Good morning! I just finished starting the thread for discussing the first Key To Success from Thin For Life in our new Maintenance Library - please check it out and add your thoughts. I tried to give a brief synopisis of the chapter, so you can participate even if you haven't had a chance to read the book yet. Hope to see everyone there!

The rest of my day is going to be cardio, errands, and attending trainer training at my gym (doesn't that sound ? trainer training? ) If I can get back in time, I want to take a Pilates class and then hope that someone else makes me dinner (ha!).

to all and here's to a great week!

Well, I did it! I finished my marathon yesterday. 5 hours 12 minutes. Stuck to my plan of walking the first minute of each mile and walking though the aid stations. Had a bad patch at 22.5 miles, but started running again at 23 and made it through to the end. It actually hurt less to run than to walk at that point. My husband was waiting for me near the finish with a couple dozen roses. My parents came too.

So I'm very proud of myself today. I'm taking the day off work because I'm a little sore and a little loopy, and I'm getting a massage.

This week is mostly rest, some recovery workouts, work of course, and a lot of lounging.

Hope everyone else is had a nice weekend, and is gearing up for a great week. I'll check back in when I can think of something else!

Anne

Hi:
A big congratulations to you Anne. What an awesome accomplishment. Enjoy your rest day and also keep the glow of your acheivement with you long term.

Monday here not much up this week. DD is going back to school next weekend so since we never unpacked we need to do laundry and repack. Otherwise, should be a good week.

Loved the information on genes and maintence if anyone missed it, read it contains vital information. Thanks again.
Take care of you,

Congratulations Anne! What a great support crew waiting for you at the end of the race.

I tried my first yoga class (technically called "fitness yoga" as it's a "non-purist class") and can't believe how sore I am this morning. I kind of liked it, kind of didn't. I think I'll do it again because it was peaceful and different and I need to do more stretching. I decided that I spent the last year+ concentrating my workouts on losing weight so I decided that this year I'm going to have fun with working out and try some new things. Sat we were at the club and I tried a different kind of cross trainer (and thought I could die! LOL). Dh is having trouble getting his workouts in during the week (esp since the time he can get to the club is just b-u-s-y right now with all the resolutioners) so he wants to go twice on the weekends. It just makes sense for the kids & I to go along.

That's just at the heart at what I'm trying to concentrate on this year. I've been so "I have to work out..." for a long time and I'm trying to switch over to enjoying it more and doing it just because it's good for me. It's definately more of a motivator and, so far, my goal of working out 3x/week minimum has been met plus 1-3 "extra" sessions.

Have a great Monday!
Brenda

Congrats, Anne - that's so awesome!!!!

Hello everyone! Havent posted for a while, but have been reading and keeping up to date with everyone. Meg - hows the trainer training going?? I have been thinking about doing something like that - I have been bored in my job for so long now, I ordered some info on training courses and it came through at the weekend and it all looks very interesting and I will get round to reading it soon I hope Would be fab though I think!! Hope it is going well! I was trying to become cabin crew, but didnt get through the second interview stage, which I was upset about at the time, but figure that everything happens for a reason and I will find a job I enjoy soon

Well done Anne, what an achievement!!! I'm rubbish at running myself - but have just registered to do the swimathon 05 - thats 5,000 meters (200 lengths of a 25 meter pool) very scary I did it about 6 years ago and it took me two and half hours, I was allot bigger then though, so i'm hoping i'll do it a bit quicker this time, but cant really tell I normally swim for half an hour (front crawl quickly) and can do up to 50 lengths in that time, so I think it will probably take me a couple of hours still. Its on the 20th March, so I'd better get training me thinks!

My weight last week was 10,2 so that is the same as it was before xmas and new year, so I am very pleased with that!! I had a totally free day xmas eve and xmas day and then cut back a bit the next few days, and that must have worked pretty well. I am now up to 1500 calories a day and doing lots of exercise still, and it looks as though I am staying roughly the same. I hate seeing the scales go up, but I am trying to be more rational about it and keep trying to tell myself that my weigh will go up and down all the time! I have also been trying very hard to weigh all the time, and have moved the scales from bathoom, where I can easily jump on them all the time, to the cuboard where I have to make an effort to get them! This means i've cut down the amount I weigh by quiet a bit!! My offical, once a week weigh in is on wednesday night at my gym, so i'll see how I am doing then (I think I might have lost a few more since xmas according the few times I have checked on my scales)

Trying not to get too obesses with it all - but want to feel in control of it as well. I couldnt possibly give up counting calories, planning meals and exercise as I will gain it back, but i dont want to have to weigh myself ten times a day to be happy so just trying to find a balance I think.

Hope everyone else is well and thinks for reading this waffle

Luv Tash X

Congratulations Anne! What an incredible achievement.

I had a quiet weekend. Dh was playing chess. So I got the "pleasure" of taking all 3 kids with me to sign up for their swimming lessons and do some shopping on Saturday morning. It went better than I'd expected/feared, probably because there wasn't much of a wait at the community centre.

Sunday a friend came over and we took our kids skating. Of course, with all 3 kids with me again, I didn't actually get to put on my own skates. But it was fun watching my 2yo "skate" back and forth across the rink with her bobskates on, holding onto the learn to skate support that Santa brought her for Christmas. And continually picking my 5 yo up off the ice. Ds's friends have had lessons and were skating circles around him, but he was trying to keep up without too much complaining. I was walking around on the ice pushing the baby in the stroller while the others were skating. Luckily it's an outdoor rink full of families and kids learning to skate so no one objects to a stroller or boots on the ice.

This morning I shovelled snow for about 1/2hr and will be doing it again this afternoon. Maybe taking the kids sledding too.

Congratulations Anne. I so admire and am in awe of runners.

Had a horrible night shift last night. Slept extremely poorly and would have rather been sick than eat supper. But I was a good little maintainer and had a BFL supper and now I'm sipping green tea wishing I felt good enough to do legs.

A good sleep will do me wonders, I think and tomorrow I'm going fruit and vegetable shopping. That'll be better.

Oh my ANNE, that is sooo awesome !! You certainly do deserve a week of R&R and pampering, and maybe a glass of wine or two !

Hi Tasha nice to see you again and nice to see that the month of December wasn't too difficult for you...

My weekend was very good... I ran Sat and Sunday 8K each time (approx.), It's difficult to tell how far it is when I don't go out to measure the distance in the car afterwards... Food was so-so but not extremely bad ... Today was shoulders and a very short 20 min jog on the because my knees were a bit sore... Tomorrow I will do arms, I think...

Hope everyone else has had a good weekend and a good start of the week...

Anne!

Enjoy your massage a R&R! How are your feet?

I did well over the week-end, but not enough exercise. The January resolutioners are cutting into MY workout time! I spent most of Sunday puttering about and cooking. I used to be a really good cook. Not sure how it happened, but I made a double batch of carrot protein muffins and put in about 8 times the required amount of baking soda. YUCK! All in the garbage...12 whole meals

Off to bed, I'm not sleeping very well and hopefully having done legs today will put me to sleep.

Mel

Congratulations, Anne! I am in AWE of your accomplishment! A marathon! I think I'd be able to fly to the moon sooner than be able to run a marathon.

I finished my first day of 'trainer training' yesterday and now realize how much I need to learn! We were told that the days of trainers holding clipboards and counting reps are over - our goal is to give clients a dynamic and exciting workout that they can't replicate on their own. Today we've been promised a three-hour workout and tomorrow the word is we'll be throwing up by the end of the day. They must be kidding ... right?

Off to pack up several meals - I think I'm going to need a bigger cooler for this job.

Hi everybody. Thanks so much for the support! I feel great, only minimal soreness--I've done much worse to myself on leg day! Mel, my feet are OK. They were swollen on Sunday, but now have gotten back down to normal. I am in the scary post-race weight swing, where I gain 5+ pounds, but my body fat scale says I'm about 7% less body fat than normal, which really means I'm quite bloated due to swelling and electrolyte imbalances. History has shown it will pass in a couple days, but it's still scary.

I'm starting to think about what to do next. This is the first time I don't have a race on the calendar since I started running & triathlon. I really love it--it helps keep me motivated and focused, and gives me such a feeling of accomplishment, but I've been racing hard for a year and a half, and the body just needs a break once in a while. I'll keep running, cycling, swimming & strength training, but I think I'm going to substitute some hiking, and maybe try out mountain biking and yoga for something new. I also consider martial arts once in a while, but DH has a double-black belt in something or another, and I have this feeling I'll get a lot of 'help' if I go that route. Still pondering--reading over what you guys are doing and thinking about giving some of it a try.

One more day off today! I'm going to visit the Desert Museum with my parents and then we are going to take a real short, easy hike up to see some petroglyphs. Today I'm back on the food plan after this weekend's craziness! My stress levels are way way down now, funny how that all sneaks up on a person. Tomorrow is back to reality.

Mel, how long do the resolutioners usually last?

Meg, a three hour workout sounds pretty close to a marathon to me! Wow! Making a bunch of trainers-to-be puke must be a pretty tough one.

Tasha, good luck with your swim! Sounds really fun. A 5K in the water. This is in a pool or open water?

Ilene, one of the coolest things I got after I started running was a footpod that keeps track of how far you go. Uses accelerometer technology so it is pretty accurate after you calibrate it. Nike makes one, but I'm sure there are others on the market. Never drove a course to measure it after that. It was also a nice non-food reward for progress made, if I remember correctly.

Only, have fun in the snow. Susan, good for you for sticking to your plan after a tough shift. Brenda, thanks for the info on the yoga class. Hi Gina & Karynlee--hope your week is going well. Hello to everybody yet to post!

Anne -- A footpod?? Wow, never heard of that, I must look into it... That would be sooo cool...

Meg -- 'trainer training' and 'puking" in the same sentence .... sounds like my kinda fun !!

Today will be a good day I can tell ... I will go to the gym work arms... then it's so gorgeous and bright out, altho a little on the cool side -13C/10F, I will go outside to run...I'm really loving this type of weather to run... Everyone had told me that once I started outside I would love it so much more than on a treadmill, and man were they right !!

Well, gotta go...Let's be careful out there!! TTFN ... ....

Hi:
I am still pondering the information on the metabolism of people who have lost weight. Today was my monthly weigh-in & the scale is in the high range of my 10-pound limit. However, instead of beating myself I now can make some sense of this gain. No I didn't turn into an eating machine. What happened was less exercise time & food was slightly more. These change were within a reasonable level. Exercise about 30 mins 5 days a week, and food about 1600 calories. Normal exercise 45 mins 6 days a week, normal food 1300 to 1400 calories. This has been going on since July, when I was in a car accident. If the food was higher and the exercise lower the result was to be expected, I just didn't want to realise the line was so fine. The point I am trying to make is I now realize that even a small variation of either or both will have a stronger negative effect than I ever wanted to accept. I always wanted to believe that I was the same as "not formely overweight" people. Even if it didn't add up I wanted to believe it. These slight life events can have a very powerful effect on maintainers which is why we need to be extra vigilant.
Thanks for listening.

Hi ho everyone

Not much to report today. Have sore upper body today after a chest/tricep workout yesterday, but I gotta love that ache. Did a little treadmill this morning and 30 minutes of yoga, which put me in a great frame of mind for this gray drizzly day.

Have read everything with great interest, especially the thread on calories/maintenance. Great stuff, that!

Sounds like we need some of Jan's gold stars to hand out all 'round ... to Anne for that great race; to Ilene, for a good weekend of clean living; to Tash, for coming back (Hi Tash); to Mel, for surviving Resolutioners; to Meg, for taking up Training Training at the same time she's rebuilding and moderating this board!; and Onlyme for surviving the pleasure of the kids' company

Have a good one everybody.