NTHG 2-week challenge

jenomaha

Looks like everyone is making some nice choices and progress! My trainer kicked my *kitten* this morning!! I love it
He retook my weight and bodyfat and after only 2 weeks of more discipline, I've lost 3 lbs and 2% bodyfat bringing me to 106.8lbs and 19.75% bodyfat. The lowest I've ever been is 104 and 15.4% bodyfat. I would be happy maintaining between 16 and 17%.


I tried going lower carb yesterday and only had 1 pc of bread in the morning. The rest of my carbs came from veggies. I think I am going with the some sort of carb cycling and keeping the bigger amounts of carbs within one hour before and one hour after my workouts. I have 3 weeks left before I leave for the Zumba Convention and really love to have some resemblance of abs, lol! I posted a collage of my ab progress in my pics if anyone is interested.

Love having this challenge to be held accountable!! Have a good night!

cutmd

Jenomaha for what it's worth I think your abs look fabulous and your body percentage is ideal, in any case your goal is coming up fast, so congrats!

I need to rethink things, I'm unsure of what to do with my calories but all the water retention is making it hard to figure out what works! I'm a little lost but short of master cleanse all. Can do is hang in there

sunshine79

Jenomaha for what it's worth I think your abs look fabulous and your body percentage is ideal, in any case your goal is coming up fast, so congrats!

I need to rethink things, I'm unsure of what to do with my calories but all the water retention is making it hard to figure out what works! I'm a little lost but short of master cleanse all. Can do is hang in there

In response to to your water retention have you tried either drinking dandelion tea or taking water balance tables (herbal). I suffer with WR during TOM and these both really help although they make you pee every 5 mins LOL

chuisle

Jenomaha - totally agree! Your abs looks amazing! I would love to have even your "before" abs keep it up! That's an awesome amount of fat to lose in only 2 weeks!

Cutmd - I hear you on water retention. I've lost almost 3 lbs on the scale since Monday morning drinking the JM mix, etc. When you do it do you generally gain the water weight you lost back? I would think so but its not like I'm dehydrated in any way right now! I'm logging it...but I figure I will have to log it back up. Also, liking the feeling of no bread/dairy, but it's not easy!!

Asjerven - Front squat went well. I did 95 lbs the first 3 sets and 100 lbs the last three sets. (I've always been naturally pretty strong in my legs) Don't feel ridiculous!! Squats are TOUGH...why do you think you see so many guys over working their arms all the time but less so on the squat machines? Just keep doing what you're doing and you'll get stronger. A few other things I've learned/noticed: I don't know how you are holding the bar but doing a cross over grip is more comfortable for me. Also, usually by the end of 5 I am breathing pretty heavily. I take this to be a good sign

Other good news: my negative chin ups were much better this week! I've definitely made progress!

Better_Balance_2011

And the verdict is.......lazy on the the couch last night. I didn't get home from work until 7:30. I have a rule that if I have to work past 6:30 a workout is usually out. I'm drained after working all day. Tonight I have a meeting and will probably be working till about 9 so looks like this week is pretty much a bust. I plan on doing strength after work tomorrow. May get a run in Saturday morning as well.

I concur on Jenomaha's abs. Makes me want to take up Zumba.

I am feeling like a bloated piece of crap today. My digestion is not working as well as I would like it you catch my drift and I had Chinese for dinner last night so am retaining water too. A good sweat would make me feel better......

Good job ladies!

Rogiefreida

It's seeing what Zumba can do for people like Jenomaha and my instructor that keep me going back! Unfortunately my life is currently keeping me from going :sad: , at least until Monday. The convention sounds like so much fun-my instructor is so pumped to go (mostly because of Pitbull, lol).

I am probably not going to get to my goal of 3 strength training sessions this week as my job has been requiring extra hours this week, and going to the gym after working until 7, or 8, or 9 (like last night), just isn't in the cards. But, I went to the gym Tuesday night, and I'm going tonight, so I'll get 2. Tomorrow and Saturday is out of the question, as are mornings (I cannot bring myself to get to the gym at 6am). At least I can say that I have not visited the godforsaken coffeestand in nearly 2 weeks now! So one goal will be accomplished. And, by avoiding the coffee stand, I have been paying more attention to what I eat and am making better choices than ever!

I am so glad to see everyone conquering their goals! Great job everyone!

amysj303

Well, I did the KISS workout last night. I did planks instead of crocs. I also had a beer. I met a friend for dinner and ordered a marg and then after that I wanted a beer and couldn't resist...
Jenomaha, your abs look great!

sunshine79

mini check in:

- workouts going great this week particularly boxing
- upping my calories has been a great move for me, it has put me in a much better place mentally
- still a little low on the protein though - need to stay consistent in this

Hope you're all getting on well

Stephinow

Jenomaha, you look fab! Great job. I love, love Zumba...do it almost every day. I just ordered TurboFire, and it will be here tomorrow. I am very excited!!

I've been doing well on the challenge, no alcohol, and more sleep...however, I had a relapse and started eating trail mix two days ago. I gave the rest to my friend today just to get it out of my office. It is my trigger or binge food or whatever you want to call it, but all I know is I can't stop eating it once I start...ugh!

amysj303

looks like I might get 100 grams of protein today-with my crustless quiche of egg and egg whites and ham, lunch of chicken breast and salad, dinner of NY strip and snack of almonds. I could not do this everyday! Either the counts are wrong or this is nearly impossible.
So I shared my daily menu for 100 grams, lets see what other people have found. Any recommended menues for 100 grams of protein?

jenomaha

Thank you everybody...I don't feel like I"m doing things that much differently but whatever it is, but for some reason or another it's working :happy:

Asjerven - I add half a scoop of protein opwder to each cup of coffee I drink (1-2 cups) which gives me 30 g. I have a full scoop for a snack as a shake after my workouts (30g), then with greek yogurt, I get about 10-15 g, my grilled chicken tenders gives about 24 for 4 oz, cottage cheese about 12 g...that right there is 106g. I'm lactose intolerant but one yogurt doesn't seem to bother me. Just some ideas of what I do.

You all are doing great!! Your check-ins and posts keep me going. Glad to know we are in this together!!

shander7

asjerven - What is your recipe for the crustless quiche?? That sounds like a great breakfast and something I could heat up easily for work! Great job on the protein too!

jenomaha - what type of protein powder do you use? I think I need to start having some

sunshine - great job! I'm glad upping the calories has helped you!

I was able to have a serving size of mac & cheese from BBC last night and it was DELICIOUS! I didn't over eat and I have a nice portion for another lunch or even dinner! A great addition to it was the spinach and jalapenos, tasted amazing with the mac & cheese!

amysj303

my recipe for crustless quiche is four eggs with a half cup of egg whites blended with some milk, I pour that over the ingrediants which lately have been ham, mushroom and onion (cooked/satueed) in a pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes, 4 servings.

shander7

Thanks! I think I might try to make it this weekend for the week, it looks like a good breakfast that would be nice and filling! Do you have to grease the pie pan before you put the egg in there?

amysj303

yes, I spray it with PAM.

amysj303

So, this is our last weekend of the challenge, stay strong and check in Monday with your results. We can talk about another two week challenge at that time, I know I am giving the KISS workout 2 months, and it has been three weeks tomorrow.

jenomaha

asjerven - What is your recipe for the crustless quiche?? That sounds like a great breakfast and something I could heat up easily for work! Great job on the protein too!

jenomaha - what type of protein powder do you use? I think I need to start having some

sunshine - great job! I'm glad upping the calories has helped you!

I was able to have a serving size of mac & cheese from BBC last night and it was DELICIOUS! I didn't over eat and I have a nice portion for another lunch or even dinner! A great addition to it was the spinach and jalapenos, tasted amazing with the mac & cheese!

I use Max Pro from Muscle Max ( a local supplement/nutrition store).

Apex has a good one too: http://www.amazon.com/Apex-Replacement-Drink-Chocolate-Flavor/dp/accessories/B003YV29MY . And I've also had cookies and cream Optimum: http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/whey.html

I don't care for BodyFortress from Walmart at all...it's bitter.

shander7

I survived the weekend without a ton of chips and such! I went out with my sister and her boyfriend on saturday night and got a strawberry salad which was DELICIOUS for an entree so it was reasonable with calories. I would suggest you all to try this salad if you can! It had the mesclun greens, pecans, goat cheese and strawberries in a balsamic dressing, so good! I got onion soup too, but its too good there not to get! But I did well with one aspect of my challenge, not so much with the strenth though

amysj303

I survived the weekend without a ton of chips and such! I went out with my sister and her boyfriend on saturday night and got a strawberry salad which was DELICIOUS for an entree so it was reasonable with calories. I would suggest you all to try this salad if you can! It had the mesclun greens, pecans, goat cheese and strawberries in a balsamic dressing, so good! I got onion soup too, but its too good there not to get! But I did well with one aspect of my challenge, not so much with the strenth though

That sounds amazing! I have some goat cheese and pecans, so I will get some berries and greens and whip up a balsamic dressing!

amysj303

So, I finally got on the scale and it wasn't great-113.5. I think that means I have to do better with the food choices and add cardio, I completely forgot to do the cardio last week. It's really minimal. So here's the thing, I am going to keep the challenge going, or re-up, everyone is welcome to join me, starts today, name, weight, goals and what you're doing for two weeks to get to those goals.
Amy here, 113.5, want to get a toned tummy, doing KISS routine 3 days per week and adding two cardio sessions, trying to get 100 grams of protein each day, and keep cals under maintenance.

chuisle

I survived the weekend without a ton of chips and such! I went out with my sister and her boyfriend on saturday night and got a strawberry salad which was DELICIOUS for an entree so it was reasonable with calories. I would suggest you all to try this salad if you can! It had the mesclun greens, pecans, goat cheese and strawberries in a balsamic dressing, so good! I got onion soup too, but its too good there not to get! But I did well with one aspect of my challenge, not so much with the strenth though

That sounds amazing! I have some goat cheese and pecans, so I will get some berries and greens and whip up a balsamic dressing!

I very similar salads ALL the time...I loooove them. Asjerven...add a good amount of grilled chicken for protein. Other variations on it:

Spinach
Blueberries, or dried cranberries
Walnuts
Feta or parmesan
Raspberry vinaigrette

Also on starting up again...I am weighing in tomorrow and need to think about goals but I am in for another round!!

shander7

Chuisle - those additions to the salad sound great! I'm going to have to get myself some goat cheese I think

I'm definitely in for another challenge.. This time I think I'll try to add an ESE day... how many hours should I leave open for myself to eat?? I think I'll do that wednesday because that is the day I'm taking off from my class so I won't be having a high cardio day. I'm still going to think of the other half of my challenge, but for now this seems like it'll be hard enough!

amysj303

ESE is eating in an 8-hour window I think. I could try that too, it would certainly be a challenge during the week to get my meals in between, maybe 10am and 6pm.

cutmd

ESE is eating in an 8-hour window I think. I could try that too, it would certainly be a challenge during the week to get my meals in between, maybe 10am and 6pm.

Actually ESE is 1-2 24 hr fasts a week. A daily eating window is characteristic of leangains, which is an 8-10hr window (see www.leangains.com). Both are forms of Intermittent fasting.

I was not consistent these 2 weeks. Lemme think and come back...

jenomaha

So my results from the challenge, I did better with carbs than I did sugar. I did manage to get within my goal range for my bodyfat percentage. However, I have 16 days (well, today is pretty much over) so 15 days before my trip and I'm still not satisfied with my abs, so I am definitely in for another round!! Here we go!

Goal #1: Achieve 18% bodyfat (currently 19.75%)
Goal #2: 75%% of carb intake from fruits and veggies, instead of breads/rice/grains, etc... (gonna try a modified version of the paleo diet. not going to etremes or anything).

I'm still not sure what to do about my calorie goal though :-/

Good luck ladies!!

amysj303

good Job, Jen, on the body fat%! I am trying more paleo too, so we can share tips for that. Although, I don't think I can go without grains this week!

cutmd

So my results from the challenge, I did better with carbs than I did sugar. I did manage to get within my goal range for my bodyfat percentage. However, I have 16 days (well, today is pretty much over) so 15 days before my trip and I'm still not satisfied with my abs, so I am definitely in for another round!! Here we go!

Goal #1: Achieve 18% bodyfat (currently 19.75%)
Goal #2: 75%% of carb intake from fruits and veggies, instead of breads/rice/grains, etc... (gonna try a modified version of the paleo diet. not going to etremes or anything).

I'm still not sure what to do about my calorie goal though :-/

Good luck ladies!!

Hey, I am also unsure about my cals, I'm going to try my BMR + exercise cals from cardio only (won't eat strength cals because of the article suggesting the HRM is inaccurate) for three weeks

I will also copy you and try to make 75% of my carbs from fruits and veggies. I will allow a serving of rice or popcorn no more than one per day.

The scale is my enemy, I will actively avoid it for at least a week!

chuisle

My Verdict on the the challenge for me...the bad: because of external circumstances doing everything in my challenge was not my main priority so I didn't always do it, but I also didn't really mind that. the good: it did make more conscious of things like my nutrition and I did do a good job overall of keeping my carbs low, etc. overall.

I did get the scale to move from 143.6 the first week we started to 142.8 this morning. It's not a lot and honestly I think it was only water weight but it did move. My body fat also read 22.6 the first week and 22.4 today. So actually, once i look, my stats did drop but since they were high for me to begin with it's only a hallow victory. The challenge will be more if I can get them to continue to drop instead of increase.

I leave tomorrow for another out of town wedding, this time in Colorado (asjerven, won't I be in your state?) so I am going to make goals that fit with that (though are a bit more subjective).

Result: Drop body fat and lbs. (inches if possible)

Goal 1: Listen to my body. This means never feeling overfull (even at wedding events), only eating what I am hungry for, not what I crave or just to get to a certain amount of cals. I would still like to be conscious of carbs/protein but I really want to focus on just listening to what I need.

Goal 2: For week 1, do something active every day (walk, etc). Given my travel and schedule I am going to take the week off from KISS. It doesn't need to be a full work out but I want to be moving. For week 2, I want to go back to Kiss 3x a week, one day of yoga and 1-2 days of HIIT.

After that I want to consider 30DS or something just to mix it up (but keep with KISS).

Better_Balance_2011

Hey ladies. Good job on those making progress! And Kate, I love the dress. You look great!

I'd like to join the challenge again, really just to keep me motivated. My goals are constantly changing so for the next 2 weeks I am staying along the same lines of forming good habbits I guess.

Goal 1: Get 200 minutes total of some kind of activity a week. This can be some sort of machine, swimming, running, biking, walking my dog, etc. I didn't do well with my strength, really working out at all, last week. But I have been more focused on strength over the last month or so and so these next couple weeks I'd like to focus on cardio. I swam 40 minutes last night and it felt really good. So I'd like to incorporate swimming a couple times a week too.

Goal 2: Get 5 servings of fruits and vegetables (combined) daily. At work we were given a tab to aim for 25 servings a week and over the last 2 weeks I have been at 24 and 22 servings. I aim to win the competition at work but also just want to get in the habbit of eating more fruits and veggies.

Have a great week ladies!

Better_Balance_2011

The scale is my enemy, I will actively avoid it for at least a week!

Oh yeah....and I think this is a good idea! Maybe you're stressing yourself out over the weight thing. I know you know all the factors that can affect your weight so good for you for avoiding it this week!