I got back to my exercise routine yesterday and feel 100% back OP today...finally! I'll get into my groove until hubby comes home Friday and basically crashes all his plans into mine I just hope he can get the backyard graded and get the tractors away from my house...they are so ugly I am tired of seeing them...and piled wood, he has to get it gone this weekend! But, I do realize the next step is tearing out the main bathroom which will be even less fun for me, but I just want it all done already.

So in answering the QOTD...I really need like 9-10 hours of sleep to bounce out of bed feeling ready for the day. What I actually get is more like 5-6 hours during the week and it's been less on weekends because we are working on things until we can't keep our eyes open anymore.

Then there are nights like last night that I just can't stay asleep, so I planned to take a nap before getting the little man from preschool today, but I decided to check the forums first now i won't have time for a nap, so it'll be a groggy day...and we'll be getting some big storms coming through so playing outside in the yard won't be "stay alert" option. I'm going to spend most of my exercise time doing yoga, pilates, WATP, gentle things like that suit this mood. I don't think i can bounce out any aerobics or carmen hip hop today

Good morning team. I managed to drag myself into work today, but I'm still not 100%. I'm really weak and shakey, it's such an odd feeling for me. I've got to play catch up from yesterday, but I wanted to check in.

Do you get enough sleep? How much sleep do you average each night? Do you think your sleep habits impact your weight loss efforts?

I think I get enough sleep most nights. I go to bed about 10 and get up about 5:30 if I'm working out, so that's 7.5 hours. If I get less sleep than that, it does impact my weight loss becuase I won't get to the gym, I'll keep hitting the snooze button.

Wouldn't you know it, I'm down 2 more pounds today - I always drop most the day after I post my number! Not usually 2 pounds though.

Anyhoo...

I think this week we'll all post some good loses.

Funny thing is that I've been super duper hungry this week and had 3 days at 2000 calories, and in 8 days I lost 2.8 pounds. That's a big loss for me. I wonder if I do need to eat more? I exercise on avg 10 hours a week, so that's burning lots of calories. I just posted in my blog this morning before I weighed myself that I was going to do some low calorie days now to off-set the 2000 calorie days. Now I dont' know. I like eating 2000 calories!

Monday's QOTD: I take glucosamine, calcium and a bone health supplement - probably 5 out of 7 days. I need to buy some multivitimins.

Today's QOTD: I probably average 7 hours of sleep per night. Sometimes 6, and sometimes 8. I also think I could benefit form more shut eye. DH's alarm goes of at 4:50, so I wake up for a bit then. I rarely (like 5 times in the past 4 years!) get a solid nights sleep though. My youngest routinely wakes up around 1am and comes to our bed, where she proceeds to headbutt up and kick us and just generally manhandles DH and I so we are cliff-hanging on either side of our king sized bed! We are suckers.

Chellez - yeah for Speical K vs. McD's!!

Sonja - sorry about the rough day at work.

Fran - CONGRATS on being our biggest loser this week!! WTG!! Sorry your toe is bothering you. I despise foot pain.

Rhonda - it's HARD. And the hardest part is getting your mind into it! So happy your upbeat about this journey again! Your posts always resonante with me...I'm like, "Yeah, that's how it is!". I was thinking about you last night as I tried to persuade myself to do to the gym (I didn't, btw) - and if you are super motivated and ready to tackle the whole 60 minutes, GO FOR IT - but if not, why not just do 30 minutes? Maybe that'll ease you into it? I honestly couldn't do an hour on a treadmill. I think it's harder than the elliptical.

Well, gotta get girls ready to go to the gym. BBL!

I have friends who swear by E-C. Our ped recommends 500 mg for the kids in addition to all their fruit through the winter. We all take it. I bump it to 2000 mg when I feel something coming on.

8-9 EST

Despite the fact that my c-reactive protein, blood sugar, BP, cholesterol, etc are all fine, I am gentically a heart attack waiting to happen. better to have that blood nice and thin when it happens.

I have said before that I gave birth to the world's worst sleepers. I have not had six hours in a row in probably 6.5 years. Meara still wakes up a lot at night. Since I am trying to carve out time to write, I am forcing myself to bed at 10 PM every night (with Benardryl if needed) so that I can get up before the hoard descends.

When I am tired, I craze. I got NO sleep last night from kids/insomnia. I did get on the treadmill, but if there were trail mix in the house, I would eat every last almond and dried cherry. I am much less aware when I am tired.

Uh, yeah. Pretty much makes me want to purge the lunch I just ate.

Do you get enough sleep? How much sleep do you average each night? Do you think your sleep habits impact your weight loss efforts?

I get about 5 hours on average. Some days a little more and some day a little less. I don't think it affects me weight loss though. I do know that when I started my program and dropped all the Coca Cola out of my diet (cold turkey) I was coming home from work every night for about 2 weeks and sleeping for 4 hours then getting up and going to bed. The lack of the sugar and caffine really hit me hard, but that was really the only sleep issue I every had since I changed my eating to lose this weight.

All I can is wow,Thank you MISSINGMYERICA for your post and for the link! And to add...I really hate that when someone voices their opinion they are called a whiner. But it's okay to call someone names...guess I too am one of those with a small brain, lol.

Oh no you don't! What did you have for lunch by the way.... you are always making something yummy. Talk to my tummy with your dinner idea temptations!

Okay! I'm not biting my tongue anymore. Chellez has done a darn awesome job of keeping these challenges going for more than a year. I appreciate her efforts 100%. A blog is for being 100% honest and saying what you want to say. It is not a "community" and she does not have to be politically correct there. Chellez has never made those comments here on this thread. On this thread, she has always had the best interest of the challenge and the challengers in the forefront of her decisions and...in my opinion, she has been totally fair.

Some of us are trying to put all of the negativity behind us and continue with supporting and encouraging our team on this very very difficult journey. Why don't you allow us to do this and move on? No one is forcing you to be a real team mate. Only you can choose to do so. If you're hanging around just for the bragging rights to being the Biggest Loser, shame on you!

Morning Blues!

QOTD: Because of my evil work place, my sleep pattern is just about non-existent. Yesterday, I went in at 1000am, today, I go in at 230pm. My body couldn't be more confused. Anyway, I require 6 hours of sleep. If I sleep less than that, I'm fine, but if I sleep more than that, then I need at least 8 hours of sleep to get through the day or I have to take a nap somewhere along the way. My sleeping behavior does not affect my weight loss, but my job does. I work too much, so I'm too tired to exercise.
Side note: anyone know of anyone hiring in the South Bay California area? I need a new job where I can continue to hone my workaholic skills.

Tee: is that 8-9am or 8-9pm?

Chelle: I love that list of names that shows our progress! Very motivational. That should be a regular part of the thread, maybe every 4 weeks. for doing that for us.

Me News: I finally added another 10lbs lost cheerleader to my signature. I've been stuck at 236.5 for almost two weeks and this morning, I finally lost that pesky, hanger-on 1/2lb. 50lbs gone! I hope to round up at least 1 or 2 of his friends for the next weigh-in but thought I'd do a little happy dance now.


Have a great Tuesday everyone!

-Sonja

I thought it would perk someone up! Some people's names didn't make it to the list... but I'm pretty sure before the end of the challenge they will be!


on your 50 lbs lost!

In answer to today's QOTD - I think I don't get enough sleep. And if this happens, severely, for 2 or 3 nights, I get up with severe vertigo in the morning. Like falling down going to the bathroom bad. So I take the vertigo medicine and have to go back to bed for 1-2 hours, then I'm fine. I could never be one of those people who go on 3 or 4 hours of sleep per night. My body just won't allow me to do that. My husband on the other hand does this FREQUENTLY. I really don't know how he does it. He's also rail thin... maybe there is something to that.

I do find that if I am trying to avoid going to sleep, I tend to eat more, thinking (somehow) that is going to keep me awake. It does NOT work and actually the opposite ends up happening. It's a bad habit.

Lunch was my last tuna salad ever. I do love tuna salad. But now I know more about the way it is fished, and I think it is wrong. So, no more tuna. I was only eating it once every two months anyway, so I won't starve.

Dinner will be Lo-Maniac Lo Mein. Onion, red/green/orange peppers, carrots, all julienned and sauteed in olive oil, lo sodium soy sauce, ginger, garlic and black pepper. Whole wheat spaghetti cooked and added to the mixture for a toss around the skillet. Stir in a bit of sesame oil if you like. Also, you can add peanuts, tofu or meat.


Also, Chelle, the doc I found is a chiropractic internist. A good DO also will help with the east/west thing. One prob is that every state licenses different specialties differently, so I don't know what your insurance would cover and all that.

I LOVE tuna - albacore variety! I don't want to ask about it. But will. Isn't there strict laws in place about over-fishing and not using nets that ensnare dolphins - yeah, there probably are, but no once to enforce them and make the industy accountable I suppose...so tell me what don't I know, Anna.

I usually have absolutely no energy or desire for online drama like what's been simmering here for a while. I get enough in my real life!

Heather - my DH and I are opposites also. Except it's him that needs more sleep. His family/close friends nickname growing up and to this day is NAP. He always was taking naps. He comes home and sleeps from 7-8 almost every evening too.

I too wanted to express my Congrats on the "extra cheerleader" in your signature. I know you will be adding more to the "Squad"

Here is an article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/wo...al&oref=slogin

In short, in the Med. Sea, they use planes to spot schools, then they use hooked to boats to transport the whole catch. They can sort out other fish/mammals, but they take whole schools at a time. Most of these outfits are from Japan and use them for sushi. Local, village-based fisherpeople from Italy, Croatia, etc cannot compete and their local economies are tied to the catching and processing of fish.

To further ick your wow over tuna, albacore has the highest concentrations of mercury because they are larger and where they fish. I switched to tongol a few years ago, and the kids and I checked out OK for mercury.

I wish I could have found some video The way the boats work with these nets is unreal.