Super quicky post!

Mel -- my shoulders and arms still feel pumped! Love that feeling even the day after! But not sore yet!

Jessica -- Welcome to our world! Great fun isn't it?

Dip -- Did you receive my PM last night... I'm starting to think I'm doin' something wrong when I send them...:doh:

Later... need food!

Good talk about workouts this a.m. The darndest thing, once again I didn't get home til after 9 last night and just could not make myself workout and I'm down another 1/2 lb. this a.m. I am NOT taking this as a message to stop working out. It was just time for those lbs. to go. I mean I have worked so hard the last 2 weeks and nothing! And on the subject of cardio - at L&S yesterday they were talking about intensity versus time. I think I might go back to that thinking for a while, 20 to 30 min all out versus 45 to hr. at a more moderate pace. Anyway, no excuses not to do cardio, weights and yoga today as I am home all day. Also time to get some food cooked. I am scraping the bottom here. OK, I didn't take note of Mel's shoulder workout when it was first posted. Where can I find it?

Huh? Whaa? Did I hear my name? :D Just sat down with my tea to try to warm up — it’s not any warmer in western PA than eastern, Mel! Though I did brave the ice and snow for early AM cardio.

Speaking of cardio, yeah, I don’t think there’s a right answer about cardio. :?: Yes, I did an hour a day for the year I was losing and yes, I lost fast. Whether losing fast is a good thing or not is personal opinion, I guess. For me, it definitely was the right way, for two reasons. First, it was a tremendous incentive to see the weight flying off and see the changes coming on almost a daily basis. The momentum carried me through to the end with no breaks or plateaus (and very few slip-ups). But second, and more important to me, was that I made a clean and definite break with the past. I changed everything, all at once — it was sudden and dramatic and life-changing. There wasn’t any going back — probably a lot like crossing Bill P’s abyss. It was being reborn, very scary and very exciting at the same time.

Karen has written before about the importance of taking baby steps in weight loss and that approach has some very valid points. For many people. that’s probably the better and more permanent way to weight loss. I’ll never try to push the way that I lost weight on anyone else or say that it’ll work for anyone but me. The more time I spend here, the more I realize that we’re all different, physically and psychologically, and what works for one of us may not work for anyone else.

Mel went to the heart of the matter — whatever we do to lose the weight has to be something that we can maintain as a lifestyle. If you don’t want to do an hour a day of cardio for the rest of your life, you may not want to do it now (or you might). That’s up to each of us, to figure out our own way. So long as you pay attention to your body and how it reacts to diet and exercise and monitor your progress, you’ll do just fine. :)

Dip — I thought the same thing as Mel when I read your post — it gets a lot harder to get rid of the pounds the closer you get to goal. Yep, the 2# weeks may be gone. And that’s a good thing! It means you’re closing in on the goal. The end is in sight and it doesn't make any difference how long it takes for you to get there because I KNOW — without a doubt — that you will get there. :)

Off to see the doc about my toes today (finally). She hasn’t seen me since I was ten pounds from goal, almost two years ago (I don’t get sick very often) so this should be interesting.

Meg

Good morning everyone! Well we got dumped on yesterday but not as bad as we had been told it was going to be so alas...the clinic was open, no snow day for me! oh well.
So last night was a great one for me and I feel like bragging a bit...just a bit :) I don't know if I had told you guys but a few years ago I had a ski jumping accident and I tore a bunch of the muscles in my back and slipped a disk and basically just screwed my back up. Anyways last night for the first time since then I was actually able to run on the treadmill! Not for a long time for but for 10 minutes! It felt soooooo good! So that's my bragging for the day!
Hope everyone has a good one!
-Melissa
P.S. - I absolutly hate bananas...the the texture, the taste, the smell, the thought of them makes me sick :)

Morning all:

GJ - When I hit the gym, the only questions people ask are "are you single? what line of work are you in?" so I avoid making eye contact and focus on what I came to do. I'll be glad when it warms up some. Right now, it's just too cold at 5:00 AM to be outside driving for anything. I wish I was more motivated - driven but since I'm not, I just deal with the "singles bar gym" and pray for spring.

I love bananas and could eat 5 of them in a sitting. I make myself stop at one and only have 1 or 2 a week. My kids love them, so they also disappear pretty quickly so the bananas are not sitting there calling my name. Grapes I have to avoid altogether.

Ilene - good job on the workout and eating CLEAN. Keep it up!

Last night was cardio only. When I have cardio only days, I tend to do it at home, either one of my many Tae Bo tapes (I think I am the only one that still loves these) or ride my stationary bike. I need to get in a good chest and shoulder workout today but I also need to wash and rebraid my DS (yes, DS) hair. His hair is past his shoulders now. He wants to get it cut, but said he will shave it off once it gets warm outside. Right now, its like an extra hat for him. Maybe I will sneak out of here early today since I've worked late the past 3 days.

Peace. Tiki

Mel and Meg- Thanks for the advice on the cardio. I have cut down this week while also trying a new split. When I plateaued after the first 20# last July, the gal at the gym I was working with said cut back on the cardio. So I did, along with South Beach Phase 1 got the metabolism moving again. No, there is no way I want to do an hour each day for the rest of my life. I would hope that when I reach goal, I can get by with 3-4 times a week for 30-45 minutes. I didn't even think that the slow-down is because I'm closer to goal, duh. I'm just anxious to see the 170's because it sounds so much better than 180's, KWIM? Also, I won't be satisfied until more of this fat around my middle is gone. I am anxious too for 168# which will require new photos for the progess album. When Karen said that junior sizes are for the "straight up and down," I have to agree because I still have no real waist definition.

Ilene - yep, I got it. Just have so much to cover today on this side, but I'll respond soon!

Bananas - I love them but can't eat them except late at night, if then. They send me into carb craving too. When I was "dieting" I would have a bowl of oatmeal and a banana for breakfast, and be scavenging an hour later, and grazing all day. Just part of the signals to watch for. Berries are my fruit of choice.

Super clean Meals 1 and 2; today is abs-floor-ball, and cardio is done and out of the way. We're suppose to get more snow, but I am really looking forward to going to the gym this evening since it's been awhile. But now it will depend on the roads.

DH had his semi-annual physical at work yesterday and I can't wait to see what his cholesterol is. According to them, he's down an official 40# since July. Just wish I could get him to do some cardio for his heart. Ya can lead a horse to water, but. . .

Hi to all and hope everyone has a safe and healthy day!

Edited - I forgot to add- Melissa, the one reason I never took up skiing is because I value the use of my legs, and head. :lol: And the same reason you will never see me on a motorcycle.

dip

In regards to cardio, I was doing cardio around 4 - 5 days a week and was losing weight and enjoying myself. Then I read the Brx book which states you don't need cardio, just weight training. I switched to that and although my body began to take on a new shape (definition in my legs, arms, etc.) my weight loss stalled and mentally, I felt like I wasn't working out and trying to lose weight anymore. I eventually stopped everything. This time around, I have realized that for me, the cardio is just as important as the weight training and in order to get to where I want to be, I will have to do both. The key is knowing your body, what you can do and what you can't do and then doing it, basically for forever.

Peace Tiki.

Good morning gals!

I've been lurking a bit this week - reading all of your posts, but not much to say. My eats have been pretty good, with the exception of some PMS peanut butter consumption. Workouts have been on track.

With all the talk about workouts lately, and as next week will be week 5 of my current Challenge, and time to change exercises, I'm thinking of changing my lifting routine to a 3-day split as most of you do. The only issue might be time - I used to being able to finish in 45 minutes when I lift - do you think this will be possible to meet with a 2-body-part split each of those days? Also, I'll have to come up with more exercises for each part. Shoulders will be easy, but legs will be tough, as I can't do squats or anything too demanding of my knees. I'll dig out my magazine and book resources this week and see what I can come up with.

I did buy some bananas yesterday, and tried Tidey's pudding. I had it for meal 6 yesterday, and found I could barely finish it! It was incredibly filling! Not sure about the banana trigger thing - I honestly have not had one since starting this program last February. Of course, the fact that I ate one after dinner with peanut butter on it might be a clue for me....;) And now I have the rest of the bunch to get through, as I don't have the benefit of kids to get rid of them for me. Maybe there's some nutrient in peanut butter that my body needs, and thus is craving right now??? The jar has been in the fridge (it's natural peanut butter) for months and months, and I've not touched it, and now, 2 days in a row!

I finally have decided to try some of the EFL recipes - bought some ingredients yesterday, and will do a couple of them this weekend. Some variety would be nice, as I've been in a bit of a rut food-wise lately. Still can't find ground chicken, but still looking as I think I will like it better than ground turkey in some recipes. Worse case, I'll grind my own breasts, like Tidey does. At least that way I'll know they are all white meat.

You gals have a great day - I need to get back to work.
Cindy

hi all!

just finished slathering my hair in red dye :o hehe so this is just a quick post before i have to wash it out.

For those with banana triggered carb cravings: can you use banana flavorings? sugar free pudding? is it the taste or the content that drives you to the edge? I find this really interesting.

I had a good back/tri's workout today and did tomorrows cardio as I know I wont be able to get there before the gym closes. This weekend Im having company but Ive planned so that the food will be mostly clean, and I can avoid the bad stuff :D No way am I putting these #'s back on after I worked so hard to get rid of em! hehe

Im sore from legs yesterday, which doesnt happen very often. maybe I should try to keep striving for it hehe. It made my cardio today a real chore tho *groan* thought I would never make it!

Cindy, I find that when I crave peanut butter, its because Im not getting enough fats. Try eating a few almonds or something like that. Works for me :)

food is clean, and Im off to rinse my hair. Sounds like you're all doing great! :D

Tidey

Hi all, well I am having a great day...Went to the gym this morning and did my cardio and abs even though my inside evil voice was saying "stay home and enjoy your day off" :devil:
Glad I went did a good cardio but I need to increase my mph since I am getting used to that level. Abs felt great after my workout too. :D

The funniest thing happened to me this afternoon, I was sitting at the comp, and what ran by my front yard was 3 horses and a pony...I kid you not! :lol: The couple who owns the house we rent our apt. in lives behind us. Anyway they own these horses and they got loose from their pen. Well the owners were not home so i ran out to get them back up to the house. I managed to tie one and lead it back up to the barn and was on my way back down when my daughter arrived from school and she yelled at them to get home (they know her from her visiting every other day), they all ran up the road to the house behind, by that time the owners wife was home and she got them in the barn. well I guess I got my extra cardio in today. not to mention got over my fear of horses. I am not exaggerating I have a fear of horses kicking me or biting me. Anyway I had to let it go and try to keep them from running away, while trying to get them to go back home. My little bit of excitment for the day. My daughter told me she was proud of me :D

On another note, I stopped by my mom-in-law- to - be's house today to say hello and I weighed myself while there.....well i lost 4 lbs, I know it is not much for a month but it is good enough for me......woo hoo as I heard someone else say before

Well I am off and running gotta figure out what is for supper, got to go get the man from work and off to shop tonight for fabric for decorations for the wedding. I have to get into doing that soon, before I know it the big day will be amoung us and I will not be ready at all. Bye for now ladies see you tomorrow!!!!

Oh by the way I love bananas, I eat them as often as I can, do not get any crazy gotta eat more cravings. I like to use one for a meal with a tablespoon of low fat peanut butter smeared on it. I know p. butter is not a good choice but I get tired of eating chick, fish, eggs, cottage cheese so often, i need to change it around sometimes and it works for me, at least it did the first time and it keeps me satisfied until the next meal. My family loves them as much as me and eat them more then me so I do not get a chance to go too crazy over them either.....well bye again. ;)

Tiki - I am one of those people that need both cardio and weights as well. I have tried weights on their own and I stop getting results, I have tried cardio on it's own and although you feel good and it helps with fluid retention etc - it leaves me soft. So I need to combine both to find the right mix. We put on muscle very easily in my family so I need to find the right balance of weights and cardio - which I haven't found yet! My sister does 'pump classes' which she loves and finds gives her the right amount of 'tone' (I hate that word) that she wants. Maybe I need to back off the weights in size and go to a more circuit kind of workout? hmmm...

These last few weeks I have just been running for exercise and haven't touched the weights. Mainly because I am still really tired all the time and I am only running to keep up my fitness levels for soccer. I am running about 3 miles per night - 3-4 times per week at the moment. It takes me about 35 mins which is a nice workout even despite the hills in it! I have to clean out my gym this weekend so I can start using it again - it's full of the stuff from the spare room which I had to empty due to visitors for 6 weeks over Christmas/New Year. Anyway enough of my blabbering....

JC

Maaannn it's tough keepin' up with you chickies...
 

Busy here as always - this evening is no exception. After work I dash off to the dentist for a cleaning and hopefully NO cavities, then I have a 7:00 pm riding lesson (third one this week already)! So WHEW! is the operative word in the life of MrsJim at this moment...

Cardio - I'm a cardio person myself. Although I don't do nearly as much as I did, say, prior to April 2001 (when I started lifting!). I've mentioned this before - but I did at least an hour of cardio a day, every day - on Spinning days even more than that. And on top of THAT I was big into road cycling - on Sundays (especially when Jim was working on Sundays) I would do hours-long bike rides...the Bay Area has a lot of gorgeous roads just made for cycling, many are real buttkickers. Nowadays, I do 5-6 cardio sessions a week (none on leg days, and 'optional' on Sundays). I am one of those weirdos who actually enjoys cardio - as long as I'm on my machine of choice (Precor elliptical) with my choice of tunes and the local news on the TV's overhead - then I'm a happy camper!

I do miss Curt's Spinning class - but it begins too late for me to stay for the entire class, shower, eat and get ready for work. Maybe next time I have a day off or a morning off, I'll pop in.

Bananas - I like 'em - they are high in sugar compared to most fruits but I don't eat them every DAY. If they're on sale, I buy 'em - Jim likes a banana once in awhile. I figure there are worse things I could be eating.

I have more to post but as usual time is at a premium - gotta close up shop and get to my dentist's appt in 30 minutes! see ya!

TGIF Ladies or Saturday!

Although very cold here, the sun is shining and I'm full of P&V. Went to the gym last night, and probably overdid. I don't know if I'm sore from too much :strong: or because I practiced Pilates yesterday for the first time. But it's that *good* kind of sore.

I'm going to take a pamper me day, and do some career planning and goals. I never thought at this age, I'd be planning another new career, but I am! And looking forward to learning something new and that I love, other than real estate. I loved real estate because it was more the excitement of closing a deal after negotiations based on finance, law and emotions than it was the money reward. I can't wait for the day that I can assist someone change their body, and subsequently their life. For those of you who didn't know, I am starting the courses to become a certified Personal Trainer.

Another ad for a Curves closer to my house appeared in yesterday's newspaper, so I'll be heading to apply for that one on Monday. The only opening my gym has right now is for a water aerobics (non-certified) instructor. They said they'd be happy to teach me the routines. However, I declined because if the ladies saw me in a bathing suit with all this skin, it might scare them away. No kidding. I had 2 big fears about taking off the weight, and the major one was the skin issue. At this point, I don't think it's as bad as I thought it was going to be, but who knows what it will be like another 10 or 20 pounds from now. Had I seen someone almost nekkid when I first started out, and had the skin thing going, it would have stopped me for sure.

Well, we got up late, real late, and I need to get on with it. So have a safe and healthy day and I'll check back later. BTW, official loss this month is 6#. I can live with it after realizing the reasons the weight loss will/may slow down now. No biggie. Onward and downward!

dip

Morning all,

I am both elated and upset with myself. I did not get in a workout yesterday - at ALL! I will have to double up this evening but that should work okay since the kids will be tied up in activities. I am elated because I have on a pair of size 12 jeans and I am NOT gasping for breath!!! Next stop, my size 10 slacks.

Tonight I am going to kidnap a gym worker and make them show me how to work the rest of the equipment in the free weight area. I may get arrested, I may be on a future episode of cops but since I have been a paying member since 1998, I think I deserve to be able to get some assistance without buying 6 weeks worth of personal training lessons. Any donated bail money or "Get out of jail free" cards will be appreciated.

Peace Tiki.

Happy Friday all!

Isn't this always how it is - when Tiki proposed the clean eats challenge for this week, I thought, no biggie - I've been clean for weeks now! And, now, as if just because we are doing this, I have been not clean for the past few days. Not in the foods I'm eating, just in the quantitiy - basically evening munching. I really think it's got to be TOM, but it seems like I have a week like this at least once every 8 weeks or so - my mind/body rebels and makes me want to eat just for the heck of it!

Anyway, I think I'll have a planned free day tomorrow to get this out of my system for a while. I'm pretty certain that will do it - it seems that when I get like this, the harder I try to fight it, the worse off I am!

At least my workouts are still on track, so that's one good thing about this week, looking at the bright side!

Hope everyone is having a good day!
Cindy