Howdy LWL!

Went to Yosemite this weekend and food was a disaster. Back on track now but I need to clense of carbs, salt and all sorts of bad things. At least I got a ton of exercise (hiking and running that is).

Runs are great but I have been slacking on weights. DH bought me a heavier set of dumbells though and just in time. I was getting complacent. La la I can lift this this is so easy...I don't need to even work out....NOT!

So back on track with heavier dumbells in hand. Today I felt much more motivated it was real work to lift those little puppies. Much better.

OOOh! Hiker! I love Yosemite! My dh and I spent our 25th anniversary there climbing and hiking. The strangest thing that we found was that if we went more than a mile from a parking lot, we never met any more Americans. Lots of Germans, Australians and Brits hiking around up there, but the Americans and Asians mostly stick to the parking lots. How sad

Shan- I haven't tried rolling the ball at the same tine a dipping- what a good idea! I do them with one or two feet on a stability ball, but I hadn't thought about making it a compound exercise. Putting a dumbbell or weight plate in your lap also makes it harder. Have a good time with your friends.

Since I joined my new lifting spa, I haven't even taken out my ipod. I do cardio at home either reading or watching tv, and only used music at the gym to drown out the gym's music When I spent 8-12 hours a day there, it felt like aural assault. I'm soooo happy to have quiet or just normal conversation around me now. The new fitness center doesn't have music on- there is just ambient white noise which I find really nice after being blasted with hard rock for the last 6 years.

One of things I was most terrified about when I quit training full time was gaining weight- I've actually lost about a pound and a half I'm not eating any different but I am getting up every morning and doing cardio on an empty stomach, instead of just trying to fit it in sometime during the day. I guess it really does make a difference! Especially considering that my overall activity level is lower. I no longer spend all day lifting weights in the form of moving plates, benches, demoing, getting dumbbells for my clients, etc. So I'm pretty happy with my routine since I'm at the low end of my maintenance range. Any lower and all the new clothes that I bought will be way too big! The clothes that I bought back in February when I started the interview process are BIG. I may have to "bulk up" for winter because I doubt I can afford another new wardrobe!

EofA- I live about 2 hours from Atlantic City and haven't been there since they built casinos!

Cindy- Hang in there! Is your job in jeopardy or are you being proactive?
Wearing an HR monitor is an eye opener, isn't it?

Did back today- one difference now is that I feel really hurried when I lift. That I don' like!

Mel

Wow Mel, what an interesting revelation about the difference working out on empty has made for you. I"m adding that to my list, yessiree!

I got on a friend's Tanita hi-end scale and it told me I can eat 2800+ calories to maintain my weight. wow Would you guys recommend a calorie intake for me of about 1800 then right now? I can always drop to my dr-recommended 1500 later. She didn't run any test or anything on me, she just sat in her chair and said, shoot for around 1500. 2000 is probably too high, maybe 1800 is too. But it would give me room to move later, down to 1500, then 1300, then 1200. What do ya'll think? I would be doing 30 mins of cardio HIIT walking 6 days a week and fbwo 2/wk.

Hi LWL,

Rabbit reporting in. This week started as a disaster exercise wise, but fortunately I was able to pick up agian by biking to work yesterday (my DS encouraged me, said "Mom, it is a much healtheir choice". Funny how the kids are eactively involving themselves into supporting healtier lifestyle choices for me).
And as i also biked to my yoga class this morning, I am now at 1.5 hr bike to work + 1 hr yoga + 45 mins bike to yoga = 3.25 hours. And two more days to go, so if I sneak in another quarter of an hour i will have reached my minimum goal of 3.5 hours of exercise again.

Funny how exercise falls by the wayside at the first twitch of stress, while when i do it, I really feel much better. This is SO much a head game. Also , food wise, i find myself on a well worn track...at the end of the day I get complacent, and before I know I have eaten a treat. I find it very hard to keep the food clean at the end of the day.

Mel - sounds like you are doing really well!!

Hrbabe - I would definitely not trust it if the scale says you an eat 2800 + calories to maintain weight. that is an ENORMOUS amount of food I would think. These scales usually deploy some sort of electrode system to judge your body composition, and i remember that Anne posted here about some experiments with her fat% scale and it differed quite widely over the day. Apparently this system with the electrodes is good for keeping track in a relatie way, but not so good on absolute numbers. Just my 2 cts...

Hi to all the other LWL,

Have a great day,
rabbit

Fran- do you know what you are eating now? I've never been able to lose weight at more than 1400-1500, but I'm small (shorter) than you and probably less muscular even at my highest weight. And older.

Mel

It's Anne and Nelie's birthday today!

Protein pancakes and pineapple with a candle in it

Hi Mel, ya know, I never really counted calories before for long, and just kind of made sure I was getting my meals in and not overeating at any time. I was doing about 1300-1600 most days, but lately, yeah, it's probably up closer to 2500-2800 if I'm honest about it. And it's not enormous amounts right now as much as it is bad choices and quick fixes instead of well thought-out plans.

It also told me I had 113 lbs of lean mass, if that helps.

Rabbit, i so agree about the head game. It's all completely mental, and I become completely mental if I abandon my fitness plan, yet, in times of stress, I continually respond to the needs of others (work, kids) and put myself last. But I know intuitively that keeping myself first would keep the rest at bay. But you lose it in little pieces, first the crazy scheduling and stress makes you not able to get up early to workout, then the crazy days mean you don't work out any other time, add in meals on the run, and it goes downhill from there. It's a big effort to stop the downhill train and get it going back up the other side of the track again.

I could see how the scale could give you a basic BMR by using the scale measurements and preprogramming the standard BMR formula, but how did the scale apply an activity factor, did you have to program that in?

Anyway, it doesn't seem out of whack. I don't know your current weight or age, but running a 5'6", 30 year old, 200lb woman through a basic BMR formula [BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )]would give you a BMR of 1694. If you apply an activity factor in accordance to Harris-Benedict (in your case a AF of 1.55 would seem appropriate) that would be 2625. So depending upon how close you are to this 30 y.o., 200lb woman, we could be close the 2800.

Of course this is generic and doesn't distinguish between lean mass and fat and we know that muscle is more metabolically expensive than fat, whether or not your metabolism has been slowed by medical or past nutritional factors, etc.

I think starting high and adjusting down is always the way to go, so I see no problem with trying the 1800 and see if you have lost about 8lbs of fat in 4 weeks (give it some time to accurately gauge) then you can adjust down if necessary.

Thanks Depalma! Yes, I did enter in an activity factor to get that BMR. It also gave me a metabolic age with all my measurements taken into account, and that was not a good number - 50. I'm only 43 (just!). Talk about a wake-up call...... I also seem to be very dehydrated, so I have to work on that - was only at 36% water and they say you should be b/w 45-60. Too much caffeine, not enough water consumption.

Oy, all those numbers make my head spin so early in the morning.



Happy birthday to Anne and Nelie!

The catering taste testing was so fun. Little bites of all different kinds of stuff. We decided that the starter salad will be organic spinach with balsamic vinaigrette, the seitan mushroom stroganoff will be their main entrée, with the mushroom eggplant penne as the vegan option. Side veggies will be asparagus and cauliflower/broccoli mix. It was really fun to sit there and chat with their planner (who is awesome by the way!) about cocktail hour, cake cutting, presentation, all the little details. Good practice for when we have to start making all those decisions ourselves. DF is off to cake testing with them this morning.

Today is exactly one year to our wedding!

Aww thanks Susan protein pancakes do sound good... I was secretly hoping to be in the 220s by my birthday but I'll take 2 lbs away. I've been pretty bad about controlling my sodium lately which doesn't help.

I did take an update pic recently and I posted in the 100 lb club and edited my former progress pics.
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...2&postcount=45

My hair is the shortest I've ever had it and it is taking a little getting used to.

Wow Nelie! Your update looks GREAT@! And I love the short hair! Happy Birthday!! You'll get those 20's by this time next week!

WOW Nelie! You look so great in your new picture! I love the hair BTW. And congratulations on the BD!

Hrbabe - Oops...I now rembmber why I associated 2800 cals with enormous quantities of food...it was the association with the american pioneers, who had 2800 cals for breakfast ( and the did hard labour for the rest off the day). T remember seeing the 2800 cals breakfast menu, and that was a lot! Of course, over the day, this is a different story.

Rabbit

OMG! Nelie! You look fantastic!. I like the haircut too. But OMG you look incredible. Girl you have been focused! What a birthday present to give yourself, Congratulations. Thanks so much for posting the pics. Its going to help me stay focused during this holiday weekend.

Nelie and Anne!

Nelie, you look great in your new photo. Your face has really slimmed down in the last 30 pounds. Great haircut too. I cut mine shorter about 2 months ago, and I'm really happy with it.

Fran - some place I did a "how many calories can I eat" questionnaire gave me about 2600 (which given I'm shorter and older than you is probably similar) and frankly I can eat that much and maintain where I am. But, of course, that's not where I want to be! So I eat less. I've been having problems with stress eating again lately (I need this budget issue resolved one way or another so I can just MOVE ON!) even though I know in my head that it won't help. I've cut out the daytime stuff, now I need to cut out the evening snacks. I didn't have any for several years, but what an easy habit to pick up again. Sigh.

So, on a happier note - a 3 day weekend! Yay! And it looks like at least part may be Last night was lovely - I walked in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. first time this spring.

Have a great day/weekend!