Jan 31, Tuesday
B=1 c cereal, 1/2 c milk, 1/2 banana
L= 1 c veggie/beef soup, slice bread
S= 1 apple + 3 TB PB
D= 4 meatballs, homemade spaghetti sauce w added veggies, 2oz ww pasta, 1 slice bread/butter
S= choc/pumpkin muffin
E= 40min barre + stretching

I ended up doing LB back to back this week, but since the only weight I'm using is myself I didn't think it would be a big deal. I developed a knot in my left calf from the cardio I"ve done recently, I wondered if the barre was going to make it worse but I think the plies helped straghten it out, but I got Hubby to rub my calves and smear some aspercreame on afterwards.

New rotation=
M- UB + cardio
T- LB/Barre
W- kbox
T- CSx2
F- circuit + cardio
S- dog walk
S- cardio

I'm ending January with a 7 lb loss, which is the highest loss in a month that I've had since last February..so I'm happy with that :)

Penguin, I like the variety you have in your exercise plan - that would be a great idea for me to keep it from getting too boring and routine.

I hit 211.2 this morning, which I am counting as part of my February loss. It feels good to start the month a pound down already! I had the weirdest dream last night that I mindlessly ate a bunch of sugar and ruined my 30 day challenge. It was awful! When I woke up and realized it was a dream I was so relieved. Sad but true; I'm having dieting anxiety dreams.

The one thing I've been avoiding adding back into my routine is yoga. It's so good for core strength and defining your waist, but I HATE it. Which is probably why I should do it. I used to be able to do P90X yoga, which is 90 minutes of killer yoga. I guess I'll go back to my Biggest Loser yoga DVD and suffer my way through it until I am back in some kind of shape for the harder stuff. It's not going to be pretty.

Caroline, Ive tried yoga and while its okay I just don't feel as wonderful afterwards as other people say they do. I tried Classical Stretch this January and love it. Its a blend of tai chi, ballet, and active stretching. Miranda and her daughter Sarha both put out dvds . http://www.classicalstretch.com/ Clips can also be found on Youtube, and if you are lucky some PBS stations air her shows. Miranda is quirky and makes the workouts fun, too.

Angie, I'm a member of a workout forum and one of our phrases is 'so many workouts, so little time'. We here someone else rave about a workout then we want to try it, until our schedules are packed. Changing workout styles with the seasons is one way to fit it all in, or change monthly rotations.

Penguin, thanks for the recommendation. I've got a few ballet workouts, but the results I got with yoga last time around made it worth the pain. I just got through 20 minutes of Biggest Loser yoga and it hurt, but I hate stretching in general so I knew that would be the case.

Give me cardio and I'll do it all day long, and I don't even mind lifting as much as I used to, but I really hate stretching. Just goes to show I need to do it! My second workout tonight after work will be on the spin bike.

There's nothing like getting immediate results on the scale this early in the restart to help build enthusiasm and confidence. I weighed in at 215.5 this AM - down 1.5

Yesterday was an total on plan day although I said I would do circuit but didn't. That's because my DS is sick. She recently joined Planet Fitness and is allowed to bring a guest everytime she goes. We had been doing cardio on treadmill and recumbant bike on SunTTh. We were supposed to start the "no judgement zone" circuit yesterday. Oh, well maybe Thursday if she's up to it.

Today, I go to my part time job to do property maintenance work. I have been doing the "wax on, wax off" to recondition her wood cabinets and doors for the past month. Its pretty taxing work and I think I burn a ton of calories in the four hours I'm there....however...I may also go to a step aerobics class taught by my zumba instructor - she's a hoot and a holler!

B: coffee with 2 TB FF H&H, 4 oz FF greek yogurt, 1/2 c pumpkin pudding, 1 HB egg
S: banana, 1 oz almonds
L: 4 oz hamburger patty, 1 c gr beans, 1/2 c carrots, 1/2 sweet onion with 1 oz parmesan cheese, spray butter, 1 c blueberries, 2 oz FF greek yogurt, 1 TB walnuts
D: 2 WW tortillas, 2 TB hummus, 1 LC cheese wedge, raw spinach, 1/4 tomato, 2 clementines
E: property maintenance job, step?

I hope everyone has a fantastic day! Happy February!!

VickiLou - you are so right about summer...Geesh, it IS right around the corner. :(

Angie - Wow! 7# That's great. Good job. :carrot::carrot:

thistoo - Yay! for your loss. :carrot::carrot: I practice hatha yoga on Mondays mornings. Its not like a Vinyasa (sp?) class which I tried but didn't like the teacher. I hate having freaky dreams that kinda stick with you for days. You ought to start a thread about freaky diet dreams! That'd be fun.

Penguin - I get the Classical stretch on PBS at 6 AM MWF. So far, I've only watched from my bed. :o

good morning ladies! february 1 means it's 100% back to business for me. we had a lot of stuff going on in january so i set a date to start. i was careful-ish about my food but didn't count every calorie. i wasn't sleeping well, or in any kind of normal pattern, so i didn't know how to count them in any case. but thanks to my new little friend melatonin, i'm sleeping much better and feel much more rested and confident in my decision to get things rolling today. dinner tonight will be tilapia fillets, roasted and herb seasoned red potatoes, honey glazed baby carrots, and garlic sauteed green beans.

i've also decided i'm going to make myself have a routine, even though working mostly from home (when i have work to do) doesn't really mean i need one... it would mean i get more quality time with my husband. so, it's bed by midnight, up by 9am for me!

hopefully getting my body settled into a routine will make things easier for me. i feel so much better when i get 8-9 hours of solid sleep, vs a few hours here and there when my body crashes. weigh-in in a little bit.

ugh ugh ugh. it was worse than i feared. i thought maybe 15-20 pounds. uh. yeah. try THIRTY. exactly 30 pounds. after losing 53. :( i can't imagine how bad it was at the beginning of the month before i reigned in my eating and got myself back to the gym. i really don't want to know.

hopefully it's possible to lose 76.5 pounds in 8 months and 9 days. we shall see! :)

I feel your pain, Mandy. It's amazing how long we can live in denial as long as we stay off the scale, right? I bet you can reach your goal. I'm going to be trying my hardest to lose 70 by the end of the year, so I'm right there with you!

7 pounds from 1/1 to 2/1 so that's a good start for me and I feel like I'm really and truly back in this for the long haul. Maybe I'll be back in onderland by the first day of Spring.

The past few days I've had a few problems with Chicks running slowly, Hubby checked and our WiFi was very slow so he put in a faster WiFi card and the computer is much faster and works a lot better now. I have no idea how it helped but its great. I had changed to Firefox but wasn't very happy with it, but now I'm back to IE.

Mandy, focus on the present, keep working hard, and remember each day is a new start.

Chix, Give CS a try. I always feel amazing after a workout. Admittedly, 6am is a tad early for me, lol.

Caroline, In some ways I'm very flexible but I have tight hamstrings that even with a lot of work, never seem to loosen up, so some stretches are very easy then some I barely move at all, it can be very annoying.

i will get it off of me again. i've found a walking workout that entertains me as well as gives me lots of exercise that i won't mind doing on a daily basis... especially on days i don't go to the gym with hubby. that means i'll get a workout every day. :D

Good morning all. My morning so far has consisted of Tae Bo and black coffee. The scale tells me I'm back up to 212 this morning, which I know is just water retention thanks to a combination of yoga soreness and swelling in my jaw from some dental work I had done yesterday. But even after all this time, I still feel a bit like a failure when I see the upward fluctuations.

I'll shake it off soon enough. It's certainly not going to derail my day; breakfast and lunch is already packed and I just have to get in the shower to get ready for work. This evening's workout will be the P90X leg routine with my sister.

I had another anxiety dream about mindlessly eating sugar last night. It's getting a little ridiculous, frankly. I'm only on day 8 of my thirty days; I hope this doesn't keep up the entire time.

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

A belated Good Morning to All!

I slept extra long (9 hrs) last night with another hour of laying around loving on my kitties. I worked a busy SIX hours. Extra hours were in the yard cutting back the chamisa. Boy, was I 'bushed'!! hehe!! I did not go to step class.

I did check in with sis and she is feeling better so I will go to her gym for circuit and bike.

Mandy - :hug::hug::hug: hugs to you but kudos for stepping on the scale. You'll get it off and then some. I'm sure of it. Maybe you should make a conservative estimate of the beginning weight and your loss so far as a confidence builder...a running start if you will. It is an accomplishment.

Caroline - yep - 70ish pounds by the end of the year is my goal too but I try not to give myself a deadline. It'll happen someday. From a dream interpretation website :

Okay, so maybe not sugar but another indulgence - massage? mani/pedi?

Vlad - :carrot::carrot: - So happy for your success and renewed confidence. I hope its contagious!

Penguin - Hi! My yoga instructor was talking about CS and thought the stretches were very good. But yeah, 6 AM!!?

B: 2 coffees with 2 TB FF H&H, 4 oz FF greek yogurt, 1/2 c pumpkin pudding, 1 HB egg, 1/c egg sub, banana
L: 4 oz hamburger patty, 1 c gr beans, 1/2 c carrots, 1/2 sweet onion with 1 oz parmesan cheese, spray butter, 1 c blueberries, 2 oz FF greek yogurt, 1 TB walnuts (this is the last leftover serving of this meal)
D: 2 WW tortillas, 1/2 c refried beans, 2 oz LF cheese, raw spinach, 1/4 tomato, 2 clementines
E: 30 min circuit, 30 min bike @ 12-13.5 MPH

My indulgence these days is black iced Americanos. It doesn't sound like much of an indulgence, I know, but I love espresso, and fitting them into my budget feels a lot like an indulgence. Plus, they are nearly calorie-free, so it's a smart indulgence at the moment!

I think I keep having anxiety dreams because I'm so worried that I'm going to derail my weight loss again. It's silly, because it would be practically impossible for me to mess up when I'm making all my own food. I imagine I'll get over it soon; I've got a full week under my belt now, so only three more to go.