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Yes, I did/still do. I use EAS Myoplex Lite shakes (Chocolate and Vanilla), Myoplex Deluxe Bars (Peanut Butter) and Betagen (Orange) I've tried Tropical Punch, I like the Orange much better. No. BUT, good nutrition is ESSENTIAL! Gluatamine cuts the ouch time considerably and aids your immune system. EFA's (essential fatty acids) the GOOD fats the ones we NEED omega's 3 & 6 found in Flax, UDO's Choice Blend, Lemmon's Oil, fish oil, hemp oil....... aside from a good multi are the only supps I truly believe we ALL need. A supplement like Myoplex can help ensure you're getting the nutrition you need and deserve. It helps you get meals in on the run, and it can help with chocolate or sweet cravings. It even comes pre-mixed these days! Creatine, like Betagen or Phosphagen, is used for stamina during intense workouts and aids in recovery. It does NOT build muscle, your workouts do that! Proper recuperation time does that! If your female, you Do Not need both! It's a standard stack for men, but they have more lean mass than we do. BTW, label directions are generally based on a 200 lb man........women usually need about 1 serving less. If your female, for optimum results, take one serving before your workout and another after your workout. If your male, do the same and add another serving before bedtime. You can still get results by spacing it out evenly over 12 hr periods, but for me, before and after were 1) much simpler to remember and 2) studies show it takes about an hour to enter the bloodstream and only stays there for a little more than an hour. Before and after just makes sense. I, personally didn't use it. I still drink my cup of coffee in the morning, and feel that's enough caffiene for me. If you do use it, watch your dosage carefully. Start small and add as your system can handle it. I've heard many people say it gives them the jitters and if taken after 3pm can make it hard to get to sleep. I can't use the stuff. My mom has high blood pressure, my gram has heart problems, and I had a heart murmur when I was young. I'm healthy now, but my history puts me at risk. Know your medical history before using ANY ephedra product and DO NOT exceed label directions! Although I don't use the recommended dosage, I will on occassion use a single cap before a workout. Anymore than that and I can't sleep. Yes, just drink an extra 8 oz of water for every one you drink. I have even been known to add a little chocolate myoplex to my coffee in place of cream and sugar- a healthy Cafe Mocha. No! If you're using BetaLean or any other ephedra containing product! The extra caffiene can throw your heart into a tail spin, and land your bottom in the hospital! Please try to, I know it's hard. It's hard for me still. 5 I can do, no prob. Just keep in mind, you really HAVE to have GOOD nutrition to support your body's changes.....new muscle growth and fat metabolism, and it still has all it's everyday functions that need fueling too. Not to mention brain power. Try this, make some Myoplex pudding (whatever your favorite flavor is), stick it in the fridge. Then, when it's time for your last meal, and you're just not hungry, get it out. There's just something about eating pudding before bed that makes it so much easier. You could even have a Myoplex Deluxe Bar, cut it in half if you like. Keep refrigerated if you like it chewy, in the cupboard if you like them softer. Yes, just not very many of them. If I wanted something during my free day I ate it. Most free days, I just didn't want anything. This is the way I ate before getting married - so it wasn't a sacrifice for me. It was a return to healthy living. Yes, and No. My first challenge, I didn't have my own copy of the book. My sister-in-law (my work out buddy) had a copy that I was able to read through. I saved a couple pages to my hard drive for reference, while I planned our work outs and charted our progress. But, didn't have it to refer to throughout my 12 weeks. I bought the book before starting my second challenge and found a few things I would have done differently had I owned my own copy before. (ie: I overtrained my second 4 weeks and lost muscle, I didn't switch exercises every 4 weeks to keep the muscles stimulated and I didn't add weight to my sit ups to increase their intensity) Not really. My first challenge was during the last round of 1999 - finishing up in early December. My second challenge was during the first round of 2000. beginning early January. I had about a month in between. I still worked out, just not as intensely for the first two weeks. I have finished a couple more challenges since then, after finding a ton of excuses to take time off in between. (very few of those were legitimate reasons) Yes, I am :) It seems, EAS has done away with the Success Coach program for 2001, but those of us who have completed our 12 weeks and beyond, are still ready and willing to help in any way we can! Once a Success Coach, Always a Success Coach! The simple explanation....... I have dropped the weights on my head before. It HURTS! For me a level 10 is stopping 1 shy of dropping them again. For you, it's the same. You just need to find that zone. If you had me, Bill, Porter, or a coach standing right there telling you one more rep, and you gave it all and more than you thought you could and you still can't get one more out, that is a 10. It's ok not to hit a 10 every time, it means you're getting stronger, building muscle! Whatever you're most likely to stick with. Seriously. I like the Stairmaster, reminds me of running bleachers (without the chance of tripping and really eating it on the way down) To break it up a bit, I pick a day to jog/run at the park or run laps at my kids' school, weather permitting. My husband prefers the Bike, my sister-in-law, the treadmill. My oldest, prefers running laps at the gym. PLEASE, learn from my mistakes..... During my second 4 weeks of my first challenge, I got the more is better bug. I did aerobics every day. Not only was I exhausted, my fat loss slowed way down, and I LOST muscle! Explains why my losses slowed. More muscle burns more fat. To get more muscle you have to have recuperation time. But do take the stairs, don't park up front, and find time to be active throughout the day. Take the dog for a walk, play with the kids, turn the music up and dance while you clean house! Yes, it will. Just give it time. I've had 3 kids and all the stetchmarks to prove it. I thought I was doomed to a saggy belly for life..... it's flat now! My skin was a little loose, but that too has gone, replaced by loose skin on the thighs! Remember, it took longer than 12 weeks to get out of shape, so give your skin and body time to catch up with getting back into shape. Look into your heart, those reasons for accepting the challenge to begin with, your goals, wanting/needing to achieve them should keep you going. If you've reached them, set new ones. If you haven't already write them down, read them to yourself. Post them where you can see them, whatever works for you. Believe in yourself, Bill Phillips Q: Why can't I transform my body like so many others have using your 12-week Program? You see, one of the first steps to making a change is to believe it can be done. And I'm not just talking about getting "psyched up" for a few minutes, a few hours, or even a few days. I'm talking about truly believing. Now, regardless of what you read elsewhere, the truth is, thousands of people have already done it, and tens of thousands more are doing it right now-they're building more muscle and losing more fat in a matter of months than they have in the years which preceded. So why would so many grown men and women reject the truth? Well, there are a lot of reasons for this, but one of the primary causes is the vast majority of people in this society are pessimistic and resistant to improvement. For them to accept the fact that it is possible to change and do so rapidly would force them into a realization that they bear personal accountability for their lack of change. Most people would rather believe their position in life-their problems or difficulties-are caused by someone else, something outside themselves. The reality is, virtually everything comes from within. When you really get down to it, the person who disbelieves something there's enormous social proof to substantiate is not just experiencing "healthy skepticism." It's actually a symptom of an epidemic that plagues society-a mindset that robs people of the potential to transform-to grow constantly in all aspects of their lives and achieve enormous satisfaction. (It starts with a lack of confidence.) I've learned that in order to maintain confidence and optimism, it's very important to pay attention to what I'm exposing my mind to. For example, I avoid negative people like the plague, and I don't expose myself to media (magazines, newspapers, television programming) which has a reputation for being cynical. What those things do is brainwash you-they eat away at your confidence and pull you into the culture of complaint. Think about it: you're not born with preconceived notions or limitations on what you can and cannot accomplish. These are things you learn. Our society teaches us what we can't accomplish. Fortunately, just as you learn to set limitations, you can learn to believe in your potential, but you have to "debrainwash" yourself. You have to allow yourself to dream-you have to allow yourself to be inspired. (Trust me, it beats the hell out of the alternative!) One place you can start is, instead of reading newspapers, watching television news, or reading magazines that teach you what you're not capable of, take that time and watch movies or read books that have the potential to inspire and uplift you. The bottom line is, whether you believe you can do something great, or you believe you can't, you're right. That's how powerful your mindset is! |