Wow you guys. Thanks for all the info. Looks like I'm not missing much by working out at home instead of a gym...I feel like there are a half a dozen personal trainers watching over me.

Kristine - that looks like an interesting variation on the squat. My rice krispy knees are actually much better now. The glucosamine sulfate must have finally kicked in, so my knees aren't a bother anymore.

Marlaine- I'll give the kickbacks a try. The extensions have been a struggle since the beginning, and only on a few rare occassions have they felt right.

Natrushka-I didn't know the flyes were not that great. I'll switch over to the bench presses. It seems like during this first challenge I've been doing a lot of switching around trying to find what works for me and with the equipment I have. By the next one, hopefully things will settle in some. I don't have adjustable weights, but I have one and 2 pounders and those are usually what I reach for at the end of the side raises..heck some days it's all I can do to do the last set of raises empty handed!

Yesterday when I was working out I dressed in my swimsuit and a pair of spandex biking shorts. I wanted to see form and muscles better. The room I use was set up as a home gym by the people who we bought the house from, so there are floor to ceiling mirrors on 2 walls. My hamstings were actually twitching during the deadlifts. The tops of my shoulders radiating out from my neck were doing neat things during the side raises, and curls, wow, I have biceps!

I love this new phase of my "mid life crisis" It feels good. It's good for me. And for some reason the exercising has "clicked" with me, just like LCing did about 6 weeks into it.

The feeling good is worth it alone. The scale and tape measure don't call me anymore. The scale is just something I use to help monitor if my carb level is too high over time. I haven't measured in a while and probably won't until at least the end of July, maybe August when the challenge is over.