Sorry for the quick post you guys...I AM SWAMPED HERE - getting ready for another meeting that begins tomorrow PLUS cleaning up from last weeks'. At least I don't have to travel for this weeks'!

I'll post more later...carry on everyone!

Morning peeps!

Well I have had a busy but lovely couple of days at work - I have achieved so much! Clean eats all the way helps with keeping the energy levels up as well! Just enjoying my morning coffee at the moment before my boss arrives!

Adriana: I know what you mean by 'scene' at Uni but since I am doing my Masters degree the scene is a bit more mature THANK goodness for that! I couldn't afford the alcohol these days anyways!!!

Hope everyone is having a good day!

JC

Hey all!

Lost 6 1/2 inches (whole body) in my 1st 3 weeks of C1. Haven't weighed--I will tonight and am not looking forward to it.

Didn't do well over the weekend. I had a "free meal" Fri. and Sat. in addition to a completely free day on Sunday. Today's not so hot, either, since I did no grocery shopping/cooking this weekend. Gotta hit the store tonight.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Cheryl

PS--How could I have lived for so long not knowing exactly how much I LUV baked potatoes?

Have any of you ever tried spray butter? It has absolutely NO nutritional value and 5 mg of sodium. Tastes great on those potatoes!!

Hi everyone,
I'm just starting on C1W3 and I am curious just how "free" you make your free days. Or do you still try to be somewhat on the healthy side?
TK

Okay, I think I finally have all of my computer problems solved -- at least until next month, when all of my equipment will become obsolete again.

I've had some computer time to check in, but couldn't keep up with all of the posts. There's a lot of positive energy here, that's for sure. . .

TKMagic -- I've finished one challenge and kinda limped through a partial one (before the holidays). I take completely free days -- whatever I feel like eating, I eat. I don't think this has derailed my effort much (I'm still a long way from being "lean and strong," though), and free days have helped me mentally. I find it easier to say no to donuts when I know I can have one on Sunday (my free day) if I really want. But, I think everyone has to do what works for them. Some people have trouble going back on plan on Monday when they've been totally "free" on Sunday. You might need to do a little experimentation to see how much food freedom you can tolerate/need on that day.

Hope everyone had a great day. Ciao, Mox

Hi I hope that I can join your group. I have just started today. So far things seem to be going well. I have a couple of questions.Do you sweat after you are done you weight work outs? I know that this mornign after I was done I was not but I do know that I was not going fast enough. I will have to pick it up and add more weight for my chest . The rest was fine.
I am looking forward to my cardio day tomorow. I love doing cardio. It will be different for me to only go 20 minutes. I am so use to an hour.
Well I hope you will let me join your group.
Tanya
195/155/140

Hey Mox! How are you?

TKMagic: On my first 2 challenges I had full free days now I eat what I want but I don't crave so much so it ends up being a carb load than sugar and fat. Experiment and you will find the right balance for you.

Cheryl: Well done!!

Tanya: OF COURSE you can join As for the sweat for me it depends on the workout but normally I sweat a little with weights. With cardio thought I am drenched! Don't worry you will soon get used to the 20 minutes when you see results - the key is INTENSITY! GO hard or go home!!

JC

hey everyone,

started my week 3 today. was sick yesterday, so i spent most of the day in bed. i think my body appreciated the rest, i think it has been 4 weeks since it did not have to do some sort of exercise. its telling me to take a day off....and i listened. so i got back today to start week 3. i was pretty tired for the ubwt, but i think i did okay, considering.

two more weeks til vacation...cant wait. going to san deigo with my boyfriend. any ideas on portable foods to bring for the trip? will be spending the days visiting sea world, the zoo, sight see, and his parents.

i can workout at the hotel gym, so i am not worried but the eating....afraid that i will slip and never come back.

jilly

Hello Everyone!

Ok.. first day, C1 - and go figure.. usually i looooove cottage cheese and this morning.. i practically had to choke it down...aggkkk! I've never experienced that before. This is so unusual for me, i'm a fairly good morning eater, and like i said, i like cottage cheese, so go figure.

Other than that..everything is going well except for the water consumption.. i'm not NEARLY drinking what i should be. Would decaf tea with splenda count?

Last question - what happens if you eat waaay more protien than carbs at a meal? welll... EACH meal?

Have a great day everyone!

joanne

Wow! jilly - Jim is from San Diego and we drove down there in September and back in less than 48 hours to see his family. We actually stayed in Cardiff-by-the-Sea for one night - we had planned to stay two but we were so ready to hit the road and beat the traffic through downtown LA! We left SD at 11:15 pm and got home to the Bay Area around 9 am the next morning and of course went right to sleep!

Anyway when I travel I always bring my Myoplex Lite and Braun hand blender - they don't take up much room and that's an easy, quick meal. When I was at the Waldorf, I brought along some dry oatmeal and some protein powder as well - so I could have 'proatmeal' in the mornings. I just used that coffeepot that's generally in the room to make water hot enough to 'cook' my oats, and let the oats and hot water steam in a covered Gladware bowl while I take my shower. (This is how they make hot mash for horses basically!) Then there's tuna pouches, and all that portable stuff. But ya know, when Jim and I go on vacation, part of the vacation is eating together, but it's really not that difficult to find a restaurant that will feed you. Besides I really hate eating in the hotel room - it's too much like eating in my bedroom, ick!

This is where planning ahead is key. Check the websites for San Diego Zoo and Sea World - they'll generally have info posted.

Here's the zoo's. http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/visitor_info.html#dining

and Sea World's... http://www.4adventure.com/seaworld/c...g_options.aspx

Looks like both of them have stuff on their choices you can work with - grilled chicken, salads, seafood, etc. so I think you'll be fine! Ya know, I can see if you're in a totally hopeless food situation - or doing contest prep - bringing your own food all over the place when you're eating out with friends and relatives, but eating out is part of the pleasure, you know? The best thing to do is be aware of your options in advance. With the internet, it's so easy to do the planning ahead - looking at websites and getting a general idea of the cuisine and what's on the menu. With me, I know if it's a seafood place, I can generally relax and know that there's SOMETHING on the menu I can eat. Hey! ya wanna do this for LIFE - you just have to plan ahead a bit.

I'm still getting over my sore throat. I think that my reserves were shot - I was just worn down and got sick easily. I can't even REMEMBER the last time I was really sick, but these meetings really DRAIN me - they're quite stressful, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but they just wear me out by the end of them - the offsites that is. The onsites are a piece o'cake! And it is a real treat for me to be able to bring Jim along - he's like part of the group now. Having had it both ways, I can emphatically say that it is MUCH better to have a partner who gets along well with pretty much everyone!

Joanne - ya know, I would say if decaf tea w/splenda helps you drink your water, then why not? Just try and drink some 'plain' water as well - get yourself used to it. I actually used to use Crystal Light or Lipton Instant Diet Decaf Tea Mix w/Lemon in my water (with lots of ice!) but now at work I just drink straight water - no diet cokes unless my butt is dragging!

JC - I NEVER seem to hear about those catastrophes for some reason! I'll have to check CNN (however I have not been really reading the paper this past week so I might have missed it). Now with the space shuttle explosion - well, that's what most of the paper is about these past few days. I feel terrible for the families, but really if you think about it - three accidents in almost 40 years isn't a bad statistic - I'm surprised that, given the danger of what's being done that there haven't been MORE terrible accidents.

Tanya - welcome! I think most of the gals here have been through the same thing you have - with the cardio. I myself used to do at least one hour of cardio every single day. However, just hitting that 10...doing those high points at maximum intensity - is SO effective...it will amaze you. Oh and I sweat a LOT during weight training - especially legs. Not as much as doing cardio, maybe but still a lot.

Gonna go join hubby and kitties for Seinfeld now!

Karen: yeah they are going on about the safety and stuff with the shuttle but when you think about it 3 in 40 years ain't bad. Just a typical knee jerk reaction.

JC

wow !! it's so great seeing everyone on the board. i was too tired yesterday to come in here, but i did miss you all

i've been fighting my lower back problems for a few days now but after seeing my dr in the morning i decided to go ahead and workout. i did an extra-ordinary chest, back and shoulders workout after that (i upped all the weights)! the back hurt a bit, but nothing major. then it was 30 minutes of elliptical torture. that thing makes the bottoms of my feet numb, but i didn't want to over-tax my back on the treadmill. today i'll swim after the legs workout.

i'm also too busy with getting silly things out of the way.... you know, the kind of stuff that we put off forever till it can't be put off anymore at least that's pretty much done with for now.

glad to hear that you're all doing well these days

Karen - glad to hear that you're feeling better. i would crash and burn on your kind of schedule !! i'm fairly busy, but with no real pressures biting my butt all the time. take care and have a good meeting.

Tanya - i sweat during weights, especially on a legs day. leg presses and squats get my heart pumping quite a lot. less sweat on the upper body stuff, but still. i would try a bit heavier weights, you really want to push yourself all the time. after cardio i have to change my shirt just to go back home.

Karen, again - those were great suggestions on what to do during a trip. i think it's quite easy for us to think that it's difficult to stay on plan during a vacation, but i completely agree with you that it can be done, and with style

Joanne - that's super strange about the cottage cheese. you aren't getting sick or anything like that? i'm sure it was just something very passing. good luck on this challenge. it sure is great that you're doing this for yourself

now on the subject of free days! personally, i stay away from them like the plague. i got into all this mess because of the foods that i ate during all these years. i'm doing this positive change in my life for my health, my future. i see it as completely counterproductive for me to keep up with a whole day of the horrible foods that put my health in danger (of course it was me and my relationship with those foods). i may have one free meal here and there, but that's usually just an addition of say a little piece of cake or some cookies, max!! actually, eating the crap that i used to eat makes me quite ill now. i had a cinnamon roll last week and it gave me heartburn for two days! i wanted to die

but this is a completely personal issue (kind of like cardio). i completely understand the reasoning behind a free day or free meal. most people find that it helps them to stay on track during the week when they can look forward to that freedom. so, bottom line is that you'll just have to find what works the best for you in the end. for me it's catastrophic, for other's is a God-send.

wishing you all a great tuesday.

adriana

Hi All -

My DH and I are on C1, W2, D2 - things are going well so far. We ate pretty simple clean food last week (lots of baked chicken and brown rice) but I've printed off a bunch of BFL recipes from here and L&S so can add more variety now. Made the BFL banana bread yesterday- very good for an evening meal.

Have taken everyone's advice and done a big cooking afternoon to get us ready for the week - it's so much easier to have containers of ready meals in the fridge to grab and go.

After a few days of headaches last week (anyone else have those?) we're both feeling great on this program - sharper, somehow. My DH has also noticed he's no longer cold when he gets up in the morning.

Our workouts are going well - trying to stay exactly within the program - some muscle soreness 24/48 hours after weights workouts, but that's pretty normal.

We were looking forward to our first free day, but the whole family came down with colds so couldn't taste a thing by Sunday - what a disappointment! Oh well...

We're both happy with the program so far, thanks for all your ideas and recipes on this forum.

BethO

Mornin All!

Mrs. Jim... do you think it might be possible to put a sticky thread with BFL recipes?

BethO - Good for you with your progress so far! Its nice to see that you and your husband are getting on fine with the program so far.

Also, Mrs. Jim - Do you know anything about BFL and hypothyroid? Will progress be slower?

At this point, if my progess is slower than usual, (of course it would be nice to see results faster), the idea that i'm looking after my body with good food and excersize is enough for me.

Have a WONDERFUL day everyone!!

joanne