Starting a New Challenge

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone. Hope all is well. I have to thank you again for

helping me through last week. I really couldnt have made it without

all of your helpful and encouraging posts --- you all rock.

I cant believe it --- next week is week 12. I kinda thought by now

I would be obsessing over taking the after pictures and measurements

and stuff, but as the end of my first challenge draws nearer, I find

myself thinking about whats going to happen on day 85, you know?

I'm going right into another 12 week challenge, so to speak, and I

want it to be different than my first one. I dont really feel like

I've had any results whatsoever. I lost some weight in the

beginning and my arms are a little muscular but thats about it. So

I really wanna change a few things, and I thought nobody would know

more abotu changing for the better than all of you guys. So here's

a basic outline of what I have been doing. It would be so helpful

if you could critique what I have been doing. Be really critical!

I kinda suck at this, and I want to know all the things I can

improve on. I really want to make the second challenge better.

Bill said the challenge was supposed to bring forth a

transformation of both body and mind. My body is kinda the same,

and I think my mind has taken a turn for the worst, to tell you the

truth. So any ideas for change are totally welcome.

I. Eating

~Typical day at school

8:00 Meal 1 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese, banana, water

11:00 Meal 2 myoplex lite RTD, water

1:00 Meal 3 4 egg whites, apple, water

3:30 Meal 4 protein pancakes, water

6:00 Meal 5 1/2 cup lettuce, 1/2 cup tuna, pear, water

9:00 Meal 6 low carb protein shake, kiwi, carrots, water

~Typical day at home

7:30 Meal 1 4 scrambled egg whites with tomato, apple, water

10:00 Meal 2 Myoplex carb sense, 1/2 banana, 1/4 cup skim milk,

water

1:00 Meal 3 1/2 can tuna, lettuce, frozen strawberries, water

3:30 Meal 4 1/2 cut fat free ricotta, grapes, water

6:00 Meal 5 3 oz. broiled fish, baked potato, fat free sour

cream, steamed green beans, water

8:30 Meal 6 Mission spinach wrap with dip (salsa and cottage

cheese,) water

~I drink from 15-18 cups of water a day

~I'm never hungry. Sometimes in school, my calories dont hit 1000

in fitday, but I never add food to my day because I'm full all the

time. I have to shove egg whites down my throat sometimes, just to

meet the requirement, you know?

~I also hate how when I come home I end up eating more. so 2 days

out of the week (not including my free day) my calories are higher

then the rest of the days. Even if its not by much, I'm wondering

if thats been hindering results.

II. Exercise

~I weight train 3 days and do HIIT 3 days, like the BFL book says.

My schedule doesnt allow me to wake up, work out right away, and

then eat an hour after that. I can only do that on Saturdays.

Could that be why I'm not getting results? I dont know how I would

change that. Also, I dont do extra cardio on weight traning days

like so many others do. Ya think thats messing me up?

~I run on the treadmill on all of my HIIT days. Maybe the

consistency isnt good? Maybe mixing it up a little, with the

elliptical trainer or something, would produce more results? Am I

looking too far into things? Probably...I'm kinda desperate.

III. Free day

~A topic I'd like to avoid altogether. For lack of a better term, I

really suck on free days. I look forward to them all week, and then

I eat like a cow, and then I feel like a cow the next day. I'm so

friggin strict all week, and on Sunday I just totally lose control.

Not only that - I get upset Sunday night because I have to go back

to school the next day, and I use food to fill that nervous, upset,

emotional void thing that I have. I keep eating and eating and

eating. Its disgusting and it always makes me feel like a failure,

but by Wednesday I'm already thinking about what I'm going to be

eating NEXT sunday, you know? The free day has taken complete

control over me. Its so sad. Heres what I eat on a typical free

day:

~Banana Oatmeal

~Coffee with whipped cream

~Apricot oat bar

~Wheat thins

~small frosty

~Veggie lover's pizza

~life with skim milk

~Chocolate PB cookie dough cheesecake with lots of whipped cream

~Honey Mustard Pretzels

~I'm seriously wondering about the free day for my next challenge.

I need to make some kinda change, you know? The day shouldnt be

able to control me like that. I need to have some control over IT.

But I still want to feel like its a free day, you know? After so

much hard work during the week, I think I deserve it. I said this

on like, week 2 --- that I was worried about free days, and everyone

wrote back saying that as time passes, youll see, you wont be

craving as much, and you wont feel the need to eat like you do in

the begginning. Nothing has changed for me, though. Is there

something wrong with me? What measures should I take to control

myself for the next challenge?

Okay. Thats basically it. I'm open to any and all suggestions.

The results I've had dont seem to reflect the amount of time and

effort I've put into this diet. But now I feel like I cant stop,

because I'm afraid the muscle I've built will turn to fat. I'm

petrified of gaining weight. So I'm going right into another

challenge, but I really want to see some real results this time. If

you have any ideas, please help me out.

Thanks so much for everything,

~~~Aliza~~~