Hey chickies...just wanted to let you all know that I did my bike AND some toning tonight. Tried using the band for some UB toning! Did 20 minutes and 6 miles on the bike. I was too tired to do anymore! I really need to not wait until 9 pm to workout! I'm exhausted!

I'm going to bed, so hope you chickies have a super day tomorrow. I may not get in to post in the morning, but I WILL be doing my workout tomorrow. Maybe a walk at work for lunch if it's not raining! I still can't seem to get out of bed before 7, so that puts me behind and I don't have enough time to workout then! Oh well! I will do what I can!

Hugs!

My goodness, I thought I would never make it to the computer tonight!
Whew......such a Monday!!!!!!!!!

Jennifer - Did you get to feeling better chickie? I thought you meant your computer got messed up at work- now I get it "processor". I never claimed to be the brightest lightbulb.

Julie - Welcome back!!! Well, as for me making time for exercise, I have totally let my house go. We are literally hopping around toys and stuff. But dh said it's o.k. I don't like the chaos . But, I am hoping I can manage my time more wisely and fit it all in somehow *sigh*. Chickie, I have all the faith in the world that you will kick that chocolate to the curb!!

I exercised in small segments. I got interrupted all over the place. I managed to get in 30 min. in three 10 min. segments. I am still soooo sore!!!

I weigh in the morning. I am Queen Bloated due to not drinking my water last week. I know the metal box is going to be mean to me. I just KNOW it. *another sigh*

Well, are we back to the original 4? Did we run people off?? Sure is lonely around here!!!

Talk to you tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

I am still pluggin away, but I have a sick baby, a dh with a broken down truck and too much to do it seems. Christian is going to the doc today, he has been puking since Friday. I finally decided to see if milk was the trigger, but he even lost his soy milk last night, so I just don't know what's up.

I have been eating well, and I did do one mile of the 3 mile WATP yesterday before I got interrupted by my sick one...some is better than none! Did lots of laundry and running around, so it was an active day for me.

I'll check back in later when I have more time to catch up, Christian just woke up and I need to see what today is gonna bring!

Have a good one ladies!

Sigh. Ok- some added detail...

My processor is the person who clears all the paperwork for these loans, gets the final underwriting approval, and then gets the loan package together for the closing. And she decided yesterday to give 1 week's notice. No one to replace her- they are short staffed already, so I get to start over with someone who has never done this before, and can't clear the files- no "authority" so everything will have to go back to an underwriter. We're behing the 8-ball here. Last month I finally caught up to where we need to be for the month. I have to close 18 loans a month to keep my job. So far, I have 7 closed, 4 more just fell apart at the last minute, and there are others just hanging out there that no one has touched yet. Just what I need....we desperately need someone who can do the job, and it's just not happening. I could just hang my head...and of course, no one else is concerned with whether or not I've reached my production goal. Crap, Crap, and more crap.

Didn't sleep well with all this happening. Tossed & turned. I did do about 45 minutes with the resistance bands last night- I can feel the muscles in the shoulders, chest, back, and arms really starting to get definition now. Yippie- it's a totally new concept to me. I did tell hubby that by 12/2005, I'm gonna be a hardbody. Yeah, ok, not totally a hardbody, but I want this fat gone, and so help me, I am going to get there.

Breakfast:
1 apple & cinnamon cottage double
1/3 cup smart start
1 oz fat free cheddar

Lunch:
3/4 cup taco meat
1 98% fat free tortilla
1oz shredded skim mexican blend cheese

Afternoon exercise:
1 mile WATP or some time on the bike.

Dinner- no ideas yet- probably more soup, or something warm. Soothing.

24 is on tonight- First Sunday night, and now tonight...I truly stop everything & we sit down to watch that- the hour flies by! Maybe I'll do more resistance band stuff tonight during the commercials. Hmmm...yeah, that sounds like a plan.

Other than that, I'm finding it hard to get motivated- the PMS, the work situation....just a blah feeling....but it'll be gone by the end of the week, I hope!

This PMS bloat isn't helping either- so I am trying to stay away from the scale until Friday. And my package to return my broken "handsome reward" hasn't shown up yet, either. I want my reward, dangit. Well, I'll never hit that goal at this rate.

LOL@ Julie with PMS & a tazer...watch out- I'm dangerous! LOL!!!

I think I am just going to hit the park for lunch, and try to lose this dark cloud of funk hanging out over my head. Bleah. Double Bleah. I promise, I'll make every effort to lose this 'tude and get back to my partly perky outlook.

Have a great day, chickies! I'll check in later on!

I told you that stinkin metal box was gonna be mean !!!!!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! Well, I didn't gain, though. I am exactly the same as last week - 153. I was thinking since I lost 4 last week, and I have been exercising a lot, and not drinking my water.........well, I am just considering why I didn't lose. But, I will persevere!! Gonna drink that water chickies!!!!!


Jennifer - (((((((((big hugs))))))))))). Sorry about your day. If I could come help you, I would. Good grief, I can't even balance my checkbook much less process a loan. I will say a big prayer for you girlie.

Julie - WTG on the exercise!!!!!! I'm proud of you!!!!

Cindi - Sorry to hear about about the sick baby (and the sick car). I've been there, and I know the stress it generates in the Mommy!!! ((((((cindy))))))). Hope things get well at your house!!!


Well, gotta run right now.....I'll check back in later.

I did get to the park...I played my music on the car radio, flipped through one of my magazines, and just tried to let the stress melt away...it worked- I was good for the last hour. I think every hour, I need to get up, pretend to go to the copier, and then take a walk outside- just one slow meander around the building, and then check my bin up front, and come back to the desk. Wonder if anyone would miss me. LOL.

Deep breaths....it has to get better...it HAS to....there we go....

And if all else fails, I just need to look for a job after June 30 when we don't qualify to keep me. Maybe I can go replace my processor.... lol.

Aww Jennifer. *hugs* It'll be okay. If I was in Florida, I'd totally come help you out, even though I have no idea what any of that stuff is about. Take a deep breath and you'll get through it. The obstacles in our life show us how awesome we are, remember?

Julie - Back away from the demon box!!! WTG with the workout!!

Lisa - Don't worry, hon. You just gotta yell at that stupid metal piece of crap and tell it who's the boss - YOU!!! You'll be better next time.

Cindy - Awww *hugs* I hope the little one is okay!!! Hopefully it's just a little tummy bug or something, and he'll feel better in a few hours. Sorry to hear about the car trouble, too. I hate cars!! Even if ya can't post often, it's still good to hear that you're keeping up the awesome work and working out!!

Well. Day 1 has come and gone. I finished the day with 1 carb left over.

And I discovered that pork rinds ain't too bad, either. (I'm gonna make some 0 carb taco dip for myself so I can munch all I want w/o worrying!) As disgusting as it is to me, pork rinds are pretty tasty. (that is so gross!)

Food today is awesome. I am totally loving this whole no-carb thing. My carbs for today, after the planned meals, only add up to 11 carbs!! So we're gonna swing by the store and grab some sf cool whip so I can make some of the 3-carb-per-1-cup-serving chocolate mousse my mom told me about. She lost around 90 lbs on Atkins a few years back, and she has awesome ideas and recipes that I'd never thought of.

B - 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 bite of gross waxy beef stick (5 carbs)
L - 1 can lemon tuna w/ mayo & mustard, some pickles, 2 slices lunchmeat, a bunch of cheese (2 carbs)
D - hamburgers w/ cheese & pickles (0 carbs - no bun!), some steamed broccoli w/ butter, and some salad on the side. YUM. I am totally looking forward to this!!! (around 4 carbs)

So with that chocolate mousse and my pork rinds & taco dip tonight, I should be up around 18 carbs to finish the day off.

Funny -- I don't crave - ANYTHING - except chocolate. But I pretty much always crave chocolate so that doesn't say much.

Got the depo shot this morning -- she said my butt would be pretty sore today, but it doesn't hurt at all? I think that's a good thing!! The shot didn't even hurt!! I AM SO STOKED about this!! Don't have to take pills, rip skin off, scrub the black adhesive gunk off my butt -- NOTHING -- for 3 months?! RAD! Plus, I get to not deal with my TOM at ALL!? I'm so happy I could cry, you guys. Seriously. I'm that happy!

Anyway, I'm gonna do my tapes real fast this morning, then go do a good 25-min stepper session and about 10 squats, 15 lunges each side, and 10 of my crazy subwoofer things on each side. Oh. And the mandatory 500 situps. AND I'm gonna try some of the ab workout stuff Jennifer sent me (Thank you!!!!) and see how bad they kill.

I hope you guys are all having an awesome day!! YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!!!

Okay. Change in plans.

My butt hurts big-time now. Not like the muscle, but it hurts to sit on it and when I did all 8 situps that I could manage to do, every time I came up in the crunch, it felt like somebody was punching me in the butt. I guess I'll take the ab stuff off my list for today.

BUT I DID manage to get in 22 minutes of fast-paced cardio stepper, 9 lunges on each side, 15 squats w/ 2lb weights, and a little bit of a workout from cleaning, packaging pounds of meat for the freezer, cleaning out & organizing both the fridge and freezer, and doing A TON of laundry!! I am totally proud of myself.

I have boundless energy today. I know it's from all the protein that I'm eating instead of the useless sugar and carbs, and it feels SO GOOD.

Even if I -don't- end up losing a ton of weight with this whole Atkins thing, I LOVE having low carbs and more protein. It just feels so much better!! (And the only thing I have to worry about is my cholesterol getting too low, so I've decided to have eggs at least 4 times a week, in some form).

Anyway, I hope you guys are all having an awesome day!!

Poor LucyKitty's tushie!!! Sorry, just had to, girl!

Cmon....you owe us 592 more situps!!!

The Zone plan that I follow has more protein, and less carbs that what you usually find out there, and I seriously find I've got better attention spans, more concentration, and more energy because I'm not in a carb coma feeling all sluggish. Whatever works for us, right?

Jennifer... I hafta sit in traffic for over an hour to go get the hubby!!! My poor bum. haha!!

Situps will be redeemed tomorrow. In addition, I am going to do some of those ab moves you sent me!!!

You all are doing so awesome!

Jennifer...so sorry about your office falling apart! It WILL get better and you will start to feel much better real soon! I promise! Remember that IT is ONLY a job...and YOU are only ONE person, so do go and try to "superhero" for the rest of them, ok??? And like the rest...if I could help you, I would...but bankin's not my bag!!! ((((((((Jennifer)))))))))....and some from Kaleigh, too!

Lucy...sorry about your bottom side! I'm sure it will be feeling better by tomorrow! Owee! Way to go on Atkins Day #1! That is always the hardest. I did Atkins a couple of years ago for 10 days and lost 10 lbs! But as soon as I started eating ANY carbs again, I gained most/all back!
Good Luck to you! You are definately going to lose, I'm sure of that!

Lisa...I say we ditch the scale and find something else to measure our success! (Like all the compliments we have gotten in the last month on how we look! ) And just think how awesome you are going to look in that blue dress! You are doing all the right things (unless you are forgetting to tell us something) so just keep doing what you are doing and it will eventually show. I'm pretty sure right now you are building some mega muscle, though! The bike is great exercise and your toning...well chickie! You are gonna look great for shorts this summer!! Keep it up!

Cindy...so glad to hear from you, but sorry about the truck and the little guy! That's never any fun to have a little one pukin' up!!! Yuck! DD went through a stage for about a month where she puked EVERY time she ate. We finally figured out that she was trying to show us who was in control!!! NOT! So we nipped that in the bud when we figured it out...she was about 4 at the time! It was extremely irritating after a while! I sure hope she doesn't grow up with food issues! Great job on doing the exercise even though you couldn't do all of it! And YES! every little bit counts, for sure!

As for me...

I still cant get into the AM exercise groove yet! What is UP with that??? So, I came home from work (after I stopped at the store for a few groceries), made supper, and went down to my beloved bike and rode for 30 minutes. I did a few UB theraband exercises prior to hopping on the bike. It felt good! Jennifer is going to have us all looking "buff" for the summer!!

Food eaten today (getting better every day...man it takes a while after falling off the wagon, eh?):
B-fast- thin whole wheat bread (2 slices), 1 TBSP lite Miracle whip, 2 oz. turkey, 2 oz. cheese
Lunch- Chili & brown rice (I copied Jennifer's idea with this and made this up and froze some a few weeks ago), some salad and about 1 TBSP french dressing.
Snack - (here's where I kind goofed up!) 1 very small butter cookie , 1 cup microwave popcorn & 2 oz. cheese. I didn't eat all of this at the same time, just throughout the afternoon before supper and after lunch! Whatever!
Supper - 1 Bratwurst grilled (about 3 oz), salad & 2 TBSP low fat dressing

So, all in all a good day with food and exercise! I'm back on the road again, I hope! I need to see 160-something by May 1, so I'm determined! The bad news is...even though I didn't "technically" weigh in today, I did look to see how bad it was and I was up 3 lbs...to 174! So "technically" I haven't lost ANY weight this whole challenge! UGH!!! I am determined to take this weight off. I just need to remain focused and just do it! No excuses! I need to stay away from sugar! It really is my downfall and I know the minute I smell it, I gain! It's just not fair, but nothing is fair in this world, right! Stop whining, Julie and get your poop in a group!!!

Have a great night chickies!

Yesterday, one of our "regular" visitors (an elderly lady who was married to one of our residents before he died last year) was in work. I stopped to chat with her for a minute and she complimented me on how I look and asked me if I had been losing weight. I replied with the standard "I am trying to" and then went on to elaborate that it is coming off slow, blah, blah, blah! She commended me and then went on her way.

Afterward, I started thinking about whether or not I really LOOK like I am losing wieght because when I look in the mirror, I still see a lot of FAT!!!! So, I got to thinking..."I wonder how bad I must have looked before I lost these few lbs. and WHY are people noticing?" I can only think that Imust have been a sight before! Yuck! And that I must be shifting some of the wieght around due to exercise. So, even though I still FEEL fat (and I am still fat), I AM making changes to my body...and that feels good!

I just wish it would come off a bit quicker!! That's all! But I am planning to be around for the long haul, so don't worry chickies! I just wanted to share with you my thoughts about my body image! It can be discouraging sometimes that it takes so long for me...and it helps to get it off my "chest"! LOL!

Thanks for listening!

*hug* Julie... I think we all feel that way. BUT -- and you pay attention to this, missy!!!! YOU don't see that YOU are losing weight or that your body is changing, because YOU SEE YOU all the time!!!!! People who don't see you every day, or don't live with you, well, they notice it a lot faster, because they don't have a constant view of you. YOU ARE DOING AN AWESOME JOB!!!!!!! No more calling yourself fat. That is not good!!! You are simply "in the process of changing." That is a much more positive thing to call it, and you will get there before you know it!!! Besides that, you're a beautiful woman and you have a wonderful family, a beautiful daughter, and all of us -- WE ALL support you, even that sweet little girl of yours!! I know it gets discouraging because we kinda put ourselves down mentally, but you can't let that get to ya. You are awesome, and you have gone a long way already. Just keep going and you'll get there!!! *hug*

Drumroll, please. I LOST FOUR POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!!! *Does a dance* I know it's water weight n stuff, but that's cool. I don't care. I still lost 4 lbs!!

So food today shall be different and a bit interesting....

B - 1 hot dog w/ some cheese slices (0 carb)
L - leftover hamburger patty w/ cheese & some veggies (1 carb)
D - fake fried chicken w/ side salad, and 1/2 cup cottage cheese (6 carbs)

Let me explain fake fried chicken. I wanted to make the friend chicken my mom makes. But it's made with crackers n stuff. SO. I am going to crush up some pork rinds, add a little seasoning, and bake it!! Sure, it won't be quite the same, but it'll do!!!

And since my total carbs for the day from my meals are only at 7, I get to have my chocolate mousse stuff tonight, my rinds & dip, and probably some other form of yummy treat, too. I'm totally happy about that.

Anyway... workout today, since I'm up so darn early, is going to be:

25 min stepper
10 lunges each side
25 squats
10 sub thigns each side
600 situps
weights for 5 minutes (for the arms)
some of Jennifer's crazy ab exercises.

WOOHOO!!! I hope you guys are all having an awesome day!!!!!!

Hey chickies! Well, what a day it has been! I tell ya, things are getting more & more confuzzled here each day. I need a mental health day, for real!

Anyhow, I went to bed early with the intent to get up & get on the bike, or WATP, and it didn't happen. I got up at 7:10, and have to leave at 7:30 for work. Hygine won over activity.

I feel a little like I'm spinning my wheels. At lunch, I went to the park while everyone here had a potluck lunch for secretary's day. Funny, as an assistant, my major b*tchy loan consultant didn't bother to do anything nice for me. Then again, I expected as much. So I got to the park, listened to music, and tried to get some stuff out of my head. I wrote, and wrote, and wrote, scribbling on scratch paper in the car. I just had to get everything that was whirling around in my head out of my head and onto paper where I can see what was really going on.

School, work, the house hunt- it's like everything is coming to a head at once, nothing is going the way it should, and that's making everything suffer- most of all, what I need to do. I need to get on track and stop being derailed by every little problem that is thrown my way. Food & water have been good- I need to get the exercise back in there. Doing really poorly this challenge.

One thing that I want to do for myself- I scanned all these exercise illustrations in over the weekend- I am already dividing them up by category/body part, and I need to make cheat sheets from them, so I can print them & use those as supplimental workouts, besides the WATP tapes & ShortCuts tape. I can do the FIRM upper body tape (sans pushups), and I think I want to try their standing legs tapes. I gotta get out of this funk. Maybe a mental health day will work.

Catch you chickies later!

This list is eerily quiet!

Lucy...thanks so much for your kind words! It means so much to me when my chickies encourage me. So thank you! I do try not to put myself down mentally but when I get so discouraged, it's easy to do!

Today was another one of those "bad chocolate days"!!! Those darned Easter eggs keep popping into my mouth! I took a handful and that was that! Ate them all...they tasted good! I wanted more, but walked away from them! No other "slippages" today! Now, driving home I kept thinking that I could count that as 2 carbs & 2 fats and just eat mostly protein tonight...but I know this is sabbotage! It really is! I hate feeling this way! I hate when I feel guilty about doing something I like but mostly I hate that I did it! I wonder sometimes why this has to be so hard!!! I'm sorry about rambling here, but I know you all understand and you have all been there! So thanks for letting me ramble and get off my chest what I need to.

Last night I went to the grocery store. I got lots of healthy stuff including one box of Kashi Go Lean (I think that's the name) cereal. I had a bowl this morning. It was ok...would be better with some fruit (berries) but that would add to the carbs, so I just ate it! I was hungry though later in the morning, so it didn't fill me up like eggs do! Hmmm! I also got some egg beaters and I'm going to make an omlette tonight for supper! I think I could eat eggs every meal and never get tired of them! LOL!

So food today:
B- 1 cup Kashi, 6 oz. milk, Splenda
L - Leftover rice, chicken & veggie dish from the other night, a taste of meatloaf & a taste of mashed potatoes (probably 1/8 cup!) That wasn't necessary, but the mased potatoes at work are sooo good!
Snack--the handful of sinful chocolate eggs!
Supper---I will make an omlette with cheese, turkey & veggies!

Ms. Jennifer...let me just say that you have earned your mental health day and then some! I'm sorry that your idiotic boss doesn't think enough of your stupendous abilities to show her appreciation somehow! But here's a big hug from me to you (((((((((((((Jennifer)))))))))))))))) to show you how much you are appreciated by me!!!! We love you, chickie and we couldn't do this without you! You have been so motivational and inspirational to me. Remember that you are human and we all have limits, so you do what you have to do to prioritize your life and know that we are here cheering you on and loving you just the same! But....GET BACK ON THE BIKE!!!!!!

I'm going to go make my supper! And then I am going to go ride the bike or some sort of exercise!