Weight and Resistance Training - BFL/BB #89 - Week of 10 Feb 2003

Well, y'all have been busy this weekend here at the boards!

Since I worked my butt off the past few weeks, I am taking a few well-deserved days off from work. And yet I STILL woke up early. What kind of nuttiness is that??

Ya know I've NEVER taken Glucosamine - never felt I needed it. Maybe now that I'm Over the Hill, I should! :lol:

No real news to report here...I finished the 6 week Draper split and thinking about doing my old four-day split...hope everyone has a great week! Gotta feed those kitties now!

i am one very happy camper today. lots of great little things happened today that just have had me up in the clouds.........

1. the results of my blood test came back and my cholestrol and triglycerides are all in the *normal* range! my HDL cholesterol (the good one) also went up and that's great too! yahooo ! i'm soooooooooooooooooooooooo happy :D :D

2. i did two push ups and 10 hanging leg lifts today. 5 months ago i couldn't even support myself with my upper body weakness and now........ well....... i feel strong today :smug:

3. i've lost another 1/2 kilo of fat, that makes it 13.5 kilos or 29.7 pounds of life-threatening fat GONE !!!

okay, enough of my insanity today.

i did an UBWO, followed by 20MAS on the stationary bike. that was some workout today !!!

food has been excellent for the past few weeks. i'm so stoked !!!

Karen - which Dave Draper split did you do? i love his workouts !!

take care everyone. let's have a great week ;)

adriana

I had a great 20MAS today! Ate on plan, and am off to bed to get some beauty sleep. Tomorrow is UBWO and I am really looking forward to it :D

this is week 4 for me and I think the pants-o-meter is starting to move a bit! goodbye fat!

I actually am looking at bathing suits in the catologs!! I cant believe it :D Im hoping to get a two peice this year!

only 25% done the challenge and I am this excited? I cant WAIT for week 8! week 12! c2! WHOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!

Tidey

oh man :p
i've lost .5 inches on my waist and gained .5 on my thigh.
sup with that!
lol
my thighs are seriously big enough....anyone else go up first?
*panic*

sure they look better and are smoother and stronger and harder.....
*grumbles*
but stillllllllllllllll, my food hasn't been too perfect really, maybe thats it

It's a lovely day here but I am a bit lost at work. I did so much last week that I am all screwed up in my schedule and it seems to disorganised to fix. I think that I burnt out my mind as well. I did get heaps of sleep on the weekend which was great. I have belly dancing tonight which I am looking forward to!

Ebe: I would say that food is more important than exercise. You won't get the best results if you slip up all the time.

Adriana: I LOVE pushups. I have always been strong in that area so it's really satisfying to do in the gym. It's also a good way to burn out your chest after an upper body workout.

Anyways.... not much going on.....

JC

jec how long have you done belly dancing for?
i was thinking of signing up for a couple classes at a studio...seems like so much fun....

food is important i know, i haven't been slipping up much..just some though as time has gone on its been less and less.

i do get muscle pretty fast, but i'm not sure of the physiology of building muscles....like if theres just fat and muscle now and maybe the measurements will go back down....is that wishful thinking? probably....but i know i can't be the only person whose measurements have gone up slightly rather than down, i just thought i would inquire to see if that had happened to anyone else during the course of their time lifting weights.

ok i just measured myself again and its back to what it was...i think maybe it was just hella big from.....
working out i guess.
i think i was just looking for reassurance.
sigh
must be patient and forget numbers and just remember that i feel good.
its hard though, i've been busting my butt! and no beer! we're talking sacrifices :lol:
ok
*shuts up and goes back to lurkville* :)

ebe,

lots of patience. lots of determination. lots of stick-to-it-ivnes!!

can't get around those aspects of this whole thing.

you're doing great so just relax and enjoy!!

adriana

Hello girls!! :wave:

Adriana --I am so happy for you and that great progress... I know how hard you work, and to eat so squeaky clean all the time, I don't know how you do it...

Tidey -- You are doing so well too... So proud of you guys... I too have been looking at bathing suits... What type do you want to get Tidey? I usually get the one piece Speedo, but if all goes well I may get the tankini in a Speedo, I love Speedo brand... I guess it's because D does synchro swimming and they are sooooo much better quality than anything else she has ever worn in heavy duty chlorinated water....

ebe -- don't worry about the #'s I to just measured myself and lost .5 and .25 inches here and there... and I feel so totally pumped and I'm eating clean and my H2O intake in superb... I'm with JEC lets go with our interior motive...:smile:

MrsJ -- You often mention you drink 2-3 gallons of water... how many cups per gallon?

In my neck of the woods the temps have plumeted yet again....-9F or -24C (sounds so much worse in metric :lol: ) It was so cold this morning that my fingers stuck to the door knob when I tried to turn it...BRRRRRR... to say the least....

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it but I'm not working these days... and boy do I love it, in the morning after I give the kids a ride to school, I come home and make myself a huge 1 egg 5 whites omellette with onions and celery, and some oatmeal .... gawd it's sooooooo good and what's even better is that I relax and eat it... how awesome is that!!

I need your input girls... Has anyone ever worked legs 3/week? I want to have killer legs by this summer and biking season...I was thinking of splitting my routine this way:

Sunday -- legs heavy - I work with my partner... cardio
Monday -- back
Tuesday -- cardio, shoulders
Wednesday -- legs light
Thursday -- cardio, chest
Friday -- legs light
Saturday -- OFF thank gawd!! we have a day off...

On days where I', not running late I would do biceps and triceps, either on the same day or split....

What do you think??

Anyways later all...

Lana...

2-3 GALLONS of Water?!? Not I! I think I'd drown or just move my PC to the Ladies' room!!! :lol:

Here's my way of doing the water thang...

I have some of those Schwepps Seltzer Water bottles - I think they're over a liter each (I don't have one here actually - they're both at work). I drink one of those during my workout, then sip on water while I'm in the bathroom getting ready for work.

I fill up the bottle before I go to work and drink that, then fill it up two more times. So I figure that's just over a gallon, since I believe that 3-4 liters = 1 gal (don't ask me about the cups though).

I was actually doing legs 3 times a week - I used Draper's Lean Legs for Women. It was a good workout but I think I neglected the rest of my body, so what I'm going to do is work my legs HARD during my four day split:

Day 1 - legs
Day 2 - Chest/Tris
Day 3 - Back/Bis
Day 4 - Shoulders/abs/calves

I generally don't do cardio on leg day. Remember what Mel said on last week's thread - RESTING your muscles is so important, so you should really have at least 3 days between muscle groups (I didn't see much progress doing the Lean Legs thing but it FELT good!)

Ebe - I agree with JEC - the nutrition is IMO more important than the workouts. Of course the workouts are important too! So I'd suggest using the BFL Eating-For-Life Daily Progress report (you can find it on the BFL 'official' website and download it). Each evening, write down what you plan to eat the next day and then stick to it!!

Adriana - woo hoo! you're doin' great girlfriend!!!

Gotta run now...sisters are coming over!!

LMAO here at what I said about the water Karen... I guess I thought for sure you had said 2-3 gallons... one thing I do know for sure is that one liter = 4 cups... Thanks for the info, I was just trying to compare notes on water consumption, I guess I don't drink enough, 4 half liters = 8 glasses...

Gotta go son is home for lunch.... later............

Hey everyone -- I'm having one of those weeks (I think it's been carried over from last week . . . ) where things are so crazy that time goes by both too quickly (i.e., I'm not getting everything done that I need to) and not fast enough (i.e., I can't believe I have another useless meeting to sit through). But, I wanted to make time to stop in here and see how everyone is doing. :dizzy:

Lana: I'm so jealous that you're not working right now. My goal is to get to a 4-day a week work schedule someday soon (vs. a 6-day a week schedule). Maybe I should rethink investing in the lottery . . . :lol:

MrsJ: Somebody asked me if I wanted a MP3 player for Christmas, but I said no because, to tell the truth, I'm not so sure how they work. I've never down-loaded a song from the internet or even copied one of my own CDs onto my hard drive. Maybe I should reconsider, though, because a lot of people have told me how much they like have their players for work-outs.

Anyway, one thing I've been thinking a lot about during this challenge has been keeping promises I make to myself. Although I'm generally really responsible in many aspects of my life (i.e., keeping work commitments, trying not to disappoint friends and loved ones, etc.), I find it so hard sometimes to keep the promises I make to myself, like eating healthily every day or working out as scheduled. It just seems easier sometimes to make some excuse about eating this or that unhealthy food or not going to the gym. But, it seems that this is really a downward spiral -- the more I break promises, the easier it gets and the worse I feel about myself. Contrarily, the more promises I keep, the better I feel about myself. (This paragraph is just really a paraphrase from a chapter in BFL.) So, everytime I feel like skipping a workout or not eating right, I think about the promises I made to myself, and how I'll feel at the end of the day if I keep them or not. This has really helped me stay on the straight and narrow so far. It's hard work breaking bad habits, but worth it in the end (I hope and pray!).

Everyone hang in there, and have a great week. Mox

hi there everyone,

i dont know whats wrong with me, but i was so tired this morning, i could not get out of bed. i had a really great LBWO yesterday...anyways, i did not go to the gym as planned. i might go after this but.....already had my breakfast....excuses excuses, i know.

ebe, eating is hard for me too...i am not clean at all....but it has been getting better since the beginning...partly, thanks to the education i have been getting here, and partly due to the fact that i am seeing results and i dont want it to slip..and i want to make sure that when week8 comes around...i am going to get one of those "have you lost weight" questions. :smug:

i am taking the day off to get braces...i have been think about it for many years and finally decided to take the plunge...3 years...wow. so, i will be eating a lot of soft foods....CC all the way. well, for at least the first 2 weeks.

good day to you all...

jilly

oh, i weighed in and have lost a total of 9lbs in the last 4 weeks.
horray!

Morning ladies! :cool:

Well I have been tired lately myself. :( Belly dancing was great last night but now my shoulders ache from holding my arms up in the air for 1.5 hrs. I wonder how my calves will feel tomorrow… I have soccer tonight which should be good and hard as well. I have to go see my bank manager today about buying another house which Ray and I are excited about. (for the newbies I am a property investor on the side – this will be number 4!) It’s up n the Sunshine coast about 200 kms north of our first house. It’s where we want to live eventually as well. I like to organize my finance first so that when I fly up there to buy I can buy it on the spot if I want to! I love buying houses….. :smug:

Food is good – I am taking it easy on myself this week and next. We just had laws come in over here which requires all food to be labeled with it’s nutritional information on the packet. McDonald’s is kicking up a stink about it but they have the next 6 mths to comply. Some companies have started complying already and it’s weird to see muffins etc with labels on the side. They are so FULL of fat! I had no idea there was THAT much fat in them. Maybe it will help people to make better food choices. I know it’s scaring me and I eat healthy! :o

Ebe: I only started a few weeks ago but it is great fun and nice not to have to ‘think’ about it. I am a real intellectual person who stews over everything so I like the mental breaks. The only thing I have to remember is the dance steps at the end which isn’t very hard. I am buying a coin belt this week – I saw a lovely gold one last night at class but I forgot to bring the money with me – I hope that it’s still there next week! :D

I build muscle fairly quickly as well. Other things to consider when taking measurements are water retention and fluid levels. They can alter the measurement and then be back to normal the next day! It’s nothing to worry about but it’s hard on the emotions. No beer?? Geez you don’t know that MEANING of sacrifice!! :lol: :lol: If I could have just given up beer and the weight would have fallen off me…. If only…. :dizzy:

One of the best words said to me at the start of my transformation was ENJOY the process. The goal was so lofty to me that I was getting bogged down in it most of the time so I tried to enjoy the process and the moment more. It sure help to relax my mind.

Lana: FINALLY my language – metric! That is freezing!!!! I haven’t worked legs 3 days a week but I have done it twice with heavy workouts and it was fine for me. My opinion is give it a go for 4-6 weeks and see how you go. I wouldn’t ignore bodyparts though (like bis) I would just cut back to once per week and I also wouldn’t do cardio after legs unless it was light. My 2 peenies.

Mrs Jim: 4 cups to a litre! Ooppss Lana already wrote it! A cup is 250ml and a litre is 1000 ml. A gallon is approx 4 litres, so one gallon = 16 cups

Mox: Hi!

Jilly: Actually I wouldn’t call that an excuse – I call it a compromise of priorities. If I was that tired then I would sleep in and get my rest which is just as important as getting my workout in. It’s not like you are skipping your workout you are just re organizing it to later on! No harm no foul….

Braces? Ouch…. You ARE brave!

Ledom, Mel: ummm hello??? :grouphug:

JC

Lana,

Im not looking at brands, but just something I can order out of a catolog here :) needs to be a supportive top tho, which makes it more dificult :/ Even the thin women in my family have D cup breasts so I dont see ALL of this boobage leaving with the rest of my fat *sigh*

Im really down today as my SO is away skiing and I am feeling the "no friends" lonliness pretty bad. Tomorrow will be better tho!

Tidey

Tidey: I sooo know how you feel even though I have lost over 50lbs I am still a DD cup. I can't see how I am going to drop too low since I don't seem to ever lose in the area. I would KILL to be a C cup - that's perfection in my book.

Sorry that you feel down...... :group hug:

JC

Hey there everybuddy!

Mox - MP3 players are SO EASY to program. I have the Rio Sport and it's a snap to program - we've loaded all our CDs onto our Hard Drive using Real One player and you just pick out the songs you want - it is so fast and easy. The nice thing is NO SKIPPING and they weigh next to nothing! My Discman used to skip all over the place!

I'll have to check the bottle next time I buy one. Jim is totally hooked on Schweppes Seltzer Water. I'm sure it's more than a liter though!

JC - sounds like McDonald's is finally doing something about the labeling. Actually, not like I hang out at McD's a whole lot but they have always had the nutritional info posted near the cashier counter, as well as on their website. What the big hassle would be in putting the info on the wrappers I have no idea, except perhaps people might actually READ how much fat and calories they are stuffing away. I just finished reading a new book called "Fat Land" that was pretty interesting, though somewhat one-sided - the author focuses a lot on fructose as a cause of obesity. I personally thought the Fumento book was better but this wasn't a bad read at all!

Gotta go ladies...

Hey Karen we posted at EXACTLY the same time! :lol:

Oh I forgot to get you to check for that Fumento book. Did you get my PM from yesterday?

JC

Hello everybody. I've just been kinda hunkering down trying to get back in control. Workouts going great, but I got really down about my food and lack of progress, so just to spite myself, went on a week long binge. I've discovered there is a worse alternative to lack of progress! 1 week off cheating ferociously at night and I feel like a lard ball again. So as of Sunday, I've been 100% clean eating and feel much better. Now if I could just get rid of the instant spare tire that I developed.

Don't knock having those knockers, girls! My DD's shrank to B's :yikes: I never would have believed it, and kinda miss them. Well, C or D would have been nice. I think partly it's age- Mother Nature knows I don't need em anymore, already fed all the babies I'm gonna feed, so fat disappeared there too.

JC- Belly dancing sounds fun. I'm not sure I could hold my arms up for an hour and a half tho. Good luck with your game tomorrow. Hope you can walk by the end of the week.

Lanaii- I think JC already mentioned it, but you forgot your arms! I think I'd do arms instead of one of the light leg days. "legs lite" never seemed to do much for me.

Jilly- How brave! I thought of getting braces for years, but never did. At this point, it doesn't matter so much to me.

Tidey- Hope your feeling more up soon. I think I rememer you are in Sweden- are you in mostly darkness at this point? That would make me feel tired and down all on its own.

Hi Karen- I did get your PM last week- thank you.

mel

hi there,

so, i am back...with braces....just the bottom though, the orthodontist thought that since i have such a bad underbite that i would pop the top ones when i bite down. so, just the bottom ones for two months and then both thereafter for 3 years. but boy they are hurting now...cant even imagine....both sets! ug!

i did drag my butt in to work out and i am very proud of myself. but it sure baffled me as too why i was so tired this morning. thinking it eas the mentos i ate last night....shhhh. i love mentos and if figured that once i get the braces, i would not be able to eat them...so i had some....okay, half a roll.

anyways...i got to really thank you all for the blended CC recipes....i will definately be eating a lot of that.

i wished i had C breasts too....mine are too small. would be lovely to be trimmed and lean with C's but i am thinking, i will be trimmed and lean with AA. better than giggly all around.

jilly
jilly

WOW !! i can't leave you guys alone for one minute :lol:

thank you all for your kind words on my progress. it sure DOES feel good !!!

Lana - i did legs 3 times a week for a couple of months at the beginning and because i had so much to loose it did wonders for me. however, i'm with everyone else on this, i would now do legs HARD twice and let them rest a bit the other days. another GREAT way to get legs down, and don't everyone shout at me at the same time, is to up the intense cardio. but i know that's something that is very borderline here....... so....... ;)

i stayed up wayyy to late last night (4am) and now i'm paying for it. i got up too late, my brain is dead and i have tons of work. oh well....... good thing i can set my own schedule and take a nap whenever i want :smug:

yesterday was a rest day for me and i was glad because those two days of super intense weights and cardio did me in. i think i'm going to like this new split, 2 days on, one day off.

today is legs :D :D and abs. i'm going to work them hard, that's for sure !!

hope to see you all later this afternoon.

take care,

adriana

Hello girls,

No I didn't forget my poo' arms, i love working arms I added at the end of weekly program that I would tie in arms when time permited...
But I'm thinking it over and I would prefer to do heavy legs twice and arms on one day alone...

I have B cup right now but when I loose weight they are AA.... when I wear a speedo b/s i really look flat... but I don't mind at all...

Gotta go I've been chatting away with Niffer on L&S and now i have to get going... the laundry you know it doesn't go away by itself??

This was from Unka Steve

"We are never so tall as when we stoop to help another."

That's one of the aphorisms that Erik lives by.
None of us very often get a vivid illustration of that maxim right in front of our eyes......but I did last night.
In the gym I noticed this quite fat new girl in spandex and a sweatshirt being led around by
one of the few trainers who knows what she is doing.
I thought, 'Well, she's in good hands' and gave it no more thought.
Then at the end of my workout, I saw she had somehow made her way to the power corner of the
weight room where the big boyz hang out.
By this time, she was sans trainer, and she looked utterly lost. She just stood there uncertainly, one knee on a big Swiss ball, with that deer-in-the-headlights look in her pale blue eyes.
I suppose I wasn't a very reassuring sight---I was sweaty, pumped, tired, carrying my lifting belt and chain, squat shoes, etc, in my arms.
But I gave her a smile and a nod as I passed by.....and she immediately started to cry !

Before I could react, Richie materialized from nowhere, all 275-lbs of him..... he put one big hand on her shoulder and his voice went soft for the first time I've ever heard.
"Don't cry, hon," he rumbled, almost too low to hear. "You're home now. At least you're here. A
thousand other of 'em ain't here, you know. They out there, fallin' off the edge of the world. But
you're here, workin' on buildin' you a house you wanna live in."
He turned tears to a smile faster than I have ever seen.
And it's just possible that he changed the rest of that girl's life.


I was bawlin!!!!!!!!

Susie

Hi everyone,

Sounds like you all are having a pretty good week. I did survive my 4 day work stretch and am proud to say that I stuck to my WO's religiously. The free day is another matter all together. Technically my free day was Sunday, but it stretched a bit and I wasn't as strict on myself at work. I will definitely have to do better with my eating.

Did a good 20MAS today and it felt harder than usual. Maybe I'm still recouping after the work weekend. OR maybe it's the not so clean eating I did over the weekend.

Glucosamine and Glutamine? Glutamine is for muscle recovery and soreness and Glucosamine is for joints right? Any certain brand or formula I should get? I noticed the glutamine comes in pill or powder form.

Jilly: I too have braces and in fact just got them tightened yesterday. Ouch!! Ibuprofen is my best friend on the day of and the day after tightening. Not nearly as bad as those first 2 weeks though. Stick with the soft food and don't despair, you will be able to eat mentos with the braces eventually (of course on a free day!).

Adriana- Great job!! Hope I can get the kind of results you've
gotten.

Mrs Jim- Thanks for the info on the MP3 player. We have all kinds of songs on our computer and I may have to look into a player so I can listen to a variety of stuff geared just for my cardio.

Tidey- Hope you're feeling more UP toay.

Niffer- Your story about the girl in gym almost made me cry and I didn't even see it. What an inspiration (chill bumps on arms)! I hope to hear a progress report one day in the future that she is a lean and strong gym regular helping to inspire others.

As always thanks to everyone for all the information and encouragement available on this board.

Melissa

Oh yeah, one more thing-

How much do you all squat? I know I just started with the squats(on a smith machine) and I have to build my strength, but I feel like I ought to be lifting more than I am. Don't get me wrong, my set of 6 is hard and I do feel like I'm hitting at least a 9 for the exercise. I also don't want to over do it and hurt my back. Just wondering how quickly I should be moving up in weight.

Thanks,
Melissa

Melissa - thank you for your kind words :D on the squating issue -- i don't squat at all. i did for awhile but my lower back was really bothering me with the whole thing so i've stopped till i strengthen that area. i don't think it's the end of the world that i don't squat, there are other things i'm doing.

Lana - :lol: the laundry you know it doesn't go away by itself wait a second !! it doesn't???? :lol:

following the cup size thread of these past few days -- tell me that it's true, that i'll get at least a bit smaller!! i've been a DD or DDD since forever and i'm dying to get smaller!! i'm tired of carrying these things around with me for 30+ years :( ;) my daugher, who turned 17 today, weighs about 115 pounds and is a 32 EEE :o

i almost had to crawl out of the gym today after my legs workout :eek: but it feels good. i worked them harder than ever and then i hit my lower back and abs too. 20MAS later i was finished, in more ways than one :strong:

tomorrow is an UBWO. i LOVE Dave Draper :cloud9:

take care everyone,

adriana

Thanks to everyone for lifting my spirits :) I DO feel a lot better today, thanks to the power of positive thinking heh.

Im normally annoyingly happy, but when I am "alone" it tends to hit home that éven after living here for 3 years I dont have one single friend I can call on the phone to chat. I HAD some friends, but one moved home and the other moved in with the move-ee's ex about 2 days after (insanity) so I have been on my "own" for a year now and being an immigrant doesnt make it any easier. Being a FAT immigrant.. well I wont even go there heh.

I would LOVE to be a B or C *sigh* I loved having a slightly overflowing B cup (back in grade 7 lol). I may get down to a C, but Im not making any bets in that direction heh.

Niffer, thanks for sharing that lovely story! I wish some of the guys at MY gym were like that. Most of them look at me like I have two heads if I so much as smile at them at the water fountain. oh well, I'm just gonna keep smiling until one of them smiles back *humming**this little light of mine........**

I had a great UBWO today, really felt it :D Eating on plan as well... and its time for another meal :D Chicken and whole wheat pasta this time (mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm *drool*)

Have a great day everyone!
Tidey

Hi Melissa,

Do not move too quickly you could injure yourself quite seriously... when I started I would add 5 - 10 lbs only at a time... At the moment I squat 150, this amount includes the bar... Just make sure you do it very gradually, you will get there... The smith machine is a good place to start but I prefer the regular squat rack...

Glucosamine = joints
Glutamine = muscle recovery...

Glutamine just buy the cheapest Karen orders it through http://www9.netrition.com/labrada_glutamine_page.html
I've never order netrition because I'm in Canada...
Glucosamine I just buy mine at WalMart...

LAter all...

Hi again girls, I hadn't seen your post Adriana....NO the laundry doesn't go away... does your? Tell me your secret...:lol:

Adriana your poor daughter! Does she complain about sore backs?

Tidey.... Hang in there girl, I'm sorry to hear you are so sad...

Later all..

Lana,

Thanks for the feedback!! Now I don't feel so wimpy for adding only 5 pounds for my first set of 12 and then up from there with 20 pounds added for the hevy set of 6. I'm trying to get my nerve up for the regular squat rack. I'm just afraid of losing my balance or not having good form. I'll let you know when I do finally move from the smith to the regular squats. Do you wear special shoes to squat/lift in? Now I too must tackle the mountains(literally)of laudry that piled up over my work weekend.

Thanks again,
Melissa

hi everyone,

ouch ouch ouch! my mouth is so sore...i had to force down the oatmeal...chewing sucks. the blended CC was great and so was the tofu...but everything else hurts. i am taking the advil every 3 hours. i am such a wimp. thanks for the advice holy, how long have you had yours? i just can not imagine having these for three years....i feel like ripping these off of my teeth now.


tidy....i am glad to have you as a friend here. its always good to see your post.

does the glutamine really help?

i always feel like the gym idiot too...not always sure if i am doing it right. it hard to feel comfortable with what to do in the weight area. i have finally found a gym that i am comfortable with.

anyways, have a great day...

jilly

Melissa, I just wear regular runners to train in the gym or on the treadmill... sometimes I put a thin weight under balls of my feet, a 5lb, or a 3/4' piece of plywood, it helps me to push from the heal, I've never done this on the smith machine tho..

I have been w/out a computer since last week. Oh Mel, and who else that was having a tough day? This is the first morning since I started (except when I was sick) that I missed a workout. Just too dang lazy to get out of bed, it is also the first day I have not done the diet in 1 1/2 challenges. Scary stuff. I am back on tomorrow. I have hit the wall today though.

Welcome back Ledom.... I've missed you terribly.... You must post here more often again so we can encourage you not to fall of the BFL wagon....

How sweet - I've missed you guys too. I am over on L&S now trying to soak up some good vibes and inspiration. Are any of you depressed beyond words about all this war talk? It is getting to me. OK, no excuses.

Hey guys,

I don't know if depressed is the right word Ledom but yeah I feel it. My friends keep 'disappearing' each week and I bit off a persons head this morning because I was asked for the 1000th time if hubby was going to the Gulf. It's just tense at the moment.

JC

hiya ladies :)

re: squats as Melissa was talking about......
i JUST learned how to do a real butt to the floor, honest to goodness squat with an empty bar. i have to say it feels a lot better than the smith machine! :)

the only thing is that i have no spotter so when i want to go heavier i switch to the smith machine....i've never gotten stuck using the smith machine but just the thought of everything that could go wrong loooool....its too embarassing and/or painful to contemplate, but one day with a spotter i'd like to say i can squat 150 like lana.

adriana your daughter...EEE? wow......i can't help being jealous. i'm a small B and they're only getting smaller...and smaller...and... :( I was actually a big C in high school.
i'm going to be paying to be that size again one day...

Tidey.. i know exactly how you feel...well not exactly but i'm going to be moving to a different part of the country on monday and i'm already feeling lonely....an entirely different country must be hard.
i'm sorry to be nosey but do you speak swedish?
i know this gooooooooooooorgeous guy that lives in Goteburg that i'm considering visiting soon (he'd have to be really hot for me to fly that far :lol: ) ...and sweden seems so nice, do you like it?

Niffer - nice story. I had joined a co-ed gym here at one time, but I couldn't stand it. The guys would hog all the machines and I definitely felt out of place. I didn't go very often.

A few years later when I decided to join a gym again, I joined "The Club For Women Only". Women of all shapes and sizes just doing their own thing. It was great. I currently do all my WO at home, but if I joined a gym again I'd go back there.

I just got back to my WOs today. It took almost 2 weeks for me to get over that cold/flu I had while on vacation. I haven't been that sick in years and hope I become more immune after my clean eating and exercising!

Adriana - I'm feeling you on the cup sizes. I'm a DDD and my best friend is like an E or F. We came up with an idea for a harness that holds 'em up and is hooked to tracks on the ceiling so you can move around :lol:

Also I have a question. I know milk is not an authorized food, but what is the opinion on soy milk? It's low fat and has more protein than regular milk. I like to have 1/2 cup with my morning oatmeal.

thanks,

-- Valerie

Hey Valerie,

The problem with milk both normal and soy is the lactose sugar in it. It really adds up carb wise. I drink milk in my coffee and it adds up to about 1/4 cup a day. If you are only using 1/2 cup a day then I wouldn't stress about it too much. But if you aren't progressing physically it could be one of the reasons. It's just something to be warey of. I wouldn't stress out on fat either - you need some fat in your diet - preferably the healthy ones though!

JC

talk of war... and other rumblings.....

well, war here is a daily thing; one kind of war or another. we've been in this current intifada for two years now and it's getting really old.

now we're preparing for another gulf war and it's not fun at all. last gulf war we had scuds falling on the tel aviv area (we lived in jerusalem then) and it was very, very stressful.

to tell you the truth, i'm pretty much avoiding the whole thing right now. i guess i might be in either extreem apathy-mode or denial. i just don't want to deal with it till about two hours before war actually breaks out. i haven't even gotten our gas masks.

we have been on super high alert for the entire week due to stepped up terrorist activities..... so i guess a potential war in a few weeks is minor right now as compared to the possibility of something blowing up across the street at any second !!

i wonder if this is all just going to end one day???

take care everyone,

adriana

on the subject of milk...........

on the subject of milk...........

i have a total of about 1 cup per day and it doesn't seem to be slowing my progress right now. i'm still loosing 1 pound per week, which is just where i want to be.

let's not forget i still have about 70 more pounds to loose and i'm not at the point yet where i'm counting micro-calories of fat and sugars to get those last ounces off my body !! LOL

i'll let you all know when i'm at that stressful point in life.

adriana

it's funny we have a saying in Australia that 'we are the lucky country' and at times like these I have to believe it.

My husband has visited 21 countries over the past 6 years including a few in the middle east and he says that no where is as laid back and peaceful as our home. I am very grateful for all that I have in my life!

JC

Adriana: When I first started I was having at LEAST one cup of milk a day! :lol: Since I am down to my last 15 lbs or so (50lbs gone already :D ) it's the small things that count. I think that it's wonderful that we can have different opinions, advice and people are various stages to talk about their experiences here.

I value each and every one of you! :grouphug: AND I just wanted you to know that .

JC

JC- There is no lactose in soy as it isn't a dairy product. In the US we have unsweetened soy milk that has ZERO sugar in it. (Westbrae Organic Plain).

That said, I'm not an advocate of soy because of the estrogenlike properties. I recently rediscovered a raw milk dairy near my house and that's the only milk I give my kids now. I do confess to using half and half in my coffee every day.

Adriana- I often think about you and yours with all the talk of war. I wish there was some way to avoid all this, but I fear our esteemed leader has gotten us in too deep.

My neck hurts today as I've started doing shrugs. Maybe my position was wrong?

Laura

Hi All -

My DH and I are in at C1, W3 - going well. We were in COSTCo last night, and I was reminded of the line in the article "Foods that Make you Look Good Nekkid" about how most of the food in the grocery store is crap. I found myself walking up and down the aisles truly amazed at the quantity and variety of garbage our society considers "food". You know you're being indoctrinated with BFL when you look at products and think "white flour, sugar, way too much fat, way too much processing".

Does make you feel like an outsider, though - to be filling your cart with only the 5% of clean foods they sell. Too bad we don't have a Bodybuilder's Grocery Store they visualized in the Nekkid article.

Anyone else feel this way? Do you minimize your time in grocery stores at a result?

BethO

Betho, I know what you mean about the grocery store. Eggs, CC, produce, meat section, that about does it. Saves some steps though. :)

Sorry for my negative comments yesterday. There is no excuse not to follow the diet - just moments when the abyss seems awfully wide. I have to write yesterday off and I hate that, but I feel renewed w/ determination this a.m. It is not worth backtracking - I want my clothes to fit better, I want to look and feel better.

Adriana, I tend to do the same - turn off the radio and the news, but when I start hearing to stock up on duct tape and sheets of plastic and water it makes me furious. Too bad women aren't running the world!!! Your situation puts things in perspective for me. I am so sorry that any of us have to spend a nanosecond feeling threatened.

Beth- I had a similar conversation with a friends recently. I'm not saying that consumers at large are stupid, but I do think 95% of all people just eat what is offered without really thinking about it. I do feel that the media in general tries to make us all feel that the processed crap that is so heavily advertised is what "normal" people eat and who wants to be abnormal?

I find myself surveying other carts at Costco or the grocery store and passing judgement :devil: I also find there are entire aisles that I don't bother to go down.

Sorta on topic; one of my cats recently went through a health crisis with a urinary tract blockage. I now find myself about to switch my 2 cats to a raw food diet. If you ever look at most commercial cat food (especially dry), a good part of it is grain; but how many cats eat grain in the wild?

I know that part of my willingness to do this is my own experience with eating unprocessed foods.

Laura

Laura,

that's a great point about the cat food !!! i never thought of it like that. i imagine that our dogs are in the same boat as your cats. blah !!


tell me how it's going on BodyRx, okay?

take care,

adriana

This is DH and I last summer

Lana!~how cute are you guys!

Can't read everything, too many posts! I'm at work and will check in later.

Doing well. OK, well I did miss yesterday (cardio) !@#$%

Susie

Niffer
The story about the lady in the gym made tears come to my eyes. I am very fortunate to belong to the gym I do. Everyone is great, the guys and most of the ladies included. I actually find a few of the women snobbish, but I could care less about them anyway. The guys are always willing to help and the owner, is going to personally train me when I get to the weight I am comfortable at. His wife is great too. They are very helpful.
I am now at the lowest weight I have been in almost 11 years. I am down to 228.5, still a lot of weight I know, but a big difference from 270 on August 1st. 41.5 pounds gone for ever. I can feel more muscles everyday. I feel strong!!!

Lana,
You and hubby are sweet. What a nice picture of you both.
Virginia

This is me and my hubby. I was 270 lbs in this picture. Will have our picture taken to gether again to see the difference.
Virginia

hi everyone,

please please help....i feel myself slipping. i am so tired all the time, and for the first time since i started working out in Jan. i did not go to the gym this morning. i fell asleep yesterday after work while watching tv...knowing that we were going out to dinner in 30 minutes. i slept my 8 hours last night and am still tired.

with next week coming up for the san deigo vacation, i am really afraid that i will never come back to BFL. so, if you dont hear from me by next thursday, please send me a message.

lana: you look great! i wish i looked half as good as you!

jilly

Jilly are you getting enough protein hun? YOu are definitely lacking in something. Please, please, please, do not give up. These girls are the greatest ladies on earth for helping you through a crisis. I almost quit two weeks before my last Challenge ended. But they talked me out of it, I pulled through with a 17 lb loss and 11 inches all over. Not greatbut not to shabby either. I am into CHallenge 2 week 2 now and feeling strong and ready to face this challenge head on.
You are eating at lease 5 to six meals a day right. Small portioned meals. Palm/fist is what I go by right now. I at this time am not really, really strict with it, as I have another 78.5 lbs to lose, but as I start appraoching goal, I will have to step it up a bit. Love the high I get after a wicked workout. I used to think people were absoulutely out of there tree, when they talked about the high they got from exercising. To me exercising before was walking to the corner store to get a huge ice cream cone, chips, bars etc. Not anymore, I love it! Please stick with it, and I promise you it will be worth it.
Virginia

Hang in there Jilly. Is there a way you can take a day off work or get a free day just for rest this weekend? You want to keep going cause you're going to be so happy you did.

Virginia, impressive weight loss you have going there! Did you start out dieting another way and then take up BFL? I still think your 17 lb. challenge was impressive, especially if you'd already been losing weight.

Lana, you and DH are such cuties!

I tried something good to eat this week that I read over at L&S. It is so unusual I would never have thought of it. Posted by Caroline, it is steamed sweet potatoes marinated overnight in spicy mustard and red wine vinegar. I used it as she suggested in a salad w/ tuna. I quartered the potatoes and steamed them about 10 minutes then marinated them. Come to think of it, white potatoes and egg whites would be good prepared that way as well, kind of a potato salad. There is something about the sour/sweet combination that was really nice though with the sweet potatos.

I am half way through challenge 2 and I am regrouping. I know I haven't put as much into it what with being sick a week and then having a melt down yesterday. Today, I am rededicating myself to this challenge. I just went shopping and I am going to work on a couple things. Spacing meals properly sometimes falls by the wayside and I know that is one way I can tighten up. I'll be looking for other ways as well. I want to finish the challenge strong.

I had a great LBWO today! I actually had noodle legs when I finished!!!!!! and thats a first for me.

Jilly, if you are not taking any vitamins, you should at least think about it :) I take a multivitamin, vit. E and C. I feel more tired if I forget to take them, so maybe you just need a boost somwhere in your diet.

Hope everyone else had a good day!

Tidey
(Im in week 4!! i cant believe it :D )

Well right now there's a lot of drilling going on under my feet! Did I mention that our wonderful landlord (I'll bet those are two words you don't hear together very often!) is having central heating installed in our apartment? Last night we froze our tukkuses off :lol: but it will be worth it tonight when we snuggle in our nice warm apt. Right now the kitties are locked in the bedroom with the heater keeping them warm, and this weekend our place is going to be painted - and in a few weeks we get new double-paned windows! To top it off, he isn't raising the rent! Woo Hoo! Of course all this is a pain in the ***...

Tidey! Did I read at L&S that there are no sweet potatoes in Sweden?!? AACK!

JILLY...Hate to sound like a broken record here...as I've said this so many times. You need to look within yourself. So much of this is mental...that's why I recommend journaling so highly. I've found that the phrase "it's not what you're eating, it's what's eating you" applies so often it's not funny. And DO write down everything you plan to eat each day - it really helps.

Hey I hear ya guys on the Costco thing! I haven't been a member in eons, mostly because going there is such a hassle and also that they sell a ton of CRAP. I mean there is healthy stuff...but with just Jim and I how are we supposed to eat mass quantities of perishables? My freezer is itty bitty. Besides every time Jim and I went he would want to buy EVERYTHING he sampled. He ended up buying 30 pounds of BBQ Buffalo Wings once. Ewww. You would not believe all the grease that came off those puppies once they were nuked. Speaking of today's bad food, there was an interesting article in Fortune Magazine a week or two ago (I read it on the flight back from Miami). Here's the links to some of the articles:

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/information/Magarchive/0,16011,magarchive-02-03-03,00.html

I find it interesting that McDonald's and Burger King are doing so badly right now - and hoping that means that people are finally 'seeing the light'. It's really the kids that we have to worry about though - I just saw a rerun of that Dr. Phil show "My Big Fat Baby" this week. It is heartrending to say the least, and tragically it seems to be hitting poorer families the most.

Sorry about my little dissertation...

Lana - you and your hubby look so happy and cute!

Cat food: I tend to switch between cat foods - I use Pinnacle, Dental Diet and IAMS Weight Control (for Megan who is a chubby girl but ya know Sparky loves the stuff!). Actually I do think cats eat grain - Mr. Sparky can't get enough of that fresh wheatgrass! He loves it when I bring a fresh pot of it home from the market (yup, my sister says I can grow it myself, but I'm not inclined to do that).

Gotta go - the guys down below the house are calling me!

Hey all!!

Great pics, Lana and Virginia!

Jilly--you can do it! I know what you mean about being tired all the time. Here lately, seems like that's what life is all about. Maybe you'll find time to rest up on your trip.

Ledom, don't think I've "spoken" to ya lately. Glad to hear you're doing better. Don't stress too much about the bad day yesterday--you know, you could always count it as your free day this week. I think that things will look differently when the weather warms up and the grey goes away!

Susie--language, language. Shouldn't use those &#$@% words!!

Tidey--I had a really great UBWO yesterday, noodle-ARMS. But I don't feel a thing today, which is really disappointing to me. When I don't feel even a little sore the next day, I feel as though I didn't accomplish anything w/my workout.

I'm hoping to get in a good cardio workout today. I haven't weighed or measured lately, but I am FEELING huge. I hate it when I feel the ole jeans getting tight--makes me wonder what I'm even trying for. I did try on a pair of jeans that have been hanging in my closet for almost two years, though, this morning. The last time I tried them on was about 6 months ago. I couldn't wear them because my stomach was too big. Well, this morning I couldn't even zip and button them!! Talk about bad! But I'm not letting it discourage me, I'm using it as incentive to work harder at BfL!!

Adriana--I think of you often, hope that all is well. Never really gave much thought before to all the political "crap" in the world. It's different now that I have someone that I "know" in the mideast.

JC--hope that things stay as great down under as they are at present. Maybe your husband will be able to avoid all conflict.

later all,
Cheryl

"I had a really great UBWO yesterday, noodle-ARMS. But I don't feel a thing today, which is really disappointing to me. When I don't feel even a little sore the next day, I feel as though I didn't accomplish anything w/my workout."

Why is that? I've been experiencing the same thing lately and although I don't miss being sore, I feel disappointed in myself. I've tried increasing weight, but I'm just getting the noodle muscles for about an hour afterward, with little or no soreness the next day.
:(

This place is really hopping!

Had a great leg workout yesterday- one of the trainers at the gym was watching me do squats and wandered over saying "I bet you could put another plate on there". He ended up helping me with my whole leg workout, didn't charge me, and I hit a whole bunch of new PB's! I guess I'm really not pushing myself to my limits on my own on legs. Did cardio and abs today- quads are real sore, but cranked itout anyway.

Lana and Virginia- loved the pics! I can never load pics on this site for some reason. I always get the "image too big message and lose my whole post. How did you do it?

Mamawren- how long have you been doing the same workout? Maybe (if it's more than 4 weeks) it's time to change exercises, the order in which you do them, etc. That should make you sore again, along with upping your weights.

4myself- same advice as to mamawren!

Jilly- I know when I did my first challenge, I was exhausted a lot. I tended to fall asleep around 4 pm every afternoon, sometimes at my desk :o I think at first your body is in such a state of shock from whatyou are doing, that it requires a lot more sleep and nutrients. I take a huge amount of vitamins, minerals, etc. I bet having those braces put on hasn't helped your energy levels or outlook either.

I found a great new magazine- hope this doesn't constitute advertising! It's called "Curl" and it's for serious women bodybuilders. NO supplement adds, no fitness models draped over a hunky guy. Just muscular women and good articles. first issue was kinda slim, but I'm hoping for more later. Their website is www.Curlmagazine.com.

ok- gotta go,
mel

Thanks for the great Fortune magazine reference Mrs. Jim.

"As Phillip James, chairman of the World Health Organization's International Obesity Task Force, has observed, Americans who want to eat right have to behave "abnormally." "

EXACTLY what we're all saying.

BethO

wow..... busy board.....

About the cat and dog food - THAT is exactly the reason why I feed my dogs natural home cooked food - I want to make sure I know what is going into their bodies!

My chest and shoulders are aching so much from yesterday's workout. I feel like I have been bashed! ouch ouch ouch..... My in-laws arrived last night for a week's stay. It should be good I get along with this side of the family.

McDonald's are struggling in Australia as well and for the first time in history losing money!! I never thought that I would see the day!

JC

PS Lana - you are so beautiful!!!!!!

I'm posting this as it was written by a contributor on a yahoo group I read- I thought it was great! I realized that what I THOUGHT were 10's arent and that may be a reason I dont always feel sore :) Everyone is different tho!

about 10's!
-----------------------------------------------------------------

A ten on weights is when you're concentrating intensely, shaking like a lamb in
a thunderstorm, and pushing so hard that your spleen flying out your nose seems
like a real possibility. It's not when you FEEL like you can't do one more. It's
when you really can't do one more, when your muscles stop working and you either
have to let the weight fall or have someone take it from you.

That isn't going to happen on every single set. The first few sets (12 and 10
reps) should be challenging enough that you're not sure you can do all of them.
The last couple of reps should be hard to get. By the time you get down to 6
reps and your heaviest weight, that should be really, really tough. You should
be thinking, there's no way in **** I can lift this 6 times, but then you do it
anyway because you're Queen Muscle Babe of the Universe. Then, when you drop
back to a slightly lower weight for 12 reps, and switch exercises for 12 reps,
your muscle should be pretty much on fire. When you see wisps of smoke, that's a
10.

Renee

Tidey: That is a great description of a ten - that's what I have always considered a ten - when I can't put the weight down I have to drop it. I am always scared when doing lying dumbbell flyes that I am going to overstretch my arms because I am trying to put the weight down without shaking the whole gym with the sound of them dropping!!

Once I hurt my finger because my arms just gave out and the 12.5 kg dumbbell just rolled out of my hand bending my fingers back!

Another time it took me about 10 seconds to do one dumbbell curl because it was my last rep and I was determined to get that baby up! I felt like I had acid flowing through my forearms. People always smile at me when they see me making my grimacing faces!!

Thanks for the post!

JC

JC

Hello Girls: :wave:

Tidey: Bingo!! That arcticle hit at "10" right on the nose.... I feel like that most of the time like JEC said... You may be too shy at first, but that'll change when you see the difference a good 10 or almost an 11 makes.... Good luck your next workout... A spotter is a good idea in your last set tho.

BethO: It is truly awful when we stop and think about it, even my kids will NOT eat brown bread or brown rice... and they alway ewwww my food.... Hubby the sweety pie will eat anything, as long as it's palatable and he didn't have to make it. Therefore stays healthy and he's always been slim, he could use some muskels tho, but he's tried weights and he just can't get into it... I did, one year, get him a gym membership but he did only cardio...

Mel -- The pic took me all freakin' mornin' to figure out!..:lol: I just kept making my pic smaller and smaller till it fit... Lost a whole really nice post in the process too.... :dizzy: very frustrating but now I do know how to do it .

Cheryl -- Hi, haven't seen you in a while...oops sorry about the freakin' language.... you shoulda heard me when I lost that post this morning!

Jilly -- Here's my spin on your fatigue... could it be the Tylenol or Ibuprofen you are taking to take the pain away... I find when I am eating clean that just a little med will make me sleepy and sluggish.... Vitamins would help a great deal too....IMO

JEC -- Don't you just LOVE hitting those 10s? This morning my arms where pumped like crazy when I finished arms...I work bis and tris on the same day just so I can get that swollen pumped feeling... Canada is also a very lucky country and for the most part very peaceful... We are so lucky...

Adriana -- I think about you constantly lately in the mid-east... I have been putting my head in the sand tho about the whole situation over there... I will keep you in my prayers....

MrsJim -- Your apartment will look and feel very comfortable after all the renovations...

Ledom -- seems live you're back in the swing of things... I'm gonna try that recipe... sounds good... amazing what imagination we have with CC and a tater...

Niffer -- WHAT?!?! you didn't do your cardio yesterday... What is that? When we spoke you were leaving for the gym... now fess up what happened ... (hands on hips waiting for answer... scolding...) :nono:

Virginia -- thank you for the compliment. You and your DH make a very nice couple too... I'd love to see everyone's pics, soooo show us your smiles everyone!! :D

Oh and BTW thanks everyone for all the great compliments on Hubby and I... now my can't get through the door, is there a diet for the HEAD!!

Ok now... this post has gone on long enough...

Later all...

Lana: you are so funny!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

JC

I only WISH I could get a spotter :/ Swedes are a stand-offish bunch until you are part of the "group" and not really as open as north americans/brits/aussies etc. They get uncomfortable if you're in their personal space and are unnerved by strangers smiling at them. Great once you get to know them but it can take YEARS.

Also, most of the ppl who work out when I do are the really old school guys, and competitive power lifters. I also feel slightly hampered by the fact that I am fat, unattractive and generally sweaty by the time I would need a spotter and I have overheard enough "fat" comments to make me want to avoid putting myself out there for the "get away from me" look.

Im still on machines for the most part, but I need to start doing squats so..... *panic*

A lot of ppl tend to leave the heavy plates on the smith cage as well, so I would have to get someone to help me take all the weights off the damn thing before I could even begin to know how to use it.

I KNOW I should try to be more outgoing, and I would if I were back home without a second thought, but after 3 years of being the fat, ugly foreigner I just dont put myself out there for all the comments, rudeness and crap anymore. Im probably going to schedual another session with my trainer so we can go over squats and deadlifts. Arg! Sometimes I SO miss Canada!!!!!!!!

Tidey

Action taken! I mailed my trainer for an appt!

I will post about it in due time :D

Tidey

Tidey - You are so brave to keep up your workouts in spite of THAT atmosphere! Good luck with your squats and deadlifts.

Also, thanks for the post on a "10". I think that I may not be hitting 10s for fear of injury as I start out.

-- Valerie

Tidey: You will never regret trying squats and deadlifts - they are the best exercises and you feel so powerful and strong doing them and afterwards as well.

Deadlifts are my number one favourite exercise. I am a weakling though - I only deadlift about 90lbs because my grip gives out and I nearly drop the bar!

JC

Tidey --- ACTion, speaks louder than words.... You go girl !! and keep working out no matter what and reach those 10s... Good luck!

i'll have to come back when i have a bit more time just to catch up !!! you guys are amazing !!

everything is good, except i'm having a bit of exhaustion today. i'm just taking it easy and not worrying about anything today. i happens to me once in a great while.

take care and i'll be back later,

adriana

JC-I got myself some nifty lifting hooks because I also have grip problems.

I bought mine at a nearby fitness store but similar ones are available online. I don't know if I'm permitted to post the site so email me or let me know if it's okay to post it.

Laura

Im off to the gym to do my 20MAS and see my trainer! Squats, here I come!

(figures it would be the day AFTER a hard LBWO tho lol. I'll be whimpering in pain I imagine hehe!)

Tidey

Laura,

What are lifting hooks??

I read the article you posted Tideypoo last night. It helped a great deal. I had an intensive upper body workout this am and I'm having problems even typing.:) If I'm not sore tomorrow then something is definitely wrong.

Jeez! I leave you guys for what, 3 days and whammo! There are 3 PAGES of posts to read. OK here goes..........

I have eaten on plan all week. HOWEVER.........I missed 2 workouts - cardio and UBWO. Now, the cardio was MY fault. The UBWO I couldn't do cuz I have been working at home for the past week on the computer ALL DAY and my right arm is toast - I can hardly type this it burns so bad. But, it's over as of Thursday, so I can rest my arm. We had a little meltdown last night........seems Mike was just putting the finishing touches on a briefing he's been working on since Nov and scheduled to give Saturday, when it VANISHED off the screen. OMG! I thought he was going to puke - I have never seen a look like that on a man's face. This presentation is mandatory for his promotion - and it was just GONE. long story short - I recovered it. Now, I am NO computer whiz, I am lucky to know how to post a message here! But, I just kept at it until it came back. thankyouloooooord!

Now, to get to the rest of ya!

Virginia~what a nice picture of you and your fella, and I like your dress too! I thought your message to Jilly was spot on!

Lana~my Mr is like yours - he'll eat it - just put it in front of him! :lol:

JC~I am about as tired as you of people calling and wondering "What are you going to do"? I KNOW they are concerned and I truly am thankful people think of us. But I think about it all the time and then just when I have a free second where my brain isn't wrapped around the thought of him leaving, someone invades it. Ever see the movie "We Were Soldiers Once" with Mel Gibson? The way his wife dealt with him being in VN - THAT is how I will deal with it. She was truly 'grace under pressure' and exactly the way I hope I will conduct myself.

Adriana~I think of you every single day. You are strong beyond words. Living there, caring for all your children, working out and staying so positive all the time! What an inspiration you are. When I get tired, I think of all the things you must do everyday and it picks me up! If Adriana can, I CAN!

Karen~your apt will be great once everything is done! I am happy for you! Are you riding much these days? I talked to a lady yesterday who's looking for some horse property - she has 3. It made me think of you.

Mel~ I know what you mean about thinking you're working hard and then changing it up a bit and having a crushing workout and loving it! Happened to me Tuesday! Leg Day, I couldn't wait and I planned it in my head for 3 days prior. I still can't walk right! :lol: I thought I was pushing myself before -HA! not even close.

Mama~Mel is right on (as usual) change it up a bit - you'll feel it the next day and the day after. Oh, and the day after that too ;)

LEDOM~Nice to see you, dear. I've missed your insightful posts. Hope you are doing well.

Tidey~ If you’re skeerrid of squats, try starting out on the leg press. I did. Well, actually, I am still there! I tried squats the very first day in the gym and it wasn’t pretty – so I stayed away – far far away! Just go up to one of those guys and tell them you want some help, and if they help you now, you’ll leave them alone forever. HAHAHA. I loved the repost of a 10, BTW. Now, I want to talk to you about the “Tapes in your head” my friend. Ya need new ones. I started listening to what I was saying to myself and what kinds of names I was calling myself and I’ll tell ya, I was shocked at how many times I called myself ‘fat’ ‘ugly’ ‘stupid’ ‘clumsy’ – I never realized. Others do not see you that way – so please, be more kind to yourself. You wouldn’t call your best friend names like that, and you shouldn’t call yourself them either. Look at all you’ve done. You are getting stronger, feeling better, and you are very funny! Think about the good stuff!

My arm is burning very badly, so I am typing this one handed and the left hand to boot! So, I will be signing off for now.

susie

Lana- here's some lifting hooks:

http://www.bigfitness.com/blaclifhook.html

Some one please let me know if this is *forbidden*. ;)

Mine are a bit different; they have one thicker hook instead of 2. There's a nice velcro wrist strap that even fits well on me (ask Mel about my freakishly small wrists!).

Nice pic of you and dh btw :)

Laura

Well, I met with my trainer today and we decided to go with Good Mornings and to NOT go with the smith rack. I cant even lift the godd*mn bar :( The bar is like 30kg or something so I am just going to start doing squats with no weight until I get the movement down and can handle the weight. I already leg press 90kg so im a bit discouraged.

I had a GREAT 20MAS. My pulse is recoverying faster and I can get more intesity out of my 9's :D GO ME!

I think some of my tummy fat is going away (later! *wave* hehe) but I dont measure until sunday morning *panic*

If nothing else I have gained an astonishing amount of muscle (I keep flexing my arms lol) and made good gains on the amount of weight I use.

I also made an effort to step outside my comfort zone today and chatted with someone on the bus who I DIDNT KNOW! This is a big deal for me heh. I overheard the ppl behind me speaking english and introduced myself. Didnt make any lifelong friends but I am quite proud of myself :) I havent had the confidence to do that EVER before, and I was on my way back from the gym even. Sweaty, stinky, and messy. Ha! :D

Thanks for listening!

Tidey

Tidey !!

i'm really proud of you for opening up like that at the bus stop !! you'll get the hang of this in no time. it's important to reach out to people in a different country, if not you'll feel way too isolated and depressed.

i also flex my arm all the time -- !!! LOL what i've managed to do to my forearm in a short 5 months just amazes me !! my kids also think it's the coolest thing in the world.

i don't squat either. it's too much of a strain on my lower back. i do leg presses (75kg now) and i'm sure i'm not missing out on something that will slow down my progress. i'd rather take a bit longer working on my legs with *other* exercises than risk being hospitalized with my back freaked out because of the squats !!

take care,

adriana

hi everyone!

i am feeling a lot better mentally about my relapse. i am under the weather with a terrible stomach virus/flu. so, i now know why i have been so tired the past couple of days and why i cant get up to go do my workout. the bad news is, the stomach flu has really hit me hard. i am burning a slight fever and am going to relocate my room into the bathroom....i get tired just walking back and forth every two minutes. i cant seem to keep food down and my stomach is totally cramping. so, i have not eaten since yesterday afternoon...and the thought of food just...*yuck* (well, thats the first for me). question...how much muscles am i losing? i know i should, but i cant even drink water. anyways, thanks for listening to be whine and thank you all for your encouraging words. i really appreciate having a place to go to where people understand my struggles.....hopefully, i will be back on track/plan by monday.

tidey! great job! Its always so hard to move beyond our comfort zone! but you know, it will make us a better person to go to the uncomfortable zone more often. I have been working at the same place for 5 months, and i still cant get up the nerve to eat in the lunchroom. i should make it a goal to do it at least once this year.

well, happy valentine's day...my hunny was going to make me dinner but i think i will have to stick with saltines and water...if i can get it down.

Laura: thanks very much mate but even if I got the site I doubt whether they would ship to Australia. I will check out some sites over here. Thanks for the offer though!

They sound like a great idea!

JC

jilly,

sorry you're so sick! Best wishes for a speedy recovrery! I'll do an extra set of bicept curls for you tomorrow :D

If you're puking a lot and cant keep food down try eating instant noodles (Ramen or whatever). Thats what I eat when Im SICK because it doesnt hurt to throw it up (smooth) and its lots of carbs to keep things going. Definately not authorized tho ;)

Tidey

Niffer: I saw that movie a few weeks ago on DVD. It was an excellant film and I know what you mean by grace under pressure. I am a bit different I usually go into denial and make myself so busy that I just ignore the issue unti I have to deal with it otherwise I just find it too overwhelming to deal with. When people ask me about it 'everything is fine' is what I say - I don't like to worry people at all.

JC

Wow, I can hardly keep up with you guys! :dizzy:

I've had a tough couple of days...went on a major food bender. I know exactly what it was - Hubby is traveling out of town. Usually, he drives. This time, he's flying. Even before Sept. 11, I hated flying and only did it when absolutely necessary (like going across oceans.) I KNOW flying is statistically safer than flying, but I look at it this way: If your car dies, you pull over to the side of the road and call a tow truck. If your AIRPLANE dies...

Anyhow, I'm just worried and that stresses me out. I have promised myself to get back on track as of this minute. (not "tomorrow"...been there TOO MANY TIMES!)

Hey everyone,

Just had a great LBWO and week 3 is almost complete. I am starting to see small differences in my body and it is encouraging.

Now that I've pretty well got the WO's under control(been to the gym every day for 3 weeks except for rest day), I really need to get my meals down pat. Still having a hard time with getting the six meals in and getting all the protein I probably need. I know I should be eating a whole cup of CC at a meal, but after blended with the yogurt it seems like ALOT of food for one meal. I do love the hot apples though!

I copied a bunch of recipes from lean and strong site and am looking forward to trying them out this coming week. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Melissa

hiya :)

whew yesterday was free day. i'm so relieved to be back on track....funny how much more i like eating this way...its really incredible.

jilly i hope your sickness passes quickly. being sick is the worst...rest rest rest!

i had a sort of interesting day yesterday. i decided that for a valentines day treat i would get a cookie from the mall....actually two cookies with a big scoop of frosting in the middle....they're really good but you could die from the sugar as i found when i ate it later, not that that stopped me......
but anyway i was walking through a department store and decided to try on bikinis....it was really nice. maybe skinny mirrors or something but i was like whoa....weight lifting is the best thing in the world! needless to say i had to buy one. i'm moving to florida next week so hopefully it will come in handy soon :)

today is lbwo and i'm trying to muster up some enthusiasm...hard though.

good to hear that basically everyone is doing fairly well, except maybe for Jilly and that bug !!

Jilly - i hope you get well super soon !! just rest till you feel better. don't try to workout without being pretty much up to because it'll set you back :( .

ebe - that's exciting about that big move!! but to tell you the truth, it sounds even more exciting to buy that bathing suit ;) i hope to be able to at least try some on one day !!

Lana - the pics of you and your family are fantastic !! you are all soooooooooo beautiful :D

today was a total vegg out day. we spent all day with the kids, just goofing around here at home. the weather is still bad, too much rain for us. we heard that the latest shuttle experiments caused all this rain in our area...... who knows?

i sat my butt down today and made out my schedule for this coming week. i am officially doing my own Boot Camp. this past week was "okay" on the Dave Draper routine, but it's not what i want and need right now. i was NOT a happy camper all week long with such a decrease in the cardio :mad:

i've gone back to my 6 day split, hitting the weights hard and the different cardio activities hard too. i'm sure i'll be much happier with this now. i AM keeping the actual weights split (lower body / upper body on alternating days). we'll see how it all works out this coming week.

my food is fantastic these days !! i'm really on plan and keeping to my macronutrient balances just wonderfully! i can't believe how easy this has become for me in the past month or so (thank God !). it also helps to keep getting such useful information on sites like this :smug:

i want to thank you all for your thoughts and concern during these insane times here in our part of the world. this pending war is making us crazy here because no one knows anything for sure anymore. and our economic situation... well, let's just say that things are not great here. but there is always hope for a better tomorrow, right??

hope you all have a great weekend.

take care,
adriana

ebe -- lucky you in bikinis already? and seeing a difference?! Gawd lucky you...

Melissa -- I agree that some meals seem fairly large, but ya know I eat it all...LOL...

This week because I've been off work, I've been making an omelette for breakfast, it's just so delicious... so filling too that even at 3 or 3.5 hours I'm not that hungry... I have a "?" about this, should I hold off of just eat again? What do you guys think..

Lana... have a good day...

Just got back from a spinning class- oo
f! haven't done that since about 8 months ago when I got "accidentally" dragged into one right after a leg workout. This was a lot better, since I did back and bi's yesterday, the relevant parts were'nt too sore. It was fun, but long. I think I may use it as my Saturday cardio- much better than an equivalent time on the treadmill running, and no knee pain or black and blue "runner toenail"!

Lana- Can't help you on the whether or not to eat since I'm ALWAYS hungry, tho since upping my fats (thanks JC and Karen) it's not so bad. I'd say eat something- even a protein shake with a sprinkle of oatmeal ground up in it. If you wait til you're really hungry, your muscles are already screaming.

ebe- Bikinis already! WOW- I'm not sure I'll ever be there. It's a pretty scary sight. But the Florida part sounds lovely. I'm so sick of snow and watching the weather forecasts- we got 5 inches last nite and are supposed to get 1 foot tomorrow nite. Enough already!!!

Adrianna- At least you don't have to shovel rain.

Jilley- Hope you feel better soon. Take it easy- eat clean when you can.

Hello to everyone I missed, hope you're having a great weekend.

mel

Thanks for the tip Mel, it does make sense what your saying because, now that I think about it I end up eating double, almost 2 meals in one, when I get over hungry....

Later...

Lana...

Good morning everyone. It is Sunday and the first day of week 8, challenge 2.
I am at a point that seems inevitable whenever I diet. Progress has slowed, the new has worn off, and I have lost my fire. If only I knew the key to overcoming this feeling things would be so much easier. I am trying all the mind games I can to muster myself into a renewed sense of enthusiasm. I am repeating mantras like "fake it 'til you make it", and I have reread this wonderful post that I copied from L&S a while back:

From Steve L. at L&S
"For all the newcomers we get each New Year, I thought it might be worthwhile to drag out some old but memorable posts that a lot of folks just starting out haven't seen.
Here's a string of quotes from Rufus Faine, a 6'1", 225-lb Rastafarian bodybuilder at my gym with 6% bodyfat and dreadlocks down to his shoulders.
Rufus isn't a "trainer"---but he periodically adopts newcomers in whom he thinks he sees the mental and emotional potential to produce a memorable transformation.
Rufus doesn't charge any money; all he does is change your life. And he does it by practicing a peculiarly effective type of tough love.
He became my mentor shortly after I dragged my fat *** into the gym in February of 2000, and while I don't see a lot of him these days, his wisdom guides me to this day.
All these comments were heard on one afternoon, as he put a struggling newbie through a tough workout.

On intensity and results:
"It's a straight trade; you gets out of it what you puts into it; not a nickel more, not a nickel less."

On faking-it-til-you-make it:
"Act like you think you me..."

On shedding old baggage, habits and attitudes:
"That was another country; you don't live there no more."

On how hard it is:
"You want easy? Go work on Wall Street. We don't got easy here."

Right now the quote "That was another country; you don't live there no more." stikes a cord becasue shedding old baggage, habits and attitudes is exactly what is called for at this moment.

Many people say on the subject of BFL that every workout, every clean meal is a brush stroke on the wall of a large room that you are painting. One brush stroke doesn't look like much but if you keep at it, eventually the room is done. I can see that after a couple of missed workouts and screwed up meals how that goes in exact reverse as well.

My job this week is to heed the alarm in the morning. To not hit the snooze button. Seems like a bad start like that and the day goes downhill from there. Well this is a ramble, but I will hang on by this thread of faith that I have in BFL and I will get to a point that I am making progress again. That will happen today and tomorrow and every day this week.

Hi All -

Great quotes, Ledom. Thanks.

DH and I are just beginning C1, W4 - we are taking Saturdays as our free day, so Sunday morning start charged and ready for another week.

Things are going well - we are getting more and more enthusiastic about the program every week, and can't believe we're only one third of the way through. I sat down this week and 'did the math' - figure if I am losing 2 lbs. of fat a week, and gaining .5 lb. of muscle per week, I should see 1.5 pounds of difference in my weight per week.

Have been checking my weight once per week (yes, I know it's not recommended, but especially at the beginning needed the confirmation that the program was working for me) and seem to be losing at exactly that rate. I guess I found it hard to believe that I was losing fat, even though I was never hungry.

I'm spending time lurking both here and over at L&S, and learning a lot from everyone's posts - questions from the newbies like us and answers from the old pros.

This really feels like a 'program' that could become a 'lifestyle' for us, like it has become for so many of you on your second, third challenges. We can envision eating "clean" Monday to Friday, then relaxing on the weekend and having them more or less free. Does anyone do that?

We both want to start training again come spring for fun runs, so will be upping our cardio after C1 for that purpose. I remember seeing some posts regarding marathon training - how did the runners out there manage to keep their muscle mass in spite of lots of cardio?

Thanks again for all the advice on these threads, they're really helpful.

BethO

You sound so spent. For that, I am sorry. This is a tough journey we're on, isn't? I wonder when it will happen for me sometimes, and if I'll be able to lift myself up and keep on keepin on. The newness hasn't lost (too much) of its shine, yet. I am assuming it will though. It always does. Sometimes sooner rather than later.

I am wondering, do you keep a journal or record of workouts and food and the like? If so, have you looked over it? Perhaps seeing a pattern of some kind? You've been at this far longer than I. But have you changed workouts in the last few weeks? I found that works well. Finding a workout pardner is hard, but they sure help. Or maybe you have been giving it your absolute all and are tired. Just plain need a sit down, ya know!? I guess, I am just trying to help and don't know if I'm saying anything new (prolly not :?: )

I just saw this over at L&S from Ann, Keeper of SteveL. She was speaking about doing it for YOU and by YOU, not for anyone else "...you do so only over the wreckage of your own soul. " She was also speaking of making others feel good, but at what cost. This may not be what's holding you back, but it sure is a great quote and can be put into many contexts.

I wish you well, my friend. I'll be thinking of you this week. Give it all you got, gurl! :D

Thanks, I feel those positive vibes and I know they'll be helpful.

My journal is very sporadic and I think you have hit on something there - I plan to really pay attention to that this week. It helps to write out my feelings and I rely too heavily on the "boards" for doing that. Some private introspection is called for.

On changing up workouts, dang but I am a creature of habit. The one thing that is different in C1 and C2 is that I am teaching an 8:00 TT class this semester which, when you add in a 1 hr. commute is wreaking havoc w/ my sleep and schedule. I have adjusted so that those are cardio days and I do them in the afternoon. Also switching to a split has not gone well for me. But hey, maybe I should try again.

I am determined, I feel once I work though a good week my down cycle will be broken. I do, 100%, feel that BFL is the truth and the light to health for me and that only by giving it 100% am I allowing myself to reap the benefits.

I hit the gym really hard all last week and finished with a spinning class yesterday. Really hard! Boy, was I looking forward to a day of no activity except the mandatory laundry and vacuuming the kitchen, but of course, IT"S SNOWING again. I've already shovelled once- the first 5" and about 10 more are expected.

Ledom- I discovered There are worse things than no progress. I was incredibly discouraged a few weeks ago. I kept up the workouts and eating clean 23 hours a day, but that 24th hour was spent in spite eating. Who was I spiting? me and only me. What you said about the reverse of painting the room is so true! Also, since then, i have started journaling. Most introspective stuff, I've always done the workout and food journals. It does seem to help. Both reading the up days and down days keeps me more centered and remembering why I'm doing this. Took me a while- karen's been preaching it since I started here over a year ago.

Betho- Sounds like you and dh are doing well. What did you mean by fun runs? 5K? 10K? I don't think you really need to add any training beyond 20MAS or 20minutes of HIIT with a 5-10 minute cool down to do those. Just add a timed distance run on the weekend instead of 20MAS. I was training for a half marathon, doing 30-45 minutes 2 days/week then a distance run on Saturdays of up to 2 1/2 hours. I lost muscle, did not lose weight, and felt generally aweful. Every old sports injury was re-aggravated. If you stay at 10K or less and are in good shape to start with, it shouldn't be a problem.

Gotta go stare at the snow-
mel

good for me ! i changed my program around a bit and now i'm happy, happy, happy again :D :D

i'm back to the tons of cardio, which i hope doesn't spark another landslide here :crossed: :lol: there's no getting around the facts that i still have 70 pounds of fat to loose and that i just plain and simple LOVE IT :cb:

i took a good long look at my goals again and after reading a whole lot again on the whole subject i made the right decision for me. i'm doing Dave Draper's 6-day Fat Burner program (from his website), plus all the extra stuff i want to do - oh yeah!

so............. i did a legs workout today that was just amazing. i upped the weights in all the exercises and it felt great. then it was the treadmill and swimming. AND i just got back from a spinning class too :D it's really incredible that i could do the whole class after that legs w/o this morning - i guess the L-Glutamine is working ;)

Ledom - i hear ya too ! that happened to me a bit towards the end of C1. then i took two weeks *off* from C2, doing just light workouts and taking it easy. maybe you just need to step back from the program for a few more days so you can come back to it with full forces? just a suggestion. i'll be sending you good vibes too so that you can make the best decision for yourself at this time :goodvibes

Betho - i'm really glad that you and DH are enjoying your challenge. it's just the best, isn't it?? :cp:

Mel - i see you over on L&S and get great encouragement from your posts ! you are really one smart cookie :chockiss:

Lana - what's up sweetie?? are you guys skiing again? i imagine you swishing over 8 feet of packed snow with 2 feet of pristine powder on top :cloud9:

Karen - did you fall off the face of the earth? where is our fearless leader ???? hope everything is okay and good with you and MrJim!!

Jilly - how are you feeling?

Tideypo - how's the *reaching out* going? i hope you're having a good weekend.

have a great sunday everyone. see you tomorrow.

adriana

Hi girls :wave:

How is everyone ? This board is always such a hopping place… that's what keeps me coming back and THANK YOU for that :grouphug: ..... I just finished typing a very long post only to delete it by mistake… this is not the first time it happens to me so from now on I will type it in a document and then paste it to the board…. Maybe just maybe it won’t happen again…. I get quite :censored: when this happens…. It’s not a pretty thing…

Ledom: Hang in there girl you’ve come such a long way since the first time I met you on the Prevention Plan board… I really find you more positive than even last year, and I sincerely hope you won’t take offence to what I’m saying but I do find it to be true..…. Journaling surely helps me a lot, I usually write in my diary before going to the gym in the morning and afterwards to comment on how good my work out was or wasn’t …. One of my favorite mantras lately is this: “How badly do you really really :censored: want that (insert fav food here)” and stomp away from the kitchen to a bottle of water…. It has worked 99% of the time…

BethO : It’s so nice to see that you and hubby are so enthusiastic and are adapting this as a lifestyle, I truly do think this is doable forever… and congrats on your decision to do a “fun run” although I could never do that , because I find nothing “fun” about a “run” I really really dislike to jog, I’m more of the biking and blading type…

Niffer: :wave: how are you girl? Hope your arm is feeling better… I’ll e-mail you soon…

Mel: Stop looking at the snow! You’ll get snow blindness…:lol: Oh well that darn snow just look at it as a really good work out!

Adrana: So nice to see you with all those positive vibes, it actually shows through your writing… and all that cardio… good grief! How do you have so much energy! :cb: Good for you!! Keep at it… We will eventually reach all of our goals …. And no we can’t ski these days it’s just too darn cold!! -27C = -16C…. slightly too chilly for me… thank you very much!!

Tidey: You just get out there girl and think and do “outside the box” …. It’s scary but sooooo well worth it because you will feel the power once you do it a few times….

Mrs.J: :wave:

Wantobebuff: :wave:

I had a awesome LBWO this morning with my Sunday Pardner… I got this workout on the Dave Draper site… HUGO'S MASS BLAST #1,
Triset: -- Lunges, 5 sets of 10 reps (no rest) -- Leg Curls, 5 sets of 15 reps (no rest) – Squats, 5 sets of 10 reps (1 minute rest)
Then you do 8 sets of standing calf raises picking a weight that you can initially do for 20 reps. Only rest 20 or 30 seconds in between sets. Do not reduce the weight!
Better yet here’s the link: http://www.davedraper.com/leg-workout-mass-blast-1.html
We both really loved it and it was also a great cardio workout….
Anyways I’m going to stop babbling and hopefully this will go through this time …. If not arghhhhhhh…… ‘

Lana…

Hi again girls,

I was just e-mailing Niffer and asked her this:

"How is your FD going? This week once again I sorta blew it but maybe I didn’t, you can tell me what you think. I should run this by the girls on 3FC and see what they say too. This week for example Friday night (by this time I am just fed up of eating clean) so I had pizza, then Saturday I ate clean all day then last night someone dropped by so I had red wine :) and some cheese and whole wheat crackers…Today I ate clean but tonight I bought some fried chicken for the rest of the family, (ewwww -- I hate that stuff ) so I had a sandwich made with dense whole grain bread and turkey breast slices but I snuck in maybe 10 fried potato wedges …. If I would have all these items, pizza, wine, cheese, whole wheat crackers, fried potato wedges, in one day that would be considered a FD and I truly did not pig out on these things either, I only had everything in moderation. Now is that so bad? Let me know what you think…. "

What do you girls think? Is this too much food? Is this what is keeping me from my goal?

Lana dear,

it's very interesting that you wrote about this right now. we've been discussing this very issue over on another weight loss board i'm on, on another site. it got me to thinking last night, sometime after i was dead from the spinning.

personally, i think the purpose of all this that we're doing is to make our lives better. each one of us has a different lifestyle, a different goal, a different outlook. i don't think that something like eating clean 100% of the time is for everyone. not that it makes them a bad person, or less strong, or whatever.

i would like to see that each person gets to their own *program* and work it out so that they don't feel bad when they have the pizza here, the fries there, the cola another time. life is to be enjoyed. there has to be a balance of our desires, our likes/dislikes, etc.

so........... i think it's possible to do what you've done these past few days and still call it all your own way of life. why not have that pizza with the family if that's what you want. it's all about knowing when and how much, don't you think. if you had been on a pig fest for 4 days straight, eating everything in site and then you ate more pizza, well i would tell you to redefine your goals and see where it is that you want to go.

but you're doing what you know is good for you. you're doing what also fits into your family lifestyle, which is really, really important. you're also taking care of the little things in life that make it even better.

so, keep enjoying those foods and don't feel bad about it.

take care,

adriana

Good morning,
Lana, as long as you are in control and are keeping track maybe that is ok. CoryB over at L&S has some similar thoughts to free meals and it seems to work for him. Have you ever visited his web page? I just wanted to report that my day was clean yesterday, that I hit snooze for 10 min. only this a.m. and at 6 a.m. my LBWO is done! I wrote in my journal yesterday and I cooked too. I am holding my lifestyle choice foremost in my mind as I travel through this week. Mel, I just don't know what to say about all that snow. I know you must be tired of it, but I bet it is pretty. A good week to everyone.

Thank you adriana and ledom can I give you a *hug*...

Lana...