Hey juju - what kind of advice are you looking for.

Cindy, I am going to order the book too. Just got the notice yesterday that it was coming out.

Work kicking my butt this week. No workouts so far but I think tonight I will be able to.

Good morning gals!

Welcome to the group Juju! I'm still fairly a newbie here myself - due to a knee injury (caused by my loose kneecap and side lunges) I'm still at week 8. I'm really hoping to start week 9 next week and finish up with my first 12-week program.

I'm loving this program - although I'm doing something different with my food (YOU: on a Diet), the workouts have been great - my weight loss has been very steady during the past few months. I did BFL before, and think that this is even better in terms of tranforming yourself.

Since I'm still over 200#, I'm not doing the jumping jacks, butt kicks or mountain climbers in my intervals - too much impact on my joints, so instead I jump on the elliptical for an intense minute each round. But, the mountain climbers will be the first thing I work back in - I didn't realize they worked your abs as well!

In the early weeks when I finished in less than an hour, I would always hop on the elliptical for the remaining 10-15 minutes each day. But, the workouts do get longer, and now it takes me about 1:15 to finish my week 8 days.

Oh, and do invest in a heart rate monitor - I always wear it on cardio days, and then even on some of the other days to keep an eye on where my HR is during my circuits.

Ledom - thanks for popping in - sorry that work if giving you issues - that workout sure will help to reduce some stress for you.

Today was my cardio day, and I did a good job of keeping my HR up in my target zone. But, food yesterday for dinner was bad - that's 3 days in a row of bad dinners - don't know what my deal is... The scale was up - I'm hoping some of it is just water retention from the salt, but we'll see... Bottom line is that my sloppy eating has caused me to lose 1-2 weeks of progress and that makes me MAD at myself!

So, I'm hoping I can funnel that emotion into turning things around and getting back on track with a vengence!

You gals have a good one!
Cindy

thank you so much for your responses. I think I'm just needing a little kick in the butt as far as workouts go. Work has been hectic and I also have a baby. It's difficult to get motivated to fit in some exercise into my already packed day. I'm finding the meal plans easy to follow which is great! But, any advice you can give me to hit the gym would be really appreciated. I think right now I'm just a bit overwhelmed by everything and have been feeling a little down. Please help!
Thanks again!

Juju - don't feel down - take a look at the all the progress you have made so far - 46# - that's great!

Here's a story about myself to motivate you - I worked very hard in 2003/2004 to get myself down to 185#. My goal was 170, so I was quite close. Then I started dating, and life got busy. My workouts were the first thing to go - I thought I didn't have the time, but I just didn't MAKE the time.

Long story short, 2 years later, I am now working to re-lose the weight I've gained back. So, don't make the same mistake I did and think you can do it with just food, and not working out. You know you feel so much better when you do workout and it will definitely keep that weight loss going.

Is there any way you can workout first thing in the morning? I know Ledom used to do Jillian's stuff at home, so maybe you could do that? I personally get my behind out of bed at 5:30am every morning, and hit the gym before work. That's the only time I really have in the day.

Hope that helps - often the only place that motivation can come from is inside yourself!
Cindy

Fighting the same battle here. Just tired from work - it's the last push of the semester and I am worn out. I have tomorrow off and I hope I can figure out something, just getting to the gym tomorrow will get me back in the game. Often it is the initial workout that is the hold up.

So as a person with no room to talk. Knock off that dinner time habit you're working on there Cindy. I know you can do it!!!! Food is good here, it's the workouts that are tripping me up this week.

Hey gals - having a very stressful day at work today, so really fighting the urge to eat to make myself feel better.

Food was better yesterday, so I'm getting it in control... I did this morning's workout and it went pretty smoothly. I'd feel better in general if it weren't for the crappy day I'm having.
Cindy

Sorry you're having a hard day. You are doing a great job!
Can't wait for my new Jillian book. I hope it has just the words to inspire me again cause I am looking for inspiration.

what is jillians book called?

sorry i seen the book title after i posted

Morning everyone. Hiked and gardened yesterday. Food good. Why can't I get myself to the gym?!? Anyway, I did explore a new system of trail in our city yesterday. I thought I had done them all and then someone was telling me about a relatively new park. The trails aren't marked very clearly and there are 3 of varying length and difficulty that overlap so I was confused a lot yesterday. But, there is one that is 3.8 mi. and one that is 4.6 miles and then one that is 1.5. It is enough to keep me busy. I was thinking of you Gina and your bike riding as these are all open to bicycles. I have considered that before and these trails are so relatively close. Plus other trails I know as well, that I would certainly have plenty places to put one to use. Do you do mtn. biking or street biking Gina? When I am out in nature and in the woods I do like hiking because I think I can see, hear, and sneak up on wildlife better. And I don't know about wearing a helmet - I like sports that don't require them. All these thoughts were going through my head yesterday while I was hiking.

I am trying to pin down my sudden aversion to the gym. Getting out of the habit, not wanting to deal with the morning crowd and just being too tired. I think all this points to me hitting the weights down in my own basement again.

Morning everyone! Gym is good, so why can't I get my eating on track!

LOL Ledom, I had to laugh that we are having the opposite issue! Yes, maybe you should get yourself back in your basement for now... Maybe the crowd at the gym will thin out as it gets close to being summer?

I had a great workout today - for some reason I always seem to be missing my "front" days, so this was the first one in a long time, it seems. I know I will be sore tomorrow - did squats for the first time in over a month and they felt good.

Here's something weird about me in the gym though - when I'm in there all by myself, I really am tempted to slack off. My regular M,W,F gym buddy is moving to Florida, so now most of those mornings I will have the place totally to myself. Now that's a great thing in regards to equipment use and setup, but I find I'm more motivated when there is at least one person around to see me... Funny, isn't it? Often if there is someone else there, they leave 15 minutes before I finish, and I really have to talk myself into finishing my full circuits after that.

Also, I'm getting bored of the exercises in this 12-week program - I'm really surprised that she doesn't mix it up more in this - and I think I will do it myself. Funny that the daily email today was just about that.

Oh, Melissa and Juju - you may want to go to jillianmichaels.com and sign up for the daily emails - they are nice to get.

You gals have a good weekend. I will be focusing on purging my house of junk foods, planning meals for the weekend and next week, and getting myself back on plan in terms of my eating. Enough is enough!
Cindy

So yeah - what's up with us Cindy? I am enjoying those e-mails with excerpts from her new book. I am getting excited about doing a 30 day, no-holds barred sprint? Well amazon tells me my book is on the way so it'll be here soon enough. I know that once school is out I'll for sure be back with it. Thing is, I don't need to wait 3 weeks to get with it. But, food remains good so I am thankful for that. Really going to try to have a great weekend food wise as well. I am scared to death to get on the scale. I almost did this morning, but took a pass after all. I just don't want to depress myself. Clothes feel about the same as forever though.

I have been scrambling around on google this morning looking up calorie counts of foods (and beverages) that I sometimes have - just because. For instance if I forget to bring my lunch to work (seldom) one of the quick things I do is run to Sonic for a hamburger with mustard. I know - Sonic - but it is fast, right by the campus and to my way of thinking not too bad calorie wise when I could also be getting a cheeseburger, fries or tater tots (sick confession) I LOVE tater tots. Well that plain burger is 540 cals. - the tots regular size are 220 (the tots are less than I thought, but how long before I get hungry if I just have an order of tots for lunch). I try to keep all meals in the 250 range w/ maybe one a day hitting 350. That Oreo Blast that I just had to try last weekend? 660 - make it a large? 960!!! I am only considering calories here, not nutritional content.

But what I was really interested in was a shot of tequila - 115. Not too bad if I keep it to one, or two if I count it as a meal. But then remember how you lose control of eating when you drink ledom? Factor that in and ..... how strong am I actually feeling? A Negra Modelo you say? 169. Is it okay to drink my supper one night a week?

Okay, just something to ponder this rainy Sat. a.m. It does help to educate myself on the things that can sneak in to ruin my diet week.

Ledom - yes, isn't it amazing when you look that stuff up? That was the one way I was *finally* able to get DF to stop eating so much fast food - by showing him how much fat and calories the stuff had. I think it's good to be informed - at least that way when you choose to eat that food, or maybe have to, then you know how to count for it.

We tend to stick to Taco Bell when and if we have to eat out. Several of their items can be ordered "Fresco", which means no cheese or sauce, and with a tomato/onion/cilantro salsa on it instead. Two chicken soft tacos this way is my usual, and I think they are 170 calories a piece. Pete gets three of them. Not so bad for fast food, eh?

Or, if I go to Wendy's, I get just a small chili, or maybe a small chili and a plain potato.

Those are the only ff place I'll go to - the rest just don't have anything worthwhile for me - yes, they have some salads, but I never find them filling enough, and the dressing choices are all loaded with sugar!

I think it's fine to work alcohol into your weekly plan - I always did with BFL, and it was fine for me. Again, it's all about counting those calories. I usually have a couple of glasses of wine on Friday night each week, and I factor them into my daily total.

We are headed down to the City today - going shopping for wedding bands! I'm pretty excited because we get to go to the designers showroom as my local jeweler is in the process of moving. I'll be like a kid in a candy store, and that won't be good!

We plan to hit a Trader Joe's while we are down there as well - I love TJ's!

A break in the weather for us today - 50 and partly cloudy - literally the calm before the storm that will hit us tomorrow

Have a good one!
Cindy

Hi ladies, I am a newbie here. I have heard Jillian mention this site on her radio show so I thought I would check it out! So far so good. I was just wondering if any of you have tried out her new book yet, MAKING THE CUT. I got it two days ago and haven't started the 30 day plan yet, but boy is it intense. I will say this, it is by far one of the most informative books on weight loss I have ever read. She talks about hormones and metabolism, supplements, etc. I am starting Monday, but I was just looking for a little feedback on the workouts in the book.

Thanks,
Alex