thanks BLM and NJ, it feels much better this morning, thanks to a visit to the man with the magic hands yesterday. Still stiff though, and need to take it easy for a day or two more.

PG, feel better. :-*

Oh crap! Definitely take care of that back until you feel great...and then wait one more day. :-)

FB- I really wanted to up my working out this week but yesterday morning while in the barn my back suddenly felt like someone took a sledge hammer to it.

this is more of a fitness pet peeve, but:

i finished my cardio and headed over to one of the 3 different weights areas. buncha young meaty lookin at themselves dudes hogging the equipment.

ohtay, go to the second target area. more brash admiring themselves while hogging the equipment young dudes.

grrrrrr....go to the *third* target area. and you guessed it: more young equipment hogging dudes.

so what i find myself wondering is: what ever happened to gym etiquette, and letting people "work in" to your sets, rather than sitting on the equipment and "staring down" people who approach?

upper body did not happen tonight. at least i finished up everything else when i got home.

there's a chick (*3* machines down) chomping her gum with her mouth open as fast as her feet are pedaling, and about every 5 seconds she cracks the gum super loudly.

like, even with good quality earbuds & music up loud directly into my ears, loud *crack*

{facepalm}

only. 22. more. minutes.

then i can switch.

When you initiate major changes your body reacts. These reactions are typically temporary.

Water retention (or loss) is a big one. So are changes to your GI contents - if you suddenly start eating a lot less you can lose easily 2-3 pounds through reduction of your GI contents over a couple of days. Also, if you shock an otherwise sedentary set of muscles with sudden intense exercise, it's quite common for them to swell with water for a few days.

A movement of 5 pounds of water weight is not only possible but in some cases common. I play baseball in the heat and my weight moves around wildly. I've had changes as much as 15 pounds in a day from this. I don't recommend that - that's probably seriously dehydrated. Although the truth is the whole "stay hydrated" thing is vastly overblown and the idea that you could be walking around dehydrated and not be constantly looking for something to drink is unsupported by the evidence.

So here's my best advice to you. This helped my wife when she felt like her dieting was going nowhere (and she lost over 100 pounds)...

- Weigh yourself under consistent conditions. For instance, every Sunday morning get up, go to the bathroom, and weigh yourself right then and there. Every Sunday morning. And no more frequently than that.

- Record it in an Excel spreadsheet

- Once you're 3-4 weeks in, add a regression line to the chart. This line is what will show you your trend. As long as the trend remains pointed downward, you are making progress, even if you're not getting anywhere in one or two weeks..

Mrs. VA would have times where she'd stop or even gain 1-2 pounds over a week or two, and then suddenly the next week it would be down 6. Really common.

Truth be told - weight loss at least 75% diet. Unless you've got the time to exercise for hours and hours every day.

Well I can say that my weight righted itself and I "lost" 6 lbs. in two days, so I'm on track for a slight weight loss as it should be. It just freaks me out when the scale goes up for no reason.

I've heard that it is impossible to gain 5 lbs worth of water weight overnight but that must be what happens.

My daughter lost a ton on weight watchers. My gf isn't having any luck on it but maintaining her weight. Some our friends and family have fitbits. I like the fun of challenging each other with it. I played around with MyFitnessPal and tracked calories for awhile. What's nice about tracking calories is that you can find out just how much that venti Starbucks Caramel Frappachino is gonna cost ya..900 calories or something like that! Not worth it! But after a month or two I just have to stop focusing on food and focus on excercise in order for me to lose weight. I skip meals especially breakfast and some days don't eat at all. Next thing I know I'm losing weight not a lot, but enough so I dont have to be too picky about what I can eat. I have plenty of energy too. Diets are hard at first until you find out what works for you. IMO listening to experts and trying different things is must until you dial in your number. Hope this helps.

I don't use the Fitbit anymore. It overestimated my calorie expenditure. I'll gain a pound a day if I eat the number of calories it tells me to.