<p>NorthMinnesota, Thanks for the encouragement. I’ve completely lost my vanity at this point but I would like to get it back at some point!</p>
<p>I’m joining those who are not going to stuff themselves today. More weight is not what my back needs. </p>
<p>Good luck to all the turkey trotters!</p>
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<p>The ol’ fat guy says: Screw that. It’s about the food! :)</p>
<p>Off to stuff the turkey. BTW, I kicked off the celebrations on a good “eat less” note. Chicken Caesar salad for dinner. Not one bite of the crackers and cheese spread. Not one glass of wine. No midnight snack (except for a one teaspoon taste of my incredible Julia Child creamed onions, which were “marvelous”.</p>
<p>Oh goodness. D2 brought a gf home, so I’ve been cooking up a storm. Make a coffee cake Tuesday night; pecan pie and pumpkin pies yesterday; stuffing and potatoes and turkey and green bean casserole today. I agree with idad; it is about the food!!</p>
<p>ABout cold remedies: I have used the Zicam nasal sray with good results but I understand that it was taken off the market a year or so ago. (A coworker drove around to all of the drugstores buying up what they had on the shelves.) I have not found a good replacement because I hate the taste of the zinc tablets.</p>
<p>As for food, we are off for four days at the in-laws. MiL is a “food-pusher.” My strategy will be (I hope) to not start a battle of the wills by accepting what she offers, but only eat small amounts. And lots of water.</p>
<p>Ok, I’m kind of excited. I ran 28:21 today!! And I finished 509 overall for old people, 144 for all old ladies, and 12th in my age bracket! I was feeling really winded during the first mile, and when I got to the 1 mile marker I realized why: I ran the first mile in 7:39. I didn’t even know I could do that, and it was way too fast for me. I tried to slow down after that, and I was really struggling at the end. But I ran the whole thing!</p>
<p>Then went to Starbucks with d, who was going to run with me, but her plane came in late last night so she slept in. The turkey’s in the oven, we’re going to have an early-ish dinner, and then go see Harry Potter. Yay!</p>
<p>Hell of a time, both 1 mile and 5k.</p>
<p>Good job, blankmind. It is SO easy to go out too fast in 5K. Way to regroup!</p>
<p>Yay, blankmind! That is a really awesome time. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Indulge a little (or a lot) :)</p>
<p>Oooooof. Stuffing. Sweet potatoes (naked, at least.) Turkey. Gravy. Green bean casserole. And the piece de resistance, pecan pie with whipped cream. </p>
<p>Tomorrow: Nothing but fruit and yogurt.</p>
<p>Yeah, right.</p>
<p>I filled my plate with green salad so there would be less room for everything else, but I’m still stuffed. I did do 30 pushups before the feast :p</p>
<p>Tomorrow: chocolate croissants and fruit for breakfast, Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch and dinner. Saturday: hosting another dinner. Sunday: yD goes back East, and our menu goes back to normal :)</p>
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<p>I can’t complain about having to eat up the leftovers tomorrow… ate them all today! Four plates full of food today; two at lunch and two for dinner…</p>
<p>Yay for you blankmind! So happy for you! That’s the way to do it!!! I am so very happy and proud of you! Gosh…I am really so impressed! :)</p>
<p>I didn’t do too badly. One plate of T-giving dinner, a scotch before dinner, two glasses of wine with dinner, and a small piece of pie. That’s about as well as I can do. I did get up from the table and do eight burpees! Couldn’t interest anyone in Airdyne intervals.</p>
<p>I am in Va visiting relatives. The hotel gym is actually a full-scale Gold’s gym (next to a gross KMart). My expectations for the gym weren’t high, but it surprised me. Very new cardio equipment, good weight room and nice audio set up for each machine. I did an hour of cardio using 3 different machines. Started with Cybex ARC trainer (I am not a huge fan, but I don’t have one at my gym so I wanted a change of pace), moved to a different Cybex elliptical and finished up with 20 minutes on a neat bike that had a pacer and good oldies station as a listening option. The bike seat wasn’t so comfortable on my injury, but for 20 minutes I could deal with it. Did some weights and PT exercises afterwards.
Yesterday I walked/jogged (just a little jogging) outside on a “real” trail (with foots, leaves etc) so I had to be careful that I didn’t land on my face. Did 4 miles.
Ate more than usual but didn’t totally pig out like in past years.
Off to shop with H now.</p>
<p>Hah, take that you devil Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing. Up 3.2 ounces from yesterday morning – well within the “noise” of daily weight fluctuations and I still fit in my “skinny” corduroys. I can live with that.</p>
<p>Spartacus today. Tomorrow is sunshine and a high of 44 degrees (windy), so I might have to pencil in a little walk. This time of year, you have to grab a hike when you can. An ol’ fat guy can’t live by Airdyne intervals alone!</p>
<p>Heading to the office this morning (some important stuff to do; got emails on it yesterday). Will drop off family at the mall and then do my work and workout. May do weights at the YMCA later on if they’re open.</p>
<p>blankmind, Congratulations!</p>
<p>idad, Wow, what an experience you had with your back. I’m glad you’re better. I too am staying away from the back bending stuff for now and perhaps forever. It just never ends well. What is Spartacus? </p>
<p>Since the pool was closed yesterday, I decided to try my easiest stretches on dry land, something I have not done since my injury, with a plan to stop with any pain. To my pleasant surprise I was able to do them! Progress is exciting.</p>
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<p>You and me both. Because it cleared up with the anti-inflamatories, there was no need to do the MRIs and dive into the exact cause – disc? muscle inflammation? Judging from the way the back creaks when I turn, I would say that I have the typical degenerative disc issues most of us encounter as we age.</p>
<p>I’m just aware of any tightness in between my shouders at the base of the neck. I’ve recently started doing a “wall slide” stetching/flexibility warm up exercise that hits that area perfectly – it’s the hunching over looking a computer screen area!</p>
<p>I’m not the only one who avoids back flexing exercises. Many of the top trainers have stopped them entirely. For example, Mike Boyle here in Boston doesn’t do any cruchches with his NFL and NFL players. He’s taken it one step further and doesn’t even do two-legged squats that load the back. A back researcher name Stuart McGill has got them all rethinking back issues:</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.backfitpro.com/]BackFitPro.com[/url”>http://www.backfitpro.com/]BackFitPro.com[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Spartacus again today. I asked my wife if she wanted to do some t-pushups with me and she took my head off for “showing off” and “making her feel bad”. Mind you, I was bent over on my hands and knees panting like a dog at the time I was “showing off”. So much for support for the ol’ fat guy from the family, huh?</p>
<p>Anybody else have to deal with negative reinforcement for getting fit and losing weight? Happens all the time with ex-smokers, where a smoking family member actively tries to entice them to smoke again.</p>
<p>^Yep. My husband who is naturally thin (in part because he smokes and lives off Nicorette - big appetite suppressors) brings in all sorts of desserts and fattening foods into the house despite the fact that I have asked him not to or at the very least put them somewhere out of my sight.</p>
<p>So, naturally we have 2 pies and a cake sitting on our counter right this very moment. He brought them back from our Thanksgiving dinner at his parents.</p>
<p>His parents are just as bad - they will buy a cake, take 2 slices out of it and then bring the rest to our house because ‘they’re watching their weight and don’t want it in their house.’ I’ve pointed out repeatedly that I’m trying to lose weight also and don’t want it in my house either. Doesn’t seem to sink it. While I’m not sure anyone is deliberately trying to sabotage my efforts, they definitely aren’t being supportive. In fact, they make it downright difficult at times.</p>