Mern

Oh, Mary! I'm so happy for your achievement. At 64, I, too, know what an achievement that is. Way to go! I can't do what you did. I need to work on flexibility. I'd love to be able to get up from a kneeling position without help.

Interesting that you and I both made a monumental exercise achievement today.

I will catch up with the other posts later today--must get to the grocery store. But first a little brag time.

I DID IT! I reached my goal of 2 miles of aerobic walking at 4MPH to my Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds for Abs 2 Mile High Calorie Burn DVD. I knew the high calorie burn part of the DVD is at a FASTER pace than 4 MPH and that after I reached 25 minutes the pace would slow a little. Today's goal was to add a minute to yesterday's achievement of 23 1/2 minutes but then I realized that just 30 seconds longer would take me to 25 minutes, so I gave it my all and made it to 25. Then the pace almost immediately slowed closer to 4MPH and I felt like "The Little Engine That Could"--I just KNEW I could do the full 30 minutes. And I did!

I went from a walking stamina (to the DVD) of less than 5 minutes on January 24 to 30 minutes in just 3 1/2 weeks. I'm so freakin' proud of myself for working so hard and reaching my goal nine days early that I got teared up for a few seconds. LOL

Now I'm going to see how well I can walk in real life--just regular "semi-brisk" (not aerobic or power walking) on a street (no sidewalks here) or at the park where there's a paved walking track.

Kumochi

Well Done Mern. That is quite an accomplishment in a short time. It's great what using our bodies can do for them. I have been pushing mine and it is paying off. I hope the walking outside goes well. I have figured out that my inner knee pain is likely related to tight quads and hamstring muscles so I have been doing extra on them.

I'm sure you will soon be able to get up without help. A few years ago I started exercising in bed because of difficulty getting up off the floor. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get up off the snow without taking my skis off. I think I have it worked out so now I hope all the snow does not melt before I get out -- and fall!

Mary

Jennybeeb

Mern - Congrats on achieving your goal of 2 miles, especially at 4MPH! What a great feeling to achieve something like that in such a short amount of time too! I should try out one of these Leslie Sansone DVDs - I always see them at the store and think that maybe it would be safe for me to try (I'm currently in Physical Therapy for a bum knee )

For some reason I am having the opposite type of day, and am really struggling at the moment...I made the goal of only having one diet coke per day for this week, and today just seems to be dragging by for me. So a coworker asked me to go to the McDonald's with him on Base here, and I went for it....I got another diet coke, and a Chicken McNugget...BUT I did NOT get the french fries So at least I did that...lol

I am hopeful that I will have some achievements to share like yours soon You are definitely an inspiration!

quinnesec

Mern,

What an awesome accomplishment! Hiking outdoors is my all-time favorite activity. I'm so glad that you'll be outdoors trying out your new "wings". I've never been a gym person... give me the outdoors any day. Whether you're walking a leisurely stroll or backpacking challenging trails, it's so calming. I do some of my best thinking on my hikes. A great time to meditate, too. Congratulations!

cjohnson728

Way to go, Mern! <playing the "Rocky" soundtrack in my head for you!>

And I love, love, love the way you are already planning the next step (step..get it?? )!

Jennybeeb, great on resisting the fries. For some of us, that's much easier said than done .
btw, what part of MD are you in? That's my home state.

Jennybeeb

Thank you!! There actually was a period of time in my life (3-4 years?) where I did not eat a single french fry...Then I had this switch that turned on, and a little french fry here and there was pretty good, and then sure enough eventually I wasn't happy unless I got the Large Fries if I was eating at McDs

Hopefully I can stay away from them in the future...The only true reason I like them is because they have salt on them. If I get unsalted Fast Food French Fries I think they taste gross, but if they have salt I could eat tons of them!

As for MD, I live just west of DC...But I commute 1 hr. 15 mins. to Southern Maryland everyday (Am I crazy or what!? lol) for work. This commuting business surely hasn't been good for my weight loss, or workout schedule - I am HOPING that I'll gain motivation to stick with a pretty rigid schedule and be able to get back to doing those things for myself more frequently...

Bubbs21

My goals and results for this week are:

1. Use a water bottle at work and home yes 3 liters M/T/W /T
2. Upgrade my workout on the elliptical from manual to 'intervals' Yeh! 24 minutes at interval setting M/T/W/T
3. Balance ball workout 5-7 times/week - Yes T/W
4. Balanced pie chart 30/30/40 - Yes M/T/W/T
5. Make sure my DH knows he is appreciated and loved - actually I think he is the one who is appreciating me and treating me like a princess... Doing my best in this department

Man...this has been a very hard day. Two minutes into my elliptical, I had no energy. It took everything I had including screaming and tears to make it through the full 24min.

Good luck to all with bringing on a strong finsih to a work week.

staceyalberta

muna ~ thanks for the receipe i will try to make it one day. looks & sounds sooo yummy.

mhibdon ~ yikes veretebra trouble that's not fun. i find massages for both my hip & neck/shoulders are a god send. thank goodness for benefits.

mern ~ WOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is awesome that you made your walking goal. you will love walking outside that's all i do i hate the gym & equipment...lol.

jenny ~ i bet if they cut back on sodium by even 60% a lot of people would eat less of it. i agree an unsalted french fry would be gross.

well i need to get changed for dance class. have a good evening everyone.

almeeker

Thursday Report Card

Health and fitness goals:

1. Keep calories to 1,500 weekdays and 2,000 weekends. NO 2,266, NO 1,565, NO 1,744, NO 2,125
2. Workout 6 hours. 80 min, 32 min, 82 min, 57 min (total 4:06)
3. Drink 96oz water. YES, YES, YES, YES
4. Calorie deficit 3,500 for the week (average 500/day). -505, -910, -944, -413 (Total 1,415)
5. Limit grain based carbs to 2 servings/day or less. NO 3 YES 2 NO 3, YES 2
6. Eat 5 servings of fruits & veggies/day. NO 4, YES 5 1/2NO 3, YES 5
7. Keep carbs to 45% or less. NO 47%, YES 40%NO 53%, NO 46%

Non-fitness goals:

8. Apply mascara 5X. YES NO YESNO
9. Average 6 items/day from the "LIST". NO, NO 1, NO 4, NO 2 (Average 7/4 = 1.75)
10. Clean out one small area of the basement. NO, NO, NO, NO
11. Clean out car, the forecast says 50ish on Friday, so hopefully then. NO, NO, NO, NO
12. Clean 2 rooms daily (15 min each) and 1 load of laundry. 2 out of 3, YES, YES and made up for missing one on Mon, YES
13. Get 2 pieces of DD's bloomer dress finished!!! NO YES Bloomers are done, bonnet in progress, Worked on bonnet and skirt, Finished skirt and fought with bonnet
14. Call Grandma. NO, NO I'm so lame, NO lame again, NO
15. Register for race and call SIL about same.NO, NO, NO, NO

Very proud of you Mern, next thing you know you'll be running races.

I had a bit of a difficult day, was doing okay through lunch and ended up going over budget with a piece of cake, 4 Girl Scout cookies and a much larger piece of steak than I'd planned on. Oh, and there was a bottle of beer in there too. I'm thinking that I'll try and keep my calories in check on Saturday and Sunday to make up for my fall today.

quinnesec

Thursday's Results- Scale is starting to teeter a bit... could the plateau be nearing an end???

Food & Fitness:

1. Limit calories to 1200 and log everything. yes, yes, yes
2. Continually drink fluids all day long. yes, yes, yes
3. Balance pie chart. no, carbs were high, protein could be higher, carbs still high & protein still low
4. Trail walk at least 3 times this week, weather permitting. one down- two to go, raining today, but I did indoor walking for 45 min.

Personal Goals:

1. Continue with "do something nice each day". (It's actually getting to be fun!) yep, yep, I did
2. Continue with growing mound of daughter's applications, letters, etc. (Every time I catch up, she brings me more...) UGH...yes, 4 hours Wednesday, took the day off because I'm losing my mind and ready to maim said daughter