I forgot to mention that last night I went to the gym when I had already planned not to go to the gym. I did something I haven't done in a long time, I did just cardio. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical doing a high intensity interval every 3 minutes (1 minute high intensity, 2 minutes normal pace). Someone even came by and told me I better be careful or else I'll get a speeding ticket I then did 18 minutes on the recumbant bike. I felt good afterwards and I'm starting to think that I don't hate cardio as much as I thought I did.

Nelie -- Since December 2003 I have been doing hi intensity cardio... Before when I did do cardio I would only do the easy going sort of cardio, and hated the thought of spending that time on a machine... Since December I actually love it, that's why some of the girls here call me :queen:, as in "cardio" queen because I hated it before... Well what I'm getting at, is that I think when you do the hi intensity stuff, for some, cause I know Mell and a few here still hate cardio, those endorphins kick in and you just get to like it...Anyways these are just my thoughts this early morning.... They probably make no sense cause it's too early for me and I can barely see the screen...:lol:...

TTFN :wave:

I need to clarify that "I hate cardio" statement. I've done cardio since I was 12 years old. Mostly running until I bought a Nordic track in the early 90's, then a recumbent bike a few years later. I ran distance- I've done 3 full marathons, and several 1/2's. I used to love it; great endorphin highs, weightloss effects, the feeling of flying. But my last marathon training about 2 years ago killed it for me. The marathon was at Disney Florida in January, so most of my training was indoors on a treadmill. There is NOTHING more stutifying than spending 2 hours for you "long run" on Saturdays on a treadmill, even running intervals to work on speed. I just burned out, and my knees have given up the ghost.

I do cardio- mostly the crosstrainer, elliptical, or recumbent bike. I can't run anymore or I wouldn't walk for a week. There's just hardly any cartilage left in my knees. Even the forms I do hurt my knees. So I'm really not just being a wimp or a cranky old lady. More a creaky old lady!

Whew! takes a lot of words to justify myself :lol: Today is arms and CARDIO. Never got to cardio yesterday because I hurt my knee doing calf raises: I go so heavy on calves that my joint failed before my muscles :( and it was really stiff for the rest of the day. No swelling, so I don't think I actually did any damage.

Eating has been on this week. Yeah me! clothes are a little looser, and I feel better about small victories :) Not getting on the scale, tho, since it always derails me no matter whether I'm up or down!

I've got 2 weeks to really pullit together, then another surgery scheduled to have a lypoma removed from my hip which re-appeared after being removed once already :?: This time it's being done in the hospital so the doc can be more aggressive. And I had to promise to stop lifting for 2 weeks after that. I'm going to be :crazy:

Hope everyone is doing well!
nelie- those numbers just keep moving down! You are on fire, girl!

Mel

Yay! Friday has come!
 

Good morning everyone!

Today starts my three-day weekend. I live for these weekends, since I work six days the opposite week. The six-day workweek is about pacing myself, and the four-day about happy anticipation of the weekend, for me. I tend to travel a bit during my "off" weekends, and am learning to play better. This time, I am taking food supplies with me, and scoping out exercise options on the road. Boyfriend-of-the-moment lives true bachelor style in the worst sense of the word, the only foodstuffs in his house are snack cakes and beer. Yuck! He and I go round and round about fitness and nutrition. Sometimes I think I really don't want to spend too much time with someone who eats and lives this way. I would much rather be with someone who shares my fitness goals. But who knows, we shall see. At any rate, planning to stock his refrigerator with decent eats while I am there, and leave some pantry items, as well. Potluck on Saturday, I am bringing a bowl of fresh fruit.

I have been thinking a lot about the "whys" of my exercise euphoria lately. I am wonding if the interval intensity type maneuvers in cardio are actually kicking in endorphins, as mentioned above. I have enjoyed exercise in the past, even loved the way it made me feel. But this time, it is even more than that. I even love it while I am doing it, which is new for me.

Nelie and all of you who have been exercising for awhile, do you remember what it was like to start out? Did anyone here have to start out with baby steps? I can do 30 min on the treadmill and another 15 or 20 on the bike, but the elliptical just kills me. I am embarrassed to say this, but 3 minutes is my max. It absolutely KILLS the muscles in the front of my thighs. I know I have extremely weak hip flexors, and am really working hard to rebuild muscle lost during the quick weight loss, but I don't know how far behind the "average" population I am starting out. At this point, I am just going to try to add a minute every few days, and have faith that someday I'll be able to do a full workout on the elliptical.

Mel, it makes so much sense to me to get things really together before the surgery. Good luck with that. I hope it goes well, and your recovery goes even better than expected. I didn't know lipomas recurred, so I've learned something new today. (I work in surgical pathology, so I only see them after the fact).

Artmaker, I agree about the scale, no matter what it says, it brings on some pretty emotional response. Kayacking sounds great.

I'm off to begin the weekend, starting with cardio at the gym before I even leave town.

Dawna

DAWNA - Thinking about the first time I was on the eliptical :lol: :lol: That funny. The trainer was great though, she suggested, I go for a minute and work my way up from there. Now I like it and fiddle around with settings. You will get there.

Food is chaotic today so far, and it is only morning. Having a sick husband throws me off my system. I am so looking forward to my knitting group tomorrow, I just want to relax and not be responsible.

Skipped the cardio this morning, and with all the cardio talk, I have stretched out the ankle I think, so I may just do some yoga and get to the gym tomorrow or Sunday.

I am also going to restart the BFL on Monday morning, I want some serious programming for a while, to just follow directions, maybe its a reaction to the craziness around me.

Have a great day at the gym, and it does seem that is a rainy forecast through the weekend. Maybe I will put down the knitting and workout while watching either the Red Sox or the Patriot's. That would be inspiring.

Dawna,

I've started out so many times doing different types of things. When I first discovered the elliptical was about 5 years ago or so and I was going to the gym and doing just cardio machines and taking step classes. No weights. I guess I got very frustrated because after a few months, I didn't show any more weight loss which is probably what stems from my own "I hate cardio" mantra ;)

Anyway! So when I first started out, I remember only being able to do 5 minutes, eventually after a few months (6? I'm not sure), I got to the point that "I could go on forever" which I never knew existed. At that point, I was doing 45 minutes on the elliptical and my heart rate was always elevated but I never did intervals. Then I stopped going to the gym for a while and the next time I went to the gym, I could only do 5-10 minutes on the elliptical. Then back in May I had a knee injury and I decided that I needed to get back into the gym, but with my injury, I couldn't do the elliptical so I just did weights. Just recently, past couple months, have I started doing the elliptical. The first time I got on after my knee injury, I did 4 minutes on the elliptical which was so disheartening. I've worked up and I am now once again at the "I can go on forever" point. Once I got to being able to do the elliptical for 20 minutes, I then added intervals. So it'll come, keep working at it.

I think I may have injured myself or something, I'm not quite sure. The other day, the back of my left leg felt funny like it was about to give out and today the back of my right leg feels the same way. I was doing squats last night (200 lbs) and I can't go down very far but the first one i did at 200 lbs, I went down too far and felt it in my back just like my back was saying "what the **** you doing", so this morning I thought my back would hurt but it doesn't. I think my knees are just being cranky but I'm not sure.

Hey gals - I'm still here. Was just avoiding subjecting any of you to my nasty carb-starved attitude! I'm on day 6 of South Beach Phase I, and only just yesterday did I feel like I was finally getting used and being able to deal with the lack of starchy carbs. Had some awful sweet cravings that I wasn't prepared for - wore a path to my kitchen until I broke down and got some sf Jell-O and ff Cool-Whip. Still feeling hungry within an hour after a large meal, but at least now I can tolerate it. I know I'm not supposed to be feeling hungry, but I can't eat an indefinite amount of food and still expect to lose!

The scale hasn't really shown any progress, but I'm sticking with it - I promised myself I'd do the full 2 weeks of this before adding anything back into my diet.

Wanted to comment on the elliptical question - I couldn't do it at all at first - it killed my legs. It took me 8 weeks of walking on the treadmill first, and then working up to recumbent bike, and then I could finally use it on the lowest intensity. Now I can do it for quite some time with no hands!

I've always wondered, what's the difference between a crosstrainer and an elliptical? I'd always assumed they were the same, and now I see they are not...

Artmaker, where are you that you can seakayak?
Cindy

Cindy- Welcome back, Groucho! A cross-trainer has "arms" as well as the elliptical foot action.
Here's my elliptical story (apolgies to old-timers who've heard it). I had just done a leg workoutand was pretty tired, but curious about what the weird looking machine was. So I got on and tried to program it. Somehow 20 minutes on a hill climb program ended up in there and I couldn't change it. I started off slowly, and the machine seemed to get faster and faster. I was dog tired to start with and after about 6 or 7 minutes started wondering if I'd get killed if I tried to jump off. Meanwhile, the incline is getting higher and higher and the pedals are going faster and faster. I was hanging on the thing for dear life and praying I'd live long enough to see 20:00 flash onto the screen and the damn thing STOP, when at 19:59 it flashed to "begin 5 minute cool down". :o So I slogged on for 5 more minutes. After I limped off, I asked someone how to slow it down or get off, and they looked at me like the moron I was :faint: I really thought it was the motor that was controlling the speed, not me :lol:

So the first time I got on one, I did 25 minutes.

I always called the crosstrainers elliptical machines then because my gym only has one with arms except they also have a spot for you to rest your hands if you don't want to use the arms, but I always do.

Mel that is pretty funny, it would've probably been funnier if you had jumped off.

I feel soooo much better!
I got interrupted during a workout on Tuesday and haven't done a thing since. But I did today. I warmed up on the elliptical (the arms move) then I did lunge walking, squats, calf raises and calf curls. I hope to find something decent to watch on TV from 8 til 9 and I'll jump during the commercials.
I also ate really badly overnight last night but supper was wonderful ... salmon, soy cheese and lots of raw crunchy vegetables.

Hey Dawna ... 3 minutes was my max at first too. And I had been walking for almost a year by then.

I was a bit social last night, went to dinner with a friend and I meant to go to the gym afterwards, but then we ended up talking and talking and by the time we left, the gym was closed. Also, I didn't eat the best when I went out to dinner (had not 1, but 2 dinner rolls *gasp*) but I didn't eat all that badly. Today I did awesome at the gym though, an hour of back and biceps, then 22 minutes on the elliptical, then 5 minutes on the bike, then 10 minutes of stretching. During the stretching, I was able to touch my toes and then went a little deeper and touched the ground. I'm glad I started doing the yoga, I am definitely getting more flexible.

Nelie- How are your knees/back? Congratulations on your flexibility :) That's something I need to work on.

Ilene da Queen! I saw those new pics you posted- you're looking radiant and much trimmer these days :D

I did a home leg workout this morning, lighter and less frantic than my usual gym routine, but I'm babying a cranky knee. I found an air cushion and stability ball at Marshalls for $10 each, so with all the equipment I have at home, except for the leg press, I can get a decent workout. What- doesn't everyone have a Smith Machine in their bedroom? :lol:

Clean eats, cold weather, and lots of laundry sums up today.

Mel

Kinky, Mel -- very kinky. :s:

I love Smith machines BUT having one in my bedroom would be a bit too much ;) Actually, when I bought my place, I had imagined making a spot in the basement for exercising, but because I prefer the gym, I haven't done that. In fact I even have a tv, dvd player and vcr down there. I suppose I should set it up some time but I've been doing dvds in my living room instead.

Mel, my knees and back feel fine, but the back of my left knee still kind of feels funny. It kind of feels like a sore muscle but localized at the back of my knee. I've noticed today that my calves are starting to get the squishy fat feeling to them, which I guess is good but annoying. I feel squishy in all the parts of my body that were previously hard and muscular (not that there were many parts like that ;) )

Yesterday, I guess I got so excited by my newly found flexibility that I did yoga twice, once in the morning and once at night. Today, my abs are really sore.

This morning, I woke up with a sore throat and had trouble swallowing. I am all congested, feel weak and I have a fever so no gym for me today. I'm kind of upset because today would've been chest day which I really like but I think rest is my best option. I'll probably do some yoga a little later though.