Pentagenarians & Beyond: W/B 2/7

fox2star

fox2star

Cathlete
Good morning,

A rest day yesterday, but I did take Keegan to agility class, so that counts somewhat. He is such a clown, always makes people laugh with his antics.

Valerie, spring in February....so nice! I am sure we won't be seeing what you are seeing until late April. I just found out that a friend of mine from the dog club raises her own chickens...she practically begged us to get eggs from her. I guess she has a lot and no way to eat them all.

Judy, great workout area! I never had cats but I know that they can get into trouble from friends of mine that have them. So darn cute though!

Diane Sue, thanks for mentioning Fitness Blender. I looked at it years ago, but forgot it was there. I put a couple hip/hamstring/lower back stretch videos on my iPad. They're pretty good and the best thing is that the are free. :). I have the 21 Day Fix workouts, but don't remember Autumn doing any side planks in those. Maybe I will Google it for modifications. Hassleback sweet potatoes? sounds interesting.

Hi to Lori, Lynda & Josie,

A workout, and lots of HouseMax. I was lazy yesterday, just settled down napped and read a lot. John has a cold, and I am trying to make sure I don't get it. :(.

Take care,
 
Deb, our next door neighbors have chickens. sometimes a rooster.... sometimes not. they're noisy, but not ridiculous. we've had some eggs from them in repayment for when we've done some helpful things for them, but I'm unable to taste any difference. these are free range, organic etc but to me, they taste like eggs all taste. I'm not a huge fan. I can always smell hydrogen sulfide. (rotten egg smell) I don't eat eggs by themselves very often, but use them in cooking.
I love the spring here, but weeds are a problem. no down time, they grow all year.this winter has been wet and mild, only a dusting of snow this year. I could spend 24/7 weeding already. we moved a lot of plants, divided others. we are planning a California trip next month and want to get things under control.before we go. we finished the cold frame and moved it outside. witch hazel, hellebores, sarcococca all blooming.
off to do a xc ski we hope. if it's not good, we'll come home and mt bike instead.
 
Hi everyone--

This morning I did CLB with MM shoulders (63:38).

Judy, I see that the MM triceps is on RS so I think I will do that premix tomorrow and see if I get any soreness. I just don't feel like I get as much for my triceps on CUB because I don't feel those pushups that you have one leg up in the air. That whole exercise sequence hurts my wrists more than anything, so, like Lori, I will do only 4 bear crawls.

Diane Sue, I know what you mean about chickens and eggs. Cage free might mean that they just roam around a barn and get no bugs. My husband gets chicks and puts them in the brooder and gradually widens the space for them in a pasture when they feather out. The chief predator here is the hawk, especially the sharpee hawk, but Max is frequently on chicken guard duty. The pigs have a lot of space back in the woods to roam around and root. DH even has a little shower for them during the summer that they love. When I think about how pigs are raised on big farms, it's like animal cruelty. DH's pigs are playful, friendly, and have a great time before they are sent off. Our place is beautiful especially in the fall. The photos are mostly taken by a friend who is a professional photographer. He loves to photograph Max, because Max seems to pose for him at times. At Christmas he transformed some of the photographs into cards for us and I hate to send them because they are so beautiful. I write some of the blurbs, but that's about all I do other than observe the animals and watch my husband work, work, work.

Valerie, I can definitely taste the difference between eggs from the supermarket and free-range eggs. The yolks are so much more yellow and flavorful. There is a local woman with Araucana hens--the eggshells are blue--and the eggs are heavenly. As for chickens, DH started raising them in part because all he could taste and smell was ammonia when he cut one up from the supermarket. Full of antibiotics no doubt.

Deb, I don't know about Fortitude. Some very strange behavior--improbable actions just seem to be piling up. I will probably finish watching it, if only to see the Icelandic setting, but it's a very strange mystery.

Lori, did you get any of that Boston snow? We had a dusting but it's beautiful here today.

Happy Superbowl Sunday!
 
Good afternoon ladies!

No workout yesterday. Was busy with taking down and putting up the new molding. This was a bigger task than I thought. I finished and it is all painted. Looks great. This morning I did several SB targets that totaled about 55 mins. My legs and arms were exhausted. I just love barre. This afternoon I built a wood box to cover my wall a/c and painted it to blend in. It is a beast and has to be about 30 or so years old. Did not use a power saw. Did it all with a hand saw...so this was a workout in itself. My DH is working today which is unusual so I had plenty of time on my hands.

Judy...your cats are adorable. :). Your workout space is looking great! I love my foam tiles and they have made a huge difference with my joints.

Diane Sue....what a smart kitty!!!! Hilarious! Glad she was well when you came home. Anything with sweet potatoes sounds yummy in my book! Yes agree with Deb so thanks for mentioning Fitness Blender. Completely forgot about it.

Deb...aren't you running all over the place with those agility classes? Yes that would be a workout! I really need to get going on housemax. Since all the home improvements I have been doing the rest of the house needs some love.

Lynda...we were slammed with snow on Friday. Original it was suppose to be a dusting for us so it was so unexpected. I had a planned day off on Friday and so happy I did not have to drive in it. My DH wanted to drive to the gym (only 10 mins away) so we did. I had already did Live RockmSock so I just race walked on TM while watching a movie on my Ipad.

Valerie...I do notice a difference with eggs, however, I do not eat many now a days. Mostly egg whites. Trying my best to reduce my cholesterol. Hope you were able to xc ski!

Speaking of Cholestrol..great job Josie. That was a huge reduction!

Have a great afternoon. DH just got home so we can watch superbowl together. He brought home some really healthy snacks for us too. Good Husband! :)
 
Rest day with family today :D Hasselback sweet potatoes are cut lengthwise, then 1/4 inch slices across but not all of the way to the bottom. You put melted ghee or I sometimes use grass fed butter and salt on them. Bake then mix melted ghee with some rosemary and thyme and pour over the top. They are yummy. Checked my body fat today because I haven't done it in 6 months. I was getting worried because I gained 5 # that it was going to be all fat. I have been doing Paleo for a year and a half now. With a few cheats here and there :) I dropped to 14.4% from 19.2% over the last 6 months. I was really surprised. I use an Omron BF analyzer that I have had for a few years. So, I guess the workouts and diet are working. I was doing heavy weights before I did the Fitness Blender and now almost 8 weeks of Hammer and Chisel.

Deb, I recently discovered Fitness Blender. I guess they have a once a year sale for programs put together for you which are really from their free ones. I purchased an 8 week fat loss program and a 4 week core program. I was trying to do them together but soon learned I could not do ll of the core program at the same time as the fat loss. I was just able to drop it into the calendar and pull it up each day. They stay in my purchased workouts to go back to. But, the free stuff is nice when I want to do something different. I was doing that when Hammer and Chisel arrived so I only got 4 weeks in.

Valerie, I just always noticed when I had farm raised chicken eggs where I knew the chickens ran around freely the egg yolks were often much darker and more colorful. Also they seem a bit richer in flavor to me. Anyway, from what I have read free range eggs have much higher ratios on the nutrients in them than factory eggs where chickens are crammed into bitty cages and fed whatever grains they throw at them. My daughters chickens actually eat some table scraps along with foraging around outside. I do prefer them cooked in frittatas and omelets though.

Lynda, my daughter had her chicks hatch in the house and then they put them in a big metal tub in the house because it was too cold outside for them. Finally I gave them a huge wire crate we had for our great dane that we no longer have and used that in the house. Seriously, I thought their house sort of had barn smell :) But it was fun for the grandchildren to all go there and see. I don't know how many chickens they have now.
The photographs are beautiful. If I was you I would want to hang on to some of those card for myself too. :) Max is a pretty dog. We only have our Lab. We lost our other dog this year at 9 years old, and decided to just stick with one for now. The one we have now is Gertie. She was found wandering the city my dh was working for and they tried to put out fliers and find an owner. No one responded. She was around 2 months then. That was the vets guess. Anyway we have had her two years now. She is a really sweet and loving dog.
Seriously, I never thought about that ammonia smell in the eggs. I have noticed it in eggs and meat and thought it was just me.

Lori, you are amazing doing all of that stuff on your own. I have helped with stuff before and do a lot but as far as getting out the saw or putting in a new faucet I am a little afraid. I have repaired things but not tried to install and make things. My dishwasher needs a new control panel. I have looked at diagrams and thought I bet I could do it but then I worry I will waste my money and end up buying a new dishwasher.
 
Good morning,

Yesterday I did Chiseled Lower Body Blast, a premix that has less intervals. It was still a good workout.

Well it's Monday and the start of another week. This winter has gone by pretty fast. Keeping my fingers crossed that we continue with the mild weather, and it will be spring before we know it.

Valerie, no, I don't think I would like to be fighting weeds all year long...it's nice to get that break during winter. I never thought of it that way, but I guess it is a positive thing about have sub-zero weather at times. LOL. I like free range, farm eggs, I think they have more flavor. What will you be starting in the cold frame?

Lynda, I will probably try Fortitude after The Guardian. Is it 8 episode? or longer? Most British shows are shorter...

Lori, carpentry now? :). Good job! Yes, you run in agility class, but for less than a minute each time, when its your turn, then you hang around and watch the others in the class. Can't really count it as a workout.

Diane Sue, nice workouts! Good job on the fat loss. Paleo seems so strict to me, I don't think I would be able to stick with it. That was a great idea to use the dog crate for the chicks. :). Gertie was a lucky little girl to be adopted by you and your DH. My dishwasher is not getting the dishes clean, I tried more of that extra blue stuff you put in, it still doesn't do a good job. On Pinterest, they have a post that shows how to take it apart and clean inside etc, I have looked at it but I am afraid to start it. Lori would have it all apart and fixed by now...:).

Hi to Judy & Josie,

A workout, and class later tonight....

Take care,
 
I don't like eggs much.subtle flavor changes wouldn't make them more appealing. If I eat eggs as eggs, I add a boat load of vegies and usually hot sauce. I had a neighbor who raised arucana chickens with the pastel eggs. very pretty colors. our current neighbors... not sure what kind of chickens. they used to wander into our yard but they built a fenced area to keep them contained.

I bought a Bosch DW last time. I'd had my second Kitchen Aid that quickly stopped getting things clean. taking it apart was complicated, time consuming and only worked for a short time. The Bosch( the model I have) has a simple removable filter system that you can pull out in 2 seconds, rinse and put back in place. It's the first feature I'd look for in a DW...an easy way to clean the filter system. Deb, I run a plain rinse cycle occasionally, and remove the shelves. I used to run a cycle with some diluted vinegar, and I've seen products designed to clean the inside, think they used citric acid. I run a scrub brush over the inside if there is any stuck on debris, and also on the outer sides of the shelves. .

we tried to ski but no luck. blocked roads from last fall's windstorms. no snow in a reasonable distance. we started walking uphill but after half an hour we got to where we could see it was pointless. so we walked back down, drove to another trail, and hiked for an hour up and then back. good enough. will mt bike today. going to be sunny and warm mid 50's. maybe 60.

Deb, lots of benefits with all year round plant growth, but yes, weeding becomes an all year duty. I haven't done much yet this year but will be soon.
Lori buy a circular saw! we have several saws, including a big table saw. many projects take 2 people . our cold frame is done and outdoors in place.

we start plants indoors in peat pots, like broccoli, cauliflower,cabbage lettuce, then move them outside to the cold frame for a week or two to acclimate. then, depending on weather, into the ground in the garden.

wow paleo. I got so hungry I was shaking like a Chihuahua. that is a seriously low body fat level. Reminds me of Atkins that I tried seriously once and only once. Whatever works for you, we're not all the same metabolically.
 
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Hi Ladies,

Today is a rest day. I rode only 25 miles yesterday because I had to get home early to go to my cousins Superbowl party. I won $80. on the 2nd and 3rd quarters :). Regarding my cholesterol and how I reduced it, I started taking a supplement that my doctor approved called Cholest-Off made by Nature Made. I started taking it in November when I saw the Dr. and I also cut down on red meat and I had been adding chia seeds and flaxseed to my oatmeal every morning. These were the only changes that I made and it worked :).

Judy, I like your gym, mine is in the garage. Your kitties are adorable.

Lori, I want to hire your to come to Los Angeles and work on my bathroom :).

Deb, I consider housemax and agility classes a workout.

Hi to Valerie, Diane Sue and Garance!

Josie
 
Hi everyone--

This morning I did RS with 1 lb. gloves with MM triceps (61:58).

Judy, you are so right about that triceps MM. I had to go down in weight by the third round because I was not able to finish the reps with 12s on the second round.

Deb, there are 12 47 min. episodes in Fortitude and I noticed that it says season 1, so maybe there will be another season? Winter is not over here--sub-zero temps forecast for the end of the week. Sigh!

Diane Sue, that is an absolutely fantastic body fat percentage! You must be rock solid. Gertie is fortunate to have found a home. I cannot imagine having chickens in the house. DH has a brooder with heating lamps to keep the chicks cozy in late March when he gets his first batch. They stay in there until they feather out. Children do love chicks and always want to pick up a ball of fluff when they visit them.

Lori, you probably could get a job on Angie's list as a handy woman. Amazing!

Josie, I'm not surprised. You are always so lucky. I thought the game was totally boring because it was such a defensive game and there were so many penalties. Even the commercials were pretty blah--except for the Doritos one which I thought was hilarious.

Hi to Valerie!
 
Today's workout was Hammer Conditioning, 32 minutes, 204 calories. I also added a fitness blender cardio warm up, 10 minutes, 34 calories. I finished off with Party Rockin Step 2, timesaver #1 34 minutes, 258 calories. Total time was 76 minutes and calories burned 496. It is so windy today. I had to go out and track down my trashcan. I came back and I think I had someone else's because it had a sticker on it. I ended up going back out and switching for the one in front of a for sale sign. I thought the sticker was a good idea so I put stickers on mine too. I was thinking the neighbors probably thought I was odd running around taking trashcans! Our cul de sac is pretty much all elderly people. We live in a two story town house. They watch all of the time. We have one little lady that comes out with her dog even in her bathrobe to check out things when someone different is outside She kept her eye on us when we looked at our house thinking of purchasing and through the whole move in process. So, neighborhood watch is always here :D

Deb, have you tried one of those dishwasher cleaners? The one here is a Maytag and was really only 18 months old. It worked when we moved in for two loads. That's it. I tried to trouble shoot it and finally called someone out. I did not care for this guy. Sort of obnoxious. He messed with the buttons, suggested that I should always use an individual surge protector for digital appliances. He got it to work once messing with the buttons and said if I had anymore problems he would need to put on a new control panel. He charged us 70 dollars for his service. He said it would be 225 dollars more for the part. I looked it up online and it was 138.00 So, I never called him back. That was over a year ago. Anyway, I just got inspired (THANKS LORI ) and ordered the part. Watching You tube videos it doesn't look too hard to install as long as nothing else is wrong. I had to unplug it because it would just start running like the pump was trying to drain water. I would wake up in the morning and hear it.

Valerie, I have always wiped my dishwasher down and cleaned the seals around the front and along the base of the door. Stuff accumulates and if the dishes have much food on them it sticks. I always rinsed my dishes well before I put them in which sort of seems silly but, the dishwasher does sanitize the dishes and gets out some stains. Although I went to using a more natural dish washer soap and it doesn't remove the stains like tea so well. I hate the smell and flavor some dishwasher soaps leave in the dishes. Plastics seem to absorb odors and I am working on replacing them with glass. I too ran water through my dishwasher once in awhile because sometimes my preference was to clean by hand and use the dishwasher on weekends when we were busy. My daughter bought a Bosch when they bought their home. It seems to be holding up well.
I would think it would depend on which Paleo plan you followed. Some allow a lot more carbs like fruits and starchy veggies along with some honey, coconut palm sugar, and pure maple syrup. I did that at the start. I think I was getting carried away with nuts, nut butters and bananas for awhile. I never liked Adkins very much. Too much butter and Cream dumped in stuff. It worked well for my husband at one time he was down to the weight he was when we were married, 185 pounds. But to this day he will not eat green beans after that. He is picky and that was the closest thing to a green vegetable that he would eat :) Different nutrition plans work better for some people. I tried vegetarian and lost too much weight and always had an upset stomach. I made my own tempeh, loved the chili in Tony's Bring it book with Tempeh. Getting enough protein is hard without supplements to me.

Josie, nice job on the cholesterol. My son in law recently had to work on his so he added running daily and quit eating out when he was on duty. His cholesterol levels improved a lot. I have heard of Cholest Off. Funny my doctors office just called with my labs. They said my bad cholesterol was up a little bit they were not worried because my good cholesterol is really high and I workout a lot. I expected that because that seems to be the norm for a lot of Paleo athletes that I have followed. Also, I am working on the fats because certain nuts may have some omega 3's but they have way too many omega 6's. That means I have to be careful of Almonds and Almond butter. Macadamia nuts is probably the best ones. I have made my own macadamia nut milk. I made brazil nut milk as well but it is not the best choice and was not as tasty. Nice work on winning 80 dollars :)

Lynda, one time I really went strict and worked hard to lower my body fat before we went on vacation. I got it down to 8.7% . I was pretty shredded. But, I really have not had the desire to work at it that hard since. I like to eat and cook too much. I was really surprised.
Yes, my daughter and her husband have gradually been making things work a little better. Really they have a pool house in back that it seems they could have used.

I am guessing that most of the abbreviations for the workouts is for Ice? Since I do not have them "yet" I have no clue what most of them are.
 
Hi Everyone,

Today I did a Spinerval for 50 minutes and 14 miles. Then I did Muscle Meltdown Back and the "All Abs" segment from CTX.

Josie-You are so lucky! Congratulations on the win! Thanks for mentioning Cholest-off. I've been meaning to look at that one.

Deb-I agree, the winter has gone by so fast. We've had unseasonably mild weather and minimal snow in SE Michigan. I really hope it stays that way for the rest of the winter.

Valerie-We bought a Kitchen Aid dishwasher in 2011. It worked fine the first couple of years but it's been one thing after the other recently. We are talking about replacing it in the spring. Do you recommend Bosch?

Lynda-MM Triceps is on my agenda for tomorrow or Wednesday. I have to go down with the weight in the last set too.

Lori-I bet you could get a job at Home Depot and you would be great at helping people with their projects. That's what DH wants to do when he retires :)

Diane Sue-14.4 is a great bodyfat! You must be ripped to shreds! Yes, the abbreviations are for ICE-
MM=Muscle Meltdown, RS=Rock'M Sock'M Kickbox, CLB=Chiseled Lower Body, CUB=Chiseled Upper Body.
 
Good evening ladies,

This morning I did Live Ice Total Body Compound. I really like this one more than the Ice Metabolic DVD. No lunch workout as a few were out due to todays snow storm. Tough ride home today so no workout tonight as I preferred a glass of wine after that drive! :oops:

Diane Sue...you are really wanting me to try out a Hammer and Chisel rotation. I do like Autumn from doing the 21d fix workouts. I know some don't but us lunchtime ladies enjoyed her. Wow 8.7% body fat! That is low and yes you must have been cut. I agree with the maintenance though. I praise people that stick with it. I am happy with my weight and fitness so that is all that matters to me. Lol! On the dishwasher! Deb is so right and funny you both should mention dishwasher issues as I am having a problem with ours not cleaning and I did what you did went on you tube and watched a few videos and thought "I can do that"...so I will be taking a part out dishwasher this weekend. I may or may not be able to fix it but will try before calling someone. I know you will be able to change the control panel. I love doing home improvements and saving tons of money. I have 4 brothers (no sisters) and learned mostly everything from my mom. Go figure. Gertie is a lucky dog indeed. We have a yellow lab (Chester, 10 years) and a Chihuahua (Nilla 15 years) and 2 cats TimTim (10 years) and Zelda (15 years). Nilla the smallest of them all is the Queen of the house.

Deb...we must have got all the snow and it will continue for a few days. Ugh. I am on episode 482 (I think) of Dark Shadows. Still loving it! :D Only like 800 more to go to complete it!

Josie...I would love to go to California! Thanks for the info on what you did for your Cholesterol. I am going to try it out and see what happens.

Valerie...we have a kitchen aid dishwasher so wish me luck. We have not been happy with Kitchen Aid products at all. Next time we will stay clear of them. I actually have a table saw but rarely use it. I thought that doing it manually would be the way to go but let me tell you...next time I will use the power tool! Sorry no xc skiing.

Lynda...so cold, snowy and windy here today. Ugh. While typing this my son GF's dad just plowed our driveway. Love that man!!! I too loved the doritos commercial! I actually laugh out loud for that one. We thought the game was boring too and stopped watching in the 3rd quarter. I enjoyed the halftime show.

Hi to Judy!!!
 
Judy thanks so much for explaining the abbreviations. I kind of thought CUB had something to do with upper body. That must be a tough spin ride. I generally get about 13 miles when I do Pedal Power, less with ride and cycle max. I like to do Kelly Coffey's Home Gym Intervals using the spin bike. I do get a better calorie burn though when I can use my Tread Climber. I can't get to it often. It is in our bedroom and my husband works nights most of the time so when I workout he is sleeping.

Lori, I am sure you will probably get it up and working ;) I grew up with a Dad that fixed everything. He only owned one new car his whole life. He was always talking about how things worked. My son is a do it yourself person too. It seems he is always fixing some of the family's stuff. He was at my daughter's Sunday fixing a water valve under the sink that decided to break and flood. I feel guilty when I call him for help because he is so busy. He came over a couple of weeks ago when ice on the roof was forcing water from the rain and sleet under the flashing on our florida room and water was pouring in. I felt sorry for him outside in that. Anyway between my Dad and Husband I have a pretty good knowledge of tools and some repair work.
I only have the one Dirty Thirty Extreme workout that is on one of the Chisel dvds. I did half of it to see how I liked it. It was similar to some she does with chisel but I thought a little less intense. When I am done with this rotation I will try it doing the whole thing which is just what I did but two times through. Someday I do want the 21 Day Fix Extreme workouts. Those and Ice are on my list. You have a house full of pets. We used to have a lop eared bunny named Harvey with two dogs. He would wander the house and when we got the first dog as a very young pup he would wake the dog up to play. They would run around the room and Harvey loved it. But, one day Mudd (lab mix and the one we lost this summer) got a mouth full of bunny hair. We didn't let them play together anymore after that and poor Harvey was left in the large laundry room with a gate. I finally gave him to my granddaughter. Zelda is getting up there in years. My brother has a cat that is 23 years now.
 
Good morning,

Yesterday I did an iTread workout and ICE MM Chest. I started out with 12's like Cathe, but by the third round I had to drop to 10's. They really get you.

Valerie, I have lost my taste for eggs. I used to eat them in some manner almost every day. Now I can barely eat an omelet, once a month and that is with going to our favorite breakfast place. I'm not sure what happened. I'm afraid the dishwasher needs more than the inside cleaned, it needs all the filters or whatever is beyond those spray arms to be looked at. The next one will definitely be one that can have the filters cleaned easily.

Josie, you are always so lucky at gambling! :). I think you may have hit on it....I had started to eat more steel cut oats with flaxseed a short time before my blood work...and my total cholesterol went down 11 points. I will continue with that and also try to add more fiber with vegetables. Hopefully it will go down even more. I read that the "over the counter" cholesterol lowering things like Red Rice Yeast are the plant versions of Statin drugs, only not regulated for quality etc. That kind of scared me away from them. The one you are taking really worked, and your Dr okay'd it.

Lynda, I think I only saw one season of Fortitude in Prime. Maybe it did not get renewed.. I watched Downton yesterday, I really do not want this one to end. The Good Wife is over after this season, and that is not a surprise. I am not sure where they could go with it any more.

Diane Sue, good idea to put stickers on the trash cans....we have those big totes that are supplied by the city with our address on them. They don't blow around but will tip over if empty and there is a high wind. I like it when there are neighbors that appoint themselves as the "watchers" of the neighborhood. I thought the dishwasher cleaner was for the inside tub unit, more and appearance thing? Do they work on the inside stuff too like the filters? I could not give up almonds. I really like the raw, organic, salt free version of almond butter. I don't use it a lot but if I do have any kind of nut butter, that is what I go to.

Judy, nice workout! my dishwasher is also a Kitchen Aid....it's almost 20 years old so I should not really complain too much.

Lori, let me know how the dishwasher repair goes! If you use a good YouTube video, save it for me. I found a couple good instructions on Pinterest, but am really afraid that if I take it apart, I won't be able to put it back together or something like that. I can see John's face when he comes home from work and dishwasher parts are all over the kitchen floor. :). I watched 16 of the super bowl commercials on the net yesterday, they were horrible. I saw the dog Dorito one before the game was on and thought it was the best that I saw of all of them. FedEx used to have some good ones, but they stopped doing them when the 2007/2008 bad economy year hit. They thought it would be pretty low to pay over a $$ million for a 30 sec commercial when they had just taken away money from employees and had let some people go. I agreed. They never did another, that I am aware of.

A workout, then Mani-pedi today with my cousin,

Take care,
 
I always check consumer reports before buying an appliance, then read reviews at a big place like Lowes. reviews were very helpful. If there's a flaw in a product, you will find out after skimming over a few dozen opinions.
I HATE!!! washing dishes. I refuse to wash/ rinse dishes before they go in the DW. any big pieces of food get scraped off, but a DW should handle bits of cereal, salad fragments, etc. I run it after dinner and our floor plan is open, so I needed a quiet DW. I had KA one to begin with and it was fairly loud and supposedly had a "soft food disposer". it was always was clogged. I'd take it apart and clean all the tubing and spray arms but the filter system didn't work. It would build right back up, and I was needing to do this more than monthly..... so I especially looked at how a DW filter system was cleaned. the Bosch was so simple and easy, just a quick 1/4 turn of a filter on the DW floor, and the filters come out. you rinse them in the sink, back in in 5 seconds. so easy. very quiet. I've had mine for at least 5 years now and products change all the time, so I'd re-look at all brands before buying currently. all the Bosch parts have held up well, it has a great choice of cycles and never clogs up like the KA one did. I've never used a specific DW cleaner. Like diane sue, I run a kitchen brush around the bottom of the door, seals, and the sides of the roll out shelves. check the walls for any debris. then run a rinse cycle, maybe with a little vinegar. with the bosch the filters collect all the bits of food debris, and I pull them and rinse about once a week. this system works so much better than the mysterious disposer the KA was supposed to have.
I watched the repair guy take the KA one apart once. took notes so I could do it myself. but it kept on clogging.

Another magazine I get just reviewed cholesterol lowering products. Psyllium ( Metamucil) was one. ( who knew?) also the red yeast rice products. the problem was inconsistent amounts of the active compound between brands and over time. if you have problems with statin drugs, you may have the same issues with red yeast rice because it contains " statin like compounds. I'll post a link to the article if it's available online. not sure of that.

we went mt biking yesterday, about 1.5 hours. a lot of uphill, downhill was too hard so I ended up using the road to get back down without killing myself. then later did x train bi's & tris, and therapy exercises.
I'm switching to mostly fruit and vegies for lunch. I had hummus and a sliced red pepper for lunch yesterday, half an orange, half an apple. on an active day like after mt biking , I can't fast. way too hungry! if I do that several days a week, maybe I can get this weight loss jump started.
 
Today's workout was Chisel Cardio followed by 15 minute glute chisel, 56 minutes, 323 calories. I got up extra early to get it in because I had to go have a small cyst removed this morning. She said I could do my weights tomorrow :D I was a bit worried I was going to have to hold off a bit. Tomorrow is the last day of week 7. The nice thing about Chisel Cardio is that there is not a lot of jumping. Just the burpee jumps. She uses the bemch and a dumbbell for most of it. I did lower my step a bit this time. I just used 4 risers under each side. I have previously done it with 5.

Deb, I used to do a lot of itread workouts. I even purchased a couple of treadmill workouts. The first one was on VHS. The other was an audio cd. I gave them to my daughter when she bought my treadmill. I didn't want to move it anymore. Besides I have the Tread Climber and the spin bike. I think that the cleaner is supposed to clean the gunk out of your hoses and drain and that sort of thing.

Valerie, I have gotten used to doing dishes by hand but since we have an open concept it would be nice to shove the dishes in the dishwasher. My husband washes them for me sometimes :) I always read reviews everywhere I can and take notes when I purchase things now.

The last few years I have used Melaleuca cleaning products. My friend that got me started gave sent me a wellness guide from Melaleuca (she lives in NH. This is interesting because it says before you use their diamond brite dishwasher soap to use some of their Melamagic cleaner and a normal wash load amount of their cleaner to clean the build up that commercial dishwasher products behind. I use a lot of their cleaners and love them. I use their vitamin packs too. I don't sell their products, just though you might find it interesting. I know that most fabric softeners for washers recommend diluting with water. It really does build up in the washing machine dispenser. I have wondered how bad that gets in the line that runs down into the washing machine.
 
Today's workout was Chisel Cardio followed by 15 minute glute chisel, 56 minutes, 323 calories. I got up extra early to get it in because I had to go have a small cyst removed this morning. She said I could do my weights tomorrow :D I was a bit worried I was going to have to hold off a bit. Tomorrow is the last day of week 7. The nice thing about Chisel Cardio is that there is not a lot of jumping. Just the burpee jumps. She uses the bemch and a dumbbell for most of it. I did lower my step a bit this time. I just used 4 risers under each side. I have previously done it with 5.

Deb, I think the cleaner is supposed to clean the inside plus clean build up in the hoses, lines , and drain. I buy Melaleuca products through the mail. My friend that got me started gave me their wellness guide and it recommends that when you start using their more natural dishwasher soap that you use some of one of their concentrated cleaning products called Melamagic and a load amount of their soap to clean out build up that commercial dishwasher soaps leave behind. I found that interesting that the soaps would leave behind build up. I know liquid fabric softeners do in washers. I love almonds and almond butter too. I sometimes buy brazil nuts because they are a good source of selenium. But walnuts and macadamia nuts seem to be the better ones as far as Omega3 and Omega 6 ratios.

Valerie, I really do think you should not have to wash the dishes to put them in the dishwasher but I always hated finding chunks of food in the dishwasher. My husband sometimes washes the dishes for me by hand. We have an open concept and it would be nice to be able to just stick the dishes in the dishwasher :) I have a lot of things I don't put in the dishwasher. I use cast iron skillets whenever possible which I would never put in a dishwasher. None of my parts to my blenders and food processor would go in there. I had my cheap Frigidaire dishwasher in our last home for 2 and a half years before we sold our home. I never had a bit of problem with it. When the installers came and put it in the guy said that the Frigidaire dishwashers rarely last more than a year and they worked on them all of the time. I will definitely do some research before I get another one and I will keep the Bosch in mind.
I most days other than morning coffee till 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I used to like to make a yummy black bean hummus recipe I got from All Recipes and eat it with celery and cucumber slices. Speaking of the Melaleuca above, I use their vitamins. I get one that is for over 50 packs and the ones I use has a Pro Vex which is supposed to be good for blood pressure. I was looking at their Fiber Wise product line and because it is supposed to be good for lowering cholesterol and it ha Psyllium , as well as inulin, and another fiber along with oat, apple, and some other stuff. Maybe I should be adding that to my arsenal :)
 
Hi everyone--

This morning I did CUB with 4 bear crawls and Core 2 (51 min.).

We did get a couple inches of snow here yesterday, but not enough to go snowshoeing. What I really am NOT looking forward to is the sub-zero temps forecast for the weekend. I was hoping to wear something nice for when we go out on Valentine's Day, but I will probably be in multiple layers and long underwear.

When we have problems with an appliance, we call this local fellow who is an independent fixer--the Appliance Doctor. He has been terrific. Our problem is that our water is super-hard from a well and our glasses especially seem to be pitted after awhile and look cloudy and scratched when we take them out of the dishwasher--a Bosch.

Deb, I finished watching Fortitude and there were some outstanding issues so maybe there will be another season. This season is pretty new. Somewhat ambivalent about it. I thought some of the characters just behaved improbably and/or were weird. At least the mystery was solved. I watched this week's episode of DA yesterday too. My problem with the series going on is that these characters look the same despite the passage of what--20 years? I wish I could age that gracefully. Hah!

Judy, my triceps were definitely feeling it today.

Lori, you are really tempting me to do Cathe streaming. Such great-sounding workouts that you prefer to ICE.

Valerie, I hate doing dishes too, but DH does the lion's share and I try to keep up with counters and stoves cleanup. Let us know how the fruit and veggie lunches work for you.

Diane Sue, I'm not sure what you mean by an "open concept"? You are much more experimental with your diet than I am. I love to cook, but I head for Ina, Rachel, or the Joy of Cooking or Epicurious.com. I also have a couple favorite Chinese cookbooks for Szechuan.

ttfn
 
Lynda, I just mean that when you walk into the living room the dining room and kitchen and even the railing that looks down are all open to each other where someone that comes in can look in the kitchen area at the mess :) I have lots of cookbooks. I started downloading them because I am filling up shelves with cookbooks. I even have really old cookbooks that were passed down from my grandmother, like the Sand hills cookbook. My lastest ventures though were Clean Eating cookbooks, vegetarian cookbooks, and on to Paleo Cookbooks. I have a couple of Ketogenic cookbooks but have hardly used them.
 
We did a road ride this morning 26 miles. it was warm sunny, close to 70 degrees when we finished. unseasonably warm but cooling down tomorrow.

we will get our non working hot tub looked at tomorrow. if not too expensive, we'll repair it. that is optimistic. It failed after a power out so we think maybe a circuit board died.

That's what I meant about open floor plan. the kitchen and family room flow together with a waist high shelving unit dividing them. so I want the kitchen neatened up and to be able to run the DW while we are watching TV. I hate to look at dishes stacked in the sink, or even on a drainboard.
Lynda, my glass ware gets a whitish haze from our water. takes a few years to develop but nothing takes it off. only on the clear glasses.
The fruit and vegie lunch is my attempt at a mini fast several days a week. we'll see if it helps.
 
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