Okay ladies, I'm back from the gym and guess what. . . I did the level 8 tonight. It was a little tough but really not that bad. I think I know why last night was so hard. . . I hopped on the same stairclimber tonight as last time and was huffing and puffing at the 2nd bar. I knew there was no way I should be so out of breath already so I put my thinking cap on and realized the resistance on the steps was going in and out. I was going MUCH faster than I should have been.

I hopped over to another machine and pulled level 8 perfectly. It was the right amount of difficulty. So, that makes me feel better about yesterday when I thought I was going to die. They ended up putting an out of order sign up on the other one.

Also, stinky girl came by and all of the stairmasters were in use. She went in did weights and STARED at us the entire time. The second my fiance climbed down from his machine she was already clmbing up on it. I mean, he wasn't even a foot away from it when she hopped on. She has a serious addiction to that thing. My fiance commented earlier about how ripped she was when she was doing a weight machine. You know, good for her that she works out so hard. I just wish she didn't smell so bad. I really really think it's because she's working out too much and is burning her muscle. I REALLY think that.

Anyway, my catfish is in the oven. I have budgeted for the catfish and a cup of steamed veggies. That's it for the night because I had a grande chai tea at work today as a treat. I should be fine, though. If I get into binge trouble I'll hop on here and do some personals.

For now I'm going to go log my minutes. You know, I think it would be fun if we had a blue team specific challenge as well. Is anyone with me? I love Rhonda's daily questions.

Uuuugh, that is such a bummer and so unfair. I'm really sorry. I'd write that website a little note! Jackals.

YES! Jackals! Perfect description. They assumed that a serving was half a sandwich. Which at 400 cals for a whole sandwich, a half is all anyone really needs. It was tasty with my cup of french onion soup with no croutons. I would have skipped the soup if I had better information, though.

I have rebounded and made peace with my lost bowl of Cinna-Raisin Crunch. I can eat a few cups of air-popped corn and save the cereal for breakfast.

Amber--I am all for a blue team challenge...and I love the daily questions as well. Helps with team unity I think....maybe none of us will drop out or disappear.

They're Pembroke Welsh Corgis...just like the dogs that the Queen has! They're good little herding dogs with stubby legs and no tail.

Jasper. Franny, my corgi in the avatar, is named after Francis Marion, a South Carolina Revolutionary War hero. I figured I'd stick with the theme and name the new corgi after William Jasper who served under Francis Marion. I'm a bit of a history nerd.

Hi everyone, hope you are all having a great day!!! GO BLUE TEAM!

Okay, so I had a treat today : a decaf skim milk latte. Does anyone know where I can find out how many extra calories that was??

I don't want to use fitday (i've tried and it's just so time consuming), but are there any online calorie information website out there that you use??

Thanks,
Ginger

you can probably find that, or a close enough equivalent to it, on the starbucks website. my one treat there is a fat free hot chocolate, no whipped cream, and it's right there on the webbie.

Not sure who coined this one: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels", but I've changed it to: "Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels."

I need some motivation. Im slipping. I need to get myself lined out!!!

Okay, I decided today to finally ponder the question of why I am fat. I came to no sound conclusions but the thought process was really interesting. I discovered two things. The first is that it is a good thing I am/was fat or I would never even try to live healthy. If junk food and such didn't show up in such an obvious way (my gigantic body!), I would certainly not be motivated to change my ways. I would be "skinny fat" and perfectly content with that and the health problems that accompany an unhealthy lifestyle, fat or thin. So, I guess in some odd way I am grateful that I'm fat because it is the primary motivation for living a healthy lifestyle. The second issue that I stumbled upon is my tendency to hide whatever I do. I KNOW I have goldfish syndrome really bad. I am constantly SURE that everyone is talking about/looking at/critiquing and judging me (though rationally I know I need to just get over myself because nobody cares one iota what I am doing). When I was fat it was appropriate to hide what I was doing. Well, not appropriate but at least my behavior was reasonably related to my weight. I hid when I binged, I was/am completely uncomfortable eating in front of people, I wouldn't be caught dead eating junk food in front of people, etc. Now, I am not so fat but I still hide. I run alot, but always on secluded trails. I have this fear that if I was running in public somebody would certainly moo at me or something like that. And even more odd than exercising out of view, I hide my healthy eating the same way I hid my junk eating. I'm embarassed to shop at the really healthy stores like whole foods because I am not small and I figure everyone will think I am starting a diet, etc. etc. etc. I imagine it all stems from being totally self conscious, so the question then becomes why am I so gosh darn self conscious. So, I'm back at the start and I have a feeling the answer to my fat & self conscious question will be very similar to one another, but I am stumped. I'll keep thinking.

Alana Jo, Stop! Stop whatever it is you are doing. I can't come up with any profound motivation at the moment, but hopefully someone can chime in with just the right words. But on a side note, congrats on losing 66 pounds so far! I'm off to go peek at your progress pics.

Still haven't exercised yet...I still have time. I've been watching tennis--like I couldn't do that and exercise at the same time.

onthetee--I loathe this time of year at the gym. Like Mom2 said March is usually when it clears up

sportmom--love American Idol. Haven't been able to watch it bc of TBL and work. I can't tolerate watching it until Hollywood week myself

Gotta go exercise!

Good Evening All
My younger daughter is turning 3 tomorrow so this week has been a bit crazy. We had her bday party tonight and GO BLUE GO parked me in front of the veggie tray I made instead of having cake... after 3 hours with a bunch of hyper 3 year olds I also talked myself into a Perrier instead of the glass of red wine I was desperately craving. So my first week of the gym has had me there 3 times and I'm hungry to go again tomorrow. Once this bday week is over I'll be able to check in more often but I've been frantically trying to keep up with all of you and the frantic pace of postings.
Great job on everyone resisting the urges, confessing the cravings and getting those bodies moving. Look foward to seeing how we all do with the first big weigh in..
GO BLUE GO!!!

What part of you is slipping? Food, exercise, both? If you're lacking motivation, remember, you're worth it. And if that doesn't work... remember you're not just getting healthy for yourself but for your family too. I hope this helps a little bit.



I lost .5 pounds, bringing me to 169.5. I was hoping for a larger loss, but this is the first time I've been in the 160's since July so I'll take it.

I'll be catching up on the thread now! Happy losing blue team!

Hey guys - you have all been chatty - no personals sorry! Carpet didnt come yesterday and it came this morning!!!!!It was meant to be here on MONDAY! I go away tomorrow morning so I am leaving my house behind upside down - I dont want to be thinking whilst I am away about how much I have to do when I get back home but in reality - IT IS LOOMING OVER ME!!! URGHHH! So this is a quick pop in hope everyone is on track - thank you for the warnings about take away food esp. Mcd's I am feeling so rushed today that take away was an option - no I am just going to do a salad!!!!! Plus I might fit in a scrumpy dessert and still be on track!

If I dont have time to pop in later tonight - take care everyone and see you in a week! Please prayer for me whilst I am away that I stay focused!