~*~ "March"-ing Back To Basics Challenge ~*~

[**Jennifer**]

Since so many of us have been struggling with the same issues- motivation, focus, willpower, and even just the strength to get up and get out of bed, there's no better time for a new challenge, and a clean slate. Fresh starts for everyone! :hug:

Wise men say that the journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step. Let's start taking those single steps, and string them together until we get to that first mile marker. Marching onward towards our goals to lose weight, look better, feel better, and live longer, healthier lives. We all stumble. We lose our footing, fall back a few steps, but as long as we keep getting up, we will succeed. And the best thing about our group- every time we stumble, there are always hands outstretched to help us up, and dust us off, lending a shoulder to lean on until we can take the next steps forward.

Pick one small step to start with- whatever you know you can do. Drinking water. Preparing good snacks. 15, 20, or 30 minutes of movement. Planning better meals. Journaling or posting daily, whether good or bad. We can and WILL do this, but we don't have to do it alone.

And if I haven't said it lately, please know that each and every one of you wonderful ladies are amazing, and I could not do this without you!

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[hikein2005]

Yes! This is what we need to do! Exactly! (We say this every month, don't we?) ;) Marching...like soldiers going into battle! We've got our armor (each other :hug: , food plans, water bottle, exercise) and we've got ammunition (:dust: ) and our drive to fight :drill: ! So let's DO IT!!! :D

My plan and my goal for this month are as follows:

Goal: Lose 10 lbs by April 1

How:
1. Start moving! I will work out every other day or 4 times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes a day. That can include morning Tai Chi and/or aerobic and/or toning.
2. Start eating less and tracking my food. That means I will journal everything that touches my lips.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent (for those of you who celebrate Christian holidays)...40 days of giving up something I don't need...that would be SUGAR! I am giving it up. There's no "I hope I can do this" or "wish me luck"! This is about determination! I am just going cold turkey! I truly feel this is the ONLY way I can do this. I am addicted to sugar... I'm a junkie! And they say that the first step is to admit it! There! I admitted it to all of you. I had a long talk with a friend of mine yesterday about how "we" as a society are "worshippers of food"! I have never thought of it that way before, but for me...that was one of those "WOW" moments.

Don't read any further if "religious stuff" offends you!
I have been reading my daughter stories from the bible (her request). And one of lessons I have been hearing over and over is that God does not want us to worship any other "gods" but Him. Food, to me sometimes...is a god, of sorts...and I DO worship it. It controls me. I do NOT want to be controlled by the "god of food"! I would prefer to live my life worshipping the God that I love and who loves me (and each of you) for the person He made me into.

So....with you all as my witnesses and God as my guide, from this day forward, I am taking on a new approach and giving it to Him! All the crap that goes with it too...He can have it! I don't want it...I don't need it!

I know that I have continued with this support group because I do NEED each one of you for that moral support and love that you give to me and one another. I will continue to be here and check in daily but I am going to be reporting POSITIVE thoughts and POSITIVE RESULTS from here on in! You have my word! My life is going to change from this day forward! I hope you will join me in my journey to the "new me"!!

Thanks to Jennifer for setting this up! I am going to be posting some links to some articles as I read them (they won't ALL be spiritual). I hope that each of you can take something away with you this month for your own personal life. Elisha...I do hope you post those questions. They always inspire me to try to do my best!

MsRD, Joy, Lisa, Betani, TBJ, Rosie, Elisha & Jennifer...Please know that each of you mean so much to me and I could NOT do this without you! I love you all!

[JoyG56]

:dust: :dust:
Hi everybody, :wave:

Here's to a new start :cheers: Thank you for starting the new thread Jennifer.

I've decided to "take off" on my fuedian moment and make my first mini goal to go a month journalling and staying under 1800 calories. Pareto's Principle or the 80-20 Rule helps you manage those things that really make a difference to your results. I entend to stick with the 80% rule and aim for at least 25 :encore: for the month.

I have been managing to walk :running: at least 5 of 7 days lately, so it is my hope to continue that "found" habit. Getting to bed at a decent hour continues to be a struggle for me and as a result so does the morning exercising. I'm hoping to "dig up" a little inspiration with the sunrise coming earlier these days.

I need to stay in touch with you all, chickies, to stay in touch with myself. Thanks for all your support in the past and I hope (I know) I can count on you all to keep me in line. Where is that tazer... did you have it last Elisha?

Time to make a new start ... Spring will be here soon ... and so will shorts weather :lol:

How would you ladies feel about having a weekly mini challenge? Hopefully this would help to eliminate the mid month blahs :?: I'll be the first to say that I will exercise (probably walk) 210 minutes between March 1 and March 7... Any takers ....

Joy

Ok Julie ... we posted at the same time. Thanks for your post and all I can say is Amen, Sister. Love ya kiddo.

[hikein2005]

I found this on one of my favorite inspirational websites...The Daily Motivator. Hope you all enjoy it and there are hundreds of daily motivators filed away on the website. Here's the link if you want to check it out:
http://greatday.com/motivate/index.html
(Hope that worked)

Accomplishment would have little meaning if it were too easy to come by. The challenge and the effort are what make the reward worth having.
The dreams that are difficult to reach are the dreams that have the most value. For they compel you to stretch your abilities, your knowledge and your expectations beyond previous limits.

The goals that are the most ambitious are the ones that will bring out the best in you. The objectives that require the most effort are the ones that will bring you the most real and lasting value.

If everything you desire could be obtained with no effort, there would be no way to experience the joy of fulfillment. If life had no challenge, it would be unbearably empty.

As you make each difficult effort, know that you are creating real meaning and fulfillment in your life. As you push your way forward through the many challenges, keep in mind how fortunate you are to be able to meet them.

Today you have the opportunity to build your strength and to express your purpose through the efforts that you make and the challenges you face. Enthusiastically embrace that opportunity, and you'll be able to look back on this day with real satisfaction.

-- Ralph Marston

[miss_elisha]

OK, so you've all heard this question before, but it seemed a fitting way to kick off the month, a reminder of why we're all here.

Why do you want to lose weight? Is it something you're hoping to gain, or hoping to avoid? Is there something that happened in your past that spurred you to this journey? What sparked the decision?

[miss_elisha]

Good morning my lovely, beautiful, wonderful chickies!

Jennifer, thank you for setting up this challenge. We all need to snap out of this funk, and a new challenge and a clean slate are the perfect ways to do that!

My goals for this month are pretty basic.
1. Exercise 20 days this month, at least 30 minutes. Walking, yoga, bike, Y!F, whatever.
2. Drink 100 oz of water per day. I’ve been slacking off, and I can tell.
3. Track my food every single day. I kind of skipped that in February.
4. Work my way back to 1500-1600 calories per day. I’ve been so high for so long, I’m going to do this one gradually, but I plan to be there by the 20th.

I fixed my scale, so it’s working properly now. *sigh*
I weighed in this morning. I was right—all the weight I lost in January is back, with a friend. 218.2. At the beginning of January I was at 217.4. But it’s ok. I’ll make it back down.
Measurements weren’t good either. Didn’t compare them with last month’s, as I couldn’t find last months on my computer (I know they’re there somewhere). But I know it’s not good. I knew my pants were getting tight.
But again, ToM is coming today or tomorrow, and I haven’t been drinking enough water, so I know I’m a little heavy and bloated. I’m not blaming all my weight on that though, as I know February was the worst dieting month I’ve had in a long time. But it will ease up.

One strategy I’m going to employ starting today is eating fewer carbs in the evenings. I know that makes a difference in my weight loss, as I’ve seen it happen before. I’m not cutting out carbs altogether, just limiting them late in the day. I’m not going to be incredibly strict about it either—I’ve got some lovely potatoes I’m just waiting to bake this weekend when Steve and I can have dinner together—but I’m going to do it for the most part. Ideally I’d like to eat a large breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner, with snacks if I need them. My body functions better that way anyway.

One odd thing (well, odd to me, at least) that occurred to me this morning as I was reading Julie’s post is that I’m going to give up something for Lent. Now, I’ve never given up anything for Lent before, as I am not particularly religious, nor is my family. I guess I’m not really giving up anything for Lent, I just feel the need to give up something for a while, and this seems like a good time to do it. (I hope no one is offended by my lack of religiosity.)
So what am I giving up? Chocolate. Every single day I’ve had horrible chocolate cravings. I know that if I indulge I just end up with more cravings. After a few days it’s not so bad and eventually the cravings go away altogether. I just need to get it out of my system. So no chocolate for me, at least for a while.

I’m feeling incredibly random today. Can you tell? :D

Yesterday went pretty much as planned, food-wise. The exceptions were one sandwich cookie at my grandparents’ house and some bread and butter with dinner. On the menu today:

Breakfast:
2.5 cups of hazelnut coffee with creamer and sugar
LF granola cereal with skim milk
Banana
1 slice whole wheat toast with peanut butter and apple butter

Lunch:
Diet Vanilla Coke
Frozen dinner—turkey pomodoro
Apple

Snack:
LF yogurt

Dinner:
Homemade taco salad with lots of veggies

I reset my DietPower and started tracking my food again this morning. I was amazed at how many calories were in my breakfast. That’s a big reason why I like tracking my food—sometimes I think things are healthy, but that doesn’t mean they’re a good choice calorically.

Question of the Day:
Why do you want to lose weight? Is it something you're hoping to gain, or hoping to avoid? Is there something that happened in your past that spurred you to this journey? What sparked the decision?

Lots of reasons. I’ve always been fat, and I want to know what it feels like to be slim and trim and wear cute clothes while I’m still young enough to enjoy it. I want to turn heads, and make my fiancé proud of me. And there’s the wedding, and the honeymoon, and I want to look good at that time. The one day of my life when I’m supposed to be the most beautiful… well, let’s just say I’ll have to work on that. And I have high cholesterol, my back hurts every single day, and there are probably other health problems that I need to work on. I want to be as healthy as possible. And there are children in my future. I want to get healthy now so that my body can support me throughout pregnancy, and I want to stay healthy so that I can play with my children and teach them how to be healthy. Most importantly perhaps, I want to be comfortable in my body. I’ve never known that.

OK, that’s it for me at the moment. I think this ramble is long enough. Have a beautiful day, chicks.
~Elisha

[**Jennifer**]

Good Morning, well, almost afternoon! :) So far, it has been a good day, totally in control, but the day is young. Breakfast was a Zone bar, and diet coke. I am getting ready to fill my 32oz cup with ice water, and start sipping that. That's a huge perk here that I keep forgetting about- we have a big cooler of bottled water, and it is about 25-30 steps away. Free, cold, bottled water, and I don't take full advantage of it. That changes now.

And, I even just got up and filled my glass- 32oz with a few cubes of ice, just to make sure I drink it all while it is still cold, and refreshing.

Lunch is going to be consumed momentarily- turkey breast with swiss on rye bread (a better choice than the soggy white bread) and a big deli pickle. Dinner will have to be decided later, but worst case scenario will be chicken breast & yellow rice from Chicken Kitchen. Moving will do wonders for my planning & preparing, so I'll focus on what I can control no matter where I am.

So, that means for this month, the following:

* I will drink a minimum of 96oz of water, every day, without fail
* I will limit my caffeinated soda intake to no more than 2 cans per day
* I will prepare baggies with cereal, and buy a week's worth of cottage doubles to bring to the office & leave in the fridge so that I have a healthy breakfast every morning
* I will wear my pedometer and log my steps daily, to gague exactly how sedentary I really am, and begin working additional steps into my workday.
* I will journal all food eaten, good, or bad
* I will take a multivitamin every day, until I can replenish my full stash

That's a start for me, and it's a lot more than I have done for myself so far this year. Today, the focus starts to shift to me, and I need to believe that I am worth the time and effort.

Question of the day:

First, thank you, Elisha, for doing these again. They always get my head back in the game, thinking about what I need to be doing, and how to get back there.

Such an easy question, it seems…but there are so many aspects and layers. I want to lose weight because I don’t want the alternatives. If I keep going in the direction I have been going, I’ll develop diabeties, like my mother did. I have a family history or arthritis that settles into the knees, a great grandmother who was house-bound in a 3rd story walkup apartment because of her knees, and my mother who has had arthoscopic surgery in both knees before she was 50. If I don’t get the weight off, I’m as good as dead, and I’d like to think I have a lot to live for. A good job. Amazing friends who are better than sisters. My family. I have a wonderful husband who loves me. We just built the home of our dreams. I’d like to be around to enjoy it, after we struggled for so long to be able to buy the land, and then all the problems we had throughout the building process. I’m hoping to gain health. And energy. Fewer aches and pains. I’m hoping to avoid some of the attention that comes with being so overweight. Needing seatbelt extenders on a plane. Making sure that anywhere we go, we can get a table & not a booth. I don’t know when I started to gain the weight. I know my kindergarten and early childhood pictures show I was a normal size, but then, like 6th and 7th grade, I’m bigger than the other kids. In high school, I was a size 18, but carried it really well & no one would have known.

One thing in the past that I recently replayed in my head, and to my dear friend Mary who had to listen to me blather on for 2 hours, is that I think that part of my weight gain was as a result of growing up poor. I started working when I was 14 so that I wouldn’t be such a burden to my parents. I didn’t feel that I should ask for a certain shampoo, or hairspray, or anything that wasn’t the generic, or cheapest brand available. So I wanted to contribute. Having money of my own, to me, meant power. Meant control over myself, but instead, I kind of went nutso. Since we never had fast food, or an abundance of anything, it was kind of a free-for-all, I think. I could stop at a fast food place and get whatever I wanted, and afford it. And then working at a fast food place, and then in the mall, with a food court, and then waitressing, and helping in the bar- all places where bad food is available, in abundance. Call it lack of self control, combined with knowing nothing about nutrition, and not having a lot of variety, or choices growing up. Call it self destruction, emotional eating, food as an escape from poverty, from reality, from depression, and from having to deal with problems head on, instead of looking for the easy out and escape.

Comments:

Julie- I can't wait to see your links- you get some great articles & newsletters, and are so wonderful to share with us!

Joy- love the mini challenges- that should help so much with the motivation, and a kick start each week as there's something new to look forward to.

Elisha- I will join you in the chocolate-free Lent. I've been dipping into the hershey kisses too often, and even last night, after posting, hubby bought me a little square of Ghiradelli chocolate with raspberry filling. I shared it with him, but I didn't need that, now did I? Sheesh! Oh- and have you tried the diet black cherry vanilla coke? YUMMO!

Ok chicks, I'll stop by tonight after work & report my dinner, and what I accomplished, water & step-wise. Hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, and March 1st! :hug:

[Betani]

I know I have been able to maintain doing my library laps for 20 minutes each weekday, so I'll make sure I keep that up. I'm starting to falter with my water drinking, so I'm going to really watch myself and make sure I get 4 bottles each day.

I NEED TO DITCH THIS FEBRUARY FUNK!!!

I've been so down in the dumps lately that I'm driving other people crazy. Poor DH is acting like a whipped puppy, thinking he is the cause of my unhappiness. I'm frustrated that he thinks that, and he's frustrated that I'm frustrated.

IT'S TIME TO BREAK THIS SUPERLATIVELY STUPID CYCLE!!!

(Thank you, thesaurus.com!)

QOTD: The original reason for my weight loss journey was the realization and embarrassment that I was officially obese. Now, though, I need to lose weight because my cholesterol won't go down, and I can't afford to take any more prescription medications.

***

Jennifer-- Great challange! Thanks for setting this one up!

Julie-- I often think I shouldn't burden God with my worries, forgetting that that's the whole point! Thanks for reminding me of that! Psalm 55:22a-- "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you."

Joy-- I think I'll take a different take on the exercise challange. In addition to my 20 minute library laps on weekdays, my challange will be to do 2 sets (10 reps each) of a different strength training exercise each day. IE, one day do crunches, counter push-ups, the next, lunges the next, dumbells, etc.

Elisha-- Carb cravings at night are one of my downfalls, too. I have yet to find a successful replacement for chips, etc, but at least I'm aware.

[MsRD]

Hi Chicks!

It is sooo good to start a new month.....February was just plain awful and I am glad to have it behind me!

Jennifer.....Thank you for setting up this new challenge, and for wiping my slate clean! I really need to get down to basics....and my 1 small step toward weight loss is going to be exercising. I always feel better when I exercise, both physically and mentally. So, I will break out the WATP video, until good weather will allow me more outside activities.

Julie....Your inspiration quote was perfect for the first day of our journey. And it sounds like we all are 'enthusiastically enbracing this opportunity'!

Joy.....Shorts weather? Now that is a reason for losing weight right there! Count me in on our mini challenge........180 minutes of exercise between now and March 7

Elisha.....You really have some good goals there.....it shows that you have really put some thought into this challenge. Thanks for putting up the Question of the Day.....even if they are repeats, they all make me think.

Betani.....Isn't it true that our moods affect everyone around us. I always prefer being around happy people....maybe one of our goals should be to smile more and spread some of that sunshine around.

Question of the Day......I want to lose weight for health reasons. I could give you a whole laundry list of illnesses throughout my family......everything from diabetes to heart disease to cancer......and that should be enough to scare me into losing all these pounds (but isn't). Tomorrow, I will be seeing my doctor for a physical, so hope that will truly get me started.

[**Jennifer**]

Evening, ladies! Well, day 1 coming to a close, and I haven't done anything to screw it up! :D Yeah! First time in how long, right? :lol3:

I managed to get 1463 steps in from when I put my pedometer on at work. I had added goals once I realized what I had forgotten- movement- and even though I'm not setting goal steps, this will show me exactly why I need to get up and go to the copier myself, instead of letting NewGirl run all the time. Same with getting that water, and checking the fax machine, etc. Time to take some extra steps every day.

Added bonus steps included going to Pet Supermarket to get the kitties some food. Not everyone in this house is on a diet, although you'd think we starved them by the way they react to the crinkle of the kibble bag. Vermin! (that's our affectionate name for them- our little babies)

Dinner was picked up- and a good choice- Chicken Kitchen, so I had yellow rice and a plain grilled chicken breast, diced. Yum. I know I needed to add veggies to that, but since I have not shopped yet for this house, that's the best meal I could put together with what I had access to.

I finally downloaded the pictures from this past weekend. I have pictures of the office- and believe me, this is the last time it will be this clean! Also adding a kitchen picture, and this weekend, possibly some bathroom, master bath & den pictures.

Betani- keep up those laps, chickie. And come shake off that funk- hopefully we are all sporting a brighter outlook today. Spring is coming, too!

MsRD- That reminds me- I need to find my box of DVDs from storage this weekend- I can do the WATP on the computer, since it will play DVDs. The VHS ones will have to wait for the full move. Thank you for jump-starting the brain into working. Oh poop, I'll bet I'm so out of shape right now I'll be panting before the half mile mark. Yikes! How did I get back to this point?

I'll check in tomorrow morning once I get to the office. I am planning on getting an earlier start so that I can be at Publix a little after 7am when they open, and bring my cottage doubles to the office. Hope everyone has a good Hump Night!

[**Jennifer**]

ok, the pics I promised. Night, ladies

[hikein2005]

OK...I have made it through a whole day WITHOUT SUGAR!!! I did almost screw it up. This afternoon...at work...I was passing out little Teddy Grahams to the residents and put one in my mouth. I immediately was reminded (by the sweet taste on my tongue!) that I was not to eat sugar...That was pretty much gone by the time I realized it, so I swallowed it anyway...but THAT WAS IT!!!

I really haven't kept track of the rest of the food I ate today, so here goes. At least it didn't include sugar:
AM: SF Vanilla low fat Latte (home made), 2 egg beaters, 1 slice WW toast w/butter
Lunch: 1/2 Turkey Bacon Ranch Wrap from Arby's, 5 Jalapeno Poppers (I know, not the best chocie)...Diet Coke
Afternoon snack: one slice homemade white bread (we did it at work in the bread maker) with one pat of butter. YUMMY!
Supper: 1/3 Marie Calendar's Lasagne, l garlic toast
HS Snack: 1/3 bag popcorn, 1 oz. baked cheese curls mixed...with a sprinkle of Splenda!

I can see that I need to cut down on the carbs...too much bread today...and definately too much fat...but one thing at a time. I need to get through the first few days or week without sugar and then I will concentrate on adding more fruits and veggies.

No exercise today. Tomorrow I go to get my feet fitted for orthotics. The pain is back and now I remember why I didn't work out for so long! OUCH! Tonight was a really bad night! Hurting.

Jennifer...the pictures of the office are awesome! I'm so happy that your day was a success! We can make it what we want to, can't we? Let's chat soon!

MsRD...Hope your appointment goes well. I'm so glad you are still with us. Yes...February was not a good month...thank goodness for new starts (or tomorrows)

Betani...Yes! So glad you are joining us too! This is just what we need to get our minds and souls to reconnect!

Elisha...I like your attitude, chickie! :hug:

Joy...:hug: I've missed you!!!!! :hug: You go sistah, friend! I'm in on the mini challenge...120 minutes by March 7. That means I need to really start moving. Can I count the walks between the nursing home and ALC each day? That's a good...oh...3 minute walk one way!!! LOL! No...I'll just count the extra stuff I do outside of work!

QOTD
Why do you want to lose weight? OMG...there's a million reasons but first and foremost is the fact that I work in a nursing home and I have seen what sedentary lifestyles do to people. I need to MOVE because I don't want ot be confined to a wheelchair and become dependent on others to care for me! OMG...and then there's the "feeling good" part of it...and the fact that my family history sucks when it comes to obesity, heart failure & diabetes, not to mention arthritis and joint disease! But, there's also the "vanity factor"...that is, I want to wear "skinny cute clothes" and look good in a bathing suit by the time I'm...well...50...which isn't that far off. It IS possible that one time in my life, I will look good, isn't it...even if it is in the 5th decade of my life!!!

Is there something that happened in your past that spurred you to this journey? I think just looking at pictures of myself and realizing how FAT I really was was enough to get me going...but as some of you know, this journey has lasted so far...over 2 years! It's been a heck of a ride!

What sparked the decision? Just the fact that I struggled every day with how I looked. Nothing fit me right (I'm short), I hated wearing shorts let alone a bathing suit, and I just was tired of being fat! Still am!

That's my story...short and sweet! But it's the past and I'm moving forward! Onward and "downward" on the scale!

Here's to a wonderful Thursday :cheers: and a great first week!

Hugs! :hug:

[JoyG56]

:yawn: Here I am ... and ..... drum roll please.... it's 10pm I was able to manage staying on track today. I logged on fitday and recorded my food and calories came out at 1511 (hey I've got room if I need it - probably not a good thing to eat after 10pm - but I might save it up for later in the week ---- let's make a note I have 289 calories in the bank). Exercise was a forty minute "nooner" walk. Water wasn't great ... maybe 30 oz...

Julie Thanks for the inspirational quote. I have had Ralph Marsden articles as focus many times. I'm going to check out that site. BTW your exercise minutes can be anything you want, but maybe you'll make a point of doing the 3 minute walk more times than usual :lol:

Jennifer Way to go with the healthy choices today. Thanks for the pictures....it's nice see what you think in reality (does that make sense?) So, chickie .. here's to day two in a row :cheers:

Elisha It's great what a "new slate" will do. You've got a great opportunity to set some real "healthful" habits in your new home.

MsRd I will try to get up with you at least 3 days next week to WATP... I haven't been motivated to do that for a VERY long time. Monday for sure ..

Betani Keep up those library laps. The strength training exercises should help too ... Do you want to do a water challenge???? I'm having a problem focussing on getting my water down too... I was hoping to get in 72 oz per day. How about you?

QOTD
Why do you want to lose weight? I'm thinking that I could come up with a new reason everyday ... so for at least a while ... I will add this as a daily entry
1. I want to be able to buy clothing in "normal" sizes. I want to be able to walk in a store and be able to have the selection, to be able to know I'll fit into at lest "one thing" in the store.... besides socks.

Anyways... it's 10:40 and I still have chores to do before bed....

Hugs, everyone
Joy

[hikein2005]

So many people have asked me about Lent, so I did a little research this morning on the internet because growing up a Catholic, things just weren't explained to me. For those of you who aren't "religious", please pardon this post. This paragraph is only part of the article about Lent which can be found here:
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/100/story_10017_1.html

I thought that this paragraph could speak to all of us, which is why I am sharing it with you.

Lent is the time to expect temptation and [experience] afflictive emotions such as shame, humiliation, anger, greed, the time to look at how those instincts, which are developed in early childhood are frustrated--or gratified. See there's a hazard in self-exaltation if we get what we want, or depression if we don't get what we want. To work on those [emotions] during Lent, I think, is more effective than fasting or rituals.

HUGS!

[miss_elisha]

How do you think losing weight will improve your life?

[miss_elisha]

Morning chicks!

Man am I tired today! Not exactly sleepy, though I am that too, but instead I feel more exhausted as opposed to tired, if that makes any sense. Oddly enough, I actually got to sleep before 11 last night, and that’s unusual for me. I’m just worn out. I think that may be due in part to ToM showing up this morning. Sometimes it just takes it out of me, you know? I’m so glad it’s almost the weekend and I can sleep in on Saturday morning (hopefully anyway).

But I did stick to my plan yesterday, for the most part. My food was just what I said it would be, with the small exception of about 5 pretzels with my yogurt (I couldn’t decide if I wanted salty or sweet, so I had both). No chocolate though, and that is a victory, albeit a small one, for me. Calories were a little over budget, but I’m not too concerned with it at this point. I only got in 88 oz. of water, but that’s still an improvement. I do fine during the day, but when I get home I want to drink soda, and I know that isn’t helping my sleeping problems either. Tonight, it’s water. The scale is down to 217.8 this morning. Hey, any downward movement is good, even if it’s only a little.

No exercise last night though. I was too busy doing stuff around the house. I painted one of my bookcases and shined ½ my sink (the whole soak, scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub again, and spray version). I’ll do the other halves of those projects tonight, along with a little laundry. But I’m not intending to cook tonight, I’ll just heat up something for dinner, so I’ll have more time available to exercise. I asked Steve if he would set up the bike today, or at least move it to somewhere I could use it (right now it’s in our catch-all room, along with about a zillion other things we have yet to unpack). Hopefully that will be done so I can just climb on when I get home. I’m not holding my breath though.

Today’s menu looks like this:
Breakfast:
2 c. coffee with creamer
Banana
2 sl. ww toast with peanut butter and apple butter (had to grab something on the way out the door)

Lunch:
Diet Vanilla Coke
Leftover salmon cake
Leftover mac & cheese
Apple

Snack:
Carrots, green peppers, and broccoli
Light ranch dressing

Dinner:
Taco salad
Possibly a few tortilla chips, but not more than 1 oz. (I will measure)

Whoever asked if I had tried the Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke—yes, and I love it! I couldn’t find it in cans though, hence the simply Vanilla with lunch.

Joy, I forgot to add it to my post yesterday, but I’m up for an exercise challenge. I’m aiming for 120 minutes by March 7. I’ll get started on that this evening!

Question of the Day
How do you think losing weight will improve your life?

Primarily, I think I will be more comfortable with myself. I’ve always been kind of… not shy, exactly, more like… reserved around other people. I’m so incredibly self-conscious all the time. I have a hard time interacting with people sometimes. I know that is partially because of my personality and how I was raised, but I also know that my personality is at least partially a result of my being overweight all my life. I always think everyone is going to reject me because of my weight. I know that’s not going to magically go away just because I lose a few pounds, but I also know that losing weight makes me more confident in myself, and confidence shows.
And then there’s the physical quality of life stuff. I don’t want to groan when I pull myself out of bed in the morning (or at least not because my back hurts and my body is stiff). I don’t want to have problems bending over, or standing back up. I want to be able to walk up stairs and not get winded. I want to not feel like crying every time I come out of a dressing room. I want to easily find clothes that fit me and actually look good
And I don’t want to have to worry about it all the time. I recognize that I’m always going to have to watch what I eat, and I’m always going to have to stay active, even after I’ve gotten the weight off. I know that. But I don’t want to obsess about it the way I do now. I don’t want to feel guilty if I have a slice of pizza with my friends, or think they’re all thinking of how fat I am and that I should be eating salad instead (I know they don’t really think that, it’s just my overly self-conscious mind telling me that).

OK, enough of my ramblings for now. Have a lovely day, chicks.
~Elisha

[**Jennifer**]

Evening, chickies! Things were crazy at work today! I never even got to leave the desk except to pee. My "lunch" was spent on the phone dealing with changing over our cell phone plan, which really needed to be done. Got 2 new phones, free, with the family plan, and we'll have them within "3 business days" they say, so early next week.

You will never believe what I did today! *smacks head!* At some point, I leaned against something in the office- could have been the file cabinet, could have been the side of my chair to toss something out....I reset the pedometer and lost whatever steppage I had! Waaah! So I have a paltry 218 steps to log for tonight. Water could have been better- under 64oz while at work, so I need to pour a big glass now & get working on that.

Also have to pack for the weekend at the new house, and see what I can bring up this trip- looking for more comfort stuff, toiletries, etc, and start moving clothing we're not currently wearing. I'll check in later, or first thing in the AM. Have a great night, chickies!

[JoyG56]

Hey Chickies :belly:

Day Two Calories came in at 1509 today (now I have 580 calories in my bank). Planning on a bit of :corn: later ...

Exercise Total 100/210 Exercise was a one fifteen minute walk and one forty-five minute "nooner" walk.

Water 64 oz A little better today.

Work :crazy: Busy day today My co-worker has been sick for two days now....

I don't have much brain matter left for comments ... so I'll leave that till tomorrow... Have a successful day tomorrow !!!

Hugs,
Joy

[hikein2005]

OK...so I sure can talk a good talk can't i?

Today I stuck my finger in some cool whip dessert and had 2 spoonfulls of chocolate frosting that the babysitter made and left out on the counter today! Grrrrr! She didn't make the cake (that I said she could make, but to take it home with her) because we didn't have any eggs (silly me!) but she must have made the frosting first! Anyway...there it was when I got home from work and I did my best to stay out of it. I put it in a container and then put it in the fridge, but while I was doing it...well it was hard to resist, let's just say that! :devil:
So, now I only have ONE :tape: on my signature (thanks Joy for that idea).


The rest of the food was good.
B-fast was a Latte (SF/FF)
Lunch: The other half of my sandwich from ARby's yesterdy, 1/2 cup yogurt, some grapes
AFternoon snack: 1 piece string cheese (and the aforementioned slips)
Supper: TAco Salad (consists of lettuce, onion, a serving of tortilla chips, 1/2 cup drained and rinsed taco meat, low fat sour cream, Catalina Free dressing and about 1 oz. shredded cheese.
HS snack: 1 serving popcorn and water!

Water has been good today. Drank around 70 oz which is ok for me!

Exercise has been only about 15 minutes. I sure will be glad when this foot doesn't hurt anymore! I'm still working on stretching it, etc. Got fitted for ortho's tonight and they should be ready in a couple of weeks. The pedorthist suggested I wear shoes even when I get up in the morning. I guess I need to invest in some "house shoes' because I wont' wear my shoes int he house after wearing them at work all day...I just can't do it! Yuck!

Question of the Day
How do you think losing weight will improve your life?
I think it will help me to realize that goals CAN be reached! I also won't have to be as worried about developing all of those horrible family diseases. I will be able to climb mountains whenever I want and feel good about the clothes I wear! I got a view at work today of my rear end! I was washing my hands in the therapy room and the standing mirror that they use was situated just so that when I looked up int he mirror, I saw that big butt staring back at me! I was shocked! I'm bigger in the rear than I thought! OMG!! So that has really inspired me! I have to keep that picture in my mind from here on...

Some prayers please...:^:
My sister was hospitalized today with heart complications. She's 5 years younger than me (she's 40) and she has 3 little kids. She went for a stress test a few weeks ago and then followed up with a cardiologist yesterday who told her she needed to have an angioplasty. She's soooo young with soooo much stress. Their house burned down 2 years ago and she is having horrible financial and marriage difficulties (but she won't share anything with anyone) and she is suffering because of it. I know she can turn this around, but she needs lots of prayers if you beleive! Thanks!

[miss_elisha]

What’s your biggest dieting vice? Night-time eating? Sugary morning lattes? Is there something you can’t get away from? What’s your strategy for dealing with this vice?

[miss_elisha]

Morning chicks!

I am a bit off kilter today. I woke up without the alarm around 5.30, reset the alarm for 6.30 (instead of 6), but I guess I forgot to turn it on, because I woke up at 7.35. I usually leave around 7.45! So I washed my face, threw on some clothes, grabbed some food, and flew out the door. At first I felt better than normal because of the extra sleep, but that must have been from the adrenaline rush of running around like that, because about half way to work I was tired again. Now my head is stuffy, I’ve got a headache, and I’m tired as usual. *sigh* At least I get to sleep in some tomorrow, though I know I’ll most likely still be up before 8.
I was sorely tempted to stop a McD’s for breakfast this morning, since I was so pressed for time. But I talked myself out of it, so that’s good. Really though, with the typical line at our McD’s in the morning, it would have taken just as long anyway, and cost me money. I don’t need to pay for that!

Anyway… yesterday was a good day for me.
Water: 108 oz.
Calories: 1743, and I stuck to my menu plan (except for one Lemon Cooler from the kitchen at work—they’re my favorite! Thank goodness they’re small!)
Exercise: 30 minutes on the bike
Weight this morning: 215.6
I also finished painting the bookshelves and the window sills. I didn’t shine the other half of my sink though. There was a point when I thought about it, but then I decided it was silly to not use my sink because I was too concerned with keeping it clean. I don’t have a dishwasher, so as long as I keep my dishes washed on a daily basis at the very least, that’s good enough for me. And if I want to leave them in the drainer overnight, well that’s fine too. So I washed my dishes and left them in the drainer. Then I wiped my sink out with my nice clean dishtowel. :D
Tonight Steve says he’s going to help me shampoo the carpets finally. We’re getting our dog tomorrow, and hopefully my bed and the rest of my furniture either tomorrow or Sunday, and the carpets need to be done before those things happen, so tonight’s our last chance.

This weekend will be move cleaning and moving. We did manage to get the exercise bike set up yesterday, though it didn’t happen until I got home and made Steve help me move it. We put it in the living room for now, so I can sit and pedal and watch CSI. Plus, after tomorrow I’m going to have to take the dog for a walk when I get home, so that will be a bit more exercise for me. But now that I’ve got almost everything painted I can put a lot more stuff away (we have boxes of books sitting in our living room just waiting for the shelves to dry—I’ll put them away tonight), and I will feel so much better.

I got on the bike last night and did 30 minutes. My legs felt like rubber, even though I wasn’t pushing myself very hard. I think I need to adjust the position of the seat, as I kept hitting my knees on the handlebar. I’ll fix that tonight. I’m aiming to exercise first thing in the morning tomorrow. Steve always sleeps longer than I do anyway, and it’ll be harder to find time to do once he’s up, so I figure that’s the best plan.

I have a feeling this weekend is going to be dietarily challenging though. Tomorrow we’re going out to dinner with some friends, but I am going to make a good choice, though I may share a dessert with Steve, depending on where we go and what I have for my meal. Weekends are always hardest for me though. Especially when I’m busy, and we’ll probably have people in and out helping us move stuff. I’ll see what I have to fix for a big group. And if no one else is there to eat with us, well, we’ll just have leftovers for next week.

So I did my taxes weeks ago, at the end of January. I still haven’t gotten my return. Thinking this was a bit weird, I went to the IRS site yesterday to check the status. The site said that they could not tell me anything about it and that I had to call them and reference such and such a case number. I figured I was probably getting audited or some crap like that. When I did my taxes, I didn’t have my printer hooked up, so I went back to the site where I prepared them to print out the forms to have on hand when I called, and as soon as I logged in there was a note telling me that I had not filed. I guess I forgot to hit all 17 finish buttons or something. *rolls her eyes* But now everything is filed and printed out and should be in the works. So as far as I know, no audit. That’s a relief! And now I have $21 than I though I had, because my state taxes won’t be taken out until the end of March, rather than the end of February. Hehe…

If we get stuff cleaned and set up tonight and tomorrow, I’ll take some pictures of my house and our new dog and post them on Sunday. I’ve been wanting to do that, but I wanted to wait until some of the boxes were out of the way.

Menu for today:
Breakfast:
1 c. coffee w/creamer
2 sl. ww toast
1 T. LF mayo
1 sl. FF American cheese
1 frozen sausage patty (110 cals, according to the package, and I napkined off the grease)

Lunch:
Frozen dinner, but I’m not sure what kind I grabbed. The only ones we’ve got are lighter fare, and I think the worst of them has about 350 calories.
Banana

Snack:
Raw veggies
2 T. LF ranch dressing

Dinner:
Don’t know yet. I’m thinking I might stop and get us a couple of decent steaks, and I’ve got some nice baking potatoes at home, and I’ll make a great big salad. Perhaps. That’s likely to change.

Question of the Day
What’s your biggest dieting vice? Night-time eating? Sugary morning lattes? Is there something you can’t get away from? What’s your strategy for dealing with this vice?

This is a tough one, because there are so many. Mainly I think that it’s just because I like food so much, no matter what it is. I like the sensation of eating, of having food in my mouth. I like all the different flavors and textures and smells. And I hate being hungry. I don’t even like feeling like I’m about to get hungry. It’s like as soon as my stomach growls once I have to get some food.
I think a big part of it is carbs. I love carbs. Bread, potatoes, pasta, corn, chips, crackers, chocolate. Sugar, yeah, I like sugar, but I can deal without it. It’s mostly the starch that gets me. But either sugar or starch, once I have it, I just want more and more and more. And it doesn’t last very long in my stomach, so I get hungry again quickly and reach for more starch. I know that if I can just stay away for a few days it is so much easier to resist, especially with sugar. If I let myself have chocolate every day, I want more and more chocolate every day, but if I don’t have it for a week I don’t even think about it.
So my strategy is to limit my carbs particularly in the evening. I’m not going to worry about it at breakfast at all. Lunch will be a moderate portion of carbs. And at dinner I will try to keep carbs to a minimum. And if I want a snack in the evening, it’s veggies or cheese or something else not chock full of starch and sugar.
That’s part of the dietary approach I’m taking overall though. Breakfast is my favorite meal, and if I don’t get a good breakfast I feel peckish all day. So breakfast I’m not going to limit too much. Lunch will be sort of moderate, typically some leftover or a frozen dinner plus a fruit or some veggies. Then dinner will be fairly small. This is so much easier now that I’m usually eating dinner by myself! I think I’m going to lose weight for that reason alone. I’m no longer sitting there socializing with my family and eating mindlessly, and I’m making my own choices as to what food I can have. This is so much nicer than trying to work around everyone else.

Wow, I just realized how long this is. Sorry for the novel! I’m feeling chatty today, apparently. OK, coffee’s gone, time to wrap this up and go get some water. Have a beautiful day, chicks!
~Elisha

[MsRD]

Happy Friday!

Ok, three days into this challenge and I have chalked up exercise minutes of 90/180! I have got to tell you though.......couple days ago, right after I posted here, I decided to do 30 minutes WATP. I didn't really feel good.....headache and achy back and shoulders.....but went ahead and exercised anyway. By the time I finished WATP, all my aches and pains were gone......even the headache! I could hardly believe it......it was like a reward to getting those 30 minutes in!

Jennifer.....Your new office is beautiful! Wow! You are really getting your stuff moved in .....pretty soon you will be there permanently! That will probalby seem nice.....no more running back and forth!

Julie.....You are doing great with the 'no sugar' part of your challenge. (The little slipups are minor ......compared to the amount of sugar you normally eat!) Prayers going up for your sister......keep us posted on her progress

Joy.....Wow! I am really impressed at your food plan and how successful you are! Sure, I will join you for WATP.....but why wait until Monday? Let's start tomorrow morning!

Elisha.....You get a gold star for driving by McD's and avoiding a not good for you breakfast!

I went to the doctor for my physical yesterday and found that my scale at home was incredibly accurate (darn). After I got past that part, everything went well.....no problems and all bloodwork was perfect! I was so happy! Not that I expected any problems.....but it had been a while since I got a good checkup, and you never know. So, my only problem is my weight.....and no physical reason why I shouldn't be able to diet and exercise myself out of that, right?

[hikein2005]

Morning chickies....
Just a quick report on yesterday.
I had one minor "slip up" as MsRD calls them! I was passing out Nilla Wafers to the residents and I just popped on into my mouth before I could realize what I had done. When I felt the sugar in my mouth, I had an "urge" to spit it out...but CHOSE to chew it and swallow it and chalk it off to a learning experience! I need to NOT put things in my mouth mindlessly!~ That is all part of this battle for me...(which answers the QOTD)!

B-fast was my usual SF/LF Vanilla Latte (which I make with my Cappicino Machine every morning), cottage cheese & pineapple
Lunch was a really yummy salad from a local Bagel Place (it's my favorite salad)
Afternoon snack was some cheese & crackers with the residents during their social!
Supper was Seafood Alfredo (I know...lots of calories but I only ate 1/2 of it) a small salad and a glass of wine.

Today, I am going to try to get in some exercise, even though I really don't want to! Still feeling a little sluggish from this head cold, but it's better! We are leaving on vacation in 4 weeks so I really need to get moving! I don't know why it's been so difficult for me to exercise lately. Maybe it's mind over matter and I just need to DO IT...but I think the pain in my foot I experience every day has got to have something to do with it. I'm going to take RD's philosophy and go with "maybe it will make the pain go away"! :D It certainly can't hurt! Ithink I'll go do that now before DH gets home from work in case he wants to exercise right away!

I have no food plans for today which could prove to be disastrous...guess I better get a plan at least in my mind. We need to do some grocery shopping, so that will help with my decisions!

Hugs to all....(even those of you who have not checked in for a while!!!!!)
Ahem...Lisa, TBJ, Rosie, Betani,...who'd I forget? Hope you all are doing ok...

[mom2alex]

Hi - newbie here. Does anyone mind if I jump in on this monthly thread/challenge? I'm off for the rest of the day now, but will most likely be online a good bit tomorrow, and will catch up with all the questions, my goals, a bit about me, etc.

This just looks like such a great thread to keep my motivation in check and get me going!!!!!!

[mom2alex]

Ok - never mind. Dh is napping, so I have a few minutes. LOL I'll break mine down into multiple posts so it's not one giant post. hehe

Goals for March:

Lose 5-10 lbs.
Exercise 6 days a week
Get in at least 64 oz. water daily
Stick to my Lenten sacrifice, which is no snacking after dinner (so far, so good)

[mom2alex]

OK, so you've all heard this question before, but it seemed a fitting way to kick off the month, a reminder of why we're all here.

Why do you want to lose weight? Is it something you're hoping to gain, or hoping to avoid? Is there something that happened in your past that spurred you to this journey? What sparked the decision?

I want to lose weight for so many reasons...

1. to be healthy!
2. so that my dh & I can TTC our next child!
3. To feel good about myself and not self-conscious because of my weight

Long story short, I wasn't always overweight. I used to be skinny, and more importantly, FIT. An athlete, a dancer (ballet - as a kid). I let myself go, and it is definitely the biggest regret I have in life right now. I need to be healthy for my son and any other children we might have, and also for my husband. I need to treat my body as the temple God says it is, and to not let food rule my life.

[mom2alex]

How do you think losing weight will improve your life?


I will be healthier, happier with myself, and I will feel as though I am able to do everything I want to do with my child! I think it will also give me a huge confidence boost!

[mom2alex]

What’s your biggest dieting vice? Night-time eating? Sugary morning lattes? Is there something you can’t get away from? What’s your strategy for dealing with this vice?

One of my worst habits is night time snacking. I am dealing with it by making no snacking after dinner my Lenten sacrifice. And hopefully, once Lent is over, NOT eating after dinner will be such a habit that I just won't do it anymore!

[hikein2005]

Of course...we always are looking for more inspiration!!! Come join us along this journey!

You sound like a wonderful person. Glad you are with us! :hug:

[MsRD]

Happy Saturday!

It was kind of a do nothing day......grocery shopping, house cleaning. I took the dog for a nice walk......don't think I should count it was exercise, as we just kinda strolled thru the woods and enjoyed the crisp winter day. I did do 30-minutes of WATP (Joy, did you join me?)....so my minutes are up to 120/180! I am making exercise my main focus for the next week or so....until exercise becomes automatic, no questions asked. Next, I will concentrate on the food ....babysteps!

Julie.....Mindless eating! That is me over and over again. I have to remind myself to stop and think......do I really need that snack? You are doing so well.....time to kick up the exercise minutes.....Join Joy & I tomorrow with WATP? Where are you going on vacation?

Jenn.....Welcome! You have got those goals set up and ready to succeed! Snacking after dinner is everyone's problem here......hope you can get that one conquered! (She says.....as she sits here at 10pm mindlessly eating another granola bar!)

[JoyG56]

Hi everybody.... catch up time.... sorry I've been so busy with housework and homework... but here goes

Calories for Friday were 2582 --- no encores for me... I did exercise for 60 minutes (hilly doggy walk) and water was okay at about 60 oz.

Saturday's eating was better - 1762 calories, but no water to speak of (lots of :coffee2:) and no exercise... unless you count cleaning and doing laundry.

:welcome2: Jenn... nice to meet you... tell us a little about yourself.

:ebike:So on the exercise front.... this is my synopsis PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong... I may have missed something somewhere. Just a "wee" reminder that we only have today, tomorrow and the next day to rack up those totals.

Joy 160/210
Elisha 30/120 ??
MsRd 90/180 ??
Julie 60/XXX ???

#2. Reason for wanting to loose weight okay I'm a few days behind... .but here's another one I want to be able breath while I tie my shoes

My biggest vice I'm sure you all KNOW this ... but I can't stop eating in the evening .... I am trying to at least make some healthy choices.... but the 2 bit brownies were too tempting last night. Good thing the rest of the day was okay because I ate eight of them. So if I can't beat it... I'm going to try to manage it.... and go back to planning to have the no-fat pudding and light popcorn as allowable snacks. AND get to bed earlier so the "tired bug" doesn't doesn't have a change to get the binges going.

Well I better get back to my project. Keep up the good work everyone!

Hugs everyone :hug:
Joy

Oh, I just about forgot..... try to remember International Womens' Day - March 8th.

[**Jennifer**]

Do I have to go back to work tomorrow? :^: These weekends at the new house are just too short! But I did bring more stuff up, including toiletries, so now we can actually clean up and go somewhere! This weekend included trips to several furniture stores to check out family room ideas. Nothing really screamed "buy me!" so we'll continue to look.

Comments first, before I have to rush off & do laundry so I'll have work clothes for the week...

Joy & Julie- love your little symbols there- the tape over the mouth is too cute!

Julie- sorry to hear about your sister- I will be keeping her in my thoughts, as well as you, since I know you'll try to take on all her stress! ((( Julie )))

Elisha- looks like things are coming together at the house. What kind of dog?

MsRD- aches & pains gone in 30 minutes? That just might make me pop in the WATP tape in the morning! I've been sore, and now today, after lifting a lot of boxes, I have a mystery pain that could be a pulled muscle, or any other number of things. :dizzy: I know the movement and using these muscles more will feel better- thank you for the reminder- I know I need that wake up call, for sure. And great results with your bloodwork!

Jenn- welcome! :) Glad to have you with us! You picked a great group- these ladies are all wonderful, and such amazing support!

Ok, I have to answer the 2 QOTD that I missed.

QOTD #2
How do you think losing weight will improve your life?

So many ways. More energy. Less pressure on the joints. No more aches and pains. Less self-consciousness. More freedom to do the things I want to do. Better health. Hopefully lessen my chances of getting diabeties, and other diseases that our family has shows to be prone to. A longer life. More time to spend with family and friends, and appreciate all of the gifts that I do have, and the wonderful people in my life. Being able to keep up with hubby, and my 1 year old nephew, and 2nd one on the way.

QOTD #3: What’s your biggest dieting vice? Is there something you can’t get away from? What’s your strategy for dealing with this vice?

Mindless eating and boredom. If I am left to my own devices, I will constantly peek into the fridge. If I am watching TV, I'll mindlessly eat something. On the computer? Looking for something to snack on while I play a game, or check email. Bored? Checking the fridge, to see if anything looks appealing. I need to make sure that I don't leave myself open to boredom grazing, and eating for the sake of eating. When I plan my meals out & pack them to take to work, the weekdays go smoothly. Weekends were always hard to begin with, but with the transition between 2 houses, and still being in a position in the old house where there's only a small camping fridge, pre-packaged, junk foods are convenient, and available, and planning & preparing in advance has been a challenge. My strategy: Plan the weeks, and use the weekends to prepare for the upcoming week. Keep my hands busy. Exercise more. Keep water, and crystal light, and Kool Aid with Splenda available at all times, and reach for a drink before looking for munchies. Go outside, and get away from the kitchen, and the siren song of the munchies. And most of all, don't keep things in the house that will make me keep wanting more, like Milano cookies, or potato chips, or jelly beans.

Well, tomorrow starts week 2 of the month, and I'm ready. :) We'll actually be going back up to the house tomorrow night, if the breakfast nook/dining set actually gets delivered as planned tomorrow. :) That'll also bring us one step closer to being there full time, and at least being able to sit somewhere other than the plastic patio furniture outside, or on the bed. The first rule we made in the house was no food of any kind in the carpeted areas, so we can only have water, or clear beverages in the bedroom- that should keep me from mindless munching at night, too. Once in the bedroom, water only. :)

I'll take pics of the set to share. Time to deal with the laundry, and then prepare for the day. Have a great night, ladies!

[hikein2005]

Just a quick check in before I get ready for my day.

Yesterday was busy so I didn't have time to post. We went to church in the morning and then headed about 2 hours east for Lion King Broadway production! It was awesome but we didn't get home until 11:30 last night. My day was good...I resisted sugar about a gazillion times but caved in on the ride home and had a couple of spoonfuls of DD's frosty! Ahhhh! This is so much harder than it seems! I feel like I'm losing weight, though...that may sound wierd, but my clothes seem to be fitting "not as tight"! I'll know on Thursday when I weigh in.

I worked out on Saturday as discussed on my last post! That felt good. I did some Tai Chi yesterday morning for a warm up. I may have time to something today, but we shall see. My plan to start my 1/2 days at work on Mondays today has been foiled because my assistant at work has to work in another department! We'll see how the day pans out...

Water wasn't as good yesterday being on the road and 10oz bottles at the show were $2.00...OUTRAGEOUS! I'll be chugging away today!

Jennifer...So glad you have been able to spend more time at the new house! I'm sure that feels good! And furniture shopping! How fun!

MsRD...I'm proud of you on your exercise! I think I need a couple more days to get to 120! I'll try...

Joy...Every once in a while we have to splurge...but get back to it now!!! Remember, you have calories in the bank!

Elisha...Looks like "moving out" has been good for you! The scale reflects it!

Sorry...I don't have time for any more comments! But know that you all are in my thoughts as we start our 2nd week of this challenge! HUGS to all of you!

[miss_elisha]

Morning chicks!

Well, this was a productive, activity-filled weekend for me. We shampooed the carpet in 2 bedrooms, the main bath, and the upstairs hallway, plus vacuumed the rest of the house. Patched the drywall in the kitchen, which will have to be sanded and painted today perhaps, or tomorrow. Did about half the laundry, doing the rest tonight and tomorrow. Cleaned out the dining room, which had been our catch-all room while we were moving. We got some curtains and put them up, and Steve bought me a pretty pink table cloth (he complains because it’s *really* pink, but I picked it up and sat it back down, then he picked it up and threw it in the cart). I’m sure there’s other stuff I did too, as it felt (and still feels) like I was moving constantly all weekend.

And we got our dog on Saturday evening. She’s a full-blooded golden retriever, about 18 months old. Our bowling partners gave her to us because she’s too energetic for their kids (their kids are 1-3 years old) and because they don’t have a lot of time to spend with her. She’s a very good dog, well behaved, she listens well, but she is very energetic. Steve and I took her for a walk around the neighborhood yesterday morning, and that calmed her down a lot. At least for the afternoon. By bedtime she was all riled up again. She woke me up about 7 times last night. We’re definitely going for a walk when I get home from work, and possibly around the block a time or two later in the evening. Her name is Ella, and I’ll post some pictures of her in a little while (Steve is supposed to email them to me when he gets home).

So I didn’t get any formal exercise this weekend, except for the walking of the dog, but I’m counting 30 minutes each day because I honestly was cleaning and putting things away and moving furniture and wrestling with Ella constantly. I’m so tired right now I feel like I didn’t even get a weekend. So I’ve got in my 120 minutes, but I’ll be walking tonight, so that will be even more minutes for me this week.

Food was ok this weekend, but not great. My giving up of chocolate didn’t make it through the weekend though. Steve’s dad brought us girl scout cookies. I didn’t do too bad with them though, but they were chocolate. Oh, and at the grocery store on Saturday, we found pints of dessert-flavored ice cream on sale 4 for $1!!! So we had to get a couple. I had a few bites of the Bananas Foster-flavored one last night, then put it away.

I did fairly well with water this weekend too, a lot better than I usually do. I’ll have to go back and check, but I may have even gotten in my 100 oz per day. Calories weren’t that great though, 1800-1950 per day, I think. And today isn’t off to a very good start either. The scale said 217.4 this morning. That’s down 0.8 pounds this week. Not as much as I was hoping, but better than nothing.

I’m starting to feel it though. My pants are feeling snug. I don’t want this anymore.

In other news, the date of our wedding has been changed, moved up one week to October 7. The reason: Oct. 14th is WVU homecoming. That may not seem like a good reason to change our date, but the fact is that hotels are *already* booked for miles around, and if the team does well this year, you won’t be able to get a room anywhere in the tri-state area. Besides that, Steve and quite a few other people will want to go to the game. In the midst of a finance-induced mini-breakdown yesterday I told Steve that we could just rent a big screen and serve hot dogs and potato chips for our reception, because I’m not going to be able to afford anything else anyway. *sigh* Too bad I’m not as much of a fanatic as he is.

Anyway, time to wrap this up and get to work. Have a good one, chicks.
~Elisha

[miss_elisha]

Oops, almost forgot...

What is the easiest part of dieting for you? Drinking lots of water? Exercise?

[miss_elisha]

Question of the Day

What is the easiest part of dieting for you? Drinking lots of water? Exercise?

For me it's definitely the water. I chug water all day at work. If I don't get enough water, I get nasty headaches, so I try to stay on top of it.
The food part comes and goes, but I must say it's the hardest.
Exercise... eh. Sometimes, when I get into the swing of it, it's easy, like it's just something I do. And then sometimes, when I slack off, it's so hard to make myself do it. Like right now. I know if I just do it for a week, I'll be okay. But that first week is tough.

[healthnut123]

Ok, my goal for the week is to keep a food journal of everything I eat. EVERYTHING!!! So, good luck ladies and keep on losin'!

[miss_elisha]

This is Ella!

22374 22375 22376


I attached the second one just so you could see my pretty pink table cloth! :lol:

I hope this works... I've been having problems trying to upload these pics for an hour!

~Elisha

[TBJ333]

Ooo, cute dog! :) :) :)

Changes in my plan:
1. 1750 calories per day instead of 1550.
2. Weigh once a month.

Mmm.

Knee somewhat out of whack... did I ever post about that? Anyway, exercise has been slacking of late. Have missed my darling jujitsu for two weeks. Today I'm going to go swimming. Wednesday I'm going back to jujitsu... miss it too much. Might skip rolls and falls.

1. Why do you want to lose weight? Is it something you're hoping to gain, or hoping to avoid? Is there something that happened in your past that spurred you to this journey? What sparked the decision?

I was determined to lose weight when I was two pounds shy of obesity. Couldn't believe I'd gained fifty pounds. Like Jenn said, gaining all that weight is one of my biggest regrets.

2. How do you think losing weight will improve your life?

I like wearing nice clothes, being strong, and staying healthy. Also, there's that jujitsu handstand... Two more ladies joined the dojo. The thin one is catching on to rolls and falls; the thick one can't do them. Co-ink-y-dink? Methinks not.

3. What’s your biggest dieting vice? Night-time eating? Sugary morning lattes? Is there something you can’t get away from? What’s your strategy for dealing with this vice?

Eating to avoid doing unpleasant tasks. (Studying for the bar... .) Strategy: Well, I'm not doing so well, so I wish someone would give me a strategy!

4. What is the easiest part of dieting for you? Drinking lots of water? Exercise?

Coming up with really small lifestyle changes and making them permanent. Except for the recent two weeks of cramming for the bar, I'd been sticking to my one-pop rule and 4 fruits/veggies rule for a long time.

Comments next time.

[hikein2005]

[QUOTE=miss_elisha]This is Ella!

Oooooooh! She's so darned cute! I think this is your answer, Elisha...lots of energy, HAVING to exercise (instead of having a choice), someone to play with and give you all the attention you want...YUP! This is what you've needed...a puppy! :D

[hikein2005]

for me!!!

Another day I can add a :tape: to my signature!!! :D

YES! So far, so good! No sugar or sugary treats today! I was super busy at work to even think about it and I didn't have ANY activities involving food! Yipee! I even cleaned out the freezer at work and found a half container (one of those big plastic pails) of Choc. Chip Mint icecream...even looked inside, dumped out the ice crystals...and put it back! Smelled good! :) I am so darned proud of myself! :D

Here's the layout of the food today:

B-fast: Latte (SF Vanilla)
Lunch: Leftover stirfry (chicken & veggies with a sweet & sour sauce...ok there was a bit of brown sugar in that...do I have to count that???) and brown rice!
Supper: Leftover ricearoni (spicy) with chicken and some cooked turnip greens with a tablespoon of parmesan cheese!

To drink: Water...lots and lots of water! Was dehydrated from yesterday! So I'm at 60 oz. right now but will probably be closer to 80 oz before I go to bed! Phew!

QOTD: What is the easiest part of dieting for you? Drinking lots of water? Exercise?
Easiest? Nothing about this change of lifestyle (because I think of a diet as something I would eventually STOP!!!) is easy for me!!!! I will say that I do drink plenty of water and am quenched by that. I started that habit a few years ago and have found that it helps me not to be hungry all the time! I could drink just water (well, with the exception of a glass of wine on occassion...) all the time and be fine with that!
The rest is very difficult for me...planning, thinking about what I shouldn't put in my mouth, what I should eat, when I should eat, how much of it I should eat, planning and implementing exercise (the latter being the hardest), following through with all the parts that go into this lifestyle on a consistent basis...that's tough! Other than all of that...it's a piece of cake! :lol3:

Hope you all had a successful day!

Hugs to all!

[hikein2005]

Thanks for the exercise ticker idea, Healthnut123!!! I didn't know that existed, but I figured it out and now have one. I deleted my long term goal because that's just too many tickers on one post!!! :)

[**Jennifer**]

Evening, ladies. Busy day here, and still going at 10:13

Work- hectic. One of the cleaning people threw out my 32oz plastic water cup! OMG, was I horked this morning when I went to fill it up! :mad: I settled for these tiny little 4oz cups that they have near the water bottle, and of course, the busier I got, the fewer times I could get up to fill it.

Pedometer came in at 923- I seriously didn't leave the desk for more than 20-30 steps- fax machine & back, repeat until desk is slightly clearer.

Water- lacking. Food- had an early "brunch" of chicken breast & black beans & rice with 1 small piece of cuban bread. Dinner tonight was grabbed on the run, and was a BK Tendercrisp sandwich. Not the best choice, but could have been worse.

The dining room set was delivered today, and when we opened to inspect, the glass top, it was damaged. Broken into little pieces, even though the outside of that box doesn't look damaged at all. We called the furniture place, & they are going to send someone out to inspect the package. And so, we did not go up to the new house to set that up. Sigh.

Two cool things, and I am hoping that this brings some amazing insight that I can share with everyone here. On March 29th, I'll be going to a seminar locally here, with Colin Powell, Rudy Guiliani, Zig Ziglar, Don Schula- some of the best of the best, for a motivational seminar. And in May, I have a 4 day Anthony Robbins seminar that work is paying for. With that, day 4 is all about nutrition, so I'm hoping that I have lots of good stuff to share, and so much mojo pumping that I can't help but jump out of bed with a spring in my step. (Ok, more realisticly, I'm hoping that something sparks a little fire, because my wood has been pretty wet lately!)

Ok, gotta help hubby finish with his phone....catch everyone in the am!

[hikein2005]

I'll be going to a seminar locally here, with Colin Powell, Rudy Guiliani, Zig Ziglar, Don Schula- some of the best of the best, for a motivational seminar.

Hey Jennifer...I went to the same seminar in Grand Rapids last summer. Unfortunately they oversold tickets and me and the person I went with (work paid for it) had to watch the first half of it on telecast in another building (they were shuttling people, but it was a nice day, so we walked the 8 blocks). We were able to see the 2nd half live after lunch. Rudy Guiliani was great. Zig Ziglar spoke first. I enjoyed him most of all! Get there EARLY (if they tell you get there at 6am, don't hesitate!) so you can get a good seat! Colin Powell was not at ours, but there were some great speakers.

Anyway...sorry about the table, too! There must be a reason for all these "setbacks"! Goodness! You certainly have an optimistic view about it all. I'm so proud of you! and what a great day you had yesterday despite all of it!

[miss_elisha]

What are your 3 (or more) favorite things about your body? Love your blue eyes? Blond hair? Pinky toe? Fingernails?

[miss_elisha]

Morning ladies!

This is about how I feel today: :tired:

Well, yesterday was the worst day I’ve had in distant memory. All sorts of crap going on and stress on all fronts. It felt like the whole world was conspiring against me yesterday. Work, money, Steve, even the pets were in on it.

Dietarily it didn’t go so well either. I guess it could have been worse, especially since I felt like stopping at KFC for dinner (I didn’t), but it could have been a lot better. It was snowing when I got home, and freezing cold, so Ella and I just went for a couple of short walks rather than one long one. We took another quick one this morning. She did let me sleep all night though, so that is an improvement. But I was up late because I couldn’t get to sleep in the first place, and this morning I just feel plain worn out.

I don’t really have much to say today. I’ll try to do better with my food, and drink more water, and get in a longer walk this evening. And hopefully more sleep.

Question of the Day

What are your 3 (or more) favorite things about your body? Love your blue eyes? Blond hair? Pinky toe? Fingernails?

1. I love that I am tall. I’m 5’10”, and I like it. :yes:
2. This may sound odd (not to mention gross), but sometimes I really like it that my body doesn’t react to much. Sure, that means that even Vaseline doesn’t do much for my dry skin, and that it’s very hard to find an anti-perspirant that’s effective for more than 3 or 4 days in a row (I have to keep switching because my body quickly gets accustomed to it), and I have to take about 5 aspirin to make my headaches go away (which is why I hardly ever take medicine—it’s not effective anyway). But it also means that I very rarely get indigestion, and I don’t recall ever having heartburn, I’m not allergic to anything that I know of, and I’ve only thrown up maybe 3 or 4 times since I was a baby. I’m choosing to look at all that as a good thing.
3. I’m shapely. Granted, right now I’ve got a few extra curves, of the not-so-fabulous variety, and it is true that I’m not exactly buxom, but I have a very defined waist and therefore hips, and that makes me feel incredibly… female. I love being a woman and most everything about being a woman, certainly including my hourglass figure.

OK, I don’t really have much to say today. I’m going to go… not work. (Long story, maybe I’ll fill you in later. Yes, I still have a job, I just have nothing to do.) Have a good one, chicks.
~Elisha

[hikein2005]

I'm exhausted, but I felt compelled to post! Go figure!

Food today was good...
Bfast:Oatmeal & 1/2 Latte
Lunch: Cottage Cheese & Pineapple (was STARVING when I left work at 4:30)
Snack: A small handful of cheese curls, 4-5 Ritz cracker with PB.
Supper: Broccolli & Cauliflower smothered in cheese sauce & grilled breast of chicken
PM Snack: another small handful of Cheese curls & one Girl Scout Thin Mint...only ONE, though! ;)

I did my exercise minutes today. Got in 15 minutes of Tai Chi this morning before work, so I came in at 120 for the week. If you want to count some walking and lifting at work I did today, you can add another 15-20!! ARgh!

Tomorrow I start a new exercise challenge. Aerobics 3 times a week (90 minutes) and 3 sessions of Tai Chi or toning for 20 minutes each time (60 minutes). That's 150 minutes!

I can't have another :tape: today, but I still feel like this was a very good day!

Thanks for listening...Hope you all aren't losing the motivation!!!!!!!!!!!! C'mon...I got 8 lbs to lose before April 1!!!!!!! Help me out here....

HUGS!

[MsRD]

Good morning!

Going to be a short post this AM.....just wanted you to know that I made my exercise challenge minutes March 1-7 HOORAY!!
Sorry to have been missing the past couple of days.....sometimes I just have to back away from the puter and get stuff done!
Yikes! Time to go to work......will be back this evening to comment......
Have a great day!

[miss_elisha]

If you could change one feature about your body today *besides your weight*, what would it be? Be specific.

[miss_elisha]

Morning chicks!

Well, yesterday was a pretty crappy day too, but today seems to have started off on a better note. Steve and I had a little spat last night, but we worked it out and I certainly feel better about things now. I’ve just been so stressed in pretty much every aspect of my life that I’m growling at everyone I meet.

Food yesterday wasn’t too good. Didn’t drink nearly enough water. And I went to my parents’ house to get more stuff, so I didn’t get home until well after dark, so I didn’t get to walk the dog. I did take her for a quick jog around the block. Not sure which was one us was more out of breath after that. :lol:

But my breakfast was better today, and my packed lunch is as well, and this evening I am making a quick stop at the grocery store for some fresh fruit and veggies. And I should be home in plenty of time to take Ella for a walk. And I can feel that I’m getting dehydrated, so I’ll be sure to drink lots of water today.

The scale was at 215.8 this morning, so that is good too. I’m getting mad at myself for being off plan so much. I want to go back to being in control of my diet. It IS possible, I just have to do it.

I did talk myself out of stopping at KFC last night though. I really wanted to, but I knew I didn’t need the calories. All the way home I was debating. But I didn’t. I went home and had a grilled cheese sandwich with some turkey bacon instead. Still not the healthiest of meals, but better than KFC. I may have to work some baked crispy chicken into my menu over the next couple of days though.

Question of the Day
If you could change one feature about your body today *besides your weight*, what would it be? Be specific.

This one is almost a toss-up for me between vanity and physical comfort, but I think physical comfort is going to have to win. I would change my back/spine so that I don’t have those occasional bolts of pain shooting up my neck and down my back, and so that I can bend over easily and twist in any direction I feel like twisting. There are days when it hurts to walk, or stand, or sit, or simply roll over. I know losing weight will help that, but it won’t make it go away.
(For anyone who’s curious, the vanity answer would have been my skin. I have a form of keratosis, and it doesn’t cause me any harm really, it’s painless and it can be moderated. It’s just a pain in the butt, and I’m neurotic about my skin, partially because of the keratosis.)

OK, that’s it for me at the moment. Have a good one, chicks.
~Elisha

[TBJ333]

Aloha --

Monday was good, Tuesday was bad. I ate too much yesterday. But today will be better. And I'm going back to jujitsu tonight.

***
Julie -- Good job on staying out of that ice cream at work. Good job on your exercise challenge.

Jennifer -- Ooo, motivational seminar. Colin Powell seems so cool.

MsRD -- Yay, you made your exercise challenge! :cheer:

Elisha -- Hey, the scale is already down from the beginning of March. :D
***

What are your 3 (or more) favorite things about your body? Love your blue eyes? Blond hair? Pinky toe? Fingernails?

1. My brain.
2. My :o .
3. My hands -- they're capable.

If you could change one feature about your body today *besides your weight*, what would it be? Be specific.

I would be more flexible.

[JoyG56]

Hi Chickies... just a quick note....

I missed my exercise miniutes by 10 ... only got in 200 for last week. But I'm on for another 120 this week.... 20 so far.

No more :encore: for me.... Have been at a seminar etc... anyways off make dinner and leave for class in an hour

:crazy: talk to you all tomorrow when things get back to normal.

Joy

PS Happy International Womens' Day... you've come a long way baby. ;)

[MsRD]

Hello!

Phew! A not so busy day today at work.....which really makes for a long day....then an hour snarlup on the freeway coming home.....dinner was TacoBell ......and there is still lots of chores here at home.

Elisha......Ella is soooo beautiful! Dogs do not seem to understand that you are tired or stressed or have 2 broken legs.....they just want to go to a walk with you! By all means......go! You will be surprised how much better you feel, both physically and emotionally!

Healthnut......Keeping a food journal is a super idea! It really focuses on what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong with your food! And don't forget the vitamins and calcium!

TBJ....You are so wise! Small lifestyle changes are what we should aim for.....and making them permanent! I have tried this month for this goal.....but, well, being impatient isn't helping!

Julie.....You are doing so well on controlling your sugar! I am so proud of you....and I am sure you are going to be some smaller numbers on that scale! You get a gold star for resisting the chocolate chip mint ice cream!

Jennifer......Sorry about the damaged table.....a small setback, compared to what you have gone thru, but that doesn't mean it isn't irritating. Your seminars sound very interesting.....especially the section about nutriton.....look forward to hearing all about them.

Joy.....Maybe you missed your exercise goal by 10 minutes, but I still count that a success! Are you on for this week again? I am setting my goal at 180 minutes again, but hopefully will surpass that!

All of the ice is finally melted on our backyard pond, and we had 3 mergansers (diving ducks) out there this morning! What beauties!

The next project around here is painting our bedroom.....the new drapes really show how bad the walls are! Gotta go measure the room and figure out how many gallons needed. Sure would like to get this done before spring!
DH isn't feeling well this evening, so better go check on him......

[hikein2005]

OMG...it was such a BUSY and stresful day today! :stress: I feel better now, thank you!

The day started out with...let's just say some abdominal/intestinal "crap"! Yuck! I thought about calling in and as the day progressed I wondered why I didn't!!! Cooking group today...not appealing at all with a sick stomach, but the nurses at work took care of that with some Milk of Mag :barf: Onward and upward! Gads! Got through that but then the afternoon turned a bit...oh...unproductive!

Residents were not participating, not cooperative, not anything! So, I gave up...boss asked me if I was going home...but NO! I stayed and put back together my Activity room after the floors were waxed last night! UGH...my back and every muscle and joint hurt right now! Lifting 36" TV's and hauling/lifting other furniture is not my idea of a "fun day"!!!!

Thank goodness DH made dinner tonight, because I was just not in the mood to cook anyting!

On a bright note...:flow1: ...I stayed completely away from sugar today! Nothing, nada, zip!!! :cp: :bravo: :cb: :dancer: :flow2: :flow1: :smoking: :D :carrot: Sorry!! I'm so proud of myself!!! There were even donuts at work today!!! Seems work is no longer my trigger...it's when I get home at night! I've been "hiding" the sweet stuff so it's not as bad, but...sometimes I get the huge urge!

I'm chatty tonight...2 glasses of wine will do that to me!

I missed yesterday's QOTD and I will answer today's as well!

If you could change one feature about your body today *besides your weight*, what would it be? Be specific.
I never really wanted to change anything about my body, except maybe to be a bit taller! I'm only 5'2" but I'm ok with that now! Hmmmm...maybe my arthritic back which aches constantly!


What are your 3 (or more) favorite things about your body? Love your blue eyes? Blond hair? Pinky toe? Fingernails?
I love my hair! It's wavy, naturally curly and will do whatever I want it to most of the time!
I love my hands. They are short, but petite! My Dad always tells me they remind him of my Mom's hands. I have always liked my Mom's hands!
Maybe my breasts...I'm quite well endowed, but never have thought of that as a problem...I kind have gotten used to them! ;)

No time for comments tonight! Hope you all are on board with the exercise challenge this week...150 minutes for me, Joy! I met my last challenge...I should get an extra :tape: for that, shouldn't I??? Do you like my exercise ticker????

Hugs to all!

[miss_elisha]

What is your favorite form of exercise? Hitting the dance floor with your girlfriends? Love to swim? Can’t make it to spinning class often enough?

[Betani]

Hey everyone.

I just wanted to check in and say that I'm going to be scarce for a while. Just when the work stress was starting to untangle and get resolved, my gramma just had a heart attack at age 89. It was a mild one, but still a heart attack. So my mind is not up for keeping track of internet stuff until I'm sure she's getting better. I will try to check in periodically, but I'm kinda "on call" in case I'm needed for the time being.

Keep up the good work, everyone! I'm always thinking of you!

[miss_elisha]

Good morning ladies!

Well, today I am much more positive. I had a decent day yesterday. Calories were ok (around 1750, not great but still an improvement), water was good (though I don’t remember exactly how much—right around 100 oz), exercise was power-walking around the neighborhood with Ella in the rain. And I actually got to bed around 10, which is early for me. And the scale is down to 215.6 this morning, and that is progress.

Also, I hit the powerball. The bad part is that I only hit the powerball number, so only won like $3. But hey, I got my money back for the ticket, so I am a happy camper.

On a completely different note, I started taking SAM-e this morning to help with my episodes of depression. It can take up to a couple of months to kick in though, so I’m not expecting to be bouncing off the walls today. I need to find the rest of my vitamins and start taking them again. If I collect them all in the same place I don’t have a problem taking them.

I didn’t follow yesterday’s meal plan very well. I ended up having an Arby’s salad for lunch instead of my frozen dinner. But I skipped my snack to make up for it. I wasn’t hungry anyway.

So today’s menu looks like this, and I WILL eat this:

Breakfast:
Too much coffee with amaretto creamer (the regular kind too)
Breakfast burrito with the obvious tortilla, ¼ c. egg beaters, 3 oz. turkey ham, a bunch of green peppers and onions, and a sprinkling of cheese

Lunch:
Diet Vanilla Coke
Healthy Choice Beef Merlot
1 serving mini cheese rice cakes

Snack:
Apple

Dinner:
I don’t know about this one just yet. Possibly a turkey sandwich. Possibly some chicken corn chowder. Possibly something completely different. We’ll see.

Question of the Day
What is your favorite form of exercise? Hitting the dance floor with your chums? Love to swim? Can’t make it to spinning class often enough?

Hmm…. tough one. I don’t really like to exercise much at all. I’m pretty lazy. I do like to swim, but haven’t gotten to do so in quite a while (years, seriously). I’m too self-conscious (and too cheap!) to go to a pool. Walking the dog isn’t so bad. Yourself!Fitness isn’t too bad either, when I keep up with it. I think that’s part of the reason I have such a hard time sticking with exercise—I haven’t found an exercise I like.

OK, stuff to do. Have a lovely day, you lovely chicks.
~Elisha

[TBJ333]

Howdy.

Yesterday was much better in the food department. I ate smaller portions. AND I went back to jujitsu! :carrot: We learned an elbow-nerve technique. :devil: And I managed to keep my head off the ground for some of the rolls and falls.

Knee hurts now though. :( Blargh it all and grr grr grr. I am still waiting to be referred to a specialist. Have been waiting for two weeks. Called the doctor's office today to ask where the referral was. No reply as of yet.

***
Elisha -- I hope your strategy for treating your depression works. :cheer:

Betani -- :grouphug: Sorry to hear about your grandmother. I'll say a prayer for you and for her.

Julie -- Ooo, m'lady, are you being hard on yourself! You deserve to take a break and let your body heal. Eh, don't worry about the residents. It's their loss if they weren't cheerful. And yipee-a-woo-hoo-hoo-hoo about staying away from the sugar. :D

MsRD -- Arrr, traffic. Snarlups on the freeway are so frustrating. Do you ever have a fantasy in which your car sprouts wings and you go flying away, above everyone else? :p And, heh heh, thanks, but if I were wise, I would be at my goal weight. ;)

***

What is your favorite form of exercise?

Jujitsu, then biking. Jujitsu is just fantastic, and I hope my knee doesn't prevent me from progressing in the martial art. Biking is great aerobic exercise, and I'm proud of myself for completing that bike ride this summer.

Aloha.

[**Jennifer**]

evening, chickies. Sorry to post & run, but we're stopping to pick up some final things for hubby's office, and then either tonight or tomorrow, I'll be taking down this computer, and bringing it up to the new house. Saturday they are coming to fix the office line & deal with the short in that line, and we called up mid-week to set up the internet cable, since our DSL stuff never did show up. With all the phone issues, I almost don't dare to put DSL on those lines- we'll never get a dial tone :lol3:

I will be able to check in from work, and we are hoping for a fully moved date of 3/31. If there's still stuff in the townhouse, we'll bring that up afterwards, but as soon as we can get hubby to the point where he can roll out of bed & shuffle to his fully working office, we can make the move. :)

Things have been crazy-hectic, and we're on target to do 10 Million dollars in closings this month, so I'm trying to sneak in some time at work, hopefully when Roid is otherwise occupied. ;)

Trying to behave myself. I haven't touched chocolate at all, and the demon coworkers are making a point to have it around quite a lot. I think I need to give up a lot more for lent, since I'm not eating chocolate, but had 3 slices of Dominos deep dish pizza for lunch! Bad Jennifer! ;)

Ladies, sorry to be so absent, but I'm thinking of you all. Julie, hug the little one for me. Betani, your gramma is in my thoughts. Elisha, Ella is gorgeous, and hopefully running you ragged with all her energy. TBJ- any word on the bar yet? When will you get the results? MsRD- what colors are you doing in the bedroom? Joy- kick butt, chickie with all that exercise!

Hugs to all, and hopefully I'll be peeking in bright & early for a long post & to catch up on the QOTD.

[MsRD]

Hi!

Another long day......after work, we went to DS & DIL for supper and then on to youngest DGD kindergarten play. It was soooo sweet and she was really good.......not just sounding like a grandma here.....she was *really* good!

Julie......Residents have bad days too, with no reflection on your hard work! No sugar day! I think you deserve a reward for that one!

Betani.....Hugs to you and Grandma! Stay strong!

Elisha.....I am glad to hear you are addressing the depression issue. It is far too serious to be neglected. I hope the meds will work for you.....but, if not, then keep trying til you get the 'right fit' for you.

TBJ...Must be great to get back to the jujitsu workout! Keep nagging that doctor for a referral for your knee problems......

Jennifer......It sounds like you are in the final 'Git R Done' phases of moving. I have picked out a soft ivory/light light yellow color.....same as the drapery sheers. I have scheduled a couple of vacation days later this month, and will hopefully do it then. (and I remember the old days, when I would come home from work, paint whatever room until the wee hours, and then get up the next morning and go to work.......well, that ship has sailed)

I have been focusing on exercise this month, as my 'baby step'.....hoping to get to the point where exercising is as natural as breathing. In the meantime, I haven't been monitoring my food intake very well, so there probably won't be great losses on the scale this weekend. Hmmmm.....will have to starting counting those calories again next week to get that back under control. *sigh*

[miss_elisha]

What is your biggest weight-related health concern? High blood pressure? Diabetes?

[miss_elisha]

Morning chicks!

Yesterday was… ok. Calories came in at 1882 or so, water was 108 oz, exercise was a long walk around the neighborhood with Ella. Have I mentioned that WV is a pretty hilly place, and my house is at the crest of a hill, so the entire walk is pretty much up down up down up down? That has to count for something. I didn’t do much else once I got home though. It’s the end of the week, and I’m worn out. Unfortunately, I seem to have a lot more to do on the weekends.

On the docket this weekend: tonight, hopefully some grocery shopping, cooking dinner, hopefully some painting or sanding or putting something away. Tomorrow: going to Pittsburgh to make the final payment on my wedding dress (I had it on layaway) and then drive it to my grandma’s (1.5 hours in the *opposite* direction from Pittsburgh) for safe keeping away from prying eyes and dog hair, perhaps finally moving my good mattress and the rest of my big furniture so we can finally get our house put together properly (though hopefully Steve and Dad will do that without me :D ), then more cleaning, painting, sanding, putting stuff away, etc. Sunday… I don’t know. Hopefully some rest. Perhaps I will invite my Maid of Honor over to plan some craftsy stuff for the wedding. I know she is getting nervous about her role—I think she is almost as anxious to get stuff moving as I am!

And I’ve got to try to fit exercise, walking the dog, drinking lots of water, and healthy eating in there somewhere. I’m determined to make that Thai chicken I’ve been wanting to concoct. That will be either tomorrow or Sunday. If my MoH comes over Sunday, I’ll make it then, because I know she will like to try it.

The scale this morning said 215.2, down from 215.6 yesterday, so that’s good. Overall I’m down 2.2 pounds since the beginning of the year. 2.2 pounds in 2.3 months. That’s not good enough. I want to at least be below 200 for my wedding. I’m going to have to work a little harder. And fall off the wagon a lot less! :lol:

I got some turkey cutlets out of the freezer to thaw this morning. I don’t know what I’m going to do with them though. I’d really like some roast turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and dressing, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Maybe some baked turkey, whipped sweet potatoes, some stove top, and green beans or broccoli.

As a side note, I’m doing pretty well avoiding chocolate. There was the incident with the girl scout cookies, plus this little thing with a Snickers bar, but we can’t change the past, right? I had to stop at Sheetz this morning, and I *really* wanted a chocolate chip cookie or a donut or a candy bar or a muffin or just something chocolate and chewy, but I resisted. And yesterday at work we had a ice cream party for a lady’s birthday, and I only had a tiny bit of vanilla ice cream—I stayed away from the chocolate. So maybe I’m not perfect. But I’m trying.

Question of the Day
What is your biggest weight-related health concern? High blood pressure? Diabetes?

Right now I’m going to have to say cholesterol (even though I know that is not necessarily weight-related—it is certainly diet and exercise related). My cholesterol is the only stat that’s ever been bad. I’m 25 years old, I shouldn’t have to worry about things like cholesterol. And I know that it’s my fault that I do have to worry about it. Fortunately, I also know that I can do something about it. I can exercise and I can watch my diet. And I’m glad that I’m worrying about it now rather than being caught off guard by something going wrong later.

OK, chicks, time for me to find something to do. Have a good weekend.
~Elisha

[MsRD]

Hi!

Whew....been a busy weekend! I spent yesterday morning grocery shopping.....and then yesterday afternoon I dug ditches! Really! I had to dig out the pond outlet, as the water had no where to go except up into the backyard....not too bad of a job except it was terribly muddy and everytime I stood too long in one spot, I sank nearly to my boottops! Oh, and there are a few tender muscles this AM, too!

Weighed in this morning.....and am down 1 pound since I saw the doctor last week. This is a good thing, BUT I do not feel good.....I am blaming it on the poor eating habits this past week. My body is telling me to knock it off, I am sure.....so this week it will be back to journalling my food and counting calories!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

[miss_elisha]

What are some of your favorite healthy foods? List at least 5.

[miss_elisha]

Morning chicks!

Well, this weekend… what to say? I guess we got a lot done. Not everything we had hoped, but that seems to be par for the course. Saturday night I got plenty of sleep (Steve let me sleep in a little yesterday), so I felt pretty good yesterday. But today I am back to being tired.

Steve informed me on Friday that we are having company next weekend, friends of his coming in from Baltimore. So we’ve got to get the guest bedroom set up (didn’t get to haul the furniture this weekend because it was raining) and everything cleaned and put away, plus I’ve got to find food to feed them while they’re here. We’re all going to a wedding on Saturday (which is why they’re coming in), so I don’t have to worry about that, but the rest of the weekend is mine to take care of. It wouldn’t be so bad if I had any money right now. I just got paid on Friday and my entire check is gone, and then some. (Had to pay for my wedding dress, you know.) I hate being poor.

Food this weekend was just crap. Which also seems to be par for the course. And I didn’t drink nearly enough water, so I’m feeling it this morning. I’ll work on that today, once I finish my coffee. The only exercise I got was cleaning and painting and putting stuff away. And bowling last night. And playing with the dog.

Tonight I just want to go home and crash, but I have too much to do. We didn’t get the kitchen done, so we’ve got to do that this week. And I’m worried that if we don’t start on it now it won’t get done, so I’ll try to work on that tonight. Also, I’m going to make my Thai-style chicken tonight, since I didn’t get to over the weekend. At least I should have leftovers to bring for lunch. And if it’s not raining I’ll take the dog for a walk. But I want to get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight. I guess we will see.

One good thing: I signed up for a “Walk 100 miles in 100 days” program here at work. It starts next Monday. And there’s a 5K on June 3rd I’m thinking about signing up for. 5K isn’t too far, and I’ve got until June to prepare.

So the scale is up to 217.4 this morning, and I am not surprised. I’m back where I started the year. I know that if I limit my salt today and drink lots of water it will be down in the morning. Yes, I ate a lot of junk this weekend, but I did count it all up, and I did not gain 2 pounds.

But in any case, this morning I feel fat. On Friday I had this image pop into my head of a thin me, a fit me. At that instant I knew that I could do it, that I could get there, that I would get there. But today my pants are tight and nothing looks good, none of my clothes feel good on me and I know that I am overweight.

I’ve got to do something. I’m not happy being overweight.

I just wish I wasn’t so tired all the time, that I had more energy to do something about it.

So anyway, today’s menu, because it helps me stay on track:

Breakfast:
2 c. coffee w/FF vanilla creamer
Mashed potato sandwich (I know not the healthiest, but it is my favorite)

Lunch:
Turkey cutlet
½ c. mashed potatoes
Green beans

Snack:
Banana

Dinner:
Grilled chicken with my version of Thai-style red pepper sauce
Either whole wheat pasta or some long grain rice.
Snap peas

The plan for tonight: Get home, walk the dog, cook dinner, throw in some laundry while cooking, eat, clean up kitchen and put away everything I possibly can, start sanding the kitchen walls, shower, and crash into bed (hopefully by 10 at the latest).
We’ll see how that works out.


Question of the Day
What are some of your favorite healthy foods? List at least 5.
1. Cauliflower—cooked or raw, I love the stuff. Other veggies I love: snap peas, zucchini and squash, cucumbers, green peppers, baby carrots, cherry or grape tomatoes
2. Diet soda—particularly Diet Dr. Pepper and the diet cherries and vanillas (including the diet cherry vanillas)
3. Frozen dinners (thank god for convenience foods!)—Lean Cuisine Thai-style chicken and the paninis are my favorites
4. Fruit, especially apples, bananas, cherries, nectarines, pineapple, and dried apricots
5. Fat-free coffee creamer. I can’t do without my coffee creamer. I’m just glad it comes in a healthier version than the original.

OK, time to wrap this up and find something to work on. Have a good day, chicks.
~Elisha

[hikein2005]

Seems I'm not the only one who missed posting this weekend! Perhaps that's because it's the MIDDLE OF THE MONTH SYNDROME!!!

C'MON ALL YOU CHICKIES...LET'S NOT LOSE OUR MOTIVATION JUST BECAUSE IT'S THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH!!!!!

Ok...now that I'm done with that rant...

Food: I must say that I have been doing well with the "no sugar" thing all week last week...and I haven't given myself enough credit! That is...until last night! I invaded the fridge and found that tub ful of chocolate frosting and some graham crackers and I couldn't stay away from it! I knew while I was looking at it that I was not going to be able to resist! TOM is here...but that is NO excuse...I was doing so well! I do need to give myself my :tape: on my signature! I did manage to stay away from the sweet treats at church (and there were plenty) yesterday! Sat night we used up our Christmas gift card to Olive Garden and I indulged in some pasta. It was good, but I only ate 1/2 of it...of course I had a glass of wine! Yesterday I ate fairly lightly with the exception of the aforementioned tub-o-frosting!

Exercise: Anyway...this weekend was kind of a lazy one. I cleaned around the house and got some things done that I had been wanting to do and still had time to lounge...something seems wrong with that picture! :beach: I rode my DD's dirt bike on Saturday...and crashed!!! :bike: :stars: I've got a big bump and bruise on my shin, but thank goodness that's all! I don't know how DD does it...she falls so gracefully...Unfortunately, DH got pictures of the whole incident! Grrrr! Walked home with the dog and DD. Took a walk later on Saturday while waiting for our name to be called at Olive Garden...went to the mall and bought DD a cute bathing suit for our vacation! Then walked back, so I guess the extra calories I consumed were mostly burned off with all the walking...maybe?!

Water: Was good...I drank lots of it this weekend! Yea! :)

QOTD (the last 3)

What are some of your favorite healthy foods? List at least 5.
Chicken, Broccolli, Splenda (can't live without it!...is this a problem?), low fat dairy products (cheeses), pineapple. I would have to say that eating healthy foods has probably been my biggest obstacle, although I do like most kinds of healthy foods. It's just that eating "badly" has been such a lifestyle, so it's been difficult to make that switch!

What is your biggest weight-related health concern? Pain from carrying around the extra weight...My breasts are large which has always caused pain in my upper back and shoulders. Arthritis runs in my family, but Drs say that even thin people can develop arthritis, which is true! But I don't like living with constant pain! Congestive Heart Failure is hereditary in our family, so that scares me a bit since my sister's bout with the heart problems, but I have never been overly concerned with heart problems...my bp and cholesterol have always been normal. I'm certainly a long way from being "fit" but I am active, which is a bonus! But "fit" or "athletic" is a word I would like to be described as...some day!



What is your favorite form of exercise? If I had to pick one, I would say biking. I really enjoy the feeling I get after a long bike ride. And I can do it inside or out. I'm not usually aching and I feel good when I'm done. 2nd would be hiking. I love to walk in areas where there are not a lot of people and watch the wilderness! It's an awesome way to refocus my thinking. I just wish I had time to do it more often!

OK comments everyone...

Elisha...Don't be so hard on yourself, chickie! You have gotten a lot accomplished since you've moved into your new house. Give yourself some credit...it's hard work, especially if you have to encourage your partner to help you every time! Also...have you gotten your "fatigue" checked out by a Dr.? How's your iron level? You have been tired for too long. You really do need to get that checked out! I'm not trying to be bossy, but I'm a little concerned since it seems like you often post how tired you are even after a good night's sleep! Great job on all your walking and avoiding chocolate! Keep up the good work!

MsRD...ARe we on for a mini challenge this week? Where's Joy? I didn't meet my exercise minutes this week? How about you? Let's start today! Anyone else up for it? We can go from 3/13 to 3/20. I'm going to try for 150 minutes again!

Jennifer...I'm sure your week was productive! We do need to catch up soon! ;)

TBJ...So great to hear from you. What's the status on the bar exam? Sorry about your knee. HOpe it's healing...don't overdo it with more jujitsu! Thanks for the kind words. Sometimes it's nice just to be heard...:)

That's it for now...Hope you all have a nice week! My plan is to exercise today sometime! I have a Dr. appt this morning at 11:30, so need to go get showered, etc.

Hugs to all!

[**Jennifer**]

Morning, chickies. Well, it's official. We have office phones, and internet at the new house. And my computer is there, so I will have a hard time checking in at night, but will make a point to get here early on in the day to keep myself on track.

I'm stiff and sore. We're definitely kicking the packing/schlepping/moving into high gear now. As we're moving out of the townhouse, there are new neighbors moving in next door to us. They were making quite a racket until 2am. I'm being patient & understanding, but I am pretty tired today as a result of all our work this weekend, and then interrupted sleep. Yawn! Can I take a nap, or do you think people at work might notice?

We're working on getting the dining room table top replaced, so that should be resolved in the next week or so...we're going to go look at living room furniture after work either tonight or tomorrow- Jennifer Leather / Convertibles is having a huge sale, so we might find something good there for the living room, or the family room. Those are the only 2 rooms that we need everything for- our current set was Early American Bachelor Faux Pleather and has definitely seen better days. The springs....totally trashed. The cushioning- not cushiony at all! So, we know that'll be an expense, but we've been planning for it, and then we can at least plop down after a long, hard day of schlepping :)



Question(s) of the Day
What is your favorite form of exercise?

My exercise bike, followed by outdoor walking. My pressssscious bike- which I need to uncover, unclutter, and move into the new house so that I get really get with it. But, that is already in the works- going to be taking 2 days off to make a really long weekend and get this stuff done!

What is your biggest weight-related health concern? High blood pressure? Diabetes?

Yes! High blood pressure. diabeties. joint problems. The strain I am putting on my body at this weight, combined with the panting and sweating when I exert myself- moving boxes out of the car this weekend- 10 trips from the car into the house, I was panting, sweating, could feel my heart pounding in my chest, and had to sit down & cool down before I could do more. I know I'm going to feel worse before I feel better, but it needs to be done. I don't want to walk the same path as my mother, and be 56 and struggling to start getting the weight off.

What are some of your favorite healthy foods? List at least 5.

apples, cranberries, pineapple, most fruits, dried. baby carrots, green beans, waxed beans, chickpeas, most legumes/beans. brown rice, couscous, slow cook oatmeal, whole wheat breads.

Sorry I missed your post, Julie- see, it takes 2 hours to write this when I try to sneak i