I've been training really hard.  I'm proud!  My cardio today was really high intensity intervals on the treadmill (one minute of jogging alternating with 30 seconds of sprinting as fast as I can) for about 18 minutes, which is supposed to help burn even more fat without losing muscle the way prolonged cardio does.  Then I did 20 minutes of intervals on the elliptical/step thingy.  My legs were mush, so then I did my upper body workout on the circuit that I like--triceps, biceps, chest, shoulders, back.  I did more weight and I did them slower with really good form.  I'm excited.  My arm muscles and legs muscles and abs are starting to look good!

Tomorrow I'm gonna do lighter cardio so I can do strength for my lower body.  I do the leg press, hamstrings, quads, and some other junk. 

I'm also focusing on eating more calories.  It's helped me lose a bunch of weight so far.  Not too much more to go!  I just don't want to lose my curves. 

I have been working hard, but it's not so bad!  I like it.  I used to be a cardio bunny and just do like an hour of cardio every day, but that was (1) ineffective, and (2) boring.  Like, I just ran and ran, and even when I was thin, I was "skinny fat."  I love doing the strength part so much.  I just get to focus and work on getting stronger and having good form and whatnot.  It totally motivates me to go to the gym because it's fun.

My own deltoids took me by surprise today!  Yay!

Great job Kate!!!  Great job everyone!!!

I've been good about exercising 3 to 4 times a week, but need to jump start a diet and exercise program......again...sigh.....and loose about 5 to 10 stubborn pounds.  I have a tendancy to overeat a couple of times a week, and it usually starts at work when people bring in bad things.  So I think if I add a little more workout and cut calories I'll drop the weight.  I know I can do it, but staying consistent long term is tough for me for some reason.  Here we go.

I'm going to splurge and get some Vega powder and have a liquid lunch every day until it's gone and then eat totally vegan and portion control a bit better.  I won some money when my bowling team was league champions the other week.

When I was ordering dog food and soap from vegan essentials last week I threw in the DVD Vegan Fitness...built naturally....and am going to watch it today for inspiration.........http://www.veganfitnessteam.com/      I certainly don't want to be an athlete, but these few extra pounds are extremelly irritating. 

kmk, what is skinny fat??? hmmmmm.  intriguing.

I had the same question! She explained it to me last night. Skinny fat is when you are skinny, but without tone, or skinny with a belly. Who knew?!

ah.  like if you tell people you are trying to work off your beer belly and they say what beer belly?? you're so skinny!

skinny fat.  haha.  is that a real term or did you make it up kmk!!

No, I didn't make it up!  Yeah, it's like, your body weight is fine, but you don't have any tone or definition. 

Time for the gymmmmmm  :)
Good job guys!

the gym was hoppin today.  i couldnt get on the bike, every time i tried, someone would get it before me!  we only have one bike.  and i didnt think i could handle the upright bike after the elliptical.  i'm a wuss when i dont exercise daily.

Today I did 20 minutes of high intensity intervals and then I did upper and lower body because I took a day off yesterday and none of those muscles felt tired.  I'm still debating whether to put my cardio before or after my weight training.  The cardio takes a ton of energy, and I feel like my leg muscles need to rest or my weight training will be compromised.  I guess I can do cardio before weights on upper body days, and cardio after weights on lower body days, yeah?  Either that or switch up the cardio on leg days, which might be worthwhile.

I still have to do abs before bed.

Today I did 20 minutes of high intensity intervals and then I did upper and lower body because I took a day off yesterday and none of those muscles felt tired.  I'm still debating whether to put my cardio before or after my weight training.  The cardio takes a ton of energy, and I feel like my leg muscles need to rest or my weight training will be compromised.  I guess I can do cardio before weights on upper body days, and cardio after weights on lower body days, yeah?  Either that or switch up the cardio on leg days, which might be worthwhile.

I still have to do abs before bed.

I used to do cardio after weights (when I went to the gym), but then I got to where I was so anxious/ready to do cardio, that I was just waiting to do it...so, I started doing cardio first. I think I like that better. I like having more energy for cardio.

I think I'll do some ab stuff tonight. I should try to do that every night.

Yes!  Doing it every night has worked really well for me.

The other thing is, if I had my act together, I could go to the gym early before work and do my cardio, then do weights after school.  That would probably be optimal.  But you're right, I have to have energy for cardio.

Day #2 of my "plan" (hate the word "diet" for some reason).  I weighed a gut busting 194 lbs at the grocery store scale yesterday.  An alltime high.  Sigh..........

I went to the gym yesterday.  I break up my cardio and do 20 minutes on one machine prior to weights and then 20 minutes afterwards.   They have four different cardio machines, so I'll do two on one workout and then two the next.  My problem with cardio is boredom.  I watch the TVs, read and listen to my iPod, so breaking it up helps.   

I ate lightly and did well yesterday.  This AM I'm hungry but am going to have to get over it.

Is there a good calorie counting site that lets you enter your food and actually has vegan food in it like quinoa and tempeh?   My problem is that I eat such bizarre foods, but would like to keep under 1800 cals. 

I got a big tub of Vega meal replacement.  It was extremely expensive, like $3.00 a serving is what it adds up to, but I suppose that's not bad for a meal.