hello everyone,
sorry i haven't been around. another busy week and i am not doing very well. trying everyday to stay focused but just having a hard time sticking to it for an entire day. i exercised yesterday but ate like crap and did not exercise today and ate pretty well i just can't get the 2 together. i'll keep giving it my best effort, sad as it is and hopefully it will click soon.

mychoice- no i'm not doing the oprah challenge, i like a lot of what she has to say but i am not up for that. maybe we do need a challenge in here, i'm just feeling out of steam again!

spores- the massage sounds like a great challenge lol. i just need to loose 30-40 more lbs before i can actually get one! glad to hear it isn't just me feeling yucky and off track. that sounds sort of bad but i hope you know what i mean.

holly- get well soon!! you poor dear! glad DH steped in and helped out. my DH is a lot like that when i am sick so i really understand. his idea of helping me out when i am sick is to stay at work longer. he is getting better though. hang in there and get your strength back!

girlie- i do that too sometimes just say screw it all and do nothing! you needed the break, hope you get feeling better!

debbie- hello, we missed you too. keep trying! it is so hardto stay focused all the time. little steps!

well if i missed anyone sorry hope you all have a great night!!

RACERS START YOUR ENGINES!!!!!

Starting today we will all be positive!! LOL!

NO more bugs, no more bad days............

I am not sure I believe it yet buy I am trying.
Uh-oh, Oprah says trying is no good, I WILL do it.
I still feel wonky but better. What an awful bug.
I am not exactly OP because I am eating a lot of toast and applesauce.I haven't exercised. Too weak. I also haven't snacked after 7pm!!
Half my kids are still home sick.

C'mon girls we can beat the February blahs!!!

Jodi~ I can feel it clicking right NOW!!!!
Debbie~ My life is incredibly dull. i just talk about whatever and assume people care, LOL! We are interested in what you are doing. AND we are here to support you.
Spores~ put down the pie and get on the treadmill!! Loved the flour/rocks analogy. Go get thyself a massage!!
Girlie~Hope you are feeling better today. How did you do with the water?? Glad you had a lazy weekend. Much deserved!!
Susie~ I totally overeat when I am tired too. It's like trying to find extra energy.My spare room, diningroom table, top of the dishwasher, DS's floor.... are catchalls. Embarrassing but true. My only excuse is that our basement and upstairs bath are part renoed and there are not homes for somehting yet. Annoying.
Hope you are well.

HUGS chicks!! Now I need to lay down

Good morning,
I think we do need to kickstart ourselves! I have missed all my goals and I really feel bad about it. I turned 50 on the 14th and I missed my bday goal, missed my Jan. goal.
A new start is a great idea.
I ate wole oats with flaxseed meal made
with smartbeat marg. and splenda. not great but lots of fiber! I got to get ready for work. I really miss it on mon and tues. Hope te make me fulltime soon.

BIG HUGS TO ALL

Hey everyone. Just a quick post. Got lots to work on today. I am feeling better. I asked DH to take care of dinner yesterday, and he brought mcdonalds for lunch AND dinner! I went to the gym at 10pm and had a great workout. I'm going to try going to the gym at night for a week or two. I seem to have such better, harder workouts at night...plus, no time crunch. I figured I'd get the same amount of sleep, plus, I can take a nap right after work if I need to. So let's see how this goes. Plus Dh said he'd come with me at night. He's been so great, straightening the house up and he was washing dishes when I left for work. He's keeping up with his end of the deal...I work and he goes to school FT and takes care of housework. What a dear. I'm feeling lazy and will have to pitch in more. I'm so proud of his good grades, a few b's, mostly A's through his graduate coursework. If he gets straight A's again this semster, he'll graduate in May, not only with his master's degree, but with a 3.8 GPA! So proud of him!


Talk to you soon.

Girlie

Debbie: Glad to see you! I know what you mean about it being hard to stay on track. But you have aloready lost 40 lbs – that is AMAZING to me. I have never in my life lost more than ten pounds – that’s how off-track I get. So I’m so impressed with your accomplishment. Hope to see you again soon – I love your input! Simple life, schmimple life; I think it’s great!

Jodi: I know what you mean about getting the two together. Seems like I can eighter exercise or eat well, but doing both at once is impossible. But doing on ehting in a day is better than nothing! It helps me if I work out in the morning, because then I don’t want to “ruin” all that hard work with eating junk. It’s like I set my day up to go well. But I rarely can exercise in the morning. I am just a sleepyhead. I think we are all feeling a bit blah. Maybe the end-of-winter doldrums? Maybe we should all go buy swimsuits and hang them on the fridge as a reminder that spring is around the corner!

Holly: Glad you are starting to feel better. Keep taking it easy! We can all break out of this slump with just a little effort and a ton of support!

Girlie: So great that your DH is supportive and keeping up his end of things. Less for you to worry about! Hope your day is going well and not too stressful. Congrats on your workout. It’s so nice not to have to rush. And I think exercise is a great way to unwind from work.

Okay everybody, sounds like we all need a swift kick in the pants, me especially! So how about this: today is February 16th. Just a week and a half of this month to go. Let’s all pick one small, managable goal. Something about actions, not results. (We have control over our actions alone; the results are inevitable if we change our behaviors.) Something we want to DO in these 12 days before February is over. And we post that goal to let everyone else know what we want to accomplish. Then we can just focus on one little thing. Sometimes it’s the little pebble that starts the landslide.

My one small thing: I plan to walk on my treadmill (no time or speed constraints – even just a few minutes) at least four times before February is over.

What about everybody else? One small thing? We can do that much! Who’s with me?!

Hi, y'all--

I have been struggling to find time to post on the site regularly, so I pop in and follow your conversation sometimes but haven't always said hello. Afraid I'll catch the flu or something from one of you But since my goal is to change that first number on the scale by the end of the year, I feel like we have a common bond.

Anyway, spores' "kick in the pants" really resonated with me. I didn't reach my Valentine's Day goal, and I have a hard time keeping up the momentum. It might help to focus on just one thing through the end of the month. I'll commit to doing some fitness activity every day, including aerobics or walking on the days I don't go to Curves. When I am moving around more, I tend to want to eat less--and vice versa, if you follow me. When I'm being a slug, I also want to chow down, especially in the evenings.

So thanks for the inspiration! I hope everyone is feeling better today.

judy

hello everyone,
spores- i love your idea, it is the pebble that starts the landslide! i have slacked on so many things this month, everything really. it is like i take 2 steps forward and then three back. sticking with it is what it is all about though so for the next 12 days i will do WATP 1 mile tape 8 times. i can do that! thanks for the pep talk!!

holly- glad you are feeling better, i wouldn't try to hop back into anything too quickly that flu sounds like it was really bad. keep taking care of yourself! and the sick little ones!

debbie- happy birthday girl!!! keep looking forward! you will meet your goal!!

judydc- welcome back lady! we can do this! a little exercise everyday is a good thing. let us know how you are doing!

girlie- good for your DH! i hope he graduates in may! it is so great he is supportive with the house etc. good luck with the evening exercise! you can do it!!

ok so we are moving forward here!!! do you all hear?? whatever funk, or blah, or yuck you are feeling set it aside!!! concentrate on one small step to babedom!!!!

Judydc: Welcome! Great to see you here. Great goals! Exercise is a big challenge for me, and I know what you mean about one positive thing leading to another. How do you like Curves? I have heard great things about it and am considering trying it out, but 1) the hours suck, and 2) it's kind of expensive. I'm afraid I'd never go because I could so easily use the closing early thing as an excuse, and then there's forty bucks a month down the drain. What do you think?

Jodi: Awesome goal; glad you're inspired! I have heard that WATP is really good. How do you like it? Is it all just walking in place? How does that work? I am with you on falling behind on everything. I am such a victim of inertia: when one thing slips, I just collapse and let everything slip. Gugh. But doing one thing is likely to whip everything else into shape!

Gonna go take my weekly treat: Dominic Mongahan being all cute and British on Lost. Rowr!

HELLO! I feel like I've been gone forever. I've been struggling to, but that's not why I've been missing in action. I've been missing because I've been trying to do things around the house in the morning so that I don't have so much to get caught up on the weekends. I would like to have some time over the weekends to do something else besides just housework and studying.

Now about the struggling. It has just been one of those weeks that I couldn't get enough to eat, and it didn't matter what, I just wanted food. But I think that's over. Last night when I came in from work, I was so hungry. So I had some green peppers (trying to be healthy), then I had some crackers, then I went for it...some Fritos..you know..all the salt, all the grease....well, when I went to work out those things came back to haunt me. I felt so queasy at my stomach. That's not so bad because when something does that to me I won't touch it for a long time.

It seems like we are were struggling there for a few days, but I can see it coming back around in the posts. Isn't it great that we can come here and work through these things?

Spores mentioned that we set a small "pebble" action challenge. Just what I need. Mine is going to be that in the next 12 days I will get back to my Tuesday work lunch workouts and I'm going to start doing core strenghthing exercises. I have a hard time doing crunches and such because that pressure on my stomach and bladder from crunching those muscles can flare up my IC, but I really need to work on that area. So I've seen some core exercises. like planks, that I think would help out in that area. If someone has any other suggestings for core strengthing I'd love to hear them. I think I'll do some searching on the net as well.

That's my action goal ladies. Time is not permitting me to answer individually, but I'm really excited to read all your posts. It feels good to be back.

Have a terrific day!
Susie

Susie~ I try to do that too. Besides the usual dishes and tidying I aim to clean 1 rooma day fairly well, then it is minimal stuff for the weekend. it is nice!
Sorry your tummy got queasy. I have been craving Doritos the while time I have had the flu....wierd eh.
Good luck with your new resolve.
Jodi~ HUGS...I will be walking right beside you!!!
Spores~ I love your resolve and motivation.
Judi~ HI, glad to know you are still reading!! Good luck with getting moving!
Girlie~ your husband sounds wonderful. It is nice you had the weekend to crash and do nothing after how hard you have been working and working out!!
Debbie~ How's it going today?

I woke hungry. Had a headache but I was not wonky.
I ate some shredded wheat, milk and orange slices. YUM! I had a glorious coffee!!!
I have 3 babysitting kids right now, 1 more coming at noon. My 2 are off to school with minimal chaos. After school I will have 4 more back home here. This will be the new routine for 4 months.That’s 8 total from 3:40 to 4:30. It’s nutty but it goes FAST. I went to TOPS.....
weighed in. I was down 7 lbs. I had already gained back 5 of the lbs I lost from the flu so some of this may be a real loss.
I like how my body and face look with the loss. It is inspiring me to keep going from here. I am definitely in the 220’s which is a HUGE success. I have lost down to 228 many times but couldn’t stay below it. I am now!! It is a new low.
I have decided to only go to TOPS twice a month.

I have had 2 of the Mom’s I sit for tell me sincerely that they love me in the last while.It is hard to describe how wonderful that feels.

All is quiet right now. I enjoy this post morning rush time.

Here’s hoping I am over this flu for good!!

Debbie and Judy: Welcome back. Hope you can find time to post regularly, and if not...just remember that we're thinking about you anyway!

Not feeling good. My "Aunt Flow" finally came, a week late. I haven't gotten so bloated all of a sudden like this in a while. Breakfast of a bottle of Hawaiian Punch isn't going to help. I noticed they added HP to the vending machine here at work and I ran out of my calorie free iced tea, and my mouth watered for this. A simple bottle of punch...300 calories! I deserve whatever pain my bloating takes me to after this. Just one bottle, and never again. I always feel so guilty when I drink calories, especially when it's not a real juice or something healthier like a smoothie.

Came home to a 12 foot hole in the side of my yard. City is doing some work on the plumbing. To make a long story short, when we flushed our toilet this weekend, it went into our neighbor's basement...ick (thinking about how sick I was Monday night)! They found out that we share plumbing and the city had to come and dig and figure out the problem. It's going to cost $3000 but the city will pay half because part of it is on "their" part of the plumbing, the other parts on our property and the neighbor's. The neighbor came to us and told us they'd pay for it all...they are so nice and have been the past almost five years since we've had our home. They know that DH is a FT student and I am (well, was) working 2 jobs and decided to pay for all of it...they expected to have to pay all of it anyway before they found out we shared sewage lines. How nice of them. It definitely helps us to breathe easier.

Also got home last night from work and the bathroom and kitchen were all clean, living room and dining room picked up and vacuumed and poor weary DH was studying. What a guy, what a guy.

Gotta run. Was quite productive at work yesterday! Sorry so quick today. Will make time for personals later!

girlie

hello everyone!
hope everyone is doing well this evening! i am feeling well. TGIF for tomorrow, this week has drug on long enough! i am planning on spending my weekend remodeling our bathroom and re-centering myself! getting back in control so to speak.

girlie- who'd of thought 300 cals in a fruit punch?? hope you were able to slough it off! glad ytou don't have to foot the bill for the plumbing repairs!

holly- glad you are feeling better!! good for you on the loss! that is fantastic. i know it wasn't under the best of circumstances but it seems to make you feel good so very happy for you! the kids you sit for are so lucky to have a caring person like you!! the moms appreciate you and that is great!!

mychoice- your snacking chain of command is a lot like mine. i'll go for healthy (orange) then middle of the road (LF yogurt) then it is on with the doritos! don't know why i loose a little willpower with each bite! getting back on track though right with you!!!

spores- how was the eyecandy?? (lost) i can't get into that show for some reason but DH abd the kids like it. hope you are doing well today!!

have a great night everyone!!

Spores~ was Dominic a hobbit from LOTR. If it is the same guy, you might have to wrestle me for him!!! I am in silly luv with Merry and Pippin.

Jody~ I was down 12 lbs from being sick but had already gained back 5. I hadn't weighed in in 2 weeks. So most of this is probably a real loss!!!!!!!! I was already down a couple from my last weigh in.Clear as mud??? I will see what happens next week. There is a noticable difference anyhow. LOL!!

Hope everyone is having a good evening.

The New LOW!!!!!
This was my plan and it is WORKING!!!!!
There was a segment in the Dr Phil diet book that struck me and then in Dec there was a thing on Good Morning Canada that hit me too. So in January( actually Dec) this is what I did.


Both had info about....eg. if you were to eat a handful of chips every night for 1 year you would gain 15 lbs a year, or if you ate fast food 3Xs a week you would gain 10 lbs a year, 2 glasses of wine a day for a year- 10lbs................. The list was huge.
If you binged 2 nights a week the gain per year was 25 lbs. This really hit home.
I did all of those things sometimes but added together It was about 20 lbs a year.
SO, If I could consistantly control 1 of those things I could lose 10-15 lbs this year. That was my plan!!

I DECIDED in Dec not to drink any alcohol except with the Christmas meals and New Years Eve. I did it. I haven’t touched a drop since.
After the holidays I DECIDED to give up cheese except once a week. It took three weeks for it to become a habit. Now it is my routine. Usually on Thursdays( good TV night) I have cheese and crackers while I watch ER. It tastes sooooo amazing. I have a little party just for me while I watch my favourite show. I dim the lights, light candles, everyone else is in bed, woohooo.
Now I have decided to stop eating after 7pm( except Thurs). This is my 2nd week. I have averaged 5 nights. Not bad. I will keep at this until it is habit.

I have always eaten healthy balanced food 95% of the time. I overeat the good stuff and I eat for reward. With a lot of self processing and getting in a good place with myself those “rewards” just aren’t as needed.

The result so far is a 2 lb loss in Jan and **drum roll** my official ,monthly, post period, post potty, first thing in the morning weigh in is 225!!! Down 2!!!!!!!!!

I haven’t weighed this since before my son was born 7 years ago!!! SEVEN freakin years!!!!

I think for me the big picture was just too big.I tried setting small goals but still knew I needed to lose 50 lbs. When I saw it in terms of changing 1 bad habit and the result would be a loss of 10 lbs for year, I would be thrilled with that and it seemed doable. And it is.

At this rate I can lose 24 lbs this year and I dont feel deprived or disappointed. I feel better about myself all the time. I have made personal changes to feel more like the real me and the weight loss is an added bonus.

I was exhausted yesterday by the evening. It was a good day though. The kids were great. I rested a lot. I am feeling good today. I have 6 kids here. I will take them all to the Early Years Play Group at 9:30. Yes ,I have 3 car seats and 3 booster seats in my GMC van. It’s the toddler bus.
I am thrilled it is the weekend!!!!! We have hockey at 9 tomorrow. I am then going to London all by myself to putter around, window shop, grocery shop, do grandma’s hair, maybe visit a friend.............
Tonight is veg mode again.
Hope everyone is a having a great day!!

Holly:
How exciting!!! This will keep you enthused for quite a while!

It's time for me to start losing again! I need to get into the 220's as well.Summer is right around the corner.

I cooked a great meal last night. I seasoned ground lamb with mint and garlic and broiled lamburger patties. Made homemade mashed potatoes, cauliflower and sauteed mushrooms and onions and mixed in some of the natural low-fat gravy I found on sale in the health food section. It was yummy, and I didn't make too much food - just two patties, enough potatoes for our two servings, and the veggies. That is a good start.

I'm broiling salmon tonite and making fresh green beans, and probably boiling red potatoes again.

Hitting the gym hard both days this week. I only went twice this week.

Girlie