SimplyViki

You're doing the right things. It does take time. That said, my friend carried a heavy baby also (not as big as yours - I think hers was 10 pounds). Her baby is almost 2. She still has a protruding belly (I haven't looked at the skin, she is too embarrassed by it), and she recently was told by a doctor that it is due to a hernia from her pregnancy. She will need surgery to fix it, and not just for cosmetic purposes - the abdominal wall needs to be intact to protect the organs. She also has an issue with core exercises - I can't remember if her doctor said to just be very careful with them or to avoid them entirely. Just mentioning that as a possibility - it couldn't hurt to check with your doctor to make sure that isn't the case with you. Good luck!

LMAO that was my thought as well. I lurve my (home-roasted) coffee way too much to put protein powder in it.

I'm sorry, I know this is kind of silly, but I'm poking around on Mark's Daily Apple and I'm wondering about this. In the Primal Blueprint Shopping List, it mentions yams and yogurt (for example) as being things to consume "in moderation." Alcohol and dark chocolate are mentioned as "occasional indulgences." What's that mean, exactly? I do consume probably about a half cup to a cup of plain Greek yogurt a day, but not always every single day. Is that moderate? Is that a lot? Is that not enough? And I've been microwaving sweet potatoes every other day or so for lunch or dinner. Is that moderate or a lot? Or not enough? Could I do more, or should I do less? And then the dark chocolate and alcohol. (I'm not going to even try for 100% primal, and forget paleo. But I am going to try and steer my diet towards primal more often than not.) I buy a Green & Black Dark Chocolate 70% bar every... I don't know, week? Week and a half? And I eat bits of it every now and then. Sometimes more, sometimes less, and not always every single day. Help! I don't understand vague concepts like "in moderation." Thanks!

Big seconding of the suggestion to monitor your activity. I slacked off on that after a while, and some asshole started charging my card for $50 and $90 bouquets in New York (I've never even been there).

My ex and I (our reasons for being exes had nothing to do with this system ) had a pretty good system going for a while. I had a spreadsheet that would tell me what percentage of the household income each of us brought in each paycheck (his income fluctuated, mine did not), and bills would be split based on that percentage. We also had a joint account for the "together" finances, but maintained our own individual accounts separately. Doing the bills based on how much we each brought in ensured that we each had some spending money, and also made it fair.

Finished up week 3 of bootcamp class. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday again. I really like it! I wish I could afford the $100/month fee, but I can't. One thing I was surprised by is that there are some really challenging exercises that can be done with 5 lb dumbbells. The website recommended to bring a pair of 5-10 lb dumbbells to class, and I was mentally almost scoffing at the 5 lb idea because I'd gotten up to 25 lb dumbbells in the BBW workout (I feel so weird abbreviating it that way because it means something else elsewhere... But I'm getting so sick of typing it all out, so I'm calling it BBW from now on, even if it does make me picture lovely Rubenesque women!). I'm really, REALLY glad I didn't get the 10 lb ones though, because that would've been an epic fail. Some things I can recall that we've done with them that've made me want to curl up in a ball and die: Walking lunges while holding dumbbells arms length above the shoulders Squat, jump up, and press the dumbbells up above the shoulders at the same time Side lunge, kick leg out and abduct the arms out so they're level with the shoulders at the same time I guess it all just depends on what exactly it is you're doing with the dumbbells. Everything we've been doing in the bootcamp class is between 10-30 reps, and usually 3 sets of an exercise. We take very few breaks, so I'm figuring it's pretty much circuit training. Between sets of an exercise, we run, skip, run sideways, or run backwards about 5 yards and come back for the next set. Some days I'm more sore than others. I need to do ab work. I know pushups and squats are supposed to strengthen your abs, but apparently I'm not keeping my abs tight enough or something, because some of the abs exercises we've been doing have been WAY difficult for me, so I guess I have a really weak core. Next week is my last week of bootcamp. I think the BBW workout will probably be really easy after this, so I'm going to try something harder. I just haven't decided what exactly. Probably an older BodyRock.tv workout, one of the ones that doesn't use equipment (I thought they all required an interval timer, but upon further inspection, I found quite a few that can be done with a stopwatch, which I have on my cell phone).

I've been sometimes substituting a smoothie for breakfast or lunch (usually my smoothies are whey protein, strawberries, unsweetened almond milk and either greek yogurt or kefir for some tanginess - yes I am using a dairy product and a dairy substitute... don't ask) and my weight loss has been progressing. However, I have also been tracking calories, so that probably accounts for why it's not been a hindrance.

THANK YOU! I will totally try this. I roasted a whole chicken and ate it for a week, but it was a bit more labor intensive than I would've preferred. (Read: WAY more labor intensive). Good chicken, though... I stuffed it with onions and garlic and fresh herbs and stuff.

Makes me feel a little bit less worried my goal of 120 lb at 5'6" isn't realistic. (I've weighed that before, but I wasn't strong then. I want to see if I can get there and be strong, too. If not, that's OK; I'll take strong over weighing 120 lb.)

I've done conditioner only washes before, but I don't tend to rely on them. I usually do conditioner, shampoo, then conditioner again, and I wash about every 3 days. Or, well, that's what I used to do. Now that I'm exercising I wash on workout days. Which is currently Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I need to get a bottle of Suave or V05 conditioner for freshening up on the weekend, and for a milder wash on Thursday. I find that I get best results with a conditioner only wash when I use Suave Naturals or V05 or something else without silicones in the ingredients. I love silicone in the second condition of a normal wash with shampoo, but I find it weighs my hair down if that's what I'm using to wash with. As to what to do when you're showering and not washing your hair that day, I just tie my hair up in a bun and keep my head mostly out of the water. It gets a little wet, but not that wet, and I just let it air dry when I get out. No big deal.

Got a smartphone? A friend of mine likes this app: http://www.sleepcycle.com/ It senses when your sleep cycles are, so that it wakes you up when you're ending a sleep cycle close to the time you have to be up. So if you have to be up by 7, and you're finishing a sleep cycle at 6:45, it'll wake you up then. Other than that, all I can do is sympathize. I have the exact same problem. I have my alarm clock on the other side of the room, so I have to get up to snooze it, but I still snooze it and go back to sleep at least three to six times before I actually get up. I think I just love snuggling down into my nice warm bed!

OK, well I made it through week 1 of bootcamp class. I went on Monday, Wedndesday, and Thursday. Two days in a row scared me, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be to go without a rest day in between. The only reason for doing it is that the schedule for the class only has those days available at a time I can actually go. Well, that's not true - they also have a 7am and a 8am Saturday class, but I know me, and I know me in the mornings, and I know me in the mornings on weekends, and I know that's just not going to happen. Things I like about bootcamp: It's something different each time Someone else does the thinking and planning, so I don't have to come up with my own workout or decide what to do next (also why I like the Beginner Bodyweight workout) This particular bootcamp class is small, and mostly women. I was worried about crowds of men, which might make me uncomfortable. This is fine. Things I don't like about bootcamp: Running. FML I hate running. Last time we had to jog in a line, and the person in the back of the line had to sprint to the front of the line while everybody else jogs. The formation was supposed to continue all the way around the parking lot, but it kinda broke up halfway through. Getting sweat mixed with sunscreen and mascara in my eyes. I suppose I could wash off the mascara before going after work, but that's just one more step, and the sweat and sunscreen will still be an issue. My form keeps breaking. But I have to keep going, I can't just stop and move to the next thing like I could at home, because I don't know what comes next. Things I have mixed feelings about: The soreness. This is good because I know my body is getting stronger. This is bad because it hurts!

This is Viki's ghost. Bootcamp effectively and completely kicked my ass. I might talk about it tomorrow.

Hee. I feel bad now for slacking on updating it. I've been keeping on keeping on, though, but it seems I've stalled out a bit (in terms of leveling up, that is. I have most certainly not quit.) So... where was I? OK, yes. The workout I could do the last time I tried doing the Beginner Bodyweight routine was the same as the last one I posted, except for some reason I couldn't do pushups the week of March 5th, so I had to go back down to knee and decline pushups (declining from the knee of the sofa, not from the feet. Those would be harder than regular pushups! ). I could do one pushup again the week of March 12th, so I did one pushup for each circuit on those days. Then last week, the week of March 19th, I decided to switch things up a bit and use a coupon a friend gave me for a $20 unlimited week of yoga classes. I went for five days last week and absolutely loved it. When I have a bigger budget, I will probably buy the unlimited year pass. For now, unfortunately, it's prohibitively expensive at $18 a class. Today, I'm torn between getting back to my Beginner Bodyweight workout and starting up that bootcamp class I have a Groupon for. I am pretty sure I'll be utterly wiped out after bootcamp, so I think if I do that, I'll put the bodyweight routine on hold for the month until I've used up the Groupon (1 month of unlimited bootcamp! Can I do this? Yes I can! At least I hope I can.) I'm still a little bit achy from yoga classes (hey, I don't use those particular muscles often!) also, so maybe today's not the best day to start bootcamp. On the other hand, why the hell not. Hmm... decisions decisions! ETA: Oh! And my weight. It had crept back up from 130.5 lb to 132, which I was thinking was maybe just a healthy weight for me. It's going down again, though. 129 when I checked Saturday. I guess that's good.

I'm still doing the beginner bodyweight routine, but I've added a dumbbell to my squats and lunges, I've been increasing the weight on the dumbbell rows, and extending the length of my planks. Here's what I'm doing now: 20 squats with 15 lb dumbbell (I had this on hand from when I went to upgrade from 15 lb to 20 lb, but I lost the receipt so didn't try to exchange it). 10 push ups - I'm still working on getting to where I can do all of these as full push ups. Right now I can do about 3 full pushups and the rest on my knees. 20 lunges with 15 lb dumbbell 9 dumbbell rows with 25 lb dumbbell (I could only do 8 when I went from a 20 lb dumbbell to a 25 lb one) 60 second plank with arms straight (I believe switching to arms straight planks helped me to achieve my first real push up) 30 jumping jacks That's kind of how I'm working on leveling up my BB routine. I'm nowhere near ready for the Advanced one yet, but I can keep improving this one.

I like this stretching routine from bodyrock.tv for after workouts.

OK, so progress since the last post: I managed my first real pushup, and I got to where I can hold the 15-lb dumbbell through all of my squats and lunges. I haven't tried lengthening my plank. I also tried doing these things where you have a dumbbell on the ground in front of one foot, and you bend down at the waist and pick it up with the opposite hand, then stand and raise it above your head. I did like 10 each side... My hamstrings were aching for a few days afterward. I should probably give those another try. My body is improving. It's really cool to see this happening, and it's really too bad I didn't take all of the "Take before pics!!" advice seriously. I have some nekkid shots I can refer back to, though (don't ask), and I can see distinct differences. My belly is definitely looking less round and more toned. I don't have like, a six pack, but there's a little horizontal nip in the center at my waist, and a softly contoured vertical indentation forming as well. Abs? Sorta? Plus my ribs are visible now with little effort. My thighs don't have as much squishy area anymore, there's a lot more firmness. Plus I weigh less. Depending on where you say I started, I've lost either 16.5 or 13.5 pounds. My highest weight was 147, but I didn't make a serious effort to do anything about it (well, I did part of Couch to 5k, but I didn't stick with it). When I started actually trying, I weighed 144. Now I weigh 130.5 lbs. Granted, I weighed myself first thing in the morning before breakfast or a drink of water to get that number, but still! I have a Groupon for 30 days unlimited access to a bootcamp class near my house. I need to go before it expires in April. I'm just not sure what I'll do about my bodyweight routine while going to bootcamp. Am I going to do bootcamp AND the circuit training? Alternating days? Weekdays only? I'm not sure yet.

I'm going by price, mainly. Right now I have Jarrow Formulas Whey Protein, the unflavored version. I got a 2 lb one from Amazon through their Subscribe & Save program for $20.38. It contains 39 servings with 18g protein each. Price per serving: $0.52. Price per gram of protein: $0.03. I'm thinking about switching to NOW Foods Whey Protein, also unflavored, which is sold in a 5 lb jar for $51.28 on Amazon's Subscribe & Save program. It contains 81 servings with 25g protein each, which works out to be $0.63 per serving and just under $0.03 per gram of protein. It's pricier per serving... but each serving has more protein, and the protein is cheaper gram per gram by half a penny. Decisions, decisions.

Thanks! Next up: conquering the pull up and/or chin up. Gotta get me a bar.

I finally managed a whole, real (as in, not with my knees on the ground) push up! I've been working on it since November (doing the beginner body weight workout), and I FINALLY got it. Actually, I first managed one this past Saturday, but I only managed one. I was a little flabbergasted and didn't quite believe I'd actually done it, so I tried to do a second one, and couldn't do it. So I didn't entirely believe myself that I'd actually done it. Tried again during my workout on Monday, and couldn't do it again. I blame Monday! Then yesterday I did two in a row! And then in the next circuit I did one more! And then in the last circuit, I did another two in a row. I can do real push ups now! Woooooot!!

I made these for breakfast yesterday. Yum! They weren't fluffy like wheat pancakes, but they tasted like banana bread and were quite filling (and caloric). Thanks for the recipe!

Trying to do better with this. Last night's workout: 20 squats - I held the 15-lb dumbbell for 10 out of each set of 20 squats. 10 pushups - I did three incline ones with my legs/knees on the couch, and 7 regular knee pushups on the floor in each set. 20 lunges - I held the 15-lb dumbbell for 15 out of each set of 20 lunges. Bent over dumbbell rows - still only 8 on each arm with the 25-lb dumbbell before I start shaking and can't lift it all the way back up. Plank - still doing 60 seconds with arms straight. I decided to try lowering myself partway down and lifting myself back up a couple times during one of them... I figure this will help me in my quest for a damn pushup. THAT was tiring, though. I only did that during one of my planks. 30 jumping jacks - yeah, those are pretty straightforward. I was still aching from Tuesday's workout. I'm still aching from... I dunno, a combination of the two? But it feels good.

Yeah I can see that, but I don't think the existence of a powerlifter with scoliosis means that scoliosis isn't a detractor from doing barbell squats. He may have had a special routine designed to take his scoliosis into account. He might have screwed up his spine even worse by doing his power lifting.

I kinda went all out this time, I guess. I had been doing a M-W-F schedule, but uh, I skipped yesterday, so this week it'll be T-R-S instead. I worked out hard, though. I actually got kinda queasy. That's never happened to me before. I'm going to blame my period... I think. I'm not really sure why that happened. But I know I pushed myself, so I guess that could be it. I did the Beginner Bodyweight routine as follows (whole thing three times, obviously) 20 squats - I tried doing goblet squats with a 15 pound dumbbell, but I had to put it down after like 8 squats each set. I think I made it to 10 squats one of the sets. 10 pushups - A friend told me to try doing incline knee pushups off a couch or my bed or something, since I'm having trouble moving up to a whole push-up. I managed to do like... three of those. The first set. Then I finished the rest of the ten. I did like one the second set, but I couldn't even think about it by the third set (er, should I be saying circuit instead of set?) 20 lunges - Uh, so I have no idea if this is a legit way of doing it, but I decided to hold the 15-lb dumbbell in front of me while I did these. I only managed to get up to like 10-12 in each set though, then I did the rest regular. One armed bent over dumbbbell rows - 25 lb dumbell, could only do 8 on each arm still. Plank - I'm doing the one my friend told me, with my arms straight instead of bent. I actually think it's a little easier, but he says it adds the triceps, so... :shrug: I'll give it a shot. 60 seconds each time on that. 30 jumping jacks - same old. What can I do differently there anyway? Oh yeah, and I warmed up longer/more intensely this time - I did 5 minutes of jogging in place, 5 minutes of jumping rope, then 5 squats, 6 lunges, 3 knee pushups off the edge of the couch, and then got to work. So yeah... That was maybe a bit much. But I got through it, and the queasy feeling passed, so I'm feeling pretty good now.

Thanks guys, I'm starting goblet squats. I've actually got a sample of Starting Strength on my Kindle that I've been reading here and there, but I haven't seen anything pertaining to scoliosis (granted, it's just the sample). Uh, Cinnamonbite? Not really sure how that's supposed to be helpful, but thanks I guess...