Beautiful Behaviors - May 2017

@jessiquoi - How did you do? Hope you had a great weekend
@CT0526 - Don't I know that feeling, it rained here for it seemed like 2 weeks straight some roads were closed because they were under water! But this weekend was sunny and loved it.
@katadx - That's awesome. I need to add more stretching into my week. I always stretch before and after my workouts but I know that my body would benefit from yoga or a whole session of stretching. OhmyDelicious - I love pineapple ---haha, now I want pineapple
@KimF0715 - So, really if you look at it from a different perspective - Truly you could have bombed both days, pizza night and sangria + rice night. BUT instead you only had 1 night of splurging?! See, I allowed myself some treats yesterday, however the rest of last week was on track. And you are aware of what you want to change and you can work toward that.
@aleahurst - I am glad that you were able to enjoy mother's day and the food. I agree, food tastes so good This being aware and working toward what we want thing, is hard lol

Update: Friday I completed 100 minutes of James Grage Rewired back and treadmill incline. I had to meet my bf at the gym that night because I wanted to get my cardio in and the gym closes early on Fridays. This was the main reason I did so much cardio, I don't want to sit and wait on him so I just extended my cardio session. (I guess that's kinda good) Also, I need to eat more earlier on in the day on training days because I was feeling a little woozy and low energy.
Saturday I completed 70 minutes of Legs! Again due to a sudden schedule change in my day, I didn't have time to eat lunch before my workout. Again, I felt low energy and it was hard to push myself in my workout. Lesson learned, more fuel for my workouts, better timing with my eating and always carry protein bars with me!!! (normally I do have protein bars in my purse, but ran out) I immediately stopped at Chipotle after and got double chicken, lettuce, veggies with salsa!
Sunday - I allowed myself small popcorn at the movies, but didn't eat it all. And then late last night I didn't feel like cooking so we had Five Guys, cheeseburger and fries. It tasted so good!
I read over my carb cycling (I couldn't find the information last week). I actually should be doing a 2:1 with one flex day, so I will be practicing that this week. Depending on your goal and how much you have to lose effects which carb cycle is best for you. So having the Five Guys and popcorn was my flex

Thought of the day: Don't give up pursuing what's going to make you feel most alive! **I cried and was very sad Sunday morning because I was remembering my mom. I made a healthy breakfast, I did not eat my feelings. Also today I've already had feelings of 'why am I trying to eat healthier, why am I trying to lose this little bit of weight. why can't I just be like everyone else here and buy pancakes, hashbrowns, muffins, cinnamon rolls, etc for breakfast, why do I care so much about this goal'. Then I snapped out of it, because I'm worth it! I don't want to just let myself go - that's giving up on myself. I actually enjoy the challenge and I know I can do it. -Beautiful Behavior

Hope your Monday is stress free

This week i am contemplating taking a few days off from my normal exercise routine, or at least cutting it in half for a week. I'm moving on Thursday and going to be joining my new gym joining classes there and really want to be rip-roarin and ready to go. Here at school, I've been feeling a little lack of inspiration at the gym lately. Maybe I'm just burnt out from being away at school and missing my family. Do any of you think a few days off could help me feel re-energized and help my mental state towards exercising? Have you tried this? I'm a little nervous to take time off or lessen my routine.

Hope everyone has a quick and painless monday!

@jessiquoi - you are super inspiring! I think what you said to @str8bowbabe was straight on! I love that you asked her what she could do differently
@str8bowbabe - I think a conversation with your hubby is in order before this happens again so that it doesn't happen again - I like Jess's "always believe he has positive intent" then once you speak your mind and discuss this should NOT happen again and you can order the chicken and salad - or have one slice of pizza and skinless baked chicken or some combo - and please learn to forgive yourself - think about what you would tell your best friend if he or she did what you did - then tell that to yourself
@aleahurst - use that oxygen! we don't want to lose you dear
@happysherri - I love that you both inspire each other - that is what partners are for!
@KimF0715 - I wouldn't worry about eating the french fries - you stayed under calories - I ate chipolte twice last week and stayed under calories - you made other good choices that day

So I got to spend some quality time with my son that turns 18 on Wednesday! We went to an all you can eat brunch. I did okay. I ate a little of this and that. Stopped eating for a bit and then had a piece of roast beef. Yummmmmmy. I just threw a bunch of calories on my food intake and didn't bother measuring. Had some shrimp and a few baked fries for dinner. Weight wasn't too bad this morning.

I had my MS infusion this morning and I don't feel too bad like I did last month. I should be able to swim tomorrow morning.

So I put on this dress yesterday and I noticed that my shoulders and arms are skinnier. They are still super muscular, but not as fatty as they have been. My tummy is still fat, my swimsuit is rolling up a little in the middle. I wonder if my tummy will ever go away.

Have any of you ladies put on a lot of menopause weight and then lost it in the stomach? I have always had a tummy, but menopause made it bigger.

I am in my in between clothes. I went through my jeans and shorts yesterday and put big ones away and tight ones in my older son's room since he doesn't live here any more.

Here is a picture from yesterday.

@nickiphillips1 Your dog sounds amazing! I can't wait to get a dog. Some days I still wander onto petfinder.com and just browse all the dogs in my area and I drive myself crazy! Also, congrats on your arms!!! I can't speak from experience with menopause, but I still have tummy fat and I'm underweight. I guess I've just started to trust that it's there for a reason!
@happysherri Awesome! Thats a lot of shoulder work! Way to power through And haha I think random meals made of bits and pieces are some of the best and most satisfying. Going out more sounds like an excellent beautiful behaviour to practice! What kinds of things do you want to plan?


Today I felt a little more energized at the gym. My final exam today wasn't until 10:30 so I got a little bored and ended up going to the gym and told myself I'd go for just a 3 mile elliptical session. Well, once I got to 3 miles I felt like going my complete 6! I had the right music going and I decided to take advantage of my good mood and do it all. It hardly felt like work! I just wish I could make all my workouts feel this way. The first 20 minutes is always the hardest. Does anyone else have experience with this difficulty too? The first 20 minutes I'm exercising I'm thinking 'Oh heavens why am I even here why am I paying for this' but by the time I'm 2/3 done I'm like 'WOO THIS IS THE LIFE I LOVE THIS FEELING' and it's so frustrating some days. I always feel great afterwards though so thats what I remind myself of. I also practiced my beautiful behavior and took enough time to properly stretch today. It really helps with the soreness to take time to slow down and care for my body with stretches.

@nickiphillips1 - I would love to be able to swim at least 2 - 3 times a week. I miss it so much. I am part fish or so my momma said. I don't really have a pool close to me but soon the lake at the farm will be warm enough and I can get some swimming in there.

@katadx - I feel that way most of the time when I am on the treadmill but when I am outside I am fine.

Goal for today - heading home to do more rock moving. Hoping to get in a nice long walk too. Maybe I go for the walk first...

The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.
- Confucius

@katadx - That's beautiful behavior, stretching is very important. I love those days where you feel energized and kill the workout! I am planning on possibly hikes, volunteering at pet shelters, mini roadtrips (day trips), swimming (leisurely, not like ya'll ), also my daughter and I are going to start painting (I used to paint all of the time)
@nickiphillips1 - Woot Woot! Under 180!!! Love it! That picture is Fire! Foxy
@str8bowbabe - Rock moving - whew, that sounds exhausting. Keep it up
@CT0526 - Aw, happy mother's day to you. Enjoy the swim meet and do your best on the other.
@aleahurst - Good Golly! 3 hours of hard yard work, I know you melted some calories with that! I bet the yard and flowers look fabulous! Cole Slaw - blech, I just don't like cole slaw, never have no matter how it's made. However I did have some on a spicy sandwich and could barely taste it and liked it then. Hmm. Enjoy!
@gophermatt - Thanks! I really do love it too. Obviously after focusing on weight and nutrition and exercise, it's good to talk about and think of other things that add to our health and mental well being. I love positivity and try to practice it.

Update: I have not worked out in 2 days. My stomach has been cramping and I just couldn't pull through. Monday night I was holding my stomach in between sets. I will survive (with a little Midol haha). I have been doing okay on the carb cycling. Yesterday was my high carb day and I added an extra piece of texas toast and a handful of m & ms that I could have left off and it would have improved my stats. However, I didn't feel well and Gosh, darn it, I wanted that bread and chocolate LOL! I still ended up in maintenance calories and due to the prior 2 days being low calories, it all balances out. Yay!
A plus was that I did stay home from work yesterday and toward the later part of the day I felt up to going to the grocery (I always put this off until we only have mustard left ha). I meal prepped last night and ended up vacuuming - it was so dusty!!!
Beautiful Behavior - I reached out to my sisters (I have 4!!!!) to make plans for this weekend, I never make plans. So, I am putting my plan in action.

Thought for the day: If "plan A" didn't work. The alphabet has 25 more letters, stay cool. **Obviously no one is perfect, we all make mistakes and things don't always work out the way that we plan. We have options, stay down and continue to feel defeated. Or look at it as a journey with bumps in the road and keep going or take the other road and find our way. Life definitely hasn't worked out the way I pictured it, with - divorce, depression, loss of different jobs, loss of some friendships, disappointments, etc... Truth is I did stay with my head down for a little while (partly because of the depression), but after a while of 'woe is me'. I raised my head and thought I can still have a fabulous life, maybe just not with the people I thought were going to stick around (-meh, their loss). Now, I feel like a strong warrior who can take the tough times when and if they come!!!

Happy Thursday.

nickiphillips1 wrote: »

I was under 180 today for the first time in a few years! Yay!! I keep wondering if my scale is broken and I weigh more.

I talked to someone from swimming this morning that told me she still hasn't lost her belly from menopause, yet her belly looked awfully flat to me.

I know we all are hard on our bodies. Does it bother you when people that are really skinny call themselves fat?

She told me that I looked like I lost weight in my face. That, I can tell. And my suit is rolling a little, because it has been stretched out. I may need to find a new suit. It also rolls a little in the butt, which is weird because I didn't think I had gained weight there.

I took a selfie for the dating app.

Great picture! You have a beautiful smile, and I love that shirt.

I've really been enjoying this thread (and April's). It's nice to see so many supportive people posting and sharing.

I just came across this thread, how lovely!

A kind thing I did for myself yesterday was skip the ice cream social I helped throw yesterday at work. Skip in the sense was pass on eating the ice cream.

Today I aim to get a walk in at lunch