Good morning, Maintainers! Happy new week to all.

Busy day for me – cardio, quickie shower, and then clients for the rest of the day. Hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze a leg workout in there somewhere.

I pledge to be a faithful poster on Anne’s accountability thread this week. Once again (for the gazillionth time ) I remember how much I hate feeling bloated and tubby (isn’t it funny how just a few pounds can do that now??) and love the feeling of being back in control. But why is it that there’s always a on one shoulder whispering in my ear and an on the other … ?

Anyway, I'm traveling to FL and CA with DH in ten days and want to be down a few pounds before then. So I've pulled out an eating plan that's worked well for me in the past, with two days of lower carbs and a (healthy) carb-up on the third day of 1/2 cup of sweet potatoes and 1/2 cup of brown rice. Today's the day and I'm about as excited as a kid at a birthday party! I my brown rice and sweet potatoes!

I'm reading Body For Life For Women. Just started it (fell asleep with it last night), so I don't have any firm opinion about it yet but I like that way it's geared towards the different hormonal stages of a woman's life. We're not smaller versions of men when it comes to exercise and especially DIET, so it's good to see a book that acknowledges that fact. If any of you have read it, let us know what you think.

to all and let's all have a terrific week!

Morning, Meg
Everytime I try the low carb-carb-up diet, I blow it because those carbs sure taste better with fat and they make me sleepy. Good Luck to you!

For the first time in ages, I'm not starting the week up half a pound. I've stuck 100% to my eating plan 24/7. Mother's Day dinner was tuna steaks on the grill, broccoli, sweet potato, some raw vegies, and strawberries and custard for the guys. Kinda looked like any other meal, but it was good

Off to the gym, 2 doctors, picking up a car for inspection, a couple of clients....
Chest and cardio in there somewhere!

Mel

Hey Meg -

Good Morning Everyone!

I'm with you on the accountability thread. I did very well this weekend and feel great today, you're so right about how it only takes a couple of days to get in control. We're going to Costa Rica in two weeks, so I'm feeling the same kind of motivation as you! And I'm not blowing it on vacation like I did in FL. We have an active trip planned, so hopefully it will be less food-centric.

I'm so excited about the new book you mention above! I have not seen it yet, so I'm heading to the library today and hopefully it will be checked in. I'll let you know what I think.

Otherwise, not much going on today. DS has a nasty cold, so I'll be home with him today.

I'll check in later.

Hi everybody,

Meg good luck with your carb up/down plan. Hope it works out for you. Don't think I ever dropped in last week to offer you CONGRATS on your big test. Well done!

Mel, you sound so busy. You should be proud of yourself for sticking to your weekend plan.

Anne, hope your DS is feeling better soon.

Let's see. I feel like I'm spiraling out of control. I passed my weight line in about my 2nd month of pregnancy, and now I have no landmarks to guide me. Food restriction of any serious kind is not an option, and I'm really gaining weight faster than I should. And it's not all on my belly. I'm still tracking the calories I'm taking in and it's ridiculous-- 500 more than the baby and I need a day, which is an extra pound a week for me. Fortunately it isn't all sticking, but still. Plus I'm going through this phase where I'd rather sit on the couch and drool rather than do anything physical or athletic. A friend of mine who recently gave birth sat me down the other day when I was starting to freak and just said this was a normal preggo hormonal thing, she went through it too, even though she couldn't see it at the time, and I should breathe deeply and try not to worry too much. I can say without a doubt that I certainly do not FEEL normal. I feel like my brain is dissolving. I guess I'm not a happy shiny pregnant person. At least I'm halfway there.

This week & next week I have to travel for business again, and I'm trying to buy a new car this week. I'm trying to breathe deeply. It's not working very well.

Anne

Hey, Anne, have fun in CR - we were there for 3 weeks Feb/Mar. You can be VERY active there, and you can eat healthy - tons of just wonderful fruit. cheerio, Sue

Anne -- I know how you feel! I was the same... Gained weight throughout my pregancy not matter what I did, the Doctor was very understanding and said some women gain no matter what they do... Pregnancy for me was like having PMS for 9 months exepct 10x worse...

Anne,

Don't despair - easier said than done, I know. I felt the same - pregnancy was horrible for me!!! I love my son more than life but I absolutely did not enjoy being pregnant. I worried about the weight gain and the more I worried, the more I gained. Same thing. I can only try to reassure you - it does get better once the baby is born and you do (almost) forget how miserable you felt during pregnancy. Try not to freak - take it one day at a time and go easy on yourself.

Hi, fellow maintainers,

Good start for me this week! Biked to work, as mothers day present hubby installed bike computer and I did 14.7km one way with speed 16.2km/hour - mostly due to the fact that I have tons of hills down on the way to work and speed there is about 40km/hour. I am curious what I will see on the way home - I take different route trying to cut amount and steepness on the hills, and it takes me about 20 min longer to get home...

Had wonderful weekend. On Saturday I cleaned up the house the whole day (actually it is hard job with 3 kids - they somehow manage to mess up faster than I am cleaning, never mind dog and cats marching in and out of doggy door to the back yard). We had wonderful garden party - opening of spring season, many people, I was so busy that I did not have time to eat - which was great! Everybody today comments on our garden - hard work but really pays off.
On Sunday - mothers day - we took a trip to private Rhododendron place - it is open only once a year for mothers day. I really enjoyed it and I finally could enjoy tea in the garden with my kids - my little one is almost 4 y.o. and Mommy could actually finish her tea without interruption (Anne, you can skip this paragraph - I do not think your pregnant mood will get better reading this )... Anyways, my DD spilled juice AFTER I finished my sandwich and tea - I call it a progress...

Anne (lessi) ~ enjoy your trip!

Meg and Mel - you are so inspirational!

Anne ~ - try to improve your mood. I have 3 kids and my first pregnancy I was ALWAYS in the bad mood. My first daughter is VERY moody and much more subjected to mood swings. My two last pregnancies were harder on my body but I did not care (I was fat and pregnant which was better than beeing just fat anyways) - my two little kids are so easy, and my little daughter is like sunshine - she of course has her bad days, but they never last a week (in comparison my big daughter at age 4 could have weeks of constant grumpiness). Cheer you up, pregnancy weight is easier to loose that non-pregnancy, some women naturally get more weight (and carry lots of water) - go to my photos posted and look at me after my third delivery - I looked 6 month pregnant after delivering baby (Well, I think I looked 6 month pregnant, but I guess somebody else can say 9 month???)! It still all went back to normal

Cheers,
Sandy.

Hi Anne,

I know exactly what yopu mean if you say it's like your brain is dissolving due to pregnancy. What can I say?? In my case it got steadily worse to the stage that in the 9th month i did not really trust myself to drive in heavy traffic anymore. The good thing though is that this all is reversible. About 3 months after delivery you should have your old brain back more or less.

As for the weight...I think kids can keep you very very busy, and for the next couple of years you can do lots of running behind the buggy cardio, running after the toddler cardio, and tons of lifting the kid to give it a clean diaper. And you'll enjoy it as well!

rabbit

gang! How's everyone's week going? to Anne - the baby WILL come and life WILL return to its new normal, though it's hard to imagine now. I remember how good it felt just to have my own body back again! I'm sure you'll be right back to all your good eating and exercise habits as soon as you're able and the weight will come off fast. Nursing really helped me get the baby weight off (I was a total Elsie the but it sure burns calories!)

I have six appointments at the gym today and need to plan what to take to eat. I've missed meals both of the past two days due to work and that sets me up for eating waaaay too much when I finally get home. My calories have been OK but the choices haven't been the best and I'm right on the edge of a binge when I get that hungry. So ... plan, plan, plan! (and pack, pack, pack!)

My boss took all the trainers' photos and put them up in a display in the gym lobby. It's so depressing - I'm old enough to be everyone's mother. All these photos of girls with perky blonde ponytails and guys with bulging biceps and then there's me ... one of the guys even calls me his surrogate mom. But hey, at least I can keep up with him working out! Bet his real mom can't do that .

I have a client tonight who was new on Tuesday. All he talked about was FOOD while he worked out - darn near drove me ! Obviously I'm going to have to work him out harder to shut him up!! My personal theory is that if you can talk during a set, you aren't lifting enough.

Enough blathering - time to throw on my clothes and go do cardio. Have a great day, everyone!

Popping in for a bit of whine. I had a week of flu followed by a week of a head cold. I started to lose my voice Saturday and still haven't found it. I rarely get sick so this has been pretty darn frustrating - it drives me nuts when I don't feel good. But, I'd take a cold over the flu any time. At least, I've been able to work out this week.

I leave next week for a mini-trip to SoCal for a 6th grade reunion (a lead up to my 20th high school reunion in July). I haven't seen most of these people for 20 years or more. I can't really talk about this anywhere else, but I know you maintainers will understand. I'm so thrilled and satisfied to go to this reunion feeling fit and healthy (and wearing a smaller size than I did in high school). It's one of those wonderful pay off moments that makes all the work and struggle of weight loss and maintenance so worth it.

Anne, hang in there. You're doing great, try not to worry. I gained 70 lbs with both of my pregnancies and can relate to your posts so much. I'm so glad you're still posting and hope that you are finding some level of comfort by coming here.

Meg, I can imagine how it would be intimidating to be surrounded by youth like that, but you should be all the more proud because of your age. You've broken down the age barrier to achieve your current fantastic fitness level. It's your age that makes your success that much more impressive (and intimidating!).

Darn it, Meg! Now I'm studying for recertification and the first thing I did was start munching because YOU did!

I need a new role model.

Mel

Role model? ME??? Big mistake!

The only two strategies that worked to tame the study munchies for me were: getting away from food by studying out of the house (and NOT at Starbucks!) or having something to stick in my mouth that was fairly harmless. Maybe carrot or celery sticks would work for you ... unfortunately, my brain was yelling SWEET! So I bought a couple boxes of SF Philly Swirls - a soft Italian ice popsicle, 10 calories each. They lasted a long time and were sweet and not too high calorie.

I made it through my six client day yesterday but ended up at 1773 calories. Grrrr. Just three clients today but they're scattered throughout the day, beginning at 6:30 AM (which is going to kill the usual AM cardio). I STILL haven't gotten my summer clothes out or even started to think about what to take on vacation next week so that's a big priority this weekend. Plus all my clients are asking for written workouts to do while I'm gone, so that's on the schedule too.

TGIF and what's everyone doing this weekend?

Hi Gang:

It's good to see and here everyone is doing okay.
I am in a steady mode, not maintaining but attempting to relose some refound pounds.
Its going pretty well and thats progress. I have switch weight loss tools and am enjoying my new plan. Sometime we need a change, and I think it was time for me.

Vacations ladies, enjoy your trips. Remember its "treats" not "cheats" that helps me keep the guilt response down which keeps the binge response in check.

I ll be out of touch this weekend, Graduation of a graduate degree. It feels like yesterday that I felt like Anne. Now its 24 years later. WOW.

GOOD VIBES TO ALL,

Congratulations, Gina!