[reneekicksfat]

Hi everyone!

Holiday is over... back to reality! I had a great weekend actually. I made the cole slaw from the Hungry Girl recipe. Only 49 calories per serving. It was great. I also made the Apple Cobbler from the 200 under 200 book from Hungry Girl, and it was also surprisingly good. I have a few more recipes out of that book to try. All and all we had a cookout with frineds, and we kept the food very low in fat... everyone was on board with it so that helped.

Off to workout then run errands. It's a Costco day!

Renee

[Marie]

Great willpower, Hydra. The funnel cake smell is so overpowering at those events that sometimes it’s awfully difficult to resist.

OMW, sounds like you had a nice weekend. Relaxing. That’s what my next weekend will be as DH has to do guard weekend. This past weekend was exhausting. Good job on the walking.

Renee glad to meet you. Congrats on the great success you’re having. Those last 15 will go as well. I’m down to my last 17 but they’re being slow. Patience. So in your avatar, are you one of the two girls?? If so, which one? I love Hungry Girl but haven’t bought her book but I love the daily emails. I’ve used many of her recipes and the chicken cordon bleu is my favorite. I also love Costco. I could live in their produce dept. Too bad it's next to the delectable smelling bakery dept.


Mitzee, interesting idea of grading your day. Our Safeway has a starbucks in it. I’d be in deep muck if I worked close to one of those.

Cruise, it is amazing how the time flies by. I really like to know where summer went.

Joy, I’d have thought they were the same muscles as well but clearly weren’t. My legs have pretty much recovered. Good luck on getting your snacks in line with what you want.

ICU, enjoy your vacation day. Doesn’t sound like chores will be a good time…


Gabby, that’s the key – to never let a bad day keep you down. I swear that’s a bad day is the killer to most diets. “Well I screwed up so I just can’t do it” Good job not letting that trap get you.

Marie

[patchworkpenguin]

Okay, I need to do some catching up here. Had a nice weekend with Hubby, but now its time to buckle down and get to business again. However, this morning I pulled the sheets off the bed and put them straight in the dryer. Umm, its called 'washing the sheets' because they actually need to go into the washing machine first. I'm more awake now.

Yesterday was hot and very humid {90%} but it never rained. Today seems nicer outside. Yay. So I'm probably end up out in the yard later today.

After many days of overeating I seem to have gotten a better hold of myself and have done fairly well the past few days. Small steps.

Mel, Welcome back

Mitzee, Welcome, congrats on trying to quit smoking! I worked at Kroger 's bakery for many years, being around all that food didn't help much!

Hydra, Your Ren fair sounds wonderful. There's a park not far from us where on Sundays they get together to practice swordfighting which is always interesting to see.

Joy, I hear you on the catching up...I need to fins last week's thread and see what I missed.

Cruise, It does seem like this year is flying past. Hubby Bday is the 11th and it seems to have snuck up on me.

Renee, Welcome. What parts of TN and FL? I'm in Memphis, and I have a sis who lives in St Pete.

OMW, Eeek on the 7am bathroom guy but I'm glad he got a lot done!

WLW, Hubby had a big family but they never seem to include us. They seem to either expect us to know they are doing something or invite us at the last minute when we've already made plans to do something else. I don't have a big family so this seems counter to everything I've read/heard about families get-togethers. My dad always worked holidays so we never really celebrated the 'little' ones like Labor Day, so I don't think about them as 'get together' times.

[reneekicksfat]

Marie - Ha! The beautiful blonde in the avatar is Chalene Johnson - Creator of Turbo Jam & ChaLean Extreme (Turbo Kick, PiYo & Hip Hop Hustle) I would be the brunette!

Penguin - Cookeville Tn and Ft Myers Fl

[patchworkpenguin]

Renee, I was wondering the same thing. I thought the blonde looked familar, I'm a member of a video exercise forum {VF}, and some of my friends are doing CLX.

[Hotsplashes]

Evening Ladies! Hope everyone had a great long weekend. I sailed all weekend and got to see the most beautiful sunset and moonrise all in about 2 hours on Saturday nite.

I fell off the wagon, Danged that Tim Hortons! But Scale to day said I didn't gain any! So I must not have been too bad.

Today was first day back to school. There are people older than I am in my class so I don't feel so overwhelmed.

Now it's a matter of learning to make my lunches ahead of time!

[weightlosswanted]

Wow, hard to keep up with all the personals!
Hotsplashes: congrats on returning to school! preplanning lunches will help, either packing them ahead or knowing what's on the menu at the cafe that fits into your plan.
Cruise: you're so close to your goal, I can see you making it!

I'm getting better and keeping my calories in the 1400-1600 range recommended by the nutritionist. The whole 4 meals of about 400 calories wasn't working for me. Now I'm eating my regular breakfast, 1st break is more of a lunch and my lunch break is more of a dinner. After work I'm having a snack instead of a full meal. Bonus, I'm not feeling so crappy from the low blood sugar spells. The downside is that I'm STARVING most of the day! I almost never feel hunger, now I'm on the verge of gnawing on my desk. Guessing that means my metabolism is picking up? Got in an extra 1/2 mile on the treadmill during my lunch break today. So far no scale movement, neither up nor down. I guess there's something to be said for maintaining : )

[mystical]

Hello ladies I was just wandering if I could joing your group. I need support and motivation. This looks like a great place for that. I am starting over once again and I am really hoping that I can keep this up. I am trying to just count my calories. I would love to have a monthly menu but I need some help putting one together if any of you have any suggestions or ideas that would be great. Thanks for listening.. Have a great night.

[reneekicksfat]

Morning ladies!

Just finished Turbo Kick Round 37 and some PiYo. Body bugg calculated 875 calories burned!

Drank my ********** post workout. Off to shower then, grab my lunch, and snack and it's off to work I go!

I can at least bring the laptop to work. It'll be dead today. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Renee

[Jacque9999]

Need some advice....

I have a friend who started exercising and a lifestyle change about the same time I did. We both had about the same amount of weight to lose. Well I continued the journey...being very consistent and sticking with the goals I set. She has been very inconsistent and "talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk". She's always saying, I will do this and I will do that. She has dropped out of one thing, added another then pretty much doesn't nothing. She has gotten better and says she has lost some weight, honestly I don't see it...yet. I have been her biggest cheerleader in all this and don't feel that it is appreciated....her loss I guess but frustrating for me.

Anyway....for awhile now things have not been quite the same between us....my BF has been saying for months that she is jealous of my success.

Having said that, yesterday we were talking about (actually texting each other) and I had told her how I had had a veggie burger for lunch that I didn't quite agree with me and wasn't feeling great....her response was what kind of bread did I have with it....and I said, none, I didn't want the carbs (I eat them in other ways, i.e. cheese and crackers).

Anyway....her response,

YOU NEED CARBS, YOUR ARMS ARE TOO SKINNY!!! I was shocked at that response. That is her opinion and I don't agree one bit. Also, not one person has said any part of my body looks "too skinny". My response to her was that I like my arms, and she said, yea but they are still too skinny...all I said was, but they are ALL MUSCLE!!!

I really felt that she was trying to sabatoge me because she has not done much in her journey and would probably like to see me fail. I know that sounds crazy but awhile back someone said something about my arms being really toned and she says, well you tone fast. I was like, I freakin' worked my butt (and arms and everything else) off to get to where I am. There was nothing "fast" about it. This has been a long process and I am proud of how far I have come.

I'm sick and tired of the tension between us and I don't know how to handle it.

Any thoughts?

Also...

mystical

[weightlosswanted]

Welcome Mystical! This is a great support group, plenty of great ideas and inspiration : )

Jacque: I think your bf is right. Not only is she jealous, but unsupportive and critical! I love your arms, and just saw a story on the news about how women are flocking to the gyms wanting toned arms like Michele Obama. Guess what? You've got them!!!! As for how to handle the situation with your friend...that depends on how important the friendship is to you. You may want to just not discuss what you're eating or the lifestyle changes you've made, and change the subject if she brings it up. Or the next time she says something critical tell her that you're sorry she's not willing to be supportive of your success. Certainly the last thing you need is a friend who tries to sabatoge you with negative comments. If you want to maintain the friendship it may take a sit-down with a heart-to-heart talk. Sadly, when we make changes in our lives, even for the better, it can cause a change in our relationships and we may have to let some people go along the way. I hope you find a way to resolve the situation!

[CruiseCAT]

Jacque - I have "friends" that are supportive and "friends" that are enablers. The true supportive friends are there every step of the way (on plan or off) the enablers "say" they are "with me" but the fact of the matter is they pick apart everything I do or eat and tell me why losing weight is impossible for them. Like your "friend" they also seem to think anything under 150 for me is too skinny. They are also the FIRST ones to point out when I've put on a few pounds. They are obsessed with weight; mine and theirs.

Unfortunately these people have been a part of my cycle for years and when I stopped my part of the vicious cycle it created issues within the relationship. For me even though I have a goal number in mind it's about getting healthy physically & mentally and that is my focus especially with my enabler friends. No matter my size there is no denying that I have benefited from being strong physically & mentally.

[CruiseCAT]

Welcome mystical, the ladies here are GREAT!!!

Looks like you are off to a good start. What is your "plan", we all have our favorite meals/snacks to share. One of my favorites is a one egg veggie omelet with spinach, peppers, mushrooms, tomato, and 1 oz. of mozzarella cheese (about 260 calories). I also love fruit smoothies, yogurt, banana, and frozen fruit either mixed or just strawberries (about 250 calories).

[reneekicksfat]

Jaquee,

Sometimes when you have made positive changes in your life, you start to see the negative you should leave behind.

I have friends that are true friends that have been my biggest cheerleaders, and others that are just doomsayers. I realized they are no more healthy for me than Crisco covered bacon on a buttered croissant. Tough decision, but perhaps you need to move on, and surround yourself with positive energy.

I'm not saying ditch your friend, just make room for new ones with a more positive energy.

Renee

[ICUwishing]

We're getting big! Er, I mean, more of us! I have to take notes sometimes on who's doing what - anybody else having trouble keeping up? It's great though - we have (at my count) 22 contributors in just the last week, and I know there's plenty more lurkers who are watching us. FABULOUS 40's, for sure!
Mel - welcome back! Looks like you made some progress over the summer - a credit to the good habits.
Gabby - 2 weeks is a great start! But should the scale NOT move - do not give up - concentrate on how much better you feel. It will move, eventually. Fickle things, those scales!
Hotsplashes - the sailing day sounds terrific. Best wishes for school - and agreed, the habit of making lunches ahead of time is a great one to start.
Mystical - welcome and hop on in!
Renee - I'm curious about the TurboKick, but I'm a classic klutz. It sure looks like it's working for you, though!
Cruise - Mid December? Oh yeah. Doable. Join the Halloween challenge! Boo!
patch - We'll be expecting pictures of the knitting projects!
OMW - I love that "groove" too. DH is starting to accomodate my change in lifestyle, and he's beginning to display just a bit of curiosity about how I'm managing my losses. He knows he needs to drop at least 20 to take pressure off his arthritic knees, but like me, he doesn't want to give up things. DS10 has even asked that I stop putting fruit juice boxes in his lunch each day - he wants me to alternate them with water and with V8. Woohoo!
dmc - I have not given up wine! I have ... cut back. And I have made peace with the fact that weight loss is going to be very slow on this round - I'm older, I don't have a lot of time to exercise (and I don't like it that much), and I dearly love great food. What's working for me is portion reduction to bring things in line with my calorie range.
Jasmine - tip from a fellow wine drinker: know thy glasses well. If you haven't done this yet, find out exactly where the proper volume of wine rises to on your typical glass. Generally, wine goes about 24 calories per ounce - I started measuring again when I couldn't break a stall, and found out I was seriously undercompensating. :O
Gardenerjoy- I'm all over that pesto! mmmm!
Auzzie - good strategy to walk during football prep. I'm going to do that during my son's swim practices - I CANNOT sit through another season in those bleachers! Ugh!
hydra - I LOVE Ren Fests! We have a huge one in Holly, MI. Mmmm - Scotch eggs ... and I usually come home with more than I planned, too.
Primm - hope your ankle is fully recovered!
Mitzee - like someone else said - there's no "luck" in weight loss. None. The good news is that means it's fully under your control.
Sunshine - thank gawd for freezers. Precooking is the only thing that saves me some weeks!
pres - Many of my very best eating days start off with 40-50% of my calories right at breakfast, usually in a meat and cheese-stuffed omelet. There just seems to be something about major protein and fat that works for me ... I can just lightly graze the whole rest of the day and I'm perfectly happy. Hope it works as well for you!
WLW - IMHO - the hunger IS your metabolism firing up and coming alive again. I conquer those "wanting to eat the desk" days with small portions of nuts, seeds, a cheese stick, or a tiny can of tuna. I think you'll see them taper off a bit as you get used to the higher calories. It's great that you're seeing improvement in your blood sugar levels - you're on your way back to health!
Marie - I haven't gotten in to see them yet. The brown spots bug me a lot more than the spider veins. Depends on what it costs, I guess, and we are heading out of shorts weather, so legs will come after face. My recent issue of Life Extension has a huge article on a supplement from Europe that's got some strong clinical data backing up claims for improving leg vein/capillary function. If I learn something worthwhile, I'll make sure to let everyone know.
Jacque - very sorry to hear that your GF is still wallowing in the victim mentality. I think your arms look fabulous - I know you work your fanny off (among all your other thin, toned parts!) and you've achieved the body you DESERVE. You just can't flip that switch for someone else. Now if she's getting catty ... the best response I've ever heard is a surprised "Oh my gosh. I can't believe you said that out loud - you must be so embarassed!" She needs to know she's stepping over the line with you, and is forcing you to back away from the friendship. She will have to decide whether she's going to quit her attempts to block your progress, join you fully in the quest for health, or risk the friendship.

Filed my Articles of Organization for my LLC yesterday, and also got my federal tax ID. Forward!