I sat up until after one this morning surfing female fitness model sites. Oh the endless possibilities of the human body! Fabulous!

And they come from sooo many backgrounds. I used to think they'd all been gymnasts since the age of three ... but it ain't necessarily so. I wish I could remember which one started out at 210 lbs.

Some are short, some are tall, some are smooth, some are rippled ... I'm going to do that again as soon as I get some housework done today. Right before I do cardio and weights

Ugh, I do the same thing Susan...I spend a lot of time on those sites. I'm obsessed with looking like that. If I spent half as much time working out as I do wishing I looked like that, I might actually look like that. *rofl* Ok, well, maybe not...I'd need a lot of silicone to look like most of them.

Ok, I know we said update pics every two weeks and it hasn't been two weeks yet but I'm having a good ab day and wanted to see if there was any difference yet b/c I kinda feel like I see a difference. Maybe wishful thinking? *lol*

Anyway, here's when we started and today. Geez, I'm short.

Lookin' good, goinforthegold!! you have a great stomach, did you know that?

Today, I ate a Resees cup. I only had one, though! I realllyyyyyy wanted another one, but I told myself that it was a very bad idea. Score for willpower.

I want to get as much out of my photo shoot as possible, so I want to get the general fashion shots, bikini shots, artistic shots, ANDDD fitness ones, since I'm getting my license to be a personal trainer and nutritional consultant. If I am going to capatalize on helping other women get better bodies, then I need to have a really nice one myself!

Susan I'm with you on the thickness of the head... I need to pound in the same idea! Over time it has gotten much easier because it really does become a lifestyle when I naturally know I need to eat well and exercise to feel and look better. Doesn't mean I ALWAYS do it though...

As goinforthegold said (you are definitely firming up by the way!) I too would be much more productive if I sepnt the time working towards the body I wanted rather then imagining it. I'm on the way though... slowly but still going in the right direction.

Nightengaleshane, way to eat just one! That is very difficult to do at times. By the way your photo shoot sounds like a lot of fun, I did one once and actually got asked to work but they said I would need to travel and I couldn't do it at the time cause of school and work. Good luck with it. I'm somewhat of a nutrition consultant/trainer now, it's a lot of fun and rewarding to help people succeed, I'm sure you will love it.

I remember now why I'm a bit superstitious about working out well before I work 3-11. Hokey Mickey my butt was draggin by midnight!
And hungry! 2200 cals and I woke up this morning because my stomach was growling. Mine ... my stomach growling! That doesn't happen very often.

Hi, guys!

I made the mistake of running a huge list or errands the other day during lunch and swinging through McDonald's for a quick Happy Meal. Honestly, I was starving the rest of the day and ate too much at dinner. Ronald is out to get me! Bad choice!

In the midst of my ab-blasting workouts, I managed to catch a vicious head cold that has settled in my chest. My diet consists of Robitussin and chicken soup right now... I hate cold weather!

Hello all,

Been away for a while and am still catching up, but I just wanted to say, "way to go, guys!" It's absolutely wonderful to see the group thriving, and the waistlines shrinking. Let's keep it up through the holiday season, eh?

Booh-yeah. (No, I don't really know what that means, but I like the way it sounds.)
Kim

Where to begin ... you see I'm having a lightbulb moment but it's one of those fluorescent bulbs that comes to life sloowwly ...

I can't eat 1200 calories any more. I'm either starving and eat waaay too much the next day or I'm so tired and listless, I nap every day. I certainly cannot work and exercise too!

In the last maybe three days I've come across references to Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle about a gajillion times.

I've done two days of a three day split and loved every minute of it.

On several occassions yesterday and today, I've been honestly grumbling tummy hungry.

A phrase something like ... if you want to gain muscle and become lean, you're going to have to eat ... has popped up in each magazine and about 80% of the websites I've been to lately.

My own signature used to say eat clean.

Even those French Women books ... eat nice bits of awesome foods.

Barbara (one of my favourites) is talking about adding in healthy calories.

The inspirationally successful Kim popped in here.

Do you see this coming together?

I'm too light to lose weight by eating 1200 cals and walking to the post office!

I don't need to get lighter, I need to get slimmer.

Muscle is slimmer.

If I'm going to build muscle, I need to eat!

If I'm going to eat ... it'd better be good food!

I've got past the point where it's all about 'eat less and move more'. I need to learn how to build the body I want (outta these raw materials HA!)

Boing! I think the bulb is fully lit now. Overshadowed only by the fact that I knew all this before sigh. But today it's all just fallen into place in my head.

Yes, I'm excited. Yes, I'm rambling. Did that even make sense?

I messed up yesterday and ate a slice of cheesecake with cherries on it! I LOVE cheesecake. It's one of my trigger foods and it's in my house. oh well. I'm NOT going to eat any more of it. Damn. This is going to be hard!

As some of you may know, I'm pretty much spending Thanksgiving alone. That's ok, because tomorrow my girlfriend is coming home with Thanksgiving dinner - turkey, arroz con dules (I don't know how it's spelled, but it's a big Puerto Rican Thanksgiving thing), mashed potatoes, candied yams, stuffing... I'll eat my fair share of TURKEY and eat small portions of everything else! (Perhaps that is a good bit of advice for everyone here in the states?)

Susan, AMEN! You are so right! And it makes perfect sense... you're not rambling; you've come to a very important realization.

Lafayette - A cold? BLEGH! I hope you feel better soon. You know, the only time I will even eat chicken soup is when sick... any other time, it just reminds me of being sick and makes me go "eugh". Same with ginger ale. And I have an aversion to orange juice because I drink it when my blood sugar gets low, so any other time I'm offered it, all I can think of it sugar crashes which also makes me go "eugh"

Now, if only I could associate things like cheesecake, chips, and trail mix ( yeah yeah I know it's supposed to be healthy but NOT in the quantities I eat it!) with something really, really unpleasant... if I could, I'd probably have a really nice body by now

At any rate, feel better! And yes, Ronald McDonald is EVIL... he's a CLOWN, for 's sake!

And then today ... I went to the grocer to gather up some portable protein and the guy ahead of me in line was the local gym owner. Hmmm ...

BTW ... my groceries looked far healthier than his

I bet that made you feel really good, Susan !

I messed up yesterday... a lot. I ate WAY more cheesecake than any human being is supposed to. Oh well... today is a new day!

I'm about to go black Friday shopping today, so I'm popping in to say hi at the asscrack of dawn. I'm supposed to be Christmas shopping, but maybe I'll buy something for myself, too, since I hardly ever do.

I too ate way more pie and whipped cream that anyone should be allowed. I felt a little sickly stuffed all night... then had another piece this morning... Why don't I learn my lesson? Since we cooked at my house we gave away all the leftovers but the turkey so at least I can't do any more damage. I will be doing damage control for the next few days, I don't even want to look at the scale for like a week!

Morning! Morning!

GOOD morning!

How'd everyone do on Thanksgiving?

Me? I messed up big time I ate flan, cheesecake, pumpkin pie, and of course all the normal Turkey Day favorites. I've been kind of lazy and not exercising as much as I normally do, too, so today I'm fixing all this by starting the day right: drinking a protein shake and going to the gym! YAY! I haven't gained any weight, though, which is good, considering I feel like I've been the BIGGEST PIG the last few days.

Susan, I bet right now you're happy you're not in the states, eh? Thanksgiving was just another Thursday for you

Morning!

I do feel fortunate that there's several weeks between our Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'd have no trouble eating poorly from now until January