Hey Ladies.

I started the thread since I am up with the chickens every morning. Hope everyone had a good weekend. I didn't do any official exercising this weekend. I was up to my neck in work I had to take home. If the economy is going down and people are out of work, I wish they would move here. We have more jobs that people.

I still lost five pounds last week. I really didn't intend on losing that much. The only thing I did different was journal what I ate over the weekend and drank all my water on those days, too. I am usually pretty slack over the weekend. I don't eat anything "bad" for me, I just eat a little more than I would during the week. (I may have lost a little of the muscle I had built up from exercising. Anything over two pounds supposedly eats away at muscle.) I had a goal of 199 pounds by Independence Day, so I am happy that I made it to that a little sooner than planned. My next shorterm goal is 185 by Labor Day. I'm allowing for having friends over for cookouts this summer. Though, I could just eat Boca burgers. I have a hard time visualizing myself at these weights, because I have not been under 200 for years and years. People are starting to notice and say something. Mostly people that I only see once a month or so. They notice the difference more than the people I see everyday.

Stamper: Looks like you are not letting many obstacles get in your way. Good for you.

My Workout Plan:

Monday: Bike - 5 miles (starting back slow)/LBWO
Tuesday: Tape - Cardio/Abs
Wednesday: Bike - 7 miles/UBWO
Thursday: Tape - Cardio/Abs
Friday: Bike 10 miles/LBWO
Sat/Sun: Chase Kids

Have a great, successful day.

231/195/170

Did ya miss me? I am so glad to get back on here! I missed this support a lot while I was away...

But...

I had a fabulous camping trip! I was terrible with my eating, my water intake, my exercise...everything... and I have zero guilt! I know that I'm starting over again, and that's ok, because I know that I can do it.... dh made me promise not to weigh in this week, as it would be a tad depressing... he wants me to be back in my "groove" again for a little while before I weigh/measure... so I'll wait until next week to start that again!

Anyway, I'm back on track, and I now have the greatest reason in the world to be there... dh and I threw away the birth control pills while we were on holidays! I am soooo happy about that right now! So, I want to be in, and stay in, great shape for pregnancy, and then on to teaching my child to be healthy, active and fit! But enough yammering on about it, right? Down to business!

My schedule for this week:

Monday ~ Curves, yoga (first class tonight!)
Tuesday ~ Curves
Wednesday ~ Swimming, Curves
Thursday ~ Curves
Friday ~ Swimming, Curves

Talk to ya soon!

Patch posted on the other thread yesterday, so I moved here post over here. Here it is:


"Hey there gals:

Well I tried to take it easy, and did about 3 miles pretty slowly on Saturday, rested Sunday doing only a very slow walk for about 1/2 miles. Today Monday, I'm supposed to go to the track, but I am still having back pain so it'll be Physical Therapy instead.

This weekend - as always is just so hard for me to conform to WW plan. We went out with my husband's business associates and I had 2 drinks and ate a bunch of food. Yes I wrote it down after the fact and did about 35 points on Saturday and 45 on Sunday. It aggravates me that I let stress and frustration affect me this way.

Normally I'd walk it off today during track, but backwise, not a good idea. Any suggestions??? "

Patch

Hi all!

Well, I'm off to a roaring start! I forgot I had a Mary Kay party to go to last night. (Skin care, not makeup.) So no workout. I checked and I have NO plans for tonight. I WILL EXERCISE!! I may have to do the tape as my husband does have plans for the night and I will have all the youngins. That way I get twice the workout. 1, 2, 3, step over two year old. 1, 2, 3, give baby something else to chew on. Yeah, great workouts!

Welcome back Marvin!
Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Good for you!! Your husband sounds like a jewel too, supporting you by not letting you weigh yourself. I guess he has figured out we live and die by those numbers even though we know better. How was Yoga last night? Congratulations on your (you and your husband) decision to toss the pills. Have a great time on holiday!

Patch: I have never tried w/w. Well I went to a meeting one time years ago and didn't like parting with my ten dollars so I didn't go back. Some people have a lot of success with it and some do not. I think the best thing w/w gives is accountability. You have to show up for meetings and do weekly weigh-ins. I feel the same way about these boards. I feel like I have to answer to you all even though I don't know you from John's house cat (southern expression). Have you ever tried counting calories? I have been very successful with this, but I very, very seldom go out to eat. If I do, I make sure there is something on the menu I can eat before I get there. A lot of resturants have their menus online. I have also noticed that most resturants don't have a clue what a portion or serving size is. If I get a big ol' plate of food, I immediately ask for a box and take everything off my plate that is over one serving. Well, that's my unsolicited advice for the day. Here is the solicited advice re: your back. Do whatever your PT says. If it is rest it, then do that. You can get back to exercising the sooner it gets better. Do you do any type of ab workout? The tighter the abs, the better the back. It helps with posture.

Ok, enough rambling from someone who hasn't worked out since last Wednesday. Hope everyone has a great, on plan day! I WILL have something to report tomorrow!

231/195/170

I'm back! Sorry to have missed you gals for the last few days! My boss is out of town, and things have suddenly gotten MORE hectic, rather than less!

Nettie: Thanks for starting the new thread, and congrats on your loss! Some of it may have been water weight, not muscle, so don't get too stressed! Your plan for this week looks great, and I think you've set a very reasonable goal. You can do it! And Boca Burgers are YUMMY!
You're right that it's always the people who haven't seen you for a while who notice -- I think it's because we adjust for small changes everyday when we see people. You know -- we don't notice if a kid has grown 1/8th of an inch in a week, but we sure notice if we don't see him/her for a few months and s/he's grown 2 inches! I think that's great that people are noticing your hard work!

Marvin: WELCOME BACK! I don't think you should beat yourself up for your time off either -- sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do! I think it's smart not to weigh in right now -- you don't want to come off of a fun vacation and ruin the carefree feeling by "counting your sins" right away. Give yourself a week in the groove! Your husband's a smart man! And that's very exciting news about the baby plans!

Patch: I have a really hard time with the weekends sometimes too -- and ESPECIALLY with DH! About once a week or so, I end up joining him + his work team after work, and before I know it, I've had several drinks' worth of empty calories I didn't need! Argh! I call him "Saboteur", because he is always (unconsciously?) sabotaging my plans for healthy eating or a workout after work.

my update::
Well, we didn't go to the gym this weekend. We were busy all weekend with chores + trips and whatnot, and never really got the chance. But I did forget that I walked from 51st+9th to 34th+7th on Thursday night, so I wasn't entirely bad -- and might have worked off some of the wine I had.
Got to bed late on Sunday (again, busy), so didn't make it to the gym on Monday -- but I DID make it this morning, and lasted on the bike longer than I thought I would after well over a week with no gymtime. Hopefully this is my first step back on track!

Oh -- I have NO IDEA what my plan is this week, other than trying to make it to the gym for 30 minutes of cardio as often as possible. Will be fitting in some strength work wherever I can.

I am in love with yoga! What a great time I had last night... we went through the limbering exercise and did a couple of different simple poses, and it was absolutely great, easy enough, but still a good stretching workout.

Anyway, Nettie, thanks for the welcome back! I'm pretty proud of my dh.... although sometimes I'd really like to strangle him.... skinny little bugger! He'd like the scale to go up when he gets on it!

Patch.... I've never tried WW either, but I have seriously considered it at times.... it seems like the best of the "organized" diets around, and I know a few people that have been successful with it. I just couldn't bear to part with my money, and I'm having enough success without it, so why bother? I just really have to watch how much I eat, and not gorge too often on junk! But, as I've said before, (and will say until you get sick of me!), I'd rather be a little chubby, and happy, than be skinny and anxious about every little morsel that I eat. I have a real healthy relationship with food... it's the exercise part that's a struggle with me.... Anyway, now I'll get off my soapbox!

About the back pain, ITA with Nettie. Follow your pt's advice, and don't do anything that causes or aggravates the pain.. my pt says that as long as I listen to my knees, and quit when something hurts them, I'll be fine. It's really just a matter of finding the things that work for your body... good luck!

There you are, Copperblu! I wondered where you had gotten too! Congrats on the gym this morning... I know I certainly felt the difference yesterday at Curves after more than a week off... boy was I sweating! At least I know I got a great workout! And I'm sure you did too!

My day yesterday was great! I ate perfectly within my self appointed goals.... got lots of calories burned with yoga and Curves, and I felt pretty good all day too, so I'm happy about that. Today should be ok.... I'm off to Curves right after work, and I'm gonna try to fit in my yoga "homework" at lunch.... I do have to drive into the city tonight, so I'm not looking forward to that, but oh well, such is life.

Have a great day everyone! I'll see ya later!

Hi everyone! I didn't post for a few days and I feel like I have so much to catch up on!

Patch: I hope your back is doing better. Is it lower or upper? I have some good exercises to do for lower back. Like Nettie said, they are exercises that primarily strengthen the lower abs, which help support the back. My doctor gave them to me a long time ago when I got out of college and got a desk job and started having lower back pain within a year. But take it easy - I know it's hard when you want to be trying to burn calories instead. By the way, I am also following the WW Winning Points program. I am not attending a class right now. I have gained weight the last few times - not because of the program but because I wasn't in the right frame of mind to follow it. I use one of their points calculators to keep track instead of a journal - seems to work for me.

Marvin - glad you are enjoying the yoga and that you had a good trip. Congratulations to you and your husband on your decision. I hope you have some good news soon!

Copperblue: Good to hear from you again. I hope you are able to get to the gym. Sounds like you had a busy weekend.

Nettie: Congrats on that 5 pound loss! That's wonderful! Keep up the good work!

My update: Well, I had about 2 days that I didn't keep track of my WW points. My friend's son is in town from New Orleans and we've had a few get togethers with my friend and her kids and family and their friends, etc. I did fine with the food but the drinks were my downfall. I still got a lot of exercise though. I ended up gaining 1/2 pound this week. Today I actually came home at lunch, changed clothes real quick and did 30 minutes of water aerobics in my pool. Its too hot to walk at work at lunch. Then I did another 45 tonight. But we went up the street to my friend's house and her son cooked a steak dinner (he attended the Culinary Institute of America in NYC). However, I ate my boca burger and just put some of his wine-sauted portabella mushrooms on my burger. Again, I had a few glasses of champagne, which wasn't so good. But then my friend and I swam for about 45 minutes after dinner. So hopefully I worked it all off.

I haven't gotten myself up early yet to do my weights. Hopefully I can get myself on track soon. But probably not tomorrow since I had hoped to get to bed earlier than I am going to.

Have a good Wednesday everyone!

I did it! I did it! I worked out last night. Kids and all! My two year old thinks exercising is fun and he "helps" me out by trying to grab my legs as I do my ab workout. I'm glad he is growing up knowing you have to exercise and eat healthy.

Stamper: Sounds like having the pool is a big bonus for you. Good for you going home and squeezing in a workout. And that's great that you ate your Boca burger while everyone else ate steak. Every decision, no matter how small makes a big difference down the line.

Marvin: You are off to a great start with staying on plan. Maybe you needed that week off from your eating and exercising plan. Sounds like you have gained motivation.


Copperblu: No Plan for the week??!! But we always stick to them so well. I have finally learned how to appreciate compliments and not say "Oh, that was nice of them to say." I especially like it when people want to know what I am doing to lose the weight and tell them just counting calories and exercising. Everyone wants the results, not the work.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day and gets some exercise. I'm going out at lunch to look at some exercise videos. I'm trying to find one that is 20-30 minutes long. I am going to look at the FIRM tapes if I can find them at the store. I want to get a LB and UB tape and just use my bike for cardio. I swear, I never thought I would be structuring a exercise program for myself! I guess we can do anything we put our minds and body's to.

231/195/170

Well.... yesterday wasn't the total success I had planned. I skipped Curves because I was just too rushed for time after work, and then I ended up at McDonald's for dinner! Small success though ~ I only had one cheeseburger and a small pop, and when I calculated it all in my fitday journal, imagine my suprise to see that I still stayed pretty close to the higher end of my goals! Yay!

But then, I am so exhausted from the last 5 days that I just couldn't get moving this morning to go swimming. I will try again for that tomorrow. It helps knowing that I get to actually go home after work today (after Curves, of course! ) and I don't have any meetings or classes or anything. Ahhhhh...bliss!

So, I'm really glad to see you all doing well. And congrats Nettie on your little helpers! I can just see me there in a few years! I'm also looking at videos now, but I'm thinking of a prenatal yoga type one to start doing now, and use during my (hopefully soon) pregnancy!

And welcome back Stamper! Good on you about the Boca Burgers, as I find that substituting a healthier option is that much harder when you're in a bigger group.... it can be harder to do with an audience!

Well, I'm off!

Good morning all!

Marvin: Glad to hear you like the yoga! I like it too -- I just need to find a better way to fit it into my week! There's actually a yoga class in my office, like the one you started in yours -- but it's not a beginner class, and I also HATE working out in a class. Bad memories of P.E. and all that.
I also tend not to watch my food so carefully, as now I tend to eat fairly healthily on my own. I don't think I've made a "full fat" meal in almost 2 years! I worked to fit in more fiber + whole grains in my diet earlier this year, and now they're incorporated, so I don't pay as much attention. It's never really been eating for me, so much as not getting off my a**!!

Stamper: You are SO STRONG! I can't believe you had a boca burger when others were having gourmet steak! Now that's willpower! I'm sure that you burned off the champagne, and that "gain" is just water weight.
I definitely know the trouble of going off track because you can't get to bed early enough to get going early in the morning! But exercise is no good if we don't get any sleep! Good luck!

Nettie: Congrats on getting in your workout!! You're right -- we apparently can do anything we really put our minds to! Who knew?! I'm very proud of us all for sticking with it, through ups and downs, slumps and successes. That's the true measure of success -- when you get up and try again after a set-back. Good for you!

my update:
I made it to the gym again today! Yay! That's twice in a row after my bad week! I'm going to see if I can keep it up for the rest of the week, since unbelievably, I don't seem to have any evening plans this week to derail my mornings.
I've GOT to fit in some strength training back in! I did some pushups + tricep dips last night, but not nearly enough. It's SO hot now, and I get home late + tired w/no time before dinner -- it's just not working. I think I'm going to have to start using the scary weight machines at the gym in the morning a few days a week, at least for the summer. We'll see. Maybe DH will help me get acquainted with them this weekend.

P.S. Man, Marvin we cross-posted AGAIN! I'm glad to hear you managed to stay within your goals despite the McDonalds (+ made healthier choices there too), and I hope your week settles down soon! It can be hard to fit exercise time in for yourself when you're so busy, and when you're so tired, it feels like extra torture, rather than something good for you! Good luck!

Good Morning!

I rode 10.5 miles on my bike last night! I think I am really back on track. I didn't get another tape after all yesterday. They only had the four packs of TyBo and a few Yoga Tapes. I'm not ready to buy a Yoga tape blind yet. The pictures on the box even looked like they were making pretzels. I did buy an exercise mat, though. That should help with my ab routine. My husband accidentaly broke my scale yesterday (he was mopping the bathroom floor and dropped it, he didn't step on it and break it). I'm debating wheather to buy another one or not. I like seeing the weight come off, but I weigh myself way too often anyway. I think I will see if I can make it without one for a while.

Marvin: Hope you were able to get to Curves yesterday. Work can really get in the way of our lives sometimes. Congratulations on your success at McDonald's. My son would eat dirt if it came in a McDonald's container so he tries to get us to go there often. I usually get the grilled chicken sandwich with no mayo. But I hate mayo so its not a sacrafice. Does the McDonald's in your area sell bottled water? The one's down here just started.

Copperblu: Congratulations on making it to the gym, TWICE! It would be great if your DH could help you with the machines at the gym. The few weeks I went a few years ago, they show you how to use them once, then I'm left standing there staring at the thing scratching my head.

Hope everyone has a great day. I'm off the the electro physisist (arrythmia specialist, I had to ask too) this afternoon. Just making sure the ticker is ticking to the right beat. I haven't had an irregular beat since I started exercising, but of course everyone has to give their ok. Only one more test after this, stress test next month and then I am done for a year. Woo Hoo!

231/195/170

I had a small success this morning! Whie I didn't get up quite early enough to make it to the pool ~ I had myself a half hour yoga limbering exercises workout! And I feel pretty good now.... I must say, stretching is a great way to start the day!

Copperblu ~ isn't it funny how we're always cross-posting, cycling together in the "womanly way", and thinking alike? No wonder we've been able to keep this thread going between the two of us! That was, of course, before we were joined by Nettie, and Stamper!

Good luck in trying out those monster machines at the gym... it's probably a great idea to try to fit in your weight training into your morning schedule for the summer... this will take a lot of that self-imposed pressure and guilt off you when you're too tired/busy in the evening!

Wow, Nettie! 10 1/2 miles?!?!?!?!?! That's great! And give going "scale-less" a try.... I know that I am soooo glad not to have a scale at home, it saves me from focussing too much on that silly number, which my rational brain knows is not that important. Perhaps your dh's "accident" was fortuitous.... (wow, that was a big word! )

BTW.... at the McDirt Sandwich!!! The McDonald's around here do sell the bottled water... but have I mentioned how cheap, ahem, frugal I am? I have to be pretty darn thirsty to spend $1.25 for a bottle of what I can get for free almost anywhere!

Good luck at the specialist's today! I'm praying for ya! But, I know that you'll be just perfect!

And so off I go.... having done my yoga this morning, and to Curves this afternoon.... meals planned out, and ready for another great day!

Talk to ya later!

Good morning all!

Nettie: "eat dirt if it came in a McDonald's box"!! SO funny. My DH is much like your son!
I like my YogaZone beginner's boxed set thus far, if you're looking for some good beginner tapes -- the introductory tape is great, very much "move at your own pace" and non-pretzelly moves . I also get a kick out of the instructor Alan Finger's soothing fatherly tones + slight Germanic accent.

my update:
High Ho, High Ho, it's off to the gym I go! Went again this morning, and somehow ended up on one of the less "worn out" bikes, since I did 30 mins @ level 3, and it told me I was burning 414 cals/hr! Sometimes I can't get to 414c/h on level 5!! My theory is that the resistance mechanism on the more popular bikes (the ones that the end of the line rather than between 2 bikes) gets worn down sometimes from all the usage they see. Weird. Anyways, that's 3x this week, and I'm aiming for tomorrow morning too to make it 4x before the weekend.
Very happy to be going back to the gym, although I still miss my weights. DH says he'll help me out this weekend, so now I just have to muster up the nerve to try them out during the week when I'm by myself.
Been eating okay, but I think my calorie level has crept up slightly since I stopped keeping track, so I'm going to food journal again for a week or two to see what's going on. It might be part of why I'm now easily maintaining at this weight, rather than losing or gaining, since my "maintainance" intake for 150lbs is between 1800 and 1900 cals per day.

Darn it Marvin! This is just weird!

I'm glad you're liking the yoga -- I'd like to fit it into my mornings somehow too, if I had the time. But I just cannot get up any earlier than 6:30! So much to do, so little time!
You're right about the machines -- that's exactly why I want to do it in the morning, because I'm starting to see that I am never going to work it in at night during the summer, and the result is that I get no weights + feel bad to boot. Hopefully this will work out!
About water -- me too! I just buy one or two water bottles and keep refilling them for months, until I lose one or it starts to get that funny plastic smell.

Anyways, glad you had a nice relaxing morning, and good to see you!