I lost 3.5 lbs this week, total of 8 lbs. since Jan. 1 2002.

I couldn't sleep all night because I knew I was going to weigh in today, I have to get more of a life

My Bob Greene book arrived, haven't looked through it though.

Did we lose some posts on this thread?

Have a good Tuesday Ledom, Alice and Shebacat.

That's fantastic losing 8 lb. since Jan. 1. You must feel really great. That is incentive enough to keep on going!! Do you have mini goals? If you do, after you reach that mini goal you should go out and buy something special, do something special for yourself, or both. You deserve it.

ledom~I did my walk aerobic tape yesterday. No problems other than somebody who will remain nameless started attacking my feet My leg feels good. I've decided for the time being only to do the tape every other day because I don't want to do too much too soon.

Hello Shebacat!

Take car and enjoy the day.

What encouraging, happy posts from you two today. Judi, that is simply fantastic that you are doing so well. Alice, I am w/ you 100% on taking a slow approach. I think that must be the #1 reason people quit exercising, they try to do too much too soon and get discouraged.

I, too am doing well. Second morning of getting my workout in. I have decided that I am one those people that if it isn't done by 7, it isn't going to get done. A morning exerciser another words. Food has been good too. I had to exercise restraint last night to keep from eating after my last mini-meal, but I was successful.

So, let's keep the ball rolling. I'll be hopping on the scale any day now!

I walked for hours in the mall today, literally...how come when I am shoppng I can walk for hours and can't do 20 min. on the treadmill? It was fun though. I did some shopping.

I figured out how long it will take me to lose what I want if I lose 1 lb a week. TWO YEARS and a couple of months!!! AURGHHHHHHHHHHHH! I will just have to enjoy myself at whatever size as long as it is on the way DOWN, otherwise it is JUST too discouraging.

We had a bit of snow in the night, but by noon it was gone. It is nice to see the sun.

It was good to read both of your posts and it sounds like we have got the year off to a good start.

We had snow yesterday. It was only about a half inch or so, just enough to have to shovel the pathway.

I got my cholesterol test back yesterday, it has gone up. So...I think I have to rethink my eating habits. Since I had such good luck with the cholesterol numbers when I was Somersizing I think I will go back to that, which is lower carb eating.

judi~I think the reason you are able to walk hrs. in the mall is that you have different things to look at and it's not as boring. I have a friend who power walks the mall for an hour. I wish we lived near each other so that I could walk with her. If you can, just block out how long it will take you to get to your goal weight. Just focus on eating healthy and exercising and the added bonus will be weight loss.

ledom~I'm with you about if something is not done by a certain time it doesn't get done. I am that way with exercise too. Have you hopped on the scale yet?

I'm off to meet a friend for lunch and some shopping. Both of us need new bed sheets so we'll see what we can find.
Take care.

You know it is the darndest thing! I haven't weighed out of FEAR of what I might have done to myself over Xmas. I guess I want to know I won't be disappointed or disheartened about what the scale says. And yet, I think I may not have done too bad. I have been back to work for 3 days and every day I have gotten compliments about how good I look, how much weight I have lost, etc. I did blow dry and curl my hair instead of my usual natural look. Could that be it? I know I haven't LOST weight, or am pretty sure. My clothes are fitting about the same. Over the last 4 years, really since I have been posting on 3fc, I have lost about 50 lbs. - some of it more than once - but I have in the end mananged to keep that off. The one person that went on and on doesn't see me very often. I think that I have just slowly gotten in better shape and for some reason, maybe new hair or new clothes or toning, people have started to notice. I LOVE IT!

judi, what can you do instead of treadmilling? I think Alice is right, I think that treadmill bores you! Have you looked at what BG says about exercise? I learned from that and if you haven't been exercising it looks like a good way to break in to it. Good luck with that aspect because I think once you figure that out it is going to make all the difference.

OK, enough chit chat for now. I should be WORKING!!!!

Alice, I have a mini goal of my first 10%, but you are right I have to focus on just getting healthy. I think the feeling of being in control of my eating is going to give me a big boost.

Ledom, you have lost 50 lbs. on PMD. That is so GREAT plus it must look like more because you are fit and toned from all your kayaking and exercising. Give yourself a pat on the back.

Alice, how is your leg feeling? Did Lacee's allergies clear up? I bought a big bottle of dog breath mints. 60 tablets for 24.95 and Mr. Nibs isn't sure if he likes them at 24.95 a bottle I will have to eat them if he doesn't). The best kind are from Trader Joes but the nearest Trader Joes to us is in SeaTac. What a pooch!

Tomorrow I am going for a pedicure and leg wax, do something nice for myself.

My D and Bentley are coming to stay on the weekend. It will be nice.

Had a good day food wise. I had a lot of points left so tonight I had PB/French Bread and big orange...nice to sit and nosh in front of the tv. guilt free.

How was shopping Alice? It is so hard for me to keep all the diets straight, low carbs though. I am constantly struggling to keep those under control.

judi, I have lost about 30 lbs. on PMD, the first 20? I am not sure I even remember - just cutting calories I think. But the toning really came home to me this week. I have an outfit that I bought at Lane Bryant about 2 years ago when I breifly weighed just under what I weigh now,(I went on to gain about 30 of those lbs. back.) Anyway, it is a skirt, shell, and overblouse. The skirt and shell are stretchy knit and size whatever, they only had the overblouse in a 14/16. Since it didn't really have to be buttoned and was so cute I went ahead and bought it. I could button it at the top but not at the bottom. I remember trying so hard to get down enough so I could button that blouse over my stomach. Well, fastforward two years. I pulled it out of the back of the closet and wore it this week. I was amazed that it buttons all the way now and the thing is I weighed about 5 lbs. less when I last wore it. I have absolutely changed the shape of my body with exercise. I would not have believed it and am pretty amazed by it.

So, I finally weighed. I am up 2 lbs. pre christmas which indicates that I probably was way up at one time. But I can live with where I am now. I am 19 lbs. from that mini-goal of 25 lbs. I set for myself and REALLY, REALLY would like to acheive that loss this semester, by summer vacation. That is one good thing about weighing, it helps you set goals.

judi, that is such a good thing. You can sit in front of the TV and eat fun food as long as you keep track and plan it all out. My last meal of the day is usually a really good one. Last night I had roasted peanuts that I shelled and apricots. Yum, Yum.

Ledom, that is just amazing about the blouse. THAT makes me want to exercise!!

It is cold and bright here. I am going to town. I plan to take along a little legitimate snack pack, so I had better get going and prepare it...otherwise mall food will do me in point wise.

Have a great day everyone!

Ledom~That is fabulous about the blouse. That really inspires me to keep up with the exercising. The 50 lb. weight loss is so great!! The 2 lb. is really good for over the holidays. Again, I believe it was the exercise. Besides using weights, what else do you do? Doing the torso trak I can feel it in my upper and lower abs. I am sore, but it's very subtle. The shopping went well. I did not find any sheets that struck me except for one set which did not have the size I needed. Our lunch went well. I had a grilled chicken sandwich with melted cheese, I took it out of the roll and I had veggies on the side instead of french fries.

judi~My leg is feelin much..much..much better. Thank you for asking. I am able to do the walk aerobic exercise tape and it doesn't bother me at all. Lacee's allergy has cleared up nicely. She has 2 more pills to take, 1 this evening and the last tomorrow morning. She is going to be a very upset dog when she doesn't get her cookie tomorrow afternoon. I cannot go near the cabinet where the cookies are kept without her prancing into the kitchen expecting one. Has his nibs decided if he likes the breath mints? Do they really work? You must be excited about you D and Bentley coming over. I'm sure his nibs will wonder why the interloper is back

DH & I had to do some errands late this morning. We had lunch at a local Wendys and had the most delicious Oriental Chicken Salad. It had mandarian orange slices in it. It was supposed to have almonds and crispy noodles in it also, but neither one of us found any in our salads. It has been snowing lightly most of the morning and it has finally tapered off. We got about 3". Take care.

Have you noticed that the older you get, the quicker time flies. In looking back over my exercise history, I am amazed that I have actually got some years of good exercise behind me now. Amazed because up until about 8 years ago I would have been considered a non-exerciser. I DO believe a gradual building up is the secret to success. When I first started my girlfriends practically dragged me over the trails here. I'm not sure when, but at some point it became very important for me to be able to keep up with them. About 3 years ago I started buying exercise videos, I bought way too many actually. But, I ended up with a couple that I like a lot. My routine since last Sept. seems to have taken a more serious turn and this is what I do. The video I like most, The Firm Tough Tape is at the core of my workout. I do 1/2 one day and the second 1/2 the next. The tape has a great warm up that I do everyday. There is a lot of weight work and I have continued to increase my weights as I have gotten stronger. The tape does require some equipment, I use a step (not nearly as tall as they use in the video) and a barbell and dumbells. Also, after stretching and 1/2 a tape which averages about 20 minutes, I walk a mile in my neighborhood which also takes about 20 minutes and has 3 big hills. I was jogging it, but now I am powerwalking. Every third day I do a video that is all floor work concentrating on abs, hips, butt, and thighs. I shoot for 6 days a week but sometimes it is only 5. I occasionally break up this routine with a hike or a kayaking trip. On hiking and paddling days I still try to do my 1/2 tape because I think the strength training really is what keeps me toned. The cardio is what makes the scale move. I sure wish I had some magic potion to pass around that made everyone love to exercise. I haven't always loved to exercise, but now I would really miss it. It is a habit that defintely requires cultivation, but at some point it becomes something important to you and your well being. It is something I miss when I fall out of the habit and don't feel right about until I get it back, and that feeling kind of slipped up on me.

Hi ladies!

Ledom, it is very interesting to me to read your story of how you became the exerciser you are. I feel so far from both you and Alice in that area, consistent exercising is like another country to me. I was reading the Bob Greene book today and working through the first part and realize I make a lot of excuses about exercising.

Alice, glad to hear Lacee's allergy cleared up. Maybe you will have to keep on giving her a cookie at the pill time even after the pills are gone just cause she is a sweet thing! The breath pill seems to work, I think they contain mint and chloropyll (sp). He will now eat it if I dance around and make the giving of it a big production. Yes, Mr. Marley won't enjoy the weekend with Bentley. Well, he will just have to learn to be more hospitable.

What kind of sheets are you looking for Alice?

I had a wonderful time at the salon. My feet look so nice they don't even look like they belong to me. Well, they do!

My poor DH is having an awful time cooking for himself and he doesn't like to go out. I told him he'll really have to take good care of the cook he has when he comes back.

It is about 11:00 pm here and I still have 4 pts left which is about 200 calories. I don't have to eat them. No, that would just be unthinkable!

See ya there.