October!
 

Yikes! It's October. The sky is dark and wet leaves are falling this morning :yikes:

I'm going to try and keep track of how much weight I lift during a typical week. I log what I eat, so this will be just a variation of the same game. I haven't quite thought out the "rules". Cables pose a bit of a problem as do body weight exercises. Maybe I'll just count free weights.

I think I'll pass on jumping out the window and waiting to be missed :rofl: It would be pretty depressing to NOT be missed and have my paycheck stop!

Mel

oh man Mel, of course you would be missed :-) who else would lift the heavy boxes and bags? :joker:

My son's 7AM practices are KILLING my routine. I squeezed in TaeBo last night and a bike ride this morning, but I'm missing the gym - especially since I'm PAYING for it. I even considered getting up at 330 AM so I could get to the gym by 4 in order to be back home by 530 but that would be super :dizzy:

Oh well, two more days, then life goes back to normal.

Food is still clean which is amazing in itself. I always swore that I could only eat clean if I was also working out steadily. I've proven myself a liar, which is a good thing. ;)

How's everyone else's October starting out?

Oh my god, its October?! Tonight is day 1 of my running program. Although there are showers predicted so... hopefully they won't cancel. If they do, they'll at least hand us our running plan, I think. I did NRLW 1-5B this morning. It was funny, I had 70 lbs on the barbell and told myself I couldn't do deadlifts with that much weight then I told myself that it wouldn't feel heavy once I started and I was right. I should've even upped the weight but next time. Just a lack of confidence this morning.

Oh Mel - I'm interested to see how you log. I am noting what I do in my blog every day (part of my accountability for October) ... but I have a hard time quantifying my lifting workouts.

.

nelie, I do 60 on dumbbells (total) and I'm not the kettlebell queen you are, so I'm sure you can go higher! Just be careful as that is one moved I slightly pulled my back over and was pretty uncomfy for 2 days. That has kinda scared me from going above 60 bc I was on 35's each when it happened. I'm sure it was more of a form issue, but who wants to repeat history on their back?

Yes, glorious OCtober is here! Soon the sticky faces will be at your door demanding candy! Boo hiss, I've bought PENCILS this year! No reason at'all for DH to start bringing in a bag here or there during the month. :devil:

Working out and eating are both going great. Planning to make the same post on 10/31 and 11/1 too!

What exactly are planning to log, Mel? You said free weights - so if you do 20 biceps curls with 10 lb dumbbell in each hand (just an example) you would log
20x10x2 ?

Mel: WHAT!? You don't have a little leather bound lifting book that has recorded every session for the last six years?! Your kidding right? I do. Well, mine goes back four years. Honestly, it's a habit I developed from the very beginning. When I first began, the pt had organized the exercises, weight, reps and date on a sheet of paper for me. I used that as a template for my own book. When I was really new to lifting having all this information handy helped me keep my head together once I entered the free weights area. Now I have it sectioned off and bookmarked with different workouts and by body part. It's also a place to record questions that pop into my head during my cardio sessions. Course there are some days when it's just one more thing to carry...

Today's workout was 50 minutes of cardio on the elliptical and thirty minutes of core and stretching. While I missed doing legs a little bit it was nice to get in some new core exercises with the ball.

Nelie: Good luck with your running program this evening. How very exciting. Are you running outside? It's really cool outside here. A great afternoon for a run :goodvibes:

Fran: Glad to know that you are having great success with the food and workout. My workouts are fine but some things are starting to trip me in the food area. Just a few "treats" that have become habits that need to be snipped in the bud. I'm not gaining but it's enough to prevent me from losing. It's either me or the pretzels. Grrrrrr. Maybe if I bought the really yucky kind it would help. The kids will still eat the yucky ones in their lunches. ~sigh~ I just need to clean things up. I really want to head into the fall and winter about five pounds under my current weight. A little wiggle room so I don't end up frustrated and working my tail off all over again this spring. Overall though I have to say that I'm pretty satisfied with my level of fitness at this point. It's so nice to be able to move with strength and well if I had any, grace. :rofl:

Enjoy the evening.

Grace - now we have to have grace, too??!! :rofl: Lydia, you crack me up. I swear I'm the klutziest person on the planet. Can't dance worth anything, I've fallen off treadmills, yada yada.

I too would like to have a little more wiggle room. I know I need to do more cardio. If I could just get some of the midsection to shift or better yet GO, then I could wear my next sized smaller pants.... I'm wearing the smaller of the 2 sizes of pants in my closet today, and still the legs are baggy. I was a pear all my life, and this shift to apple bothers me. Swimming is helping though and I'm really enjoying it even though - again - I feel like a klutz trying to correct all my bad habits. The classes really are a workout though. I have one tonight, and then I'll miss three while I'm away. BOth places I'm staying have pools though, so I can practice. And treadmills (as least, they "claim" fitness rooms).

Nice sunny day with a bright blue sky here. Too bad it's only 43! :lol: Lots of that white stuff on the mountain tops, and frost every morning this week.

nelie- I hope you aren't having the same weather we are.... Your run will be more of a puddle jump.

Lydia- I quit writing down my workouts about 3 years ago when I started working out every afternoon with most of the other trainers. I just never started again. And some of my exercises are so goofy, that the writing part would take longer than the workout. Remember, I'm not trying to progress on anything and I've been doing this for a REALLY long time. I've hit the point on most of my lifts where age, joint stability, and weight hoisted have converged to "maintenance" rather that moving more metal. In some cases, I've lightened up, but compensated by making the overall exercise harder: those one legged bosu tricks. Or balancing on my knees on a stability ball while doing lat pull downs.

So for what I did lift today:
Shoulder day(not done in this order, but a 4 set circuit):
Dumbbell presses: 20(40) X 10 = 400
25(50) X 10 = 500
30(60) X 10 = 600
Military BB press: 45 X 10 = 450
55 X 10 = 550
65 X 8 = uh, 520
Front raises: 35 X 10 = 350
15(30) X10 = 300
17.5(35) X 10 350
cables?
Side raises 4X 15(30) X10 1200
cables?
rear delts 15(30) X 10 = 300
17.5(35)X10 = 350
20 (40) X 10 = 400
cables? ______
6270 :faint:

This is more typing than it was worth! Sure would be easier if I could import an excel spreadsheet into here :)

Eating fell apart.

Mel

edit: and formatting is impossible!

Oww - my bootocks HURT! (note cheesy october/halloween reference. actually, it's what my kids call them) I don't know what I did. Maybe it was those bent legged deadlifts followed by the incline on the treadmill. I feel like i have drill bits in my lower booty - they're on both sides at least, so i don't have a pulled glute or anything ;)

Wow Mel, am I reading this right? You are using 15 pound db's for your side raises. That's impressive. When I try to go higher than 10 pounds the anterior part of my shoulder joint really aches so I've just never progressed. And lat pull downs while kneeling on a ball. See Pat...now that takes grace. That's what I'm talking about. Wow, Mel, that is a lot of volume. Nice workout.

Pat: It's nice that you are wearing the smaller pant in your closet though isn't? As a fellow pear I don't think a shift to an apple is something I would acclimate too as well. Unless of course it came with the other promises of being an apple and that means awesome legs. In my case very doubtful. But back to the apple thing. I am so very used to my midsection being the smaller part of my body that when I do wear something tight across that area it really drives me buggy. I purchased a camisole top made with enough lycra in it to be used as a tourniquet. If feels fine on top :rolleyes: but around my tummy it's clingy and really bothers me even though it "looks" fine.

It was sprinkling a little during the running class but it was awesome! I had a lot of fun being with other people. It was actually a pretty big group and I was actually near the front of the pack. The plan is 4 runs/week with one of the runs being with the class.

Mel - looking at your (very impressive) results methinks you should save yourself all the typing and just post the monthly tally in TONS at the end of each month.
:strong:

Originally Posted by :
I am so very used to my midsection being the smaller part of my body

Yup Lydia - that was me most of my life. I can remember always having to wear a belt or taking tucks in my waistbands. This latest "relapse" has completely changed where I carry my extra weight - weird. Must be a menopausal thing.... I'm thinking that the swimming is helping though, enough so I can now wear the smaller size. :)

I'm off in a couple hours for 5 days in Oregon, followed by 4 days at a Public Library Directors' meeting at a ski resort (but no snow yet) about 2.5 hours drive south of here. I'll be back to work on the 13th. I'll have my laptop as I have a lot of budget stuff to get done while I'm gone - boo! But both hotels have fitness rooms and pools....

I have a new exercise that is sure to challenge EVERYONE! Attempt to do a high intensity Tae Bo workout while helping a 14 year old answer study questions for an Economics test! Works your body (exercise) works your lungs (trying to find breath to answer) Works your coordination (trying to stay on count with Billy and yet also remember the difference between free market economies and command economies) works your mind (trying to remember school stuff that I probably forgot the minute the ink dried on my high school economics grade.)

OK, after only two days (one which I didn't type) I've given up keeping track of pounds lifted. I did a weird leg workout this morning with very few conventional lifts. I'm jelly-legged, but on paper it wouldn't look very impressive or even possible to describe.

Tiki- I've given up trying to help much in the homework arena. Despite 4 years of undergrad, and 3 years of grad school, last year my son asked "mom...did you actually take pre-calc in high school?" :rofl: I'm really good a correcting his grammar in essays, but that's about all.

Off to clean, grocery shop, mow the lawn and other fun weekend activities!

Mel

I can't believe it's October...and quite chilly out!

I've had a busy week or so but I've been able to at least pop in and try to keep up. I have to try to remember to try to check in here, even if I don't have time to post, especially when I'm struggling or having a busy week. It's such a great pick me up! Sometimes I think I like to punish myself when I'm "not doing well" and so I don't check out the site. Then I feel guilty if I don't have enough time to read/respond to everyone all the time...so I don't post. I think I need some therapy! :dizzy:

For a variety of reasons, I got in a total of one workout this week. So not good but better than zero. And...family stuff meant tons of eating. I'm just doing my best to try not to totally lose control.

And hey...all this apple/pear talk has made me wonder - is everyone one or the other? What's the other options? I think I carry my weight someone evenly but the worst parts are definitely around the middle, i.e. stomach/hips/upper thighs. I know I'm not a pear because I'm much bigger on top than on the bottom. Hmmm...what am I? :?: I think it will stay a mystery because I'm not posting any pictures. ;)

And I have never tucked in a top...I feel like I'm all hips and chest when I do that. Very not pretty.

tiki - loved your "full body" workout!:rofl:

Mel - I love reading your workouts but yes, it looks like way too much work to try to track all that every day.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

:D

Ladies, you know squat about weight lifting!
[of course, that was said tongue in cheek]

I was surfing last night and I came across the video clip about Gwyneth Paltrow's workouts. She works out with a trainer, Tracy Anderson, and the said trainer claims (you better sit down for this) that no woman should lift more than 3 lbs. :D:D:D Unfortunately, she did not provide any explanation why.

Here is the clicky for Gwyneth's workout.

I like the band system - that looks quite useful. It would be nice to have such a nice private gym. :-)

:lol: :rofl: :lol3:

Oh gosh! That clip just KILLS me! OK, first off, said celebrity trainer who said don't lift more than 3 lbs also says she trains Madonna. WHAT? Ok, already I sense someone who is a little crazy or has no memory, as M most definitely lifts more than 3 lbs! Or (shock!) do you think M looks like that only lifting 3 lb'ers? Maybe we're all missing something!!

Gwyneth whining about floor work/leg lifts. Gee, ya think if you did some squats with free weights, maybe you could get off your knees and not have to do so many reps?? Heck, forget the dumbbells, just use your OWN body weight for the squats. Duh Whatever she's paying this woman, it's too much!

I suspect Gwyneth hates cardio bc of her black lungs. The self-admitted smoker shouldn't be held up as a model of fitness for anyone. Next they'll interview SJP for her body slimming secrets.

Nice day out there isn't it! Great for mowing the lawn right Mel?

I was at the opening of the gym this morning at 7:00am, quite unusual for a Saturday. I had exactly one hour to get in some sort of a workout. The rest of the day was dedicated to my son and his cub scout troop. Keeping in mind that we would be hiking at one of the glacier parks I kept my cardio to a 20 minute run and then did a functional chest and back workout. Pullup and pushup sets over and over again. When I finally wore myself out I settled down upon a flat bench and purposefully select two 30 pound dumbbells to do my presses. :devil: All the while thinking about my little rant from last night. (Yeah, I got your three pounds right here...)

Tomato, you and I were probably watching that clip last night about the same time. When I showed it to DH he just about lost it. "Did they just say they were going to do "butt work?!" :rolleyes:

The suspended bands are interesting. I spoke with someone two weeks ago who attended an IDEA conference where she was able to test these out. At the conference she said that the bands were made of fabric not elastic. The concept of lowering herself to the ground from these suspended pieces disturbed her. All she could think about was the "what ifs...you know if it rips"

Fran: I'm not buying it for one minute that M has built her body using only three pound dumbbells either. She is too smart and too powerful of a character to waste her time doing 100 reps per side. I mean really...

Elisa: You are always welcome to the party here even if you've had that week from :devil: and can't post. No worries and no guilt. I'm glad though that it makes you feel more connected to be able to log in and see what's going on. I'm certain it is what keeps me on track most of the time too. Just knowing I'm not the only one doing this makes all the difference.

Which reminds me, on my way to this hike we passed a young woman driving a small four door sedan. On the back window was the telltale sign of a tribe member, a 26.2 sticker. But what really caught our eye and why this makes honorable mention is because her car was filled to capacity with giant 5 gallon orange Gatorade coolers and she was tapping into her cell phone while barrelling down I-70 obviously in route to support a marathon somewhere. Too cute. :goodvibes:

Have a great afternoon everyone. :sunny:

Madonna uses a lot of yoga/body weight stuff. She does the intense yoga which includes handstands and what not.

I went on a hike today after my physical therapy. My legs are a bit toast and I wanted to do my run today. We'll see how the legs feel in an hour or so.

Monday, Monday.... Boy, it's dark out there!

I had a good weekend. Bizarre leg workout on Saturday and food totally off plan (I need to plan better), but Sunday was a good day. Biked in the morning, then went shopping at the outlets with a friend, then an intense interval run when I got home. Food was on.

Cardio done, food packed. DS is sick again...sigh...so I don't know if I'll get to the gym at lunch or will be driving back and forth to either home or the high school.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Nelie- How's the running?

Mel

Mel - it's dark and quite chilly here too! But it supposed to warm up a bit as the week goes on.

My food was so-so over the weekend but I did get outside for my usual 5k. I'm such a fair weather runner that I'm not sure how much longer I'll last outside. I was buying some running pants and the guy said something about how "we" run all year long outside. I laughed and said maybe "you" do but "we" don't. I hate the cold too much but if I could make it a little longer that would be nice!

I had seen that clip from Gwyneth Paltrow when it was on Oprah and I too cringed. I can't help but wonder though...is it at all possible to get into Madonna's shape with only those type of workouts? Believe me, I'm not putting down my big girl weights but it made me wonder. Or do you think that woman was full of crap? :o

Happy Monday...I'm off to have my coffee and my Fibre One muffin!

:D

Running is good! I went running yesterday near the dog park while DH took the dogs to the dog park. It was a little hilly and had to push through some small hills but I really liked it. Today is running again. It seems to get easier everytime I go out. I also did NRLW 1A workout yesterday.

My calves are killing me though from physical therapy. stupid calf raises.

Originally Posted by Mel:
Monday, Monday.... Boy, it's dark out there! Mel

Yep. :yes: Here too. I'm feeling a little silly ending my workouts with the sun salutations when the sun is still no where to near the horizon. It used to be perfect a week or two ago. I'd wrap up right at 7:00am with the salutations, the light would just begin to brighten the sky and I would be out the door to see the rest of the sunrise on the way home. It's going to be a few months before that happens again. :lol:

Hey Mel I went biking Sunday too! My ride didn't begin until around three in the afternoon. I had so much anxiety that day and just couldn't shake it. I think it was too much caffeine in the morning and no cardio session. I felt like I was about to burst.

I've ridden this trail once before but didn't complete it because I ran out of time. Yesterday I had an hour and half to explore so I was ready to see what was on the other side. The trail was somewhat clear of the storm debris. My concerns were the crunched up leaves that are beginning to cover the trail. They hide all the spray painted potholes on the path as well as all the tiny twigs. :yikes: At one point in the path there was a patch of black walnuts that had fallen from an overhanging tree. Those were fun to dodge. :rolleyes: In spite of all of that it was still a great time and I was disappointed when I ran out of pavement to follow. :?: I got off my bike walked around looking for a pick up for it from somewhere but nope, that was it. Overall it was a 24 mile ride so I suppose it was enough to burn off a little steam. Still love my bike. :goodvibes: We grabbed some frozen custard for the boys and then drove back to Columbus just in time for me to wipe the bugs off my face and change for my Yin yoga class. :yoga: Life just couldn't get any better.

Originally Posted by elisa822:
I can't help but wonder though...is it at all possible to get into Madonna's shape with only those type of workouts? Believe me, I'm not putting down my big girl weights but it made me wonder. Or do you think that woman was full of crap? :o

:chin: I've been wondering about this too. It may be possible to further refine our shape using these kinds of methods. But I do not think that it is the right way to begin a strength training program. I think that if a person has a lot of bodyfat to lose and is truly deconditioned that it is best to go heavy. I'm also thinking that a specific body type or perhaps the way someones muscles may be attached to their framework may also further enhance this method to make it appear more successful for some and less so for others. Just a hunch. One thing is for certain. At my highest weight, there is no way on this earth that doing a hundred reps with three pound dumb bells would have ever given me my current shape. Not only that but my mindset then was so focused and determined that I needed to balance that mental energy with an equal strong/heavy weight in my hand. If that makes any sense. I needed to feel it.

Nelie: I'm so glad your running is going well for you. I'm your cheerleader over here. :yay: It's such a great feeling isn't it? You go girl!

I think they are crazy. I take advice like that and toss it in the same pile as "you little women shouldn't worry about money. Just sit there, look pretty and let us menfolk make all the decisions!" I've lost weight in the past withouth lifting but never have I looked as good or felt as good about myself as when i was lifting weights.

I can't run in the cold either, Elisa. Sucking in that cold air makes my lungs feel like they going to split wide open.

Lydia, maybe you can do moon ministrations until we set the clocks back?

I have my first head cold of the season courtesy of the Crew! I thought about you Mel, and kept my cooties out of the gym. Instead I rode my stationary bike at home and between sneezes, got in a decent workout for a sick chick.

Happy Monday all! Make this week count!

Originally Posted by tikanique:
Lydia, maybe you can do moon ministrations until we set the clocks back?

OH! THAT'S RIGHT! I forgot all about setting the clocks back. :doh: I'm so excited that I might be able to leave the gym in broad daylight again soon. :carrot: (I'm such a dork) :dizzy:

Tiki: How kind of you to stay home today. As a fellow gym goer who picks up everything in the air I thank you! :hug: I do hope you are feeling better tomorrow. I'm already loading up on the vitamin C and the l-glutamine. Last year was a doozy.

Tiki- Hope you feel better. Your fellow gym members thank you for staying home :hug:

Lydia- It was freezing here this morning. I thought of you out there saluting the moon when I scooted out (dripping) to get the paper.

I did a few one on one sessions of power yoga with an instruction with whom I bartered training. I have to admit that 1) I really didn't enjoy it but might have learned to like it and 2) it was HARD. I was drenched after an hour and incredibly sore the next day. I think you can develop muscles like that (along with a very clean diet and fantastic genetics), but I question the actual strength, functional fitness, or endurance. Fitness is adaptive; how can you get truly fit by NOT MOVING? Really, it is body weight training taken to an extreme.

Off for another day in the trenches. Cardio done, food packed, legs lite at lunch.

Mel

Mel - you know I love my Power Yoga and I'm glad that you agreed that it's no walk in the park! I think your comments are fair though and that's why I keep to just a part of my workout. Just once a week and it feels like a great complement to the other workouts. I do feel stronger and my balance and flexibility has greatly improved. But it's not for everyone, I guess.

I'm off to my Power Yoga at noon today! ;)

tiki - hope you're feeling better. I had a hint of a cold coming and have been loading up with Vitamin C and Cold FX (not sure if they sell it there). I'm not certain that it works but it has seemed to have warded off the bad colds a few times. Doesn't seem to hurt so I'll accept even the placebo effect.

:D

:dizzy: That's how I felt this morning when I crawled out of bed to go to the gym. I thought perhaps a good cardio session might cure it. Somewhat better but not quite. When I laid down on the bench to lift the room began to spin and I could not pick a spot to focus upon to save my life. I did about three reps and put had the good sense to put the dumbbells back on the rack. I walked over to the mat put my head between my knees till things calmed down and then went home. Wierd. Maybe I just slept kind of wrong or something. I'd go back to bed but I have family coming from out of town today so I'm on for the rest of the day.

Make it a great morning everyone :coffee:

I need to do some yoga sometime, I miss it but I can barely find time these days. I got home last night, fed the cats, went for a run, took the dogs for a walk to cool down from the run, fed the dogs, fed myself while standing up and doing kitchen chores. Sat down for 10 minutes to put my food into my online food diary. Then I prepped lunch for today and dinner for DH. Prepped my gym bag for swimming. Did my physical therapy exercises, did a couple stretches, got ready for bed then went to bed.

So anyway, did swimming this morning, did running last night and I'm looking to do weights after work. So much to do, so little time.

Love all the kinetic energy on this board - everybody going here, doing that, there's a definite charge in this thread! Lydia, I hope your dizziness is gone for good and that you are feeling better now.

I'm pretty pleased. I've increased the weights for my squats consistently for the last 3 workouts w/o feeling like falling down the stairs the next day! I guess that means more weight this weekend and deeper squats. I definitely feel like my legs are heavy and that they got worked, but they are not noodle legs, so I can do more. I also increased the number of reps on my ball squats to 30 successfully, so now I guess I'll have to look at doing 1 count rests at the bottom and turn it into a 3 count move instead of a slow 2 count move. Yea for progress! Scale is not dropping suddenly, but I expect my pants will reward me first while my scale is reflecting my "BULKING" ;) (sorry ladies, just had to throw that in there - i'm BULKING, i'm BULKING, oh no!)

Fran - I've been working on my squat form for what seems to be ages. Well I talked to the physical therapist I'm working with and he said he'll help me gain flexibility and also get better squat form. Maybe I shouldn't have asked because he already is trying to kill me!

Nelie: You are one incredibly busy woman these days. Wow. I bet you could use a good relaxing yoga session but where would it fit in. :dizzy: I'm finding that one day a week does it for me though. If I try to hit the studio two times a week in the evening then I begin to feel like I"m greeting myself coming and going. In between time I just roll out the mat at home and do my practice in the evening. Oh good luck with working on your flexibility. You are in so much trouble now that you have let your physical therapist in on your squat improvement plan. Good luck to ya!

Fran: Speaking of squats, look at you going deeper! I've never done ball squats. Mostly because we don't really have a good place to do this at our gym. The walls flank an indoor track and the walls are somewhat curved.

Anyway, still feeling dizzy over here. I think it may be a virus or something. Maybe. Who knows. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow when I get up or else I'll have to be a good sport like Tiki and keep my sorry self home. Wait. That means sleeping in. hmmm. That doesn't sound too bad really. :s:

Lydia, I had about 2 days where the dizziness came and went. I would sit down somewhere and get the whirlies then, so it wasn't even upon standing up or standing too long. Very odd. Never knew what caused it and it left just as magically. But yeah, the dizzies are somehow unsettling aren't they? You fear they will get worse and level you, but mine never did.

Lydia, I have occasionally had this. In my case, it's an infection or inflammation of the inner ear. I usually first notice it in the middle of the night, when I turn over, the bed keeps moving and I get nauseous. It goes away in a few days.

Stay away from the gym if you are dizzy- I know it's hard :D, but you really could hurt yourself.

Halllooooooo!!!!! The October thread is in danger of falling off the map :o

I have been GOOD with food. Can't control events around me, but I can stop stuffing myself and self-medicating with peanut butter. Clean eating is paying off.

Yesterday dh left early to play hockey so I could do a treadmill run for am cardio. Yikes, that's seems so much harder than the elliptical even though my monitor says it's the same!

Cardio done, food packed, back and chest at the gym at lunch time.

What's everyone up to? Lydia and Tiki- I hope you are both feeling better.

Mel

I did a 45 min class of Zumba and since I was already at the gym, I stayed for the next class, Body Sculpt, also 45 min. I was not sure how hard it would be (I am going through therapy for my lower back/hip problem and I need to be careful) I used lighter weights and bar than I could have (but, no woman should lift more than 3 lbs hehehe). Nevermind, next time I will go heavier. I sweated buckets.

I am so glad that I returned to Zumba. I started in the summer when a 101 class was introduced (regular class was impossible since I did not know any of the steps) even with that, it was a bit overwhelming for my 2 left feet and I quit. I forced myself to start again (again with 101) and it's no longer so intimidating and see the fun in it in spite of the mistakes I make. I am hoping down the road I will be able to take regular Zumba classes (which represent a hefty cardio workout) because my treadmill running will have to be toned down a lot.

Mel, I like the term 'self-medicating with protein butter'. LOL I have to include that into my vocabulary. :-) (By the way, I am guilty as charged although I am slowly working on it).

Lydia, I experience similar dizziness, for about a day, once or twice a year. I mentioned it to my doctor but of course, when I see my doctor, I am fine so it's hard to diagnose. Now that I have a blood pressure monitor I can at least measure my blood pressure to see if it is too low (in me, it usually starts with a feeling that I may faint and if I don't get myself horizontal it could happen).

Good Morning everyone :coffee:

The good news is, the dizziness is not from my blood pressure. :yay: I've been weaning off of the meds for the past six months and I'm on the final stage, half a pill every other day. I was convinced that the dizziness was from that. Turns out the next day I developed a stiff neck, slight fever, headache. Basic flu/cold/ or allergy symptoms. I'm feeling a little better today but staying home from the gym just to be sure. I think I slept most of the day yesterday.

Tomato: Zumba class terrifies me. Really. I have two left feet as well and classes just wig me out. Two back to back classes too. You must have been pretty worn out that evening.

Food right now is morphing into a dangerous place. Darn pretzels. It's so silly and I really can't make these things turn into something. Each time that I sit down with a plateful of them after I've eaten my lunch I'm thinking that these are the extra 200 calories that could pack ten pounds on me by the end of the year. Are they really worth it. Of course the logical answer is no. ~sigh~ I need to kick myself out of maintenance mode and back into losing mode if I have any chance of not trying to dig myself out in February and March. My first line of attack is to NOT purchase Halloween candy until the day before. I know there are good alternatives to candy as treats for the kids but my kids would freak. I also know all of the kids on my block as well as most of them surrounding my neighborhood. I have a reputation to protect. :lol:

Okay. So for today. Just for today, no pretzels. I'm staying 100% on plan to drop the three pounds of water weight that crept up this week. No skinny lattes, or dips into the kids peanut butter jar. If I want my cardio clothes to fit the way they should in the next three months this has to stop today.

Obviously it's going to be a fun day here. :rolleyes: Everyone else enjoy the day!