Brazil Butt Lift Has Arrived! Anyone Else Doing It?

I'll be sure to keep everyone apprised of my progress. I'll also try to keep up with my food log. That's a challenge for me.

I have Hip Hop Abs on hold at my local library. They have 8 copies and I'm around #40 in line, so I"m hoping that I'll be number one once I get done with two rounds of BBL. After that, I want to try Turbo Jam, Turbo Fire, Rockin, Body, and possibly Zumba. With all of that and the hybrid combinations, I guess I"m set for the next couple of years or so.

I have reached my goal body three times in the past four years and then completely lost my motivation due to boredom and apathy. Then, my clothes start to get tight and I get motivated all over again. I don't want that to happen this time. I want to reach my goal and *stay* there and I figure that having a shiny new toy every few months will help to keep me motivated.

I've only done one workout so far and there is some jumping. I too have bad knees, as well as a second floor apartment, and I just followed the modifier on the jumpy parts. You have to know your own limits and not risk injuring yourself just to keep up with the uberfits on the video. My knees aren't bothering me today and it was still a heck of a workout.

So, I owe a week's worth of updates.

I have a slight correction to make. It's in Cardio Axe when Leandro utters the giggle inducing lines.

Anyway. I did Sculpt for the first time on Sunday and hated it. I didn't hate it because it's a bad workout. I hated it because the lower body portion is hard. It was on the schedule three times this week and I noticed that my hatred for it is all but gone. It's scary how quickly my body adapted to the workout. I'm using 5 pound weights and I think I will move up next week because the upper body portion isn't challenging with them.

I added the exercise band and ankle weights to High & Tight this week and "Boy, howdy!" My lower body is stronger than I gave it credit for though, because I got through it without dying.

Cardio Axe is the one that I look forward to the most. If someone had told me that would be my opinion, I would have laughed because I considered myself uncoordinated. I have the routine down now and there's no more tripping over my feet. I also sweat like I'm doing Insanity during it. I've read reviews where people say that CA didn't even make them break a sweat. They must be in *tremendous* shape.

OTOH, I still don't care for Bum Bum. It feels the longest though it's only half an hour. However, it's part of the program and I'm sticking to the schedule as it is written. I can't gauge the effectiveness of the program fairly if I make omissions and substitutions. Thankfully, Bum Bum is only once a week.

The most exciting thing is that I'm starting to see results. I'm trying to wait until day 30 before I weigh and measure myself, so my observations are basically from my eyes and my clothes. My saddlebags are already 99% gone and my jeans slid on like butter last Friday, which was day 6. On Wednesday, I tried on my most unforgiving skirts, the ones that are A line and/or don't have any elastic in the waistbands to speak of. Each and every one got on much easier than the last time I wore them, which was in April. I actually had room between my butt, thighs, and the fabric. I couldn't believe it.

Sorry in advance for the TMI, but today, I'm extremely bloated from PMS and wearing jeans because Fridays are casual at my office. My jeans feel a little tighter than they did last week (obviously), but they are still comfortable. Usually the waistband digs into my stomach when I'm bloated and that is not the case today. I have room.

I can't wait to see my 30 day results!

Sorry for the sporadic updates. It's my intent to update every day or two, but then life happens.

So, I"m on week three now. I did Sculpt on Monday and yesterday. Though I didn't mind it at first, I've changed my mind. It has replaced Bum Bum as my least favorite. Maybe it's because Sculpt is three times per week on my routine and Bum Bum is less frequent. Scupt is 47 minutes. Three of that is warmup, followed by about 20+ minutes of upper body and compound upper/lower exercises, followed by about 15 minutes of floor work for chest, abs, and back, then a six minute cooldown. It honestly bores me to tears, but I do it because I want to follow the program faithfully.

Now, I haven't done Bum Bum since last week and it's on the schedule for tomorrow, so maybe I"ll change my mind again after the refresher.

I can do Cardio Axe in my sleep now. It doesn't bore me and still makes me sweat buckets. I always do it barefoot because a) going shoeless helps my coordination and b) I live in a second floor apartment and it's less noise over my neighbors.

Tummy Tuck is also on deck tomorrow for the first time since week one when it kicked my butt and took names. I'm looking forward to the rematch and refuse to let it defeat me this time.

High & Tight is the devil. Thinking of my results is what keeps me going through that workout. Oddly, it's my second favorite behind Cardio Axe.

Next week *realy* mixes it up and I"m looking forward to that. It's been pretty much alternating Cardio Axe/High & Tight and Sculpt with Bum Bum thrown in once last week and this week. Changing up the order and doing different combos will wake my brain, and probably my body, up.

My results are truly amazing. I was prepared, not to be disappointed by my results, but to not expect the dramatic changes described on the informercial. To actually get the results is awesome. I had a hair appointment this past Saturday and people in the salon were remarking on how toned I looked and asked what I was doing. This feedback provides proof to me of a sort. Though I see myself shrinking and my clothes are looser, having validation from people who aren't aware of what I'm doing "proves" it. I'm sure you understand what I mean.

Here's another thing to add to the results front. The "penny test" was not an issue for me. My butt was not very saggy, it was just larger than I wanted. I had a crease where my butt meets my thigh, but it was too shallow to hold a pencil. Now, it's pretty much gone altogether. For the past few days, I've been looking at my butt in the mirror and scrutinizing that area like the creases being gone is a hallucination and I'm expecting them to reappear. The proof is right there in front of me, but it's like it's too good to be true.

The only negative I have is the exercise band. Either I'm stronger than I think or it's flimsy. The resistance it provides is fine, but I don't think it will last more than two or three more workouts for me. I saw two tiny holes in it when I did H&T on Tuesday, so I will be purchasing some real bands this weekend. It came free with the program, so I guess you get what you pay for.

This week overall did not go too well for me. Tough slog at work + lack of sleep+ missing two workouts+ questionable eating choices= unhappy Matiara. However, the week wasn't a *total* bust.

The Tummy Tuck rematch went well. I told myself I would do at least five of everything and once I did five, I would negotiate with my body to do five more, then two more. Doing that enabled me to finish a lot of the sets. I don't know why psyching myself out that way works, but it does.

I had Cardio Axe and Bum Bum yesterday. I always do CA barefoot, but wear shoes for Bum Bum. I must have been distracted or something and forgot to put my shoes on before I started Bum Bum. It was so much better. Usually when I do it, I have a hard time balancing and I can't get through more than a few reps of most of the exercises without pausing the tape several times. Without shoes, I was able to get through most set, balance better, and most importantly keep my heart rate up. I may do that one shoeless from now on as well.

I'm on staycation next week, so that will give me time to catch up on sleep, get my head together, and get my eating and exercise back on track. I don't want to sabotage all of the hard work I've done.

Well, back to work.

So here's a funny thing. I ate very well when I was home, as clean as I have in a while. Lots of fruits and veggies and less carbs than usual. I also didn't miss a workout. I went to JC Penney on Friday and was trying on shorts and I have gone down a size from a 12 to a 10! Thing is, the scale registers a +2 from my start weight. Being a typical human, my mind is focusing on the two pound weight gain instead of the loss in clothing size. I know losing the size is more indicative of my results, but 170 has become a psychological barrier and it would be a mental boost to just get below it, if only by a pound or two.

I read in a lot of reviews before purchasing BBL that while people lost inches and sizes, they didn't lose a lot of weight. There are three weeks to go before the end of the prescribed program and I don't want to pass that judgement on myself until I get to the end, but it looks like I'm trending that way. We'll see.

Ironically, my upper body is what's looking the most fabulous at this point. Despite the little hiccup today, Seattle has finally decided to flip over to warm weather and I wore tank tops when I was out this past weekend. Now, I never really gain weight in my upper body and look okay no matter what shape I'm in, but I'm really starting to get shredded. My arms especially look fabulous. Also, I bought a medium shirt without trying it on because I've always been a medium and found it to be a little baggy when I put it on at home.

I think what it is is that I *am* losing fat and my upper body just appears to be having faster results because I don't have much to lose there, as opposed to my tummy and thighs.

And speaking of arms/upper body, I finally got eight pound weights and did Sculpt with them for the first time yesterday. For the first time, that workout challenged me. I was most assuredly not bored and even had to stop for a few breaks. The five pound weights were just too light and Sculpt was boring me because it was too easy. I broke a sweat doing it with five pounders, but it wasn't difficult. I actually had to work hard yesterday.