Hi everyone,

Miki, you have been celebrating your birthday all week...what a nice surprise from your family! You also must be so pleased with your boys school progress. I'm really planning on including tennis in my exercise rountine this spring and summer...however, whenever I play with someone they usually want to hit me with the racket because I am so bad.

Reina, that is great about your new truck. This spring I am going to start to look for a new car. My husband bought me one last year that I don't like to drive. I want a red pickup truck.

Cyan, it sounds like you are very motivated this week. To answer your question I am trying to eat about 1,200 calories a day. I eat breakfast almost everyday (whole wheat toast with jam) about 100 calories and a cup of coffee with skim milk ( I used to drink three cups with about a cup of half and half...right there I am probably losing a pound a week) lunch is a small whole wheat pita with lettuce, shredded carrots and turkey and horseradish about 200 calories and some green tea or flavored seltzer. Snack around 4 p.m. is air popped popcorn about 100 calories (I spice it up with chili powder). Dinner is usually chicken, veggies, rice or a little pasta about 300 calories. Dessert is a few chocolate gramham crackers or pudding, jello or fruit. For snacks after dinner..my worst time is red pepper hummus with raw baby carrots, rye crisp with cottage cheese, salsa with toasted pita, special k strawberry cereal, apples or berries. Sometimes I also cheat and eat a few hersery kisses or nuts. On the weekends is when I totally go off and when I eat out I have wine, french fries, my favorite Indain or Thai food but I am trying to think portion control..all but the wineLOL. Because I am eating low fat or no-fat food my fat grams tend to be low and with the whole wheat it fills me up so I can keep around 1,200 calories.

Sorry I submitted before I was finished posting.

Taiwan, I'm happy to hear that the little boy who was burned is ok. I have found getting motivated goes in cycles maybe it is hormonal.

Lady, Lisa ...please post and let us know how you are doing.

This past weekend I went out to eat a couple of times and I tried to control portion size. I am going out tonight with the hubby and kids for St. Patty's Day. Luckily I don't like corn beef or cabbage maybe I'll just have a "green" salad. This week I am still very motivated...once I have started to see the results it has helped me stay on program. I still and eeven if I am 98 pounds will always have my flab tummy ...I think I will need to find some toning exercises like Taiwan. Having kids really changes your body.

Have a great night and healthy eating! Exercise!

Hi everyone !

Had to wear my shades because of all this great sunshine we've been having the last several days. I LOVE this weather!! Makes me in a much better mood.

Today for breakfast, I had a bagel with "Brummels and Brown" strawberry spread. For lunch, I had a Subway roasted chicken sandwich with No Fat Wow chips and a Diet Coke. Up until that point, I had done well. Tonite, tho, everyone was in the mood for burgers and fries so we ordered out. I'm sure that put me way over in calories, but before that the whole family played basketball together for about 45 minutes. We finally got the goal put up that we got Josh for Christmas. Better late than never..lol

I'm trying to get myself motivated enough to get on the AirWalker for awhile tonite. I'll have no excuse the rest of the week for not exercising because I'm off the rest of the week..Hoorayyyy!
Hopefully my sis and I can work in some more tennis while the kids are out on Spring Break.

What happened to Betty?? I havent seen a post from her in forever! I thought of her tonite when Pres Bush was giving his speech because of her fiance being in the military. This is really a serious time. I just pray it all ends quickly and with as little damage as possible.

Cyan, I've never tried green tea but have been wanting to. Everything I read about it says it has great healthful benefits. What does it taste like...is it minty or what?

Taiwan, believe me, if I can play tennis, I know you can! I'm not saying I'm good at it...Im just saying I play. It is just so much fun!

Reina, congratulations on the new vehicle! What color is it? What do you want to get as your 2nd vehicle? Good to hear you stayed on track this weekend.

Debee, you're right....this bday stuff has gone on long enough! I told everyone thanks and I appreciate it but no more for me for at least 10 more years!!! Somehow, celebrating always equals Eating! I plan on losing by this Friday so gotta get serious the rest of the week. When I am on track, sounds like you and I eat pretty much the same way. I eat those same snacks you do, etc. My calories are usually around 1300.

Lady....where ya been?? Out enjoying the weather on that motorcycle I bet Come let us in on what you've been up to and how you're doing with your eating and exercise lately.

Lisa....miss you!!! I know you're very very busy, but surely you can manage to find 3 little minutes to come say hello and tell us how you're doing. I dont see how you keep up with all you do, and I know you have lots more things that have to be your priorities, but we all do really miss you and think of you often. ( I hope I didnt sound like I was trying to give you a guilt trip for not being in here lately....Just want to let you know you're genuinely missed!!)

Cjunk...where are you???? We miss you too and want to know how you've been and what you've been up to.

Annie, not sure if you ever have a chance to read in here, but just in case, I want you to know we definitely have not forgotten you and we're still just waiting for the day we sign in and find another post from you. I pray your health is getting better with each passing day.

Well, all, while I'm thinking about it, I am going to get on the Air Walker. The later I wait, the more unlikely it is that I will do it. Ya'll have a nice nite!

Miki

Well, today wasn't too bad actually. I was quite proud of myself exercising for 40min today I did 20min of kick and jab and 10min toning the buns and 10min on arms. I think I'll leave abs for tomorrow. After I finished I was dripping, literally, with sweat and my face was really red. Didn't try to go overboard, just wanted to do that much today. For dinner I had Healthy Crispy Fish and homemade frenchfries and a salad. It was good and so easy. My lunch I gotta work on. Breakfast I had 2slices whole wheat bread with 1tbs peanutbutter/1cup skim milk/1 orange. I think I am doing pretty good (though breakfast and dinner weren't in aline with the ediets menu for today.). Tomorrow we get to go out and get my new exercise piece. I am excited, I told dh I WAS getting and if he wanted to go with me that's fine, if not, he knows where I'll be

Well, went to Josiah's 9month checkup today.He is 22lbs and 24in, and very healthy. He is actually trying to walk He is uncomfortable from his shots (he cried for 30seconds) but is his normal into everything self. Gotta get him a bath and off to bed.

Night all.

Well last night I had the worst headache is the longest time...I took 4 tylenol extra strength..not all at once...and I rubbed in chinese oil into my head. I went to bed early and slept it off...i had such a good sleep..I feel so much better today.

So I didnt exercise and my calories crept up to 1616 and 55 grams of fat! Tonight I will do much better! And of course I will cycle.

Miki...I drink green tea with rose ...its amazing and very tasty. Green tea has tons of health benefits and it is supposed to help you lose weight too. Dont get the dieter's green tea...that is not good...get real green tea...they come mixed with many flavors ..like lemon, jasmine, rose and even raspberry. Anyway, they are all good...even the plain old green tea. I strongly recommend it when you need something in your belly...almost no calories if you drink it straight.

Taiwan...keep going...yay for exercising.

Debee have a great dinner out with your family. And as usual...you show such determination ...you inspire me to keep going.

I must say though...I am discourages...I cant seem to go lower than 166...I am stuck. I havent lost a pound...I dont understand. I have a scary feeling that I will have to consistenly eat at 1200 cals to lose more weight....but I dont know if I can do that...I will be so hungry. Oh I will pray on that.

Talk to you later

Cyan

Good Morning Ladies,

Cyan, doesn't a nice night's sleep make you feel so refreshed in the AM...

Taiwan, keep up the good work with the exercise! You are awesome.
Glad to hear that Josiah's checkup went well. My Alex is 4 and he only weighs 28lbs but is 39inches tall. he is so skinny I have to take in all his jeans at the waist!

Miki, doesn't that sun feel good, we had 3 days of almost 70 degrees, it was beautiful, today it is foggy and only 40 degrees.
I got the the Pewter color on my truck. Well, once we get the second car, that will be my husbands, so he can choose what he wants to get, I get my truck back. The reason we bought that one was because it is safer for my son. Tennis sounds cool, I may have to pull my rackets out and start doing that again! I have to find someone to play with me first!

Debee, your daily menu sounds yummy. Keep up the good work.

Lady and Lisa, we miss you, come back and post!

I am going to post this funny email that someone sent me.

Have a great day.

I think you will like this.......

We start to "bud" in our blouses at 9 or 10 years old only to find
anything that comes in contact with those tender, blooming buds hurts so bad it brings us to tears.

Enter the almighty, uncomfortable training bra contraption the boys in school will snap until we have calluses on our backs.

Next, we get our periods in our early to mid-teens (or sooner).
Along with those budding boobs, we now bloat, we cramp, we
get the hormone crankies, have to wear little mattresses between our legs or insert tubular, packed cotton rods in places we didn't even know we had.

Our next little rite of passage (premarital or not) is having sex for
the first time which is about as much fun as having a ramrod push your uterus through your nostrils (IF he did it right and didn't end up with his little cart before his horse), leaving us to wonder what all the fuss was about.


Then it's off to Motherhood where we learn to live on dry crackers and water for a few months so we don't spend the entire day leaning over Brother John. Of course, amazing creatures that
we are (and we are), we learn to live with the growing little angels inside us steadily kicking our innards night and day making us wonder if we're having Rosemary's Baby.

Our once flat bellies now look like we swallowed a watermelon whole and we pee our pants every time we sneeze.

When the big moment arrives, the dam in our blessed Nether Regions will invariably burst right in the middle of the mall and we'll waddle with our big cartoon feet moaning in pain all the way to the ER. Then it'shuff and puff and beg to die while the OB says, "Please stop screaming, Mrs. Hearmeroar. Calm down and push. Just one more (or 10 ) good push,"
warranting a strong, well-deserved impulse to punch the ******* (and hubby) square in the nose for making us cram a wiggling,
mushroom-headed 10lb. bowling ball through a keyhole.



After that, it's time to raise those angels only to find that when all
that "cute" wears off, the beautiful little darlings morph into
walking, jabbering, wet, gooey, snot-blowing, life-sucking little poop machines.


The teen years. Need I say more? The kids are almost grown now and we women hit our voracious sexual prime in our mid-30's to early 40's while hubby had is somewhere around his 18th birthday (which just happens to be the reason all that early hot man sex got you pregnant in the first place).

Now we hit the grand finale: "The Menopause," the Grandmother of all womanhood. It's either take the HRT and chance cancer in those now seasoned "buds" or the aforementioned Nether Regions, or sweat like a hog in July, wash your sheets and pillowcases daily and bite the head off anything that moves.

Now, you ask WHY women seem to be more spiteful than men when men get off so easy INCLUDING the icing on life's cake: Being able to pee in the woods without soaking their socks...

Now I love being a woman but "Womanhood" would make the Great Ghandi a tad crabby.

Women are the "weaker sex."? Yeah right. Bite me.

Hi ladies,


Well last night I did not have my "green" salad. We went out for St. Patty's Day and since I didn't want the shepard pie or lamb stew I got a reuben sandwich (corn beef). it was really good but I think it was probably 700 calories. After eating it I knew I overdid it, it was greasy and I felt a little sick so today I was extra good...only fruits, veggies and a little chicken for dinner.

Cyan, please do not get discouraged. You need to find some low fat things that you like to eat and experiment on making your favorite recipes with less calories...what are some of the things you like to eat...we know you love cheese, have you tried any low-fat ones that you like? Maybe we can all brainstorm and find a way to start to get you to eat about 1200 calories.

Miki, I drink green tea both hot and cold. Like cyan said it is very healthy. Turkey Hill has a green ice tea that is very good and I have also tried just regular green tea. I agree with cyan, I think the diet green tea might have some other stuff that makes you lose water weight.

Reina, my Jake is 4 and also a skinny little kid. He only eats a few things but he does like a few healthy things. By the way I loved the e-mail.

Taiwan, the homemade fries sounded great. You are an exercise queen.

Hope everyone has the willpower tonight to fight the binges.

Hi everybody...cant stay long. I spoke too soon about the nice weather...We are now under a Tornado Watch/Warning..they keep upgrading to warning then back to watch. At this moment, it's just a watch. Anyway, It has started lightening so I dont want to chance losing my computer. I do have a surge protector but dont want to chance it anyway. Calories today I think will end up around 1450 or so. Havent Airwalked yet but plan to shortly. I did however clean house ALL DAY LONG!!! My legs are really tired. I have a large area to mop and now my feet hurt. I dont care tho...at least I was home ..yeahhhh.. Well better run. I'll post more tomorrow. Bye all..

MIKI

Debee thanks so much for your encouraging words...slowly I am making my was down to 1200 cals..but it is hard.

Miki...happy to know that you are enjoying being at home...it would be nice to just have time to yourself.

Reina...keep going...and I can't wait to take a ride in your new truck

Well...last night I cycled for 25 minutes and burned off over 200 cals...dont remember the exact figure. My cal consumption was 1441 and 53 grams of fat! ....the struggle continues.

Just curious...who is coming to Chicago for Oct 2003 Meet and Great Event? We need to start giving it serious consideration soon because before we know it...its time to plan...book accomodation, plane tickets ...and hopefully get a good deal...also..get oprah tickets...So please let us know what your intentions are.

Ok Ladies...back to work...have a great OP day.

Cyan

yes yes...it's greet! Meat...opps Meet and Greet

later

Cyan

Well, my day is just about over. I have had a headache on an off since Monday. Don't know if it's because of Aunt Flo or what, but it's annoying.

We went out for breakfast (ham and egg sandwich and some strong green tea ) lunch (rice/meat sauce/spinach/fried tofu/green tea) AND dinner (McDonalds, need I say more). Reasons were because we seemed out and about all day today. THOUGH I did get my machine. Don't know what it's called so I'll try to explain it (bear with me!!) It's like a stepper, but kinda swings left to right. It does have handles to hold on to. Let me tell you, I did 20min on that and was ready to die (it said I did around 2000 steps and burned 250calories). Then I did 10min of abs toning today. Drank all 70oz of water today, but I have a feeling that wasn't enough.

Ok, question---we are supposed to exercise for a certain time at maximum heartrate right? well, if I dont' have a monitor how am I supposed to know if I am or not? Like today, my 4.5yr old came in and said "Mommy why is your face red?" and "EW!!! your all sweaty!" I was dripping, seriously, I don't remember the last time I sweated so much, my eyes were stinging at one point cause I was sweating so much. Anyway, I assume I was at maximum heartrate, but is there any particular way to tell?

Well, I am tired. Just got home from a Christian concert by Heavenly Melodies, wonderful music. Night night to all.

Good afternoon

Well I am not as motivaed as I was last week. Last night I started binging on get this...green grapes, crumbled blue cheese and walnuts! I could not stop. I was going to use it as a salad topping but it was so good I just kept eating it (I also ate popcorn, cottage cheese, hummus and chocloate cookies. All after having a chicken dinner...I don't know if I was bored, craving something like french fries or stresseed beacuse of all the war talk.

Hi,

Me again..my friend was at the door and the phone was ringing as I was writing the last post...I didn't proofread and when I type too fast there are lots of typos.

Cyan, I am still planning on going to Chicago in October...it would be great if we could do it around Columbus Day weekend if possible. Please let us know what you ate today and where you think your fat grams are coming from...somehow we have to get you down to 1,200 calories and under 40 grams of fat.

Miki, house cleaning burns lots of calories plus you get a clean house...there is a fun site called Flylady.com ...she is a woman who helps you control the clutter in your house and get an organized way of cleaning.

Taiwan, it sounds like you are really exercising..sweating and red faced. I always give up when the exercise is too hard. I admire your willpower.

Reina, are you still going to Curves three times a week? Do you have hints from your Weight watcher program?

Well today I got the kids a red tabby cat "Buttercup" from the SPCA. Jimmy my 7 year old has been wanting a pet and my husband and I discussed it last weekend. Buttercup is very sweet and good with children.

I have to go... the kids both need me "right now" ...oh the joy of being a mom!

Last night was a painful experience for me....Well...on the way home I passed by Mcdonalds so I decided to get me a big mac with fries...I ate it when I got home and boy ....did I pay the price for that....about an hour later, I was doubled over with lots of trapped gas in my intestines....it lasted well into the night and finally subsided at around midnight....it was horrible I tell you.

Somehow, I think I may be cured from wanting to eat Big Macs for awhile.

Needless to say...I did not exercise but was miserable curled up on my lazy boy.

Ok girls...have a good one today.

Debee...I usually plan good meals that are at 1200 cals and under 40 grams...the problem is....I eat after I have gone through my menu and usually stop when I reach about 1500....sigh...I am working on this...slowly but surely


Ok I am at work...gotta go

Cyan