h82sweat: I'm glad I can inspire. I am completely flattered!! If you want check out the 100 pushups program (just google that and it should be the first link). Even if you don't do the whole program, it will give you good structure so that you don't do too much.

fruitlady: nice work on the walk! I really like acorn squash! It's pretty easy to prepare and quite tasty. The easiest way is to bake the halves (or nuke 'em) Add some butter, some brown sugar a touch of cinnamon. If you have cardamom- this is also quite tasty.
Or to go savory some butter, maybe pesto if you have it. Or else just some garlic and touch of salt. Delicious!! I want some now!! :rofl:

I ended up just mowing the lawn. It took me almost 2 hours to mow the backyard. It has been really rainy so we haven't been able to mow it AND it's been growing into a small jungle! That was quite a workout! I was dripping sweat by the time I was done! OH, and my shoulders and arms are in more pain from the extra use! LOL...

I was able to do 10 pushups for my intake. Surprised myself a bit. Monday I'm going to start the pushup challenge too! I would like to try the other challenges but I'm going to take them one at a time.

I am so sick to my stomach again. I wish I knew what was going on because it is really interfering with my workout plans. I had hoped to push myself distance wise tomorrow (5 miles) but my legs feel like jello and I get dizzy when I stand up. I had assumed food borne illness but maybe I have an actual virus? Whatever it is it needs to pack its bags and leave! LOL I'm going to get on the treadmill again tonight to assess status and will set my alarm for an early run if things look good. Otherwise I'll be sleeping in tomorrow.

Acorn squash. Yummy :) Try cubing it in 1 inch pieces, toss with olive oil, then with dark cocoa that has a hint of chili powder in it and bake it at 325until it is soft but somewhat crispy on the outside.

Have a great OP weekend everyone!

H82sweat - Have you had any ground turkey lately?

OMG :( I did. I had turkey burgers the weekend I first got sick.

Math is not my subject, obviously, since I can't put 2 and 2 together!

Then again, I didn't get sick immediately after the burger and I always cook my burgers well done so......

H82- hope you feel better soon, that acorn squash sounds yummy.
tdi- i have to try that squash, your making me hungry too! LOL


Walked 36min. had 1677 calories. 1600 is maintenance for me, so I'm not expecting to lose weight since I've been around this amount for a few days. What counts for me, is I didn't eat any junk and only ate my cooked meals. If I have to stay at 1600 for a while to stay away from junk, that's ok. It's better than eating crappy food cause my calories were too low. Crappy food makes me gain, I'll take staying the same weight over gaining weight any day!

Congrats everyone for your losses! I had a chance to hop on today, so I took it. :)

BigChiefHoho - It's true, sometimes it's hard to look at it like that. I know in the past I'd think,"Aw man! Only two pounds down I'm giving up!" but I'd rather be down 2 pounds this month than nothing at all. And good on you for trying to keep exercising when sick!

h82sweat - Absolutely, I'll just be happy if it's something, even if it doesn't quite reach my new goals. If you don't mind me asking, what non-weight related goals do you have?

Corrine - Thank-you! It's been a little gratifying that people are finally noticing that I'm smaller since that isn't something I've been noticing (besides the clothes being looser). I think I'm back in the mindset I need to be in. As long as I can get through the difficult times and get back on my plan after, I'm happy with that. :)

h82sweat - they are saying that it is very easy to cause cross contamination. So even if you cooked the turkey well done, maybe you had some on your hands, washed your hands...but you had to touch the handle of the sink to turn it on. Then you touched it again and that is what got you sick...etc.

I am so sorry you are sick. Take care of yourself!

Heyyy ladies! I've been doing alright eating wise, but I *did* go over calories last night. Only to 1800, but I was a bit disappointed in myself because I had gone over at the fair too (well, there's no way of really knowing, but I think I did). I ended up weighing myself this morning and was a couple of ounces down from yesterday, though! And today is my niece's birthday party, ugh! Ah well, I'm going to be super on plan today and allot calories for birthday cake! I am battling the guilt feeling, but I am winning. It's probably been the hardest part, learning NOT to feel guilty when eating "bad" foods.

I've been doing really well with my exercise, though! Haven't decided if I'm going to exercise or give myself a rest day today, since I've exercised every day. The thought of having birthday cake later is slightly scary...

Today is the Boney Bunch launch party for Yankee Candle! I'm a Halloween dork, so I'm planning on heading over there this morning and seeing what I can grab. Of course, I don't really have the money right now to get what I'd like, but hopefully I can get a piece or two.

Envelope- Eek, the turkey. I had to make turkey loaf last night at work so I made doubly sure that I didn't have to UPC's they were recalling, phew.

Lemon- :hug: Those are the toughest days, when you can't see yourself from the outside. EVERY little bit counts! Every time you move, you're burning calories and it's building up! Before you know it, those loose clothes will be completely dropping off of you. Glad to hear you're getting back into the groove!

H82sweat- I was wondering about the turkey too- hopefully you'll start feeling better! Take it easy and let your body kick this bug's butt. And oh man, that squash recipe sounds AMAZING. I always just cook my acorn squash the traditional way, but now you've got my mouth watering.

Fruit- I wonder if I'm about the same (1600) when it comes to maintenance. I've been fluctuating with my cals a lot recently because I'm scared to find out what my maintenance calories are, ha. I figure probably between 1600-1800. High fives for no junk! That farm stand sounds fantastic! I wish we had some more reasonable prices like that here. I live in a major agricultural area, so usually we can find something cheap among the many farm stands, but not that good! This is the first year I've been without my own garden fresh veggies since I was a kid, and I miss it terribly! Acorn squash is so tasty.

TDI- Push mower? I have about 5 acres to mow here, so thank god for lawn tractors. I do trim mow with a push mower though, and I have to say I love using it for exercise! Takes me about an hour to trim around the trees and such with it. Even after that I can feel it- I'm sure your arms must be jello! Your arms are going to be fantastic! I may just have to start that challenge today.

Good Morning Ladies,
Straight throught the uprights I made my birthday goal today and I'm in ONDERLAND!!!!!!!! I'm 199.8 but I will TAKE IT!!! Get it how you can has been my philosophy. I'm so excited that I've been dancing around :dance:all morning. I've lost a little over 100 pounds as of today. I will explain all of it later, maybe tomorrow. I dont' remember the last time I saw 1 anything on the scale. But I'm very excited today!!! Of course since today is my birthday and I have planned it as a cheat day I will probably not be 199 anything by tomorrow. But then again I may not do too much damage.

We're getting ready to go out for breakfast so I don't have time for personals but I will get them in later.

Today's Nugget: No matter what you want in life NEVER give up because it is attainable. YOU are the deciding factor if you get it. If your weight goal seems like it's too far fetched or a big hope...well don't quit on yourself and you will get there.

JiggleFree that nugget is so true! I have lost 2/3rds of 100lbs. That to me is amazing. I did not do it perfectly, or on a set schedule, but I am doing it.

I have officially reached my goals for this challenge. I am going to keep at it and see where I end up. :) I may even make it into the 150's!

fruitlady - I like that attitude!!!

Howdy Howdy Howdy :)

Feeling better today and I wiped down my entire kitchen with clorox wipes and rewashed all my cookware and dishes. Hopefully that will knock out whatever bug was lurking.

I had a great session on the treadmill last night and planned to get up and run this morning but when I got up my legs were like rubber bands so I thought I would give myself a bit of a break and just do the treadmill trainer program again. It feels so good to be able to do that medium intensity without having to hang on to the hand rails! When I can do the high intensity like that it will be a happy day!

My non weight related goals are to run 3 mile in 30min or under, which I already did this week so I am ahead on that one, and bike my 20mile loop in under 1:30, which I haven't been able to work on due to the heat but should start up again next week. I have added to that getting in 4 weeks of the 100 pushup challenge and more than 1 pullup (would like to say 5 but wow is that pie in the sky LOL)

Congrats to all the losers this week! (that doesn't sound right! lol) I am waiting until Monday to weight in but I do think I have lost some. I managed to work out all but 1 day despite being sick so that is a success in itself even if the scale didn't move after all.

Have great OP days ladies!

edited to add: my DH was able to get a flight home tonight so I am having a splurge night with Michelob Ultra and spinach and artichoke dip and chips when he gets home! Canasta and snacks with the kids. Not the most romantic evening ever, but sure to be fun!

jiggle- I'm so happy for you! Happy Birthday!
envelope- Thanks! Congrats on reaching your goal early!
Corinne- I'm 1 inch taller, but it depends on your age too. I'm 42, so I can't eat as many calories as a younger person. Metabolism is slower as you get older, that sucks! I'm very active, don't sit til 9pm. So sometimes I can get away with eating more and not gaining. Like my average this week was 1798 and I'm still losing slowly.


Walked 33min & had 1445 calories. Less calories than I've been having lately, had a gassy bloated feeling all day and really didn't want to make it worse by eating more. Weight is down to 115.9lbs. So that's a 5lb loss for the week, but that included some water weight loss too. Gotta get cooking tomorrow so I have some good meals in the fridge. Running low on pre-made healthy stuff. Only have butternut squash i made left, today i bought 2 steam bags of veggie stir fry( fresh uncooked, not fryed) for $1, could have kicked myself for not buying more of them. Each bag has 4 servings of veggies( broccolii, carrots, snow peas & red cabbage) and you just microwave them in the bag, I ate three servings with my chicken and dinner was only 175 calories! I could have bought more and put them in the freezer!

corrinne: My arms were definitely jello thusday and part of friday.. Then I had to do the challenge again! HA! But, I started out the week being able to max out at 8 in a row. Friday, I maxed out at 11 in a row (pushups). So that's cool!
I'm pretty impressed with the program. There are 5 repeats with breaks in between. Friday though, since I'm doing the 3, decided to do all 3 together without major breaks. It went quite well. Got a harder workout in as well.
I also got a 12mile ride in! I'm glad I finally went for a bike ride YAY!!
*NSV*I noticed tonight in the mirror that I can see my triceps a bit. I still don't look sculpted by any means, but I can see the muscles forming and that I'm getting toned. This has me quite happy!

fruitlady: I will definitely be picking up some squash this week! YUM! I am in the same boat as you with healthy foods. Gotta get making up a few so that I have them ready and set to go!
h82sweat: I'm glad you're feeling better and you are doing really awesome with the exercise! That is really exciting to be seeing an increase in your fitness level!! :carrot:
jigglefree: Congratulations!! That is really exciting about getting into onederland!! :carrot: :carrot:
I agree with the nugget as well. We do life in an instant gratification society. People tend to give up if they don't see quick results. But, we just need to stick with it and see other improvements!!

Well, today was my "cheat" day. More just a high day where I allow myself a couple extra treats and I don't weigh or count calories. Tomorrow will be back to regular though. Didn't exercise much either, another rest day..but it's kinda nice to take a break. Seems like everyone is doing really well!
Keep it movin' chickies!! :carrot:

So, I had a terrible day Friday. There was junk food left out on the cupboard (cookies, chips, etc) and I basically went to town on it--I felt so ashamed afterwards, especially since I had been doing pretty well. The only thing I can do is move on from there. I stuck to my diet and ate 1259 calories yesterday and I'll probably end up eating around 1100-1150 today. Maybe my scale will be kind to me tomorrow.

Corrine - I know exactly what you mean. I love charleston chews, they're easily my favorite chocolate bar, and a few of the small ones (or even half of a large one) aren't a whole ton of calories. I decided I'm allowed to have them once in a while when I'm being good but can't bring myself to actually eat one during a good day.

Jigglefree - Way to go!!! It feels incredible to get back into the single digits, doesn't it? :)

Envelope - Great job reaching your goal already! Are you planning to set a new one?

I think I'm going to try to set my own exercise goals, I still need to decide what exactly I want to be able to do so I'll probably post them later this week, thanks for the idea H82Sweat! Sorry for the slightly disjointed post I'm trying to do some paperwork simultaneously and I'm really terrible at multitasking, I don't know why I keep trying to do it. Hope everyone has a fantastic week!