Phoenyx's Final 10 & Journey to Fitness

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMN!!! :eek2: Totally an amazing transformation!! :hurray:

Phoenyx said:
This may sound weird, or maybe a bit narcissistic, but it feels good to look good. Maybe it is because its a visible result of all the hard work I've put into it over the months? I know I appreciate it a lot more this time around BECAUSE of the hard work I've put into it.
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Of course it feels good! People are too funny, everyone seems to feel guilty for any thoughts remotely close to vanity. Well, shit, maihn, whaddaya do? Self worth/esteem needs SOME personal accolade. Right? Kudos for your great mind set :)
 
I agree, I mean you don't have to proclaim your vanity from the rooftops, but knowing that you are beautiful and look good are essential to self confidence.

What an amazing difference in those photo's, you certainly have reason to be proud!!! :hurray:
 
I view my body as any other project. But it's not the kind I dread working on. It's the kind of project I enjoy each step of the way. Just like any other project... when progress is made, I feel damn good.

It's not about vanity.

It's about personal accomplishment.

It's about milking life.

Enjoy it!
 
Can I get a HELL YEAH?!!

Wow, so last week I began phasing off the meds, and its been a struggle. Seems like half the time I wanted to unhinge my jaw and tilt back the fridge, but I did my best to keep from doing that. I thought for sure I had put some weight back on. Surprise surprise!!! I lost almost 2 pounds this week!

This week's results:

Weight: 163.1 (down 1.8 pounds from last week)
Body fat: 24.3% (lower than my goal of 25% YEAH!!)
BMI: 24.1

That's a total of 78.5 pounds from my starting point!!!! :willy_nilly::hurray::willy_nilly::hurray:

So I got it down to less than 25% and it didn't take getting down to 155 to do it. Now I'm at a bit of a crossroads. I've reached the goal of getting down to 165 before I hit 40, and now I've hit the goal of 25%, even gone beyond it. I'm wondering if I should maintain at this weight/size/body fat %, or should I take it lower?

Overall, I'm pretty happy with what I see in the mirror. Hell, compared to what I saw in the mirror (and in photos, ye gods!) back in February... I'm freaking ECSTATIC!! But there's still areas that I feel need firming, building up, trimming down, etc.

Fine tuning I guess you'd call it. I'd like to get my waist down a bit further, get the 'pooch' on the lower abs smaller, the fat on the top of the hips smaller, the insides of the thighs too. And since I know there is no spot reducing, I am considering going beyond 25% to get those areas down more in fat. I still want to build UP the muscle in my glutes & pecs, as well as continue to strengthen and tone overall.

I guess the question is: how far is too far for me? I'm still struggling with the 'fat eyes' problem. I still look down at my thighs when I'm sitting down and think "ACK!!! Thunder Thighs!!" even though my quads are solid as a rock. I can see definition on the abs, but there's still that padding and I don't like it. There's still the wobbly bits on my arms (though they are not the batwings they were a couple months ago... YEAH!!), but when I move my arms certain ways I can see the muscles rippling like they haven't in 20 years, and a bit of the back fat that's driving me nuts, but under that there's getting to be some good tone on the back as well.

Am I nitpicking? You betcha. Looking at my body as a project (a 'body of work') I'm thinking "Ok, you got it looking this good. But can you make it look better?"

OH yes I can! :willy_nilly:

Workout wise, I'm totally loving the Tae Bo AMPED dvds. Broke down and got one of the Amped bars that accompanies the workout. Its a 3 lb bar that extends from 24" to 36" depending on what exercises you do with it. Used it for the first time the other night. It REALLY intensified the workout. Problem is I have to do the Tae Bo workouts at night because there's a lot more jumping and stomping involved... I usually do my DVD workouts in the morning before my husband wakes up. The noise would wake him up. Ah well.

I think its a steak kind of night. And some Jack. I've been good all week... counting down to JACK:30
 
Phoenyx said:
This may sound weird, or maybe a bit narcissistic, but it feels good to look good. Maybe it is because its a visible result of all the hard work I've put into it over the months? I know I appreciate it a lot more this time around BECAUSE of the hard work I've put into it.
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Enjoy that feeling! You earned it! We all want to feel that, so soak it up girl!!

I saw your avatar pic in someone's diary and just had to check out your story. Absolutely amazing! You've been really consistent.

I didn't read all of your diary, but just curious as to if you are still on the program that you were doing through that doctor?

I live in NorCal too. Perhaps I need to get on that program as well. Is is the program with B-Vitamin shots??

Anyhow, keep up the amazing work, you look fabulous!
 
MissJellyBelly said:
Enjoy that feeling! You earned it! We all want to feel that, so soak it up girl!!

I saw your avatar pic in someone's diary and just had to check out your story. Absolutely amazing! You've been really consistent.

I didn't read all of your diary, but just curious as to if you are still on the program that you were doing through that doctor?

I live in NorCal too. Perhaps I need to get on that program as well. Is is the program with B-Vitamin shots??

Anyhow, keep up the amazing work, you look fabulous!
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Oh, I'm enjoying it, believe me! :biggrinjester:

I'm still on the program with the doc, but I'm starting to phase off the phentermine. There are B-vitamin shots, but that's more of an extra thing. The weekly injections through this program are aminos to help burn the fat.

I've done the B-vitamin shots a couple times... they do help with the energy if I'm wiped out.

Whereabouts in NorCal are you? This particular doc has an office in Walnut Creek, and one in San Ramon. I think there's some in the South Bay too.

And thank you!
 
Congratulations with reaching your goals. I'm getting to that point myself. I'm just about where I wanted to get when I started, now I have to decide what to do next, keep going or maintain for a bit. My advice to you would be to maintain for a month, then reset your goals, but saying that I don't think I'm going to listen, so what good is that. :biggrinjester:
 
Did you get shakey on the Phentermine? I've tried weight loss pills in the past but always got too shaky with them.
 
GregOlso said:
Did you get shakey on the Phentermine? I've tried weight loss pills in the past but always got too shaky with them.
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At first a little bit. It was a lot like having too much coffee, or being on speed just not as intense. Yeah, I did my share of that shit back in the day. Haven't touched it in MANY years, thank goodness.

I know what you mean about the other diet pills though. I tried many of the over the counter types... they either made me shaky as hell, turned me into a psycho, or both.

I'm phasing off the phentermine, gradually. Not something you want to do cold turkey without consequences. But I knew that I'd have to do this going in... worth it to me. Now I'd like to know I can maintain without the pills. I can see where this stuff can be easily misused, or relied on as the sole reason for weight loss, instead of using it to aid you while you relearn how to eat healthy, and reduce the caloric intake. Definitely something that should only be used with close Dr. supervision.

Bah, I hurt. Took a Gung Fu seminar this afternoon. Got my ass kicked. Jarred something in my lower back by landing wrong doing a jump.
 
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Steve said:
Hello :)

Hope the rest of your weekend is great.
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Thanks! Its been pretty mellow today. Just finished watching the race, now gonna go do some running around.

Well, on the good news end of things, I didn't screw up my back nearly as bad as I feared yesterday. Little stiff from the neck down to my tailbone, but not in a lot of pain. Really need to get ahold of my massage therapist this week.
 
Phoenyx said:
being on speed just not as intense. Yeah, I did my share of that shit back in the day. Haven't touched it in MANY years, thank goodness.
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:iagree: reluctantly. It must be a Bay Thang. I guess they don't call it the Yay Area for nuthin!

Glad your back isn't too screwed up! Take care!
 
Curvie Girlie said:
:iagree: reluctantly. It must be a Bay Thang. I guess they don't call it the Yay Area for nuthin!

Glad your back isn't too screwed up! Take care!
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Weird thing is I remember crystal meth not being something you smoked, but inhaled like coke or crank. It must have changed. And crack came on the scene shortly after I wised up and stopped doing that shit. Thankfully didn't cause any longstanding damage.

Steve said:
Ditto that.

What exactly is wrong with your back?
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Nothing beyond a little stiffness at this point from doing moves I'm not used to. During the class on Saturday my instructor was having us do these jumps to get used to doing jump kicks. I landed wrong, and it jarred up my right leg, through the hip into the pelvis and tweaked my lower back. Felt like the muscles decided to rearrange themselves along the top of the illiac crest. I must have stretched them out right, or the yoga's paying off, or sitting against the tennis ball helped... because it didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it was going to yesterday. Just a bit stiff.

Ah well, I'll make sure to get to my MMA class tonight early enough so I can make sure everything is properly warmed up and stretched out before I get my ass kicked again.
 
Well, tonight's ass-kicking was a lot of fun. For the next 5 weeks we're going to be focusing on boxing, kickboxing, judo and Brazilian jiujitsu. I'm glad we're doing the judo, because I really need to learn how to do the takedowns, and how to fall without really hurting myself. I'm also beginning to feel more comfortable with the Brazilian jiujitsu.

Another place all the working out, doing yoga, taking MMA, keeping up with improving my flexibility... I can just about kick as high as my head now without losing my balance and with control. Practice that a bit more and start putting more force behind it.

I'm debating on whether to add a hapkido or karate class into the mix as well. Eh, maybe next year, we'll see. There's a beginning yoga class starting up in a few weeks I was thinking of taking, just to make sure I'm doing the moves right.

One of my coworkers has instigated a lunchtime walk twice a week. Did it for the first time last Thursday, it was a good walk with a lot of uphill. Definitely gets the blood pumping. Got my walking shoes packed for tomorrow, because I'm going to do it again.
 
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The tennis ball has saved my ass, quite literally, more than a few times. Several years ago I had purchased a couple books on reflexology and acupressure... so I've got access to where the pressure points are. That REALLY helps when needing the tennis ball.

Ok, I gotta do some weight lifting tonight when I get home. I haven't been neglecting my exercise, I just haven't done any weights in a bit. Not that there hasn't been any resistance training... yoga and Tae Bo have some of that... I just miss the weights. I'm hopeless. :willy_nilly:
 
Phoenyx said:
I really need to learn how to do the takedowns, and how to fall without really hurting myself.......I can just about kick as high as my head now without losing my balance and with control. Practice that a bit more and start putting more force behind it.....One of my coworkers has instigated a lunchtime walk twice a week.
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:party: This is all so cool. I wish I could hang out with you, I'd absolutely make a good workout buddy! I'm always fascinated with submissions, they seem so technical. I really recommend watching PRIDE fighting or the UFC so you can see how different people use different techniques, it's really very much an art and there are people out there with AMAZING talent. Like, I could learn belly dancing just fine from my teacher and practice the moves, but watching my BD DVDs really helps me learn better. Besides, watching pros fight is FUN! I'm actually going to a Pay Per View fight hosted at a bar in Redwood City on Saturday with my homegirl and her boyfriend and his gym buddies. They all do Jujitsu.

Mad Propz for the lunchtime walk! :hurray:
 
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