Great goals, ohtender! I'll put mine out on Monday, June 3rd....vegas trip, tomorrow, will interrupt E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G!!

Chloe - nice to read that the early a.m. "up-and-at-em" is working....I am intent on getting up at 6 for the next 3 months, hopping into work-out gear and doing a 45-minute walk. Hopefully that "additional" cardio will help the scale start budging (downward), again....

ramalem - want me to tell you what the temperature is, right now, in Vegas????

Oh yeah! Beeps, you're in Vegas and working out? I hope you're having a drink now. Have a blast!

Hi ladies,
This looks like a great group! I just started something similar this week and need some support to keep me motivated. I've just gotten back from about 2 weeks of vacation (which is not even worth trying to track). So my three goals for the week are things that, I think, cause me to eat more than I should:

1) +7 hours of sleep per night
2) no TV on work nights
3) no beer/after work drink on work nights

My other more casual goal is to try and stay away from more processed foods -- but this is not one that I will beat myself up over -- they are hard to avoid in the office. In any case, thanks to everyone for sharing their goals and motivating each other. You are all such an inspiration so far!

I just want to say that I joined my fitness pal a while back and never stuck with it. This time around, I am more active with the community, especially this group, and I am already way more motivated. I felt brave enough to jog and did pretty well! Im keeping track of calories and being more conscious of my diet and exercise. Keeping with my goals. Just wanted to say how pumped I am to connect with people who are in the same boat as me.

Thanks, friends!

BetterBalance - I hope you go have a DXA....every other method (except perhaps the "body-in-water" method) just are NOT reliable for measurements of body fat. Not even on a thumbnail basis, actually. I still haven't gotten a DXA, because I'm still convinced I'm in mid- to high- 20's....and that is just too depressing to consider. But, having learned there are TONS of people out there who claim to be at such-and-such a body fat percentage, then they go get a DXA and are all lilke, "wtf, I'm 34% bodyfat??!?!?!?!!?" So, if you REALLY want data that you can rely on, go DXA.

I am going to get a DXA done in June or July. As a "marker". Then I'll know what more work I have to do and where my body TRULY carries "fat stores".

Here's my pre-Vegas shot:



When I come back, in June, I'm not going to decrease my calories, actually....just going to try and incorporate a little bit of (mild) cardio. It's time to GET OUTSIDE, anyway!

See ya when I get back, ladies!

That is very impressive Beeps. You have truly changed your body composition. Hard work DOES pay off!

Well, I haven't had a drop of alcohol in 2 weeks and the scale is not rewarding me. Kind of bummed, but I feel good and am sleeping great. I'm doing my "juice fast" today. Fruit juice smoothie for breakfast, green drink for lunch, blended soup for dinner and a lot of water and detox tea. I do not abstain from caffeine as the book I based this off of (Lose 21 Pounds in 21 Days) suggests. Tomorrow I'll ease back into food with some baked chicken and "detox rolls" (blanched kale, carrot, and raw cucumber rolled in a blanched mustard green leaf dipped in a lemon vinagrette) and similar for dinner and add a little quinoa in. I'm going to try to eat pretty much like that for 3 days. Hopefully that will jump start some weight loss for me! I've been hovering between 130 and 131 since being back from vacation. I had gotten down to 127 prior. :sad: So frustrating......

I really should be focusing on the positives and the fact that I've gone so long without booze. Coming down the home streth now. I need to have a really good week food wise this week and make wise choices. I think it's time for goals. These are mine for the next week and a half:

1. Keep abstaining from alcohol
2. Complete my "4 day detox diet"
3. Do some "light cardio" each day during my detox, maybe even some morning yoga
4. Don't overdo it on the wine next Monday
5. Get some lifting and/or running in when I resume "normal" eating

I'm even going to take it a step further and plan for after my return: last 2 weeks of June and all of July:

1. Hide my scale
2. Cut the snacking back: planned snacks only
3. Do the Wet Wolf KISS program (3 days)
4. Do Zumba weekly (if I like it; I found a class near my house offered 3x a week)
5. Run once a week

I just want to switch it up. I've been doing the 2 days of cardio and 3 days of weights for a while now, and even though I'm still getting sore when incorporating new moves into my workouts, I feel like I need to shake things up a bit. My new program is still a similar set up, but the Wet Wolf workout seems to be a little different from the lifting I've been doing. And I've been seeing amazing burns from all the Zumbaers (especially you Jen!) and think I'll really enjoy it.

Anyone else have any "long term" goals?

Have a great week ladies. Sorry for the long post.... :blushing:

Hi!

I can honestly say I don't look like the picture on the right, today, lol!!

Vegas was fun, but WAY too short! I just spent the entire time OVER-tired! We didn't arrive until, I don't know, maybe 9:30 pm on thursday night....and were at the airport by 8:00 am yesterday morning. So, really only had Friday and Saturday. Got ZERO pool time because the place was packed.

Came home to valet park where they crunched my car into a POLE.



So, after a 10-hour travel day, yesterday, STILL couldn't go home before filling out a police report....

Was missing my husband TERRIBLY (because he'd been in Mexico the week before I went to Vegas!) and it just was a gong show.

Anyway, today I'm going to get back into the swing of things - will do a lifting session, but not expect too much to come of it.

My 2-week-challenge:

1. do NOT step on the scale until mid-month....it obviously can't be "good news" right now (I did just get home from Vegas...);
2. try to get up and walk every single day, weather permitting.
3. keep calories at 1,350 (average) daily just to get the puff OFF.
4. drink water
5. get WAY MORE SLEEP!

Better - I'm going to have ZERO trouble giving up booze for the next while, lol....I haven't drank much since January...so, Vegas did me in pretty good, lol. Am happy to have returned to the land of coffee, water, and green tea.

ramalem - LOVE to read that you've moved to NROL4W....come on over to the "NROL4W" group here at mfp - I post over there A LOT!

Got my lifting in-and-done. Am FINALLY just going to have to switch out of Phase 2 of the Venus program....I only have 5 work-outs left, but the work-outs are just WAY TOO LONG. Mostly 90 minutes....they aren't DESIGNED that way, but I have to take all these extended rest-breaks because I'm just huffing-puffing dizzy!! anyway, I'm going to switch to the "circuits" that Venus has and make sure I stick to 60 minutes. Period. Might bump up to 4- or 5- times per week with circuits - might not. And, even though some of the circuits call for 10-12 reps, through summer, I'm just going to keep it at 8- reps.

Beeps - what a bummer about your car & your trip! I totally don't blame you for making the switch with your routine - 90 minutes is a really long time for a workout - an hour is usually all I can get in

Ramalem - that is awesome that you are doing NROL4W, looking forward to seeing how it goes for you. I am planning to start something new when the kids go back to school in the fall and that is on the list of things that I am looking into

Chloe - glad to hear that hubby is on board with your healthy eating goals, that can make things so much easier

I successfully completed most of my goals for the last two weeks - more water & protein, staying under calories, getting in all my workouts - I did not get in all of my cardio due to an intense heat wave. I usually don't mind hot weather, but it was too much too fast and my body has not adjusted yet. Things started to cool off yesterday so I should get back into my normal routine again.

Abigail - glad to read that your 2-week goals were a success! AWESOME!

Better - I *love* the "re-set" idea....while I don't seem capable of doing 24-hour fasts, I try to do a weekly 20-ish hour one. And, frankly, daily I'm fasting for ~15 hours (9 pm - 12:30 pm), too. My scale weight isn't changing anymore. If I want it to go DOWN, I'm going to have to do some drastic calorie-cutting and I just don't have it in me right now.

The sun is shining....so, even though I *missed* my morning walk (lol, I love how I use the term "missed" - I've never done a morning walk so all I'm saying is my "new" routine has YET to begin, lol!), I think I"ll try and walk as much as I can this evening!

Amy - be kind to yourself....this is a BIG DEAL and you need to give yourself "permission" to deal with it however you deem fit. For me, exercise helps me sleep, it helps reduce stress, etc. - so it DOES STAY AT THE TOP OF MY LIST! But, grief is HARD. "Change to routine" is HARD. So, however you need to get through it, just know we ALL support you here at mfp.

As to Vegas - we could have rented a cabana for $500! Ummmmmmmmm, our "pool time" would have been a max of 2 hours, in any event. Nope, I'm not dropping $500 on something like that - not when I'd prefer to be inside the air-conditioned casino people-watching and being served free booze at the slots!!

Chloe - sounds like 2nd trimester is treating you better! That's awesome.

Got my lifting in. I've switched it up to the Venus "circuit" program for the next 3- or 4- months. Today was day 1. It has 3 "levels", so I decided to start out at Level 2. 4 mini-circuits, each has 3 exercises. So, that's 12 exercises per day. You're supposed to do the mini-circuits 4 x, but I don't have that much time, so I'll go for 3 x. That's 36 exercises overall. It takes time to set-up the equipment and take it down and I'm taking more rest breaks then I'm supposed to. So, it was 65 minutes, today, but I bet I'll skinny that time down as the days turn into weeks! So, I'm happier.

On a CRAPPY note, I'm back >150 lbs!! Yes, it's TOM and likely left-over Vegas shyte, but STILL.

Now I'm p*ssed off and, basically, going to get <140 before August, I hope....for sure before September.

I'm going BACK to what works for me:

1. no eating prior to lunch-time work-out.
2. protein shake right after work-out.
3. attempt to fast (again) until supper-time, using methods like gum-chewing, green tea, etc.
4. have a REASONABLE supper (i.e. <1,000 calories)
5. GO TO BED instead of night-time snacking.

That should get me where I want to go. Dammit - I'm p*ssed OFF about this!

Hi ladies! Week has been good so far - stayed within my cals and have been getting up early to walk the pup and getting my gym time in. Started NROL4W and man, I am SORE. Have my second workout tonight which i'll actually be doing in a gym so I fully expect to not be able to walk tomorrow.

Amy - So sorry to hear about your Dad. Just do what you need to do, the rest will come.

Beeps - free booze > paying $500

Chloe - way to go on the walking! I'm proud of staying consistent too

Rogie - I am in Seattle! Loving the weather lately, hope it lasts. Great goals - the booze is a huge struggle for me too. During the week, I can usually make it fit in my calories if I workout, but the weekend just turns into a ****show. Sigh.

Happy humpday guys! Half-way there