Hi everyone ,,, just a fly by lol ..

Wow .. so much news!

JILLY - Welcome back hun :) Nice to see your smiling face back on the boards :) I dont think I will go back on the JC plan .. its just too expensive when you have a family ... just for my food from them its $120 on average a week (sometimes more) .. and thats not including the extra veges/fruit/bread/dairy that you are supposed to have with it .. on average in the month I was on it I was spending about $160 a week just on MY food .. then I still had to get food for my daughter, the dogs, my hunny when he came home on the weekend, and dad or others that would come and stay .. my weekly shop was depressing at about $280 on average each week ($140US/90 pounds approx) ... and that is expensive living over here lol ... now my weekly shop for everyone is more like half that :) But I might start planning menus .. that should help lol .. Huggies.

VALERIE - Yayyyy ... kiss those feet rofl .... what a great NSV! And babble all you like .. I love reading babble posts lol .. they are definitely something that puts a smile on my dial :) (and I do it so often its nice to see others doing it too lol). Big Huggies about setting your new mindset in such a positive direction too!

LUAN - Great to see the turd has been revealed .. and make sure you party hard and have a blast .. dont bother including him in things you do in Orlando ... if he wants to do something let him do it on his own .. and if you end up going anywhere together .. just do your own thing :) But dont waste the holiday :)

LAVANDEL - Hun listen to the others ... I know this week I have done some damage to my eating plan by not reaching close to my target calorie intake ... and the scales showed it this mornin .. but tomorrow is another day and it may take a week or so for my body to forgive me for starving it ... so you have to let your body get over the fact that you are being nice to it and giving it extra ... 1300 is still too low .. I know!! I eat that and I think thats a lot of food lol .. but there are some great hints for those extra calories to go in the day with healthy options on here ... good luck and LEAVE THE SCALES OUT THE BACK DOOR! rofl.

WYLLEN - I dont really want to give myself a break at all ... especially not this early into my new regime .. lol .. never say never Katt rofl ... but we are going to get our BBQ from storage this weekend .. so that will make it easier .. I love BBQs and get a lot more creative when we have those .. so weekends will become a breeze ... as for during the week .. the setting out a menu plan is becoming more appealing for sure :) Thankies :)

MISTI - Great tips thankies .. I never thought to add nuts etc .. and I LOVE eating nuts .. so will get some in the shopping tomorrow and pack them in measured amounts so I dont have to measure them when I get the urge (all this measuring is getting boring too lol .. not that i really do all that much lol). Good luck that the FFM is going to behave at your house this week :)

ANDIE - I agree .. it sounds like shin splints .. Im not really sure what to do about them .. I have had that a few times but its something I have just worked through .. it sorta feels like a cramp but on your bone? I rub the heck out of it which helps .... until I stop rubbing lol .. but thanks to the above suggestion with the stretching I will give that a go if it happens again :) Great work on the walk too! I have a hard enough time walkin on flats let alone up and down hills! Woo hoo for sure :) And you know you do good when youre a sweaty mess rofl :)

LILION - Thankies for the suggestion. I do try to stick to plans and shopping lists .. but with having visitors at a moments notice that stay for a day or 3 I find it easier to just get what is on special rofl ... I have an inside freezer and a garage freezer ... as long as both are relatively full I know I am covered for all contingencies ... apart from needed to get the fresh products (like milk and bread - dont like bread that has been defrosted lol - and fruit/vegs). Scoot and I usually get the main shopping on Saturday .. and that is when I get the foods for me ... but really .. I was thinking about it later last night .. I dont think its the food for me that I find hard to think about cos I shop for my meals and know what I am getting for the week .. its having to think about what to make for everyone else ... and that just puts me off going to the kitchen altogether rofl .. breakfast is soooo easy ... everyone has their cereals to choose from or toast if they want it .. lunch isnt too bad .. usually sandwiches or similar ... but dinner .. sheesh .. I think Im gonna start reaching the point where they can pick out their own stuff from the freezer in the morning or the night before and let them get it themselves lol ....

NANCY - Sounds like you need a good break away!! Hopefully you will get better soon ... big Huggies!

JILLY (again lol) .. Im in awe of your early morning workouts lol ... mind you .. I do mine late at night most of the time ... so I suppose its a case of fitting them into your day when you can isnt it :) Well done!

WEZI/LORI - Have fun at the gym .. remember .. no beating yourself up lol .. just remember its a learning curve for the first few months .. finding what works best for you and making it something that you can stick to :) Have a great time at the Halloween party .. Im not sure what sort of things you could go as .. Halloween isnt a big thing over here .. at least not unless you are in one of the big cities (Wellington/Auckland/Christchurch/Dunedin etc) .. then there seem to be lots of parties for the adults to have fun at lol . .. When we had the shop I was always in my witchy clothes ... Scoot never dressed up .. so I would say he was in costume .. when someone asked as what I said a psychotic ... they look like everyone else :D and darned if they didnt believe me rofl ... whatever you go as I hope we get to see lots of Halloween piccys on our pics page ... some of us have to live vicariously through those with a social life rofl. (LILION - This includes you too!! Piccys please!!)

SHARON - Hi hun .. thanks for letting us know Ammi is ok .. give her a hug from me when you see her .. oh so lucky to live near someone on here lol .. well .. within visiting distance anyway rofl ...

JASMINE - HIII .. I havent seen you on here before so not sure if I missed your posts or what .. but its lovely to see you on here :) Hope to see you on here again and again :)

MICHELLE - The eating our calorie intake seems to be an issue with a few of us on here .. but there have been some good suggestions of how to up the calories with good higher cal foods while not having to eat a bunch more .. hopefully some of those will help you too :) As for your workout goal .. just aim for as close as you can to it .. and set the same goal for next month and see how much closer you can get .. or even if you can pass it .. or even make it like 60 minutes more than what you make for this month and work your way up from that :) Great work on "feelin the burn" .. that is always a positive sign you are movin something lol. Huggies

Hellos also to Kenya, Zelma, Ammi, Angela, Patti, Annie, Amy, Jen, Norma, Sabrina, Kim, Karen, Melissa .... oh boy ... Im sure Ive missed some .. sorry about that .. but hellos to you too!

Quick update ... I didnt do as well as I have done in the past few weeks .. but I know its cos I have been naughty and not getting to my rec. cal. intake .. so Im just happy that it let go of the 1.6 pounds that it did lol .. Im going to get some nuts and things in my shopping tomorrow so that I can have them to nibble on .. not a fan of dried fruit .. but will see what there is when I get there lol .. I gather unsalted nuts are what I am looking for?

I had thought this long weekend was going to be nice and quite for me and my hunny .. Ash was going to be going to her best friends . dad was going home today .. notice I said "WAS"?? Ash is now staying home .. her friend may be coming here instead .. my dad is staying an extra few days .. and my sis is coming for the weekend as her kids are going to be away and we have wanted to have a weekend together for MONTHS but something always comes up lol .. soooo .. its gonna be a full house this weekend instead of an empty one ... humm ... better update my shoppin list lol .. my sis is easy to please really .. she doesnt eat many veges tho .. but she isnt as bad as Ashleighs friend lol .. and dad ... well .. he eats anything rofl. Better get goin .. gotta help dad load the dishwasher onto the trailer for us to drop off this afternoon :)

Huggies all .. and have a great day!

1 - Its a beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in the sky
2 - I had a good sleep in and didnt get woken by phone, alarm or dogs (for a change lol)
3 - My sis is finally coming to spend a weekend with me!
4 - My daughter is in a good mood (rofl)
5 - My lawns are all mowed and looks lovely!

leg pain
 

nonamesleft,

This summer I learned more than I thought possible about my body aches and pains. I hired a wonderful trainer (SHE, yes she, trains and rehabs our elite Navy Seals in San Diego). Anyway, she is wonderful.

Sandy, her name, says that you can't stretch a muscle that isn't warm. You need to warm up for 10 minutes. That means gentle walking until your muscles get warm and can stretch as you work them. Then work at 20% of your maximum heart rate which is computed by subtracting your age from 220. Okay, got that? 220 minus your age times .8= target heart rate. HOWEVER, if you take drugs for blood pressure or other issues you need to have your doctor help you determine what is a good target rate.

Once you know your target you sustain that rate for an hour. Why an hour, you ask?? Well, Sandy says (my husband just rolls his eyes at those two words now), that the first 20 minutes of a workout use your "ready" stores of sugar/carbs. It takes 20 minutes to burn them us and get into the "stored" or fat that is converted to energy. Higher intensity is not required and actually may not even be what you want. Just plug away at the 80% of heart rate and if you're eating 1200-1500 calories you WILL lose weight. I did. It is important that you exercise as long as you can up to 90 minutes after the first twenty. That way you maximize your efforts. So once a day for 40 min. gives the same fat burning benefit as twice a day for 30 min.
each.

When done then cool down. Stretch your muscles. Never bounce them. Sandy has her clients always support the back. we never twist, turn, or extend the back. We lie on the floor or sit up against a wall. Her guidance has proven itself. A friend had a herniated disc and it got much better when she quit bending and twisting to do that type of exercise.

Once you are cooled down, then ice your aches. Elevating your legs can help. I get sore Achiles tendons and spend time with my legs up a wall and my back nice and flat. The edema in my legs is greatly improved and I can see no down side to Sandy's advise.

I hope icing and stretching help your feet. Nothing hurts more than not being able to move without pain. And many don't subscribe to what Sandy has laid out, however, it is all based on science, common sense and good health. Besides all doctors used to use leechs to cure colds, cancer, and almost anything; not any longer. They embraced new ideas eventually. I think of Sandy's protecting the back and common sense training as just that. Good luck. I'm out of here of a nice walk. OH, get a heart monitor and a pedidometer. Great tools.

KaCe

Good afternoon everyone!
Having a good day here in Georgia despite the crappy weather. I wrote out a plan for myself this morning & so far have followed it to the T. :cp: Makes me feel like I accomplished something, lol.
I had a great exercise day so far and I'm not done yet. I am starting to sweat more which is good. :exercise:
I also am wearing a shirt that is loose on me & the last time I wore it (2 months ago maybe) it was too tight to be comfortable to sit in. :cheer2:
Biggest Loser was awesome last night! I was shocked that they kicked Amy off but her final "reveal" segment was amazing, she looked so good! Now its basically the girls team (red) against the boys team (blue). Can't wait till next week!

Sandy: Congrats on coming to a fesible plan for the wedding. SD will just have to deal with it!
Woo Hoo on the football tickets! Sounds like fun, and its always more fun when its FREE!

Zelma: :hug: Hugs on your weight going up a little. I know after losing so much that the thought of putting any back on must be very scarey. But you know you have it under control, its not like you are sitting around watching tv & eating a whole bag of chips. Its great that you have educated connections to help you figure it out.

Lillion: So glad you are in a better frame of mind now. Back at it full speed ahead. That Count will be hollering 100 soon! :D

Misti: :woo: Awesome news on the weight being down finally. :crossed:on it staying down this time.
Glad the fruit got you "moving freely" :lol:

Kayley: Hope your plan & meeting went well today.
Good luck on your Christmas/anniversary goals. Its doable if you kick it into high gear! :kickbutt:

Katt: I hear you on the being annoyed by worrying/writing down food all the time. I use to do a daily food journal & it drove me batty :bat: Its not something I could do for the rest of my life. This time around I am just trying to make smart choices & fuel my body. I have checked fitday once or twice to make sure I am doing ok.

Lavendal: Sorry you are having a frusterating time. Stick with it, it will get better. I agree with everyone else that your body is just trying to cling to every calorie because it was starving before. Feed it well for a week or two & it will cooperate once again. :hug:

Nancy. :getwell:
Congrats on the weight loss. 70 lbs is AWESOME! :woohoo:

Jilly & Wezi: :thanks: for the info on my leg issue. Thats what I figured it was. I will try both of the stretches you suggested. It does feel better when I rotate my feet in the air. I think it has alot to do with my crappy shoes. They are 4 years old & worn out. I am going see about getting some inserts for them until I can afford some good sneakers.

Jilly: Congrats on another early exercise session. Keep it up & it will become habit. They say it only takes 3 weeks!
I get annoyed thinking about food all the time too. I find it helps to plan out what you will have & when you will have it.
Congrats on being sore. :lol: That means its working!

Wezi: I'm jealous of the Halloween party! I love getting dressed up.
The taco soup is way yummy & I will be trying those pumkin muffins soon too!

Valerie: :bravo: on the windmills! Thats awesome that you can do all those exercises now. I love that feeling, being able to push a little harder then you could before.
I love your attitude in you post. Its right on the money.
I don't want to be one of those "wah wah women" either. Either try or don't try but shut up about it. :rofl:

Michelle: :cheer: Way to Go on the exercise!!

Ok, thats enough for now. Have a great night chickies!

Hi everybody,

I'm really behind on the news here but I wanted to drop in and at least say hi and I'm doing fine, on plan, etc. Had a bad last couple of weeks because of some pms but otherwise I'm rockin along.

Hi :wave: to the new people who don't know me, since I'm not posting much these days.

I'm busy with work this month mostly being the reason. Also my husband is in the military so we're spending extra time together going outside while he's home. He's going away again on Oct. 30 so BOO to that. He's going to miss Halloween. bummer.

Well I will try to catch up on my message reading once my work schedule dies down. I work in publishing so deadlines dictate my life these days.

Hope you're all doing great! I see some of the tickers in this thread are moving along :cool: including Melissa! yay! for you :D

~ Angie

WOW! Chili caution. I just made some thinking, hey, veggies, gotta be healthy, right? Well basically it is, but I picked ingredients carefully avoiding excess sodium, and I just worked it out: The sodium is at least FOUR TIMES the calories. That's a ton of sodium. So even if I'm having a 150 calorie serving, I'm soaking up 600 ml of sodium in that one bowl. Looks like a potential false scale reading in the making. Of course, when I make chili, I tend to live on it for 2 days. THAT's a lot of sodium.

Valerie - I have read that we need 2400mg of sodium a day and my dietician friend said that 1700 is probably where I should be aiming. So, you are still doing fine, as long as you don't overdose on sodium in other meals. 600mg actually isn't too bad for a meal. A lot of the canned soups, baked beans and prepared meals have a LOT more than that.

I actually cut out too much salt for a while there, so I am trying to add more sodium now. My dietician friend said that without salt, my body was not holding fluid, which could explain a little for my frequent bathroom breaks. Also, with all the bathroom breaks, I was 'flushing' out a lot of the nutrients I was taking in. I had NO idea that we needed so much salt. You always hear about decreasing your salt intake, but I've never heard of people having to ADD salt. Oh well... just another weird thing about me.

Take care,

Zelma

I don't have much time, AGAIN, but we were SUPPOSED to visit my parents on Monday-Thursday & my sis was visiting them Thurs-Sun BUT her hubby has a meeting on Saturday so she's decided she will go on Wednesday;she's such a brat and my parents said we have to sort it out between us!!! She uses my parents to feed them & look after her kids whilst shge louges around, staying in bed til lunchtime & my parents LET her!!! Yet I help wash dishes, look after my kids and pay for our food. STILL THERE IS A GOOD THING, we decided to go to Cyprus for a week instead, got on the phone to book it, Steve went to the safe to check our passports & THEY'D RUN OUT!!!!!! So that was out,we looked at Scotland but it's a long drive with kids & I don't drive so that was out. Then I thought about The Mumbles & Ammi - why not go there? So I checked hotels around the area & booked into a 'retreat' bed & breakfast, they have 23 acres of ancient woodlands & meadows & their own ancient stone circle!!!! It's close to The Mumbles AND they do yoga, massage, stone therapy & other therapies and they train people (all properly accredited & qualified) to do them too! We're just going to stay but I might try something as we're there.
I can't wait to meet Ammi, in the flesh, we joked one of us would have to win the lottery and we'd come over there & visit you all!!!! I just hope the weather will be ok!lol
I really have to go & sort stuff out but I will be back before I go (monday) & will try to catch up on you all.
xxxsharon

Hi ammi
Do you get what they call "thrush" on your tongue from them? I am on one med that I have to be careful with. I have to drink excessive water or I get basically a yeast infection on my tongue. Its gross and involves yet another med (mouth rinse) to get rid of it. Glad you are starting to feel better!
Brenda :wave:

Hello Chickies!

I went to Brenda's blog today just for the heck of it. I'm so very, VERY glad I did. She has down a post from Valerie:

"The scale will always fluctuate. It does for every single body on this planet.The scale will park and stall out from time to time. It does for every single body on the planet.But the scale doesn't own us. (We paid for that sorry bast***'s plastic a$$ & we own it.) It hasn't got the will to control us. WE are the ones with the will to control IT!The scale just isn't very smart. My dog knows WAY more tricks. So if the scale says "Hey, Fatso, your efforts are useless! You're not getting anywhere! You'll never get that next pound off! You're failing!" and your dog says "sigh... hello beautiful and wonderful person! There's no one in the universe more worth loving than you! You can fail at nothing. With your own words you have the power to command joy & change the course of events!" C'MON!!! Who ya gonna believe??? Let's face it - the dog knows you a lot better.Don't give power to the people and things that have No Right to it. Keep it for yourself, believe in yourself and remember that the goal, and traveling towards the goal instead of away from it, is all we can do. Direction is everything, because the direction you choose will ultimately determine your destination."

I needed to hear that Wednesday!!! So glad to read it today. We have some really smart ladies here, don't we!?! :D

Ammi: :hug: I'm so sorry you are ill! Get better soon!

ZELMA, That’s interesting about the sodium, 1700-2400. My doc had told me at one time to limit it to 1000 a day. There’s SO much of it in things like cold cuts, cottage cheese, etc. that while I don’t actually COUNT it, I do try to limit it anywhere else I can. I don’t eat a lot of cold cuts, but I try to have some lean roast beef or something on hand for a quick protein snack. I was astounded that even choosing the beans and tomato products carefully, the sodium was SO high. I even paid 3 times as much for fresh ground turkey instead of frozen ground turkey, because there was so much salt there, too. Imagine how bad it was when I made it before???

SHARON, What a wonderful holiday! I’ll have to look up what ‘The Mumbles” are, but everything about your B & B sounds really intriguing! Very cool! Be sure to tell us all about it when you get back! I’m tickled too, that you’ll be able to visit our dear AMMI. I hope she’s feeling much better by then, too!

JILLY, thank you so much for your kind and flattering words. I have a writing ‘style’? Neat. OK, I’ll blabber if the mood strikes me. * WOW! I’m impressed with all that early morning exercise. My workout class starts at 8:30, but I am SO not a morning person. I’ve missed it more than once because I’ve overslept or just can’t bear to part with my pillow. (Being out of work does have a few perks.) I love Being up once I get there, but oh, that GETTING up is Just! So! Hard! You’re doing great! * I don’t plan my meals like you do, although I think that’s a great idea. I just try to stock the place with a variety of acceptable things, and since I’m logging everything right now, I just keep an eye on whether I’ve had enough veggies, fiber, protein or whatever, and keep it balanced thru the day. If I planned it all out, I don’t think I’m disciplined enough to stick to the menu.

AMMI – how discouraging! I’m sorry those meds are so horrible, but I hope they ultimately totally rid you of that tummy ailment. I hope your tongue is in proper working order soon again, as well. We don’t miss it here of course, but I’d hate to think that DH and the girls are getting away with murder because you can’t TELL them to behave!

I have a great NSV to report, at least it made me feel WONderful! Most of you have heard me talk about my killer workout class. The instructor is wonderful! But she’s not a touchy-feely, pat-you-on-the-back type of person. She talks a lot during the class about form, reminding us to pull our core in, etc. A couple of times lately she’s sounded slightly irritated while she’s explained that to get something out of the exercise you have to challenge yourself. She’ll demonstrate a whimpy punch or kick and a real power punch or kick and tell us we need to really USE the muscles. I always feel like she’s talking straight to me. I’m so much bigger than all the other women, and I really TRY to blast through the moves, but there’s no way I can do the squats, the planks or the double crunches the way a fit 140 pound person can, but I do it ‘til it hurts, break briefly and get back to it. I try fiercely! I sometimes think my breathing must sound like a freight train during the most aerobic parts. She concentrates through much of the workout, seeming to have her eyes closed, but she’s watching. She really hasn’t said much to me since I started coming to the class. But today after class she said to me enthusiastically: “You try! You REALLY TRY! Some of these people…, well, YOU’re doing great!” Ya know, that kind of praise, especially when said so sincerely, is just – well, head swelling! It meant so much, cuz I was always afraid she thought I was the lazy one. You know that when I go tomorrow, I’ll just be giving my heart and soul to it even more.

She’s the kind of person who is very self-motivated, who has such inner strength that she doesn’t need anybody to fluff her up and motivate her. I totally admire her. Me, I appreciate being fluffed. I’m seriously motivated by being fluffed. I’m sure she doesn’t understand people like me who need to hear someone else say it. Perhaps one day I’ll grow up to be as strong as she is in that way, but right now that insecure little girl in me that took so many blows for so many years, is just tickled… and all fluffed up. S’cuse me now while I skip off to play hopscotch & eat my lollypop.
:D

gee, LILION, I just caught your post. I'm so glad that you found value in what I wrote, and flattered that Brenda found it valuable enough to add it to her blog. wow. i even sounded kinda wise for a minute there, but only cuz I listen to what my dogs tell me... if I'm lucky I even hear them before they leave the proof on the floor. :o I printed a copy for myself, because there are sure days when i need to be reminded, too!

lilion~ I need to hear it so very often too! Thats why I copied into my blog. I know exactly where to find it when I need a reminder!
Brenda :wave: