My oh my! So many posts while I was gone! I stayed the night at my friend's house yesterday and we dyed our hair blonde. It was awesome.
Gary -- That macaroni and cheese sounded so good.. I think I can eat any kind of mac and cheese no matter how rich. We had pizza the other night too.. sausage and chocolate chip *melts*. Thank you for your prayers (Gary and Marilyn) and I will pray for you guys and your familys as well. It is sad the conditions at some schools..
Brenda. Thanks I try. Haha that's true, it's so nice of you to be concerned of my gym time. LOL well that's awesome about your weightloss and a great job on how much you walked!! Good for you, I know you will do well. Today is my day off from the gym and I want to get back. Well, tomorrow is Monday and my scale has been going nuts so I'm going to weigh myself before the gym.. or maybe when I wake up. Every dial scale I used this week said I stayed the same in weight but the two digital scales at home said I had gained 7 pounds from Monday to Sunday, yet today it said I lost 5 pounds since yesterday.. they are insane!
Sorry that I can't reply to everyone's posts but I must be going to bed.. goodnight all and sleep well!
Just a quick note to check in with you. It's been a very busy weekend. DH and i went to a weekend of curling. (Check out the sport on the internet) It was invented by Canadians and is one of our favorite winter sports - next to hockey. It was a good weekend. We were right behind the boards so we could hear the players interact with each other.
The next two weeks are going to be busy for me. I have a couple of girls on holidays and am starting to do performance reviews also. I'm hoping to survive it. I would appreciate your prayers. Thanks!
Good Monday morning everybody. The cycle continues......
Wilma - Hang in there, you sound very busy at work these next couple of weeks. Performance reviews - fun. Is Curling an outdoor sport. I think I might actually know what it is. Is it a cross between hockey and shuffle board, but with a lot heavier "puck"?
Pixiefalls - Don't forget, so much can affect your weight. I weigh like you do. Probably a little too often and at different times of the day. I almost always weigh less in the morning. However, so much is dictated by activity, medicine, what you eat, what you're wearing........did the dog keep you up last night, what side of the bed did you get up on, is Mars aligned with Jupiter (ha, ha). But, seriously - alot can affect it. You just need to remember that. In the past, I would really be affected by it and get discouraged. I read a great post the other day about weight fluctuations and if I can manage to find it again I'll copy the link. It got into things that I would never have dreamed of.
Gary - what a gorgeous family. Are the kids his/hers. I have 1 and my husband have 3. Nowadays, other that the fact that his look totally different from me, and mine looks different from him, no one would guess we were a blended family. We have grown pretty close. That has a little to do with the fact that their mother and DD's father are not around at all. Honestly, I think it is much better that way. If something happened to my husband and she tried to get them back, she would be going down fast, because, I wouldn't let her. Grrrrrrr.
Keeping the Faith - I have a pedometer, but don't always use it. Mainly because I am always misplacing it. It helps to monitor increases in steps and setting goals. I found that most are not 100% accurate, but if you get a good one it will definately be close and at least consistant. I want to take my kids soon to see Chronicles of Narnia too. I guess I better hurry. Speaking of movies, for all of you history buffs, Henry VIII is really good. I think it is fairly accurate and really gives you insight on him and his wifes. I love history, especially from that time period. I had an excellent professor in college that sparked my interest in old England.
Blondee - Jalapenas! You are brave. Then again, I am a wimp. Must have been that horrible experience I had when I was 4 and I had 2 older brothers that like playing jokes on me. One in particular involved peppers of some sort and I was told they tasted good. Yeah right...........mean ol' brothers.
Diane - His name "EZMONEY" is Gary and I forget peoples names all the time. So I flip flop from real names to screen names all the time. There are quite a few people to keep up with.
Marilyn - Yes, He is awesome. And, I am reminded everyday with miracles all around me. Large and small - healing of an uncle, someone being in the right spot at the right time to help someone else, visiting a neighborhood church for the first time and being welcomed (that was 2 years ago and now we have a close knit family there). He whispers in our ears and guides us all the time. We just need to listen.
Lori - Welcome back, we missed you. Now if we can get some of the others back.
Hello to everyone else. Must run quickly now. Will post more later.
Wow, I go away for a couple of days and there are so many posts to catch up on! It's such a blessing that this is such an active board. All of you are wonderful!
Well, what's been going on with me? DH and I celebrated our one year anniversary yesterday!!! Poor DH was feeling a bit under the weather, but we still dressed up, went out to eat, and did the cake bit. I can't believe how this year has flown by and how much has happened since our wedding!
This week, busy as usual! I don't think I'm going to be able to slow down until July! And then it won't be for long. I filled out a whole bunch of applications for law school this weekend, bringing the total up to 6. I only have 3 (ish) more to submit, depending on which schools I decide to go for and which ones I decide to set aside. I am feeling a lot of anxiety about waiting for the schools' answers, but I just have to hope and pray that God has a great plan for me.
Oh - and I found out another one of my friends is having a baby! A boy in May. So excited for her - she's been wanting this for a while.
So have a great Monday everyone! It's so great to "see" all of you again after a few days away!
Marilyn ~ Wow, what a story with everything that's happened in your family. I admire you for keeping such strong faith through all of your struggles. Also, congratulations on all the progress you've made in the last few weeks! Definitely something to be proud of!
Gary ~ Great pictures of you and your wife! I hope you enjoyed celebrating her birthday together!
Beth ~ Glad to hear that your DD is feeling better and that Mike's wife is having some time to rest and get better. That's wonderful that you have your reunion coming up soon - I'm sure you're going to look great!
Sue ~ It sounds like you had a fun, busy holiday season! The Pictionary would have been right up my alley - one of DH's and my favorite board games! Your niece is absolutely precious!
KeepingTheFaith ~ Yay, I'm so happy that your nephew is on the way home!
Mel ~ Violence in schools is definitely one of those awful things a lot of us are facing. Very scary stuff. And to think that these are just kids.
Lori ~ Hi! Glad to hear that you're doing well!
Pixiefalls ~ How exciting! Being a blonde is a lot of fun!
Wilma ~ Good luck with all the performance reviews coming up.
Monday Night and NO football ...what's a guy to do?
It is in the high 70's here today Ya would never know it was almost the middle of Janruary
Going to make a taco casserole for dinner ~~ probably a little too hot for that but I took all the stuff out of the freezer this morning.
CHRISTINA~Happy #1! Good luck on the applications. My step-d is sending them out for college now, she really wants to go to colleges in New York state so she is applying pretty much there. We did have a great time celebrating my wife's birthday ~~ I left her alone and watched football all day, that's good....right?
BETH~ Thanks. The kids from left to right ~~ Ron is my nephew, he is 15 yrs. old and has lived with us for 4 years, his dad~~my brother~~ passed away and his mom isn't able to take care of him. My other brother is raising Ron's sister (10), the 6' 4" "kid" next to him is Ryan, my 24 yr. old son ~~ then me and Angie ~~ Amanda, my 22 yr. old daughter ~~ Lara, my 18 yr. old step-daughter. I am glad your family has blended well together! We do pretty good as a unit ourselves.
WILMA~ WOW! Curling~~ A sport? WOW!! My ex-wife would be great at it!! All those years she curled Amanda's hair for her dance shows! Hey it gives the women something to watch while the guys watch hockey right? Is the broom for "cleaning" the hair before curling? ...NO! Gary, you are
NOT funny!!
HILARY~ Sausage and "chocolate chip" pizza? Must be a teen-ager thingDON'T WORRY WHAT THE SCALE SAYS!! THROW IT OUT FOR A YEAR~~You are young, you don't need to worry about what you weigh~~ YOU DO need to worry about your LIFE!! Forget the scale~~ FOCUS on the lifestyle change. You are not going to lose every week HOWEVER You can do something GOOD for yourself EVERY DAY!! to change your life. Chuck the scale ~~ weigh yourself NEXT YEAR at this time! WHY? lose your focus ~~ WHY? worry about the numbers on the scale? WHEN you CAN be concentrating on your next HEALTHY meal plan, your next Super Work-out...and that next cute guy Tell you what, you throw out the scale, eat healthier this year and work-out 5-6 days a week and I will buy you a new scale next year for OK? I promise!! You can ask AUNT SUE (doitforme) and LORI if I say I'm gonna send you something, I will
KEEPING THE FAITH Great work on walking your shepherd, cute name, Angie gives our two golden retreivers ~~ Reba (who looks exactly like the golden in my signature) and Rylee a pretty good 2-3 mile walk several times a week. Angie and I used to use the pedometer, they are cool for seeing your distance, the goods ones are pretty accurate.
Thanks a lot Gary! You made my day. I really didn't mean to insult any of you who may know what curling actually is. It's just a sport that's unique to Canada. I am impressed that you know that a broom is involved.
For those of you who want to know more watch us Canadians kick butt at the winter Olympics. I watched our Olympic team play this weekend and I think they have a chance.
Nice workout today.. not bad eating (though I did have a little mac and cheese.. I had too!)
Beth, you know you are right! I shouldn't worry about it so much but bah.. I've been overweight so long I just want it off. I'm glad you reminded me. I hope you can find the post too hehe
Gary, haha guess but you should at least try a slice of chocolate chip.. it's the best "cheat" food anyone could have. You really are right.. I should not worry about it.. I should concentrate on how to make my eating habits better.. because I'm so bad at it. That's true too.. I have been putting the scale over other things in my life.. I should give it a little break! I like the way you put that. I guess I have the rest of my life to keep the scale.. I'll keep it at bay right now. That's really nice of you, but of course you don't have to.
Christina, Are you a natural blonde? I was born blonde but it grew darker over the years and I'm so happy to be blonde again.
Sparrow, welcome here.. it's great to see so many people! Tell us about yourself.
I love everyone here, you all are so much of a blessing to me<3
Why The Scale Lies
by Renee Cloe,
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
We’ve been told over an over again that daily weighing is unnecessary, yet many of us can’t resist peeking at that number every morning. If you just can’t bring yourself to toss the scale in the trash, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the factors that influence it’s readings. From water retention to glycogen storage and changes in lean body mass, daily weight fluctuations are normal. They are not indicators of your success or failure. Once you understand how these mechanisms work, you can free yourself from the daily battle with the bathroom scale.
Water makes up about 60% of total body mass. Normal fluctuations in the body’s water content can send scale-watchers into a tailspin if they don’t understand what’s happening. Two factors influencing water retention are water consumption and salt intake. Strange as it sounds, the less water you drink, the more of it your body retains. If you are even slightly dehydrated your body will hang onto it’s water supplies with a vengeance, possibly causing the number on the scale to inch upward. The solution is to drink plenty of water.
Excess salt (sodium) can also play a big role in water retention. A single teaspoon of salt contains over 2,000 mg of sodium. Generally, we should only eat between 1,000 and 3,000 mg of sodium a day, so it’s easy to go overboard. Sodium is a sneaky substance. You would expect it to be most highly concentrated in salty chips, nuts, and crackers. However, a food doesn’t have to taste salty to be loaded with sodium. A half cup of instant pudding actually contains nearly four times as much sodium as an ounce of salted nuts, 460 mg in the pudding versus 123 mg in the nuts. The more highly processed a food is, the more likely it is to have a high sodium content. That’s why, when it comes to eating, it’s wise to stick mainly to the basics: fruits, vegetables, lean meat, beans, and whole grains. Be sure to read the labels on canned foods, boxed mixes, and frozen dinners.
Women may also retain several pounds of water prior to menstruation. This is very common and the weight will likely disappear as quickly as it arrives. Pre-menstrual water-weight gain can be minimized by drinking plenty of water, maintaining an exercise program, and keeping high-sodium processed foods to a minimum.
Another factor that can influence the scale is glycogen. Think of glycogen as a fuel tank full of stored carbohydrate. Some glycogen is stored in the liver and some is stored the muscles themselves. This energy reserve weighs more than a pound and it’s packaged with 3-4 pounds of water when it’s stored. Your glycogen supply will shrink during the day if you fail to take in enough carbohydrates. As the glycogen supply shrinks you will experience a small imperceptible increase in appetite and your body will restore this fuel reserve along with it’s associated water. It’s normal to experience glycogen and water weight shifts of up to 2 pounds per day even with no changes in your calorie intake or activity level. These fluctuations have nothing to do with fat loss, although they can make for some unnecessarily dramatic weigh-ins if you’re prone to obsessing over the number on the scale.
Otherwise rational people also tend to forget about the actual weight of the food they eat. For this reason, it’s wise to weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you’ve had anything to eat or drink. Swallowing a bunch of food before you step on the scale is no different than putting a bunch of rocks in your pocket. The 5 pounds that you gain right after a huge dinner is not fat. It’s the actual weight of everything you’ve had to eat and drink. The added weight of the meal will be gone several hours later when you’ve finished digesting it.
Exercise physiologists tell us that in order to store one pound of fat, you need to eat 3,500 calories more than your body is able to burn. In other words, to actually store the above dinner as 5 pounds of fat, it would have to contain a whopping 17,500 calories. This is not likely, in fact it’s not humanly possible. So when the scale goes up 3 or 4 pounds overnight, rest easy, it’s likely to be water, glycogen, and the weight of your dinner. Keep in mind that the 3,500 calorie rule works in reverse also. In order to lose one pound of fat you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in. Generally, it’s only possible to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week. When you follow a very low calorie diet that causes your weight to drop 10 pounds in 7 days, it’s physically impossible for all of that to be fat. What you’re really losing is water, glycogen, and muscle.
This brings us to the scale’s sneakiest attribute. It doesn’t just weigh fat. It weighs muscle, bone, water, internal organs and all. When you lose "weight," that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve lost fat. In fact, the scale has no way of telling you what you’ve lost (or gained). Losing muscle is nothing to celebrate. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. The more muscle you have the more calories your body burns, even when you’re just sitting around. That’s one reason why a fit, active person is able to eat considerably more food than the dieter who is unwittingly destroying muscle tissue.
Robin Landis, author of "Body Fueling," compares fat and muscles to feathers and gold. One pound of fat is like a big fluffy, lumpy bunch of feathers, and one pound of muscle is small and valuable like a piece of gold. Obviously, you want to lose the dumpy, bulky feathers and keep the sleek beautiful gold. The problem with the scale is that it doesn’t differentiate between the two. It can’t tell you how much of your total body weight is lean tissue and how much is fat. There are several other measuring techniques that can accomplish this, although they vary in convenience, accuracy, and cost. Skin-fold calipers pinch and measure fat folds at various locations on the body, hydrostatic (or underwater) weighing involves exhaling all of the air from your lungs before being lowered into a tank of water, and bioelectrical impedance measures the degree to which your body fat impedes a mild electrical current.
If the thought of being pinched, dunked, or gently zapped just doesn’t appeal to you, don’t worry. The best measurement tool of all turns out to be your very own eyes. How do you look? How do you feel? How do your clothes fit? Are your rings looser? Do your muscles feel firmer? These are the true measurements of success. If you are exercising and eating right, don’t be discouraged by a small gain on the scale. Fluctuations are perfectly normal. Expect them to happen and take them in stride. It’s a matter of mind over scale.
Gary..thanks for the warning but it won't stick! LOL! I add HOT salsa to my chicken soup even! I'll put the "fire" in my next bowl of chili and spread it out a bit! I have chili and chicken soup in the freezer from my last cooking episodes. I'd done a salmon potato strata that I wasn' crazy about....I found myself diggin' the taters out and that's a no-no! So it sorta went bye bye in the trash. Mac N' Cheese.....I'd done some up for the church dinner back in November.....went to work, came home to heat it and run. That stuff had set up like cement! Yikes! I was embarrased to take it so didn't go, tho I could have and just not taken anything? Anyhoo...I ate on that pile for like 5 days?
Oh you ARE funny! LOL! The Curling comments....I was thinking that big iron ball they toss...is that "hurling".....what is it?
Hilary! I too am a natural blonde and since I haven't colored my hair in over a year it's grown out a lot darker! My Mom actually argued with me, that it was NOT my natural color! LOL! That was TOO funny! I have one streak that stayed light....which is the only streak that matches my add on piece...so I am thinking of coloring, just to be able to wear it! I need all the help I can get, doing my Donald Trump comb over doesn't work every day!
Thanks for the kudos!! Hey, I saw 232 yesterday before my popcorn blitz last night! I just THOUGHT I could eat popcorn and watch TV......as the song says "one thing leads to another, be it good or be it bad"......well needless to say last night was NOT purty ya'll. I woke up repentant and back on track tho.
Beth...I have one brother.....who is still a brat at times, at 52.....I uhh....forgot, we just had a BD and I am 53......oops. I was 35 for 15 years so it's hard to keep up with. He was a good little brother and pretty much let me rule the roost until he got his growth spurt at 13 and was 8 inches taller than me....made him mean! LOL!
Peppers: My second hubby..the good guy.....loved Mexican food and would torment us (me and his 2 kids) by hand chopping a pound of peppers to make homemade salsa...while we were STARVING....dinner was at 9:00 PM some nights when it was his turn to cook! So, I developed a love for 'em......tho like other things we love, it can bite ya when ya least expect it! He was a good cook too, and I miss that! We'd trade weeks cooking and did that throughout our relationship. He's now on his 3rd divorce....a bad one, who didn't just pack up and boogy like I did. She wanted his hide and half his assets. She'd like to see him homeless and begging. Oh well.......life is full of meaness....but God's goodness far outweighs it.
Welcome Sparrow!! Woohoo! a new member of our fabulous crew. Come in often and jump in anywhere!
Christina......Congrats on your one year anniversary...hope DH feels better quickly too!
Keepingthefaith.....I use a pedometer and am on my third one. I got mine at Target for $13.00 and find it's an incentive to move more!! If I like 30 steps being at a "round" number for the day I'll walk in place to get 'em! haha!
I am NOWHERE near the 10,000 daily but I'm over half-way there some days. I keep my daily charts and do a weekly average. I was getting a LOT more steps in, when I was going out dancing. Great exercise! I quit going when I got so sick and lost more hearing. What I have left is too precious to risk! I can still dance around my place by myself, it's just not the same.
I'm off today....HOORAY! I need to get cracking on my TO do list. I am doing a GOOD job, de-cluttering.....I cleaned out 2 drawers at the office on Sunday and have a trash bag full of my personal junk in the truck to go thru and clear out. In handling ONE box at a time I WILL finish!
Be blessed today.......know that thoughts of, mean prayers for...each of you. Take good care of you and yours!
Bren
I'm so excited to be able to post a 2 lb loss i told my family but they weren't impressed since i've done it before....a little bit of a downer...but it kept me from having a doughnut at school today....the only problem is i can't figure out how to move my tracker thingy!!! can somebody help?
Hi everyone! Thanks to all of you who offered your happy anniversary wishes! It's been a strrrrrrrrrrrrrrrressssful few weeks for me, so it was nice to take a little time out to relax and reflect. Today I turned in the last of my eight law school applications so now it's WAITING. Ughhhh. I hate that part.
I think my scores and grades are GENERALLY pretty good. Although I do have a failed attempt at grad school (two gruelling semesters in an economics program that did NOT turn out well at all! ) that concerns me. Praying that it doesn't come back to bite me since it was a million years ago (OK, five) and my history before and after my "Lost Year", as I like to call it, is practically flawless.
Gary ~ So watching football makes for a good birthday, eh? I guess it depends who you ask Good luck to your step-daughter on her apps!
Sparrow ~ A big to you! This is a wonderful place to talk and get support. I hope you like it here!
Pixie ~ Like you, I was blonde (almost white blonde) until middle school and then it turned into mousey dishwater brown. Yucccccccckkk! So I died it starting in high school. Now, the main color is natural, but I still do blonde highlights. Fun!
Beth ~ What a useful article! Thanks for sharing with us!
Bren ~ DH is feeling a lot better, thankfully. It was just something he ate so the sickness was temporary (but agonizing at the time)!
KeepingTheFaith ~ Hi! I forgot to offer my insight on the whole pedometer thing last time I posted. I bought one at Target for $8.99 and I love it! It's not 100% accurate (it appeared to record something like 95/100 of my steps on average), particularly on soft surfaces, but it's pretty reliable for $8.99. When I first got it, I tried to wear it pretty much everywhere, and it was incredible how those steps around parking lots and grocery stores added up. Good luck! Oh, and on the tracker thing, I think there is a way to update them by changing the numbers in the code, but I don't know what it is. I just keep making new ones so I can have pretty new colors and pictures (that's the girly girl side of me).
Anyone I've missed, I hope you're having a wonderful week! Hugs to everyone!
Hi Everyone! I am new here, but I love it all. My name is Lisa I started a mix between weight watchers and healthy exchanges on Jan. 1. I have lost 4 pounds. I have started a group at my church I have had 11 come so far, they all excited about it. I am hoping that I can do a good job and get them involved in all of it. If any of you have any help ideas, menus, great recipes, just let me know. Thanks!!
. It was awesome
.
. We had pizza the other night too.. sausage and chocolate chip *melts*. Thank you for your prayers (Gary and Marilyn) and I will pray for you guys and your familys as well. It is sad the conditions at some schools..
.. they are insane!
It's so great to "see" all of you again after a few days away!
...what's a guy to do? 
Ya would never know it was almost the middle of Janruary 
Good luck on the applications. My step-d is sending them out for college now, she really wants to go to colleges in New York state so she is applying pretty much there. We did have a great time celebrating my wife's birthday ~~ I left her alone and watched football all day, that's good....right? 
...NO! Gary, you are 
cute guy
OK? I promise!! You can ask AUNT SUE (doitforme) and LORI if I say I'm gonna send you something, I will 
. I'm glad you reminded me
. I hope you can find the post too hehe
wishes! It's been a 
strrrrrrrrrrrrrrrressssful few weeks for me, so it was nice to take a little time out to relax and reflect. Today I turned in the last of my eight law school applications 
so now it's WAITING. Ughhhh. I hate that part. 
) that concerns me. Praying that it doesn't come back to bite me since it was a million years ago (OK, five) and my history before and after my "Lost Year", as I like to call it, is practically flawless. 
to you! This is a wonderful place to talk and get support. I hope you like it here!
Hello
I am new here, but I love it all. My name is Lisa I started a mix between weight watchers and healthy exchanges on Jan. 1. I have lost 4 pounds. I have started a group at my church I have had 11 come so far, they all excited about it. I am hoping that I can do a good job and get them involved in all of it. If any of you have any help ideas, menus, great recipes, just let me know. Thanks!!
