card it was you and I that were switched! I was born and raised in So Cal and I hated the weather, I can't sleep at all when its over 70 and I feel irritable when its over 75. Now I live where it snows and I didn't turn my heater on most of the winter, some of my cosmetics froze and a pipe busted! I don't even own a coat just a hooded sweatshirt. To me the cold feels so good. But winter started getting on my nerves about February, it lasts too long.

sno that is so good with all the fruits and vegetables you eat. I admire you so much for doing that. I always wanted to be the person that has their cart full of produce instead of frozen food like I tend to have. They closed the healthfood store in my neighborhood and replaced it with a french bakery. We don't have traders joes or henrys, just wholefoods but I can't afford that place and they tempt me with their homemade pastries, donuts, eel and pizza.

I love Whole Foods tho! We have three Trader Joes, a bunch of health food stores and no Whole Foods! I used to shop there all the time when I lived in LA.

I eat frozen veg too--sometimes I just forget the fresh ones and I end up throwing them out. But yeah--I read somewhere that eating veggies is the sure fire way to lose weight and plus anti-oxidants. Plus I have been so stressed and I read somewhere that all the nutrients in fruit and veg help out for that. Actually I read that I should eat at least two cooked veggies for dinner--which I like anyway, tho since I am not on Atkins anymore I cannot have them soaked in butter--which is okay--I like some adobo and lime almost as much.

I like it cool not cold. Broke out my fuzzy slippers this morning--they were all dusty from being under my bed so I ran them through the dryer. It was nice having those toasty slippers on my feeties!

Sno- I know what you mean about the snacks keeping you from binging. If i start feeling deprived it is all over. If i have the high carb snacks in the house i will eat them until they are gone. For some reason, when i eat something that is high carb, i wind up CRAVING more carbs and it becomes a terrible cycle. So i have to make sure i have protien with each meal/snack and then i RARELY crave the sweet stuff. Like you though, i do try to have the mentality that "nothing is off limits" as long as it fits into my calories for the day. Usually if it is too naughty i will tell myself i will have it friday, which usually when friday rolls around, i have forgotten about it, thank goodness. Oh, i know what you mean about thinking about fall clothes, me too. There is this pair of bluejeans that i am dying to get back into. I have forbid myself to buy any in a bigger size...i want back in those. I am getting closer. I do have an elliptical at home. It is a Reebok brand, it was on sale for $400 something, down from high $600s, i think i bought it from income tax returns one year. I do love it though. But i really miss the gym, if i didnt work days and i had the money, i would still be going to the gym and just use the ellipitical at home on weekends or something. But it is nice to have it at home, rain or shine, i always have that ellipitical. I wouldnt buy a cheap cheap one though. Mine is not top of the line but it is not the walmart ones that look like they would fall apart after a mile either. I get the same feeling about those as you do. Plus, I just dont feel good/secure on them. Hey, for tomato sauce but no pasta, have you ever tried speghetti squash? It is delicious. My kids actually chose that for dinner over delivery pizza a week or two ago.

Card-OMG, i love your approach, "Pretty good today, although no one is up yet to annoy me"...that is hilarious, My thoughts exactly.

Well my message is being cut short, have to go break up a dispute between my little angels.

Stacy thanks for the great idea, I think spaghetti squash is in season now. I love to munch all day and watch football after church, that will be something healthy.

sno you are really inspiring me to clean up my diet.

But I had the munchies, I went to get a sugar free frozen yogurt but the machine was broke and I got a regular chocolate brownie flavor.

Just got back, hopefully only one day left on the floor that isn't even mine. At least helping out a little 85 year old lady is making me feel good. My aunt went and got pizza but since i had 3 pieces of fruit, 2 small yogurts, a sandwich and 3 pieces of pizza all day I guess I'll survive eating it. I live in Manitoba, one of the coldest places in the entire world I am sure. We get those lovely Siberian fronts moving in most of the winter. It can get to -40 here, and -40 Celcius and -40 farenheit are the same. Usually it is around -25 Celcius but I don't know what that is in Farenheit. I am becoming quite good at the healthy snacks with all the meals I eat every day. I broke down and ate a few small bags of cheezies this week (it is my salt week). And my ex is being a complete idiot. Lying to my kids and in general making my life miserable. My son was supposed to be there for the weekend but when I got home tonight he was here. His dad dropped him off early after he couldn't get him to move in with him. The man is an idiot. He did not see my kids for 4 and a half years, showed up drunk the first time he visited them after that so I wouldn't even let them go with him and then has the nerve to insinuate that I am a bad parent and they should move in with him. Sorry for the rant but that was really a low blow on his part.

So far so good this week with a few ups and downs. There is a big fire in the national forest near us and it has made it all smokey around here. I hate that--dont like breathing it. Taking it easy today.

"sno you are really inspiring me to clean up my diet."

I dont get this Nancy--yes, I am eating fruits and veggies with an ultimate goal of eating 10 servings a day (a serving is half a cup). But I have a planned junk food nearly every day! I know I may eventually have to give this up to lose but right now I am gettng away with it.

I will look for spaghetti squash--sigh!

Card I just had to look up Manitoba on Wikipedia because I didnt have any idea--like you flag! Yipe- the weather sounds pretty scandalous! It said because there are no mountains etc that the wind pretty much scours things out year round and it gets super cold with that wind chill factor. -20 for weeks in the winter. I can see why the cranky! But it must be really clean and unpopulated right? Lots of virgin forest. I like that idea.

Sorry about the ex situation. I have learned through friends and clients that you cant protect a kid from their parents--just teach them to adapt as well as possible. At least he is an ex now and not with you! Hope your son is okay--sounds like a bad day for both of you.

I was thinking about Pizza last night and was thinking about building it in for one day next week--with black olives sound good!

Okay--getting ready for weigh in tomorrow--hope you all have a great weekend.

Interesting people from all the world in our challenge. Next time you make the little table with the wts loss on it lets put our area on there, if you're comfortable. I've never traveled anywhere but I love to read about other places in the world.

Its gotten really cold here. Down to 38 last night. I've gotta get my winter clothes and my electric blanket out of storage. I'm fighting with myself not to turn on the heater yet. I have a gas heater and there's a weird chemical smell when it runs that makes me nervous. I got a space heater but I'm afraid it will catch on fire so I just end up freezing.

I decided to go to TOPS. They do a weekly weighin and have challenges. I thought it would give me a little motivation. It starts at 7am so we'll see how motivated I am when the alarm goes off tomorrow.

Sorry about the smoke sno. I hope you do all your exercising indoors until it clears up. The fire risk is so high here you can get fined if you have can of BBQ fluid on your porch.

I'm going to the gym tomorrow- its been a long time, and I don't even know what I'm going to do there. Try to work up my nerve to try the elliptical again. Everyone seems to really like that.

Sorry I'm writing away like this is my personal journal.

Good morning ladies, on my weekly weigh in, i am down 3.8 this week. I changed my ticker friday, since that is my official weigh in day, so i am still at 10 pounds from the start of this challenge. Unfortunately this morning i stepped on the evil scale and I am up 5 pounds! I cheated friday, but i always cheat on fridays, the rest of the weekend i did my exercise and ate within my range...so what gives. Is this all because i didnt do much in the way of water? Geeze. It has to be water weight, one icecream cannot cause 5 pounds, my mind knows this...it is just convincing my emotions that is the problem. Hopefully i can drink like a fish today and be down SEVERAL pounds tomorrow. I have done really well with cardio here lately but i think i have been slacking in the weight training department. Maybe pilates for the upper body tonight, then follow that up with 30 minutes on the ellipitical.

Went grocery shopping and bought some different stuff, to keep me from feeling in a rut. Lots of shrimp, porl loin, lean steak, and even lobster tails. Stuff that i can mostly grill and keep healthy but feel like i am splurging. The grocery bill was a bit more than usual but it was nice to buy some meats other than chicken breast.

NAW-Hope TOPS works out for you. Definately try the ellipitical. You can do it. S The first 2-3 minutes are the hardest, after that your body will adjust. That is how it is for me anyway. When i get on mine, after the first minute, i think NO WAY can i do this for 29 more minutes...just keep pushing at it, it will get easier if you can get your mind occupied. That is why i have one at home and watch my 30 minute movies. tart off small. Tell yourself you will just do 10 minutes.

SNO-That is terrible about the forest fires in your area. I hate seeing that stuff on the news. So much destruction, it really bothers me. I imagine the air quality is suffering too. Maybe you can break out some old videos and bring that exercise in doors. Let me know if you like the speghetti squash, i bet you will like it more than you think, i know i did. If you have any questions about cooking it, give me a yell.

Card-I am so sorry about the ex problem. That would drive you crazy with frustration. Just let your kids know you are available if they need to talk and do what you can to reassure them. I would also try to sit down with them and explain, without being accusitory, that "dad has issues".

Ok ladies, back to work for me.

hi, i am busy this morning so i didn't have a chance to read back over the weekend. i hope you are all doing well.

i have been doing good at this so far, i think. i have been eating breakfast (yogurt and with granola mixed in), i have been avoiding candy which now that i have been for a couple weeks it is much easier. i did go out friday night and i had a couple beers but i am not that worried about it.

i weighed myself last night and i am at 184 pounds, so i am down 6 pounds. that is 2 pounds a week so i am on track for new years.

Good Morning everyone! There was alot of posting going on this weekend. We had a great time on our trip to Houston. I was doing great with my eating until my friend's husband wanted to stop and eat for dinner. I order a grilled chicken sandwich. It sounded healthy, but it was a different story and I ate it. It had melted cheese and bacon along with fries. Oh well we walked alot that day I eaten good earlier in the day. I think I do deserve to have one guiltless meal a week. It couldn't have been that bad because I am down 1lb. this morning .

I don't know what it is but after about 3 weeks of eating healthy and exercising I start to slip. I don't know if I am over confident or I just am bored, but sometime I will miss a workout or have some candy. So this week I am going to have to watch myself and record everything I eat. The gym is going to be my best friend and I am not going to miss a workout. If I can make it through this week it will be an accomplishment. I did make it to the grocery store to get my fruits and veggies for the week. It always helps if I have the healthy stuff on on had.

By the way what does everyone thing about no eating spinach? I am really upset because that is a staple for me. I put a little in my egg white omelet, sandwiches, soups, and salads. Also on the news this morning there was a segment about how this could happen to all salad greens if more controls are not put into place. How are we suppose to eat healthy if the food isn't healthy? I guess I will be buying the frozen precooked spinach for now.

Hi all--I drank a ton of water yesterday to make sure I was not bloated for todays weigh-in. Anyway I am down another three--so I am one pound ahead of my 2 lbs per week goal. Yayy! since next week it the beginning of my usual PMS cycle, I need the head start!

A friend who lost weight gave me a bunch of her clothes the other day. some are a little tight so it gives me motivation to lose--as well as fitting into my fall clothes.

MY goal this week is to keep up exericise--not sure if I will do much today because it is still very smoky here--I have the aircon in the bedroom which seems to filter out most of the gunk--maybe I will take my laptop in there and do an exercise dvd!

Hi all!!! It's been a few days. I had to travel to Phoenix for work last week - I didn't eat great the whole time, but I did make time for a 40 minute run. Saturday was very challenging. I was tired from my travel, and I had to get up early for my DD's soccer game. Then we had a house warming party for my DH's niece. Sunday was great. I started the Fat Smash diet and I ran for 40 minutes. I also did about 3 hours of house cleaning (that had to burn some calories - I was sweating like crazy).

I weighed in yesterday at 183.6. I know that I went up to almost my starting weight, but I will bounce back.

I will check in alittle bit later.

I forgot to reply to people--


Nancy--let us know about TOPS--I have thought about going but am not too social right now. I didnt like WW too much. BTW--if you have a weight goal, go ahead and put it on the list--I dont remember! And--I like you posting a lot--it helps me! Use this as your journal if you want!

Stacy--there is no way one icecream caused weight gain--probably water weight--or a funky scale. I have found my weight doesnt yo-yo so much now that I drink 128 oz of water a day! Also you exercise a lot and I have found that sometimes makes the scale waver all over. Youy are doing great!

Dolly--good job--I know I used to do the same thing--do great for a few weeks and then mess up. Now I mess up all through! Oh well as long as the scale is moving! Sorry about the spinach but people are really really sick--maybe you could grow your own!

CH--good for you for keeping up with the exercise--you will probably drop a ton on Fat Smash! Tell me exactly what you are supposed to eat--I am curious about this plan.

CH-------will lose 30
Stacy----will lose 32--10 down--22 to go!
card-----will lose 20--4 down--16 to go!
trob ---- will lose 30-3 down--27 to go
Sno------will lose 36--8 down--28 to go! from Santa Barbara.
Nawchem-will change behaviors----down 3!
lachona---will lose 40--10 down--30 to go!
Chaarli----will lose 20
Dollypie---will lose 30--8 down--22 to go!
Whirleygirl-will lose 25
Bertine----will lose 25--6 down--19 to go!

I removed a few who had not posted for a while--if you arent on the list please put yourself on, your goals and your progress so far including NSV!

Hi everyone,
Well I am jumping in head first today. I'm kinda bummed because I got on the scale and I put on 2 lbs over the weekend so now I gotta lose 27 lbs, but oh well I can do it. I'm off to a pretty good start today, I've already been to workout so now I just need to make sure I eat good for the rest of the day. Hope everyone is off to a good start to their week, good luck.