Sportsfreak, yes, that surgery is really painful. Hope you feel better soon!

My week has been totally upside down so far. I'm proud to say I did get a great workout in yesterday in spite of that. I work in IT and sometimes I have to work very late nights while everyone else is sleeping.

My gym gave me a gnarly surprise on Saturday. They close at 7pm!!?!? Grr! They are remodeling and the "small" free weight area where they keep the smaller weights (and where you can always find a free bench) is roped off. So the available benches are very valuable real estate, indeed! They are installing something like a snack bar ?!?? Hmm. We'll see how this goes. They have said "no" to kettlebells, and there's no Gravitron, either. If they said "yes" to a muffin bar, I'm going to be cranky.

Tomato, what are you translating?

Eves, your workouts sound very, um... well, they sound inspiring! Good for you for getting it done!

Looking forward to cruising around tonight!

Sportsfreak - sorry to hear about the surgery! I better be more diligent with flossing (even though I am trying to do what I can) to not have to go through something similar. Does not sound very pleasant at all. Although it is amazing how medical science is progressing. When I was 14 or 15, my mom had her gall bladder removed. I remember she had a HUGE incision under her left boob that went all the way to the back. My colleague at work had the same surgery last week and showed us today the three tiny cuts (that's how it done today, laparoscopically). Really amazing.

Eves - would you mind telling me what it is you are doing? I think I sweated bullets just from reading your posts.

Denver - I would be super cranky myself! My gym has a quite large reception area (off the reception area there is a little store for all the protein drinks and other supplements) and a relatively small area with the cardio machines. IMHO, the cardio section could have used a bit more space so that one does not have meander in between the machines like a snake, while the reception/the store is mostly empty.

The translation was a stuff about a clinical study (medical) - not bad but I am glad it's off my plate. :-)

Morning....grump...grump....
I couldn't find my workout shorts at 5:15 this morning. Eventually found them in a pile in my dd's bedrom. She was ecstatic to see me a (angry) at 5:30. Then I couldn't find MY coffee cup (no, I'm not very flexible!). Found that in same dd's room at 6:45. She still wasn't happy to see me.

My car battery is dead and dh already left, so I'm charging it from his "baby", the undriven sports car in the garage. I'd drive it to work, but it's raining out there.

The day has GOT to get better I'm leaving this afternoon for a few days at the beach with previously mentioned DEAR daughter, so I hope we don't grump at each other too much!

Have a good one,

Mel

Oh Mel: I hope that the rest of the day went well for you. If it is anything like how mine turn out that pattern will last all day. I can count on it. The good thing is that great days usually have the same all day pattern as well. You've got a trip to the beach ahead of you though, have fun!

Eves: Are you still okay?! My goodness, you must be so fatigued from heat exhaustion. Be careful out there.

Denver: AAACHH! The free weight section roped off?! Without notice?! Yeah, I'd be a little cranky too. Our gym shuts down for a week of housekeeping/maintenance but they let us know and plan for that a month in advance.

Midwife: You look great! Love the bike! What a great shot. How often do you get a chance to ride? I'm trying to break in rides into my cardio schedule as well.

Elisa: Have you ever taken a Yin yoga class? It's focus is upon the connective tissue and joints. I took one last Sunday. Interesting. I think I will stick with Ashtanga for now. It was kind of relaxing.

So last Saturday I purchased my first road bike. It's a Specialized Ruby Comp. I wish I could say that it has automatically made me a faster rider but no, this is not the case. I had a cat's eye put on the bike and I'm doing about 15mph average. ~sigh~ The group I've been trailing is doing more like 20. I've decided that I really don't need to do the group rides right now. I usually come back feeling defeated. Its such a drag to be passed like you are sitting still by the whole pack. I enjoyed my solo ride last Sunday much more than the group ride. There is just too much anticipation for me during the day building up to it and not the good kind. I think that I will train alone and throughout the winter and then see how I am doing.

This morning I decided I needed to shake off the bad karma I was feeling about last nights ride. The only thing that will make me a better rider is more riding so I loaded up the bike and drove out to the trails again. I replaced my gym cardio with an hour trail ride. Still only averaging 15 mph. grrr. After the ride I loaded it back up, went to the gym and did legs. I looked a wreck walking in there though. Hair plastered to my head, thank you helmet, and yes Mel, I did buy the padded bike shorts. Feeling a little weird parading around with those on too. Thankfully I had the good sense to pack another change of clothes for the weights. Wish me luck tomorow as I head out to hit 16mph.

Hey all, i got the 16 g black iphone today. I am soo phyced. I cant wait to open and start using it. However i am scared to use it until i get the case. I want to get the iskin revo2 for it. I'm not paying the cell bill, my dad is. Thats one cool thing about divorced parents . I live with my mom.

Gonna workout tomorrow. This sugery really put me off track. Hope i can get back on my bike again and keep making progress.

Check with u all later.- im gonna go play with my iphone

Hi everyone,

I'm back! And moving from one apartment to another. I'm still going to try to work out though. We'll see. I have to go back to Kansas next week, but luckily it's our last trip in a while.

I'm an archaeologist. It's far less glamorous than Indiana Jones, especially if you work in the US.

Anyway, I had a good work out today. Squats, bulgarians, overhead presses, and bench. I think I'm going to start practicing the front squat to get some balance. I think my back may be arching too much in the back squat.

Tomorrow I'm getting my RMR tested. I just need to take that off the list as to why I can't seem to lose any weight.

Lydia - I also have trouble going fast on my bike. Have you tried doing sprints? Go as fast as you possibly can for 30 seconds and then giving yourself time to recover. Then do it again. It's a little HIITish, but it has helped me go faster on the bike.

Double post!

Well, I got my RMR checked. It was weird, I laid down in this room and was told to relax for 15 minutes. Then they came in and put a plug on my nose and I had to breathe through a tube for 15 minutes. Found out that I have a metabolism that is 13% faster than average. My RMR is 1728 calories.

I took the print out, showed it to my belly and reminded my fat that it is being completely unreasonable and illogical and that it should just leave.

On an unrelated note, it seems like the test moved my scale in a positive direction. Incredible, when I finally get fed up enough to start checking for a medical reason for my plateau my fat decides that it's bored. Whatever, as long as it's gone.

Sooo, for today I have a 5 mile run. Tomorrow I'm liiiiifting!!!

Sportsfreak - how are you doing?

im doing much better. I got my stiches on the top of my mouth removed wedensday and ther actuall ones used for the graph i will be getting out next week.

I have always wanted to get my rmr tested- where do you go and how much deso it cost??

Have to start working out and get back on track for monday. still having fun with my new iphone .

Later

Eves: I'm also interested in where you went to have your rmr tested. What a cool idea to have this done. Your little chat with the belly must have had an effect. Maybe I'll do the same.

Sportsfreak: Hope you are enjoying your new iphone. Sounds like fun.

Took the bike out again today. The first five minutes were grueling. Lets jus say there was a little wind out there today. Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself and pushed through it I was able to get in a total of 20 miles today. My average was about 16mph today so there was a little improvement. I'm finding that without looking at my "cats eye" I can almost tell exactly how fast I'm going. I really have to push hard to get past 16 to see 17 and 18 mph. There is certainly a threshold there. Once I reach my speed I can't sustain it for long though. So, it's interval work for now.

My plan this morning was to do the twenty miles and then hit the gym for upper body today. At the end of my ride there is an outdoor fitness structure. I hopped off my bike and went to do some pullups. Did two sets hopped down and strode over to my bike. I was about to slip my foot into the straps and mount when something on my shoe caught my eye. OMG. I had just stepped in the biggest pile of dog poo poo you could imagine. Think horse. Now, do I scrape off most of it and put my stinking foot into the straps or do I walk Miss Ruby all the way back to my car. Were talking about two miles to my car at this point. I began walking and realized how long that was going to take me. I worked a little more to get it clean and then prayed that this would not foul up my bike too badly. I cleaned her up as soon as we got home. What really irked me though was that I didn't bring a spare pair of running shoes so even though I was literally around the corner from the gym I couldn't get my lifting in today. ~sigh~ So much to learn. Mental note, keep extra pair of running shoes in the car for emergencies. DH thought it was hysterical. After laughing himself silly he did redeem himself. From the kitchen window I watched him powerwashing the shoe which he had propped up on the garden stake.

Hope everyone had a better or more pleasant smelling workout than me today.

Hey Lydia,
I was laughing at your poop story and DH came over and read your post. He said that pushing it to 16 mph is very good. Just thought you'd be interested.

Hi all

I had a fantastic time at the beach (da shore, for anyone who is from PA or Jersey ) didn't do a single workout, but ate squeaky clean despite temptations I'm kind of creaky feeling, but will do a home leg workout in a few minutes.

Eves: When and under what conditions was your RMR tested? When I had mine done and tested others, I always cautioned people that they should come first thing in the morning, fasting, no caffeine, and no stressful driving. Ideally, it should be done before you've even gotten out of bed! but that's not realistic. If you had eaten, done any activity or had caffeine, you should lop a few numbers off that result.

Lydia- Yuk! Glad Miss Ruby cleaned up for you! A good decision to train on your own until you look forward to riding with a group. I've been invited several times to join road groups but have been too terrified to try. I know I'd be the straggler and dread it all day.

Off to do a modified home leg workout....

Mel

Hi everyone,

Just finished up my 3 miles today, in 30 minutes. Wooo! Another lifting day, but I'll wait until after lunch.

About rmr testing. I had it done because I realized that maybe I had screwed myself up by going too low calorie for too long, and since I was doing everything right and still not losing, maybe I had done something.

I first googled to see if there was any place in town that did it. It was a simple "rmr testing champaign, il". I got three places that did it, and then I called and asked. The first place said that they only did it as a part of a 9 point fitness test and that it was going to cost me $249. Nope.

Second one, the test sounded more like a VO max test. Running on a treadmill with a hose stuck to my face.

Third place was the Mettler Center. It's a high end gym where the athletes and even the university chancellor go. They did the test for $65 and it included talking to a trainer.

Tests are only done first thing in the morning. Mine was at 7:30. Rolled out of bed, had a glass of water (I swear I mummify in my sleep), drove the 5 minutes over there because they told me not to exercise. With traffic at that hour, it would have been faster had I just biked.

Get there. They had me lay down for 15 minutes. They weighed me, and then put something to pinch my nose (it hurt) and had me breathe into a machine, while laying down for 15 minutes.

When I got my number, I was pretty skeptical. I asked if the fact that my stomach was begging for food the entire time had anything to do with it. He said no. My session with him though was pretty useless. He trains athletes and his biggest thing was that I should switch my protein powder to a whey isolate because of better absorption. I'll do that once the price on whey isolates go down. Or if I decide this late in life to become an athlete.

I do have a question for the trainers here:

With my RMR there, I'd like to bump up my calories to 1600-1700 and put my exercise at one hour every day. How that would break down:

non-lifting days: one hour cardio. I split it up since I can't stand doing it for more than 45 minutes at a time. So, run 3-4 miles in the morning, do HIIT in the evenings.

lifting days: cardio, half an hour. Light run, 3 miles. I'm still on the 5x5 program, it is awesome. So, lift heavy for about 45 minutes.

Does this sound good?

My diet (I guess on the rare non-egg days):

Oatmeal with a bit a scoop of protein powder.
Apple with 1tbsp peanut butter
Spinach salad with tuna or cottage cheese
yogurt with kashi go lean
veggie stir fry and chicken
protein shake.

This would give me over 100g of protein a day, and keep my major carbs for after a work out. Opinions? Suggestions?

Thanks and have a good weekend!

Well, Eves, I think that running regularly and lifting weights qualifies you to consider yourself an athlete. I mean, I consider myself a bit of an athlete and I'll deck anyone who says otherwise---and then outrun them!

LOL...Good one, Midwife! I'd have to knock them out, since I can't outrun anybody under the age of 90!

Sorry I haven't been around. I checked out a bunch of books from the library and have been obsessively reading when I have free time, and haven't felt like getting on the computer. Figured I should get on today to check in here, and clear out my email box before it explodes.

I decided to give the old BFL program a try, since I've been stuck on the scale for a while...maybe a change will do me good? I started on Weds with cardio, running, and so far it's going well. I realized that when I tried the BFL sets before, I wasn't doing it quite right. The book clarified some things, and my first UB workout kicked my butt...it was great! Yesterday was walking dogs at the waterfront, about six miles total after a swim-stop for the dogs, then skating last night...I tried doing the BFL style intervals while doing laps at the rink, but it was a public session, so I couldn't quite keep the speed up without tripping over a kid and killing myself. I just stuck with the dancing and made sure it was a good workout.

Today is LB lifting. I've got a lot to do at home today, so will decide whether I want to work out at home or take the time to do the Y. For some reason, it takes me forEVER to get in and out of the Y, so some days I just think I'd be better off buying a barbell and weights for the house. I do like that pullup machine, though. Anyway, I'd better get back out and finish my morning chores.

hey everyone.

I seem to have bit of a delema. Well latly i have been doing nrl4w and i am happy with my progress, but i am having second doubts about the program. I really do want to put on some muscle and then cut to obtain the look i have saught out for. However, i was wondering weather i need to investigate a split technique going to the gym more than 3 times to like 4 times a week. Therefore each body part has had maximm time to rest and grow.

Are thre any others programs that would fit the criteria i would like. Or is it possible to make my own. I would have hired a trianer, but at 17 i barly can afford my gym membership.

Thanks