Dagmar, sometimes I need to change things up because of the "boredom" factor too. Like the food I'm eating. And I even switched ellipticals in the gym because I was bored with the view from my usual one. Just please don't tell me that caffeine slows down weight loss. It's one my last vice.
Yay, Shanna! Great strategies for taking care of yourself in non-food ways. Don't you dare apologize for not being supportive! Just having you here with us is all we need.
Iris, your story reminds me so much of Mel. Even though she reached her goal weight, she didn't have her goal body. So she started the Body For Life program, lifted heavy weights, gained three pounds, and went down two pants sizes. Exercise can completely reshape your body. Go for those summer arms!
Sheila, it sounds like a lovely vacation! My meager gardening attempts are limited to a herb garden, but I think our Jessica had a real garden last summer.
Jessica, on the scale going down. I know how frustrated you were when it only seemed to go up and up, so congratulations on turning it around and finding a plan that's working.
Thanks for the self-tanner suggestions! I'll report back once I figure out which one to try.
Sheila, DH has been planting veggies like a maniac! He grew too many tomato seedlings, so now we have tomatoes tucked in all sorts of odd places (between the lilac and the viburnum, for example). The broccoli plant I bought has a tiny little broccoli on it which I'm excited about, even if it's the size of one floret!
Meg, thanks, it is nice to see it move down again. I'm hopeful for another loss this week.
Well, I went to boot camp last night! Somehow, no matter how in shape I think I am, when I try something new I always end up thinking, "Geez, I'm so out of shape!" My lungs are still tired the next morning, but I'm not too sore so I think I'll go ahead with my planned NRLW workout today.
The park that the class was in has a big sledding hill -- not too steep on one side, with a switchback path, and super-steep on the other side with no path. The instructor had us jog up the path, then walk backwards down the steep side, then run up the steep side and walk backwards down it five times. Phew! I could hardly breathe. That was probably the hardest thing we did in the class, but I was pretty tired out from all the squats, lunges, push-ups, etc. My calves are kind of sore today and I have a bruise on my knee from trying to do push-ups on my knees on the side of a hill with no padding, but I feel pretty good in general.
I was thinking of signing up for the Wednesday night boot camp too, but I don't think I can do that and NRLW together, so I'm sticking with Monday nights for now. Still considering whether to sign up for doggie boot camp next month -- I want to know more about what the activities would be!
Got stuck at the golf tournament until almost eight last night, so fell asleep when I got home and didn't exercise. I'm also above redline again today. Not surprised really, since I'm pretty much imploding on the healthy eating front. I'm going to cut my calories back down to a loss level for the next two weeks and see what happens, realizing I have two Mother's Day luncheons this weekend and my birthday is the next weekend. If I cut the other days to a loss level and keep those meals reasonable it will still be lower calories than I've been consuming the last few weeks, I believe... The weird part is that my clothes still fit exactly the same. I know I've been retaining some water from my odd hormone swing the last week, so I hope that eventually goes away. I don't think it is going to make much difference to the weight, though. Retained water typically goes away in 3-5 days for me, and it has been 8 now and the weight hasn't come back down to where it started out on 4/24. So, I have to do something to get it back down myself. Step one, beat into my head that being depressed about my weight doesn't mean eat candy. Obviously, that won't help.
Jessica - high five on the weight loss! That class sounds hard!
Meg - I've never used a self tanner, but my SIL uses them all the time and loves them. She uses the same one that WardHog does.
Dagmar - Ants! I hate when they get in the house... My cat goes nuts chasing them around...
Kim - I hate those out of town trips where people expect you to go out for fancy meals every meal. I know that people are trying to be social when away from home, but I always feel like I'm taking advantage of the company somehow. Good that they have a nice gym!
Iris - I've been doing the same thing. When I was at the maintenance weight I liked, I still felt squishy in places. I've been trying to do more lifting to work on that. I am much happier with my arms now. Go for the summer bod!
Shelia - welcome back! Sounds like a great trip! I don't have a vegetable garden, but my grandparents do. They work in it all the time, love it. I want to plant one but don't have a good spot for it yet.
Allison - that is interesting, that you like the hungry feeling at night, but avoid it at other times. I wish I could embrace the hungry feeling at night and not snack!
Michele - I get the same thing about still losing, and I'm actually up 3.5 pounds. It must be the exercise.
Megan - enjoy your class!
WardHog - good Monday morning is an oxymoron...
As I was typing all of this I was thinking about looking smaller with exercise and weighing more, I'm not looking at that as a reason for my weight gain, I put that firmly on the candy... I do wonder though, is it inevitable to gain weight with weight training? I have been more consistent with it than with my cardio, so I know I have to up the cardio back up to balance out...
Boy did I blow it last night! I haven't been this bad in a long time and I'm paying for it today. We went to Fullerton to see DD's percussion concert and got there early enough for dinner. I chose a reasonable dish--fish tacos which meant two (probably deep fried) pieces of fish each in a small tortilla with cabbage and tomatoes. They didn't even offer the usual rice and beans sides--just a few multi colored tortilla chips of which I ate only two. But then things took a turn for the worse. My DS ordered a deep dish pizza which sat on the table right in front of me and what did I do when I finished my two lovely tacos? I ate not one but TWO pieces of pizza. What on earth was I thinking??? After being so OP last week, and now this. But, nothing more I can do but kick myself and get right back on plan (which I've already done except for the exercise today). We got back at midnight and I decided an extra half hour of sleep would be more beneficial than exercise this morning. So I got 5.5 hours of sleep rather than just 5. I'm not terribly tired (yet).
Meg~I don't know about weight loss, but I've heard coffee is actually quite beneficial to exercise. If I remember correctly, you should drink a cup before exercise and another afterward. I can't remember the exact benefits, though. I'll see if I can find a link to an article.
Morning! I feel like I've been gone for a month from the number of posts here! Really, it was only 5 days....
I spent Thursday through Sunday at a quilt camp. This is held at a Boy Scout camp - so 2 steps above primative (we have running H/C water, showers, flush toilets - they're just down the hall or in another building depending on where you were housed. Also no TV/phone/internet access) It was tons of fun! Weather was perfect, hot even (for Alaska) and we had all the windows/doors open where we were sewing (in a room the camp uses for a gym and large group activities). There were about 30 of us, so lots of visiting and laughter. The food was, well, sort of camp food. I tried to keep my portions small and eat lots of whatever salad/veggies were on offer. There was also a large table of all kinds of both sweet and salty snacks. I mostly stayed away, though the Jelly Bellies got me a couple of times.
Sunday I got home in the afternoon and caught up there - laundry, groceries, getting out the deck furniture, unpacking, etc. Yesterday I did the work catch-up routine and grocery shopping. Oh, and since we got a new PC at home, I've been working on that, getting stuff transferred and configured the way I like.
Today I'm off to Anchorage to a new dentist to have a mouth guard made - ick. I have my MP3 player to listen to while I sit with the mold goop in my mouth.... Then I'll do a couple of my own errands, and some book shopping for the library. Tonight I'm planning a bike ride if the rain holds off.
I can't respond to everyone, but wanted to tell Sheila that I am so jealous of your trip to England. We got a new Elderhostel catalog yesterday, and one trip was to the Cotswalds - I want to go!!
And re: veggie gardens. We have one for years. Now that my DH is retired and feeling well, he's completely taken it over. I'm allowed to water, and of course pull weeds but he plans it, plants it, does most of the work. Oh, I do get to suggest what to plant as well. We mostly do things for cold weather, short seasons. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, swiss chard, green beens, lettuce, zucchini, beets, potatoes. We have a greenhouse for tomatoes and cukes. Plus we have rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries and currents. I can buy other stuff from an organic farm about 3/4 mile from us. They mostly sell by subscription and at the Anchorage farmers' market, but on Friday evenings they sell out of their garage for 2 hours. They are uphill from us and have things like lettuce early than we do. Plus they plant more varieties. I also get small amounts of things we only eat occasionally.
I haven't used a self-tanner, and usually it's not hot enough here that I wear shorts, so it hasn't been an issue (when I do wear them, it's to work in the yard, and it doesn't care what color my legs are).
Good to hear of everyone's successes, and to those struggling. Dagmar I like the idea of journaling, keep us posted how it's working.
Shanna - you're doing great, acknowledging the grief and working through it and still managing to keep up your good habits. You and your family are still in my prayers.
Okay, gotta run to get one more thing done and then take off for Anchorage.
Grrrr. I just headed to my office fridge to eat my hard boiled egg that DH didn't eat yesterday. And it was gone. He ate it today without telling me! So instead of my very fulfilling egg, I had a small yogurt. My tummy isn't happy and has been loudly growling for the past half hour and I still have an hour until lunch. DH is going to pay for this!
Just please don't tell me that caffeine slows down weight loss. It's one my last vice.
Oh my gosh, same here! Well okay, I also drink sometimes. But coffee is the only daily vice now that I don't smoke anymore.
What's the Body for Life program? I'll have to google it... I definitely don't mind going up a few lbs if it means i'm in better shape and more toned!
Jessica, enjoy your garden! I really miss having one.
Shannon, I can't say if weight gain inevitably comes with strength training... but i CAN say that I am much more interested in the number on the tag in my jeans than on the scale, so I don't care either way. =)
Allison, right on - just get right back on plan! Did you at least enjoy the pizza?
Pat, what a good idea to take your music with you to the dentist!
I'm so annoyed with myself. I packed my gym bag so I could do my NRLW workout at lunch today, then I left it in the car when DH dropped me off at work! I wasn't about to go lift weights wearing a cashmere sweater, so no weights at lunch for me today. I'm going to try to approximate the workout at home tonight, but I don't have all the equipment, just dumbbells and not particularly heavy ones (though I think DH's set goes up to 25lbs).
Add to that that I have a sudden urge to binge on candy. Ugh. So far I've kept my hands out of my coworker's candy dish though, and I skipped the smoothie bar they were having at work too. Now I'm just deciding if I should snack on yogurt or popcorn (100-cal pack).
I just ate a very visually appealing (and tasty) dinner of predominantly green and orange salad (spinach, snowpeas, chicken, oranges, avocado and almonds with mango/rice vinegar dressing), "red" soup ( Knorr's tomato, red pepper and chili), and dark pumpernickle bread.
I feel quite artistic and virtuous at the same time. I haven't bothered to make the food look good in a while. Will have to do this for myself more often.
Have a great evening all! I'm staying OP by virtual shopping, facebooking (I've discovered the quiz things), and journalling. No junk TV or food tonite!
Shannon, I can't say if weight gain inevitably comes with strength training... but i CAN say that I am much more interested in the number on the tag in my jeans than on the scale, so I don't care either way. =)
You know, considering my pants fit better than three months ago I'm thinking right this minute I don't care either way, either. Thanks for the reminder!
Last edited by Shannon in ATL; 05-11-2009 at 09:40 PM.
Our 6th grandbaby arrived Monday afternoon. Her name is Keely Rose and she was 7 lbs. 10 oz. She is very beautiful. Everything went very smoothly and that must have been the best epidural in the world!
Things are fine here except if it keeps raining we'll need to either build an arc (which I already have the animals for, LOL) or move into our boat. It's very frustrating that my new golf clubs came in 8 days ago and it's rained every single day and I can't get to use them. The 5 day forecast still shows rain every day through next Monday. If the sun ever does come out, I'm in desperate need to mow my yard again!
DH will get back home tonite from work. We have out of town things planned for his week home. I am so ready for things to settle down and to be able to spend time at home.
Today's plan is to hit the gym and food will be my leftover veggie stew that I cooked last night.
I'm having trouble with Shelbey (my SD that lives with us). She is flatly refusing to do her chores and I have had to withhold her allowance. My next step will be taking away her car keys since she isn't earning her money to even keep gas in the vehicle that we bought for her! I have talked to her directly about it, but she gives no reason for her behavior. Unbelievably frustrating. Any suggestions on how to handle this type of situation with a rebellious teenager? (also note that she's been in trouble at school and had after school detention almost every day for about 3 weeks). I think she's mad at her mother since this new/ugly behavior all started after her recent trip to Las Vegas to see her mom.
Lily - When I was that rebellious teenager taking away the car keys broke the cycle for me. My parents also wouldn't let my friends come pick me up for social activites, so it was a double whammy. My grandmother drove me back and forth to work, which was humiliating to me at 17... I started doing my work more. My reason not to do it was just laziness though, so I had no emotional component to the behavior. If Shelby is acting out against you guys because she is mad at her mom it might take a little more to shake her up. Good luck! And, congrats on the grandbaby!
Last edited by Shannon in ATL; 05-06-2009 at 11:47 AM.
Lily, congrats on the new addition to your family! =)
As far as the SD - no idea... I went through a kind of rough period in high school, but I wasn't so much getting into trouble (although probably only because you have to get CAUGHT to get in trouble), I was just really depressed and never did ANYTHING. Do you think it might be a depression issue?
Dagmar, your colorful meal sounds very yummy. My bf is getting in to town today and will be here for the week and then next weekend we're leaving for the east coast! I'm trying to think of healthy meals to make that he will also enjoy... men can be such a tough sell sometimes!
Iris, it stands for New Rules of Lifting for Women, which is a book with a weight training workout plan in it. A lot of people around 3FC have used it with good results!
Lily, congrats on the grandbaby! As for SD, have you tried talking to her about her mom? Maybe she doesn't realize that that's what really upsetting her, and if she realizes it then she won't take it out on you instead? I don't really know, I wasn't a rebellious teenager.
Just please don't tell me that caffeine slows down weight loss. It's one my last vice.
Exercise can completely reshape your body. Go for those summer arms! 
on the scale going down. I know how frustrated you were when it only seemed to go up and up, so congratulations on turning it around and finding a plan that's working. 
I'm going to cut my calories back down to a loss level for the next two weeks and see what happens, realizing I have two Mother's Day luncheons this weekend and my birthday is the next weekend. If I cut the other days to a loss level and keep those meals reasonable it will still be lower calories than I've been consuming the last few weeks, I believe... The weird part is that my clothes still fit exactly the same. I know I've been retaining some water from my odd hormone swing the last week, so I hope that eventually goes away. I don't think it is going to make much difference to the weight, though. Retained water typically goes away in 3-5 days for me, and it has been 8 now and the weight hasn't come back down to where it started out on 4/24. So, I have to do something to get it back down myself. Step one, beat into my head that being depressed about my weight doesn't mean eat candy. Obviously, that won't help. 
but he plans it, plants it, does most of the work. Oh, I do get to suggest what to plant as well. We mostly do things for cold weather, short seasons. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, swiss chard, green beens, lettuce, zucchini, beets, potatoes. We have a greenhouse for tomatoes and cukes. Plus we have rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries and currents. I can buy other stuff from an organic farm about 3/4 mile from us. They mostly sell by subscription and at the Anchorage farmers' market, but on Friday evenings they sell out of their garage for 2 hours. They are uphill from us and have things like lettuce early than we do. Plus they plant more varieties. I also get small amounts of things we only eat occasionally. 
to those struggling. Dagmar I like the idea of journaling, keep us posted how it's working. 
I'm so annoyed with myself. I packed my gym bag so I could do my NRLW workout at lunch today, then I left it in the car when DH dropped me off at work! 
colourful dinner
