but I like dogs, too. We had cats and dogs when I was growing up, but my best buddy was Tommy, a marmalade cat. Brian and I have rented in places that don't allow pets for our entire marriage (20 years in September), but we hope for a house and I hope for a cat in the next few years!

I'd like to join the bootcamp, but was planning on a vacation the week before Easter -- so I'd stop early.

Carrie

Welcome Selene! I really identified with your post though I was thin throughtout my 30s. I had my kids in my 20s and would go from a size 6 to about a 14 and I thought that was FAT. In my 30s I bounced between a 6 and a 10 and was into body building. I looked GOOD but because of self esteen issues, I never saw it. Even at my best I was unhappy with myself.

When I turned 40 I quit my job, went back to school, quit smoking (6 years on the 13th) and gained almost 60 lbs in a few short months. Before I knew it I was at the 80+ mark and closing in on 100 lbs overweight. At 5'2 that is a lot of weight. It makes you almost perfectly round!

I had a great Challenge One that began in March of 2001 and I finished it and felt great. I have struggled since but I think that it's stress, law school, family emergencies and medical issues that have continued to sidetrack me.

It's 4 am in California and I'm heading out to the gym. as long as I keep trying, I can succeed.

Thanks for being here!
Susan

Meg, I loved the post about your cat and your son. my youngest son was about a year when I got the cat that he grew up with. He loved that cat and slept with him every night and carried him around in his arms. As you said, it was funny to see this macho high school kid just melt when he was around this cat. My cat died when he was a senior in high school and he did take it very hard because he had not known a life without that cat. but he loves cats and can't wait to have one when he gets a place that allows them. I think it's great when kids grow up with that love for animals.

Susan -- I think that a love for animals can carry over to a caring for people when kids grow up with pets. And it gives them someone (something?) to unconditionally love them when they slam their bedroom doors and think the whole world is out to get them.

I so admire you for all the issues that you have managed to deal with while succeeding at one of the best law schools in the country. I went right out of college, so had no family responsibilities, health issues, or job responsibilities (other than as a part-time Legal Writing instructor). And even at that, law school was the hardest thing I've ever done. I’ve read your posts about all that life has thrown your way and I am in awe of how you have been able to handle those issues and still finish school.

We used to joke that the only gratification that law students could get was through eating, because it was the only fun thing we could do while we studied. Many nights I sat there at my desk with a text book, highlighter pens, and a bag of cookies. Almost everyone I knew put on weight in the three years. So kudos to you for never giving up and succeeding in the face of adversity. It does get easier once you’re done with school (this spring?).

And I had to laugh at your “almost perfectly round” comment. At 64” tall and with 57” hips, I was a beach ball also -- I mean, you could have rolled me!

Meg

Again so much to read! I can see I'm going to have to be more on the ball around here! LOL

My BF and I try so hard to educate people about puppy mills! Its because of them (well one reason) that so many animals are abandoned or dropped off at shelters. He microchips all his dogs so that if one IS dropped off at a shelter, most check the animals and if the dog is chipped, it can be traced back and returned to him. He thinks that if more breeders had to accept ultimate responsibility for all their animals, they'd be more selective about how they breed and who gets a puppy.

If more were driven out of biz in that manner, maybe the horrid conditions would stop..breaks my heart! But I love how tough he is about his critters, I've seen him tell people he had no puppies available and won't for a long time, when he really does, but he's just taken an instant dislike to them. He refuses to let just anyone have a puppy.

He raises ChowChows too and those are great dogs as well! Speaking of Chows, Mrs. J, I hope its ok w/you that I invite Liz, aka Coco, over? She's a Brxer and would really like it here I think.

Curious about age here? I'm 48 and in the stages of periomenopause which has really impacted (I think) my ability to drop fat. Anyone relate to that?

Today I'm going to have a 'fun' workout, with my beloved Taebo, bag and gloves. I love lifting but nothing makes me feel like a strong, powerful, kick-your-a**-chick like a Taebo session.

Then I'm going to figure out a plan for the bootcamp..I think I may do a session of slow lifting as Laura is doing now. For a change of pace and because I always kinda liked it.

Have a good day everyone and hello to all and welcome to all the newest people.

Heading to the gym...finally!

My legs STILL hurt from Wednesday's session. Show's what a change-up can do. Off to do back and hams, and I guess I'd do cardio later at home.

Mindi: I'm 48 also and pretty much in menopause. It has impacted weight loss, but not muscle gain or strength. I always carried most of my fat on my chest and abdomen. Well, the chest part slid off easily but the ab fat won't budge which is a definite menopausal pattern. Good for your BF on being cardful to whom he sells! When I found Cleo, the breeder made it quite clear we were adopting one of his children. We were interviewed before we were allowed to see the puppies, he checked vet references, and required us to sign papers that she would be tatooed or microchipped. He also held a deposit until she was spayed since she was "pet quality" rather than a show dog. I was little put off at first, but it certainly makes sense in retrospect.

Later,

mel

Mel and Mindi - I am 49 and will be 5-OH in November. Certainly age has made a difference in how I lose weight. I don't have any noticeable signs of menopause. I was just thinking about this yesterday, it's like being the energizer bunny. I have been at this 41 years now and it is bound to stop sometime.

I will say this, challenge 2 has not seemingly moved me much closer to my goals. I am an idjit about taking photos and I always regret it when I get to this point because I have a feeling there probably is a bit of difference in my shape and muscle tone. For what I have put into the challenge I don't think I can be too disappointed though. I was sick a week and took off in terms of diet and exercise. Then there was one week I didn't work out, and interspersed in there an occasional unclean meal. I'd say I am about where I left off w/ challenge one with maybe a bit more wisdom and yes, even a feeling of pride. While I haven't been PERFECT, I do feel I have made the transition from diet to lifestyle.

I am looking forward to challenge 3 and trying to evaluate the straight bfl plan with what I might to do instead, modify, etc. C2 ends on March 25. I think I might end it a couple days earlier than that Tues. so I'd be ending on Sun. That also happens to be spring break week when I'll be doing some traveling. I'd like to start my 3rd challenge on the following Sunday. Any opinions on what might be a good course for me to take? I believe I am ready for another pic. perfect bfl challenge. I did buy the body rx book which I haven't read but that would be another option. I know I would like to see some results over the next 12 weeks.

When I think of boot camp it means to me that you put a bit MORE effort into what you have been doing. I was thinking what it might mean to me would be doing my plan superclean and then adding a mile walk/jog through my hilly neighborhood each evening, or kayaking, or some sort of light cardio on a daily basis in addition to my program.

On another note besides me me me, and guys thanks for putting up w/ posts that are mostly about me. Jonda - I bought the MM mag last night and thoroughly enjoyed the article on Rich. But let me say, you certainly seem to be the inpiration behind the man - if I read correctly you are his inspiration for getting going in the first place. The loss of 50 lbs. and 5 challenges behind you inspires me more than you can imagine. Also, your picture is in that magazine too and you look fabulous.

Re menopause — I still haven’t figured out what it all means and different doctors tell me different things, but, for what it’s worth, here are my experiences. I stated losing weight almost two years ago, when I was 46. My periods were totally normal up to that point — I can’t say that I felt like I was in perimenopause, except occasionally they were a bit heavier.

The first two months after I changed my eating and began exercising and losing, I didn’t have a period. They resumed when my family took a vacation (gave my body a break?) and continued on normally for five more months. Last February (2002), I had a weird two-week period and then nothing until August, when I had three weeks of light spotting. Nothing since then.

I talked to my gynecologist during this time and he was convinced that it was all due to weight loss, since estrogen is stored in fat cells and losing large amounts of weight releases it and can disrupt normal cycles. In October, he tried me on hormones to kick-start my periods up again and nothing happened, whereupon he did blood tests and declared that I am officially in menopause, What???? How did that happen?

Now his theory is that the massive weight loss disrupted my hormonal levels to the extent that it threw me into premature menopause. I questioned him closely because my body fat levels have been fairly low since last April (ranging between 12.5 and 16%, currently around 14%) and I wondered if that could cause my periods to stop, but he said that, no, based on the blood tests, it was hormone levels, not low body fat.

I’m not sure I really understand what all happened, but I’m positive that it has something to do with the weight loss — it would be too coincidental if it didn’t. All I know is that I don’t have periods, but I can’t say that I have any classic menopause symptoms either. I haven’t noticed a difference in where my body stores fat, though that may change, and it doesn’t seem to have affected my ability to maintain my weight loss — actually I lost the last 25 pounds after my periods stopped.

What experiences have you all had as you've have lost weight and/or begun an exercise program?

Meg

I've heard the thing about estrogen and fat cells but I'm not quite sure I will ever understand it. Here's my story with peri and hormones and weight. When I gained all my weight at 40 I had my hormones and thyroid tested and I was definitely in perimenopause. The dr said that could make losing weight harder. He put me on HRT. It made me crazy so I went off it and eventually went to my obgyn who said I should NOT be on HRT if I was having periods. She put me on birth control pills to even out my periods which were all over the place. After a while I developed migraines from the bc pills (I had these in my first year of law school...how much fun was that?) I went off bc pills and the headaches stopped. I did BFL for the first time in spring of 2001 and my periods were normal for that time. Then the next winter I was struggling with several medical issues and wasn't working out and my obgyn put me on a low carb diet telling me to get "The Menopause Diet" book and follow that and not to eat carbs. Well that simply made me crazier. I wasn't eating right and wasn't losing weight and my periods were all over the place. Last summer, right before we did our fall bootcamp, I went on Estratest and Promethrium and though my periods have stopped [they stopped sometime last June], these are the medications from heaven. They are not synthetic like the Provera/Premarin that I was on originally and they weren't in the test where women had heart problems from HRT. They really help with sleeping, energy levels and hot flashes. I believe that some parts of perimenopause and menopause can be debilitating. When I'm not sleeping, I'm not in the mood to follow a strict food plan or exercise. My well being must come into play and since I've evened out with a successful medication, I feel like I have the stamina for it. Therefore, I should (mind you I said should) lose some weight. There is a big debate as to whether perimenopause puts on weight though it does redistribute weight (hence the menopausal pooch) and to whether HRT helps or hurts weight gain. Some day these people will figure it all out.

Good morning everyone!

My we have been busy today! Gee whiz!

Just got back from the gym. Since I am getting 'back on the horse' today (yippee!!) I did a bit of leg and ab work in addition to my 12 minutes of VERY moderate cardio. (My appointment with Dr. Clark on Wednesday can't come soon enough for me! I feel like that Mervyn's ad - openopenopen)

Puppy mills. I have read about them and it makes my heart hurt. Personally with my horse interest, I am very concerned with overbreeding and the fate of many of those horses...who end up at 'killer auctions' and feedlots in very sad states indeed. A little plug here for True Innocents Equine Rescue in Southern California -- www.tierrescue.org I try and donate when I can to this worthy organization...

I'm so glad you 'experienced' gals are discussing menopause! Since I'm 40, I want to learn as much as I can about it. My mom didn't have much of a menopause - as she had a hysterectomy when they found something bad (I don't think it was full-blown cancer but close enough - I was with Mr. Loser Ex Husband at the time so I'm not akin to all the details) so I can't ask her.

And I am THRILLED that Meg has joined our group! And Mindi - of course you can invite Liz over - everyone is welcome. I think we all learn a great deal from each other. (I excitedly await hearing about the PA 3FC gals' gettogether someday - you all need a catchy group name - I kept thinking of a mountain bike group here in NoCal called "Wombats" - Women's Mountain Bike & Tea Society - something like that would be fun!)

Well, gotta make something to eat for Jim and I, then get my butt to the stables - Jim has that BIG AUDITION today and wants to keep practicing - he still has to 'perfect' one of the audition songs - Zoot Suit Riot by the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. He hasn't played swing music, so has to get accustomed to that (also the song was originally meant for an upright bass and Jim plays a Fender Precision Bass). I am really hoping he gets this gig...

Finally went, glad I did.

Karen- I don't think you realize how big Pennsylvania is! It's not like some of the tiny east coast states, it's wide. Laura and I live about 45minutes to an hour apart with some of the worst traffic and constuction in the country separating us. Meg and moxie live 5-6 hours away!

Re menopause: I had much the same experience as Meg, tho I've only lost about 45-50 pounds of fat, and my bf levels have never been as low as hers are. My periods got heavier, then just sort of disappeared as I lost weight. I had 1 very bizarre and unpleasant week of hot-flashes about 2 months ago- thought "OMG, now I can see why women go crazy, what am I gonna do???" but they stopped abruptly too. This was just after all the really bad news about HRT hitand my bc scare, so I was really in a quandry. I questioned my gyn also about fat-loss having anything to do with it, but he was insistent that until I got below 10% bf, it was not part of the picture. Anyway, I've got to say I'm thrilled! I've had endemetriosis since I was 18 and being free from that pain has made my life a whole lot easier. I had a dexa scan because my mom and grandmother have/had severse osteoporosis, but either due to different genes or a lifetime of athletics and now heavy weight training, I've got the bones of a woman in her mid-thirties. Just not the ovaries (My husband still swears he can tell shen I have PMS tho )

So keep lifting, chickies!

mel

Thank GAWD. I thought it was going to be a good workout, but the second I stepped on the treadmill, I BONKED. Hmmmmmm, took a big drink of water and thought I was going to throw up. Dunno what's going on.

Well, I must weigh in on the puppy/kitty issue. I love tham both! I have a cat named Max. He's Mike's kitty really, had him before we were married. Paris is our dog. part lab (black) and part caffeine!) She is a handful. Actually, we just got back from picking her up at the vet after a some major surgery on her foot. She cut her paw on something in the yard. This is the 3rd time since August. She also had an obstructed bowel, and tripped me while I was taking her for a walk in Nov. I landed in the ER. Well, actually, I landed on my face and the nice paramedics took me to the ER. We now have to pen her for 3 weeks. Oh my - it's gonna be hard.

SEL~ Welcome Welcome Welcome! I know what you mean when you speak of body image. I always wanted to be skinny. NOW I MUST be healthy - the looking good will come as a result of being healthy. I am not on a diet, this is the way I live my life.

Susan~NO smoking for 6 YEARS! That's wonderful. I bet you feel like a million bucks! I thought of you today while I was at the gym bonking on the treadmill. I looked over and saw the pool. Ahhhhhh, the pool. How I want to swim! I noticed there aren't very many people there at 6:30 on a Sat, maybe I will take the plunge! Pun intended. Still don't like the way I look (YET) so that's why I'm not comfortable in a swim suit. Oh, what the heck.......

MEL~ Good on you for going to the gym. Same thing happened the me last week - I didn't go, don't know why. I hope you're feelin better in general too.

Ledom~ I was thinking about the changing from diet to 'lifestyle' mentality. A friend said last year, that BFL was a good program and she lost 25 pounds on it, but that 'once you stop, the weight comes right back.' I just kind of did a head shake and thought, well **** yeah, if you go back to eating what made you fat in the first place............. So, I have it in my head that this is for LIFE, not just for a few weeks.
Boot camp is going to be for me as well, more EFFORT in the gym, CLEANER menu, MORE water and ALL my supps - every single day. Oh, and journal updates too - here and pen to paper.

Have a great weekend everyone!

i was thinking of all the posts that i'd come home to, knowing that you all would be busy typing away!!

we spent friday and saturday in tel aviv, at my ex-husband's (now *boyfriend*) place. he just moved into a tiny little place, in a slightly better neighborhood and we had great fun. the best part of his new place is that it has a little courtyard and the girls have some space to play.

well, well, cats and dogs. if i tell you that i was MISERABLE with all the cats hanging around his apartment, will you get the message ?!?!

i am a dog person. we have a Shetland Sheepdog (miniature collie) and her daughter, a mixture with a pincher. they are both adorable and greatly loved.

i also love ALL other animals, including snakes. cats are the ONLY animals that i just do not like !!

BootCamp here we come then, huh? i'll be writing out my journal tomorrow.

i had a bit of a blow out in tel aviv, but not too terribly bad. the apartment is not set up for real cooking (at least not yet) and we just bought lots of things at the open-air market. fruits, nuts, cold cuts, baked goods....... all those yummie things. so we nauched all weekend long, not really wanting to go out to a proper restaurant, like most civilized people would do

we did TONS of walking and that was quite fun. while my ex slept (he works at night) the girls and i went exploring around tel aviv. we know the city fairly well, but this time we took little side-streets and had a great time.

ON MENOPAUSE -- i'm completely perimenopause and i must say it's a bit of a mind-blower at times. i've had fairly messed up hormones all my life (strange that it never affected my fertility though) and i'm suffering on and off with all these changes.

for the last year or so i've had many incidents of heart palpitations, which is a great indicator of raging perimenopausal hormones. at first they freaked me out, but now i'm used to them and know that they are basically harmless, providing you know that they are hormonal in nature.

i'm also starting to get little hiccups in my periods. like this month i'm one week late; usually i'm like clock-work every 32 days.

i'm also going through cycles of hormone-induced insomnia, but then that's been something that i've had for some years now. exercising and eating good has greatly alleviated the insomina though, so that's another huge plus of this lifestyle.

after LOTS and LOTS of research i've been able to understand these steps and just work through them as *naturally* as possible. i use a lot of herbal teas to help me through these fluctuations in my hormone levels. but i won't be adverse to resorting to hormone treatments one day if i need to. i'm totally in favor of taking full advantage of our medical and chemical treatments of the 21st century. thank God for meds !!!

ON PRE-TEENS & TEEN-AGERS: i've been through so many pull-my-hair-out phases with these kids throughout the years! and they are really, really good kids !! it's just something that happens, i think.

my 17 year old daughter is on the verge of being kicked out every other week from the 11th grade. low grades? NO! bad attitude? NO! trouble-maker? NO. she just doesn't make it out of bed too often !! she's on super probation now at school; they keep giving her lots and lots of chances because they LOVE her !! go figure. for the past 4 weeks she's missed only two classes, so it's all working. she also works, is a scout leader and is in the filming club at school.

my 14 year old daughter is on temporary lock-down because her grades started to slip. she's a great kid. she's super popular, involved in many school activities and is greatly loved by all the teachers. she just got tired of studying during december and decided that she could just slide by. now, with the tougher stance that we've all taken she's back in tow and doing what we all know she's capable of doing.

it's an orchestrated dance, raising kids. give and take, push and pull. it takes a whole lot of energy, not to mention tons of patience and understanding. and that's on the good days. on the tough days it takes some crying, maybe some yelling and a whole lot of *going back to the basics*.

but then i get a 19-year-old son like my Rico and i see that everything in the end just evens out. he's such a good person, has a huge heart and is super responsible (you'd never guess that if you'd see his room !!!). what more could i possibly ever want or ask for?? in hebrew we call it "nachat", or "inner-peace".

so hang in there, every single second that is spent showing them that we love them and care so much about them comes back 1,000-fold in the end. my kids are living proof of that

okay, i'm off to relax for a while in front of the t.v. i feel like we've been away for one week and need to re-connect with the pets

see you all lovely ladies and gents tomorrow !!

take care,

adriana

...drum roll.....

and I was doing cardio

After flailing around since the end of January (I did 4 weeks of BodyRx cycle 1 again, then read some other books and decided to switch gears), I believe I have settled on what I am doing at least til the end of April.

I had heard of "superslow" lifting awhile back but didn't really know much about it. Around Xmas 2 books on the subject came out: "Slow Burn Fitness Revolution" and "Power of Ten". Both are basically the same; lifting 10 seconds up, 10 seconds down. They are quite similar, but I found "Power of Ten" to be more entertaining, plus it has about triple the exercise options of the other one. Both also have suggested diet plans; Power of Ten is very BFL-ish, right down to a free day. Slow Burn is co-authored by the Eades, who wrote the "Protein Power" books; thus it is more low-carb.

The weird part is only going to the gym twice a week (eventually you graduate to once a week if you want) for about 30 minutes. But I will say I am completely beaten after only one set of about 5-6 exercises (there are several different splits). So, although the author feels cardio isn't necessary, I'm also doing about 30 minutes of interval type cardio twice a week. Today it was my old friend the stepmill.

If I get maintenance only that's fine with me; I was starting to get some gym burnout. I'll keep you all posted on my progress, if any.

For food I'm following the Schwarzbein plan; it's fairly mindless and the only thing I'm tracking is carbs, which I keep under 120.

Laura

on menopause...after running 29 days most of my life, about 3 years ago (around hitting 40, Karen ) I went to 24 day cycles. My gyn did comment that at that time that losing some BF would ease some of the PMS symptoms that I never got til my late 30's. I never got cramps, still get some crankiness. Even when my BF has dropped to 12% I didn't experience any irregularities, though I did lose it for a couple of months years ago when I was under severe stress and lost some weight very suddenly.

I think I have a pretty good attitude towards it; I have friends who seem to be in denial even though they're nearly 50. All the HRT stuff has got me confused about my options.

On pets...we have 2 cats, 2 dogs, and 2 lovebirds. My favorite is my 16 year old mixed terrier mutt, Gus. He's amazingly resilient and has been with me through so much! Still in pretty good shape, though I do check to make sure he's breathing at least once a day.

Laura