WEEK 46 - April 4

So, this week, Has been pretty good! Still super busy! My own training has gone well! I tested my leg press PR on.... Friday night maybe? and I put up 7 plates each side, aka 630lbs! I was slightly shocked to see that! I went up to Edmonds to train a friend of mine. And i threw him into the leg press, and was like "woah, i can do that whole stack" lol Thats pretty cool! I think. Ummm... Havent PRed anything else recently. My trainer posted a photo post-back-wrkt mid week and I texted her saying "ugh, i want your back. I keep going back to that photo" and so Friday, she gave it to me! Im finally starting to feel a bit back to normal! Yes, I think so! Just did the muscle poke test to verify. Haha.

My training, as a trainer, is going well too! Keep diving in and trying to learn all i can about program planning. I need to get back into the nutrition and anatomy side of things. Definitely need a refresher course! Seems like I have clients lining up, but need to get them into the gym! Which is excited. thanks to my amazing bro, I at least have something for a website now. So, its not just a "Coming Soon..." site. Now I feel i can get out there and start marketing myself... in all my spare time ;) I do know that, once the ball starts rolling, i better be able to keep up! May go around to different gyms in the area and work out, see if I can meet people that way. Make lil mail box things for the local residents where the gym is. SO MUCH! haha.

I think 2 weeks ago I said I was starting a strict diet again. And I let the trail mix take over that. Don't ask me, my cheat of choice is trail mix. And its goood... lol. But, I did start a diet on.... hm. I'm not sure, well I started SERIOUS again on Friday. And have kept it going, just fine. No trail mix, no nothing. I went for a drink on sunday, and yesterday, and this coming saturday. Meeting up with old friends. But, sunday i did have some tortilla chips o_O Damn those chips. Could have been worse though. I could have thrown some cheese, and beans, and turned my plan tortilla chips into nachos. So, gotta stay positive! Right!? haha

I am going to give a shout out to my trainer, Amanda J! Who is just 2 weeks away from Emerald Cup 2011 at Snoqualmie Casino and is looking AH-Mazing! I wont be shocked when she takes 1st! She'll def be standing on the podium, or whatever you stand on for top 3 at these functions! lol If any Seattle locals are interested, go ahead and check it out! April 15th and 16th (she's bikini and is on Saturday). The work that goes into getting ready for such a show..... not easy stuff!

Alright, onto photos. (like i said, these aren't changing, that much. I'm going to figure something else out....)
Sorry for the blur!!

11 Months! - March 21

Its Month 11! And its blog day! WOW! Life has been crazy the last week! Hard for me to grasp what time it is and where I'm at! But, with that, it works, and im happy!
I started to shadow, and get comfortable in a gym setting this past week. See this is bad, I cant even remember if its been a week or two weeks. I feel like it's been 2 weeks since I started working out of Fuerte Fitness..... but, wow. Anyway! With that aside, I've so far done two "orientation" sessions. I put someone through a core workout and had a "meeting" with a member where they basically have the opportunity to go over what they have been doing, talk about what may be working, what may not be working, etc. And I can throw in my corrections or update their plan, give them new exercises, etc. And... honestly? It's comfortable even though I'm not as knowledgable (clearly) as I am going to be in a year, or two, three...etc, you get the picture.

The other really cool thing is this: before I start the session, im wondering if people are going to be watching me... or "oh god, that person has been training for years, they probably look at me like im an idiot and new!" And then, I start talking to the member/client, and all that disappears and I don't even concentrate on it. I thought I would be afraid to touch people to help correct form, and im not. It's really refreshing and exciting to know that while, like I said, im not as knowledgable as I am going to be, I'm not really uncomfortable or afraid of it either.

I have decided (today actually) that they best thing for me to do is go through each body group, get basic, intermediate, advanced exercises for each (since my "off the top of my head" exercise bank is not yet extensive) and use them as cheat sheets. And also, go through common "ailments" (i.e. lower back pain, knee problems, elbow pain, shoulder ETCCCC....) and write down the more common reasons these occur and what is common to fix it, exercises, etc. And that would be a good couple sheets for me to have in my pocket at first. I'll tell ya though. I'm excited. For what reason, I have no idea, it feels natural. It feels good. And I wasnt quite expecting that. Like I said, its refreshing.


With that said!!! On with my week! I started in on a STRICT diet again. I get to session on..... Thursday, and I tell my trainer "I dont really want to remind you..." we took measurements, and as I had thought, I didnt really go much of anywhere since the last time. I lost half a pound, and had a mm or two fluctuation, but my pinch i think was about the same. My eating, had gotten to the point where I was relying on Zone Perfect's....... pure proteins, and not eating REAL food. Well, NOW.... I am! My diet is as follows (yes, I have a photo of what my trainer wrote out for me....scary thing: It's only monday, and I'm pretty tired! HELLO 5am!!!):

ADD 24 almonds to last meal.

And I have followed that, except for the steak, I eat chicken. I think I needed that little kick in the butt with the measurements, and i KNEW i hadnt made that much progress since last measurements, but it made me realize i gotta get back to it. Still got more to go!

My goal with cardio is too go for distance now. I hit 5 miles one day. Wait, I wrote about that last blog. And now, I need to still do the distance, but I've been running about 2-2.5miles and then hitting the stairs and doing lvl 14 for 15ish, taking it down to lvl 7 for a 30 sec break and then gunning it at lvl 16 for 5. At lvl 16 I can basically jog on the machine. I can walk too, but its at that speed where you can do either. It's tough. And as the last 5mins of a 40min cardio session. You better believe my mind is DEAD when i get done!!!

I also started doing PRs. My bi curl is 35lb x1, my tri pull down is 45 on the cybex, I'll go in tonight and see what my bent over ext is. My chest press on the cybex is 55. And as far as the other PR's there are, I'm going to redo them. I got 80 for the row and I know I can do 100 on another machine. To the Meat Market I go!!

Almost time for PHOTO TIME! I feel like with this month's photo, you can see more definition in my arms. But, if you see my hand, im trying pretty hard to flex it "incognito" lol. Even still, my arms have shown some change. I think that my ribs are more present.... maybe, but this spot in my dad's house shows my shadows really well, as I have mentioned before! I have an appt with Sono-HELLO! (tired lingo for sonobello) on March 30th to assess the current situation and see what sort of hit to the pocket i could be looking at. While part of me feels really guilty, and maybe, fake, for considering this option.... ive lost 65lbs (from my heaviest) by hard work, diet, dedication, determination.... and I will be, excuse me, damned if I let this skin stay there and laugh at me and remind me of a time that i could hardly walk on the treadmill for more than 5mins. No thanks! So, that will be an update for 2 weeks!

Alright! Enough of this jibberish!!! Here is the photo comparison and the month line! Next month!!! I get to put up my first YEAR comparison!!! WOOT!!!


And the month comparison line.... (sorry about 11 being smaller than the others!!!)


Cheers!

WEEK 43 - March 16th

Mid week post this time. I've been thinking about what I was going to do that isnt just pictures and talking about my wrkts. So, I decided to start pushing my PR's. Since I'm going without a spotter, i may do my best weight at 8 reps. And for those exercises where I can maybe do one rep, more than likely my bi curl. So, I may record a 1RM for that. Last week, rocked the cardio still. Been getting drenched, hitting level 16 on the stair master. It's been slowly killing me. But I keep going back for more! Love it! I am going to get my first recording tonight for what I can handle at 8 reps. May do upper body tonight and lower tomorrow. Or whatever works! But, by the end of the week, I'll have all my starting points! Will update blog then! And, yes, I do have photos. I may still post photo, because I'm used to it, but dont expect it to change THAT much!! So, I will post some photos on Sunday :) This is a text only post! WHAT! Alright, See you guys soon!

WEEK 39 - Feb. 14

Will get the workout log up soon, but since this post is a day late, need to get it up!
So, week 39 started out awesome. Got in some great workouts. Friday I did a circuit at home using playing cards with bi curls w/ 15lbs, push ups, ball crunches, tri dips, and scissors sit ups. Took about 30 minutes to complete. Had me pumped pretty well! The weekend I missed all workouts. I had a deadline on Monday, and man, hence the reason the post is a day late. VERY busy. Had to pull an all nighter on Sunday! Ah! I do feel a bit better about the way I'm looking. I wish I could take a photo in the right lighting that shows that you can actually start to see my rib cage. On the front, and ribs starting to show through on either side. In the end, definitely a good week. Am ready to hit it hard again after going home last night and just going to bed. I only slept 10hrs from Saturday to Monday! AH! Feeling much more rested today. So, to the new week: Bring it on!!! Here is week 39!


WORKOUT LOG 2/7/2011 - 2/13/2011
Date: 2/13/2011
Day Off

Date: 2/14/2011
Exercises
Training Session (cant recall what we did.....
Warmed up jogging
Single leg smith squats

WEEK 38 - Feb. 7th

Last week was interesting. I had to take 7 days off. And it wasnt the easiest thing I had to do. Half the time I just had to go to sleep in order to stop myself from driving me crazy! And to top it all off, my diet kinda fell off a couple times. See. Tuesday was my birthday, so I went for drinks on Tuesday, and thursday and saturday. Saturday wasnt as bad as Tuesday and Thursday, but the food consumption on Tues and thurs. Aye ya! OOPS! I've decided to hit my diet hard again, and as well as the gym! I got to start working out again on Saturday. I was doing the stairmill, and I just had this look of complete.... hmmmmm....fire. Thats the only word that comes to mind for me. I was maniacally grinning, and my eyes, were fire. I was SO happy to be back sweating that the sweat didnt bother me! Anyway. This weeks photos. are going to be yuck. I feel. But, maybe not as bad as I think they will be. But, hopefully, next weeks? Will be GOOD! I worked out for 2.5hrs last night! FELT AMAZING! haha. Anyway, here is to week 38!


WORKOUT LOG 2/5/2011-2/6/2011

Date: 2/5/2011
Exercises:
Bicycle - Lvl 9, 90rpms, 15mins
Stairmill - Lvl 8 5mins, Lvl 14 for 15mins

How I felt:
I felt awesome! My legs got pretty tired on the bike. But when I hopped onto the stairmill, I was getting tired, but I was so alert. A week off, and I was more than ready to feel like that again! Didnt spend a lot of time, but wanted to get in before evening plans started.

Date: 2/6/2011
Exercises:
Bicycle - lvl 9, 90rpms, 15mins
Treadmill - 7.0 for 10mins
Weight ball crunches - 60lbs, 2x30, 1x40 full; 3x20 1"ers
Hanging Leg Raise - 3x15
Cable Row - 70lbs 3x12
Stairmill - Lvl 8 for 5mins, Lvl 14 for 15mins
BREAK
Arc Trainer - Lvl 30, 150 SPM, 15mins
Tri Dips - on step with stability ball at feet, 3x15
Straight Leg Dead Lifts - 95lbs 3x15 (little on the light side :( )
Tri Pushdowns - 35lbs, 3x12
Cable Row - 100lbs, 3x8

How I Felt:
I just kept going and going and going. I didnt want to leave. My plan originally was to do two workouts. But then I looked at the clock about 1.25hrs in, and realized it was getting close to 6. So, I just decided to take a little break in the middle. I grabbed a myoplex, and went upstairs to the stationary bikes and kept my legs moving. Nothing crazy. But it felt goooodddd... I'm slightly sore today.... Maybe I need to push myself harder. I think I'm seeing my trainer on Friday. She has been out of town, so I'll be left to my own devices til then. And I am no longer afraid of the meat market. Whatever, I have my tunes on, I know proper form, for the most part. Just do my thang! Anyway, Yeah, this workout had me pumped for a good..... 4hrs or so afterward! Felt good! Woot!

9 MONTHS - Jan. 24

Well. I had a new fire burning this month... that is for sure. Lets start with the most recent week. I will say, last week I was thrown a curve ball. I was, and still am waking up an hour earlier than normal, and its is kind of throwing my body into a weird "get tired way before normal" spin. I did see my trainer 4x actually. So i did get in 4 wrkts. And when Saturday rolled around, I was pretty sick that day :( so, no double workout as I had planned. I have started this week off right though! I went to the gym after my morning meeting and totally killed myself on the stairmill. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm back to normal brain function or not. Haha. As far as the entire month? I was on fire, I am on fire! This week, still an hour earlier than normal, and then my trainer is going to require me to take a week off. Aye ya! I guess she knows best though. And if my 8th to 9th month comparison shot is any clue to the fact that i am plateauing (I feel I look a lil bigger in the 9th month.... I could be being critical though!) then I do need a week off. It kinda sucks! You work your butt off, and then you look at a photo of yourself 4wks later and it looks like they should be reversed (8th month should be 9th month and vice versa). Oh well. One week to kill myself, one week to revive myself and then back into the swing of things! So.... here is the weekly and the monthly comparison line!

And the monthly....


What do you think? Am I being critical? or am I actually a lil bigger this month? :( haha

WEEK 34 - Jan. 10

So, This week I am going to try to start implementing more into my posts. My workouts from the week, We shall see how it looks if I add in what I ate. Anyway! On to the actual post!! WOW! I was a different person last week. I got in 2 doubles (which, yes I planned to do 2 (at least) yesterday, and by the time 9 o'clock rolled around, I was just really tired!) I've entered a new mode mentally. I'm listening to a lot of angry/bass-kicking rap lately. And that sounds retarded, but it keeps me in this "beast mode" as I called it one night where all I want to do is just kill my body (nicely) and yeah.... Training yesterday was interesting. I went in knowing I was going to be more focused than normal. And I ended up having to do a lot of wall sits. Which I havent done in a long time. And my trainer is sitting there talking to me, and I'm looking right above her head to a mental image of me @ 195lbs and I'm just yelling at this person, "This is for you! You like this burn? Huh? You like it? because I dont feel it. I know you! You feel it, and you're about to start crying, but me? No way, I dont feel a damn thing!!" And I did, it started to BURN! haha, I pussed out a couple times. But I really tried to stay down there. But, yeah, like I said, totally different person this week. Got in 8wrkts in 5 days... I think, maybe 6. I'm in power mode. And I LOVE it. Feels awesome!!!

Alright, so I think I'll go ahead and post my photos, and then below that will go into my workout log.... yeah. Anyway! Here are some photos. OH! And I'm pushin my abs more than I have since starting. I hope to get things tightened up in there!

(Also, I decided on sunday to start actually saying what I did at session, and I may start talking about how I felt, but training is training and if it burns, if its hard, its all good, I mainly do that "How i Felt" for cardio because my knee and talking about my endurance, etc. Alright!)


WORKOUT LOG (1/3/2011-1/9/2011)


Date: 1/03/2011
Exercises:
Day off.

Date: 1/04/2011
Exercises:
Training Session

Incline walk (5mins)
Jog (6.0 for 10mins)
Jog (6.5 for 5mins)
Jog (7.0 for 5mins)

How I felt:
After not working out for about a week-ish, this felt fine. I started on an incline walk because a.)you told me so, and b.) loosen things up. And then I decided to see how I felt running. And I felt fine. So, I ran. Ummm… I think at one point my chest started to hurt, so I took the speed down for my heart to get back on track and then picked it up. A lil sign of being slightly out of condition after a lazy weekend!

Date: 1/05/2011
Exercises:
Jumping Rope (20mins)
Stable Ball Crunch 20lbs (3x30)
Bike (10 for 15mins)
Run (6.0 for 15mins)
Stable Ball Crunch (35 for 3x30, 3x20 1”)
Decline Sit Up (3x15)
Run 6.5 (8mins)

How I felt:
This felt fine as well! I was sore after Tuesday’s session, so after getting off the bike felt like I could probably collapse. Quads were really very tight! Did a small stretch before hitting the treadmill. I learned the benefit of breathing while doing the second set of stability ball crunches with 35 at the gym. Proved to help with delaying the onset of the burn. The decline situps weren’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done, either. Second set stopped at 8 for a break to continue about 30seconds later. I cut the last run short because my knee began to talk. It was just a mumble, but figured I wouldn’t let it get too loud and suffer the consequences later. Left feeling fairly tired. And head hurt a bit (prob due to congestion).

Date: 1/06/2011
Exercises:
Day off.

Date: 1/07/2011
Exercises:
Training Session

Dip bar knee raises
Weighted Ball crunches (40lbs 3x30, 3x20)
TM Interval Training
-5mins 15.0 @ 3.5ish mph
-5mins -1.0 @ max (8.5-9.0)
-Circuited for 40mins

How I felt: I used a 40lb dumbbell, so that for whatever reason, didn’t seem to hurt as much as it should have. I will now use plates, no question. Interval training was interesting. I honestly felt that part of the reason it was slightly tough was I made up excuses. My iphone in my pocket was going nuts hitting my leg and such, the song wasn’t right. My trainer posted “Drop the World” by Lil Wayne Feat. Eminem on her FB site and said it was good for cardio. It was! I ran the entire duration of the song at one of the fastest speeds I’ve ran since starting to run (8.7, which hush, 6:40 used to be my avg mile, if I was trying I could do 6mins, but, I’ll get there!!!) My conclusion based on this workout, is I need to start going into “boss mode” and listen to music to pump up! Woot!



Date: 1/08/2011
Exercises:
Bike – Lvl 8-9, 95-100rpm, 30mins
SM – 5min @ Lvl 8,
5min @ Lvl 14
Circuited for 25mins
Stable ball w/ 50lbs – 3x30 full, 3x20 1”

How I felt: The bike was goooood. I would get tired, and just tune into the beat in my headphones and tell myself to shut up and just go. Would drop to 6-ish from time to time, just to chill out for a sec and recover… maybe for like 30 seconds, and then power it back up. Was completely drenched. Haven’t seen beads that big since, I started maybe? They were dripping off the bike like a slow dripping faucet. Tried to run after, hit the TM for 5 secs and knee was already talking: “fine.” Chose to go to the stairmill since that became my fav cardio about a month ago. Knee started out whispering, then it shut up after it realized it wasn’t as strenuous as it could be. Did 25 on that. Pretty sure my carbs were prob gone by that point. But went and grabbed 2 25s and did some crunches. I felt the burn this time for sure. Plates do the body gooooddd.  Overall felt spent (at the end). Felt good. Like I statused (yes, I did just do that), I felt like a beast! I didn’t want to leave, but, I knew my body was tired. Gotta listen to it!


Date: 01/09/2011
Exercises:
Training Session:
KB squats
SL DLs to push
wall sits
wall sits
wall sits
hanging knee ups

WEEK 33 - Jan. 3

So, Week 33. Was exactly eventful in the ways of working out. I was at the gym Monday night, trainer tues, day off weds. trainer thurs and then Cabin til sunday where I did not do a lot of working out, but it was the end of the year and we were up there celebrating New Years. Now that I am back in town, I have a cold! Woot! haha. So, I'm going to kill this cold before I kill myself, at the gym. But, Considering. I stayed pretty damn close to on my diet. And I hope I didnt put myself too far off track. We shall see though! Anyway, these photos are a bit bigger than normal because I dont have my simple resizing program on this computer. But wanted to get the post up. So, anyway, I will recrop and resize the photos tomorrow when I get to work.

8 MONTHS - Dec. 27

HOLY 8 MONTHS!!! Haha! So, I will admit. This week, eh, was kinda slacky. I actually didnt see my trainer at all, (Christmas break) and I decided to give myself a few days off to get rested because I have been absolutely tired lately. Friday I went to the cabin, hauled some logs around for about an hour and a half. Saturday was Xmas and I practiced my jump roping for a good 45 minutes, and then Sunday I steadily (not non-stop) worked out for 2-3hrs. I did like 80 flights of stairs, burpees, jump squats, jumped rope. So, Sunday felt awesome! I woke up this morning and my feet were like "Damn you! No more jumping around!" haha. They were pretty sore. But, It was Christmas, and instead of splurging on food, I allowed myself to sleep. I slept, a lot over the holiday and that is good as well. This week, back on track, seeing my trainer tomorrow. And, actually, I may be lying about being back on track. I think I'm stealing away to my cabin for 4 days or so.

OH! I have an interview tomorrow at Allstar Fitness downtown! They are aware of my experience (aka just got certified), they are aware that I dont have experience in sales, but I have a story of my own transformation that made a friends jaw drop the other night, so, I think that is a good selling point for me :)

ANYWAY.... without further ado! This weeks and the monthly comparison line!!!!

And the monthly!

WEEK 31 - Dec. 20

Week 31... Week 31.... Oh! So, the diet change! It's been going well! I saw my trainer on Tuesday, and this is the one flaw in the diet, but I was so full that day, that all I had was a piece of bread before session @ 5pm and the meal i had before that was at 1pm! Needless to say, I worked out for a good 25 minutes, turned green, and sat down for 25. Good! I'm getting better with this whole full feeling. And am eating like normal again... Just a lot of chicken! Haha. I had to go on a poor man's diet for a couple days too. Ran out of chicken and ran out of cash, so it was protein powder.... for two days straight. Aye ya! Anyway, the workouts. I tried a couple different ones, 20 mins high resistance on the elliptical, and 20 mins high resistance on the bike.... Aye ya, my quads who were so sure of themselves last week were crying like new borns after 2 minutes of this exercise.

I got slightly frustrated with my progressive run routine. The point is to warm up for 10mins, then 6.0 for 10mins, 7.0 - 10mins, 8.0 - 5mins, 9.0 - 5mins and then as fast as I can for 2... welllllll.... my knee was talking during 7.0. So, I did the 7.0, and I jumped to 8.5 for 2 mins and then I ended that. Oh well. Another day!

Another cardio routine, bike for 15, lvl 12-18, run 6.0-8.5 for 15mins, x2. AKA, do that twice. And I did that routine on Thursday. Everything was feeling good! So is the life of a knee who is moody, bipolar.... actually. Now that I think about it, it can be closely related to that of a puppy. One day its a monster, and pain in the butt, a giant pill, and the next? Mellow, calm, sweet, innocent, puppy like! haha Anyway, sorry for the long post! Here is to Week 31 photos!!!

WEEK 30 - Dec. 13th

Last week... Last week. Oh! Right! Last week was eventful, to say the least! It was stressful, for sure, I was preparing for my cert exam on Thursday all weekend and all week. Took time off of work to study study study. By the time the exam came I was so exhausted I didnt know what to do with myself! I drove my Dad and my trainer nuts on Wednesday just jabbering on about nothing important. Letting the stressed, crazy person grab ahold of my mind and control my thoughts. Haha. All said and done though, and i PASSED! What!? I'm still basically shocked by it. But! For study breaks, I would go to the gym, everyday and really gun it. It was good to escape that way. So, the workouts were good. I started a new program, basically. Harder cardio, different, more strict diet of broccoli, sweet potatoes, and chicken.... basically. And thats great! I dont care about food, as long as I'm getting the nutrients I need to achieve my goals, then I'm happy. I did have a "cheat" meal on Thursday (celebratory meal after passing my exam) of steak tacos from my favorite Seattle bar, Matador. If you live in the area, be sure to check it out. They have a ridiculous happy hour menu. Delicious food that fills for $4-5 (Happy Hour times: 4pm-6pm and 10pm-1am)! But, then I was on my diet. But anyway, I'm feeling talkative and sometimes my rambles are pointless :) On with the photos!

hhhmmmm I feel like my love handles look bigger. Being too critical? The waist of my shorts were prob higher than normal.

WEEK 29 - Dec. 6

Week 29. Last week was..... great, actually :) My workouts were terrific, I saw my trainer 3x, and went to the gym 3x....no 4, because for whatever reason, I went to the gym Friday night after have a midday training session. First time I had done a "2-a-day" and it actually felt good! I took Saturday completely off, and I attempted to jump rope on Sunday haha. I dont know where this kindergarten playground ability went, but I certainly lost it. I kept hitting my head with the rope, I think I almost fell about 5x.... ahhh it was good for laughs though! Speaking of laughing, the key to a good training session for me is laughing. I go into the gym (training studio), I get my butt kicked, I sweat, I laugh, I talk, I smile. Its the perfect remedy for my week! I think that is why I've become slightly addicted to it ("Geee! Ya think?!") And despite how mentally tired I am becoming from working and studying almost every waking hour, beside the 1.5hrs I allow myself to go to the gym as a study break, I am rather energetic! Here's to week 29!!!

7 MONTHS! - Nov. 29

So, today is 7 months! I will say, I am so happy that I'm still on the right track with the right mindset and the will and determination I had when I started. I will also say, for those who didnt know, blizzard in Seattle over Sunday night. Two days of pain in the butt commuting, one travel day for thanksgiving in Florida :), Thanksgiving, and family time with no gym membership equaled not too much on the heart pumping workouts I love so much. My trained kicked my butt on Sunday and had me sore thru Thursday morning, and I actually did get to the gym yesterday (Sunday) with my mom at her gym for a small guest entrance fee. On a positive note, considering it was a holiday and i was with family and that meant eating out, a lot, i did keep my diet in check, as best I could. So, I am proud of myself for that! AND! It's 7 months! I cant wait to see what I feel like, or what it will feel like once I hit the year! I'm honestly married to this. When my trainer, ok, when Amanda :) told me what I should be eating to accomplish my goals I went out and ate all the bad food I could eat because the next day I was going to start in on a diet more strict than anything I had ever done. And I ate the same thing for 3.5 months. I had my bachelorette party, and then, I married my program. I think, that partly, that is why I've been successful this time. Because of that simple word I throw in when I think about this journey. "I'm married to it" Anyway! Here is MONTH SEVEN!!!!!


Ah!!! I posted with out the 7 month comparison! Not happy with month 7. Darn tgiving!!! Alright... here is the line up!!

WEEK 27 - Nov. 22

Well, week 27 has come and gone! Unfortunately, I feel as though currently I am on a crash and burn program. Not necessarily in a bad way. Just so busy right now, with work, and studying, and working out. I'm gone, on average, 12-14hrs a day. Get home, shower and study. Starting Monday's tired. I will say, once Dec. 9th has come and gone, I wont be able to rest, but once it has passed, I will most likely sleep for 2 days straight haha. Last week was good, again, with the gym and getting my work outs in! I'm not sure what is changing on me, but I think i still am losing, or gaining (muscle). We are taking measurements tomorrow. The ultimate truth! Hopefully I've done something! haha. I'm sure I have. Anyway, here is the photo!

WEEK 26 - Nov. 15

Last week went well again! I trained 2x and was at the gym 3x and had a work day at the cabin. Given I spent about 3-4hrs pressure washing, I still feel like I had a fairly active day (Note: Giving credit for doing something outside of the gym.... I see improvement!). I'm starting to realize the last little bit is going to take some work to shred off. But I like challenges, therefore I gladly accept, while saying "Give me your best shot!!" Life is getting crazy though. I spent all day Saturday at the cabin, and all day Sunday studying. I dont think my life will be any different until the exam is said and done. And when I say "done" i mean "passed". And to pass, well, I wont see anything but my work computer, the TV at the gym, or the inside of my book until the exam is here! I'm going to Florida for Thanksgiving, and my mom asks me "Are you excited to come!?" And I reply "well, kinda, I know I'll spend the majority of my time studying, so I guess it will be nice to have the time off work to really focus on my studies!" Maybe I can find some way to incorporate sun bathing and studying. Maybe. Or something vacation-esque. Anyway, here's to another productive and satisfying week!!!

PHOTO TIME!!!! WOOO!!! haha

WEEK 25 - Nov. 8

Well, I will say, last week was one of my better weeks in awhile. I was at the gym almost everyday. I think I took a break on Wednesday. Busted my butt on cardio and then had my trainer drill me into the ground. I discovered my quads and hips need some work. They are fairly weak! Oh well, to be addressed, and corrected soon! Not only was it a good week on the exercise front, I had reason every day to view the world with baby eyes. With awe, and wonderment and excitement. The biggest of these moments was texting my trainer. Friday I had asked her if my stomach would always be more loose because there are times when it seems like its sags, so she checked my body fat % on Saturday because she said once I hit 18% we would be able to know better than now what my stomach was capable of. I was at Tully's studying when she told me I was at about 23.5% body fat. At first, I was slightly disappointed because on my first session with her, when we took measurements, she said my body fat was at about 29.5%. I felt that losing 6% body fat in 6 months wasn't anything too crazy and asked her if it was even considered an accomplishment. Well, she then decided to tell me that I had started at 36% body fat and had in fact lost 13% body fat. See, she said she is known to lie if the new client looks too depressed. Apparently I looked depressed. Anyway, needless to say, the study session was shot! All I could do was stare outside the window, trying to stop tears. I decided the only thing for me to do was to go to the gym. I intended to study after the gym but I wiped myself and went home and passed out! I am fairly happy with ALL aspects of this week!

Oh! And I tried on some American Eagle, size 28 jeans at Value Village, they were too big too be worth it to buy.... :D

On with the photos!

6 MONTHS - Nov. 1

Wow. I've been at this 6 months? Well, lets start with the short term re-cap. Last week I did a lot of walking. I had an AutoCAD class downtown and for our hour lunch, i generally spent it walking around town, briskly, as they call it :), but by the time night time rolled around, I was so brain dead by all the info I received I would just go to bed. I guess you can call that active, but I never count walking as exercise, even tho I should. I really am not making anymore excuses. I feel like I'm starting to see the change, so I think that I can slack off, and i may not be to anyone else, but to me? I'm definitely slacking off. For instance, yesterday I cleaned my apt for a total of 6hrs or so, 4hours in the morning and 2hours at night, technically that is working and burning calories, and if you put that in the livestrong exercise calorie tracker, its a total of 1000 or so calories expended, but I dont feel like I did anything because I wasnt at the gym sweating. Its gotta be about the sweat, I love the sweat, the increased heart rate. As I have said, that feeling? It's better than any med, or counselor, its the remedy for life's shit, as I said earlier today. 6 months. I did expect to be further along than this, but then again, In one year, i lost 55lbs. I guess I can give myself some credit for that, maybe just a lil bit :) I said it before, but I'm ready to haul ass again. I wont let myself go home until I hit the gym. Alright, well, here is the progress shot with the comparison line. Until I can figure out a better way to format it, there is going to be a giant white area in the comparison shot :-/ :P



And the comparison:

WEEK 23 - Oct 25

So, here I am at Week 23. I probably wont go into too much detail about the events of last week. A lot of people came in town. Well, not a lot, two, but even still, ok, wait, three people, and I enjoyed their company. Not a lot, but it made me avoid the gym. This week, I am attending an autocad class downtown, and since im poor, and a bike commuter this week. I'll be riding a lil over an hour everyday. Except maybe tomorrow, where I will get my ass kicked, and then expect to ride? hmmm.... I may pass. :) I will say one thing..... my love handles are persistent. :) Anyway, here is weeeeekkk 23!!!

WEEK 22 - Oct. 18

Here we are at 5.5 months. Last week was a lil crippled since I didnt get home til late every night. I only got 3 workouts in. But yesterday, according to livestrong.com, i burned 1300 calories! I walked around town for 2 hours doing marketing, and then I went and did some hip ad/abductor workouts, 3x100 @ 40lbs. and then I went to my other gym (yes, I currently have access to 3 gyms :)....) and did the stairmill for 25 minutes, and ran for 10. That was a very good day! This week the gym will be seen much more as I dont have to be here late anymore except for what I work. I really do miss it when I cant kill myself on cardio. I know a lot of people who dont like cardio. I love it, I love strength.... i love it all :) Anyway, photo update :)



And I stared at this photo for like 10 minutes last night. :)



And why not, another arm shot :)

WEEK 21 - Oct. 11

So.. Week 21. Overall am pleased, I think i saw the gym.... 5-6x. My knee was slightly cranky in the beginning of the week so I gave it the weekend off, (somewhat), probably wont do any running tonight, but will work it on the bike today as Amanda has assigned. Oh! I attempted to climb the rope yesterday. Only using upper body. Thats tough! But now I get the drive and the challenge in the rope. Because now im like "one day, I will climb you" I think i did only like 3 hand over hands before i realized I couldnt move anymore. Cause when you are climbing the rope, you gotta pull your elbow into your side to get anywhere, and if you cant do that you dont move. I'm probably around 142-ish right now, but that dont mean I can get up that rope! What I do know, is that if you asked me 6 months ago to climb the rope I would have just looked at you and told you you were crazy. So, there is improvement... :P Anyway, on with photog-ish-time. :D



And a close up for shits and giggles :)