Kicking *kitten* In Our Twenties - January Challenge!!

stuartme123

Angels, congratulations on the awesome loss so far! I understand the thinking behind ambitious goals - but I think it's good that you've adjusted your weight goals a little bit for this month. You'll do fantastic regardless! It's great that you found this topic and some of the ladies here were able to answer your questions, this site can be a little confusing at first. I also agree that planning a break meal once in a while is a better idea then an entire break day. Everything in moderation - even cheating. In any case, welcome!

Nadine, welcome as well!! You read us pretty well, this thread is remarkably supportive! I totally get the loss of motivation at night: that's something that I'm struggling with now, but at least the days are getting longer now and the sun is setting later in the day.

Meag, I feel like I say this a lot, but your attempts in the kitchen always seem so delicious to me. That blog where you found the bread recipe looks really cool - I love how the ingredients are all priced out. Good luck with all your upcoming cooking adventures!

AFM: I did make it to the gym last night - and had a nice burn on the elliptical. Then I got on two of the weight machines (arms - I tend to baby my legs because if they're sore, then I won't want to do cardio the next day). I know the importance of weight training while losing weight, but I am at quite a loss of how to go about doing it. So when I'm at the gym, I'll do some weight machines, but it's kinda haphazard, and I'm never sure if I'm doing them right. Do you ladies and gentlemen have any advice for resources where I can read up on weight training? I also went to the bar last night (a friend's band was playing): didn't drink too much, and I think I burned off about half of what I drank anyway from dancing. It was a lot of fun

I planned to do D2 of c25k before lunch today - but I woke up and there was snow on the ground! Did not expect that... I'm hoping that the paths through campus have been cleared because the sidewalks around my apartment certainly haven't. I've also got tons of bad food temptations planned out for today - yikes! I'm meeting a friend for lunch and my university's football team is playing in the championship game tonight (not going to the game, as it's in Texas, but am planning on getting together with some friends to watch it - complete with chips, dip, wings, pizza, beer, etc...). Also, started looking through the menu for Cosi (where I'm meeting my friend for lunch). How are salads 700 cals/ 500 from fat???? Please tell me most of that is from the dressing...

Cheers
:happy: Meredith

KanCrav

Meredith- One of the things I do to work my legs is lundges. I try to do them throughout my day if I am in my house. I hold a lundge position while folding clothes (switching off legs of course) I find that doing them throughout the day doesnt bring the muscles to fatigue but I can still feel it slightly enough in the morning to know its working. But they never hurt enough to keep my from jogging with my dog or doing the lundges again the next day!~!

miss_amy

lost 2 lbs this week- wooo! back on track & it feels good! i'm going to san diego next thursday night so i'm going to weigh in early. here's to another good week! 6lbs to go for my january goal!

have a great weekend!


skiptomylou32--scale goal: 125, non-scale goal: stop waiting till tomorrow, making excuses, and being complacent with my fitness goals
Lauratx22-to lose 7 pounds! Weighing 163!
Roobean33 - cardio 5X/week, lifting 3X/week, try out CrossFit, lose 2lbs, H20 guzzle, take measurements.
kvr414- 1 hr cardio 3x a week, try 3 new recipes, 12 cups water/day, lose 6 lbs.
meagalayne- curb late-night snacking and emotional eating, limit carbohydrate consumption after 4pm and experiment with new Low-GI recipes once a week, maintain under 130lbs, and complete first 4 weeks of Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Training (Novice)
emmarie1630- lose 4 pounds, 4x a week workout, use wii fitness games a ton, MORE WATER!
wardiemelissa-continue to maintain between 120-125lbs; plan healthy family meals at least 5 nights a week; begin training for half marathon (just need to find one in May or June)
tjradd73-lose 8lbs, 80oz H20 per day, and cardio 3x per week.
Mike (CaptainJim) lose 5-8 lbs, 3x (30-60 min) cardio per week, fit into size 32 jeans (I'm 34's right now)
Finncmh- see a loss on the scale, continue strength training 2x's a week and update the routine at the end of Jan, continue running training- increase to 5 min running intervals, 1 new healthy recipe a week, and get back in to yoga/stretching routine in the am and/or pm
briar_rose: lose 5 pounds, exercise 3x/week, no potato chips
mkingraham: lose 15 pounds by Feb 1., exercise 5/6 x a week with 3/4 days of strength training, eat breakfast everyday (a healthy one), two servings of fruit a day.
GuamGrly (Bethany) - DO NOT focus on the scale. Focus on changing my lifestyle by incorporating fruits and vegetables in my diet more, drinking my water everyday, planning my meals, working out 120 minutes per week, and getting back to C25k traning.
LostAlyKat (Aly) : Be under 170lbs for the end of the month. Do weight lifting or strength 3 times a week, be active in some way every day. Get back into doing Yoga do a class at least 1 time this month. Write down my feelings more often.
Stuartme123: JanSW = 156. Check-in with this thread 3-4x/week, 30 min of cardio 3x a week, Restart and keep up with 100 push-up challenge and C25K, Keep unhealthy snacking to under 200 calories/day, Add veggies that wouldn't normally be there to at least one meal a day, Try one new healthy recipe a week, Lose 1lb a week for a total of 4lbs.
seripha - exercise 5x a week for at least 30 minutes each. Try to eat at least 1 cup of dark green food every day and only 1 sweet thing per day.
miss_amy: to lose 8lbs (38 total lbs), work out 5x a week for an hour & log EVERYTHING!- UPDATE (1/7): 2lbs down, 6 to go!
Ngoat (nancy): Lose 5lbs, Drink more water, and eat healthier dinners!
rai8759: lose at least 4 lbs (164 by 1/31/11); work out 3x a week idevelop a consistent weight training regiment and work my way up to 2x a week weight training; drink 8-10 cups of water per day; eat more veggies; track everything in my food diary!!
Dteg: Scale to lose 5 LBs making under 140 for the first time in 5 years!!!! non scale: to eat more fresh food, eat in more often not going out as much anymore, excerise three times a week
Allie7383- be at or under 155, eat more fruits/veggies, and drink at least 8 glasses of water per day.
katecampbell03- Lose 5lbs this month and make time to fit in a work-out before/during/after work
pags221 - weigh 1.31.11 @ 123lbs / make it to the gym 21 days this month
Allislefttogain - Stay below 120; run 70 miles; 64 ounces of (straight!) water daily; complete weeks 2-4 of Turbo Fire; try kale & brussel sprouts; strength train 3x a week
tai_88 - drink at least 8 cups of water a day. I must drink at least 4 cups before i can have tea or my sprite zero; stop mindless/emotional eating; work out at least 4 times a week; log every day; continue the push up challenge; lose 4 lbs.
spellbinder25 - (1) Continue with C25K, (2) Cook twice a week, (3) Have a serving of fruit everyday, (4) Do strength training thrice a week, (5) Reach 142lbs by the end of Jan.
KanCrav - I want to loose 5lbs by the end of January
angels and wolves-scale goal: 169 by feb 1st; non-scale goals: continue 30DS everyday, drop a pnt size by feb 1st, give up soda and caffeine, and be able to run a mile.
Nadine - Scale goals: 125lbs by my next half marathon in March. Non scale goals - successfully check off every scheduled run on my 1/2 marathon training program, thats 4 runs a week. Committ to practicing yoga at least twice a week (running injury preventer!!) Weight train twice a week. Cut fast food, make my own lunches and eating smartly - feeding my body what it needs to perform and feel its best, not foods that taste good but make me tired. My running time goals are in my signature

SkipToMyLou32

Mary--Haha I look great laying down too, but I definitely want to be able to rock my bikinis whilst standing this summer! Ya know, sometimes I wonder if people (not you specifically, just people in general) are afraid of getting "too skinny" because they are afraid people will judge them. I know right now at 125 and 5'6" I'm thin, but I know for ME I have more I could lose and tone up, but I'm sure some people would tell me I'm crazy and being vain. Geez did I just have my first mini-rant?!? Anyway, you're doing awesome! I'm sure your weight will keep dropping because you are rocking that elliptical and the weights!

Nadine and Angels--Welcome to the group!

Meag--Have fun with the boy and good luck with that bread! I admire your cooking skills!

Meredith--Good luck with your temptations. Just remember, "a moment on the lips, forever on the hips!"

Miss amy--Congrats on your loss!

AFM--I cannot believe I already reached my January goal!!!!!! I do think it melted off just because it was faux weight from an indulgent holiday, but I'm still surprised it happened this fast. Since it's only the 7th, I am changing my January goal to 123. Today I did weights and intervals on the elliptical. I'm going to try not to gain the typical 3 lbs this weekend. I'm really going to try not to have any drinks because there really is no reason to and next weekend is my birthday bar hop and I'll have plenty then!

Have a good weekend everybody!

jillybeanruns

Really like your new signature by the way - Sooo bling :laugh:

Ha ha thanks Meag! I was getting sick of the signature being all green, so I went in search of some animated letters...wish they were a bit smaller but whatcha gonna do? Thanks for the recipe! Do you think it's something I could make in advance and bring to work (possibly eat it cold as well) and have it taste good?! Sorry I wasn't any help with your races :ohwell:

Cait - nice job with the run!!

Bethany - just get back on the horse today! As you know you can't spot reduce, so just lots of cardio and make sure you do strength training for those areas (as well as every other muscle group in your body). It'll come off pretty slowly, but it'll come off! Kickboxing is amazing - I used to take a cardio kickboxing class at a martial arts center in DC and LOVED it! I think that's why I like Turbo Fire so much...love punching and kicking as it helps me de-stress AND get out my aggression/anger!

Aly - good glad you're going to see someone. It's always better knowing, especially since it'll improve your quality of life to know what it is! Nice job eating well and getting your workouts in!! What kind of HRM do you have?

Laura - congrats on hitting the 160s!

Spellbinder - awesome on your run! Congrats! I know you must feel like a million bucks now!

Skip - interview went quite well, thanks for asking! I don't expect to hear anything soon as they're in the preliminary round of in-persons but I did send follow-up thank you notes to reaffirm my interest and point out why I'm the best fit for the position, of course Maybe you should wait to hit your goal and evaluate from there? When I hit my goal, I set a maintenance range (that I keep lowering as I can't stay in my range for long) and now focus on toning and running instead of weight! Well done on your run!

Tara - thanks! I will keep doing what's best for me! Not sure what that is really at the moment, but I do know that eating well and working out is what it takes to get there!

Angels - welcome! I agree with Gonks and Meag! More manageable goals are better for your health - both mental and physical. You won't give up easy and you're not depriving your body of what it needs. I suggest netting between 1200-1400 calories a day to get the best results. Dropping weight fast will give you extra skin and all the other stuff you don't want to happen

Nadine - welcome!

Meredith - the calories definitely come from the dressing. So salads aren't always the best option, funny because most people don't think about that and just assume they are! Get a balsamic vinagriette or a clear vinargriette on the side, use 1/2 of it and you're golden for a good meal!

QOTD: Favourite months are May and October. May slightly wins out as the days are getting longer and not shorter like October

jillybeanruns

I'm in a REALLLLLY good mood today. Had an active recovery day yesterday - 15 minute light walk at lunch, Core 20 + Stretch 40 from Turbo Fire after work. I forgot that I had done a 15 minute ab circuit on Wednesday, so yesterday's Core 20 put me over the edge. My abs just hurt when I am doing nothing right now...love it! But need to not overwork them next time! Wore some dumb shoes yesterday that have a 1" wedge heel and are too big for me. Woke up with my bad ankle throbbing and my knee hurting as well. I was exhausted when my alarm went off at 4:30 this morning, so I opted to do my workout after work today and tailor it to however I am feeling. I finished week 2 of Turbo Fire yesterday! Woo!

I get to run this weekend Tempo or easy run tomorrow depending on the snow and long run Sunday! Goal is to get 16.5 miles in this weekend! Shopping on Sunday to exchange some Christmas stuff and get a new day calendar...I'm in DESPERATE need of one. Also picking up my wool running socks and Gu that I had shipped to a store. I won a $50 gift card so I only had to pay 64 cents for a 3 pairs of wool socks and tonnes of Gu gel!

My interview went well on Monday, as well as I think it could have! Did follow-up thank you notes yesterday and probably won't hear back for a few weeks. Just got a voicemail (don't answer my cell at work) from NStar (gas/electric company) asking me to come down to Massachusetts and interview for a position! Starting salary is $13K more than I make here with another $5K raise after 1 year of being there! Money is nice, but I want to be in a more populated area, closer to friends and family and I believe there are both running clubs and Irish dance studios nearby And then I just got an email from US Department of Agriculture saying I've moved on to the next round (which RARELY happens - 2nd time for me and I've applied for 100+) for a position. Just need to get my *kitten* in gear and get them my transcripts. Job is in California, and I prefer Massachusetts but it would be a good job. We'll cross that bridge if we ever get there!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

lostalykat

Good morning everyone! So much to catch up on lets get started

Nadine- Welcome! I love your goals, I really need to get back into yoga. It is hard to fit everything in. I currently train 6 days a week for triathlons, and try to get 3 days of strength in. But get at it girl!

Meag- your meals for next week sound awesome! I really want to make something good this weekend sometime if I can fit it in. I have training both days as usual and we have some plans with people but we shall see.

Meredith- there are so many online sources for lifting, it all depends what you want to start with. I currently have been doing weights at home with videos because that seems to be the only time I can fit it in. I am sure some peeps on here can give you some good tips tho

Amy- Great job on the loss! starting off the new year right!!

On the topic of MFP or WL talk- I acutally am very open with my friends and family when it comes to my healthy lifestyle and losing weight and using this site. I find it helps me stay accountable knowing everyone else knows that I am trying to lose weight and eating healthy. I also can't shut up about it because it a huge part of my life and i have been at this for over 2 years now hehe.

Jill- I have a garmin 305 Forerunner I love it and I have only used it 2 times since I got it. I am still figuring out all the fun things I can do with it.


AFM- I felt very strange yesterday, I think with the run in the morning combined with coffee, and really light foods all day made my body just feel off. I was dizzy and strange feeling. I should have just had a damn sandwich. So I ate a fairly large dinner with my family and it made me lose an extra .5 lbs from yesterday morning. I think I need to be better about how much I eat when I workout so much. It is really hard to find a balance. So today I am quitting coffee for at least a full week maybe a month, and I am going to call my insurance company to see what doctor I can go to about the dizzyness and headaches. I am debating about swimming tonight but it is 35 degrees outside and I have a bike/run in the morning and sunday I have a swim/run scheduled. I will see how I feel. So far feeling pretty good. I am glad I lost 1.2 lbs I was expecting more because the scale was doing 2lbs somewhere this week, but I know that weight goes away slower than it comes on. I was hoping the extra weight was faux weight but that is not the case.... O well I am going to have a strong weekend and check in with you guys! I usually go MIA during the weekends off this whole site, but this weekend I promise to check in! Minigoal of the week!

lostalykat

Question of the Day: What is your favorite kind of food??
for me it is Japanese!! No doubt! I loove sushi and the miso soup and seaweed salad, tempura is bomb and so much other yummy stuff!

GuamGrly

Laura - great job reaching that milestone!! Looks like you are on the downward slope toward reaching your goal!! Keep up the great work girly!!

Spellbinder - great job with your C25K training! A friend of mine from high school has decided to do a 5K this year and I told her that I would do it with her. So I definitely need to get serious about my training.

Meag - if we lived closer, I would give you free reign to my kitchen at all times. I wish I had the time, energy, and money to spend time in the kitchen like that. Hope you are feeling better today!

Skip - great job with losing the holiday weight and hitting your monthly goal!! I am sure it was nice that the holiday weight was shed so easily.

Tara - I'm headed to Vegas in March for my bestie's 30th birthday!! I am hoping to have shed some poundage by then so that if the weather permits, I won't feel bad hopping into a bathing suit.

Meredith - Hope you still managed to have a good time at lunch with your friend and celebrating your school's football game!!

Jill - hope everything works out for the job!!

AFM...never made it to the gym last night. I spent time with my mom and the kids. My plans for tonight got cancelled but I am hoping that I will have the control to make it to the gym tonight. My original plans were to go line dancing and I definitely would have burned some calories doing that. My stomach isn't feeling so hot this morning though. I think it was dinner last night though cause my daughter was complaining of an upset stomach this morning too. Tomorrow I get to head to San Diego with the boy for his cousin's wedding which I am soooo super excited about. I haven't seen him since last Saturday and I need my fix.

Hope everyone has a great Friday!!

meagalayne

Jill - If anything, I wish the letters were bigger I'd say having it cold might be gross. I wasn't hugely keen on the consistency of the yogurt on the chicken, but when it was hot out of the oven it wasn't bad. Cold might taste a bit congealed. I had leftovers turned into an egg white scramble breakfast (I'm neurotic about wasting food) and it was delicious! So it's good for re-purposing, but cold... Probably not. I'm going to be doing a lot of experimenting with this cookbook over the next few weeks so I will post anything that turns out for you and the other ladies here :happy:

Bikini ladies - I could lose all 125.9lbs of myself and I would still look terrible in a bikini... mad jealousy coming your way! Maybe some day... But for now, two piece tankinis are in my future and nothing else. I've got more loose skin and stretch marks than Kate Gosselin immediately post-birth. So I bow down to all of you for having the bods to get into bikinis!

Skip - Thanks!! I will definitely have a great time - I so look forward to seeing him every single time. I couldn't be any happier :bigsmile: I really do feel like the luckiest girl ever some days and I just hope that other couples are as happy as we are! Good luck with staying disciplined this weekend. I know you can do it!

Amy - Great loss - Back at it after the holidays! :drinker:

Meredith - I'm with Kandace - lunges and other body-weight exercises are a great way to strength train without any machines at all. Get yourself some dumbbells and you can do it all at home. Squats, lunges, step-ups, push-ups, crunches, rows, shoulder raises, lat raises, etc. I really like the advice I found on www.nerdfitness.com when I first started getting interested in circuit training. It's not the be-all-end-all but it's a great place to start! Good luck :happy: And thanks for the compliments! Can't wait to see how the bread turns out today!

AFM - Bread is rising! WOOT! Again, of course. It was rising all night and then today I shaped it and it's sitting on corn meal coated baking sheet rising before it gets thrown in the oven. So excited!

Lost 2.2lbs this week, apparently. Which is DRASTIC and not at all in line with my goals... I have no idea how my body dropped that much, since I totally dropped the ball last weekend and ate a ton, was majorly sick on Sunday and laid in bed ALL day, and then ate around 1500 cals + exercise cals every day this week (save for about 300 yesterday). Not too sure but I hope it's not my body going all haywire because of hormones, my cycle being screwed, and whatever else. Going to talk to the boy again today and see what he thinks.

Made an AWESOME ridiculous breakfast today because I have too much time on my hands and took pics to show you ladies :blushing: *Dork Alert*. Tofu, veggies, chili garlic sauce, egg whites and nutritional yeast on the menu. And it was HUGE and only 301 calories... Took two pics to show the difference before and after topping with nutritional yeast - mostly because I wasn't sure how gross it would look. I am really enjoying this addition to my diet. Look forward to testing out more uses for it in the future!
Before nutritional yeast:

After nutritional yeast:


Have a great Friday everyone. Much love!
Meag

mkingraham

Hey everyone!

stuart- I saw on Amazon the women's health big book of exercises. It has almost 500 pages of different types of moves that you can do to target and work on certain problem areas with diagrams showing you how to perform these moves. It said that it also has workout plans in the book to better help. I am looking into getting it that way when I get bored with my routine I have something new to turn to without just giving up. Another thing that helps me with weight training is writing down what exercises I need to do to work certain muscles and bring that paper with me to the gym so that I can track the weight that I am lifting and so I don't forget to do a particular exercise. It may seem silly at first, but for me having those pieces of paper everyday really helps.

Angels, Nadine- Welcome! I just joined this group at the beginning of this month and everyone is very supportive with some really great adivce. Its also a great place to release that stress with a good vent!

AFM-I was super tired this morning so it was very difficult to get out of bed since the hubs had today off and could just snooze away. But I got my butt out of bed and cooked up my breakfast then headed into work and hit the gym. After I was still pretty tired but this was more of an exhausted tired rather than a sleepy tired- so the workout was totally worthy it. I weigh in on Monday and am excited to see what has happened this week.

Also I was wondering, I took measurements at the beginning of the month, how frequently do those of you who measure, measure? I was thinking at the beginning of every month unlike my weekly weigh-ins. Thoughts/Ideas?

I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Oh and its Friday YIPPPEE!!!

Megan

meagalayne

Ok missed some while posting...

QOTD - Korean/Mexican fusion! Or either on their own. Or Indian... Hmmm Ok this is WAY too hard :laugh:

Guam - I'd love to have people willing to eat my food and be excited about it! My dad is brutal and I really get frustrated when I make new, exciting things in the kitchen and he acts like it's an inconvenience. I'd totally cook for you and your kids any day of the week :bigsmile:

Aly - Do your best this weekend and try to stay in touch. Make a healthy meal, try something new, and get your exercise in. You can do this. Keep off that pound you lost this week!!

Megan - I measure once a month, but I just started doing it and I don't have anything much left to lose. I'd say every 3-4 weeks is good practice, since you want to see results and be motivated by them! Any more often and you might be discouraged, as with weight-loss (I'd only recommend weighing-in once a week, or every 10 days)

seripha

Doing a lot of replying here! Bear with me...

Skip - You can always host a clothing exchange. It really takes no effort at all. Just go through your clothing, shoes, and accessories and pull out all the stuff that you haven't worn for 1+ years or things that don't fit properly anymore. But don't put anything in there that is bad quality or ruined. Then invite a bunch of your gfs over asking them to do the same.

We usually do a free for all with a walk-off if there's more than one person who wants a certain item and the vote goes to the group. If people participate in a walk off they must agree to go by the decision of the group at large. But it can be done other ways like by number pulled ala secret santa. However you think it will be best for your group.

Angels&wolves - welcome to the group. It's really tough sorting through the rumours, myths, and truths about healthy living and weightloss. I feel like they change every week. One of the big things I've seen that successfull weightloss / healthy lifestyle change people have done is to listen to their bodies and being able to understand when your body is just whining and when it is genuinely needing more calories, rest, etc. I hope you find lots of support here

Roo - It's a good goal to want to be able to feel comfortable in a bikini! I have to say though, I know a lot of very skinny fit people who don't feel good in their bikinis even though they look great. I think part of feeling great in a bikini is being proud of yourself and confident - which I think you have BTW if you want to get a goal bikini, something you feel like working towards wearing this summer Victoria Secret is having a HUGE sale right now on their online bikini catalogue. They have a really good return policy too if you feel like it just doesn't fit you right

Nadine - Welcome to our group! I Love the bailey's too! I like to treat myself to a warm cup of skim milk with a hint of bailey's in it when I've been good with my eating during the day. Hopefully you can get the support you need here

Miss amy - congratulations on your loss this week! I'm so glad you're making progress

An update for me:

I've decided to enter a running race per month (if there is one available) until July. After July, well I don't know. I don't sweat so it makes the hot summer months very difficult for me to cool down when I exercise unless it's in a pool (thus the long swimming career) or in an A/C'd environment. Here's the races I'm going for:

# Jan 22 - Discover Running Fun Run
# March 12 - BMO St. Patrick's Day 5K
# April 17 - Sun Run 10K
# May 1 - BMO Vancouver Marathon 8K
# June 17 - Longest Day Road Race 10K

I'd love to do more than 10K but I have a sprinter's body and I never run for more than an hour and change so I think a half marathon is something I'd have to go for in 2012. Not quite there yet But still, I'm pretty stoked about them and I'm trying to convince my boyfriend to do them with me as nice things we can do together.

In the meantime I need to get over this cold. I haven't been able to enjoy my food for three days now - I think today is the pinnacle of the cold... it must only get better after this.... right?

angelsandwolves09

Wow!! fIrst i want to say THANKS to everyone for the feedback!!! I didn't know that you should be eating normal amount plus what you burn....I thought you HAD to be under to see changes!!

As for the net calories, they should be 1200-1500 AFTER exercising? I'm sure this was explained, but I want to be sure I am understanding this!!

And this forum is amazing!! Everyone is totally helpful and motivational!! So welcome to all the "newer" members!!

meagalayne

As for the net calories, they should be 1200-1500 AFTER exercising? I'm sure this was explained, but I want to be sure I am understanding this!!

The simple answer here is to look on your home page - the far right figure in the top tool bar should say "Net Calories" - that needs to be at least 1200. The longer answer is that you need to be consuming at least 1200 calories PLUS enough calories to off-set your exercise.

So if you burn 300 calories doing 1 hour of walking, say: 1200 cals (min) + 300 exercise cals = 1500 calories for the day - AT LEAST!
This is the bare minimum. Under 1200 calories is not enough calories to fuel your body to do all the stuff it's got to do - your organs are working hard to keep you alive! If you are interested in learning more, find out online what your basal metabolic rate is through a simple google search (http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/g/bmr.htm and http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalcalc.htm) or do some research on "starvation mode" -- there is some contention about whether or not it's entirely plausible, but it seems that everyone who sticks with a 1200 Net minimum diet while losing sees a great deal of success.

Good luck!

nadine2unfit2bqueen

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I can't beleive I just posted last night and already so much support, you're all rock stars, I love it

On the menu for today is my weekly long run, 16km, followed by a good loooong stretch.

SkipToMyLou32 - I know at the moment I am definitly not "too skinny" but back in the summer when I was 121lbs I'd get comments from (I hate to say it, but bigger) friends "you're getting too skinny, eat something." At 5'2" 121lbs is on the upper end of my healthy weight range, as currently at 132lbs I'm overweight! It really hurt me to hear things like that, because inside I felt so good and knew how hard I had worked. I wanted my friends to be proud and supportive of me, and some definitly were but not all. One night in particular I was cabbing home from the bar with friends. Everyone was eating pizza, but I hadn't drank much and knew I had a run in the morning, so I chose to forgo having a slice. I wasn't hungry, I didn't need it! This girl I barely knew said to me "anorexia is a disease you know." Her ignorance had me fuming inside!!! I so badly wanted to give her a lesson on nutrition and fitness and how you couldn't possibly be annorexic and be a runner. All i can say is jealous people will always try to bring you down, so just stick with your gut and what is going to make you happiest!

miss_amy - congrats!!!

KanCrav - Whenever I am close to catching Zz's at my desk I get up and move to wake myself up. My coworkers laugh at me when I do lunges, jumping jacks and runs up the stairs, but I feel better for it.

stuartme123 - I use the workouts from www.womenshealthmag.com. You can print them off and take them to the gym with you, or there is even some you can easily do at home. I keep them in a binder and just pick one based on how ambitious I am feeling or what body parts I want to work. It keeps it fun and exciting Also I took a couple personal training sessions this past summer and they totally changed how I approached my workouts. If you're aiming for fat loss (arn't we all?!) you should weight train first and do your cardio after. This is because it takes twenty minutes for your body to switch from carb burning mode (using the cals you ate that day for fuel) to fat burning mode (using stored fat for fuel). If you use a circuit training approach, and get your heart rate revved up, you can make this transition happen while weight training, so by the time you start your cardio you're already in fat burning mode. Not gonna lie, it's definitly tougher to do it in that order, but "suck it up princess!" as my trainer liked to say.

Meag - would love to hear where you're at with your 1/2 marathon training. I did my first back in October and could give a lot of advice on what not to do!

Ooops! Time to get to work. laters

meggonkgonk

As for the net calories, they should be 1200-1500 AFTER exercising? I'm sure this was explained, but I want to be sure I am understanding this!!

Hey Angels,

Here's my breakdown of your cals- MFP does the work of calculating for you so you just need to follow the #'s:

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0Bydosh5tyEi5YzdkZGYxMTUtNGFkNS00MjRkLTg5YWUtODdlMjBhNGE2YTI0&hl=en

seripha

Angels - It's good to make sure that you eat your exercising calories, but make sure you get those extra calories with really good food. Usually things that are high in protein work well. I find that after a work out I can get my extra calories in and not over eat if I have a glass of chocolate skim milk or a piece of toast with a tbsp low fat peanut butter on it.

meggonkgonk

I find that after a work out I can get my extra calories in and not over eat if I have a glass of chocolate skim milk or a piece of toast with a tbsp low fat peanut butter on it.

^^^Truthiness. I these as snacks for nights when I still have a good amount of cals left. Sometimes I will just eat a measured tbsp of pb (though I confess, my pb is still full fat. Reduced fat pb makes me cranky, in that it doesn't taste as yummy and so I get mad at it.).

meagalayne

LOL @ Gonks - I eat mine full fat too! No harm in it - Natural full fat PB is chuck full of GOOD fats that your body needs anyway! So eat up :bigsmile: And to everyone else - Go out and buy some nut butter, for heaven's sake!