I decided to transform my body when my friend showed me a before and after picture of his friend who won a contest on Bodybuilding.com (Muscle Pharm Challenge,user: Xtian).  The fact that my friend knows Xtian made him a real person in my mind and not just someone hired to promote fitness.  It made my goal seam achievable.

A few coworkers and I joined a body transformation challenge in January 2012 but I was not able to finish because my daughter lost her father due to cancer in February 2012.  I gained weight during that time, but Xtian's results were still on my mind so I did not lose motivation.

The next bodybuilding challenge came around so I entered the contest since my daughter was doing much better. Nothing life threw my way this time could be an excuse for me to not finish this challenge; Not after what we had just experienced.  I was 126lb and 26% body fat when I joined and my goal was 18%.  I finished the challenge at 20% body fat but I look and feel great no matter what the scale and the fat meter say!

The first thing I did to start my challenge was to get inspired by liking all the social sites fitness pages I could find for motivation and joined a traditional gym. I tweaked a Nutrition Plan from Bodybuilding.com and tried to do Jamie Eason’s 12 Week   Burning The Fat Program but the gym machines were too intimidating. Nothing else missing on my check list… or so I though.  I gradually worked my way into real workout routines.

May 2012. The first month I did the following:

Monday-Thur: Morning 50 min cardio - elliptical, bike, stair master, or treadmill
Afternoon - Boxed, jogged, or workout at home (dumbbells, sits ups, stationary bike) 
Friday: Yoga in the morning afternoon rest
Saturdays: 5 mile run at park
Sundays: Hike as far as I could

June 2012. 2nd Month @ 124lb and 24% Body Fat
Fish, whole grain bread, no fruit

Monday-Thursday: Morning 40-45 min cardio (Wed: 20 min cardio and 30 min triceps, biceps, and shoulders)
Afternoon: Monday: Abs, 
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: Arms
Thursday: Cardio Abs class
Friday : Yoga and afternoon rest
Saturday: Legs
Sunday: Baldwin Park stairs

July 2012. 3rd Month @ 121lb and 23% Body Fat
I had not lost any weight or body fat in 3 weeks and time was running out.  I kept getting conflicting weight loss information from fitness articles, friends, etc… I was losing motivation but kept going because I knew I had to get to the finish line no matter what. 

When a couple of gym trainers approached me on different occasions to correct me on the machines I realized I could not do it alone anymore.  I had missed a very important item on my checklist, a trainer.  I started working with fitness trainer and body builder, Danny Bozhilov. He is a fitness genius! The first thing he did was change my diet. I log everything I eat so it was easy for him to pinpoint my diet mistakes and modify it while still using foods I like. Preparing the food every Sunday and packing every night took long at first which cut into my hours of sleep but I got it down now. Also eating so much was hard in the beginning, but after a few days it got easy.  On day 10 I was starving and did not know why until Bodybuilding.com friends and my trainer explained that it was my metabolism. Yay!  I rapidly started losing inches, pounds, and body fat and people started to notice the difference in my body.

The second thing we did was hit the weights! After two months of going to the gym on my own I finally stepped into the ‘scary weight lifting room’.  I now love conditioning more than cardio because it gave me the definition I wanted. Leg days always involve lunges and EVERY workout is followed by a few abs routines. Danny has a huge part in my success. He believes in me and challenges me.  He is not just my trainer for a session; I ask him a million questions a day (I really do) and he always responds with a smile and he motivates me when I am losing focus. 

Notice now I actually know what muscle I target each day:

Monday morning: Bike Afternoon: Biceps, triceps, and shoulders
Tuesday morning: Run 4 miles Afternoon: Legs with trainer
Wednesday morning: Any cardio machine my legs can survive. Afternoon: Chest, lats, and back
Thursday morning: Run 4 miles Afternoon: Cardio abs class
Friday: YOGA and afternoon rest
Saturday morning: 5 mile run, Cardio abs class, and legs
Sunday: Santa Monica stairs

I tell everyone at every age who is interested in being fit about /common/javascript/src/external/tinymce/<a href=Bodybuilding.com,">bodybuilding.com.%20/">Bodybuilding.com,  the importance of having a trainer when you can't do it alone, sticking to the diet, and all the other challenges I faced.  I was scared to share my before and after pictures at first but I am glad I did because my transformation is motivating my coworkers, family, friends, and myself.  The challenge is not over, I will keep going, keep improving, or as my gym buddies say, keep gymming!