Ok so I am late with this posting – I should have written this blog on Monday. I am late with my newsletter too – yes again! What a crazy hectic life I lead but I can’t really complain because without it I would be bored out of my mind. I tried the whole stay at home mom thing – not for me so crazy-assed hectic it is! Bet late than never I guess…

So on Monday – the 6 week mark into my 3 month goal, I stepped on the scale with a bit of trepidation. I haven’t exactly been well behaved and focused the last two weeks. A few too many glasses of wine, not enough effort in my workouts (although I did add a 3rd boot camp) and absolutely no effort put into an extra workout between classes. Yep, I have been a bad girl! yep, it is true, I am human! No really, I am!

On a positive note though – I haven’t exactly been that bad! Regular healthy snacks, low-fat, low cal meals well balanced with proteins, fats and carbs, a ton of water and even some extra sleep thanks to my now 5-month old son actually figuring out that night time is no longer an all-you-can-eat buffet!

Ok so Monday morning comes and I am getting ready to leave for the spa (thank you to my darling husband who booked me a full day of treatments) and I am standing at the scale wondering how I am going to explain my lack of results to all of you and…. 165lbs and 25% body fat!! PHEW!! Thank you to my high metabolism and activity level!!  I did it! I am now officially the same body fat and even lighter weight – actually this is the lightest I have been since my husband has known me although he swears he sees no difference in my body because I have always been perfect (yes I have him well trained!).

Needless to say, I am both relieved and newly motivated! In 6 weeks I have managed to lose 4% body fat, 14 lbs and a total of 8.5″ on my waist, belly, thighs (Yes even my thighs!!! YEAH!) and hips! I have mentioned before that I don’t measure my chest because I am still nursing so we have a few more months to determine where these puppies end up (Ok, 6 months, 3 weeks and 6 days – but who’s counting??)

So here we go – the 6 week countdown to 22% Body Fat. I know this will be the toughest stretch yet and will take a lot of focus. I honestly don’t know if I am quite up to the challenge – it’s is really going to take work and dedication. There are moments of weakness that I think it would be better to just change my goal than to change my lifestyle even more but then I look in the mirror and envision where I want to be, how I want to feel, how I want to look. I think about the amazing trip we have planned to Hawaii to celebrate our anniversary next year and I think about how fast 40 is creeping up on me. If I am ever going to do it – now is the time because it will only get harder from here on out. I also think about letting people down – you, my cliets, my friends and family. Not that they care what my body percentage is, but they do care about integrity and so do I. I said I was going to do it and I am going to stick to my guns – kick myself in the ass just like I would any of my clients ready to quit and remind myself that every time we break a promise to our self, we chip away at our self esteem.

I can do this. I will do this – for me, for you and mostly just because I said I would.

So here we go… 6 weeks and counting. How are you doing on your goals???

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So here we are – the last day of April, 2012. It has been an eventful month here at home and included such milestones as my son’s 18th birthday and I have to admit that is one that has spun me for a loop. I am far too young to have an 18 year old – especially when nursing a 4 month old! It is kind of funny though and both my boys are happy, healthy and prospering – what more could a mother want?

As for me, it is the end of my first month with my new weight loss and fitness goal. Starting off the month of April, I wanted to lose 5% of my post baby body fat, 12 inches and depending on muscle gain that would equate into a 15lb loss. I started off the month weighing in at 179lbs and 29% body fat. Higher than I wanted at 3 months post partum but not surprising as I had spent 3 months on bedrest before baby and after my c-section wasn’t as physically active afterwards as I should have been. Before fertility treatments began in 2010, I weighed 167lbs and  25% body fat and as I explained earlier, I intentionally kept my BF higher to assist with fertility treatments but now I no longer have that excuse!

I set a 3 month timeline for my goal – a little less aggressive than I would usually do but considering that I am still nursing and tired, I figured that a slow, steady, conservative pace is much more sustainable even though I know I could do it faster. Believe it or not, I am inately a lazy person and very very aware of my limitations. The other reason why I am choosing a slower pace is that I don’t want to sacrifice my lifestyle – something that I highly recommend everyone consider when setting a weight loss or fitness goal. Now that pregnancy is over and baby Ivan is sleeping for longer stretches, mommy is enjoying a glass of her favorite wines in the evening – I am also not 100% committed to regular cardio workouts over and above our fitness class schedule, my life is just too bust as it is – so instead of saying I will and making excuses or feeling guilty when I don’t – I just set more realistic and honest goals and timelines – much more satisfying all around.

So that is how we got here – to the end of month 1 with 2 more months to go. Doing weights and measures this morning, I was actually a bit nervous because that last week or so have been a struggle for me. Sleep training Ivan and rescheduling my hours at the store have left me struggling with limited sleep and when I am tired – I get hungry!!  Even though I know better, I am human and don’t always follow my own advice – even healthy snacks can be detrimental to a weight loss program when eaten in excess and I have to admit a few days of excess! So what did the scale and measuring tape tell me this morning? Well…

168lbs and 26% body fat! That is a loss of 11lbs and 3% body fat in my first month! More than 50% of my original goal! On top of that, when taking my overall measurements into consideration and measuring my waist, hips, belly and thighs (we won’t consider chest as I am nursing), I have also lost a whopping 6 inches overall. Half way there! I have to admit that I am pretty excited about these results, They are just enough motivation to show that my plan and my program are working the way that I want them to! The bad news is that my results slowed a great deal in the last half of the month compared to the first half – which means I have to kick up my effort a notch! Like I am always saying to my clients – weight loss is not magic, it is math.

EFFORT + TIME = RESULTS

If you want faster results, you need more effort. If you don’t want to increase effort, you have to be satisfied with slower results, it is just the way the numbers work, there is no way around it!

So what is my plan for May?? Well, we have added two more fitness classes to our schedule – a single eveing boot camp and an InfuZion class for toning and strength. That gives me one full cardio class a week with step aerobics in which I will be increasing my intensity with a higher step and a little more effort – this is the class to do it because my class participants are amazingly advanced and know our routines as well as me – we can all give 110% and I know they can not only keep up, but push me to go harder! Three boot camp classes a week give great opportunities for interval and strength training although my focus is less on me and more on my class so I know I will need to add at least 1 private workout a week to increase my results (Thankfully I have a friend who will be pushing my lazy ass to go for a weekly run with her – yuck! I hate running!). So that is my fitness plan for the next month – I have to increase my activity – no way around it! In the meantime I will be continuing to watch my intake – eating regular snacks and meals (3 + 3) making low fat, low sugar selections whenever possible and planning my treats!

I do have to give a shout out to my amazingly supportive husband who is taking my dedication to this goal very seriously! Sharing in the grocery shopping has always been a challenge for us because our way of food selection has always been very different – he focuses on price and taste, I tend to shop for nutrition and quality but over the past few weeks he has come home having intentionally purchased skinless chicken, fat free frozen yogurt instead of ice cream, whole wheat bread instead of his usually rye and way less bacon than I usually see! On top of this which is amazing, he is encouraging and supportive and even came down into the fitness studio one day to time me in a fitness challenge workout (no he didn’t participate but maybe next time )

I cannot express enough how important it is for you or anyone who is serious about changing their lifestyle or reaching a specific weight loss or fitness goal to have a support team. You need to share your goals, engage people in the process, share your challenges, successes, doubts and triumphs! No one lives in a vacuum – sustainable weight loss, a sustainable lifestyle depends upon exactly that – a change in your life and no one can do it alone. The more you share, the more you ask for help, the better chance for success you have!

So…. since I have come so far so fast, I have decided to change my goal and challenge myself a little bit. I couldn’t easily just coast along, but that isn’t like me. If something is easy – I don’t want it so here goes. Originally I wanted to end up after 3 months at 24% Body Fat, 164lbs and a loss of 12 inches. 5%, 12″, 15lbs right… which would leave me needing to lose only 2%BF, 4lbs and 6″ in the next two months – easy peasy! So let’s strive for higher… My new goal, just like starting all over is to lose another 4% BF dropping me to 22%, 10″ more and depending on muscle gain, would equal a drop of about 9lbs. Can I do it? Of course I can! Will I do it? Well, the more I share, the more I stay focused, the better my chances will be so when you see me don’t be afraid to ask how things are going or to slap the ice cream from my hand…

I am off to update the lipstick on my mirror. How are you doing?

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Well it has been two weeks since I made the decision to get off my ass and start following my own advice to get back into shape, ok, get into better shape than before I had Baby Ivan 4 months ago (today! Happy 1/3 birthday Ivan!). I decided that the best way to shed the few extra pounds, trim the extra body fat and build the muscle I need to get into my ideal physical shape was to actually treat myself like a client and work through the process with myself, just like I do with them, so that is what I have been doing!

For the past two weeks I have been focusing on the basics – just like I start any new client with – 3 small meals, 3 regular snacks and cutting out the crap. Pretty simple huh? Actually it was. The first thing I did after blogging about my goals – and yes I do encourage my clients to talk about their goals, their plan, their program with anyone who will listen – why? Becuase the more you talk about it – the more real it becomes, the more a part of your every day routine and the more support you get. It also works as great motivation because we are often to willing to let ourselves down when giving up on a goal but when we know others are watching (especially when we stake our professional reputation on it), e are more likely to wade through te tough days and stay focussed on the prize at the end. So yep, I blogged about my goals – I even wrote my goal on our bathroom mirror in lipstick so I could see it every day – my husband also can see it so it reminds him of what I am doing and he can help! And if you don’t think your significant other helps or hurts you in weight loss – you are nuts because they have so much to do with it – it is scary! Most of the time they don’t even know they are doing it, but bringing home treats, eating your favorites in front of you, suggesting fast food or take out and so forth are sabotaging behaviors that are incredibly helpful if they just quit doing them so if by asking them to support you and reminding them of your goal constantly cuts out even one of those behaviors – you are further along than you ever would be on your own!

So my goals set and shared with the world and my husband, I started making a few changes. Normally I don’t recommend a vigorous work out program for new clients – we have to build towards that but since I was starting at a level that already included regular exercise, I chose to increase my intensity, during my workouts. The benefit of these new and improved routines is that my boot camp and step aerobics classes are getting more creative and energetic work outs from me – and even though they are complaining about the work – they sure can’t argue the results . I do have to admit that the one area I have fallen down in over the past two weeks is that I had planned on adding additional workouts to my 3-times a week schedule – including some individual muscle building and body sculpting routines on my own. These never happened. I won’t bore you with my excuses but like I would tell my clients – the only acceptable response to ‘Why didn’t you work out like you were supposed to?” is “Because I didn’t want to!” And when it comes down to it – excuses aside, that is exactly why I didn’t do more in the past two weeks and didn’t hold to that part of my goal, I jusdidn’t want to get off my ass. Over the next two weeks as I creep towards my first plateau, that HAS to change! So if you see me on the street – ask my how my extra work outs are going – THAT will motivate me because the only thing I hate worse than exercise is losing credibility!

So in addition to eating more regularly and increasing the effort I put into my exercise routines, the biggest change that I have made to my routine is to actually put more thought into what I am eating. I started out, just like any client – by writing down everything I ate. A food intake diary to be reviewed by your nutritionist is a great way to keep junk out of your mouth and off your hips. The funny thing is that I couldn’t quite keep up with it  knowing that it wasn’t going to be reviewed by anyone but me – so instead I just started putting more and more thought into what I ate. Every time I go to grab a snack I ask myself – what would my clients think about this if they saw me eat it? I’ll tell you – that is a huge eye opener! My greatest success was making it through the entire Easter weekend without eating a single chocolate because usually I eat morer than the kids! Actually Sera still has a bag full of bunny treats and mommy hasn’t had a single one! Yeah me! Two days after Easter though, when I could literally hear the chocolate calling me from the other room, I sat down at my computer and developed a recipe for my own homemade chocolate bar – a low sugar, low fat, high fiber, high protein treat that would curb my cravings and OMG they are soooo good! I took the extras to the store all week and gave them away fro free – I have had so many people ask me if they could buy them that I am seriously thinking of packaging and selling them along with a few of my other healthy treats – Butterfly Bars – how much fun would that be? Stay tuned to learn more about THAT new project

So along with doing great things, I also did some pretty stupid bonehead things – just like anyone else, I am human and cannot stay focused forever. My theory is that everything should be in moderation and you should never be or feel deprived in a weight loss program or you are doomed to fail. As soon as you feel like you are ‘dieting’ or ‘can’t’ have something, it is no longer a lifestyle change you can sustain so I always tell my clients that it isn’t about saying no, it’s about moderation and balance. Except that just like anyone else, I sometimes have trouble drawing the line between balance and excess. Just like this past weekend. Eighteen degrees on a Saturday was screaming for the first bonfire of the year – especially since we had so many branches and excess wood from our recent landscaping job that needed to be cleaned up – and when you have a bonfire with a 6 year old in the house you know what is for dinner – yep, a weiner roast! Now normally you would never catch me eating a hot dog except in support of a charity group having a BBQ fundraiser, but there is something about roasting dogs over an open flame that just can’t be ignored so yep – I had 2! I must admit though that I was very very proud of my husband when he said that he didn’t bother buying marshmallows – if we don’t have them I can’t eat them! Gotta love that man! Unfortunately, since I was working all that day, I have a couple of bottles of milk expressed and ready to go for little Mr. Ivan so instead of just having a glass of wine in the evening, I felt that I could have a couple out by the fire since I didn’t have to nurse – and after my last feeding of the night I did just that, had a couple and maybe even a couple more. So much for moderation – but my head the next morning was a reminder of why 1 or 2 is always better than 3 or 4 or even 5!I also have to admit that there is still some of my left over chocolate bar in the fridge – no matter how healthy it is, nothing is good for you if you eat a whole pan so please come over for a visit and try some – before I eat it all!

Anyways, back on topic again… two weeks into my 3-moth goal of losing 15lbs, 5% body fat and 12″ and the results are in….

9lbs, 2%BF and 4.5″

***Happy Dance***

Now before I get too excited, I have to revert to my self-counselling and remind myself that the beginning of any program always gets the fastest and best results – and then you plateau. In order to break through the plateaus you have to continue to make changes so the next two weeks will see me…

- continue to increase intensity and work to my 80% max whenever I can

- add 1 toning class per week (InfuZion)

- add at least 1 individual muscle building workout

- continue to watch my diet, 3 small meals, 3 snacks a day

- no more than one glass of wine before bed, no matter how great the vintage

- no processed meat, bonfire or not

So that is my plan to stay on track and continue to see great results! My husband promised me a shopping trip for new clothes when I reach my goal – and you know there is no greater motivation for me than shopping – especially with his credit card!

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