Support Groups - Rears in Gear for the New Year - After the Crash

Hey Ladies... I think Jolly fell asleep on her horse. ;) I know she's been busy this week, so I figured I'd go ahead and put this up here so we can get back on track!!

I'm just about to the point where I'm going to start over next week, at this rate... I never realized how critical to my success 3FC, the journals, and this thread are. Between the financial stress, the returning to work, and trying to jump back into a plan at the same point I was last year after working out and eating right for 6 months... uhm .. I think I need to step back and punt.

So .. here are my weekly goals at this point:

Drink three bottles of water each day while at work.
Stay away from the vending machine.
Do not eat the Wednesday muffin.
Eat two fruits a day.
Ride my horse three times.
Eat breakfast every day.
Eat a well balanced dinner and have ONE slimabear for dessert.
Do one cardio workout.
Do one weights workout.
Go to bed no later than 10:00 pm.
Get up no later than 5:30 am.

Now .. this week hasn't been a total waste. Today was bad.. bad bad bad. I found out I didn't get the raise, though later I found out there are still meetings being held, negotiations being made, etc about the review and raises for everyone in the company. It's just that I'm sinking fast financially, and every pay period they delay this is that much more money I'm behind. It's getting very stressful. So I totally caved, ate fast food for lunch, didn't drink my water - suffered a headache all afternoon because of that. Then got home, drank two glasses of wine while snacking on baguette dipped in olive oil, and then ate a lovely caesar salad with shrimp. I have ridden twice, so that's not bad. I've done my cardio, now I need to do my weights. The bedtime is getting under control slowly. I haven't eaten the muffin (it's in the freezer), and I haven't hit the vending machine. So ... I just have to remind myself that even though I slipped badly today into comfort eating, it's not the end of being OP. It's just the start of another day tomorrow, another day OP.

So c'mon girls! Lets repost our goals and get our motivation back! :yes:

Hi Everyone

I'm glad to see that we are back. I was very nervous as I tried to get on this morning but I couldn't. Thought we might have crashed again.

I got Mark a weight bench for Christmas, and I am just waiting to set it up so that we can start using it.

Ok for the goals.
Drink 8 glasses of water a day.
Plan my meals and make a list to take to the grocery store with me so I can buy only what is on the list.
Start doing some exercise 4 or 5 times a week
Eat supper before 8:00 pm every night.

I will start with these and then add some more after I get these down.

Raven - I think I need to find a box of Slimabears. Way to go on not eating the muffin, and staying away from the vending machines. You might have had fast food, but that is today and you can start over tomorrow. I am sorry that you don't have your raise already, but I am glad that the company is still in negotiations. I do think that you will get your raise.

I have been trying to get up all week at 5:30 to practice for next week. Haven't been to successful. Raven maybe you need to give me a wake up call. :lol: Oh well. I'll have to just do it next week.

:balloons:

Hi to everyone else and I hope they find us.
Have a great night.

Lucky - :lol: If Chach is your diet buddy, than I can be your wake up buddy? I think I need one too, sometimes. I'm getting better at going to bed on time - yesterday I made it into bed before 10, which is a big deal. I'm still not waking up on time, though. I guess that just indicates how overtired I was. I hope next week is better, and I can start dragging myself out of bed early enough to get in a short workout. Maybe the panic of knowing you have to be to work will launch you out of bed. ;)

Like Lucky said... no matter how discouraged I was yesterday, today is a new day, and what I ate yesterday is no excuse to repeat the behavior. It's so tempting to slide back into that excuse making and say "well, shoot .. it's already Thursday, this week is shot, why don't I just give up and start fresh next week." :mad: That's so ridiculous. I know I can't do that. I ate my cereal for breakfast, I have my water in front of me (now I need to actually drink the stuff - this was so much easier when it was hot out), and I had my banana for snack. I thought of something else this morning I do NOT want to deal with come summer, and that is wearing too much clothing to hide the pudge. It's HOT in the summer, and I want to be able to wear cool, light clothing. Not cover myself in layers hoping no one will notice that I'm fat. Bah. The time to start is NOW, not next week. So there. :p

Hi ladies i posted on jolly other..then i did a search as I was looking for you LUCKY!!!

I wanted to tell you how much i apprecaited your comments in my journal. Your suport meant a lot to me

Raven i comment in your journal and on jollys but you too..i appreicated your support..msn has 3oo of my emails held hostage..but they promised me they would fix it so forgive me for not e-mailing you back

GNC the company my hubby works for is having a constest about lsoing weight wiht their grapefruit stuf..though i know it does not woerk..amm gonna start again on MOnday...wish me luck

Again Raven i like your plan..nad you will do it!!!

chat ya soon!!

tracy

Hey Tracy! It's ok about the e-mail.. I'm just glad you're ok. I was really worried about you. And honestly, I didn't expect that much chutzpah from you. But I'm really amazed and impressed, girl. It was good to see you finally get righteously angry. You've taken far too much crap, and I just think it's fantastic that you found out you don't need to anymore. OMG, have we created a monster? Next you'll be telling all those snotty employers to take a hike! ;)

I don't know anything about the GNC plan, just be sure it's healthy, ok? Fad diets usually don't amount to much, and you end up still not able to change your lifestyle and keep the weight off even if you do peel off the pounds to begin with. Be careful, please?

Good Morning and Happy Friday to all.

Well I managed to wake up at 5:30 am yesterday morning (only reason is because the dog was getting ill and I wanted to get her outside) That works much better than the alarm!! I was so tired and needed a nap by 10:30am.

Tracy you have to :write: us more often. We were worried about you. How was your Christmas and New years? Since you got your spine, is everything working itself out? So what does the contest winner win at GNC? Good luck on your new start with this. You have all of our total support when ever you need it. Always.

:sp: Raven my wakeup and 5 pounds a month buddy. You are not going to have a problem in the summer hun because that is 30 pounds gone by then and you will want to wear the lighter clothes as you will be looking fabulous by then. (we will be wearing lighter clothes :lol: ) If you want to move there is a few jobs available here. You'd be back in the deep freeze though.

Jolly how are you doing? We miss you. Now we are waiting to hear about how your week went. Catch us up soon.

Happy how is your week going? Thanks to your fortunes I have been doing pretty good so far this week. Cody wanted to bake some brownies this week (microwave) and I told him he couldn't this week because I am not quite strong enough to say no. Next week! (maybe)

Chachee come on back over.....:D

Hi Erin glad to see that you found us again. I hope the others are able to find their way back also.

Have a great Friday everyone.

Hey chickies... this from Jolly in an e-mail:

"OK. I still had problems getting on the thread. So, please tell
everyone Jolly is still here. I have not run away or anything. I will
sit down and try to fight my way in over the weekend."

Lucky - :lol: Oh that is one of the worst ways to wake up, isn't it?? And you're absolutely right. I will be much lighter then. :yes: I just need to keep that thought in the front of my brain and pull it out every time I think about going off plan. And I really .. uhm .. thank you for the invitation, but *shiver* I think I'll stay down here where it's warm! :smug:

Happy, Hippy, Chachee, Erin, Brunissen (did I forget anyone?) - come hither and post!

:faint: :faint: :faint:

OK. I am awake now :rofl:

Thanks for restarting our thread, Raven. Like you said, I don't realize how important this thread is to me, and my success. Having you all to talk to throw thick and thin . . . it means a lot.

Tracy, again, I don't go into the journals. Please e me up on everything. I want to know you are ok.

I will try to post more this weekend from home. But, I am really busy through next week, so please forgive me if I don't do more than say hi. i am thinking of all of you.

:yawn:

Hi ladies!

I am here, just also posting on a new thread. I will keep checking in with you guys also here. I miss my buddies.

Tracy, nice to see you back. I hear you have been having some tough times. Hope things get better for you.

Jolly, welcome back also.

I need to scoot, but I am still on track this week and hope to have a loss to post on Monday!

Chach

Let me paste this in before I lose it as far as goals for 2004 go. Then I'll come back and respond to the thread.

I gave some thought to the things I'd like to improve for the next 4 months.

1) Lose weight obviously. My food choices aren't too bad and I have gotten away from refined and processed food for the most part. My problem is portion control. Even too much of a healthy food is too many calories. So keeping to portion control will be one of my "challenges" along with a regular balance of fruit and vegetables.

2) Exercise. I got away from it while I was having a heavy duty semester at school. I have some problems with my feet and if I don't stretch the muscles, they act up. So REGULAR, CONSISTENT exercise is a priority.

3) Finally water. Good for the diet, good for health. Not a problem in the summer when it's warm, but I don't always do as well in the winter. Another focus point for me.

I started on Monday. Each day I pick an item to pay particular attention to. This I hope will help to keep me from starting out gung ho and then losing my resolve within a month. (Another problem of mine).

So far this week except for pizza last night, I've been good. I've managed to get 2 liters of water each day, have been mindful of my food and several times a day turned down what might have been just mindful but harmful slips. As for exercise, it's my weakest point right now but I just went and did it - Walk Away the Pounds one day, Pilates another, weights another. Tonight I am going to try a new video I picked up using the big exercise ball.

I'm hoping to use this challenge to form regular habits again and see a better me in April.

Good to see we all made it back to home base again except that someone has to go lasso Brunissen. Thanks Raven for setting up the thread again. I wanted to ask you, have you picked up a southern drawl? I used to go to Tucker outside of Atlanta quite a bit at my last job and after 3 days I was so embarrassed because I'd just start talking like the rest of the folks in the office. Sounds though like you have a really focused plan. I like the weekly goals. That's less pressure than trying to do everything everyday.

Tracy it's great to have you back in the fold again. I don't know about the grapefruit thing - is that like powered pills or something? I guess what ever you can find that works as long as it's not too bizarre. I want to be like Oprah and have my own cook and personal trainer. How easy would THAT be then? :lol:

Gee Lucky, dinner before 8pm? Do you get home really late? When I had to take the train to work and was getting home sometimes as late as 7pm, I found I had to spend most of Sunday making things I could just warm quickly and serve, otherwise we'd have been eating that late too. And it seems when I eat really late, I wake up ravenous the next morning for some reason.

Well lunchtime is over, better get a move on back to work. Hellos to the rest of the crew and have a good weekend everyone. Let's hope we see some losses next week. :crossed: :crossed:

Good Morning...Good Morning!!

I was so shocked to see everything was mesed up here. It wasn't a good time because I was highly counting on you guys to help me get back on track!! Now that things are up and running again I have no excuses:o
I have myself craving junk food again and am suffering from eating alot of carbs and feeling tired and sluggish. I have been drinking water and went and bought all that I need to redo South Beach for 2 weeks to rid myself of cravings. I start out good but screw up somewhere EVERYDAY :( I know I make my own choices and I have control over this, I just need to work harder.

It sound like 5:30 is everyones wake up time! I'm so use to getting up at 5 or 5:30 that I'm up at the crack of dawn on the weekend. I would just love to sleep in!

Raven, you are so motivated right now! I would love to be able to go out in my own yard this summer and not worry that someone might drive by to see me get in the pool! Sure am glad I live in the country!! With your attitude you will be lookin fine come summertime!!

Tracy, I wasn't aware of what is going on in your life. Hugs to you and hope you are well.

I cant remember what everyone has posted so Jolly, Happy, Chachee, Kathy hope I didn't miss something important and hope al of you are reaching your goals.

Did I miss anyone? Sorry! Talk to you all later

:yikes: :yikes:

Good morning ladies! I went over to journals and dumped all my winter/cold crankies there. I woke up this morning to snow on the ground, and that does NOT make me happy.

Jolly - I know how busy this week is for you... But I know, too (and I'm blowing your cover here!), that you said by next Tuesday you'd be back on track. :devil: So we'll give you that fudge factor. But be ready for some serious kicks come next week, girl!! :drill: I hope things go smoothly for you till then, try to get some rest when you can!

Hey Happy - Actually, I have picked up a few words, but no accent. I use ya'll once in a while and my boyfriend cringes. ;) The worst accent for me is Canadian or Alaskan Native. Since I was raised around that kind of speech, if I'm speaking to someone with a prounounced accent, I have to really fight not to fall into it lest they think I'm mocking their accent. It is not intentional at all! You know, eh? :lol: I'm finding I have the same problem as you do with water. Summer - great. I can drink water till my eyeballs are floating and I'm fine. Winter. *cringe* It becomes a battle every step of the way. We even have to give our horses electrolytes so they'll drink water in the winter, so I guess it's not just us!! I'm trying to think of ways to get around that. Maybe warm herbal tea or something. There has to be a way to do this without it being a fight every time I pick up a glass of water. And yes.. I'm right up there with having a dietitian, chef, and personal trainer. Not to mention access to a full gym and swimming pool whenever I wanted it. Somehow I think it would make this whole process unbelievably easy.

Hippy! Welcome back! We're here, and we'll motivate you! It seems like this time of year is kind of tough for everyone - wanting to get back on track, knowing how to do it, and just having a real hard time getting from knowing to doing. But if we all stick together and keep pushing each other, I think this year will be a really good one for us!!

Yesterday was better for me, and I'll take it as a success. As Happy said, I don't have too much trouble with WHAT I'm eating, it's how much. And I am back to totally OP at work, which was a big hurdle. The vending machine has lost its appeal for the most part, and I bought two weeks worth of Healthy Choice lunches (they were on sale! 40% off!! I need to go buy another two weeks worth!), plus yogurt and a few of the higher protein, lower carb bars for those emergency fixes rather than running for a snickers bar. I eat a half of one, and feel like at least it's not a total loss. I did go overboard on dinner last night. We had tacos, which when eaten in moderation, are a good meal for me because I prefer to use the soft shells, and I get the low fat low carb ones. I also use no fat refried beans, etc. But ... if you eat THREE of them, no matter how low cal they are, it's going to add up. :mad: Duh. Today I don't want to work out, but I will anyway. I don't want to do anything but curl up with a blanket and pillows with a good book on the couch next to my warm fire. But I will. I need to go to walmart and see if they have any more fleece gloves, because I need to go riding today, and my hands are the worst part.

So .. though so far no loss scale-wise, I'll take this week as a victory because I'm getting that much closer to being totally OP again. I have three full weeks to achieve my goal for this month. Imminently doable, but I need to really focus, really prioritize, really make the goals happen. Like Hippy said, this is all up to me.

Happy Saturday everyone! I'll check in later to update on whether I got the exercise and riding and water in! I need to be accountable!

Hey Everyone! I wanted to pop in here quick before the day got away from me again!!! I did my weigh in this morning and I was down 2 lbs :) I'm ignoring the fact that last week I had wicked wanda and am enjoying the loss :D Especially since I haven't tracked my bloating in about a year, so there's a chance I wasn't even bloated and that really was my weight :fr:
My sister and her maid of honor are on their way over to get the bridal shower and wedding invites flushed out (I'm stamping them all), so I will post more later!
Ok, that was quick... They're here!
Later guys!
E

Oh boy! :dance: :dance: :dance: I am down 2 pounds for the week! Even with my pizza bender on Thursday. And I weighed several times this week with minor fluctuations so I have to believe this is real. I would like to be down 5 more pounds by the end of the month which would put me back to where I was in October.

I now have to admit it had to do with being focused. I watched my portions, ate low fat and healthy (for the most part), drank my water and started exercising again - just 30 minutes a day but was consistent. I'm quite happy. Now to keep it up!

Erin, hope you have those prepasted stamps, otherwise will you be making the yukky face later. Just what did they used to put in that stamp glue?

Raven, I heard that if you can handle tea without the sugar in it, especially green tea that also counts for some of your water intake. I've been trying for about 2 liters a day and that seems to be working out ok, though towards the end of the day it does get kinda blah so I'm trying the tea thing too though at this time I still have to sugar it up a bit.

Hippy, I picked up the South Beach book yesterday. Any tips or do I have to read it all myself? I also picked up Bill Phillips new cookbook. Lots of good stuff in there so that will be the basis for my meals for the week. I always liked Bill's approach to things.

We're going to San Francisco in April and I have yet to find a hotel for 2 days before we move on to Monterey. We have a delightful hotel there, right on the bay - can't wait to open the patio doors and listen to the surf. But we might be sleeping on the sidewalk in SF itself if I don't get hustling.

Hope you all have a good weekend, stay warm and cozy and let's hear some good news on Monday's check in.

Hey all. Don't have a lot of time to post, so hello, and I am thinking of all of you.

I made it to Ikea yesterday, only to find they didn't have one of the things I felt I needed. I know have to call and check on shipping prices to see if this is a need or a want. I just don't know. So between that and the huge crowds - kind of a stressful day.

I did not make it ot the gym this morning, so will try to go after the barn. I have to make it home in time to sleep, though, as I have to work tonight. I will try to post more then. I also have to go and enroll in the fitness challenge on liine tonight, as I did not have time to battle the lines yesterday.

Have a agood day all, and be prepared with the kicks for me.

Hey All! First off, congrats to Happy and Erin on the loss :cp: Saturday was the first time I have been able to work up enough nerve to get on the scale since the holidays. I am happy to say that though I haven't lost anything I did not gain at all. I don't know how I pulled that one off but I'll Take it!!!

Happy, South Beach is a wonderful book. I have read mine more than once. It explains how eating bad carbs mess up your blood sugar and bog you down, how the plan is heart healthy and how it fixes your body from the inside out. This is just my opinion but when I followed it I felt great. I had so much energy and was never hungry. I'm a junk food eater and the plan promised I would stop craving that stuff and I did. I didn't eat sweets for 8 weeks. I use to eat them everyday. The weightloss is consistant and the energy level is huge. I'm sure you are wondering if it's so great then why I stopped doing it? That's just me. That's why I'm still fat! I have a hard time keeping my motivation. Anyway, I keep reminding myself how great I felt so I'm working my way back to it. I have been to the grocery, have rid my house of junk food and tomorrow morning I will begin. Hopefully this time I will be able to hang there.
Let me know what you think about the book and the plan.

Lots to do today so better get going going! Talk to you all later

Good morning ladies!

Erin, Happy - Congrats!!! :bravo: Great week for you two!!

Happy - Consistency and focus. Great things for me to work on. You know, you mention Bill Phillips. His Body for Life program was one of the things that really got me moving last year. Maybe I should really look into doing that again as a jump start into this year. His philosophy is good, and it really does work. I felt great following the program, though I have to admit I had to watch how much protein I ate. I tend to get really sick if I eat as much as he wants. That's one of the reasons I can never do the Atkins program. I get dizzy, nauseous, lightheaded, weak, the whole bit. I'll let you know if I give it another shot. It's not an easy 12 weeks, but it's a darned effective one.

Jolly - I'm sorry IKEA didn't turn out to be what you wanted, or have what you needed. You sound very tired. Please get some rest, please don't make yourself sick with this work schedule?

Hippy - Heeeyyyyyyyy ... learning maintenance is just as important as learning to lose! I'd consider that a HUGE success!! Congrats! I've found that I now have pretty much learned maintenance, and that's a very good thing. The one time I was totally unable to maintain was during the time after my father had his accident and was going downhill and I was waiting for the money to come through to get up to Alaska, then the whole trip up there was one huge food fest provided by my brother and SIL. That was disastrous for my weight. But since then, I haven't gained any more, so like you, I take that as a success. Now it's time for us to get losing again!

Yesterday didn't work out as planned. Do they ever? I ended up working at the stable the entire time I was there. Rosa is having a really rough time with depression and lack of money (wow, it's an epidemic) this winter and she and her husband were off installing some drapes (she sews and installs drapes as a second job). She asked if we could feed, and I said sure... then I started looking around the stable, and it's obvious her depression is getting to her. Several of the stalls obviously hadn't been cleaned in days, the walkway in the barn was filthy... So I picked stalls, straightened up tack, put away tools, cleaned water buckets, swept and blew out the center walkway. We brought in Ichabok and Nelson, the only two who don't have blankets right now, and made sure they were all set up with hay, water, and their evening grain, then fed all the ponies in the pastures, checked blankets, etc. Nickie got in a good ride, she's working on re-teaching Shadow to transition to a canter. It's been a long time since Shadow had to do that, and her transitions are awkward. But she's learning again. I didn't get a chance to ride, because by the time we were done with all the chores, it was dark and the wind had picked up and frankly, I was worn out and freezing my butt off. I spent time with my pony, feeding him and combing out his mane and tail while he ate, and giving him hugs and pats. He seemed confused when I left the pasture without him. I truly love that horse. And of course by the time I got home, it was 7:30 and I still had to cook dinner. Dinner was healthy and OP, but again, I ate too much of it. I need to really start focusing. I took the time for a nice hot shower though, after the dishes were done. It felt good to get warm. :D

Today is laundry and hopefully a ride. I want to do cardio, too. It's dry, not as cold though as it was yesterday. High pressure, so the sinuses are achy. Lotion, water, lotion, water.

Oh!!! And a high point of yesterday!! Has anyone here seen Cirque Du Soleil? Nickie and I haven't been to a live show, but we watched several of them on TV last fall. My favorite right now is Dralion. One of the original singers for the show (the ringmaster, almost) is this incredible man by the name of Erik Karol. He can go to a low tenor to this incredible falsetto with such power. Or as one reviewer said "one minute he sings in a rich tenor, the next he's in a freaky stratosphere with his female counterpart." Sadly, his last tour with Dralion was here in Atlanta in 2000, and I missed it. If I had only known!! ANYway... my darling incredible unpredictable daughter used her Christmas Walmart card to order *for me* the Dralion soundtrack with him singing. And another CD - a compilation of several other Cirque songs from different productions. We listened together to the Dralion CD, swooning and laughing and drooling over Erik Karol. He looks incredible in makeup. ;) So... that made my day, my week, my month. I felt like a teenager. *giggle* :s:

So, I suppose I should get my fluffy butt moving and start laundry and maybe get on that treadmill, eh??

Yeah, it's Sunday, that means tomorrow is Monday... Hey Lucky, how is the waking up going?? :devil:

Hi Everyone.

Hope everyone is having a good Sunday.

:high: to Happy and Erin way to go.

Happy I used to work until 6:30 and if the tills didn't balance I had to stay until I could find out where the money was. Then with running kids around, then making supper we didn't usually eat until 8:00. Now with my new job, I am off work at 4:00 so I am hoping that this should push supper ahead. Wow that will be great for you to get away in April. How long will your trip be? What other places are you going? Or just to the 2?

Well Raven, after this weekend I am ready to move, so I'm coming your way. A good friend of mine split up from her husband so I moved her back home to the city an hour away from here. Half way there it started pouring freezing rain. Roads were awful. At least we got there before they closed all the highways because of all the accidents. Good thing my brother-in-law lives there so I had a place to stay. Then he bought a couple big sidewalk blocks to put into the back of our little truck so I could get home today. You are such a special person to notice the Rosa's depression and do all the chores for her. That would have made her feel better that that was done and she didn't have to wonder "where do I start?"

Jolly enjoy your time out at the barn. Then enjoy the gym visit. Would you have to pay any shipping at IKEA? Or shouldn't they just bring it in for you as it is something they sell?


Hippy how are you? I have been doing SBD also, and I could have lost more, but you are right about the motivation. But now we are back on track and we will make ourselves stick it out. Oh and you then get to be the official wake up caller. Raven first, as I think that with the time difference she hits 5:30 first then me. :lol: Do we think that I will be able to sleep tonight, as I will be to paranoid that I will be late?

Tracy how are you? Where are you? Pop on in and say hi.

Enjoy the rest of the day everyone.

Bill Phillips??????? ACCCCCKKKKKK. I thought it was Bob Greene - scheesh, them too look too much alike! I thought it was odd when everyone was talking about BFL and I knew Bob was "Get with the Program". Oh well. The cookbook looks good, the info in it is great. I have meticulously planned my meals for the week - am going to try and go back to the high protein, low carb, 5 or 6 mini meals that I started when I first began because that did work for me provided I stuck to it. Was hard to do the mini meals when I had to go back to the office but now that I'm working from home, no excuses. I had a good talk with myself and my biggest downfall is no self discipline. So I am making a list to check off. Food, water, exercise and the Preventive Maintenance things I have to do each day. Geez, I'm getting old. Have to do stuff to keep the old "car in tune" - stuff like take my vitamins so I don't get sleepy during the day, do my stretches so my feet and neck don't hurt, get more than 4 hours sleep a night and junk like that. I've been trying to make note of what I do that makes me feel better even if I am not exactly thrilled to do it.

:high: back to Raven and Lucky for being the good friend of the week and helping someone else who needed a friend.

So far this year our only trip is to SF. My husband's job might be shaky - never know and we'll wait to see how things go before planning anything else. I only get 2 weeks vacation too so I don't want to fritter it away.

Hippy, thanks for the heads up on SBD - since the forums are down this evening, I think I'll give it a look. I already planned food for the week but I have to believe BFL and SB have alot in common. Will be interesting to compare.

Jolly you are brave going to IKEA. They have some great stuff and terrific prices but geez if you ever saw the crowds there, you'd think they were giving the stuff away for free.

Heys to Chachee and Erin, have a good Monday.

Speaking of Monday - here's the 2 challenges for the week. I just drew them and honest, I didn't know about it till now but gee, guess which ONE I'll be picking :lol:

1) Plan your meals for the week ahead of time and stick to them

or

2) eat 5 servings of fruit or veggies each day this week

Hey Chickies.

I'm having a little bit of a rough go of it this morning. You know when you get in a fight with your SO, and the thing that your fighting over is just the tip of the iceberg because you haven't talked about other issues in the relationship that have been there for a long time? Well, that happened this morning, and it made me painfully aware that things are not right between Richard and I, and I've been avoiding any discussion because it's too difficult. He always decides he's the victim, for one thing, and I get so damn tired of that. Plus there are some things we've spoken about before, and I will get the same answer as I got last time, so why bother. Then there are some new things, and I'm actually afraid to approach them because I'm afraid of the answer I'll get. It's so much easier to just pretend everything is ok. Well, till something scratches that thin veneer of "ok" and all the "not ok" comes spilling out.

From the few dancing around the issue conversations we have had, I am fairly certain Richard has no intention of moving any farther away from his job than he already is. I, on the other hand, am rather desperately wanting a home of my own on a decent parcel of land (10 - 20 acres) with a small stable for the ponies we have now, and the ones I'd like to have. To find a place like that I can afford, I have to move farther north. Even that will cost a small fortune, but it's something I want so badly I can taste it. It is looking painfully like I will have to choose between my dream of owning my own land/horses, and my boyfriend. Now the big question becomes can I even afford to do the land without him? Well, **** - right now with my job situation the way it is, I can't even afford to live where we are without him. Which of course I loathe. I hate being financially dependent on someone. There are options, like filing the paperwork against my ex-husband to bring child support up to where it should be, which would pretty much cover the difference for rent. And if I get the raise my boss is pushing for, that would cover the difference in utilities, so .. I probably COULD stay there. It would be very, very tight. I don't know... I'm rambling. I'm confused and frightened and just dumping my thoughts out here. I apologize.

Lucky - I'm just profoundly grateful you both made it home safely. One of the folks on the John Lyon's forum posted about their son-in-law (I believe) being involved in a horrible pile-up down in Florida. He's in the hospital in very, very critical condition. So... did you make it to work on time!? :lol:

Happy - Hmm. I need to work on both of those. Which one, which one... I tend to plan out the meals fairly well, then juggle them according to time allowances during the week. I just buy a mess of chicken breasts, lean hamburger, low fat hotdogs, some fish, and sometimes some shrimp if I can budget it in, then work from that. My whole thing is to actually COOK, not cave and buy fast food or pizza or something. So if I might, if I may, I think I'll modify that one just a tad to concentrate on actually fixing meals out of the food I've purchased, rather than whining about time. So focus on homecooking and avoiding the easy outs. Is that ok? Bill Phillips Ack?? :lol: His recipes are fairly good, I pulled a lot of great information out of his book. It's great that you can pull what you need out of a program, then toss the rest. I don't seem to be able to stay on anyone else's "perfect plan" but I certainly have learned a lot from them. Things I can use to perfect my OWN plan to work with my own body, cravings, and schedule. Sometimes this feels like one great big jigsaw puzzle.

One half pound down this Monday's weigh in. Not bad, considering how freaking tough it was to stay OP this week and start getting my quacking fowl aligned. Now to just focus on this through the emotional poo. And thinking about it, I would bet that some of this is PMS, too. *sigh* I hate that stuff. Ok.. back to work. Suppose I'd better get something accomplished around here.

Hey all. I am having a down sort of day too. Happy, I have seen the crowds there. GAACK! It is crazy. And I feel like a bull in a china shop.

I am just feeling all out of sorts. My weight is up, my life is frustrating, I have some decisions to make. So, I will leave it for now. I hope you all have a good day and week. I will work on the 5 servings of fruit/veggies for this week.

Hey Girls,

Today I am back OP. I have done my homework and have a plan. First to stay away from high carb foods, drink my water and exercise of some sort daily.

Raven, I read your journal about the puppy dog, I'm so sorry. I hate to hear that you feel like you have to choose between your dreams and your sweetie. I have some similar issues with my hubby and it's terrible to feel like there is no room to compromise. Maybe these balloons will put a smile on your face :balloons: Hope things get better for you soon.

Jolly, sorry to hear you are down today too. Balloons for you too :balloons:

Doing laundry today.....AGAIN, it seemd never ending! Working on cleaning raw veggies and so on so I can be prepared ahead of time.

Hope everyones day gets better

Hippy, so I am not the only one who feels like people sneak into the house and put extra laundry in the basket!

Sorry to hear it's a bummer day for Jolly and Raven. Sometimes you hit a crossroads.

Raven, you didn't ask for my opinion but since I've never been one to keep my mouth shut. :o Just an observation from a neutral party... In any relationship, even with your own kids there is a compromise factor. No one can have things their way entirely and even in a compromise, it's a matter of both of you feeling that each others needs are being partially met if not totally. Hard to get to that point. I can totally relate to the dancing around the issues part and the feelings on both sides that the other is being selfish. Just went through that myself when my husband wanted time I didn't have to give him when I was killing myself at school last semester. And I also understand from the other side about not wanting to move. At one point my husband wanted to move to .... ATLANTA! But, I am VERY close to my family and I wouldn't hear of it. Caused alot of strain between us until I said I'd consider it and then he blew his back out which put the kabosh on those plans. But back to you... I do believe in living your dreams and taking calculated risks. But you have to determine your priorities and the consequences of those risks. Seriously, it doesn't sound like you are quite in the financial position to make a move at the moment. And you have 2 kids that get first priority at unexpected expenses. Also doesn't sound like with his history you could depend on your ex for regular income. This is not to say that you have to abandon your dreams. I remember when you first met Rosa, you couldn't imagine yourself being able to get involved with horses again. And you did. Slowly. step by step. Might be that for the time being, that will have to satisfy your need as you work to your ultimate goal. Things are still shaky in the economy and even though I read last week people are in even deeper debt than ever before, I don't understand it. You can't always just throw up your hands and walk away from something. So, proceed with caution.

As for Richard, perhaps it is time for an honest heart to heart. Perhaps over a bottle of wine. Sometimes you outgrow a relationship, sometimes you are at different points with different needs and a little talking can open up the communication again. (God, I hope he's not like mine where I have to PUUUUULLLLLL the information out of him :rolleyes: ) Painful as it might be, it would be better to know the truth and decide rather than pretending to live a lie. I have many times gone back to the "am I better off with him or without him?" question. You deserve happiness in your life and like any goal, you have to think about and plan your approach.

Sorry, did not mean to butt into your personal business. But I do know the heartache and extreme lonliness one can feel in this situation. :grouphug: to you today.

Oh yeah, and I'm not putting down Bill Phillips. The ACK was realizing that I thought Bill was Bob. Actually when I first looked at BFL I liked the program but not the food. Bill's done a good job with this cookbook. More real stuff instead of BULGAR wheat. Yuck, yuck, yuck... :p

Happy Monday everyone (although, thank god it's almost over!)

:bravo: to Happy and Raven on your losses and to Hippy for a no gain holiday!

Raven: :grouphug: Dump whenever you need to!!!! Brian and I have been having the build up to a big production going on for a while now. I'm not looking forward to the blow or the events that precipitate it at all! I'm still working on getting over the blow out that happened 2 years ago (which sent me back to emotional eating and not caring about myself again)! We're here for you anytime you need to chat, vent, plot against the world, etc :D

Lucky: I'm glad you made it home safe! I hate icy road driving! Snow I can handle, ice makes me stay home!

Jolly: :grouphug: I hate having down days like that. I've been avoiding thinking lately to avoid them!!! And, can I add, I'm jealous of you and Happy getting to actually go to an IKEA! I haven't gotten there when visiting my family in Chicago and the new one outside the Mall of America isn't open yet! AHHH!!! :lol:

Happy: I should have clarified the stamping I"m doing. I do rubber stamping as a hobby and have done programs for some relatives' weddings and invites for many birthday parties and showers. My sis asked me to rubber stamp her invites for the wedding, shower and the bachlorette, the programs, rsvp cards, seating cards, and the thank you's for them all. The chose a pretty simple design, but it's still time consuming!!! Thank goodness I have about 3+ months to get them all done! Maybe all the paper cutting, sticking together and stamping will keep snacks out of my hands and mouth!!!

Tracy and Chachee: Hope you guys are having a good Monday!!!

I have a cute boy asking to play on the computer now, so I'm off to finish cleaning the kitchen and then chill before Mom's taxi service begins again!

Oh happy day. I will reply to posts in the morning.. right now I'm so tired. But I just had to share this. I got my raise. The one they promised me in September, the one I was depending on, the one without which I have been going in the hole every month. I will now do a little better than break even, which means I can actually start paying off bills. Slowly, yes... but progress is progress, just like weight loss! A little here, a little there. I got my raise. Thank God.

Aw Raven that is wonderful news about the raise :D :D :D Big congrats to you! It's about time and you sure deserved it. What peace of mind that must bring.

Erin good point about all that craft work keeping you from snacking. I've seen some of the stamping things. Very unique, pretty and it really adds a personal touch. I'm sure you're glad to breath a sigh that it's over tho, especially if your were working to a deadline instead of pressure.

I started out the day so well. Was just getting ready to finish work for the day, make my protein shake and do my workout when SNAP. No lights, no phone. The transformer across the street blew out a part. The power company came in about 45 minutes and said it would be several hours until it got fixed. It was twilight and though the sky was in the last throws of light, it got dark in the house pretty fast. And it was feeling cooler too. So I suggested to my husband to go out to dinner since we figured they'd take their sweet time fixing things. I didn't eat my favorite meal, instead chose a cup of soup and chicken with mushrooms and steamed veggies. However, this is a PIE restaurant. And I caved. Chose a half piece of lemon merangue ??? over my preferred banana cream. I suppose it was a choice of sugar over fat. Got home, didn't want to work out right away so I sat in front of the TV. Before you know it, 10 o'clock and no work out. I also had the strongest cravings for chocolate. Didn't help that all over the news the big story is that the local candy company is closing their doors after 50 years here. I mostly gave up chocolate but I do like their stuff and have it a few times a year. Of course I HAPPENED to have a small bag here from Christmas that is burning a hole in my brain. I tried the wait, drink water, stave the crave thing for an hour and 1/2 and finally caved in. Had 3 small pieces which I let melt in my mouth and I savored each calorie. All the while telling myself BUT YOU HAD PIE YOU DON'T NEED CHOCOLATE AND YOU DIDN'T WORK OUT!!!!! That kind of behavior will not get me where I need to be in April. So easy to slip... but tomorrow is a stronger day. Heck I had a Coke binge last week and I felt so bad about it that I haven't had a soda in 4 days so maybe an occasional slip is a positive reinforcement.

Slap me if I'm bad tomorrow.

GOOD Morning

Hey Raven :yawn: are you awake? Well yesterday I slept in, still at work on time though. I do know that as long as I am up by 6:00 and hustle my butt, I will be ok. :cheer: on the raise. :cheer: I am glad that it finally came through for you. That should put some pep in your step today. You should be able to do some running on the spot, or maybe out for a jog around the ring with the pony. :lol:

Happy thankyou for pulling those fortunes. As it happens I sat down on Saturday and planned the menu, made the list and bought only what was on my list for the next week. Hubby is complaining as I didn't buy any snacks. :fr: you would think that the world is ending by the way he is acting. I also get Bob and Bill mixed up. I have the make the connection book with him and Oprah. Then I saw the Bill book, but thought it was Bob. I thought wow did he change his program. :lol:

Wow Erin that is alot of rubber stamping. So how many cards in total will you be doing for your sister? :eek: I do have a friend who really enjoys stamping. Do you scrapbook also?

Jolly how are you doing? Sorry that you are having a frustrating day. We are here for you if you need anyone to listen. :balloons:

Tracy we are waiting...... How are you?

Will post more later, must run and get ready for work.

OOPs sorry hippy, I didn't mean to leave you out. I had already typed your have a great day in my head. :o That is great that you are sticking to vegetables and getting them ready in advance. That will be helpful so that you remember to eat them. That will be my job sometime this week also.

We ate supper at 5:30 last night, and everyone thought that they needed a snack by 9:30. DH caved and went out and got icecream for everyone.

Have a great day all.

Okay Lucky, I'll let it pass this time without taking it personal :lol: Just kidding! I read the posts but am bad about forgetting who wrote what when I'm posting :eek:

Wow Happy, You said it all about Raven's situation. I had the same thoughts but didn't want to step on her toes.

Raven, So glad to hear you got a raise! I'm glad something wonderful happened to brighten your day :D

Jolly, are you in better spirits today?

Okay, yesterday I got all of my water in, ate well all day UNTIL last night. I will be working on a plan for nighttime snacking. Don't really know why I was snacking, I wasn't hungry at all but I have never had to be hungry to eat. I know it's a matter of self control and I have to work hard to get back to the point of being able to tell myself NO!

Been dealing with alot of issues lately, no excuse, I know, I seem to get out of sorts when things seem messed up. Gary works all of the time so there is hardly no time for me and him or us as a family, it just gets old. I won't bore all of you with my petty crap, don't even know why I typed it.

Okay, Here's to great day girls!!

Hey all, thanks for the concern yesterday. Things are feeling a bit better, though now both of my "boys" are lame, and there is some problem at the bank I have to take care of. Yikes. But, I did make it to the gym this morning, so that is something.

I will try to post more later. Have to check with the bank, and get to work. See you all later.

Everytime i reead something you guys have typed..or a we care about you or even advice..i just think how lucky i am to have gotten to have you guys in my life

YOU ARE SUPER HEROES TO ME!!

I am doing a general post as I have spent like 90 minutes on hte net tryoing to fix my e-mail...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

So forgive me..i will address everyone hopefully tomorrow

Yesterday was a great exercsie day..kinda bad eating day but not as bad as before. I played tennis stairmastered and did a few weights.

Am aiming for 5-6 days of exercise 1/4 less food and more water. though i just drank a big huge class of saopy water and want to vomit!! AHHHHHHHh

Please post anything that has helped you. I am not feeling very up to speed..thus the reason for the weight loss..i just want to have more energy.

Again..all of you....make my day..every day...

Thank you.

Ps i will be able to use my pm's but cannot access the e-mail notice!!


:balloons: :chockiss: :cheer: :thanks:

Ok, I'm here and have a few minutes to really read and post. First off I want to say thank you. All of you have become real friends to me. This is the first thing I check in the morning, and the last thing I read before bed. I just want you all to know how much it means to me that you're here, supportive, caring, and it feels for all the world like we could all just meet at a little coffee shop someplace and have a blast chattering away. I hate to sound really mushy, but there are times when ya'll bring tears to my eyes because of how much you mean to me. So.. *snuffle*

Happy - My God, woman.. how could I possibly consider what you said "butting in?" I put my troubles out there for all the world to see, I can't expect anyone to keep their mouth shut about it! :p Here's the scoop on my plans to move. They can't possibly happen immediately. I'm looking at 2 years, maybe more. I stand to come into a fair piece of money as soon as my SIL sells her house, because she's buying out my third of my father's house. That will go for catching me up completely on my credit, putting a down payment on a new (or new used) truck, getting my kids into an online educational program, taking us all to disney world (the dream vacation we've never had), getting my TUMMY TUCK (so yes, I really DO NEED to lose this weight), and putting the rest away till such a time as I am ready to look at land. I expect the house will sell at some point this year, the housing market is very seller friendly up in AK right now. OTOH, I'm not holding my breath, it will happen when it happens. :dizzy: I think Richard is now regretting the day I stumbled into Rosa at PetCo. Because if I had not met her, there is little to no chance I would have gotten involved in horses - I'd given up completely on that. It didn't even enter my thought process any more. We'd still be plodding along doing what we always did, and I'd have had no big, warm, solid rock of a critter to lean on and cry into when I was trying to deal with my Dad's accident. I would still have that nagging feeling that something was missing, but I wouldn't know what. That feeling is gone now, and I have dreams again. I feel more in touch, more connected to me and reality, less depressed than I really ever have in my adult life. I know what I want to do now. Whether I actually get it all done or not - :^: That remains to be seen, but I have goals. Very cool feeling. And I know this is hard for Richard, and in some ways, I've changed the whole game plan on him. But - he's done the same to me, so... I won't feel too guilty. I do realize it's no one's fault, and if he chooses not to live with me once I buy my house, well .. I can't force him to be with me. I want him to, but can't force. I can't give up the most compelling and incredible motivation to DO something I think I've ever had in my life, however. So .. we shall see what the future holds, as it unfolds, one day at a time. And you're right. It's time for me to bite the bullet and really sit down with Richard and talk about a lot of things. Not in an accusatory way, just try to get both our cards on the table so we can move forward. We've made it through a lot of **** ('scuse) in the 8 plus years I've been down here with him, I think we can make it through this. One way or the other. Ok wow, that was really stupidly long. :D

Hippy - Feel free to step! I dumped that here because I needed perspective, and I was losing mine. I don't think PMS is helping. ;) Night time snacking. That used to be a real issue for me. I started out by keeping a huge tub of cut up fresh veggies - broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, etc. (I see you're already cleaning veggies, so there you go!) Then if I wanted a snack, I HAD to eat that. That was the rule. After a while I kind of got veggied out, and the need to snack seemed pretty much to dwindle. It still happens once in a while, in which case I'll drink two or three glasses of water and drowned it out. ;) And you know what? It's not petty crap. Things can get hard, and if you need someone to listen, that's what we're here for. I sure as heck dumped my stuff here, and I'm darn glad I had here to come to. I was feeling really lost and very alone. Perspective, you know? If we can help, even if it's just by reading it and giving you a virtual hug, you know we will. *hug*

Erin - Ouch... I truly hate big arguements. I hate the negativity, the exhaustion, the pain. Is there any chance you two can sit down and work things out without the blow up? Just like Happy and Hippy told me to do? ;) In any case, you know you can come here to dump, just like I did. That stamping thing sounds kind of cool! And yes... having something to do and concentrate on can really reduce the "need to feed," if you will.

Lucky - :lol: I was awake this morning because my BF came in to tell me that Artemis is psychotic. *blink* Apparently she has decided he is the grand poobah of the household, and is the one to whom she must grovel. Sadly, her groveling includes submissive piddling. So I was up at 5 this morning cleaning up little piddle trails. I have to admit, he didn't fly off the handle. He was disgusted and peeved, but not overly angry. Or maybe he was just afraid I'd start bawling again. :o And hey! I did go ride last night and it was a wonderful adventure. I'm starting to learn and use some John Lyons approaches to training, and the response from Arashi is really quite impressive. We had great fun last night! We'll be having fun tonight, too! Thankfully the weather has warmed up, so it's much more enjoyable being outside in the evening. *lol* Your husband wants snacks. Hand him a carrot! :devil:

Jolly - Both of your boys? Did I miss something? I'm assuming Chance banged himself up after his shenanigans at the barn the other day, eh? Good going on the workout! I know that can help with the stress level, too. I hope the bank issue isn't serious, and gets resolved ASAP!!

Tracy - Woo !! WTG on the working out! Sweetie.. you have been under SO much stress, it's no wonder you're feeling a little wrung out! Just make sure you don't drop your calories too low, that will drain you, make you weak, and throw your body into conservation mode. If you drop the protein too low, you risk feeling puny, as well. Soapy water!?? Gack! That sounds horrible! What new diet is that? :lol:

Ok. I started using fitday again yesterday because I really need to find out if I'm kidding myself on calorie intake. Now that some of the financial worries have lessened (or will be lessening, and there is hope), I do feel as though I'm much more capable of doing this. I was getting too focused on my job and money, and not enough time was really being spent on my eating and working out. I didn't do good on water yesterday, but food was pretty darn OP. I didn't get to bed till 11, which is BAD. Tonight might not be much better, because Rosa postponed Nickie's lesson to tonight. :tired: But I'm feeling good. Yep. Yee haw.

Hey Everyone!

It's been an off day here since K ended up staying home from preschool due to croupy/asthma breathing/coughing this morning. He's doing better, but he decided to skip dance class tonight since he still has a cough (when he wants some TLC :)). I was doing good on my food until the poptarts grabbed me. I think I'm going to be sending them to Brian's work so they aren't here to tempt me!!! Otherwise, veggie/fruit and waterwise, I'm doing ok. I'm going to go heavy on water and veggies tonight at dinner, so it'll all work out for today.

Raven: :encore: Yippee on the raise!!! I know how waiting for those things can be! And it does nothing to help any relationships! As for me and Bri talking things out. I don't think either of us is at the point where it would help. I think I need to work on me before I go there and dredge it all up again. Especially since I need to figure out if it's us or just me. I have a bad feeling it's me. :( Oh, and what's Fitday?

Jolly: I'm glad you're feeling better today!!! :dancer:

Tracy: :strong: WAY TO GO on the workout!!!

Happy: I hate how easy it is to slip.... I'm starting to have a mentality of "I slipped for this minute, but in 5 I can get back on track". Last night I was going to skip dinner because I had slipped during the day (thought about it today too), but decided that i need to nourish my body with the good stuff and it's not worth it to deprive myself of veggies, a bit of meat and sitting at the table with my family. Now, wanna pass some chocolate? ;) I have been craving it for DAYS now and don't have any! And I'm trying hard to not buy any!!!

Lucky: I have about a total of 650 "items" to do. Not all are a lot of stamping, but I get to be in charge of all the paper for the wedding. I haven't gotten into scrapbooking yet. I tend to get a bit perfectionistic, so I never like my scrapbook pages, but I usually love the cards I do.


Hippy: I have night time eating slips often too. I've been working really hard on gulping water until I feel sick to help keep me from grazing. Not the best way to kill the urge, but it keeps the calories out.

I have to toss our meat in the oven for dinner and run and get Brian now. Hopefully, I'll be back before tomorrow afternoon!!!
Have a good evening Ladies!!!

Morning Girls,

Oh Raven, the dreaded PMS. It's enough to ruin a person's day or several days in my case! I am either such a b*tch that I can't stand myself or I cry at the littlest things :shrug: Gary can tell when I have a bad mood coming on and always says he is going to spend a week with his Mom, I tell him I will gladly pack him a bag :lol: It's a standing joke around here!

I read the posts but can't remember who wanted chocolate but I have some! Yes, I blew it again last night...Brownies. Did I eat just 1? :no: I ate 3. OUCH! I have to get this figured out. I do fine all day, eat right, drink water and I have healthy veggies to munch on but choose to not eat them at night. I think it's because they make me turn :p anyway and by the time I forcr myself to eat them at lunch and dinner I have had my feel. I know there's a solution, I just have to find it. I scrapbook alot so I think I will try working on it in the evening.

Jolly, Happy, Tracy, E, Lucky, hope things are going great for you!

Better get going.....Have a wonderful day!

Good morning!

Lucky! - How goes the new job!?

Tracy - Doing good on the exercise still? How's that soapy water diet going?? :D

Jolly - How's Chance? How are you? Hanging in there?

Erin - I'm assuming K is your son? How old is he? I hope he's feeling better soon! What kind of dance is he studying? I guess he's a little feller if he's still in preschool, eh? Poptarts are evil, made by the devil, I'm sure of it. :devil: I can't keep them in the house. I know what you mean by "working on me" before you start the conversations. I hate to just be over emotional and jump the gun on something without really thinking it through. There are so many sides to things, and I know that I have my problems, too. And I hate finger pointing and excuse making, especially if its me doing it. I truly love Richard. He's been a rock for me when I needed it, and he's been the one man in my life who I felt like I could be myself around. And yes, the raise will help SO much. Richard has really been financially helping out far more than he should have to when it comes to me and my kids. And with never a comment, either. He's a good man. We have our issues, but who doesn't? I just don't want things to deteriorate to the point where the issues overwhelm the good parts of the relationship.

Hippy - You know, when I was on birth control pills, I didn't have PMS at all. And my periods were literally about one day long. But I also had the sex drive of a rock. Which is a mixed blessing, considering everything..... :p I stopped taking the pills in November, and my body is starting to readjust, so I'm out of practice with this hormonal surge thing. And yep, I was in the crying mode. It seems to have dimmed down a little today, but yesterday and the day before... sheesh. What a pain. Somtimes it's such a puzzle to find a plan and a routine that works well for us. A tweak here, an adjustment there, but if you keep trying, you eventually stumble on the right answer.

Which brings me to my latest tweaking. I've been having a real problem at night, too. Which is unusual for me - I mean, I had issues with just boredom or emotional snacking, but not the serious hungries. These last couple weeks I hit dinner like a starving person, and overeat. Even when I'm really careful to eat enough calories during the day, and especially on days when I go out to the stables after work. One of the things that I had been doing differently this time is that I was eating breakfast shortly after I woke up at home. Well, I know that is conventional wisdom, but it doesn't work for me. That starts my eating too early in the morning, and because I eat dinner so late on those days, by the time we eat I'm ready to chew the leg off the dining room table. So I'm going back to what was working, whether it's "bad" or not. I'll drink my coffee with skim milk in the morning, then when I get to work, I'll eat my oatmeal. That really helps, and it pushes back the meal times a couple hours so that by the time dinner rolls around, I'm not as likely to overeat because there has been 5 hours between my last snack and my next meal. And I must, must, MUST add in more cardio. I'm fooling myself if I think I can lose weight without the cardio. I'm doing it once a week, I've done that for two weeks, now it's time to add in a couple more times. Period. So tonight I WILL get in bed on time, and I WILL wake up early enough to do a 30 minute cardio workout. And I will do one again Friday morning. No excuses, no whining, no complaining about how tired I am. Just do it. :drill:

Oh .. and this week's muffin must go in the freezer as well. Evil muffin. Nice boss, evil muffin. :devil:

Hope everyone is making it through the week so far ok!! Halfway down!

Hi everyone.

Just popping in real quick to say hello and I hope that you all had a good Wednesday.

My job goes well. I basically just answer the phones, and phone other depots to tell the dispatchers where to send the trucks. And dispatch our trucks out to pick ups, do the paperwork, send it in to head office all that stuff. Mark has been upset that I have been late getting home, as I am the only one in the office and I have to wait for someone else to get there so I can go home, or lock up if noone is there by 5:30.

Raven Artemis is a smart dog if she has figured out who is the grand pobah that she really does have to suck up to. Lose the piddling and just maybe she might win him over yet.

Will pop in later to chat more,

Kathy

Hey all. Well Bill Phillips cookbook looks wonderful and the pictures are really pretty but... Made orange roughy last night. Was ok. Made a beef roast in the slow cooker today - it smelled wonderful - had red wine, onions, garlic, enough seasonings but when it was finally finished I was disappointed to find that it was very bland. I hope this is not a trend :(

Kathy sounds like you have the new job down to a do-able routine. Is Mark upset because you are all by yourself in the office or is it just that you're coming home later and the routine is disrupted?

Raven, I think you eating thinking is on the mark, especially if it works for you. The point of breakfast I think is to just get something in your stomach, kick the metabolism and get the day rolling. If you're eating your oatmeal at work, you're still getting something in. Maybe on your stable days you plan for a bigger lunch or save a part of it to nibble on your drive out. I find that if I have a mid afternoon snack I'm more in control when I'm getting dinner ready. And I totally agree with what you said to Hippy about trying different things, paying attention and finally after much trial and error, finding something that works for you.

Hippy, I made brownies this weekend too. Except I put in extra nuts and used 3 eggs for the "cakelike" ones. They were dry as hay. Which was good because I didn't eat them then. :lol: They are getting tossed on Friday for trash day as they are about petrified by now. Finally, a brownie I can live with!

Erin, good that you are getting back on track again instead of letting a slip up bring you spiraling down. I am attaching the last 3 pieces of chocolate I have here at the house but don't be surprised it they get scarfed by someone on the pipeline before they get over to you. Kellogg's makes a Krave bar that I sometimes use to stem my chocolate fix. It's not exactly dietary but not as bad as real candy either. They have a chocolate one and a chocolate peanut flavor.

Tracy, that's great that you are back into playing tennis again. I am jealous that you have weather you can play tennis in. And what's this with the new soapy water diet? That's not how you do a colon cleanse - hahahaha.

Jolly, hope things are going well with you and that life has calmed down a bit for you.

I'm doing good so far. Pretty much sticking to plan, a few slips but I'm trying. At least I haven't abandoned all hope yet. I am still working on the make it a habit, make it a habit thing. I am feeling more compelled to be good over bad so that's a good thing.

Happy Thursday, we're heading into the deadly tempting weekend. Take a deep breath and steel your resolve or lift that bale, tote that barge or however that goes ;)

And I don't like the clown smilies. Good thing they are short term.

Morning Gals,

I am soooo glad yesterday is over. I don't know what was wrong with me but I woke up with a headache that I could not get to go away. After I posted I slept off and on unti 2:30. It eased up but never went away. Anyway, feeling much better today. I didn't have to worry about overeating because I didn't eat anything at all yesterday si need to get some healthy foods in me today.

Happy, brownies aren't even my favorite thing. I think I just baked them for no reason, ate them because I wanted to and am now kicking myself for giving in to temptation. Thankfully everyone ate them and they are gone so I won't have to beat myself with a stick to stay away from them :rollpin:

Raven, I am so glad you said that. I thought I was some type of freak! I have had no sex drive at all since I went back on birth control. I don't remember it being like that when I was on them before but that was 14 years ago. I feel like I have to choose between a sex life and a normal life because when I don't take them my periods are long and heavy, to the point that some days I can't go anywhere because I can't get away from the bathroom. Now I have no cramping, PMS is less severe and I spot for about 2 days, I almost feel addicted to them because I don't want to go back to the heavy ones. The joys of being a woman! I don't want to wish my life away but I can't wait until menopause! I hope I take after my Mother, she stopped having periods at 42!

Me and Gary had a long talk last night about all of this working he's doing. I get so depressed because he gone all of the time. I do good to see him a few hours a day. He works 3rd shift but it's screwy, he has to be there anywhere from 4 to 8 in the afternoon and gets home anywhere from 3 to 7 in the morning. He gets off work Friday morning, goes to his second job, is lucky if he's home by midnight, leaves at 4 am Saturday morning and is lucky to be home again by midnight. Sleeps most of the day Sunday and goes back to his regular job Sunday night and does it all over. I understand that he is doing this because we bought a new truck and want to buy a house and so on but geez, I just want my hubby. It was agreed upon that when I had Jordan I would stay at home until he got in school. He is 13 and I still don't work. Little did we know that Jordan would be born a gifted child and take special classes and be involved in so many activities. Not that that has anything to do with it other than Gary feels I need to be here when Jordan gets home incase he needs help with homework and I do spend time at school helping with the Academic Team and ball games and so on. I think it's just our routine and he doesn't want it broken. :blah: Anyway, he has agreed that as soon as I can pay off this one payment that we have he will quite his second job. I can't wait! I'm going to work on a new budget today and see how fast I can pay it off.

Okay then, I have gone on long enough.

Hope everyone has a lovely day.

Hidey hey folks...

Lucky - I'm really glad the job isn't as intimidating as you thought it might be. I'm sure as you get to know things better, there will be additional challenges to face. :) I hope Mark gets over it. Sometimes we don't have the luxury of being able to schedule our time around our partners. Or sometimes we just don't want to have to. Boy do I know that one. How goes the weight loss? Any closer to hopping on Lucky?? :p

Happy - I always dump in more spices than a typical recipe calls for. I would say a good 3/4 of all the recipes I try are bland to me. Not enough garlic, usually. ;) Are you a salt person? I know my BF is big into salt, and often times what tastes wonderful to me tastes bland to him because he thinks it needs more salt. :dunno: Brownies as dry as hay. Hmmmm... I know! Send them to me, I'll feed them to my horses! :D You know, last time I tried this it really did seem so easy, and I'm not sure why it's so much more difficult this time. I wonder if it's because now I realize this isn't something I can do for a few months and "go back" - I really don't know. The comment you made about trying to make things a habit seemed to strike some sort of chord in me. It's like this time I'm really trying to change my life, not just lose weight. Odd. Even my daughter is really thinking about her lifestyle and trying to figure things out in the weight area... she finally came to me the other day and said "Mom, I've decided I don't care how much I weigh. I've decided that I'm more interested in what size clothes I can wear, if I'm happy with the way I look, and if I'm healthy and fit." And you gotta know I was so proud and happy to hear her say that. And the funny thing is, she's been losing weight - she's now fitting into pants that were too small for her 4 months ago. But she's eating decently, so I know she's not in there starving herself... I'm hoping that my attempts to change our eating habits are making an impact on her.

Hippy - Aw... I'm sorry you had such a lousy headache! I know sometimes the weather will get to me if we have a big pressure change - my sinuses will just KILL me, and it doesn't even seem to help to take pain relievers. I just go through the day feeling like my head is going to explode. I'm really glad today is better for you. You know what's weird, I thought I was a freak too till I talked to the planned parenthood folks about it. The nurse I spoke with said she's seen a lot of women talk about that. Really, I just want to lose this weight, have the tummy tuck and at the same time that I'm down for that, have my tubes tied. I know it won't end the periods and stuff, but at least I won't have to worry about taking pills, etc. My mom didn't hit menopause till she was in her 50s, so .. I have a ways to go, I'm afraid. Bless Gary's heart though, for working as hard as he does! There are a lot of guys who won't. But I do know what you mean about missing him, especially with the weird shifts. I hope you can get the finances worked out so you two can look forward to spending more time with each other!

Of course, this is another good news, bad news thing. Good news, the adjustment of breakfast really helped, and last night, dinner was great. So I stayed OP with food beautifully yesterday. AND I got to bed on time and woke up on time! Big improvement. Bad news, this morning my period started, which wouldn't have ordinarily kept me from working out, it's just yucky feeling. But then I was putting on my running shoes and gee wow.. the left one is split on the sole across the ball of the foot. *sigh* Ok, now.. these are old shoes. I know that. I just couldn't afford to go buy new ones. I've just been pushing it and doing the interval training with them on and trying to ignore the pains in my shins. *wince* Ok, I know.. that's really stupid. The wear pattern on the shoes has gotten literally dangerous to my health. BUT! I got a raise, right!? So to celebrate that raise, I'm buying new running shoes on the 23rd when I get paid. Woo! I'm also taking my BF out to dinner at Outback. I have a gift certificate for $35 which will cover most of the cost that I got from my boss at Christmas. Wee! That will be a seriously off plan meal. So, till I go buy the shoes, I guess I'll just wing it. Stay OP with food, etc. Oh, and today I'm upping my water to 4 bottles a day instead of three. 2 before lunch, 2 after. Doing good!! Now if only it doesn't rain all weekend like the forecast is calling for... :mad:

ok new e-mail everyone

TracyK88@msn.com

I stil have my old

I again apologize for not posting

Raven..i know the money thing will even out..they always do..it seems everytime i get in a fix..the good Lord brings me up. I am sorry about the raise...when I read that..i felt well.like it was super unfair..my hubby is not getting a raise or a bonus this year..but..as so many people have lost their jobs here..we are trying to be like.hey at least I have a job..sigh..but it is HARD...i hope your babies get over being lame soon.


Hipp me too on the heache i ahd a sinus one for weeks then boom went to the doc..and he prescribed a bunch of stuff for me. I hope you are resting and taking care of yourself..ah i did the brownies myself for my kids..in some cute new cookie cutters i bought..ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh..what was wiht this brownie thing!!

Happy what is that cookbook??I just got a ton of Martha stewart everyday books from my mom and I love them..The ban and pasta soup was great plus it was really low cal. Let me know if you want to exhange food stuff..looking for kid friendly ones too please..ps soap.does a colon good..lo

Hey lucky..i once worked for a moving company and filled in on that job several times..it takes areally good mind and thinking on your feet to do that!! I am sorry you are working so late..is this abuys time for your business?? Thanks you again for the pep talk!!

Jolly what is going on with chance??please let me know...i missed that in the posts..please forgive me

Emaleyth..how old is your child??i used to teach preschool??Has the flu been bad where you are??hey where do you live??lol It hit really hard in my town. I hope your wee one gets better soon!!

chachee..helloooooooooooooooooooo

all for now..the hubster is yelling at me..sihg

later

Raven, after spending over $2,000 on physical therapy for my feet - not to mention over $300 for orthothics - all I can say is get new shoes! I know money has been tight lately but better you just do a walk in your street shoes then to mess up your feet bad with torn shoes. But hopefully you can treat yourself soon with your raise. And no, I'm not a salt person at all but I do realize you have to use it in cooking because sometimes like with soup if you don't put it in at the beginning, you can never season it enough afterwards to taste. My husband used to drive me crazy because in the early days he'd heavily salt and pepper everything before he even tasted it. He's gotten away from that now and we don't even have the shakers on the table. About the only thing I like salt on is fresh from the garden tomatoes. I even scrape the salt off the hot pretzels.

And I hate to burst your bubble ladies, but it takes as much as 10 years after menopause starts before you finally stop having periods. And in between that time there's all sorts of new and exciting things that happen that make the periods seem not so bad. Ugh...

Tracy for the first time in 20 years my hubby is not getting a raise this year. Last year we had a freeze and I didn't get a raise. The economy still stinks and I will personally hunt down anyone who admits to voting Bush in for another term this year. But don't feel bad, he sent our people to war and then cut combat pay so they didn't get raises either. Sorry... editorial frustration here. And yes, I must say, when are we going to worry about taking care of the people in THIS country for a change???? And the cookbook Tracy is Bill Phillips of the Body For Life program - his new book/cookbook - Eat for Life. Jury is still out on it but I'd be glad to trade recipes and ideas.

Hippy, hope you are feeling better and that you can work out some kind of budget so that you can have your husband around a little more. Sounds like he's more of a visitor around the house and it's hard to maintain a relationship that way. And I'm sure your son is getting to the age where having Dad around a bit more is just as important as Mom time, maybe even slanting the other way now that he's older.

We are supposed to get sleet late Friday and into Saturday. That will put the kabosh on any weekend stuff and bodes of a weekend spent huddling inside doing chores. Just as well, that basement does need dejunking!

Have a good weekend everyone! No weekend binges please!

Good Morning!

My head is full again again today. I know it's a sinus thing. Trying to treat it on my own but I guess I will go to the doctor if it's not better come Monday. I feel pretty good until the sinus medicine wears off. There's no time around here to feel yucky.

Raven, you are so sweet! I bet you are so proud of your daughter for making good choices. Is she a teenager? Just wondering. I know teens gets alot of pressure as far as body image and what brand clothes they wear and so on. It sounds like she is pretty level headed and that she cares more about what she thinks of herself than what others think. GOOD FOR HER!!!

Happy, it's funny that you should say that. Jordan was always such a mommas boy and now it's all about dad! Don't get me wrong, we are close and love eachother but if he gets a chance to hang out with Gary I just get pushed to the side! That's okay, I think it's important for them to have their time. Jordan goes to work with Gary every Saturday. They get to talk alot and they do the job together. I think it's a good way for Jordan to learn that money has to be earned. We pay him a a little bit for helping Gary and for doing his chores here and he knows if there is something that he wants he has to save for it. We don't make him pay for all of his stuff but for some things just so he can learn about earning and saving money.

I feel bad today for complaining about Gary. He is a wonderful man. He definately believes in providing for his family and we have all that we need and most of what we want. It's just that shopping isn't near as wonderful as hanging out with my hubby.

I'm glad to hear that some of us are exercising and eating healthy. I'm having a really hard time doing this. The last time I jumped right in there. I refused to eat bad foods and I drank only water. Now I just seem to half *** it. I won't give up. I'm still working and planning and the day will come when I will stay with the program.

Better get moving, it's grocery day. Have a great Friday!

Hey all. Sorry I have been lurking. Things went a little haywire at work this week. I have been busy. Overtired. Overeating. Underexercising. Basically, a wreck. And feeling bad for not doing better.

Today I have off. I am trying to finally get everything put back together after last weekend's shopping spree. I was also trying to get caught up on some stuff at home. I needed to update my credit card info for my internet, but, because everything is tore up, I can't find the sheet with my password. So, I can't access the site to update the info. And, of course, there is no phone number to call :( Chocolate, anyone.

On the plus side (other than my weight), my horse is almost better. I hope to be able to ride him tomorrow.

I will try to do better at posting. I know I do better when I talk things out with all of you.

Have a good day, and see you later.

Happy Friday afternoon -

Tracy! Hmmmm... I'm thinking I got lost in the twilight zone on your last post. ;) I did get my raise, thank God. Or I would have had to sell my horse, I mean, that's how close it was coming. But they came through in the nick of time. I'm really sorry about your husband not getting a raise. The only reason I got one, really, was because when they hired me, I took a huge cut in pay and I told them the only way I could come on board for that was if they promised me that at my 3 month anniversary, they'd bring me up at least 5K. Well... that day came and went, and they didn't honor their promise. I told my boss that come January, if they didn't come through, I'd find another job. I couldn't afford to stay here if they didn't. So I think he kind of panicked and made some phone calls and yelled at his boss. :lol: Whatever it takes... I'm happy now. Not rich, but I can pay the bills, at least. Now I just have catching up to do. And I can keep my pony. And buy new running shoes. Life is good. I'm so glad you're getting the e-mail thing straightened out. Weird that you had to get a new address to fix it, though. And Jolly's boys were lame, not mine. :) How are things going with the husband now? Better? Are you keeping your foot down where you put it? I hope so. *hug*

Happy - I know, I know. :o I was being dumb. But when you're having a hard time even getting groceries on the table and looking at selling your dream come true, perspective gets warped. I'm not running again till I get the new shoes.

Hippy - (you know, we need a Hoppy now. Happy, hippy, hoppy... ok, yeah, that was lame.) Not sure if you want to give this a try, but it's worked for me several times. If I feel a sinus infection coming on, I hit the goldenseal. I have successfully derailed at least 4 sinus infections/bronchitis flare-ups with that stuff. Now, one time I started it too late into the infection, and no amount of goldenseal would take care of it, I needed antibiotics. LOTS of water, too! :coach: My daughter is 14, and I was incredibly proud of her for making that statement. I really hope she takes it to heart. This year has been a year of big changes for us all, I just hope that I made the changes early enough in my kids' lives for them not to fall into the same traps I have. My real problem was the "do as I say, not as I do" approach. Well that changed last year, and I realized I needed to lead by example. I think both the kids have really appreciated that. You know, my son is going to be 12 soon, too. He misses his dad so much. *sigh* He's in the same position my daughter was in a couple years ago now, of having to decide whether to live with me here and have his own horse, or move up to Alaska and have... well .. nothing really. He knows logically that his Dad is a workaholic, and he'd be alone much of the time. Emotionally, though, he's just as hurt as his sister was when he realizes that all those promises his dad made about moving down here to be nearer to them are as empty as the wind. I just don't understand that man sometimes. Because you're right.. my son needs his dad more and more as time goes on, and one of the big reasons I felt comfy about moving down here so far away was that Brian said he was going to be moving to the lower 48 sometime in the next 5 years. That was 9 years ago. No sign of movement yet. Maybe a stick of dynamite under his butt? *blah* And you know, it has been very difficult for me to get this whole process going again, too. I had to keep taking steps backwards till I was comfortable, and THEN start moving forwards again. Now I feel like I'm really on track again, FINALLY. I'm nowhere near where I was last August, but I'm going to get there, I know that now. Last week, I wasn't sure.

Jolly - Want to get together for a trail ride? ;) *fwee* I need a TRUCK!!! argh.

Ok... about me. I'm doing GOOD!!! Amazingly good. Scary good. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. :dunno: At least with food and water. I can't really do any running till I get my shoes, and that really is my preferred form of working out (other than riding). I like lifting weights, but .. for whatever reason right now, I'm just not interested. I think possibly it's the "fear of intense pain after the first workout" syndrome. I HATE that. No matter how light the weights are, it seems, the first workout just absolutely slays me. I hobble around for a week with either my UB or my LB aching like heck. *shudder* I think I'll just wait for my new shoes next week. I'm honestly so tickled with getting my water and food back on track, I'll wait on the running and count my blessings.

I'm officially sick and tired of winter. Yeah, yeah, I know there are those of you who suffer through REAL winters. Been there done that. ;) Now I whine and moan about 45 degrees like it's the end of the world. I'm a wimp, dang it, and proud of it. Now go turn up the heat, will you? I'm SO looking forward to spring!

I love my grey hair, I've decided. I have always colored my hair because my boyfriend says I look too young to have grey hair. Hm. I think it's really because he just doen't want to be hanging out with an obviously old broad. Well phoo on him. I'm letting it grow out. It's not even grey, it's more silver, and I think it's really shimmery and pretty. So there. I earned it, by God.

Hope everyone's Friday goes realllly smooth!!

Yay, I am down another pound this week. After 2 weeks of really having to concentrate and THINK, I think things are finally headed in the right direction - downhill (on the scale that is) :lol:

Raven, I too am ready for winter to be over. Especially as I sit here listening to the sleet and ice fall outside. Wouldn't be winter if we didn't have one hair raising storm. If Jolly's lucky, she'll just get snow. Thank goodness it's Friday night and most of us can stay home and out of it. But the next 12 hours are going to be horrid. I even turned down going out to dinner tonight because I was afraid we'd get caught in it. I feel sorry for anyone who has to be out tonight.

Oh wow, I just noticed the time. Even though tomorrow is Saturday I still don't want to sleep the day away. It's time to clean out the junk in the basement. No more avoiding it.

Have a good weekend everyone.

FOUR pounds down!

Way!

*rofl* I knew I'd drop a little after my period was done running it's evil course, but... woohoo!

Another major plus. The child support check came ON TIME! SOOOoooo cool. That means running shoes TODAY not next week! I suppose I'd better buy my kids new underwear and socks while I'm at it. I'm on a roll here, folks!!

AND! I stumbled across a used western saddle at one of my favorite horsey dives yesterday, and Hamp told me to just take it home, try it on my horse, and if it fits good, pay him next week. Gotta love old time horse tradin! So we're out to the stables today to see if the new used saddle will fit my pony.

Happiness is invading my life. OMG, what do I do!? *bwahahahahaha!*

Happy - Congrats on your loss, too!! Maybe we're finally getting the hang of this again, you think? Gack on your weather! Geez, ok, way to put things into perspective for me. How dare you. :devil: I'm glad you can stay in and be warm. I do NOT miss that kind of weather.

Ok, I'm off to do the bank thing then go buy NEW SHOES!! *woo!*

Way to go Raven!

:dance: :hat: :cp: :bravo: :encore: :cheer:

I knew you were overdue for a good shot of happiness - ENJOY floating on air today!!!

I got shoes, I got shoes *giggle snort*

I got Saucony Grid Triumphs, a decent price on them, and some nice high impact insoles. No excuses now, other than the pain I'm going to go through retraining my feet not to supinate. ;)

Thank you Happy!

Supinate? SUPINATE?????

Is that some food thing like I made some soup 'n ate (it)? :rofl:

Let me know what that is because I think I don't want to be doing it either with my feet. Enjoy your new shoes. Wishing you hours and hours of happy feet!

Afternoon

Hey Raven..sorry it was me..woah..have no clue what i was reading..cool huh..need to reapeat the grades I help with in the afternoon..ahhhhhhhhh

Awesome on the raise!! I am so happy for you!! Plus the new shoes girl yeah

AND the LOSS heck you did almost you whole gola this month in one sweeop..YEAH!!!


Happy awsome on your weight loss too!! way to go!! I know that feesl so GREAT!! you deserve it!! I am so sorry about the weather..it has not snowed her yet..cannot decide if I am happy for no power loss or sad for no white stuff..hmmm

all for now..am doing nothing productive..cool huh!!

Hi Everyone.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Well heck I hope everyone is having as great of a weekend as Raven is. :D

I have to say that so far I LOVE MY JOB. or actually I really like my bosses. They treat me so well. Raven I am bowing down to you with my arms out saying you are the :queen: !! Why you ask? Yesterday my bosses figured I needed a dozen donuts and 6 muffins plus a canister full of werthers candies. :rofl: Yes all for me :rofl: I asked them if I could put a :tread: in the office, as do I really look like I need all this stuff? I went most of the day resisting eating any of it and then the afternoon rolled around and I was so tired I caved and had a muffin and then a dounut. I kept telling myself that if you could resist, so could I. I really tried, but didn't succeed. I left everything there for anyone who comes into the office after me and today.

Hey Tracy good to hear from you. How is everything going? How are the kids doing? Are they sick of school yet and counting the days until Easter vacation? Are you counting the days until Easter? Tracy does it snow very often where you are?

Happy :bravo: to you also on your weigh down on the scale. That is great. Your birthday goal is looking like you will have it achieved well before your birthday. Did you find a good hotel for your holiday?

Jolly how are you doing? Are you off for the weekend? How is your horse doing? Did you get to ride him? I sure hope this next week goes better for you. Let us know and we can help you talk it out if you need to.

Hippy how are you feeling? Did you go to the doctor or is your sinuses getting better on their own? That is great that Jordan and Gary are able to go to work together. Mark took Kristi once and they had a great time together and she learned alot about punching in phone lines and hooking up security and stuff like that. It was a great bonding day. Can you join them at work also?

Erin how are you? Busy doing some stamping these last few days? How long do you have to complete all these invites by? How old are your kids?

Raven are you just taking Richard out for supper for a date or the whole family? Do you have sluggish feet that you are trying to retrain? :rofl:
I have never heard of that type of shoe. But I bet it looks great on. Now that you have had almost reached your goal of 5 pounds in a week I can see you jogging out to the stable. You have kicked my butt this month. No more donuts for me. I might even have to start jogging to work.

Well I must run. Chat to you all tomorrow.

:grouphug:

Kathy

Good morning chickies!

Happy - You slay me. :yes: Let's see. Most people pronate when they walk, which means you push to the inside of your foot. I supinate. I stand, walk, and run on the outsides of my foot. These shoes are designed with supinating in mind, and have a harder core material on the outside to push my foot towards the inside. It's good for me, but after yesterdays run, which turned into more of a fast walk, I know it's going to take time to retrain myself. The whole inner line from the big toe through the ball, heel, and all the way up my inner leg HURT. More on my left leg than my right, but both were affected. I expected it, but nonetheless it was just a tad discouraging. Get new shoes, I want to FLY, not hobble. Ahwell, I do expect it will be a couple weeks at least of getting all the muscles and connective stuff to stretch out and work properly. There was another pair of shoes that I was seriously tempted to try out - and I may yet if these don't work out right. That's the problem with running shoes, you never know how good they're going to be for you till you actually use them for a couple weeks at least, and by then it's a little hard to return them. :p Anyway, the New Balance puts out a very interesting shoe for supinating, too - I nearly bought them, but they were such a radically different design that I thought I'd stay with something remotely familiar. But we'll see what happens in a couple weeks.

Tracy - It's really ok about the confusion, I know sometimes keeping up with things gets a little hinky at times! Well... you know that even if I hit my announced goal of the 5 pounds, I still have my stealth goal to work on! :s: That's the "oooo I'd really like to be under 190 by the end of the month" one. Not going to kill me if I don't make it, but a major bonus if I do. Honestly, it's not terribly realistic even. 5 more pounds in two weeks? But hey.. I can dream. ;) Nothing productive?? You were posting here! That's productive!

Lucky - I am SO glad you like working there! I have to say that the first thing I do with that Wednesday muffin is wrap it and put it in the freezer. Then I usually bring it home so the kids can fight over it. :devil: If there's more stuff, I'll try my best to put it into the break room where the guys can fight over it! One break and usually it looks like a pack of wild dogs have stripped the place clean. And I'd forgotten that I scored that non-scale victory, thank you for reminding me! It's hard when they do nice things like that, you kind of feel obligated to eat it to show how much YOU appreciate them appreciating you... but I know, it's like the absolute last thing I need. And hey, at least you only ate one of each. I'd say you only caved a part of the way, and you did show restraint. And the dinner is just for Richard and I. I celebrated with the whole family the other night by splurging hugely and actually buying new york cut steaks for dinner. I hadn't had a good steak in SO long and it was delicious! *lol* I have to admit the thought of going out next weekend is moderately terrifying to me because I'm doing so well on the OP eating. I need to show some restraint when I go out, too. At least it will be on the weekend so I can workout a bit more and perhaps offset the damage.

I woke up this morning later, much later than I usually do. And I woke up kind of cranky. Then the dogs were absolute idiots on their walk, and I fell in the mud outside because it will NOT STOP RAINING!! Argh. :bomb: If we get a nice day, it's inevitably during the week while I'm at work, and lately also inevitably, it's totally crap weather on the weekends. Lord I'm tired of this. But I came in and had coffee and sat down with 3FC and ate my cheerios and calmed down. I'm feeling better now, but I really do want to go riding, and without access to an indoor arena, the weather controls my rides. *sigh* Ok... so if I can't ride today, I guess that means it's a GREAT day to do an UBWO, right!? I did pretty good on water yesterday, much better than I usually do on weekends. I think I was OP, but I make my spaghetti sauce from scratch, so it's kind of hard for me to do all the calculations to figure out how many calories one half cup has. I just went with the generic meat sauce listed in fitday and called it good. I'm finding allllll sorts of really neat desserts now - they're the Smart Ones, I think. I seem to really need that little treat at the end of the day, and it makes it just so much easier for me to stay OP. I just incorporate that 120 or so calories in and I'm set. This one was vanilla ice cream covered in oreo crumbs. Very tasty, and a nice change. Ok, so, I have a lot to do today, I guess I'd best get to it!

Raven, thanks for explaining supinate. You supinate, I supinate and the rest of the world pronates. That probably explains why I have such a terrible time finding comfortable sneakers. Some of them are too big and heavy to suit me. Some are too narrow and of the others I have found a few that seemed to fit ok but like you, after an hour's wear I am hobbling in pain. What surprised me the most was when I went to the podiatrist when I had the plantar fasciitis. She is mid 30s, thin and fit and a runner. She said this condition can appear when people wear the same brand of sneakers for years and then switch to a new brand. I guess each are made slightly different and some aggrivate already tight muscles in the calves and heel causing this problem. I am now a confirmed convert to stretching. If I forget, my feet remind me. But enjoy your new shoes, hope the feet adjust to them soon. And I will swap your rain for the 12 degree temps and strong winds we are having right now. Brrrrr. January. And then "I'm so sick of this cold" February yet to come. I used to go to Atlanta quite a bit for work. Loved to go there in January. 60 degrees never felt so good. :D

I have let the weekend get the better of me. Only ate out once but did not stick to balanced meals. We did alot of running around today and I did not get my water in - who wants cold water when it's 12 degrees out? I did have a few cups of green tea though. I've got some nice soups planned for this week, hope to salvage the roast I made into a nice beef veggie soup and maybe some casserole thing. Didn't do well on the exercise either but I did do what seemed like a thousand steps up and down Saturday cleaning, laundry and working on de-junking my store room. Got to clean up the sanding dust down there so I can get back at the treadmill again.

Kathy, it's good to hear that the people in your office are so nice. Money is important but if you have to work with nasty people, that's the worst. Sounds like they are munchers galore with all that sugar they provided. Would be quite hard to resist. (Please put this in the BACK of the office - like 3 storefronts down please?????)

Tracy, I appreciate your sympathy but no way will I believe you are having a jones hoping for a powerloss :lol:

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Here's to being strong again on Monday and a new week Erin, Hippy, Happy, Hoppy (good one Raven), Jolly, Lucky and Raven and Tracy.

Ok ladies, time to draw the lucky focus for the week. You can:

1) Try a new healthy food (and tell us about it)

OR

2) Focus on exercise this week - get in at least 3 good workouts

Yep, it's morning. My crankiness from yesterday is lingering into today.

Happy - Yes. The workouts. I NEED to focus on working out. BADLY. I've gotten my food back under control, I'm adding in my water successfully, now I need to stop making excuses about the working out. The weather, lack of sleep, going to the stables, time with my boyfriend... there are far, far too many excuses I can use. And they even all sound reasonable. I'm past being understanding with myself and have moved into anger. :mad: I have a great rant going on in my own head at myself about this issue, but I won't subject ya'll to it. ;) And no criticism about self bashing... I've been far too gentle with myself lately. A healthy dose of reality won't hurt me. It's all about what I want and what I'm willing to do to get it, or do I want to just whine and cry about how it's not changing. :blah: You all know the drill, and I have a feeling it might be one of the big reasons I'm so annoyed at the world lately. I'm really just annoyed at myself. You supinate too? Awwww, we have something in common? Besides being totally cool chicks, that is. I'll let you know how the Saucony's work out. And if I try the New Balance, I'll keep you posted. Today my hips hurt, as well, not to mention my glutes. And what you said about stretching, it's so true. I need to incorporate more of that. I loved the pilates because it really helped with the stretching, too. I need a DVD player, dang it. Hey, no thank you on the 12 degrees. I'm totally wussing out at 30-40 degrees. The wind, rain, and near freezing temps are already more than I can handle anymore! *sniffle* I want 60 in January, too!! That's why I moved here. Oh lord just shoot me, I'm so pathetic! :lol:

Weekends are so out of the routine it's hard to get everything in, I know. What I have started doing is putting a glass out and at least working hard to drink a whole big glass every time I go to the bathroom. Heh. Pretty soon I won't be doing anything but piddling and drinking water, eh?

Very little patience with myself or anything else today. Tonight is Nickie's riding lesson, if Rosa doesn't cancel. ****, maybe I'll cancel and we can do it tomorrow night if I PROMISE MYSELF I'll actually work out. Dinner can be the Healthy Choice hot dogs, or maybe hamburgers. Quick, easy. I think I've reached critical overload with myself on not working out.

It is MLK day..and i spending it listening to my kids fight, trying to get the decorations down yes I know I am late..realizing i have NO cold meds left and feeling really crummy and watch nick and jessica newlyweds..ick..i mean hello..i dont want to do laundry..you do it nick..no you jess..let's hire a lady to do it.

AHHHHHHHHH I am so sick of reality shows..they are SO not reality

SO turn the channel..well as there is nothing on the channels ..and i am in awe that anyon could be so gooey in love..made me eat the house it was so depressing..

On my 1st year i had a new baby and moved 3 times...we didnt even time to think much less anything else.

I need to exercsie but I am so sick i feel like i am gonna cry right now


Raven girl you get those AWESOME shoe in motion...and make a commotion on the road girll!!!!

Happy good idea on the two areas..i did have several cups of tea as i was sick..i know they are so good for you

Lucky how wodnerful that you love your job..lol the food..well..lol hmm maybe they are giving you what THEY want to eat..lol to get rid of it..cool on the treadmill..gyms and daycares..whould be in all places!!

Erin, Jolly hippy wher are youuuuuuuuu

ugh..make this day go by..my hubby worked all weekend so no rest..ugh..he's grumpy I am grumpy..now the kids..

please say a prayer that my kids do NOT get sick..please!!

Hello all. Payday MOnday. What fun, what fun. I have time to do a quick post, then back to work. I lost 2 pounds last week. Not sure quite how, but I will take it. Here's to keeping it off, and losing many many more of their kin. I will focus on my workouts this week.

Have a good week all. Here's to good weather, and healthy families.

Ha!! I did it! Ha! :tread: :cheer: :encore: :dance: :cb:

Two miles on the treadmill. No riding lesson for Nickie tonight, too windy, too cold. So I got my oh so fluffy butt moving tonight. So Happy, thank you for that very motivating and very timely little challenge.

Lets see if I can get myself up in time to work out tomorrow morning, eh? My legs hurt a little less this time. I relaced a little differently, that helped, and I kept my runs to a tenth of a mile this time. So far so good.

Jolly - Congratulations on that loss!! :cheers: And you were right. Go workout, you'll feel better. That foul mood is really self generated, and like I said earlier, I think mostly anger at myself. So now it's slightly mitigated.

Tracy - I'm so sorry you're sick again! All that stress leaves you so vulnerable to any bug that comes along. :( Get some rest, drink LOTS of water, eat right and take your vitamins! I hope you feel better soon!

Raven, that's Terrific on the treadmill! You should be very, very proud of yourself. Especially when you said exercise was the hardest thing to get back in the grove on. The hardest part was getting there, wasn't it?

Tracy, sorry to hear you are on round 2 of the flu. Chicken soup, rest and everyone helps out, even if everyone just works for 15 minutes to pick up and help. Hope you feel better.

Jolly, congrats on the downward poundage this week! Hope the week is less hectic for you.

I had a crappy day myself. But I did do the 2 mile WATP tape tonight. Sometimes you just have to push yourself and ignore the whiny voices in your head.

Morning

Thanks gals for the sympathy!!

Awesome on both of you doing the treadmill and the tape. You guys are super duper on your goals.

Great job on the two pound loss Jolly!! You go girl

Kids at school..am gonna rest before work.

Thanks again for the encouragement.

Tracy

And another step. I'm pasting this from my journal because I know Jolly doesn't hit those.

I got up late enough so that I considered sliding into my usual "uh oh, I didn't get up in time to work out." But... I didn't. Instead, I said "Marian, you silly poohead, you KNOW you have time to work out, so stop making ridiculous excuses that you are no longer buying into and get your oh so fluffy butt on that treadmill."

So. I did. *dance* Yeah, it wasn't the most awe-inspiring workout I've ever done, but it was a workout. One and a half miles on the treadmill, 30 minutes, woo. I have proven to myself once again that yes, I CAN get up in the morning and move faster than a sloth. Barely, perhaps, but enough.

I have also come to the conclusion that if I can find the time to drive over a half hour each direction to the stables on lesson nights and spend over an hour playing with ye olde pony, then on nights when I am not able to go riding because of weather, I can damn sure find the time to work out in my garage for 30-45 minutes. Tonight we're not sure if there's going to be a lesson or not because it's a tad chilly out there for my wimpy self. That means UBWO tonight.

Food was pretty much OP yesterday, still falling short of my calories by about 100 or so, but getting better. Water was on the mark. And I'm down another half pound unofficially. Monday morning is the official weigh in, which means that if I want a loss this week, my dinner out better be LIGHT. *nose wrinkle* That always seems to me to be a contradiction. I know I CAN eat light when I go out, but who wants to? Bah. Priorities. Lose the weight or stuff my face? My choice. My decision. My responsibility.

I've been studying a lot of horse training stuff lately. Yeah, I know - big surprise. I've found a couple trainers who I really identify with as far as their philosphies and methods. One of them uses a saying that lately, I see applies to me as well. Go backwards in training till you get a yes answer. In other words, if you see yourself not meeting a goal, rebelling against your own plan, sabotaging yourself, go back to a point where you CAN meet the goal, stay OP, and then move incrementally forward from there. There are always going to be times when we have to step back a bit. With horses, dogs, kids... why not ourselves? Just because we know something intellectually does not mean we have trained ourselves to put it into practice. You can read all about something, and still not be able to do it unless you practice it. Well, all this complete reworking of eating, exercise, and how I think about myself takes practice. Training a horse or dog or kid or man (did I say that?) doesn't progress smoothly without any hitches. There are days when my horse will do exactly what I ask perfectly, then the next day I'll go out there and it's like I'm starting all over again. I'm so patient with him and his learning process, why do I not apply the same patience with myself? I'm LEARNING something here. I'm training myself into a whole new approach to life, and yet I think just because I read about it, I should be able to do it. Poof, just like that. Well, no... I don't any more. I'm beginning to get that this really is all about learning, and just like I didn't learn to walk overnight, or speak a new language overnight, or without forgetting something sometimes, I will have my stumbles on this learning curve, too. I dropped back to where I could get a yes answer, and now I'm moving incrementally forward. It's so easy, and we make it so difficult.

Happy - You're absolutely right about not listening to the whiny voices. I'm still not completely over my annoyance at myself, but I am making strides towards regaining my self respect. I offend even myself when I listen to my own whining. ;) Very big congrats for doing the tape! :bravo:

Tracy - I hope you feel better today! Take it easy, let yourself recover completely before you push too hard.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Hey all. I hope we all start feeling a bit better, physically, and emotionally. Sounds like the winter blahs have set in.

congrats to Raven on your workouts. You go girl. See, exercise does make you feel better.

I need a pat on the back myself. I had another bout of acid reflux last night, and still got up and did my workout this morning. I even did weights!!! Hurray.

I just need to figure out ways to keep motivated. Little reminders. Maybe putting notes in my purse or something. Or a bikini picture. I decided to keep one of my mortgage guys business cards in my purse, so I think about spending money before I do. I really want to get a house next year.

Oh yeah, I had to share a quick laugh. I wear glasses or contacts. the arm broke off my glasses a while ago, so I have been very limited in when I can wear them. I budgeted money into my flex spending plan to pay for them, but for now . . . Well, I was looking for something else over the weekend, and found my previous pair ( I am such a packrat). They look like Sally Jesse Raphael's, but the prescription is real close if not the same. Hurray. Now, until next year's lazer surgery . . .

Have a great day all. I wish I could send sunshine to all. By the way, E, what part of Wisconsin are you from??

Marian, you silly poohead - oh Raven you crack me up! :rofl:It really does sound like you've made that last little leap into getting "your rear in gear" again. Perhaps that raise that you so desperately needed not only boosted the wallet and the self esteem, but also freed your mind to focus on other stuff. What you said is so true about finding the time for things if you really want to. I had to cut back on being more active in the journals because it was just getting me to bed too late. And I found that I MUST do my workouts right after work and before I get dinner on in order to have them done. I still hold hope that soon I will be able to get up earlier and do them first thing in the morning like I should. And it's also interesting about you relating the horse training to your own life. I too have realized that if I'm going to act like a 2 year old, I must treat myself that way and "re-teach" myself the right way to behave.

:cp: to you Jolly for getting your workout done. And for what it costs for glasses, I think over the long haul the surgery is a good idea. However I am way too squeemish to even consider it unless I had no other choice. When you can be completely knocked out, then I will consider it. I know they freeze your eyes, but they'd have to paralyze me totally because the lower half of my body and my arms would be waving and swinging as they brought that machine near my eyes. But hats off to those who can handle it!

Tracy, hope you are feeling a bit better today. Did the good fairy come over to clean your house? :df: - no? Hmmm she didn't show up at my place either :lol:

I had a sort of crappy day. I went to the dentist first thing as the nerve in the crown he put on was going haywire and giving me lots of pain. He worked on me for an hour and 1/2 and said I'd really be hurting after the novacaine wore off. He wasn't lying. :yikes: He did give me prescription pain meds but they didn't do squat. I finally gulped down 4 Motrin at 7pm and the pain is finally dulling out. I had so much planned for tonight but it was a lay around with a hotpack kinda night. At least it's dulled enough so I think I'll be able to sleep ok and it should be quieted down by the morning. I tell you one thing, I would never be able to handle gastric bypass surgery and eating only soft foods for a month or so afterwards. I haven't been able to chew much for the last few days and I'm really hungry :hungry: Plain soup just doesn't fill you up and even though your mouth hurts your stomach still says FEED ME!!!!!!

Hellos to all, have a good Wednesday.

Good morning all :) Hey, Happy. I hope the pain dies down soon. As for filling up, I love low fat chocolate milk. Ifind it does fill me up, and gives me that wonderful chocolate feeling. Ymm. As for lazer surgery, yeah, I am scared witless. That is why I am waiting for next year. I want to really research it, and not just jump in. And, it will take me a year to find my "happy place." From what I have heard, they have a nurse there to hold your hand. Or hands. Or feet. Or just restrain the heck out of you - whatever.

I am feeling really good about things right now. I had a little bump in the road, but am staying on track. One of my staff and I are going to help each other out. She wants to lose weight to get on Fear Factor, and I just want to lose weight. I told her how I just want to change one behavior at a time. First work on poriton control, and chosing healthy comfort foods, then deal with not needing food for emotional support. But one vice at a time. She wanted to cut out my soda right away. I told her that and my salt addiction would have to wait, or the only thing I would lose is my sense of humor.

Have a great day all.

Good afternoon, folks!

Happy - I think I finally may have made it to honest to goodness back-on-track land, too. And yes.. as I wrote in one of my journal entries, now that I don't have to obsess about whether I'm getting the raise or not, I'm free to obsess about my food, water, and exercise. :p Ok, you got my sympathy the second I read the word "dentist." *screams and runs* I'm so sorry you had to go through that! I hope the pain abates very quickly for you, it's hard to focus when pain keeps interfering. If you're like me, you hate being drugged out, too. Yogurt, cottage cheese ... can you eat those things? Jello is always good. I hope you're back to regular food soon, that would drive me nuts!!

Jolly - "Restrain the heck out of you..." :lol: That sounds REALLY fun. If that house up in AK sells, that's one of the things I've seriously considered for myself and my daughter. It's so cheap now... and we have some really good clinics down here. But I have to admit the thought of just laying there and letting that machine fry my eyeball is ... well .. yeah, scary. :fr: One thing at a time seemed to be the only way I could get going this time, too. It *felt* like I jumped right in last time, but I think last time I was just so unaware of everything I needed to change that I changed what was obvious first, then added things as I went. This time, I know EVERYTHING that I need to change, and didn't want to start over. Well, look at me, I ended up starting over. It didn't take as long this time to get to where I'm really OP and knowing what I'm doing is right for me, so that's a plus. I hope teaming up with your co-worker really helps, I kinda wish I had someone here to do that with!

This morning was supposed to be weights, but I really didn't feel like it, so I did the treadmill again instead. And I'm cool with that. My legs aren't hurting near as much, and I managed to run three tenths of a mile without stopping. That's up from the quarter mile, and very much up from not being able to even do one tenth the first time I ran in those shoes. Linda wrote something in her journal about not really wanting to do weights because she saw her progress on the scale come to a complete halt. I know when I was lifting it adversely affected the numbers, as well. And inches aren't as easy to see, because you don't always lose them in places you can measure. I know muscles mass more, burn more calories. :blah: But I think that stalling out on the scale is scaring me just as much as it bothered Linda. Psychologically, I really NEED that scale to drop right now. And towards that end, I think I'll stay away from the lifting for a little while. I may do the squats and lunges just to work my flexibility and balance, as well as stretch out all that connective tissue, but I don't want to add weight to it yet. I know that at some point, I will really want to define my muscles more because I love the look, the feeling, and the actual process of lifting. It's a rush. For now, the biggest rush will be seeing that number go down.

The week is half way over, ladies!

Miriam PLEASE do NOT even consider laser eye surgery for Nickie. She is way too young. Any doctor worth his salt is now recommending that this procedure not be done before the age of 25 - they don't know the long term effects of this yet. Plus as you know, your eyes change throughout the years. Laser surgery is not a one shot deal - you have to go in for periodic "tweakings" or resort back to glasses again.

Allow me to step up for a second. Ahem... :soap: I am really getting concerned about the trend to "fast track" something and laser surgery and gastric bypass come to mind. They were developed for a specific intention but now it seems that many people resort to them for a quick solution and maybe the wrong reasons without thinking things through. I have always been leery of doing things for pure "vanity" reasons. Have surgery to correct things like a cleft palate or a disfigurement. But look at stuff like Fen-Fen, silicone breast implants and even people who had eye surgery that didn't take as well as it should. I'm waiting to see what's going to happen years down the road to people who had gastric bypass. Will they develop diseases and colon cancer because their body has been "altered" other than how nature intended? And how do you get the possible nutrients you need when your stomach is the size of an egg? I know after time it does stretch a little but I don't think it's ever a typical size again. And it has to tell you something when you HAVE to take vitamins every day for the rest of your life. Don't get me wrong, for some people this drastic measure has been the difference between life and death (and death for 1 in 200 people who have it). My point again is just that people look to the sometimes wrong short cut instead of putting in the effort. Just like they are quick to blame PMS for all their woes. PMS doesn't put the food in your mouth - you do. I'm starting to accept that in the end success is up to me. It's my choice and I have no one to blame but myself if I don't succeed or even make some upwards progress. Ok sorry, I'll step down now. Just please, if you consider ANY surgical procedure, do lots and lots and lots of research and talking to people who've had it done too.

Erm - Happy.. not to be the dissenting voice, but.. to dissent. I know scads of people who have had the eye surgery. Many people I know had it done well over 15 years ago. Some of them have had to have tweaks, some haven't. My brother had his done about 8 years ago and that was that. I don't really consider laser eye surgery a "quick fix." I'm considered legally blind. My glasses cost over $475 a pair if I want something that doesn't make me look like I'm wearing coke bottle bottoms. I've been wearing glasses since I was 7. I should have had them much, much earlier in my life, but hey.. I was raised in the wilds, no one knew I couldn't see, and I didn't know any better. I'm 43 now, and my eyes are actually slowly getting better as I age. While others would be getting farsighted, my prescription just changes a little. I can't wear soft contacts, and gas permiables hurt. I know one person who had a bad reaction to surgery and had problems with halos. He has since had that corrected. I imagine there are people out there who have had more serious complications. But .. I think it's worth the risk for myself. As far as my daughter goes, I actually started looking into that, because her eyes aren't that bad, and I think contacts would be a better option. However, everything I've read and the most reputable clinics I've spoken with say she could have them done at 18 as long as her prescription has been steady for several years. I'm also planning on getting a tummy tuck as soon as this weight is off because I've lost it before and gained it back in part because with this excess skin hanging off my front, my appearance was so depressing I unwittingly just gave up. It's not going to happen again. I can't say I would ever get gastric bypass, or breast implants... but I can't write off someone else getting it done, either. I'm not living in their skin. People have all sorts of reasons for doing things. As long as they're not making me do it, I couldn't care less. My daughter also wants to have serious breast reduction done. I have already warned her that no plastic surgeon worth his degree will do it as soon as she wants it done. But I don't argue with her desire to have it done. I do encourage her to wait, because people do change over time, and she is young. But I respect her desire.

I know what you mean in a sense... people who think that gastric bypass will solve all their problems are in for a shock. As a matter of fact, we have at least one young lady on the journals who had the surgery and is now fighting to lose weight again. But like you said, I also think that there are those people who can, and have, really benefitted from the surgery. For some it has literally been life saving. There are serious risks involved. But then, everything is relative. And if someone does do the research, and determines that surgery is in their best interest, then so be it. There are people out there who have had surgery to completely alter their looks, body mods were all the rage for a while. I guess each person has to determine inside themselves what constitutes a "quick fix."

And to be completely honest, I feel the same way about anti-depressants that you just unloaded on about surgery. :D I think as a society we have become far too dependent on little pills instead of working on coping skills. But, again, that's just me. I'd rather have someone take an antidepressant than take their life, you know?

Hey Raven, you points were well taken but I was talking more in the context of Nickie specifically with as young as she is and her body still growing and developing. One of my physical therapists last year is about 25. Her husband had REALLY bad vision and had the laser surgery with good results. She however, only wore glasses occasionally for driving on the highway and SHE had the surgery too. I didn't say anything but thought why? Geez you wear your glasses about 5 hours a week in the car and you say you don't like glasses? Well how do you deal with sunglasses then? That to me was crazy. I can certainly understand someone like you considering it, especially if you can't do contacts. My vision is pretty bad too and I can't wear contact because of allergies. It's actually getting to a point on some things where I can't see with my glasses and can't see without them. I'm just squeemish when it comes to some things and also terrified of something going horribly wrong and I'm blinded. Also too years ago when laser first came out my opthomologist at the time - a well respected doctor at the hospital was pushing me (I felt) to have the surgery. At the time I had just discovered I needed near vision in addition to the distance lenses. This was when they could only correct distance vision. I asked if I'd still need glasses, he said yes for reading. Well since my work is on the computer and reading, I'd still be wearing glasses half the time anyway so duh, WHY do surgery? I was also glad I ran out of there as one of the first post surgical effects was halos at night and I have enough of a problem with that already. But it is not for me to judge what anyone else does. I've been harboring some frustrations lately and I guess it came out a little strong in my post.

Your eyes sound a lot like mine. I got glasses at the age of 6 - loved to read under the covers with a flashlight at night when I thought Mom wasn't looking. I will always remember walking home from school the first day I had them and stopping to stare at the grass. I never realized the grass was made of blades! To me it was one big, green blob. That's how blind I was at 6 years old. And it's been the $500 glasses for me too - ultra thin lenses, scratch resistant, all the coatings and such. Cripes 1 pair of regular glasses, one pair of close up work glasses and one pair of sunglasses could probably feed a family in a third world country for a year. So in the long run, the surgery would pay for itself in a few years.

The good news is that my tooth is much better. I can eat now, just can't chomp down completely. I did do a good workout today, ate decent and got my water in. And it felt good.

Hope y'all have a Terrrific Thursday.

Happy - yep... sounds like we're twins on the eye issue. My world changed completely when I got glasses. :lol: Sometimes I think I liked it better when I couldn't see things. And if you came off a little strong, I probably came off kind of defensive. My apologies. One of my character flaws, but I'm working on it. ;) I'm glad your tooth is better. And I hope this week smooths out for you and the frustrations ease. *hug*

This week seems to be a week of pondering fat as a defense mechanism and how it relates to passion. Not necessarily sexual passion, passion as in very strong emotion towards anything. Anger, love, joy, jealousy, the whole gambit. I feel like there is a connection there inside me, and it's a bit like a loose tooth, I can't keep myself from wiggling it. Perhaps the thoughts will come together and I'll be able to post something coherent.

For now.. Two miles this morning, and it was so weird that I actually played that mental game in my head. You know.. the "Gee I don't really feel like working out, but I should." Then nearly tripping over myself and smiling as I moved quickly to get to the treadmill. It's almost like it's just ingrained in my routine to play that game with myself, whether I really feel it or not.

Off to work!

Good morning all. Let me say, I see both sides of the surgery issue. I also am near blind without glasses, and have had to wear glasses/contacts since I was in 2nd grade. I remember pre-glasses seeing a picture of Jesus in Sunday School and thinking it was a collie. don't ask. But anyway, I think some of these medical advances have been amazing, and life saving.

I will need a kick in the butt later today. I did not sleep well last night, and knew it was going to be dangerously cold this morning, so set the alarm for later with the plan that I go to the gym after work. Now I have to work a third shift tonight, so I may want to wuss out. Give me a kick.

I will talk later from the office. Have a good day all.

Oh poor Jolly! I don't know how you do it working third shift in this bitter cold! Geez bad enough during the day when the sun's out. The wind has really kicked up too. Be careful out there. I'm sure you'll burn about 400 calories just shivering in the car waiting for it to warm up. :(

Raven I can relate to what you're saying about thinking things through. Been doing alot of that myself and it's been a good thing. So much of what I do wrong is either unconcious (do without thinking) or trying to talk myself out of it. I think I like the being more aware and the thinking part.

I gave in to the inner child tonight and had a grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. And just 1 fresh baked chocolate chip cookie (love those break apart and cook ones - keeps from eating a whole dozen at once). It was good but I suspect the food and the cold made me sluggish tonight. That plus I had some emergency stuff come up at work at the end of the day and I worked until 7pm tonight. So no exercise. I was a little concerned about if I was getting enough water - been drinking 2 of the one liter bottles a day and I checked and that's 64 oz which is good enough for the winter. I never drink as much in the cold weather as I do when it's hot out. I figure that plus a cup or two of green tea a day is doing me right.

It's Friday already. Got a birthday party for my nephew on Saturday. I'm sure my sister will have tons of tempting food. I want to work more Sunday on getting the basement cleaned up - have to vacumn all the drywall sanding dust so I can rev up the treadmill. I've been doing the WATP tapes but I miss my treadmill and my music is so much better than Leslie Sansone's perkiness. :rolleyes:

Hope you all have a good weekend. Let's hear from some of our more quiet groupies out there, ok?

Good morning all. Man is it cold. I ended up not working third shift last night, as I also had a work emergency come up yesterday evening. Luckily, it came as I was finishing the last couple minutes of my workout. So, I did get to exercise. And, I did eat the healthy meal I had planned when I finally got home.

I wanted to get in quick this mroning, so I did not hit the gym. But, I do have my bag along to go workout after I visit the pony this afternoon.

Good luck with the family food tomorrow, Happy, and getting back down to your treadmill. And yes, lets' hear from everyone else. TRacy, RAven, E, Chachee, Hippee - where are you????

yow..i missed the discussion on glasses, anti-depressants and gastric by-pass..some of my fav ones..nuts..wahhhhhhhh can i weigh in now??

I am supposed to wear glasses but I hate them..i am like ok..i am fat, ugly and have a mini van though i do not drive it.. why glasses. This year omg.my eyes are like in need of b-focals...I am so ashamed of being so vain...I need to put them on..for honestly the world is a blur..so when you guys started talking about them..i started to laugh..me..walking around what does that sign say.

There was a lady at a place where i used to wrok where dhe brought her child..a little girl same age as my son.. She was divorced and her hubby had remarried..she had the surgery..she died three days later. That child's father didnt even want her..so her..she has lost both her mom..and dad..all becasue society says that if you are over weight..you are a big loser. You know what struck me the most..i wanted that surgery..i though if i was thin that the all my problems will go away..wrong..It is never about the weight...it is all about the mind.

Now as for anti-depressants...i have to vote yes for them. My family has a genetic chemical inbalance that affects every generation. To the point that my sister tried to kill herself about 5 times, Finally they got the combination right..and she has been stable for years. I should be on them but the side effects are too much for me. For some people they are the difference between life and death. But if anyone is using them just to feel a bit better than those are the people who are giving them a bad name.

These are subjects close to my heart...so if I have offended anyone I am sorry. I ahve to say this is my week for totally offending everyone so I just might be on a roll

This is Tracy, super offender signing off

Good Morning!

Does anyone have an extra room? Raven, think your horse will let me bunk with him for a few days :D Things around here have been crazy, I feel like I can't keep my head on straight :dizzy: My brothers truck is broke down, the third time in a week, $700.00 to fix it, who has that kind of money going through a divorce? Anyway, we are all trying to share our truck and everyone has places to go and things to do, jobs to be at. Both of them have had little sleep this week trying to go and call and so on to find parts for his truck so they can fix it themselves. In the middle of all of this is me, trying to cook, do laundry, clean, took me 2 and a half hours to dust a vacuum the living room because they kept asking me to do stuff, trying to tend to Jordan's after school stuff. I feel a bit overwhelmed. I feel like I don't have time to wipe my own *** if you want to know the truth about it :o I have overslept twice this week, jump out of bed, drag Jordan out, rush to get ready to catch the bus..........OKAY, next week will be better.

I am happy to say, though I don't know how I did lose 2 pounds last week. I tried a new veggie this week, brussel sprouts, THEY STINK!!! so I have never tried them but to my surprise they aren't bad. I don't want a bunch of them but a few are okay.

I read through the posts quickly and remember Jolly has lost some weight, CONGRATS! Who else? I can't remember, I am sooooo sorry! Great Job to everyone here, I am sure everyone has made an accomplishment somewhere!!

Okay girls, right now I'm home alone so I have to run, get a few things done and get ready to go to the bank, grocery, Wal-Mart and prepare a funfilled for Jordan and my nephew for tomorrow! :yikes: I feel overwhelmed already! Raven, tell your horse to move on over!!! Jolly, do you have horses? Maybe one of them will share!

Got to go, have a great Friday!!

Good morning - Happy Friday! Made it through another week.

Jolly - WTG on the working out!! Sounds to me like you're getting yourself back in gear very nicely. I hope everything is ok at work.

Happy - That kids meal sounds a lot like one I had a couple weeks ago, except I added some wonderful deli sliced ham into those grilled cheese sandwiches. And made the tomato soup with 1/2 milk, 1/2 water because... well, because that's the way I ate it growing up and it's sooooo good that way. It's a wonderful cold night-I'm too tired to cook-and the kids love it-besides I'm feeling sorry for myself meal. :D And boy oh boy I'm with you on the music and Leslie Sansone. I don't mind her stuff once in a while but if I'm in the wrong frame of mind, I really just want to throw a brick through the TV. :o

Tracy - Hi there!! LTNS! Aw heck, I think if there was any offending to be done, Happy and I took care of it. :p Like I said, someone taking anti-depressants is way better than someone taking their life. I'm right there with you on thinking that there are just so many people abusing the darn things then blaming all their problems on a pill, or the lack of a pill, or whatever. Eh. I think personal accountability is a scarce thing anymore. I'm a cynic, what can I say. Now wait .. you don't drive because you won't wear your glasses because you think they make you look bad??? Tell me I've got that wrong. Please. Because you know if that's true I will have no choice whatsoever but to giggle myself senseless. *poke*

Hippy!! - Welcome back from the land of 'ohmygodI'msobusyIdon'tevenhavetimetobreatheanymor e!' :D Or at least I'm glad you could spare a second to let us know you're ok. Sounds like your plate runneth over. I hope things calm down for you soon, that kind of stress makes it REAL hard to stay focused and on track, I know. OTOH, great news that you got a scale victory out of the deal!! Am I the only one who really likes the stinky little brussel sprouts? I don't know what it is about them, but I really like the little buggers. Little cabbages. :lol: Oh.. and my horse is a pasture boarder, soooooo unless you like sleeping under the moon and stars, I don't think that will work. Jolly, on the other hand - now HER horse has a STALL. Fancy. ;) Just push the horse muffins out of the way and it might be pretty comfy.

Ok. I did two miles this morning, and I managed to run spurts of three tenths, one tenth, then two tenths. So making progress! Even if it's slow, that's ok. I am really jonesing to be able to run a full half mile without stopping, though. I know I was there, I can get there again. I want really badly to be able to run 5K. I'll get there, too.

Still up a pound from my goal. I have till 02/02/04 to drop it. I'm very OP with food, water, and exercise... so now I just have to be patient. *argh tears hair out* :o Not my strong point. I spent the entire time this morning on my treadmill daydreaming about riding. Obviously I need to get my rear out to the stables. My pony probably thinks I died. *sigh* Spring will come. It will. Some day. *whine mope* God I'm so spoiled. Tonight return that saddle and the rubber bits that didn't fit Emmy, tomorrow morning EARLY while it's still dark and cold and yuck go to WalMart and do the grocery shopping, come home and do treadmill, then off to the stables. Righto. For now, I suppose I'd better get some work done.

Hey all. what a week. I am glad it is over. I am way off with eating today. I will just admit I have been bad, and not even start to rationalize, Raven. I did not make it to the barn or gym, due to the weather and roads being crappy, but did get in a bit of a workout by shoveling, even though it wasn't my turn.

Hippee, you are welcome to share the stall, if you don't mind a horse nibbling on you all night. He likes company. It was real interesting the couple times I have had to borrow "his" bathroom. He wants to help.

Have a good night all. Talk to you later.

i though if i was thin that the all my problems will go away..wrong..It is never about the weight...it is all about the mind.

Ah Tracy, you must have known that place I've been in all week - you too Raven from the sounds of your posts and journals. In trying to hang on to the bits of motivation I have, I've also been doing some soul searching as to how to win the battle (I think I have a pretty good handle on how to lose it - the battle, obviously not the weight - from past experience). I've been reading and making mental notes at the things make people successful and the things that make them fail. Isn't it funny how there are a zillion books on eating - low carb, low fat, vegetarian, Mediteranean, diabetic - but how to overcome our own thoughts - the hardest part, we have to figure out on our own. Because the biggest battle in my opinion is fighting yourself. Resisting the temptation to eat the wrong stuff or too much of things or take the easy way out or use any number of excuses not to do what we already know we should be doing. I know some people have commented that they think they sabotage themselves because deep inside they are afraid to face the world as a fit and trim person without the cover of the fat to hide behind. I think for me, it comes down to not wanting to deny myself something I think I want - might be wanting to watch TV instead of exercise, might be wanting a Coke right here and now and not this bland tasteless water at the moment. So for me, I have had to admit that there are some things which I am apparently not mature enough to handle when it comes to self control. So I have to identify them and avoid them until I can try to tackle them again with self control. Chocolate chip cookies are one of my triggers. I love them and I can't imagine the rest of my life never having a few warm cookies and a glass of cool milk. I was so glad to see the slice and bakes in the dairy case. Since I can't trust myself to eat only one or two and leave the rest of the plate alone, now when I really want them, I pop 2 in the toaster oven and I sit very quietly when they are done, nibble at them and enjoy every bite. And when they are gone, they are gone. I promised myself that if I made 4 and ate all of them at once, I could never buy them again. I did the same with exercise. I'd love to work out for an hour and 1/2 each night - that's probably what I really need to burn the pounds off faster but it's not realistic. I can't devote that much time unless I abandoned 3FC altogether. But I CAN do at least 30 - 45 minutes. And while I'm sitting at my desk working, I do leg stretches and hold the tummy in for inside out sit ups and found all sorts of things I can do to get a little oomph into the day once I started thinking about it. So I'm making little changes, trying to form new habits and mostly trying to think before doing things unconsciously. So far it's working but we're only 3 weeks into the new year. I'm scared that something will come along and I'll be back in the ditch again instead of walking next to the wagon if not riding on it most every day. And I'm also trying very hard not to let the scale be my only means of measuring success because that nasty piece of metal really messes with my head.

So these are my deep thoughts for the night :chin:

Life sounds kind of hectic for all of you chicks right now - hope things smooth out a little over the weekend. Take some time to enjoy - even if it's snuggling under the afghan with a nice cup of tea and a good book or movie!

Good Morning!

Jolly, you gave me a good laugh this morning! I'm still tickled, :lol: I can't imagine a big horse trying to help! That's just because I would not get that close to one! They are beautiful and if they are on the other side of the fence I love to pet them but that's it. I'm scared to death of them, I know that's crazy! I really don't know why....maybe because...well, I don't know! We had horses when I was a kid and I tried to ride once but always felt like I was going to fall. They would get all ancy so I just started staying on the other side of the fence. Who Knows!

Happy, you are so right. I think it's a constant battle when it comes to weightloss. In my mind I imagine what it will be like to be thin, healthy, to feel great and I thin I want it so bad I can't stand it but I'm not good at self control. I'm a big sweet eater and I ask myself what I want most, to look good or to eat that piece of cake and the sweets usually win. You know, alot of people say deprivation of your favorite foods isn't the way to go but to have them in moderation, I'm sure you know this but for me moderation doesn't seem to exist. I can't eat a bite or two of a candy bar, I want the whole thing so therefore I eat it. It's definately, for me, being a case of what I want when I want it. Just wanted to let you know you aren't the only one fighting that battle.

Okay, time to get my started, to everyone else have a great day and I'll check in later!

Wow. Happy, you are so right about how there are all these zillions of "diet" books out there, but nothing that gets to the heart of why we overeat in the first place. But why should there be? The diet/fitness/nutrition industries make millions, if not billions, of dollars off of people like us. Hey, we're gullible. We'll try anything.

From personal experience, and listening to everyone here, I think impulse control is something we all deal with. And, not to be contradictory Happy, I don't think that is the bottom line answer to why we are overweight. I think it is a symptom. Something happens in our life, good or bad, which threatens us - who we are, how we see ourselves, the way we do things - and we want ot get back to our comfort zone. So by doing something that has comforted us in the past (eating, shopping, drinking, whatever) we put ourselves back in the habits that we are comfortable with.

I am dealing with that right now on many levels. I am trying very hard to improve my spending habits and budget. So every once in awhile that inner three year old comes roaring out and I want to buy buy buy. I had the urge to drive to IKEA today and get that darned futon. I do not have the money right now. I have no business getting it right now. As soon as my taxes come in, and if I pick up a couple more extra shifts, I can get it and not feel guilty. But I really have to talk myself out of it. Eating healthy is adaily battle. And changing how I see myself as a woman, a person? Well, that road is even longer than my weight loss.

So I don't think it is just about lack of self control or impulse control for any of us. It is about how to change our comfort zones slowly and gently so we don't have to jump back into them.
OK. My deep thoughts for the day :( Have a good day everyone.

Hey you lovely wonderful inspirational women, you...

This is a quick one (I hope) because I'm still in the middle of a busy day, but just wanted to come in here for a quick read and post and boost to my motivation. Trying to use the time excuse to get out of working out. But it's not gonna fly. It's been SO long since I've been able to do any real grocery shopping that this paycheck with it's extra boost from the raise was the time to do it right, and WalMart was the place to go. I got HALF of the things I needed, but by that time my basket was overflowing, so I said fine, ok .. I'll get this and come back tomorrow morning again. Bah. I left here at 7:30, it's now 11:45. I've done the run, put away the stuff, gotten the meat repackaged and in the freezer, had my coffee and cereal (ahhhh Raisin Nut Bran, my weekend treat), fed the kids a donut or two (their weekend treat) and quickly checked my e-mail. Now it's time to suck down some water (oops) and hit the treadmill. Then a quick rinse in the shower, and off to the stables. Back here, a real shower with shaving and everything, and off to get the kids their fast food (a MAJOR treat since I'm eating out tonight) then off to dinner with the Boy. God help me, I'm so anxious about this. I would rather we weren't going out, but I promised him we would. I'm doing so well on food, and I still haven't lost that pound though I know I will any morning now... so we shall see how I handle this crisis.

Happy - I think you and I are really in the same place in a big way. Struggling to figure out what in our heads is causing us to gain weight, eat inappropriately. I too find that instant gratification is a big issue, because I can even hear that little kid throwing a tantrum in my head sometimes. "But I want it, and I want it NOW!! I deserve it! I've worked hard to earn it!" *sigh* But I know too that when I think of being in a situation where intimacy is involved, I get extremely anxious. Probably some of it has to do with what happened to me as a child. Maybe a lot of it. One side of me wants to be attractive and well .. you know. But part of me runs screaming from that in fear of my own behavior, fear of my partner's feelings for me (be they disrespect, disgust, etc.), and fear of my own emotions. Sex has been a weapon far too many times in my life. And if I'm fat, I don't have to worry about that, and can blame it on the men in my life that they don't want me, the jerks, they should love me and want me no matter what I look like. Bah, it's me who doesn't want me. ANYway.. my lord look at me ramble on.

Hippy - I have to confess to feeling bad for anyone afraid of horses. A healthy respect is a good thing, don't get me wrong, but fear... It's not that I don't respect that fear, I just feel bad. My horse has been one of the things that has truly helped me deal with a lot of emotions this year. He's a focus, a big, strong, warm rock of an animal that I can lean on and cry into his fur. There isn't any connection quite like it that I've ever felt before. I love my dogs, I love my snakes even, but... that click between my horse and I is something completely unique. Thank God for horses. I know my boyfriend doesn't understand at all, and I know, frankly, he's rather jealous.

Jolly - :nono: C'mon girl. I know things have been stressful and hectic lately. And yes, shoveling is really good exercise, it is, I know. :lol: You're doing really good on getting yourself back into a good routine on the eating and working out. Don't give up now, don't get discouraged or complacent, keep pushing it! I'm going to drag you along with me this year if it kills me!! ;) (Road trip!!!) Lord I want that new truck. Argh.

Ok enough blathering on ... I must go do the treadmill thing. I must go ride, the weather is wonderful!!! And I must (groan, whine) go out to dinner. Who woulda ever thunk I'd be complaining about going to The Outback for dinner! Woe is me. :D

Happy weekend!!

HA! Jolly we cross posted. *hug* I agree with you on the symptom thing. For me the things causing those symptoms are big and dark and scary. I'll kill them eventually. I will indeed.

Happy Saturday Everyone.

Wow I have missed some deep discussion this week. Its been quite a week for everyone.

Jolly thank you so much for the chuckle of the horse helping you out. :lol:
That is way to funny.

Raven is this the weekend of your date night with Richard? Hope you are able to get out and see your pony this weekend. That is the problem with where we are boarding now is that unless it is extremely nice, Kristi can't ride Lucky, Good thing she still has lessons every week.

Hippy hope that you have fun with your nephew this weekend. Does your hubby and your brother get along well? Or are you having to listen to them also in your hectic week?

Tracy, I also am waiting to hear if you don't drive because of your glasses. ;) I hate mine also, but I do wear them. How are you feeling? Did your kids manage to miss the bug that you had?

Happy, my downfall is also chocolate chip cookies. I have gone cold turkey with this. I have not bought or made any since November. Maybe one day I will try and have one.

Well my little nephews ended up in critical care intensive care up in the city on Monday this last week. They got that RSV virus that is so dangerous to babies. They were not expected to live. They have pulled through, but we spent alot of time up in the city with them. They should be home sometime next week.

Well I must run and get a few things done.

Have a great day everyone.
Kathy

You know i just love you guys..i rant..and it is cool wiht you..thanks for being such amzing women..Truly you all got your heads on super straight..well from where i can see..but you know kinda fuzzy..lol

Oh lucky i am so sorry about your nephews..my prayers go out to them. My firl had it at 13 months..it was awful but the best news is that they are in the hospital..for the danger is the dehydration..so prayer and hug to all fo you..i will be waiting for some more news!!

Raven i feel in that boat too..i mean..hello..what is wrong wiht me..three pieces of bread for b'fast is way too much..why cannot i see that??I know emotions trigger me..i just do not get it..ok..my life is not perfect..and yes i would UPGRADE my hubby ..but not so bad when you hear other people lives..sigh..

Jolly iw ould kill for an ikea..i mena..hello people here do n ot even know what that is..sometimes..for me..i think spending just a wee bit more on one good piece would have been a whole heck of a lot better..than the couches I bought a few years ago that now are splitting...me..never going to buy a diet book again..i am fed up wiht them..if they worked so great..then why are so many of so fat?? Boy you hit the nail wiht the hammer today!!

Hippy is is a constant battle..i mean..just becasue you meet your gaol..well it still means we have to maintain...so any plan or prgram has to be doable in and out 356 a year..right..that is another great piece of advice..super great stuff today

Happy..i felt the light go on when i read your post too. Hello a million books,. a million pills a million shakes..new tapes you know..the industry does not want us to lose weight..they would all go out of business...think about it. If we figure what or why we eat..maybe at that time..we can say..ok..no..i will not do this right now..maybe saying no..just once..will break it.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh some great stuff today...thank you ladies!!

Ps got a slow cooker todya..anybody got any good recipies??

The supersta)(ie molly shannon in the catholic school girl skit!!)

G'morning ladies. Oof. I ate a lot at dinner last night. About 1/3 of a bloomin' onion, and I ordered the Queensland Chicken and Shrimp - I ate mostly just the chicken and shrimp with a little bit of the pasta. Of course I had to order dessert, so ate about half of one of the Cinnamon Apple Oblivion things. It was absolutely wonderful, and I woke up feeling completely hung over.

Outback doesn't provide nutrition data on it's food, so far as I can tell. I'm going to have to guesstimate, but I already know I went just a WEE bit over my ideal last night. :o It *looks* like I was at about 2000 calories total yesterday. This ONLY because (I'm a bad girl, but...) the only other thing I'd had to eat all day long was a serving of cereal in the morning. I'd been running around so much all day that I hadn't had a chance to eat. So, not that two wrongs make a right, but... well. pft. :lol: My tummy is still rumbly and trying to get back to normal, this morning I'm right back on plan and happy to be that way. I had my serving of cereal, three big glasses of water already, and my coffee. Lunch and dinner will be light and big on veggies.

I did three miles yesterday on the treadmill, and had a bit of an attitude shift. I rode my pony, too, so got almost everything done I was supposed to. Today I may give myself a break from working out. I'm doing laundry, got the dusting done, need to vacuum and clean the kitchen counters, but got part of the bathroom cleaned. The weather has gotten disgusting again, temperature is going down, it's been raining all day, and the wind is blowing. I guess I just need to be happy I had a good day yesterday for riding.

Lucky - How very scary about the little boys!! I'm so glad they're ok now, and I hope they continue to thrive. How is your new pony doing? How old is he now? What was the final name you settled on?

Tracy - You should know you can come here and vent.. that's one of the most amazing things about this place. We can come here and unload instead of eating it. ;) I hope things are smoothing out for you.

Well, it's Sunday. As usual the weekend went far too quickly. I hope to have a relaxing day and get to be fairly early so I'm up tomorrow, ready to run, ready to tackle this week. Hope everyone's weekend was wonderful!

Ooooooowwwwwwww!!!! :cry: :cry: :cry: This rotten tooth of mine. Whatever the dentist did last week did NO good whatsoever. I am in MASSIVE pain. The kind of pain where if I was an animal I would be hunting down anything in sight and slaughtering it. The Davocette pain meds he gave me do nothing, and I have taken as many as 5 Motrin at once just to dull the pain enough that I don't want to put my head through a wall. I guess this tooth will be coming out tomorrow which presents a problem of it's own. I seem to have had this nerve problem with my teeth over the last 2 years. Bust the tooth, get a crown, the nerve gets inflamed and eventually the tooth has to come out. I am missing 2 teeth on the lower right side that he pulled 6 months ago. It takes time for the jaw to heel before they can replace those teeth. So I have nothing to chew on the right side. This current tooth is the bottom LEFT side. If he pulls it, how am I going to eat???? I have found that no matter how much soft food you eat, you really don't feel full until you've eaten some solid food. This is sooooooo frustrating. My tooth, face, jaw and ear hurt - cripes even my LIPS hurt! My husband said maybe it's time for a new dentist but I really think it's just my body. Maybe it's just a test to see if I can keep my resolve.

So I'm going to bear down, manage to get something done around here and now blow another day away. I'll be back later when I can think straight...

Oh Happy, I'm so sorry! I thought maybe it was under control now. I tend to agree with your husband, I think you need a second opinion. I'm big on getting as many options as possible out on the table before you make a decision.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope it resolves the pain issue quickly for you!!

Good morning all

Just popping in quick to wish everyone a happy monday. I am wishing I could hibernate today. Its cold. -34C and then add the wind chill -44.

Raven can you help us out? We got a baby cockatiel, and it is still being handfed. Question - how do you teach it to eat by itself? Kristi decided on Top Secret as her babies name.

Tracy, Jolly, Hippy, Happy have a great day. (Happy hope yours is pain free also.)

Kathy

Ooooooo Kathy I'm so sorry the temps are diving for you. I can say I'm sure glad it's not me. *ahem* I found this page on handfeeding, and they go into weaning to regular pelleted food down towards the bottom. Looks like a good information page in general.

http://www.lafeber.com/feeding_instructions.asp

I never had to handfeed babies, nursed a few adults back though. I hope you have great luck with the baby!

This morning was a little frustrating for me. I woke up later than I should have, the dog got into the trash, and the weather is not cooperating. Temp is dropping, and the rain will start, so we'll have a nice little ice buildup on the roads. I'm hoping I can bug out of work early so I can avoid the worst of it. And if I get home a little early, I can run tonight since I didn't have time this morning. I'm still suffering from my overindulgence on Saturday weight-wise, but I'm hoping to see that drop off, as well as that lingering pound remaining between me and my goal for this month. I know I didn't get really going till mid-month, but it would be really nice to meet goal anyway.

Hope everyone's Monday is going well.

Hey sometimes a little outbakc is just right..i bet your tummy was like..ok..i want my diet back..lol every once in a while no big thing!! plus look at you on that readmill YOU go!! I am thinking how I can sneak one in w/o the hubby finding out. My stairmaster was fried by him trying to fix it..hmm

Oh happy I am so sorry you are in pain. Tooth pain is the worst. Can he not call you in somethig elsie. Bless you. Would rahter have cold than a tooth ache. so so sorry!!


Lucky,.brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..i mena it is what 27 here..and I am cold but 34 brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..what an awesome name for the wee one. Be interested to know about the feeding.

My hubby is home and i am going nuts..for goodness sake sun..MELT the blooming ice

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr

Hi all and happy Monday ? Lucky, I love your baby's new name. How great!

Well, we have crappy weather here too. I am leaving at 4 to go home, get some sleep, and do a 3rd shift. I am actually glad that is the plan, and that I am not scheduled to go to the barn tonight. Brrrrr.

Well, I gained a pound and a half this week. Not good, but I have made some baby steps in other areas. One day, one decision at a time.

Stay warm, drive safe, and have a good day.

I called the dentist this morning but he was still out of town from his weekend trip. He did prescribe me antibiotics - should have know this was an abscess and I am seeing him first thing in the morning. Everything has tightened up in sympathy so now my jaw, throat, head, neck and back hurt too. Tracy, I would take the flu any day over this. I think I would feel better if I could pop my head out the door tomorrow and it would be sunny and 70 degrees but the forecast is more bitter cold and some additional snow it seems. Sorry to all you ladies down south who got ice today. Be careful out there!

I didn't see the posts until late but Kathy my sister had to wean her baby cockatiel - I can ask her how if you like.

Just a quick check in for me tonight - I'm going to try and get some disruptive sleep now.

Have a good day tomorrow - stay warm and safe!

Oops, I forgot it was Monday. New focus for this week -

1) Eat on Plan or practice portion control

or

2) focus on eliminating impulse spending. Before you buy anything this week, ask yourself "do I really NEED this?" If so get it, if not perhaps delay your purchase until you've given it a bit more thought.

Hey all. Do we love this weather or what???? I am sitting here at work. I think I will only be picking up a few more shifts, then I should have my positions filled - at least for the moment. We will see.

I am working to remember one decision at a time. And to focus on my long term goals, not immediate gratification. Writing down everything I spend is really an eye opener. I see how much I spend on extra stuff - mainly food. So I try to remember my house and weight goals whenever I have the urge to "just pick up a little treat." It has helped. Right now I will take any help I can get. That is another reason why I need to cut out the third shifts. I am just spending the money, using it to splurge instead of save, and I eat more on thirds. I am trying for healthy things, but it still adds calories.

So, I guess I am going to tackle both of your goals for the week, Happy. I hope the antibiotics kick in soon, and you start to feel better.

Everyone else, have a great night/morning/day - whatever.

Good morning! It's a better one than yesterday. :D

Tracy - Oh yes, my tummy is very happy to be back OP. I felt bloated and stuffed. The food was so good, but the consequences were not so great. It took my system two full days to get back to something approaching normal. I got my treadmill used for $300. It isn't the greatest, most awesome thing in the world, but it works. That's all I really cared about. The treadmill is the one thing besides my freeweights that I find I will use consistently. It was a very good purchase for me. Things still strained with the husband? I hope it's going better for you.

Jolly - It is so hard to have all these goals - financial, emotional, physical - and to focus well enough on all of them all at once to actually make huge progress in any one area. I can't do it at all. I find I really need to focus hard on one area for a long time before it becomes even remotely second nature enough for me to tackle something else. It's frustrating and I'm not a patient person, but geez, I guess that's another area I have to work on, eh? :lol: That you keep tackling those goals from new angles and keep making progress is a wonderful thing.

Happy - Oh OUCH! I'm so sorry! Gads I hate stuff like that. I've been remarkably blessed on the tooth front. My mom had to deal with abscesses a lot, and I remember how much it hurt her. I hope now that you've figured it out it will be taken care of and GONE. I'm doing pretty good on the eating OP and the portion control finally. It took me a couple weeks to get it reined in. Impulse spending, though... boy, that's a good one. I need to work on that ALL the time.

I'm making progress, and I'm happy about it. I increased my distance on the treadmill today to 1.86 miles in 30 minutes, which means I'm moving a little faster. I managed to run 7 tenths of a mile and a half, which is also an improvement. AND I dropped a half a pound. I have 5 days to drop the other half a pound to meet goal. You better believe I'm going to be running my butt off. OP with food, OP with water, and I missed one day of working out. It doesn't seem to have hurt my progress, though.

The weather is supposed to break today, clearing up and slowly warming up till it's in the 50s this weekend. And so far, no rain called for till Monday or Tuesday. *hope pray* That would be a GREAT riding weekend!!

Time to get some work done. Have a great day, everyone!

Morning Girls! Just a fasr post before I lose electricity again! Ice storm Sunday night, 3/4 of an inch on everything. Tree branches falling all over my yard, little limbs everywhere! Dense fog advisory Monday, more freezing rain last night now a couple inches of snow. Not going to warm up until Thursday. No school today and both big guys are home from work so everyone is safe.

Just wanted to check in and say hi to everyone. Lights are flickering, gotta run!

Hey all. :( Not doing so well today. I lost the lunch battle. It is so stupid too, because I know it is due to being over tired, and I was frustrated. So, instead of eating healthy, and affordably, I did a super - plus- sized McDonald's run with a couple of candy bars thrown in for good measure. I won't even try to rationalize, Raven. There is no excuse. And the whole time I am eating, I know why I am, and that I shouldn't be. Sigh.

On a happier note, though, I did make it to the gym today, even though I worked last night. And, I had a talk with one of my group home managers, and asked him NOT to bring me breakfast when I work at his home. It is incredibly sweet of him, but he doesn't need to spend the money, and I don't need the calories.

I think I am going to leave a tad early, and skip the barn tonight. I am going tomorrow, and tonight the weather is still a bit rough, and my mood is even rougher. No need to take it out on my pony.

Have a good one all. Drive safe.

Good morning all. Where is everyone? It feels a tad lonely. I hope things are going ok for you. I am so tired this morning, and not even sure why, as I got to bed decent last night. I may not make the gym - we shall see.

Hope to hear from you all later :)

Hi everyone.

What is the only thing that can halt a trucking company? -40 degree weather. Wind chills of -50. Raven does Alaska even get this cold?? We don't so I don't know why we have been blessed with this, but I'm thinking that we will all go to a tanning bed tomorrow seems as a vacation is out of the question.

Happy did you get to see the dentist today? I sure hope that the pills kick in and start to take the pain away. That would be great if you could ask your sister how to wean this bird. It is going to drive me crazy, it keeps screaming, and it can't possibly be hungry - it took us awhile but we figured out it wanted to be picked up.

Hippy sorry to hear about your power. Hope all is restored quickly for you so that things can get back to normal. On the plus side I hope you all enjoyed your unscheduled day together.

Jolly that is so nice that someone brings you breakfast. Even if you have to ask him not to. It is nice to be thought of. Way to go on making it to the gym.

Tracy how are things going? I don't know if you can sneak in a treadmill, just hint for the rest of the year that it is what you want for your birthday or Christmas. Just keep hinting. Or check out the papers and see if you can find one that someone is trying to sell.

Raven look at you go. I am most impressed. You are doing so wonderfully well on that treadmill. The kids will have to come out to the garage to visit you soon. :lol: Actually it is amazing how knowing only half a pound to go to reach goal will give you an extra little kick to lose it. I am so proud of you that you are doing so well. I am still trying to get all the kinks out of the new routine around here, so am mopping away at work. (to fast music to help me go faster.) Thanks for the website for the bird. This one eats more than it says it is suppose to. Oh well we will get this worked out also. The people we got this one from say that they have one that is 5 and they still hand feed it, plus it eats on its own. I sure hope we can wean this one as it is time consuming to feed them on demand.

Well I must run and get ready for work. Have a happy Wednesday everyone.

Good morning chickiedoodles...

I am in a great mood this morning. I managed to break the running goal I'd set for myself by two weeks. This morning I ran OVER a half mile without stopping. I actually did six tenths, and of course my lungs are paying me back now. *cough hack*

I am also really beginning to understand so much more about myself, the reasons I stayed fat and angry, and how to let it go. As I start to do that, the fear of losing weight is slowly diminishing, though it still exists. It took me a year to get to this point, a year of 3FC and introspection and wanting so badly to figure this out. It really is all about doing the exercise and watching the food and water. The scale will come bumping along behind, but as long as I stay OP, the weight will come off. It really will. Maybe at its own pace sometimes, but that's just the way it is. I can't force the scale to change, but I can make myself stay OP.

Jolly - I wanted to come online, really I did!! A contractor somewhere managed to eat through 30 feet of Bellsouth cable, and we lost internet and phone here at work. Was a major bummer. I know I was fighting fatigue too. The weather doesn't help. That food you ate yesterday probably doesn't help, either. Jolly - why are you doing this to yourself? The things you talk about are more symptoms than causes. Why do you continue to sabotage your efforts? Why are you holding yourself back?

Hippy - Ack! Hope you get the electricity back on soon!

Lucky - Well in Anchorage no, it doesn't get that cold. But up in Fairbanks, yes, absolutely. Sometimes much colder. Without any wind chill, you can easily expect air tempuratures of at least -45 for at least 2-3 weeks out of every year, and that's inside the city limits. The outlying areas get hit harder, and I do remember days of -65, nearly -70. Again, that is without windchill. That's when the truck tires freeze, the trees explode, and running to the outhouse REALLY wakes you up in the morning!! :lol: Then lets not even talk about temperatures up on the North Slope oil fields where I worked for so long. That's on the edge of nowhere, and the word cold doesn't even mean anything anymore. And THAT is why I live in Georgia now!! :p I hope you get the baby bird thing figured out! I think handraising a cockatiel would be so fun! If I had the time. Which I don't. *blink* I wish I had something physical I could do at work... I spend 90% of the day in front of the computer. Ohwell, at least I'm a geek and enjoy that kind of thing.

Happy hump day, folks!

Hi peoples,
Brrr sure is cold out here tho not 40 below like you Lucky. It's going to be a loooonnnnggg February. My body does not like winter.

Lucky, my sister got her bird at 2 months. It had learned to eat pellets from watching the other birds in the cage. She said the baby pellets were really messy and she put a regular seed cup in for a few days and gradually moved the baby pellets out. When she'd feed him the liquid he'd squawk like crazy but she gradually cut out the liquid feedings as she monitored his food intake. I think she had him weaned in 3 weeks. Here's another article on weaning - http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww50eii.htm I didn't realize they ate so many things and another article from a breeder said it's best to have them eat more than just seed for longevity. My sister said she didn't mind hand feeding Sydney but most people found it too much of a hassle and let the breeder do it. I guess those birds make quite a bit of noise, don't they? But my sister loves them. She's had 2 and is pining for another I think. Good luck to you.

Raven, I think you are right on the mark about staying on plan being the most important focus and not paying much attention to the scale. I have gotten off base these past few weeks and I need to get my momentum back again. The lure of excuses is getting more tempting so it's time to buckle down. But I think you have hit your stride and I will follow in your footsteps. Wait a sec, what do you mean "TREES EXPLODE" - from the cold? :yikes:

Jolly, I hate to say it but I think you have to put McD's on your "Do Not Call" list. I know myself, I can't walk in there without getting a Big Mac so I've had to force myself to just drive past it because otherwise I'm doomed. I can understand being hungry and rushed for time, Subway would be a better choice. And one doom leads to another, that's the bigger problem I think. If it was one meal once a month, that's one thing but it seems like one snowball starts a whole downhill avalanche. It was also a good move on your part to ask the manager not to bring in breakfast anymore.

Hippy, hope the weather has cleared up for you a bit. Ice is the worst. I'd rather have the snow and cold. It was bad driving yesterday but I think today was worse with the unseen layer of thin ice on the roads - black ice they call it. Lots of spin outs and accidents today, more than with all the snow we got yesterday.

I am doing better with the tooth now. The antibiotics are working and I can eat now. The tooth is not excruciating like it was, just feels now like someone cold cocked me in the jaw but I know that's part of the routine. I just hope this clears up for good because I absolutely cannot go through this again.

Past my bedtime so y'all be careful tomorrow.

*sigh* I WISH it were that kind. Stop it, you'll make me blush.

I met my weight loss goal. *dance* I lost 5 pounds before the end of the month. *gigglesnort*

Off to the treadmill, more later.

Go Raven, Go Raven, Go Raven!!!!! Congrats on making your goal woman!

:cheer: :cb: :cheer: :cb: :cheer: :cb:

GOOOOOOOOOOOO RAVEN :dancer: What a great accomplishment!!!! I haven't weighed, too busy going crazy! I hate being iced in but things have improved. The kids are back in school but they are calling for a little snow tonight and a bigger storm Monday. Guess we will see.

Kathy, to answer your question from days ago, my hubby and my brother get along great. They help eachother out and so on so it makes life around here alot better. I can't imagine if they didn't get along.

Happy, did you ever read the South Beach book? What did you think? Do you follow a plan or just control portions?

What about you Raven? How did you lose the 5 pounds? Portion control and exercise?

Jolly, hope you aren't feeling lonely here anymore! Isn't it odd that we eat things we shouldn't and we know that the whole time we are eating it? I do the same thing. I think alot of mine has to do with my mood. I sometimes get a piss on it attitude and eat what I want when I want it but am always sorry about it later.

Tracy, How are you??????

I have been out of sorts this week, no excuse but I'm useing it as one. Everyone has been home because of the weather, my nepher was here an extra day because Chris couldn't get him home. Anyway, I have spent alot of time in the kitchen cooking for all of these guys. Quick and easy stuff that isn't healthy at all and I would eat it too instead of taking the time to make myself something different just because I wanted to hurry up and get out of that damn kitchen!!! We picked our vacation dates and I really want to lose 30 pounds by then. I am refocusing and preparing raw veggies and stuff again hopeing to get myself back on track. I know I can do this, I think it's just a matter of getting everything worked out. I am still adjusting to having an extra person to cook for and clean up after and when Alex is here that adds another one. I love having him and my brother, I am just so use to it just being the 3 of us and my routine is all screwed up.

I'm really hopeing that I can get all of you to help me out. I need for you guys to help me stay focused. I'm not very good at holding myself accountable on if I eat right or exercise so you all stay on my *** and make me tell....Okay?

Gotta run...talk to you later!

Hey Hippy, I'd like to lose at least 20 pounds by mid April for my vacation and birthday, so we can team up together as a challenge if you like. I'm sure Raven would be happy to be our exercise :coach: :drill:

I have the South Beach book but haven't had time to read it yet though my sister just got it and said it's a quick read. She is considering it for her and her husband and we talked about buddying up on it. I am following a diet I started in 2002 which is very similar to the SBD. I try not to eat processed foods (too much salt for me), cut back on white stuff as much as I can - white bread, pasta, sugar tho I haven't cut it out completely. I just try to eat a balance of fruit, veggies and protein. I did lose a few pounds this month but I attribute it to portion control. I am not a person to log every bite into Fitday and figure out my calories. When I started up again in January I had some long talks with myself to figure out where my problem areas are. Giving in to cravings, late night nibbling, no regular exercise and eating more than I should even if my food choices are basically healthy. I started measuring my portions and using the smallest plates in the house. A tiny dish for sides like salad or fruit or veggies, a luncheon plate instead of a dinner place and smaller cups for my coffee and milk. I'm trying to stick to only 1 Coke a week and even then, I don't finish off the can. Sugar is a big trigger for me - the more I get the more I want. It always sends me on a bender or makes me look for things to nibble on at night. I am also trying to exercise at least 30 minutes 5 times a week - walking, free weights and Pilates. I need to start my yoga again to stretch my tight muscles. So I'm not on a formal plan, just trying to do good things. I have it easier on the food front as there's only the 2 of us and my husband eats pretty much whatever I put in front of him. I just make minor variations. He gets corn, more potatoes than me and the full fat salad dressing. He likes ice cream and cookies - I just buy him the stuff I don't like so it's not so much of a temptation. I also found that I really have to plan my meals ahead of time and know what I have available to eat. When I just stick my head in the refrigerator - I'm doomed for failure.

Sorry to be so long winded tonight. :o

Hope you all stay warm and safe and comfy. The only good thing about time flying by at such speed is that winter will be over soon although when it's this cold that's hard to believe.

Good morning! It's Friday! Wee!

Happy - :lol: Yes, when the sap expands in the trees as it freezes, the tree can actually explode. It sounds very much like a gunshot. It's pretty cool, and I know it happens wherever temps get real low. And I don't think you'd like me to be your exercise coach, I'm kind of a hardass. It's kind of stupid, I know, especially when I've gone through so much, but the harder I work, the less tolerance I have for slacking off. The more I accomplish, the harder I get on myself. It almost seems like some sort of internal mechanism of setting the bar higher and higher till I fail. I'm trying not to fall into that this time. So far not doing too badly. How is that tooth? Sounds like you might have whipped that one into submission! I sure hope so. 20 pounds by mid-April?? :eek: That's a hefty goal. Lets say we use till April 16. That's 11 weeks. That's 1.82 pounds per week. I know that doesn't sound like much, but ... are you up to it? Gads I'm such a troublemaker.

Hippy - How did I lose it? By making a comittment to drink my water, work out at LEAST 5 days a week, and by making sure I stayed within 1200-1400 calories a day. I have a problem of going off the deep end and not eating at all. I had to use fitday to teach myself how much I could eat safely so I didn't suffer anxiety attacks. For me it was always all or nothing. I ate like a pig or starved myself. Neither approach is real good for healthy fat loss. I don't seem to suffer from the food triggers - I seem to be able to incorporate a little of whatever I like into my diet and not have that switch on any compulsions to binge. I had to learn how much protein I could stand in my diet, how many carbs, how much fat. I learned that I must have some sort of treat at the end of the day, or I feel resentful and deprived and the next day I'm hitting the chocolate in righteous indignation. :rolleyes: I've had to learn a lot, but it's coming together slowly. The next big challenge for me is eating out. My boyfriend likes to go out once a week or so as our "alone time" and I've been avoiding that like the plague for the last year. Well, I think I have quite a bit under control, now it's time to face that monster. We'll go somewhere like Friday's or Chili's where they have the lighter fare on the menu, and I can get the nutritional content breakdown and start learning what I can and can't eat when I go out. He's been really understanding, and even last night when I talked to him about it he offered to stay home, but I told him I can't hide for the rest of my life. I have to learn how to do this. So... wish me luck! I know that when myt routine is all jumbled up like yours is right now it's SO hard for me to stay on track. I need so much focus to do this right now. One year it will be second nature, but for now I'm still having to think about everything, plan everything, and any interruptions really mess up the program. I hope you can get things into a workable routine.

This morning was a rather humorous one for me. I inadvertantly yanked the headphone adaptor out of my stereo, and it went flying, of course the stereo is turned up LOUD so I'm now waking the dead... Took me a while to find the adaptor, and by the time I got everything all hooked up and I was ready to go again, the treadmill had reset the numbers. I figured I'd done about 20 minutes and needed to do about 10 more. So what happens? I can't even begin to make myself get off that treadmill till the clock says I've been going for 30 minutes. Can we say slightly oc? I got in a nice little workout, though. Did a lot of incline, trying to get that rear in shape, you know? Plus it really helps the calves. Stepping on the dogs ball at the top of the stairs while I'm running to the bedroom to get the spare adaptor, running into the laundry room door on the way back OUT of my room, and nearly falling down the stairs and killing myself all must figure into the calories burned somehow. :p

And after what I really thought was an excessive dinner last night (till I logged it into fitday and found out it wasn't) I weighed in this morning with another half pound loss. I hope it stays gone. I kinda like this trend. :D

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!!

Throwing caution to the wind here, and making a new goal for February. I want to be at 185 by the end of the month. I might be able to drop that other half pound by Monday, which would put me at 192. That means I'd have to lose 7 (*faint*) pounds in 4 weeks. That puts me more in line with what you're trying to do, Happy... Are you with me? That's a half pound more a week than my original goal. But lately I've been doing so well that I really think I might be able to actually do this, and it would feel SO good to be back where I was when I fell off the wagon up in Alaska so badly. Then I could go back to my originally stated 5 pound goal for each month, but darn I want to be losing "virgin fat" as Linda calls it. :lol:

Jolly - Should we start a new thread for the new month?

You got it girl - I'm with you. And I could use a bit of a hardass training coach too. I also hate this back tracking to get back to where I was a few months ago but that just goes to show you where giving in to the inner demons will get you.

I am going to continue to focus on portion control but like you, I think the difference will come in really stepping up the workouts. Better go clean that basement tonight so I can get the treadmill rev'd up. But do I HAVE to put it on a high incline she whines... only if you want results you loser :drill:

And yes, let's start a new thread for the new month.

:rofl: Happy. Ok girlie girl... ;) Since we both know we really can't control the scale, and we both know all we really can control is what we put in our mouths and how we work our bodies... shall we play a game? :s:

A distance challenge for each week, perhaps? :tread: Or? Suggestions are welcome. The loser owes the winner a foot rub. :D

:s: :s: :s: :s: Raven you are such a :devil:

May I call you Evil Trainer - with the utmost respect of course!

And I do love a good challenge. However, I must say I might just let you win so I can escape these frigid temperatures even if it involves a foot rub :lol:

Let's see, how do you want to do this?

I'll talk to the husband tommorrow. The problem with the treadmill is that it's HUGE. And it's in a part of the basement where he's still drywalling and sanding and dust is the major killer of treadmills. Maybe we can move it to one of the smaller rooms for the time being. Without the treadmill I can't really log miles or calories expended. BUT I can do other things and log minutes.

My exercise focus for February is going to be:
- Cardio (walking) - 5 times a week
- Strength training (back to the weights again) - twice a week
- Crunches to slim down my big bellzo - 5 times a week

I'm thinking (and open to suggestions) to increase the workout each week
For example: Cardio 35 min / 45 min / 55 min / 60 minutes increasing by 10 minutes each week
For strength I will probably increase reps/sets. I have a degenerated disk in my neck so I will try to increase the weights but will see how it affects me, I think reps is a safer route for the time being
Crunches 50 / 65 / 80 / 100

I know you are trying to build up your endurance with running and the incline and I thought you said you were trying to get back with weights tho I might be mistaken. So maybe you can increase your incline or running speed or decrease your mileage time - running farther in less time.

Let me know. I'm game to start on Monday. Thanks for asking!

You girls are so funny :lol: I have no excuse to not exercise at some point during the day other than I just don't do it. When I was following my program I did WATP everyday but I had to do it first thing in the morning, as soon as I got Jordan off to school. If I walk outside I want to do that first thing in the morning. Now my mornings are so screwed up and by the time I take care of everyone, get Jordan off to school, Gary fed, Chris fed, clean up the mess................I just don't have the want to. I know, :blah: :rolleyes: I am also having a hard time planning. My guys are the biggest meat, potato, bread, beans people I have ever seen!! By the time I cook for them it's easier for me to eat what I already have cooked. Just an excuse.

It's colder than a welldiggers *** here today. It was 12 yesterday and right now it's 2 below. BRRRRRRRRRR. We still have snow and ice. We got sleet and a little snow Thursday night. I think we are suppose to have snow, measurable, Monday night.

Happy I have until July to meet my goal. I keep thinking I have plenty of time but I know if I don't work hard and pay attention then It will be July and I will still weigh the same :o

Better get going, talk to you soon.

:devil: Happy, thank you for the compliment!

I'm going to think about how we can work this. My time is somewhat limited in the mornings at this point - I suppose it wouldn't kill me to set the alarm a little earlier each week to accomplish the cardio challenge. I can definitely add in the weights twice a week. I've been trying to ignore the UB flabbiness, especially the tricep area, but it's getting harder to "not see" it in the mirror. It bothers me. So I might add in no weight lunges and squats just for flexibility, plus a decent UB two nights a week. I don't have a way to measure the incline, unfortunately. It does the auto incline thing, but no read out. I might be able to put something next to the belt area to measure height and use that, then up the time spent at an incline. *ponder* I don't have a DVD player and won't till mid-February, but then I can start adding in the pilates again. You want ab work... do the pilates stuff. Dang. I've never seen anything sculpt that core area faster. Lets bang this out and yes, I'm very game to start Monday!

Where is everyone else?? Anyone else up for our little challenge?? :s:

I'm not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth here, but any time I drop a significant amount of weight in a short time I want to make sure I'm not doing something stupid, as I am wont to do. Like not eating enough. I dropped another POUND AND A HALF this morning. That puts me down to 191. I checked fitday, my calories are in a good range. I could be eating a bit more protein and a few less carbs, but my fat is a good number, too. I'm drinking water, and I feel ok. So I guess I'll just accept the number for now and move on. And pray the scale doesn't bounce back up another two pounds tomorrow as IT is wont to do. ;)

If Jolly doesn't pop in, I guess I'll start a new thread tomorrow or Monday for our second month.

Today, peruse the web a little more, catch up where I can. Then get a load of laundry going, hop on the treadmill, then off to the stables. I need to stop and get dog food and chewies so Artemis stops eating my recliner, then tonight is my big challenge - dinner out with the boy. *panic* We're going to go to Chili's or Applebee's or something like that so I can pick out something relatively healthy, but passing up the appetizers and dessert is going to be hard. I can do this. I just need to treat it like any other dinner. Wish me luck, folks! I'll report back tomorrow on my SUCCESS, because FAILURE is NOT an option! Right? :drill:

Morning ladies

sorry i have been gone..wiht the school out for 3 days and the hubby home..ah..i was so glad to be back at work.

I bought a pedometer..logged in 700 steps thursday but only 2550 on Fridya but I was playing basketball for an hour and a half.

Wednesday was my little girl's 6th b-day..i still cannot beleive it!!

Raven how awesome are you on that running??You serisouly are kicking some exercise booty!!

Hippy omg totally on the meat and spuds..my hubby that is all he eats..ugh..my girl is the same way and my son..forget it..junk or chef b ar dee..

Happy i am sorry about the drywall problem..move the treadmill girl..i wish I had one but as all of my exercise equipment has been broken by me..i think i have a problem just like with plants!!

I was so glad to see the ice melt..my driveway was skate central and I bite the dust many time.s

well hubby is working today..YEAH!! (how sad is that??)

Goal.10,000 steps a day..come on Tracy you can do it!!

oops..typo central here..that was

7000 steps...on my first day :^: ..lol with weights..HA!!

Morning, ladies. Happy February.

Hippy - Meat and potatoes aren't as bad as all that. Portion control and the cuts of meat you use, and how you cook things is the key. Along with generous helpings of veggies, either in a salad or as a major portion of the meal. I'm finding slowly that almost any dish can be redesigned to be healthy, and our meal plan is getting more and more varied as I go. Thank goodness. I don't think I could have survived another year of grilled chicken and broccoli. ;) I know if I don't totally commit to working out, it won't get done. I know you're in a rough spot right now, I don't know that I could focus on food and exercise either. OTOH, how long is this going to last? Can you rework things so you CAN schedule time in for working out? What is your priority?

Tracy - Slowly but surely the running is coming along. I have managed more than a half a mile at one time so far, and now I'm kind of scaling back and working on walking speed (trying to comfortably do 4mph for up to an hour at a time) and hitting the incline. Some days I do interval. I just really like to shake it up, and I seem to see progress that way. Keeps me from getting bored. :D I wonder how many miles 10,000 steps is?

Ok Chicks... Jolly appears to be MIA, so I guess I'll start the new thread. Look for me there!