Weekly Workout Thread 18th Sept till 24th Sept

[Lorelei]

Happy new week everyone, firstly Coda I hope you are not too exhausted and that the marathon went well!

This paragraph of Mara's last WWT post was good food for thought....

definitely believe that EVERYONE can set their mind to eating better, working out etc....it's just a matter of getting fed up with what you are doing now and then going you know i am tired of this and that's it! i did it...after months of mental hemming and hawing back and forth on if i really needed to etc. but one day i was just tired of my clothes not fitting as well as they could, of looking at pictures where i was 10 lbs lighter and much more fit and thinking you know i am cheating myself by slacking off and eating chicken pot pies 3x a week. i am young and spry and i should be taking advantage of my health and doing what's right for me. doesn't mean i can't have chicken pot pie or ice cream or pizza but it's all about moderation. and if i can do it, and rod can do it, and lorelei can do it, and others on here...as well as out and about, i know we all can do it! YAY! pep talk!

It is true that nothing tastes as good as thin feels. There has to come a time when you DO get fed up with tight clothes, not feeling great, sluggish etc and you realize the only way to get out of this way of living is to treat your body properly - take care of the fuel you put into it, and exercise. Sometimes it is hard when you feel you are putting in all this work and not getting results as fast as you want, but they do come with patience and besides, what else is the alternative? Pounds can pack on quickly, caused and combined with bad eating and lack of exercise is a vicious cycle. I would far rather eat carefully and exercise than be overweight and lack energy, it is such a dreadful feeling. There is room for icecream, pies, burgers etc if you eat well and exercise, the key is occasionally!

It is a matter of setting your mind to it, the mind is the most powerful tool we possess and it can either help us or hinder us in our quest for better health. I have to fight my mind's attempts to sabotage me when I workout " I am tired and you have done enough, maybe you are overdoing it, leaving it till tomorrow won't hurt, I don't feel like it etc etc...." but I fight on and know that in a couple of minutes this feeling will pass. Same with food and / or hunger. We can eat even though we aren't hungry for so many reasons, the trick is to find out what is motivating it and act accordingly. Often it is said that what we interpret as hunger is often thirst - hence the need to persevere with the water intake. However if your diet is a healthy and well balanced one, these urges shouldn't hit too often. Keep temptation out of the house!!! It is so easy to talk yourself into scoffing all that chocolate!

So I think this WWT does do so much for those who participate!

The right attitude is the best help you can have to care for yourself properly and look great in the process. Working out now is part of my day, I don't feel as good if I haven't "moved." Along with that comes the desire to eat properly and give my body the right fuel for it's needs. My rewards are many - better health, looking good in clothes and hence more confidence, more energy and being able to carry out my daily tasks more easily. What a great return on my investment of 45 mins a day exercise and making good food decisions!

Keep up the great work everyone!

 

[coda72]

I thought I''d put this run report in this week''s thread even though I did it yesterday. I finished in 1:47:07. I had hoped to do 1:45, but I just was too tired at the end to step up the pace. I did complete it in less than two hours which was my goal in the beginning when I started training. I had taken 5 days off to rest, and I think it did me good. My legs felt great the whole entire race, no muscle aches at all. My feet began to hurt around mile 5, but I expected that. Overall, this was one of my best runs ever, and it''s good when that happens on a race day. I think in the future that I will stick to smaller races though. There were 13,000 people in this race, and it was annoying trying to dodge people.

Thanks to everyone that encouraged me and inquired about my race. Next big race, Maui Marathon 2007!

 

[hlmr]

Good Morning Everyone! Thanks for the great words of wisdom Mara and Lorelei! I have an article that I wanted to add...a lot of it is the same old stuff but it bears repeating. I hope everyone has a great day!

10 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight

There are some great links from this article as well including, The Top Five Weight Loss Lies

Edited to add: Congratulations Coda!!!!!

 

[Lorelei]

I am so glad the race went well for you Coda - you certainly deserved it to after all the work you have put it

Many congratulations to you! I thought of you yesterday and hoped it was going well

Heather thanks for the article! It is a good reminder of what we need to do to achieve our goals. In fact, one of the tips regarding mixing up the workout I have done this past weekend. Now I have started strength training, I decided that it might be best on ST days to just use the treadmill for 45 mins rather than for 30 mins then 20 mins elliptical to avoid overtaxing my legs. So I will do this with the treadmill on ST days which are Mon Wed and Friday, then 30 mins treadmill and 20 mins elliptical twice a week on Tues and Thurs.

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Date: 9/18/2006 9:01:29 AM
Author: coda72
I thought I''d put this run report in this week''s thread even though I did it yesterday. I finished in 1:47:07. I had hoped to do 1:45, but I just was too tired at the end to step up the pace. I did complete it in less than two hours which was my goal in the beginning when I started training. I had taken 5 days off to rest, and I think it did me good. My legs felt great the whole entire race, no muscle aches at all. My feet began to hurt around mile 5, but I expected that. Overall, this was one of my best runs ever, and it''s good when that happens on a race day. I think in the future that I will stick to smaller races though. There were 13,000 people in this race, and it was annoying trying to dodge people.

Thanks to everyone that encouraged me and inquired about my race. Next big race, Maui Marathon 2007!

GREAT JOB and CONGRATULATIONS!

 

[Rod]

Good Morning Everyone,

Congratulations Coda!!!! Sounds like you did fantastically well in the race. Only 2 minutes shy of your goal seems remarkable to me!!

Mara: Thanks for those words of wisdom. They absolutely ring true. I never thought I could accomplish so much with diet and exercise. This weekend at the gym a guy came up to me (one of the really big boy guys) and I'm like looking over my shoulder wondering who he's coming up to and then I realize it's me he's walking up to. And he introduces himself and says........"hey, I've been noticing that everytime I see you, you're leaner and leaner and many of us have noticed how hard you and your partner work and we think you guys are doing great!!" Now, I'm not doing all this work for anyone's affirmation, but it sure did make me feel pretty good knowing that anyone's noticed how hard we've worked and that anyone can actually see a difference!!

Thanks for the 10 reasons you're not losing weight Heather!! Good tips.

Nothing unusual to report from the weekend. We had sushi as planned Friday night. Saturday morning, our trainer pushed us to a level of fatigue we had never experienced from him. But the good part was no matter what he threw at us, we kept up. He only permitted 15 second interval's of rest between tasks. Man were we ever tired by the end of the hour.. He did teach us some new core strength training exercises, and we spent more time on abs and lower back strengthening.

If you're looking for a good movie recommendation, "The Illusionist" with Edward Norton is fantastic!! One of my weaknesses is I can't go to the movies without a big 'ol bag of popcorn, but hey I worked really hard and I deserved those calories!! I used to drink a big 'ol Coke with my bags of popcorn, but I haven't had a softdrink in over a year and am just as happy with a bottle of water.

Sunday, we did our normal 3 hour gym session. I was so energized on the elliptical. I just kept pushing the level and this time I easily surpassed all other sessions in terms of distance and calories burned. 757 calories, 5.86 miles in 45 minutes. I was pretty pleased.

Tonight we don't do the gym, but we will run 5 miles.

I hope everyone has a fanstastic and healthy week!!

 

[jcrow]

well i''m back from my disappearance from this workout thread. so much going on and lack of sleep kept me away from the gym since before the detox. shame, i know! at any rate, i went this morning and it felt good to get moving! i did 30 minutes on the tread and went most of that on a 12 incline. i also did a tiny amount of machine work on the legs. i''ve GOT to get a move on since the wedding is 2 months away!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/18/2006 9:50:39 AM
Author: jcrow
well i''m back from my disappearance from this workout thread. so much going on and lack of sleep kept me away from the gym since before the detox. shame, i know! at any rate, i went this morning and it felt good to get moving! i did 30 minutes on the tread and went most of that on a 12 incline. i also did a tiny amount of machine work on the legs. i''ve GOT to get a move on since the wedding is 2 months away!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JCrow, don''t feel bad! Sometimes life intrudes with workouts etc, but to anyone who has posted here but is lurking because they maybe haven''t had time to workout, don''t let that stop you from posting if you want. It all helps to keep the motivation up even if you can''t do much at the moment.

Great job on your workout! I am doing machine work on the legs too - the leg extensions, but I hope my legs don''t bulk up too much, they are very strong as it is and I prefer them to be lean rather than muscular. I suppose I am worrying about nowt!

 

[KimberlyH]

Happy Monday!

The walk went fairly well. I am a bit sore and stiff, which didn''t happen on the last training walk I did (16 miles) with my team, so I''m not gung ho to get on the elliptical this morning. Perhaps a good walk with hubby tonight instead. Yesterday I took it very easy.

Not much else to report. The scale is not moving for some reason. I just want to lose 3-5 lbs. but the scale won''t cooperate. I''m just going to have to keep adjusting work outs and food until I get it down.

Congrats on the marathon, Coda, sounds like you did great.

 

[ammayernyc]

Hi all.
I had a good, hard workout this morning. I did about 25 minutes of cardio before my trainer got there and then she kicked my butt.
I ate pretty well yesterday -- still drank more than I should have... I''m working on it! Nothing fruity or anything like that.

I''m planning a healthy lunch and I don''t think that we''re cooking or tasting anything ''bad'' today. I''m on my own for dinner so I''ll either order sushi or cook something healthy.

So far so good!

 

[Mara]

lorelei...so true..and heather thanks for reposting that article...!! this week is a new week and it is never a wrong time to make changes in one''s life.

another thing i wanted to add, i was talking with a friend this weekend and she said something interesting and i know i have caught myself thinking this too and it''s such a ''sabotagist'' way of thinking (if that is even a word, probably not!). but she said well you know i have a bad lunch and then i think well i was already bad so i might as well be bad for dinner too and eat what i really want!

i have thought that too in the past and it''s such a hard habit to break because ITS NOT TRUE. calories in, calories out. so if i totally blow lunch and get taco bell like i did that one time, i try to make appropriate adjustments for my caloric and fat intake for dinner so that i can still be under or around my daily intake for the day. if i have a day where i blow the whole day out of the water, i try to readjust the next day to average it out. everything is cumulative. it''s not like your body wipes the slate clean each night and says okay those nachos you had today, it''s totally like you never had them! they can still work at packing themselves on your bootie if you don''t eat appropriately the next day or work out to burn some calories or whatever. that is why when i know i am super good during the week, that i am really just mentally saving some calories for our weekends because we DO eat out a few times a weekend and typically i don''t make the smartest choices while i''m out on a friday night with hubby and friends. but i feel okay knowing that i ate well all week and i have a ''calorie reserve'' built up if you will so i don''t feel guilty having a little fun.

so anyway when she said that to me i thought you know that is such a common opinion, i have heard it from others before. and it''s a defeatist thing, i think that it discourages you from wanting to continue on and rectify the damage rather than adding to it.

okay end of the random thought of the day! the knot in my upper left back is better...i have been stretching it and putting heat on it all weekend, ugh. i am torn about working out tonite because i think i''ll be fine if i just continue to stretch it out today but i''m a little apprehensive because if it tweaks out again, i could be out for another 3 workout days, so i''m wondering if i should just take it easy today and maybe go to the gym and do a treadmill workout and leave the kickboxing til tomorrow.

yesterday we had indian food for dinner (yum, we hardly ever have it and i was feeling bad!!) and then went for a 2m walk around the neighborhood. so at least i felt good that i got out and stretched my legs AFTER gorging on butter chicken and rice, so it definitely helped digestion. greg went for a run yesterday afternoon, though i was forbidden to work out and commanded to lay on the couch and rest my knot, and he ran for 56 minutes and burned 980 calories. so jealous!! he deserved his chicken tikka masala for sure!

now he is talking about doing the half marathon that my dad is running in october...which i think would be fun for him if he could do it, in the past these endurance runs have proven hard for him but with this newfound strategy he is going further and further every time. yay!

 

[Mara]

oh and CONGRATS coda....sounds like you did wonderfully!!!!! all that hard work surely paid off!

 

[Mara]

oh and read this article miss lorelei:

Should Women Strength Train?
http://www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_experts.asp?q=54

I do light weights at home, 5 lbs during my bootcamp workouts and sometimes just while watching TV and I do think they add to me looking more toned in my upper arms area. I also do the arm machines at the gym 1-2x a week. For me I don't need extra leg strength or toning as my legs and thighs firm up very quickly, so I don't really do those (squats and lunges are a good way to get some strength training in without using machines), but for the arms I do see definite toning changes when I use the machines and the weights a bit as well. Nothing crazy but I think it helps AND it's great for your bones as you get older.

 

[Lorelei]

Thankee Mara, I will have a good look at it!

Excellent! That was very helpful Mara! That has laid my fears to rest that I will get huge chunky legs

Reading that, it seems that the ST is a great addition to my workout, for many reasons which also includes my Mother having osteoporosis. With my spine that is one disease I definitely want to avoid. Also that is very good news that women who ST tend to look toned and slimmer, that is exactly what I want!

 

[coda72]

Mara, I was just wondering is the half marathon that your husband may run in is the San Jose rock and roll half marathon? I remember you saying you live in the Bay Area, so I thought that might be the race. I thought about running this race because if I run it along with the Philly one I did yesterday, I would get a special medal. But I never signed up for it, and made travel arrangements, so I guess I will forgo it. I don''t know if my feet can take another run that long that soon anyway. They are looking and feeling pretty bad right now, so I''m going to have to take off at least a week from running.

 

[Mara]

yep coda that''s it! my dad is running it and greg mentioned last nite he was thinking he might be ready for one soon so i suggested he sign up for that one and he could run it with my dad. er well not WITH my dad since my dad runs a 6 minute mile and greg is more like 8 but in the same race..yadda yadda. anyway we''ll see if he does...but it is in downtown san jose i think which is less than a mile from our house, so we could probably walk over there.

 

[flutterby]

i just got back from the gym, did 40 minutes on the eliptical machine in hill mode. did 3.5 miles. feel pretty good about that. Dont feel good that i somehow managed to gain 2 pounds last week. The scale may be evil, but its right. I didnt really change anything last week.

We have this body makeover program at the hotel I work at. Its like 5k a week for 6 small meals a day a trainer, and gorgeous room at the beach. So i''m on my way to whole foods with the list of acceptable foods, and am going to try to eat more proteins and veggies!!!!!!!! I will have them make me two meals a day at work, and eat one right when I get to work, and will do my best to stay away from the pastry department, and the death by chocolate cookies in room service! I feel as if i have a better plan!

As loreilie said, there is a time when you are fed up with tight clothes and that time is now for me!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

hi All,

I hope i can get a good massage here? Rod told me I would

Last tueday my massuer (weekly at home for Drena and I) went in very deep and hard around my shoulder blades. (I hold stress there when nasty stuff happens; we had 2 rahter nasty interactions with GIA at the Symposium the week before).
Anyway, he worked me over very hard.
Next morning at the gym, after 30 minutes of bike and treddle thingy, and doing the last of my 6 weights - pull downs - something popped just under my shoulder blades.
So my massuer (Alah from Bagdad) had better not go so hard tonight!!!!

 

[Rod]

Date: 9/18/2006 4:48:20 PM
Author: Garry H (Cut Nut)
hi All,

I hope i can get a good massage here? Rod told me I would

Last tueday my massuer (weekly at home for Drena and I) went in very deep and hard around my shoulder blades. (I hold stress there when nasty stuff happens; we had 2 rahter nasty interactions with GIA at the Symposium the week before).
Anyway, he worked me over very hard.
Next morning at the gym, after 30 minutes of bike and treddle thingy, and doing the last of my 6 weights - pull downs - something popped just under my shoulder blades.
So my massuer (Alah from Bagdad) had better not go so hard tonight!!!!

Oh Lordy........what have I done to us on this healthful thread????????????????????

 

[lovelylulu]

congrats coda!!! sounds like you had an excellent fun

very impressive.

i did pilates three straight days and my legs and abs are feeling the burn. today i''m going to do some cardio, but i have apparently forgotten my ipod which is causing a mighty decrease in motivation. i can run at such a better pace, for a longer time, if i''ve got the right tunes. oh well. i''ll try to do some thinking...or clear my head.

sounds like everyone is doing very well. high morale!

 

[Rod]

Date: 9/18/2006 4:52:32 PM
Author: lovelylulu
congrats coda!!! sounds like you had an excellent fun

very impressive.

i did pilates three straight days and my legs and abs are feeling the burn. today i''m going to do some cardio, but i have apparently forgotten my ipod which is causing a mighty decrease in motivation. i can run at such a better pace, for a longer time, if i''ve got the right tunes. oh well. i''ll try to do some thinking...or clear my head.

sounds like everyone is doing very well. high morale!

That''s my saving grace on the elliptical or when running several miles outside. I can''t seem to keep the pace up to my expected performance levels without that beat...........

 

[Mara]

yep the tunes are CRUCIAL for me too, esp when at the gym.

i''m going to the gym today to do the same program i did on friday with the incline higher...hopefully can burn about 500 calories...to make up for some of the weekend. then tomorrow back to kbox. figure one extra day resting my upper back/the knot can''t hurt.

i had the rest of my leftover butter chicken and rice from last nite for lunch today. oink! dinner is a low-fat stir fry with rice noodles, shrimp, snow peas and mushrooms in a coconut curry sauce. yum.

 

[Rod]

Date: 9/18/2006 5:31:11 PM
Author: Mara
yep the tunes are CRUCIAL for me too, esp when at the gym.

i'm going to the gym today to do the same program i did on friday with the incline higher...hopefully can burn about 500 calories...to make up for some of the weekend. then tomorrow back to kbox. figure one extra day resting my upper back/the knot can't hurt.

i had the rest of my leftover butter chicken and rice from last nite for lunch today. oink! dinner is a low-fat stir fry with rice noodles, shrimp, snow peas and mushrooms in a coconut curry sauce. yum.

OK Mara........you can continue telling us about your fabulous workouts, but you can't continue telling us about the fabulous foods you eat.......Just kidding. I love hearing about the wonderfully inventive meals you make for you and Greg. Your dinner as always sounds wonderful and will be well deserved after the gym. While we're running, we only get a salad tonight. BUT......we did go to Lindt Chocolatier at lunch today and bought a few all dark chocolate bars with 99% dark chocolate. Can't want till after the run and salad for a piece of chocolate. Just that little reward will have me run just a little bit harder and longer!

 

[Mara]

LOL Rod!! i love dark chocolate for a little treat. we got this ''creole'' bittersweet dark choco from a shop in carmel a few months ago and it''s lasting us forever, we just eat a square each time....anyway it has little pieces of broken coffee beans and stuff in it and it''s a little spicy-ish. super yummy.

i wanted to throw this out here before i forget again. for anyone interested, i am going to do the 5 day detox thing again next week... i know we had some people who wanted to try it...so is anyone still with me or anyone else game for doing it again???? if so let me know!!

 

[Rod]

Date: 9/18/2006 5:46:44 PM
Author: Mara
LOL Rod!! i love dark chocolate for a little treat. we got this ''creole'' bittersweet dark choco from a shop in carmel a few months ago and it''s lasting us forever, we just eat a square each time....anyway it has little pieces of broken coffee beans and stuff in it and it''s a little spicy-ish. super yummy.

i wanted to throw this out here before i forget again. for anyone interested, i am going to do the 5 day detox thing again next week... i know we had some people who wanted to try it...so is anyone still with me or anyone else game for doing it again???? if so let me know!!

Yummm......that chocolate with broken coffee beans sounds wonderful!! Hope your detox thing goes well again. I''ll applaud you and anyone else who joins you, but I''ll be on the sidelines again!!

Off to go home and do my run. Everyone have a wonderful evening........

 

[monarch64]

Coda, congratulations! You are awesome!!!

Mara, I''m up for another detox next week, count me in.

I did my own little workout at home tonight, plus a 20 minute brisk walk outside. I get emails from e-diets with interesting little articles and exercise tips for different workouts, so the one I used tonight was a butt/thigh toner... the first exercise is basically a step thing where you step up either onto a step or your stairs, working one leg at a time and using mainly your stepping-up foot, leg, and glut muscles for maximum effect. I also hold a 10 lb. weight in each hand, but obviously you can use lighter ones. I need to pick up some 5-7 lb. ones for this kind of thing--10 lbs. are good for my arms but when I''m working everything else I can do more reps with lighter weights. The second exercise is just a basic squat using the weights as well, bringing them up and forward to about chest height as you squat. I do 20 reps of the first exercise on each foot, total of 3 sets, and 3 sets of 12 squats. I can totally feel it the next day in my butt and thighs...hopefully it will tighten things up behind me, lol!

 

[Mara]

yay monarch!! at least i will have one pal next week to do the detox with!! hehe.

so i hit up the gym and got on the treadmill. remember a few weeks ago when i mentioned that gal who was on the treadmill burning 700 calories and looked like she was barely sweating and the incline didn't seem that high but the bars were all the way up? well i ended up getting on THAT treadmill without realizing it and DUH...the incline does not work right AT ALL. i clued in when i went up to 7 and was only at about 115 heart rate when typically i am more like around 140 at that point. so i went up to 8 and felt like it barely moved. 10...11...13 and it was hardly up. so no wonder she was going crazy on the thing, it's broken!

so after 10 minutes on that thing and realizing it was going to drive me insane to not be able to get the workout i wanted (didn't realize it was broken til about minute 6 and was hoping i could just make it work somehow since i hate switching in the middle of a workout)...i switched to the one next to it and went for another 52 minutes and then did 5 minutes of cooldown for a total of 1:07. i upped the incline to stay at 8 for most of the workout this time once i switched to the correct machine, an improvement over my 7 from last friday...and i ended up burning a total of 540 calories and walked 4.2 miles! that is totally a record for me both in miles and calories! the broken treadmill said 75 calories and .60 miles at 10 minutes when i switched, and i figured the .60 miles is pretty right since i know that i do about a 16 minute mile at the pace i keep, but i dropped the calories down to 60 just to be conservative, since i typically do about 10 calories for ever 1/10 of a mile when the incline is flatter. so i used those #'s to add to the rest of my workout at the end, and i was very happy with the results. and my butt and legs are burning so i know that i definitely worked it out today.

yay for me.

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Hope everyone is off to a great start this week!
My jujitsu lesson was postponed today so I went to the gym for an hour.
I did alot of presses, pull downs, curls, and tricep work. At 3 pm, the huge gym is empty.
It''s great to see the senior citizens lifting weights, though.
Walked about 3 miles yesterday. The weather here in Boston has been 75-80 the last few days, but that will change in a hurry!
I feel like I''m getting in the groove now and I LIKE IT

KEEP ON TRACKin

 

[hlmr]

Date: 9/18/2006 5:46:44 PM
Author: Mara

i wanted to throw this out here before i forget again. for anyone interested, i am going to do the 5 day detox thing again next week... i know we had some people who wanted to try it...so is anyone still with me or anyone else game for doing it again???? if so let me know!!

I'll join you gals too! Would you mind reposting it? Thanks!

ETA: Oops, never mind....I found it!

 

[Mara]

awesome, so there''s three of us for sure!! i''m sure we''ll do another separate thread like we did last time so that we can have a place to dish and talk without getting the WWT all messy all week long.

dinner tonite was yummy, i can basically make the same thing next week for the detox but just with veggies (tonite we did snow peas, mushrooms and shrimp) and the rice noodles with spices. yummy. and actually this one didnt have coconut milk in it so it was super low-fat...perk!