Quick Heads-Up

I wanted to give you a quick heads-up about a special that Craig Ballantyne will be running for Turbulence Training, starting on Monday and ending on Wednesday- 72 hours only. During this special, you'll be able to pick up the NEWEST edition of Turbulence Training, with updated workouts and five special bonuses that you won't get at any other time. These bonuses include Brad Pilon's controversial Eat Stop Eat book, an audio interview with Dax Moy that shows you how to get into the proper fatloss mindset, and Fit Yummy Mummy Fit-Fast 4-Week workout.

If I didn't already own Turbulence Training, I'd be heading over to buy it on Monday. Also, if you get the NEW deluxe edition of TT, you'll also receive the famous 4-week TT bodyweight 500 workout (which will be featured in Men's Health this coming month). I haven't tried it yet myself, but I plan to do the 500 within the next two weeks so I can let you know what a blast it is.

So there's a quick heads-up. If you haven't taken the plunge yet, now's the time to order Turbulence Training (it's only $39.95 for the basic edition), and it will be a perfect time to get in on the Transformation contest that I talked about here.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

I had a really great workout today, so I'm feeling pretty happy right now. I did Week One: Workout One from Josh Hillis' Holiday Fat Loss workout (which I got from the 12 Days of Fitness gift-giving extravaganza), since I finished with Turbulence Training's Hardcore Fat Loss last week. The workout was a wonderful bootcamp-style workout, alternating between two exercises for 20 minutes. Sound easy? Well the caveat is that the weight you use is heavy enough that you can only complete 5-7 sets within that time. I got 8, which means my weight was not quite high enough. Oh well- I'll just have to use a heavier weight next time. After that, I did HIIT for 20 minutes, with 20 minutes of easy steady state.

Am I mad that I didn't weigh in at 142 this past Monday? You betcha, and I plan to see that number this Monday! I don't believe I will win the challenge, but I did realize that I was one of the challengers who was closest to their ideal bodyweight, so no wonder. Oh well! I still made some great progress since Thanksgiving, and when I see that 142 on Monday, I will have lost those 8 pounds that Alwyn challenged us to lose in those 6 weeks!

Almost There...

I have officially spent almost all day today at my computer, so I'm going to make this short and quick so I can get some moving in before bed.

I was here working on the e-book and the website, working on getting everything ready to go. I've pretty much got the whole thing up and running now, and the book is on the way. I'll say one thing: Clickbank takes forever, and so do I. I decided to go through them on the e-book, and it's been interesting learning how they do things.

I decided to have a pre-launch "party" this Saturday for those who are looking forward to reading the book. It's got a special surprise, but you need to be on the early-bird list to find out what it is. If you want to get on the early-bird list, do it by tomorrow by signing up for the free sample chapter or the newsletter. It has those famous words named free in them!

I didn't get a workout in yet today, so that's why I'm logging off. I need to do some moving!

A New Post

Hey all,
I'm back and raring to go! I decided to put my internet addiction on the back burner over the Christmas holiday, and amazingly enough didn't hyperventilate too much! However, now I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll hopefully get around to everyone's blogs eventually.

Since last Thursday, I did okay in the workout department and worse in the eating dept. I worked out on Thursday, Sunday, and today. However, I did allow myself to enjoy the food that was available. I won't say I went off any deep end; I didn't binge at all, but I didn't limit the amount I was eating too much, and therefore know I surpassed my calorie limit most days. Most of it was evident by the fact that I really did not want to eat today at all, so I only had three meals.

Christmas was good; I got some new workout clothes that I'm excited to try, and all the clothes I got fit well. I kept getting comments about how much weight I'd lost, and while most were positive, I did get quite a few that said "you've lost enough" or "are you anorexic?". Yes, seriously, I got accused of being anorexic (after I'd eaten a fairly good-sized plate of food). I can't quite seem to get it into the others' heads that I'm still a size 10, and my hips and thighs still leave a lot of room for improvement. So I turned it around to them and pretty much just said, "I'm really looking to get a more muscular look." It was fairly well accepted, except by the anorexic commenter. And yes, those people were overweight. So I realize I've got a lot of work to do, even in my own family, on getting others to have a more healthy outlook on life.

Oh yeah- I also got the comment, "You're skinny now, you can eat this"- meaning junk. Ha! I replied, "I'm only skinny because I limit what I eat and work my tail off in the gym."

Now, the New Year is coming up and I should do a look-back one of these days. However, it's just exciting to see that a time of renewal is coming up, since I believe I need one. My last renewal was on Labor Day, and look where it got me!

Getting Complacent

I'll have to stop this one in its tracks: because I technically have hit my goal (145 by Dec 24), I find myself wanting to get complacent and wanting to eat the junk and not keep the discipline. I did stop it in its tracks earlier today- was going to have a glass of choco milk as a snack, and 1/2 cup into pouring it realized what I was doing. I stopped that immediately and had an apple with the 1/2 cup choco milk. So, I didn't completely turn it around by pouring the milk back into the container, but it was better than having 12 oz.

I'm still in the challenge. I still have one of the bottom standings. And there's still two weeks to go. So I'm not stopping. Oh, I'll enjoy myself at Christmas, but I'm not going all out and am going to enjoy myself in different ways other than just ingesting food. The last thing I'm going to do is backtrack! AND I'm going to keep to a tight workout schedule!

Off Stress Mountain

Remember how last week I was nearly hyperventilating? Of course, I now look back at it and wonder what the hell i was so worried about. At any rate, my workouts this week have been interesting:

• Monday's sucked, I did not feel well because of a cold, so did 10 minutes lifting and 10 minutes biking and called it good
• Tuesday was 60 min on the treadmill, running for 2-3 minutes at a time for the first 30 minutes, then walking for the next 30 minutes. I'm playing around with some endurance stuff lately, have you noticed? I'm just happy that I can run for 3 minutes straight...
• This morning was the pits, could not get any motivation going. I did do a weight workout, and it picked up speed halfway through, but then I skipped the HIIT. So I'll be going back in to kick it.

Oh and I got to post this in the challenge board yesterday: 143.5!!!! And the body is catching up too. I have really got the definition going on in the chest/upper back area. Seems that's the only place that wants to really let go of the body fat sometimes, however, the hips and waist are definitely shrinking, slowly but surely, so I know i will get there. I may have to have a push month again in January, but then I'm calling it good on the fat loss. My resolution for next year is to start training for some more endurance activities, since I'm sick of admitting to people that i can't run more than 3 minutes straight.

And, if you haven't read the latest article on Billy's Blog about the phoenix, then go and check it out right now (or when you have 10 minutes). It's awesome.

I'm On!

Hey all! A quick note to let you know my gift is listed in today's gift-giving package over at 12 Days of Fitness. If you haven't signed up yet, and you would like to know what I'm giving away, then head on over and sign up!

Push

I was just writing on Rob's blog and had some realizations.

I nearly had an anxiety attack this week.

It's the perfect storm, really- pre-finals are this week, it's the second week of the challenge and my weight did not hold onto last week's low, the Hardcore Fat Loss plan is basically a notch above my fitness level so I get lightheaded when I do it, it's the first week of the 12 Days of Fitness extravaganza, I've been pressuring myself to get my e-book done (haven't touched it in over a week), and one of my forum friends nearly had her marriage fall apart.

Deep breath... I have to tell myself to keep breathing. I also discovered this video on Joe Vitale's blog yesterday, which helped quite a bit when I was lying awake this morning, unable to sleep from the boulder sitting in my gut.




It's called "A 15-Minute Miracle," and it's true. Take the time to watch it and you won't regret it.

So, I'm breathing. I'm persevering. I'm telling myself the famous phrase, "I love you, I'm sorry, Please forgive me, Thank you," and I'm meaning it. I'm telling it to God. To Jesus (hey, we're celebrating his birthday in a week and a half, and that dude did so much for the human race it's not even something anyone should be able to brush off). To my problems. To myself, my body, and my inner self. I've created my reality, I need to take responsibility for it and deal with it. And I will. I am.

The scale was already down .5 a pound from Monday. I plan to see 145 before the end of next week. I'll see what I can do, behavior-wise, to keep the pressure off but still work toward winning the challenge.

Boy, a month has never felt so short!

In other news, I was referred to an eye-opening article this morning dealing with insulin and it's interaction with high fructose corn syrup. Here's an excerpt (you can read the whole thing here):

And then the third reason that exercise is important, which is somewhat not well known, but I'm trying to evaluate this at the present time, is that it actually helps detoxify the sugar fructose. Fructose actually is a hepato-toxin; now fructose is fruit sugar but we were never designed to take in so much fructose. Our consumption of fructose has gone from less than half a pound per year in 1970 to 56 pounds per year in 2003.

Norman Swan: It's the dominant sugar in these so-called sugar-free jams for example that you buy, these sort of natural fruit jams.

Robert Lustig: Right, originally it was used because since it's not regulated by insulin it was thought to be the perfect sugar for diabetics and so it got introduced as that. Then of course high fructose corn syrup came on the market after it was invented in Japan in 1966, and started finding its way into American foods in 1975. In 1980 the soft drink companies started introducing it into soft drinks and you can actually trace the prevalence of childhood obesity, and the rise, to 1980 when this change was made.

Norman Swan: What is it about this, it's got more calories than ordinary sugar weight for weight hasn't it?

Robert Lustig: No, actually it's not the calories that are different it's the fact that the only organ in your body that can take up fructose is your liver. Glucose, the standard sugar, can be taken up by every organ in the body, only 20% of glucose load ends up at your liver. So let's take 120 calories of glucose, that's two slices of white bread as an example, only 24 of those 120 calories will be metabolised by the liver, the rest of it will be metabolised by your muscles, by your brain, by your kidneys, by your heart etc. directly with no interference. Now let's take 120 calories of orange juice. Same 120 calories but now 60 of those calories are going to be fructose because fructose is half of sucrose and sucrose is what's in orange juice. So it's going to be all the fructose, that's 60 calories, plus 20% of the glucose, so that's another 12 out of 60 -- so in other words 72 out of the 120 calories will hit the liver, three times the substrate as when it was just glucose alone.

That bolus of extra substrate to your liver does some very bad things to it.

Wow, huh? I want to do more research on this guy Robert Lustig and the stuff behind everything in the article, because he makes some pretty bold claims regarding sugar, insulin, and the food industry (it's a bit conspiracy-theory-like). However, I understood what he was talking about in regard to liver damage, especially in the light of the research I just did regarding metabolic syndrome. That light shed is that one of the theories regarding why metabolic syndrome is such a high risk for those with abdominal adiposity (belly fat): "Rebuffe-Scrive et al first proposed that adipose tissue in the abdominal area was the biggest risk factor for metabolic syndrome due to its potential to release fatty acids into the liver, decreasing the ability of the liver to clear insulin." This is due to the liver's enzyme for fat, lipoprotein lipase, being decreased. To add salt to that wound, LPL activity is increased in the fatty tissues. Along with that, without exercise, the liver's glycogen levels are topped off and not reduced, which causes extra glucose to be changed into VLDL (the extremely bad cholesterol). So basically, obesity in the gut is the worst kind and is only exacerbated by the body. It boils down to a little bit more than calories-in versus calories-out (although that still plays the majority role).

That whole last part may not have made any sense to you, as I'm still working it out myself. However, it's a chain reaction thing, and there are always so many factors involved it's not even funny. So, it all comes down to personal responsibility. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WAY YOU LOOK. YOU decide to eat the vegetables vs the doughnut. YOU decide whether you're exercising today or not. What your body does with that is its business. The only thing you can control is your behavior.

Just understand that insulin is only your friend after exercise and first thing in the morning. Otherwise, we should all work on keeping it down as much as possible. Deal?

It's Midnight

Yep, I'm doing the extremely rare- blogging at 12:00 a.m. (or close enough). I'm exhausted. I just spent a bunch of hours revamping the website, since I just found out it looked awful in Internet Explorer (thanks Bill Gates). So, go visit in your different browsers and let me know how it looks- you don't even have to put your name in any boxes! (You'll understand the reference if you're involved in the 12 Days of Fitness Extravaganza).

Speaking of that, 2 great days are done and the third is coming! You can still sign up if you haven't, you haven't missed my giveaway yet, but don't wait too long or you might.

Why Craig is my favorite name

I know 3 men with the name Craig- one happens to be my father, the other happens to be our wonderful landlord, and the third happens to be the God of Workouts right now. *grin*

All right, so I found an email from Craig Ballantyne in my inbox this morning that contained an absolutely wonderful workout idea from the Turbulence Training member forums:

12-minute workouts.

Now, I'm a big fan of intense, short workouts, but sometimes one just cannot psych themselves up to do Wingates (I'll explain that one later). However, if you're busy and can only find 12 minutes to spare (happens quite often with me), then Craig's got a great idea for getting a great workout in a short time.

Here are his instructions:

Choose 2 exercises and perform them back to back without rest. For
example, if using dumbells, you could do a dumbell squat and a
dumbell chest press.

If doing bodyweight exercises only, you could use prisoner squats
and close-grip pushups.

The first time through the pair, use either 50% of the weight you
normally use, or do 50% of the reps you'd normally do (if you choose
bodyweight exercises). Then rest 30 seconds.

The second time through, work at 75% capacity. Rest 30 seconds.

Now you are ready to go at 100% capacity (using your normal weight
for 8-10 repetitions per set or doing as many reps as you can with
the bodyweight exercises).

Rest 30 seconds after doing both exercises, then repeat, and work
until 12 minutes are up.

How does this help?

You still burn calories and build muscle while losing fat, all in
only 12 minutes...so it saves you time you need to spend on holiday
activities.

Who knows, you may like it so much it becomes your regular workout
approach. 

Pretty cool, huh? I know I'll be trying it. If nothing else, it's a great way to get one last burst of exercise in at the end of a workout. If you like it, you can get three free months of the forum when you get Turbulence Training (which isn't fair, because when I bought it I only got one month, so the newest buyers are the lucky ones!).

Now, what are Wingates? They are quite possibly the most intimidating way to workout on the planet. I'll write it down, and you won't think it sounds hard, but you'll be praying to the porcelain god if you aren't careful! Wingate protocol: Warm up 5 minutes on chosen mode (usually stationary bicycle, but treadmill/outdoor sprints work too). Then, jack up the resistance to 75% of max and go to town as fast as possible for 30 seconds. Take 30 seconds to actively rest, then repeat up to 5 times. Cool-down for 5 minutes. Go pray. Then look at the clock. With the prayer, you only took 15 minutes to workout!

I wasn't praying last week, but boy did it take me a while to cool down. And I mean it when the resistance is high- no slacking on this one!

Your Horror-scope

I'm not a big believer in Horoscopes (generic pieces of $#!^ sometimes), but for some reason I clicked on this one today which had the horoscope for the entire year 2008. So what if all the months say the same thing? It's a great exercise in Mindset, Law of Attraction, and Positive Thinking anyway (also known as the self-fulfilling prophecy effect).

Here's an excerpt:
What goals do you have for 2008? You might think that it’s a bit early to start making New Year’s resolutions, but if there is ever a time to jump the gun with this tradition, it’s now. The year 2008 is a year of transformation and will be a hectic and tumultuous year. Those who are prepared for economic and political shakeups should be able to continue with their lifestyles, though even they may hit a few bumps in the road.

Global economic upheaval might cause larger personal expenses, and investments might not be as profitable as you had planned. Political tension worldwide could create a troubling atmosphere, and you might find yourself unusually irritable. Yet clever, insightful people who can sense the needs of a changing society will grow stronger by adapting and staying flexible. They might even find themselves suddenly wealthy. This year will NOT be a year to rationalize or to ignore the admonishments of economist. Very often we go through life wearing blinders like a horse, but those who take off those blinders and prepare for a rocky road can thrive in 2008.

First resolution:
Get your own life in order — NOW. Whatever is uncertain, firm it up. Pay off as many debts as you can, and avoid running up any new ones. Start setting aside a little nest egg for yourself, and clear up any tension there may be between you and friends or family members to improve the mood.

Second resolution:
Don’t depend on anyone but yourself to solve your problems. By taking matters into your own hands, you will be able to enact change in your life and in the lives of those close to you — if you want something done right, do it yourself! If you’re dissatisfied with your life, work to change it, perhaps by joining one of the grassroots movements that have been popping up like mushrooms all over the world.

Third resolution:
Get involved. What cause appeals to you the most? Is it world peace, health and fitness for all, sustainable energy, or perhaps the rights of the weak, such as children and animals? Doing good for others will give you inspiration in other areas of your life, and overcoming obstacles will give you a sense of pride and accomplishment. Now is not the time to back down from a challenge — you could surprise yourself with how successfully you dealt with a difficult situation.

You can read your own specific horoscope here.

And this is mine:
Gemini: There's no stopping you!

With your way with words and your gifts for persuasion, you could play an important role in world transformation. Even if you only serve as spokesperson for your own community, you’re still making a difference. Remember that.

Reaching your goals should be easier in 2008 than it has been in previous years, Gemini. The Grand Air Trine involving Mars in your sign, the Moon in Libra, and Neptune in Aquarius strengthens your mental quickness and in-depth thinking - thus improving your ingenuity. You'll be able to come up with new ideas and plans much more quickly - and thus reach whatever goals you want to attain faster than you'd ever thought possible. The difficulty may lie in making snap decisions too quickly. It's important to arrive at a happy medium: the ability to think and move quickly without compromising quality or good sense. You can do it - with a little encouragement. Your 2008 Forecast can give useful advice and turn you in just the right direction.
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SWEET!

Eating more than you thought?

It's amazing how one can truly eat more calories than they thought they were. I found this site courtesy of the MTM forums:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-calories-look-like.htm




Both of these images are 200 calories each. Which would you rather spend your calories on?

On another topic, I actually did a LSB today (long slow burn). VERRRY unusual for me, as you may know by now I absolutely cannot stand doing something cardio for longer than 30 minutes max, so I usually go hard and short- intervals after weight training, or just intervals. However, I got into the gym and just could not psych myself up. So, I got on a bike, set the resistance at medium-high, noted my speed, and went to town. As I've said, I'm not an endurance person. The last 30 minutes were hell, and the last 10 were horrendous. My speed fell at about 35 minutes from 17 to 15 and I just couldn't get it back up. I had to reduce the tension at 45 min and still couldn't keep up my speed, which fell to a 14, and eventually a 12. My toes went numb somewhere around 30 minutes and my knee bugged me for awhile. And THOSE are the reasons I don't do steady-state cardio. I'll be back to my normal intervals by Monday if I don't get in tomorrow.

Playing with words

Did anyone ever notice that the words "moped" and "moped" are the same? One is just pity without action, and the other is a transportation mode (that little bike with a whiny engine). Which one would you choose?

I'm choosing to move along my journey!

I did not have a great eating day yesterday, but I kinda knew that it wouldn't be from the get-go. Oh well. Today's started off much better, and I'm looking forward to doing my workout today!

Interesting idea

I found a video at abcnews.com today (go to http://www.abcnews.com and type in the search box, "welcome to fat town") that talked about how a mayor in Italy is using a grant from a yogurt company to pay residents of his town for losing weight. They get approximately $8 US per pound lost, which is pretty major if you ask me. I'd love to be paid for losing weight... oh yeah, I'm in that challenge to win, aren't I? *grin*

http://fatcoalition.makeforum.org/ for the FAT Coalition forum
http://www.12daysoffitness.com to get over 250 free gifts over 12 days, starting Dec. 10.

Hips are down .5 an inch in the last week. Something must finally be kicking in (or I am...)

And, after everything,,,

Skip down if you want, as this is a rant and not real positive, and it may not make any sense:

And, after everything yesterday, There's nothing. I didn't have a great day today, but it had nothing to do with the challenge, my workout, or my eating habits. Ech. The one thing about the holidays is that too many people end up doing too many things, and then clients start dropping on me like flies. I've got this thing I do when clients quit- I mope. It's probably because I still haven't learned how to detach myself emotionally from it, and more likely because I want everyone to succeed and they don't perceive that they've even made any progress, so it's kinda a self-esteem blow. Current drop client said it kinda like a relationship breakup: "It's not you, it's me." Yeah, but how can one who's invested so much time into you not feel like you're being dumped?

So, note to others who want to go into the personal training business: watch out for those people who want miracles, for you to do all the work, and for them not to take a single piece of advice and homework home. (Wasting my time and theirs, as well as their money, and then the trainer gets blamed. Even Alwyn blames the trainers: "If your clients don't listen to you, then your advice is crap." Oh Jeez. Can't I find some role models who don't treat their prodigy like the scum of the earth? Sorry. I shouldn't say that in a public blog post.) I may start screening my clients a little more. A contract is definitely in the works, something along the lines of: "I understand that my personal trainer is not a magician who can whisk away the pounds without any effort on my part. In fact, I, ____________, will be doing 98% of the work. My trainer is only here to support, teach, and run me through my workouts. I'm the one who needs to control what I put in my mouth, make sure I'm working out with intensity, and get myself into the gym on days when I am not meeting with said trainer. I have stated my goals to my trainer, and s/he will do his/her best to help me meet them. I understand that I am the one responsible for my goals, not the trainer." Think I should have something along those lines? I think it would help weed out the people who promise me they're in for the haul and then back out two months in, or one month in, just because they didn't listen when I told them to do their homework or didn't get into the gym on their non-trainer days, and so don't make the progress they want to (and believe me, many expect that weight gone yesterday).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay. Rant over. I'm going positive now, because I've moped long enough!

Positive thoughts:

• I'm excited for the 12 Days of Christmas extravaganza that's going to happen. If you haven't signed up yet, please go and do so now- it's quick and easy, and how many people can say they got 250 free gifts for Christmas?
• I'm still excited about the scale showing 144.5 yesterday.
• The Turbulence Training Hardcore Fat Loss workout is a killer. 20 deadlifts yesterday made my legs sore. I'm glad I got my workout done this morning, or I may have seized up and not been able to move the rest of the day. However, today's workout was no easier. It calls for a bodyweight circuit that included 60 jumping jacks and 10 burpees (I changed burpees to mountain climbers, as my knee was scaring me and I never land right to go into the thrust position).
• The electricity was really wacked out this morning, continuing to flicker on and off. I don't know if that was a positive thing, but it certainly changed things up for me- I had to workout by natural light.

Anyway, I hope you skipped the rant and aren't feeling all screwed up now. If you are feeling screwed up, I apologize. Go and read something positive about 30 odd times and that should help! *grin*

12 Days of Christmas, only better

Here's the coolest thing in the world: Dax Moy and Pat Rigsby have set up an awesome gift-giving extravaganza that is promising to be the best thing since sliced bread (at least, in the fitness and weight loss world). Go to http://www.12daysoffitness.com and sign up, and you'll get 12 days of non-stop gifts from 250 professionals (all free, with nothing to buy).

And the best part: I'm a part of that extravaganza! Yep, I am one of those fitness professionals who submitted something, and it's all wrapped around the new website. If you checked out the new site, you noticed that there are five rules on the front page. I took those five rules and created an e-course designed to put you in a Healthy Person mindset, by not only changing the rules but by changing your values as well. Don't worry if you've already read the rules- the e-course may contain them, but there's other stuff in there as well, so you won't feel like you wasted your time by signing up for my gift. Plus, you'll also get access to 250 other gifts to really speed you into gear! Boy, if we don't start the New Year slimmer than we are now...

So now that I've plugged, it's time to get down to brass tacks. I weighed in at my lowest weight ever since about Middle School today. I've put out a couple of calls to action. If you still haven't kicked that butt into gear, or if you're blazing along and keeping pace with me (or passing me up, eek), then head on over to http://www.12daysoffitness.com and sign up. Then tell your family, friends, and everyone else you know. I did!

Dancing all the way

I weighed in at 144.5 lbs today! Yes, that is officially below my goal weight. And naturally, I had to use this number as the beginning number for the challenge. *grin* Haha, just gives me extra incentive!

So, since I think I'm still not bikini ready (although I need to scan and post my school i.d. photo from 2004, it's crazy), I'll be shoving that scale downward until I'm there. New goal: 135. I've been guessing that it would be 135 for awhile now, since I kept getting closer and closer to the goal but still am not getting rid of that fatty bump they call a stomach area and the thighs, that it would just have to keep moving down until I'm there.

I'll post pics if I can get my hubby to take some this weekend. My 3-year-old just doesn't do the camera justice (and it's a bleepy camera in the first place), plus there's that whole taking-a-picture-looking-up issue.

I actually ate 8 meals yesterday. I had 8 planned for today, but schedule got thrown off and I forgot to grab my protein drink for my workout (which I double-shot and count as two meals, one prior workout and one post-workout). However, as soon as I go eat my night snack I will have had 6 meals today. For this month, I'm going to follow Turbulence Training's Hardcore Fat Loss, which I may have picked up in the member forums (that you get 3 months free if you order TT through that link) and not as a bonus, but there is a fat-loss workout included (besides the fact that TT is THE BEST for fat loss anyway-yes, it has surpassed Afterburn, believe it or not). At any rate, in Hardcore Fat Loss he recommends 8 MEALS PER DAY. Pre-and post-workout drinks count as separate meals. So I've got to be on my ball this month.

This is insane because I've got 1) a presentation on both Mon and Tues next week, 2) a paper due next Mon, 3) Finals and another paper the week after, 4) an e-book to finish writing and editing and getting reviews on by mid-December (email me for the book, if you want to help review it and get a free e-book in the process). Hmm. I believe I'm a bit busy the next couple of weeks. So, if I disappear for semi-long stretches at a time, that's why- I haven't keeled over (yet)! However, I'm loving it!

I've updated the blog with the FAT Coalition Roster. If you've never heard of FAT, it means Fit And Trim, Thank You! It's a great little community of bloggers (and now forum posters) who support each other. There are challenges, support systems, and lots and lots of different perspectives of all those who are interested in attaining the same goal- Their Best Body EVER. I've now become an honorary member *grin* because I've been living on some of the blogs and the forum, and they got wind of the fact that I was still trying to lose weight too. If you want to be part of the Coalition, email Billy or Rob, and they'll get you on. I believe a website may be in the works for after Christmas.

Now, to get some actual work done (or dishes....).