Hello Marie and Tera,

I did 30 minutes on the bike this evening. Nice mild weather ~ a tiny bit chilly, but not too bad. I enjoy riding after dark and seeing those Christmas lights. So, I had better take advantage of that while they are up ~ soon they will be gone until next Christmas.

Got the two packages I needed to get mailed sent today. Tonight and tomorrow ~ finish the Christmas cards. I haven't sent them out for a few years ~ always would think I was gonna, but then would run out of steam, and before I knew it ~ another holiday season had flown by and I didn't get them sent again. Without a job this year, I really wanted to get it done. Sadly, I have lost touch with some of my friends due to my bad procrastination habit. Got everything I needed to wrap done. Now waiting for Sara to bring me what ever stuff she needs to be wrapped. I enjoy wrapping, so I'm glad to help her.

Hope you both are doing well.

Take care

Hi Tera and Gayle, I'm still with you. Work has been insane and this past weekend I went skiing at Tahoe. Clearly riding my bike and ellipticalling didn't prepare my quads for full out skiing. I need to add squats since skiing is just a day of squats.

Gayle great job on the biking. DH and I did Christmas cards last night. A pain but it's pretty much done. With the cards I made photo collage cards DH will pick up. Along with stamps. :D

Tera, starting Jan 1 we will do the pres challenge together. Gayle, will you join us?

Ellipticalling and iPad typing is wearing me out here. So I'll quit typing here. 8 min elliptical left.
Marie

Hi Marie and Tera,

I'm glad the weather has been a little less cold. It has helped me to not fight with myself and go for my bike ride. Got a 30 minute ride in tonight and enjoyed the Christmas lights again.

The day zoomed right by and I didn't get to the things I had hoped to get done. So, I have things lined up for tomorrow already.

What does the presidential fitness thing entail Marie? I think a few years back ~ Lynn (ladyinweighting) did it.

Hope you both are doing well.

Take care

30 minutes of bike riding today.

Hi Marie and Tera,

30 minute bike ride today.

Have fun skiing Marie.

I am still here-just not being good weight-wise these days. I keep eating "party" cals everyday and I only made the Y once this week. However, it is a busy time of year, loaded with extra chores so it is just the way it has to be. There will be plenty of time to get back on track soon. In the meantime, I try not to go too far with the extra calories.

Gayle-I like your new avatar. Cute. Biking while enjoying the lights sounds delightful.

Marie-You are doing great with the exercise. Good for the heart and soul.

Hello Marie and Tera,

I'm here too Tera, but kind of hit or miss with the eating and exercise. Not gonna get all stressed about it. Not going out of my way to make bad choices, but they happen. It maybe is not as much of a problem as it used to be ~ I don’t seem to be able to eat the quantities like I used to or stuff myself full of sweets ~ I end up not feeling so good. Why did it take me my whole life to listen to my body? I think I bound and gagged it and didn’t listen to it all those years ~ LOL.

Like you Tera ~ I'll buckle down after the holidays.

Have a nice weekend the both of you.

todays cals-2265, exerc-strength training at the y. I am so happy to have actually exercised today. Unfortunately, I also ate a bunch of cookies. It is going to take some effort to wean myself off the wheat and sugar again. One day at a time.

Hello Marie and Tera,

I haven't been doing a very good job of behaving. Eating some of the right things, and some things I shouldn't be. So, not 100% bad. I guess that is better than being totally bad. Like you said Tera ~ I'll take it one day at a time.

I haven't been bike riding either. I have been staying busy at home though ~ getting some things accomplished and not just sitting in the chair all day, so there is that.

Tera ~ good for you getting in the exercise at the "Y"

Marie ~ how are your sore places? Glad you were not badly hurt.

Only 5 more days of this horrible year. Hoping and praying that 2014 will be a better one for everyone who has had not such a great year.

Still eating way (weigh) too much. Ugh. I DID make the Y today though. I am off to a bowl game tomorrow. More party-hardy. Yikes.

Hi Marie and Tera,

Only one more day to go of this horrible awful year. I am having my own little New Years Eve celebration. I told my husband I was having a little New Years Party ~ we are not social people/partiers, so he looked puzzled and asked who was coming. I said no one ~ I am just having my own little celebration to usher out and cheer on the demise of 2013 with great glee.

I am having a little food I like. I think I did a good job of trying to plan so I wouldn't do too much damage. Got one of those little personal pizzas, a single serving size bag of fritoes and dip, and a single serving size ice cream. In this way, I can control the portions. I have no desire for any kind of drinks ~ maybe a pepsi (sounds like it would go good with the pizza) ~ LOL.

I like your comment Marie ~ keep moving ~ away from the kitchen.

Happy New Year to the both of you :)

I've just joined the President's Challenge, and I'd like you to join me! What's the President's Challenge, you ask? It's a great way for you to be active and have fun. You can choose from two free challenges that will help you get on a healthy track for an opportunity to earn awards:

• The Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) challenge, which helps people make physical activity and healthy eating a part of their everyday lives
• Presidential Champions, which challenges you to be more active more often—the more active you are, the more points you'll earn toward our awards

Join my group, and we'll help you stay motivated. Here's what you need to do:
• If you already have a President's Challenge account, log in at http://www.presidentschallenge.org/ and look up our group in the My Challenge application using the group number below.
• If you don't have an account, create a free account at http://www.presidentschallenge.org/, choose which challenge you want to participate in, and look up our group in the My Challenge application using the group number below.

Group Number: 945099
Group Name: 3FC-challenge

Once you join this group, you will be able to:
• Log your activities and earn points that will count toward our group's total and will help you earn President's Challenge awards
• See how you're doing compared to other group members
• Interact with other members in our group forum
• Add a profile picture that will display in our group (or you can hide your information from other group members, if you prefer)
• Get even more motivated to be active and healthy!

See you soon!

OK Marie ~ all joined up ~ next I have to figure out how to use it and log stuff etc.

No, Marie ~ I did not invite DH. The eating/food issue has been the source of much hard feelings for me toward him over the years. I felt like I was doing a good job by having something I liked and trying to control the portions. He is such a disciplined person ~ he totally would never be able to understand how if I am trying to eat better, why I would ever not stick with it 100%. And he would never understand my frivolous ways of spending ~ it is not cost effective to buy the items I did as opposed to buying chips (for example) in a huge bag, or a 1/2 gallon of ice cream. (That would have been trouble for me ~ I would know they were there, and they would have been calling to me ~ I am weak and would have eaten the whole bag of chips and the whole 1/2 gallon of ice cream. If I was strong around these kinds of foods, I wouldn't be in the situation I am in now.) So, I went and made my purchases alone ~ and ate and enjoyed eating them alone without the food police looking over my shoulder.

I try to stay away from the wrong kinds of foods for as long as I can, but I am human and to think that I can be perfect and never have another cookie or ice cream is unrealistic. So, when those times come that I just have to have something ~ I deal with it by buying a single serving of the thing I am craving. That is usually enough to satisfy me. And in that way, I don't have any stuff left over that would get me in trouble. I would be foolish to kid myself and think I could leave any left overs alone.

Marie ~ I am ok really. Part of me wants to blame him, because if he wasn't the way he is about it, I think I could have maybe done better. At the same time, nobody was there shoving stuff down my throat. I did it to myself and I knew better. Food was my "drug" of choice. My dr once told me that I medicated my self with food ~ to deal with the difficult situations in life. (My husband was also his patient, so this dr knew what I was up against ~ LOL.)

I have had eating issues ever since I was a kid ~ not sure how or why it started. Sneaking food, closet eating etc. The weight didn't become a problem until adulthood ~ though I have always seen myself as "fat".

I wish I was as fat as I was way back then, when I thought I was (but wasn't yet).

Yes, my daughter and other family members are very supportive. DH tries to be (he is actually much improved from how he was in the early years of our marriage), but doesn't understand ~ he can't help it ~ it is just the way he is ~ if it doesn't make sense to him, he doesn't understand. It's all good. :)

Happy New Year Gals! The football bowl game in Florida was a great time but I came back with a few more pounds on the belly! I loved all the holiday fun but I am also relieved it is over until next year. My plans for the day-nuthin!!! My husband has sworn off sweets and alcohol for the entire month of January. That is not something I am too interested in but it should help nudge me in the right direction health wise. I went to the store yesterday and loaded up on all kinds of great food to cook at home although it looks like I already have plans to go out to eat tonight. I will be ready for a good week going forward though.

Marie-Sorry to hear about the skiing injury. It must be difficult to miss out on all the outdoor fun. Well, let it heal and you will be back on the slopes in no time. There is still plenty of winter left.

Gayle-I do not include my husband in any of my weight loss endeavors. We think too differently. Thankfully he does not try to "help". However, I am very guilty of critiquing his food choices often. I really am just thinking of his health. I love him in any shape or form but I want him to enjoy good health and vitality.

Hi Marie and Tera,

I am back on track with the food, and have almost undone the damage I did over the holidays.

The exercise (biking) I haven't gotten back on track with that again yet. I am planning for Tuesday. Maddie will be back in school, and it will be easier to do it.

Marie, I haven't had a chance to figure out how to work the president's fitness challenge thing yet. But, like with the biking, I will better be able to once Maddie is back in school.

Marie ~ glad you are on the mend and having less pain.

Tera ~ glad you had fun during the holidays. You'll get back on track :)

Hope you both are having a nice weekend.

Hi Marie, Tera and Deelee,

Hope you are all doing well and not freezing too badly.

I'm doing pretty good with the eating, but still have not gotten back into the swing of my bike riding.

Marie, sorry, I still haven't had a chance to get back to that president's fitness challenge thing and figure out how to work it.

I woke up at 4:30 this am and could not go back to sleep. Things on my mind. I wanted to get my thoughts down in a document ~ gathered all together in one place. The day just seemed to disappear and it was chilly and dreary out. I should have walked on the treadmill. Oh well, I'll try again tomorrow.

I got to talk to my mom and it was a fun visit. If I am repeating myself, forgive me. She is in a nursing home ~ memory care unit. Sometimes when I call, she is out in the common area with other residents and near the nurses station, and they will pull up a chair for her and she talks on the phone there. When I get her there, she doesn't talk very long, she realizes that she is at the nurses station and she is trying to not tie up their phone too long. And partly (this tickles me), she sees the other people doing stuff and is itching to get back over by them and see what they are up to. Sometimes, she is in her room and she has a phone there and when I catch up to her there, she talks longer. Most of the times she is out by the nurses station. But I am happy about that ~ knowing that she enjoys being around the other people. She seems to be doing well and is happy there and well taken care of.

Hope you all are well ~ have a nice evening.

Hello Marie, Tere, Deelee,

Got back to the bike riding today. 1/2 hour. ETA: I did better with the exercise, but not quite as well with the food later in the day. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Marie ~ hope your injuries are healing nicely and that you are having less pain.

Tera and Deelee ~ how are you both doing?

Sorry I have not been posting lately. My job, although part time, is very hectic for numerous reasons. Since I was gone last week, I figured I could put in some extra hours this week and try to catch things up. I did accomplish a few things but there is still a lot of straightening out left to do. Anyway, I did not eat well or exercise all week. Going forward, I am finally going to get back on track. It always takes me awhile to behave after my forays into lax eating and exercise practices.

Good Morning Chicks-I am really hoping to make some real, true improvements this week. It has been a very difficult transition from holiday mode to good, healthy food choices and regular exercise. My average calories are running 2400 a day. Yikes. It is so easy though. I still consider myself in a transition phase but I am aiming for closer to an average 2000 a day for this week. Otherwise, I am going to have to pull out my box of big clothes I saved from three years ago! Last year I was very successful taking off the weight by avoiding wheat and most processed foods. However, this year I have been on this baking kick. I made cinnamon rolls yesterday for the first time. Yumm. However, I really need to find a happy medium place.

35 minute bike ride ~ beautiful weather out there today. I really have to buckle down ~ it is so easy to find excuses and talk myself out of doing it. I wish it was the other way around and that I felt like nothing or nobody was gonna get in my way to keep me from doing it. Oh well. One day at a time.

cals today-2400, ex-body sculpt at the Y. Still doing AWFUL with the calorie totals but at least I am back to the Y. In fact, I am enjoying it. I do not want to go back to sitting on the couch. I want to get strong again. Perhaps if I spend more time exercising I will find it easier to fix my overeating problem.

Gayle-Well at least you won the battle of wills yesterday-hopefully today also. Never, ever give up!!

Hi Marie and DeeLee. You gals get on here and Post! We need your support.

30 minute bike ride today. Ate better. Onward!!

30 minute bike ride today. Ate correctly. I have been kind of struggling. Stress eating ~ good one day, not so good the next. Same with the exercise. Scale kind of up and down the same couple pounds. So today, I tried to kind of recommit. I was doing pretty good at one point ~ gotta get back to that.

Hope you all are having a good weekend.

10 minutes on the treadmill then 20 minutes on my bike.

I feel like I am eating ok, wish the scale would go down. Well, at least I feel pretty good.

Hope you all had a nice weekend.

Cals-?, Ex-none. Well, at least I am here. I am getting closer to my normal pattern of eating and exercising. I have my homemade soup ready for my lunches for the week and am planning to eat salad for dinner. All the heavy food is starting to bother my tummy so I think this week is going to go better.

Gayle-Good for you for posting and moving in the right direction. Give things time and the weight loss will come around.

Marie-So sorry about the achy, braky ribs. Darn. Fruits and veggies are the way to go.

Good evening all,

It was a beautiful day today. We had Maddie all day because of Martin Luther King Day. With the extra time and because it was such a beautiful day, we went on a bike ride. We have a whole network or beautiful bike and hike paths. We went to the children's museum here in our town ~ close enough to be able to get there by bike. Spent a while there, then back on the bikes and went to one of the many little parks that our town has. Spent a while there playing, then back on the bikes and on to another park ~ one Maddie likes because it has ducks, and she is able to catch them and hug on them. Spent a bit there, Maddie had a snack, then we headed home ~ got there just as it was getting dark. 1 hour and 20 minutes approximatley of riding. I am hoping that there will be more opportunities like this before the weather gets too hot.

Eating pretty good, the scale went down a little bit today. So, a wonderful day all around.

Hope you all have had a good day.

Hello all,

30 minutes of bike riding today. Eating ~ I felt like I did pretty good.

Hope you all are doing well.