It's all about patience, Grasshopper.

[abjmorrison]

Okay, so, I'm giving this a try.

I've always been very athletic and involved in sports and working out. After my first deployment to Afghanistan, I felt GREAT, I had dropped almost 25 lbs and was pretty happy with my body. I kept the weight off for almost three years. Over the last 13 or 14 months I put on about 10 lbs due to a number of factors. 1) My husband got out of the USMC and moved to North Carolina so rather than just me dealing with my food, it seemed like we went out more, I tended to eat more, or we would keep less healthy food in the house. 2) Working up to my current deployment was crazy exhausting and it seemed like I was always out in the field or on an exercise or coming home late which meant that I both lost workout time AND would just "pick something up" for dinner (usually not the healthiest options).

Anyway, I'm currently in Afghanistan and the first half of this deployment I've been working out like crazy, doing 2+ hours of cardio multiple times per week, and Crossfit 4 or 5 times a week as well. I've made HUGE strength gains, haven't seemed to put on any inches, but actually gained about 3 lbs. Which is MAD depressing even though intellectually I know it's because I've put on additional muscle. It's just hard to see the numbers go up.

I have always heard the axiom, "weight loss is 80% from the kitchen, 20% from the gym" but generally ignored it and just worked out more to try and lose weight. In an effort to lean down and get moving toward the physique that I want, I made a New Years resolution to REALLY SERIOUSLY get my diet on track. I've cut out all sugar and bread, minimized carbs, researched and started using some supplements, added some additional weight training and changed my cardio to 90% HIIT. It's only been about a week and it's been really difficult, but so far, so good. The most important thing for me is not to become discouraged if I fail to meet a calorie goal for 1 day or miss 1 workout or whatever. I tend to get really down and think, "Well, this is pointless" and go on a massive sugar binge when I could just say "Well, I will do better tomorrow" or "I will do better at the next workout" or whatever. I really want to keep myself accountable so I'm hoping that this forum is a good way to get positive feedback and support. Thanks to anyone out there who is reading!

Goals (between now and May 1st):
1. Go to the gym 6 days a week, do weight training and HIIT cardio
2. Avoid refined sugars! Stay away from bread, fried food, oil cooked food etc
3. Stick to the diet plan...Be honest about mistakes, make a plan to rectify them, and move on without feeling sorry for myself
4. Stay positive and motivated
5. Lose 4% body fat

[abjmorrison]

Had a good day today so far. Sunday is our "off" day work-wise, so I also make it my "off" day workout-wise.

They don't serve breakfast until 1000 on Sundays, so I made brunch my cheat meal for the week. Had an amazing omelet with mushrooms and cheese, some bacon, hasbrowns, and fruit plus a small bit of chocolate after. I'm really making an effort to stick to "moderation", so I only had 3 little hashbrown patties and a few pieces of bacon as opposed to a full serving of each. Even though they gave me like 7 pieces of bacon, I just put the extra to the side and didn't eat it! Small victories. Then I played some touch rugby for about an hour and I'm going to go read my book until dinner...which will be full of vegetables and lean protein because it is a cheat MEAL not a cheat DAY. I feel awesome. Can't wait to get back in the gym tomorrow and CRUSH IT!

[semisuite]

The most important thing for me is not to become discouraged if I fail to meet a calorie goal for 1 day or miss 1 workout or whatever. I tend to get really down and think, "Well, this is pointless" and go on a massive sugar binge when I could just say "Well, I will do better tomorrow" or "I will do better at the next workout" or whatever. I really want to keep myself accountable so I'm hoping that this forum is a good way to get positive feedback and support.

This is my main issue as well. I've been working on my "all or nothing" kind of mentality. Your set of goals is quite similar to mine. I've slipped up a bit on the HIIT workouts lately and been doing just lifting, but I have actually been enjoying lifting more.

Anyway, welcome, good luck, and stay positive

[abjmorrison]

Had a pretty good day yesterday. Awesome in the gym, so-so on nutrition but not a total loss, so I was ok with that.

Back Day
Pull ups - 3x10
Barbell bent over row - 3x15 75#
Dumbbell bent over row - 3x15 35#
One arm cable pulls - 3x10 12.5#
lat pull downs - 3x10 45#
seated row - 3x10 37#
back extensions - 3x10 25#

Food Log
Cal - 1800
Carbs - 90
Fat - 75
Protein - 161

So definitely not the worst day I've ever had nutrition-wise, and I resisted that massive amounts of chocolate chip cookies that one of my office-mates got in a care package. Definitely counting that as a victory!