Sadly, I think this could be my mantra.

I think if I could ever get my weekends under control then I might actually lose the last 5-10 lbs. that have been hanging on for....hmm...years! Even when I try to eat well, it just seems like I am so hungry that I eat so much. The scale also seems to know when it's the weekend. I ate so-so on Friday, not great, not terrible and Saturday morning? I'm up 1.5 lbs. It can be so hard to stay motivated.

Enough of that though. As usual, it's Monday and I'm back on track. And, if gaining 3 lbs. every weekend and losing every week is okay, I've got this maintaining thing down pat!

I'm really thinking about working a yoga class into my week. It took me a while to try the spinning and I love it, so I should really give it a try. The thing is, Power Yoga seems the most popular right now and I heard it's quite the cardio workout so I'm not sure if that's what I need but I think I'll give it a try to continue the search for the "perfect workout schedule". I'll keep you posted!

Real quick check in. Got my Monday morning cardio fix along with some upper body lifting. A little light today because I had to run errands before picking DS2 up but enough to make it count. I just decided to skip a set but lift heavier for the working set. Tomorrow is swimming lessons for DS2 so while I'll technically be at the gym no workout for me unless I want to try to do legs between playdates. That might work...

Mel: So did your lifting partner actually show up? Sounds like you got a great deal on running shoes! Since you got such a great deal you won't have to wait until they actually break before replacing them. (Lydia grumbling...She runs in broken Nikes and lives to tell about it. I replace my running shoes every six months whether they need it or not and I'm the one who feels like I'm running with my grandmother's knees )

Pat: So glad to know you were able to hit the gym this evening without the guilt. It kind of takes all the fun out of doing something good for ourselves when we think we should be somewhere else too.

Shan: Enjoy the powerclass tomorrow.

Elisa: DH loves your avatar. In his best Bugs voice he says, "The most interesting ones are the monsters.." I agree that losing those last ten pounds are tough. I was just thinking about that this afternoon. For me I'm pretty comfortable with how I look in clothing. Of course I would like to lose a little more bodyfat to really be able to see the definition but in the big picture of things I feel good. If I really want to lose those last ten pounds its going to take a real refocus that is similar to what drove me to begin in the first place. Just like you, I'm great at maintaining at this point. Gain a couple and drop it through the week. Consistency does pay off. Somehow I managed to lose enough bodyfat from this time last year to wear the jeans that were too snug around my waist. Okay. I'm rambling now. Time to go read a book.
Hang in there Elisa and let us know how the power yoga class works.

Hi All:

My name is Cynthia and I think this is a nice thread. I am 13 lbs from goal, and have been working out steadily since January, 2007. I have a home gym in the basement of my house, consisting of free weights, barbells, dip machine, step bench and treadmill. My workout goals are to lose fat and gain muscle. This is my routine:

Tues, Thurs, Sunday - Full-body weight training 50 minutes, and HIIT aerobics 20 minutes
Mon, Wed, Fri - 45 min steady-state aerobics (jogging, step aerobics or tae bo)
Sat - Rest

I look forward to interacting with you all.

Cynthia

Hi Cynthia! Welcome to the Group Formerly Known As Ladies Who Lift. With a home gym like that, you'll not only fit right in, we'll be stopping by your place to work out every day!

My 'rents just left this morning, after a very nice but very long (3 week) visit. I'm going to miss them, but I'm also looking forward to getting back into my routine. I've been slacking on going to the gym the past week -- I think I only made it twice -- and The Regulars are starting to tease me about being a slacker. NO MORE!

Mel -- I think my next goal will be to bench my body weight for reps. (My joints aren't up for one-rep maxes anymore.) It's kind of a ridiculous goal, when you think about it -- the bench press isn't exactly the most functional movement for every day life. But, I've always wanted to move up to the big girl plates. And, I'm pretty close: I'm benching 115 -- medium girl plates -- for 3 sets of between 4 and 7 reps.

Hope everyone is doing well. It kinda feels like the last two weeks of relative peace before all h*ll breaks loose, both in terms of the weather and in terms of the encroaching holidays.

Kim

Kaw- Bench presses were my goal for about a year and a half. My goal was 1 1/2 times my weight for 5 reps. I did it and I have the elbows to prove it! You're right, kind of a silly goal but boy was it fun when I finally did it! Then I stopped.

Yep, my workout partner showed up! We had fun, but my workout suffered a bit. Hopefully, when I stop being in "trainer mode" it will be fine. She's strong and eager, and 15 years younger, and 6 inches taller than me!

Elissa- I'm coming to the conclusion that it's weekends that doing me in also. I was more or less fine for 6 years (!!!). I don't know why I'm having problems now. I go into every weekend with great intentions and a plan....

Cardio done, full body lifts today. We ended up doing back and bi's yesterday. My forearms and biceps are sore- I hardly ever do isolation arms anymore.

Mel

Power class was good this morning, the instructor switched up some of the songs and exersizes, which was nice. It's nice when someone else is taking care of this so I don't need to think about it too much! I think it's time to add a third day of lifting, if I do 2 days of power class and one day of doing higher weight/lower reps and work in some pull-ups and/or lat pulldowns I think my lifting routine will be pretty balanced for me.

There was some sleet as I was leaving work last night, I was afraid I'd have to resort to the treadmill at the gym! Luckily it cleared up by the time I got home, just windy and a bit cold. It was so dark I had to put my dorky refective gear and blinky safety light on. Oh well, better dorky than roadkill

Welcome Cynthia! Sounds like you've got a real nice set up at home.

If anyone figures out how to make eating like you do on the weekday seem easy and natural during the weekend, please let me know

RRRRRRant.... today at the gym ALL of the bench bars (2 flat 1 incline, 1 decline) were just sitting there loaded up with heavy weights. One of them actually got used the entire time I was there. I did all my other exercises even though I usually start with bench (comfort zone thing, I feel confident in my form and like to use it to warm up). Still loaded up. So I finally racked the weights and got my puny weights on. At least these were the good bars that are endloaded enough to have a 45# plate on one end without tipping but jeeez RACK YOUR WEIGHTS.

Today I go to...

Back 2 hours later to say ..I realized with a shock that I was late to pick dd up from school

Today I go to the podiatrist and find out if I can start doing lunges, squats, elliptical ...anything weight bearing. Please god please, if I have to ride the stationery bike every day for another 2 weeks I will shoot myself.

Ennay: The bikes are a sad lonely place in my gym as well. I hope all goes well for you too. I was grounded to the recumbent bikes two summers ago so I feel your pain.

Ah, a guilt free trip to the gym last night. In fact, I found DH there (or rather I saw his truck - never saw him inside. I did some good cardio and my PT leg exercises. I'm planning to go tomorrow (wed) morning, as I have to be someplace at 6 pm. I'll just do cardio and aim for some upper body weights on Thursday, with just enough cardio to warm up.

Ennay - I hear you on the bike. At physical therapy they made me use it for 10 min to warm up, and even with the TV it was the longest 10 minutes in my day. We actually own one, a really good one, that we bought at least 20 years ago. DH uses it intermittently, but he's one who can do long spells on it or the treadmill with no diversion (TV/music). I'd never do indoor cardio if I wasn't listening to or watcing something. Outdoors is better, though I usually have my iPod there too (as long as I'm not on the road).

Hmmmm....I used to love my recumbent bike until I discovered ellipticals. When I was in losing mode, it and running were my only cardio. I used the bike at least 4 times a week and came off dripping. It's not the best solution, but you CAN get a workout!

Yesterday We did clean and presses, bosu jump squats, bench jumping and lots of ab work/ Notice the WE??? I have a workout partner!!!

Off to real work

Mel

I've never liked indoor cardio particularly, unless you count swimming laps in the pool. I'm so dreading the winter, it's nice to have the option of using a treadmill or elliptical indoors when it's below zero and icy/snowing outside, but it's still boring.

We did a fun little move called the dolphin in yoga class last night. You start in a plank on your elbows and slowly stick your behind up so your body is making a slight V shape and then back. Didn't take too long to feel the burn on that one!

Off for a run in the windy cold dark tonight.

Hi LWL,

Mel - congratulations on the workout buddy! AND congratulations to her as well ! She is one lucky girl!

Crazy busy week this week and I noticed I went right back into snacks, sweets and wine to pick me up and give me an energy boost. i met the deadline, so i'm getting into the right food groove again which is NO snacking, sweets, etc, and little wine. Fortunately i am reasonably on travk escercise wise...i even got insipered by the discussion above to try to get one additional hour in by using my elliptical (standing 5 ms away from me, all ready to go, in front of the TV)

I bikes to work 2 times and went to power class, so I am at 4 hours for this week. Tomorrow & friday will be an hour each, but I might try to sneak in a cardio session. Maybe do a c25k on the elliptical ??

Hi to Pat, ennay, lydia, shan, kaw , cynthia & elisa as well,

have a great day all,
rabbit

Evening, ladies! I haven't stopped by in awhile, but thought I'd come back so I'd have someone to talk about when it comes to being excited about lifting

Congrats Mel on the gym buddy!! I've found that having a gym buddy has totally helped me build self-confidence on the weight-side of the gym. He's a lot of fun to go with, keeps me accountable and helps me push just a little farther than I thought I could. The confidence I have now makes me capable of going to the gym by myself to lift without being intimidated. I've carved out my own little piece of the weight-lifting pie at my school's gym and it feels good. Out of my way, boys! I need to get to the squat rack

And SPEAKING of squat rack, I met one of my exciting goals today. I've been itching to get in that squat rack with a bar on my back for squats since I first set foot in the gym this semester. Today, I decided that I was comfortable enough in the gym and with the coach guy to ask him to show me (and my gym buddy) how to do it. I only did three squats (and discovered my form needed more work). The coach and his assistants showed me how to squat better...and once I stopped thinking so hard about it, I got it!!

I've also decided that I'm going to start bringing charts with me when I lift from now on. I want to start tracking my strength progress. I'm starting to see some difference already, but I know it takes time and I want to be able to look back and see the progress I've made in numbers.

Right now I'm incapable of a SINGLE regular push-up. I want to be a push-up goddess AND be able to do pull-ups!

This is what I did today:

- Romanian Deadlifts w/ 60lb bar (3 sets of 8)
- Lunges (3 sets of 8 with each leg)
- Bench Press w/ 45lb (bar weight + 5lb on each side) (3 sets of 8)
- Kettlebell Rows w/ 20lb kettlebell (3 sets of 8)
- Planks (3 sets of 30 sec)

Ennay-- I hear you about the re-racking your weights thing. My gym buddy and I had that same issue on a bench today. That, and I've noticed that he and I are the ONLY ones who use the sanitizer spray and wipe off the benches after we use them.

Ugh- don't get me started on a re-racking rant! Working as a trainer, half my day was spent cleaning up weights. I wish I'd talley up the amount of iron I carted around in one day!

I'm pleasantly stuffed with a pumpkin pancake with yogurt and frozen cherries (I now cook the pancakes in the oven like a sheet cake, slice into 6 and freeze for the week) and coffee, and am off to work with my giant sack of food.

Chest and track lunges today

Mel

Good morning everyone!

Wednesday is my best workout day with a spinning and a power class so I'm feeling good this morning. Still haven't tried the power yoga - I think maybe next week.

I want a workout buddy too! I do have a co-worker that goes to the gym with me occasionally so maybe we can work in one day a week to workout together (we usually do spinning). To all you workout buddy experts, how do you ensure that you spend your time wisely so you're not just standing around half the time?

And add me to those who now, after running outside, hate the treadmill! I tried so hard to do my 5k and I was soooo bored. And that's with a TV on the treadmill. Yuck. Not sure what I'm going to do all winter since I really hate the cold. I know I can get my cardio elsewhere but I don't want to lose my ability to run over the winter.

Lydia - glad your DH appreciated the avatar. Growing up, looney toons was all there was for Saturday mornings and Gossamer...he's just so cute! I've got a couple more saved for the future!