[Misti in Seattle]

Hi everybody

Hope all of you had a great 4th and didn't eat TOO much in all those celebrations!!

Brenda ewwwww turnips and skim milk! Yah sounds as if you had best add a few things to your diet! But like Zelma, I would prefer that to adding clams!! I agree with her on the shellfish! I can't get them down either.

Zelma... I LOVE being up early on my days off! And yes I am able to sleep; I just don't like to waste the time doing so! Fortunatly I have never needed a whole lot of sleep. And I prefer to sleep in the afternoons, as I did today. It's a nice luxury on days off. Have a great time on your two weeks off. Any special plans?

Sharon, so glad you are feeling a bit better. Yes, financial worries to put a lot of stress on people. And super that you are into the smaller sizes!

Xena... as for the hula hoop... ummmmmmm.. well I have to be able to DO it before it starts helping much. I haven't tried the weighted one too much as I have to take it outside but have been practicing more with the regular one but still just can't keep it up... YET! Sounds as if you have a nice relaxing day planned... hope it went well.

Brenda, super that you have done so much cooking ahead! I haven't done nearly as much of that lately as I need to. How do you make the ham and egg crustless quiche? That sounds good!

Catherine, you are certainly after dropping off those unwanted items! about the weed eater. And if we are going to dump the scales why don't I just put them directly into Puget Sound or Lake Washington and be done with it?

Annie, glad you checked in... hope you had a super 4th!

Zest, sounds like you had a nice 4th... And hope that BBQ goes well and you are able to stay OP!!

Greetings to everyone else...

I am sitting here in my bedroom and can still see out the window fireworks being set off, even though it certainly appears as if they are in illegal areas but could be outside of Bothell but possibly they are in Seattle. There WERE lots of them going off not far from here... since when does the fact that stuff is illegal stop people? I didn't even bother to go out on my deck to watch them; did watch a few on TV. Oh I am getting OLD!

Today was exhausting. I left at 6 on my bike and went way farther than usual... one intersection is super tricky and even in a car VERY easy to take the wrong turn coming back. Well sure enough I did it on my bike. When I realized it I decided to turn around and come back another way, since I knew where I was and knew the road to my place is all torn up.

Well the good news is all of a sudden I saw signs for the Interurban Trail which I have been trying to find. Super! Except I had to ride at least a mile or more UP a not so steep but loooooong hill! Yikes! After riding 7 miles almost all uphill on my going out route and expecting to get to come DOWN coming home. Then when the trail ended I had to ride quite a ways back down to the main street that I was to come home on. I was sooooooo exhausted and could barely make it even DOWN the hills or on flat ground as my butt and legs were aching! I was gone THREE hours and at least it really upped my exercise for the day and hopefully burned up a few of those mean ole calories and fat cells!

Then I decided to go to the pool and just do a fairly easy workout as I thought it would be relaxing. I did take my water weights but didn't work out nearly as hard as usual. Then I came home and crawled in bed with a book and fell asleep! Ha!

Everybody have a great rest of the week!!!!

[Torister]

Morning everyone! I had to get my butt on here and check in. What a crazy few days I have had. TOM decided to arrive a little early and it is kicking my big butt this month...and making me ravenous! I managed to get through the holiday yesterday OK...but I did seem to graze all afternoon....on good stuff though. I guess that is better than the alternatives. Thankfully we have no junk in the house...except hubby's "Go-Tarts" that he has for break at work...and he only had two left...couldn't take hubby's work snack!

I was going to call in sick to work today and stay in bed, but decided it is best to get right back into a normal routine. I can see myself continuing the holiday today and I am putting a STOP to that right now.

I had a NSV Tuesday when I went to Macy's to satisfy a need to shop and found a very pretty pair of Liz Claiborne bermuda shorts on clearance. They were a size 22 so I said what the heck...those other 22s I bought last week fit...maybe these will. So I bought them. What a bahgain....$50 shorts for $10. Woohoo! Anyway...I got them home and they FIT!! Even look kinda good. YEAH! They might even fit better when my body is not so bloated from TOM. Oh well...it is the motivation I need to move forward!

Hope you all are doing OK. I will be reading and will write again when I feel better. I feel so BLAH!!

to all of you lovely chickies!!

[Heather]

Sue -- Wow, what a bike ride!!!!

We had thought about seeing some fireworks, but ended up staying home and ... reading! wowsa. But, each of the previous 2 days we had walked downtown. On Tuesday we saw some live music at our local festival, so that was fun. We just aren't up for toooo much excitement I guess!

[MamaBplus3]

Good Morning Ladies!!

I hope everyone had a great day yesterday. We didn't do much since it was POURING!!! It's the first time I can remember it raining on the 4th of July. They even cancelled the big fireworks show at Jones Beach. Not that I would have headed there anyway...the last time we tried that we wound up sitting on the side of the road to watch.

I am holding steady weightwise. Since I am at the end of TOM, I am expecting a drop next week. (Or my scale will be called "flat scaley" when I pound it to mincemeat!! ) Now if my pool and the weather would only warm up, I am sure there would be some progress.


Sue: I am constantly amazed at how much you ride that bike!! My butt would be killing me!!


Peggy: for the NSV!! I know how you feel about TOM and feeling wiped out and ravenous...It is really hard to stay on track when the little TOM is saying "FEED ME"!!!


Zest: Sounds like you have a good plan for the BBQ...I would do the same.


Zelma: Maybe you need some more iron? I bet the 2 weeks off will be a big help...ENJOY!!!


Sharon: I am glad you are feeling a little better. Maybe you guys need a "do-over" for your Anniversary Dinner when you are both in a better state. Money matters can kill even the best of times!!!


Catherine: It's funny, but one of my daily highlights is getting the mail...(I know, that's increadably sad), but we lived in the bottom half of a house for 4 years when we first got married, and the landlord always got the mail first. When we bought this house 16 years ago, I felt that even though it is filled with crap and bills, the mail is all mine!!!


Heather: I love seeing live music...we have a parks program called "Music Under the Stars" and it has always been a favorite of mine. Now it's geting difficult to get anyone to go with me unless it's something more up to date or Broadway-ish. I love 50's and 60's music, but try and get a 16 or 12 y/o to go see that!! (Forget about the 18 y/o or the DH...they think I'm nuts for going with all the "old people" there)


Off for breakfast and to start my "chores"...
Have a Great OP Day!!

[NotTheCheat]

Deb – I now live only a half hour away from NYC by train (and the station is only a half mile from my new place). One of the things I have promised myself is to start getting into the city more. However, when I mentioned LI Sound, it was the CT side I was talking about. The entire ocean boarder of CT is actually in LI Sound – it isn’t until RI that the coast is directly on the Atlantic. In fact, I should be able to walk down to the water from here. I have looked at a map and it doesn’t look that far. Unfortunately, it was raining last night so I decided to stay home instead.

My good news for the morning is that I am back down to 273 – only 1 pound away from my lowest weight. If I can keep going with everything and try to stay on plan on Saturday when I am going to a friend’s barbecue, then I hope to get back to my lowest (and hopefully more) next week.

[Xena2005]

Good morning everyone. I hope you all enjoyed your 4th festivities.

Catherine - Your posts always make me laugh. Have you ever thought of trying stand-up comedy?

Misti - Wow, you are really kicking it with the cycling. And uphill all that way? I used to ride my bike 25 miles every Saturday so I know that there is no such thing as a "small" hill when you are on a bike! Way to go!

Peggy - Congrats on the short fitting. Of all the NSV's, I think shopping NSV's are the most fun!

MamaB - If I lived near you I'd go hear the 50's/60's music with you. I am only 37 but I LOVE that music!!!!!!!!

Nancy - Oh, well, silly me. Shows you what I know about geography. Now that you explain things it sounds like your new place is in an awesome location! So close to the city AND the water. Sounds great! And way to go being so close to your low weight. You've done amazingly well pretty much maintaining your weight through some difficult and stressful things. That's a huge success!

As for me, I am just waking up. I am supposed to meet a friend for lunch today. I want to get a workout in before I go. It's raining out (again!) and I don't feel like getting myself to the Y so I guess it will be a WATP day for me today. After lunch I am going shopping some more for new light fixtures for my house. I am hoping to upgrade and make it look a smidge nicer in here. I have been looking around for awhile now, I just have such a hard time deciding.

Well, better go get that DVD fired up and my butt moving! Take care, everyone.

[going to lose 200]

Hi everyone
I wanted to update on my weigh in. I was down 3.75lbs this week. Close enough to 4 for me! *L* That makes my total to 125 gone forever

[NotTheCheat]

Deb - I don't think that was a silly mistake to make at all! I don't think I would have known that before I moved to this area. There are things in our everyday lives especially to do with the area we live in that become so fundamental that sometimes we forget that the rest of the world doesn't share our perspective. I know that if you said something about the area you live I would have no idea.

Right now I am feeling completely overwhelmed with the amount of work I need to get done in the next month. There is so much going on and so much I need to do that I am trying not to stress out and freeze up. I need to remember to take it one task at a time and dig my way through everything I need to do instead of looking at the mess as a whole. Now I am feeling like I shouldn’t have taken the time off. Ugh!

[NotTheCheat]

Brenda - That is fantastic!!!

[Torister]

Originally Posted by going to lose 200

Hi everyone
I wanted to update on my weigh in. I was down 3.75lbs this week. Close enough to 4 for me! *L* That makes my total to 125 gone forever

Brenda! CONGRATULATIONS!! That is terrific. Keep up the good work!!

[Misti in Seattle]

Good morning, everyone!!!!

Peggy congrats on the new pants fitting!! Way to go!

Heather, glad you had a good 4th. Yah I have noticed that the older I get the less I care about fireworks ha!

Donna... trade you weather! We are having hot sunny days and I love the And hey my butt is killing ME too, ha!

Nancy, oh how I would love living that close to NYC!!! That is one place I have always wanted to visit and was only there "traveling through" one day with my parents years ago! Glad you are into your new apartment! Yah it is going to be a zoo getting everything organized but fun too getting all settled!

Xena, hope you get your place all jazzed up! Keep up that exercise!! And yah around this area reality is if you are going to go outside you are going to have to use your "Seattle legs" on the hills ha! When I first moved back here from Fort Lauderdale, my "Seattle legs" were totally missing and I had to build them all up again!

Brenda, on losing more weight! Way to go!!!

This morning I need to take a shirt out to the place that designed the T-shirts my church is using for the Mill Creek Festival this weekend. I cannot wear those mass produced things as they are all made straight up and down and NOT for big boobs! So I found a really neat red shirt made out of T-shirt material only nicer and that fits me really nicely... on sale no less and called the place that made the church ones. The woman said they could do an iron on transfer of lettering (as they have to do batches to print) so I will have a shirt for the festival. It is a big festival the city of Mill Creek does every year, and lots of people have booths. We have one and give out free bottles of water to everyone and balloons to the kids, face painting, etc. Since I still have the pulled muscle and can't do a complete 3-4 hour shift of walking around, I am taking an info table. But I also split a shift each day with others so I can take an hour each day on the "water wagon" -- going around with a red wagon filled with ice and bottles of water, out into the crowd and giving it away! FUN!!! But a lot of work!! This year a local market is supplying all the ice and water for us... a super gift as last year we gave away 5000 bottles!!!

Blessings to all
Sue

[Xena2005]

Brenda is down 125!!!!!!

:dan cer:

[Lilion]

BRENDA!

[dogpal]

Misti: You are doing amazing with all the bike riding and swimming. Way to go. So glad you were able to find a t-shirt too!

Peggy: Great NSV on the short! Hope you are feeling better soon.

Heather: You sure did a lot of walking. Good job!

Donna: I hope really soon you will be !

Nancy: Only 1 more pound to go before you are at your smallest ever!!!

Xena: I have a WATP Video. I should do it today as my partner cancelled again. Thanks for the idea!

Brenda: :group hug: On -125 pounds. You rock!

Well, we went for a drive yesterday and saw the wolf puppies. They are 9 weeks old and very aggressive and LARGE! My niece liked them a lot and was amazed to pet a wild animal. We came home and brought my dogs in because the fireworks were ablaze all around us and my male dog is terrified of them. We ended up putting a sheet our our bed over our comforter and letting our dogs up there with us because he was so scared. I feel asleep finally at around 10:50 or so but when I woke up the dogs were on their own beds. lol. Good think we have a King sized bed. lol. 2 almost 100 pounds lab/goldens, 1 normal sized 6'tall man and 1 super obese woman takes up quite a lot of room. lol.

I'm off to ride the bike now. I have gotten in all my abs for the day. Hope you are all op and having a wonderful day.
Blessings,
Annie

[MetaChick]

Hi all!

So much going on for everybody this week! Hope all who celebrated the 4th had a great day. A big congrats to the losers, especially Brenda for her fantastic milestone of 125 lost, and to Annie for hanging tight last week for such a great loss this week. Also to Nancy, for being so close to once again gaining new ground (so to speak!). Hope you're loving your new digs as well. The moving work isn't fun, but I've always loved having new walls around me and a new place in the world. Hope you do too.

Sharon, I hope things are a little more peaceful at home now. Marriage sure can be tough at times. Hang in there, and know we're here.

Misi I'm so envious of your biking! I really, really hope I've lost enough by next spring to feel confident and capable to buy a bike. Way to go on all that exercise.

Catherine, I don't know how you stand the constant disapointment on the scale. I honestly don't know how I would cope over the long haul. You all saw me not coping very well last week after all. There has *got* to be a reason for your lack of progress, something that will solve this mystery and help you reap the rewards of your hard work. I wonder if you could find a BodyGem somewhere and get your BMR tested? Edmonton is a big enough town that some gym or wellness centre should have one. It might be worth a few phone calls. Anyway, you hang in there. The rest of us need you to so we can learn how.

Well, I did it! I made an appointment with a personal trainer at the Y for next Thursday to learn how to use the machines and get a program to do. I'm a single parent (one boy-12) and I work full time, so I've needed to become a Herculean multi-tasker. As such, I enrolled my son in a weight-training orientation designed for kids 12-16 so he can come to the cardio/resistance area at the Y with me most days.

It was the other night, so while he was with his group I wandered around and figured out some of the equipment. I used a treadmill for the very first time in my life (kinda pathetic, non?), a comfy recumbant-ish stationary bike, a thing like a bike but you pedal with your hands, and some kind of machine that crunched my alleged abs. It was fun and exciting (if tiring and sweaty!) and I'm really looking forward to learning more and get there on some kind of a regular basis.

I'm quite confident that I've missed a few people I intended to address something to while reading over the last couple of days. Anyway, I'm thinking of all. Have a great rest of the week!