Good morning everyone. I just joined last week & just had my 39th birthday on Saturday so next yr at this time I will need to move to the 40 something thread. I do home daycare so you can image that I have to be very careful at meal times. I have found myself slipping lately so that is why that I have decided that it is time to straighten up again. Plus my neighbors have a hot tub (the heater doesnt work) so they only use it during the summer months.

We went camping Memorial weekend & my DS took a picture of me in the river with the dog & my top was up just a little that I could see a bit of my belly. Why is it that it is always pictures that make you feel the fattest? We had a great time camping. It was the camping trip of the yr for us & with our dog. He did not care for the water but he sure did love the golf cart.

Thanks, pixie, it feels good this time! I'm hopeful that this time will be the last time I have to lose this weight :)

I've been under 202 consistently for the past 4 days. I REALLY want to see that number tomorrow, too!

I had my highest calorie burn EVER yesterday. The GWF tells me I burned over 3700 calories. Considering all I did I'm not too surprised. I ran 4 miles, walked the dogs for about 25 minutes, went to the barn and had a lesson, and cleaned the house for about 4 hours. I find it ASTOUNDING how many calories I burn when I am doing housework. It's great!

Today I was supposed to have my 218 calorie 1/2 cup of hummus for my snack, but instead I had a piece of rhubarb-strawberry tart that was *delicious*! It was homemade by a close co-worker and I decided that it was worth the calories. I counted it as about 350 calories worth of a slice of cherry pie. It wasn't a huge piece and it wasn't as thick as a slice of pie so I thought that was a reasonable estimation.

I'll have to work late tonight, but I am determined to get to my sand volleyball game tonight!

For some reason I am having a TON of trouble drinking my water today. It just doesn't taste good. And I'm out of (generic) Crystal Lite packets. I'm trying to get it down, but it is a real struggle today.

I hope everyone has a good day today!

mp sorry about your knee :( I have issues with my calf from running I'm sure, it sucks to have something like that keeping you from running. I hope it feels better soon.

So today I've just been trying to focus on exercise and eating when hungry. I'm not going to count calories or anything, just eat sensibly and not too much. I didn't eat all that much today really, and maybe it wasn't the best choices but it certainly could have been worse lol I did get in a 5.25 mile trail run which was pretty hard but really awesome. I didn't do as much as I wanted, ran out of time in the day! I feel like I had a good day and I'm not feeling guilty for anything because I did what I felt like I wanted/needed. That is more important to me right now than sticking to a plan. It actually feels really good.

One more Monday of the school year down, two to go! I had a challenge this evening as I hosted a pmapered chef party and couldn't really eat anything that was made. She did make a chicken taco bar and I had chicken, lettuce, a couple of olive lsices, and some salsa, but did stay away from the chocolate lava cake. I am sick of the rain we are having here in the NW and am glad that today's was minimal. The sun was actually visible today. :)

I hope everyone has a great week.

Ok, real quick...fingers crossed for you, Jenn. (if you saw your "friend" at the interview and they have only had a couple interviews AND you were the one they liked the most, does that mean that they didn't like your "friend"?) Happy birthday and welcome to tymaboy! Today I got on the scale and saw a number that I haven't seen in 15+ years. Just thought I would share that. :)

MP: The knee is better today; though usually after a run, it hurts, but I don't have the luxury of icing it right after- I have to wait till I get home from work.

I had my speedplay run this morning. 5km in just about 32 minutes, best time yet, that doesn't include the 5 mintue warm-up walk. DH has informed me that we are completely out of butter (he used the last of it last night for his buttered roll with his beef stew), so when I go to the market to replace it, I might grab a small notebook and carry that with me so I can record my times, dates, etc.

I cannot believe how LAZY seniors in high school are! I kicked 6 of them out of class (3 in one period, 3 in another) for playing on the internet. One of them was a really supersmart kid; all As and always working. I felt like telling him that he was being a first class moron, but I refrained. I did tell both classes that if they can't get their acts together and work at this age, then they're going to be seriously screwed when they leave for work and for university. Managers and lecturers like people to work, not play games.

I've only managed 1000 calories so far today. WOOHOO! :D I might even manage to slide in under 1490 for the day. Not often that that's happening. According to My Fitness Pal, I could feasibly have 1758 calories today (1290+468 I burned on my run). Lunch is really just blowing me out of the water this month.

So-- what do you guys have for lunch? I've been munching on protein bars three times a week, but can't keep that up forever! I'm looking for easy, simple low-cal recipes. I'm a picky eater, mind you, so I don't eat mayo, mustard, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, mushrooms or pickles. Onions are an occasional food, unless they're cooked. Salads are alright, but take a lot of planning. Better if it's under 300 calories. Bread counts for 2/3 of my lunch calories. I like having more than just one piece of food to eat- maybe fruit or a small bag of chips to go with it.

Well, here's a recipe I found:
1x 6" flour tortilla (75)
1/2 can tuna (80)
1 whole hardboiled egg (75)
lettuce (5).
Wrap. Enjoy. (238 calories).

1/2 chicken breast- 4oz/100g (baked) (75)
2c salad (lettuce only) (13)
some sprouts (negligible)
30g haloumi or camembert cheese (112-120)
1tbsp reduced-oil dressing (70)
Stick it all together in a bowl. Enjoy. (270-278 cals)

Anything else you ladies and gents can think of?

Peanut butter. The all natural kind with celery or apple slices. Also, I had read a lot about quinoa and so tried it. I was a little worried because I don't like couscous or humus and thought it might be similar. It's really good though! It is way better for you than rice. You could do meat with veggies [that you DO like ;)] and quinoa. I like a little soy sauce too or canned tomatoes, but you don't like tomatoes. I'm trambling. It's late. Night ladies!

I like to have hummus and cut up veggies, carrots and celery. Also I've been picking lettuce from my garden so a lot of meals have been a big bowl of just the lettuce with a pita smeared with avocado or dipped in a really good olive oil with pepper.

Quite often I have:
1c. Spicy Fat Free Refried Beans (180)
1/2 serving of 2% Taco Cheese (40)
2 TBSP Low Fat Sour Cream (40)
2 TBSP Salsa (30)

I also put lettuce, tomato, onion, etc for as "free" toppings. I just put the beans and cheese in a micro safe bowl and the cold stuff in a container on the side. I am probably little help because I am NOT a picky eater in the least.

MelO - Congrats, girl!! I KNOW how frustrated you were getting. Stay the course and treat your body nice... :hug:

Mollz - can you ice your knee on the ride to work? Or get up 20min earlier to hit the gym? Do you wear a strap or a brace? I bought a patellar stabilizing strap for mine...will let you know how it goes.

Question for the long-haul exercisers...ever tried the gels? I've been taking them on my long runs (1:15+) and it makes all the difference! I take one around the halfway point (and eat 1/2 banana beforehand) and have seen my times decrease and my recovery speed.

Today is Day 2 of the big prep for our trip next week. We are leaving Sunday morning for Corpus Christi TX (thereabouts). We will drive 10hrs, stay at a hotel then drive another 6hrs the next day to our rental there (got 4 nights on the beach for $350!!). We will stay til Friday then do the 2 days home.

Yesterday I cleaned out the car, bought a car adapter for the laptop, and got together the stroller, the cargo net etc. Today I'm going to sit down and plan our meals. I pray our trip is relaxed and enjoyable!

Have a great Tuesday!!

Well interesting update..

The non-profit organization I've been temping for for the last year, told me yesterday that things are in motion for them to offer me a perm position! I should have the full offer by Friday, but the benefits alone are awesome!

I did decide to accept it simply because I now what I'm walking into. Other jobs I just don't know. So this is good! What a load of stress off my shoulders!!!

:dancer: :high: :congrat:

HOOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Jenn!

Congrats!!!! You deserve it!

Jenn, that's awesome!!!

My update is as follows: 201.0 whoo hoo!!! 3 miles are on the plan today and I can't wait to get out of work and running. I have had a very sedentary day...

Congrats Jenn!! :carrot:

Hey girls!

Well, yesterday was a bad day--all around. Over my calories, bad mood, boss being *****y. UGH. Also have a horseshow this week, so my time for myself is NIL. Its horse after horse, till 8pm, then 30 minutes to water flowers and pick weeds, and check veggies. Then bathe, then bed. Then up at 5am to do it all over again.

I determined sometime between last night and today that being over in calories was not the end of the world. By 'over' I mean I clocked 1800 for the whole day. So, we aren't talking binge-material here(I AM a binger--so that was necessary to mention) but simply over. So, its not the end of the world. The sky did not fall.

Today, I created "The Program". I am a beginner runner, but I am FREAKED out about increasing my running time. Its a mental wall, I am sure. It was suggested (thank you elaina) that I cross train to get the most out of my body--hence, "The Program". Squats, lunges, lat raises, tricep kickbacks, pushups, leglifts, butt exercises--- I got them. All combined in a 45 minute grueling session. It felt GREAT.

So today is a good day. I read a post earlier. It was called :I want to be beautiful by Christmas.

:o:o:o

Me! I WANT to be beautiful by Christmas too!! So, I am pledging here and now: 40lbs by Christmas.

I can do this.