Good morning! Good morning!

A beautiful day here! Sorry to those going through yet another hurricane down south.

I've just finished 45 minutes of pilates. I did the usual back strengthing DVD and then tried the Ab workout. When I can do that one all the way through and be able to do all the moves as shown, that will be a huge accomplishment. But I did what I could of almost all the moves. I need to get that one on the agenda for a couple of times a week.

Because I don't have enough exercise tapes, I bought two The Firm workouts on ebay. Both for $13.50 with shipping so I don't feel guilty. OOh, and I have two more pilates tapes on the way too.

This morning, we're going over to ride the horses. I asked about my neighbor gal, Janet, but her husband said she has to take a week off because of some elective, out-patient procedure that had something to do with freezing the inside of the uterus. WELL TMI, TMI, TMI. Okey doke, tell her to call me in a week. So I plan on exercising both of them, and me, by riding in the arena. DH can watch and be part of it.

Then we're off to the boat for a couple of hours. We only have the month of October before it has to come off the water and the time during the week is getting shorter.

I might even do a bike ride late this afternoon.

Kat - Animal Control update. I did call and the lady was hesitant to leave a warning on their door because the officer didn't see it first hand. But when I explained that the people have seen it happen three times and if MY dog gets pissed off enough, he will kill one of their dogs. And I'm not breaking up a dog fight between a rottie and three cocker spaniels. Fortunately, Bear is such a sweetheart dog, he doesn't get violent and will come with me as I try to drag him away. So, she agreed to have the officer go out and leave a warning. If it happens again, she said that I definitely have a right to press charges because there is a leash law. They did have the dogs tied up last night as we walked because they were having a wedding or anniversary reception in the back yard. Let's hope they got the message. DH suggested that I find a new route but I don't have a optional route because our neighborhood is full of cul-de-sacs and very few through streets where we can get any kind of distance.

I better go get ready to go to the barn.

Have a fabulous day!

Kat: Didn't Lisa say these were pictures of her and her husband ON VACATION!!!! No wonder they are "FORBIDDEN"

Terri: I know they do that to get rid of cancer cells, so maybe she has cervical cancer. I HAD to respond since it's so rare I actually know something!!!

OH, do I still hurt!!! Kat, helping with your yard work will have to wait for a couple weeks - recuperation is needed here! I could barely get coffee made and THAT is serious !!!

Football at noon and then I plan on TRYING to exercise. Terri, how long did you do the "big a$$ green ball" before your stomach could handle pliates? I have Windsor Pilates but quit because I know I wasn't doing them correctly so I figured I should use that time on some exercise I CAN do.

Okay - I relooked at the pictures and took the dirty ones off ( ) and tried it again. Someone check to see if ya can see the one I posted. . .

Lisa

Hey girls, can't say much. Hurricane hit us today - half of our house has power! Oddly enough the "half" that has it is our bathrooms and only one bedroom. Right now I have my computer hooked up in the hallway, my room mate has his in his bathroom, and my brother is the one with the power. It really isn't fun! Nothing is open and we have no food because of our fridge.. argh!

I got really sick last night and passed out on the floor and didn't work out I might try to tonight but with lack of power it will be hard..

Supposedly we could be without power for weeks because of the past hurricanes and people already without power - we're also worried because only "half" of our apartment is out.. and the rest of the complex seems pretty okay. Oi, this hurricane season is no fun.

Hope the rest of you are doing well! Now we're going to try and scrunge up some food

It was such a lovely day. I hate that its coming to an end.

We did go out for me to ride. I rode Ginger first around the arena and then decided a spin around the hayfield. She tried to throw a small fit but this time she didn't scare me and I made her go anyway. I had learned some exercise stuff from DH's cousin's wife so I found a small incline to ride her up and down to build muscles for her and help her regain stamina. It was fun for me! I then rode Tanyah in the big area. The barrels were up and they had some tires out so I rode around that stuff for awhile. I was dying to try barrel racing except we did it mostly at a trot. I think with practice we will do pretty good. Those barrels hurt when you cut it too short. I will have a huge bruise on my shin as we cut it way to close on one and my shin took the brunt of it. But I had a blast. Geez, I was wiped out by the time I got both horses out, all the gear, brush them down, saddle them up, ride them, take the stuff off, brush them down, give them a bath, put all the stuff up, and make sure they had water. I was ready for a nap.

I wouldn't let DH rest on his laurels and off to the boat we went. We picked up sandwiches at Jason's Deli. It was so nice on the water. The sailboats were out. There were several kayakers out too. They looked like they were having fun - so I want one more than ever now. We both had a nap after our lunch. He drove while I laid down on the bench and then I drove while he snored away. So peaceful and relaxing.

I really should be doing something productive like house cleaning. I haven't done anything this weekend. Maybe I'll jump up and do some vacuuming.

Lucky - It took me at least a month before I stopped having charley horses in my abs from the ball. Now I can do 100 reps. It just takes about 3 times a week to make progress. What kind of Winsor pilates do you have? A 20 minute all over workout? A beginners? I have three individual workouts - back flexibility & strengthening; buns and thighs, and abs. I've been able to do the back and buns workouts for quite some time. The ab workout is another story. It has some very challenging moves that I'm not able to do. Like the neck pull rollup - rolling up to a sitting position with your hands behind your neck. Yeah right. Or the teasers - rolling up to a sitting V position with your legs up at a 45 degree angle. Oh yeah, not happening soon. But I do what I can and it is helping. I can actually feel hard ab muscles under the fat. I actually challenged DH to punch me in the stomach the other day. He was a little surprised - not that he punched hard in any way - but it wasn't total squishiness. Just keep working on them.

I better get this posted for Explorer crashes on me again. Have a great evening!

P.S. Tomorrow morning, returns!

Hi all,
Another hurricane watch for us. It's supposed to whirl up here tomorrow, just in time for my long commute to work. I should go tonight and hotel it,I may do that . There is too much work to do tomorrow to work from home on dial-up!
The weekend flew by, I rode around the hills on our ATV, but the fall colors aren't here quite yet but it's still warm. The Grandkids came by to help me cook Sunday dinner today. I cooked Scalloped taters and ham. Gave most of that to my son, and a roast beef in the bag for DH 's supper. Also gave some of that to my son. Salad for me tonight.
2Cute..you are correct, I do need to cook light, and I have been lightening my recipes.
Arabella's recipe for tater skins sounds tooo delicious! All of those recipes Terri posted awhile ago are printed and sitting on my kitchen desk. As I get the ingredients I try them.
LadyBug...did your phone survive? I know that feeling where you cannot go ONE MORE STEP!!!!!
Hey Chris..never fear, we all have a off the wagon day...there is always tomorrow to start over.
Um, I cant see lisa's pictures either,Thin.
Kat... I love yard work, as long as it is already done!
Barb...Hi !
Ginny.. you and your family have my prayers .
Skittle..Everyone that has had a furry friend pass away knows how you feel..

Well, have a nice week everyone.!
Rowing to work in the wake of Jeanne tomorrow.
Debra

Hey everyone

My little one and I are alone for the afternoon. She was getting really bored, so we decided to make cookies together. Now don't go getting all worried! I used the recipe Mary posted for Easy Peanut Butter Cookies. Only 3 ingredients, and no flour or dairy to worry about, so we could both enjoy them. Thanks for the recipe, Mary!

2cute, I found some info that should be fairly close to what you are looking for on the potato skins. I took it off the food dictionary in DietPower.

3 oz. potato, flesh only
85 calories
19.8 carb
1.36 dietary fiber

3 oz. potato, flesh and skin
89 calories
20.52 carb
1.95 dietary fiber

Is that what you were looking for? They didn't have it listed skin only, at least not that I could find.

I'd better get back to playing with this little girl before she gets bored again and finds something to entertain herself!

Andria

Terri: On the "huge green a$$ ball" you are talking about the pelvic tilt and pushing your butt into the ball - right? God forbid I do an exercise I don't need too!!!

I have four pilates tapes. Hmmm I never did get to back and buns because the first one was so hard -
THAT was the one!!!! I felt so deflated but you have given me hope!!!

Off to start getting those abs tightened up!

Lisa, GREAT pictures. I was a little disappointed the forbidden ones have been removed. Now I will know who to look for at the MOA. Ya know, Terri, you and I look a lot alike (if Terri still looks like the Spring Fling pics).

Well except Terri has ab muscles and I don't!!!

Lucky - I do crunches and pelvic tilts on the green *** ball. Let me know how you do with the other pilates.

to everyone else!

Terri... thanks so much for posting Lisa's and hubby's picture. You are a saint.
AND... 100 reps on the ball. You are kicking butt !!! I am impressed.

Lisa.... you are beautiful !!!! You could be a twin sister of a friend I had several years ago.
Thanks for posting the pics. They are awesome. PS .. your hubby is yummy too.
I know you probably told me.. but where in Missouri are you ??

Joanne... good to see you again. I want to warn you about cutting your hours. I don't know if you have insurance and benefits or not... but make sure you don't lose them by cutting your hours too much. Make DOUBLE sure you get to keep all of your benefits. I had an employer who failed to tell me I was a half hour short of recieveing my benefits when cutting my hours.

CD... sorry to hear of the hurricane problems you are experiencing. You better be taking care of your health. Passing out is not normal. You better get checked out.

Debra... we used to have an ATV and they are fun.

Andria.... thanks for the info. I like those counts.
I think I will use them as a treat now and then.
I will stick to substituting grilled veggies for my plate.

Lucky... if you can do ANYTHING on those big green a$$ balls .. you are doing GREAT !!!

Kat... and everyone who asked my garage sale finds. I only bought 4 things... and I did not need a single one of them. LOL

Thin.... been doing any movie counts lately? I went twice this weekend. I saw "Wimbledon" and "First Daughter". Both were cute.

Skittles... I am soooo sorry for your loss. When my last cat died in my arms I tried to go to work... but had to come home after I made the bank deposit. I could not stop crying. That cat gave me unconditional love through a VERY BAD time in my life. I think I cried for several days.

Barbg... of course shopping counts as exercise. Shopping just about kills me. LOL

Chris..... I totally could relate to needing to be "COMMITED" .

Okay ladies. I want to thank all of you for being here.
Tonight I needed to get out of myself and it was nice to have all of you to get into. LOL

Good morning!

Its Monday morning and time to get off the butt. Our challenge ends on Thursday so there's still time to lose something. Living in a hurricane is about the only acceptable excuse otherwise we have to take care of our bodies! Drink lots of water and keep the food portions down.

Lucky - I just did a "Winsor Pilates Basic" workout. I had gotten it off ebay. You might want to see if you can find a used one. She goes through seven basic moves in great detail. It does the roll-up move but not the neck pull or that V-sit thing. I was able to do all of them but it was still a good workout because of concentrating on form. Its about 30 minutes. This one would be good to do until you have developed strength and form.

I'm off to work. Have a great day!

Terri, Terri you are forcing me to point out !!! I am WAY older than you AND I haven't used my abs in 10 years!

I had to point out - doesn't look like one of the pilates moves - well, except for the laughter part!


Off to work.

Winsor Pilates
Basics
Ab
Bun & thigh
Upper Body
20 min Workout
Advanced
So, Terri, I do have the method - now to get my abs and tush to DO them.