T minus 4 and counting

Today is Thursday, May 1. I am starting my transformation on Monday, May 5. Sunday, I will take all my measurements, my pictures, and get the beginning of my progress sheets and formulas started for this 12-week journey. I have already started posting a few things on my blog; I have a link to the chart of my progress, which is just a spreadsheet I'm using to keep track of my weekly measurements; there is also a link to my FitDay journal, so I can keep track of what I eat on a daily basis.

Yesterday, I said that I wasn't going to weigh myself during the 12-week process; just in the beginning and then at the end. Now, I'm wondering if I should rescind that; if I weigh myself, I can use several different formulas and "calculators" that I have to help me keep track of my body fat percentage, which uses a combination of things like my body weight and site measurements, that I will be taking on a weekly basis. I'm still not sure...

I posted my workout schedule for the 12-week process; its posted at the bottom of my blog. I have decided for the first 4 weeks to do the TT intermediate workout; the next 4 weeks to do the TT for Women workout, and then the last 4 weeks will be doing phase 1 of the TT Female Strength. I'm hoping to be able to do an unassisted chin up by the end of this journey, as well. That would be awesome.

I'm still working out what I'll do for my interval training; I believe for the first 4 weeks, I will do the TT bodyweight interval workout, just because I have that and I'm not sure what else to do. I'm hoping by the end of the first 4 weeks, I will have renewed my gym membership (for the pool, wo-hoo!) and will be able to do interval training on machines up there. I also left my other days fairly vague, with just "Cardio" and "Flex" training in the spots on the days I'm going to do that, instead of actually saying what I'm going to do. I will be posting daily what I did on those days, but I don't want to be too rigid. I have given myself options, and when I say "Cardio", I know what that means by way of what options I have. When the pool opens in June, swimming can be one of my cardio options, but I won't know what days I'll be able to utilize that choice. So, I left it fairly vague.

I'm currently working on my menu plan for the 12-week journey. That, too, will be somewhat vague, in that my dinner will say "chicken" or "fish" or something along those lines, just so, once again, I'm not restricting my options too much, so I don't feel like I've failed if I don't do exactly what my schedule says. I can't know right now if in 10 weeks I'm still going to enjoy that balsamic chicken recipe! I have a chicken section in my notebook, and so when its a chicken day, I can flip through all the different recipes that are there, and see what piques my interest that day. This way, I have structure and schedule, and yet I still have freedom to change my mind on a recipe.

So, basically, I have a notebook that is broken up in a few portions... I have "This week", for my weekly schedule, which will be a bit more rigid in its menu listing, and also the workout listing. I have a section for "May", which has my May calendar like below, and also my May menu and the training logs for May; there is one for "June", and "July"; then there is a section for "workouts" which has all the TT manuals I am using printed out for reference if I need it; then behind that are my recipe sections; I have "Chicken and turkey", "Beef and pork", "fish and seafood", "eggs and veggie", and "cravings". This last section is where I will keep a list of recipes for whenever I have severe chocolate or whatever cravings, like I usually do when we get to a certain point in the month, that will help me stay on track, and still manage to satisfy my cravings.

I'm still working on a few things, but I'm feeling confident that by the time Monday rolls around, I will be in the proper frame of mind and will be properly prepared to start and complete this transformation!