oh yeah, the plan...

things have been good in these first few weeks of my challenge. this wednesday will mark the end of week two, so i'll probably be posting a comparative pic pretty soon. i'm down from 131 to about 129, so things are moving in the right direction. i never clearly laid out my plan before, so i guess now would be a good time to do that. for exercise, i'm doing 3 days of turbulence training a week. i chose the intermediate fat loss fusion for the first four weeks and will probably move from there to the advanced one. haven't decided which workout i'll do for month three, but i've got some time to decide. i'm also committed to at least two yoga classes a week and i'm back to teaching yoga as well, only about 1-4 classes a week right now, but i'm hoping to expand on that. also, as a bike commuter, i get a lot of extra cardio getting to where i need to go. anything else will be a bonus...there's always so much i want to do, but never enough time to fit it all in, which i believe was the impetus behind trying turbulence training in the first place :). as far as my diet, i'm trying much harder to be less neurotic this time around. and the amazing thing is that it's working...which only confirms my belief that i do actually know what i'm doing. in the last year i've learned enough about fat loss to not have to count calories, or use fit day, or weigh everything that i put in my mouth or even completely swear off my favorite foods. i'm just exercising more self control, keeping my indulgences under control, and eating whole foods the rest of the time. i'm also doing just one day of eat stop eat a week as well. more on why that seems to be the perfect amount of intermittent fasting for me another time. for now, suffice it to say that sticking with lots of fruits, veggies, lean protein, low fat dairy, whole grains, and going light on whole wheat is getting the desired results...just like they always say it will!

one year later.

this past year has been pretty incredible. i've learned a ton, made some progress, slipped up quite a bit, created new habits, fallen back into old bad patterns, and re-emerged again. in a word, i suppose i've lived and learned along the way. although i did my fair share of getting derailed from my fitness goals, i have still managed to maintain considerable progress so many months later. pic 1 is me on the first day of my challenge last year, january 14th 2008. pic 2 is me one year later, january 14th 2009. i've gained a few pounds since the end of my first challenge, but i'm still coming in at about 132 instead of 145. overall, i'd call that a victory...to have lost and maintained a loss of 13 lbs. but it's just the beginning. it's time to really get back in the saddle and push myself to the next level. in a word, it's time to start another challenge. why the challenge? well, accountability. support. people to jump on my a** if i start to slip up. the truth is, making big changes in your body composition requires some discipline and requires following through on good habits on a consistent basis. this is something most of us want to be doing anyway, but sometimes life (or those uncontrollable chocolate cravings) tend to get in the way. but the way i see it, if i manage to make and maintain the same amount of progress this year as i did last, i'll be well on my way to visible abs :).

happy new year!

i have to apologize to my dear readers who keep checking back in with me when i start to get rolling with the old blog, only to disappear into cyberspace again a week or two later. one new years resolution is to try to be a bit more consistent with my posts, one of just a few things in my life that needs more consistency :). the past few weeks have been a bit nutty...i made it through the holidays, but barely. i managed to pull a muscle in my lower back doing dumbbell RDL's on december 22nd. i haven't ever sustained a low back injury before and i now have a whole new sense of empathy and respect for people who have. needless to say i spent my christmas immobile on the couch in a percaset-induced haze. not very pleasant, but i made it through and have recently returned to the gym with renewed vigor. that is one (if not the only) thing that i actually do like about injuries is that they renew my sense of gratitude for my body and my health. also, in this case, as i managed to injure my back on one of the exercises that is infamous for lower back injuries, it has also sparked a renewed interest in improving my form while lifting. i feel like i generally have relatively good form, and i'm pretty aware of keeping my abs engaged, spine straight, etc but i do tend to work on the heavier side of what i can lift, and since the injury i've dropped down in weight and have been a total stickler on my form. an interesting experiment for most of us i think as we all have a tendency to get sloppy after we've been at it a while. it's amazing how much concentrating on such little things as keep shoulder blades retracted or chest lifted can seriously increase the difficulty of an exercise. if you haven't been so serious about your form lately, maybe it's time to scrutinize. so, i have so many thoughts and goals and aspirations for the new year that i hope to get around to posting soon. i am really excited about starting anew again (yes, i know, it's all in my head) and all the opportunity that lies ahead. onwards and upwards...