Yes, snow here yesterday and today too, but the best kind - it blows really hard sideways but doesn't cause much trouble on the roads. I notice we are fortunate to be below the line of **** known as Delaware and I do not miss the freaky road conditions in Pa. Altho driving home from swim practice tonite was iffy. We had squalls while we were there so I needed my icescraper (which I didn't have) when we came out and had to take it easy on the hills. No scary moments thankfully. It's 28 here now, brrr!

Today during their practice I walked 45 mins on the indoor track. Yeah, I pushed myself so hard that I got a blister on the back of one foot. I left the house with the right shoes but my trouser socks on, so i didn't really have adequate padding. I had my ipod mini on and so I make sure to work out with songs b/w 150-180 bpm which got me moving. I lapped another woman who was going pretty fast. That was funny. I think she was relieved when I finally passed her bc she probably felt like she was being stalked the last 2 laps beforehand.

Anne, I guess I would suggest lifting that can be done while on a bench and not standing? Like some leg extensions, lifts or floorwork like hammy curls. All your upper body stuff can be done or modified to be done on a bench no problem, but the lb stuff needs to be creative.

Anne: I so hope you do not have a stress fracture in your foot. What an awful pain that is in so many ways. Like Fran suggested upper body can be done easily with a bench. Lower body is more difficult but Fran's suggestions are great. Anything that can be done on the floor maybe with a ball. I had several months were all I could train was upper body as well. It's a bummer to lose a little strength in the lower body but I was able to maintain during those months as well. Good luck and let us know what the x-ray/mri results indicate. Hoping for the best for you.

Mel: Seven Years! Did you know that the body completely regenerates itself every seven years. You officially have a body made mostly of chicken, egg whites, oatmeal, fruits, veggies, and lots of hard exercise. I think this is much more than an accomplishment of maintaining a certain bodyfat or weight percentage.

Fran and Mel: Sorry to hear about the snow you've had to drive through. That's miserable. I really dread having to drive through snow and ice. I'm grateful that we just haven't had more than a slight dusting so far.

I'm heading in for my workout later this morning. I predict it will be quiet at the gym today, OSU vs. Michigan game today. I'll catch the score but I'm not exactly motivated to make peanut butter buckeyes for the thing.

Awwwww! Not exactly a maintenance food, but definitely one of my favorite Ohio discoveries! There is an small Ohio ice cream chain here called Handel's who makes Buckeye ice cream...good thing it's expensive and 5 miles away!

Better stay away from the campus area, Lydia- I went to one OSU-Michigan game and was astounded. DD and boyfriend are going to be there. I hope she doesn't freeze to death!

My knee is purple, but not painful or too swollen. Good thing, because I have a leg workout in an hour and a half

Anne- Although I'm usually badgering women to STAND UP when lifting, there are plenty of seated exercises. I'd avoid any weight bearing lower body work until you get a diagnosis. Fingers crossed for you

Mel

Hi gang,

to you all. It's sunny today but very cold and grrrrrrr, it looks like winter is here to stay.

Anne, good luck with the foot, I hope it is not a stress fracture. Never had it myself but I imagine what a drag it would be.

Killer Zumba class yesterday (1 full hour). I was totally pooped afterwards. I learned one important thing: I will have to bring two pairs of sneakers on Saturdays - I cannot do exercises on stability ball in my spiffy pink sneakers. It is hard to do crunches on the ball and hold a bridge position when your feet are sliding forward. My leg muscles got a workout just from trying to support me while I kept slipping.
My midsection was quite sore when I got home - all that butt wriggling in half-squat, etc.

Mel, shame on me, I forgot to ask Gary about the slideboard on Friday but I pounced on him after work when I saw him log on into Messenger. He said he just built ït "from hear" after looking at some pictures online. Well that is not much help, but he promised to take some pictures that I can pass along to you. I will go talk to him on Monday (I sent myself an email to work in order not to forget).

I will finish my coffee and then I am off to the gym to do legs. Then groceries and cooking. Have a nice Sunday.

Oh, I forgot to add this: after the Zumba class, I was chatting with a young lady (who also took the class) as she was weighing herself. She happily commented that she lost 5 pounds and I said "WHERE?" - she was so lean. She complained that her tummy is flabby and pulled up her tank top to demonstrate. I saw zero flabbiness (I would have killed for that tummy) and she said that it is so hard after having kids. She asked if I had kids, I said no, and she told me she had a 9-year old daughter. I said WHAT? She did not look older than 17. She said, yeah, I know, I look young but I am 27. I am pretty sure she gets carded a lot.

back again-

Since I did that upper body workout I did feel a nice worked-type feeling in my triceps particularly. I did it again last night and my muscles were still fatigued from the first go-round. So, that's good .

I'm reading along with all your posts and trying to learn. One of my challenges riight now is that all this resistance/weight work needs to be added to my routine. So, like all- I know, even fitting the current mileage in is challenging. Now, I would like to add in 3-4 20-30 min weight sessions too.

tricky stuff. but so clearly highly valuable. so- I'll get there.


Anne, I hope you avoided a stress fracture...
Mel, how did you get a purple knee?
Sportmom, I'm finding a winter sock need lately. my running shoes have netting around the toes--too windy!
Lydia, yes, those little and littler swimmers are delish!
-- and a hello to all lifting chicks!

and I have made buckeyes-- served them at a book club. most people had one and not much more... I thought they were a dessert failure but they got good reviews!

stay warm

OMG, good thing it's way too far for me!

An announcement: I am finally well again (though still on antibiotics) and can get back to exercising more than the hit or miss when I feel okay business that has been happening. I intend to go swimming tomorrow (pool is closed today for a swim meet or something), and will do some weights tonight. Yay! I haven't gained any weight, but I feel flabbier.....

Fran - I enjoyed the descriptions of snow angels in your other thread, and may have to give them a try. Shoulders I know are very easy to injure, so i'm careful with mine.

Anne - hoping you're feeling better. Any diagnosis yet?

to the rest of you.

It's warm(er) here today - in the 30's, making our snow very soft and wet and - ick - slushy! Wouldn't be so bad if I thought it would melt, but it'll freeze in the slushy piles and make a mess.

Kittycat - did I neglect to mention that I had on my netted shoes too? lol Walking across campus and the parking garage in the flurries? Not a smart move! I really thought, what's the big deal, I won't notice.... I'm rotating them out asap! ON the way back to the car after I had burst a hole thru the big toe on each sock, it was even more fun. You'd think after 4X years on this planet I would know how to dress myself, but apparently it's still quite the challenge for me!

So, I think I have decided I am not eating:
* well enough
* often enough
* enough

I am cold, starving and exhausted tonite. To sum it up in one sentence....

"While putting my bra on this morning was a non-event, getting it off tonite was quite another different story. I almost had to request assistance....."

ugh! Triceps - check, back - check! Opposite of the toilet problem, but a little dangerous for reaching for things out of the fridge.

I'm watching the videos and blog of a 12-week fitness program person on bodybuilding's feature story and will try to follow her eating a little more closely. I actually had pizza for dinner (family ritual on mon nite bc of a local store special) and came away after eating 2 pieces (chs only) thinking, how unfulfilling, empty and needing more I feel right now. Probaby not getting enough protein either.

BUT, in the last 6 weeks, I've been able to adjust my measurements by dropping 2.5" on my hips, 1" on my bust, and in the really strange dept., 1" off my calves (w/o doing any calf work)! My biggest challenge is my waist, abs - the last place I put on all the weight and I guess the hardest to take off bc it must be a very different, thick kind of fat perhaps. Not sure. Used to be the first place I would drop. Welcome to your 40's and beyond, right?

You got it in one!! But congrats on the inches lost! When I regained weight this last time, it was very differently distributed than it had been before I lost 70 lbs. It left my hips/thighs and landed square in my mid-section. Boo, hiss! Much harder to lose it seems. Still haven't got it all to shift. But, if I don't keep trying, I'll only have more......

On that annoying note, I take back what I said earlier. I am not recovered. Got home from work. DH was off to a yoga class and the cat and I fell asleep on the couch. Sigh. I am also very chilled, can't get warm, though I don't feel like I have a fever. I'm off to bed. (really - I just came down to turn off the PC, and well, got sucked in for a few minutes... ) Tomorrow will be better and it's a short week.

So I managed to lose last week's extra 4 lbs. but I'm learning to stay off the scale for the weekend and maybe through Monday/Tuesday as well. I go up and down so easily that it's just not good for my moods! When I was doing well, I checked in more often for my weight but only "counted" my Friday weigh in so that's what I'm going to try again.

I decided I needed more cardio, with the weather keeping my from running outdoors. I tried the treadmill but wanted to shoot myself after only 1.5 miles so I went back to spinning yesterday! It's been a long time but it was good. Definitely got a good sweat going so maybe that will stick for once a week.

Fran - congratulations on your inches lost! And I sympathize with the bra thing...it can be the most difficult thing to do when you're sore! The blog etc. sounds interesting. Is there a link you could share? And I hear you on the food. You summed up the way I feel about my eating.

And I don't know what a peanut butter buckeye is but sounds good...count me in for all things peanut butter!

The little snow we got last week is gone but not for good, I'm sure. It's too early for snow...no matter what Mel says about living in Toronto! I'll accept a white Christmas but that's it!!

Today...yoga!

Elisa, here's her page, I find the videos most interesting. Start with the intro and then watch weeks 1-2. Both links are available at the bottom of the video screen. There will be a new video update on Dec. 2. Her blog is pretty interesting too. Just one disclaimer - she's incredibly young and without alot of weight to lose, so it's more the working out that's interesting to me. Although interestingly enough, she's only lost 2 lbs all month, so maybe I do have something in common with her after all!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sara...ormation_1.htm

Fran: This is very interesting. Thanks for the link. I'm really busy the next few days. Who isn't right? Just wanted to give a big "Hello" to everyone. Oh. And congrats on the changes of measurements. I'm so excited, ~and inspired~ to keep my own focus here for the next couple of months. I've been holding steady around the 128 to 130 mark through Halloween. This was one my goals for this year not to use Halloween as an excuse to begin to pack on those five to ten extra pounds that takes all winter and early spring to peel off again. I just can't handle the mental burden of feeling like I have no control over those silly holidays when I really can do this. This was so much easier than last year for some reason. Maybe just getting better at it.

Elisa: Nice to hear from you. Have a great yoga class today! I'm thinking of joining a new studio but it's a little further from my home than the current one. I just want to find the best place to call "home" before I commit to continuing my practice.

Enjoy the weather today everyone.

I got a non-diagnosis on my foot. No fracture evident on the X-rays, which is consistent with a stress fracture happening in my time-frame, but it could also be a bad strain of a ligament. No running for a minimum of two more weeks, and the doc wants me to stick to machines for lower body. Other than that, if it hurts, don't do it.

If it keeps hurting, they'll have to figure out what is wrong, but I can't do a bone scan because that involves radioactive tracer and I can't do that because I'm nursing.

Anne

Hi gang,

My life has been quite chaotic this week and my exercise not as it should have been. On Tuesday, I had windows installers at home until 7 pm (that would be house windows, not the operating system Windows LOL - just in case it needs clarification). Afterwards, I did an hour of Zumba and I am still hurting. Our instructor had us pump 3 lb dumbbells during several songs and the legwork was also more demanding.

Last night, I was supposed to have my second session with that cute personal trainer and I found out that he by mistake book for tonight. I was actually glad it got cancelled because my mind was elsewhere and I am pretty sure it would have showed. Since I was there, I did 15 minutes on the elliptical and then I skunked off. Yeah, you read right, 15 minutes.

So the PT session (legs) tonight and I can actually have a 45 minute Zumba class prior to that (who would have thought I will become such a Zumba addict?) and then upper body on Friday.

I have been sleeping really badly the last two weeks and I feel like a zombie.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving - I will be drooling at the thoughts of you all having roasted turkey (all the good protein!!!) - I think Canada should have 2 Thanksgivings - one at our usual time in October and a second one in synch with the US one.

Alena

P.S. Anne - not sure if the no diagnosis is a good thing or not. Take care of yourself.
Mel - I reminded Gary to take pics of the slideboard. If I nag long enough, it will get done.

Happy Last Saturday in November

I tried to make up for 3 missed workouts this morning I know I can't really do that, but I did a loooong full body workout with almost as many exercises as if I'd been doing "parts". I'm exhausted! It was hard hauling all the extra food weight around. The gym was unusually empty for a Saturday morning- I thought it would be mobbed with others trying to work off extra meals, but they must still have more to eat or are out "stimulating the economy".

DD and I went out yesterday at a civilized time and did enough damage to our credit cards that mine got flagged for potential fraud. I was horrified to see the video of the stampedes and trampling in stores. Yet another reason to stay in bed until 8 am.

I'm back to normal eating and working out as of today. Too many mirrors in the gym this morning convinced me that I really need to go back to losing mode because maintenance has been slipping for the past few months. I've only gained about 6 pounds, but it shows. And it's darn hard to do pullups with even 6 more pounds!

Have a good one

Mel

Did everyone in the States have a great Turkey Day? The gym was closed that morning so I went for a seven mile run along the river. It's been months since I've done that and it really felt great. I found that I had to run most of it because when I slowed down to a walk my muscles were begin to stiffen from the cold outside. In this case, it was much more comfortable to just run it even if I had to slow down the pace. The next morning the tips of my toes were really sore to walk on. Time for new shoes. But...my knee did not ache. Lets just say I felt lucky.

That really was just horrific. Where is the sense of common civility? I can almost be certain that the employees of the store must have been almost out of their minds with this event as well.

I spent the morning at the gym instead. Had a nice two hour cardio/upper body workokut. : Showered and then met up with my mother and sister for some shopping as well. When I returned DH had surprised me by setting my bike on a trainer in the basement. Of course I had to test it out and found that it is LOUD. VERY LOUD. Think plane flying overhead loud. The trainer I'm using was given to me by a neighbor who just didn't enjoy the whole indoor biking experience. Since it was a freebee I can deal with the noise for a while until I decide to splurge and invest in a more expensive model.

Silverbirch: The rowing is coming! I tacked on an extra 15 minutes at the end of my workout Saturday to practice. I think I may need to wear gloves when doing this. I've been lifting for almost four years without wearing gloves but the rowing machine made my calluses raise up with angry white welts when I was finished. ~sigh~ Gloves it is. Maybe.

Have a great evening everyone!