Welcome Tracy! You have a great attitude, it will serve you well over the long haul!

Magicsusan -- I usually only retain water when I walk or hike -- that's when my hands get tight and puffy. I guess when I run my hands are positioned high enough not to get that effect? No clue really why it happens in one case and not the other. I've never really found a way to reduce that effect, I already drink a ton of water daily, so I'm quite hydrated.

Gave into carbs today, sushi at Whole foods looked pretty good, and suprisingly it tasted pretty good too, being from Whole Foods that is...

I am 3lbs. away from my 10lbs. a month mini goal. I am quite excited. How is everyone?

Still kind of new here and trying to get used to openly discussing my challenges. I have changed how and what I eat. I have given up soda, which was difficult for me, as I have been a heavy soda drinker for most of my life. I went from soda to sweet tea and some water. I am now mostly drinking water with lemon and some tea occasionally. Gone from a relatively sedentary life style to trying to make myself become more active. It's hard as I have two bad knees from a softball injury and a karate injury. Low impact just doesn't seem to be providing the results I am looking for, any suggestions?

Thanks ladies!

I am a restless soul. I have been "put" for 10 years. And loving it; raising kids, volunteering and giving back to the community. But now I feel restless. Kids are grown and I am ready to meet the world.

DH has wanted to move out of MI for years now, "anything but here".. I have been the one who kept us here because of the kids and school and community. Well now I am ready, and I want to move.

I want to go abroad. Like Asia, something totally different and new.

Well it has happened. I am no longer forty-something. Actually I love the idea put forth here previously, that I am forty-ten. I am trying really hard not to get caught up on a number. A lot of days I feel not a day over 28.

And I would have to say health-wise the glass is half-full. I weigh 20 lbs more than when I turned thirty, and 20 lbs lighter than when I turned forty-five.

But I am fitter than I have been in a long time. So on to my next decade I guess. TRYING TO GO FORWARD FEARLESSLY.

Sum. I find your wanderlust inspirational.

Smeeker do you have a bicycle?

Junem - I have actually been thinking about getting a bicycle. I don't think riding my motorcycle would do much good huh? I would love to get my husband involved with me, but I'm still working on him.

ChicaCoy - That's great, what are you doing to loose the 10lbs a month?

Tky72 - I'm still a newbie myself, and there is a lot of support here!

I started looking into the c25k, and I'm thinking I may try and see how it goes, I just need to get me a couple of good knee braces

Welcome all new comers, so nice to have you here!!

I finally climbed on that scale and it was exactly what I thought it would be; 143. A huge redline for me!! I have been lazy and I have noone else to blame but myself for the lack of progress. I have literally sat still since Feb 1st. I was 144.4 pounds back then. -- Wasted time.

If I want to get into those 6's by summer, comfortably, I need to start working on this weight loss thing again. I am not ready to maintain at and around 140 pounds.

I do feel quite comfortable in my body though. I have lost 25 pounds in a year and I do feel much better this March. Both physically and mentally.

So now I vow to get back on that wagon. I made my meal plan for the day and so far I am sticking to it -- It is the evening snack monster that gets me.

I am heading back to the gym as well; plan is to lift weights, power walk on treadmill for 1 hour and swim for 45 minutes. -- That routine helped me to drop 10 pounds quite quickly in December/January.

Life is going pretty well. I am in a happy place with myself. I am nicely busy with my volunteer work, have time for lunches with friends and of course for family. The only thing that I am not happy about is my relaxed eating and lack of exercise, lately.

Because it is tax time, I worked a budget for us for the upcoming year. I did not make it too strict, those usually fail.... I left some fun money for each month to play with -- I do have a whole wardrobe to buy once (IF) I hit that magical 125 pound number. I want to enjoy it and not be on a budget

Okee, off to the gym I go. Everyone have a beautiful and relaxing Sunday!

Hello all, it's been awhile! Good to see old and new friends. March has been more of a maintenance month for me than I had planned, I guess if I look at how long it took me to get out of the last decade, this isn't so bad.

Happy belated birthday junem! welcome to the 40-tens like you I'm a lot fitter than other times in my life and truly enjoying that. I also very often don't feel my age, one day at work a guy told me I looked 35 with my hair in a ponytail, it took me a couple seconds to realize it was meant as a compliment, that's how much I don't think about my age I guess...

Newleaf glad the job is going well! Still waiting for spring to make an appearance here, snow squall this morning, supposed to be below 10 degrees tonight, hope this is the end of that.

To the C25K-ers, I think it's a great program, I didn't think I could run for half an hour, but the program (and the support of 3FC) got me there. Best of luck with it, I loved it

Smeeker I have a recumbent exercise bike, it doesn't feel like it's too hard on the knees, maybe some type of yoga, or Pilates might work for you.

Sum you have the sisu for sure, I can feel your determination!

MrsSnark enjoy your trip, hope all goes well, Colorado is beautiful.

Good catching up, best to all

Mrs Snark, I meant whole body water retention. I know what you mean about the hands- I get that too, but it goes away quickly. I was wondering why I had such a weight-loss stall when I'd stepped up my exercise quite a lot but not really eaten that much more and googled something like "just started running, not losing any weight." There seemed to be a lot of people in the same boat and, as usual, several theories as to why that might be. Anyway, don't worry about it, I was just curious... I'm still running

tky72, grab a cuppa and come on in!

Hi, Chicacoy! Haven't seen you in a while- it's sometimes hard to keep up. Congrats on nearing your goal!

Hello Smeeker! I'm feeling good doing the c25k. I can't tell you about your knees (of course, ) but I haven't had any trouble with mine. I took these precautions: 1) Good running shoes, fit by professionals 2) I run in the forest, where the ground is quite springy and 3) I started by walking, up to 5k with quite some hills (total altitude change about 100meters) before I started running. I haven't lost a lot of weight since I started the actual running (lost about 40lbs from the walking and dumbbells, though) but I think there are other factors involved. Anyway, I have lost some, and I feel much better. There are a *load* of very useful running/c25k threads over in the exercise forum if you're thinking of trying. Good luck whatever you decide!

Sum, sometimes I wonder if our bodies need to plateau for a couple weeks just to let things... settle... dunno. I've been coasting for a while and will be going on holiday at the end of the month, so I'm hoping to break even when I get home- after that, "settling" is over, back to work! About the clothing budget- I bought a piggy bank and put in ten francs for every pound lost. 420 francs so far!

Hi, Kelijpa. Are you a c25k grad too? There seem to be a lot of you! I hope to be one someday.

We have spring here. Actually, we pretty much skipped winter, as I think I mentioned in other threads (can't keep up, lol!) I'm hoping for some real results before fall since summer here means lots of free time for walkies and such, and lots of yummy fresh fruit and veg. Good strawberries put candy to shame, right, Heidi?

Saturday I tried day one of the c25k and thought I was going to die. I couldn't complete the whole set. That was discouraging. My knee didn't totally give out on me, but I did feel it after. I am going back to it this evening and give it another try. I refuse to give up!! I have also been looking at bicycles!

I hope everyone is doing good and staying on course!!

I "belong" to a group of ladies that meet twice per month; once for a happy hour and then for a luncheon.

We are all in our mid 40's and early 50's...all except for one, have high school or college aged children. But the one has a 5 year old and she brings her child to these gatherings. -- I feel that it is inappropriate and I am not alone thinking this...what do you think?? Is it acceptable to bring a 5 year old along when no one else has children there?

Waaaah, where did my post go?? Long story short, yeah, you've got to put up with the 5-year-old... Can you imagine going to playgroups with the 20-something moms??

Good point.

Our talks are just inappropriate at times for the ears of a 5 year old. She is a new comer to the group and the whole dynamics are changing and it is making some friends sad. -- I think the lady who organizes this group is going to have a chat with the mom and ask her not to bring the child along. She wants this a speak easy event. I guess this group started when the core group of moms were moms of toddlers and this was their night out with the girls without kids and she would like to keep it that way.

I see both sides of it. I am leaning towards it being a child free zone ( I too feel uncomfortable... eventhough I don't swear, but occationally I use inappropriate word like b1tchy or even sh1tty). I feel bad for the mom if she can not find sitters etc. She seems like a really nice lady and I would like to get to know her.

Oh, I thought this was an old friend, someone who has always been coming to the group all these years, but just started her family much later. A newcomer?? Nah... find a sitter or find other mothers of 5-year-olds to socialize with. There must be some... I think it's tough to be so out of phase though, but not your problem.

The other thing from my missing post, yeah, I totally share the dream of up and moving somewhere exotic or interesting. I'm leaning more towards the interesting these days, over exotic. I would love to spend extended time (ie, months) in Alaska, and also in Peru.

Just got back from a brisk walk outside, this after doing 14 pushups. I'm trying...