Taste of what I have gotten myself into

It was harder than I thought it would be but this morning I got out of bed after deciding that I would give myself a little taste of what I was going to be doing on the Body-for-Life challenge. When I finally got out of bed and ready I decided that I was going to do the 20 minute cardio exercise Bill Phillips recommends for people doing the 12 weeks. For those of you that may not know here is how it is broken down. You spend the first two minutes warming up at what he calls an intensity level of 5 then each minute after that you increase the intensity level by one, either by going on an incline or running faster etc.  You do that each minute until you get to a level 9 then in the 19th minute you push it to level 10 and in the final minute you slow back down to level five to cool down and that is it. It is only 20 minutes and it sounds like it would be fast and pretty easy but that is not the case. This morning when I did it I started a little to high on the intensity and by the time I was working my way through the second set of increases I could not go any further and had to walk home. I figured since I was only out there for about 15 minutes I would go up stairs and do a little weight training so I grabbed my resistance bands and did some bicep curls and shoulder presses then I grabbed the pull up bar to give some chin ups a try. I am happy to say that I was able to do  3 whole chin ups. I know it does not sound like much but for a guy that has never been able to do chin ups in his life it is a pretty big deal. One last thing because this is going to make the post long....as I have been saying I was going to get the Body-for-Life questions from the book answered so I can post them here to refer back to as well as share with anyone that reads this, well here they are. Answering these questions has just made it me more ready to start this on Monday. I have not decided what I am going to do for exercise tomorrow yet but once I do that should be all I do until Monday so I can have the weekend to get my body ready for what it is about to go through. I still need to stop by Sams or the vitamin shoppe and pick up some Myoplex power and bars so that eating six times a day will be a little easier so I stay on track but I plan on getting that done this weekend.

Here are my answers.
 Have you made the decision to change?

I made that decision 10 months ago and this is the next big step

What are your reasons for making the decision to change?

To finish getting into shape and putting myself into a position to stay in shape so I can be around for a long time for my wife and child

When you look at yourself, do you honestly like what you see?

No, I can stand to look at myself in the mirror now, which is a huge change from the start of the year, but I don’t yet have the body I envisioned when I started the journey

How do you feel deep down inside?

That I am letting myself slip back into my old patterns that got me out of shape

How do you really feel about yourself?

That I have made huge strides to a better lifestyle but have a little way to go

Are you confident, energetic, and strong?

I am confident that I can do this; I have more energy than I once did, and I know I need to work to become stronger

Do you often wonder if you are on the right path?

Not like I used to

What are the pros and cons of continuing in the direction you are going?

I will continue to have energy; I will be diligent about minding how I eat.

I may get bored with the same exercises over and over, worried that I will obsess over what I am eating everyday.

Would you like to create a brighter future?

Yes

What are the five most important, specific accomplishments you need to make, within the next 12 weeks, for you to be pleased with the progress of your body and life?

Lose the remaining fat on my body

See a noticeable change in my build

Gain strength

Make this a new lifestyle for

Complete the 12-week program

What changes in your body and life to you wish you could create within the next 12 weeks?

Muscle tone, strength building, and menu changes

Lose fat gain muscle

Which three patters of action might prevent you from reaching your goals?

Grazing on bad food at the office

Missing meals because of work

Not being diligent in planning meals and workouts each week

Which three new patters do you need to establish to reach your goals?

Organization

Planning

Fore thought