Thanks , SueBoo! I had pneumonia after surgery so I had to be re-admitted to hospital for 2 or 3 days. I can't remember it all is a blur. I was so sick! I didn't care about logging or anything.

Jamaica, I am hoping when I go back for a 6 week (09/22) follow up Dr will allow be to start lifting again. We'll see.......

JL, you are killing your goals! I haven't been motivated to be careful about my food at all this Summer. Go you!

dna, enjoy Stage 7. I thought it was cruel, but it does give you a great workout!

Sue, I hope the shoulder feels better quickly!

Jo, 3 months is a really long time!

It's time to be more careful about my food and get serious about cutting. I figure I have about 15lbs left to lose. I'd love to lose 10 of that by Christmas. But I don't know how realistic it is. The good news is that with all of my eating, My strength and energy levels have been great. So even though I am about 3-5 lbs heavier than I was in April, I am stronger and I feel good. Hopefully some of the 3-5lbs is muscle.

Today I did hip thrusts 3 sets X 4 reps X 185lbs. My goal of 200lbs is getting very close!

I DID REAL PUSH UPS!!!!! REAL LIFE ON THE FLOOR ELBOWS IN- CHEST ALMOST TOUCHING THE GROUND - THIS IS SPARTA PUSH UPS!!!! I decided that today, after only doing one work out last week, was the day that I would try push ups from the ground. I've been doing them at about a 35 degree angle on my sofa and decided today that I was going to do a set of 8 on my sofa like normal, do three on the ground, and then finish up the set on the sofa. I went to do my three on the sofa and after the first one I stopped and thought to myself "this is way too easy girl what are you doing wrong?" But I wasn't doing anything wrong. I'm just an upper body badass.
TOM has had me feeling really blah and unmotivated. It's also packed on a whopping five pounds. I weighed myself saw that number and giggled. Normally that kind of fluctuation in weight would have had me hiding under my bed but now I know to just wait a week or so and the number will be back down.
I had a talk with my mother about how she has to stop thinking that losing weight is some mystical and magical thing and her body defies the laws of science and can't be held to the same standards as everyone else's body. I know she likes to think she's special but.... I've been preaching the beauty of resistance training and heavy lifting. She preaches the endless walking. She's been walking for years and still doesn't like her progress-what little she's had. I've been lifting since march and have cut five inches off my waist and if my measurements are accurate 5% of my overall body fat. Then at the annual family crab crack there was this large conversation about how the women in my family can only lose weight doing certain types of exercises and eating certain kinds of food. I just didn't have the energy to fight that fight again. I did however mention that I must be adopted because I've gotten positive results and I eat pasta every day.
I'm potentially going to Atlanta to visit an ex in October so I've got further motivation to keep lifting heavy and keep my eating under control. Because honestly is there anything better than the look of shock and awe on an ex's face when you have your body right? So for the ladies that were suggesting we do some type of challenge I am ALL for it! Happy lifting this week ladies!

Congrats pudding!
And red
And Jo
And sue- great you got back in there

I got back from Vancouver bc-- now I want to live in Canada.
I didn't lift for six days. Some hiking , swimming, biking and I found a weight room but did brief workouts.

I ate amazing vegetarian food and some fish.

It's nice to be home though.

Hi everyone,

I've been pretty good about logging my food and when I got on the scale Friday I had maintained perfectly (0.2 lbs under last weeks weigh in), which is exactly what I'm going for right now. Figured I'd follow what the book suggested and attempt to maintain my first 4 weeks on the program. I'm exactly halfway through stage one, having completed by 8th workout yesterday. I'm excited to see where I'm at in another 8 workouts.



Red - that's awesome! I finally decided to try to do real pushups. I could barely do one or two but I'm going to work on it.

Hello Ladies, checking in after the long weekend. It was busy but the kids had a good time. Whatever thisillness is made a come back with coughing & congestion in my chest, I'm getting a bit concerned cause it feels like trying to breathe water. Hopefully it'll clear up by next weekend or I'm going to the dr to make sure its nothing serious.
I've got a job interview tonight, I'm trying not to make myself too nervous so I keep telling myself that I'm not desperate for a job (which I'm not) so if I don't like the schedule or pay or anything I don't have to accept a job or if they don't call back its no big deal but good experience. Of course maybe it'll be a great job, with great benefits & they'll offer me a position (gotta try to stay positive). I was surprised and happy when I tried on my "interview clothes" that they didn't fit, they were way too big. My pants were a size 10 and I had to go & get a size 6 YAY ME!!!! :happy:
And I got a nice compliment from my BF, he told me that I do have abs and he can see the changes in my body, thatI'm looking really good. The ab thing is big since we had a "discussion" on how he thinks women can't have abs unless they have really low almost no body fat :noway: (I know, how stupid & insulting does that sound) It felt good proving him wrong ( Of course he tried to back track lol) So even with my little bit of stretch marked, loose skin by my belly button I'll take my 4 pack & be happy.

Red, you are doing awesome, remember to bring a napkin for that ex so he can wipe his drool.
Jo, 3 months :noway: :noway: :noway: 3 weeks was hard enough.
Beeps, glad you liked the new gym, maybe it can be permanent?

I hope everyone else continues to do well & lift heavy thing.

Beeps, a good gym is worth it's weight in gold.
ALi, you go mama!! For some reason even when I was a skinny minnie I never had abs, totally impressed. Please see the doctor.
Red, you are doing so awesome!!

Today was my first back at work. It was 95 with over 90% humidity, and I was moving furniture without A/C. I came home and went right to sleep.

Hi lifting ladies! I've been following along but decided to jump in and start posting too!

I did stage 1 and then took last week off (was away for a family wedding). I'm starting stage 2 today!! How many of you modified stage 2 at all? I'm not sure about some of the B options?

Anyways, off for A!! Keep up the good work ladies!,

Red, that's awesome!!!

Beeps, enjoy the gym while you can!

Ali, most of us DO have to get into sub 20% BF to have truly visible abs, so yay for you! You should be very proud of yourself!!!!

Sam, blah! Stay hydrated!

Julie, the main thing I remember about Stage 2 is how hard the DLs from a box are. If you're not 100% confident in your form, don't do them- just sub regular DLs. After two years of lifting, I have no intention of ever doing DLs from a deficit again. I just don't have the right anatomy to perform them correctly.

I just spent two hours decorating a cake for my middle ones birthday. Which means lots of taste testing. So I don't expect to have great macros today. I'm off to lift!

Hi everyone,
I havent been here in a while so there is a lot to catch up on.
Jo, three months with the in-laws? Why would anyone do that??? it sounds awful. and I love my in-laws but after a weekend with them I always want to get away.

Manic, sounds like you have been through a really hard time. I hope you are feeling better and will get back to full health soon.


Barbell, I also have about 15lbs left to lose. It was 4 at one stage but then I started eating all around me.... We got this though, we CAN lose it! And more importantly, got stronger along the way.

Red, yay for the push ups!! I have recently started doing full push ups too. The most I have managed at one time is 8 but I am working on improving that.

Sue, glad you are getting back into it. How is the shoulder? is it still hurting?

I am halfway through stage 6. was planning on doing SL5x5 for a while when I finished the programme but then today I had a moment of madness and I bought Supercharged online so looks like I will be doing that next! I hand in my thesis next week so after that i will be able to devote more time to eating right and working out.

Red, that's awesome!!!

Beeps, enjoy the gym while you can!

Ali, most of us DO have to get into sub 20% BF to have truly visible abs, so yay for you! You should be very proud of yourself!!!!

Sam, blah! Stay hydrated!

Julie, the main thing I remember about Stage 2 is how hard the DLs from a box are. If you're not 100% confident in your form, don't do them- just sub regular DLs. After two years of lifting, I have no intention of ever doing DLs from a deficit again. I just don't have the right anatomy to perform them correctly.

I just spent two hours decorating a cake for my middle ones birthday. Which means lots of taste testing. So I don't expect to have great macros today. I'm off to lift!

Thank you!! I pulled a muscle in my back starting to deadlift a few months back and it's finally healed. I subbed squats for half of stage 1 and only really started dead lifts toward the end, I'll stick with the regular ones! Thanks a bunch!!
Yum-cake! It's so hard not to taste test

Sue-thanks for the welcome! Hope work went well and your lower body workout went well!

Dou-good for you!! I've considered SL5x5 several times and have my husband doing it. I may move to it depending on how I like stage 2 .

So true Barbell. I can out eat any workout :P

Its been so nice only doing cardio this week, just doing whatever machine I feel like. Yesterday was elliptical and today was a treadmill walk/jog. Tomorrow will likely be the stair climber and the Curve.

But...I miss lifting. The gym is set up so you can see the weight area while you're in the cardio area and I kept staring at people lunging and squaring

I finished Stage 2 last night & I'm feeling it in my shoulders & hips today. I don't know where the week went, I've only done one cardio & one lifting. I think I'm going to skip the week off since I just skipped a week of workouts when I was sick.
My job interview went well, but I don't like the schedule, 12-9pm and Saturdays are mandatory. :noway: Nope that's not happening. I like putting my kids to bed & making sure they had a good dinner and I wouldn't be able to go to any of Andy's after school things. And Saturday ha, thats my family time. No job is worth that, they won't be little forever.
Hope everyone is doing well.

Glad to hear that you are putting you first, and realizing what's important in life! Kudos

Julie, good luck with your goals.
ALi, good choice, I wouldn't take the job either. It's bad enough my husband has crap hours.
Speaking of the hubby, did I mention he got a raise, his thrid in a year. He must be doing something right. THat being said, I can afford to keep my kid care throughout the school year, so no excuses for missing workouts. I made it today even though he worked late
Got in my lifting tonight. Pushed my limits a little. 3 sets of 12 @ 75 lbs

I had a little epiphany. I've been blaming my lack of progress on the program, but it's not the program it's me. I've been very inconsistent with diet and exercise. I have to give it a month of real effort. Now that I'm back in my routine, it should work.