Hello ladies. thought i would check in as i have pretty much just been a lurker the last few days. not too much going on around here.. staying OP and getting exercise in albiet not enough lol.
been spending loads of time on myspace as my friends from home and i keep up with each other that way as well as i have made quite a few friends from the uk on there as well.
i heard from my sister today and she has broken a rib.. poor thing, she wasnt even doing anyting.. she has COPD and has been on steroids daily for years..they really mess with your skin and bones, so this is the second rib that just broke. my mother also has copd and has been on steroids daily for years and her hip broke the same way.. not doing anything but sitting in a chair.. prednisone is great to help you breathe, but oh so bad for everything else.
i hope everyone is having a good day and staying OP..
Hi Ladies,
Made it thru another day of being OP and getting more steps in!! I'm up to over 3000 now. I keep adding 1000 steps a day, at least that's the plan for now.
Hi Sue, glad to see you back! Boy, what a difference in your avatar pic!! Wow!! You look great!
Catherine, good luck in school! That's great that you're getting such a good work out at the pool. I hope your thyroid isn't too much outta whack. Sure can mess up our systems though, can't it?
Sharon, feel better soon
Purpleorc, sorry you're going thru so much right now with hubby, but you're right, ya gotta be there for him. Just let yourself get too run down.
Well, that's it for me. Have a nice night!
Debbie
dgramie - I hope your brother is doing better today! *HUGS*
purpleorc - *HUGS* Hope your hubby is doing better and you too.
baz - I know how disappointing it is when the scale doesn't move the way you want it to. Sometimes you just want to give it a little kick and talk some sense into it lol. *hugs*
***
I've been trying not to scratch my poor head, still no washings, but I am looking into soap nuts and other methods as I do want to wash my hair lol. Some things are better, some things are not. I guess that is how it goes.
I've been eating almost completely raw, which is great! Feeling good and the scale is slowly starting to move down. I hope I get off of this plateau soon! I weighed myself two days ago and it said I weighed 278, but this morning it said 280, so who knows. lol I bet you anything tomorrow it will say 278 again, it just depends on my mood I guess! haha
I hope everyone is doing well. *HUGS*
Hi ladies.. just wanted to check in before work. This week work is a madhouse, so I am having to be creative about meal planning. Exercise isn't so much of an issue because I'm still walking to work, and when I do get a ride, I still get in my 15 minutes before work. I've been trying to eat breakfast, even if it ends up being at 10 or 11. Then lunch isn't usually until 3-4, and dinner has been as late as 10. I haven't been to bed before 2am in a while, but that needs to change. Hopefully with things slowing down a bit, I will be able to eat during regular hours and go to bed and get actual sleep rather than just a couple hours at a time.
I hope everyone is having a great week. It's almost Friday!
Hi Everyone,
Well, we are back home after four weeks away and I was worried that I would just feel 'blah' after such an incredible time away, but I am still on a 'high' from it all, which is great. It helps that we sent boxes back home from a few locations as our suitcases would have been too full with all my shopping and we were able to send back the warmer clothes as we moved to warmer areas. Three of those boxes have arrived, with one left to come, and it has been great unpacking them and seeing/remembering the things we sent back. I am also going through photos (we must have taken THOUSANDS between us!) to be printed off for two large multi-photo frames and for an album I want to take and show everyone. I also bought a digital photo frame (10 inches, which should be big enough) and I am selecting photos for that at the moment. I am still on the first location (Hawaii), and have found HEAPS that I want to use so far, so I have a huge job ahead of me.
I'll try to keep my holiday recount short, but you all know that once I get started I tend to blab on a little, so you may have to bypass some of it if you feel yourself dozing off.
As I mentioned, we started off in Hawaii and spent eight wonderful days there. We saw lots of hula dancing and some incredible sights. We walked miles most days, as the weather was lovely and there was just SO much to see along the way. I was also determined to try some of the local food. I liked most of the things I tried, but some of them... not so much. We walked to the top of Diamond Head, which is quite a hike, but definitely worth it. The views were simply incredible. We stayed near a HUGE outdoor shopping mall, and I managed to spend a lot of money. Mind you, I managed to spend a LOT of money wherever we went, so I can't really blame this particular shopping mall. One consolation was that there were lots of shops around that I couldn't even afford to step foot in as some of the prices would have burnt my hand I think. It was still lovely to window shop there. I can hardly imagine spending $5000 or more on a handbag or pair of shoes, so I think I would have been safe anyway.
A highlight of Hawaii was a visit to the Polynesian Cultural Centre where they have seven villages representing seven different Polynesian countries. Our tickets included a luau, with a show, and a wonderful show at the end. I loved watching each country perform dances and 'war' actions, with some fancy moves thrown in.
From Hawaii we went to Las Vegas for a week, after overnighting in Los Angeles. I LOVED Las Vegas!!!! I didn't really know what to expect, as Neil and I don't gamble (we didn't spend ONE penny on gambling while we were there) and we don't drink much, except Neil may have a wine now and then with a special dinner. I loved it so much because there is just SO much to look at. We had originally planned to do some day trips to fill in our time there, but we didn’t end up doing any of those. We just took our time wandering throughout the amazing hotels, some of them from front to back, admiring each nook and cranny. We had heard that some people had managed to see everything in a couple of days, but we don’t know how they managed that. We took heaps of photos and went back to a couple of places a few times to catch shows or just because we didn’t have time to see everything the first time. I can only imagine the cost of some of those hotels. We particularly loved the themed hotels. We stayed in the Paris Las Vegas hotel, which has beautiful theme work all over the place. In the casino section the legs of the ‘Eiffel Tower’ come down through the ‘sky’ ceiling. It is really hard to explain, because it is all so amazing. The Eiffel Tower at the hotel was an exact replica of the original, based on the original plans, but it is half the size. It was still VERY tall. Our room had a small view of the Bellagio fountains across the way, but the best view we got of these was when we had dinner in the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. This was a VERY expensive, but also very special experience. We actually had dinner there twice, as the first experience was just so wonderful. We managed each time to get a window seat facing the fountains, which was perfect. The service was impeccable and the food was simply divine. We have never paid so much for a meal, but we didn’t regret it one little bit.
While we were in Las Vegas we also went to a few shows. We hadn’t worked out whether we would do anything like this, but we found out that Neil Diamond was having one concert in LV and it was on while we were there. Neil (MY Neil) has seen Neil Diamond a few times before and was very impressed with his concerts, so we couldn’t really miss this opportunity. It was a fantastic concert. We both had a ball.
We also saw a couple of Cirque de Soleil shows. We had never seen anything like this before, but were hooked by the first one, “Ka”, so booked to see the second one, “O”. Very simple names huh? Each one had the most incredible effects and the cast are SO talented. We liked them so much that we have decided that we will try to see them when they come here every couple of years. There is one show on here in a couple of weeks, but I’m not sure we’ll get to that one.
After Las Vegas we flew back to California and hired a car at the airport before driving down to Anaheim. I couldn’t go to the USA without going to Disneyland! We spent two and a half days at Disneyland and I LOVED it! I got my photo taken with a few characters and acted just like a kid again. We didn’t go on a lot of rides as Neil suffers from motion sickness (and I am not really that great either), but we went on the Columbia (replica sailing ship that ‘sails’ around the river area) and the monorail and Finding Nemo, where you travel in a submarine as you see parts of the movie out of the portholes. We also went on Monsters Inc over at DCA (Disney’s California Adventure) and went to the Bug’s Life show there. We caught the Pixar Parade at DCA and saw the Fantasmic show at Disneyland twice. Fantasmic is incredible! Luan had told me to catch it if I could, but I didn’t think it would be on, as it is a Summer event. They only had it on while we were there as they didn’t have their regular parade due to work being done on Main Street. We didn’t mind missing out on the parade, as we saw it when we were there last time, so it was such a treat to actually get to see Fantasmic. It is a mixture of parade, singing, lighting shows and fireworks. Fun!
From Disneyland we drove over to see the Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific, before heading on to San Diego for a few days. We went to Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Old Town, Coronado, Gaslamp Quarter, and a few other touristy places. I loved everywhere we went, as each one offered its own little special touches. We had been to Sea World and the zoo before, but they are places I think I would visit over and over again if I got the chance. At Sea World we decided to do something a little different, so we booked to “Dine with Shamu”. We booked early, so got poolside tables, which was great. We got to enjoy a buffet lunch while the trainers worked with three of the killer whales nearby. We got a tiny bit wet, but not enough to bother us at all. These are amazing animals, so to see them up close was a special experience indeed.
From San Diego we drove up to Los Angeles for a few days. We stayed at a hotel called The Magic Castle Hotel in Hollywood. This was a nice hotel, with lots of special touches like snacks and drinks throughout the day and really lovely front desk people. We didn’t have many of the snacks, or the complimentary continental breakfast, but it was still a good touch. Because we stayed at this hotel we got to visit the Magic Castle. This is a magicians’ club and you can only visit if you are a member, or you are invited by a member, or you are staying at the hotel. We went early and walked around a little before dinner. We spent some time in their ‘museum’ working with a magician. He was REALLY good and he was just a regular member, not one of the shows. After a delicious dinner we saw a few shows. The first gentleman we saw (actually we saw him twice, because we made a mistake where we were going for the third show) was 93 years old! He is still going strong and we loved that show. Neil was chosen to help out on stage and I was very surprised (and happy) that he did it as he is usually really shy about that sort of thing.
In Los Angeles we went to Union Station and Olvera Street, where there are lots of Mexican style stalls. We also spent a bit of time in Hollywood, taking our time wandering around and taking photos. We spent an afternoon at Universal Studios as well. We had been there before, and done the VIP tour, but the City Pass we got included passes to there, so we decided we would see it on our own this time. We really enjoyed the trolley tour around the park and saw things that we hadn’t seen last time. I think they’ve added things seeing as you miss the things that were in the fire last year. It was lovely to just see everything at our own pace. Once again, we didn’t go on any rides, but there was still heaps to do. We enjoyed the Water World show again.
A highlight at LA was the Warner Bros tour we took. We decided that we wanted to do something special, so we booked the Deluxe five hour tour. This included more detailed visits to see the ‘workings’ of the studio as well as a very classy lunch in their formal dining room. The stars supposedly eat there, but we didn’t see any. Well, not that we could recognise anyway. The only star we saw was Jennifer Love Hewitt from a distance as we watched Ghost Whisperer being taped. That was OK though, as it was still an incredible tour and we learnt SO much.
I didn't get to meet Luan or Julee while we were in LA as I hadn't seen them on here for a while and I didn't want to put any pressure on them to meet. I figured that this would give me a reason to go back again huh? I may even have to visit MORE places to meet people.
From LA we flew back to Honolulu for a couple of days before heading home. We did some last minute shopping and had a special lunch sitting right next to an enormous aquarium. I just realised that we seemed to spend a lot of time around water this holiday and we don’t swim!
All together we flew 42 hours! It takes about 5 hours to get from Perth to Sydney, before flying 10 hours to Honolulu, then it is 5 hours to LA and one hour to Las Vegas. We also spent a lot of time in airports, as we like to arrive early and be organised well ahead of time.
There is SO much more I could tell you about the trip, but I won’t bore you any more. I am hoping to get some photos on my website, with more notes, but I don’t know when I’ll get that done. I have just under a week of holidays left before I have to go back to work, but I have a fair bit to do before then.
As you may have noticed, I ate more than I probably should have, and I actually gained about seven and a half pounds over the four weeks, but I don’t think I regret any of it at all. When we weren’t eating ‘special’ meals, such as the lunch with the killer whales, or the dinners in the Eiffel Tower Restaurant, or at the Magic Castle, we were trying to make the best decisions we could for meals. At most places we had a fridge and microwave, so I could prepare my own oatmeal for breakfast and we could keep salads and sandwiches fresh. We chose a lot of meals that you could be ‘fussy’ with, so we could have salads without dressing and sandwiches without cheese etc. The worst place was Las Vegas, where we couldn’t find a grocery store ANYWHERE. I am sure that they have some in the suburbs, but we didn’t have a car there, so we had to rely on public transport or our own legs. We walked a LONG way to try to find a grocery store, but ended up having to cope with the bits and pieces we could find in other stores. We could find simple sandwiches and yogurts, and basic drinks, which was fine. I also found out that you could get oatmeal at Starbucks, so we had breakfast there a few days.
Since returning home I have been pretty good about getting back into the routine of healthier eating and exercising. I haven’t been too well though, so I have only exercised one day out of the three we have been home. The first day we were simply too tired after the flights home and today I wasn’t feeling up to it. I am not sure if I have a bit of jet lag, or whether I have picked up something. I did manage to get another UTI (urinary tract infection) while I was away and had to visit a doctor in San Diego. I don’t think that has thoroughly gone, even after the antibiotics, so I may have to visit my own doctor soon. A couple of colleagues had warned me that the UTI could return, but I had my fingers crossed that it would hold off until I got back. No such luck.
On the food front, I have been pretty good, but I have a feeling that I could be hormonal, as I have had some cravings over the last day or so. I am hoping they will go away and things will settle down soon. One minute I have cravings, and the next I don’t really feel like eating anything. It is quite weird. I haven’t lost any of the weight yet, so I may have to put a LOT more effort in to get back down again.
Well... I will finish off there, as this has turned out longer than I expected. Sorry!
I’m going to try to catch on the latest info with everyone, and hopefully I will get some replies done soon.
Take care,
Zelma
I fully intend on having crazy hair well into my elder years! 
for the well wishes regarding my DH. I do hope that you break your plateau as they are so frustrating. Sometimes it is a matter of tweaking and playing around with your diet to get it the scales moving in the right direction. I have heard of this type of diet that your eating and some people love it and swear by it. I really do not think I could be so disciplined to do it. Mind you that is more to do with I love cooking 
rather than sticking to the raw foods. I would love to do the swank diet (diet for MS) but the food stuffs they cut out I think I know I would not succeed eating this way. I would maybe consider it more seriously if I deteriorated more and consider trying the diet to improve things. Though it does not work for everyone but it would be worth giving it a try. Many say they lose weight on the programme but that is not the aim of the diet is is more about a health and nutritious foods.
and all my news 
and chatter 
for now. Take care stay on plan and drink your fluids 
