Cheryl, that sounds like fun. Is it different than mushing dogs on snow (other than the obvious - it's not on snow )? Do ou use sleds on wheels or some other vehicle? How many dogs? THe dog mushers here run their dogs in the off season usually pulling something on wheels. It's more difficult though because the trails are not as free of obstacles as they are when covered with snow. OUr big race - the Iditarod - starts the first weekend in March.

Okay guys, I had another piece of cake and some ice cream for my dd's sleepover birthday party! Ack! But, I didn't have seconds or finish my son's cake or have a burger or fries or pancakes or bacon or soda. Was POP otherwise and the calories should be okay.

Today is good so far. I've sworn off cake, candy, chips, soda, etc, all the stuff hanging around the house. I'll be at the hospital tomorow, so less temptation with any luck.

I did run today. Woohoo! And I'm going to head out to the garage to lift some weights. I usually lift with my trainer but I missed a session last week due to my cough. I'll go check out what all my DH has amassed out there and do some deadlifts, bicep curls, shoulder presses, anything that strikes my fancy.

I think DH forgot V-day---he was a little surprised when I sprang the treats on him and the kids today. But that is actually really fine with me! I wouldn't want to spend the $$ for one, and if he would have gotten me candy, ACK!

Dinner will be roasted butternut squash and grilled shrimp. Maybe some polenta too. Mmmmmm!!! And I'm boiling up 18 eggs for the week to come.

Midwife, I can relate about the junk food in the house. Usually, I'm fine, but sometimes, usually when I'm working out and hungry, if my boy is sitting there munching, I have to tell him to take the junk in his room, because it's giving me cravings like mad! Sounds like you did well, considering!

Pat, it's the same, but many of us just have one or two dogs, so we use mountain bike-style scooters instead of a 4 wheeler or heavy musher's cart. With the lighter rigs, you can run one to three or four dogs (depending which dogs), and the scooters will fit on a bike back or into a pickup or mini van. Some of our club members also run dogs on snow, race, or whatever, but some like me just do it for fun, and to exercise the pet dogs. Here's a good "before" pic of me running 3 dogs, that shows what the scooter looks like:

I'd be scared of having my dogs pull me

Today was an all out day. I made brownies from scratch, then I made potato, spinach and black bean enchiladas (carb heavy but fairly healthy). We also ate out at lunch. Goal is to not have any brownies after today I probably also won't have any enchiladas or just a little bit. Which just means lots of leftovers, most of which I don't want to eat. Its ok because husband loves brownies and loves the enchiladas.

Cheryl, you look so different!

The dogs are gorgeous too

How fun, Cheryl! You look awesome!

Hello Lifters!

I have been a bit computer shy lately. Mostly lurking and lifting but I thought I'd pop in to say hi and thanks to everyone for being here to inspire.

Took measurements today and it looks like I've lost and inch on my waist and a half an inch on each leg. Arms look like they have grown a half inch (Is this possible or am I a klutz at measuring?). Scale hasn't really changed much but I am cool with that.

I have been doing the NROL fat loss 1 workout slightly adapted to the home gym. I do all the barbell exercises with dumbbells and I found a neat way to improvise a lat pulldown with a band and a broom (and a pull up bar). It works amazingly well. I am feeling a bit whiney and unmotivated lately but I have been on plan and I suppose that is the most important thing. Anyhow hi from lurkdom and happy valentines day everyone.

Cool, Cheryl! That looks like fun. My DH is not a dog lover, so no chance of us ever doing it, but all the same.....

I'm pretty much over feeling puny. Plan to back to the routine tomorrow.

Thanks, ladies! I feel uncomfortable just looking at pics like that, thinking about what it felt like to be that big. I feel much better now!

Had planned to lift tonight, then have a run, but had company drop in just as I was getting warmed up, so ended up just doing a long run. It felt good, and now I should sleep like a rock!

Hikerchick, great idea for making a lat pulldown with the band! I've had to get creative myself with the workout equipment, so I can relate.

Hickerchick! How have you been?

I'm headed to work even tho we are closed today. I went home sick on Friday and don't want to use up my vacation days. Plus there is just s much to do!

Somehow I pulled/inflamed or otherwise did something to a muscle in my back. I think it started with that pushup program and has just gotten steadily worse even though I stopped the pushups. It is incredibly painful at this point. I had to do the elliptical minus the arms, and will be doing a modified lower body workout today at the gym...probably mostly all those machines I tell people to stay away from I don't think I can lift plates to load a bar, or hold heavy enough dumbbells to make a difference. I see lots of body weight lunges and squats in my future for a while.

Cheryl- I understand completely about the discomfort of looking at "before" pictures. I find that very difficult to do (and there aren't that many, I was camera phobic), and often cringe when family pictures are pulled out.

Off to the closed office- I hope I get the alarm code right!

Mel

hmmm...well I did a new routine at the gym today with the trainer. Lower weight higher rep, but on the other hand I can barely type right now. 8 sets each of 20 seconds on 10 seconds rest on consecutive push exercises. By the last set it was down to about 4 reps. ACK.

Hi guys -
I've been working on the lower body exercises with the swiss ball for the last few days and I have to say I never had an appropriate level of respect for the swiss ball before... I sneezed a few minutes ago and the tensing in my abs was not very comfortable...

Only one more week to go before back to the doctor to discuss my post-surgical progress and to talk about running and lifting... Crossing my fingers I can get back to normal next Monday, but prepared to wait two more weeks until I officially reach six weeks...

I can't believe I'm still up. I got sidetracked at the crossfit website looking at videos.

Did shoulders and abs tonight. Tried some new plank variations: two hands on a basketball, one hand on the floor/one hand reaching out in front...those were fun and challenging. Tried OH squats with some weight (have just been using a stick), tried 30 lbs and just could not get down more than a few inches. Frustrating! I just switched to back and front squats, since I couldn't figure out what was wrong with my form.

Mel, it's nice to know I'm not the only one!

Ennay, I've done a few workouts like that and enjoy them for a change of pace.

Shannon, can you share which exercises you were doing? We're always looking for new evil exercises to try!

Okay, I sleep now!

Go to bed Cheryl. By the way, you do look fantastic! Thanks for sharing the pic with your dogs. Maybe one day soon I'll load up some of my before pics too. That would be a maybe. They are hard to look at for me too. Like you what bothers me the most is how physically uncomfortable I was in that shape.

Mel: Oh no, back pain for you too?! Is yours more thoracic? Mine is lumbar. For the first time I took two Alleves yesterday and made a point not to do heavy back squats or 1 legged sldl. I think that and lots of knee to chest stretches yesterday helped. I am feeling better than I have for days with this. Thank goodness. See...I'm learning. When injured put pride away and back off. Rest is a good thing. Pain is a signal that something is misaligned or needs to be rested.

One thing I am really concerned about right now is my blood pressure. I was weaned off my meds maybe a month ago. Maybe a little more. During my assessment with a trainer Saturday he took my blood pressure as a baseline. It was 160/89. OMG. I freaked. I have been an anxious mess since then. I checked it again on Sunday and it was 158/89. Damn. So much for diet and exercise. Hypertension may just be genetic for me. ~sigh~ I have an appointment with my doc next Monday. I know he will just advice me to begin taking the meds again. What a disappointment though. I've worked really hard at this, I was ready for my assessment and it was a no go because they won't even touch you if you are reading that high. (can't say I blame them) But I really wanted to find and measure my imbalances.

Okay. It's crunch time and I need to study like for the next couple of weeks. I've already prepped my kids, "Mom's not trying to be mean...she's just going to need a few days to focus and then things will be back to our kind of normal again." I might just need to go into lurk mode for a little bit, but I'm here. Just so you all know.

Oh no Lydia!! I'm so sad to hear about the bp coming back to haunt you. Well, if it's meds, it's meds, right? Do you have any symptoms - no pounding, no headaches from lifting? I know it's a silent problem, but thought you might notice a difference since it kind of turned on a dime for you.

Will miss you over the next couple of weeks but look forward to sharing the joy of your great test scores in about a month!!