Eves- That sounds like a great program. Give it 2-3 weeks and see how it goes.

sportsfreak- How do you like your iphone? my cell is dying and I just saw a friend's son's new iphone and fell in love (with the phone...he's too young for me!)

Cardio done, food packed. Back to Work for me

Mel

Mel-Its really kool. The thing is it not so great to type on like a blackberry for business. But it's an iphod, phone, GPS and more. Anyways if you like the price of the plans- the states have way better plan than us canadains- I say you shold go for it. Just make sure you get a case for it asap because you probably dont want to scratch it.

Back in my normal w/o routine after 2 weeks and i feel good.

Later

Good morning It's nice and cool in the early mornings all of a sudden and cardio is not so dreadful!

Don't you wish you could bottle that"on track feeling" for the times when you're not so...on track? Right now is one of those golden moments for me. I need to knock on a big old piece of wood, because saying it out loud is usually the kiss of death!

Legs lite today for me.

Eves- Are you still alive out there? I just read in the paper that our wise government is planning on scrapping the independent environmental impact studies and letting the agencies and/or companies planning development to conduct their own I thought of you immediately! How long has that been in the works?

Mel

Hey all. Just checking in. I'm having fun with the BFL program and finding it easy to follow. I am doing more cardio than just 3 days a week, though, because I want to crank up the running a bit, now that the weather is cooling off. It will be the start of running season for my dogs next month, (good thing, too, because after a summer off, they look like a couple of furry coffee tables) and we'll also be starting up again with homeschooling. Not sure how I'm going to fit all that into my calendar, but it's looking like I might just have to get up at 4:30 instead of 5:30 to make it happen. I need a clone or some super-powers.

This morning I ran for 60 minutes, just slow and steady. I'd only planned to do 30 mins, but it felt so good, I was in the zone, and didn't want to stop...felt like I could run forever...woohoo!

Doing UB lifting this evening. In the meantime, we have paying the water bill, bathing dogs, and mowing on the schedule today, plus some paperwork and dog training for the "real" job and keeping up on the housework. My ds11 is off with his aunt for a few days, visiting some park ranger friends of ours... camping and exploring the beach. This morning he covered himself in kelp and tried to scare random swimmers by giving his best impression of the Swamp Thing. How cute is that? (or just annoying? he's 11, so it's like his job..lol)

Okay, I'd better get back to it!

These mornings have been really cool for outdoor cardio. Running, sounds great. Biking, I have to get some warmer/long sleeved cardio tops. I'm creating my own breeze out there and it's downright cold until I get into the sun.

Mel and Cheryl: Send some of that "in the zone" stuff over here. I'm not unmotivated its just that I think I may have just needed a break for a few days. I recall that every once in a while we need to take a recovery from our workouts. I think that they refer to this in the NROLW as well. Yesterday at the gym I had to change my planned workout into something much lighter. I was just whipped and couldn't shake it off. I'm feeling better today but forced myself to stay home and just do light yard work. Unfortunately I also used it as an excuse to eat like a horse and I'm not talking oats and apples over here. I did do myself a favor and made a clean dinner.

Anyway, lesson one millionth learned. Plan a rest/recovery week. Seriously. Maybe this would be a good time for me to rework my schedule for biking, yoga, and lifting as well as stock up the freezer with clean meals for the beginning of the new school year. (Really, I how long have I been doing this for a rest to be a "new" lesson for me. ~sigh~)

Bah. I can't stay home tomorrow. I just know I won't. I'm going in at 5:30am to get some cardio and legs in before DS2's playdate at the park at 10:00

Have a great evening everyone.

Lydia - I agree on the recovery time, I'm just afraid of it becoming a habit. I've certainly had some "lighter" weeks since I started my regular workouts a couple of years ago. I think this is the longest that I've ever steadily gone to the gym!

I think what's worked for me is constantly trying new things. I go through my cardio heavy times and my lifting heavily times and I tried spinning and now yoga so I know that I need the change every now and then.

I also think that Lydia, you asked about my yoga. At my gym location, it's all Power Yoga which, I think I best describe as very intense Ashtanga yoga (but I'm not really sure! ) Whatever it is, I still love it. I was sore today from some lifting yesterday and boy did I feel it today in the yoga class. Most of it was great but some of it was a little painful...certainly made it clear to me which muscles I use in yoga!

I'm still struggling with food but mostly keeping it together. August continues to be an almost non-stop flow of functions and food. Lots of get togethers with friends and family; some bbq's and a trip to NY later this month. Nothing too complain about but it's not easy on the scale, that's for sure.

jam - maybe I should buy the BFL book for the workouts. I think you also have NROLW, which I have too. What do you think...do they complement each other for workout inspirations. I tend to not follow the programs as they are but pull out the stuff that interests me.

Mel - so glad to hear that you were in the zone...I hope it sticks around for you!

It's been quite cool here too...great for running and I hope to get one in soon. I bought some great (I think) new running shorts that I really must try!! I also need another pair of running shoes - the exact same ones I hope because they've been great. I think I need a pair for at work and home and the ones I have are clocking in around 350km. Not enough to warrant a new pair but enough to start breaking one in, I think.

I also saw my endocronologist last week and she is still very pleased with my maintaining my weight for a few years and said my thyroid numbers were "perfect"! The only thing that I've noticed recently was that I get a bit light headed more often when I get up quickly. I thought it was my medication but she actually suggested that, along with needing more water (yes, I know ) I actually need more salt in my diet. Yay for having a little bit of salt on my fresh veggies. Mmmm! We'll see what happens.

Okay, that's long enough for now.

Still alive, back in Kansas so I'm putting the weight lifting on hold until I get back. Still gonna do some stuff in this hotel room, though. Ran 4 miles today, wooo!


It's been in the works for a while, ever since one business man looked at the costs of impact studies and thought "why do we need this? it's in the way of my profits!" I'm not sure how this is going to go about since there are a ton of laws that would have to be circumvented for us to be really affected, section 106, NEPA, etc. Let's see what happens...

It's weird how our government has this firm belief that big companies have our (and by extension, our environment's) best interest in mind. Baffling, really. I think I'm gonna go watch Idiocracy again and hope that our future looks 100% different.

Elisa, I just checked the BFL book out of the library. It's worth reading, IMO. There's nothing revolutionary in the recommended exercises, but it's simple enough to make substitutions there. It's been a nice change of pace from NROL, which was something I needed right now.

No, BFL certainly isn't revolutionary NOW, but it was 6 years ago or so. I really think it introduced progressive weight training to real people. The genius was in the marketing. It's still a good program, though I doubt too many overweight women are going to lose significant FAT as the program is written. Build muscle yes, but it's not a cutting program for most women.

I'm still in my groove- and wishing I didn't have to go to work!

Cardio done, shoulder day

Mel

Elisa: Do you find that you do a lot of hamstring work in your yoga class? We do. At one point during class I wanted to shout out, "Don't know you know it was leg day today?!" One of the things I learned during these classes is how to make minor adjustments in position in order to reach just a little further. During my cooldown I was having a hard time getting a full head to knee stretch. The hamstrings were just really tight. Then I remembered to engage the quads, tighten those up and like magic the hamstrings loosed up and down I went.

Eves: Glad to know you are still alive and congratulations on your run!

I did get arrive at the gym bright and early this morning. Well, actually it was still dark out with a few stars as well. I still don't feel like I have a lot of strength but I slogged through it anyway. Something is acting up in my hip. I think it may be a pulled glute muscle but I'm not sure. Probably a good reason to stay away from the Warrior position in my yoga class for a while. It certainly made squats a little less than satisfying today.

Have a great morning everyone

Hey all,

WOW it has been a busy summer! Eves, glad you are still with us! Lots of water, girl!

I'm still sore from Monday's arm workout. Schwarzenegger's book has some great exercises. I did reclining bicep curls (killer!) and freeweight pulldowns (you lie on a bench and put the weight over your head as far as you can, then pulldown - OK really it's pulling up, but you get the idea) for triceps. Ouch. Good news is I was able to bump up the weight on my flyes by 5 pounds each arm! Yay! Progress!

Jamsk8r - your son sounds very funny! I would have laughed my butt off if I'd seen that.

Lydia, I laughed about the poo.... funny story. Hope your bike is sparkling clean again.

They closed one freeweight area - the area with all the smaller weights. So we all have to share one set of each weight. It's not too much fun, but we are all very polite about it and we're working around it until they finish the renovation after Labor Day. They'd better not have muffins, though!!!

Whoops, gotta dash, unbelievably busy week.... hello to all and keep your workouts!!

GO CHERYL in Beijing!!! Anybody else watching the weightlifting? Amazing!

Mel, that's good news, because that's what I want from lifting, more muscle! I figure the cardio and eating right will take care of the fat burning. The BFL seems to be working some kind of change, because the scale actually moved downward for the first time in weeks. If nothing else, I'm enjoying the change of pace and trying some new exercises to spice things up.

Denver, I found a book by Sylvester Stallone in the library. I had to check it out, because that man is, what, sixty? and still looks awesome. He has a couple of killer shoulder exercises in there that I tried yesterday (he calls them "punching dumbbells" and "bent-over runners", I think), and I tried this ab exercise which I think he calls "broomstick twists" which is sitting on a decline bench, broomstick across the shoulders, then you just sit perpendicular to the bench and twist left and right...I didn't think it would do much, but it's a brutal ab workout. I've been experimenting with different ab exercises, just for fun. I've tried those curls and those are a workout. I'm actually getting a little kick out of doing curls, since on the NROL there are none. I tried preachers yesterday, and those were humbling, to say the least, with the BFL sets/reps.

Jam- I like Stallone's book, and you are right- he looks incredible for a guy his age. I saw him at the Arnold 2 years ago, and he really does look good. He is ALSO a master marketer There are soooo many books out there! I have the hefty Schwartzenegger classic in the second edition. I found it really useful when I first started lifting seriously to learn exercises for particular muscle groups and the proper form and names. If you can get your hands on any of Carlos Santana's books (The Essence of Functional Training, The Essence of Bodyweight Training, ...of Dumbbell Training, they are fantastic. He write a lot of articles that you can find in various places, too.

I had to do my shoulder workout when I came home last night, but have a car today, so I'm at the gym at lunch time for chest and back.

Cardio done.

have a good one!

Mel

Mel, I enjoyed reading his story. He's definitely a go-getter and smart in business.

Had a good skating session last night, lifting legs today.

Speaking of legs, do you all have any faves for hamstrings? I have a glaring imbalance, no doubt made worse by skating: huge quads and calves, wimpy hamstrings. I've been doing deadlifts, and I think I've finally learned to do stiff-legged DLs correctly, so I've been doing those, squats, and I try to do ham curls on the ball, but can only do a few before I collapse in a heap. I'm curious if it might help me to do something with the ham-curl-machine or hack squat machine, focus more on hams for a while, as far as trying to balance things out a bit?

My hams are growing and getting stronger, but it seems like my quads are growing faster, and I've heard that can be an invitation to injury (?). I've never used the machines, but wonder if isolation wouldn't be the better course of action in this case...?

Try good mornings.