Weekly Workout Thread 26th Feb till 4th March

[orangevixen]

hi everyone

congrats to those of you who have had successes this week, and for those who are just sticking to it

i think i''ll join the wed weigh-in next week for the first time.

i''ve had a crazy day at work. but diet-wise day #3 is going well. i had a fiber cake again for breakfast, a tall nonfat sbucks latte, a subway turkey sandwich for lunch, snap peas, an activia light yogurt for a snack, and of course plenty of water. dinner will be homemade lowfat black bean chili that i made a few weeks ago and froze. i''ll have a piece of multi-grain toast on the side instead of my usual cornbread. i''m such a carb-freak. i really need to find a way to incorporate more protein into my diet...

after dinner it''s off to the gym for a workout. i think i''ll do the elliptical tonight instead of the treadmill for a change. other than that, it''s been great to read the exchange between mara and coda regarding running v. walking

i am a runner, but i say whatever works....

have a great night tonight everyone!

 

[Rod]

Congratulations on surviving your first workout in 10 days DeeJay. You''ll likely be surprised how well your body will adjust to being exercised again and sometimes one makes really great gains after taking some time off!! You''ll definitely have to let us know how you feel tomorrow.

Kimberly, I might have already congratulated you on your weight loss, but in case I didn''t, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Yay on doing a good workout Lorelei!! Sounds like you''ve mended enough to tart working out again!!

So, day three without a Tart Cherry Scone from Panera. When I went there to meet Charlie for lunch, there was just one left and I know it was secretly saying......"Buy Me" "Buy Me," but I did not permit it to bring me under it''s seductive spell. No, I passed it by and had low fat vegetable soup and 1/2 a turkey sandwich on whole grain. Still that scone was still there waiting for me to take it when we left, and I know it was so disappointed to have to be left, but left it was..........Buahahahahah!

I worked till after 6 tonight, but then I made it to the gym and did a nice long workout as usual. Nothing particularly exciting to report on the workout front. I keep expanding the machines and weights. I must admit that I spend a lot of time working my upper body (arms and chest) because I want to have nice arms and pecs for the first time in my life. It is kind of fun to see my image in the mirror and think "wow.........I don''t look half bad!" Then of course I ended the workout with my usual intense 35 minutes on the elliptical. There was this poor out of shape lady (really overweight) on the elliptical next to me. She was having such a difficult time (moving SO SLOWLY) that the elliptical kept displaying ''Pause'' on the monitor. You could see her frustration, but she was just in such bad shape that she couldn''t get it moving any faster. I did feel bad for her (but I do give her credit for at least trying). She stayed on the ellitptical for about 4 minutes before just giving up. Plus I noticed she kept watching my monitor and at 12 miles/hour minimum, it might have made her feel a bit out of it.

Then I came home and had a nice salad, some cheese and crackers, 3 pieces of Lindt 70% pure dark chocolate and a Fuji apple (yummmm). Tomorrow, it''s day three of our usual 3 days on at the gym.

I hope everyone had a nice Wednesday and is looking forward to an even better Thursday!!

 

[KimberlyH]

Thanks, Rod. As much as the scale can be our enemy, it can also be our friend. It has truly provided me with results, as has my body (2" loss in the hips, what a great reward that is!!!). I think the most fun is hearing DH call me skinny. Actually, I think the best part is, as strange as this may sound, the stretch marks from being overweight. I''m sure most people would frown at them, I did for quite some time, until I recongnized them for what thwey are, a badge of courage, of sorts, for my body from where it was 5 years ago to where it is now. Quiate an amazing feat. I''ll have to post comparison pictures sometime, just for everyone''s amusement. Plus, if we ever have kids stretch marks will be a non-issue as I''ve already earned my stripes, literally!

 

[Rod]

Good for you Kimberly. I was on the obsessively weigh myself every 3 minutes on the devil scale and drove myself absolutely crazy. I have finally gotten to the point that I''m comfortable with the fact that I eat healthy (almost all the time, with occassional scone lapses) work out intensely 5 times a week and my clothes are fitting just fine. So I now only weigh myself once a week and usually on Friday morning after 3 consecutive gym days. For the last several weeks my weight has been just fine and I''m not really trying to lose weight anymore anyway. I''m really trying to build muscle, which as we all know can actually weigh much more than fat. I read that if you do weigh yourself, you should weigh yourself the same time each day and it''s best to do it after you''ve gone to the bathroom. Just don''t let the scale rule your life, like it did mine. It''s an evil evil tool and can cause much angst..........Agggghhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[mia15]

Thank you so much, Mara, KimberlyH, and Rod for your warm welcome!

KimberlyH, I need all the motivation I can get. I think what I need to do is set tangible goals. Right now, I''m trying to aim for something realistic since my schedule is pretty tight.

Rod, I''ve signed up for an assessment at least with a trainer. I''m lazy yoga person so it''ll be interesting to see how that goes. I hate cardio so much and that''s got to change. I may need the peer pressure of some kind of class to get started.

Dinner tonight was steamed fish and vegetables cooked in parchment paper. I knew I''d be beat so I threw the ingredients in this morning and put it in the fridge. Salmon, olive oil and garlic, white wine for poaching liquid, and carrots and broccoli that I put lemon juice over.

Also updating the iPod playlist for gym tomorrow!

 

[Mara]

haha orangevixen, everyone does it their way, that's what makes it fun! kudos for sticking with it girl...keep it up!!! you know you can do it. and honestly if you ever feel weak, drop me an email or just call me...and i'll set you back on track with a little tough love. hehe. just keep thinking about fitting into smaller jeans and all the fun we'll have shopping this spring!

rod...congrats on passing up the cherry scone but don't be too diligent, gotta splurge sometimes yanno!!!

yay DJ for a workout, that must have felt really good...!! just take it easy but keep at it...baby steps. and yay for getting back on the healthy food wagon, i bet it feels good to have DH home. let me know how you guys like the no pudge, i want to get the raspberry ones next, i love love love chocolate and raspberry mixed together.

kimberly i know what you mean about being called skinny, it's kinda thrilling. also i have stretch marks too, on my breasts and hips...and i got them from puberty!! i guess i blossomed too quickly...in HS i was pretty skinny but curvy, so yeah i also have my stripes, they have been with me for years!

hit up the gym tonite...oh my god i was so flagging today...this afternoon...i should have eaten more but i have been wanting to not give into snacking urges so i am waiting til i feel hungry really. plus honestly the cold really kills wanting to snack which is kind of a positive since i had wanted to cut back on snacking anyway because i was feeling like my body wasn't really *needing* the snacks but i wanted them anyway. maybe it was those starving fat cells trying to trick me!! so i had some grapes and then i was sooo tired...but i went for a walk with a coworker and we got a coffee, i got a short nonfat sugar free cinnamon dolce latte, which works as a pick me up in a pinch, and it only has like 50 cals or something due to being short, nonfat and with sugar free syrup. so that was my other snack. then i felt a bit more perky so i went to the gym...and i was planning to do 350 cals but i ended up doing 450! whee. afterwards i felt really good.

dinner tonite was TJ's rosemary chicken and wild rice. don't know if i've raved enough about this product here but we love it. it comes in a pre-pack, it's fresh...and it serves 2. it has 2 pieces of rosemary chicken and a big bed of mushroom long grain wild rice. all you do is perforate the film and stick it in the microwave for 5 minutes and whala! it steams everything and it's SOO yummy. i really love it. and each serving is only 310 cals. the fat is 15g i think mostly because some of the chicken has skin on it (which i peel off)...but i can eat a fair amount of fat in my diet so i don't mind it. but it's very filling, has protein and healthy carbs, fiber, etc. it's a great dinner and very tasty...we eat it with fresh salads, which tonite was a caesar salad, with parm, multigrain croutons, romaine and a mix of light caesar and balsamic dressing with fresh cracked black pepper. yum. dessert is going to be some slow churned mocha almond fudge ice cream...whee. at the end of the day i'll only be at about 1425 cals..so a little low esp for a workout day, but i just wasn't motivated to eat more this afternoon.

interesting blurb...from another article i read today at the gym hehee. it said that habitual exercisers are more apt to automatically adjust their intake after an indulgence...what i took from it was that exercisers have the mentality of being educated on what we are eating/consuming so that we can mentally adjust after we have a splurge. i thought that was interesting and i though it was true...when i splurge i definitely compensate for it the next day or next 2 days etc.

also i read something else that was talking about fooling your body into losing weight, hehe. and it was talking about cravings and eating the right types of foods etc. basically just the same stuff we all know. but there was something else that said along the same lines of what kimberly and i were talking about earlier, aka giving up one thing to get another. the article was like want dessert at the restaurant? forgo the bread basket and appetizer and get a healthy entree and then split the dessert. so kind of how you 'spend' your calories or intake for the day. i always love when i read things that think the way i think, hehee.

anyhow...off for some crap TV watching, hope everyone had a wonderful day!!! tomorrow is thursday!

 

[Rod]

Date: 2/28/2007 11:12:09 PM
Author: Mara
haha orangevixen, everyone does it their way, that''s what makes it fun! kudos for sticking with it girl...keep it up!!! you know you can do it. and honestly if you ever feel weak, drop me an email or just call me...and i''ll set you back on track with a little tough love. hehe. just keep thinking about fitting into smaller jeans and all the fun we''ll have shopping this spring!

rod...congrats on passing up the cherry scone but don''t be too diligent, gotta splurge sometimes yanno!!!

yay DJ for a workout, that must have felt really good...!! just take it easy but keep at it...baby steps. and yay for getting back on the healthy food wagon, i bet it feels good to have DH home. let me know how you guys like the no pudge, i want to get the raspberry ones next, i love love love chocolate and raspberry mixed together.

kimberly i know what you mean about being called skinny, it''s kinda thrilling. also i have stretch marks too, on my breasts and hips...and i got them from puberty!! i guess i blossomed too quickly...in HS i was pretty skinny but curvy, so yeah i also have my stripes, they have been with me for years!

hit up the gym tonite...oh my god i was so flagging today...this afternoon...i should have eaten more but i have been wanting to not give into snacking urges so i am waiting til i feel hungry really. plus honestly the cold really kills wanting to snack which is kind of a positive since i had wanted to cut back on snacking anyway because i was feeling like my body wasn''t really *needing* the snacks but i wanted them anyway. maybe it was those starving fat cells trying to trick me!! so i had some grapes and then i was sooo tired...but i went for a walk with a coworker and we got a coffee, i got a short nonfat sugar free cinnamon dolce latte, which works as a pick me up in a pinch, and it only has like 50 cals or something due to being short, nonfat and with sugar free syrup. so that was my other snack. then i felt a bit more perky so i went to the gym...and i was planning to do 350 cals but i ended up doing 450! whee. afterwards i felt really good.

dinner tonite was TJ''s rosemary chicken and wild rice. don''t know if i''ve raved enough about this product here but we love it. it comes in a pre-pack, it''s fresh...and it serves 2. it has 2 pieces of rosemary chicken and a big bed of mushroom long grain wild rice. all you do is perforate the film and stick it in the microwave for 5 minutes and whala! it steams everything and it''s SOO yummy. i really love it. and each serving is only 310 cals. the fat is 15g i think mostly because some of the chicken has skin on it (which i peel off)...but i can eat a fair amount of fat in my diet so i don''t mind it. but it''s very filling, has protein and healthy carbs, fiber, etc. it''s a great dinner and very tasty...we eat it with fresh salads, which tonite was a caesar salad, with parm, multigrain croutons, romaine and a mix of light caesar and balsamic dressing with fresh cracked black pepper. yum. dessert is going to be some slow churned mocha almond fudge ice cream...whee. at the end of the day i''ll only be at about 1425 cals..so a little low esp for a workout day, but i just wasn''t motivated to eat more this afternoon.

interesting blurb...from another article i read today at the gym hehee. it said that habitual exercisers are more apt to automatically adjust their intake after an indulgence...what i took from it was that exercisers have the mentality of being educated on what we are eating/consuming so that we can mentally adjust after we have a splurge. i thought that was interesting and i though it was true...when i splurge i definitely compensate for it the next day or next 2 days etc.

also i read something else that was talking about fooling your body into losing weight, hehe. and it was talking about cravings and eating the right types of foods etc. basically just the same stuff we all know. but there was something else that said along the same lines of what kimberly and i were talking about earlier, aka giving up one thing to get another. the article was like want dessert at the restaurant? forgo the bread basket and appetizer and get a healthy entree and then split the dessert. so kind of how you ''spend'' your calories or intake for the day. i always love when i read things that think the way i think, hehee.

anyhow...off for some crap TV watching, hope everyone had a wonderful day!!! tomorrow is thursday!

So true Mara. I''m like constanty bargaining with myself. "If I have this, then I need to work out harder, or not have something else to get something I want." I joke about the scones and have cut them out lately, but I was being pretty dilligent on not eating other things as compensation. Still, I think the article is right on for those of us who are super dilligent about exercising.

 

[Maria D]

Coda, thanks for the article links; very interesting. I totally agree with you that gym machines overestimate calories burned -- and so do the experts I''ve asked both online and in person. For one thing, even the ones that ask for your age and weight don''t ask you for your maximum heart rate. The standard formulas for mhr work for only 40-50% of the population. Mine is higher than the formulas say so when I''m working out in my aerobic zone, the machines must think I''m ready to have a heart attack and are showing outrageous calorie burn -- I wish! With my own heart rate monitor, I can input my actual maximum heart rate and get a better estimate of kcals burned. Unfortunately though, that better estimate is lower. Mara, didn''t I read that you stopped using your hrm because you didn''t like that the calories burned number was lower than what your gym machine was giving or was that someone else? (or some other forum maybe -- I know I''ve read a few sparkpeople posts where people complained about it)

But, I don''t think it really matters what the actual calorie burn is because it is just an estimate. It would be an exact science if you could do it in a lab and have your VO2 measured but you can''t. So while it may be fun (for some people, not me!) to do all that counting, the important thing is to make sure you are working hard enough for at least 30 mins so that you can get aerobic benefit. That''s easy enough to do with a heart rate monitor and knowledge of your actual MHR which you can find by testing or estimating with submax tests. Finding something you like to do is key. I can''t stand the elliptical or the stationary bike but can tolerate treadmills and the treadclimber. If it were not for group fitness classes it would be a chore for me to exercise instead of something I really look forward to. My iPod does get me through the workouts I have to do on a machine and it''s a good thing because like you, I can''t read on the machine. Although the new machines at my gym each have their own individual flat panel screen so if something good is on I switch my earphones from the iPod to the TV!

New research even shows that it doesn''t matter if you burn more calories than you consume from exercise or all from dieting, you will still lose just as much weight. Fewer Calories or More Exercise: the Effect on Body Composition is Identical Of course, it''s a lot harder (imo) to cut back drastically on calories than to eat right and get some exercise. And of course, exercise is beneficial for other important reasons.

 

[Mara]

Maria...I agree that many times gym machines do overstate. But what I found when using my HRM is that the HRM was matching what the gym machines mostly spot on...however the times that it didn't match...it was off by about 30-50 calories...however I started noticing that in the 5 minutes after my workout finished, I contined to burn at a very accelerated rate according to the HRM as my heart rate level stayed elevated, so within 5 minutes after my finishing my workout my HRM cals burned # would match what the machines had said when I got off. So basically I could take what the machines were saying OR stop my HRM 5 minutes after my workout when my HR went back to 'resting'. I tested this a few times with the HRM and various machines and it was pretty spot on consistent each time. And if it was different it was like 10 cals or a small discrepancy. Then after a while I stopped wearing my HRM because started being less consistent the last few weeks (even while out walking and stuff) and also because I didn't really like the constriction of it on my chest. But I felt pretty confident that for the most part I was getting a decently accurate reading from the machines based on my experiments with the HRM and the machines. I also have been doing my workouts long enough to know for the most part what I *should be* burning working out at the rate I do and for as long as I am. So if a machine ever suddenly started showing me an extra 100 cals or something for the same workout and intensity level I did the day before, I'd scratch my head for sure and take a much lower number for tracking.

I do agree that these are not entirely accurate numbers (just like I never really have figured out what my BMR is since there are like 12 ways to calculate it hehee)...but the HRM is the most accurate way in my opinion to get the best estimate. I also totally agree that the right mix of exercise and food intake is the best way to lower one's weight..I know I definitely burn more calories now when resting due to how much more muscle I am carrying and I never could have done that without all the workouts!

 

[TravelingGal]

no workout for me tonight since I still can''t sit or stand without pain from throwing my back out. I''ll try for it tomorrow.

I couldn''t make dinner so TGuy bought me a teriyaki bowl for dinner. I felt like I could use the love.

Gotta make it to TJ''s tomorrow...it''s getting sparse in the fridge!

 

[Lorelei]

Deco - I am saying don''t be skeered either as I am not posting my stats, no way no how! Just share what you want, no hard and fast rules here!

 

[nejarb]

don''t all women have stretchmarks? at least on their hips? i''ve got them on my boobs too mara, i went from a small b to a d cup literally over 1 summer in highschool!

thanks mara and kim for the advice. i think the thing i need to do it plan my meals, if not by the week like mara, at least the night before. b/c i find that i just count throughout the day as i go along, and then i think "oh, this is only 150 cal so i can have that as a snack, and that brings me up to 900 or whatever, but it''s okay, i''ll just have a light dinner"...but i don''t even know what dinner is yet, or i do know, but then more calories are added, like last night--i made these super yum CL bean tacos that are one of the lower cal things i make, and when i told my fi, he was like "yes! those are so good, but they''d be even better w/ some guacamole!" so of course i made that too. but actually i did something that made it sooo good, and a little lower in cals. i mixed it w/ fage 2%, tomatoes, onion, and lemon juice, then for my spoonful, i added more fage to fill it out a bit more. it was so good! anyhow, i need to plan it all out. another thing i need to do is get my fi to eat more during the day. sometimes he just has a granola bar or a bowl of cereal at his desk for lunch, and he weighs 175ish and he''s 6 feet tall, so he needs alot of food at dinner. like last night, these 150 cal tacos, even 4 of them, aren''t enough. so it''s guacamole too, and then later, what''s for dessert? well, i''m all alone today b/c he left this morning to go to DC for a meeting, so i can have my 500 cal dinner tonight! although i''ll probably end up going out to dinner w/ girlfriends and drinking margaritas or something terrible like that. okay, i just realized how pathetic i am.

 

[LucyL]

Well... I have been working out pretty consistently but I get so caught up reading these threads that I forget to post.
So.. I am in this great hotel this week and they have some awesome workout equipment- for a hotel. I have been using the elliptical and I am really enjoying it. I usually put it on a resistance of 5 and go at a pretty fast rate for about an hour. Every time I do the exact same thing for the same amount of time but I seem to always get a different calorie readout. Hopefully I''ll be getting the Polar Heart rate monitor Mara suggested this week. Maybe it will give me a more accurate and consistent reading.

I think my downfall is that it''s hard to watch what I eat when on the road. I try to watch my serving size and pick healthy choices. I''m usually stuck with either pasta or salad unless I get to go to chinese, indian or thai. Unfortunately my co-workers aren''t always hip on eating other than italian ethinic most of the time. Do you guys think it is better to eat a slightly "larger" meal or to eat smaller snacks throughout the day? I would like to lose about 10 pounds or so but my main focus is to tone and be fit and healthy. I know to really loose the weight I will need to ramp up my workouts and do like 5-7 a week instead of just 3.

Thanks for all the inspiring posts. I love all the great ideas and it''s definitely a work in progress to get healthy and fit.

 

[Dee*Jay]

My first workout of the week seems to have been a success! I forgot to take my Aleve last night though and I woke up from the strangest dream where I kept having a really severe chest pain and when I would call the doctor he would say well where IS the pain and I would say it''s hard to explain I''ll have to show you. And he would say, OK, come right over, and as soon as I would get to the doctor''s office the pain would go away and I couldn''t show him where the pain was. Talk about an overactive dream imagination, ha ha!

Today I had grits for breakfast and progresso soup is on the docket for lunch. Pudding and a banana are handy for snacks, and we''ll probably have left over fish with the tomato/caper/olive ragu for dinner. So really, unless I do something stupid, this should be a pretty good cal day for me.

I won''t work out tonight but I plan on walking up Michigan on a little shopping mission. I need to exchange a coat at Nordstorms and I want to get one of those Apex bras that everyone is raving about at Victoria''s Secret. The woman who sat directly across from me in the board meeting yesterday was just so "perky" that I looked down at the girls and made the decision right then and their to go to VS, LOL.

 

[KimberlyH]

Way to go Lucy!

I do think many women have stretch marks (and men too!) but not all. Just like those few, lucky women who don''t have cellulite! The stretch marks that are on my breasts probably came from having a DD chest at age 12. I have quite a few on my abdomen, upper thighs and even under my arms. They aren''t obvious to anyone but me, but they came about due to sudden weight gain and for a long time, after I initially lost a lot of weigh, they made me feel as though I destroyed my body. I was mortified. 5 years later I can look at them and realize they are not at all obvious and just proof of what I''ve done, as opposed to an embarrassing thing. Not an easy transition.

Yesterday was a low-cal day for me, I finished out at 1250. My body is sore today and I didn''t even exercise. Probably because I spent the day chasing after kindergarteners in heels. Note to self: buy flat shoes. Anyways, today is a workout day for me, I''m not sure if I''m looking forward to it because I''m sore!

EL, tangible goals are important. Saying "I''m going to turn into Ms. Fitness U.S.A." on your first week is a bit daunting. Saying "I''m going to exercise 4 times/burn 1500 calories exercising this week/whatever and cut out soda/potato chips/eating afterwhatever," is sensible and attainable. It''s no fun if your goals seem like mountains to climb, at least not for me.

Lorelei: I''m so glad you were able to work out! How are you feeling today?

TG: I''m so sorry you''re hurting! How frustrating, I''m sure!

Happy Thursday Morning All!

 

[Lorelei]

Thanks Kim, I had a great workout last night, and felt good this morning, but my back has stiffened up a bit now. I went to daintily set myself up for my workout last night, Hubby laughs at my routine of pressing the knobs on the TV and DVD player and I smelled a funny smell....Nostrils twitching, I saw the TV had fritzed, so I had to do my workout without any TV or Music as Hubby was out bowling

and couldn't help me. Goodness, was that hard, but I guess I am lucky the TV didn't blow up! So I am sans entertainment now, but maybe we can get a new telly this weekend!

Rod, that poor lady...I hope she doesn't give up altogether, bless her.

 

[KimberlyH]

Lorelei, I can''t imagine exercising without the TV to watch, I''m so impressed! I get too antsy.

 

[Lorelei]

Trust me Kim, it wasn''t easy without my TV

Music doesn''t work for me, I need my cheesy shows to make the time go. I think Hubby will get a new one this weekend as he has bought some seventies Bruce Lee movies for while he does his cardio, so he won''t want to waste them, hehehe....

 

[Mara]

miss nejarb you are NOT pathetic...you just are learning as you go along. seriously it took me a while to kind of GET IT and GET WITH IT after thinking about ti for many months then making SOME changes but not enough etc. it takes a real committment in my opinion just to say you are going to do it and stick with it. and not waver. trust me..i have turned down MANY lunches with coworkers or dinners with friends when it just couldn''t work into my plan when i was really trying to lose weight. also for greg i was like hey this is the plan. if you want to get burritos or bad stuff for you, do it at work. and come home ready to eat healthy. and he has been really good about that, also on the weekends we splurge so its not like we were never bad and we kept those splurge days even when i was losing because i just couldn''t do it without them. but i do think from what you have said you could benefit from some food tracking and also pre-budgeting your days. honestly i find it so much easier to do it sunday night then modify as i go along...like yest afternoon bfeore coming home i looked at my spreadsheet and said okay so i have 460 cals for dinner and 200 for dessert. so that means 660 total. so basically if i came home and totally derailed off my plan to have ''chicken and rice'', i could eat something like 4 bowls of cereal and as long as it totaled 660 i''d be okay, lol. so it''s not AS strict as it seems i guess. but you just have to have a # in mind, that ''spend'' i was talking about. my coworker has been doing this with me for the last month or so..and she was skinny to begin with but kind of had some bad eating habits here and there (she has a toddler so sometimes she just eats whatever she makes him)...and she lost like 5 lbs this month! she is totally jazzed but she was already tiny...now she just eats better and spaces out her meals and is more ''aware'' of what she eats vs just eating it.

but yeah you gotta WANT it. and unless you want it, you won''t make the rest of the changes. speaking from experience here. hehee. but don''t beat yourself up if you don''t want it badly enough yet. one day it will just click.

lucy, re the bigger vs smaller meals, everything i have read says smaller is better because it keeps your body''s metabolism humming along at a more steady pace, rather than feeding the body a big meal, it works to digest it...then is dormant for an hour or two while you get to the next big meal, then it works some more, then sleeps a bit....so the rise and fall is supposedly not really conducive to continuously burning calories while you are not eating. they say snacking throughout the day and eating smaller meals keeps it working all the time therefore burning more cals. also you don''t want to not eat ENOUGH food because your body might think it''s starving or in famine mode and slow down your metabolism to compensate for hibernation, which is not what we want! but i would imagine if you are not a huge snacker, you could do a normal breakfast then have a small lunch and 2 snacks between then and dinner and you''d be fine. i cut out my snack between breakfast and lunch because it is only like 3 hours and i was finding it wasn''t cutting out the snacks in the afternoon so now i just eat if i am hungry.

yay for lorelei on working out with no TV and DJ for not feeling the pain this morning hehe. kimberly, good luck at school and with the workout, once you have it over with you will feel really good. i felt so positive after going through my workout last nite even though i knew i was tired. and tonite my body can rest!! TG sorry you feel bad...better today i hope? why do we all keep injuring ourselves? hehe.

i feel better this morning with the cold, i think it''s finally starting to give up. i could always use more sleep but at least it''s almost the weekend where i CAN rest up...breakfast this morning was TJ''s frozen steel cut oatmeal with some sugar free maple syrup, and 2 of the smallest pieces of toast ever from the multigrain loaf with smart balance, and coffee.

oh and really funny Rod but i just noticed up in your post on the top of this page you meant to write ''start'' but you wrote ''tart'' instead...LOL! tarts on the brain?!?!! that''s too cute, gave me a little morning smile.

anyway hope everyone has a wonderful thursday with lots of great eating and workouts or resting...or whatever you have planned!

 

[ellaila]

Date: 2/27/2007 11:04:25 PM
Author: Rod

Hey emeraldlover

. It''s for that reason that if you can afford to hire a trainer, you should hire a trainer. 16 months ago I was fat, a smoker, weighed around 240 lbs., had over a 40inch waist, had no aerobic stamina, had body fat over 33% and couldn''t lift a weight if it didn''t weigh anything. So we joined the gym. And we were totally intimidated by the gym and we didn''t know what all those ''machines and pulley things'' did either. So we realized we needed help, and we hired one of the ''uber'' trainers and we told him we were completely intimidated and low and behold he helped us. He showed us how to use the machines the right way. He showed us how to mix it up. And honestly, he treated us to the best hour (which we gladly paid for) we had each week as he started something that is the most remarkable transformation that has ever happened in my life. Now, 16 months later, I''m in the best shape of my life. My weight is in the 170''s (low to mid somedays). My waist is 32/33. My aerobic abiility is amazing. I can run 8 miles. My body fat is in the 15% range. And did I say I look good? I look better at 52 than I did at 40. With help and guidance you can too. So, don''t be intimidated. If you can spend the money, get a trainer and let them help you put a plan in place that will help you achieve the goals you want.

OK.......Commercial Over! As the Nike Ad Says.........Just Do It!!

Hee hee

Rod, I gotta admit, I am just dying to see some before and after photos! I am MEGA impressed by you!

 

[orangevixen]

Happy Thursday everyone

I am having hardcore sugar withdrawls! This is tough! I brought some oranges, an apple, and some grapes with me so that should help. Also, they filled the goodies/candy here at work so I have to avoid the kitchen.

I have an onsite casual lunch meeting with clients and we''re ordering pizza and salad. I brought a heavier LC today (lasagna with chicken breast) and even though it''s more calories, hopefully it will stuff me and make it easier to avoid grabbing a piece of pizza. I''ll sit and pick at my salad while everyone else enjoys the cheesy goodness. AH! Size 8 jeans...it''ll all be worth it, right? I guess this is the first real test...wish me luck!!!

 

[Mara]

ov depending on what kind of pizza they order it may not be THAT bad for you. aka if you can only have one slice of something like a veggie pizza, there''s typically less cheese on those. aka papa john''s veggie thin crust pizza is something like 210 cals for one slice. so it may actually be better than the LC if you give into the craving IF you can only have one piece AND if the pizza isn''t like ''meat supreme'' or whatever, hehee. sometimes when they get pizza here at work if it''s veggie and light on cheese i have a piece. but otherwise nope!

oh and re: fruits, grapes are one of the high natural sugar fruits so they should help your sugar cravings big time!! i think that''s why i like them so much too.

i''m going to lunch with my coworker/friend to le boulanger...i get 1/2 turkey sandwich w/avocado, tomato, sprouts and dijon and 1/2 mixed greens salad with bleu cheese and cranberries...i''m bringing my own dressing, hehee....but i still will estimate on the high side at about 600 cals for lunch, because the bread on the sandwich is pretty fat so i am sure it''s a fair amount of cals.

perk...even though i am bloated to all heck with TTOTM...my paige jeans that were a little snug around the waist last month now still fit me perfectly, LOVE these things. whee. i seriously want to fill my closet with paige jeans.

 

[mrssalvo]

Hi everyone, so glad everybody is keeping on track for the week and the weekend is almost here..

it's raining here today off and on and Zoe just hates the rain with a passion. for a dog who love's water, rain is not her friend and she won't even go outside to go potty unless I go with her

. so, needless to say no walk for us yet today. i'm hoping the weather will clear out later and we can go then.

last night we had the pfchang's for hubby b-day. it was sooo good and I was sooo bad, but prepared in my food intake earlier in the day. I did however decide to make the choc. pumpkin muffins for dessert. ok, i know you all say they are great but they didn't smell very good when I was making them or even after they were baked. my girls love to like the spoons and they handed them back to me on this mixture. anyway, I was worried hubby might not like them so I went ahead and made a batch of brownies just in case. we were all so full from dinner we didn't touch the brownies but today there was 2/3's of the pan left. my kids ate some of them. i found myself going and taking off small bite size pieces so I just decided better to go to waste than to my waist and pitched what was left a little more than half the pan. so, healthy fruits and veggie's and a light dinner for us tonight and we should be back on track.

hope everyone has a great day...

 

[coda72]

Well, I hope to get a real workout in tonight after painting nonstop for two nights straight after work. I ordered my ipod, so I hope that will help me stay on the treadmill longer. I''m so glad it''s almost Friday! Have a great day, everyone!

 

[lovelylulu]

i seriously want to fill my closet with paige jeans.

sadly, i''ve grown too wee for my beloved jeans

it''s only sad because i honestly can''t afford to re-wardrobe myself right now...i already had to go out and get two new suits

for work, because it is NOT professionaly to have seriously sagging clothing at the work place -- so play clothing is going to have to wait. boo. though, I''m pleased as punch to be littler and fitter.

i ordered one suit in an 8 and one in a 6, thinking i''m sort of in-between right now. in a good surprise, my size 6 (crazy) suit fit like a glove. a mighty fine looking, i-can-achieve-whatever kind of glove. the other one will be exchanged.

my husband is coming home tonight from a work trip, so that will be lovely. i''m planning on a nice, casual welcome home dinner post-gym.

 

[Mara]

go coda on the workout tonite, and congrats lulu on outgrowing clothes, that is the best feeling...buying new clothes is even more fun. but yeah definitely wait til you are done losing weight or almost done to ensure you don't end up with another wardrobe you can't wear! mrs salvo, so funny that you didn't love the chocolate pumpkin muffins!! i think they are better after they cool off but i licked the spoon after i made mine and i loved how it tasted hehee. different strokes i guess? did you guys try them today?

so i had lunch with my coworker at le boulanger. i had the salad with no walnuts and took my own dressing and then got my turkey sandwich on 9 grain instead of the yummy dutch crunch roll that probably packed another 1/2 calories in it...overall yummy, ate only 1/2 the avocado on the sandwich, but i still calculated the whole lunch at about 600. i also picked up these interesting coffee latte candies to snack on, 4 little candies is 60 cals so i figure if i want something tasty but not to spend a ton of cals, i can try these. my girlfriend and i spent like 30 minutes at the drugstore going through the candy and cookie aisles looking for SOMETHING we could assauge a sweet tooth with, yet without overeating or ending up with some tiny cookie for 100 cals. so she got these hersheys dipped cookies in a 4 pack and i got these coffee candies. i noticed that a lot more companies are making tiny single serving portions or packaging cookies 2 or 4 to a bag instead of a huge bag only. but still so many of them are such high cal. HOWEVER i did almost take home a small box of 'oreo chocolate dipped' cookies, 12 cookies at 90 cals each was really not bad...for what they were, but i thought, gosh can i only have one cookie? NOPE. so the box didn't come home with me. hehee.

dinner i think i am going to make us bean, cheese and salsa burritos on the 90 cal tortillas i got from la tortilla factory (love these things!)...they are burrito sized ones for 90 cals and like 13g of fiber. i'm going to use jalapeno refried beans for 120 cals per serving, a reduced fat 4 cheese mexican blend for 90 cals, salsa is 10 cals and low fat sour cream is 10 cals. YUM. and serve them with a light colelsaw. dessert will most likely be a pudding cup or ice cream (Though it's been hard not to double dip into the ice cream container, hehee)...

hope everyone is having a fabulous day, it's almost friday!!

 

[Rod]

Date: 3/1/2007 11:42:18 AM
Author: ellaila

Date: 2/27/2007 11:04:25 PM
Author: Rod

Hey emeraldlover

. It's for that reason that if you can afford to hire a trainer, you should hire a trainer. 16 months ago I was fat, a smoker, weighed around 240 lbs., had over a 40inch waist, had no aerobic stamina, had body fat over 33% and couldn't lift a weight if it didn't weigh anything. So we joined the gym. And we were totally intimidated by the gym and we didn't know what all those 'machines and pulley things' did either. So we realized we needed help, and we hired one of the 'uber' trainers and we told him we were completely intimidated and low and behold he helped us. He showed us how to use the machines the right way. He showed us how to mix it up. And honestly, he treated us to the best hour (which we gladly paid for) we had each week as he started something that is the most remarkable transformation that has ever happened in my life. Now, 16 months later, I'm in the best shape of my life. My weight is in the 170's (low to mid somedays). My waist is 32/33. My aerobic abiility is amazing. I can run 8 miles. My body fat is in the 15% range. And did I say I look good? I look better at 52 than I did at 40. With help and guidance you can too. So, don't be intimidated. If you can spend the money, get a trainer and let them help you put a plan in place that will help you achieve the goals you want.

OK.......Commercial Over! As the Nike Ad Says.........Just Do It!!

Hee hee

Rod, I gotta admit, I am just dying to see some before and after photos! I am MEGA impressed by you!

Oh Thank You Thank You. Actually, some time ago (like over 4 months ago) I posted a mini poster my gym created about the progress I had made up to that point. They call them Success Stories and it was super flattering to have mine on the wall at the gym. They also posted them in the restroom stalls, so imagine my embarassment when I had to use the restroom, went in a stall and sat down (I'm sure you're all enjoying the mental image right now, right?) and there I was facing a picture of me posted on the bathroom door. I'm not sure I still have soft copy of that mini poster, but sometime, I will post a current pic of myself and one of the pics of the "fat out of shape old Rod!"

And Mara..........I see the tart instead of start you laughed about!! Must have had cherry scones on my brain at the time. LOL

There was a celebration in our office today as our Director of Finance was promoted to Comptroller (a pretty big deal here) and his wife made a cake to celebrate. I was super good and didn't have any. And I know Mara, I need to permit splurges once in a while and if it had been chocolate, I probably would have allowed the indulgence, but since it was some kind of banana nut (not my favorite), it was actually pretty easy to pass it up.

It's 4:30 as I type this, and I'm looking forward to tonights gym session. I usually push the absolute hardest on the 3rd day of our 3 consecutive days at the gym. The reason I do is because I know I get Friday off and if I'm going to be sore, it's a good for me to be sore on a day off so I heal for our Saturday and Sunday workouts. So, I'll work out pretty intensely tonight knowing tomorrows a day of rest.

I'll check in later this evening. Hope your Thursday is going well.

Rod

 

[KimberlyH]

So working out wasn''t something something I was jumping for joy about today, but of course I did it anyways and managed to burn 500 calories. I started off by saying to myself "300 calories is good enough" until I got there and then I was like "400 calories is good enough" and then I was like "nah, lets just do the whole 500."

John is making braised pork and veggies for dinner tonight, sounds yummy!

 

[basil]

Haven''t posted in a few days cause I''ve been pretty boring. I''ve been keeping up with 50 minutes of cardio daily and strength training 3 times weekly. Sparkpeople says that bike riding at the speed I''m going burns about 500 calories in 50 minutes, but I suspect that''s a little high. Calories (aside from the weekend) have been pretty stable, but I went over by about 100 yesterday because I was so hungry before bed.

Weight has been about the same, but I''ve lost 3/4 of an inch off my waist. Which is the last place I needed to lose it! I have a tiny waist and mama hips. Why wouldn''t I lose from my hips?!

But my scale is reading consistently about 1.5-2% less body fat for the same weight than about a month ago, so hopefully I''m converting some fat to muscle.

Today was waffles with sugar-free syrup for breakfast; some sort of chicken wrap things for lunch that didn''t have cheese or a lot of dressing, so I think they weren''t too bad; fiber cereal for a snack; and some new TJs dumpling-ish things that I didn''t think were as good as the chicken shu mai standby. I''ll have some blackberries and maybe something else later on.

 

[Rod]

Good for you Kimberly on burning more calories. I kow what it''s like to think you don''t have the energy to do a workout but somehow you find the strength and do even more than you planned. So Kudos!!

Coda, I hope your iPod provides as much comfort (and motivation) as mine does. I don''t know if I could do such intense sessions on the ellitpical for so long so many times a week without my music. I don''t even really like the music on my iPod. But I chose it all based on the "beat" so I keep my tempo up to travel at least 12 miles/hour for 35 non-stop minutes at a pretty tough level. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your iPod.

Since last writing, I finally left work, but not till after 6 tonight. I do like my new job a lot and I don''t have a psycho b()@# boss like Mara, but I do have a position that is very stressful. Managing a national recruiting organizaton means my success depends on motivating a team of ''prima donna'' recruiters to be successful. And of course we have clients who expect so much and it''s just sometimes pretty stressful, but I have great bosses and they seem to really appreciate my contribution.

Anyway, I didn''t make it in the gym till after 6:30 and since as I wrote earlier, I work out harder on Thursday nights, I didn''t get out of the gym till much later than usual (after 9:30). I did my full workout, nothing unusual to report there. I was pretty tired when it was over, so I''m sure I''ll feel it tomorrow. But tommorow is a day of rest. Yay!!

I hope you all have a great Friday and start to the weekend!!

Lorelei.....sorry about the TV and your back tightening up a bit again. Make sure you do your core strengthening exercises to shore things up in your lower back, OK??!!

emeraldlover, good for you signing up with a trainer for an assessment. A good trainer can really really help you. I''ll be looking forward to hearing how it goes.

TG., so sorry to hear about your back. I know I sound like a broken record on this subject, but CORE CORE CORE. I highly recommend a book by Mark Verstegen called Core Performance Essentials. Beleive me, I used to see a chiropractor up to 3 times a week and there have been times I was unable to walk, sit, lay down or sleep. Since working so much on my core, I''ve been back pain free for months and haven''t needed a chiropractor in a long time. Yippee!!