[susanje]

A new week, a new thread.

MrsJim:

It is truly wonderful to have you in this forum. A big myth shatterer against the gimmicks and false promises that prey on people's hopes!!! Glad to have you here as one of us!

I am still considering Powerblocks purchase. The lowest price for the kind you can add to is $329 and the weight goes from 5-45 lbs per hand. Does anyone have any thoughts on this???

I'm recuperating AGAIN from my "failure to adjust to flying" ears. This is so weird. I've flown all over the world and have traditional pressure in my head...usually worse than most people but it's usually gone the next day. Since last year my reaction to flying (vertigo/nausea) has gotten acute. I asked a friend of mine who is a dr why and he said I need to take dramamine or a more potent prescription air sickness med. the flying last week affected my ears the same as it did last summer. Not as bad (if you remember, I was sick for weeks last summer) but a few days where I was dizzy and nauseous. I think I'm airsick or something......I don't know....my inner ears can't seem to hack coast to coast flights!!! I need to see the dr again and see if I could get a preventative pill or something.

School is heating up now that we're within a month of finals. Stress is on but I'm almost half way through law school.

Hope everyone is doing well!!!!!!!!!!
Susan

[MrsJim]

Susanje: Thank God you didn't have plans to fly back from NY today...another tragedy...who knows if it's accidental this time or terrorist related? It's especially chilling because my workplace is right underneath the flight path to SFO. Usually I don't think twice about it (since I grew up in the same town anyway) but these days it seems I can't stop thinking about it. Oh well...

Thanks for your words of support, of course judging from the posts at that other site people have chosen NOT to listen to me!! I guess they'd rather pay $109 for the same stuff they could get at Walmart for $15. At least they get that COOL packaging right?

Taking another look at the Anorex site it appears to be a ripoff of the Meridia/Xenical sites, even down to the "Support group" with the 800#. They make it sound like it's a special 'free' service that comes with your order, when it most likely is a bunch of telemarketers with little or no nutrition or fitness experience, and a list of "commonly asked questions" in front of them. A pretty smooth move by the marketers - they pay these people minimum wage to take phone calls, and it keeps the customers paying $109 a bottle...for an ECA stack! Sheesh.

I would **LOVE** to buy Powerblocks. Have you actually seen them in person? There's a chain of stores here in the Bay Area that carries them called Fitness Wize (or something like that). I checked 'em out there. Usually I get great deals buying off the Internet, but this may be the rare exception - due to shipping costs being so high for these puppies. I'd definitely get the expandable ones over the others. Unfortunately we don't have the room in our little place for a bench and Powerblocks unless we get rid of Jim's studio and that ain't gonna happen!

Doggz, I see your posts at the Atkins thread that was started over last week. Did I mention that my father was on Atkins in the 70's, until he met Dr. Atkins in person and saw how unhealthy he looked - especially the fact that Dad and Atkins are the same age...that was all it took for Dad to swear off the Atkins regime...

Gotta get back to my meeting, see ya guys later!

[MrsJim]

Here's a post from L&S that Pam B. wrote this morning. I found it so inspirational and thought you all would enjoy reading it as well!

Has this happened to any of you? You start out with great intentions, only to find yourself cheating on the diet and then saying, "what the heck, I might as well eat anything I want and start tomorrow or next week.."

Well guess what? I used to do that all the time. I've tried Weight Watchers, Formu-3, Fortunate Life, Jenny Craig, Atkins, Somercise, Carbohydrate Addict, Cambridge, Shaklee, Slimfast, Dexatrim... you name it, I've tried it.

When I started Body for Life I was worried that I was going to do the same thing... start up gung ho and fail. I was talking to a good friend yesterday and realized that I hadn't shared the full story of my transformation. I bought the book on January 16, 2000 and had every intention of starting on January 17th. I started out that morning eating right, then while at work I ate a piece of chocolate, then one led to another and another and another until finally I said, "What the heck" and blew the whole day. This was not a good way to start another program. Then I started again the next day... and didn't look back.

The difference came when I realized that I am doing BFL for me... nobody else but me. I had to drag myself out of the muck I was wallowing for so long. Every moment of every day I had to remind myself why I was doing this. Every moment of every day I asked myself, "Who do you want to be today, Pam?" Do I want to be lazy, fat, uninspired, depressed or do I want to be energetic, athletic, healthy, full of life? I would say to myself, "Yes, I want to be the latter, but I am not" Then I would say, "Well Pam, you are going to have to pretend that you are for a while.... fake it until you make it!" I pretended and faked it until lo and behold, I AM that energetic, athletic, healthy, confident person I have always wanted to be!!!

Did I mess up? Sure. Did I remind myself why I was doing this and who I wanted to be? Every single time I messed up or every single time I was challenged (which was sometimes multiple times per day) I would remind myself and ask myself that question. I would pretend that I was that healthy, athletic, confident person.

After doing that day after day after day, I started to believe that I WAS that healthy, athletic, confident person. I may not have looked like it on the outside because I was still covered in bodyfat, but I had already changed on the inside.

Change comes from the inside out. Even if you don't feel changed on the inside yet, fake it until you make it. Pretend you are that person you want to be, the change will then take place on the inside, and then it will happen on the outside. Never, ever, ever give up!! You are too important to do that!! Everyone of us is special! You should value yourself enough to not cheat yourself out of the life you deserve.

Promise me one thing... do something special for YOU today. Whether that be exercising, eating right, taking a special bubble bath, meditating, reading a special magazine or book with no distractions, I don't care... just do something special for YOU!!!

"It's never too late to be the person you might have been." G. Elliot

BTW, Pam B is going to be featured in the next issue of "Energy for Women". I'm really looking forward to buying that issue!

[carriej]

Hi everyone!
Challenge 1 is now under my (smaller) belt.

In the past 12 weeks, my body fat decreased from 42.5% to 33.1%
My scale weight went from 160 to 150, but that was a loss of 18 lbs of fat and a gain of 8 lbs. of lean.
I lost 3.5" from the waist, and 7" at the navel.
Am down 4" at the hips, and 2" each thigh.

I'll try to post before and after pictures below.

Oh, and Susan -- good luck with the lead-up to finals. Hope we can help keep you sane. Also, for motion sickness a scopolamine patch can be useful. You want to make sure there's not something else going on with the vertigo, though.

Mrs. Jim -- thanks for giving us the post from Pam. I think that a lot of us, especially on this site, have gone through a very up-and-down journey on our path to success.

Carrie

[susanje]

WOWEE ZOWEE Carrie!!! That is some incredible progress for C1!!!

I know that completeing my first challenge was such a high. Going through to completion is so great. CONGRATS. It is a HUGE accomplishment and I commend you on such great success!!!

Mrs Jim: WHERE did you see the Poweblocks? If it's in the south bay, I might take a trip there (my bd is next week and hubby wants to know what I want for that an our anniversary 4 days later...I originally asked for a diamond tennis bracelet but now I think I want powerblocks!!!!)

[2BFIT1]

Carrie~You look great! I saw your transformation on L&S last night and was going to post over there what a great job you did.. I didn't realize that you are the same person
Congrats on completing C1. That is quite an accomplishment in itself. You should be very proud of yourself. I know that we are all proud of you.

I've just started C3 (C3W1D5) with motivation and determination.

[MrsJim]

Whoa gal! Now THAT's what I call progress!!! You go girl!

And enjoy your FREE WEEK!

Susanje - I saw the PowerBlocks at a store called FitnessWize in downtown San Mateo on West Third Avenue (west of B Street). Check the San Francisco Chronicle for more locations as I believe they have a few stores in the Bay Area. You may want to try them out before you buy, and as I said since you won't have to pay the shipping costs which are pretty high for these babies, you might get a better buy.

I agree with you though - I'd rather have the PowerBlocks than some jewelry - but then again I'm really not a jewelry person (actually I'd rather have my own horse!).

Later gals!!!

[susanje]

THANK YOU!!! There is a Fitness Wize in Concord and/or Walnut Creek. I printed out the PowerBlock information for hubby last night and the various locations where they can be found. I also asked him to try to find a collapsible weight bench so I can slide it under the bed, but I don't even know if these puppies exist. I have my elliptical behind a recliner in the library loft and there really isn't room for a weight set up but I thought I could find a good bench that folds down. I have my swiss ball but that moves into the garage when company comes. Now if only I had a leg press. That's really the only piece of gym equipment I find difficult to replace. I would love to get an older Universal vertical leg press with the pin settings (I once belonged to a gym that had moved all of it's "old" Universal equipment into a separate women's area and put the newer stuff in the co-ed area...but I fell in love with the Universal stuff.)

My dream is to one day own a gym and set up something very similar to what that gym had. They were privately owned and then they were bought out by a chain and all the great stuff about the gym disappeared (including the separate women's section). For right now, I'm having trouble setting up stuff in my house--so I guess owning anything else will have to wait.

After the holidays, I'm going to commit to a 12 week challenge of Body Opus/CKD. It's similar to NHE but doing the carb load up on the weekend will be easier for me to do. I'm going to spend the next few weeks researching it.

[MrsJim]

Fitness Wize actually has a pretty decent website... at www.fitnesswize.com. Looks like the PowerBlocks are a **BIG** part of their inventory.

I really hate going in their store because they have such cool equipment for sale and I really wish I had the room for it in our little place...not only for my benefit but for Jim's, since he hates going to the gym!

I had the **best** workout today. Did shoulders/abs/calves then a butt-kickin' 20 HIIT on the treadmill. It's been 5 hours and my legs are still sore which is a GOOD THING for me.

This weekend I'm going to hit the books and find some different exercises - next week is already Week 4 of my third Challenge which means time to change exercises! Yee haw!

[2BFIT1]

Hi everybody
Today is C3W1D6 and I'm feeling fantastic!

For my cardio I usually do either a 20 min MAS or HIIT but today I tried something alittle different. In this months MM mag there is an article called "Guerilla Cardio 2". It's a HIIT session that consists of a total of 12 minutes. The first 4 min are at a 50% pace. The next 4 min alternate with 20 seconds all-out with a slow-down for 10 sec, 20 sec all-out, 10 sec slow, etc. The last 4 min at 50% pace to cool down.
I enjoyed it alot and will increase the amount of time that I do the alternating to about 20 min, even though he recomends only 12.

MrsJim~~~ I'm also looking forward to the Dec issue of ENERGY. Pam said she had a great time on the interview and photo shoot. Should be a great article, and of course the mag itself is great, so far.

I slacked off on the glutamine lately (not recomended ) and my chest hurts from the incline DB flyes that I did Monday. So I'm off to take it now. Hope you all have a great workout today
~~~Sil

[MrsJim]

Whew! Just got back from MY workout. Chest & Tris today followed by 20 minutes of HIIT cardio (I alternated between treadmill & elliptical).

How come I'm always the LAST one to get the new issue of MM? I can't wait until they start subscriptions to Energy - I'm REALLY looking forward to Pam B's feature! I won't touch Oxygen or Shape with a 10-foot pole. Muscle & Fitness Hers is okay though.

I haven't been posting as much the last couple of weeks as I had a couple of major meetings at work to prepare materials for and organize the facilities, catering, etc. In addition to that I'm helping to build a website for one of my groups. I don't mind doing that at all except...I also have to organize and attend the dinners. Last week I had to go to two dinners at very upscale restaurants and last night another one. Fortunately my guys (committee members from our different regions around the world) are very understanding and were EXTREMELY complimentary about my progress - they hadn't seen me since September in Canada. All I can say is, thank goodness for Pellegrino water!

Speaking of water, I am making an effort to drink 1 gallon a day during the work day (between 8-5). So I bought a gallon jug which I fill up from the filtered water tap at work in the morning, and it must be EMPTY by 5 PM. Plus I'm drinking water at home and when I work out, so needless to say I'm running to the Ladies' room an awful lot!

Anyway, gotta jam, will write more later!

[MrsJim]

Hope everyone is having a *GREAT* day!

Yesterday I received a wonderful surprise - I got a $500 cash award for outstanding work! Plus we get our bonuses at the end of this month. Just in time to pay off some bills and give a nice check to my riding instructor (I like to pay for my lessons in advance).

Plus had a KILLER Quads/Hams workout this morning. I was lying on the Leg Curl machine and looked in the mirror and I saw very clear GLUTE definition. What a rush!

Tomorrow I'm taking a day off work to have an extra riding lesson and take my nephew and niece to see Harry Potter. (I've already bought tickets on the Internet so we're set - still have to get to the theatre super early though).

How's everyone else doing? Susanje, didja get those Power Blocks?

[2BFIT1]

Good Morning Everybody~~~

MrsJim~~~ What a nice surprise! Being rewarded for a job well done is great and money doesn't hurt either. Enjoy your spending.

I don't know about any of you, but I have the hardest time shopping for pants. All brands fit differently and even the same size of pants can be too small or too big. I've even noticed that the top brands are running larger than they used to. A size 10 is now an 8. From my years in fashion merchandising I know that this is done intentionally so that we will buy more of their high priced clothes because we can wear a "smaller size" and therefor spend more money.

So, a few weeks ago i took a gamble and ordered some slim-fit, side-zip, twill/stretch pants (1 in black and 1 in chocolate), size 6 from Chadwicks , hoping that THESE 6's would fit) . I figured if they were TOO tight that it would be an incentive to wear them. I also bought a pair of short boots at a Veterans day sale last week, to wear with them.
My husband and I go out for dinner every Thursday (free day) so I thought I'd try them on and see what happens.

Well, they fit GREAT and when my husband saw me , he was extremely complimentary. All night he kept saying how "slim" I was He even called me Shania a few times. He loves Shania Twain! I only look like her in my dreams, but it was nice to hear his compliments.

So, today is week 2 of this challenge and I know that I will have good results.Did Guerilla Cardio yesterday and today is UBWO.
~~~Sil

[MrsJim]

Love the motto on the bottom of your post!!! Is Pam B the most inspiring person ever or what??? Next to Bill Phillips of course!

Well today is my PTO (Paid Time Off) day. It's a bit rainy out but not too bad. Had a KILLER Back/Biceps workout this morning! I'll have to change my workouts this weekend - can't believe I'm already near the end of C3, W4! Between sets doing bicep curls I was stretching my arms over my head and I noticed my lats popping out on either side and felt GREAT!

I hear ya about the clothing size thing. There's an old I Love Lucy episode where Lucy is trying to get into a dancer's costume to be in Ricky's show and she is on a crazy starvation diet to get down to a size 12! Now you know that Lucille Ball had one of the greatest pairs of legs ever (even when she was older - there was an interview with her in Rolling Stone and they took a photo of her and she STILL had great gams!) so a size 12 was probably the same as today's Junior 12s.

I usually prefer shopping online or catalog shopping to trudging through the malls going through rack after rack. My favorite place to shop for work clothes is Lands' End (I'm now in their Ladies' "small" sizes! Yipee!) because I like their quality and consistency. LL Bean is a great place too. I was at my sister's house the other evening and she showed me a great skirt that she got from J. Crew's catalog so I might give them a look. Even though it's been 10 years since I was limited to Lane Bryant I still get a BIG thrill being able to shop in 'normal' stores!

Well I have great plans today - going to take a long hot bath, then go to the stable - I called my trainer and am going to take an extra riding lesson today. After that, swing by the theater to pick up the tickets to see Harry Potter that I bought online (www.fandango.com is a great place to buy movie tix!) run a couple more errands and then pick up the kids. They are so excited - I was on the phone with Jen and I could hear them both squealing in the background about going. I must admit, that although I haven't read the books (yet!) I'm kind of excited about going myself! I hope the popcorn won't bother me too much.

Oh, one more thing - I've been getting all my water in at work - something I started this week is keeping a 1-gallon water jug on my desk. First thing in the morning, I fill it up from the filtered water tap, and have a big glass that I fill up from the jug constantly during the workday. It really works! I have to make an effort today to drink all my water - but not during the movie because I don't want to keep running to the bathroom! Later everyone!!!

[susanje]

I remember other posts (was it here or on L&S?) where people were trading/selling MRPs. Since reducing carbs, my consumption of MRPs has gone way down. But since I have a squirrels mentality, I tend to hoarde. Therefore I have a lot of MRPs. I really need to make room in my cabinets for holiday stuff and would be more than willing to sell these for way below what I paid at netrition plus actual shipping (shouldn't be much--netrition charges a flat 4.95 per UPS no matter how much you actually buy or what it weighs, I would only charge for actual shipping). Each packet goes for between 1.40 and 1.50 on netrition but I would e willing to charge 1.00 each if you order 10 or less or .85 per packet for 10 or more.

I have almost 100 MRPs of all different kinds from met rx original vanilla (my favorite) to lean body soft vanilla ice cream to myoplex in many flavors. If you're interested in buying anything I'll send you a list and you can pick and choose. email me at [email protected]

thanks