JUNE: Give PEAS a Chance

I'm home, had a pretty good weekend with family. I did have alot of time during the car ride to and from to reflect on things. I'll catch up more and read thru all the posts I've missed tomorrow!
 
Hi y'all

Made it a point to eat better this weekend, had some very good snacks, & lunches, fruits vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and it made a big difference. I hope I don't get derailed the next time I have pizza or celebrate the holiday, summer's a good test for that, Memorial, Fourth, & Labor Day. I think I'll start planning now. I've hit my lowest today & came up with some stretches to do everyday.

Drill Max total body premix, stretch, and time to revisit the rebounder!

Have a great day all :)
Linda
 
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Hey everyone!

Ellipitcal, BWO+, and yoga DONE! I have Push/Pull and Total Body Stretch this evening for 1 of 3 split days this week!

Joined the YMCA this weekend - will be checking out some of the cardio classes this week! :D

About having food handy...I tried a "tip" from a forum this weekend and it is helping tremendously:

1. Clean the fridge out of old and bad food - give it a scrubbin'
2. Search online and in books for a healthy shopping and pantry list and make a standard grocery list from it.
3. Go shopping and think about the purchases...
4. This is the hard part...when you come home, wash, cut (if necessary) and put into clean fun containers some of your fruit and veggies - place them in the fridge so that you can see them right when you open the doors.

I did this - and, it is great! ;);)

Here is my starting list of things I want to keep handy (BTW the BFFM challenge recommends 5-6 mini-meals a day - I need this fridge system so that I am not always cooking and prepping meals)...I don't have ALL this in my fridge :eek: - just some at a time...enough to motivate me to eat "healthy" and not go out to eat - eat starchy carbs - etc.

[ ] Carrot sticks
[ ] Celery sticks
[ ] Cucumbers sliced or vinegar salad
[ ] Pickles
[ ] Cheese cut up
[ ] Broccoli flowerets
[ ] Strawberries
[ ] Grapes
[ ] Cherries
[ ] Watermelon (or any in season fruit)
[ ] Sweet pepper strips
[ ] Dark chocolate broken into pieces
[ ] "Vitamin" water (filtered water with berries, oranges, limes - sitting overnight)
[ ] "Healthy" water (apple cider vinegar with "mother", filtered water, honey, and aloe vera juice - sounds gross but really good 1/day)
[ ] Herbal fruit teas
[ ] Unsweetened tea
[ ] 1% milk
[ ] OJ
[ ] Sliced cheese
[ ] Pasta salad
[ ] Tuna/Chicken Salad
[ ] Breakfast/Protein Bars
[ ] Hard boiled eggs
[ ] Yogurts
[ ] Meat for sandwiches (make over weekend)
[ ] Greens and salad fixins'
[ ] Peanut Butter
[ ] Almond butter
[ ] Hummus
[ ] Ranch dressing (LF or homemade)
[ ] Several salad dressing (LF or homemade)
[ ] Cream cheese (LF)
[ ] Jams or preserves
[ ] Dried berries/fruit

p.s. If you can add to this list - PLEASE SHARE!!! I need all the help I can get! 60 pounds is alot to lose!

Have a great day!
Donna
 
Today, did the rebounder for 15 min. before Drill Max total body premix, one, to get extra an warm up, and two, to get used to using it again.

Donna, this link has lots of foods listed, there's probably lots of pages like it, I just printed it out so I could check off some & have a good variety weekly.
http://www.healthchecksystems.com/eatright.htm

Stace, these are the things that get me into trouble:

1. eating late in the evening; this puts on pounds at lightning speed for me
2. pizza, yep, it's kryptonite; whole grain pasta is just as satisfying with a whole lot less cheese. Burritos are a good sub too.
3. not eating breakfast in the morning; I'm as consistant with this as I am with weigh in....:)
4. buying chips; I sub crunchy veg, fruit, nuts, whole grain crackers
5. not having leafy greens, tomatos, & cucumbers (salad get's me started down the right road!) plus there's other things I make with that stuff ( black bean salad, tabbouleh, & relish sandwiches ) Ditto for winter veggies.

I know some people dread the scale so they don't weigh in everyday, but over a week or two, you could weigh yourself & think you're not losing or gaining just because of how weight moves up & down. After a while weigh in is just part of the day, takes little time to record. Then you can see exactly when you gained & loss & determine what was going on when it happened, hence the above list of no-nos for me. ( ITA with 5-6 small meals a day! )

The fridge system is great Donna, try it out Stace! Maybe next month can be What's in the Fridge? Month! or The Perfect Pantry!

Okay throw me a life line!

Linda
Fourth of July: forget the Hot dogs, have the veggie stacked Kabobs!
 
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Today,

Kick Max low impact premix & maybe the rest on the rebounder. Not looking for perfection, just getting it done. Another tool in the toolbox, is do something every day, just like the thread title "Do what you want , just get it done" that's a great one, when I read it, I think that.

Fruit of the day = Watermelon

Have a great workout, have a great day!
Linda
 
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Hi. I'm in a bit of a slump right now. I didnt workout yesterday...had to work late and then went right to a baseball game which amounted to eating fried stadium food yet again. Today my parents will be here visiting and they are the epitome of unhealthy. I may get a workout in later tonight.

I wish that "just do it" mentality/attitude worked for me. I know exactly what my downfalls are. I have stocked my fridge with healthy food only to not eat it and throw it all away time and time again. I guess I'm sick of the pep talks I give myself only to ruin it all by impulse eating and bingeing. I haven't given up I just feel defeated again.
 
Stacy - take your time - don't force things. You will pull out of this! :D

Linda - thanks for the food list. The fridge system is working well. BTW - what do you do on the rebounder? Just jump - or, do you have a routine of sorts? I have one - but, don't use it! Would love you insight...

Completed Cross-Train Kickboxing and Stretchmax. Since Kickboxing cardio was only 35 minutes - I will start the Couch25K Day 1 this evening as long as it gets below 100 degrees :eek:

Have a great day!
Donna
 
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Morning!

Muscle Max timesaver premix today, Donna, way to go on the workout! I used the rebounder for a warm up for about 15 minutes before working out on Monday or Tuesday. I used it before when watching Fit TV bosu workout, I just jump rope, jog, hop on one foot side to side, etc. Tacked that food list to one of my kitchen cabinets so I could check before shopping, try some new things. :)

Maybe you could see a nutritionist? or personal trainer? Stace, Maybe your doctor could help you find someone? Try to do something everyday positive food-wise, exercise-wise, keep track of it, then you'll have a better idea what changes you really need to make.

Have a great day!
Linda
 
Good morning. I looked at my workout calendar...no workout since June 3rd :( Highly doubtful I'll get one in tonight either. A big "problem" is my work schedule which I cannot change and having season tickets to baseball oftentimes I'm going right from work to the game a few days a week. I'm trying to think of some filling snacks which could essentially double as dinner to take to the stadium but I havent come up with many that dont require refrigeration. I cant snack throughout the day b/c I can eat on the job. My other hurdle is my IBS which often prevents me from eating breakfast leaving me ravenous at lunch which leads to bingeing. If I take a healthy, low cal lunch then it's usually not enough since I hadnt eaten breakfast and then it's the same story at dinner, I'm ravenous again and in a ballpark with nothing but fried foods.....not a good combo! I know these are all excuses but nonetheless I havent found anything that works all the time for me given those hurdles. I'm going to do some sort of workout this week that's about as far as I've gotten in my planning!

I think I really need to consider going back to weighing in every morning. That seems like such a step backwards for me, but "intuitive" thinking hasnt clicked with me yet. If I weigh in certain days a week I often let that stress me out and if it happens to be an "off" day and I was expecting something better on the scale then I let it ruin everything. I"m so mental, lol!!! I googled a bunch of body fat calculators yesterday, have a rough estimate of mine, however accurate that is, but not sure what to do with that number. I'm trying to figure out about what weight I have to be to get my bf% down by about 10%...any thoughts??

Well I'm off to work, gonna be a long day.
 
Hi...better eating today, not perfect by far but WAY better than it has been lately! I'm ready for a workout tomorrow morning, no clue what it will be but I will do SOMETHING even if it kills me!!
 
Yea! Stacy's back! :D:D

I'll be working out with you in the morning - LowMax on schedule. ;)

Completed StepBlast this morning - I think it will become one of my favorites AFTER I figure out all the steps - going airborne is NOT my favorite thing. :eek:

Linda - love the rebounder idea. Workouts where I am doing weights - not cardio - I might just add some rebounder at the beginning for warm-up.

Have PushPull on tap tonight - but, I think 2 back-to-back split days have "tuckered" me out! :eek: I'll just see.

I got this list in an email today about exercise substitutions - thought you might want to cut and paste and keep it in your fitness journals.

Stacy - I have a weight lifting question for you tomorrow - got to figure out how to ask it...kind of confusing.

Also, I have some great body fat formulas to help you. I will try to get that to you soon. One formula uses the Accumeasure caliper I linked to earlier in this thread.

Talk with you tomorrow!
Donna

Exercise Substitutions

1) To replace Squats, you can do:

1-leg hip extensions
Step-ups
Deep Step-ups
Split squats
Reverse lunges
Forward lunges
Bulgarian split squats (with back foot elevated on a bench)
Reaching lunges
1-leg deadlifts
1-leg squats (use bands or straps for assistance if necessary)
1-leg squats standing on a bench

By the way, if you are using dumbbells for squats or lunges and you
find that the weights are too heavy to hold, you can switch to a
barbell if you have access to it.

The only reason you don't see barbell exercises in the TT programs
are because most TT readers exercise at home with dumbbells.

2) To replace Deadlifts:

The only "direct replacement" is dumbbell squats.

Otherwise, just replace deadlifts with a superset pairing of any
lower body exercise paired with a row.

For example:

Barbell lunge supersetted with a DB row
Stability Ball Leg Curl supersetted with Inverted Row

3) If you have sore knees and need to replace lunges:

First, see a doctor and have them diagnose the problem. Second, see
a therapist and have them treat the issue. Third, see a trainer and
have them assess where you need to work on flexibility and how you
can include some "knee-friendly" exercises in your workout program.

These exercises include:

Lying Hip Extensions (also known as Lying Hip Bridges)
1-leg Hip Extensions
Lying Hip Extensions with your feet on the ball
Stability Ball Leg Curls

4) To replace Bench Presses or Dumbbell Chest Presses (of any kind),
you can do one of these:

Pushups
Close-grip pushups
Decline pushup
Elevated pushups
Off-set pushups
Pushups with your feet on the ball
Pushups with your hands on the ball
Pushups with your feet on the ball and hands on the bench
Suspended strap pushups
Spiderman pushups
Spiderman climb pushups
Pike pushups
Dips
Decline close-grip spiderman pushups

By the way, if you have dumbbells but no bench, you can replace flat
dumbbell bench presses by lying on the floor. And you can replace
incline dumbbell presses with standing 1-arm dumbbell shoulder presses.

5) To replace any kind of row, here are alternatives:

Dumbbell rows
Dumbbell rows with elbows out
Dumbbell chest supported rows
Barbell rows
Inverted rows
Underhand grip rows
Seated cable rows
Renegade Rows (with flat dumbbells or kettlebells)
Dumbbell rear deltoid raises
Rows with TRX or blast straps
Chin-ups (these are done with an underhand grip)
Eccentric chin-ups
Sternum chin-ups
V-grip chin-ups
Pull-ups (these are done with an overhand grip)
Eccentric pull-ups
Sternum pull-ups

And in place of pull-ups or chin-ups, you can do:

Dumbbell rows
Dumbbell pullovers
Underhand grip pulldowns (kneeling) - replaces chin-ups
Overhand grip pulldowns (kneeling) - replace pull-ups
Assisted chinups/pull-ups using machine

However, if you have absolutely no equipment (i.e. no dumbbells, no
barbell, no cables, no straps, and no bar) then unfortunately there
is no way to train your upper back. The best you can do is to add a
lot of prisoner squats, prisoner lunges, stick-ups, and WYT's to your
bodyweight program.

6) To replace dips, you can do:

Any version of close-grip pushups
Dumbbell floor presses
Dumbbell close-grip presses
Close-grip bench press

7) To replace dumbbell split squats, you can do:

1-leg lying hip extensions
Bulgarian split squats (use higher reps or the 1 & 1/4 rep method)
Split squats with your front foot elevated 4-6 inches
1-leg deadlifts
1-leg squats (holding straps or cables for assistance)
1-leg squats standing on the bench
Step-ups
Deep step-ups
Reaching lunges

(NOTE: For many exercises, including pushing and pulling too, you
can play around with the 1&1/2 rep style - lowering to the bottom
position, coming halfway back up, and then lowering again, and then
coming all the way back up.)
 
No workout today, may just practice some steps & stretch. I think I ate something bad yesterday, felt terrible last night, have no idea, it was awful, or as Rosanne Rosanna Dan would say "I thought I was gonna die!" :(
Having a little fun with retro - theme this month. Turns out disco (remember those days) doesn't really s**k after all.

Stace, Rice Chex cereal with blueberries & soy milk (or vanilla soy milk) is a really good combo, could you eat that? Maybe the egg frittata with egg whites instead of whole eggs. If you give me an idea of what you can eat, I'll check recipes I have.

Whew Donna, I'm cuttin' & pastin' ! A lot of workouts maybe all have chapters/premix, could you start out with those & build back up? or like Cathe said , spread the STS out over more days, Stace? I think I'll look into that caliper too.

Have a Great day!
 
Mark your calendars ladies.....I worked out this morning!! I did Low Impact Circuit's upper body circuit premix.


Linda....what I can or cant eat is even difficult for me to figure out, lol! I actually dont have any body fat calipers, I was doing formulas online that didnt require them.

Donna...thanks for the exercise list....I'm all ears when you want to ask your weights question and I'll answer as best as I can!

Tomorrow is planned rest day (as if I need a rest day with 1 workout in 13 days!)

Eating was still a bit better than it has been but still a bit too many processed snack foods.
 
Way to go Stace! Muscle Max timesaver premix today. Many more House Max things to do this weekend, maybe a movie. I think GNC carries the calipers, I'm at a point now, after pretty much staying within the same two pounds for over a month, I need to look at that and estimate where I'm at.
Love that Lowmax, Donna, don't have Step Blast yet, just timesaver & TV.

Vegetable of the day = Leafy Greens + Tomato, Green Pepper in spaghetti & beanball sauce.
Fruit of the day = Watermelon (that was a whopper, only cut up half & ran out of containers!)

Have a Great Day, Have something cool, beat the heat if it's scorching where you are! :eek:

Linda
 
Managed to do workout yesterday, and some House Max, more today & Kick Max low impact premix, I think the low impact is enough this week. Third week always seems to get me. My new goal "flexibility for the inflexible" !

Well, I'm a lot more flexible than I was...but that's generally due to the crazy stuff I get myself twisted up in! If I hadn't taken to KPC like a pop poppin' duck to water....I wouldn't have to worry about it....it's all her fault! :D

Have a kick arse day! You're gonna make it! Cathe Friedrich

Linda
 
Hey Everyone!

Gotta say hi quickly. We are celebrating Father's Day today. Bar-be-que for lunch :eek: and a boxing bag for a gift. Go figure! :rolleyes:

My cycle has haunted me this week - being tired, cramps, etc. I fundamentally believe I must be peri-menopausal! :mad:

However - the working out and nutrition have helped pull me through.

Today is a rest day - but, I took that yesterday to offset cramps. So, Low Impact Circuit is on tap!

Hope all is well with everyone! Thanks for the "pick-me-up" Linda.

My check in is today - will let you know the results later. I am sure my weight will be 4-5 pounds heavier due to water retention - but - that's just fine. I have it under control. I just want to see my muscle mass growing. Increasing muscle means increasing metabolism. :D

Blessings,
Donna
 
Quick "hi" here as well as I've got many errands to run. I did a 2 mile jog on the treadmill and then abs. My joints really felt it, I'm thinking I may have done too much too soon. I took some post-workout Ibuprofen so hoping that will help.

I'm taking a piece of advice one of you ladies mentioned...aim for one positive thing each day and build from that. I've been doing that the past few days and trying to let the negatives cancel out the positives. Today I put in a frozen/processed "Smart Ones" brand breakfast "meal". I took two bites of the ham/cheese/egg concoction and the threw the rest in the trash remembering I had fresh fruit. So instead I had a bowl of raspberries and sliced bananas :)

Hoping to keep building on that!
 
Way to go girls, hang in there with the workouts & nutrition, I did start food logging a couple weeks ago, very simple, I don't count calories, just jot down what eat I through the day breakfast, w/o, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, ( sometimes you guessed it, another snack ) :)

Something happened a month or two ago maybe longer, where boyfriend and I don't stuff ourselves anymore, probably middle age, (perish the thought) but we almost always have leftovers, and rarely have seconds, far cry from where we used to be. ;) and we eat more fruit!

I googled "flexibility for the inflexible" came across Keli Roberts foam roller w/o, not particularly interested in that or not right now, was looking at bodybar workouts last year, hers in particular. I've completely gone in a different direction now (surprise surprise) , it was funny to see that.

Things are definitely looking up! :rolleyes:
Linda
 
Hello...Pyramid Upper Body for me today. I've been looking at a bunch of nutrition websites, some more hardcore, ie. figure competition sites. Many interesting articles. I'm getting a general idea of the diet/nutrition and workout direction I want to take. It involves some planning and I've yet to go grocery shopping! Once I get my list made and some time it's off to the store I go!
 
Hi...tomorrow I embark on my diet overhaul. I'm weighing in and recording it on my refrigerator! Being around my extremely unhealthy family last weekend was motivational. It made me realize how slowly the weight can creep up and before you know it you're on the road to unhealthiness. I need to take my health much more seriously in the here and now, not 20 lbs from now or even 5 more lbs from now. I really havent made too much of an effort at all though I feel I did need to go thru my "undieting" time as it was helpful in other ways even though I gained weight.

Wish me luck! I have my breakfast, lunch and snack already prepared for tomorrow. I already know that lack of planning leads to unhealthy choices.

I'll keep you posted!
 

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