I'll figure out the journal thing over the weekend- though Sunday is pretty much lost to another lacrosse game, this time only 2 1/2 hours away.

I feel totally beat- trying to talk myself into going to the gym. Never been a problem before, I love the gym. I just feel ganged up on. Between L&S and my son's problems at school (spent my usualy morning workout time in conference with ALL his teachers this morning), I just want to hide under a bed somewhere. I was doing great until yesterday with completely clean eating (CPB style-lol) and great workouts. Then it all just hit me last nite and I gobbled about 6 choc chip cookies ds had just made. I'd love to make the excuse that I'll start our bootcamp fresh on Moday!

Well, its now or never....
mel

Hey folks. This challange you mentioned seemed to be the perfect point for me to drop back in again and join the discussion. sounds pretty cool. last year when i checked in here a bit more often, we were conducting a challange like that, no? Anyway, I am all for it. It appears that I will have internet access here at DH's work on more than just the occasional friday going forward, so I can do more than just lurk about. i really felt like having this community helped me last year when i was in C2 heading up to my 30th B-day. so, I would love to join in again!

I will work on putting in my journal and goals asap, just bear in mind that you will likely only see a few posts a week from me as I don't have internet access everyday. (the drawback of living here on Margarita Island.)

Anyway, I think Karen's suggestion of the three main goals Nutrition, Hydration, & Workout is a good way to approach it. Since many of us may have slightly different objectives, we can address that in our posts I suppose. And, there will be the added BF reduction, measurement decrease or scale weight, and that is something that is best addressed individually. (I for one don't have a scale at home, since it only depresses me since my disfunctional pancreas causes me to gain 4-5 pounds if I so much as look at a loaf of french bread...lol

So I will be hanging in there and checking back as often as I can...

caio for now,
=^..^=
meow2

ps. I am a cat person too, and as for your Q about the litter, the only available brand here is Tidy Cat, so I have no other option other than scraping up sand at the beach, which I am often temped to do, since a small bag (say 5 pound) is currently running close to 6 dollars US. WOW!

Keith Klein gives a great analogy for not letting one slip (cookies, or whatever) become a landslide. He says that if you had to pull over because of a flat tire, what would you do? Would you slash the other 3 and just fix them all when you decided to fix/replace the one? No. You'd change the tire and get right back on the road. :-) The road is waiting for you Mel. And you have lots of friends driving in your lane.

Mel, we're here for you. I hope you realize we are here with love and support. Take a break, even if you need the whole weekend...and then come back to 3fc Bootcamp! We're going to be raring to go!

karen I agree with workouts, nutrition and hydration! I have to remember all of those, plus my vits and udos. I can't set scale weight as a goal so I'm just going to record my pictures and inches every week (I did that last week and again this week) and hope for progress.

Thanks, but right now I think I have four flat tires and just discovered the spare is missing. Food's back on track, but today's workout will be tomorrow's. Spent gym time trying to figure out why my "gifted" son is doing is best to fail 6th grade.

Hi Meow- great to have you back.

on the cats a dogs issue: I'm both. I have a BIG standard poodle, Cleo (no poofy poddle cut, tho) and am still mourning the loss of our Burmese cat Tribble who died a few months ago. We are hoping to find another cat in a few weeks. I'm a recue 'em from the spca person, but she was such an incredible find (at the SPCA!) that I'm thinking of going to a breeder to make sure I get another Burmese.

mel

hi all,

i hate to just drop in once a week...but i have been STRESSED out and cant seem to get my act together. seems like there is a lot to read this week...i will try to get to it all. but anyways....hope everyone is doing well.

i, on the other hand, is not. i have been eating horribly....cant seem to kick it this time. nonetheless, i am still going to the gym every day, so, i am proud. i'm moving, so it has been very stressful trying to sort, pack, buy, plan, etc. next weekend will be the big move and then will have to unpack and clean the old apartment.....work has been hectic too...

well, one good thing that comes out of this, i got to clean the kitchen and the pantry of all the things that i dont need. that's good, eh?

spring is around the corner...and when i was packing my drawers last night, i came across many pairs of shorts that i know i cant fit into yet...so sad. i really want to be able to wear them...if not a smaller pair.

talk to you all soon,

jilly

Ok! I officially have a journal!

Mel, needing a break is human, we all need not only physical rest, but emotional and mental rest as well. For me, those all come in a group package often. If you need a few days off from the gym to rest and/or hibernate from the world, then do so w/out feeling guilty. Resting is sometimes the very best thing you can do not only for your body, but your mind and heart as well.

Jilly I love your name..made me smile BIG!

Viva la Bootcamp!

NO no no no DOGS all the way!!! 2 Beagles here - Bas & Ben - my babies...

Mel I hope that you are feeling better - a rock and a hard place huh? well make yourself comfy over here at 3fatchicks - we are like a big bunch of soft pillows! I thank God everyday that this place isn't full of drama queens - I couldn't handle it. (and NO I am not insinuiating other places ARE!)

Well I have a finance exam in 5 hrs so I have to go and study!

JC

:

Ok, well, I had a little meltdown this week - so I stayed away from the boards - all of them - figuring I could catch-up today. I saw at the begining of the week it was slow here, so no prob. YIKES! it took almost 3 hours to read everything. I felt I needed to, lest I be in the dark.

I am in for the Bootcamp! I shall post my goals etc. in my journal this weekend. I think I'll call mine Camp 4-OH! Being that I'll be 40 in June. I have already planned out the weeks - so this will keep me honest. THANKS!

A little about my meltdown - it was mostly of my own doing. Lack of planning meaning no food in the house, leading me to be very tired and not wanting to do anything but sleep, and missed a WO. Also, I had experimented a little with foods this past weekend and found I cannot eat more than a tiny amount of (refined) carbs at one time without spiking my bg. Made me so mad. So, I will eat what I know will not do that. Bye-bye pasta
So, Newbies, planning is key when it comes to food. Make SURE it's a priority for you. I let it slip and it cost me a WEEK. Other things got to me this week too - knowing I'll never have a baby of my own hit me hard, lack of progress at my job (no buyers = no $) constantly doing dishes, cooking, laundry, cooking, dishes, cleaning up after the dog (nickname Mud Bug!) you know, LIFE - it all happened at once.

Mel~Chin up Sistah! The 3FC Taxi Service will be by to pick you right up! Too much I'd like to say about what went on this week. Just know that I respect you and your opinions.

Hi to all. I've missed you. I guess I SHOULD have come here for support instead on 'taking a break.' LOL

NOW~ about this Boot Camp.................

GAME ON!

Im totally a dog person. And a cat person. And a horse person... ah **** I just love animals lol

Right now we just have a cat (but I have plans, oh yes muhahah) but Im intent on getting a personal petting zoo going at some point. And come on, how cute do toddlers look on little fat ponies? hehe

I had a good 20MAS today, was totally wiped afterwards. Tomorrow is LBWO and Im feeling SO lazy. Hopefully this will pass.

I am seeing a chiropracter this coming friday to help me with some shoulder/back problems that have been agitated by my lifting *pout* Hopefully this will put things right again.

I seem to have hit a wall when it comes to making gains in my weights. Possibly because our weights/machines have 5kg intervals for increasing, and while for lat pull downs I can squeak out 6 reps at say 35, I cant even keep the bar in my hands at 40kg.

I switched to "real" bench presses this week. I've been too afraid of working with 10kg barbells in front of all the big guys. There are only 2 benches outfitted for bench pressing so I hate to hold up the queue.

My clothes are getting looser and looser! Next week is week 8 and im so psyched about the last 4 weeks its not even funny! Already my fat rolls are shrinking. its weird because I used to jiggle them when I was bored (I know. it was sick) and now there's nothing to fiddle with *sigh* LOL My thighs are looking smoother too! whee!

Im currently bikini shopping for my 12 week pics, and its a special kind of anxiety. Why are they all so TINY! lol

Well, off to bed!
Tidey

Hi girls

Geezus you girls.... I still have 2 pages to read, I was only gone for... well a few hours... But so much happens here in that time span. Did anyone notice we have 1954 views on this thread, which are more views that the BFL basic information Sticky!! And 128 replies... Way cool!

Mel – Kids!! Mine are driving me a little nuts lately too... My son, grade 9, is a brainiack too, and barely studies... He could get hi 90 averages but settles for hi 70’s, which is really good, but we know he could do better... and with the competition for university these days, he needs the marks... My D who is 12, is going freakin’ BOY CRAZY on me... So I hear your pain... Maybe it’s the time of year, they want the Spring as badly as we adults do?!?! All we can do is talk, talk, talk, and TALK more... and as a few have said we’re here for you girl, so come by and vent anytime... We’re sending good positive vibes...

Jiggly – I don’t mind you dropping in only once a week, I’m just happy you do!! It’s always nice to see that cute puppy face of yours...

Mindi – I like that “La Bootcamp”


Zilla -- Love that analogy!

JEC – Your “insinuation” made me laugh... I so admire you girls going to school and working and a FAMILY... so cool... plus working out, OMG, I don’t know how you do it!! I’m tired and stressed just thinking about it...

Niffer!!!! You is back!! Nice to see your girl!!! YES, I must say you shouda come here for support or at least e-mail me or one of us!!! Please do so next time K?

Poo -- How are yoo?? Things are good as I can see... you go girl on that bikini... sooon it will NOT be soooo TINY, YOU will be the TINY one!! Way to go on your continued progress...

On the Cats and Dogs: I used to be a dog person till I got a cat... I didn’t even like our first cat that much, her name was Sara, BUT I cried like a baby when she passed... We now have a cat named Chloe and she’s soooooo nice and placid, but as big as a house, I too had to buy the DIET cat food today... Karen, I’ve tried the IAMS too and ours liked it, but then again she loves anything... even the no-name stuff... My parents have a ShihTzus they call her Mitzu ... There is a French singer named Mitzu, and at the time she had the fountain pony tail like those types of dogs wear, so we called her that and Mitzu the ShihTzus rimed really well... She’s cute, we didn’t know at the time, , but she was a mill puppy, poor thing. When I took her to the vet the first time, she was, black and white with dark beige paws, the vet asked where I had gotten her, and she said, well she’s a mill puppy, because those beige paws are PEE stains, and can you believe we had washed her several times before bringing her to the vets!!... My mother was so grossed out that she had her shaved... and now she is just black and very very snowy white...

I love the Nutrition, Hydration, Workouts idea in our Journal....

Hi to all the other gals ....

Have a great weekend everyone, I’ll be around ... No plans except some skiing on Sunday...

Later...

We have two feline members of our family -- Patty the Cat is 19 1/2 and has been with us since she was a year old. She is older than my son in high school, who adores her! Picture a 6'4" boy cuddling a old kitty and talking to her and sleeping with her every night .... it's going to be very rough when she goes. And she is in kidney failure -- we are giving her subcutaneous fluids every night (primitive kitty dialysis) just to buy a little time. But she is happy and not in pain and is, in fact, the queen of the house. Stormy Kitty is a youthful 11 years old. We found him on the sand dunes in Avalon, NJ, when he was three weeks old. He didn't even know how to lap milk, and missed out on all the cat-mothering, so he decided that my hubby is his mom and follows him everywhere. At dinnertime -- cat at his feet. Working in the den -- cat carefully positioned under the left hand for scratching. No escape!

Karen -- about your Meg and the hairballs that never come up -- Stormy had that problem, we thought, and it turned out to be kitty asthma. He was actually wheezing, not gagging, but we couldn't tell the difference. He had to take steroids for awhile, but is much better.

Ummm ... I think the cat count is ahead at this point?

Meg

Your wonderful inciteful posts have pulled me out of lurkdom and I would like to to properly introduce myself. My name is Selene, but everyone calls me Sel or lenes. I am a paralegal, run my own closing docs business from my home and live with my husband in Long Island, NY. We don’t have any children and unfortunately our apartment building doesn’t allow any pets or we would have a dog.

I was slim and athletic for most of my life until l began to gain weight in my late twenties. By my 30th birthday my weight had increased by over 50 lbs and I was a fashionable size 18W. My steady weight gain continued until 3 years ago when I found myself fitting into very unfashionable size 28W’s. Not good when you are only 5’5. This is when I found BFL and Lean & Strong and thought this was my instant ticket to my old/new body. I completed one challenge, lost thirty lbs and then gained the weight back within six months.

For the next 1.5 years I would start a challenge with great intention and enthusiasm only to lose interest in the whole thing within a few weeks and then become disgusted with myself for not having enough discipline to stick it out. Then last year the realization came to me that at 44 my body goal was incorrect. My body, even with great nutrition and exercise will never go back to looking the way it did when I was 25 nor will it look like most of the woman who appear in any of the fitness magazines. So after doing a lot of soul searching, I have decided that it would better for me to focus on getting fit to be healthy and being able to participate in a sport(s) rather than chasing a seemingly unreachable ideal. I also decided to give myself 3 years to lose the weight slowly, through necessary lifestyle changes so that once it all comes off; it will stay off. With this change in mindset I finally completed two bfl challenges and went from a tight size 28W to my current loose 22W. My clothing size has remained the same for the last three months, so I had thought of doing a round of cpb to jumpstart my metabolism a little bit. But instead will be seeking the services of a good sport nutritionist to assist me with my goal of becoming lean and muscular enough to compete in race-walking and cycling. I follow the bfl style of eating, but have been using weight routines laid out by Clarence Bass in his book Ripped 3.

Nice to see you here. I think you have a wonderful mindset for your journey. What a mentally healthy outlook you have! I wish I could say that at 48 I've reached that point- it would save me a lot of angst and self-recrimination. You sound like you are well on your way, and have a good plan for how to get there. I haven't read Clarence Bass' books- there just so much info out there.

Speaking of books, I was killing time while ds was at tennis practice, and wandered through a health food store. I picked up a copy of "Optimum Sports Nutrition" by Michael Colgan. It was marked down from $25 to $3.95, so I couldn't resist. Anybody read it or heard of it? Also couldn't resist a small bag of merengues by "Heavenly Desserts" that according to the nutritional info, don't seem to be made from anything at all. Except splenda. They are VERY sweet.

Well, I blew today: never went to the gym. I'm not tired or physically burned out- I just didn't go. I don't even know why, cause for me, it's a treat. Tomorrow I'll get there and do today's workout, take a free meal or 2 despite the unplanned lapses this week, and hit it fresh on Monday for 3FC BootCamp Part II.

I don't know about the cats outnumbering the dogs, but the dogs have it poundage wise. Unless Susan's Maine Coon is as big as the one I had 20 years ago- ole Tigger got to 30 pounds of orange luv.

I think the legal profession is outnumbering the cats, tho. Guess no lawyer jokes on this board.

mel

I guess I have to weigh in for the cats. We have two AND, I just found out that my next cat was born last week. We'll pick him up in about 7 weeks. A lilac point male siamese. Can't wait!