Ann-Charlotte, good news about your mom. Our family battled cancer, as well, so I know firsthand what good fortune you all are experiencing. What a blessing.
Cyndy, way to go and big congrats on getting back on track. You SHOULD be proud of yourself.
Warm food...I've discovered the chili at Wendy's. A large (stinkin' huge) is 300 cal with 7 g of fat and 7 g of fiber. I split it to make two lunches. It's super filling and feels good on a cold, winter day.
I tried Sugar Free Chocolate Torani syrup in my coffee this morning and it's VERY yummy. My usual is the SF Hazelnut which is wonderful, as well.
I've been around (I read every day without fail) but haven't been posting. I guess that's mostly because I'm not terribly excited about maintaining right now because I'm STILL working on my vacation/holiday weight. I did hit a 10 lb loss so I'm feeling more "up" about things lately. This month has been really good both foodwise and exercise-wise. Been doing Weight Watchers and I'm at the gym 6 days out of 7 with step class, Kardio Kick, weight lifting, elliptical and running. It's been fun and I'm feeling SO much better than I was at the end of December.
My running bug is still here with me. Like I said in my resolutions update, I started running a few years ago when I lost my weight, but I had to stop because of tendonitis in my heel. After therapy, I stuck to low impact cardio like the elliptical and then I added back my step class, but only once a week. For the last couple of weeks, I've been running on the treadmill 3x a week for 30 min for some of my cardio. It was a thrill to find out that I could still do it! I'm asthmatic so running, to me, has always represented a huge victory over my body's limitations.
Reg, I've had mono vision contacts for 5+ years and I love them. However, for many people they take some getting used to, and some folks just can't. It's in your brain rather than your eyes btw. Brain has to interpret both images and give you the "right" answer as to what you're seeing. Hope it works for you - much nicer than wearing glasses, or worse reading glasses over contacts. I did that for awhile and ended up wearing my regular glasses (no line bifocals) all the time since the point of contacts is NOT WEARING GLASSES! So why would I want reading glasses? I find the contacts great for computer work, no head tilting as with the glasses.
Still hanging in here. On track again this week. Sore legs from the LWW yesterday, but happy to report that I put in my cardio today.
Also the extra protein I've added to my diet seem to work in making me less tired and I am very happy about this.
The only minus this week is that the scales refuse to move down. I think I have hit a plateau. Will check my calories to see if I am not unconciously eating to much.
The week started out great but then took a nosedive on Tuesday when we discovered Chicken Pox on my 6-year-old.
So, I've been homebound with two stir-crazy kids. Going a little mad myself without my morning gym routine. I've done home workouts the last couple of days and I have a gym visit planned for this evening after hubby gets home. Tomorrow, hubby will go in to work late so I can have my treadmill and coffee time with my friend (something I look forward to every week!).
Just had the yummiest lunch. I took 3 oz of chick breast chunks and added cucumber, FF Miracle Whip and a couple pinches of curry. Stuffed it into a low carb tortilla - it was fabulous and very filling!!
Chicken pox! Oh my! Do both kids have it or will it be one and then the other? Amazingly, my two never got chicken pox before the vaccine was released when they were 13 and 9, so I missed out on the whole chicken pox experience. Which is probably just as well, since I was only two months old when I had it as a kid and I've been told that might not provide for complete immunity since I was so young. Hang in there, Karynlee! We WILL survive this winter!
Re contact lenses - I've got soft bifocal lenses and love them!
karynlee, hope your kids are feeling better soon. Of course, while you're stuck at home with them all day, it's not such a bad thing for kids to be lacking in energy for a few days.
Meg, you might want to get that vaccine for yourself if you're not immune to chicken pox. One of my uni profs got cp as an adult, and he was off work for 2 weeks and very uncomfortable. I think you can get a blood test to see if you have immunity.
Thanks, girls! Only my oldest has it so far. He was vaccinated so his case is very mild. I'm crossing fingers and toes that my other son won't get it (he was vaccinated, too). So, this means I'm cooped up with two kids SO not lacking in energy.
Karyn -- Sooo sorry to hear about that ... They didn't have the vaccines in Canada till only a few years ago, and the Dr. had recommended that the kids not get it till they were 15 don't know why... Well just before the poor kid was about to turn 15, he got it realllllll bad... then DD got it a week later.... OMG it's quite the thing...
Meg -- I wasn't even sure if I had even gotten the CP's so the Doc sent me for a blood test to see if I had the antibodies in me (I think that's what it's called), ended up that I had had it... WHEW!! You don't want to get that as an adult that's fer sure!!
This week has been a ho hum week, just plugging away with life... food good, exercise good... all is good... ... SOOOOO TTFN ... DD must go for guitar lessons...
Karyn,
My son brought us "chicken pox present" from day care and even though it was too late for him, for my daughter Dr. prescribed Zovirax as soon as CP started to show up at her. My son had a really bad case - he had ear infection and pneumonia as an after chicken pox complications. Second child in the family usually gets it hardere due to more exposure (first one usually just gets in contact once, while siblings get constant exposure). Zovirax can be given in the first 48 hours after CP shows up - if you will be acting fast, your second child just might have easy case. My daughter had it quite easy when she was 13, nevertheless she has big scars from those spots.
Wow, reading all the sick child stories has my wondering what I've gotten myself into! Hoping they all get well fast. I remember chicken pox from when I was a kid--it was miserable.
This week has been very interesting for me. Everything is swollen and achy! But I'm keeping up with my exercise (all moderate now) and I'm pleased to report that for the first time since I got pregnant, I actually look like I'm going to acheive something like a reasonable amount of food for the day. My cravings for sugars have receded to a mere roar, and I can deal with that. I guess it just took a couple weeks to adjust to the new hormones. Now today I was craving eggs like crazy, so I had a couple and now I'm good. Played hooky after my OB appointment and came home for a nap. If only I had enough time off to do that every day!
Karyn, good luck with the chickenpox kids, especially if they are not lacking energy.
Anne, you'll probabely repeat for the next 18 or so years... I never thought I was getting myself into THIS !!! Including sick kids, dressing up kids for parties, organising kids parties, learning them to bike, to swim, to count, to subtract and to divide.. But for me it IS worth it all absolutely !! OH and about taking a nap GOOD FOR YOU !!! I applaud you. I never dared to work less hard during my pregnancies but I had to stop working in both cases in the 6th or 7th month, and when I hit the couch in both cases the children got a growth spurt, so they really could do with me getting sufficient rest !
Yesterday I ran my food through fitday and iI was shocked !!! That surely explains my socalled plateau, so I am on a new plan now. No more mayonaisse, no more chocolate.
Uh-oh ... the old Fitday reality check! I never cease to be amazed at how FAST the calories add up, even if it's all healthy food. And when you throw and mayo in the mix, yep, it can be !
Once I realized how much I had been eating, there wasn't any doubt at all why I weighed 257 pounds (even though it was a pretty 'normal' American diet). It wasn't my hormones and it wasn't my metabolism - it was too many calories, pure and simple! When I changed my diet, I was amazed that I could survive - and be satisfied - on about 1/3 of the calories that I had been eating.
It's still quite the challenge, isn't it, to manage calories in the Real World? Let's say I shoot for 250-300 calories per meal (times five a day) and I decide to eat out at a restaurant - what can I order without blowing my calories for the day sky-high? I mean, that's like one fried cheese stick or large Coke equaling a whole meal! In reality, I usually end up being the queen of grilled chicken caesar salads, no croutons, dressing on the side - and even that goes over 250 calories.
Enough rambling about calories ... I'm so glad you brought this up, Rabbit, because we all have a tendency to grossly underestimate how much we're eating unless we use something like Fitday. Even then, I just read a study that said that people who journal what they eat underestimate the calories by about 30% (mismeasuring, forgetting the bites, licks and tastes etc).
Think I'll go measure out my half cup of oatmeal and write it down ...
I find the contacts great for computer work, no head tilting as with the glasses.
I've done home workouts the last couple of days and I have a gym visit planned for this evening after hubby gets home. Tomorrow, hubby will go in to work late so I can have my treadmill and coffee time with my friend (something I look forward to every week!). 
Oh my! Do both kids have it or will it be one and then the other? Amazingly, my two never got chicken pox before the vaccine was released when they were 13 and 9, so I missed out on the whole chicken pox experience. Which is probably just as well, since I was only two months old when I had it as a kid and I've been told that might not provide for complete immunity since I was so young. Hang in there, Karynlee! We WILL survive this winter! 
don't know why... Well just before the poor kid was about to turn 15, he got it realllllll bad... then DD got it a week later.... OMG it's quite the thing... 
and mayo in the mix, yep, it can be 
! 
