Adrienne Smyth
38 year old Mom to daughter Chaya, aged 4, Dublin, Ireland

Stats
Height 5'5''
Weight..... Start NYTC..........Week 12........Change
172...............150...........22 lbs

All my measurements are in centimeters.

Measurement.....Start NYTC.....Week 12.....Lost
Right Arm.............32.5..........30.........2.5 cm
Right Forearm.......25.5..........24.5.......1 cm
Left Arm...............33............30.5.......2.5 cm
Left Forearm........25............24.........1 cm
Upper chest..........94............90.5.......3.5 cm
Bust...................106...........101........5 cm
Lower chest.........86.5..........83.5.......3 cm
Upper belly.........90.5..........82.5.......8 cm (over 3'')
Waist..................93............87.........6 cm
Mommy belly.........99............94.5.......4.5 cm
Butt...................100.5.........94.........6.5 cm
Left Thigh...........56.5..........54.........2.5 cm
Left Calf.............37.5..........36.5.......1 cm
Right Thigh..........57............54.5.......2.5 cm
Right Calf...........38.5..........37.5.......1 cm

I've forever discarded 50 cm (19 ½ inches), and 22 pounds of weight!!!!

 

Wow I've finished another challenge, this is my third and it's been the best one yet, I'm so thrilled that I've finished!

In the first Challenge I mastered the workouts, I didn't miss a single one, but my nutrition wasn't great. I lost weight, I saw a difference in my pictures and measurements, and I was very happy with the fact that I finished but I really didn't feel like I'd given it my all.

During my second Challenge I kept up with my workouts and my nutrition got better little by little. I was making small changes and keeping up with them. More vegetables, more fruit, more protein, more water, I even held things together over Christmas. I got to the end of the Challenge and was thrilled that I'd done it. If nothing else I was getting stronger and fitter. I could feel a strong, toned body developing underneath a layer of fat that was still there.

So when this Challenge came along I knew first of all that I'd be in it, no doubt (and I'll be in the next, and the one after that...) But I also knew that this time my focus would be on my nutrition, and more than anything I'd track what I ate, measure, plan, pack food, eat the right range of foods. One thing that I found out after I started to track what I was eating, was that although I'd been eating the right food, I was eating too much of it. I eat 6 times a day, I eat really good food, I eat lots of lean protein, vegetables, fruit, but I pay close attention to my portion sizes. I love my planned indulgences, they let me stick to my program quite rigidly most of the time because I know that I've going to a bit of break, a treat.

I push myself further in every workout. I track every detail and plan at the end of each workout what to increase the next time. I'm now bench pressing 55 pounds, holy cow! With my one arm rows I'm now lifting 35 pounds. Also, thanks to Mel starting the Press Up Challenge in the Forums, and having to look at the 'Do It Like This, Not That' push up video I realized I was doing my pushups with incorrect form. When I switched to proper form I could only do 4 real pushups, now I'm up to 3 sets of 10 real pushups with proper form, and that in only two weeks.

Even though I took a couple of weeks off my nutrition plan to go on vacation, through the rest of the time, all that sticking to my program paid off and I lost 22 pounds. I am so thrilled. I feel the difference in my body, I had to buy new clothes, new jeans, new underwear, yeah!

I have to say that I'm finding it difficult to switch to the new ClubFYM site.

I log on every few days and read lots of posts, but I've not yet started to post or comment like I used to on the old site. But even though I'm just looking and reading so far, I wouldn't be without this support structure for anything. I feel like I'm not alone on this path, I've learned so much from all the women on this site.

I get re-inspired every time I log on. And looking at the pictures, and reading the final essays of the other women who've completed this Challenge, oh I'm so proud of you all, you're all beautiful, powerful, and an inspiration.

One very cute outcome of me working out at home is that my daugther, Chaya who's 4, now wants to do my workouts with me. I do extra pushups on my knees, with Chaya on my back. When I'm doing planks she dives under me and has a game of trying to get through me the most number of times without touching me. She's started to do mountain climbers with me, at least she tries, she bounces her feet up and down. And when I'm doing my fake jump rope she joins in, bouncing around. I love that she's learning that exercising is a part of life, that it's fun and I've told her how good it feels and how important it is to me. I've signed her up for an Easter Camp that's got a bunch of sports and activities and she's thrilled that she's going to have her own exercises to do.

I'm so grateful for my strength and stamina because I can now play all sorts of physical games with Chaya - I dance with her in my arms; I throw her over my shoulder; I walk around with her on my back; I play tag with her; lots of times when we're walking somewhere, we don't walk, we race along the path. I'm a different mother than I was before and I wouldn't trade that for anything.

I say, bring on the next Challenge. I have more to do, and I have absolutely no doubt that I'll do it. The end of the next Challenge will bring me up to my one year anniversary of starting FYM. Since getting on my path to health last February, before I found FYM, I've lost 45 pounds and I've gone from a European size 18 to a size 12.