Thanks Mel. I am planning to do a half hour of ab exercises tonight (I did not wake up early enough to squeeze them in in the a.m.) and I will add the ball pulls as well.

I finally kicked myself hard enough to get started on NRLW and did 1A this morning. I’ve had the book forever, read about ¾ of the way through it and got derailed by I don’t even know what but have carried that stupid thing around with me every place I went hoping I would get a chance to get back and finish reading it. Well yesterday my boss came in gimping around, he and his wife had started a new workout program and he was feeling it in almost every muscle in his body but he was in such a good mood for getting up and working out that it gave me the push I needed. I rolled out this morning with bells on and had my workout in before I left for work. I did my usual walk during lunch, food is right on plan and man I am just in so much control it is scary.

Tomato, I feel like such an ab slacker! I see the peeps at the Y just doing all kinds of ab exercises, and I know about TWO, lol.

E, congrats on your first NROLW workout! I've been needing a kick in the butt myself, and just finally got my exercise back on track the past 2 days.

Speaking of which, that's why I'm back...yesterday was running, but today, I finally got back in the weight room. Did chest, shoulders and triceps today. I did flat bench today (bb), and it was plain I hadn't been working out. My sorry (censored) was busted back down about 15 lbs on all my chest exercises. Well, it was a good workout, and that will be a good lesson for me, not to let life get in the way of my workouts.

Here ya go Cheryl,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mu2D...eature=related

Great fun, just be careful not to kiss the bar. I also like to keep a towel under my knees.

Good for both of you EofAZ and Cheryl in getting back into the gym. You know when I first began lifting about a year or so into it I wondered how it could be incorporated into a lifetime practice. I had accomplished a lot that year but wondered what the future motivation would be to keep doing this day in and day out. The funny thing that happens is just what you both described, "Life gets in the way." Projects for the kids, physical ailments, changes in schedules etc. Once the dust settles and we are able to get back into our lifting routine we find out we may have a little ground to catch up on again. It's okay. It certainly keeps us from getting bored and allows us to really appreciate all the gains we make all over again. Only this time, we know how to do it perhaps more efficiently. Let's hear it for muscle memory :yay:

Quote:

Life gets in the way

Yes, it does. BUT....life is so much better if you figure out how to incorporate healthy living into life which includes exercise. I keep reteaching myself this lesson. Yesterday I skipped am cardio because I went to bed too late, and all day felt like I never woke up. Another reminder that even tired, I feel better when I exercise. I don't "like" getting up at 5:15 (I know that's late for some of you!) but I sure feel better during the day.

My eating has been off- life got in the way of that too, so I have no right to be up on a soapbox! That is ENDING today. The world financial crisis is not going to be affected by my caloric consumption, and my 401K doesn't grow along with my waist, so I might as well face reality and stop eating in inverse relationship to the direction of the stock market ;)

Have a good one!

Mel

My cardio especially, but also weight lifting, is the only thing keeping me sane during this time of economic turmoil. Seriously. I can just see myself making goal and when people ask what worked for me, I'll have to say "the economy. It was either exercise or go crazy!"

:lol: Fran!

What kept me going to lose 70 lbs in 2000? - my DH's cancer diagnosis/treatment. Although I had lost the first 30 before he was diagnosed, working on weight loss gave me something to control when the rest of my world was definitely not in my control. It also helped that I was 1500 miles from home, and knew no one and interacted only with salespeople and medical personnel. :) Now that I'm back living "real life" it's much much harder to lose.

Wow, Pat, I didn't know that story. I'm glad you both made it thru the storm and that you had a good outcome to show as well.

Well, I did have a good outcome for awhile. I had a major relapse - though not the whole 70 lbs - which I'm still trying to lose. :( Amanda started a good thread in Maintainers about whether BMI is an acceptable measure and some other thought provoking stuff. After reading that I feel a lot better about my goal of being healthier as opposed to just being skinnier (not that I want to stay this weight, but I'm not as frantic about getting to a number on a scale, just about being healthier).

But yes, DH had a stem cell transplant, and has been in remission since May of 2000. And really well for the past 3 years or so.

Last October we had an announcement at work that they were going to transfer the manufacturing operation in AZ out of state and close down the Tucson plant. We got 2 years notice (that is how long it is suppose to take to transition our equipment) so that has been hanging over my head but you just can’t walk away and leave the severance package on the table. Then comes along the economic turmoil and I get to watch what little I did have saved towards my retirement dwindle away. This is about as stressful a situation I’ve ever been in and you know what I have learned from all of this? That I’m not a stress eater! Ha, I always thought that was my biggest problem and it apparently isn’t so now I understand more about myself and that is so good.

Well I have my cardio in, didn’t get it done before work (decided to get some household chores done instead) but got out during lunch and put in 3 miles so I’m very happy with that and am looking forward to tomorrow morning and my date with my weights.

Stem cell transplants are a wonderful thing - you must have a real hard time being from Alaska right now, huh? ;)

I just downed my chocolate milk via my post-lifting snack. It was good and made me much happier than white milk. I must say, it's got me looking forward to my next weight lifting session! ;) But 29 g of sugar, 9 g of protein, and the dreaded hfcs very near the top of the list. Did I buy the wrong milk? Dh got me Nesquick and it doesn't expire until late November. Indicator #1 that this stuff may not be real 2% milk in there. I will have to check out the brands myself next time.

I did vanilla soy milk after my run last night and chocolate soy milk after my run this morning :)

My news this morning is I've been practicing squats and have had trouble doing deep squats. I just don't quite have the flexibility. I've been practicing with my flexibility and this morning I was able to do a few deep squats.

I always thought you were not supposed to go beyond a parallel with the floor on squats and was surprised to see one of the Crossfit videos having a girl do total knee-bend, butt to floor, on squats. I guess things change over time.

Well, the bunny miilk was a success I guess. No stomach cramps at all for me, so for that reason alone I like it better than the white stuff. And, then I had a 3 lb drop overnite after LIFTING last nite people. What's that about? I'd been stalled all week, so it works itself out in the end I guess.

Has anyone ever noticed being extremely cold (unless if it's summertime I guess) the nite before a major weight shift? I could not get warm last nite - again after LIFTING - which is weird. I had my jammies on, socks, sweatshirt, 2 blankets, flannel sheets - had to finally turn up the heat after a couple of hours of misery. It was very odd but I wondered if it was related to my body exorcising/burning out some fat or something.

Oh wouldn't that be great? I've been cold for several days but I won't weigh til next week. Our scale died, I don't trust the one at the gym any longer, so it'll be next week at the doc's. I was shivering when I got done swimming last night - boy did that hot shower feel good. :) I think that as much as the exertion, the class is at a time when my body is winding down for the evening. We don't start til 8:30, and 10 pm is my usual bedtime. Took forever for my feet to warm up since I cannot convince the cats to sleep on them, and DH objects to me putting them on him. :rofl:

Good grief, Pat! What are husbands and cats for if not warming feet? :devil:

Fran- Have you looked at the thermometer lately? It IS cold! I never noticed that, but I do notice that I'm a lot colder all the time at my current weight than I was 60 pounds ago. And on a high carb day, I'm boiling, but a low carb day has me all bundled up.

Nelie- I've been trying to work on my flexibility too. I can get my butt all the way down on squats, but a lot of yoga poses are an incredible challenge.

Lydia- How are you doing? Do you still have the flu?

I had a great back and chest workout today, and did a short yoga video while dinner cooked. I still don't particularly like it, but I really do want to work on flexibility.

Mel