Holy Smokes — it’s the last week!    Can you remember back to week 1?   This thing has gone through so many different stages for me — exciting, invigorating, fun, easy, hard, frustrating, boring, challenging.

I only know about the changes that I’ve heard about and can see when our paths cross at the box, and just hearing about those are enough for me to be amazed. I can’t imagine what I’m going to find in the long term. I can’t imagine what has happened that I will never even know about. Pounds and inches lost, habits changed, friendships created, people’s health forever altered, and lives transformed.

Each and every one of you, no matter how you tell yourself this went, is a different person for having gone through this reset.  You have gotten yourself trained, like it or not, in being control of every aspect of your life.

This doesn’t mean that you’ll always make choices easily, but you are on the track now to be present and in command of the choices you make! You now have proof that it absolutely can go the way you say it should go. You have tasted victory in the choices you have made and knowing you have the freedom to steer it in whatever direction you choose.

Remember,this awareness and training is a SKILL that needs to be put to use each and every day or it gets atrophy, just like your muscles. Slack off too much — you will have to work hard to get back on track but you do have the “muscle memory” when it comes to these skills too!

What’s next for you? How has your life changed in ways you expected and ways you could never have imagined?

“It’s a lifestyle – train like there’s no finish line.”

We are close to the end of this Thirty day reset.  For some of you the first 1-2 weeks were pretty easy. They were fun, you were enlivened by the challenge, the possibility of something new and different, and excited to prove to yourself that you were capable of something that may have occurred as “impossible” in the past.

Then came last week –week 3. Somewhere right in there stuff got real. The may have been the time when some of you cried over something you couldn’t have. This is when the ninja started kicking his feet — he started to make this whole thing look dangerous.

Well as we close out week 3, things have calmed down a little. Some things were lost and some things have been gained. You’re next test is just over the horizon — complacency and over-confidence. This is not to say that you shouldn’t be confident in some of the new skills that you have gained. Over-confidence is confidence without vigilence.  It’s assuming that you’ve now got it all wired. Now is the time to enjoy your new strength.  That strength now includes your new ability to be relaxed but aware.

You do in fact have this wired. That does not mean that you should go on auto-pilot.  Now comes the fun — you get to watch, relaxed, at all the things that would have tripped you up 2 weeks ago. Sail past them smoothly, wave and smile, and be aware enough to enjoy your lack of emotional reaction to them, you’ve earned it.

Your inner ninja is kicking in – getting you through it! You will make it!

Hold The Date!!

May 4th after our 10A community workout, we are going to host a potluck gathering. It will be open to all of our athletes but the emphasis will be on recognizing and celebrating our 30 day reset athletes!!

Alright ladies, I know a few of you are going through this — you’ve been really diligent about this reset and are experiencing modest changes in your body. Your male gym-mate, boyfriend or husband has lost five pounds in one week. What’s up with that? Why is it so easy for them?

Here’s the answer – nature doesn’t know we’re living in the modern world. As far as nature knows, men are still spending their days hunting animals and women are spending their days bearing and raising children. It’s really important to nature that women be able to do this, because while men are without a doubt pretty cool and fascinating creatures, without women’s ability to have children the whole human race would come to a screeching halt.

So how does our caveman ancestry get in the way of your weight loss?

1. Men have naturally lower body fat than women to start with. When comparing lean body mass and bodyfat percentages, men have more muscle and women carry more fat. If you consider cavemen were out hunting food, it makes sense they have more muscle than women. Cavewomen needed higher body fat to protect a growing baby inside them. A general rule of thumb I use to put this in perspective is that women carry about 10% more bodyfat than men – so a really lean man is between 5-10% and a really lean woman is between 15-20%.

2. Men carry their fat differently. Not only do men have less fat, but they tend to carry their fat in one central area on their torso, whereas women carry it throughout their body. This makes it seem like guys can “spot reduce” easier than women. In addition, the last place a woman is likely to lose weight is probably the first place she wants it to go from, i.e. “baby protection” fat around the lower midsection.

3. Men have higher testosterone. Testosterone makes it possible for us to build muscle and men have higher testosterone than women. Having more muscle also means having a higher metabolism. Men naturally have about a 5-10% higher rate of metabolism than women. (This is all the more reason to show up on heavy weightlifting days, ladies — increasing your muscle mass will increase the base amount of calories your body needs each day. You’ll burn more even without moving around if you have more muscle.)

So there you have it. You can blame it on the ancient cavemen and cavewomen that modern men can eat more and still lose weight. On the upside, women tend to be far more diligent and detail oriented about weight loss than men. So stick it out ladies, you may have to be stricter (watch your nuts and fruits in particular), but your body will come around if you stick with it.

By Becca Borawski

Have you read over Mark Sisson’s 10 Psychological Hurdles Keeping You From Losing Weight (and How to Overcome Them)? I found it very relevant to my own struggles and hope you feel the same.

Also — Head over to my personal blog and enter this cool giveaway I am co-hosting.  You can win a fruit basket worth up to 100 bucks!

ENTER TO WIN A FRUIT BASKET: 

I’m co-hosting this Fruit Basket Giveaway — you can win a basket worth up to $100! Get info and enter: 

http://livestrongandsore.com/2013/04/17/all-about-gifts-and-baskets-fruit-basket-giveaway

Food costs money. Good, healthy food costs more money than bad food. It just does. But good food really only costs more up front. Bad food will cost you much more in the long run.

Bad food will cost you in many ways — in minor or major medical costs related not just to cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but also to over-the-counter medical costs for relief of all kinds of ailments ranging from acid reflux, heartburn, headaches and allergies to cold and flu relief. Oh, and don’t forget managing bone and joint pain due to obesity. Beyond medical, bad food is also bound to cost you in the opportunity and producitivity lost to low energy, lack of good sleep and reduced ability simply to be sharp on a daily basis.

You see, Wimpy was right. Look at that mid-belly fat. That pre-diabetic, insulin-resistant mid-belly fat. He may not pay today, he may not even pay on Tuesday, but he will pay.

The real challenge for us is to remember that when our nutrition reset is over that there remains a cost, that you may be accruing a tab, just like Wimpy, that you will have to pay later.

A Few Side Notes:

• How are your three day food journals coming? Remember, this is more to help you become aware of the amount of protein, fats and carbs you are eating during the day. 
• And for you ladies: a great article to help clear up some misconceptions about weight training:  Women and Weight Lifting: It’s Good for You So why aren’t more doing it?

I am sure you have noticed that a few people who started off with great intentions but have seemed to “quit” the reset. People who are settling for the bare minimum. Maybe you are one of them, maybe you’ve considered it and maybe you’re on the edge. You’ve been off your this past week. You now see the results that other people who have been consistent have gotten up to this point and wish you were getting them too.

Well here’s something you may not have considered — you still can get exactly that! You can start the reset full out TODAY, you can have all the results that you would already have and THEN SOME.

The conversation that you may be having that says “it’s too late” is a LIE! I don’t know any better way to say that it is NEVER too late.  That goes for just about anything.  If you still want it, go for it.  There is no deadline on your life (except the one that will end the whole conversation anyway!).

If you are “out” put yourself back in right now!  Don’t wait! Start with what you stand for. This is all about your commitment to you, your life, and your environment. Make it all work inside of the life that matters to you and you will see results!

You may have noticed that most of the changes taking place are not the result of big sweeping actions. Sure, committing to this reset is a big, fat, hairy sweeping action, but that isn’t what makes the change.

It might be what gives you the motivation to make the change, but this reset is just a tool. What drives change are the choices you make right now in order to be a little better today than yesterday and helps move you forward.

This probably looks different for different people.

Maybe today you didn’t even notice how “hard” it was to skip that morning treat.  Maybe you totally went buck wild , but for the first time you were aware of everything you were doing. Even that is a huge step — you cannot alter something until you can see it!

There are a ton of fellow CFI athletes that aren’t doing this reset.  Why? Mostly they didn’t think it made sense with their schedule, their travel, their lifestyle or their work obligations, or <fill in the blank>. This reset is not about forcing a bunch of changes wholesale into an environment where they don’t work. It’s about awareness.

Any one of those people could have easily have used this reset as a magnifying glass. There is no “winning” at using a magnifying glass. It just helps you see better. Once you can see you can make choices that you didn’t even know you could make. If you are trying to force something, stop it.

This is all about being a little better today than you were yesterday.

1/2 Check In at CFI:  Saturday at 630P

Reminder: This Saturday is our 1/2 Check in!! We’d like to get as many folks together to meet up and share stories, talk about the challenge so far, and for Stephanie and I to pass on some helpful info for the next two weeks.  Meet you there after 630P!

And, to make it FUN, let’s all bring our favorite challenge compliant dessert to share! (plenty of paleo choices out there)