I sooo enjoy your post Evil. Your intensity and positive outlook are something I can relate to. I have not always been able to look at exercise that way and I am making that my focus any you are helping. I don't see why anyone would be pissed about your commitment to working out and posting your accomplishments. Thanks for sharing I know I get something from your post everytime!

Evil; Oh my . . . you make me feel so good, you motivate me and are at the place I want to get to. You show me I can get there but I have to "kick myself in the a**" to move forward sometimes . . . I think you rock it out and I'm proud of you for being able to do that!!!! You, like all of us have slipped, fallen or gotten knocked over and you've picked yourself up, brushed yourself off and continued on your journey. You should be PROUD of that . . . You inspire me everyday . . . I too am not one to give up or throw in the towel, once I make my mind up about something I can get VERY STUBBORN and my mind is made up about getting healthy again . . . and you have been a big part of helping me in this journey!!!! Keep rockin it out!!!

Now, I was hoping for a little advice from you and the others:

My body (muscles) are screaming for a day off, (I'm not sure if it's because I added the Zumba or what) but I don't know if I should just try a soak in the tub and tough it out or give myself a day off and let the muscles have a break . . . what do you all think????

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I really needed a little quiet understanding. :) You all are super awesome :carrot:

Evil - you ARE pretty darn inspirational.

Better, less weird day. I'm ready to exercise today! And I was feeling really low last night, low enough to cheat on my plan - but I didn't - so a mini victory.

Now on to wait for the snow :/

You know I was just coming on for a minute to see how you all were doing, and to report that I took a rest day today. And what do I see? A few of you smart Chickie's telling me I need a rest day. Funny! And you are right! :D Wise wise women!

I never schedule off days, I listen to my body and if I need one I take one. And I needed one today. Tomorrow I'm going to bootcamp with my sister and I want to recover as much as possible before that.

Evil, no hate here! I love training hard and I love it when other people do. I just wish you lived here so we could have a session together. I have one friend who owns a gym, and another who owns a yoga studio, it's awesome having fun people with similar values. Glad you had a great time with your friends. :)

MadamB, I think you should listen to what your body tells you. If you think a hot bath and toughing out a workout is doable, then get it done! YEAH! If you think that it may mean an injury of any sort, then enjoy a rest day.

Mrs C, good job staying to your plan in spite of a crappy day.

Hi Bama, I agree, I too enjoy Evil's posts. Fun!

Zumba, I admire your determination. Changes come slower after 30, cut yourself a little slack to reach your goals at a pace that is comfortable.

The past 2 days I've had beautiful splurge lunches, yesterday's was a big rice/sashimi bowl, sake, and split 2 lovely desserts with my superfit guy. So today, I spent 2 hours catching up with an amazing friend over a very healthy thai lunch of tom yum soup and a fresh spring roll (not fried), with green tea.

Let's practice some self love as we move towards our goals. And I don't mean getting busy, just consider the internal dialogue we carry on. Bashing ourselves, efforts, and results is not productive. A little self coaching and patience goes a long way towards enjoying life.

Life doesn't start when we hit our goal (whatever that is), LIFE IS NOW. Be happy and fit right where you are now.

Thursday: 1040 calories, 1 hr. Zumba! class

I was ridiculously happy to see 139.2 on the scale this morning:carrot:. Friday is my official weigh-in day, so I got to change my ticker! Down 1.8 for the challenge so far, and trying to lose 4.4 more to get under 135. Starting my fat smash/clean eating tomorrow. We are getting still more snow as I type, and schools have delayed openings, which means we have to drag our son to our closing(doing a re-fi to shorten our mortgage term) and then I have to run him back to school. Luckily I had made arrangements to work from home.

river, I'm a firm believer in rest days! Glad it worked for you.

dcap, will this snow ever end? It makes me feel so drained. Even though I'm exercising and eating healthy, I feel wiped by the end of the day and just want to crawl into bed.

MadamB, hope you took a day off from exercise. And maybe a nice soak with some epsom salt.

evil, I love reading your posts. I know so many women in their 40's who feel like they're too old to exercise, or to try new things and accomplish new goals. It's great having you around here!

Good Morning Ladies!
Madam-listen to your body
River-GREAT advice. Love reading your post as well.
Natamars-woohoo on the scale going down!!!:cp:

Yesterday was a good day. Stuck in my plan but was full and satisfied. I increased my workout time on the Wii BLC and I really felt it. I was sweating buckets but felt great afterwards. This morning I completed another Wii BLC workout of 50 minutes. I have a goal to start the C25K on March 1. So I have made a deal with myself that after I complete 8 weeks of working out 5 times (40 workouts) then I am going to treat myself to a professional running shoe fitting and begin my training. I can't believe how excited I am about that. I told my fiance' that I wanted to be that person that plans activities that involve running, hiking or biking when I have time off and he can come along or stay behind. hehe..he doesn't like being left behind.;)

Chicks have a great TGIF! Remember celebrate the little victories!

Thanks
 

Thanks all;

Well yesterday I did my 30 day shred (Level 2) and 25 minutes of the Zumba Live DVD, then in the evening my neighbor wanted me to come over and do the Beginner Zumba (Wii) with her (20 minutes). I actually felt a little better by the end of the day, but I still soaked in the tub and feel much better today. Today I'm going to have an easy workout: Leslie Sansone 5-mile walk and the Zumba's flat abs . . . then tonight another soak in the tub and by morning I should be ready to hit it hard again . . .

It may have been going to Level 2 of the 30 day shred and I increased my weights in the Last chance workout to 8 lbs

All is good chickadeeeeees

I made veggie soup yesterday, then added wild rice and chicken . . . sooooooooooooo good, warming and filling . . .

Oh, btw it was -14 degrees at 7:00 this am . . . . BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Off to chiropractor...cannot move.....will write more later....

Hiya chicks,
Ok, day 21 DONE! :) That's 3 whole weeks of POP! Nope not the drinkin type of soda, I mean...

P- perfectly
O- on
P- plan

getting my guns in rare form with my strength training & lifting routine & pushups! Woo Hoo, 1/2 way there, another 1/2 to go & Iza gettin er done & even though its only been 3 weeks I can see some things are changin! :)

Today I wanted to get my bounce on, so did my mini tramp & glider & pushups & lifted.

Thanks BAMA :) Way to kicker up a notch, AWESOME! Bam, Bam to you chicky, your next weigh in will be a good one albeit when you sweat buckets! If I don't sweat, I don't consider that a real workout! :)
River- your post is spot on, you gotta love yourself no matter what your size & work from that, enjoy life no matter what your size! :) When you reach your goal & if your just aiming for skinny minney status, your love/hate relationship with your body will probably always still be there just in a smaller frame. You gotta love yourself unconditionally NOW!!!!! Girl- I would workout with you in a heart beat, if only you didn't live so far without a doubt, I'm such a people person & having fit & active friends is so FUN! ;) Your splurges sound yummy, all things in moderation, I don't believe in depriving myself neither!
Hey Madame- thank you! Glad yoy listened to your bod somewhat & enjoyed my pm to ya. :) After a lil R & R you are raring to go again, way to work out you ANIMAL! :) Sounds like you are gonna be liquifying that buddah, it won't have a chance being your going after it, love it! Your soup sounds nummers, love me some fowl! :) I hear ya on the damn cold, insanity right? What time is soup on tonite? ;)
Nat- thanks! glad the scale dropped, you are doing it girl, I am sure you will meet your goal come vd day! :)
Thanks d-cap, glad you turned that frown around. I think its the foul weather that gets people down too, low vitamin D, from lack of sunshine, so if you can't get a vacation to somewhere's sunny right now, maybe sit by a window when the sun is shining for a bit that outta help.
Zumba- sounds as if you over did something if you can't move, or you zigged when you should have zagged? :( Not fun- hope the chiropractor helps get you back into alignment.
Ok, Ladies, keep on truckin, even though the wknd is upon us, continue to keep your eye on the prize, so we can ALL meet our vd challenge! Yeah, Go team players go! :)

Hi Ladies, no time for shouts tonight but I read all your posts and just want to say YOU'RE HARDCORE! YAY!

Zumba I hope you're ok. Pain is no good.

I went to bootcamp today with my sister, we had a great workout and much fun. Also went to the mall and got a bra (a cup size down!), black leggings and tanks, basics but they all fit great. I haven't lost weight this challenge but I can see a change in my definition and how my clothes fit.

Half way done with this challenge!!
 

hey ladies, can you believe after tomorrow we are half way done with this challenge Oh my another weigh in tomorrow . . . I think I've been pretty good food & exercise wise this week, and we will take whatever the scale says . . .

Zumba: how's your back or neck . . . hope you're OK

angel, caprice, decap, bama, river, evil, nata, otown and everyone else - just hang in there; move more, eat better and watch that butter melt away . . . we can do this, and if you get stuck COME ZUMBA WITH ME!! :belly:

I was thinking about Zumba-ing, the internet and how things work . . . maybe soon you'll be able to go online and go into a virtual room and do a workout with others that are on line in the same room . . . kind of like you can go and play card games with other people on the internet, then hook your computer up to the TV and you could have a ton of people Zumba-ing on your TV, without going outside . . . YUP it's bitter cold here . . .

technology . . . so AMAZING, I still remember dial phones from when I was a kid . . .

OK, that was WAY off topic

Everyone have a great day . . .

Awesome words of inspiration evilwoman - PAY IT FORWARD!!!

To keep moving on we all need to look back to remember how far we've come, no matter the amount.

After three days off from exercising, I got back on my bike literally and back to sweating with JM...again literally. L2 of her dvd is really putting me through my paces and may stay on it longer than the 10 days until I master those darn military presses and v-raises!

Can you believe with just 3 days off the wii is telling me I've gained weight? My eating hasn't changed dramatically - I think I've even been eating less. I'm wondering if the stress of work is taking its toll - I've read somewhere that the body stores cortisol under times of stress which can lead to weight gain. Hopefully, I can get it under wraps by the end of the weekend.

Have great workouts everyone - how many days of the challenge are we left with? I feel the light at the end of the tunnel...

Zumba - please feel better!

Evil - sometimes it all comes crashing in. I needed to dust off, and move on :)

Madam - you too! we're almost there :)

my psuedo TOM is calling - and I am starving! I'm trying to eat well and drink LOTS of water before WI tomorrow - so today I want to be SUPER on plan!

Friday: ~2300 calories(planned high-cal dinner). No exercise.

I felt SO lazy yesterday. School was delayed so I worked from home and I just sat onmy couch on my laptop all day. I think it's all the cold and the snow, just sapping my energy away.

Started Fat Smash today. Already missing the sugar. So far today I've had oatmeal w/ blueberries, a banana, salad, red lentils, rice, 1/2 a cup of juice(it is supposed to be fresh-squeezed but mine isn't so I limit to 4 oz. a day), and edamame. Trying to drag my butt off the couch to the gym - I know I'll feel bad if I don't.

dcap, hope your day's going well.

otown, glad you had a great workout!

mamdamb, gl w/ the weigh-in!

river, great shopping trip.

zumba, hope you're doing better today!

Greetings chicks,
Day 22- DONE! The freakin red river is a flowing BIGTIME & killer cramps down the thighs today! :( Oh the JOYS of being a woman- NOT!!! Anyone else get the thigh cramps? Yuck, I cranked out 1/2 hr on treadmill on incline, lifted some weights & 50 pushups & called it a day..
No time to address anyone today, hubs and I have a date today, were going to a movie, dinner & then out for a night on the town with friends! :) Gonna have a few shots of midol throughout the day & I outta be good to pull an all nighter! :)
Have a great on plan kinda day chicka's & don't forget to get your sweat on!