My goal for the next two weeks is to buy NO candy and eat no candy. I'm sick of walking into grocery stores to be met by mountains of the stuff!

How is everyone doing with food? That seemed to be our common problem at the beginning of the month. I'm UNDER CONTROL and happy about the way I feel

Mel

Well done, Mel! Keep it up.

I have been derailed by the tummy incident. I had a few days off and now something (same thing? different thing?) has returned. My weight has shot up and I am drinking lots of weak tea (no milk) and water.

Lovely day here today. It's quite warm in the sunshine.

I'm under control calorie wise (except for the gelato incident), but I'm finding I snack too much during the day so have to cut short at night. Or like today, I'll have to cut my more nutritious yogurt snack because I ate some cinnamon pita chips instead. Working on it. Actually hoping the weekend will help. I don't tend to snack as much at home, it is more at work.

Mel - good luck with the Halloween candy! I've been thinking about how long it has been sitting there every time I see it now.
No exercise last night. Time ran out on me - got out of work late, had to go to the grocery store, cooked dinner, etc. I do have my running clothes in the car so hope to get to the park on the way home. It is cloudy and cool though, so might not. If I don't, I'll definitely elliptical at home.

Birch - sorry you are still under the weather!

Good day all!

Sawed up some wood from the old conservatory this afternoon. My right arm is bulging - shame about the left. Lower back niggled a bit even though I tried to keep my abs tight so I iced it and now all's well.

The two pantsometers looked a bit better this morning. Still won't button up but looked better.

to all. And strength to all!

Hi all,

It's the 2nd half of the month already! 1st half went well, except for te past few days. I was unfit, did not exercise, ended in eating to feel better, felt very sorry for myself, ...not pretty.
I have indentified 4 causes; TOM, builders around, looked into my energy bill & besides I had the sniffles. not a good combo.

Today things look brighter. I will phone the energy company to inquire on the background of the bill, I have started my woodstove again & warned DD and DS that with these prices we'll have to watch our use of heating & hot water, I've reprogrammed my thermostat & took the heater in the garage out, and I'll check on the gas use from now on. Furthermore, I feel better, and I'll start my exercise goal again tomorrow.
Re: builders, I am so happy to have them out of my sight again. i do not know what it is with grown men...they always seem to think that I appreciate their suggestions for what to do with MY house. I honestly have no idea what gives them this idea, and I am always utterly amazed that they think that I want to hear their suggestions. Very annoying. I also feel that it would be rude to say "I worked long and hard to get this place clean & empty so I have less work, and I do not need you halfwitted ideas, but I have a hard time ploitely waiting for them to finish and leave. But...the builders are gone and any further home improvements will be firmly done by myself.

Have a great day all,
Rabbit

Good morning. I actually bought the Halloween crud the other day and started thinking about it before I got to the cash. I put it back and won't buy anything until "the day". I've learned not to ever buy chips or red liquorice.

Hope you don't mind my popping in here. I am new to scheduled exercise, thanks to Mentor Meg, and need some accountability. I started pretty slowly but am building up my stamina. The past few days of working in the garden have proven to me that I am getting stronger. Too bad I had to wait until 70 to see the light!

Ruth!!!! Welcome to our world

Good for you for putting the candy back.

I am taking a rest weekend. I'm just feeling battered by workouts- I don't even rest enough to get sore, which is not good. Yesterday I fell asleep at 4 pm and dh woke me at 6 and I felt dopey the rest of the night. Slept 10 hours.

Today's activities are more painting (which feels SO good on the back ) and going to an open house at my ex-SIL's. Kind of weird, but I like her and want to see my nephew.

Mel

Hey Ruth welcome to the sandbox!
So right about the Halloween candy. So far so good. I think the secret is to keep yourself so busy you forget there is even a holiday approaching... This becomes easier when the stores rush the holidays together and you automatically think it's weeks before I'll really need any of that THAT stuff. Ill wait till the last minute until the only think left is Bazooka Bubble Gum. Solves all kinds of problems.

Mel: Your bathroom project sounds intense. Painting. You get all the empathy in the world from me. I hate the painting thing. It's having everything torn up around me that makes me buggy

Which leads me to Rabbit: Amen sister. I have no doubt you will do a great job with the rest of the projects. I on the otherhand, I'm struggling to hang pictures straight. Oh, but I can paint...

Busy here on my end. Working out but I think I tweaked something in my anterior delt. Lateral movement and rotational movements are a little painful. For the first time in four years I'm backing off from my upper body workouts for a couple of weeks. I'm hoping that will be enough keep it from becoming chronic. I know when it occurred but I suspect the cause is combination of poor form while benching and not working the posterior delts nearly enough. (I've backed off from them unintentionally during the last six months.)

Fun news in the Lydia household. We have a kitten. LOVE HER! The boys and I really missed the cat that passed away earlier this month. During our workout yesterday I told DS1 that he and his father could choose a kitten. The choice was all theirs. (I had plans to go shopping on my own) In the back of my mind I was thinking "just don't get an orange cat" Don't know why, just something that popped into my head. I return home just as they were bringing the kitten into the house. DH handed the cage to me and said "Well, here she is..." Yep folks, it was an orange/red American Short hair. I really need to channel this psychic energy in other ways.

The cat is a pistol. Very smart. I have my hands full. The boys are in heaven.

Hello, Ruth. Very nice to see you here. I've spotted you recently on the Beck thread too. (I lurk there - sssh.) I'm impressed you're shaking things up as the nights draw in. Or is that a factor? Hope to get to know you better.

to rabbit, to the kitten, Mel, Lydia, Shannon, silverbirch (oh, that's me!). Cheryl?? Bit hectic here.

Hi everyone,

Wellcome Ruth!

Lydia - good to see you back. An orange kitten...so adorable! We got a kitten last year, she is extremely friendly and very fast at catching stuff and bringing it in for us to admire.

Hi Birch!

Mel - ouch on the back and you have my sympathy on the painting thing.

Cheryl - where are you?

No bunny for me last week and I am starting anew. Biked to work today and did 30 mins elliptical. Food is Ok sofar.

have a great day all,
rabbit

You know what the scariest thing about Halloween is? The cheap candy!! AAAAAHHHHHH! (runs & hides). Great job putting it back, Ruth!!

Hi everyone!

I'm still struggling with food, as always. I did buy Halloween candy and Halloween pretzels. Funny is I think the pretzels will be a bigger tempter once the jar is open.

I do have tons of fun handing out halloween candy but the funny part is last year, my neighbors and I were all exchanging candy for things we wanted so it didn't matter if you didn't buy your favorite. (Oh you mean the candy is for the kids?)

I'm starting up a regular kettlebell routine again. For the last few weeks, karate has been kicking my butt and even my home practices leave me sore. I'm starting to get to the point where I'm feeling like I can add something else again so kettlebells it is. Although last night, I struggled with my workout and kept thinking 'am I truly this out of shape?'. Then this morning, I woke up with a sore throat, head pounding and feeling like a truck ran over me. Looks like I might've caught something this past week. I was exposed to over 80 people in close contact in the last week, so it is conceivable.

MMMHmmm. We become so much more in tune with our bodies when we exercise them everyday. I do the same thing Nelie. Jump all over myself when I have a bad workout and all but convince myself I've become DECONDITIONED . Then the next day...bam, some cold virus will hit. I've just come to accept that the first indicator of a cold coming on is usually going to show up during a lifting session.

Just had to jump in there with that. Your post made me smile.

Still studying over here. A little more organized with the material though so that's good. Did my workout at home today. I must say I have a nice little set up for that in case of emergencies. No squat rack but I can work around that once in a while.

Hope anyone logging in from Central Ohio is out enjoying the day. It's one of the few sunny days we've had in a couple of months. (Any suggestions for a SAD light, I think I'm purchasing one this year.)

Have a great afternoon everyone.

Hey peeps, ! I took the weekend of from working out and gym cleaning, and spent it getting some projects done around the house, carving pumpkins with the boy, etc. It was a good way to recharge!

Nelie, I feel like that whenever I start something new with exercise...it happened with lifting, then again with starting Crossfit...each took several weeks before I felt like I do my other normal activities, like skating. Coming down sick doesn't help, either, obviously! Hope it doesn't last long!

Ruth, welcome!

Lydia, congrats on the new kitten! My son's cat has gotten himself bitten, yet again, by a tomcat, I presume. It was pretty swollen over the weekend, when the vet was closed, but seems to have gone down today, so I'm keeping an eye on the cat, in case I don't have to spend another $100 at the vet.

Everybody else, I've been reading, but will just send one of these

Today's CF WOD was "Helen", 3 rounds of:
Run 400 meters
21 Kettlebell swings (54# men/36# women)
12 Pull-ups

My time was 15:05, 1 second slower than my time in April, but back then I was using the black assistance band, which is the largest one, this time I used the purple one, which is the smallest, so I guess that's still an improvement! (I have to say that, so I don't feel guilty about talking the whole weekend off from exercise.)

Lydia!! I'm going to a Level 1 CF Cert!!! I had to tell you first, since you said I HAD to go to one, and I said, truthfully, that it would not be in my budget, but my trainer told me on the phone (just now!) that they have 5 comp spots for the cert in Feb that our gym is hosting, and he said I'd earned a spot. I'm going to bounce around the room now.