Renee-Gardening and working the horses burns a lot of calories too. You don't need an exercise routine when you are already doing lots of manual labor every day. I think an exercise routine is more for the folks who don't have any manual labor, and sit around at desk jobs all day or in front of the TV. They are the ones that need to get up and have some type of exercise routine. Natural hunger pains are suppose to be feed. It is the other ones that you need to avoid such as psychological or boredom.

I walked this morning and did pretty good controlling my food portions today. It will be a slow process, but I will eventually get there.

Renee-what are you growing in your garden? Growing up, I use to have rows and rows of cucumbers to harvest for pickles in the summer. That was hard on my back and tough on my legs, but it did keep my leg muscles firm and it did burn a lot of calories while tugging sacks of cucumbers around.

I have 2 freezers that I fill for the winter and I grow stringbeans, carrots, beets, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, broccoli, peppers, swiss chard, spinach, brussel sprouts, radishes, lettuce, asparagus, rhubarb and assorted herbs. I love to be outside and am blessed to be a stay at home spouse. I had back surgery a few years ago and have to watch how I lift and bend, but Advil is my friend and I just take my time when I plant and harvest.

Oh my goodness! You do have your hands full of work there. Sounds like you enjoy it though. Vegetables right from your own garden are the best. I admire your dedication.

Still sticking to my diet, and did my walk this morning. I hope to see some progress on the scale this weekend.

Corrina, do you live in town or out in the country? Do you ever see kangaroos or koala bears? Hope your scale goes in the right direction this week!

Renee,

I live in the center of Australia in the outback. Actually, I live in a small town. I do see Kangaroo's every weekend when I go out for a bush walk with my dog. I have seen as few as 1 and as high as 15 during my walk. There are big red ones, medium size gray ones which are called Euros, and small ones called Rock Wallabies.

My scale is moving in the right direction, but I am waiting to officially check it this weekend and post it then.

How are you doing?

I am having a good week, but we'll see what the scale says on Saturday I have a horse show on Sunday and I run the buffet lunch for it....very tempting with all the different food. Have a good day!

Yikes a buffet. Hope you have the will power. I wouldn't be able to refrain from trying a bit of everything.

Well, my scale seems to be stuck I really need to stay more focused on my portions....hope everyone has a great weekend!

Hey Renee I know you can do it! Your ticker shows you lost 8 lbs so far, so I know you have been disciplined enough to make that happen. Is there something else that you can change to make it happen? You suggested portion size, that's a good start. How often do you eat meals or snacks?

I did get my ticker to go down 2 lbs. Yeah! I think I am going to try not eating after 6PM. How late in the evenings do you eat? Now I want you to join me on that and get yours moving too. We can do this together. It will happen. Come on Renee, lets make those pounds disappear!!

Thanks Corinna...I needed the pep talk!!!! I usually eat dinner around 6 pm, then I start to get hungry around 9 an have a snack of crackers. I guess I should cut out the late night snack...we can do this!

Hi Renee, how have you been doing on avoiding those late night snacks?

I haven't been doing to good about my diet these last few days. Too much food around me to avoid. Friends dropping pieces of cake off on my desk, just trying to be friendly, but it takes it toll on me. I think I will just have to have a polite talk with them all so they know my future diet goal and help me on that effort. I like to remain quiet about some things, but I think I will need their support on this one in order to get ahead. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings along the way.

Corinna, I would let your co-workers know you are watching what you eat. I have a sweet tooth, so it's better for me if I don't have any in the house. I am doing good this week....pretty soon I will have fresh veggies from the garden....yum!

Yum, fresh veggies. What's your favorite? Mine is spinach. I love spinach.

Did fine today eating. I hope tomorrow will go well too. It will be hard with a Cancer fund raiser with lots of goodies. I will focus in on drinking the tea though.

Gosh, it's hard to pick one favorite veggie....i guess it would be asparagus. I love to cook vegetables on the grill with a vinaigrette dressing. Now I'm making myself hungry
Good luck with the Cancer fund raiser....I had a scare a few years ago. They have made a lot of progress, hopefully someday they will find a cure.

Hi Renee,

Tomorrow is my weigh in. I hope the scale numbers drop or stays the same. It won't be long now.

How did your week go for you?