Rabbit, welcome back! All the kids around here are beginning to start back to school, and I'm noticing that it's a lot quieter in the neighborhood in the middle of the day.
Cindy, your sweetie sounds great. My DH and I, in the past, have encouraged each other to bad habits too, like going out to dinner all the time, so I'm trying to shift that around so that we encourage each other to eat better. I was able to head off a trip to Dairy Queen thanks to the presence of Skinny Cows the other day, so that's something.
We have a three-day weekend coming up, and I'll probably have the same issues with eating clean that y'all have mentioned. A friend of mine is having a pool party on Saturday, I think. They usually don't have that good of food there, honestly, but there's lots of alcohol, and one of the roommates is a mad drink mixer in the "here, try this mystery glass" sort of way. Maybe I'll take some chicken to grill and a salad or something.
Checking to see who's written, and just realized I never changed my signature numbers to reflect my disappointing gain
Yeah, I wish I was still seeing 187 on the scale. But, I'm back on track and hope to get back there as quickly as possible!
Laura - I'm one of those people who because they live alone, can insulate themselves against temptation by never having anything worth cheating with in their house. But BF is so bad about that - "look what I brought you from the store!" is how he'll bring in his favorite "snackie". That is what has been so tough for me - my inital success was in part thanks to living alone and controling my environment. So now I need to work on learning to live in the "real" world and managing my eating.
Cindy
I'm one of those people who because they live alone, can insulate themselves against temptation by never having anything worth cheating with in their house.
I don't live alone, but DH's "stuff" doesn't interest me (and he doesn't have much of it anyway). Last night, however, I actually found myself cruising for something to fill my face with - and because I do all the shopping, there was absolutely nothing worth binging on! I mean, there was a beautiful home-grown cauliflower, and lots of tomatoes, even some left-over brown rice. But certainly no chips, no cookies, nothing for a girl to do but shut off the light and leave the kitchen. Sigh.
Hi Ladies! Sorry for the absence but I have bitten off more than I can chew in the work at home dept. But tonite I'm taking a break!
Pookie, I got a little teary thinking about the past 2 years, our struggles, accomplishments, etc. I am SO proud of you. I wish I could wave my magic wand and make both of our metabolisms change, but alas, we have to deal with that of which we got stuck with. Congratulations, Sweetie - I know you are on top of the world and the sky is the limit.
Cindy - he sounds like a goody! But know what you mean about the bad influence with the food. I gained 20 but DH gained most of his back. We're hoping we'll be living together soon so we can get him back to FORCED healthy eating. At least when he's here, he gets it. And btw, I hit 200 several weeks back and drew the line in the sand. NEVER, EVER again! LWL Pact?
Hi Mel, Ilene and all!!! Glad you guys are doing your things so well.
Eating's been clean but yesterday I had a tumble. Today has been good, but I didn't do cardio because I got up late. Will hit it hard in the morning, and weights at work. Boss wants to buy something called Bow Flex weights for our "backroom." He asked me to find them, and considering we live in a rural area, I think I'm going to have a hard time.
I'm a little down about the devastation down south. I live in the Tennessee River Valley. We had the aftermath overnight and lost power for several hours. Big deal, huh? The wind was fierce enough to strip leaves off of trees and blow them so hard they stuck to the house. I slept through it all and woke up at 6:20 when the air came back on. I went down to the lake to check on the boat and all was fine, just alot of blowing rain. I just can't imagine what it would be like to lose everything but the clothes on your back. I've been doing some heavy duty praying all day. My troubles seem so insignificant.
Dip, I'm searching for one of my best friends who moved to New Orleans a year and a half ago. She and her family live just north of Lake Ponchetrain, so we are hoping they didn't get hit quite as badly as the city and those to the east. The devastation is unbelievable.
Did chest and cardio today. Last week when I was doing db flyes I had a novice spotter, and my right arm "wandered" on my last and heaviest set. It didn't bother me until I did chest again today.
Today was strictly cardio -- 25 mins. elliptical and 20 mins. stairclimber. I am reading the book "Fight Fat After Forty" by Pamela Peeke. I highly recommend it to anyone approaching 40 yrs old/perimenopause or beyond! I started implementing her suggestions on Saturday and have lost 3.4 lbs., when all I have been able to do for the past two months is gain! (even with working out 5 days/wk).
It is not a fad diet or miracle workout cure.... she just explains the psychology and physiology behind stress overeating and undereating, the causes of "belly fat" (I've changed from a pear to an apple in less than 2 years!), and the changes and adjustments we need to make for menopause. Most importantly, now that I am beginning to understand this "hijacking" of my body, Dr. Peeke outlines ways to get it under control.
I've read Meg and Mel and some of the others' comments about being strict about what goes in your mouth but just haven't been able to come to terms with it. I think now I am able to understand it better, and, hopefully, adjust my food intake for the long haul. I'm OK with the fact that exercise, and lots of it, is no longer optional for me. It's the eating that's been hard for me to accept.
Luanne -- I think the ''eating'' part is the hardest for the most of us... I certainly know it is for me. It's taken me a while to realise that consistency and diligence work in the long run, but it's not easy. What were PamelaPeekes suggestions that made you lose 3.4#? Enquiry minds wanna know!!
Mel -- Dang, you're shoulders and chest are your ''delicate'' spot aren't they?? Take care of yourself!!
Dip -- I was gonna send out an APB on you if you weren't going to post soon ...
Cindy -- Having junk in the house is a difficult thing. Do you have a basemant fridge or something you can hide the food in if BF insists on having it around.
Pat -- Your post made me chuckle when you couldn't find any junk in the kitchen and you just shut the lights and went to bed... I often wish I had no junk , but at least now I made it harder to get a, I hide it in the basement fridge and I'm usually too lazy to go down to the dungeon for the food...
Ilene, your posts are an inspiration to me! How are things going for you ?
Luanne - I loved the book of Pamela Peeke, and it got me into excercising. Like Ilene i would like to know what you did to loose the weight ???
Pat - great post ! I am lucky in that I don't care much for shop bought cookies or for candy, stuff that my DH and kids like. But my downfall is chocolate and snacks like cheese. And we have lots of that in the house !
Today I brought my daughter to school by bike (10 km flat land) and this afternoon I will fetch here likeways. Also I had a good UBW. I am coming to realise that even if I do not lose weight and do not get beautiful muscles, I still like the way I feel better.
Ugh, my shoulder is definitely bothering me today. What really irks me is that my spotter was another trainer. Her main job is working the front desk and she only has one or two clients, but every once in a while I refer a client to her, or she'll train one of mine if I'm away. None of them lift as heavy as I do, but it's a bad sign that I'm having to teach her "how to train" and how to spot.
I found my friends from New Orleans! I'm so relieved. They evacuated to Houston before the storem, even took their cats with them. They've seem sattelite photos of their neighborhood and their house is still there, trees toppled over in the backyard, and maybe window damage. Luckily for them, they are north of the lake and all the water went south into the city. The causeway that enabled them to get into the city is gone...his office near the Superdome is gone...but they are OK. I'm feeling very relieved this morning
Cardio and back today for me.
Luanne, I haven't read Pamela Peeke's books (maybe I should), but about 1/3 of my clients are women between 40-55 who feel that their bodies have been hijacked, Those are usually the exact words. Good for you for finally "getting it" about the food. I can talk myself blue in the face, work with someone 5 days a week, but until the food connection ckicks, the whole package doesn't change. Yes, you'll get stronger and healthier and those are great benefits! But most want a shape change as well and that only happens with really strict eating. It took me a few years to admit the reality, too.
I'm on the hunt this morning for articles on muscle soreness and ???? weight gain from post workout inflamation ???
I'm in the dark as to why I always have sore glutes and calves, upper body ... but I think I've had sore abs about 3 times in 44 years
I'll go read in the stickies but I wondered if anyone had anything to add.
How did I lose 3.4 lbs??
Here are a few tips from the book:
Don't eat after 8 pm (I try to stop at 7:30, but I'm not working anymore and can get dinner on the table by 6:00 - 6:30)
Cut out (or down) the dense carbs (pasta, rice, potatoes) after 5 pm. So, I might eat a small portion (1/3 cup) of brown rice at dinner. I am trying to get most of my carbs earlier in the day.
We can't eat like the guys anymore, so I am really focusing on keeping my portions small and eating slower.
Logging my food on FitDay and staying at 1300-1600 calories/day. This isn't in the book, but it's here on the boards all the time.
There's lots more -- she talks about the "CortiZone" -- when your body stores fat in the mid-section for anticipated energy needs. This is why the end-of-the-day stress eating is so harmful. When I was in my 20's, I could pig out at 10:00 at night and be OK. Now, my body will store it as fat right in my abdomen as a response to stress. (Bear in mind, the book is primarily aimed at those of us who are 40+). I'm only about halfway through it -- there's so much good info. I think it's a lot of what you read here on the board about eating and exercise, but it's finally starting to click with me.
Today was chest, triceps and shoulders. Then 35 mins on the treadmill. My new running shoes are really making a difference!
From my reading, female abdominal weight distribution has little to do with stress and a lot to do with sinking estrogen levels. There are 2 types of cells in your body that can produce estrogen: those in your ovaries, and the fat cells on your abdomin. As you enter perimenopause, your ovaries are putting out less estrogen. Your endocrine system attempts to compensate by adding more of the other cells that produce some estrogen: abdominal fat! That's why it's "natural" for women to gain 10-15 pounds while going through menopause.
Maybe that's a source of stress eating so the whole process is exacerbated, but it's not the stress per se that puts fat on your middle.
Susan- My abs rarely get sore unless I do a new really hard ab exercise. I don't do much weighted ab work because I'm very shortwaisted and feel "thick" around the middle anyway. The last ab exercise that made me sore was decline crunches while tossing and catching an 8 lb medicine ball. Seemed easy while I was doing it, so I did about 50. I thought I'd had a few ribs removed the next day.
Mel -- You are right, part of the connection between stress and fat is the overeating response to it (stress). Also, there is a connection between stress, middle age and cortisol. Because I am still only part way through the book, I don't want to put out information that I haven't completely read through. At any rate, I think this would be a good book to recommend to your middle-age clients, because the bottom line is that it helps to explain why diet and exercise are so crucial to maintain good health in that age bracket.
Today was back, biceps and calves (I had to condense because we are going away for the weekend if the gas situation in Charlotte gets straightened out). It would be wise for everyone at least in the southeast U.S. to keep an eye on the gas availability before heading out. AAA is advising people to stay home in some areas!
Had a good kickboxing workout last night, but am totally bummed by the need to practise my back kicks. 
Mel I totally know what you mean about THAT! 
(Bear in mind, the book is primarily aimed at those of us who are 40+). I'm only about halfway through it -- there's so much good info. I think it's a lot of what you read here on the board about eating and exercise, but it's finally starting to click with me.
