Suzanne,

I been missing you!! I will join back in ...I am in the water but only post like once a week because water is a HABIT now.

I am excited to announce I got a new trainor at 45% less then what I was paying my gym and even though he has me on higher carbs they are all the low GI ones.

He owns the local Muscle Max and is bodybuilder and helps train professional bodybuilders ...real sweet guy and its a small gym in back of the shop so lots individual attn.

I got cardio in last night...my goal is 5days cardio and 2 days maybe more weight training.

the good thing is his scale said same as my house scale 195 instead of the gyms 201....so happy bout that.

also smaller update the 3weeks since my first BF reading i was down a lil about I have lost 7.5inches and 4lbs according to gym scale.

So will start new workouts with him next Monday and will set new goal for bf for Sept.

Thanks again for starting this I thought we had lost you!!

glad everyone is doing well so far

Meechel

Meechel - glad to see you back, too, sounds like things are going weel. I really like the challenge- it makes me axctually commit to working out.

Jen
175/131/120

Suzanne and Jen,

Thanks! ... you two are so sweet. I did my 3-mile WATP tape yesterday. 20 minutes in my 20 month old DD woke up and I had to get her and bring her down to the family room with me. She did pretty good, but wasn't real happy about it. She actually kept pointing to the Stairmaster. I asked her if I should get on that, and she nodded yes. The funny thing is that she fusses worse when I'm on that. Oh, well.

Tomorrow I think I'll try to hop on the stairmaster.

Thanks for being so understanding and encouraging.

Meechel - good to have you back and glad to hear you're doing so well.

Debby

206.5/164.5/140?
CAD/CALP since 1/12/13

wonderful on all your news, Meechel........do you know if I should be worried about gaining body mass d/t increasing my weight training 5x a week? I do 3 days of lower (abs, thighs, back) and 2 days of upper (chest, arms, shoulders)
I feel like I am in a stall right now and getting discouraged(

06/15/03
225/220/205/170

it is very hard to gain muscle mass and loose body fat at the same time....most bodybuilders are doing one or the other hardly ever both....consistently over time I mean.

are you still measuring inches? I bet you will see your numbers drop there....my hips and waist are down so much since I started and I bought pair of 14pants...the real ones and they fit way to snug but zipped up none the less...its my motivation for getting there....plus they were on sale for $10!!

Debby glad you are adjusting your workouts to your life don't worry if you have to take it down a notch...nutrition is 75-80% of results all the people at my new place have said that!!

Thanks for warm welcome back guys & gals!

Meechel

Funny, I guess this 'toning up' is a little confusing to me. Can you clear this up for me?

You are losing weight AND inches, correct? But you are just toning up, right? I am thinking that when you lose weight, your skin gets lax and you need to tone up, correct?

I want to be firm but not gain muscle, I want to lose weight and at the same time tone up my body, is this possible?

Although I feel like I am in a stall, my husband said to me yesterday that my butt is a head-turner....lol.....he said he is looking at me a lot more often and admiring more.......so maybe that's a good thing

anyway, thanks for any advice you could give, Meechel or anyone else. I am trying to incorporate cardiovascular with toning up (not really weight training, I guess?? but doing exercises specificially designed for muscles)

guess I am just confused now...lol

Suzanne

06/15/03
225/220/205/170

Suzanne, I surely can't help you out, but I'm sure someone else will be able to. My DH keeps saying how my butt is getting smaller (which is a good thing). Isn't it nice they notice? ... and actually say something. I'm sure the new admiration will be a help when you are ready to get pregnant.

Thanks for the encouragement, Meechel! I do feel better when I exercise - I just need to figure out the right balance for my current life situation.

Got on the stairmaster this morning. Stats:

Time=30 min, Level=6.7, Miles=2.5, Prog=FatBurner

Thinking what I might try to do is go for walks when I get home from work on Tues and Thurs, since the weather is cooling down. We'll just have to see what my energy level is and what all I need to be doing around the house.

Have a great day everyone!

Debby

206.5/164.5/140?
CAD/CALP since 1/12/13

Weel, I blew off Curves last night. About once a week, I get so tired that I can hardly wait to get home to bed. I'll get ther tonight, 'cuz I am feeling perky!

Suzanne - it is really hard for women to bulk up muscle-wise. We just don't have the testosterone. The femail body builders you see who are just ripped and bulky spend ALL of their time working to look like that. It's not for me, either. It is a great thing to add muscle because it'll boost your metabolism (makes your body way more efficient) and it kills the jiggle we all loathe. Also, the more weigth bearing exercise you do, the better for your bones. Light weights (or resistance) with high reps are ideal for women. Keep doing what you are doing and you'll hit your goal of firm but not bulky, thinner and toned. You are an inspiration to me.

Jen
175/131/120

Jestey, thanks for replying!! I even went so far as to email Graeme Street with my concern, can you believe that? lol...

I stayed up late last night and watched a movie with hubby so I only got in my half hour of weight-training exercise this morning and not my biking.......it was either or and I figured since I walk 1/2 hour here at work, the weight-training was more important plus I want to be consistent with the days.

Thanks, Jestey, for the compliment. I just want to be looking good and feeling good so next year when I have my tubal reversal surgery my muscles will rebound quickly from the surgery and then I can get preggers) my biological clock is ticking (34) and I dearly hope I can get pregnant
Suz...

06/15/03
225/220/205/170

What a wonderful thing to look forward to. The great benefit about being in shape when you get pregnant is it makes recovery from birth much easier. I was LARGE when I had my first son, then got in shape for the next one (it's only been this past year that I put weight back on again, too much beer, food and no exercise) and the difference between the two recoveries was dramatic. And the second kid was BIG (9lbs 11oz, 22.5"). This a great gift for yourself and your future kids.

Jen
175/131/120

All I know is that I'm gonna have to see pictures in order to be a good judge of anything!!!

;->

John

202/176.5/170

HMM ok what I was trying to say is when you loose weight yes you can get saggy if you don't use resistance training....if you do use it and cardio together you loose bf (most time with right nutrition).

Everyones goals should be more focused on loosing BF and not weight so much ...or at least try and shoot for sizes...muscle takes up 3 times less room as fat.

ok here is example....i weighed 125 in high school...size 8/10....now I will get to size 8/10 this time thru weight training but i will not weigh less then 152 lbs at 18% BF because I already have 125lbs of muscle on me....and yes more muscle means more calories burned.

you won't bulk up by any means but toning and loosing inches (measuring BF is recommended but thats my personal opinion.)

i hope this helps but not sure if it did.

keep doing your resistance stuff and cardio and eat those veggies...get in lots of protien.

btw got in 38mins cardio tonight.

I feel really bad........I didn't get any exercise in this morning...a combination of a few factors, one being a horrid sinuse headache(to where it hurts so bad I want to cry and my meds don't help that much) I have been battling all week ,two being we stayed up late again last night to watch a movie, and three,hubby is sick with cold/flu.

The weather here dropped from the high 90's to the low 60's in a course, of literally, a day. We even got snow on our mountains but it's melted now. I am going to make every effort to get half an hour of weight training in tonight and if not tonight, will do it Saturday.

I just feel really bad about this but on the bright side, my body is looking better just in the course of about a week and I have been good the other days.......can someone forgive me please? I feel awful about this......

06/15/03
225/220/205/170

I forgive you . Seems to me that you have made a habit out of exercise so when you miss a day you miss it! That's good.

Sounds like fall is very pretty in Montana. The trees are starting to change here in MA (amazing - it's like someone flips a switch after Labor Day from summer to fall) and the mornings have been very cool.

I blew off Curves AGAIN last night (bad, jen) but I ran this morning - yippee. I am not going to curves tonight - my closest friend is going thriugh a rough patch and she is very down today, so we are going out tonight after work for some girl talk.

Happy day, everyone.

Jen
175/131/120

Suzanne there is nothing to forgive hon if your sick don't exercise!! I had to skip 3 days at labor day between sick on thurs/friday and had kids on Monday I was crawling the walls but If you push yourself while sick you will get worse and not be able to do much for longer then 1-2days.

You have to listen to your body, when I first started LC'ing i never needed naps...now that I lift weights fairly hard i need naps again...doesnt mean i lost my energy just means my body needs rest from workouts. ( i don't nap all the time usually weekends some...of course I am not LC'ing in traditional sense now just good carbing).

Mee