Good Morning LWL

Greetings from the land of strep throat My whole family has got it, not sure about me. The guys are in bed, all drugged up, I'm headed to the gym trying not to pass any germs around.

How was everybody's week-end? It was pretty dull here. I worked...new clients are still flooding in as people are coming to grips with reality in January. I remember last year that the New Year resolution crowd seemed to extend until mid- to late February. I was so sore on Saturday from going back to a heavy lifting 5 day split that I took it as my rest day, and did cardio yesterday instead. I resurrected my old Nordic Track which I thought was dead. After taking it apart, I discovered a spring had stuck itself to the wrong place underneath, and when fixed, it was as unpleasant as ever And still quite a workout. Food was on track, though calories a bit high for the last 2 days. I made a huge pot of lentil soup. Mmmmm, good and warm, but much denser than my usual giant bed of lettuce and spinach under chicken!

Off to the gym,
Mel

Gee thanks for asking Mel! Mine was very good... I had a bit too much vino on Saturday night with the girls but I did manage a run on Sunday to clear the cob webs... Because Friday and Saturday night's meals where atrocious, Sunday was squeaky clean with lots of water! And that was my weekend in a nutshell...

I hope you don't catch the strep throat , I've had that only once in my adult life and it hurts!!

Here's a story from the gym last week: I walk in and there's this man, who is not too smart but nice just the same, and he always makes a point of talking to me although I'm not comfortable talking to him... Anywho he was on the recumbent bike gives me a big smile and wave when I come in and says, proudly at that: "I have the flu!" .... Now this has just given me a new pet peeve about gym goers... WHY do these people go to the gym when they are sick? ... My reaction was: "Well then WHAT are you doing HERE???" he just shrugged his shoulders!! I walked away shaking my head and during my workout I made sure my hands did not make contact with my face, which I always do anyways, and then when I was done I washed my hands immediately when I got to the change room... Oh well, I didn't get sick, and thanks for lisltening.... My suggestions to the sick folks who insist on exercising it to go for a walk in the fresh air...OK I'm done!! OFF

Well I'm off to the gym...TTFN

hi Mel, Ilene and the other LWL,

A new week, almost a new month, and I am ready to try again. Unfortunately januari & bad week last week gained me 1 pound, so I'lm going to get it OFF. The best present i can give myself for my birthday end of march is to loose some more weight !.

As for that, started lifting again today, did UBW, and 15 mins rowing, 25 mins bike and 25 mins jog.

Also added a "snacks" entry to the food log as all in all chocolated have sneaked into the food and that is bad.
On the other hand, I have now added 1 egg to the luncheon salad, and 1/4 cup soy grits to my breakfast (brewers yeast, lecitin, bran & orange juice) so I am now definitely on a more protein diet and I have the impression that the soy grits DO make a difference. I am not hungry for the whole day, an I seem to imaginge I am slightly less tired in the afternoon.

I'll do the extra soy protein this week to figure out how this works out.

Mel, good luck with the strep throat patients and I hope you won't get it.

Ilene, I hope the sick guy at the gym did not give you the flu!

have a nice day,
rabbit

rabbit -- No, I did not get the flu yet from that man!

Art -- If we had to stop and think of all the germs in a gym we would NEVER go, gyms would be empty, they are one of the worse place for bacteria...

I did have a great back workout today... I jogged to the gym and back but didn't take the long way back I was in a time crunch...

Food has not been good today so far!! ARgh!!

Hi everyone: I know I've been absent this entire month, but I haven't had much to post since I've been rehabbing my knee (recall the ski accident on 12/31/04 -- what a way to end the year!) It feels much better, although I can't do squats or kneel yet (which means limited LB weights and yoga). My weight/pants-o-meter have remained the same this month, so at least I'm not gaining anymore -- God forbid! I plan to start increasing the exercising next month, meaning tomorrow, so I hope to have more to report.

BTW, another germ magnet/incubator is public transportation -- I always wash my hands after getting off of the train.

Hope everyone else's day is going great. Mox

Welcome back Mox! I know you'll have a great month of February...

Another germ magnet, the kids told me they saw on TV, are the escalator banisters and movie theater seats.... ewwwwwy...

Hello all. I'm back from 2 weeks on the east coast. Leave it to the Alaska gal to spend time in place that was snowier than we've been all winter. I got to "experience" 3! different snow storms! I was not pleased, let me tell you. But otherwise, it was a good visit with family. Fun to see the little great-niece and nephews, one of whom is only a year old so I hadn't met him before. I did manage to get some workouts in, and came back .5 lbs lighter!

Being at my SIL's gym made me really appreciate mine. They live in the mid-coast region of Maine (just south of Camden), which is pretty economically depressed, and slightly rural (read not on the "beaten track"). Anyway, this gym obviously bought the lowest rung of equipment, just one step above home stuff. The treadmills were too short, too narrow. The elliptical was too narrow - if you didn't use the moving arm handles they whapped your arms. The machines lacked some of the nice "padding" that those in my gym, and the free weights were all very sad looking - chipped and well, just worn. But, it was there, and cheap ($7) so I was able to work out.

Happy to be back though, even though my desk is a little overwhelming - I'm ignoring it for a few minutes!

Hi LWL,

WaterRat, glad you are back ! just yesterday I wondered where you were and if you were back yet from your holidays.

hi Mox, hope your knee is healing well.

I am as per this week really getting myself back into the groove. Inspired by the nutrition advice here about the carb coma and the need for protein, I have dug out my old nutrition books again. They are by Adelle Davis, I don't know if anyone ever heard of her but she really wrote the nitty gritty down, only the books are like 30 years old. But assuming that the human body did not chaghe in all that time, and that facts stays facts, I added soy grits to my usual fare of brewersyeast in orange juice and....at 60% weight protein these soy grits DO seem to do the job of keeping my blood sugar in control!!!
So now up to my next step: psychologically weaning myself of the chocolates and dried cranberries that are my favorite snacks. I'm trying today to substitute sugar free chewing gum & see how this works out.

Cardio is done & gone for today: 15 mins rowing (still building up carefully because of the tenniselbow), 38 mins jogging and 38 mins bike.

Have a good day everyone,
rabbit

Hi All-
I've been out with a stomach virus, yuck! I did not go to the gym during this time and I feel it. Now DD is down with a bad cold and cough. I'm going to the gym tonight no matter what!

Rabbit or anyone else- any other great ideas on increasing protein for someone who doesn't eat meat or eggs? That has been my focus since after Christmas. I add brewers yeast to my peanut butter on toast. I have been eating more cottage cheese and yogurt, but I'm not too crazy about dairy. Being a veg head it's hard for me to find good sources of protein without loads of carbs. I have found a good soy protien powder, even with additions it tastes yucky!! I have really tried to eat throughout the day to keep blood sugar in check but sometimes it is REALLY hard to!

Germs at the gym.....you can't escape them...

Hello and Happy Day Water Rat, Ilene, Mox, Artmaker, Mel and everyone else

Hey all,

Last night I went to the gym and did chest and triceps and tried to do the elliptical but my legs felt like lead. I had no energy left so I just left the gym. I felt kind of bad but I think I'm tired and stressed out.

dzbzsz - when I was asking about protein powders a while back, someone (I think mel) mentioned the protein factory (proteinfactory.com) where you can customize your protein powders and it is pretty cool. It is good to mix them into some kind of smoothie in the morning or mix in your yogurt/cottage cheese. Beans/lentils are of course a decent source of protein, so is cheese. I actually recently discovered a new yogurt, hood carb countdown yogurt 80 calories/12g protein per container and I really like its creamy taste and texture. I love (love love love) meat so I don't have many non meat suggestions.

Hi else,

For vegetable protein i mainly go for brewers yeast (about 50% weight is protein) and soyflour/ soygrits (about 60% weight is protein).

The brewers yeast you have to experiment to find one that tasts a bit OK. Some really do taste bad, but this is dependant on the brand. Also, you should add both calcium (e.g calcium lactate or calcium gluconate) and magnesium (magnesium oxide) to the yeast or eat sufficient calcium/magnesium pills with it.
The soy grits I use are made of fat free soy flour and basically taste like nothing. Which is good because then you do not taste them in orange juice, especially because the brewers yeast has a strong taste.

Dairy (milk or yoghurt) also has a lot of protein, and if you eat beans together with milk that also is good protein ( the beans alone do not have complete protein but the milk complements this so together they give good protein. You have to eat them in one meal though).

I hope this helps,
rabbit

Nellie, just wanted to tell you how much I respect you. Gosh, I haven't had an elliptical to use for a very long time and I was thinking cardio, is cardio, is cardio ... until I got on an elliptical last Saturday, my gosh that darned thing kicked my butt. I've gone back to the Gym several times just to build up my endurance on that stupid machine. You were the first person I thought of when I walked out of there with my butt dragging on the floor. I had no idea that I was not pushing myself nearly enough working out at home boy am I having my eyes opened up.

I was supposed to have my first meeting with a personal trainer this morning. My husband pulled the blanket over his head when the alarm went off this morning at 4:30 am. I beelined it to the gym to find out that her grandmother had passed away and she had to make an emergency trip to Europe. Oh well, I just decided to tackle that stupid elliptical again and then practice on the equipment that I had demoed for me on Saturday. I plan on going home this evening and do an UBWO with my home equipment so I get some actual lifting in and I’ll just have my first workout on Saturday. I’m scheduled with a different trainer hopefully he won’t have a family emergency.

TTFN,

Morning all. Had a good UBWO last night. I had to sort of recreate it since my "little book" is missing. I did write down what I did so I have a new starting point, and I think some of the weights are heavier, but reading one thread here, I think perhaps this is a good thing. In any case, I am a good type of sore this morning. Also did 1/2 hour on the elliptical. And Evangeline, you do have to work up to spending more time on this beast. It still kicks my butt. My DH was commenting on how he didn't think it gave you a good workout - so I challenged him to try it! I've heard no more about it since. I find it really helps to have your favorite uptempo music. I also challenge myself to keep the rpms above a certain level for x amt of time. I'm dripping when I finish. . .

DH was musing about his body fat composition since he has gone back to the gym and I happened to notice the gym had someone conducting the tests, so I gave it to him as a present. It turns out he has about 2.5% body fat to lose and his BMI is 25.1 and only realistically has 10 pounds to lose. Which was actually my opinion, but I was sort of agast at his numbers and knowing what he eats. Anyway, I may head in next to see my numbers.

MEL - laughing about the Nordic Track saga.

ILENE - What a guy - a great humanitarian. If I hear one more person tell me it is ok for them to work out through an illness, I may puke on them. The whole point of gym ettiquette is to keep it to yourself, followed by the grunters and groaners who also share.

I am working late tonight and hoping I get out at a decent hour so I can hit the gym tomorrow, I find that few sick people are at the gym at 5:30 am.