5% Body fat loss

Wow today is a good day. Today I had my 6 month health check at work (the in between the once a year big one) and the guy told me I had lost 5.5kg and 5% body fat since last November, so in 6 months. I have been on a major high all day!

As I didn't do any exercise until I started Joey's Sexy Butt Makeover programme all of 7 weeks ago, it is totally all down to that. I can't wait to see where I am in another 7 weeks!

1st month measurements

Yay I just completed my final 4 week workout, which means I have completed my first month on the Sexy Butt Makeover. So I took my measurements to see how I've been getting on. I don't have any scales but I think a tape measure is a much more effective weight loss measurement tool anyway.

I was quite scared about taking them as I wasn't sure if I had lost much (if anything!), especially as I haven't been following Joey's nutrition plan. I have issues with diets and I know I eat healthily, I just need to work on my portion sizes I think. But I was quite pleased with my results:

Waist: 31" (2 inches lost)
Tummy: 36" (2 inches lost)
Hips: 42" (0.5 inches lost)
Chest: 33" (stayed the same)
Bust: 39" (0.5 inches lost)
Thigh: 24.5" (0.5 inches lost)
Knee: 16.5" (0.5 inches lost)
Calf: 15" (stayed the same)

I am very pleased with the 2 inches from my stomach, as that along with my hips is my major problem area. Not so pleased with only half an inch from my hips but I think they are slower at losing fat.

I definitely feel much better and stronger than I did 4 weeks ago. I went out with the running club today and we did hill sprints, which was tough but fun. My friend came along too this time and she is a top class runner. She challenged me to race as hard as I could up this hill. I gave it everything I had and I managed to stay ahead of her, until the top when I just wanted to pop a lung!!!! The point being that although she is a top runner she doesn't have the same power in her legs as I do (in her own words!). So the squats and lunges and other leg strengthening exercises I do in the SBM workouts are paying off and actually benefiting my running. It's great because my running is also benefiting my SBM workouts, so they are mutually beneficial to each other. I'm sure combined they mean I will reach my target quicker.

Which is a good point because I haven't actually got a target that I can say once I have lost blah de blah inches then I have reached it. I don't know how many I want to lose, I just know that I will know when I get there. I will know when I can look at myself in a mirror and smile and when I can walk down the street in tight jeans and feel hot ha ha!

Racking up the points

I am very pleased with today's progress. I had some serious making up to do cos I was ill at the weekend and I had to miss Monday's workouts completely. Yesterday I only had time to do my SBM workout and not the Rest of Body workouts. So today I did ALL the Rest of Body workouts as well as my cardio (running) session and racked those points back up! Joey's system really works because of the points target you get each week. It really means I push myself harder than perhaps I would if I was doing it on my own.

I ran 3.5 miles at running club tonight and did a few hills, and managed not to stop this time!! Wohooo! I had two ryvitas for lunch (cos I forgot my lunch!) and have been ill so was even more proud of myself.

I am in the ZONE right now and loving it!

My fitness goals

In the words of Joey Atlas, "fitness goals come in many forms and definitions".

He then lists "the broadest terms that encompass the majority of fitness goals as applied to the general population.

• 1) Fat loss/Weight loss
• 2) Muscle 'Toning'
• 3) Strength Building
• 4) Muscle Building
• 5) Energy Enhancement
• 6) Body Shaping (Re-shaping)/Body Sculpting
• 7) Flexibility Improvement
• 8) Reduction in Aches & Pains
• 9) Improved Self-Image & Self-Confidence
• 10) Improved Health/Medical Profile
• 11) Cellulite Reduction and Flab Lifting"

In my case my fitness goals are 1, 2, 6, 7, 9 and 11.

The main, driving force behind them being number 9 - improved self-image and self-confidence. All the other goals will happen as a result of me doing my sexy butt makeover workouts and will ultimately lead to my main goal of having improved self-image and self-confidence.

In order to get your program to work for you, you need to work out what your fitness goals are and which one means the most to you. You have to put that above all else and keep it at the forfront of your mind. Especially on the days when you are tired, or can't be bothered to do your workout or somebody offers you a chocolate biscuit!

I just keep focussing on how great I am gonna feel when I have achieved weight loss, muscle toning, body shaping, flexibility improvement, cellulite reduction and flab lifting and how my self-image and self-confidence is gonna go through the roof!!

If you want to make your goals happen, sign up for your Sexy Butt Makeover today!

A picture speaks a thousand words

I'm going to share another one of my motivation secrets now. I have what I call a motivation board stuck up on the inside of my cupboard. I cut out pictures that motivate me from magazines, pictures of girls that look the way I want to look. Pictures of people exercising, a before and after picture of a very successful slimmer, pictures of healthy food and in the middle a (photoshopped) picture of me, if I was a stone lighter! So all things that encourage me on my sexy butt makeover.

I complete week 3 tomorrow and am really looking forward to taking my measurements after the first month, next week.

I've upped my cardio workout in week 3

Today was a cardio day and so off I went with the running club and we ran 4.4 miles today. So that is a mile improvement on last week, which is brilliant. I am really enjoying it and it is good because you push yourself so much more when you are in a group rather than on your own. We ran through the park with the amazing views across London again and we could've been in the middle of the countryside rather than in a big city. Me being a massive countryside lover likes that aspect of it.

Sadly I am struggling to fit everything in time wise, so my routine is still not worked out. I need to start getting up early and doing my routines then because on cardio days I run out of time. Tomorrow night I am at a photography workshop so I am definitely getting up early and doing my workouts then. There won't be a rest day for me this weekend as I will have to make my points up then. But in order to get up early I have to go to bed early and I am spending a lot of my time doing my workouts or cardio sessions etc! But I REALLY want this to happen more than anything else so I will find a way to fit it all in and get into a routine. I can be very determined when I set my mind to something.

I felt absolutely gross and enormous in my jeans at work today but I have totally run out of options to wear now that the weather is changing so this is a MAJOR spur on to change that and feel confident in whatever I wear.

Anyway toodlepip I'm off to bed now so that I can get up in the morning to do my workout before work.

More motivation tools

I am getting totally hooked on my workouts now and really look forward to getting them done and seeing the points rack up. I am also getting impatient (it is one of my worst traits I'm afraid!) I want to see results!! But it is only day 2 of week 3 so technically I can't expect to "see" much of a difference. I can sure feel a difference though, apart from the bags of energy and the tightness in the back of my legs, and I don't mean in a bad way.

It is a good thing though, as I am soo excited to see what I am going to look like after a few months, pretty much as summer arrives too, so perfect timing. It is keeping me motivated as I want to see the results so that spurs me on even more.

They say visualisation is a powerful tool to getting what you want. To imagine you already have it. So I am TOTALLY imagining myself looking TOTALLY hot and fitting my frame and imagining all the comments I am getting telling me how AMAZING I look now!!

Joey has the "Personal" Trainer touch

I went to session 3 of the running club tonight and am feeling really proud of myself. I honestly thought I would have to just give up on the idea of ever being able to run but touch wood I don't have shin splints. I am really concentrating on my technique and that has helped massively. Today we did just under 5k and we mixed it up with some interval sprints, which was good fun as I love sprinting. We ran a few hills tonight and I thought I may collapse as I haven't done any form of exercise for over 6 months! But I was fine, not to say I wasn't gasping for air at the top but I set myself a goal of the flowering cherry tree at the top and I wasn't gonna stop until I got there, and I didn't. Small goals like that, when achieved add up to a big sense of achievement and satisfaction, which in turn powers you on to do more.

I wanted to check with Joey, the guy who developed the Sexy Butt Makeover Workout Programme if it was ok to substitute the cardio drills he set me for the running I am doing with the running club. That is the great thing about this system, you have access to a world class personal trainer without the hefty fees that go along with it. There is a forum on the site for members, so you can ask anything you like and Joey always answers the same day. He really does put the personal in personal trainer! He has helped me with my tight hip flexors too via the forum. It is also a great place to meet other women doing the same programme and help and motivate each other. I have found that a massive help so far.

This just beats me doing a dvd once a week in my room hands down. It is the complete interactivity that really makes it work I think.

Busy? There is always time to fit in an SBM workout!

I have had a very busy weekend so haven't been able to add anything on here until now. Friday was a cardio day but it was chucking it down outside so I didn't fancy going for a power walk/run. So instead I put my iPod on and got stepping with my weights, I mixed it up with some aerobics (memorised from years of grapevining etc!!) and just plain old fashioned dancing. But I'm talking high intensity dancing, jumping and high kicks etc!! Was really good fun and an excellent warm up to do my flat sexy stomach and my lucious legs workouts.

The rest of the weekend was spent doing a mixture of painting and photography. Sadly I don't mean creative painting, just decorating! But that was a workout in itself, washing down and sanding down all the woodwork. I could really feel it in my arms, where I have been working out.

I am sad to report that I fell off the food wagon and indulged slightly this weekend. More because of lack of other options as I wasn't at home but it has made me even more determined to crack the nutrition this week.

I am looking forward to what SBM workout 3 has instore for me. I love the fact that it changes every week so you never get bored or too used to the exercises.

Nutrition on the Sexy Butt Makeover

Today a miracle happened. In that I mean I went out for lunch with the girls to this place that does the most amazing burgers, really top notch, and ordered a salad! It wasn't even much of a struggle as I have been working out I didn't want to undo all my hard work so far. I ordered the brown rice, smoked salmon salad with spinach and avocado and it was yummy. I enjoyed it even more cos I knew it wasn't going to undo all my workouts, and that felt good.

I am sitting here writing this surrounded by Cadbury's mini eggs, still around from Easter and it isn't even hard to resist. Normally I love a handful of the crunchy treats, so another miracle!

Joey's workout tells you what you can eat for the day so that part of it is all taken care of, which is much easier. He works out your calorie coun for the day and then tells you your possible 6 meals for the day.

So in other words less of these






and more stuff like this!

Electric

I am really loving these workouts. I don't break a sweat but I can still really feel them working. I did the SBM week 2 workout today and some of those exercises are TOUGH! I could feel my muscles shaking but I'm pleased to say I did all the reps. I'm sure Joey is always trying to sneak a couple more in!! As when I get to my 12 (and I have been doing it at the same tempo as him) he says let's just do a couple more to make sure we have done our 12. I physically can't do more than my 12 right now but I'm looking forward to being able to increase my reps no problem.

It kinda feels like I have electricity running through my veins. I feel really alive and zingy! And of course looking forward to the next workout :-) Tomorrow I am going to have to split my workout as I have friends and their babies coming over to visit. But that's another thing I am loving about this programme, you can split it as long as you get it done on your day. So I will fit in some rest of body workouts in the morning and do the cardio session in the evening.

If you are doing something positive and stepping in the right direction then it makes you feel upbeat in general. So all in all SBM is a winner.

Running Club

So I went back and officially joined the running club I literally stumbled on last Wednesday. We ran for 3.7 miles apparently, which I would never of done on my own straight away because they say one of the reasons you get shin splints is doing too much too soon. But Mark assures me that once I have mastered my technique I will be fine. So far so good, and god do I feel good! I am really pleased with myself. I came home and did the Lucious Legs and the Attractive Arms workouts staight after. Wow the legs workout was a bit of a killer but I just kept thinking of all the good it would be doing.


Now the evenings are starting to stay lighter longer it is so nice to get out there. I normally sit in an office all day long so I love to get outside whenever I can. I've met new people who live locally to me and I have discovered new places and of course it is perfect timing for my sexy butt makeover!

Here are some pics of me in my running kit about to go. Sorry they are all pics of me taken by me in the mirror! I shall try and liven it up a bit and get some different shots.

Off to bed for me now and I shall look forward to an SBM workout day again tomorrow, wohooo!