welcome mamajules!

well I am tired because I really pushed myself in my workout today. I only have 6 days left till my weigh-in on Sunday 9/02 and I am 3 pounds from my goal. So this week is like LAST CHANCE WORKOUT (ON BIGGEST LOSER) for me. I really wanna make my goal.

So today I did 25 mins of strength training and 3 hours and 35 mins of cardio. I worked my tail off! Now I get to rest up before tomorrow's workout.
50 mins yoga
45 mins elliptical (3 miles/ over 3500 strides! on level 6)
45 mins water aerobics
5 mins stair stepper (a whole new level of **** on Earth for me!)
15 mins rowing machine
25 mins c-to-5k training wk 2 (intervals- 10 mins jogging/15 mins walking)
18 mins stationary bike (3 miles)
12 mins recumbant cross-trainer with arms (workload 8 out of 10)

I did it!:carrot:

Thank you. =)

I applaud you for doing the Elliptical. I HATE that machine. I have tried it on only 2 occasions and I couldn't hang for longer than 5 minutes. Not because it was tough, but because it was just so awkward for me. I am sure I need to give it a try more than twice to get used to it but I just feel so weird using it.

Chubbygirl253 - That is quite the workout!!!! :cheer2: Good luck with meeting your goal!

Thanks mamajules! Its funny what u said about the elliptical being so awkward, I was just like you! For a long time I couldn't get the hang of it because of its awkwardness. It felt like trudging through quicksand while wearing clown shoes make of steel. But I finally got it! And now I do 45 mins on it 5-6 days a week. Yet the first moment I step on it I usually end up going backwards for a few seconds until I get my act together. So keep trying.
Right now I can only do 5 mins on the stair stepper machine so that is currently what I'm trying to master. The first time I did it I thought, Oh what fresh **** is this!!! In less than 5 mins my whole body is screaming for mercy. :woops: But I will keep trying until someday, oh someday I can do 10 mins. LOL




So my back is still hurt. I hope this injury gets better fast. This is the 2nd day and its horrible. I still completed 3 hrs of low-impact cardio but everything is harder. You know your body is outta whack when 30 mins on the elliptical is easier than walking half a block even at a snails pace. I can't walk upright. I look like I'm a hundred years old because I'm hunched over and someone with a cane or walker could probably work circles around me. But I'm keeping up with my workouts. Thank God for my yoga teacher who helped me get some wonderful SAFE stretches without hurting myself further. Was able to do the whole practice. Even the warrior poses, using a chair. I only had to skip reverse warrior until my back is healed. Left there feeling sore but good.

Nite everyone!

the stairmaster is hard on my knees so i've never messed around with it much...i use the treadmill at its highest incline if i want to get that same effect

im insanely busy during the weekdays so i dont post much then...i read everyone's posts but dont often post myself or respond :)

ive been running two miles a day this week, only in much smaller intervals, which seems to be working nicely so far...once my distance is put in, i have been walking fast on a small incline until the rest of my minutes on the treadmill are done

yesterday i was a little sore so i took two regular Bayer with food and then worked out, nervous that i would have a reaction to it as i sometimes do...i have what's called exercise-induced hives, reactions to medications only while working out...there's a name for it, something fancy, but i've forgotten it...i didnt have a reaction yesterday

today i took one extra-strength Bayer with food and worked out....i had the reaction from H*LL!!! i knew i was a little itchy on the last half of the running but didnt realize how bad it was til i got home...my ENTIRE body was covered in huge itchy swollen welts! these are not tiny little bumps, these are bigger than a quarter! the only parts of my body that escaped this seemed to be the bottoms of my feet and my privates lol....i took alot of pics...my throat was also swollen which hasnt happened before...i took an antihistamine and waited 45 minutes for the reaction to subside before i could get dressed again...most of the swelling and welts have subsided now, an hour after my workout was done...my hands are still red, itchy and swollen but not insanely bad like earlier

I'm so sorry about the hives, Alaskanlaughter! That sounds so horrible; I feel for you so much right now. I hope by now it has subsided. I didn't even know that could happen.

Nothing very exercise-y interesting to report here. I'm having a lot of PMS induced self-loathing, irritation, and anxiety which all jumped to 11 when my check engine light came on today. I already knew I had to take my car in as my serpentine belt is cracked and I have a transmission leak but now it seems I've got some misfiring or something. I'll have more information tomorrow. What I do know right now is it is going to cost a lot more than I have. Anyway, the relevant part here is I put on my running shoes when I got home and I just ran out all the aggravation. No idea how long I was gone or how far I went. I feel so much better now. And, all to the good, I no longer feel like I want to dive head first into a vat of chocolate, you know, on the off chance a vat of chocolate happened to be laying around. :lol:

it subsided almost completely by the time i got to work about an hour and a half later...i still have red marks on me from all the welts and my face still has some itchy bumps but it is almost gone...its about 7 p.m. now and that's about where it's at right now

Ok, time to check in.

So Monday night I went to the Y as planned. I did 13:00 on the elliptical, and then I went over to try the back machine that, supposedly, works your butt and your lower back...

Oh.
My.
God.

I have a favorite Exercise Machine!

Oh ye gods, seriously! I'm using this thing and I've always got a stiff lower back (probably from keeping my huge oversized bust hanging) and I get on this thing... and I started using it, it has some weights for resistance... I started at 40 lbs.

Oh my goodness my back was popping all over the place as the joints were re-aligning and releasing tension and I swear the other people in there were probably thinking I was nuts cause I swear my tongue was hanging out like a dog in ecstasy! It just.. OMG. it felt amazing. I told my mom later "I think I just found a replacement for the AquaMassage machine!!!!"

Anyway, after that I did 400 Meters on the treadmill at a decent clip.

Didn't do anything Tuesday or Wednesday. Yesterday I biked about 2 and a half miles, down to the Gamestop, back up to Dollar Tree and K-Mart, got some stuff we needed, and headed home... and then, mowed the lawn..

Only to hit a momma bunny who was apparently delivering some food to her three babies... she had a huge gash in her rear from the mower and took off, leaving the babies....

so now I have three baby bunbuns in a tote and I have NO IDEA what to do with them. Gonna try taking them back to the nest later tonight and wait and see if Momma comes back... if not I'm gonna have to raise them, I guess. Lovely. As if I don't have enough animals to freakin' handle.

Anyway, I'll talk to you ladies later.

SOOO busy with school and daycare, can't get my posts in. Still getting my workouts in. :) Thought I would share this with you all. I hate that the author starts out "Hey, Fat Girl." That makes me want to punch somebody - but it gets better. Good read.

Hey You

Mortonpixie, i have read that before and I love it so much! It's just such a warm, loving sentiment. Whenever I see an overweight lady working out in public (usually running) it makes me feel so happy and I cheer for her in my head. (Actually, if I'm in my car sometimes I really do cheer.) It makes me wonder if when I started if someone somewhere saw me and for a brief moment was really pulling for me and believed in me and felt that same hope and joy.

My car is finished and will cost $685. I'm so relieved. I thought for sure it would be at least twice that. I have the majority of that in savings. Actually it was the money I was saving to completely pay the car off. It makes me a little sad that I won't get to pay it off this month as I had planned but this is okay too. Could have been much worse.

Back to my NROLFW workouts tomorrow! I'm very much looking forward to it. I cancelled my class memberships for this month, so no Flow or Zumba for me, just so I can focus on my lifting. :lifter:

Hello all! Check-in time for me!

So I weighed myself and I'm down again! 298.4! So I lost a pound, pound and a half over this week!

Tomorrow my mom is having a cook out so I know I'll be cheating a bit for that, so I expect the bobble. Good news is is that the Y's pool reopens the day after labor day, so swimming is back!! I'll be swimming again to keep from gaining too much weight tomorrow.

Talk to you all later and have a safe and happy Labor Day if you're in the states! Can't believe Summer is over!

This weekend has been hard! I was supposed to go to the KC Irish Festival yesterday, but that fell through, so I was at home all day. When that happens, I tend to cheat. I was actually pretty good. Decided I wanted to actually eat food for lunch instead of a protein shake, but logged everything and stayed in my calorie targets for the day.

This morning's run (last day of Week 4 for C25K) was hard. I woke up late and dallied around the house before going. Paid for that. It was hot and sunny and it made the run that much harder to complete. But I DID finish it.

Stepped on the scale and I was down 1.8 lbs from last weigh in (Wednesday). The scale hadn't been moving at all this week, and finally, boom.

Going to the Iris Fest today, so I will load up on my shake before I go to keep me away from fish and chips, Guinness, shepherd's pie, and more Guinness. Did I mention there will be Guinness?

I will abstain. I will just listen to music and buy a couple of cute crafty things.

I have to keep reminding myself that I'm doing this to make my 40's start off healthier than my 30's and to make sure I love the photos that are taken of me on my birthday trip to Ireland. Oh, and feel confident and cute enough to catch the eye of a cute Irish guy or two while I'm there ;)

im finding that i really miss going for a run at the gym when i dont go...like on the weekends when i'm busy and call it "rest days"...so much in fact that i got up this morning and went to the gym even though i hadnt planned on it...i just wanted to...i ran a mile and a half

my shoes need to be replaced desperately though...i'm getting foot pain and mild shinsplit-type pain during/after running...it's on my list to do today or tomorrow, to get a new pair of shoes...you can see where the cushioning has completely worn down and the insides are all torn up

Oh my gosh yes, PLEASE replace your shoes ASAP!!! Actually I've been told that you need to replace your shoes every 400 miles logged, which actually means that your shoes don't LOOK bad but are not giving you the support you need.

I fell off the diet/exercise wagon for 6 weeks and have been working my way up to more vigorous exercise. Am happy to say that I'm back at a reasonable fitness level. Yesterday I did a weight-lifting class (Body Pump) and Zumba, and today I did Zumba. So much fun!!!

today is going swell. I've had healthy food choices and I did 40 mins on the elliptical before going to Piyo which was super tough. So glad my back isn't hurting so bad anymore and I can do more. Going for a short hike in a little while. Hoping my back will feel good enough to get back to my c25k tomorrow. Might help make up for the fact that my water aerobics and yoga classes are canceled for labor day. Bummer. Take care y'all.

Yesterday's NROLFW workout went quite well, all things considered. Things got a bit dicey right at the beginning with my squats. I work out from home and don't have access to a squat cage or anything so I usually just lift the barbell from the floor and over my head into position. The first set was fine. On the second I couldn't get the barbell back over my head when I was done! My arms were just not having it. I knew my options were limited. I was either going to have to figure out how to get it off myself or wait until someone happened to wander into the basement. As the former seemed impossible and the latter unlikely a part of me was just like, "Well, now you have to live this way. Congratulations." :lol:
Had to resort to a crab-like backbend to drop it on the couch. But, hey! I learn! Won't be doing that again. I bought a set of squat stands online. As a bonus, the manufacturers even suggest using the stands and the barbell for pull-ups/chin-ups so that solves that problem for me too. Waaaay too much money for me to be spending, especially in light of my car repairs and the ballet tickets I purchased for my best friend's birthday (it's our tradition!), but I think it will be well worth it in the long run.

Today I decided to go for a jog. I've been going around my usual 5k course backwards for the last few weeks so I switched back to normal. I was really surprised with how much longer I was able to keep up the jogging sections! I kept the same landmarks to begin running but kept whizzing past where I usually slow down and walk. My real goal, however, was to focus on my form. I tend to hunch my shoulders and that's no good so I'm trying to be more mindful of it and correct it as soon as I notice. Anyway, the run didn't do as much to loosen my quads and glutes from the lifting as I had hoped but it was a good run!

how interesting to read that! because when i add up the miles ran and walked since i bought them in february, it totals almost exactly 400!! not counting the afternoons i've worn my shoes and been on my feet all day at work...i DID buy a new pair this afternoon and will try them out tomorrow

today was great. did 2 hours of cardio and 30 mins strength training. diet was good.

my cardio today:
45 mins elliptical
15 mins rowing
25 minutes c25k (15 walking/10 jogging)
15 mins stationary bike
20 mins cross trainer

New running shoes make a world of difference!

I ran 2.1 miles and did some walking and I'm not nearly as sore as I would have been in my other shoes. :carrot::carrot:

Headed back to work now!

I'm doing good, hope everyone else is well.
Today meals are good and workout is awesome.

Today's workout:
(3 hours cardio total)
50 mins elliptical (3 miles)
10 mins rowing machine (.5 mile)
55 mins water aerobics
5 mins stair stepper
15 mins cycling (2 miles)
20 mins cross-trainer (2 miles)
25 min hike (1 mile)
30 mins strength training

Progress on Sept goals:
1 lb lost, 12 to go!
7 hrs cardio done, 53 to go!
18.5 miles logged, 41.5 to go!

Glad you got your new shoes, Alaskanlaughter. It's important to be nice to our feet. Here's to the next 400 miles! :cheers:

Congratulations on breaking into the 200s, Chubbygirl! You are just attacking it. :cheer:

Check in time for me!

So Sunday we had a cookout for Labor Day and I cheated on the diet and had stuff I normally can not. I had a chocolate & hazelnut bar, a plum, a necturine, and part of a peach. Didn't like the peach, so Baby, our pet squirrel, took it for me. Had an ACTUAL HAMBURGER with the bun! Figured for SURE I would gain a pound or two...

Today the pool at the Y was open again for the first day today! Did some laps after PowerPoint class and caught Water Arobics again. Then I did some kicking and more breath holding, trying to up my lung capacity. Made it to 35 seconds!

Weighed myself on the scale at the Y when I was about to hit the showers...

296.4!!!! I've gone down another 2 pounds!!!

So it seems that not exercising constantly seems to work for me. (Or, rather, not overdoing it.) I haven't really walked the dogs in a few weeks now (mostly because my black lab / pit mix always tries to cause trouble and pull and drag the others, while the other two struggle to keep up with me, let alone him, plus, they were really getting restless late at night and I'm on a daytime schedule now... But mostly because Axl isn't letting our walks be enjoyable anymore because of his refusal to listen to the word HEEL!)

I figure when I plateau I'll up the activity level again.. But shedding anywhere from 1-3 pounds a week is nice so, I'm going to keep going the way we are! The water arobics teacher's jaw dropped when I told her I was 345 in February and now I'm 296!

Anyway, you ladies have a lovely evening / morning and talk to you all later!

Did Body Pump and Cardio Hip Hop today! I think I can up my weights next time on it!

Alright, check in time.

Sis and I had a fight, as usual... She's getting stressed out cause her dad-in-law is arriving tomorrow night from El Salvador and her bi-polarism is causing her to take it out on me.

After much venting and frustration at my mom's I went to the Y and got there around 8:45. Only managed to get an hour of swimming in but I sure felt better afterwards.. Which is just, so odd.

Normally when upset I could dive into sweets or food in general to console myself.... Now I swim. Hey, fine with me!!

On another side note: I love flippers now. I need to buy a pair, stat. K-Mart has them on clearance... pretty sure I'll be picking a pair up for myself. I was able to get down to the bottom of the pool with them several times... But my god, the pressure! I didn't think at 10 measly feet the pressure would be so uncomfortable!! Oh well. It wasn't god-awful painful but it did sting a bit to get down that far. Makes me think my head is built out of eggshell instead of bone.... lol

Anyway: ChubbyGirl! Congrats and welcome to 'Twoderland'!!!

I think I may need to invest in a new pair of sneakers like AlaskanLaughter... I don't think mine are supporting me much anymore either.

Welp, check in tomorrow. :) You ladies have a nice evening/day!

Wolfshadow, I get the same random bursts of weight loss! The fact that you ate a burger for the first time in a while was probably also a shock to your metabolism so your body burned more than it normally would. Variation is KEY in preventing those annoying plateaus..I've gotten frustrated in the past and learned the hard way :/


Well..today I binged. Promised myself I'd only have watermelon for dinner and had that plus half a box of cereal, two handfuls of craisins AND a yogurt..I've drank like 4 cups of ice water and am forcing myself to stay up late so I can digest and do some ab workout. Tomorrow I'll run for 42 minutes instead of my normal 40. sighhhh :(

ive still been running this week...ive been doing 2.1 miles of running and some additional fast walking...my new shoes are good, still kinda breaking them in...i often wonder if, at night, my old running shoes told my new running shoes what they're in for when they all sit in the dark at the end of my bed :)

scale should be reading the highest it's gonna read for the month because it's the week before TOM....normally that's the highest weight i see, then the lowest comes directly at the end of TOM, then it starts a slow climb again....however i think i must have lost a little weight because what SHOULD be the highest reading is saying 189.4 which is the lowest i've ever seen on the scale...so i wonder if, after TOM, it will drop even lower than that

also weirdly, my feet feel bonier now...is that a word? ...like on the tops of my feet, they used to be smooth and now there are tendons(?) n stuff causing the tops of my feet to feel bumpier? bonier? something like that....did i lose fat on the tops of my feet? i have no idea...

Yes you did! My feet, you can't see a bone or a tendon at all because there's a ton of fat piled on top of it. Congrats!!! I look forward to when I look in the mirror and notice a bone for the first time instead of a good layer of flubber!

OOOOOHHH I sooo look forward to seeing bones again. In my feet or anywhere. Maybe then I wouldn't have Flintstone feet. My big old feet look like Barney Rubble's. I'm especially looking forward to collar bones. I know they're in there!

Oh ya... I lost 2 more lbs! I'm at 297 now! Tell your friends!

:carrot::carrot:way to go!! :carrot::carrot:

lol one time not too long ago i was undressing at the gym by the mirror...i'm rarely by the mirror, not on purpose, just not...and i saw this big LUMP under my breast on my side and i FREAKING panicked!! i immediately put my hand there and it was totally solid and THEN i realized it was the bottom of my rib cage....i felt so silly :dizzy:

forgot to post earlier that...directly after my workout...in the locker room, i felt like i could see black spots in my vision...i didn't do anything different in my workout, nor eat anything different, nor have a reaction to meds...so i'm wondering if it's anything i need to worry about...it happened and passed so fast that i almost thought i imagined it...what do you think?

@AlaskanLaughter - I'd google 'black spots in vision after workout' and see what I get, or something similar. If it sounds like something serious could be going on, I'd make a point to check with the doctor.

YAY ChubbyGirl!!! We're practically gonna be weight loss twins here! XD We both started around the same mark and we're gonna be neck-and-neck the whole way through, I can tell!

@seeingfree - Yeah I know... I binged today too and I'm just gonna have to work extra hard to keep any extra pounds from popping on...

Ok, so time for my check in..

So yesterday, I was really irritated because I had made the mistake of going to my sister's house yesterday when she was having a vicious mood swing about a movie she was making for YouTube and someone beat her to it... Turned into a bipolar spat. Didn't get to the YMCA until nearly 9 PM, and only got an hour's worth of swimming in. Helped with some of the aggravation but I wanted more. Swore to myself I would do better today.

I ate WAY too many calories today even though I stayed on Atkins the whole way. For breakfast I had two uncooked hotdogs (they were 'precooked', no worries there) before I left for some work-related workshops and then had a 2-hour wait window for PowerPoint class. Then I went to Denny's and had soda, a ceasar salad and a small bowl of coleslaw. Ok, good deal. On track. After class I was getting hungry again, so I ran to Aldi's and got some mushrooms, some jerkybeef sticks (a grand total of a mere 7 carbs for all of it) and once I was done eating my snacks in the car, I started the trek to the Y to get in some swimming and, hopefully to find the punching bag free and clobber some sand into oblivion... As I had basically told a friend whom has voiced interest in liking me beyond just friends, but when things get into serious areas they clam up and ignore me, and then gets jealous when I start dating someone. Happens every time, so I finally told said friend what they're doing to me is pretty craptacular and I was sick of the back-and-forth, and once they find out what they want (or if I was merely experimental for them, which I think was the case), that they can go away. Frustrated, broken-hearted, and just plain in a lousy mood... Was SO looking forward to that punching bag, my favorite machine in the gym, the back / butt worker, and the pool...

Then my sister called and needed big sis Wolfie to run back to our mom's house and awaken her husband, whom is being a stubborn git, was working as dairy stock supervisor at Wal-Mart and then got hired on for another company willing to pay him 12.50+, but he doesn't wanna quit WallyWorld either, so he's been up for the past 48 hours straight working his rear off for both jobs. Then my sis wanted to cheat on her diet and I decided to come along but did not cheat and stayed low-carb at the local chinese buffet (crab, seafood melody, mongolian BBQ with all OK choices....)

We drive around to Target so she could get something and then Tops for cupcakes.. THEN I finally got to the Y! Got a whole measly 40 minutes in in the pool... Oh god. Never again. Never swim on a full stomach again... I couldn't do hardly anything. My breath capacity was chopped in half... oye. and then we had to go to our local airport, because my BIL's dad is visiting from El Salvador and we had to pick him up.

Tomorrow, I swear, I will be finding this punching bag of lore and legend and pounding the crud out of it. ...and I'll be using my back machine and then swimming... Water Aerobics is tomorrow and I don't wanna miss it.

Anyway, here's hoping to a better day tomorrow. You ladies have a good evening!

Thanks for the encouragement. I will try to get back on it and be patient with myself.
Hope your back is feeling better.

Have you always been a runner? Meaning, first day, did you hop on the treadmill and run a mile?

I HATE running. HATE it. But I want to run. On my lunch hour, I have 35 minutes at the gym and on cardio days, I do the treadmill for 35 minutes. I started doing 4 minute interval walking, running the last minute of a 5 minute set. Then a few weeks later, I did 3.5 minute interval walking, running the last 1.5 minute of the 5 minute set. This week, I pushed myself to 3 minute walk, 2 minute run. I am surprised with myself with even being able to run for an entire minute. I have no idea how long it will take me to be able to run the entire 35 minutes but I hope that day does come.

That is awesome! Congrats!!!! :carrot::carrot:

I got my squat stands yesterday! I even managed to put them together by myself. (And only broke one nail*. And the fact that I cared made me laugh because, seriously, to go from "Yay, new toy to pump MOAR IRON!" to "Oh, I broke a nail!" in the space of two seconds was a funny juxtaposition to me.) They are a little more wobbly than I had hoped but I think switching out some of the hardware should fix that.

I feel like my updates here are so boring. I'm always just, "Yep, another NROLFW workout!". Now that I have the stands I'm really curious to see how much I can squat. I'll find out tonight!

In somewhat related news, I had a dream last night that I was on the uneven bars. I was in gymanastics for several years as a kid and even though I was never very good I still loved it. Anyway, in the dream I finally managed to do a kip! It's a pretty basic skill but I never could manage one in real life. So now I have added it to my list of physical things I am determined to learn (or re-learn, as is the case for some of the other items on said list).

*Don't worry, nail triage performed immediately. Debating applying Orly's Cashmere Cardigan or Misa's The Great Green Whatsit tonight.

did 2 hrs of cardio, food was fine today. not too much to report here. Take care everyone!

ive always wanted to be a runner...i like it because it is great cardio and works my entire body...and i like doing things that i never thought that i could do...ive been overweight my whole life...

i started by running minute intervals, run one minute, walk one minute...then run 2 and walk 1 and i got up to where i could run 4 and walk 1....i have to carefully manage my asthma which is why i continue to do intervals even now...i've pushed myself and i know that i can run 2 miles without stopping to walk but my lungs DO NOT like that no matter what meds i use to control it...

then i started to track distance instead of minutes and right now i'm running 2.1 miles total of 0.2 mile intervals and it is GREAT on not aggravating my asthma...i also walk after i'm done with the intervals at a fast speed, usually at an incline, until my time on the treadmill is done

How did the squats go?

I am going to the gym today after a 2 day hiatus and going out to dinner last night. It was Japanese food (mostly sushi) so hopefully it wasn't that fattening but still... hard to know calories. I actually skipped lunch b/c I was so busy (I hate doing that) so hopefully it kind of evens out. We'll see when I step on the scale today.