Well, today is Christmas Day and that's pretty much enough said.  I did my best not to over indulge, but I don't feel like I did as well as I could.  Tomorrow is another day and starts another stage in my develpment as a shredder.

The following are my nutrition and exercise plans for the rest of this week and all of next week:

Wednesday, 12/26/2007:
    Nutrition:  
        Metabolic Surge, low carb
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:  
        Squats and Deadlift Shrugs 5 x 5 (supersetted)
        Bulgarian Split Squats and Step Ups 5 x 5 (supersetted)
        Reverse crunches 3 sets
        HIIT Cardio Session 30 minutes
        Chin up session

Thursday, 12/27/2007:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, low carb
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:  
        HIIT Cardio Session for 45 minutes

Friday, 12/28/2007:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, low carb
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        DB Incline Bench Press and Cable Seated Row 4 x 10 (supersetted)
        DB Shoulder Press and Wide grip lat pulldown 4 x 10 (supersetted)
        BB close grip bench press and High pull 4 x 10 (supersetted)
        Swiss ball crunches 3 sets
        HIIT Cardio Session for 30 minutes
        Chin up session

Saturday, 12/29/2007:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, low carb
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:  
        HIIT Cardio Session for 45 minutes
        Chin up session

Sunday, 12/30/2007:
    Nutrition:  
        Metabolic Surge, low carb
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:  
        Squats and Deadlift Shrugs 3 x 15 (supersetted)
        Bulgarian Split Squats and Step Ups 3 x 15 (supersetted)
        Reverse crunches 3 sets
        HIIT Cardio Session for 30 minutes
        Chin up session

Monday, 12/31/2007:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, all protein day
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        HIIT Cardio Session for 30 minutes

Tuesday, 1/1/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, all fruit day
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        Run for 30 minutes in neighborhood

Wednesday, 1/2/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, low fat
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        DB Incline Bench Press and Cable Seated Row 5 x 5 (supersetted)
        DB Shoulder Press and Wide grip lat pulldown 5 x 5 (supersetted)
        BB close grip bench press and High pull 5 x 5 (supersetted)
        Swiss ball crunches 3 sets
        HIIT Cardio Session for 30 minutes
        Chin up session

Thursday, 1/3/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, low fat
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        HIIT Cardio for 45 minutes
        Chin up session

Friday, 1/4/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, low fat
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        Squats and Deadlift Shrugs 4 x 10 (supersetted)
        Bulgarian Split Squats and Step Ups 4 x 10 (supersetted)
        Reverse crunches 3 sets
        HIIT Cardio Session for 30 minutes
        Chin up session

Saturday, 1/5/2008:
    Nutrition:
        Metabolic Surge, low fat
        18 glasses of water
    Workout:
        Rest day today

Now you all have a record of my nutrition and workout plans for the next 2 weeks.  Please hold me accountable to doing these things.  I have read Adam's blog today and I'm trying to determine how to get 10 points out of this each day.  I think I'm going with a similar strategy to Adam's.  I will give myself 1 point for each meal (5 meals = 5 points), 1 point for meeting my water goal (1 point), 1 point for post-workout meal (1 point), 1 point for training (1 point), 1 point for accountability blogging/pictures (1 point) and 1 point for pre-sleep shake (1 point) for a total of 10 points.  On the rest day, I will give myself points as follows:  1 point for each meal (5 meals = 5 points), 1 point for meeting my water goal (1 point), 2 points for having a rest day (2 points), 1 point for accountability blogging/pictures (1 point) and 1 point for pre-sleep shake (1 point) for a total of 10 points.  I believe this will work, so it is the plan I'm going to stick to.  There are 40 days until the end of my first mission (including February 3, 2008), so I will have a possible 400 points during this time period.  Let's see how I do!
< BR>Until tomorrow…

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Well, Shredders, today I launch my surprise for you.  I have done a video outlining some new methods I am planning to use in 2008 and hope that they inspire you to come up with your own methods or use the methods I describe to propel yourself to the best fat loss ever in 2008!  Enjoy!

[NOTE:  The audio track seems to be off a little bit.  I apologize for that, but the message is there!]

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On the day before Christmas I've finally finished my plan for the next month.  I am going to raise my accountability level to a new level.  I did a post a few days ago about why this blogging method works so well and during the writing of that post I realized that there were some things I could do to make my own accountability even tighter.

Starting December 26, 2007, I will begin by posting my nutrition and exercise plan for the next month.  I will not be posting specifics of what I will eat, but I will post the goals for each day.  I will, however, post my specific workout plan for each day.  I had not originally planned to do this, but thanks to Adam's inspiration, I plan to give myself some sort of points scale for these things.  I will wait until i see his new accountability method before I finalize that part of the plan.

In addition, I will kick off this new plan with my Shredder Christmas Surprise tomorrow (on Christmas day).  It is going to be an exciting 2008 for me, that's for sure.  I am planning to take things to an entirely new level in the New Year.  It is going to be amazing for me and hopefully I will have an influence over some other people as they move towards their own fat loss goals.  Extreme fat loss requires extreme measures (something I learned from Adam) and so I am going to go extreme in the New Year.  I am planning to develop greater discipline and motivation.  It is going to be something very different from what I've been doing and hopefully even more effective.

I hope each and every one of you has an incredible Christmas and a beautiful holiday season!

Until tomorrow…

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Today was an interesting day all around.  Because of the holidays I switched things up, so the only thing I did was my chin ups workout as outlined in Mission 1, Day 59: Program to get yourself to 1 chin up (or more).  Beyond that, today was a rest day. 

I started thinking alot tonight about why people give up and what it takes to stick with it.  I'm not talking here about people who try for a few days or weeks and then stop.  I'm talking about people who are producing good results, but due to some slip ups, they give up entirely.

I believe that it is extremely important to track your results to avoid this problem.  When you track your results you have a record of where you've been.  You can see the progress you've made.  This kind of record makes it harder for you to give up because you know that one day of slipping up will not put you back to where you once were.  Using myself as the example, I look back at my original photo from several months ago and I see how fat I was and I know that slipping up and eating pizza or a burger in an unplanned manner (we are not talking about a cheat meal that is planned) will not put me back to where I was.  I just have to pick back up where I left off and start eating clean again.  That's the key.

Giving up cannot be an option for you if you are going to make it.  At the same time, if you have a moment of weakness, admit it on your blog.  It is called an accountability blog for a reason.  You use it to hold yourself accountable.  By posting your moment of weakness on the blog, your readers can step in and help you get through it.  Having a like-minded group of individuals hold you accountable is a big part of the success you will have in a situation like this.  You want to burn fat?  Find people who also want to burn fat and hold each other accountable.  You messed up and ate like a pig?  Tell the world.  As Adam recently commented, the pain of the humiliation you face for failing completely will keep you in line. 

There is one major key here.  The accountability has to be real.  If you are posting and you don't really care what the readers think, this isn't going to work for you.  You have to sell out completely to the concept.  What I've found is that it starts out slowly and builds from there.  I personally started out blogging and failed at it the first attempt.  I just couldn't get myself to blog daily.  When Adam announced the first group shred, I just knew I had to give it a try.  I started out just routinely blogging each day and visiting the blogs of the other shredders.  Eventually I started to get ideas from what I was reading.  My mind started to jump to all the great things I could do that would ratchet up the accountability factor for me.  My Christmas surprise has something to do with ratcheting up the accountability factor for me.  My podcasts are similar–they keep me accountable by having me put out there the things I do in my workouts.  If I am doing something wrong, one of you is going to call me on it (I would hope).

The bottomline is that failure should not be an option for any of us.  Anyone who has blogged daily for more than 30 days has what it takes to succeed.  It isn't easy to find the time to do this every day, let alone comment on other people's blogs as well.  I've personally found that I have to actually schedule the time to do it or it doesn't get done.

So, as we go forward, I know I will come up with other ideas.  Some of them will be crazy and some will not, but I'm going to keep the ideas coming.  You never know who you are helping when you post the things you post.  To me, that's one of the things that keeps me going.  I know how I felt last year when I began this journey and I am hoping that my passion and committment shows through in these posts so that someone in a similar position will see that if I can do it so can they.

Until tomorrow…

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As you know, I posted a Chin Up Challenge and promised to give you a plan for improving your chin ups.  Before I post the names of those who agreed to partake in the challenge, here are the instructions for the plan.

I personally use the assisted chin up machine (the one that has a weight stack that helps push you up), but you can also get under a Smith Machine bar or a treadmill handle and work on pulling yourself up, adding weight plates as needed.  For this program I will concentrate on the assisted chin up machine available at most gyms.

Follow these steps and you will be doing unassisted chin ups in no time at all:

1. Estimate the weight you will need to give yourself the assistance that will allow you to do 5 chin ups.
2. Test out the estimated weight by doing chin ups.  If you exceed 5 chin ups, reduce the weight, take a 90 second rest and then try again.
3. Continue with steps 1 and 2 until you can do just 5 chin ups.
4. Do 3 sets of 5 chin ups 4 times a week. 
5. Decrease the assisted weight 2 times a week.

It is important to do the chin ups properly.  I take this description from an article by Charles Poliquin, a reknowned strength trainer:

“Your most basic chin-up is the supinated chin-up. This type of chin-up have the greatest range of movements from all chin-ups for both the lats and upper arms. The starting position begins with a bar grasp in a supinated or palms up position. The hands should be held at shoulder width or slightly narrower. The arms should be straightened in a fully extended position with the torso in line with the upper arms. To begin the ascent, the relatively strong upper back and elbow flexor muscles will be used, as the elbows are drawn down and back.

The ascent should continue until the chin clears the bar. It's important to remember that before initiating the ascent, the athlete should inhale. During the ascent, the pulling action and leaning back action must be done simultaneously. Upon descent, exhaling begins and the trunk should come back to an upright position. As the descent is completed, the arms should be fully extended and the shoulder blade should be elevated. (THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT) To complete the range of motion, the upper arms and scapulae adductors must be stretched on every repetition. The legs should stay in line with the torso as much as possible. There should be no flexion of the hips, as this will lower the quality of the exercise. “

Thus, it is important to utilize your lats when doing chin ups.  By following my plan above and using the instructions for the correct execution of the chin up, you will be doing unassisted chin ups in no time at all.

If you do not have access to the assisted chin up machine you have two choices:  (1) have a spotter help you; or (2) lying under a Smith Machine bar or a treadmill or something with a bar and pull yourself up.  When you can do 50 of these where you are lying under something, you'll be able to do a chin up.

The Challenge:

To be able to complete at least 1 unassisted chin up by March 16, 2008. 

The Criteria:

You are currently unable to do at least 1 unassisted chin up.

The Participants:

Suzette [visit her blog here]

Lynda [visit her blog here]

Tearose [visit her blog here]

Lilla [visit her blog here]

Michael [you're on Michael's blog right now]

Entry Deadline:

While we officially started on December 23, 2007, you can join at any time as long as you meet the criteria listed above.  Just add a comment to any of the Chin Up Challenge posts stating your interest and I will add you to the participants list immediately.

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