Beginner Rotation - starting Monday, August 15, 2011

Good afternoon everyone !!!

Deanna - that's fantastic that you got a personal answer from Cathe !!!
I have Butts & Guts on my wish list, so I'll be eager to hear how you like it... whenever it is that you decide to try it. It does look like a killer... lol

I'm moving along according to schedule - treadmill workout, food and water.

Just wanted to say hi !!!

We CAN do this... we ARE doing this !!

Remember..... progress, not perfection !!

Stacy - I forgot to say earlier, congratulations on eating your veggies !!! I still don't eat enough veggies. I don't know why. I like many vegetables. It just seems like a pain to fix them... lol. I need to get better about that.
 
Yay Susan you're getting your barbell, how exciting!!

Today's food was too processed, did have raw carrots and celery at lunch but other than that, the diet wasnt good.

I come home late for work, on my feet all day, last thing I crave is healthy food. It's times like that where my junk food genes kick in. A daily battle for me :(
 
Stacy, there is a thing in Cathe's newsletter this week about eating carbs late in day/eve harder to lose wt- better to front load on carbs earlier in day. In other words, cheetos worse for you at night than they are at lunch. I just skimmed the article today and shook my head in sadness.

Deanna, awesome that Cathe wrote to you. I can vouch for BG. I haven't done the floor portion of the workout very often, but I felt really accomplished when I've done any of the other parts. I like that DVD. ps- lol, that your legs and glutes back talk you.

Thanks, Susan for the support. I appreciate checking in here. : ) That is amazing about your dad plus actually a little amazing about his physicians. I know a woman around 55 who a heart attack and I think stents inserted. They told her don't waste time reading nutrition book, you won't be able to control your cholesterol w/ diet. : O

I got abs in today and have had pretty good diet (hey Deanna, did you make some HB eggs for lunches?, I carry one with me to work for snack along w/ some veggies.)

My kiddo is sick and I have lots of homework and stuffles to sort out, niters~
 
Good morning ladies !!

My barbell is here !!! well.. it's out on my front porch.. lol
Fed Ex just delivered it. Now I have to go out on the porch and get the boxes opened and bring it in piece by piece. I am sooooo excited !!!

I had a good day yesterday.... did my treadmill walk, calories at 1701, fat grams within quota and water consumed = 40 oz (not enough, I know, but not too too bad :)

Stacy - good job on the raw carrots and celery at lunch. I know only too well how difficult it is to eat healthy when you are tired from a long stressful day at work. Much easier to just grab something and snack. I've done it myself.. too many times to count.

FnV - I read that article where Cathe said that carbs at night were not smart. geeze.... that is my downfall. As I've said before, I eat healthy til about 5 or 6 or 7 p.m... then the junk food/carb cravings hit big time and that's where I lose it.

I'm sorry to hear that your "baby" is sick. I hope she/he recovers quickly !!!

Deanna - how was the baby shower?

Not sure what I'm doing about a workout today... lol. On my Susan Rotation for this week, it's my "rest" day... i.e. a slow gentle walk on the treadmill.

But... with my new barbell here, I'm torn..... hmmmmmm
But I'm still sore from Push Pull on Tuesday.... sooooo.....

Have a great day everyone !!!

We CAN do this... we ARE doing this !!
Progress, not perfection.

Go Team !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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Susan, did you decide to stick to rest day or do a workout ? Congrats on new equipment! I am/was planning to start STS even if I go super light on legs cuz of my knee, but I am concerned I won't have enough wt. I was reading where someone was using 105!! pds on her bb for legs? I have to investigate, that seems a lot. Either way, I only have about 50 if I hang my ankle wts. I was thinkin' that would be enough, but maybe not? Anyway, if I have to buy more wt or a regular sized bb, then I won't buy those DVDs we've discussed. I prob should wait for next sale anyway.

My kiddo seems better. : )

I will check in tomorrow w/ a work out or two under my belt as I play catch up this weekend

Hi to all.
 
Hi FnV ! I decided to play it safe and stick to my scheduled rest day. Tomorrow is total body workout so my barbell will get put to good use and I won't be able to move come Sunday... lol

Yikes... those are heavy weights that you are talking about. Please be careful about your knee. I'd hate to see you really mess it up by trying to do too much too soon.

In the DVDs, I've only ever seen Cathe use 40 lbs on the barbell. Does she use those kinds of weights in the STS dvds?

Glad to hear that your "kiddo" is better !!!

Deanna - not a word from you today. I hope you are okay. TGIF !!!!

See y'all in the morning......

I'm having a serious carb/junk food craving attack.... aaaarrrrggghhh.
I think I'll go eat a fresh peach and see if that helps.

We CAN do this.... we ARE doing this.
Go team !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Hey Susan,

I am sure I wouldn't start that heavy no matter what, but I really don't know how heavy Cathe goes in STS or what the range is. I need to lurk and learn. Even if it was super heavy, I wouldn't do that much b/c of injury---lol, which means my equipment should be OK for while longer, which loops back to keeping those DVDs in my cart....oh sheesh.

Did you manage the cravings? Darn snack monstie. Don't forget your fluids!

Good luck, we can do this! (says me, with hope and optimism)

Deanna, did you enjoy baby shower? Stacy, I hope you are going to have a good weekend.
 
Hey Ladies :)

Sorry I have not posted, exhausted from work. Two weeks out of every month I am so busy and the office is stressful with all the deadlines.

Saturday, I am going to the Flea Market/Swap Meet. This place is pretty big, I will be walking for hours this will be great exercise. I hope to find additional dumbbells 8lbs and up and whatever else I can find. I also registered for a 5K/1 Mile walk scheduled for Saturday 10.8.11. A couple coworkers of mine are runners so they will be participating in the 5K and I will be doing the 1 Mile walk. :)

BTW The Baby Shower was nice and the deviled eggs was a hit.
 
Good morning ladies !!

Just a quick note because I have to go next door and feed my neighbors 2 cats. I'm babysitting for two days. After feeding my 2 cats first, of course.

FnV - good for you for starting STS. Everyone on these boards seems to love it and get great results. I haven't paid much attention to the details of the series because it isn't anything I'm interested in for the foreseeable future, but it sounds to me like you have enough weights to get started. Not that I'm advocating for DVDs over more weights..... lol

I did manage to overcome the munchies last night. I had 7 whole almonds and a fresh peach. It helped that I had no junk food in the house and wasn't going to jump in the car to go to the store to buy some. Not that I haven't done that in the past, but that would have felt like such a failure after all my hard work.

Deanna - Have a great time at the flea market !!! I love going to our big flea market. Can't wait to hear what you find. That will be a nice outing after a stressful week at work !!!

On my Susan Rotation for this week, it's total body workout day. I'm undecided as to which DVD to do.....

Push Pull again? Now that I have my barbell
Supersets?
Muscle Max?

those are the ones I'm leaning towards.... hmmmmmm

Have a great day Deanna, FnV and Stacy !!!

We CAN do this.... we ARE doing this !!

Go Team !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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Hello everyone, no workout and eating wasnt great yesterday, but on the flip side, Friday is always my free day so I dont put any pressure on myself that day.

Today I did just the bicep portion from Pure Strength as my back is still a bit sore from all the kettlebell swings the other day, then I did a 30 minute walk on the treadmill that was an incline interval, it was just a moderate intensity workout, but it was Progress!

Tomorrow is definitely a yoga workout, my favorite one by Jeanette Jenkin's it actually makes me sore the next day, lol but it is also a great stretch!

Susan...my vote is for Supersets, I love the music and red outfits in that one! Also...do you do any yoga or extensive stretching?? It's important to incorporate that more often when you start weight training so you arent too tight. Good for you on staying away from the munchies!

FnV...good luck on STS, I'm going to do Meso 3 at some point.

Deanna have fun at the flea market, I've never been to one before!

Off now to be lazy and watch college football...
 
I think Susan has a good warm up and stretch, don't you S? I'm prob the one to yell at for that .... I nneeeeever stretch at the end of DVD and often skip warm up and have a yoga schmoga attitude. But, I think there is some yoga in the new workouts, so I will try to shift. mebbee.

Susan, I picked up another speed wt so I can go heavier w/ my dumbells. I am having good luck w/ sears for equipment. Honestly, today I was thinking you would probably like STS. I can't say since I haven't started it, but it seems like you appreciate the science and precision plus the planning! Plus I just read Cathe where a new person to wts was asking her about STS and she was very encouraging about it being a great place to start. (bad grammar, sorry)

You do work toward going heavy, but it is based on your personal heavy capacity. And on Cathe tv, she shows all the mods for push up variations, etc. Just something to think about~
 
Good morning !!!

Stacy - great job on doing biceps !! I've watched people at the gym doing kettleball workouts... lol. It looks like fun, but I think I'd be worried about throwing my back out. It's hell to get old :p

Yes...I am very careful to warm up and stretch. I love to stretch. I have a stretching routine that I've done for the last 40 years that I found in a book in the 70s. I've never found a better stretching routine.... even Cathe's. So I do that after I do the weight workouts. I used to take a class once a week that was a mix of tai chi/yoga and pilates. But I haven't been to it since I found Cathe. I may have to work that back into my schedule somehow.

FnV - I guess we'll have to gently encourage you to stretch more :) For me.. it just feels sooooo good after a vigorous workout.

I'll have to go look at the clips from STS. I guess I bypassed it because of the cost of buying the whole series. What with all the equipment I've bought in the last 3 or 4 months and the regular Cathe DVDs, I just couldn't justify that kind of money for the series. I really haven't paid much attention to what's involved in the program. I guess I'd better get more educated about it. Still.... I need to do the ones I have for now. But.. as you said.. I am a stickler for form, science, precision and a Plan, so STS might just be my cup of tea.

Well..... I got lazy yesterday.... sigh. Didn't do my workout because I got distracted with other things. As I said last week, I need to do my workout at the same time every morning and make it a habit. I shall do my workout today at 9:00 A.M.

I ate well... too much food.. but all healthy stuff... NO junk food and kept my fat grams under quota... just too many healthy calores.

Progress, not perfection !!!

Stacy - while you were watching college football, I spent the afternoon watching the golf playoffs... lol. It was fun.

Deanna - how was the flea market??? Did you find anything good? I hope the temps have cooled down in Vegas by now so that you had an enjoyable day !!!

Stacy - funny you should mention the red outfits in Supersets :D The first time I watched it, I thought that Cathe and crew look really good in red. From some of the new Low Impact Series photos, they are wearing red in some of them... lol

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone.

We CAN do this, we ARE doing this !!!!

Progress, not perfection !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Morning Ladies :)

I had an enjoyable day at the Flea Market/Swap Meet, I also attended a Culture Festival. I originally went to get some additional exercise equipment. I seen several different weight benchs and a few small dumbbells which were not in good condition. Neeedless to say I did not get any of those items. I purchased a few clothing items (current clothes getting loose), bathroom mats, a bed-n-bag and a New King size bed which will be delivered this morning. I really needed a new bed. I walked on and off all day yesterday from 7am - 7pm, my poor feet was like what is going on? LOL When I made it home I could not do anything but go to sleep. Being a single mother I have always put my needs on the back burner. Now that my son is 18 and has been working for 2 years, it is time for me. :) I am up having a cup of coffee, getting ready to start Cleaning Max & Laundry Max before my bed is delivered at 8am. After the house is cleaned and the laundry is done to my satisfaction, I am going to take another shower and get in my new King size bed and relax the rest of the day. :)

I will be back on my regular rotation tomorrow. I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday. :)

Deanna


PS: Where is Cyndi?
 
Deanna....enjoy your lazy day, that's what Sundays are for!! And dont feel guilty about putting your needs first, you deserve it...let that son of yours spoil you for a change!

Susan.....it's past 9am, did you workout yet?? ;)

I did Bryan Kest's Original Power Yoga...I'm so tight and inflexible but I know that will improve and I cant wait, it's such a good feeling seeing progress on flexibility! It's almost as if not better than feeling empowered when I increase my weights on strength workouts.

FnV...let me know if you're interested in any yoga workouts, maybe some that are too "zen"?? They've really helped with my knee pain as well, which I think in some ways was made worse by tight hamstrings and hip joint muscles, once I got those stretched, my knee pain improved alot.

My end of week tally....worked out 4 times and down 0.8 lbs. Not sure if that's just water weight, as my diet hasnt been too great, but it's "progress". I think this next week's goal will be continuing to add more veggies, I'm getting better at doing it at lunch b/c I pack and if I dont eat what I pack then I dont eat, gonna have to start planning dinners better though, that's my downfall.

Off to browse the bookstore!
 
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Deanna - Sounds like you had a fun day at the Flea Market and the Culture Festival and got a great walking workout in at the same time !! And congratulations on your new bed. Enjoy !!! I know you'll sleep better now.

As Stacy said, you've done your job with your son and now it is time to think about you !!! And you are. You are getting healthy and that's the first best thing that we can do for ourselves, because the energy and joy is hard to come by when we feel out of shape and overweight. Just ask me.. I know :D

I'm guessing that Cyndi's internet connection has given up. She was having so much trouble with it. I hope she comes back.....

Stacy - Congratulations !!! You did fantastic this week... you got your FOUR workouts in !! Way to go. And you're eating some veggies !!! Don't worry about the weight.. that will come with time. I'm not obsessing over weight loss.. just trying to do my workouts and eat better than I did the week before.

Yes.. I did do a workout this morning ... shortly after 9:00. But I changed plans and went to the gym and did a vigorous one hour on the treadmill doing intervals. Got my heart rate up and worked up a good sweat !!

I did the cardio today to get back on my Susan Rotation so I don't mess up my schedule for this coming week !!

I may be older than you guys, and my strength and endurance is low, but I've got flexibility... lol. More than most 35 year olds. That's because I have stretched all my life. It really does make a difference. I have a friend who is addicted to yoga. She goes to a yoga class 4 times a week. I like it okay and I like Pilates okay, but I'm not as crazy about it as she is. I do like the tai chi/yoga/pilates mix class at the gym. I really need to start going to that one again.

Off to watch the golf this afternoon...

Have a great day everyone.

We CAN do this... we ARE doing this...
 
As Deanna and I start Week 6 of the Beginner Rotation tomorrow morning, I was thinking about what I am most proud of having accomplished in the last 5 weeks....

1) I have kept going. I have not quit completely. And I give ALL credit for that to you - my support team. Thank you Deanna, Cyndi, FnV and Stacy. Without you, I would have given up. No question about it.

2) I have drastically reduced the fat in my diet. My goal has been to keep saturated fats to below 12.5 grams per day (that's 7% of total calories) and over the past 4 weeks that I have been tracking my food, I have averaged 13 grams per day. Amazing...... I also wanted to keep my total fat grams below 48 grams per day and I am averaging 51 grams... not too bad.

So even though I have gone over my goal on calories, I have drastically reduced my fat consumption.

3) I feel lighter even though the scale says I've only lost about 3 lbs total. I feel stronger. I have more energy.

As I said when we started... if I lose 2 or 3 pounds per MONTH, I'll be perfectly happy.

Progress, not perfection

Onward and upward team !!!!!
 
I'm in the middle of running around but I just had to pop in to say WOW, I am blown away by all the positives going on here from workouts to diet and nutrition, motivation, self care, learning and support. xoxoxo. We Rock! : D
Woo Hoo! Yay! Awesome!
 
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Well ladies, it's the start of my 2nd week with food journalling, and overall trying to improve, and I'm not really starting out the week how I had hoped. That 0.8 lbs I lost last week, well it found me again :( I know I've made progress with working out, and I shouldnt focus on a number, my darn I feel like it's back to the drawing board again so to speak. I havent given up and my focus this week is still to increase veggies....maybe it's my Monday morning blah/TTOTM talking.

It's looking to be yet another long day at work, but I'm going to have to really muster up that "Just Do It" attitude when I get home to get my 30 minute workout done. I know I'll feel better after it's done, but I only had about 5 hours sleep last night and I'm my dragging butt this morning!

I'll check back later, with hopefully some better news and a more positive attitude!! I promise!
 
Good morning !!!

Quick note... I have to run to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for my neighbor who just got home from the hospital last night... then straight to the gym for my cardio.... on the Susan Rotation Plan !!

Stacy - you are doing great. Do not worry about a 0.8 fluctuation on the scale. When I weigh myself frequently, I see swings of 1 or 1.5 pounds per day... that's just fluctuations of water. It's the long term progress that counts. By focusing on doing our workouts and eating just a little bit better this week than we did last week, the pounds will take care of themselves !!

We CAN do this.... we ARE doing this...

You are making progress Stacy.. that's all that matters. Eat your veggies !!!
We are in this for the long haul. To improve our overall health - exercise, eating healthy foods in moderate portions, gaining strength and stamina and flexibility and energy. Don't focus on the weight. Focus on Health !!!

More when I get back from the gym.......
 
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