Planning & Chat for March 25 - 30
 

It's the first week of spring and the last week of March. What's up for this week everyone?

Have a great week!

Dagmar

Home gym and personal trainer
 

I just received a reply from the personal trainer I've been trying to contact and she's available. I'm going to call her today and set up an assessment meeting.

I'm so excited about developing the strength training program and setting up my home gym.

I'm not going with the Bowflex just yet. Will get something smaller and less cumbersome to set up and maintain. Probably a bench and hand weights, plus a stability ball.

Dagmar :lifter:

Another non-smoking benefit
 

SusanB Everyone who comes to your house now will be so glad you're no longer smoking.

My DH's sister and her husband are going to try to quit again before they move. I wish them the best of luck. I look forward to visiting with them and then not having to have a shower and wash every thing I had on, including my coat, after I get home because of the cigarette smell.

No more stinky smoke! :D

Dagmar :cool:

Morning!

I think I'll just pretend it's almost spring. It was nice and sunny all weekend but cold. That was the town plow going by here just now! So much for just bundling up and walking in the sunshine, on bare pavement ...

Dagmar, please, please,please get your in-laws to read that Allen Carr booklet. It's sooo smart. I can't say it's painless but it's certainly mostly easier that I thought it'd be.

I made a fabric softner faux pas. In my search for the most beautiful smelling of all things ... my coat makes my eyes water! My lips even taste like Botanical Bliss.

Well that was a bit of a ramble. I was just going to say hello. I have a CT of the back this morning and then I was going to come home and reorder my life. Holy moly it's been a straggling disjointed mess for a coupla weeks.

I'll be back later ... probably certifiably arthritc ;) and into planning mode.

(does anyone else retain water when they travel???)
 

Good Morning Ladies,
I decided not to weigh in yesterday or today... I was away for Easter weekend and celebrated not seeing my Mom or Sister in months... So eating/drinking, traveling, started "TOM" = WATER RETENTION...
I needed a hall pass.

Hopefully getting back on track w/ eating, drinking water, back to the gym will = a not so painful number on the scale tomorrow.

I'll cross my fingers.

(My goal for the week is to drop another lb.) :dust:

Marathon Mom
I won't be weighing in this week too. I started weights last week and since building muscles equals retains water I won't put myself through that. Plus, my clothes are fitting really well and my eating has been on target. Hope that when you do step on the scale all your hard work will be positively reflected!!

SusanB
I did away with fabric softener a year ago. All of a sudden the smell that I used to adore turned into a stink. I don't know...hormonal changes? Which softener made you feel like you were skunked?

My best to you in reorganizing. It's a daunting task sometimes!

Dagmar
I think weights and a incline/decline bench are the best way to go, economically and for range of workout....these are the ones I got...we got them on sale at Target for $40 about two weeks ago. They're adjustable from 2.5-12.5 pounds of resistance....it's a great bang for the buck. Plus they don't take up a whole lot of space....It's still early in the game but it's the best purchase 've made fittness wise. I had actually spotted them on craigslist for like $20 but the were snapped up on the weekend I was away.

It's funny...I was thinking about getting a balance ball. I saw one at the local Marshalls and I may just pop in there today and get it....


As for me...it's legs and back again today....I may throw abs in there too for safety's sake....I'm going to try some decline crunches with weights. Don't know if I'll succeed but trying is half the game eh?

I don't have much in the way of food planning for myself this week. The fridge is stocked with soup and lots of Romaine....that spells happiness to me!

Lekhika, Thanks for the vote of confidence...

Let me know if you get the balance ball... there are a lot of great exercises you can do on that thing!

:lifter::exercise::strong:

Ohh - I love this website. I have been stuck at 140 for a few days and can't seem to get back down. I was beginning to get frustrated (had a bad diet attitude yesterday and fell face first into an easter basket). But after reading Lekhika entry, I realized what I've done. I switched up my workouts and instead of using the elliptical 1/2hr every day, I now do 1 hr 4x/wk. I know I am getting a much better workout. I push myself much harder in the second half and am usually a little sore afterward. Duh! Water retention in sore muscles. So thank you Lekhika for pointing that out!

Susan - your attitude is so good - I just know you are going to continue to be successful! I know what you mean about the fabric softner. So much changed after I quit - smells and tastes. I had to change my housecleaning supplies after I quit - I had no idea how toxic some of them smell!

Good morning everyone! Just checking in quickly--got to get back to work.

I'm off to a pretty good start today. I had my yogurt and berries for breakfast but after I got to work, my tummy started hurting something awful so I ran to the deli for an egg salad sandwich on whole wheat. While I'm sure they used full fat mayo, it did taste good. I wonder how that stacks up calorie wise? At least the rest of the day is filled with salads!

Lekhika ... It was the purple Snuggle. I liked it in the store.

Allison ... some days I just have to have the egg salad sandwiches in the cafeteria at work. I hardly ever make them any more so they're kind of a treat for me.

My fella's got my ball out and pumped up for me yesterday. With this back and hip thing ... I should be sitting on it more often. Some exercise probably wouldn't hurt me either ;)

I have had such a weird day. I've done dozens of things but none of the things I meant to ... I still haven't bought any food. I have whitefish ready for supper but nothing else. I've been reading here for a few minutes and grocery list is getting lllooonnnggerrrr ....

marathon mom and lekhika - i'm definitely not weighing this week either!! yesterday was a calorie disaster for me plus i haven't been able to work out because of my sprained tendon. deb, i managed to fall into an easter basket myself yesterday... yikes! back on track today!

dagmar, good luck with the personal trainer appointment. sometimes i think that'd be great for me to have, but i know i can't budget it in at this point. i gotta keep myself in check - for me the trainer would be mostly an accountability thing.

susan i hear you on the fabric softener. i generally try to buy the "unscented" or "non-allergenic" stuff because i often find scented things like that irritate me.

i can't believe it's almost APRIL! april means a couple of things for me right now... first is that i need to finish my master's program applications by april 1 if i want to enter in the fall. and then my birthday is at the end of the month, as well as my 5k. i don't know that i'll make my goal by my b-day, but i sure hope i'm down at least 5 of these stubborn pounds by then!

Got my trainer!
 

She's coming over tomorrow night to see my "gym" space. DH ran out of steam on the weekend so there's still a bunch of stuff to organize. I will get it done this evening as I'm really excited now :carrot:!

I'm thinking weight bench (we have hand weights that we've used 2 or 3 times) and stability ball to start. I already have a little TV and DVD player down there that DH doesn't use so I can get some workout stuff too :exercise:.

DH seems quite pissed off that I'm actually doing this. I think he didn't believe it would happen. And I think he's feeling very fat and out of shape right now. And very afraid.

He'll have to learn that change can be good.

Dagmar :dance:

Dagmar -- A new gym WOW lucky you...

Susan -- One reason that the fabric softener is strong for you is because you've probably smelled it for real for the very first time in a very long time because you've quit the :smoking:

I fell into the Easter basket too... I did NOT weigh-in today....Had a great day today though went to Ottawa shopping with my mom and DD, bought a purse... I only biked for a half hour this morning with the intent to do the gym scene tonight but when I went they had decided to close on Easter Monday... I was annoyed because I really wanted a good chest workout :tantrum:

Easter success
 

In spite of myself (and DH :devil:) I didn't seem to gain any weight over the Easter weekend :D. I've apparently lost 2 lbs. over the last week or so. I think part of that might be dehydration so I'm going to move the ticker down 1 lb.

We all get so good at interpreting what the number on the scale really means. I guess it's just the experience of monitoring our own bodies for such a long time and writing it down. I find that tracking the weight/calorie numbers and logging the food helps immensely when I want to maintain or lose.

My "new " diet plan - The Calculator Diet ;)

Dagmar :cool:

Feeling defeated :(
 

Okay... I am feeling defeated. I am up 3 lbs!! I am secretly hoping it will fall off fast, and it's mainly due to Easter Feasting and TOM....

I need to change my ticker... :(:(:(

Too much information but I switched from the Costco brand to two ply charmin (it was on sale) and my daughter clogged the toilet. At least it didnt' overflow. Our plunger is god knows where (I think in our garage of all places) and I have to go hunt it down.

I loaded the kiddies in their Radio Flyer and went for a total 3 mile walk. That was nice. Did arms and legs yesterday.

Gotta go hunt down that plunger. Ew.

Originally Posted by Lekhika:
Too much information but I switched from the Costco brand to two ply charmin (it was on sale) and my daughter clogged the toilet. At least it didnt' overflow. Our plunger is god knows where (I think in our garage of all places) and I have to go hunt it down.

Gotta go hunt down that plunger. Ew.

We cannot use anything "fancy" when it comes to toilet paper, just the Walmart cheap stuff otherwise we clog our toilets too... My mother's toilets are the same, she had to switch also...

Hello, my name is Deb.... and I'm a chocoholic. I have been on a chocolate binge since my dealer E.B. came to town. I am in need of a serious intervention ... or a few hours on the elliptical. I have decided to keep weighing everyday - I need to see the consciences. Eck!

I saw EB in my town this weekend too. Right on the main street ... sadly parents were letting their children go right up and talk to him. Tsk!

Relax Deb, you're safe here and among friends.

marathon mom, i think it'll fall off fast - i can never trust my weights at that TOM. keep at your efforts!

lekhika and ilene honestly i can only use thin crappy TP too. i'm glad to know other people have this issue!! lol

deb and susan, EB was here too. he's been making his rounds. while i have resisted the reese's he somehow talked my mother into making a divine chocolate cake with my favorite CARAMEL icing. she must be in cahoots with him!

i went back to the gym yesterday (finally!!) after not being able to move my neck since friday. would you believe i sprained a ligament in my neck turning off my alarm clock?? i am still grappling with that concept. all i can do right now is low impact stuff, and no lifting.

I went for a jog this morning I was running away from EB .... I was good yesterday :yes: ...

Today WILL be good also...

Today I did 20 minutes of dance type cardio with my HRM on ... very enlightening. Tomorrow I will do more and I'll get my rate up higher.

The last two days I have been so hungry! I have been unable to exercise which makes it even worse. This whole week might be an exercise bust for me, gotta try to be good with food. It's a crazy cycle that way.

We also should use the crappy toilet paper (we have a cesspool) but DH complains it's too rough for his delicate bottom (ha, ha) so instead we get the good stuff and I live in constant fear of a cesspool nightmare.

Amy

HAH! I feel justified that I prefer rough scott tissue to that fluffy soft stuff. Our toilets clog enough already.

Well. I am back and need to crank it up. Readjusted my metabolism on fitday to follow what seems to be more accurate now..

3/22 - deficit 889
3/23 - deficit 253
3/24 - deficit 934

Hmmm....not Charmin, but Cottonelle here. We use the cheap stuff at work (only because we buy in bulk at Costco) but as far as I'm concerned, I simply use more of the cheap stuff, so it'd clog regardless of what we used. We don't have clogging issues, though.

Sunday I'm in a 5k with Chico (doggie dash 20 pounds and over category). I don't know how well we'll do--my stamina rarely lasts more than 1 mile at a time. We'll see.

Old toilets are good toilets
 

We have one of the older, larger flush toilets (shhh, don't want the toilet police to track me down and remove it) in the downstairs loo and you can put yards of paper down it. I know 'cause DH does something "other" :p than the usual with toilet paper and then throws reams of the stuff in the toilet without flushing it down. For awhile I was convinced he was flossing with it ;).

Out delicate little new, less water per flush toilet upstairs will take 4 squares of paper, and will sometimes spit those back up after a couple of minutes. We have plungers in both bathrooms and I always have to take one along to my doggie sits. It seems none of my clients have bodily functions that require a toilet that actually works.

Dagmar

How weird is this?
 

So you know how, on Sunday night when you decide that you will definitely get back OP on Monday, you then eat everything in sight 'cause it's not cheating 'til the next day?

Well, I'm sitting here waiting for the trainer to show up for our consult, and I'm eating like a little :ink:

There's no planned dinner since DH is at school and I did have one of those car repair bills that required me to sit down after I saw the number (ever cry at the dealership? No discount for that at Toyota :p).

But this is truly ridiculous. I have all sorts of healthy foods in the house and I did have a dinner plan. All down the toilet (the one that does flush ;)). I feel like an idiot :o.

I think, after tonite, I really have to follow through and stay OP. Michelle, the trainer, will actually see me every week. I can't lie to her (not that I EVER lie at 3FC :angel:).

Darn it! What have I done? I have to be healthy now. :dizzy:

Oh yeah, that's what I want, isn't it????

Dagmar :o :?: :dizzy:

Dagmar, you are half way there, keep going!!

I think Dagmar should write a book. Doesn't everyone else just really enjoy reading her posts? Those last two were great!

The trainer is so nice!
 

I got a BOB! Very knowledgeable in a nice way. And I think she will be firm :cheer: with me but not a nag :rollpin:.

She thinks all I need for now are some more dumbells (which I felt like after she left :o), a stability ball, and maybe some resistance bands.

That a relief! How would I have explained that I couldn't use her services after all 'cause I had to have my car fixed instead of myself :dunno:? Although that's probably an excuse she hasn't heard from any of her clients :p.

I figured out, about 5 minutes after she left, that I had been eating like a little :ink: because I was so anxious about her judging me. SILLY ME!!!

Dagmar :cool:

I love my resistance bands. You can do stuff sitting in a chair watching TV. And we all know how much women need to do something for our old shoulders!

I've got a ramble that kinda pertains to Dagmar's last post ... Long story about why she's now my friend and not my SIL omitted ... KB asked me to be her test client for her personal trainers exam. I was so worried about being good enough for her to look like she knew what she was doing ... by the time we got there I'd gained 10 lbs and hadn't lifted a darned thing in two weeks. She passed her exam but I still felt like a weinie little woman.

The phone woke me this morning and I still don't have my wits properly about me. I'm going to read some more 3FC and get motivated.

Originally Posted by Mudpie:
We have plungers in both bathrooms and I always have to take one along to my doggie sits. It seems none of my clients have bodily functions that require a toilet that actually works.

Dagmar

ack!! i'd have freaked out if i clogged the toilet at the house i dog-sat for... good idea to bring the plunger, cos how embarrassing if you had to call and ask where they keep theirs!!

anyway, good luck w/ the personal trainer!

allison, that 5k with your dog sounds fun! i'd love to take my parents' dog running but he gets so excited if you start that he'd be dragging me the whole way to the finish line!

i sort of went crazy with the food yesterday... i blame PMS, but that's just a good excuse.

Iris, I think it was a maintainer who once told me ... all you have to do is be good more often than you ... aren't.

As promised, I did 35 minutes of my dance stuff this morning. I had my HRM on and was surprised how much I was sweating by only getting my rate up to 110 or so. I've got flat! Ooooooo! My resting rate was almost 80!
Oh dear dear dear dear tsk tsk!
Can you believe how quickly that happens?

I got an hour in on the machine from **** yesterday (after another chocolate fix). I don't think I will be able to do it again today maybe just a quick walk with hubby after dinner. I swear I don't know what has gotten in to me this week - I cannot eat enough of anything. I am going to go home and make a bunch of veggies so I can just heat up for snacks instead of heading to the dreaded snack drawer.

Snack Drawer???
 

Originally Posted by Just Deb:
I got an hour in on the machine from **** yesterday (after another chocolate fix). I don't think I will be able to do it again today maybe just a quick walk with hubby after dinner. I swear I don't know what has gotten in to me this week - I cannot eat enough of anything. I am going to go home and make a bunch of veggies so I can just heat up for snacks instead of heading to the dreaded snack drawer.

Snack drawer? Is that someone who draws illustrations of various food items :p?

Of course in our house it would be the snack armoire and my seasonal wardrobe could go into garbage bags instead :devil: :nono: :devil:

Dagmar (soon the owner of a stability ball)

Originally Posted by iriswhispers:
ack!! i'd have freaked out if i clogged the toilet at the house i dog-sat for... good idea to bring the plunger, cos how embarrassing if you had to call and ask where they keep theirs!!

Running always "encourages" things but when I was pregnant :yikes: I had a couple of my running buddies offer their houses that were closer than me painfully running(waddling) home, but I just couldnt use someone else's toilet. I clogged mine about every other day at that point. :o

Originally Posted by Mudpie:
Snack drawer? Is that someone who draws illustrations of various food items :p?

:lol:

susan, quite true about being good the greater percent of the time... a few days a month is not the end of the world!

deb i'm in an eating frenzy this week too, although i suspect the cause of mine... TOM. get those veggies ready and stay away from the snacks! you'll feel so much better... i must take this advice also! :)

tomorrow will be better. right now i'm exhausted and stressed and slightly ill from the pint of ice cream that followed me home...

Hi ... I should be tired by now huh? I guess I am. Yes, yes I'm getting there.

I'm not that excited about this shift. I'm so wired up when I get home. Maybe I can sleep in in the morning.

Work was heavy. Literally:) I have a real live bariatric pt. I spent waaay too much time on the phone in the last two days getting him a special mattress. He's so sick and so uncomfortable. And we're just ... just women ... everybody from my coworkers to ambulance attendants think I'm strong but ... I can feel that I've moved this fellow a few times. And it's just so nasty for him.
The bed should come by Friday. I have a lift and I have a chair but he's just too sick ...
The bed manufacturer rep asked me if he hung out over the sides of our beds ... oh ... I just get teary thinking about the possibilities. What-whatever would I do with someone even heavier than this fellow?

I'm getting kinda maudlin .... thanks for being here. I'm not sure who else I coulda talked to about that. And it does feel better to have dumped that out ;)

I should go to bed and let my head fill with dreamy plans for an exercise plan for April. It's coming you know ... April ... very soon.

OT a bit - male nurses
 

SusanB I've known two male nurses. They both said all they ever did at work was lift, turn and move patients around. The female nurses were sooo glad to have them do that that they didn't do anything else.

I can just imagine how difficult it must be for you. My DH's father is well over 400 lbs. He had a hip replaced last year and I can't imagine how many people it took to get him in and out of bed etc.

All the more reason for all of us to stay OP!

Dagmar :cool:

SusanB
To me the nursing profession seems like the most mentally and physically exhausting....and pretty thankless most of the time. Kudos to you for being in your field. I don't think I could ever take it emotionally...you know?

I have a friend who just recently changed fields and became a nurse and she's running a personal crusade against Grey's Anatomy...she's all...that's not what life is like for nurses and doctors...

Dagmar
I'm waiting for your experience with that balance ball before I plunk down the cash for one!

Iriswhipers
Even a few days of overeating couldn't hurt that much...as long as it doesn't turn into a habit. I have had my days of grazing all day long too....

Deb
A designated snack anything would do me in every time!


As for me...TOM came....a week early. I wonder if it's the lifting?