Hi Everyone...
Im back....I am sorry i have been away for so long... I had a period of being flat out with work, family and i went away to Perth,,,,and mostly i got into a rut...where i ate the worng stuff and beat myself up and thus not mentally wanting to exercise....but luckily for the exercise i did maintained my current weight...
After taking time away interstate for a few weeks, i valued my work, family and myself....
I have plans to eat right and exercise between clients at work (gym) and try and not let stress from money at this time of the year beat me down...
I hope everyone is doing well.
I have been thinking countless of everyone and i hope my absence hasnt let anyone down.
I like to say hello to anyone new that i dont know....lol
If anyone would like to chat at any time my hotmail is [email protected]
Hope everyone had a great xmas and new year...
Love to all
Nikkii xxx

olie olie in come free!!!......Hi girls!!!! Just had to pop in and wish everyone a Happy New Year. I too have to kick myself into gear and get going with getting OP. Thankyou for all the shout outs and hello's. Work is so busy, I can't believe my schedule....so much for a reduced work week. This week I have 39 hours and I work 6 out of the 7 days!!! I have to apologize for being MIA, work and (some of you will know) the RANGE of emotions that perimenopause brings......I am having the hardest time with sleeping and with crying jags. I've spoken with my dr. and we are 'working' on it. First step was some mild sleeping pills to help me sleep and they seem to be working wonders.... So I am here in spirit and cheering all of you on!!!! Hopefully I will be able to find the time for me soon. :hug:

Hey gals! I'm happy to report that I got my 2 miles in each of these two weekend days. DF and I are looking at the possibilty of buying a new treadmill, and although we want one and need one, are not sure about spending the money this year, while trying to save up for the wedding.

Ledom - please do share that chicken salad recipe! And, what brand of ww pasta was that? I'm trying to find something I like. I'd fallen in love with Barilla Plus, but it's not ww! :(

So, tomorrow morning I hit the gym - wish me luck. My plan is just cardio for now - I'll start on the elliptical, doing my intervals, and then I'll finish one mile on that, then do another on a treadmill.

The weather here has been crazy - it was 72F Saturday! What a beautiful day - for June! It's just too weird for me to see people out in shorts and t-shirts in January! Today was 45F, a little cooler, but out normal average for this time of year is 30F! Hey, I'll just take advantage of the warm weather to be outside as much as I can!
Cindy

Hi Chicks!
How are you all? Hope you're all doing well!

Nikkii and Angel- Happy to see you both here! Sorry to hear you've both been so busy, but hopefully you'll get some time for yourselves soon. You're both missed, but we understand life.

Cindy- Great job with getting in the miles. I got a new treadmill a few months ago, and i love it. My old one was the type that only moves when you walk, my new one is a proper motorised one, and if i could marry it i would. I am a total treadmill addict, so i spend a lot of time on it, but they can be expensive.

Ledom- Great work with the killer workouts! You're an inspiration! Keep up the awesome work!

Chick- Sounds like you're doing great, as always!

Lisa- Great job with the pound lost! Every pound lost is one step closer to your goal! Sometimes i work my butt off and lose nothing, other weeks i'm a little slack and have an awesome week. You'll get your 3 pound loss, i'm sure of it!

I've lost some of the weight i gained over the holidays, but i'm really more trying to maintain. These days i know when i'm in over my head, and with all the moving and stuff, i just can't actively lose at the moment, so i'm doing what i can, working out as often as i can and eating well. Any loss is just a plus. I need to concentrate on life at the moment, and not so heavily on my weight loss. I'm really hoping i'll reach my goal before my birthday in July, i just need life to slow down for a little while and stop throwing me curve balls!

Balsamic Chicken Breast Salad (from Oxygen, Aug. 2005)

4 servings

3 cups cooked, skinless, boneless checken breast, chopped and cooled
1 cup chopped red apple
1/2 cup diced celery
3 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
3 T balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup Vegenaise mayo
1 tsp French's Bold n'Spicy mustard
1 tsp freshly ground four-blend pepper

Instructions.

1. Boil chicken breast in a large pot until cooked. (I grilled mine instead after letting it marinate in lime juice - which added some great flavor to the dish.)
2. In a large bowl, mix together the first 5 ingredients.
3. In a small bowl mix the dressing ingredients
4. Mix chicken and dressing together, stir well and refrigerate 2 hours. Serve over a bed of lettuce.

calories 383
protein value not given
carbs: 10 gram
fat: 22 gram

Thanks Ledom - this looks yummy!

I'm dragging today - finally got my backside into the gym. This week I'll be tired, but I know it will be worth it.

No time for a long post - need to get back to work :(
Cindy

HELLLOOOO??????

Where is everyone?
Cindy

I had a VERY DANGEROUS ENCOUNTER with a bag of peanuts...yesterday's Fitday is really scary. On the good side, exercise has been good! X-Bike tonite!

I'm gonna have to try that chicken recipe - it sounds :T

I'm at work and I shouldn't be posting....step away from the peanuts is my advice to all! :p

Hey ladies - I am here. Just trucking along. Trying to put another Sun. night fall off the wagon behind me. After a gorgeous of week of good eating and a week of hot workouts. It gets me down so much when I have troubles like this. What to say, what to do, but work those lbs. over yet again. But, that is just what I have been doing. Workouts going great. Eating right on track. I am at the point where I think I must just do away with any free meals, it just sends me down the path of destruction. I am just fed up with myself over it. It seems so impossible sometimes.

OK, for the positive. Yesterday the gym's personal trainer asked me if I had taught or been a personal trainer? I am just like - what? Apparently my form is what she is admiring. I do have good form, from reading lots of articles on it and taking all those warnings about form seriously. And, believe it or not - I do love my body. I think my butt looks great, it doesn't sag at all. My legs look great in black tights. But my belly - yuck, yuck, yuck. Just trying to get everything working right again.

That spaghetti I was raving about Cindy is Barilla Plus Thin Spaghetti. It isn't whole wheat after all but is full of good stuff and is enriched wi. Omega-3, 17 gr. of protein, and 7 g of fiber. Good stuff. It has several multigrains, legumes and ground flaxseed and has a nice light texture.

Morning gals!

Yes, I do love the Barilla Plus, but it doesn't work for my eating plan. I need WW, with nothing "enriched".

Ledom - yes, maybe eliminating free meals/day is a good idea until you feel you can be more in control. I've been there, so I know how frustrating it can be. Keep my scenario in mind - as a scare tactic to yourself, if you will. I gained back all my hard-earned pounds lost, and no food was worth that! You don't think it can happen, but it's amazing how easily you can be in denial. Not saying that you would be, but I never thought I would be either.

On the positive side, congrats on your clean week last week. And, on the compliment from the gal at the gym!

The chicken salad was wonderful! Thanks for shaing that recipe. We did have it last night for dinner. I used a bit too much chicken, though, so should have upped my apples and celery. I did have to use low fat mayo as it turns out my no-fat mayo is loaded with high fructose corn syrup! Who would have thought??? Seems like we as a nation are addicted to sweet. Avoiding HFCS is much, much harder than I ever thought it would be!

Yes, nuts can be a problem - I just ordered a cute tin that the almond group is offering, which only holds 1oz. I'll share the link if I can find it again -it's free, but will be 6-8 weeks in coming :(

My exercise is good, although I know walking won't take much weight off me - just not intense enough. But, it's a good place for me to start as I'm getting into this - I have to be careful though, my shins were pretty achy today - I have a tendency to get shin splints as I'm a "hard walker", so I need to be conscience of that. I do flex stretches and ankle circles to help, but as this is my 6th day in a row of 2 miles each, I'll probably be taking it quite slow tomorrow. Can't help myself, I get a good song on the iPod and start literally "pounding" the pavement. Good thing it's a treadmill!

Speaking of iPods, I have to put a plug in for my new iPod Shuffle. It's the litte silver square one, literally 1"x1" in size. The thing is amazingly light, and actually is designed to clip onto your clothing. It has no moving parts and will never skip. Only downside is no screen - so you just have to forward through your music to find a certain song, if you like. I have my one elliptical workout songs at the beginning, an hour's worth of walking music, and then another round of elliptical songs. As you can tell, I am very driven by the beat of my music!

Anyway, my point was that for just $80 USD, if you don't yet have a MP3 player, this is worth looking into, especially for working out.

Ok, enough rambling - I'd better get to work! Have a good day, everyone!
Cindy

Very interesting Cindy - yesterday I broke down and ordered an iPod. My first MP3 player ever. I looked at the shuffle and considered that - I should have asked for reviews. I like to listen to audio books and my walkman is SO old school. Now I am hanging at the gym I am just like a kid. I wanted the new toy like everyone else. Another good day. And oh yes I do know how easy it is to gain it back as I have done that very thing myself Cindy. I am shocked at how much I could gain in such a short time though. I can't even bring myself to talk numbers to you guys. It is just too embarrassing. I think falling into the trap of, I'll weigh in a week when I know it won't be so bad is not a good thing for me either. I am committed to daily weighing again. I am going to put up a new ticker pretty soon. It will be oblique because as I say - I don't want to say out loud how bad it has been, but I can't fool myself. Clothes are an issue now. Only my biggest new clothes are fitting well now and there aren't many of those. I will not buy anything new and so that is a huge motivation too - my wardrobe just isn't much fun right now.

Cindy - what eating plan are you doing now?

Ledom - congrats on ordering your iPod. For audio books, a bigger one is definitely the way to go - a Shuffle only holds 1GB of data, so is really only good for music. Perhaps after you fall in love with the one you just bought, you might want to think about a second? My shuffle is actually my second iPod! I got tired of having to have my "mini" strapped to my arm while I was lifting.

The food plan I am following is from the "YOU: On a Diet" book, by Dr. Oz - has been featured on Oprah in the past. The guidelines are pretty simple - the first 5 ingredients of any product should not include 1)Sugar, 2)High Fructose Corn Syrup, 3)Enriched anything, 4)Bleached anything, or 5)Partially hydrogenated anything.

This is pretty much "clean" eating, but a bit stricter, as it is fairly difficult to find food items which meet this criteria. There are a few exceptions, for added flexibility, but these can affect your results.

The plan is about "waist" management - you are supposed to be measuring your waist and not worrying about your weight. The new part of this for me is the HFCS - his theory is that the body does not recognize this compound as a nutrient (there is a lot of biology stuff in the book that I glossed over!), and thus you can eat it and still be hungry for more - it increases cravings and does not provide any satisfaction.

Cindy

huh oh - is another way to attach the ipod to yourself other than an arm band? I will be lifting with it.

Just back from a good workout. I am on Jillian's week 4, again. I love weeks 3 and 4 when it is only 2 sets of 15. I just get through it so much faster - on the other hand I guess the long workouts get the better results. Still takes me about an hour.

So, things to remember for the weekend. Have everything planned out in advance. Dig in my heels when the urge to cheat hits me. Drink lots of water. OK, that is all I can think of for now.

Which one did you get - a nano? I'm pretty sure that with the nano you can get a lanyard to wear it around your neck, as it is very lightweight as well. But, the bigger iPods (the white and black thicker ones) may be a different story - I really don't know what else would be available as they are a bit heavier.

The arm band wasn't that bad, it's just that I have big arms, so the thing barely fit me, and then I would get a bit sweaty under it.

Is there an Apple store anywhere near you? They would be able to show you all your options. Or, I could go to ours and check it out for you, if you like. Just let me know which one you ordered.
Cindy

Yay for MP3 players - mine isn't Apple...I have an iRiver...it doesn't hold much but i just have music so it works fine for me. Mine has a clip so I can attach it to a waistband. I usually have a pocket in my workout pants, I stick it in there. (Got them at Walmart, I think...they have like a cargo pocket on both sides and a small back pocket - good for carrying workout list, too)

I am SO ready for along weekend....TGIF!!!!

Get some bike rides in, it's s'posed to be cold but clear. Pefect for riding! :cb:

ledom - sweetie!! You don't have to be embarassed about how much you weigh with us! We've ALL been there. :hug: Just keep on chuggin, girl!