Hey ladies... I'm only here briefly, so not going to do personals. I am exhausted. We swam today at my moms again, and had such a great time. I'm going to make another grocery list tonight before bed.... I'm amazed at how FAST we go thru fruits around here... and the salad I bought a few days ago went bad already. But I've been doing great... making good choices, and I feel good about it! Thanks for all the support!

Evening Chickies!

I've had a really good day eating and getting some exercise in. Broke the new mower in, so that was my exercise for the day. Mowed for about 1 1/2 hours and I'm still not done. Might get to it Monday evening if it's not too hot. I made a really yummy Strawberry Pie for dessert tonight. It was low fat/sugar. I'm going to make it next time with spenda, but it only had 2TB of sugar, so not too bad.

Erin...Yes you can splenda instead of sugar in the chicken dish. Great job on the bike ride. You will be going up and down those hills in no time.

Michelle...Glad to hear you are feeling better. Hope your Mother is doing better as well. I will keep her in my prayers. Love your picture of yourself.

Robbin...Great job at Applebee's. I love their WW menu. The steak and shrimp is really good! WHOO HOO on the 2 lbs loss. Looks like we both got dusted by the fairy fat mother.

Tina...AWWWww, I guess Robbin and I could share the fat fairy with you. I'll try to kick her your way. Quilting does keep my hands busy and my mouth closed. I only keep a 32 oz cup of water near me to sip on.

Shawn...Swimming is a great way to exercise and less stress on the joints, besides a good way to cool off. Bet you and your girls had fun. Be a year, before I would be caught dead in a swim suit. Look out Next summer, cause I plan on being in one.

Linda...Sorry to hear you are having puter problems. Hope it is up and running better tomorrow. You could send your cool weather my way. Hot and humid here, but we should cool off with the storms coming in tonight.

Off to a car show tomorrow morning, will try to check in later on tomorrow night. Have a nice evening and great day tomorrow.

Cheryl

LINDA...My new camera is a Kodak Easyshare C643 6.1, and we're really having some fun with it. My cousin has this same camera and every picture she sends me all turn out so good! Thank you so much for the compliment on my new picture. My mom is home now and doing so much better. My daughter and I went over to visit with her and my grandma a little earlier; my grandma flies back home to Iowa tomorrow afternoon. The doctor found out that one of her heart medications was way too high of a dose and it therefore had slowed her heart rate down really really low, and also her potassium level was too high. Her dosage has been adjusted and she's already doing much better.

CHERYL...I am feeling lots better tonight. My husband, daughter and I went out to lunch at Red Lobster and then my daughter did some summer shopping at JCPenney today. Thank you for your compliment!

TINA...My sister has stepped up now and is handling my mom's banking and personal info. I have backed away because it is affecting my health and family way too much. I still find though I'm worrying too much about my mom, but she's my mom and I just have such a hard time.

Yikes...what a hectic past couple of days...just seems like I haven't sat down at the computer for more than 2 minutes all weekend. But, I have been reading about everyone, and it seems that you are all doing great-yahoooooo!!!

Cheryl, that recipe looks excellent...looks like I have a new dish to try! Thanks for sharing...it looks delicious!

Shawn, I was at the store and saw frozen peaches, and thought I'd pick some up to try...talk about a refreshing and AWESOME treat! I may be hooked!

Michelle, after taking care of my grandmother the past 9 years, I certainly understand what you are going through with your mother. It's so hard to actually put yourself first or make time for yourself without feeling "guilty", I know...but you have to take time for yourself and take care of yourself or you are no good to her! A lesson it took me far too long to learn, unfortunately... That said, it sounds like she is doing much better, which is great news!!

Erin, I have been looking into getting a bike-you may have convinced me! I may be out peddling in no time!!! That is, if I actually remember how and still have the coordination to ride!!

Robbin, that bread sounds awesome-I will have to check it out as well...I'm not a huge breakfast person, especially during the week, but that sounds like something I could handle...

Linda-I have a cable modem, and there are times that it is slower than heck, or when they are "working on the lines" and I have no internet/email/etc...it drives me nuts!! Thank God it isn't often-I know your frustration well! Hang in there...if it is any consolation, mine seems to happen in spurts all at once, then be fine for months...

Tina, I'll be getting some of that Breyers Ice Cream...it sounds excellent! Bet it would be good with a little skim milk, blended as a mlkshake. Mmmm...even better on a warm summer night...

Not much else to report here...I finally got my new scale so I will be weighing in loater on this morning! I never had a scale before-never wanted to depress myself! But I have been doing well watching my calories and trying to get a little extra movement in, so I will be excited to see where my official "start point" ends up! I do have an idea where I was at as of a few weeks ago, so we'll see...maybe I will have some un-official good news? Hopefully...

Morning girls, I just thought I would pop in for a minute or two. I wont do personals now but will try to be back tonight.

We took the two little ones to the movies last night to see Over The Hedge and that is the cutest movie. I did really well with only two small handfulls of popcorn and snuck in my bottle of water so no soda for me. YAY. I weighed this morning and the scales are still down to 240 so I guess I did ok moving my ticker yesterday. 1 more pound and I will be in the 30's I havent been there in so long.

Well better get a move on I have a bunch of housework and yard work to do today.

Good afternoon girls! Hope ya'll are having a beautiful sunshiny day like i am. Humidity is down still and nothing but sunshine! I am planning on working in the yard today, get a little sun and accomplish something too! (i'm really starting to sound like tina now! Didn't exercise this morning, got home too late and had too much to do before we had to leave for church. I am hoping the yard work will make up for it. I am going to wait to report on scale adventures until tomorrow. Going to try to keep the focus off the numbers for a little while. I did wear a dress to church today that was tight last year and i couldn't even get on about 3 months agop and now is bordering on too big to wear. Flashes some things a little too easily!

Michelle hope the migraine has 'left the building" and leaves you alone for a while! Glad to hear a medication change was all your mom had going on at the moment. We love our parents and want them to be well but we can't make them do it for themselves either! Very frustrating for those who love them!

Robbin I have been wanting to take my kids to see "Over the Hedge" but haven't made time to do it yet. Glad to hear a positive review. HUGE CONGRATS on the 2# loss and keeping it off this morning yet! I am probably going to have to move my ticker back up tomorrow but we will see what happens in the morning, maybe i can sweat a little off today!

Linda sending some sunshine and warmth your way! : So sorry to hear about your computer problems, have you tried cussing at it a time or two, no just kidding! but a swift kick never hurts!

Tina my brother had a cart thing that hooks to the back of his bike to pull both of his kids at the same time, they would nap and he would ride. He's a sick man for sure has ridden as much as 75 miles in a day! I am going to try to get mine into the shop soon and give it a little TLC then we'll see what happens from there!

Shawn I am so jealous of the swimming! I am probably going to end up in the kids pool sometime today but would love to do some real laps. Congrats on the good choices!! It's so empowering!

Cheryl sounds like you enjoyed your new lawn mower! Glad to hear it! Okay, where's the recipie for the strawberry pie? That sounds delicious even without any details! I thought you were going to gone this weekend, and not able to log in, did you not go away or was the plan different than i understood? Glad to be hearing from you though!!!

Ryanmi Lets just say about thirty pounds ago i tried the bike and like to have broken my neck!!! I have definitley improved in the coordination department since i have been exercising more. Best thing to do is start with something and have at it!! I want to learn to rollerskate too. Got them for the kids and myself at christmas, have had them on twice since then. Very scary!! Golf umbrellas make great skate poles!

Liliann haven't heard from you in a day or so, hope your motivation is still high and you are doing well! If not don't fret too much about it, highs and lows are expected just hang in there and don't be afraid to ask for help!

Robsia, Tracey, Cassie, and Liza hope ya'll are doing well and we will hear from ya'll again soon!

Well off to discover lunch change clothes and get busy! My husband is going to try to cut the grass and will move some stuff around in HIS building so i may end up cleaning and re-arranging my garage instead of the flower bed. Moving none the less and that is a good thing! Talk to ya'll soon, have a fabulous day!!! Erin

ERIN...Thank you for your kind words! That's so great about your dress almost being too loose now! Doing yard work is hard and that is certainly considered to be good exercise!

Hi there, everybody. . . another cold and rainy day . . . not only did I have to close all the windows, the heat keeps coming on. Probably won't last much longer and then I'll be able to start complaining about how hot and humid it is, too.

Tina . . . I really envy you your strength in the face of ice cream. I've tried and I don't succeed so I just leave it at the store. Someday I hope to actually develop 'ice cream portion control'.

Shawn . . . see you later. Have a great day.

Cheryl . . . puter seems OK again today, thanks . . . looking forward to seeing your strawberry pie recipe. I've got one I'll dig out and post one of these days, too; now that you've got me thinking about it.

Michelle . . . so glad you Mother's immediate crisis has been resolved . . . now, if she'd just take her diabetes a little more seriously, you might really be able to relax. The new camera seems really great; glad you're having fun with it.

Ryanmi . . . I've got a cable modem too, and most of the time it's great, but it does have its wonky moments. Good luck with the new scale, but try not to get too addicted to it. Remember, it's only a number. It's the overall direction that counts.

Robbin . . . Great job at the movies. I love cartoons (just a big kid at heart). Hope the 30's come your way by tomorrow, girl.

Erin . . . congratulations on that great dress-related NSV. Moments like that make everything worthwhile. Much more meaningful than a number on the scale. Thanks for the effort, kiddo. I'd like to see some sun.

The day has been ticking along fine for me . . . eating right and I actually did a little bit of in-front-of-the-TV exercise. Also started working on a new cross-stitch I designed for a nephew (and about to be niece-in-law) who are getting married in September. Just a little something to go along with the cheque I know they will like (and be able to put to good use).

Here's a cute little FFF for today . . . luckily most of you are too young to remember how awful the first frozen dinners used to be . . . In the early 1950's the Swanson company discovered they had 520,000 lbs of excess turkey on their hands so they created the very first "TV Dinner" consisting of turkey with corn-bread dressing, buttered peas and sweet potatoes and packaged it in a three-compartment aluminum tray and put it in a box that looked like a TV set. They really were awful but proved extremely popular. The rest, as they say, is history.

Keep on moving and shaking, gang. Here's some to help us through. See you tomorrow.

I don't know about anyone else but I just love Linda's Food Facts.

Just popped in to say good night. I had a very long busy day and am going to get to bed early. The boss is back in town tomorrow, so I wont be here as much as this last week but will make sure to get my morning post's in.
Its a new week girls lets make the most of it.

Good morning ladies! Hope ya'll had a fantastic weekend and your week is starting out great! I started out by having to move my ticker up to 266 , too much salt yesterday and a little excess eating of triscuits and sugar free ice cream. On the good news side though, we are doing a "biggest loser" competition at church and when i weighed in there i had lost 5 pounds since last week for a total of 21 for their records. Felt good after the dress and all. Did my 2 mile on the eliptical in 14 min 45 sec this morning, 30 sec better than my last time. May not be a huge difference but made me feel good!

Linda sorry the weather will not cooperate with my instruction! We had a few showers yesterday afternoon, enough to cut my yard work shorter than i wanted but not enough to keep hubby and kids from going fishing! SO what exactly is "in front of the TV exercise"? You'll have to post a pic of the new cross stitch.

Robbin I agree on Linda's food facts, they are great! Exactly on the new week, new start! Always a little more stressful when the boss is around but I'm sure you will still have a great week.

Well thanks to hubby inviting friends over after the fishing yesterday, we didn't have supper until 9pm and didn't get to bed till 11:30, very late for me!! SO I am dragging this morning to say the least and really want to see if i can get a short nap before I have to shower and head out! Hope ya'll have a fantastic day and will see you this afternoon!

My goodness . . . where is everybody hiding this morning . . . it's usually not this quiet on a Monday morning.

Another cool and rainy morning for Nova Scotia. The forecast does say we will see a little sun later this afternoon. Hope they really mean it. I am getting tired of watching the grass grow. Been working on the cross-stitch this morning . . . doing clouds . . . so that the rainbow has someplace to spring from. I'll post a picture when it's done.

Robbin . . . Thanks a lot. Hope your day isn't too busy at work. We would miss your posts. See you when you get a chance to pop in.

Erin . . . Thank you, too and don't you worry, the www will be gone again soon. In-front-of-the-TV = any little exercise video you happen to have handy, like WATP, Yoga, Richard Simmons, etcetera.

A little 'yuckie' for today's FFF . . .
. . . Entomophagy is the scientific name for insect eating and there are over 1,400 edible insect species in the world. Most of them are lower in fat and higher in protein than chicken. Suddenly, Tofu is starting to sound a lot better to me.

Have a good day, gang. Keep moving and shaking and heading in that great downward direction. See you soon.

Well, back off my research trip-cum-holiday. The moment of truth came this morning when I stepped on the scales and, as I predicted, I had put on 4 lbs!! How come it takes weeks of effort to lose it and it goes on in a few days!!

I am hoping some of it is water as I did some drinking, and that it will come off fairly quickly. But I did do some eating of pizzas also - whoops!!

Ah well - the trip was great and I did lots of work. And it was fun too. But back to work this morning and back to the old diet also!!

Afternoon girlies!!

Shawn, swimming is so much fun and great exercise. Thanks to you I took my daughter to the public pool on friday. They had family swim between 12-1pm, so the place was practically empty. It was great. I put my daughter on one of those floating foam thingys and I swam around pushing her to get some exercise. Great job with making excellent food choices!

Cheryl, holy canoli! That's a lot of mowing! But like you said a great excercise. MMMmmm...pie sounds great! Please put you're best college football foot forward...I need that fairy fat mother ASAP! LOL!

Michelle, of course you worry about your mom...SHE'S YOUR MOM! We love them and want them to live a healthy long life. Sometimes it would be easier if they just cared about themselves as much as we do. My mom takes care of all my grandmothers affairs. My grandfathter married her when she was young..I think 16. Back then you know kids had to help out large families, so she was pulled out of school at gr. 3 to help raise kids and keep house when her mom got sick w/ TB. She doesn't have knowledge nor confidence to even try to do things on her own, so since my grandfather died my mom has stepped in. She won't have any of the other 5 kids at all. I watch how stressful this is on my mom and I wish I could take some of the load because I worry about her...she isn't taking care of herself very well. When I try to talk her into getting grandmother a little more independant she breaks down and says my grandfather asked her to take care of her on his dying bed. And that's all she hears. And it isn't a easy task because he spoiled her! LOL! He used to get up in the mornings and bring her her breakfast, her pills needed and a warm facecloth to her while in bed. Try keeping up with that! LOL! She is very specific, very picky and very clingy. She has to drive 45mins. so she can visit her own doctor (grandmother moved and will not try a new doc). All I can say is thank God she moved in with my moms sister that happens to be in the same city as me. I hope things start looking up for you soon, as I know how stressful things can get when you're worried about someone elses well-being, especially your moms. Hang in there!

Ryanmi, you won't be sorry. That icecream is well worth it! In my opinion anyways! Just remember that beginning weight is only a beginning weight...you'll be decreasing it very shortly! Looking forward to hearing some unofficial good news girlie!

Robbin, I enjoyed Over the Hedge on saturday night too. Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to smuggle in some water. I paid $3.50 for a bottle of theirs! Sheesh!

Erin, the thing I'm talking about is called a tag-along. It's so cute. I had my husband looking at bicycles yesterday but he made no purchase. I will have to pull out the big guilt trip and say..don't you want us to be active as a family?? hahaha! Sorry about the scale this morning, but I'm telling you from experience, you've probably started gaining muscle weight. You're doing so well with exercising. Great experience at church though! You must of felt so proud of yourself.

Linda, believe me it's hard to limit myself to the icecream too. Seeing it is my sweet allowance for the whole day. But I guess I just want to see some #'s drop more than I want seconds. LOL! If only it were like that everyday huh?! I love cross-stitch. I haven't picked it up in ages. I have so many started projects but yet to finish. Would love to see a pic of yours.

Robsia, sounds like you had a great time. How did all your research go. Will you have much editing to do to your book now that you gathered some info.? Don't worry, you'll be working off that little weight blurp in no time! Knowing you, I give it a few days. Glad you had fun!

Well girls, I have no scale victories to report. I was getting a little frustrated with it all this weekend. I decided to have a cheat...KFC! Need I say more. I've put too much pressure on myself giving myself a "time limit". I've decided to look at it in a different perspective (I was so looking at my vacation goal as written in stone), so I've decided to take it with a grain of salt. Whatever I lose between now and then is fine with me. As long as I still maintain a healthy lifestyle, that's all that matters. And this little tidbit of info made me feel a heck of a lot better, so I decided to share...this maybe good news for you too Erin.

Flex your muscles on a regular basis, and you can forget about losing weight! Sound crazy? Actually, it's not. When you start building muscle, it's quite possible you'll get skinnier without losing any weight at all. That's because a pound of muscle takes up a lot less space than a pound of fat. So, every time you "trade" a pound of fat for a pound of muscle, you lose size withough losing a lot of weight.

Considering I've been working out every evening for the past two weeks with 3-5lbs. weights, alternating between high and low intensity. I am putting a lot faith into this theory.

Well I guess that's it. Have a great day ladies! I'll see you later!

TTFN!
~Tina

Good Day All...

I will try and do personals later, but wanted to just stick my head in...I am working my rear off today at work! I don't think I've gotten this much done in quite awhile-PLUS, I took a walk around campus as well...so I did get a bit of movement in! The hot, humid weather makes it difficult for me to be outside exercising for long, b/c of allergies and asthma, but I did a few flights of stairs and a brisk walk around the main campus green... Now, I am HOTTT!

I did the whole "break the scale in" thing...turns out, I am down 11lbs from where I thought I was-so that was exciting! I am weighing once a week-I put the scale in the cabinet so I wouldn't look at it and obsess...which is good, because I slept horribly last night, and had a slice of pizza for lunch -one of those days when I need something greasy to make it through the day! Oh well...shredded wheat for dinner and an early bedtime...

Hope everyone is having a superb Monday!!!

M.

Afternoon ladies, kids are playing and i am sitting here in my bathing suit contemplating yard work or float...no teach my kids how to float, yeah that's it, teach the kids to float! Anyway, thought i'd jump in quick while i had the chance. Going to bed early to make up for last night and the fact i gotta get up early in the morning.

Tina You are so right about the muscle fat issue. Maybe we need to find an outfit that is a little snug to be seen in public now and keep trying it on about every 2-3 weeks and see how it fits, may be a lot more telling than the scales! How old is your daughter? Somehow i seemed to have missed that, i thought she was older than a child who would like to be pushed around a pool! Sounds like great exercise though! My husband finally is getting the bug and went to the Y with our kids today and played in the pool. He was supposed to work out first and then play in the pool, but had a hard time finding the childcare folks so gave up and went swimming! Anyway, at least he wasn't sitting on the couch all day! Plus he tuckered out the kids a little, we need an early night!

Linda I know the lack of sunshine can really get to a girl after a while! Hopefully it makes its way there later today! Can't wait to see the cross stitch! Oh and the thought of eating bugs may be enough to kill my cravings i am fighting at the moment!!! YUCK!

Robsia Glad you had fun on your trip, what kind of research were you doing? I am sure the 4 pounds will come off quickly with a lot of water and a little dedication you can accomplish a lot, hopefully as fast as it came on!

Ryanmi Whoohoo for the walking at work, that is something i said i would do many times but never seemed to do it. I sweat so bad i was always afraid i would offend anyone i saw after getting it done! Also a big WOWEE on the 11 pounds less than what you thought! that is huge! good idea putting the scale out of sight, from a scale obsessed person, try to stay out of that trap!

Well ladies, i hear screaming so better check on the kiddos, sounds like playing though not pain! Have good one! Erin