Ack, I can't believe so much time has gone by since I posted here! I hope no one thought I was "lost". No way! Life has just been extra full lately and when that happens computer fun time goes bye-bye. lol

I just read over my handwritten journal entries for the past 7 days and wanted to share some thoughts with you. The overwhelming theme of that journal since April 1 is my great enjoyment of my workouts. This second half of Project:You is perfect for me right now. I'm still in love with the circuit workout. I've been able to increase my weight in a few more exercises this past week. Whoohooo! I just love being able to do that! I wonder how much weight I can lift before really needing a barbell? I think I've got a couple months before that will be an issue, but it's fun to think about it. Geez, is that sick or what? lol

I believe I'm falling in great like (not love- yet) of Pilates. Yesterday I had my best Pilates workout so far. It was really neat. I was really in tune with my body, got my breath right (most of the time) and felt strong. My core is truly benefiting from Pilates. I didn't believe it would happen, but it is! Wow! I'm starting to think about buying a Pilates DVD to use after I'm done with PY. I want something with lots of certified instruction (no Lesile Sansone or Denise Austin) and moves I can grow with. I almost want the instructor to talk "down" to me, to be overly clear so I "get it". I need all the help I can get. LOL Any recommendations?

For this past Saturday's choice day I picked the Steady Strides 30 minute walk. I haven't gotten a chance to do this workout in about a month. What a difference a month can make!!!! I just about breezed through this very brisk walk and stayed in great form while being in awe of my increased strength and stamina the whole way. Last month when I did this walk I was huffing and puffing through at least 50% of it and, of course, my form suffered a bit because of it. The first time I did this walk I thought I was keel over- it was so intense and fast! I'm overjoyed with my progress. Before I started PY I'm not sure that I ever really had these kinds of "discoveries" because I wasn't sticking to a defined and thoughtful workout schedule. What are your thoughts and experiences with this? Do you notice improvements in your strength, stamina, etc whether you're using a defined schedule or not? I'm interested to hear....

I'm very proud to share that with the exception of 4 meals this past week (out of 28 which is only 14%- sometimes I love math! lol), I've eaten very cleanly. Spring does that to me- makes me want to eat very healthy. I've been eating lots of veggies and fruits- an average of 7 servings a day. I'm happy with that, but am always striving for higher averages in this category.

Actually the only issue with my eats the past few days has been making sure that I'm eating enough calories each day. Is that crazy or what? Ack! I need to eat at least 1900 calories each day because of my weight and exercise schedule, but somehow I've been ending up around 1600- 1700. So, I'm back to using Fitday. It's such a helpful tool. I'm currently PMSing and I know from past experience that this revs up my hunger, and that's part of the problem right now. I've been focusing on filling myself up with healthy stuff instead of low nutrient foods which is my tendency during this time of the month. It really helps that I do NOT keep that kind of food in the house. It's also very frustrating at times. LOL I'll find my calorie balance again soon, I'm sure. PMS always throws me for a loop. I'm glad that I'm paying attention to what's happening and am doing what I can to keep my body healthy and burning up fat- no matter what time of the month it is. ; ) Ahh, I just love the power I have over my health!!

Monday, 4/11, I'll begin week 9 of PY. I'm a little sad that I only have 4 more weeks left. I'm starting to wonder what workout schedule I'll follow after I'm done with this...? Anyone have any ideas? No rush, just curious. I'm enjoying this Project SO much! And I'm very thankful to have found this thread. Thank you Jennifer to kicking it off!

Connie

Hi chickies!

I lost a few days last week for various reasons - and it definately showed yesterday - not as up to speed as I was last week! I could still finish the tapes, and still felt the upper body workout. Looking forward to getting in as much as I can this week since I'm going to be away from home a good bit of the time.

Glad that you're having such fun, Connie! I keep on learning life lessons from this system, which is a nice side benefit! How did you decide on a calorie budget of 1800?

Julie

Julie, glad to see ya again! Sometimes life creeps us on us and we have no choice but to cut our workouts short or out all together. It's not about what you DON'T do, it's about what are DOING. Live in the now (remember Wayne's World?) and do your best each day. You'll get your upper body strength and endurance back quicker than you figure- I just bet.

How did I decide on 1800 calories? Wow, that answer would be very long. LOL So, I'll give you the short version. Have you had any experience with Fitday.com? It's a free online diet and exercise tracker. You input everything you eat and it calculates the calories for you. In another section you can input your exercise/activities for the day and it tells you how many calories you've burned. Also in that section it tells you how many calories you need each day just to maintain your basic needs- keep your heart pumping, digestion churning- all the basics. This is the bare minimal of calories you need each day to prevent your body from going into starvation mode. (You input your weight, age, and height when you first register and you can update that info whenever you want to.) It also tells you how many calories you need to consume each day to MAINTAIN your current weight. I've used those numbers as a guideline- it's not a truly perfect system but it's a very good ballpark range. Right now my basal calories is 1730- remember, that's with no movement or activity at all- just starvation prevention. My maintenance calories is somewhere around 2400. So, 1800 is the low mid-line for me between basal calories and maintain calories. That's on days when I don't exercise or just do a light workout. If I do normal-for-me workouts I need to eat at least 2000 calories. I feel best and perform best when I consume about this each day.

How's that for the short version? LMBO!

Soo, my problem has been eating about 2000 calories while following the PY Fat Burning plan. I'm working on it...I actually did quite well today. I added in 2 snacks. Duh! Sometimes the answers are so clear that I completely miss it. lol

Hope that answered your question. If you're curious about your calorie range, check out fitday.com. It's free and really easy to use. I'll be glad to help you however I can with it.

Take care,
Connie

Hi Connie!

Yes, I know fitday. And a friend pointed me over to the selfdietcom, which if your a subscriber will do all that stuff and has an online diary with calorie counts. I've checked several BMR sites, and it seems at my current weight (about 190) - my BMR is about 1600, and with exercise it goes up to about 2400 too - so I've been trying to keep around 1800/day, although sometimes I'm as low as 1600 (and sometimes as low as 1300 if I'm not hungry). I think it's fascinating that we need to eat to lose - totally counter-intuitive to what we've been told for the past 20 years. . .

Last night I did a KS tape - timesaver cardio to lose weight - OMG - talk about tricky choreography!!!! That'll take me several run throughs to learn. But I'm finding I'm liking shifting some of the workouts around, as long as I get some cardio in 4-5 days a week.

Hugs,
Julie

Hi everyone,

well I am still around doing kathy smith just have not posted much. For some reason my weight seems to be up and down. I just wish it would stay down. My diet has been up and down. It would make it alot easier if I didn't like junk food like chocolate. If you are looking for your calorie count there is also a good book called dieting for dummies that explains the whole process or formula for the number.

bev

Hi Bev,

That kind of stuff can be really tough - the one thing that does seem to help me is to count out a portion size - I do this with things like nuts - and to PUT the bag away. And after I finish it, I do something else to distract myself. You've lost 9 pounds! That's terrific!

Hugs,
Julie

Good morning everyone,

well this morning i did power push and lower body plus abs. THe lower body workout is one I have to force myself to do. I don't mind the standing work but once you get on the ground I hate floor work. But my motivation is bathing suits. I started shopping and when I saw the back on my thighs ( and all the cellulite) I was determined to finish the workout this morning.

Bev

Hi everybody, I didn't mean to be absent for so long! We're writing a book, and the deadline is approaching, so we're scurrying around like crazy trying to get it finished.

My knee is all healed, and so is my ankle - did I mention that I tripped over my feet doing the grapevine? And my latest injury was pulling my calf muscle. OW, that one hurt. I might have torn it a bit, because it has been really difficult to do much of anything but walk. There is so much jogging and high knees in LL so I've not been able to give it my all. My left leg will go up, but only slowly. If I put fast pressure on my right leg, it is painful. To compensate, I'm doing another cardio session back to back. It's not the workout that caused the injury, it's my two left feet with clunky shoes and new carpet. I've pulled out my older reeboks which seem lighter and not as bulky, so I'm hoping there will be no more injuries!

I'm on the recovery week. According to the scales, I've only lost a pound in the past month. I had actually lost 4, but it keeps fluctuating. I read on BB that quite a few other people were having the same problem. From reading posts from people that were deeper into the program, I expect to see more of a drop in the later half of the program. I definitely have lost some inches though, particularly in my legs. I've not measured yet. I plan on doing that at the end of week 6.

Julie - I've been doing the Timesaver workout this week as one of my supplements. I can finally keep up, but WOW it took a long time to be able to figure it out. I screamed laughing the first time I tried to do it. I was entire sets behind them. I eventually memorized the steps and can remember what comes next, so I can do about 95 percent of the first half. I usually only do the first 20 minutes after doing LL.

HI all, I'm thinking about doing PROJECT:You, but would like to see if everyone is losing on this plan, and if you feel like it is worth the money you spent. Thanks.

Hi Macy, I have not been a good loser! However, I've lost a few inches, and that is what counts. I have a reeeeealy slow metabolism, PCOS, etc, so I don't get great results with anything, except perseverance! There are a lot of different workouts, and it is worth the money for that. Also, if you are out of shape, it is very good to get back into the swing of things. The cardio starts light (one reason I think I had a slow loss for the first half) and increases as the program goes.

If you want an idea of how it is going for me, click my journal link at the bottom of my post. Even though I've been a slow loser, the program is a huge help to get me back into strength training and I've learned loads about form that I can't get from a book.

Thanks Jennifer for the info. I appreciate all you sisters and your site.

Hi,
Im new to this board. I read Jennifer's Journal about PY. It sounded like great program. Im curious about what Rotation look like in 12 weeks? I expect to get them in about a week. I hope to start next week with PY. Im seems to be out of shape since my couple of months absent from working out. I just bought a TransFirmer from the FIrm recently and tried them. It is really hard. I still love the firm. I had them for two year but since my absent from working out I thought I probably start PY to get me into fitness over again then I will go back to the Firm.

Christy

The first 5 weeks are :

cardio/upper
cardio/lower
pilates/yoga
cardio/upper
cardio/lower
choice: cardio or walking cd
rest

Then you have a recovery week which alternates cardio and pilates/yoga.

Part 2 is alternating full body circuit (weights and cardio) with cardio and pilates/yoga.

You'll exercise 6 days a week, and you'll do weights basically every other day. The good thing about PY is that if you are too advanced or not advanced enough, you can modify it to work for you. I moved up to the third (last) cardio before it was time, partly because of an injury that I thought the kickboxing in part two was aggravating, and partly because I wasn't getting all the cardio I thought I needed with a sluggish metabolism.

Jennifer, Thank you for post the rotation. I can see I have to do PY 6 days a week. I dont do workout on weekend. I can do walking or activities with my family on weekend.

IM sorry to hear that you went through couple of injuries by some workout. Hope that you keep them up and not cheating over again as I read your journal. I know you can do it.

Christy

Uh, cheating? I think you might have read my journal wrong, because I didn't cheat, I doubled up on workouts that were a lower intensity so I could let the injury heal. Basically instead of 40 minutes at level 7, I did 60-80 at level 5.

I did delay a few days in the process, so maybe that is what you're referring to. But either way, I'm feeling a lot better now. I changed shoes to something less clunky and that made a huge difference!

One of those workout days is a choice day, and the Steady Strides walking CD is one of the choices. Your own walking workout would probably be just fine. I think as long as you got the heart rate up and burned some calories, it's a good replacement. Enjoy it!