The second part sounds fun, the frostbite - not so much. Glad you felt great though! Sorry :( Being sick is not fun at all. Hope you feel better soon! Fenced yesterday for about an hour. I thought I would be able to do more workouts at home this week, as DD had a week-long break from CC, but with with all the other errands, I had no time at all. I hope to fit in a full body workout today.

Yay! Did yo feel any better afterwards? I usually do. That sounds lovely! Lots of the "big" kids at the club are going to the Junior Olympics, so yesterday it was pretty empty. I mostly fenced with DD, and felt like a complete idiot. I mean, how many times can a normal human being repeat the same mistake again and again? Apparently, I can do it for 40 minutes. My hormones are at the nasty level right now, so it made for a very hard evening. Private lesson today, plus some target practice. I hope some veterans will show up for open fencing tomorrow.

I don't think tracking will help much, it just makes me not eat when I want, what I want, and I feel hungrier. I do mark days when I feel hungrier than usual, but so far cannot see any patterns. I haven't done anything today yet, leaving for fencing in about 20 minutes, but I am starving all day today. Could be almost 2 hours of working out yesterday? Or maybe it's because I ate what felt like all day but still have more than enough calories for dinner, even before counting the calories I am going to burn fencing.

I guess it is experience thing. It is definitely more pronounced during competitions. I thought maybe if I am not as physically tired, I'll be able to keep my focus better? I do feel tired after 2 minutes or so, and the break is at 3 (in competitions, in practice we just go to 15 or more without breaks). So I guess cardio, too? And another thing, I mostly fence teenage girls. Veteran fencing goes only to 10 touches. My coach mostly works with very high-level teens, who can go for hours, so he doesn't have a lot of experience there. Plus, there probably are less than a 1000 ladies over 40 in all three weapons who fence in the whole of the US, and I might be overestimating the number. The only lady who I talked to who did any cross-training said that gym/weightlifting helped her. Most high-profile fencers do jogging or swimming in addition to strength training, with some plyometrics. But there we are talking about hours a day devoted to training and completely different level of fencing. I guess for now I'll just continue with my strength training routine and practice fencing :) Plus, I need to get back to intervals on the bike. And, once it gets warmer, swimming.

I think those would be great if I had prior experience with them, but realistically picking up another skill sport, especially having flare ups of tennis elbow as I have from fencing probably isn't a good idea. I was thinking about something like swimming, with strong cardio element. Last couple of days while fencing I noticed again that I can hold a bout or even lead till around 10 touches, and then let my opponent get the last 5 because I just can't keep my focus. I had a rest day on Saturday, and a competition on Sunday, where I didn't do spectacularly, but I won 1 bout and felt my brain "reset" back into fencing. I also measured my blood pressure after finishing and lugging our equipment back to the car for 3 blocks. 113/78 (with HR 100). Yay! I was a bit scared that competing will be something I won't be able to do, but I survived :) Yesterday was a private lesson and a bit of open fencing, where I felt like I had a much clearer head.

I mostly learned to listen to my body as a little kid, but even now sometimes it is hard to tell what I really want. Glad to hear you are enjoying both skying and its "side effects"! I wish I could find something that would improve my fencing :) I fenced yesterday for the first time since last Friday, and mentally it was much more enjoyable, although not exactly better in terms of the results. Tomorrow I am going to a local competition, where I should meet at least one other veteran lady and get my behind kicked :)

it could be. Some antihistamines knock me out for solid 24 hours. Could be other things, too: hormones, vitamins, diet, too much exercise/not enough food... I know how frustrating it is to think that everything should be fine, and yet you just can't move or keep your eyes open. I just try to take it easy on days like that :grouphug:

I know what you are talking about. I didn't join any groups, but when I was looking for a whole body strength programs, I saw a lot of discussions that revolve around supplements and crazy amounts of protein, not as much about carbs though. I read it, thought about it, and decided that I don't want to be on a lot of supplements. I do take multivitamins and glucosamine, but only because I tried it when my wrist hurt, it got better, and then when I stopped using it, it started hurting again. So I am keeping that. I also looked at my macros now that I am recording everything, and if I go below certain level in carbs and above in fat, my body complains. I adjusted that to fit me. I don't care that they say 1-1.5 g of protein per pound of bodyweight is an absolute necessity to gain muscle weight. I'll get there slower, but without feeling sick. People are different. You make progress in gym, so you are doing great. If you start feeling too tired, not recovering well after workouts, or going back on your strength, then consider eating more or changing something else. And slow progress is not bad. It gives time for your entire body to adjust. Tendons, for example, take much longer than muscles to get used to higher loads, and tendonitis is not fun. That is my motto (and I think that, too:) ) There are way too many variables to consider. DH had a bit of a health scare, so he decided to finally clean up his diet. He used to skip breakfast, and either eat frozen meals or go out for lunch. Now I have to cook both for him. And I am notoriously bad at cooking more than for 4 people at a time, so I cook two different meals. I am sure I'll get to the point where is it a norm, but adjusting is hard. He did lose weight in the last 3 weeks, so at least I feel that my work is paid off, but now I am worried that he went from eating too much to eating too little. It is a constant adjustment. As I said, decisions :) Get some rest :grouphug:

Sorry about that :grouphug: I think I miss it already :) I think I just needed to unload something off my plate. I am struggling with cooking twice as much as I used to, especially since I am trying to come up with something that is sufficiently different and reheats well. It's not even the cooking itself, just decision making plus the hassle of measuring and recording. Sorry :grouphug: I did 30 minutes of cardio yesterday. I hope to fit a full body workout today. Tomorrow I am going to back fencing, and on Sunday I have a local competition (and naturally, I don't feel ready at all).

DD managed to put off quite a bit of her assignments for the CC course that ends tomorrow till the last day, so she needs to do a lot of work now, and as much as I like keeping them moving, school has priority. So, yesterday, today, and tomorrow no fencing for us. I did most of my full body workout yesterday, and added 30 minutes on the bike. I was too tired to do proper intervals, so I just did it steady. It did change the resistance over the course, but I didn't try to increase speed. I think it might be good for me to do a short break from fencing, as I was feeling a bit burned out recently, but on the other hand I can't help thinking that I need to do some exercise, and maybe I should go to the last part of fencing at least. I am not sure where I am in my cycle, as I don't track ovulation, and with peri-induced wackiness, the length can vary. I think it is different this time around though. I was hungry/sleepy/tired yesterday, but I slept 8-9 hours lately. I feel better today.

I did my private lesson, and I think I am done for today. I am feeling tired, and hungry. I went over my MFP suggestion yesterday, still stayed a bit hungry, and today I am starving again, even though I am eating normally. I guess before I started tracking I just ate more on days like this, never paying attention. It might be related to hormones, as last month I also had three low very energy days in a row about this time of my cycle.

Sarah ~ Good luck and good weather! Soror ~ I am glad you are enjoying weightlifting! And having goals that are right for you and are still within your reach is so important. Mamaraby ~ I wish I had slightly more ambitious children :) I did my workout yesterday morning, before we had to leave. I was afraid I would be too tired after, but I actually felt great all day. Today is a different story, but it is my rest day, so I should manage.

Tried to take a nap, but DS woke me up, so it only got me feeling more tired and depressed. I still had to go to the studio to pick up a fixed weapon for DS, and then decided to stay. Fenced 2 bouts, just barely. I never before had this feeling that I just don't want to do it. Then I went to the bathroom and noticed that my fencing pants (probably the only non-stretchy pants I own) which used to be very tight in September now have like an inch of space on all sides. It cheered me up a little, so I returned and finished fencing my hour. It is about 30 minutes less than I usually do on Fridays and it wasn't my best fencing, but still much better than nothing. The weekend is going to be busy, so I probably won't get any exercise, unless I manage to squeeze something in the morning. I also don't know how well I can track food, since we'll be traveling for DS's competition on Saturday, and will have a small party on Sunday.

It is not serious enough for doctors to take me seriously. It's just irritating. And it is different ion different days. Sometimes it is more like brain fog, sometimes my body just wants to be left alone, sometimes it is both. It wasn't too bad since I started tracking everything, but I did notice that I feel best when I get 9 hours of sleep, which is rare. I also notice brain fog when carbs are low. Actually, the only time I really crave carbs is when I am doing something brain-intensive, like helping DD with AOPS precalculus yesterday. Blueberries and almonds helped :) I did a private lesson yesterday and some tennis ball practice, but I didn't have energy for cardio (I only got 7.5 hours of sleep last night). Today I had 8, but if I want to go to fencing tonight, I will need a nap.

January was OK. I exercised as much as I planned. I started a body weight program which I can follow, so that is good. My fencing for some reason degraded. Don't know what to do with it, especially 10 days before the next competition. I planned to figure out my eating habits. I didn't quite accomplish that, but I made a dent in that task, thanks to DH's health scare. Just after 10 days he is at a number he hasn't seen in a long time. I am still trying to figure out all the fluctuations in my energy levels, which are mostly OK, but some days I am just dead. This month I made a page in my bullet journal to record my calorie intake, with macros, my sleep, naps, exercise, cycle, and energy. I hope to see some correlation. Any other things I may want to track? For exercise I plan to continue what I am doing and hope to see some progress in strength training. I also hope to even out my quads. I noticed yesterday that my left one is noticeable, but not my right one. All those lunges :) Today I have a private lesson, and maybe some cardio in the evening.

That's why I think *my* body is weird. I don't have cravings after eating sugar, it signals that I am full. And I also lost weight when I ate more than reasonable amount of cookies, I think due to decreased appetite. Actually, when I cut sugar a few years ago I felt hungry all the time, and since I usually follow my body, I gained weight. I think our bodies have a way of telling us what we really need, we just lost the ability to decipher those signals. Anyway, while my sugar, according to MyFitnessPal is usually higher than it thinks it should be, most of it comes from lactose and fruit, so I am fine with that. And cutting all added sugar to save less than 100 Cal and be hungry all day is just not worth it to me. I may skip fencing today, since it is DS's birthday and I want us to have some family time. I'll try to fit my full body workout sometime today.

I did a full body workout this weekend, finishing the 4th week with 5+ hours of working out a week. Actually, I averaged 6.5 hours. Today is also the last day of the first week of calorie-counting. It's tedious, but pretty eye-opening. I lost about a pound of weight just by curbing my sweets binges. I guess my body used them to balance calorie deficit. I am still failing to get protein up to a decent level, I don't think I got to the recommended level once this week. I also met the calorie level only once, as I just can't eat that much without lots of sugar. Meh. At least my DH gets his nice home-cooked lunches and no high-calorie snacks. I did a private lesson today, plus some tennis ball practice. So about an hour of that, followed by an hour of trimming roses. My arms now look like I lost a fight with a wild cat, but it was so pleasant outside in a t-shirt :) Open fencing is in about an hour.

Yes, it is a stationary bike. I read a few studies on this when I first started using it (I think I prefer research to actually doing something :) ), and it does look like most of them support those findings. Actually, some of them suggest that interval training is better for mitochondrial content, although it might be at more intense levels. I did 20 minutes at 30 seconds on, 1.5 minutes off, and it was very doable. I also tried doing it Tabata style, which is only 4 minutes, I think 10 sec on, 20 sec off, or the other way around, and I was absolutely totally dead after. I decided I need to improve my fitness level first :) . My DH does incorporate some intervals, but I need to tell him to be more systematic about it. Although I want him to have his stress test first, before going all out, as the source of his chest pain is still unclear and it does appear during exercise, although not exclusively.

Without lunch, he would go out to eat, or bite the heads off all of his colleagues. But he did great yesterday with the lunch I packed. What I do find trouble with is keeping high enough calories and lower carbs. For him it's OK-ish, but for me it is almost impossible. As for walking together, it doesn't seem feasible on weekdays, as we all get home at 8-9 and we still need to have dinner. I did manage to have him do those 30 min of cardio on the bike, so including today it is 5 days of exercise for him this week. Lack of sleep kills me, too, especially together with PMS. I took naps last two days, and finally I feel human again, can't wait to go to fencing tonight, after all week of pushing myself. It looks like I need 9 hours of sleep to function well, and at night I can't do more than 8, unless I am totally exhausted, in which case I need more than 9 anyway. Yay! Congrats!

Well, day 2 went well :) The main problem right now is adjustment and seeing what he actually eats. He used to get frozen meals for lunch, and while they were decent calories-wise, they were mainly carbs, including added sugars. So now I have more cooking plus logging all those recipes. Another problem for him is snacks, and they add up, so I guess the only way here is constantly keeping track. Without snacks his calorie count is very low, so we'll have to adjust. I can do it, it will just take some time getting used to it. As for exercise, those 3 hours I mentioned is gym with a personal trainer, since he said that unless someone is actually waiting for him and tells him exactly what to do, he may find more important stuff to do. I know it is much better than nothing, but the rest of his days is absolutely sedentary. I think I convinced him to do at least 30 minutes on the bike on the days without gym. We'll see how long it lasts. I am feeling off again, tired and unmotivated. I did an hour of easy fencing yesterday, and it was hard on me. Today's sleep was not enough again, and I just want to hibernate and live on milk and cookies. Unfortunately, it is not in the plans for today.

It was a busy day yesterday, so I didn't have time in the morning to do my workout. Then by the time we needed to go to fencing I got a bad headache with nausea, so I decided to skip it. After the pill I felt better and did 30 minutes of cardio on the bike and then tried to do the workout, but only managed about 30 minutes, and whatever I did was very difficult, yet today I am not sore at all. Oh well, next time it will be better :) On another note, my DH went to a cardiologist for some chest pain, and all the guy did was look at the test result and tell him that he has high cholesterol, and no matter what DH does, it will stay high unless he gets on statins for the rest of his life. I told him to find another doctor, since DH is obviously overweight, doesn't eat healthy enough, and moves for a grand total of 3 hours a week, which is an improvement of the last 6 months or so. Anyway, I told him that he can do whatever tests the Dr. wants him to do, but try to clean up his lifestyle for a few months and then do another blood test. DH is on board with this, but it is going to be all on me, as in if I cook and prepare everything for him, he will stay with it, if I don't he will eat whatever, which is most likely bread and cheese in crazy amounts. I also want him to cut carbs. We installed MyFitnessPal and logged our food yesterday, and even without his bread, it was 60% carbs, and I hope to get it to 30-35. So, now I need to come up with a meal plan for us, and it's not fun.

My son took 2 classes last year, and actually loved them. He did day camp, and every night he came home talking about programming. I am not sure if it was worth it in terms of material learned, but it surely was worth it for igniting the passion. I don't know if it depends on the kid, the instructors or both.

Yay on feeling better! Those hormonal changes suck. Glad to hear you are feeling happy again! I didn't get a good night sleep yesterday, so spent Monday just trying to function. I woke up just enough for the private lesson, but really had to push myself to go to the open floor. It was close to torture. Just before going I went to change one of those 5 gallon water bottles and somehow aggravated my tennis elbow, plus my shoulders were still sore from Saturday workout. So I could barely keep my arm up. And one of the girls hit my knee twice in the same place. Still, I did it, and the kids worked really well, so I am glad I went. Today's plan was to do a full body workout in the morning, and then fencing.

As I understand it, a waterfall, even a small one, doesn't freeze until it is pretty cold. You won't convince me it was warm :) I did my workout. My muscles feel like they are slowly melting off my body.

Pictures like this almost make me want to see actual winter. Almost :lol: I slept 9.5 hours yesterday and felt only marginally better physically, but emotionally I was a mess all day. 8 hours today and I feel much better. I think it was hormonal. In any case, yuck. The plan for today is a full body workout and DS asked for a walk around the neighborhood, which will probably be more like crawling :) Anyway, it is good, because I totally qualify as an active coach potato (or maybe a driver's seat potato).