BODY BY SCIENCE DOUG MCGUFF MD AND JOHN LITTLE

Starting today, I am doing slow motion weight lifting as taught in the book Body By Science.

In the book, they suggest that you use Nautilus equipment, but for those who do not or cannot belong to a gym with Nautilus, they also have an at-home workout that uses free weights.  This is what I am doing.

Today, I did the Free Weight Big Five at home. I loaded up 23 pounds on the barbell (including the 13 pounds that the bar alone weighs) and used it for each exercise, just to figure out how much I can do.

Bent-Over Barbell Row: 5 reps in 90 seconds TUL (Time Under Load). I did not get to failure. When I do this again next week, I will add some weight.


Standing Overhead Press: 5 reps and got to failure after 85 seconds TUL. This one was hard! The first time I started to lift it up, I thought, "Uh oh!"

Dead Lift: 5 reps in 90 seconds TUL. I did not get to failure. When I do this again next week, I will add some weight.

Bench Press: 5 reps in 95 seconds TUL. I did not get to failure, but one more rep would have done it. When I do this again next week, I will add some weight.

Squat: I had real trouble with this one! I can do regular squats all the way to the ground and back up, holding my hands in front of me, or a Prisoner Squat, or even a dumbbbell squat. But trying to squat with the bar across my back put me in such a weird position that it was hard to go down at all. I did 7 reps halfway down and back up, but only lasted 70 seconds TUL. Next time I do this, I will lighten the weights and try to get my form right, and be able to get all the way to 90 seconds TUL before failure.

Anyway, when I got done, even before I got done, I was feeling very shaky and a little sick to my stomach. And all that just for about 8 minutes of work!

Im on my way!

I was really helped by these two videos posted by a man to show how to do The Free Weight Big Five:






I made a comment to the man and he said that his form on the overhead press was not great, so I adjusted mine.

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You Are Beautiful How to Build Confidence

I am 22 years old and if I had to guess, Id say that Ive spent about 18 years of my 22 years trying to be

beautiful.

When we are young we start out putting on our mothers lip gloss. Then we start picking out our own clothes. We keenly listen to the way our mother talks about how she looks.  We start making friends and comparing things like hair, skin color, clothes, and shoes.  All before the age of 5, weve constructed in our minds our very first impression of beauty. Its still very fragile and impressionable. As we get older it is influenced by friends, family, and the media. THE MEDIA (here goes another woman talking about how the media is ruining the confidence of women, right? Yeah roll your eyes if you want, but you bet your sweet, probably not so perfectly shaped butt, thats what this is).

Im on a quest to define beauty. My definition doesnt follow the standards set by television, music or the fashion industry because if thats all there is to beauty...I am not beautiful. And seriously, if thats what beauty is, then I would venture to guess that there are very few in this world who are considered beautiful.

Readers who read this also read: A Note About Health From One Curvy Girl to Another

And sure, the few women who do meet those standards are beautiful in their own respects, but being beautiful is more than an image. Its more than looks and size and color. I think that there are many aspects of a person that make them beautiful. I think looks are a small portion of that, but I also think that beauty takes into account how you talk about yourself, how you treat yourself, how you treat others, your talents, your ability to believe in yourself when no one else does, and your ability to be confident even if one of those other aspects falls a bit short according to societys standards.

Lets take a minute to reflect on you. Yes, YOU! If youre struggling to find beauty within yourself I want you to ask yourself a few things, but first, put your physical appearance out of your mind and if at any point you start to compare yourself to another person, start your thought over and ignore the temptation to compare. Seriously, we are doing this RIGHT NOW.
What are you good at?
Was there ever a time where you did better at something than you thought you could? Those small victories are actually big reasons to feel confident. You accomplished those things because you are a mighty person, and you can do hard things.
Now think about your personality.
What are some things about your personality that you feel confident about?
Are you a good friend?
Are you loyal?
Are you caring?
Are you hard working?
Are you driven?
Are you smart?
Are you independent?
Are you positive?
Are you kind?
In this moment you are an amazing individual.You are beautiful. You have talents, you have strengths, and you have experiences that you should feel proud of. You are more than what is in the mirror, you are an individual with a soul. Your thoughts and actions can literally change the world so dont get hung up on a gray hair, or a zit, or a fat roll.

Now that you know what you are good at, how can you channel those strengths to get better at some of the weaknesses that are making you feel insecure? This is a tough question I realize. However, I have learned that while its important to feel confident where you are, its also important to feel confident that you can be what you want to be as well.  Think of it this way, "I love who I am, and because I love who I am I deserve to be my best. Sometimes I think things or feel things that prevent me from being my best. So I am dedicating myself to changing those thoughts and feelings. I am becoming better to one day be my best." So, what can you work on to be a little bit better and little closer to your best?

Readers who read this also read: Im Thankful Im Not a Quitter

By regularly asking myself the kinds of questions listed above, I have improved my confidence. Instead of depending on other people to make me feel worthy and valuable, I know that I am worthy and valuable because I can literally name a handful of things that I rock at.

Its taken me a long time to find beauty in my qualities and strengths.  I am still working on changing some of my negative thoughts and feelings into positive, motivating self encouragement. Each day I have to rededicate myself to ignoring societies definition of beautiful and keep working on my own. My definition of beauty is confidence, and confidence is a feeling, not a look. By acknowledging all the things I am good at in my moments of insecurity, I move past self-pity, I move past self-loathing, and I feel beautiful.

I probably wont ever be a size two with awesomely tan skin and a super nice butt, and thats OK. At the end of the day I realize that I have so much more to offer myself and the world than just looking hot.

Whats your definition of beauty?

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BODY FAT DOWN LEAN MASS UP NUTRITIONAL KETOSIS AND WEIGHT LIFTING UPDATE

Here is an update on how things are going in the past two weeks:

Basically, up and down.  I did do some water fasting, some fat fasting and some Low Carb High Fat eating.  My weight has fluctuated up and down.  I have more pounds of lean mass than when I started, and Im sure that the weight lifting is responsible for that.

I have not been tracking food very much, and I think that is the reason that I have gained some body fat.  I just cant seem to be able to keep my weight under control unless I track every bite of food that goes in my mouth.  Its like I have a mental block about it!

Here is where I started five weeks ago:

July 15, 2015
Neck - 12"
Bust - 36"
Waist - 31.75"
Belly - 39.75"
Hips - 40.25"
Thigh - 22.5"
Calf - 14.25"
Scale weight - 146.2 pounds
Body fat - 52.7 pounds - 36%
Lean mass - 93.5 pounds - 64%

 

Here is where I am now:

August 16, 2015
Neck - 12"  (no change)
Bust - 35.75"  (lost 1/4")
Waist - 31.5"  (lost 1/4")
Belly - 39.625"  (lost 1/8")
Hips - 39.875"  (lost 3/8")
Thigh - 22"  (lost 1/2")
Calf - 14.125"  (lost 1/8")
Scale weight - 146.2 pounds  (no change)
Body fat - 51.6 pounds - 35.3%  (lost 1.1 pounds)
Lean mass - 94.6 pounds - 64.7%  (gained 1.1 pounds)

 

I still need to lose 10.8 pounds of fat and gain 0.6 pounds of muscle to reach my goal of 136 pounds with 30% body fat.

 

Here are a few charts.  These charts actually go back to April, because that is when I started weighing and measuring and tracking my food again after a long break of keeping track.  So only the last five weeks of that have to do with my recent posts.

 

 

 Here is my chart that shows the progress Im making with The Big Five weight lifting routine according to Body By Science:

 For each of these exercises, I am attempting to reach total muscle failure in less than 90 seconds.  Each time I reach failure that way, I increase the weight by 10% the next time I lift.  The column to the right of the column for 8/12/2015 shows the weights I will use the next time I go in, which will be 8/19/2015.

Anyway, thats where Im at this week.  Onward and Downward!  And thanks for reading!

 

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HCG Beach Body Project 2014

I dont know about you, but Im counting down to summer! And its coming up fast, especially when I realize I have less than 3 months to get swimsuit ready. I really want to help as many women as possible get ready for summer and regain their confidence. So, I am hosting a Count Down to Beach Body using the HCG Diet! 

Ive put together a timeline and some resources to help you lose up to 40 pounds by the first day of summer (June 21st, 2014). Thats right... up to 40 pounds!

Ive mapped everything out for you from your starting date, to your ending date, your maintenance phase, Ive even made a 40 day menu for your time on Phase 2! Whhhhatttt? Yeah girl, Ive got you covered.

Email me for your HCG Phase 2 40 day menu!

So heres how it works: In order to fit a round of HCG and a round of maintenance in before summer, you have to order your kit by April 2nd (domestic orders by April 7th at the latest) so you get it in time to start on April 15th. The menu covers the 40 days of food youll eat in Phase 2 using recipes from HCGDiet.coms digital recipe book and some of the meals are substituted for Gnarly Slim meal replacement shake. So make sure that you have your kit, your digital recipe book and your meal replacement shake ready to go by April 15th.

If you need to get your supplies, no worries, Ive negotiated a special deal to make sure you can get everything you need to start for an affordable price.

Get 35% off a 40 day HCG Kit, a digital recipe book and a Gnarly Slim Protein Shake when you apply the coupon code MYBEACHBODY at checkout. This is only for my readers and its a great discount to get you started! Then you can send me an email (lowery@hcgdiet.com) to get your 40 day menu, diet timeline, and my Phase 3 menu! :) Seriously, this is going to be awesome.

No excuses, ladies. Its time to get your beach body!

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IDEAL BODY FAT FOR MEN AND WOMEN BY AGE

I was doing a little search on the internet to see what the ideal body fat percentage is for men and women.  I had seen before that the low side of Normal for a woman is 25%, so thats what I have been shooting for.  I was using a chart similar to this:

 

Today, I found this chart, which adjusts body fat by age:

According to this chart, the low side of average (called Healthy on this chart) is not 25%, but somewhere around 30%.  Hmmm...  I always have thought that there was no way I was ever going to make it down to 25% body fat.  Maybe 30% is more realistic for a woman my age.  My age today is 56 and 1/2.

Here is my old dream goal:

132 pounds

11.875" neck

26.125" waist

37.25" hips

0.701 waist-to-hips ratio

25% body fat (33 pounds)

75% lean body mass (99 pounds)

Here is my new dream goal:

136 pounds

11.875" neck

27.625" waist

39.5" hips

0.699 waist-to-hips ratio

30% body fat (40.8 pounds)

70% lean body mass (95.2 pounds)

If I ever make it to there and it seems like I could go lower on body fat percentage, I can always reevaluate...

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