[littledove]

Hi LWL
Thought I'd introduce myself as I've been guilty of lurking too. I'm a 42y.o. fat chick whose been interested in weight training for years but never really done anything about it.
Middle age spread has attacked (mainly from the rear - very sneaky, I must say) so I've decided its time to get serious.
But doing it on my own has always been my downfall so I'm looking to you ladies for that touch of moral support - and the occasional kick in the pants - that I need.
I live in Mackay, thats in Queensland, Australia. My hobbies are sailing around all those beautiful islands off our coast and, OF COURSE, lifting weights

You sound like a great bunch
Dove

[Ilene]

Protein Powders ~~ I buy the cheapest brand at GNC, it's the only place around here that has any PP.. I doctor it up with ground flax, yes that's it... and gobble it down after a workout out or when I'm hungry between... I drink it so fast that I don't even tast it... So in other words I don't really care about taste...

I'm sabbotaging my diet these days, I must go out and buy some fresh chicken... the last batch I made was so dry I'm going to throw it out!...

I don't have much to report except food wise it'll be better tomorrow...

Later...

[JEC]

Another Aussie! - Dove I am in Sydney at the moment but moving to Maroochydore in the not too distant future! Nice to meet you!

Morning all. Having a crappy morning at work so I can't talk yet. Had an awesome workout last night - did chest/tris & shoulders followed by 40 mins of cardio. Drinking heaps of water and eating well. I ordered the EFL book last night so I should get it in the next few weeks hopefully. I made the brownies last night and they were nice but nothing to rave about. They were very moist but had that artificial taste to them. Not a bad substitute though. Thanks for the recipe Ledom.

JC

[Ilene]

Well, well, well, HELLOOOOO DOVE, what a pretty name.... WELCOME... Ya know the drill....WE LUVS NEWBIES!!!

Yep we are just what the doctor odered... We can give you that kick in the pants...

Can anyone give me one !!

[Mel]

Wow- chatty day and some great posts!
On protein powders:
I use HDT Problend 55 (Alpine Vanilla or Swiss Chocolate) for a protein powder- available at lots of sites on-line. I get it from netrition. I ike it because it's a blend of difference sources of protein, and is sweetened with stevia and AKU (????), not any of the "ols" or aspartame which all have various negative effects on me. Also, I love the taste! I usually add frozen strawberries or blueberries, or flax or have even just added raw oatmeal flakes for a carb. Or like Meg, my favorite breakfast (which I'm, currently avoiding) is 1/2 cup oatmeal with 1 scoop chocolate protein powder and a tablespoon of natural peanut butter When I first started making them in the blender with fruit, they tasted like ice cream to me! Now the canned stuff is another story. That I have to hold my nose and gag down. I only have it about once a month in a true emergency (read total lack of planning there.)

Meg: So what's the new split? I've done mine for -oh about a year now (change the exercises a lot tho). Maybe it's time for a change sine I know longer know the names of the days of the week, just identify them by body parts!

Hi littledove! Welcome and glad you came out of lurkdome

Mindi! You're back! Love the new avatar Are you into spinning classes these days?

Hope everyone had a great day- mine was LONG and I got my cardio done, but missed lifting due to spending 2 hours at the orthodontist with ds13 who is now sporting a mouth full of metal. Also missed 2 meals and thought I would faint. I didn't get hungry, actually, just felt like I was going to black out. NOT an all-star day. I'll get the lifting done Thursday, since that's usually a cardio-only day. Can't skip shoulders! Though I do find now that I'm working at the gym, I get a lot of extra workouts in just by racking and unracking machines and bars, holding or handing db's to people, etc. I didn't count on being this exhausted at the end of every day I'm sure I'll get used to it soon.

Gotta go make dinner or some sort for the guys-
Mel

[BfL_Cat]

Robin - sorry to hear you're under the weather. I woke up with a sore throat myself this morning - I really hope this isn't coming back again!

I'm a Myoplex Lite fan myself - I like the convenience of the envelopes for work, and I like the flavors. My latest fave is the Cappuccino Ice, which I'm having for breakfast. I have a Vanilla Cream for my 4th meal each day. I got them on sale at vitaglo.com, with free shipping, so they were right around $1 per shake. Not cheap, but it works for me.

I tried regular Myoplex, and the GNC equivalent, and found them to be much too thick and too sweet.

I use EAS simply protein for adding to my oatmeal.
Cindy

[diphthong]

Evenin' LWL!

Robin - sorry to hear you're feeling puny (Hoosier speak) and isn't that the hardest part about being sick? Trying not to eat the things we think will make us feel better? Runs in the same vein as getting too hungry or too tired. Sleep it off as much as you can - you can't eat when you're sleeping or taking a hot bath or shower. Get well, Poopsie, that's the main thing.

Welcome littledove! oh boy, oh boy, another sailor! My DH keeps telling me we are going to sail around the world - yeah well, I'll fly and meet him there. Blue water scares the heck out of me, and there isn't a lifeline short enough. Anyway, happy to meet you and glad you came out of lurkdom.

Cindy - I'll let you know about the midsection. Currently, it seems to be collapsing into 2 parts, the right and the left, same with the apron belly below. (not a pretty sight) I got a super deal at VitaminWorld.com on Tonalin CLA, about 120 days worth. SO we'll see if it makes any kind of difference.

Mrs. Jim - I think I will get the Food Guide next time I'm out shopping. Like everybody who read the book, I jumped ahead looking for "the diet." But there was none, not really! I think he laid it out pretty well, and those of us who have been dieting all our lives should have a pretty good handle on what's allowable and what's not. It's the combinations some people don't get, or high-gly carbs that some "diets" consider legal. I can see the point for the food guide, though for people who need it.

I'm still experimenting with PP's, but my mainstay is EAS HP Whey chocolate, I get at Wal-Mart for $10. I also like the egg PP I ordered on line, and just received a natural whey I got on-line that has a good taste. I guess I've been lucky in my choices. Like Ilene, some times I'm so hungry I'll gulp it down to fill my hole and don't even taste it until the last swallow. But I always never minded drinking down barium either.

Hey Cindy, that reminds me. I looked at the article you posted in the album by Mina. Do you think she got paid by EAS for the endorsement? Just curious.

Hi Ilene! Hi Mel! - Shoulders Yes! Yes! Hi JC! Hi Sunlover! (I'm a sun lover too.) If I'm not up by 5, I feel like I've lost half the day. Hi Cathy the Gweight! - you will learn as you go how to up the protein. And low-gly carbs won't put you too far off. Have patience and give it time.

Well, lemme offa here. I've got an urge to do some crunches, after talking about my splitting middle-section. Have a wonderful evening.

dip

[JEC]

Back again.

My hips are hurting from my cardio last night - it must have been the downhill part of the running - it can be so hard on my joints. My toes are hurting as well but that is from where I stubbed my toe on the stairs last night!

My sister and her two kids are arriving from Melbourne today to visit for a few days. I am so excited about that because she hasn't visited my place in 3 years. We live about 550 miles apart from each other and I usually make the trip down to see her at least once per year. Since our father passed away she has realised that family is so important so she is making the effort now which is nice. I plan on taking my nephews (8 & 10) to a theme park and the zoo on the weekend and they are all coming to watch me play soccer tonight as well. It's going to be a great weekend.

My sister eats low-carb so that's easy to accomodate! She has reached her goal weight though so she isn't overly strict anymore. She is 5'9 and 150lbs - gorgeous!

JC

[cat90]

Thanks for the info on the PP i guess i'll just have to experiment a bit its a pity that they don't make little trial packages for newbies like me I bought 2 videos yesterday at the mall..one of them is "stability ball for dummies" and i quite enjoyed it although i'll have to inflate my ball a little more because my bum was lower down than the instructors was (and i'm not talking about when i was stood up )

When i tried the PP today i mixed it with fat free skimmed milk, maybe i should try it with ice cubes and water tomorrow.

[littledove]

Hi again LWL
Thanks for the friendly welcome! You've already helped me out of a tight spot - there's chocolate in the house and I was weakening but came in here to talk to you lot instead.

Hey Dip - would you believe I'm terrified of deep water too? But I get so wrapped up in the beauty of the sails against the endless blue that I forget about it. Anyway the Skipper is so busy yelling at me to "stop being such a girl" that I don't get time to worry about water... and sharks... and seasnakes... and... I better shut up now.

I'm just beginning my routine and wondering if I'll ever be able to lift more than a bean can, very depressing to realise how weak I really am.

What is this BFL and EFL you're all yakking about? I'm guessing some kind of eating plan?
Please bombard me with your favourite protein shake recipes as I'm currently a carb junkie and constantly starving. The idea of meal replacement (and six meals a day!??) interests me hugely!

JC, nice to see another bonzer sheila from Oz - Hi from Mackay!

Thanks to all of you. I'm already enjoying this enormously,

talk later
Dove

[Meg]

Morning, ladies! Here I sit, waiting for the gym to open so I can do cardio. Mel — I didn’t get to try the new split — my buddy’s been sick for the past two days so we keep postponing the workout. I’ll let you in on what it is when we finally try it out. Sounds like a rough day yesterday for everyone.

Cindy — if there’s any pistachios left, get rid of them! Out of the house! Now!

Jen — carbs are a great sleeping pill, aren’t they? Knock me right out! I agree that it’s soooo important to have support while we’re doing this and here’s a whole group doing what you’re doing and feeling a lot of what you’re feeling. You’re not alone and anytime you start feeling that way, just check in with us.

Sunluver — it’s always been my understanding that thyroid problems are for life also. After I dropped all the weight, I was surprised that my Synthroid dose only dropped very slightly. I still go through the dosage readjustments frequently — I doubt if I’m ever on the same dose for more than six months at a time. Don’t compare yourself to how fast I lost — it doesn’t matter how long it takes to get there, so long as you get there in the end! I think I lost fast because my body was in total shock at what I was doing to it since it had been a sedentary blob for twenty years. It probably gave up the fat as fast as possible to try to get rid of this “new me” and go back to the comfortable couch and chocolate chip cookies.

Dear Robin, feel better!

Ilene — I hear you on how we sabotage ourselves — if I don’t plan the day’s menus in advance and make sure all the food is prepared, I’m sunk. It’s when I catch myself standing in front of the frig wondering what there is to that I know I’ve got a BIG problem …

Welcome Littledove!

on the midsection collapsing, Dip! Mine collapsed into skin … and skin …. handfuls of skin (which are now GONE, like Karen’s! ) What you wrote about clothes really rang a bell with me. I was/am a clothes junkie and did the best I could in the larger sizes, as you said: a selection of tasteful and complimentary styles to the former body/shell that I used to call me.

After four months or so of my new life, very little fit but I had nothing to replace the old things with and didn’t want to buy anything new since I was going down about a size a month. Reluctantly I cleaned out SIX big green trash bags of clothes (and there was stuff that I just loved and some still with tags!), gave first dibs to a friend, took the rest of the good stuff to the consignment store, and donated the remainder. I lived the rest of that winter with two pairs of pants and one skirt and a closet that literally echoed. I begged and borrowed old clothes from everyone to fill in the gaps.

Finally I was at a M top and size 10 pants — smaller than I had ever been in my life. “I’ll never get any smaller than this” I said, and bought some new clothes. Which I promptly shrunk out of . Then I saw a great pair of black velvet Ralph Lauren jeans at the end-of-season clearance, size 8. “I’ll never be too small for those”, I thought, and bought them. I hung them on my closet door and outgrew them in three weeks — wore them once. Once I hit 4s, I REALLY thought that this is it — can’t get too much smaller, right? Wrong again — I took most of my 4s to be taken in earlier this winter. The amazing thing — and point to this long-winded story — is that a lot of this final body changing happened with little or no scale changing. I keep getting smaller and smaller — some of it due to the skin removal but most due to muscle building. Even if the scale isn't budging, my BF changes and we all know that muscle is smaller and denser than fat, right?

The other interesting clothes experience I had, and I’ll pass it along in hopes you don’t make the same mistake — is that I started buying small clothes in the same styles that I had bought large clothes. In other words, I was still shopping to camouflage a body I no longer had. You know, the big shirts and long T-shirts to cover one’s butt, and elastic waist pants and all. It took me a while to realize that these styles weren't flattering and I didn’t have to wear them. I could go sleeveless or low-rise or crop top!

Ahhh, clothes … too bad I live in gym clothes now ….

Have great days, all — no chocolate (except PP), no pistachios, lots of water and lots of fun.

Meg

[ledom]

Welcome littledove. I like your hobby. I love water/boating too, though I am a kayaker and I paddle on a big lake, not an ocean. No seasnakes, but there are some other kinds here. But anyway, BFL stand for Body for Life, a eating and workout plan designed by Bill Phillips, EFL is Eating for Life, a new cookbook by the same author. I think it is a great plan for introducing one to the weight training lifestyle. Many of the folks here either are doing BFL or started with it. The 6 small meals a day that it advocates is indeed a wonderful way to eat. I think it solves a lot of problems that dieters run into dealing with hunger because every 2 1/2 to 3 hrs. you eat a healthy meal consisting of a protein portion, a complex carb portion, and w/ some meals a vegetable. I can't remember if any of the stickies at the top of this forum has more information but I think they do. If not, there is a Body for Life website, you can do a web search. There is a book, it seems some of our Australian friends do not have as much access to it as we do in the US however. Anyway, welcome aboard.

[Mindi]

Morning everyone!

So tell me, who's bought BP's Eating for Life? I'm not doing BFL, but some people on another forum have been RAVING about the recipes in this book and now I kinda want it! Anyone here try it out? Is it really worth the $$$??

Been walking during lunch break the past 2 days because we've had grand, sunny and somewhat warm weather for January and I can't tell you how sore my quads are! Who'd a thunk that doing a couple miles would sore one up like that???!!

Otherwise, been doing some supersets, did arms and shoulders last night. Mel, have any tips on chestwork? Its one of my hardest areas to work completely. Oh and by the way, no spinning. haha I saw an infomercial for a spinning bike and videos by Johnny G that looked kinda fun, maybe later.

Mrs J, I'm having another read through your fav "Fat of the Land," and I'm thinking the author should offer up another, with all the scams and hoopla out there, some sensible like his approach and Dr. Phil's approach are really needed! I mean I can't tell you how the media is bombarding everyone w/"TrimSpa" and "Release" and "Jenny Craig" etc.

Course I'm holding out for low carb Krispy Kremes! LOL

Have a healthy and safe day!

[ledom]

Mindi, I'm sitting here typing out syllabi so when your message popped up I was more than ready to be distracted. Yes, I think EFL is worth the money. I wasn't convinced right at first because the recipes seem so simple and I love cookbooks that have more complexity. On further examination and in trying, just a couple so far, I have been inspired by food combinations and ways of preparing that I hadn't thought of. So as it has sunk in I have decided in a way it is not simple at all. He uses some ingredients that I have never considered using like lowfat cheese and breadcrumbs, but they are in small amounts spread over several servings. It has opened me up to the possibility that food can be a little more interesting than baked chicken and a sweet potato (not that I don't like that). Anyway, after some initial buyers remorse, I have decided I really like the cookbook.

Robin, so sorry the bug got you. You gave a good effort to fend it off. Take care and give yourself time to recover. My MO is to rest, I think it makes recovery quicker. Did you miss your pilates class? If so, it'll be there when you feel better. My class starts tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it. I have a friend that is going to do it with me and she is much more experienced than I. She is also doing pilates and can't say enough good things about it. In her experience it has been miraculous in relieving her carpal tunnel symptoms.

[Meg]

Course I'm holding out for low carb Krispy Kremes! LOL

How about LF/LC/soy-enriched/organic KKs w/added vitamins and minerals? Then they'd have to be good for us!

Love Fat of the Land and his no BS take on obesity and the diet industry. I read it on Karen's recommendation and in turn recommend it to all. Unfortunately, it's out of print but I got my copy at www.alibris.com and other used booksellers may have it.

Meg