SusanB -- :coach: Here ya go :kickbutt: -- you can count on me to be honest :D

Dana -- Don't be intimidated by the gym... We all had to start somewhere...People ARE really nice and helpful for the most part... even the big guys who grunt are real teddy bears... Good luck!

Hickerchick -- Definitely some exercise is better than none and keep having fun with your DD... If you think toddlers are exhausting, try teenagers :faint: you'll have sleepless nights for other reasons :rolleyes:... Enjoy them now, I know I'd heard this a million times when the kids were young, and didn't listen to the advise very well, now I wish I were back there... I'd also be younger so that would be nice :lol:

Whittlin -- Do I consider myself a good cook? Not bad actually, but not a fancy one... I don't do deserts anymore though because I eat them so I haven't made regular deserts like cookies or muffins in about 5-6 years .... But I do love to experiement with soups, BBQ recipes for salmon, vegetables and chicken... But it's gotta be easy, low fat and have ingredients that I will use regularly...

No exercise today :shrug: no special reason just lazy and I worked all day, I'm not used to that ... food was, calorie wise, good but not that clean :shrug: ...

I'm tired :yawn: and I'm going to bed :wave:

I'm recovering today - no exercise, but I should go for a gentle walk to get some of this lactic acid out of my muscles. I'm really sore from the gym last night, I used bigger weights than usual. I've lost a few more centimetres, and the scale has gone down again which is great!

I consider myself a good cook, and people tell me they love eating my food. My hubby is an awesome cook too (we used to fight about who got to do the cooking when we first got married). I really love cooking.

I need to update my ticker for exercise minutes. I find the tickers really inspirational, and knowing that I should be updating mine often really keeps me in check - is anyone else the same?

I consider myself to be a good cook in training :p I had such a nice time in Calgary...I miss my friends and family so much, but it made my birthday that much more special. You have all been busy (chatting and exercising and cooking and planning...) while I've been away, good on you! I ate terribly all weekend. Really, it was wretched...But you only turn 18 once. It wasn't the portions that killed me, it was the type of food...meals out...cake etc. Oh well. I have a good day today. And I got Cardio Pilates DVDs for my birthday! Woot woot! :D

SUSAN! YOU WANT MUSCLE? YOU'LL HAVE TO HUSTLE! ;)

:coach: SUSANB - get off your lazy behind and do some WALKING! Get out your dumbbells, run some stairs with a pack! I'm watching you :mag:

Right I'm going to do assisted dips and assisted pull-ups today at the gym and then whatever's left out of my hour doing HIIT on the treadmill. What are YOU going to do? And moaning doesn't count as cardio ;)

For brekky I had a protein shake with wwtoast with organic honey, for a snack I've got protein pancakes, lunch is turkey on one slice of bread, snack is ff greek yoghurt with oats, cranberries and pecans. Dinner is yet to be decided. What's your plan?

Yesterday was good for me - I got all my super-heavy squats in, 10 sets of 3 and my legs were nicely shaking at the end. I also did calf raises and some dreadmill work (6mins! :lol: ) There's a chart at the gym where you cross off squares for calorie burn. I started yesterday and logged the calories from Monday and yesterday and already I'm pretty much in near the front of the pack! :lol: I guess that's what kickboxing does for a person! :D

Hey everyone,
Not had much of a chance to come on here recently, been very busy at work! I'm sticking to this at the moment, averaging about 1300 calories a day I think (hard to get it exact and don't have time to calculate everything). :D

My normal daily food intake would be 1 'serving' (45g with 100ml of skimmed milk) of shredded wheat bitesize with a sprinkling of dried apricot) for breakfast. 90g (when uncooked) wholemeal pasta with half a tin of tuna, chopped spring onions/peppers/cucumber and a tspn of extra light mayo. Then dinner would be some kind of meat or fish, with 2 portions of veg. I do all my cooking (including lunches which i take to work) so can control what goes into it - which helps. I also take 3 or 4 pieces of fruit to work, a ryvita goodness bar (these are great!! :D only 62 cals, no added sugar, 5g of fibre per bar), and a muller light yoghurt, to snack on during the day. I also have a tub of The food doctors original seed mix on my desk which I snack on if I get hungry, as they're yummy! :) (I tend to snack more if I'm having a particularily boring day)

Which brings me to Whittlin's point - I think I am a fairly good cook! I used to be rubbish, but now I cook every night and am really getting the hang of it, I'm very adventurous with what I cook. :)

As for my weight at the moment, as of this morning I was 147.2lb! :carrot: I still hope to be at 145 by Valentines day, but I won't hold my breath. :) I've lost 7lb in a week and a half, which seems pretty excessive but I think a lot of it was just my body getting rid of all the unhealthy food I'd previously stuffed into it. :D

My calories came in at 1285 yesterday! And then I had a glass of wine......and today I have a headache to show for it. Dumb me. Didn't feel like exercising this morning.

Looks like my eating will be spot on again today (and I won't do the wine--I don't need the headache). B~raisin bran, S~apple, L~lean cuisine panini, S~???, D~leftover pork tenderloin roast with broccoli and brown rice.

I'm off to do my puppet show this morning.

Puppet show? Who else is curious about that?

Hi Guys….sorry I haven’t checked in for a while. I really have been super busy! I went to the Wine and Seafood Show on Friday, then dancing and drinking with friends late into the night…had a fancy dinner on Saturday for my hubby’s company party, then ate and ate and ate at a Super Bowl Party. Needless to say, I gained 2 pounds:mad:

I did have a moment of motivation, however! My brother is planning the family campout for this summer and found a lake that has two, very busy and fun, swimming areas!! I thought…OMG!!! I need to get swimsuit ready by July!!!!! I’m NOT going to be the fatty at the campout!!!!

I also told my hubby that I will NOT ENTER another fast food restaurant. He likes fast food…often I’ll go along and then end up getting something. That just has to stop!!:devil:

Susan B…you are not old enough to have a 25 y o!! Crazy!

Alinnell…I’m impressed that you walked on game day. All I did was eat!! Oh, and drink Corona Light:P

Thistimeforreal…Good luck with your goal…I’m sure if you keep up the workouts you will feel great on your cruise! Have a blast!

Sodiumlightbaby…Hydroponic tomatoes are $2.98/lb here in the Pacific Northwest. Mmm…I love tomatoes! I also snack on Fuji Apples quite a bit…they are a $1.98/lb. My weight hasn’t budged for a few weeks, either. I let it get me down for a while, but today I thought, “ya know…it’s not supposed to be easy.” Hang in there with me;)

Ilene…you are a workout machine! 7.5K!!! That’s awesome! I have a hard time finding time to workout right now. Then, I get stressed and want to eat to feel better. Today is a new day, though…and I’m going to take care of me in a healthy way!

Hikerchic…Welcome to the site!! I love it too:o

:carrot: :carrot: My goal today is to not eat any pastries when I go to buy a cup of tea. I know that I will be tempted because I will be down in the trendy part of the city and I'll want to stop in at a coffee shop. Finally, I will remember that I CAN reach my goals, that I'm not a loser and that I am a strong, wonderful woman!!:carrot: :carrot:

I wanna hear about a puppet show!!

Man :sssh: That Ali is just one strange gal ;)

SusanB - I musta missed the part about the 25 yo. That's you isn't it? ;) :hug:

I'm off to the cinema in a bit to see Rockeeeeeeeeee :hyper: Dernerneeeeeer dernerNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Denernernenenener Denener dener dener...... Running harder.... Getting Stronger :hyper:

I've also bought an ipod shuffle in GREEN and that will be the first silly running song loaded onto it! Mind you I don't need to load it on an ipod - it's constantly playing on a loop in my head :crazy:

Well I made it on my walk almost before the rain. Came home soaking wet and got my heart rate up nice and good since I took the walk at more of a jog this time (to avoid the rain).

I have a 9 year old too so although I don't know what it is to have sleepless nights from teenagers yet, I do know how fast they grow.

I do appreciate my little buttercup even when she is the LAST person in the house asleep. "one more story mommy"

You all are such a great inspiration.

Whittlin congrats on the 2/3 mark:carrot:

Puppets......

I belong to a charity group and one of the things we do is go to schools and put on a little puppet show for 3rd graders. It is supposed to teach them about kids with disabilities and hopefully will help them to show compassion to someone with a disability. We have puppets that are blind, have autism, have Down syndrome and have cerebral palsy. You can read about them--its called Kids on the Block. Google it. Anyway, I do this every Wednesday morning for about 8 weeks each winter.

I'm back. I'm hungry, but I don't feel like it's right for me to take my lunch break right now!!! Maybe I'll eat my apple to hold me for another hour. Gotta get some work done!

Take a magnifying glass to that pic my friends ... them's wrinkles and grey hair! and bifocals ;)

Speaking of things that'll give you grey hair ... DD 23 went to emerg this morning and is having her gall bladder out tonight! I might be off to play nursey in Hamilton tomorrow for a few days.

Ok ... I think I've got my schtit together a little better than I did last night. Thank you all for the kicks and pokes and prods. Knowing that someone else has faith in me, when mine is slipping, is so encouraging. I really do appreciate it very much. :hug:
Dana ... even when you're not being nice, you're cute as a button!

Ilene ... my tried and true butt kicker. After all these years she probably has one of those horns with my name on it :)

sweet_talker ... I love that saying! Hustle for muscle!

JenFrus ... give Ilene back her horn. Protein shakes ... hmmm ...

Whittlin ... did you know that you can pack away a great deal of greens by having them in a big bowl on the kitchen counter. I'm eating them like chips!

The rest of you (because I have indeed taken up more than my fair share of posting space today) thanks just for being here. It's lovely to pop in and have a nice buncha new posts to read.

Oh but I did want to say Allison ... very admirable! and very cool of you!

Food so far today has been good. Supper is planned. Because of a few brain farts ... I've been uptown three times ... on foot! I've done some abs and shoulders. I've got already cooked chicken and oatmeal in the fridge ... along with a few pounds of salad fixin's. That's much better!

Susan, good wishes on your daughters health.

SusanB~I hope your daughter is all right. Go. Be her nurse. She'll need the help.

Thanks everyone. Her husband is with her at the hospital and his Mom (who's a fabulous lady!). She'll be discharged tomorrow at about noon, so DH is taking me to their house after that. I can feed the poor lad and shovel painkillers into the princess :)

:yikes: That's a bummer, but at least it's out and gone now and hopefully won't give her any more trouble. :hug: Hope everything's ok. Is that Steffy btw? Give her a hug from me :hug:

I'm "working from home" since it's snowing :shocksn: but I love it! I hope it clears so that I can go to kickboxing tonight! :lol3:

I'm going to stay at home and play with my new ipod shuffle :D

Morning! it is Steffy. According to her husband she did very well and was sleeping like a log when he left her last night. DH is working til noon and then is going to take me to their house ... weather permitting ... it's dustin' up pretty badly here this morning. They're closing schools and roads again. So pray for a six or seven hour break in the weather would ya?

Hi
 

:carrot: I'm having toast with blackberry jam, some strawberries and a cup of coffee for breakfast. :carrot:

:carrot: Have a great day everyone!!! It's almost Friday!!:carrot:

:carrot: It is indeed nearly Friday! :D

Susan - it's snowing here too! Not particularly nice but I get the day off work since the roads are very bad :D

I'm doing ok with the eating today since I've had a nice nap over lunch and I've been shopping to get some fruit and veg so I might get some melon for an afternoon snack :T

Sorry guys~the weather here is wonderful. High of 77 predicted. On Monday, we had the highest temp in the nation (85 degrees). We're expecting rain this weekend, though. Too bad for that--this weekend is a huge charity bike ride that I'm helping out with. Usually we have wonderful weather and riders come from miles around. If the weather doesn't hold out, I know a lot of people will bag the ride and the money won't be as good.

Today I started the couch to 5k plan. 30 minutes alternating running and walking. I am so excited because I have a great place here to run...though hills are a challenge.

Thinking warm thoughts or those of you in winter wonderland. Here it is also warmer than usual though more like 50 degrees. Nice spring weather.

Hey girls :wave:

Susan --- Hope things get better in your neck of the woods...weather and health wise ...

This morning I got up and DD was sick so she stayed home so I stayed home and went to the gym later, but I fell asleep on the couch till 10am when the phone woke me...

I went to the gym and worked back and biceps... at 4pm I am running, going to be a chilly one too it's -12c which feels like -21c because of the wind, but I'll dress warmly and just go... I run with the girls tonight... if they can do it so can I ...

Other than that food has been good, life is easy...

Hey all, I missed a day and half and a bunch of posts.

Susan- So sorry to hear about your daughter and I'm glad to hear everything went well. Did you mention Hamiltion? That's my home town.

Well, I did it. I went to the gym and I loved it! It wasn't scary at all. They were all very nice. I worked back and biceps and ran for 4k, I was shocked that I could still do that. I was going to go today, but to be honest, I hurt and need a rest. I also have an exam this morning and need to study. I will go tomorrow. I've been doing really well with eating, and I cheated and weighed myself before Sunday. I lost a pound! Yay! It's been forever. Thanks for the support girls, it's been really helpful.

Reading about all of you guys exercising and eating right has been an inspiration.

Dana

I'm home! She's sooo good! She didn't need me. They did a laparoscopy. 4 little incisions with just steristrips on them. She had solid food (low fat) for lunch yesterday and was fine.
It was full of stones! She didn't even pass the clear fluids test.

Ilene? Is your princess up and about today?

Dana? Yes, Hamilton, down the mountain near Ivor Wynne. Too far from me :(

So I spent most of yesterday in a car drinking Tim Hortons coffee and my stomach feels like it today. Once I get that under control, I have to repair the damage done because it was DS#1's birthday yesterday and we were busy doing other things. Apparently I'm making ribs for supper.

Thanks for asking Susan, YES the :queen: is up and about... It's funny that you call her princess because that's what we call her. She thinks the world revolves around her :rolleyes:... Glad to hear your princess :queen: is better too...

Last night I had a glass of wine with some cashews, I had the worse sleep I've had in ages. I woke up several times, ugh, I hate when that happens. I remembered this morning that the last time I ate cashews or nuts before bed I slept badly too, so no more of that nonsense! I rarely eat before bed too, so that may be why...

Today I'm working all day, I'm at work presently, it will be a long day because there are no kids in school, just meetings and the phone won't be ringing much. So, I guess I'll be surfing 3fc :devil:

Dana -- Good for you for going to the gym.... See, toll ya no one would bite :lol: ... I love going to the gym, it's my second home. I worked back and biceps too yesterday and I am soooooo sore this morning... That may be another reason I had a hard time sleeping... I did some 'negative' pull ups to make me stronger to do the real pull ups...OMG am I feeling them this morning...

Whittlin -- Glad your knee is better and keep up the hard work...

TTFN :wave:

Good morning everyone! Yesterday was a good day--stayed well within my 1200-1400 calorie range and even managed a martini! I'm really staying away from the red wine ever since that headache a couple of days ago. I still don't know why that happened.

Today should go quite well. No lunch with DH because he's going golfing with his dad, our business partner and his father. This afternoon, I'm volunteering with the Tour de Palm Springs--a charity bike ride. I help out with registering the riders. DD will be helping also--then she'll be performing with her jazz band during the spaghetti dinner they hold the night before the ride. Tomorrow I have to be there at 5 AM to help with registration. Ugh, why did I volunteer to be there so early???

Susan~glad to hear your daughter's surgery went well.

Ilene~glad to hear your daughter is feeling better

Dana~congrats on going to the gym!!! I drove past the gym on the way home last night and spied DD's car there--I envy her. I haven't gotten myself a membership.....still thinking about it, though.

Jen~I just read in the newspaper that we are getting a Tesco here. Tell me about the store, please.

Good morning to everyone else!!!

Yeah Tesco is fantastic!

Pretty good food and fairly cheap. We do the bulk of our shopping there, they have some good ranges "Healthy Living" which is most of the Tesco own brand low-fat stuff. "Finest" which is more luxury stuff and very nice. "Value" which is cheap as chips processed to high heavens artery-clogging junk, but ok for bin bags and toilet rolls (well, even the toilet rolls aren't THAT good! :lol: ) and they generally have quite big stores, some over here are open 24 hours and they are trying to monopolise the Supermarket industry! Over here they also do online shopping and are generally the cheapest place to buy CDs, DVDs, paperback books and things like that.

So while I do love Tesco, I tend to go to another supermarket for my fruit and veg since I'm a bit fussy! But they are very good! They even do wholefood stuff, surprising variety of beans, seeds, grains etc.

Thanks, Jen! I'm not sure when they are supposed to open, it was just announced today and those things usually take months to build. But I'll look forward to it.

Dana, So glad you loved your gym experience. Its so great that you can do 4k. Did you used to run? I have never had great endurance for running but, according to this C25K program I should be able to do it within 2 months. I am much more patient in my old age.

Glad all the children are better. Makes life so much easier on the mommies.

Tah Dah Dammit! I finally lost a couple pounds!

Yay, Susan!! WTG!!!

:woohoo::woohoo: way to go Susan :high:

:cheer:

Nice job Susan!

Happy weekend everyone.

Sorry for that short and not so sweet blurt earlier, but I was at work.
I'm pretty happy tho' man that seemed hard. I hovered right around 140 until I thought I'd puke!
What is that magic of going under another 10's number?

Susan- Congrats on the loss!

Hickerchick- Four years ago I used to run on the treadmill at the gym, I was totallly surprised that I could still do it. It took 45 miniutes and it was a slow jog.

Going to the gym again today, I had a moment of weakness last night and ate a few to many almonds and dried mango. But I'm back on track today. I'm actuallly going shopping today with my daughter for shoes. It should be an interesting experience.

Keep up the great work ladies!