130/120 Club?

I'm looking for a 130/120 club, but I don't see any topics started.

If anyone knows of the proper topic, would you mind letting me know?

Thank you :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thanks for all of the moral support regarding my Haagen Dazs situation :)  (and Margo thanks for posting the website!) And...I ate the ice cream guilt free!  (Well, as guilt free as can be when you have conditioned yourself to think of *bad* foods vs. good foods) It took me to about 1600 calories for the day, which was okay due to my almost 500 calories burned through working out earlier.  And you  know, it wasn't that good--eating it once a year is just fine. 

Jen and Heather--not a good week on the scale, but I'm sure both of you didn't actually gain any weight!  And I like the motivation cliches!

Simignonne--hope you recover soon.  Don't be too hard on yourself. I had the flu last week and it took me a full  7 days to revover.  I felt bad for not working out, and tried to work out on day 5...it didn't go so well.  Your body needs the rest!

For real gretamarie!  I thought I was well enough today to go back to work and up went the fever, my boss sent me home and told me not to come back until Monday.  It's been years since I've been this sick and man, it really has wiped me out.  I haven't eaten anything solid today, just juice juice juice. 

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who went up a bit on the scale, I felt so bad!  Now I'm not alone :)  We can do it you guys!  You're right too, it's a marathon not a sprint.  I like the weight thingy on CC because I can chart my weight over a long period of time and see that it is indeed going down even though it spikes from day to day.

Well, being home sick has allowed me to clean the house for my husband and prepare a Valentines day suprise as well.  You might think this is funny... when I was younger my mother used to make these chocolate bowls for us on VDay and fill them with candy and put them at the breakfast table.  She would blow up balloons and brush melted Almond Bark or chocolate chips on it and when it dried, pop the balloon and poof! A chocolate bowl! I decided to do the same for my man except for dinner and I was working on three incase one decided to pop too soon... and two of them popped, way too soon!! They weren't even dry yet.  Chcolate on me, the walls, the floors, the dishes, even my poor puppy.  Like I said, it's lucky that I got to go home early and clean it up before he came home!  I hope you all have a very wonderful VDay and that that story cheered some up! 

Gretamarie...

No problem...happy to be of help. Glad you enjoyed the ice cream! :D

Simignonne...

Sorry to hear you were so sick! :( Though it's cool you were able to make the 'chocolate bowl' (even though it was messy)! Sounds like a fun idea! Get better soon!

Hope everyone enjoyed their V-day...however you celebrated! :D

Smiles!! :)

Happy Friday!!!! :D

-Margo

 

Did anyone happen to catch Oprah yesterday?  Of course, I was at work, but my good budy TIVO saved it for me and it was a great episode.  They worked with two women who were unhappy with their bodies and showed how it was effecting their lives--they worked all the way up to taking nude photos of them and projecting them on a high rise building in Chicago.  It was a great show and helps all of us realize we are beautiful the way we are and we don't have to (and probably won't ever) look like the models or actresses we see in magazines or on TV. 

Don't get me wrong, I think we are all trying to be the best version of ourselves we can be (and there is nothing wrong with that)...I just think it puts things in perspective and we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves! 

Have a great weekend...hopefully it's a three day weekend for most of you!

Did anyone happen to catch Oprah yesterday?  Of course, I was at work, but my good budy TIVO saved it for me and it was a great episode.  They worked with two women who were unhappy with their bodies and showed how it was effecting their lives--they worked all the way up to taking nude photos of them and projecting them on a high rise building in Chicago.  It was a great show and helps all of us realize we are beautiful the way we are and we don't have to (and probably won't ever) look like the models or actresses we see in magazines or on TV. 

Don't get me wrong, I think we are all trying to be the best version of ourselves we can be (and there is nothing wrong with that)...I just think it puts things in perspective and we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves! 

Have a great weekend...hopefully it's a three day weekend for most of you!

Yeah, I watched that episode!  It was about that new show "How to Look Good Naked" on Lifetime.  I think there have been a few threads about it.  I was about to take a nap, but then it was so intriguing, I had to watch!  Haha.

It makes you wonder what people would say about your body if your picture was posted on a building in just a bra and panties!  It's weird...those women were like 170-190 and they were willing to go on TV in their underwear!  I applaud them.  At 135, I would not do that. 

Anyways, on a frustrating note, I promised myself I would not weigh myself when I went to the gym today because I'm on my period and I feel that I'm heavier.  But I did...and I'm up 2-3 lbs!  :(  I'm not really sure if I gain weight every month during this time because I've never kept track of it before.  I hope it is just because of TTOM.

However, my workout was better than ever!  I've been doing this interval workout on an arch-trainer machine, and it's pretty difficult for me to complete 30 minutes at level 4.  I had done it a few times in the past 2 weeks.  But today, I set it at level 4 for 20 minutes, and it was so much easier!  So I did another 20 minutes at level 5 (and I definitely felt the difference).  Then, I did 20 minutes on the bike.  I almost never do a full hour of intense cardio, but I was on fire today!  Haha.  And it just goes to show--I was going to give myself a really easy workout because I was feeling kind of sluggish before I got there...

I used to be 122! Over the past year I've gained 10 pounds! (but it's not so bad because the year before I lost ten pounds, so it all evens out, but I'd still like to get back to 122!) It just sounds so....slim. I wish I'd appreciated it more while I was there! If I get back to 122 I promise myself I won't gain it back!

I used to be 122! Over the past year I've gained 10 pounds! (but it's not so bad because the year before I lost ten pounds, so it all evens out, but I'd still like to get back to 122!) It just sounds so....slim. I wish I'd appreciated it more while I was there! If I get back to 122 I promise myself I won't gain it back!

minnie, just remember that at 16 your body is changing, you are growing, and your hormones are working on attracting and distributing fat to make you a woman instead of a girl (hello, boobs?). i'm not bashing your efforts to get the body you want, but just remember that "all of the sudden" gaining 10 pounds over a year from 15 to 16 is not something to worry about too much, it happens to most of us, but it will settle and you'll be hot, not pudgy.

you made a really good point that at our thinnest, we do not appreciate it, but in hindsight, we see what an amazing body we had. so we sould all take that in consideration with the body we have now and love it!

to my other ladies- i've experienced a minor backslide, i'm blaming all the Valentine's chocolate from grandparents, parents, and husband! 129.8 today, 130._ the past 2 days. I may try to maintain at about 128 for awhile. I don't know. I'm still hitting the gym, and hope my eating will get abck to where it needs to be. I may need to go back to actually logging my cals, i think i may need to up my cal target for the day instead of eating too many snacks at the end of the day. But, I've also been PMSing this week so the hormones are playing a part in the lack of self control w/ food.

love to all, have a great week!

Talk about self control problems!  Last night when I came home from work (Monday and Tuesday's I work until 8 or 9 at night) I promised myself that I would have a little cup full of cereal while watching the nightly episode of The Sopranos with my husband and that turned into.... cereal... hot chocolate... and a whole handful of those peanut butter m&ms.  Ahh!!  They are what is left over from VDay and I just can't eat all of them at once but I can't just throw them away.  So because of the splurge (I am assuming) I was up a bit on the scale this morning... esp. eating all of those things right before I went to bed. 

I have a horrible habit of snacking!  I really need to stop doing that late at night.  I keep saying 'but I'm young!  I should be able to have that late night sushi or a cheeseburger whenever I want to I just got out of college... two years ago..' I just have to remind myself, do you want to start healthy habits and look smokin in your swimsuit or do you want to eat like a pig?  I've never had to be this hard on myself before and I'm finding it difficult.  I guess I have a problem with self control!

mini - you are so tiny!  Please don't get into the habit of controlling your weight too much at your age.  HB was right, you are still growing!  When I was your age I went from flat chested to a C cup... whats up with that?  And those puppies don't weigh nothing!  You need to stay healthy first of all.  Your body isn't nearly finished with you yet!  Now... if you start gaining crazy weight into your 20s you might want to worry ;)

I'm going to work out today, the first time in over a week after battling the flu and I'm nervous!  What if my stamina has gone down!  I really want to see solid 128 and peaks of 127 by the end of Feb.  Is it that unrealistic to think that at this weight I should have a goal of 1-2 pounds a month?  I'm at that point where it's just sneaking off... very slowly.  I stayed at 130-132 for almost a year and a half and I'm afraid my body has gotten used to it.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far!  PS this is my daily addiction.. I love reading what every posts here, it really encourages me (in case you didn't already know!) 

whew!

It has been awhile.  I just turned in two grant applications, though so now I have more free time here at the good ol' 20-30s forum. 

Well it is official that TOTM and I am up 5#.  Very frustrated, than on top of that I lost all self control and got a burger with fries on Saturday -- very bad (yet good).   *I was PMSing bad*  I have been back on the bandwagon since, though.  

I am soo sore from legs yesterday.  Putting on my pants and shoes on this morning was a real challenge and probably pretty pathetic to watch.  I have totally rehauled all my workouts.  I added new things to my leg workouts to target more butt, less quads.  One-legged squats with the smith is a new fave, I also started doing standing stiff-legged extensions with weighted pullys (kills the lower back/upper booty)

Also I am trying a "blood volume" training for chest and shoulders, which have not been responding at the same rate as the rest of me to my current workout.  It involves more exercises per muscle groups and more sets per exercise with less rest.  So instead of doing 3 exercises with 3 sets and 6-14 reps (to failure every set), I am doing 5 exercises per muscle 4 sets 8-16 reps (to failure every set), with less rest (sometime none) in between.  We will see if it makes a difference, it has only been two weeks now.  But am exhausted when done and have been really sore.  Good signs.

My reasoning behind changing is I want growth in BOTH my fast twitch and my slow twich fibers.  I have been almost exclusively targeting my fast-twitch in the past with weights, so time to mix it up.  I will likely return to my old workout in 10-12 weeks then rotate again, back and forth.

I also have started to run again.  It has been feeling good.  I would really like to run 3 miles (on the treadmill) in under 22 minutes.  I am running three 8-minute miles easily right now.  And have not felt like pushing myself (b/c well, pushing hurts and I do not like to hurt).   I need to start, though, if i want to improve.  I think Mondays (when I run at the gym) I will alternate upping my distance a 1/4 mile and increasing my speed (drop my minutes/mile) by .15, every other week. 

I am also thinking of entering the Shamrock Run 5K in March.  I have not run in a race since H.S. though, so I am a little intimidated.  We will see if I do when it gets closer,  If I follow my running plan,  I think I could place in the top 5% no problem (looking at last years times).  So I will see how I am doing closer to the race.

Take care everyone and have a great week!

I can't post my weight today.  I don't know what happened.  I woke up really thirsty, so maybe I'm retaining water.  My weight was the highest it's been in months.  Hmmm.

Simi--I am a snacker too, and my hardest time is from the time I get home from work until dinner is ready/served.  And of course, after dinner.  I've never been an herbal tea drinker, but I started drinking tea (calorie free and caffiene free) so I won't snack.  I also started drinking diet coke (I've never really been a soda drinker), because that fills me up and keeps me from snacking.

Mini--when I was your age I gained about 15 pounds in one year, and I freaked out!  The bottom line is you have to gain some weight at that age because women have more body fat than girls.  I totally understand you wanting to be healthy and not let it get away from you--but I don't think you need to freak out yet.  Just eat healthy and stay active and maybe this is where your body wants to be.

Jen-I'm so jealous you can run 8 minute miles.  I've been running for years and I'm such a predictable 10 minute miler whether I'm running 15 miles or 2.  Let us know how your 5K goes!  I love reading about your workouts because they are so results based and not wasted workouts (like I feel like mine are sometimes).  You are so knowledgeable!  Please keep sharing!

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday, and I hope your scale isn't freaking out like mine!

current: 139.4,  still retaining water from that TOTM but I started going down today (lowest I have seen in 4 days)  very happy.  I should be all normal by Friday.

i love the herbal tea too,  I drink some after dinner to prevent snacking.   Mint tea is good because it makes other stuff taste crappy.  Oh that reminds me of a bodybuilder trick, suck on a menthol throat drop after a meal.  This will help curb snacking because the menthol makes anything else taste horrible.

Gretamarie --  I have no stamina though.   Secretely I would like to run a marathon someday (like you) but my knees/shins do not do well in after 5 miles.  I still hope I can build up and will continue trying.  But i look at my famly and wonder sometimes if I just wasn't build to run long distance (my sister has bad arthritis at 22 years etc).  I have noticed that biking has really helped to increase my running pace and I would recommend it. 

My asthma is usually the limiting factor for my running speed but the biking seems to really help my lungs to function more efficiently. I have not used my inhalers for a  few months, since becoming really regular about biking.  And I notice a big difference if I do stop doing intense cardio, even if only for 2 weeks, I will start wheezing just going up a flight of stairs.  I have no physiological explanation of why it helps so much but biking has been a lifesaver for me.  (I hated just masking my asthma symptoms with inhalers)

very inspiring :

http://cjcphoto.com/can/

Well, I'm up a pound this week to 136.  :(

I'm just finishing TTOM, so I hope that I'm still retaining water.  I was almost at 140 at one point...then again, after weighing in at 135 last week, I was fluctuating between 134 and 137, so who knows?

Still disappointing though...

leelee19

As it goes, I feel you pain.  I retain water for about a week around my TOTM, starting 3-4 days before and ending 2-3 days after I start  So do not get too discouraged (it is really frustrating while it is happening) but I bet you will be back to 135 or below next weigh in.

Hello All!  I have been MIA for about a week and a half due to meeting a new man (oh la la) and a trip to Vegas, but I'm back.  I didn't weigh in last week, but here is this week's weigh in.

Two weeks ago 130.2, TODAY 130.6

I haven't worked out since Saturday, so I am feeling kind of sluggish.  Plan to get back into my routine tomorrow morning.  All and all, I didn't do so bad in the past two weeks.  I kept my diet pretty good, just didn't go to the gym as often as I would have liked. 

I would like to thank everyone for their posts.  I was feeling pretty crappy about missing the gym so much and partying a little too hard in Vegas (drinks galore!), but I read everyone's blogs and it reminded me that we are all human and things happen (getting sick, periods, working late, splurges...) and these things might set us back a bit, but you just get back into it and you keep to it and that is how we will reach our goals. 

I obviously did not reach last week's goal of getting down to 129, so I am shooting for 129.5 for next Weds. weigh in.  Good luck to everyone, whether it be recovering from sickness, getting over our once a month visitor bloat, or beating an increase on the scale!

Sorry I forgot to post yesterday :( I am happily back to 130 today!! This weekend I hit 135 thanks to my TOTM and it's really hard to see that kind of fluctuation. Thank goodness it's back down today though. Also, I measured my waist last night for the first time in awhile and I'm down 1/2 inch! I know that's not much but it's a 1/2 inch away from 26" so I'm pretty excited.

My best friend (the trainer) is really flakey when it comes to working out now but I have another buddy who's totally dependable. Unfortunately, she's on a cruise for a week but somehow I've actually become strong enough (will power) to workout on my own! I'm really proud for doing so well while she's gone.

Congratulations to everyone, whether you lost or gained. It seems like we all had our monthly visits this week and that can be a struggle but we're all undetered. On a side note, I've started reading The Secret and it says for weight stuff we should never think about losing weight because that will just attract more weight loss needs into our lives. Instead we should just concentrate on the number and pretend like we already have it. Oh and tell yourself you're smokin hot all the time and don't pick yourself apart. Basically no negative thoughts at all.

So: I'm well on my way to 120 lbs and 15% body fat. It's already started and I'll be there soon. And I'm beautiful and happy and will forever live a healthy lifestyle.

Sorry this post is long but I have more to say! My wonderful amazing boyfriend asked me to move in with him! He's as crazy about fitness and nutrition as I am and really wants me to workout with him (scary). I'm a little intimidated because he's in better shape but it will be ok. I am moving around March 15th (I'm paying off my credit card first) and cannot wait. I love him :)

Rennai - you are so funny, you are right though, positive thinking is the best thing we can do for ourselves :)

Thanks for all the people who reccomended hot tea, I have lots of it but I just never drink it, I think I will try to work on that instead of the peanut butter M&M's :)

I forgot to weigh in... 

Last Week: 129

This Week: 129.... notice a sustainable pattern? 

Onward and Upward!

jredig - we all love hearing about your workouts, it is very inspiring and I know that if I ever have a strange question you always have an answer.  You're awesome! 

rennai -- congrats on the moving in :)  Here is wishing you two the best.  And I think you will find it easier to workout and diet living with someone who also does.  I really treasure the time my husband and I spend working out together.  It is such a great opportunity to support and encourage each other, so take advantage of it.  And congrats on the 1/2 inch, that is a lot!  And hard earned no doubt.

I agree whole heartedly about the positive thinking.  Beating yourself up about your "fat butt" and desiring to lose weight has never been as motivating as picture my soon to be "hot butt" and how healthy and great I am making myself.

Ok so I have been re-setting all my workouts.  And as I posted previously I feel my shoulders have been lagging.  So I was doing some reading and found my form for my Arnolds was far from perfect.  (go here http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php ?MainMuscle=Shoulders  and scroll down for an explanation of arnolds and video link) So I thought I would share what I learned. 

Previously I lifted Arnolds as I saw the boys at the gym did.   So I Used the seat with the back support.  I used to lean into the back support but I just learned that this puts the focus on your anterior deltoids (your shoulder muscle has three heads, anterior, lateral and posterior).   And my anteriors get enough from bench press, what I want to work are my lateral delts on shoulders days.  So last night I sat up straight and did not use the back rest and wow! I could really feel the arnolds hitting my lateral deltoids.  I also made a realy effort to "keep my pinkies up." (tilting the dumbells up on the outer sides)   Big difference,  I just wanted to share, so if any of you girls do Arnolds, you do not waste as much time as I did doing them wrong.

Note:  If any of you do shoulders please be careful with your rotator cuff and avoid "behind the head" push or pull movements.  There are lots of ways to strengthen your rotator cuff without these movements, which may result in a rotator-cuff tear.