Support Groups - Exercise, Diet & Supprt #2

Happy New Year Ladies...what a year we have planned for our wonderful transforming bodies. I am in on the challenge to lose 1-2 pounds per week...count me in!

I had a real nice time yesterday at my friend's house..there was a nasa astro physicist there...and a surgeon and tons of doctors and engineers...and they were all rocking out to this german heavy metal rock band...go figure...it was fun to see.

I ate too much but today is a new day....and a new year...what a great fresh start I have...I am going to make the most of it.

Well thats it for now...lots of hugs to everyone and I hope you find this thread

Cyan

Sorry guys I did it again...another typo...oh well, at least this time I got exercise right ....:dizzy: Hope you don't mind support with no "o"


Cyan:^:

Hi everyone

I found the new thread. Hope everyone follows.

Hey Cyan, any romantic connection at that New Years party? If so fill us in with details!

Last night we went to dinner and afterwards to a kid indoor amusement center that was having a party. This place had a huge
ball pit that kids could shoot nerf balls at you. My kids and husband shot me with hundreds of balls for about an hour! They say that whatever you do on New Year Eve is an indication on how the rest of the year is going to be. Well... I guess in 2003 I will be having a "ball"

Since today is Wednesday and our first weigh in is this Friday I am figuring out that new body fat scale today. I am scared to see the results of my body fat.

I also checked out the MSN chat. Does everyone have access?

oh I forgot --I read this in the Wall Street Journal on how to keep weight resolutions.

1.keep a food diary-- "It is hard to write down that snickers bar."

2. walk--"Just promise that once a day, you will walk out your door and keep walking for 10 minutes."

3. Change one meal--"focus on improving one meal a day instead of all three. If you consume a 500 calorie lunch change it with a 300 frozen Lean Cuisine to lose 20 pounds a year.

Wow..seems refreshing here in the new thread :) It's the new year, we have a new thread, and soon we'll have new bodies. yeahhh! Cyan, glad you had such a good time last nite. We just had a nice nite at home, played games with the kids, watched movies, etc. I enjoyed that tho. Debee, those are some good ideas you posted, especially about changing one meal at a time. 20 lbs in a year just from that sounds great. Oh, and I also have MSN. I hope everyone else does. Well, gotta run for now, but will be back shortly probably.

Hope everyone had a good day and stayed on track. I ate 1575 cals and 44 grams of fat...not bad...I have these assorted chocolates and they are doing me in...I keep eating them but the box is not yet finished...help!:o I did power yoga for 20 minutes...very hard...my heart rate was up in the 160 range and later on in the evening I cycled for another 20 minutes at my heart target range...I did tell you guys I now have a heart monitor to help me get more out of my exercising...so now its tougher to keep my heart up...sweat sweat sweat and more sweat...I do hope I see results.:lol: Anyway, I burned off 286 cals or so...fitday doesnt have power yoga...its very different from hatha yoga which is more relaxing...oh well...so my grand total is
1289...I am going to try very hard to get my eating under control now that there are no more excuses ...like the holidays...I would like it very much to keep in the 1500's on the nights that I exercise and 1400 if I dont exercise...we'll see.

So girls, friday is the big weigh in and measurements and Oprah's letter...busy day...I send you all a big hug and thank you for being my health buddies and keeping me accountable and trying hard.

I have msn so let me know when you want to chat...you can add me to your buddy list... mariettemelo@hotmail.com

bye for now

Cyan

So Sorry!
First of all, I have to apologize for not posting earlier, my DSL was down since Monday night and I was so upset. I just go home about 30 minutes ago and just had to get online with you all.

I hope everyone had a great New Year:hat:

My family went to our friends house and have been there since. We just got home and I am exhausted.

I am glad to hear everyone had a safe and Happy New Year.

Also, after reading everyone's post, I am glad to hear that I was able to help everyone create a goal for themselves. I really want to hit my 50lb goal by June, so I means a great deal to me that you all are jumping on the Weight-Loss Bandwagon together. I want to thank each and every one of you for keeping me real through this life's change. You all hold a special place in my heart, and I can't wait to meet each and every one of you this year. I am sure that 1.34lbs will be great for each of us to try to achieve.

I am going to hit the shower, so I hope you all have a great evening, and let me know what you decided or for a chat night. I am so there with you all.

Take care,
:grouphug:

Hi Everyone!
I downloaded MSN Messenger, so I'm ready to chat as soon as we set a date and time. :) Cyan, you are now on my buddy list, but I can tell it's going to take me a bit to get used to who has which address. I couldn't find a way to apply nic names, does anyone know how? You can add me to your buddy list .. buykriss@hotmail.com. It will show up as Lady Rider.

I ran this morning, but couldn't talk myself into using the weights. Then I called to my brother in law in Washington to wish him a happy New Year. Well, we started talking about exercise, and by the time we hung up I was so psyched I went and did my weights and felt great. Good thing, too, 'cause hopefully it made up for that dish of ice cream I had later today. :o

It's late, got to get to bed. See you all tomorrow!

Lady

Hmm, couldn't get the coding to work on the subject .. sorry about that.

Happy New Year!

Lady

Good morning ladies. How is everyone's New Year so far? I'm glad I found the new post. I think I've seen everyone here except Taiwan. Did anyone put a post in the other thread to direct them here? I'll check it out.

Well, here's my story so far. My daughter has had a stomach flu for about 3 days now. Today she was supposed to go back to school but she is still sick. Since she is sick, I can't go to the gym because, of course, I can't bring a sick child into the nursery. Yesterday the gym was closed due to the holiday. So, that's two days of not working out. Yesterday was a New Year's gathering at a relative's house where I tried to be good, but slipped a little. Later on last night, my mother in law brought over some Yummy Picnic Cake with nuts and chocolate chips and brown sugar.....It's sitting on my kitchen counter RIGHT NOW!!!!! Anyway, for about a week and a half, I haven't been taking my Thyroid medication so of course I've really been gaining. I had lost the meds on my trip to Branson and so I got it refilled when I got home from Florida but my dog got a hold of it and well.....those were gone. So I had to get it re-filled once again. The pharmacy probably thinks I'm dealing Synthroid to the neighborhood. So...to sum it all up, I'm very afraid to give my results tomorrow.....but I know you will all be supportive and get me back on track.

I guess I need to find and download MSN messenger. I think I already have it. I will figure it out.

Lady Rider, I downloaded Weight Commander. It's really fun! I think I will purchase it.

Reina Mia, thanks for the great goal starter! We can do this together. I also feel very close to all of the girls here. It's fun to have friends working together toward a common goal and supporting each other. Now, we really have to make some progress so we'll have something to boast about in Chicago!

Debee, I have a body fat scale too. It was scary to me at first too. Just remember, you have to be NAKED and you should do it at the same time everyday.

cyan, you are the exercise and calorie counting queen! I wish we all lived near each other so we could workout together.:lol:

Well, that's all for now. I'm excited about a new year and a new me!
Lisa

Ok Ladies, I have set myself up to use the MSN for Chatting with you all. I am usually online all day, so if you are craving that Snickers bar and need a virtual kick, just drop me a note.

You can add me to your buddy list, but typing in newmein03@hotmail.com. It should show up as reina_mia.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Lisa, Sorry to hear your daughter has the stomach flu, I was battling that this weekend, and it wasn't pretty. Just hang in there and let's give Oprah something to talk about!

Have a great day everyone.

It is so cold here in Montreal today, but I will venture out...I'm still on holiday...will be until jan 13th...my company is in the process of moving to a bigger location...so we'll see what happens..until then I am a woman of leisure.

I have to confess...last night I was doing so well with the calories and then at around 10pm I broke down and ate swedish crackers with cream cheese and yes, 4 more pieces of chocolate...I was so upset with myself...I have to get rid of those darn chocolates...they will be the end of me....thank goodness they are almost finished...the box. So by the end of last night I had consumed 1994 cals and 64 grams of fat:(

I hope today goes better for me...like I have said earlier in my posts...I do well with the exercising but it is the binging that I have problems controlling...but I will not give up and I will keep trying until I manage to get a firm hold of this binging.

Lisa sluggish thyroids can make it very hard to lose weight so be extra proud of yourself for doing it and I am glad you are taking your synthroid again...not taking it makes you feel more tired too. And go ahead and post, we are here to support you and cheer you on...so dont be afraid to do it, it will keep you honest to yourself...you need us most when you are gaining...we will put you back on track...on the losing track:lol:

Lady what an inspiration...you ran and you weight trained...reading your post gives me my resolve to do the same and exercise too...so thank you for being here with us.

Reina, glad to hear that you had a wonderful New Year's. And thanks for the 1.3 pounds per week challenge...I think it is a good next step to crystalize our weight loss plan and define it a little more.

Miki ...how are you doing? Is that AirWalker working for you...let us know what you have been doing.

Debee Did you get your scale?

Taiwan...looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Girls have a great exercise and food day. Lets be strong

Cyan

Hey girlfriends-- I have another challenge for all of us! Let's all try to not eat anything after 8p.m. Who is in with me?

I set up my scale last night and took my measurements. I will unveil the results on Friday.

I just finished cleaning out the cupboards and throwing out potato chips, christmas cookies, and the other junk food that calls my name! I binge when the stuff is in the house and I figured if I don't have it here I won't binge.Here are some of the healthy snacks and foods I replaced everything with--

1. For salty c ravings

pretzels
pickles

2. crunchy cravings

rye crisp bread
popcorn
pita bread toasts with salsa
chex mix

3. creamy cravings

carrot sticks with creamy low fat dressing
cottage cheese with salsa or pineapple
hummus

4. Sweets

Special K with dried strawberries
chocolate slim fast slush
lollipops
jelly belly flavored jelly beans
chocolate covered banana, stawberries


5. Drinks

diet green ice tea
flavored seltzer water
lemon water
coffee
skim milk


Does anyone have any other low-fat low calorie food favorites to add to my list?

Here is my e-mail for the buddy list--debee424@hotmail

hello everyone,
Well, it seems like everyone is ready and in gear.

Lady, you give me great strength to go home and hit that elliptical glider and taebo!

Debee, I will attempt to try your challenge for today and tomorrow, but I can't guarantee anything, my cravings hit about 10 and I usually chomp on some dry cereal to get rid of it. But I will TRY! I also love your replacement foods. I have to go home and do that. I have tons of food left over from the holidays in my freezer, I have 2 pies and a cake in my fridge, so Lisa, I totally can understand the picnic cake situation.

Cyan, Chocolates are as bad as McDonalds. I am surrounded with them here at work still, all I smell is chocolate. So kick it up a notch and give them to a neighbor or something. I have to seriously get them out of my view, otherwise I will be all over it!
:o
I am going home today and :strong: working out for a while, then eat a veggie sandwich. Lisa, I will check out that bread you were talking about.

Talk to you all later,

I was just reading a magazine and came across an article that I thought I would share:


I am having a very hard time not snacking after 8p.m. so I tried this suggestion for beginning mediation from the magazine


1. Find a quiet place
2. Imagine stillness
3. Feel the wave of your breath.
4. Imagine the breath is a caress.
5. Feel the breath filling your torso.

Well, I still had to eat something but at least it was only about a cup of special K strawberry cereal. I didn't binge, but then again all the good food I threw out this afternoon.

:wave: Hi Everyone!
OK, I have Cyan, Reina and Lisa on my buddy list.

Debee, I tried to add you using debee424@hotmail but it said that sign in name did not exist. Have you signed on to MS Messenger? Congratulations on getting rid of all that fattening food! Your replacement list is excellent. I keep celery cut in cold water and have it with a little bit of pnut butter spread on it for a snack. I cut the celery into bite size pieces to make it last longer. Count me in on not eating after 8. That's going to be tough, but if I eat at least three times a day and don't starve my self between breakfast and dinner, it's easier not to binge in the evening. I'm not going to count no-calorie drinks, though - OK?

Cyan, I agree with what you told Lisa. If we are all going to succeed, we need to be more than fair weather friends. We are all good at giving help and support, but we also have to ask for help when we need it. I really sympathize with your night time binging. That's my toughest time too. And I am a true choclaholic! Have you gotten rid of that chocolate yet? Some one once told me "If I'm going to throw it away, better it be into the garbage than into my body." So OK, everyone... Let's go through our cupboards and refrigerators tomorrow and get rid of all that left over unhealthy food. I'll start by throwing out that container of yummy divinity. :lol:

Lisa, It was fun talking to you on MSN tonight. :) I'm glad you're back on your meds. It will be so much easier to lose weight. I hope you feel comfortable posting your weight. And don't be discouraged; you can still easily make your goal. I hope your daughter is feeling better soon. My hubby had that flue and was down for 4 days and he never gets sick.


Reina, how’s that glider working out? A veggie sandwich sounds good. I've never thought of making one, but I have tomatoes, lettuce, onions, olives, pickles and cheese. I just need to get some cukes! I bet it would be good with a little lite ranch dressing too. Yum! I'll try it for lunch tomorrow.

I recently got one of those fat scales too. I really like it, even though it lists my Total Body Fat as 41%. Way too high. I have only had it for about three weeks and I'm guessing I'll have to build more muscle and lose more weight before that number drops.

I ran today, but didn't do any other exercise. I went into work for a couple of hours then had make your own subs for dinner. It was a good day for calories, under 1000 and for some reason I don't feel hungry.

Talk to you all tomorrow,
Take Care
:grouphug:
Lady

Hi girls :)

I just finished 20 minutes on my AirWalker, added all of you to my MSN messenger (at least everyone who posted their addy), and I'm now sitting here drinking my water. My calories were too high today because one of my sisters and our kids all drove 180 miles today to see one of my other sisters and as usual, that meant eating out. We had Mexican food of course. I had chicken enchiladas, spanish rice, and refried beans. I did drink water with the meal and skipped dessert tho so thats a start. I'm really hyped up again about getting on the road to reduction. A little discouraged about the weight I know I have gained and the inches too which I'll find out about as soon as I weigh and measure, but I'm determined to put that behind me and start fresh. ( Once again!:dizzy: ) Definitely count me in on the challenge of no food after 8 pm.

Well, altho I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with my sis' and playing with my almost 2 yr old niece, the almost 6 hrs of riding today has taken a toll on me. I'm really surprised I made it 20 min on the AirWalker. Took a lot of breath, but I did..lol Anyway, going to go for now, but hope to see you all on messenger soon!

MIKI

Cyan, LadyRider, and Taiwan....I had a blast chatting tonite!! Cant wait to do that again soon :)

You girls rock, it was so much fun and therapeutic chatting with all you wonderful ladies tonight.

Ok, so today I ate 1748 cals and 47 grams of fat.... I did brisk walking outside in minus 11 degrees celcius weather for 30 minutes...I needed the fresh air...according to fit day that is like 40 calories burned but I think it has to be more cause of the cold weather anyway, my net total is 1708...too high but I am happy with my fat grams.

And the bloody chocolates are gone...thank goodness...and count me in on the no eating after 8pm....I already did this today... I watched Oprah and she was saying the same thing...no eating 2.5 to 3 hours before you go to bed...said it really worked for her...worth a try.

Well Ladies, just a reminder to post your letters my tomorrow night and dont forget your weigh in or measurements....might as well do it right.

Good Night

Cyan

Hi sorry I missed the chat last night. Please let me know when the next one is...I am trying to figure out what happened to MSN messenger. Hopefully, I will have it working by the weekend!

Well I was not able to keep the challenge of no food after 8p.m. But I will try again tonight--if first you do not suceed try, try, again...

I am still not sure what we are suppose to post in our letters to oprah. I guess I will wait to see what you girls do...

It is Friday so here are my results for the week ending Jan. 4--

weight--141.8
body fat--38%

Rough spots this week that made me eat--the holiday dinners out, leftover goodies from the holidays, the stress of kids and hubby home.

Exercise I did--cleaned up the christmas stuff, household chores, walk with the kids.

My goal weight is 110 and body fat 28% by June 30 2003. I will succeed!

Good morning! How is everyone?! My daughter went back to school today. She didn't want to, saying her tummy hurt and then her throat. I think she just didn't want to go to school. She's had 2 weeks off for the holidays and I don't think she was quite ready to go back, but I made her go. I hope she is not still sick. It's so hard to be a good mother and know what is the right thing to do all the time. I really struggle sometimes. I don't want to screw up my kids. okay...enought about that.

It looks like everyone got together to chat last night. :( I missed out. I went to the grocery store and ran some errands. I did get to chat with Lady Rider and that was great. I wish I hadn't been so rushed, but we had to get those kids to bed. Then, Hubby and I watched a movie.

Count me in on not eating after 8pm. Great challenge! I love it that we are working toghether. I have the worst time getting all my water in, so I bought some bottled water last night to take with me when I'm out and when I go to the gym.

Debee, you asked about other craving substitutes. Here are some things that I like.
I LOVE fat free frozen yogurt with diet root beer! bought some of that last night!

I love sugar free jello with fat free whip cream.

although it sounds wierd...pretzels with mustard. YUMMY for a salty treat!

Smart Pop popcorn is wonderful. It's 0 points with WW! So...it's a freebie!

Reina, I loved talking to you yesterday afternoon. I can't wait for all of us to get together and chat.

Where is Taiwan?

Well, I'm off to the gym and then after I come home and shower, I'll weigh and measure and do my report.

See ya later
Lisa

:wave: Hello Everyone:wave:

I hope you are all having a great day. Ok, Friday is here and I am only a quarter of the way done with my Oprah letter, so I am hopting to get that done by end of day today.

I am not a happy camper right now. I went and did my measurements last night and yes, for the first time since October, the floor fell from beneath me.

I got on my scale last nite and for the first time in over 45 days I went over 195. I knew I shouldn't have said anything about not gaining a lb. over the holidays. Well, it came and slapped me in the face last night:nono:
:yikes: I gained 3.75lbs:moo:
My heart sank when I saw that. I can laugh about it now, but it was like, I was trying to find a way to hide the scale from myself:?:
I couldn't get the numbers off the scale fast enough, I covered it with towels and ran and jumped in bed.

Now after thinking about things, can I really be retaining alot of water right now. Is this just the wrong time to weigh myself? I am hitting that scale tomorrow morning and if it is different, I will feel better, but until then, I will be eating veggies, water, and exercising all day today!

My husband even took me out to breakfast this morning, and I couldn't eat. I am so distraught...I have planned out my meals for the weekend becuase I am determined to get back to where I was a week ago.

Ladies, you assistance in needed in this matter! Yell, Scream, Virtual Kick me. I deserve it, I know....

Glad to hear you all chatted last night, I have to install the MSN on my home pc, I have it on my work one already.
Hope to talk to you soon.

I am actually chatting with Taiwan right now...
Have a great day everyone.

Well, here is my progress report for our Holiday Challenge:

Weight: WAS 184.5 NOW 187.5
ARM WAS 15 NOW 12.5
CHEST WAS 42 NOW 42
WAIST WAS 39 NOW 38.5
HIPS WAS 47 NOW 47
THIGH WAS 24 NOW 22.5

I've lost a total of 6 inches. However, I have gained 3 pounds. I'm sure I can work that off soon. I feel good about my progress.

Reina Mia, don't worry about what you're scale said. Do you always weigh at night? That's like the worst time to weigh! You could've had a salty meal or had a lot of water. You were so pumped yesterday about your goal! Don't sabotage yourself.

Also, girls. As we all start out on our weekly goal of 1.34 lbs a week, don't be surprised if the first week or two, we lose maybe 2 or 3 pounds. If and When this happens, don't think that you can eat more or exercise less. This happens. There will be weeks where we don't lose anything or maybe even gain. Don't sabotage yourselves! I am saying this to myself as much as everyone else. I am the worst at sayaing, "Well, I'm over my goal, so chocolate cake sounds good!" We can't do this!!! Okay, that's my motivational lecture for today!

I went to the gym today! It was awesome. Friday is my favorite class! And, I stepped on the scale today and I am 1lb less than yesterday!!!

See ya!
Lisa

Lisa,
Thanks for your motivations. Now that I think if it, I did have a very salty dinner. I was supposed to eat my veggie sandwich, but I opted for the roasted chicken and bbq sauce.

I am not going to let it deter me, I am just really peeved at myself for allowing that to happen. I NEED MY WILLPOWER!

Thanks,
Sorry missed you in chat this morning, I was in a meeting!

have a great day

Congrats on the inches lost, and you already lost 1 of the 3lbs. Hooray for you!:bravo: :cb:

Dear Oprah,

I am a 27 year old wife and mother of two children. Since my daughter was born more than 5 years ago, I have been struggling with my weight. I’ve tried Weight Watchers, LA Weight Loss, Body For Life, Carbohydrate Addicts Diet, The Zone, and countless other diet fads that pop up all the time. While some have been moderately successful at first, in the end I always gain it back. It’s a frustrating cycle especially because it has seemed the one thing in my life I just can’t control. This struggle has made me feel as if I am a failure. I haven’t been able to rise above it and win. Until now…

In September I began going to the gym that I have had a membership to for three years now. At first I was only doing things on my own spending about 30 to 45 minutes so that I would feel like I was doing SOMETHING. But…I was all alone. I didn’t have friends with the same weight problems or with the same health goals as myself. There was no one motivating me everyday . I desperately needed support.

One day in October, I was surfing the internet, looking for a website that someone had mentioned at one my Weight Watcher’s meetings back when I was doing Weight Watchers. It was called Three Fat Chicks on a Diet. At first I could not find it. I kept looking. Finally, there it was on my screen. I began investigating only out of curiosity and boredom. One of the many features on the website was Forums, where members can post messages to other members. I checked out a few different threads but never clicked with anyone. The next day I got a personal message from a member called Cyan. She invited me to the thread she had started in her Forum. Instantly, we all hit it off. To this day, I cannot explain the impact these few women have had in my life. I find myself thinking about them while doing my grocery shopping, remembering a suggestion one of them had for a low fat snack, or when I’m feeling too tired to go to the gym, I tell myself, “I can’t let the girls down! I have to go!” Over the Holidays, we had a Holiday Maintaining Goal. The goal was to not gain over the holidays. It was wonderful to have support through the Holiday Season when eating is all you want to do!

I have become very close to these women. I feel as if they are all my next door neighbor. I talk to them everyday. They have kept me going and given me support and I, in turn, have been able to give them support and offer advice, which has only strengthened my resolve to become a healthier, thinner, and stronger person. As this new year has begun, so have our new goals. Right now we are working on a weekly weight loss goal until June 30th. We have several “mini” goals to help us get there. One other big goal for the year is for us to meet. We have our hearts set on meeting in Chicago and going to the Oprah Show together. We all feel that you, Oprah, are an inspiring role model for all women across the world, not only in weight loss, but in being a great person and woman. Thank you for that and we hope to be able to see you this fall!

Sincerely,
Lisa Smith

Please let me know, girls, what you think. Is it too long???

Lisa

Reina, stop it now! You have will power! You are going to lose weight! You will meet your goal by June 30th! Remember we are all in this together. We will help each other.

Lisa, I think your letter was great!



Dear Oprah,

I have just embarked on a life changing journey. Every since I had my first child 8 years ago I have been lugging around an extra 30 pounds. I have joined Weight Watchers, tried all the fad diets, and woke up every morning vowing to change my eating habits. So far nothing has worked.

One day I decided to see if there were any diet groups on the internet that sounded interesting. I came across a web site called "3 Fat Chicks on a Diet." I loved the name and thought I would give it a try. Well, little did I know that with a click of a button I was going to change my life.

I really believe that if you ask God for something he usually delivers and this time he gave me the support I needed to achieve my goal. My new internet friends are God sent. Although I have only know them a few months I feel that these
women will be friends of mine for a very long time.

On my weight loss journey I sometimes get sidetracked. However, I know my friends will keep me going in the right direction and help me make my goal. We are planning to meet for the first time this fall in Chicago at your show. By then I am sure we will be thinner, happier and even better friends.

I don't think our journey will ever have a destination but instead will continue for a long time to come. Our Oprah Chicago trip is the first stop on our journey maybe we will plan a get together every year. Thank you and hope we can be there in the fall.


Cyan,
Please edit as need be since I was writing this with two kids screaming "Mommy I need you" Thanks.

Wow your letters rock very inspirational and well written..from the heart.

Ok our letter thus far.....

Dear Oprah and Oprah Staff:

We are a group of women on a health journey who would like 5 tickets to your show. written below is an introduction to who we are and why we would like to be part of your audience for one of your shows in September or October 2003.

Mariette Melo:
I am a single woman of 32 years of age. I am on a health journey that has brought me to a wonderful site called 3FatChicks where I have met the best group of ladies and together we are slowly changing our bodies to reflect the wonderful healthy people we are.

We are planning our first meeting ever and we would like it to be as part of your audience. We feel that you are an amazing role model for women. Therefore, we would like to have 5 tickets to your show sometime in september or october 2003.

Lisa Smith:
I am a 27 year old wife and mother of two children. Since my daughter was born more than 5 years ago, I have been struggling with my weight. I’ve tried Weight Watchers, LA Weight Loss, Body For Life, Carbohydrate Addicts Diet, The Zone, and countless other diet fads that pop up all the time. While some have been moderately successful at first, in the end I always gain it back. It’s a frustrating cycle especially because it has seemed the one thing in my life I just can’t control. This struggle has made me feel as if I am a failure. I haven’t been able to rise above it and win. Until now…

In September I began going to the gym that I have had a membership to for three years now. At first I was only doing things on my own spending about 30 to 45 minutes so that I would feel like I was doing SOMETHING. But…I was all alone. I didn’t have friends with the same weight problems or with the same health goals as myself. There was no one motivating me everyday . I desperately needed support.

One day in October, I was surfing the internet, looking for a website that someone had mentioned at one my Weight Watcher’s meetings back when I was doing Weight Watchers. It was called Three Fat Chicks on a Diet. At first I could not find it. I kept looking. Finally, there it was on my screen. I began investigating only out of curiosity and boredom. One of the many features on the website was Forums, where members can post messages to other members. I checked out a few different threads but never clicked with anyone. The next day I got a personal message from a member called Cyan. She invited me to the thread she had started in her Forum. Instantly, we all hit it off. To this day, I cannot explain the impact these few women have had in my life. I find myself thinking about them while doing my grocery shopping, remembering a suggestion one of them had for a low fat snack, or when I’m feeling too tired to go to the gym, I tell myself, “I can’t let the girls down! I have to go!” Over the Holidays, we had a Holiday Maintaining Goal. The goal was to not gain over the holidays. It was wonderful to have support through the Holiday Season when eating is all you want to do!

Debee:
I have just embarked on a life changing journey. Every since I had my first child 8 years ago I have been lugging around an extra 30 pounds. I have joined Weight Watchers, tried all the fad diets, and woke up every morning vowing to change my eating habits. So far nothing has worked.

One day I decided to see if there were any diet groups on the internet that sounded interesting. I came across a web site called "3 Fat Chicks on a Diet." I loved the name and thought I would give it a try. Well, little did I know that with a click of a button I was going to change my life.

I really believe that if you ask God for something he usually delivers and this time he gave me the support I needed to achieve my goal. My new internet friends are God sent. Although I have only know them a few months I feel that these
women will be friends of mine for a very long time.

On my weight loss journey I sometimes get sidetracked. However, I know my friends will keep me going in the right direction and help me make my goal. We are planning to meet for the first time this fall in Chicago at your show. By then I am sure we will be thinner, happier and even better friends.

I don't think our journey will ever have a destination but instead will continue for a long time to come. Our Oprah Chicago trip is the first stop on our journey maybe we will plan a get together every year. Thank you and hope we can be there in the fall.

I have become very close to these women. I feel as if they are all my next door neighbor. I talk to them everyday. They have kept me going and given me support and I, in turn, have been able to give them support and offer advice, which has only strengthened my resolve to become a healthier, thinner, and stronger person. As this new year has begun, so have our new goals. Right now we are working on a weekly weight loss goal until June 30th. We have several “mini” goals to help us get there. One other big goal for the year is for us to meet. We have our hearts set on meeting in Chicago and going to the Oprah Show together. We all feel that you, Oprah, are an inspiring role model for all women across the world, not only in weight loss, but in being a great person and woman. Thank you for that and we hope to be able to see you this fall!

ALERT ALERT....Oprah show is not accepting email reservations!
apparently we have to call to reserve

Reservation Information for The Oprah Winfrey Show

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Please note: You must speak with a member of the Audience Department in order to obtain reservations. Reservations are not guaranteed due to schedule changes at any time. Promises of reservations through other sources are not valid. Do not pay anyone money for Oprah Winfrey Show reservations.

Current Reservation Availability
The phone lines are now closed for January reservations. We will be closed for the holidays, through January 6. We will let you know when we will reopen for February reservations. Thank you.

Reservation Line
Phone: 312- 591-9222
Open: Monday thru Friday, 9am-5pm CT

E-mail Availability
E-mail: Last-minute available reservations

Reina, since you live in Chicago...can you call and reserve the tickets...maybe its too early...I dont know...but we can find out...also, I guess we can send it in by snail mail...print it out and send it in my mail...let me know what you guys think.

Cyan

oops almost forgot my measurements

Body Measurements as at 11/2/2002


Chest: 38.5
Waist: 32.5
Hips: 42.5
Thigh: 26
Calf: 15.8
Arm: 13
Total Inches: 168.3

Body Measurements as at 05/01/2003

Chest 38
Waist 32
Hips 42
Thigh 25.5
Calf 16
Arm 13.5
Total Inches 167 For a Total Loss of 1.3 Inches

Hard work:lol:

Also, I think if we send it in my regular mail, it should have a us postage stamp on it, so any volunteers as to who wants to send in the letter:^:

The Oprah Show
Team LE
P.O. Box 909715
Chicago, IL 60690

Hi Everyone!
this is a quick one, 'cause I have to learn this class I'm teaching on Sunday and I've been putting it off too long!
My weight: Before 147 Today 145 Yea!!!!
my measurements haven't changed, so I won't post them again.
My goal is to weigh between 110 - 115 by lthe end of June.

Trouble spots this week were going to friends for dinner, having my grand daughters here for the past few days. I love having them, but I tend to want to bake goodies for them - like french silk chocolate pie and peanut butter cookies, you get the idea.:o

Good things I did this week: I exercised regularly. I drank lots of water and I didn't eat after 8pm for 1 whole night! (tonight will be the second, I hope)

I will have more time to write tomorrow and hopefully be able to chat on msn.:)

Oh, Lisa .. don't worry about sending your daugter back to school, you did the right thing. You know kids are very resiliant and doing what they want is not always good. Congrats on losing weight and going to the gym!!

Reina - no cyber kick for you. You only gained 3.7lbs, and that's going to come off real quick. You'll see. Continue to weigh yourself no matter what, drink that water and do you excercises and you'll do just fine.

Cyan - Congrats on the lost inches! Awesome! good thinking in checking out the oprah site. Thanks.


my Oprah letter:

Kriss Dunn
Last year my doctor told me I had hypertension and high cholesterol. I would get out of breath just walking up stairs. I was 50lbs over weight and just plain tired of being fat when I made the decision to lose weight and get healthy. I started eating healthy foods and began exercising, but it was finding friendship and support through the Exercise, Diet and Support group that really made the difference. Without the friendship and occasional cyber kick from the women on this list I would never have reached this level of success. Although we differ in ages, backgrounds and lifestyles, we have bonded and become friends. Each day we are there for each other and share our mutual dedication to help each other to get healthy.

Oprah is a strong positive role model for women everywhere. She understands what it is to fight obesity and I can’t imagine a better place for us to finally meet in person than at the Oprah show.

Talk to you all tomorrow!

Lady

Cyan! You put the end of my letter onto the end of Debee's letter!!!! ???????

Lisa:lol:

Ok, you all said a Friday weigh in right? Well, it's still Friday your time:D but Saturday am here.

Anyway, suprisingly I lost another .7lbs this week. I was really lazy this week. Maybe it's the weather? not used to cold weather here. I won't exercise if others are around, makes me nervous. Haven't really watched what I was eating either. THough last night I didn't eat anything after 8pm:D

So my stats are as follows

sw--210lbs (though my highest has been 213)
cw--193
1stgl-191 (by1/15--I'm almost there!!)
future goal--145ish (i give myself til Sep 2003!)


I am going to be better this coming week. Of course Sat and Sun I am not really strict as our schedules are so crazy. Talk to you all later.

Its just a demo...once all the letters are in, I will rearrange them...but it looks like we have to call for the tickets...so we will see what will happen...hopefully Reina can call for us and reserve...and how many tickets to get is also another issue yet to be determined...it all depends on who is coming...thus far its Lady, you(Lisa),Reina,Debee and Me...thats five....anyway...if someone wants to print it out and send it in via snail mail...from the states...that would be great....

Dear Oprah and Oprah Staff:

We are a group of women on a health journey who would like 5 tickets to your show. written below is an introduction to who we are and why we would like to be part of your audience for one of your shows in September or October 2003.

Mariette Melo:
I am a single woman of 32 years of age. I am on a health journey that has brought me to a wonderful site called 3FatChicks where I have met the best group of ladies and together we are slowly changing our bodies to reflect the wonderful healthy people we are.

We are planning our first meeting ever and we would like it to be as part of your audience. We feel that you are an amazing role model for women. Therefore, we would like to have 5 tickets to your show sometime in september or october 2003.

Lisa Smith:
I am a 27 year old wife and mother of two children. Since my daughter was born more than 5 years ago, I have been struggling with my weight. I’ve tried Weight Watchers, LA Weight Loss, Body For Life, Carbohydrate Addicts Diet, The Zone, and countless other diet fads that pop up all the time. While some have been moderately successful at first, in the end I always gain it back. It’s a frustrating cycle especially because it has seemed the one thing in my life I just can’t control. This struggle has made me feel as if I am a failure. I haven’t been able to rise above it and win. Until now…

In September I began going to the gym that I have had a membership to for three years now. At first I was only doing things on my own spending about 30 to 45 minutes so that I would feel like I was doing SOMETHING. But…I was all alone. I didn’t have friends with the same weight problems or with the same health goals as myself. There was no one motivating me everyday . I desperately needed support.

One day in October, I was surfing the internet, looking for a website that someone had mentioned at one my Weight Watcher’s meetings back when I was doing Weight Watchers. It was called Three Fat Chicks on a Diet. At first I could not find it. I kept looking. Finally, there it was on my screen. I began investigating only out of curiosity and boredom. One of the many features on the website was Forums, where members can post messages to other members. I checked out a few different threads but never clicked with anyone. The next day I got a personal message from a member called Cyan. She invited me to the thread she had started in her Forum. Instantly, we all hit it off. To this day, I cannot explain the impact these few women have had in my life. I find myself thinking about them while doing my grocery shopping, remembering a suggestion one of them had for a low fat snack, or when I’m feeling too tired to go to the gym, I tell myself, “I can’t let the girls down! I have to go!” Over the Holidays, we had a Holiday Maintaining Goal. The goal was to not gain over the holidays. It was wonderful to have support through the Holiday Season when eating is all you want to do!

I have become very close to these women. I feel as if they are all my next door neighbor. I talk to them everyday. They have kept me going and given me support and I, in turn, have been able to give them support and offer advice, which has only strengthened my resolve to become a healthier, thinner, and stronger person. As this new year has begun, so have our new goals. Right now we are working on a weekly weight loss goal until June 30th. We have several “mini” goals to help us get there. One other big goal for the year is for us to meet. We have our hearts set on meeting in Chicago and going to the Oprah Show together. We all feel that you, Oprah, are an inspiring role model for all women across the world, not only in weight loss, but in being a great person and woman. Thank you for that and we hope to be able to see you this fall!


Debee:
I have just embarked on a life changing journey. Every since I had my first child 8 years ago I have been lugging around an extra 30 pounds. I have joined Weight Watchers, tried all the fad diets, and woke up every morning vowing to change my eating habits. So far nothing has worked.

One day I decided to see if there were any diet groups on the internet that sounded interesting. I came across a web site called "3 Fat Chicks on a Diet." I loved the name and thought I would give it a try. Well, little did I know that with a click of a button I was going to change my life.

I really believe that if you ask God for something he usually delivers and this time he gave me the support I needed to achieve my goal. My new internet friends are God sent. Although I have only know them a few months I feel that these
women will be friends of mine for a very long time.

On my weight loss journey I sometimes get sidetracked. However, I know my friends will keep me going in the right direction and help me make my goal. We are planning to meet for the first time this fall in Chicago at your show. By then I am sure we will be thinner, happier and even better friends.

I don't think our journey will ever have a destination but instead will continue for a long time to come. Our Oprah Chicago trip is the first stop on our journey maybe we will plan a get together every year. Thank you and hope we can be there in the fall.

Kriss Dunn:
Last year my doctor told me I had hypertension and high cholesterol. I would get out of breath just walking up stairs. I was 50lbs over weight and just plain tired of being fat when I made the decision to lose weight and get healthy. I started eating healthy foods and began exercising, but it was finding friendship and support through the Exercise, Diet and Support group that really made the difference. Without the friendship and occasional cyber kick from the women on this list I would never have reached this level of success. Although we differ in ages, backgrounds and lifestyles, we have bonded and become friends. Each day we are there for each other and share our mutual dedication to help each other to get healthy.

Oprah is a strong positive role model for women everywhere. She understands what it is to fight obesity and I can’t imagine a better place for us to finally meet in person than at the Oprah show.



Lisa let me know if I have fixed my mistake

Cyan

Cyan - I'll be glad to print out and mail the letter when it's ready.
I think it's better to call soon and possibly be told we need to call back than to wait until it may be too late. What do you think about asking for 1 extra ticket just in case we need it?

Lady

Dear Oprah,
I have always thougth of you as a great role model for women, so I am writing this letter in hope of you fullfilling a request for us.

There are 5 women who will be meeting each other for the first time since early Oct '02. We have only talked via chat and forums. These women are all Heros in their own way and I think you should know about them. They are true Angels.

I have been battling a weight issue for over 12 years now. I have tried every diet under the sun and to no avail, never succeeded at any of them. I have never taken accountablity for any of my weightloss failures. Then I decided to accept myself the way I was, but that didn't work for me either.
In 2002, I decided that it was time for me to take charge of my life and do something to make me feel better about myself and help me keep up with my son.
One day I was surfing the net and found a website called "3 Fat Chicks on a Diet". Of course, I was curious so I surfed some more and found some great forums with tons of information. Then I came across this group and was immediately invited to join them. I am glad I did. These few women that I have met in this group have given me something that I have never had before; Motivation & Determination to succeed! These ladies, have taught me to be accountable for my actions and have given me direction in my weightloss journey.

I have always felt like a failure because of my weight and inability to get rid of it. But now, I hold my head up high and am not afraid to challenge my self to weekly and monthly goals. The group has decided to maintain a weekly weightloss goal of 1.35 lbs. Together I know we can do this. These women are on my mind every day, when I look at the candy bar in the convenience store, or when I am ready to grab the next Coke out of the company refridgerator, I won't do it, because I know I have to make them as proud as them make me feel. I can't tell you how proud I am to be a part of this group and to be able to help them like they have helped me oh so many times. I can't wait to meet them here in Chicago in Sept '03. We all decided that visiting Oprah Show would be a great celebration of our Journey. If you could so kind as to help us complete this milestone in our lives, we would be so grateful.

Ok Cyan, I think I got everything. Please check this and edit to your liking. I am horrible at spelling too.
I have to admit, when I read this back to my husband out loud, I couldn't stop crying! I could go on and on about you all, but the larger it gets, the less I know they will read it.

Reina's Measurements as of 11/24
Dear Oprah,
I have always thougth of you as a great role model for women, so I am writing this letter in hope of you fullfilling a request for us.

There are 5 women who will be meeting each other for the first time since early Oct '02. We have only talked via chat and forums. These women are all Heros in their own way and I think you should know about them. They are true Angels.

I have been battling a weight issue for over 12 years now. I have tried every diet under the sun and to no avail, never succeeded at any of them. I have never taken accountablity for any of my weightloss failures. Then I decided to accept myself the way I was, but that didn't work for me either.
In 2002, I decided that it was time for me to take charge of my life and do something to make me feel better about myself and help me keep up with my son.
One day I was surfing the net and found a website called "3 Fat Chicks on a Diet". Of course, I was curious so I surfed some more and found some great forums with tons of information. Then I came across this group and was immediately invited to join them. I am glad I did. These few women that I have met in this group have given me something that I have never had before; Motivation & Determination to succeed! These ladies, have taught me to be accountable for my actions and have given me direction in my weightloss journey.

I have always felt like a failure because of my weight and inability to get rid of it. But now, I hold my head up high and am not afraid to challenge my self to weekly and monthly goals. The group has decided to maintain a weekly weightloss goal of 1.35 lbs. Together I know we can do this. These women are on my mind every day, when I look at the candy bar in the convenience store, or when I am ready to grab the next Coke out of the company refridgerator, I won't do it, because I know I have to make them as proud as them make me feel. I can't tell you how proud I am to be a part of this group and to be able to help them like they have helped me oh so many times. I can't wait to meet them here in Chicago in Sept '03. We all decided that visiting Oprah Show would be a great celebration of our Journey. If you could so kind as to help us complete this milestone in our lives, we would be so grateful.

Ok Cyan, I think I got everything. Please check this and edit to your liking. I am horrible at spelling too.
I have to admit, when I read this back to my husband out loud, I couldn't stop crying! I could go on and on about you all, but the larger it gets, the less I know they will read it.

Reina's Measurements
Dear Oprah,
I have always thougth of you as a great role model for women, so I am writing this letter in hope of you fullfilling a request for us.

There are 5 women who will be meeting each other for the first time since early Oct '02. We have only talked via chat and forums. These women are all Heros in their own way and I think you should know about them. They are true Angels.

I have been battling a weight issue for over 12 years now. I have tried every diet under the sun and to no avail, never succeeded at any of them. I have never taken accountablity for any of my weightloss failures. Then I decided to accept myself the way I was, but that didn't work for me either.
In 2002, I decided that it was time for me to take charge of my life and do something to make me feel better about myself and help me keep up with my son.
One day I was surfing the net and found a website called "3 Fat Chicks on a Diet". Of course, I was curious so I surfed some more and found some great forums with tons of information. Then I came across this group and was immediately invited to join them. I am glad I did. These few women that I have met in this group have given me something that I have never had before; Motivation & Determination to succeed! These ladies, have taught me to be accountable for my actions and have given me direction in my weightloss journey.

I have always felt like a failure because of my weight and inability to get rid of it. But now, I hold my head up high and am not afraid to challenge my self to weekly and monthly goals. The group has decided to maintain a weekly weightloss goal of 1.35 lbs. Together I know we can do this. These women are on my mind every day, when I look at the candy bar in the convenience store, or when I am ready to grab the next Coke out of the company refridgerator, I won't do it, because I know I have to make them as proud as them make me feel. I can't tell you how proud I am to be a part of this group and to be able to help them like they have helped me oh so many times. I can't wait to meet them here in Chicago in Sept '03. We all decided that visiting Oprah Show would be a great celebration of our Journey. If you could so kind as to help us complete this milestone in our lives, we would be so grateful.

Ok Cyan, I think I got everything. Please check this and edit to your liking. I am horrible at spelling too.
I have to admit, when I read this back to my husband out loud, I couldn't stop crying! I could go on and on about you all, but the larger it gets, the less I know they will read it.

Reina's Measurements
Measurements as of 11/24/02
Weight 193.4
Waist 43
Arms 14
Thighs 26 1/2
Chest 43 1/2

Measurement as of 1/3/02
Weight 196.9
Waist 43
Arms 13.5
Thighs 26
Chest 43 1/2

All in all, not that bad. Have a great night everyone.

Of course, I will make some calls and look into rooms for everyone. I will have some information next week for everyone on hotels.
Oprah will take some time,
but I will be on it like me on chocolate!:ink:

Won't Miki be joining us also???

Ok, first things first...want to get this over with...

11-25-02

Weight: 228 lbs
Waist: 43.5 inches
Chest: 44.5 inches
Hips: 52 inches
Thighs: 26.5 inches
Arms: 15 inches

12-19-02

Weight: 228
Waist: 43 in
Chest: 45 in
Hips 52 in
Thighs 26 in
Arms 14 in

01-03-03

Weight: 230 :(
Waist 43.5 inches
Chest: 44.5
Hips: 52 inches
Thighs: 26 inches
Arms: 14.5

Could have been much better but also could have been worse so I'm not overly disappointed. At least I"m still below where I started in October;just not as low as Id hoped to be by now. Anyway, a new year and a new resolution has begun:D

I havent finished the Oprah letter, but I promise I will have it by tomorrow nite! Sorry to be late. I'm not even sure I will be able to go, actually I quite doubt it, but I am going to stay hopeful. Maybe Oprah herself will call and ok it with hubby??:s: lol Anyway, we'll see how it works out.

Miki

Oops..forgot the most important part!

Calories today: 1241
Did my Airwalker and drank my water! Hooray...Im on my way! :)

Reina_Mia and LadyRider...sorry I didnt get back in time to chat with ya'll...maybe next time!!

Dear Oprah and Oprah Staff:

We are a group of women on a health journey who would like 5 tickets to your show. written below is an introduction to who we are and why we would like to be part of your audience for one of your shows in September or October 2003.

Mariette Melo:
I am a single woman of 32 years of age. I am on a health journey that has brought me to a wonderful site called 3FatChicks where I have met the best group of ladies and together we are slowly changing our bodies to reflect the wonderful healthy people we are.

We are planning our first meeting ever and we would like it to be as part of your audience. We feel that you are an amazing role model for women. Therefore, we would like to have 5 tickets to your show sometime in september or october 2003.

Lisa Smith:
I am a 27 year old wife and mother of two children. Since my daughter was born more than 5 years ago, I have been struggling with my weight. I’ve tried Weight Watchers, LA Weight Loss, Body For Life, Carbohydrate Addicts Diet, The Zone, and countless other diet fads that pop up all the time. While some have been moderately successful at first, in the end I always gain it back. It’s a frustrating cycle especially because it has seemed the one thing in my life I just can’t control. This struggle has made me feel as if I am a failure. I haven’t been able to rise above it and win. Until now…

In September I began going to the gym that I have had a membership to for three years now. At first I was only doing things on my own spending about 30 to 45 minutes so that I would feel like I was doing SOMETHING. But…I was all alone. I didn’t have friends with the same weight problems or with the same health goals as myself. There was no one motivating me everyday . I desperately needed support.

One day in October, I was surfing the internet, looking for a website that someone had mentioned at one my Weight Watcher’s meetings back when I was doing Weight Watchers. It was called Three Fat Chicks on a Diet. At first I could not find it. I kept looking. Finally, there it was on my screen. I began investigating only out of curiosity and boredom. One of the many features on the website was Forums, where members can post messages to other members. I checked out a few different threads but never clicked with anyone. The next day I got a personal message from a member called Cyan. She invited me to the thread she had started in her Forum. Instantly, we all hit it off. To this day, I cannot explain the impact these few women have had in my life. I find myself thinking about them while doing my grocery shopping, remembering a suggestion one of them had for a low fat snack, or when I’m feeling too tired to go to the gym, I tell myself, “I can’t let the girls down! I have to go!” Over the Holidays, we had a Holiday Maintaining Goal. The goal was to not gain over the holidays. It was wonderful to have support through the Holiday Season when eating is all you want to do!

I have become very close to these women. I feel as if they are all my next door neighbor. I talk to them everyday. They have kept me going and given me support and I, in turn, have been able to give them support and offer advice, which has only strengthened my resolve to become a healthier, thinner, and stronger person. As this new year has begun, so have our new goals. Right now we are working on a weekly weight loss goal until June 30th. We have several “mini” goals to help us get there. One other big goal for the year is for us to meet. We have our hearts set on meeting in Chicago and going to the Oprah Show together. We all feel that you, Oprah, are an inspiring role model for all women across the world, not only in weight loss, but in being a great person and woman. Thank you for that and we hope to be able to see you this fall!


Debee:
I have just embarked on a life changing journey. Every since I had my first child 8 years ago I have been lugging around an extra 30 pounds. I have joined Weight Watchers, tried all the fad diets, and woke up every morning vowing to change my eating habits. So far nothing has worked.

One day I decided to see if there were any diet groups on the internet that sounded interesting. I came across a web site called "3 Fat Chicks on a Diet." I loved the name and thought I would give it a try. Well, little did I know that with a click of a button I was going to change my life.

I really believe that if you ask God for something he usually delivers and this time he gave me the support I needed to achieve my goal. My new internet friends are God sent. Although I have only know them a few months I feel that these
women will be friends of mine for a very long time.

On my weight loss journey I sometimes get sidetracked. However, I know my friends will keep me going in the right direction and help me make my goal. We are planning to meet for the first time this fall in Chicago at your show. By then I am sure we will be thinner, happier and even better friends.

I don't think our journey will ever have a destination but instead will continue for a long time to come. Our Oprah Chicago trip is the first stop on our journey maybe we will plan a get together every year. Thank you and hope we can be there in the fall.

Kriss Dunn:
Last year my doctor told me I had hypertension and high cholesterol. I would get out of breath just walking up stairs. I was 50lbs over weight and just plain tired of being fat when I made the decision to lose weight and get healthy. I started eating healthy foods and began exercising, but it was finding friendship and support through the Exercise, Diet and Support group that really made the difference. Without the friendship and occasional cyber kick from the women on this list I would never have reached this level of success. Although we differ in ages, backgrounds and lifestyles, we have bonded and become friends. Each day we are there for each other and share our mutual dedication to help each other to get healthy.

Oprah is a strong positive role model for women everywhere. She understands what it is to fight obesity and I can’t imagine a better place for us to finally meet in person than at the Oprah show.

Reina:
I have always thougth of you as a great role model for women, so I am writing this letter in hope of you fullfilling a request for us.

There are 5 women who will be meeting each other for the first time since early Oct '02. We have only talked via chat and forums. These women are all Heros in their own way and I think you should know about them. They are true Angels.

I have been battling a weight issue for over 12 years now. I have tried every diet under the sun and to no avail, never succeeded at any of them. I have never taken accountablity for any of my weightloss failures. Then I decided to accept myself the way I was, but that didn't work for me either.
In 2002, I decided that it was time for me to take charge of my life and do something to make me feel better about myself and help me keep up with my son.
One day I was surfing the net and found a website called "3 Fat Chicks on a Diet". Of course, I was curious so I surfed some more and found some great forums with tons of information. Then I came across this group and was immediately invited to join them. I am glad I did. These few women that I have met in this group have given me something that I have never had before; Motivation & Determination to succeed! These ladies, have taught me to be accountable for my actions and have given me direction in my weightloss journey.

I have always felt like a failure because of my weight and inability to get rid of it. But now, I hold my head up high and am not afraid to challenge my self to weekly and monthly goals. The group has decided to maintain a weekly weightloss goal of 1.35 lbs. Together I know we can do this. These women are on my mind every day, when I look at the candy bar in the convenience store, or when I am ready to grab the next Coke out of the company refridgerator, I won't do it, because I know I have to make them as proud as them make me feel. I can't tell you how proud I am to be a part of this group and to be able to help them like they have helped me oh so many times. I can't wait to meet them here in Chicago in Sept '03. We all decided that visiting Oprah Show would be a great celebration of our Journey. If you could so kind as to help us complete this milestone in our lives, we would be so grateful.

Sincerely
Mariette, Lisa, Debee, Chris, Reina and Miki

Please send tickets and response to

Reina
your address here

Lady...6 tickets or however many more is fine with me and I sure all of us..I just said 5 just to pick a number but it doesnt really matter ...so long as we all get together to meet:D

Later Ladies
Off to start my day

Cyan

Dear Oprah,

Like you, I have had a battle with my weight for years. Unlike most though, I've never tried diet pills or any of the "Lose weight while you sleep" schemes. I've always been determined to lose it in a way that would be healthy and permanent. As hard as I have tried, before now, I have never been able to succeed for long. Finally, I found the answer and just had to share it with you!

One day as I leafed thru a magazine, I came across an article that listed several online sites concerning weightloss. Each site included message boards or forums where others like me could meet and share their stories--failures and successes alike. I was immediately drawn to 3FatChicks.com. I loved the catchy name ( I was sure I could fit in with a name like that), but to be honest, I chose it first because it was the only FREE one listed. That nite I joined and posted a short paragraph about myself asking if anyone would like to buddy-up with me. I also answered a post someone else had left. By the next nite, I was thrilled to see that my "thread' and the one I had answered had already grown by several replies. I began posting and replying nightly in both groups. We soon realized that the same group of women were posting on both threads so Cyan, whom I consider our leader, suggested combining into one group which we did. Since then, we meet everyday with our progress, how much we've exercised or not, how much and what we've eaten, etc. We not only share weight issues, tho; we share LIFE issues. You cant imagine the bond we have all acquired since that first nite.

These women have become a huge part of my life. Their encouragement, support, inspiration, and the occasional virtual kick in the rear when needed is what keeps me on this journey to newfound freedom from the hold food has always had on me. The mutual accountability and sense of responsibility for each other is awesome. Anytime I do fail and skip my exercise or binge, etc. I immediately afterward feel like I have not only disappointed myself but my friends who try so hard to hlep me. I confess. they forgive and forget of course, but not without first inspiring me to keep on keeping on. We stay completely honest even when that is tough, and everyone seems to always know what I need, whether it's a pep talk, the virtual kick I mentioned earlier, or just a cyber hug of understanding.

I cant wait to see what we have accomplished a year from when we started this journey. Someone had the exciting idea that we should all meet in person at that time. It was unanimous that the Oprah show would be the perfect place. I have a slight problem tho...I dont think there is anyway that my husband will let me fly across the country to a place where I dont know a soul to meet a group of people who to him are strangers. I am just going to be sick if this meeting takes place without me!! Your staff has been able to accomplish seemingly near impossible things so maybe they could help me out in convincing him?? Seriously tho, whether or not I am able to be there physically, I will be there in spirit. These ladies are a part of me. We are all different heights and weights, different ages, and come from all over, yet we are the same. Together, failure isnt an option. Success is inevitable!! And we'd absolutely love to celebrate our success with you!

Sincerely,
Miki Goodwin


Cyan, I know this is lonnggg. Cut out anything or use anything you want. Sorry I was late with it, but I misunderstood and thought at first the deadline was the 5th rather than the 3rd.

Had to work today and was running late so I didnt have time for breakfast this morning. Had a Grilled chicken ceasar salad from McDonalds for lunch. I love those! For a snack, I had 20 tostito corn chips with salsa. Tonite, I cooked chicken breast in a skillet with broccoli, carrots, red peppers, onions, and water chestnuts with a little butter and teriyaki sauce. It was delicious and very little calories. My total so far is 1088. That's a little low, and I had planned on having another snack tonite but just realized it's after 8 pm. We'll see which wins out...not eating after 8 or having calories a little low for the day. I"ll let you know tomorrow. :) Havent exercised yet, but I'm heading that way shortly. Right now, hubby is watching Lord of the Rings, and my AirWalker squeaks..lol

I would really appreciate ya'll getting an extra ticket for me just in case I can talk hubby into the Oprah meeting. I'm working on him and will continue to do so. ( I'm also going to try hard to save up the money on my own ) I have lots of time to do that before Sept or Oct. I am going to work really hard to lose alot of weight by then, and maybe that can be my reward. Keep your fingers crossed for me! If you think that my admitting in the letter that I might not be able to make it will keep them from sending me a ticket, you're welcome to leave it out. Just happened to think how if the Oprah show called him, how could he say no?? lol

I'm still really psyched up about this journey we're on. Cant wait to see how we all look a year from now!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! Hope to find more posts tomorrow.

MIKI

Dear Oprah and Oprah Staff:

We are a group of women on a health journey who would like 6 tickets to your show. Written below is an introduction to who we are and why we would like to be part of your audience for one of your shows in September or October 2003.

Mariette Melo:
I am a single woman of 32 years of age. I am on a health journey that has brought me to a wonderful site called 3FatChicks where I have met the best group of ladies and together we are slowly changing our bodies to reflect the wonderful healthy, sexy womene we are.

We are planning our first meeting ever and we would like it to be as part of your audience. We feel that you are an amazing role model for women. Therefore, we would like to have tickets to your show sometime in september or october 2003.

Lisa Smith:
I am a 27 year old wife and mother of two children. Since my daughter was born more than 5 years ago, I have been struggling with my weight. I’ve tried Weight Watchers, LA Weight Loss, Body For Life, Carbohydrate Addicts Diet, The Zone, and countless other diet fads that pop up all the time. While some have been moderately successful at first, in the end I always gain it back. It’s a frustrating cycle especially because it has seemed the one thing in my life I just can’t control. This struggle has made me feel as if I am a failure. I haven’t been able to rise above it and win. Until now…

In September I began going to the gym that I have had a membership to for three years now. At first I was only doing things on my own spending about 30 to 45 minutes so that I would feel like I was doing SOMETHING. But…I was all alone. I didn’t have friends with the same weight problems or with the same health goals as myself. There was no one motivating me everyday . I desperately needed support.

One day in October, I was surfing the internet, looking for a website that someone had mentioned at one my Weight Watcher’s meetings back when I was doing Weight Watchers. It was called Three Fat Chicks on a Diet. At first I could not find it. I kept looking. Finally, there it was on my screen. I began investigating only out of curiosity and boredom. One of the many features on the website was Forums, where members can post messages to other members. I checked out a few different threads but never clicked with anyone. The next day I got a personal message from a member called Cyan. She invited me to the thread she had started in her Forum. Instantly, we all hit it off. To this day, I cannot explain the impact these few women have had in my life. I find myself thinking about them while doing my grocery shopping, remembering a suggestion one of them had for a low fat snack, or when I’m feeling too tired to go to the gym, I tell myself, “I can’t let the girls down! I have to go!” Over the Holidays, we had a Holiday Maintaining Goal. The goal was to not gain over the holidays. It was wonderful to have support through the Holiday Season when eating is all you want to do!

I have become very close to these women. I feel as if they are all my next door neighbor. I talk to them everyday. They have kept me going and given me support and I, in turn, have been able to give them support and offer advice, which has only strengthened my resolve to become a healthier, thinner, and stronger person. As this new year has begun, so have our new goals. Right now we are working on a weekly weight loss goal until June 30th. We have several “mini” goals to help us get there. One other big goal for the year is for us to meet. We have our hearts set on meeting in Chicago and going to the Oprah Show together. We all feel that you, Oprah, are an inspiring role model for all women across the world, not only in weight loss, but in being a great person and woman. Thank you for that and we hope to be able to see you this fall!


Debee:
I have just embarked on a life changing journey. Every since I had my first child 8 years ago I have been lugging around an extra 30 pounds. I have joined Weight Watchers, tried all the fad diets, and woke up every morning vowing to change my eating habits. So far nothing has worked.

One day I decided to see if there were any diet groups on the internet that sounded interesting. I came across a web site called "3 Fat Chicks on a Diet." I loved the name and thought I would give it a try. Well, little did I know that with a click of a button I was going to change my life.

I really believe that if you ask God for something he usually delivers and this time he gave me the support I needed to achieve my goal. My new internet friends are God sent. Although I have only know them a few months I feel that these
women will be friends of mine for a very long time.

On my weight loss journey I sometimes get sidetracked. However, I know my friends will keep me going in the right direction and help me make my goal. We are planning to meet for the first time this fall in Chicago at your show. By then I am sure we will be thinner, happier and even better friends.

I don't think our journey will ever have a destination but instead will continue for a long time to come. Our Oprah Chicago trip is the first stop on our journey maybe we will plan a get together every year. Thank you and hope we can be there in the fall.

Kriss Dunn:
Last year my doctor told me I had hypertension and high cholesterol. I would get out of breath just walking up stairs. I was 50lbs over weight and just plain tired of being fat when I made the decision to lose weight and get healthy. I started eating healthy foods and began exercising, but it was finding friendship and support through the Exercise, Diet and Support group that really made the difference. Without the friendship and occasional cyber kick from the women on this list I would never have reached this level of success. Although we differ in ages, backgrounds and lifestyles, we have bonded and become friends. Each day we are there for each other and share our mutual dedication to help each other to get healthy.

Oprah is a strong positive role model for women everywhere. She understands what it is to fight obesity and I can’t imagine a better place for us to finally meet in person than at the Oprah show.

Reina:
I have always thougth of you as a great role model for women, so I am writing this letter in hope of you fullfilling a request for us.

There are 5 women who will be meeting each other for the first time since early Oct '02. We have only talked via chat and forums. These women are all Heros in their own way and I think you should know about them. They are true Angels.

I have been battling a weight issue for over 12 years now. I have tried every diet under the sun and to no avail, never succeeded at any of them. I have never taken accountablity for any of my weightloss failures. Then I decided to accept myself the way I was, but that didn't work for me either.
In 2002, I decided that it was time for me to take charge of my life and do something to make me feel better about myself and help me keep up with my son.
One day I was surfing the net and found a website called "3 Fat Chicks on a Diet". Of course, I was curious so I surfed some more and found some great forums with tons of information. Then I came across this group and was immediately invited to join them. I am glad I did. These few women that I have met in this group have given me something that I have never had before; Motivation & Determination to succeed! These ladies, have taught me to be accountable for my actions and have given me direction in my weightloss journey.

I have always felt like a failure because of my weight and inability to get rid of it. But now, I hold my head up high and am not afraid to challenge my self to weekly and monthly goals. The group has decided to maintain a weekly weightloss goal of 1.35 lbs. Together I know we can do this. These women are on my mind every day, when I look at the candy bar in the convenience store, or when I am ready to grab the next Coke out of the company refridgerator, I won't do it, because I know I have to make them as proud as them make me feel. I can't tell you how proud I am to be a part of this group and to be able to help them like they have helped me oh so many times. I can't wait to meet them here in Chicago in Sept '03. We all decided that visiting Oprah Show would be a great celebration of our Journey. If you could so kind as to help us complete this milestone in our lives, we would be so grateful.

Miki Goodwin:
Like you, I have had a battle with my weight for years. Unlike most though, I've never tried diet pills or any of the "Lose weight while you sleep" schemes. I've always been determined to lose it in a way that would be healthy and permanent. As hard as I have tried, before now, I have never been able to succeed for long. Finally, I found the answer and just had to share it with you!

One day as I leafed thru a magazine, I came across an article that listed several online sites concerning weightloss. Each site included message boards or forums where others like me could meet and share their stories--failures and successes alike. I was immediately drawn to 3FatChicks.com. I loved the catchy name ( I was sure I could fit in with a name like that), but to be honest, I chose it first because it was the only FREE one listed. That nite I joined and posted a short paragraph about myself asking if anyone would like to buddy-up with me. I also answered a post someone else had left. By the next nite, I was thrilled to see that my "thread' and the one I had answered had already grown by several replies. I began posting and replying nightly in both groups. We soon realized that the same group of women were posting on both threads so Cyan, whom I consider our leader, suggested combining into one group which we did. Since then, we meet everyday with our progress, how much we've exercised or not, how much and what we've eaten, etc. We not only share weight issues, tho; we share LIFE issues. You can't imagine the bond we have all acquired since that first night.

These women have become a huge part of my life. Their encouragement, support, inspiration, and the occasional virtual kick in the rear when needed is what keeps me on this journey to newfound freedom from the hold food has always had on me. The mutual accountability and sense of responsibility for each other is awesome. Anytime I do fail and skip my exercise or binge, etc. I immediately afterward feel like I have not only disappointed myself but my friends who try so hard to hlep me. I confess. they forgive and forget of course, but not without first inspiring me to keep on keeping on. We stay completely honest even when that is tough, and everyone seems to always know what I need, whether it's a pep talk, the virtual kick I mentioned earlier, or just a cyber hug of understanding.

I cant wait to see what we have accomplished a year from when we started this journey. Someone had the exciting idea that we should all meet in person at that time. It was unanimous that the Oprah show would be the perfect place. I have a slight problem tho...I dont think there is anyway that my husband will let me fly across the country to a place where I dont know a soul to meet a group of people who to him are strangers. I am just going to be sick if this meeting takes place without me!! Your staff has been able to accomplish seemingly near impossible things so maybe they could help me out in convincing him?? Seriously tho, whether or not I am able to be there physically, I will be there in spirit. These ladies are a part of me. We are all different heights and weights, different ages, and come from all over, yet we are the same. Together, failure isnt an option. Success is inevitable!! And we'd absolutely love to celebrate our success with you!

Sincerely
Mariette, Lisa, Debee, Chris, Reina and Miki

Please send tickets and response to

Reina
your address here

Dear Oprah and Oprah Staff:

We are a group of women on a health journey who would like 6 tickets to your show. Written below is an introduction to who we are and why we would like to be part of your audience for one of your shows in September or October 2003.

Mariette Melo aka: Cyan
I am a single woman of 32 years of age. I am on a health journey that has brought me to a wonderful site called 3FatChicks where I have met the best group of ladies and together we are slowly changing our bodies to reflect the wonderful healthy, sexy womene we are.

We are planning our first meeting ever and we would like it to be as part of your audience. We feel that you are an amazing role model for women. Therefore, we would like to have tickets to your show sometime in september or october 2003.

Lisa Smith aka: Lisathemommy
I am a 27 year old wife and mother of two children. Since my daughter was born more than 5 years ago, I have been struggling with my weight. I’ve tried Weight Watchers, LA Weight Loss, Body For Life, Carbohydrate Addicts Diet, The Zone, and countless other diet fads that pop up all the time. While some have been moderately successful at first, in the end I always gain it back. It’s a frustrating cycle especially because it has seemed the one thing in my life I just can’t control. This struggle has made me feel as if I am a failure. I haven’t been able to rise above it and win. Until now…

In September I began going to the gym that I have had a membership to for three years now. At first I was only doing things on my own spending about 30 to 45 minutes so that I would feel like I was doing SOMETHING. But…I was all alone. I didn’t have friends with the same weight problems or with the same health goals as myself. There was no one motivating me everyday . I desperately needed support.

One day in October, I was surfing the internet, looking for a website that someone had mentioned at one my Weight Watcher’s meetings back when I was doing Weight Watchers. It was called Three Fat Chicks on a Diet. At first I could not find it. I kept looking. Finally, there it was on my screen. I began investigating only out of curiosity and boredom. One of the many features on the website was Forums, where members can post messages to other members. I checked out a few different threads but never clicked with anyone. The next day I got a personal message from a member called Cyan. She invited me to the thread she had started in her Forum. Instantly, we all hit it off. To this day, I cannot explain the impact these few women have had in my life. I find myself thinking about them while doing my grocery shopping, remembering a suggestion one of them had for a low fat snack, or when I’m feeling too tired to go to the gym, I tell myself, “I can’t let the girls down! I have to go!” Over the Holidays, we had a Holiday Maintaining Goal. The goal was to not gain over the holidays. It was wonderful to have support through the Holiday Season when eating is all you want to do!

I have become very close to these women. I feel as if they are all my next door neighbor. I talk to them everyday. They have kept me going and given me support and I, in turn, have been able to give them support and offer advice, which has only strengthened my resolve to become a healthier, thinner, and stronger person. As this new year has begun, so have our new goals. Right now we are working on a weekly weight loss goal until June 30th. We have several “mini” goals to help us get there. One other big goal for the year is for us to meet. We have our hearts set on meeting in Chicago and going to the Oprah Show together. We all feel that you, Oprah, are an inspiring role model for all women across the world, not only in weight loss, but in being a great person and woman. Thank you for that and we hope to be able to see you this fall!


Debee aka:Debee
I have just embarked on a life changing journey. Every since I had my first child 8 years ago I have been lugging around an extra 30 pounds. I have joined Weight Watchers, tried all the fad diets, and woke up every morning vowing to change my eating habits. So far nothing has worked.

One day I decided to see if there were any diet groups on the internet that sounded interesting. I came across a web site called "3 Fat Chicks on a Diet." I loved the name and thought I would give it a try. Well, little did I know that with a click of a button I was going to change my life.

I really believe that if you ask God for something he usually delivers and this time he gave me the support I needed to achieve my goal. My new internet friends are God sent. Although I have only know them a few months I feel that these
women will be friends of mine for a very long time.

On my weight loss journey I sometimes get sidetracked. However, I know my friends will keep me going in the right direction and help me make my goal. We are planning to meet for the first time this fall in Chicago at your show. By then I am sure we will be thinner, happier and even better friends.

I don't think our journey will ever have a destination but instead will continue for a long time to come. Our Oprah Chicago trip is the first stop on our journey maybe we will plan a get together every year. Thank you and hope we can be there in the fall.

Kriss Dunn aka:LadyRider
Last year my doctor told me I had hypertension and high cholesterol. I would get out of breath just walking up stairs. I was 50lbs over weight and just plain tired of being fat when I made the decision to lose weight and get healthy. I started eating healthy foods and began exercising, but it was finding friendship and support through the Exercise, Diet and Support group that really made the difference. Without the friendship and occasional cyber kick from the women on this list I would never have reached this level of success. Although we differ in ages, backgrounds and lifestyles, we have bonded and become friends. Each day we are there for each other and share our mutual dedication to help each other to get healthy.

Oprah is a strong positive role model for women everywhere. She understands what it is to fight obesity and I can’t imagine a better place for us to finally meet in person than at the Oprah show.

Reina aka:Reina_Mia
I have always thougth of you as a great role model for women, so I am writing this letter in hope of you fullfilling a request for us.

There are 5 women who will be meeting each other for the first time since early Oct '02. We have only talked via chat and forums. These women are all Heros in their own way and I think you should know about them. They are true Angels.

I have been battling a weight issue for over 12 years now. I have tried every diet under the sun and to no avail, never succeeded at any of them. I have never taken accountablity for any of my weightloss failures. Then I decided to accept myself the way I was, but that didn't work for me either.
In 2002, I decided that it was time for me to take charge of my life and do something to make me feel better about myself and help me keep up with my son.
One day I was surfing the net and found a website called "3 Fat Chicks on a Diet". Of course, I was curious so I surfed some more and found some great forums with tons of information. Then I came across this group and was immediately invited to join them. I am glad I did. These few women that I have met in this group have given me something that I have never had before; Motivation & Determination to succeed! These ladies, have taught me to be accountable for my actions and have given me direction in my weightloss journey.

I have always felt like a failure because of my weight and inability to get rid of it. But now, I hold my head up high and am not afraid to challenge my self to weekly and monthly goals. The group has decided to maintain a weekly weightloss goal of 1.35 lbs. Together I know we can do this. These women are on my mind every day, when I look at the candy bar in the convenience store, or when I am ready to grab the next Coke out of the company refridgerator, I won't do it, because I know I have to make them as proud as them make me feel. I can't tell you how proud I am to be a part of this group and to be able to help them like they have helped me oh so many times. I can't wait to meet them here in Chicago in Sept '03. We all decided that visiting Oprah Show would be a great celebration of our Journey. If you could so kind as to help us complete this milestone in our lives, we would be so grateful.

Miki Goodwin aka:MikiG
Like you, I have had a battle with my weight for years. Unlike most though, I've never tried diet pills or any of the "Lose weight while you sleep" schemes. I've always been determined to lose it in a way that would be healthy and permanent. As hard as I have tried, before now, I have never been able to succeed for long. Finally, I found the answer and just had to share it with you!

One day as I leafed thru a magazine, I came across an article that listed several online sites concerning weightloss. Each site included message boards or forums where others like me could meet and share their stories--failures and successes alike. I was immediately drawn to 3FatChicks.com. I loved the catchy name ( I was sure I could fit in with a name like that), but to be honest, I chose it first because it was the only FREE one listed. That nite I joined and posted a short paragraph about myself asking if anyone would like to buddy-up with me. I also answered a post someone else had left. By the next nite, I was thrilled to see that my "thread' and the one I had answered had already grown by several replies. I began posting and replying nightly in both groups. We soon realized that the same group of women were posting on both threads so Cyan, whom I consider our leader, suggested combining into one group which we did. Since then, we meet everyday with our progress, how much we've exercised or not, how much and what we've eaten, etc. We not only share weight issues, tho; we share LIFE issues. You can't imagine the bond we have all acquired since that first night.

These women have become a huge part of my life. Their encouragement, support, inspiration, and the occasional virtual kick in the rear when needed is what keeps me on this journey to newfound freedom from the hold food has always had on me. The mutual accountability and sense of responsibility for each other is awesome. Anytime I do fail and skip my exercise or binge, etc. I immediately afterward feel like I have not only disappointed myself but my friends who try so hard to hlep me. I confess. they forgive and forget of course, but not without first inspiring me to keep on keeping on. We stay completely honest even when that is tough, and everyone seems to always know what I need, whether it's a pep talk, the virtual kick I mentioned earlier, or just a cyber hug of understanding.

I cant wait to see what we have accomplished a year from when we started this journey. Someone had the exciting idea that we should all meet in person at that time. It was unanimous that the Oprah show would be the perfect place. I have a slight problem tho...I dont think there is anyway that my husband will let me fly across the country to a place where I dont know a soul to meet a group of people who to him are strangers. I am just going to be sick if this meeting takes place without me!! Your staff has been able to accomplish seemingly near impossible things so maybe they could help me out in convincing him?? Seriously tho, whether or not I am able to be there physically, I will be there in spirit. These ladies are a part of me. We are all different heights and weights, different ages, and come from all over, yet we are the same. Together, failure isnt an option. Success is inevitable!! And we'd absolutely love to celebrate our success with you!

Sincerely
Mariette, Lisa, Debee, Chris, Reina and Miki

Please send tickets and response to

Reina
your address here

Just a quick note .... Miki I really enjoyed chatting with you last night and I am sure you will be coming with us to Chicago...you are part of the team.

Reina is it okay if you send the letter and call for the tickets? Let us know if you are okay with that...and there is no pressure to say that it is...I think Lady and Lisa said they would be happy to send the letter....You ladies rock:D

Okay, I am off to have something to eat...I will post at the end of the day with my calorie consumption and exercise regime

Big hugs to all and eat good food and exercise...we have healthy thin bodies waiting

Cyan

Hi, just got home from our new vacation house at the lake. It had snowed there are few days ago so to get into the front door we had to shovel. I guess I was able to burn at least a few calories
shoveling. It was very relaxing we built a fire and even the kids got along. Food wise I tried to be good. Saturday night we went out for pizza and I ordered a salad and just ate one slice of cheese pizza. I didn't eat any food after 8p.m. since the cabin is not fully stocked with snacks. However, I did have a few glasses of wine in front of the fire.

I was thinking that maybe to reward ourselves and not make it feel that we are on a "diet" we should have a one "freebie cheat food" during the week. This may help us not to binge since we won't feel guilty like we blew it and then feel we can devour the house. Here's a few of my "cheat foods" ( I will eat only one a week though!)

small order of fries
chocolate bar
glass of wine
slice cheese pizza

The letter to Oprah sounds great. Is Tiawan going? Where is she?
Bye for now I'll try to talk later.

Hello Everyone,

I have had a pretty decent weekend as far as eating is concerned. I have stayed within my 1500 calorie range, and today I went shopping for all those snack foods that I can use to replace my evening munchies with, without feeling guilty.

Cyan,
I have no problem at all sending the letter and doing the calling. I have already looking into hotels and I am working with a Health Club to see if we can use their facility to work out the days that we are here together.

Just let me know when we have everyone's letter and I will take it from there.

Have we all figured out what dates are best for us. There is only one problem with a weekend visit. Oprah only tapes her shows on Mon-Wednesday. She tapes two shows on these days to cover the rest of the week. So if we can decide on a time frame and maybe add Monday as the last and final day here, that would be great.

Let me know what everyone decides on.

Thanks

I just finished chatting with you...and you are amazing...keep being the person you are...cause you simply rock

I think the letter is finished, it just needs to be printed and sent...and reservations for tickets are done by phone only...as per her website....she has a phone number to call for reservations which I have included in one of my earlier posts.

Anytime is good for me...so dont worry about me...I think this will be great and lots of fun to do...so count me in.

Today my calorie intake was 1402 and 33 grams of fat, I have exercised for 40 minutes ..cycled and danced and burned off 303 cals...so today was a good day thus far...now the challenge begins...no eating after 8pm...talk to you guys tomorrow


Cyan

A monday would be best for me for the trip. Like reina said maybe we could make it a long weekend--friday, sat, sun, mon?

I was just going through an old diet journal I had and came across some stuff I thought might be helpful...


What is hunger?

* lightheadnesss
*loss of energy
*slight headache
*food tastes wonderful

What is NOT Hunger

*searching to satisfy a craving
*oral need to chew due to anger or anxity
*thirst

In my food journal I listed the time of day, food ate, how my body felt after I ate it, and what my mind said. I also listed any activity I did and the overall mood of the day. I also included some motivational saying to think about during the day. Here are some of my favorites. Maybe we could start a thought for the day?

"You create all that you are"
"Things do not change, we do" Thoreau
"Believe you will have it and you will have it"
"Set a goal. Have every step take you in that direction."
"Habit is overcome by habit"
"Start by doing what's necessary, then do whats possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible" St. Francis

MY FAVORITE
"We are the sum of our choices" Maybe this could be our thought for the next couple of days. Next time we reach for the cookie just think " We are the sum of our choices"

Hey girls. How has everyone's weekend been? Mine has been okay. Yesterday my daughter came downstairs in a panic saying her hands were getting fat. I took a look and sure enough, her fingers were swelling to 3 times their normal size. I started to freak out. I didn't have any Benadryl, so we made a quick trip to Walgreens and got some. It really helped and now her hands are back to normal. I have no idea what caused the swelling though. We spent half the day at the in-laws. Jeff (dear hubby) and I went to the movies and saw Star Trek Nemesis. We really like Star Trek (but we're not Trekkers), we are normal people.:dizzy:
Today was church and dinner at the in-laws. I was able to get some help from the wonderul ladies at church for this week and my upcoming surgery on Tuesday. People are bringing dinner on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I was also able to talk to a couple of ladies who have had the surgery already and they were able to fill me in on what I could expect. Tonight I'm getting a head start on laundry and tomorrow I'm cleaning the whole house so I will have a relaxing environment to recover in. :^:

Cyan, I already copied and pasted the letter so please let me go ahead and be the one to send it. I started editing spelling and such.

Debee, I lilke the one free food a week. However, I need to think really hard about what I want my free food to be. Can it be different each week? Then, I could give myself that treat to look forward to each week. Great idea!.

Okay, that's all for now. I'm going to crawl into bed tonight and just relax.

See y'all later!

Lisa

Hi everyone! I've had a good weekend and sounds like everyone else has also. It was a blast chatting with LadyRider, Reina, and Taiwain tonite! Lisa, I hate that I seem to miss you everytime. Cyan, it was great chatting with you last nite also! Just makes this all seem even more personal, dont ya think?

Calories today were a little over 1200. Did my AirWalker but only did it for 10 minutes. Tomorrow school begins again, which means ballgame time again. We have ballgames ( in town tho ) tomorrow nite and also Tues nite this week. I hope to get back in time to post tho.

This morning at church, this was in the bulletin, and my first thought was that I should share it here.

A New Year's Prayer

May God make your year a happy one
Not by shielding you from all sorrow and pain
But by strengthening you to bear it as it comes
Not by making your path easy
But by making you sturdy to travel any path
Not by taking hardships from you
But by taking fear from your heart
Not by granting you unbroken sunshine
But by keeping your face light even in shadows
Not by making your life always pleasant
But by showing you when people and their causes need you most and by making you anxious to be there to help.
God's love, peace, hope and joy to you for the year ahead.

I thought that was really meaningful. Hope ya'll enjoyed it also.

Lisa, good luck with your surgery in case I dont get to chat with you before then!! I'll be thinking of you and you are in my prayers. Be careful and dont overdo it when you get home. It's easy to think you feel ok and then do something and realize afterward that you arent quite as strong as you may seem at first. I know you'll do great and once it's all over, you'll be able to get on with your workouts full steam ahead!

Well, gotta run for now. Everyone, have a great Monday! Talk to you soon

MIKI

Lisa...I wish you lots of good energy and a speedy recovery and a text book surgery....I send you an extra big hug for taking the initiative and editing the letter...please do your thing and send it off...cant wait for fall 2003.

Miki...glad you are doing well...and kudos on your for getting on that airwalker.

Debee...the cheat food sounds great..although I am afraid of it because if I get out of control ...it may cause me to binge... I will have to do a taste test:s: to see.:lol:

Lisa once again, lots of good energy for your surgery and may your angels guide you through it without a hitch....I will say a prayer for you

Have a great day

Cyan

Happy Monday Everyone.

Lisa, since you are gonna send the letter, here is my address to send the tickets, they may want to send them local. You never know!
Reina Fernandez - 2236 N. Laramie - Chicago, IL 60639

I will start the calling process. My husband was giving me some great ideas, so I am sure you women will be impressed when you get here.

I had a great night, it was so much fun talking to you all this weekend. It sure kept me in shape. Cyan, thanks to you, I got up and did my Taebo!

Lisa, I am sure everything will go fine, you will be in our prayers and like Lady said, we will all be around you in spirit! You won't be alone, when you think you are, just think of us, we will all be holding your hand!


Have a great day everyone!

Reina...yay for you...TaeBo is hard...keep going...I am so proud of you...truly, you inspire me to keep going.

Well my day is just getting started so I will post at the end of the day to tell you how I did calorie wise and exercise wise.

I wish all of you a great day

Cyan

Lisa, I just wanted to write a quick note to wish you the best on Tuesday.

Reina ,thank you for doing all the leg work for the Oprah show.

Cyan, if we pick a cheat food that we get out and not have in the house then we won't binge.

Hi Everyone!:wave:
Lisa, Just want to wish you the best tomorrow. We will be right there with you, so try to relax and try to focus on all the months ahead where you will be pain free. :grouphug:

I was telling Bryan all about our plans for Chicago last night when he reminded me we are going to San Francisco the week of Sept 9. :o I will need to work at least a week before I ask for more time off, I really don't want to miss this most excellent weekend we have planned, so do you think we can ask for tickets the last week of Sept or anytime in October? Will that work for all of you? Sorry I didn't realize this sooner. :^:

Whew! I am psyched! What a great day! Bryan and I and two friends left at 9:30 this morning to ride our motorcycles to Daytona for the day. It was chilly (45 degrees) so we bundled up good, but it warmed up nicely by the time we got there so we had a beautiful ride and got home at 6pm. Lunch was at Wendy's. I had printed out the calorie and fat content of their menue from 3FC, so when we got there I whipped out my little list and ordered the grilled chicken sandwich (310c) with small fries (270c), and small rootbeer (160) for a total of 750 calories. I really wanted water, but it was lots cheaper to buy the combo than buy the sandwich and fries without a drink. I don't like diet coke, so decided the rootbeer was worth the whole 160 cal this time. Breakfast was a cup of home made chicken noodle soup (130). Strange, I know, but it was hot, quick and filling! So I still have lots of calories for dinner - which I had better eat pretty soon or it will be 8 o'clock and I will have lost my window of opportunity. ;) And, here's the best part ... I weighed myself after I got home and I was only 4oz more than I was this morning! YEA!

Have a great evening everyone!
:flow2:
Lady

It was so fun chatting with everyone the other day. Hope we can do it again soon.

Lisa, I wanted to first say that I will be praying for you here for your surgery. Everything will go fine. Take the rest, as much as you need to recuperate. Don't try to exercise too early.

Debee, a cheat food is a good idea. I will admit that I am not really strict on myself with foods. It would seem more like a diet then. I don't like the word diet--first 4 letters? DIE We'd starve to death:p I prefer to say I am altering my eating habits:lol: I am trying to limit myself to store bought (they have little stands everywhere here that sell teas) green tea to 3 times a week. And on the weekends, do to our crazy schedule with church activities and all, I am not as strict on myself, though I don't go overboard. I think one just needs to be careful that they don't often eat their cheat food.

Reina_Mia, so do you like Taebo? sounds like you are doing good keeping within your calorie range. Keep it up.

Cyan, so how did your day go? you are the exercise queen. I like to look at your messages and say, hey I can exercise like that too;) Kinda challenge myself to do it. How is your mom doing? Take care of yourself. Lifting you up in prayer.

Lady, where in Florida are you? In November we are traveling down to Ocala (where my grandmother used to live) to vist some churches and report our missionary work here. So you drive a motorcycle? How many CC's? We drive moped's/scooters here in Taiwan. Ours is 50cc:lol: It was interesting when I was 8.5months pregnant and our car was in the shop. My dh (I am taller than him) would take me to my prenatal appointments on our scooter. Actually, the day I went in for my cesarean section I arrived on scooter. Poor scooter:dizzy: Sounds like you did ok for breakfast and lunch. add some exercise and you are ok.

Miki, did we scare your dh away yesterday when we were chatting with him? Hey, doing your exercise for 10min is better than nothing right? Actually, that's how I started out, doing 10min a day. Did want to start out doing too much and burning myself out. Slowly find time for it. Me, I do exercise while everyone is taking their afternoon naps. I used to go walking after all were ready for bed. They would just wait with dh and he would have to deal with it:s: I like the prayer you posted. We need to pray that God gives us strength as we come up against many things in our lives. Not to take the things away, but strength to make it through. It will make us stronger.

Well, ladies, I did ok yesterday. But, dh ordered pizza for dinner and I had 3 or 4pieces (can't remember:o ) the pieces were small though:D I did exercise for 40min (20min. kick and jab; 20min circuit toning) and it felt good!! really sweated. Didn't eat anything after 8pm either. So I stuck with that. So all in all, it was a good day. I am wondering if I should wait til the 15th to weigh myself (my first personal short term goal) or just go ahead do it on Friday/Saturday?

Well, off to get ready for the day.

Hello ya'll! :)

Well, I did get up early enough this morning to fit in 10 min of AirWalking with plans to do more tonite. BUT, I ended up working til 7 pm, missed Josh's ballgame :(, had to cook for the family, and now just dont have it in me. It's almost 10 already. I promise I'll do more tomorrow tho.

Sorry this is so short, but this has been a very long day, and I'm ready for some downtime before heading to bed. Ballgame again tomorrow nite but I think I'll get back in time to post a little.

Bye for now..

MIKI

PS....No, Tawain, you didnt scare hubby. I think he actually enjoyed the chat..lol :)

Today I was bad bad bad...I ate way to many calories and only walked for 20 minutes outside...thats it...and I ate after 8pm...I binged....I ate and ate and ate..I wasnt even hungry...after 8, I had tuna, hardboiled egg, chocolate, pancake with syrup, diet coke...oh the shame:( I havent binged like this in awhile...I just feel stressed out...anxious...and this is what happened...I honestyly think there wasn't a thing I could have done to have stopped me...my mind was set, I just went into overdrive and ate ate ate...up until then, I was doing fine...I had a good breakfast and then a stir fry...vegetables for dinner...and then my friend brought out the brie with bagette and red wine..well that was the end...and when I got home, I continued the party in my mouth...I have to re-evaluate what went wrong and learn from this experience....this was very demoralizing for me...like a kick in the teeth...very upset and now, I also feel sick to my stomach because I have 2100 cals and 87 grams of fat in me and its too much food...I just feel like crying I am so upset...I feel like a loser...so I have aired out my feelings and now I will move on...tomorrow is another day and I will not binge....I cant afford to sabotage myself this way...I cannot fail.

Later Ladies

Cyan

Hey girls.

Cyan here you go....:o :o :o KICK!!!!!!! There, now pick yourself up, dust yourself off and remember that you are a strong and wonderful person. No one is perfect! We all have our bad moments.....or nights...or sometimes whole days!! You've learned from this experience and now you are more wise. :D

LadyRider, your bike ride sounds awesome. That's how my hubby won me over....his motorcycle. We used to just ride for hours not knowing or caring where we were going. Then we got married, I got pregnant and we sold it so we could buy a washer and dryer. :lol:

Thank you everyone for your prayers and thoughts! I am feeling a little overwhelmed and apprehensive. Got a great deal of cleaning done so I'll feel like my house is in order while I'm unable to do any housework. I check in at 10am and the surgery is at 11am. I will post again as soon as I am feeling up to it. Tomorrow will probably be a pretty rocky day! See y'all later!

Lisa:wave:

:wave: Everone!

Lisa, I am thinking of you! I know you are probably checking in right now, so I send you spiritual hugs...

Ladies,
I have to say, yesterday was horrible for me. I tried so hard not to think of food, but for some reason, I kept feeling as if I was hungry. When I would get up to get something, I would have to stop myself and see if I really am hungry, and to be honest, I wasn't. I just needed to eat something.....

Cyan, I totally understand how you can eat yourself into oblivian! I do that sometimes. No one said we were cured from Emotional Eating. That is one of our biggest stuggles in this group and together we will fight it. You have the right attitude about going forward and not dwelling in the past. I think I ate about 1700 calories yesterday in total, and walked about 35 minutes and that was it. So I am right up there with you.

Lady, A motorcycle ride in 45 degree weather, you are one brave cookie. My son wanted Wendy's yesterday so we stopped to get him a chicken meal, and of course, I had to sneak 2 nuggets and a couple of fries:s:

Taiwan, I really like Taebo, it keeps my hearrate up and I feel it working the muscles.. I haven't figured out when I am weighing in, I am afraid if I do it on Friday, and I do good, I will sabotage it by eating bad on the weekend. How does Mondays or Wednesdays sound????

Everyone have a HEADSTRONG DAY, WE ALL DESERVE THAT!
:grouphug:

I am sorry, but I just had to post, with this current accomplishment.

I went to Subway today for everyone here at work and we took advantage of the footlong deal, so I bought a footlong, thinking that I would eat half of it later for dinner.

Well, as I said earlier, it is hard for me to stop thinking about food. Especially when it is right in front of me. As I was eating my half of sandwich, I should have just put the other half away right away, but I left it on the wrapper, now my stomach was telling me it was full, but because the sandwich tasted so good I was so temped to eat at least part of the other half.

WELL GUESS WHAT! WILLPOWER KICKED IN:cb: :jig:

Can you believe it, the very thing that I lack and it kicked it and I didn't touch the other half of the sandwich! I am so proud of myself! See what you all have done for me! With all your help, you have made me find the willpower to keep stong and keep going!

Earlier I posted that I ate about 1700 calories last night, well that was a guess!
After loading all my food info into Fitday, I only had 1510 cals for the day and 33gms of fat. Wow, so much for guessing. Next time don't be so hard on yourself until you do the math!

I also didn't eat after 9pm, so that was day one for the week!
Can we see what day 2 brings!

Have a blessed day!

Great job Reina! Doesn't it make you feel great when you win control over the eating beast? We all know that somedays that beast will win but remember those are only day to day battles we will win the war!

Cyan, please don't despair. I think we all fight the urge to binge. You must get the chocolate out of the house. If you binge, binge on low fat snacks, popcorn, carrot sticks, ect....Stop that party in your mouth! Investigate what triggered the binge--what stressed you out, what time of day did you binge, how could you have avoided it (maybe a SOS to us ) Don't beat yourself up. Every day we will get stronger and our willpower will get stronger. Replace the habit of binging with the habit of exercise, mediation, yoga or journaling. I guess I am writing this as much for me as for you because this is a problem I face everyday.

Ladyrider I just hope I can be as cool as you are when I grow up. I think it is great you ride motorcycles. I have always been such a chicken to ride even a moped.

taiwan, I love green tea. I even read somewhere that green tea helps you lose weight. Why are you limiting it to 3 times a week?

Lisa, hope all went well and you are resting and recovering.

Miki, I am signing Jake my youngest up for t-ball tonight so I can relate with the games.

Well ladies, yesterday went ok, except for the McDonald's:o but the for dinner I just had a whole grain steamed bread and a serving of soup (total of about250calories ). Didn't exercise yesterday either. Such is life:lol:

Cyan, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and say, oh well try again. Seriously, it's probably not the first time this has happened and probably won't be the last time it will happen either. Don't beat yourself up about it, learn from it. And occassional slip up isn't going to be detrimental to your losing weight. You have already gone through alot since Christmas, so really don't be so hard on yourself.

Reina--great job about not eating the other half. If it was me I'd probably say, well, it's just sitting there. I know what you mean about your mouth just needing something. I think I am going to try sugar free gum instead. And you exercised too, that is so important. You keep going girl!!

Debee-- well, if green tea doesn't have any sugar in it and it made full strength (very bitter) then it's good things come out. Here in Taiwan, little stands are all over the place where you can buy just about any kind of drink, taste like homemade tea, but with sugar. So that's why I am limiting myself, to the stuff with sugar. Actually I am trying at night/before bed to have a cup of herbal tea--I love lavendar tea and I also have green tea/jasmine combo and rose tea. DH started drinking coffee. It smells good, but to me just rips up my stomach--weird isn't it?

Lisa-hope you are feeeling ok. Praying for you.

MikiG--how did your son's game go tonight? I saw your name on msn and thought it was you. It was your hubby.

Lady--how is Florida right now? My grandmother has had it with the Delaware weather I guess and is traveling down to visit her friends. She is driving by herself, which scares me knowing how she drives:lol:

Well , my day has started off fine. Josiah was up at 6:30am for a bottle (early for him) and then acted sleepy again. So I put him in bed with Luke (dh) and got dressed and did my exercise. I read someplace that it's good to exercise before breakfast, so let's hope they are right;) Right now enjoying my breakfast drink and bar. WE'll see how the rest of the day goes

I think Aunt Flo is coming (they call it MC--monthly cycle--here in Taiwan) so I am going to need to watch out for that chocolate craving. Though my body has been a little weird since starting this exercise and new eating style thing. Can't quite figure it out, and not sure which dr to go to. Oh, well, we'll see



have a great one ladies

(((((((((((Cyan))))))))))) There ya go...thats a big hug from me. Lisa took care of the kick but we need both when we make a mistake that we learn from. :) I have no doubt that you did great today because of how you felt last nite after the binge. And if not...guess what, it still isnt the end of the world. Tomorrow is a new day!

I havent calculated calories yet. I am kinda scared to. I only had one meal today but was it a good one!! I had Chicken and dumplings and Fried okra with a roll..YUMMMMMMMMMM!! Wonder how much that cost me. I was planning on eating a salad tonite but it's 10 til 8 now so I havent decided for sure. Depends I guess how high in calories the lunch was. I'll come back and report when I know for sure. I just finished 10 min on the AirWalker that I definitely did not want to do. Came in from the ballgame, made a pot of chili, which I almost ate but held off, then got on the AirWalker while everyone else was eating. Still not back up to walking as long as I need to be, but I feel I've accomplished something just doing 10 min when I really really wanted to do NONE...lol

Well, going to log in my food for today. I"ll probably be back later on.

MIKI

I'm so excited!! Wasnt as bad as I thought today....my calories totalled 1068 with 53 grams of fat. I think I may go ahead with my salad even tho it's 8:15 now. I dont want to get in the habit of keeping the calories quite that low.

Hello everyone!!! I didnt mean to slight anyone. Somehow when I was here a few minutes ago, I missed the entire page 5. All I saw was Cyan's post.

Reina....GREAT JOB!!!!!!! :bravo: I am so proud of you! See--you learned from yesterday already!

Tawain, sorry I missed you on messenger tonite. Phil said you were online when he signed in. Josh's team won tonite..yeah...even tho he only got to play the last 30 seconds. lol ( He's the youngest on the team...13, on a team with ages 13 to 15 so he's used to it )

Debee, Tball is sooo much fun!! They are so cute at that age!

Lisa, I know you wont see this today, but you'll catch up reading all the posts when you get home so wanted to say again I'm praying for you and I know you'll feel great soon!

LadyRider...missed seeing a post from you today. I hope things have gone well with you. Hurry back. :)

Well, I think I got everyone that time. Going now to get that salad. Ya'll have a good day tomorrow..and remember..

With this group, Failure isnt an option and Success is inevitable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

:dancer:
MIKI

Guess what?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got offline to go fix my salad and somehow the refrigerator dial had gotten bumped and the lettuce was frozen. I took that as a hint that I should stick to my "no eating after 8" challenge. You wont believe what I did next...I can barely believe it myself. I got back on that AirWalker and did another 15 minutes instead!:cb: :cp: :cb: That is a total of 25 min compared to my usual 10 min lately!! YESSSSSSSSSS!! I have sweat running down my cheek as I type lol ( and poor hubby is freezing to death wanting to turn up the heat:lol: ) Anyway, I just had to come back to share that with all of you. YOU ALL ARE THE BEST! YOU WERE WHAT INSPIRED ME TO GET BACK ON THAT AIRWALKER...THANK YOU!!!THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!

MIKI:D

You go girl!!! It will only get easier too. Sweat those pounds off:-)

Sorry it looks like I'm monopolizing the thread tonite but I keep thinking of things to say.:dizzy:

Cyan, I'm getting worried about you. I didnt see a post from you which is very unusual. Please dont let last nite get you down and hurry back in and let us know how things are going. I have done exactly what you did so many times I could never count them all so you definitely are not alone in what you're going thru. We are here for you thru thick and thin ( hopefully more THIN then THICK lol) so let us support you thru this the way you are so great at supporting and encouraging us! You are such an important part of us and when you arent here, it is just not the same. I miss you!!

Ok, now I promise I'll shut up and let someone else type awhile!

MIKI
:tape:

Hey Ladies...Thank you so much for your hand holding, hugs and kicks, your words of wisdom, your words of encouragement...You guys are simply amazing...you should be very proud of yourselves for being good listeners, good sympathizers and yes, good friends...I can't wait to meet all of you...truly

Ok, today I did a cleansing of my system, I made myself a lemon grass thai soup...very light and ate that all day...I feel much better...I also walked outside again for 20 minutes and did 10 minutes of weight lifting....I got on the scale this morning and I havent done any damage...phew...what a relief...I have these binging cycles...but I think I am getting out of this one...thanks again for all your support...it has reinspired me to keep trying.

Miki Miki Miki...I am so proud of you...you are so determined...I felt so good reading your post and seeing how good you felt about yourself...I actually felt your happiness....which brings me to...

Reina...this goes double for you because I know what you are feeling when you binge and how good it must have felt to not eat that second half of the sandwich...you rock...a big tap on your back.

Hey Debee..how are you doing on your plan...are you doing ok, any rough spots you want to chair or good moments?

Taiwan...I know too well about those chocolate cravings except mine are all the time:lol: How is your exercising coming along?

LadyRider...hope your day went well

and Lisa...I know your surgery went well, with all the good energy sent your way, you'll be as good as new in no time... I send you a big hug

So are we weighing this friday?

Thanks again for your support, :grouphug:

Cyan

hi everyone
It's 2:30 in the morning and I can not sleep. I went to bed around 9:30 because I was not feeling well. I just woke up and I got my period and I have a bad headache so I thought I would write.

Miki and Reina should be our poster girls for willpower and determination this week! Let's try to "feed" off their drive.

As far as my diet and the past few days have been going I have had my ups and downs. I have tried to not eat after 8 p.m. and three out of five days I have suceeded. The other days after 8p.m. I just had special K cereal. I also really tried cutting down on butter. I also increased my walking and tried to drink a bottle of flavored seltzer water a day (I don't like plain water) However, we did go out to eat Monday night ( a new Italian restarant opened in the neighborhood and is so good. I only ate half my meal and took the rest home in a doggy bag.

I am upset with myself because I have not had the time to fix MSN messenger or do the digitail camerea stuff yet. I would really love to chat with all of you. Since I am the only one who you have not seen yet I thought that if anyone wanted to give me their regular address I would just mail them my picture( just e-mail me at jimanddeb@netcarrier.com) I promise to send it out as soon as I get your address. By the way if any one is ever passing through or visting near Philly I would love it if you would stop by. Taiwan I know you said you are from Delaware if you re planning coming to the states anytime soon please let me know.

On the positive side my new scale said I lost 3% bodyfat but I am not sure if I believe it maybe it was just because I got my period and my weight and bodyfat is off. It also said I gained a pound. I'll wait until Friday to weigh in for the real results.

Reina, my husband told me he has a business trip to Chicago tomorrow. It's just a lunch meeting and then he flys home the same day. Sometimes the kids and I go with him on longer trips. Maybe if he goes has to go back he can have a friday meeting and the kids and I could go along and make it a long weekend.
This past November we went to Puerto Rico for a client daughters wedding. It was unbelieveable the wedding had 800 people, three bands, and was black tie and evening gowns. Sometimes I like the perks of my husbands job!

My husband has a high pressure job and sometimes it is hard because he works late and travels. I sometimes feel like a single mom raising my kids. My family is all in Connecticut or Florida so I don't have much of a support system for help. It is overwhemling and I feel sometimes I don't have time for me. One of my new resolutions is to take time for myself and not feel guilty about it. Thursday I am treating myself to a spa day. I am getting a massage and a seaweed wrap. In march my girlfriend and I are going to tea at the four seasons in Philly and then to a new art exhibit at the Philly museum. I usually only do things for the family so this is a change for me (( I think it might be a reason I gained the weight).

Once again sorry about the long post...My head is still pounding and I seem to be rambling......sorry.

Hey Debee, it was nice to read a about you...it was like getting a glimpse at the real Debee and how she lives her life. Philly is not that far away from Montreal...so if I'm bored:lol: I may show up to say hello....It sounds like you have a wonderful husband and children...and yes, its a great idea to think of yourself too...having your own time is very important not only to you but to your family...it seems like you are looking at all aspects of why you gained weight and going about it the right way to take it off...so its a journey you are on...you will succeed.

Well, my day is about to begin so I will get going, I will post later to tell you lovely ladies how I have done today...but I can already guess it will be a good one, I feel in control again...so, no binging for me today.

Cyan

Good Morning Ladies!
I hope everyone is having a great day, I am exceptionally well, I am feeling the fruits of my labor! I am happy, and motiviated and charged to do this and do it right!
I decided to treat myself to coffee today and a donut, and I promised myself I would stay within 350 calorie range for breakfast, I usually have Special K with berries and low-fat milk!
And once again, I shewwed away the 2nd donut that comes with the special and gave it to a co-worker!

I want to thank all you ladies for your kudos that were sent my way, it feels really nice to be acknowledged for your hard work! I tell my husband that everyday!

Lisa, I know you have come out of that surgery with flying colors, and we are here for you when you get back, just take your time! You will need your rest and you should not be moving around that much!

Taiwain, You have me craving tea's. I have never been a tea person, but I think I may start them, what recommendation do you have???
Oh, and this is what I learned about gum, When you are hungry, you should not be eating gum. The chewing sensation creates a reaction for your stomach and your brain makes the stomach believe that it will be receiving food, so you start to get hunger pains in your belly and all the while it makes you more hungry!
I only chew gum for a few minutes and spit it out now! This is just something a friend told me and I think it is true!

Miki, aren't you proud of yourself????:cb: Because I know I am! You are doing a great job, and I know together we will be hitting those goals like there were nothing to begin with! You keep going with your BAD self and sweat it all off!!:bravo: Good for you with the no eating after 8pm! You rock!

Debee,
I am dying to go to Philly! A friend of mine moved to Berwyn, PA and she has been asking me to go up there! I would love to. It would be great if you came down with your hubby for the weekend, we can do lunch and maybe something with the kids!
You have to tell me how Tea went, I have always wanted to do that. Do you wear the white gloves and everything??? I think I saw an episode on the Sopranos where the mother and daughter went and had tea and they had to wear the gloves. I thought that was soooo cool!

Cyan, the body cleansing was a nice thing to do for yourself and your mind. It puts it at ease doesn't it? That lemongrass soup sounds really really good. Any recipe you can share with us! I think we all have these binging cycles, pretty soon, are cycles are all gonna be around the same time!:dizzy:

Lady, What is Florida like in April and May. We are thinking of going back to Disney World, but I am not sure about the weather! What do you think? How far are you from Orlando? Maybe if you are close we can meet for lunch one day!

Well, I have used Fitday regularly now and yesterday my calories were at 1486 and fat was at 42gms.
I am planning on working out today so we will see what I burn today!

You all have a great day!

Hi,

Still`not feeling great today. I woke up this morning with the same headache however, once I had some coffee I started to feel better. I had a salad for lunchand some cottage cheese with horseradish and rye crisp. For dinner I had a cup of bean soup and a cup of pasta. For dessert I had a chocolate covered pretzel stick. I can tell that I might binge tonight so I better be careful. If I binge I am only going for carrots, rye crisp, hummus---no choclate coverd pretzels.

I spent most of the day making phone calls. My four year old son, Jake has a speech delay and I am looking into Pre-kindergarten programs for him. I take him to speech three times a week and I hope that if he has an extra year before kindergarten he will be better prepared.

Cyan and Reina, I would love it if you could visit (actually that goes for all of you) Maybe next years trip could be here. I'll send the husband and kids away for a long weekend and I'll host a reunion at my house. I live in a town called Gwynedd Valley it's about 25 minutes outside of Philly. Although we are close to the city we live in an area that has many horse farms. There's lots to do around here--Bucks county is close as well as Longwood gardens both are beautiful places but best of all Philly has one of the top french resturants in the country--Le Bec Fin. If everyone comes here we'll do lunch there (when we are all nice and skinny)
They bring out a dessert cart and allow you to pick out as many as you want!!! Talk about temptation.

Lisa, I hope to hear from you soon!

Taiwan, do you have any good low fat chinese recipes?

Lady, hope all is well.

reina, I don't think we'll be wearing gloves to the tea--I'll have to call my friend. But you gave me an idea maybe I'll buy a cool hat.

Miki, keep up the good work! Motivation is key.

Well, yesterday (Wed.) I went to the dr cause I have some bleeding about 14th day in my cycle and it keeps going on and off until the day I should start. Wouldn't you know it---only 7%of women have this. It's called "little period". Just what I want:mad: Dr. says that it's not a lifetime thing and it actually should stop within 6months. Other than that all was fine. He (and his wife who helps out in the office) saw me and were like "Wow! Deana you've lost alot of weight!!" :D :D :D I was happy:D :D :D

My day went fine yesterday, nothing bad. For dinner, I fixed the gang fried rice and left over spaghetti (it was left over night!). I ate a whole grain steamed bread and only a spoonful of scrambled egg and sausage. That was probably the worst food I had. I didn't eat anything after 8pm again

right now it's 9:40am, I've already exercised for 20min of kick and jab and around 10min of upperbody and legs toning (my own, no tape). The rest of the day should be good.

Debee--I wish I knew of low fat Chinese recipes:^: Everything here is fried or slothered in soysauce. though the veggies I eat at lunch (we usually go out since it's cheap to eat here) are placed in boiling broth then have garlic mixed with them. I am learning though. If I find anything, I'll share;)


Reina--thanks for the gum tip. I have never noticed it before, but it does make sense. AS for tea, depends, if you want a good nights sleep, drink Chammomile tea or lavendar. For awhile here, the big rage was green tea powder in yogurt (turned out didn't really help much). Jasmine tea is supposed to be good for digestion. Though something I've noticed about Chinese (and trying to do) is they don't drink anything with their meals. They may have soup after they finish eating or drink something after they are done. Now, I have read that this is good for you to do that as drinking before a meal or before halfway done interferes with the digestion juices. hey, worth a try right?

Well, ladies, I hate to cut this short but dh is down here now and can watch josiah so I can go get a shower. It's almost 10am and my oldest is still sleeping! He doesn't take a nap and is in bed by 9:30pm.

Talk to you later

Hello everyone, Ok, I am online trying to find nutritional values for crab legs and shrimp.
Yes, we went to Hooters again! It seems like we go once a month. Actually the last time I was there was in November!
I had a lb of crab legs, and 8 Fried :devil: hot shrimp! I know, but that is better than the fried chicken legs No???????

So I hope everyone is doing good. You know, my husband said today that he too can not wait for you all to come here, he said he is very excited for me, and he sees the difference you women have had in my life...
I am so glad I have a husband like him! He is constantly giving me ideas for our little weekend in the fall. So Ladies, hold on to your seat, because Chicago is gonna be on Fire in Sept.!

Have a great one!

Ok, I have good news and bad news. Good news first of course....today's calories totaled 1670 and I did my AirWalker 30 minutes.:cp: BUT...as I was reading Reina's post of her total and she had listed her fat grams, I remembered I hadnt checked that part in Fitday so I went back to look. Oh my gosh!!!!!!! This is the highest my fat grams have EVER been since I started!!! 101 fat grams:fr: And the bad part is, most of it came from salad dressing!! I love salads....actually had 2 big ones today each with 3 tablespoons of dressing. They have a total of 8 grams per tbs so just on my salads, I had 48 grams of fat!! Always before, I have used FatFree dressing, but I had this great idea yesterday that "Hey, if all I'm eating is a huge bowl of lettuce, fat free cheese, and a few pieces of grilled chicken on it, that is very few calories so I can afford to have the tastier dressing" I have definitely learned my lesson on that one!! I almost died when I saw the # 101. I thought I surely had logged something wrong but nope, it was right.:stress: Anyway, I'll know better next time.

Looks like everyone is still doing well with their eating. Tawain, glad your dr visit was ok. Debee, hope you get to feeling better soon! Reina, that shrimps sounds great! I havent had shrimp in ages.

Well, Cyan just signed in so I think I"ll go say hello to her on messenger. Nite all. :)

MIKI

Oops..Cyan, your status shows "away" so in case I dont get to chat with you, I wanted to let you know I am very glad things are back to normal for you. I was relieved to get back and find that you had posted. Just chalk that binge up to an experience with another lesson learned and let's carry on. :)

Miki

:yikes: HOLY :censored: :yikes:

I have to exercise at least 3 hours today! After lots of searching I found the calories and fat contents of my disaster dinner!

That is it, I refuse to go to Hooters, unless that is all I eat for the entire Day:o

Miki, Girl, don't feel bad! Are you ready for my numbers!!!!!

:devil: 1810 Calories 109gms FAT:devil:
My punishment will be to consume larges quantities of water and walk for my entire lunch break!!!!
I can see the calories fluctuating, but the fat content! That is uncalled for!

I feel like such an :moo:

Hi Ladies,
I have been lurking on here for a day or two and I was wondering if I could join your challenge of not eating after 8 PM and just checking in with each other regularly.

Betty

Welcome Lobacal...not eating after 8pm is a great challenge and feel free to join our group...we are inspired hard working and we will succeed...on our weight loss journey

Okay...looking forward to weighing myself tomorrow...I think its a good idea...it reinforces us to be accountable on a daily basis and it is a mini goal...I have been stuck at 167 for a while now and I am looking forward to forge ahead and lose for weight.

I did aerobics last night for 15 minutes, 10 minutes of cycling and 10 minutes of weight lifting...overall I did good...I was getting bored with just cycling and aerobics gets my heart rate higher...150 beats per minute as opposed to 130-140 with the cycling...I will vary it...on a weekly basis...keeps me interested.

Last night I had 1700 cals and 56 grams of fat...I exercised for 35 minutes to burn of 159 calories ..not a whole lot but my heart was conditoned better and so were my muscles...net cals are 1541.....I ate those bloody chocolates again...so today, the remaining will be thrown out...I am having a ceremony for them:lol:

Reina....I'm glad you are not going to hooters...you deserve better food, healthier food...you had a craving...but you had to pay the price...its too high the price...for now....here is my lemon grass soup recipe

4 cups of water
1 tbsp of fish oil...its thai...adds flavor...a must
1/2 tspn of green or red curry paste...thai again..you can buy it in a jar
1 large stock of lemon grass...you pound it to release the flavor before adding it to the stock (you can buy it fresh or in a jar) in a jar...use to stocks.
enough coriander/cilantro to add at the end
salt to taste
the juice of lemon or lime
mushrooms
green onion
a tomato


and thats it...very simple and very tasty...it cleans you out...I love it.


Miki I am soooooo proud...you go girl...ride that wave...and yes, those bloody salad dressings sure hide a lot of fat grams...and they are yummy tasting...have you ever looked into trying yogurt dressing very tasty and fat free

Cilantro Lime Yogurt Dressing




1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon minced scallions
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
salt to taste
In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, cilantro, scallions, and lime juice. Add salt to taste. Set aside for at least an hour to allow flavors to meld. Will keep 3 to 4 days in refrigerator

Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving: Calories 132 - Calories from Fat 4
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 3%, Protein 40%, Carbohydrate 57%
Totals and Percent Daily Values (2000 calories): Fat 0g, Saturated Fat 0g, Cholesterol 4mg, Sodium 563mg, Total Carbohydrate 19g, Dietary Fiber 0g, Protein 13g, Vitamin A 69 units, Vitamin C 6 units, Calcium 450 units, Iron 0 units

Bon appetit!

I have tried this at my friends house and it is amazing...very flavorful...if you are into salads..you gotta try this dressing...let me know...it also make a great veggie dip.


Taiwan...glad to hear you are doing well on your plan...and it must have felt the best when your doc and his wife noticed how much weight you have lost...what a source of encouragement...keep going...you inspire me to do the same...to keep going...kudos on you...pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

Debee I hope you are not battling anymore headaches today...and kudos to you for doing well on your plan too...keep going...I love reading about good days...it teaches me that it is possible to do this...if you can do it, I can do it...thanks for inspiring me.

Hi LadyRider...havent heard from you lately..I hope you are doing well and come post...you are awesome and it always brightens my day to hear from you...let us know how you are doing on your plan...I send you a big hug

Actually I send all of you a big hug....you all mean so much to me, I think of you often...especially when I am about to sabotage myself...its like have virtual angels saying, no Cyan, dont do it, think about it, walk it through...wait and the feeling to stuff your face will pass...it works 90 percent of the time...thank you for being here.

Lisa, I hope you are mending, I send you a big hug and lots of healing energy

Cyan

Cyan, Thanks for the recipe, Funny you should say fish oil. I have never seen a recipe with it until last night I was watching Emeril. I love cilantro, so this recipe caught my attention. I found it online and thought I would post it. It sounds wierd, but looked so good, and was so easy!

Lobacal, Welcome to the group.

Seared Shrimp Salad with Thai Palm Sugar Dressing



Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2002

1 head bibb lettuce, cored and leaves separated, washed and spun dry
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
1 mango, peeled, seeded and sliced
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons sliced shallots
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons Palm sugar, or light brown sugar, plus more to sprinkle on shrimp
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons packed chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons minced Serrano chilies
1/2 cup peanut oil
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled
4 teaspoons Essence, recipe follows
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch cayenne
1/4 cup chiffonade fresh mint, garnish
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions, garnish
Lay the lettuce leaves across a large platter. Arrange the cucumber, mango slices and shallots over the lettuce.

In a blender, combine the lime juice, shallots, fish sauce, sugar, garlic, cilantro, chiles, and peanut oil. Blend on high speed until well combined and the sugar is dissolved.

In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the Essence, salt, palm sugar, and cayenne to coat. Heat a wok or large, heavy, skillet over high heat. Add the oil and when very hot, add the shrimp and sear until cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan.

Arrange the shrimp decoratively over the greens and mango and drizzle with the dressing. Garnish with the mint and green onions and serve.


Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 minutes
Difficulty: Medium

Enjoy, I am making this Saturday Night!

Miki Thank you for letting me know about the fat hiding in salad dressing. I was doing the same exact thing as you (thinking I was so good eating lettuce)

Cyan--get rid of the chocolates now! You know they are the party animals of tastebuds! Thank you for the recipes. I am starting a new folder of low fat tasty recipes.

Reina -- I know how hard it is when you go out to dinner. My husband is orginallly for Buffalo and everytime we go out he orders wings!

Taiwan--isn't great when people notice all your hard work!

Ladyrider and lisa hope to hear from you soon!

OK here's how my day went.

BE JEALOUS--I spent three wonderful hours at a spa. First was an hour swedish massage, next a facial and then a pedicure and manicure. I didn't have time for the seaweed wrap so I am going next Thursday. Then my gift certificate will be all used up.
At first I felt guilty but then it soon disappeared. It is important to take some time for yourself. Maybe we could establish a virtual spa night at home. I am picking the third Thursday night once a month and I am going to get the kids in bed early. I bought a bunch of lavender bath products and plan to light a candle take a long bubble bath, do my nails and listen to classical music.

Tonight I am planning on cooking a chicken stirfry and for dessert strawberries with a little whip cream.

I'll try to post later. Remember no eating after 8p.m. and tomorrow is weigh-in day!

Hey girls. I'm back. Can't stay long as I am kind of hurting. The surgery went well. I woke up in A LOT of pain. Most of it was from all the CO2 they pump into my abdominal cavity. It's supposed to just be absorbed into my tissues. Pain medicine doesn't help that either. OUCH! I left to go home about 5:30 pm on Tuesday. Would've been sooner but I wasn't able to urinate. They had to catheterize me before I could go. Finally about 11:15pm I was able to go on my own. Recovery is slow and painful, but I am making progress. Thank you all for your prayers and good vibes! I've been thinking about you!

I'll be back soon when I'm feeling better.

Lisa

Well, I only had 1300 calories today with 48 grams of fat, but I have only done 10 minutes on my AirWalker. Luke and I have been buried in Math homework all evening. He's only 5th grade, and I already have a hard time helping him. I know how to get the answers but not how to explain it to him the way he is supposed to be learning it. Hasnt been a fun evening AT ALL. I get sooo frustrated! Debee, I need your spa day!! I am definitely jealous!

Welcome Lobocal! Always nice to 'see' someone new in here. :)
Feel free to post anytime.

Cyan, thanks for the dressing recipe. And you go girl! You are STILL the exercise queen!:queen:

Reina, Misery does love company so glad if you were gonna mess up, you did it on the same day I did. lol BUT now we have to work on making up for it, right? I refuse to let it get me down so much that I fail again! No way! And I know you wont either.

Lisa, Wow! I didnt expect to hear from you so soon. Your description brought back memories....that I'd rather forget. lol But dont worry, as soon as you recover, you'll feel 100% better than before and then just think of how many calories you'll be able to burn!:strong: I hope that the pain eases up very soon.

Tawain and LadyRider...where are you two hiding?:?: Miss you!

I checked Fitday for my averages this week, and average calorie intake is 1350 with 48 grams of fat. I cant wait for tomorrow's weigh-in. It's so nice to know I've done well and not have to dread doing that. Feels soooooooooo much better this time than it did last time we did it. I'm actually looking forward to it. :D Boy, thats quite a switch.

Well better run. It's almost 10 pm and I still have lunches to make for tomorrow. Bye for now everyone!

MIKI

Hi,

I just have a few minutes before I have to drop Jake off from school but I was so excited when I got on the scale....I broke the 140 mark and am now down to 139.2. My bodyfat is also down to 33%. The woman who gave me the massage yesterday did say that sometimes after one you lose water weight but I am still happy because I really have started to change my junk food habits. The hardest part of this challenge is not eating after 8p.m.
that is my major snack time. I must break that habit.

You girls really do inspire and frighten me away from ovrereating I have never been accountable for my weight before and I think that is the key for me to lose weight, plus it is fun talking to all of you. Thank you all for being there this week for me!

Lisa, I was so happy to see your poat you will be good as new very soon.

Ladyrider, taiwan I'm sure you are busy but remember to post your weigh-in today.

Miki, I am so happy to hear your positive mood!

Cyan, because of you I am going to start an exercise rountine this week

Reina, keep up the good work. Thinnk positive.

Bye for now I'll try posting tonight.

I forgot I wanted to list my weigh-in by weeks

Jan 3- 141.8/38% bodyfat---start point
Jan 10- 139.2/33% bodyfat---lost 2 pounds, 5% bodyfat

What I did different this week--cut out butter and half and half from morning coffee, most of the week did not snack after 8pm,walked more, massage, tried to eat only healthy foods, no fast foods, cut down portion sizes(took doggie bag home)

:wave: Hello Everyone!

I hope you are all having a pleasant morning!

I am very chipper today, because I weighed in this morning, and lost a total of 3.6 lbs, the exact amount that I gained over the holiday!!!!!!
That makes me very very happy.

What I did this week to accomplish it was:
Work out 3 times this week
Didn't eat after 8pm, but once(Saturday Night)
Stayed within my calorie range for 6 days(Not including Hooters)
and didn't drink any soda with calories.

And the most important part!
I was very honest with myself about everything I put in my mouth!:dizzy:
I thougth about what I was gonna eat before I did, and that made a huge difference!

Ladies, This is a huge accomplishment for me and YOU all helped me, so please feel free to bask in my glory!

Lisa, I am so glad everything went well with the surgery! The catheter portion sent chills down my spine and brought horrible painful memories back YUK

Debee, You Go Girl!!!!!! You are doing awesome! Down 5% bodyfat, that is incredible. I totally understand what you mean about accountability. I say it all the time, these women here, taught me how to be accountable. I am totally feeling the success will all will have this year!

Miki, you are doing so well with the calorie intake. Is you goal to be at 1300??? I was doing 1200 for a month, and I thought that was way too low for me. I noticed I was irritable and tired, and just plain hungry! So I upped mine to 1400-1500. I feel that is much better for me.
I am glad you are feeling the change in yourself. That is the biggest part, is to feel that you are doing something good for yourself. Keep up the good work!

Lady & Tiawan, I hope you too are doing good and remember to weigh in today. We miss you guys!

I made a great Lemon Fried Chicken recipe off the recipe section of this website. IT WAS AWESOME! And I think the calories were only at 130 per breast!! You have got to try it.

Have a great one ladies, and I will check in later!

Wow, Reina! 3.6lbs Good for you! You have found what works for you, stick with it and nothing can keep you from your goal.

And Debee! 5% body fat! You are an inspiration!
Miki! Doesn't feel great to be in control? Keep up the good work!

Cyan and Lisa, it was fun talking to you this morning!
I have to run, but I want to post my weigh in before I go. Not a great week, but not to awful either. I didn't eat after 8 5 out of 7 days, I exercised but not as often as I usually do, and I didn't drink as much water as I should have. Calories were in the 1200 range. I'm posting both my starting weight and measurements from Sept 15 and todays to give myself perspective on how far I've come.

Sept: Now:
Weight 164lbs 146.4
Bust 41 37
Waist 36 32
Hips 42 41
Arms 16 14
Thighs 24 22 1/2

This week I didn't lose any weight, lost 1/2 inch.

Have a great weekend!

Lady

I forgot to say that makes a total loss of 19 inches and 18lbs!
I went shopping with a friend and I can now wear a size Medium tops!

Lady

Wow what a successful bunch....all this weight loss, inches lost, good eating and exercising...maybe we should get together and do a weight loss tape or book....sounds like fun! At the end, when we have all reached our goals...we should write a book about it or do a tape.

Anyway, I weighed myself...still at 167 but I knew that...this week was a write off...but I should be able to post a weight loss next friday and I cant wait.

I am so proud of you girls...Debee and Reina, simply amazing ...keep going....on inch and pound at a time.

Lady, nice chatting with you too and Lisa...just had surgery and still manages to say hello...your actions speak volumes to me...it says you are determined and successful...and congrats on getting in to nursing school.

Miki, Taiwan, and lobocal hope to hear from you soon

Cyan

Hi Cyan...it sounds like everyone is doing so well..Okay...following the format that I've seen y'all follow up until now I'm going to post my result from yesterday on eating and such. I've trying my best to keep my water intake up to 8 glasses a day and I managed to do the not eating after 8 thing. I was SO proud of myself. It's been a while since I made 8 my cutoff time. :)

Anyway...here goes my info for yesterday...

I ate
1016 calories 25 grams of proteins 131 g of Carbs and 40 grams of fats.

Yikes...at the fats. Hopefully today will be better on that.

I'm trying....I'll post tonights results this evening.

Betty
956 kcal 25 g 131 g 40 g

Hi everyone,

Have a moment so I thought I'd write a quick post. I am so happy that everyone is motivated and positive.

Cyan, I love the idea of a book or tape. We can be the next richard simmons or oprah or maybe the next jared from subway! Who knows what the future holds...

Betty, sorry I have not welcomed you yet. It seems you are motivated to lose weight just like the rest of us.

Ladyrider, someday soon you will be shopping for size small tops and bottoms.

Lisa, Miki and taiwan, hope to hear from you soon. write some long posts... let us know how you are doing.

Reina,

I almost forgot to say "Yeah" over 3 pounds!!! That is almost double your goal of 1.34 pounds a week. I love lemon chicken, I 'llneed the recipe. Does anyone know any good websites for lowfat recipes?

We should put together a list of some of our favorite web sites..fitday, ect.

well my husband just called and said he wants to go out to dinner so I don't have to cook so I have time to write a longer post. Here are some tips I found on weigh loss I thought i would share:

1. don't skip meals it can lead to binging.

2.` eat slowly

3. keep busy. Much overeating is done as a result of boredom.

4. Tape a weight loss record to the refridge. Seeing progress before puuting the food in your mouth may keep you motivated.

5. use smaller plates to give the illusion you are eating more.

6. eat more fiber

7instead of butter try, jelly or jam, olive oil

I also have a few other foods I am adding to my list this week...
angelfood cake with strawberries, onion soup (withoutthe cheese) melon, jello, egg whites, baked potato with slasa, breoiled fish

My computer is still having an attitude problem. Now for some reason I can't retreive messages past a certain point. I get like 6 messages (everytime the same ones) and then at a certain message it just stops and says there's a problem. Very aggrivating.

Well, it's Saturday morning here. I weighed myself today and I here is what the scale said 191lbs!!!!!!!! I have reached my goal and a week early:D

Though one thing is, the lbs were 191lbs right, but the kg said 86.5kg, which after I figured it out is 190.3lbs. Am I figuring it right? 1kg=2.2lbs right?
Anyway, no matter what, I lost 2lbs at least, didn't measure though. Maybe later.

I did ok eating wise yesterday. Though I didn't eat after 8pm, but I had a diet pepsi. I was hungry sorta and had to have something. But that was the first day this week. Not bad. Didn't exercise as my right shoulder was absolutely killing me. I may just go walking today and then do some weights.

The weather is going up and down here and it's quite annoying. But my almost 7month old is keeping us busy with his new thing--crawling. Well, it's the step before crawling, kinda military style pulling himself across the floor, but boy is he fast!!! I hope he doesn't walk earlier than our oldest, he was walking around by 10.5months!

It's the weekend and I have Sunday school which means I have to prepare the lesson in Chinese so I won't be on much til after then. Then get this---are you ready---in April I am taking a test to get into the Master's program here in Taiwan. The test will be in English, but the classes are taught in Chinese:dizzy: It will be interesting. I can take the test and then keep my spot for a year as we are going to the states Sep2003-March2004. I am going for Early Childhood Education. I have some example test questions from last years test to prepare and they are going to help me with this years test. I am a little nervous as education wasn't my major in college. I majored in Cinema and video production. And now I am a pastor's wife in Taiwan teaching English as a Second Language--haha! talk about not going into your major.

Anyway, I am rambling.

Reina congrats on your 3.6lbs!!! You go girl! you are my inspiration!!! Doesn't it feel great! Keep it up. They say that if you can keep something up fro 3-4weeks, it becomes a habit and is harder to stop.
Lady, wow down 18lbs and 19in. I see 4in are from the waist and all in 4months. That is totally awesome. This group is so inspiring.
Cyan, have you measured and not just weighed? sometimes we lose inches and not just weight. A few days are not going to totally through you off. You have a great attitude about it though, put it behind and only look forward.
Lisa, glad to see you post. Hope the pain medicine starts working. Please please please, take it easy. You deserve a good rest. Don't worry about weight and exercising and stuff now, wait until you feel 100% and then get back on track. If you push yourself now, you'll only hurt yourself. Go have a bowl of chicken noodle soup (that is a comfort food for me, but I rarely get it here and haven't tempted to make my own yet)
Lobacal--welcome to our group. This is a wonderful group of ladies. I know you'll like it and will have success with everyone's support.
Miki--sounds like you are doing great. Remember to keep finding time to exercise, don't let that stop that is so important in weightloss. I know I would loose weight if I just ate good, but am toning and strengthening and burning more calories by exercising. Just an added plus. I am dreading our kids going to school here. Homework help will be from dad as the kids have to go to Chinese school here. I would rather continue to homeschool them and get a Chinese tutor for them,but unfortunately that's not legal here-homeschooling in elementary that is. Our kids will go through Jr. high probably and then go to the states for school. We'll see. We have plenty of time til we hit that road:lol: You could always find someone from church or older kid to help out with his math homework. I remember hitting pre-algebra and my parents couldn't help me so they sent me to my neighbor for math for the next 2 years (I did help babysit for them though).

Well, this is long and looks like I've rambled long enough. I am going to wash my face, get dressed, put Josiah in the stroller and go walking for at least 30min. That's the plan anyway.



keep them bottoms movin' girls--how lo can we go?:D

Weight on 1/3/03 230 lbs
Weight on 1/10/01 227 lbs!! :cb:
When I joined here in Oct., I weighed 236, I think.
I only have a minute but had to at least post that. I am very encouraged about our progress.

Hubby and I have the house to ourselves tonite which rarely happens so I dont want to spend too much time here.;) :lol:
Anyway, I had an up and a down both today. For the up...at lunch today since I live too far to go home on my lunch hour, I got my McDonalds shaker salad as usual (230 calories) then went to my in-laws after I ate it and borrowed their AirWalker and burned 228 calories. Cool huh? I thought so! Kinda like it just erased the meal I had just eaten. That was a great feeling.

Tonite, tho, with no kids, we decided to go out to eat. Had Chinese buffet and there is no way I can figure out the calories I had. I had fried rice, broccoli stir fry, sweet and sour chicken, orange chicken, and crispy shrimp. I am sure it was more than I should have had, but I am allowing myself one meal per weekend without counting. ( Not going to binge, but going to have something I normally wouldnt eat during the week) The rest of the weekend, I will go back to counting my calories.

I didnt take my measurements today. Havent had a chance. I may wait one more week in hopes of a BIG difference. Reina, no, I dont necessarily want to stay at 1300 calories, that just happened to be how they averaged this week. I just try not to go over 1500 if possible. :)

Cyan, one positive note: You didnt GAIN this week! :cp: even with the binge. So the extra exercise paid off!

I loved reading everyone's positive posts today. Isnt that fun?? :D

Well, I better go. I may try to fit in a little AirWalking before we settle down for a movie. I'll post again tomorrow.

Miki

PS...I meant to put my weight is as of 1/10/03...NOT 01....:) I"m sure ya'll figured that out..lol

Wow Miki...9 pounds gone! What a feeling...keep going...I too am looking forward to the next weigh in...I want to post a good result...thanks for inspiring me.

Taiwan...a huge applause for reaching your mini goal of 191 pounds...what an accomplishment...keep going...your plan is working for you.

Lobacal...how much weight are you looking to lose, how tall are you ...tell us a little about yourself...how long have you been wanting to lose weight, etc....and 1016 cals might not be enough cals to sustain for a long period of time...let us know how you are doing

Reina...how are you today and congrats again on a three pound weight loss...you rock.

Debee thanks for all your ideas...they are wonderful and it helps me vary my diet...I'm gonna try the onion soup..without the cheese:lol:

Hey LadyRider....how are you ....I have this metal image of you on your bike riding free ...highway stretched out infront of you...wind at your back and the hot florida sun high up in the blue sky...with the ocean in sight....take in the fresh air Lady and ride on.

Lisa I hope you are feeling better with each passing day...pretty soon you will feel better than new...I send you good energy

Okay, I am off to help my friend find work...we are going to a job forum.

See you girls later

Cyan

Hey girls! I just read a few posts. Congrats Miki and Taiwan on your success...oh yeah. and Reina also! You girls are really doing it!!!

I am starting to feel a lot better. My tummy is sore so I can't bend over or stretch. I also get tired fast as my body is trying to heal. Thanks so much for all the good energy and prayers!!!!!
One of the worst things is that I can't lay on my side. I could sleep a lot better if I could do that.

I have lost 1.5 pounds this week so that is good. I've actually been eating a lot also.

I'm way excited about Nursing School! I got the letter the day after my surgery. I was so excited but didn't read all the stuff. The next day I had to re-read everything to make sure it was real. I have orientation next Thursday night!!!! Can you believe that my books alone are $450?! Add that to all the other supplies, it's $798!!! That doesn't include tuition either?! Thank goodness for Financial Aid!!!

Well, I better go!

Lobacal, welcome. I hope you make yourself at home in our little group. Just be warned...we have been known to issue some serious Cyber kicks in the butt...if you go on a binge!:D But we also will help you overcome any obstacles and keep encouraging you along the way!! WELCOME!

Lisa

hi,
Found this quote and thought it might make you smile--

"I've been on a constant diet for the last two decades. I've lost a total of 789 pounds. By all accounts, I should be hanging from a charm bracelet." --Erma Bombeck

:lol: Debee, that quote made me laugh out loud!! Thanks for sharing it.

Lisa, looks like soon you're going to be even busier than usual. Be sure you dont overdo it until you're totally healed from your surgery. I was the same as you...drove me crazy to not be able to sleep on my side. Congrats on the weightloss!

Cyan, good luck helping your friend find a job! You're such a good person...always doing things for others. :)

I did ok today...20 minutes of AirWalker as soon as my feet hit the floor this morning. Wanted to get it over with.:D

Well, tonite we're having Family Night...they are waiting for me to come watch a movie so I better go. Have a great weekend everyone!

MIKI

All this is really paying off:D Today at church, I had so many comments on how I looked. I wore a red knit dress. It was a maternity dress that someone from the states sent me. I never wore it while I was pregnant as I thought it made me look like a sock with an egg in it:o Anyway, I am wearing it now---my hips fit just fine thank goodness:p Anyway, we went to eat after church (our normal place) and they were like WOW!!!! My dh had a number of people say "You better start watching out, your wife is looking great. Wait til she loses even more." Someone said "Wow, Deana is looking prettier all the time." Of course my smart and wonderful hubby says "She is always pretty." Smart man:s: anyway, these comments just made my day.

Hey, has anyone done yoga? I met a previous students mother at the playground the other day and she is an instructor in training. She says that yoga is better for woman than aerobics. Just curious what you all know.

Lisa, glad to see you back. Good job on the 1.5lbs, it will only get better as your body heals. No more pain when exercising and all. That is great about nursing school. I haven't asked yet how much the Master's program here in Taiwan is. Maybe I can get a Teacher's assistant job to help pay for it or something. Hey, I can always teach English here:p

Well girls, a new week ahead of us. As we keep this going, it will only get easier. There will be down days, but our up days will be more than our down days. I am so glad I found this forum. I love you girls:lol: :lol:

Have a good one.

**210/191/145
reached first goal by deadline--Jan.15 (reached on 1/10)

My day is just getting started. Just did 10 min on the AirWalker and will do more later. Had a bagel for breakfast with "Brummels and Brown" strawberry spread on it. It's really good and made of yogurt. ( I cannot stand yogurt of any kind normally, but this honestly has no taste of yogurt in it at all and is much lower in calories than margarine) Anyway, just checking in for a sec but will post more tonite. Ya'll have a good day! :)

MIKI

Hi everybody,


I felt so positive this weekend ( what a weight loss of a few pounds can do).

Taiwan, isn't great when people start noticing! I am also interested in starting a yoga program so if you get any info please share.

Miki, you are the air walker queen! I am going to try that spread next time I am food shopping.

Lisa, I was so happy to hear about nursing school. Don't worrying about the price of the books they are not an expense but an investment in your future.

Reina, I hope you did not go to Hooters this weekend.

The weekend went by too fast...

Saturday we went out to a Thai resturant (I had two spring rolls and one bite of mango ice cream) and then went home and watched the football game and the Eagles won. They might even make it to the Superbowl.

Today, we went to Home Depot and Wendy's for lunch. I had half of a small chili and a side salad.

All weekend I was thinking how I really believe this time I am going to be able to lose these 30 pounds and I owe it to all of you. Before I put something in my mouth I have all of you on my shoulder saying don't do it...the devil on my other shoulder just can not win!

I even was motivated enough to go through my closet this weekend and I got rid of my "fat" pants. I always hated the way these pants looked but they had an elastic waist and were very easy to just throw on. I decided that along with the weight loss I am going to give myself a mini makeover and change one thing each week. This week no more fat pants, next week maybe a new lipstick shade. Does any one want to join me? Maybe everySaturday after our Friday weigh-in we can throw out one fat clothes or treat ourselves to a special nailpolish, lipstick, haircut, whatever....

Today was a good day, I stayed within my 1500 cals and exercised and house cleaned...so I did a little sweating.

I haven't felt like cycling so I have been doing aerobics instead and calisthetics for variety.

Not much to say, it has been a quiet sunday..I am getting ready to watch the golden globe awards.

Have a great rest of Sunday and tomorrow..its back to work for me...Holidays are finally over

Cyan

Hi Everyone!:wave:
Sorry I haven't been posting more often, but you all are never far from my mind or heart. :goodvibes

Let me play catch up:

Before I forget - Welcome Betty! Please tell us a bit about yourself. If you follow the excellent examples set by these ladies you can't help but lose weight. For me, exercising, counting calories and not eating after 8 are the keystones for losing weight. That not eating after 8 is a toughie, though.

Reina, I just saw your post of several days ago asking about Florida in April and May. That's an excellent time to go to Orlando. The average high / low temp in April is 83 / 60 and 88 / 66 in May. The rainy season doesn't start until June. Now, you may feel it's hot because you're used to northern temps, but for us this is great weather! I would really like to meet your family.
:) We live about 2 hrs from Orlando. Tell me when you are coming and we will try to drive down and meet you for lunch or something.

Lisa, Welcome Back! and congrats on the 1.5lb loss. Keep up the good work.

Debee, Your day at the spa sounded wonderful. I'm so glad you are making time for you, that is soooo important! That soak in the tub with the candles and classical music sounds pretty good too!
I love your positive attitude!

Cyan, Doesn't it feel great to be back on track? Congrats on keeping the calories under control and exercising every day. Sometimes it really feels good to do something different to break up the boredom.

Miki, the air walker sounds like the right exercise for you, keep it up girl, you're making great progress!

Taiwan, I am so glad you are getting all those compliments. It really keeps you motivated, doesn't it? By the way, I saw your picture on your web site and I have to agree with your hubby, You are all ready beautiful. But wasn't he sweet to say so!
Good luck on your Masters exam! I know you can do it. OH! and congratulations for making your goal ahead of schedule! Wow~ what an inspiration you are!

I have had a great day. I had 2pc whole wheat toast with sliced tomato and cheese on top, then put under the broiler jus to melt the cheese. Total cals 370. I ate breakfast late, so didn't have lunch. Dinner was stirfried yellow squash, onion, zuccini and shrimp over rice and a dinner roll -550 cals. I just checked the time and it's after 8, so I guess that's my total for today.:o
Tomorrow is my private weigh in day, the one I record, and I'm hoping to lose a pound. My daily average calories have been higher than usual, but I have been exercising so I am hopeful.

Ladies, I am worried about missing out on our Chicago Adventure. (especially after hearing about the wonderful plans Reina and her husband are cooking up) Bryan and I are planning a trip to San Francisco the week of Sept 8. Can we discuss what dates we are going to try to get together? Thanks!

I am off tomorrow morning, so I will post early. Have a great evening!

:grouphug:
Lady

Hi again everyone! :)

Today has been a good day for me. My sis and I went to the movies to see "2 Week's Notice" starring Sandra Bullock. It was a cute movie. We shared a small buttered popcorn and large diet coke. (which I just remembered I forgot to add to my Fitday list)

My calories before that were 1260. I didnt do anymore AirWalking, but I bought a couple of 3lb weights and hubby showed my some exercises to do for my arms. I hate that flabby underneath part. I want to be able to wear sleeveless shirts! I also did a few squats. It wasnt much, but I'll probably be sore tomorrow.

I set a new mini-goal for myself also. I weigh 227 and want to be down to 220 by Feb.15. Thats a month to lose 7 lbs. Should be reasonable if I keep with it.

Debee, the mini-makeover sounds like a good idea. And good for you getting rid of those pants...stick with us and you'll never need them again anyway! Oh, and I keep forgetting--- my email is philandmiki@hotmail.com. I'd love for you to send me a picture.

Taiwan, a good day for you for sure! Bet you're still on Cloud 9
:cloud9: after all those compliments. You deserved them.

Cyan, a nice quiet Sunday sounds like the best way to spend your very last day before heading back to work. I hope you enjoyed it and are relaxed and ready for Monday. Also, I think switching up what you do for exercise is probably a really good idea. I should try that to keep from getting bored with one thing.

Lady Rider...it was great finding a post from you! I've missed ya.

Betty, hope to hear from you again soon. Come and give us a report on how your weekend went.

Lisa, almost a week already since your surgery so before you know it, it'll all be in the past and you'll feel better than ever. You'll forget all about the pain you used to have when exercising and you'll show me up for sure.:D


Well ladies, I think I'm going to go read for awhile before bedtime. This last week's "People" features people who now weigh half the amount they used to. I want to see how they all did it. I love looking at before and after pics.

Have a good Monday,everyone!

MIKI

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I was so excited to read everyone's posts this morning. I was unable to get to my computer this weekend, so I was unable to post my thoughts!
I have to say you women are so driven, it just keeps me going day to day.

Everyone did such a great job in their weekly challenge! In all we lost 12.1 lbs together. That is OUTSTANDING for our first week!:bravo: You should all be very proud of yourselves.

Ok,
I had a pretty good weekend. I didn't overeat, and believe me, I did enough workouts this weekend with the exception of yesterday. I was so busy in the house that I didn't really cook dinner for myself. I ate a salad and some popcorn, and some pasta for lunch. But the bug hit me at 10pm at night, I needed something warm in my stomach, something cold just wasn't gonna do it. So I broke down and scrambled 1 egg with a tsp of butter, and 1 tortilla. It was soooo good!

I am so happy for all of you, you are doing a remarkable job, and I just have to say, losing weight has never been so much fun :dizzy:
Sorry, this is short, I have tons of work to do today, so I have to get going! You all have a great week and keep the faith!
:grouphug: :dance:

Well I am back at work...and things are going well. Just finished having a meeting with the boss and now I am up to date and running with the creative side of this company.

I did well this morning...carnation breakfast powder with skim milk..for lunch I will enjoy a tuna sandwich yes, packed in oil..drained but no mayo added with a diet cola. For a snack, I will have a fat reduced peanut butter sandwhich

Anyway, I ramble on..so I will bid you adieu and sign in later to finish posting how I did

Cyan

Hi Ladies,

Thanks Debee for the warm welcome.

Taiwan, Congrats on reaching your goal a week early that is WONDERFUL!!


Miki it sounds like you had a wonderful weekend! Good job!!

Lady, thanks for the warm welcome and the questions as well...I think I've answered everything, but if not...then let me know. ;-)

Cyan, in answer to your question about how tall I am. I'm 5'5" and 26 years old. I'm trying to think what to tell y'all about me...so I suppose I will ramble and try to get all of the relevant bits and pieces in here. I'm a vegetarian...I have been one for over a decade now .WOW! Anyway...my best friend and the man that everyone else calls my "Boyfriend" is currently deployed and his deployment was just extended for possibly another three months. Uck!! Anyway....I'm a debate coach and I'm also a technical writer for a computer company.

This past weekend, I spent helping my parents move back into their house. Their house burned this last May and they are just now getting back into it. It had to be gutted and completely redone. But it's exciting that they are finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

This past year has been really hard for me. Woah...I don't think I've written those words out in public before. My nephew was born prematurely in May. My parents house burned (it was the house both my sister and I grew up in), my Grandmother, greatGrandmother both passed away in May. May was a rough month....and Kevin deployed in July and was due home the beginning of January. Now is due home when the President decides to send them...sometime between tomorrow and the end of April.

And I'll admit, I've eaten...and eaten and eaten. I'm heavier now than I have been since just before I graduated from college. And I am hopeful that I can get back down to the low 130's or high 120's. I did that several years ago...and maintained it for a few months...but obviously I'm not there right now. That's my goal though...so I would like to lose about 20 to 25 lbs.

I went to the gym and signed up on Friday. My "first session" is today. They want to do the run through with the new people of course the first few times. My goal on Friday was go to on in and use the treadmill, but it was not to be. I had hoped to do that since it is So COLD outside right now. But this evening I'm scheduled to work out there...so I'm excited about that.

I know that 1016 calories is low...and I usually aim to eat between 1200 and 1400. No more than 1500. ;-)

As far as how things went this weekend....I binged. What can I say...it was an all out..binge. But it's Monday..and I'm back on the horse so to speak.

Lisa thank you for the warning. I definitely may need those kicks...to keep me motivated and to remind myself how important this is!! So feel free to kick away. ;-)


I hope that everyone's week is off to a good start...I think mine is.

Talk to you all later this evening.

Betty

Good afternoon everyone. I think I'm back on a regular schedule now, so I should me more consistent with posting. Right now, I'm trying to get organized and ready for school that starts next week!!! I'm so excited!!!

My daughter is still sick..(she's been sick with one thing or another since New Year's eve). I'm taking her to the doctor in about an hour. She went Friday to find she had 2 ear infections and pretty bad lung congestion. Zithromax and some cough medicine with codeine haven't brought her back to 100% yet. We just can't seem to get rid of the fever. I'm concerned she might have a bladder infection or worse yet, a kidney infection.

My son was finally accepted into the Educare Center at the college campus where I'll be going to school. That's a big weight lifted off my shoulders. He's been excited about getting to go to school just like his big sister.

Okay, I'm rambling...but it's been a while since I've talked to y'all!

I have lost a total of 2.5 pounds since the the surgery! Wow! Today I've had a bowl of shredded wheat with skim milk. Haven't had breakfast yet...thinking of a peanut butter and jelly with a glass of skim milk....hmmmmm.

So, are we weighing in on Fridays? Okay...Today I weigh 185.5...so we can have something to compare that too on Friday.

That's all for now!
See y'all!

Lisa
:wave: :wave: :wave: :dizzy:

Good afternoon everyone,

Lisa, so happy to hear from you! I hope your daughter feels better and it's great that your son will be going to school at your campus.

Ladyrider, I love tomato/cheese sandwiches sooo comforting

Cyan, welcome back to work. One question are those chocolates finally gone?

Taiwan, hope your Masters program is going well. Keep up all the good work.

Reina, hope you feel better. I know sometimes you just need the comfort food.

Betty, sounds like you had a tough year but remember the past is the past...only the present and the future matters.

Miki, sharing a small popcorn at the movies and diet coke shows willpower! No king size candy bars or Dots? Oh, by the way I need your snail mail address to send the photo since I didn't take
my digital camera class yet. I am scheduled for this coming MOnday so if you want to wait I'll send everyone an e-mail next week or I could use regular mail...your choice.

Well, today is not going so well. My husband and sons woke up cranky, I had my annual pap smear checkup (where I was told I have borderline high blood pressure) , the house is a mess,
I have to help my 7 year old son with a report on a lizard and the workers just gave me a revised estimate on our remodeling job for our basement and it is $5,000 over budget and they are only half done. However, given all my problems today I still manged to only eat a ham sandwich on whole wheat bread! What I really need is a hot fudge sundae!!!!! I may have to post again later to get through today. I even taped a note to myself on the fridge that said do not binge today!!!

Hi... a quick post..just barely getting over a very bad headache..oh gosh it was bad...had to take two tylenol and put peppermint oil on my forehead.

I did well today food wise...had 1554 cals and 45 grams of fat...if I keep going like this...I will have a pound weight loss per week...yahooo.

Reina...I had beef and potato stew for dinner...and boy was it good...I was so hungry when I got home, thank goodness my Dad had it prepared...yum

well I am off to relax...tired of being in front of a puter all evening long

big hug to all

Cyan

Hi ya'll :)

Just have a minute cuz we're watching American Music Awards right now. Did ok again today with my calories (1350) but fat grams were too high! Did AirWalker again on my lunch hour. It's pretty nice getting to do it at my in-laws because theirs is outside on the patio.

Cyan, I had tuna sandwich for lunch also. Mine was in water, but I DID add the mayo.:lol: That's probably why your fats were 45 and mine were 60.by the end of the day.:o For breakfast, I had strawberry cream of wheat. Tonite I had a bbq chicken leg, oven fried potatoes, and baked beans.

Debee, I hope your day got better after you posted. And dont be too impressed with me...believe me, I wanted a LARGE popcorn and I would have loved a candy bar to go with it.:D I did refrain tho so thats definitely progress for me.

Lisa, Im excited for you about starting school next week. I hope you dont get too busy to check in with us at least semi-regularly. Poor little daughter....I hate that she has felt bad for so long. Let us know what you found out.

Betty, WOW! Talk about stressful times!! I would have done just like you did..EAT. You're here now tho so even stress is no longer an excuse to binge. This past weekend is your one freebie...next one ...you guessed it...a cyber kick! Believe me, I've had a few myself. :^: These ladies are great at keeping me on track. I'll keep your "significant other" (lol) in my prayers.

Welcome back Reina! I missed you this weekend. Sounds like you had a good one. I agree with you...I can honestly say this is the first time that losing weight has actually been FUN.

Lady Rider, have a great week! Hope to hear from you again soon.

Nite all....keep up the good work!

MIKI

hi,

Cyan, hope your headache is better. Did you ever try pinching the skin between your thumb and your first finger it is suppose to help tension headaches.

Well the evening went a little better than the afternoon and I did really good food wise...dinner was some green tea, cottage cheese with horseradish mixed in on rye crisp and some strawberries and melon. I really got over that emotional craving for the hot fudge sundae.

I helped my son with his lizard report and know more about those green creatures than I thought possible. Since we went to the library this afternoon for the report I also picked up a few videos...one was Yoga for kids. I did the tape with my kids and we had alot of fun. Some of the poses were hard and I must be very out of shape because I used muscles I did not know I had.
I think I am going to try to go to a Yoga class in the next few weeks.

I just want to thank all of you for making me feel so motivated. I am so excited about starting this journey with all of you. I know we will all succeed!

Hey girls.

Debee, your dinner sounds yummy...and very healthy. You sound like a very cool person. I can't wait to meet you!! I am planning on doing a yoga class once I'm healed and I'm into my new school schedule.

Miki, the weather must be nice there if you can exercise outside. That sounds fun. You and cyan got me craving tuna sandwiches now.

cyan, sorry about your headache. I hate the suffering a headache causes and it puts me in a bad mood too.

I took my daughter to the doctor and they had to give her a breathing treatment. The Zithromax helped with the ear infections but her bronchitis and sinus infection are still pretty bad. She gave us a scrip for steroid medicine for the bronchioles and Augmentin for an antibiotic. I hope she's better soon. I can't wait to send her back to school!

My eating today was really good until dinner time. I had shredded wheat for breakfast, a slim fast for lunch, some high fiber, 0 fat popcorn for a snack,......but then for dinner I had a mushroom swiss burger on sourdough bread!!!! SHAME ON ME!!!!
Hey...at least it was before 8pm!!

I went and got my nursing supplies today for school! I spent $802!!!!! Thank goodness I had a voucher!! I had to get 10 books!

Hey, Lady Rider....I have a medical question. I noticed today that behind my belly button and a little above....I have like a hard ball in my stomach. Is that normal??? Could it be a hernia? Is that a common side effect with surgery like this? It's about the size of a large golf ball. I have a check up with the surgeon tomorrow, so hopefully it's nothing serious.

I need to do better with keeping track of my calories. I'm reading a book called "Active Wellness" and it says for my height I should have 1400 calories or less a day to lose weight. It's a pretty interesting book, so hopefully I'll learn something.

Talk to y'all later!
Lisa

Hi Everyone!
I just got home from work and it's pretty late, but I wanted to check in. It was great reading how well everyone is doing!

I lost another pound today which brings me down to 145. I wrote 145 in soap on my bathroom mirror to keep me motivated. When I went back into that bathroom later, Bryan had written WOW next to it. :lol:
I had an awesome day food wise. Breakfast was 2pc french toast made with egg beaters, lunch was a cup of tomato soup and half a grilled cheese sandwich. Dinner was another cup of tomato soup and a piece of home made banana bread. Snack was another piece of banana bread. Total calories 1127, Fat 26.

I'm feeling really motivated because of all the good examples you all have been setting! Thank You!

See you tomorrow!
Lady:wave:

Happy Tuesday!
I had a pretty good day, I had 1320 cals, I had a mexican sandwich for lunch, and 2 slices of Pizza Hut for Dinner. Yeah, their salad bar was closed so I opted for 2 slices. still not that bad, but it brought my fat content up to 60gms of fat. I am gonna chalk that up as my high fat day, and continue with the rest of the week!

Lobacal,
I am sorry to hear that you had such a difficult month/year!
It must have been extremly hard with not having Kevin there. There was a time when all was hopeless, I turned to food, and before I knew it, I gained 35-40lbs. Stress can do that to you. But now, you have joined a group who will get you though the tough times ahead and be there for you whenever you need it. If you are having a bad day, let us know, we will cheer you up! So, say good-bye to the past and start a new year with a newfound look on life!
I am glad to hear that you are back on the horse! Keep up the good work!

Debee - I hope your day got better yesterday! Kudos for wise dinner decisions. Tell me how the yoga classes go, I have been considering taking one, but feel too out of shape!

Cyan, I am so proud of you! You stuck it out and bypassed the horrific cravings for cookies and McDonalds! I knew you could do it.
Miki - How did you like the Music Awards, I wasn't crazy about them. I didn't think they had as many performances as usual! Sounds like you are doing a fabulous job and staying on track! Kudos to you

Lisa, sounds like the dr.s are tackling your daughters infection pretty good. I am sure she will get better quick. The breathing treatments are a godsend! I have bronchitis that turned into asthma, so I am in the hospital every 2-3 months with a bad episode!

Lady, Kudos for losing another pound! I love the bathroom mirror thing, I think I will do that . Bryan is such a sweetie!

Ladies, have a great day and I will check in later!

Hello Ladies, its bright and sunny outside and this always puts me in a good mood...but in the winter, the sunnier it is, the colder it is minus 18 with the wind chill its minus 28...ouch its cold...this is celcius.

Anyway, I made it work but its not very warm here..I guess I will have to deal with it.

My headache is gone thank goodness...that was a tough one...my sinuses act up in cold weather and boy were they kicking me...in the head:lol:

Lady congrats on yet another pound lost...you are on a losing roll..I am looking forward to weighing myself this friday...I cant wait to say that I have lost a pound.

Lisa I hope that lump on your belly is nothing to worry about but I am glad you are seeing your surgeon soon...dont forget to ask him about that.

Miki, great minds think alike...the tuna sandwhich...:lol:

Reina thanks for all your positive encouragement..actually thanks all you lovely strong driven Ladies for you wonderful encouragement.

You girls ROCK

Big Hug
Cyan

Lady, we want you to come to Chicago so I am willing to do anything it takes to ensure this ...so dont worry about schedules..I am sure we can figure out a date good for all of us

Hey girls! Guess what! I've kind of kept quiet about this because I didn't want to get all excited....but I've lost 4 pounds since the surgery! Every day I get on the scale and I've lost. I'm not doing anything different from before...except, I'm not going to the gym..so I should be gaining...especially considering the mushroom swiss burger on sourdough bread at 7:30 pm last night WITH fries! I also had Reeses Peanut Butter Cups yesterday afteroon. Is it normal to lose weight like this after gallbladder surgery? Someone told my mother in law that they knew someone who had their gb out and lost a ton of weight!? Here's my theory...with my gb in it was slowing digestion down and everything I ate was in my system longer which would cause more of it to be absorbed therefore...more fat was absorbed. Now things are sped up because there's no disfunctional gb slowing everything down. My body's not absorbing as much now. COOL! What do you gals think?

Okay, all for now!

Lisa

Wow thats amazing....there could be lots of reasons...one reason could be what you think..now that your gb is out, everything is working normally instead of sluggishly

Also, your body uses up more energy healing itself...therefore you are burning up more calories.

Another reason could be you may have lost some muscle mass or gotten rid of some water your body was holding on to.

Whatever the reason is...keep going and kudos for you.


Cyan

Hi,

Today was a much better day than yesterday. My son had a playdate with two other four year olds so I ended up at McDonalds for lunch. I had a salad shaker with no fat dressing and of course, a few fries for Jake's happy meal but I think I burned them off this afternoon chasing the kids around.

I found another favorite low fat food--flavored rice cakes. Very good even the kids like them.

Lady rider your husband sounds so sweet!

Miki, Cyan and Reina it sounds like you are all so motivated that I am sure the scale this Friday will move.

Lisa, as Cyan said there may be many reasons for the weight loss. Since I had my gallbladder out a few years ago I thought like you that I would lose weight but.....it didn't happen at least for me. This is the way to lose weight... to be motivated...do it slowly...exercise...be accountable to someone other than yourself...and change your eating habits....and just eat less and burn more calories. I know, I know I am preaching to the choir...sorry.

Oops...a little high on the calories today....1633. Also, still having too many fat grams. (Finished up that tuna salad sandwich today)But I did use my lunch hour again to exercise. Did 20 minutes on my in-laws' AirWalker outside again. It was a little chilly. Around 35 degrees Fahrenheit, I think. My hands were cold but other than that, I kept moving fast enough to keep warm.

It's nice being there while noone else is home. They have 3 horses in a pasture outback so I can see them from the patio while exercising. They were extra frisky today because of the cool weather. They ran and jumped all over the place. At one point, I had to laugh. All of a sudden, all 3 of them walked over to the fence, standing all in a row facing me, and just stared at me for probably 5 min. It was the weirdest thing. I felt like one of them said, "Hey, come check this out ...what in the world is she doing?" :lol:

Just got home from Josh's basketball game. We won!:spin: And Josh got to play a whole 2 minutes this time. lol

Lisa, congrats on the 4 lbs!! Hooray!! :cb: You know, I had forgotten, but now that I think about it, I think I did lose weight after my surgery also. That was enough years ago tho that I have gained it all back. I'm anxious for you to find out about that knot. I didnt have anything like that. The way you described it does kinda sound like a hernia. Be sure to let us know! It sounds like your daughter should be on the road to recovery now with all the medicine and breathing treatment. Thats good to know.

Reina...I wasnt crazy about the awards show either. What happened to the music we used to know? And seems like half the ones who won something didnt even show up. Seems kinda unappreciative to me. I know some are on tour or working or whatever, but still doesnt seem quite right to me. Also, it didnt take long for Ms Osbourne to get on my nerves. :lol:

Cyan, so glad you're feeling better today. The sunshine definitely helps!:flow2: I love cold sunny days.

LadyRider...Ditto to Bryan's WOW!! 145 lbs...I'm envious but so proud for you. :)

Debee, dont you just love those McDonalds salads? My favorite is the grilled chicken one. Yummmmy. It was good to hear that your day was better than yesterday.

Lobocal...missed hearing from you today. Sending cheerful thoughts your way!

Well ladies, it was great reading all the posts as usual. This is definitely the highlight of my day. Everyone keep up the good work.

Miki

Miki, thank you for empathizing with the year and for the prayers for Kevin. ;-) I do appreciate that. It sounds like you are keeping things going...and I can already tell what a wonderful motivational and great group of people this is going to be! I'm so excited and doing so much better than I was doing with this than even last week. Yay!!

Lady...that's WONDERFUL news about being down to 145...I know that you must be extremely excited about that. And how cool about the soap on the mirror...and the response you got from that!! Way to go!!

Deebee...I can only imagine how much you must know about Lizards now. I'm glad to hear that today was a much better day for you than yesterday. And the Flavored rice cakes are something that I hadn't thought about. I'm doing fresh fruit right now for snacks...but that's definitely something to considered. I snacked on cherries after work this afternoon. And when I got home from the gym this evening, my AppleBanana's were waiting for me. I can hardly wait for them to be ripe so that I can let my family try them...they are SO much better than just regular bananas.

Cyan...I'm so glad that your headache has gotten better. Headaches are horrible things!! Especialyl when they are really bad ones. I can relate to the sunny but cold. That was what it was like here too...not quite as cold today...but we've been very cold lately....I'm not one for much cold weather...I'm thinking fond thoughts of summer. ;-) But if it has to be winter I will take sunny, anyday.

Reina, I good job on sticking with things yesterday. And I think you are smart to just wrap the high fat on the pizza up as a high fat day and focus on the future from here on out.

Lisa that's great news about the 4 lbs. I imagine you will see some weight loss simply from the surgery...and from the loss of the gallbladder. After all you no longer have that organ in you. :) But...also because your body will be digesting food differently now. As far as 802 dollars for books! WOW! I had forgotten how expensive those college books can be. I'm glad that you had a voucher too.

Well...I've had a pretty good couple of days. Yesterday I went to the gym and started using the weights. They walked me through it 1 time. Tomorrow I go through the weight routine 2 times and then on Friday I will do it 3 times. Yay!

As far as food intake etc goes. I did manage to stick to the no eating after 8 yesterday. And I ate 1447 calories, and 40 grams of fat.

Today...and I'm proud of today. It's been a great day exercise and food wise. I've consumed all 64oz of water as I did yesterday too. Yay. But my supper was Risotto with brussel sprouts, cauliflower, carrots, and broccoli. I also had some cherries this afternoon. And so I ended up with 1280 on the calories toda and 29 fat grams!

I did about 45 minutes of Cardio at the gym this evening. And I've had a couple of classes of herbal tea since I got home...but I have managed the no eating after 8. So that's great!

I hope that everyone's day has gone really well...I'm headed to bed. Good night!

Betty

Don't know why I haven't been posting much. We are busy getting ready for the Chinese New Year coming up. We already have our tickets for the 8 hour (one way mind you) train ride to my hubby's family. It will be fun as my sister in laws baby girl is only 2months younger than Josiah. They think its amazing at how I feed my kids and how healthy they are. So she wants me to teach her how to make baby food. My youngest just loves millet porridge and now one of his meals is yogurt with fruit (recent fruit is papaya as it is in season). So it will be interesting. I was thinking how am I going to keep exercising while there, then I thought--they live on the 11th floor, maybe I can do steps once a day.

My eating was ok yesterday. I didn't go over 1500calories, but not sure about how much fat and such. My dinner is what killed me, but it was good:p I made an omelet with 3 small-medium eggs and the inside was spinach, one slice of low fat cheese and two tablespoons of beef. Now, please no one tell me how much that ended up being. I knew that I could have a 400 calorie dinner and be at my 1200calories for the day. Anyway, I did some exercise on what is probably an Air walker-for 15min. Sweated alot so I must of burned some calories;) My shoulder is still killing me so I haven't done the kick and jab since Monday as you have to use your upper body alot. Went another day with no eating after 8. Thats 3 out of 4 days so far

Lisa--good to hear about those 4lbs. Glad to hear about getting your daughter's sickness under control. Here's is something I read in a home remedies book and do it for a precaution anyway. After the child/baby has had their hair washed and you are drying it (I always use a hair dryer on my boys hair) make sure you swing the hairdryer past the ears so to make sure they are dry. Now, I also know that it is recommended to do that to dogs (my parents are private breeders and I am not comparing kids to dogs:D ) so they won't get infections. It's worth a try. My son is 4.5yr and has never had an ear infection and youngest is 7months and hasn't either. There is also some herbs that are safe, one is echinea (sp?) and the other is pro--something (something that is similiar to the benefits in yogurt). I have heard good reports. Just something to take into consideration.

Miki--sounds like a beautiful place to exercise. My grandparent had a farm and all the grandchildren spent the summers there. Some of my best memories are from that time. I just love the farm and country area. You are doing great on the air walker. Keep it up. Gives you so much energy for the rest of the day doesn't it? and you aren't buring calories only you are toning those muscles. Keep it up.

Debee--sounds like you are doing great too. We don't have fruit flavored rice cakes here, and McDonalds doesn't have salads here either:( but they have red bean icecream sundaes (not great tasting I feel but my chinese hubby likes it). I really miss the easiness of buying healthy stuff in the states. Have you seen the yoga for kids? I was thinking about getting something that my 4.5year old ds and I can do together. Give him the good impression of exercise from early on. He does go and play basketball with his daddy almost everyday. He made 5 baskets with a regular basketball yesterday (shooting granny style:D ).

Lobacal--I love fresh fruits. Papayas are in season now, though I am trying to get used to them. I think before I had some not too sweet ones and that ruined it for me. My youngest (7months) just loves papaya. We have alot of fruit here that you all probably don't get in the states and it's pretty cheap here too. Fruit is a great snack. Though I read someplace that do to the sugars in fruit, it's best to have them before noon and not after (anyone heard that?)

Reina--you've started to get the right attitude! have something we shouldn't, oh well, life goes on right? That's great. don't let it control you, you control it. Sounds like you are really doing great. wow, I can't wait till we see all the results in on Friday. everyone is doing great.

Lady--145lbs!! Thats my goal. Of course I give myself until August 15th to be that, but that's my goal. You are doing great.

Cyan--glad you are feeling better. Headaches aren't fun. I used to get bad migraines in highschool and college. My poor roomates couldn't do anything in the room as it would make it worse. Haven't had them much since I've had kids (hey, there's an idea for you:D ), but at almost 29yrs, I have white hair coming in --due to kids and hubby I am sure:p Make sure you get the sleep you need, that always helped me.

Well ladies, I have a class to teach soon. I teach ESL at home 4 days a week. Oh, the space heater in my boys room caught fire yesterday:o Thankfully they were in our room (unusual, well not really, the Lord was protecting) at the time. Both woke up very early. no one was hurt and only the carpet got burned. It would've been very easy for the whole room to catch fire. The thing just overheated I guess. Now Joshua is always asking if the fire will come back. Scared the poor guy. But all is well.

This is a long letter. I'll give some one else a chance now:lol:

Its another cold day today...its minus 22 without wind chill...but it is bright and sunny.

I didnt do so well calorie wise but I did do well fat gram wise.
Exercise wise....I didnt do any last night....but I will be back on the saddle tonight...its been a little hard going back to work and readjusting my schedule after having such a long vacation...but that's no excuse....must keep exercising

Taiwan, stairs are amazing as a workout...so I would do that to get my exercising in.

Miki...wow, I actually pictured those horses staring at you...how cute are they...so lucky you are to be surrounded my nature and animals...lucky you!

Lobacal...kudos for going to the gym...keep us posted on your exercising and food intake.

Lady...as always...you keep me going...your endurance is amazing...you just keep going...thats the way to do it.

Reina...did you enjoy your chicken dinner...I love corriander...I will try that recipe.

Lisa...let us know what the surgeon said about the knot in your belly.

Big hug to all and I will post at the end of the day to tell you how I did exercise and calorie wise

Good day

Cyan

Hi All, I'm back!!

Sorry about the long absence. No access to a computer to send replies! They really monitor what we do at work because someone totally abused computer access etc. so I have to resort to logging on at home and since my boyfriend is a programmer I have to fight to get on sometimes!!

Christmas went well. The Norwalk virus unfortunately hit everyone here badly so no one was eating. I never got the virus until today which is why I am at home during the day writing.

I am taking up learning downhill skiing as a new hobby. I have never really done it before this year so it is very new to me and also a bit scary but fun! So I have been skiing quite a bit and I start taking lessons once a week in February for a few hours at a time with access to ski and practice for the rest of the day. So it should be good exercise.

Unfortunately, I put on about 3-5 pounds in January when the cold hit us ---I got sooo hungry!!! Weird time to put it on--when everyone else is taking it off from Christmas. So I will have to go back to my food journal when I recover from this virus (the journal really works!) and touching in with all of you regularly for the support that is really encouraging.

It is more difficult to maintain than to lose the weight I find! I can't seem to keep up a consistent exercise routine and when I do, I seem to think I can eat whatever I want because I am exercising lots!!!

I am catching up reading all the replies and hope to hear from you all soon!

Cjunk!

WELCOME BACK!!!! We've been so worried about you! We've missed you soooooooooooo much! If you check back in the posts, you'll see you were not forgotten!

I'm so sorry you're sick! I hope you get better soon!

downhill skiing sounds sooooo fun! Let us know how that works out!

Oh, Cjunk! I am so glad you are back. So many things have been going on with each of us. You'll have to read the posts. Take about 4 hours :dizzy: and catch up!

Please don't leave us again!!!!! You really deserve a cyber kick in the butt! :D I'm sure cyan will fill you in on that!

Welcome!
Lisa

Hello Lisa,

Thanks for the Cyber Kick in the Butt! I really needed that! I missed you guys....

Lisa, I have been reading back on the postings. It sounds like your surgery went well. How are you now? Congratulations on the loss of weight since your surgery too!!

Is everyone now online for chatting at MSN too???

I may be able to get a computer for myself and access to that because my boyfriend Joe is out a lot in the evenings working with his notebook.

Also, were people going to be travelling somewhere to meet each other?? I would love to meet everyone!!!

The whole group has been working very hard and there are so many things I want to say to everyone ---but most of all....Keep up the great work!!!:D

:wave: WELCOME BACK CJUNK!!!!:wave:
I am so happy to hear from you. You have really been missed. We were all wondering where you went!
Sorry to hear you caught that god-awful virus. I hope you feel better soon!

Yes, we are all planning on meeting here in Chicago in October! We really hope you can make it!

Hey, I just realized right now that I didn't post this morning.! I always do! Well I had a good evening yesterday. I had Boston Market Chicken. Very good, and I ended the day with 1360 in calories. But I am still at 56grams of fat. But according to Cyan, that isn't that bad. I am allowed 50grams of fat per day! So I will keep it at that. I really hope I can stay on track today. I was telling Lisa and Cyan earlier, that I am a bit emotional today, so what does that welcome???
:yikes: Emotional eating!!!!
I will try really hard tonight, and workout to curb the apetite, but that monster gets really ugly, and the Lisa, the crankiness may verywell set it by 8pm!


Taiwan, an 8 hour bus ride with kids??? GOD bless you!

Cyan, I am feeling your cold weather! Let's think of warm weather and weightloss, we might get lucky with one of them??:lol:

Lobacal, congrats on sticking to no eating after 8, I know that can be tough sometimes.. And the Drinking the water dailly, I fell off that bandwagon, so I will need to get back on! that.
I am so gonna have to try the herbal tea. Everyone tells me I should try it.

Miki, good for you for continuing to work out daily. You calories may be high according to you, but you are really burning off alot with the kids and everything! You are gonna wither down to nothingness really quick;)

Hi everyone,

Welcome back Cjunk. I read some of your past posts and you sound like a very motivated person!

Taiwan, thank God no one got hurt in the fire! You are a brave woman...8 hours on a train with kids.

Miki, do you horseback ride?

Reina, welcome to the emotional eating club!

Sorry, this post is short tonight but the kids and I are really getting into the yoga tapes...its become a new bedtime rountine...20 minutes of yoga and mediation and a bedtime story before bed. Although we have only been doing it for three nights the kids seem to really enjoy it and they seem to fall asleep quicker. Even though this a tape for kids some of the poses like the tree are hard. I bought a few more tapes and a yoga mat today. I hope I can keep it up.

Today I went food shopping at a great health food store and bought hummus, more rice and corn cakes, blood oranges, lots of veggies for pita veggie sandwiches.

Have a great night everyone!

Wow! A chatty bunch today arent we?? I love it!:lol: Nothing better than coming in to find lots of reports of how things are going with everyone.

Cjunk....Yeahhh, you made it back!!! I had really gotten worried about you. Welcome back and just jump right back in. It was good to hear that maybe you'll have more computer access soon. It wasnt the same around here without you.

Betty, you're doing great. 45 minutes of Cardio made me tired thinking about it. :D

Tawain, you better get to posting more before you have to get in line for one of those "cyber kicks".:lol: You were right about the energy from AirWalking at lunch. Makes the rest of the day go better and it is really nice to get home from work and know I have already had some exercise for the day.

Cyan, Finally today I got my fat grams down to 25!! Can you believe it?? I had almost decided it was impossible for me. Several times I would think I had done ok, then when it all added up, there was a ton of them. I was pleasantly surprised today.

Lisa, did you go to the doctor yet?? I'm anxious to hear your report.

Reina, I too fell off the 'water drinking' wagon. Let's try to get back on it together! I did it without even consciously realizing it. I do still drink it with all my meals, but hardly ever do I just get a glass to drink in between. Somehow, I just forgot all about trying to do that. I guess because of spending so much time concentrating on FOODS. ( oh, and dont worry, I promise not to wither down to nothingness...:lol: Thats hilarious.)

Debee, I dont ride horses but Josh, my oldest son does. Luke is more like me...those animals are BIG. My father-in-law rides alot also, but I just never have. I have never been around horses much..well, not at all before marrying into this family, and now my experience with them consists of watching them while I exercise.;) They are beautiful to watch tho. Do you ride?

Ohhhh, I forgot to tell ya'll yesterday...I had a breakthru. At work, everyone gets a birthday cake of their choice one day during the week of their birthday. Well, yesterday was someone's bday so we had chocolate cake. It looked wonderful, but I took one look and left the break room. ( very unusual for me ) Right after lunch, a co-worker's mom brought in still hot out of the oven homemade baked bread. You could smell it all over the entire bank. She came in and said.."I brought homemade bread and there's honey butter for it too". I went in and once again took a look. Someone said,"help yourself" and I said, "Nahh, thats ok, I dont want any." She said.."You know you do" and we both laughed. BUT then I said, "yeah, but if I did that it would erase the 20 minutes I just spent on the AirWalker" and I left again. Hooray!!!:cp: I"m telling you, that is not something I would have done before getting involved with this group. It is soooo cool to turn down temptation and feel good about doing it!:cb:

Well, I hate to run but my cute little niece Kaylen ( the one who will be 2 in March ) is supposed to call me. My sis said she got up crying for me this morning. ( they live almost 3 hrs from me ) I called her this afternoon but she was napping so she's calling me back ( with moms help) tonite after church. Cant miss that. :)

Nite all!! Have a great day tomorrow!

:grouphug:
MIKI

Good morning ladies. It's a brand new day!

Miki, I too need to drink more water. When I have diet Dr. Pepper around, I just drink that instead of water. Shame on me. So, today I will drink more water! 64 oz!

Yesterday I did okay eating wise, excpet for lunch. I had one of those "Pasta Anytime" meals in my pantry. It's been in there forever so I decided someone had to eat it. I heated it up and ate it. Honestly, it wasn't very good...but It had 24 grams of fat!!!!!!! ANd over 600 calories!!! THat's HORRIBLE!!! For dinner I cooked a pork roast in the crock pot with carrots and potatos, and I made some rolls. It was very good. I probably had too many rolls though.

I really miss going to the gym. If I were to go, I don't even know what I would do. I can't to the classes and I can't do any heavy lifting. So, I could walk on the treadmill, but even walking for an extended amount of time starts to make me hurt. I could sit in the sauna. That sounds nice. I hope I never have to have surgery ever ever ever again!!!!!

Debee, that's really cool about the yoga with your kids. That sounds like a lot of fun. Maybe I should look for something like that for my kids. Do they have them on DVD?

Reina, I don't like herbal tea myself. I've tried it and I just really can't stand it. Good luck though if you try it. At least it's not expensive so if you dont' like it, you haven't lost much. :^:

Cjunk, we're planning on meeting in Chicago, in OCTOBER I think. It will be so cool if you can come. I really hope you get more computer access soon! We really missed you. Now, if only Annie would come back, it would be like a family reunion!!!

Well, I have a dr appt today for my school physical. I have to get shots and stuff. YUCK! Tonight is the orientation for all the new nursing students. I'm really excited about that!!! Next week, my schedule will change. School starts on Tuesday and from then on, I will have class Monday through Thursday till noon and then Wednesday nights from 7 till 10. I hope my schedule will allow me to post as often as I have been, but I know there will be alot of studying to do! I've set up my own little studying space with all the supplies I'll need. I'm so obessive compulsive:dizzy: .

See y'all later!

Lisa

Just to let you know how my day went. It went well until dinner. Seriously, I totally lost it at dinner. Well, I didn't think so until I counted stuff up on Fitday.com. My hubby was supposed to cook, didn't and still don't have hardly anything around here to eat. So we order Domino's Pizza (we have one in our town). Well, I was starving after my ESL class and then hubby gives the Bible lesson before the community Japanese class that is our church has. So we were rushing around (since dh decided to go play basketball til 6pm, but we won't touch that!!!). I ate 4 slices!!!! they aren't really that big, but I ate them. I figured it up on fitday and it said like a total of 569 calories and 120grams of fat!!!! I about fainted. That still put my calories under 1300for the day, but the fat oh my. I did do the airwalker for 20min and then walked with our fosterdaughter for 30min. I still feel so bad.

I am in a slump about food. It's so hard to cook here. My mom got me a book, but the recipes call for like egg substitutes and such. Hey, I can't get hardly anything I need in this town. The only place I could get stuff would be 2hours over a mountian. I can only have spinach so often. I am not a cook and really hate trying to cook new things. I need to get over that I know. And my attitude stinks right now because "aunt flo" should be here any day now (hasn't been regular since the baby and it's quite annoying). So I am in a mood--watch out world!!! If momma ain't happy ain't nobody happy.

Ok, I said this was going to be quick. I am tired and going to bed.

night girls (or good morning whereever you are!)

Good morning.....

Miki...it is always so nice to read your notes about your day. How was your call with Kaylen. My niece is about to turn 4 and I always love it when she calls. We have a special play date set up this evening...I can hardly wait. She's the light of my life.
Your airwalking sounds wonderful...although a bit cold with the 35 degrees F outside. What can I say...I'm a true Georgia girl. Give me LONG HOT Summers with lots of humidity and I'm perfectly happy!! This cold is not my thing. But I loved the image of the horses watching you.
CONGRATS on getting down to the 25 fat grams!! That is awesome...and I know that you must have worked hard to do that. Good luck with getting back on the water bandwagon and let me know how it goes.

Taiwan,

Your trip for the Chinese New Year sounds exciting. I look forward to hearing about it. And how terrifying to have the space heater catch on fire. Thank goodness the children were in the other room. I don't care much for Papaya's myself, but I may not have had the really good ones. And I hadn't heard about the not eating fruit after lunch but I will definitely check into that.

I'm so sorry to hear that you are having a hard time finding foods that are available to you and easy to fix. I will have to look for the site, but there was a site that I used when we lived in Ireland that had some excellent, really simple recipes that made good meals but didn't take a long time. I'll try to find that and send it your way. As far as the Pizza etc...goes yesterday. I know it must have been quite a shock to you to discover how many calories and fat were in yesterdays supper. But move forward...today is a new day...and start with a new focus. As I often ask my debaters and they frequently turn it around on me...so what are you going to do to keep that from happening again? ;-)

Cjunk...Hi...it's nice to meet you. And I'm so that you've come back to the board. Good luck with the down hill skiing. It's excellent exercise!! And I think that you will find that it definitely helps you maintain your weight loss.

Cyan....Hang in there....and focus on fitting the exercise into your changing schedule. I do know how difficult that can be at times. Maybe doing it in the morning before work...or blocking out time that you "know" you will be doing that only. As far as the eating goes....it's a new day! Plan ahead and you will do great!!

Reina...Congrats on the fat grams. It sounds like you are getting to where you need to be on those. How did the preventing the emotional eating go last night? Any luck? I personally LOVE herbal tea!! It's my treat to myself. There are so many different kinds to try...let me know what you end up thinking of it. I usually drink hot herbal tea in the AM rather than coffee or anything like that.

Deebee--What a wonderful habit to begin with the kids of doing the Yoga before bedtime. I know that they must love that...and it stretches you all to new levels!!! How cool!! I look forward to hearing more about those tapes.

Lisa--Let me know how the more water goes. As far as being frustrated with what you can and can't do right now goes. As hard as it is, let your body rest! Recovering from the surgery is the best thing you can do now. That was, what was hardest for me with my knee when it was recovering. I wanted it to be well...NOW! But those things take time...so sit back...don't push yourself too hard b/c you will end up taking longer to recover and focus on the calories and the fat grams instead for now...or at least that's what I would do if I were you. I know that you must be really excited about school coming up and can hardly wait to hear more about it.

Well...as far as how things are going for me. Yesterday I managed to stay on track again. And I was pleasantly surprised when it came to supper last night. We had mashed potatoes, salad and green beans (The church also had meatloaf, but being a vegetarian I didn't eat that). There was a desert and I passed it up...yay me...only to hear people talk about how they weren't sure if it was Lemon or Banana. That definitely made it easier to stay away from it...after I'd started my meal.And I had a dried peace and some dried apples after church to finish off the night.

So I ended up with 1117 calories for the day yesterday and 25 grams of fat. I lifted weights yesterday again...and will do Cardio again today. :) Things are going good here. No food after 8 worked...and is beginning to become routine

I also had something really cool happen last night too in the email from Kevin. I had told him all about the awesome machine I was using at the gym...it's called Lifetime fitness and has pedals or at places to put your feet. You are standing up...and handles that you pull as you walk or whatever it is called that you do on it. And it burns MEGA calories. And is fun and safe for joints. Well...Kev wrote back and said that he knew EXACTLY what machine I was talking about b/c it was the one he used on the ship. That was COOL! I'm not quite up to the level that he's doing on it...he was doing between 3-5 miles in 30 to 45 minutes. But I'll get there I know.

As far as water goes...I did get my 64 ozs in again yesterday. My plan for today is to grab a veggie blimpie for lunch. But it's another wonderful day....and I'm excited about Friday's weigh in...I just know it's going to show good results.

Talk to you all again soon,
Betty

I am happy to be back-

I spent about 2 or 3 hours yesterday reading through everyone's past posts and you all sound so determined and have such focus that I want to say that it is wonderful that you can support each other on this journey to change.

Lobacal, it is so nice to meet you and you as well Debee!

Lobocal, congratulations on staying on track and that exercise machine that you have been using sounds really neat!

Debee, I think it is a lot of fun that you can exercise with your kids and do yoga with them. I wish that my mom had introduced me to yoga at a young age. I really enjoy it as an adult. However, my mom did take us hiking a lot and camping which is why I have a passion for the outdoors.

Taiwan---I think I have a bit of a solution to your problem. Let me investigate it first though. I know that a woman that I volunteer with gets treats shipped here to her from England every now and again by mail or courier. I am not sure what the policies are around what foods that can be sent, but I would be happy to try and ship you some flavoured rice cakes etc. If you are interested, feel free to email me at christine@verticalaim.com. I have access to a reduced cost shipping rate as my mom works for a big company that has a shippng warehouse. Would that perk up your day??? They would be Canadian treats, but we are pretty Americanized here.

Lisa and Reina-mia, I would love to come to Chicago. Is there anything I need to do in order for me to organize a way to join you??? I would love to meet everyone!! Where did Annie go?? Did she disappear around the same time I did from this site??? I miss her too!

Cyan, my sister just moved to Montreal recently and lives in a flat downtown. She has been bugging me to come down and see her for a weekend this winter sometime. I would love to meet you if you are interested in connecting. Maybe we can arrange the details further once I know when I can come down and when you might be free. That would be so neat!!! I find it challenging sometimes to incorporate regular exercise too, but sometimes if you tell more people you are going to do something, what time and what you are going to do, it makes it harder to avoid doing it. In other words, you become committed to it. That is my procrastination strategy. So here it is for me: I want to use my exercise ball and take a long walk today (light exercise as I have been sick with the flu).

Miki--Way to go on resisting temptations for Cake and Homemade Bread!!! Congratulations :bravo: I figure that if you can resist homemade bread with honey butter, you can resist pretty much anything!! That would be a hard one for me!!!

LadyRider, glad to read all of your postings. As always you are an inspiration and a dedication to hard work and focus on challenges in a positive way!

Talk to you all soon,

Cjunk

Hi Everyone!
:shrug:I wrote a really long post yesterday and addressed everyone seperately. I hit the Submit button and thought no more about it until today when I looked to see who had posted after me and ...My post isn't there! :?: It took so long to write and I'm so frusterated! Don't know what happened, but next time I will save it before I submit, just in case. Anyway, I don't have the energy to write it all over again, so here's a quickie version: :)

Cyan, you are right, you need to make exercise a priority. But I sure understand how hard it is to get into a new routine with getting back to work and all.

Taiwan, I'm so glad you and your family weren't hurt in the fire. Do walk the stairs and Good Luck on your long bus ride!

Cjunk, I sure hope you can make it in October! We are trying to get tickets to Oprah and we're talking about sharing 1 or 2 rooms so we can stay up all night and talk and giggle.

Reina, how's that emotional roller coster going? It's really tough, but you might try telling yourself "I will just wait 15 minutes, then if I still want it I can have it." Works for me, cause in that 15 minutes I get distracted or think up something healthier to snack on.

Debee, you sure sound as if you are on track. The yoga with your kids is an excellent idea. Good quality time together and starting good habits too.

Miki, Wow! I am so impressed. You passed up yummy food twice! I could smell that bread from here. You go girl!

Betty, Isn't it great you and Kevin can email each other? We didn't have that option when Bryan was in the navy and waiting for those letters by snail mail was tough! I loved you both using the same exercise machine! Talk about being in sync!

Lisa, I sympathize with your inability to exercise. Are you going to wait and see if your bump goes away? I can't wait to hear about your orientation night! Setting up your own study area is just plain smart.:)

I've been doing good for the past 4 days. I did Taebo yesterday and had such a good work out I've decided to alternate running and taebo every other day. I haven't eaten after 8 for the last 3 days. I work from 4:30 - 9:30 tonight, so I'm not sure how I'll handle that. My calories have been below 1200 and fat has been in the 25 range. Yesterday I was down another pound! Weight Commander has you log your weight in pounds and ounces daily, then gives you kudos or warnings if you have started a down or up trend. I really like it. Yesterday it told me to be very careful because my history shows I usually over eat on Wensdays. it helped me to keep an extra watch out.

It was great finding you all on MSN yesterday! Cjunk, it would be great if you could join us too.

Talk to you all tomorrow - Accountability Day!:o

Lady

Ladyrider, thanks for the invite--I would love to join you all in October. How do I go about getting connected on MSN and chatting with everyone? My boyfriend has MSN but I really don't know how to use it. Any quick lessons on how to find you guys???

Cjunk

Hi ladies,

I had my seaweed wrap and salt scrub today at the spa. It was really not that relaxing and my legs broke out in a rash. My gift certificate is done and I think I will just do spa treatments at home from now on.

I went to Target and bought more Yoga tapes. The kids and I are really enjoying it. My 7 year old son had a friend over this afternoon and they were even doing some of the poses. My husband even tried a few.

I have an idea about trying to drink more water. Yesterday, I put a bottle in my car and now when I drive around doing errands I drink some. I also have a bottle next to me when I am watching TV and on the computer. I hope it becomes just another habit.

Today I had an apple for breakfast, rice cake for snack, tuna sandwich with italian dressing no mayo on whole wheat bread for lunch, about 10 peanuts in the shell (lots of calories and fat but my son was eating them and I could not help it).

Miki, I can relate to you passing up the treats...on Tuesday when my son had a playdate one of the moms brought a pan of chewy brownies with m&m's I knew if they were in the house I would eat them so the next morning I gave the whole pan to my son Jimmy to bring to his class. He was the most popular kid in 2nd grade and I got the brownies out of the house. I felt great.

Taiwan, are there any special low-fat treats from the Philly area that you want...pretzels, sorry no cheesesteaks too fattening!I'll send them to you.

Exercise wise besides the yoga I have also been walking to the school bus every morning and afternoon...just a little change but every bit helps.

I am very excited about Friday I have been very determined and for once in my life I am getting results.....thank you all for your support.

Cjunk! Welcome back...so nice to hear from you and so glad that you are well and back with us....Yes! I would love to hook up with you when you visit Montreal...it would be so much fun...I live on the plateau which is next to downtown Montreal so your sister lives very close to me. And of course, next October some time, we are planning a trip to Chicago and I would love for you to be part of this trip!...what fun...cant wait to meet everyone.

Debee its nice to read your posts..so determined and positive! I like yoga a lot..I do ashtanga yoga..or power yoga....What kind do you do?

Hi Lady...How do you keep such a low calorie count? under 1200 cals and 25 grams of fat...I would be doubled over from hunger pain. And you lost another pound? Wow...you go girl...what are you down to now?

Lobacal...I ask the same question I asked LadyRider... 1117 cals and 25 grams of fat!!!:eek: What do you eat on an average day..what food choices are you making...just curious...maybe I can adopt some of those food choices for myself...I struggle to stay at 1500 cals and 50 grams of fat:o

Taiwan...hang in there...reach out for my hand and I will help you get over your food slump...did you read Cjunk's post...she might be able to help you.

Hi Lisathemommy soon to be lisathemommyandnurse:D How is that lump on your belly...is it getting smaller? How did you do food wise today? Did you stay away from those horrible frozen or prepared dinners?

Miki:cp: yay on getting your fat grams down to 25 grams...you rock...so what food choices have you made to bring it down so low?

Hi Reina...always enjoy chatting with you...hope you had a good day calorie wise...let us know how you did.

As for me...my grand total for today without the exercise..which I will do next after this post..tonight ..I cycle ...feel like it..anyway
I ate 1489 cals and 44 grams of fat.

Okay girls...it feels great to know you and to be part of this group..I send you all a big hug and lots of good energy

bye for now
Cyan

I only have about 5 min so this will be short and sweet. Calories today were 1370 with 43 fat grams. Only did 5 min on the AirWalker tonite but did a few exercises with my 3 lbs weights. LadyRider and Taiwan..sorry I didnt get to chat! Kept getting kicked offline for some reason. Maybe next time! I'm going to weigh first thing tomorrow morning but it will probably be Sat nite before Im able to get online again. Sorry I dont have more time but I'll make up for it in my next post.

Miki
:)

I checked on fitday for the contents of fried tofu ( I finally figured out the English for it, maybe it was better I didn't know!!!). Though my hubby says it's baked, not fried. Anyway, it said "piece" but what makes a piece? I can get 300g container of white (not fried)tofu and each 100g only had 3g of fat. But the fried tofu, one piece has 23+grams of fat. Man, guess no more fried tofu for me. Here I thought I was doing good with my calorie intake, now I guess I need to focus alot more on my low fat intake.

Anyway, haven't exercised yet, but will do that later. Lady, sorry I had to get off in the middle of a chat, Joshua was not happy I was trying to teach him and be on the computer. He won't do his work alone. Miki, we'll get chat more next time.

Well, I have 2 loafs of banana bread in the oven, not for me, for friends. I won't eat it , I promise!!!!

I will write more at the end of my day. See ya girls.

Hi everyone,

I only have a few minutes..I have to teach a literature circle class this morning at Jimmy's school. I had to post because today is Friday weigh-in and I lost 4 pounds this week!!! I am so happy.

Jan. 3 - 141.8/38% bodyfat
Jan10 -139.2/33%
Jan17 -135.4/34%

I gained 1% bodyfat but maybe it is only water weight.

WHAT I DID DIFFERENT THIS WEEK--

Did not eat after 8p.m., 4 out of 7, walked to the school bus every morning, started yoga-20 minutes anight, attitude about eating started kicking in, no butter, cream, whole milk, found flavoured rice cakes, less eating out, did not skip breakfast or lunch, got rid of fat pants and other fat clothes, gave away tray of brownies, seaweed wrap.

I'll check back later. Thank you girlfriends for all the support!!!!

Well ladies, my day went well I guess. Except for finding out about the fried tofu thing. I wasn't expecting that at all. Had noodles for lunch and rice for dinner, but that's ok I guess. I had planned on making a chicken salad for dinner, but hubby decided to go out. So far I've had 2000cc (2L) of water and will probably have some more before bed. Didn't eat anything after 8 pm again (though had a diet pepsi at 8pm). We will see if the scales show any change tomorrow. I will measure and weigh in tomorrow (it will be Sat. my time but still Friday your time:-) )

Cjunk and Debee, thanks for the offers of stuff but I can just ask my parents to send some stuff. They take care of us here. It's just been four years since I've been back and I am amazed to read about some of the stuff they have now to make it easier for eating actually. Hey, we just got diet sodas (well only coke and pepsi) here the past few years (pepsi the past year actually). But I guess that is good for me, means I'll spend less money!!!

Well ladies, I'll write more personalized message tomorrow. I am going to watch tv with hubby and go to bed. Have a great day.

Good Morning!:wave:

Last Friday 146.4 Today 144.4

Measurements stayed the same.

What I did that worked:
1) Didn't eat after 8pm 5 days out of 7.
2) Calculated calories and fat Before I ate each meal. This is my secret weapon! If the count is too high, I change portions or what ever to keep each meal at approx. 350cal.
3) Exercised 5 days out of 7.
4) Drank lots of water. I don't measure it, but drink water or non sweet ice tea for each meal and as often as I can between meals. BTW, Tea is a diuretic.
5) Try to distract myself when I have the munchies (sometimes this just doesn't work)
6) Go to bed early if I have the munchies really bad. I find it impossible to sleep and eat at the same time.:lol:
7) Very Important! Check in with you all every day! :)

Cyan, Keep in mind I am shorter and post-menapausal and probably require fewer calories than you do. I eat a lot of home made soup. It's very filling and stays with me a long time. I also eat lots of stir fried veggies over rice. I don't eat beef, but will substitute soy crumbles or soy paddys for hamburger. I use Pam or a tiny bit of cannola oil to stir fry; also skim milk, low fat margerine, no fat mayo, etc. No deep fried foods, ever.

Debee! :bravo: Way to go, girl! I think it's so important to find what works for you and then to BELIEVE you can do this!

Gotta go do Taebo, then meet Nancy for lunch. Will check in this evening.

Happy Friday!

Lady

Happy Friday everyone!

This is a quick one, because I am behind on my work today, so I will catch up this weekend!

Sorry, I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, my little one was sick and I had no time to myself yesterday!

Well, it looks like everyone is on track and keeping a good eye on what they are eating!

I didn't do as good as last week in the eating department, and I think once again, that was due to my period coming this week! Actually she was 6 days late! It came yesterday afternoon, so I didn't eat that much yesterday. But I am not gonna weigh in today, because of my period. I have been known to weigh as much as 8lbs more than normal during my period!:yikes:

I will weigh in on Sunday! I really don't want to discourage myself.
I didn't eat after 8pm, 6 out of the 7 days! NOT BAD! I did, however, have bad foods more than twice this week! Not a good thing. Pizza Hut is deadly, and my son loves that pizza! What is a mother to do???:lol:

I will check in later, I hope you all have a great day! and measure away!

Can I ask you all to do me a big favor, I am putting a chart together, in the event Oprah would like to see statitics on our weightloss, so I ask that you please email me, when you get a chance, your weight as of 10/02, your goal, and your current weight as of today! I have last weeks already. If you would like to put measurements, so we can have a TOTAL INCHES LOST section, that would be great too! you can email me at fernandezfr@earthlink.net

Have a blessed Day!

Hi...Cyan I wanted to answer your question really quickly. I am going to write a more detailed email this evening when I get home...and I'm not weighing or measuring until this evening either...but I did want to go ahead and respond.

When I was in college, I did debate and my Debate partner was a "Health nut." The men in his family had a history of heart attacks at an early age and he was convinced he was going to avoid having this happen to him and would constantly tell me how many fat grams something had. That was his focus. Anyway...during one of his rants about foods, he said that a person's goal should be 20 or fewer fat grams a day...and trust me over the years as I've tried to reach that goal, I've discovered how hard it is.

Another side note before I directly answer your question. I'm vegetarian...and I think, no, I know that make a huge difference, or can make a huge difference in what I consume, the number of fat grams etc....don't get me wrong. Vegetarians can eat just as fatty as non-veggies. But I think that it is easier for us to cut back on the fat etc...because of the types of foods we eat.

Now to address you question specifically. I try to keep a semi-current tally of how many fat grams I've eaten in mind...and focus my meals around that. In the AM I eat one of the follow, cereral, breakfast bar, or oatmeal. It all depends what is in the house at the given time. That usually keeps me going until lunch. Yes, I'm generally hungry by lunch, but that is okay. Then at lunch I honestly either eat, stir fry, pasta, or a sandwich. Yesterday I did Blimpie and also splurged with literally a cup of broccoli and cheese soup. So but I just try to eat a pretty normal lunch.

I'm not sure who mentioned the flavored rice cakes, but I tried them yesterday and WOW! It had been a while since I tried those and they are actually good now.

I go ahead and tally up my breakfast and lunch calories and fat grams. Focusing, honestly more on the fat grams than the calories. Because I'm usually pretty safe on the calories (My goal is 1100-1500) so long as I'm in that range I'm happy. And I wouldn't want to go 1500 too many days in a row. But I'm probably shorter than you are as well.

I've found that veggies (steamed), fresh and dried fruits, and things that are filling (without many fat grams) are what I am using most of the time for those "snack-y" hungry moments, but also what I supplement meals with.

I'm more carb heavy than most people are these days, but my body digests carbs better than it does protein...so I don't worry about that at all.

A basic dinner for me would be 2 or 3 vegetables, pasta, or rice or a starch of some kind. If meat is necessary and I had to laugh last night at my meal b/c it was so "traditionally" southern and yet not! What I mean by that is it was "chicken" (veggie chicken) instant mashed potatoes, steamed green peas and steamed carrots. "Meat and potatoes" right? But not...honestly most meals though for me aren't like that.

If I do Pasta for lunch my dinner will be mainly veggies...or vice versa. So that's my "trick" I guess. Oh and veggies have almost no fat...so I can fill up on them without having to worry. Well...most veggies do...there are the exceptions.

Also...in the evenings, I will admit this as well. I'm usually starving by the time I get off work...and that's when I grab my afternoon snack (rice cakes, fresh fruit etc...) Then dinner obviously is before 8. In the evening,I've gotten into the habit of drinking herbal tea (sometimes a couple of cups). And water intermixed. It keeps me "full" and I honestly love my herbal tea moments. I don't sweeten it...and so it's just "hot non-caffeinated" tea! Water with a flavor if you will. I love to find different flavors etc....

Okay...no magic tricks here...but hopefully those ideas helped a little. Last but not least I've been using something called "www.freetrainers.com" to input my food intake into the nutritional analysis thing. I'm not aiming to keep my calories as high as they suggest or my protein...but I don't want to go over the amount they suggest for fats, carbs etc....and after it is input it analyses the calories, carbs, proteins and fats. It also looks at what vitamins you got what you should have each day. And ranks them "check" target, satisfactory, or excellent. I aim to get most of those at least satisfactory or excellent each day.

Talk to you soon,
Betty

Well I weighed myself today but I am still at 167 pounds...ah..I am about to get my period next week. Also I have to be more diligent about the food choices I make...So I am still trying.

I am hoping to have a good weigh in next week...I would like to see a pound or two come off. So instead of saying what I did this week to achieve a weight loss ...because I didnt lose any weight:dz: I will write what I will do for this weekend and week:

1. exercise nightly for a minimum of 20 minutes or more at heart target range.
2. Eat at or below 1500 cals and 50 grams of fat
3. Drink lots of water
4. no eating after 8pm

So pretty simple and straigth forward.

I would like to congratulate all you ladies who have lost weight...way to go...you are doing awesome and keep going...you inspire me to keep trying and to keep looking at things I can change to improve myself. Thanks very much. Its an ongoing journey and I will not give up...due in part to you guys, I feel your support and good will ...thank you very much

Reina...I have been keeping track of my stats...they are not very impressive:lol: I have only lost 6 pounds since October! Ahhhh! the realization...so I will hold on to them until I have a reason to brag about.

Cyan

Lady, Just realized I didn't respond to this and I did want to.
Yes it is SO great that Kevin and I get to email each other!! I'm loving it!

He is a submariner, but this deployment he's on an Aircraft carrier. So I'm loving being able to email...send carepackages etc....and I think he's loving being able to stay in touch with everyone too.

Not to say he doesn't love doing the subs, he does and has expressed frustration over some differences between the surface community and the way he's used to things being done. But the emails are a definite perk!!

So the long and short of it is...I can definitely relate to the waiting for snail mail letters. Or no letters during the deployment. And I'm SO thankful that we've been able to stay as close as we have this deployment especially with it being extended.

Talk to again later today.
Betty

Hi

Just a quick note...Cyan, because of your pep talks you have helped get as far as I have...I know next week if you stay with your plan you will see results. Betty...your plan for eating sounds great...I discovered those rice cakes last week and I love them!...Reina, I know what you mean about weight gain during your period and Pizza hut is a killer (maybe just try to have a slice of cheese pizza and the salad bar. Lady, way to go with the pounds off...Twaiwan, it was great reading your post...

Well, I just wanted to report that I wore one of my "skinny" pants today...yes, they were tight but they made me think about
everything I put in my mouth.

Talk to you later....

Hi There!

Cyan, You made some real progress this week, so don't get discouraged. Your period could definitely be the reason you didn't lose. Also, think back on what you were doing when you were losing weight regularly; has anything changed? I'm glad you aren't giving up. You've come too far to give up now.

Debee, you really gave some good guidelines in your post. Thanks!

Reina, I like your idea of the weight loss chart. Total weight and inches lost as a group is an awesome idea.

If no one objects, I would like to include how much each individual wanted to lose when we started and how much we have lost in the letter to Oprah. I won't send the letter until it gets closer to July when we can call for tickets.

I did so well at lunch .... until dessert! :o I had salad with low fat dressing, steamed broccoli instead of french fries and even took the cheese and bacon off the ham sandwich. Then I saw the raspberry cheese cake and there was no stopping me! Boy it was good! I told myself if I was going to eat all that fat and calories I had better enjoy it, so I ate it real slowwww. Yum!

See you tomorrow!

Lady

Hey! I completely forgot to weigh at the gym this evening. But I know that I was down 5 lbs from where I thought I was when I went. So I will just look at that as at least a 2 lb loss this week...and move forward.

Cyan...I'm so glad that you are going to hang in there. Just during this last week that I've begun to get to know all of you. You have been an incredible inspiration to me...and I can tell you are working hard at this...hang in there...it will pay off.

Debee-Congrats on wearing your skinny pants today. That's awesome!! And I do agree about the rice cakes being great. You were where I heard about them! Thank you!!

I forgot to post my calories for yesterday...so here are yesterdays and todays...

Yesterday 1593 and 27 grams of fat.... the calories were high yesterday as were the fat grams for what I was aiming for. But today they are better.

The calories for today are 1100 and the fat grams at 25. I'm still aiming to get them down to 20 regularly...but I will just set that as a long term goal.

This has been an amazing week as far as exercise and eating goes for me. I've actually made it through the week drinking my water, not eating after 8 and I've been to the gym to lift weights or do cardio every day from Monday on. Tomorrow I'm planning to do some cardio at the gym in the AM and then take Sunday off from the gym.

I'm headed for bed...but I hope that everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow and I will check back in tomorrow evening.

Betty

Hi ya'll :) Went out of town today and just got back. It's late and I have to work tomorrow so I dont have much time again. Couldnt wait til tomorrow tho to give my report:
I lost 4 lbs since last Friday!!! It was sooo cool weighing this morning!! Anyway, I cant stay online right now but just had to let everyone know...thanks to all of you for helping me do that! Couldnt do it without ya...

MIKI

ok quicky as I am holding baby with one hand and typing with the other.

Lost only 1lb, but did pathetic on exerceise and all this week. BUT did lose another .5 inc most places! I'll write more later.

That is so wonderful Miki, Betty and Taiwan on the weight loss...we are really doing it!

I only have a few minutes but I forgot to mention in my last post that I bought a digital pedometer at Radio Shack for about $20. I am going to wear it to see how much walking I do in a day. If anyone else would like to get one maybe we can set a goal and pretend we are going on a "trip" maybe the distance to Chicago or if we are very motivated to vist Taiwan. I am going to calculate the miles from Philly to Chicago and Taiwan and see if I can walk it on my pedometer in 6 months. I am going to mark it on a map showing how much closer I would be if I were actually walking there. When I finally "arrive" I am going to read a travel book on it and maybe make a meal the location is famous for...anyone want to join me on my "journey" ? We on post our results on Wednesdays on where we walked to on our own maps.

debee, it measures the mileage? That is so cool. I was looking for one here in our area, but I only found one that measure the steps taken. I need to shop around the internet. I would be up for one of those challenges, though walking to Taiwan would take along time:p

Can't write personal messages today as I am tired need to clean up some stuff before bed. I did try to make chicken salad tonight. I was using 0%fat and 39calorie/100cc yogurt. Well, I didn't quite realized til I got home that it also had aloe in it. When I tasted the salad after using the yogurt for a dressing I about puked. It was the most awful thing I had ever tasted. Soooooooo, I ended up eating like 3 pieces of whole wheat bread with 1/2tsp of "I can't believe it's not butter" ---we recently got that here. Then I warmed up my sons rice porridge made with brown rice and added some of the veggies the family had for dinner. I cooked for them tonight. Stir fried (used 1tbsp of oil per veggie or meat, should've been ok then right?) cabbage and carrots and pork and green peppers. Wonder if I ate that with them what it would've "cost" me? Anyway, that's the main thing of my day. Talk to you all later.
Reina--I know what you mean about the late period. Mine is 6days late now, makes one nervous!!! But if feels like it's coming and talk about moody--whoooaaaa watch out world!!
Ok, I had a long letter written before and something happened and it didn't show up. Really signing off now.

I am a little sad today, My lovebird died this morning...she was not feeling well for a little while...she had a tumor growing in her neck and it was quite big...she is survived by her two children
Jack and Jill and her husband Fred. Fred is looking a little depressed...I hope he is able to snap out of it.

Well I am off to start my chores but I will check back later to post how I did calorie wise and exercise wise.

Cyan

Hi,

Cyan, I am so sorry to hear about your bird. It can be very painful when a loved pet dies.

I went off my healthy habits today big time! My family decided to go to a new IKEA this afternoon that opened about 20 minutes from my house. We got caught in a massive traffic jam and the place was so crowded you could hardly move. The store was so big it was probably 5 miles of walking. We decided to have lunch at the in-store swedish resturant. I love swedish food... I am Norwegian and grew up with hardtack, salmon, swedish meatballs, and apple and almond tarts. The tarts get to me... my hubby brought a dessert sampler ( I was so mad at him for tempting me) Well, I ate the salmon for lunch but also the whole dessert sampler!!!!

It gets worse!! My hubby also bought pistachio Nuts and I ate about 2 cups worth.... at 705 calories a cup and fat grams at 50 I am so over today in calories and fat. My husband although he says he is supportive seems to want me to fail...well I know I should take responsibilty for what goes in my mouth however, it is hard to have the temptation around! Sorry, I had to vent.

Well, I did lose the 4 lbs but last nite we went to an all-you-can-eat buffet place that had everything you can think of. I had waayyyyy too much and could no way possible even begin to add up all the calories. Today calorie wise is great tho. I did decide a few weeks ago that on the weekends, I am allowed a meal that I really want and love no matter how healthy or fattening or whatever. ( all-u-can eats werent to be included tho:lol: ..wanted to still eat within reason even tho it might not be the best choices in foods) Anyway, that is behind me so for the rest of the weekend, I'll be a good girl.:angel:

I have something funny to tell. Several years ago, during another time I was on a supposed weight loss journey, our group at church did the WeighDown Workshop Bible-based program. In a nutshell, we were taught how in the beginning, God made us with bodies that worked perfectly. Just as our brain tells our body to take the breaths we need, our empty stomach had the purpose of telling us to eat. Never was it in God's plan for us to eat for any reason but for nourishment. It was to be the gasoline for our body's energy. Notice how eating was involved in the very first sin?? That's human nature, to abuse what we were given as far as foods. God made foods for us to enjoy. He didnt give us flour, sugars, etc so we could just WISH we could have them. He meant for us to have them but we abused that privilege. No longer does our stomach tell us when to eat...it doesnt have a chance. We keep it full 24/7 most of the time for a variety of reasons like emotions, the time of day it is, celebrations, etc. So anyway, keeping all that in mind, Gwen, the lady that founded that program, said once that if we are honest with God and tell him we have no control, and we ask forgiveness for the mess we LET our bodies get in, that he would help us in many ways. She gave a few examples she had encountered herself after deciding to totally depend on God to teach her how to eat the way he planned. One of the examples was One day she was in a bad mood and craving sweets. She didnt care that she was already full, she was determined to have some ice cream. So she heads to Baskin Robbins and gets a dip of her favorite kind. Just as she walks out the door, the entire dip just rolls off of her cone onto the pavement.:lol: She wanted to cry at first she wanted it so bad, but then it hit her....maybe it fell because she didnt need it in the first place. Ok, I explained all that to tell you what happened to me recently and made me think back to that class.

There is a tiny steak and fish house about 5 miles from here that have wonderful grilled steak, the best! I wanted one BAD but I didnt want to come here and post a ton of calories. So, I made a deal with hubby that we would get ONE large steak dinner then half the steak and potato between us. I went to pick up our order, and the owner says"Oh, I almost called you. Our grocery truck didnt come today so we only had small. I went ahead and fixed that instead of calling" Well, I thought, no big deal. Even there small is pretty big. I get home and open the stirofoam carton and there is the smallest steak you've ever seen. No way it was enough for both of us. Needless to say, hubby got it.:( Every bite he took, I was dying..LOL but I thought to myself, hmmm...guess I didnt really need it after all.

Ok, that was weeks ago. Thursday nite, I decided again that I want food from there. Didnt want to do bad tho so I ordered myself the steak tips with bell pepper and onions knowing I wouldnt get a great big bunch of steak and to make it even better, I said I wanted no potato at all..just a little extra salad instead. I got home and I had NO POTATO, NO ROLL and NO SALAD EITHER!!!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...:lol:

Well, today I was at work and we were very busy. The bank branch is in a grocery store so I just called the deli and ordered me and the other lady a hamburger so we wouldnt have to leave to pick something up. I got mine out, sat down to eat finally around 2:00, the first minute I had...and soon as I took a bite, I felt like something was wrong. I opened the bun and there was mustard, lettuce, pickle, and tomato...PERIOD....NO MEAT!!! They forgot my meat!!!!!!!!!!:mad: I tried calling over to the deli and they were so busy, they never answered the phone. I was too busy to go back across the store. Soooooooooo, I had a veggie burger instead....I told the lady I was working with, "Ummm...I am thinking I should get the hint that I really really need to be on this diet." Everywhere I go, I am reminded. I've also decided that Yes, God has a very big sense of humor.:D

Cyan, I am sorry to hear about your bird. I hope her family doesnt stay depressed for long. It really is sad to lose a pet.

Debee, that pedometer sounds neat. Im going to try to find one also. Your post today made my stomach growl..I'm starving. All that food sounded yummy.

Taiwan, stir fry is what helps me get my fat grams down. The kind I fix has 45 calories per cup and NO Fat. It's a great "diet" food and I love it. In fact, I'm having that tonite. It's cooking as I type. ( have to keep running to stir )

Betty, sounds like you're definitely on the right track too. Glad to hear that.

Well, I had the early shift on the computer tonite so alot of you havent posted yet. I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. Mine is ok even tho I worked today. I am off Monday tho..yeahhhh:lucky:

Going to go for now...Bye all! :)

Miki

Hello girls. I think I missed yesterday...did I post yesterday? I don't remember. I've been reading all the posts, but I just haven't had anything good to say. I've really been being bad. So, I've decided to post tonight for the sole purpose of confessing...so here goes.

Remember after the surgery when I started losing weight? Well, I thought, gee this is great! I can eat whatever I want. Well, I've stopped losing and have even gained a pound back. I've really been thrown off track...actually, I've jumped off the track. I feel really bad and I'm angry with myself. I know that part of it is frustration with wanting my body to be 100%, and not being able to go to the gym. The other part of it is how my life has been hectic ever since being accepted into the nursing program and all the things I have had to do to prepare for that. There have been dr appts, books to buy, financial aid papers to sign, daycare center to tour, orientatation, setting up study space, sick kids, uniforms to pick out, immunization records to find...and so on and so on. But, I know that none of that is an excuse to treat my body poorly and load it with bad things. I really feel horrible! And I'm going into the Health Proffesion?!! I really need some encouragement and some motivation. I know I can count on you girls to pull me through. I NEED you!!!!!

So, here is my plan. Tomorrow is Sunday, the first day of the week. I'm going to have a Slim Fast for a late breakfast and then will have dinner at my mother in laws at 5pm. I will not have dessert and I will have reasonable size portions of the dinner itself. I will also drink all my water tomorrow.

Monday I have 2 Dr appts. One at 10:30 and one at 2pm. So, I think after my hubby gets home at 4:30, I'm going to the gym. My body is feeling pretty good and I'm going to burn some calories. I've been able to lift laundry baskets with clothes and 12 packs of pop, so I know that the 5 pound weights will be fine. I will also do the treadmill for 30 minutes at a reasonable pace and then I will sit in the sauna. I really need that time to get my body feeling good for my first day of school.

School will start the next day for me and then my schedule will be very different. My goals are to drink my water everyday. We are ecouraged to bring snacks to class since we're there for 4 hours, so I'm thinking baby carrots, cucumber slices...etc. Subway is very close to school, so that's where I'll have lunch a lot after class is out.

Okay, sorry to ramble on about my boring schedule but I really needed to see it "written" out. I've really envious of all of your motivation and successes. I've felt like an outsider and it's all my fault. Please help me!!!!!


Lisa

Oh yeah, Miki, I really needed to read about your previous weight loss plan. I have really felt guilty at times for treating this body that God gave me so bad. Your post really reminded me to ask for forgiveness and for strength to do better. Thank You!

Also, one more thing.....I know another reaon I've been eating poorly. I've really been feeling some stress about what my career endeavor might do to my kids. I feel selfish at times when I think about all the studying I'm going to have to do and all the time I will be away from home doing things for school. Yesterday at my daughters Parent Teacher Conference, her teacher told me that she was concerned because Whitney wasn't making any progress with her letters and numbers and there was a question about whether or not she would be ready for first grade. I know I will have to start working with her more each night. I guess I'm just stressed because I want to be a top student, a good mom, a good wife, a good housekeeper and be able to do all the other little things that come up in life. I don't see how I'm going to be able to do it all....not to mention, exercise. I would really like to get into some yoga and/or some meditation to help myself deal with the stress. Any advice? I'm excited about nursing school, yet nervous because this is the first time I've decided to do something all myself and just taken the plunge...I don't want to mess up!

Thanks for letting me vent....again.

Lisa

Lisa, no you didnt post last nite. Your post was noticeably missing. I love hearing from you and first thing wondered where you were. Dont beat yourself up over messing up. Wont change it but will make you miserable. Just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start again. :) All of us in this thread, I think, has the problem of eating for stressful or emotional type problems. Ok, we now realize that and you know that's why you did what you did...so let's kick the habit!! Just get back on track and in no time you'll be feeling great again. I promise from experience!! You've had a load lately and are about to take on more so think ahead of how you'll deal with different situations so they dont sneak up on you. Like what you'll snack on, what you'll cook for the family when you're busy studying, etc. Sounds like you have a great plan already in the works so stick to it and come back and tell us how much better you feel. I bet you'll really enjoy being able to get back to the gym but dont overdo it!! That would just set you back more. Start back in moderation and soon you'll be back better than before. You cant quit or give up...I wont let you! I cant...you never let ME do that!:p So I have to return the favor.:D More than once, I've failed and you personally have said things to make me realize it wasnt the end of the world and that I had to get back on track. Thanks for that and now take your own advice!:lol: It was great coming back and seeing you had posted! Really did miss you.

MIKI

P.S.
((((((((((((((((((((((((((Lisa)))))))))))))))))))) )))))) There ya go...I think this time you need a hug more than a kick. :) Feel better now?? lol

Thank you. Your post made me cry...with appreciation. I am very emotional lately. Thank you. I don't know what I would do without you girls.

:grouphug: and thanks for the hug. I really needed that!

Lisa

Looks like this thread has been busy tonight. Miki and Debee thanks for your condolences...I will pass it on to Fred and the kids:)

Miki I loved that story you posted about God and how you should respect the body you have with good food and right amounts of food and how funny is that...maybe God is telling you to cut back on red meat. Food for thought.

Lisa...I'm sorry to hear that you fell off the wagon and you are not alone...last week I did and now I am back...so if I can do it...you can do it ... and the new stress of nursing school is not helping but you will adjust to your changes. Your body is still healing from your surgery and you want comfort foods. You also fell into the trap of thinking you could conitinue to lose weight regardless of what you eat...not true...unfortunatley, these are life changes you are in the process, not a temporary diet...and I also believe that a splurge once in awhile is necessary and very ok...so long as it is just a splurge not lasting more than 24 hours...so pick a day and have a party in your mouth guilt free. I send you a big hug and lots of good energy to get you back on track for the next little while until your next hump. We will be there to pull you over...thats why we are here...remember that.

Debee the same goes for you...sorry to hear you fell off the wagon...but you seem like such a determined woman...I don't think you have been permanently derailed...but hmmm...that hubby of yours needs to help you a little more and not tempt you with delicious foods...he probably thought he was doing you a favor. But, alas, you are correct, you are responsible for what goes in your mouth...but support from your friends and family always help...I know this much is true.

Also, I have been looking into getting a pedometer...the one I was thinking of getting monitors how many paces you take...and apparently anything less than 3000 steps means you are underactive .... isnt that scary!

Reina, Lady and Cjunk and Taiwan... I missed your posts today...hope you are having a great weekend.

And now for me...I ate 1436 calories and 48 grams of fat. I am working on cutting back on my cheese...I loooooove cheese and its so fatty and caloric...God help me:lol:

Have a good evening and I will check back with your girls tomorrow. Big hug to everyone

Cyan

I havent forgotten you...thanks for all the wonderful advice you have given me and thank you for giving me your vote of confidence...hope you weekend is a great one and post tomorrow and let us know how you are doing.

Hi everyone. I will address everyone more individually tomorrow. It's been a rough day emotionally. The long and short of it being I got a message this morning that Kevin won't be flying off the ship for his transfer to run the ROTC program in March. Honestly, I'd pretty much expected that he would...and this feels like another huge set back as to when he will be home.

Cyan...you and your love birds are in my prayers this evening. Everyone hang in there...I know falling off the bandwagon can be tough, but get back on and keep at it...I'll try to be much more specific tomorrow.

My calories and fat for today are 1290 and 28 fat grams.

Betty

Hi Ladies,
Hope everyone's doing ok. I had to get a new computer but now I'm back. Happy to say I'm still on track. I missed you all . There's nothing like the support here. Talk to you all soon.

:grouphug:

Hi everyone,

Was away for part of the weekend. Will post again later this afternoon but promised myself I would swim at least a half an hour today. I was about to back out until I read everyone's posts and they motivated me to get to the pool!

I thought that I had done well this weekend until I read a book I got for Christmas called Restaraunt Confidential made by the Centre for Science in Public Interest. Then I realized that most of my restaraunt choices are poor and cost me over 1000 calories per meal generally and that I have been drinking a lot of calories like 200 calorie iced teas etc. with each meal I eat out. What an eye opener!! I thought I was restaraunt conscious before reading this book too!!

Cyan, I think you may find this book interesting. One of my favorite foods is Thai and it has a lot of saturated fats in the coconut milks and peanut sauces and noodles etc. I really learned a lot today. I think I can cut a lot of calories and fat now at restaraunts and still enjoy my dining out experiences. I would encourage everyone to get a copy of this book!!

I will post when back from my swim!

Cjunk

One thing to ponder---if the average sugared beverage or juice, pop, iced tea is about 200 calories---how many calories in liquid drinks do you consume in a day????

I was chatting with Lisa earlier on msn and we have a mini challenge to help us today...For dinner...no bread rolls or desert...and of course...our water and no eating after 8pm.

Anyone who wants to join us is welcome.

Cjunk if you want to chat with me on msn give me your hotmail email address and I will add you on to my buddy list or you can add me mariettemelo@hotmail.com .... this goes for any you ladies who have not added me to your list...feel free I would love to chat with you one on one... I am online often...cause of work and stuff.

Also Cjunk... I have heard of that book and have been meaning to check it out...guess I will now. I know about about coconut milk...deadly...I never eat satays or noodles at the Thai restaraunts but I do eat coconut curries..yikes!

Reina and Lady...missed your posts this weekend..hope you are well and doing well on your programs

Welcome back PreciousOne...so glad to hear that you are on track...what an inspiration...keeps me motivated to do the same.

Miki hope you weekend is going well too..let us know how you are doing.

Debee and Lobacal...keep keeping us motivated...every little piece of advice is welcomed and informative...Debee I am going to a fitness depot this afternoon and I will check out those pedometers...will let you know if I pick one up.

Taiwan...thinking of you and hoping you are on track today...I send you lots of good energy and a big cyberhug.

Actually the cyberhug goes to everyone.

I have just finished cleaning the house, vacuuming and scrubbing...so I am sweaty...so I am off to the shower and then off to the fitness depot...have a good rest of day

Cyan

Hi everyone, a quick reply for now. Cyan, I have to create a hotmail account and once I do, I would love to chat!

Lisa and Cyan, I am up for your not eating after 8pm challenge.

I actually made it to the pool today and did about a 45min swim. Moderate but not intense. Proud of myself for getting there though.

Craving for fajhitas so went to the grocery store with my boyfriend and we picked up all the ingredients to make a healthy version including lowfat sour cream and 5% MF cheese. It was excellent and some left over for lunch tomorrow. Gotta go for now. I will post to everyone but it will only let me do a quick reply as problems with post reply when I log in.

Hi girlfriends,

Miki, I loved your story about God... the devil may have made me put it in my mouth but God is watching! I'll remember that next time Ben and Jerry call my name.

Lisa, Lisa, Lisa....please put a smile on your face. I know how hard it is to be a mom and wife. You are just going through a very stressful time right now. I think yoga and mediation might help you. I just started doing it last week. I bought some tapes at Target and do them at home at night. One tape called "yoga for kids" is fun and lets you spend time with the kids and exercise.
I think taking time for a bubble bath or even a walk by yourself my help you feel less overwhemled. Take time to do something special for yourself.

CJunk--I love Thai food too...I always order the "evil jungle princess" ..a spicy chicken dish. I think that should be my new name "evil jungle princess"...ok only when I lose the 30 pounds and can get into a lioncloth.

Betty--sorry to hear about Kevin.

Cyan-- Did you get a pedometer? Mine has a step counter, distance counter in miles, calorie counter, countdown timer,
stopwatch, pulse meter. Now all I have to do is figure it all out and set the times. That would be great if you would join me on my "journey" to visit Taiwan ...the way I walk it might take ten years but it would be fun to set a goal.


My husband left this morning for Arizona for a sales meeting for a week so tonight the kids and I ordered Domino's pizza and had a "disco party" A mom from my son's preschool gave me Richard Simmons disco party exercise tape ( great exercises set to songs like "Burn baby burn", "I will survive" ) we turned the lights off, my son Jimmy has a colored disco light he brought down from his room we turned on, put on the tape and danced to the disco beat for 20 minutes I know I burnt off the one slice of pizza I had...I was sweating but it was fun. Maybe every Sunday will be family disco night, order pizza, do the tape, get the polyester out and move...oh, one more thing, on the tape was this great dancer and at the end they introduced everyone in the video and how much they lost...she lost 170 pounds!! What a motivation.

The posty reply button is still not working for me except for Quick Reply---argh!!! So I owe you all individual replies. I am logging on because I am having trouble not eating. It is my first night of trying not to eat past 8pm and I am stuggling---help!! I have already drank 3 decaf green teas since 8 and it is only 8:40!!! I think it is psychological but I am determined to make it!

So if anyone is logging on--any words of wisdom??
By the way, I logged on to fitday.com and calculated all of my food including drinks and came up with a low 1300. Considering I went for a swim today that burned 320 calories I think that this is not bad. Do I deduct the 320 from the 1300??? Maybe that's why I am hungry????

Gotta go as no more room to reply. Cjunk

Cjunk, yes you do deduct the 320 so your calories really are low for the day. I'm sure that's a big reason you're still feeling hungry. I was the same way a few days and had to decide.."Do I want my calories to be a little too low" or "Do I want to stick with making the challenge". Sometimes I ate altho it was after 8 and sometimes I suffered thru it. Make the decision based on your own self....if you didnt eat since it's after 8,would you be totally starving by morning and binge? If so, it would be better to eat a little something now. Just depends on you. No right or wrong decision in this case. ( unless of course you do eat now and eat a lot and eat really bad food choices) That's what I think anyway. :)

MIKI

Precious One!! Welcome back! I missed that post earlier when I came here. Sorry. Great hearing you're still on track.

Just had a nice chat with Cyan and Taiwan. I really enjoyed it, girls. :) I shared a salad dressing hint with them that I heard recently. When you order salad, ask for the dressing on the side. Then only dip your fork into it with each bite. You'll get the taste without actually consuming much of the dressing. That should cut the fat grams way down. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Debee, what brand is your pedometer? I'd love to have one that shows calories burned.

Cjunk, your swim sounds wonderful. No indoor pools around here. Not even an outdoor one for that matter.:lol: The public pool is nasty, and the gym doesnt have a pool. You're lucky.

Betty, so sorry Kevin isnt coming home as soon as you had hoped. That has got to be really difficult for both of you. We're all here for you tho any time you need to "talk". We're all pretty good listeners. Not sure how many problems we actually solve, but sometimes it helps just to share them. We're here to lose weight but we care about every day life issues as well. :)

Lisa, I'm glad my post made you feel a little better. Missed you today. How did things go? Less stressful for you, I hope. Remember...hang in there...you can do it! ;)

I did ok calorie wise today which was a surprise considering I had lasagna :nono: and garlic cheese bread. I've come to find out lately that honestly the problem isnt what I eat...it's how much! Even with the lasagne I was under 1500 calories because I forced myself to eat only one serving. There is no reason to deprive myself of foods I love if I learn to only eat when hungry and for no other reason. I can always have more later if I get full...I dont have to eat it ALL TODAY!:s:

I also did the 2 mile in 30 min "Walk away the Pounds" video. Reina, I know you said it didnt do much for you, but I must be more out of shape than you. I wasnt dying by the end or anything, but I could tell I had done something. It has got to be burning SOME calories because I'm constantly moving for the entire 30 min. I think Im going to rotate between it and the AirWalker for a while for a change. I'm adding the weights to the video workout next time I do it. My sis did and was actually sore the next day. We'll see how it works out.

Well, no school tomorrow and I have no work either, so the kids have company over and they want a turn on the computer. Guess I better go.

Later,

Miki:cool:

Well, I had a great time chatting with Miki and Cyan this morning (their night). I told them about my Sunday--let's just say it was bad and I won't go into details here. But today was a new day and I did great.

Ok, not sure I added it up right though. It's so hard as I don't measure the stuff (and hubby helped me get my dinner ready as I was teaching). Dinner was chicken soup (I am testing out soups for dinner). Hubby said it was 1/4chicken, no particular parts and he deskinned it. All he did was add water to the chicken and then let it simmer for about 45 min. Then I added a few garlic cloves and 1cup green beans. It was pretty good actually. I had 3 slices of whole wheat bread to go with it. I added stuff up and came up with less than 1200 calories but over 100fat grams.:?: Ok, I knew that chicken had fat in it, but it came up to almost 80 grams of fat!!! I didn't particularly plan on so little calories, and then I exercised to burn off 265 calories. So not sure if I will be hungry later or not. We'll see.
Can't write much in the way of personal things to everyone as I am going to watch TV with my son "Animal Planet". Gotta go.

Wow, the regular Post Reply seems to be working today!! Now I can write longer than just 5 lines!

Well, I was really hungry last night but I decided that I should try and not eat past 8pm anyway. I really had to distract myself bigtime to do it. I ended up going to bed pretty early too. Feeling hungry this morning but well rested. Had a big bowl of oat bran and now I am okay.

Cyan, I am sorry to hear about your lovebird. It is always hard to lose a pet that you loved. I hope you had a good weekend considering. Out of curiosity, did you end up getting anything fun at the fitness depot? I am looking for a new bathing suit. I end up going through them every 4 months and it gets expensive because they cost about $40.00 each time.

Miki, thanks for the advice about deducting the calories. I am never good at counting calories but I think that the fitday site is excellent so I thought I would try it. Yesterday was my first day trying the site, so I wonder if I used it correctly. I know that I am short with a medium frame, so at a complete resting rate and without exercise in order to maintain my weight, I can only eat about 1450 calories per day. I had this assessment done at a health fair (I work in the health industry) and I was pretty surprised at how low it was---keep in mind that is with no movement at all! By the way Miki, I read somewhere that walking is an excellent form of exercise and that tape sounds great! Variety is important as it keeps you motivated and it also keeps your muscles challenged.

Taiwan, don't worry about Sunday--getting right back on track is the way to go. I am not sure how your soup would have registered so high in fat. Seems curious to me---I would add it up again. Have you tried using Fitday.com?

PreciousOne! Hello! I just returned recently myself!! Welcome back and so great to hear from you!! I got off track for a bit but jumped back in again and am trying to lose the couple of pounds I put back on in January. It is fantastic to have you back. We missed you!

Betty I am very sorry to hear about Kevin. I can understand how that would be challenging when you expected completely different news in that area. We are here to support you and so you found the right place for a lot of hugs and open ears.

Debee, your disco party with the kids sounded amazing! I almost wanted to dig through my music collection after reading it so that I could dance to disco right along with you! Does your husband go away on business a lot?? My boyfriend works very long hours and it is hard at times because he often comes home and logs into his computer and continues working. Can I join you on a journey with a swim to taiwan?? So far I have clocked only about 11/2 kilometres, but it is a start! What a neat idea you have!

Lisa, we would love to hear more from you! Emotional eating is a common bond between many of us. Don't let one episode get you down. We can help you through it together---trust us, we have a lot of experience in getting ourselves out of binge and back into regular eating! A big hug goes out to you. :grouphug:

Ladyrider, Lobocal and Reina--how did your weekend go? Hope all is well with each of you. Looking forward to hearing from you all.

Okay, here is my plan for today:

Drink lots of water--I haven't been drinking enough
Eat within the 1500 calorie range
Exercise at least 30 mins

Have a great day everyone!!

Cjunk

Cjunk,
I did check it on fitday. I wasn't sure how to figure it out though as I wasn't the one who put the stuff in the pot. Hubby said he bought half a chicken and put half of that in. So a quarter of a chicken right? It was cooked without the skin on it. I am sure I am figuring something up wrong. I was trying to good and keep my fat grams under 50 for the day, that kinda blew it.
I think I'll try tomato soup tomorrow. Anyone familiar with making soups? You know, I was quite suprised at 1/2 c of white rice came up at only 84 calories and 1.5grams of fat---guess I'll eat more next time:-)
Well, I am signing off til tomorrow. Looking forward to reading about everyone's day. Hope it went well.

Nighty night

I havent had the chance to post earlier...I am at my new office space and it is quite nice...but now I am even closer to the boss...I stare right at him...right smack dab infront of me..yeesh...oh well.

Food wise today thus far...breakfast and lunch and snack totalled up to 741 cals and 17 grams of fat...so I have to figure out what my dinner will be for tonight. I am thinking of spaghetti with a tomato sauce..hunts is really good and for a serving of 125 grams..it only totals 97 grams and 3 grams of fat..so I think I will be having that.

Debee I did purchase a pedometer but I am having a hard time programming it...and I left the instructions in my friend's coat pocket...he will give them back to me this weekend so once its programed I will join you on your walk to Taiwan.

Cjunk...I tried 8 different eliptical machines...or gliders..boy did I get a workout...15 minutes later I was pool of sweat.

Later Ladies
I'm at work so I cant take too much time chatting away

Cyan

Hi Y'all,

Thank you so Cjunk, Miki, and all of you about your condolences about Kevin again extended deployment. Sometimes I do feel like this deployment will never end!! But then there are days like today...where most of my focus is on making care packages for him or sharing cool stories about work. Speaking of which we've decided to use our computer company also as a professional staffing agency for white collared jobs. And I'm in charge of it!! I'm really excited about that. I used to manage a temp agency before I came to work here. So I just know it's going to work out great!!

Cyan- How's Fred and the family doing? Did you find anything cool at the Fitness Depot? And congrats on the 48 grams of fat!! That's definitely under 50...so I can tell you are working hard. I love cheese too...and it's hard to cut back on it...but small pieces of it occasionally aren't all that awful, just not out and out cheese stuff. And I was amazed by how few broccoli and cheese soup has....the cheese taste without the bad side effects. I forgot to post but I did join y'all on your no bread, no dessert and no food after 8 challenge last night! Talk about a tough one...but thanks for sharing.

Miki--Thank you so much for sharing that God story! That is just awesome and so true!! I loved your salad dressing tip and I definitely plan to try that! And I completely relate as to the portion control being the key!That's the same thing for me...it's not "what" I eat as how much of it that I eat....and chocolate or sweets...well those are so my weakness although peanut butter, and salty things have been known to be too. ;-)

Debee- the walking with the pedometer and then planning a special meal when we "arrive" in different locations sounds like fun. I'm going to go check on a pedometer this afternoon and get back to you on that. Your disco party sounds like it was wonderfully fun! And I know that you must have had a blast playing and exercising while dancing with the kids like that. And what motivation to hear at the end of it someone lost 170 lbs doing that! WOAH!!

Lisa--Hang in there....you know the right things to do. And we all have our down moments. It happens. You've recognized that you are slipping and is the most important part. Now you just have to get yourself going again...and I have no doubt that you can do it. How are you feeling as far as physically goes? And the yoga that Debee suggested sounds like a good idea...or maybe even the walking..that she also suggested. Just to get moving a little. How did your Dr appt go?

Why not go ahead and set aside a certain time for the kids that no matter how busy your schedule is, or how much you have to study this is (their) time! And just go ahead and let them know that you will do something special with them during that time each week. Also pencil out some time each day that is set aside for quality time with them. Maybe take a walk together...or play a game etc...and study after they are in bed?

Cjunk--Good job on making it to the pool yesterday! That's awesome!! As far as making it through the no eating after 8 thing...it's only been a week for me, but it is getting easier. :) And keeping yourself busy or out of the way of the kitchen helps. I generally take a long bath when I'm tempted at night to eat...or recognize that I'm hungry, but just say no. I know it's not that easy to do. So I'm extra proud of you for pulling through wiht it last night!!

Taiwan- Yikes! I had no idea Chicken had so much fat in it! And congrats on your 1lb loss. Maybe checking ahead before you cook could help...or find a way to make chicken more healthy? I have no idea...as far as meats go...but I will put my thinking cap on.And the homemade tomato soup sounds like a GREAT idea!! I love homemade soups.

Well...as I said today is going better. Oh yesterday my calories were 1147 and my fat was 39. I hat a bit of a fat gram problem yesterday. Oops!! But I am going to chunk that up to coming out of the slump from hearing about the deployment and move on. I do believe that weekends are harder for me to stay on program that during the week though. Anyone else struggle with that?

Well..to those of you having a holiday today...I hope it's wonderful. And I will talk to everyone else this evening when I get back from the gym. It's Monday so my day to lift weights and I will try to do 30 cardio too.


Betty

Hello everyone!:wave:

Boy, I am impressed with you girls! Those of you who fell off the wagon this weekend were totally accountable for your actions and still posted. :angel: I fell off the wagon too, Only I hid! I didn’t post because I was embarrassed by my pigging out. No accountability for me! I felt so guilty I even had to make myself check in today. :( I thought I would only read your posts, but after reading them I couldn’t not post. Thanks for being human and fallible. It’s so nice to know I’m not alone.

Cyan - I’m sorry about your love bird. Do they mate for life? You are so right in reminding us that this is a long term lifestyle change. When I set a goal for myself and don’t meet it I tend to lose track of the progress I’ve made to date and focus on the failure. I’m glad to hear you are back on track.

Lisa - Did you go to the gym? How did it go? It is going to take a little while to get things to run smoothly when you start school, but it will get better. Try not to set unrealistic expectations for your self. Can you find ways to cut back at home? Does the house have to be spotless all the time? Can the family live on quick meals that don’t take a long time to fix? How can your hubby help out? Don’t feel guilty. You will be setting an excellent example for your kids, especially when they see you studying. Wait till you see how proud they will be to tell their friends their mommy is going to be a nurse. My daughter in law has 2 children when she went back to school two years ago. The kids have more self confidence because they have become more independent. It has been a good thing for the entire family.

Precious One! Welcome back! Glad to hear you are still on track.

Cjunk – Good for you for resisting temptation and not eating after 8. You’re doing some serious swimming if you are going through 3-4 suits a year! Way to go, girl! That book sounds interesting. I printed out the calorie / fat list for restaurants listed in 3FC and keep it in my car. It’s a real God send; don’t eat out without it anymore.

Miki –Congratulations on the 4 lbs! Awesome! Your stories of God interfering with your food choices had me laughing out loud. Made me think of that old advertisement “Where’s the beef?”:lol:

Taiwan – The fat grams on your chicken soup sounds high to me. You used skinless chicken, and that’s where most of the fat comes from. When I make chicken soup I use chicken parts with the skin on. After they have cooked until the meat is falling off the bones, I take the meat off, remove the skin and put the stock in the fridge for a couple hours until it is cold; this makes the fat rise to the top and solidify. I can then easily remove it. My fat gram counter lists chicken noodle soup at about 5gm fat per cup.



Debee – Evil Jungle Princess ;) - Sorry you had such a bad day on the 18th. I’m sure your husband doesn’t realize he is hurting not helping you. Have you told him what your plan is and how he can.help you succeed?

Betty – I’m so sorry to hear about Kevin. But I am so impressed that in spite of your disappointment you kept your calories and fat intake under control.

Well, ladies, it’s Monday and I am determined to get back on program. So far I’ve only had 285 calories because I don’t trust myself in the kitchen. The child within me keeps begging for sweets. The adult in me is winning, but it’s a tough battle!

Talk to you tomorrow!

:grouphug:
Lady

Taiwan - and everyone

I found these two schicken soup recipies at http://www.dottisweightlosszone.com/Recipes/
and thought you might be interested:

Spring Chicken Soup

Soup is not just for wintry months! This light and fresh-tasting chicken
soup, with a hint of mint and lemon, makes an ideal springtime entree.

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

One 2-pound 4-ounce chicken, cut into 8 equal pieces
4 medium carrots
6 ounces parsnips
6 large garlic cloves, crushed
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup thawed frozen tiny green peas
2 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In large pot or Dutch oven, combine chicken, carrots, parsnips, garlic,
bay leaves, salt and 3 quarts water; bring liquid to a boil. Reduce heat
to low; simmer 1 hour, until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear
when pierced with fork. With slotted spoon, transfer chicken, carrots and
parsnips to cutting board; let cool. Meanwhile, simmer liquid 30 minutes;
remove and discard garlic and bay leaves. Transfer liquid to 3-quart
container; refrigerate, covered, until fat congeals on top. Remove and discard
congealed fat. Remove and discard skin and bones from cooled chicken;
cut into bite-size pieces. Slice carrots and parsnips. In same pot, combine
broth, peas, mint, zest, juice, pepper, cooked chicken, sliced carrots and
parsnips and reserved liquid; bring liquid to a boil. Reduce heat to low;
simmer 5 minutes, until peas are cooked through and mixture is heated.

SERVING SIZE: 3 Cups

POINTS: 5

SELECTIONS: 2 Vegetables, 3 Proteins, 1 Bread, 5 Optional Calories

PER SERVING: 288 Calories, 7 g Total Fat, 2 g Saturated Fat,
76 mg Cholesterol, 480 mg Sodium, 27 g Total Carbohydrate,
7 g Dietary Fiber, 30 g Protein, 89 mg Calcium

Quick Chicken Gumbo

More like a stew than a soup, this Creole specialty gets its thickness
from gumbo file powder. Made from the bark of the sassafras tree,
this seasoning can be found in the supermarket spice section.

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

1/3 cup long-grain white or brown rice
1 2/3 cup water
2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp salt
2 cans (14.5 oz each) fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups (1/2 lb) shredded, cooked, boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 tbsp gumbo file powder

In a small saucepan, combine the rice and 2/3 cup of the water. Cover and
bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cook, stirring often, for 7 minutes.
Remove from the heat and allow to sit, covered. Warm the oil in a Dutch oven
over medium heat. Add the onion, pepper, celery, garlic, paprika, thyme, and
salt. Cook, stirring often, for 5 to 7 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
Add the broth, chicken, tomato sauce, and the remaining 1 cup of the water.
Stir to mix. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes to blend the flavors.
Remove from the heat and stir in the file powder. To serve, spoon the gumbo
into shallow bowls. Top with a dollop of the rice.

POINTS: 3

PER SERVING: 138 Calories, 3 g Total Fat, 1 g Saturated Fat,
30 mg Cholesterol, 387 mg Sodium, 12 g Total Carbohydrate, 2 g Dietary Fiber

Enjoy!
Kriss

Today I was doing great until about 3 p.m. this afternoon....then it happen. I started with a cup of microwave popcorn, but I wanted something else so I had some carrots with hummus, still was not doing it, I thought maybe something hot so I had a cup of black bean soup, nope didn't do it, I opened the cupboard and spotted those salted peanuts my husband brought, once again I binged on them. I did not even check Fit.day because my fat grams could hit 200. There are still peanuts in there and I am throwing them out!!!!!

I have to go to a boy scout meeting this evening so the post has to be short.

Miki, the brand of my pedometer is just Radio Shack.

CJunk, I'll walk to Taiwan, you swim...maybe we can have a race?

Cyan, I'm so happy you got a pedometer. I still have to program mine also..meet you on the road to Taiwan

Betty, congrats on the promotion. it sounds like you are doing great twith the after 8p.m. eating

Lady rider, I loved that you called me evil jungle princess...maybe that will be my evil twins name (like today when I binged on those nuts...it was not me it was "evil jungle princess" I think everyone fell off this weekend at least a little but what is real cool is that we are all back this week vowing to do better.

Taiwan, I thought soup was suppose to be a good low fat source because of the water. By the way do you know how many miles it is from the Philly/delaware area to Taiwan? I want to start plotting it on a map for my pedometer. Are you going to get one and "walk" back to Delaware?


Have a great night!

Oh, I almost forgot.. I read somewhere that sucking on a lime prevents cravings.

I also came across a video series that is called "Fit to the Hits"
like my disco video it is set to rock and motown music. Hopefully I can find and buy it this week.

Hi everyone :)

Fat grams today were a little higher than I had hoped (60 grams) but calories totaled 1421 so not too bad on that. Went to my sister's house at 8:30 this morning and we did the walking video together. This time we added 3 lb weights as we walked.

Taiwan, when I fix a recipe with chicken, I just use the breasts. Thighs, etc have more fat. And in Fitday, did you log in the 1/4 chicken?? You didnt eat all of the chicken all by yourself. That was for the whole pot. Probably had very little in one bowl of soup actually. From the recipe, it sounds like it should have been very low in fat per serving. Maybe it wasnt really as bad as you thought.

Cjunk, way to go on not eating after 8! Going to sleep helps. I like sleep as much as I like food, I think.:lol: I'm glad your posting thing is working right again.

Cyan, looking straight at the boss all day...:eek: I dont envy you there. I've been lucky enough to always have bosses I get along with well, but still wouldnt want to look at them all day.:lol: At least your new office space is nice tho.

Betty, good luck with your new job responsibility. Sounds like it is right up your alley and hopefully it will help keep you busy and make the time fly faster as Kevin is away. My cousin's son was home on leave visiting this past week and got an unexected call yesterday afternoon that he was to report back on base in Texas no later than 7 a.m. today. Not sure what is up with that yet.

LadyRider...havent you figured it out? You cant hide from these ladies...something always makes you break down and come confess...at least thats what happens to me. So dont even think about trying that again, ok?:nono: :D The next time might get you cyber kick.:p That 'wheres the beef' comment had ME laughing out loud..I didnt even think about that. Too funny!

Debee, Debee, Debee...girl, you have GOT to get rid of those nuts! Just dont do it like I did the leftover lasagna....by eating it. That's why my fat grams were up so much today. Your disco nite did sound like a ton of fun. My kids and I used to dance around like that but it has been ages. I had forgotten all about it. Wonder how they'll feel about it now...especially Josh who just turned 13. How uncool would that be?? lol Let me know where you find that new video..sounds like one I'd like also.

Well, hubby wants a turn on the computer now so I better go. He started his healthy eating today also and even signed up on Fitday. Should be more fun doing this together. Anyway, if time permits, I may come back later when he finishes. Bye for now...

Miki

Lady thanks for the recipes, I think soup for dinner will be much better for me. Miki, yes I ate the chicken all by myself. The rest of the family had fried noodles--dripping in oil, just made me gag looking at it!!! I just checked the refrigerator for the other 1/4 of chicken left for tonight and it only has 6 pieces. So it was already cut up. Lady, I may try the fix it then put it in the fridge to cool it and scrape off the fat. there wasn't any particular part that was put in. Fitday had it all broken up in breast, drumstick, leg, back, innards, etc. I have no earthly idea----chicken!!! that's all I know. I'll write more ladies, hubby and Joshua are going out and so it's me and the baby at home.

Okay, girls...it's time for me to step up to the plate. I'm ready. Today, I had 1,706 calories and 70 grams of fat!!! HOLY COW!!!!

:moo:

I did go to the gym. It was awesome. I realized that not going to the gym is the reason I've been so stressed. I hadn't realized what an outlet it was for me to exercise! I'm so glad I went.

I'm planning what I will have to eat tomorrow so I won't go out of control.

That's all for now. I have to go to bed early to get plently of rest for my BIG day tomorrow!!

Lisa

Just a quick post before fixing tomorrow's tuna and heading to bed....Did 15 minutes of AirWalker when I left here earlier. Feels great to actually exercise TWICE in a day...that's rare for me. Taiwan, sorry I misunderstood. I was thinking you had made a big pot for the whole family. (altho I didnt think that was much chicken for all of you..lol ) Back to work tomorrow...not looking forward to that, but that's life. :) Hope you all have a great day tomorrow foodwise and otherwise.

Nite all
MIKI

P.S.

Good luck tomorrow, Lisa! I'll be thinking of you. Come tell us all about it as soon as you have a spare minute. Happy to hear your workout went well today. You sound much more like your old self. Isnt it wonderful to relieve that stress?? I'm happy for you and have no doubt at all that you'll do great at everything you're endeavoring to do...from being a mom, a wife, student, all of it...You can do it!!! :):):) Just hang in there and when needed, just come here to vent. We'll be here anytime.

MIKI

Well, I will be the first to post as my day is ending here in Taiwan. Today was a good day. You know, I read up on the fat in chicken soup and it was NO WAY near what I came up with on fitday. Is it okay for me to guessestimate then? I put it as 10g of fat, thoug I am sure it was less. I finished off the chicken tonight. There was only 6pieces of chicken left, so I made soup again. This time I did as Lady suggested and put it in the fridge for at least an hour and then took off the fat off the top. There wasn't much really. This afternoon, hubby asked if I wanted what's called "jwa bing" here. It's basically just floured and water made into like a tortilla type thing (he assured me it wasn't deep fried, and it didn't taste oily). What's he come back with? a red bean soup. Now, it also had probably a handful of boiled peanuts and different colored balls made from tapioca powder (I think!!!). I really don't know how much that cost me in calories or fat, so I didn't add that in. But with all the other stuff, my calories seemed little like less than 1000calories and less than 50g of fat. Now I wasn't trying to get that low, but I wasn't really hungry alot either. It's 11:30pm and I haven't eaten since dinner and I'm not really hungry either. What do you do when your not sure of the stuff's calorie/fat content? Anyway, I did 20min of kick and jab (would that be high impact aerobics?). So in all, it was a good day. Tomorrow, I think I will increase the calories in my breakfast. Right now, my breakfast is only like 157calories. We'll see. I am still "playing" with my plan.

Lisa, the best thing for your kids is a healthy mother. Going to the gym is the best way to get the stress out. A stress free mother means stress free kids. Maybe you could also get a video like Debee does with her kids. That would be a special time for them. Make sure you talk straight to them about the changes with mommy going to school. We always talk straight to Joshua about certain things and prepare him for changes. If we don't, it ain't pretty!!!! Hope your first day went well. Let us all know.

Miki, no problem with the misunderstanding. Sometimes I don't my meaning across well in e-mails. Good job on the extra exercise.

Sorry I am not writing personal notes to all. I can't remember what everyone wrote and I am wanting to hurry and get off of here and get under my blanket. It's cooler tonight and right now my nose is cold!!! I hate having a cold nose. The houses here are cement and there is no heating (that's why we had a space heater in the boy's room).

Good night to all.

Well Last night I did pretty good on my diet and exercise...I ate a total of 1544 cals and 65 grams of fat..yes a little high on the fat grams...I am still working hard on lowering those bloody fat grams...ahhhh but I will succeed. I cycled for 30 minutes and worked off 300 cals so all in all not a bad day.

Lisa...kudos on you for getting to the gym and good luck at school orientation...did you pack a lunch and sharpen your pencils?:lol:

Miki kudos for doing the airwalker twice in one day...WOW you have taken to exercise like a duck to water...are you feeling better ...stronger since exercising.

Debee did you throw away those bloody nuts? And I have programmed my pedometer and yesterday I clocked in 4000 steps! and this morning I am at 654 steps! Let me know when you are ready

Reina where are you?

Lady it was real nice chatting with you last night...did you watch Joe Millionaire...it was entertaining to say the least.

Cjunk way to go on the swimming...how much weight do you have to lose still or are you maintaining?

Lobacal I hope Kevin comes home soon. Fred and his kids are doing better...he is eating but occaisionally calls out for Ruby...i dont think he understands she's in Pet Heaven with my Dog Mickey and Cat Rusty and all the numerous goldfish, few budgies and other Lovebird (Wilburt) we have had in our household.

I love animals...but now all we have is our goldfish that are so old but are still around, the lovebirds and Cyan (male cat) and Molly (female cat) They are quite the characters.

Taiwan How did you do today? .... chicken breast is the way to go...it has the least amount of fat...thats what I stick too.

Well all you lovely Ladies...stay strong and motivated and make wise choices

Cyan

Well, I will be the first to post as my day is ending here in Taiwan. Today was a good day. You know, I read up on the fat in chicken soup and it was NO WAY near what I came up with on fitday. Is it okay for me to guessestimate then? I put it as 10g of fat, thoug I am sure it was less. I finished off the chicken tonight. There was only 6pieces of chicken left, so I made soup again. This time I did as Lady suggested and put it in the fridge for at least an hour and then took off the fat off the top. There wasn't much really. This afternoon, hubby asked if I wanted what's called "jwa bing" here. It's basically just floured and water made into like a tortilla type thing (he assured me it wasn't deep fried, and it didn't taste oily). What's he come back with? a red bean soup. Now, it also had probably a handful of boiled peanuts and different colored balls made from tapioca powder (I think!!!). I really don't know how much that cost me in calories or fat, so I didn't add that in. But with all the other stuff, my calories seemed little like less than 1000calories and less than 50g of fat. Now I wasn't trying to get that low, but I wasn't really hungry alot either. It's 11:30pm and I haven't eaten since dinner and I'm not really hungry either. What do you do when your not sure of the stuff's calorie/fat content? Anyway, I did 20min of kick and jab (would that be high impact aerobics?). So in all, it was a good day. Tomorrow, I think I will increase the calories in my breakfast. Right now, my breakfast is only like 157calories. We'll see. I am still "playing" with my plan.

Lisa, the best thing for your kids is a healthy mother. Going to the gym is the best way to get the stress out. A stress free mother means stress free kids. Maybe you could also get a video like Debee does with her kids. That would be a special time for them. Make sure you talk straight to them about the changes with mommy going to school. We always talk straight to Joshua about certain things and prepare him for changes. If we don't, it ain't pretty!!!! Hope your first day went well. Let us all know.

Miki, no problem with the misunderstanding. Sometimes I don't my meaning across well in e-mails. Good job on the extra exercise.

Sorry I am not writing personal notes to all. I can't remember what everyone wrote and I am wanting to hurry and get off of here and get under my blanket. It's cooler tonight and right now my nose is cold!!! I hate having a cold nose. The houses here are cement and there is no heating (that's why we had a space heater in the boy's room).

Good night to all.

:wave:Hi Everybody!


Cyan. – Glad you had a good day yesterday. 4000 steps! Well no one can call you sedentary! It was fun finding you on the net last night too. I didn’t watch Joe Millionaire, just couldn’t get into it so I took a book to bed. Poor Fred! How sad. I chuckled at your pet’s names. My grand daughter is Cyanne, and our black lab is Molly.

Lisa – How was your first day??? I’ll bet you’re so excited, so psyched and so scared! All perfectly natural, don’t worry, you’ll do great. So glad you got back to the gym! Planning those meals will make sticking to your calorie count so much easier. Someone once said if you don’t plan to succeed, you plan to fail.

Precious One, Cjunk – hope you’re having a good day.

Miki – Twice in one day! Excellent! My friend just got an air walker and she loves it. Gentle on the joints too. Keep up the good work.

Taiwan – You’re welcome. There were lots more healthy recipes on that site, but soup is one of my favorites, especially when it’s cold outside. I tried to find a nutrition guide for Taiwan food on the net but could only find recipes without the nutritional information. Kick and Jab would definitely be high impact aerobics. Good for you! Also, that was some very good advice you gave Lisa. I especially like the talk straight to your kids about what is happening and what to expect.

Debee – Your disco night sounds like so much fun! It reminded me of the time my daughter in law and I got together one night to teach my granddaughters (13 and 10) how to dance. What a blast!

Betty – I’m so excited for your new job project! It sounds like you’re just the one to get the job done right.

The adult me won last night – no goodies! My calories were under 1000 and fat was 4! Can you believe it?! I made up a new soup last night – pumpkin-pear. I heated a can of pumpkin, added a cup of skim milk, a Tbs of Splenda (no-calorie sugar substitute) pumpkin pie spice, salt, and 1/2c pureed pears. It was very low in calories, high in nutrients and filling. Also, it satisfied my sweet tooth. My son asked me where I get such weird ideas for food. LOL

I have a date with Billy Blanks, so I’d better get going.:cb:
Have a great day!

Lady

Hello ladies. Today was my first day of class. It was a little boring as it was all about orienting ourselves with the program and goals and what not....blah blah blah. My son had his first day in the Educare Center and that seemed to go well.

I really am in a rush and I have a headache so I will go. I will post more later with some individual posts...

Lisa

Hey!! You ladies were what kept me going last night at the gym. I encouraged myself to get there because I'd said to y'all that I was going...and then when I got there and had done my weight lifting, I was about 1/2 way through the cardio and wanted to stop SO BADLY! But I pushed through...and am I ever glad I did. I burnt off about 330 calories of cardio in 30 minutes!! Yay!!

Thank you all for the wonderful words of confidence about the new direction this job is taking. I'm excited about it!!

Lisa- It sounds like a normal first day of school and I'm so glad that your son had a good day of preschool. I do hope that your headache goes away soon. Good job on getting back to the gym...it does feel better to get back into the swing of things,doesn't it? And that is really smart to plan ahead with meals...it makes the calories and fat grams easier to keep down.

Taiwan- I would say when you don't know for sure about the calories or fat grams, a guesstimate is good!! Just break down what you can figure out and go from there. Yes I would say that kick and jab is high impact aerobics!! And that sounds like a good plan for increasing your breakfast calories. My breakfast usually runs about 140-150 calories...but I am just getting back into the habit of eating breakfast. I've done so for about 3 weeks now....so I'm not increasing anything at the moment.

Lady- Congrats on over coming your inner child and just saying NO to the sweets last night. I'm INCREDIBLY impressed! And amazed by your 4 fat grams! Just make sure you are getting enough fat on normal days too...you can go too low.

Cyan- I'm sure Fred does miss Rudy. And I can tell from your post what a true animal lover you are. I have 5 cats at my house. 4 females and one male. Emi, Abby, Mattie, and Katie are my girls. And Levi is my boy. Emi is the Momma cat, but they are all well on their way to being full grown as well. They turned 9 months old January 1st. Everyone but Emi did that is. Emi is about 2 years old now. And all the girls but Emi are calicos. Emi and Levi are both long haired black cats. Levi has a white spot on his chest. And yes, they are all long haired except for Abby. :)

GREAT JOB on the 4000 Steps! I'm impressed and definitely checking into a pedometer in the next day or two...I don't have my check book with me today so it may have to be tomorrow when I check on that. Keep up the hard work on the fat grams....you can do it!! And you are right, you will suceed.

As far as Kev coming home soon. I hope he does too. But I anticipate when all is said and done this deployment will have last 11 months. That's okay though....we are emailing regularly and I'm getting ready to send out a care package so I think spirits are up on both ends. He just got one and was really excited about the contents. So I'm just praying for his safety in the meantime.

Debee- So did you dispose of those nuts? I can totally relate to the binge that you are talking about. It sounds like a typical binge for me. Glad that you recognized it for what it was though...and I'm confident that you will get back on the right foot today.

Miki- Good JOB on the extra 3 lbs on the Airwalker and to do it 2x a day!! WOAH! You are definitely building up on the exercise. Good job!!

As far as your cousin's son goes...I think they are calling most people to be back at the base right about now. With so many deploying and so many already gone...they need them all in a central location for the time being. But do let me know how that turns out. How exciting that your husband has taken up fit eating too! I know that you must be looking forward to doing this together.

As far as other things went for me last night I completed my full cycle of weight training too. I took my walkman with me last night so that I could listen to my Christian music as I worked out...it was great!!

I had about 1126 calories and 39 grams of fat. Got to get those fats back down. ARGH!! I'm going Krogering this afternoon to try to pick supper and lunch out for tonight and tomorrow.

This evening I think I may either climb stairs or cycle. I've got to take Annie to gymnastics. So all of that will be after her gymnastics, but I find myself looking forward to it. Amazingly I can tell a difference in my body already, I think, so that's exciting.

Cjunk, PreciousOne and Reina, I hope things are going well for you today.

I will check back in after my evening workout! Everyone have a wonderful afternoon.

Betty

Hi everyone,

I have a funny story to tell about what happened today.


This afternoon I needed to go to an ATM to get some cash. As I was driving to get my son at pre-school I passed a WAWA ( like a 7-11 convenience store) I went in, used the ATM and headed right to the deli counter (they have great subs) on a touch pad I started placing my order...I knew all along that these subs were loaded with fat however, I just started pressing the pad and ordering...10 inch italian sub with mayo, cheese...yes all the high fat bad stuff...yes, I heard all of your voices saying what are you doing?...I ignored all of you on my shoulder, however Miki's story about God and her hamburger flashed through my mind for a second. So I said ok God show me a sign....nothing. I went to get a gallon of milk while I thought my order had been electronically delivered to the back counter person. A few minutes later I went back to the deli counter to pick up my sub. I was dying for it. Well, I asked for my sandwich and the clerk said that they never electronically got the order???? I was about to place the order again when a delivery man came in with boxes of fresh pretzels (we live near Philly and we have very good soft pretzels), he turned to me and said you are a girl that needs a pretzel. At that moment it dawned on me that maybe there was divine intervention taking place. I decided not to tempt fate by reordering my sandwich and just left with the pretzel. I got into my car and just had to start laughing ...maybe God did give me a sign. I figure if God is listening I think I might ask HIM tomorrow what numbers to pick for lotto ( worth a try huh?)

Ok, everyone I did get rid of the nuts....Confession time....not in the trash but in my mouth...well, they are at least gone now, I am not going to go "nuts" about it and just move on ...

Cyan, I programmed most of the pedometer I just have to figure out the calorie counter. By the way if anyone wants one they are on sale at Radio Shack for $19.99. I have been meaning to ask you Cyan, how is your mom doing? Is she home?

Taiwan, I brought a few low-fat cookbooks this week...if I find any good recipes I 'll post them for you....what are the type of native fruits and vegetables that you have available?

Ladyrider, can you share some of your ideas on keeping fat grams low?

Betty, like you I get motivated by all of you. I think we are very lucky to have found this site and hooked up the way we have.

Lisa, I am so happy to hear that you are feeling better. They way exercise is great for stress . Glad to hear your first day went well too.

Miki, once again thanks for that God story maybe it really does work???

Cjunk and Reina hope to hear from you soon.

Hi all...dont have a lot of time because I worked today and Luke has a math test tomorrow that I want to help him study for. Josh is at ball practice, and I'll have to run get him soon. Anyway, had to at least post a little. As for my extra Airwalking yesterday, after I posted that, I went back and did more...can you believe it?? I totaled 25 min on the AirWalker plus the 2 mile walking video with weights. Too cool! Calories today were 1239 with 39 of that fat grams. Hubby's were 1209 with 24 fat grams. Men make me sick the way they can lose so fast...He'll be passing me up on the weightloss within a week or so Im sure. Wish I had more time. Maybe I'll find a few min later tonite. If not, ya'll have a good nite and I'll be back soon.

Miki :)

Debee- What an awesome story. I think that you and Miki are right, it does sound like God is sending signs this way about the weight loss. As far as the nuts go...I think that you are wise to have just wrapped that up as them being gone and not dwelling on it! After all it's a new day...and new challenges are present in every day.

Oh btw, If you win the lottery ;-) You will have to be sure to let us all know about it. :) And I agree with you. I think that we were all very lucky to have found this site and each other through it. Debee. I'm definitely headed out to get that Pedometer tomorrow. So I'll fill you in on it then. I'm looking forward to our "travels" by foot so to speak.


Miki- Woah! I'm impressed! Working out 3 times in one day!! You are an inspiration!! It sounds like you have a busy evening planned, but it also sounds like you did really well with calories and fat grams today. Good job!! I completely hear you on men and weight loss. It just falls off of them so much more easily, ya know?

It sounds like you have quite a busy night ahead of you! I hope that it goes well.


Well...my night is going well. I splurged today and had a veggie burger at Burger King and fries. But my calories for the day were 1206 and my fat grams are 26!!! For supper I had a vegetarian mexican tamale pie! Odd...I never liked the tamale pies that had meat in them when I ate meat...but I love the veggie ones.

I ALMOST didn't make the 8 PM cut off this evening. Actually it was 8:05 when I finished supper, (so I didn't completely make it) but I figure that's close enough. Annie had gymnastics tonight so by the time I made it home it was 7:40. Thankfully I'd planned ahead and just had to zap supper in the microwave. Then I hit the gym. I was honestly frustrated tired and overwhelmed when I left for the gym. I rode the stationary bike for 25 minutes, 9 miles. And then climbed on the stair climber. I did I think 700 stairs or something around there...(anyway 20 minutes on that). I wanted to stop on the stairs SO badly...but I pushed on through...and does it ever feel good to know I've done it yet another evening of exercise.

Well...I'm off to study math for the Praxis. And have some quiet time. So I hope that everyone has a wonderful evening!!

Good night,
Betty

Okay...before I forget..I had 1473 calories today and 55 grams of fat. Not bad.

I didn't go to the gym.

Debee, you're story was great! And....if you do win that lottery....You could pop for a trip for all of us to Chicago!

Miki, you are awesome! I'm so impressed with your exercising! You go girl!!!!!

Lobacal...I didn't know they had veggie burgers at Burger King?!!! Are they at every burger king? Are they on the menu?

Lady, you're pumpkin pear treat sounds interesting. Sounds like a fun thing to try out someday. Maybe we should put together a cook book with all our concoctions... (did I spell that right?)

Taiwan...next time you're in the states..you're going to have to stock up on some food!!!!

Cyan..how are your birds?

Where is Reina???? CJunk????? Precious One???????

I do have a success to share. Tonight we had an activity for the women at church. Afterwards there were refreshments....ice cream sundaes, rice krispie treats, chocolate chip cookies....

Not only was it all High fat unhealthy foods...it was after 8pm. I didn't have anything and I went home. Yeah!!!

See y'all tomorrow!!!

Lisa

Thanks for the compliments everyone, but dont be too impressed! I only made it 15 min on the AirWalker tonite so good thing I did extra yesterday. I was just too pooped. Worked from 8am til 5 pm with no lunch hour or breaks then came home, cooked, took Josh to practice, logged my foods and posted here, made Luke a practice test for math, then graded it and helped him with corrections. By the time that was all over, I really just wanted to fall out on the couch. I did manage to scrape up enough energy to do the 15 min then came to see if there were new posts since I was here last. Debee, I tried the veggie burger at Burger King recently also. Wasnt bad at all...nothing like a Whopper of course, but calorie-wise a much better choice.
Well, I really am exhausted so going to hit that couch now. Take care everyone!

Miki

Ohhh, Lisa, cant believe I forgot to mention YOUR success.....Girl, making it thru all that temptation you had, thats a LOT bigger accomplishment than my exercise....Cookies, IceCream, and not giving in....you did GREAT! You made my mouth water just reading about all the goodies. :)

Wow I love reading these posts...the motivation and determination is awesome...I am feeling the inspiration.

Last night I was so not wanting to exercise...it was like pulling teeth...its been so cold ...like -22 celcius with out the wind chill...so by the time you get home, all you want to do is take a warm bath, eat warm food and hybernate...but I got on that bloody bike and cycled for 20 minutes and burned off 250 calories.

Well I am at work so I will most more later, you girls have a wonderful day today

Cyan

Fred and the kids are doing ok I guess...he's eating and drinking ...just looks a little melancolly...I will give him an extra little hug tonight

Well I just tallied up my cals and fat grams for the day and again I did alright ...I just have to survive the rest of the day with no more food:yikes: But my belly is full and I will be alright.

Anyway, I ate 1655 cals and 38 grams of fat ...yes the cals are a little high but the fat grams are awesome...and I will exercise tonight. I have clocked 1733 steps ...not a whole lot but it was so cold out there...its a miracle I made it to work...my coworker whimped out and said it was too cold to leave his house.

Well girls looking forward to reading your posts

Have a great rest of day

Cyan

:wave: Hi Everybody!


Cyan - You're keeping those fat grams down, and the calories aren't bad at all, especially when you burn some of them on that bloody bike. ;)Good for you! I'm glad Fred and the kids are doing better.

Lisa - I am so impressed with your will power. If the chocolate chip cookies didn't get me, the Rice Krispy squares sure would have!

Miki - With all you have to do, you resist the couch and do your air walker. I got tired just reading everything you did yesterday! You're my hero!

Debee - Ask and you shall receive - or NOT as in the case of your deli sandwich! :lol: I loved your story, and how interesting that the pretzel man happened to be there to offer you the pretzel. Hmmm. Makes one pause to think, doesn't it?

Lobocal - Good for you for pushing through the burn! I am very impressed. I know how hard that is to do, 'cause I can almost never make my self do it.

Today was a good day. 1185 cal with 16.5 grams fat. Debee, I use low or no fat foods whenever I can, and cooking sprays when I fry things. I eat out several times a week and look for the healthiest thing on the menu, then ask for no mayo, or dressing on the side. That kind of thing. Bryan has been on a strict low fat diet for years because of his heart, so I've gotten really used to looking out for the hidden fat in things.
It was really tough for some reason, but I ran my 2 miles this morning. I told Bryan about you all getting pedometers and walking to Taiwan. He suggested I join you by calculating how far I run each week. Pretty smart, don'tcha think? I think there is about 5,280 ft per mile; I'll have to look it up. Anyway, I run 2 miles 3x week, so if you don't object, I'll tag along with you to Taiwan.

Have a great evening!
:)
Lady

Hi everyone,

This week I have not been as motivated...I will confess I have been sneaking more treats than I have in the past two weeks...Friday weigh-in may not be so good. I think I am feeling a little overwhemled and that is why I am emotional eating. Thursday and Friday I will start back on the right track.

Ladyrider, please join us by running, Cjunk will be swimming. Maybe we can post our "mileage" on Wednesdays and once a month let eachother know where we are on a map. Thanks for the tips on getting the fat grams down.

Lisa, I promise if I win the lotto we will all go to Chicago on me! I'm a little afraid to ask God for anymore signs right now...my episode yesterday may have just been a concidence but who knows...My mother always told me"Be careful what you wish for you may get it"

Miki, I can relate to your day...sometimes I am just so tired after doing homework and kid activities.

Cyan, it is cold here in Philly too, I am not walking to the bus stop this week...we would be frostbitten.

Betty, I'm going to try one of those veggie burgers!

Reina nd cjunk where are you?

Good evening ya'll :)

Had a good day today. Calories were a little low because I was running late and missed breakfast and I was tired again tonite from work so honestly, I wasnt sure I'd get around to exercising, but guess what! My sis called a few min before 8 pm and says.."Hey, you gonna just use your AirWalker tonite or do the video?" Well, I knew she was asking because she wanted us to do the video together. Sooooooo...I said Come on over and I'll do with ya. We did it, and since I was already sweaty anyway, I decided to go ahead and do my 15 min on the AirWalker when she left. I'm so glad now that I did. It feels great AFTER to look back and think.."Yesssssssss, I've done my exercise for the day!" I would have felt so guilty if I had skipped.

You know sometimes you just want to eat something junky? Not healthy? Well, I was like that the last few days and today I found the answer. I found hotdogs that only have 40 calories and NO FAT. I bought whole wheat hotdog buns which had a half gram of fat and only 80 calories. I had two of those tonite with Fat Free Pringles Sour Cream n Onion chips and some strawberry jello w/peaches for dessert. All of it totaled maybe 400 calories and I was stuffed. I love finding treats that make me feel like I'm cheating..lol.

One of my sisters started Weight Watchers a week or so ago and got a recipe there for muffins that she says are delicious. You get any flavor cake mix with the pudding inside ( she used yellow ) and add a regular size can of Pumpkin. Stir it up really well and pour into muffin cups. Just those two ingredients is all you need. Bake as you would normally bake muffins. She has to ck the calories and fat grams but as far as weight watchers pts, it is 2. She couldnt believe how good they were. She said they rise up so big and fluffy and her kids loved them. Seems simple enough. I'm sure you can just calculate the calories according to the kind of cake mix you choose. I'll try it soon and let ya'll know how they turn out.

Sorry I dont have time for individual posts tonite. Thinking of you all tho and hoping everyone is staying focused.

Nite

MIKI

Good Morning Ladies, don't know if you all remember me or not. I truly hope that all of you are doing well. It looks like I have a lot of reading to catch up on. I'm so happy to see some familiar faces still here, also some new names are here.

I truly apologize for the long absence, the meeting with the specialist turned into a very long date. Seems he felt I needed a hospital stay. I'm doing so much better, back home finially. I won't bore everyone with the details, I'll keep it short. Please make sure that all of you get your yearly check ups. And don't ever feel that any symptoms you might have regardless of what they are should be ignored. Sometimes we all get so busy that we have a tendency to say I'll get a check up later on and that it's probably nothing. Most of the time it turns out to be something minor or nothing at all to worry about. But why take that chance.

I'd like to say hello to everyone, I've missed you ladies. :grouphug:
I'm still on bedrest, so I won't be too active on the board for a while. I just wanted to check in and say hello and to let you all know you've been in my thoughts. I sincerely apologize for the long absence, this old body just doesn't mend like it used to.
Since I didn't have the opportunity to say this, hope everyone had a beautiful Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. All of you were in my thoughts. Hope everyone was successful with any goals you had during that time. Hope everyone is well and happy. I didn't read very much this time, just the last page of this thread. I hope everyone is still posting here. Welcome to the new names I see. A big hello to Cyan, Lady, Miki and Lisa. Is Cjunk and Precious One still posting here? Sorry if I left anyone out that I used to post with. It's been a while. Hopefully over the weekend I will be able to read some more of the past postings that everyone has done so I can see what has been going on with you all.
Take Care everyone, God's Blessings to you all. Have a beautiful day.

You know, I started to post yesterday and they kept saying that the server was too busy try again. Well, I am not a patient one, so I didn't.

Anyway, I made a barley and tomato soup yesterday. It was ok. If I figured it out correctly one serving has 126calories and 6grams of fat. Now, don't ask me what I did to make it cause it was my own "Thang" and I probably couldn't repeat it if I tried:dizzy: I had it last night and tonight. Though last night was not good. I think my calories were too low (the breakfast I have no idea---ok, how many calories for turnip cake? not as in the cakes Americans know of ok!) and by 11:30pm I was STARVING---I mean so hungry I was starting to shake. So what did I grab? the only stinkin' thing I could find--delicious cookies (like twists I guess) with chocolate in the middle and low fat milk. Tasted great though:D Didn't exercise yesterday and so far today I haven't , but it's only 7:30pm, there is still time.

I think I have been keeping my calories under 1300 (actually, a few days I think have been under 1200, not good for me, I get hungry) and trying to keep fat under 50grams. I forget who mentioned about needing to get fat in their diets. I remember I had an aunt who was always so proud of how low fat her diet was. One winter she was always cold, her finger tips and all would turn blue. Well, come to find out, her body fat was too low (man, I wouldn't mind having the problem though:D ) . So yes, while that can happen, I do think it's rare. I am having a time working at keeping it under 50grams and usually still not sure as with some of the food here it's hard to figure out.

Determined Annie--nice to meet you. I think I remember seeing your posts while I was a lurker. Take the rest you need. You are in my thoughts.

Miki--you are my hero !!!! you go girl. Wow!!! exercise queen. Are you trying to compete with Cyan? Guess I should get my tushy moving. That would help alot. I don't think I've gone down that much recently. You are encouraging.

Debee- I know what you mean about the cravings. I always want chocolate!!!! There are somethings here that I just love to eat, but don't dare--well only once in a while.

Lady--you do so well on the cooking. Actually, in our area there is no cooking spray though I am going to look for it when we go to the big city (sounds like I live in the boonies doesn't it!!). I have started just putting some oil on a paper towel and lightly coating the wok. My hubby would drown the stuff in oil. But I am cooking now:lol: . Going out here, well it's hard to find stuff that are really healthy so I just do the best I can. Such is life.

Cyan--you are so good at calculating calories and fat grams. Well, it's not that cold here, but when you aren't used to the cold, you just don't feel like moving. Good for you for getting on the bike. Bet that warmed you up:) Now, I guess I should go exercise right? I'll let you all know if I did or not.

Lisa--good job on the snacks at church, wow !!! I would've dug right in:lol: Hope school is going well. Hey, I had an idea--you could find a book about nurses and read it with your kids and then they can understand what you are going to do and all. Kids understand alot more than we think they do.

Lobcal--Sometimes I feel like I should wait til 7:30pm to eat then I wouldn't have a problem with the eating after 8pm thing. Though last night was my only cheat:D

Hope I didn't miss anyone. Cjunk? Reina? hope you are with us and doing ok. Let us know.

Signing off as Joshua and a little friend (we have Japanese classes at our church and the Japanese pastor has a little boy around Joshua's age) are watching Stitch and Josiah needs to be fed. Talk to you later.

Just to let you all know that I did exercise for about 15min. I kinda did my own thing made up from what I remembered from the kick and jab dvd. I was really sweatin' though. May still do some free weights. But at least I did something right?

Deana

Determined Annie...you're back...I missed you so much...you were my first buddy here on 3fatchicks....I have huge smile on my face and I am so pleased you've come back to be with us. when you feel better let us know how you are doing.

Well I am at work and cannot post individual remarks but I will be back later on tonight to address everyone. Big hug to you all and have a great OP day

Cyan

Good Morning Ladies,
Sorry I have been away, but I have been really sick and haven't had the strength to even look at my machine!

I came down with an ear infection, bronchitis, and a viral(spl?) infection.

I just wanted to drop a note an say that yes, I am alive, and I will be back in form hopefully this weekend! I will catch up on all the posts today, I hope. I got through up until Monday!

I hope everyone is having a good week and I look forward to hearing good news on everyone tomorrow. Oh, I did weigh in last week and I didn't lose a pound! So with being sick, maybe I will see some movement on my scale.

Talk to you all soon!
Reina

Ok ladies,
I have to say, after reading all the posts of this past week, I am so inspired by all of you.

I am so happy that you had the accountability for falling off the wagon, but you still jumped right back on and headed forward.

My week last week wasn't that great, I was pms'ing and I neglected my water responsibility!

Debee, I was laughing my butt off reading your pretzel story!

I have to tell you one of my own!
Yesterday night, a friend came over to drop off some soup to me. Can you believe people out there really do that! That is a first for me.
Well, she brought a package of Ho-Ho's for Alex my little one!
Well, these were a special all chocolate brand, so I opened them and put them on a plate in the kitchen for my son. He took one bite and left them in the kitchen. Well I went to get some water and I saw them on the kitchen table so I just had to take a small bite. It was soooo good, that I told myself, that after my friend left if Alex didn't eat it I would! Because it looked like Alex wasn't gonna eat it.
Well, I called him out of my room to say good-bye to my friend and his mouth is all full of chocolate! My first thought he got into the chocolate kisses that were hiding in my room! (not by me, but my husband)
So my friend left and I go in my room and low and behold all the crumbs from the Ho-Ho, that I so WANTED were all over his brand new fleece Buzz Lighyear blanket! Smeared into the fabric of course!
Now, the question to myself was, Am I more upset that he ate on my bed? Am I upset that I had to soak his new blanket in the washer? or THAT HE ATE THE HO-HO THAT I SO WANTED?????

Well, after I tried to answer that question, I walked out of my room laughing!!:lol: :lol:

Hopefully I will be in good health to start working out this week! I hope you all have great day

Determined Annie, so glad to hear from you. You were very missed, I hope all goes well with you and you will, as you have been, be in my prayers!

PreciousOne, Welcome back, it is good to hear from you. You were missed!

Lisa, I hope all goes well with your dr. appts. I am so excited for you starting school. I was supposed to take a class starting on Wednesday, but that was squashed with my husbands schedule and only one car and no sitter! so, my
dreams will go on the backburner for another
semester!
Lisa, don't you dare feel guilty about what you are doing? You are a great mom, a great wife, and I am sure you will be a top student! But remember, God didn't create a perfect being, so don't ever feel pressured into trying to be one! What you are doing now, will ensure a good life for you and your family later on! Someone once told me, better to be making your career now, while the kids are young, so you will be able to make the time for them when they are in their ackward stages, when they need you the most!

Miki, congrats on losing 4 lbs
Girl, you have to watch out for those all you can eat places! They can kill you!
Miki, your stories killed me. I laughed so hard my ribs hurt! Like they say there are signs everywhere, and your signs were telling you to stick to what your heart wants, not what your palet wanted!

I will try to post more individual posts later,

have a great day!

Hi everyone,

My 4 year old Jake was home sick today. I was suppose to get my hair highlighted but since he had a bad cold I had to cancel. This week just has not been a great one. I hope I can get more motivated next week.

I really need to get more organized. I waste alot of time during the day and I would really like to get into a exercise rountine like Miki, cyan, lisa and betty. Ladyrider and cjunk have swimmming and running. I need to find the exercise that is right for me. I like doing yoga with the kids but I don't think that I burn too many calories doing it.

Oh well I am rambling...

Annie, welcome back.

Reina, hope you feel better. Try to get plenty of rest!

I'll try to write more individual posts tonight.

Hello everyone,

I haven't posted in a few days as it has been National Non-Smoking Week and I have been on phones and computers for at least 9 hours per day as well as National TV spots etc. I am very sorry for not checking in with everyone. My diet has been minimal and not so healthy because I think I have been undereating due to overworking. But I know this rush will pass. Exercise hasn't been much more than some 20 min walks on my lunch break for fresh air. My ears are ringing from talking to so many people!

I hope everyone is well and I will take some more time to post individually either tomorrow night or Saturday. In the meantime I am trying to get my diet back on track to more healthy foods and not undereating. I have been losing weight but not in a healthy way recently.

Gotta Go,

Cjunk

Annie!! Welcome back!! It was an unexpected but wonderful surprise to sign in tonite and find a post from you! We've really missed you and thought of you often. Be sure to get that rest you need but as soon as you can, come join us again. :)

Taiwan, you and Lady impress me with your homemade recipes you come up with . I am not that creative. Good job on getting that exercise in altho you werent sure you were going to. Didnt you feel good afterward?

Cyan, hope you had a good day at work. I too had a big smile when I saw Annie's name. Called my hubby in to tell him. I'd mentioned several times to him that I was worried about her. Now if we can just get PreciousOne back in here again.

Reina, Wow! I had no idea you were sick. I thought you were just working overtime. Saw your name on messenger several times but figured you were hard at work. I almost left you a message to take a break. Really missed your posts! Glad you're feeling better. Your story about the HoHos made me laugh also. I can definitely relate.:lol:

Debee, how's Jake feeling? Better, I hope. I cant stand to see little ones feeling bad. Hard on Mom too because when they are sick, nobody can satisfy them as well as Mom so most of your time today was probably spent with him. When mine were young like that and sick, they didnt want me out of their sight.

Cjunk, sounds like you have a really hectic job. Not a dull moment, I bet. I hope it slows down some now so that you can get back into a normal routine.

I havent exercise yet today but plan on doing some before bedtime. Calories were around 1200 today, I think. Tomorrow nite is Homecoming at the kids' school and Josh has a ballgame afterward so not sure I"ll get to post again til Saturday. I will weigh in tomorrow tho and post the results as soon as I get a chance.

Well, it's almost the weekend....Hooray!!:cb: :dancer: Hope everyone has a nice one!

Miki

Hi everyone,

Well, today is Friday and that means weigh-in. I am still at 135:mad: I was hoping that I would be at 133.

The :devil: won on food choices this week. I had too much chocolate and of course, the fat loaded peanuts did not help. My husband was on a week long business trip and my little on Jake has been sick. Enough excuses!!

Ok, a new week begins and with it comes new hope::)

What I did good this week:

1. Last night finally got the pedometer programed. Hopefully my walk to taiwan will give me new motivation.

2. Posted here almost every day.

3. Bought new exercise tapes to vary my rountine.

4. I cleaned the downstairs of the house really good this week.

5. Did not eat out this week.

6. Ate breakfast.

What I will do better next week

1. Get the night binging under control.

2. When stressed take time to think of some over way to get rid of it...a walk, bath not food.

3. Actually do the new exercise tapes I bought last week.

4. Have disco night again this Sunday

5. Try to do yoga at least 4 times this week

6. Drink more water

7. Cook some low-fat dinner recipes

8. Reward myself with a fitness magazine, new workout clothes, a cool water bottle, not food.

Oh, I almost forgot to post my progress report.

1/3 - 141/38 body fat
1/10- 139/33
1/17- 135/34
1/24- 135/34 (wanted to make goal of 133)

Debee Congrats on getting real with yourself and setting up goals to acheive weightloss for next friday. You seem very determined and along the way, there will be glitches...but you seem refocused so don't despair...carry on to victory...you will reach your goal this friday.

Looks like everyone hear is doing well either exercise wise or calorie consumption wise...so thats good...we are getting a handle on things.

This past week, I regained control of my eating and brought it back down to an average of 1500 cals and 50 grams of fat...thats very good for me, I did not eat past 8pm either and thats a big plus for me. I didnt get a chance to weigh myself this morning before heading out to work so I will do this tomorrow morning but I am afraid it wont show a loss...I will be getting my period this sunday and am bloated like a little piggy. But I will reweigh myself monday to see the difference.

Well Ladies have a good rest of friday and good luck with your weigh ins today

Cyan

Hi Everybody!

Annie!!!!! WOW!!!!! Welcome back! So good to hear from you!!!! :dance: Girl, you have been in my prayers every single night – and I mean that literally! You have just made my day. I wish for you a speedy recovery and please post as often as you can; if only to let us know you are still with us.

Cyan. – Great talking with you and Reina today. Keep that exercise play and you will lose for sure next week.:cb:

Lisa – How is school? The advice Reina gave you really hit the nail right on the head! So, listen to her, ok?

Reina – I’m so sorry you’ve been sick. We have missed your posts and I, glad you are back. Hope you get your strength back soon. I loved your HoHo story! Made me laugh out loud. I’m sorry you had to postpone your class.

Miki – Kudos to you for doing the tape and the air walker! You are so lucky to have your sister to exercise with! Both of my sisters live up in Minnesota, and I would give anything to live closer to them. Well – anything except living in Cold Minnesota!
The pumpkin muffin recipe is very intriguing, I think I’ll try it. :T If it is only 2 points, it can’t be too high in fat or calories, and it would be high in fiber.

Debee – Hope Jake is feeling better. It sure is the season for being sick, isn’t it? You’re right; the secret is finding the exercise that is right for you. Yoga is an excellent choice; ask the girls about power yoga, that sure burns calories! Don’t get discouraged at not losing. You have lost SIX POUNDS this month!! Wow, and you listed 6 things you did right! Way to go! And your plan for further improvement is great. Everyone has a bad spell once in a while, don’t lose site of what you have all ready accomplished. You eat better, exercise and are a happier person, right? And you are thinner than when you started. Remember, together we will do this!

Precious One –Lobocal – Hope you’re having a good day.

Cjunk – National TV spots, huh? Girls, did you know we have a TV personality in our midsts?:) Hey, at least you have been under eating and not over eating! BTW, I have been wondering where Hamilton is; it’s in Canada, right? But where?

Taiwan – that server is busy screen can be irritating, fortunately it doesn’t happen often. I sympathize with you not knowing the ingredients and calorie count in the food you have over there. That’s got to be so hard, so I give you extra credit for sticking to your eating plan in spite of the added challenges! You were right; your calorie count was too low if you got the shakes, it might help to have “legal” foods handy to grab – you know, fruits, veggies, etc. Good for you for exercising! I try never to go more than 2 days in a row without exercising, it starts a pattern that makes it easier to go 3, then 4 days with out and pretty soon I’m not exercise anymore at all. Putting cooking oil on a paper towel is an excellent idea! And with you doing the cooking, it will make a big difference, for sure. Isn’t it funny how wrong our impressions of other countries can be? My son is Korean, and I have always thought of all Asian countries as eating very healthy – fish, veggies, rice, etc.



Yesterday was a good day; 690 cal with 9grams fat. This is really low, but I had a queasy stomach and between a funeral and work, I didn’t have much chance to eat. The funeral was for my daughter in law’s grandmother, so although we didn’t know her, we wanted to be there for Denise. It was my day off for exercise.
I weighed in this morning, and I have lost 1 pound, no inches; bringing me down to 143. I’m very ok with this, because it is showing a steady weekly loss, and I know how horrible I would feel if I gained 1 pound a week!

What I did right:

1) Didn’t eat after 8 three days, I worked late several nights and had to eat when I got home, but I kept it really low calorie.
2) I ran or did Taebo 5 days out of 7
3) Drank more water or unsweetened tea
4) Ate out twice and made healthy choices
5) Kept a positive attitude

What I did wrong:
1) Pigged out on junk food two days in a row
2) Didn’t post on the days I pigged out

Have a great weekend everyone!
:grouphug:
Lady

Hey All,
I hope everyone is cheery and happy today, being weigh-in day!
I am down 1/2 a lb, but that is ok, I had no extra movement other than coughing up a lung and turning my body over on the bed, because my right thigh couldn't handle the weight of my butt any longer:lol:

But next week is a new week for me, and I will start exercising and working on proper food choices. It looks like I have a extra incentive for my goal for June. We are planning our family Vacation to San Diego and Anaheim. I want to take lots of pictures and be in them this time! I have shyed away from cameras for so long, becuase of my weight!:o

Debee, I could only wish I could get to my hair stylist. I have been dying to redo my highlights, now I have them, but only with my grey hair! What is up with that! As soon as I hit 190, I am going for a Pedicure, Manicure, and getting my hair done! That should get me off my rump!:dizzy:
I hope Jake is feeling better. I know what it is like to have a sick little one home!
You have the right attitude about next week, so you go girl! Those junk food demons hit me often! So I totally relate!

Cjunk, sounds like you have a demanding job. Don’t kill yourself, make sure you make a few mins for yourself. I burned out at one job from working like you. SO take it easy!!!!

Miki, another busy weekend for the kids… I can’t imagine how you do it. I hope the game is fun!

Cyan, I am glad you are OP with your food. You totally have the right mentality and your fitness schedule couldn’t be more realistic! I plan on working as diligently as you in the future! And I have to find those pickles!

Lady, What can I say about you. You are doing great, and you are so normal when it comes to falling off the wagon and wanting to run and hide. But when you do that, we will all get the impression that we are not normal!!! So when you fall off the wagon, you must come and tell us, because it makes me feel much better to know that I am just like everyone else… Believe me, I have tried to run and hide from my own scale before, but now Alex just picks it up and chases me around the house with it. :lol:
So I ask, when you do bad, come and tell us, we need to hear that too!
Did Bryan catch the horse??? :lol:

My plan for this week:
1 clean out my fridge and get rid of all junk that I haven’t eaten and don’t plan on eating.
2. Go shopping and pick up all fruits and fresh veggies and make a schedule of what I will eat this coming week
3. Start working on a regular basis and stick to it
4. Drink SOME water next week, won’t commit to 64oz but will commit to some
5. Not to eat after 8pm.
6. Be true to myself and remember all those thoughts of that beautiful Red dress in the window at the store, can be mine, if I stick to this plan!!!!

Have a great weekend and I will check in later!

hello everyone. I haven't posted in a couple of days becuase I have been SO BUSY!!!!!! This week has been a whirlwind of classes, appointments, homework, studying, organizing, and a whole lot of being confused. :dizzy: Nursing school has been stressful, exciting, fun, confusing, and interesting. I also have a human growth and development class on Wednesday nights and so that was one more thing to add to the list. Food wise, I've been hit and miss. Every morning I have a slim fast on my way to school, but by the time school is out, I'm so hungry and tired I just eat whatever sounds good...like a mushroom swiss burger yesterday! Today has been my best day food wise. I've had a slim fast, sugar free hard candy's during class, a veggie sub, and 2 slim fast snack bars.

Here's a story I have to tell about what happened to me today.

I stayed 2 hours late today after class to work in the computer lab to get some assignments done so I was out at 2pm. My daughter gets out of school at 3pm and my school is 30 minutes away. After I pick Noah (my son) up from his preschool (on campus), I hurry over to Subway because it's 2pm and I haven't had lunch. I notice I need to get gas also and make a mental note to do that after I get my sandwich. Inside Subway there's only 2 people in front of me, but the first guy orders 6 sandwiches!!!!! Finally I get my 1 little sandwich and a cookie for my son. Now I'm stressed about getting to my daughter's school in time to pick her up so I hop in the car and we start going....without getting gas because I forgot. I got maybe 2 or 3 miles out of ElDorado on the toll road and my car is completely out of gas. I don't know what to do, so I call my husband at work and he is about to go into an important meeting...so I told him to call me in 5 minutes to give me time to see what I can work out. About then the Police pull up behind me and I tell them the problem and they go get gas for me. I call Whitney's school and tell them the situation and can they please ask her friend, Kayla's mom to take whitney to their house. After a little while, the police return and put gas in my car...free of charge and they ask me, "So, what have we learned today Ms. Smith?" I was so humiliated. I have enough gas now to get me to Andover (About 10 miles) where I fill up with gas. Kayla's mom calls to make sure I'm okay. I make it to pick up Whitney and all is well.k What a great end to such a stressful week!!!!

My weight today was 185. I've gained a pound. I also started my period yesterday so I could be a little bloated. I'm not discouraged though because I know I've had a stressful week...ha...I've had a stressful year so far! I think I'm doing okay considering!

What I did good this week
I didn't eat after 8pm
I went to the gym 1 time...:^:
I had slim fast every morning
kept my house reasonably tidy considering
made it to all my classes on time
did all required reading
kept my car clean!!!!
remained patient and kind towards my family

What I am going to do better next week

Drink more water
exercise once a day even if it's just a walk around the block
make better food choices for lunch!
post here at least every other day...(sorry I'm busy!)

Reina, sorry you've been sick! Make sure you're fully recovered before you go doing any heavy duty exercise!

Lady, you're doing great! Do you really like the taebo? I think that would be fun for us all to do in Chicago!

Cyan...we are bloated together. Don't you just hate this part of being female?:s:

debee, you are an inspiration! You did so good this week, and you are already planning improvements for next week! You go girl!

Miki, you've really been pumped lately! Everytime I read your posts I'm all ready to go! You have been my encourager this week!

ANNIE!!!! We were all so worried about you. I was so glad to see your post! I'm sorry you were in the hospital. I hope you get to feeling better soon! Please keep us posted on how you're feeling. I send you good energy and you are in my prayers.

Taiwan, Cjunk, hope you are doing well.

talk to y'all later!
Lisa

Hi everyone,

I my pedometer said I walked 4 miles today and burned about 200 calories. Food wise I did ok..for breakfast I had a slice of whole wheat toast and egg white...lunch I made a big bowl of 16 bean vegetable soup. It is so cold here that it was very good. I took Jake to the doctor and he said that he has a virus that is going around.

Lisa, maybe God was sending you a message about eating subs too! Considering my sub story this week maybe we should not tempt fate and order cold cuts??

Cyan, Lady rider , Reina, it was great hearing what you have planned for the upcoming week. It does keep us accountable. Reina, send us a picture when you get that red dress.

Hey everyone!!

I wanted to let y'all know I'm okay. Eating and exercise are doing decently well. I have no time to read messages or respond today...and haven't for a couple of days. I'm at a national circuit debate tournament with the kids that i coach, but I will be home on Monday and I look forward to telling y'all all about how everything is going then. And l'm looking forward to responding to everyone then.

Betty

Wow...I only missed one day coming here but I always miss so much even in a day! Doesnt take long to get behind. I enjoyed reading everyone's posts. We had a good time at Homecoming last nite but after sitting thru 3 basketball games and then a parent/administration meeting (our governor is wanting to consolidate our small district with a larger one), it was after midnite getting home and my tailbone was numb. LOL I lost 2 lbs this week. I almost got discouraged because I had lost 3 and 4 the last 2 weeks, but realistically I know 2 is still great. Hubby kept reassuring me of that and I know he's right. Just seemed like I had done lots more exercise this week. Didnt do any at all yesterday tho. There literally wasnt a spare minute to fit it in. I'll make up for it the weekend tho I hope. Well, Phil and the kids went and rented about 4 movies so I better go. Family nite again. :) Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Miki

Just a quick note...I weighed myself this morning and I have not lost one friggin pound...nothing...nada...zilth...how frustrating...the only thing I can think of is....I have my period and it started today...so I will wait until it finishes to weigh myself....but I will keep trying.

Today I will lift weights for 20 minutes and ride my bike for 30...Hope all is well with you wonderful ladies

Miki congrats on the 2 pounds weight loss...keep going...I am hoping to join you on the losing circuit soon :lol:


Bye for now and have a great Sunday

Cyan

Well, I forgot to post my weight I think. I unbelievably lost 2lbs. So now I am down to 188!!!! Only 2 lbs away from my prepregancy weight:D

I will admit that since Friday I haven't been doing really good, though not really bad. We had friends over our house for the weekend and potluck on Sunday. I will try to becareful today and exercise and all. I won't be posting until Feb.6 probably. My husbands relatives don't have e-mail. We leave on the 28th, that's Tuesday. So, I have washing and cleaning to do today.

On another note, we are taking in another teenage girl. But this one is different as she is being brought here by a crisis pregnancy center. She is 15yr old and due in March. Her mother (single mother--well, parents divorced over 5 yrs ago) doesn't want her home as it's an embarrassment. So, we will take her until the baby come in March. We may just have to move out of the church building and finally get our own house!

Well, it's me and baby right now and he is super crawler and playing with everything but his toys:p Have a great one ladies. I will write when I get back.
210/188/145

Well, the weekend is over and Monday is almost here. Seems that the weekend FLIES by these days. Hope you all had a good one.

Cyan, try not to get too discouraged. My sister who has been exercising with me and eating right for 2 weeks has been really frustrated because for 2 weeks, her scales didnt show a change altho mine did. Finally, Friday, she was down 5 lbs. Funny how it happens like that sometimes...just shows up all at once. Needless to say, she is happy now. :) As dedicated as you are to your exercise, it will definitely pay off soon! Just hang in there!

Taiwan, I had forgotten about your trip. We will miss you LOTS! I hope you enjoy it and we look forward to hearing all about it when you get back. I hope things work out well with the new girl you'll be taking care of. You and your family are such an inspiration to me.

Betty, thanks for checking in. Just not the same when one of us is missing.

Debee, hope Jake is feeling better by now. Seems like a lot of sickness around lately. How are you coming with your exercising?

Lisa, you amaze me with all you are busy with these days. Glad to hear you're enjoying school. Just be careful and dont let stress and the fast pace get the best of you. Try to plan ahead as much as possible for snacks and meals.

Reina, it was so much fun chatting with you today. Like I promised, I'm going to try to drink lots more water starting tomorrow. I hate that I got out of the habit of that. It definitely makes a difference. You and your family will be in my prayers in hopes that you will all be rid of your sickness SOON. I cant stand thinking of the baby feeling so bad.

LadyRider, you're right. Exercising with my sis makes it a little easier to be motivated. Oh, and she made those muffins this weekend using chocolate pudding cake mix and the can of pumpkin added. You couldnt taste the pumpkin AT ALL....just tasted like a yummy chocolate muffin. Very good. Even the kids loved them.

Cjunk, Annie, PreciousOne.....sending a big hug your way.:grouphug:

Ok, might as well confess....today wasnt too bad but I did have one bad day calorie-wise Plus....I didnt exercise Thurs, Fri or Sat!!! I was so busy, I just didnt fit it in and felt guilty all day today about it. Ate Mexican the other day. I had the Nachos Deluxe which is listed as an appetizer. Thats all I ordered and I drank water. No dessert or anything else. Fitday said One serving was 1700 calories!!!!:o A ton of fats too. That's the highest I've had in weeks, I think. Anyway, talked to Reina tonite and started feeling even more guilty about not exercising. ( I love the accountability ya'll make me feel:lol: ) Soooo...when we got offline, I did the Airwalker 40 minutes and burned 290 calories! :cb: I was barely able to make it. But I just knew I couldnt wait another day or I might not get back into it at all. I dont have to be at work tomorrow until 10 am so I'll have time to do some more before work. Have to admit, I feel much better now. Once it's done, I love being able to think,"Yessssssss, I got my exercise out of the way!":lol: I'm still waiting for the day I get to the point where I dont "endure" it, I "enjoy" it.:dizzy:

Well girls, almost bedtime for me. New week tomorrow so let's all get hyped and motivated....We can do this!! Let's have a GREAT Monday and come here to post all about it. Cant wait.

Nite all....
Miki

P.S. Lisa, dont forget to check your gas gauge...LOL :)

Hi everyone, just a quick post and then I will spend time reviewing all posts and some replies. I finally had a chance to relax a bit this weekend. Saturday I shopped with a girlfriend and then watched lots of movies. Sunday I went downhill skiing for about 5 hours in total. Not too many breaks and we went down a lot of runs. My legs hurt today! I start my ski lessons next Sunday and they run every Sunday for the month of February. Maybe the more I learn the less my butt will get a workout and the more my legs will!!!

Other than that, I am afraid I have been lacking in the exercise department and either undereating or eating junk in the diet department. I have got to get myself back on track! Yesterday I had a poached egg on dry toast and an orange for breakfast, a toasted bagel with peanut butter during skiing as lunch and then a bunch of sushi for dinner. Not really a well rounded day--missing out on a lot of fruits and veggies really. Drank tons of fluid though as skiing dehydrated me a lot. I was planning to post last night but I ended up falling asleep at about 6pm and waking up this morning at 6am! Yikes!! I was tired!!

Back to the crazy workplace from 11-7 today. I promise myself I will not work extra today as it will definitely be busy even if I work regular hours.

Now...back to reading the posts!

Cjunk

I know I was going to post individually for this morning but I will have to do this after 7pm tonight when I get home as I need to stop off at the grocery store to pick up fruits and veggies for my lunch today!! I got caught up on reading the posts and would like to say what fantastic work you have all done! Cyan, you have been exercising very regularly including weight conditioning which builds muscle. So don't sweat that weight gain. It will happen at first and then your body will start to metabolize the fat much faster and then you will notice the calories burning quickly....just keep up your workouts regularly and that will all catch up with you. Don't despair as you are on the right track!!!

Talk to all of you soon, Cjunk. Have a great day everyone!

Oops, Cyan, I replied that you gained weight when you maintained. You did not gain. Even better!!! Sorry about that! That's what happens when I am rushing to write a post. I was simply saying that muscle increase leads to weight increase but not inch or fat increase.

Cjunk!

Well I weighed myself today and I am still the same weight...I have to re-evaluate my regime and figure out what I can do to start losing weight...for sure, since my Mom was hospitalized, I stopped exercising regularly and never got back to my usual schedule...I started yesterday, Sunday with exercising so we will see how things go. Also, the past couple of weeks I have been getting back to my 1500 cals ...so I will continue with that...I will also have to pay extra attention to the fat grams..I tend to go over very quickly...well I'm at work so I wont go into personal messages but I will post later

Hope everyone had a great weekend

talk to you soon

Cyan

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a nice weekend!

As for me, my husband got sick on Friday, and Alex my little one got in Saturday night, so I have had my hands full all weekend, and to top it off, I am still not 100%

I did have a pretty good weekend. I didn't overeat, but I do have to say that I did eat after 8pm on Saturday night, I had a twinkie!:yikes:
I know, I should have just stapled it to my behind! That is where it is gonna end up anyway!

After being so busy on Sunday, I was able to do 13 mins of Taebo. I did a few mins of weights beforehand. But my body couldn't do anymore.

I had to exert some of the pent up anger after the Superbowl. For any of you who watched, that last and final touchdown, costs us $200. Yes, we would have won a total of $4000 if the score would have stayed at 41-21, but NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So as you can see, I need to do something and Taebo was there for me.

Now, I am blushing as I write this, because my husband said, "I bet the girls wouldn't approve of this!" as he fed me Strawberries with Light Cool Whip at 11:30pm last night!!! Sorry, Ladies, I just couldn't resist that one!!! :lol: :lol:

Well, I hope you all have a great day!

First of all I would like to thank everyone for the very kind welcome back. You're all a very special group of ladies. During my recovery stay at the hospital I oftened thought of all of you and how you were doing with your goals. I must say that I'm so very proud of all of you. Such motivation and determination, you all deserve praise for your efforts. I also discovered that I have more catching up to do than I thought. I thought this was the original thread that I came back to, but I found out that this is the second thread. Gosh you ladies have been busy. I have yet to even finish reading this new thread, don't know if I will ever get caught up on the original thread. So I will just go with the flow and stay tuned into the new thread.

Next I would like to confess a few things, since I have been home from the hospital I have been feasting on the no-no foods. Junkfood is back to being my middle name. I got out my journal yesterday and read what I used to eat, it will take a lot for me to be able to get back to eating what I used to. It's like starting all over again, but a lot of things have contributed to my backslide. Not making excuses for it, but atleast I have come to the understanding why I'm eating what I do. So, Cyan I am relying on your famous "kick in the behind" to get me on track. But please kick very gently, I'm not as tough as I used to be. But with time I'll be back to my old self.

Reina, I would love to give you a big hug for the smile you just put on my face with your post. I always loved your stories, you haven't changed a bit. Strawberries and whipped cream around midnight? Gosh you made me blush, you also made me think back to my midnight adventures which is probably the reason I blushed. Your comments about the twinkie about made me roll on the floor. My twinkie consumption never landed on my behind though, it went straight to the waistline. I was walking around with about 6 cheesecakes, a truckload of Little Debbie cakes on my midsection. So far I have stayed clear of the snack cakes, but candy is my worst enemy right now. Can I borrow your car trunk Cyan? That's one of the downsides of going into the hospital, people give you gift baskets loaded with all those no-no foods. I don't want their money to go to waste so I've been eating it all. :s: Well the bad news is when I got up this morning someone had taken all my boxes of Pot of Gold Just Nuts candy and made them disappear except for a few pieces. Someone is in big trouble, I don't believe it was my son. So I'm thinking it was my daughter or perhaps my husband. Thinking most likely it was my daughter. She's in big trouble. Or maybe I should be thankful that she did that.

Hello Miki, CJ and Lady, sounds like you all have been doing really good. Miki, congrats on the weight loss. You are a strong lady, with great determination. Your schedule is one to admire and you still stay on track. CJ, you amaze me. Before I went in the hospital you were swimming, now you are into skiing. You show focus for all of us. How is your job going? Hopefully the stress you used to feel pertaining to that has lightened up. You're a winner, not a quiter. Lady, you are like a bright light during a storm. You have gone through some very sad times and stressful times but yet you have endured and come out stronger. You have always been an inspiration for me. I thank you.

Lisa, I read somewhere that you are going to nursing school. I admire your determination to further sucesses in your future. You are on the right track with all your goals. I wish you much success in all that you do. You seem to be a very sweet person.

To debee, lobacal and taiwan, I don't know you ladies too well yet but by what I've read so far you all seem to be very nice people. Very determined to reach your goals. All three of you are a very nice addition to the group. I extend a very big welcome(belated) to all of you.

Precious One, hope all is going great with you. My thoughts are with you in all that you do. Come and join us here on the board when you are able to.

Cyan, there's nothing I can say to you that you haven't heard before. By now I'm sure you realize how grateful we all are that you have kept this group going and have offered such great advice and support to all of us. You are one of a kind, I'm very grateful that I had the opportunity to meet you. You are a strong leader that is always here for all of us. And you've never been bashful about extending that famous kick to the behind when we needed it. I'd like to thank you for starting this group, we all needed the support that a group like this brings.

Well, I've talked enough :o Just wanted to touch base and let you all know that I'm still hanging in. I have an appointment tomorrow, some tests and some new things they are going to try on me. :yikes: So I will probably be absent for a few days after that. Thanks to all of you for all the good wishes you sent my way. I felt like I had a lot of angels sitting on my shoulders. A big hug to all of you. Talk with you all later.
Take Care, Keep Motivated.

Hi everyone,

Sounds like everyone had a busy weekend.

Cyan, that scale is going to move very soon! It soinds like you are doing great on the exercise maybe try replacing some of the binging foods with low-fat goodies might help.

CJunk, our new lake house is about 10 miles from a ski resort so we are planning to take lessons in Feb. too. It has been so cold here that I think if we went skiing now we would get frost bit.

Annie, although I do not know you well from reading your posts you do seem to be "determined" . It sounds like you have been through a lot in the past few months and maybe it is ok to give yourself a few treats.

Miki, you are an exercise queen. I need some of your motivation.

taiwan, have a great trip and please tell us all about it when you get home.

Reina, stawberries with whip cream...it sounds like a scene from the movie "91/2 weeks" :devil:

Lady and Lisa hope to hear from you soon.

:( Jake is getting a little better, but of course now my husband
and I are getting sick.

I need to get motivated and back in a rountine. I am trying to
eat breakfast, using my pedometer, drinking water...but I am still not as good about eating after 8p.m, or fat grams, exercise as I was two weeks ago. I really hope I can lose at least 2 pounds this week. Any suggestions on recharging the willpower?

Hi ya'll :)

Long day today. Worked from 10 til 7 with no lunch hour again. Did get up in time for 15 min of Airwalking this morning but only managed 10 min tonite. Calories were on track so all in all, a pretty good day, just tiring.

Cjunk, sounds like you had a nice weekend. You needed it with all the hours you've been putting in at work lately. I hope it left you all refreshed and ready to start your new week.

Cyan, remember how bad I was about the scales when we first started? I'd let them judge how well or how bad I had done. Even if I had eaten right, if the scale showed no loss, I got depressed and discouraged and usually ended up blowing it big time. Dont let that happen to you. Just hang in there! I promise eventually the progress will show up.

Reina....strawberries and cool whip at 11:30 at nite...WooooHoo!;) :lol: Hey, at least it was LITE cool whip. Tell hubby it's not that we dont approve..we're jealous..LOL

Annie, it was so cool finding a nice big post from you today. I missed those soooo much!! Hope your appt tomorrow goes well. Dont feel too bad about the junk food...you've been thru alot and I know you'll get back on track in no time. :) Besides, you're right...would be kinda rude to waste it after people were sweet enough to send it to you.:D

Debee, glad to hear that Jake is feeling better, but sorry that now you and your husband are coming down with it. Hopefully it wont last long. I'm sure you'll be able to lose that 2 lbs if you just set your mind to it. If I can do it, anyone can...believe me!

Well, my sis just signed in so I'm going to go say hello to her then it's time to head to bed. Bye for now...

Miki

Hello everyone,

I think I might have some time for replies before heading off to work!

Yesterday I went in to work only to find out a co-worker was ill and I had to work an extra 2 hours. So I got resourceful and told them I had errands to run for a few hours, left and then came back and worked her later shift instead. They seemed okay with this because I have worked a lot of overtime lately. I got all my errands done and I covered the evening when we would have been short. All in all a good compromise. The same co-worker called while I was sleeping this morning to try and find someone to pick her up and drive her to work today because her car would not start---yikes---sounds like she is experiencing a string of bad luck. I called her back to say that I can drive her in but her machine came on--so I may end up rushing off this post if I end up hearing from her.

Cyan, don't despair...results sometimes take a bit of time. It sounds like you are getting back into your old routine of exercise and diet which will help you to get the results you are looking for. Take it from someone like me who loses a pound or two and then gains it back and then loses it again that it is better to lose slowly than to yo-yo back and forth.

Annie, so wonderful to hear from you! I have been thinking about you and hoping you would come back so that we can all catch up on how things are going. It sounds like you have been through a lot, so promise us not to beat yourself up over your eating habits and we will support you to getting back on track--okay?!!

Miki--sounds like you have been pulling crazy shifts like me. Take it from the girl who ate junk and underate all last week. It is not worth all the pizza and french fries to bounce off your healthy eating pattern. For me it just made me tired, cranky and burned out even faster. I am back to my normal routine this week and feeling much healthier because of it. I hope your work becomes less hectic for you too. Mine is still pretty intense but yesterday I was assertive on taking some time for myself--which was difficult to do--it seemed to work out positively though. Congratulations on losing 2 pounds as well!!

Debee, I hope that you and your husband are feeling okay now that Jake is starting to feel a bit better. I think that viruses have been going around a lot lately. Try not to push yourself too hard if your immune system is down.

Taiwan, you may not read this as you might already be on your trip but I hope you enjoy your time and that you will post all about it when you get back! Congrats to you too on your weight loss!

Reina, you made me crave strawberries so badly I went out and bought some for my lunch yesterday! No whipped cream though. I have no willpower for only a little bit and I would just end up chugging the whole spray can or eating the whole tub! They were very delicious and thank you for the craving.

Lisa--hope to hear from you soon! Wow, what a hectic day you had! Is that an everyday day in the life of Lisa? If it is all I have to say is Wow!! I am amazed that you were able to keep your cool and not panic with all the loops you had come your way. You are awesome! With that kind of chaos you would have to do a lot of pre-planning I would imagine in order to make your diet work for you!

Lobocal--hope your national circuit went well and look forward to hearing about it soon.

PreciousOne and Ladyrider, hope all is well and that you are meeting any challenges head on with all the strength that you can.

As for me I am off to battle another day!!!

Keep up the great work everyone!!

Cjunk

Annie :grouphug: we are all here supporting you and sending you lots of good healing energy....think of us as little helpers hanging around you as you get your treatments and tests. And like Miki says, you have been through a lot so enjoy your treats cause when you are all better, its back to your healthier lifestyle. I send you a big hug and let us know how you are doing.

Cjunk when are you coming to Montreal? I am looking forward to hooking up with you...it will be fun.

Reina...I went to bed early last night but I got in my weight lifting and now my arms are hurting...ouch but it sure felt good to get back on track...yay! How did you do exercise wise? I also did ok food wise at 1665 and 42 grams of fat.

Miki all those long hours at work and you still exercise..I think you are now officially our new workout queen :queen:

Taiwan...hope you have a wonderful trip and keep up all the hard work and effort of losing weight....have a safe trip...I send you good energy

Debee have you found your groove again...are you back to your routine...how's the water consumption going? Have you been eating after 8pm thus far this week?

Lobacal glad to hear that you are doing well on your regime...let us know how you are doing this week.

LadyRider...I hope you are well ... its always so much fun chatting with you and I really appreciate your words of wisdom.

Lisa...you must be very busy with all nursing school stuff and your child and your husband and your pets and last but not least...yourself...How do you do it? Give us the secret. I hope you are doing well and keeping on track with yourself...How's the healing ridge doing?

Well Ladies, this week thus far I have been on track, I started exercising sunday and have kept it us thus far...yes I know we are only tuesday but at least I have worked out both sunday and monday and plan on doing it again tonight.

I send all of you lots of hugs and good energy and the strength to love yourself enough to get healthy, thin, and sexy...cause we are all that already...so keep it up

Cyan

Hello everyone. Sorry it's been a few days since I posted. I have been busy and tired. Today was our first test and I was studying for 3 hours last night. It was cool because there is a chat room especially for my nursing class so I suggested that we study together via the the chat room. Seven people showed up and it was nice to have someone to ask questions to without having to leave my house. I love technology!!

Food wise I do okay until dinner time and then I just eat. I really haven't had time to really pig out though. Yesterday I brought cheese cubes and apple slices for my table to snack on. They were enjoyed by all of us. I'm not sure where I am on the weight part. I forget to weigh myself in the morning before I get dressed and it's dark in my room then also. Later in the day is just too late and I know I will weigh more then so I just don't put myself through that.

Sorry I don't have time for individual posts but will try to do that tonight or tomorrow. I'm going to do Yoga in about 30 minutes at the gym. Yesterday I was at the doctor getting my physical for school and complained to the doctor that I can't fall asleep at night because I just lay in bed thinking and thinking and thinking. She gave me Zoloft for OCD. (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). I started thinking about that and I think that that really may be my problem. I've been running myself ragged trying to do everything and do it perfect. I can't even slow down when I lay down for bed because my brain won't stop trying to plan everything out in my head. I'm constantly making lists of what to do and what to eat and things to clean and papers to turn in and what to study. MY BRAIN WON"T STOP and I'm EXHAUSTED!!!!!!

Okay enough of that. I'm constantly boring you guys with all my medical problems! I just hope that this medicine will help me get free of this constant need to do it all.

I'll post more later when I have time!

Lisa

Hi everyone,

Well, Jake is better but I have a very bad head cold. Today I hoped to exercise but I felt light headed.

I ate ok ...for lunch I had a turkey sandwich with lettuce and this great salad dressing I found food shopping today...it is called Walden farms honey mustard...Miki it is a salad dressing with no fat or calories. I know you like salads at lunch and this way you can still have the salad dressing without the guilt.

For dinner I had a can of Progresso Chicken barley chicken soup and a rye crisp. For dessert I had three small pieces of chocolate I really could not stop the chocolate craving. I read somewhere that if you are craving sweets to eat something sour like a pickle. I have not tried it.

Food shopping today I really loaded up on the fruits and veggies andI did drink a bottle of seltzer. I am trying to get back the motivation and really hope to show a lost this friday. I have been wearing my pedometer and have found that it takes 8 miles to burn only 460 calories.

Lisa, hopefully the yoga will help you sleep better. I noticed it helped get my kids to sleep quicker. It seems that you are overwhemled at this point in your life.

Cyan, is your mother hospitalized again?

Reina, you should take a picture of the red dress you want and post it on the refridge.. they say visualizing your goal helps.

Cjunk, I know how you feel about the junk food...as the saying goes if I am what I eat then I'm fast, cheap and easy.

Ladyrider, are you hiding because you have been bad or just busy?

Well, already this week is not going as planned. I was going to work today because I wanted to be off tomorrow to ride with my dad to an out of town dental appointment. Instead I was home with a sick child. Luke woke me up around 1 a.m. this morning burning up with fever. (104!!) This is just like what he had 6 weeks ago. This virus is still going around here. I just cant believe he has gotten it a second time. Anyway, he feels awful and pretty much just wants me sitting right beside him every minute. Thank goodness, I had refills on the prescriptions from last time so I saved the dr visit money for now. If he doesnt get better soon, tho, I'll go ahead and take him.

Cyan, better hold off on that crowning ceremony. I was off all day today and have yet to do one minute of exercise! Isnt that crazy? I fit it in when I'm swamped with things to do but then I'm too lazy to do it when I'm sitting home all day.:^:

Cjunk, sounds like you were resourceful with your day. Good thinking leaving for awhile then coming back for the needed shift instead of working straight thru! Smart girl.;)

Lisa, my mind is reeling just reading about all you have to think about these days. Made me dizzy.:dizzy: (and your posts are definitely not boring, silly) Just give yourself a little time to get adjusted and I'm sure you'll soon have a routine you can manage without it seeming so overwhelming. This thread definitely isnt made up of lazy women.:lol: (ummm, well, exept for me today )

Debee, I'm so glad that Jake is better. Now if you can just get yourself well. I'm going to look for that dressing...thanks for sharing. I think you did a good job at eating 3 small pieces of chocolate when you craved it so bad. Sometimes if we dont give in a little, we crave it even worse and then binge. A little wont hurt you as long as it doesnt become a bad habit.

My calories today were 1225, I think. Very low on fat grams also so at least that part is better than the exercise. Not going to promise anything, but I MIGHT do some AirWalking before the nite is over. We'll just have to see if I get motivated later.

Lady, Annie, Taiwan, Betty, and PreciousOne....you're in my thoughts as always. Miss all of you today.

Josh, my 13 yr old, won the 7th grade spelling bee last week and tomorrow he competes in the school-wide one. I need to go call out some words so he can practice. ( Luke was runner-up for the 5th grade ) Then at 8, I plan on watching the President's speech.
Better hurry if I want to finish with Josh before that.

Take care everyone!

Miki

Reina...didnt mean to slight you! Just noticed I left you out..soooo sorry!!! Definitely wasnt intentional. You must still not be feeling well since there was no post from you today. Best wishes for a prompt recovery!!

Hi Everyone!
Sorry, I've been neglecting you all, and I can't write much now, either, but wanted you to know I'm still here, just really busy right now. I spent all day yesterday at the car dealer getting a new car. :D Today I was gone all day running errands and meeting up with friends. Tomorrow Bryan and I are riding 3 hrs southwest to St. Petersburg to see an antique motorcyle exhibit. We'll be back late tomorrow, so I will post more Thursday...I promise!
Hope you are all doing well,
:dizzy: Lady

Hi Again!

I just remembered I promised Annie I would pass it on that she wants to join us in Chicago! Isn't that excellent? So, add one more ticket when we call in July for the Oprah.

Lady

Ladies,
I hope you all had a great day. I was pulled away from work early on Monday, becuase Alex had a fever and started vomitting!:faint:

So, needless to say, I was up all night with him. I had to keep him home today because he was still running a fever!

I did get some exercise in Monday night, but not as much as I wanted. Today I found my box of old workout videos while cleaning my pantry, and I started a sweating to the oldies tape. Wow, you really do sweat with that, and I used some weight with it.

I realized when I stay home, I get so tempted to want to eat anything in the fridge.....:?: But I stayed focused, and I wanted until dinner to enjoy food. I had Turkey Tenderloins with Mushrooms and carrots and lemon herb rice. I have totally neglected Fitday, but starting tomorrow, I am so back on it. I am drinking my water though.

Annie, I am so happy to hear that I can put a smile on your beautiful face! I wish you a speedy recovery from all those yucky tests that you have to endure! You are constantly in my prayers, and I am so excited to hear that you will be coming to my hometown in October! I really look forward to seeing you with all the ladies!

Lady, I hope you and Bryan have a great time at the Motorcycle show! Just don't fall prey to the hot pretzels and nachos at the food counters!:lol:

Miki, it looks like we were up doing the same thing last night!. I hope Luke is feeling better. My alex is getting better, and hopefully will be back in school tomorrow!
Keep up the good work with your exercising! You are the Bomb:dizzy:

Lisa, I am glad to hear that you have chat buddies to study with, I am sure it will help you alot. Wow, the tests already. Boy do I miss that. I wish you all the luck on them.
Don't forget, to take a couple of minutes and go sit in the bathroom, closet, or the car, and just BREATHE!!!!

Cyan, I am glad to hear that you are still on track with working out. I am right there with you sister!!!!
How was your day.

Cjunk, I hope your week is getting better! I hope you enjoyed your strawberries as much as I did! I am really surprised how sweet they are for this time of year in Chicago

Debee, your idea of the picture of the dress is a great one. I will do that. I hope Jake is feeling better and I hope you get over that terrible cold.

Well ladies, I have to get ready for bed, and I will chat with you tomorrow.

Have a great evening.

Hello All, had time to read all the posts but too exhausted to reply thoroughly. Had a good eating day---very hungry and ate a lot but did not go over on the calories. Didn't exercise though. Friends stopped by unexpectedly and my girlfriend did not have a suit to go to the pool with me (although she would if she knew). I got caught up on laundry tonight instead so I will swim tomorrow and ski on Sunday so I should include one more busy exercise day at least on Thurs. or Friday.

It sounds like everyone is doing a great job in keeping with the goals. Lisa, not to fret. It is often hard and exhausting to turn off the noise and stress when life gets busy---especially when you are trying to accomplish it all and all at once and others around you expect you to fulfill roles. It is good that you take time for yourself now and again to meet with us wonderful ladies to chat! Remember to take even 5 mins of silence during the day if you can tomorrow---every little bit of it will slowly help.

Talk to you all soon!

Cjunk

Lady have a blast riding that bike and let the wind blow your hair away from your face and let the sunshine beat down on you....I am right there along for the ride...just picture me miniature size sitting on the handles of your bike.:lol:

Miki and Reina ...sorry to hear that your kids are sick...I hope they are getting better soon.

Hi Debee..no my mom is not hospitalized...she is at home but this friday we are going to have her parathyroid gland scanned because her doctor suspects it in not working well thus causing her to have high calcium levels in her blood which inturn is exagerating her alzheimers. Since she has been home she has gotten worse, more disoriented and at night, it gets worse. She follows me around the house and often she doesnt make sense when she talks. Needless to say, it is all very hard and upsetting to deal with. So I am hoping that once her parathyroid gland gets removed, she will have an improvement but after all,she doe have alzheimers and it is progressing...I just wish it would be more gradual.

Cjunk have fun skiing...I wish I was going...so do a run for me:D

Hey Lisa hang in there and I hope the zoloft doesnt make you sleepy....most pschysotropics can be hard on the brain at first.

Hey Annie...so glad that you are joining us in Chicago...I am looking forward to meeting you in person as I am all the other Ladies who are coming.

Big hug and lots of good energy to all...oops I almost forgot...I exercised yesterday for 25 minutes...I did cycled I burned off 225 cals. My cals were 1554 and 62 grams of fat...geez those fat grams just sneak their way in all the time.

Okay off I am talk to you all later

Cyan

Cyan, I will definitely ski a run for you. I have a question because I am puzzled by your fat grams. How are you calculating them and what are you eating that is high in fat? Are you using fitday where it breaks down your fat for each food??? I am curious to know because your fat grams always seem much higher in percentage to calories consumed. It is a bit of a mystery to me.

Well, I'm late posting tonite. I think it's my subconscious making me put it off because I still havent gotten around to exercising, and I hate posting when I dont have a positive report. Actually, until around 6 p.m., my calorie intake was a little over 1200 with 39 fat grams. The fats were higher than I like but not TOO bad. BUT I just happened to be looking in the refrigerator later tho and noticed a ziplock bag full of chocolate chips from Christmas baking hiding behind something. I've been in there 3 times since I noticed them each time grabbing a few.:s: I'm not even a "sweets" person, but I just couldnt pass them up.:( One big mistake is I've run out of all my healthier lowfat snacks and havent had time to get to town since Luke has been sick. Another day at home and once again I havent exercised. This is ridiculous! I CANNOT blow all the hard work I've done. I'm making a promise right now...Tomorrow I WILL exercise and I WILL Eat right!!!! If not, Cyan...Kick me HARD!!!:lol: Dont even try to make me feel better...just let me have it!

Ok, got that off my chest. Ya know what they say...confession is good for the soul.:angel: Tomorrow will be better for sure..I feel so disappointed in myself for today. Dont want to go thru this bad feeling again for awhile.

Hope everyone else is hanging in there better than I have the last 2 days. Let's come in tomorrow with lots of good news!

Miki