Oh boy, am I tired. I just took the kids and dog on a walk of various trails along the Natchez Trace. It was very lesiurley but the HEAT. Good gracious, it was smothering! But, we had fun. Saw a fox, a turtle, dragonflies, and what might have possibly been an alligator in Cyprus Swamp. It was, well, swampy so it was hard to tell for sure and I wasn't about to get close enough to prove it to them. Hey, they are little and far as they are concerned they saw a real life alligator...and that is all that matters to me. We are all beat. But I am going to try and get to the gym tonight for some real cardio and I'd like to throw some weights in too. We'll see. I'm certainly not going to feel guilty if I don't make it.

We made homemade chocolate chip cookies. Usually, that would spell disaster. But I got smart this time and froze the dough by the tablespoon. Now when the kids want them I can bake just enough for them and not be tempted by and entire plate of warm, ooey, gooey, cookies.

Sounds like everyone is right on track these days. Doesn't it feel great?

I gained two pounds in May. Can we start a new month? Is there an emoticon for pouting?

Susan you wrote in your Fitday blog (yes I sometimes look at some peep's Fitdays: " ... at this lower weight it's probably better to carefully exchange fat for muscle rather than just 'lose weight'. Me thinks this is why you gained 2# in May... Don't be so down on yourself, it's probably nothing but water or muscle

Busted!

The kicker is I also said in Maintainer Do's and Don't's ... keep journals and reread them often.

Ha ha! Susan you are busted!

I am writing down my goals BFFM wise. I forgot to write them out this morning, but I can remember them and will think about them! I will write them out tonight.

I took the day off work yesterday with a clanging headache - it got better after taking some ibuprofen, but I stayed asleep all day anyway! I'm feeling pretty sparky today after all that rest! I think I must've needed it!

I've ordered some skin-fold callipers since my body fat scales are giving me readings. They reckon I'm a higher BF at night when I'm well hydrated (and weigh 5lbs more) than I am in the morning. I'm sure it doesn't properly read the BF at all, if just weighs you and guestimates what your BF is. It says my BF's gone up 3% with my extra 9lbs... I suppose it could be true, but my muscles are bigger at this weight and supposed BF% than they were last time, and my body is smaller, so I think those scales are all BS! I just have to learn how to pinch myself properly when they come and we'll see what the callipers say!

DF is away the weekend - I get to go to yoga tonight after a gruesome 2 hours in the gym! YAY! Then I kickbox tomorrow and do stuff with the bike after it's got new tyres.

Then on Sunday I am going to batch bake and plan meals for the next week. I will be a busy bee! I think I might even treat myself to the cinema on Saturday!

Frus, I'm not convinced of the accuracy of body fat scales either. The scale at my gym says my body fat has gone up a bit too and I find it hard to believe since my muscles are becoming more defined and my clothes are getting bigger. I suppose that many factors can give false readings. Good luck with the calipers...I'd be curious as to whether or not you feel they are worth buying.

Have a good weekend.

Where has the little quick reply box gone

I am surfing for BfL recipes to make for next week. I am thoroughly bored with jacket potatoes and cottage cheese and turkey pitas!

I need more portable stuff - I went to the BfL website and it was all stuff you had to make on the stove... I'm out for more than 12 hours a day most days. I need at least 4 or 5 meals that I can take with me! I suppose 3 can be microwaveable! Maybe I should eat more savory things whilst I can at work, like a stir-fry for lunch and something else hot for afternoon snack.

Anyways, looking forward to the gym this afternoon

I suppose I missed it somewhere along the line, but what is BfL?

It's Body for Life. The website has a pretty good overview and there are folks doing it in the Lifting threads. I love the food lists.

Morning everyone!

Sounds like everyone is gearing up to have a successful new month! And, Susan, you know Ilene is right...those two pounds are muscle or water (and I'm guessing muscle).

Frus, I'll be curious about the calipers too. I've read that they are more accurate but only after lots of practice using them and making certain you measure in exactly the same places. My scale gives me a ballpark that I think is fairly close to accurate. Honestly, though, I don't really care what the number is as along as it is going down. Don't get me wrong, I want to have be in a healthy fat % range...but I can look in the mirror and see if I'm there.

We are sinking into a routine now that the kids have settled down from their excitement about the first week of summer vacation. My summer clothes from last year are loosening up (they were a bit snug when I first tried them on a few weeks ago). I haven't been on the scale and, frankly, don't care what it has to say. I feel good, I like how my clothes fit, and I'm comfortable in my bathing suit. Can't ask for much more than that. I sort of have a feeling that I'm going to dip under 130 by the end of the summer without even trying too hard. And by that I mean that I am finding a balance between mindful eating/exercise and stressful worry over mindful eating/exercise. I really do think that I tend to overthink the whole process of losing weight at this point. I know what to do, I know how to do it, and I enjoy doing it...and I love the results. I think it is time to stop sweating over "goal" because I'm going to get there if I just relax, make good choices, and let my body do its thing. I feel as though I've finally made it out of mental limbo - that place that comes right after losing a lot of weight but just before maintainece. I've decided that I should be enjoying the ride from here on out. And that is exactly what I'm going to do!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Just a quick note from me. My ds has been sick again. I really hate this time of year. It seems to be one illness after another and this time I got it too.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Gaylyn

Gaylyn, I'm sorry! We had a nasty kinda sinus-y bug fly through here last month. My allergy suffering Dh and Ds's were quite under the weather.

Lucky makes a good point. In BFFM, Venuto talks about measuring BF% ... it doesn't matter much how you measure as long as you are consistant in method, timing etc and it goes down!
Which reminds me it's measuring day!

Just wanted to pop in to say I'm 149!!!

I guess being sick is good for something. lol

Gaylyn

and for Gaylyn!

Lucky, I know what you mean about that limbo - I think I'm getting over that bit gradually too. I wanted to treat myself to something yummy this afternoon, but everything was too high in calories, or too "junky" I even considered buying some little fairy cakes, but then I realised that just thinking about them satisfied my strange little craving!

My Accu-measure callipers have me at approx 20% BF which I think is more accurate, it's between "lean" and "normal" on their little chart thing, which I think makes sense, I can see my abs, and some arm muscles, but I am far from ripped, so that's pretty kool! However it was just a 1 site test, I will look at doing a 3 site test another time.

Had mucho bridesmaid stress today, but I didn't eat lots, more like I was quite busy to eat much at all, but it was all healthy! HOORAY!

Time for me to cuddle up with Bill Phillips, or Tom Venuto or someone completely different!!!! I'm such a book whore!

Gals, I'm gonna vent. On Friday morning DH left for a weekend retreat. A couple of hours later DS#1 wrecked DH's truck (nobody hurt). Insurance mess let me tell ya. I hovered fakely calm thru the weekend, supportive for DS doncha know but when DH came home I fell apart. He was very good.
I was under calories yesterday and while I have breakfast brewing, I feel almost nauseous. It's like I'm running in economy mode ... dull
I'm gonna try to focus on exercise and diet while waiting to hear what the insurance company has to say.
We could use some prayers and good vibes if you've got a minute.