Go for it Athena!
I want a body like Monica Brant myself!! lol
she's awesome (imho)!

And I want a body like that too, and i'll have it !

yes, go for it athena, don't be afraid to gave big goals !

when I was young (I'm still lol but younger let's say) I was hating my body, i was a little bit fat and everybody was making fun of me. I've always been the one in the shadow of other girls wishing I had a skinny body like theirs.

Then I decided to change things! "I'm gonna have what I want" ! why sit and cry wishing this or that? go for it ! have what you wanna have ! now I have a totally opposite way of thinking and damn I'm a lot happier ! I realize I can pretty have all the things I dream of! I just have to work my butt off! and go for it.

and you know what? I have met some old girlfriends again that I was envying sooo bad when I was a teenager.. damn ! I look a lot better than them now ! (because I decided to change things).

Galatia

That's cool if you know your limits and wanna stay natural.
I'm sorry, I don't know your story.. have you ever been a competitor?
You look amazing though.

yeah, regarding the fat burners, I know ECA stacks are the best. But I don't wanna use ephedrine now because I'll have a surgery on september, and I'd rather not use any suspicious or "may be dangerous for some people" substances. I know ephedra is not dangerous if you respect the dosage, and it works reallllyyy good for fat loss. But I don't know about his possible effects before a surgery so i'd rather give it a try later

So I'm looking for a regular fat burner, like fahrenheit. I've heard TIGHT from san nutrition is the best for women. I may order this one.

Galatia, where are you at at this moment? what are your goals? are you still trying to gain more muscles or are you keeping your current shape?

I was referring to breast implants! Sure I think she could be naturally predisposed to a muscular nature, then add hard work to the mix.

MsCina24: Thanks for the encouragement! I just checked out my first issue of Oxygen I ever purchased. Too cool! Muscle toning may be my new hobby.

I have also always found it fascinating from a physiological point of view, learning all about the muscles and how the body works.

Can anyone recommend a good book on this subject?

The past week, due to some out of town commitments. (I still stayed at about 15 carbs though!) My game plan for healthy eating hasnt' taken place yet. (Lots of low carbs bars.)

I had been eating about 4% carbs before. It had probably been a little higher the past couple days.

from the Oxygen mag. She's amazing.

your resesarch.

I am clueless about ECA stacks? What is this?

Ephedra doesn't sound good. Wasn't that the drug people had problems with?

I looked up Fahrenheit on the webiste (& checked the label at GNC), but couldn't locate the caffeine amount in it. If anyone knows or knows how to find out I'd appreciate it. The label said it contained caffeine, but didn't say how much.

BTW, I would like caffeine in it, but I just want to know how much it is.

I have a bottle of Hydroxycut (regular kind) that I bought and never used. I may try that.

I'm still drinking the diet Coke, so I'd like to hopefully ditch the diet Coke for a caffeinated pill (Green Tea, or something like Hydroxycut).

Quote:

I don't know your story.. have you ever been a competitor? You look amazing though.

No, I've never competed. I'm not that disciplined. Thank-you very much for the compliment.

Quote:

Galatia, where are you at at this moment? what are your goals? are you still trying to gain more muscles or are you keeping your current shape?

Well, I've had a terrible time with my diet. I think I'm FINALLY on track now, and feel very confident that I'll reach my goal. My goals are to lose body fat while compromising as little muscle as possible. Once I get the fat off, I'll see what I've got going so far, in the way of composition. I'm just now starting to see my leg muscles, which is exciting for me. I have a long way to go, but at least I'm seeing some progress.

How tall are you Marie? In feet and inches. What are your goals? Do you have any pictures of yourself posted? Have you figured out your weight training and eating plan yet?

I KNOW!! Her body is just awesome! (and she's pretty too!) You can see why she's an 'international fitness icon'!

INTERNET INTERNET INTERNET

go to fitness / bodybuilding websites
they are soooo great.
I've learned all the things that I know only from websites. No book.
I usually print lots of articles / studies / experiences on fitness web sites at my lunch time at work and then read it at home.

back in january I did'nt know ANYTHING about fitness / muscles / proteins / supplementation .. damn .. ! and I learned everything by myself just by reading reading reading reading.. damn sometimes I was reading stuff until early in the morning like 2am (It was so interesting) and then get up at 6 to run !

A great website I can recommend you is
www.bodybuilding.com
There's a store where you can buy almost anything you want (very cheap) and there's the website part where you'll be able to find all the articles and all the opinions you want about everything you have in mind.

This website is also a great source of information :
http://www.exrx.net/index.html

here are other great links :
http://getbig.com/articles/articles.htm
http://www.brinkzone.com/

For your motivation to realize your dreams :
http://fitdreamteam.com/models/home.php
http://www.fitness-model-advice.com/ (= do down and click on fitness models name in order to have their training/diet/tips and many other links)
http://www.heathergreenmodel.com/


off I have a loooooooooooooooooot of links but that's a good start!

How tall I am? 5'3''.
My goal at first was to have a nice body (as I've always been unhappy with my weight and body since very young); what caused me to be non self-confident. One day I woke up and decided I wanted to have what I've always dreamed of.
I started to exercise (about 3 years ago) and started to have a nicer shape, to feel good in my body (I have never been obese though, that was .. let's say "chubby".. i don't know how to say it in english.. a little bit fat .. whatever, I was unhappy with my body).
What I wanted, at first, is to NOT THINK ABOUT how fat I look in THIS dress or THIS pants anymore. I wanted to enjoy my image in the mirror. I wanted to feel sexy and not ashamed while undressing in front of a boyfriend.
I wanted to enjoy the beach, the pool, without looking at all the beautiful girls and tell myself "I wish I was like that, I wish I was like that"....

I think that in life we can have so many problems without asking for it, and without being able to do anything against it (illness, etc...) that AT LEAST we should solve the problems we are able to!! Why spending all your life wishing you were like THIS or like THIS whereas YOU HAVE THE MEANINGS to be like that too?

So for like 2 years I was exercising, basically running, and doing some weight lifting at the gym but I didn't know anything about fitness (SPECIALLY HERE IN FRANCE WHERE SPORT IS WAYYYYYYYYYYYY BEHIND EVERYTHING , I mean this ABSOLUTELY not common to exercise here, you're more like a weird person if you run AM before going to work ...). People make fun of you, telling you that you're focusing to much on your body if you want to have a better shape, what means inside that you probably must be stupid. whatever

Then !! (I'm telling you the whole story lol) A few months ago, back in january, I decided to do it SERIOUSLY. That is to say : A REAL DIET - (I had never been on a diet before) - A REAL TRAINING and a real goal.
I started to discover by myself, reading stuff on the net (everything in english, that's not my language as I said, I'm french ) what forced me to practice it a lot, discussing in forum like this one and reading this enormous amount of articles... ( I''m happy though, I can see my english is really improving).

so I learned everything (I mean not yet! but a lot of things ) about nutrition, workouts, theories for fat loss/muscle gain.. the fitness and bodybuilding world... that we don't have at all in france.. started to ATTRACT ME like nothing on earth !!

I had discover a new passion.

That's it ! Few months now that I'm learning, testing, studying, and now I'M ATTACKING for good !
I set up my goals, my diet, my training. And i'm ready to follow the long road to fitness modelling.

Yeah, that's my goal.
I would like to be a model for sportswear clothes
and why not, open a store in food for athletes and bodybuilders

I'm happier than ever. You know.. when you decide to do something from the bottom of your heart and you see you'll achieve it ! you see you have enough willpower.. that's so great..
I decided I deserve feeling GREAT (not good) in my body. Be toned, taned, and have big boobs

yes, I'm having a surgery for breast implants on sept 22.

As I'm losing weight, I lost my boobs as boobs are mainly fat... and as I'm starting to be in good shape, and will be even more muscular and cut, I'll have no more boobs and I think that's very important to keep our feminity, when you are muscular

that's 6 weeks left to drop the fat, add muscles, and than I'll be forced to stop for 2 months at least, and then.. I WILL BE BACK !! ready to enter the fitness industry.

Sorry for the long story.
You made me talk about my dream.. that's why ...

I forgot to answer your questions galatia lol

Yes, I have set up a new diet and workout plan, I just started it on monday.

1200 cals/per day
120g prot (tuna, chicken, 0% fat milk, 0% fat yogurt, beef)
120g carbs (oat meal, fruits and veggies only -- except post-training meal : simple carbs)
26g fat (olive oil.. salmon...)


I eat 6 meals per day:
7.30am
10am
12.30am
4pm
7pm
10pm

and I have a whey protein shake 30min before AM HIIT workout on treadmill (3 times a week for 20min) and right after weight lifting training (4 times a week - 2 days upper body - 2 days lower body).

I'm thinking about adding more light cardio but have not made my decision yet, as opinions are shared.

I'm about to order a fat burner too. As I said, I'm thinking about ordering TIGHT from san nutrition.
I'll also buy a digital caliper to measure my bodyfat% which a lot more accurate than the scale.

I've posted some pics of me in one thread to show a girl that didn't beleive me, I had fat at THIS weight. but I don't remember where
I'll take some other and show you one day

I look forward to checking them out.

What is HIIT? Some kind of tempo run?

I like the whey protein shakes and eating more mini-meals.

What size implants are you getting?

You have great aspirations for your future business!

HIIT = High Intensity Interval Training

It kicks arse. Google it for lots and lots of information.

I googled it and found info. on a particular span of time to run at faster speeds, but I think I'd rather incorporate running a specified distance, like 200s or 400s.

Makes sense. I need to do this, instead of the usual pace to vary things.