Progress, not Perfection - 2012 - Month #1

SusanMcL

Cathlete
Happy New Year my friends !!!

Let's make it a great year......

but always remember..... Progress, not Perfection !!!
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Our story:

Our group mantra is "Progress, not Perfection"

We strive to eat healthy foods (non-processed as much as possible), do our workouts on a regular basis and drink 64 oz of water daily.

However, we know that we won't do it perfectly every day. Life gets in the way - work, school, family, injuries, stress and those days when we just plain struggle.

So we don't beat ourselves up if we don't do it perfectly. We work hard to do what we have set out to do, but we look at the long term progress we are making and forgive ourselves and support each other if we stumble along the way. The only thing that matters is that we are making progress in the right direction !!!

We also cheer each other on with our successes. Success for one is inspiration for all.

So here's to continued success my friends - Deanna, Stacy, FnV.

We CAN do this. We ARE doing this !!!

Water, Just Do It (exercise), STOP IT (reaching for junk food)
 
Good morning my friends !!!!

It's a new day, a new month, a new year, a clean slate !!!! Doesn't get any better than that...

With good friends and an eating plan and Cathe to work our butts off, we are ready to rock 'n' roll !!!!!

Just sat down with a fresh mug (extra large) of coffee... lol I thought about staying up to watch the ball drop in Times Square, but didn't make it :D

more later......
 
Good Morning and Happy New Year!

I just weighed in, and sitting here with a big mug of coffee as well.

Work phone calls just woke me up, great way to start the year, lol!

Not sure what workout today, did a little of everything yesterday. I was thinking of a rest day but I feel as if I should do a workout to start off the year! I need something short though, may actually do the step routine from Body Max. I had forgotten how short and intense it could be until we talked about it the other day. I may do the cardio from one of Cathe's CTX workouts too. I'll bbl to let you know!

Let's start off the year on a positive note!
 
Happy New Year my friends :)

I am still fighting this darn cold. :( Up having a cup of tea.

The mechinic is suppose to come by and take a look at my Jeep.

Have a great day ladies
Deanna

PS: I got up this morning and put some Ribs in the oven and I am also going to make some smoked turkey necks and pinto beans and potato salad.
 
Good morning Stacy and Deanna !!!

I just reset my weight tracker thingie to my weight as of this morning......i.e. starting back at zero..... so I can track my 2012 progress.

I'm off to the gym to do some treadmill...

back later...
 
testing....

geeze.... I don't get it.... my weight tracker thingie is correct after I update it at "Cathe Fun"... but it doesn't show the new data here.....

okay.. enough procrastinating.... I'm really off to the gym this time... lol
 
Happy 2012! I just completed IMAX 2....I was going to do about half then do some wts but couldn't stop. I have dance later today so I'll do wts tomorrow.

I did NOT weigh myself since I fixed and ate dinner late yesterday eve (pork tenderloin w/ mushrooms, some orangey squash and from skinnygina- roasted broccoli and cauliflower with crushed garlic. Then snacked on macadamia nuts while watching Lord of the Rings. Primal friendly, overall a lot of food late in the eve. It seemed easier to fix dinner than to go out with boyfriend so I had him over. I just wanted to watch movie with kids. Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring

Susan, I think you fixed your ticker, it has you at zero now.

Good luck w/ your car, Deanna. I hope he has you running today for low $$. I was thinking of ribs yesterday but ended up with the pork loin since I already knew how to cook it.

Stacy, I am sorta thinking of sticking to Intensity Series for 2-3 weeks as a rotation. What do you think?

Two tangerines before workout and now I think leftovers for lunch...
 
Checking back in...dont think I'm gonna workout today. Work phones have been busy and I'm a bit sore from yesterday. My "workout" will be eating as clean as I can instead!

FnV....Intensity Series sounds great! I still need to look at my upcoming work hours and come up with a quasi-workout rotation for next week. I'm still leaning towards Gym Styles. How long have you been dancing and what kind of dance do you do? I have 2 left feet!

Susan...how was the treadmill workout?

Deanna...hoping your New Year improves soon!!!!!!!

Dinner is at my inlaws today, I know for sure we're having bbq ribs. The ribs are okay but the sugars in the bbq sauce I'm not too thrilled about, hopefully I can scrape most of it off and that there will some PB-friendly side dishes to choose from.

I've had some almonds for a snack and lower sugar instant oatmeal for breakfast. I put my hand into the m&m bowl and after I ate 5 regular m&m's I slapped my own hand and have avoided it ever since! I'd throw them away but my husband wants to keep them around. Sometimes it's just no fair that he can eat junk and tons of processed carbs, not workout and still have low body fat!! Oh well, such is life!
 
Great job on IMax2 FnV... and Stacy... great job on "no" to the M&Ms !!!

Deanna - sure hope you can get your car fixed before Tuesday... and that your cold is getting better. I hate colds. They can hang on for weeks...

Good time at the gym... did 1 3/4 miles on the treadmill, then realized that step class was starting so I went and did that for an hour. But.. not as good as it sounds :p cause I did it step-less.. so less challenging... and I was exhausted after 35 minutes so just did stepping side to side and alternating knee lifts for the last 25 minutes.... but.. all in all, it was good.

I've been doing more research... lol

Found another variation.. this time from a doctor.. it's called the Archevore Diet.

No grains, legumes/beans or added sugar.

He doesn't like Wheat Belly, but fully endorses The Primal Blueprint.

He says that after you eliminate the grains, legumes/beans and added sugar... you should eat, in order of importance, from the following food groups:

1. Grass fed beef and lamb (ruminants)
Pastured butter and pastured eggs.
Shellfish or wild caught cold water fish

2. Potatoes - white and sweet
Bananas
White rice

3. Leafy greens (for folate) and colorful veggies

4. Citrus and berries

Cook with butter or coconut oil.
Olive oil is okay, but butter and coconut oil and animal fats are better.

He says:

Saturated fat is good for you.
Monounsaturated fat is okay, but not as good as saturated fat.
Polyunsaturated fat is bad for you.

He says the following ranges for % of total calories are good:

Carbs 5 - 35% (he eats 30% carbs, mostly from #2 above)
Protein 10 - 30%
Fat 50 - 80% (mostly saturated fat)

He says that in addition to pastured butter and pastured eggs, if you don't have a problem with dairy then dairy is okay.. but eat full fat dairy.... like heavy cream and real cheese.... not the low-fat stuff or the FF stuff.

As I said... slight differences from The Primal Blueprint which he does endorse.... but his plan has an emphasis on starchy vegetables which I don't think Primal does...

He also says to emphasize beef and lamb, and keep chicken, turkey and pork to limited amounts. Because of the way they are fed by commercial growers.

Grass fed beef and lamb are best.. but grain fed beef and lamb are better than most other protein options.

okay.. enough food research.. my head is spinning again...

But I think I could do the Archevore Plan variation of Primal... I like the idea of the starchy veggies (and bananas) having a central role in the plan.

He says white rice is benign.... so it's fine to have. Not a lot of nutrients, but good for meals where rice would be nice......

Here's the link to the main points of his plan. The other stuff I got from going back and reading past entries in his blog...

Archevore - Archevore Diet

I see the tracker thingie fixed itself... lol.... It seems I have to leave and come back a couple of times before it resets itself...
 
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One more thought on the Archevore Diet.

That's what I grew up eating in the 50s and most people were normal weight back then. Sure.. there were some overweight people, but they were the exception.

As a kid... we ate meat, potatoes and veggies. Eggs for breakfast. Mom cooked with butter. We drank whole milk and my parents put real cream in their coffee. We had lamb, pork and chicken too... but mostly beef.

We also ate pasta and bread and pancakes.... but pasta and bread were different 60 years ago... pancakes were homemade. Pies and cakes were homemade. i.e. very little processed food.

So.. the Archevore Diet sounds great to me. The only difference between it and Primal is that he says to eat starchy veggies... white and sweet potatoes, white rice and starchy fruit i.e. bananas.

Otherwise... they are the same.

I just got home from Whole Foods. Haven't been in there in years... lol

I came home with Organic Valley pasture butter.... and cage free eggs and a jar of coconut oil. They had about 6 kinds of coconut oil... none were brands that anyone had mentioned. So I got the Whole Foods house brand. I'll try it tomorrow to fry up some eggs....

If that doesn't taste good... I'll order some from the swanson link you posted FnV.

Off to cook supper....

Can't wait to try Pure Strength tomorrow !!! I think I'll start with Chest, Shoulders, Triceps.
 
OK, I'm gonna do Intensity PLB and get it out of the way tomorrow morning. I know there is a lot of wt changing in that one, so maybe I will use a combo of dumbells and barbells, otherwise I turn wt changing into a big la di dah process that can involve checking email, playing angry birds...power thru...

Susan, i am glad you found some food plans that resonate for you. Whatever it is, it just has to something we can live with and feel good and satisfied and energetic and did I mention live with? oh, plus make us skinny. : ) Why doesn't he like wheat belly?

Stacy, my ex could eat bags of chips and hot dogs and stayed thin. It would be nice if your guy could be respectful of what you are trying to achieve and maybe keep the mm's on the down low or something.

How was your New Year's dinner, Deanna?

So tomorrow I'm jumping in on PLB and Susan is cracking open PS. Sounds like a powerful start, to me, lets go!

PS, leftovers again for dinner plus a not delicious blob of greek yogurt, almond butter and melted 90 percent chocolate. I am thinking salsa and eggs and avocado for breakie.
 
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oooooo... salsa and eggs and avocado sound great for breakfast.... how are you going to eat it? Salsa on top of scrambled eggs with avocado on the side? Salsa and avocado scrambled in the eggs? I have all the ingredients... just tell me how you are going to do this !!! sounds yummy....

FnV - I'll be curious to hear how your mixed dumbbell/barbell PLB goes. I was thinking that the only way I could see doing it would be with all dumbbells.. but.. you're right... a mix would work...

I love my barbell !!! Thanks to you and Stacy who convinced me it would be a good thing to get.

I've got the 2 DVDs still sitting on my wish list... haven't put them in the cart yet. I may wait for a slightly better sale. This one is 12% off... I may wait until a 15 - 20% off sale.

Stacy - do you have to work tomorrow too? I think so, because if I remember correctly, you said that Jan 3rd would be the start of your new year.

Deanna - how's the cold? how's the car?????

See y'all for coffee in the morning !!!!
 
How about this...quick saute of some peppers, (I have a big bag of baby peppers that are quite yummy) then add them to either omelet or egg scramble, top with generous amt of salsa and slice some avocado on the side? and maybe a few sliced in half grape tomatoes to really round out the veggies?

I am happy that Cathe has so many sales, I try to wait for at least 20 percent off and have enough for free shipping if I can. Funny, my dd was just (randomly?) asking what my Cathe collection was worth. I just sold my extra copies of gym styles and Low max on ebay all for around 20. I didn't really market them well, but they went to a genuine cathlete who was starting STS, so I am happy about that.

Yep, I was thinking I would take two dumbells for the low, my barbell for the middle and I have 2 heavy speed weights I can use for the high end. I have a jr barbell set, it is working for me wt wise and size wise except it is too short to rest on my STS rack if it is loaded with any weight, which is too bad, DOH! So someday I will get a troy lite like you have, but it will be a long while (if ever) before I actually need to justify it. Still, I have troy lite envy.

oh oh oh, just thinking, if you have extra garden gloves, cut the fingers out and use them for wt lifting gloves, it will do two things...make lifting heavy more comfortable and also make you look thinner and more serious while you are working out. : >

I used such gloves for a long time, but tossed them when I moved. I did buy real gloves on sale at Target tho when I got back into my workouts, again, it is nicer when you are doing wt work or push ups.
 
Morning :)

Feeling slightly better. After I got my Jeep fixed yesterday, I went to Walgreens and spoke with the Pharmacist because I had a sinus headache from another world. The Pharmacist suggested a Decongestant, something to open my sinus cavity. I got some Vicks Sinex Day & Night Sinus Relief. My Sinus seem to be open today and the most important is that my Headache is gone. I called my Doctor's office today, which is closed until tomorrow. I will call tomorrow and make an appointment to see if I can get some Antiboiotics. I am ready for this sinus infection to be over so I can get my workout on!!!!!

I am going to finish my Tea and go back to bed, it is only 4:32am in Vegas. I may check back in later.

Have a good day
Deanna :)
 
Good morning !!!

Deanna - glad to hear that your car is fixed.. whew !!! Car problems are always a pain... and glad to hear that you are feeling a tad bit better. You're on the road to recovery !!!!

FnV - I'm going to chop some green peppers and one scallion for an omelet, salsa on top, avocado on the side. Wish I had some tomatoes to add, but I used the last of the tomatoes in yesterday's salad. Darn. Thanks for the idea !!!

I've been looking at lifting gloves everywhere I go... lol Walmart, Play It Again Sports.. haven't looked in Target yet. I just felt stupid thinking that I even remotely needed lifting gloves with the puny weights that I lift :rolleyes: But... I definitely agree that they would make me look thinner and stronger ... hehehehehehe.... as does using a barbell..... love it...

Stacy - have you left for work already????? One more day and you get a day off... hopefully, more than one day !!!

okay... off to weigh in, then eat breakfast.. then quick trip to Walmart while I digest, then home to do Pure Strength - Chest, Shoulders and Triceps !!! Woo Hoo !!!

Make it a great day my friends..

Progress, not Perfection !!!

We CAN do this.... we ARE doing this !!!
 
Good morning, yes I'm working today, fairly long hours too, so if I get in a workout later it'll be a shocker! Yesterday I did okay with dinner at in-laws even though nothing was really PB friendly, I just watched portions and did manage to say no to the bread and scalloped potatoes, but my MIL did make a homemade mini cheesecake for everyone (in a little tart tray) and saying No to that would...well dont want to hurt anyone's feelings!

Deanna...glad you're finally feeling a bit better!!

Susan, FnV the breakfast sounds good! I have eggs but nothing else to go with them. I havent been to the grocery store since before Xmas, that'll be my errand on my day off tomorrow.

Forgot to mention about PLB and barbells, I actually bought another barbell, not the weights, just the bar, was on sale somewhere, dont remember where it was years ago. I keep both loaded with weights, one "light" and one "moderate" so makes it nice for many of my weight workouts. I'll have to quickly add or take off a 2.5 lb plate or something here and there to tweak it, but it's been a good investment. Something to consider...

I'll bbl!
 
Susan, I pm'd you something I copied from primal regarding saturated fats. Please just disregard if you've moved on- in fact it is prob what you had already read and digested but now it caught my eye b/c of your previous comments about types of fat.

BIG Growl--- I just completed PLB. I used 20# (2x10), 25# (bb) and 30# (2x15).
But on static lunges I stayed at bottom of pyramid and for deadlifts I stayed at top of pyramid. I don't usually like floor work or ball work but I did OK til we got to outer thigh and I grabbed a band and did firewalkers- me likey them.

So I guess I can do PUB and Abs tomorrow since they are on the same DVD or maybe bootcamp? Which would make better sense if I am working thru the series?
 
FnV - I just read the article you sent and replied. Thank you.

I haven't moved on... I'm still on board for Primal... just tweaking more towards the Archevore Plan which is just another variation of Primal....

the ONLY difference between Primal and Archevore is that Archevore says that after you have put sufficient animal protein in your meal/on your plate .. then add a potato (or other root/tuber veggie) .....in addition to your other colorful veggies and leafy greens.

But the rest is the same.. animal protein/fat is most important... veggies.. in moderation - fruits and nuts ... dairy if you have no lactose intolerance.... coconut oil and butter to cook with.... extra virgin olive oil for salad dressings..

No wheat or other grains (except some white rice), no added sugar, no beans/legumes.

sooo .. other than the starchy/root/tuber veggies.. the plans are identical.

Off to do Pure Strength :D

FnV - Great job on doing PLB.. that's a tough one.... well.. looks tough to me just previewing it.. let alone doing it.... that's one I'll leave til later.. much later... lol

I'll leave the advice on what to do next in the Intensity Series to the expert.... Ms. Stacy !!!!

P.S. I have lost 1 pound this year... lol... in 24 hours.. probably water loss... but I'll take it. going to change my weight tracker thingie....
 
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FnV....I think you could do Bootcamp the day after PLB but it would depends on how sore your legs are though. However BC only has 8 one minute leg segments, one of which is kickboxing type non-weighted moves, so i general nothing too strenuous. There are a set of squats and lunges too I believe you do just do without weights. If you havent done BC before, many ppl, myself included do the Premix (might be titled something "abs at the end" or "without abs") instead and then do all the ab exercises at the end. Some ppl have said they dont like all the up/standing cardio work and then going down to the floor for abs and then back up again.

I like BC, it flies by!
 

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