OK.. Back to normal routine. This morning I woke up at 5:30, and will be at the gym at 6:15 to do heavy lifting. I will work & DS has soccer tonight. No more vacation or days off for a month.

We used our new BBQ yesterday. It works well, so I am looking forward to grilling often for the rest of the summer.

Pam: I used to have IT, hamstring, hip flexor, you name it leg & knee problems. Now that I do heavy lifting and have increased the strength of my hamstrings, quads, etc from doing squats, I don't have any issues. I will have DOMs tomorrow from taking 2 weeks off, and just messing around for a few weeks before that, but the strength that I added has stayed. Just something to think about. I almost feel that heavy lifting solves bunches of problems. It is especially good for us as we age

Have a great day everyone! Happy Monday!

Forgot to update on the horse show! My husband agreed to splitting the time with me, and I'm so glad he did! Saturday went well. My oldest daughter was reserve champion in her division, and my youngest did really well for her first show with her new horse. I came home late Saturday evening and swapped off with my husband. Sunday, my oldest daughter's horse slipped in the mud and almost fell! My daughter was able to hang on but she was pretty shaken up (I'm told she was crying when she came out of the ring and she very seldom cries in public so I know it was bad). July 1 was her one year anniversary from her back surgery for scoliosis. Her surgeon approved her for riding months ago, and at her one year checkup said her fusion looked solid. It's still so scary though thinking of her falling off the horse! I'm so glad my husband was there instead of me when it happened. No telling what I would have done!!!

Good afternoon everyone !

Just a quick entry for me as well so no indivudal nods, but, I do have to say you are all such great active ladies !!!! I am impressed and inspired! I'm not sure that I could do that running; it would probably be rough on my knees. I sometimes do power walks outdoors and have a hard time getting far when I try to boost it up to a jog ! I have, however, been able to do 30 minutes on the elliptical at a pretty steady pace. I seem to get a sore lower back the next day though (when power walking or the elliptical). Admittedly I move my upper body a lot too, so maybe that doesn't help. Does anyone else have this problem? I actually bought a support for my lower back that I used on the elliptical on Friday and I also wear at karate now, which helps a little.

Today I am focusing on trying to control this downwards mood swing and stay positive (these happening off and on of late - physical, mental or physiological (ugh - premenopause??)- I'm not sure! :-). Back into regular eating routine and karate tonight ! That will be great I did have a pretty good weekend overall...the amusement park terror, cold and whiplash notwithstanding ! lol I stayed on track with my eating despite being out and about and am hoping that the end of week weigh in will be positive !

p.s. Robyn suggested I fill in the About Me section of my profile, which I have not yet done but I shall as soon as I get a chance.

Have a great rest of day !!
JOhanne

G'Morning all!

Yesterday I did heavy weights. I de-loaded quite a bit hoping to avoid some starting over pain. Well.. that didn't work. I have pain. Lots of pain!

Today I will go for a run. I will finish my coffee & go since it is supposed to be super hot today with air quality advisories & humidex warnings. That means a busy day at the store too!

Awesome job Cindy with C25K. You will get there. It is still amazing to me that I can run more then 3 minutes!

Have a great day everyone!

Good Morning
I haven't posted in a few days I think. My eating has not been the best, I have been doing a bit of grazing during the evenings, exactly what I had stopped myself from doing since May. I can see it starting to slip back in and I really have to put a stop before it gets out of control. My goal for today is to 1. drink a LOT of water and 2. do something tonight to take my my off of snacking. Maybe a bike ride or something.
Spent a good part of yesterday in town, dentist appt and my son came along with me - he lost his wallet so needed to get a new drivers license. Now that we have got him his new cards he will probably find his wallet! Lol

I will do a run today, its foggy so not as hot as it was yesterday. Distance will TBA! haha

Johann - the spartan race would be a great challenge for sure, and so nice to do it with your son. My son likes his PS as well! Hope your cold is better, I just recently got over one.

Lisa - the color run sounds like fun! Great job on the long run Glad that you got your BBQ, it is so great to grill on there. Hope that your pain gets better!

Siannah - we have done some tabata at a class that I sometimes attend, they are a great workout.

Pam - tendonitis isn't fun, hope you can get it all figured out and fixed up.

Brenda - sounds like you have been pretty busy, and great job with the C25K. I agree about staring at the wall! We have recently put a tv in front of the TM. Helps a lot!

Emy - I have to say that is the highest mileage I've had in a very long time in one week. I doubt that will be happening every week, already this week I am down. Yesterday was SO HOT, I would like to have run longer but decided not to. I track my runs in Runkeeper, so I have every run since Christmas 2010 in there. Lol I am now reading a Jennifer Weiner book called All Fall Down. I have never read one of hers before, its pretty good. I'm glad that you and your hubby swapped off on the show, and very glad that your daughter didn't get hurt !! Wow, scary.

Cindy - hiya there! Great job on Week 3!! You did it...and it feels great!

Have a great day all

Maureen,

I've read "In Her Shoes" by Jennifer Weiner. I really enjoyed it, but then I haven't remembered to look for any of her other books. I'm always looking for ideas for books/authors so I will try to remember her when I get ready to read something new, hopefully that will be soon! Thanks!

Emy

Hello ladies! It's the day before my weigh in and I am excited to see how I did this week. So much more success with logging and eating clean, I hope it will be one of those mornings when I want to shout from the rooftops! I did a new strength training routine today, which was fun! I have been alternating between two full body workouts each week, it seems to fit in well with my cycling and walk/hike days. But I decided that I need to start doing some variations (wide grip rather narrow / incline bench rather than regular bench). So I got to googling and sorted out a couple new routines to throw in for variety. I had fun, but tomorrow will surely be DOMS-filled. Good thing it's a rest day!

This is the time of year when I'm glad I'm not running. I thought that the humidity had sucked my life force out when I left for the gym this morning. Goodness it is muggy here, glad to know I'm not alone. I'm headed to the beach in a few weeks, so I just need to survive until then!

Brenda, way to go with C25K. That is LOTS of running with no break, be proud! And I’m glad to hear that you love your Traverse.

Lisa, I agree with that lifting advice. When I was predominantly running, I always had injuries, would end up at PT, and he’d say that this was weak, or that was imbalanced, etc. I find that I’m more injury proof when I’m staying strong. Right now I’m strength training regularly, but not cleared to do so by lifting the big bar. I have to use machines where I’m not putting extra weight and stress on my foot. I think the combo of cardio exercises that I can do (rowing, cycling) along with sitting while I’m doing that adductor/abductor machine are all working those flexors more than usual. I did design a couple new strength routines that I started today, we’ll see if that helps!

Emy (googling Greskull LP), I am looking forward to hearing how you like this. I just joined my gym in Feb, and before that , I always steered clear of formal st programs, I just didn’t have all the equipment I needed. Now I’m reminding myself that I should really look into something like this, so tell me what you think as it progresses! Also glad your daughter is okay! Congrats on the great horse weekend.

Maureen, way to recognize that you’re slipping into old habits. Put up a sign on the kitchen wall, or post a picture to remind you to be mindful. And having a plan for some distracting activity is definitely a move in the right direction!

Johanne, keep your head up lady!


Marielle, I too exercise purely so I can eat a little extra each day. Rest days kill me because it feels so meager. A kid-free week!? Well woohoo for you! Enjoy yourself (but not too much in an eating and laying around way).

Whew! Busy day here yesterday! I have only a couple of minutes so I will answer what I remember!

Heading to the gym, then taking the kids to day camp & work will fill my day until bedtime!

I do a program call stronglifts 5x5. It is a very simple program of 2 workouts consisting of 3 exercises (5 in total) that you alternate, and it is uses a barbell. Workout A: squats, bench press, barbell row Workout B squats, overhead press, deadlift. It is a full body workout, and I haven't felt as strong as I feel now. I can't wait until I lose the weight to reveal all the muscle I have built up underneath the fat. I do the work out with my mom. We got a lot of resistance at the gym when we first started because it was different. You are supposed to squat low (*kitten* to grass) & people were telling us we were doing it wrong, that we should do sometime else, etc. Now we are part of the scenery & since we are injury free after several months they leave us alone. Personal trainers give complicated routines that take a lot more time. We are in and out in 45 minutes. My mom is thinner then me & you can see the muscle definition that she has built up. It is amazing for a 64 year old.

Cindy: I do have a hot tub, and usually use it. Yesterday I was just too tired and sore (and it was too hot outside!) to use it.

Glad everyone is happy & active!

Good luck on your weigh in today Pam!

Happy hump day!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Lisa, so sorry about the DOMS but it sounds like you and your mom are doing so great! It must be nice to have your mom as your workout partner. The workout that I was doing was taking a long time (about 90 minutes!). It was a "beginner" full body program from Tom Venuto. I liked it a lot and definitely feel stronger, but I would dread it because I knew it was going to take so long. I did a little research into the various other program and was considering stronglifts. I ended up choosing greyskull lp which is very similar to stronglifts (I think), but instead of 5x5 you do 2x5 and then 1 set to maximum. My daughter and I did our first workout last night, and it only took about 30 minutes. We started out low on the weights so that we could practice our form so I'm not really sore this morning. I have a lot of work to do on my squat form. I was reading about some exercises that I can do that might help me with a nice, deep squat. I'm working out at home and really want a power rack. Don't have the money to spend right now, but yesterday I found Valour squat towers on craigslist for $45. Picked them up after work and they seem to work pretty well.

Cindy, I'm not still doing the 17 day diet exactly. I decided at the end of C3 to basically continue it indefinitely. I was worried about going back to C1 and still being able to increase the intensity of my workouts. Also, I just couldn't bring myself to give up my morning oatmeal! I figure I will see how it goes and adjust later if needed. And you are lucky to be in New England right now! But as much as I dread the summer here every year, I know I couldn't take your winters!

Pam, so glad you have had a great week! Crossing my fingers for you for tomorrow! I'm so glad to hear from both you and Lisa that strength training helps to minimize injuries in running. I've been hoping that is the case, but so many of the articles on the web are contradictory when it comes to combining lifting with running.

Marielle, your weekend plans sound wonderful!!! The ghost bus tour sounds awesome. Nothing better than getting together with your girlfriends for drinks and fun. I hope your friend's daughter gets to feeling better soon. The recovery from that surgery is rough. The first month especially. I had to get familiar with all of the assisted living type equipment available in our local drugstores. Husband and I had to take shifts with her after we got home because she absolutely was helpless. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. It was so worth it in our case and by about 6-8 weeks she started her first semester of college and was driving, walking, etc.

Johanne, you are doing a great thing by helping out your sister, but I know it can be challenging to have someone else in your home indefinitely. Just remember, this too shall pass! Cindy is probably right, you will miss her when she is gone. The house will seem so quiet!!!

Maureen, it must be just a great feeling to see all the miles you have run since 2010! I like to look at my total and it makes me feel really good even though I have only been doing this since May.

Brenda, hope w6d3 went well! You are almost a graduate!

Tonight I'm going to the fun run. Kind of dreading it. The last one was fun, but I pushed myself too hard. Trying to focus myself on going slower and not worrying about whether I am the last to finish or not. I really thought there would be people of all fitness levels in the running club I joined, but it appears they are all high achievers! One guy did the 1/2 mile run with his daughter, then did the 2 mile fun run, and didn't even break a sweat. He told us the 2 mile run was his wife's third run of the day!

So far this week, my weight has stayed below 190! I'm hoping Friday I will have some progress to report.

Emy

Morning everyone! Just a very brief check in as I have some urgencies to take care of at the office before I can get to a proper response to all of you. I have to manage to find the best time of day to prepare this post in the a.m.! You all have so much great stuff going on and when it's not so great, are there lifting each other up. Cool to see. :-)

I see a lot of you are talking heavy lifting. On the (ok perhaps unlikely) assumption that I would find the time and energy outside of my karate classes to look into this, what would be the minimum I would need in the way of equipment etc.? Budget is pretty tight. Time too, honestly, but I'm just curious since so many say how beneficial it is.
The running you girls do is also fanstastic. As I've said before, you are all an inspiration while making me feel okay about have just a regular day with regular struggles and aches and pains ! Speaking of...karate class was pretty rough last night. I was already tired and it was intense - but I got through it. Barely ! Was one of those days where I felt like I have aged very quickly all of a sudden !:-) I'm seeing that if I don't actual do my classes so log the exercise, this 1200 calorie thing does not seem like a lot in a day ! So on a day I wouldn't be training...I feel like I would be hungry. What's up with that ? In any case, doing my best to stick with the plan. I'm shooting for making it back to karate tonight despite my cat feeling the need to wake me up periodically throughout the night last, night surely just to tell me how much he loved me ! :-)

Very dark and stormy day here today. Good day to get tasks done! It should break the humidity and, crossing my fingers here, pave the way for a reasonably warm bright weekend !

Will go back and read everyone's entries when I have more time today to really catch up with what's going on!

Later girls!

p.s. Yes I did see the comments about my sister, and you are right. It is true that it is not easy to live with someone, but it was a no brainer to tell her she could come and stay with me as long as she needed to. As for the quiet when she's gone...have I mentioned the 3 teenagers? lol