Sunday, April 13, 2008
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I cried today...
...Because I had a kick-ass week on Body For Life. I have lost 6 lbs. since the start of this challenge and I'm only on Week 5! I'm in shock. The husband said I have inspired him so much that he's starting his first day of a new challenge tomorrow. I'm really in disbelief. I had my daughter on September 22nd of 2006, just 14 months after her brother. Two babies in two years really took a toll on my body. Quite frankly, I looked horrible. Two weeks before I started my first Body For Life challenge, I was at 32% bodyfat (which is considered OBESE!) and weighed 134 lbs. I started working out, watching what I ate and I lost 8½ lbs in two weeks, which put me at 125.5.
When I reached 125.5 lbs, I decided I really should enter the Body For Life challenge...hell, there is money involved if you can lose weight. I started busting my butt. Then, something bad happened. I hurt my back doing incline sit-ups. I really should have been taking it easy. They told me in the hospital that I had a case of mild Scoliosis and my doc also said it could take a while for your joints and bones to return back to normal after pregnancy. I rested a week and then tried to pick back up on my challenge, but I was hurt too badly. I had to scrap entering the first challenge, but I continued eating better and doing very light exercises. Through this, I still got down to 113 lbs and 21% bodyfat. Not too bad...but definitely not where I wanted to be.
Between the summer of 2007 and winter of 2008, the lowest I ever saw on the scale was 109 lbs...but my bodyfat was still hovering in the mid to low 20 range. That wasn't good. It meant that I was losing muscle instead of fat. I kept trying to get up the urge to try another Body For Life challenge, but I was too afraid. I was scared to death my back would end up injured so badly that I would require surgery. We had bought a new mattress for our bed and it really seemed to help matters. My back started feeling much better. At that point, I'd pretty much said, "Screw it" and started eating like crap again.
My husband has had issues with his weight and as you know, being in the military means keeping in shape...but he hasn't had much will to do it...so I figured maybe I could best inspire my husband to get moving by getting moving myself. Maybe if I gave him the gift of a hot wife, he'd return the favor? Anyway, I started busting my butt...and I saw changes on the scale, but up until today, never really saw the changes. When I put the photos together from the first challenge to now, my jaw dropped. It wasn't until after I weighed myself, this morning, and took my bodyfat and measurements that I burst into tears. At 108.5, I am now at the leanest I've been since having the kids. My bodyfat is now 18%! And I'm only going into Week 6 of the challenge! I still have 6 more weeks to go and already I've lost 6 lbs and decreased my bodyfat from 23.3% to 18.1%. That's a 5.2% change in just five weeks.
Now, I'm EXTREMELY motivated.
Okay, I feel like an ass...don't laugh too hard because it takes some guts to even admit how bad I looked, but pictures actually say it all:
I'll have to keep updating the photos as the weeks go by...it's so neat to see all my hard work paying off. I'm all psyched because I'm starting to see muscle definition now...I can see my tricep and torso muscles. Hey guys, nice to see you...it's been a while! lol
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Comments (39)
Yay! Go you!
wow, that is amazing.. I may have to look into this. you are doing awesome!
Well done!! Keep it up. I know how hard it is to loose weight, like I said before, I've struggled all my life. You have really inspired me to get with it and start working out and eating better.
I know you talked earlier about bodybuilding. Have you ever heard of Jamie Eason? She's a model/bodybuilder. She's pretty cool and also another inspiration for me. You can tell if people loose weight just by eating better, but not exercising at all because they have no muscle tone at all. I can tell your workouts are paying off! Way to go!
Wow... it's such a huge difference! Good for you! I need to do something like this. I lost 15 pounds last year (due to stress) and now I've gained it back. You should post about the regime you're following. I'd like to know!
Oh . Such awesome achievement.
You really have a determination to improve your body. It takes a lot of mindset and will. Even after giving birth, you have maintained amazing results on your personal self. Keep us posted in your workouts developements Devils dog. What has your hubby said to you? I believe he really loves you on this.
you look fantastic! it's really inspirational. i used to be so good about eating right and working out but i've used the "i don't have time" excuse for awhile now and i'm not at all happy with my body. i need to look through your back posts i think because i don't know much (or really anything) about Body for Life...but it sounds good!
Congratulations!! You have done an awesome job!! I am impressed, and I love that you aren't one that just loses weight..but looks at he muscle too. Your arms look awesome..and I can definitely say I am envious, but you deserve it with your hardwork!!
Is that even a new bikini top??
@October27 - If you have a messed-up back, you should definitely try lifting light weights and using an exercise ball. After I hurt my back, I found out I could still do crunches if I used an exercise ball, which would keep some of the pressure off my lower back. There are stories of people who have done this program while in wheelchairs and with other disabilities. Don't count yourself out because of an injury if you really, really want to reach your goals. There is always a work-around to find a way around any injury. I have met some of the most amazing people on http://www.bodyforlife-tracker.com who are determined to be healthy no matter what: epileptic, paraplegic, HIV positive, you name it.
@skriedel - Thank you!
@Katiefinger - Thank you! I'm so excited. The husband told me to blog about it instead of squealing, clapping my hands, and shouting, "HOLY CRAP!!! I'VE LOST OVER 25 POUNDS!!!" (I guess that would be something like 11 kilos) at random intervals. I couldn't help it.
@inadee - I talk about BFL so much that people think I'm in some kind of weird, weightloss cult. LOL - I only talk about it so much because it actually works and everything is 100% laid out for you. It's losing weight for dummies. You can't screw it up as long as you follow it. You eat 6 small meals a day (3 would account more for a 'snack' than a meal) and they outline what you should and should not eat, do three 20-minute cardio workouts, and three 45-minute workouts with weights per week. You can do it from home (I do) or you can do it at the gym. The bonus thing is that you reward yourself with a free day once a week. You can eat whatever you want and as much as you want on that day. I had McDonald's yesterday, plus some pizza, and some chocolate. Then I'll eat "clean" all week until next Saturday when I'll pig out again.
@Devildogs_Doll - Thanks a bunch for the hint. I will check it out.
@jrh82blue - I think I've heard the name...I'm into the "fit" look too. Anyone can be skinny if they starve themselves and it's not really all that healthy, but I think a toned, healthy body is best to have. You also feel a lot better. I have so much energy now that it's unreal whereas before, I was tired ALL the time. My fav fitness mag is actually Muscle & Fitness Hers. It's a sister magazine to the regular Muscle & Fitness but it's about REAL fitness...not like these other crap magazines that show models on their covers that have never seen a weight and diet to be skinny and not healthy. People freak out when they see photos of these fitness chicks in bikinis and say they look "bulky" but unless you've met one of these women in person, you don't realize that they actually aren't all huge and bulky like they seem to appear in photos. They are usually teeny-tiny. lol
@espoir - You might like this program...it's so easy anyone can do it. They do show a lot of before/after photos and they are all REAL. In fact, a website that I commented back to October27 about is a place where some of them hang out and give advice. It's weird talking to the same person whose photo you saw in the BodyForLife book and said, "Wow - I want to look like her!" They are real people and all the photos you see are real. The program lasts for 12 weeks, but some did do more than one 12 week challenge to look that way. In my photo above, the first photo was over a year ago...but the 2nd two were both done within four weeks of each other.and you can see the change in just that period of time. I don't know anyone I wouldn't recommend this to. It's not a fad diet, but more about a lifestyle change. The hardest part is just actually doing it and not going nuts and eating everything in sight after your 12 weeks are over. lol
@lou1 - At first my husband was jealous...really jealous. In fact, he was kind of pissy about the whole thing. He felt threatened by it, I guess, but now he's using my success as his motivation and I'm trying to help him along so he can be a success story, too. I always use comments like, "You'll never get your body back after having kids. That's just life." as my motivation. I feel motivated because I know other people who have done it...and I want to be added to that list of "People who have done it" so other moms don't have to be caught in a downward spiral that's only going to negatively impact their health, self esteem, and life in the end. If they know me, and I did it...maybe they'll have faith they can do it, too. I just want people to be more happy, darn it.
@Carliatta - I've been caught in the "time" trap, too. Lots of people on this program that I know get up at the buttcrack of dawn to do their workouts. If I so much as breathe too loudly at six a.m, my kids wake up and they're in a foul mood. I do all my workouts at night after everyone goes to bed. I watch Leno and run in place for my cardio. Sometimes I'll be lifting weights while watching 'The Bachelor' only taking a break to stop and call my best friend to yell, "That BITCH!" on commercial breaks (we're chicks, yo, what can we say for ourselves? LOL). Buy some weights. Start at 3 lbs, 5 lbs, 7 lbs, & 10 lbs, and 15 lbs. That's really all you need to start (for a female). Get the 'Body For Life' book which explains everything from what to eat to what to do with those weights you got and you're set. You can do everything while you are watching your favorite TV shows at night.
@michelle_1446 - lol - I was wondering if someone was going to notice the flowers on the top. No, that's the same top, but the picture is flipped horizontally because I had a brain fart and posed on the wrong side for the picture. I wanted my stomach to be on the same side to get the full effect of the photos. It's the same top, but in reverse.
you are looking great!
funny with BMI - my kid sister was at 25% at 16 years old but only weighed 105 pounds...weird, no?
I'm working to lower mine as well - maybe I should try the Body for life?
@InGodzHndz - I'm about 5'4. I need to remeasure myself though...I swear I've gotten shorter, though my husband says I'm smoking crack. You should see my before photo from the front...I looked awful. I don't think you get the full effect of how bad it was unless you see it from the front, but I wanted to show photos from the side because that's the area most women have a hard time with after having kids...the "pooch". It'll be really cool to see if it's completely gone at the end of the 12 weeks!
@reed44 - That's one thing a lot of people don't understand....that you can still be skinny and technically be fat. I've complained before and have been told to "Shut up, you're skinny!" but I knew I wasn't healthy. People thought I LOOKED skinny, but I had no muscle tone. I was fat almost down to the bone. BMI compares your muscle mass to your fat mass. I had a lot of people wondering just how in the hell someone who was 130-something lbs was considered obese. For one thing, I have small bone structure, but another thing, I was mostly fat. I hadn't exercised in two years since I'd had kids. My weight before kids hovered in the low 100's. A lot of people think they are "skinny" and are off the hook, when, in fact, they are heart attacks waiting to happen. Everyone should get a pair of calipers (they're very cheap) and learn to measure their bodyfat percentage. These BMI calculators online aren't accurate, at all, but calipers is one of the easiest ways of testing. I use this calculator to put in my measurements: http://www.bodyforlife.com/exercise/bfcalc.asp and it even explains how to do it. Here's an article I found on how someone can still be skinny, but fat: http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/01/20/tem_fit20trainer.html
yay!!! thats sooo exciting... i need somthin like this in my life right now! i need a whole body make over at this point... your entry is givin me a little push! thanks for being brave and posting!!! its nice to know that others have thigns about their bodies they don't like but that we can all change it and make it better!
Personally I would have taken the bit of chub you had in the 1st one, but that's just me. I like it a little squishy.