Good morning, oh fellow Maintainers! How did it get to be April 18, hmmm? I think I missed a few days last week!
I'm in the two week countdown for my trainers test, so spent the day yesterday making piles of notecards. I've found that I can read them while doing cardio, so that will be some welcome (and needed) study time.
And I go back to the doctor's about my toes this morning. I had a cortisone shot two weeks ago that was supposed to help. In reality, I still have a 2 inch black bruise on the top of my foot (where I got the shot) and my toes feel worse. Unfortunately, he wasn't offering me a lot of other treatment options other than surgery or toughing it out. Ugh.
My morning at the high school was a blast on Friday! I did the BodyGem metabolic test on a total of six volunteers and got resting metabolic rates of anywhere from 1900 (a thin girl) to 3600 (a huge football player). All are considerably higher than mine, which explains why they all eat can atrociously and don't gain weight (they talked about what they eat typically). But what was more interesting was their body fat %s -- I took a handheld BF calculator (bioelectrical impedance) along and did a lot of those tests too. There were quite a few of what we'd call 'skinny-fat' girls - girls whose weight is low but don't have much lean body mass so their fat % is actually rather high. They're all focused on the scale number and had never considered body composition before, so it was something new (and eye-opening?) to them.
It's going to be a busy week here and I need to do some food planning and prep so that I'm ready. It's grilling weather again so I can throw on a dozen chicken breasts and a bunch of 95% lean hamburgers and have them ready to go. Add some bagged salads, egg whites, oatmeal and apples and that's my week.
Enough about me ... how are the rest of you doing? Check in and say hi and tell us what's going on in your world ...
I stopped raining here! I mean it - it is SUNNY!!!
I changed my routine in exercise last week - thanks all of you guys who gave suggestions and especially Meg for pointing out that I have to increase my exercise! I started to work muscles to fatigue, and even though it is still not 4 times/week but only 3, but I also added one more extra cardio - and yesterday scale dropped 2 pounds... I am almost sure it is not because of new routine (washroom before???) but it all looked too encouraging that I purchased stationary bike yesterday - garage sale, but does not matter (I've got my treadmill for free and still enjoy using it).
Weekend was nice - we only had one thing sceduled and it was dog club members walk in the woods. I took hubby and kids and it happen to be hike rather than walk and we all had great time (especially dog and my son), my little 4 y.o. was riding on my back almost all the time - so I skipped weight lifting yesterday and did bike - he-he
Other than that everything was fine and I am looking into squeezing exercise into my routine during the week - I guess I seriously have to wake up earlier and do it in the morning...
Hope everybody has a good week!
Meg ~ all the best to you with your study... I am sure you will do your best! Also, great that going to high school was useful - sometimes it is nice to find out what you are doing wrong when you are a teen rather than when it is a bit too late. Well, it is never late, but easier when we are young...
Finally a spring week of weather. I am planning on enjoying some sunshine everyday to make up for the horrible winter.
Routine is back to a routine which is a good thing. Coming a bit natural once again instead of a struggle. So I hope to kick up my exercise a bit this week, no pressure just baby steps forward.
Meg:Good luck with the foot, as well as the studying.
Sandy: Sounds like after that hike you could have skipped cardio as well. I also need to get some exercise in in the morning. I have the time but I am like a turtle in the AM. I just dread doing anything. Any suggestions you have or find useful please share.
Hey everyone!!! Don't know if it's Spring or still Winter here. We had mid-70s this weekend (with sunburns even) and it's been snowing here much of today. I'm a SoCal girl who will NEVER get used to this Idaho weather!!
My goal to be an angel over the weekend was not reached. I'm still having trouble being consistent with my food on the weekends. I have to enter next weekend with a more specific strategy.
Took a big step today. I made an appt with a plastic surgeon. It's not until mid-July, but it feels good to do something concrete about my desire to have a tummy tuck (rather than just wonder about it every day). The surgeon I found comes highly recommended so I'm pretty excited to have found him. His consultation is FREE, too, which is a nice plus.
Gina, I know what you mean about routines. I really depend on mine and it's such a relief to get back to it once I've strayed.
Sandy, congrats on the 2 lbs!!
Meg, I'm so happy your talk went well. Wish I could have been there to benefit from all the info you presented. I'm sure I would have learned a lot. Way to go.
Hi to everyone else!! Hope you all have a fit and strong week.
Hello!
I've been lurking around, but not posting. I've been so busy, teaching a new adult ed class and getting our house ready to SELL. We bought a new house already and must sell our home by August 1st - probably not the brightest decision because now the stress is on for our home to be sold quickly!!! I'm not good in these situations, I get very anxious and that has resulting is some crummy eating habits lately. Not good!! The bright side is that my weight is only up 2 pounds and still within my maintainance range (barely, but still). Yesterday I ate only chocolate chip brownies I had baked for my son's school...today I'm determined to get back on track. Eating is not going to help the house situation.
Anne ~ Selling your house is a tough thing! We had the same situation last summer but we had only 2 month to sell. And also 3 kids and 2 cats, which were doing everything possible to mess up before showings. I think at least 4 out of 6 pounds I gained during summer last year were due to stress and non-consistant eating (I tried to keep my kitchen clean by eating junk !!!)
Anyways, try to relax and account for everything you put in your mouth - I am still struggling to get back where I was BEFORE we started to sell (BTW in our case it was a miracle as we sold our house on the day we had to go and discuss double mortgage).
Good luck!
Karyn - I noticed that only way I can behave on the weekends is to plan some vigorous activity (like family hike), prepare sandwiches for it and make sure there are no other place to buy food. Also, eliminate all possible temptations - like do not bake those brownies as you will be the one who finishes them! I was pretty good for the last 2 weekends and weight did come off - so I feel a bit rewarded for good behavior!
I also have question for fellow maintainers - probably some of you had the same issue. I eat fat free yogurt in the morning and try to limit my fat intake. Recently however I added handdful of nuts to my breakfast, started to use 1.9% fruit yogurt and also added some more fat into my diet (like a couple of table spoons of olive oil per day - not much). I noticed that since I started to do it I .... lost some weight! Like seriously scale finally started to go down not up! I also feel more full and often I eat my snack later as I am not hungry at 9:30 in the morning as I was before but now it is around 11 that I need my snack. Which leaves me enough time to go to the gym before lunch and enjoy my lunch at around 1:30 instead of 12 as I did before. Does somebody esle has experienced the same ever? Or is it just a coincidence?
Sandy, in a word - yes! When I was losing and my weight loss stalled, I would often find that I had cut waaaay back on my fat intake. Add in a little, like some olive oil, or an avocado, some nuts, etc. and I'd be losing again. Your body needs some fats, the good kind of course.
Does anyone else commute? How do you fit in the time to workout and the time to eat right and still get a little time to yourself? I've often wondered about people who say that they have a problem with snacking in the evening. But I've always figured that I don't have the problem because I get up early (4:15am) and go to bed early (9pm). I also wonder how people manage who work out for an hour or more every day. Last night, I started thinking about my time deficit and realized that if I wanted to compare my schedule to "normal" people, I just had to shift everything ahead 2 hours. So I get up at 6:15. I do the usual morning things including a decent breakfast and packing a 'clean' lunch…so it’s almost 8 now and I leave for work, arriving here somewhere around 9:30, depending on traffic. I take lunch at 2pm (no wonder I’m hungry by then!) and take a 20 minute walk and then try to eat and work at the same time. I finish up around 6pm but it’s usually 6:30 or 6:45 when I get out of my office. I get to my home town around 8pm but 2-3 days a week I stop at the gym first so I don’t get in the door until about 8:45 or so. Then I usually start dinner and call my mother (lives in a retirement home) who gives me attitude that I’m doing something else while I’m talking to her. But on the bright side, once my dinner is made, I have a good excuse to finish the conversation. It is now about 9:15 – 9:30. I sit down to eat and when I finish it is about 9:45 or 10pm. I now have a hour to relax before I have to go to bed if I want 7 hours of sleep. I can make do on 7 but really my body seems to want 8. What started me thinking in the first place was that my daughter called me the other evening and was shocked that I was not at the gym and not on the phone with her grandmother. Actually, so was I.
Just a drive by HI.
Barb I don't know how you keep up that schedule as it is never mind with more. One idea is talking to Mom on a cell phone with ear phones while driving or during work if possible.
Good Luck
I have busy life with 3 kids - 15, 6 and 4, two cats, a dog, and husband who is currently working about 10 hours/day and some weekends and drives to work about 3 hours/day. Also home which really needs renovations and no money to do it - so we do it ourselves... All my kids have extra classes... I work full time. Like 8 hours/day. I used to commute 1 hour one way, now it is 35 minutes (hence renovations in the house and higher day care prices).
I can say that you CAN become more organized. Like every day of the week I know what I will be doing. Like I have allotted time for everything. I put it all in my outlook at work. I run/weight lift during lunch hour - so I have to stay at work 9hours/day in order to actually work 8 hours. I pack my lunch every evening, so that I can leave my home exactly at the time I need. I also eat it in my office so that I do not have to use cafeteria - plus i know that what I eat is healthy and prepared by me. I prepare my clothes and kids clothes night before, I actually dress up my 4 y.o. in the evening in her clothes, so that we do not argue in the morning what she is going to wear. I have shopping list on my fridge - I only have to check items I need out of it. I know exactly that shopping for family of 5 will take me 2 hours including the drive - so if I am 15 min late my hubby usually starts to worry that my car did not start.
In your case I would schedule your calls to your Mom. Like put it 30 minutes and try to do it while on the stationary bike on or the treadmill. Also, schedule your gym right after work, put your watch on alarm and as soon as it beeps, excuse yourself from your collegues and leave. First they will look at you, afterwards, they will get used to it. I leave my work at 4:53 in order to get on the highway before 5 - and it saves me 30 min on my drive home. Sometimes I have to leave in the middle of the meeting, but I worked my 8 hours - is it my problem? I noticed that people get more organized when they work with organized people... I think problem of not having enough time starts with actually beeing to relaxed in using time in the first place. Imagine if your mother stays with you and you have to be home by 5 to feed her - you will HAVE to be home by 5 - so why not be home by 5 now?
Of course I understand that giving advices is one thing and actually making it all work is another. I sometimes schedule appointments with my husband - like we schedule our vacation on the email - otherwise we will never have time to syncronize our ideas. It is sad but solves a problem... But I wish I lived in my childhood when I had all the time in the world and did not use it properly...
Sandy - You're scedule sounds exhausting and I think it is great that you are able to make it all work out, including sceduling the time you need for your own.
Gina - glad you are up and running again !
Flowers - You really seem to have a full scedue, and having a 3 hour commute every day does not help at all of course.
Apart from moving closer to your place at work to cut down on your commute you may be able to shave some time off the 1.5 hour you now need to get out the door in the morning or use that time to get your workout in ? I do my workouts at home to save me the time to get to the gym, and I do them before I start my day else I would not do them at all.
Everybody still alive out there????
It's been a brutal week here...I've put in more hours than I ever have before, and have been rewarded with a fibromyalgia flare-up Thank heavens they've become so infrequent since I changed my eating, lost weight, and started seriously lifting, that I almost didn't recognize it for what it was and at first thought I'd pulled a muscle in my back. But today the pain seems to have miraculously disappeared, so I'm smiling again. I did manage two full body workouts (my idea of "rest") this week, but have been skipping the big deadlifts
Food has been on, and despite really sluggish cardio, the scale is holding. This is making me wonder about the necessity of all that detested cardio if I'm eating really clean and spending most of the day lugging weights around a gym anyway
Soooo....how are you all? Enjoying spring?
Flowers- my solution would be to move. Seriously. Unless you are located midway between your job and a dh's, or tied to a school district or an old family estate...I'd give up house size for time at this point in my life. I see you live in Barrie. Do you commute to Toronto? I know a lot of people who do, and I think it would just be brutal!
Maintainers - Week Of April 18 - 24
How did it get to be April 18, hmmm? I think I missed a few days last week! 
I have to enter next weekend with a more specific strategy. 
and still within my maintainance range (barely, but still). Yesterday I ate only chocolate chip brownies I had baked for my son's school...today I'm determined to get back on track. Eating is not going to help the house situation.
