Happy May Day! Come dance around the maypole with me and sing:


(apologies to John Milton. )


Welcome, fellow couch fauxtatoes, to the "May 2005 Couch Fauxtato Activity Challenge" !


Not usually into challenges? Don't want to tie yourself to a particular weight or size result? Intimidated by more traditional Exercise Forums? Do you, perhaps, have a treadmill that has clothes hanging on it? ... hmmm? But are you, perhaps, willing to contemplate a modest expenditure of activity with a short term commitment?


You decide what your challenge is, since you know yourself best. It could be taking the stairs at work, so many times per week, or if you're in the right climate, going for a walk at lunch time. No challenge is too small or too odd! Then we'll check in every so often and compare notes.

Start to tone up for summer! Define your own challenge! Try it for a month!


*****LISTEN, FELLOW SLUGS AND SLOTHS, THIS IS IMPORTANT. A TRUE COUCH FAUXTATO CANNOT JUST LAUNCH HIM OR HERSELF OFF THE COUCH AND INTO AN INTENSIVE EXERCISE PROGRAM! Now, I realize that, for most of us, there's little chance of that. We are often also great procrastinators and most of us will take our sweet time dusting off tapes and/or looking for long burried exercise equipment, and will be adjusting our activity to whatever feels ok, especially to begin with. However, GET CLEARED, MEDICALLY, FOR WHATEVER CHALLENGE YOU ARE PLANNING FOR YOURSELF! Then proceed in a rational manner. Work into it slowly!*****

__________________

LOVE the poem Maggie!!! It's PERFECT!!!

DH and I spent the entire weekend doing yardwork. Ugh, am I tired!!! We went around and marked all the dang weed trees I've been wanting him to chainsaw for years. So they're all tagged and now he knows which ones to decimate. I have a bumper crop of "garlic-mustard" weed. Don't know if any of you get this in your necks of the woods, but it's a prolific seeder, smells a teensy bit like garlic when young plants are pulled and has teeny little clusters of white flowers on their tops. Anyhoo, they've invaded where I cleared last year and didn't put down seed germinator inhibitor. So they have taken over. I am on a rampage to irradicate it. I think I succeeded in getting rid of the ever-present pokeweed finally. (and then there's the thistle, grrrrr) So I raked and pulled and dumped and on and on. It was a productive weekend and very tiring. I also, today, loaded a chopped up cedar tree DH felled yesterday into the cart of the rider/mower and unloaded it onto the curb for brush pickup this week. That entailed about 15 trips or so. Our backs are a-achin' today!!!!

Rob, you done GOOD for April!!!!

Bren, that is AWESOME you can ride your bike to Curves. Mine is about 3 miles from my house, but it translates into a fifiteen minute (or so) bike ride and makes me pretty tired by the time I get there. (Then I don't feel like doing the circuit, LOL) Got any nice bike trails up your way? We should go bike riding sometime.

__________________

Maggie - I love it when people Improve the classics.
Reminds me of a poem my Scotish Grandfather used to recite.
What is so rare as a day in June?
A drink on the house in a scots saloon

Barb - All that work sounds like the equivalent of a 10 mile walk.

Yesterday - walked 4 miles at the lake and then undid the benfits by going to a barbecue at my sister's.

__________________

]

Hi Taters.

Big changes happening now that I stopped eating before going to sleep. I lost 7 lbs this week. I'm very happy about it. I had to crow.

__________________

So you've got some poets in your family, too, huh? LOL!

Well, my plan was to go to curves after work today, but I wound up in the dentist chair, instead. The good news is now my temporary stuff feels great and functional! Tomorrow, I look forward to real food that requires chewing (like salad! Woo-hoo!) and curves after work. 'Not waiting to pick it up on Wednesday, as I might otherwise be inclined.

__________________

Posting at the same time, Ed.

Great work!

__________________

Maggie - Yes,. Grandpa had a million of them. LOL. Happy salad in the days ahead.

ED - That's great!
You should crow!

Lazy slug yesterday but I read 200 pages of a novel , so it wasn't a complete waste but certainly not a calorie burning day.

__________________

]

.... and I DID it! Finally got to curves today, now that my temporary dental stuff is finally usable. Then I had a hamburger and a salad for dinner. Chew-chew-chew.

There weren't too many people there this evening, so I just skipped all the rest stations. Instead I just stayed twice as long on each machine - except the squat, where I did some kind of lame leg raises. Went around 3X. I feel fine. Nothing particularly hurts. I'm so happy!

__________________

Good for you getting to curves Maggie!

Rob, one day off from walking is not going to change the success you have so for. I'm sure you will get out as the weather gets better.

Walking is like crack when you get hooked on it. LOL I was out walking in the rain the other day, I know I'm hooked.

hanging in there. took a couple days off from the WATP mornings, and could start to feel the 'slipping into tatoland' coming on again. So, gotta keep working at it.
Ballys - not so good. weather just depressing me, and I only have one week left of the evening class - so will try getting on schedule there again once class is over, and hopefully weather gets better.

__________________
Mary Kay
2009 WW - 228 / 199

I want a Christmas Onederland!!

Maggie - Congratualtions on getting the use of the choppers back! Oh and curves of course.

Ed - ROFLMBO @ "walking is like crack". It's true though. I haven't reached the point of walking in the rain but then almost everywhere I walk is unpaved and turns to mud in the rain.

Mary Kay - The weather is going to get much much better real real soon!

It's been cooler than it should be here this week. we're about 10 degrees below normal the past few days. But I was able to get out to the lake yesterday morning and do 4 miles. Supposed to rain briefly during the day today and then again friday, maybe most of the day. So I better get myself walking while I can.

__________________

]

Howdy Taters!!! I made it to C's monday and today, so, so far on schedule for my MWF attempts. This aft. I put another coat of varnish on THE CHAIR. Then I flipped on FitTV and did a half hour workout with Gilad. So I did TWO workouts today!!! (I missed the first ten minutes, so a total of 50 mins of exercise today.)

Ed, WTG!!!!!!! You're on a roll!!!!

I think I have a serious "crack-like" addiction to exercise too. And I'm very happy about it. It beats being addicted to real crack.

Maggie, what a relief to be able to eat "real" food!!! I know I'm going to have to have my tooth attended to real soon here.

MK, hang in there. We have warmer temps coming and it's been sunny and almost windless all day, just gorgeous. This weather should be making its way to Ohio soon!!!! I'm cookin' on the barbie this afternoon.

Rob, I figure if we exercise in one way or another and we have a gettogether and eat (or drink) off plan a bit, we will work off the damage. I know if I want to have a baked potato, I will work a little harder that day or the day after. It's something I can live with in order to have a treat every once in awhile. And I figure a potato once or twice a month isn't going to hurt. It's a veggie I just can't give up completely. I think I will indulge in corn-on-the-cob once or twice this summer too. I'll just have to do a little exercise when I eat that. I know we aren't supposed to use food as a reward, but maybe I've switched it around.........higher glycemic food = more exercise. That's the plan anyway.

__________________

Barb - Yes, way better to be addicted to exercise than crack.
Or worse being addicted to food. You're a dynamo these days. I totally agree with you on having our treats. When I was doing Protein power a few years ago they allowed us to have potato skins as a treat. I used to love those. and the damage isn't near as much as a whole baked potato.

I walked 5 miles at Tanglewood yesterday. I won't be walking today because of the rain.

__________________

]

Still raining but it may clear up this afternoon. Didn't get to walk yesterday but I did spend hours grinding beef, pork and chicken. Then made Italian sausages and some mini meatloaves. Between that and the cleaning up afterward I feel like I got a workout. Ok cheesy but I'll take it.

__________________

]

Hey where is everyone?

Walked three miles yesterday.

__________________

]