Belly & butt flab beware: you're going down!

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Hi all - glad to be back! I'm looking forward to eliminating the remaining belly flab and minimizing the backside and thighs as much as possible in these next 12 weeks.

Please excuse my grimace in the picture, but there's a story behind it. My official start date was yesterday (Wednesday the 7th Sept), but I wanted to start on the holiday, Monday, so I got a paper. Since it was a holiday we were out all day and by the time we got home from everything, it was dark. No natural light, so no pics, as I don't like artificial lighting for my TT pics. Tuesday - we were on the go until it was dark, so no pics. Wednesday, I had an eye doctor appointment and my eyes were dilated when I came home. There wasn't even much light out as it was getting late and it was overcast, but I was determined to get these pics in some natural light! So there I am, squinting in the "bright" natural light.

I was last "in" for TT#10 and made some great progress the first 6 weeks. Then I got the flu, was plagued by a shoulder injury after that and ended up finishing the 12 weeks w/out change from the 6 week mark. The shoulder injury persisted so exercise fell off. Add to that some birthdays, guests in the house and summer in general, I was quickly accumulating some bad eating habits. Before mid-summer, I managed to get my eating habits back under control and also cement into place a good exercise routine. Luckily, I did this before it all fell apart. The important thing to me getting back into a regular exercise routine was that I used a 4-day-a-week program and I absolutely loved it.

For the past 2 weeks I've been using the hotel room workouts and I plan to continue those for the next 2 weeks. When I headed back to work after the summer (3 weeks back), I was trying another 4-day-a-week program but it just wasn't working w/ my new schedule and instead of 4 days/week I was getting in only about 2 workouts. I had done the hotel room workouts on vacation and figured they were a quick way to keep my exercise routine going - they're easily doable and fit into even a very busy schedule. Between work, kid activities and homework, etc., sometimes I just "go" until 9:00 or later. The idea of doing a 45 min to 1 hour workout at 9:00 pm was not appealing, so these workouts are quick and very doable (and fun), all of which insures that I actually get them done.

For the next couple of weeks I have the following goals in place:
Keep the eating under control. Working so far!
ESE 1-2X / week. This week is 1X and next week may be as well; after that I will shoot for 2X/week which shouldn't be difficult.
Get my 3 TT workouts in each week; work in more "off day" exercise, as this has been lacking lately.

My longer term goals include (as stated above) minimizing the lower body. I still have loose flab on my belly and I know my thighs and hips went up a bit since TT#10, based on both clothing fit and measurements.

I'm going to measure BF% and after I have that done early next week I will set a goal for that. My weight is only up by 5 lbs from TT#10 but I'll refrain from setting a weight goal and will focus more on my clothing fit and the way I look to gauge progress.

Good luck to everyone! I'm looking forward to seeing all those shapely bodies in a few short weeks!

[galaxy]

Hi Heather

So glad you are back for this one The 12th contest is turning out be a reunion of all the oldies (I don't mean age by that one!) and lots of lovely new people.

This is just great!

You have done really well and you are looking fab in your photo, you have managed to maintain which is just great and you can still see your abs, well done on keeping those.

The hotel workouts must have been working as you have definitely kept your definition. I think the greatest TTers are the ones who manage to maintain after finshing a contest, so you def count as one of the greats!!

Def reckon maintaining is the hardest

I hear ya on the belly flab, we both have the same c section belly flap going on, although I think mine is much worse!!

Really pleased you are also along for the ride, looking forward to continuing the TT journey with you.

Cheers for now Katie

[bettywantsabs]

Originally Posted by galaxy

Hi Heather

So glad you are back for this one The 12th contest is turning out be a reunion of all the oldies (I don't mean age by that one!) and lots of lovely new people.

This is just great!

You have done really well and you are looking fab in your photo, you have managed to maintain which is just great and you can still see your abs, well done on keeping those.

The hotel workouts must have been working as you have definitely kept your definition. I think the greatest TTers are the ones who manage to maintain after finshing a contest, so you def count as one of the greats!!

Def reckon maintaining is the hardest

I hear ya on the belly flab, we both have the same c section belly flap going on, although I think mine is much worse!!

Really pleased you are also along for the ride, looking forward to continuing the TT journey with you.

Cheers for now Katie

I'll ditto Katie's sentiments, you are looking fab! Good luck with your goals Cheers, Lisa

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Originally Posted by galaxy

Hi Heather

So glad you are back for this one The 12th contest is turning out be a reunion of all the oldies (I don't mean age by that one!) and lots of lovely new people.

This is just great!

You have done really well and you are looking fab in your photo, you have managed to maintain which is just great and you can still see your abs, well done on keeping those.

The hotel workouts must have been working as you have definitely kept your definition. I think the greatest TTers are the ones who manage to maintain after finshing a contest, so you def count as one of the greats!!

Def reckon maintaining is the hardest

I hear ya on the belly flab, we both have the same c section belly flap going on, although I think mine is much worse!!

Really pleased you are also along for the ride, looking forward to continuing the TT journey with you.

Cheers for now Katie

Thanks, Katie! You are right, this looks like a great group of people and I'm pleased to be among them all. And I am so proud of YOU for sticking with it through all your ups and downs...all your hard work truly paid off in the last contest!

I hear you on the "flap" as I so often call it. That drat c-section brings such beautiful babies but leaves behind a lasting legacy on the bod!

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Originally Posted by bettywantsabs

I'll ditto Katie's sentiments, you are looking fab! Good luck with your goals Cheers, Lisa

Thanks, Lisa! I'll be rooting for you as well. It's nice to see so many familiar faces here. This is shaping up to be a great contest!

[RobB]

Looks like it is "Down" already.......but I hear ya. Your plan looks pretty good, given your schecule! Looks like you "have it down" !!!!Rob

[weetamclan]

The final few pounds are the hardest (so I'm told!) but I'm sure you'll nail it. And you look great already, even with the squinting

Are the hotel workouts pure bodyweight? My new gym has such bad weights I need to use my own gut as resistance. I actually prefer the circuit-style bw workouts to the traditional dumbell supersets.

Anyhoo, good luck!

[debz0773]

Hi Heather..Just like everyone already said.. you're already looking great so I'm sure you'll be the abs of doom in 12 weeks..

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Originally Posted by RobB

Looks like it is "Down" already.......but I hear ya. Your plan looks pretty good, given your schecule! Looks like you "have it down" !!!!Rob

Ha-ha, thanks Rob! I could say the same thing about "floppy" - I don't see it myself but if you say it's there, I certainly believe you!

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Originally Posted by weetamclan

The final few pounds are the hardest (so I'm told!) but I'm sure you'll nail it. And you look great already, even with the squinting

Are the hotel workouts pure bodyweight? My new gym has such bad weights I need to use my own gut as resistance. I actually prefer the circuit-style bw workouts to the traditional dumbell supersets.

Anyhoo, good luck!

Hey Clare - thank you and it's good to see you here, of course! Yes, the hotel room workouts are BW and they are circuit style (which I, too, love). They are not long at all so if you wanted to tack on some intervals it would still leave you with a quick workout. I liked the 6-month BW manual and did that for about 5 months. I think I remember that either month 1 or 2 was a circuit style workout. I love BW workouts but from my personal experience w/ my shoulder I need to watch for overuse injuries from all the pushups, planks, etc. So I'll probably have to switch into something next that has some weights as well.