Let's get this party started!!!

Hello everyone! Woke up to a rain gage with 2 3/4 inches in it from overnight! We should have cooler temps for a few days now. Hope it dries out enough so we can mow tomorrow evening.

Weekend was good, I did lots of cooking. Made some softish comfort foods for fiance's sick neighbor and it was good to see him eat. Also baked him homemade choco chip cookies. That is an unsafe food for me and I ate WAY too many. I actually analyzed the recipe online and each cookie has 145 cal. and 8 grams fat. Saving some for the boys and if I can keep my paws out of them I'll be happy. I just cannot resist that type of thing. I am just hoping to maintain this week after eating like I did over the weekend.

I have lived in Oklahoma for 28 years and finally attended my first rodeo over the weekend! It was lots of fun, just a very small town group. Saw some beautiful animals and talented people.

Well, I'll be getting back on plan today. How are you spending your Monday?

Happy Monday everybody!

Annie - Up in Philly, we are supposed to get rain tonight & cooler temps on Wednesday. I cannot believe how hot and horrible it was this weekend. It was 85F at 8 am this morning.

I had a pretty good weekend. On Friday, I decided to stop losing weight and do maintenance for the remainder of the summer. I want to call my current weight goal for awhile and enjoy my new shape. I think not gaining weight will be an amazing challenge for me.

I did well with my eating this weekend and I practiced eating more. It was scary to increase calories, but I ate small portions of foods I have avoided: potato salad, nachos, and a cupcake. I didn't binge once all weekend, which felt like a miracle.

This morning the scale rewarded me. I weighed 128.5. Yay, I lost most of the weight from last weekend's binge fiasco.

On Sunday, I had a 3rd date with that guy. It wasn't really a date, more of a hangout. We met at a nearby bar and talked and split an order of spring rolls. I hate the early stages of dating- there is so much uncertainty. But it is fun to get to know a new person.

By the way, I need a kick in the butt to quit smoking. I must stop again. I think I need to find the 3FC equivalent for smoke cessation support.

Hope y'all had a good weekend and you tell me about it.

Hi Chickie! I hear you on the quitting smoking. I wonder if there is an area here for support on that? I honestly don't want to join another community.....nor do I have the time! Another 19 pounds and I am quitting for good. That is one of my goals that I set at the beginning of this lifestyle change. I talked to my boys about it last week and they are going to hold me to it. Hopefully, fiance will be on board, too. He smokes way too much.

Glad you had date #3! Yes, the early stages are nerve wracking, but fun in other ways. I'm glad you are taking your time. Enjoy!

I know you will do well on the maintenance this summer. I'm already worried about that, but will worry about that when the time comes. Are you visiting the Maintainer's thread? Lots of good ideas and support there, too.

Happy Monday!

Annie--small town rodeo's are a blast! Went to one in Montana once. I picked a guy at random to really root for. I was hootin' and hollerin' for him. Keep in mind there weren't 40 people in the stands, so I stood out. Apparently I stood out to the guys girlfriend too. I could tell she was wondering "who the he!! is THAT girl?". It was fun. Now...put those cookies somewhere where you won't see them and maybe where it will take time to eat one...like in the freezer. One cookie is NOT worth backtracking. You can do it! How nice that you're cooking for the DF's neighbor!

MC--Congrats on the binge loss! Sounds like you have a good plan for the summer. I can only imagine how increasing your calories after all this time would be difficult. 3rd date over spring rolls, huh? It's sounding interesting...
Here's the URL to a quit smoking forum that I used 8 years ago called "Blairsville" (cause the originator was named Blair). I can't vouch for it's environment now as I haven't been in a long time, but back then it was the difference between success and failure for me. http://www.network54.com/Forum/76750/.

So my weekend was good, spend getting ready for: Trip #1 to Oregon (leave this Wed); Trip #2 to Italy (leave next week); friend visiting from France (2 weeks from now). My two trips are back to back and my friend arrives before I'm back from Italy so I have to have everything ready for her before we leave for Oregon.

I'm down another pound (!) which is thrilling for me. It sure keeps me motivated.

So--question for all of you. How do you handle keeping in your exercise while traveling? I don't believe all the hotels we'll be staying at will have exercise facilities, so I'm forced to either jog on the (unfamiliar) streets or forego the exercise. We'll be doing some walking around and lots of car driving. Suggestions??

Thanks for getting us started Annie!

It's after 1 am and I'm not sleeping...apparently even a 90 calorie coke has too much caffeine for me to drink after work : ( I jump started my exercise today with not just one, but three trips to the gym at work! Short workouts all of them but I'm sure I'll feel it in the morning : )

I realized when I got to the top of my hill this morning that I wasn't winded, and with the slightly lower humidity I wasn't already soaked with sweat- so I decided to jump on my old friend the elliptical for 5 mins, then did 5 mins of stretching and one of the machines (pec fly or something) that I used to do before my back problem. No weight and lowest setting on the machine, starting out slow on the elliptical and stretches was the plan...went down to keep one of my friends company during lunch and put in another 5 mins on the elliptical, 3 mins on the arm bike and another 5 mins on the recumbent bike. The friend never showed up, but then she grabbed me on our last 15 minute break to go down and jump on the treadmill. However the treadmills were full so I made her get on the elliptical, and I did another 7 mins. So much for starting out slow and easy! It felt good though : ) I told her I may call from the bottom of the hill for her to come pick me up in the morning!

Foodwise wasn't great, though I did make it to the farmer's market over the weekend. Will get that back on track as well. Mom joined a gym and has been going 5 days a week so I need to get it in gear as well. According to the gym I've lost 4lbs since I joined up for some challenge a couple of months ago...they happened to ask for a weigh in when I was back at 162 last week.

They've got a walking challenge starting on July 1st that I've signed up for as well, I have a head start with my walks to and from the bus stop : )

Chickie: you've done at great job with the weight loss, maintenance sounds like a good plan. definitely check in with the maintainers forum for support and tips. Way to go on making it to the 3rd date!

Moondance: wow - busy, busy, busy! I'm so jealous of all your travel. how about carrying some resistance bands with you for some exercise? and there's always good old-fashioned calisthenics or even simple stretches that won't require equipment.

Annie: you're well on your way to making your goal, and then your next big achievement of not smoking! I loved the rodeo in houston. not exactly small town but it's still fun : )

I hope everyone else had a great weekend and a good start to your week!

Kathi

Good morning.

Well, I ate too much on Saturday when I was out and about celebrating a friend's birthday--I tried to moderate, but I got over hungry, and maybe a bit overtired, and I broke down and ate too much of things I shouldn't have. I was better on Sunday--actually ate lighter than usual--but no exercise. I think the sugar in my system had me a bit blue. I felt better yesterday.

In spite of Saturday, I have lost another pound. I suspect what I really lost was water, but I will enjoy the scale reading anyway.

Annie--I've never been to a rodeo; I think it would be exciting. I hear you about the seductive ways of chocolate chip cookies.

Chickie--Maintaining over summer sounds like a good plan; let your body settle in to a new baseline. I also find the idea of eating more calories to maintain to be rather scary.

Moon---I also find exercising while on a trip to be a challenge. If your hotel doesn't have a gym, can you walk?

Kathi--way to go on the exercise.

Now it's time for me to get ready to exercise and get on with my day.

Hello ladies! Not much going on here, just the usual. Got back on track yesterday and resisted the choco chip cookies last night, not one bite. Pat on the back to me. Took my sons out for supper and did pretty well. Although I did indulge in some chips and queso, I had grilled chicken, steamed veg and fruit. So not too much guilt and worry over that.

Moondance-The image of you rooting for some random guy at the rodeo gave me a chuckle. The one I went to had a rodeo clown called "Booger"...."Get him, Booger!"...I was laughing at that. Have a great time on your trips, you globetrotter, you!

Hey WLW-Have you heard from Petra? I seem to remember she was coming up your way for her vacation. Haven't seen her in a while and just wondered. Great job on all of the exercise....your mom, too!

Kitteh-Glad to hear you are evening out after your weekend. Keep up the great work!


Okay, here's your giggle for the day...this is on my way to work and I just had to stop today and take a pic. Don't say you didn't know about it. You've been informed.

Annie - That photo is hilarious. Glad you posted it up. Congrats on being on plan last night. When you decide to quit smoking, I'll support you. I quit smoking and restarted my weight loss plan at the same time. I was afraid I'd gain 10 pounds. Instead, I have lost 25, but the nicotine gum keeps my metabolism up.

Kathi- I laughed about your tale of starting "slow" with exercise. I guess your body wanted to move again.

Moondance - When I travel, I like to do fun runs to explore new places. I don't try to go for speed or mileage, but run to get my body moving. I think bike rental would be cool too in travel, if possible.

Kitteh - Weekend eating is so problematic for me & I get depressed when I eat too much sugar too. It's nice that the scale reminded you that you are doing fine.

My eating yesterday was moderate, but not as healthy as I would like. The scale said 128, which is exactly where I want to be. So far, maintenance has been interesting because I am sampling foods I previously avoided.

Wish me luck because I have quit smoking again. Back on the gum & no cigarettes today. This is going to be hard. My two closest friends smoke and the guy I'm dating smokes too. He says he's planning to quit soon, but I won't believe it unless I see it.

I'll keep you posted. Have a good day!

Hi All!
Kathi--Way to go on getting going! Keep it up! How nice that you have someone at work to go with, too! And thanks for the resistance band suggestion!
Kitteh--hope you had a good workout and a very nice day!
Annie--Yea for resisting the cookies. Not easy. That pic is HILARIOUS!!! Let me guess...a bunch of guys hanging around scratching themselves???
MC--It's going to require lots of dedication to quit around other smokers. Hang in there...You can do it!

I'm getting overwhelmed with stuff to do before going. I always think of one or two more things to add to my list! I have to remember that most anything I forget can be bought at our destination. So excited to go. I'll check in once tomorrow...

Hey. Thought I better check in and let you know I'm still alive. I never made it to Charleston on my vacation. Savannah was beautiful but very hot, then took a detour to the smoky mountains.......I had company

The dating thing has worked out really well. I'm spending a lot of time with this guy-have even met his family. I don't think I've ever dated anyone I felt this compatible with-sort of strange but in a good way. He is supportive of my efforts to lose weight and I've lost a few more. He lost a lot of weight about a year ago. We are still figuring out each other's eating habits a bit. I've cooked for him once, it wasn't spectacular. We decided this past weekend that we need to get back to eating at home more-have been eating out way too much.

Not sure how much I'll be around as I'm trying to figure things out but I'll try to check in once in a while. Glad to see you are all doing well. I'm thinking there may be some big happy news in my future........

There's Petra! I should have known you were off romancin'!! Seriously.....so, so happy for you! Glad you have someone interesting to spend some time with and that you had a wonderful trip. Did ya'll meet Paula Deen in Savannah?? Would love to see some pics of The Smokies, I visited there when I was a child.

Glad you checked in!

Good morning. Just a quick note, then I've got to hit the road.

I got in some moderate exercise yesterday; today I plan to do a more vigorous workout. I'm on plan for eating so far this week, so things are going well.

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

Hello everyone! I saw where some of our regular posters have been over in the June Weight Loss Challenge thread, so I guess everyone is still around, just in different threads.

Got in some yard work last night. Younger son and I mowed and weed-eated (ate?) the yard. Right at the end, the mower died AGAIN! I am so tired of paying to have that thing fixed, and this time I know it's not my fault that it died. I bought a brand new gas can, am using only ethanol-free gas and I've only mowed maybe 3 times since the last time it was in the shop. I really can't afford to buy a new one, but the repair costs are almost adding up to be the cost of a new mower. So frustrating and irritating. These are the times when I miss having a husband. This has always been "men's work" in my book (I actually don't mind mowing, etc., it's good hard work and rewarding. I mean the mower maintenance and stuff like that. I hate it!) and I always get worked up and stressed when I have to deal with it. Rant over.

I was excited to make homemade pizzas for us for supper last night. I glanced at the package of premade doughs ("single" serving size) yesterday morning and it said 170 cal. Just as I was getting ready to eat last night, I looked again and realized that cal. count was for 1/2 crust. I should have known better, but who eats 1/2 of a single serving pizza??? I ate the whole thing anyway and hope I worked off the extra cals. during the yardwork. I treated myself to a junior size chocolate soft frozen yogurt afterwards, too. I need to really watch the treats, don't want to get used to that sort of thing.

Hoping to NOT to see any gain tomorrow at weigh in. If I maintain the 159, I will be happy.

Have a good day everyone!

I'm so glad Petra checked in to say she's doing well in the romance department. I need that kind of good news because the guy I have started dating was aloof over text yesterday. I'm trying to not feel hopeless over dating, but I do feel discouraged.

Annie - I'm impressed with how active you are. You do yardwork & cook for your children. I barely can do that for myself.

I had a good day yesterday, but it was hard. I didn't smoke yesterday & had serious withdrawal despite using the gum. Luckily, I had a half day because of a dentist appointment so I didn't have to work much. I went into a depression spiral, but managed to go for my first run in over a week. I easily ran 3.5 miles, but ended up crying during my run. I felt a lot of loneliness and sadness. I realized that being thin or having a boyfriend will not cure my grief. I don't have to do anything except feel my feelings.

The scale decided to reward me for my run & not smoking: 127.5. Weight-wise, I am doing well. Emotionally, not as well. But I'll keep plugging away.