OMGoodness! That's a real person??? And we know you, and you're a mom, and you work ft??? No WAY! I'm super impressed!!! Now, let's see the rest you! Put it all together into one pic!

Sportmom: sorry, I actually don't have a head. :D.

One of these days I will rope DH into taking a full body pic. (Not sure he'd understand why I want to broadcast it to the world, though.) In the interim, thanks, sportmom & baffled!

Kim

Kaw, you look incredible!

If I had abs like that I'd probably turn the picture into shirts so that I could show my abs year round.

LOL, Depalma!!

Well Kim, headless shots are fine too. That's what I do when I put photos out in public. Still worried about blowing my cover by running into someone on the subway one day who is a 3fc lurker otherwise! ;) Big-LOL (at myself)

LOL, depalma!

Kim, you look fantastic! My legs look like that, but I can't get my abs to pop no matter how low I manage to get my body fat. :( You look great :o

WOW! How about some shoulders and back?

Mel

Hi LFKALWL,

(Ladies formerly known as ladies who lift)

Kim, AWESOME!!!!! I had an inkling when I saw you BF number, but the pictures are stunning!

Yesterday a lady approached me in the supermarket for a complimentary wellness check. She was with a firm that does guided workouts & weightloss...AND I came out with a BF of 32%, and a BMI of 24. That was normal in both cases (I'm 48) so she was a bit dissapointed because after that her whole sales pitch fell flat. No reason at all to get into an overpriced program!

Also proud of myself that I met my exercise goal for the week as well...bikes to wrok 2 x, went to powerclass, a round of machines when DD had danceclass, and a yogaclass, and did 30 mins cardio & a yoga DVD at home this morning. This makes 7 hrs 15 mins exercise and a non-cranky mom around the house. Foodwise was bad, but I'm working on it.

Have a great week all,
Rabbit

Kim: Wow! You look great!! What an incredible amount of focus and dedication it takes to develop that much definition. Congratulations on such an awesome reward for your efforts. :hug:

Kim - Wow!! Those pictures are amazing! Thanks for posting them...I hope they'll be an inspiration to me. Since I am so in awe, I have to ask. Would you mind posting a "typical workout" day or week for us to see? I don't know if that's too much trouble but I had to ask. I need to know what it takes to do that!! ;)

Mel - I made a batch of the baked pancakes today. They were certainly easy to make. My concern is whether or not it will keep me full for a bit. My batch had 1 cup each of egg whites, cottage cheese and oats and then I added just some baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, splenda and psyllium for extra fibre. I didn't have the pumpkin but I baked it in an 8 X 8 pan for about 35 minutes. They look okay but I just cut it into four and I have each piece at about 200 calories each. My diet-brain is afraid it won't keep me full for long but I'm having one for breakfast tomorrow so I'll let you know. Thanks again!

:D

Elisa, I make the pancakes with 1/3 cup each of egg whites, oatmeal and cottage cheese, and with fruit topping, it lasts me fine. Hopefully it'll do the same for you. :) I like the idea of baking it too, and I actually have some pumpkin, so I may do that tonight while supper is cooking. Thanks for the idea Mel. :)

Elisa, we think along the same lines. I also asked Kim (via pm) to share her FitDay or give us her typical daily meals/snacks. Maybe she'll cater to us both! lol I have a hard time choking down what I know people like Mel, Meg and probably Kim eat (ctg cheese, plain yogurt, fish, ultra clean cooked food, etc) so I guess I keep hoping I'll find someone who does that with easy food. Only in my dreams, I know.

Kim (I'm also a Kim, by the way :D), you look AMAZING! Are you going to be doing any fitness competitions?? Or have you? If not, maybe you should! Yowza!

I was popping over here briefly to ask about NROL For Women (it's coming out at the end of the month), and if any of you will be purchasing it? It wasn't originally going to be NROL For Women, but ended up being titled as that toward the end of the book's writing process (The original title was going to be Lift Like a Man). Lou Schuler (wrote the book), Alwyn Cosgrove (did the workouts) and Cassandra Forsythe (did the nutrition) all put it together, and I think with a team like that, it can't be a BAD book :D I've pre-ordered a copy already and wanted to know who else would be. I've never read the first NROL, but I've heard good things.

Pancake Update: Okay, the baked pancake tasted yummy warmed up at work (I even sliced it in half at home and put in the smallest amount of jam for flavour). Now I just have to see if I'm hungry again in an hour. Either way I like the simplicity of the whole thing so thanks Mel!

:D

Azure, I really like the original NROL book and would recommend it. My guess is that the women's version will be very similar but without all the references to bulking up and getting huge. I might wind up buying it anyway though. There might be an extra tidbit or two.

Hi Sportmom, Elisa, and anyone else who's interested.

I don't use Fitday, so I can't oblige the request for a link. I do, however, track my calories assiduously. My average during the time I was losing fat (July-October) was around 1300 cals per day, with a roughly even split of fat, protein, and carbs, by percentage. My average calories in the last month have undoubtedly gone up, both because I'm shifting to maintenance mode and because of various work & family "social eating" obligations.

A typical weekday in losing mode looks a lot like this:
B: whey protein, 1/2 c. cottage cheese + fruit of the day, 2-3 c. of coffee w/ cream or milk or mix
L: large veggie only salad w/ EVOO+balsamic vinegar dressing, 1-3 oz. lean protein (tuna, leftover chicken, Krab, 98% FF cold cuts, hard-boiled egg)
S: apple w/ peanut butter, whey, or baby carrots & hummus
D: 3-4 oz lean protein or salmon, two different kinds of veggies
S: fruit or applesauce, hot cocoa if I need a sweet fix

The big change for me has been cutting out refined carbs. I don't even eat a lot of whole grains or potatoes, because it's hard for me to limit my portions on these foods. Instead, I get my fiber from veggies.

I haven't cut alcohol entirely because I lurrv a good IPA. However, I only have alcohol when I'm out with friends, which means that there are a lot of weeks when I don't have any. Alcohol, not friends :).

As for exercise, I pretty much follow Krista Scott Dixon's suggested 4-day split, except I try to lift 5 days a week instead of 4. When I lift, I emphasize compound movements and use free weights. I don't think I've used a machine since I started doing unassisted pullups.

When I'm in fat-losing mode, I also try to do 1-2 days a week of cardio, usually interval training. However, I find most forms of indoor cardio to be terminally boring, and hence avoid it as much as possible. I usually try to build some activity into my "off" day or days, usually hiking, gardening, and/or playing with The Boy.

I should also say that although I'm only about 5 months into my current fat loss project, I've been lifting for about 10 years. Some phases were more active (e.g., grad school), others less so (e.g., late pregnancy & immediately thereafter). But, I definitely wasn't starting from scratch in July. I had a reasonably strong muscle base, but perhaps more importantly, I was able to build more quickly than a beginner because of muscle memory.

Finally, smartmom asked the extent to which I think genetics play a role. It's hard to know, of course, but I certainly didn't start with the worst genetics in the world. My parents are in great shape for their age; then again, they also eat meals that are about 75% vegetables and have very physically active lives. I have fewer obese or overweight aunts/uncles than the average American, but our family reunions don't exactly look like a gathering of sticks, either.

Also on the genetics question, I'm not one of those 2% of women who are blessed with a fast metabolism, or who can put on muscle very easily. If I don't work out and eat clean, I do gain fat. And, although most of my life I've been within the normal range, I did max out in the "overweight" category after after 4 years of beer & pizza in college.

Genetics do play a role (roll? ha ha) in *where* I store fat. I've always had a relatively small waist, even if the defined abs are something new. Instead, I tend to store fat on my upper thighs and butt. So, although I have a 6-pack, I still have a rear-end jiggle. So it goes.

This is probably way too much information.

Hope everyone's day is going well so far!

Be strong,
Kim

Baffled, here's a link to an interview a woman named Leigh Peel did with Lou about some specifics of the new book ( http://leighpeele.blogspot.com/2007/...e-changed.html ). He talks about some of the differences/similarities between the two books, and it sounds promising!