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Beautiful here too but still winter. You sound so cheerful and excited Meg - what a great start to your week!

My birthday was a little off-plan - I did have a second piece of cake - but I'm still happy with myself.

There is no diet pop left in my house and I'm not going to break down and buy any this week. Or if I do it will be one small bottle to be consumed at the time I buy it. I'm being realistic, rather than totally rigid. I want to succeed this time !

DH is going to try to lower his caffeine consumption too so I have to lead by example. Being the adult can be hard !

Gotta go do the . Have a great Monday all!

Dagmar (new puppy day )

Good morning, Meg. Happy cleaning!

Hi Dagmar. Have fun with the puppy.

Once the kids are on the bus, I will go do today's NRLW workout.

I too had an extra helping of cake this weekend... and for once, am not really feeling all the guilty about it (maybe just a smidge )

Am excited at another day and week of maintaining.... last week received a couple compliments that really made me smile - somehow being called a Yummy Mummy really keeps me motivated....

Had an amazing 8km run yesterday, outside for the first time all winter! it is warm and sunny and beautiful and I felt totally energized afterwards!!! Even my boys were in a good mood after their daddy weekend...so i think...all in all... last week rocked and I am going to SMOKE THIS WEEK!!!!

big smiles ladies!!!

Spring has sprung!!! Our first crocus is blooming and it's supposed to be 57 degrees out tonight (a vast improvement from the 30 degrees of just a couple weeks ago!).

Meg, have fun visiting your daughter!

Happy belated birthday to the birthday girls!

I had a good weekend. We got our taxes done, spent some quality time walking the dog outside in the gorgeous weather, biked to the in-laws' house, and had our cooking club over for Russian food. The Russian food was my "cheat" meal, and it must have had a lot of salt because my weight is up 3lbs this morning. Oh well.

Other than the 3lbs of water weight, stopping with the calorie counting has actually been working out really well for me. 2 days under 139 last week, 3 days under 139 this week. Funny how that works -- when I calculate all the calories, I am so obsessed with how much I am "allowed" to eat that I actually end up eating MORE because I have some room left in my budget. If I don't know how much room is left in my calorie budget, I'm more likely to skip the extra snack. Weird. Sticking to my standard breakfast, healthy foods, one snack a day, and no second helpings is keeping me on plan, especially with all the exercise.

Hi everyone else! I'm scatterbrained this morning.

Morning all,

I had a fun weekend with my friends, and another week of the same routine ahead. I got a lot of activity in with the festival Saturday, b/c in addition to running the 5K (which kicked my behind and gave me a wake-up call that I need to step it up with my cardio) instead of driving to the festivities, ~1 mile from my house, I saved myself from the madhouse parking lots & streets and walked back & forth. It was fun to hang out w/ my former roommate & her BF, it was like our old happy times when we lived together. I found time to get some of my bulk cooking/food prep done last night, the rest I can finish as the week goes along.

I'm starting most of my boot camp today. I realized I'd already bought ingredients for chicken & spinach lasagna before I decided to add grain-free to boot camp, have a few sandwich thins I need to finish up, etc. so as I run out of those things I will taper to grain-free. This is what I'm going to try and do:
Food:
No alcohol or sweets, period.
Limit to 1500 calories a day.
Limit artificial sweeteners and processed foods.
(No grains)... No french fries either, though potatoes aren't technically a grain.
Exercise (trying to capture the idea of doing totally different things to shake up my routine, and working out smarter, not harder):
Do running HIIT 2-3x per week.
Incorporate more jumping (body weight matrix idea from NRLW, jump rope), step-ups, etc.
Weight training - I'm still training for my chest, triceps, shoulders, for a benchpress competition 2x a week. To balance that I need to keep up with back and my legs, and want to be sure to train my abs and core 3x per week.

Dagmar and Michele, I hope you both had wonderful birthdays!

Sheila, I hope you get some better news from the eye doc Wed. Let us know how it goes.

Marie, glad your recoveries are mostly going smoothly.

Happytobeamomof2, it's getting a little warmer and sunnier here too. I'm really looking forward to spring!

Jessica, glad your caloric experiment is going well.

I hope everyone has a good week!

I had a nice weekend. We drove to Riverside for DH's great uncle's 90th birthday. It was a big party. I had cake, but no lunch, so that should have been ok. Had a BBQ at my house later that night as we had houseguests and DD was home for the weekend. Sunday the weight was up AND we went out to breakfast...again no lunch on Sunday as we had a matinee performance of Avenue Q to go see (very funny!). Then everyone came over for my chicken enchiladas. Weight same this morning. IDK if I'll make my goal I set earlier this month.

Since we have house guests exercise is a bit more difficult, but I did get in 30 minutes on the elliptical this morning, however that may be it for the week (until Saturday anyway). I thought I could take the dog for a morning walk but this morning we're socked in with fog and it was rather eerie out (still is). I don't know when it'll clear and how long we're in for dry weather. This El Nino is really strange this year.

My post got lost. Got the little spinny 'posting' wheel, then nothing.... sadness...

Good afternoon, now I guess!

Sunny and 60 over the weekend here, so I got in a nice 13.2 mile run at the park. I was able to run most of it, walked a little at the end, put on a decent sprint for the last .25 mile with the thought that I want to be able to at least jog over the finish line at half marathon.

Didn't reapply my sunscreen so am burned pretty good on my face and upper arms today.

Started a closet organizer during the birthday party on Saturday, but didn't finish it. Have to take three of the rails down and move them over 4 inches so I can use the fancy inline drawers I bought to go with it.

Thanks for the support last week on the birthday party for DSS. I was pretty emotional about the whole thing by Saturday, and the support here was much appreciated. Midwife - your post actually made me a little teary when I read it. DSS came over yesterday for a while so mom & friend could walk the mountain in the warm weather and he kept saying to me "too bad you weren't at the party yesterday" and then staring at me and waiting for an answer. i just responded with "I know baby, I'll be at the one at the park this weekend" and trying to deflect onto other things. One day this will settle out, I just have to be the bigger person here. DH invited mom to our party this weekend - she has been pretty comfortable with the party idea, discussing the options with DH, then Friday she says "I was going to have him a party at the park next year so his friends could come". Uh, no. She has said on more than one occasion that she doesn't like kids and doesn't plan on having them around. She them sent a text on Friday night asking the time for the park party and said "Will Shannon be there?" When the answer was yes she said "I'll skip it". Did she really think DH would throw another party for DSS and I wouldn't be there? She just wanted to goad to a response. He told her the invitation was still open either way. Her only reply to that was to ask if he had gotten the message with the things she needed him to pick up and bring to the party the next day. Ack. end rant.

Meg - you will have a great time visiting with your daughter! The pedicure sounds like fun.

Dagmar - We are letting our diet soda stash run down, too. Enjoy the new puppy today.

Ward - Did you enjoy the beautiful weekend?

Jessica - glad the calorie experiment is working! Sometimes I find I eat more if I know exactly where I am calorie wise as well.

Happy - 'yummy mommy' sounds good to me! Glad you had a good run this weekend, too!

Megan - Sounds like a great weekend! And good plan for the next month.

Allison - weather has been weird all around this year. Hope it clears enough for dog walking tomorrow!

Good day everyone!

Meg, since you know where you’re going, have you thought of shipping your stuff UPS instead of paying for 1 checked bag (2 when counting DH). I’d read an article that it is WAY cheaper to pre-ship your stuff than to use checked baggage and the astronomical fees. DH and I intend to do that when we visit family in Minnesota this August. I’d have done it with Cancun but I’m thinking the resort would have been on the confused side. Then you can take a carryon and no deal with baggage issues.

Mudpie, great job on going for realistic rather than rigid. I’m thinking rigid sets us up for failure.

Happy, WTG on the 8K run. I have envy since I can’t run a block.

And Shannon, holey tomatoes chickie – 13.2 miles. Are you training for a half marathon??? I’m sorry about DH’s ex obnoxiousness. She sounds just delightful.

Jessica sounds like you had a fun weekend. Biking at the beginning of March in the Midwest is an amazing feat.

Megan, I love the statement to workout smarter, not harder. I have a sticker in my exercise room that says “Exercise like you mean it”. Same concept since it is easy to slide through a workout. Give it concentration and effort and the same time/distance can burn loads more calories.

Enjoyed my elliptical time yesterday. Adding the arms back in has helped increase my range of motivation. Then I walked with DH and the dogs around our 1.5 mile block. It was gorgeous out and I couldn’t resist. I even took Blizzard’s leash after a quarter mile. So I walked one of my doggies. Speaking of Blizzard, the maintainer thread’s maintaining doggie, in January she lost her one pound holiday gain and has kept it off. She’s still a Skinnie Minnie and defying the hip dysplasia/arthritis odds placed against her as a puppy. She’s twice the age of the life expectancy the vet had warned us. Goes to show me how maintenance is done and how rewarding it is.
Marie

From all the runners.
I am doing a training clinic for a 10K - I'm on week 5 of 13.
My last run was Wednesday - since then i have missed 2 training runs because of a nasty cold
I hope to be back on track by Wednesday.
Just wondering what other runners do to get back on track for training after being sick.

Dagmar - Enjoy your puppy time

Meg - Enjoy you trip, good to hear things are thawing out...spring is right around the corner.

Happy Monday everyone.

S

Marie, how do you weigh your dogs? Our pooch is on a diet, but we can't tell if it's working since we don't have a big dog scale. We tried having DH weigh himself, then pick up the dog and weigh himself holding the dog, but that was a long time ago. The dog has decided since then that being picked up means that he is going to be thrown into the tub for a bath, so as soon as DH goes to pick him up he lays down! Smart doggie. If we do manage to pick him up he thrashes around so much that DH can't get onto the scale.

Speaking of Carter, since the weather has improved he's switched from his winter eating habits to his summer eating habits, which hopefully will help him lose some more weight. During the winter, as soon as we put out his breakfast he eats it, and he's begging for dinner the moment we get home. Sometimes he even begs for more after he eats dinner. In the summer, on the other hand, we put out his breakfast and he doesn't touch it. When we get home, his breakfast is still in his dish. He eats it around the time he gets his dinner usually. Then he'll beg for his dinner right after finishing his breakfast. Our new technique is that we give him breakfast every morning, and if he hasn't eaten it when we get home from work, we don't give him any more food until he asks for it (so if he eats just the breakfast and isn't hungry, he doesn't get any more food). If he does ask for more food, we are only giving him a half portion, which seems to be enough.

Dogs are so funny. It's like he has some internal clock that said, "It's warming up, better get rid of this layer of fat we put on for the winter!"

Megan, good luck with your bootcamp!

Shannon, it sucks that DSS's mom is being such a pain. Divorce can be so hard on kids. Have you & DH let her know that DSS is upset you aren't being invited to his parties? You'd think she could get over her issues, just for a couple hours, for the sake of her son.

Sznn, my only advice is to not push it too hard on your next run. If you get tired, just take it easy.

sznn - i've never 'trained' for a race using any sort of schedule or plan. i would suggest going for a run for a certain amount of time and see what you can do (i.e. run for 45 min instead of 8 km) and just let your body dictate the speed you run... the first few minutes (like 5-15 depending) will be very hard and you'll likely have to self talk your way through it (or at least i do and had to do that yesterday on my run, took 15 min before i was in 'the zone')

hope you're feeling better!

Jessica~I only weigh my dogs at the vet. A good indication that your dog is a healthy weight is if you are able to easily feel his ribs without actually having to search for them. You might even see them when he walks. Also the "waist" area in a dog like yours should go in a little between his rib cage and pelvis. If it's more straight he can still stand to lose weight. What are you doing to help him lose weight? How much did he weigh when you started? The one thing that I do for my dogs is feed them twice a day (they're about 70 pounds each and they get 1 cup of dry food once a day and one whole carrot each meal--it fills them up with negligible calories and they really like it to the point where they look at me funny if I forget).

Sznn~if I've been sick and missed a running date I usually just let my body tell me what's going on the next time I run. Usually it tells me to quit a little earlier but it's rarely more than one session that that happens.

I agree, Meg, with shipping your stuff UPS to your daughter. They're fast and dependable and you won't have the hassle at the airport (and it can be cheaper depending on what your airline is planning to charge you).

Megan, it's Michele at the eye doctor on Wednesday, and I hope she has good news, too.

Had a great workout with my trainer. She really does some interesting stuff using nontraditional items. She got a slide board last week, and we worked on that today with stuff for legs, arms and core. Working lots of muscles using one board and a couple of towels.

Did anyone watch the Oscars? I tuned in and out, but did get to see Jeff Bridges win (loved him in Crazy Heart) and Sandra Bullock (loved her, too). I didn't see any of the other movies.

Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

Marie - actually I am training for a half marathon. Theoretically, I am running one in two weeks. Glad you are feeling better and getting back the exercise motivation!

Suzanne - I don't hammer myself hard to try to 'make up' lost runs in a short amount of time. I typically plan to just start back up where I left off, realizing I might have to pull up a little short if I'm not feeling it. If I go too short I will do two days in a row to make up for it, but I typically only run every other day. Works better for my knees and ankles that way. I've been pretty free with my training thus far, haven't really followed any kind of formal schedule. Glad you are feeling better!

Jessica - I'm picturing Carter examining himself in profile in the mirror while you guys are at work. "Hm, I think I'll skip breakfast today, have to be ready for the dogpark." And I don't think DSS's mom he cares what his opinion of it is. I don't know what she said to him when he mentioned me coming to the party, which I'm sure he did. He didn't say. She and her petty is more important in this, as it is in a lot of things actually. Heck, he told her himself how much he wanted her to come to his party at the park next week and she is still refusing because I'll be there.

I feel uncomfortably full after lunch. And it wasn't a heavy meal. Ick.