YES, we got some monsoon-like weather yesterday! Reminded me uncomfortably that hurricane season is upon us!! We've been lucky the past few years, and I'm hoping for a quiet season this year. I've had way more experience with hurricanes than I'd like.
Kayaking is great fun! There are so many options here - urban canals, Everglades, the Keys, ocean. I never understand why there aren't more people out doing things like this -- isn't this why we live in South Florida? But, more often than not, we're out there by ourselves.
We are going to Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains National park. We love the area and have been vacationing up there for years. We've done pretty much all of the touristy stuff already, so our focus is the park and lots of hiking! We've got one overnight planned, but mostly we day-hike. Our day hike range is around 15 miles, so we can cover a lot of territory. We leave Friday morning and I am soooo ready to leave right now!
The storm line went through here around 10:30-10:45 last night. Whew! Glad I had the rain gutters all cleaned out!
I hear you about the hurricanes, MBN. Were you living in Fla. in 2004 and 2005? All we did was pack up and evacuate every other week.
I would looooove to go to the Smoky Mountains!
Good day food-wise here, and it's a day off from the gym. It may turn into more days off; my tendons are getting sore, and that's the last thing I need to get worse...
I hear you about the hurricanes, MBN. Were you living in Fla. in 2004 and 2005? Jay
Oh yes .. we've been here a while, we even went through Andrew in 1992, although we escaped that one relatively unscathed. The fun one was 2005 Wilma - roof and landscaping damage, no power for a week, roads a mess, no fresh food for days, schools out for 2 weeks. It was months before the area got back to normal -- No thanks, I'd rather not do that again!!
With vacation coming, I've fallen somewhat off-track food-wise, although my exercise schedule is going well. I'm going to pack lunch and snacks for the road tomorrow so I'm not so tempted to go off plan ... All of the hiking next week will help, but I can out-fuel ANY amount of exercise if I try!
I have been off sick for a few days and my internet at home has finally been straightened out I hope.
I am in the process of looking for a new sink for my kitchen. They no longer make the one that I have. I guess I will go with a stainless steel one. Maybe get a new tap with the pull down sprayer. Boy are they expensive. But it will be nice.
I ran an ad at work for a tiler in case the other one does not come back. So I do have another option.
Jay sorry to hear about all your loss.
Hey CD hope you enjoyed the conference. Hope you get some time off to relax.
I had to google the Smoky Mountains. It is a long way from here but is very beautiful. We have Banff National park here that compares. Been a long time since I have been there though.
Not much new here. Food is pretty good but no exercise this week except a yoga class.
Hope everyone is having a good day.........Jude
Hello everyone, I am new here. I am trying to count calories everyday but I find that I am really hungry a lot. I am eating about 1500-1600 a day and that seems like a lot to me and I don't even know how much weight I will lose but I am biking about 4 times a week at about 6 miles a ride. I weigh 185 lbs and want to lose about 40lbs.
MBN - glad you joined us! I love the Gatlinburg area. My mom lives near Knoxville, so we hike the mountains quite frequently
Jude - Glad you are back!
Jay - glad you are safe, and I hope the workshop went well. Down 4 now
praterteaches - volumetrics! Lots of vegetables and fiber-rich foods. Also, make sure you balance - carbs/fat/protein. If I eat just carbs, I'm looking for more food shortly - even if I ate quite a bit. By eating fat AND protein with my carbs - I stay full longer
Oh, and water and tea (hot or iced) - they fill me up too
Hi all! I"m back! The conference went well, but it was very, very HOT! Which ended up being a huge NSV for me. I took shorts and tank tops and ended up wearing them for much of the conference. NEVER would have happened before I began this journey. I would have worn my "cover up" clothes - mostly black and BAKED!
We picked up DS1 and had a good, but way to short visit! We are planning on driving down to Grand Rapids tomorrow to take him out to dinner on a break from his church conference. A long drive, but worth it to spend a few more hours with him before he returns to CA.
Picked up my Mom late on Thursday. It is good to have her here
We took her canoeing yesterday - she had a good time, and it was beautiful on the river!
Gotta fly - tons of stuff to get done - I love going, but I sure pay for it when I get home!
The conference was so-so. The organization sounded interesting, but basically they are stuck in the '90s, and I've been there and done that and moved on. Oh well, at least I didn't work all weekend! Also, it's been raining like mad the last couple of days, which made things interesting.
Welcome, praterteaches! CD had some good suggestions. I'd add that it helps to plan snacks into your day, so that you can eat something every 2 to 3 hours (a meal or a snack). This may help... I hope so!
Hi,
Jay - agreed - eating every couple hours really helps me!
We have rain here and it is quite cool. A nice respite from the heat
We had a lovely dinner with DS1 last night, and then walked and sat in the park for a few hours just catching up. We sure will miss him. Even though the visit was short, it was nice to re-connect. I'm already looking forward to our next trip to CA
Happy about that but slow for sure. At least it is in the right direction and I am feeling the change and that helps a lot.
Went to the gym this morning. Went to chiropractor too as the yoga class that I took last week did something to my neck. Feels better now.
The weather is great here. Just the right temperature.
Glad to see you back CD but I did say to myself how did you lose weight away on a trip. That amazes me!! Fantastic. To me holidays were always time to eat what I wanted. Good for you.
Jay you are keeping up the exercise but I bet the heat is getting to you. Maybe what is making you tired.
Maybe we should all meet up in California one day!!
I am going for the stainless sink and going to see if he will throw in a new tap for the price difference.
Hope everyone is having a good evening........cheers...Jude
Jay - make sure you are getting enough rest and protein and fluids. Any of those out of balance will really zap my energy. And of course the heat ...
Don't forget to take a rest day every once in a while - you are so faithful with your exercise
Jude - THANKS! It does feel weird to be able to travel and still stay OP. We ate at a FANTASTIC restaurant in Grand Rapids last night. I have found that I am much more of a "foodie" now than I ever was before. I really prefer to eat less but quality food. We shared a wonderful flourless chocolate cake - one piece for four of us - and it was the perfect amount
on your loss! that is AWESOME! EVERY pound is worth celebrating
I don't think you can go wrong with stainless - it is functional, timeless, and always looks great!
A good day here - hung around the house and got some things done. DS2 is back home and we taught MOM to play some Wii games. I did get in some shape boxing, which totally entertained Mom.
We picked out the new pond yesterday, but since the weather was rainy, we didn't set it up. We won't put it permanently in place until the roof is done (probably in August).
We are struggling with "critter" issues. Our dear adorable Chloe Cat keeps bringing in live critters as "pets". Yesterday it was a chipmunk, and today it was a field mouse. I'm getting very tired of catching critters with a butterfly net. Catch and release was meant for FISHING, not for my living room
Hope you all had a great start to the week! I'm feeling challenged since I have to cook for more than DH and myself. So far so good ...
I don't think my tiredness is the heat--I don't go out in it that much. Anyone who lives year-round in Fla. has air conditioning everywhere.
I don't know what it is. I'm tired and really hungry on top of it. Maybe I've been overdoing it. I skipped the gym today, which I hated to do! And I've taken two naps. Maybe I should get more consistent with my vitamins.
You'd think I was a marathoner, but we're only talking a little cardio and some light weights!
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CD had some good suggestions. I'd add that it helps to plan snacks into your day, so that you can eat something every 2 to 3 hours (a meal or a snack). This may help... I hope so!
on your loss! that is AWESOME! EVERY pound is worth celebrating 
