my update:
Let's see...Tuesday I had done my weights in the morning. That night we had a big salad + some black bean soup, and DH and I went for a little walk. Not as long as the one a few nights ago, but it was still nice to get outside.
Wed: for some reason DH + I slept half the day away! It was like we'd been drugged! We roused ourselves from our Wimbeldon induced stupor to make it to the gym around 5pm -- did 25 minutes on an elliptical crosstrainer, which was about all I could stand. ;) Came home and had a big spread of fresh fruit + veggie sticks that we picked up at the corner store, which was delicious after the workout + walking home in the heat, then later had the burgers + oven fries and watched what we could of the fireworks.
Today: went to the gym for my all weights workout, which I love. :) Did all the exercises I did on Tues. (some at slightly higher weights!) and added the lat pulldowns + rows I didn't fit in the last time.
I've learned that I have to be really careful about stretching my hamstrings though, as my hamstrings + the backs of my knees were STILL sore from Tues. and I've had some trouble w/my flexibility since then. Will try to remember to touch my toes periodically today, just to keep them from tensing up.
I can see my "muscles" coming back from my month or so neglect, and it's very exciting! I can't stop looking at my arm! I told DH that I am going to be the vainest person in the world once I develop actual muscles! :lol:

Anyways, that's my update, and I hope to stay on track today w/my water + food goals!

Hi
 

Hi there. I was thinking that I might post here if thats cool with everyone. My name is Meredith and it sounds like my workout style is similar to a lot of yours. I love to exercise, but I lack motivation. If I can get my butt to the gym, you can count on me staying for an hour, its the getting there that is the hard part.

I started my food and exercise journal again this week. I feel that I do better if I track what I eat and exercise. It's nice to see that you all like a nice variety of workouts. I'm from South Dakota-AKA Middle of nowhere-and if I were to mention the word Pilates, nobody would have a clue what I was talking about. Pilates is my new passion. I also really enjoy yoga, Tai Chi, kickboxing (when I feel ambitious), swimming, snorkeling, weightlifting, and walking. :dizzy:

I'm interested in finding out some of these conceiving stories. ;) My husband and I plan on having kids within the next couple of years. I need to know the little secrets. :^:

Sorry about the long post here. Hope to get to know you all soon!

Hi! Everyone!

Welcome Meridith! :) Sounds like you have some similar workout interests to several of us here. I love yoga and wish I did more of it. I agree with you that it is a lot easier to lose when you keep track of what you eat. I do really well if I write it down, but find that I don't do it consistently. So I got a Weight Watchers Points Calculator (I belonged for a while) & I do great just entering my "points", exercise and water intake for the day.

Copperblu: probably the reason I don't like the olestra chips is that they seem to leave a greasy feeling in your mouth. But I guess that is more like real chips. I will have to look for the Pirate Booty - I love cheese puffs. Every now and then my daughter gets me to buy them. She eats a handful and doesn't want any more and then I end up eating the rest of the bag (so they don't get stale!) :o I have a good exercise for you for your hamstrings getting stiff. I had a lot of problems with them after my first pregnancy and I had tendonitis and got these from a PT. Lay on stomach and curl your leg (from knee down) toward your buttocks. Do 15 times then switch to other leg. Do 2 sets. It works best if you have some light leg weights. Another is to lay on stomach and keeping legs straight lift one up and down (not high - your hips should stay on the ground) about 15 times. Switch legs. Do 2 sets. I learned some other exercises but these 2 seemed to help the best. Thanks for the info on Pilates. I will look for a tape at the video store to give it a try!

Marvin: Don't feel bad about skipping Curves because of the heat. We all need a break now and then (I guess that's not a good thing to say though if we are Everyday Exercisers!) I spent so much time cleaning and doing other stuff that I didn't do the lower ab workout I planned before people arrived for our afternoon pool party/picnic on 7/4. At least I had time to do kickboarding and water treading in the pool while people were here. Today I was exhasted and didn't do anything. I was a real slacker today. About the Yoga, I hope to go to class Saturday morning and I will ask her. About charting temps, I did do it, but it didn't help me much. My temperature is normally about 97.8 and hardly ever 98.6. I did sometime see the jump you are supposed to see, but my temperature didn't stay at the level it is supposed to stay when you conceive. I ended up thinking I wasn't expecting and then when I missed my period and started to feel a bit funny I took one of those home tests and found that I was. Also, I had to take a mild fertility drug because my cycles were irregular and I could never tell if it was the TOM when I would ovulate. Hope you have better luck with the temperature charting.

Morrigan: I hope your knee is feeling better. Also, I think there are a lot of variety of exercises and intensity of exercise being done by the folks on this board. Mostly I swim or walk and do yoga and weights and some calisthenics. I just don't have time to get to a gym these days. I don't have any serious knee or health problems, but I do have some mild arthritis in my knees and I have plantar facitis in my feet so I can't run or do high impact aerobics or anything that really pounds the feet and knees. I think the main point on this board is that we are all trying to keep ourselves moving to be healthy and this board helps us be accountable so we can be consistent (even though I slacked today).

My update: Well, I think I included it in this long post - I fit my swimming & water aerobics in nonchalantly during our pool party on 7/4 (I must have done more than I thought because my legs and feet were really sore today) and today I was a lazy bum! Well, there is always tomorrow!

Good job everyone!

I didn't make to any formal exercise today, but I golfed 9 holes and we speeded right along. I was sweaty and tired by the end of it.

Welcome Meredith! Nice to have you!
I also find that I do a bit better when I track my food intake. I always track my exercise, as it helps keep me motivated, but my food journalling isn't as consistent. I don't like to obsess over it, and I often don't enjoy the overattention to food that the journal engenders. I've found that the best strategy for me is to record my food intake for a couple of weeks every so often -- whenever I feel like my "natural monitor" is getting off, I start tracking again to find the problem, and then stop when I feel I've established good eating habits again.
You love to exercise? I personally hate to exercise ;), except for weights, so there's trouble both getting me there and making me stay! :lol: Still, we all have to do something that's a little bit hard for us, or we'd never make progress. I hate cardio, but I do it anyways, because I need it to be healthy. Some people hate weights, but they need the muscle. Some can't stand drinking all that water! We all have our hurdles to get over, and that's why this group is great -- we're all trying each and every day to jump our own obstacles to health + fitness.
Anyways, welcome, and kudos on your commitment to everyday fitness!

Stamper: The Olestra chips are more like real chips, with the greasiness which, so help me, I do love. ;) I do highly recommend Pirate Booty, as it is much healthier than regular cheese puffs, and a great snack for when you have those "light + crunchy" cravings.
Thanks for the hamstring recommendations! Those sound like some exercises I was doing before, when I was doing mainly video workouts - I thought they were to tone + tighten the hamstrings, but it sounds like they helped stretch yours out? I'm hoping these, the occasional yoga, and my now constant stretching will help loosen me up!!
Don't feel bad about skipping one day -- it sounds like you were sore, and I think it's really cool how you snuck in your water aerobics in the middle of the party! :s: Tricky!

Morrigan: Golf definitely counts as exercise, whether "official" or no! Sounds like fun! Glad to see you checking in!

my update
 

As for me: well, as I mentioned, I did total body weights yesterday (and OW, I can feel it today!). I kind of forgot that I had added back exercises to my routine, and didn't stretch those muscles well enough -- kiddies, learn from my mistakes!
Had yummy glazed pork chops, steamed broccoli, + light mashed potatoes for dinner last night -- SO filling, and SO low in cals/fat! Ha! I love to trick DH into eating healthy foods! :s:
This morning I decided to give my body a rest after 6 days of exercise, and declared today my official rest day. I may do some yoga later today, but I'm not going to flog myself if I don't get to it.
Our office has free bagels + cream cheese on Friday mornings during the summer, but I stuck to my guns and had my Kashi + soymilk -- and didn't have 400 extra cals + a bazillion grams of fat to start of the day! :) Tonight DH + I are going out for sushi for our end-of-the-week treat, and I can hardly wait! MUCH better for us than our more frequent "treat" -- pizza.
Over the weekend I'm planning on doing a cardio day + a weights day, which should set me up nicely for the next week!

Great to see so many people posting, and I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I am riding my bike to town today. 8.5 miles and fairly flat. It is my first time on a bike this year. (I just got permission from the doctor last week.) I am a bit nervous, but very excited.

I rode my bike for 45 minutes and did PT for my knee. I am going to also do crunches before bed and am thinking about making it to the gym - but haven't yet decided if I want to drive all the way to town. I may make it if my cousin goes with me.

Morrigan - Congratulations on getting to ride your bike for the first time! Sounds like it went well. I bet you enjoyed it.

Copperblu: Kudos on passing up the bagels and cream cheese. That's a hard thing to do sometimes when everyone at work is eating something. By the way, I think the point of those exercise was to strengthen the hamstrings - somehow that helped the tendonitos - maybe stronger hamstrings made me put less stress on the tendons. But it seemed to stretch them out too and make me more flexible. They had me incorporate stretching in with it and I think I had to put put either ice or heat on too, but it's been over 10 years and I can't remember. But I still do those exercises. I go for a while not doing them but if I start to feel the tendons bothering me I start it up again.

My update: I was so tired all day. I ate candy at work today too. I've got to get back to packing my lunch next week. I do so much better when I pack fruit and carrots to munch on. I think part of it was that so many people were off I didn't get the zillions of emails I answer every day so it was kind of boring. I was eating to fight off drowsiness. Anyway, all I wanted to do when I got home was take a nap, but I made myself go out and do laps with a kickboard and didn't stop until my knees started hurting. I didn't have my watch to keep track of time while I was out and was real surprised when I came in and saw I'd been swimming over an hour! That did the trick because I'm not sleepy anymore. My DH did the grocery shopping on his way home and bought us a pre-cooked chicken and a salad so supper was easy. I am going to Yoga tomorrow morning and then we are having some people over for a cookout and swimming (that's like the story of our summer but I enjoy the company).

If I don't get back on this weekend, hope you all have a good one!
:)

My calories were higher than I planned (late snacking), but I did make it back to the gym this evening and did stationary bike, treadmill, abs, and some arm weights. Yeah!

Morrigan: I can relate to the calories - I have'nt done so well this week. I start out okay but I've only kept track of my intake twice this week on my WW calculator and I've had some late night snack attacks. But it's great you got your workout in. Hopefully we can both get back on track with the food.

Meridith: Just wanted to say Hi! Hope things are going well for you.

Nettie: I know you are trying to take it easy and tired from your new medication. I just wanted to let you know I am thinking of you.

My update: I got up and went to 8:30 AM yoga this morning. I felt great and so full of energy afterwards. I also bought a Kundalini Yoga book at class that was written by one of my instructor's friends. It seems pretty good. Can't wait til I have time to really look through it.

Marvin: I talked to the Yoga teacher about yoga when you are expecting. She said that in the first trimester you can do anything as long as it doesn't feel uncomfortable. If you have any break through bleeding then you should restrict yourself more (no inverted poses) & check with your doctor. Second trimester and forward, don't do any poses where you have to lie on your stomach, no inverted poses, no "root lock pulls" and generally you want to make your moves gentle. Also, no "Breath of Fire breathing (that's where you are breathing really fast in out of your mouth very powerfully) and nothing where you are pulling and pushing your abdominals in and out. She said that the breathing, the meditation and stretching are all very good throughout the pregnancy. When you get near the end you may have trouble getting up from a pose where you are lying right on your back. She also said you can email her with questions. I don't want to put her email address out on this board but if you want it I will go into the private messages options and send it.

That's it! I plan to try to get some laps in before our afternoon party starts. Have a great weekend everyone!

swimming
 

I swam for 50 minutes up and back a beach with my dog paddling along behind me. I think I went about 1.5 miles. He and I are both pooped tonight. This is my favorite summer exercise (I hate pools but love to swim) and now that the water is warm enough (barely) I plan on swimming there as much as possible. In a 2 mile section there are 4 houses (summer cabins - none occupied), hardly any boat traffic, clear water, and a wonderful view of the Cabinet Mountains.

My tummy muscles are still sore from last night, but I am going to do a few more crunches before bed. Here is the sorry part about abs. Even if I do get muscles there - I won't be able to see them through the flab for another 30 lbs or so.

Morrigan: Hi! Sounds like you did a lot of swimming. Is there a big lake near you? I am assuming you are not swimming at the ocean since your location that comes out with your post is Idaho. I've never been to Idaho. You know, I think youl will notice a difference with your situps even though you have more weight to lose. I have only lost about 7 pounds so far and I have about 55 to go. But I can already see that my muscles look more toned and some clothes are loser and I don't seem to look quite as matronly. The exercise really helps.

My update: I already said I did yoga yesterday morning. I swam about 1/2 hour before our guests arrived for a swimming party & cookout. I got back in a few other times and did some kickboarding or water aerobics but don't know how long. Then our power went out around 5 pm - we don't know why, just some kind of electric cable deterioration we assume. It sure is good we were cooking out. We lit up the yard with torches and put off some legal fireworks when it got dark and then most guests left except some friends who stayed over. With no air conditioning working, I got hot and got back in the pool about 11 pm and swam about another 1/2 hour. Our power didn't come back on until 1 am. This morning I swam laps for 1/2 hour. I am going to a movie soon but may try to do another 1/2 hour this evening if it doesn't rain. That's it for today.

This is the lake I live by. Actually there are tons of smaller lakes all around it. But Lake Pend Oreille is around 50 miles long and 1400 ft deep (a natural lake left by the Percell Glacier in the last ice age). They have a submarine testing station at the southern end of the lake. It is completely surrounded by mountains. I work in Sandpoint and do my swimming about 10 miles north of camp bay. Sandpoint is a great town. We get tons of tourists skiing in the winter and boating and playing on the lake in the summer. Thanks to a few psycho's we have plenty of national publicity (mostly bad) but it is a much nicer place than Mark Furman, Randy Weaver, the MaGoukins, and the really evil racist people make it out to be.

Oh, and I made it to the gym for a 45 minutes bike today.

new thread
 

Started a new thread for this week -- check it out! :)