Weekly Workout Thread 19th Feb till 25th Feb

[TravelingGal]

Yeah, I remember that someone said they had done it, but my first batch was so watery that I cut down the water in the sauce, then became worried. I wonder if doing it this way works for any kind of lasagna...I would imagine that it would there would have to be quite a bit of moisture as in this recipe. Btw, I didn''t realize that one pan had 8 servings. In my mind, it was 8 servings each for TGuy and me (16 total). So I thought a 385 cal serve was miniscule. But when I reread it, I realized a 385 cal portion is HUGE! I had a pretty small serve and was stuffed, especially with a bowlful of caesar...

For dessert tonight, I had fage with extra honey and added bananas. It was so good! It almost tasted sinful...sort of. I''ll admit, chocolate cake, it ain''t.

But I LOVE carrot cake. I''ll admit Mara I thought of you today while at TJs. I had this sweets craving and I really wanted cake, bread or muffins. I thought, what drugs is this woman on? Where is she finding the lower cal stuff? Everything was so high in calories, that I opted not to buy anything. And I really really wanted carrot muffins but at 270 cal a muffin I decided I shouldn''t tempt fate. I knew I''d have all four of them in one sitting.

I''m at 1550 cal for the day...not bad.

Hope everyone had a nice night!

 

[Mara]

LOL TG I just LOVE looking at all the nutritional value stuff at the stores. I'm like a little sponge. Tonite I was at our local Nob Hill and some of their desserts have nutritional info on them...so I was checking out some pies and they had ice cream cakes etc. Some of them were not that bad, aka 310 cals for a serving. But some were like 500 of course. Anyway I just love looking at stuff like that haha. The TJ Banana Bread is honestly flat out the best banana bread I have ever had!!! And that loaf is split into 6 servings...whereas the cranberry orange loaf, same size, is split into 8 servings. So the 180 cals for the Banana Bread makes FAT slices and it's so worth it. haha. I'm not into skinny slices.

Anyway...I managed to give 1/2 the bread away at work so I have 3 slices left...I'm pawning one off on Greg tomorrow morning (along with 2 brownies) so I'll have 2 left...and if I can not eat them in the same day, bonus, lol. I also have portion control issues...for dessert tonite I had some ice cream (by the way, Mocha Almond Fudge slow churned..AWESOME...seriously tastes like the original!!) with 1/2 a brownie and some fat free whipped cream. Then I decided to try the 100 cal hostess cupcakes..hee hee..and while they are tiny, 3 is a nice size. Then I ate the rest of the brownie...LOL. But since I didn't snack as much earlier today, I am at 1500 cals for the day.

Yeah so I would imagine those carrot cake 100 cal ones are yummy...these small ones taste pretty darn close to the original Hostess ones...now if I can just not consume the whole box it'd be fab. HEE.

Oh and TG ... TJ's has a carrot zucchini bread that looked amazing today..I think 8 servings for 170cal each or similar. But banana bread still wins out!

 

[TravelingGal]

Seriously, what is with those skinny slices? If you bite into it and it crumbles and melts immediately, that''s a no! Hmph! I had to laugh when you mentioned that, because I was sitting there reading what a serving size was, then mentally divy-ing up the loaf. None passed muster, especially not at a couple hundred calories. Didn''t see the banana bread you mentioned, nor the carrot-zucchini. I will look for them later on in the week.

Meanwhile, I will be on a "No wimpy bits" campaign. NO WIMPY BITS! NO WIMPY BITS!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Don''t worry all, my pain is getting better. I think I just need a few extra days of rest. But I do PROMISE if I''m not 100% soon to seek some medical evaluation. I feel better today than I did yesterday, and I felt better yesterday than I did the day before, so hopefully this is a continuing trend!

For my Wednesday weight in I''m exactly the same as I was last week, but I was down two pounds last week so I''m not going to complain (too much!).

Of to a meeting this morning, but I had a Natural Ovens grain bagel (which is very filling) so I won''t be tempted by whatever goodies they put out for us.

 

[basil]

Don''t have to be at work until 10:45 today, so I did the disciplined thing and did my workout in the morning. 45 minutes on the bike trainer, listening to a book on tape. It feels good to have the workout of the day overwith, this way I get to come home and relax after work. Bonus is I only have to take one shower.

I went to TJs again yesterday to pick up a few things and picked up their "Fearless Flyer". I found a few things that I really want to try - "Pomegranate Cranberry Whole Grain Muffins" for 100 calories and 13g of fiber each. "Low calorie wheat bread" for 40 calories and 5g of fiber each slice. And I might pick up "Multigrain Baking mix" which is like a Bisquick to try to make some biscuits or dumplings.

I wish I could find low-cal tortillas like Mara found. I love refried beans and they''re 100 cals per 1/2 cup, which is pretty generous. I''d love to be able to make a quicky burrito for 150 calories for a snack, but I can''t seem to find any tortillas less than 130 calories each. I guess they don''t stock that brand around here. I''ll keep looking, though.

Breakfast was waffles and syrup. I don''t know what''s for lunch, since I''m at the mercy of whatever this person''s office decides to order. For dinner, I picked up these Vegetable Masala indian flavored veggie burgers at TJs and I''m going to try them out on a bun with a little mango chutney. They''re only like 120 calories, so I figure I can have two, yeay! I love Indian food and veggie burgers, so I hope these are good.

 

[KimberlyH]

Good Morning All!

Happy Week 8 of Wednesday Weigh Ins. Hope everyone is feeling good about their overall progress, not with the scale but in how they feel about the good choices we''re making.

So I''m going to take baby steps in regards to the scale, and I am commiting to weigh myself today and no more than 1 time this week. Twice a week is better than 10 times, which is pretty typical for me, so I''m going to work really hard at this.

Here''s my weigh in for this week:

Week 7 Week 8
Height: 5''5" Height: 5''5"
Weight: 133 Weight: 131.6
Bust: 32.5" Bust: 32.5"
Waist: 27.5" Waist: 27"
Lower Waist: 33" Lower Waist: 32.75"
Bicep: 12" Bicep: 11.75"
Hips: 37” Hips: 37.5”
Thigh: 21" Thigh: 21"

Overall I''ve lost 6.4 lbs, for an average of a bit less than a lb a week and a total of 4 inches (somehow I managed to gain inches around my lower waist, strange!).


I''m still averaging about 1500-1550 calories a day and burning about 1500-2000 a week through workouts. I successfully added some core work back into my routine, I managed to do sit ups twice last week (this is huge for me!). My goal for this week is to do them three times, for a total of 300. I''ve got 100 down, 200 to go.

I was suprised to see weight loss this week, especially because I don''t feel it, and usually I sense when my body feels smaller. As I''ve said before, I have not intention of making any more changes to my diet/exercise patterns, I feel quite good about how much I eat and exercise each week, and I''ll just allow my body to take me where it may. I don''t have a # in mind, the first and only goal I really set in regards to weight loss was that I wanted to weigh 135 and I achieved that in week 2.

We had meatloaf, squash and fruit salad for dinner last night. The meatloaf turned out watery and kind of gross, I''ve never had that happen before, it was strange. I''m not sure what we''re doing for dinner tonight. I''m craving burritos.

Today is a workout day.

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 2/20/2007 10:23:44 PM
Author: Rod

Date: 2/20/2007 4:26:42 PM
Author: KimberlyH
An interesting article about our water needs. I''ve never been one to drink 64 oz. a day. I''ve always thought of it in the same terms as food, eat when you''re hungry, stop when you''re full, drink when you''re thirsty stop when you aren''t. And all fluids eventually get broken back down in to H2O in our body, so they all count towards daily intake.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070220/news_lz1c20fluids.html

Wow.....Thanks for the article Kimberly. I''ve always thought we drank too much water, and I did subscribe to needing so much extra water on workout days. I like the idea of drinking water if you''re thirsty and hydrating a liitle more the day before an endurance test. And I found it interesting to see that salty snacks can be a good thing for peope who exercise regularly, particularly if one sweats a lot during a workout. Rod surely does that during his intense sessions on the elliptical!

Thanks again for this. It really makes sense. And what we should all get from something like this is we need to exercise (pun intended) common sense in our lives. We should eat healthy, but allow ourselves to indulge at times. We should work out regularly, but allow ourselves to take a break from time to time (Rod needs to work on that one). We should work hard, but take time off to recharge once in a while (Rod REALLY REALLY needs to practice that one)!!

Your friend,
Rod

Moderation, moderation, moderation...I believe it is the key to everything in this life.

I''m glad you enjoyed reading it.

DeeJay: Get thee to the MD if you don''t start feeling better soon!

 

[Mara]

oooh basil those pomegranate whole grain muffins sound good! 13g of fiber, what are they putting in those things?! i wonder that about these tortillas too, it's like this skinny soft taco size thing has 9g fiber? and it doesn't taste like i'm eating dry fiber one cereal? imagine that?! kinda interesting. and same with the hostess cupcake 100 cal things, 5g fiber? where? in the frosting?!

not like i want to look a fiber gift horse in the mouth, i love my fiber, but it's just so interesting that suddenly so many items have more fiber in them!! and low-cal too. i know from making muffins and the like that it's hard to get low-cal stuff with lots of fiber in it as things like oat and wheat tend to add cals...but i remember someone on here saying wheat and wheat bran had way less cals than oat items and still as much fiber i think, and i do see wheat items in a lot of these ingredient lists.

at the gym yesterday i was reading an article in allure i think, and it was talking about diets. it was saying that now that low-carb is out, retro is in. and it listed a bunch of retro diets that work. one was jenny craig/weight watchers, only downer was it doesn't necessarily teach you how to eat in the real world if you only eat pre-packaged stuff from them, and that portion control can still be tough. another one was calorie counting, which they were saying is making a big comeback (just look at how many 100 cal packs there are out there now) and pretty much had almost all benefits but only negative again was portion control, aka don't eat the whole box of 100 cal cookies. and then the third one i remember was the high-fiber diet...which really had no negatives to it. there were a few others i don't really recall as they weren't 'relevant' to me...but i was happy to see that the calorie counting and the high-fiber both got plusses in general.

another interesting factoid from one of those mags...something about people who tend to eat pre-packaged meals (like LC's) 2x a day tend to maintain a steadier/healthier weight due to the assisted portion control. not so sure about 2x a day, that's a little much for me, but interesting. i think i am having one for lunch today. their 140 cal and 180 cal chicken ones with veggies or potatoes actually do a good job of keeping me full, almost longer than a soup would, and for less cals.

i'll take my measurements when i go upstairs but i doubt anything changed. and i weighed myself yesterdy and it was 133 again, so i am basically just moving between 133 and 134 pretty consistently for the last 2-3 weeks, which is perfect...where i want to be. but even though i don't expect to see changes in my measurements, i don't know if i mentioned but my clothes are fitting better and better still. so it's like tiny changes are happening but not enough to register or something. jeans that were tighter 2-3 weeks ago fit perfectly now and the jeans that i bought in dec that were tight on the waist but perfect everywhere else are now perfect on the waist too, all day long. so, kinda interesting.

on a random note, does anyone find that eating more healthily can get really expensive?!?!!? it seems like i am always at the store trying out new things or replenishing some expensive low-cal item. i know part of that is me and how often i love to go to the store to see what else i can find that will fit my health bill (oh new grapes, sure...oh protein water? okay...) ...but man! it seems like i am always at one store or another finding goodies. i should just follow the Rod model where i eat a LC every night...that would cut back on my dinner-making groceries by like 90% ! hehee.

so tonite it's dinner with my family for my sister's birthday. i googled maggiano's and wouldn't you know it, no nutritional information on their stuff which apparently lots of people were bothered by, if you go by the amount of blog listings that complained about it. AND i read an article that said basically in their small pasta dishes they give you a POUND of pasta. and the large family ones? TWO POUNDS. yep. in case anyone is not familiar with pasta portions, one pound of pasta is basically a box, and it's 8 servings typically...at about 200cals each. that's JUST the pasta. so in that small spaghetti and meatballs we are talking 1600 calories just for the pasta, plain. add the sauce, spices, oils, meatballs? eeeee!!! i love their spaghetti and meatball dish too, it's one of my favorites...but even if you only ate 1/2 the small dish, it would still be well over 1000 calories for the one dish, forget bread or wine or whatever else. so i was checking out their menu online, and i think i might get the roasted mussels appetizer (we've had it before and loved it), maybe a large salad we can all share in and then take a bit of whatever pasta is ordered. it's really the pasta that can do you in at places like these it seems like. and then i'm sure we'll have birthday cake. i'm planning for a LOT of calories at dinner but it'd be nice if i didn't have to use them all.

anyway off to work, hope everyone has a great morning/afternoon!!! it's wed..yay.

 

[Rod]

Date: 2/21/2007 11:13:04 AM
Author: Mara
oooh basil those pomegranate whole grain muffins sound good! 13g of fiber, what are they putting in those things?! i wonder that about these tortillas too, it''s like this skinny soft taco size thing has 9g fiber? and it doesn''t taste like i''m eating dry fiber one cereal? imagine that?! kinda interesting. and same with the hostess cupcake 100 cal things, 5g fiber? where? in the frosting?!

not like i want to look a fiber gift horse in the mouth, i love my fiber, but it''s just so interesting that suddenly so many items have more fiber in them!! and low-cal too. i know from making muffins and the like that it''s hard to get low-cal stuff with lots of fiber in it as things like oat and wheat tend to add cals...but i remember someone on here saying wheat and wheat bran had way less cals than oat items and still as much fiber i think, and i do see wheat items in a lot of these ingredient lists.

at the gym yesterday i was reading an article in allure i think, and it was talking about diets. it was saying that now that low-carb is out, retro is in. and it listed a bunch of retro diets that work. one was jenny craig/weight watchers, only downer was it doesn''t necessarily teach you how to eat in the real world if you only eat pre-packaged stuff from them, and that portion control can still be tough. another one was calorie counting, which they were saying is making a big comeback (just look at how many 100 cal packs there are out there now) and pretty much had almost all benefits but only negative again was portion control, aka don''t eat the whole box of 100 cal cookies. and then the third one i remember was the high-fiber diet...which really had no negatives to it. there were a few others i don''t really recall as they weren''t ''relevant'' to me...but i was happy to see that the calorie counting and the high-fiber both got plusses in general.

another interesting factoid from one of those mags...something about people who tend to eat pre-packaged meals (like LC''s) 2x a day tend to maintain a steadier/healthier weight due to the assisted portion control. not so sure about 2x a day, that''s a little much for me, but interesting. i think i am having one for lunch today. their 140 cal and 180 cal chicken ones with veggies or potatoes actually do a good job of keeping me full, almost longer than a soup would, and for less cals.

i''ll take my measurements when i go upstairs but i doubt anything changed. and i weighed myself yesterdy and it was 133 again, so i am basically just moving between 133 and 134 pretty consistently for the last 2-3 weeks, which is perfect...where i want to be. but even though i don''t expect to see changes in my measurements, i don''t know if i mentioned but my clothes are fitting better and better still. so it''s like tiny changes are happening but not enough to register or something. jeans that were tighter 2-3 weeks ago fit perfectly now and the jeans that i bought in dec that were tight on the waist but perfect everywhere else are now perfect on the waist too, all day long. so, kinda interesting.

on a random note, does anyone find that eating more healthily can get really expensive?!?!!? it seems like i am always at the store trying out new things or replenishing some expensive low-cal item. i know part of that is me and how often i love to go to the store to see what else i can find that will fit my health bill (oh new grapes, sure...oh protein water? okay...) ...but man! it seems like i am always at one store or another finding goodies. i should just follow the Rod model where i eat a LC every night...that would cut back on my dinner-making groceries by like 90% ! hehee.

so tonite it''s dinner with my family for my sister''s birthday. i googled maggiano''s and wouldn''t you know it, no nutritional information on their stuff which apparently lots of people were bothered by, if you go by the amount of blog listings that complained about it. AND i read an article that said basically in their small pasta dishes they give you a POUND of pasta. and the large family ones? TWO POUNDS. yep. in case anyone is not familiar with pasta portions, one pound of pasta is basically a box, and it''s 8 servings typically...at about 200cals each. that''s JUST the pasta. so in that small spaghetti and meatballs we are talking 1600 calories just for the pasta, plain. add the sauce, spices, oils, meatballs? eeeee!!! i love their spaghetti and meatball dish too, it''s one of my favorites...but even if you only ate 1/2 the small dish, it would still be well over 1000 calories for the one dish, forget bread or wine or whatever else. so i was checking out their menu online, and i think i might get the roasted mussels appetizer (we''ve had it before and loved it), maybe a large salad we can all share in and then take a bit of whatever pasta is ordered. it''s really the pasta that can do you in at places like these it seems like. and then i''m sure we''ll have birthday cake. i''m planning for a LOT of calories at dinner but it''d be nice if i didn''t have to use them all.

anyway off to work, hope everyone has a great morning/afternoon!!! it''s wed..yay.

I DO I DO!!!! Man, do we ever spend a lot of money at the grocery store (Whole Foods, Fresh Market and just regular stores) each week since we adopted a healthy eating lifestyle. Healthy foods sure do cost more.........

 

[KimberlyH]

Our grocery bill has remained about the same, but we tend not to shop specialty stores and keep snacks very basic. We shop at a local bodega or the farmer''s market for most of our fruits and vegetables, which is a lot less expensive and more fresh. We grow avacados, so we don''t have to pay for those too often. We tyipcally decide what main dish to make for dinner, if it''s going to be a meat, based on what is on sale that day. We go to the grocery store at least 4 times a week, but don''t buy tend to buy into the special water fads, etc.

 

[TravelingGal]

Yes, buying "round the edge" of the store (where all the healthy, natural stuff is) can be very pricey, which is why I am SO happy that the Korean market opened up near us. It cuts the produce bill by 2/3, and that is most of the stuff I buy.

OK, here''s the WWI stats. This is getting weird. I have gained almost a pound, however I have lost (albiet slightly) nearly everywhere on my body. It was so strange, I measured and remeasured. Could muscle really weigh that much more than fat? I have been going to pilates/gyrotonics religiously twice a week for weeks now. I love it because it''s pretty much a full hour of strength training. Maybe that is what is doing it? I am glad I am measuring, because I would feel very discouraged by now...but instead I am feeling good because I see the numbers in inches and my clothes are feeling just the slightest bit looser.

Last week:
Weight: 142.6
Bust: 36.5
Waist: 33
Hips: 39.5
Thigh: 21.8
Arm: 10

This week
Weight: 143.3
Bust: 36.4
Waist: 32.9
Hips: 39.45
Thigh: 21.75
Arm: 10

Just for kicks, here were my stats on the second week of weigh in, when I weighed slighly LESS than 143.3. I''m definitely not mistaking the measurements by this much...

Week of Jan 10
Weight: 143.1
Bust: 36.8
Waist: 33.75
Hips: 40.3
Thigh: 22.25
Arm: 10

Has this happened to anyone else? I''ve never been so meticulous about measuring along with the weighing, so I am finding this all a bit odd and wondering if my tape isn''t off or it isn''t it my head.

Breakfast was a bit of cereal with banana. I''m thinking of doing something with baby bok choy and tofu for lunch, plus a noontime hill walk.

Enjoy the day everyone!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Well I just talked to the doctor and he said that just based on my description it sounds like pleurisy, but I''m getting an appointment to go in tomorrow to be examined (hopefully that''s the case--I''m still waiting for the scheduling desk to get back to me) and if my symptoms get any worse I''m supposed to go to the emergency room.

Pleurisy -- Does this sound right??? Geez--it sounds so extreme! Has anyone had this? What do you do to cure it? I''ve been out on the internet trying to look it up and all that did was scare me so I stopped. (Last time I looked my symptoms up on the internet I convinced myself I had diabetis, a brain tumor and MS all at the same time so I try to stay off of WebMD... )

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 2/21/2007 1:43:46 PM
Author: Dee*Jay
Well I just talked to the doctor and he said that just based on my description it sounds like pleurisy, but I'm getting an appointment to go in tomorrow to be examined (hopefully that's the case--I'm still waiting for the scheduling desk to get back to me) and if my symptoms get any worse I'm supposed to go to the emergency room.

Pleurisy -- Does this sound right??? Geez--it sounds so extreme! Has anyone had this? What do you do to cure it? I've been out on the internet trying to look it up and all that did was scare me so I stopped. (Last time I looked my symptoms up on the internet I convinced myself I had diabetis, a brain tumor and MS all at the same time so I try to stay off of WebMD... )

DJ - by chance, do you take Lipitor (or perhaps some form of statin cholesterol medication?)

I ask because my hubby had problems w/chest pain last march; he thought initially that he pulled something. Went to the doctor at 2 weeks in and then again 4 weeks in....when dr. couldn't figure out what was causing it, he said he believed it was pleuresy.

Went on for nearly four months, and then all of the sudden, stopped. After two weeks of it stopping, we figured out that he'd run out of his Lipitor meds about 2-3 days before the chest pain disappeared.

Just a thought.

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 2/21/2007 1:43:46 PM
Author: Dee*Jay
Well I just talked to the doctor and he said that just based on my description it sounds like pleurisy, but I''m getting an appointment to go in tomorrow to be examined (hopefully that''s the case--I''m still waiting for the scheduling desk to get back to me) and if my symptoms get any worse I''m supposed to go to the emergency room.

Pleurisy -- Does this sound right??? Geez--it sounds so extreme! Has anyone had this? What do you do to cure it? I''ve been out on the internet trying to look it up and all that did was scare me so I stopped. (Last time I looked my symptoms up on the internet I convinced myself I had diabetis, a brain tumor and MS all at the same time so I try to stay off of WebMD... )

DeeJay,

I''m glad you''re going to the MD to get checked out. Take good care of yourself.

 

[sumbride]

Hi all! I''ve been away for a while, but am happy to report I''ve been maintaining and haven''t gained a pound... now I need to get back to losing more!!! No more trips planned until April so i''m going to concentrate on getting back to normal routines.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Date: 2/21/2007 2:02:33 PM
Author: aljdewey

Date: 2/21/2007 1:43:46 PM

Author: Dee*Jay

Well I just talked to the doctor and he said that just based on my description it sounds like pleurisy, but I'm getting an appointment to go in tomorrow to be examined (hopefully that's the case--I'm still waiting for the scheduling desk to get back to me) and if my symptoms get any worse I'm supposed to go to the emergency room.


Pleurisy -- Does this sound right??? Geez--it sounds so extreme! Has anyone had this? What do you do to cure it? I've been out on the internet trying to look it up and all that did was scare me so I stopped. (Last time I looked my symptoms up on the internet I convinced myself I had diabetis, a brain tumor and MS all at the same time so I try to stay off of WebMD... )

DJ - by chance, do you take Lipitor (or perhaps some form of statin cholesterol medication?)


I ask because my hubby had problems w/chest pain last march; he thought initially that he pulled something. Went to the doctor at 2 weeks in and then again 4 weeks in....when dr. couldn't figure out what was causing it, he said he believed it was pleuresy.


Went on for nearly four months, and then all of the sudden, stopped. After two weeks of it stopping, we figured out that he'd run out of his Lipitor meds about 2-3 days before the chest pain disappeared.


Just a thought.

Al, the only thing I take is calcium and I get the Depo birth control injection quarterly. Thanks for asking though about the Lipitor because if that was it I would stop it immediately.

And Kimberly, hopefully the doc's office can get me in tomorrow because as much as I like him I don't place a lot of weight on a telephone diagnosis. I do have to say, as a side note, that I love my doctor. He has a great manner and whenver you leave a message at the scheduling office, if it's anything other than a 100% routine checkup or anything like that he calls you back personally and talks to you the same day. Plus, he doesn't laugh at my goofy questions (which, as you all know firsthand, can go into the realm of the genuinely stupid... )

 

[nejarb]

i woke up yesterday morning and the area behind my left shoulderblade felt like it was being stabbed with a knife when i sat up. when i tried to turn my head either direction or lift my arms up i felt the same extreme pain. this is the 3rd time since last april this has happended to me, but yesterday was the worst. so i spent the day in bed and only just this morning thought to get out the heating pad, which has helped alot and i think i can probably wash and dry my hair if i''m careful after i use it again this afternoon.

anyone ever experience this? i''m not sure if it''s muscle or nerve.

i''m just a greasy-haired mess right now, and i spent all day yesterday and all morning today watching "the real housewives of orange county" and cooking shows, b/c i couldn''t get comfortable holding a book. at least i don''t eat too much when i''m lying around like this, b/c i just don''t get that hungry unless i''m moving around. i do get bored though, so i''m glad i have these 10 cal jello cups. but after 2 or 3 they''re just not that good anymore!

 

[nejarb]

Date: 2/21/2007 1:43:46 PM
Author: Dee*Jay
Well I just talked to the doctor and he said that just based on my description it sounds like pleurisy, but I''m getting an appointment to go in tomorrow to be examined (hopefully that''s the case--I''m still waiting for the scheduling desk to get back to me) and if my symptoms get any worse I''m supposed to go to the emergency room.


Pleurisy -- Does this sound right??? Geez--it sounds so extreme! Has anyone had this? What do you do to cure it? I''ve been out on the internet trying to look it up and all that did was scare me so I stopped. (Last time I looked my symptoms up on the internet I convinced myself I had diabetis, a brain tumor and MS all at the same time so I try to stay off of WebMD... )

I don''t know about pleaurisy, but I hope that it''s easily cured and you''re better soon! haha about webMD--i got on there yesterday morning b/c my upper back behind my left shoulderblade hurt really bad, and i tried to convince my fi to stay home from work b/c i was probably having a heart attack...

 

[KimberlyH]

And Kimberly, hopefully the doc's office can get me in tomorrow because as much as I like him I don't place a lot of weight on a telephone diagnosis. I do have to say, as a side note, that I love my doctor. He has a great manner and whenver you leave a message at the scheduling office, if it's anything other than a 100% routine checkup or anything like that he calls you back personally and talks to you the same day. Plus, he doesn't laugh at my goofy questions (which, as you all know firsthand, can go into the realm of the genuinely stupid... )

He sounds like a great MD, DeeJay. I hope he gets you in ASAP. And your goofy questions are often the highlight of my day.

So it's an LC for lunch because for the first time in a while soup just wasn't appealing to me. We're going to Wahoo's for dinner to fulfill my burrito craving. I can have a carne asada burrito for 515 calories, which isn't too terrible. I'll be at about 1500 calories for the day, if I eat 1 100 cal snack this afternoon, and have chips and have a beer with dinner.

I did 100 sit ups again today -- yippee for me! -- and 500 calories burned on the elliptical. I'm 1/2 way to my 2000 calories burned this week goal.

We're going to a BBQ birthday celebration on Saturaday night and I'm really dreading the wasted calories. The wife of the b-day guy is a not-so-good cook/BBQer, she makes coleslaw with just way too much mayo (I don't eat mayo) and other very odd salads and scrimps when buying meat so she gets the fattest, worst cuts and it's just icky. When we eat with them I end up snacking on chips and such to make up for not eating the actual meal, not such a good thing. So I just spent 30 minutes trying to convince DH that it wouldn't be rude of me to bring my own meal. He didn't buy into it, can you believe that?! We comprimised and are going to bring some ribs from the best BBQ place in town, already cooked so we can just heat them up on the grill, and we'll make a fruit salad.

ETA: TG, somehow through this process my waist has grown 1.75", which isn't exactly what you're facing, but I don't think it's all that suprising. Muscle can weigh that much more than fat (I'd say something was off if you gained 10 lbs. and lost a few inches but that is not the case). Don't get discouraged!

 

[Dee*Jay]

nejarb, you should have just called me and we could have had our "heart attacks" together! Seriously, your pain sounds much worse than mine and I hope you feel better soon. And I know the internet is an amazing thing, but it can scare the hell out of you!!! Whenever I have anything and I start to look it up I always end up self-diagnosing myself into something much worse than reality, so no more WebMD for me.

Kimberly, I have an appointment for late tomorrow afternoon so hopefully I''ll have good news by dinnertime.

 

[basil]

I went to TJs today and purchased the Pomegranate Cranberry Muffins I was talking about earlier. They are basically mostly wheat bran sweetned a little and formed into a muffin, which is why they are only 100 calories and still have 13g of fiber. The ingredients are: wheat bran, water, white grape juice concentrate, pomegranate juice concentrate, whole wheat flour, cranberries, baking soda, salt. So I''m glad there''s nothing crazy weird in there.

They''re very dense, each one is like 4 inches across but only about 1 inch thick. They don''t taste as good as a snickers or french fries, but I had one for a snack and they''re decent. It took me a long time to eat (a lot of chewing) and filled me up a lot for a 100 calorie snack.

Anyway, lunch was brought in from a restaurant and was salad, penne with some sort of creamy tomato sauce, meatballs, and brownies with frosting. I had a big portion of salad minus dressing (they forgot it!), a small scoop of the penne, and begged off the meatballs telling people I didn''t prefer to eat a lot of meat. It''s annoying me a little bit (ok, a lot) that I can''t meaure exactly how many calories were in the pasta I ate. That''s the issue I always have with counting calories...my Type A side gets cross if it''s not an exact measurement. Oh well. I''m sure it will even out in the end.

 

[bee*]

Hey all,
I hope that the pain is gone nejarb! That doesnt sound pleasant at all!

My measurements for this week are cool


5th week
weight-189 lbs
Arm 13"
Bust 35.5"
Waist 31"
Thigh 24.5"
Lower Waist 37.5"
Hips 44"

This week
weight 186 lbs
Arm 13"
Bust 36.5
Waist 29"
Thigh 23.5"
Lower Waist 37"
Hips 44"

My waist is getting a lot smaller but I dont seem to be losing much on my hips! What exercises can you do to lose a bit more weight there? I always do my cross trainer and running but it doesnt seem to be coming off my problem area!

 

[Mara]

it's a grueling work day today but i took a PS mental break before i screamed my head off...hahaha. it's good to check in and see how everyone is doing.

i wouldn't worry at all about measurements changing here or there. my lower waist kind of moves between 33 and 33.25 and 33.5 depending on the day. but my jeans are fitting better than ever even though right now it's 33.25 so i'm not stressing. and yes muscle does take up more room than fat so i would not be surprised you are gaining TG. i have read that a few times online from people who are working out and eating well...they always get stressed out that they are gaining weight but doing all the right things...but just keep at it. at least you know you ARE doing the right things for your body. over time things will stabilize.

gosh so i had this egg and cheese whole wheat burrito this morning and i was starving like an hour later!! so after i got into work, i had a 0% fage with honey, a tsp of sugar and sliced bananas. so that lasted me til now, just had 1/2 a banana and am eating the TJ's reduced fat greek salad, which i LOVE...i am using TJ's balsamic 25 cal dressing though and saving the yogurt greek dressing for another salad this week. i feel so snacky because i'm having a stressful workday but i am just trying to remember we're eating out tonite and control it! lol.

kimberly i am so like you about bringing things i like to eat to places. we are having a potluck this friday at work with cake for bdays and i know people are going to bring crap...so i am going to make a big bowl of asian slaw that's healthy, something like 30 cals for a whole cup...so i figure if nothing else i can eat that for lunch, hahaa. and then i can eat a piece of cake and it won't be a big deal hehee.

DJ i really hope you feel better soon and it's nothing serious or lasting!! ugh don't you just hate being injured through some random circumstance. so frustrataing.

nejarb i have had that pain in my neck and shoulder blades, it usually goes away a day or two later, i think it's a pinched nerve...i get it sometimes when i wake up sometimes. my neck and head hurt and are stiff and i get shooting pains when i turn my neck etc...just be patient and take it easy. it'll go away.

better get back off to the daily grind...hope everyone has a great rest of the day!!

oh doh, my measurements etc:

weight: 133/134
arm: 9.75"
bust: 35'ish
waist: 27"
lower waist: 33.25"
hips: 36.5" (whee progress!)
thigh: 20"
and i measured calves: 13.5"

i saw in some shape mag they had these girls who were doing body makeovers measure their calves and i was curious about mine. i have kind of stick legs...hehe. and i am so jazzed my hips continue to shrink.

bee, you asked above how you target losing weight in one area, i think from my experience it's very hard. my body just did whatever it wanted to. it took MONTHS for my hips to start moving down though other things were changing. and now everything else is staying the same and my hips are continuing to shrink. that is like the last area of progress for me. so i figure do what you can and then stick with it and eventually all the areas you want to change will catch up to each other.

 

[TravelingGal]

OK gals, thanks for the encouragement. I''ll keep plugging along. The weight loss definitely seems more slow going this time, but I have never done so much strength training before (when I lost weight before my wedding, that was heavy cardio and calorie counting).

Just got back from a 50 minute walk/run. Will try to get in 3 sets of jumping jacks/running in place today in 5-10 minute spurts to help along the calorie burn. The baby bok choy was yum...6 oz of boy choy sauted in 1tsp of sesame oil and 1 clove garlic. Added a bit of water to steam then 1/2 tb of soy sauce and 3/4 tb of oyster sauce. Yummy.

I looked up the cal count for kimchee today (a korean thing) and while low in cal, a 1/2 cup has entire day''s worth of sodium. I knew it was high, but not that high! Wah!!!

Mara, how do you like the 0% vs. 2% fage? I remember not liking it but that was ages ago. What''s the calorie difference?

Nejarb, I have no idea what that may be, but I hope you feel better. Sound painful! We have too many of us who aren''t feeling well.

bee, great work this week! Nothing I know of "spot" reduces, so you''ll just have to keep at it. My hips are usually the last to go too. Many women have this issue...first on, last off on the hips.

Like Mara, a few years ago when I lost weight, my hips went last, but when they went, they WENT. I got down to a size 2 in them...it was kind of scary.

 

[Mara]

TG...the 0% fage has 80 cals whereas 2% has 130. so there is a diff at 50 cals per container. for me, the 2% is not significantly better...and i still end up adding a fair amount of sugar/splenda and honey to it ANYWAY, so if i am going to do that, might as well do it for the 0% and not have such a jacked up calorie count. i love the way the honey tastes drizzled onto the yogurt and not mixed in..it's sweeter bite to bite, and i can use less. so overall summary, the yogurt at 0% or 2% for me is not sweet enough to justify extra cals, so i'll probaby stick with 0% from now on. my coworker eats the 0% plain!! brave girl. hehee.

 

[Rosebud8506]

Hi Guys!

I hope all y''all with pain recover soon!!

Turtledazzle: Glad you made the shrimp linguine! I made that again for us last night for dinner, I tried to add more sauce however, and may have made it too "soupy". Hmm, maybe I need to let it sit for a few after I mix in the pasta. Broccoli would be a good idea vs. carrots too!

I wasn''t feeling very well today. Woke up wth a terrible sinus/maybe weather related headache, so the gym was not an option for me today. That''s lovely MI weather for you.... Instead, I opted to go out for lunch with my parents for seafood and had these wonderful crabcakes. They didn''t seem too "bready", so hopefully they weren''t too bad. They were a decent size too, not too big, but a nice lunch portion.

On to the good news with losing weight: I finally saw the scale move from 151 to 150!!! For a few weeks I was losing 2-3 lbs here and there, and it was consistent, and then I was stuck in this slump for about 3 weeks, so this is great news.

I hope it continues to decrease from here on out... we shall see.

 

[Mara]

my afternoon was pretty snacky but as a friend pointed out, it was all healthy stuff, haha. after my salad i had my TJ banana bread, then a fiber one bar, some grapes, a bit of not-great-watermelon, then a 1/2 fat free brownie, and a stale red vine, lol. when i got home i was feeling hungry, and we aren''t eating for another 2 hours so i had some fiber one and honey bunches of oats, THEN i had some honey bunches of oats with strawberries. lol i''m such a cereal whore. but like greg says ''there are way worse things than snacking on cereal''....hehe. so hopefully i will gorge a bit less tonite because i''m not starving waiting for dinner.

then i got inspired since i had some extra time and made some more applesauce oat bran muffins since both my coworker and i loved them last time and i''m out of muffins. i adapted the recipe a bit more since i wanted more of a spicy applesauce taste. so they are in the oven now and look SO GOOD. my recipe only makes 7 but they are 116 cals each, with about 1.5g of fat, and about 4g of fiber. i love how they go in really moist but the bran and oatmeal soaks up everything and makes them really moist and dense at the same time. here''s the recipe in case anyone wants it. i love oatmeal and applesauce...so can''t wait to eat them.

APPLESAUCE OAT BRAN MUFFINS
2/3c oat bran: 260
1/2c rolled oats/oatmeal: 150
1/2c white wheat flour: 200
4 packets sweet leaf sugar: 0
1 tsp. baking powder: 10
2 tsp. cinnamon: 25
1 tsp: nutmeg: 10
1 egg white: 20
1 teaspoon honey: 15
1 1/3c unsweetened applesauce: 125
815 cals total, 7 muffins; 116 cals, 4g fiber, 1.5g fat.

Mix dry ingredients together (minus sweet leaf sugar). Mix wet ingredients together, with sweet leaf. Fold wet into dry, do not overfold or muffins will be tough. Preheat oven to 405 and cook for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

anyhow off to dinner soon. i was tempted to go for a walk with P but i really need to rest today, it''s my rest day and i should take advantage of it. hope everyone is having a great evening!!! mmm my muffins smell so good!

 

[Skippy123]

1 hr high intensity step!!! Whoo whoo.
Oh, I went to chili''s and ate the guiltless chicken sandwich with a friend!

Kimberly; whoo whoo 100 sit ups!! I need to do that many; wow!

Mara; you are so cute with your bran muffins. I try to eat a lot of fiber; it is really feeling. I think I will try one of your recipes this weekend! Thanks

Thanks for the motivation!!!

 

[Rod]

DeeJay,

I''m glad you''re going to see the doctor. According to what I read, Pleurisy is an inflamation of the heart/lung. Viral infection is probably the most common cause of pleurisy. Other things that can cause pleurisy are lung infections. According to what I read, symptoms of Pleurisy usually involve shortness of breath. Doesn''t sound like that''s what you''ve been experiencing, does it? Anyway, I''m glad you are going to the doctor and from what I read, if you do have this, it''s quite resolvable with medication. We''ll ALL be anxious to hear what the doctor says, so please let us know the minute you get back, OK?

Sorry about your pain Nejarb. Sounds like a visit to your doctor might be in order as well.

And, I''m also sorry to hear about your sinus troubles Rosebud. I too suffer from Sinus problems, but I have found that going to the gym and working out, particularly aerobic exercise keeps my sinus problems at bay. I''ve even found that headaches completely disappear with exercise. For me, exercise has become the cure for the common blahs and pains! LOL

Tonight, Charlie had a business dinner to go to, so I went to the gym alone and I managed to put in one of Rod''s marathon 3 hour sessions. It''s funny now that we''ve been going to this gym 5 days a week for the last 3 months that we''ve come to know so many people. I wound up working in with a number of the ''uber'' boys and they made me feel not like their dad, but more like a peer. I''m not sure they have any idea I''m actually old enough to be their father. I think I hide my age quite well. And after 18 months of working out so hard, my body''s in pretty decent shape. I''m not ''uber'' nor will I likely ever beome ''uber,'' but for a guy who is 52 I look just fine, if I don''t say so myself. LOL

Then, of course I finished my workout with a really intense 45 minutes on the elliptical. It was a really good workout tonight. Very good indeed. Tomorrow, will be day three of our typical 3 days in a row at the gym.

Mara, the mini Hostess Cupcakes sound wonderful. I used to love the chocolate cupcakes, but haven''t had any in a long long long time. I''d probably eat the whole box, so I don''t think I''ll buy any. Today, was Girl Scout Cookie Delivery Day at work. All of my employee''s bought multiple boxes. There were so many open boxes of cookies, you could actually smell mint and peanut butter in the air. But, not one cookie passed these lips.

Have a great Thursday everyone!! Be healthy, happy and fit.

 

[Mara]

Oh Rod trust me...the fact that the mini cupcakes come prepackaged makes it easy not to eat the whole box, because you'd have to actually open a 2nd and 3rd and 4th little package and I think your willpower would stop that from happening. Typically I will not open a 2nd of anything...there's something just so NOT RIGHT about that. Last week when I had two fiber one bars in the same afternoon, I felt so sick later...even though it was totally probably fine to have 2 fiber one bars, hello lots of fiber and good stuff...but I was like OMG did I really need two? And remembering that kind of keeps me from doing it again. haha. Anyway I share most of my goodies with my coworker who watches her food like I do (I've totally turned her onto calorie counting so it's fun)...and so I always have a giveaway outlet for my muffins or my treats/sweets etc...she and I mostly eat the same things during the day except she typically has a parfait or LC for lunch but our snacks are similar. She was in HEAVEN when she tried the mini cupcakes today. My boss was like where did that come from and where's mine and my coworker messaged me going 'Oh there was so no way I was sharing'...hahaa. And Rod you have the self control of a superstar, no GS cookies? I don't know if I can smell the mint and PB and not succumb. LOL.

So dinner tonite was great...I really love Maggianos but we NEVER go there. First off it's always soooo crowded with a long wait, and then it's just a ton of food and if it's just me and Greg it's such a waste since we don't eat it all and you can only take so many leftovers home. But witha big group it's fun...because you can share things. I was hoping that since I wasn't really hungry I wouldn't eat too much but it's hard with a group!! Their wheat bread was AMAZING, with some type of seeds in it...I ate 2 pieces with butter..mmmm. The group got calamari and some fried cheese thing I wasn't touching with a 10 foot pole...I had a few calamari in marinara though. And a yummy salad with lettuce, bleu cheese, a vinaigrette, tomatoes, bacon and avocado...it was pretty shredded so it made it easy to keep eating it..and while the dressing was probably not that healthy, it was definitely yummy and I love a good salad. I figured better to fill up on that than pasta, so I had a few small servings of the salad over the evening. I ordered the small mussels diablo bowl (20oz of mussels in a red wine and marinara broth), which I only ate about 1/2 of though I did eat the 2 toasted bread slivers, lol. My sister got my fave spaghetti and meatball dish so I snitched a few forkfuls of spaghetti from her...which was so yummy. Then dessert, we ordered three: creme brulee, tiramisu and choco cake. I know from previous experience I absolutely LOVE their tiramisu, it's one of the best I have had and I make my own so I'm pretty picky...anyway I tried them all but the tiramisu still blows the other ones away...and the creme brulee was HORRIBLE, something was wrong with it, it was totally runny and just gross. So I ate about 1/2 the tiramisu and a bit of the chocolate cake with coffee. YUM. So overall not HEALTHY of course...but at least I didn't get the big pasta dish and eat 1/2 like my Dad did, haha. But he can take it, he works out almost daily and is always in the best shape so a bit of pasta never shows up on his physique!

Speaking of working out, that will be me tomorrow at the gym...burning off my dinner! But so far this week I have already done 900 cals and tomorrow I'll do hopefully 500-600...and be more than on track for the rest of the week. Also with my last 2 days being lighter...I had extra calories for tonite so that worked out great. My day tomorrow is planned to be lighter as well.

Hope everyone had a great night!!!