Thanks for all the input!  I did a double check on the bread as well.  I make my own cutting out the oil, substituting things for better things.  I even grind my own red wheat so I know it hasn't been processed.  Was able to get LBWO done yesterday and headed to the gym @4:30am today to get cardio in as it is a full day and I woke up to snow.  Tried cinnamon on my oatmeal today and loved it!

@Bizzey, you just reconfirmed one good reason I don't eat cottage cheese.  Don't feel so bad about it now:)

Off to the rest of the day.  Everyone enjoy yours.

Jen

Jen, I love cinnamon on everything!! almost...I eat it on the infamous cottage cheese with a litte stevia or splenda!! YUM!! ;)

mike, I cant believe you live near a park you had never been in!!!! silliness!! ;)....houston sounds lovely!!! I live on the very gray, very wet Oregon coast!! oh my am I ready for some sunshine!! I didnt even get my cardio in yesterday because of thunder and lightening and hail!! I'm sick of it!!!

ok everyone else....keep at it!! I'm struggling with my water this week bad!!!!! I'm trying but need to try harder!!!  :( I tried steel cut oatmeal yesterday for the first time...Yummy!!    

Laura

Sorry, my mistake!  Glad to hear that bread IS on the list!

Jen and Laura-  I use cinnamon pretty liberally myself, especially in oatmeal.  Its wonderful!

Mike- Glad you didnt die in your bike outing.  Safe riding!

Missed my UBWO yesterday.  I feel soo overwhelmed right now (graduation in 3 weeks) with all my school work.  I feel like everyone keeps asking me for my time.  But, I'm planning on getting in both UBWO and some cardio today.  I have it scheduled for later this evening and no one can take it away from me!

Happy Friday, everyone!  Janine

Hello everyone. We did UBWO yesterday, wife was a little cranky but in the end she came through like a trooper and woman'd up (lol). We celebrated our 5th year of home ownership last night. We broke away from the diet and went to Chili's. I know, I know we should have waited until tommorow but we both said "oh well, we have been doing good so far". Now although we broke a diet, we still did not do too bad, I had a non beef burger for the very first time in my life, I had a black bean burger, the worst part of it was the chedder cheese, but it was goooooooooooooooddddddddddddddd OMG! I was shocked. Wife had grilled chicken with rice and black beans, not bad for cheating.

Got cardio today......let's see....................86 degrees, sunny, 10-18 mph wind from the south...............bike ride it is! (heck I would ride if it was a blizzard, negative 20, with hurricane force winds lol).

Everyone have a great weekend

Hi everyone.  We have 3 sick kiddos, but I made it out to  my cardio this morning before being hit with a major head cold that I'm choosing not to participate in.  Did miss one UBWO but have had a great week.  Today is my freeday.  Worked out better this week.  To celebrate "our" free day my 5 yr old son made a spice cake before I made it downstairs this morning.   Don't worry, his dad was helping him with all the appliances, completely supervised:)  He had to put a candle in it and yell "we love our mamma"  Started the day great.  Now all are headed to bed early to help the fevers ect.  My husband did the grocery shopping for me since I was down (he does NOT like to grocery shop so this was a huge display of love and appreciation:)  He is taking over my duties tomorrow so I can be up and going on Monday.

To make this even longer, I had braces put on last week which has made eating somewhat interesting.  I'm grateful I like smoothies and protein shakes.  The better news is that when the Ortho took my profile and front face picts there were no double chins!  That is a win for me.

Enjoy the weekend,

Jenifer

Jennifer, I had braces put on in December, so I know what you are going through.  The main thing to do when eating is to cut everything up into smaller pieces.  The pain will reside after a few days.  I go on Wednesday to get my wires changed out, and I always expect a couple of days of discomfort.  Protein shakes and oatmeal will be my meals of choice for a couple of days.  Protein bars are very difficult for me to eat, so I try to stay away from them, at least for a couple of days.

So, Monday has hit me hard.  I didn't get up in enough time to work out this morning.  I am planning on my UBWO this afternoon.  I did have a great run this weekend.  I ran outside (I was in Charleston!) and found that I actually ran faster since I was not on a treadmill.  Still no signs of losing inches, but I'm being patient.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Janie

Hello everyone =]

@ janie & Jennifer : I have braces for the 2nddddddddddddddddddddd time and I got them on about a month ago !! I hate themmm!!! But they are worth it , in the long run!! EAS advantage shakes are amazing !!! They really help with braces=meals also if you take IB pro. it will help a lot !!! Like i said this is my 2 nd time having them grrrr, out of the last 10 years of my life I will have braces 7 years out of those 10 !!!

Other than that , upbwo was amazing ... worked really hard !!!Just ate egg whites w/oatmeal !!! love it !!

Went to bush gardens yesterday ate everything

day before that was grandmas birthday and went out to eat I have about 10lbs to lose and Ill have a 6 pack and I know if I worked a little harder i would bee there

Emily alvers is a huge motivation to me !! ladies should look her up

have a awesome day everyone look fwd to hearing from all of you I have my cell phone set on alerts when anyone posts a comment ...

Glad to know others are feeling my discomfort with braces.  I am sooooo grateful for them.  Our youngest is 21 months and we are done having kids so now it's time to fix mom up.  Losing the balance of the pregnancy weight, straighten the teeth out ect ect.  It feels good.

@agribbons-how were the gardens?  We are wanting to send my parents to the Buschart gardens (sp).

I have tried to look Emily Alvers up, didn't find her.  Where are you looking?

Rain, Rain, Rain all week here.  All three kids are down with a major fever and cough.  My head cold is still trying to get the best of me so we will get as much of a workout as possible.

Have a great week,

Jen

Agribbons- Is Elma Alvers a BFL champion?  or a non-BFLer who is inspiring?  I could defintely use some inspiration.

Jen- Good luck!  It sounds like you are having a rough couple of days.  You can do it!

I got a good workout in this morning.  I always feel so refreshed when I workout in the mornings.  I think I'll need to start going to bed and waking up earlier.

Weather is finally improving in Michigan!  We had one day when it hit the 70's!...except I was stuck inside working on a paper :(  But I worked next to an open window atleast.  I heard horrible news that we are supposed to get slush by the end of the week.  Come on, mother nature, make up your mind!  Cant wait until I get to run in the local arboretum.

Have a good day, everyone!   Janine

Good afternoon everyone. Week 4 has been a tough one so far. i kinda lost some of my motivation but I am grinding through it. It is so easy to get side tracked. I kind of slipped up on the diet at the end of last week but I am back on track. Worlouts have been fantastic though. I did LBWO Sunday and discovered that it is time to up my weight. so I will finish out this week and test my strength between week 5-9 to challenge my muscles (of course I will do that without comprimising form or technique). Wife is not doing bad, she had a moment Sunday, I wont go into detail but she was not a happy campper needless to say. I thought she was going to give up but she has not.Trying to keep her motivated as well as me is the biggest challange so far.

I got on the mountian bike yesterday for cardio. Dont know if any of you been to Houston but we have "Bayou's" here. Since the citty of Houston is at or below sea level, we need those to get rid of the water, otherwise Houston will become part of the Gulf of Mexico...anyway, I rode about 15-20 miles I would imagine, not really sure but I rode for over 2 hours at a high rate. I never rode on the bayou before and it was interesting. There were other riders and joggers out there, but not many. There came a part where you have to cross the street to stay on cement, well, big dummy told myself to keep going straight and I ended up riding through grass for about 2 miles, OUCH! My legs were burning before I found some cement. Add to that, the wind was blowing NE about 20 mph and guess which way I had to ride home.........so I woke up this morning moving slow, trying desperately not to let the wife find out how bad I was aching! I feel better now. My poor bike has taken a beating the last couple of weeks and I only spent $80 so it is not like the bike is the best quality out there, but it serves it;s purpose. Speaking of my bike.......................................

So I bought the damn bike a few fridays ago, wife and I rode on Saturday (she already had a mountian bike), by the time we were almost home, the cheap freaking pedal broke off on the right side and the left side was hanging by a thread. Now I didn't get to pissed, I only spent $80 bucks on it. So I took it back to the store where I bought it, I told the "manager", what happened and I showed her the pedals, all I asked for was for new pedals, this a=hole says to me "I can give you a discount on the pedals"....DISCOUNT????????. I told her it would be cheaper just to give me new pedals, well she didn't agree, so my next response was "how about I give you the bike back and you give me my $80 and I will go somewhere else and buy a bike". 5 minutes later, she gave me my new pedals....for free! What a moron! Discount???? Discount???? WTF is wrong with people?

Anyway, we got UBWO thsi evening, my max right now is around 220 lbs on the bench. I am going to try to hit that max in my 6 reps. Wish me luck. Okay Janie, Agribbons, Laura, beehivebaby and everyone else, here is a little observation I made Sunday at the gym:

Guys!

1. Dont do one rep of the heaviest weight you can lift and stand there staring at yourself in the mirror like you just cured all cancers for the next 10 minutes. Other people are needing to use those  weights and/or bench, besides you look like an idiot.

2. If your upper body says "I bench 300 lbs, but your lower body says "I squat 30 lbs", there is a book I need you to read by this guy name Bill, great stuff. Besides, chicks dont dig big pecks with chicken legs.

3. Nobody cares to know what song you are listening to so singing with your head phones on in the gym does not make you look cool, it makes you look crazy.

Ladies!

1. If you are over the age of 30, and the t-shirts you are wearing  says "my boyfriend is better looking than yours",  you need to let it go, there is a reason why they only sell those shirts in the "juniors" or "teen" section.

2. If a guy ask you a simple question "how many sets do you have left",  that does not mean he is hitting on you so don't be such a prudish a=hole, just answer the question.

3. You are at the gym to work out, not talk to your girlfriend on the phone about how ignorant and/or stupid you think your boyfriend/husband is. It's annoying! Is it that important that you cannot wait until you are done?

Okay stay motivated and everyone keep up the good work. We are a 1/3rd of the way to bodies for life!

Mike

Hi Everyone!  

I know I haven't written very often, but I do read the posts and I'm glad to be a part of this board.  

And then there was Week 4........

Like some of you, I have struggled in the past week, with diet and workouts.  I worked out every day that I was supposed to for 2 weeks and 5 days, and then I had to skip this past Saturday because of an all-day volunteer event at my child's school.  Well, I didn't go Monday because I was too busy.  I didn't go yesterday because I was too busy (and I play tennis that day, so I get a little bit of exercise).   I am busy because I'm way behind on personal chores and the kids and I are traveling on Friday for Spring Break to visit family (hubby can't come this time).  So, I've got a lot to do before I leave.   However, the workouts should be like eating and drinking and sleeping.  You just do them, you don't question it.  Something else gets squeezed out of the day .... not the workout.  So, I'm going to get back on track today.

Secondly, food has been a problem.  I've been stressed because of the volunteer project and some other things going on, so I dig into some of the foods that I like, but should not be eating.  This has been going on for about the last 7 days or so.  I noticed that I stopped writing in my food journal too.  So, guess what....back to the food journal.  And eat fruit or drink a glass of milk when tempted to eat sweets.

Another problem is when I don't keep up with the small meals.  Then I get hungry and want to eat a bigger meal.  Not good.  And it gives me a stomach ache.  I think my body is adjusting to the smaller meals, which is fantastic, because it's a lot healthier than stuffing yourself 3 times a day.

Yesterday, I considered quitting and starting over.  But the next thing I thought was, "if you do that, you'll start over 10 times and never finish."  I decided that it will be ok that I had a bad 3 days of workouts and 7 days of eating.  I need to keep moving forward and stay on the challenge.  I'm on Week 4, not starting over on Week 1!  

When I'm finished, I can start the challenge over.  It will probably take me 2 challenges to get to my goal.   And, then, I'll have to stay on the program anyway to stay at my goal, right?

I'm glad to be a part of this forum.  When you share your struggles and triumphs it spurs me on.  We're not perfect, but we're moving forward, day by day, week by week toward a healthier lifestyle.

Take care,

Teresa in West Virginia

Good Morning all.

@Bizzey- your post made me chuckle, totally agree with the gym advice:)

@Teresa - Great choice, to keep on going.  I "started" the program twice before this one and didn't prepare either time.  First I didn't read the book, second I never planned my meals or got my husbands backing.  So here I am on #3 but this time I have no excuses...I read the book I have the planner, my husband is working on it with me with no complaints.

We are on week 4 and all 3 kids are sick as am I.  I have no control over that but it is still a great week.  Haven't been able to work out but my eating is good (in my control).  Am I 100% perfect?  Absolutely not but I'm doing more than 80% which is what it is about.  I have found that "life" is what happens to us while we are making plans.  If we are making a life change than we have to deal with "life" that interupts our plans without beating ourselves up about not doing things perffectly.  Otherwise we would all be miserable and disappointed with what we haven't done as apposed to being gratefula and excited about the things that we have done well.  Just get back on track and do all that you can do to finish well.  There are always bumps but it is about finishing well and being pleased with our efforts.  Needless to say I'm ok with the fact that I haven't been able to work out so far this week (out of my control) but as soon as I can I will, I'm ok with it because I have kept my eating on track and we are all on the rebound health wise here.  Hope that helps.

Have a great day.

Jenifer

Good mornign everyone!

@Jenifer -  glad to give you a good laugh.

I played hookie yesterday to ensure I got the taxes done before this weekend (yeah yeah I know, we wait until the last minute, guess that's what happens when you have to pay every year lol). I got my cardio in before finding out how much uncle sam is robbing me for this year. I rode 19.5 miles. I talked about the trail that we have here in Houston the follows a bayou. I was pretty tough but I managed to do it. the hardest part is the trail curves, so one minute the wind is to your back and before you know it , the wind is hitting you head on. Plus the trail has some slight inclines as well as steep incline so it can cause havoc on the thighs at certian points. The whole trail is 26.1 miles, one way, and as stated I rode almost 10 miles each way. My goal is to ride to end and back, which is 52.2 miles total (at least that is what google maps says).  I think I will be ready to try it around week 7 or 8. I try to ride as much as possible to the gym to workout, kinda gives me a warm up. I only live about 5 miles away so it is not that bad. Now if I can only convince my wife to ride with me, life would be great. She rides her bike, but not as nearly as far as I do........yet.

Noting funny happened yesterday. Well, except I almost bit the dust trying to ride with one hand while trying to pull my cell phone out of my back pack to answer a call. I should have just let it go to voicemail! But noooooooooooooo got to answer it when it rings.....well unless it's an unknown number, I dont answer those. I figure if you are not in my address book, then I really dont want to talk to you, so leave a message lol.

Anyway, Have a great day and stay motivated.

P.S. I weighed in yesterday at 170 lbs, I am down 12 pounds since 03/20/2011. I am pretty amped up about that!

Bizzey-  I agree!  I have noticed some of those same "no-no's" at the gym and it drives me crazy!  It sounds like you have made some great goal for yourself with riding.  Keep up the great work!  You'll get there, I know it.  Also, congrats on the weight loss!

Theresa and Jenifer-  Your reflections were really inspiring to me.  Just because we have one "less than perfect" day, or even a couple of those days, does not mean that we should give up, or that the fight is over.  Thanks for the reminder.  

My eating has been far from perfect and I missed workouts the past two days.  But, I got a great workout in this morning and I'm feeling much better.

Still struggling, but not giving up.    Janine

Okay what is everyone up to? I hope everyone is doing well. I am in the middle of week 5 and wow what a journey so far. I cna say this much, in 2005 I was 34 yrs old when I started and 35 years old when I finished, it seem to be a lot easier then than now. OMG, I use to work out, feel the soreness for a couple of hours the next morning and I was good for the rest of the day. Now, I am still sore from week one (laugh). Getting old sucks!

Anyway, I 'm enjoying much lunch now, Brown rice, chicken breast yummo!

Stay motivated

mike