Hey, thank you for asking! Good luck to you on your journey. Your goal may be to acheive in one year, but we're all in it for the long haul, right? I want to be fit, healthy and able to move when I am 80! So here is the edited for "you really don't want to hear all that personal crap" version of my response. It is a little shorter, but if you make it to the end, thanks for listening!
Can I ask how old you are?
44
And is this your 1st achievement at such fitness? Or have you been fit your whole life and just had to get back into that terrific shape again?
Fitness/health achievements include:
quitting smoking 15 yrs ago (lived on coffee, cigs and a doughnut here and there, was 104 pounds),
25 pound loss w/ weight watchers about 8 years ago where I started eating fruits and veggies for the first time in my life (went from 150 to a pretty healthy looking 125) Was doing Firm, Kari Anderson etc.
about 5 years ago, a switch to mostly vegetarian diet that still included lots of veggie junk food and white flour (no wt loss there)
Currently striving for a diet very high in whole plant foods (say 10svgs of fruit and veggies) and no dairy. I do OK some of the time, but like last night, was at a party/friend's house and we mostly had drinks and cheese and crackers for dinner! Many days I only get 5 svgs of fruit/veggie and I eat granola bars w/ Skippy on 'em. So I tend to have good and bad weeks, not days.
Also, were you doing Cathe the whole time?
I started Cathe approximately 2 years ago. Wt training wise, she is all I do. Prior to Cathe, I'd only used up to 10 pd dumbbells with occasional forays into gym membership.
If not, at which picture did you start Cathe? Maybe the Aug 2005 pic? Got a barbell, PH/MIS/BM and Lowmax
Also, can you give an overall percent of your day/week you ate clean in the year you really buffed up?
I actually leaned out starting around 6 months ago (started dating) going from 128 ish to my current weight. I think the things that made a diff were not overeating and the new DVDs. Doing intervals, you know? BM2, LIC and DM have the blasts in them. Also, when I run, I usually do full out x one minute at the beginning of each new song on my MP3 player. I started that about 6 months ago, too.
A big part of it is also doing my work on spiritual stuff, shedding my codependent hagginess a little at a time, trying to become less entrenched in my self defeating thoughts and behaviors. In my life I've noticed that getting married = gaining weight. Getting divorced = losing weight. Dating = getting as lean as possible. I am more than a little concerned about what will happen if I get into a secure monogamous relationship. Hopefully I'll have had enough spiritual awakenings by then to handle it.