Let’s update our stats and check-in on goals:

Starting Stats:

• 6’0″, 185 lbs
• BMI – 25.1 (right on the cuff of overweight/normal weight)
• 30-32.5% body fat percentage
• flabby arms
• bloated gut with love handles galore
• fat undefined thighs
• little to no definition of the back
• Unwanted add’l weight in the face
• little to no booty firmness

End of  Week 1: 

• 6’0″, 179.2
• BMI – 24.3 (high-end of normal weight)
• 30% body fat percentage
• fat but shapely arms, moderate definition forming
• reduced bloating of the gut/love handles still in full effect
• mod definition of quad/upper thigh remains fat and undefined 
• little/moderate back definition (mainly upper back, lower back still pretty fat)
• reduced weight in the face (mainly cheeks)
• little to no booty firmness

Step-by-step baby! It’s only week 1, lots of time to go!

Scale for performance on various goals

SWEET! – Basically the A+ for effort and follow-thru

SOLID – B+, Great effort. Definitely got the job done but not exceptional

OKAY – Head above water. Did what was necessary and that’s about it.

SUCKED – Self explanatory. Failed. Gave up. Didn’t hit the target.

Daily Goals:

• 750 -1000 kcal deficit (50% diet / 50% exercise) SWEET!
• 8 Glasses of water SOLID – Need to consume more water throughout the day, not just when I’m working out
• 6-7 small meals – SOLID – Did a good job of eating well balanced meals but need to eat even smaller meals more often
• 6-8 hours of sleep – OKAY - I made up a lot of sleep on the weekend. And my body needs it. Need to be better during the week. 
• Intake of proper supplements – SWEET! - I have been all over my supplements and constantly making sure my body has what it needs. 

Weekly Goals:

• 1.5 -2 lbs reduction in body weight PASSED
• 6-days lifting, 6-day cardio regiment PASSED
• 2-a-days 5 times per week (45 spin class in morning / 45 run in evening) PASSED – Should mention that all of my cardio has been interval training. I had originally planned to incorporate some long runs but right now by body is loving these GO HARD OR GO HOME HIIT workouts and they work well for my time constraints.

That’s all for now! Great WEEK 1. Should be even better for Week 2!

Weights

My favorite today: Legs & Shoulders. To me there is nothing more attractive than sexy toned legs and a set of nicely sculpted shoulders to really set off your physique. Killer first impression for that first glance. Needless to say I gave it my all. Lunges were a &*%$#!! Tough, tough exercise after Leg Press! While during leg press it felt like someone was trying to start a fire under each one of my booty cheeks. My glutes were BURNIN! And yes, I was loving it! Trying to get rid of this loosey booty and firm up! Going straight from Leg press to lunges was like doing spin then hopping on the treadmill. I was sweating bullets and although the exercise wasn’t as weight intense it sure added an extra element or high-intensity cardio that made me really have to push.

Stretching

Light today. Nothing special. Seeing progress in my flexibility.

Basketball

GREAT WORKOUT! Whoa! I thought I was back in college at some 3 hour practice. Today was a real testament to what I have been doing this week. We played a very FAST, QUICK, STRONG team and it was a fight till the end. This team came out the gates ready and my team was winded after 2 MINS! After 5-6 mins I was calling for a sub but the damn dead ball to FOREVER! I ended up having to stay in 14+ MINS which for this particular game was a lifetime. While in I played good D, was solid on offense and stayed on the boards. By the time I came out it looked like I had just come out of a pool because I was sweating so hard. You know I was lovin it!

Second half was as intense but I felt my 2nd wind come around and that balanced things out. Overall a great workout.

Diet

I made the mistake of only eating a nectarine up until about 4pm. The thing is that between the recovery drinks and consuming tons of water I get full very easily and am not that hungry. Workouts out also depresses my appetite. Today I did however want to consume a more calorie-dense diet. I have read a few articles that speak about strict diets and how this can lead to a plateau of how much and how fast you lose weight and burn fat. It was recommended that at least one day a week you load up on carbs and high calorie foods to trick your body. I had Jamaican Pepper Shrimp at Cheesecake Factor. Delicious! Saved the other half for dinner and called it a night.

Supplements

Nothing new.

CONCLUSIONS:

High Point – Very excited for tomorrow’s 1st weigh-in. Definitely feeling lighter, curious to see how much I’ve lost

Low Point – Realizing I have ELEVEN more weeks to go! Take a deep breath.

Takeaways: First week is always the hardest and it really sets the tone for how you progress. I really pushed myself and look forward to a great start in terms of hitting Week 1 goals.

Weights

Had a b-ball game today. Went back and forth about whether to lift early in the morning or after the game. Decided to go for it in the morning as I am always a fan of getting your lift done before you have the chance to work/tire out your muscles from other activity. Worked well.

Today was Back & Biceps. Got through this pretty quickly. Muscle soreness is fading. Starting to feel real good during and after my lifts. I can feel my posture improving a bit already. Standing a bit taller. Definitely looking forward to the end of next week. Should see some unmistakable arm definition by then.

Stretching

Once again took time out to really stretch good after today’s lift. My legs are really getting a good workout: spin, lifting, running everyday so I am putting in extra time to try to keep loose. Triceps and shoulder were the most sore for my arms.

Basketball

Despite lifting only a few hours ahead of my game I felt great. My shot was very strong – didn’t take as much muscle to get the ball up and therefore I had fresher arms and more resistance to fatigue well into the game. My wind was also much stronger. Felt good getting up and down the court. Very light on my feet but strong on my shot and on defense. Big difference overall.

Diet

Very light today due to the basketball games and running around but I was sure to eat every 2-3 hours.

Supplements

X-tend – I like this stuff a lot so far. Definitely will keep it up.

CONCLUSIONS:

High Point – Feeling great in general about my fitness. Just a much higher self-confidence and positive attitude. There is really nothing like it. I’m starting to get some looks in the gym (wink, wink) and around neighborhood. Feels good.

Low Point – Realized that I need to take better care in making sure I have the right profile (carbs, fats, proteins) in terms of my diet. Have to be careful not to leave my body insufficient of carbs/proteins — essential for building muscle and have the energy to get through workouts.

Takeaways: Really focusing on keeping good form and doing all the little things right during my workouts. This has been a tough week and I really want to get the most out of it. Keep mentally patting myself on the back for all my hard work.

Weights

So we are cycling back through the same muscle groups today thru Sunday. Today was Chest & Triceps. I definitely feel stronger. Still huffing and puffing to try and maintain a 30 sec recovery. Weights could be too heavy but I would rather maintain weights I like for 12-15 reps and focus on continually decreasing my rest vs. going too light. Really worked hard today. Felt good after the lift. One accidental technique that happened today and forced me to keep pace during my lift was getting out the house a little later. I only had total 40 mins to lift. I warm up for at least 5 mins so that only left 35 mins. This was enough time but it kept me extremely focused and diligent on all my lifts. No distractions, longer than necessary rests, etc. Will likely keep this up.

Stretching

I learned some real good techniques during the X-stretch video. Also becoming a bit more ambitious with my flexibility after being inspired by some of the fitness tv folks. I’m taking about 15 mins or so to stretch after every workout and the improvement has been amazing in such a short period of time.

Diet

Back to normal thank goodness. Not finicky today. Kept it very healthy. Lots of fruits, complex carbs, proteins, etc. Still have a significantly reduced appetite.

Supplements

X-tend – This week has been tough and I realized that I need to have a better pre/post workout supplement routine. I hit my local Vitamin Shoppe for X-tend. Supposed to be one of the best products on the market for “ex-tending” your workout and also helping your body to recovery. I picked up the Watermelon flavor and it taste AMAZING! Best recovery drink I have every had.

CONCLUSIONS:

High Point – Feeling stronger. Seeing muscle definition while doing spin. Feeling my abs working and my stomach fat less in general.

Low Point – Sluggish on jumps during spin. Feeling a bit worn out. Its been a long 5 days and I really having to fight through workouts at this point.

Takeaways: Really focusing on keeping good form and doing all the little things right during my workouts. This has been a tough week and I really want to get the most out of it. Keep mentally patting myself on the back for all my hard work.

Weights

No Weights today. Yesterday was legs and I am FEELING IT! As I suspected the soreness had about a 24-36 hour delay. Today I am standing up and sitting down real slow, hahaha. My ass feels like I just go initiated into a male fraternity. Especially sore in the hamstrings and glutes.

I was supposed to do Yoga this morning but wanted to sleep in to give my muscles the benefit of a full 36-hour break. I think this was wise. Especially given my soreness. Will try to incorporate Yoga next week.

Stretching

I have been following up my workout with some good stretching sessions and always make sure to warm up on the treadmill so I feel good on this end. I bought the p90-X workout series a while back and popped in the X-stretch DVD for a good 45 mins of stretching. Felt MUCH better after this! Soreness remained but was significantly decreased. Will try to incorporate this or another longer stretching routine for my lighter days but definitely will continue to reserve one day to focus on stretching.

Diet

Not sure if it’s all the working out, Lipo 6, the cleanse, mega water consumption or all combined but my appetite has been sharply reduced. Today for some reason I was very finicky about food. Was hungry but not hungry. Didn’t want anything in the fridge except for blueberry waffles. Ended up eating this and some pasta my roommate made for dinner. I needed the carbs and had room for some extra calories so no major worries here. Would like to see my normal appetite back by tomorrow.

Supplements

Lipo 6 WORKS!  – Still working great

Colinix/Toxinout Cleanse – MAKE SURE YOU DO A CLEANSE! My body is expelling all kinds of stuff. I keep wondering where it woulda went if it wasn’t coming out of me! Especially cause I’m not eating a high calorie diet. Yuck.

Other – My ENERGY is through the roof! I am up and wide eyed at 5:00am. I actually keep waking up BEFORE my alarm goes off. Around 4:40am. Very scary given just a week or two ago I had trouble getting up at 7:30am. I am also much more awake during the day, no significant drop-offs to speak of. I definitely look forward to going to work out and I think this motivation also results in greater energy levels. I’m lovin it!

CONCLUSIONS:

High Point – Stretching. Slow breathing. Relaxing on my day off.

Low Point – Sitting down to fast on the toilet and letting out an embarrassing groan because of the pain from my weight training soreness.

Takeaways: Rest is important. Although we love to go hard while training it is mega important to get good sleep, muscle rest and to always warm up and stretch before and after each workout.

Day 4: Rest Day

From www.muscleandstrength.com

I’ve decided to organize my daily reflections into categories to be a little more organized, and “reflect” a little better:

• Weights
• Spin
• Running
• Stretching
• Diet
• Supplements

Conclusions:

• High Point
• Low Point
• Takeaways

Day 3: Go Hard or Go Home.

Morning Weights

Today I had Legs & Shoulders. Nice workout. I love doing legs so this is always fun for me. Normally I use the Smith Machine for squats because I have poor ankle flexibility but this girl tied up the machine for like 20 minutes with some crazy band routine so I just used an open rack. This was actually very good for me. Forced me to really focus on my free form and also got me motivated to work on my ankles so that I can start getting the most out of the exercise.

The program I am doing suggest a 2-1-2 count. Very effective! I am looking forward to Week 2 of this regiment. Should see some nice improvement in my overall sense of strength. One of the benefits of having participated in athletics most of my life is that your body REMEMBERS! I also have a mesomorph build (naturally muscular, has a trim waist line, can easily lose and gain fat and muscle weight) so it doesn’t take much for my body to be responsive.

Overall a great lift. I felt strong but didn’t feel like I lifted too heavy. No soreness. I started to think that maybe I didn’t push myself hard enough but experience has taught me that legs usually have a bit more delay in terms of soreness due to greater size and length.

Spin

Today’s instructor was deceivingly tough. Gave me and another woman a good laugh after class. She kicked our butts. I was definitely feeling the last two days in my legs. At times I felt like I could’ve went harder but I also tried to keep in mind that I had just lifted on my legs. I would give myself a 8.5 out of 10 for effort. Definitely want to be stronger next class.

Afternoon Weights

After spin I didn’t have it in me to do my Shoulder lift and was short on time. I picked this back up in the afternoon. I also liked the exercises in this lift. Two in particular – cable lateral raise and reverse cable flys. I like the resistance that you get thru the whole rep movement. On a couple of exercises I went a bit to too heavy. I am doing sets of 12-15 reps depending on the exercise and am still trying to find that perfect threshold. Logs are great for keeping track of this though. Should have it all worked out by next week. I take detailed notes.

Running

So this is where my “Go Hard or Go Home” inspiration came from! I called myself being extra aggressive – decided to up my treadmill workout by half a level. This workout was already challenging and it was only my 2nd day in but what tha hell, right? WRONG! Hahaha. I did go hard though. Got about half way through the work out and just didn’t have that next gear. Konked about 15 mins in then just strided out another 2 mins. Still a decent workout though – about 1.7 miles, 200 caloric burn.

I then walked a lap and something in me said – “WHAT A PUNK! IS THAT ALL YOU GOT? LET’S GO!” I perked up and just decided I wasn’t gonna end it there. Two sources of motivation – great workout music & knowing I had tomorrow off. I restarted the workout this time at the original levels and made it through to the point where I stopped before. I had high hopes to get all the way through but my legs were DONE! 2nd workout – 1.65 miles (incl cool down), ~160 caloric burn. Although I would rather have just completed my workout all the way through I still ended up getting in a very good run ~40 mins, 3+ miles, 350+ calories. Same if not better than yesterday.

Stretching

I am looking forward to some serious stretching. My legs were wobbly. Weights + Spin + Run will do that I guess. I did some long (25 sec) sets of stretches and called it a night. I knew I had a hour of so of stretching coming the next day so I didn’t overdo it.

Diet

Very solid diet today and for the past two days. Sticking to a script of lot of fish, vegetables, complex carbs, and tons of water.  Water and the workouts have also dramatically reduced my appetite. Had a protein shake again for dinner.

Supplements

Lipo 6 WORKS!  I worked my way up to four pills a day. 2 in the morning/2 in the afternoon. Great so far. Significantly reduced appetite and no weird stimulant effects to speak of.

Colinix/Toxinout Cleanse – I am on day 4 and this stuff is really working. Regular movements and I definitely feel ‘cleaner’ =)

Other – I am in DC. It gets wet and hot – perfect brewing ground for mosquitos and other pesky insects. I typically get very bad scars and reactions to bites but one or many of these supplements is helping to reduce my reaction. Typically the bite will start small and grow to be huge, very red and stingy, then last for a while before turning into a dark mark. Most bites I have either went away altogether or have remained small and less irritating. I likey =)

CONCLUSIONS:

High Point – Not giving up on the treadmill – feeling very strong in my legs. Working on my squat and being excited about getting rid of my flabby thighs. Feeling stronger as I carried my laptop bag and purse on the way to work. Knowing that my diet is significantly improved and I would see the benefit soon.

Low Point – Upper body still really sore. Could’ve pushed myself a bit harder in spin.

Takeaways: Getting in shape is HARD WORK! If you want it you gotta go get it. And if you go after it, it’s only a matter of time!

I felt really good on the way to work though. One thing about working out in the morning is that you really feel that you have a jump on the day and it kinda sets the tone. Today I didn’t dare attempt another midday workout but waited till about 8:30pm to hit the gym for my run.

So I head to the gym which is located in a shopping center only 2 mins from my house. I’m feeling good. Ready. This feeling EVAPORATED when I spotted a personal trainer that I knew at the front desk. DAMN! Strong feelings of embarrassment kicked in with the quickness.

Some background…

 About 3 months ago I was doing some pretty hard core training, hitting the gym everyday, twice a day. Then I FELL OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH. Got busy with work, travelling, etc…, and totally reversed all of my hard work. I knew all the trainers in the gym because I used to be in there so often working out. At one point I spoke to many of them about becoming a trainer. Back then I was looking real good. Most people in the gym thought I was a trainer or some type of professional athlete. Now, I look like Ms. Jelly Rolls. Not the business.

Back to the story…

Yesterday I only went to the gym early in the morning but today I was going at PRIME TIME. The full fledged after work crowd was in effect and everybody was on deck. I paused before the entrance of the gym hoping that the trainer would soon go back to the main floor. He didn’t. I was so embarrassed I went down to Target and looked at earrings hoping this 5-6 mins would result in a clear shot to the treadmill where I could put on my earphones and ignore the World. Didn’t work. He was still there. So I sucked it up.

His “Damn, you fell off” face didn’t last too long. Although he spent about 3-4 mins eating me out about how long it’s been since I’ve been in the gym. I started feeling better and then ANOTHER trainer came around the corner. This guy I knew even better than the other one. We used to speak pretty regularly. He then proceeded to call me out which was embarrassing but not as bad as I had imagined it would be. I tried to keep it all laughs and headed to the treadmill.

So today my run was a failure and a success. I started out on my interval program and caught another cramp less than half-way in. That aside, I realized that I wasn’t gonna be able to finish it in the first place. It was just too hard. This particular workout was originally created as a bike workout that I adopted for the treadmill. As you can imagine – it’s not a 1 for 1. I basically dropped all the levels by 1 and PRESTO MAGICO, worked like a charm. The workout was still very challenging and I finished it strong!

I headed home feeling really good about Day 2. My appetite was wiped out from the evening workout, nice additional benefit of splitting up the workouts. Also, I had been drinking a ton of water throughout the day and this as well disapatded feelings of hunger. I had one of my protein shakes and called it a night.

HIGH POINTS:

Finishing a high intensity treadmill run. Not giving up in spin class. Seeing faint definition in my arms while sweating like crazy in spin and knowing that in about 2 weeks I would regain some of my definition.

LOW POINTS:

Seeing familiar faces in the gym and being embarrassed about putting on weight. Sore ass from spin class and really sore arms from lifting.

I started today by waking up at 5am – an achievement in itself- and getting ready to hit the gym. Lifting can take so much out of you and I am going 6 days a week! For this reason, I wanted to get this in before doing anything else that might leave me wiped out and result in a half-ass effort. My spin class is at 6:30am so this didn’t leave many options.

Back to the story – I got up at 5am. Did my colonix/toxinout routine – includes some pills and a fiber supplement - then headed to the gym. Warmed up for about 5 mins on the treadmill (@ a 8:30 min/mile pace) then got to work. Today was Chest & Triceps. Definitely no joke! I started to become sore before I even finished but overall a great lift.

Spin Class on the other hand kicked my A$$! Man oh man. I already knew I was in trouble when I saw the instructor. She loves to do workouts that basically keep you off the seat the whole time. Very challenging but I actually made it through okay. Kept telling myself that I will be rocking this bike in a week. Oh yeah, I do LOTS of self-talk. And you should too =)  

So I decided to be very aggressive and try a midday lunch workout to get my run in. Didn’t work. My body was not fully recovered and the treadmill workout I was attempting was proving to be a little too challenging. Total run was supposed to be 30 mins but I caught a mean cramp about 11 mins in and had to call it quits. Resulted in about 1.5 miles ran, maybe 150 calories. I was a bit disappointed but knew I probably didn’t give myself enough time to recover. Will def go with an evening run for tomorrow.

By the end of the work day I felt totally wiped out. My body was in shock I guess. The all to familiar feelings of getting back in the game. All-in-all a great first day.

HIGH POINTS:

Walking back home after my morning lift and spin class. Knowing I had given my all. Feeling good that I was getting back on my shit.

LOW POINTS:

Taking my DAY 1 pictures. Feeling defeated by the treadmill. Realizing how long it’s been since I’ve been to the gym and how much damn work I have to do!