PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION: Month 2 FEBRUARY

Good morning !!!

Finally, I'm all caught up reading last week's posts :)

Deanna - you're doing great at the gym !! Wow !! That's an ambitious program, but I know you can do it !!

Stacy - how are the new shoes working out? I find it to be incredibly difficult to know.. at the shoe store.. if shoes are going to be okay. I had Nikes, then when they wore out, I tried Asics Gels, then Saucony, then Addidas.... not all at the same time... just after the previous pair was getting well used... so I had 2 pairs at a time to alternate with. My favorites ended up being the Asics Gels.... so I'm going to stick with them for a while.

As my gym shoes get worn out, they become my gardening shoes .... then they go to the trash.

FnV and Michelle - what is this rotation you are doing? Is it a Cathe? It's a mix of LIS and STS??? sounds challenging !!!! But you young 'uns can do it.

Pushups - I can not do a regular on-my-toes pushup to save my life. I'm getting better at the knee pushups. But I find the easiest of all to be stability ball pushups.....

Good day yesterday. Stuck 100% to my food plan... and.. am back to counting calories. I've given up tracking everything else (fat, protein, carbs) and just counting calories. My goal is 1650 per day. Yesterday, I consumed 1670.. so that was good.

Did my ole fave yesterday... Muscle Max upper body premix. I probably could have just bought that one DVD and not any of the others and saved myself a ton of money :p

I'm going to go reset my Weight Tracker... :rolleyes:

Make it a good day !!!

Progress, not Perfection !!!!

P.S. I'm getting lots more done by staying off the computer !!!!!
 
I havent gotten on the scale but no need to, the mirror says it all :(

I had a 7 mile walk on the schedule today and not even 5 minutes in, my shin muscles started burning again....WTH??? I've NEVER had this happen before, and my legs feel fine as soon as I stop and dont hurt any other time. I guess I'm going to cut my long walks back to every other week. I guess that's not too bad anyways, I was already beginning to tread being stuck on the treadmill for a that long on a weekly basis.

I did finish walking one mile, then I popped in Susan Chung's RapidFire Results kickboxing and just did the combo's (no drills or no weights) and then did abs, that was about another 40 minutes of workout time on top of the 1 mile walk. I wore my new Ryka's for the kickboxing and they feel fabulous!!

Susan....I'm going to try to either loosely count cals or WW points and just make smart food choices. I cant believe (actually I can, just in denial) what a difference diet truly does make at least for me. I've continued to workout and have easily gained back 5 lbs and have regained my love handles and some extra junk in the trunk that I had lost when starting The Susan Rotation AND eating healthy. Darn, I was SO hoping that potato chips would make my fat melt away. Bummer.

I've got weights tomorrow for upper body!

Off to find some healthy food...
 
Susan wrote- "I probably could have just bought that one DVD and not any of the others and saved myself a ton of money"

hahahahah, but where is the fun in that??? Nice to see you.

The rotation is one of the Jan 2012 LIS STS rotations Cathe posted. I won't say that I have abandoned it, but will say that the rotation, as I am tweaking it, bears little resemblance to its original form. ::shrug::

I thought of you Stacy this morn, I did CW, I know one of your faves. I did the cardio and compound wts only premix for time and in the spirit of keeping the workout more "metabolic".

Deanna, admit, it feels good to get your butt whooped at the gym, right? LOL.

Good job on keeping it safe, Michelle.
 
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Good afternoon, Ladies,

Way to go everyone on your workouts!!!

Susan - I am doing the Three Month Transformation Rotation - STS/LIS. It is tough, but I am pacing myself. I can already see a difference in my arms.

I did Chest and Back last night - Meso 3 so it was heavy, but I actually did well without hurting myself :). I have Slide & Glide on the agenda for tonight. I hear that one is good, but tough.

Have a good one tonight, ladies and keep up the good work!

Michelle
 
Evening Ladies :)

60 min of MRT at Gym, I am to sore and tired so I did not do the additional 60 min of Cardio after class. It is that time of month at work with all the deadlines, so I decided to come home get some rest and go in early tomorrow.

I can feel myself getting stronger with every class. My arms are looking grrrrrrrrreat, I look forward to Spring and Summer so I can wear sleeveless shirts. :)

I have one more class schedule this week (Thursday) MRT, and a 10K Saturday.

Okay, I MAY check in tomorrow and the reason I say MAY is because I do not have any exercise scheduled.

Have a good night
Deanna
 
Good morning !!!

Stacy - As you know.. there are 2 things: overall fitness and weight loss. Regular exercise is necessary for overall fitness and heart health. But I read somewhere... not sure where... that weight loss is 80% what you eat and 20% exercise. And I believe that to be true. I know with me... it doesn't matter how much I exercise if I'm eating too much and eating junk.

So there has to be a balance between workouts and good eating in order to be healthy and to lose weight !!!

I've also read.. many many times over the years.. that it's important to get enough food to provide energy... both for every day life and for workouts. I think Cathe even did an article in a recent newsletter about that. The conventional wisdom is that one should never go below 1200 calories per day and more than that if one is working out consistently.

For me... eating about 1600 - 1700 calories per day and doing a moderate workout routine for the week works.

Now I just have to stick to the plan :p THAT's the hard part... as we all know all too well.... lol

FnV - yea.. I know. Even though Muscle Max would have been a good solo pick, it wasn't til I'd done a bunch of the others that I knew that MM was my fave. And... I definitely need variety in my workouts... so I'm not regretting one single Cathe DVD purchase ... lol

How's speech class going? I hated speech class in high school. It was required for all seniors... yikes.... brings back bad memories....

Michelle - sounds like you are really working hard and sticking to the rotation. Way to go !!!!

Deanna - are you walking the whole distance for your 5Ks and 10Ks??? Or have you added a little jogging in? I am soooooo proud of you for doing them. I remember when we started in August.... you would never have considered doing them then !!! Great progress !!

I did well yesterday... a little over on calories.. but not too bad.. and that was all due to my new toy :D I finally caved and bought myself a Keurig.. and I love it... but it makes it much too easy to have a cup of coffee (decaf) here and one there and they all add up.

I have one cup of high test first thing in the morning and then the rest are decaf.... BUT I put so much 1/2 and 1/2 in each cup that it is screwing up my calorie count. Hopefully, once the novelty of the new machine wears off in a couple of weeks, I can drastically reduce the coffee consumption and thereby reduce the 1/2 and 1/2 consumption....

off to get some stuff done.... I missed you guys last week !!!!

Make it a great day...

Progress, not Perfection !!!
 
Hello all, doing a bit better with food today.

B--almonds and 3 small cubes of cheese
L--carrots, celery, ff dip (~1 Tbsp), higher protein yogurt
S-- ~10 m&m's
D--vegetable soup, some more almonds, and more cubes

I made the soup yesterday, just wanted to put in alot of veggies....chicken, red peppers, onion, celery, kale and diced sweet potato in low sodium chicken stock.

Workout tonight...wanted to do something different. I did just the upper body and ab section from Jari Love's Slim & Lean workout. It's low weight/high rep, had to drop down in weight for many exercises, definitely felt the burn!

Susan....I'm the opposite with my Keurig, I find making the coffee keeps me from snacking more at night. Have you considered just drinking your coffee black?? I wanted to add that I think it's great that you're able to recognize that you need to spend less time on the computer. We obviously love having you here more often, but I think too many ppl in the world have their heads down whether it be over a keyboard or their fancy phones. I long for the good old days, where ppl walked places, went to libraries, sent real mail. However, without technology this great thread wouldnt exist!

Deanna...so pumped about your sweet lookin' arms!! I'm hoping to get mine more tank top ready. There's a chance of snow flurries next week so probably have some time!

Michelle, FnV...I keep thinking about doing the STS/LIS rotation....and the LIS Nov Rotation...and continuing the Susan Rotation. I have rotation ADD!

I'm taking next week off from my walking and will start up the following week with the hopes that my shins wont start burning 2 minutes into the walk!!!
 
Good morning my friends !!!

Stacy - I agree that drinking the coffee (decaf in the afternoon and evening) does keep me from snacking. Right after the gym I'm heading to the store to get some FF 1/2 n 1/2. I had switched back to regular 1/2 n 1/2 after reading about Paleo/Primal... but it's twice the calories. And.. I'm going to gradually decrease the amount each day. I don't know if after 50 years of drinking coffee with cream if I could ever drink it black :eek:

I did well on food yesterday.... except for the 1/2 n 1/2....

I did not work out yesterday, though.

So I'm off to the gym... today is treadmill/elliptical day on my schedule.

Stacy - I totally agree with you about people getting out and walking and doing things and talking to people in real life !!! I also love the computer and the Internet. There is a balance in there somewhere !!

Make it a great day !!

Progress, not Perfection...

P.S. I've lost 2 pounds since Monday morning.. since getting back to my eating plan... probably water loss, but I'll take it !!!
 
I woke up this morning with a pounding headache and nausea so that botched my workout plan. Had planned on Leaner Legs. I didnt get home from work til after 7pm, I"m feeling better but too wiped out from the long work day to workout now, and I havent eaten yet!

Food today was so-so...I need to stay away from those darn chips in the vending machine!!

Have a good night everyone...off to tend to my hubby, he's not feeling well tonight!

Tomorrow is my Friday, pizza, rest day! I'm working all weekend though :( :(
 
Stacy - I hope you and hubby both feel better soon. Sending lots of hugs your way.

Quick evening report:

Did 2 1/2 miles on the treadmill at the gym.

Did real well on food today... well.... except for the dreaded half n half.

Just finished dinner and I"m at 1703 calories for the day... BUT.... 250 of those calories are from the regular 1/2 n 1/2. I did get to the store after the gym and bought half a gallon of FF 1/2 n 1/2, but I'll finish the regular up first before opening the FF.

Tomorrow is upper body for me... hmmmmm... I think I need to do something other than Muscle Max :rolleyes:

I really like Pyramid Upper Body.... or maybe Push Pull or Supersets.... or the Upper Body premix of STS Total Body... I like them one too..

See y'all for coffee in the morning !!!

P.S. Stacy - I saw your thread in Open Discussion asking for suggestions for protein for lunch. Do you like canned tuna? I eat a whole can straight out of the can.. then have a large salad and a banana and call it lunch !! All you need is a can opener and a fork....
 
Hey there, I replaced one of the rotation workouts w/ my TKD walk/Jog/sprint/pushup/dips routine and did BM2 Upper body and abs.

re fishy protein, a friend of mine eats a can of sardines for lunch about once a week! I have a can to try, but I haven't been able to open it yet. I'm scared. Sometimes on Tuna I just pour lemon juice on it.

Stacy, i hope you are feeling better and hubby too asap. Your regular pizza rest day always sounds fun. What rotation are you doing or are you still trying to decide on one. Ha ha, maybe you can call it the rotating rotation.

Deanna, did you keep with your gym schedule so far this week? Can you walk?? : )

Susan, good job on your TM and food tracking! I've been drinking my coffee black for a few months now, but I've gone thru different coffee stages.

Michelle did you like SG? I've liked it, but this week I replaced it with my jog since that is a time I need to utilize for working out.
 
Morning Ladies :)

I have been having looooooooooong days at work the last couple days trying to meet my deadline of 2.28.12. I worked 11.5 hours Wednesday and 11 hours Thursday, and I am not sure how many hours I will work today. :( I got a comuter viruse at work, which slowed my work progress down completely yesterday. My computer has to be rebuilt! I am going in early today as well today and I pray that today goes well. Hopefully I can get a handle on this work today and finish it up on Monday. :)

I have not worked out since Tuesday. I was schedule to go to the Gym yesterday but I was to tired to do anything but come home and go to bed. I am scheduled to do a 10K Saturday morning. :) I am going to try and beat my last time of 1 hour 35 min. I have invited several friends to come along and get their daily exercise. I advised them they could do the 1 Mile or 5K.

Okay, time to get ready to get out of here. I will check in tomorrow after my walk.

Have a blessed day,
Deanna
 
Quick drive by and I'm off to the gym. It's 7:55 and I'm trying to get off the computer by 8:00 a.m. every day.. lol

I still have some regular 1/2 n 1/2 left... but should start back on the FF tomorrow !!!!

FnV - I tried sardines once and didn't like them. I much prefer tuna. I have a can of crabmeat in my pantry that I haven't tried yet.... I like crabmeat when it is freshly cooked, not too sure how the canned will do.... I'm reluctant to try it.. not sure why.

Deanna - A computer virus is not what you needed at the end of them month crunch time at work... geeze. I hope you have a good techie at work that can get it fixed !!!

Stacy - how are you feeling this morning? I agree with FnV ---- your Friday pizza nights with hubby sound fantastic !!!

Michelle - still sticking to the STS/LIS rotation????

I'm heading to the gym to do a couple of miles of treadmill as a warmup.. then home to do some kind of upper body.... TBD :)

Make it a great day !!!

Progress, not Perfection.....
 
Susan, good job on computer discipline! Still glad you are back tho. : )
Deanna, enjoy the run tomorrow and good luck with all your stuff at work.
Waves to Michelle and Stacy~~
I completed Plyo Legs from STS, toughie w/ a lot of cardio factor! Tomorrow is CSS, LIS LIC or IMAX 2 depending on what I feel like doing. Have a nice Friday, y'all.
 
Quick report about yesterday.. then I'm off to the gym.. they open at 8:00 a.m on Sat and Sun and I want to get there first thing... lol

Yesterday, I did 3 miles - a combo of treadmill, then elliptical, then treadmill for a total of 3.

Food was good, but not great. Water was good, but not great.

Progress, not Perfection !!!!!

back later......
 
Hey Ladies :)

I am just getting in from my 10K and I am exhausted! This was my second 10K, my time was 1:30min, 5 minutes faster than my 1st 10K about 2 - 4 weeks ago. My poor legs feel like they are going to fall off. I am going to eat something and go back to bed.

No more exercise until Monday when I take the Core and Kickboxing class, so I will see you all then.

Have a grrrrrrrrrrrreat weekend
Deanna
 
Good afternoon, yesterday was my rest day. Eating wasnt great, but it's my cheat day. Problem is I eat like every day is a cheat day!

Deanna...that's great that you finished at a faster time! I actually walked my 1st half marathon at my fastest pace and then my hip and knee hurt for weeks afterward. So now I've learned to back off, I'm in the back of the pack but I still finish before the race shuts down so all is good. I'm taking an extra week off of walking in hopes that my shin pain goes away.

Susan...how was your workout today?

FnV...how's your weekend?

Michelle...how are you? I'm definitely eyeing the LIS and LIS/STS rotation with interest for a Monday start possibly!

I'm working all weekend (taking a quick break now). I may workout late tonight but I'm feeling pretty lazy today so I'm guessing not. This will be 3 days in a row with no workout so I also dont want to backslide with the workouts...my bad eating cant handle that too!

I'm enjoying The Susan Rotation but I'm thinking it's time to change things up, just not sure to what. I may have just do whatever until after my half marathon. The longer walks though they dont wear out my endurance, they take alot out of my energy level. My body is feeling a bit achy in general so I'm really thinking about just taking this whole weekend off and getting back to my workouts on Monday.

I cant seem to get with the program with my eating, dont know why, I'm not feeling too stressed, just not motivated, but I want to be, dont know what the obstacle is....
 
I keep virus threat detected warnings when I come to these forums. Hmm.

I did IMAX2 (to replace CSS or something). I'm laying low most of the weekend. Eating veggies.

Stacy, you work from home on your work weekends? Sorry about the foodie stuff, I can relate. Susan, good job on the 3 miles plus sticking with the "progress" aspect of of our checkin! WTG on the race, Deanna! Hi to Michelle.
 
Seems as if we're all lying low this weekend.

I've been looking over the LIS rotation. I've decided to try the November LIS that is 5 days. I think I was burning myself out with 6 days. I definitely was seeing results at first but then I was getting too tired with work and workouts. That seemed to coincide with when my eating went downhill, probably no coincidence!

I've been reading a diet book on my Kindle, it's called "6 Weeks to OMG", it's definitely got some different concepts, but it was only $2.99 so thought it would be an interesting read. I'm only about a third of the way thru it. I'm really not committed to following anything in it per se, just like to read different things on the topic.

I'm going to spend the rest of my evening mapping out a game plan for the LIS rotation as I cant always do the assigned workout on the assigned day as some days I work late and am better able to do weights than a tougher cardio workout etc. Plus I'll be subbing my walk-training days for one of the cardio days and there's really only one day during the week that I consistently will have the time needed for my walks.

I'm going to keep plugging away with cleaning up my eating and try to come out of my eating funk!

Hope everyone has been enjoying their weekends and is ready to face Monday with recharged batteries!!
 
Reading more of the OMG book, interesting as I said. For instance, the author encourages you to skip breakfast, drink coffee in the morning and do 30 minutes of activity in the morning after your coffee. You can then eat breakfast/lunch 3 hours later. He says to eat 3 meals per day, not many mini-meals and that there's no such thing as a healthy snack b/c you shouldnt be snacking you should be eating meals. He says that eating more often encourages you to eat more not less. He gives the example of someone eating 3 meals that are 1000 calories each. That person then decides to eat 6 smaller meals per day, if that person reduces each meal to 750 cals then that's 6 x 750 or 4500 calories for the day, 1500 more than before. Of course some will eat less than 750 which would discredit his example, but you get the idea.

There's more later in the book about other exercise in the day but I havent gotten there yet. He also says to not count anything but carbs and eat no more than 90-120 per day as the upper limit, less is fine, but you dont have to count the carbs in vegetables except those that are in beans, potatoes, yams, carrots, peas, basically the starchy or higher glycemic index veggies. He endorses like most others to eat protein at each meal but says not necessarily to count the grams, but make protein half of your plate. I've still got over half the book to read, but not bad reading for $2.99, it's written in very down to earth terms, nothing too sciency at all.

On to my week's rotation plan, subject to change of course....

Monday---Turbo Barre

Tuesday---Afterburn (havent done this one before but have previewed it. I dont think I'll do this one in the same week I have my long walk as it looks a bit knee-intensive)

Wednesday---Rest Day

Thursday---Athletic Training

Friday---Rest Day

Saturday---Low Impact Challenge Step

Sunday---CTX Upper Body + abs (the rotation pairs cardio with Trisets UB, but I want to take out a cardio to preserve my legs/knees)

I may have to tweak this as I go since I have never done Afterburn or Athletic Training before and dont know how they'll be on the knees!

Ok enough rambling....
 
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