Megan, I also admit that I purposefully try to find shirts now that show off my collarbones too. Heck, I like seeing them myself. I am definitely V-shaped my upper body is much wider than my lower body. I am now finally starting to feel positive about my body and happy with my goal weight. I like my body now and I want to keep it just like it is.
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO EVERYONE. My DH is working 16 hrs. today, so we have no plans for valentines. We will probably go out to dinner tomorrow night.
Hi, everyone! Had a little revelation this week. I live on the 6th floor of my apartment building, and though I use the stairs to go down sometimes, I never had climbed up them until this week. It is 6 a full 6 flights if I enter from the basement of the building. This week it occurred to me that it might be good to go up the stairs more often. So, I tried it, and it wasn't bad at all. I think I should try to do this more often.
My university closed this morning, and DH and I have been out snow-shoveling. If that's not exercise, I don't know what is. But I must say, it was actually a pleasure because it's a beautiful beautiful day. The sun is blazing and shining through the ice on the trees. We were lucky enough to get light, dry snow that twinkles in the light. So we tackled our (very long) driveway and then came in and polished off a nice big breakfast. I'm feeling pretty good.
University is supposed to reopen at noon, but to tell you the truth, I've lost all appetite for work now. I may just stay here. I can get a lot done without the clamor of the office.
Tara, way to go on the stairs! If you can climb 'em several times a day, you'll notice a difference. We live in a two story house, and the washer-dryer is in the basement. On laundry days, I climb those stairs over and over and over, and I can often feel it by nightfall. I've read that people see a change in their overall fitness level when they move from a two-story to a one-story house.
Ah Lily, what can I say that hasn't been said. Good luck with the whole kit and kaboodle of 'em. I hope they're out of your hair by now.
Rabbit, feel better!!!! Maybe we could just drop kick the new boss somewhere for you
I come from a long line of flat-butted women and while I love being a slimmer version of my former self, I must say that finding a pair of pants that even begins to flatter me is almost impossible. The new style of lower-waisted trousers is especially problematic on my short-waisted, butt-less figure. I can spend a fortune on tailoring, but my pants are still baggy. When you throw in the fact that I must wear orthopedic shoes or their first cousins, and that I am incredibly vain, there are many mornings when I am not a happy camper once I'm dressed.
Well, gotta run. My tasks are beckoning and I'm wondering about climbing aboard the for a quick session.
Ah, unlike you Robin, I come from 2 lines of full-bottomed (and topped) women! Still, I much prefer the slimmer version! Got DH's pictures from Costa Rica back, and while I seldom take flattering pictures (usually squinting), a couple of these were totally awful. I still need to lose some more! Training for a half-marathon should totally help with that!
Rabbit, hope you're feeling better. I'm sure you're not the whiner type and you have plenty of documentation of your condition and your efforts to get back into working more. Hang in there and stick up for yourself.
No valentine's plans here. In fact, I'll be at my regular 2x month quilting group where we'll be celebrating my birthday (very late) while DH will be at a church meeting. But, we're going to see one of my employees sing tomorrow night. She's in a Sweet Adelines group and they are performing in a melodrama for Anchorage's Fur Rendevous festival. http://www.furrondy.net/ I'm working on him to go to dinner first.
Cold here today, but no precipitation predicted for the near future anyway.
My SD got me a coffee mug full of valentines candy for today. At least the candy was fairly low-cal, 7 pieces for 50 cal's. Anyway, it's especially low-cal for me. I tried one piece and it is nasty so threw the rest in my kids valentines bags. Once they taste it, they will probably throw it in the trash. I did get them other treats.
Robin, I liked the butt-less comment. That describes me perfectly. LOL. I always describe mine as that 90 yr. old grandpa butt. LOL. If I wear my jeans loose, my butt looks flatter than if the jeans are snug.
I'm making my kids their favorite meal tonite. (chicken and dumplins).I've already put my portion into fitday and allowed for the calories to be able to have a small bowl of it.
The extended company will be leaving in an hour. Yippee.
The good news is they left, the bad news is she said "we'll be back tomorrow". Afraid I'm going to have to open my big mouth and tell her to go home. DH is working 16 hr. shifts again tonite and tomorrow so he won't be around to say a thing to her. I don't think he would anyway.
Lily, can't you lock the door and pretend you're not home? Or better yet, leave for many, many hours so she can't come back!! Spend the day at the library. It will be nice and quiet!
Allison, I wish I could just leave and lock the door. But, to top it all off the transmission went out on my son's jeep. He is using her little car to drive to work and works 12 hr. shifts. She has my darn vehicle. DH is working 16 hrs. tonite too so I am totally without a vehicle. At least I'm gonna kick back tonite , watch American Idol and do my treadmill exercise.
(MY DH is working a lot of overtime because we are buying a nice camper off some friends and are going to just pay cash for it). I wish now we already had the camper, but should be able to buy it out-right in 2 more weeks. I'd like to drive it to the lake and set up camp. Just stay there til her DH gets home and she goes home. If I weren't trying to buy the camper, I'd just take my DD and go to a nice hotel with indoor pool and stay and relax a few days.
Last night I went to the grocery store and bought chicken drumsticks, as I usually do, since they are so much cheaper than chicken breasts and still very lean once skinned. I usually by a jumbo pack with about 14 or 15, then take them home, skin them, and freeze them in packs of two so that I can just thaw out a couple to cook for dinner. Anyway, yesterday, I decided to buy two of those large packs. I thought it would be good if I only had to go through the process every two weeks instead of every week.
Let me tell you, it was quite the chicken-skinning fest! Although it didn't take that long, I was glad when it was over! I had just bought the chicken, so they had a little bit of ice on them because I guess the refrigerated cases must be colder than my fridge at home. My hand was freezing at the end. I know I could have rinsed them in some warm water first, but I just didn't want to contaminate more areas of the kitchen...laziness!
I know I'll feel good next week when I can skip a week of drumstick skinning! I have a super fast technique involving a paper towel, but I always dread it a little bit! I know they can do it for you free at the grocery store with the chicken legs that they sell individually, but I wish they would just sell the cheaper packaged ones skinned already...Wouldn't that be nice!
Hi there Sister Maintainers--
Been way too long since I've posted. My writing ventures got busier than I anticipated--just had a flash fic published in a small e-zine. It's a great feeling! On to an even wider audience in the future.
I should update my slider because I am back in my target range and exercising enough to keep it there. I hired an in-home personal trainer for two consecutive weekly sessions; the final session is next month so I can show her my progress. It was a good move for me--she corrected my position for plank, side plank and push-ups. All are much easier now. Doing it wrong definitely wasn't helping!
Hope everyone is well and surviving any snow you are getting.
By the way, the scale went back to doing some uncharacteristic things in the upward direction...I don't think it's enough to change my ticker yet, though. I'm still holding out.
Right now, I'm just continuing to eat as I always do, with no plans on cutting back on calories to try to halt the upward climb yet. I start working next week, and perhaps the extra moving around might make some difference.
Regardless, and this point, I'm still resisting reducing my intake to what I consider an abnormal level for maintenance...I haven't gained a whole lot yet, and I think I still have a little bit of time to let my body show me what is going on.
We are getting hit with snow again right now. It is really coming down. My DD is hoping school will be canceled. I'm up late waiting to see if my son can make it home safely from work. He doesn't have much experience driving on snow and ice. Even though he is now 21, I still worry about him. I'm sure I always will.
I did get to talk again to my DH tonite about the situation with his DD. He promised that when she gets back from MIL's that he will send her and the kids packing to their own home. I just flat told him that I am stressed out and can't handle it anymore.(I cried and it seems to have worked, LOL). I had planned on exercising again tonite, but just relaxed and played cards with my DD and watched a movie with her. I needed the peace and felt I deserved it and she did too. It is truly a miracle that I have resisted junk food and stuck to my calorie limit while she has been here.
I am having a little bit of problem with my blood sugar dropping too low a couple hrs. after meals. I sure need to find a way to increase my protein more and lower some of the carbs while still counting calories. I take glucophage twice a day. Sad thing is, I love how I'm eating and don't want to have to change it up. I do good until I forget my snack (lately due to stress) and then I get light headed and shaky. If anyone knows of a good high protein breakfast bar please let me know. I haven't got to shop for the protein powder yet, but maybe that could help some too. Wouldn't it figure that I finally got my tummy problems completely straightened out and now my blood sugar starts acting up. The good news is that I am maintaining at 142-144 which I am happy with.
Wow, Lily, you are up late! I woke up way too early, so here I am too! My DS is 21 too so I totally understand how you feel. No matter how old they are, they're still our babies and always will be.
Yay for tears! Sounds like they did the trick. I think you have been a complete saint for how well you've handled your eating with all this stress. You shouldn't have any doubt that you'll be able to keep the weight off now that you've made it through this experience without comfort eating.
I missed the gym the past two mornings due to our horrible weather so am going to try in a bit. Have a great day!
Meg, I was hoping that 4:13 time stamp on your post was wrong. What are you doing up so early? Lily, what are you doing up so late? Go to sleep! Sleep is great!
I went to aerobics class last night and my aerobics instructor told us she is leaving the gym in 2 weeks. Another instructor teaches weights/strength classes only in the AM, but she is the only one who teaches any aerobics or any evening classes. NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully the gym will switch things around/hire someone to teach some evening classes when she leaves. I am happy for her - new job (non-gym) that pays more - but so sad for selfish reasons.
Saint Lily, I agree! Kudos for doing such a good job with eating and exercise with your extended company around. Sounds like you had a nice, relaxing evening that you deserve.
Tara, could be water weight. Wait and see.
Elana, good to "see" you again. Congrats on the publication!
Airegrrrl, shoveling is definitely a lot of work! And very good for you - definitely gets the blood flowing.
Tara, mmm, de-skinning. I'm not squeamish about much but I hate to de-skin chicken. I haven't even tried it in quite a while. But I do budget my groceries. Perhaps I'll have to check out the skin-on legs.
Lily~your relaxing evening with your DD sounds like just what you needed to de-stress. Hopefully DS got home safely. I grew up in snow country, so I know what it can be like driving in the stuff. I can't imagine my kids driving in it! DD went snowboarding a few weeks ago but the weather had been nice so all the roads were dry, but still I worried about the drive.
Tara~you're too funny with the chicken skinning thing! Hopefully your scale will soon see a downward trend.
Elana~I'm so jealous! An in-home personal trainer. Wow.
Meg~I hope you were able to get to the gym.
Megan~sorry to hear about your aerobics instructor leaving. Hopefully they'll find a replacement that will be even better!
As for me, the 2 pound gain since Saturday is down to 1 pound now. I really thought I'd get rid of at least half a pound yesterday, but it didn't happen. I've printed a new page of the 3FC weight progress chart and have goals for each column. By March 9, I should be down to 138 (142 today). By April 2nd, 136, by April 26th, 134 and by May 20th, 133 (goal). I think that is realistic. Each column is 24 days and the first 4 pounds in 24 days is going to be the hardest. Each of the others, I'll have 24 days to lose 2 pounds. Wish me luck! So far the menu eating plan is working quite well, however I need to tweak it a bit here and there. Monday is a holiday, so I'll have extra time to work on it.
for a quick session.
Got DH's pictures from Costa Rica back, and while I seldom take flattering pictures (usually squinting), a couple of these were totally awful. I still need to lose some more! Training for a half-marathon should totally help with that! 
