Hello! Well, last week did not go well. I gained a pound and did not walk at all. Hopefully this week will be much better since Tina and I joined a fitness center. It will be much nicer than trying to dodge the shoppers at our mall! We usually liked to walk outside but the weather hasn't been cooperating. Usually when I really get into excersising again, I eat really well too. I guess I don't want to undue my hard work with eating the wrong things. Hopefully that will be the case this week!

How is everyone else doing? Hope all is well!

Happy halloween to everyone! Hopefully I won't be eating too much of my kids candy!

Good morning ladies! Okay today is a fresh start for me. I have let myself go for a couple of weeks now and today is the day I am taking control back. I woke up feeling refreshed and energized for the first time in I don't know how long so I am going to run with it. I started my womens One A Day vitamin this morning and Cindy and I joined a health club over the weekend so I am super pumped to start trying new machines and working this body again. I am stocked with good foods and I am back to writing down my food. I just find I do so much better when all these things fall together. I am not going to be a victim of the holiday pudge this year. I just remember after all was said and done last year feeling like a rolie polie and I won't do that again. I want to enjoy my holidays but exercise will be maintained during this season. I just am sick of feeling run down and depressed and I know a lot of it had to do with my eating and lack of exercise. My son celebrated his 3rd birthday on Saturday. I can't believe my baby is 3. It really is true that time flies. I remember being preganant with him like it was yesterday. My kids are super excited about Halloween tommorow. My oldest is going to be a convict, my middle one is going to be a lifesaver candy, and my youngest is going to be Frankenstein. It is such a fun holiday for the little ones. Well I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Let's all try for a great week! Have a good one!

*waves to Vegas and Tina from the Chicago burbs* I know what you mean about the weather not cooperating lately. I wish I could join a fitness center, but it's not in the cards at the moment. Good luck to you both!

I guess I missed updated this tread. Well I am not going to be doing the surrogacy, my husbands test results came back and now we have to deal with his health (there was one he did not pass). We are waiting to get into a specialist. One day I am about to help a couple have a child and then the next we are facing the possibility of loosing the father of mine. Needless to say I have beem under a lot of sress this week. We found out in time for his 33rd b-day.

Candaian mom- I am so sorry to hear about all of that. I hope the specialist has some positive news for you and your husband. It must be so hard to wait to find out what is going on. I'll be thinking of you and your family.

Oh Jen, I am so sorry to hear the news about DH. But what is good is that whatever it is been found early, that has to be positive, so that they can start correcting the situation. Keep us in touch, and keep taking care of yourself!

Stayed home with a bad cold today so studied, slept, studied, slept, and am about to dive in to the studying again. I'm just too old for this discipline....it doesn't come easily, and my brain is leaking from all the information.

LuvVegas, so glad you got through the weekend and the parties and celebrations ok....Tina, so glad you are back and feeling better about things....Angel, what kind of new job did you get?.....Steph, has you DH transferred to the new job yet....maybe it won't be so bad....and will open new opportunities.

I've haven't been awful with my eating, haven't been great either...only one week to go till the test and I can start focusing on exercise and diet again.

Have three possible jobs teaching for the spring...want to see if I can bring them into being, all dealing with older populations and exercise. If I didn't have to worry about health insurance I would quit work now and take retirement....the health insurance issues in this country are the pits.

Have a good week all...may check in depending on my time...am thinking of you all....Jen...am keeping good thoughts flowing in your direction.

Susan

Actualy what my husband tested for he could of had for 22 years we will not know until he gets a biopsy done and that will be only if he does not pass the next test. But something good came out of this surrogacy thing with out ie we would never of know my husband could be sick before it was too late.

Hi all! Are we getting a little discouraged here? or is life overwhelming? Not too much checking in going on.

Studying is going eh! food is under control and exercise is pretty much nonexistent....can't wait until Saturday when the exam is over, I can nap and give myself a good long workout!

Hope you all are doing well.

S.

Good morning ladies! Well trick-or-treating is over now lets just pray I keep my hands out of the kids candy. My kids had a really nice time yesterday and the weather all though cool was dry so that was a blessing. How are you all doing? We all do seem to be in a slump huh? I don't know what the deal is but we have to shake out of it girls!!! I think life in general sometimes gets in the way though. Well I have done pretty good this week with sticking to a pretty decent eating plan and exericse plan. Yesterday there were a few treats but nothing to silly I don't think. Cindy and I went to the health club Monday and really enjoyed it. It was nice to get on some different machines. Tonight I am going to try the elliptical. I have done it once before and it was pretty hard. Well I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Jen I have been thinking about you and your family. I am sending best wishes your way and hopefully everything will work out for you all. Hang in there girl!

Susan good luck with your test! I know you will be glad when it is all over. Keep studying though and you will do fine.

Steph how is the new job going? Hope things are working out for you. Let us know how things are going.

Angel I hope all is well with you and your new job also.

Have a great day ladies!

with the junk I ate yesterday(3 bags of chessies,2 chocolate bars (snack size) and a couple days ago 2 BIG pieces of cake (it was hubby's b-day). and aunt flow started this morning I am still down a pound.

I hope all is well with everyone else

Hello! How is everyone? We made it through another week! I'm down a pound today so I'm back in the 140's(barely). I hope I can keep going in this direction from now on! There's been Halloween get-togethers and my kid's candy is just sitting on the table, three grocery bags of it. That is hard. I'll have to find a spot to stash it away, it's too tempting for me! Tonight my husband and I have a work function to go to. It's a dinner show but it's like you're at a real wedding. It should be fun, but with an italian buffet and an open bar I hope I can hold it steady!

c mom- That's good news about the pound lost! Any more news about your husband?

Susan- Good luck with your test! Hopefully you'll have more time to exercise when that is over. Good for you for keeping the food under control, that's hard to do when you're stressed!

steph and angel- how are the new jobs going?

Tina- see you Sunday, I'm sure I'll need the work out to balance the damage from tonight!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Good morning ladies! Okay well the gym must be working because I lost 2 pounds this week, needless to say I am thrilled. I am back to 137.5 and hoping to be at a totally new number next week. How have things been going for you all? Things have been getting back to normal here. I am starting to feel like my old self again. I did have a minor slip with some Halloween candy and cheese balls yesterday but I am moving on today and this weekend I will be home so good eating all weekend. I really want to keep this ball moving in the right direction. Yesterday was my Mom's birthday so tonight the women in my family are getting together for dinner and gossip. I love when we all get together. It is always a blast and with my Mom being a regular ham we always laugh are butts off. This weekend we are supposed to paint our family room because our new furniture is coming soon. My husband does not seem to thrilled but I want it done before the holidays hit. I also have to take down all the Halloween decorations. I can't believe soon the christmas ones will be going up That is about it for me today! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Susan good luck on your test!

Jen any more news about your husband? I have been thinking about you all.

Steph and Angel I miss you guys how are you both doing? How are the new jobs going? Hope all is well with you both

Has anyone heard from Morgaine? Just wondering how she has been, it's been awhile since we have heard from her.

Well ladies it's Friday we could all use some of that I'm sure with the weekend here. Have a great day and an even better weekend!!!

Today we got my husbands appointment for the specialist. He doesn't go until January so we have to wait until next year to find out what to do next. He goes for his next set of blood test on the 9th and it will take about 2 weeks to get those back.

HELLO!!!.....hello! What a week I've had. My new job is crazy hard on the legs and feet. Its been 5 yrs since I've had a job (I've really enjoyed the SAHM thing) but what an eye opener!!! The ladies that I work with have a term for the high heeled cosmetics girls.....they call them "barbie's" haha.....have no clue how they can wear those 3" high heels. Me? I'm wearing low heeled loafer type with nice comfy soles....THANK GOD!!! and I'm still feeling it. I thought I'd be getting about 20-25 hrs in ladies wear, but my supervisor is scheduling me 32-38 hrs!!! The money is great, but I asked her to shave my hours a bit......I gotta see my boys. I miss them so much.

Then if thats not enough.....my best friend flew in from Canada for 4 days of whirlwind shopping. Yup, shopping!!! The last thing I really wanted to do since I"d been on my feet for 7-9 hours a day.....but we had alot of fun. She even had to buy another suitcase for what she bought!!!!

I missed you guys though.....seems I have no time when I get home and I'm dog dead tired!!!! Hopefully my body will SPRING back.
-Canadian Mom....I'm sorry to hear about DH. Hopefully his tests will come back with more info and like you said, you've caught it early on.
-Tina/Luv Vegas.....wooohooo on joining the fitness club. Tina, WTG on the 2 lb loss!!! My baby is almost 9yo, and I don't know where the time went either!! BACK AWAY FROM THE CANDY!!!
-Artmaker.....Hi Good luck with your exam!!! You can do it!!!

Well all, the test is OVER!!!! And, in spite of being exhausted from not sleeping the last four days before, and feeling totally lightheaded, I got through it thinking, hey, this isn't all that hard! All those formulas and bones and muscles and details I thought were going to be on it weren't, and most of it, except for some tricky wording in places, was common sense and aligned with what I've been doing in my training. So....unless I'm totally off base....I think there's a good possibility that I passed. I won't count my chickens yet....but I'm feeling positive. And today i weighed in at 157, so I only have one pound to get back down, and continue on down.

I vegged out today....relaxed, did food shopping for the week, worked out, and now I'm going to cook and then I hope to do the treadmill for another cardio session. I'm going to try to burn off between 300-500 cals every day with exercise, and stick to a 1,200 cal eating plan....with lots of soups. I think making lots of soup during my studying helped keep the weight under control.

I think this test was so important between I am thinking of it as a cornerstone to the new life I want to lead.....

Tina and LuvVegas, hooray on your weight losses! Angel, so glad you checked in. Smart of you to wear sensible shoes when you are standing so much. Try moving back and forth rather than standing still; less continuous tension on the muscles. Try standing on one foot and flex and extend your other ankle. Try doing some butt squeezes to tighten and relax the glute muscles, and try to get in some ab tucks. No sense not using any standing time to get some isometrics in. Tighten and relax your arms while people aren't looking.

Jen, hope things are going ok. Hope next week's test comes out well for DH.

Well, up to the kitchen I go. Hope you all are having a good weekend.

Susan