Hey ladies. Life's been getting in the way of checking in-between work stress and home life stress things are just array. Been staying on top of working out and trying to eat well. Started NROLfW this weekend. Finally gave in to paying for a month of gym membership until DH's gym workdays kick in to equate to free summer gym membership. Just needed to break out of the home workout routine for a bit. With the house being in disarray with the remodel and all of life's other to dos, DH agreed that getting out of the house for an hour or two to hit the weights was needed. Started on Saturday with Workout A, hit up intervals on Sunday, a light walk Monday, and then Workout B today. Got a super light workout planned tomorrow morning to rest up for my Workout A on Thursday. As much as home workouts are necessary and effective, I feel a sense of 'ah' just getting that little break. I am an advocate for both sides of the spectrum given each of our situations. I'm just glad to have the opportunity to switch both back and forth because it keeps me motivated to keep moving forward.

Chloe- I've heard awesome things about Chalean's program for strength training. A bunch of my MFP friends have done it, and if I hadn't gotten P90x off a friend I would have splurged on that. I think she does a great job of motivating you (at least what I see in Turbo Fire) and makes the workouts effective but also upbeat. Which at 5am, can be helpful! I love Tony, but don't always enjoy him bright and early!!

Ris-Good luck on your research, I know I've heard similar things. But like Solar said, it feels like forever ago that I read it.

Kate- Just saw another drop from you on the face page. You are doing amazing. Love your balance for life and fitness. Enjoy your trip, long but so going to be worth it I'm sure!!

Amy- I'm with you on needing to go to the store for groceries. I opened the produce drawer this AM and saw nothing but wilted lettuce. Clean eating tastes and feels great but I think I'm BFF's with the grocery store cashiers lately!!

Keep it up ladies. I feel like I'm hit or miss on the boards lately so hopefully things will slow down and I can get back to being active. I've been trying to make sure I prelog my foods since I fail to get in here as much during the day lately. But it's going ok. Chloe- that sugar thing drives me nuts. I ate like 18 sour patch kids and threw my sugar out the window. Darn you DH for having those in your gym bag!! :laugh:

I just joined up with MFP over the past few days, and I discovered these groups today. I saw one discussion in the "Not That Heavy Girls" and almost left this group. I am frustrated with these stubborn 10-11 lbs. and this new-found bloating that has arrived with the onset of perimenopause over the past 2 years. It is crazy! Of course, I know it's my fault, too. I stopped competing in triathlons 2 years ago, and that must have been the trigger. Now, I work and come home. The trackers on MFP have really helped hold me accountable. Reading your inspiring stories and great support for each other is SO INSPIRING! Any one want to invite friendship to help along the way?? Lost a few lbs. but so easy for the scale to jump up 3-4 lbs. Hope this group can help. People at work just don't understand why I want to lose weight. Because I don't just want my clothes to fit! I want to feel good in my body and my clothes!

Oh--2 week goals:
Just try to stick to my goal of 45 min. of exercise per day, and log in each day to MFP. Try to keep counting my calories (some days it is challenging, and depressing! Time to face the music!!)

Kate- quick drop in on the IF thing. I did IF with the eat from 12pm-8pm rule. When I was lifting weights, this worked well for me. I didn't use a BCAA like it is suggested on the website. I tried one and didn't like the taste and didn't want to spend the money on trying another. I've read they come in pill form too, if that's something you are interested in. I considered going back to IF with lifting weights again. At this point, I'm just trying to keep my head above water!! So I've not put much thought into it. But I did find it relatively easy to transition into since breakfast is not one of my favorite meals of the day and mornings are already busy enough without trying to squeeze in a meal.

Kate- ENJOY YOURSELF!! Have a blast!!

Chloe- I completely understand what you are saying. I think we all can find effective programs for ourselves where ever they need to be. I'm a 9 months home/3 months gym girl. :laugh: The little break is great for keeping me going, but between convenience of home and snow 6-7months a year- I'm good with lots of home workouts. I had to laugh at your 'he stays, I stay out..' comment. That would be DH and I if we both worked out at home!!

Amy- I caught some of that the other day when I went through the 'group' part to get to our board. Not exactly what I think you meant when you set up the group. Glad we can hid out in here though!! :drinker:

Ashley- Saw your loss pop up on my face page. Great job. All your efforts to get movin' and groovin' again post-adorable little one have been effective keep it up girl!! :flowerforyou:

I just want to say that I am enjoying NROL. It's been kicking my butt and I love it. I have a question for you all though. Squats and Deadlifts. I've been checking and rechecking my form. Watching myself in the mirror and really thinking I'm getting it correct. But all the soreness is in my quads, no soreness in glutes or hamstrings. Not even with step ups and lunges. Am I missing something?!?!?

I have been a little MIA lately, so I was just quickly scanning posts to get caught up. Wow! This thread moves fast. I have been doing really well at getting back into a regular excercise routine. I started lifting again last Saturday and so far no back pain - yeah! I just need to work on my eating habits. I cannot seem to stay away from sugar!

mama - I had *exactly* the same problem when I started NROL4W. And, even with a personal trainer, it took a LOT to get my GLUTES to fire. I have "lazy" glutes - and my quads take over. There was a link, awhile back, that someone gave me which listed a TON of (additional) exercises you can do to "engage your glutes" - http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/noglutes.html

It "is" a form issue....and, if you end up continuing to work your quads, they become MORE dominant, making the body parts that are SUPPOSED to be working, work. I *still* have very lazy glutes and I have to FLEX them, really hard, to get them working. But, when you DO get them working, it feels GOOD - and you then go, "ah - ha, that's what it is supposed to feel like..." because your glutes, being the LARGEST muscle in your body, are SUPPOSED to carry A LARGE amount of the load!

This is a VERY mental thing, for me.

Beeps - I'm sorry about your daughter having insomnia!! My friend has it and she hates it! She had to take any and all electronics out of her room (no tv, no computer, no phone) and that has helped her a little bit because her body has started to realize that her room is just for sleeping (which is hard with kids because when living at home we use our room as our everything!!) Maybe that'll help though??

Kate - I tried IF for a little bit last summer.. it was okay... but I didn't really notice a big difference, so I started eating my breakfast again, but it's worth a try!! And I hope you have a fun time at the jazz fest!!!

Solar - I hope you feel better soon!!

Abigail - Glad you're back and that you have the okay to work out again! Be careful not to hurt yourself again!

Sorry I've been MIA this week! Work was absolutely CRAZY!! I feel like the dummy in this group!! I have my BS in Textile, Fashion Merchandising & Design... and that's it.... But I'm not complaining, I went to school for something I really love and ended up basically being the valedictorian of my major (highest GPA out of my class for the major) so I guess I'm not that dumb... just not lawyer status!!

I haven't gotten all the workouts in that I wanted to this week, but I went from work, right home to work on some projects for class.. needless to say I'm a wee bit tired! I did do some weights at home yesterday and I'll be going to the gym today, so that will be good! Tomorrow my bf and I will be going to Newport and doing a lot of walking, so that will be nice to get some form of "exercise" with him! My eating has been okay... not great.. but okay. Hopefully I'll be able to control myself this weekend better, I'll try to keep myself from buying snack foods with him!

Do any of you do single leg work outs?? Such as single leg deadlifts or single leg rows?? What are your opinions on them??

This board does move fast! It's been a busy week at work so I don't have too much time to comment, but a few things:

SD2bfit--welcome!

Shander--I don't do a lot of single leg workouts, just leg extensions, but I want to start doing single leg squats as well. When I had a trainer he was all for them because they prevent you from favoring your dominant leg. And BTW that's awesome that you were the vadledictorian of your major! I have a good friend who's a designer for Lane Bryant and from what I can tell it's a pretty competitive area, being a fashion designer sounds so glamorous that tons of people want to do it, but not many can really hack it.