Welcome Jan, I am 1/2 way through my second week of my first challenge so we are in about the same place.

Whew, this morning at 5 a.m. reality set it - this is WORK!!! I got through the first 2 hrs. of my day (UB and breakfast, my favorite meal) though so I'm cruising now!

I teach at a university about 40 miles from where I live. All my classes fall on Mon, Tues, Wed. I teach a Tues. night class and by Wed. morning I feel like I am hitting 10's as far as work week goes, just gotta get through 2 more classes and I can slow down. Rest of the week is office hours where I can go at a slower pace.

Also, I can see I have to keep more food cooked up in advance. When I run out of stuff I like it gets so much harder. I really need ideas for quick, quick, quick. I know cottage cheese and fruit is and I take advantage of that 1 to 2 times a day. Another really quick that is ok is turkey breast and mustard rolled up in a WW tortilla. Any other ideas out there for when you have eaten everything you had prepared in advance and you still have one meal left to go, and you are TIRED?

Hi Jan, welcome aboard

Ledom- When I was doing straight BFL, I cooked everything in HUGE batches (chicken breasts, turkey breast,shrimp, sweet potatoes, brown rice, fresh cut up vegies) then packaged it in serving size portions that I either froze (labelled!) or just lobbed back into the fridge. That way for most of the week I'd already have food cooked, and just had to mix and match what I wanted. Also, travel everywhere with a cooler!

Hi everyone else- I'm too exhausted for a long post. Hope you are all doing well.

mel

AACK! Thought I responded to the food planning post already. Man I still have a month before I'm over the hill...guess my brain is short-circuiting early

Check out Susanje's post in the Recipes thread to see how she preps her work-week food...

Here's what I do: On Sundays I cook up a mess of chicken breasts using Rich's Mom's Perfect Chicken Breast recipe. If beans are on the menu for the week, I'll cook up a pot of pintos. Yams are good to cook in advance - just mash a bunch up with some Splenda, cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice and vanilla and you've got a tasty carb choice.

Each evening I review the next day's menu and get my meals ready...salad greens washed...rice cooked (I use instant brown rice so I don't have to cook up a potfull on Sunday) etc. I've become a pro at separating eggs quickly so if eggwhites are on the menu I usually do those right before I eat 'em.


Mel - you're not doing low carb today are ya? I'm having one of those down days myself, energy wise, although my workout today kicked butt!

Jan - welcome to our little group! here's what I do for water...I drink a big ol' glass right when I wake up, usually two. Then when I get back from the gym, I'll have another glass before hitting the shower...then one with my first meal. At work, I have four 1/2 liter water bottles that I fill as soon as I get to my desk after I power up my PC. My goal is to empty all the bottles twice so I get over a gallon in a day if I achieve that goal of 8 1/2 liters during the workday. I enjoy SLEEPING at night so I don't drink much water after 5 pm.

Whew! Have another project so will post more later!

Mel: I am pretty tired myself - just coming off 2 low calorie days. It was very hard to get out of bed this morning and boy was I burning up in bed last night! I haven't used a doona in 3 nights, just the sheet.

Ledom: I plan all of my meals a week in advance. I usually cook on a Saturday and I cook up enough meals packed in the fridge to last me until Friday night. I just grab whatever I feel like (or at the moment whatever Pam had me cooking) and go. I never actually prepare or cook anything during the week - I just reheat. It's easy to do - work out how many meals you need - think of a few different combinations and make 4 or so of each and then work out what you need to shop for. I never buy more than I exactly need for the week which makes it easy to clean out the fridge on Saturday morning since it is normally empty! That way I always have my meals ready to go in case of an emergency.

After a year on BFL/CPB I have learnt that food is fuel - I get my pleasures from elsewhere. Most days I just treat my body like a machine, I give it fuel every couple of hours and then go to the gym for some maintenance in the afternoon, then I shut that baby down around 9:30pm at night.

MrsJim: berry berry tired sweetie.... what about you? How's the sparkmiester?

Well today is actually my 27th birthday so instead of having a cake I let myself have a cafe latte with skim milk. It was really really yummy! I have grad school tonight so I can't do anything anyways! It's also my one year anniversary of BFL.

You know if I wasn't so tired I would probably be more excited about the above!

JC

Right now the Sparkmeister (or as Jim now calls him "MISTER SPARKLEEEE!!!" from the Simpsons - do you get that in Oz?) is seriously WIGGING OUT. He has been running marathons down our little foyer. "Daddy Play With Me!!!"

Well so much for our 90 degree weather, it has really cooled down since yesterday!

I have a low-calorie day today as well...the only problem is the 1/2 banana today...because there ARE no bananas thanks to the Dockworker's Strike. Thank goodness the Prez called a stop to THAT so the bananas can be shipped once again!

Hey HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YA! Actually tomorrow is your birthday round these parts!!! Mine is on a Sunday - next month on the 10th actually...

JEEZ! Just looked at the clock and it's mealtime!! gotta run!

Hello girls,

to you JEC and to you !!!!! And the big 27 at that.... just a young pup aren't you! Hope you have a great day....

At this end things are quite hectic at work and I really cannot keep up any longer, as I said before they cut one secretary in the office and we were super busy before when we were fully staffed... now it's almost impossible to keep things in perspective... Hubby says I take my job too seriously... and I should let the work pile up... well I can't and it's really stressing me out.... I haven't eaten well in the last 2 days.... Today for lunch I had 1/2 cup of brown rice, a granlo bar, and a slice of ww bread with PB on it...(no not Pam Brown..) and I know that's not a clean balanced meal... I will try to do better tonight for supper but because I get home around 4:30PM and it's been almost 4 hours since my last meal, I grab something that is not the cleanest, not junk, but only an apple no protein, because I am ravenous... We're so busy that I don't have time to take my break in the afternoon... and that really annoys me, I also end up leaving about a half hour later than my quitting time. Well anyways I'm really fed up.... I took tomorrow off to go bowling with my daughters class, and Monday is a holiday here and I also took Tuesday off.... So lets hope I'll be happier by then...

As you can see I am venting... and thank you for listening...sorry about that.

Later all.......

Happy belated birthday, JC! Hope it was a good one? Did Pam give you cake??

I've just been out here in kinda lurking mode for the past few days. Workout out hard, eating clean, and feeling like I'm seeing zippo results. I will do calipers and tape and pictures tomorrow ( I hope) so maybe I'll see something that I don't feel. Looking in the mirror 20 times a day is just as bad as getting on the scale! As another l &s'er emailed me, "At this point I feel like progress is kinda like trying to squeezing toothpaste from an empty tube".

It's finally been raining here for 3 days- certainly not helping my bleak outlook, but we sure need it. Now maybe all the grass seed I raked into the lawn will germinate.

So how the last week of our 6 week challenge going for the rest of you? Are we continueing?

Have we lost Susan? Thunder?

mel

Sorry for not posting more this week -- I've been very busy at work and fighting off a cold. So, although my eating has been clean, I've slacked a bit on the exercise. I'm planning on going to the gym both days this weekend, though, to make up for a day I missed during the week. Not perfect, but the best I can do right now.

Happy birthday, JEC! I hope you had a great day!
Welcome to this board, Jan. I'm doing my first challenge and have learned a lot from the people here.

Ledom, about food, one thing I do is boil up a whole bunch of eggs at one time (like 18) and keep them in the egg carton. When I need protein, I just peel and eat 6 egg whites. I usually eat this with a piece of fruit (I like apples b/c they also add fiber to my diet.)

Lana - I'm sympathetic with your job woes. I sometimes feel like a firefighter with my job -- whichever task is burning the hottest gets my attention; the rest just have to smolder. Not the best way of working, but sometimes unavoidable.

Finally, not to linger on the rat/squirrel thing, but I saw an article yesterday about a town that has albino squirrels -- all white with pinkish eyes. Weird.

Gotta run. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Peace. Mox

Hi ladies!

TGIF! This week has been crazy for me. I have had a GREAT week lifting-wise, so I'm sorry to not have been around more (or updating my 3FC journal). My great-aunt died and the funeral lasted all day, much longer than I expected, and I ended up taking a free meal at her funeral dinner. I hated to enjoy all the food while I was supposed to be mourning. Poor planning will always get you!

On Sunday, I raised my PR for BB squats to 105 pounds. I've been trying for a few weeks to get up and over 100. YAY! And then...on Tuesday, I set a PR for deadlifts--95lbs. YAY! I've been stuck on 65lbs forever...so that feels really good to get over that barrier. My grip strength seems to have really improved (maybe since incorporating BB squats? or pull-up negatives? or taking 4 weeks off from deadlifts? hmmm.)

My rattie babies are doing well, I'm glad to see that you all haven't kicked me off the board in disgust yet. Really, they're cuties! We haven't had any escapes lately, but the dog is taking to them very very slowly.

The food is going well, have upped my calories, I think I'm gaining more mass in my upper body, my arms seems really big to me lately, just a lot of muscle. The scale is still hovering about 119-120, so I'm hoping I'm gaining muscle and burning fat. I'll do the BF and pics in a couple of weekends.

My mom and I are taking my grandma shopping tomorrow and then out to lunch. Hooray for free meals on Saturday!

Have a great weekend!
Maggie

Are we at the end of C3FC? I need to take my measurements this weekend. I know I'd made progress - clothes are feeling oh-so-much looser. Yippee! I have to say that my commitment was greater at the beginning of the challenge, though. Making it a habit to post every day was a key factor in that. I don't think it's a coincidence that when I stopped posting as often, I started straying a bit. But overall, I think I did pretty well, and hope that that is reflected in my measurements.

Today has been tough. I was pumping gas at a station about 4 blocks up from today's sniper shooting (Fredericksburg, VA) about 5 minutes before it took place. Needless to say, I'm quite shaken up about it. We all thought they were done with Fredericksburg ... Apparently not. The streets here are empty for the most part, considering it's a Friday evening. No one wants to leave their houses! This morning, I was relieved to hear the Interstate around here had been blocked off (thinking it would help them catch the individual(s) responsible, but now the reality is setting in that if there was no way for them to leave without being stopped by the police, there's a good chance they're still in the area... not a good feeling at all... BUt, you can't live your life in fear, I suppose. If you do, then you aren't really living your life, right??

I am so sorry you are having to live under this fear. I can only imagine how horrible it must be - even though I'm 100's of miles away I think of that sniper when I gas up my car. Hopefully they'll catch him soon. What a sad, sad thing. Please be careful.

Today is the last day of week 2 of Challenge 1. I am so pleased with how it is going. I can tell a difference with each workout. At first I just wanted to be through with them, now I am moving more methodically through the routines and am stretching what I do with each workout. I am slowly adding to my equipment. I have located a bench, I had hoped to get it today but the shipment didn't come in. Within the next two weeks I should have it though. A friend is giving me his 20 and 25 lb. dumbells. I have a bar and I will add some weights to my set this coming week.

Food has been good too. I haven't cheated at all, last night I fell asleep before I got my 6th meal in and felt bad about that. Now there is a first! This coming week I will work on getting in more vegetables as that is where I am most lacking.

The scale is registering some loss, but I am trying to focus on the other things. Pants that I dreaded putting on because they were getting tight are feeling good again. I can feel, if not see, my collarbones. My hands are smaller. I go through the day thinking about my muscles, it seems like I can feel them working even after my workout is over.

AND, tomorrow is free day. Last week it felt like christmas was coming, I am excited about it this week too. I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Ok Ladies, our 6 weeks is up! Actually, I have one more cardio to do today, but it's gotta wait til the afternoon.

I took measurements and weighed and here are the results of my 13 week challenge, the last 6 of which was Camp PamB and "our" challenge:

weight: 137 133 -4
bf%: 18% 16% -2 (my measurements- trainer will do them next week. His are usually 2-4% higher
lean body mass 108 111 +3
waist 31 31 ????
hips 37.5 36 -1.5"
pouch 37.5 37 -.5"
calf 12.5 13 +.5"

all other measurements remained the same, but there's less fat and more muscle.

While I'm certainly not comp ready and never will be, I'm really pleased that I've had some progress! It just goes sooo slow at this point. I'm going to just keep going til at least Thanskgiving before I take a week off- I've got 2 more weeks of C PB, then I'll start to recycle.

Ledom- You sound like you are doing really well and have got your mind wrapped around this the right way! Isn't it wonderful to actually feel different? How's the food prep doing? I don't know where you are, but I've a spare bench and lots of extra weights that we don't know what to do with if you live anywhere near Philadelphia.

Colleen- I didn't realize you lived in that area, your signature says North Carolina! How scary! We are supposed to go to a lacrosse tournament next week-end at George Mason University in Fairfax where my daughter will be playing (for Ohio State). I sure hope they capture the wacko or call off the tournament, even tho I really want to see my daughter! I don't know what I'd do- you're right you have to go on living, but it's so arbitrary there dowsn't seem to be much you CAN do, other than hide in your house! Just remember to take care of yourself, don't let fear throw you back.

Gee- it's been quiet here- Guess there are just too many places to post now.

Happy belated birthday JC, and welcome, Jan!

mel

I really feel like I'm just starting since this is the end of my first week on the new CPB program. Gals, I gotta tell you, Pam has REALLY IMPROVED the menus. Most of the recipes have been quite tasty!

Today is Saturday - RIDING DAY. My favorite day of the week! The weather around these parts is still dry but the temps went down quite a bit, which is okay since the horses have begun to grow their winter coats. Last week it was almost 90 degrees and Freight was dripping wet. Today, it's probably going to be more around 70 degrees.

I hate to say this but I didn't take measurements Kept saying I was going to...but ya know...I can feel my tummy getting flatter and I've lost in my butt area - my jeans are baggy there! I have 3 weeks of CPB, then on to London, after my birthday I might sign up for another 6 weeks of new menus which will bring me right up to Christmas. I really am enjoying these menus.

Mel - I think you did awesome! WTG!!! You and I are alike I think - our bodies are VERY stubborn about releasing fat. I really have to work at it - it's not easy for me at all. But I just keep on keepin' on - it's persistence that pays off in the end!

Pam sent me my Week 2 menu yesterday - early so I can shop and plan better than I did last week. Today Jim has to go up to Marin to do some recording after we go to the farm, but after he gets back he's taking me to Safeway (and Albertsons - they have boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.88 a pound!!!!). Tomorrow I am going to get out every piece of GladWare and Servin' Savers I own and get most of my meals ready (except for the ones that need to be prepared right before you eat them) for the week. It sounds like I'll be wasting my entire Sunday but in actuality, it should only take me a couple hours or so - I'm just going to do it while Jim practices (he practices his bass every day for at least an hour or more - not that he needs to - he just loves it).

Susan, Thunder, JC - hope you're doing well!

Ledom - Sounds like you're kickin' some butt! You go girl!
YOU GOT THE FIIIIIIRE!!! As far as eggwhites, I used to boil up a bunch at the beginning of the week but I soon got burnt out on hard-boiled eggwhites...I prefer to make them into omelets or Pamcakes which are sooooo yummy! I'm addicted to them (fortunately they're on my menu today ).

Colleen - PLEASE be careful. I'm sure they'll catch this lunatic. This all reminds me of that Clint Eastwood movie - don't remember the title but John Malkovitch was in it too. It didn't start making big news here on the West Coast until a week ago (I think). Around these parts we have the Yosemite murder trial and the San Francisco Giants on the front page - the east coast news tends to get short shrift!

Maggie - WTG on the squats...have you checked out Mistress Krista's website - she has some great tips on squatting there.

Everyone else - have a great weekend! I'll try and post later today but right now I gotta chow and hit the shower. I am SOAKING WET still from my HIIT session today!

Hello everyone,

I left California last Saturday after a phonecall that my 21 year old son was in a Boston hospital ICU in critical condition. He was assaulted and was in a coma with cerebral bleeding. When I received the phone call, I did not even know if he would live long enough for me to make the x country trip. Now he is home with me in California (we came home today). Miraculously, he was walking and talking by the time I got to Boston. He had a seizure due to the head trauma and is on medication and in a lot of pain (still) but we have hopes for a full recovery. It's just tough for me to see him in so much pain. The people who did it to him are in jail on 150k bail.

Needless to say my last week has been very stressful. I think I lost all the progress I made in this challenge and I wonder where we are (what week is this??????) but I am starting anew on Monday.

I thought I would check in. I cannot wait to get back to normal.
Susan

Susan--
Wow. I'm so glad that your son is okay and that your family is doing well after such a scary thing. My prayers are with you and your family tonight. Thank goodness they caught the people who did it.

Hang in there and don't worry about your progress. Life happens and the weights and food will be there for you on Monday. Nobody can keep you down!

Take care and it's good to see you again!!
Maggie