Sounds like we are all very busy - but still taking the time to exercise! Yay, us!

I did 30 min elliptical, ran 2.33 mi (23 min) and Group Ride today. Then I took Kevin to the ped. and did not much else for the rest of the day. I am getting ready to take him to t-ball now, though. Eating is on plan.

See you tomorrow.

Ward- Is that like 2 hours at the gym??? I have been doing a minimum of 45 min/day and some days close to an hour. Don't know where I'd find the time to do much more.

Kelly- I know you are really bummed today. We both understand how hard this has gotten lately. I'm not willing to quit, or settle. I don't think you are either. Have you been logging all your food and counting it? I know you guys like to eat out a lot, but maybe you just need to cut it way down. Just a thought. Hang in there. You know something has got to give......eventually.

Whoops. Had to come back and talk about myself a little, even though there isn't much to tell. TOM is still MIA so the weight loss is getting nowhere fast. I think since I am older, it is tougher. Hormones, no metabolism, onslaught of menopause. I must get this weight off. Did Jillian's Trouble zone workout tonight. 1 hour of torture.

Yes, I'm still logging everything in. I know my eating is not as vigilant as it was a year ago. I know we need to eat out less, but apparently my time management sucks lately, and we are so busy, sometimes eating out is our only choice. That is why I have been trying to figure out better food choices at restaurants because there are many days that I just can't avoid eating out.

Mindy--Sorry about giving up today. I just couldn't take any more. Tomorrow is another day and I will be ready to give it my all again. Let's hope that protein shake does something!

Ward--2 hours at the gym just rocks! I can't even imagine. I gave up after maybe 30 minutes today.

So, does anyone pay attention to protein, fiber, or anything like that? I am curious to know if anyone sees results when watching that stuff. Someone at work was talking about it today and I just keep thinking I should start looking at nutrition a little bit more.

See you tomorrow!

Hi Ladies,

I didn't realize I hadn't posted yesterday until now. I guess I was pretty busy too yesterday.

I am happy to report a 2 lb loss at the scales last night. I would have liked to get the other 2 from the week before off as well, but I'll take what I did have and that was with the UTI problem, so I'm happy overall.

I've made a goal for myself for this week. It's a 3 lb loss, and with it comes that I will journal in my feeling journal every day from Friday-Thursday AND I'm not only going to log my food but I will strive to stay in my range of 1600-1700 calories each day. That means I have to look it up..and count it. I'm just not that good at it, but it's a habit right? and you learn a habit by doing.

I"m working out at lunch today. I plan 20 min cardio, the rest of the time for weights. That leaves me 35 min for them.

Ward: I'm glad you called out that even though we are busy we are working out...might not be the workouts we planned but we are doing something..moving every day. That is a huge thing for all of us. We have made it a lifestyle change and that is what will get us to that maintaining status someday.

Mindy: I hear you with the age thing. I keep thinking, I just can't be like this when I turn 50 and that's only 6 years away. Hope TOM shows up for you soon.

Kelly: It sounds like you had a tough day all around yesterday. I'm so proud of you for coming and posting. We eat out a lot too. It's just the way it goes with our life. Keep looking for those best choices and I will to and we can share them.

You know, now that you mentioned it, I do seem to get sick a lot in the winter. I know it's a time of the year that I dislike very much and I feel like I drag though it. I'm going to remember that for next year and maybe talk to my doctor about it and see if there is some sort of thing I can do to keep my immunities boosted. Sometimes I know my B12 gets low so maybe that's a problem.

Ok, I've got to get back to work. I'll be around some this weekend. We have a lot of things planed. A jazz concert and dinner with some friends on Sat. night. A birthday dinner on Sunday--I'll be eating out a lot Kelly..so I'll think of you and my calorie range and make good for me choices.

Have a great day! It's going to be in the upper 60's here in Ohio and that makes me happy!

Susie, congratulations on the loss and I hope it continues. Sounds like you are going to have a busy (fun!) week-end.

Kelly, I am sorry you had a bad day. It happens and sometimes we just need to take a step back. I hope things have turned around for you now.

re: your question: I log my food into the bodybugg website and there is an analysis of protein, carbs, and fat. I do pay attention to it, and have a goal of 25% P, 50% C, 25% F. I got those percentages from a friend who is a dietician; she said that those were the ratios they used for their diabetic patients. I don't often meet that goal, but I try to eat a lot of protein and not a lot of fat. However, there was an article published recently that kind of says that the ratios don't matter and that it all comes down to calories. Here it is - http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/25...ref=newssearch

Mindy, did TOM show up today? I have forgotten how old everyone is. I'm 44 (and sometimes feel like I am 100). I never got into seriously good shape until I was in my 40's, though. I was always too busy working and had a long commute. Now that I stay home and the kids are in school most days, I do spend a couple of hours a day at the gym. Well, the goal is 2 hours, anyway and I do as much as I have time for between appointments and errands and whatnot.

Today I did 30 min on the stair mill, Group Power, and 15 min on the bike. Eating is on plan. See y'all tomorrow.

Good morning,

I'm up early, starting laundry and paying bills. I want to get started on the house in just a little bit. My plan is to have everything done by noon--hubby will do the grocery shopping, he likes to do it and I don't.

I want to get done by noon so I can talk a walk in the neighborhood and get in some exercise since I won't be able to do my regular Sunday workout tomorrow afternoon.

Ward: Thanks for the article. It was very enlightening. It also reminded me of my 1 week goal to look up the calories to what I've been eating.

Mindy & Kelly: I'll be looking forward to your postings.

Have a good, on plan, day everyone!

I didn't post yesterday, infact I didn't do much of anything. I was tired, grumpy, mad, you name it. No TOM and more weight. I couldn't even believe it. I was all the way back up to 198.6. I really don't understand. Now this morning I am down about a pound and TOM is finally here. I hope I am on the downhill road now.

It is so hard for me to handle these wild swings up and down. Then I feel like I am making no progress at all. I so wish I was more like Kelly who will just maintain for a long period and then lose a pound or two. This wild ride that I'm on is too frustrating.

Anyway, enough of my complaints.

Ward- Thanks for the article. It makes me feel better about what I'm eating. Now I just question how much I should be eating. That is still a mystery. Good for you that you get that 2 hours a day.

Susie- Happy to hear about your loss. Keep at it and you will meet your goals.

Kelly- Have a good weekend. Get in some workouts.

Susie, have fun this week-end.

Mindy, I'll be celebrating along with you when TOM is over and the pounds are gone again.

Today I did Group Ride and one hour on the elliptical. Eating is on plan. See you tomorrow.

Hi,

It was so nice to get that 30 min walk in yesterday and do be able to do it outside in such nice weather. We had a high of 70 yesterday. Today it's a windy, cool March day but I'm happy because yesterday was so nice.

I had a nice time at the jazz festival and I did pretty good with my food choices with the exception of some onion rings from a shared appetizer. I had about 4. It was truly mindless eating and so today when I go to the birthday party I'm going to be more aware.

Ward: You got a great workout in yesterday and I'm glad to see that your eating is on plan. You have been staying away from binging now for awhile....as a binger myself I know how hard it can be to keep it under control.

Mindy: It sounds like hormones were raging yesterday. When that's happening it's good to lay low like you did and just take it easy....usually the next day things are better and it looks like they were. This is what your body does....don't be so hard on yourself and just use the time in between that to continue to work hard like you do.

Kelly: I hope you are having a good on-plan day!

I've got to get moving so I can be ready for that party. Talk to you all later.

Susie

Susie, have fun at the party.

I ran 8 miles this morning, in about 90 min. I will probably spend some time running after my daughter on her bike this afternoon, too. Eating is on plan (day 6). I am also grumbling about daylight savings time.

Kelly & Mindy, I hope you guys are having a good week-end.

Ward-- I too am grumbling about daylight savings time. Usually it is no big deal, but today I had to get up at 6:15 (really 5:15 ) to get ready to leave for a hockey game. I am glad to see you have been back on plan for a while now and keeping up on those great workouts. Thank you for the article. I really do feel better about what I am eating after reading it.

Susie--Glad you had fun at the jazz festival. Don't worry too much about the onion rings now. Just get back to saying "no thanks" and you won't even miss them.

Mindy--I am so sorry about the gain/lose game. I don't know how you manage to deal with it. You are extremely determined. We all know I would have given up long ago if I was in your situation. I am very proud of you for continuing on this journey. I still wonder about those hormones. It is getting to be that time in life.

I was down a little today. I worked really hard to stay on plan yesterday, since weekends are my downfall. I was successful at staying in my calorie range. Today, we had a birthday party for my daughter, and I had 2 pieces of pizza. No breadsticks, no cake. That was difficult. I almost felt like I had to eat the cake to not disappoint her, but then I pushed the thought aside and busied myself doing other stuff. Hope everyone else is having a good last few hours of the weekend.

Hi,

We have sunshine in Ohio today--it really helps me to feel better in both mind, body and spirt.

I did well with my food yesterday; I even passed up birthday cake. I really was full from my dinner and the cake was chocolate (which bothers my IC and ever since the UTI, the IC is all crazy..didn't need to make it flare even more).

I usually work out at lunch time on Monday's but I have a few errands that need done and so I'm going to do them at lunch today and then walk in the neighborhood tonight; since it will be light later due to daylight savings (I grumbled about it yesterday too when it was time to wake up--in fact, I skipped church and went back to sleep!--I NEVER do that).

I did pack my lunch so I wouldn't be tempted to driver through someplace. Eating out with family and friends and enjoying the food and the company is one thing and to me it's worth a bit more of my daily calories..running through a drive-through at lunch is not worth that to me!

Ward: 8 miles is amazing and day 6 of on-plan eating--you go girl! Let's go for day 7!!

Kelly: Good for you for buckling down on the weekend--doesn't it feel good come Monday morning? As you can see I passed up birthday cake too-you are not alone!

Mindy: How's it going? Hang in there..you are one tough & determined lady. You have no idea how many times when I'm disappointed by those scales that I think of you and your determination and I get right back on track.

It's almost time for lunch and my errands. I'll see you all tomorrow.

First and most importantly. Thank You for your words of encouragement. I sure need them sometimes. It really is hard to keep my head in the game when I face these drastic swings on the scale. God knows I'd like to quit at times, but I want this so bad that I must keep going. It really helps when you guys say such nice things and encourage me to keep going. THANK YOU!!!

TOM is better today. At least the cramps have subsided. My scale was down a tad today, 196. I really want to get close to 190 before the next "wild swing". I am going to give it all I've got.

Susie- A few rings will not wreck your whole day. Good for getting right back on track. That is something I'm sure has gotten us all in the past. Getting off track and staying off. But we are learning how to get over that blip and move on. Way too much rain here. I feel the need to build an ark.

Ward- GOOD RUN!!! Kelly and I did a little running tonight. We alternated walking a lap, then jogging a lap. On the last jog lap I said, let's sprint. We ran, as fast as we could anyway. That was kind of fun.

Kelly- See you can be a runner. I think we both need more of that pure cardio workout. We should do it more often.

Hello,

I am doing well. Food and exercise are on track. I have scaled back the exercise intensity a bit; I'm looking for more ways to work out without jarring my body so mcuh so that my bladder doesn't get going due to the vibrations. The elliptical helps--I just can't do the ramp as high as I would like. I've been walking a lot...just on level group but it's still a good workout.

I can only dream of running some day--I don't think with IC this will ever happen.

Mindy: I'm glad you are feeling better in so many ways and that number on the scales looks good better to you.

Ward & Kelly: I'm looking forward to your posts.

Hey there. Just hanging in there today and doing my thing. I am looking for some weight loss action to happen around here. Not really seeing it yet. I feel like I have been stuck here forever. Hopefully this week something good will happen.

Susie- Good for you to keep moving. I was telling Kelly, I think we just need some pure cardio workouts without weights and stuff. An elliptical would be great. Have fun with it.

Ward- Hope you're doing okay, no binging.

Kelly- Nice workout. Tomorrow is Wed. You say you always lose on Wed. Good luck.