I think we are out of whack on our dates. I thought the threads went from Monday to Sunday so although its 1:34, I'm starting the new weekly thread.

Guess what? I have on BRIGHT FRIGGIN BRIGHT RED SHOES! I look like Dorothy stuck in Oz. My DD bought me some red flat shoes two years ago and she complained that I NEVER wear them so I wore them to work today. It wasn't until I got to the office that realized that I should have stashed some black shoes in my bag and changed once I got to work. My co-workers keep laughing, saying "There's no place like home".

On another note, I had a most EXCELLENT cardio workout yesterday - the teacher is a maniac - l LOVE HIM. Plus I cut my lawn, front back and alley. Add the back and shoulder workout and you got one tired person. Food is still ragged but not totally out the window. One track the instructor played yesterday was titled "Kanye West's work out plan" That is one crazy song -fast paced, good beat, hilarious lyrics. The females chorus is:

Thanks to Kanye's work out plan
I'm the envy of all my friends
Now I got me a baller man
and I ain't gotta work at the mall again.


The guys chorus is:
That's right put in work
move your a**es, go bezerk
get that salad, no dessert
get that baller you deserve.

THEN they go into testimonials from users, my fav being this one:

I'm Ellie Mae from Alabama and thanks to Kanye's workout plan, I've been able to date outside the family, I got a double wide and I rode a plane.

The man is nuts, but it is a good workout song.

I'll be out of pocket until Friday but look forward to catching up with all of y'all when I get back.

Work it hard, ladies and gents, work it real hard.

Tiki.

I thought the threads ended on Sunday but wasn't for sure?? I posted on the old one this morning anyway...
So ,again ,I say HAPPY MONDAY!!
Tiki, those lyrics are hilarious. My kind of humor for sure.
Luv it.....
XOXO
L2L

Hi Guys.
I just started a new thread for Logging Diet and Excersise so I will be posting my eats and training over there. I will continue to post everythig else over here. I am hoping it will help me with my commitment and accountability. Everything helps.
PLease join in if you care to! I would be curious to see other peoples regimens!
OK.
God Bless
XOXO
L2L

I thnk I got jinxed by that thread on bad workouts Today was THE WORST workout I think I've ever had since I stopped getting cluster headaches when I lifted. I was doing back and bi's, and couldn't lift anything without pain somewhere. My shoulder seems destined for the orthopedist at some point, and my abs aren't anywhere near healed. There just doesn't seem to be anything I could do right today. Even my shoes seem to have disintegrated overnight. Well, at least my food is good. Did a fairly useless half hour of "sweatless cardio" because I only had a half an hour between clients and no time to take a shower. It's time to bite the bullet and start getting up early enough to do my own workout- at least the cardio- before I have to go train others.

One of my new clients today is quite a challenge. He's 80, active, and a great talker. He has no feeling in the bottom of his feet from standing in cold wet foxholes in Normandy in WWII, no cartilage in his knees from years of basketball, prostate cancer, and a heart of gold. This man volunteers 6 hours a day, 5 days a week at a hospice and at an assisted living facility for,um, not sure what the current pc term is- ******ed adults. His wife is a dedicated lifter at age 76 and finally convinced him to start coming to the gym. Despite having a zilllion things wrong with him, he's in decent shape and game to try anything. I'm going to love working with him. I felt very small nearly crying over my own crappy workout after I talked with him.

Hey Dorothy- If you click those shoes together while you are at the office, will you magically be transported home? I'd wear them every day! Not really, for the most part, I like my job

L2L- I track all my food on www.fitday.com. My journal is public if you want to see what I eat. Here's where it is: http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJ...?Owner=meliris
The days where the entries end before 5 meals or there are NO entries: I most likely blew it bigtime.

Jack- Some guy in Men's corner sounded annoyed that women were there. That's why I've quit posting anything. I figured if a relevant question arose, you would PM me or post it here. Are we allowed back in or was I being overly sensitive?

Gotta go- oops, one more: JC! I've been missing you! Hope life lightens up a bit for you.

Hi guys,
Mel: I will have to check out your journal on fitday. I just decided I had to post my stuff 'somewhere' to help my dedication level. Sorry your day didn't go as planned It happens to the best of us. That new client sounds awesome. I am gonna be workin' out when I am 103! Count on it. There are some dedicated older folks in my gym and some of them could probably kick my butt on the treadmill

Jack: Shoulder injuries take like forever to heal and seem to recur. I injured my shoulder (lifting weights) 15 or so years ago. before I was even consistant. I think I joined for two free weeks and didn't come back, but I was there long enough to injur myself. To this day, I still have times when it will 'act up' on me and I will have to modify my arm positioning while training shoulders to alleviate it.
Shoulders, knees and lower back. the things I don't want to hurt.

I had a much better workout tonight since it 'cooled' down to 80. Much better than 98 so I had a decent workout. My first day on my diet went pretty well. I have one more meal left. I set it at 1200 to 1400 cals. Seems really low to me but I know that it provides adequate cals and nutriton for my health and my goal is to drop bodyfat. I have to convince myself that I am NOT starving...
If I lose too fast I will up the cals. We'll see.
OK I am of to Log my stuff for the day.
XOXO
L2L

Happy Wednesday, gang! I'm typing with one hand and pouring coffee down my throat with the other so that I'll be geared up for cardio in a few minutes. Are you with me, Jack?

Life is busy/crazy as usual.

L2L -- I am so with you about working out as I get old(er)! I love seeing senior citizens at the gym (some doing really serious weight/exercises). The huge difference in how people age is remarkable -- some folks are feeble invalids in the 70s and some are active and vibrant. It all seems to come down to having a fit and functional body, so that's what I'm working for now. I don't want to finally get the kids out of the nest (if ever ) and maybe have a little money and time and not be able to enjoy it because of poor health.

Shoulders are the , Mel! Do you think there's anything you can do short of the orthopedist (I know how you feel about letting docs near your shoulders)? Physical therapy? (although you probably know all the moves yourself anyway) Meds? Do you think you've got a tear? All my sympathies to you -- I know how it's hard to do almost anything when your shoulder hurts (including sleep).

JC -- sorry things are so rough right now, but keep popping back in and let us know how you're doing.

What's up for today? Cardio for me, then a ton of errands, workout this afternoon, and a huge stack of bills, taxes and financial stuff. Having to make two college tuition payments is just plain depressing.

Have a good one!

Are you there in the Antipodes? We miss you! How’s winter?

JC – good to hear from you - just when I was going to post a ‘Hullo Down Under’ message (I did it anyway). Sending you good vibes as you put one foot in front of the other with that job – you’ll be fine. Look after yourself.

My week has a slightly different slant to it than usual so I went to the gymn to do cardio only. Don’t usually do that. Result (Be Amazed 1): I’m full of endorphins and getting everything done!

Be Amazed 2: eating carefully means that you lose weight. True fact. It’s happening to me. Worth keeping it up then, I suppose. What do you think?

Mel wrote:

Thanks for reminding me of this. I’ve added it to my sig file and there seems to be no stopping me!

Now, I definitely need my sleep so I was more than a bit concerned – sometimes you have clients at 5 a.m., don’t you?! – when you said:

As the Bard put it in Macbeth (Act II, Scene II): ‘sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care’. I rest my case.

Tiki – isn’t it good to do exactly what you want for your birthday? Once I had a peanut butter sandwich for Christmas dinner, alone on a mountain side. It was just what I wanted at that point and the silence was magnificent.

Meg – still throwing things out? Have you still got wheels in your sitting room? I’ve just mended the wheelbarrow wheel so that’s back in the shed where it belongs!

Hullo to the rest of you all. Keep training!

Hello All,
Its been a LONG time, I have not even had the chance to lurk for the past month or so. Let's see...the summer has been very busy with my son being home from school and I finally landed a job!! I will be teaching H.S. computers starting in September so I'm now taking a class and trying to get my plans together. I'm working on adding some balance in my life in the form of reducing stress. I was so stressed about finding a job, then on a high because I found a job, and now I'm starting to stress out about planning for the fall. I have such a hard time with staying on an even keel. And that's why I have struggled with food for soooooooooooo d*mn long!!

I'm happy with my fitness goals in that I have kept my weight steady and stayed basically on track with my workouts. Per usual, the nutrition piece is the one that falls apart for me, but mostly I've been OK. I definitely manage better on a diet of limitied foods - I loved Karen's quote about how variety causes overeating. It's just so true. I'm getting back to basics today because lately I've been slipping, just having some bad carbs here, a little ice cream there, its starting to add up. I wish I could let it just roll off my back (literally!) but once I start to slip I know I could end up free falling face first into a vat of something very yummy, but very damaging.

Hello to everyone, Meg, Jack, Karen, Tiki, Ilene, Dip, Silver, JC, Luv2Lift, Mel, Robin & anyone I could have missed! I hope you are having a fantastic summer. Here in NH its raining again...

Anne

I got up this morning and got out my canister of Quaker oats and promptly dropped it on the floor. The lid popped off and all but a few crumbs went everywhere..I said to myself "Nice goin', Christine! " and just then my little boy came over to where I was stooped over, gave my back a little rub and said "It's OK, mom. It was an accident." and begins to help me clean it up.
That is all it takes to melt my heart and get my day off to a good start.
I am reading "The Perricone Prescription" right now. The book about following a special diet for the health and beauty of your skin. The vast majority of the foods are very BB diet friendly (fish, chicken, veggies, low GI fruits...) not much I'm not already familiar with. The only thing is Sweet Poataoes aren't all that great for his purpose, not horrible though ,so I am going to continue to eat them . Going on day 3 of eating (mostly) clean and I feel so alive and healthy. Gosh..It is like finally getting on the right medication
"Lord, help me to remember this when I am tempted...Amen."

Leessismore:
Per usual, the nutrition piece is the one that falls apart for me
Oh.. Your singing my tune, sister...
Don't think we have met..Nice to meet you

Mel, Meg, Jack, Tiki, JC, Silverbirch..
Have an awesome day.
I am off to log my stuff...accountability, thoughtfulness, planning....
XOXO
L2L

Good morning gang!

I just realised that this is the first post I write this week on our weekly thread!! I must be slippin'...

I'm slippin' in more ways than one these days... Planning thoughtful food has been very difficult! Argh!! It's showing on the scale too...

L2L -- Aren't young children the cutest sometimes... I remember when *sigh* .... cherish those moments cause they get fewer and farther between as they get older but I'm sure you've heard all this before... Oh and I know what you mean with oatmeal it has been my absolute staple for the last 1.5 year about, and when the canister goes low I almost panic!! BTW thanks for starting that thread "Daily Diet and Exercise Log" It's been very helpful... and seeing your menu has made me rethink mine and it's been going better the last couple of days... I'm having a difficult time with water lately too , today I'm concentrating on that... In a few minutes I will get ready and do the gym thang!!


Silver -- I'm really liking your sig... they are crutial... I like them because they elaborate more than the Trinity in my sig... I'm ready for a new sig... Anyone got any good quotes or ideas? Be amazed 3: Amazing how when we stick to it, planning nutrition, exercise AND sleep ... We are all happier beings... Worth keepin up?? ABSOLUTELY ....

Anne -- Welcome back! A new job is so exciting! Congrats on keeping your weight in check for the summer...

Well gotta go I'm off to the gym with DS...
...

Hello LWL!

Keepin' well to the food plan, working goes ok, what else do you want? Right, exercize! This has been fairly off the agenda as the gym has closed. I made my program workable from home but it's just not the same, BIIIG sigh...I'm also going to take up the stationary bike from the garage and up the squash (am going today after work) with my colleagues.

I don't mind that much at this point because I have good news:
BF and I did a very important thing last Monday: we bought a house! Our first! I'm sooooo exited, I'm living on adrenaline. The sellers accepted our bid Tuesday (which we did not expect so soon) so we keep our fingers crossed because we have to make the downpayment on Saturday coming.
It's a little beauty, not big but with a big garden around it, and lots of space for BF to fix up his old cars (he collects them).
I'm picking up ideas for fixing up the garden, like hardy green plants and herbs (edibles are my preference), nice ideas etc. I will have to dig a lot because gardening will be my patch, which will be very good for me too.

Ilene, we all have our difficult moments, point is to accept them and to work on them, hang in there!

more later, hi to all, GG

Hello LWL - I'm still here - just having a busy week, with very little time for discretionary online stuff... Food is pretty good - not perfect, but much improved from before. My weight is down a couple more pound, so I'm really just about 3# up from where I was when things got out of control. Whew!

Workouts pretty good - the bicep tendon is a little tender because of stuff the chiropractor has me doing, so I need to be careful of it, but I plan to try to push myself on tomorrow's back/bi/tri workout - for the first time in about 2 months! Wish me luck and no pain!

GG - exciting news on the house - send photos when you can! Where exactly in France are you? I'd like to look you up on a map just to get a feel for where you are.

Well, back to work - prepping for a big training I have to do next Tuesday morning - can't wait until it's over!
Cindy

GG,
Congrats on the house! How exciting!
5 years ago hubby and I were planning to buy a brand new house. My husbands mom knew of an empty house for us to rent while we were looking. It was a house custom built in 1968 by this wonderful couple. Brick with wood floors, custom tile etc. 3 bdrm/ 2 bath, living and family room, garage, shop, HUGE back yard. Well this lady was 98 years old and was in an assisted living facility and wasn't coming back. I fell in love with this house. No children or pets had ever been there and it was immaculately maintained. Long story short (or shortened)
This lady wanted us to have her house! We bought it at an incredible price, far below market value with no real estate agent or anything. We were very fortunate. We have done lot's of updating and remodeling and are now adding on to it. So much fun!
Sorry to go on, but it is such a joy having a home you truly love. We have owned ours for about 3 1/2 years now and I am so happy there as I'm sure you will be

Congrats again!

My weight is down 2# (AGAIN!) and so I am feelin' like the BF is s...l...o...w...l...y... dropping, but it's going.

Eat thoughtfully....
I gotta remember that always.
XOXO
L2L

Thanx Cindy and l2l,

I can' say how excited I am. Tomorrow is the big day for signing and the obligatory 5% downpayment. Yesterday I was soooo busy making plans for the garden, that the day flew by. Squash left me with a sore-ish hip but was fun, I'm getting better already!

Cindy, I live near Lyon, about 20 miles from the 4th biggest city of France (about 2M inhabitants). We still live in a small village called Montluel, but are going to move (well, hopefully) about 7 miles south-east to the little village of Blyes. You can find both on Mappy.com, type in Blyes or Montluel, and France, and you'll find it.

I'll also try and post the link to the photo's later on.

Gotta run, have a good morning and a fruitfull day all!

gg

Congratulations GG! That's so exciting, I can understand you living on adreneline I lived in Lyons for 8 months about a zillion years ago, when it was a much smaller city. I do remember incredible food there, tho.

I've been net-less from Tuesday through yesterday when a huge lightening bolt hit our house, and knocked out the cable connection. Amazingly, that was the only thing damaged, except for my cat's tolerance. She just this morning finally made an appearance from out of the basement. Too bad storms are forecast for tomorrow again. She'll probably disappear for another few days behind some pile of boxes. Luckily, her litter box is close by

Lifting and food and cardio have all been perfect this week. I'm looking tighter and can actually see some abs and quad cuts again, but the %#$^ scale won't budge! Nothing to do but keep eating clean, I guess. Tonight we have a good-bye party to attend for some longtime neighbors; hopefully if I stay out of the wine, I'll stay out of the food as well. I have to take some appetizer, so I'll try to make it "my" food. Any ideas? Other than that, I'll go armed with my water bottle. I'm determined to stay OP. A few weeks of being careless with food and cardio put 3 pounds on me that are just not shaking off. Sigh- they went on soooo easily

SB: I RARELY have 5 am clients. I did that for 2 days only to help out my boss who was competing in Pittsburgh. He took 3rd in BodyBuilding at the NPC National Masters in Pittsburgh. I'm barely coherent at 5am, and usually comatose! My idea of getting up early to do cardio is 6:30

Hello Jack, Meg, Karen, L2L, Robin (where are you?), Dip (if you're still reading), Cindy, Ilene, um... who have I forgotten? Tiki! Hello lurkers!

Have a good one,
Mel