My great grandmother used to cook a lot with bacon grease, and I have fond memories of toast she made in the skillet that was pretty much just bacon grease on bread.
Update on my workout: I've raised the weight and moved from 8 reps to 12 reps for (most of) the 3 sets.
Squats-15 pounds each hand, 12 x 3
upright rows-15 pounds each hand, 12 x 3
overhead press while on balance ball-15 pounds each hand, 8 x 3 (can barely do the 3rd set--obviously my most difficult exercise)
chest press on balance ball (sure can feel that in the glutes)-15 pounds each hand, 12 x 3
crunches on balance ball-60
lunges-15 pounds each hand, 12 x 3
bent over row-15 pounds each hand, 12 x 3
The other day I experimented with a triceps extension while sitting on the balance ball and holding on 15 pound weight with both hands. I got in one set of about 6. Clearly I need to add this and work on it!
I'm also considering doing some yoga poses at the end. I can't remember which one it's called but it involves several poses in one fluid movement. If I start with 10, that should get me going.
I've exercised three nights in a row now. I did 45 minutes on the elliptical on Monday, mowed the lawn in 90 degrees for an hour and a half and called it exercise yesterday, and a 30 minute weight workout plus 30 minutes on the elliptical tonight.
Great work, alinnell! That's more weight than I ever built up to, even back in my gym days.
You might want to try a lighter weight with those triceps extensions, though. They are pretty hard on the elbows. I avoid them these days.
It looks like this is a good time for me to stay with a program of improving my health and dropping some pounds. How do the rest of you feel? It would be great if we could make this thread into a winners thread. I mean a losers thread. You know.
I'm in. Literally, I'm at the baby-steps level. Happily, my new job has more than doubled my average amount of walking per day (cue the Life of Brian tune, "Let's all Look on the Bright Side of Life, da dum, da dum da doo da doo ..." ) Starting small and developing some consistency, and getting used to thinking "nope" again. Today I ate better than yesterday, and tomorrow I'll do even better yet.
Back around July 1, everyone was reporting being kind of "half hearted" about their programs. But in the last week, I see more posts of us really doing it! Let's keep on checking in here. No expectations--don't stop posting just because you missed something--just support for us to keep going.
I'm down another half pound. My exercise is somewhat random, consisting mostly of walking and some weights. But I'm committed to doing something every morning. Today I think it will be vigorously cleaning the floors...
I managed to eke out 3 sets of 8 triceps extensions with a combined 15 pounds. But that wore me out so that I only did 3 sets of 8 of the upright rows with 15 pounds each. A little good, a little bad. I'll be fine. Oh, and I managed 3 sets of 10 in my overhead press. It was hard, but I did it. I'm overjoyed with the changes I'm seeing in my arms and thighs. I guess my belly will look better once some weight comes off. So far this week I'm down half a pound.
Jay - Alright, I'm in for the winners thread! I'll post in my workouts and food - I always do better when I'm accountable. And what does Benadryl do to over 60-65? My MIL takes A LOT of it and she has been having some health problems lately we just can't figure out, even after loads of tests.
I bought the book Strong Curves yesterday and am looking at trying their programs for the next few months. My problem is that I want a weight workout I can do a 3 days per week and I only have an hour or so to play with to exercise most days, not take the full hour so I can do a little cardio after, and uses the equipment I have at home. I have a pretty solid home gym, so most plans I can work around, but a lot of them are just so long per workout. I tried NROL - Life and the workouts were taking about 1:15 every day plus warm up and cool down. I'm hoping this one will work better - it focuses on different specific areas than I've targeted in the past, and the reviews I've read say it isn't as time consuming as some. I read the book last night, and they want you to do four days per week, but have some adjustments for if you only do three. I'm starting with the beginner one, since I've been half hearted with weights for a while. We'll see. If it doesn't work, I'll go back to Nia Shanks or Krista Scott-Dixon and their plans.
To catch up the weight workout from last night:
I did no warmup to speak of. Hadn't read the book yet so hadn't seen theirs.
Workout A:
A1/2: Bodyweight glute bridge/One arm DB row - 3x10/3x10x20#per
B1/2 - BW Box Squat/DB Bench Press - 3x10/3x10x20#per
DB Romanian deadlift - 3x10x15#per (started this one slower, as my hamstrings are terrible)
Side adduction - 1x15
Plank - 20 seconds, almost killed me. I remember when I could do over a minute
Side plank - 20 seconds per side
Food was good yesterday - have to finish building my meal, but ended somewhere around 1500 calories I think.
Working on cutting back on my simple carbs again - once I start the pasta, sugars and processed stuff I want more and more of it. And more still...
I'm probably going to structure myself to be fairly careful during the week with a treat like thing on one of the weekend days. I've learned that if I don't do that, I go nuts and binge off the wagon. Most of my recipes are built to be pretty healthy, even when they are things like tacos I make at home, and I have a list of restaurants locally that I know the preparation and can order menu items that aren't bad. I've been the most successful in my diet when I've made healthy meals at home most of the time, and when I've gone out I've picked one of the healthy choices that I love. Keeps me from feeling cheated. To that same end, I have a cocktail or glass of wine several nights a week. I have decided that there are some things I will give up entirely, and some things I won't. I just need to figure out how to balance in with those.
I'm at 146.4 today, was 149.8 on Monday. I have felt bloated, so I hope some of that is finally moving on.
My vision is to start my yoga back this weekend, Monday at the latest. I feel better when it is a regular part of whatever work out routine I'm in.
Allison- I really want my belly to look better. Wow.
Becky - hey there! Starting consistent patterns, again and again for me, is the hardest part of the whole thing. Once I get moving, inertia carries me. The getting moving is the big step, though. Eek.
Last edited by Shannon in ATL; 07-09-2015 at 10:45 AM.
My DD recommends Bret Contreras. Good luck with Strong Curves, Shannon!
So, my Healbe GoBe did a little better yesterday. It got all three meals in, but still came up short in total calories vs. MFP. I can't wait for the firmware update, I hope it is soon! Here is the difference
GoBe MFP
kcal 1315 kcal 1726
fat 63 fat 50
Protein 68 Protein 46
Carbs 119 Carbs 85
Sheila53, glad to see you. It seems that GoBe is a wearable calorie counter.
Shannon, here is what one doc has to say about Benadryl (diphenhydramine) (Brandon Peters, M.D.: "Why Older People Should Not use Diphenhydramine" on About.com):
"Diphenhydramine causes a handful of common side effects that include sleepiness and decreased reaction times. It may also cause dizziness. Among older people with other medical problems or physical impairments, this may lead to falls or accidents.
"Antihistamines like diphenhydramine can have anticholinergic effects as well. This means that the medication acts on the signaling chemical called acetylcholine. This can have important consequences. One of the more significant is cognitive impairment, such as may occur with dementia or delirium. This may be identified as confusion. There may also be 'drying effects' as a result. These may manifest as dry mouth, constipation, blurred vision, and urinary retention.
"Older people should not use diphenhydramine if they have a history of closed-angle glaucoma, constipation, urinary retention, asthma, or severe liver disease. Given the risk of other serious side effects that affect thinking and balance, it may be important to avoid it generally."
This article is under the section on sleep disorders and has a lot more than just this excerpt.
Jay - thanks, that is interesting. We are at the point with MIL that we are throwing everything we can think of out to see if it helps.
Shelia - I responded to Allison without thinking about the fact that I referenced a conversation she and I had been having on another thread. The Gobe is a new device that is supposed to track your calories automatically. She and I both have one that we are evaluating, and so far it isn't working well. More user interface required than we expected, and it will lose entire parts of the day if you answer things wrong. I'm not able to wear mine at all right now - I sweated on the battery contact points, which caused corrosion that burned my skin. I'm not wearing it again until they send me a new one. They are supposed to release a firmware update soon that they think will help.
My great grandmother used to cook a lot with bacon grease, and I have fond memories of toast she made in the skillet that was pretty much just bacon grease on bread.
I'd say this was 'fried bread', a key component of the famed British cooked breakfast. (We know many people don't like these breakfasts much and, in fact, find them nauseating. Some of us find this stance odd and some of us understand completely.)
