Well I may not have posted since I joined your group...but i have been busy. Had some *00ps* moments and have been on track for 2 weeks now. Lost 4 lb!!! I do okay when I am good and keep moving. I think the best thing I did for the biggest change was nixing the fast food and cutting back on the diet soda. I know I feel better and have more energy (which I haven't felt for a long time).

Well I am off...gonna spend the day with two of my daughters since I have the day off and it is g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s out!!!

Annie - good idea on the roasted chicken from the deli I will do that tomorrow. What is Chick-Fil-A? And why is a ice cream craving strange. I find i get those if I have been low on dairy and fat for a while, i thought it was normal lol.

PP sorry to hear about your glasses

FL sounds like your doing well, wouldnt sweat over some cool whip and straberries and least it did not lead to an all out binge.

Camera shy- way to go on being hit on. I am sure that would boost ones confidence!

Hi everyone. It's beautiful out here, too. I biked to work, biked at lunch and now planning on a round-about way home to get in more biking time. Can't get my kids to go with me, though. "It's the first day of summer", they say.

With the biking, I'm trying to get away from my jogging in place exercise plan that I took up after I was restricted from my Firm video due to healing my long-injured shoulder (I thought it was arthritis, I was working through the pain for a year. I'm looking in to swimming. It's a bit scary as I have had many surgeries on my ears and recently had them partially (and permanently) damaged with water splashed at a kiddy pool. I'm sure I can get back to swimming (with head out of water) so I can exercise without ruining my joints.

Ah the fun of being over 40! No wonder it's such a secret. Who'd have as much fun if we knew all these fun things we'll experience. Shhh, don't tell the kiddies.

iaradajnos- Yes, 40's are fun aren't they. I can't jog anymore, my knees are so bad. You have to find something you enjoy that won't be so hard on you. I ride the exercise bike to music, it's much easier on the joints. Walking is good too, but if you walk the hills like I do, you suffer.

Ashley- I crave ice cream too sometimes, cravings aren't very often anymore. I've been eating lots of yogurt, maybe you should try that.

Walked 32min. did good on calories. The weekend was not so great, calories were high, no binging though. My weight is up 3.3lbs.! hope it's gone soon!

Ashley-Chik-Fil-A is a chain fast food place. They have mostly chicken and waffle fries. Their chicken sandwiches and nuggets are to die for! The ice cream craving is really unusual for me as it isn't a big favorite of mine. I guess it has just been so hot! Tonight after a really healthy supper, my older son and his girlfriend went up to Walgreen's and got us each a pint of ice cream. I ate 1/3 to 1/2 of a pint of choco chip cookie dough. Put the rest in the freezer for another time. It did taste good and was (I hope) worth the calories/fat. Ate on plan the rest of the day.

Iaradajnos- I hear (no pun intended) you on the water in the ear thing. I had an inner ear issue earlier this year and it has passed mostly. I still have some ringing in the ear, but my hearing has returned. I really need to get some ear plugs for vacation so I don't get water in there and cause any problems. It was the worst!!

Watched a really good show on the Biography channel. It was about the rock group, Queen, and was really interesting. My boys watched it with me and I DVRd it. They are big classic rock fans.

Had a good report at the dentist, then spent the rest of the day with Hubby, running errands and just hanging out.

I went a little nuts and bought 3 new Leslie Sansone workouts. Her 'Ultimate complilation', 'Walk it Off and Tone it Up', and '3 Fast Miles'. Like I need more workouts!

Penguin-How "fast" is the 3 Fast Miles DVD? I am always looking for the longest distance in the shortest time!

Thank the good Lord we got a nice heavy rain this morning. I so wanted to just stay home and sit on the porch and enjoy it. Back to the 100s tomorrow, though.

Only had time for 2 mile walk this morning. I was a wild woman and set my clock for 20 min. later than usual.

Not sure what we'll do for supper tonight. I may just haul off and take everyone out for dinner. I shouldn't spend the money, but I'm really wanting mexican! I can eat fairly healthy at our fav place.

Received the desk I ordered from Penney's. The boys are going to help me with it tonight to see if it will fit where I want to put it. Fingers crossed!

I've decided to focus more on cardio workouts this week. I'm also going to figure out a plan for my eating TODAY! I don't feel that what I"m doing right now is really working; there's too much margin for error.


Annie, Its 3 miles in 45min. I watched the clip and I think it has jogging blasts. http://www.collagevideo.com/workout-...ast-miles-7824 I also have the 4 Fast Miles {51min}, and 4 Really Big Miles {has a toning segment} from this set, which is why I keep saying I don't need anymore DVD's! But each workout I bought was only about $10 so if I use each workout 10 times, it works out to less than $1 a workout.

Had good on plan days the last few, thank goodness, I did eat some ice cream last night but only half a cup and my calories for the day were probably not even over 800, I just had no appetite hardly, still not much today, I know for me when I spend some time in the sun it takes my appetite away. ( I should move to texas for a while would have the weight gone in no time).

I do eat the yougurt but of course it is low in fat and sugar so don't get the fix that way. I also buy frozen yougurt but of course it is higher in sugar but sure is good. I do find having a slimfast shake is really good when craving milk as well, they make them with extra protien now so at least there is some more vitamins and iron and stuff in them. I may have one for lunch today. Ate some roasted turkey for breakfast. Have to be careful though otherwise I will head into our long weekend with a binge. I took Thursday off as well so have a 4 day weekend. yay.

Still ov

I did two workouts from Leslie's Ultimate Collection~ 1 Mile Get Started, then a brief trip into Laundryland, then the 2 mile Brisk Walk, for a total of 40min. I'm hoping I can get Hubby to do another short walk with me tonight.

Dad had a routine phyiscal that resulted in finding a heart murmur, so he went to a cardiologist today, who told him that 'sometime' in the future he will have to have open heart surgery because of one damaged valve. He was also told that he shouldn't put it off but to have it while he's still healthy and not experiencing symptoms; the longer he waits the longer/harder his recovery will be. He has to go back to the regular Dr in a month after they have had time to review tests and consult {or something}.

patch- hope your Dad will be ok.
annie- Everytime it's real hot, I always want ice cream. This year, we can keep the house real cool with the air conditioners, so no craving for ice cream this year!

Hot & humid today, walked 40min. this morning before the humidity kicked in. Did good with eating, but stomach was messed up. I ate two servings of peanuts cause i needed the fat grams and ended up with stomach issues. This happened before, that's why i don't eat that many nuts at one time, instead I eat nut butters, much easier to digest. I totally forgot, it's been so long, i'm not forgetting again. Boy did I suffer!

Hubby's getting all his teeth fixed starting tomorrow, gotta get up at 6am to get to the Appt. in time. All these years of alot of junk food and having no dental Ins. has taken it's toll. It's gonna be real fun dealing with a big baby til this is all over.

I took an eating plan from Kathy Smith's "Feed Muscle Shrink Fat" book and I'm tweaking it a very little to fit me. It basically contains B,L,D, plus 3 snacks. She breaks some of them down into generic '1 protein, 2 fruit/veggie, 1 grain" but some I'll have to guess at. She also has recipes. I've followed this plan before and lost some weight, but it found it hard to follow then, and switched to counting cals which I found even more annoying {kudos to anyone who has the willpower to CC!} So I did do 'The Plan" today fulfilling my edict for myself. We shall see how things go fomorrow. I have a routine appointment with an eye specialist which will take at least 3 hours, but is right in the middle of lunchtime.

Tues 28
B= 2 c milk, vits
L= salad {3 cups lettuce, 1 can tuna, carrots, tomatos, craisins, blue cheese, 2 T dressing}
S= protein shake {banana, instant coffee, fiber, and protein powders, milk}
D= homemade chicken soup, 1 slice bread with butter
S= greek yogurt with strawberries, 2 crushed walnuts
E= 5 miles with Leslie spread thoughout the day

Looks like everyone has had a busy eventful day. Yikes, dentists, heart murmurs, etc. I pray that everything comes out okay for everyone and their families. That is one of my main reasons for climbing back on the horse and trying to get this weight off of me. As I get older, health issues scare me.

Its bad enough that I have rheumatoid arthritis and high cholesterol- I don't want anything worse. With that in mind...

Does anyone have a work out they like to do that doesn't have tremendous impact on their joints? I am trying to find things to fill in between my walking times. I love walking but i need something to shake it up a bit. I managed to walk 65 min today and stayed on track with my eating. Feels good!!!

FL - your right men can be such big babies, I have to laugh cause a few weeks ago I had to take my hubby to the dentist due to pain and he had a wisdome tooth they pulled thank goodness it wasn't under the gum, he made me come int he office with him, lol, then the dentist took out the needle and I had to leave on account of I am a big baby of needles.

PP - sorry to hear about your dad, good thing he is in good health to have the surgery.

Chrily - an eliptical is a great machine for low inpact on joints if you have access to one.

Went for a walk before work today, instead of at lunch now I am starving and it is half hour before lunch.

Chrily-The Leslie Sansone videos are awesome for people with joint issues. I have problems myself and am looking at a knee replacement in the future. I have had to stop doing her "boosted walking" (which is actually a one or two minute block of jogging in place) on some of her videos and there is another move called "tap-out" that I have stopped doing. Otherwise they are low-impact and a really good workout. You walk in place, step side-to-side, kick, lift knees and move arms in various ways to get good, all-over exercise. I was so thankful when I found her videos. The Arthritis Foundation may also have some tips on what types of exercise to do. Swimming is good, too, for some.

I started having pain in my upper back again yesterday afternoon for no reason. It was pretty bad all evening. I took Advil and some leftover muscle relaxers and used heat on it. I took today off from exercise, too. It is much better this afternoon and I hope it stays that way. Last thing I need before vacation...

We had another unexpected bout of rain last night/early this morning. I was so glad to hear it thundering/lightning.