I am the one on the left, the shorter one of course. The other girl is my best friend!

Angel, thanks! Now I know who I'm talking to, lol!

Layri, good luck with the hunt for equipment! I'd love to work on the gym equipment at home, too.

I got a new low on the scale today, so staying on the food plan is definitely helping things along: 182.8! Maybe I will be out of the 180s soon!

No exercise today yet, but I WILL be doing a lite lifting session and running today.

My ds has finished his chores and schoolwork for today, and will be leaving with my sister after lunch. They're going Christmas shopping, then he's going to bond with his aunt and uncle till Friday, then he has plans to stay at his friend's house Friday and Saturday nights (who lives down the street from my sister), so I won't see him till Sunday. This should give me a great opportunity to get an exercise routine in place for the lifting and running, over the next few days. No excuses! I'll report in later today, to confirm that I actually got my workouts in...a little accountability never hurts!

Angel...for some reason, I always just assumed you were your friend! Good to know who's who now

Back to report that I did my lifting and running tonight. Not killer workouts by a longshot, but I did it! Did an easy LB lifting routine, then walked 5 minutes, ran 10, walked another 5. I figure I'll work on doing something, anything, for now, and build up from here. My goal right now is just not to skip another workout. Still staying on my food plan, despite a lot of cravings for sweets lately...must be Christmas doing it to me. I get a lot of emails through the homeschool lists talking about all the baking they're doing...it's making me crazy!

Everyone is doing so good.

Well, I lost 2 more pounds this week, so I have met my New Year weight challenge. YAYYYY!!!! On the other hand the exercise thing hasn't been so good, I need to get at it. I originally wanted to set my New Year goal 5#'s lower but, wanted to be realistic, with Thanksgiving and Christmas in there, so maybe just maybe I will make the 5# lower goal I originally wanted to try for.

Wilma

Wilma, WTG on meeting your goal!

Not much to report today yet. I'm sick and feeling fuzzy, so also a little behind my normal schedule today. Scale still at 182.8 this morning, which I'm happy with. It's helping to keep me on my food plan, just looking for lower numbers on the scale. For exercise today I have UB lifting at home, then skating tonight. We've got a storm coming in, but hopefully it will hold off till after skating! Speaking of that, I've got to check the old "power outage" supplies, make sure I know where the candles and flashlights, propane and water supplies stand. I'll check in later to report on the lifting workout.

wowwee jamsk8r! hey you might lose weight on the "sick" diet.Its usually good for 3-5 pounds when you're sick! i hope you feel better. i have to say you inspire me when i feel like quitting and i see how you just keep plugging away. did you ever learn to like (drinking) water?
i had made my goal for the cc challenge to "stop eating fried foods and drink water" so i made progress even tho my brain and cravings tried to betray me. i bought sme fried chicken. After i licked the outside of the chicken- NO- Just Kiddin!! i removed the fried outer layers and put what was left, (which was not as much as it was with all the fried outside skin and crust) in a baggie in my little fridge.
So when it was time to eat it, all i had was chicken that was not fried. It's a big milestone.
Then i went shopping at WalMart for produce. I remembered that if i bought something that was a bad choice, it would be easy to reach and hard to resist. I made all good choices except 3:
kettle chips
chicken wings from the deli
chcken salad from the deli.
When i got to the checkout, i put the kettle chips to the side and did not buy them.
Some of the good choices were avacados - i LOVE those! kiwi fruit, love those too. Grapes tomatoes, raw spinach(love raw spinach!) and red grapes.

i ate the chicken salad with spinach and crackers but i felt like it was not wise since it has dressing of some sort in it.
Then i peeled the outside coating off of the chicken wings which brought it down to a very smalll amount of actual chicken, but it was good to realize that the part i was supposed to eat, was so little, and therefore the purchase is not only fattening, but a colassal waste of money.

Today i bought some chicken breasts that were prepared and fried and i peeled off the outside fried part and refreidgerated the rest.


Water- not sure - i dont think i am drinking a bottle a day to be honest. i will try for two bottles before the end of the day, and 2 bottles tomorrow~

jennifer

cfmama, wowzers thats very dedicated! horray for you girl!

jamsk8r, I AM the boss of you-- but i wish i could skate like you do! i am aiming for swimming here as i travel for my job! it is hard to find a pool, but i could find a YMCA and make it happen, so that will be one of my goals:

to find a swimming pool once a week and swim some laps! Psychologically, it feels great to swim!

jennifer

Hi all, forgot to check in last night. I did get a lite UB lifting routine done, and my arm does not hurt today, so it's looking good for easing back into my regular lifting routine. I think I will stick with one set of 10 reps for each exercise my next 2 workouts (Mon/Tues next week), then see if I can add in a second set for Thu/Fri next week. If I take it a week at a time like that, I should be able to get back to my normal amount of sets without hurting myself!

I did not run last night, since I had skating to do. Did not get as much dancing in as I would have liked, so if the weather holds for safe driving, I'm thinking I'll meet up with my girlfriends tonight for skating again. No winter storm so far, just cold, so here's hoping it just skips us altogether!

This morning I met up with my friend Sue, and we took our pulling dogs out for a 3 mile run. We cruised and chatted for about an hour and a half, then stopped at the espresso stand for hot drinks. I had a hot chocolate, since I'm not a coffee drinker myself, and it seemed the only choice that wasn't coffee and wasn't cold. Not really on my diet, but I'll just have to skate extra hard tonight! Other than the hot chocolate, I've been staying on the eating plan, and actually noticed today that I'm feeling better. Usually, when I get the crud in winter, it lasts a couple weeks, so I'll be interested to see if eating better and exercising helps me kick it sooner...

Jenn, way to go on taking steps with eating better on the road. One step at a time! Some other good protein options: 4 oz of thawed fish or chicken breast will nuke in about 2 mins in the microwave. Add a little water to the plate and cover, then they will cook up nice and juicy. Press on the top with a fork, and if it breaks apart readily, it's done! I just sprinkle on some garlic for cooking either, then parmesan after...yummy, fast, no added oils. Turkey brats, turkey dogs, turkey meatballs, etc, would keep well on the road, but they're higher in sodium, because they are pre-cooked (just heat and eat 30-60 secs in the microwave), so I'd personally keep it down to one a day, or 2, max, if you're watching the sodium. Another one: precooked shrimp (found in the frozen food aisle)...just thaw and eat...yummy cold, at least to me, good on a salad, or heat them if you prefer. I'm rambling, sorry, but you just got me thinking about protein sources that would be easy to fix on the road, and truck stops usually have a microwave, if you don't have one in the truck.

Where the heck is the FB?

Hey, Cheryl. I had hot chocolate tonight. I haven't had one in so long and we had them in the church hall following our Christmas concert tonight. Yum.

I weighed in this morning and I lost 2.5 pounds. That makes up for not losing anything last week.

I'm wasted and almost asleep as I type. Good night. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Isabella, congrats on another 2.5 lbs! Get some good sleep for me, will ya?

I had a great workout at skating tonight! There were a bunch of jammers there, and great dance music tonight, so I pretty much danced for the whole 3-1/2 hours. I think I might be good for that hot chocolate!

Wilma Congrats!! Are you the first person to make your New Years goal from this thread? If so extra congratulations for leading the way!

Hey RG, I see you're getting really close to your goal, as well!

Everybody must be off having fun this weekend, since the list is so quiet!

I could have used about 3 more hours of sleep this morning. Unfortunately, my son's cat does not understand the concept of sleeping in on Sundays. He smacked me in the head until he was sure I was really awake, then led me to the kitchen door so I could hold it open while he sat in the doorway staring at the snow. Once the kitchen temp had dropped 20 degrees, he decided he was ready for a piece of cheese. He doesn't like fish or chicken, but he's a regular cheese connoisseur. At this point, he was ready for a long chat and some waffling between going to the boy's room for breakfast, or going back to my room to see if the dogs needed help waking up. I was freezing to death and needing caffeine to recharge my sense of humor, so I plopped the furry dictator down in front of his breakfast and closed him in the boy's room, before he could figure out it hadn't been his idea. So much for sleeping in!

The good news is, I hit a new low this morning: 181.2 Obviously, I need to make hot chocolate a regular part of my diet, and just skate 3 hrs a day, every day, then I can be at goal in about a month. Yeah, the hot chocolate diet...woohoo!