I take a multi-vitamin, plus the vitamins and minerals I'm getting in 2 Myo Lites a day. Plus, I take vitamin E with my l-glutamine on lifting days. The only thing I'm not doing, that you gals have mentioned is the extra vitamin C. Guess I should add that to my routine!
Cindy
Sorry, seems like I slipped back into my lurker status. Time to come out.
Talking about being sick.... uggh. I got sick with west nile last summer and never recovered from it. My most recent diagnosis is that I developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome following the virus. I guess CRS frequently follows a viral infection and it has something to do with the immune system getting out of wack along the way. The body gets confused about fighting the virus and starts fighting itself. CRS is grouped with all the autoimmune diseases like lupus and fibromygalia (spelling on that??)
Anyway I feel good for a few hours a day and have been making exercise a priority at that time. I'm eating pretty clean (very clean with a few indulgences). Take several vitamins and supplements. They recently put me on a stimulant (yesterday was the first day) to help with energy levels and wow, that seems to help. The workouts have been screamin along on that stuff. yikes.
Ahh sickness. You know, I've never been one to get very sick...even before when I was fat. Of course, I felt like crapola most of the time...who wouldn't at 265 pounds?
But with the exception of the mandatory kid diseases (chickenpox, measles, mumps) which we all got at the same time (poor Mom...I just sent her a BIG FTD bouquet for Mom's Day today...) I was the healthiest banana in the bunch! Ya know what comes to mind - a series of books I loved as a kid and still enjoy reading today - the "All-of-A-Kind Family" series by Sydney Taylor - about a family of 5 girls and their adorable baby brother (who was born at the end of book 1) living in NY around 1910. The middle girl was named Henny - she was the tomboy, always wanted to be DOING SOMETHING wild (I don't mean 'wild' like today's kids, but you know, always having fun or wild ideas). In the first book, there's a chapter when all the other girls got sick - I think it was scarlet fever - except for Henny and she SOOO wanted to be sick too! My two baby sisters were ALWAYS getting strep throat or something. Ai yi.
I'm disgustingly healthy. Supps - right now I OCCASIONALLY take a multi, but usually I forget I used to take all the stuff, like Udos and glutamine and creatine and such, and I might start taking it again, but then again maybe I won't!
Just dropping in for a quick "hello." As I've mentioned, I'm jobless right now by choice, and I'm afraid the house projects are turning me into the annoying stay at home mom decorator type. UGH & EEKS!!! But, really, I'm trying to coordinate fixing some problems with our house, so its something different to work on. Anyway...I had a good cardio & weight workout this a.m. & have my yummy iced coffee here with me. Making oatmeal as I type.
Robin, Did you make it up at 5 a.m.?? I know you did, so tell me all about it!!! Don't be a sugar shark, I must go re-read that skinny post.
The sun is shining in NH today, it is just GORGEOUS outside. I'm going to edge my gardens and pray I hear from a prospective employer (I'm looking for a job teaching High School Computers/Business).
A quick post to say hullo. But don’t expect too much sense. There have been far too many moving parts for me today, and also this week. Let me quote from Airegrrl: ‘What I suppose I really need is rest, a bath, rest, a walk, rest, a really good meal or meals and more rest.’ Yes, that is exactly what I need.
I like the goals for the day idea. I think that’s what I’ve been driving at with my digestion, posture, sleep project. I might try to break them down into smaller pieces. Let’s call them bite-sized pieces, for the sake of argument! Chew each mouthful thoroughly. Sit up straight at the table/desk/steering wheel. Switch off the light at 1015 each night without fail. That kind of thing.
I also like the Best of LWL idea. It seems such a waste when hard-won diamonds of insight just slip between the floorboards. I know future generations may possibly find them but there are people living and breathing now who need them.
Just as a aside, I can’t believe that Jack is the only man who reads LWL. He might be the only male poster but I sure there are at least a few male lurkers (don’t mean this to sound sinister – sure you know what I mean). They’re welcome to post too, aren’t they? This is such an inclusive group. Not such a snappy title but how about LGWL?
Tiki – thanks for believing in me but I can’t do 6 minutes of hula-hooping! I have only done 6 twizzles (not sure of the technical term so that will have to do) once and mostly just do 1 or 2. I am keeping at it, though. Good luck with getting through your monster meeting. Rest assured, there’s life beyond. Got to be.
Anne – don’t panic about losing the food plan. Breathe (I keep telling myself this). You’ll be back on track soon, I’m sure. And more work will come along (I keep telling myself this too).
Better go. More bits and pieces to sweep up here before I go home. Oh, and out of interest, I’m making my way through a pot of nettle tea. Toxins, begone! And good for hayfever sufferers too, I believe.
WHEW! I tried to post earlier today but I made a BIG mistake this morning and am finally recovering from it. I had a PP shake at home and then a double coffee - REGULAR COFFEE - at the office. I had the shakes so bad I couldn't put together a coherent sentence verbally let alone typing it out. So instead I cleaned empty offices and cubes, boxed up a bunch of stuff to ship out and ordered lunch for the entire office (Subway and a garden salad). Now I am sort of back to normal, but I am still a little on the jumpy side.
Hi Silver, I am sure you will get up to six minutes. Envision the hoop, be the hoop!
Anne - Hang tough. This too will pass and you will be back on track, kicking butt and dropping pounds before you know it.
I was on point with food last night! Yeah me! Did NOT get a workout in yesterday and sadly, will NOT get one in today. However, Saturday am is set to go as well as Sunday AM. I am thinking about combining some of my splits since my schedule is getting busier during the week. I can't keep skipping muscle groups because I will be struggling just to maintain my current strength level instead of increasing it.
I was all set to write one post, but after catching up on today's reading, I really have to start with something that Silverbirch said:
"Don’t panic about losing the food plan. Breathe (I keep telling myself this). You’ll be back on track soon, I’m sure. And more work will come along (I keep telling myself this too)."
Bear with me .... I'm thinking out loud here. Maybe what we're all going through is not so much troublesome times or disasters or whatever else we've called them. Might it not be easier to cope if we just thought of them as the ebbs and flows of life? Let me put it another way.
I think you all know that I'm an opera fan. Well, after any given performance, you'll often hear people say that such-and-such a singer was "in really good voice" tonight, or too bad that so-and-so was in "really poor voice" at this performance. What that means is not that a beautiful voice totally disintegrated in one fell swoop, but that the highs were not as high; the lows were not as low; the tone was not as pure; and the overall beauty was not as strking tonight as it had been in other performances. What all of us opera nuts yearn for is that spectacular performance when all systems are go. The singers are feeling great; they're singing like gods; and the performance is a life-changing experience.
Now, why does that happen some nights and not others? the music doesn't change. But the singers do. Why? Because singers are mortals. They wake up on the good side of the bed and the bad. Some days they feel great; some days they feel punk. And if they happen to have a performance on a night they feel punk, too bad. They still have to go out there and sing.
Now, don't you and I have to go out there and sing as well? Some days we can't be stopped. Other days we can hardly get started. And the state of our minds and our psyches and our bodies and our appetites and our exercise all hangs in the balance.
It's all ebb and flow. As Silverbirch says, we'll be back on track soon. And more work will come along. Maybe what we need to be doing is taking it one day at a time while at the same time taking the longer view. We overeat or underexercise today and we compensate tommorw.
Please don't misuderstand. I'm not dismissing the trinity. Nor am I unaware that sometimes falling off the wagon today can start a months-long slide into the abyss. Those are all-too-real threats. I oughtta know; been there and done that.
BUT. Life is life. Good days and bad days. And we need to roll with those punches. Balance. Balance. Balance.
Ok. I think I've rambled on quite enough. I don't seem to have a ringing conclusion. If this were a speech, I'd flunk brilliant endings. But since I'm thinking out loud, I think I'll just sign off witha hug to all.
Oh, How I love to start my day to a wonderful ramble like that Robin. I don't have time to post more, I have things to do places to go. But, I just wanted to say: Thank you !
I just love this forum. We all work together to take ideas forward. Words, words, words – that’s how we work things out.
Airegrrl’s opera analogy is terrific. Of course I accept that people sing better on some nights than others. It’s normal. However much you train the voice, practise, rehearse – well, less good performances happen. It’s human. Singers feel off-colour. They have rows at home. We can understand that. Their washing machine breaks down. MrsJim can relate to that.
But this losing weight and girth business. This gaining strength and fitness carry-on. Well, it’s science, isn’t it? There are figures and formulae and equations and graphs to prove that it’s science. Yes, it is and I accept that. But it’s also to do with humanity in all its creaking, imperfect, strange forms. Those humans who have off days. Like me.
I think I can get so swept up in the scientific and measuring part – which I can convince myself is bound to lead to success - that I can forget to be forgiving and accepting of my poor body. Especially when I’m looking for results. But really, if I do want to be all scientific about this, I’ve got to factor my frail humanity into the equation.
You’re right, Rambling Robin. We’ve got to accept the ebb and flow. We’ve got to just … rock and roll … with it. (More work needed on this final paragraph, friends, but have to go off into the drizzle. I have to ‘be the hoop’. Thanks, Tiki.)
Silverbirch.
Last edited by silverbirch; 05-08-2004 at 10:10 AM.
I've discovered a new predicament that comes along with lifting - I don't thinks it wise for me to mow my lawn the day after working my upper body. My arms and shoulders are literally burning right now - I have a rather large lawn, and although my mower is self propelled, with an uneven lawn I still have to do a lot of pushing...
Anway, I think mowing will have to be kept to Wednesdays now - the day that is furthest away from any UBWO! Wait - that is my golf day - now what will I do? I'll have to give this some thought... And this makes me wonder about the tennis clinic I was planning on starting, which is on Monday nights - also a UBWO day (doing chest/shoulders on M, back/bis/tris on F).
Had some good news on the scale this week - not sure exactly what it means of if it will stay, but Thursday am I saw 188 on the scale, Friday am it was 187, and this morning it was 185! Now I know I can't be losing that much in a day or two, but considering the fact that I've not seen the scale move since Christmas, I'm thrilled to see some new numbers! I think I'll keep an eye on it for the next week before I decided whether or not I can really claim it. My hands, feet and face are quite lean right now, and that's typically been a sign that I was going to drop some weight, so I'm hoping for the best!
Tiki - congrats on getting your food back on track!
I've been enjoying all of the wise words from everyone as well. Not much to contribute, but the wisdom is always helpful.
Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their weekend. I think I'll go take some Advil and try to move my arms as little a possible the rest of the day!
Happy Mom’s Day, all! DH and I are taking a road trip to visit his mom today — we were planning to go yesterday but had a last minute change of plans. So we’re trying again this morning. Hopefully I can squeeze some cardio time in at the gym (and grab a quick shower ) before we need to leave. My gift ideas for my MIL have been exhausted for years (DH’s family believes in gifts for EVERY occasion; fortunately mine is CARDS ONLY!). So I bought my MIL a big flowering basket for her patio. And now I’m off the present hook until Christmas!
I should have used the unexpected day at home more productively, but I was just so tired. DS’s band came over to jam and I ended up napping through the whole thing! I’m so used to having a band in the house that it’s just kind of background noise now (and they’re also very good, so it’s nice to listen to).
Funny story about DS — he finished his high school classes in January (a semester early) and has been interning at a recording studio but doesn't officially graduate from high school until June. He has to complete a health correspondence course and 1/2 credit of drivers ed in order to graduate (he’s already been accepted to music school for the fall, where he’ll be a double major in guitar performance and recording engineering). Let me assure you that finishing high school is the LAST thing on his mind right now, but being the Mom From H**L, I’m on his back about it.
So today — even though it’s Mother’s Day — he’s meeting the Drivers Ed instructor for the driving portion of the class. DS’s has already been driving for two years and in fact, he does autocross on weekends, so he’s way, way beyond circling the high school parking lot. But he has to have this stupid 1/2 credit to graduate (and trust me, I’m going to quietly drink a bottle of champagne behind the stadium if I do manage to see that boy graduate — I deserve it ). So last night, DS — Mr. Prankster — informs me that he’s going to show up in his bright yellow (very used) sports car, the one with the four-point safety belts, with his two driving helmets, hand one to the driving instructor, and tell him he’s going to need it. “No, no!” I shriek! “You’ll never get the stupid credit that way! Take MY car!” Sigh. This is why moms deserve a special day!
Cindy — congratulations on your new numbers and 60# gone! I love the chickie in your signature and get such a kick out of seeing how well everyone’s doing. We’ve got a LOT of big losers here at 3FC!
Geoducky — wow, have you had a lot to handle! Our Mel has CFS too and I’m sure she’ll have more to say to you about it, but I know she’s said that exercise and eating clean has helped her more than any meds ever did. Good luck and stick around!
Ramble on, Ramblin’ Robin! I thoroughly enjoy everything you write! You too, SB — you’re a very clever writer .
I’m in on the daily goals idea too. Whenever I start slipping, I find that going right back to basics, one day at a time, gets me back on track. So I’m going to finish here and go to Fitday and plan my meals, even the ones on the road, and stick to them. And here’s something extremely radical for me — I’m going to try to not weigh myself for a week. It’s been messing with my head lately. Actually, I think I’m going to do a little journaling about all of this as soon as I’m done in order to get focused for the week. Karen often talks about how much it helps to write it all down and she’s so right. So thank you all for all your ideas — every one of them means something to me and I’m sure many others, so keep ‘em coming.
Oh Cindy! Oh, what a thrill to see different numbers on the scales! Very well done for trudging over that plateau since Christmas. Fingers crossed that those pounds are gone forever. And very interesting indeed, what you say about your hands, feet and face. (Racing to mirror to stare at self.) It’s just so good to know one’s own body.
Meg – thank you for your kind words about my writing. I just love words. Writing’s part of my work, thank goodness, but writing here is just fun. And it’s very good practice too.
I’m going away to Suffolk (in East Anglia) from Thursday for 10 days or so. We’re going to stay in a late mediaeval hall-house, built as one of the very early inns in the 15th century. The excuse is that a friend is having her 50th birthday party on a pier, jutting out into the North Sea. I couldn’t turn down the invitation, I just couldn’t do it. So I can indulge my architecture project, see friends, eat local food and drink local wine. Don’t worry, I shan’t go wild. And I’m considering taking my running shoes (am just getting started again) and swimming costume.
Remember Robin’s ‘ebbs and flows of life’ post the other day? She said: ‘Maybe what we need to be doing is taking it one day at a time while at the same time taking the longer view. We overeat or under-exercise today and we compensate tomorrow.’ I think I can see parallels with my project to learn more about architecture here. (Doodling aloud follows. Skip on if it’s tedious.)
My architecture project (read ‘fat loss and fitness project’ ) is of long-standing. I shall always be interested in buildings but very many other things intervene and prevent my taking big strides forward. Some days I can’t do anything very much about buildings (read ‘good nutrition, weights, cardio’ ) because everything else is so busy. On other days smaller or bigger steps are possible: taking a moment to look closely at a few windows (read ‘chewing another portion of veg more carefully’ ), or considering some other detail before the traffic lights change (‘focusing on breathing and posture’ ), or staying in interesting buildings when I can (‘planning how to change my workouts’ ). Well, I don’t know how far the parallel can be drawn but there you are. Doodle over.
Thanks for being there, everyone. Have a good week and I’ll see you when I get back.
Cindy -- Way to go!! I know you've worked so hard in the last month or 2....
Speaking of plateaus --- I'm going to ramble here so please bear with me,I am NOT as eloquent with the written word or a deep thought provoquing person as many of you gals are, but here goes.... My plateau broke at the end of March, before that I had been at a plateau for about a year! Then I dropped 10 # From Jan. to March, then I took those wonderful pictures....Since March I have been fluctuating 2#, up-down, up-down, up-down, the same two darn # , the whole month of April... Very frustrating and I do feel like a yo-yo!! I'm thinking, that it may be my body getting used to the new weight. Or am I unconsciously, consciously now because I am realising the problem, by testing my body, my resolve, by having those nibbles and bites and extras that I know I shouldn't. Sabotaging myself trying to think that I can eat some junk and not gain weight... NOT!!! Gosh darn it when will I learn? Well I've just talked and answered many of my own questions.... I will have my own architectural project in the makings for the month of May... And like the opera singer I will have my good and bad days. I will accept them, forget about them, and move on... But I will try harder this month....
Today I will:
1. Drink ALL my water...
2. Cardio
3. Weights -- shoulders and arms
4. Eat clean ,NOT just as clean as possible but CLEAN!! (read: no wine today, had wine Friday AND Saturday, I am feeling it in my chubby/swollen fingers)
5. Write down the above 4 things, come back at the end of the day and check them ALL off...
My two baby sisters were ALWAYS getting strep throat or something. Ai yi.
Supps - right now I OCCASIONALLY take a multi, but usually I forget 
I used to take all the stuff, like Udos and glutamine and creatine and such, and I might start taking it again, but then again maybe I won't!
) before we need to leave. My gift ideas for my MIL have been exhausted for years (DH’s family believes in gifts for EVERY occasion; fortunately mine is CARDS ONLY!). So I bought my MIL a big flowering basket for her patio. And now I’m off the present hook until Christmas!
I love the chickie in your signature and get such a kick out of seeing how well everyone’s doing. We’ve got a LOT of big losers here at 3FC!
It’s been messing with my head lately. Actually, I think I’m going to do a little journaling about all of this as soon as I’m done in order to get focused for the week. Karen often talks about how much it helps to write it all down and she’s so right. So thank you all for all your ideas — every one of them means something to me and I’m sure many others, so keep ‘em coming.
I know you've worked so hard in the last month or 2....
