LWL #276 Oct 9 - 15
 

Good morning LWL :sunny:

Late start here- where's Fru? I can't remember when I last started the weekly thread.

How is everybody doing? What is everybody doing? How about checking in and letting us know what your nutrition/exercise program looks like? I know we are all doing something different these days.

I'm doing a 4 day lifting split (legs, chest, shoulders, back) and throw in some arms and abs every couple of days. I do cardio 4-5 days a week. Food is 5 meals per day with ratios targeted at 48%P/30%C/22%F...or as close as possible. Calories tend to be from 1100-1500 depending on the day. At least that's the plan. I always get the exercise part right, but the food has been off lately :?: I really want to buckle down and lean out some. I've done it before, I can do it again. I just need to lock the peanut butter away! Ds and dh will have to keep their snacks somewhere else and make their own lunches :lol:

This week is kind of a mix up for me. I have no clients today so I'll do some extra cardio, but tomorrow I'm booked solid :p

Have a good one :strong:

Mel

:wave: I'm here! I think I just forgot to start the thread this morning! I was catching up with reading the last one and answering about my little blue glovies (which I forgot AGAIN at lunch and am now sporting nice blisters on my hands! :rolleyes: )

Anywho! I survived a weekend with the 'rents. They have both bought their wedding outfits now - we spent about 10 hours shopping on Friday :rolleyes: but we got them something they are both happy with. I also managed to buy some half-price Nike workout stuff :devil: and another sports bra - in PURPLE!!! I've got the wedding flowers sorted out now, 7 stem roses, 3 buttonholes and 4 corsages came to a grand total of £90 :faint: anyway, they'll look good and I'm glad I got it sorted out!

I ran a 10K race on Sunday, I managed 1 hour and 11 minutes which I'm happy with, since I jogged all the way round and only slowed for an acid reflux moment!

This morning I've had my gym program done by a trainer! :D It's :devil: EVIL but I love it! :lol:

So the gym program is as follows:

kneeling lat pulldown on the pulleys 4x10
assisted tricep dips 3x12
assisted pull ups 4x10
overhead tricep extension on the pulleys 3x12
barbell upright row 4x10
tricep press-ups 3x12
lateral raises (db) 3x10
reverse cable flyes 3x10
side to side jumping squats with one leg at a time on bosu ball (if that makes sense...) 3x20
low to high cable pull with twist 3x10

then the next day:
high to low cable chest press 4x10
narrow grip lat pulldown 3x12
dumbbell chest fly on ball 4x10
bicep cable curls 3x12
press ups with feet on ball 4x10
hammer curls 3x12
leg press :rolleyes: 3x10
single hamstring curls (explosive) on stability ball 3x5
squats 3x10

Oh and this morning, trying this out, I squatted 50kg - that's 110lbs! :D :dancer:

So that's my lunchtime workouts, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

Monday night is 1 hour kickboxing, Tuesday night - 1 hour, hopefully 2 hours kickboxing, Wednesday night either rest or a gym session and a class, Thursday night 2 hours kickboxing, Friday night either rest or gym, Sunday is my long run day, which this coming Sunday will be the Amsterdam half marathon! :faint:

Food is 5-6 meals a day aiming for 1200kcals on days when I can count and be restrictive, somedays it goes up to 1400kcals, then at weekends I try to eat sensibly and eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full, and a couple of treats sometimes slip in sideways. This seems to be losing me about a pound a week at the moment. :D As for ratios, I think I just aim for as much protein as possible and as few starchy carbs as possible.

So that's me :D

Like I said, tonight is teaching the kiddie winks and I just have to figure out my taper for Sunday. I'm leaving for Amsterdam on Friday afternoon and before then I'll have to buy myself some new running socks since I've lost a pair... :dunno:

Tonight is w/t, and I'm really looking forward to it. I missed my last scheduled one, so I am ready. DH is going to pull out the heavier wts from the storeroom tonight and set me up. I've been using 3 and 5# dbs, but these have finally got easier. So I'm ready to graduate to the next level.

I eat between 4-6 meals depending on day's activities. Cals stay between 13-1500, with a 15-20%F/55-60%C/25-30%P ratio. My running days I eat higher Carbs for better runs. Stay away from processed foods, white grains, and sodas. Drink either water or 1% milk.

Hi all!

I started taking dopadil for my knee issue and it made me feel so sick for the first couple days! I didn't exercise on Friday but I figured it was a good rest day anyway. Then on Saturday, DF and I went into DC and we walked... and walked... and walked. It was basically 5 hours of walking. Yesterday, we went to Sugarloaf Mountain and hiked that. It was a beautiful day.

I am starting physical therapy in a couple weeks (earliest new client appt) so that should be interesting. I can't believe my wedding is in less than 6 weeks. I actually had to print off a couple more invitations last night for a couple people DF forgot that he wanted to invite. I packed a gym bag for tonight just in case but I hate Mondays at the gym. It is always so crowded because of the people who took the weekend off at the gym have to make up some time.

Frus, for US standards, your flowers were cheap. Mine were about the same price but I didn't get roses. I don't care for roses though but I'm getting a bouquet of various flowers in fall colors (red, orange, yellow, cream).

I'm not even getting a bouquet - that's why they were cheap, but I'm still shocked that it came close to £100 for a few piddly roses by themselves!!! :lol:

You don't even get a bouquet!! Yeah they do milk you for weddings :)

I really can't be bothered with flowers, it's taken me AGES to get round to ordering them too!

Gooood Morrrnnninnngggg Everyone! Man, I feel so good today. :goodvibes I had a really pathetic workout today so I can't contribute it to that. It must be that the sun is shining outside today. (we don't get enough of the clear blue sky days here)

I took last week off from the gym to rest that leg a little bit. You would have thought I took a month off instead. Those weights felt like they weighed twice than they normally do. :dizzy:
Does that count as lifting double the weight than what is marked on the dumbbell? It should... Anyway. Instead of three sets of 12, I took the hint and only did one set and called it done! I'll try again on Wednesday.

As far as workouts, I'm only doing three days a week and upper body only. Cardio is consisting of only 20 minutes of cycling until I get the green light to do something more.

Mel, I am also focusing more on the food this week than usual. I hopped on the scale this morning and found a three pound gain from last week. :fr:
So, it's back to FitDay for me. I am going to hover between 1200 and 1400 cal/day this week. Lower end for the first four days and then higher end for Sat. I am also planning a 40protien/40carb/20fat ratio. Dinner for tonight is already done so the rest of the small meals will be planned around the beef barley soup. Mmmm.:chef:

Ohhhh. I am so excited for you 2Fru and Nelie. I remember the flower purchases as well. Next to the reception meal, it was one of the most expensive parts of the wedding. And to top it off, we couldn't get my favorite flowers, blue hydrangias, because she didn't want to compete with the "Mother's Day crowd" That should have been my first clue to walk out. Anyway, we did have roses and they were beautiful.

Just remember, even with all of the planning, there will be something that will happen you won't expect. Good, bad, it just will. In our case, I was late to the church...(Bridemaids couldn't get their hair dried in time) I made it just in time to walk down the aisle but no prewedding photos. My DF was so freaked. He thought I wasn't going to show up. My grandmother, teased him a little that maybe I changed my mind. (She should know better) He looked at her and with a straight face said "Ellie, after all of this I'm marrying someone today. And if your granddaughter doesn't make it here in the next ten minutes, it might just be you!) That shut her up pretty quick! :lol3:

Have a great week everyone!

I really liked picking out my flowers and since I don't care for roses, I did have a lot of options. I can't actually remember the name of the main flowers I picked out but I love them. DF was sweet and a couple days after picking out the flowers, he brought me a bouquet home of the flowers I picked out for my bridal bouquet. My flowers total for the corsages, men's flowers (I can't spell what they call them), my bouquet and for the chapel cost around $220. I thought that was a lot :)

I have to go apply for the marriage license one of these days but I keep forgetting. Also, I need to make a CD for the wedding music which I keep forgetting about as well. I was actually thinking of doing no music but I guess we need music.

What a nice mix of weight and wedding talk. :rofl: I got married on 2 weeks notice, had only 12 people! I got silk flower bouquets for me and my matron of honor, none for the guys!

My "program" looks like this for next 3 weeks. Two days of full body workouts and shorter cardio (M/F this week) and three days of HIIT or longer cardio (T/TH/S) leaving W and Sun for rest days. For HIIT I'm using the Cto5K workouts on the elliptical. I downloaded podcasts so I have music, and best of all cueing for the running sections. I'm on the 3rd workout of Week 2. They're pretty good, and the time passes really quickly.

My eating is so-so. I'm doing well in choosing about 95% whole foods, but frankly I only track my calories 1-2 times a week, and it's 1350-1500. I'm not tracking my percentages, though I aim for protein at every meal. I need to work on portions as much as anything.

My weight is going down oh so slowly (13 lbs since April) but my pants are fitting better! :) I have a 4 day conf (W-Sat) out of town next week, and am going to Houston, TX for a week starting Halloween, so keeping exercise up will be the priority there, but careful eating will be a close second.

Warm (60's) and windy (gusts to 75 mph) here today, with intermittent downpours. Lovely - NOT!

:wave: to you all. Happy lifting. :strong:

Wow a lot of great routines here…:carrot:

I took the idea of my routine from the book “Winning by Losing” I lift on Mon/Tues/Thur/Sat. My workout consists of 2 exercise and then 1 minute of cardio like this: (12 rep bench press/12 rep lateral raise/1 minute jumping jacks. I do 3 sets of this then I move on to the next group. I have 4 different groups of exercises. So I end up doing 8 strength training exercise and 4 cardio exercises. I do this continuously only stopping for an occasional sip of water. I wear a heart rate monitor and keep my heart rate between 140 and 165. I do this over my lunch hour at work it takes 40 minutes.

I do cardio 45 to 60 minutes of cardio 4 to 5 days a week. I do this part of my exercising after work either outside or at the workout facility at my job that has a cardio machines. I am in the process of purchasing a spinning bike for my home so I can complete the cardio portion at home.

The diet, I am good ¾ of the day breakfast, snack, lunch, and snack are no problem, then there’s dinner. He won’t eat hardly anything good. He actually wanted me to make cheese tortellini and cream sauce for dinner the other day. :o I explain that I don’t workout for 90 minutes a day to eat a dinner like that, but he doesn’t get it.:?: I can pass on the ice cream and the chips and dips and snack cakes that are all around the house, but I only want to make 1 dinner per night. Is that so wrong? Does anyone else cook separate meals for themselves and their families? It also doesn’t help that he works at Hardees the worst fast food restaurant ever created.:devil:

Any suggestions for dinner are appreciated.

Hi LWL,

On quite another note from the wedding discussions, i'm happy to report that I did survive a 3hour+ meeting with XH and the lawyers and .... drumroll please.... we actually got quite far in the divorce settlement!!!!! In fact, all is settled apart form the visiting rights, and we decided to let the judge decide on that. And I DO get to buy the house at my price, and I DO get a decent settlement, and XH commits him self to paying for the childeren untill they are 21 years old, and we got agreement on the pensuion stuff. I am SO GLAD that I now finally know that I am staying at my house.

DD and DS were glad to. And I totally kept my calm, due to several really hot tips from DD. if I got stressed I was to think of her two guineapigs..dressed in gradd skirts.. doing the hawaiian hula. And after that, to think of the glass of white eine i would get in the evening. AND IT HELPED!!! I did NOT freak out, I stayed calm and detached. So, if any of the LWLs are in stress situation in the near future ... think of the guineapig hawaiian hula-dabnce, it worked great for me!

Apart of being very very glad, DD had also bought me 2 chocolate truffles from her pocket money. This is so sweet. I savoured one, and shared it with here.

And I did 1 hour power class today.

Have a great day all,
Rabbit

PS. Coming from the land of the flowers (Holland is a big exporter of hot house flowers) I am shocked at the prices you mention for the flowers in the UK and US. of course, I believe I did not even have flowers! In the same vein as pat, as was married at 6 weeks notice, I was 8 months preggo at the time, and I believe only the family and close friends attendeed. But I have new roses and crysanthemouns today.

rabbit, good job on the divorce settlement. As someone who is getting married, the idea of divorce scares me and I hope I never have to go through it.

As for flowers, they rip you off if you are buying flowers for a special occassion. The same bouquet that you would buy in the store would cost you 4 times as much if you were buying it ahead of time for a wedding. It is crazy stuff. I've even heard the same thing about wedding cakes. If you go to a bakery and ask for a wedding cake, it'd be 2-3 times more than if you went to the bakery and asked for the same exact cake and didn't say it was for a wedding.

:hug: rabbit! Congratulations on the outcome and keeping your cool! Quite an accomplishment.

I got married on 5 days notice- my flowers were very inexpensive. I think I had a $5.99 bouquet from Loblaws that we picked up on the way to the ceremony :rofl: I was about to be deported by the Canadian government. The only reason that I was there was to be with (now) dh, so we solved the deportation problem by just getting married. Or so we thought. Does anyone remember the movie "Green Card"? When we arrived at Immigration and Naturalization, we were each taken into separate rooms and grilled for over an hour on each other's personal habits, how we had met, how long we knew each other (not long :o ) and was told that marrying a Canadian was not an automatic pass to staying in Canada and I could still be deported. Ooookay! I'm a US citizen with at the time highly marketable technical skills, it's not like I was being threatened with deportation to a war-torn, economic backwater.

Pat- Congrats on the 16 pound loss!

Rockergirl- I very occassionally cook 2 meals, but more often I make one main entree that is healthy (chicken, fish, lean steak, turkey chili, pork tenderloin, etc) then a separate sauce and side dishes for my guys. I load up on veggies and salad and the lean protein. Over the years, my family has learned to eat more like I do and my dh no longer wants to eat junky food either. My 16 yr old son would happily scarf down an entire pizza if allowed, but he only gets the opportunity about once a month.

Chest workout done, 1/2 hour on recombent bike and 1/2 hour on elliptical.

Mel

Dang, I wrote a really long post, then lost it! :(

Ok, here were the highlights:

My program - doing BFL now - as written, with the exception being that I do 3 free meals a week, instead of free day. And, that will eventually taper down to just one free meal. Workouts as written, but I plan to try to sneak in 1-2 extra cardio sessions a week.

Wedding flowers - the prices you gals mention are cheap - a friend at work got married last weekend, and another mutual friend, who is a floral designer, did her flower arranging as a gift. But, the bride did pay the wholesale cost of her flowers - which ended up to be $800 USD! Bouquet, centerpieces, corsages, flower girl's bouquet, and flowers for the cake - not much more than that!

My plan is tulips - my favorites, but in October they may be pricey! Rabbit, are you from Holland? I LOVE Keukenhof - I believe it's one of my favorite places in the world - have been there twice! Hey, now there would be an awesome place to get married!

I think TOM is coming - I've having all sorts of cravings and not doing very well with them. I'll just keep plugging along, doing the best I can. As long as I keep working out, that's half the battle.

DF has a bad head cold - I made a pot of chicken soup for him today. Fingers crosses that I don't get it - that's the last thing I need....
Cindy

:hug: Rabbit! You did well, and I love your DD's cues to help you stay calm. :)

Okay, I've gone feeling tired this morning, to feeling exhausted with a headache and sore throat now as it's time to leave work. I'm going home, take some advil and have lf chicken soup for dinner. Bleck pretty much describes how I feel. Don't "they" know I don't have time to be sick???

:hug: Rabbit, you're a superstar! I like the guinea pigs weeeeeeeeeeek weeeeeeeeeeeeeek! :D

As for separate dinners... Well DF is a veggie, and I'm not in when he eats, so he usually microwaves his own ready meal or does himself cheese on toast (the picture of health!), then I come home late and either do meat and veg, or just a small snack. At weekends we tend to eat out, or I will eat a veggie meal/pizza :o

Yesterday no-one turned up to open the hall for us to train in, so I biked all the way there, and all the way back in the pouring rain for NOTHING :mad: I will be having WORDS. :tantrum:

Wedding flowers - the £££ is another reason I didn't really want a HUGE bouquet or anything, I think we've managed to get the minimum!!! One stem rose per bridesmaid seems pretty frugal to me! :lol:

Hullo, I am here but mostly lurking. It's good to hear from you even as Life tumbles slightly crazily about my ears. :dizzy:

I'm going to the gymn three times a week: at present I'm doing a 'maintenance' full body programme to get me back into things after some travelling. Edited to add: HIIT rowing one day, MIIT treadmill, terminally tedious steady state cardio on the third. I'm walking two or three days a week. Other movement includes the perennial wood-chopping and log-moving.

I'm seeing the physio about my knee which isn't really my knee but is my foot and my L glutes and my L vastus medialis. Exercises from him to do three times a day. I am in optimistic mood about this.

My food is on song.

And the result is .... I am losing pounds (7 in September) and inches.

Life is pretty Busy and Large. When the choice is exercise or post here, I usually exercise! No hard feelings, I hope.

:hug: all round and see you soon, I hope.

P.S. Also edited to say 'rabbit - you are doing brilliantly. I am so impressed!'

WTG Rabbit on staying calm through a very stressful situation, I'm sure. Your dd deserves a huge hug for her stress-busting idea. Gotta remember the guinea pig doing the hula -- too cute.

Got my w/t in last night, and actually added a set to make it three now. I'm currently rereading Bfl for Women, and plan to seriously start the challenge before next week. I've used this book in the past for some small changes, but now ready to buckle down into a challenge, pulling it all together.

Cindy - I love Tulips :) I asked the florist about tulips and he basically laughed. (We had already said we didn't want to spend too much on flowers) In the fall, tulips are major money.

Yesterday, I did my cardio workout after my chiropractor appt. I've been going to the chiropractor for a couple weeks because I just feel so out of whack. My neck is stiff, my upper back gets cramps, my lower back is starting to get occassional pain and my hips feel stiff. To add to it my knees have been bothering me. When I talked to my regular doctor, he basically told me I had a lot of muscular issues and I just needed to stretch. Although I am starting physical therapy in a couple of weeks for my knee. I used to have a lot of lower back pain a few years ago which went away after visiting a chiropractor for a while. I'm hoping that the various aches and stiffness will lessen with this chiropractor.

Hi LWL,

Thanks a lot to all of you for your thoughts. I am still in a bit of a daze. Went to work today, and now i'm sitting at my PC to figure out my new financial position. And to make an appointment with my banker over financing the house!!!

About the tulips...in autumn??? Not really the time of the year I'm afraid. Now is chrysantemum time, and they are lovely as well!! I have a couple of the big "mandarin" chrysantemums in a vase at my table and they are beautifull!

Pat - I hope you're recovering well!

have a great day all,
Rabbit

Thanks, Rabbit. I'm feeling much better than last night. I was in bed asleep by 8:30 and slept straight through til 5 am when my younger cat insisted she needed to go out - in the pouring rain! Managed to get back to sleeep easily and got up at the usual 6:45. Cat came in about 7:15 drenched to the skin and amazed that we insisted on drying her with a towel! :rofl:

I'm still feeling a little like a cold coming on, but I'm fighting it. :) I have more energy than yesterday, and as of now (10 am) I'm still planning to go to the gym.

Nelie - hope you're aches and pains resolve with the chiropractor. Do you do any yoga at all? My DH swears that it helps him.

Frus - I'm :tantrum: on your behalf as well. How totally irresponsible! Read over at UK Chicks that you're off to Amsterdam for a half marathon this weekend - good luck with that! I'm amazed at how much you gals in the UK and Europe travel, though I realize the distances are not as vast as in the US. Takes me 3+ hours on a jet just to get anywhere in the states. :)

Hi all got my w/t in today at lunch it's Tuesday and that means it's lunge day so I must take a second to complain about lunges...oh how I hate lunges let me count the ways :barf: :tantrum:

2Frustrated - I would really be upset about going to train in the rain and no one being there. I hate getting soaked:( . It goes back to my days in the Army when we had to go to the "field" and somehow it would always rain and no matter how deep you dug the trench around your tent you would still end up sleeping in a puddle.:dunno:

I haven't found my weights yet so I bought a band. Not the same but I did a not bad upper body today and enjoyed it. Beats heck outta doing nothing.

Hi LWL,

Too much chores 7 financials to attend to, so I decided to skip the workout at the gym to attack my backlog of work. This afternoon DD has to train for school, we are going to see if she can run for 7 minutes. So I'll join her & see what we can work out for excercise.

SusanB - good for you to have done the UBW with the bands! I have tried them, and although I like weights better, I agree that is surely beats having nothing. Do you also do stuff with body weight alone ? For UBW that would be stuff like pushups, pullups & dips. I also find these amazingly challenging, and of course you always have the bod with you!

Have a great day all,
Rabbit

:wave:

Pat, yes indeedy it is the Amsterdam half-marathon on Sunday. I'm kinda scared and kinda excited. I feel confident that I can do it - I ran a 10K on Sunday in 1:11, which is a good time for me, and I ran it all the way, so that was good too! However I do on Sunday I am going to treat myself to shopping in Utrecht on Monday :D I really like that place, it's super-trendy, and I have DF's credit card with me :devil: :rofl:

Today is a REST DAY :D I think I need it, that new workout plan I got on Monday is totally kicking my butt and I've only done 1 session! I can't wait to try it out properly next week :D I'm debating whether to train on Thursday, rumour has it that lots of people I haven't seen for a while will be back, and Lee does know that I'm tapering!! I suppose only I can control how hard I work! :lol:

Hi all! So is this a private thread or can anyone join in? :D

I've been cruising around a variety of weight lifting message boards and you all seem like a great crew. I'm just getting back to the gym after a couple months off. I'm doing a 3 day full-body routine I found on another board and after 3 weeks, I'm already seeing some great gains. I do cardio 3/4 times per week including 1 hike (I'm so glad the weather's cooling off so I can get outdoors again!)

As for food, I'm eating clean around 1300 calories, give or take. I'm still trying to figure out the ideal amount now that I'm restarting.

Anyway, hope you don't mind me jumping in!

Hi Sarynit,

WELCOME.
It's not a private thread, so join in! Are you following a specific plan or a scedule of your own? Anyway there is great support here.

Rabbit

Hi Sarynit :wave:
:welcome3:

Please join right in! Glad you found us :)

Mel

Not private ... they even let me come here.

Thanks for the welcome everyone! Congrats to the brides-to-be! I actually got started on lifting about a year ago when I got engaged. I started on the South Beach Diet, began following the BFL workout and in the course of 6 months lost 40 pounds. I went from a size 16 to a 6. (By the way, we too had a very laid back wedding and no flowers....I'm a huge cheapskate and they just want too much $$ for that stuff!)

Once we got back from the honeymoon (2 of the greatest weeks of my life), work became hectic and I took some time away from the gym and tracking the food, etc. As a result, I gained about 10 pounds and watched all that wonderful muscle turn to jelly. :( So, I'm getting back on track. I'm eating clean, SB style, and am tracking things on Fitday (its amazing how much that helps). This is the routine I'm using now (I've seen it on a couple boards so not sure if it made its rounds here). It's a good variety and I come away each day feeling like I've had a great workout. Plus, I've lost a few pounds and have been increasing my weight so I'm doing something right. :carrot: As far as cardio, I do 2 days HIIT, 1 day SS and one day hiking:

Day 1
Full Squats
Flat Bench Press
Conventional Deadlifts
Standing Military Press
Pull Ups or Lat Pulldowns

all done for 5x6 w/ 120s rest

Day 2
Romanian Deadlifts
Walking Lunges
Flat Dumbbell Press
Seated Cable Rows
Incline Hammer Curls
Lying Triceps Extensions

all done for 2x15 w/ 30s rest

Day 3
Incline Dumbbell Press
Barbell Rows (underhand)
Dumbbell Split Squats
Reverse Lunges
Standing Dumbbell Press
Lat Pulldowns (underhand)

all done for 3x10 w/ 60s rest

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone! Sounds like a good bunch of people with some good successes. Enjoy the rest of your evening!

:wave: I've been eating carbs. I feel fat and flabby and HUNGRY! Today I had a mushroom egg white omlette for breakfast and I feel much better. :D I've also got a great turkey burger for lunch and some lovely CC to have with something! I was just increasing carbs for my running on Sunday and my body doesn't seem to like it, I think it's last weekend's slight overload too, so I'm sticking with what I know feels good, then I will carb-load on Friday/Saturday. I can't believe that what I eat has such an effect on how I feel and how much water I'm retaining! :eek: I hope it straightens out soon... Anyway there's just under 3 weeks till the big day, after the first big day :lol: So I will be able to get back on track and feel good again, rather than a big carby-bloated monster! :lol:

I enjoyed my rest day yesterday, I baked flapjacks (like granola bars but tastier) for the weekend, and I watched Girlfight! I've decided that after I've recovered from Half Marathon, I am going to put in SO much effort into my fighting/martial arts. I will live and breathe it, my weights workouts will be formulated for it, and I will start doing speedwork in my running. I have an application in for the London Marathon, which I doubt will come through, but if it does I shall have to rethink, but I will get a few months of good training in before then.

I'm hating tapering! But loving it too! I like having a rest! :lol: But I REALLY want to work out hard. :tantrum:

There must be something to these bands. My triceps and butt cheeks are nicely ache-y this morning.

Hi all :)

Welcome Sarynit. I'm a cheapskate too but I love fresh flowers. My total wedding budget is around $4k which seems unheard of around here. (Although that doesn't include the rings, we splurged a bit on those)

I've been in a funk lately. I don't know exactly why. I think I'm stressed. The wedding, my parents coming, what if I forget something critical for the wedding? DF's parents aren't getting along with their daughter (future sister in law) and they are threatening not to come. Really, they can stay home if they want but I know DF would be hurt if they did.

I've also recently switched BC pills and I think my hormones are so out of whack. I started crying for no reason and I couldn't stop. I've been having horrible cravings. The weather also turned humid again and I didn't feel like exercising.

So anyway besides all that, I'm struggling to regain control of myself. Last night I did a good workout DVD. I used to love The Firm workouts when I was young so I decided to order some of their newer DVDs and try them out. Well I was happily panting away last night as I did the first one after it arrived My arms and legs are sore this morning so I know I'll need to do a non weight cardio workout and figure out how to fit in a weight workout.

Oh, Nelie! :hug: You do sound a bit stressed. Hope things improve for you.

Welcome, Sarynit! :welcome3:

Gymn this morning. Changed my programme round a bit but still much the same (full body, cardio intervals). I'm keeping it simple as I'm just starting the physio. And my brain can't take much more stimulation. I'm sure some of you have heard me say before that I am just not a multi-tasker. :)

2F: good luck in Amsterdam! Tell us all about it when you get back. If Kylie is going with you, please give her a hug from me.

Hullo everyone else!

:yes: miss Kykaree is going too! We are all staying in a houseboat! :D I shall pass on the :hug:

Oh and a :hug: for nelie too, sounds like you need it!

Just remember, if something goes wrong on the big day, you'll probably be the only one noticing it! And the most important thing is that you and DF get married! Anything else is just the icing on the cake... If you have one! ;)

Happy Thursday everyone, and happy BFL day 25 for me!

Had a good cardio workout this morning - still doing them at home, but nervous the whole time that the baby kitten will get into the dining room and get squished in the elliptical if I don't see him. We had the same problem with last year's kitten when we first got the thing and she was already 4 months old.... So, I really need to figure out a solution to blocking him out of the room - something he can't climb now, or jump over later. Those dang cats and their curiosity!

Food was pretty good yesterday with the exception of rolls (yes, plural) with butter with dinner. I bought them for DF, then ended up eating 2.5(?) of them myself. We had the "authentic" goulash I made, inspired by the goulash I'd had at Cheesecake Factory a few weeks ago. It was quite good if I do say so myself. Let me know if you want the recipe - basically stew beef, tons of onions, tomato paste and lots of paprika. Oh, and caraway seed, which is key to the flavor.

I've finished the first chapter of the Tom Venuto BFFM book. It's all about goal setting, in order to facilitate visualization, so I'll be working on that the next day or two. What he has to say seems to make sense, so it's worth a shot.

Welcome Sarynit - where in the desert are you? And where was your wonderful honeymoon? I'm still working on where we should go.

Speaking of which, Nelie and 2frus, where are you guys going? That adds to the wedding $$ as well. I would love to do something for under $5k total myself - I hate to spend much more on one day!

Well, I should really get back to work - I'll check in later!
Cindy

Cindy - for our honeymoon, we are doing something local. We are going to Baltimore and staying on the harbor. Partly because we weren't planning on getting married this year and we had already been various places including China, Montreal and Florida. Also, I am short on vacation this year due to all our travelling. Although I had looked at various ticket prices and I was able to get cheap tickets to Florida where we could go to the keys again ($200 per person) or New York City (less than $200 per person, although we could drive if we wanted), we decided we wanted to stay local. Next year we are planning on taking a trip or 2 somewhere but no decision has been made as of yet.

Morning all. Still unseasonably warm here, and showery, but the winds of the past couple days seem to have stopped. I ended up having to go out in it and ended up looking like the wicked witch of the north! My hair was sticking straight out and totally frizzed! :lol:

Nelie - sounds like a combo of new bc pills and wedding stress. Hang in there. :hug: I love the Baltimore harbor - lots to do there.

Frus - be sure to give Kylie :hug: from me too. I hope she's doing okay. You and Helen will be great in the race. :cheer2: Oh, and look what I found in the new smilies - :boxing:

:welcome: Sarynit! Good work getting back to :strong: And catching things at 10 lbs, instead of (like me) waiting til it was more.

Silverbirch - glad to see you! I've missed your Welsh self. :) How is the boy?

This has turned out to be a week from the underworld. I had great plans for exercise, getting a ton of stuff done at work and home, and so far it just has not happened. Lots of fires to put out at work, came down with a cold which shot exercise on Monday, computer problems on Tues kept me here til nearly closing time at the gym, and on it goes.... Eating fell apart yesterday, but has been okay the rest of the time, and I'm back at it today. My exercise today will be moving furniture since the carpet cleaners are coming in the morning. I will also go for a walk at lunch! :running: