Happy 4th of July week to those of us in the U.S. Beware the brownies, corn on the cob, ribs, and thunderstorns if you are on the east coast!

I'm racing off to the gym for two clients, then my workout. I moved my schedule up a day this week to try to get all my workouts done before Thursday when I'm having some medical tests done.

Dh did legs with me yesterday and can barely walk. I'm trying to convince him to meet me later today to do chest and shoulders

Later,
Mel

Hahahahaha about DH!

Did you have those killer thunderstorms last night? I was watching CNN in the gym this morning and they were talking about record lightening strikes in eastern PA.

RABBIT - 940 minutes on the treadmill, assuming it was 40 and still very impressive.

Happy Fourth to all as well. Just came in from 45 minutes of weeding and general hauling around, definately have to work on gettng rid of the gut. Clean eats planned for today and tomorrow, and I have no fear of brownies - we don't really like them. DD wants to make mini cupcakes and I can limit myself to one, she has special red, white and blue sprinkles.

Speaking of sprinkles seems like we are going to be getting thunderstorms this year for the Fourth. If that is the case, we told DD we would make it up to her and go to Hampton Beach New Hampshire, they have lots of fire works all summer long.

Stay cool everyone, switching to iced water soon from the iced coffee, love my iced coffee.

Yep, we had those storms. At first I thought someone was doing fireworks down the street, but the lights were dimming. It was pretty impressive. Never did lose power, tho.

DH did chest and shoulders with me today, complaining the whole time about his legs. It's kind of embarrassing, but I'm WAY stronger than he is. I had to unrack the weights for him and give him lighter dumbbells. He's also a terrible spotter

Just got a call from ds's camp- his poison ivy is swelling again I can't believe it! We may be going to pick up PB boy for another round of prednisone.

Mel

Hey all......did go thru with that elliptical workout last nite for 30 minutes. I sweat like a pig and know that I got double the workout in that 30 mins than I ever do on the treadmill walking at 3.5 and 3.8. Why is the elliptical so much more effective - is it the arms being involved? BUT, I woke up this morning feeling really yucky. Hungry and tired. So I didn't hit the treadmill right away, opting to fuel myself first. Not that I'm at risk of overtraining, but maybe 1 1/4 hrs of cardio, 2 hours in the big pool, and 45min weights was too much for one day. I hope to get on the treadmill still yet today. Spending the morning and early afternoon infusing with water. Any ideas what might be going on? Is the spa approach too much?

Morning all! It's a quiet day here - who wants to go to the library when the weather is gorgeous and it's a holiday weekend (for many anyway)! I'm planning to do a lot of catch-up stuff.

Nope, no brownies around here! We have nothing special planned for the 4th. We may take a hike, or a healthy picnic to the lake. It's all weather dependent.

I'm finally beginning to feel back to normal, and need to get back to my exercise routine. My eating was still pretty good. I couldn't taste much anyway. We did have grilled salmon Sat night and it was very good.

Rabbit - how long a holiday do you have? Sounds like you're off to a good relaxing start.

Liza - bending/squatting down to garden lets you know exactly what you need to lose. My knees don't like that position for very long, so I end up sitting on the ground and scootching along - weeding always leaves me very dirty!

Fran - I've been envying your home spa vacation, and admiring you for keeping it going! You have have done a little too much yesterday. How about an active rest day?

Well, this office won't clean itself, so I'd better get to it. Have a great holiday all.

Wow, seems like soggy weather is still an issue back east.

WaterRat, glad you’re feeling better! Being sick in the summer time really does seem so much worse than in the winter. Maybe because it’s nice out and no one can stand staying in and eating hot soup when they could be out having fun in the sun.

Mel – that’s too bad about the poison ivy relapse, poor kid! I’ve been going mad with itchy mosquito bites lately, fist time I can really remember then being a problem since I moved here. It’s been uncharacteristically humid, maybe that’s got something to do with it.

It is absolute torture to be here at the office today! It’s so sunny and hot out, and I keep thinking about that cool ocean water and breeze. Ah. Had a lovely weekend, we took our dog to the park on Saturday to practice for his Sunday class. He’s doing really great, he’s able to tolerate much higher levels of distraction now. We even let him have some socializing time with the other dogs at the park after we worked his recall and heel for a good while, he had a grand time. We saw the spectacular Santa Monica fireworks show on Saturday night. Apparently they always schedule them for the Saturday before the 4th.

Sunday we went to the farmers market for a late breakfast and spent the afternoon at the beach. It was just heavenly. Then it was off to CGC class with the dog, he was a star! I was so proud, I think he may actually pass his exam at the end of the course. I went on a short rollerblade run with a friend last evening before we hit Target to spend money on things we didn’t even know we wanted or needed.

Eating was pretty reasonable over the weekend. Lots of fresh fruit, so much is in season right now. I’ve been going crazy for apricots and plums. I plan to get out of here early to hunt for a mini charcoal grill and some new beach towels. Then I’m going to yoga and the movies tonight (yay Superman!). The plan for tomorrow is obviously cooking out and the beach. Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful 4th!

Shan, I was just asking someone last week what it is with these $100 Target runs that result from a trip in to check on "just one thing." It's evil! Absolutely cute merchandising and marketing.

OK, I think my muscles are sucking up water or something! Seriously, I have been drinking all day, taking a day of "active rest" as Pat suggested, with only a couple of walks up the street. It's hot - low 90's and humid, but not like unseasonably warm or anything. I'm drinking and drinking and not passing it back out like I normally do. My body is turning into a 200 lb sponge. What do you think might be going on? Thirsty muscles? Higher water requirement now than before???

MEL - This is turning out to be a Fourth DS will never forget, hoping the PI will fade away. My DH is still stronger than me and I wonder sometimes if it is also the height difference, he is 6 feet+ and I am 5'4" on a good day. I like to blame that sometimes.

HR - I find the elliptical a more intense workout than the treadmill, no matter the settings, the elliptical I use is really up and around on the legs and the arms do add another element though I think it is the leg part. It is different from the treadmill which I see as more of an endurance machine. Both good in their own ways. The water absorption probably also has lots to do with the high humidity and heat, your body is so happy to be getting lots of fluid, it will hold on, but what goes in will come out for sure.

PAT - thought of you when reading about our city manager, he was talking about the wealth of the city to have 7 public libraries open a total of 307 hours per week. We still have weekend hours though no Sundays in the summer. Personally I am at the library morning noon and night. I would have been a libriarian, if I could have spelled it and if I had known it was a course in college. My knees are fine, mostly, I have the gut problem. The garden looks better and I did drag the mower around as it is supposed to rain all day. We have put up the shelter and plan on some grilling and eating outdoors unless the storms are really really bad.

I have planned on heavy grilling in fact for the Fourth, DD is off to her grandmother's for 2 nights and 2 days so I want lots of clean eating around. Chicken marinated in lime juice, london broil, and sirloin strips. Along with salad and my shredded wheat and whey protein I can stay on track in the hot weather. Also saw a new product at the local Whole Foods. A grass thing, didn't properly check it out and am looking for it online. The sample person (?) said it filled you up as well as being full of nutrients.

SHAN - didn't find a mini grill or beach towels at Target? I agree with you, often in that store and unless I write it down, or take the flyer, get off on another track.

Great Fourth to all, glad I live in a state that makes individual fireworks illegal, I know that there are crazy people out there. Read about a man who died while trying to parasail on his street while towed by his BIL. Crashed onto the ground. Stay safe everyone.

Hi LWL,

Liza, yep typo on the running. I did a 40 mins run outside. we have an infernally hhot spell, today is again much above 30 C. This morning i did some last shopping before my holiday.

Pat, I have 4 weeks off from work, and I'll spend 3 weeks of that in california. Tomorrow I'll drive to a friend who lives close to the airport, then thursday morning we will catch the plane. It is strange, for a businesstrip i would just pack a bag on the night before and not worry, but now with the 2 kids going also, and on a holiday I have been busy preparing for weeks.

Mel , to bad about DS with the poison ivy. it sounds really bad. I must remember to let someone describe it to me so we will know what not to touch!


have a great day all,
rabbit

RABBIT - "Leaves of three - let it be." That is how I remember about poison ivy, it is also shiny. The leaves are smaller than the palm of your hand, tends to grow along the ground, and the there are three leaves forming like a three leaf clover, only the leaves are pointed not heart shaped. It can also rub off on something else and then onto your skin. Blah.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I've ever heard of poison ivy in California. They have poison oak and sumac. Here in the east, the leaves can be MUCH larger than the palm of your hand, and the vines can take over trees. We saw a deserted house on the way to ds's camp that had the stuff gowing out all the windows, pulling the porch down, all over the roof. When we moved here from Ontario, my DH didn't believe me when I showed him "poison ivy trees". In colder climates, it really is a fairly small ground cover. But with rain and humidity, it becomes major vegetation!



I need to go do cardio and a back and arm workout, but am dragging my heels. Another half an hour and it will be too late since the gyms all close early today. Let's see how long I can procrastinate!

Mel

My sister was (still is I suppose) horribly sensitive to poison ivy - so we all knew what it looked like. I really appreciated what she went through when I encountered some poison oak during a summer when I was in college. My stepdad convinced me to climb a tree and cut off a dead limb, and while there were vines growing on, I could tell it wasn't PI. Nope, it was poison oak. I spent a miserable 10 days with it all over the inside of my arms and legs.

LOL - dh suggested we swing by Target to check it out today; gotta love it when that happens and dh himself needs some "retail therapy." I was looking at some Tanita scales. These both happened to track water % as well as bf. I have one of the older models that just does weight and bf%, with you inputting height, gender, and either normal/athletic mode. What do you think -- is tracking your water saturation of any value? It only caught my eye today because of all my woes with drinking and aborbing (ie, not expelling) my water these last few days. Would be interested to know if I was at like 45% and now am up to 65% I guess. I didn't get it, but was wondering what you all thought. HAPPY 4th EVERYONE!!!