Another week !!!!!

Things are still up in the air with dad not being well, but as of this morning I am back on the healthly path. Have eaten great so far this morning - I have only been up for 2.5 hours - but I have stuck with it this far.

My plan for this week -

Mon - Tae Bo Basic
Tues - Figure it out - aerobics tape
Wed - Figure Happy - areobics tape
Thursday - exercise bike - 10 miles
Fri - Tae Bo Basic
Sat - Figure it out
Sun - Figure happy

Besides all this I will be walking during my 30 minutes lunch & will be eating very healthly. I am also hoping to fit in a swim - but that depends on time & the boys

Big Sal: Thanks for starting a new thread! I'm sorry that your dad is still doing poorly -- I hope things look up soon! Still, it's great to hear that you're back on track! Sounds like you've got a full week!

Didn't eat that poorly this weekend, which was nice. I had some pancakes at my favorite brunch spot + didn't even use butter or syrup -- they were that good w/the fresh fruit alone! Didn't get a lot of exercise in though -- only a little walking. The big news is, however, that we've joined a gym!!
DH has been thinking about it for a while, but we took the plunge on Saturday -- the rates were too good to resist! I'm still planning on doing the bulk of my workouts at home, but may add a morning bikeride or treadmill workout on to my schedule starting next week. It's going to take some planning -- getting out of the house early + packing up everything the night before...and I am NOT a morning person! Luckily it's a month-by-month membership, so we'll see how it goes! I'm SO glad that DH is finally going to start exercising! I've been really worried about his health -- he doesn't do anything active! So that's really the best part.
Second post to follow w/rotation.

I've decided that I'm jumping the gun on the Hare/Tortoise tapes, so now that my Prime Powers (intermediate) Firm tapes are here, I'm going to do the beginner/intermediate rotation from the Firm website for the next 4 weeks before moving up to something more advanced. I tend to want to move up too fast, and I really need to learn to adjust my fitness level appropriately. So here is my rotation for this week:

M: Basics Sculpting w/Weights
T: Basics Fat Burning
W: rest
Th: Prime Power Lower Body
F: Prime Power Total Body
Sat: Basics Abs, Buns, + Thighs
Sun: rest

I'm going to have to really do some maneuvering to get the Friday + Saturday workouts in, but I'm going to try. I'm supposed to go to the opera tomorrow night, so I may either miss Tuesday's workout or have to do it on Wednesday. We'll see. It's time to jump out of this slump!

Good afternoon all!!!

Last week was a challenge. Had to have a long talk with myself today. This is the point where my will power and determination starts to leave me. Didn't want to exercise this morning, but i did 45 minutes on the treadmill. I am going to commit to a workout every day this week. I'm not going to plan in advance what i will do that day, just some sort of exercise.

Big Sal - I hope your dad improves every day. It is important to remember to take time for yourself as hard as that may be. Walking 30 minutes at lunch sounds like a good plan.

Copperblu - Joining a gym - that's awesome. I belonged to a gym for awhile myself. It is nice to get to use different equipment to break up your schedule. I'm not a morning person either so i can really relate to your effort to get to the gym. Also, here's to jumping out of our slump - i'm right behind you.

Sally

Happy Monday, all, and welcome to a new week. We're starting the week off here with a snow warning ~ we might get up to 15 cm (6 inches) of wet snow before tomorrow night

Anyway, my chicks arrived safely on Friday, and we got them settled... they're already looking a little goofy with their feathers coming in... dh put the old milking stool out there for me, so I can sit in there and watch them Hee, hee, I'm pretty silly ~ watching my chickens!

I rested my knees this weekend, so no exercise to speak of ~ I even skipped Curves on Friday. Eating was so-so, but I didn't do too bad with water intake. Oh well, starting over on Monday is not exactly new territory for any of us, is it!?!?!??!

Mustang Sally I know EXACTLY what you mean about that point where you just want to give up ~ I've been struggling with that one myself (again!) It helps that Curves is a habit now, so even when I don't feel like it, it's almost automatic to go anyway. That's the best thing about it....

Copperblu Congrats on joining the gym, especially with your dh! That's great, even if it's just an option to add to your routines! BTW, about trying to advance to quickly, I think we're all guilty of that sometimes...

And Big Sal good on you for fitting in a workout. They say exercise is good for you, in that it helps you to deal with stress, which I'm sure you're feeling right now... my thoughts are still with you.

And for this week... I'm thinking of adding a morning swim daily... about 1/2 hour of laps... we'll see how I feel tomorrow morning!
M-F: Curves everyday
Tues: Bowling as well
(As you can see, I'm taking it a little lighter this week for my knees!)

Have a good one!

Hi - had a good walk round the business park, I work on yesterday luchtime. Also managed 20 minutes of the Tae Bo basic. DH was in the living room while i was trying to work out & really annoyed me - how is a woman supposed to do anything with an audience. He was amazed with the warm up routine & did admit he didn't think he could do that let alone the rest of the work out.

Still have a cold, although the runny nosy has gone my throat & ear are sore - have taken some pain kllers & am just waiting on them kicking in. My plan for today is another walk around the business park - there is nowhere more exicting round here - apart from along the side of the dual carriageway. I also hope to fit in 30 minutes of my aerobics tape - maybe more if I feel up to it.

I too am gonna jump out of the slump

Great to hear from everyone!

mustang sally: I think you should be proud of yourself for getting on that treadmill! It's SO hard to get moving when you're unmotivated, and SO easy to just let it slide. There are a lot of people who wouldn't have fought the urge to skip the workout, but you did! I've been having a hard time motivating too -- generally it's right around when people start noticing I've lost weight that I slow down; I think that part of my brain thinks that since I'm looking better, it's "okay" to not work as hard. But really, those comments should be motivation to me to continue my efforts! If I look noticably slimmer after 2 months of working out, imagine how good I'll look in six! At least, that's how I'm trying to turn around the inevitable slump phase. Also, I've noticed that if I skip more than a couple days, I lose that sense of "habit" that makes it easier for me to get up + workout even on bad days -- it stops being "automatic" as MarvinTM says, and I have to fight the motivation fight all over again.

MarvinTM: Personally, I think that watching your chickens sounds like a lot of fun! My DH has trouble with his knees too -- I'm trying to get him to start taking glucosamine/chondroitin supplements (they're supposed to help prevent further cartilage damage), and he uses the elliptical machine + recumbent bike at the gym. I think swimming would be a great exercise for bad knees! I'm going to start a campaign to get him to the gym uptown, which has a pool!

Big Sal: Great that you got your walk in! AND Tae-bo! I HATE it when DH is nearby when I'm working out!! I won't do my Firm workouts if he's in the livingroom! He didn't get it until he went to the gym -- and came back declaring he was never going to let me see him flailing around like that! EVENTUALLY we'd like to go to the gym together...at least for "light" (non-red-faced!) cardio.

It looks like we're ALL having a little "sophmore slump"!! BUT, I've noticed that we all seem to be trying to pick ourselves up again, and everyone on this board is proving that they're not "failing" -- because they're getting back up again! It's very inspiring, to see so many people who are going through a bad patch and yet still remaining committed to their ultimate goal. It's not about one bad day or week, but how we get through it overall.

Update: Ate pretty well yesterday -- homemade chili w/kidney beans + extra lean beef for lunch + dinner, and I only had one treat at the company party and resisted the cheese. Didn't get enough water though, and I could tell -- eventually got a headache that prevented me from going for a light post-dinner gym workout w/hubby!
Did my Basics Sculpting w/Weights yesterday rather than napping, which was much more appealing. Think we're bagging the opera tonight, so will likely be able to get in my Fatburning workout, which will be nice.

Copperblu - you hit the nail on the head. I feel exactly the same way you do. This is the hardest time for my motivation - when people are noticing the weight loss, my clothes fit better. etc. I am so glad you pointed out the reasons why i should continue on this journey. Your words could not have come at a better time and for that i thank you. I hope you understand how much you helped me.

MTM - the chickens sound adorable. I glad your knees are feeling better after resting them. I agree with Copperblu that swimming is a wonderful alternative if you have that option available to you. Keep up the good work. You will see results.

Big Sal - how is your dad? I hope things are improving. Walking and TaeBo is quite a workout especially having to battle your cold and dh watching.

I did my workout today - 45 minutes on the treadmill. My commitment to exercising daily is on a two day streak. WOW!!!!! I made good choices with food today and drank my water. I made Lean Cuisine Chicken Lasagna for Dinner. It is 4 points per serving (12 servings in the pan). Everyone liked it. I also found an orange vanilla ice cream bar at Dairy Queen that is 1 pt. I am trying to eat something different everyday so i don't get bored.

Anyone heard from MiniMony? Haven't seen any posts from her in a while. Hope everything is o.k. with her.

Off to bed. Good night everyone.

sally

Didin't manage a work out yesterday but I did go for that walk round the business park. Finding time is of the essence at the moment & can't get motivated enough to get up early & workout.

Dad is getting steadily better - he was out of bed for a while & today they hope to cap his tractioctomy (sp) so he should be able to talk soon - in a few days we'll probably have to ask him to be quiet.

Am not going to push myself to hard on the exericse front for the next couple of days - I am finding it hard to get motivated & as I already said time is scarce. I am going to keep up the walking everyday & anything else I can fit in will be a bonus.

I go off on holiday at the weekend, up north to mum & dads caravan so they is no excuse not to walk around when I am up there. I have already committed myself to get back into my exercise routine when I return. This is only a small slump - not a stop for ever.

One thing I have got to deal with is my eating - I have been seriously over doing it with junk for the last few days - but no more. Today I am back on the water & the healthy stuff. I currently have 2 bananas & 2 apples sitting on my desk - I will have them later instead of something from the sweet machine.

I know exactly what you mean about the motivation going when people starft to notice changes in you.

When I did the Tae Bo basic the other night I felt my tummy was more wobbly than it had ever been during a workout - sure that should tell me something.

Speak soon

mustang sally: It sounds like you've had a great couple of days!

I am SO glad to hear that my efforts at picking myself up have been helpful for you!! I think when things are going well, we lose the "fire" (or fire under our butt, as it were!) that got us started in the first place. When none of your clothes fit + you feel awful, you feel you have to do something to make this better. But when you look better, and you're fitting into your clothes, there's no big motivating "hump" to get rid of anymore. Now it's about looking better than you did, not just getting "back to normal" -- and that's a harder row to hoe. Instead of looking at the clothes in my closet I couldn't wear anymore for motivation, now I try to think of the clothes in the store that I feel I can't wear because they'll look bad on me. Rather than trying to get into my jeans, I'm trying to get into that cute dress I saw last week!
Also, I have to remember the things that motivated me when I was first starting out + not "seeing" results -- because those are the same things that I should turn back to now that my "results" have me at a different kind of standstill. I sleep better when I exercise, I have more energy, and I feel better about myself. Also, it's a heck of a lot nicer being a firm + toned body, whether slim or voluptuous, than being a flabby version of either. I really like those muscles, and don't want to lose them!

Big Sal: It's great that you still got your walk in -- that's still exercise, be it ever so humble or what-not! I'm glad to hear your dad's getting better -- that must be a relief! It sounds like you have good plans for your holiday, and a good attitude about the slump -- it's just a dip in the road, and we'll be out of the woods soon! (to mix my metaphors just a little bit... ).

Update: Of course, it's fitting that I didn't get my workout in yesterday! Gah! Came home w/a wicked headache again, which concerns me. Lay down in the dark for a bit, and the next thing you know, DH was home! Today is my scheduled "rest day" though, so I'm going to use it to make up the missed workout.
On eating, I'm pleased to report that I didn't take the bait today! We always order takeout when we do publicity-type mailings, and I always regret eating such bad food, when I have perfectly good lunches from home. I also always overeat on such occasions. But I feel obligated to go along w/the crowd, and not draw attention to my eating habits, so I always eat what they're eating. This has gone on for years. But today I begged off, and said I was going to eat my lunch from home! Big step for me!

ALSO, I confirmed a possible loss from yesterday -- looks like I'm down 2 pounds! It's slow going -- the scale hasn't moved for a month -- but then I really feel like I "earned" those 2 pounds.

Well, I went to Curves on Monday for my weighin and measuring ~ but skipped that when I saw that I didn't know the girl that was working ~ thought that I'd wait until Tues or whenever someone else was working ~

So, I worked out and by the end I was cursing myself ~ my knees just ached like crazy, and have since then...

Then, we got snowed in yesterday ~ and I made up for it by making cookies! And then I ate them! So, yesterday was totally blown diet-wise...

We finally got into town to work this afternoon, and I had a doctor's appt for today, and wanted her to look at my knees ~ turns out, when I get there, that they had been trying to call me (this morning they called at work, I was home, and they tried again this afternoon to call me at home, and I was at work!) The doctor (who is about 5 months pregnant, went home sick this morning, and they had to reschedule my appt. So, now I can get in to see her husband about my knees, but not until Friday morning....... <sigh>

So, now, I'm not going to workout until I get an ok from the doctor ~ so, I can just feel myself getting flabby! (Ok, not really, but I'm on a roll here with this whine )

So, it looks like I'll be maintaining for a while (I sent those nasty cookies to work with dh, so that takes care of that) I'll be trying my best to watch my fat intake (my cals seem to be ok), and I'll post in and give you guys my support, and let you know what happens on Friday~

I'm done whining now.....

BTW, my chickies really are adorable! Sure can tell we're all "towngirls", can't you? "Farmgirls" sure don't ooh and aah like this.....

Checking in to see how you gals are all doing. I have been sick since March 24th, first with a cold and now with the flu. Great for weight loss but in a very bad way! I'm hoping to be back on the road to healthy by this weekend and working out next week.

Marvin - where do you live? I have to laugh about your chicks. We'll be ordering ours soon getting them in late this month and then keeping them under heat lamps until the weather remains warm enough. We raise chickens every year. Unforunately, the ones we raise are only cute the first 6 weeks, after that I call them dumb & ugly. Dumb because the are truly that way....these guys don't know how to go outside, and will lay down at the feeders and eat and eat until they die! We have to raise the feeders so that it forces them to walk around! LOL! These are just cornish crosses, raised for their meat - plain white birds. Now our egg chickens are another story - they are cool and pretty!

Can you tell I'm a country gal?

I'm not a country gal so I'm going to ooh & aah at the thought of keeping chicks. Are they all fluffy & yellow for the first few weeks, aaaaahhhhhhh.

Managed to fit in a work out last night - surprise surprise. I didn't plan it it just sort of happened. When I came back from the hospital one son was sleeping & the other one & his dad were playing a game so I sneaked through to my room - pushed the bed against the wall & rearranged all the junk ( a workout on it's own) & put a tape in the video.

Don't know if I will be so lucky tonight, but as long as I get that walk in I will be happy. The eating was a bit better yesterday still have a long way to go with it though.

Gotta go people hovering, no doubt want to ask me work questions when I'd rather be reading through all the posts.

See you later

No improvement in my knees today ~ but no worsening either, so I'm okay with that. Can't wait until tomorrow to see the doctor, and find out what the heck is going on! I miss my Curves!

Anyway, I'm not sure what variety of chicks we have this year ~ my SIL ordered them, but they're pretty plump, which is good, cause we're gonna eat 'em later. My 3 year old nephew asked her if we were gonna chop their heads off when they got them to the farm, but SIL had to laugh and say, no, not until they're a little bigger! He can't wait, silly boy!

We also got turkeys this year (only 10) and boy are they stupid! I thought the chickens were, but dh wasn't kidding when he told me just how stupid these turkeys are!

BTW, we live in Southern Alberta, near Nanton, which is about 45 minutes south of Calgary. I like to say that I just keep on movin south ~ born in Calgary, raised in High River (30 mins south of Calgary) and married into Nanton. I don't want to go any further though ~ no offence to you Americans, but I love my country!

Anyway, they already have feathers on about half of their wings, so they're starting to look a little geeky, but they'll be cute for a while yet.... This is only my second year of raising them, so I'm by no means an expert, but I'm learning. Maybe this year, I can convince my dh to let me keep a few for eggs over the winter ~ last year, one of our broilers escaped the slaughter, and lived for another few weeks, until the puppy got to him, and played a little too rough.... chickens just can't take the kind of rough-housing that cats can, I guess. Oh well, it's a funny story, that "stealth chicken" ~ we think that our other dog, Darcy, warned her about the upcoming massacre.. Darcy was abused as a puppy, and she's very sensitive about other animals being hurt. She always tries to protect everything.

Well, that's enough of my chatter. I'll talk to you all later.

MarvinTM: Sorry to hear about your terrible no-good really bad day! Good move getting rid of the cookies! You don't need them forming an evil alliance with your knees to get you off track! Hope your knees feel better soon -- you must be going crazy, not being able to exercise! When we can, we don't want to -- but when we can't, boy, all we want to do is just get up and move!

My mother raises chickens of her own too -- apparently the feeders/broilers were cute for the first few weeks, then, like zookeeper says, became dumb + ugly dinosaur beasts! Still has some layers though -- and more eggs than any one human needs! Too bad she's a 7 hour drive away, or I'd be rolling in "organic" free-range chicken eggs! Damn!

zookeeper: My sympathies! You must be so tired of being sick! Here's something to cheer you up -- when I lost some weight while sick recently, I was really upset because it wasn't healthy weightloss + I knew it'd come back...but when I started working out again, I got healthy again AND kept some of that "sick subtraction" off! So maybe it'll work as a springboard for healthier loss in the future!

Big Sal: Congratulations on getting your workout in!! That's great! And what effort you went to to get it too! You are determined!
(I'd much rather be on the boards all day than work too...alas!)

Update: made up my missed Tues. workout + did Basics: Fatburning last night. I stretched for longer than the tape did, because I don't think they do an adequate job of stretching -- which made me think -- maybe I should get a tape of pure stretch for my off days. I've been spending too much money lately, so it might have to wait, but I think that would be a relaxing thing to do on my "rest" days that would still be beneficial.
Ate some extra junk, but made up for my snacking w/a really light dinner, so I think/hope it evens out. Ate 3 Girl Scout cookies, but tried to balance that by switching to lowfat Triscuits.