[gggirls]

I thought about this all afternoon, including pushing myself harder when working out tonight. Terri - thanks! I will be on the road and miss Wednesday's workout - but - I am going to try to hit the gym tomorrow, the hotel fitness equipment and then get back in town Thursday night to hit the gym too.

In case I haven't said it before - I will be out of the 60s in July - I know I've said it and I'm sure I will say it again - this seems to be the focus the last few days.

[Heather]

Wow, what a lot of postive energy!

I definitely had a high cal dinner tonight... but I was great the rest of the day and also didn't lose control... tomorrow I have a plan. I will be working out with my trainer. My goal is to stay within my calories, eat 25% of cals from protein AND have 7 servings of fruit and veggies.

I will have to throw out the leftover icecream too.

[Heather]

Wow, what a lot of postive energy!

I definitely had a high cal dinner tonight... but I was great the rest of the day and also didn't lose control... tomorrow I have a plan. I will be working out with my trainer. My goal is to stay within my calories, eat 25% of cals from protein AND have 7 servings of fruit and veggies.

I will have to throw out the leftover icecream too.

[dgramie]

Update...we went to get hubbys shot yesterday(he will have to get 4 of them of blood thinner while being off coumdin) and they asked about his health and then decided the cath is on hold until after he is off antibotics.
So here we are again in limbo of waiting for him to get the cath. They said it could be 2-3 weeks more.He is so scared he is going to have a heart attack before they get the cath done.
My scales are back down 2lbs..so just a few more to get to my lowest again.
I have decided I have to take better care of me...while we wait. I am going to get back to daily exercise. Eating has been pretty good, but I am not always getting my 128 ounces of water a day. I started back counting my steps yesterday and everything will be written down starting today. dont even know when i started slacking on writing my intake down.
hugs to all

[BarbPA]

Hi!
Looks like lots of good talk yesterday. Unfortunately I don't have time to catch up on it all.
Just wanted to pop in for a quick "good morning".
Catch ya more later.
Barb

[Vortex_VVV]

Well, so far, so good... been doing what I planned to do. Wow. How weird.

Debi, Sorry to hear DH and you will be in suspense. Good for you, though, for trying to take good care now.

Heather, Did the ice cream go????

Carol, Yes! How great to get down another decade. I want to be out of the bleeping 300s this month. My scale was lower this morning, but I never change the ticker until I stay lower a couple of days in a row. Hate to have to slide it back up.

[Terri in MO]

Hi ladies,

I've been doing pretty good to my plan as well. I've spent time to log food for the last two days and checking out the calories, fat and sugars. Yesterday, my cals were a little high but not too bad considering the two hours of work I did outside last night. It was eye-opening about fat and sugar content too. Good analysis though. I have it started for today too.

What do you think of next week's challenge being "how to cut back on ..."? My goal might be to cut back 100 calories. Or it might be sugar or fat grams as well. I haven't decided yet. That would require us to really examine what we're eating and determine how to cut back in areas and/or substitute with something else.

My intensity for this week is also involving this logging and analyzying. That usually gets me motivated and in focus. I just have to get this going on a daily basis; not just MTW and then I "forget" the rest of the week.

I did get my horse show shirts out last night. I had a good training ride on Spanky and DH and I got to talking about it all. He wants to know why I'm not going to the shows yet and doesn't quite get why Spanky and I are not ready. I told him that if I don't work the horse and myself on a consistent basis towards this goal of being able to show him, then I have to make the decision that I'm wasting my money with further lessons. I won't say that all lessons will have been a waste because its helped me make him a better trail horse. But at some point it will be for nothing if I don't pursue that goal. I tried on one of my shirts and showed him. It isn't impossible to wear but I certainly would not feel good wearing it the way it is now. So I've got them hanging in my home office as my reminder to stay on focus. And I embedding that concept of "wasting money" into my brain to also help me stay on focus. It is kind of my mantra throughout the day so I don't hit the vending machine for a big candy bar or something equally as stupid.

Better get busy. to all!

[geoblewis]

Just breezing thru after another day on the road. We just got back from Berkeley where my older son went to a youth leadership forum. When we picked him up, there was this girl standing next to him. She walked him to the car and he hugged her goodbye. OMG!!! I was NOT emotionally prepared for that! It took all my willpower to not ask him about her. She seemed like a very nice girl...and now I feel very old and matronly!!! I made myself listen to modern alternative rock all the way home so I could shake off that feeling.

Terri, I accept your challenge...I will cut back on two things, calories and watching TV. I plan to replace TV time with sleeping (I've been staying up late to watch TV) and I will cut back calories from fats, since that's the one with which I have the hardest time.

I have to go unload the car now. I bought new dishes at IKEA and I'm looking forward to washing them up and using them tonight at dinner.

Georgia

[Heather]

The ice cream went down the sink this morning!

My intensity challenge for the day is going well. I will have to see how my protein is doing.

I don't know yet how I will challenge myself tomorrow with intensity

I love Terri's idea for next week!

[gggirls]

Food great today - didn't make it to the gym. For some reason I'm truly exhausted tonight - on the road the next two days - food plan is in place.

My goal for next week is to cut back on the individual serving size bags of baked chips that have been accompanying my lunch - back to veggies instead, which in turn will give me calories for something else. I'm not ready to cut my calories as they sometimes are not hitting 1500.

Terri - I'll honk on my way south.

[BarbPA]

Hi Ladies!

Wow!!! I love all the motivation and encouragement going on around here! Everyone is getting in the right mindset and really evaluating what they need to do! Set yourself up for success!!! The challenges are a great idea, Terri! You all rock! I'm so proud to have such a great group of friends here!

Ruby - Rock on with the 10 pounds! You go girl!

I admittedly had a little bit of a rough time this weekend with food. We had so many social events and I caved to some temptations. I was not happy about it afterwards. However, instead of dwelling on it I will learn from it and move on! Saturday morning I saw a new low weight on the scale and then Monday morning I bounced up 5 pounds! Thankfully it already dropped back down a couple pounds this morning, but it's not worth it to indulge and fight it back off. I want this weight off now! I must handle temptation much better! It all comes back to planning, setting my goals and preparing for success! Next week we have a long weekend with friends and Bday celebrations for my son, who will be turning 4. I'm already planning how I will succeed with friends who love to eat.

Moving on.....as for WLS. I considered it briefly for one evening. Here's the story (I may have shared before, can't remember)....last July 4th we celebrated with friends. Before we got there my girlfriend said she had something to tell me. I had a gut feeling she was going to tell me she was having WLS. Sure enough...that was what she announced to me. I was so miserable with my weight at that point. I'd been half-heartedly trying to lose, but just yo-yo'ing up and down 15 pounds. That night I came home and started to seriously think about it. I was on the internet all night and could not convince myself that drastically altering my body like that was the answer for me. I knew that I was going to do this without medical intervention. A couple days later I past a sign a couple miles from my house for a 24 hour gym. That was it! That was the moment I knew I was changing everything. The gym was under construction. I met the owners and told them I wanted help. I wanted a trainer. I wanted someone to help kick my *** into shape. A few weeks later the gym opened (Aug 1)...I was there on day 1 getting my key fob and started working out while they were putting the finishing touches on the place. Day 1 I did 10 minutes on the elliptical and thought I might die. I returned EVERY DAY! The next week I set up an orientation with a trainer. I told him he was hired...before I even saw the price list. I just knew he was going to be critical to my success. I started strength training 3x per week and doing cardio 7 days per week. I will never forget my first weight training session. I was wiped out, he wouldn't even let me do cardio afterwards, but I soon proved that I was determined and we were doing this! I had a lot of emotional baggage with me. I had spent the past 5 years shoving my emotions deep down with food. I had gone through major infertility treatments, the sudden death of both my parents and 2 adoptions. Talk about the highs and lows of life. My trainer, Frank, was my lifesaver. We soon developed a very special bond and he was not only my nutritionist, exercise guru, but my shoulder to cry on. I usually worked out with another trainer who works for him, but he was always my go-to guy for questions and support. By counting my calories and completely committing myself to my new, healthy lifestyle I lost 80 pounds by the end of the year and have lost an additional 30 in 2009. I'm down 110 pounds in just under a year and will hopefully have a couple more gone by my anniversary on Aug 1. A few things have changed....my trainer is no longer working with my gym (he owns a private gym and was contracted by my gym owners) but I now go to his private place 1-2 days per week. He's not as consistent as I might like with keeping appts (due to some health issues of his own) but the emotional support and friendship is worth more to me right now. I have started to take 1 rest day per week, usually Thursdays, but I still try to keep it a fairly active day doing extra stuff with the kids. I have allowed myself a few indulgences recently with vacations and special events. At this point my goal is another 40 pounds. I think that will be a good weight for me. I won't know until I get there. The weight loss has definitely slowed down the past couple months, but I am dedication and determined. I will lose this weight! The new found energy of this group will be a huge help to me!!! To close this long winded story full circle....last weekend I saw my friend from last July 4th. It was the first time we've seen each other in a year.. She had gastric bypass in September. She is down 97 pounds and looking and feeling great. Like me she still has a bit more to lose. I'm thrilled for her success. She did what she felt she needed to do for her success and I did it my way. It was pretty awesome to stand with her realizing we had lost 200+ pounds!!!

SO....intense? Yes. I've been pretty darn intense this year. Yes. The trainer has cost me a bit of $$$ but has been worth every penny. I've come to realize this is a journey of a lifetime. Not just a journey to losing 150 pounds...but learning how to live my life. I feel better and look better than I have in 20+ years. I want everyone to feel this good about their accomplishments...physical as well as emotional.

I'm proud to have all of you as a part of my journey.

If you made it this far reading my rambles...thank you! Feel free to reach out to me with questions or anything. You are all a very important support system to me. Have a wonderful night. I must sleep and will talk to you more very soon. I likely won't be around tomorrow, I have an evening work event.

Night Friends!
Barb

PS - I did not proofread this so please pardon and errors.

[Vortex_VVV]

Thanks so much for your story, Barb. It's good to know it *can* be done both ways. Hiring a trainer seems to be a smart move. I'm thinking I will really have to do it.

Terri, Excellent plan! I know exactly what I need to cut back on next week: evening eating.

I did well today, though--I ate what I planned to. And I TOTALLY resisted the ginger cookies that were sitting in the office next to the coffee. YAY. And planning is still my mission for this week. Tomorrow I'm going to do a breakfast sandwich for b-fast; for lunch a cheese sandwich, crudite, and yogurt; dinner a spinach enchilada; more raspberries for an evening snack.

[Iwillbe]

I have been slacking off on posting. It was nice to see everyone so reved up and ready to commit. Hold on to that thought!

I had my small bowl of cereal this morning and now I am thinking I will see if I can do without bread or white carbs for the rest of the day. I like having a sandwich for dinner every evening, but I have said I would give up bread if I could, well now I know I can, but do I want to......No! We eat our dinner at lunch every day. since we retired we have had our biggest meal at lunch time. I feel better doing it that way. It does kind of mess up my mornings having to cook at that time of day, but I got used to it when my mother was living.

Barb, that was Ruby that lost the ten lbs....wish it was me!

Ruby, congrats on that loss.

Debi, sorry about the delay for your DH. Be strong.

To everyone else.... Have a good one! Ruth

[Heather]

Barb -- Thanks for sharing your story! I don't recall having read it before. Very inspiring!

I ended my night having an extra snack that I didn't need. I'm not happy about that. But at least I had no ice cream in the house to tempt me!

Today needs to be planned still. Better get at it.

[TheWalrus]

Hey y'all:

Saw the two comments on "The End of Overeating" and felt it might be helpful if I added my 2 cents. I too had heard and seen interviews with Kessler and was intrigued by his book, so I bought it, along with "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think" by Brian Wansink. I felt that Kessler, although a great interviewee, was not a very good writer, and to me, the most interesting parts of his book were the bits where he discussed -- albeit briefly -- some of the same studies examined by Wansink in his book. All in all, I would definitely chose "Mindless Eating" over "The End of Overeating" and wouldn't really recommend the second book to anyone.

YMMV