Monica's R4P4 Day 6 - Nakia's R3P4 Day 34

Monica - R4P4 Day 6
Yesterday: 157.8
Today: 157.9 +.1
7.2 Above LIW (150.7)

Nakia - R3P4 Day 34
Yesterday: 223.3
Today: 220.4 -2.9
5.5 Below LIW (225.9)

I forgot to mention yesterday that Nakia was doing an egg day. He lost 2.9 today... Excellent loss! I did a high fat day yesterday and got my desired effect. I was pretty much able to maintain my previous loss. Today I wanted to use my brand new Jack Lalaine power juicer so I did a raw food day starting with a pineapple, apple, strawberry, banana smoothie for breakfast. That thing is fantastic. It's a bitch to clean though. I washed it by hand this morning, but luckily everything but the motor is dish washer safe so I will be throwing the pieces in there tonight. I had carrot, apple, celery juice with my salad this evening and that was quite good too.

This morning I ran hills with my running group. I'm built for speed and not distance.... It felt great to sprint up that hill today. Distance running is a lot more challenging for me though, especially with my asthma. I haven't had to use my inhaler since the 2nd day of training though so I think my lungs have gotten used to the extra work.

I'm not sure how I'm going to eat tomorrow, but I think I may do a protein shake day. I've got a bunch of that in the house and I want to do a correction day that I don't really have to think about. Protein shakes are grab and go and that's gonna work well for me tomorrow... no special reason.... just being lazy :)

Biz - It's so hard not to be obsessed with the scale, but I'm doing my best. I gotta get me that measuring tape! It's got the HTA logo on it and everything! How cool :) Thanks for checking on me too... always nice to see a comment from you.

Gina - Thanks a bunch for that. It helps to hear it from someone else. I know in my mind that muscle is more dense than fat, but that darn scale is glaring at me each morning. I keep putting on my tiniest clothes to see if I notice the slightest difference.... HA the difference is they are looser! I'll take that!

Monica's R4P4 Day 5 - Nakia's R3P4 Day 33

Monica - R4P4 Day 5
Yesterday: 160.3
Today: 157.8 -2.5
7.1 Above LIW (150.7)

Nakia - R3P4 Day 33
Yesterday: 223
Today: 222.3 -.7
3.6 Below LIW (225.9)

My egg day yesterday was a success & I'm headed back in the right direction. What's strange is that I tried on a pair of pants that I bought before I went over my LIW and they are looser. The reason I know they are looser is because I can pull them off without unbuttoning them and I couldn't do that on the day after I bought them. I wish I had taken my measurements at the end of my round because then I would have something to compare to, but I'm sure I have lost inches since ending my round even though I've gained weight.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror this morning right before I got in the shower and I was surprised at what I saw. I actually have a WAIST! And I wasn't even holding my stomach in! I truly believe that my workouts are paying off. I'm still going to try to lose this extra 5 lbs by doing a series of correction days this week, but I'm not going to sweat the gain as I have in the past because I know I'm healthier & in the big scheme of things, 5 lbs ain't that bad.... hopefully the gap between my LIW and my current weight will be smaller tomorrow though since I did another correction day today.... We'll see.

The tricky thing is doing correction days and working out too. I don't want to pass out or anything. I still eat something small within my chosen menu about a half hour before my workout, whether it be eggs, protein shake or even a high fat snack. I know I need to fuel my body or the workout will be harder and less effective.

Gina - Thanks... it's difficult right now, but I'm trying to see the silver lining. I also want to show other people that it's possible to pull yourself out of a rutt. Correction days do work if you commit yourself to doing them.

Biz - Yeah.... it's been a minute, but I needed to get back to blogging to keep myself accountable. Thanks for popping in. I did see the Tour announcement, but those cities are nowhere near me and I've got too many travel plans coming up to make another trip so soon. I wish you were visiting nearby, but I'll catch you next time... plus I'll see you in vegas anyway.

Monica's R4P4 Day 4 - Nakia's R3P4 Day 32

Monica - R4P4 Day 4
5/8 153.2 -2.5
5/9 154.5 +1.3
Yesterday: 156.4 +1.9
Today: 160.3 +3.9
9.6 Above LIW (150.7)

Nakia - R3P4 Day 32
Yesterday: 223.6
Today: 223 -.6
2.9 Below LIW (225.9)

What a weekend I had! Ok.... I don't really comprehend what's going on with my weight, but I'm attempting to correct it over the next 3 days. My high fat day on Thursday was very successful and I lost 3.1 lbs. I did not continue high fat because lunch was brought in for my team on Friday and I ate a salad which screwed up my high fat day. I figured that wasn't so bad. On Saturday I had a .5 gain, but that wasn't a big deal because I figured I would lose it because of the 7 mile run I was planning to do on Saturday night.

All day Saturday I prepared for this Full Moon Run that I found on active.com (cool site by the way). The run was to start at 9 pm during the full moon and we all would be running with glo sticks. I didn't eat a lot of calories, but I added some carbs in so I had enough energy during the run. I figured, what the hell... I'm in P4 and I'll be running tonight. I had 3 scrambled eggs with sausage and cheese for breakfast... which I couldn't even finish. Then I had a banana mid morning. Nakia and I went to the movies & I ate a medium bag of popcorn with a small amount of butter topping...the machine wasn't working well and I only got a few drops... I took that as a sign.... no other lunch. Dinner was 1/2 cup of white rice, a pork chop & a small salad. I also drank plenty of water all day. All that came to 1800 calories.

I Then proceeded to run 7 miles, only walking about a quarter mile of that distance. It took me an hour and 18 minutes... Not bad for the old girl huh? Mostly I kept running cus it was nearly pitch black, I only had a damn glo stick, and I was too scared to walk! Ok.... so after the run they had snacks & boy did I have the munchies.... I ate 3 strawberries, 2 chocolate chip cookies, a sugar cookie and some cheese crackers... not the best at 10:30 at night I know, but did that warrant a 3.5 lb gain the next day?! I don't think so! Well... I was pretty pissed off at the scale yesterday & extremely tired so I decided to give myself a day of no dieting what-so-ever... hence... another huge assed gain today... bringing me to 9.5 lb over my LIW. Okay, my rant is over now.

I asked nakia if he saw any change in the way I look. He is a brutally honest type of guy (isn't he biz? LOL) so I know I can count on him to give me the truth.... He says that my legs and arms are way more toned than they were right after P2 & that I may have gained some fat around my midsection, but not more than 2 lbs or so.

Water weight? Muscle gain? Maybe, but that can't be all of it. Unfortunately I've been here before. I will be correcting this for at least the rest of this week. Since high fat worked so well for that one day, I'm doing that again, but I'm starting with an egg day today because I didn't have much HF food in the house. I'll be going shopping tonight.

Nakia is going to do some correction days too even though he's still below his LIW because he's gained 5 lbs in the last week. I think he's decided on an egg day for tomorrow so he can eat during the day & still do his workout. He's wants to get back to 218. We both agree that is where he stabilized.

Mo2Lose - You're welcomed. I wasn't exactly flabby after P2, but the fat on my body seems to loosen up when I'm on P2 so I just seem to feel a little squishier if that makes sense. I am a pretty muscular girl regularly & I build muscle very easily so I am trying to tone up right now. That part is working very well. I can see a lot of definition in my legs and arms now from the weight training and running & I'm very happy with that.

Biz - Well, my clothes are still fitting fine which is blowing my mind with almost a 10 lb gain. I'm trying not to let this get out of control. Luckily I have some tricks other than a steak day to fall back on, thanks to you :)

CB - I remember your struggles. I've been reading your blog for a long time! :) I actually did consider that little trick you tried last time with the 2 days of shots. It's still in the back of my mind, but I'll make that my last resort. I think a change in diet is in order and that is what I'm gonna do this week. Thanks so much for the Uuugh! That sums up how I'm feeling right now!

Monica's R4P3 Day 20 - Nakia's R3P4

Monica - R4P3 Day 20
Yesterday: 156.3
Today: 157.2 +.9
6.5 Above LIW (150.7)

Nakia - R3P4 Day 19
Yesterday: 221.9
Today: 220.5 -1.4
5.4 Below LIW (225.9)

Hello, my poor neglected blog. Ok... so I'm kinda up, but I'm not as bummed out over it as I should be I guess. I haven't blogged because I've been super busy at work so I wasn't able to do it there... I've been barely taking a lunch. I've also been running, weight training every morning for an hour. I'm taking a break today because I think my body needs a rest and I've been steadily gaining weight for the past 7 days. At first I was sure it was TOM, but that's almost over and the weight is not gone so there is something else going on here. I do think that it's still water weight gain because my smallest pair of dress pants that have absolutely no give, still fit so I'd like to nip this in the bud before it turns into fat. I think my problem was that I added a few more carbs in early because I thought I needed it for all the working out I was doing... which was twice a day in some cases. The carbs I added were int he form of fresh corn and bananas. I read that adding carbs after not eating them for a long time will sometimes make you gain water weight, but I'm still not happy with the gains. I thought that high protein might do the trick so I tried that for 2 days to no avail so I'm going back to what has worked for me before which is high fat (thanks Biz). If anyone has any questions about that, please see Biz over at HTA. I would try raw food, but honestly, I'm just not in the raw kinda mood right now.

My weight hasn't been right since I had that bug the other week. I wonder if that had anything to do with these gains. I don't really think my diet warrants the weight gain, but the scale doesn't lie so there is definitely something going on.

Nakia is maintaining nicely & he has started to workout lightly on a daily basis so I think he'll be back to his normal weight training routine soon. His chest still hurts a little, but he thinks he's recovering well so that's great.

Biz - Still no pics, but he really is doing well. He's just coasting now. I just want to get settled.

Mo2Lose - I thought the running would make me lose weight, but for some odd reason, my body isn't getting the message. I'm certainly not stopping though. It feels great and I feel really good after I do it. An egg day is another one of Biz's ideas. You eat up to 12 eggs all day in any form you like. You can add a small amount of cheese or other additions as well. It works quite well for me & I lost 3.2 lbs on my last one.

Gina - Why can't you run? Maybe try bike riding instead. It's easier on the knees and burns almost as many calories. Thanks for the well wishes.