had a great workout! I feel re-energized and refocused and ready to take on the world again! I've lost over 50 pounds and on to the next 50! Then I'll be in the 200s...and boy it's been years!

Eliana - I know this was posted about a month ago, but I wanted to reply:

What's your go-to healthy meal (or two)?

1. Breakfast: 1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt 1 tsp saigon cinnamon on top of that, 1/2 cup blueberries on that, 1/4 cup of delish cranberry almond granola on top of that! YUMMMM! Sometimes I add protein powder and honey...Maybe I should be adding some flax with the granola!

2. Dinner: pita pizzas... Pita, with a little bit of tomato sauce, LOADED with veggies and a sprinkle of cheese. I love these WAY more than regular pizza!

ninepaw: WOW! You can totally tell in your before/after face pic!! You look great! Thanks for sharing that cool tool..skinnyr... I will sign up, can you plot past losses??

Rochester: You're a newspaper reporter??? That's so cool!

heheh...another post... I'm 18 pounds away from the halfway mark!!

ALEKS! Thanks for noticing the photo. And yes! You can enter in past weights and dates. I went through and added in all of mine when I discovered it. And great job getting back into the swing of things, too! I know that isn't always easy.

I got some super exciting news today, entirely unrelated to weight loss! My mom has been trying to figure out what to do for my birthday. Originally she was going to get me new headphones for running with, but I've been massively indecisive on that front, so she thought she might look into something else...

Today, she told me Maroon 5 is going to be in town in October to play a show. Now, I LOVE Maroon 5. Love them. Definitely one of my favorite bands, and I've already seen them twice that I can think of. Mom loves them too. But this... This time is going to be very different. Very very different. As in... Second row, meet and greet package different. I AM SO EXCITED. I want to shout it from the rooftops! It's three months away and I am just crazy already! Gives me another little silly piece of motivation, though! We get to have our photo taken with the band, so obviously I want to be smaller for a fantastical photo! (Like my use of the word fantastical? Yeah. I'm cool! ) So yeah! That's my wonderful lovely news that I just cannot begin to wait for!!!

Good morning!

WB Aleks! 50 pounds down is AWESOME! (Yes, I'm a newspaper reporter, and it is a very fun job! I absolutely love it...most of the time. )

@Diana - That concert sounds fab! I'm jealous! Have fun!

@FC - Hope your feeling better!

@Tornado - Good luck chasing that 4!

@Terapet - Glad you had a great vacation!

@Eliana - I live in the town where I grew up, and it used to be like that...being able to walk everywhere and anywhere. It's not quite so much anymore because everything's spread out. But it's still much more walkable than most places, and I love that. You cracked me up with this: "There's a whole world of shops, stores and restaurants just across the street...but that 'street' is an interstate."

Not much exciting to report for my week. The scale is still being stubborn but I did have a chance to test my BMI with one of those nifty gadgets yesterday. According to The Charts it should be 36.3 but the gadget said 31.7. I think the scale and the BMI gadget need to have a discussion. I've totally been rockin' it with C25K and...I signed up to do my first 5K next Saturday!

Happy Friday everybody!

Every time I see you post about your 5K, I get all excited for you Rochester! You're gonna do great, I can tell!

So after a weird incident involving me waking up with no alarm of ,my own accord at 8:30(Which I realize isn't early compared to when some get up, but I normally wake up at like... 9:30), I hopped on the scale this morning... And just like that, I'm down to 243!!! Hopefully that'll stick around and keep moving down now, 'cause I don't feel like getting stuck again so soon! Today is the day of C25K that will really test my ability to keep myself going... W5D3. Which means a 20 minute jog. But I can do it!
I can, I can, I can.... (If I tell myself this over and over again, it'll make it true... Right!? )

Happy Friday!

I had a pleasant surprise this morning. My weight was down to my pre-vacation number. That should be a nice motivating factor to get me through the weekend. This morning was step class at the Y. I hope to get all caught up with my exercise routine this week and maybe actually make some progress.

ninepaw-Thanks for the jump start idea. I forgot I had some fitness goals before I was sick. I had a lot of different things going on in the last month that got in the way of my exercise but now I have time again. (lots of time!) One of the things I want to do is climb the path on Kennesaw Mtn. It is not all that difficult but it is rather vertical. I went up it in May and I was way out of breath. Since then I have lost 15 pounds so I expect it will easier. However, I am going to wait another week because I am still catching up from my time off while on vacation. Congrats on losing another pound and your C25K progress. You can definitely do the 20 minute jog. Just pace yourself, it will be great.

Rochester-I am very happy for you running the 5K. You go girl!

Aleks-Glad you are back and ready to go!

The scale showed 154.8 this morning. Not sure how real that particular number is actually, but I'll take it. TOM finished a few days ago, so it might be accurate. My scaled does some really weird things for a week around there. I really shouldnt even step on it during that time. Anyway, the weather has turned just a tiny bit cooler, but enough taht I was able to get out and do my full workout this morning. I was dripping sweat when I got home, but felt good getting back to it. . I really think my body is so used to doing 1.5 hours of exercise every morning now, that it gets mad at me when I dont do it. I will try not to miss 3 days again so it doesnt rebel on me.

thought I would share though, since it has been so hot, I have been tryin to come up with cooler things to eat..and just threw something together yesterday that was just great. I took about 2 ounces of chicken breast and grilled them up in a pan..just a little pepper etc..chopped up 3 tomatoes, and several chunks of cucumber. tossed the tomatoes and cukes into a bowl..splashed in about a teaspoon of sesame oil, generous portion of oregano, dash of basil, little salt and pepper..ya know..whatever spices ya like..but the oregano really does seem to make it..stirred that all up, tossed in the chicken chunks, and then added about 1/2 oz of shredded mozzarella. this was FABULOUS According to my recipe creator, whole thing was less than 300 calories. Now, since the calories is so low, the fat precentage was kinda high at 9g..you could leave out the sesame oil I guess if fat is one of your big no nos.. but for me, I'll take that flavor any day at the expense of the few extra calories. And at 300 calories..what the heck.

And for those of you who are not carb watchers (I am NOT a carb watcher..I'd die without my carbs) you can do the exact same thing and add a cup of cooked spaghetti. It adds another 170 calories, but makes a more filling evening meal if you need to cap off those calories. still only 450 calories and quite yummy. Best if the spaghetti has been cooked previously and is cold.

Done babbling!!!

Tornadosiren, that chicken dish sounds delish! Perhaps something I'll have to try out one of these nights!

Guysguysguysguysguyssssssssss!!!

I jogged for 20 minutes straight today!!!

W5D3 of C25K is one of those things that was just terrifying to me when I looked at it. Jog for 20 minutes without walking? Seriously? Seriously. As it's approached, I've felt better and better about it, since the workouts obviously are meant to progress to that point... But I was still kinda nervous. So when I went out today, I pretty much told myself that I had to do it, no matter what. And I did! And it didn't even seem particularly hard. I just got out there and jogged, and kept a good pace, and managed my breathing... And I did it! I'm so freaking proud, I can't even explain it!!! I can do anything now, or so it would seem!

Nine, I walk 5 to 7 miles every day on my workout..and every day I have been trying to add in a quarter mile to a half mile of that in a jog. But jogging is actually still painful for me. I'm still in the obese category, and I think for at least another 10 pounds or so that jogging is not something I can extend much beyond my 1/4 mile. I am working up to it though. It is so great you can do it for 20 minutes! I know I cant do it yet, but hopefully soon!!

I have had so much fun these past few days, but haven't had any 3FC time at all! I kidnapped our only niece and nephew and took them to the local amusement park. We spent the entire day there two days in a row and I seriously lost 4 pounds over night...and it stuck!! LOL! I lost EIGHT pounds last month and am on track to meet or beat that again! That's pretty good considering I've been averaging a 4 pound loss per month. But best of all was that I COULD spend two full days at the amusement park. At the end of the day, it was the kids who were spent and not me! I am still amazed that the intense heat was no more than mildly annoying.

I hate heat!! It's been crazy hot here too and it wipes out my appetite as well. But this has been the year that I don't mind it nearly as much as I used to, and I dare say I hate the heat as much as any normal person does. The heat no longer stops me from living.

You can still make your goal. You've lost a lot of weight already and maintaining for a month is better than gaining! I know you've been on plan since writing this post, so good work!! Keep it up!

20 minutes?! I remember that day! That is one scary day in the program, the scariest I thought. It comes out of nowhere and the very next workout is actually easier. You can make it now...the hard part's over. I finished the program maybe a month ago and now run 5K at least twice a week and actually ran 4 miles the other day.

Wow, 5-7 miles every day? That's impressive. I try to get in a 3-4 mile walk after dinner every night and pushed it to 5 miles tonight. I feel like it prepares me for life...you know, shopping, festivals, sight seeing, amusement parks, stuff like that. I also think you are working the muscles necessary for running, so you'll get there.

It's so good to see so much activity!! I wanted to share a fabulous recipe that we discovered. It's super easy and totally potluck worthy.

Ingredients: Cucumber, sushi ginger (the pickled kind), salt, pepper

Slice cucumber, drain. Add sushi ginger (we use about 3 ounces per cucumber). Add "juice" from the jar of ginger. Season, if needed.

So good, and very easy. We use the ginger from The Ginger People.

The instructor in my step class must have had steroids for breakfast. It was fast and furious. I feel pretty good about it though. Losing weight has made a big difference in my stamina. It was a 75 minute class this morning and I felt great until about the last 5 minutes. Even then I didn't feel bad, just not energetic. Last night I had an enormous dinner. I certainly do not want to admit what I ate but here is a good diet tip for anyone counting calories-Never drink two glasses of wine before eating at a mexican restaurant. It was good though. I simply must be good from now on! We also went to the movie Date Night at the cheap theater. It was pretty funny. I loved the bit with the car.

fc-I had never heard of sushi ginger. Sounds intriguing.

Eliana-What an incredible month for you. Awesome!

Tornado-Congrats on the weight loss! Thanks for the yummy recipe.

ninepaw-I knew you could do it. Hooray! Running is so rewarding both physically and mentally. Good for you.

Eeeek! I like my scale. Yesterday, 243. Today, 242. I hope it sticks. I needed this after my stuckedness(There's that word again, Rochester!). I'm feeling happy and motivated and yaaay!

Today should be fun. We're going out to float on the American River today, which is always an entertaining afternoon... Especially since we like to start water fights with other people! We did this on the 4th, too. It's one of our favorite summer weekend outings, so... Yay!

Think skinny thoughts!!!

Everyone who has grown tired of reading Rochester's Clothing NSV type posts can just ignore this.

The scale has seriously not been my friend for the past two weeks. 222-224-222-224-222-225-222-224. I don't know if I'm suffering stuckedness or if my scale is broke. But.

Today I had to be somewhere at noon and I was running late to get ready (if you've noticed, I say that a lot ). I grabbed a pair of jeans from the drawer, slipped them on, and ran out the door. When I sat down in my car, I realized that the jeans were snug. And for a moment I was like WTH? Am I really gaining weight?

Then I realized that the jeans I grabbed were a pair I'd bought at a garage sale a few weeks ago, and I couldn't zip or snap them, so I tucked them in the drawer for "someday." They're a size 14!!! Ok, I'm not going to wear them in public again for a bit, because they're not exactly flattering when I sit (muffin top!), but they FIT. Wowza.