Getting back into things...

I had a crazy week - ending with me going to YMCA camp with Ally's class for two days, and then spending the night at my sister's and helping with her garage sale since she's pregnant and isn't supposed to walk around much. I got lots of exercise at the camp, including climbing to the top of their 4 story rock wall, hiking, and playing steal the flat and kick the can. After I chased down a particularly fast little 5th grader, he shook his head (ashamed that a Mom could catch him) and said, "Ally's Mom is tough!" My other moment of glory was capturing the other teams' flag and outrunning the other leaders & kids to safety. All this training is paying off :)
As for my eating *sigh*... I need to get back on track. I think I will do week three over again since I missed two of the days of working out. As of last week, I hadn't lost any more weight, but had gone down in inches overall, so it's the right track. The eating is the hardest part, as usual. But I'll keep on trying!
How is everyone else doing?
Jen

Change of Mind

So as I was looking more closely at how I messed everything up I changed my mind. I am still going to do week 4 I will just do Tues, Wed, Thurs, and Fri. Now that I'm writing this and not looking at the book I'm confused again (that is pretty easy to do :) Anyway I figured it out so I won't be doing the same thing as all of you. Just FYI I thought that I was seriously going to die today. I know I have said that before but this time I really mean it. My legs were totally giving out on me!! It was insane. They just wouldn't jump and when I tried I thought they were going to collapse under me!! It was a crazy feeling and secretly I kinda liked it :)

Workout all Messed Up!!!

So I didn't pay very much attention to this weeks workouts. I just figured that since in all the other weeks we worked out Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri. that this would be the same. Well it isn't!!! So I got back for Memorial weekend, which by the way was so fun but my diet was pretty bad, figuring I would do Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri since I missed Mon. So I look at the book and it is all different. It has Sat off, Sun & Mon on, Tues & Wed off, Thurs & Fri on, and Sat & Sun off. UGH!! So it is Tues and I still haven't worked out cuz I'm trying to figure out what I should do! I will be out of town this weekend as well so i can't just start it out now. This is way to confusing for me. Ok so I think that I'm going to just do at start week 3 over. Hopefully that will workout! So we will all be doing the same stuff this week :) Hopefully everyone did better than I did with the eating part. The beach is not a good place to go while you are doing any kind of nutrition program, unless you are very good at controlling yourself :)

WEIGH IN on day TEN

okay so I did my first weigh in today. I lost 4.6 LBS!!! in NINE days!!!! I was all excited when I saw that cuz I've been busting my BUTT. b u t . . . . . Out of that 4.6 lbs....1 lb was MUSCLE! :( :( :( I dont know HOW that is possible with these workouts...the only thing I need to keep a better eye on is what I eat. I mean, Im eating amazing...all healthy good for ya stuff. The problem is, I haven't been documenting it and I could very well not be getting enough calories. So, Im gonna start keeping better track. But...basically aside from the losing a pound of muscle I've lost almost 4 lbs of FAT! :) and 1% body fat. Im on the right track!!!! Im excited to keep going....This has been SOOOOOOOO rough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope all is well with everyone else.

I hurt, I hurt, I hurt!!!

Ouch! My whole body is sore. I did bad the last two days on my eating. I do good all day and then by dinner time/evening I just want to EAT. So I ate over on my calories. I will try to get on schedule today! I don't want to ruin all the hard work I am doing working out and eating well all day by eating too much and not the right stuff in the evening. I need some motivation! Maybe I should do some cardio in the evening to take my focus off food. If I feel like I need to eat in the evening, I will eat one of the snacks on the menu instead of eating something I shouldn't.
I did make a yummy dinner. I tried the roasted tomato and eggplant (everyone in my family tried it, none of us liked it, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.) Instead of swordfish, I made brown-sugar soy sauce glaced mahi-mahi. It was DELISH!

Weigh In Day for Chausse

So as I said before I will be weighing my self every Mon. So yesterday was the day. I was pretty nervous because of my not so good Sun :( Anyway when I got on the scale it showed that I gained 2 lbs!!! I was so very pissed at that moment! So I waited until the body fat came up. It showed that I had lost 2% body fat!! I compared it to last weeks and it showed that I lost 1.6 lbs of fat and gained 3.6 lbs of muscle! So needless to say I felt way better. The numbers are going in the right direction!!

So if any of you get on the scale and your weight is going up it could be because you are gaining muscle. If you didn't had your body fat done before you started I recommend you do it as soon as you can. That is the only way that you will know if you are gaining muscle and losing fat. That should be the goal!!

So I'm very happy with my progress so far. I'm not to the running on the beach in my bikini yet but I still have 14 days:)

Jen I want to thank you for that great article about the nail in the coffin. It was so good and so true!! Keep it up guys! I just love seeing you all in here kicking butt!!!

The Final Nail in the Cardio Coffin

Check out this awesome article! It makes me happy we are doing Jillian's workouts :)
https://www.enhancedfp.com/training/final-nail-cardio-coffin-rachel-cosgrove

Jen Day 7 - small successes

Weekends are difficult! I started out fine today, but then went to two piano recitals and an evening meeting - all that had desserts after them. Did I eat any dessert???? NO!!!!!! But I didn't really keep track of everything that I ate by calorie either since it was rather random. I can't wait (NOT) to do the workout tomorrow :) I ran nine miles yesterday and it was very difficult and took me a LOOOOOOONG time. I am proud of how I did today considering all the temptation. It's only 30 days and I really, really want my body to have a noticeable transformation so I have to sacrifice for it now. I get this zen email that I really like and I got a good one about discipline (which I thought I had been lacking in over the past couple years when it comes to my weight - this article helped me see "discipline" in a new light)
It's really worth reading and sharing:

6 Small Things You Can Do When You Lack Discipline

Posted: 12 May 2009 06:47 PM PDT

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

One of the biggest problems people face is the lack of discipline — they have goals or habits they want to achieve, but lack that discipline needed to stick with it.

Then we beat ourselves up about it. We feel crappy because we can’t stick with it.

And that leads to more failure, because we’re forming a mindset that we don’t have the necessary discipline.

Here’s what to do when you face a situation like this:

1. Forgive yourself. You aren’t perfect. No one is. Realize that beating yourself up will only make things worse. Take a few slow, deep breaths and let it go. Forgive yourself. And move on.

2. Realize that discipline is an illusion. While discipline is a common concept, it doesn’t actually exist. It’s not a thing you can actually do. Think about it: people say discipline is pushing yourself to do something you don’t want to do. But how do you do that? What skill is required? There isn’t a skill — it’s just forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do. And that requires … some kind of motivation. Without motivation, you won’t be able to force yourself to do anything. So motivation is the key concept — and this is something that’s real, that you can actually learn how to do.

3. Focus on motivation. What’s your motivation for pursuing the goal or habit? How will you sustain the motivation when you struggle? Have very strong motivations for doing something, and write them down. Commit publicly. When things get tough, remind yourself of your motivation. Focus on it. It’ll pull you along — that’s more powerful than trying to focus on the push of discipline.

4. Make it easy. Discipline is tough because whatever the task or habit you’re trying to do is tough. Instead, make it easy. Remove barriers. Having a hard time exercising? Make it ridiculously easy, by only exercising for 5 minutes. What use is exercising for 5 minutes? You’re creating the habit, not getting yourself into shape overnight. The 5 minutes of exercise will have only a tiny impact on your health, but it makes exercise super easy. If you can do that 30 days in a row, you now have an exercise habit. Hate waking up early to go to the gym? Do it at home. Do it during lunch or after work.

5. Focus on enjoyment. It’s hard to push yourself — to have discipline — when you hate doing something. So find something enjoyable about the activity. If you don’t look forward to exercise, find some good music, or a workout partner who you can have a nice conversation with, or a peaceful setting in nature that is just beautiful. And focus on that enjoyable aspect. Hate doing your paperwork? Find a peaceful sanctuary where you can do the paperwork and enjoy yourself. Maybe have a nice cup of tea or coffee, play some nice music. And focus on the enjoyment.

6. Repeat. You’ll almost inevitably slip up sometime, no matter how good you are. Unfortunately, people often take this to mean they don’t have discipline, and they just beat themselves up and give up. Well, it’s just a bump in the road. Get up, dust yourself off, and get going again. Start from Step 1 and start all over.

I hate the weekends!!!

I have the hardest time on the weekend with my eating!!! Yesterday I started out real good (I always start out good) then everything got all screwed up! Since we had such wonderful weather I decided it was finally time to build my raised planter beds for my garden. My brothers came over and helped me and they turned out awesome. I will take pics soon and post them. Anyway I was so busy that I didn't end up eating until 6 PM. And by that time I was starving I ate way to much! So today was going to be better but it wasn't. After I got home from church Peyton got out the chips and started munching. I got out the sugar snap peas and did the same. But then I started having chips!! HELLO I know better then this. I'm the trainer!! Anyway my husband BBQ hamburgers. So of course I had one. So tomorrow is a new day and I WILL be better!
I can't wait to hear how you guys like this coming weeks workout. Remember that I change things from what she has written down on there. I run faster than what she says (usually what she has written down for them men). And I do some of my intervals twice. I'm really trying to push myself as hard as I can go. Like Jen said it is only 30 days we can do this. We are strong women and we will finish and look amazing!!!
So to the food I like the mashed cauliflower! But I like some different things :) I have made a lot of the recipes and have loved all of them!

Uh oh

I just bought cauliflower! I was gonna make up that recipe. lol I guess Ill just do it and try it haha

Jen's Day 6 - It's unnatural...

"It's unnatural!" That's what Ally said when I served up the mashed cauliflower. I must admit I didn't like it either, even though I usually like cauliflower. Oh well!
The spring carnival put a dent in my week of good eating. (one hot dog, one piece of cheese pizza, and some kettle corn) But I am (pretty much) back on schedule today. At a luncheon I attended today, I only had small servings of the meal and didn't have a roll or dessert.
I'm trying to get motivated for a long run, and hoping that mashed cauliflower doesn't come back to haunt me :)
One thing I have realized - I like salt. I find myself wanted to salt the recipes in her book. I guess I never realized I was eating so much, or tried to cut back, because salt doesn't have calories so I never worried about it! But now I realize it was probably a factor in my trouble loosing weight.
Keep Working Hard - it's mind over matter - we can do it - it's only 30 days and we can do anything for just 30 days!Here are the decorations I designed for the the spring carnival.

DAY 5 IS OVER

Just got thru day 5. I worked a double today and STILL got myself to the gym. It was difficult today...I wanted to skip today sooooo bad. If it weren't for a friend I got to do it with me...I probably would've bagged the workout:/ Once I was done with it I was soooo glad I went. (proud of myself) lol So.....If anyone doesnt feel like going one day and you're making excuses for yourself like I was...try getting someone to go with you. Its so much better. Im takin one day at a time..I try not to think ahead..I get all discouraged. Suck it up Jenee'! PS...I HATE LUNGES! incase I never told any of you ;)

I have to start making some of Jillians recipes too...Im getting bored of what Im eating. What are some of the simplest good meals you've tried that you like? Its hard preparing fancy meals with work and a screaming baby :) Let me know? Im a little scared about next week. You say it kills YOU and you're a trainer! Im the average girl next store that never stepped inside a gym since the challenge started lol (waaaa) Im ready tho...I think :/ Im on day 5 now. And its true...I dreaded it soooooooooooo bad going to my workout today but as much as my quads hurt..it wasnt so bad once you were doing it. I cant wait to see everyones results! Everyone got before pics right?? Well...cheers to everyone though the sweaty work outs and 'good for you food' :)

Day 11 for Chausse

I know I said this already but I have been really dying this week!! My quads were still so very sore today and I was totally dreading the workout, but after I got started they didn't hurt so bad. The leg extensions KILL me!!

I'm anxious to see how you guys like next weeks workouts. This is going to sound bad but I'm hoping that they KILL you as well. That way I won't feel like such a wimp!

I have tried a bunch of Jillian's recipes and I love them. What is even better is that My family loves them as well. I haven't had one compliant and the is huge at my house.

I love the shirt idea! Let me know what the rest of you think about that!

I am sore in places I have never been sore before.... I am playing catch up because I could not get into the club yesterday. I am going to attempt to skip my off day so that I can catch up. I will let you all know how that works out for me:)
I am struggling with my food intake- I am starving after my workout and am having to wait too long to eat. I am thinking that I may have to have my lunch made so that I can eat on my way home from the club. Otherwise, I have been waiting until after my kids are down for their naps and I am eating too much. I need to get a little more creative with my food- getting tired of eating the same foods. I am going to try some of Jillian's recipes starting tomorrow.

What do you say we all get shirts made that say: I love lunges! Is it just me or are we doing a lot of them? Well, I guess if it was easy everybody would be doing it, huh?!

Keep it up!
Angela

So...Im on day 3. I AM SOOOOO SORE! My Quads are killing me, I look like an old lady even when I just try to sit down. Fun times! Im stickin to my guns tho. Pretty proud of myself with the diet..Just gotta make sure I get the right amount of everything.. (fats, proteins n carbs) its a pain trying to keep track of all that :/ I have off today but day 4 & 5 ahead of me. I hope I dont over do it:( I think Im just being a weeny though. 5 lbs is Awesome Chausse! I cant wait to start losin and noticing a change. And Im pretty positive with this program it'll work..lol. -Till next time.

Day 10 for Chausse

Alright ladies you are all doing so well!! So I'm weighing myself on Mondays. So when I weighed in on Monday I had lost 5lbs. Now I don't count that as real weight. The reason is because I hadn't been eating very well so I'm sure that it is mostly water.

I see that we are all having issues with our calories. I want you all to remeber that you should NEVER go under 1200 calories. It is very unhealthly!! That is when you start to lose muscle. I know that paart of the 5lbs that I lost was muscle because I didn't have mny calories right. So it is very important to get that right.

I have to tell you that day #8 and 9 were KILLERS!! My quads are still sore! Thank goodness today is a day off :) Keep it up girls were are going to look smokin HOT!!!

Day 2 for Jen

Kirstin and I had a great workout together. And as soon as my kidlets go to bed I'm going to run while I watch the biggest looser. For those of you who don't know, Kirstin and I are training for a 1/2 marathon the end of June, so we get to run 3-4x a week along with Jillian's workouts.

I ate good, but like Chausse, did not eat enough calories by the end of the day. So I just ate a little snack to end the day at 1377. I felt like especially since I was running, I needed more than 1177! I hope after a few days to add a little more to my meals instead of at the end of the day. The good thing was I wasn't really hungry throughout the day.

Hope you are all doing good!

Love,
Jen

Day 1 for Jen

I started Day 1 with weighing myself, taking my measurements and even taking those dreaded before pictures. (NOT going to post them!)
Today went well! I went and did the circuit training in the morning. Felt like throwing up but didn't so that was good :) Those burpies, jump rope, and mountain climbers are killers!
The eating went well too. I added some fresh pineapple when I ate dinner because I was under on calories and ended up at 1294 calories. I am keeping track of my calories, weight, body fat, and measurements at my-calorie-counter.com
It's 9:30p.m., and I'm slightly hungry, but I'm just picturing the little fat eaters going around my body eating up all that fat. And it will encourage me to go to bed early too. I'm thinking about getting up early (be to the gym by 6am) to do the circuit training, and then running on my treadmill while I watch the Biggest Looser finale tomorrow.
If I don't make it in at 6am, I'll be in around 9am if anyone wants to do day 2 workout with me.
We can do it!!!! Jen

Day 1

OK...So I just figured out this whole blog thing...never done one before..Im outta the loop :) But anyhoo...today's my FIRST day! Going to the gym tonight to get going on the work out... By the way, when are you all working out? Morning or evening? Does it really matter what time you do it? I also havent done my fitness test yet..but will do soon. Im curious to see how I rank :/ So far today...Im due for a snack and am definitely excited about that cuz breakfast just didnt cut it for me. Have ya lost any so far Chausse? Your going into week 2 right? Well good luck..this little experiment was a good idea. I keep telling myself...its only 30 days!!! -Suck it Up- :) Game is on! :) Well...Ill get back to you and tell you how my first couple days go. Oh and Chausse, you said that you were under approx. 150 calories at the end of one of your days....isn't it ok to vary within a 100 calories? I thought I read that in the book somewhere. Ill look it over again. -Jenee

Mother's Day Weekend !!!

I was very scared for the weekend, because that is when I usually have a problem with my eating. I really think that I did well considering it was Mother's Day.
Sat. I had no problem at all. My daughter and I went for a nice long hike and then she went and hung out with my sister the rest of the evening and my husband went golfing and out to dinner. So it made it easy for me to stay on track:)
Mother's Day was slightly different though. They made me breakfast! Which normally would be really fattening, but they made eggs (with eggs whites), veggie sausage, and fruit. So that was really sweet of them. Now dinner was a different story. We went to Truffle Hunter! So I have to admit I didn't do that well :( I had the light eaters with they spicy club melt, salad, and I had dessert! So I pretty much screwed up by doing that!
No more holidays thank goodness!!! I'm going to weigh in today so we will see how yesterday affects me!

Day 4 So Good So Far :)

Ok so you guys are making me feel guilty! I didn't do my fitness test. So I will do it and post my results. I will probably do it on Sat.
So today is my 4th day. The workout is the same as day 1. It was a lot harder. I figured out the right weight and the right speed that I should be running at. Once again I was totally dying on the last 15 mins of cardio, but I love that feeling! It makes me feel like I really did something :)
I just had breakfast and am still hungry:( That is not a good sign for the rest of the day. I still have been struggling with getting my calories right! Very FRUSTRATING! I have even added in a protein shake, and have apple slices almost every night after dinner. I will figure this out. I'm pretty determined.

Awesome job guys, can't wait till you get started!

Hey girls,
I have a similar story to tell about my fitness testing, Jen:) My heartrate was 135 bpm- almost too fast to count! I am looking forward to lowering that number.... Pushups were o.k.- did 8 (felt pretty good considering 3 months ago I couldn't do one! 45 situps and 2 min on my wall sit.
I am excited to start on Monday. I need to get my nutrition dialed in- I have been all over the board with what I am eating. I am going to stock my pantry with some more of the things on her list. I hate that post-workout starving feeling... any ideas to avoid consuming the remainder of my days calories in one sitting?
Great job, Chausse, on getting through day 2!

Looking forward to finding my abs:0),
angela

Mind over Matter

"You can change your life by changing your mind. It's really that simple - nothing is impossible for the willing mind! Your challenge is to locate, nurture, and believe in your ability to do so." - Jillian

Jen's fitness test:
My fitness test didn't exactly start out too well, but got better as it went along. My aerobic heart rate was 128 - below average! This is frustrating because I can run five miles and have decent endurance, but my heart rate is always high, even my resting heart rate.
I did 22 push-ups (above average) - 36 sit ups (excellent) - and a 90 second wall sit (excellent).
So I guess I passed well enough, taking into consideration my resting heart is naturally a little high.
I then went and bought the book, so here we go!! I think the mental part of this, the changing my mind, is going to be the most crucial part of the this little experiment because I've been "trying" to do weight watchers for a few years off and on and just haven't been successful.

"It is imperative that you hone and train your mind as intensely as you train your body. After all, it's your mind that directs and drives everything you do, or don't do - so get it on your side!" - Jillian

Thanks for putting this together, Chausse! Jen

Day one is over!!!!

Okay so I'm getting ready for bed and I just calculated the calories in my food journal!!! Drum Roll....... I didn't eat enough calories!! CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!!! I have to get this figured out! I was about 150 cal short!
I think that I am going to have to add in another snack. I will probably do a protein shake or eat more at lunch. Oh well tomorrow is another day. I better not be the only one that posts! If you have any friends that would like to join us just get me there emails and I will add them on.

Good Luck everyone! :)

Getting Started

Most of you should have this book by now. If you don't I am leaving my copy at the Gym for anyone to use but you must leave it at the gym!

If anyone wants to post their before pictures on here, by all means, please do! I am not going to because I am chicken. Surely there are some of you who are better than I am, so post away!

I started today, Monday, May 4th. It is going good so far but I am only into it 6 hours ;). The workout was awesome! I think it was a little easier than I was expecting so I am going to have to up my weight. So far the diet is going good because I have only had breakfast and there aren't many temptations in the first few hours of the day, so we will see how I actually do!

Let's see those pictures ladies!!
(just not mine...)