Good morning everyone .. well i survived Halloween! Ammi i dont blame you for not answering the door.. big kids ruin it for everyone but i love the little ones! Well got to get going on my exercise and hopefully go get my new glasses this afternoon! have a good day and congratulations to all those with a loss and hugs to those who need it... like Kayley get better soon!

hi everyone! sorry i missed yesterday, but hope everyone had a happy halloween! :dracula: :witch2: :sklol: we didn't get as many trick or treaters as we thought, so we still have candy in the house! i''m going to throw it all in a bag and have rich take it to work with him. i did let myself have some candy last night--it can't be halloween without a few pieces, right? but, now it's out of here!
so, i didn't post it yesterday, but my weigh in was the same as monday, up two pounds. i didn't get too upset about it though--i just figure, i'll focus on the positives (taking a tip from katt! :) ). #1) when i started reading on here, i was at 301, so at least i'm down from there and #2) when i started posting on here, i was at 298, so at least i'm still down 1 pound from there. i'm not going to change my ticker back up yet, i'll wait and see what next week looks like.

nonames--yes, i did join the exercise thread! i'm excited to start keeping track of my minutes and see if i can reach my goal.

katt and jilly--i have a bunch of the WATP dvd's. i did them, and the elliptical and some weights, before my wedding and lost about 50 pounds. they are really fun. i have that walk and kick dvd and one called walk and jog (i think), along with the 1, 2 and 3 mile walks that came with the exercise band you wear around your waist. i even found a 4 mile walk at walmart a while ago, but i dont' do that one often--it's killer! the other ones are a lot of fun. i like them cuz they are easy to follow and i don't end up tripping over my own feet! :o

well, i'm going to go look at the website for photobucket and see if i can post some pics. have a great day everyone! lori

rich finally made it home from work and a sidetrip to home depot and helped me figure out photobucket. i put some pictures on the picture page so you'll know what i look like now. i'll need to add another picture of rich without his halloween makeup sometime! lori

Ammi~Yeah I think the tennis shoes will be sooo much better for my ankles! I have never been so excited to get shoes! *lol*

Lori~Great pics! Love the halloween costumes! And I noticed you live in St. Louis...my husband just applied for a job there. Or actually its in the city of saint charles. Sorry you didn't lose more weight. But like you pointed out stay focused on the positives!

Ok well I am still on this HORRIBLE schedule! I am on the midnight shift schedule thanks to DH. Oh well I guess I will just have to figure out a way to get on a normal schedule again. My body does not like staying up all night! I feel terrible! Anyways...hope you all are having a great day!

Michelle

Gee Whiz, AMMI, that FFM must be off duty at your house to let that silly scale slip up so much! No worries! It’ll be right back down again soon! Like you said – NO WAY you went THAT far over on cals in just a couple of days! *** Oh, you said it! If only we could have a little crystal ball, just to avoid our large sizes and jerks… or our large jerks, as the case may be! Even that time machine would be REALLY handy. I’ll keep my eye on you and LILION for those little goodies!

DOGPAL – How’s it going, ANNIE?? Did your DH’s Vikings win the other night? I hope so!

ANDIE – You’re off to such a WONDERFUL start! I’m thrilled to see you getting all that exercise in. Good to see you on the exercise thread, too. That thread keeps me going sometimes when I’d rather sit back on my bootie and watch the tube. I love it!

KAYLEY, I hope your feeling at least a little better by now! I’m TOtally cheering for you to make that anniversary goal you’ve set. It’s a challenge, especially being sick, but I’ve seen your ticker in action – YOU can make it!!!

KATT, It’s cool to hear that you’re going for your license. Even though I drive professionally now, I didn’t get my regular car license until I was 26 years old. That’s probably more unusual here than there. Here it’s ridiculously easy to get a driver’s license. Good grief, they let the kids get their learners permit at 15 ½ ! And anyone can ‘teach’ them. No wonder so many people don’t know the rules and we have so many accidents. This story shouldn’t be funny, but it is: Yesterday a traffic police officer was traveling one way on a multiple lane highway. He saw someone going the other way that he wanted to give a ticket to, so he went to make a U-turn. Apparently he did it unsafely across other lanes of traffic, because he was hit broad-side…. By a corrections officer! It wouldn’t be funny if anyone had been hurt seriously, but c’mon! Who REALLY has that ticket coming? ** It rocks that you did that pilates and still did some movin’ and shakin’ with Richard! Great job!!

JILL, I just tried an elliptical for the first time last week when I checked out a new gym. You’re right – it sure does give you a workout! I’m pretty sure I’ll be joining that gym once my new job schedule is settled, and I’m looking forward to ‘playing’ more on the elliptical. It’s really great to see you posting more again – I missed ya! ** Oh, and I’m with you on the cravings – Once I start, I’m usually DOOMED! There is absolutely NO such thing as ONE piece of chocolate. ** Hey, watch your toes on that couch! Great job on trying new tapes and such, tho!

Howdy, PATTI! I hope it’s just the usual stuff at the eye doc. Have a great day!

MISTI, I’m totally frustrated for you! Silly, wicked, ornery scale!!! We both know this dry spell will break, but gee whiz, I wish it would get on with it already!

MELISSA, Good for you, getting after that strength training for November! I have no doubt that you can make your goal for your trip. What I love about the strength training, too, is that my measurements are all going down, even when the scale is moving slower… or not at all.

HEATHER, That’s a really cool thing about your “Victory Basket”. I’m glad to see that ultimately you didn’t let that ‘stuff!’ pass your lips. BRAVO! I certainly know all about how powerful cravings can be. I don’t have a history as good as yours… yet. Ah, but we are works in progress, right? At least if your cravings are TOM related, you know that if you can hold out for just a couple days, it will pass. …Not like cravings for Chinese food. ;) …OOPS, Just caught up with the spice cake post. Yup, I understand. Glad you stopped at four! Look at it this way – spices are good for you – they clean out your arteries and clean out your arteries and increase blood flow thru your heart and, and, and… R U buying this? *** Oooo, the Lifting post! (See how far behind I am?) That’s SO, SO cool about looking forward to and then really enjoying your weights! If someone had told you a year ago that that would happen, what would you have said?? I know exercise hasn’t always been your favorite thing, and I think it’s just a TREMENDOUS NSV that it played such a positive role in such a hard day!! Wow! Just Wonderful!!

KATY, I’m so very sorry to hear about your cousin, and that you won’t even be able to make it to the funeral. :hug: I don’t know what to say, other than that my heart goes out to you and your family. I can’t imagine your loss. Please do hang in there and try not to let the stress cause you to harm yourself and your progress. You said it – you don’t want to backslide again. And reading and writing here is SO much better than cruisin’ the cupboards or munching any unmentionables. This is a safe port, and a harbor of hope!! ** I can’t remember where you said you were from, but it sounds like you’ve got as much winter as our Top-of-the-world MICHELLE! I better quit whining about 45 degrees, even if it IS raining! ** Oh, and you’re a night owl, too? Right now while I’m in training for this new job I’ll be working days – 5 a.m. to roughly 5 p.m., but when I go ‘regular’, I’ll be on 4 pm to 4 a.m. I always drove night shift when I drove long distance. When the sun comes up, I start to yawn.

Oh, MICHELLE – Yes, decent sneakers make a HUGE difference! I have New Balance and I love them, but I will say that even in various styles of NB shoes, the fit varies quite a bit. It’s too bad you couldn’t try on a few pairs before you bought them, but overall they’re a really good shoe and I hope yours boost your exercise abilities! I know when I started on my treadmill and could only do 10-12 minutes, I used to do it in stocking feet. Now I wouldn’t dream of it! And since you’ll only wear them indoors, I bet they last you for a long time. I just recently bought one pair that I never wear outdoors and only use for exercise class. But even the first pair I bought that I wore CONstantly, they lasted like 3 times longer than any pair of WalMart shoes I’ve ever had. Also, I have wide feet, and I find that their wide sized models help me tremendously, too! Like AMMI, I no longer have anywhere near the trouble with my ankles that I used to! *** I understand about that change between night and day shift. It seems I’ve been changing back and forth for years, and as a consequence I think I need more sleep than I used to, or at least more than some other people around me. I don’t always take one, but I’m usually game for a nap most days. I hope you get your schedule squared away soon.

KIM !!!!!!!! Good to see you!!! I hope you’ll post that exercise on the Exercise thread – You’d push us over our 20k of minutes for sure! It’s SUPER that you’ve been staying so OP, and of course we’ll be delighted if you could spend a little more time with us, but your success is the most important thing! I know the time I can spend here is about to drop drastically with my new job, but isn’t it great to be able to stop by here, no matter what??? Keep up the great work. I hope your ‘measure in’ gives you numbers to cheer about. Let us know, K?

WEZI, Cool that you put a pic up on the pic page. It’s great to see you! It took me forever, and I don’t even have a recent one of me… have to do something about that. That mean old scale will do plenty of fluctuating, especially if your water and sodium intake vary. I know that if I exercised (or didn’t exercise) the night before I weigh in, it has a profound effect on the scale. You’ve started that trend downward, and there’s no stopping you now!!!


My First Day at work… I think I just may really like being a Big Twuck Dwiver again. I had terrible fears about getting a real macho jerk for a trainer that would be testing me and pushing me from day one, but I got a good guy that’s got a great approach to teaching. He started with “The first day, you don’t even put gloves on. You just ride along and watch.” He tells me that tanker drivers are, in general, a different breed than freight box haulers, and that even guys from other companies will be helpful and friendly. I learned a bunch right off the bat, of course, and he’s great about answering questions. It’s cool to see how the fittings work, how the trucks are loaded and unloaded, etc. They gave me a new hard hat & stuff, and even got a chance to break it in at a steel mill we went to. (I was so cute in my little hard hat, dressed up like a little construction worker... and I wasn't even doing it for Halloween!
It was a gorgeous, sunny day here, and against all odds, we got done early. He was happy cuz it was his “Friday” and he got to go home early with beautiful weather, to boot. He tells me a normal day is about 4 loads, and we only ran one long one, so I didn’t get to see as much as I might have, but there’s still plenty of time. I had Tues & Weds off, and I put them to good use, working out. (Ouch – New routine at class has my back, shoulders, lotsa stuff, feeling it!) Tomorrow it’s up again at 3 a.m. and back at it. I’m looking forward to it!! It’s very interesting, and I feel really confident that while some days the work may be really hard, I’m perfectly capable of doing it. OOoooooo, come on first pay check!!! That won’t be for another 2 ½ weeks, tho.

I guess I'll be their only female driver. He said that he had one train for a week once, and then decided it wasn't for her. I don't have that luxery, and besides, I'm not a fluff chick. I'm a greedy little work horse. SHOW ME THE MONEY! ... But don't let my husband see it!!!

Anyway, I’m loving the job so far... but it's only been one day. One short, SUNNY day.

To all our recent PICTURE POSTERS – I finally got a chance to check out all the cool new pics. It’s GREAT! Loved the costumes and loved to see those smiling… or not… faces of friends!

OK, so I’m splurging. I’m trying these spinach and artichoke nuggets by Morning Star, whose products are all (or mostly) vegetarian. Yes, MISTI, they’re highly processed and mostly bad for you I suppose, but way lower fat, etc, than many things, and hey, they’ve got spinach in them. How bad can they be??? Well, they’re yummy anyway, but they don’t have any sugar to make me crazy. This is an allowable treat that I can enjoy, but not lose control with.

This my be my last long post for a while. I don't know how the next few weeks will go with this new job. I know I'll dedicate myself to keeping up with my exercise, and eating well should be easy if I just plan ahead and take my little trucker lunch box with me. I'll try to look in on you guys and make sure you're behaving, even if I don't have the steam to post much. Just letting you know, I'll be with you in spirit, if not in print. To all of you - :grouphug: !

Well, I missed a whole thread again. Was off work yesterday & therefore off of the computer too. We had a great Halloween. It was the first year that DD was old enough to participate. It was so much fun. We were on the move from 8am to about 10pm and I didn't get to sleep until 2am! I walked almost 20,000 steps (19,550ish, registered at 8 miles).
Today, I have been exhausted, lol. I took 2 naps today (up at 645am). And wasn't able to get in any exercise yet since I was sleeping. :o I will get some in tonight after work. Gotta start the month off right!

Not gonna try to catch up on personals, sorry.
Did want to tell Valerie congrats on your first day going well. Hope you really enjoy it.

Have a good afternoon ladies!

Razzleberry: :welcome3: Jump right in. These girls are great! Looks like you are on good start with a 2 pound loss, congrats!

Welcome to the newcomers :) and hello ladies!

I had a lovely vacation, weather was way to nice for this time of year, If TOM wasnt here I would most like take a swim in the sea and I wouldnt be alone. I cant belive people were actually swiming and it was practicly a november.
I did a lot of walking, draging my man around every day untill he started complaining he's on vacation and that means he's taking a rest :lol: Poor thing :P
I was quiet good with the food too so didnt gain any weight didnt loose any but thats ok. But I spoiled everything today, I just couldnt stop eating. Dont know what came over me. Well its a new begginging tommorrow I guess and I just know I gonna do ok. But I will not step on a scale tommorow :D

Anyway I hope everyone is ok. Im off to bed. Nighty-nite

LAVANDEL - Sounds like a wonderful vacation and lots of exercise. One day won't ruin it all - you'll be back on the wagon tomorrow. I'm glad the weather was nice for your vacation, too.

WELCOME to the thread, DAZZLEBERRY! Of course that's close enough - we really aren't that persnickity about the weight. It's just a great place for those of us that have gone over that line. We're all working in the same direction. This bunch is wonderful, and I hope you have as much fun here as I do!

Hey, ANDIE. Thanks for the congrats on my new job. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. WOW - You sure had a lot of steps! That's fantastic!

Night-night, all. It's my bedtime.

Hello girls!!

Just wanted to check in! Hope that halloween went okay for everyone!
I managed to get by with only eating two Reece's cups!~ I was shocked at myself!

I've set my goal up at 300 minutes for the month of Novemeber! Hoping to be able to keep that goal!!

What thread will we use in November?

LookingforHope16: There is a new sticky thread in place of the old one now. Its called We are Thankful for Exercise in November (or something close).

LookingforHope -- There's a new November exercise thread now stickied at the top of the page -- our moderator ThinThinker takes care of all that stuff for us (for which we are grateful!!)

Valerie -- Thanks for your update on your first day -- I hope you like it so much in the future! And you know my history with exercise well. I have NOT always liked it -- so this feels like a real breakthrough!!

And about the spices... no I didn't buy it, but I appreciated the sentiment!!!

Andie beat me!!

Oh, and welcome dazzleberry!!!! I joined at a lower weight than you!

DAZZLE ... WELCOME on in!! Of course you can join in :) We have had others in here below 300 so that is not a problem at all .. its lovely to see you on the boards and great work on your 2 lb lost! The women on here are friendly, buttkicking inspirational and funny .. .would love to say the same about the men on here .. but I have yet to see any of the poor darlings post .. I think we scare em rofl. (so any of you lurking males .. come on .. join in :) we wont bite .. honest ... *ignore the crossed fingers* ). I hope to see you jumpin on in often .. any questions or issues just post .. Im sure someone on here will know exactly the right thing to say .. there are some really awesome writers on here :)

VAL - LOVELY to see you on the boards .. and its sooo kewl you had a great first day .. I think that always bodes well for the future dont you??? Sorta like a first impression does. Im sure now that you are doing something interesting and busy you will have no prob keeping OP and getting in your exercise .. just remember not to overdo in the first few weeks while you settle into your new job .. its a new routine and you dont want to stretch yourself too thin (although thin is most of our goals lol) .. would LOVE to see a piccy of you as a Village People member!! lol ... so get someone to take a piccy!
Driving over here isnt the best either ... its usually the ones that have had their license for years that are the worst tho because they dont know all the new road rules that come out ... now you have to resit your license every 10 years which I think it really good cos its amazing how many rules change, or get added in 10 years. Still .. its good to challenge myself ... helps to keep me on track I think :)

NANCY - Love your devilish piccy hun ... very cute! Oops about the cheese lol .. but I hope you enjoyed every mouthful otherwise that was really a waste .. and like you said .. new start the next day and Im sure you will be back to being OP :)

AMMI - Hocus Pocus is one of my (and Ashleighs) fave movies!! Mind you Im a biiiig Bette Midler fan lol .. In NZ Halloween isnt really a big holiday .. there are probably more activities in the bigger cities for it .. but Im not a big celebrater of the whole advertised sort .. we used to have Halloween displays in our shop and I would have a bowl of sweets (that I didnt like lol) on the counter for any of the kids that came in ... but in the last 7 years of living out of the capital (wow thats a while lol) we havent had a single trick or treater! In the city we used to go to the mall where they would have events on for the kids .. they had security guards at every door as well for extra safety incase the kids got separated from the parents while trick or treating thru the shops .. it was a great safe Halloween .. shame more dont do that sort of thing.

HEATHER - Well done on the dodge of trick or treaters lol .. and as for the mini cupcakes .. it could have been worse .. and you have acknowledged it so its time to move on from it ... hope they were yummy tho lol ..

KIM - Great to see you back .. and good luck on your new 5 day challenge .. Im sure you will be able to do it :) Keep well!

KAYLEY - Hun I hope youre feeling better ... just get well and dont stress on sticking to your plan while you are trying to recover ... give your body what it needs. Huggies

MICHELLE - Great job on going to the doctors and all it could take is a decent pair of shoes!! Let us know if that makes a difference at all :) Huggies

PATTI - Well done on surviving Halloween :) And hopefully you will take a new piccy when you get your new glasses :)

LORI - Good on you for getting temptation out of the house as soon as possible .. and a couple of pieces I suppose is Halloween tradition lol .. need to find a new one I think rofl .. Great work on focusing on the positives .. on this long journey I think a HUGE part of it is a mental battle really .. and the more positive you are or the more positives you find it makes the journey a little more fun and not seem like such hard work. Great on the walking dvds too Im looking forward to getting mine .. wont be for a couple of weeks tho cos its coming from the US lol .. but I have the elliptical this weekend and have Richard and Pilates to play with to keep a good variety going :) Love your piccy too!! So nice to put a face to the post :)

ANDIE - Great work on your walking .. sounds like it was a fun packed day and no wonder you had to have those naps lol ..

LAVANDEL - Great work on all your walking .. ooops about the eating ... but if your body is telling you it needs fuel its a good idea to give it something .... hopefully it was all healthy foods? Keep at it :)

ERIKA - Well done on the Reeses limit .. Im sure that must make you feel really good to know you can have some and control the intake :) And really well done on setting your exercise goal ... every minute counts and Im sure you can do whatever you set out to do :)

Well . TOM is visiting .. never an invited guest lol .. but one that I will happily put up with if I get the result from the scale I got this morning lol .. Im down another 2 lbs!! And I actually hit my calorie intake minimum yesterday too! Sooo I am hoping for my official weigh in on Friday TOM isnt gonna have me up any cos Im already down 2 .. TOM can play with those 2 rofl...

Our new stock has arrived so I gotta go and sort that out for Scoot to take piccys of it this weekend for the shopsite ... and I have to go back into town cos I forgot a few things yesterday ... oh .. got Angel Season 1 & 2 in the post today .. yippee .. now I just need another rainy day or 3 rofl ... sun has been out all day today .. but the clouds are coming over now so I better go out and get the washing in before it gets wet again lol ..

Love & Laughter everyone! Will do my Top 5 before bedtime :)

Huggies