Hi ladies-

I had a wonderful mini vacation. The only bad thing was how "mini" it was. Alas, back to the real world, and back to dieting with a vengance. I've been to lax at the maintaining game and now am depressed with the resulting gain. I'm hopeful that my brain stays focused enough to help me get back on track.

I'm sorry to hear about everyones stress and bad troubles. I wish I had some great words of encouragement but I dont. Just know that we are all thinking about each other and we're here to listen if we're needed.

I'm just here for a quick post and to wish everyone a great day. Good luck sticking to your program today whatever it may be.

[I]Hello All!

It sounds like all of us are dealing with stresses and frustrations at the same time! Life is like that.....good thing that we are all amazingly strong women!

Julie.....It is sooooo good to see you post again! Sounds like your job has been stretching you to the limit! The pics of Max are so adorable! We have a red & white siberian too......several years older, of course......with blue eyes!

Elisha.....Thanks for stopping by.....was beginning to get worried about your not posting! Do what you can to get thru the stress.....and remember eating healthy and exercising is the best stress antidote!

Chic......I am still LOL about your plan to make your DH more supportive. You go girl!

ArtsyGirl......Glad you had a good mini vacation! Maintaining your weight goal is as difficult (I have heard) as getting to the goal in the first place. We all have to realize that this isn't just a journey of a few months, but a lifelong commitment!

I worked all day and then DH called to say they had admitted my MIL to the hospital, so I detoured over to see her. She had taken a nasty fall......her blood pressure was quite high, she was confused, and there is a slight droop on one side of her mouth......yep, I am thinking she had a little stroke. I'm not sure how I feel about this......she is 90 years old and had a stroke 6 years ago. She lived 2 years with us and 4 now in assisted living.....all the while with declining health. She is so unhappy and not feeling well most of the time......hard to know what to pray for, other than 'thy will be done'.

Mrs RD-You and your family are in my prayers. I know how hard such parts of life are (I have to play yet another funeral on Monday!) "Thy will be done"...isn't that one of the hardest things to accept in life. I struggle with that one daily. Good luck.

Happy Saturday!

Artsy......TY for your kind words. MIL was kept overnight at the hospital, they did xrays, ran tests.....couldn't find anything wrong. (I still think mini stroke which they can't do anything about anyway) They transported her back to her assisted living.....where she is doing well, eating good, socializing.

We had friends over for dinner Friday.....haven't done that in a long time. I tried to keep the dinner healthy......grilled steaks, baked potaotes, salad w/fresh cukes & tomatoes, steamed string beans & carrots. We did indulge with some angelfood cake and fresh strawberries for dessert......mmmmm. Saturday was a picnic at my Mom's assisted living home......they had roast pig and 4 differrent salads, a veggie tray, baked beans and fresh melon, with root beer floats for dessert. Sheesh, I have eaten well this weekend!

I had to go for some groceries this afternoon.......and the candy in the checkout lane looked soooo yummy, and I had been soooo good recently, and, after spending 2 hours w/Mom I was overdue for a stress binge! Suddenly this little voice in my head said "What do you want? Do you want candy or do you want to see the scale go down?" Yikes! Is that what they call an epiphany? I never touched the candy and was thru the lane like a shot......I think I have a new mantra!

Morning chickies!

This has to be short, but I am back to stay, so hopefully one day this week I'll get to write something more profound.

After two weeks of being disgusted with myself, I've finally had it. I've got less than 11 weeks until my wedding, and the scale has been going in the wrong direction. That stops right now!

This weekend was bad... I did get in some exercise, and water levels were pretty good, but food was horrendous. Today food, water, and exercise will all be OP!

Yes, I've been stressed, but you know what? Stress is part of life, and it's not going to go away. I can't wait until all my stress is gone before I get healthy, because that's never going to happen. This is exactly the type of thing that I need to learn to handle better.

And I can. I just have to set my mind to it and do it.

So here I go. Let's get healthy!
~Elisha

Originally Posted by miss_elisha:
Yes, I've been stressed, but you know what? Stress is part of life, and it's not going to go away. I can't wait until all my stress is gone before I get healthy, because that's never going to happen. This is exactly the type of thing that I need to learn to handle better.

~Elisha

Thank you!!!! I think I needed to read that more than anything else. I also have a terrible time with dealing things (especially my eating habits) on stressful occasions, and so often I let it slide, but I need to crack down and get rid of this. We can do this!!!!!

Morning chicks!

So I've got a new mini-challenge idea. I've been seeing chicks all over the forum and the journals doing 21-day challenges.

21 days is a bit too long for me at this point. So I'm toning it down to 7 days.
That means 7 days completely on plan.
7 days of drinking 100 oz. of water
7 days of eating less than 1500 calories
7 days of cardio

My 7-Day Challenge is going to work the same way the 21-Day Challenges work: you must be on track for 7 consecutive days. If you miss a day, you have to start over, so this is, in a sense, a running challenge.

So here I go.

Who's with me?

~Elisha

Morning chickies!

Well, Day 1 of my 7-Day Challenge went well. I didn't really feel like doing much of anything last night, but I did anyway! I stayed on plan with food, and I got in 30 minutes on the bike. Yay!

Today promises to be another busy day for me, but I've got healthy food packed for my lunch and snacks, so I should be fine. I will exercise again tonight, most likely the bike as my knee has been a little touchy lately and I don't think it could handle the elliptical.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, we finally got my elliptical to our house. Haven't gotten the weight machine yet though, as we're waiting until we find the instructions so we'll have some chance of getting it back together again! :lol:

Anyway, busy busy, gotta jet.

Have a lovely day!
~Elisha

Morning chicks! Chicks? Hellooooo? Anybody out there?

As for me and my 7-Day Challenge, I've got 2 down and only 5 more to go. Day 3 is off too a good start. Of course, another 3-4 hours of sleep would have done me good, but ah, well, such is life.

You'll never guess what I found at the grocery store the other day: low-fat avocados. First off, they're still bright green, even though they're soft and ripe. And the sticker says that they contain something like 30% fewer calories and 50% less fat (or maybe I have that backwards). I just thought it was odd. The things they can do with genetics these days, huh?

So yesterday was decent. I spent another 30 minutes on the bike and water and food were both decent. Today's food will be even better. Now, if I could just get a nap I'd be all set.

Unfortunately, I have things due before noon, so I'd better get moving. Have a great day, chicks!

~Elisha

hello ladies..
i havent had an ounce of extra time to jump on and see how everyone is doing... from what i've been able to read, life is getting pretty crazy for some of you... chin up chickies, hang in there!!... hope everyone has a fabulous week.. i'll pop in as much as i can.

[I]Hello all!

I really have been bad about checking in.....I do come in and read the forums and honestly don't have anything to add. I think we are all suffering from the end of the month doldrums.....this month has not been terribly successful, so we think we can wait around until Aug 1 to start all over? (sigh) I thought eating healthy in the summer was going to be so much easier.....fresh fruits & veggies everywhere, fresh air, more opportunities for exercise. Living healthy seems to take as much effort - no matter what the season!

Tye.....Thanks for checking in! Good job on the 3 pounds lost.....I love success stories!

Elisha.....You nailed it this time, chickie: "I can't wait till my stress is gone before I get healthy". Wow! Talk about a wake up call! I am forever procrastinating when it comes to dieting......I will start Monday.....or the first of the month......or as soon as things settle down at work......or when I have less stress in my life! The best time to start living healthy is NOW!

Brandy.....We all need to hear some tough words to keep us motivated! I know we can do this.....isn't it great to know all our chickies are here for us when we need them?

Saturday is the Farmers Market in a nearby town......so I will go and try to load up on all the healthy veggies and fruits. I didn't put a veggie garden in this year, so I am really missing the convenience of walking out my door and gathering super fresh vegetables! Blueberries and raspberries should be ripe now too.....maybe I will get extra to put in the freezer!

Hi gals-I've been super busy lately and seem not to have time or energy to post so much. I'm sure it'll pass because I need all of your support and kindness. Right now I am on a much needed break from working in the incredible heat and humidity of the garden. I keep getting more and more frustrated so I'm taking a short break to try and regain my control.

elisha-great job on your 7 day challenge. I'm glad you found some of that there "motivation" that i've been lacking lately.

Mrs. RD-I do hope you found lots of yummy healthy treats at the market.

tye-good to see a post from you. I hope all our lives settle down a little here soon.

Have a great day!

Morning chickies! (For a few more minutes anyway!)

Life is getting in the way of my posting again, and will for the next few days. Tomorrow morning I'm leaving on another business trip, so I won't be able to check in again until at least Sunday or Monday.

Also, I got the chance to work with an editor *free of charge* so I've been working on my book pretty much every second I can.

AND (and this is the really exciting piece) I may actually have a real, honest-to-goodness freelance fiction editing job! And entire freaking NOVEL! I'm so excited!

So if you don't hear from me so much over the coming week or so, that's why. I'll try to pop in when I can, but I'm not making any promises.

I hope you're all doing wonderfully, and I will be back when I can!
~Elisha

Here I am...
 

another long lost soul!! Actually I have been so busy lately, that this has been the last place on my mind...sorry chickies! Life has gotten way out of hand, but the good news is...I am losing weight again, finally! I don't want to jinx myself, but I'm actually down 7 lbs since I joined WW in May. That may not seem like much to many, but to me (and 3 of them this week) it's HUGE!!!

I'm not sure what I'm doing differently, but I'm glad it's working. One thing is that I just don't eat as much in this heat! OMG...it is sooo HOT here! We Midwesterners aren't used to this kind of heat and it's scorching us! All my flowers and plants are dying! They aren't used to it either!

OK...so just wanted to say HI to everyone and hope that August is good to all of us!

Hugs

OK, so it seems we've all fallen by the wayside.

Where is everyone?