Sorry guys, but I had to start the thread! So excited to report that yesterday, june 1, I did my second FBWO and had NO issues with aches or pain! YEA!!!! It was like I kept waiting for it all day but it never materialized. I also got past the caffeine headaches w/o too much trouble. My workout yesterday was a 2.25 hr workout with the previously mentioned FBWO, 30 min on the treadmill and stretching. I got up this morning and did another 30 min on the treadmill and will try to do some kind of exercise video tonite as well.

I'm B-A-C-K !!!

I've started working out on Saturdays again too. I intended to do only an UBWO but after finishing my shoulder presses with the BB I thought maybe a few deadlifts might feel good too. Then one thing led to another and I found myself doing squats and a few other leg exercises before I made my way over to the mats for core work. I showered at the gym, went to the library, did a litttle shopping but forgot to eat lunch. By the time I got home I was beat and starving. I waited far too long to eat and have been dragging myself around the rest of the evening. Lesson learned. I need to find something I can keep in the car for "emergencies" when I know I won't get home in time to eat.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Fran, good for you! Doesn't it feel great to be back in the swing of things?

I'm working on what my routine will be while traveling over the next few weeks. I'm sure the hotels have fitness rooms where I can get some cardio in, but I'll want to do some bodyweight exercises as well. Some one had suggested I take some resistance bands with me, and that's a great idea, as long as I don't forget to pack them!

I got that job I interviewed for last week - I'm pretty excited about it, but can't really think about it right now - my trip is the first priority. I don't get to change jobs until 7/16, which seems pretty far away, but truth be told, I need the time to get things squared away in the current job.

Still doing my Jillian Michael's Winning by Losing circuit workouts - I just started another 12-weeks of it, after finally finishing the first 12. I feel much stronger than I have in ages, which is a great feeling. This week I noticed that my forearms seemed thinner!

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!
Cindy

Hey Lydia - we posted at the same time!

Thanks Fran! I woke up this morning thinking "June...JUNE...JUNE..." I forgot to start the June thread! Glad someone is on the ball And FANTASTIC that you are back!

Lydia- I carry a foil packaged serving of tuna in my gym bag, a shaker bottle of protein powder, and a choc-peanut butter protein bar in my purse for emergencies. Guess which one gets eaten first? The tuna keeps, right?

I've been doing legs on Saturdays mornings with one of my clients. She insists that she enjoys it and I get a workout partner I don't lift as long or as heavy as I used to on my own, but it's a lot more fun. Since I'm doing more regular (daily) and harder cardio, my legs seem to be perpetually sore and are leaning out more so I'm not real worried about squatting insane amounts of weight.

Last night's treat meal (which was not over the top at all) kept me awake and sweating all night. I'm so groggy now

Congratulations on the new job, Cindy! Where is your trip taking you? Business or pleasure?

Off to cook for the week....

Mel

I can't believe it's June!!

First of all for Fran for getting back into the swing of things...and no pain!!

Strange how a few of us were having a blah workout week. All in all, for a bad week, it wasn't too bad. Getting in 5k, one power class and some tennis is not the worst week ever. I haven't gotten too bored yet but I wonder how some of you keep this up for years!

I'm hoping to start off my week on the right foot with a spinning class tomorrow at noon. You can always count on spinning to get a good sweat going. I also borrowed BFL for Women from the library. I'm hoping that will inspire me with some new workout ideas and keep me focused in the gym.

It was a so-so food weekend for me. Mostly I contained the "bad" foods to one meal but still the weekends in general are a challenge. I think my DH has finally decided (again) to try to lose some weight. We often lose together and gain together but the last few years I've been more determined not to gain so he did but I didn't.

Since I'm still hoping to lose a few more pounds, I'm always happy to re-focus the eating and try to get to my goal. We'll see how it goes.

Mel - since you brought it up and I'm always looking for ideas, what are some of the things you cook on the weekend that you eat throughout the week?

Cindy - the workouts that you mentioned...are they from a book or video/DVD?

Elisa - I actually have both, but I am doing the workouts in the book. As a beginner, I wanted to be able to work at my own pace, as well as in a gym.

I really enjoy these workouts - there is a good mix of bodyweight exercises along with dumbbell/machine exercises and cardio moves - mountain climbers, jumping rope, jumping jacks...

The DVD workouts are shorter than the book - Jillian used to post here at 3FC a while back, and she said that the marketing folks "strongly suggested" the workout be about 30 minutes. So, she suggested that if you do the DVDs, that you should repeat each circuit one extra time. Most of the book circuits are done 3 times, yielding a workout that lasts 50 - 75 minutes, depending on the week.

She has a new book out, Making the Cut, which I've heard is a really intense 30-day shape up. I'm going to do another 12-week program from the first book before attempting to tackle the new one.
Cindy

Hey guys. Just checking in to let you know that I haven't disappeared. Things have just gotten busy.

The big news this past month is that I've been meeting with a personal trainer at the gym to get me a bit more focused. I haven't ever done that before so I wasn't sure what to expect. We meet for 30 minutes once a week. Is that too brief?

The sessions are good in that he gets me out of my comfort zone, but I feel a little adrift the rest of the week. Even though I try to do the same workout it's not the same. I have a sneaky suspicion that I need a written schedule and record of what I'm doing. Do you typically get a written plan when you're with a personal trainer?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

I've only had the orientation workout with a trainer at a gym, but yes, I definitely got a card to use to record my machines and weights each time. Actually, the trainer was the one who wrote everything down. I would think you should def get one, or at the next appt, just tell him to bear with you as you write the stuff into your own notebook.

That's good to know. It feels like the first two sessions have been a way to test the water and see if I'm really up for doing this. In that regard, they've been good because I feel like this is what I need. I've just been a bit nagged by the thought that maybe this is his complete approach and I need something more structured.

I'll talk to him on Thursday. Thanks.

Hello all,

I'm wondering if I can join your thread? My name is Lynne, I'm a 33 year old administrator for a KFC Franchise (irony or what huh? ) in Huntsville, Alabama. I have had some success with weight loss having dropped 28 lbs in the past 3 years. I know the names of some of you who post here (hi Mel and Meg).

I've just started my first Body for Life Challenge and whilst I'm not new to exercise, weight lifting or this board, I am new to BFL. I'm a little nervous to be honest, I've never done a weight lifting program this intense. I did my first upper body workout this morning and really enjoyed it although next week I will be upping the weights on some of the exercises. It was hard to figure out what to start off with so I made a guesstimate based on what I've lifted before and some of it felt a little easy.

I'm following the weights as Bill instructs in the book, 5 sets seems a lot but I'm going to stick it out and see what happens. I will have my first obstacle in a couple of weeks though, we're going to a music festival camping for 4 days so I won't be getting any workouts in during that time!

I'm looking to give and receive support and encouragement from people who have done BFL or not and people who lift in general, I'm looking forward to getting to know you all.

Lynne - Welcome - I think you'll really enjoy BFL! It's a challenge, that's for sure, but you'll get a great sense of accomplishment at making it though those first 84 days. Just stick with it and the results will come. I did 5 challenges in a row, back in 2003-2004. Actually, I pretty much incorporated it into my life as a lifestyle and loved how I looked and felt. My current weight is what happened when I stopped working out regularly, and stopped eating the BFL way, so don't let that influence you.

No workout for me today - I pulled something on the side of my hip, and it's quite painful to do much movement Let's hope it feels better tomorrow!

Hello to everyone - have to run!
Cindy

Oh Monday. I wasn’t done with the weekend yet thankyouverymuch.

Fran - Glad to hear you’re back in the swing of things. Feels great, don’t it?

LynneA – Welcome and good luck with your BFL Challenge!

I didn’t make 30 min in my 5k on Saturday. I felt like I was running faster than I was I guess. Finished in 31:36, which is almost a minute faster than my 5k in April. I was just hoping for a little more. Oh well, maybe next time.

No major food catastrophes over the weekend. Down a pound for a whopping 3 lb loss over the last 2 months. Well, progress is progress I guess.

We’re closing on our townhouse this Friday, DF’s mom is coming in that morning, I have a work event to run on Saturday, and we’re moving on Sunday. Wish me luck.

FBWO tonight, followed by lots of stretching.

Morning all! Had a super busy weekend - mostly chores and such - so I'm glad I did my training first thing on Sat. 3 weeks til the actual event. I'm so ready to change my cardio from walking to biking. I've resisted even getting on my bike since I have little enough time for exercise as it is, esp now as I've added in the physical therapy (though to be honest, they replace my LB workouts). So I'm with you Shan - not ready for the weekend to be over!

I just finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Very good book about eating locally, and mostly organically. Her reasoning is not nutrition, though it ends up being pretty nutritionally sound. However, to eat locally in Alaska is not an easy task! We do pretty well as we grow (or U-Pick) most of our veggies and freeze them. Likewise berries and rhubarb. Meat and fish are no problem, but fresh greens in the winter - hmmm, I need So Cal!

Fran, glad to see you back at it with enthusiam.

Lynne.

Cindy, congrats on the new job

Mel, sounds like you're settling into your new job/workout routine

Hi Lydia!

Have a great day everyone.

Thanks for the welcome .

Cat - Sorry you hurt your hip, I hope you feel better soon. I am very excited about this challenge, I went through a long plateau phase of over 3 months during which time I got very disolutioned with working out and eating right and fell off the wagon. I'm not the type who springs out of bed at 4.30am beaming with joy at the thought of going to the gym. Pizza would win over spinach most of the time and I'm a recovering mexican food junkie. This is work to me. I gained back 7 lbs before I decided I wasn't going to let all my hard work go to waste. Not that I think BFL will suddenly make me into a muscled goddess it just looks challenging and interesting enough to get me going again.

Shananigans - we are the same height and I was just 4lbs heavier than you when I started my journey. Your target weight is the same as mine too! I hit my plateau at 173 lbs. I could go below that but always bounced back to 173 no matter how well I ate. The lowest I got to was 168. Maybe you are slowing down because you are close to your goal now. I hated that part of weight loss and I expected to be way closer to my goal before it slowed down, 173 just seemed unfair and I felt very cheated, I don't know by who or what, fate maybe? My body perhaps?

WaterRat (love your name ) - I live in Tennessee and let me tell you, at times during the year it's rough buying produce too, the prices are disgraceful. I've grown my own garden the past 2 years to save money. So it's not just Alaska!!

Another FBWO today & 1/2 hour hard treadmill cardio. Feeling good - waiting for the scale to reward me.

Welcome Leeds Lass - there are a bundle of us who live the BFL plan full-time, to varying degrees. I don't do the food exactly the same, but my workouts follow the BFL-Women (Dr. Pamela Peeke) book to a tee. I'm glad you didn't overdo it today; you may still get some serious pain, don't feel bad to pop some ibuprofen if you do - it's normal and shouldn't happen again after the first time.