Amy--I did the Las Vegas marathon a few years ago. I ran with some friends and it was a lot of fun. There were tons of people dressed up (I wore an Elvis costume) and it was fun to run along the strip--it was fun to see all the hotels and the crowd definitely had a party atmosphere (and that was when the race started at like 5 am, so I'm guessing it'll be even more lively now that it's starting later in the day).

Abigail - I'm long-legged AND long-armed - there is NO doubt that the "longer" that LEVER is, the harder it is. Plus, I'm tall and weigh more, so it isn't ANY wonder it took me FOREVER to get down to floor level. As in F-O-R-E-V-E-R!

Amy - totally do the cross-fit work-outs, please - but ONLY if you're going to report back here!

ramalem - push-ups are tough, pull-ups are tough, chin-ups are tough....oh my, have I just listed all the UPPER BODY work that I still have (yet!) to do?!?!?!?

RisOntheRun - I totally don't ever want to do a marathon - but I do want to participate in one as a spectator, or maybe as a volunteer....just not in the USA. But, Vegas sounds like it would be a good-er one.

Better - shorties have it good for some exercises, but not for all! Everybody gets some stuff "easier" depending on their body part - the converse of that is that each of us gets some stuff "harder", too.

Got my lifting in-and-done. Not gonna lie, after the (weighted) glute bridges, the T-bends and the deadlifts, I BAILED on the single-leg back extensions. My rear end had had enough by then....

I actually think it's pretty SPECTACULAR, Chloe, that you are still doing "strength-work" - by the middle of my pregnancy, EVERYTHING I did (exercise-wise) was "in the pool". I just LOVED the "weight-less" feeling. Now, believe me, I worked my cardio HARD in those aqua-cize classes and those "deep-water running" classes, lol, but I *know* it is NOTHING next to what strength-training must be like!

My hat is TOTALLY OFF TO YOU!

Chloe--Ha ha yeah pushups are definitely a lot harder with a belly! And they (along with planks) really are great for the core. I pretty much stopped doing the rest of my core exercises because they've started to feel funny.

Beeps--You should definitely watch or volunteer at a marathon sometime, even if you have no desire to run one it can be pretty inspiring. And having people cheering along the course makes a huge difference for those who are running--the best races I've done have been those with the most crowd support.

Thanks to everyone for your input on the pushups! My goal is to be able to do eight in a row on the floor at the end of NROL4W - that is double what I can do now :-) I am doing then on an incline, so getting to all 15 per set, which is a good feeling.

Beeps - I hope all goes well with your cataracts.

Chloe - hats off to you and your strength training. I stuck to mostly yoga during my pregnancies :-)

Ris - I must admit that I feel a small twinge of jealousy seeing your running picture. My NROL4W recommends not doing endurance training while doing heavy lifting, so I have stopped my occasional jog and miss it. Frankly I don't feel like I am getting enough exercise with NROL4W stage 1 only 3x per week, but he emphasizes allowing the recovery time. Did anyone else feel this way? I was previously exercising 5x per week and doing both strength training and some cardio.

Enjoy your Sunday Ladies!!

lambentjewel - I found it REALLY tough to give up "daily" work-outs when I started focusing on free-weight training. REALLY hard. Now, I'm down to 3 x week weight-training and 1 x week (scheduled) cardio and I wonder HOW I used to get MORE WORK-OUTS IN!!! It's crazy how the time I USED to carve out for exercise (daily) has just been consumed by "other" stuff. Mostly work.

I do still miss my cardio. I am trying to get out walking more in the evenings, right now, but I must say it's about 75% NOT doing it, and only 25% doing it. Booooo.

Better - I look totally different ONE WEEK away from my last photos....it's disgraceful!

But, I have been pretty loose and fast with my tracking and I did hop on the scale and am only up 0.4 lbs. So, that's interesting.

I have upped my calories....the "new" protocol is as follows:

eat at a deficit for 5 days, eat at maintenance for 1 day, eat at a deficit for 2 days, eat at maintenance for 1 day, then repeat (starting with the 5 day's of deficits)

I can't seem to go 5 days straight at a deficit, so I'm going to try 4 + 1, 3 +1, which still gives me 7 days deficit for 2 days maintenance.

I guess here's my 2 week challenge:

1. eat at deficit today (starts my 4 + 1, 3 + 1);
2. when eating "up", make sure it's only to MAINTENANCE (this is WAY TOUGH for me!)
3. drink more hot fluids - they seem to satiate me more than cool fluids
4. get in 3 x weight-lifting.
5. walk more in the evenings.

I also need to work on #5....weather looks good this week to do this!

Lamb--I would go crazy if I had to give up running all together! I've never done NROL4W (I lift but just kind of do my own thing rather than follow a program), so I'm no expert, but I don't think that an occasional jog or other cardio would get in the way of your training as long as you're not doing a super long run or hills or something that is likely to result in sore legs. I find that doing an easy couple of miles (like 1-3) or other light cardio like walking actually helps with recovery (it flushes out the lactic acid or something like that). A lot of people on MFP swear that heavy lifting is the only way to improve your body composition, and they may be right, but that doesn't mean that there aren't still huge benefits to your health of doing cardio, particularly to your heart (and your sanity, at least for me).

Ashley--Great job yesterday! I know how easy days like that can turn into entire days of drinking. It's important to enjoy eating and drinking, but it's just as important to know when to stop.

Beeps--Sounds like a good plan!

My long weekend was pretty good. I was very happy with my exercise--in the four days I was away, I exercised for over an hour a day. I ran, swam, and kayaked three times each. Food was so so. My mom always buys a ton of vegetables for me (because I'm a vegetarian she thinks I'll starve if I don't have a pound of veggies at each meal), which I feel obligated to eat since I know no one else will. So I ate lots of veggies, which is good, but I also ate a good amount of cookies, cherry pie, cake, and peanut butter, which is not so good. I didn't think I was that bad, as I just had little bits of dessert here and there, but looking back I can see that it adds up, and the scale wasn't so forgiving this morning. So it's back to logging for me. Luckily I'm much better with sweets when I don't have any in the house, and I don't right now, so it shouldn't be too hard for me to be good this week. So here are my two week goals:

1. Log everything--even this weekend.
2. No desserts at home (I'd be kidding myself to say that I won't have any when I'm out).
3. Do some sort of exercise every day.

60 minutes of circuit training at least 3 times per week

log all my food

stay as close to 1200 calories as I can

cut back my carbohydrates

lose 1lb per week (hopefully)

stay motivated

Hey ladies. I had a good day yesterday for the most part. I got a workout in even though thought I wouldn't; snuck it in after work as my husband picked the baby up from day care. I got up this morning and ran in the nasty, sticky, Kentucky summer humidity. Between that and my allergies, I felt like crap after. Still feeling extremely bloated and chubby which is putting me in a bad mood. TOM may be contributing some. I've got tomorrow off and plans with 2 friends to have lunch and then go to the spa. One of the friends is getting married Saturday. Hopefully that will make me feel better. I havne't had a full body massage since I was pregnant. So I hope to get my long lift day in tomorrow before lunch with the girls. Have a great Tuesday ladies. Great goals!

Probably my last quick check in for a while...move is a week from Thursday! (To jewel, from earlier, I am going from Kansas City to Durham, North Carolina, so pretty big!)

Good luck with everything and I'll get back to yall/MFP when I am more settled!