Busy busy busy!!

I don't think I've ever been so busy! But I've been busy in a good way. Mostly.

I was dreading the school year because my kids seem to be perpetually sick when they are in the germ infested school. They were healthy and illness free all summer. Not even a month back in school and they were all sick. Now my husband is sick. I reeeeeally hope I don't get it. So far so good.

I was a little bummed that I couldn't go to customer appreciation day at Courts Plus today because Emma was home with a fever (again). Oh well. I got a lot of work done. There were a ton of photos to go through and edit. I had a photo session with a terrific family last night in Lindenwood park where all the leaves are really in the peak of their beauty. I was absolutely in my element! Nothing makes me happier than being behind the lens. I'm so blessed to finally have a job that I love.

Everything seems to be going so good right now. For once, there are things occupying my mind other than fitness goals. And it's nice. It makes me feel less selfish. Because when you let fitness endeavours rule over your life, it becomes all about YOU all the time. Suddenly, not only your life, but the lives of your family members, revolve around your goal. One day, you wake up and you realize you are starting to plan family vacations to benefit YOUR goal. Those nice family bike rides you take have to be balls to the wall or nothing at all. You leave the kids in your dust because you don't have a slow-down-and-enjoy-life-switch. You live it and breathe it and think it's awesome because your just so much more dedicated than the average person. And it is dedication. It becomes a priority. And it's work. Not only physically but mentally. Because you think about it ALL the time. It's sacrifice. It is a huge part of your life. But it doesn't have to rule your life.

I feel I must apologize to my friends and family, I have been very preoccupied in the past few months preparing to dive into this new career I've made for myself. I've had so much to do that I literally have not had a moment to spare. I hope you all understand. I probably won't be blogging a whole lot anymore, but I will try and keep up my journaling and venting and deep thoughts (oh boy!). [I will get at that menu, Chels!] Also, I want to say thank you SO MUCH to all of you who have supported me and gave me encouragement through this process. Without it, I don't think I would have had the guts to take this leap. I am truly blessed to have such wonderful people in my life! It reminds me of this quote,

"Help others get ahead. You will always stand taller with someone else on your shoulders."

Thank you. I've learned the greatest lesson in selflessness and kindness through you.

How do you stay so skinny??

This is a question I get a lot. Even from strangers. Especially when I'm out and about with my 3 children. And when they find out that my oldest is almost 15 (exactly one month from today!), they give me a look that says ..... (started pretty young, didn't you?). It's not like I was THAT young. I was 2 weeks away from my 23rd birthday when she was born.

But people wonder how it is that I stay so slim being 2 years from 40. This is about the time when our metabolism slows down and we really have to watch what we eat and make sure to exercise. Of course I attribute my size to eating healthy and working out. But I think there is one key thing that helps me over the average person.

I rarely drink alcohol.

Oh, I love my wine and if I go out for dinner with my husband, I will always have a glass. And I have been known to let it all hang out once or twice a year (but no more than that because I just can't handle hangovers). But I really feel like that helps keep me slim.

Almost everyone I know likes beer. It's fun to drink with friends. Go out to the bar or in the backyard around the campfire, on Sunday's watching the game. Whatever it is - it's a fun and common thing to drink with your buddies. BUT - those empty calories add up. And the more you drink, the less you care about healthy eating. Drinking almost always leads to poor food choices. Plus, you're stressing your liver because now it's got to work hard to rid you of the alcohol. If you drink multiple times per week and wonder why you can't get rid of those extra pounds, that could be why. And shedding some excess weight could be as simple as dropping the alcohol from your diet.

You never want to drink your calories anyway. That includes cocktails of any kind, coffee house coffees, fruit juices, and soda. No nutrients - just sugar and calories. Get rid of the calories laden drinks and you could be on your way to a slimmer you!

I love Mondays!!

I say this a lot. People think I'm weird. Most people dread Mondays.

It's so refreshing to me to start another week. It's a chance to start over. I know that you don't need to wait until a Monday to start over if you've been doing things "wrong", but it's always been my reset day.

It's like going to church on Sunday and getting a week's worth of sins forgiven. I always feel so good when I come home from church "sin free". It's a chance to do better the following week. If I haven't been the best friend, mother, daughter, sister, wife, etc., I feel like my mistakes from the past week are just that....in the past, and I can start over fresh and new being a better person.

And that's how it is with my fitness life as well. Mondays always seem like the perfect day to start fresh. New ideas, new motivation, new start.

So the "new" for this week that I am trying out are as follows:

1) I've been doing a LOT more sitting than usual since the launch of my business www.PrintsCharmingND.com (for those of you who haven't checked it out). Feel free to like Prints Charming on Facebook as well ;) But this week, to combat that lazy stiff feeling I get from too much sitting, I plan on setting my timer to go off every hour so that I can get up and do a mini workout to keep the blood flowing. Here it is:

• 10 push ups
• 20 prisoner squats
• 1 minute jumping jacks
• 20 pendulum lunges
• 15 crunches

2) I also want to try the 12 minutes of sprints per week too. What that is, basically, is at random 1 minutes intervals (4 times per day on 3 days of the week) I will sprint. This will be in addition to the 2- 10 minute interval sessions I do each week. I really want to try this and document any results from it. I know I've mentioned it before but I never stuck to it.

3) Leg lifts every night before bed. I really want to work on strengthening my legs in all ways possible by working muscles in different ways. These are really very easy, but if you do them right, go really slow and controlled, you get a great burn. Especially with ankle weights on.

4) And of course, I'm always wanting to eat better than the previous week. Making sure to get enough veggies and fruit every day. Eating lots of lean protein. And getting two higher carb days in on my two toughest training days.

What do you plan on doing differently this week?

How to uncover your abs

QUESTION: How much cardio do I do each week to get these abs?

 

 

ANSWER: 20 minutes

Total.

Per week.

  

You heard me.

 

It's a common misconception that all you need to do is cardio to bring out your abs. It's also a misconception that if you do a lot of crunches, you'll see your abs. The problem with that is, if you still have a layer of blubber over them, you'll never see the product of all those crunches. 

 

So how can you bring out your inner six-pack goddess? Lift weights at least 3 times per week and stop eating junk. It's really that simple. I NEVER had abs like these until I followed these two rules.

 

I cycle through my training routines every month or so. So some months I will split up body parts and hit them 4-5 days per week. Then other times, I will work the entire body 3 times per week. Sometimes  I will use heavier weight for lower reps and more sets, other times I will use slightly less weight and keep the rep range at 10-12 for 3 sets. I like to mix it up.

 

One of my favorite methods is the pyramid method. It's like a giant super set, and each set you do, you lower the weight. For example:

 

I might complete a set of DB military presses with 20lb dumbbells, then right away grab a pair of 15 pounders for another set, then finish off with a set using 12 pounders. No rest in between. After the burn of the first set, picking up a lighter weight feels a bit easier so you can push your muscles further. And further still with an even lighter weight on the last set. This is really good for getting that "pump".

 

What is your favorite way to train with weights?

Why you should lift weights

I'm not sure how I ended up on this blog, but I found the writing to be inspiring and so dead on with how I feel about weight lifting, I just had to share it. I picked out some of the key points that I could really relate to.

"why every man should lift weights" - BrianKim.net

Lifting Weights.
If you are currently not doing this, you’re missing out on one of the biggest investments of your life.

Improved concentration and focus.

When you pick up that weight, you’re focused on completing x number of reps per set. Nothing else matters. Nothing else has your focus. It’s just you and the weight. You lift it once, twice, three times, four times, the muscle is burning, you’re becoming fatigued, five, six, seven, eight, and then you muster everything inside of you to get that last rep, nine, and then you pull even more from within you that you did not think you had possible, ten.

You don’t lift once, twice, stop, get a drink of water, talk with the boys, go to the bathroom, and then do three, four, then change the song on your ipod, five, six, stretch, take a break, seven, eight, make a call, nine, ten. No. You go through the whole set on the spot till you finish period.

You will find this skill to be very useful. A lot of people get distracted when it comes to focusing on a task, but by lifting weights, you learn to cancel out all distractions and focus on you and the weight. That’s it.

Energy

Weight lifting gives me so much energy. Energy to go the extra mile. Energy to take the weights to the next level. Energy to accomplish my goals. Energy to do anything I wish. You can literally feel the energy coursing through your veins throughout the day. It’s a great feeling. It’s like igniting jet fuel. It’s that good.

Happiness

Whenever I feel the blues coming, there’s nothing like hitting the weights to bring me back up. I can thank my endorphins for that. Whenever I feel down, the very first question I ask myself is if I had lifted recently. The answer is always no. The solution? Lift. Problem solved. Works EVERY time. Guaranteed.

Great habit

When you start lifting weights and begin to see all the positive benefits, there’s no going back. The benefits will drive you to keep on doing it, which continues the cycle, which then inevitably installs a great habit. You’ll feel more happy, energetic, focused, tough, accomplished and you won’t want to let go of the cause.

Mental toughness

If you read Teddy Roosevelt’s autobiography, you will see the direct correlation between mental toughness and physical training. He made it a point to exercise every day. He boxed, climbed mountains, lifted weights, etc., on a consistent basis. I urge you to take a look at all the things that Teddy Roosevelt has accomplished. I guarantee you that his dedication to physical training was a major cause of getting them done. Because of his physical conditioning, he was able to focus, he got things done, he was always happy, he woke up early, and he had a ton of energy. Sound familiar?

Another example of mental toughness in one word: Arnold. Enough said.

Lifting weights and upping the resistance every so often builds your ability to handle bigger things. When you can lift a measly 5 pounds more than the last time, it’s a huge accomplishment. It may not seem like a lot, but it is. Every weight lifter knows what I’m talking about.

Lifting strengthens the psychosomatic link between mind and body. When the body is strong, so will the mind be.

Lifting also helps you train your mind to summon all your strength to lift that last rep when you don’t think you can. I cannot tell you how helpful this has been to me when there were times when I didn’t think I could accomplish my goals, even though I was so close to doing it. Lifting has conditioned me to dig deep and go that extra inch, and you will find that in life, it makes all the difference.


That's reason enough for me!! How about you??

Seriously, why don't you lift weights?

There is already proof that weight lifting helps prevent osteoperosis and increases resting metabolism, and thus is a better tool for loosing weight then even cardio, so why do most women favor the "c" word? Good question indeed.

My guess is because it's easier. Easy workout = zero results.

The reason most women are unsuccessful in burning fat is because they do not spend enough time lifting weights.

When you lift weights, the muscles in your body are overloaded. They will work harder to do the curls and presses. When you rest after a tiring session, the muscles will repair themselves and grow. This means that your body must burn calories to grow muscles. So when you lift heavy weights, your body is actually working very hard to burn calories so as to repair and grow your muscles, even when you are sleeping.

As your muscles grow bigger, your body will burn more calories to maintain its size and shape. This again causes your body metabolism rate to work overtime to burn fat.

Did you know that 1 pound of muscle is much SMALLER than 1 pound of fat? That's right. Want to slide effortlessly into those skinny jeans? Lift.

Are you aware that if you add muscle to your body, you will be able to eat more without gaining weight? Um, yeah, I'm the POSTER CHILD for this one. Have you SEEN me EAT????

Studies performed by Wayne Westcott, PhD found that the average woman who performs weightlifting 2 to 3 times a week for 2 months will gain nearly 2 pounds of muscle and will lose 3.5 pounds of fat.

If fat loss or creating a more defined physique is your goal, strength training is the essential exercise mode for your success. Not only does each session torch calories, but it helps boost your metabolism in two different ways. Women will build a small amount of muscle mass with consistent resistance training, which helps to create that defined look, but it also increases something called your basal metabolic rate, or the number of calories you burn per day when completely at rest. The second means in which metabolism is increased is through something called EPOC, or excess postexercise oxygen consumption. After a challenging strength training session your body burns calories at an accelerated rate for up to 48 hours after. Add 2-3 sessions a week to your routine and you are now a fat burning machine!

So, why is it that you're not lifting weights again??

It's what I do

Hey there!

I haven't forgot about you, really I haven't.

.....cricket.....cricket......

Truth be told, I've been busy sitting on my arse all last week. It's because I'm getting ready to launch a business and basically what I will be doing requires a lot of computer time. That part sucks in a way, but I really do love what I will be doing. And that's very important to me. Loving what I do.

This past week was a fairly successful one. I missed one workout (the easiest one though) to go have a beer and a burger with my mom and sister. Well worth it! And ended up having maybe one more cheat than I should have, but I still call the week a success.

Things I need to improve one for next week:

1) Eating more veggies - this always seems to be on my goal list
2) Getting all my workouts done - usually not a problem
3) Taking all my supps
4) Cycle macros

I will tell you that my new training routine seems really easy on paper but it definitely gets me pumped! They are short and to the point - generally 30 to 40 minutes, and twice each week I will get in 10 minutes of intervals immediately following the weight workout. So, at the longest, I'm in the gym 50 minutes.

They are pretty tough because I'm using a tempo that I normally wouldn't. Here's something for you to try: do split squats (as pictured below) but don't just go through the motions, take your time and lower sloooowly for 3 counts, pause for one count at the bottom, then back up for one rep. And do 10 each leg that way. OUCH! WAY HARDER than if you usually use a 1 to 1 lower and raise tempo.

Want a variation that works your shoulders at the same time? Overhead split squat. It looks more like a static lunge.

 

Here's what regular overhead squats look like. They are way harder than regular squats and you will really feel it in your shoulders the next day.

 

Now THAT'S a squat! Look at how low she is. She is obviously very strong.

AND...she's smiling :)

A good lift will do that to you.

 

It's a tough sport. It's not for the faint at heart. It requires skill, focus and determination. It's hard work. It burns. You will sweat. You will get short of breath. Your heart will race. You will burn calories. You will build muscle. You will get stronger, healthier, and more fit. You will be in an elite group. THIS is a workout. It's not some stroll in the park.

It's what I do.

irritating or motivating?

I happened to read a little blurb about posting workouts to Facebook and whether most people found it to be motivating or just plain annoying. Here were some responses:

"When I see people post about what an "awesome workout" they had I feel as if they are fishing for compliments. Working out makes you feel great that should be enough."

"I would think posting about anything all time, no matter what it is, would get incredibly annoying for those reading after awhile."

"I workout almost everyday and it's like taking a shower. No one would care if I posted about my daily showers."

 "I like it they are proud of themselves and can end up motivating others."

"Annoying! I have one friend that I want to say 'alright, we get it - you LOVE Zumba'".

"I don't care how much you workout - how much weight you lift, how many miles you run EVERY SINGLE DAY. I am not impressed and you just want attention. Sorry. I'm not giving it to you. It makes you look needy!"

"I find that those talking about running, how far they ran, ect.. are braggy but I think I'm secretly jealous. I wish I could do that, but I HATE running."

"The truth is why do people feel the need to post that shit???? Like who really cares!!"
 
"A little bit of both-- annoying in the sense that A) I don't really care and B) I don't really care because you're making me feel super duper lazy!! So I usually comment on those statuses with something like "I just sat on the couch for 2 hours!!!" No one cares about that either."

"I find it motivating."

So, how do I feel about it? Well after reading those comments, I think I will turn off the auto-post function on Shapelink! LOL

Seriously though, I'm pretty sure that just judging by the amount of "likes" or comments you get would give you the answer to that question. Obviously I exercise often. I have a blog devoted to it. Everyone who knows me, already knows I workout a lot. They don't care how much I can squat. No one has ever said, "Wow, way to squat more than your bodyweight!! Great job! Keep lifting!" So posting it to Facebook would probably just make me look like I was fishing for compliments or bragging. I have enough trouble convincing people that I don't have an unhealthy obsession the way it is, posting how often I workout would just be fuel for that fire.

Personally, I don't find it annoying. I follow several people who post daily, and sometimes multiple times per day, about their workouts or other motivational and inspiring words. It may be annoying to people who don't exercise because it could make them feel bad about themselves. But those people have a choice; they can either use it in a positive way and get moving themselves or they can be negative and see it as a rub it in their face.

What is your opinion?

And I saw this on Facebook today after I wrote this post:

 

Thought it was fitting to the subject.

quick dinner

Had to make a quick dinner tonight since we are off to a swim meet. But quick doesn't have to be unhealthy! Here's a super fast, easy and flavorful dinner for the health conscious:

Extra Lean Ground Beef

Baby Kales

 

And that's it! I just browned the meat, and once it was done, added in the kale until it was wilted and warm, added NoSalt and pepper and that's all. If this had been a high carb day, I would have added brown rice to this dish. But it's good without it.

 

If you haven't tried baby kale, you should. It really is tasty. I'm not a huge salad eater because I think lettuce is just so blah unless you add fatty dressing to it - which sort of defeats the purpose of eating salad. Plus, lettuce isn't packed with nutrients like spinach or kale. And regular kale is just too dense and hard to eat. This baby kale is milder and soft, which makes it a whole lot nicer to eat.

I heart Mondays!

I'm starting a new workout today. I'm rather excited about it. It feels like a new adventure! I always welcome new workouts with open arms. Otherwise, I am fearful that I'm being too repetitive and won't stimulate any change in my physique. I've also started macro rotation (aka carb cycling), although it's more than just changing carb intake, because when you increase or lower carbs, you need to also increase or lower protein and fat as well.

For example: if you are on a lower carb day, you need to increase your good fats and protein to ensure you are getting enough calories and energy to sustain you. And on higher carb days, fats really aren't necessary. Neither is a huge amount of protein.

So far this is my third low carb day and I'm tolerating it better than I have in the past. I think it's because I'm doing it right this time ;)

Why the carb cycling anyway?

I've been saying how I don't want to lose weight, so why would I be cycling carbs? Well, mainly, to ensure that I don't gain FAT. I want to gain, just not fat. And carb cycling is a better choice for someone like me, who is already fairly lean and working on the last bit of stubborn fat.

It wouldn't be the best choice for someone just starting out on a diet or has a lot of fat to lose because it isn't going to give you faster than normal fat loss results.

But it is great for trying to keep going with fat loss without going through the plateaus you hit when you keep yourself on a low caloric intake for a long period of time.

Why doesn't it work to just cut calories when we know that a deficit of 3500 calories creates a 1lb weight loss?

Well, where is that weight coming from? Not all fat probably. The reason so many restricted calorie diets fail is that they cause your metabolism to slow down. When our bodies think they are starving, metabolism slows down and we burn fewer and fewer calories so that we don't die. This is why you will always stop progressing on a low calorie diet. In the beginning it will work, but eventually it will stop. And that is called a plateau.

When you start to cycle your carbs at this point, you are tricking your metabolism into thinking you aren't dieting (with the higher carb calorie days) when you actually are. And you can maintain the same rate of weight loss you did when you first started your low calorie diet. Which is perfect for someone like me. Because although I'm thin, I do still have stubborn fat areas in my lower body that I'd like to rid myself of.

It's even possible to gain muscle while on a carb cycling diet!

It's possible to change your body composition (take away the fatty hips and add muscle where you need it to create a more appealing shape) while carb cycling. When you are raising calories every few days, you aren't always in a deficit, so the carbs you are feeding yourself on high days go straight to muscle tissue. While on your low days, you are running on fewer calories and eating foods that keep your energy levels sustained while burning through calories and not storing fat. Remember - eating too many carbohydrates and not burning them off stores them as fat. But on higher training days, you are using them to fuel your workouts and feed your muscles, that's why we try to schedule high days on days where you are training the muscles you want to grow.

So yes, it is possible to wreck your metabolism by dieting all the time. Just the same way as it's possible to wreck your metabolism by doing too much cardio.

I know I've said this time and time again. But it's called adaptive thermogenesis. You can trigger the same sort of response from your body as you would starving yourself by going overboard with the cardio.

There are people doing huge amounts of cardio for endurance training and yet they aren't losing crazy amounts of weight like you would think they would. Running is a great way to burn calories. So if you wanted to lose a lot of fat, wouldn't it make sense to just run and run and run some more? Not necessarily. Because like your body's starvation response, there is a protective mechanism that kicks in to try to conserve energy, so fat loss is slower than you would expect considering the huge amount of cardio being done. Your body perceives it as a danger, so metabolism decreases.

That's why, if you're new to fat loss, and have never really dieted or exercised before, running is a great option. In the beginning, it will burn through calories quickly. But it will come to a halt, even though you have more fat to lose. This is a plateau. And that is why it's possible for people to run all over like Gump, yet not lose any more fat. They've slowed their metabolism.

So how can I ensure that this doesn't happen to me?

Well, if you are like me and don't train for endurance sports, you can cut your calories pretty drastically as long as you eat enough protein and are fairly conservative with your training volume. 3-4 days of lifting and minimal cardio - which is what I do. Although, I'm not cutting calories, just cycling carbs. So some days definitely feel like I'm on a diet, but I'm really not.

For you cardio loving endurance athletes, you can also do a lot of cardio without consequences if you are eating enough to support the demand. Meaning, don't be on a huge calorie deficit and then run 10 miles a day. I don't even know who could or would even want to do that, but I'm sure there are some desperate people out there.

Hope this helps you understand the benefits of macro nutrient rotation!

it's Saturday!

I don't have anything particularly insightful to share with you today, just wanted to fill you in on how things have been going.

This past week has been a "heavy lifting" week for me. And I'm paying for it! I've been in pain ALL WEEK LONG! When I did legs, I could barely walk, stand or sit. Then I did arms and I could barely do anything at all! Turning over in bed - nearly impossible. Just feeding myself was a chore! It was that bad. I wouldn't even recover from being sore before having to hit it again. It's been rough.

On top of all that, I've had a migraine for the past couple of days. Yesterday I pretty much stayed in my pajamas all day. Eden made dinner (my sweet girl). I had to take Hanna to swimming at 5 in the morning and then pick her up again at 7. Driving with a blinding headache is not a good idea. I was swerving all over like a drunk! But I didn't want to ask my husband to do it. I would feel guilty making him get up so early on a work day. See what a good wife he has ;) I still have a headache. It sucks. Why am I on the computer then? Good question!

So, what's on my mind at the moment is - why the heck do I do this to myself? Why lift weights if it's just going to make me sore and miserable? I really can't answer that and not sound masochistic. I really don't like misery. But somehow the pain I get from lifting is good in a way. It is a sign that I've done something good for my body. All those tiny tears I've just caused are going to rebuild themselves and come out of it bigger and stronger than they were before. As long as I feed myself properly - that's the key. And I'm so sore because the load is different from what my body has been used to. That is also important. How can we expect to change if we do the same thing over and over all the time??

But I don't have to fear the heavy lifting again for awhile. Monday's workout is something different (again). Mostly bodyweight stuff. In all actuality, I'm really looking forward to it because it sounds easy compared to what I'm used to doing. Who knows? Maybe it's harder than it looks. We'll see.

I've been wanting to gain weight for a long time and I feel like I finally am. I'm not sure how much, because I always forget to weigh myself. But my pants feel so much tighter in the butt. In fact, I'm almost regretting getting rid of all of my bigger size jeans! Most girls would probably be freaking out right now..."OMG! My butt is getting BIGGER!! I need to diet!!" But to me, this is a welcome change. I haven't been in my skinny jeans in months because it's been too hot but now that it's cooling off, it will be interesting to see if they still fit me...LOL!

If you are going for skinny.....don't. Please don't. It makes me sad to hear already skinny girls say they'd like to lose 10 more pounds. Why on earth do you want to do that? Is it a competition to see who can get the smallest? If you asked the average man if he thought that was attractive, he'd say no. But I'm almost positive girls don't try to get skinny for guys. They do it for other girls. It's a competitive thing. I've never been a super competitive person no matter what the situation. And being on the skinny side my entire life, it doesn't really matter as much to me as it might to someone who has struggled with their weight.

We really need to put an end to the idea that you need to be skinny to be happy. Who cares what size your jeans are? Do you really think that other people will admire you more because you're smaller than they are? Because you can slide into those size 2 skinnies? No. I can tell you first hand that people will definitely wonder how you stay so skinny. They will think that you are not healthy. They will think you go to drastic measures to stay thin. And they will think that you have a problem that requires the attention of a medical professional. Is that you want to hear? Will that satisfy your desire to be skinny? Please don't diet and exercise to be thin. Do it to be healthy. Don't go to extremes. Too much of anything, no matter how good for you, can be a bad thing.

If you're going for skinny, ask yourself why you want it so badly. Really think about what it is you hope to gain from getting skinny. And just know that beauty and happiness does NOT come from being a size 00.

Aim for healthy, strong and fit. You will feel good. You will look good. And you will project an aura of overall well being. And THAT is what will make people admire you ;)

coaching

I hit legs hard yesterday. My glutes and hamstrings are screaming today. Sitting is a challenge! Today I have chest, back and arms. I've switched from higher reps at lower weight to higher weight and lower reps. I was going to keep this rhythm every other week but....
I think my workouts will change. I'm getting coaching.

For the next 8 weeks. I'm going to be told what to eat and how to workout to gain muscle and get rid of lower body flab. It's going to be a challenge but I know I can do it.

Everything I know I'm going to have to do is a bit scary, like eating meat 3 times a day...ugh. It's not that I don't like meat. I actually love it. Especially beef. I just feel guilty about having to eat so much meat though - it gets expensive. As do all my supps and protein powder.

And speaking of that, I'm on a better supp schedule to make the most out of the money I'm spending on them. The basic and most important ones, taken at the right times should really help. I've also switched to a whey isolate. The brand I'm getting isn't much more expensive than the blend I used to get so I'm very happy. Thanks to the guy at GNC for pointing it out!

I'm ready for this exciting change!! It feels so great knowing that I have a plan in place and someone who cares about my success helping me along the way. There are always days when motivation isn't the highest and those are the days when having that extra push will be what gets me through.

I expect to see some wonderful changes happening to my physique this year!