WTG on moving to level 3 on your exercise DVD! I also seem to do better if I mix things up.....if I start getting bored with something I'm less likely to do it so that's my main incentive for mixing things up.

Yesterday I did 60 minutes of aqua aerobics and it was a blast! If I get out of work at a decent time today I'll go to a kickboxing class. If not, I'll do 45 minutes on the treadmill instead.

Have you tried doing push ups against a wall? I can't do the floor ones either, but against a wall is no problem.

Kelly, it sounds like you've got a lot going on right now! Sometimes when things are like that it just makes thing worse to put a lot of pressure on yourself. Plan for some small successes and build on them....take it ONE meal at a time.....one workout at a time.....one day at a time....and focus on what you are doing RIGHT! Do something nice for yourself...I know you're getting ready to lose your night job, but it doesn't have to cost anything....a bubblebath, some quiet time reading, a walk in the park, a trip to the library, give yourself a pedicure....whatever will help you relax and make you feel better. :hug:

The class was a blast and 60 minutes of exercising just flew by! Will definitely be going to more of these. :)

I tend to be an emotional eater so I can relate to what you're saying about it being hard to stay on plan during emotional times. A .5 gain should come off very quickly for you.....hang in there!

Sounds like great exercise and a great way to spend some fun time with your daughters! Are you planning to get in the pool with them? I find even just splashing around the pool can be pretty good exercise....can tone up pretty quickly doing that on a regular basis.

Hey Girlies!!! Today I feel GREAT< reallly great! I gave my notice last night at work and my last day will be June 12th. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted, and I am soo excited to hang with my hubby and kids more. I am looking forward to cleaning out my house tonight I need to accomplish both kids rooms tonight and hopefully my clothes. We are having a garage sale this weekend, and I have not even started going through my house. Tonight it is, and I can't wait to go through stuff to get rid of. I only had about 3 hours of sleep last night and still feel super happy and excited today!! I will be able to sleep liek a normal person again! WOO HOO!!!!!!!LOL :)

I'd like to try and do the TO with someone please let me know when you are due, so I can prepare for foods.. I do better with someone at same time. Having turkey burgers and green beans tonight for dinner, Yummy!!

Kennedy: Thanks for the tips I printed and saved in my purse for quick reference!! ;)

Hope everyone is doing well and having an on plan week. I am sure everyone is super busy with summer and life in general . I miss everyones post and hope everyone is on track with weight loss. Post when you can!!!

Happy Thursday
 

Hello Ladies and good morning to you all. I am doing well I hope all of you are too. I am doing pretty good with getting in all my food intake as well close enough to schedule too. It has been raining yesterday and today. My son has a trip to a Science Center which he is very excited about. So excited he has been up since 4:00 am this morning. I wish they gave the school trips during the year but they saved them all for the end. I have been feeling under the weather lately between my cold and sore throat and then getting mosquiti bites early this year. I really need to try to see the doctor so this summer won't be as miserable as the past summers in terms of bug bites. Okay, okay back to LAWL. I am not doing a great job with excercise. I am eating right but have not gotten any excercise for about a week or two. This is something I really have to push myself to do.

Well Ladoes have a great day. I will POP my head in while I am at work. I have a meeting at 3:00 pm which I am not to excited about attending.

Oh yeah I forgot to tell you guys that this morning I tried on a skirt that hasn't fit in about 2 to 3 years and I put it on this morning and it still doesn't fit IT WAS TOOOO BIG. Oooh Laaa, Laaa what a great feeling.

KityKat I sent you a PM

Good Friday Morning to you all. So very glad that today is Friday and the weekend is just hours away. It has been an incedibly hard week at work and makes me dread the coming months. I have vaction in 2 weeks so I have planned some major house repairs and am going to try to fit it some intense exercise. Anyway my plan is to keep moving. We have had an enormous amount of rain lately causing some flodding yesterday. We got about 2-3 inches of rain yesterday alone. Our basement held some water but I would not say flooded. It will dry out in a couple of hours hopefully. In the good news department my herbs and veggies I planted are looking great as well as my flowers they are blooming like crazy but of course so are the weeds so I need to get to pulling. I had a doctors appt yesterday and the scale was the same as on saturday which is dissapointing because I have been exercising like crazy however TOM dropped by this morning so I am hoping that is the reason for no loss, I am not going to count it as my offical weigh in until Satuday, I think there is something to weighing at the same time of day on the same scale..Hope everyone is doing well and has a wonderful weekend.

***I will be doing Take off Monday and Tuesday if anyone wants to join***

Tgif
 

Hello Everyone. I hope everyone had a great week. I have been doing okay getting all my food in not on time as I would like to but I have been getting better. Many people at work have been complimenting me on by progress which is really nice to hear. Also, my coworker gave me a whole lot of gently worn clothes (she is a clothes-a-holic). I was so happy that I fit in all of them. In the batch had a lot of colorful stuff pings, blues, purples, oranges etc... Which is such a wonderful change since everyday I wear black. I am actually trying to get rid of some things in my closet thanks "mommyofsix" I am going to follow your advice. My pretty shape is coming back slowly but surely. I am so used to wearing baggy pants, shirts and jackets I think I should consider donating everything that is big on me and start using some stuff that fits. Believe it or not I am starting to like myself more and I am proud of my accomplishement thus far. I am excited with what lies ahead.

Mommyofsix: I am in for Tuesday and Wednesday TO. I am going to to it your way this time. Will you be doing it with the oranges or the juice?

Kennedy- i am so happy for you. you sound so confident. I am glad your friends clothes fit that way you can save up tobuy even smaller clothes. ditch the baggy stuff go buy some accessories to show off what you got a trendy new scarf, stuff like that...

I had a good week lost 2.4 pounds which is fabulos because TOM dropped by yesterday. I will be doing Takeoff with juice i bought some on ebay and it looks good.

have a great weekend everyone

i ate fresh cherries instead of dairy queen caramel ice cream sundae! :)

and didn't have any pastries when we took the kids out to starbucks for a coffee date this morning! :)

Good job Jillian! I think it's amazing that you can keep it in mind to even make those good decisions with everything u have going on! Congrats!

Good Morning Ladies!
 

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far. I weighed myself today and I am finally in Onderland :carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot: I am so happy. The scale read 196 lbs. I proudly updated my ticker and progress stats. I am going to try real hard to incorporate excercise because I promised myself that I would make myself very active before the summer comes.

Mommyofsix: WOW ... Congratulations on your weightloss you are doing absolutely fantastic. Do you like this new plan that they have you on. The new plan and of course combined with your commitment in staying active is giving you a nice consistant weightloss per week. All I can say is that is so awesome... YOU GO GIRL :carrot:

Also, you are so great in encouraging others thanks so much. Would you believe that it has been so long since I have been stuck at a 22/24 size. Plus I am only 5 foot 1. It was always so hard to find clothes. And once upon a time I used to love clothes shopping. Currently according to Kohls Department Store sizes I believe I am now a Size 18. One thing I can't wait to buy are suits for work. There is this store called K&G that has suits for men and women at great prices. I can't wait to go there and pick some up when I reach my goal weight. In terms of at home/weekend clothes I have been so far out of touch with style I don't even know how to begin. I don't know what goes together to achive that current trendy look. I guess I have to look at more what is on display in the store and in the windows to have some idea. I also have a good friend who I believe is a Diva maybe se can hep me out. I told my friend that once I get to my goal weight I am making her buy me an outfit. She said "just a shirt?" and I said no "a COMPLETE OUTFIT". I will be doing Take Off with you Mommyofsix next week.

Jlem311: Good for you making the choice of cherries instead of ice cream that is a huge accomplishment that you should be proud of. Wow Starbucks I used to love going there. Everytime I go to Barnes & Noble's Bookstore my son always tells me he is going to another section and he eventually always comes back with a Frappacino. (ha, ha, ha)

Great Choices Jillian!!! Temptation is one of the hardest things to get past when trying to lose weight.

Kennedy- thank you for being so sweet. It is so wonderful you not only reaches onederland you surpassed it by 4 pounds..Way to go!!!

Hi all! I haven't been doing so good this past week but I'm going to try to get back on track tomorrow with my eating and exercise. I have several Snickers bars and some McDonald's (which I don't even like and I can't believe I ate) to undo. :(

Hi ladies.
I am afraid I have been pretty much off track for a while. I just had too much life get in the way. I want to start back on the straight and narrow asap. Fist step getting on the scale. So tomorrow I am going to get on the scale and start from that weight. I have been still going to the gym 5 times a week so it shouldn't be sooo bad. I have been lurking the past few days and finally am able to post. I am back up again, I know it and that makes me soo mad at my self. UGH!

Kennedy and Amy! Great job on your losses and everyone else too! You guys rock! Hope to check back soon! : )

I will change my ticker tomorrow.

Good Monday Afternoon to you all. Hope all is well with everyone. I am going to step up my exercise plan this week and watch my food intake closely I am 1.8 pounds away form my Birthday goal and I really want to make it. I found some paint and have been doing some touch ups and fixing a few things around the house in hopes to make everything look better. Got all but one closet cleaned out and I will work on that this week(hopefully). Kennedy and I are doing takeoff tomorrow so anyone who wants please join in.

Cecil- so glad to hear from you and you will be back on track in no time, you always do so well when you get back onplan.

Lucky- you will do better this week you have done so well since you stated just see it as a minor setback.

Kennedy- you have a great plan. I think it is very hard to piece together outfits but when you lose weight feel good about yourself it will be easier to find things you like. I would just start paying more attention to the people around you and do some window shopping that always helps. I must say I never noticed your height, so sorry I can not relate as i am over 5"-8".

Today is Takeoff Tuesday and I sure am hoping it works. I dread today and tommorrow as always I do not do so well when I think I can not have things. I guess it is my control issues popping up. Anyway hope everyone is doing well and having an on plan week!!!

Good Tuesday Afternoon to ALL of YOU
 

Hello Ladies. I hope you are all having a great day

JLem311: I love your cute picture.

MommyofSix: I know I said I was going to start TO with you today but I totally forgot all about it. I was so consumed with my son being sick lately therefore, and was very attentive and watchful over him. He will be twelve next week but nevertheless always my baby. I took him to the doctor and she told me he had bronchitis. So she ended up giving him an inhaler, antibiotics and a cough medicine. I stayed home from work yesterday to bring him to the doctor and I wanted to stay home today but I have to get ready for a big meeting tommorow. I was told to keep him home and that he might be able to go back to school on Friday. I hope he gets better soon, we planned a Birthday party for him on Saturday hsi actual birthday is the June 15th. I just want to make sure that he does not have or comes down with the Swine Flu. I tell you reading the newspaper and watching the news can be hazardous to my health, makes me such a nervous nilly. I will do TO tommorow and thanks for the reminder.

Luckbustert and Cecil: Hey jump on board we are waiting. Always remember it is never too late to change things around. We are here for you.

I hope you son is better soon Kennedy! Your progress is awesome! You too Momof6.

I didn't start today. Ooops! Msybe tomorrow. Or actually to be realistic next monday. UGH!. I will eat as healthy as posssible until then.

Hope you all have a great day!

Kennedy:you do takeoff when you can. Your son is the most important thing. Get him healthy. Who wants to be sick on their Birthday!!! I hope he feels better soon and gets to have his party on MY Birthday..It is very alarming all the illnesses you hear about in the news, I would keep him home from school and everywhere until he gets better, no since in risking anything. Also remember to take care of yourself too, you don't need to be sick again either you just got better!!

Happy Wednesday
 

Okay today is Wednesday and I am doing the TO (sorry mommyofsix that I didn't start it yesterday). I will be doing the new plan as you suggested mommyofsix). The food portions seem doable.

I weighed myself and I am still 196 pounds and TOM is here. I really hope for a weightloss during this TO Phase. Iwill also do some excercise today as well. I am so tired the last couple of days but I will get through.

I will POP my head in later on at work. I wish everyone a great day!

Mommyofsix: Oh yeah can I have black decaf tea with Splenda. Please let me know I would love a cup right about now.

Good Morning to everyone!!!

Today is Takeoff #2 and I think I am an old pro at this. Last night I was watching TV with my hubby and he saw a commercial for Dairy Queen and went and got one of those fudge brownie earthquake something or other and ate it right there beside me. I typically am not a violent person but I did have this little daydream about cramming that sundae right down his throat if he did not eat it quickly. I did decide however to focus My energy on something more postive and went for a walk/jog. I think sometimes dieting makes me mean. Oh well he will have to get use to it.

Kennedy- yes you can have teas, coffee and diet sodas. I assume splenda is ok It does not say on the info I have with me.

Congratulations! You're doing GREAT!!! :)

I would have been furious if my hubby had done that, and I would have at least expected him to not eat it in front of me, so I think he's pretty lucky you only daydreamed it and didn't actually cram it down his throat. :)

I've lost 2 of the 2.8 pounds I gained, but I'm also having some difficulty staying on plan. Probably time to do a TO again...that tends to get me heading back in the right direction.

Good Evening Everyone!
 

It is about 10:19 pm and I just experienced Day #1 of TO (the mommyofsix way). I really enjoyed it. I did nto feel pressured to scarf down food like on the unlimited proteins and veggies. I did eat a lot of green veggies though. So tommorow will be Day #2 I hope the scale reflects something good on Friday.

So I went through my closet and got rid of a lot of my clothes that were to big. I was thinking about saving them for a just in case I need them but no I decided to give them up and don't look back. My closet looks great though somewhat empty. I sent all clothes packing to the goodwill. I am very happy with myself and proud of my progress so far. I hope I continue on the same path.

Tommorow I have to take my son back to the doctor. He still sounds congested when he coughs. I hope the doctor says he is getting better. I have been giving him his medicine on time throughout the day. He is 12 but I still worry about him. The simplest cold gets me all worked up.

Mommyofsix: I hope you had a successful Day #2 on TO. That's funny about your husband. I seemed to have worked up a lot of self control because nothing sems to faze me anymore. However, I must admit I do have a real weakness for freshly baked bread straight out of the oven. That can still make my knees buckle (lol)

Cecil: Thanks for sending some get well wishes to my son.

Luckysbert: Thanks for the big congratualtions and a wooohooo to you to about losing the 2 pounds. You are on your way.

i did well on TO at least I hope that I did weight wise. I am trying to stay completely on plan this week. It certain foods at certain times and no waiver any. I have been having a hard time family wise with bad attitudes for teenagers and almost teens but hopefully it will get better.

Kennedy- I hope your son feels better and good job on finishing TO. And you are right about bread nothing smells better than fresh baked bread. I hope your son still gets to have is BBQ bash!!

Lucky- congrats on the 2lbs its a good start.

Hope everyone is having a Teriffic Thursday!! one and a half days til the weekend!!!!

Hello Again - Lovely Ladies
 

It has been Day #2 on Take-Off and I believe I did really well. In terms of weightloss we shall soon see about that. I like this version of TO rather than the unlimited proteins. Wow who would have known that I would be satisfied with just 6 oz. of protein for the whole entire day. I must say that I am pretty proud of myself.

Mommyofsix: Thanks for the get well wishes. I took my son to the doctor this morning and they told me that his chest was clear. So the medicine that I have been giving him was working. He still does not feel 100% but he was told to take-off the rest of the week and he will return to school on Monday (his birthday). His last day of school is on June 26th which I am pretty happy about that. He won a scholarship to summer camp in which he will be attending this Pre-engineering program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). It is only a month long but I am grateful that he has an opportunity to go. Hopefully he will look at it as a reward for his continuous hardwork and consider this an opportunity to learn and grow.

As far as a BBQ it is still on thank goodness and because he was feeling so lousy for the week I think I might make it extra special. The weather is supposed to be nice between 75 to 80 degrees. We are expecting lots of people so I hope everyone enjoys themselves including my son. In terms of your teenagers hang on in there. How old are they? My son will be 12 however, his mental age is on a different playing field in terms of acting and thinking much older than he his (very respectable ... but sometimes very talk-backish and defiant. I guess it comes with the age I just have to work on ways were he can channel it for the good and not get himself in so much trouble. Because his mouth sure gets the best of him but overall he is a great kid. Kids like to try the waters. I know when I was growing up as soon as I opened my mouth regardless what it was I was corrected and silenced. I try to allow my son to have a voice, to express his thoughts, opionions and to be his own individual but boy sometimes I can't help but say "Goodness I created a monster" Ha, ha, ha. (Hang in there mommyofsix :hug:)

i caved and put up a ticker. :( boo.

Hey guys!

I rarely click on this forum because I get overwhelmed catching up!

Kennedy- CONGRATS ON ONEDERLAND!!! AHHH!!! I am so excited for you! I cannot wait to join you!

Amy- your little ticker is moving right along too! YOu guys are on FIRE! I love how you always find a way to get some exercise in too, that's motivating!

Jillian- I did too... we're doing this together! Hang in there!

Suzanne, Kristin- HeY!!!

Good Afternnon and Happy TGIF to you all
 

It is about 8:39 pm over in New Jersey. Left work early to start preparing for my son's BBQ Birthday Bash and all of you are invited (hee, hee I wish). Just came back from the store to pick up meat, know I have to go to the to get the fruits and vegetables. I think we might be expecting close to 40 people. Yikes!!!

Yesterday was Day #2 on TO and it went well so well that when I jumped on the scale this morning it read 194 pounds. So I think I lost 2 pounds which I think is absolutely fabulous. I am oficially in Onederland. Also, because I have TOM I hope by next week I will weigh even less. Maybe I might meet my challenge -- I know that would be cool. I still, still, still, still, still need to start ont he whole excercise regime. I promised mysel that I would work on my endurance before the summer. Well we will see after TOM what I can start doing. Talk to you all later

South Beach meals and Meal Replacement Shakes
 

Have you ever tried the South Beach meals? They are "fresh" not frozen and usually have a bread of some sort (I personally like the tortilla best), chicken, cheese, baby carrots and jello. It's been a while but I think they have under 300 calories. When I would have them I would bring some lettuce to add to the sandwich. In my grocery store they are in the refridgerated section by the meats. Just thought I would mention them -- I'm not a big fan of boxed meals but they sure come in handy sometimes and I think the SB ones taste pretty good.

Also, I was thinking of using a shake for one meal a day (or switching off anyway). I decided to pick some up when I was at Target yesterday and bought their Target brand -- looks like identical ingredients and nutrition stats to Slim Fast. Haven't tried them yet so I can't tell ya how they taste! I'll let you know if interested... They only have 10 g. of protein though (same as SF) where the LA ones had 20 g.

Well, I need a cup of coffee before heading out to yoga. Have a great day everyone!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I met my birthday goal of 208. I was nervous when i got 0n the scale but it said 208.0 so that is down 1.8 so I wil take it

Good monday morning. I am focusing this week on lowering my sodium intake and drinking more water. Last week I focused on adding in more fiber and I managed well with that. I have been going to Daily plate.com and adding in my foods that I eat and the website breaks it down into how much fiber/carbs/sugars ect. that are in the foods I am eating. I am learning a lot. The best part is that they also have LA weightloss items in there database so everything is easy to add. I did loost 1.8 pounds last week which let me meet my birthday goal so now I have to loose 9 pounds to make it officially under 200. I hope to loose this by 8-1-09 or sooner (hopefully). I have lost a total of 22 inches, 4 in my waist and hips,2 1/2 in my chest and 11 1/2 in my thighs. I really can not tell where 22 inches would have gone but at least it is somewhere else. I hope to keep loosing at the pace I am at and can not wait to meet my original goal. I did not cheat on my birthday. I treated my self with low fat frozen yogurt which is actually on my plan. Now I did think about cake a lot and I did consider ice cream but in the end I realized it is just not worth the guilt I would feel and opted for my frozen yogurt.

Kennedy- how is your son feeling and how was the BBQ bash???

Hope everyone is doing great!!!!

Mommyofsix congrats on meeting your goal.
I mowed another acre today then went and did a slow flow yoga class tonight.It was wonderful after having 8 kids for the past week.I got my youngest daughters room completely cleaned out so that felt good.Trying to stay on plan the best I can right now with so many kiddos around.Hope everyone is doing well.

Amy, just wanted to wish you a belated Happy Birthday and congratulations on reaching your goal! That's awesome!

Hello Ladies. I know this challenge is almost over but wondered if it would be OK with all of you if I joined the next challenge? I used to do LAWL until they closed and am now doing WW but using the food exchanges from LAWL. Needless to say, I'm not doing so great and thought that a challenge where I could both give and receive support may be just the thing to get me focused.

Good morning everyone! Hope you're having a great week so far :)

I've got the weight going in the right direction.....am down a total of 10.2 pounds as of this morning!.....and yesterday I started back on an exercise program.....hopefully I've seen the last of the colds, flu, sinus infections and bronchial infections for the season and can really kick it into high gear now! Well actually I'm trying to work my way up in terms of intensity.....don't want to knock myself for a loop and end up back where I was. Yesterday I did 30 minutes on the treadmill and 15 minutes on the recumbent bike. Am reading Dead Until Dark on audiobook (absolutely love Audible.com for getting books to listen to on my iPod) and that made the time on the treadmill and the bike pass real fast....it's the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, which is the basis for the TV series True Blood.