Phoenyx's Final 10 & Journey to Fitness

I really want to get back into weight training... everything's just a bit hectic right now, though. Soon enough!

You're gonna be RIPPED under that thin layer of fat pretty soon :)
 
Haha! Thanks! I sure hope so.

I think the bench press is starting to pay off... definitely seeing more tone in the pec area. My boobs may have gotten smaller, but I still want them to look good.
 
I need to figure out more ways of working my back with the free weights since I do my weight lifting at home.

Las Vegas is going to be fun! I'm going to shoot for getting up early at least a couple mornings to get in a workout before going to the conference. Then there's going to be the challenge of where/what to eat. Guess I better grab a few protein bars in case of emergency, and the Blood Sugar Monster attacks. :reddevil:

I'm doing my weights at home too, and Im trying to figure the routine out as well....I think I have a plan though; The week I dont have Maiah (my daughter), I am going to go to the gym and work areas I dont have equipment for at home, then with the week I DO have Maiah, I will work areas I can di with my home equipment......it will be hectic for a while, but I think I can get a routine...:willy_nilly:


Also, I am heading to Scottsdale in Oct for a conference as well...and I am trying to figure out how to deal with conference life too....lol

The food is bad for you always, lol...and the exercise is usually pretty feeble. Hopefully I can get into a hotel with a pool....or at least a nice area to walk.

The eating six times a day will be a challenge too.

Let me know how you make it work in Vegas !
 
Also, I am heading to Scottsdale in Oct for a conference as well...and I am trying to figure out how to deal with conference life too....lol

The food is bad for you always, lol...and the exercise is usually pretty feeble. Hopefully I can get into a hotel with a pool....or at least a nice area to walk.

The eating six times a day will be a challenge too.

Let me know how you make it work in Vegas !

Oh cool! I like Arizona. What's the conference for?

Luckily I've been to Las Vegas a few times, so I think I can figure out how to eat healthy (or as healthy as I can) while I'm there. I'll pack some of those protein bars for in between meals, probably some protein powder. I'm going to make a point of getting in to the workout room at the Luxor at least a couple times.

And I'm staying far, FAR AWAY from the yard long margaritas this time. One damn near destroyed me last year. My weight and alcohol tolerance levels are both significantly lower now. :ack2: Maybe "settle" for a Jack on the rocks. Aw darn.:sifone:
 
Weekly weigh-in and TGIF!!!

Yay! Another 1.5 pounds down! That takes me to 168.0. Body fat dropped 1% to 28.6, so it must have been 28.7 last week. :party:

Oh man am I glad this is FRIDAY and its a long weekend. I'm freaking exhausted. I'll have to write more later... can't brain right now. :banghead:
 
YEAH! More weight off!? Less Body fat?! That's fantastic!

I totally hear you about the fear of weight regain. I never want to go out to eat any more - it's really stressful to look at then menu and not know if they soaked thing in butter or grease before "healthfully grilling" them. It's really hard when my parents visit, because they go out a lot. I've said not to breakfast the past few times we visited, and last time I ate a burger it made my tummy very sad indeed.

But you must be doing something right! The weight is still coming off. You have the tools and you're working hard and it's SO awesome to hear about you lifting some serious weights. I don't know many women who have moved beyond the handweight stage, and they still keep them hella light.

I love that you're so tough. Keep going. You know what to do now to be healthy for the rest of your life and you've proved to yourself that it works. No reason to be scared.
 
Congrats on the 1.5 more down! Lol, that is one of the down sides of losing the weight, your drink tolorance goes way down. I dont know though, the long yard sounds really good considering how hot it's been the last few days. I'm going to a Metal Master concert on Sunday at the Shoreline (Managed to get free VIP tickets from a vendor) and the bar in the lounge makes great margaritas, so Im looking forward to un-winding this weekend, taking the bike out tomorrow, and just relaxing.
Oh, dont worry about having to eat a little more, if your working out hard with weights and cardio, you've got nothing to worry about. You've gotton yourself to this point, and you know you wont go back, as you've done fantastic so far!

Happy weekend! :auto:
 
Goals changed...

Ferocity... thank you! Not so sure about the 'tough' part anymore, but its nice to know the 'strong' part is coming back. I was pretty hardcore with the weights for a while in my early 20s, and its been fun rediscovering how much fun that is. As for the fears part... I just have to stay on top of what I eat and how much I exercise. Not let myself slip back down the path of sloth & gluttony that I was rolling down.

Greg...
Metal Master concert? Sweet! You lucky dog! Best concert I've been to in a while was VIP tix for Rush a few months ago at the Concord Pavilion (it will ALWAYS be the CONCORD Pavilion... not Chronicle, not Sleep Train, not whatever other corporation takes it over... just like SEARS POINT, CANDLESTICK PARK, etc. :rant:). I list that as one of the best concerts I've been to.

Story behind the Yard Long... I decided to order a 'top shelf' yard long margarita instead of one of the ones they had churning in the 'slushie' machine already. I've had them before and they're pretty good. The bartender was one of those that was pretty generous with the alcohol. I mean VERY generous... damn thing must have been at least 80% tequila. Well, I sipped away at it happily, got so shitfaced I ended up doing really silly stuff like chasing the animated fish on the floor at the MGM, that type of thing. Next morning... worst. hangover. EVAR!!! :puke::ack2: and I had to go through an entire day of Photoshop classes. I just haven't been quite right with tequila ever since. So I will probably just save my money on those, get the occasional Jack on the rocks, and I'm such a lightweight now that will be enough, and spend the money normally spent on booze to gain access to the workout area at the Luxor.

Heh, another thing that's funny. My 'boss' has known me for the past 11 years back from when I worked at the company I work for now last time. Back in '97-01 I was a graphic designer who did a lot of the photo retouch work, and he was working the prepress area. Now I work for him, almost 3 years now. Oh wow... 3 year anniversary for working there will be in on Friday. :willy_nilly: Anyway, P. has always known me as being on the chunky side. Now I'm always getting after him about getting his butt to the gym. Hell, he pays for a membership... he's just wasting money if the doesn't use it. He's going to Las Vegas too. Friday he was bitching a bit about needing to work on his stomach. So I told him the workout area at the Luxor opens at 6 am, and that's where I'll be. So he says 'sounds good to me, I'll be there'. Ok, I'll believe that when I see it. I hope I do. Or else he will get a fresh ration of shit from me.

So I'm thinking of changing my goal. Got to talking with my husband today about the goals of my overall body composition, and after that I'm thinking I may want to go down another 10. So take it down to 155, have 160 as my high end. Still falls safely within the realm of the healthy weight for my height. Will probably be a closer weight to my goal with the body fat % anyway.

I wonder what I'd look like as a size 8? I haven't been a size 8 since... Jr high. I was a size 9-11 all through high school and the early years of college.

I did make my husband promise to tell me if I did start going that direction to tell me if he thought I was getting too thin.

Picked up a couple more pairs of dumbells... needed to get the 12 and 15 pounders this time. I need to get a stand for the dumbells now. Meh, maybe I'll just go get the metal and fab one up... at least I can build it to the exact spec that I want. Gawd I love power tools! :willy_nilly:

Oh yeah, I also picked up 'survival' food for while I'm in Las Vegas. Found some protein bars that will be a good breakfast. Not exactly low cal, but high protein, and relatively low carb. More a meal replacement than anything else. Given the wacky break times between some of the classes, I will probably have to grab half of one here & the other half there. Got some of the Kashi granola bars, and some of the whey protein powder in the packets for pre and post workout. I thought about grabbing some beef jerky too, but saw the MSG content in the ingredients and decided to pass.

:ack2: I forgot how early my flight is on Wednesday. 7:45 am. Means I need to be at the airport at a positively ungodly hour. Hmmm, I still need to find a really trashy novel to read while I'm out in Las Vegas. You know, a real smut-laden bodice-ripper. The trashier the better. Some good mindless entertainment since I'll have to have the brain on for most of the day during the conference.
 
It's not a bodice ripper, precisely, but if you want something very - ahem - fun to read, then Louisa Burton's House of Dark Delights is really, really well-written. It's always fun when a very literate writer decides to specialize in a highly "non-literary" genre. It's what Anne Rice's Beauty series tried to be, and utterly failed.

If I remember right, it's about 3 novellas, all about the same characters but taking place in different time periods, all in the same book. The one towards the end with the Electric Hellfire Club is especially fun.

Have a killer time in Vegas!
 
It's not a bodice ripper, precisely, but if you want something very - ahem - fun to read, then Louisa Burton's House of Dark Delights is really, really well-written. It's always fun when a very literate writer decides to specialize in a highly "non-literary" genre. It's what Anne Rice's Beauty series tried to be, and utterly failed.

If I remember right, it's about 3 novellas, all about the same characters but taking place in different time periods, all in the same book. The one towards the end with the Electric Hellfire Club is especially fun.

Have a killer time in Vegas!

REeheallly? I thoroughly enjoyed the Beauty series... I'll have to make a special trip to pick that up tomorrow night. :reddevil: Thanks for the recommendation!
 
Almost Packed & Ready

Ok, I picked up a copy of "House of Dark Delights", I'm almost done packing, and I'll get about 2 hours of sleep before I take off for Las Vegas. :willy_nilly:

Emailed the doc I've been working with about going another 10, he's ok with it, saying that 150-160 is a good weight for my frame. I'll be focusing on that when I get back.

Back in a few days!! :biggrinjester:
 
Have a terrific trip and be sure to let me know if you like the book! I haven't read the sequel yet, but it's on my wishlist. From what I understand, Louisa Burton is planning on doing a whole series. I really hope she does - subject matter aside, she can actually write. Many who call themselves writers and who wind up on the bestsellers list cannot write. It's enough to drive me to drink . . . or to my notebook.

Anyway, as I said, have an absolutely terrific time and update us all to hell when you get back.
 
Back from the Desert

Well, I survived my trip to Las Vegas. Actually, I had a great time. The conference was very educational, learned quite a bit I'll be able to apply immediately when I return to work tomorrow.

Wasn't very militant about what I ate, but tried to behave myself. Definitely kept an eye on portion. Managed to get to the gym 3 days out of the 4 I was there... and the only reason I missed the one day was the fact that I drank WAY too much the night before and ended up nursing a grand wicked hangover. My own misjudgement there... not taking into consideration how much less of a tolerance I have now that I'm damn near 75 pounds less than I was, and I don't drink as much anymore anyway. Yeah, 'nuff said about that one. :leaving: I ended up having to subscribe to my friend's 'pizza as a hangover cure' theory which I mocked him for in the past. I shall never mock again. Didn't really want to eat pizza, but my stomach was HATING me for overindulging on the booze. Had one large slice from the pizza place at New York, New York. Fortunately, with the getting down to the gym and doing 3 very intense workouts, some pretty intense dancing a couple nights, and the loads of walking... I'm thinking I didn't do TOO much damage. In fact, I am wondering if I actually lost weight... my camos fit a lot looser than I remember. My size small camos... baggy on me now. Ah well, I'll know on Friday when I go back for my weekly weight in.

One thing that was pretty cool. There was a woman working out one morning that turned out to be a personal trainer. I was standing on a bosu holding a medicine ball for some oblique work (near the door) when she was leaving, and she stopped to compliment me on how hard I was working out. Asked me if I had worked with a trainer because of the way I was going through my workout. Closest I came to working with a trainer was years of weightlifting in high school and college, and with my boyfriend at the time who was very in to weight training. I thought that was kinda cool that she took the time to say something.

I packed my 'goal pants' with me... my 501s that were the thrift store find. Wore 'em out clubbing one night. I felt rather triumphant being able to wear those, AND have them not so constricting I couldn't move in them. Was able to comfortably dance in them.

The whole clubbing experience... it was rather amusing... The group I was with decided we needed to go to the LAX club at the Luxor. So I'm in this packed to the gills club full of little 20-something girls in their eensy teensy dresses, and the 20-something guys full of attitude... all I can say is, I came, I saw, I don't need to bother buying the shirt. We ended up hanging out at the 40Deuce instead. THAT place was a trip! Night club meets burlesque.

And it was SO NICE to be able to sit in an airplane seat without my ass crammed into each side of the seat. Nice to be able to put that seatbelt on without having to take it all the way out before fastening it. Makes traveling a lot less horrific.

ok, more later, I need to get to bed. Back to work in the morning... back to the whining and nagging. :ack2:
 
Bracing for the Whining and Nagging

I'm stalling. I know it. I need to get my ass in the shower and get to work... I just know the whining and nagging that is going to be in store. Art directors can be like spoiled siamese cats sometimes.

I forgot to mention in my post last night that I'm through the first part of "House of Dark Delights"... so far, so good. I'm digging it. I may have to check out more of her books.

Ugh, back to being dilligent about logging my caloric intake. I'm still at a loss on how to calculate the calories on some of the things I ate while in 'Vegas. I'm tempted to let those days slide and just pick it back up starting yesterday. Meh, we'll see... it would be interesting to find out just how many calories were consumed on a daily basis while out there.

Alright, enough stalling... time to hit the shower. :smash:
 
That’s so wild. You were coming into Vegas as my two best pals were leaving. They flew out Friday. I saw them at the Penzoil place and they said they’d gotten me some uber tacky souvenirs. Yay Liberace Museum! Lol. Actually I went to Vegas in 2003 and wasn’t much into it. The shows were too damn expensive and I like to be able to walk where I wanna go. But I can see how it would be a Disney World for gamblers. Just not my scene.

Pizza for hangovers huh? I use Taco Bell bean burritos, lol. Something about all the carbs that soak it in I guess. I never crave them except when I am severely hung over. I’ll keep pizza as future reference, lol.

It’s always so hard for me to get back on track after vacation. You go girl! Glad you are home safe and sound.

Colleen
 
Heh... Las Vegas is the capital of excess and overindulgence... as well as just over the top. I love it because the strip is just one long carnival freak show.

When my husband and I spent a week out there a few years ago, the Liberace Museum is the first place we went. If you ever get out there, I highly recommend checking it out. The man's costumes were, in a word, amazing. We were fortunate that one of the docents was very chatty, and got a good education on the construction of the costumes. Did you know those capes averaged well over 100 pounds each? He may not have been very big, but he was pretty strong to wear those capes at the beginning of his shows... even if it wasn't for very long.

I love it, but I am so glad to be home. I didn't realize just how much the noise of the place was getting to me until I got to the relative quiet of my house. And this may sound sappy as hell, but I really missed my husband. Sunday morning was fun. :reddevil:

I was also happy to eat my own cooking again. Restaurants are all good and fine, and I did have some great sushi while I was away, but I missed the ability to eat my own cooking.

Ended up taking a break from the weights yesterday and did the entire Michelle Joyce 'Body By Bellydance' workout DVD yesterday. Gonna do upper body today.

Thankfully the whining siamese cats have been held at bay for now... but I'd better get back to it. :willy_nilly:
 
Well... ouch. Pulled something in the left side of my trapezoid muscle last night, now I can barely turn my head. I can't tell if its just muscular or if I need to pay a visit to the chiro. All I know is right now it hurts like hell. Must have stretched wrong or something.

You may have noticed the weight loss ticker has changed. I did that to reflect the new goal. So now its 13, not 3 to go. I'm insane. :willy_nilly:
 
I haven't weighed myself since August 29th, but I think I might have actually lost weight while I was in Las Vegas. My camos and my 501s are both a bit looser than they were. Put the camos on the other day, they were feeling downright baggy.

BAGGY!!! :party:

Anyway, next weigh in is tomorrow... will be interesting to see what I did over the past couple weeks.

I added another pic to my 'progress' thread. Took it late Friday/early Saturday night/morning in my bathroom at the Luxor. Never had a self taken photo in the mirror turn out halfway decent before.

One thing that really made me happy about that pic... my arms are looking good. Looking at one of my 'in progress' pics above where I'm holding the paintbrush, and looking at the most recent one... so nice to actually have tone again!!

Trapezoid muscle still a bit sore, but not nearly as bad as it was on Tuesday. I hit the point where I wanted to puke if I turned my head or moved my eyes. Definitely not fun. I'll have to take it easy on my upper body workout tonight.

Decided to start doing yoga in the mornings. I already have one of Yoga Journal's beginner DVDs that I picked up at a used book store. Tried to do it quite a while ago and couldn't (I'm sure being 70lbs overweight and out of shape had nothing to do with that... riiiiiiight), but gave it a try again and had a lot more success. Ended up ordering the other 2 DVDs in the series, as well as a couple of TamiLee's DVDs to try out. Gotta mix it up!
 
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