The ELFF Diet

Push Up, Push Out, Push Away

So, if you took the push up test on either Monday or Tuesday, you should have completed day one, on whatever level you qualified for, today.  Or maybe yesterday.  Either way, you should have completed the first day of the Great Push Up Challenge.

How didja do? Were you able to complete the first set? 

By my count, there are at least ten of us trying.  Let's see if there can be ten of us finishing at the end, shall we?

What else did you do for exercise today?  I did heavy weight work at the gym and walked three miles.  On the agenda for tomorrow - 5-6 miles of walking and day 2 of the Push up challenge.

______________________

I've started walking with a friend twice a week - she needs inspiration and someone to walk with, and I can add it to my mileage. I'm so glad to do it.  Have you ever worked out with someone that it DIDN'T work?  I don't know if I could do that.

Busting Through Roadblocks

I wanted to share this amazing email that I got from one of my long time readers, Des.

I did the Rock n' Roll Marathon this past Sunday in San Diego.  It took me six hours, nineteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds.  I walked through all the hydration stations and a  little on the Hwy 163 curve; I estimate that I walked almost an hour total.   According to the chip, I averaged a 14:30 mile.  I also made my $3200 donation goal, so I was able to honor both my commitments. The whole experience was interesting;  I never achieved the famed:  "Runner's High", but I when I got sad, I didn't stay sad long, so that was good.  My feet and calves were trashed, but I think that is because I've never run on asphalt/concrete entirely and had not gone more than eighteen miles before the marathon. Thanks again, Carmen,  for you example and encouragement!  I didn't gain weight training for this event, but I didn't lose either, so my plan is to keep up the running and decrease the "carb loading", LOL!

I am DELIGHTED at your work, Des.  Thrilled and happy for you, and for anyone who takes the initiative to get out there and bust through all the roadblocks that life puts in your way.  Kids, work, time - there are so many things that get in our way, aren't there? 

I've been so heartened and delighted at the tales of success that you all have provided me.  You've helped to keep me in line, to keep me going and moving and working when I'd rather sleep late and laze on the sofa.  To read about your successes, your weight losses and your strength increases - those things keep me going.

I salute all of you - the ones who wake before dawn to squeeze in some cardio, those who stay up late to do weight work.  Those who reach for fruit instead of chocolate cake, for water instead of soda, for baked instead of fried.  Those who do pushups on the counter at work, squats while talking on the phone and walk instead of driving.

Thank you.

Our Friends in the Weight Loss World

I read lots of diet, exercise and weight loss blogs.  Many of them I've found by reading the alternating headlines on the right of the screen, over there -----> under the Blogher ad.  Some of my favorites are listed below; who will you add?

• Diet Naked
• Fitness Fixation
• Mr and Mrs Get Fit
• Half of Me
• The amazing adventures of Dietgirl!

I have met all of the above and they are lovely, lovely, REAL people.  (Well, not met Mel of Diet Naked, but emailed and chatted so much that I feel like she's my long lost sister or something.)

Go forth, read, comment and let me know who you recommend!

Thoughtful quote

Found in O magazine, April 2008

"Whether you are a cook, a chambermaid, or a coach, all of us are simply trying to live our lives, often in the face of challenges that feel like more than we can bear.  We need one another, and if we stick together we can get through anything."  Adapted from Standing Tall:A Memoir of Tragedy and Triumph

So, what do you infer from this?

We all have challenges.  I'd say that mine would be an extreme love of sweets, an innate  habit of sloth,  a fierce desire to look great, combined with massive amounts of vanity.  Combined with an uber busy schedule, mountains of laundry, piles of dishes and kids with competitive sports and scouts and choir, and I'm amazed that I can find time to breath.  Just like all of us. 

So, discuss. What are your challenges?  How can you overcome them?  Do you know of a way to solve someone else's difficult times?

Share.

Thought for the day

Taken from Fitness Magazine, May 2008

"Eating a glazed donut doesn't make me average, just as abstaining doesn't make me excellent.  My diet is not a litmus test of my worth.  I'm finally convinced that I am so much more than what I eat."  - Chee Gates

Um, I think I need to have this tattooed on my face.

Discuss, please.

The Power of Two

While I'm away playing the slots, please enjoy this guest post by the lovely Susan of Mr. and Mrs. Get Fit.

My husband Jay and I have spent the last three months working on the ultimate couple's DIY project: losing weight. We figured since we got fat(ter) together, we should probably get fit together, too. While we're not even close to our goal of total body fitness yet, we have made serious progress.

In previous slim-down attempts, we've tried lots of things—going it alone (usually me), tag-teaming it with Weight Watchers or South Beach, adding exercise but not cutting calories, you name it. Of course, none worked and in December 2007, we were the fattest we had ever been in our lives.

But this time was different.

We'd been gearing up for a major lifestyle change in the months leading up to the holidays. Both of us had health issues that called for major weight loss—and we now had a beautiful little girl to be healthy role models for. During our long drive to and from Jay's parents' house over Christmas, Jay and I made a plan for success and committed to it. We opted to follow our own set of nutrition and exercise guidelines, rather than an established diet or regimen. We established goal weights that we hoped to achieve within a year or so.

And perhaps most importantly, this time was different because we decided to blog about our experience. We launched Mr. and Mrs. Get Fit to chronicle our journey as a couple from fat and unhealthy to fit and fabulous. Part of our plan was to disclose our "before" weights and photos (the horror!) From there, we would continue to announce the results of our weekly weigh-ins for the world to see, with updates and insights along the way.

In just 99 days (but who's counting?), Jay and I have nudged, pushed, and supported each other to become fitter individuals. I no longer eat a pint of ice cream every night (or any night, for that matter). He doesn't order Donato's pizza for dinner when we're out of groceries. We don't spend our evenings curled up on the couch in front of the TV.

 

Thoughts from the 8K

Wow, 6:30 comes early on a Saturday. Whose bright idea was this, to get up and run an 8K at 8 A.M.?  oh, yeah, mine.

One waffle - that's good. Not too much food, or I'll puke.  But the carbs are good.  And I'll drink coffee on the way. 

7:36 - are all of these cars going to the race?  There are four or five races today - a 5k, an 8k, a kids race and a half marathon - maybe something else as well - I wonder how many people are signed up? 

7:47 - Are you kidding me - ELEVEN blocks away for parking? 

7:57  - phew, made it to to start in time to stretch a bit.  I'm freezing!  I should have worn a shirt with sleeves and running pants instead of my sleeveless shirt and running skirt.  What happened to the forecast of 70?  There are people for miles - did the announcer just say that there are over SEVEN THOUSAND people registered for this race?  No wonder it's so crowded!  I check my wrist timer and see that it took me 9:56 to get to the start, walking 3/4 of a mile.  I decline to reset my timer and try to remember to subtract that time from my finish.  HAHAHA - me, remember something?

8:04 - finally over the start line. 

Ab work 101

So, in order to try to break myself out of a slump, I've vowed to work on my ABS.  That's probably the weakest part of my body, and the one that could use the most work.

I bought my husband a set of dvds for Christmas - P90X, a super intense workout.  I've done a few of them and they are REALLY tough.  I'm doing the Ab one every day, and whoa, do I have a lot of work to do.

Core work is essential to fitness.  A strong core will help you run faster and farther, improve your posture, make your clothes look better, and help with a host of other situations. 

What do you do for ab/core work?

So, it looks like...

I'm going to be (gulp) writing a book.

At least, that's what the comments over at Real Simple's Question forum, where they posted my question off the interview page.   One reader even went so far as to determine my address and mail a letter to me - although it went to another family member - encouraging me to write. 

Even though it's not a work of fiction, I've decided that I'm going to loosely follow the parameters of NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month.  Write a novel during the month of November.  So that gives me ten days to get my stuff in gear and determine exactly how I'm going to do this.

What I'd like to know is what you, the readers, would want to see in a book discussing diet, exercise, healthy living and weight loss.  I have an outline, and kind of know what I'd NOT like to discuss.  But what would really make this book fly off the shelves and into your hands?

The Driver's License reality

I went to purchase new contact lenses tonight.  The salesperson, who I gave my site card to, and so he's probably reading here, looked at my license and then at me.  I'm used to it, so I waited while he looked again.

"Lost a bit of weight, haven't you?"

About ten years ago, my state took the weight off the license - you were no longer required to post your weight - or rather, required to LIE about your weight.  I lied religiously about it, praying that I wouldn't get pulled over by The Fuzz and be questioned about the lie.  I never filled in my true weight, but always used the same number - 150.  No matter what size I wore, or how much pasta I consumed, I filled in the same number - 150. I was foolishly optimistic and swore that I'd get to that weight before I was certain to need a new  license.

Does this look like the face of 150?