Good morning all. I woke up at 4:40 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, so I will definitely have time to post before getting into the day.

Dean -- sounds like you're a relatively early riser as well (work will do that to you!). No get outside weekend plans for me as it's supposed to rain both days. But hope you have a great weekend -- spring time in the South is a treasure.

Time4Me -- Spring break -- and in Paris yet. What a treat to look forward to. With all the Couch to 5K work you'll have done, you'll be able to do all the working that any Disney park requires.

Larry -- I hadn't thought of the volumetrics part of this eating plan experiment as a "big" meal for me (that may explain why I'm trying to lose weight! ), but I'm trying to have a salad and a piece of fruit for dinner. Hope you and your wife are doing better.

Fi -- I'll probably do the calendar online so I can just highlight a day when I stay on plan. I am on the computer every day, so it can become an event to either mark it off before bed or first thing in the morning for the previous day. Yes, food and eating have always been near the top of the list mainly because our family meals were a good time. Eating dinner together was close to being sancrosanct and we actually talked to each other. But activities wise, my favorite activity is traveling -- especially in an RV where there's no real destination.

Sam -- As young as you are (relative to those of us in the Golden years of life), your skin will probably have enough elasticity to shrink back as you lose weight. And I remember reading several posts where there's a lot of skin improvement after about a year on maintenance. But you're right -- focus for now on getting healthy. And keep up your wonderful attitude and cheerfulness.

Today is hopefully freedom day. We're going to the surgeon and hopefully my BIL will be released to start driving again and not having to wear the TED hose any more. He's to the point where he's going to release himself if the doctor doesn't. He now has given up his cane and he's snuck in a couple of driving sessions on his own. He's also back to walking a couple of miles a day. To say he's been the poster child for hip replacements would be an understatement. As he's become more and more independent, I've been doing better with managing my eating -- definitely a stress eater! Hope everyone has a great day and weekend.

Good Morning!
Betsy I am so glad to hear how well Bill is doing! Not just for your free time but because he sounds like a really nice guy. Do you have any RV trips planned? OH please go some where!
Dean how much coffee do you drink? Will you be able to ride your motor cycle this weekend?
Time4me have a great time in Paris! So happy for you!
Larry everytime I read your posts about volumetrics I think of cabbage. I love cabbage and seldom have it. Good thing St. Patties is coming up.
Fi would you want to just take off and sail the world or are you a stay close to home girl? Many moons ago I read Dove by Robin Lee Graham and it sounds so fantastic. Of course the world was a different place back then too, but still...
Sam I am just going to give my two cents if you don't mind. Please consider wearing a very snug bra and pantie girrdle. More damage is done by the loose skin with still some fat in it being pulled by gravity. I have a long ways to go but my skin is not as nearly as bad as I thought it would be by now. Also by losing slower after a while you get a chance to adapt to your changing body and it is a good thing. You have a positive attitude and that is the best thing for this journey!
Took time to reflect on the start of 2014 and I have to say I have a lot to be grateful for. I used to list 5 things a day I am grateful for and I think it is time to do that again. They have to be specific small things and not the same things. Like I already know I am thankful for God, family, friends, our house, food, 3FC,... An example would be I am grateful that my crabby cat woke me up when I fell back to sleep after I heard my daughter was up. (First time I've ever done this!)
Off to have an appreciative day! Wish the same for all of you!

Binged badly yesterday. No idea what triggered it - other than maybe I'd been doing good and I'm just crazy enough to sabatoge myself. Either way, the water weight is all back on and I'm where I started at the beginning of the week. Not very happy with myself right now.

Oh well. Time to party plan. Personals tomorrow!

I'm hoping to be able to get the bike out some this weekend, but I've got a business trip next week mon through wed, so I may be working on some paperwork this weekend. Plus, if I've got to travel, I hate to not spend the weekend with the missus and the pups. She's scared of bikes, so we can't get out on it together.

I could easily be a coffee junkie, but I try to limit it to 2 cups in the morning brewed in my office, and maybe a little trip in the afternoon 1-2 times a week to the starbucks across the street (I try to limit to a plain latte-some of their other stuff has a LOT of sugar).

Dean

Good Morning!
Quiet day today.
Ten am and I can tell this is going to be a hungry day. I have strayed and I can tell by the hunger and cravings. I think it is a good day for a BIG spinach salad.
Spring is in the air and I am hoping it will bring focused weight loss and the energy for massive Spring cleaning!
What are everyones plans for today?

Good Morning Everyone!

I slept in this morning, but luckily not as late as I usually would after staying up until 1 am. I feel pretty good! My chest and arms are pretty sore from my work out on Thursday, but that's just a sign of a good work out!

Last night I met up with my friend to go get a coffee at starbucks...I just got a small plain iced coffee and added some cream amd vanilla powder amd a pack of sugar in the raw. Not usually my sweetener of choice but its better than the chemicals in splenda and equal. We went for a walk around the market area that has all kinds of outdoor shops. Usually when we would walk around there I would be so winded after walking once around the block, but I was able to walk around for an hour at a steady pace and felt great!!! It made me so happy to be able to do that! We weren't running but we weren't walking real slow either. What a good NSV!!!

Today I was supposed to go visit my mom and grandmother but myom decided to go ride her motorcycle today instead. So I'm going to try and get my grocery shopping done today instead of tomorrow. Then I'm going to try and work on legs tonight.

Hope everyone enjoys their day!! Tomorrow is my weigh in day and I'm hoping to be down my 4 lbs to reach my goal!!

hey everyone,

hope you are all having a good weekend.

I did day 2 of the couch to the 5K and actually had an easier time of it. My friend and I are on the same page and looking forward challenging ourselves as we go through the levels.

so hopefully things go well

Good afternoon.....already running behind schedule and I have a list a mile long. Oh well, I'm retired and there's always tomorrow. Hope everyone is doing well.

Time4Me -- It's getting easier -- good for you. Can't tell you how in awe I am of people who actually complete the couch to 5K effort. Keep up the great work.

Sam -- Great NSV for you. I chucked when I read that your mom was going to ride her bike instead -- I was trying to picture my mom on a motorcycle, but she would never have done it as the helmet would have messed up her hair!

Ubee -- Yes, I'll be taking some trips probably starting next month as the little ones are eager to go "camping" again. The thankfulness approach really does help as it keeps us in a positive frame of mind. Hope that spinach salad tastes wonderful.

Dean -- Sounds like you keep the coffee habit well under control and you're a thoughtful guy to realize that time with family is important. Hope you have a great weekend.

Jane -- I've stopped using the word binge and just say that I went off plan. It hasn't totally stopped me from eating things that are not on plan, but it's helped me think of myself in a more positive light which leads to fewer off plan moments. And, to me, a binge is where I eat everything in sight and eat until I'm almost sick. So, while having pizza and ice cream and something fried might be a very bad day from a healthy food perspective, it's not really a binge. Be kind to yourself. You've got a lot going on and are determined to make this happen.

My BIL, Bill AKA Jack, got released yesterday! Hooray!!!! He can now drive and doesn't have to wear the TED hose any longer. He's done so well that the doctor said that normally he has patients come back at the 3 month point, but Jack's already well past what he would expect to see at that point. Told him to come in if he had problems, but otherwise he'd see him in a year. So happy for him as he's worked so diligently at making sure he did everything he was told. And, selfishly, I'm happy for me to have my own routine back in effect.

Time to get it in gear for the day. I've had my Saturday morning chat with a dear friend from my days in NC and now I'm going to clean the house. We all know how much I am looking forward to it, but actually am not dreading it. Something about spring being on the way makes me want to do a better job with cleaning. Have a great day.

Good afternoon/evening, everybody...

We've had a fairly peaceful day of it, the missus is fighting a sinus infection (too much goop/pollen in the air already). I've been able to get out and walk the neighborhood a bit, and the dogs are loving the warm temps...

Everyone have a great weekend-I'm going to fire up the grill shortly!

Dean

Good Afternoon!
Doing my daily check in!
Dean have a safe trip!
Betsy sure is good news for you and Jack.
Melissa so happy you found someone on the same page.
Sam love your NSV! WTG!
I will be celebrating St Patties today with a big Irish meal and I plan on enjoying every last crumb.
Have a good rest of the day!

Hello there, everyone! Guess what? I'm sick. It feels like the flu, but so far I don't have any respiratory symptoms—just severe malaise, as in so achey and wiped out I can barely hold my iPad and stylus.

It came on last night while I was trying, and failing, to make a collage. I slept for 10 hours and woke up feeling fine, so I thought my immune system had kicked the damn virus in the butt. But this afternoon it's back again. =sigh=

I got a flu shot last fall: what I've heard is if you get a flu shot, sometimes you have a very abbreviated infection. I hope that will be true for me, because I've signed up for a lot of art-related and correspondence-related swaps, so I need to be working. I've got deadlines coming up. My mind says "Let's do it!" but my body says "You have GOT to be kidding..." My body is winning the argument.

Anyway, I just thought I'd check in... Is anyone adopting my star/highlighter system for keeping track of days on plan and days off plan? I don't mean to be pushy about it, just to underscore what I said about how well it worked for me. And it was important that it wasn't on a computer: it was an actual wall calendar, in a location where I would glance at it in passing like 50 times a day.

'Talk to ya later, on the other side of this bug...

Happy St. Patties Day!
Fi I am all on board with my kitchen calender and yellow high lighter!
Hope you are well soon!
Betsy hopefully we will have day 1 to brag about tomorrow!
I have gained 6 pounds this week. I am not happy or sad BUT I do finally feel like my head is back in the game. This is going to be a challenge so wish me well!

Betsey That is a great way to look at it! (Although I ate so much at my mom's yesterday I felt like I would explode... I may have to call that overdoing it). Glad to hear the good news about your BIL!

Fi Sorry you're feeling so lousy!

SamIam That's a fantastic NSV! I'm still amazed at how much better I move. It's amazing what our bodies can do when we treat them well!

The party went well, but it kept me up late Friday night, and then we went out Saturday as well. Yesterday was all day at my mom's and 4 hours of driving so I'm pooped!

I'm with Ubee, looking forward to day one on plan!

Good morning all. There's a strange yellow circle visible in our sky......people all over town are going out and staring up. Oh wait -- IT'S THE SUN. We've already had 7" of rain in March, so a sun appearance is beginning to be something of an event. And for those of us with a little Irish in us, Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Ubee and Jane (and anyone else who wants to) -- Day 1 has started. Just knowing I have to report in with others will help me. I'm so competitive that I won't want to be the first one to break the string. WE CAN DO THIS. Ubee, I had my corned beef and cabbage dinner yesterday as well mainly due to having a stupid co-op board meeting tonight. Lots of left overs and one of the best corned beef briskets I've had in years. Jane, glad your party went well, but your weekend sounds absolutely exhausting!

Fi -- Feel better. That kind of flu where you feel fine in the morning and just feel lousy by the afternoon drives me nuts. My calendar is on my computer, but I've made it my wallpaper. After 20+ years of working in the IT field, everything is on my computer. Actually, paper kind of gets ignored with me. Whatever works.

Dean -- Hope your wife is feeling better from the allergies and that the grilling went well. Love to get to the time of year where either rain or cold weather gear isn't required just to fix dinner.

Off to the post office to mail in the co-op's taxes and get the toner cartridges refilled and buy stamps and go to the gym. Have a wonderful day all.

Good Afternoon!
I can tell I am going to have to modify my calender. Solid yellow for a great day, striped for a good job let's keep at it day and white for a time to get back on track day.
Tomorrow will be striped so far. How is everyone else doing?
Betsy I hope they will have green beer at the meeting to help you survive!