Wednesday morning! I just keep chugging along. Tomorrow through Saturday will be a great test, and lots of exercise. It is the Montana State 3Gun Match, and the boys and I are also staffing the event. Lots of steel to put up and tear down, lots of walking, and long days. I will have to make sure to keep my posts here and not blow it...

have a great time Mark 3 gun is always fun!

Also wanted to thank John for the love, issues and all!
I am not sure I will ever get called out on the ice bucket challenge John so I might have to take you up on that challenge you put out to this group! Anyone else catch that? He called us all out!!

Hey Kim - how is the glute challenge going? I did a 30 day squat challenge last year. It is great for motivation and you said you wanted some.
Speaking of motivation, I have already lifted twice this week. I decided today that
I AM NOT GOING TO WEIGH MYSELF for a very long time. Why would I?? I am lifting and trying to build muscle. That is really dumb to obsess the way I do over my gravitational pull when I'm trying to get heavier muscles.
Clothes and measuring tape.. those are my new obsessions. I mean tools.

Kevin - AWESOME on the pull ups. Some day I hope to be able to do ONE. Kick butt man!!!

Speaking of motivation, I have already lifted twice this week. I decided today that
I AM NOT GOING TO WEIGH MYSELF for a very long time. Why would I?? I am lifting and trying to build muscle. That is really dumb to obsess the way I do over my gravitational pull when I'm trying to get heavier muscles.
Clothes and measuring tape.. those are my new obsessions. I mean tools.

Kevin - AWESOME on the pull ups. Some day I hope to be able to do ONE. Kick butt man!!!

I was told a while back to stop worrying about weight and pay more attention to health and fitness and the weight will take care of itself. I think that is lost on a lot of people, and today's society glorifies people who look like holocaust survivors. I really had to ask myself (forgive me any of yall that are older) what I wanted to be when I hit 40? At 29 I realized that I was either going to start going uphill, or just keep heading down there is no coasting. With 6 kids, my desire is to set a good example for them, in ALL areas of life as well as just being able to chase them around the yard, and maybe even do the same with grandkids some day.

It was a tough night last night as we went to a baseball game at the local Triple A team. However I stayed away from the beer and it was 50 cent wing night so I just had 15 boneless wings and stayed in my calories.

As long as that is 9:30 pm I can make that assuming I don't miss any days between now and Aug 31st. Here are the 8 people still in the running. Hmrjmr1, MarkMcElvy, montana_girl, beerbikegirl, markd_cronenw, GoodDaytoYou, heronh and Howie.

Howie- hear you on wanting a beer! Try working in the industry. I love beer, but have to be somewhat careful how much I drink it. If I'm not eating any other grains, I can sneak in a beer or two a week without bloating or GI distress. More than that nope, not so much.

Carol - Glad to hear you aren't going to weigh for a while. I was worried if you started getting a little initial inflammation, extra glycogen and even muscle gain you'd see it on scale and freak. Jason Seib has some great pictures somewhere of women at the same weight before and after starting weight lifting, but like 3 sizes or more SMALLER (maybe his book, but I think also on line, I'll try to find).

Kevin - I'm with John on just lift weights and walk - maybe adding in some short sprints on your walks. I discovered this summer that the neighborhood south of us is quite rolling hilly. I've been doing longish walks maximizing the hills all summer, and have now progressed to adding 5-8 20-30 second sprints up the hills (really jogs, I'm so not a hard runner). I noticed this weekend mountain biking that more climbing ability, aerobic fitness, and ability to recover from a climb while still pedaling (climb in WI "mountain biking" scale) is greatly improved. Despite not riding as much all summer but walking tons of hills. I've also discovered that I lost zero deadliest strength over the summer despite not lifting. Bret t Contreas posted a link to an abstract that talked about uphill running (and I believe walking) activates the glutes. (Have no clue my 1rep DL max....as I only have enough Olympic plates to load a 150# total bar. I know I can do at least 3-5 reps 2-3 sets with it currently. If my goal is a greater thana 200# DL, I better buy a set of 35 or 45s or something one of these days)

Which leads me to the 30day flute challenge Carol asked how it was going. Only on day three so can't really answer. I added a 15# KB yesterday and today. I am a bit worried about the volume in future weeks. Both from a time to complete and a recovery standpoint - as it really gets into far too long metabolic work. I'm considering just doing the 60-70-80-90-100 rep rotation over and over but upping weight each week. Versus building to 250 reps. I know my body and how quickly I get into cortisol issues - not to mention injury. Nonetheless, its got me back into the basement lifting some weight. I enjoy lifting. But summer I enjoy walking/hiking/biking more and use my limited time for that.

Pretty cool post beerbikegirl! So true, the scale can be your worst enemy.

I went to swim aerobics for the first time tonight. It was surprisingly awesome! Proud of my friend for going. We suited up and killed it for an hour.

Funtastic Friday Folks. I hope all is well with all of you.

Carol - I had assume 0930 meant in the morning but either way I would need a day of leave to do it, fortunately my Supv is pretty flexible and approved it yesterday. So if the sun keeps shining and nothing much goes wrong between now and then I'll be there.

Heron - Bummer on the ankle, hope it gets better soon just remember it takes 10 X as long for connective tissues to heal than it does muscle. So give yourself plenty of rest.

Had a farewell lunch for a co worker yesterday at Red Lobster, Doubled up on the Stuffed Mushroom appetizer and kept things carb free. I'm not much of a seafood fan but the Crab Lobster stuffing under cheese was pretty good.

Don't forget folks RED TOP (Remember Every Deployed Troop Overseas Protecting us.) on Fridays.

Doesn't everyone want a beer! It's proof God loves us and wants us to be happy. lol John I think you are stuck on military time, you added a 0 in there. lol Carol works days so I think she meant pm but I could be wrong.

I had a great week this week and the scale showed it. I'm down the 4 lbs I was up last week.

Happy Friday Everyone! I love reading all of your contributions as to what's a happening in your lives. Such a diverse group. It's really cool.

Kim - You are definitely on to something regarding lifting heavy as opposed to doing hundreds of reps. I think that lifting weights will give you much better results. In the end, what we are going for is hypertrophy and that comes from lifting heavy weights...at least that's what I have read. There are other glute programs on that same site or through the same trainers that include heavy lifting days. I chose the challenge because I do well with them and they keep me inline and interested for at least the challenge time (in this case 30 days). I'm also doing 3 days/week of strength training too. Since I hurt my back a month ago, I'm taking it slow. The workout I found is here: http://www.strongfirst.com/why-a-woman-should-be-strong/. It can easily be done in your home gym since you have a barbell and maybe kettlebells or dumbells. I'm doing Romanian deadlifts instead of barbell deadlifts...at least for this week.

Stacy - I know you will get back into your groove. I get in a funk often. I seem to do well for a few months, get too comfortable where I at, slack off, get depressed and over it, have to (or should) buy bigger clothes, and then I'm forced to get back to it. Vicious cycle, but I do it every year. Sometimes a few times a year. Duh-It just seems silly.

Carol - You are doing great with your workouts and eating! It's probably nice to have a trainer and a nutritionist to keep you accountable and to offer guidance. Love that!

Mark - Good luck with your competition!

Howie - Great loss this week! That's amazing that you are really close to losing 200 lbs! Awesome!


Have a great weekend! BEER for all!!