally! Lastnight I did one of those step work outs and tonight I did weights and a bit of treadmill work on an incline - so you get the picture major work on hammys, quads and the back-end. Whew, I've showered and had a bit of protein shake but I'm still feeling twitchy.

Presently, work and studies are priorities but I'm carving out time to workout because I figure I can at least maintain where I am until June and/or things slow down a bit at work. I think at this point it is best to keep stress levels down and focus on the nearer term goals for now.

That's all folks, I'll try to post weekly since I find this process very cathartic.

A slightly new course . . . tweaking

As mentioned in an earlier post, I purchased "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle", to learn more about fat loss and to help me get beyond this stagnation phase. Lately, I've not had any energy to work out and it's been a struggle to get in the minimum four work outs - last week I got two sessions in (not good). So, I've figured out a couple of things, I need more calories, with frequent meals (five) and more cardio. I've been looking for a solution for about three weeks now and hopefully this new plan will get me out of the rut. I'm holding steady at 146 but would love to drop 8 lbs by March 31st (adjusted from 12lbs. based on new information).

Oh, I learned another important tip from BFFM about goal setting, it's really important to set clear, measurable goals, short and long term with individual action steps to get you from point A to point B. I know the last threee weeks have not be productive in dropping lbs and I wasn't sure why I wasn't progressing, well in addition to too low calories and low energy, I need a better step by step plan to move me forward. I do believe in tweaking my fat loss plan I can get back on the loosing streak.

That's all for now . . . I was thinking of getting a few friends to start a weight loss competition, maybe that will motivate me and others to get moving. I'm also thinking of Weight Watchers as another tool to get more structure into this program. Any thoughts?

Still in it to win it

I've been quiet on the blog lately but that's because I've been busy researching new ways to achieve my goals.

A couple days ago I was searching for a new workout dvd and I stumbled onto Cathe Freidrich's blog. I saw lots of good dvds and some great success stories but in one woman's story she mentioned "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle". I'm sure quite a few of you have heard about it . . . anyway I spent the $40 and got the book - it is one of the best reads ever, there is so much useful information about fat loss. For example, lately I've been frustrated because the lbs are not coming off they're hovering around 145 without a real downward direction, so Burn the Fat speaks about people with my body type having to do quite a bit of cardio to get things moving. Duh, hello - I've got to get cracking on cardio and it's not like I didn't know I need to do fair amounts of cardio but seeing this information in black and white and also supporting reasons sort of brought the idea home.

Well folks, here I go again, I have a birthday at the end of March and I would like to lose 12 lbs by that date . My long term goal still remains 25 lbs by Memorial Day.

That's all for now.

What the heck ?

This morning was hard, I tried very hard to get the momentum going but it was a struggle. I started with a nice weight routine in the basement - warm up - good, upper body weights -doing fine but towards the end of the upper body session I struggled. I got on the treadmill to perform a couple of HIIT sessions but I couldn't run, my legs were like lead weights. I walked for ten minutes then I tried to do the lower body weight session but my hamstrings were killing me! I stopped again! I got really pissed, what the hell? I tried to get going again, oh, I don't know I ummh needed to take a bathroom break. By now I'm *&#&% mad because I want to get through the *^#*$%#@ session already!

Anyhow, I came back downstairs and cursed like a sailor all through the lower body session, yep- I finished the bloody weight routine but I really could not walk or run this morning.

All in all, weight loss is a b*&%h and you have to fight, curse what ever to push beyond those (&$#@& obstacles. Even as I arrived at my office this morning, I want to get a scone from Starbucks????!?!?! Why? I'm still upset from this morning, I need (or I think I need ) a piece of fluffy, sugary, carb to soothe me. ???? What am I thinking?

I gotta go folks, it's time for another cup of green tea.

Starting Over . . . sort of

I haven't been posting lately but I have been keeping an eye on things (i.e eating clean and exercising). I'm not 100% back to where I was on 1/20 but I'm much, much better than last week.

I'm doing the weekly weigh in on the Coalition's forum. I posted 145.5 today but TOM maybe obscuring the true number.

I don't have much to report, except that it's good to be back and I'm working on some fabulous numbers for February. I have seven (7) weeks before vacation so I have enough time to shed lots of fat, lbs and inches.

Go Giants!

I'm not throwing in the towel

In case anyone is wondering, oh where's Julie, did she ditch her quest in a moment of weakness for french fries, chocolate and extremely spicy, salty food - not at all. I'm struggling but I'm still here and I'm trying to re-group. I started reading an interview with Dax Moy on TT's website - damn good piece on goal setting and working towards achievement.

I'll acknowledge that I hit a speed bump (and spun around and maybe even rolled off to the side) but I am clawing back. I have come too far to go back to where I was last year. I love the way I feel now, the way I don't have to struggle to run up or down stairs in Port Authority or the NYC subway. I love that strong, confident feeling and I absolutely don't want to return to the fat hideout - I've been there and done that successfully for five or so years. So what do I do going forward, where have I stumbled, why and how do I remedy this situation?

1) Accept that this has happened to the most successful fat-loss conquerors.
2) Access the damage, try to figure out the root cause of the mishap (trouble-shoot)
3) Set a course to move forward with a solution in hand
4) Keep drinking that water - ha, this helps believe me

What's happening

I have not been able to exercise in four days and my eating today was less than stellar. I had 6 ozs of pistachios nuts (unsalted), fried chick peas (salted) and yucky fried chicken from Popeye's. I have not eaten chicken since February 2007! What the &^%$#?

I guess on a low carb diet chicken is okay, but icky and gross, now I'm in bed feeling really bad. I don't know I'm just want to eat stuff. Why?

I'll try to put this day behind me quickly and keep moving forward.

On a positive note, I drank lots of green tea and water.

Do I argue . . .

Should I question the scale? I don't know but today I don't want to . . .

I know in my last blog I wanted to see 143 lbs - at least, please let me see it, well I didn't but I'm not bummed out because right there on my scale in huge numbers (drum roll please) 142.5!
What no 143.7, no 143.238, I don't know but I'm liking the new number, I'm going with it for now.

I am not feeling all that great, still got the cold symptoms, but I'm heading down to the basement for a workout session, I want to make sure that number holds or drops. It looks like I'm well on my way to making that 7 lb goal. (I'm skeptical, is this really happening?!?!)

A couple of things worked for me yesterday - here's the big tip:PREPARATION, I prepared lots of veggies and protein yesterday. I had lots of food and a variety of things to eat so I didn't stray, although I was tempted to get some nuts or something. I cannot wait to add back fiber cereal, low glycemic fruit and protein shakes. I have nine more days for this blitz. I wonder if I can drop another four lbs???

I'll keep this short - I want to see 130's by February! I want to drop several inches from my stomach and hips- I'll take anything in the 20s for my stomach and 35 or 36 for my hips- for now, nothing would make me happier! I want the changes to stick. Could there be some skinny jeans in my future?

Wish me luck.

*********************************************
Update: So, I didn't work out this morning, I fell asleep from 11-ish to 3 pm!

I tried to work out tonight, just after 7pm, I did the warm up session but that's all I could manage. I think this cold has me down so we'll see how I progress. On a brighter note, I am still eating well and drinking lots of water and green tea.

I'm worried, I didn't feel up to working out yesterday either, that's two days in a row. I'll try again tomorrow morning.

Come to Mama

Good news, the scale moved down to 144.4, now folks I have not seen this number since the early to mid 1990s!!!!!

I did a few things right this week, I was vigilant about eating clean and promptly, I worked out consistently and drank water, liters of it!

In fact, I have a work out story . . . usually I do one or two routines in my bedroom, just a couple of weight things by using The Firm something or the other dvd. I would do that routine and head to the shower to get ready for work. This morning, I got up and realized that all my dumbells were in the basement, being the lazy person that I am, I didn't want to haul them up stairs so I decided to take my work out down to the basement . . . I had a kick-ass training session, I did my upper body routine and jumped on the treadmill to do four (4) HITT sessions, then I completed my lower body routine and yep, I jumped on the treadmill for three (3) HIIT sessions! Yeah me, I cranked it.

So, I'm at work and feeling pretty darn good about myself and I can still feel my muscles twitching from this morning's workout. I feel strong, confident and I know I'm walking differently, I love it! I think I look good too, all in all I feel great.

I am hoping to make it to 143 by Monday - I don't know if it is possible but I am going to try. 143 sets me up nicely to demolish those three lbs to get to 140 by the time my 2 week blitz is over.

Two Week Blitz - Day 1

Today I started a two week body blitz, to really focus on eating clean and putting in consistent exercise time. Unfortunately for me, I caught a cold yesterday and I'm somewhat distracted by the symptoms - sneezing, coughing, runny nose, the usual stuff but I'm trying to push through. In fact, today was not bad at all, there were times when I wanted to go off plan but I just tried to refocus on what I'm hoping to accomplish.

In terms of what I'm doing, I've decided to eat clean but drop fruit for the next two weeks to see if I can melt off a few extra lbs, preferably five. Essentially, it's a high protein eating program with carbs from veggies only, it's very similar to the first two weeks of the SB diet. Additionally, I'm drinking up to five liters of water including huge cups of green tea, no milk, no sugar ( I think that counts). I'm continuing to work out 6 days per week with 3 HIITs during the week - I want to add an extra HIIT but I'll have to see how I feel because sometimes low-carbing can cause some people to be less energetic.

This morning, I took some tape measurements of my body and I have to admit, I'm not happy, too many body parts in the thirties - hips are in the high thirties, upper and lower abs are in the lower to mid thirties - not good at all. Although my arms and shoulders are coming along nicely!

I want a 34 inch hip and a 26 inch waist and slim thighs - don't most women, so I need to drop about 3 to 4 inches from my hips and several inches from my stomach. I divided up my goals into chunks - I need to lose about 15lbs by March 22nd before I go on vacation and the remaining 8 or so lbs by Memorial Day.

I'm not sure how many people read my blog but can anyone recommend a good at home dvd for strenght training, I'm going to change my routine in the next few weeks so I'm looking around for a new program.

Wish me luck and courage for tomorrow.

Choices, Choices

I'm suddenly feeling crummy, I woke up okay, did a work-out and overall I felt good. However, I don't know what it is, I have an overwhelming feeling for cake, then all of a sudden my body feels heavy, what the *$%$?

Looks like I'm getting a cold, there's coughing, watery eyes, and sniffling and an overall lethargy???? I feel terrible and I want cake to self medicate- yes, I said it self-medicate. I go down 29 floors (in the elevator, of course), on one side of the lobby is Starbucks on the other side, a deli, so I head to the deli grab some fruit and a Luna bar! Yes!!! I still feel like hell but at least I'm not a total loser, I have my head on today folks. Never mind the fruit and the Luna Bar cost me $5.08 (this is NYC), I am safe.

At this point it would be absolutely wicked of me to screw up, especially after this morning's HIIT session (very high puke-factor) - I pushed through, no excuses. I want a fab body and I'm willing to do the hard work.

Hallelujah!

My scale has finally moved, well one scale says 145 and the other says 146 . . . guess which one I'm going with?

I have been trying HIIT from the Turbulence training manual and eating clean so it's beginning to show on the scale - talk about motivation. HIITs are intense, yesterday for the first time I did 6.0, 6.1, 6.5 on my treadmill at various intervals, for the most part I couldn't sustain that level for a full two minutes, but you know what - I have never ever ran at that intensity, never. I feel like I'm challenging myself more to really crank up those intervals, after all they only last 2 minutes!

Well, I have another factor to motivate me, one of my friends is trying to get tickets for me to attend the NBA All Star Basketball game in five weeks and if it pans out I'm going to have to wear jeans - I presently don't own a pair but wouldn't it be sweet to rock something hot for that weekend? I hope the tickets come through but in the meantime I'm pushing forward, I may even break my January goal of seven pounds!

Tomorrow I pick up 15 lb dumbells to add to my growing weight collection, I'm excited!

Baby Steps

Hi All,

I just got done texting with a friend of mine who is also interested in changing her body. We're both in agreement with taking baby steps in order to achieve our goals. Since I've missed only my vacation week of exercise, I still have relatively good endurance and strength but for my friend, it's been a while since she moved a muscle.

I firmly believe, to get to the ultimate body you have to start where you are- for some that may mean a brisk 10 minute walk or limiting the bits of chocolate you're eating everynight . . . you've just got to start.

My goals over the next two weeks: 4 litres of water Monday to Friday; 5 litres Saturday and Sunday; consistent a.m exercise 6 days per week, rest on Sunday and as I mentioned earlier, 7lb weight loss for January.


My comments are brief today but hopefully meaningful.

I am back

Hello everyone,

I am back in the States and so far, I'm not doing too well. I'm going through a detox phase this weekend but it's not going as well as I wanted. I guess I just have to work my way back into a routine.

I'm trying to flush my system from all the vacation "junk" I consumed. The scale wasn't too kind, I logged a five pound increase but I know those lbs also reflect other factors that are unique to women. I'll weigh again on Friday and that should give me a more accurate reading.

I'm still planning to lose 7lbs this month so I better get my ass moving.

I've scheduled two days for weight training (full body) and two days for interval training w/weights (for a total of four weight training days) and Sunday as a rest day. My plan also includes HIIT and/or some type of cardio (for 30 minutes) Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. Does anyone have a HIIT routine that they love and is willing to share? So far, I'm into intervals on the treadmill and jumping rope but I would like more structure.

I'm starting a new eating program . . . fish, tofu, veggies, lots of water, protein shakes, fish oil, multi-vitamin, fruit (low glycemic), reduced sodium, I'll do this for January and see how things work and if I need to make any modifications.

I recently read an interview on Turbulence Training site, which says the most important factor in fat loss is nutrition; I agree. I'm taking my journey very seriously and trying to load up with the right fuel.

I'm curious to find out what everyone else is doing so feel free to chime in whenever.

I'm out for now, gotta study.

Julie