Finally back from the gym. I had 2 clients cancel and 1 just not show up today. The place is a ghost town. Everyone must be either shopping for school or doing their last gasp of summer vacation. I had loads of time for a brutal leg worout- the knees held up, but I didn't do any plyometics (leaping and jumping) today. Just lots of heavy work, and what seemed like a mile of lunges. My new favorite way to do lunges is with a medicine ball held out in front, then rotate my torso towards the back-leg side and then back to center before I take the next step. Keeps you down in the lunge for longer and adds oblique ab work at the same time :devil: I had a 1 hour hole between clients this evening, and the spin instructor suckered me in to his class for 45 minutes of torture :lol: I like spinning classes, but not without bike shorts :o and it's kind of rough after doing legs in the afternoon.

SugarCube- I think Grave Secrets was by Kathy Reichs. Yup, just checked it on amazon. I enjoyed all her books that I could find in paperback. I also liked Tammy Hoag's books. They were nice a long, too. I tend to try to buy books by the pound, since I read so quickly.

Robin- I haven't done anything except try to stretch and take tylenol. I just discovered that the massage therapist at the gym gives all gym employees a free 1/2 hour and discounts! I've been working there almost a year and no one told me that. I'm in for next week :D I'm about to start the DaVinci Code, too, but it's my cardio "reading". A friend lent me a few books on CD and I actually look forward to cardio now. Sort of :p

Hi to everyone else, bedtime for me.

Mel

Jack, what a clarion call to wake up and get moving! Just as I was all fired and ready to haul a**, I remembered that I have a dentist's appointment this morning. So, no ironworks for moi (see Ilene, we ARE bilingual) this a.m. Yesterday's freshman induction ceremony was a great success, and I was even more pleased that I did NOT stiffen up whilst sitting on the platform. I had feared that my endeavors in the gym would take their toll, but it didn't happen. I DID, however, sleep like the dead last night :lol: Gotta jet ... keep smiling everyone: weekend's almost here!

Thursday Rise and Shine
 

MEL - My best friend and I also buy books "by the pound". When we used to go to Florida for school vacations, we would ration ourselves, she brought 6 - I brought 6 and we traded back and forth, it was a real planning exercise to make sure we got the most pages for the space.

Skipped the gym, my stomach is out of sorts and I just am down, so I got productive around the house, planning to make up some cardio tomorrow morning. And may take a bike ride this evening, the weather has been great here so far this week.

Good breakfast and good food planned all day long. Got some olives, missed the fact they have pits, oh well. still a nice treat for me.

My LBWO yesterday still needs to be ramped up, I have very little soreness to show for my efforts, though I know that the bike ride over the RR bridge was a breeze compared to this spring when I sounded like the trains chugging down the tracks. Nice to have some significant improvement and something to show for my efforts to date.

Off to face the day.

Liza

Hey all - lurking but still here. Going through a bit of a rough time this week - broke it off with the bf - didn't want to, but needed to for my own sanity. I hate when it's like that.... Anyway, I'm hanging in there, and food hasn't been to bad.

Wanted to jump in on the book topic and say that I'm a big Tami Hoag fan - am currenlty reading "Dark Horse", and see that she's got another new release out in hardcover, so looking forward to that in paperback as well.

Boy Jack - you make me tired just reading your posts!

Hello to everyone, and welcome to the newbies I've not said "hi!" to yet - I'll post more when I'm feeling more myself.

I did get an email yesterday saying that the last round BFL contest for the year is starting by August 30th, so this may be just the motivation I need to get my backside in gear again - I've not done a "real" challenge since Spring...
Cindy

Hi, I'm back! It's been a couple of months - I didn't realize I was going to have such a tough time staying on track during the summer. I've been up and down a bit (mostly up) in the weight department, and my eating and exercising has been consistently inconsistent.

I just realized, though, that I only have 4 months left to make it to goal if I want to keep my New Year's resolution. It's still doable, but it would have been easier if I hadn't wasted several months.

Well, now I have to go catch up on my reading.

Hey there 2SW :wave: That goal is VERY doable by the end of the year. I lost more than twice that in 4 months, so just get focussed an hop on back in the wagon. Nice to see you back again :)

Cindy- sorry to hear about bf, but I'm sure it'll improve the BF. Hope things are OK with you :goodvibes:

I'm headed back to the gym for 2 evening clients. I did a long cross-trainer session this morning because I wanted to hear more of The DaVinci Code. This could be a good way to peel off a few more pounds :lol:

Mel

Hello everyone!!! LTNS!!

Well, the last few months have been busy!! We moved locally into a larger house, and I am no longer working. I have been working to obtain my real estate license....more flexible hours :) This has given me the opportunity to cook at home more, which is great, and I am sure it is healthier too.

I was doing a low carb diet for 8 months. I stalled out in April, and have not lost an ounce since. I did everything other low carbers suggested on other boards, but nothing worked. I realized that the only way I was going to lose again would be to cut back my carbs to about 20-25 a day. I was consuming about 40. So few carbs would mean more or less a meat and cheese diet, with a few veggies thrown in. UGH! It also was giving me no energy at the gym. Plus, I kept thinking to myself, how on earth am I going to lose weight on 2500 calories a day that is 70 percent fat?

After some searching, I came upon a cookbook I had from a show on Food Network called Cooking Thin. She advocates a more traditional diet of portion/calorie/fat control. Yet, her approach is to take "baby" steps towards better behavior. It is also very informal. I was very worried I would balloon upon re-introduction of carbs, but that has not happened. I am really enjoying being able to eat carb again...I had not realzed how much I missed them!

I am also back in the gym, doing weights, and I will be adding cardio and pilates to my routine. Hopefully I will be around more :)

Robin

Darling Daughter Turned Six Today
 

Just lost my post, not sure what I did, but I won't do it again.

Got up this morning, not feeling great, but decided to decorate house for the BD girl, frosted the cake to look like a unicorn and got to measure her on the door. She has grown 3 inches in one year. Wow. :hb:

I guess I have either allergies, getting them later in life is good in that I spent a long time without them, or I have some nasty summer cold, because my stomach is upset. Not sure but I am going on vacation as of noon today.

CINDY - Thanks for the Tami Hoag recommendation, this place is way better than Oprah. Take a lot of time for yourself now, take it easy.

ROBIN - I have also stalled on the lowcarb, I don't think I can go above 35 a day. I had added in some cottage cheese, or at least was learning to, as well as a half cup of brown rice or WW pasta. I don't really miss them, but was looking for some more balance. I have heard good things about Cooking Thin, really seems another way to say moderation. I have to keep up on the study. I am heading to Nova Scotia tomorrow, and am definately going to stay on track, we are camping and I am the head chef, so I am planning lots of seafood, and no ice cream. :lol:

JACK - You would be proud of me, I shifted the three boxes of submittals this morning, they got delivered to the front desk and the person who brought them off of the elevator looked like ****. I told him I would get it taken care of, I was hoping he didn't collapse at the front desk. Well, with my new upper body and lower strength, I was able to shift the boxes, each with 8-10 reams of paper, to my office. No backache, and not even a sweat. Amazing what one month of working out can do for a person.

Have a great week everyone and a safe labor day, and for all the students, may this be the year of the straight A's.

Liza

I had one of those incredibly horrifying days at work today. Had to take a spare break to go and cry for a bit. Got home still shaken and got into the Coors Lite. Of course now I feel like a slug and haven't done one stitch of exercise.
Probably if I plugged the BeeGees in my ears and went walking, I'd be glad I did.
Man, I'm glad each morning is the start of a new day!

Hey y’all — just poking my head in real fast to say that I’m back from Orlando and missed everyone! It was a whirlwind trip to get DS settled in college, but we managed to get his new apartment completely set up and furnished before I left. :dizzy: We got some awesome bargains on a mattress set and some used furniture, bought out Target, completely equipped his kitchen and bathroom, and laid in at least three months of groceries — all in three days. Add in two days of driving down to FL and two days driving home and that was my week. :crazy: Unfortunately, it didn’t include gym time and eating clean was tough, so …. tomorrow is back to basics here.

Orlando was hit hard by Hurricane Charlie two weeks ago and the damage was still quite evident everywhere that we went. I’m going to attach a photo that I took in DS’s apartment parking lot — note that the wind was powerful enough to pull the curb right out of the asphalt along with the tree! :eek:

I’ll try to catch up on my reading tomorrow, but need to catch up on my sleep tonight, so please forgive me missing out on what’s been going on this week. :)

:yikes: :yikes: :faint:

Glad you are back safe and sound and let's hope for no more hurricanes in Orlando!

missed ya!

Mel

nelie - love your new picture in your avatar! You look really beautiful! Also congratulations on lost pounds! What school are you going back to? I’m a student too – I’m in grad school doing psychology and my semester started last week. It’s sort of good to get started again.

Mel – I tried your lunges with the medicine ball and rotation yesterday – I didn’t manage very many and I really feel it in my legs today! Excellent! :D

BfL_Cat – sorry about your breakup, hope you’re doing OK. And SusanB too: sorry you had such a lousy day at work, hope it got better.

I’m looking for ideas for easy-made protein snacks (no meat).
I do the cottage cheese + salsa dip (yummy!) for vegetables. I do smoothies with plain yogurt, fruit and protein powder. But I’m looking for more ideas – what do you guys eat for snacks?

I did my last introductory week at the gym this week (had 4 weeks introduction when I started lifting weights). Next week I’ll start adding weight and lifting to failure, starting on Monday with lower body.

A quick note to say that I’m back from travelling. It’s good to be back and I’ve missed you all. A few random thoughts follow.

1. Some trips are just difficult. Face facts. Allow decompression time after them. A day or two and then I’ll feel better and more like myself. Chocolate may be involved. That’s for the serotonin, you know.

2. A posture tip. Buy a t-shirt for a friend, relative or pet with whom you spend time regularly and are not competitive. I recommend a t-shirt which advertises a ballet company. You look at the t-shirt, you think your friend must be in the ballet company and, by association, so are you! You hold yourself better immediately. (The Boy has just been given a Royal Ballet hand-me-down. He loves it and the effect on me is magical.) I think it works because it’s a bit unusual. Sports kit stuff is a bit debased. It doesn’t work when everyone is wearing football strip. Obviously they can’t all be in the national or local team. Clearly my four-year-old is in the Royal Ballet.

3. An idea brought to you by sleep deprivation. I can’t believe how this training idea passed me by. When L2L said she might compete in October, I should have immediately offered to be her virtual body double and got into training with her. In case she had a cold or something. So my hair is fair? So I live on the other side of the Atlantic? OK, another time, maybe. No hard feelings.

4. Stress and toxins. They are dangerous things. They have to be minimised. They can mess things up.

Ilene – a fortnight is two weeks - short for fourteen nights, I suppose. Shakespeare talks about a se’enight for a week (ago) but that seems to have got lost in the ebb and flow of language. You win some, you lose some.

Cindy – if you made it, it’s the right decision. Good luck with the den. Every woman should have one.

Susan – bad days at work. Grim. Onward and upward.

Off home now. It’s my birthday tomorrow. 49 doesn’t seem how I feel, at all. How have I got here?