HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! Glad to see that everyone and is doing well and a BIF belated congratulations to Ledom!!!

Carrie: Welcome! Yes you are meant to be that sore - that means that you are working out at the right intensity - soreness is a good thing! It will dissapate over time or you will get used to the feeling. Personally I still get sore after 15 months but I am used to it and I also take glutamine powder. If you get the powder try taking a teaspoon before your workout and another one at night. It will help with the soreness and keep the colds away as well. If you decide to get capsules note that you will need to take a few to get enough glutamine in your system. A teaspoon is about 5 grams and the capsules are normally about 500 mgs. Anyway you get the picture. Try stretching as well once you are warm - it eases the muscles a bit BUT do NOT stretch cold muscles - that 's how you get injured.

Well I am doing well and am on day 4 off my new challenge. I have incorporated Dave Draper's Lean legs workout into my routine this time and boy is it a KILLER!! My hammies are screaming right now.

What are everyone's goals for the current challenges? Who is on a challenge (of any length or type?) What kinda program other than strict BFL are people doing? Fill me in guys!!

JC

Lana...hang on to your hat...you've got a PUBESCENT girl! My daughter is 13 going on 22...love her to death but good GOD that girl has more mood swings than Linda Blair in The Exorcist!

To everyone: This is going to sound REALLY silly, but one of the most helpful things on this board so far has been to read the "slip ups." I went out of town for New Year's (Peach Bowl, Tennessee got slaughtered 30-3 ) and boy, eating "clean" on the road is REALLY tough! I am very proud of myself, though because (with the exception of breakfast this morning) I made very good choices and drank all my water and more (tough to do when you're driving six+ hours...I'm why gas stations have restrooms!). Other times, I'd just say, "Well, **** with it, I've screwed up now, so why bother." Knowing that "the experts" have been in my same boat, though, made me look at the positives. Thanks

Hello Carrie,

Welcome to our group, you will love it here.....

As for soreness, yes you will be sore, because I think, (this is not an expert opinion) if you are new at weight training your muscles are in shock.... so take it EXTREMELY easy on yourself.... I know from experience that I too will be megga sore on Monday the 6th when I go back to the gym.... and I really don't mind that at all, I love it actually, it just feels like a good soreness....

Today only 2 hours into my day I feel GRRREAT!!!

Have a good day all.... and "I'LL BE BACK!!"

I'm at work right now - but it's deader than dead here - my boss is thinking about working from home this afternoon. If she does, I'll probably blow early outta here myself - I overslept (!) and didn't get to the gym (right now Thursdays are cardio only days for me) this morning - so I brought my gym gear with me and plan to get my cardio in here at the company gym. I'm sure that my 24 Hour Fitness is going to be a madhouse this afternoon!

Last night Mr. Sparky was being difficult - Miss Meg was asleep on the bed and HE wanted to be up there too! He kept jumping on the pillows, waking us up, then he would jump down and meeooowwww, then rattle the doorknob just to get our attention so at 1:45 am Jim finally gave up and went to sleep on the couch. Of course Sparky snuggled right down next to him and went to sleep! I can't wait until Sparky and Meg can stand to sleep together...but I didn't get much sleep last night as a result and was out until about 6 am!

Carrie - I totally recommend glutamine along with a nice hot soak in the tub or Jacuzzi I actually enjoy it when I get delayed muscle soreness - that means they're healing up and getting stronger!

JC - I'm using my Trainer's Edge program right now - got a six-week fat loss menu scheduled. I actually have to re-do the menu choices because I cooked up that whole turkey breast, so I want my menu choices to use as much of that as possible. TE is such a cool program - I really enjoy being able to program in my favorite foods.

This past weekend I went to the library and checked out two books - "Weight Training for Dummies" and "The Quest for Peace, Love, and a 24-Inch Waist". To all newbies I'd like to recommend the "Weight Training for Dummies" book as a supplement to BFL. The authors explain everything in a very easy-to-follow format (typical of the "dummies" series of books). I'm still reading "The Quest for Peace..." and it's a bit on the touchy-feelie side of course but still some good stuff!

Well yesterday Jim actually came here to work and used the gym! I was going to go with him but for me, with him out of the house for a couple of hours it's a good time to get some cleaning done Besides, he wanted to ride his motorcycle there, and I ain't gettin' on that thing - no way!

He browsed through the "Dummies" book for some exercises and today he's nice and sore. He also told me he weighed himself and was shocked that he had gained so much since the last time he got on the scale...maybe that's the catalyst he needs to get movin'. Of course he stopped at McDonald's on the way back...

Good morning, Niffer, my best wishes are with you as you go through the ordeal of discovering what is going on. I wish the best for you. Welcome Carrie. Mel, isn't your race next week? Do you feel like you are ready for it? Karen, good luck getting those kitties to cooperate with your intentions. You are a more skilled pet psychiatrist than I if you can get them to cuddle up. My old cat still hasn't accepted the new cat which we have had nigh on 3 years now. Actually the old cat might now, but she was so nasty at first that the new cat is no longer interested! But hey, I still haven't given up hope. I am looking for a third cat now. Losing our male made this household of females lonely. I have located a litter to be born in Feb. and ready by Easter. We are devoted siamese lovers and so if nothing turns up before then I guess we'll have a spring kitty. I hope someone will like someone when we add a new kitten to the mix. Of course D and I are hopelessly devoted to any kitty that crosses our path.

Sore today but going strong. I actually got in 2 cardio sessions. I always do my 20 min. first thing, when D woke up she wanted to hike so I set out again for about 45 more minutes. This is good as I put on a little "water weight' over free week. It seems to be coming off pretty quickly and I am hoping that by the end of week one I will be back down to the end week of challenge one as far as scale results.

Well I made it through Christmas season not too badly. Eating was pretty awful. I tried to eat BFL meals, but the snacking got way outta control. Anyhow, back on eating plan today. Started the day with a pamcake!!!! We had enrolled the children in skiing lessons, so we skied for 4 days in a row between Christmas and NewYears. I think all this activity helped me not to slip back too far!!! Hurray !!!!!! Ds was actually so tired he missed his last lesson because he was throwing up. I guess 4 days of skiiing in a row and a box seat hockey game (go Canucks!) birthday party in the middle of it was just too much for him, poor kid. Anyhow, we are all now officially skiers!!!! What fun!

As for my workout plan, I will be eating clean starting today and I will begin my workout challange on Monday Jan 6. I'm gonna do lifting every second day (plan from krista smash's page) and ........
NO Cardio!!!!! Will do this for 12 weeks, with lift changes every 4 weeks. And we will see how this works. Gotta remember to do pics and measurements on Sunday evening.


Well gotta go. We got the kids a Game Cube for Christmas and it is my turn!!!!!


Patt, who is glad to see everyone back and doing well!

Hi!

I am coming out of lurkdom. I will be starting my BFL challenge on January 6th.
This seems like a very supportive group and I look forward to participating.

Stinkerbellah

Hello girls,

Welcome Stinkerbellah...

PattO ~ I see you are in Canada, where in Canada? I'm in Eastern Ontario and we do alot of skiing too, actually we are going to Ottawa tomorrow to buy some new ski boots for MOI!! Yippee, first time in a few years I get new equipment...kids usually come first :frown:...Son needs yet another pair of boots, we bought him a pair at the END of last year, and he needs a new pair already....grrrrrrr..... I specifically asked the salesperson last year if they would fit him this year, and to make sure he had a larger size at least a half size....... "oh yes this should fit him next year too ma'am!"---- NOT!!!! Well I guess it's hard to predict how much a teenager will grow in a year....But D will get son's pair she's in a larger size than I am right now, in a 9, and she's 12, unbelievable!!

Karen ~ I was at the library too yesterday and got an interesting book.... "The World's Best-kept Diet Secrets" by Diane Irons, I even wrote out a contract that they recommend you sign with yourself...She also wrote "The World's Best-kept Beauty Secrets", I think I saw her on Oprah once for that book....Speaking of Oprah, did anyone watch her today.... She had her annual "nutrition" show with Bob Greene... I really enjoyed it... I taped it too so that I could watch it again later when I need a little motivation down the road.... Oprah also signed a contract with Bob Green when she started... Karen what is Trainer's Edge? Do you have to purchase it?

Right now I am extremely motivated. Hubby got me Dr.Phil's book for Christmas "Life Strategies".... I am really enjoying it and writting down all the assigments he has in the book. I feel really good about it and everything these days....

Ledom ~ What name do you use on L&S, I've been looking for your posts but you must use a different name.... Or maybe I'm just blind ....

Jennelle ~ I laughed when I read your post about your daughter and the Exorcist .... because that is exactly what I compared her to when I was explaining to the principal last year about homework problems we were having... I actually think she has been PMSing for the last year or so leading up to this, because she has been in the best mood since yesterday.... She says to me today I don't have PMS I'm in a great mood.... I then had to explain to her what it was, and she actually said I wasn't like that was I??? I guess she just doesn't see hereself...

Today has been sooooooooo clean and the water has been excellent too....It's probably too low in protein and carbs.... Acdording to FitDay, I have only 116 carbs, and 129 protein, and 1357 calories whereas I should have at least 150-160g of pro and carbs.....What do you guys think? I ate very well, and I don't feel hungry or tired or anything...

Tomorrow I am going to the gym whether my partner is going or not.... I just need it in a big bad way and I'm not waiting till Monday for my official Challenge 2 start date......

Well girls all good things must come to an end....

Have a good evening, and see ya'll later ..... (ya'll just doesn't sound or look right coming from a French Canadian EH!! .... )

I am ledom over at l&s too. I don't post very much there, but I do post my workout every morning on shellC's thread. That is like a big part of my routine morning ritual. Hey, I saw Oprah today too. I was telling D who was watching it with me what she had right and what she had wrong. I don't think she eats enough, and she is following that old myth about not eating 2 hrs. before bed. Well, you gotta be a bodybuilder to eat the food I guess. She does have some things right though. The thing I enjoyed most was that she was just tooo cute, she seemed really relaxed and comfortable and warm to her subject today.

Welcome stinkerbellah, what a CUTE name. I laughed when I saw it.

I am on the West Coast. We just started skiing this year at least me and the kids. DH has skied before. We bought all our equipment at a used sporting goods store. Great places those! My boots were $7. Canadian dollars that is, about 50 cents US.

We ski on our local hills. There are three of them. We went with the cheapest one for the kids lessons. I now know why it is the cheapest. Visability is a problem on this hill. One can see about three feet infront of your face, if you are lucky. Oh well, it wasn't like that everyday. We will have to make ourselves happy with the local hills as we can't figure out how to get the wheelbarrow of cash up the hill to Whistler/Blackcombe. Wowzers is that place expensive or what ????? I quess getting the phraze "World Class" attached to your ski hill gives you a licence to print money.

Later eh? is eh french? I though it was Canadian?

Sorry, I meant to welcome you to our group. It looks like there will be a few of us starting a challange on the 6th!!!!!!

Go fer it!!!!!

Patt.

Hi to everyone!

I had a pretty good day. Does anyone else have trouble remembering to eat? I do. All of the sudden I will look at the clock and realize I should have eaten!

Here is my question: Does everyone REALLY eat 6 times a day? I can manage 5, but it seems weird to eat at 8:30 on a full stomach. Would it be bad if I just stopped? I really am not hungry AND it seems like so many calories a day. I know I am supposed to follow the plan "exactly", but I don't know if this is a part that would work for me. Does anyone else skip some meals?

Also, does anyone drink the supplements? I am just wondering if they are worth the money and whatnot.

Had a good cardio day though. Woohoo!

Hi to everyone!

It's so good to come here and see so many new faces and familiar old ones. Looks like everyone is getting started on something new! Welcome to all the new people! You'll love BFL and you'll love this board too

Patt-you and I have something in common--no cardio! I decided to start six months of Body RX a few days early (I had planned to start on Monday, decided to do it today). So far, so good. As many of you know, I've been trying really hard to gain some lean mass and I just get too caught up in the calorie counting and meal plan making madness of it all. So, I'm just counting fiber, protein and starchy carbs. Feels very strange, but very good in a way too. I started up my good-ole' supplement routine this morning as well: creatine, glutamine, CLA and extra vitamin C than what is in my multi. I am missing my cardio already, but I honestly do feel that it's held me back from gaining what I've wanted to. So that's what's up with me these days.

Karen--Trainer's Edge sounds very cool. I need to get myself a demo and see what I think of it! Glad to hear that Kitty-Central is calming down somewhat, the story of Jim having to sleep on the couch was too funny! It seems like you guys have crazy kids who won't sleep or something like that!

Carrie--I know it's hard to want to eat that last meal, but it really is necessary. Your body needs those calories before you go to bed to rebuild the muscle you've broken down in your workouts. If you're really stuffed, you may want to post a day's menu here and see if you're on track.

RE:Oprah--When will the myth of not eating three hours before bedtime ever die??? The whole thing that Bob Greene was saying about how when you resist the urge to snack late at night it means that your body is dipping into its fat stores was crazy! If that's all it took to keep from being fat then it would be easy right??? It really does bug me that stuff like that is presented as truth to so many people this time of year. ARGH. I thought she didn't eat enough either, still doing the three meals a day thing too. Oh well, that's Oprah for you.

Have a good night!
Maggie

Carrie - I bought the AdvantEdge bars and the AdvantEdge Carb-Control ready to drink shakes in rich dark chocolate flavor. The shakes are REALLY good and are perfect for when it's time to eat, but you're not all that hungry.

The bars are pretty filling, so I know they're going to come in really handy once school starts again. Right now, I'm figuring out which ones are the best. So far, I've tried blueberry and cookies-n-cream. The blueberry ones are kind of gross, but the cookies-n-cream ones are yummy!

Question for anyone who can answer it: I have been drinking copious amounts of water - upwards of 144 oz. per day. I haven't had to force it; I just find that if I carry a glass of water with me everywhere, I will drink it. Now, it used to be that I drank diet Coke by the gallon. Today, I drank a diet Coke and about 20 minutes later I had the oddest taste in my mouth, kind of like those old fashioned saccharine drops. Is this normal? Is all the water I'm drinking just getting rid of things like Nutrasweet in my body?

YUCK! I tried to drive ds to school today and couldn't make a dent in the ice on my windshield. DD was supposed to drive to Guelph Ontario for National team tryouts (lacrosse)- a 10 hour drive in good weather, but there are severe storm warnings out for northern, Pa, all of NY and Southern Ontario. She called the coach and was told to skip it- she still has a slot on the team and not worth getting killed to get to this set of tryouts. Thank heavens! as of 9 pm last night, I was packing and planning on driving up with her, then flying back from Ohio, since her classes resume Monday morning. It was all getting very complicated and then sounding dangerous to boot!

Carrie and Janelle: Welcome! The bars are generally not considered good sources of protein, or carbs. Try to use them sparingly- like real emergencies when you can't get to real food. I think you'll find as you eat clean fo longer periods of time, that lots of things that used to taste OK, taste terrible. I find now that I can't tolerate anything with nutrasweet, sugar alcohols (malitol, sorbital) or generally artificial ingredients. Except good old vaniilla or mocha protein powder. Don't know what I'd do without that stuff! And yes, really try to get in your 6 meals, for at least 1 full challenge. Use protein powder and a carb (frozen fruit, and pp in a blender) makes an excellent, quick, portable meal. Or even pp and oatmeal (raw flakes) with ice and water all frothed up is good.

Moxiegirl- I use Trainer's Edge also. I bought it a few months ago, when they only offered multiple user versions. They have since come out with a single user version that Karen has. It is welll worth the money, but if you are doing BodyRx, I don't think it will work for you. It allows you to customize calories( and zig-zagging), protein/carb/fat ratio's, and pick the foods that you want to eat. But you won't get enough fiber to get through cycle 3, for sure. I was trying to eat at cycle 2 levels, and just ended up adding a 1/2 of fiber one every day. I figured the extra calories (60?) weren't going to hurt. You'll find a lot of the same recipes that are being raved about from the Camp PB people on L&S are in Trainer's Edge. It generates a meal plan, which you can then jiggle and customize if you don't like a few of its choices, recipes, and a shopping list. BTW, started studying the ISSA materials. I think I have a short term memory disorder- long time since I was in school! Hope you don't get buried in snow today.

Patt0- I'd love to go out to Whistler, too! My ex-SIL worked as an instructor there and raved about it. My dh did 2 coop terms there in college studying snow melt abd has always sworn we'd take a vacation there. Well, we've ben married almost 25 years and I still haven't seen the place!

Hi ledom- Glad you're back! I couldn't wait to get back to the gym either.

Lanii- You sound real motivated and ready! Can you send some of that my way? I'm motivated but just tired.

Karen- Many years ago, we started closing our bedroom door at night and keeping the animals out. After a few nights of piteous meowing the got the picture and we got some sleep. Then we had kids, and it all started over I've yet to have a cat that just lays down at my feet and STAYS THERE! As far as I'm concerned, 3am is not the time for a stroll around the bed, play time, or snuggle and purr time with felines or humans. JMHO.

Hi JC! Nice to see you back. Did you have a good trip?

Today is back and biceps for me, then my last long run on the weekend before the race. I may be ready to join the BodyRx'ers again after this. Though evertime I skip cardio, I start getting fatter.

Bye,
mel