[lessofsarahtolove]

Introduction:

For several months, three of us supported each other in the Exercise forum, and then a couple more joined in. We are a very small and close-knit group of intelligent, motivated people at different points in our journeys. Each of us is focused on exercise, whatever form it takes, as well as overall good health.

We want to keep this group small, so we can give quality attention and support to one another, not only in achieving our fitness goals but in our lives as well.

[lessofsarahtolove]

HELLO, you guys!!! Welcome to the new thread!

I posted my last update on the old thread, along with the link to our new home. I can't wait to see you guys in the new digs!

[GEMonster]

YEAH SARAH! MAKING THE SECOND GOAL IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations! I am so damn proud of you. I would love to give you a great big hug but since I cannot I'll have a glass of wine and cheer your success instead! YEAH SARAH!
I'm getting teary eyed I am so damn proud of you! Just get yourself feeling better! Tell Lorraine no cigarettes near you! How is her new jobby job by the way?

MY update - Well I have been on target with 250-300 minutes of exercise this week. I just got back from helping my friend move for the 3rd time today but she is my longest oldest and pregnant friend...so how can you say 'No' 3 hours of lifting and hauling and sweating!!!

I have been doing the 250-300 minutes a week for 12 weeks now and logging in my food for about 6 weeks and I have lost a total of 1 pound. So I am little (okay alot ) frustrated. I making an appointment with a nutritionist but any other suggestions - I am ALL ears. I may try the Body for Life program because it is a different pattern of eating that I have never tried and maybe with my metabolism, body type I will try it. I am eating between 1300-1600 calories a day depending on exercise and everything and I am LOGGING my food. Did I ever thank you for that suggestion of DIet Power Sarah? Because if I didn't - THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I tried the Weight Watchers Way and hated it but I hated Weight Watchers too....that's another story for another time as are alot of others I am sure .


Gen how are you? Way to keep pressing on with the running! on not eating any baklava because that may have been the ONLY thing I would of ordered

I am digging the new thread. The title -eh yanni - we can figure out as we go on.

to Lynne and Candra. I will check in tomorrow.

Quote:
Elegance is refusal. -Coco Chanel

be well.

Summer

[gatsby]

i just knew it...sarah, you would reach your 2nd goal in no time! oops how'd he get here??

do you think it's a little overkill?....naw... you deserve it. way to go.
so i guess that means you will back to the crossbow?? sure it does.
and i don't mind the name at all...i was teasing
if summer doesn't like it she can change it . i will just follow along.

well summer the plateaus are hard. i don't know anything about fit for life. i don't know any answers but i thought up a few questions you can think about.
let's see do you want to change your diet up a bit? how about your exercise? i don't know what you eat but since you're using the powerful diet power you have an idea. is your weight loss goal manageable, do you go over your calories (i do often ) are you sticking to your fat, carb, and protein % goals, with not too much sugar? what did you set them at? are you getting the right amount of vitamins and minerals? maybe you need more lean protein and less carbs? or maybe it's less fat you need?
ok next...exercise
i know you play tennis, walk fenway and it seems that lately you've added some new workouts. i know tennis can be pretty intensive but there's a lot of stop and go so maybe your heart rate is not elevated for a long enough continuous time? is it possible to add an intensive cardio workout. like jogging or biking or an aerobics class once a week? a little change up and jump start...something to shock your system a little. something measurable so you can improve and see the improvent every week or two like distance or speed or time? you know what i mean??? arg...eloquence is not my forte
my sister is having the same problem and i'm trying to help her but we're not having great success. she e-mails me her food everyday and i enter it into my dietpower and tell her the good and the bads news and what she has to do and all that.

i went swimming today. 35 minutes, 24X18metres. it's not easy i tell you. but it felt good.
will i go jogging tomorrow if it stops raining? did i tell you about the 5k race in september? i asked my mom-in-law if she would do it with me and she said yes. she can jog for a long time though, been doing it for a while. i think it will be fun.

happy weekend ladies
good health to you both (and that's to you too sarah)

gen

[Merrick]

Sarah, fantastic job, what an accomplishment!!!!!! Yea to you. Keep up the good work. I would type in all those little pictures, but I don's know how.

Summer, how long have you been on your plateau?

As for me, well, I had lots of computer promlems for the past 3 days and lots of company... what an excuse not to exercise as much and eat with my guests.

However, I really feel the not logging in hury me the worst. I felt motivated when I was logging in for those few days. Well I am back and will keep on coming back.
Thanks to all of you. Lynne

[gatsby]

welcome gretchen to our little group. happy to see you here lynne.
today is lazy day, last day of weekend, tomorrow will feel like vacation time when i don't have to get up and go to work and see all those wonderful, well behaved, always happy, cheerful children. i will miss them dearly for the next two weeks
nothing to report, all's well

gen

[lessofsarahtolove]

Ok, guys -- this is going to be a quick one, with more to follow tomorrow.

Summer, Gen, and Lynne: You guys are simply wonderful. Your support is so important to me, and I can't tell you how much it helps me and makes my life better. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Summer: Plateaus are ugly. There is just no getting around it. It's so hard to keep putting in the effort, and not get that little bump of energy that comes from seeing quantifiable results. You know, though, that this condition will not last forever. It CAN'T, with the amount of effort that you're putting in. I'd like to help you if I can, but I don't really know the specifics of your current nutritional plan. I would find it really helpful if you could share an overview........then I could give you some feedback that I think would apply to your situation.

Gen: I'm so excited for you! This vacation business sounds very nice indeed. I think I've heard of this thing you call a vacation, but I'm not sure I'm really clear on this concept of "two weeks." Could you clarify?

Lynne: I'm really glad that you returned. It's all a learning process, you know? Now you know that what you get here has a valuable place in your plan for wellness and good health. What a good thing to have learned! So what's your plan for the week?

Candra: You around? Hope things are going well with you.

I go back to the doctor next weekend; until then, here's my plan for this week:

Monday: 20 minutes cardio (treadmill or bike)
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: 30 minutes cardio (treadmill or bike)
Thursday: 20 minutes cardio (treadmill or bike)
Friday: Off
Saturday: 45 minutes cardio (treadmill or bike)
Sunday: 45 minutes cardio (treadmill or bike)

It's not where it should be, nor is it where it was....but it's definitely progress. I'll didn't designate HIIT or LSD because I'm going to play that by ear. Right now I can't imagine doing HIIT cardio yet, but you never know. As for treadmill vs. bike, I'm going to play that by ear as well.

More anon.

[gatsby]

sarah it works like this. i work and work. and then i get two weeks off. thats fourteen days, a fortnight if you will. during this period i DO NOT go to work at all. even on weekdays. for full time employees who have been working for a minimum amount of years this is the LAW of the land. this is a holiday really, a vacation may imply that i am actually going away during this period and not staying in my home. this is not the case however. at the end of this two week period i do have to return to my regular working schedule however unless i get fired during said period in which case i get a much longer holiday which i may have spend out of my home, in a cardboard box perhaps, so then it may be termed a vacation.okey dokey.
sounds like a good week of exercise. now i'm only going to ask one more time then i'll shut up about it until you give the go-ahead. what about the crossbow?
keep up the good work summer, chin up. we'll figure this out.

tomorrow i'm going to the gym with my sis and a friend who is going through a hard time. it should be fun and good for her. we've been friends for almost 30 years and has had the hardest life of anyone i know.
i want to be really good about eating this week (today started off really good but then....) to bring this weight loss thing up a notch. ok tomorrow will be on target and clean. hold me to that please

have fun tomorrow all
gen

[Merrick]

Good Morning everyone,

Gen, enjoy your two weeks off. Are you going anywhere special? Or better yet, enjoy staying home and not going to work or any "have toos"

Sarah: thank you for the encourangement. I am glad I learned the lesson quickly how important you all are to me and my achievement

My Plan with week:
Monday: minimum 20 minutes of the Firm tape
Tuesday: 20 minutes of Pilates
Wednesday: minimum 25 minutes Firm Tape
Thursday: 20 minutes Pilates
Friday: minimum 25 minutes Firm Tape
Saturday: 20 minutes Pilates
**Take a walk on the beach after supper each night about 25 minutes (when the humidity breaks)

Enjoy your day, stay focused, breathe, smile, be grateful for where you are today.

Lynne

[lessofsarahtolove]

Good day, my friends! Well, right on the heels of getting such enormous support and loving care from you guys in response to my having hit my second goal, I'm going to announce that I'm now another pound down, putting me at the 50-pound point. Woo hoo!!

Lynne, sounds like you've got yourself a good plan there! Great job mapping it out -- now on to execution! (That was as much for me as for you, since I'm getting back into the swing of things now after the breathing-related time off.) Have you ever heard that expression, "A failure to plan is a plan to fail?" Well, when it comes to weight loss, I believe that with every fiber of my being -- it has been through planning that I have made any progress at all. I swear, if I didn't make a plan for my eats and exercise, I'd end up eating crap and sitting still!

Gen, thank you for elaborating on those vacation/holiday-related concepts. Fascinating stuff. I believe I might like to have one of those sometime myself! Maybe I need to move to Canada. Hey, now there's an idea!! Eureka!! Then I could marry the woman I've loved for almost 6 years, not ever worry about having health care or living in a safe and clean environment, and not have to live with the knowledge I , like a large portion of the world, hold my country's administration's wisdom and policies in question. But I digress....

Summer, hope all's well with you, and that you're keeping your chin up and muscles flexed! I really thought that Gen had some great questions and ideas in her post about your plateau a couple of days ago. I'm really interested in hearing more about your diet, but off the top of my head not knowing the particulars of your eats, I'd suggest smaller, more frequent meals (5-6) and limiting yourself to low-glycemic carbs, drinking gobs of water and really limiting your sodium intake, really watching your fat and keeping it to a max of 25% of your calories, and then finally maybe increasing your (lean) protein percentage slightly, to outweigh your (complex and low GI) carb intake. I really believe that with all of these components and the great exercise you're doing, you can't help but see some movement. Another thing might be to limit your carbs in the evening, consuming the bulk of them earlier in the day -- when you need the energy to sustain you during your more active times. What info are you getting from DietPower? (I'm VERY glad you're enjoying the program, by the way. When I've recommended it to others, they've been disinterested -- perhaps they're deterred by the cost -- but I really think that paying the price of dinner for two is completely outweighed by the benefits the software provides. But I'm preaching to the choir, so I'll shut up. :zip: )

[Merrick]

Hey Summer, A thoutht has just occurred to me
How hard would it be to NOT to weigh yourself for 2 weeks and go strickly on how you feel? This would be hard for me, I weigh myself alot, bad habit, but just a thought. Keep up the good work, DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED, IT WILL HAPPEN.

Lynne

[GEMonster]

Hey ladies!


The Plan of Attack for the week:
Sunday: NOTHING
Monday: Walk Fenway at least 20 minutes and Yoga for 30 minutes
Tuesday: Tennis for 60 minutes, walk Fenway for 30 minutes
Wednesday: Walk Fenway for 30 minutes, Pilates for 30 minutes
Thursday: Walk Fenway for 30 minutes and deal with my family (believe me it's exercise)
Friday: Tennis for 60 minutes and walk Fenway for 30 minutes
Saturday: Yoga for 90 minutes and gardening.

Lynne - I like your plan of action. I find starting is the hardest part but once you get going you feel all the better for it. I do most of my exercise in the morning and I am not a morning person in any sense of the word! but I do it because it gives me energy that I otherwise might not have and time to see my husband when he comes home.

Gen- have fun on your vacation - whatever you may do or not do! I like that you are mixing up the exercise. I love swimming. My mother used to say I was born with fins. I used to be a competitive diver until I blew out my knee and my sister was a champion swimmer in backstroke. I still love to swim.The smell of chlorine gives me good memories...strange,n'est-ce pas?

Sarah bravo on the 50 pounds! Keep it up. You are such a role model for me regarding this stuff.

Wow! Lots of great questions on my plateau - That makes me think as well.

I am trying to keep the chin up. I am still exercising. As with Tennis my husband I continually play and volley and get all competitive but not too many matches with the serve and volley. We just keep going until all the balls are no where near us and then we start again.

As for my eating I have no problems changing it up a bit - it is the learning how and getting into the habit of but I am willing! My Diet Power says I am usually on target with my fat (between 20 and 30%) I can do better with protein and certain vitamins - that much I know! I do not go over calories or if I do I have banked calories so I can do that - especially with weddings and showers this summer. To be honest I get all confused with food because I have so much info in my head and some of it is probably not true.

I need to find some different exercise to put a shock into my habits - you are right- but no jogging my knees will hate me for a long time. Some times I jog with Fenway...but it is more like he pulls me along! Not the best Kodak moment for me.

Lynne I like your idea about not weighing my self for 2 weeks - I will hide my scale - out of sight is out of mind.

Thanks for all your input and questions! Keep it coming because you truly make me better.

Quote:
"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."
-Nelson Mandela

be well.
Summer

[gatsby]

hi ladies,

hope you all had an excellent day. i'm glad i went to the gym tonight because although i do it often i don't really like sitting around all day. i'm not good at make work projects for myself. i hope the cleaning lady comes tomorrow and doesn't leave in horror when she gets here. it's so awful i can't even stand it, i'm a slob it's true .
i ended up going to the gym with my sis, my friend couldn't come. i decided we needed to rev things up a bit so i added to all our weights. we haven't upped our weights since...well we just haven't. my sis is still paranoid about bulking. well we managed and then i realized something and said to her "you eealize we are supposed to be working out at this level of effort every time? i think we've been coasting." so we did upper body and crosstrainer for 30mins. it was the first time my arms were sore doing the crosstrainer so we must of been doing something right. tomorrow is legs and jogging, either on track or treadmill. i think i've lost some more weight but the scale is at my moms (at work if you will) so either i go over there in the morning before eating or just go along till i go back to work. guess which one i'm more likely to do (hint: see guy laughing on the floor).

summer, sounds like a good week ahead. re your plateau, i'm just wondering if you are getting enough cardio? it's so hard to find something when you have bad knees. what about swimming once a week since you enjoy it. how much protein are you averaging? and sugar? are you getting enough fibre.
there's a tv show here called balance and today they had a guy on talking about increasing your metabolism. here's what he said (or some of it). stress causes your body to release cortisol which in turn causes you to store fat and crave carbs. anti-oxidants help to lower cravings, they are vit C and vit E among others and blueberries are full of them. chromium helps your insulin receptors work better, which then decreases fat storage and increases the metabolism of sugars in your cells. but too much can be toxic. you need iodine for your thyroid which controls so many things in your body, including your internal furnace. good foods: kidney beans, brown rice and wheat germ. that's it in a nutshell. ooooof.

lynne sounds like you have a good week of exercise planned too. when planning is followed by execution then you are a

sarah just keep being our inspiration. you are doing sooooo great. bravo. if you want to move up here don't forget your parka and igloo saw . i polled 30 million of my closest friends and we decided that we'd be more than glad to have you.

gen

[Merrick]

Well, yesterday was a success, I exercised, I ate well. I am proud of me. One day behind me and another a beautiful day to focus on- today-

I hope you all have a wonderful, happy day

Enjoy your journey

[tolose85]

Hello everyone! I've finally made it over here! I have heard such WONDERFUL things from Sarah about all of you ! She really thinks you girls are great and I am sure I will too!

Where to start: I'll formally introduce myself to you. I'm 28 years old 5'4", married to Jeremy and I have two dogs, Philly- a shish-tzu and Thome-an american bulldog, along with a cat Maddie! I work for a hospice provider as a Community Education Rep/ Admission Trainer and live in Central Pennsylvania.

My Journey with weightloss: Up until March 8, 2004, I was on a rollercoaster of dieting. Yo-Yo I guess is what they call it these days.. I've tried every fad diet you can think of and managed to get myself up to 225 lbs. I have never been a thin girl but today, I am happily in the midst of my weight loss journey with 64 lbs gone simply by watching calories, cutting out the sugary fatty food and exercise. I didn't think it could be so easy!

My goal for now is to reach 140 lbs. I am currently experiencing a plateau going on 5 weeks. I had a 1 lb loss last week but I think that I just hit the scale at the right time. I'm ok with this for now.. I keep moving forward. Ultimately, I would love to be around 130 or so.. We'll see where my body feels comfortable.

I will tell you that I am a positive person, and love to be a motivator. I do need a little motivation in the exercise department. Ever since my gym closed down, I've been struggling at home. I am hoping to remedy this as Sarah has said so many great things about the CrossBow! This week, I am ordering one for myself. I am pumped up! I am also hoping to get some suggestions from you gals on what to do for some "problem" areas I am dealing with. Specifically... the stomach region. While my stomach has gotten smaller I still have that lovely pouch. Under my arms... kinda flabby.. between the thighs... a little wiggily! What do you suggest??

I am pretty proud of myself considering this is the first time in my life I have really changed my lifestyle of eating rather than jumping on some fad diet for a temporary fix only to gain double the weight back.

I have gone from a size 20 to a size 12/13 I am wearing Juniors for the first time in my life. I haven't been this weight since 10th grade in highschool!!

Wow, this got a bit winded. I hope I didn't bore you to tears!! I am looking forward to getting to know all of you. I am also looking forward to your expertise.. You girls are kicken some butt yourselves I see!! What's your plan of attack?

Thanks again for allowing me to join your group. I am very excited.. Sarah is just wonderful, and I know she surrounds herself with like-minded people so you girls MUST be AWESOME!

I can't wait to get more involved here!

Cheers!