School started. :noway: It's been rough. :grumble: :grumble: :grumble:

I did Workout 2 from Stage 7 two and a half weeks ago. Not sure what to do next? Start over? Keep going?

Julie, I have the same problem with my back, there is one spot that gets hurt very easily. I hurt it doing deadlifts at the end of stage 4 and had to take a week and a half off to rest it. I got a massage and that helped loads. I haven't done deadlifts since (because they haven't been in the programme) but I think my back is finally better so I will be able to do them when I get to stage 7. I think we just need to be extremely careful to have good form the entire time.

I attempted to do my 3rd 6B workout this morning with a slight hangover. It wasn't fun. I just wanted to curl up and go to sleep the entire time. Needless to say, I enjoyed the fact that it is a short workout and I didn't add any extras like I normally do.

Runz, I'm not sure. If you feel strong enough to keep going then that's probably what I would do. But I suppose it depends on how you feel.

Ok, I think I figured this out. This is before and after stage 1, about 6-7 weeks. No weight lost on the scale...


The other side:


And the front:

Julie your progress is obvious

Julie, amazing! Keep it up

I am supposed to start Supercharged tomorrow but haven't finished reading the book yet and am not sure I'll get a chance. What to do, what to do...

Ali- I definitely applaud you on your decision regarding your job. I used to complain about how I lost everywhere except where I wanted to lose. I wanted my stomach to shrink but instead it was all in my thighs and arms. Eventually I just accepted that my body was going to lose in the order and way it wanted to lose and no complaining or griping on my end was going to change that so I had two options: I could keep complaining until I had discouraged myself so much that I gave up on the workouts all together or I could celebrate every change in every part of my body. Sometimes I catch myself getting down that I don't have a six pack yet but then I look at my legs and my arms and my back and I congratulate myself on how amazing they look until my stomach is no longer on my mind. It really works try it next time you're feeling down!

Julie- 130 lbs!!!! You are the REAL MVP! Your progress from stage one is amazing. My body certainly hadn't changed like that in one stage. How are you calculating your calories? I found that MFP and the equation in the book were both high for me. I started New Rules in March and actually GAINED weight. I got up to my highest of 141 and that was with me eating at maintenance and hitting my macros. I tried an almost purely liquid diet and that didn't stop the gains, I went low carb and that didn't stop them either. Eventually I accepted the fact that I couldn't eat all the things and cut my intake by about 400 calories. I started losing weight. I now eat pasta, oatmeal, and frosted flakes everyday and I'm still losing. You can do low or high carbs as long as your calories are right and your macros are being hit.

Sam- Epiphanies are beautiful things. I had to have one myself and once I did great things started happening. I know the same thing will happen for you!

Runz- I took two weeks off in the middle of stage 4 and when I started lifting again I picked up right where I had stopped. Your body is already strong enough to handle these work outs especially since stage seven isn't about strength gains but losing fat. I'd say you definitely don't have to start over.

Jo- You brave woman you! I wouldn't even want to check to see where my lifts should be by now. You however being a well adjusted and motivated woman will of course just use that information to help push you to being even stronger than you are now and I am here for that! Good luck!

Pmag- OOOOOOO a trainer! I'm glad you're going to stick with her and I just want to say she's absolutely right. You ARE strong. You are SUPER strong. You put up amazing numbers and make me want to get up off my butt and do more. And I think she is challenging you. She noticed that your glutes were weak and has you working on them. Maybe it's not about challenging you in areas where you are already strong but in pushing you in the areas that you are weaker. Either way I like this woman and I want progress pics!

Jamaica- I gained four pounds during TOM and I've lost that weight in the last week. Honestly I don't try to stop myself from eating "bad" during that time. I recognize a losing battle when I see it. Instead I focus on moderation. I want ALL the chic fil a but I only eat a kids meal. I want ALL of the liquor and wine coolers but I just grab a soda. I want all of the Talenti....I eat all of the Talenti because no one is perfect. Also I try to get out and walk as much as possible and still fit in my three workouts for the week. Sometimes if I feel super bloated I'll just do some quick ab work and move on. I just let myself be a slob in moderation and then when TOM is over I get right back to life as usual knowing that I've already lost so much weight my body can lose the measly four pounds TOM threw at me.

Ladies....momentous things have happened. First of all after 6 weeks of trying I have FINALLY finished stage 4. It took me almost an hour and a half to get the last workout done. Because I work out at home I can literally let my mind wander and end up sitting on my medicine ball staring at the wall thinking about what I want to wear this week and what I'll be eating for breakfast once my work out is finished. I also thought about Starbucks a lot. And then I realized what time it was and that I was embarrassing myself and finished my workout. Also there was so much talk about DL that I figured I should see if I could add some weight to mine. I'm now officially up to 80 lbs which compared to some of you (I'm looking at you Jamaica) isn't that big of a deal but I'm excited anyways. I'll start stage 7 again on Tuesday but I'm only doing one round this time. From there I'm going to do stage 5, another round of stage 7, and then move on to super charged.

Momentous thing number 2: I have officially lost TEN pounds!!!!!! I may have cried on my scale this morning when I saw the number. I'm really proud of myself and all of the progress that I've made. I'm two pounds away from my ultimate goal weight and 2% from my ultimate goal body fat percentage and that's crazy. After all of these years of hating my body and wishing it was better I've finally done it. I've finally taken the steps and done the work to get what I want and I couldn't be more proud of myself. I've noticed that the closer I've gotten to my goal the more forgiving and appreciative I've been of my body and of myself. I'm so much nicer to myself. Nicer than I've ever been and it's made me nicer to others and much more accepting. It's also made me braver. I changed my body QED I can change anything about me or around me. I can get a great job, I can be in relationships that make me happy, I can learn another language, I can learn to play an instrument. I can do anything!

Thanks you guys for listening to me whine in the beginning and for offering me help and tips, for liking and commenting when I tracked my food and for hanging in there yourselves. You've all been major inspirations to me. Every time you worked out even though you had a super long day you made me get up and do it too. Every time you were honest about your progress even if it was bad you made me feel it was okay to be honest too. Every time you stopped working out but started up again you kept me from giving up. So thank you and happy lifting this week.

Hello I am headed home from Seattle. This am my lifting was mediocre. Only dumbbells.

I will lift once more before Thursday.

I have a crazy work schedule this week and my family will be very grumpy.

Congrats to all who are finishing stage six and seven.

I just realised I'd been reading and not posting, so popping in to apologize for being MIA

Still have a massive order to finish and send on it's way, so this is just a "hello" post :flowerforyou:

Stage 6 officially completed this morning so I'm sleeping in for the rest of the week... well, when I'm not on swim squad duty :laugh:

Supercharged has been ordered and is on it's way :bigsmile:

And now to smash out some work over the next two hours so I can then spend an hour or so reading notes for a business course I'm taking, have lunch, clean the house and then I'm going for a run.... if it doesn't rain lol

Oh, and I got the confirmation email over the weekend - the Husband and I are both definitely going to TEDx Brisbane in October! So freaking excited :bigsmile: They have to ballot the tickets because so many people want to come. Whheeeeee! Child-free day with the husband listening to awesome people speak. My idea of heaven really lol

Oh and MythBusters Live was last weekend - brilliant. And I've never seen my son sit so still and enthralled before :laugh:

Ok, so I tried bench with the bar and not dumb bells. Good and bad. Good - I upped my weight. Still crappy though. I'm to ashamed to even post it, lol. What are you ladies benching? I need some perspective!

Bad - could not get comfy. The bench is too high off the ground/ my leg are too short. I end up curving my back to get my feet on the floor rather than back flat to bench. Also, I kept knocking the rack with the bar, despite adjusting my position. I have a hatred of these freaking benches. I am used to an incline bench rather than flat which is what I tried today..... the incline bench set up at my gym is designed for a much taller male also. Grump. Yes, I know I can probably set it up with either the smith machine or the squat rack, but a) we only have one squat rack and people will be pissed if I bench there, and b) I can't get past the bench seat being too high. They are not adjustable in height from the ground. FFS. Fed up with this - I need straightforward right now!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hmm yeah I guess..... didn't think of that. Will try it! Thanks