At the first of the year, 2010, I committed to a program based on the one in the book THE NEW RULES OF LIFTING FOR WOMEN by Lou Schuler. I say "based on" because I will continue to follow my own food plan, as that has been working for me.

This program has 7 phases starting with a break-in phase that is 6-weeks long. These are the classic "foundation building" moves such as deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, squats, push-ups, overhead presses, crunches, etc.

You start with 15 reps and every other week, the reps get dropped by two and you up the weight. From there, things get more difficult as you move through the phases. Compound movements get added as well as some interval work to get the heart rate up.

Presently, at the time of this writing, I am half-way through the break-in phase and I am getting used to the motions of squats and deadlifts, and I am amazed by my own strength.

This is a good intro to working with free weights and I highly recommend it.

I also have a goal of wanting to run again. Just as winter started here I had begun to add jogging intervals to my walks. Now that the weather is more unpredictable, I can't always get out there, so I am not doing the walking/running as religiously as the weight training.

When spring finally gets here, I'll get into the jogging intervals more as I LOVE being outside and that should help me lose more weight.

I work-out Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays either at home or at the gym as I am set up for both. The backs of my thighs were really underdeveloped compared to the front but the deadlifts seem to be correcting that.

My body seems to be responding quickly to this!