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

Happy Saturday Everyone!!!

Got in a good 4 miles today outside I was really excited to get back to running outside...with the exception of the wind it was a fantastic run-may even one of my best. I can really tell this 1/2 marathon training is helping with my speed. Had an average pace of 9:05 per mile (6.6 mph) and had negative splits at each mile. Felt great!!!! :happy:

Bumming around the rest of the day...enjoying a nice GM right now then shower and maybe shopping for some new running shoes??? Starting to feel the wear on my poor Asics.....ugh...love my shoes!

Have a wonderful day!!!
Melissa

Selfish post guys! I SWEAR I LOVE YOU JUST BUSY!
Aly's Measurements 1/18 2/18/2011
Neck 13.5
Upper arm 14.75 13.5
Forearm 10 10
Chest (nip) 40.5 39.5
Waist 33.5 33
Hip-Thigh hits 43.5 42.5
Thigh 26.5 26.5
Calf 15 15 1/8

As you can see I did my measurements last night, glad to see a progress, I am down 3.7 pounds since I measured so it is nice to see it coming off where it counts hehe.

Our workout was cancelled due to bad weather so I went to the gym and did an interval run instead which was nice but so boring. I miss running outside. I have ran on the treadmill 2 times this week due to bad weather bla. It is supposed to get better tomorrow. We have a Swim bike workout tomorrow since our bike ride was rained out. I just had a piece of rice bread with peanut butter sooo good! I am trying gluten free right now and I have to say it feels like it digests better. Maybe my issue was with gluten all along... we shall see. I have dinner tonight with the family at a sushi restaurant so that should be fun, no drinking again which will be fine since my family is kinda on that wagon as well which is good. I get to see my little nephew who is one today yay! I have to get in the shower then brave the weather to grab some bday gifts. Have a great weekend everyone!

This is a new recipe that I tried tonight, which was pretty good, so I thought that I would post it

Cider Pulled Pork (slow cooker recipe)

2lbs pork loin (I used boneless ribs)
3/4tsp salt
1/4tsp pepper
2 cups (divided) unsweetened apple juice
3 sprigs rosemary (I used 3 tsps)
1/2 cup dried cherries (I used dried plums)
5 tsp cornstarch

1.salt/pepper pork and brown pork in a skillet.
2.add 1c apple juice into slow cooker, add 2tsps Rosemary. Top with pork and remaining rosemary. Add plums. Cover and cook for 5 hours on low.
3. Remove meat, shred, and keep warm.
4. Strain cooking liquid into saucepan and add 3/4 cup apple juice. Bring to boil.
5. Combine cornstarch and remaining 1/4c apple juice until smooth and add to liquid mixture. Bring to boil, cover, stir, and cook for 1-2 min until thickened.
6. Add sauce to meat and serve over brown rice.

Makes 6 servings.
1 serving(without rice)~244 calories, 9g fat, 368mg sodium, 20g carbs, 1g fiber, 32g protein

~Radd... dinner looks awesome!~! Can I come over????

~Alexis...thats soo awesome that you got such a great deal on your gym membership!~!

~Cait... I hope the stress in your life starts to cool down. Good luck.

AFM... Just did half of an Army PT test. Instead of seeing how many sit ups and pushups I can do in 2 min each, I did one min for each one. I got 9 push ups in and 25 situps. And instead of timing 2 miles (which I CANT do yet) I did one mile. 11 min!~! not bad, almost died, and my lungs are still on fire but not bad I dont think. Its soo cold out that I feel like my lungs are frozen.

I am a little disapointed though. I thought I could do more situps. I swear I didnt even feel any pain. My stomach just gave out. I was soo mad at myself. I guess all those crunches and stuff I have been doing werent perfect. I need to watch my form. Not sure who said it, but one of you told me to watch my form a few days ago, and you were right!~! well now I have something to go on. I have a score to beat. I am going into a rehab for 6 weeks. Its a military run rehab so we have PT everyday. So I plan on being able to do a whole PT test when I get out!~!~!

This is a new recipe that I tried tonight, which was pretty good, so I thought that I would post it

Cider Pulled Pork (slow cooker recipe)

2lbs pork loin (I used boneless ribs)
3/4tsp salt
1/4tsp pepper
2 cups (divided) unsweetened apple juice
3 sprigs rosemary (I used 3 tsps)
1/2 cup dried cherries (I used dried plums)
5 tsp cornstarch

1.salt/pepper pork and brown pork in a skillet.
2.add 1c apple juice into slow cooker, add 2tsps Rosemary. Top with pork and remaining rosemary. Add plums. Cover and cook for 5 hours on low.
3. Remove meat, shred, and keep warm.
4. Strain cooking liquid into saucepan and add 3/4 cup apple juice. Bring to boil.
5. Combine cornstarch and remaining 1/4c apple juice until smooth and add to liquid mixture. Bring to boil, cover, stir, and cook for 1-2 min until thickened.
6. Add sauce to meat and serve over brown rice.

Makes 6 servings.
1 serving(without rice)~244 calories, 9g fat, 368mg sodium, 20g carbs, 1g fiber, 32g protein

Looks yummy!!! Wrote it down to try!!! Thanks! Tj!!!

Hey All- love all the recipe sharing you guys are doing on here! Great to see that! Things are going well. Stress is over and in all honesty I sometimes feel like its not so much the stressful events that are going on but what we do with them and how we handle them. I dunno it that makes sense. So I am just try to keep myself balanced and take it one moment at a time. Just wanted to pop in and let you all know that I am here and cheering you on as you are all Kicking *kitten* with what seems like a crazy month for all of us. Keep up the great work and enjoy the rest of your Sunday ladies!

Cait

hey ladies!!
wow have i been MIA for a long time.. so much to catch up on.. first i just want to say thanks for all the support this month both with the weight loss issues and not.. I took the GRE on monday, which went ok. I looke dup the average scores and mine were a little below them, but I"m not applying to an ivy league school or anything so i'll take it. i was getting so frustrated because i got to the place 15 minutes early, and they didn't call me in until almost 9, when my appointment was for 8:30. argh! the first part consists of writing 2 essays, and for the first you get 45 min. wow was it hard to get my mind back into doing things like that. a good 10 minutes went by and i had about 3 sentences typed, and still had half a clue as to where my essay was going lol. i managed to pull it together and just made it before time ran out. we'll see how well i did when i get my scores.

as far as other things this month... well my goals were basically down the tubes, but i think today was that day that i'm turning it around. i'd log on here on my phone and read status updates and that was about it. work is crazy stressful right now due to people leaving my already small-staffed shift, and the managers above me are doing a sub-par job in my opinion in regards to dealing with things in general, not just with my shift. i wanted to get back on schedule with TurboFire, which didn't happen, so i decided to just start again from the beginning. on the plus side, i would work out by doing Just Dance 2, with my weighted gloves, and if you really go full out with it, you'll def get a great burn, plus it's just fun. i'd pretty much lost 95% of my motivation, and was trying desperately to get it back, and was semi-obsessed with watching weight loss shows on tv lol. oh and forget the non-existent logging! :grumble:

i don't know what it is with with month, but from reading through the posts it seems everyone's been going through some downers... thank goodness the bulk of the cold months is over, and the spring light is nearing!! today i decided to really get focused again, b/c i really want to look good for this summer and rock a bikini for the first time. i was all set to start TF but got met with a rolled eyes expression from my mother, who camped herself in front of the tv through 3 straight hockey games.. god forbid she watches one not in HD for an hour! ugh she started to take it back but i said forget it and went running instead.. i made it 2 miles, walked 1/4, then another 3/4, walked 1/4 then finished out the rest. wow it was a battle today, but i felt great seeing the burn on my HRM.

Stuartme-happy belated bday!! and congrats on the progess with C25K!

brittfam & NicNac86-welcome!! never too late to join in with this amazingly fantastic group. everyone here is so supportive and has made such an impact on my journey!

Kandace- believe me i know it's such a downer to see the scale go up, but keep working hard, and take a break from the evil scale, and i say as long as you're feeling great, then forget what the number is... i need to take my own advice haha! also, sorry to hear of your mom. i lost my father almost 9 years ago, and while i've dealt with that a long time ago, i still can't verbally tell people how it affected my mom.. even thinking about it gets me upset.

Guam- sorry to hear about your living situation. my friend had a similar issue with her parents moving, forcing her to find a place.. she moved in with her bf, and although they had their problems, things seem to be ok now.. and her parents ended up not moving after all. hope all works out for you!

Meag- hope your aches and pains are better! you always amaze me with the runs and esp your eating habits. now that i've gotten the exercise thing down i need to spend time on actually preparing more things besides chicken lol. i acutally really enjoy cooking, but i feel like i spend a fortune and come out with 2 meals. i found this cookbook in which all of the recipes have 5 ingredients or less, and i've made a couple things from it which were fab.. i should really take another look

Megan- major congrats on the 2 miles!! the first i did it i felt like cartwheeling through the park lol. i totally feel ya with the music getting you through. My repeat is usally Lady Gaga-Bad Romance, or some Coheed.

tara- love the new pic, so cute! hope your WI's go well!! i'm sure you'll be kicking *kitten* this month as usual!

ok my computer at work is going to be restarting in 15 minutes, so i apologize if i don't get to everyone before then!

gonks- sorry your WI was less than perfect, but at least it wasn't a gain, like my last one! hope things are going well with the apt search!!

finn- my girl! you've been in the depths like me lol. hopefully march will be a better month for us all! sorry to hear about the car.. my sister's on her 3rd now, at the age of 22 lol.

lola- i don't belong to a gym, and have lost all my weight without one. i did curves a while back it was about $45/month. i don't have a good relationship with gyms as i start out good then a couple months in i just flat out stop going. the price will vary depending on the place.. we have a Retro Fitness near me which is $20/month. i've relied on the pavement for running, and my girl Chalene Johnson for TurboJam/Fire.. not to sound like an infomercial, but my life has totally been changed by her workouts. just go with what works best for you, no right or wrong way as long as you're losing weight!

melissa- great job on the run! i can't wait to get to the point where i'm keeping up with u and Meag.. you guys keep me reaching. i have my 1/2 in oct, so i have plenty of time to train, and hope to do some 5k's in the coming months. my co-worker/friend is doing it with me, so it'll be nice to have someone to train with..

ok that's all i can get to for now.. hope everyone had a good weekend... i'm on night 4 of 5, and am starting to feel it, ugh! the good thing is i have tues and wed off to look forward to, and my reward will be seeing Lady Gaga @ MSG on tues, night, and snowboarding on wed!!! sooo excited!! p.s. i tried to SB again, and it was actually fun this time lol, except when i fell on my knees, which caused so major bruises and soreness for a couple days..:flowerforyou:

quick selfish post for me.. just trying to keep things on track. I have to "readjust" my goal. In the begining of the month I wanted to reach 157. I dont think thats going to happen. (had a very stressful month) I started out at 163, so all month I have only lost one pound. I feel like thismonth as been soo long and so unproductive for me. But I cant get too discouraged. all I can go is take my weight and continue. uhh, I would be lieing if I wasnt super frustrated though. But uhh... here goes..

160 by Feb 28th
week 4/5 of Feb.... gym 4xs. home w/o 3xs. at least 25 situps a day 10 push ups every other day.


~NicNac... way to go on the loss!~!~!

it's been a couple weeks since i've been on the forum. i was depressed over valentines day & had a few really bad food days & got off track & then i was sick & stopped doing the 30 day shred, but through being sick (majority lost was prob water weight), i dropped the rest of my goal for this month! i'm 124lbs ) so i'm back & feeling much better & starting back on the 30 day shred today & eating right. fresh start! i'm kind of expecting to put another couple pounds back on or maintain the rest of this month because i was sick & not keeping anything in for most of last week, but i'm happy with the results now that i'm feeling better. it's crazy that like 5 pages of the forum were added in the last week or so that i haven't been on here! i'll read back & catch up with everyone & hope everyone else has been making progress & doing well!

so monday weigh in is 124lbs (-4 this month!)

Rachel - I have a membership at my school's athletics centre which is included in our fees, but a paid membership runs about $45 monthly I believe. Before using the gym at school, I had a membership at Goodlife, which was $22 biweekly for a year membership and way too steep imo compared with the facilities at other gyms for the same cost or less.

Tj - that dinner looks amazing. Slowcooker meals are the best!

Cait - hugs to you - I hope things look up, and your attitude is great - you are so right, it's more how we handle what life throws at us rather than the content of the situation itself. Keep on rocking on with that awesome outlook and you will come out the other side soaring.

NicNac - Welcome! And that recipe looks so good - totally trying it tonight, I usually end up throwing some approximation of those ingredients into my wok as I'm finishing a stirfry to make what I like to think is a kind of curry haha. This sounds much better so I'm totally going to give it a try.

Meag - Also an Ontarian so I feel you on the ridiculousness of having a civic holiday today. I just rained all over my roommate's parade as she was heading out to the post office by being the messenger of that there's no way she's overnighting any package today.

Oh and after a trip to the grocery store last week, pondering the squash for several minutes, googling pictures of buttercup squash on my phone while at the grocery store still, and consulting another person in the produce section, I ended up with - an acorn squash according to the more thorough googling I've done since. What I now recognize as the buttercup squash had a label written in spanish I think and google image results maddeningly show pictures of both the acorn and the buttercup. I know you linked a picture of what it looked like, and I definitely looked at it - I just have a really terrible memory apparently. Ah well, trial and error is a good form of learning.

AFM - Feel kind of thrown off my workouts, had midterms last week so was crazy busy and didn't work out as much as I wanted to (though I still got in the minimum amount at least planned for cardio) and then got slammed on Friday with a nasty 48-hr kinda bug. It was the oddest thing, I felt fine Friday morning, suddenly felt exhausted early afternoon so laid down for a minute, and then woke up 5 hours later with swollen glands, a seriously painful throat, and all fevered and feeling like garbage. Totally came out of nowhere, and I'm glad its seemingly completely gone now. But I finally broke the plateau I've been on for the last couple weeks so I'm stoked about that - seems like upping my daily intake by a bit and getting better about eating at least some of my exercise calories did the trick. Maybe just coincidental timing since it was about a week after I put my daily levels up, but it seems pretty in line with what everyone says here about calorie deficits and eating your exercise calories. Anyway, I'm going to get back into it today and finish the month strong with all of the kicking *kitten* people! There's a pilates class at the gym I'm wanting to try to mix up my workouts more, does anyone have any experience/tips/whatever with pilates they want to share? Definitely stretch enough beforehand would be number one I'm assuming lol.

Hope everyone is having a great Monday! :happy:

I'm back! I've been gone from the board, but not gone from MFP for about two weeks. Was at my parent's place in AZ and then when I came back to Canada I had so much work piled up that I really had to focus on it for about a week. Also had a lot of job stuff rolling around. I've been on multiple 2 - 3 month contracts for the last year and this week I interviewed for my own position so that I could get a 13 month contract (until next fiscal). Finally accepted the job last Thursday but am still sorting out some of the compensation details.

I'm kung fu-ing so hard! 3 x a week for the first time last week! I was very proud of myself. I'm learning a basic form that I can hopefully compete with at the next big martial arts tournament in May. My sifu (chinese equiv of japanese sensei) says that I'm learning very fast thanks to my athletic and dancing back ground, so that's my new goal right now: to master the form to a solid novice level so I can compete in the Novice 18+ in late may. We'll see how it goes!

Here's what my week's look like work out wise:

Monday: Step class
Tuesday: Kung fu!
Weds: Spin Class
Thursday: Yoga and Kung Fu
Friday: Pilates
Sat: Rest
Sunday: KUNG FUUUUUUU