gymrat0226’s BodyBlog

I had my first training session today with Robert.  OMG I’m hurtin’!  I’ve never trained like that in my life.  He’s seriously like a drill sergeant!  He’s very serious and he will definitely whip my ass into shape.  He said my back was already there which I was really happy about because I don’t really have to try hard with back.  So he redid my fat test and I’m at 23%.  It’s alot more than I thought I was because I was measuring with calipers.  Obviously they don’t work.  He wants me down to 18% for the show so I only have 5% to lose which is not alot.  He said any lower than that and I’ll be too lean.  The device he used is 3-5% accurate so give or take.  He’ll email me my diet tomorrow so I’ll know exactly how much I can eat.  I’ll continue this tomorrow.

Well I decided to do my first Figure Competition.  I’m going to enter in the Natural Diamond Classic that takes place on November 15, 2008.  I went to meet with Robert Green who is a Personal Trainer at Genesis Health Club in Wichita, KS.  He’s a Pro Bodybuilder and really knows his stuff.  I met with him for 1 1/2 hrs and he showed me some posing, explained a little about dieting and how much more cardio I need to do.  He’s going to provide me with a diet, and he’ll split up our 1 hr session with 1/2 hr training and 1/2 hr posing.

I was really depressed when he weighed me because obviously my scale is wrong and it’s time to throw out the calipers because holy crap I’m borderline fat!  I’m 7lbs heavier than I thought because my scale is a $8 piece of crap from Walmart and my bodyfat is 25%.  What the hell man!  I just worked my ass off for the past 3 months and I’m still fat!  I can’t imagine what I was before I started Body For Life.  Okay so that’s not even the bad part.  My husband is being a total jackass about this whole thing and I don’t even want to do it anymore.  I’ve been crying all night and I hate my life right now.

So it’s been three hours since I started writing this blog and I’ve talked to my husband again and he’s still not liking it but realizes he has no choice because I cannot be controlled and he knows this.  I also talked to my sister and found out that my readings for the fat test Robert did are not accurate because you’re actually supposed to do it on an empty stomach and I had a huge breakfast this morning and I walked in there with an iced coffee from Starbucks.  Not to mention I went out drinking last night and you’re not supposed to have alcohol for at least 24 hrs before the test so I’m going to call him and ask him if I can come in early and do it before work.

I’m starting my diet again tomorrow.  I’m changing it a little by adding in alot more veggies, a little less protein and a little more fruit.  I’m cutting out the milk in my protein and I’ll just have it with water and ice.  I’m so used to bland food now it really won’t taste much different.

I’m so excited right now I probably won’t be able to sleep tonight.  I can’t wait to get started.  I bumped up my cardio over the weekend.  I started doing the elliptical at 14 incline and 11 intensity for 30 min and had my heart rate up to 161 and then I did walking for 30 min on an 11% incline at 3.7 mph and had my heart rate up to 154-161 and raised my hands above my heart while walking.  I changed my music on my ipod to a slower beat to make me go slower on the elliptical, I get bouncing to my music and can’t slow down.  I look like an idiot!  So as soon as I get my diet and training routine I’m going to be blogging my life away because I really want you all to know how very hard and at the same time fun, this is going to be.

I updated this blog 7/27/08 because I had the wrong body fat percentage.  I was measuring with calipers the whole time and I knew the measurement seemed extremely low.  I had it done at a gym today and…well I don’t even want to say what it is.

I finished Body for Life on June 26th.  Then I left for Canada for 12 days so that’s why I’m a little late in posting.  I finally have some time.  I’m still recovery from my holiday and trying to get back into my regular training routine and work.  So my progress for Body for Life was very good.  It wasn’t something you see when you see the champions of the challenge.  I think the difference with me was that I was already in shape and very strong but I had alot of fat to lose because of poor diet.  Diet makes all the difference in the world.  So if you think that you can work out and eat whatever you want, you’re wrong and you’re wasting your time going to the gym.  So here are my final results:

June 26, 2008

Weight:    124 lbs.      (-8 lbs)
Waist:       26 1/2"         (-1")
Hips:         36"               (-2")
Arms:        11"            (-3/4")
Calves:    13 3/4"         (-1/2")
Thigh:     21 1/4"        (1 1/4")

I lost 8 lbs, total of 5 1/4" and 4.5% bodyfat.  That doesn’t see like alot but if you look at the before and after pictures you can see a big difference.  The shape of my body is different and more toned.   I feel so much better now.  I can wear tights to the gym and not wrap a jacket around my ass.  You can’t see any cellulite and there’s not much jiggling going on when I run.  I was a typical fit/fat person.  The only thing I changed was my diet and add supplements.  I stopped eating bread except on my cheat day, only at lean meat, ate 1.5 times my bodyweight of protein and very little fat.  Supplements I took were whey protein, creatine, CLA, fish oil, L-Glutamine and my daily vitamins.  It really didn’t cost that much more to take supplements.  You just have to shop around.  I found Walmart very cheap for CLA and fish oil and my local supplement store "Supplement Giant" in Wichita was comparable to online stores.  My strength increased over 35% in the first 6 weeks.  It was incredible.  It’s such a great feeling to have people come up to you in the gym and ask you questions about training and dieting (like I really know what I’m doing!)

Anyone who wants to get into shape or lose weight this is seriously the easiest and cheapest way to do it.  There are no monthly or weekly fees….it’s free.  You go online and register and print out your entry forms.  You can use their website for information but I would recommend buying the Success Journal, it’s really cheap.  I also joined gyminee.com to track my food and workouts.  It’s only $5/mth and you sign up for 3 months/$15.  I think that’s a deal!  It’s a great site.   Then I found bodyspace.com and I was in heaven.  This is the best website for learning about training and dieting and pretty much anything to do with fitness.  You learn from the articles, not to mention all the people on here.  Everyone is so helpful and encouraging.  My favorite person is MsFitness (Fern Assard).  I picked up alot of new exercises by watching her videos.  So overall I would rate Body For Life a 10 considering I’ve been there, done that.  My next goal is to run a half marathon.  So I’m in the process of training for that and I have to totally change my workouts now because I need my strength for running instead of lifting.  Off to my new adventure…