Angelia & Jima ~ Hi Ladies, Welcome To The 300+Chat Thread for July, I look forward to getting to know more about the two of you

Ubee ~ Yeah Im sure not everyone follows the laws here in Kansas about the fire works either. My walks are going good. I've decided when I sleep in I need to still do WATP's DVD to get my exercise in instead of just waiting to go for my evening walk or waiting until the next morning to do my morning walk so thats what Im gonna start doing if I happen to miss walking in the morning or in the evening cause like last night I forgot to set my alarm for 8:30 pm when I took my nap so when I woke up it was 9:45 pm, Too late to go for my evening walk.

Silent you rascal! Love that you sneak on here during work! Yes, your mom would tell you I am a bad friend and I will lead you astray. But, you would have fun in the process. Sorry the mosquitos are so bad. We have a heavy crop of them this year also but alas I a not as sweet as you.
Terra good job of making a plan for when you sleep in instead of just using it as an excuse to do nothing. Proud of you!
So, I am in a blah mood today. Went over to the weight loss surgery threads to see if I could find an easy way out of this weight problem. Seems that is not the easy way out. Guess I'm going to actually have to put more effort into this.

Ubee ~ Thanks, I like my new plan

Next Monday Im gonna buy some purple fabric for my t-shirt quilt, Im looking forward to going to walmart to look at what different kinds of purple fabric they have.

Evenin all...

I'm pooped!! Did abs a little last night even though it was my rest day so I decided to do abs again tonight to finish up what I had started. Got a good 40 mins in today!!

Ubee you're right. DH and I have such a good time I don't see us stopping anytime soon. He actually said he doesn't think he could go back to watching tv all day on the weekends like we used to!! That is such a huge step for him and I couldn't be more proud!!!

Silent Thanks for the love babydoll!! Hope things are getting better for you. I hate misquitos too!!!

I fought myself today on working out but I did it anyway...I was trying to justify that since I did some work on my off day that I could skip today...I have a rule...never miss a Monday and I stuck to it! The only time I have ever missed a Monday is if there was a real reason like I was sick or hurt and had no choice.

So I've spent my alone time (DH is at band practice) working out, listening to some good tunes (Queen) and just finished dinner. I had left over spaghetti squash tonight.

I'm about ready for bed but I gotta go pick up DH tonight. He and the boys are going to be drinking a bit so I dropped him off so I don't have to worry about him drinking and driving. So I'm just going to relax and listen to some tunes until he is ready for me to come get him.

How was everyone else's day??

I just did WATP's DVD and I did the 1 Mile walk, You can choose between 1 mile or 2 miles and I did 1 mile since it was my first time tonight but Im sure after a couple months I'll try the 2 mile walk.

Silent I hate bugs of any kind so I'm right there with ya. Hopefully your day goes by fast.

Sam great job losing 2 pounds!

Ubee doing great here.

Yesterday had no time at all to get on because my husband was home and he tends to want to know what I'm up to all the time.. hehe.. He doesn't care that I'm on the computer, but I just want privacy. I finally got my scrapbook room done after 2 weeks. It used to be his comic book/ toy room, but he gave it to me and I am so excited to have my own space to scrapbook that I can lock and keep clean from my little man.
Yesterday I knew my husband would want to eat out so I did reasonable good considering. I just had a fruit smoothie with some of my Slim Fast powder in it for breakfast and that kept me full until 11. We had Chinese, but I only at maybe a 1/4 of the plate and then my son and him ate the rest for dinner last night. I had a Slim fast shake blended with some kale and fruit for dinner and cheezits while I was helping a friend paint his bedroom last night. Oh and 1 beer. I think I did great for what I normally would have done. So I'm going to call it an OP day for me..

Hope everyone is doing great today. I'm going to try and just chill indoors today. It is so hot here and humid because of the rain it's miserable.

I'm back. Actually, I never left, but definitely didn't have a free second for the last week. The "no sparks" friend is on his way to Alaska via Glacier, Jasper and Banff so he's back tracking a little. We had a great visit, went through our high school year book and laughed a lot. In spite of being fairly active, I still managed to put on 4 pounds......in addition to what I had regained earlier. So, I'm back at it.

I just read all of the posts. I'm in awe of those of your who continue to just stay on plan and slog through all of this. And, Ubee, I'm in awe of you for moving the wood pile. And the sugar cravings will stop.

I'm off to the gym to get back into my routine. Lots to do to get caught up, but I'm so glad I got to reconnect with my friend even if there aren't any sparks to liven up Ubee's imagination. Have a great day.

Good Afternoon!
Betsy you and Silent are so silly. My imagination rules over anything the two of you might say. Glad you are back. I missed you.
Angie you did great. When I look back on the old days I feel so sad. Any improvment is success!
Terra good job on the mile. Did you enjoy the video? What kind of t-shirts will you use for your quilt?
Sam please pass some of that discipline to exercise to me! On a serious note... Keep it up. It is much easier to just stay at it then to keep stopping and starting.
As for my wood pile, still working on it. Don't be impressed yet Betsy.
I have come to the honest conclusion that when it comes to sugar and grains I need to severly limit them. Not just for losing weight but more importantly for the negative effect it has on my personality.

Angie Thanks so much love!! I'm still working at it and will sweat these pounds off!!!

Betsy Missed you!! Glad you and your friend were able to catch up and go back in time with your yearbooks. That is almost always a good time!!!

Ubee I'm sending the discipline vibes your way!!! Trust me even on days I don't want to work out I do anyway because I know I'll hate myself if I don't. Hate may be a strong word so let's just say I'd be really disapointed in myself if I don't workout unless it's a rest day. I make sure I get my 5 days in a week and sometimes I'll even do more

I am pooped again!!! I had to stay late at work today for some program training so DH and I got our walk/hike in late. I downloaded this Nike Plus Run app on my phone that will track your speed and distance and even the amount of calories burned. Not sure how accurate the calories burned are but it says 526 calories, we walked for 3.67 miles in 1:09:47!!! I'm very proud of that considering I was very tired today and didn't push as hard as I would have liked.

I'm really hungry so I'm going to go make my own made up recipe of fajita green been nachos lol....it souds silly but it's so good!!

Hope everyone had a great day!!

Ubee ~ Yeah I enjoyed the video, I did it again today, One of the t-shirts is a t-shirt from the t.v show M*A*S*H* and another one is from high school it has the abbreviations for my high school's name, One is one that my grandparents got me when I was 14 and the others are just shirts that I liked wearing but that I grew out of.

I got up at 8:00 AM and left to go to my doctor's appt. at 8:30 AM and then I was at my appt. from 9:15 am to almost 10 AM and then mom and I came back home and loaded up the car with the stuff I needed to take to school for tomorrow and then from there we went to my brother's to give my niece her birthday present and then we came home for a couple of hours and then we went to dinner at 3:30 PM and then we came back home at 5:00 PM.

Good Morning!
Terra your quilt sounds awesome! Is your scale now in sync with your doctors? Hope you had a good time at school.
Sam you are really dropping the pounds. Isn't it time for a new picture update?
Silent must you be so silent?
Angie, Betsy, Sugar,...how is it going?
Fi I so want to hear about the farm.
The fridge is empty (well at least our idea of empty there is enough for today) my family is getting cocerned. Guess I will have to go shopping. I think I need a little me time. It will happen after shopping, laundry, dr appt., errands, cooking,...

Ubee ~ Thanks, I hope my quilt will be awesome when its all finished, Well last month when I came back home from the doctor's I jumped on the scale and it was the same as what the doctor's scale said but when I jumped on the scale yesterday after coming home from the doctor's it said I was 290 so now Im confused cause at the doctor's it said I was 284, Thanks Im sure I'll have a good time at school today and tomorrow.

Good morning everyone. Betsy has a new toy.....a John Deere lawn tractor. I realized and laughed that I'm evidently past the age where I want jewelry. I want things that make my life easier! So far all the men in the neighborhood have been stopping by and drooling. None have offered to cut the grass, they're just drooling. Not attractive!

Terra Your quite sounds really neat and your day sounded really busy! Don't know if this helps, but I always use whatever scale shows me as weighing the least. Actually, I've never had the doctor's scale be less than my own, but it is confusing and irritating. Just pick one and go with that.
Ubee Isn't imagination wonderful. I imagined myself as thin for the last 40 years so it was a shock to finally walk by a full length mirror and find out that the thin ship had long since sailed. How's the wood pile coming. I refuse to not be impressed. Anytime someone does hard physical labor, I'm impressed. Are you getting some me time -- it sounded like going to bed would be your first chance for that to happen. And good on figuring out that grains and sugars are not necessarily our friends -- actually they're kind of like that girl in school who was suddenly really nice to us so that she could steal our boyfriends. Sneaky with bad results!
Sam That's a brisk pace for your walk -- how fast do you normally go? Share your green bean fajita recipe. It sounds weird, but I love green beans so I'd love to give it a try.
Angie It is wonderful to have a space that is all your own for a hobby. Hard to have in a house with other people. Sounds like you did a good job with planning ahead on eating, too.

Off to the gym. Then I have to figure out how to operate my new toy before even trying to cut my grass on this steeply sloped yard. I would prefer not to run the thing off the side of the mountain on the first day. I have to run up to a neighbor's house later and plot out their yard as I'm a docent up there for a garden tour and want to make up a little brochure to hand out to people who come to visit. Also trying to get back on plan with my eating. Love, love, love this time of year with seasonal fruits and veggies rolling through one after the other. YUM!

=whew= I'm back from the farm, and just finished carrying everything in, opening my mail, checking my email...all of that stuff that piles up after a long absence from home. We had lovely weather—cool at night, pleasantly warm during the day, hardly any bugs—and I got my much-needed break from the BERP. 'Spent a lot of time in the hammock on the front porch, and a lot of time in "my room"—formerly the front parlor, with two windows opening onto the porch.

I already love that room—this is an early 19th-century lath-&-plaster farmhouse with terrific high ceilings and sash windows—but lots needs to be done to make it into an auxiliary studio and general hang-out for Fi. I've installed a short couch (loveseat?) in lipstick-red leather—very simple, ultra-modern, a couple of small, minimalist tables & storage units, and a bright-blue suede ottoman, square & modern in lines. Don't get too excited for me, though: the paint in there is pale yellow with ghastly light-green trim, and there's a hideous gold-&-crystal overhead light, so I can hardly wait until I get the walls white-white, the trim a serious grey, and the lighting fixture outta there! I'm going to get a 15-foot-long industrial table, rectangular rugs in black & white patterns, and 3 simple aluminum hanging lamps for over the table. I'm aiming for it to be a necessary escape from the country-corny frou-frou look of the rest of the house (lots of pink—yuck), but more importantly, a place for me to work. My plans for my art are to work larger with more ambitious effects—including acrylic paint. I'm going to make some of my backgrounds at the farm. I figure a clean modernistic environment, in the delicious silence at the farm—not to mention being away from all my distracting "cutter" books and clipping collections—will be a great place to dream up complex, messy, but basically inobtrusive underpinnings for my collage.

The wonderful silence, though, was not much in evidence over the 4th-of-July weekend. Bob's family were there in a major way: demented & hard-of-hearing mother, noisy sister, noisy niece, other noisy niece, and the niece's noisy family—all very nice people, for sure, but they included my two worst bugaboos: a large, loud dog (barking and howling) and a small, even louder, shrieking toddler. Eeeek!!

I was stressed out to the max the whole time they were there, because their racket ricocheted all around that very "live" (in an audio sense) farmhouse. Plus there were pancakes, English muffins, sweet corn, cherry pie, sugar glaze on the fish, cookies, you name it in the way of carbo stress. And they insisted on stealing a whole half-pint of my cream to make sugar-infected whipped cream for the damn pie! And they even smoked cigarettes on the front porch, blowing smoke right into my room!

Yes, folks, they drove me batty. I broke down late at night after everyone had gone to bed and ate pie, cookies, honey, maple syrup, the works. I haven't had such a lapse from my diet since November.

I don't feel guilty, though, just more determined than ever to defend my mental space, avoid such gatherings in the future, fix up my room there as a place to work, bring ear plugs the next time, and in general stay committed to what's important to me: weight loss and art. (And kittens, of course.)

That's all I feel like writing tonight. Bob and I did have some good alone time before the Mongol hordes arrived and after the Mongol hordes vacated the place, but the weekend itself was a disaster. And now I'm back to the BERP. =sigh=

Late check in...

Today was my rest day from exercise so I ran errands and went grocery shopping with DH. We got home and had chicken and green beans with this wheatberry salad from the grocer. Everything was good.

My hip/thigh area feels sore to the bones today...maybe it's from the walk?

Ubee This weekend will be new progress pics I really am doing well and am hoping for some good news for my 6 month mark weigh in.

Betsy I just started using the app so I'm not really sure how fast I usually walk but will keep you updated when I get it all figured out. The green bean fajita thing is very quick and simple. I saute peppers and onions and dust them with cumin, chili powder, oregano, paprika, garlic, salt and pepper. Meanwhile I steam some green beans in the microwave and then mix them in with the peppers and onions and cook for another minute or two then top it with some cheese, hot sauce and sour cream and its all ready. Sometimes I'll add salsa and jalapenos but that's optional.

Fi I'm glad you were at least able to enjoy some of your time at the farm. I'm also very proud that even though you went off plan you picked yourself back up, dusted yourself off and moved on. That is a really big deal and I'm so proud!


I'm tired, it's late....I'm going to bed...Night night!