Friday, April 4, 2008

Failed Experiment and Sphere of Influence

My 100% Turbulence Training experiment is officially over. Aw come on, I gave it a good 24 hours! :) I am not giving up on my April experiment, just modifying it slightly. :) And it isn't for the reason you think - and technically I am still a petri dish.

First off, I took measurements yesterday and before pictures and I am going to try really hard (C, this is thanks to you) to use positive self talk in this post because I had an epiphany of sorts last night. That said - here is the one negative thing I will say: the pictures I took last night were the most motivating thing I could have done - I was shocked and disgusted with how far I have let my body go during this last five to six months. WOW, talk about eye opening. and although they are terrible (too terrible to post) - I just didn't really think things were as bad as they are...even after looking at my stats and knowing those were high - the pics did me in. I promise I will post the entire before pics at the end of my 30 day experiment. For now, I am just posting my belly button. :) I could always tell I was losing weight based on how my belly button ring fit.
June 07 (left) vs. April 08 (right)


As you can see, there is a HUGE difference.

The good news is I made a decision last night: I am getting to 16% body fat. I know how hard I will have to work - I have done it before. I know what I must do. Something clicked last night and now, it's on.

My DH knows that when I set my mind to something - watch out. Here is an example: when I told him I was going to compete in December of 06, he literally laughed - he didn't mean it mean, he just knows people who have competed before and knows the will power and dilligence required and was skeptical I would do it. But I did. I looked back in my fit day log and here is how my weight decreased after setting my goal:

12/18/06: 127
1/2/06: 124.5
1/15/07: 123.5
3/12/07: 122

So over four months I dropped 5 lb but more than that I changed my body comp significantly going from 23% to 17% so my lean mass increased too. Looking back over my weight log last night gave me lots of confidence that I know what to do to make this happen.

And my attitude is the first thing that has to change. I have to love my body and appreciate it while doing everything in my sphere of influence to change it.

As for Turbulence Training, I am going to continue to do the program however I am going to add in a few more cardio interval sessions and perhaps even some regular 30minute post weight training workouts. I may even add in a shoulder workout and a straight leg workout a couple days a week. See last nights workout for more info on how I modify.

Here are my stats as of 4/3/08:
Weight: 127.8
BF: 21.6% (based on hand held)
Lean body mass: 100.2
Fat lbs: 27.6
Waist: 27
Hips: 37.5
Bicep: 10.75
Thigh: 22

30 days from Thursday will be my goal date and review. I think in 30 days I can lose 4-5 lbs however that won't get me to goal so I look for the month of May to be the completion of that goal. It will take lots of hard work but I am up for it! And I will be tracking my good in my online journal.

In this month's Women's Health there is an article called: "Head Strong" and it is all about your mind and its power when you workout. C-this is for you from your out of body experiment post:

"When you work out harder than you're used to, your brain thinks, We have no data on whether an extra set of deadlifts will damage her body. I better make her pretty uncomfortable by reducing electrical output to the muscles so she'll quit this nonsense....But you can recalibrate your brain to chill - whether you're strength training or trying to shave a few minutes off your half-marathon pace. The key is to train it to think 'been there, done that'. "

Pretty interesting stuff eh??

Have a great weekend guys!
Jess
P.S. I had my company meeting on Friday morning (8 to 12) and the doc called to talk results when I was in the meeting and their office closes at noon on Friday so I will have to wait till Monday.
P.P.S. Look for a VLOG this weekend - our video camera arrived yesterday.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well Jess... you have to figure those boobs gotta weigh something!

Seriously I don't know how you can be the same height as me...claim to have less muscle mass and more body fat but still look waaayyyy thinner than me. It must be the boobs throwing off your measurement!

You'll do great. Probably only take 2 weeks to see abs.

~c.
(I am precontest now so I don't count calories or track my food...it's very liberating)

Kelly Olexa said...

Jess, I am right there with you. I was talking to my trainer last night (at my birthday party of all places!) and he is in "diet mode" for his competition in 90 days. I told him I am committed to doing WHATEVER IT TAKES so he is pushing me to get really critically accurate on diet etc. And I will do it. I am like you. When I set my mind to something, I WILL DO IT. Blogging adds such great accountability!
My goal is to reach 15% Body Fat by September 1!!!

EM :) said...

J, I mentioned this on C's blog but dude.......you guys would be appaulled at how much more I weigh than you. Perhaps that's why I try not to focus on that, because if I did, and compared myself to others, I'd probably go cry myself to sleep.......... :) :)
But, life is good, no need to fret.
MAKE IT A GOOD MONTH!!!!!!!!

Krissa said...

I think the lighting was bad. And the distance from which the picture was taken was also different so its hard to really tell the difference in those pics. I think you are just being overly critical.You posted pics not that long ago and I recall those looking pretty damn good for before pics.

I meant to mention that article in my blog. That issue was really good.

You can easily lose those 4-5 pounds in 30 days.

Have a good Sunday.

Anonymous said...

OFF TOPIC:

LISA won overall!!!