We enjoyed hearing how everyone is (or isn’t) tackling their New Year’s resolutions in 2013! We would also like to congratulate the winner of our giveaway, the Supreme 90-Day workout DVD set:
Brenda Bringman
Brenda, you will soon receive your new workout program and be able to confidently move forward with your strength/fitness goals for 2013. Stick with your strength training and watch your body completely transform. With the next 90 days to kick things off, there should be no stopping you! We hope you have those dumbbells on standby!
We will be contacting you with the details, Brenda, and getting that set to you right away!
Congrats again, & be sure to take before PICS. We’d love to see your results!
For the first time in my life I feel like I am doing the right thing by my body (and mind).
Starting from the time I was a small child I had issues with food. I had a parent who would say things like “Do you really need to eat that?”. She was also always trying some crazy diet or weight watchers, slim fast etc. I remember thinking I needed to be doing slim fast shakes too when I was 8 years old.
When I was 9 years old I began to make myself throw up after eating a large meal or if I over did it on junk food. That continued until I was 14 when I discovered the gym. I would spend hours upon hours working out but took a pause from bulimia. I also took up smoking to help control my hunger (I was smart one…)
I continued on with this until I was in University when I began to make myself throw up again as well as exercise for hours on end. I looked pretty good too. I was lifting heavy weights but also doing hour of cardio per day. I was a student at the time so I had the time that I could put into that, but I wasn’t ever really happy with myself or my body (looking back I would kill for that body now but not how I was maintaining it).
After University I got married and quit the gym because we couldn’t afford it and didn’t live near one anymore. I put on 55 lbs in no time. I just ballooned right up and couldn’t mentally handle it. I started making myself throw up even more, sometimes ten or more times per day. I was still fat.
My husband and I decided it was time to have babies and I decided it was time for me to confess my deep dark secret to him. I didn’t want to live like that anymore. He was sweet and supportive. I sought counseling because I didn’t want to bring a child into this world while I was treating my body that way. I committed to ditching the Bulimia and after 18 months became pregnant with my daughter.
Within 6 weeks of having her I knew I wanted to make a change. I dieted (low calorie), and started running as well as spin class and got myself down from 245 to 186 (with no real shape yet to my body). At this point I got pregnant again with my son and went back up to 235 despite doing spin and eating better during this pregnancy.
Now, one year later I am down to 178 lbs but I look a million times better and I feel a billion times better. Around the end of April 2012 I started reading about “Eat more to weigh less” on the Myfitnesspal forums. It all just made so much sense to me. It seemed to reasonable and like something I could stick with for the rest of my life. So I upped my calories! At this point I was already lifting heavy weights as well but on low calorie diet there is really only so much your body can do in terms of recomposition.
So TMI but my whole life I have been constipated. When I upped my calories I immediately became regular and also had more energy and I was able to increase the weights I was lifting exponentially. I also dropped 5 or 6 lbs right away (I had previously been on a weight loss plateau). Then the weight loss slowed to a grinding halt for 12 weeks. Now, most people would give up and go back to their 1200 calorie diets, BUT I knew in my heart heart that I needed to stick this out. I NEEDED to. For my children’s sake. I NEED to be a good example for them, a healthy example. So I just plugged away at it, day in and day out. Was it frustrating to not see the scale budge? Absolutely. 12 weeks!!! And then finally in the 13th week I started dropping weight again. And in the mean time I was seeing changes in my body, both how I looked and how I felt. I was stronger and happier and my libido was even coming back.
I started seeing a naturopathic doctor who has a machine to monitor lean body mass and metabolism. Both of those numbers were low for me. For the past 5 months I have seen her monthly and each month I have lost pounds of fat and maintained my muscle mass or even put on muscle! On a low calorie diet this would be pretty well impossible.
Another important thing for me was increasing my protein amounts to 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. Since increasing my calories and protein I have not felt the urge to binge or overdo it really at all. Everything just seems more balanced. It has been 8 months so far and I have not looked back once despite the plateaus or the weight gains here and there because I am smaller, fitter and happier and I know this is the way to go. And in fact, this is how my thin/athletic friends live their lives as well.
This was very long winded but the moral of the story is that you need to stick it out. Even if you hit a weight loss plateau and don’t see a loss on the scale for months, there are other more important things happening in your body. Not to mention the fact that you are worth more than a number on the scale!
Have an EM2WL transformation to share? Willing to let us tag along on your journey? We’d love to see it! Be featured on our Transformation/Journey page by submitting your story to Success@EM2WL.com
It’s that time again! We want to help someone get started (or keep going!) on the fitness side of their journey. So our first giveaway winner of the year, will receive a free workout DVD set.
The Prize:
Supreme 90-Day DVD workout series
As you’ve probably read by now, EM2WL is all about strength training being incorporated in your fitness journey, for best results. Although we recognize that not everyone will choose to strength train, we highly recommend it. So, we’d like to help one new member of the fam – who may be hesitant due to lack of knowledge, funds, or equipment – to get started with strength training. We will be giving away a 10 discDVD program that uses minimal equipment. Dumbbells and the stability ball are all you need to get started in this program, so if you already have those, then you’ll be ready to go. This is also a 90 day (12 week), program so it will take you right through your metabolism reset or first 12 weeks of your cut. This would be a good way to get in the habit of strength training if you’re not already or to help you break plateaus by incorporating a new routine if you already are. You can read more about the program here.
How to enter:
Just drop us a line in the comments section below.
Let us know: Did you make any resolutions this year? How do you plan on keeping them? If you’re anti-resolution…why?
We’ve heard that most resolutions for the New Year, don’t make it past February. Some may go as long as March before dwindling. As we’ve previously discussed, making small changes, very slowly, has a lasting effect vs being overly-ambitious with our goals.
If working out was part of those goals, we pray that you’ll make it long after that looming Resolution Grave “deadline” that is approaching. So we’re tossing out some freebies to help keep you guys going each month, well past the month of March.
In the meantime, check out the video clip of the DVD set that you’ll be eligible of receiving just for letting us know your thoughts.
Contest Ends:
Winner will be chosen Jan. 14, 2013 at 11:59pm EST, and announced on Jan. 15, 2013. Be sure that your comment is linked to a working email address, so that you can be contacted if you are chosen. We will not use your email for any other purpose, but if we cannot contact you, another winner will be chosen.
I have now been on EM2WL since 1 June 2012, so it will be 7 months on 1 January 2013!! The benefits so far:-
being able to eat more and not feel guilty
putting proper clean foods into my body
more energy
stronger (both body and mind)
a much more confident individual
a lot more self worth…I no longer base it on a number!
being able to enjoy the precious time I spend with family and friends and not constantly having this little voice in my head telling me “don’t eat that, you’ll get fat”
acknowledging that everyone is a different shape and size and accepting that my body is built for strength and independence!
being able to run 3 miles – I have one leg shorter than the other as you can see in the picture so that is a task in itself!
I am listing no burdens because I don’t believe that EM2WL is a burden, I think it does have a few hard points about it like feeling bloated etc but I wouldn’t say they equate to burdens. Therefore I think this process is in itself precious and life changing.
My future goals are to run the Race for Life in May/June 2013 and complete the Insanity programme which I am starting on 31 December 2012. I am going to do it 3 times a week and run 3 miles once a week so I should hopefully be finished by 1 June 2013 which is when I will update you with my final results/1st year of EM2WL. I will update you again in March 2013 as to my progress and take some more piccies.
Love to you all and I hope the New Year brings you all happiness and hope :)
Kels xx
Have an EM2WL transformation to share? Willing to let us tag along on your journey? We’d love to see it! Be featured on our Transformation/Journey page by submitting your story to Success@EM2WL.com
The Workout Plan: Part two of this plan. For muscle shaping, defining, and fat loss.
How to work it: Perform days 1-3, then repeat days 1 & 2 for a 5-day workout split. Burn phase will include “drop sets” just like in Build, but also introduces “compound sets” (2 exercises in a row with no rest), and “tri-sets” (3 exercises done in a row, with no rest). Cardio may also increase, slightly, if desired.
Weights: Begin every weight session with a 5-10 minute dynamic warmup and 1-2 warmup sets (using lighter weight). Select a weight that presents a struggle for the last few reps. Remember to log your weight selection, being sure to increase weight whenever possible. If you can do 2-3 more reps than specified with your chosen weight, your weight is too light, and it is time to increase. You must push yourself for maximum results, every set should be challenging. There must be at least 48 hours in between repeating a specific day. Do not perform Day 1 exercises, two days in a row, for instance. End 5-10 minutes of stretching, while the muscle is still warm to prevent injury.
Rest periods: 30-60 seconds (higher reps = shorter rests, low reps = longer rest) for weighted moves, no longer than 30 seconds for core tri-sets.
Cardio: Increase cardio by one, high intensity, 30 minute session in week 3, and again in week 4. When performing cardio and weights on the same day, opt to do weights first (this doesn’t include the warm-up done before weights). If including more than 2 cardio days, choose to lower intensity every other session to reduce leg swelling. Be mindful, though, that the amount of cardio that you intend on doing is figured into your food allowance. Try not to use cardio to do the job that can be done with proper eating. Learn to appreciate cardio and what it can do for you (aid in recovery, heart/mental health), but don’t unnecessarily abuse it.
Food: To truly get the most out of this or any workout routine, the food intake should match the nature of the workouts. During Burn, eat below TDEE (maintenance), for optimal fat burning (if doing a reset, stay at TDEE). The EM2WL weight loss calculator (set goal at “lose fat -15%”) will give you an idea of your best calorie range for losing fat, while maintaining muscle. Attempt to eat 1-1.5g of protein per lb of body-weight (i.e. 150-225g for 150lb person) or 35% of your calorie intake, and sufficient carbs (around 35-40% of your total intake), mostly surrounding your workouts. (If diabetic, insulin sensitive, etc., eat carbs as per doctor/nutritionist orders).
**Want this plan to last longer than 4 weeks? Repeat “Burn” for or up to 4 weeks (4 workouts per week), max. Then move back to 2-4 weeks of “Build” or similar program.**
*Drop set – on final set rep until failure, reduce weight by 25% and go to failure again.
More of a visual person? Check out the “at-a-glance” options for Day 1,Day 2 and Day 3.
Because Burn has been abbreviated into a two week “Kickstart” version, the training frequency is much higher. To adapt this routine to a busier lifestyle, you can choose to make it into a 3 day split: do days 1-3 once each week, for up to four weeks.
We enjoyed hearing how everyone is (or isn’t) tackling their New Year’s resolutions in 2013! We would also like to congratulate the winner of our giveaway, the Supreme 90-Day workout DVD set:
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