So I thought we could all use a little of our FAVOURITE inspiration to get us going for a big win in week 2! :D

http://bethanysnyder.com/wordpress/w...os/bobyoga.jpg

Amberelise - DANG girl! You had some serious catching up to do! ;) You have a masseuse AT WORK?! I am SO jealous! Congrats on a good start to today - just keep checking in with us, your own personal cheerleaders! :cheer:

Theresa - Innnteresting experience with the last chance workout! Remember that we ALL have different bodies, genes, metabolisms, priorities, plans, etc - so we're all going to lose differently. You are doing great, so just keep chipping away at it.

Shay - What kinds of things do you do for cardio? Maybe you can try some new things and see if you find something you actually enjoy?

Rhonda - What a GREAT idea for a little daily treat for mind, body and soul. :D

chelle - personals written down in your car? You HAVE been busy! ;) Glad the cheat sheet is helping - I would be lost without it!

Pam - Hope everything is okay. :hug: Glad to see you checking in with us.

Cristina - Oh sweetie, I hope your back lets up soon, you sound so frustrated!

Don't even spend a moment on those 16 lb weight losses. It's over, in the past, we're moving on. Those are going to be those first week freakish numbers just because of the way we have to start the challenges. Every week from here on out should be more normal. And if anyone IS losing double digits from here on out, then we can just all just ask, ".....of WHAT???" lol ;) Because it can't be fat, so it's water, muscle, maybe a haircut? :rofl:

Don't forget to plan a workout for TBL airing tonite at 8 eastern - yet another 2 hours of fluff, gotta thank those writers' strikers! Actually I love it, I can zone out on the stuff I want, but I know it will be long and good. I'll be hitting the treadmill at 8 pm - who's with me?

Originally Posted by practiceliving:
Amberelise - DANG girl! You had some serious catching up to do! ;) You have a masseuse AT WORK?! I am SO jealous! Congrats on a good start to today - just keep checking in with us, your own personal cheerleaders! :cheer:

Haha, I certainly *did* have some catching up to do. And, ladies, don't ever let me miss an entire weekend again. Not only did it cause me to have a TON of catching up to do, but you can also assume I'm up to no good if I'm not posting here. Bad bad bad.

Yes, we have a masseuse here every Friday. It's one of our soft perks. I absolutely love her and I wish I could see her every week. I could, but my wallet wouldn't like that very much. ;)

Originally Posted by sportmom:
Don't forget to plan a workout for TBL airing tonite at 8 eastern - yet another 2 hours of fluff, gotta thank those writers' strikers! Actually I love it, I can zone out on the stuff I want, but I know it will be long and good. I'll be hitting the treadmill at 8 pm - who's with me?

I am. I will be getting 45 minutes in on the Elliptical and 50 minutes in on the recumbant bike, then finish off with 20 minutes on the weighted hula hoop. That should get me through the show and hopeflly help my Wednesday morning weigh-in:D

I have to say I was too suprised at the 2 hours again, but it helps with the workout. I figure if they are getting their butts kicked :kickbutt: in the Gym, so should I right?

Congrats on the GREAT weigh-in. Lets keep up the good work ladies (and John). I think since we had the highest percentage of people come in to weigh-in that we truely have the most dedicated group and that in the long run will really payoff big for us.

Yeah, our cable was out last Tuesday - some freak actually took a gun and shot the main cable so a huge population was without cable - so I missed TBL. Looking forward to it tonight.

Josh (trainer) killed me today with lunges and squats. And I signed on the dotted line for even more sessions. I'm not taking him all the way to goal with me - just long enough to get established in a good routine; and then follow up with him when I need to change things up a bit I suppose. I haven't done lifting for almost 10 years now.

Fran - what do you do? Lifting everyday, or alternating? I'm doing upper body 2x/week and lower 2x/week. The inbetween days I like to alternate with Pilates. I really enjoy Pilates actually. Very intense, yet somehow VERY, very relaxing for me.

AmberElise - thanks for directing me to the mainters forum for the calorie thread. I'm going to check it out now. I need to spend more time in that area I think! And, yes, I think SEA is gorgeous. You are close to water and mountains. And a road trip to CA isn't all that long either!

Marianne - Thanks for the great pic of Bob! And yes, I am seeing inches. And I feel good eating and moving like I am so no matter how long it takes, I am here for the long haul. I'll tweak things now and then to see if results follow.

Who uses a HR monitor? What kind? I think I want one. Just to make sure my cardio is being effective the whole hour. Sometimes I wonder if my perceived exertion is acurate.

Well, I got to get girls down for naps and get some bookkeeping done...

I'm here! Still on plan just had DH here this week alot so busy more than usual. He hates it when I am on here instead of spending time with him bc he is never here, poor thing. So I baby him. :bb: LOL!!

Anyhoo, read thru all your posts. Love how creative you all are with the questions, etc. and your answers. :cp: Hope to reply one day soon. :(

Everyone did greeeat this week. I'm so proud of us all. Can't 'weight' to get thru this challenge and be in the 170s for the first time in 12 years! (And even then it was just for a few months!) :cb:

Big hugs, bbl if I can, Selina :hug:

My review of Jillian Michaels for Beginners Frontside: 43 minutes, 6 circuits with 1 cardio move and 2 weight moves each.

Overall: I thought since I have been doing the circuits in the book I was going to whip right through this and move straight to the more advanced boxed set :rofl: These will definitely take the place of the book circuits, I got such a good workout. It was very doable, yet very challenging all the way through. Each circuit has one of the previous BL contestants (most from like season 1 or 2 and have kept it off!), and her...just them on a completely white background. The contestant does the work, she talks and gives TONS of information on form, best order to work the muscles, why you do each move, etc. I learned a ton and still haven't soaked it all in yet.

What I loved: Easy set up with no distractions. Lots of variations are given for different levels, so even though it's for beginners I will be on this one for awhile until I can do the advanced version of every move. She is very informative on correct form and where you should be feeling it. I learned so much that will carry into all my other workouts as well. ANd best of all...she is VERY motivating all the way through. I dropped down to baby jumping jacks on the last circuit and she said something along the lines of not to drop down at the end, go strong to the end and suddenly I was jumping higher than on the very first set of circuit one! It defintely has the feel of her training you one-on-one, not a rushed workout you have to keep up with while trying to figure out proper form.

What I didn't like: The only small thing that I didn't like was on a couple circuits she hands the performer their weights as they get up and down from the floor, while I had to get my own so it put me a couple reps behind. Nothing major that I couldn't keep up, but I like to be on the same rep as the person I am following.

I think I'm going to watch this one tomorrow just to really hear all the information she gives out. I know I didn't get it all while I was sweating and working! This is a really good workout and I really feel it. I walked some right after and could really feel that I am going to be sore tomorrow!

Go blue team

NORI - I do a full body w/o 3 days a week, Weds, Fri, and Sun. I used to do splits, but wanted to see progress faster, so moved up to a fbwo and will stick with that if it doesn't kill me. I posted on the weight lifting forum today about some thigh pain, if you want to read more about it there. I hang out there equally as well, for the weight lifting education I need.

Originally Posted by GirlyGirlSebas:
So, Marianne, you got me thinking about what I can do to "pamper" myself these days. And, I just thought of something great for me...and, maybe for some of the rest of you. I love my morning coffee and I usually have two cups each morning, right after the girls go to school and before Hubby gets up. This is my quiet time and the time when I usually come here to our threads and post. Today, I'm going to buy a coffee grinder and some special coffee beans and I'll start having some "special for me" coffee in the morning. Yes, its is a little more expense, but I'm worth it! :coffee: (I might even add a couple of spoonfuls of real creamer....of course, I'll track the calories.)

I do this! (sort of!) I usually drink two cups of coffee in the morning. I don't grind my coffee (cause I'm lazy) but I always put a tablespoon of creamer in my first cup of coffee and it feels so decadent!




Now that we have finished our first challenge week, let's take some time to reflect. What did you learn about yourself and about what works or doesn't work for you? Are you doing anything differently this week?

I learned that I do really well at the beginning of the week. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday I rock. Foods perfect AND exercise is perfect and I am just OP. Thursday and beyond exercise stops and starting Friday night/ Saturday morning my eating goes out the window too. 3 out of 7 days of being OP isn't going to cut it! So this week I'm going to work on my exercise consistency and next week I'll work on my weekend eating. Baby steps!

Hi Bluesers
What a great bunch of posts. EVERYONE should be proud of the last week.. if you weren't perfect you admitted to it and are working on changing it for this week.
What I learned from last week...hmmm.. what a great bunch of losers the Blue Team are!
Also if you missed my earlier posts, I used to weigh 251 lbs. I joined LAWL a year ago September and when I started I was 219lbs.. I had got some weight off on my own. I got down to 154 in June of last year and then was tired of always having to watch what I eat.. I crept up a bit but really threw caution to the wind in December and just 'wanted to enjoy the holidays'.. I am a lady that loves her cocktails..or as I call them my liquid fruits and starches and also got a little out of hand with scattered meals and some indulgences.. my reward for 'enjoying' myself was to see the scale at 183lbs on January 2nd.. I was DISGUSTED and so angry at myself. I had also thrown out all my fat clothes so nothing fit but one pair of jeans. So I started doing all my meal planning for a week at a time and once I joined this challenge joined a gym last week. Thanks to the motivation of the challenge, this lady that didn't do much exercise other than walking has been 7 times in just over a week. I have made myself get on the eliptical machine that used to scare the heck out of me and I'm up to half an hour now. I'm also doing weights and other cardio.
So what I learned this week is that these challenges are forums are better than any weight loss centre you can join as we motivate, inspire and also allow each other to confess and get right back on the right track. So over the next few weeks if you dont' lose, you gain or you only lose a bit remember you are making slow changes for a long reward
Whew.. I'm done!

Alright Blue Team ... I did my last chance workout for the last 2 hours with TBL show. Did you?

Go BLUE!

:wave: I did an hour! But it wasnt' really last chance for me, since I weigh in on Mondays.

I didn't do cardio but I did do my weights and what not. I'm still a little tender from Sunday so I tried not to overdo it to much tonight. I am about 100 points over on calories but overall I am very pleased with today.

I did it!! Not only my std 1/2 hr of t'mill cardio but felt so great & energized that after a 15 min mini-rest (bathroom break) I also did 15 mins on the elliptical - a first for me! I've not been able to last more than 5 minutes on that thing EVER!! I'm not sure if I loved the exercise tonite bc it was the greatest episode ever, or, if I thought it was the greatest show EVER bc I was exercising! Yeah, on a little endorphin high here and will probably be up til 1 am. :dance: (<- That's the elusive sleep fairy tonite)