Happy Valentine's Day ladies! :val1:

Thanks for the smileys guys!

Hope you are all having a good day - I'm home, snowed in today. We already have about 12" on the ground, and they are saying maybe 12" more! I shoveled around 1pm and you can't even tell! That's my cardio for the day - that snow gets heavy!

Ledom - I agree - the Grammy's Pink is more your style, I think! And I agree - she did look pretty good - she's in great shape!

Glad to hear that you did workout yesterday. I feel guilty for missing today, but I'll make it up this weekend - now we will get to go snow-shoeing! I bought us snowshoes for Christmas, and we haven't had any snow yet!

Well, I'd better check on my chickpeas that are roasting -then think about getting back out in that weather again soon. Fingers crossed that this stops soon - we are getting about 2" an hour at this point!
Cindy

And a Happy Valentines today from me as well :val3:!

Wow, Cindy - hope that snow stops soon. Sounds as though the NE is getting hammered. I am unhappy that it is cold - but I guess I'll quit complaining. Snow shoeing sounds fun! I understand that is an exceptional way to get your cardio in.

So, my big news of the day is NO HOT WATER this morning when I was ready to step in the shower. Turns out my hot water heater died. Not a great way to start the day. The good news is that the plumbers are here now and I suppose the bad news will be when they hand me the bill.

Did have a very nice lunch with DD and though I have no sweetheart - I know a lot of sweethearts that have given me cards, and unfortunately chocolate, though fortunately very small boxes of chocolate. 80 cals a piece. I had two for my afternoon snack - I know I know, but if I stop there maybe I'll be okay. I am sticking the rest in the freezer for another day.

Ledom - sorry to hear about your hot water heater. The good news is that you can claim it as a reduction on your taxes for 2007. So stick the receipt in your tax folder as a reminder for next year. Unfortunately I replaced mine in December 2005, just before the allowance started in 2006!

I had my ounce, ok, maybe two of dark chocolate yesterday. We didn't go out to dinner because we were both exhausted from shoveling snow several times during the day. So, I had a whole wheat Boboli here and we made pizza last night. We are going out to dinner tonight instead.

You'll never guess what DF got me - a new iPod shuffle. But, he got it for me because it's ORANGE! :carrot: My favorite color, so I just had to have one!

So yes, I currently have 3 iPods, but I will sell my 3-month old silver shuffle, and will be back down to 2 - one for working out, one for listening in general.

I agreed to contribute to a miter-saw for his gift - I'm hoping I'll reap some of the benefits of having one of those around!

No workout again today - just more shoveling. DF and I were out there 4 hours total this am - doing both my driveway and his. He has a snowblower at his place, thank goodness, but it still took us forever. Oh, and we had to help his 80-yo uncle as well - the old guy was out there moving one shovelfull across the street at a time! He would have been there all day! And since it was 10F, with an even colder windchill, we didn't want him out there that long. I'm still not warmed up!

I'm not worried about the missed workouts - that was major cardio, moving all that, and I've found muscles in my back that I didn't even know I had! Good thing I've been working out - I would have never been able to do all of that otherwise!

Well, I need to get back to work - you gals have a great day!
Cindy

Hey there Cindy - yeah, wouldn't worry about those missed workouts with all the snow shoveling you are doing.

Just wanted to hop on and let you know that I just finished my workout. I didn't do it yesterday due to waiting around for the plumber (that's the excuse I gave myself anyway.) It is so strange, I am definitely in a low cycle of wanting to work out right now but I am trying very hard to push through it. Was at the gym a good hr. and 45 min. and I think that is part of the problem. It just takes so long when you get to the late weeks. I am thinking of ways to modify. I mean better a shorter workout than none at all if you are missing because it just takes too long. Right?

Oh no - do the later weeks really take that much longer? I did notice when I was putting it all into a spreadsheet that some circuits start to have 4 exercises, and then the cardio goes up to 1.5 minutes sometimes.... Guess I will definitely have to be better about getting to the gym earlier once I get to those.

Monday will start week 5 for me - I need to review my workout plan to make sure I know how to do everything.

Good for you, Ledom for finally finishing!

Hey, why is it that I can do 20 "girl" push-ups but can't do a single regular one? Has anyone else run into this problem?
Cindy

You know Cindy - I never thought I would be able to do a regular one. On either my second or third go 'round of this workout plan I thought - I'll just give it a try. I could not believe I was finally able to do a "mens" pushup but I now regularly do 3 circuits of 12. Another reason I love Jillian. Just keep working toward it. I remember you saying how you hated the bench dips. I remember hating them too when I first started. I now can hold a 35 lb. plate on my lap and straighten my legs out and do them. SO. You'd think I'd just be a slip of a thing by now. If I could just get the food under control I think I would be. I am strong - stronger than I have ever been.

Just reporting a workout done. Was a little easier to get going and stick with it today. Partied last night, but toned it down a bit. Anyway, I feel like have a good weekend going. I am thinking of a little extra cardio tonight and a workout tomorrow as well.

Sunday workout done!

Okay - this makes 4 back to back posts. I am talking to myself here. Hope ya'll can check in today!

So, the weekend went pretty well. I weigh what I did Friday morning and that is always a successful weekend when I can manage that. Got in 2 workouts and will be doing an hour of cardio tonight. That will put me at weeks 9-10 in the book. (Or is it 11-12?) Anyway, I'll switch things up again when I start on Wed.

Other than working out and getting some cooking done I had a lazy weekend. I rented 2 movies. Sherry Baby, good but depressing. Marie Antoinette, good and not as depressing only you know that one isn't going to turn out well either. It was spectacularly beautiful though and I wish I had seen it on the big screen.

Trying to find the power to push through getting these winter pounds off. It all comes back to the eating. I have to remember if I am only going to make it right 80% of the time, ain't nothing going to happen. And that is so not fair, but also I just know that is how it is. All the effort I do make is for nothing if I don't do it all the way.

Trying to find that spark that will light my desire to get the seriousness required. All I can think of are the cute tops and skirts that I will be wanting to wear as it gets warmer. I don't have so many winter clothes but I have a ton of summer clothes that I love. Here in the south it has been SO cold this year, but today a warm up is starting and it is even time to plant cold weather crops here. Time to get this fat off so I'll be able to slip into the cute stuff here in a month or so.

A month or so???? LOL - I would love to think that I could start wearing that stuff that soon. We easily have until late-April - May before it's time to come out from our winter duds.

Good for you Ledom for getting your workouts done this weekend!

I got a workout in this morning - key since I'd missed 3 in a row due to all the shoveling - I'm so wary about getting out of my habit, that any little blip makes me worry. Also, since DF didn't have to work today, it was SO hard to get out of that warm bed and into the 1F weather to head to the gym at 6:30am! I didn't do the last set of each of the last 2 circuits, as I ran out of time, but otherwise, it went ok.

I caught quite a chill yesterday - we went up to our cabin to clean the snow off the roof, and I stupidly got myself stuck in about 4 feet of snow. Pete was already down the hill, and I had a really hard time getting myself out of it! Lesson learned, I put my snowshoes back on, and trudged down the hill only sinking 2 ft. into it, instead of all the way down to the ground! Anyway, I just can't get warm since - have been drinking lots of tea and hot chocolate to get my insides warmed.

I have *nothing* planned for food for this week - not a good thing... I need to keep that part in check, otherwise it's so easy to slip down that sloppy slope....

I think I will make shrimp creole or something cajun tomorrow to celebrate Mardi Gras. Anyone else doing any sort of celebration? Do they celebrate Mardi Gras or Carnival in Australia?
Cindy

Wow Cindy - 4 ft. of snow. I can not even imagine.

Yeah, 4 to 6 weeks could be shorts weather here. Not every day, but some days. We are going to hit 7 this week after what seems weeks of 30's and even colder.

I applaud you on getting up and to the gym this morning. That sounds so hard with those frigid temps.

I hear you on the blip thing - it is so easy to let one day missed turn into a week and longer.

Yes, we got a ton of snow last Wednesday. I got about 20" here at my house, and points west and north got even more. The cabin is in the southern Adirondacks, and they probably got 3+ feet there, but will drifting and the piles from the plows, it could be anywhere from 4-6 feet deep in spots!

LOL - we are warming up to 30 this week!

Good Morning gals!

Wow, this morning's workout was rough! Hard to believe that just a few days off, despite the physical activity done, was enough to really slow down my momentum. I literally had to talk myself into finishing all the circuits - by circuit #3, I was ready to bail!

I can definitely see that the time needed for these workouts is increasing - I can't finish in an hour anymore. Especially since I'm not going to do the lifting "while jumping around" exercises - keeping them seperate adds to the time needed.

I did enjoy doing crunches on the ball today, though - that extra stretch back really makes your lower back and abs work harder! I thought 20 would be easy, but was dying by 15!

Played hookey yesterday afternoon, since DF had the day off for P-Day, so we went up to an outlet mall to look for some shoes for him, and some kitchen stuff for me. Then, on the way home, we talked ourselves into going out to eat. DF *never* wants Indian food, and since he was open to it, I took advantage of that! Of course, he is all about eating out and so I think he did that on purpose just to get me to agree to it.

Our main courses were ok, but we splurged and had the appetizer platter - I just *had* to have a samosa, although I did leave some of the fried batter pieces behind. He had chicken tikka masala (although I did see it was a lot of dark meat), and I had lamb palak. It was pricey, but now I'll have leftovers for lunch for at least 3 days!

Well, guess I should start paying attention to this conference call I'm on - I just love multi-tasking!
Cindy

Morning Cindy - Just a constant struggle, huh Cindy. I know exactly what you are saying. Last week when I went MIA from the gym it was so hard to go back. Not just the physical barrier of it being hard, I was embarrassed by not showing up for a few days. Embarrassed to be seen as slacking by people WHO DON'T EVEN KNOW ME!!!

But the thing is, you just get back in the groove and who knows, by next week you will probably be chomping at the bit again.

So, I did cardio in the gym last night. HATE cardio on machines. It is just not my thing to do an hour of cardio on a treadmill or any combination of machines. Not my cup of tea. I'll be back to hiking this week.

Weather update. As I drove onto campus this a.m. Most students were in short sleeve t-shirts and jeans and flip flops. Some in shorts. Crazy weather.

Hi Girls!
Finally i'm back! We've now moved, and i love the new house. Unfortunately, my weight loss did take a back seat to moving, and i'm up a few kilos as a result. Add the fact that i've had no internet access so i didn't have access to my circuits, so i was only doing cardio. My food wasn't good, and now i'm feeling pretty crappy about myself. But for the last two days my food has been right on and i've done two killer cardio workouts. I'm now set to get back into my circuits starting today, and soon i'll hopefully have the excess weight off, and can get back on track to reaching my goal.
Hope that you're all doing well!