GNC GO LEAN BURN...BRO'S KNOW WHEN THEY GET THEIR BURN ON BRO

Hi everyone, I'm excited to announce that I have been on a great fitness routine the last few months and have been seeing some great results from it. I have decreased my calories, increased my fitness and protein and have seen some great fitness gains. Losing weight has been difficult due to some ovary issues I'm having. I'll be speaking with an endocrinologist to figure out the logistics of all that soon but I'm sure once I get my whacked out hormones in check I'll be doing just dandy...and not terrorizing the neighborhood.

In the meantime to help me shred some fat around my middle, I came across a new product called GNC Go Lean BURN. Promises to burn three times the calories as...well I'm not sure what. At first I was a little nervous to take it. It has a thermogenic which I'm not really into and 250mg of caffeine. Yikes. But after reading the ingredients list, I saw that the thermogenic was actually extract from the same stuff that's in hot peppers (you can kind of taste the spice in the shake) and that I skip my coffee when I take this shake. I have to say I've seen results so far.

If you'd like to step it up from the regular go lean to something a bit more extreme, I'd say go for it.

guess who's back...back again?

Hi everyone! It's been a long time but I'm back! It's an exciting time for me. It has been a hectic few years. Got knocked off kilter for awhile but I've been back at it for two months. Taking on the fit by thirty challenge. 2015 is my year. Let's do this.

Changes, Frustrations, and trying to find my way

Alot has happened since I last wrote in my blog. My company that I was working for decided to lay off half its work force and well, I was on the list. So now I am unemployed and working diligently to try and stay afloat, find a new source of income, and work on my fitness...and quite frankly I'm about ready to scream.

My long-time boyfriend is slow to start this inspection company that's been in the works for awhile. We were going for a business loan but we were denied the day before I lost my job. So now we're both staring at each other and he won't look for other work and quite frankly I'm about ready to knock him out as well.

All this stress and I'm wondering how do I stay focused in this journey when creditors are knocking on my door, calling my phone, wondering why they aren't getting paid. On top of that, the week after I lost my job the puppy I purchased months before was flown in so now I'm dealing with a new puppy on top of all of this.

Really, it's enough to make me want to get in my car and drive and drive and drive and drive.

Shred Routine - continues. Thoughts, tired, wondering what's up

It was a good week last week. Finally got the bowflex together and started using it. It is different than the cable machines at the gym...but it does a decent job. I drank my shake every single morning---the one morning that I didn't----I got heartburn! Seriously, I had to take anti-acids.

I went up to Rochester this weekend into yesterday. I had my cheat day but honestly, I could have cared less. There's been a change in me for sure. I used to like food...get excited about a good meal. Now...I don't much care. It's like another thing to think about. I don't care if I have a sweet or don't. I don't care if I eat the best food ever or not. I hate anything greasy, fattening, or unhealthy...which is awesome I guess in one aspect and kind of crappy in another. I'm sure I'll get cravings at some point...but if not than oh well.

I have also been SO TIRED for the last week. I think it was from getting back into my routine but I can literally sleep for hours---at any point during the day.

I hope my pre-workout supplement comes soon! GNC has my Ab Cuts pre-work in back-order for two weeks now. I really need that to propel me forward!

Shred routine program - Day 1

I got my shit together and finally sat down to write out a legitimate exercise program along with diet. I was taught how to do this and kind of slacked. It's hard to be your own personal trainer.

How many of you know what a shred routine is? Or what you have to do in the gym and in your kitchen in order to lose weight without depleting your nutrition or over-training? According to the ACSM textbook it's something like this:

There's a few rules of weight loss (easy to follow-hard to follow through)

1. Caloric intake descrease. You need to find your maintenance calorie intake and deplete it by 250-500 calories per day.

2. There's a pie chart that shows what ratios of carbohydrates to fats to proteins you should consume everyday. I can't remember the fat/protein ratio. The carbohydrate ratio is something like 60%. I found my text book in a box from moving the other day. I'll post it once I look it up.

3. High reps-low weight-increased cardio. High weights, low reps, won't do much good for shredding weight. There's too much rest in between sets. You need to get your heart rate a consistent beat (your target heart rate) and keep it there for a length of time

4. You don't start burning fat until after 30mins of THR. Your body has different metabolic levels. Depending on which stage it's in, it uses carbohydrates. proteins, and fat differently. Your body burns carbs/sugars first, uses fat once it's depleted it's carb stores, and uses protein to repair itself up to 30 mins post-workout. You'll want to:

• Drink a pre-workout supplement that has limited sugar, but increases your metabolism. If you workout in the morning all you need is a cup of coffee/pre-workout before you workout --- eat breakfast after. - UNLESS your doing a long intensity workout which means you'll want to have some carbs stored so you can maintain stamina. You'll want to consume carbs a few hours before your workout which makes morning sessions hard.
• Drink a post-workout (milk or something similar will do the trick to) with a simple sugar. This will help bring your blood sugar backup.
• Drink a protein shake or a high protein meal 30 mins after your workout. I used to shower and get dressed after I drank my pick me up before I ate breakfast. This would give enough time.

5. You'll want to do at least 5 days a week of cardio. Interval training works great.

So, my session goes something like this:

Exercise days - Mon - Fri:

Monday: Session starts at 5:30am ET. - .5hr on Treadmill, .5-1hr on bowflex and coreball
Tuesday: Session starts at 6:00am ET. - .45min on Treadmill, .15hr on coreball
Wednesday: Session starts at 5:30am ET - .5hr on Treadmill, .5-1hr on bowlfex and coreball
Thursday: Session starts at 6:00am ET - 45min on Treadmill, .15hr on coreball
Friday: Session starts at 5:30am ET - .5hr on Treadmill, .5-1hr on bowflex and coreball.

Saturday/Sunday off.

I give myself 5 days of cardio but weight train in between and two days off.

On Saturday, I'll give myself a fun day.

Dessert days are Wednesday and Saturday.


Diet...I hate that word so "Healthy living eating style is as follows"

      Breakfast: go lean shake
      Snack - low calorie/carbs okay - like oatmeal, etc.
      Lunch: go lean shake
      Snack - low calorie/high protein/healthy fat/fiber - keep me full and focused through the
      afternoon doldrums (cheese, apples and almond butter, etc.)
      Dinner: whatever we're making. try to keep proportions in check - fit dish works great.
      After dinner: depending on how I feel, most likely strawberries in milk.


I have started the diet portion of this today. tonight we're putting together the bowflex so hopefully I can start my session tomorrow.

I'm going to be writing a helluva lot more to get myself through this.

Start date: 6/12/2013
Until date: 7/27/2013
Goal: 20lbs lost - drop one size comfortably.

After I meet this challenge, I'll decide my next steps. Small pieces at a time.