LwL,

Wakey wakey everyone! It's Sunday, and hopefully the sun is shining for all of you too, it's wonderful here!

Yesterday, Sweetheart and me slept late, then went for a drive and walk along the river Ain. The sun was shining and warm, and I took my tights off for the 1st time this year to give my legs the opportunity to tan a bit. Then we had coffee (black) and cider at Perrouges, a small medieval restored town near us. as it was Mayday, labourday here, there was an artisan fair so we saw how glass is blown etc. Everything was smelling green and flowery, it was really wonderful! This was the most heavenly day I've had in a long time.
Today, we are thinking picknick and maybe even swimming, who knows...
And we're slowly starting to look around for our own real house, we agreed on what style (old or maybe smt whacky like an old closed and refurbished little French petrol station), what state ( not very good, so we could get it cheap and fix it up ourselves), and where (around here, not to close to the city, about 1/2 hour drive is perfect). I feel good!

Meg, How did the dinner go? You fall asleep or did the fork work? Where DO you get all that energy + heal so fast?!

Lanaii, you're too sweet! Thank you and Meg, I'm doing fine up to now. I am positive that lady meant you when she said petite in the gym, why shouldn't she? Perfume is not bad as a too strong smell, I had an eyewatering experience with a guy's "eau de woodchopper" the other day which was too revolting. I prefer too much perfume any day!

Tiki, had to laugh about the size 8 skirt: Here in Europe it's the other way round: Even Nola would have a BIIIG problem fiitting into a size M, The French and Greek actually have such small standard sizes YOU would not fit into an XXL skirt, they are so vain they want to fit in smaller and smaller sizes. The Dutch and Germans on the other hand, DO have bigger std sizes, but they are so tall that a shorty like me ends up looking like PeeWee Herman with stolen clothes on, and sleeves hanging to the floor.

AND NOW
Weeks report:
Confession: I did not swear on the bible (didn't have one handy), but promised SH, and boy is he a tough cookie, he only promised to support me if I would take it really seriously, so now I have to 5 times over!

I stopped adding or eating sugar or alcohol and stayed off the French cheese. I had an awful headache for two days but feel a lot better now! Yesterday I allowed myself some slack as we went to have dinner with friends, and had some champagne and potatoes dauphinois.
Eating is as follows: Morning, either an egg-white omelet, oats and fruit or oats+ cottage cheese+ fruit. After gym, 1 fruit. Snack: cottage cheese (100gr), lunch: some vegetables and meat stew I make at home. snack: cottage cheese (100gr), dinner: meat and vegetables/salad. Evening: maybe a glass of tomato juice or soda light (when I feel like partying).
Exercize: 4 times this week: Weights combined with cardio (min 30 min, max 1 hour), 2 times plain cardio, eliptical or walking, as long as possible 1-2 hours.
It seems to work and I feel really good by it, tomorrow is weigh-day, will let you know!

o, yeah, and little or no fat except for crude olive oil.

I saw Silverbirch's thread and thought she had a good point there: a little at a time, and let it come natural, so I am not TRYING, just taking measures and letting it happen, which leaves you feeling a lot more relaxed...

GG &

Hellooooo!!

Just about to have friends over to watch (big surprise) motorbike racing! Had a free day today and enjoyed a nice Thai dinner with my hubby. I spent most of the day being lazy, finishing up laundry and watching movies. It is heading into winter, nothing like a northern Canadian winter, but cold and raining... Was happy to be snuggled up on the couch in my grandma knitted blanket with my 2 kitties keeping me warm! Week is planned... meals are cooked, gym bag is almost packed for tomorrow morning, just to pack my lunch before the friends come over and the week will begin! I plan on going to a deep water running class Monday night with my VERY pregnant friend, she loves the class and it gives us a chance to catch up. I love it too... and it will be good to work the legs after my leg day in the morning! Hope to hit the steam room and the spa!

Hope everyone had a great weekend, and will talk to you guys soon!
N.

Hi Jack!

There are some nice recipes on the bb recipes thread. Have a look.

I had an idea when reading through them this morning, too. I'm thinking of making a LWL cook book we could all use. I've started picking the recipes off the bb recipes thread this morning, and will spend some time on sorting and editing. I think a lot of those recipes are really good and wouldn't it be fun to have our own cook book too... I could mail it to all interested when ready (this might take some time), but would also like to add more to the list, so I would like to open a new LWL cookbook thread with a sticky but do not know how to add the sticky. The recipes should be bb clean, easy, and practical for busy people who would like to be in the kitchen as little as possible and still prepare good tasty meals.
We could all put up our favorite snacks, sweets, stews, soups, salads, veggies, meat, poultry etc and share them...
Whaddayathink?

GG gone bb gourmet

Thanks, Greekgirl, for your comments. Yes, I do think that relaxation and enjoyment of the journey are so important. And they get results, too. As someone once said to me, life is not a heavy-duty pilgrimage. How true! Your May Day sounded nice.

Back to my report now. It's unbearable but I have to bear it and finish it. And sit up straight at the keyboard – today’s a posture day!

Hope you’re all doing well out there. Together, we can move a mountain!

love, love

Silverbirch

Good Early Afternoon Girls and Guy!

SilverB -- I must respond to your thread... I have thought of the thread often specially on the treadmill while jogging, this is when I do a LOT of my thinking. I have been feeling badly about not responding to it sooner... I Too "try" and don't always succeed though, to let things come naturally... It makes me smile, EVERY time I read your posts and you mention posture I sit up straighter ... I have for years conciously tried to sit straight and hold my abs... I have been told numerous times that I have perfect posture. I also make a concientious effort at the gym do perfect form and have had trainers comment on it...This makes me feel very good I must admit... For me some days I MUST make a BIG effort to stay focussed other days it soooooooo easy... I wish it were easy ALL the time don't you?

GG -- Great idea on the recipe book... That would be so much work tho... Karen is the moderator of this forum and I think she's the one that does the "sticky" thing...

Jack -- Here is one of my fav recipes post workout...

Protein milkshake...
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
1 Tbsp ground flax
1 tsp Udo's oil
1 c. frozen strawberries
1/2 c. skim milk
1/2 c. water or more depending on desired consistency
Splenda or other sweetner if desired...
Just whir in a blender or with a hand held mixer ... YUMMY!!!! I promise...

I hope everyone has a great Sunday/Monday.... I'm off to the gym later... Arms I think and cardio of course....

Later all

Jack, I'd love to have you all, but believe me, you don't want to be in Athens during the Olympics, it's going to be chaos all over. I'm moving to France myself to be with sweetheart, but most of the people I know in Athens are going away and will rent a flatscreen to really see the olympics in stead of getting stuck for hours into traffic in a heatwave. I suggest everybody comes to Lyon, France (not a bad deal either) and will rent us a BIIIG flatscreen and provide the snacks and spiky comments...
thanks for the backfeed on the cookbook, but 'm going to put you to work too providing the recipes! Picking Lanaii's up also as a fact...

See ya!

GG

Hi!

I'm here to offer living proof that taking in 500 excess calories per day actually does lead to a gain of a pound a week! I got a new job that conflicted with my weightlifting schedule, and also stopped paying enough enough attention to my eating -- and gained back most of the 40 pounds I lost a few years ago.

The only thing that's not bad about it is that I still think of myself as strong and healthy -- just unable to fit into my clothes! I was still lifting once or twice a week, and feel like I haven't lost much strength.

I've returned to using fitday to record my food, and have been to the gym regularly this past week. Of course I knew from all of you that the effort needs to continue, but for a few months I just didn't care enough. I told myself today that if I had diabetes I would accept the need for continued vigilance, and just have to accept that continued vigilance is also necessary for me to be healthy.

It looks like all of you are doing great (I had still been reading some of your posts, just not paying attention!) It's good to be back!

Carrie

Read the thread this AM and now I’m sitting up straighter too … have you ever noticed how good posture really affects how you look? I can think of one guy at the gym who carries himself so well: head up, shoulders back and it gives him an air of confidence and he looks fantastic. And then there's all the slumpers in the world (probably including me most of the time) and that totally detracts from your appearance. So today will be Good Posture Day! Sometimes I pretend I’m walking around with a book on my head — anyone ever do that? — and it forces you to walk from your hips, not your knees.

GG, I think the cook book idea is terrific, especially if you wanted to take the time to organize it into sections. That would make it so easy to find new things. I have a bunch of recipes that I make all the time that I’ve never posted and will if we get this going. Yep, Karen or Mel can give it a “sticky” to keep it on the top of the heap.

Wait a minute — Jack —you’re NOT 21? But you look it, babe! Ladies, Jack’s one of these natural blonds with fair skin and a few freckles who looks twenty years younger than he is. If he wasn’t so nice, I’d have to hate him.

Carrie — great to see you back again! That’s so scary what you say about weight gain and just 500 extra calories a day. That’s just one Starbucks venti caffe mocha! It would be so so easy to let 500 calories slip in and not even notice it! I really like your diabetes analogy and it hits home for me since DS has diabetes. There are certain things he HAS to do every day to handle the disease. He can't wake up in the morning and say he doesn’t “feel like” testing his blood sugar or injecting his insulin. He has to do those things and we’d think he was crazy if he was too lazy or unmotivated to do them. And he has to eat right or his blood sugars go completely out of whack. We have to eat right too and exercise, but for us the downside isn't quite so immediate or obvious. But, as you point out, it’s there nonetheless. For us, it just takes a little longer to show up.

Good day at the gym yesterday. I started running again — three laps run, one lap walk etc. to try to build back up to where I was. For me, running is the best cardio if I want to lose fat and I used to do two miles each AM so that’s where I’m trying to get back to. I have to wear a spandex/stretchy ankle-length garment thingie to hold me together and keep me from swelling, but it doesn’t bother me when I run.

Then I did a lovely chest workout. Since I hurt my shoulder almost two years ago (partially tore a bicep tendon), there are times I can bench and times that I can’t. Yesterday was a tender shoulder day, so my buddy benched and I grabbed DBs and pressed those for my sets and it all worked out — I could still spot him as he grunted and groaned through his manly four-rep sets. With the DBs, I can angle my hand position a bit and that takes all the strain off my shoulder. I was able to do the decline bench with no problem, though. I just listen to what my shoulder tells me and work around it. And it’s telling me it does NOT want to rip anything ever again!

I’ve been experimenting with the “eat/don’t eat before cardio” question and I think I need to eat if I’m awake a couple of hours before cardio. Otherwise, I bonk. So I just finished my oatmeal and PP and we’ll see how that affects the running. Exercising really proves the adage that food IS fuel because if I don't eat (or eat crap) and try to workout, it’s a disaster. But if I eat clean and eat enough, it makes working out so much easier. The trick for me is to delicately balance those carb s between too many and not enough.

Hi to all and if we don’t hear from Dip soon, I’m going to have to make a road trip and find her (yes, that’s a threat, Ms. Dip!)

Good morning, one and all!

Ilene – so you think on the treadmill too! I do a lot of thinking at the gymn. Sorting things out kind of thinking. I write notes to myself in my gymn book! Perfect form, perfect posture – I bet you look great.

GG – cookery book? Good idea. Food is fuel and it can be delicious too!

Carriej – hullo there and nice to meet you. Yes, that diabetes analogy is a good one. I’ll be thinking of that.

Meg – so running loses fat for you ? Just running or intervals?

Jack – positive feedback. Ye cannae whack it (trsl: you cannot beat it).

‘Our’ swallows have definitely arrived from Africa. Others have been passing through for two weeks or so on their way further north. Ours are swooping round, chitter-chattering on the wire (about our tasty insects, I like to think), pleased to have arrived in their summer home.

The bluebells are all out. They are such a gorgeous almost mauve-blue, particularly lovely shimmering against the bright green grass at dusk.

I am feeling grim. The poor sleep and not-so-good food combo has still to be cracked. Last night I ate a sandwich at 9 p.m. – almost unknown for me – and the result was indigestion and poor sleep. As I lay in bed this morning, tuning in to my body, I realised that there’s a parallel with when I gave up smoking. That was back in 1986. One of the most powerful tools I used then was thinking about exactly how the hot smoke was burning the tiny hairs and cells in my airways and lungs, the ones which worked so hard to waft pollution and stray nasty bits up and out of my body. I think I’ll start thinking about exactly how bad nutrition, at the wrong time for me, messes up my finely balanced digestive system. That’s the system which works so hard to fuel my body, enabling it to do the things I want and need to do. I’ll give it a go. And I’ll keep on getting early nights. My current ambition is to wake up refreshed!

Although it’s the May bank holiday here, I’m still hammering away at the report face, chiselling out the nuggets of pure – gold – yes, gold! Positive thinking there.

So, ta ta

Silverbirch.

Come on in, the rest of you! The water’s lovely!

Good luck to you! Sounds like you have tthe right idea just make some changes and let it happen slow is better and then it tends to become natural that is the changes you make in your eating. We all cheat once in awhile its better to have a little of something you crave than to binge later on a larger amount and go off completly. Well good luck in your house hunting and your new lifestyle sounds like you have a good support system!!!!

Wow! You have done great losing that much weight. How in the world did you do it and what knowledge can you give that will help me stick to it better? Sure would like to hear from you!

Good Rainy Monday Mornin' to you ALL!!

Altho it's raining at least yesterday was warm and SUNNY with only intermitent rain... and Saturday too so the weekend was good...

Silver -- I think of nutrition as fuel for my body MOST of the tiem... I try to remember how BADLY I will feel when I eat that junk or sugary stuff... Sugar for me is like a sleeping pill, I get that initial high, which is barely a high to speak of , then 20 minutes later I just want to go to sleep and waste the day away! I really hate wasting time too, unless it's on the computer! I don't consider that wasting time, specially when I'm here at 3FC .....

Carrie -- Good to have you back girl, now pay attention!!

Holy Trinity of LWL is:
1...Clean Eats
2...Weights
3...Cardio

Got it? Good!! Stick around with us!

Meg -- I agree that proper food, right amount, perfect timing before workouts, is MAJORLY important... Otherwise a good intentioned workout goes down the tubes!! For me there is NOTHING more disappointing!!

Well, speaking of food and timing I must go now! Eat, clean th house and go to the gym

Later all....

P.S.: It's LEG DAY!! YAY!!

Good Morning LWL, I'm so happy to be back! Well, not really, considering I just returned from our week long Florida vacation which was SO heavenly. Really, the best vacation we have ever taken as a family. The weather was amazing and we watched the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico every night from our balcony. I squeezed in 2 work outs and managed to eat well MOST of the week, but I admit I brought my skinny clothes and wore them first and then had some bigger shorts & t's for the end of vacation in case I indulged, which I did on the last 3 days. But for the first vacation in a long time, I planned my treat meals and didn't just stuff myself silly for 6 days straight like I usually do. I felt so in control and that means more to me than what I did or didn't eat, KWIM? When I did have some treats I only ate til I was satisfied, no overeating, and I felt so confident in my bathing suit all week. I know this may sound caddy, but body image and binge eating are my downfalls, so staying in control was a huge deal. Anyway, we went to a wonderful zoo and my son saw a huge lion roar and got to pat a baby alligator, he was in heaven!!! The whole week was amazing and I'm on the biggest high because we had so much fun.

Meg - Glad to see you're back working out! Somehow I knew it wouldn't take you long. Are you happy with the results of your surgery?

Ilene - work those legs today! I totally agree with your holy trinity of nutrition & I'm starting my 2nd 12-week challenge today. The focus for me is eating clean and trying to strengthen my butt & abs. I hate doing abs!!! I wish i didn't, but I do so I have to challenge myself to doing them 4 times per week. Unfortunately, I don't see good results unless I work them hard & often.

Hello to Jack, GG, Silverbirch, Nola, Tiki, Dip, Mel, Karen, & Skyfirefly! Welcome back Carrie & you can do this!!!

Talk to you guys & gals later.

Anne

Hi all,

Just finished catching up on the the posts. P&V is piss and venom, right? Or is it piss and vinegar? Either way I think it is dealing with a mental attitude, not an afterworkout beverage.

Jack - Nature vs. Nurture? very intersting. Most of my friends say I think differently than most women because I grew up the youngest in a house full of men. I say I was raised by a pack of wolves. So my nuture is totally out of whack with my nature.

Silver - I am going to take a piece from your post, reword it, and stick it on my fridge and desk. I have a lot of diabetic relatives and am always afraid that I am next. However, if I act like one now, perhaps I can avoid becoming one.

Our weather this weekend was crappy. Cold and rainy both days. I took the crew up to MSU on Saturday to enroll DS in a college prep program that he will attend this summer. Sniff Sniff, DS is only 12 and I am sending him away to college. They grow up so fast. After that we drove around the campus (got lost), finally headed back to the Motorcity, hit a book store (I picked up Dr. Phil) and then went to see Mean Girls. Sunday I created my first cheer dance routine - that was a workout in itself. I can't believe that I'm so sore from dancing but my quads are aching. I like it, I like it.

Oh well, back to the grind. Hi to everyone out there! Keep the sweat coming!

Tiki

Tiki - can't take the credit for bringing up diabetes. 'Twas carriej. But if my words are any good to you , recast 'em and use 'em. Only thing is - if you go into large-scale fridge magnet production we'll have to hammer out a deal. Get your agent to call my agent, OK?

Bye for now.

Silverbirch.