on the same note . . . i've been thinking for the past day that maybe i was too optimistic about not harming my knees with deadlifts. but then today i actually looked at my kneecaps instead of just poking them and going 'ow'.

oh, i get it now. bruises.

@ Llama -- Sometimes we just have an off day. Give yourself a break and don't beat yourself up. You'll get it next time!

well, i feel vindicated for telling the guy to go ahead and order me 100-dollar tires with studs in them for my bike. i just went out on my back deck and there's sheet ice all over it. and the knobs, well . . . i guess at least i get to be the only person in the city who's going to be hoping for snow.

they weigh 3 pounds each though

wow! wow! wow! great article. ty everyone for sharing.

Well I've been sick and haven't lifted in nearly two weeks, Spartan race soreness first then sick kids, then sick me, now sick hubby. That virus needs to get the hell out! Anyways... I've missed you all and hope to lift again Monday. If I can start eating soon that is.

last night i pinched four 5lb plates together and carried them back to their peg on the rack . . . with the fingertips of my left hand

now that impressed me. i don't think anyone else would even notice it enough to think about whether it's badass or not, but believe me. i don't know what the 'standards' and 'norms' are for grip strength, but 20lbs worth of fingertip grip seems pretty badass to me.

I was reading another article that crabada posted while I was at the girlie doc yesterday (what did we do before smart phones while waiting for doctors??), anywho, it made me remember that I may not always love my body for the way it looks, but it helped me produce, carry and deliver 2 beautiful and healthy daughters!
And while I wasn't stoked about it during pregnancy, getting the news of having gestational diabetes was the best thing that ever happened. It caused me to totally turn around my eating habits and finally get into working out and not chatting for an hour with my workout buddy :-)

I also LOVE that I have taken up lifting! I once loved classes, etc, but now I look forward to my time loading up that bar with plates.

Ugh! Im sick! I tried so hard to not believe it was happening, but I now sound like a 12 year old boy/80yo smoker when I talk. Thank goodness its mostly just a chest/cough thing so I can resume most of my normal life.

I will be taking the rest week as planned and actually resting a best I can. No cardio either.

Have a good week ladies!

We used to have a recipe thread, but I'll post this here. I made this last night, http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/09/low-fat-baked-ziti-with-spinach.html

I added Italian chicken sausage to it. It was delicious! Based on the ingredients I used, it made 8, 400 calorie servings. (And they were actually decent-sized servings).

Ugh, I'm going through withdrawals...I had some complications with my flu shot this year and my arm has been so sore I haven't lifted in over 2 weeks! I had a doc look at it, and it is feeling much better now, so I'm hoping to be back at it on Monday. I've been doing lots of cardio in the meantime but I need to get back into the strength training! Thanks for letting me vent.