Don't be an April Fool!
 

My motto for April (and the last 10 years):

Eat clean and get into the gym!

I'm sore everywhere right now and am taking a rest day except for yoga. :rofl:
not following my own advice and it's only April 1.

I've been competing in the CrossFit sectionals and will do week 2 sectional WOD tomorrow- it hits my strengths this time...dead lifts, box jumps and push ups...so I hope to do a lot better than last week's double-under fiasco,

The daffodils are blooming and it's snowing lightly :dizzy:

Happy April Fools everyone!
Mel: Had to check my own outdoors after reading your weather report...daffodils blooming...check. Snow? Negative! Woot. Wet, rain, but I'll take it.

I need a rest day today but I'm going in to do some yoga and because I know one thing leads to another there will be other amazing feats of strength as well. (done by someone else there I"m hoping)

Best of luck with the CrossFit sectional Mel! I"ll do a few deadlifts this weekend in spririt for you. :hug: I was planning to do the outdoor yoga held on the National Mall during the Cherry Blossom Festival tomorrow but it looks like the weather may change my mind. I've got mats for everyone in my fam to go...figures. Maybe I'll just wait till my own tree blooms and pretend I did it.

Enjoy the weekend everyone. :coffee:

Wow - it is April already...

Good luck in your CF sectional Mel!

Lydia - outdoor yoga on the National Mall sounds fabulous. Hope the weather works out!

Wow. Did I say I needed a rest? So for the first time EVER I almost passed out. Yep. Things went dark and I had very little control over motor movement. Weird.

So here's the set up...its half way through yoga...and it not too intense just right and we have rolled up our mats half way. We have our heels elevated on the roll of the mat, the balls of our feet and our toes on the floor. We descend into a wide legged squat. Actually, the finished position is one that I often use to warm up for my squats, your down at the bottom of a wide squat with the elbows pushed into the insides of both knees. I do this all the time without the benefit of a rolled mat. No problem, I hang out in this spot for the duration, she tells a story we hang out...then we stand up. No problem.

Second round...since I thought this was not a challenge for me, I get rid of the mat. I got on the flat ground, feet flat on the floor, (barefoot of course it's yoga) and I hang out there. Yea, it's more challenging but I'm thinking this is what everyone else is feeling who don't do this everyday. We hang out for a while and then I push up from the heels and come out of the the squat position....and stumble forward maybe four spaces while everything is during dark..OMG. Never ever ever has that happened. Freaked me out.

I know my blood pressure is pretty low...my pulse is pretty low when resting and I was pretty comfortable...wonder if all the blood rushed into my lower body causing slower circulation to the head in the position for too long. Hmmm. Maybe I was hungry. I don't know. I probably just rose too fast out of the position..

Anyway, just an experience to tuck away into my head. Wow. Humbling indeed.

Course...I also only had about three hours of sleep last night. :chin: And the night before was also a troublesome sleep...lots of variables here.

May everyone else be careful out there! :^:

Lydia- really sounds like you either stood up too quickly or low blood sugar. I had that happen when I first started CrossFit- found myself blacking out and almost on the floor after "Barbara". Yoga under the cherry trees sounds fabulous, but it's COLD out there. DD called on Thursday to tell me Columbus was having a blizzard, so at least you missed that. I don't think any stuck around.

I did a fairly gentle yoga session yesterday and feel almost human. Sectional WOD at 11 am. I already did it once and had a good score, but I'm sure I can eek out a few more reps since I'm doing it after a rest day instead of after a brutal kettle bell WOD.

I also "carbed up" last night- see? it's all in the perception (rationalization). I ate way too many pretzels :p

Lydia, my goodness! Glad to hear that you're OK now.

I'm not doing any serious lifting until Monday. I did HIIT, cardio, abs and core today. Yesterday I did an exercise in which you lean on one arm while standing with your body stretched out to the side in a plank. Then you raise a db with the free hand, up to about 10 o'clock position, and lower the db very s-l-o-w-l-y. In this case the trainer was there to make certain it was very slow. Oh my, I can hardly move my arms today.

I also did front squats and that was a challenge. They will get easier, I'm sure. :lol:

ps: I like pretzels too.

Hey! I was at the Tidal Basin yesterday, along with 10s of 1,000s of my closest friends. I didn't see you ...

And, yes, it hailed.

I'm super sore today. I don't think it's from lifting (which I did in DC, in a pretty good hotel gym as these things go), but from hiking around DC in dress boots. They're comfie boots (Born) as these things go, but not exactly meant for long-distance city slogs. The price I pay for packing light, I guess.

Have a great weekend, all.

//b. strong,
Kim

Hello ladies!

April 1, 2011- Secret Service Snatch Test (12kg for women)
10 minutes AMRAP: 104 reps

April 3, 2011 - KB Met-con (name?), 12kg for women
4 rounds for time:
5 snatches each hand
10 swings
10 burpees
rest
11 minutes 45 seconds

Sacha, nice job on those workouts!

Lydia, I've done the almost passing out thing, but usually while going for a max lift, unless I forget to breathe during a metcon. :frypan:

Mel, good luck with sectionals. I decided to skip wod2 and thus drop myself out this week, because CF competition doesn't really interest me (not that I'd stand a chance right now even if it was), and I wanted the extra rest day so I could try running long without being trashed beforehand. (didn't seem to make any difference on the run, though)

For April Fool's Day, I ran 24 miles, to celebrate 24 months with my trainer, since it was our 2 yr anniversary there. Just seemed convenient and too deja vu to pass up. :) The running part went well, but the weather was awful the last ten miles, pouring rain and I didn't have a rain jacket I could reasonably run in, so I ended up soaked and freezing in my cotton-ish sweatshirt. :P I finished, and my boy helped me by fixing me a cup of hot tea and warming a blanket for me while I hopped in a hot shower. ("hopped"? er, more like waddled, lol) Recovery was good, no stomach issues this time, and the mileage seemed fine, so I guess my training plan is working alright. I would like to up my speed a little, just to minimize time on the trail for the ultra, so planning to concentrate on making sure I'm getting in the CF wods that include shorter distances, and also just trying to keep my pace up on any runs I do solo. Somewhere, somehow, I've lost track of my wristwatch, so I might have to break down and buy a new one, so I can at least have a chance of checking my pace on runs. I think I've been slowing down since I lost the watch, but didn't realize it. The Garmins seem like a cool thing, but not in the budget, so I'll do it the old fashioned way with a $10 watch and vague idea of mileage markers, lol.

Ran about 4 miles last night, today will be CF, still following the mainsite wods so it's "Michael", 3 rounds of run 800, 50 back extensions, 50 sit-ups. Going to see if my trainer will let me try it rx'd and with ghd sit-ups. Have done it twice at home going the back ext and ghd style sit-ups on the exercise ball, so would like to try it at the gym. The ghd at the gym always seems easier to me than using the ball...the ball just chews up the abs and spits them out, but then, our ghd is fondly dubbed the "ghetto HD" since it is an old powermax POS with a flat seat and no cushion to speak of. I bet the ones with the rounded and very thick cushions give you a little more of the stability work than the one we have. It's on the wishlist...sigh.

Hope somebody somewhere gets some sunshine. It's just rain and rain and rain here, and not the sissy sprinklings we're used to. I'm ready for sun and warmer temps, with my long runs over the 20 mile mark now. :rolleyes:

Good grief, the workouts posted here are stunning! I'm making my way learning the front squat with a 25 pound bar, and a back lunge with the bar also, while using the valslides.

I do have a cute story from today. I can do deadlifts with the T bar at 162 pounds. As I walked over to the area where the T bar is there were two young men doing deadlifts with that weight. Well, you would think it was a ton :lol: They strained, they grunted, they groaned while looking around to see if they had an audience.

My trainer didn't see this display but I told him about it. He laughed and told me that if I saw them again I should just ask if they mind if I joined them. He said "then wait for them to ask you if they should take some weight off for you." I just love being 65!

I will see the orthopedist again next week. I've been doing the activations he gave me. There isn't much pain or swelling but the area where the calcification is appears to be more defined. I have no idea what that means, if anything. I'll know more next week.

Rhonda: You crack me up. :lol3: Oh please do ask to join them. I can't wait to hear their reaction after they see you pull the same weight as them. :goodvibes:

Cheryl: 24 miles! Seriously! This is almost a marathon distance...you know like people train just to be able to do that! I'll just say it again...you amaze me. And in the rain...I saw the national weather forecast this morning as I was making my bed...I thought of you and the rain and your run....Best of luck on these runs.

Kim: I did make it to the Cherry Blossom Festival on Sunday. It was just too wet on Saturday. It almost seemed like more bother than it was worth...well, at least with two kids in tow. But...it was very pretty and fun to see so many people taking pictures under the trees. We drove in as close as we thought we could, found parking in a packed garage and then took the Metro the rest of the way. Since I was still feeling dizzy that was a fun ride...not. Maybe next year it will be warmer and I'll be able to bring a yoga mat too.

Sacha: How are you doing?! How's that beautiful son? Great workout too!

Mel: Well girlfriend..how did you do at sectionals?! The weather in Columbus was pretty nasty. Mom had to scrape snow off the car in the parking lot after work. She's so done with all that. While I miss my life in Columbus I DO NOT miss the weather. Winters that drag out that long seem like a test of the wills.

Mine was pretty satisfying today. Began with an 8:30am vinyasa class, added a fourth set to my upper body workout and followed up with 30 minutes of cardio. The classes are really enjoyable but wow they really eat up my gym time.

So I found this interesting little calories burned calculator for yoga...just out of curiosity. At my weight and an hour duration the estimation is 429 calories. :lol3: Oh I SOOO don't think so. But...it was a little sumpthin'sumpthin' because I was ravenous after the class and really had to talk myself into staying for the rest of my workout.

Anyway...just thought I'd share. Cheryl..wish I could package this sunshine for you to keep in your pocket for the next run. It's great running weather here... :hug:

Lydia - I regularly wear my heart rate monitor during yoga, and the highest I ever got for a burn in a 30 minute session was 185. And that was a really hard one. :)

Rhonda - love your tbar story! I want to hear about after you join them! ;)

Cheryl - we have a lot of sun down here, too - wish I could send you some of it.

Sacha - great workout!

Kim - ouch, the wrong shoes make for a bad few days after a tour of the city!

I blew off my strength training yesterday - I wasn't in a great place in my head, so did some yoga instead. Will probably run today, we'll see.

Good day everyone!

:carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot:I can FINALLY do kipping pull ups (not very many):carrot::carrot::carrot:

so I won't get a big fat zero when they show up in a sectional WOD. We are on week 3 of six. So far I'm doing OK- in the top half of the pack. It's a small pack at my age class.

Rhonda- great story :) really mess with them and slap another plate on there :rofl:

Mel

Go, Mel! Congratulations on the KPU...woot! :celebrate: Good luck with the rest of sectionals! Did you do wod3 yet? I did it Weds, and only got 15 pts, but that was a PR Jerk for me, so I was lucky to get that many reps without knocking myself out, lol.

Rhonda, nice work on the T-bar deadlift! Don't give those scrawny lads too much grief. Everybody's got to start somewhere. ;)

Lydia, sorry you had rain for the fest, but it sounds pretty! I've been having tree blossom envy here.

Shannon, feel free to box some up and send it my way. :beach: My trainer and his wife are off to sunny Hawaii this weekend...sigh.

We did "JT" yesterday. Never done this wod before. It was all push: 21-15-9 of HSPU, ring dip, push-up. I'm not that hot at handstand push-ups yet, so opted to do DB OH press instead, and used a band for bar dips. It was a slog, since it just trashes your shoulders. :P

Not sure what the wod is today, since the mainsite is showing a rest day, and my trainer hasn't posted anything yet. One thing I'm not loving about following the mainsite is that I just feel like it's too random for me to plan my runs, and they don't seem to care much if they totally trash you, expecting you to take a day off every 4th day, which I do not. Also, not knowing till the night before or the day of...my trainer wasn't predictable, but I could ask him for the lowdown so I could plan my week ahead of time, and fit my runs in around work and gym wods. I might have to start working a few days behind the schedule. That's all I can think to do that will let me fit in the right number and mix of running workouts into each week. Just over 8 weeks to go, which means it's crunch time for the run training. Can't mess this up just because everybody else is focused on CF Games prep.

Cheryl, it sounds like quite a balancing act you have there in order to plan. Good luck with all of that.

I learned this week that doing reverse lunges while holding a 25 pound bar on your back is nothing compared to holding it above your head. :lol:

I got "dismissed" by the orthopedist today. He says that the calcification on my right knee will not cause any problems unless I somehow injure it. So, as he said earlier, I can do anything that doesn't hurt while I'm doing it. And, no jumping or running. I don't do much of either so it's not a huge loss.

I hope everyone is at the gym and eating well.

Congratulations for being "dismissed" Rhonda. My knees have actually gotten better over the last 10 years. They used to crack, creak and hurt. And make an awful grinding sound. If I run more than about 4-5 miles, it's painful, but losing, keeping the weight off, and lifting has really helped.

I'm doing too many intense workouts and sectionals and am dreading whatever they post in an hour for this week's sectional WOD. I tripped down a concrete step on Saturday ( grace and agility are NOT my strong suits) and have a sore back as a souvenir. Fun :p

Hope everyone is well and it's not as gray and rainy wherever you are as is is in Philadelphia!

Mel

My workouts have been somewhat lackluster the last few months but I'm trying to be consistent. I went yesterday and then went today. Today was deadlifts :). I have a new PR, 213 up from my last PR of 203.

Mel, I hope you've recovered from your fall.

Nelie, congratulations on your new PR. I had to go down some on the deadlift. I need tougher calluses on my hands :lol: But, I was able to increase the reps with good form, so I feel like I'm headed in the right direction.

This week I did intervals and steady state cardio on the elliptical on four mornings, and actually enjoyed it. What?! :eek:

Nelie, congrats on the DL PR...nice one!

Mel, how'd the sectionals wod go for you this past week? Hope you're feeling better after that fall. :hug:

Rhonda, glad to hear you've gotten the release for your workouts!

Did "Lynne" for the first time last week. It has bench presses in it. I couldn't do the rx'd bodyweight BP :rofl:, but I did get to try using a bench for the presses, first time in over 2 years that I've done a bench press. Had to get some remedial coaching to remember how to do it, but it was fun. I could tell by the last 2 rounds that it was starting to bug my shoulder, not painfully but just by the way my body wanted to roll to the "good" side to take pressure off, so I won't be doing it again any time soon, but it was fun to do a heavy BP again.

I looked at "Lynne" on-line. I'm impressed.

I'm also impressed with my progress. One of my sets in my new routine is the reverse lunge, using the Valslides, while holding a bar overhead. I've gone from using the 25 pound bar to using the 45 pound one today, after two weeks of doing this routine. I did one set of 9, then went down to 37.5 pounds for the next set. Next time 45 pounds for both sets :yes:

I'm staying off the scales for a while, but today I wore some pants, comfortably, that I wore when I weighed 10 pounds less. Amazing!

I haven't ever done "Lynne" but I do miss heavy bench presses. My shoulders don't.

I did a test run of the 5th sectional WOD yesterday- my hands are shredded from toes to bar and I think this is the WOD that is going to knock me out of the to 20 in my age class:(

Hello to all- sorry I've been so scarce, but life is crazy. As some of you may have noticed, I resigned as a moderator here. I have no time to do a good job at checking in, let alone moderating. We are a pretty peaceful bunch here anyway. :)

Mel

Mel, I'm sure we're peaceful because we follow your advice about "chocolate and wine" and remember to "dance in the rain." ;)

Oh I'm so glad that I went yesterday because the Wod today is that fifth sectional wod (I think).

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Power Cleans (145/100)
10 Toes to Bar
15 Wallballs (Men: 20# to 10′ target | Women: 14# to 9′ target)


Instead, I did

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Squat Jumps (12″ Jump)
Plyo Pushups
Ring Rows

Which tired me out. We also did 5x5 front squats prior to the wod and Situps afterwards.

Yup, nelie, that was the 5th sectional WOD. My hands are torn to shreds from the toes to bar. I couldn't even hang from the bar today :p

Hey everyone - I'm still working out, I'm just not posting it again. I swear I'm still doing it. :)

I've been doing a 3 day FB workout the last couple of weeks, and have been more sore than I expected. After six weeks of pretty hard CF style circuit workouts the FB workout with 3-5 lifts per session seemed pretty easy. At the time. The day after a session my legs can totally feel it, though. :)

Good weekend everyone!

Mel, just about everybody I know ripped their hands on that wod, including me. Mine have been shredded since a hero wod we did at our gym in March, just as they would heal over we'd have another pull-up fest. Been taping the bejeepers out of them in self defense, but this last wod I got a new rip on my ring ringer. I think I was finger gripping because the tape was a bit slippery. :rolleyes:

Shannon, like you, been doing it, not posting.

Rhonda and Nelie, nice job on those workouts!

The only worthy news from here is that I finally buckled down and got my eating back on track, 3 days in the bank now, and down 4.4 lbs of water weight/sodium bloat! Seems so easy to stick to this eating plan now that I'm over the hump of the first day cravings. Went out to dinner last night, thought about cheating, and then thought, "to (heck) with that!" and kept it OP.

I am thinking I will do some deadlifts tomorrow, depending what shows up for a mainsite wod later today. We're currently working a little behind the mainsite, which is great, since it gives me a chance to plan runs and skills practice for the week.

Congratulations Cheryl on getting back to better eating.

Last Friday I got very fatigued after just one lower body strength exercise, following all the warm-ups. The trainer said to rest all weekend, so I did. Today we did the lower body again. I had more strength and stamina but we're going to cut back the sets to just one, and not two, of each exercise. We'll try this for a week and see what happens.

I've also been tap dancing like a fool, having performance and practice commitments. We have a HUGE performance coming up on Saturday at an Arts and Jazz Fest, and I think that is all contributing to my fatigue. My fellow tappers are all fatigued, and they don't work out at all, except to dance.

I hope the Easter Bunny didn't make everyone eat too much chocolate. I had a busy week, going to an extended family Passover Seder and a family Easter breakfast. Gefilte fish and chocolate just don't mix. :lol:

Rhonda, we pretty much skipped Easter here, so no chocolatey temptations to worry about.

On the scale, back in the 170s today. I never thought I'd be glad to see that on the scale again, but it beats the heck out of the 180s I was hitting last week. Kept the eating OP today, and got in a good workout. Did my warm-up, then a few sets of deadlifts. Thought I'd try for a new 5RM with the strongman axle (2" diam. barbell), since I hadn't done that since last May. My old one from May was 183, today I got 213#. woot!

After that, I did the "Dirty Dozen" wod from Saturday (mainsite). Wow, this was one of those "everything but the kitchen sink" wods, where you wonder what in heck they were thinking (or drinking) when they wrote it. Used just about everything in the gym but a barbell. I scaled down the box jump height to avoid having to step down every rep, subbed assisted bar dips for ring dips, and used a 44# KB instead of 53, but everything else I was able to do as prescribed, plus I scaled the sit-ups up to GHD sit-ups, so I was happy, despite my slow time overall. Great workout. Absolutely crushed my everything, and the first time in a long time I've had to stop moving till the feeling of "I'm gonna puke" passes, lol.

I have had a pretty awful last few days and as such haven't exercised since Saturday. I didn't make my planned FB workout Sunday or my run yesterday. I feel terrible today, but I think some of it may be from not exercising. Planning on getting my FB workout in this afternoon.

My HRM died - I was planning on asking for some pullup straps for my upcoming birthday, but now I might need a new HRM instead. :)

Rhonda: Not one peanut butter egg has passed my lips. Not one... I've got a dozen of them in the house. Saw a post from a Facebook friend before Easter saying that the Reese Eggs were "calling her" My first thought was not, I gotta get into my stash. My first thought was how horrible that feeling is. So glad that I'm able to get things like that out of my system. Understanding how sugar+fat tricks our mouths into wanting only more of the same has really helped with this stuff. It makes is so much easier to pass this stuff up. Oh, and until she mentioned it in her Facebook, I had completely forgot that there was a bag of candy sitting in my closet for two weeks. :goodvibes: What a difference that is from ten years ago.

Shannon: Bummer about the HRM. Have you decided what type you want to purchase as a replacement?

Mel: I know you are crazy busy right now. It's that commute. :hug: and probably a hundred other things. Feeling pressed myself. I have to finish a lot of projects here, another cert to prepare for before December with a personal goal of July and I'd like to begin teacher training in Yoga during September. (In between raising these boys...)

With all you have going on you still are able to fit in your highly challenging CrossFit workouts. You totally rock. That balance between work, personal life demands and the workouts is such a challenge for so many of us. If you had the time...you could write a book about how to tackle this and I'm sure it would be a best seller.

Cheryl: How's the running? Nice job with the eating and deadlifting! I am making absolutely no strength gains. Its been a rough year. Fortunately the strain in my bicep tendons are no longer painful with everyday movements (opening doors, lifting milk jugs). But backing off from my routine has caused some deconditioning. Meh. I'll get there.

Lydia, you are giving me far more credit than I deserve. I have NO work/life balance. I work, workout, and prepare food. repeat...repeat.... No best seller there!

I hate to admit that i had quite a lot of chocolate, but I did. It was medicinal :p I made the huge mistake of going grocery shopping on Sunday when it was half price and I was sore, feeling sorry for myself, and alone. BAD combination. But it sure tasted good. I don't think it was the perfect fuel for the next day's workout, though :dizzy: :p was how I felt.

Shannon- I feel crappy when I don't workout, too. Mentally and physically. Get back to it!

How's the eating going, Cheryl? Good job on getting back into the 170's. Nice DL with the fat bar!

I just did the week 6 sectional WOD and shredded my hands again. Not sure I'm going to do it again on Saturday. I'm kind of at the "don't care anymore" point. I did better than I expected but not as well as I hoped.

Rhonda, rest is good for you! we just don't recover like 25 year olds even though the head and heart are there.

Mel: :club: Is the chocolate gone? Just kidding....kind of. If it's not, throw it out. I trust you'd tell me the same thing. Also, keep in mind something....you may have been alone in that grocery store making that purchase....but your not really alone. :s: Watching...always watching. :devil:

Ahhhh food. I wish I had a degree in nutrition instead of psychology. I want to lean out but I'm not so excited about going all chicken and broccoli again. Meh. Besides the Paleo diet...I love cottage cheese and Greek yogurt far too much to give it up. Anyone have good suggestions or experiences they want to share.

Recently Dave Ruel had a big promotion for his anaerobic cookbook. Thought it was interesting but I didn't purchase...looking at his posted recipes the caloric count was higher than I want for some of my meals.

Also curious about Precision Nutrition.

Basically just wondering if there is something out there that would make my lean out experience a little more interesting/palatable. Maybe I just need to sit down for a few hours and pen some menus myself.

Make the most of today in between the rain showers. :sunny:

I got back into the exercise - FB Heavy day, stationary bike & yoga Tuesday, 3.25 mile run in 15 MPH winds and 98% humidity pre-thunderstorm and some yoga on Wednesday, FB Medium day, stationary bike & yoga today. I also have had so much chocolate in the last few days I'm surprised that I'm not beginning to take on the appearance of a chocolate bunny. And it isn't gone - there is still a ton of it at my house. I have had none today. Baby steps.

Lydia - I'm looking at the Polar FT80 (the white faced version). My dead one is a Polar FT60 - the 80 adds in heart rate interval tracking and some cool graphing, targeted specifically for strength training. I can't decide if I want the extra or if I'm good with the one I had. There is a $125 price difference, and if I get the same as the one I have now my mom will also get me a fancier crockpot to go with it. :)

Mel - how are you feeling today? Candy all gone?

Rhonda - your tap schedule sounds hard, but fun! I bet that is adding to your worn out feeling.

Cheryl - good job on the food! And fantastic DL! Woo hoo!

Lydia - I think Pat (WaterRat) did Precision Nutrition for a while. I've seen her around on the maintainers' board in the last few days.

I'm going to get back to weights as soon as I get home. I'm away in France at present and when I lifted an old anchor chain back onto a post today I *knew* what I'd be doing in a few days time.

yup, Lydia, MY chocolate is gone. And you know what? aside from the fact that I did a ho hum workout the next day, I don't really regret it. Yes, I ate too much, but I did it consciously and I know now that I can STOP- a huge difference from 10 years ago when it was a compulsion. Somewhere in the last few years "failures" stopped being failures and became choices. They still are caloric, but I'm in control.

I have some ideas for nutrition for you- but too long to type right now. Will try to PM you on the weekend. Are you still using your old email address?

Body is still wrecked from the sectional WOD. Yesterday was a heavy lifting day and I bailed after a few sets of hang cleans (where I got a PR- go figure!). One snatch and my back, shoulder and bicep screamed. I rowed 2K instead. Today is total recovery except for maybe yoga at lunchtime.

Off to work- today is day 2 of the Penn relays which draws HUGE crowds into Philadelphia.

Mel

I'd love to hear anything anyone has to say about nutrition. I record my daily intake on fitday.com and attempt to improve everyday--with a few bites of chocolate here and there :lol:

I am very excited that my thighs have really changed shape in the last 4 months of working with the "new" trainer. The area that people lovingly call "saddlebags" is almost gone :dance: I can hardly believe it.

That makes me really optimistic about reducing the amount of belly fat that grabbed me in these post-menopausal years.

I'm sick of chcken/fish on mixed greens, with vinagrette on the side! But, really, I'll do what it takes to get healthier.

This week's increased rest has been really good for me. I tired yesterday about 3/4 of the way through the routine but about an hour later I noted that I felt refreshed, not worn out.

Shannon, glad to hear that you're back at it.

Mel, hand-shredding??? Well, I'm not doing that but I'm proud of my developing calluses from the deadlift. :yes:

You know, that makes total sense. It really is about knowing how to draw the line and trusting that we do have control. As hard as you work out, the chocolate is going to good use.

In my case, I just have to be really aware when shopping. If I'm drawn to chocolate, pretzels, anything that keeps me from moving toward my goal and if I'm feeling an emotion on either end of the spectrum (excited or really down) I have to stay away from it. It's just too slippery a slope for me. However, if I'm in a ordinary state I can handle those choices much more successfully. :^:

Oh, and yes, email and cell phone are still the same. I know you are crazy busy. No real hurry...Although I'm envious of Rhonda and her lack of saddlebags. I swear my legs look like tree trunks in the yoga class today. HOW can I weigh the same, have the same measurements and look SO different in the mirror than I recall a year ago...Don't answer that...I know. BF% Bah. I need to do much more lower body lifting and cardio. Honestly, I think I'm darn lucky I can fit into my cat suit for the workouts to begin with. :^: Enough of the stressing...it causes belly fat. I know what to do..let me begin with more water and less diet soda :D

Rhonda: Awesome job this year and it sounds like you are getting great results with your trainer. Calluses and great legs are a wonderful combination.

Silver: Heavy anchors...so are you thinking maybe a little deadlifting might help you? Great to see you post. Hope you are doing well. I always think of you when I sit on the Concept 2 rowers. ;)

K. Big weekend with yard work. Let me just say I have an amazing azelea farm blooming back here in the woods. Every color you can imagine. The front of my house too and none of them match....:dizzy: Yeah, that's gotta fixed in the next few years.

Lydia - I just liked the feeling of being able to womanhandle the chain and knew I should go and do some more things like that soon. Though I'm very fed-up with my on and off lower back or hip or knee or VMO injury. I'd like to have a few real life sessions wiith a knowledgeable personal trainer who is not also a bossy boots but I haven't met one of those in my area. In fact, I doubt they exist. I might put a bit of energy into double-checking.

Today I overheard a male trainer tell a female client, "I eat fish, chicken, turkey, eggs and broccoli. That's it. Nothing else. But, that's not healthy."

Now, I had read on-line about someone else doing this. What is the thinking behind that approach? Assuming that it IS thinking, of course.