Ok, so I finally decided to start a journal. I feel like I have made great progress in the first half of my transformation and now I need some extra motivation to reach the second half of my goal. I think keeping an online journal might help to stay motivated and on the right track.

I joined the YMCA yesterday, so now I have access to way more fitness equipment, classes, a track and a pool. Yesterday, I used the elliptical trainer for 30 minutes and the treadmill for 15 minutes. I am not able to go today due to other obligations, so I will workout at home. I felt like my workout yesterday was way more intense than when I use my elliptical trainer at home. It also felt much better on my knees. I was a little intimidated by the weight room because there were a lot of super jacked guys in there, but I guess everybody has to start somewhere. I'll get over it. This week I plan to go every night except Thursday because I have school that night. I want to try a spinning class and a cardio kickboxing class asap.

I have stopped tracking my nutritional intake and I think I am actually doing better and eating less than I was when I was planning out each day. I have stopped worrying so much about my macronutrient breakdown. Although I think I am still eating a pretty decent breakdown because I learned so much from tracking it for four moths.

I am going to Jamaica from 8/29-9/5 so I want to be in really good shape by then. September 5th also happens to be my birthday and I promised myself that I would be in the best shape of my life by then.

Today, I am going to work my lower body at home. I want to plan out a new workout schedule since I have access to so many new things now. I will work on that this week, so by next week I will have a full fledged plan to get ripped by the end of August! :bb:

I am not yet brave enough to post pics, but hopefully I will be in a few weeks! :p

I took a cardioboxing class tonight and it was awesome! I thought I would be able to do the 1 hour class and then go on the elliptical or treadmill for a 1/2 hour, but boy was I wrong! My legs hurt in places I didn't think they could hurt! :eek: There was also a serious ab routine included in the class. It felt great. I am definitely doing this class every Monday!

I ate perfectly today and I have had about 3 liters of water so far. Today was a very good day, especially for a Monday!

Tomorrow I plan on doing upper body weights. I can't wait! :db:

Ugggggggggghhhh, my legs hurt so bad today! I decided to do my upper body routine at home today instead of going to the gym. I have a few chores and some homework to catch up with, so staying home will give me a little bit of extra time to do a few things.

Tomorrow, I am going to try a spinning class right after work. I hope my legs recover by then! Thursday, I have school so that will be my night off from working out.

I had another good day as far as eating goes. I ate around 1300 calories and drank a little over 3 liters of water so far. I hope the scale moves in the right direction this week. I have bounced betwen 132.5 and 133.5 for the past 3 or 4 weeks and I am sick of it. It is my own fault though because I wasn't giving it 100%. But now I am giving it my all, and I can't wait to break the 130 barrier!

I am crabby and frustrated tonight. My week was going good until Wednesday, which started out fine but I ended up leaving work 15 minutes late. Then there were numerous accidents on the highway on my way home and I was stuck in traffic for an hour and 35 minutes. Needless to say, I missed my spinning class. Then I was so pissed off that I skipped the gym all together because I needed to do other things with the time I had left in the evening.

I really hate people who drive like assholes and cause accidents and waste my time. I have seen more accidents on the highway in the past two weeks then I saw all winter. There are too many tough guys who think they are bad asses in the summer. They have to show off their "awesome driving skills" in their "super cool cars" and they end up looking like a jackass with a totaled car on the side of the road :rolleyes:

I am glad their cars get totaled and I hope they can't afford insurance on a nice car anymore and they end up driving a beat up piece of shit. Then their car will match their personality. :lol:

I spend enough of my friggin life commuting to work and back and I don't need pathetic toughguys who depend on cars to give them self esteem f'ing up my time schedule any worse than it already is. Not to mention, dying in a car accident is one of my top 3 biggest fears. I swear if some asshole hits my car or any car I am in I will get out and do my best to kick their teeth in and break their nose. I really don't give a shit if I get arrested or not. The satisfaction far outweighs any regret, fines or jail time I would end up with. Yes, I clearly have anger management issues with this subject and I DO NOT CARE. :mad: I HATE TRAFFIC. I HATE PEOPLE WHO WASTE MY TIME AND ENDANGER MY LIFE. :mad:

Last night, (Thursday) I had school from 6:00-10:00 so I obviously couldn't go to the gym. Tonight I feel like shit and I am having crazy cravings. I was planning on having a cheat day on Sunday, but I can't take it anymore so I am having it tonight. I am also pissed because I ate perfectly all week (up until this evening) and I am up 1.5 pounds. I think its because my period is due in a few days but it still infuriates me that I didn't make any progress this week. :mad:

I am not working out tonight and I am going to eat some crap food. Tomorrow I will go to the gym and clean up my attitude.

Wow Destiny, you have some killer PMS. ;)

Periods excuse women from sticking to their diet or exercise routine. You WILL drop in weight when it's done.

I hope your cheat meal helped out.

Ahhhhh, I am feeling much better this morning. Last night I had some cookies & cream ice cream, a handful of Reese's Peanut Butter bites and 2 cookies & cream granola bars. Yes, I suck for cheating but if I hadn't my cravings and attitude would have carried over into today. I went to bed around 10:30 last night, got a good nights sleep and feel great this morning. This morning my boyfriend and I took my cat to the veterinarian to get his booster shots. Then we went to the eye doctor to pick up our new eyeglasses. I have never had glasses before so they will take some getting used to. I only need to wear them at work & for reading so its not so bad. And I love how they look. They are sort of nerdy looking in a good way.

After I got home I ate my breakfast (two Kashi waffles). I was planning on doing my chores around the house then going to the gym. However, my cat started vomiting. He threw up six times so I called the vet and was told to bring him in immediately. It turns out that he is having an allergic reaction to the shot. :( They gave him a shot of cortisol and a shot of benadryl and they are keeping him there for observation. So, I am going to hang out at home in case they call for any reason. I am slightly peeved that my plans are screwed up, but I love my sweet little Alphie and I would never forgive myself if something bad happened that I could have prevented.

I guess I will do my chores while I wait to hear from them. I will be scared to go to the gym when he comes home because I want to keep an eye on him. I don’t know what I will end up doing. I was planning to do 1/2 hour on the treadmill and 1/2 hour on the elliptical. I also wanted to try out the steam room after I workout because I have been curious to see how it feels. Tonight I wanted to go see Shrek 2. Now I may not even end up going to the gym or the movie because of the circumstances with Alphie. Oh well, my cat is more important to me than working out or seeing a movie. I know that may sound silly to some people, but he is part of my family and I love him equally.

Later today I have to work on a paper for school. I am currently taking Human Nutrition, which has been an excellent class so far. I have learned soooooo much information that has been helpful towards working on my diet. I have also gained a much better understanding of how the body processes nutrients. At this point I think I was eating way too much protein and will no longer strive to eat so much. I am starting to believe that overall calorie intake is far more important than the macronutrient breakdown as long as those calories are coming from an appropriate source. Don’t get me wrong, I will still strive to eat a balanced diet, but I will not stress so much about macronutrients, as I was previously. For me, a 40/40/20 diet was definitely not ideal. Believing that I needed so much protein was a big misconception I had based on my lack of knowledge. No diet is perfect for everyone, as we are all individuals with different dietary needs. Just because a diet is optimal for one person does not mean it will work for you. If I had realized this earlier, I would not have beat myself up so much for my “lack of progress”. I had previously assumed that if I did exactly what John did, I would make progress at the same rate. WRONG! My body is very different in many ways and I am working on customizing a diet/exercise plan that will give ME optimal results. I also do not see carbs and certain fats in the negative way that I did before. I am just going to focus on getting them from the best sources available from now on. Eventually, I want to eliminate all processed food from my diet.

The paper I am working on is "Factory Farming and it's effect on Human Nutrition". This is quite a disgusting and depressing subject, but there is so much to be said about it and such a wealth of information available that writing a paper on it is easy. I also have to do a presentation to the class and this subject is something I am very informed about so I will feel confident giving my presentation.


I can’t believe how long this post is and I am sorry if I have bored anyone. I am going to hang out on the forum for about 10 minutes then I am off to do my chores.

My cat is doing much better. He came home around 3:00 yesterday and all signs of the allergic reaction were gone. From now on he will have to get a shot of cortisol before he gets his rabies shot to prevent the reaction. Poor Alphie. That was the worst day he has ever had since I got him!

I didn't end up going to the gym because I wanted to keep an eye on him. I stayed home and worked on my paper. I can't wait until this paper is done because reading about factory farming actually brings me to tears. It is so sickening. I am strongly considering going vegan again. I will need some time to plan it out because I will need to eliminate whey protein, protein bars and eggbeaters from my diet. I also occasionally eat fish & shrimp right now which will be hard to replace as a source of protein. I also have to determine how many things I consume right now that have "hidden dairy & eggs". Getting enough protein will be a challenge, especially since plant proteins are incomplete proteins that must be consumed in the correct combinations in order to be beneficial.

My favorite cheat meal is pizza and ice cream. It would actually be a great thing if I had to give that up. I could still eat tofutti ice cream which is every bit as good as the real thing and I know Amy's makes a vegan pizza. I think the vegan alternatives would be a lot healthier than Papa Gino's and Breyer's! I don't know. I need to give this some further consideration. If I do decide go for it, it won't be overnight. I will try to eliminate everything by the end of this year. I was vegan for a few years as a teenager and I did it in a very unhealthy way. I refuse to make that mistake again. This time it will take some serious planning.

Well, I am off to the gym. I need to work my butt off to make up for all the workouts I missed this week. :db: :bb: :p

I used the elliptical trainer for 1/2 hour but it seemed like something was wrong. The machine adjusts the intensity based on you HR and it kept reading my HR at 66, so the tension kept increasing and increasing until it reached its maximum. My HR must have really been around 190 at that point so halfway through I decided to stop and reset the whole thing. When I finished up on the elliptical, I decided to check out the nautilus machines. I feel akward on a lot of them and prefer freeweights, especially for the upper body. I never ended up doing the 1/2 hour on the treadmill as planned. Oh well. Tomorrow is 1 hour of cardioboxing which I know will kick my ass. I have to make sure I stretch really good because my legs hurt all last week after that class.

Here is my workout schedule for the week:

Sunday: 1/2 Elliptical
Monday: 1 hour Cardioboxing
Tuesday: 1/2 hour Elliptical/Upper body weights
Wednesday: 1 hour spinning
Thursday: Off
Friday: Lower body weights
Saturday: 1/2 hour Elliptical & 1/2 hour Treadmill

I am posting this in my journal ahead of time, hoping that it will make me feel even more obligated to stick to it. It seems like lately I either eat great and miss workouts or workout and cheat a little more than planned. I need to crackdown on myself if I want to reach my goal.

I am planning on eating roughly 1300 calories a day for six days this week. I will not be tracking macronutrients, but all foods will be coming from clean sources only, while attempting to maintan a decent p/c/f ratio. I am giving myself the option to take one cheat day if I strongly feel the need to. If I do not feel the need, I will eat clean all seven days. Each day I will post whether or not I stuck to my workout/diet plan. :tu:

I ate as planned today. I ate 1327 calories all from clean sources. I think I ate more carbs than usual beacause I ate an apple for breakfast rather than eggbeaters and I had a sweet potato with dinner. I feel much more satisfied eating the healthy foods I want to eat rather than forcing myself to eat something I don't want to so my macronutrients will be a certain breakdown. Yet I still feel the slightest bit of guilt for not tracking my macronutrients.

I did cardioboxing as planned. I took a hot shower as soon as I got home and I made sure I stretched really good before and after the class. Hopefully I won't be in pain tomorrow like I was last week.

I want to decrease my BF % so bad. Sometimes I get down on myself and think I will never get it as low as I want it to be. But I know with hard work I can and I will. I can't wait until I get past this plateau I have been at for the last few weeks. Once I get under 130 I will feel a lot better about my progress.

I love looking at other people's transformations because it proves that you can totally change your body. Like Emily; Her transformation is amazing and she is consistently improving. I am so impressed with the way her body changed in a relatively short period of time. I hope mine will be equally impressive eventually. I just have to keep that in mind during my weak moments. :tu:

I ate 1,305 calories today, as planned. I ended up doing my upper body workout at home. I like doing my upper body with my dumb bells, but I either need to get some heavier ones for home or I need to start doing it at the gym. I can't wait for my spinning class tomorrow. I am glad that it is right after work because I have a bit to finish up tomorrow evening. I need to get some sleep, I am very tired.

I went to the spinning class as planned. It was pretty intense and I am estimating that I burned at least 500-600 calories during the hour. Maybe a little more. It was very good but not quite as much fun as cardioboxing. I am going to continue going each week just to have a nice variety.

I ended up eating one piece of cake at work today. :rolleyes:
It was not just an ordinary cake. It was this cake:

It was from an upscale pastry shop that has a reputation for making the best cakes ever......... I couldn't resist trying it because I know that I won't have many opportunities otherwise because I am not willing to drop $140 on one cake. It was well worth the calories! I skipped my 3:00 snack, which would have been a 210 calorie protein bar. Yeah, I know they are not exactly an even trade off but I wanted to cut some calories somewhere after my indulgence!

Other than that I ate as planned today and would have eaten 1,285 calories had I not eaten the cake. I am estimating the cake to be about 350 calories (it was a small piece), so I am not too far off from my 1300 calorie guideline. I know the cake probably had a lot of fat and carbs but I am not going to stress about it. I will probably not have a cheat day this week so its not that big of a deal to me. Tomorrow is my day off from working out because I have school.

Not much else to say....I am going to go watch The Simple Life 2. (my guilty pleasure ;) )

I had a long day and I am tired. I ate as planned except I had some hard candies while I was at school. I am sure they amounted to no more than 100 calories, but they were loaded with sugar. I was supposed to eat eggbeaters when I got home but I have no apetite. I feel bad about the cake yesterday and the candies today and about skipping the healthy things that I was supposed to eat . But on the other hand, I guess those two "mini cheats" don't even compare to how bad my cheat days usually are. Since I won't be having one this week, I don't feel as bad. Tomorrow, I need to do my lower body workout. I am planning on going to the gym at aroung 7:00 PM. Usually Friday nights are my biggest temptation to cheat. I hope being at the gym will distract me from thinking about food. :D

Hi Destiny, I was just reading through your journal and your stats and things are very similar to my own, along with you goals. I am 20 y/o and this past xmas i was at my highest of 145 pounds (5'5) (ive never been big, but this was my biggest) and I lost 13 pounds taking me down to 132. I started a serious cutting diet 3 weeks ago and now I am down to 128.5. The 130 mark was also particularly difficult for me, and i shouldnt say it gets "easier" but it feels better knowing you are in the weight range that is closer to goal. My goal in my mind is that I wanna see 120, but i dont care how much I weight as long as my bodyfat is where I want. I can see my obliques now, and im working on my upper and lower abs to show.
Anyways, cheat days seems to help me as well. Also taking days of from the gym when needed. I had been going strong for almost 3 weeks and this past tuesday i had a horrible, stressful day, headache, and didnt make it to the gym and decided to have a few cheats. Well, thursday (yesterday) I was down another pound.
I started a journal so you can check it out if you like..also, if i may comment, I think maybe you should eat a bit more? I am averaging 1600 cals/day and i even weigh a little less than you. Maybe try that for a few weeks to reset your metabolism? Just a suggestion.
Good luck with everything

~Diamond_Star

I just got back from the gym. I had a great lower body workout. I also decided to do 1/2 hour on the elliptical trainer. I know there are a lot of people who believe cardio should not be done on the same day as weights, but I am really trying to reduce my body fat. I strongly believe that I need all the cardio that I can get. If I have a burst of motivation, I know better take advantage!

I ate well today. I did have an extra protein bar which is 210 calories. This brings my overall calorie intake up to about 1510 for the day. I am considering increasing my daily calories. Maybe just every other day.

I can't wait for Sunday when I weigh myself. I hope I lost at least a pound.I have busted my ass in the gym all week and I better see some results! :bb:

I did cardio on weight days for quite a while. I eventually stopped because it was making me too hungry. But if you don't have that problem, or it isnt' making you tired, then keep at it. Several people have been successful doing it the same way that you are.

Oh, and I wouldn't have passed up that cake either. :eat:

Today I did 1/2 hour on th elliptical, 1/2 hour on the treadmill and played basketball with my boyfriend for about 15 minutes. Well, we weren't exactly playing one on one or anything, but we were goofing around and I was very sweaty. Overall, I had an awesome workout and I feet great.

I felt nauseous about an hour later. I think I was dehydrated because I only drank 24 oz of water before going to the gym and another 24 oz at the gym. Usually I drink 3 liters of water throughout the day and workout in the evening. I will make sure I am well hydrated in the future because I felt pretty strange for about an hour.

Recently I have taken a liking to sugar free Red Bull. I have conflicting feelings about the stuff. I gave up cofee about a year ago because I hated having a nasty caffiene addiction. I have never liked soft drinks and have always been glad that I did not have to battle cravings. I started drinking Red Bull about two weeks ago. I have one on school nights in order to stay alert. It is so hard to get up at 6:00 am, work all day, go directly to school, and not get home until 10:30 at night. I was zoning out in class and decided I would allow myself one a week. Then I started having one on Saturday mornings so I wouldn't want to sleep all day. I have a lot to do on weekends and can't waste the whole day sleeping. Then I started having one a couple nights before I hit the gym. It gives me extra stamina and I feel like I work much harder. It only has 10 calories so its not that I am worried about. I don't want to feel addicted to this stuff. I don't want to get withdrawal headaches if I don't have it. Plus it has 200 mg of sodium, which I don't like very much. I can't decide if the pros outweigh the cons. In any case I have about 10 cans that I need to finish off before I decide. Any opinions are welcome!

Thats about it for today. I have no big plans for tonight. I am having tuna steak and a sweet potato for dinner. My boyfriend is grilling the tuna right now and it smells soooooooo delicious! :eat:

WooHoo! This morning I weighed in at 130.5 lbs! Last Sunday I was 134.5 lbs, but I am sure at least 2 lbs were water retention from my period. If I work super hard this week I should be able to get under 130 and I will feel awesome about my progress. :bb:

My scale still said 26% BF but I haven't had a chance to use the calipers and take measurements yet. I think my calipers are a little more accurate than the scale.

My gym is closed today so I think I am going to run/walk outside. Its pretty hot already but I will make sure I drink tons of water before I go and I will wear my UV protection Dri Fit shirt. I am soooooooooooooo happy that I finally made some progress. This is exactly the motivation I needed! :nod:

Dang girl, good job! I don't think I've ever lost 4 lbs in one week. I was happy if I lost 1. I think my body fat is going back up..my thighs touch now. I'm going to find out my body fat % on Tuesday. :d_eek: WooHoo! This morning I weighed in at 130.5 lbs! Last Sunday I was 134.5 lbs, but I am sure at least 2 lbs were water retention from my period. If I work super hard this week I should be able to get under 130 and I will feel awesome about my progress. :bb:

My scale still said 26% BF but I haven't had a chance to use the calipers and take measurements yet. I think my calipers are a little more accurate than the scale.

My gym is closed today so I think I am going to run/walk outside. Its pretty hot already but I will make sure I drink tons of water before I go and I will wear my UV protection Dri Fit shirt. I am soooooooooooooo happy that I finally made some progress. This is exactly the motivation I needed! :nod:

Dang girl, good job! I don't think I've ever lost 4 lbs in one week. I was happy if I lost 1. I think my body fat is going back up..my thighs touch now. I'm going to find out my body fat % on Tuesday. :d_eek:

Thanks Emma!

I am sure you thighs look fine! They looked good in the pics you posted a couple of weeks ago and they couldn't have changed that much since then! And don't feel bad, most of my fat is carried in my butt and thighs too and I hate it. But in all honesty I would rather carry my weight there than my stomach. At least it gives females a feminine shape rather than looking like a big round apple body balanced on stick legs!

I really couldn't believe I dropped 4 lbs this week either. But like I said it had to be because of my period because the week before I worked my butt off and gained two lbs. It must have been water retention. So I am really considering it as a 2 lb loss.

BTW, I have been reading your journal and website and noticed how you are getting down on yourself. If it means anything, I think you look fabulous and you are one of the main people that keeps me motivated. Oh yeah, and your butt and thighs put mine to shame! :o

Yesterday was so depressing. I did absolutely nothing to celebrate the 4th. I had a lot of homework to do because I have a term paper, presentation, and final exam due on Thursday. Then I have a new class starting on Monday. Before the first class I need to read 70 pages of the text book, write two papers, and select a book that I will have to write a term paper on at the end of the class. Sometimes I feel more overwhelmed on the weekends than I do during the week. Between work, school and chores I feel like I have no time to relax.

I finally finished my term paper but I still need to do the bibliography. I also need to do the final touches on my presentation. I have selected a book from the reading list for the new class and I have read 13 pages of the text, but I haven't even began writing either of the papers yet. I didn't end up running yesterday and I decided to allow myself 1 mixed drink and an ice cream sundae since it was a holiday weekend. They both made me feel sick. I felt like a failure because I not only skipped my workout, but I cheated as well. Whatever. I am sure most Americans did way more damage yesterday than I did.

Today, I went to cardioboxing at 7:00 and I was sweatier than ever before. There was barely anyone there so we did all sort of special drills and an extra long ab routine at the end. I felt great afterward.

Here is my workout schedule for the rest of the week:

Tuesday: Upper body weights, 1/2 hour cardio
Wednesday:Spinning (1 hour), abs
Thursday: Off
Friday: Lower body weights, 1/2 hour cardio
Saturday: 1/2 hour elliptical, 1/2 hour treadmill, abs

I have Friday off because my boyfriend is getting his wisdom teeth out and I have to drive him. I don't know if I will end up going to the gym that day, but I will try my best. If I don't I will most likely do my leg workout at home. Saturday I will definitely go nice and early because I have an appt. to get my hair cut at 9:45 then I will go immediatly after.

I am so tired and I don't want to work tomorrow. :(

Destiny, are you a senior in college? How many credits are you taking this summer? I took 8 credits last summer and that was horrible. Thanks for the compliments by the way..though I'm still down on myself. I'm getting my butt in gear tomorrow.Yesterday was so depressing. I did absolutely nothing to celebrate the 4th. I had a lot of homework to do because I have a term paper, presentation, and final exam due on Thursday. Then I have a new class starting on Monday. Before the first class I need to read 70 pages of the text book, write two papers, and select a book that I will have to write a term paper on at the end of the class. Sometimes I feel more overwhelmed on the weekends than I do during the week. Between work, school and chores I feel like I have no time to relax.

I finally finished my term paper but I still need to do the bibliography. I also need to do the final touches on my presentation. I have selected a book from the reading list for the new class and I have read 13 pages of the text, but I haven't even began writing either of the papers yet. I didn't end up running yesterday and I decided to allow myself 1 mixed drink and an ice cream sundae since it was a holiday weekend. They both made me feel sick. I felt like a failure because I not only skipped my workout, but I cheated as well. Whatever. I am sure most Americans did way more damage yesterday than I did.

Today, I went to cardioboxing at 7:00 and I was sweatier than ever before. There was barely anyone there so we did all sort of special drills and an extra long ab routine at the end. I felt great afterward.

Here is my workout schedule for the rest of the week:

Tuesday: Upper body weights, 1/2 hour cardio
Wednesday:Spinning (1 hour), abs
Thursday: Off
Friday: Lower body weights, 1/2 hour cardio
Saturday: 1/2 hour elliptical, 1/2 hour treadmill, abs

I have Friday off because my boyfriend is getting his wisdom teeth out and I have to drive him. I don't know if I will end up going to the gym that day, but I will try my best. If I don't I will most likely do my leg workout at home. Saturday I will definitely go nice and early because I have an appt. to get my hair cut at 9:45 then I will go immediatly after.

I am so tired and I don't want to work tomorrow. :(

I am not a senior. Actually, I still have quite a a bit to complete! I wasn't able to go to college straight out of high school so I started working full time right after I graduated and have been ever since. Luckily, when I was 19, I landed a pretty decent job in the financial industry. I have learned a tremendous amount, but last year I decided that I need to get my degree if I want to take it any further. My employer offers tuition reimbursement so I started taking night classes last fall. I am taking three courses this summer (12 credits). It eats up my weekends and evenings, but I can deal with it. I want to finish as quickly as possible so I will be taking classes year round until I am done.

I have not cheated at all this week (except Sunday) and have followed my workout schedule as planned. I did a killer upper body workout yesterday plus a 1/2 hour on the ellipical. I did an hour of spinning tonight and we did pushups and tricep dips at the end of the class. That killed my arms so bad, but felt so good at the same time!

This has been a great week so far. :bb:

Last night was my night off from working out and I also decided to make it my cheat day. For dinner I had a veggie sub from D'Angelo's some chips, a cookie and a blueberry danish. It was my last night of my Human Nutrition class and I had to give a presentation. Everything went very well. That was an excellent class and I am slightly sorry that it is over. Then after school (At 10:00) I ate Cheeto's and a coffee coolata. It made me feel disgustingly sick. I am so disgusted with myself and how much I ate!

Today I had the day off. My Boyfriend had his wisdom teeth out and afterward I had a frozen lemonade with him. I ate so crappy today because I had a protein bar for breakfast, then the frozen lemonade. When I got home I had two boca chicken patties with 1 slice of cheese each, lettuce, 1 TBS of miracle whip, a pickle and about two servings of baked fries. And I dipped the fries in sour cream. I haven't eaten anything since then. I haven't counted calories and I really just estimated the portion sizes. I also skipped the gym today. Oh well, I will get back on track tomorrow. I hate having days with no structure. Its days like this when I eat like crap and don't get enough water. I am mad at myself because I probably won't be under 130 on Sunday. I will feel lucky if I maintain.

Tomorrow I will do at least an hour of cardio. I might do a lower body workout prior to the cardio. :db:

Hello I just got done reading your journal, congrats on the progress so far!!! I know what you mean about feelin' crappy when you don't have a eatin' schedule to be on. I just had a cheat day today for hte first time in a couple weeks and I can't wait to get back on schedule don't get me wrong the food tastes great but I know I'm going to be feelin' like crap tomorrow! I just started a journal also!! Check it out any advice is welcomed!! Talk to you later!!! :tucool:

leezlee03, thanks for the comments. I will be checking out your journal regularly.

I am back on track today. I did a killer lower body workout, 1/2 hour on the elliptical and a 1/2 hour on the treadmill this morning. I am feeling great. Today I noticed that I am really starting to gain cardiovascular endurance. I can run much longer and at a faster speed without getting winded. I also found that I need to add more resistance on the elliptical to really feel worked. I love noticing changes like that because it makes me feel like I am being so good to my body and makes me realize that all this effort is not just about looking better! :)

Ok, I am finally going to post some progress pics. I am only posting these in my journal for those who care enough to read it. I am about 1/2 way to my goal and I want to decrease my BF by another 11%. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Congrats on your progress!! I can really tell in your legs and stomach! Keep up the good work!

Ok, I am finally going to post some progress pics. I am only posting these in my journal for those who care enough to read it. I am about 1/2 way to my goal and I want to decrease my BF by another 11%. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Wow you are doing great. All your hard work is showing. I need to get more in line so I can have some nice after pics. =) Keep it up!

Dwayne

You look great Destiny. Good progress, and what a cute bikini!

Fantastic progress :) you should be proud of your body

Thanks for the nice comments guys. I can't wait until I can post my real after pictures when I have actually reached my goal. My progress has been so much slower than I hoped, but I guess that also means it will stay off too. I originally thought I would have reached my goal by now, but I am now aiming to reach (or exceed) my goal by January 2005. In the grand scheme of things, 1 year isn't that long to transform your body.

I did not go to the gym yesterday. Here is My workout schedule for the rest of the week:

Monday: 1/2 hour elliptical, 1/2 hour treadmill, abs
Tuesday: Upper body weights, 1/2 hour cardio
Wednesday: 1 hour spinning
Thursday: 1 Hour kickboxing, abs
Friday: Lower body weights, 1/2 hour cardio
Saturday: 1/2 hour elliptical, 1/2 hour treadmill, abs

Yesterday was also my cheat day (althugh it was a light cheat day). I plan on eating clean for the rest of the week and will not exceed 1500 calories per day. I am still not tracking my macros, but if I don't see some results this week, I may go back to tracking.

Bump to Guava! Great progress and a cute bikini to match :)! hehe

Keep it up!! :tu:

Wow Destiny. Amazing progress no doubt. It is an amazing difference between those photos...Keep up the good work!! I am very impressed, you must have worked hard, or should I say you DID work hard, because I can tell!~ :gl:

Thank you Diamond_Star and TheLemonSong! Your kind words mean a lot to me. It was really scary for me to post my pics and I really appreciate the positive feedback! :nod:

I am hungry..... :eat:

I am craving crappy foods like cookies, pizza and ice cream. I can't stop thinking about them. I have had a terrible week. I missed my workout on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. I will go to the gym today though. I am just having terrible cravings and feeling discouraged.

Let yourself have a piece of pizza and get back on the wagon. =) It may do ya some good. Don't get discouraged, look how far you have come. You can do it. Take your time and get centered again.

Dwayne

Wow! I really fell off the wagon the last half of this week. I ate pizza, ice cream, and many Quaker Chewy granola bars (damn those things!). On top of it, I missed my workouts since Thursday.

I really feel like I need to do something to get myself in line. I keep promising myself I will do better, I am good the first half of the week, then I screw it all up the second have. This same cycle has been repeated for too many weeks now. :rolleyes:

I am considering getting a custom plan made for me. I emailed Swole for a estimate. I am 98% sure I will do it, as long as I can afford it. I just think I need some guidance at this point. I question everything that I do so much that I am totally confused and always feel like I am doing things wrong. It would be great to really feel like I know what I am doing.

I have also relaxed my guidelines so much since I started. I know that I need get strict again if I want to achieve my goals. :bb:

Let me know how the Swole plan works for you. Once I get down another 50lbs I am going to need some strict help and guidance, and I really think he or Jeremy could help me out quite a bit. I have to get there before them though to prove to myself I am commited.

You already have come so far, maybe having someone monitor and re-structure your plan may provide just the spark you are looking for. Keep us informed, and good luck with it. I think you will do fine.



Wow! I really fell off the wagon the last half of this week. I ate pizza, ice cream, and many Quaker Chewy granola bars (damn those things!). On top of it, I missed my workouts since Thursday.

I really feel like I need to do something to get myself in line. I keep promising myself I will do better, I am good the first half of the week, then I screw it all up the second have. This same cycle has been repeated for too many weeks now. :rolleyes:

I am considering getting a custom plan made for me. I emailed Swole for a estimate. I am 98% sure I will do it, as long as I can afford it. I just think I need some guidance at this point. I question everything that I do so much that I am totally confused and always feel like I am doing things wrong. It would be great to really feel like I know what I am doing.

I have also relaxed my guidelines so much since I started. I know that I need get strict again if I want to achieve my goals. :bb:

I'll tell you this about the SwoleGenix program...you will NOT be hungry...

By the time the next meal comes around, I'm usually just starting to feel a little less full from the last meal...

If you're having cravings like that, why not just designate a cheat day? Do you already? I mean to say...if you're making allowances for a little bit of cheating (Chewies or whatnot) each day, it probably adds up to one cheat day and thats not so bad...but i suggest taking it all at once so you can really control your thyroid better, rather than taking it in little bits.

Also, next time you think about cheating find an anti-cheat. By this I mean, do something that puts your head rather than your stomach back in control. Its a Pavlovs-dog kind of thing. Some examples are, look in the mirror while holding the food and decide if thats what you want to do, or brush your teeth....I don't really get cravings for bad foods too often (ESPECIALLY ON SGX!!) and when I do I can usually control them...for me the cravings are to stop working out. Not stop going, but stop. 30 min. in to cardio and I'm willing to call it quits, and I HATE that feeling. I hate feeling like I want to quit, so I certainly kno w what you must be feeling like when you get a craving and you think "Man i don't want to do this, but the temptation is overwhelming.." When my legs are tired, or my arms are burning, I always want to quit...so everytime this happens I FORCE MYSELF to work harder. Now my body is conditioned to not think about quitting because it knows that the thought is going to make it work harder...same principle here. When you think about cheating or have "uncontrollable" cravings, come up with a way to condition yourself away from them...some type of routine that will always bring you back down and get you off your cravings.

I hope that helps..I keep re-reading it and it sounds harsh, but its certainly not supposed to be...I want to remind you also that we're all here to help you. You're not alone in your transformation. I really do think about the people on this board when I workout (esp. Swole, Shadow, Supir, and Bluestreak) I feel like they won't let me quit...so I hope you have the same sentiment about some of hte folks here...I'm very proud of you for having come so far, and I want to see you succeed (and I know you will!)! So keep up the effort, keep yourself motivated, and keep on posting!!

-Andrew

I'll tell you this about the SwoleGenix program...you will NOT be hungry...

By the time the next meal comes around, I'm usually just starting to feel a little less full from the last meal...

If you're having cravings like that, why not just designate a cheat day? Do you already? I mean to say...if you're making allowances for a little bit of cheating (Chewies or whatnot) each day, it probably adds up to one cheat day and thats not so bad...but i suggest taking it all at once so you can really control your thyroid better, rather than taking it in little bits.

Also, next time you think about cheating find an anti-cheat. By this I mean, do something that puts your head rather than your stomach back in control. Its a Pavlovs-dog kind of thing. Some examples are, look in the mirror while holding the food and decide if thats what you want to do, or brush your teeth....I don't really get cravings for bad foods too often (ESPECIALLY ON SGX!!) and when I do I can usually control them...for me the cravings are to stop working out. Not stop going, but stop. 30 min. in to cardio and I'm willing to call it quits, and I HATE that feeling. I hate feeling like I want to quit, so I certainly kno w what you must be feeling like when you get a craving and you think "Man i don't want to do this, but the temptation is overwhelming.." When my legs are tired, or my arms are burning, I always want to quit...so everytime this happens I FORCE MYSELF to work harder. Now my body is conditioned to not think about quitting because it knows that the thought is going to make it work harder...same principle here. When you think about cheating or have "uncontrollable" cravings, come up with a way to condition yourself away from them...some type of routine that will always bring you back down and get you off your cravings.

I hope that helps..I keep re-reading it and it sounds harsh, but its certainly not supposed to be...I want to remind you also that we're all here to help you. You're not alone in your transformation. I really do think about the people on this board when I workout (esp. Swole, Shadow, Supir, and Bluestreak) I feel like they won't let me quit...so I hope you have the same sentiment about some of hte folks here...I'm very proud of you for having come so far, and I want to see you succeed (and I know you will!)! So keep up the effort, keep yourself motivated, and keep on posting!!

-Andrew

Thanks for the encouragement. It doesn't come across harsh at all. It is exactly what I need to hear. I was doing so good up until about 5-6 weeks ago. Then I progressively started getting worse. I wasn't seeing progress and I was obsessing about my macronutrient breakdown. So in an attempt to stop the obsession, I decided to stop tracking all together. I did ok at first but then I started getting more and more lenient. In the past I was having 1 cheat day a week (if I wanted to, which wasn't all the time). Then I decided to give up the cheat day and just indulge here and there. BAD IDEA! I am not the type of person that can handle sweets in moderation! I have been so disgustingly bad the past 4 days. I am like a wood chipper shoving chewys down my throat and destroying them in seconds. I have been eating like 4 granola bars a day! They are 100% crap! Then I had Domino's and DQ! I also drank some cocktails last night. I felt like I was going to puke before I finally fell asleep. Talk about letting go! I have been hating myself the past few days.

I have been considering contacting Swolecat for a while and finally went through with it today. He got back to me so quicky and that was so encouraging. I just emailed him back and told him to sign me up. So I will be starting SwoleGenix soon and I CANNOT WAIT!

I have worked hard since January and I am not about to throw away all my progress on a few bad days. I am coming back with full vengeance and I am going to reach my goals! Thanks a lot for all your encouragement. I never would have been able to make the progress I have made if I hadn't found JSF. You guys are awesome! :tu:

Let me know how the Swole plan works for you. Once I get down another 50lbs I am going to need some strict help and guidance, and I really think he or Jeremy could help me out quite a bit. I have to get there before them though to prove to myself I am commited.

You already have come so far, maybe having someone monitor and re-structure your plan may provide just the spark you are looking for. Keep us informed, and good luck with it. I think you will do fine.

Dwayne,

I have decided to start the SwleGenix program and I will definitely keep you guys updated on my progress. Once I start the program I may start posting updated pics once every week or two. I really think this is exactly what I need too! Thanks again for the encouragement! :)

I haven't been too good or too bad this week. I have been eating all clean foods but I haven't gone to the gym at all. The reason I haven't gone to the gym is because, unfortunately, I have had a contagious rash on part of my face since last saturday and I don't want to sweat and spread the bacteria all over my face. :mad:

I thought it would go away much sooner, but it hasn't yet. It finally seems to be going away now though. Hopefully it will be gone by this Saturday. I don't even know how the hell I got it because it is a skin rash that little kids get for the most part and I haven't been anywhere near kids!

I will be sending a money order to Swolecat on Saturday so hopefully I will be starting Swolegenix very soon. I am dissappointed that I couldn't start sooner, but I needed to get a postal money order and my work hours clash with the post office's hours. I hate when my job gets in the way of what I really want to be doing!

You're really making great progress !!

You go girl !!

Good luck with your SC program.

Trust in SwoleGenix, it is your friend, it loves you, it wants you to succeed :) hehe!!

SGX is shattering my best expectations! 10 days in and I could see my ribs when I was RELAXED whereas when I started I couldn't see them hardly at all when FLEXED!! Hit it as hard as you can. You get what you give! SwoleCat will take the guess work out of the equasion and leave you with just the work. Its a great program, I can't say enough. Believe and you will achieve! :bb:

Trust in SwoleGenix, it is your friend, it loves you, it wants you to succeed :) hehe!!

SGX is shattering my best expectations! 10 days in and I could see my ribs when I was RELAXED whereas when I started I couldn't see them hardly at all when FLEXED!! Hit it as hard as you can. You get what you give! SwoleCat will take the guess work out of the equasion and leave you with just the work. Its a great program, I can't say enough. Believe and you will achieve! :bb:

Yeah, I have been checking out your pics everyday and I can definitely see the progress! Very inspiring! :)

I mailed my payment today so I am hoping to start SGX by next weekend. Until then, I am just going to eat as clean as I can and focus bigtime on my workouts. I haven't hit the gym yet today but I will be going in about an hour. I plan do do an hour of cardio and abs today. I really want to lose some fat before my vacation, so as of today I have 5 weeks to go. I know thats not a whole lot of time but with some hard work its definitely enough time to make some progress. :tu:

You're really making great progress !!

You go girl !!

Good luck with your SC program.

Thank you! You are also making excellent progress. Your abs look great!! :)

Got my SGX plan last night. Tonight I will plan out my menus. I am so excited to start!!! :D

This morning I weighe 128.5!! The past few weeks have been rather busy for me and I don't have a lot of tme to post, but I'll update later this week.

I haven't been posting much because I have been super stressed out with work & school and some personal issues. I am going on vacation in two weeks, which can't come soon enough! The good news is my BF% has decreased to 23%. I need to read the forum more often. I miss it!!! :D

Congrats on your progress!! I know what you mean with beein' busy, this is a crazy time of the year!!! Nice to see ya didn't leave for good!!!

Don't get to stressed!!!! Relax! :)

Ok here are a few progress pics. I know I haven't been posting too often but I have been so busy. I guess spending less time on the i-net and more time at the gym might not be such a bad thing though, huh? I know I totally cheated in these pics by wearing the shoes, but I hate being so damn short!! :lol:

I appreciate any feedback.

Hmmmmmmmm, I guess I didn't really give much of an update as of what I have been doing. I bought the SGX program, but I have yet to start it. I have had a lot going on lately that was really stressing me out and it just seemed to overwhelming to start now. So I kinda started doing my own thing. I am not tracking my food intake but I am eating 6 times a day, all clean food, roughly 1500 kcal a day. I am busting my ass at the gym doing 45-60 minutes of cardio a day 5-6 days a week, and weights about 3 times a week. I am going to start doing more weights, but I think the cardio is really helping. I am also considering taking Kung Fu, but not until I get back from vacation. I leave next Sunday and I cannot wait. I am soooooooo tired and need a vacation so bad. I'll tru to post some pics when I get back.

I may start SGX when I get back but my current routine seems to be working so if it aint broken, why fix it, right? I think I will just wait until I hit a plateau and start it then.

I am also considering taking Kung Fu, but not until I get back from vacation.
This is my unsolicited advice, but I think it's important to warn you about this kind of stuff:

I've taken Kung Fu for 7 months and Muay Thai for 3 months. I have learned much more about fighting in the 3 months of Muay Thai than I have in all 7 months of Kung Fu. Kung Fu is fun and very relaxing. But, if you want to learn to defend yourself, make sure your Kung Fu class spars a lot. I'm unsure of your goals in taking Kung Fu, but I thought I should post this. For more info about this kind of stuff, try http://www.bullshido.com

I have had a great week so far. Ate clean every day went to the gym everyday except yesterday. I leave for Jamaica on Sunday morning. I am sooooooo excited. I hope to at least workout while I am there, but if I don't it's no big deal. I am also going to eat what I want while I am there and not worry about it. When I get back I plan to get super strict. I feel like I am over the whole wanting to eat bad things phase. Lately I have just been eating healthy and not worrying too much about it. No major cravings or anything which is a far cry from how I used to feel. I also love working out now. I have set two new goals for myself. I want to be able to run 2 miles in 16 minutes and be able to do one real pull up by January. This may not seem like much to some, but to me it is.

I am also debating whether to take Kung Fu, or boxing & kickboxing. I love boxing, but I am seriously afraid to take a punch to the face even if it is with headgear. But I guess the whole goal is to toughen up so I will get over it.This is the gym that I may take lessons at if I decide to do boxing:

http://manfredogymcom.readyhosting.com/

I am so indecisive. :rolleyes: I will decide after my vacation, but I know I do definitely want to do one or the other.

The bad news is I have been back from Jamaica since Monday and I haven't been to the gym yet. The good news is that I gained no weight while I was there. I only worked out one day on vacation and pretty much ate whatever I wanted in moderation. I have been feeling sick since I got back and haven't had a lot of energy, but I plan to go to the gym tomorrow. My boyfriend went tonight and found that our gym is in the process of rearranging and getting new equipment. He said it was a mess and that I was probably better off waiting until everything is in order. Hopefully it will be somewhat better by tomorrow. Other than that, not too much else to report. I plan to continue working out and to tweak my diet until I start seeing some definition. :tu:

Destiny,

Just wanted to say GREAT JOB and you look fannnntastic!! Keep working and you will be at your goal before you know it!!

-Em

Destiny,

Just wanted to say GREAT JOB and you look fannnntastic!! Keep working and you will be at your goal before you know it!!

-Em

Thank you Emma! It is great to hear from you!!!!! :spaz:

Today, I finally went to the gym for the first time since I got home last week. I did and hour of cardioboxing and afterward a few drills and abs. It felt great. I have been eating clean and have been maintaining my weight, but I need to get to the gym more if I want to see some real improvement. Tomorrow we are going to a Red Sox game after work and Wednesday I have school so I won't be able to go again until Thursday. I guess if I really wanted to I could get up early and run before work, however, seeing that its already 11:30 and I would have to get up at 5:30 to do that it is unlikely. I will definitely eat clean tomorrow and Wednesday then hit the gym hard the rest of the week. It has taken a while to get back into the swing of things. It doesn't help that I have been sick for the past week either. Oh well, enough excuses. I know what I need to do! :tu:

Today I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, 30 minutes on the treadmill and 5 minutes on the rowing machine. I have been eating clean all weekend with the exception of friday, which was my cheat day. Tomorrow I will be doing 1 hour of cardioboxing. I am really focusing on cardio and my diet in order to reduce my BF% and to increase my cardiovascular endurance. From now on I plan to do cardio at least 5 days a week for 1 hour and weights 2-3 times a week, depending on my progress. :jumping:

Hey Destiny,
Let me know how the 5 hours of cardio a week goes because I know I couldnt do it! After my weight training I can barely make it to 45 min cardio. How do you find time to work out so often when you are in school and work? I remember last semester you were over your head in school work? I can only work out 2-4 days a week tops this semester and it really is hurting my spirits.
-Em

Today I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, 30 minutes on the treadmill and 5 minutes on the rowing machine. I have been eating clean all weekend with the exception of friday, which was my cheat day. Tomorrow I will be doing 1 hour of cardioboxing. I am really focusing on cardio and my diet in order to reduce my BF% and to increase my cardiovascular endurance. From now on I plan to do cardio at least 5 days a week for 1 hour and weights 2-3 times a week, depending on my progress. :jumping:

Hey Destiny,
Let me know how the 5 hours of cardio a week goes because I know I couldnt do it! After my weight training I can barely make it to 45 min cardio. How do you find time to work out so often when you are in school and work? I remember last semester you were over your head in school work? I can only work out 2-4 days a week tops this semester and it really is hurting my spirits.
-Em

The program I am in is designed for working professionals so I take one class every 5 weeks and I only have school one night a week (for four hours). However, since the courses are so condensed, I get slammed with tons of homework every week so I try to do a little each night and I reserve either Saturday or Sunday to make sure it gets done. I try to workout on the 4 weeknights that I don't have school and on one weekend day. Sometimes I switch it up and workout both Saturday and Sunday and take one weeknight off. My boyfriend is also very supportive and encourages me to go to the gym when I am feeling lazy. He is also great about doing more than his share of household chores to make things easier on me. The one thing I lack time for is sleep. I usually don't go to bed until 12:00-1:00, but I would rather sacrifice sleep than reduce my workouts or jeopardize my GPA. Sometimes I honestly feel like I am going crazy :spaz: but I just try to focus on the future and my long term goals. I know that my schedule will eventually be less hectic and all my hard work will pay off in numerous ways and that definitely keeps me going. :tu:

Yesterday I did 1/2 hour on the elliptical 1/2 hour on the treadmill. Tonight I did 1 hour of cardioboxing and abs. Tomorrow I will be doing 1 hour of cardio and lower body weights. Wednesday will be my day off. Thursday & Friday will be one hour of cardio each. Saturday will be one hour of cardio and upper body weights. My diet has been extremely clean. My weight hasn't changed in a few weeks but I can tell that my body is changing. My muscles are getting much firmer and I feel that my bodyfat is decreasing (although I haven't measured it lately). I plan to work hard during October and possibly post some updated pics and stats in the beginning of November. :bb:

Last week everything went great until Thursday. Due to some personal issues I didn't make it to the gym that night. Then instead of going on friday night, I decided I deserved to do whatever I wanted so I had friends over and got completely sh*t faced. Saturday I had every intention of going but somehow managed NOT to make it to the gym once again. Oh yeah, and did I mention that I decided to cheat all three days in a row as well? God, I am such a loser sometimes. :rolleyes:

Well, today I did an hour of cardio and lower body weights. The plan this week is the same as last week except I am not going to screw it up again! It feels good to be back on track.

I am soooo tired of every moment of my life being consumed by work and school. The only "fun" I ever seem to have is going to the gym. Once I am done with my economics class (Nov 10) I am not taking anymore classes until at least March because I will be required to do a lot of of OT at work due to the upcoming tax season (I can't wait :rolleyes: ). There is no way I would be able to handle the OT and maintain my grades. I am pissed that it will just prolong finishing school but honestly, school is driving me out of my mind right now. It will be such a relief to not have to stress about homework on the weekends. Plus I will make lots of extra $$ from doing OT. :claplow:

Good grief you sound busy! You're doing great exercising at all with all that going on! :claplow: You've certainly made great progress so far in losing weight and lowering your bodyfat! Great work!

On Saturday I weighed 125 so hopefully I am down a pound for real, but my weight tends to fluctuate a little so I wont be feel like it is real unless I weigh 125 a week later. Yesterday I binged on peanut butter cookie dough ice cream so I am pissed at my self. I did an hour of cardio but I think the amount of ice cream I ate totally defeated the workout. Today I have been good and I also went to the gym. I MUST be good for the rest of the week because I have been cheating a little more than I should lately. I have also missed a few weight workouts but I have been pretty good about cardio. It is frustrating me that I could probably be seriously decreasing my BF with all the cardio I am doing, but I have been stuffing my face with pizza at leat once a week and holding back my progress. GRRRRRRRR. I need to eliminate cheating competely for a while.

A bit of good news is that I adopted a cat this week. She is a four year old girl. She is mostly white with a gray tail and a few gray spots on her head. She is sooooooooooooo small compared to my other cat Alphie. I never realized what a giant he is (weighs 15 lbs!!). She is about half his size. So far they are very cautious around each other but hopefully they will end up being friends soon. I named her Sophie. I'll try to post some pics of her later this week. :p

I have been awful this past week. I am soooooo tired and I have been having the worst cravings. I think I only worked out 3 times last week. I also skipped the gym today and yesterday. I have school tomorrow so I wont be going then either. I have been cheating a lot this past week too. I have PMS so bad and I am an angry eating machine. I am embarassed to be posting this but I am hoping the shame will motivate me to do better. My 1 year transformation anniversary will be coming up in three months and I would really like to make some more progress before then. I have a plan set in place, but I have been having a really hard time lately. The weather has been really cold and rainy and that makes me crave bad food too (like chowder). I cannot wait until I am done with my economics class. I think having he extra time available will really help me reach my goals. I have been getting very little sleep and I think it is really starting to take a toll. I will update later in the week and hopefully I will have better things to say.

My cravings are finally gone. Did an gour of cardio yesterday. Today I will do 40 minutes of pilates. I plan to do an hour of cardio thursday friday and saturday. I will also do weights thursday and saturday. I got a new pair of wieght lifting gloves and I am excited to try them out. :D

I am down to 124.5! I am soooo happy because I haven't been too strict lately. I am off work this week so I should be able to fit in some killer workouts during the day. I am very happy about that.

I am also happy because my stupid computer was severly infected with adware which I couldnt get rid of no matter what I tried, but I spent all day yesterday cleaning it up and it all seems to be gone. :claplow:

My last economics class is this wednesday so I wont have to go crazy with school and OT at work during tax season. I just have to finish a paper by wednesday and I am all good. However, I did recently enroll in GIA (Gemological Institute of America) so I will be taking a few online courses over the next few weeks. I am excited about this though because gemology is something I actually enjoy unlike the classes I need to take for my BSBA.

I have to promise myself to be good during the holiday season because I really want to make more progress by my one year transformation anniversary. Halloween didn't tempt me too bad and I only had a couple pieces of gum and two lollipops. This isn't bad considering that there was candy EVERYWHERE at work for the entire month of October.

Today I plan to do 1 hour of cardio and lower body weights. Hopefully I will be able to update more often now that I will have more freetime and my computer is no longer destroyed from adware. :nod:

I have been rather relaxed about my diet lately. I made a deal with myself that I can eat what I want through the holiday season as long as I continue to go to the gym. I have put on about 3 lbs from my lowest weight and I feel slightly flabby. I know the holidays are a huge excuse but I have decided to allow myself this "cheat" period. Once January hits I am going to start the Swolegenix program that I bought back in August that I never started. I know its bad to put things off and say "I'll start later" but the holiday season has been challenging enough without being militant about my diet. I recently started taking some distance classes through GIA and I have been working late and weekends due to tax season. For the most part I have been following my usual diet during the day and eating a little more than usual on evenings. I have also been eating out a little more than usual on weekends. However, I have not given up on my commitment to improving my health and my body and I do not feel like I have lost the battle! :D

This week I did and hour and a half of cardio on Monday & Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday were days off and today I did an hour of cardio. My diet was kinda bad all week except for today. I am really trying to get back into the swing of things. I need to start doing weights again and watching my diet better.

I am also happy because my stupid computer was severly infected with adware which I couldnt get rid of no matter what I tried, but I spent all day yesterday cleaning it up and it all seems to be gone. :claplow:


One quick and easy thing that I've found that can help with adware is using system restore to go back to a point in time before the adware started. You wouldn't lose any documents that way, but any programs that you installed during that time might have to be reinstalled. I find it to be an acceptable compromise.

I use that feature a lot also! :)

Destiny, diet can be tough this time of year. I know it's been a not too pretty journey for me lately! I know things will be much easier come January when there aren't so many temptations!

One quick and easy thing that I've found that can help with adware is using system restore to go back to a point in time before the adware started. You wouldn't lose any documents that way, but any programs that you installed during that time might have to be reinstalled. I find it to be an acceptable compromise.

Thanks for the tip. I updated my Norton Antivirus and also installed ad-aware by lava soft and i run both every few days. It seems to be working for now, but I'll keep your advice in mind in the future. :tu:

I use that feature a lot also! :)

Destiny, diet can be tough this time of year. I know it's been a not too pretty journey for me lately! I know things will be much easier come January when there aren't so many temptations!

That is what I am hoping! You are entering your first figure competition soon, right? When is it? Although I am not nearly ready yet I was thinking about maybe doing one later in the year after some intense training. How do you go about getting into one? Do you have a trainer? If you have the time, PM me. I would love to ask you some questions! :D

I did an hour of cardio on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday I did an hour and a half. I didn't workout Tuesday, Wednesday or today. I hope to tomorrow, but I have several things I need to take care of during the day.My parents will be coming over to exchange gifts in the evening. Christmas Day I will be busy all day. I am in the process of devising several meal plans under the SwoleGenix guidelines. I plan to complete 3 menus each for traing and non training days. I will be starting SwoleGenix on Sunday. I am a little bit scared to be so strict, but I know that I must in order to reach my goals. Ultimately, I am looking forward to starting the plan. I hope to make some progress by January 25th so I can post updated 1 year pictures.

It's day two of swolegenix. I have had a slight headache both days and I am also urinating a lot more than usual, although I am drinking the same amount of water as before. Maybe its from one of the supplements? I am not sure. I think my headache is a result of my body adjusting to eating completely clean after slacking off the past few weeks. It feels good to be back on track. I took pics today and weighed myself. I will do measurements before bed. I am not going to weigh or measure myself again until January 31, 2005. I hope to see some decent progress by then! :D

Good luck! :)

Good luck! :)

Thanks! Its day three and I am feeling great. I had a killer workout at the gym. Also, my headache went away. :)

First time reading through your journal, and saw your set of progress pics for the first time!

I know they are a bit old now, but WOW!! You've made amazing improvements! Many people would be happy to go from your A to your B and just leave it at that, but good for you for staying on top of it!

You really look great!

-Allen

First time reading through your journal, and saw your set of progress pics for the first time!

I know they are a bit old now, but WOW!! You've made amazing improvements! Many people would be happy to go from your A to your B and just leave it at that, but good for you for staying on top of it!

You really look great!

-Allen

Thanks Allen! Your kind words are evn more motivation for me to keep going! :bb:

Day 4 of Swolegenix and I am feeling great. Today was an "non-training" day which means I only did cardio. I did one hour on the elliptical. I am really getting used to the diet. I will be doing weight training 4 days a week from now on which is more than I am used to. My legs are a little sore from leg day (tuesday) but the soreness just motivates me more because I feel like its working! :flex:

I stole this idea from Emma's journal because it looked fun:

2004

1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before?
Started taking a kickboxing class.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Yes, I lost over 30 lbs and kept it off. I have made several goals for this year including fitness goals, financial goals, career & academic goals.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, but a new cat joined my family! ;)

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No

5. What countries did you visit?
Jamaica

6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?
More self discipline & weight training.

7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January 25th, when I committed to my transformation.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Losing 30 lbs
Figuring out what direction I want my career to go in and taking action to pursue it.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing serious.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A vacation. :D

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
At times, my boyfriend's.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My boss.


14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent, car, insurance, utilities, savings & investments. And a few treats for myself! :p

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Meeting my weightloss goal.

16. What song will always remind you of 2004?
Terror Squad, Lean Back

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier
ii. thinner or fatter? Thinner
iii. richer or poorer? Richer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Weight trained.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Complained about my life. Also, there was a 3 month time span when I was not getting along with my boyfriend.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Christmas Eve was spent with my mother & step-father. Christmas Day was spent with my boyfriend and his family.

22. Did you fall in love in 2004?
I stayed in love.

23. How many one-night stands?
Zero

24. What was your favorite TV program?
The OC, Nip Tuck and Dance 360.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't truly hate anyone but there is someone I like less.

26. What was the best book you read?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

27. What was your greatest musical (re)discovery?
Elephant Man

28. What did you want and get?
A vacation, weightloss, new clothes, painting supplies and an easel, jewelers tools and probably a whole lot of stuff I am forgetting to list.

29. What did you want and not get?
Muscle tone and definition.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was stuck at the airport for 6 hours then flew home. I turned 23.

32. What one thing would have made the year immeasurably more satisfying?
Nothing. I had a great year.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?
I wear what I want when I want to wear it.

34. What kept you sane?
My boyfriend, red bull, and shopping.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I wouldn't say I "fancy" them, but I find Paris Hilton & Nicole Ritchie quite amusing.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Bush getting re-elected. Also, the whole over reaction to the Janet Jackson stunt at the superbowl. Censorship is ridiculous. If you don't want to see/hear something on the radio/TV, THEN TURN IT OFF.

37. Who did you miss?
My dad, brother & grandparents that live in the midwest.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Annie, a former co-worker.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004:
Don't dwell on the past or sweat the small things. Realize what is truly important to you and appreciate everything you have, especially your health and your loved ones. Focus on the positive things and realize how insignificant a lot of the negative things are.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"Burn out bad minded people, make them resign"

Friday was my day off/cheat day. I had the best New Years Eve that I have had in years. First we went out to dinner. I had salad, a breadstick, seafood alfredo and tiramisu for dessert. I also had two drinks. A major cheat, I know, but it was worth it. I wanted to celebrate all that I had accomplished in 2004 and prepare myself for what is to come in 2005. Then we went to Providence. We ice skated for about an hour, which was so fun and my cardio for the day. Then we went to waterfire and finally watched the fireworks at midnight. It was great to wake up on New Years Day without a hangover!

On New Years Day I was all ready to workout, I get to the gym and realize they are closed. Grrrrrrr. Oh well. Today I did an hour of cardio and back/traps chest/abs. Yesterday technically should have been back/traps but since the gym was closed I decided to make up for it today. Not so sure it was a good idea. I feel exhausted. Next time I'll know better.

My washing machine brokedown last wednesday, so I have to go to the laundrymat tonight. As weird as this sounds I am kinda excited. It seems relaxing to just chill and read a book while I wait for my laundry. We ordered the part for our washing machine today and it should be here hopefully by wednesday. I hope we are able to get it fixed by next weekend.

I am also very excited because I ordered the new Zen Micro (http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=10795) MP3 player. I ordered it in pink (my favorite color) and I should have it by wednesday as well. I can't wait because the MP3 player I have now is an ancient Rio and it is a piece of crap. It is stuck on repeat so I have to listen to the same song over and over unless I shut it off, turn it back on and try to select a new track. Oh yeah, and the buttons don't work anymore so I just have to press all over until it starts a random track, which I am forced to listen to on repeat until I start the process again. So yeah, I am ecstatic to be getting a new one! :tu:

Today was an off day for weight training. I did 1 hour of kickboxing and an ab workout after. Tomorrow is leg day, no cardio. The SGX diet is going quite nicely.

The diet is going very well. I really feel like my whole body is tightening up. Today was leg day. I am learning to love the burn. My legs shake when I am done, but I feel like I am getting stronger already.

Tomorrow I have jury duty so hopefully I will get out of there fairly early and can hit the gym a little earlier than usual. Tomorrow is 1 hour of cardio and shoulders/arms. :db:

The diet is going very well. I really feel like my whole body is tightening up. Today was leg day. I am learning to love the burn. My legs shake when I am done, but I feel like I am getting stronger already.

Tomorrow I have jury duty so hopefully I will get out of there fairly early and can hit the gym a little earlier than usual. Tomorrow is 1 hour of cardio and shoulders/arms. :db:

Grats on the diet.

Yea that "post exercise wow I hurt and it was hard but I feel SO GOOD" thing is kinda addicting huh :)

Good job!

-Allen

Grats on the diet.

Yea that "post exercise wow I hurt and it was hard but I feel SO GOOD" thing is kinda addicting huh :)

Good job!

-Allen

Thanks Allen! It sure is addicting! For some reason, the soreness makes me feel like I am getting ripped. I figure if I am working hard enough to feel his way, something good must be going on with m muscles! :D

Today I stuck to the SGX plan perfectly except I missed my morning shake. I had jury duty and I didn't want to take protein powder in the court house. Since they make you send all your belongings through a scanner, I was fearing that they would question what this white powder was and I didn't want to deal with the hassle. I also didn't want to take flax oil pills in case they questioned what those were. Yes, I am probably waaay to paranoid but I am just a geek like that. Anyway, I sat there from 8:30-1:30 and didn't get picked. It was long and boring, but what else would I expect?

Today was arms/shoulders and 1 hour of cardio. The workout went great except I was unable to do hammer curls. I was able to do them last week, so I was really frustrated. My wrists feel so weak sometimes they feel like they will break. Sometimes I suspect that I have signs of carpal tunnel syndrome because they tingle a lot at night. My hands also get cold very easily and both wrists are always making a "snapping" sound. I don't know what to think. I just hope they get stronger. I am thinking of getting gloves with wrist braces. Especially for my left wrist because that one is terrible.

Other than that I feel great. I feel like I am really making progress. I can't wait until the end of the month when I do updated pics. Hopefully I will be happy enough with the results to post them here. I also got my new MP3 player today. I absolutely loooooove it. My boyfriend already bought one last weekend so he was able to upload a bunch of songs for me as soon as I got it. It was great not to have to deal with the software installation and all that crap before I could try it out. Tomorrow is an off training day. I will be doing one hour of cardio. Then Friday is my Cheat Day!!!! :drool:

I decided to switch my cheat day to Thursday. Then on Friday I started to get really sick and felt like crap and skipped the gym. Saturday I woke up with a horrible headache. I had to work and was supposed to stay for six hours but I ended up throwing up and went home two hours early. Needless to say I didn't go to the gym again. Today I feel a bit better but I am very achy and have a slight headache so I am not going today and will get back on track tomorrow.

Yesterday was supposed to be back/traps and today was supposed to be chest/abs so I am going to have to modify my workout schedule in order to fit everything in this week. I just need to keep a positive attitude and not let this get me down. :tu:

Today I did 1 hour of cardioboxing & back/traps. I am feeling much better than I was over the weekend. :)

Today was leg day. Once again, it felt great. The SGX diet has been going great!

Last Wednesday I was at the mall and stopped in the petstore. There was a hamster in this little itty bitty aquarium. He barely had enough room to take 2 steps. He was all wet because he kept falling in his water dish. He kept jumping and trying to pull himself to the top. His little hands were all red and one was almost bleeding. It absolutely broke my heart. I couldn't resist going back on friday and buying him. So here's the newest addition to my family:

Hamtaro!

Be careful with hamsters - they know how to unlock their cages!! Every hamster I had as a kid broke out of their cage and crawled down the heating vent :( Today was leg day. Once again, it felt great. The SGX diet has been going great!

Last Wednesday I was at the mall and stopped in the petstore. There was a hamster in this little itty bitty aquarium. He barely had enough room to take 2 steps. He was all wet because he kept falling in his water dish. He kept jumping and trying to pull himself to the top. His little hands were all red and one was almost bleeding. It absolutely broke my heart. I couldn't resist going back on friday and buying him. So here's the newest addition to my family:

Hamtaro!

Be careful with hamsters - they know how to unlock their cages!! Every hamster I had as a kid broke out of their cage and crawled down the heating vent :(

Awwww....poor hamsters! =(

I also had hamsters and gerbils that escaped when I was younger. I can tell this one is always plotting his escape too. He's is a 10 gallon aquarium and I bought a cover that clips on from the outside. But I am still paranoid so I check on him every morning and a bunch of times in the evening to make sure it is secure. I am being as careful as possible because I have two cats and if he got out he would be doomed!

Today I did 1 hour on the elliptical trainer and shoulders/arms. My arms are feeling soooooooooooo much stronger than when I started SGX just three weeks ago. I have been able to increase my weight on just about everything each week. I am still having a hard time with hammer curls though. My wrists are so weak, however they do feel better this week than last. Today was supposed to be an off day for weights (cardio only). However, tomorrow I am not going to be able to make it to the gym, so I switched them around. I hope its not a big deal. Its only for one week so I don't think it will make much of a difference. My training schedule was screwed up to begin with because of being sick over the weekend. Friday I plan to do 1 hour cardio, chest/abs. Then Saturday will be cardio only. I need to rearrange my schedule because I will be working every Sunday throughout January and possibly February and I will most likely not be able to make it on Thursday nights for the next few weeks. I just hope the rest of the weekdays continue as planned because it is a possibility that I will be required to work late on an as needed basis throughout tax season.

Today I did 45 minutes of cardio & chest abs. I feel sooooooo good. I worked my chest harder than ever before.

Yesterday I had a scheduled cheat meal for dinner. Today I ate clean all day and stuck to the sgx plan. I am feeling great. I can't wait until its time for progress pics. I really hope I see some progress. I sure feel like I will. :bb:

Yesterday I did an hour of cardio. Here is my schedule for this week:

Sunday: 1 hour cardio (elliptical)
Monday 1 hour cardio (kickboxing)
Tuesday: 1 hour cardio, back/traps
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Off
Friday: 1 hour cardio, chest/abs
Saturday: 1 hour cardio, arms/shoulders

I will be following this schedule for the next 9 weeks. I still plan to do some updated pics as of the 31st. If I see progress I will post them. Otherwise I will give it a few more weeks before posting them. I made a change to my diet this week. I am still following the SGX eating patterns. I was eating 1 oz of cheese almost every day, but I decided to eliminate this and replace it with Flax Oil. I am hoping this will help eliminate some bf. Other than that, my diet is 100% clean and I don't really know what else to change. I am getting a lot stronger and I feel like my muscles are growing, but I don't feel like I am shedding much bf. However, I am feeling really healthy overall.

Sunday, Monday & Tuesday went as planned. I am swapping today with tomorrow which means today was off and tomorrow is legs. Can't wait. I never thought I would say this, but I love squats!

Today was also my cheat day. :eat:

I only had four hours of sleep last night, so I must get to bed. :p

Love the hamster. Cute and fluffy.

Thanks badgolfer! He is a cute little guy, isn't he?! :p

Today was leg day. I am exhausted tonight. Need to get to bed asap.

Today was supposed to be arms/shoulders but it is snowing like crazy and my gym was closed. Normally tomorrow would just be cardio, so hopefully the gym will be open *crosses fingers* and I can do arms shoulders then.

Some great news is, I enetered bodybuilding.com's "transformation of the month" contest and won. So my pics and stuff should be up sometime next month. I'll be sure to post the link (as long as thats ok with John). I originally submitted my before pics from 1/25/04 and my after pics from 8/22/04. However, I am going to do some updated pics on 1/25/05 which will be exactly a year from when I started. Since I have been doing SGX since late december, I am hoping my new pics will look a little better than the ones from august.

Followed my diet perectly today but I missed doing weights. Hopefully tomorrow! :tu:

Waaaaaaaaa! We got about two feet of snow and my gym was closed again. Tomorrow is 1 hour of kickboxing. Maybe I'll try to do arms/shoulder after, but my arms are usually pretty spent after kickboxing so I don't know if it would even be worth it.

Only did kickboxing today. Tomorrow will be 45 minutes cardio, back/traps. I was having cravings earlier but the are gone. Feeling good. :tu:

Today was supposed to be arms/shoulders but it is snowing like crazy and my gym was closed. Normally tomorrow would just be cardio, so hopefully the gym will be open *crosses fingers* and I can do arms shoulders then.

Some great news is, I enetered bodybuilding.com's "transformation of the month" contest and won. So my pics and stuff should be up sometime next month. I'll be sure to post the link (as long as thats ok with John). I originally submitted my before pics from 1/25/04 and my after pics from 8/22/04. However, I am going to do some updated pics on 1/25/05 which will be exactly a year from when I started. Since I have been doing SGX since late december, I am hoping my new pics will look a little better than the ones from august.

Followed my diet perectly today but I missed doing weights. Hopefully tomorrow! :tu:


thats freakin awesome destiny!!! :nod: cant wait for the link.

thats freakin awesome destiny!!! :nod: cant wait for the link.

Thanks!! I am excited too. I am gonna be embarrased to have my before pics on there, but I guess its not that big of a deal since I don't look like that anymore. :o

Here are a couple of pics of me from yesterday. Exactly one year after I started my transformation. I haven't made a lot of progress since august (my last pics) but I took it very easy during the holiday season so I think all my hardwork the past 5 weeks reversed the damage I did during Nov-Dec. These pics came out all pixelated because I used a different camera and my boyfriend must have had it on a weird setting. Anyway, let me know if you can see any difference (good or bad):

I think you look great! Keep up the hard work. I've been reading your journal and I feel just like you. I let the holidays alter my goals and i'm working hard to reverse it!

Keep us updated!!

Thanks jake!! I was sorta depressed for letting the holidays get the best of me, but then I realized how much I enjoyed them and now I am just gonna work out extra hard. :)

Today was just cardio. It was awesome. i had quite a cheat night last night and I felt like I was dying!!! It felt great to do some serious cardio and burn that crap off!

Today was arms/shoulders. I just keep getting stronger and stronger. I feel like the Hulk! Hahaha :lol: !

I was able to increase the weight on curls, shoulder press and weight assisted dips today. I was psyched. I am not following the SGX plan anymore. I was happy with my results for the most part, but there are a few things about the plan that I don't like following exactly. I am doing a modified version of it (I haven't spoken to Swolecat about it or anything). I just changed up the things I didn't like and added a few of my own twists. We'll see what happens!

I went in the steamroom after my workout today. I can't believe that it took me this long to try it out and discover how great it feels. I feel awesome today! :tucool:

Yesterday was 45 minutes of cardio & back/traps. I had an awesome workout and felt great. Today is my off day and my cheat day. I had some taco bell for dinner. Even though I know how terrible it is, I love their rice! :drool:

Today was leg day. I felt like I was gonna collapse by the time I was done. I was able to add 10 more lbs to my squats though. That made me very happy! :)

i looked at your recent pix compared to your starting pix - amazing. you seriously look great.

i looked at your recent pix compared to your starting pix - amazing. you seriously look great.

Thank you! :)

Today was 45 minutes of cardio and arms/shoulders. Great workout! :tu:

Today was 1 hour of kickboxing. I feel like crap. I usually don't eat until after, but I was relly hungry so I ate before. I felt sick the entire time. :(

Today I did 45 minutes of cardio and back/traps. I feel so good right now.

I ended up taking wednesday & thursday off. I did legs yesterday. I increased the weight on my squats again. I was nauseous by the time I was done but it was a great workout. I feel like the appearance of my legs is improving with each leg workout.

Today is chest and abs. I will also do 45 minutes of cardio as well.

I have to go computer shopping.. :(

My laptop crashed on Thursday night. I bought a new hard drive but the laptop still doesn't detect it in the BIOS. Its no longer under warranty and it will cost $160 for Comp USA to look at it. I just don't think its worth it at this point so I am gonna look for something new. I am mad that I have to spend the $ to buy another one after only 1.5 years, but on the other hand, I am excited about getting a new one. :nod:

Got my new laptop. Its nice but I miss the old one.

Had a major cheat on Valentine's Day. Woke up with a pounding headache on tuesday. It persisted for two days. I didn't go to work yesterday or today. I also skipped the gym. I didn't cheat yesterday, in fact I barely ate because I was nauseous all day. I feel just as bad about that as I would cheating. Today I barely ate until the evening. Then I cheated and had two english muffins. :mad:

Starting tomorrow I am making an attempt to go four weeks without cheating. At the end of the four weeks I plan to post updated pics.

Ok, so I didn't go to the gym once this week AND also cheated friday and saturday after my promise of not cheating for four weeks. I feel like such a loser.

I am starting Max OT today which I plan to do for eight weeks. I am also starting my "no cheating for four weeks" as of today. I will probably do updated pics in four weeks, then again at the end of the eight weeks. I hope to put a lot of muscle on my upper body. I am dying to have a defined back. :tu:

I just got back from my first Max OT workout.I did legs. It was good. It is very different than what I am used to, but still good.

Today was chest/abs. Here is what I did:

Pec Fly (machine)
Incline Press (machine)
Cable Crossover
Flat Bench
Decline Dumbell Flyes

Rope Crunch
Ab machine
Hanging Knee Raises

Tonight I have 1 hour of kickboxing.

Hey Destiny,
I went four weeks w/out cheating, and I didn't make any more progress compared to cheating once a week. It will be interesting to see how it affects you.


Got my new laptop. Its nice but I miss the old one.

Had a major cheat on Valentine's Day. Woke up with a pounding headache on tuesday. It persisted for two days. I didn't go to work yesterday or today. I also skipped the gym. I didn't cheat yesterday, in fact I barely ate because I was nauseous all day. I feel just as bad about that as I would cheating. Today I barely ate until the evening. Then I cheated and had two english muffins. :mad:

Starting tomorrow I am making an attempt to go four weeks without cheating. At the end of the four weeks I plan to post updated pics.

Hey Destiny,
I went four weeks w/out cheating, and I didn't make any more progress compared to cheating once a week. It will be interesting to see how it affects you.


I hope it makes no difference so I can go back to having cheat days! :eat:

I am like you, I love to eat myself sick on cheat days. I love pizza & ice cream!! Haha! :lol:

how's everything going??????????????????????????????????????????? :D

Wow, I didn't realize that it has been so long since I last posted in here. Shortly after I committed to not cheating for four weeks I began craving everything on earth. I realized that this was a really bad time to try that since I am in somewhat of a bulking phase. I decided that if there is ever a time to cheat it would be now, while I am trying to gain muscle.

Max OT is awesome. In the past two weeks I have only done cardio maybe 3 times at the most. The heavy lifting is making me really hungry. I have been eating like a maniac, including a lot of bad stuff (chocolate, pizza, etc). The good news is that even with the increased calories, and less cardio I am more muscular then ever. My clothes are fitting better and I feel super strong. I am getting some creatine today. I have been interested in creatine for a while but I was scared to take it because I didn't want to gain the water weight. Now I really don't care about the stupid number on the scale because I know I am packing on muscle!! I am going to lay off the crappy food because I know I will start putting on fat if I keep that up, but the past two weeks have been nice. I ate clean the first half of each day, but then in the evening I was having whatever I wanted. It worked out quite nicely! Now I am still going to eat an increased amount of calories (1600-1800 in what I am aiming for) but I am going to make sure it is all clean food from now on (except on my weekly cheat day).

Originally I was only going to do Max OT for 8 weeks. However, since it really seems to be working well I am going to do a total of 10-12 weeks before I start cutting for summer. :tu:

Please keep us posted on yout Max OT workouts. I am very curious about this and may start as soon as I get to 128 pounds.

Today I did back/traps:

Deadlifts
Shrugs
Compound rows (machine)
One arm dumbell rows
Lat pulldowns
Chin Ups (weight assisted)
Lateral Side Raises

I was able to increase weight on everything except chin ups and Lat pulldowns. I bought some creatine tonight and will start that tomorrow. I also did 45 minutes of cardio on the elliptical.

This week I did:


Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Arms/Shoulders
Saturday: Chest/abs/30 min cardio
Sunday: Back/Traps 45 min cardio

I increased the weight on almost evey exercise. I don't have a lot of time to post the details. I love creatine, it is really making a difference in my workouts. Tomorrow I will be doing 1 hour of kickboxing.

Today completed 4 weeks of Max OT. So far I am extremely happy with the results. I know I haven't been keeping this journal updated on a regular basis, but I am still keeping at it.

I have decided that I will be entering a figure competition on November 5, 2005. I have a little over seven months to prepare, which I feel is a good amount od time for my first competition. I am going to follow Max OT for 8 more weeks, then I will be devising a new plan.

I have been looking at suits and shoes. I already have my shoes picked out and I will be ordering those asap because I need them prior to a seminar that I will be attending. I also have a couple suit designers in mind already. I know exactly what I want for a suit but I won't be ordering that until much closer to the comp. Shopping is the fun part!

Now for the hard part. I will be attending a figure comp seminar in the near future. It is a seminar for first time competitiors and it covers everything from diet, training, suit selection, hair, makeup, etc. At that point I will be evaluated and find out how my training and diet need to change. The woman who offers the seminars specializes in preparing girls for figure/fitness comps and offers training/diet programs and much more. She also offers posing/stage presentation lessons every Sunday. However, I don't think I will be taking those until approximately September. I feel like I am off to a good start.

Having this goal is making me feel very motivated. I have been logging my food into fitday everyday, which is something I haven't done in a long time. Once I have completed Max OT, I am going to start a new journal tracking the preparation. I will be logging my workouts and diet in a much more detailed fashion than I have been lately. :tu:

Hi Destiny! Thanks to the reply on my thread about body fat! I have been following your journal for some time now but never posted. You have made an amazing progress!!! Hope in a year form now I can post my pictures the way you posted yours!!!

Keep up the good work! You look great!!!