:congrat: Krjpy on the loss this week!!!! :woohoo:

:carrot: Way to go Kelly!! :carrot:

Well, I'm back on plan and jumped on the scale this morning and I'm down a pound which I will take! I need to get my butt in gear for this exercise challenge too. I'm determined to get a badge this week. (I missed getting one last week) :(

:cheer3:COME ON BLUE TEAM WE CAN DO IT!!!:cheer3:

You will not believe what my mom and I did. We're putting together my new shed, and it's under one of my dogwood trees. We go to slid the roof panels on, and it's too close to the tree. So today, after I work a 1/2 day, we have to figure out a way to move the shed over about 2 feet. :D

My eating has been horrible for the last two days. My mom and grandma decided we needed junk food, and I need to stop eating that crud. Luckily the exercise is handling most of the excess, but I don't want to start up again with the lousy eating habits.

QOTD: As you lose weight and you drop sizes...when you look in the mirror do you see someone smaller or do you still see yourself the way you were when started?

I have reverse anorexia, instead of being a thin person seeing a heavier person in the mirror, I'm a heavy chick who thinks the person in the mirror is much thinner than reality.

I don't think you are the only one... I do it all the time! LIke it really makes much difference. :lol: But I would think you are working the muscles right? :D

QOTD: As you lose weight and you drop sizes...when you look in the mirror do you see someone smaller or do you still see yourself the way you were when started?

I see that I am smaller, esp when I put on certain pieces of clothing, but I still think my perception of my size is skewed. You see when I first started to lose weight, I think I believed I was getting smaller faster that I really was. I look at pictures from Christmas and think "I know I lost more weight than that by then". I really have a hard time with ground truth about my size and what I look like. I think this is part of the reason I haven't said anything to my DH about not saying anything to me about losing weight. I really can't gauge the "real" truth about what I really look like.

I finally found SIGG bottle for the kids in styles they will use for reasonable, not financial sodomy shipping. Whew.

*giggle*

LoL I suck in my stomach so much you would think I'd have abs of steel by now. ;)

In my mind I am thinner than I actually am, so when I try on clothes I usually get disappointed because I'm bigger than I think I am. When I look at myself in the mirror I usually see the big person, but still not the true size I am. I'm all messed up. That's why I'm taking progress pics, because the only way for me to truly see progress is to see pics of myself side by side. It's really helped me.

I've decided I'm going to make a daily commitment to myself to help keep me on plan each day.

Today my commitment is: Track every thing that goes into my mouth! (Even if its not on plan!) :lol:

Hey Anna (or anyone with an opinion about this) -- what do you think of caffeine? I currently don't consume caffeine, I've never been a coffee drinker or a soda drinker. But all the research seems to be trending towards caffeine possibly providing some protection from Alzheimer's and dementia and possibly Parkinson's.

Alzheimer's and dementia is my biggest fear in life, so now I wonder if my husband is smarter for drinking 3 cups of caffeinated coffee a day!

Dee - that's rough about the shed.:( Sounds totally like something my Mom and I could manage to do together also. At least it's something physical that will have you burning calories!

Kelly - Congrats again on your huge weight loss. I get twinges of jealousy. But quickly remember that we all have our own road to go down.

Jill - sorry about your headache. Hope it gets better. I bet it is caffeine? Whenever I get zealous and try to cut it out of my diet, I get headaches. Sometimes a little piece of good dark chocolate help me. Key word being little!

In my minds eye I still see myself where I started. I can begin to see what the mirror is showing me, that my body is changing. Like this AM I really noticed a smoother side silhouette vs. rolls - I am gaining waist definition. People are telling me on a daily basis how amazed they are at how much weight I'm losing and honestly I haven't lost but 2 pounds in the last month. I'm at a plateau on the scale, but with my intense workouts and weight training I'm losing inches for sure.

It's raining here in Seattle again also. We had such lovely summer weather this weekend and then it's back to the typical spring weather.

Well, I need to get the girls dressed and hit the gym. Today is upper body weights and a good cardio session...

lol!
where?

Congrats Kelly! Drat, I thought I had a shot at this week's winner but I'll be happy with second place to your phenomenal loss!

Jo-like I mentioned above, I have tried to cut out/reduce caffeine from time to time. I don't fight coffee anymore. (Especially after the recent research...) For me, it is a simple pleasure of life to have a few cups of coffee per day. I have cut out diet sodas though. Couldn't bend the truth there that it was simply, downright bad for me. Plus I save a bundle of money by kicking that habit.

We tied with the Red Team!

Close enough for a three-peat for me!

:celebrate: . :celebrate: . :celebrate: . :celebrate: . :celebrate:

As in most things, I believe that moderation is the key. 2-3 cups of coffee a day is good...2-3 pots? Well, that is probably not such a good thing. Also, a lot depends on what put in your coffee. If you use lots of sugar and full-fat creamer..well, again, not such a good thing.

I believe that Anna's stand is that coffee = good parenting. I agree!

Great idea! My committment for today is 'NO ADDED SUGAR!'

Jill--I was just about to respond to you, but all I can say is What Rhonda said!

I really don't have a problem with naturally occuring caffeine. I am not a fan of processed foods as a group, so I don't eat things that have it added. I see no problem with tea or coffee, and it makes me a better parent.


I got Will's at http://www.brightandbold.com/siggbottles.html
and Meara's at http://store.valueweb.com/servlet/ca...les/Categories

No sugar added scares the crap out of me. It means they probably (not always) have added something else. I know my body will recognize sugar and respond accordingly. Not as well as when I was younger and thinner, but my blood sugar is under control. I also know that my body will look at aspartame or sucralose and say, "What is this %$#@?" Then my liver has to spend time dealing with that stuff instead of helping rid my body of fat as it is used. Give me a little sugar (preferably honey).

Oh no, that's not my committment. There is natural sugar in most foods, but I'm committed to not eating anything today that has been 'sugared' or had sugar added.....ie...cookies, cakes, candies, etc etc etc. I'm not committing to the "No Sugar Added" products on the market.:lol: Yikes! That would be scarey!

way to go Blue Team!!!!

We looked them up in the phone book. Then we had one over to talk about what we wanted and how he did things. We went with our first interviewee cause we liked him.

I do it all the time. It's supposed to be good for you back and posture or something. It was depressing when I couldn't suck it in after my c-section for awhile. Now I can do it again.

I am once again trying to cut out the caffeine cause I went off the wagon and have been drinking soda with caffeine again. It makes me too moody. Where I can't handle my mood swings. I don't drink enough where I get withdrawal symptoms really bad. But even a little affects my moods.

Josephine, I agree with Rhonda...key is moderation. I believe too much of anything is bad. We used to drink about 3-4 cups of coffee a day but we cut it back to 1 travel mug of coffee about 16 oz (we brew at home) and take it to work. I've recently started drinking a cup of tea in the evening usually with my evening snack. It makes me feel good :) I don't want to give up coffee cuz I do enjoy a cup of coffee a day :D
Also since you haven't had caffeine stuff before you might want to discuss it with your doctor as everyone's reaction is different...just to be on the safe side :)

WTG BLUE TEAM!!!

I guess every ounce lost does count!!

Off to get cup #2 of coffee and I haven't made it to the gym yet. Ugh. I got stuck working...need to go now...

I have been soooo productive today!

I cleaned the rabbit's cage and litter box

I cleaned up Will's floor which looked like there had been some kind of Hot Wheel-Lego War in which there was no clear winner

I have done two loads of laundry

I have picked up the floor in my room

I have picked up everyone's clothes from the hall and bathrooms

Now I am going to:
Return a comforter to Penney's

Go to Kroger

Go to Ace to get cages for my eggplant and stakes for the other stuff.

Thought you were getting rid of the rabbit cause he destroyed the TV?

whew, my headache is almost completely gone. Thanks for the :hug: and the ideas, my fabulous blue teammates. I would have a few sips of cafeeinated soda, but we have none in the house now, and only non-diet soda available at work. I really didn't think I would have withdrawal--I only drank 2 cans a day on weekdays, maybe 3 on weekends. But I had bumped it up to Diet Pepsi Max, which has even more caffeine than regular Diet Pepsi, so maybe that's why :shrug:

I went out for a walk at lunch since the rain had stopped. My office is in a loop of professional buildings, so I walk laps around the loop. My normal routine walk is 2 full laps plus wandering around a couple buildings/parking lots, and it's always almost exactly an hour from when I leave my desk to when I return. Well, like I said, it had stopped raining, so I headed out. I had done my building/parking lot wandering and one full lap, and just as I was about halfway through my second lap (read: as far as possible from my office), it just started POURING rain! I ran (yes, RAN) to a tree and hid under it for a few minutes until the rain let up a little. At least i happened to be wearing a hooded shirt. I popped my hood up and walked the rest of the way in the rain. I'm still slightly damp :dizzy:

There was no proof that the TV issue is because of Petey. We replaced all the wires, and the problem still was there. I talked to some big-screen genius who led me through troubleshooting. He says there is no way it was the rabbit.

Irony: having a pet rabbit while I just spent $10 on fencing to keep rabbits out of my garden....

Happy today:

My dwarf lilac is blooming. All of the other lilacs in the area are long gone...but not mine! My little dwarf blooms late and smells lovely.

I have two little blossoms on my maters!

My kids have played beautifully all day.

New topic: Anyone use/d Simple Abundance?

Are you talking about Sarah Ban Breathnach? If so, I find her a little to touchy feely for me.

Tee - Thanks for the advice. I don't know any attorneys, but hey, that's still interesting to know!

Karen - Thank you! I guess I'll just have to get a feel for the people when I talk to them.

---

Way to go Blue Team !!! :cheer3: Three-peat :D

I just started reading it. Usually, I am not a fan of touchy feely, but so far, she is just talking about general housekeeping, about which I have a HORRIBLE attitude, so I could use some words of comfort and joy. I was more concerned that there would be a deep religious component, which so far there is not. It was enough to inspire me to get some crap done today.

Have you seen the flylady.com for housecleaning? Her method has help me keep up with 4 kids and working full time.

I liked flylady for organization and hated her attitude. The idea that I was supposed to be doing all the work and that it was a blessing to my family made me want to hit her. I make the least mess, but have to clean the majority of it....I have every right to be pissed about that. She can try to polish that turd all she wants, it is not only unfair, it is sexist. I took away methods from her and gagged on the rest.

I need some cheering up today! I wish I could think of what I'm happy for today's off the top of my head, but I'm still flabbergasted that I just spent $40 at Safeway for almost nothing. Like stuff for taco salad tonight and a couple other things...WTF? I buy the same items over and over and I know that even the sale prices were WAY, WAY, WAY over what I paid for them last time. And I'm just in a icky funk. I don't feel this way often. Very on edge. I'm impatient with the girls. I want someone to come and take them away and do something fun with them. I feel like eating. Good thing I went to the gym when I did and put in a good 2 hours... And good thing that I understand that sometimes my feelings are liars and that I'll get through this day just like every other day before.

:hug: What about some "What you're happy for in your life" things? :hug:

Ok, that made me giggle. I have to agree though. I have used some of her organization ideas. For years before we had kids all the housework was pretty 50/50 and then when I started staying home after Livi was born, I used her site to help to stay on top of it. Now that I work from home, we are back much back to pretty 50/50...well, maybe more like 30dh/70me. He irons, folds and puts away all the laundry, washes the floors, usually does the dinner dishes and most of the routine outdoor maintenance, not gardening though. I do the remainder. But not on any schedule - do it when it needs it sort of schedule... I have to lol when I just pulled out my excel spreadsheet from when I first started staying home and had everything so dang organized and sparkling!

Yeah, thanks!:hug: When I think of the big picture I'm feeling better. Definitely! Loads of good things and blessings. It's just a funky day!
And I don't mean to take someone else's place with drama here.:^:

I'm right there down in the dumps with ya :p

I've been SO good with my eating and exercising for about a month now. When I had my blood srawn last week, I was actually excited because I just knew I would have good results. Wrong. I got a call today from my doctor to cancel my appointment for Tuesday because she really wants me to be seen THIS week. I called to change my appointment, and then called back to find out why :dizzy: Apparently, wonder of wonders, I have high fasting glucose, high A1C, and high triglycerides. Add to that my high blood pressure, and I'm just the poster child for obesity. I'm 25. I should not be having these issues.

I know, I know..the numbers would be even higher if I hadn't turned things around when I did and started exercising and eating so much healthier. I'm down by about 15 pounds from my highest weight and 8 pounds since the start of this challenge. It's just frustrating, but I'll get over it :^: I really need to get a firm grasp on this "patience" concept :p

So, I go in tomorrow morning to talk to my doctor. I'm hoping hoping hoping that she'll give me some time to try to work on it myself without medication. I REALLY don't want to be on medication. I guess it depends, though, on the actual numbers. Right now, all I know is they are high, but not by how much. And in the car on my way home, I got in a fight with my sister on the phone about whether or not I would take medication. Then I came home and talked to Jeff, and he told me I had a ****ty attitude. I know he's right, and I knew it before he even said it, but all I really wanted was a hug, not to be yelled at, ya know?

Anyway, cry me a river, right? I'll stop my whining now. Does crying and clenching fists burn many extra calories? :p