week one pics.

march 16th


march 23rd

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 :).

day 8...breakthrough challenge week 1 progress

this evening i'm hosting a little going away gathering, so it will be my first full on planned cheat of this challenge. usually i'm eat stop eat-ing today, but i moved it to yesterday instead and finished this morning before i went to the gym. i will definitely be having some wine and tortilla espanola (one of my mostest favoritest spanish dishes) and who knows what else, but i am going to be focusing on moderation. wish me luck!

in other news, today was weigh-in day. here are the results:

day 1 --> day 8
weight: 134 lbs --> 130.7 lbs (-3.3 lbs)
% body fat: 20.5 --> 20.1 (-.4)
bicep (unflexed/flexed): 11/12 --> 11/12.5 (nc/+.5)
thigh: 21.75 --> 21.5 (-.25)
waist: 29.5 --> 29 (-.5)
navel: 31.5 --> 31.5 (nc)
hip: 35 --> 35 (nc)
chest:30.5 --> 30.75 (+.25)
bust: 34.75 --> 34.5 (-.25)

very pleased with my first weeks results. as suspected, my body does good things when i give it clean food and exercise . i do think it's an ironic trick of nature though that many times my progress seems to be most visible from the back. moral of the story...take more pictures of your backside!

breakthrough challenge day 1 pics and stats

here are my starting stats and pics for the breakthrough challenge as of may 12th 2008. although i lost a wee bit of ground in the last month due to aforementioned challenges, i'm not bothered because despite having been off track a bit in the past month, i never felt like i had lost the lessons i learned in the last challenge and my motivation to continue my progress is as strong as ever. i'm back at 100% and it won't be long until i'm surpassing my final results from the last challenge. yay!

height: 5'5
weight: 134 lbs
% body fat: 20.5
bicep (unflexed/flexed): 11/12
thigh: 21.75
waist: 29.5
navel: 31.5
hip: 35
chest:30.5
bust: 34.75

the infamous "skinny jeans"

okay, let's all keep in mind that these jeans were a little tight even when i bought them. they were one of those "they'll fit great after i lose a few pounds" purchases. instead i somehow ended up going in the wrong direction and gaining weight instead of losing it. these jeans have been taunting me from the back of my closet for close to two years. i made a promise to myself at the beginning of my transformation that I WOULD FIT into these jeans by then end of 84 days. mission accomplished!

the before and afters: how much can you "transform" in 84 days?

at the start of my body transformation journey i joined the first ever turbulence training transformation contest to keep myself accountable. i ended up losing 15.5 pounds, 5.3% body fat, and winning first place in the contest. what can you accomplish in just 12 weeks? well, here were my results...

"the front"

"the back"