Phased and confused

By Jove, I've done it!  I've survived the first four-week-phase of the Jamie Eason Live Fit Trainer.  Admittedly, some of it was harder than expected, but for the most part it went as planned.  There were exercises that I'd never done, and other that I've just avoided.

Ultimately, at the end of 4 weeks, I'm about where I expected I'd be.  Down a few pounds (most of which, I'd gained over the holidays), down an inch here, and half an inch there, but ultimately not much visible change.  The strength gains though?  Wow.  While most personal trainers in my world - ok, in my GYM - will trash the likes of the seated leg extension, or leg curls, I've made significant gains, moving from 90 pounds for 10 reps up to 135 pounds for 12, and no less than 3 sets at that weight too!  I'm comfortably squatting 185 pounds without a spotter for 3 sets of 10 reps.  Sure, they're not competition depth, but I've moved on from earlier notions of powerlifting competition - at least for now.

 At first glance, not much has changed from day 1.  Still no "real abs" to speak of, still those little rolls under my sports bra on my back....

...But when I look more closely, I see a slightly higher butt that is a little less flat.  I see a perky (er?) chest, and maybe a tighter looking waist.  My posture has improved, thanks to exercises from my chiropractor, and things are going well.


I can't wait to see what Phase 2 brings; the addition of cardio both excites me and induces fear.  The point of phase 2 is to start cutting fat, while maintaining - and hopefully building a little more - muscle.

5 more weeks until my vacation down South.  I'm not sure what size I'll be by then, so I guess I'll just have to order bathing suits in every size!

I've got a feeling [that tonight's gonna be a good night]

Well, we made it.  We survived another holiday season!  Hooray for us!  No, don't look down.  Don't even think about grabbing and pinching and squishing that love handle that required extra effort to squeeze into your jeans this morning!

It's a NEW YEAR.  It's time to forget what you did in 2011.  Or better yet, use what you did (or maybe didn't do!) last year, and treat it as fuel for your 2012 goals.  I'm on day 2 of my new program (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-eason-livefit-trainer.html), and while my head is pounding, likely from caffeine withdrawls, I know that this is a change worth making.  It's time to tailor all of that work that I put in at the gym, and line it up with my real goals.  I love lifting big, don't get me wrong.  But this time, it's about the look.

This morning, as I sat eating my FIVE EGG WHITES and 1/4 cup of oats, and handful of veggies, I couldn't get the song from Beauty and the Beast out of my head..."When I was a lad, I ate four dozen eggs every morning to help me get large...but now that I'm grown I eat FIVE dozen eggs, so I'm roughly the size of a barge!"  LOL.  It seems to me that my caloric intake could have actually been HIGHER to help me really build muscle last year.  I've come leaps and bounds, and significantly cut down my body fat percentage, but if I do what my boyfriend often does, and do a BULK (see: eat more than it seems you should to allow more readily available energy for workouts and muscle repair/building), I'll grow my muscle mass, and thus increase the power that my body has to burn fat when I stop bulking!

ahhh....Science!

Ok, so it's a delicate balance, and I'm a little bit scared.  It's a LOT of food.  But after I force what seems an endless amount of protein in my face, it's only an hour or two before I'm ravenous again...so we'll see!

I'm tracking weight daily (so that I can get averages - we women especially fluctuate throughout the week), measuring weekly, and taking update pictures monthly.

This was me, before bed on my 28th birthday, and day 1 of the Live Fit Trainer:

...forgive my wet hair and lack of makeup!

Now a quick snack of Turkey Muffins and veggies (http://www.hardbody.com/news/2010/11/09/jamie-easons-turkey-meatloaf-muffins-recipe/), drive home, and fight off the resolutioners at the gym.  Anyone seen reading, talking on their cell phone, or applying another coat of lipgloss will be sneered at.  It's a GYM people!  Those weights aren't going to lift themselves!

xo
Mandy