sorry this is sooo late..... but I'm
Done.
Yup. 12 weeks. Finished.
I am so proud of myself. It was not easy, but it was fun. Honestly, this was such a life changing experience. I worked my butt, arms, and stomach off and I feel fantastic.
I feel smaller all around the numbers show success.
The last three weeks were the hardest mostly because you had to pay the most attention to your diet and push hard every day to ensure results. I had to switch things up a bit because my schedule got very crazy. It turned out that I worked out 3-4x a week (Weds-Sunday) and I managed to get the 7 days worth of exercise in by doubling up on certain days.
I slacked a bit on the cardio, I really tried to do every one, but I seriously only had about an hour a day and the weight lifting itself takes a lot of time if you are going to do it right.
I did however, learn to love HIIT--High Intense Interval Training for the cardio.
Me right after a HIIT workout.
Sweat and all!
Sprinting 30 sec at a 2.5 incline at an 8.0 speed then 30 sec rest, repeat for 30 min.
I felt like a beast, and doubled my calorie burn in less time. Whoot!
The diet for the final phase changed dramatically. We started carb cycling. I would usually go Sunday-Tuesday low car, High carb wednesday, and the last week high carb Saturday. The interesting part was that you kept the same calorie intake for each high or low day. So I found low carb higher calorie foods for low days: such as nuts, cottage cheese, string cheese etc; and then switched to low calorie high carb foods such as oatmeal, apples, bananas, soup etc. It was fun but repetitive.
The weight lifting also switched gears. Instead of focusing on pushing yourself to high weight you lowered you weights and pushed yourself to more more reps. That was hard. You really had to concentrate on form because even though you were using less weight your were doubling or tripling the amount of time you lifted it. Ouch.
Overall, I am ecstatic with my results. I feel wonderful, my body looks fitter, and best of all I feel stronger!
My Numeric Results:
Before: After:
- Weight 139lbs 140lb
- Body fat: 24% 21%
- Chest: 34 in 35.5in
- Arms 11.3 in 12.5in
- Hips 36.50 in 34in
- Waist 33.50 in 31in
- Thighes 22in 22.4in
- Calves: 15 in 14.5in
- Forearms: 8 in 9in
- Shoulders: 40.5 in 42.4in
What's next?
I think I'll be on the look out for another program ( I like striving for a goal, keeps me motivated), but until then I might just use the workouts from phase 2 and 3. They are just so great and versatile. I think I'll do carb cycling often but not every week.
I hope that my journey helps you find your way through yours and know that you are not alone. It's never ending but we can all do it together! On to the next thing!
Wanna See my whole journey through LiveFit?
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