Jamie Eason Live Fit – Phase 3, Week 4 (The Finale)

Final Photo

Final Photo

Week 4

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-phase-3.html

Live Fit (My Conclusion)

 This week, the workouts were a repeat of last week. I did not finish my last workout until Monday because I took 2 rest days this week. Again, this program is flexible and for me was a guide as to what I need to do when I go to the gym. Overall, this program was phenomenal and taught me how to tone and build muscle, which is necessary for keeping weight off and speeding up the metabolism. The workout plan gave a great outline that even the most novice of weight lifters could attempt. The nutrition plan gave me a great introduction to clean eating which is the most important part of any weight loss program. I found Jamie’s recipes to be delicious and affordable. I enjoyed watching her videos throughout the program. I found them to be motivational and informative. I believe anyone who wants to drop inches and lose a few pounds can benefit from this program. Although I have changed my life by starting my weight loss journey with this program, I can see why this program may not be for everyone.

 Live Fit is not for people who would like to lose more than 20 lbs. If you want to lose weight faster, then I would recommend the Jamie Eason’s Fat Loss plan. Live Fit is for people who want to tone their bodies while losing inches, but not necessarily pounds. That means, you can drop about 4 dress sizes doing this program, but may only lose 0 – 2 pounds a week during this program. I say zero because not every week I lose weight. I would also not recommend this program to people who do not feel comfortable working out in the gym. I recommend making friends by speaking to people if you find them looking at you while you’re working out. I found most people who were looking at me while I worked out found my workouts to be inspiring.

Most people thought that I was a personal trainer because of how dedicated I was in the gym and the workouts that Jamie Eason has you doing are exercises a trainer would have you doing. I definitely recommend that you watch the videos on how to perform the exercises on bodybuilding.com. Many people will need to do this program with a personal trainer to keep them motivated, and show them proper form but again, I recommend making friends with people in the gym. I also recommend restructuring the workouts because many gyms do not have a layout that will allow you to easily perform the supersets back to back. You will build muscle on this program and may find yourself looking muscular in the beginning. Keep going with the program and don’t deviate from it. You will lean out during Phase 2 and Phase 3.

 Thanks to this program I really have changed my life. I loss 13lbs during Live Fit. I now weigh 188lbs. I went from a borderline size 18 to a tight size 12 in juniors, and a loose size 14 in women’s.  Not once did I feel starved or deprived. I have gained strength and built confidence in myself. My journey does not end here. Live Fit was a preparation program for the rest of my weight loss journey. I would most definitely do this program again in the future. From here I am going into Tony Horton’s P90X workout. Follow me into the next Phase towards my journey to physical fitness and a bikini body.

Jamie Eason Live Fit – Phase 3, Week 2

Week 2

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-phase-3.html

Living Fit

    This week I was able to perform mountain climbers much better. I have not been able to do burpees, spider crunches, nor ball pull in exercises. Those burpees hurt my knees. Instead of doing spider crunches and ball pull in’s I did planks because it is more low impact yet produces amazing results. I believe as long as you’re keeping your heart rate up, it really doesn’t matter. You have to make this workout work for you and your body, and modify it as you see fit. Don’t get frustrated if you can’t do 15 reps of kettle ball pushups. Do what you can and don’t give up. If your body is fully exhausted after doing 8 reps, then you should lower your weights.

 

Although I am following a program, I am living a lifestyle of working out. So I don’t make my workouts stressful. Instead I make them a challenge and have fun with them. See what you can do, and journal your abilities. That way, you can look back and say, “Last week I was only able to do 8 reps, this week I’m a try to do 12 reps.” As long as you are sweating, you’re burning calories. I did miss a day of sprints due to not feeling well, but hey it happens to the best of us.

 

On two different occasions this week a lady at the gym asked me if I was personal trainer. I just smiled and told them no and referred them to bodybuilding.com.

 

      I find it helpful to keep a journal of my workouts, my mood, and how I am feeling during this whole process. Thursday of this week, I was not in the mood to workout. I went to the gym, but I did not put my all into it and even skipped a few of the exercises. The next day, I worked arms and did the few exercises I skipped on Thursday. We all have days when we just simply aren’t in the mood to workout, and it has nothing to do with not wanting to reach your goals. Take everything in stride. As long as your diet is in order, a missed workout once in a while will not kill you. You can always make it up the next day.

 

 Although I am losing weight slowly, I am losing weight consistently. When I would lose 3-4lbs a week, I could walk pass a bakery and gain 1lb from the smells alone. Now, I can eat a focaccia roll from The Corner Bakery and not gain a single pound. The muscle that I’ve gained on this program has really helped me keep what weight that I have loss off! So far, I’ve loss 9lbs.

 

Epiphany Moment: This is a LIFESTYLE. Don’t sweat it! Do what you can, as hard as you can, stay positive, educate yourself, and stay in-tuned with your body. If you give up now, you will never reach your weight loss goals.

 

 

 

Jamie Eason Live Fit – Phase 3, Week 1

Phase 3, Week 1

Phase 3, Week 1

Week 1

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-phase-3.html

Whey You’re Options

I am starting Phase 3, 7lbs lighter than I started Phase 1! Basically I’ve loss 1lb a week steadily. This week the workouts have kicked my butt karate style! I have never worked out like this before. Because I’m doing supersets and active rest I am now taking about two hours to complete the workouts. The sprints on the treadmill are not as bad as I thought they would be, although the last 10 mins are the toughest.  The sprints last a total of 30 mins. You are to sprint 30 seconds on, and 30 seconds off which really ends up being 15 minutes of sprinting, but who wants to run a sprint for that long? I’ve been doing my sprints on the treadmill in the gym at work. This method of sprinting makes time go by super-fast. A little tip about sprinting on the treadmill, never start with your left foot. I’m not going to tell you how I know not to do that, and you’d better not ask!

 I purchased my own jump rope and a pair of non-slip weight lifting gloves from Wal-Mart. FYI… Jump roping is not as fun as an adult! I have to be honest; I’ve been monitoring my caloric intake, but not really being strict about it. I don’t always log every single thing I eat in My Fitness Pal because I always eat and snack clean.

I stopped using Whey Protein by Body Fortress. The Whey protein supplement was making me bloated, and after reading reviews online about how people were experiencing an expanding waistline cause of it, I decided I’d better stop using it! So in Phase 3, I am using a brand called Life’s Basics in Vanilla, which is a plant protein source from hemp, chia seeds, yellow peas, and rice. Many vegetarians use this, but I am going to use it and see how it works for me and my body. I found mine at a local Health Store. Since I’ve started taking the Life’s Basic’s brand, I notice that I have energy, I stay full longer, and I’m not bloated at all.

I am thinking that the reason most people have complained about not losing as much weight, and even gaining belly fat is because, they are using whey protein and they are not paying attention to how their body is reacting to it. Or maybe they are cheating on their diet too much by eating too much processed foods.  I bought some gluten free snacks, and some coconut milk ice-cream to satisfy my cravings. Again, this is a lifestyle not a diet. So don’t deprive yourself, just eat the alternative cleaner version of the foods you love. I find some vegetarian, and vegan snacks to be very well prepared. The ingredients in them read like a recipe!

Epiphany Moment: Listen to your body more than you listen to people’s advice. Be aware of all your protein options.  Use the protein that best supports you and your goals, and most importantly, pay attention to how your body reacts to the supplements.

Jamie Eason Live Fit – Phase 2, Week 4

Week 4

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-phase-2.html

Preparing Mentally for Phase 3

                Week 4 of Phase 2 is a continuation of last week. I am lifting heavier weights, and doing more reps. I have gotten much better at doing one legged squats, and lunges. I am also doing the Roman chairs, and reverse crunches with cleaner form. My lower abdominals is the weakest, and most stubborn part of my stomach so I have no choice but to grit teeth and go hard. This is the last week of Phase 2 and I can’t believe the final Phase is almost here.  I’ve already printed the workouts for Phase 3 and looked over them. Now that I have new goals, Phase 3 is going to prepare me for P90X! There is a lot of plyometric type moves performed in Phase 3. I am nervous about looking like an idiot in the gym jump roping, and doing jump squats, but that is another reason I go early in the morning. There are not as many people in the gym early in the morning!

     I have been visualizing myself doing the workouts in Phase 3 and I know I can do it. Every two weeks her workouts change, so I will be doing sprints on the treadmill, and jump roping for two weeks. The last two weeks are where you lean out, and do 30 reps of about 6 exercises as one giant superset for 3 sets. Then finish up with 45 minutes of cardio. I believe I will start carb cycling as well in Phase 3 which is where you eat more carbs on high volume workout days, and less carbs on low volume workout days and rest days. This week I weighed in at 194 pounds. I was hoping to have loss more weight, but I loss 1lb a week while building muscle so I can’t complain. My arms are starting to show my hard work and so is my stomach. I was able to wear a pair of jeans that I wasn’t able to fit prior to starting this program. So far I have loss a total of 7lbs on the Jamie Eason Live Fit program, but I’ve loss even more in inches. I am fitting size 12 jeans tightly but hey, atleast they button! I am nearing the finish line and quality performance is of the essence.

Jamie Eason Live Fit – Phase 1, Week 3

Week 3

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-phase-1.html

Stick With It

               I woke up early today around 5:30am to go to my gym. The workouts in Week 3 increase from 4 days a week to 5 days a week and you are allowed to choose which body part you would like to work twice a week. I chose back and biceps. I consider my back to be the area that needs special attention.  As far as the diet part of it, the hardest part is eating so much. It’s hard for me to eat 1,700 calories a day. I’m eating more around 1400 – 1600 calories a day.

Ok…if I’m going to do this review then I have to be 100% honest. I was thinking about doing some cardio this weekend because I am so sick of looking at this fat on my body. BUT. I am going to stick with the program because if it doesn’t work then I want to be able to say it didn’t work for me AND I followed all the directions. So I’m going to stick it out, and wait another two weeks to incorporate cardio, and do a legit review on this program. I also gained about 2lbs. I was pissed.

 I haven’t cheated on my diet or missed any workouts; I just gained out of nowhere. I was happy to weigh in because I looked like I had loss weight, but I gained weight. Everyone keeps telling me it’s the muscle. I’ve prepared all my meals for the week so it’s a no brainer as far as what I am going to eat. Sunday I went to the mall, and I refused to buy any pants because I am more than certain I am going to be out of a size 16’s and into my size 8’s in no time. I also resisted Auntie Anne’s Pretzels while shopping at the mall! Talk about dedication.

                I’m going to stick with the Live Fit program, and not deviate from the plan because you are going to gain before you lose in Phase 1, and I am shrinking regardless of what the scale says. I was slightly depressed seeing I gained weight but I am not giving up. I was doing my hair today and I noticed my biceps in the mirror. They were jumping as I was brushing my hair back! I have refocused, and I’m ready to get these next two weeks over with so we can get to the good stuff…cardio and fat burning!

 

Epiphany Moment: Don’t expect to see results after only 2 weeks of following the program. True healthy weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. Although I gained 2lbs of the 4lbs back this week, I’ve still lost 2lbs during the program in two weeks!