Hi all,

How was your BFL week? I really like to find out each week how everyone did. You keep me motivated. Thanks.
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My week was great. After taking a month off for health reasons it was really nice to start up again.
Monday I got to the gym and did my UBW, although I took it kind of easy.
Tuesday morning I got out for a run and did two of the four HIIT cycles.
Wed I had a great LBW, but skiped the abbs. It'll be a while before I add in abbs.
Thurday morning I got in three of the four HIIT cycles in my run.
Friday was a great UBW, hitting tens on most exercises. Tomorrow morning I think I'll do three cycles of running but end with a ten.

My eating this week wasn't very good, but I'm happy to be getting back on track. I know the eating will follow suit.

Arnie

I'm so happy for you Arnie, glad you're getting back to it.

I improved this week in places I thought were impossible to go. That's an amazing feeling. A lot of my tens last week were 8s this week. My abs, quads and hams all feel tighter. I didn't do the second UBWO and I'm skipping my last cardio. I have a sinus infection and am taking high doses of 2 antibiotics. I've gotten sick everyday so I'm probably down nutritionally and I have been very fatigued. I'm hoping 2 days of rest will give my body a chance to heal.

Also, I do the lifecycle for cardio which is harder for me than the treadmill because my quads are weak. I find it so hard to do after the LBWO because my legs are so sore. Is this a good thing or am I shortchanging my cardio?

Btw Arnie you asked me last week about my back injury. I replied but it seems my answer ended up in that weird place sent items sometimes go. La la land? I began walking 5 min per day in Sept at 1.8mph (which made me cry) and I have been slowly working up from there. This is my first real exercise effort in 10 months.

It sounds like you are doing terrific, especially since you are making a comeback from a back injury. This site seems to attract the most amazing people.

I dread cardio days after LBWO. The sore legs and then doing the cardio on an empty tummy just makes me not want to do it. But I always feel good when it's over. So I just keep telling myself I can do it. I did it last week and I can do it this week.

Arnie

Arnie - so glad you're back in the swing of things!
Nawchem - you're doing great! It's no fun to work out when you are sick. Hope you feel better soon. I found that I started out very sore from my bfl workouts but it's better now. I take 5g glutamine before and after my weights workouts.

I am proud of myself for doing all my bfl workouts plus 2 yoga and 1 Pilates class this week. My knee is still bothering me but it is less swollen. Going back to the chiropractor has helped a lot. He was the only person who helped me at all when I had knee problems in the past. I just hate that my insurance won't cover any of it. My LBWO aggravated my knee, so next week I may just do a partial LBWO at least for the first one. For cardio one day I used something called an arc trainer - something like an elliptical but easier on the knees. The other 2 sessions I taught water aerobics and got in the water for levels 9 and 10. My class found my jumping in the water with them highly amusing.

I've been struggling with the diet this week. It's so hard for me to eat low fat! I gained 2 pounds (up to 125) which is fine if it's muscle, but I'm afraid it's bloat and fat. I ate in the hospital cafeteria Wed and Thu - you'd think a hospital would have healthier food! I got pork roast on Thu with 2 vegetables (the healthiest and lowest fat option), but it was so full of salt I couldn't finish it. I've been craving fat and just getting bored with my options. I have doubled the carbs for the 1st 3 meals, but I've eaten low carb for so long I have trouble even coming up with something to eat!

Jen

Arnie, it's great to hear that you're back at it! I echo both you and nawchem; I totally dread the last cardio of the week, especially if it happens to come after LBWO. It seems that the better I do on those Squats, the harder the running is on the following morning.

Here's how my week went:

Hit all my workouts, although I had to rearrange them a little bit because of not feeling very well.

UBWO: I'm stuck on the bench and assisted chin-up. A couple of weeks ago I managed 104.5 lbs bench press, but then I raised all the weights in the pyramid to get a smoother progression, and my top set fell down to 99 lbs. So far, try as I might, I cannot get it higher. I think I just have to wait for everything to catch up as the muscles are doing more total work now.

I'm not sure what is wrong with the chins, but it may have something to do with my grip. It's my forearms that are feeling the pain, not my back...and I'm getting whole-body exhaustion on this exercise, as well. Perhaps that's an effect of the keto diet. Anyhow, I have lifting straps and I use them for the 8x, 6x and final 12x of the chins, in an attempt to give my back a good workout without killing my hands.

Shoulders, biceps and triceps are coming along extremely well. So at least I know that my problem isn't overtraining!

LBWO: All weights are up, and Squats are up to 121 lbs, which is the most I've ever squatted. I think I will hit or even surpass my goal of squatting 135 lbs x 6 reps by the end of this challenge. I changed from the Total Ab Machine (extremely efficient and difficult workout) to high-rep, bodyweight-only exercises (Swiss Ball sit-ups and Crunches) for now, because my abdominal muscles were starting to develop faster than the fat is going away...which ended in my stomach looking even bigger than it is. I don't mind developing my abs, but I'm just too vain to have a bigger stomach right now! But, sooner or later the fat will be stripped, and I'll go back to the Total Ab.

Diet: This was bloody murder all week. For whatever reason, my body is resisting the diet with all the stubbornness it can muster. I had intense hunger all week, despite keeping the same calories I've been eating this whole time; and massive sweet cravings, which are very rare for me. Unfortunately, I gave in several times, but the caving-in took the form of wine drinking rather than over-eating. I was amazed and grateful that I didn't end up going over my allotted calories, but as we all know, going to the gym with a hangover really sucks. And drinking screws up my water balance, so now I can't tell if I lost fat this week or not. At least I didn't gain, I'm sure of that.

I cannot think of why I'm suddenly so hungry, other than that I was this weight for quite a few years, and maybe there's a setpoint issue. But BFL-style eating and exercise is one of the best ways to blast through a setpoint, so I will keep going.

Onward!

Emily

Hi all. I mostly forget to check in with you, but I remembered this week.

Well, my workouts were good this week. I was having trouble keeping good form for my squats, and I was getting demoralised, so three weeks ago I put the weights down and I am working on doing all the reps at once with no breathers, to acheive better balance and symmetry. I did something similar on the seated leg curl too; I am working at restricted movement, slightly lower weights, and much slower movement.

This ties in with realising that my body is somewhat wonky; my right hip feels clicky in the squats unless I do everything perfectly, and my left knee troubles me generally. I also notice that I run and walk slightly lopsided. Hence why I am doing this slow intense slightly lighter loaded work on those areas, so that I can keep the joints perfectly stable, and I shall be investigating going to see someone about my posture.

Otherwise, quite a few weights have gone up this week, and I am enjoying the Matthews Method abs work, and my cardio (running) is doing much better. I don't do many 20MAS's any more, but when I do it's always at higher speeds than the previous time.

My version of the eating is LC, trying to eat five times a day and counting calories. Well, when I have a pre and post workout shake I get 5 meals in, but on the cardio days I only get four. Still, my calories are reasonably consistent (so long as I am careful with the wine, which I usually am) and seem to be low enough for me to be losing the body fat.

I'm not losing fast, but my excel-fun-time shows me that my averages are consistently dropping, and since I am pretty sure I am not losing LBM (I can even see shoulder muscles where there used to be none) I know I am going in the right direction.

Gez

It's great to read about everyone's progress. Thanks, all, for sharing. Not to get too personal, Emily, but maybe (like me) you get extra hungry the week before your TOM?

My week last week:

Saturday: Average LBWO, realized that I need to increase weight on all exercises.
Sunday: Love those aerobic WOs!
Monday: Hate UBWO, but went ok. I really need to get some platemates -- sometimes my 6 reps are getting close to a 10 effort and then my 12 reps are more like an 8.
Tuesday: Aerobics!
Wednesday: Increased weight and had a good LBWO. Definitely a 10 on the calves, but could probably increase quads and hams even more. Phone rang just as I was finishing LBWO. Talked to my mom for 45 minutes and decided to skip abs.
Thursday: More fun with aerobics!

Food going not so well. My percent of calories from fat is creaping up to 30%. I can't say that I'm too upset about it either, since at that level I don't feel deprived. An ounce or even a half an ounce of real cheese as a snack when I get home from work (when dinner is two hours away) really makes me happy.

This Friday is the end of week 4, so I am on a push to be extra good this week before I have my DH take my "in progress" photos on Saturday morning. I haven't noticed much of a change, but DH says that I am less "cushy" and that he can feel more of my bones (hip bone, ribs) than before. I'm very curious to see my back picture, since I can't really see that part of me in the mirror, but it is my problem area.

I've had the urge to go clothes shopping, but am denying myself until I finish the challenge, with the hopes that I will be one size smaller by then. I've even reserved a hotel room in "the Cities" for the weekend after the challenge so that I can go on a shopping spree (and I'm saving my pennies accordingly).

Hello, just checking in with a thumbs up on my workouts for Week 2. I made all my workouts plus some good hikes due to our little tease of spring-like weather. My cardio was good but I did not hit the same "high" as I did last week - still felt great and I look forward to my cardio day tomorrow. Saturday I had my personal training session and I now have some new exercises to add to my workouts, mostly upper body free weight stuff, but she also showed me the Smith machine for squats, plié squats and lunges - I did the squats and plié squats this morning in my LBW, and followed with walking lunges/leg extension - definite 10.

I've lost 7 pounds in 3 weeks - I was 212 on Feb. 7, 210 on Feb. 14, 208 on Feb. 21 and 205 on Feb. 28 - I like the pattern! Look forward to watching the numbers keep going down!

Cheers to everyone for all your hard work and all your successes.

Hiya folks,

I just spent the last 10 days wiped out by whatever nasty bug is going around.
Last week was ok until the bug hit - got my three cardios in. Once I got sick, however, exercise was out of the question and eating was whatever someone brought me. :P

I'm back this week, have done 2 cardios already and will be tweaking for the 2nd half of my challenge to try 6 weeks on low carb.

Weight is unchanged, haven't measured.

Cheers,

Friday

Sorry you were sick, Friday! Glad you are feeling better now and have jumped right back in. I was wondering where you were! Nice to have you back.

Jen

In Week 8

Haven't missed any workouts, haven't missed a meal or eaten the wrong things

But am really sore this week, abs are still killing me from Sundays LBWO so I guess I'm still working hard enough.

Upped my weights to 22 Kg (48lbs??) dumbells on the 6 rep of incline dumbell press. Really felt the burn in my back on the widegrip pulldown followed by the close grip pulldown for the final 12, never really felt that isolation until now.

Keep up the good work everyone