Hey Gang! :wave:

I pretty much feel like I was run over by a truck today so I'm going to be quick. DH and I went to the movies and a late dinner last night. I didn't really like eating at 10pm, but I had planned accordingly and I only ate 1/2 my entree. I felt fine afterwards. This morning my son decided at 5am he was up for the day. Ugh. I've just been tired and woozy all day. Once hubby got up I took a 2 hr nap, but it didn't help much. I'm going to skip my cardio session today and let my body rest. It's a beautiful day so I do plan on getting the kids to the park or somewhere to burn off energy. :cool:

Jam - I've only been doing the treadmill for about 2 weeks. On the days I strength train I do about 20 min of HIIT on the elliptical. Then on my cardio only days I'm doing 45 min on the treadmill. I know part of being stuck is all these dinners and whatnot I've had going on and some of the needless snacking. Gotta get my food back to perfect! I'm thinking about skipping my Bday dinner all together this year and just having a healthy meal at home. We'll see how I feel come Wednesday. Hope you had a good night at the rink! :cool:

I'm gonna run and leave everyone with a BIG HELLO :wave:. Have a great Sunday!

:)Barb

New here, and joining this thread late, but here are my goals by the Fourth:

1. Hike at least once (up a mountain)
2. At least 20 minutes of yoga every day
3. Track food every day (much more possible now that Sparkpeople has an iPhone app!)

Good luck all!

Seagirl, :wel3fc: I like the goals, especially the hike...sounds like fun!

Denise, :welcome: to the challenge! I am also working on getting (and staying) in the 160s. I keep dipping under, then it goes back up.

Barb, didn't realise you were battling so many special dinners and such. That could do it, for sure. I've been keeping it very strict for a few days now, and the scale seems to be headed in the right direction. I'm also going to attempt riding the bike to the gym, starting tomorrow or the day after, whenever I feel like it won't kill me, and hopefully be able to do that about 3 days a week. I'm thinking adding the biking in might help boost the fat burn... a little "shock and awe" never hurts!

Mrs Lovett, good going with the exercise! Keep it on plan with food and exercise, and I think your efforts will show up on the scale when TOM is done. :hug:

I've got a rest day today, and taking full advantage of it. Just putzing at home, catching up on laundry and housecleaning, that sort of thing. Going to work on the bike, adjust the brakes and get it road ready. If I get real zippy, I might wash my van today. Maybe. :D

Thank you, jamsk8r! I was under my calories today ( maybe a little too under??), and I think that today was an unscheduled "rest" day. Well, I did some Wii Sports Bowling and some errands, but I don't know that they count... I felt so sluggish today. I guess it's okay to have a rest day and I will try not to beat myself up over it.

Hopefully tomorrow (or the next couple of days!) will be better!

MrsLovett

It's definitely ok to have a rest day....especially if you've been going at full speed for the past couple of days. Yesterday was one of those days for me. I could not have made myself do anything other than sit yesterday if someone offered to pay me! haha The key thing is to make sure that it's just a rest day and not a rest week or whatnot.

Your body needs to rest and reenergize as well.

Thank you, Chele615, for saying that I can have a rest day! I think I've heard somewhere that occasional are actually okay because they allow your muscles to regenerate or something like that :) I want six pack abs! Haha! Any idea how to get them? I'm tired of sit ups!

It kind of figures... I feel energized this morning, like I could actually do something, and I have a doctor's appointment at 9:30 a.m. So I guess I can't really do anything heavy duty or I'll be all sweaty and junk. No babysitting today though, so I have all day! Yaaaay! LOVE those kiddoes, but it's nice to have a few days off :)

Wearing a pedometer today, so I'll let you know how it goes. Maybe that will be some motivation to exercise as well. I'll try to get it up really high, hehe :)

MrsLovett

thanks Jamsk8r!!

I have had some stressful days lately. I went for my first interview in a long time for a different agency closer to home. nothing like a panel of 6 people asking you question after question while you sit in the middle of the room. Pretty sure I stress ate when I got home Friday. Had to make myself go to my room away from the pantry. Recently I stuck a picture of myself on the fridge to help kepe me out. Started today making sure my calories are down.

Another pound and a half down!

Fest, WTG on the weight loss! :carrot:

Mrs Lovett, I take a rest day every Sunday. After Saturday's workout (and now my skate dance practice is moved to Saturday night), I definitely need a recovery day! The rest of the week, I hit the crossfit gym in the mornings, so I get the workout out of the way first thing in the morning. That way I don't have time to make excuses or think about it too hard, lol. Rest day usually sucks, because I'm sore, and have no workout to provide relief from that. Monday morning's workout is actually a relief, because once I get warmed up and get those sore muscles loosened up, then do the workout, I'm usually feeling MUCH better the rest of the day. In the past, I would have taken an extra day off if I was sore, but now I know that the cure is actually to workout, so it's much easier to make the choice to exercise, rather than sit around being sore all day.

Denise, that does sound stressful! I've had those days, too, where my eating is not ruled by logic. I do best if my food is planned out ahead of time. I actually cheat there, because I pretty much eat the same few things every day, so all I have to do to eat is pick a meat/fish, pick a veggie, cook it up, and that's lunch or dinner. For breakfast, I always eat a yogurt and have a cup of tea (my caffeine fix!), and snacks are always fruit or a yogurt. Keeps it simple, works for my weight loss, keeps my muscles growing and getting stronger, fuels my workouts and recovery. Also, shopping is a cinch! I pick out usually 2 meat/fish sources, 1 or 2 low GI veggies, and what fruit I want for the week. If I get bored with something, I can switch it out the following week, like sick of chicken? buy turkey next week, something like that. The chicken breasts or ground turkey, I can precook a big batch, so I have some food I can nuke in a hurry, to keep my meals on plan. Anyway, didn't mean to go on about it, but maybe that will help?

Chele, :wave:

So, workout is done for this morning. It was a fun and only semi-brutal metcon of barbell cleans, pull-ups and kettlebell swings. I've got to go clean my sister's gutters today, and am hoping to finish that job early so I can head back to the gym tonight. They're open for a few hours starting at 4:30 pm, so I'm thinking I could go in, practice the handstand thing, maybe try the rope climb again, and do some heavy deadlifts, which I haven't done lately. I'll probably check in with you peeps later this evening.

lori, ill weigh in on saturday morning, i had my wife take my picture yesterday..remember on "friends when they were looking at pictures of monica when she was fat???she told them that the camera adds ten pounds...someone asked her "HOW MANY CAMERAS WERE ON YOU???"...thats how i felt...anyway i will take another picture and post it tomorrow cuz my face was contorted cuz of the sun...the scary part is that i thought i was looking pretty good til i saw this picture...MOTIVATION!!!

by the way...this is a great group....lets not stop on the 4th!!!

jam you are so dialed in...im not that organized...what works for me is to eliminate the in between meal eating...i dont feel deprived ans it works for me...good job fest...the good thing for me is that my job is physically demanding so if i miss a day of walking, no worries

David - Don't worry....there's always another holiday to have a challenge for!!! I'm sure we'll all be back jabbering away for Labor Day too ;) LOL

Ok....so weight wise, the scale didn't really move much this weekend but I definitely feel different and actually kind of feel smaller if that makes any sense. So, I'm hoping that a good rest of the week will make some difference number wise.

Hi all,

It has been hectic at work, so I haven't been able to check in lately. I am two pounds down since the challenge started.

Hi everyone. I'm down a little under two pounds since last week's weigh in. I have to wear a dress :-/ on Friday to a wedding, and I'd really really LOVE to get a little bit more of a loss in until then, though I know that's pretty unlikely. oh well...good luck this week everyone

Hey Friends!!! :wave:

It's late and I'm tired so I'm just popping my head in. Had a pretty good day here. Work is a little nutty. I had a good weight training session at the gym tonight. :strong:

I'll catch up with you fabulous people later on!

Have a happy and healthy night!

:high:
Barb

David, Chele is right. When the 4th is upon us, we'll pick another holiday and have another challenge. :)

KM and Kaye, congrats to both of you on the weight loss so far! :celebrate:

Well, my evil plan to get in some extra practice at the gym did not work out. The gym was super packed, and my trainer didn't want me doing deadlifts, since he's planning to put them in the workout soon. I couldn't think of anything I could work on, without either being in the way of the scheduled workout, or needing a trainer's help, so I just hung out and helped the peeps that were doing the regular workout with setting up, cheering people on, and cleaning up after. It was fun, actually, being there but not having to do the workout for once.

Okay, I'm off to bed. Got to get up at the crack of OMG, plus I've got the munchies, and don't want to eat anything since I already had all my food, so sleeping is the safest option at this point! I'm seriously gunning for the 160s this time, so trying to keep it POP!

chele i know that feeling..you step on the scale expecting a change...i believe thatyour body did make progress just not on the scale...maybe you lost fat but retained some water or picked up some muscle...its rare for me toget on the scale and get different results than i expect...i wouldnt worry

great job jam

bard as my kids would say "youre doin hecka much!!"

way to go km

cant wait til i can call my pics "progress pics" or "after pics"

Hi!
I'm going to add a new goal to this challenge, even though it's late in the game:

Walk 8,000 steps per day!

Heh, I slipped my pocket pedometer in yesterday and walked around, did exercise, etc. Only walked about 5,000 steps!!! :mad: I don't have a job right now, am looking... but that was bad! So my goal is to walk 8,000 steps per day to start with. It may not be the recommended 10,000 steps, but it's a start! I'm thinking it will get me motivated!

So what I have left for the 4th of July Challenge is:
Lose 6 more pounds (grr!)
Exercise six days a week (I think that's what it was) I do this now, so I really don't have this left. I just have to continue doing it!

Anyway, my weight hasn't changed in a WEEK other than that little blip. Yesterday's exercise was 20 minutes strength training with the Wii Sports Active, and 30 random Wii Fit.

Sorry for the long post, I'll leave you now!
MrsLovett!:mad:

I put on my bathing suit and swam yesterday! And biked a 1/2 hour on my errands. The ocean felt so good after my bike ride, although I need to wear something other than jean shorts over my bathing suit for the ride home...

I walked 20 minutes this morning, will do another 20 this afternoon. And I did a Sparkpeople resistance band workout for my upper body.

My goal is to just keep moving all the way to the 4th!

Hey All. Sorry not to check in sooner.
I have been extremely busy.My hubby's 36th birthday was yesterday and I was excited yet nervous also. Me and our 3 kids had a cookout for him and plus cake and icecream BELIVE IT OR NOT I ACTUALLY STAYED WITHIN MY 1400 calories and ate a hamburger /cake/& icecream! I am so proud of myself for that accomplishment.
I weighed yesterday and the scale said 200.6(UGHHHH) But thats ok it said 199.6 this morning~Couldn't resist a peek today hahahaha~I am definetly on my week of ups and downs I get monthly.(not a subject poor david proboly wants to hear LOL!)
Anyways Jam~good point about never needing the clothes again and About keeping the up a size box.
I like to never added my 16's to the box~I haven't been in a 14 since 6th grade.
A 12 Like you said Barb~I do not even remember the days of ever wearing a 12~But I actually can get them on /zipped /ect without laying down but there still uncomfortable~My 14's still fit great though.

I actually think I am just freaking out because I just keep losing and I think my mind is still saying your suppose to be the fat girl Lori...Weird hugh?

DAVID~I think your picture is great! my before picture is a millions pounds added by the camera~HAHAHAHAHA~As for that friends episode~i loved that show~And Monica was so my favorite on there. I actually think Courtney cox Is very very very pretty and thought it neat she was suppose to be heavy before~great for heavier people to feel part of that group when watching the show.

Well POOH MY kids are awake and ready for me to go play outside with them.
I should lose alot of weight this summer...they are keeping me overly busy.THOSE WITH KIDS HOME FOR THE SUMMER~I AM EXHAUSTED TOO!!!!
ALREADY BUT I THINK MY KIDS ARE THE GREATEST!

HUGS EVERYONE!!!
I will check back in soon.

Hi, everyone. Thanks for the warm welcome as a newbie here! Just checking in to say I am heading towards my goal. Down 1.1 lbs, looking for a 5+ lb loss.

I haven't been working too hard at losing for the last month. Yesterday I decided to kick it back up a notch and get the weight loss moving again. I'm feeling positive about meeting my goal for the 4th of July.

Still sticking with approx. 1500 calories a day, but getting back to exercising.

my goal is to lose 10 lbs

Lots2go, welcome to the challenge, and good luck with your goal! :celebrate:

David, love the new avatar! and the quote, lol!

Newleaf, I'm saying what you're saying...let's get on with this 160s business and get through it! I've got enough special (occasion) workouts coming up this month that are going to kick my behind...a 5K this Saturday, a team workout next Saturday, my birthday workout and a running clinic the following weekend, oh, then 4th of July, I'm still trying to decide whether to do the 7K mud run or to go skate at the waterfront that day...kinda depends if my skater friend's foot heals up in time so she can skate with me. I'm hoping all the extra torture will help boost the fat burn, as well. A girl can dream, anyway! ;)

Lori, you've been doing great, keeping it OP and smoking the weight loss and inches...it gets easier to let go of the big stuff, once you realize this is for real, this is just how you eat and how you live now, no going back!

Seagirl, swimming in the ocean sounds great. It's too cold to do that here, except for the polar bear club types, so I stick with swimming pools, lol.

MrsL, you are so close to goal, you will have to dial that diet in to within an inch of its life, and also may need to think about upping the ante on the exercise. Could just be a pre-TOM bloat, or high sodium water retention, depending what your diet is like, but this close to goal, the Wii and walking may just be too tame to get the job done.

Okay, my report: workout is done for this morning. We had a lovely metcon of rowing, barbell thrusters and pull-ups. I graduated myself down one size on the assisted pull-up band for the workout today, and it was just the right amount of struggle and suffering, lol. I also did unassisted pull-ups and chins for my warm-up, for the first time. woot! They were all singles, with rest needed in between, but I did it, and that's what counts, right?

Going to my sister's for a cookout dinner...she's got salmon and broccoli, which is all I need, lol, and I'm going to clean the gutters on her garage this time...got the ones on the house done yesterday, but had to get to the gym, so didn't have time to finish the whole job. We're gonna play catch with my nephew (me and my boy), too, since the neph is on a softball team and obsessed about practicing right now. Today was my boy's last day of homeschooling, now out for summer vacation. I'm looking forward to the break as much as he is, I think! I'm thinking we might ride the bikes over to my sister's house today. It's 3-1/2 miles, and would be a good test ride for me, see how my bike rides, before I get all mental and do the 14 mile round trip to the gym! Yeah, I'm liking that idea, and it's a beautiful day out for a bike ride. :)

jamsk8r,

You're right about needing other exercise, so I did some exercising on my mini-stepper yesterday for 20 minutes and included a resistance band. I need to get toned!

Let's see.. I finally lost a pound! Now I'm down to 146.0 lbs!

For exercise played Wii fit for 31 minutes and had fun at my niece's gym class for 1 hr and 15 minutes, so got a LOT of walking in. It was "free play" time, when the kids get to play on the gym equipment and the parents/guardians watch. Boy do those two girlies run around! I only count it as about 30 minutes walking though, because it was kind of stop and start walking, not continuous. Lots of lifting the kids though:) I'm on this other site and was checking the workout videos for my mom (she wants to do short, slow and somewhat easy workouts to begin with since she hasn't exercised in a while) so I got a little 5 minute resistance band workout in there too heehee. Heck, I'll take anything I can get!

That totals out to... 81 minutes, or 1 hr 21 minutes exercising. At least I got some variety in yesterday. Something a little different for a change, and I lost a pound, go figure!

Oh, and hey! I walked 11,1313 steps! Yay!:carrot:

MrsLovett

I'm going to join this challenge! I'm already doing my own Slimmer by End of Summer challenge to get to 175 by August 20th, so for this I'd like to do Non-Scale Goals.
I'd like to be able to jog on the treadmill for at least 20 minutes at at least 4 mi/hr by July 4! I can walk it for like 40 minutes or more at 4 mi/hr right now, and that is a very fast walk, so that makes me think I might be able to bump up to jogging, which, although it's more tiring, would be worth it.

Happy birthday Barb!!! Hope you had a great workout with your trainer :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARB!!! A GEMINI!!
My hubby's birthday was June 8th~no wonder I like ya & like to pick with ya!!!
hahahahaha
Hope you have a super birthday~And 110 lbs rocks!You have done fabulous!
I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PROUD OF YOU.

Ok....(a type and sing for BARB)
And A 1,2,3 & 4

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy 39th birthday dear BARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRBBBBBBBBB
Happy Birthdayyyyyyy To youuuuuuu(and many more)
OH and
You look like a Hot losing mama and you act like one tooooooooooooooooo.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARB!

Barb, meant to check in earlier to wish you a happy day, but the day got away from me, sorry! Hope you had a great birthday workout! :hug:

Lori, is that the dh in the avatar pic with you?

MrsL, WTG mixing up the exercise today, and congrats on getting the scale moving! :carrot:

Megwini, :welcome: to the challenge! I like non-scale goals, I do. Good luck with the jogging goal!

My report: did push jerks for weightlifting practice, and fiddled around with gymnastics stuff today. Should have taken the time to work on my handstand goal, but completely spaced it. I was playing with the gymnastic rings instead. It was pretty much a working rest day at our gym, for those of us too addicted to take a day off. ;)

Barbara, Happy Birthday (a day late I think?:)) So you're a Gemini? Me too! I'm a Gemini *and* a twin! My birthday was May 26th! Again, Happy Birthday!

Started off today well! Got on my Wii Sports Active and created a 10 minute custom strength training workout (okay, so there's ONE cardio boxing exercise in there. I'm addicted to the boxing! :D ) I try to do it every day. It's only 10 minutes because I'm antsy (maybe ADD) and can't do anything for any long period of time, so I keep it in short, intense bursts. I've heard it can work that way too.

Yesterday was an all-day babysitting day with some commitments jumbled in between which required me to sit for long periods of time (long story). So anyway, I was busy from 9:30 a.m. to about 1:00 p.m. and pretty much was seated the whole time. UGH.

If I didn't say it already, steps for Jun 9: 11,131 :D
Steps for yesterday, Jun 10: 8,137 :mad:

Down another half a pound!:D

MrsLovett!

good to see everyone doing so well....were having a potluck at work...making potato salad....my wife is having an end of year teachers cocktail party...making mexican rice....lots of garlic and onions...im a dead man

everyone needs to look at loris profile...million dollar smile!!!!

David, are they both in the same week? If so, I'd pick the one I thought would have the best cheat food, and have some, no guilt. The other one, I'd either eat before I go, or pack my own meal in a container, and eat it at the event. Real life example for me this week: I had a slice of pizza with my boy Wednesday night, and this weekend we've got a potluck at my gym, so I'm packing my usual dinner to take along to the potluck.

Another approach that works well: you can plan to eat at both events, but follow this order: big portion of veggies first, like 4 cups or more of veggies or salad if available...fruit would be the next best choice...go for bulk and fiber, low cal stuff. This is to start filling you up. Take at least 10 minutes after the veggies to mingle, sip your drink, socialize. After that, get a single portion of meat (about 6 ounces of whatever meat you like), and anything else you want, like mixed salads and pasta dishes, take a tablespoon of each thing you want, then go sit. Eat slow, and you should notice that you're starting to feel full from the veggies. Enjoy the day, and other than that, stick to your normal eating plan. If you're a little over for cals one day, it is not going to ruin everything or put 5 lbs on. The scale likely will go up the next day, especially if you've had some high sodium food, but that lasts a day or two, then it goes away. It's not something you can do every day and lose weight and be healthy, but, you can do it for a special event, or one meal every ten days or so, without wrecking your hard work the rest of the time. It's important to find your own balance in your new way of life, so it's realistic and something you can stick to for the long term, like forever, not just till you hit goal. Just get your "plan of attack" in your head before you go, and you'll do fine.

MrsL, I've had plenty of butt-kicking workouts that were 10 mins or similar. Nice work on the exercise, and congrats again on the weight loss, woot!

I'm doing good. I was dragging yesterday, plus it was a lifting day, so I did a higher cal day yesterday. This morning, went to the gym and got my butt kicked, like usual. Running, deadlifts and strict pull-ups. Sucked bigtime, but in a good way. ;) I can't help it, I love deadlifts! Stayed about an hour after, just hanging with the peeps, watching munchkins while their moms worked out, and putting up barbells and such at the end.

jam...i had to work so i missed the cocktail party...i did however totally blow it at the potluck but i aint trippin...today is another day

Yep, yep, today IS another day. I myself decided a while back that the scale is just a tool for success, so as long as I feel IN CONTROL of my eating, I only weigh once every 2 weeks. That way if I only mess up/go over one day I don't have to fret as much and can let it all even out. It's just one day. However, to balance that out, I've decided if I have two "such days" in a row or if they seem more frequent than once every 2 weeks or so, I'm going to start stepping on the scale every day so I can see that it IS affecting me. I don't want to use "every 2 weeks" as scale-denial if I'm out of control. But I haven't felt like I lost control yet, so it's worked well for me. Even if you did blow it, David, today you can get right back on it! =D

Happy Saturday Everyone! :wave:

Just popping in for a quickie hello before starting a fun, busy day. I'm going to start out with a bike ride to the gym for a weight-lifting workout. Then I'm taking the oldest boy to the swim club we just joined. I want to get him in the big pool. This evening we are all going to a minor league baseball game with our local adoption group. Fun stuff....as long as kids cooperate. :p

I hope you all have a fabulous day! Catch ya later! :sunny:

Hiya!

So... yesterday's steps were 13,327 steps total :D ! It was crazy because I couldn't sleep and finally gave up trying around 3:30 a.m. Felt amazingly energized at that time, oddly enough. Put my pedometer in my pocket shortly after. Started exercising at 4:45 a.m. after drinking a cup of coffee (always gets me going in the morning!) I think I exercised all day yesterday! It was a non-stop babysitting day, so we played out in the yard and stuff, and I had errands to run. No wonder I got in 13,327 steps! I think I didn't even wear my pedometer all day. I took it off around 7:30 p.m. and put on my jammies.

Let's see. Gave up trying to sleep at 5:30 a.m. today. Gotta speak to my doctor about upping my meds or something. It's just not working for me. I've gotten in 10 minutes strength training and 35 minutes cardio so far. 2,477 steps and it's 9:30 a.m. on the dot. Planning on doing something a little different today if the weather holds up. Going hiking at the local state park! Maybe for an hour or two! I wish I could get someone to come with me. Then I would stay longer probably. Maybe go on a little picnic or something like that. Don't you think that would be much more interesting?

MrsLovett

i moved the ticker!!! i moved the ticker!!!

David, :congrat: on the first 10 lbs! :celebrate: :carrot: :celebrate:

Hey all, :wave:! Today was a busy Saturday, for sure. Up at 5 this morning, did chores and met my sister at her house at 6:30, arrived at the site of our 5K at 7:30, had time to partake of the freebie massage at one of the booths. :cloud9:, then we did the run in about 46 mins. Not a fast time for me, but I wanted to hang with my sister, and that beat her last 5K time by about 7 mins, so it was a success!

Took off immediately after the run, trying to catch the morning workout at my gym, but traffic was bad. Missed the start of the last group workout, unfortunately, but one of the trainers and some of the guys and one gal were doing a strongman workout, so I got to see how that works firsthand.

I've been interested to try that, and now that I've seen it for myself, I'm pretty confident I want to train up for it so I can compete at some of the charity strongman events next year. It just looks like fun, and something I might be good at. I'll never be the fastest runner or anything like that, but I think I have a fair chance of becoming a pretty strong lifter. It should be fun to try, anyway! I did get to try the truck pulling today, and that was tougher than expected, but also fun. I will have to train up, though, since my basic lifts like deadlifts and cleans are not as strong as they'd need to be for that sport.

Came home for a few hours, bonded with my boy, did a few things around the house, then headed back to the gym for our cookout and movie night. It was okay, but kind of like a boring office party, since none of the folks I usually hang out with at the gym showed up, and I'm not that great at parties to begin with. In retrospect, I should have cut out early and gone skating, but instead I stayed to the end, helped clean up after the movie was over, then made my getaway. I kept the food clean, and drank only water, since I'd already had a cheat meal this past week, and just wasn't in the mood for another carbfest. The day is done now, and I'm ready for sleeping. Plan to do some work around the house tomorrow, catch up on laundry and a few projects, and take a rest day from exercise. Beyond that, I'm making no plans!