[sassygrrl]

Shit, gained the two pounds I lost back. Ugh.
Frustrated. Must drink more water, and cut back on the sweets.
Not the best week to be dieting, have a big work review going on this week, s well as going on holiday with family. Two big major stress bumps.

Good luck all busties!!

[sassygrrl]

Yay! I lose another two pounds. It seems the GI diet is working, although I have to admit that I did cheat a little on the weekend. Nutella... mmmm....

Trying to incorporate more exercise into my daily rountine. I've been walking a lot more at work (I have to walk to the train station to get to work from my house), and that seems to be helping.

[quink]

Oh I am so proud of all of you before-work-gym-goers! A girl at work does this too and even though I am doing more exercise and am getting there in my own way, the idea of exercising before work is just way beyond me and I cannot help but be in awe!

I bought a set of scales finally - I was loath to do it but I feel I need concrete evidence of weight loss! Also there is nothing like stepping on the scales to inspire me to exercise. Having said that I am very strict about not scale hopping constantly.

Was all going well until I got the worst PMS ever this week - cravings, cramps, back pain, weepy, emotional. So things went a little pear shaped (or more than they are already - hee hee!). Back on track though! I swear if my job wasn't so stressful and shitty I would deal with PMS in more constructive way, but when I am shattered and drained from work AND have crazy hormones the idea of some gentle yoga and B vitamins is the last thing I want - gimme a cup of tea and a hot water bottle!

I am working this morning but am off to the shop to but lots of healthy snacks!

[sixelacat]

maddy, good for you not being down about not having a "perfect" week and looking at the postive things you did this week!

chacha, I just looked at the "Dummies" book and it has a section about combining cardio into weight training, but cardio as separate exercise from weights, not weights as cardio per se. Many of the gyms I've been looking at have a circuit training area, however. And isn't that what that Curves place is? Circuit training only? I wonder if there's a "Circuit Training for Dummies" out there somewhere....I don't know a whole lot about it....


Yay for (((everybustie))) even thinking about getting healthier! Have fabulous, heart-pumping weekends all!

[maddy29]

ok, i did great on tues and wed, then yesterday i had the day off and smoked weed all morning, then took a 4 hour nap. then today i didn't want to get up to workout becuase it was raining and i was cold (waaa, what a pathetic excuse). so i smoked this morning and had some mcdonald's-awesome!

so, a great start to the week, not the best finish. i'll try again next week. at least i ate great this week-fruit smoothies, salads, lots of yummy good food.

[ms.gb]

keep it up girls!!!

as for me...since i bashed my toe two weeks ago, i haven't been able to exercise. i may try some situps and walking today. and this morning i was below 190 on the scale! woo! stupid plateaus...although i know its water weight and the brekkie this am ruled the 3 pound lose-age void...i am still happy....

[chachaheels]

Someone suggested the weights for dummies book in here==does it include some information on how to use weights as a main exercise regime, so that you actually drop pounds more quickly and shape the body as well? I mean the kind of stuff they used to call "lower weights, higher repetitions" exercises, calculated to increase cardio work out as well as tone?

[sassygrrl]

Okay, I've lost 3 pounds! I think it was water weight though. I haven't exactly stuck with my ediets thing, but just trying to incorporate more veggies, less meat, and more water. So far so good. But been craving sweets lately. Today was bad though, horrid day at work.

Trying to work out more as well. May rent some yoga dvds or something.

[candycane_girl]

Well, I'm frustrated. I've gotten sick with sinus infections twice in the last two weeks. I haven't been to the gym since Friday and before then I hadn't gone in over two weeks! It sucks because while I want to go, it's hard to do much of anything when you can't breathe. Oh, and I just got my period so now I have cramps to deal with. Yay.

[humanist77]

Aw, I had forgotten I posted in here-thanks so much for the encouragement, gals!
I wasn't too sore the next day, but I've decided that next time I won't go so far, at least until I've really built up more strength and endurance. I was REALLY pushing myself in those last 5 miles or so on the way back.

[sixelacat]

Oh, I love "Weight Training for Dummies"! Someone on eDiets recommended that book to me years ago, and it's one of the few "guide" type books that I still find useful now. In fact, since my stupid VCR broke (grrr) and I only have VHS exercise tapes, I've been using it for the band exercises lately.

maddy, way to go! with the AM workout! I'm the same way with mornings and work. I hate hate hate getting up and just want to curl up after work. I'm hoping to be able to join a gym in the next month or two, as I just changed job locations and there is a gym near my new location. It would be so nice to be able to get up and put a little non-caffeinated energy in my day!

[sybarite]

Cheers for the pointers Octinoxate. I'm relatively new to any exercise except swimming; took my first class ever last November so I'm still figuring it all out and deciding what works best for me. Did you like kickboxing?

[_octinoxate]

syb, you're doing great with the stretching. Don't forget the warm-up, too. (Don't stretch or work out cold muscles.)

I've never done tae-bo, but from doing kickboxing I've learned that to avoid injury you should:
-always pivot on the standing leg when you side-kick (eg, turn your toes out). If you keep that leg facing forward, it puts too much torque (sp?) on the standing knee.
-also, when side-kicking, make sure that the kicking foot is parallel to the floor or with the toes pointed down--NEVER with the toes pointing up toward the ceiling.
-and don't forget to keep the abs tight to support your back/core.

Hopefully this doesn't come across as pedantic... I just don't want anyone to have to deal with the injury crap I'm going through.

Have fun with those work outs!

[maddy29]

cheers to me! i went to the gym BEFORE work today! woo hoo!

I have trouble getting up in the morning and am often late for work. After work, I"m all tired and grumpy and just want to go home and put on pj's. So, i decided to try to workout in the am before work. I'm hoping this'll help me be on time for work. AND get a workout in every morning.

my 30th bday is oct 20, so my plan is 5 pounds by then, and then 5 more by christmas. I figure if I go to the gym 4 mornings a week and do yoga once or twice, I should be good.


I love food, so i'm not giving anything up-just trying to get veggies, etc. my work has a great fresh salad bar that's under $4 for a huge green salad with all sorts of fresh cut veggies. mmmm. so i'm doing that everyday at lunch.

feels good to make a change, after sitting around whining about stuff for so long.

[sybarite]

Octinoxate, thanks for the knee/toes tip. They taught us that in yoga (the single ashtanga class I took), but I've been exercising at home and I'm sure my knees were scooting over my toes. Must be more careful...

I used to take tae bo classes and now just try and replicate some of the moves at home. I'm hoping I learned enough in the classes to perform the moves correctly, but as can be seen above I may not be vigilant enough in preventing injury. I do a lot of stretching though which hopefully minimises the risks.

I did tae bo on sunday for the first time in 3 weeks (we were on holiday) and I am sore today... it kind of feels good though, like I've exercised and really used my muscles.

[_octinoxate]

Katze, I really like the "Weight Training for Dummies" book. It doesn't assume any prior knowledge of, well, anything, and another perk is that it uses people of all different ages, races, genders, and body types in its visual aids. The most important thing I would recommend to avoid joint injury is to work on strengthening your quads (thighs) through weight training. If you have access to a gym, use the leg press machine for this. Never work out these muscles two days in a row, though.

Another safety tip, in case you haven't heard it, is to never let your knees shoot out past your toes when you're doing things like squats.

[katze]

A pound a week is good. That's a reasonable expectation and the habits you form will be able to be maintained after you've lost the weight. I'm not a fan of the concept of dieting if it means eating a very restricted diet to lose weight quickly. Such restrictions cannot be done forever and one will gain the weight back when they go back to their regular habits.

That's great that you stuck to healthy food, but I would caution against making no snacking a rule. I think it's important to eat when you feel hunger, just make sure you are eating something good for you. I love starches, like most people, they are my big weekness. But I would rather save my starches for my meals (I love sitting down to a big plate of pasta) so I try not to snack on them throughout the day. Instead I eat fruit, carrot sticks, cottage cheese, yogurt, stuff like that. But if I feel hungry I make sure I eat, if I get to the point of where I feel like I'm starving I'm more likely to make bad choices and eat too much. I also make sure I bring enough food with me to school and work. The vending machines have nothing good in them.

[quink]

I was hoping for no more than a pound a week. I really would rather I lost it slowly and kept if off. In an ideal world I will have lost a stone by Christmas/birthday... I have done it before.

I think that half of the whole exercise is to learn to respect myself again - eating right, exercising and not letting work stress me out.

So far, so good though! Have done 10 mins on my rebounder every day since my last post and have not snacked between meals! Yay! I am so bad for eating without thinking that I can have found I've eaten crap all day (even worse when my boss has been awful), so the food diary is to make me think.

Ahh, feel all calm and confident just now....

[sassygrrl]

MissPissed, I know what you mean about last hurrah! I ordered pizza this weekend, and ice cream. Although, I'm sure it had a lot to do with PMS.

I'm going to go shopping with my ediets shopping list tonight. Wish me luck!

Oh, a friend at work gave me a 32 oz bottle for water drinking. It really helps!
I find that I can drink more water at work than I can at home. I also put those crystal light things in it, to make it taste less like water.

[katze]

ocinoxate, I'd like to know more about weight training. I know nothing about the proper way to exercise. Are there any helpful books on this?

quink, good for you! How much are you hoping to lose by december? Remember, it isn't healthy to losse more than 2 pounds a week. Anymore weight loss than that is just water and muscle mass anyway. When I started losing weight I was happy if I lost 5 or 6 pounds a month. Now I'm happy if I keep it off. And so far, so good.

misspissed, what kind of diet plan does ediets use?