Melissa: A 5 min run is Far from easy for me that's for sure. But i'm gonna stick with that for awhile and build up my stamina! Belly Dancing is not for me either! LOL....someone showed me a youtube clip with the girls sitting on the floor with their legs out to the sides clinching their butt cheeks one at a time. I wouldn't get a good workout in because I would be laughing too hard! LOL

Cats: ((((skinny vibes)))) for your weigh in today!

I bought myself the Beck Solution weightloss Workbook. It's great and a wonderful addition to any diet that you are doing! It is cognitive therapy to train your thinking. Very insightful.....and hopefully the key to keeping my weight off when I get to goal! It states that you can't just pick up a tennis racket and know how to play and be great at it and never expect to lose. The same goes with weightloss, if you are going to be good at it and be successful, you need a coach, you need the tools and you need to train yourself and your thinking in order to be successful. and just like a good tennis player, they do make mistakes and lose games, and the same goes with dieting, but when you make a mistake, you learn from it and keep going, you don't give up. Everyday you are given a task to concentrate on like day 1 is to go over your list of reasons why you want to lose weight, make copies of the list, post them everywhere and read the list every day. That way if you are tempted you have reasons to NOT eat those things that you shouldn't eat! That's my goal for today!

Rennie, that's awesome that you can wear your daughter's clothes! Hope you managed to turn down the candy bar :)

I'm back in Boston and really frustrated - my weight is up again even though it's supposed to be down this week (after TOM). I'm wondering if my weight loss goals are really achievable - I'm basically up to almost where I was when I started this challenge, and I really haven't gone that far off plan. It seems like if I stay perfectly on plan, I lose a teeny bit or maintain; if I go off-plan at all, I gain. I'm still thinking about how to shake up my routine, but I'm leaning toward worrying less about food and concentrating more on exercise - I feel like I've been lagging on that somewhat.

I have that tickle in my throat right now that makes me think I'm about to get sick, so today I'm not going to worry too much about my calories, and just try to beef up on protein/fruits/veggies/healthy stuff even if it puts me a little over. However, I'm in the treadmill room this week, so I'm hoping to get a lot of walking/running in when I get back to my hotel. This weekend I'm also going on a ski trip, and I'm thinking that skiing will burn lots of calories and also keep me busy so I don't eat too much!

Hey Red Team. I just wanted to post this here just in case you may wonder tomorrow why the Blue Teams results may not be up like normal!

Good morning ladies. So much sickness going around! Hope everyone starts to feel better quickly! Just a quick post from me today, got so much to get done. Waiting for Dr's to call me back so I can see about getting my DD & DS tested for allergies. I am sure that's going to be a battle, but I'm ready! :) I am up a lb this week. :( Knew I would be. I am going to start journaling again because that's when I do the best and I have SO been slacking at that lately.

melissa73 - Hah I would love if my HR was that low while running. I'm only doing 4 minutes now and I'm usually 150-180... but I think my HR runs higher then a lot of people (I'm about the same age too) I'm going to keep doing the 4 minute run 2 min walk until it's not so high when I'm done the run portions.

So swimming went well. There are 7-8 of us in the class and we mostly did form and breathing drills with some laps for the hour and a half class. I wasn't tired while doing the class but when I got home. Whew. I was good and spent. Can't wait for next week.

Down 2 this week. Flirting with 90lbs lost! Woo!

Good afternoon ladies,

My day is going very well. I am sticking with my plan perfectly. I ate all of the things that I brought with me to work, HOney Nut Cheerios and skim milk for breakfast, grapes and blackberries for snack, lean pocket sub and salad for lunch and just finished my afternoon snack Fiber One bar! I"m feeling good, not hungry at all and I am totally gonna make it to the gym after work. I only have 1 more hour to go!

DS is probably going to want to go to the mall afterwards. I probably will get that out of the way because nothing is going to get in my way of my 2 hour biggest loser workout! LOL I'll bring DS to the gym if he wants to go with me.

Chellez: I'm sorry your sick! Take all the time you need, not knowing who the winner this week isn't as important as your health so don't worry about it! ((((healthy vibes)))) I was sick two weeks ago with a killer cough, so I know it's not fun. I still have a little cough...it's always the last thing to go with me!

Ideal: LOL, I"m with you. Better to be safe than sorry, it's a good workout running for 3 min twice and 5 min twice, it's a good 30 min of high intensity for me! So i'm okay with staying at this level for a few weeks if I have to and i'm sure the same goes for you!

Cats: Sorry about the weigh in. Thought the skinny vibes would help, guess not! You have a good attitude and all you can do it push a little more with the exercise this week and see if that makes the difference. Exercise really is important in order to have a good loss! You can do it! Chin up girl!!!

skinnyvibes: If I don't journal, I won't lose so that 's a good idea so do that again. I have to do it to stay on track! otherwise, I have no idea what i'm putting in my mouth and I guarantee it will be too much!

scenestealer: I think that is a good idea for you. Although I know you want to lose a little more weight, your body could be at it's "happy weight." So I wouldn't stress over it too much, concentrate on eating healthy and exercising and your body will let you know what it needs. You look GREAT so I wouldn't worry too much about the number on the scale! Are you happy? Do you feel good? Those are the things that matter most!

Okay, well back to work. My students are writing a paper so I had a few minutes of free time to myself!

Hello RED Team!

I had a bit of a funky week last week and my scale showed it. I was up but it was only .25 lb. I'm actually surprised I wasn't up a little more than that. I'm trying to figure out what was different this week. I started doing toning with weights instead of mostly cardio. For whatever reason, I also had a really hard time getting my water in. I had been getting 32 oz in before lunch and most of last week I didn't get 32 oz in before the end of my day. I had a couple of small unplanned snacks but wasn't tempted to have any more than my initial treat.

I also didn't post as much or journal. Coincidence???? I'm not going to stress out too much about my weigh in. I still ate healthfully (primarily) and exercised so I'm sure I will see a loss soon. I'm about done with 32 oz of water today and will try to get more in this afternoon.

Take care everyone and stay/get healthy!

Just a reminder that weights are due today! 11:59pm EST!


My tummy is feeling very sick today! Whats up with that!

For lunch, I went to the grocery store across the street and picked up some frozen things. I chose Kashi Chicken Florentine and the Green Giant Simply Steam Garden Vegetables. I wish I had been doing this all along instead of hitting up the nearby restaurants: came in at 390 calories and felt really full and good. I don't like cooking in the microwave, and especially not cooking in plastic, but I'm going to try this for a few days and see how it goes.

Tomorrow I'm going to leave the hotel early and stop at the grocery store in the morning to pick up stuff for the rest of the week. I still have to do dinners out because there isn't a microwave in my hotel room, but I think decreasing the cals while increasing the full-factor for my lunches will definitely help. Will keep you all posted!

Counting
She sure doesn't think it is cool lol. She is forever offering me all kinds of things to eat. Thank heavens they don't interest me at all. I never was much of a sweets eater but now things that are sweet seem very very sweet to me and I am not interested at all. Ok, there are a few things and I just keep them away from me lol. She still wears a smaller size pants than I do. My size 12 Levi's are still a bit tight on me and they are very loose on her. Her tops are to tight ( but fit good enough to wear under the jumpers ) because she doesn't have the chest I have, she is about a 36 B and I am still a 40 D lol. It is her leggings and jumpers I have fallen in love with. She has all kinds of them. I am such a good Mommy and I think it is time to take her clothes shopping and get her all kinds of things ( I like ) lol.

Sugar
Nice going on the weight loss.

Melissa
Sounds like you are doing great and YOU are in control not food. Isn't it great when someone thinks you are younger than you are lol. You should tell people you are 10 years older than you are lol. People will be saying DARN GIRL you look gooooooooooooooood lolol.

Tina
You have to remember it comes to a point that you are losing weight but you are gaining muscle at the same time. Maybe at those times we don't see the loss on the scale. HAHAHA I am always cleaning but I have so darn many windows in this house I start spring cleaning early. That way when the kids are on spring break we can do window.

Melissa
When I had my son I was 24. My step son was 14. His father was 44. My step son looked about 16 and I looked about 19. People were never sure who was the father of my child when they looked at us. The father or the son lol. Even now most people think I am way younger than I am. I guess it is in the gens. My mother is 64 and doesn't look a day over 55.

Cathy
You take it easy on that foot. You don't want to make it worse.

Laura
That kind of stuff doesn't bother me ( sweets ) not if it had been BBQ anything lol I might have given in. Maybe you need to look at what you are allowing yourself. Remember those requirements of the four basic food groups. The body needs them all in some form.

Kari
You start keeping track again and I bet you will find how that lb got in. You will have it off in no time don't get depressed. Keep a smile on your face and a spring in your step.

Ideal
Nice going. You have come a long way on this journey.

ksk
Just remember muscle comes as fat goes away.

Hun
I sure hope you aren't getting the darn tummy bug that is going around.

Tonight is sweet and sour chicken and peas. Oh I can't wait :)

Good afternoon ladies! Well I had a really good strength training workout today. I did chest/back and core. Eating has been really good today also. I'm going to start making my egg scramble for breakfast again. I scramble two eggs then add peppers, onion, mushroom, candaian bacon, and a little cheese. This always fills me up and holds me till lunch time. I had a great big spinach salad with turkey, mushrooms, and cheese for lunch! I've been loving raw spinach lately. I was reading on the back of the bag that it's one of the best foods for you.

Melissa73- I can't remember if it was Karen or Counting, but one of them use the Beck Diet Solution and love it. Great job on sticking to your plan today:)

Laura- Try not to get too frustrated with yourself. I think taking some of the focus of eating and putting it on exercise will be a big help. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the food part of it. I know for me sometimes it all just gets to be way to much!

Kari- I really need to start writing my food down again. Like you when I did this I always had great weeks!

Cat- Ahhh I hope were not getting the snow you are! I'm so over winter it's not even funny! Great job with the exercise today:)

Muse- I'm glad you liked your class. It feels good when were worn out sometimes after exercise!

Karen- That's not a crazy gain at all...I say just focus on your exercise and don't let this little gain slow you down! Your doing great:)

Melissa- I hope your feeling better soon. My SIL's family all just got the stomach flu...I hope your not coming down with that!

Rennie- I hope gaining muscle is my case...I feel strong that's for sure:) I hate cleaning windows more then anything. My grandma loves cleaning them. Everytime she comes over I feel like she's inspecting mine!LOL!

Tina
I have 21 windows in this house. Half of them are 6 feet long and 5 feet tall. I love cleaning windows. I have such a sense of accomplishment when I am finished. Did I make that statement sound believable lol. I don't mind it to much, all but 5 of them are the kind you can tilt in or take out all together to clean. Ya right, those things are so darn heavy I sure don't want to take the big center window out all on my own. I did one time and thought my arms were going to fall off.

Shy - you can come clean my windows any time. I HATE cleaning windows. I even bought DH a power washer so he could wash my 2nd story windows. Our house was built in the lat 1800s. Every window has all these little panes (our should I say pains) that have to be washed individually. UGH!

Tina - your egg scramble sounds wonderful! I do a similar mix with a little soy milk and make an omlet with it. A little feta cheese too :)

While I have read Beck's book, and use some of the strategies, I'm a calorie counter. It must have been Karen.

Laura - patience. I know it is hard. You are so close to your goal, and you are exercising a LOT. It may take you months to get those last few lbs. off. If you haven't been over reading the goal stories and maintenance threads, wander over. So many of the successful maintainers lost most of their weight quickly and then took months (or even years) to lose the last little bit. With all of the traveling that you are doing, maintaining is a HUGE accomplishment - I don't know very many people that could be as OP as often as you are under similar circumstances. I admire your tenacity, your determination, and your spirit :)

Karen - less water and more toning workouts could definitely affect the scale results. Sore muscles retain water. Hang in there - the scale will start moving the right direction soon!

Muse - way to go with a 2 lb. loss. Not many of us are posting very big losses this week (me included).

To everyone that is sick - take care of yourself! II hope you are better soon!

Laurie

Just a quick note. I took the day off work today to visit the college campus where band camp will take place. Afterwards, my DH and I drove down the interstate a bit to visit our DS#1 at his university. He is such a happy kid. We saw his new apartment and took him and his roommate for dinner. He picked Red Robin-yikes! I only ate half the hamburger to hopefully keep the damage to a minimum. It's late for me so I will try to get to personals tomorrow.