Hi BFLL! (love it rabbit!)

I believe Rabbit is in the UK so she sleeps while we post and then leaves us lots of good info to read when we wake up! :)

As for rice, there's also in the rice aisle the microwaveable bags. I would say skip them as well - also chewy is a good description - also makes too much at once. BUT, the micro CUPS are great. And just the right size. They aren't cheap, but my dd also loves them so I buy them for her. They are brown rice and branded Minute Rice. They taste just fine like the normal boil-in -a-bag brown rice that I make for family meals.

Well, my workout today when I planned it out was quite different than what I had expected. I've been doing the 12-10-8 sets of increasing weights for years. So I thought this would be a cakewalk compared to my usual twice weekly fbwo. I was wrong! OMGoodness - that extra set of 12 again at the end and then the second exercise x12. Yeah, I get your spaghetti arms from last week Dee. I'm hoping to get out of bed in the morning. So that already has me jazzed about the program. That and the cottage cheese. ;)

Hey all! So today I begin.. i'm just about to go do my measurments for the first time EVER. I hope I do it right. hehe. i will post my details and photos later on! just checkin in! sounds like everyone is getting on track here!

I've eaten more protien dense foods today to give me the energy to bust it out at the gym today. Im still dragging.. and don't know what's up with me.. but here's hoping once i get there I will get ina groove. knowing my husband is deployed and is stil managinto get to the gym and run really gives me the motivation lol

Ok, I've got my bf% checked today.

Weight (at trainer's, not naked, of course, after breakfast and snack): 156
BF % 14.8
lean mass 132.9
fat lbs 23.1

I'll ask her to check it again in 12 weeks. We'll see!

Midwife - great BF already!

I've located the camera so will do that tonight. Now to find the tape measure. :)

This week's exercise:

M - HIIT Cardio
T - Stage 1A NRLW
W - rest
Th - HIIT Cardio
F - active rest (i.e. square dancing)
S - Stage 1A (or do I alternate with 1B - need to check) and SS cardio
S - active rest (walking or stationary bike)

Food I'm still working on. I have been calorie counting with mostly whole foods and intend to do that. I've also committed to giving up alcohol mostly during these 12 weeks. By mostly I mean none on weekdays, weekends maybe 1 glass, and special occasions (like our anniversary dinner) okay. :)

Hey Ladies, count me in :) I just started (well, re-started) again today. I actually tried to start LAST Tuesday, but fell off toward the end. Today I am back on track though. I will have my DH take "before" pics of me tonite, as well as measurements. So for now I'm only following the BFL weight training/cardio schedule.

My starting weight: 153.6

I will report back to let you know how my weight workout goes tonite! ( Due to my crazy schedule, I can't lift weights until the afternoon )

I will weigh myself tomorrow morning or maybe Wednesday morning. TOM in full swing so I need to wait it out.

Have measure tape, will travel!!!

Well, now I'm depressed. ;) That's exactly what I weighted this morning, but when I calculated my BF% yesterday, it was 24.9%. 118.7 pounds of lean mass and 37.3 pounds of fat. All that fat is in my boobs, I swear! I wonder how one would go about measuring how much her breasts weight? I'm seeing a encounter with our postage scale tomorrow at work. :D

Dixied - :rofl: I can just picture it!

I don't think I can get double quote in so I am doing it manually - below is dixie's response to midwife's post.

Hey dixie, cheer up! Midwife's BF % has depressed me since summer or so - I may have to get myself some antidepressants for that! LOL :D (Midwife: I still love you though :hug: ).
I don't know how she does it, and she won't share her voodoo with me.:mad:

Ok, my stats as of this morning:
160 lbs (actually, the number on the scale dipped into the 159~ for the first time - woohoo - a taste of things to come :carrot: )
39 - 33 - 38.5 (darn boobs don't want to keep up with hips)
My last BF% is from January 6 but it will have to do - 22.7%.

Alena

I just ordered a body fat analyzer yesterday. I'll finally know where I'm beginning from in a couple of days. I'm beginning to see that the weight is dropping a little, like 1/2 pound increments every other day.

I'm so glad that we are all doing this challenge together. It really is the motivation that I needed at just the right time. I can't tell you the number of times in the last three days I was tempted to have just a bite of something and then I would think about everyone else who is working so hard. Your are all keeping me honest.

FRAN...I saw where you were second guessing your choice of plan because of the protein intake. After all of the work you have put into this I'm glad you shook it off and have decided that this is worth trying. Just keep drinking the water with lemon and that could be said to all of us. Water is essential to maximize the fat burning process right?

Here's to great choices everyone. :cheers:

Lyd,
would you mind posting a link to the body analyzer gizmo? Thnks.

HI guys, how did everyone's 20 minute aerobic solution go this morning??? Mine went great! I was definitely taxed but not cardiac arrest type like I was the last time I did it. Taking the treadmill down by a .5 smidge was the answer. I was def annoyed whenever I had to talk to the dd's, who are out of school today for snow. That's exactly how I've heard people describe hiit. At you mid point, you can still talk, but would rather remain quiet. At your high point, you can speak a few words but really get annoyed at someone who keeps making you talk! :)

Wow, that weight exercise yesterday! When I scoped it out and wrote it down on Sunday, it seemed easier than what I had been doing prior to starting BFL. But whoah, that last double set/no rest is REALLY a killer! For any of you out there doing your own workouts, I would encourage you to switch and try the BFL lifting plan for just one week and see how it feels for you. I'm in need of a walker today to get off my seat and the abs are starting to make themselves known as we head toward noon as well. They'll be screaming by dinner time. On Friday, when I repeat it all, boy that should be a really FUN day :dizzy:. Until then, I'm actually REALLY looking forward to my ubwo tomorrow and as Dee described them, her spaghetti arms too weak to drive!

Ok, I'm in :D ...

I've weighed in this morning ... I'll measure tonight...I've got my workouts printed... Running this afternoon and LB work out tonight at the gym......

I'm on day 3, I think. It was my first BFL lower body day. Again, I felt weak, dizzy, and feeble. Those sets/reps are killers.

What exercises are you doing for the Abs portion? I'm having a problem figuring out the set/rep/intensity for planks.

Also, on exercises like lunges, where one leg is dominant, should I be doing 12-10-8-6-12 on each leg? That's what I did this morning, I just alternated legs. Like: Left Leg Lunge, Right Leg Lunge (count 1)... or should I do all the left leg lunges and then all the right leg lunges?

Welcome Ilene!!! :welcome:

Dee, I'm doing leg step-ups, so like your lunges, I have to make a left/rt decision. So I do my 12 set with all left leg leads, then on my 10 set, my right leads each one, on the 8s, my left leads again, and so on. I got too confused trying to switch it up in the same set.

For abs, I'm doing the swiss ball raises, and let me tell you.....ouch! Hard on the abs but also the thighs, hams, and glutes as you fight to keep that ball held. I think I might switch to crunches for a bit bc those ball raises almost spasmed my lower back bc I was working so hard. So anyway, on the abs work, since there's no weight involved, I just do 12, 10, 8, 6, 12 and then 12 of something else (crunches for me). Seems like the intensity level gets progressively harder on its own from exhaustion, without me doing anything extra.

I can sooo feel every muscle in my legs today - quads, hammies and glutes - even tho you'll notice from the workout planner that you don't do a separate "glutes" exercise. I think you work them indirecly on both the quad and hams work - at least that's how it felt at the time (and today!)