10 in 10 - Day 4 SPRINTS!

Weight - 151.4
Total Loss - 2.6 lbs

Yay!

I'm actually starting to think that this may be possible.  I've NEVER lost 10 lbs in 10 days unless I had the stomach flu or broke my ankle (and even that took a month). 

I'm getting good with not taking mini bites of Aubrie's food ( I haven't at all, I really want to do this diet right.) I've actually been taking note of all the times throughout the day that I would have, and it equals to be a whole snack or a meal!  Those little bites here and there that you don't think are going to be a problem,  really add up.

The food still tastes good except for dinner.  I'm starting to get tired of the same thing.  I cooked tonight's meal with last night's, trying to save time...which it did...but tonight my chicken was dry and my veggie was soggy.

...sigh...

I'm thinking at this point that I'm not even at the half way mark of my 10 days.  So it may really start to suck to eat this same meal for 6 more days.  Yet I'm determined, and all the fitness pages I belong to on Facebook are constantly posting inspirational images and quotes that keep me going.  

Basically, take a lifesaver and suck it up.

Tonight's workout was sprint intervals on the treadmill.  I hadn't sprinted since before my accident, and I hadn't even jogged for more than two minutes since.  It was a total of 25 minutes, and the intervals got harder and harder...and right now, my ankle is really sore. This morning's weight drop put a huge smile on my face, so I hope this soreness was worth it when I get on the scale tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!   ...going to ice my ankle...

Marcy

10 in 10 - Day 3

Weight 153.0
Total Loss - 1 lb

I've started reaching my goal with my water intake as suggested in Jackie Warner's book 10lbs in 10 Days.  Even my Costco trip, which usually consists of icy diet coke,  was a cinch to override.  I remember when I was drinking at least a gallon a day and how I got up to that point.  If you're not used to drinking water, it's going to suck to start...you're going to hate it.  I've taken pointers from a day spa I once went to that had cucumber and lemon slices in the water.  So I've been doing that.  I love it.

Same meals and snacks, I'm not really bored with it (yet).  My body is becoming retrained so like clockwork, it knows when I need to eat.  When you're just sitting there and break a sweat, that's you're metabolism becoming more efficient (unless you have hot flashes).  My metabolism is speeding up and working harder, that's when I take my cue to eat.  

At this point, my body still feels the same, but I know I'm losing so mentally I feel good.

As far as exercising, I went in the pool today with Aubrie for an hour, and almost justified it as my exercise for the day...almost.  Yet after dinner, I did the prescribed circuit anyway.  I'm hoping tomorrow more weight comes off.

Thanks for reading!

Marcy

10lbs in 10 Days - Day 2

Weight - 153.4
Loss - .6 lbs.

Unfortunately my digital scale calculates "micropounds".  On any other scale I would calculate this new weigh in as 1 full pound.

I stuck with the meal plan all day.  Although I have to retrain my brain about my 'one bite here and there' justification.  Aubrie's kids meal at her swim class came with 2 cookies.  I told her I was going to eat one of them, then called myself on it because for a split second I forgot about my meal plan.  (Those small m&m cookies looked real good...)

Same breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks as day one.  It was fine until dinner when I grilled hubby and Aubrie a nice, big, juicy, marinated london broil, alongside my chicken.  So I decided to cook it well done (which I hate) so I wouldn't be tempted.

I never felt hungry throughout the day which was great.  I just have to make sure that I'm eating every 2-3 hours.

My arms and chest were sore from yesterday's workout.  I welcomed it though.  At physical therapy all my workouts were leg-related to suit my ankle.  I felt like my upper body was being neglected.  Sure, for the past couple of months (when I started driving again) I could have been driving myself to the gym for an upper body circuit, but time, laziness and doctor's visits prevented me from going.

So it really feels good to feel my biceps 'scoop' up the weight during a curl...and I LOVE shoulders...which was part of tonight's program along with legs, abs and cardio.

This time I bumped up the cardio with jumping jacks.  Jackie Warner's book asks for jump roping, but I don't own one nor  do I know how to jump rope without adding a bunny hop in between each rotation.  I did 3 sets of 100 jumping jacks and I felt more fatigued after the workout than yesterday.

It feels good..no...AWESOME to get back into it again!

I hope the scale is even lower tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

Marcy

10lbs. In !0 Day's - Day One

Weight - 154.0

I woke up excited for the day of a new diet and the possibility of being 10 pounds lighter in ten days.

Breakfast was simple, and included my coffee fix, except I had to substitute stevia for my splenda and my Almond Joy creamer for almond milk.  It was still a great cup of coffee.

The thought of not having to to crack and cook 5-6 eggs was great.  I've never been much of a cook.  Sure dinner was fine, but in the last year I've been grilling cod at 7am.  The smaller portions of this new diet made me wonder if I was going to be starving in an hour.

Jackie Warner lays out a meal plan which includes 3 meals and two snacks.  This is typical of what my previous plan(s) were like, but in those plans, the two snacks were more like meals with specific measurements of carbs, proteins and fats.  In this new plan, the snacks are just that...snacks.

I'm used to spacing out my meals so at 10am, I was onto my first snack, and at 12:30 my lunch.

I was really kind of dreading lunch because of the lack of protein and the mix of sprouted grain bread with specified veggies did not sound appetizing.  Boy was I wrong.  It turned out the ingredients made a wonderful flavorful sandwich that even my 4 year old picky daughter said looked yummy.  In fact, when it was gone, I wanted another one but I was too full!

At 2:30 I was on to my second snack which included almond butter.  I had tried almond butter before and hated it but I was NOT willing to stray from this diet.  It turned out, again, I liked it a lot.  I'm wondering if it was perhaps a different brand.

At this point in the day I was slowly realizing that I had to exercise soon.  Typically I like to exercise in the morning, but I just didn't want to try with such a small breakfast, and quite frankly, I was avoiding it because of the lack of food I was eating.  Yet somehow I was NOT starving which Jackie even states in her book that I wouldn't be hungry due to the combination of foods that's laid out.

Dinner was a familiar meal that I usually make, however one of the vegetable sides was different.  It was a TON of food which I was looking forward to.  For some reason my mind was psyching me out about the size of the meal, in the fact that more food = less weight (in a highly intense exercise program.)  Dinner was awesome, and even my husband (picky eater number two,) LOVED the new side.

Soooo....day one of the meal plan, done.  Can I eat the SAME meals for the next 9 days?  We'll see if I get bored.

After dinner the time had come to (finally) exercise.  After all, you won't lose weight if you don't expend more calories than you take in in a day.

The whole program took me a half an hour.  It focused on chest, biceps and abs with specific amounts of intermittent cardio.  I had to stray from the particular cardio exercise due to my ankle, so I decided to run on an inclined treadmill for a minute.

My concerns about the exercise program not being 'enough' were laid to rest.  I was NOT bending over almost up-chucking, trying to catch my breath like at bootcamp.  But it was challenging enough that my muscles were maxing out (meaning it was hard to do the last couple of reps in the set.)  I do however, have to disclaim that I did NOT use the recommended weight that Jackie says to use in her book.  I used heavier, only because I knew I could, and heavier weights are all I have.

I'm pretty happy that I completed my first day and that I didn't give in to a taste of Aubrie's ooey gooey cupcake from Whole Foods.  (That really sucked.  I could smell the sugar.)

I'm wondering now if it actually will be one pound in one day, or if there will be a significant drop in weight in a few days.

Tonight, I'm not hungry, I'm tired but not so exhausted that I can't finish this post (or watch a recorded show after.)  My goal for today was to get through the first day and I did, so I'm proud of myself for that.  The only thing I slacked on was the water intake recommendation.  I will work on that for my goal for day two.

Thanks for reading!

Marcy

10lbs. in 10 Days? Hmmmm....

source

So swimsuit season is here and due to my ankle (I use my ankle as an excuse A LOT,) I missed my head start in getting ready.

On my fitness journey, one of the resources I trusted in was the FitnessRX Magazine for Women website forums.  When I joined the forum over a year ago, I met a group of strong, spectacular ladies who have greatly influenced my fitness goals.

The women on the forum ranged from dieters to bikini and figure competitors.  There we shared meals, life, recipes, goals and before and after photos.  It was here where I first gained knowledge of what, where, how and when to eat and exercise to reach my goals,  In addition to my personal trainer Kimberly Elliott over at Alpha Elite Training, I would not be where I am today without these great ladies cheering and supporting me on.

We all subscribe(d) to the magazine itself, and would discuss the articles and women featured in them.  One of which is Jackie Warner, a guru of health and fitness.  I'm not going to go into her biography, but if you like, you can read that here.  Just know that she is a celebrity trainer, owns a couple of gyms and has had two television shows on the Bravo channel Work Out and more recently Thintervention with Jackie Warner.

I had always heard of 'amazing' 10lbs in 10 days diets, and they always just seem to be fad diets. But when the latest book by Jackie Warner, 10 Pounds in 10 Days hit the stands, I actually stopped and thought that there may be something to it since it was written by a woman who've I came to know and respect through reading the magazine. I liked her workouts and philosophy, and I thought that it would be a no-gimmicks 'latest fad' diet.

So I purchased the book and read it.

Courtesy www.jackiewarner.com

At First, when I got to the diet plan for the 10 days, I did a double take.  I'm not going to go into specifics about the plan, as that would not be fair to Ms. Warner, but basically it is a calorie-restricted diet for the sake of losing pounds and is completely different from my previous meal plans.

My original goal was (and still is) to have the body of a figure competitor...

Sandy Wiedmeyer NGA and IFPA Figure Pro (and friend!)

Co-Creator of Team F.A.B

...who's program consists of intense workouts and strict diets of complex carbs and proteins.  Proteins, proteins, proteins, at every meal (5-6 meals a day).  The Jackie Warner 10 day diet has one source of protein at dinner.

Hmmmm.... my mantra for the next 10 days is that this diet's purpose is to lose weight, NOT gain muscle.  

But I'm no expert.

My second thought on the calorie restricted diet, is that it doesn't seem like NEARLY enough calories and carbs to give me energy for the type of training I'm used do.  But Jackie's book has a daily exercise program that is less intense, but similar to what I'm used to.

The great thing about the book is that it doesn't just stop at 10 days.  If you chose you can move to a second phase, the next ten days, and even a third phase for a total of 30 days.  The second and third phases increase caloric intake and move on to more intense workouts that involve weighted circuits and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training.) 

The third phase most resembles what I'm used to, and it makes sense that Jackie would lean this way as it is how all these great fitness trainers have the bodies that they do.  But for my purposes, I'm going to do the first phase to lose the 10 pounds.  Then gradually progress from there in the training that I'm used to, to maintain and reach my goal.

For the next 10 days, I'll blog about my progress.  Again, I won't go into specifics about Jackie Warner's plan, but I will detail how I feel this may help or hinder my progress.  So, can I lose 10lbs in the next 10 days?  I never have before (except when I had a bad case of the stomach flu a few years back,) but I'm willing to do this for the sake of my bathing suit.

Thanks for Reading!

Marcy