Good morning Featherweights! and top o'a new week to ya!

This morning, my rotation is just like sooo many others on Earth. I had the weekend off and UGH! it's Monday already. The alarm disturbed a pretty deep sleep.
Luckily, I had most of yesterday to muse my food for this week. I've got a few things ready and some other things planned. If I wedge in a few walks and a couple of lifting sessions ... it'll be a good week.

What's up with you?

Morning Susan, everyone!

My 'rents are still visiting, but I'm determined not to let it disrupt my gym time. So far, so good. Yesterday the 5 of us went for a gorgeous hike. It wasn't far, maybe 3 miles tops, and we didn't exactly break any speed records because we were busy looking at all the wonderful eye-treats that a sunny day in fall in upstate NY can bring. But, we did ascend about 600 feet, which has to count for something!

I'm off to make The Boy's lunch. Have a great morning, everyone!

Kim

Ughh, I feel your pain Susan!!! I too enjoyed having my weekend to sleep and relax. I sure had a hard time getting up this morning

Kaw - sounds like a beautiful hike!! I love hiking!

Well, I hope everybody has a great week!

Good morning all! Had a very successful last week, and am still right on track where i want to be.

Started adding in and yesterday and am hoping both will make a difference since i need to tone BADLY.

SW: 167
CW: 155
Mini goal: 149

One for every mile this week.

Thinnythighs~if you're thinking about turning your walking into running, try the Couch to 5k (c25k) program from coolrunning.com. I did and I'm amazed at the fact that I can actually run 1 or 2 miles without stopping! Here I am, 44, and I had never run before! I was one of those kids that got winded half way around the high school track and thought I'd just die if I went further! Now if only my knees weren't so old--I do get some aches the day after running.

DD came home from her weekend in Long Beach (and just in time--those fires could have caused problems for her getting home). Anyway, she had such stories to tell. First and foremost she said that Cal State Long Beach is NOT ever going to be on her list of schools to attend. She said it is too much of a party school and she doesn't want that. Then she went on to talk about going to her friend's brother's apartment where she met up with a bunch of kids that graduated last year. Then her friend went to a party and she stayed back at the apartment with her friend's roommate because the roommate was too drunk to go to the party. She had to tell me all about this poor drunk girl and how funny it was to watch her try to play Wii video games. The point here is that DD has no desire whatsoever to party or to drink. I guess I've done a good job raising her!!!

Okay, gotta run. Have a great week!

Good morning everyone! I overslept and missed working out this morning, but I have plenty of time tonight, so I'm not worried about it. Ideally, I'd like to try to do 20 mins cardio in the morning just to get myself going, and 20 mins of some light resistance work (I'm partial to the "Tank Top Arms, Bikini Belly, Boy Shorts Bottom" DVD by Minna Lessig). Then in the evening, another 30-60 mins or cardio and however much light resistance as the TV I want to watch.

It is SO nice to be on a project where I have the time to do all this - my last project I was working 80-95 hours/week, which never left me with time to do anything healthy unless I forced myself to get up ridiculously early. It is so nice to have a little safety net if I want to sleep in.

Haven't really planned my food yet for the week, or even for the night, but I'm thinking of making some kind of miso soup maybe with a bit of grilled salmon on the side? I'm on a bit of a Japanese food kick lately, which is fairly healthy. And I'm starting to learn various ways to cook tofu! Will have to go check out the food forum for some more tips on that.

Happy Monday everyone!

The fat fairy is alive and well in NYC - zapped me with 3 extra lbs. But that's what happens on vacation so I'm back on track today with the usual (if it ain't broke don't fix it) writing down of everything consumed and calculating calories.

I actually ate quite healthily in NYC for brekkie. Because the weather was so warm lunch was usually a sandwich/salad combo and I think the sandwiches had mucho calories even though I picked things like turkey on whole grain etc. Dinners were quite varied (the food, the food, how to choose?) but I skipped desserts and afternoon coffee thingies most days.

Did indulge in a couple of very decadent chocolate bars and a peanut butter filled doughnut fresh and warm from the deep fryer at the Doughnut Factory for brekkie one day (that was probably two lbs. right there but sooo good).

There were lots of of fresh food markets wehre I was staying so I ate a lot of fruit for snacks. Bought fruit from carts on the street uptown too.

And Duane Reade for diet Pepsi - right on "my" corner.

Dagmar

New York is kind of like the best and worst of dieting extremes. There are lots of place to get good, healthy food... but also SO many places to completely wreck whatever diet you are on. Unfortunately, it always seems to me like not a lot of places have both, so when I go out to eat with friends, I inevitably declare that my one "cheat meal" for the week and don't waste too much time dwelling on it. However, that does mean I have to keep my meals out with friends pretty limited (or start being more aggressive in our decisions of where to eat).

Glad you enjoyed your time here, Dagmar!

Morning. Hi Dagmar, glad you had a great trip.

SW: 167
CW: 154
Mini goal: 149

BMI: 24.9 ( finally ).

i've been busting my *** ( literally ) like never before to get this weight off once and for all. i've never worked out so hard, but it's paying off.

Failure is not an option.

Way to go, thinnythighs! Congrats on getting the BMI below 25.

Scenestealer: I know what you mean about NYC, except in my mind there are a lot fewer places that sell tasty-looking healthy food than sell tasty-looking unhealthy food. I think I got spoiled after living in areas where produce isn't quite so limp or expensive. Yes, you have the Garden State nearby, but, let's face it, the produce in NYC pales in comparison -- and is pale -- to produce that is truly locally grown and doesn't have to travel across miles of polluted freeways/surface streets to get to the store.

I did stumble across one intriguing restaurant: The Pump, on west 55th between 5th & 6th (also has locations on W 38th, E 21st, E 31st, and E 50th.) It's a takeout eatery geared toward bodybuilders, so the portions were huge, but at least they contained lots of lean proteins, etc. Ever eaten there?

Me, I'm just back from a work meeting at which we were given free reign of the breakfast buffet. I ate eggs, fruit, cottage cheese, smoked salmon, and drank far too many cups of coffee. This is way more food than I'm accustomed to having in the morning; for some strange reason, breakfasts like this always make me want to eat all day. Uggh. Worse yet, the meeting was scheduled during my gym time. Double Uggh!

Kim

I'm back from my conference and our post-conference trip to Joshua Tree and, just like Dagmar, working on losing the weight that I gained. This morning I came it at under the weight listed in my profile, so I at least I don't have to change that. But I still have 4 lbs to go to get back to my pre-Conference weight (yes, I managed to gain 6 lbs in only a week and a half -- that's a lot of calories!)

I also managed to injure my knee when running on the Sunday before my conference. I don't know what I did--same shoes, exact same route, usual time and didn't feel any pain during the run. But that afternoon I could barely bend my knee to go downstairs (going upstairs was no problem). Then with the conference, I had to be on it all day (I swear, I must have walked the length of that stupid hotel 20 times a day), so that didn't help. Then I thought it was better so I ran sprints on the treadmill the following Saturday, which seemed to lead to an ankle injury (either that or it was the 15 min walk on 15% incline on Sunday). Either way, I could barely walk my ankle on Sunday afternoon (I'm sure the plane trip down to Palm Springs didn't help--planes always make my legs ache). This really put a krimp in our hiking plans for Joshua Tree, but we did manage to find some relatively easy trails to do. It's also putting a krimp in my getting back into shape after over a week off. I'm swimming this week instead of doing my regular cardio. Next week I hope to add back in the elliptical. Not sure when I'll be able to run again, which is really a bummer because I really felt great for the run on Sunday that started this whole mess.

Dagmar: OMG--A peanut butter filled doughnut! I'm in love!

Kaw: I'm the same way. A big breakfast always makes me want to eat more. I saw that Pump place when I was in NYC last year. It did seem interesting; if I'm remembering it correctly, they had nutritional info listed on the menu which always impresses me. But we didn't have time to try it (and I'm not sure I could have convinced my SO to eat there anyway--he's not really into the body builder diet.)

Scenestealer: I've never been able to figure out tofu. Mine always seems to come out soggy and bland.

I was going to eat at the Pump. Checked out the menu - extensive - and some reviews on line. The reviews weren't too favorable - bland, dry food - but I thought I'd try it. I wasn't sure how much "healthy" food was available so it looked like a good choice.

I was outside one location (midtown somewhere?) when a group of rather thin, fit-loooking people exited. They were ALL complaining about the food they had just eaten. So I gave it a pass.

I found the produce in NYC whole foods markets to be quite fresh. And since my yardstick for comparison is southern Ontario, where we still actually grow stuff, I was pleasantly surprised, by the fruit particularly. Ate small fruit salads most mornings which had a variety of things in them. Yummy!

And considerably less damaging than the PB donut

Dagmar

The Pump sounds intriguing... I may check it out one of these days.

I just got done with an incredible workout. Headed down to the gym to do the elliptical while I watched Biggest Loser, and did about 4 miles in 45 mins, at a pretty tough setting (hill climb). I was pretty tired after that, but also feeling really motivated after watching BL, so I decided I would do one mile on the treadmill. And WOW. I did my fastest mile ever!!! I thought I was going to be sick at the end, but I was proud to go so fast. Big accomplishment for me, who is the tortoise of all runners (yet can go long distances because slow and steady gets you through).

Scenestealer- i'm the same way about being the tortoise of all runners. If i'm walking ( even fast paced ), it seems like i can go on forever and not be winded. When it comes to out and out running, i just can't do it yet. My muscles hurt too badly.

Made meatloaf and mashed potatoes for DH last night and could not help having a small portion of both. At least i didn't overdo it like i would have in the past. Was worried at what the scale would read this am, but have maintained, so i'm comfortable with it. No walking yesterday because frankly it was just too darn cold, but will do at least another mile today. Still on track and heading towards my mini goal of 149.