MSUDoubleJ19

Congrats! That's funny, my hubby changed size about that much before the wedding - from a little over 220 down to 200, and he said he couldn't tell at all. Yet his coworkers and friends noticed, and of course I noticed. I think it's harder to notice in yourself. Some people swear by taking monthly pics for motivation and to document change.

Congrats to zetterma and superde! As I mentioned, we have a fitness thing here at work, I'm a captain, and it's definitely keeping me motivated. Basically we log our activity points and we can log 120 a day. Last week I logged 600 minutes and I'm aiming for 700 this week! Oh, and I lost a pound since I started (1 week ago). I am not altering my eating habits at this point, just lots of moving around! I'm not ready to give up ice cream and beer just yet.

I am completely jealous of your trip and am very interested in making that our next hiking adventure. Sounds awesome!

What she said. I also weigh myself once a week at the exact same time, that's the only way you will get an accurate reading from week to week. I also happen to do this after a morning run, before I get in the shower. If you are inconsistent in the times you weigh yourself, you will not be able to accurately measure your weight loss. If you lift weights, your body will retain water for 1-2 days AFTER the lift session also. Your body will retain water depending on how much water you drink and the different things you eat/drink. All of that leads to weight fluctuations.

And you're a DOCTOR! How dare you promote smoking! Just kidding, cute pic!

Awww, yay for cute babies!

Great job zettermaberg and timothy!! Sounds like you've both done a great job! I'm still working on getting back on track. I've officially gained 6 pounds since the wedding - but I lost 12 before, so I guess I'm still down 6 on the year. My work has a fitness challenge starting next week so I'm hoping that will get me motivated to get off my butt!

My dog will eat all of your cats. He will also swim and drive boats.

Honestly? When I lost the 12 pounds before the wedding, each week I allowed myself 1 cheat day. I would usually have a good workout in the morning, be good for breakfast/lunch and limit my calories, but then at night I would have beer and ice cream and chips - whatever people were eating. I still had no problem dropping the weight. So I say feel free to indulge, just limit it. One smore. A few beers. A few chips. You'll be fine. Remember, you have to eat 3,500 EXTRA calories to gain a pound. That's pretty hard to do.

Good job!! I was on vacation last week W-Sun (But I ran M and Tues) and then was sick the beginning of this week. On Wednesday though I played 3 softball games and yesterday I had a tough 2 hour tennis match. Holy hell am I sore today. Seriously. I can't remember the last time EVERY muscle in my body hurt. I'm hoping to get on my running schedule tomorrow. I have to run a relay marathon in October and my leg is like 6 miles, not bad, but I need to get training.

You two are so cute! And nice yard you've got there!

Ha ha, that's fantastic. I like his friends.

I tried the Arcadia Ales summer beer Whitsun the other week. It was ok. I still prefer Oberon. We went to the Big Buck Brewery on the way up north. I got the ESB and didn't really care for it. Husband got the stout and it was better. Not that impressed though.

Start slow. Listen to your body. If you're running and you feel like you're dying, STOP. Walk. You'll do yourself no favors by hitting it too hard the first day. Just be patient because building up endurance takes awhile. If you're going to start running for exercise, you could google couch to 5k of C25K and there's a really good schedule to follow for building up gradually. Also, warm up, stretch, work out, cool down, stretch. Be sure you stretch after so you won't be as sore tomorrow. And try to eat a banana today - the potassium helps you not be sore tomorrow too.

For exercise: Cardio should be your first priority to burn fat, but you will also need to incorporate some kind of strength - if you do all cardio and no strength training you will burn fat AND muscle. In order to keep the muscle you have you should do some form of strength training probably at least 2x per week and I would try to do cardio 4x a week. It would be good to mix in intervals also, as betterred said this incorporates some exercise where your heart rate is 80% of max for a short duration and then 50 or 60% of max for short duration and repeat over and over. If you google HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) you should see some programs. I like the ones that mix it up more - run at 5mph for 1 min, 6 mph for 1 min, 7 mph for 1 min, 8 mph for 1 min, 9 mph for 1 min and repeat. You can easily adjust this up or down depending on your fitness level. Those would be good to mix in maybe 2x per week, but sustained state cardio where you just run at 60 - 70% of max for 20 or more minutes is important too. For food: Start by making small changes. Stop drinking pop. Incorporate more fruits and veggies. Buy whole wheat pasta and whole wheat bread instead of regular. Buy low fat dairy instead of full fat. This is a good start and you can also start with easy meal preps - salads are simple to make and give you lots of veggies and you can throw on some chicken for protien. Try to use low fat dressings or just oil and vinegar is best (those spray dressings are great). Sandwiches are easy too - try using mustard instead of mayo. Or WW pasta with a store bought sauce (look for ones with all natural ingredients) Hope that helps and good luck!

Um, I really like my job actually. It's not entirely my bosses fault - he can control the needs of the company and those needs control whether we are busy are not. I can deal with the slow days, but they drag.

Ugh. It's kind of annoying though too. My boss told me he knows that I don't have enough work to do so he doesn't mind if I do personal things from work. But still, I can only entertain myself online for so long.

I have NO work to do today and the day is dragging. I just read a few pages of this. Thanks for the entertainment.

They are soooo good, the recipe I use is a little spicy, and I love it. Here's the recipe, super easy: 1 pound ground turkey 1 tablespoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon dried minced onion (optional) 1 egg dash of salt Mix all the ingredients together - recipe makes 4 patties but I have also halved it just to make 2. Grill for about 5 minutes on each side on high heat on the grill. Oh, and I agree that you should always have a rest day! Back when I was actually working out more, I'd always take Sunday off.

They can also be the worst kind . . .

6 pounds is awesome!! I worked out this morning. I have only ran twice in the past 2 weeks (since we got the pup). I'm trying to get back into a routine. I did make some delicious turkey meatballs last night, turkey burgers on Tuesday (that my hubby loved - even though he made fun of me for using turkey and not beef) and I think I'm going to do turkey chili tonight. Ground turkey is buy one get one free this week if you couldn't tell.

AND you got a shirt on her. And no bloodstains/evidence on it - she's a real pro.

Ha ha, yes actually. We were watching and though "Tobias would be a good dog name" I usually think the best pet names are old people names - Marvin, Ernest, Earl, etc. Although we were watching the Tigers and decided Pudge would be a good dog name too.

Does your daughter EVER wear a shirt?

He is Tobias but we call him Toby.