I'm glad I found this site. I have lost about 16 pounds out of 60 and look for motivation on the internet everyday.

WLW-Great news from your doctor!! Congrats!

MollyW-Welcome! I've found a lot of new friends and inspiration and support here. Jump right in!

No belly dance for me tonight. Older son has been sick the last two days and wanted to stay home with me instead of going to his Dad's. Made him something to eat (he hadn't had anything besides juice and water since night before last), and we are watching the Olympics.

Bopeep, you just named two of my favorites…nuts and avocado! do you mean soda water like seltzer? I drink a lot of this, occasionally mixed with a bit of grapefruit or pomegranate juice (I love the bubbles, but don’t drink soda anymore). How is it bad for you? Isn’t it just carbonated water?

I finally got completely off soda, and it was the best thing I ever did. It didn’t take that long to lose my taste for it, and now I really hate the taste, especially diet (tastes like chemicals to me now). The artificial sweetener is sooo bad, plus all the chemicals (I’m sure this was part of my weight and headaches).

I really noticed a change without soda in my system constantly. I’m no saint…I still love an occasional Coke in the summer, (and a regular wine in the evening), but I noticed I’m not getting quite as many headaches.

I do drink a ton of water these days, and it takes a concerted effort, but I try to drink a full glass of water whenever I walk into the kitchen or go to the ‘loo’. Yep, even at night…but I have to wake up to feed the wood stove in the middle of the night anyway.

Lamb, 10 MILES??? Holy cow, that’s great! I’ve never run more than 2 or 3, and that was back in college (yeah, when I thought I needed to drop a few pounds…wish I knew what I had then!) I’m so impressed with your dedication! Port Matilda is quite close! The big highway (99) just got finished a year ago, and now Bedford to Altoona to Port Matilda to Bellefonte (and Rt. 80) is a breeze…it was a long time coming.

Newleaf, glad you are doing better!

Annie, OMGosh! I had forgotten about Ed Grimley…thanks for the reminder and the laugh! I’m going to go back and watch some of the other EG videos. And I’m really curious about your dancing class now…gonna bring your triangle next time?? ;)

I also try to avoid the public bathrooms, but with how much water I’ve been trying to drink, I seem to have a hard time with it. I’m home most of the day, so it could be worse, but I am definitely conscious of slowing down the intake before I go out. And p.s., I never could get into the elliptical…finally gave it away after moving between 5 houses!

Petra, I’m really impressed by how adventurous you are with your proteins! You must have a good butcher or shop someplace near?? I’m a big fan of lamb grilled with lots of pepper and rosemary, but my husband doesn’t like it, so I rarely have it. Does goat taste similar to lamb?

My good friend goes to Creation each year with teenagers (hers and many others) in tow…she’s a saint!

Becky, how is your kid feeling? (sorry, daughter or son??) There’s been so much going around lately! My daughter has missed 14 days of school, between flu, migraines, and pulling her back. Our school district is so strict that I got a letter after the 9th absence (even excused!) saying that if she misses more than 10, I will have to go to the district magistrate and talk to them about her absences. I’m really looking forward to that!!! Luckily, she’s really doing well this year (this has been a long time coming!) and she finally got straight A’s for the first time in her life.

You spoke of a meet and entering your times for Atlanta…are you a professional swimmer?

ICUWishing…Ginger and lemon tea by Stash is my favorite tea…it is really strong, but I can easily get two mugs from a tea bag.

I got through the second day of Slim in 6, and am happily sore. My knees are still complaining, but they’re manageable.

I spent the entire day working on new pieces for jurying. I am a jewelry artist, and many of the art festival deadlines are coming up quickly. I have “hands-on” jurying tomorrow (generally jurying is done by slides) for a local (and prestigious) show…unusual, but I have to drop of 4 pieces for jurying by this year’s judges.

I got in last year to this show, and it was the best show I’ve ever done. Four days in early July, grueling and HOT, but fantastic! I’ve got one new piece I’ve worked on for the past week that I’m trying to finish up in time to take, but we’ll see if I make it!

Sorry if I missed anyone…still trying to learn about you all.

Molly, welcome! I've only been here two days...it's great! :)

Annie, I'm watching the Olympics too...waiting for Evan Lysacek...yowza, that's a great looking guy! IM,BIND! (I'm married, but not dead!) ;)

Bellefonte, soda water can vary a bit from area to area, but I think it's basically the same thing you're thinking of. The stuff in my area changed to a higher sodium salt content, and that can be bad if you have blood pressure issues (I don't, but DH does). For me though, my big issue was that it was setting off my reflux something awful! So I had to cut waaaay back on it. There was some noise about it contributing to tooth decay, but I believe that there are conflicting studies about that. Maybe it does, and maybe it doesn't... :dizzy: Most people shouldn't have any problems with it though. (BTW - got any pics of your pieces? What a great job!)

wlw - For many people, a slower weight loss really will result in a better chance of maintenence. If you make drastic changes in your life, it can be hard to keep to your new routine once you have achieved your goal. If you do it slowly, in ways that you can maintain for the rest of your life, you might have better luck. I did the yo-yo thing several times before realizing that the changes I made weren't sustainable for me. This time I took my time (two years), and while it is so tempting to rush a few pounds off here and there, I need to stick to something I can live with forever. Some people do better with a total and sudden change, everyone is different, only you know what is best for you.

Annie - Hope your son is feeling better soon!

I actually wound up dancing tonight, even though I didn't have a class. DH and I went out to a Middle Eastern restaurant with some of my dance class friends, and they had a klezmer band playing. So we wound up dancing the night away! Good thing! I ate only a "reasonable amount" (see those quotes there? Reasonable... yeah right!), but it was a lamb, eggplant and pepper extravaganza that surely had 1000 calories per bite! I think I danced it all off, so it was totally worth it - and boy did I have fun!

BP

Good morning, everyone.

I was not good again yesterday on the food and exercise fronts, but this morning my exercise partner is back and we will be hitting the gym before work. I've got my food for most of the day measured and packaged. I just need to figure out my strategy for getting home without picking up undesirable hitch-hikers, like chocolate chip cookies.

Sorry if I don't respond personally to everyone--I'm still learning who's who, and what all's going on in people's lives.

That said, I am a proponent of drinking lots of water when trying to lose weight. I rarely drink sodas or milk, never drink coffee, sometimes succumb to hot chocolate, but I try to keep it to a minimum. Water is the best, and lots of it.

I also find slow and steady weight loss works best for me. I can lose faster, but I can't keep it off. I think my problem with maintenance is that I need the time to learn to the new eating habits. I know how to eat to lose--I don't know how to eat to maintain.

I've already learned something from this board--too few calories can slow or stop weight loss, even with exercise. Obviously, I need to revise my thinking about how I do my calorie counting. Starting today, I am considering how much exercise I do on a given day when figuring my total caloric allotment.

Speaking of which, I'd better start getting ready to leave for the gym.

Oh, another comment--I love watching Netflix, but sitting in my chair doesn't advance my weight loss program, so I'm going to try taking my comfy recliner out of the TV room. I'll replace it with either an exercise ball to sit on (requires using leg, ab, and back muscles to balance), or some exercise equipment that I can use while watching.

Marie - Thanks for sharing the pics. Beautiful! I love Cancun!

Annie - Good to hear about Tootsie. I'm thinking about ya'll with that.

Petra - One of my dear friends and an old boyfriend were from Ocean Springs. I've been there twice. :)

I drink about 64 oz of water a day, sometimes more. I'm currently trying to break my Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi addiction. It was nothing for me to drink 6 cans a day. I'm down to two. For the past two days I've just had my morning one. I dread the headache that I know will come when I stop that one in the morning.

Kitteh - You really need to keep the recliner for those lazy days! If you have enough space (and cash) , you could try an elliptical or stationary bike in there next to the recliner... (DH likes to use our elliptical while watching a movie). If space and/or cash are in short supply, maybe pick up a couple of different light weights or other other small thing that you can slide under the chair or sofa (mini-trampoline, aerobics step, jump rope, etc...). We have an exercise mat and light weights that slide under our sofa, and we will often haul them out and do something minor for an hour while watching a movie. Then we're really glad to flake out on the sofa for the rest of the time :lol:

Marie - I'm glad your DH is going to get to dive again! A cave dive sounds awesome!!

I had a healthy dinner tonight to make up for last night. Salmon with asparagus and baby bok choi sauteed with garlic (and just a smidgen of olive oil). And I had a good dance class this evening - we got to do a lot of veil work! :belly: That is *really* hard on the arms!!!!

Tonight I'm going to flake out on the sofa and watch District 9. I haven't seen it yet, and I just picked it up. And I will *not* be doing any light weights while I watch - my arms are so tired, I'd probably toss it through the screen by mistake! I do want a new tv, but not that badly! :D

BP

Hi Everyone! It has been one tough week, just noticed that the last time I logged in was last Sunday, so I have missed so much! So sorry. I am struggling with my part-time job (which I LOVE), but trying to do everything I am doing is a full-time job and I bring a lot of work home with me. This week I chose my job over myself and my commitment to weight loss. It was a calculated and well thought out decision so I am not complaining about it, but I am worried about how to balance everything and once again put myself back on my priority list. Not sure where to go from here, other than climb on the scale tomorrow and assess the damage.

I will try to catch up, so to anyone new - Welcome!

To the rest of my friends I hope your are doing well.

I just read a good blog article on motivation: http://blog.simpletruths.com/kelly-o...on-is-a-choice

What was interesting is that I came across it shortly after emailing flydog fitness about doing their morning program starting 3/1...it will take LOTS of motivation for me to get out and exercise at 6am!

Okay, just read my post and realized that I sound like a whiny baby..."oh boo hoo, my part-time job is so busy". Not that I think I need to justify anything to anyone here because I know we are not that kind of group. But I feel the need to include that my part-time job is in addition to my full-time job with my 3 yr old and soon to be 5 yr old. My husband is great, but the majority of home and children stuff is mine because I do work part-time and that's fine with me. On a good day, I am overwhelmed, but it is a good overwhelmed if that makes sense. This week wasn't even close to a good overwhelmed, I barely was able to get 5 hours of sleep each night. Sorry to rant on and on, I am just still in the throws of this crazy week and I am going to be so grumpy about the scale in the morning, I just know it!

Bellafonte - Welcome, I just noticed you are doing Slim in 6, I have been doing it since January and it is great. I am doing Ramp It Up now mostly, adding the Slim and Limber when I can because it is relaxing to me. I have had a horrible week for diet and exercise, but trying to get back on track tomorrow. I hope you like Slim in 6, I have a knee issue too and so far so good, I will add I do not over do it with the forward lunges on Ramp It Up.

Marie - Love the photos, too beautiful...you and the beach!

Heidi - Just saw your post about the test results, I don't understand how that happens, we were just celebrating your good news. My heart goes out to you...please stay positive, you are so good at focusing on the positive side of things.

Annie - Glad you are liking the DVDs! When does Tootsie have surgery, did I miss it?

I'm having an unusually bad week at work. I didn't get home until 10 last night:yikes: Fortunately, that doesn't happen very often. I am on call this weekend and I have to go back for more punishment today. Hopefully it won't be as bad as yesterday but this is not going to be a pleasant day either. Saying my eating was not on plan yesterday would be an understatement but it did not include sugar. That is always the line in the sand for me. I spent a little time trying to get my food journal up to date this morning so I do not put my head in the sand about that-something that is different for me. I journalled all those unhealthy calories from yesterday which came out to almost 3000. I'm not going to go into details but its over and we are moving on.

I'm packing lunch today-goat, lentil and onion soup. and an apple. I'm hoping I get home in time to cook my rabbit.

As for my protein choices-long story. The goat I can get locally. I try to buy some organic stuff from a local farm and some of the more exotic stuff I get off the internet. Goat, pigeon, rabbit are all very mediterranean and I follow a mediterranean diet when I am eating on plan.

Interesting that several of us all woke up feeling better on the same day. We had 6 admissions that day-we call this "manic weather" for a reason. Not that everyone who is feeling better is manic but the weather, amount of sunlight etc definately affects peoples moods. Its not a coincidince that my world at work has gone haywire at the same time.

Sorry I don't have time for more personal stuff but have to get back to the grind so I'm not at the hospital till 10:00 tonight too. Have a good weekend everyone.