[ledom]

Crawling out of my hole here to make a post. I am doing pretty good I think. This month has been a lot different. I haven't worked out nearly so much in the gym. I have hiked long distances (4 to 8 mile range), I have started 4 new garden beds and done a lot of yard work. My food is really good, except when it is really bad, but the bad days do seem to be diminishing. I will reup my gym membership this month because I know I want to get back to it, but I am allowing myself a little time to try some alternative things. More yoga, gardening, hiking, paddling. Basically Spring stuff.

So, I was so excited last night to supplement my salad with greens from my own little garden. I am going to enjoy this so much.

Also want to tell you about the most yummy meal I just had.

Scrambled egg whites/one yolk with homade salsa and a side of Scottish oatmeal with blueberries.

The Scottish oatmeal is just a bit finer grain than the Irish. I cook up a big batch and then microwave it, my basic recipe of goodness today was about a 1/2 cup oatmeal, handful of fresh blueberries, cinnamon. Zap for 2 minutes, add splenda 1/3 c lowfat cottage cheese, tsp. vanilla. It is like french pastry, it's so good.

[TwinkleGirl]

Hi Girls,
I'm still here and i've been checking up on you guys,but i just haven't had much to say. I've lost my motivation, my inspiration... i'm just not feeling the weight loss thing at the moment. I feel like i'm starting from the beginning all over again. I just have to take it one day at a time, i know that, i just keep getting fed up with it. Although, yesterday my food was really food and it's been a long time since my food was good for the whole day. I'll just keep trying, i'm nowhere near ready to give up on the skinny dream yet!

[BfL_Cat]

Twinklegirl - I'm glad you popped in to say "Hi!". I don't really know you or your story well, but just looking at your ticker, I can see you've made great progress in this journey - 55# is so wonderful! Just 11# more to go - keep up this good work, you can do it! And please do keep popping in here - even if you have nothing to say - just let us know what's going on with you, good or not. Congrats on your good food day yesterday!

I'm been under the weather the past few days - some sort of stomach flu bug, I guess - I don't usually get this sort of thing, so I don't handle it well

So, no workout this am, but hopefully in the morning. I have to skip Wednesday due to a work commitment, so maybe I'll just do cardio tomorow...

Hey Ledom - your oatmeal meals sound yummy! Unbelievable that your already eating stuff out of your own garden! Our Spring flowers are still only about 2" out of the ground!

Have a great week everyone!
Cindy

[ledom]

TwinkleGirl, how is school going? I know exactly how you feel, I am struggling with the same thing. The sad thing is that it is so easy to undo the hard work we have done. I am trying to get a grip on all this. Finally, yesterday, I made it back to the gym. Afternoon, morning just isn't happening for me anymore. And, the gym is practically empty from 5:30 to 7, which I seem to require right now.

Cindy, sorry to hear you weren't feeling well. Hope all is better now. The weather is scary weird this spring. Seems we went from winter to spring and all the plants are blooming at once, in some cases exceptionally early. Will be cold later this week though, hopefully not freezing, but a low of 35 one night.

How's it going Gina?

[BfL_Cat]

Better today, aside from a bit of sugar wooziness from this morning - too many meetings and I snuck a few cookies, then my lunch frozen entree - Kashi Sweet and Sour Chicken was WAY too sweet! I'm trying to come down from this and feel normal now!

I was thinking about you gals today - I fell down that slippery slope and gained back nearly 60#.... I don't know if anyone could have stopped it, by trying to warn me it could happen - I thought I was "trying" to keep things under control, but I never went to the gym once during that time frame (about 1.5 yrs) - not once! Did I know better - yes. Did I think I wanted to stop gaining, yes. But did I want it bad enough to get my butt back in the gym, knowing that was what I needed - obviously not. I had a mental block about doing what I needed to - I guess they call that denial, right? And then when I finally snapped out of it, I found myself back to the miserable state I had been in years before.

Just thinking about the whole thing scares me - I said I would NEVER let myself get over 200# again. And then when it did happen, I just turned a blind eye to it, made excuses and kept gaining.... I kept telling myself that I just did not know what was going on with me - hormones, ageing, being in a relationship - why, oh why was I gaining weight, no matter how much I kept starting a diet over and over.... Maybe Atkins will work, maybe South Beach will work - I just had to keep trying new ways to lose weight, avoiding the hard work that was really needed.

I guess I learned my lesson the hard way, and maybe that's what will keep it from happening to me again. I'm writing this more for myself than anything right now, but the bottom line is that I *must* workout regularly the rest of my life. Maybe not as hard as I am now all the time, but I will have to do it to maintain. There is no other way for me. Some women say eating is 80% of it, well for me, eating is really only about 30-40% of it. Maybe even less. If I don't exercise, I will start to backslide.

Keeping myself chatting here at 3FC is another key for my success. Because if I'm lurking, I know it's because I feel I have nothing positive to say. And chances are that that means I'm slipping. And heading down that river in Egypt.

Wow - that was certainly a ramble. But, I may print it out and put on my fridge, or the back of a closet door at the very least. It's something that I really need to keep at the front of my mind all the time.
Cindy

[ledom]

Cindy I really appreciate you posting that. I find myself at the very portal of the point of no return. I have few things in my closet right now that I am williing to wear out in public. Things zip, fit over my hips, etc., but they are still too tight. If I fix it now, I mean get really serious, it probably won't take too long to fix but I am in VERY dangerous territory. I am on a moratorium on buying anything new in a larger size. I have just enough stuff to get by. I have noticed that the difference of just one size makes me feel fat, look old, and not feel so good in social situations. Why would I let that be my life?

[TwinkleGirl]

Hi Girls,
Just wanted to check in. Yes, thank you Cindy for posting that. I have to say, i don't think i've gone backwards much, i'm really in neutral. I'm eating pretty well and doing some workouts, just not enough to lose. And i'm terrible at putting pressure on myself, i beat myself up over everything, so at the moment i am definitely learning that beating myself up does nothing but make me not want to workout. I feel like i'm doing a lot of reflection and focusing on myself at the moment. The weight that i lost over the past year, i didn't really deal with my emotions, i just kept plodding along losing the weight, and now i feel like the emotions have caught up with me. Most of the time i still feel like the 'fat' girl, so i'm working on that too, i want to see myself how others see me.

Ledom- Schools going ok,thanks for asking, i have less than 2 months before i graduate, so i'm kind of stressed ( i have two huge assessments to hand in before then, too) because i have no idea what i want to do with my life. I just want to finish school and then i can worry about what my real passion is and how to get there. How's your school going? Do you get any time off over easter? We have next week off. Yay!

[ledom]

TG, I just had spring break week before last so no time off now. But school is out May 11 (graduation day) so I really am in the final stretch here. I hang the last gallery exhibition of the year on Friday and that is always a big thing out of the way. As far as my students go, they all seem to be feeling a little like you. I had to be mean w/ some students this week that were just letting things slide a little too much. That is never fun. The happy thing is, they are good kids and I already see a real effort on their part to turn things around. Hearing you talk about finding your life's passion reminds me so much of both my students and my daughter. I know it is really stressful. Honestly, it is stressful to watch in the case of my daughter.

Anyway, back to the emotions of dealing with the weight you have lost, I think it is great that you are recognizing that. Also, that you are in neutral. Your body is probably adjusting and settling in and as I have said before, without ever having seen you, your stats look pretty dang good to me.

I am in no way indicating by what I am about to say that I am happy with my situation. BUT, it could be so much worse and I am going to just bite the bullet and get back in those summer clothes ASAP.

[TwinkleGirl]

Ledom- Thanks for saying my stats look good, i sometimes forget just how far i have come. My head is really just catching up with it all, with how much i have lost. It's actually sort of nice having this down time, in the past i've lost weight and got down to about 150 pounds, but it only lasted a few months before i packed the weight back on. My head never had time to adjust to being smaller, this time i actually feel thinner, and i'm hoping that by being more in touch with how i'm feeling i won't be so likely to pack the weight back on. I still have a lot of toning to do though, that's what freaks me out sometimes, i want the toned, taut body, maybe one day!

[BfL_Cat]

Hey gals - I'm down another 2#, so that's 20# down so far. Only 40 more to go! But actually I try not to think of it that way - looking at the whole thing in 20# increments - if I can get another 20# off by the wedding, I will be thrilled. Actually 21# - that will get me under 200! Then I will feel sort of "back to normal" about myself, even though I will still have a ways to go. My ultimate goal for now is 170# - I need to see what that looks and feel like - I'm very muscular and that might be a good place for me. In theory I can be 20% bodyfat at 170!

Ok, getting a bit ahead of myself. Have I mentioned that I LOVE Jillian's program lately? LOL! I watched the Bravo show "WorkOut" this week, and was happy to see those trainers having their clients do a lot of the same exercises we do - made me feel more validation about this. (Too much drama in the show for my liking though).

I was thinking today - I did do 8 weeks of BFL back in Sept-Oct of last year, and really didn't accomplish anything - in fact, went and had my thryroid checked at that point, since I'd worked so hard and not lost anything. But, with this program, I've seen a steady loss since the beginning! You just gotta love that!

But, was wondering about why... Definitely more cardio, more high HR work. Less lifting, but I still feel like I'm building some muscle. Maybe I just really needed the shake-up of something totally different than BFL?

You gals have a good one - back to work for me.
Cindy

[ledom]

Cindy - I am SO proud of you ! As we say down south, you are "settin' the woods on fire" with your progress. I know it is just thrilling for you. When is your wedding date? Seems I remember it is a fall wedding. I think you will absolutely make your goal of 21 more lbs. by then.

I am also a former BFLer so I'll speculate a little on why it seems to be going faster. It is more cardio, the fact that you are doing an upper body/cardio sprint/lower body in one circuit has your body revved from head to toe. You are not resting between sets because of that arrangement. In terms of muscularity - you are hitting everything twice a week whereas w/ bfl you are hitting half your muscles twice a week on alternating weeks.

I am not as heavy as I was when I was doing bfl so that might be why my muscles really started to show up with WBL. Also, I do have to credit BFL with starting my muscle growth.

So, I do have a question Cindy. What is your diet like? Are you following Jillian's recommendations? I actually do more of a BFL diet (though I think it is quite similar to what Jillian recommends.) But, I have 4, instead 6 small meals a day. That is when I am really working the diet. Which, tada, I have been all week. I finally broke my gym hiatus. Have been back twice and hiked once since Tuesday. I am avoiding the scale and using my jeans as measure for the next little while until I am pretty sure I will feel good after getting off the scale.

My GF's and I have hatched a plot to go to Santa Fe the first week in June. I want to be back in all my clothes by then.

[BfL_Cat]

TGIF gals! I'm working from home today - wanted to totally take it off, but I am a bit behind because of meetings this week, and plus my kitten is having his little operation today (snip, snip), and I needed something to keep my mind off of that, so I'm working. I pick him up at 3:30pm so it will be a shorter day for me.

Ledom - good deal on the clean week. And getting back in the gym. I thought about you yesterday as I was finishing up my cardio - I was the only one in our gym. As it's at work, there are rarely more than 3-4 people in there on any given morning (from 6:30 - 8:00am), and I often have the place to myself. I am quite spoiled by that, so can understand your wanting to avoid a crowded place.

A girls weekend - sounds like fun. And a goodly amount of time to reach your goal. Memorial Day will be my next mini-goal cutoff. Guess where I'm going that first week in June.... Singapore! More software training for the program I support. People from many other sites - Thailand, Korea, India and Australia will come there and all attend my training. Pete may or may not join me - we have to see what airfare looks like once I have those dates firm.

What am I doing for food? I am not following Jillian's plan at all - in fact, I hate to admit that I don't even think I read it! Instead I'm following that YOU: On a Diet plan - from Oprah's guy Dr. Oz, and his colleague Dr. Roizen of Real Age fame. It is less food than I was eating with BFL. My days basically look like this:

Breakfast:
Steelcut oats w/P powder and an apple (I have this every weekday after my workouts) OR
WW english muffin w/natural pb and fruit spread OR
Buckwheat pancakes and OJ OR
WW english muffin w/scrambled egg whites and OJ

Lunch:
WW english muffin w/garden burger OR
Dinner left-overs (see dinner)

Snack:
Breyer's Light yogurt

Dinner:
WW pasta or brown rice, lean meat and veggies in some dinner combination - EFL recipes, Cooking Light recipes,... Almost everything I make is tomato based!

Dessert/Snack (always before 8:30pm):
1 oz. 70% dark chocolate OR
2 Kashi TLC cookies OR
WW english muffin w/PB & fruit spread OR
Kashi Go Lean cereal w/milk

I think I'm around 1600-1700 calories. Definitely way more carbs than BFL, and much less protein. But, these carbs are all whole grain, and never make me crave anything. I can't eat any enriched or bleached flour, no high fructose corn syrup, very little sugar, and no trans fats, so I'm pretty limited to what brands I can buy for most processed things.

Pete is sticking to this with me, and we've both found the past 3 months pretty easy. We sometimes eat chicken soft tacos at TB, or have a WW Boboli at home with organic pizza sauce (only one w/o sugar!) and mozz. cheese. I honestly don't really pay attention to my quantities and I'm rarely, if ever, hungry.

There is a separate thread here at 3FC for gals on this plan, and most everyone has lost 20# or more since we started in January!
Cindy

[BfL_Cat]

Hey gals - recouping from too much sugar yesterday.... I promised myself I wouldn't do it, and then DF brought 1/2 price Easter candy into the house yesterday. The weekend was bad in general, though - just too much food.

But, back in control today - probably won't see a drop on the scale this week because of this, but as this is really the first time I've done anything like this since Jan.1, I'm just going to forgive myself for it and move on.

Hit the gym this morning - I DID LUNGES! This is exciting to me since this is the first I've been able to do them since hurting my knee last month. I'm repeating week 8 yet again - just not feeling the knee is strong enough to tackle week 9 yet. I'll move on next week for sure.

Set a new mini-challenge - Memorial Day, the beginning of our Summer season here in the States. Swimsuits and shorts, and I want to be in better shape by then. That's 7 weeks away - I should definitely be able to put a dent in by then!

You gals have a good one!
Cindy

[BfL_Cat]

Happy Tuesday gals!

I'm still struggling a bit with food - need to get that Easter candy out of my house! Yesterday was good, with the exception of candy before dinner and candy after dinner! Annoying since I had such a good workout yesterday!

Speaking of which - boy am I sore today! Feels good, but I was totally unprepared for it this morning. Glutes, hammies and quads! Guess those lunges really do do something for ya!

So, how is everyone doing this week? Chick, Ledom, Twinklegirl? Anyone else out there with us?

Hey, I got an email saying that Jillian's new book is out - has anyone seen it yet? I'm not sure I'm ready for it yet, but I probably will buy it just to have as a reference. I've heard that it's a 30-day program to get you in shape for an event or something, not really a plan for life.

Speaking of other workouts, I have been capturing some of the daily workout from Jillians site - you can save them as single page .pdf files - I plan to use them down the road after I finish the 12-week plan. They incorporate many more of the exercises she shows in her book than this plan does.

Well, time for me to get to work - hope you gals are having a good one!
Cindy

[jujujpn]

hey. i'm returning to the site from a "brief" hiatus. LOL. anyway, i just picked up jillian's book and i LOVE it!!! i just started yesterday but do you have any advice you can give me. i'm hitting the gym after work today. any help would be great!!! thanks so much!!!