I cannot believe she is 150! I would have guessed 135 at most. The difference is amazing between the second and third picture---and she's just 1 lb. less! That really goes to show the effect that exercise can have. That's inspiring! Thanks for posting it.

Allison, those pictures . . . wow! How is that possible with eating 3000+ cals a day? Because I want those abs! :)

Nothing much to report here, weight/healthwise. Yesterday was a bit stressful with an unexpected car situation and no workout got done, which I tried very hard not to feel guilty about. I general take one rest day every 10 days or so . . . why is it I'm convinced I'm going to lose ALL my fitness if I have to take an occasional extra rest day?

Have a good Friday, everyone!

Allison, amazing progress by your DD. What's BSN?

I'm not sure what BSN is. I think it refers to some bodybuilding thing. I know that she referred to some contest she was entering and said something like "shredding" which to me means reducing your body fat and gaining muscle. She uses a lot of different protein mixtures.

Oh, I found it: BSN

housecleaners
 

OMG! I have one constant "luxury" in my life and that's my housecleaners every 2 weeks. I was so broke that I had to resort to being a cleaner for about a year back in 1993 and I was forced to clean my parents' house since I was a little girl - from around the age of 10 I think) until I moved out.

In 1993 I swore that, if/when I could afford it, I would NEVER, EVER CLEAN AGAIN. Been there since 1999 and will happily stay there until I die or am put into care.

Dagmar :beach:

I still do my own housecleaning, I don't pay someone to do it as I know I would kill myself cleaning before the housecleaners arrive .Wouldn't want them to think I had a dirty house !

I know you are partially kidding here bargoo. I guess because I know so many people who have lots of pets that a dirty house, to me, doesn't mean anything other than the homeowner doesn't have time to clean it herself. I really don't care who knows that my house is dirty, all I want is for someone ELSE to clean it! :p

If I ever win the lottery :cp: I will have a housekeeper who comes in every day and runs the household for me. I will no longer have to worry about any chores - cooking, cleaning, errands - and will be free to devote my time to education, art, film and travel. :woohoo:

Dagmar :encore:

That would be nice.

My problem is not dirt so much but I have a clutter problem. I have little space and too much stuff. We had a garage sale early this month and got rid of a ton my my old clothing and my kids old clothing. But I feel like I'm still unorganized. Receipts get piled and my husbands electronics wires ( he is in the AV field) boys toys and my art supplies etc.

I love having a housekeeper. Every two weeks the whole house is done. In between that, I clean the kitchen every day before fixing food (you never know if the cats have gotten on the counters or not) and about every day (especially in the spring and summer) I vacuum up pet hair with my hand vac. If we're expecting company I'll vacuum the living room carpet. Before the housekeepers come, I always pick up all the animal toys and put odds and ends away so it's easier for them to do the hard stuff.

I stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home from work yesterday and I scored big! They had boxes of either peaches or nectaries for only $4.99 a dozen and huge containers of blueberries for only $5.99. I'm set for the week!

DH has to have a colonoscopy on Tuesday. I feel bad for him. No food after lunch on Monday and his appointment isn't until 3 PM Tuesday. I think I'd starve!

When I was teaching in China, I had a local woman come in once a week to help out in my apartment. I resisted for a long time because it felt lazy and just wrong, but it's very common over there. She would spend a couple of hours (it wasn't a huge apartment) and dust, sweep, mop, wash dishes, do laundry . . . anything she thought needed doing. She also would speak Chinese with me, very patiently. :)The grand total for all this work? 30 RMB, or about $3.50 (USD) at the time. I know, it sounds terrible, but to put it in perspective the Americas who had household help were paying almost double local rates, and I as a university teacher was making about $300 a month.

Went to dinner last night with my BF and it was my "splurge" meal for the week. Not too bad, until we also ended up at Waffle House this morning and I ate ALL of my day's calories before 10 AM. Hmm . . . .

This would be a dream come true for me! Cleaning is such a bore---especially since the results are so short-lived. I feel like Sisyphus sometimes (but most of the time my house is a mess, so I guess I'm always at the bottom of the mountain with the boulder on my shoulder). When I first started dieting, I used to enter my housecleaning into my Calorie Count app as part of my day's exercise. That gave me the incentive to do more, but since I've become more fit, I keep thinking that I won't burn many calories housecleaning (well, at least that's my rationalization and I'm sticking to it :). The only thing that makes housecleaning bearable is listening to some music on Pandora as I do it.


I lived on a French island for several months, and I had a house cleaner come in twice a week. She was great! Somehow, someway, she managed to get all the sand out of the house (we lived on a beach). We lived in a "French-style" condo unit (translation: miniscule kitchen, no laundry facilities in the unit), and she would actually hand wash our sheets (we didn't tell her to; it's just something she did). We paid her $8 an hour, which was almost double the average salary for that job on the island, but we were so grateful to have her that we figured she was worth it. Boy, was she sorry to see us move (and was I sorry to leave!)!

Saturdays are always my day of extra splurging. Lately, I have a routine of going to a local bakery after CrossFit and getting some goodies (a bit self-defeating, I know). Well, today the CF workout stunk; our usual instructor was not there, and our actual time of working out was only about 10 minutes, tops. I've found that so many CrossFit classes are that way, and it's one reason I stopped going to them until I found the class with this one instructor I like (he kicks our butts for 30-40 minutes). I don't buy the fact that I'm getting just as good of a workout in 10 minutes because it's intense. I push myself as much as I can, but I don't even begin to sweat in 10 minutes the amount that I do when I'm pushing myself for 30-40 minutes. Anyway, you would think that having burned so few calories this morning that I would forgo my usual bakery stop, right? No chance. I had some red velvet cupcakes on my mind and I was darn well going to get them. I had two (they're small) and a large chocolate chip cookie. Then, for lunch, I had two small bags of Cheetos. Yes, it was not my finest eating day, but I really don't feel guilty about it because I sort of plan that for Saturdays anyway, and I'm still well under my weekly calories.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!

lin I'm totally there with the red velvet cupcakes and cookie but Cheetos? I used to love them but now they'e too "artificial" for my tastebuds. I am having chips and beer tonite - a planned splurge. So much more "natural" :lol3:

We enjoy what we enjoy! :^:

Dagmar :p

LOL! I hear you, and I'm kind of embarrassed that I like them---especially that I'm a foodie in every other respect (shop at Whole Foods, eat ONLY organic meat, dairy, and most fruits & veggies, etc.). Cheetos is the one junky, artificial snack I still crave for some reason.

It looks like the 'malware-induced hiatus' is over. Thank goodness! I missed this forum. And I've not been eating well the last few days either, so I need the help. I got rejected for the "dream job", the interview that I flew out for a few weeks ago. And what does rejection equal? That's right, an excuse to eat lots of crap!!

Sorry you didn't get the job. Sorry you're resorting to bad eating to compensate.

DH had a colonoscopy today so I didn't fix dinner last night. We had chicken broth and followed it up with water. He had apple juice and jello in an attempt to stave of starvation today. It didn't work! Thankfully someone cancelled and his appointment was moved up 2.5 hours. I picked him up and brought him home and made him a PB&J. I had had a light lunch at work so I didn't eat. I'm fixing breakfast for dinner tonight--something that I can usually pass off larger portions to DS and DH thus eating quite well myself!