Amanda, it's so good to see you here!!! I hope you enjoy the challenge this time around, they're alot of fun! I'm usually on Red so will keep my fingers crossed you get on there! Wonderful to see you're doing so well already, and I have no doubts that those pretty lil undies will be yours!!!

Well I thought weekends were slower . . .

Jaime - thanks for your sweet nod in my direction, it's nice to be appreciated in this small area.

Sonja - Glad to make your re-entry a pleasant one. I see that slim-armed size 12 girl on a Honda Shadow on the not-so-far horizon.

Zinke - I really like Sonja's idea about gifting toward your gym or gym membership - wish I'd thought of it. I think it's a winner idea.

Tawny - here's my best wishes on your family challenge. Hey, $500 even might get you closer to moving to Vegas - or at least going there to spend it, eh?

Amanda - I'm not a tat person either, but i really like your idea about undies, now there's something I could dig. Thanks for the notion.

Tara - so sorry about your sinus infection/cold - but hopefully this means you will be feeling better by the time the challenge starts. (that's the best I could think of - I know you're miserable - take care).

Enygirl - thanks for your encouragement on the elliptical. It was actually Kelly and Amy who indirectly influenced me - they would talk about how much they missed theirs when they were being repaired/replaced. One of us, missing a piece of exercise equipment??? I had to find out what was up. It's working - my legs feel it, but my weak knee doesn't mind the workout.

I'm including a picture of my harvest - which is not nearly a quarter of it. We've been eating a lot of it, the lettuce is now all gone (I didn't plant another season's worth darn it) and there is a whole lot more garlic, onions, tomatoes, carrots, beets, lemon cucumbers, peppers and squash (big surprise). I'm hoping to add soy beans next year. I also have two more kinds of potatoes to reap (red and yukon). Guess I better give the air waves to someone else now - talk to you all soon.

Dora

Wow, Dora--What a great garden you have! That is so awesome! I bet you are a wonderful cook as well. Do you can or freeze a lot of it?

I wish I had the space for all that (and the time). I just grow tomatoes and peppers and a lot of herbs. I've also done zucchini, and asparagus, back in Illinois. Out here in CA, I do have some trees, an orange, lemon, lime, avocado, and pomegranate--all at this new house I just bought. I have been learning to use them in recipes. But these yards are so small, compared to where I came from. Ours is actually one of the bigger yards in this area--some people have practically no yard at all....

Dora - I can't wait until I have a house and I can have a garden, even if it's just a little bitty one =)! Food looks great!

I have a small garden as well but we have had alot of veggies out of it. I had squash really early and its still coming in. We had tomatoes but those are done for now..but do have blooms again..so maybe some oct tomatoes. Frost is normal around the middle of oct here. Hopefully we dont have an early one but it sure is cool for this time of aug. ( i love it)
Hubby came in with me a vase of my suprise lillies he cut..I am in another room and can smell them. He also wrote on the memo board that he is proud of me!! Made my day!!!!!
I am pumped about our next challenge. I so want to be at 225 when my granddaughter is born in late oct. Today starts weight lifting back..bet im sore tommorow after taking so much of the summer off from it.
hugs to all

Hey Losers!

Anna, likenoother, Jaime and other losers, way to go on the losses. Jaime - holy crap a 12?? That's awesome! Jo - Size 6 - gah just gah.

Dora - um where ya live? I know a garden I need to raid.

Tawny - How cool that your family is getting involved. Man if I was racing against mine it would be an all out blood match, too competitive are we!

dgramie - oh what a great goal! Congrats on the upcoming baby!

mollymom - I'm so jealous! I want a scooter! I've seen a lot more lately on the roads. There's a 60+ year old that rides her hot pink one up my street, she makes me laugh every time I see her she's just so happy.

I need the challenge to start! With vacation and travel I'm up 3lbs from challenge end, hoping it's partially related to TOM that's around the corner, we'll see. I'm off to Atlanta tonight and after Thursday can be back to my normal working out and eating schedule! I'm very excited about all the vegan options in Atlanta though (well compared to Charlotte!) I'm just hoping this doesn't make the scale go up too much more!

Just made this up this morning....good for you and very filling. perfect for before a workout! (put the recipe into dailyplate and it gave me the nutrient info).

Very Strawberry Smoothie

Ingredients:
1 cup 2% Reduced Fat Milk
1.5 cups Whole Strawberries - Frozen
6oz container Thick And Creamy Lowfat Yogurt Strawberry
1 teaspoon White Sugar
.5 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Instructions:
Put all ingredients into blender, cover with lid. Blend until smooth. Makes appx 3 cups = 2 servings.

Nutrition Facts
Recipe Serves 2 people (1.5 cup serving size)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amount per Serving
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Calories 196 Calories from Fat 32
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 3.44g ~~~ 5%
Saturated Fat 2.06g ~~~ 10%
Cholesterol 15.63mg ~~~ 5%
Sodium 103.75mg ~~~ 4%
Potassium 258.75mg ~~~ 7%
Total Carbohydrate 34.13g ~~~ 11%
Dietary Fiber 2.25g ~~~ 9%
Sugars 29.5g
Protein 6.63g ~~~ 13%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vitamin A 10.63%
Vitamin C 69.5%
Calcium 27.75%
Iron 3%
Vitamin D 20%
Vitamin E 25%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 15.8%
Carbs 69.7%
Protein 13.5%

I am sure my family would help gift the cost of membership. The real problem now lies in the fact that there is nothing in the podunk village/town where the kids will be at. My gym is 35 miles away from the preschool. I'm thinking I can make up some sort of TBL workout like Bob and Jillian do when they take away the gym. I have my swiss ball, some stretchy bands, this lunge bar thing I bought on clearance and never used, and a playground full of equipment at the nearby park. I am sure I can come up with something. I just need to stick with it and not get sidetracked. Luckily the town is so small there won't be much else for me to do if I tried. There is only one very small grocery store, the library doesn't even open until 2 pm except for one day when it opens at 10am. The Ben Franklin doesn't open until 10am either I don't think.

I'm gonna look at this as a positive thing. I've found myself a few times in the last two months blowing off my gym visits in exchange for browsing Walmart or running errands. I won't have anything else to do BUT exercise.

And for some reason Armywife your smoothie recipe reminds me I need to get back to my steel cut oats. I'm gonna go get stuff out now and leave it on the counter so I remember to put it together before bedtime. Thanks

Dora, your harvest looks wonderful. Everything looks beautiful and so fresh.

Fat Chick Be Gone, I think I need to come with you when you go raid Dora's place. Those veggies look too good to resist.


Army Wife, that smoothie recipe looks delish. I copied it down to try, one day.

Just driving by to say a quick hi and I hope that everyone is having a great weekend.

Mandy - great smoothie!

Hi all - I have been doing great avoiding treats and fries this week. I will continue that this week as well. I hope to finally complete c25k week3 (I have been working on it for over a month). I am on my way to my PRE challenge goal of 159 (about 162 ish this morning).
GOOD LUCK THIS WEEK GIRLS!

Well hello again . . .

Just got back from reinforcing the fence to my garden. Seems a vegan wench and a gal in a Cubs t-shirt were scaling over the old one. And I thought Oregon was hard on gardeners because of the deer!!!

Seriously, though, thanks for your compliments on the garden. It's been both hard work and a joy. And yes, I will be both canning and freezing as well as pickling and plain ol' cookin'. Though I am a good cook, I don't choose to cook if I can get out of it. DH is a great help, but now that I'm eating MUCH healthier, I must get in that kitchen and rattle those pots and pans.

Mod - I'd love to be able to grow citrus and avocados. There's always a silver lining wherever you are.

Dgramie - your lillies sound wonderful - I'm a scent-focused flower gardener. It's great too you have your next goal set - that's half the battle really - see you at 225!

Heather - your recipes look yummy - hang in there - the challenge is just around the corner. Set yourself a pre-challenge goal and tell us about it here - that should help, no? You're just an inch taller than I am, but we're about at the same weight with the same goal. I'm watchin' your back - and you can kick mine if I start slippin' too, k?

Zinke - you've got the right attitude, saying you've got nothing else to do BUT exercise. Perfect.

Vix - You're doing so good while we're on hiatus. I'm excited for you!!! I'm hoping the trials in your life are smoothing over too.

Well, I'll be out in the community today (Monday) seeing my patients, so I might not check in 'til Tuesday, but til then . . . hold onto your dreams and make them your new reality.


Dora

Hi Friends,

Today is a re-start day for me. The last week has not been a good one for me. I'm still battling this cold/sinus thing and it's kinda wearing me down. I've been turning to the food. Guess what? It doesn't help! The girls went back to school today and life will be a bit more structured. This is good for me and for staying on-plan.

Hope everyone has a great on-plan day.

Uh-Oh! Busted! I told the Vegan Wench that we needed to wait until it was a little later... *Ripped my Cubs shirt, too.*

Feel better, Girly Girl.

Shouldn't be too busy a day, today. I have my usual stuff to do, then I think I will see how much knitting I can get done. I really want to finish this dish towel in the next couple of days, if I can. (I don't knit fast...)

Have a great day, everyone. I'll talk to you later.

New around here and decided I should pop in and say hi Saw this challenge last week and think it will be perfect to get right back on track so I'm excited for it to get started! Cant wait to get to know everyone!