Welcome to Everyday Exercisers -- a weekly thread that focuses on healthy weightloss and overall fitness through regular exercise. Our goals are to stay active, stay hydrated, and make healthy eating choices. We share our exercise plans for the week, and check in each day to share our progress...and our set-backs. Here you'll find a supportive and encouraging environment in which to pursue your fitness goals, and a community of people who share your commitment to fitness and provide motivation and inspiration to each other. Welcome!

Stamper: That's so interesting that you write reviews too! I find that the thing that takes the most time seems to be my procrastinating after I've read the book until I am writing my review at the absolute very last minute possible! A bad habit I remember from school that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to break!
It was really hard for me to exercise in the morning the first few weeks, but now it's pretty much automatic -- except if I stop to think about it. If I pause for a second before getting out of bed, I'll talk myself out of it every single time. Now I really like it, because I get it done, and then I can't miss my workout because I'm too busy, or too tired by the end of the day. It's still really hard to get up sometimes though -- and I can't do it if I go to bed even a little bit late.
I think your plan for the week sounds great, and I wish you good luck! (especially with the early swimming!)

my update:
When we last left our heroine, she was hoping to fit in a workout on Friday afternoon + try the weight machines this weekend...
Well, the Friday workout didn't "work out", but DH and I did out grocery shopping in the evening for a change, which was great (and freed up some weekend time!) and then went to go see "Tomb Raider", which is quite a treat, since we never go out to see movies.
On Saturday I ate pretty well, but had 4 beers -- DH and I were "taste-testing" various summer wheat beers to find one I liked -- part of the ongoing experiments to find a beer I'll drink.
Sunday, ate pretty well until the evening, and then had some bad food -- though not too much of it.

But WORKOUT news...on Saturday, DH and I went to the gym and worked out on several different weight machines (leg press, chest press, abs, abductor, adductor) and then did 25 mins on the bike. Woo hoo!
THEN on Sunday, we went back and did the bicep, tricep, leg curl, + quadricep machine -- and then did 25 minutes on the bike again!
I was soooooore. But felt great, and now I'm not so afraid of the machines.
In the evening, we went for an hour long stroll -- which we unfortunately finished off with some frozen yogurt -- but it was still nice to be out and moving. It had finally cooled down, so it was a wonderful night for a walk.
All in all a great weekend!

To break up this unbelievably long post, I'm going to post today's update in another msg.

This morning I went to the gym and did a 30 minute interval program on this "elliptical crossramp" machine, which raises + lowers the incline of the pedals. 2 minutes low, then 2 minutes high for 30 minutes. It was hard! I didn't think I'd make it through the whole 30 minutes -- by 20, I was mentally calling for my mommy. By the end, I was dripping and beet red!! I didn't stop being red for another half hour!! The machine claimed I'd burned 320 cals, not counting the extra 3 minutes or so where I couldn't figure out how to program it. If that's even remotely true, I am SO using that machine again, no matter how tired it makes me!
Now that I'm not afraid of the machines anymore , I'm going to try to add some weight-training in the mornings. I'd like to get in 3-4 cardio workouts and 2-3 total body weight training workouts in per week (including weekend). I'm leaving it a little open-ended, because I know things often come up and push my workout out of place, but I'm hoping for at least a 3/2 ratio each week. Now that DH is committed to going to the gym on the weekends, it's a lot easier to make up missed workouts. If I have time in the evening, I might add either Pilates or Yoga, since that's the kind of thing I don't mind doing at the end of a long day -- and I need the ab work + stretching.

Hope everyone's having a good morning!

Thanks so much for the kind words and support. I'm still going back and forth from anger to denial. My husband says since we handle adversity so well, God just gives us other peoples share. We have been through a lot together in the short four years we have been married and he will be a big help going through this.

I finally bought a Yoga tape this weekend. It is the beginner tape of the Living Arts series, I think. I watched it this weekend and once I got past all the ads, I finally found the instruction part of the tape. I got up early Sunday morning to try it out, since the tape said you shoud do Yoga where you do not have any distractions. Since only my 8 month old was up, I thought that would be a good time. I did a couple of the poses and I really like how you have to pay attention to every muscle. By the time I was in the Dog Pose (you think they could have come up with a better name, it is pretty much and inverted V) my 11 y/o step daughter and 2 y/o boy were on me. She was just staring at me (making me feel oh so self conceious) and my boy was running under the "bridge" I was making. I gave up. Oh, the joys of children.

I started taking my new heart medication over the weekend. Ever felt like you were moving in slow motion? It slows my heart rate so I'm pretty tired. I planned on getting up this morning a little earlier so I could do 20 min. of Yoga. Ha! I actually overslept for the first time in months. So, I am going to ride my bike tonight for the first time since I got "The News". I'm planning on just riding a couple of miles. and then doing my ab tape. Maybe Yoga in the morning. . .

Copperblu: I think I misunderstood what kind of review you were writing. I guess there are all kinds of reviews. I didn't realize you wrote reviews of books. I am a manager and I was doing a review for a person. You probably said what you do for a living in a previous post, but I just didn't recall. Do you work out of your home or at an office? Well, it sounds like you had a terrific workout at the gym this morning. It's great that you and your DH got to go to the gym over the weekend. It sounds like he is really supportive (except for the beer tasting!) But beer is a lot better than mixed drinks. Some of them have a terrific amount of calories.

Nettie: It sounds like you are coping pretty well with the situation and like your DH is very helpful. I think I would be very scared. I'm glad you found a yoga tape to try. I have two of those Living Arts tapes and I know what you mean about the commercials. Hopefully it will work out for you. Take it easy on the bike!

My update: Went to my parents over the weekend. We swam almost all afternoon. Of course we weren't swimming the whole time but my mom and I do a lot of walking and running around the pool while we chat. I had a Boca Burger and my mom's low cal potato salad and corn with that spray on butter. The worst thing I did was I had 3 beers and they weren't light beer. But I didn't gain any weight. I swam a lot Sunday. We cooked out at a friend's (I had a Boca again) and took MY diet potato salad. However, I ate a piece of cherry pie. My friend had these new Crystal Light Mixed Drink mixes. I think they have 45 calories or something like that before you add the alcohol. That's not too bad. We had the Pina Colada. It's pretty good.

This morning I got up when the alarm went off and resisted the temptation to reset it. I did my Upper Body Weight routine but instead of doing the 2 1/2 minutes aerobics between each set, I just did all 6 weight exercises and then repeated all 6 three times. So I finished all the sets and then had 30 minutes left over to do yoga. I don't have an exercise bike or treadmill and I thought it would be really a pain to run back and forth between the weights and an aerobic tape. Anyway, that worked. Then I swam for 30 min. tonight.

Tomorrow I will do the lower body weight routine and 30 minutes of Yoga in the AM.

I hope this post isn't too long!

Nettie: Your yoga story was great! I don't have kids, but I do have a very curious ferret...I can't do any kind of exercise on the floor when he's out without setting myself up for little ferret snuffles in my ear + nips on my ankles!
It must be hard keeping to your program with the new medication! I like sleep too much already, and I think I would quickly prove useless if slowed down any more than I already am!

Stamper: Ohhhh! Now I get it! I'm actually waiting to see my own employee review this week -- what a coincidence!
I think it's great that you've been sticking to the Boca burgers at cookouts, and bringing your own potato salad is a brilliant idea! I LOVE Crystal Light, and am excited to hear they're making frozen drink mixes now!
It sounds like you had a great workout yesterday, and a pat on the back to you for resisting the snooze! (the evil bugger almost did me in today!)

As for what I do: I'm an editor, but I do some freelance book reviewing on the side, which is where the talk of reviews comes from. I currently work at an office, but hope to eventually work more flexible hours -- the office environment is not exactly my natural domain!
My DH is very supportive, which is great -- he was a bit difficult in the beginning, and kept saying that I was being "obsessive" whenever I made a point to stick to my workouts. But now that he's started exercising too, it's really become a team effort -- which makes it a lot easier.
He is, however, still "Le Saboteur" for his evil bad-food-suggesting, beer-offering ways.

Long post! So my update to follow in another msg....

my update:
Well, yesterday I did my 30 minutes on the elliptical crossramp in the morning, as it was cardio day. I wasn't planning on anything else, but DH went to the gym in the evening, so I did a 20 minute Pilates routine! I've started recording my food again, and stayed within my goals...even though the chips were really calling to me! (poor things!)
This morning was my new "Weights Day" and though I was whiny when the alarm went off, I had a good workout at the gym. I did 5 minutes warmup on the bike and then a total body weights routine -- biceps, triceps, delts, chest press, pec fly, leg press, quad extension, seated hamstring curl, leg adductor, leg abductor, and glute kick. Whew! Unsurprisingly, it took a while! But if I'm only going to do weights 2-3 times a week, then I want to get everything in one workout. The only thing I didn't really get was lat pulldowns or back exercises, because I ran out of time. I felt great afterwards, and because I was moving between all the machines depending upon what was open, I didn't feel sore at all -- though I'm sure I will tomorrow!
I took my handheld with me and recorded what machines I used, how many sets of how many reps at what weight, which was kind of fun. I tried to use heavier settings than I had this weekend when I was just trying them out, and it was like a fun little challenge game. WEIRD. I can't believe I'm actually enjoying this and looking forward to it! Will wonders never cease?!

Tomorrow is cardio day -- we have the day off, and my normal gym branch near work is closed, so I'll be going to the gym near home, which will still be open for most of the day. If I'm not too sore, it's back to the deadly elliptical crossramp!

I hope everyone's having a great day so far!

I hope you all had a good weekend! It sure sounds like everybody's on track!

Stamper ~ That's great that you have a Curves so close! Are you gonna check it out? They'd probably give you your first workout free, and then you could see if it would be a good thing for you. You know how much I adore it, so I won't go on and on about it!

Congrats on your weekend, too.... even if it wasn't great "beverage-wise", you kept up the swimming, and that's great! I've never heard of the Crystal Light mixed drink mixes... it must be one of your Yankee treats! Pina Colada is one of my favorite drinks! Where do you get this stuff? I may have to send my mom's best friend (who lives in Montana) on a mission to grab me some before she comes up to visit!

Nettie ~ Sounds like you're doing good. I'm proud that you're not letting this stop you... just slow you down a bit. Good luck on trying to get the yoga in too! Sounds like you have "helpers" I have some too, but I can just throw the darn cats out the door! Anyway, you take care! {{{{{Nettie}}}}}

Copperblu! Wow! That plateau of yours should be flying out the door with all the work you've done the past few days! Whew! You make me tired just reading about it... I'm so glad you're more comfy on the weight machines now. This is what it's all about, right? Modifying our schedule to get that darn exercise in! WTG!

And there we are... cross posting again! Sounds like you had a great morning though! You should keep track of your progress with those weight machines too... what a great way to boost your morale when you feel like quitting!


My Update:

Fri ~ Wasted night! We went to dh's little brother's high school grad... I didn't have time to get to Curves after work, I ate poorly at the dinner, and then just crashed afterwards!

Sat ~ Got to catch up on some much needed zzzz's, but then up and going to get the house all cleaned up for Sunday....

Sun ~ Up early for chickens! All went well, except I think I strained one of the muscles in my upper arm hauling all those chickens around! No kidding! They are that big! We're talking 10-12 pounds (estimated!) They sure make for good eating though! We roasted one on Saturday! Yum!

Mon ~ Reclean the house from the disaster that the nieces and nephews brought on Sunday, start repacking trailer for the trip this weekend, and have my second FABULOUS yoga class! I swear it gets better and better! My only problem now is whether to give in to my urge to get a yoga video (which I will eventually), and then whether to get the pregnancy kind or the regular? Thoughts?

Today ~ On track still ~ looking forward to Curves. We're going to Waterton National Park this weekend, so I'll be away from Fri-Mon, and back on Tuesday.... the only problem is that we're going with dh's parents and his aunt & uncle. They are great, but they like to indulge a little on these camping trips, and I'm not sure whether or not I can drink. According to my charting, I am 4 days past ovulation, and could be pregnant. I guess what I'll do is take a test on Friday, which will be 7 dpo, and if it's + no booze for me.... we'll see! I couldn't possibly be lucky enough to catch a baby the first month, could I!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?

Anyway, yak, yak, yak... I'll talk more later!

This was in my email today and I thought that I'd share.... it's kinda eye-opening to think of your eating this way...

Dieting Tip of the Day
Monday July 2, 2001

OK, so you've slipped. That chocolate birthday cake was too tempting to resist. After all, you had only one piece, and no ice cream. Now what? Are you thinking you should go on a fat and sugar binge just because you had that piece of cake and have fallen off your self-imposed diet wagon?

Stop and think a minute. How many meals do you eat in a year? At three meals a day, you have 1095 opportunities each year to eat properly and stick to your diet plan. (Yes, I know, in a leap year you have 1098 chances.) So you have 1094 meals left in the year ahead. When you place your chocolate cake in perspective, you realize that your future choices will have far more impact on your life. Plan to do what you can to ensure that most of your other 1094 meals for the year are healthy -- you are in control of your diet destiny! One piece of cake is your downfall only if you allow it to serve as an excuse to slip completely into fat-gram city. You're in control. Act like it!

I want to start exercising every day. Something besides counting yard work or gardening like I usually do. I want to get my heart rate up. I am checking in now to motivate me to do something tonight. I don't know what yet - but before I go to bed I am going to have sweated. (And not just because it is in the 90's today.)

Hi everyone! It's 11:33 PM here - my husband was on the computer most of the night fixing a problem for work so this is might first chance to check my emails and the 3FC board.

Morrigan: I gather you are new here? I've only been on this thread since the end of May. I really am finding that this is keeping me motivated to exercise and I hope you find the same thing. I know what you mean about getting your heart rate up and doing "real exercise". However, about 2 weeks ago I found something on the web that would tell yout the calories burned for your weight for each type of exercise. Yard work and housework were in there and I was surprised that they burned about the same amount of calories as quite a few other types of exercise. I think it was on www.prevention.com. Good luck!

Marvin: Thanks for the dieting tip. That's how I've been thinking lately. If I give in to a piece cake or pie, I am just accepting it and getting back on track the next day. After all, that's how we have to be able to eat after we reach our goal. It's unrealistic to think we will never eat pizza or cake. That's what I really like about Weight Watcher's - there are no bad foods. You just have to learn how to fit them into your life without going of the deep end. It has certainly taken me a long time to do that though.

About the yoga and pregnancy - I would think that a lot of the regular poses could be done in pregnancy. However, I know on the tape I have they say not to do back bends and I THINK they say not to do inverted poses when you are menstruating or pregnant. I suggest asking your yoga instructor. I could ask mine when I see her and let you know. She is very knowledgable. Good luck - I remember when my husband & I were trying it seemed like the wait was unbearable to find out. I actually used one of those home tests which said I WAS - then I went to my doctor and he said I wasn't. I showed him my home test result and he had me come back the next week and it turned out I was. Pretty funny that the home test was more sensitive and accurate than the doctors! By the way, I might check out Curves, but since we belong to the YMCA (and hardly ever get there), I'm not sure I would join another health club. But I would like to see the set up after reading about it

Copperblu: It sounds like your work is interesting. I manage a group of programmers and analysts and still get to do some analyst work myself - so it is quite a different field. I work with a great group of people. Luckily my department is not one of those groups that constantly bring in cakes. Mostly they eat pretzels and hard candy and try to find time to work out like me.

If chips are something you really like, did you ever try the Baked Lays chips? I like them a lot, although I've never been a chip person so I don't buy them a lot. I like them better than the ones with Olestra.

Sounds like you are getting in some great workouts. Do you do your Pilates workout to a video tape? I've heard some things about it on TV but I've never done it. Do you need any special equipment?

FOR EVERYONE: About the Crystal Light Drink Mix: I was at the grocery store and it's the same chain where my friend got the Pina Colada mix but a different location. I looked in the Crystal Light section and the mixed drink mix section and couldn't find it. I will have to ask her where she found it in the store.

My update:
I stayed up until after 1 am last night getting some stuff done around the house and watching a movie (Nurse Betty) that I had to return today. So obviously I turned off the 5:45 alarm and slept later. I walked tonight though for my aerobics. Tomorrow I have off for July 4th and will do my lower body weight routine and yoga. I may try to do some step aerobics since I have the day off. My DH will be golfing in the AM and then we are having a picnic around our pool with all the golfing buddies and their wives. Of course, it is supposed to rain all day so who knows how this will go.

Well for the U.S. folks, have a great 4th and for Marvin - Have a Great Wednesday!

I am not new to dietwatch, but I am new to the exercise page. I used to be really good about working out, but then in December I blew out my knee. I had surgery in February. Right now I can walk (but no jogging or running) and I have to walk with a brace on. I can ride a bike (but no hills or mountain biking.) I can swim, but I am not supposed to be kicking very much. And I can't do fun stuff like tennis, raquettball, rollerblading, hockey, hiking, waterskiing, softball, etc... at all. I have always been active, but now my choices are really reduced so I haven't been very motivated to do any exercise and when I exercise I hardly get my heart rate up.

Seeing this thread made me think - well, even if I can't do all the stuff everyone else here is doing -- I can at least do something everyday. So today I walked on the HS track for 20 minutes. (I am allowed to walk on a track without a brace -- so it feels really nice). It was great. I can't quite walk briskly enough to get my heart rate up a lot, but I got it moving at least. I know if I check in here everyday I can keep motivated to do more.

Welcome Morrigan... I hope that you find this thread as helpful as I have.... Just last night, I was going to skip Curves because it was sooooo beautiful out! But, I said to myself, do I really want to get on here this morning, and post that I skipped? So I went, and my evening was that much better because of my success. This accountability really keeps me going, but I also know that I can get support from my pals here when I falter. It's great to have you! I remember you from the holiday goals threads in th support forum, which I have gotten away from because I'm starting to move away from the number on the scale. I hope your recovery is going well.

Stamper, if you would ask your instructor for me about the yoga tapes, I'd so appreciate it. Our instructor is male, and I'm not quite comfortable talking to him about it. Besides, other than you guys here, we have not told anyone that we are TTC.... Thanks! BTW, did you chart your temperature when you TTC? I am right now, and it's interesting how steady it is!

I'll see what I can find on the web about those Crystal Light mixes... maybe they're just a regional test or something.... Let me know what you fid out from your friend. They sure sound yummy!

My Update:
Yesterday was great ~ as I mentioned, I dragged myself, kicking and screaming (can ya picture that? ) to Curves, where I sweated my butt off even with the air conditioning! Then home to a great low fat, lower cal chicken caesar salad. DH played baseball with his coworkers last night, so I had the evening to myself... which was nice. I bagged up all those chickens and put them in the freezer, did my household chores, started packing the trailer, and replanted my hanging basket (which I've killed once already this year!) Whew! It seemed like a relaxing evening, but when you write it out like that! Wow!

Today is supposed to be even hotter than yesterday... about 30 degrees C ~ but I'll drag my butt over the Curves again, no matter how much I don't want to, but that's it for plans...

Happy Fourth Of July!

Well, just to prove I'm as human as everybody else.... after all my pretty words yesterday about motivation, I totally bummed out yesterday... it was so hot here that I just went straight home after work! Too hot for Curves, too hot for clothes even! That's one of the benefits of country living! You can walk around half naked, and nobody sees you!

Anyway, it was also too hot to eat much yesterday, so I'm not in that bad of shape. Thankfully, today is supposed to be a bit cooler, so Curves is definitely in. Besides, we're having pizza for lunch today for a coworker who's going on a leave of absence, so I have to work that off!

I'll try to check in a little later, but if I don't, I'll see you all on Tuesday morning!

Hope all Americans on the thread had a nice Fourth of July! Ours was lame-ish, as DH + I slept for an unholy amount of the day + then couldn't see much of the fireworks because of the cloud cover. Still, had some oven fries + extra-lean burgers, and that was yummy.

Morrigan: Welcome! I'm sorry to hear about your knee -- several people on this thread have had knee problems as well and might have some suggestions for you. My DH has a badly blown knee + found that a stationary bike worked well for him, and some people have had luck with swimming as a non-impact activity. Good luck!
Joining this thread is a good first step, because, as Marvin says, the accountability really helps! No one likes to admit to a skipped workout! We'd much rather come back to the board with glowing reports of our own willpower + stamina!

Stamper: I have tried the Baked Lays, but don't really like them. I actually prefer the Olestra chips over the baked if I must, but generally I just try to eat small amounts of regular or slightly reduced fat chips. My favorite treat lately is "Pirate Booty" made by Rob's Natural Gourmet, which is like a more natural version of cheese puffs (made w/white cheddar). It's 120 cals, 2.5 g fat, and 2g fiber per serving. Yummy!
About the Pilates: I do my Pilates workout to the Living Arts Beginning Matwork tape -- you don't need any special equipment other than a mat if you're going to be doing it on hardwood floors. Eventually, I think the classes at a studio progress to using some complicated Pilates-specific contraptions, but the matwork is at the base of it. I like it a lot, and I've heard about great abdominal results from it.
Good for you for doing a workout, even after the snooze alarm debacle.

Marvin: I loved that tip you posted! It is SO important to remember that -- keep things in perspective, and learn to incorporate things like the occasional piece of cake into your life. Because you can't "diet" forever! It's a lifestyle you have to be able to live with, not a short term fix, and not something you can "blow" with a piece of cake. Good tip!
Sounds like you had quite the busy days! Goodness! I don't blame you for skipping Curves the other day! I can't exercise when it's hot either -- I am SO glad we joined a gym, and SO glad that they have the strongest AC known to man.
And don't worry -- I've definitely had to eat my words a few times on this forum after making a lovely speech about the necessity of sticking to my workouts + what have you.

LONG post! Hope everyone's doing well, and my update will follow in the next post.