The Difference A Year Makes

[firemedicrr]

Hello to all

Wow, hard to believe that it was a little over a year ago that I entered the TT TC 10. Dec 29 2010, I took my before photos. I committed to making a change- and I made it. I weighed in at 149.7 pounds that day; My natural waist was 34 inches. These things are a far cry from where I am today- today, I am around 110 pounds. I had my first fitting with my wedding dress today (yes, 2010 held the man of my dreams and getting engaged for me as well!) and my natural waist measured 22 3/8 inches (I think the seamstress has magic tape, as my most recent measurement of my natural waist was 24 inches, but hey- I'll take it haha!). I committed to consistently working out and eating things that were good for me, and for the most part, I do.

So, why am I here? I am here because being consistent is my biggest weakness right now. I've come a long way, but recently I've really struggled with motivating myself to work out. The accountability helps me. I've come leaps and bounds from where I was, but I still want more. No matter how hard I try, I hit a sabotage point when it comes to getting the physique I want. The one thing that bothers me about my body is my lack of lower abs. I feel like I will -always- have this layer of belly flab. I need to get over my sabotage point, and be able to enjoy the changes that I made in order to achieve my goals.

I either do really well with my food choices, or terribly. There doesn't seem to be a middle road for me... except that even when I am eating tons of junky foods, I always eat a ton of vegetables too.

Goals:

I would love to have a completely flat stomach by the time I get married- no rolls when I wear my bikini on my honeymoon, no matter how small Our wedding is 5/19/12... so that gives me four months of workouts and food choices. Ah, the possibilities....

Increased strength- I want to increase my pulling strength especially- pull ups and inverted rows.

I wouldn't mind adding some mass to my arms (just a little to keep up with any changes in my shoulders from the increased concentration on pulling exercises).

I also want to sculpt my upper legs a bit more- I have good shape and decent definition overall, but there's room for improvement there- especially where my legs and my bum meet.

Food goals:
-less junk
-more water (for my bodyweight, I should be drinking 55 oz/day minimum)


Workout goals:
my challenge will be that I don't have a gym, I don't have a set schedule, and I don't have a lot of time. Luckily, I don't feel that intervals are necessary because of my physique currently. My plan is to do 3 days a week of a tt style workout, and 3 days a week of a bodyrock.tv routine. My goal is a minimum of 5 workouts per week

I will mostly be doing bodyweight things, but I do have a dumbbell set that goes up to 40 lbs combined weight.

<3 to all of you new to tt- you can do this. I read back over my thread for TTTC 10 and I had stated that my long term goals were to lose 35-40 lbs of fat/drop my bodyfat percentage below 20, do 2 unassisted pullups, hold plank for 2 minutes and side planks for 1 min 30 sec- all of these things I can do. I was able to do all of these things after 6 months of consistent TT and lifestyle changes. Just keep pushing even when you don't want to- you'll never regret doing a workout or eating well, but you'll almost always regret NOT doing it.

to all you old faithfuls that I know and love- glad to see you're still around and still committed to your health as I am. The road gets harder as you get more fit, but we can all rock this thing

I have some pictures on my camera from the other day- I'll upload them to show you my stubborn belly flab- it's not flabby when I am standing, but dang if it doesn't roll over my pants if I sit down, and it drives me nuts!... and for those of you who are interested, you can compare these pics to my original ones from TTTC10 thread- it's amazing what a difference a year makes.

[northpolechick]

Yay, so many things to say congrats to. You have had an awesome year. I'm so happy you're on the thread this time. I loved following you through TT10.


Best of luck and sending loves your way!

~Amanda

[RobB]

Rachel,
Congratulations..on your upcoming wedding and keeping up your results from your prior TT contest!.....make sure ya dont burn yourself out.

I think you are a little bit hard on yourself, but that is sometimes good and what forces us to change. My goals include "building a bridge", to to along with one of my favorite "Quck Important Tips for Today"...... "Discipline is the Bridge between Goals and Accomplishments"-Jim Rohn...........so, build yourself a bridge, and good luck.........! Rob

[firemedicrr]

NP - thank you I enjoyed following you too- I hope you are able to stay with it and I can follow you here thru this one

Rob- thank you for your kind words. No doubt, I am hard on myself and I am my biggest critic. I just want to see what I'm capable of- I want to continue to get better at everything I do, including working out. Oh yeah, and I'll actually have a husband to look good for As for burning myself out, I'm not that worried about it. My passion for hard workouts waxes and wanes, but my passion for my health, the foods I eat, and some sort of physical exercise hasn't wavered in over a year. I'd be surprised if that changed now.

Today's food:
-1 cup coffee
-2 applegate farm sausage links (100 cal?)
-Greek Yogurt with allfruit jelly (one of my favorite snacks!) (about 200 cal? may be up to 230... I don't OCD measure, I eyeball now)
-citrucy lentil soup (have made this a few times - recipe here for those who are interested: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/spi...y_black_beans/) (I'm bad at estimating calories on this, but the recipe makes about 16 cups of soup- so...sorry? lol) : I put a tbsp organic sour cream and a few ounces of organic cheese in it
-pecan crusted chicken (around 300 cal- 6 oz chicken, 1/4 oz almonds to crust it)
-steamed broccoli
-sauteed bell peppers and onions


Workout:
Started TT Home Ab workout, Intermediate level- I need to be here for pushup strength (or lack thereof, lol). I am probably going to do this for 2 weeks then move to the advanced stage 1.

Warm-up Circuit
• Go through 2 times with no rest between exercises. Rest 30 seconds between circuits.
o Bodyweight Squat – 8 reps
o [Kneeling] Pushup – 6 reps
o Cross Crawl – 8 reps per side
Warm-up Superset
1A) DB Squat – 8 reps with 2- 10lb dumbbells
1B) [Kneeling] Close-Grip Pushup – 5 reps
• Rest 1 minute and move on to Superset #1.
Superset #1
1A) DB Squat – 8 reps with 2- 15 lb dumbbells
1B) Close-Grip Pushup – 8 reps
• Rest 1 minute & repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 supersets.
Triset #2
2A) 1-Leg Hip Extension – 12 reps per side (held a 10 lb weight plate for this)
2B) Prone Stick-up – 10 reps
• No rest.
2C) Bird Dog – 8 reps per side
• Rest 1 minute & repeat 2 more time for a total of 3 trisets.
Superset #3
3A) Stability Ball Rollout – 8 reps
• No rest.
3B) Side Plank – 20 second hold per side
• Rest 1 minute & repeat 1 more time for a total of 2 supersets

Then, I did one part of the bodyrock workout from friday, which was:

75 high knees while jumping rope
25 knee raises (on dip station)
repeat X4 for 400 reps for time
my time 6 minutes 24 seconds
(this really was hard on my shoulders... but I was proud of how I did- I could have been faster than this, even, if I hadn't had to maneuver up onto the dip bars).

Hope you all had a lovely monday

[weetamclan]

Wow Rachel you're progress and current stats are amazing! I can't imagine what you'll achieve in time for your wedding - the (no doubt miniscule) tummy roll better be prepared!

Glad you're back - your dedication and motivation will inspire us all

[neilg197]

Originally Posted by RobB

Rachel,
Congratulations..on your upcoming wedding and keeping up your results from your prior TT contest!.....make sure ya dont burn yourself out.

I think you are a little bit hard on yourself, but that is sometimes good and what forces us to change. My goals include "building a bridge", to to along with one of my favorite "Quck Important Tips for Today"...... "Discipline is the Bridge between Goals and Accomplishments"-Jim Rohn...........so, build yourself a bridge, and good luck.........! Rob

I agree with Rob, perhaps you are being a bit hard on yourself.

finding motivation to keep in great shape requires a lot of discipline and hard work, and I know for a fact youre not the only one here who has slackened off for short or long periods of time.

Being in AMAZING shape for your wedding will no doubt be a driver to get there, but remember you are doing this for you and no-one else.

I can see you having a fantastic 12 weeks and we all cant wait to see what shape you are in when that dress is fitted. make sure you get the photos up!!!

[firemedicrr]

Today:

food- meh, I had some fudge. It's my grandma's- she makes it every year. It's like .... cocaine.
1 cup coffee with organic cream and truvia
dinner is chicken vindaloo (162 cal/serving)
veggies (the smartest decision I ever made was to stop counting calories on my veggies)
1/2 cup cooked brown rice (115 cal)


Dinner was my only meal today. I just wasn't hungry earlier, so I kinda ended up doing a 16h fast.

workout: today is an "active recovery day", so...

intervals- 50 sec on/10 sec rest

Weighted Prisoner Squat jumps (20 lb sandbag- did 37)
pushup followed by a knee up on dipstation (9)
Alternating weighted squats with sandbag- one squat w sandbag resting on upper back, one with sandbag in front of you (did 14)
Lunge and press (11)
1 decline pushup with L then R knee tuck (6)
1 v tuck with arm up on dip station (8)
Reverse Pull up (same as inverted row) (17)

I will have some tea tonight I'm sure (home brewed with stevia, mixture of white tea and some other flavored organic tea my fiance got me).

Pics as promised.... forgive me, I didn't put a ton of effort into them because there's no reason to since I'm not entering the contest (and I wouldn't be eligible anyway!)

[RobB]

You're looking good, Rachel............you dont need to worry much about the cocaine brownies..........LOL............Rob

[hal1]

I second Rob's astute comment. That "roll" you speak of is in the slim-to-none category. Yes, we are our own "best" critics. But you are in fab shape and I wouldn't push so hard that you get burnout. You don't have far to go to get to your goal, so a little fudge here and there won't stand in your way.

And it's good to have you back!

[northpolechick]

you're looking great rachel!

Onward to your goals! :-)

~Amanda