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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Weigh-in Wednesday: GAIN!

Starting weight: 176.4 lbs.
Last week weight:  126.0
Current weight:  126.4
Current loss:  +0.4
TOTAL LOSS:  -50.0

TOUGH week lead to a weight-gain but no big deal.  I knew my eating was off track so it's just a matter of getting back to my regular schedule this week.
__________________________________________________

Yesterday I had my last certification exam to finalize everything I need to become a personal trainer. 


When I spoke to the gym manager yesterday, he was talking to me as if I already had the job.  We had talked a couple of weeks earlier so he was aware that I was going on a trip in two weeks, but this is what he said to me:
"Since you have all your certifications, submit a resume on-line and email me when you do it.  Then we can get all the hiring paperwork taken care of before you leave on your trip and when you get back you can start."

Umm... does that mean I have a job?!

Here's hoping!!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

RFSC: Week 10 goals



Week 10 Goals
After a really bad week 9 (see below for recap), I'm planning on killing week 10.

Exercise Goal 
    • Sun: full body weights + HIIT
    • Mon:  hike
    • Tues:  full-body weight training + cardio
    • Wed: chest and calves + HIIT
    • Thur: arms and abs + cardio
    • Fri:  shoulders + HIIT
    • Sat:  cardio
Nutrition Goal
  • Clean, clean, clean!  My #1 priority for the next 10 weeks is to really focus on and dial in my nutrition.  Clean, whole foods to support my body and intense workouts.  100% clean 100% of the time!!  Period!
  • Increase healthy fats.  Definitely need to add more "smart fats" to my diet: salmon, avocado, nuts, olive oil, flaxseeds, coconut oil, etc. Cutting back on the healthy fats a bit since I'm in major fat-loss mode right now.  Still taking my fish oil and flaxseed oil, cooking with coconut oil, and eating a whole egg a day.
  • New eats = happy tummy.  Making it a goal to try one new recipe a week.  Nutrition can get pretty boring if you eat the same things over and over, so finding 10 new (hopefully yummy) recipes to add to my rotation will do me good.  No new recipe this week because my focus is going to be on simple, clean grab and go foods that have worked for me in the past.
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Week 9 recap
After a pretty exciting week last week, I was so tired!  This week suffered a lot in the nutrition department and I'd say I ate out well over 6x and I can feel the difference in my body.

Exercise Goal 
    • Sun:  arms and abs + HIIT
    • Mon:  OFF
    • Tues:  full-body weight training + cardio
    • Wed: chest, shoulders and abs
    • Thur: hammies, glutes, calves
    • Fri:  back, bi's, and abs + HIIT
    • Sat:  cardio
Nutrition Goal
  • Clean, clean, clean!  My #1 priority for the next 10 weeks is to really focus on and dial in my nutrition.  Clean, whole foods to support my body and intense workouts.  Like I mentioned earlier, this past week was tough.  LOTS of meals eaten out and not the best choices when it came time to chose those meals.  Weigh-in will definitely show it this coming Wednesday.
  • Increase healthy fats.  Definitely need to add more "smart fats" to my diet: salmon, avocado, nuts, olive oil, flaxseeds, coconut oil, etc. Did good job in cutting back my healthy fat intake BUT I pretty much replaced it with unhealthy fats.  FAIL!!!
  • New eats = happy tummy.  Making it a goal to try one new recipe a week.  Nutrition can get pretty boring if you eat the same things over and over, so finding 10 new (hopefully yummy) recipes to add to my rotation will do me good.  This recipe came out great!  No pictures because I was lazy.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Weigh-in Wednesday + goal update

Starting weight: 176.4 lbs.
Last week weight:  126.4
Current weight:  126.0
Current loss: -0.4
TOTAL LOSS:  -50.4

Super surprised because it was a tough week!  No exercise with lots of high calorie days... maybe my body needed the rest and extra calories?

Sunday, May 20, 2012

RFSC: Week 9 goals (!!!!)



Week 9 Goals
First thing, let me take you back two months ago when I first set my RFSC goals: 
NSV Goal
  • Success story.  The other week I was talking to Anthony and told him that one of my NSV goals is to be featured on the "Wall of Success" at our gym.  The catch is I don't wanna ask to be a feature, I wanna be asked... big difference.
MISSION  FREAKING  ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!  This past week, Trainer L asked me to be a success story for the gym wall!  He asked me to write up a short paragraph about my journey and include a starting, middle, and current picture.  I literally finished it about an hour ago and sent it off to him just in time for my gym's grand reopening later this week.  Let's just say that between this and my weigh-in with Trainer L, I was in such an emotional state earlier this week... in a good way, of course.

Second thing, remember the exciting/secret news I had mentioned here?  Well, I just got back home from a two-day intensive personal trainer certification workshop and exam!!!  Yup, I'm going to be a personal trainer (once I pass a couple more certifications and get first-aid/CPR recertified).  I already went on a first interview at my gym and just need to schedule the second interview once I become certified.  I'm so excited... scared like hell... but still excited!!  So this is the reason why I need to really step up my nutrition... doesn't look good to be a chubby personal trainer.

Exercise Goal 
    • Sun:  arms and abs + HIIT
    • Mon:  OFF
    • Tues:  full-body weight training + cardio
    • Wed: chest, shoulders and abs + plyo
    • Thur: hammies, glutes, calves
    • Fri:  back, bi's, and abs + HIIT
    • Sat:  shoulders, tri's and calves + plyo
Nutrition Goal
  • Clean, clean, clean!  My #1 priority for the next 10 weeks is to really focus on and dial in my nutrition.  Clean, whole foods to support my body and intense workouts.  Last two weeks and I plan to make them the BEST two weeks of this challenge.
  • Increase healthy fats.  Definitely need to add more "smart fats" to my diet: salmon, avocado, nuts, olive oil, flaxseeds, coconut oil, etc. Cutting back on the healthy fats a bit since I'm in major fat-loss mode right now.  Still taking my fish oil and flaxseed oil, cooking with coconut oil, and eating a whole egg a day, but will eliminate whole avocados/fatty cuts of meat until mid-June.
  • New eats = happy tummy.  Making it a goal to try one new recipe a week.  Nutrition can get pretty boring if you eat the same things over and over, so finding 10 new (hopefully yummy) recipes to add to my rotation will do me good.  Going to try this recipe for dinner tonight.
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Week 8 recap
Yup, this week sucked with exercise BUT I purposely took off.  Getting over a cold, body feeling run down, and having to study for my personal trainer certification kept me out of the gym (and out of work for a day).  I'm ready to hit it hard in Week 9!


Exercise Goal 
    • Sun:  arms and abs + HIIT
    • Mon:  OFF
    • Tues:  full-body weight training + cardio
    • Wed: OFF
    • Thur: OFF
    • Fri:  OFF
    • Sat:  OFF
Nutrition Goal
  • Clean, clean, clean!  My #1 priority for the next 10 weeks is to really focus on and dial in my nutrition.  Clean, whole foods to support my body and intense workouts.  With my new fitness goal, clean eating has to be a priority or else what's the point?  Nutrition makes up 80% of the equation to get us the body we want.
  • Increase healthy fats.  Definitely need to add more "smart fats" to my diet: salmon, avocado, nuts, olive oil, flaxseeds, coconut oil, etc. Are avocados out of season?  Can't seem to find any that don't break the bank to buy ($5 for one?! SERIOUSLY?!)
  • New eats = happy tummy.  Making it a goal to try one new recipe a week.  Nutrition can get pretty boring if you eat the same things over and over, so finding 10 new (hopefully yummy) recipes to add to my rotation will do me good.  Tried out this recipe for slow cooker chicken fajitas and it was... okay.  I'm not a bell pepper person and the bell pepper taste was a little too much for me.  Minus that, it would have been REALLY good!  Easy fix for next time so I'll be keeping this recipe in my rotation.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Weigh-in Wednesday: AHHHHH man!

First of all, I'm loving all the guesses on my exciting news (best guess: Olympic torch runner)!  Just a couple more hints:
  • If everything works out, I'll need a whole new wardrobe (not weight-loss related)
  • I'll be paying it forward
  • And no, I'm not getting married.  Let's not rush into things, now.
On to the weigh-in...

Starting weight: 176.4 lbs.
Last week weight:  127.0
Current weight:  126.4
Current loss:  -0.6
TOTAL LOSS:  -50.0

A regular happy face doesn't even cut it...
...even this one barley contains how I feel.


WOOT WOOT!!!  Hit the 50lbs. mark on the dot!!  I was so excited when I weighed in with Trainer L, that I actually started to choke up and got a little teary eyed.  Kinda weird for Trainer L to see me get like that since normally he's used to seeing my heavy squatting face:


My thoughts on hitting this tremendous milestone:
  • This journey takes time.  I decided to lose the weight for good back in September of 2008... almost four years later and I'm down 50 lbs.  Many people can lose that amount of weight in less than a year, but this is MY journey and I did what worked for ME.
  • Anyone who said losing weight is easy is a F*@$^% liar! Period!
  • Every set back I had or mistake I made came with a valuable lesson learned.  Don't let these stand in your way of anything.
  • Ice cream and pizza will always be a part of my life so it's just something I need to work around.  No big deal since I'm still moving in the right direction.
  •  Reaching goals and milestones are AWESOME, but it doesn't end your journey.  You need to reevaluate where you are and strive to improve yourself for the rest of your life.  It's a lifestyle change... not an "only-till-I-lose-30-pounds" change.
  • Health and fitness are no longer just things I do... it's now a part of who I am (another hint for my exciting news).
  • I've still got a lot more work to do but I'm so excited about doing it!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

RFSC: Week 8 goals



Week 8 Goals
Have some exciting news that may change the course of my fitness journey.  In fact, it may change my life.  But I can't talk about it just yet (sorry for the tease).

With this news, comes motivation for me to really kick things up into high gear, especially when it comes to my diet.  Fat loss needs to be my main priority for the next several weeks.  Any guesses to why that might be?!

Exercise Goal 
    • Sun:  arms and abs + HIIT
    • Mon:  OFF
    • Tues:  full-body weight training + cardio
    • Wed: chest, shoulders and abs + plyo
    • Thur: hammies, glutes, calves
    • Fri:  back, bi's, and abs + HIIT
    • Sat:  shoulders, tri's and calves + plyo
Nutrition Goal
  • Clean, clean, clean!  My #1 priority for the next 10 weeks is to really focus on and dial in my nutrition.  Clean, whole foods to support my body and intense workouts.  With my new fitness goal, clean eating has to be a priority or else what's the point?  Nutrition makes up 80% of the equation to get us the body we want.
  • Increase healthy fats.  Definitely need to add more "smart fats" to my diet: salmon, avocado, nuts, olive oil, flaxseeds, coconut oil, etc. Are avocados out of season?  Can't seem to find any that don't break the bank to buy ($5 for one?! SERIOUSLY?!)
  • New eats = happy tummy.  Making it a goal to try one new recipe a week.  Nutrition can get pretty boring if you eat the same things over and over, so finding 10 new (hopefully yummy) recipes to add to my rotation will do me good.  No recipe planned yet but I have to get on track with my meal planning this week so I'm sure I'll need a recipe by Tuesday night.
____________________________________________________________


Week 7 recap
Besides failing to plan my meals this week, week 7 was pretty stellar.  Got in all my trainings despite being sick a couple of days and my lifts are really improving.  When I look at the weights I was lifting in the beginning of my 12-week program, it's amazing!

Getting excited to finish up the last couple of weeks on the program!


Exercise Goal 
    • Sun:  arms and abs + HIIT
    • Mon:  OFF
    • Tues:  full-body weight training + cardio
    • Wed: chest, shoulders and abs + plyo
    • Thur: hammies, glutes, calves
    • Fri:  back, bi's, and abs + HIIT
    • Sat:  shoulders, tri's and calves + plyo
Nutrition Goal
  • Clean, clean, clean!  My #1 priority for the next 10 weeks is to really focus on and dial in my nutrition.  Clean, whole foods to support my body and intense workouts.  I failed to plan so my nutrition kinda failed too.  Calories still kept in check, but they came from bad sources: Chinese food, fried egg roll, desserts, pizza, Mexican food, ice cream.  FAIL!
  • Increase healthy fats.  Definitely need to add more "smart fats" to my diet: salmon, avocado, nuts, olive oil, flaxseeds, coconut oil, etc. Going good with these.  My biggest problem is remembering to take my fish oil during lunch... breakfast and dinner I got it down, but just can't remember during the middle of the day.
  • New eats = happy tummy.  Making it a goal to try one new recipe a week.  Nutrition can get pretty boring if you eat the same things over and over, so finding 10 new (hopefully yummy) recipes to add to my rotation will do me good.  I did try a new recipe this week and it was yummy.  Totally not healthy but it was my dad's birthday so a birthday cake cheesecake was in order.  =)  No picts, but it was totally worth the extra calories.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Saturday Sweat Session: Booty time!



You know I love working my lower body but the muscles on the back of my lower body (glutes, hammies and calves) tend to get neglected.  Time to change that with a modified workout from the LiveFit program.

Each color-coded set of exercises are to be done as a superset (or tripleset in the case of the last three exercises).  This means you want to do one set of each exercise (two exercises in a row), rest a minute or two, then do the second set of each pair of exercises.  Rest, and repeat for three sets.

For example, you would do one set of seated leg curls immediately followed by 20 jump squats.  That's one set.  Rest a minute.  Repeat with seated leg curls followed by jump squats.  That's the second set.  Rest.  Again, seated leg curls followed by jump squats.  Third set is finished and you're done with the first superset.

Move on to the next pair of exercises.  ENJOY!!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Typical day of eats

Some of my buddies over at the Ready for Summer Challenge wanted to see what a typical day of eats looks like for me.  Gotta warn you... it's nothing fancy, in fact it's kinda boring.

I usually stick to the same things day in and day out simply out of convenience.  It makes weekly grocery shopping easier, meal preps easier, and counting calories easier.  Maybe it's time I change things up with new recipes.

Anyway, here we go.

Meal 1 (~ 400-450 calories)
a.k.a breakfast... or my first meal of the day.  9/10 times it will be between three choices: protein smoothie, oatmeal, or eggs.

Clockwise from top left corner: smoothie goodies in the blender, cocoa almond butter oatmeal, veggie egg scramble, pumpkin spice oatmeal

Oatmeal is normally reserved for my training days and eggs usually only happen on the weekends when I have the time to cook something.

Smoothies are definitely my go-to breakfast.  Smoothies will ALWAYS have 2 cups of baby spinach, 1/2c of frozen fruit, protein powder, Shakeology, and flaxseed oil.  Sometimes it will have coconut milk, almond milk, almond butter, coffee, chia seeds, spirulina powder, or egg whites.  Yup, pasteurized egg whites make smoothies thick and creamy.

Meal 2 (~ 100 calories)
This meal saves me from going insane between breakfast and lunch.  It's a smaller meal that will ALWAYS have protein, and either carbs or fat.

 Clockwise from top left corner:  apple and nut butter, egg spinach "muffin", banana nut butter wrap, hard boiled eggs/egg whites, turkey muffins, protein powder and rice crackers w/ nut butter.

When it gets super crazy and I don't have time to pack up my meal 2, I grab a handful of raw almonds to snack on (I keep a two-pound bag at my desk at work).  I also keep single-serve packets of protein powder at work, too.

Meal 3 (~ 350-450 calories)
LUNCH time!!!  Again, I'm a creature of habit so 9/10 times, it's salad for lunch.

Salads with all different kinds of protein, fats, and carbs.  
Chicken breast, salmon, eggs.  Olive oil, avocado, nuts.  Carrots, pumpkin, fruits.
 
Boring?  Maybe, but I love them and it works for me.  Some of my coworkers ask me why I don't eat "real food" for lunch... COME ON!! How much "real"er does fresh produce, minimally processed protein and smart fats get?

Meal 4 (~ 150 calories)
Depending on when I workout, this meal will either follow Meal 2 or it will be a straight protein shake.  Workout before Meal 4 = whey protein shake.  Workout later in the night = same as Meal 2.

Whey protein shakes!

Meal 5 (~ 350-400 calories)
By far my favorite meal of the day.  I don't know why since it's usually smaller than breakfast or lunch, but I think it's because I actually have the time to prepare something.

First row: whole roasted chicken, sweet potato covered in chicken breast and salsa, veggie egg white scramble w/ feta cheese.
Second row:  baked chicken breast w/ broccoli and sweet potato, grilled veggies and chicken, turkey breast w/ salsa and broccoli covered with cottage cheese.
Third row:  stir-fried steak and broccoli, mixed veggies with chicken, veggie omelet.

Dinner foods actually range from soups to stews, to baked zucchini lasagna to salads, so it's always changing.  And a couple times a week Meal 5 will be eaten out.

Meal 6 (~ 150 calories)
Typically only eaten if I'm starving at night and will usually be a hard boiled egg or two. 

Right now, since I'm working on building serious muscle, I've been drinking a casein protein shake right before bed.  Casein is a slower digesting protein so your muscles have a protein source when you sleep.

Total calories for the day:  1500 - 1700 cals

Don't get me wrong... as much as I'd like to think I eat like this EVERY day, it doesn't happen.  Schedules get busy and sometimes I have no choice but to grab something quick, but 4-5 days a week my daily eats look like this.

I still reserve one meal a week to indulge in pure evilness: 

Might take me longer to lose the weight, but it keeps me sane.  
This is a way of living and I don't ever see myself giving up certain foods completely.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Weigh-in Wednesday + progress stats

Starting weight: 176.4 lbs.
Last week weight:  127.4
Current weight:  127.0
Current loss:  -0.4
TOTAL LOSS:  -49.4

Really thought I was going to hit the 50-lbs. milestone but it'll have to wait for another weigh-in.

Progress starts from April to May:


And overall progress stats since I started the LiveFit program on March 1:



I'm pretty stoked about my results (even if they seem so little bit) so far and can't imagine what they REALLY could have been if I stuck to the nutrition plan, too.  I'm in the last month/phase of LiveFit and plan to be a little tighter about where my calories come from.

NOTE:  These are inches lost due to heavy weight training... not hours on a cardio machine.  Pick up them weights NOW!!!


After this last month is over, I'm not sure what I'll be doing next... thinking about doing the program again or moving on to another program I saw at bodybuilding.com.  It's basically the guy version of LiveFit but I know several girls who got AWESOME results from it.  It's called Kris Gethin's Hardcore Trainer.  We'll see where I'm at after the next four weeks.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Where did April go?!


  1. Weight-train 5-6x/week
    • Continue LiveFit (which I LOVE by the way).  6-day splits used to be tough to schedule but with only one PT session a week, I've switched my quad day to be my PT day.  Why?  Because PT works my quads hard with heavy squats... plus I'm very quad-dominate so need to focus on my hammies and glutes to catch them up.  That puts me on perfect track to get in my other 5 workouts for the week.
  2.  Short-duration (20 - 30 minutes), low intensity cardio 2-3x/week
    • Phase III of LiveFit adds in HIIT and plyometric moves to the routine so I'm cutting back my cardio days to 2-3x a week.
  3. Keep food calories between 1200 - 1500 on average/week
    • Phase III of LiveFit is all about fat burning so they suggest a lower calorie range.  Their aim is 1400 - 1700 cals a day but I'm lowing it to 1200 - 1500 because that calorie range does NOT count my supplements (multi-vit, BCAA's, creatine, fish oil, etc.).  So with those added in, I'm looking at an extra 150 - 200 calories, bringing my true daily cals up to the recommended total of 1500 - 1700.
  4. Drink a gallon of water a day!
    • With fat burning comes increased water intake.
    • 1 gallon = 16 cups = 128 fl. ounces
    • I normally drink anywhere from 9 - 14 cups of water a day, so hitting 16 shouldn't be that hard, right?
  5. Plan my meals for the week on Sunday
    • If you fail to plan, you're planning to fail!  'Nuff said!  Nutrition is the hardest part of the weight-loss journey for me, so I gotta make it as simple as possible to keep on track.  Making a weekly meal plan helps with that.
  6. Reach the 50 lbs. mark and stay below it
    • Yup, I've been after that milestone for a couple of weeks now but it's thisclose, I know I can do it this month!
April Recap
When I look at my calendar, I see lots and lots of red.  Red = not good.

I only lost a pound this month, but that's better than none, right?  Measurements get taken tomorrow with Trainer L so we'll get to see a better picture of what went on with my body.




Monday, May 7, 2012

RFSC: Week 7 goals



Week 7 Goals
Handful of weeks left in the challenge... time to continue to be get serious!

Exercise Goal 
    • Sun:  arms and abs + HIIT
    • Mon:  OFF
    • Tues:  full-body weight training + cardio
    • Wed: chest, shoulders and abs + plyo
    • Thur: hammies, glutes, calves
    • Fri:  back, bi's, and abs + HIIT
    • Sat:  shoulders, tri's and calves + plyo
Nutrition Goal
  • Clean, clean, clean!  My #1 priority for the next 10 weeks is to really focus on and dial in my nutrition.  Clean, whole foods to support my body and intense workouts.  With my new fitness goal, clean eating has to be a priority or else what's the point?  Nutrition makes up 80% of the equation to get us the body we want.
  • Increase healthy fats.  Definitely need to add more "smart fats" to my diet: salmon, avocado, nuts, olive oil, flaxseeds, coconut oil, etc. Restocked fish oil capsules, chia seeds, eggs, and avocados.  Still need to get more flaxseed oil and salmon.
  • New eats = happy tummy.  Making it a goal to try one new recipe a week.  Nutrition can get pretty boring if you eat the same things over and over, so finding 10 new (hopefully yummy) recipes to add to my rotation will do me good.  Don't have a recipe just yet, but looking for one.
____________________________________________________________


Week 6 recap
Week 6 was the worse week so far in this challenge... but instead of focusing on the bad, I'll list some of the positive things that happened this week.
Got in all my trainings.
Established a new fitness goal!!
Got back to my regular eating schedule this week.
Bought new workout clothes.
Had a great time celebrating my Dad's birthday without worrying about FOOD.


Exercise Goal 
    • Sun:  arms and abs +HIIT
    • Mon:  OFF
    • Tues:  full-body weight training + cardio
    • Wed: HIIT
    • Thur: shoulders, chest and abs
    • Fri:  legs
    • Sat:  back and rear delts + cardio
Nutrition Goal
  • Clean, clean, clean!  My #1 priority for the next 10 weeks is to really focus on and dial in my nutrition.  Clean, whole foods to support my body and intense workouts.  I know I keep saying it, but it's true... I have to get my nutrition on track.  Being that my weight is close to goal, exercise alone won't give me the body I want.  Nutrition plays 80% of the equation so I don't understand why it's so hard for me to control this part.  I just love food THAT much!
  • Increase healthy fats.  Definitely need to add more "smart fats" to my diet: salmon, avocado, nuts, olive oil, flaxseeds, coconut oil, etc. Once again, stocked up on all the healthy fats and threw in some extras like raw/unsalted walnuts and pistachios, sunflower butter, and good-quality olives.
  • New eats = happy tummy.  Making it a goal to try one new recipe a week.  Nutrition can get pretty boring if you eat the same things over and over, so finding 10 new (hopefully yummy) recipes to add to my rotation will do me good.  Didn't get around to trying this recipe.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Weigh-in Wednesday: It's official

Starting weight: 176.4 lbs.
Last week weight:  128.4 (4/18/12)
Current weight:  127.4
Current loss:  -1.0
TOTAL LOSS:  -49.0

Two weeks and down one pound... I'll take it!  In fact, now days I'm happy with any weight-loss week to week since I'm in a muscle building phase.  

Speaking of building muscle, it's official...

I've changed my fitness goals to bodybuilding!


Just kidding about the picture!  Not that there's anything wrong with a female body like that... it's just not what I want to look like.

Bodybuilding, in it's simplest form, is basically reshaping the body with muscle.  In other words, it's now my goal to not only be strong, but to LOOK strong, too, because I think muscle definition looks good on both men and women.

Erin Stern = AMAZING!!!

I realize I have a W-A-Y-S to go, but after discussing this with my trainer, he and I both came to the conclusion that I have a really good starting point since I've been lifting consistently for over three years.  We're already able to see good muscle definition in certain areas, so it's now time to "even out" the weaker areas and build them up to give me a more balanced look.

I don't plan on competing - no way! - but I'm totally excited to see what I can do.

Of course, this now means nutrition has to, has to, has to, be a lot stricter so my body can shed the fat but still build muscle.  This equals to clean eating on the higher end of the scale (1600 - 1800 calories).

Measurements get taken with my trainer next week, so I'll be able to see if I truly am building muscle AND losing weight (like last month!).