Hi Shelley!
 

Wow! Your second challenge!

I know what you mean about finding new exercises. The ones in the book are good but it's fun to add more!

If you don't already have it, you may want to go to your local library and check out "Arnold Schwartzenegger's New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybulding". A HUGE book but has a lot of exercises and great tips from the Man himself. I also save my old Muscle Medias and Muscle & Fitness Hers mags to find new exercises. When going through the book/magazines, I use those little Post-It flags to bookmark pages with exercises I want to try, then make a list of exercises by body part (quads, hams, calves, abs, etc.). I still do the exercises in the BFL book but try to incorporate several new ones. Some of my favorite new ones are:

Arnold Press for shoulders

Hack Squat for quads

Hanging Leg Raise for abs

Preacher Curl for bis

Well, you get the idea...just do some research and have fun! And if you find you don't like an exercise after all, well you can always change it. I would always keep in some kind of squats or lunges for the quads/hams as those are the best, just vary them every four weeks.

hi everyone, as usual mrsj, you have come through for me again,i will check out the questions board. i did great so far, but i have already made my free day sat or sun. so today is free day, i hope it is not to soon, but i didnt start till thurs,so i want to be pretty consistant with my freeday. but i know i can do this.

Hey, thanks Mrs. J.-I just returned Arnold's book to the library. It helped me at the end of my 1st challenge. Those Arnold Presses are a killer! I might start out with those. Remember, I still workout at home, so I am sort of limited. Also, if my DH will let me, I want to get a cheap elliptical machine. Saw one a Walmart for $150.00. I don't know if it is any good or not, but I really can't afford a great one.

Positively my last post before I go work out!!!
 

Thank goodness it's Saturday - most people don't get to the gym til 7 or so today...

Shelley, have you looked into leasing a machine? Or making payments on one? with most of those home machines you really get what you pay for. The less you pay, the quality really suffers. And if they don't let you try it out at the store, fergit about it IMO.

I know that at one time LifeFitness (makers of the Stairmaster and some awesome treadmills) had payment plans at around $30 a month for one of their home-quality machines, which are vastly superior to those $150 cheapos.

There's also gotta be a place somewhere where you can purchase refurbished treadmills/ellipticals/etc. at a reasonable price. I know that money can be TIGHT but just think of it as an investment in your health!

AND before you buy, you may want to browse through Eopinions' site - here's the link to their exercise equipment page... http://www.epinions.com/sprt-All-Exercise_Equipment

Hope that helps out!

Great day already!
 

1) had a great cardio 20 MAS!!!

2) did TWO full chin ups!!!! (my goal is 5 in a row by January 1 2002)

3) I CANTERED for the first time today in my riding lesson!! What fun!

4) Went to the mall today to try on jeans. Can't believe it - for the first time EVER IN MY LIFE, I'M A SIX!!!! SIZE SIX in DKNY Jeans!!! YEEEEEE HAAAAAW! Of course I bought them! They're snug, true, but I was able to zip them and button them up without lying down or even sucking my tummy in much. And I still have four weeks left in my second Challenge!!!

Now - out to find a flag to fly proudly!

Congrats Mrs. Jim!!! Your dilligence to the program has paid off!

I did a Cathe Freidrich LBWO tape yesterday (with heavy weights) and I am feeling it tremendously today. Just 1 week not working out sure does make a difference. I am still trying to decide what to do with my workouts. As I am sitting here on the computer, I am debating over my 1st UBWO. I know I will do Arnold Presses for shoulders. I think I'll do flys for chest, since I only have done them for my last rep of 12 on the last challenge. Amy still hasn't emailed me back what she will be doing, so I have to decide for myself. Nobody answered over at L&S, either! The board has been mainly talking about the disaster.

Out to ride my bike for awhile!

wow mrsjim congratulations, you must feel so proud!!! sounds like you really have made a life change. cant wait till i can say the same. i dont know much about riding but it sounds like you are having fun. so far so good for me. i really didnt even want the foods i ate on free day as much as i thought i did. couldnt wait to get up this morning and start the bfl eating plan again. and of course my 20 min. cardio. have a great day.

Hi guys. It's been a while since I posted, but I have continued to keep up reading the thread. Today starts week 9 of my first challenge. I weighed and measured yesterday. Was down 3 pounds, but no inches from my first 4 weeks. Was a bit discouraged by that, but am trying to keep in mind all the remarks I have been getting from people noticing a change in me.

I am going to keep hanging in there through week 12 and see how it goes. Overall I am quite happy with how I am looking and feeling, so I need to forget what that scale and tape measure said!

Debbie

Debbie-Good for you! I bet you look great! People are noticing, so you KNOW there is a change!

Today starts my 2nd challenge. I am not going to go by the book this time. I am incorporating some video tapes. This morning I did Corey Everson's Get Hard Arms and Shoulders, and added my chest and back. I can really feel it! I think since this is my 2nd challenge, I want to change it a bit. I know this isn't the right thing to do, but I am going to try it this way for 4 weeks to see what happens. For my LBWO, I will be doing Cathe Freidrich PS Lower Body. I did it the other day, and definitely reached my 10's!! Since I workout at home, this seems like the only way that I can pump up the volume on my workouts!

My husband finally made it back from Arizona. The flights were all 1 hr. delayed. When he got to Miami, the airplane had already taken off and left 8 people stranded that were headed to Ft Myers. He and my BIL had to rent a car to drive back. They got back safely at 3:AM, but their luggage is still at the airport. They wouldn't release any luggage after 10:PM. What a trip he had!!

Have a great day!

hi everybody, sounds like everyone is doing good. i too have to learn not to be obsessed with the scale and what it says, i have to go by how i feel.

debbie , i would get a little discouraged too, but we cant quit and in the end we will get to where we want to be. have a good one guys.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!
 

As I typed in the title above, I thought of the movie "The Waterboy" with Adam Sandler. Remember the cameo by Rob Schneider? Most of his lines are "You can do it!" That's what went through my head this morning as I did my UBWO.

Deb - like I said above "You can do it!!!". Don't give up now girl - especially since you have people telling you they're noticing good things. That's why it's so important to take progress photos - otherwise I'D hardly notice any changes in myself.

I've pretty much aced the scale - it's been relegated to a box in the garage. Jim uses it sometimes to weigh packages he's planning on shipping. It feels good not to be so moved by those stupid numbers on the scale.

Yesterday was my Free Day, and while I did eat stuff I wouldn't normally eat, I did not let myself eat with abandon - I had another riding lesson yesterday, then went back to the store and bought ANOTHER pair of size 6 jeans (Saturday's were the low-cut kind, these are the 'classic fit' at the waist) and some new (smaller) undies. It feels great to be able to fit into smaller clothes and look good in 'em!

After Jim came back from practice we went out to have pizza. For some reason, though, it didn't 'call' to me the way I thought it would. I ate just one piece -slowly - and then felt I was at my limit. I'm pretty sure that my system is so used to eating clean now, that it rebels whenever I eat something 'unclean'. There was an interesting thread on L&S this weekend (BTW, don't know if you noticed, but traffic on L&S goes wayyyy down on the weekends - everyone out & about I guess) called "I hate Free Day". Steve L observed, in a post titled "Don't You Think Bill Phillips Planned It That Way??" the following:
I think I'm starting to get it now! Back to my yummy chicken breasts, veggies, and rice today for dinner - can't wait!

Shelley, I'm so proud of you for not only completing your first challenge but making the decision to keep going. :cool:

I knew that you could do it!!!! :) I think that it is so important to complete a full challenge before you start to tweak it. You have already developed the habit and desire to eat right and exercise routinely. You have learned what works for you and now you are at a place where you can make some adjustments. I believe that a program must fit into your lifestyle or it won't work.

I'm in C2W5D5 today. I have made some changes to my routine that now fit perfectly with my schedule so that I now don't make excuses for why things can't be done. For example, I do cardio on Sat morning before work. I know that I will not be able to exercise on Sunday because of my work hours (Thurs is free day), so I do Sunday's cardio on the UBWO day during the week. This way I still get 3 cardios and 3WO each week.

I now do a 15 minute HIIT for cardio. I use the elliptical at the gym or my recumbant exercise bike at home. I change some of my exercises every few weeks. Sometimes I'll do an extra set of something or add a set of a new exercise to a particular body part. The point is to have fun at the same time.

I also use the internet sites andseveral fitness mags for ideas.
www.muscleandfitnesshers.com always has exercise suggestions and fitness articles on line. There's that exercise site, forget the address at this time, that gives you exercises for any muscle group that you want, along with a video pic of someone showing how to do it.
The site is at www.exrx.net/Exercise.html

I also have changed my free day to only one free meal (we go out for dinner) and one unauthorized snack on that day. The rest of the day I eat clean.
I am seeing and feeling results all over. My thighs are slimming down, finally and a lady at work told me the other day "you are my inspiration" as she is now doing BFL, also.

Nutrition wise, I'm doing very well. My homemade protein cookies have been a life saver as has the fitday.com site. I've added UDO's oil blend to my diet to compensate for the low fat intake that I have but I don't count it into my daily calorie/fat intake.

Good luck to all~~~Sil :) :)

Let's hope this is a better week for everyone!
 

My strength is up this week. Kinda hit a slump in my workouts last week. Of course, my appetite was off - who felt like eating with all the horrible news from NY, DC and PA? - so that might explain it.

Food question - does anyone use the instant oatmeal packets? They make a half-cup serving, which doesn't look like much but fills me up as a carb portion. I have the plain unflavored version. Any opinions on whether or not this is a good choice?

thanks,
Marci
C1, W7, D3

hi everyone, sounds like everyone is on program or has a good attitude about it. lets go girls, keep up that motivation.

i use reg oatmeal, but if the packets are not sweetend i would assume they are alright, but i am in no position to give out advice i am still asking questions myself and learning about this program.

hope we all stay motivated.