Good morning! Yesterday was day 3.

The temperature has officially dropped. The dogs' outside water bowl had a skim of ice on it. I am all bundled up in a sweater, gloves, scarf, hat, and jacket. Did I mention I hate cold weather? Sigh. just under two months until my cruise. I can't wait.

We just got a big lecture from my MIL about not wanting to go to our nephew's 2d birthday party. My BIL and his wife are having it at Chuck E. Cheese. So, how many reasons is that for me to not want to be there?

1. Pizza (and not even good pizza that would make cheating worthwhile);

2. A room full of screaming kids. I can't even go to best buy because it is so loud I get an instant migraine. I don't mind children if they are well-behaved and quiet. But I wouldn't even expect them to be quiet at a venue that is specifically designed for them to run around and be noisy! My theory is that I stay away instead!

3. My nephew is turning 2! He doesn't even recognize me when I come over. He is not going to care whether DH and I are there or not.

DH says he will go and I can stay home, but then I will get the guilt trip. Ugh!

Okay, so I lied. I did bring my laptop. I'm totally addicted to 3fc - it's as bad as white flour and sugar and chocolate. But I haven't had much chance to use it, so it's been a bit of a waste up to now. At this point I've completed Day7 of CREAK (no pause days left) and Day 6 of DETOX (one pause day left). Part of me feels like just giving up and starting over with lots of pause days in the bank, but instead I'll see how far I can get with what I have. DETOX has actually been going quite well, but last night we were invited to the reception, and I REALLY wanted a drink (or three) after a tough day in the booth. And while I did eat rather a lot of yummy appetizers, they were all on program.

On the weekly challenge (other, competing, thread... ) I've challenged myself to 5000 steps per day and no white flour. The flour challenge is SO hard! For some reason, this hotel serves no whole wheat at all, and we're locked into sharing the group's breakfast and lunches. (I know, I know. If I can afford a wide-screen tv, surely I can skip their lunch and go buy my own? Which I'll do from now on.) I should get an extra pause day for NOT eating the cinnamon rolls (a lifelong favourite) at breakfast and break.

Every one seems to be doing so well. I'm glad I can post from here after all. But I'm not computer clever enough to react to all your posts without going back and forth and it all just makes me , and of course I'm lazy and short on time...

In Canada we have (or maybe had - things change and I don't always get the memo) an interesting pronunciation for the word "whore". Instead of "hoar" or "ho", I grew up saying "whoo-er", which is a lot like the "hua" Shad's got everyone talking about.

Gotta go. Errands to run, whole wheat bread to buy, back to the booth...

I have a big bunch of work to do today. Started to prepare for it yesterday and guess what? 3 out of the 4 programs I need to use to carry out the job, I don't have access to. Well isn't that just peachy. More forms to fill out.

Weekend is close - yahoo. It has seemed like a long week. And for some reason I have been so tired. Can't understand why. Anyway last night I went to bed very early for me. Slept all the way through to 4.30 this morning and woke to bright sunshine - oops forgot to set the alarm but it wasn't really that late. Did all the things I am supposed to do before going to work and got here on time. Only to twiddle my thumbs until I can get the programs up and running.

The weekend promises to be busy. I have to catch up on some housework which I was supposed to do last night but went to sleep instead. At least the washing is caught up, dried and folded. No rush on that for the weekend except for the bed linen.

My regular gym is closed for renovations, so for the weekend I have to find another one close by so I can go do my thing again. There is a couple around the place and not too far away, just remains to be seen if they have a body balance class scheduled for the weekend.

Sunday the Cat decided that she would behave last night. No claws digging in to the tush or anywhere else for that matter. Mind you it was quite cool overnight so maybe that helped both of us sleep better. We had the odd cuddle and both were seemingly satisfied with that. That's amazing, she and I agreeing on anything.

Okay Red, don't get down and dumpy, get angry, get the juices flowing and get out there and give the fat ****. It's taken a long time and a lot of gym hours but I am going the other way now and what used to be tight now falls off the hips. I wish the same could be said of the top half although that is smaller than previously as well. I've kept charts over the past two years and I can tell you with all honesty that watching the calories helps, but moving the bits moves the flab. If I could now just get rid of the pouch on the gut and the spare tyre around the middle (back and front) I would be the happiest of campers. But I keep trying. I shan't give up. Besides which, what could I do with my time if I was not at the gym eyeing up the hunks.

Carla - if you have access to wholemeal bread and stuff then use it. Forget the white sh*t. Think of poor Red, if Toyko is anything like where I was, anything other than super refined white bread is practically tapu (sorry Maori for Taboo, verboten, sacred, forbidden. The bread shop we went to had every type of bread and bread specialty on the shelf, so long as it was white. I asked, but only got a shake of the head and the crossed arms which means no way Jose. My friend tells me it is difficult to get. Mind you, the same breadshop gave you a bowl of soup and a cup of coffee free for buying your loaf of bread and your treat so I shouldn't complain. The soup was good, full of veg and tofu - very hot and fresh. Coffee was instant - enough said.

So day 8 on the challenge I think! And day 2 of Red's darned crunches, lifts and torture. She is worse than Jason the torturer (ex personal trainer) and Sam the sadist (ex, ex personal trainer). Still the challenge has been accepted and I shall do this thing - although I may apply for leave on Christmas Day depending on whether or not I go to Adelaide to visit the DS1 (and new ladyfriend - who I am told likes white wine). After a month or so it may well become habit - who knows.

Okay, time to go dream up some lies, damned lies and statistics.

day 7: 1 hr of circuit training....

back home and working on my antique furnace trying to get it to come to life! give it a little tweak with the dinner knife ... lol usually works tho! I hope it does cuz its supposed to go down to 29 tonight

Sorry not alot of time to post

Shad - Love the pictures I only able to glance at a few. I can't wait til I have can view them all.

Red - Sounds like a nice car ride.

Mix 1 small box of sugar free choc. pudding, 2 cups plain yogurt, 1 small square of ff cream cheese, some unsweetened powder baking chocolate, & some splenda ... mix together..

CHEESE CAKE HEAVEN!!!!

now to figure out a low carb crust...

try weetbix or weetabix or maybe some oatmeal mixed with water or fruitjuice

Red, I bow to your iron will, deciding not to drink after work. As you say, there are other ways to wind down. The problem being they're all on this challenge's taboo list. Actually I wasn't so much winding down as trying to snap out of a pretty angry mood after one of the speakers made me look like a fool - and thought it was all pretty funny.

I know the feeling about the pants. Maybe yours are tight because of impending TOM? I have no excuse myself - menopause leaves one pretty stable in the fluffy midriff department. It has always been my experience that while exercise is really important to firm and reshape, maybe even to boost the metabolism, to lose weight, it's calories in that count. As for it all becoming automatic, I don't think I believe in that anymore either.

Maybe you haven't guessed yet, but today got me down. I was out for my walk after work, and some idiot walked straight into me and then yelled at me for not getting out of his way. It should have been water off a duck's back, but instead really threw me. Reeling from that, I went to buy some jeans I could do up, and I ended up with a perfectly nice but thoroughly rude sales clerk who kept finding someone more interesting to help - right in the middle of me explaining what I wanted. I felt like Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life after he got his wish that he had never been born, except of course no Clarence to guide me. And I stupidly bought two pairs of pants I hope to fit into by Christmas and one pair of jeans that make me look incredibly old and dowdy. I've now recovered from the ensuing anxiety attack (never claimed to be sane, never could put things into perspective...) Maybe tomorrow I'll re-assess and take them all back.

In the news here today they're talking about a new drug that may make us stop thinking about food. Only apparent side efects: nausea and anxiety (just what I need...). It would have to be taken on a permanent basis, and may be out in the US next year and in Canada soon after. And then we can all quit dieting and just exercise while we pop Xanax and Dramamine, and probably grow a third ear or something. Also in yesterday's news, an article entitled: "Scientist finds sugary snacks appear to reduce stress on minds, bodies." I imagine the study was financed by Tim Horton's...

Well, my work here is done. Gloom spread on plenty thick, misery shared, time to regroup. I think I just need some

Day 8 CREAK, Day 7 DETOX in the bag.

By the way, Red, Sudoku is a logic puzzle invented in Japan. It works on numbers instead of words like a crossword, but appeals to the kind of people like me who like cryptic (British-style) crosswords . It's a grid with nine blanks across by nine down, some of them filled in with numbers. You need to end up with the numbers one to nine running across and down in each line, but the same number never appearing twice in any row. (Believe me, it's almost easier to solve than to explain. Just look for sudoku on the internet, i'm sure you'll find some.)

This thread moves so fast I can't keep up...
Having very sporadic internet access (through someone's laptop and using dial up, which hardly ever pulls off 49 kbs/second... ) doesn't help...

Redballoon, I've been gone because I moved overseas, and lost almost all my opportunities for exercise... no university gym anymore, no skating rink, I'm living in a very small town, so no options here. And a month ago I started working full time, so I'm sitting in front of the computer all day, and then commuting - and never making it back home earlier than 11 hours after leaving...

Anyhow, I've completed 3 days of my challenge!
I actually started the day I posted, not "tomorrow" as I had written. My initial goal was to run for 3 minutes, but after doing that I found out that I could do more. The first day I jogged in one spot for about 6 minutes (with a break, because I mistakenly stopped at 5 minutes, and then remembered I was going to try to double my inital goal). That was quite easy.
Day 2 involved jogging along a dirt road - from one large tree to another, and back, I don't know how many times. This was HARD! Why is it so much harder to run a distance than to jog on the spot?! I did 7 minutes, but about 60 seconds of that was walking to catch my breath.
Today was Day 3, on the dirt road again, I was trying to just run straight down the road, as opposed to from one tree to another. My legs were a bit sore after yesterday, but I thought I could do it. I was aiming for at least 6 minutes. Well, I didn't. I did run for about 5 or 6 minutes (or less, I lost the count...), but had to stop a number of times, got very puffed out with awful stitches. Perhaps I should take running outside a bit slower. But it sucks to know that a few years ago I could run 1500 meters in a bit more than 2 minutes and NOT get exhausted!

I'm so dead tired, I can't type anymore...

This thread does move so fast that it's nearly impossible to keep up. Maybe we need to try to keep our responses a bit brief, but to do some other kind of chat somewhere else? I don't have any brilliant answers.
Today is day 5 for me! I'm happy to have made it this far.
Linda

I completed day 5 of ACE!

I am tired. Every night/morning this week, around 5 a.m., the puppy has decided to come up and sleep on my head. She comes up between us, chews on my hair for a couple of seconds, flops her foreleg across my throat, and blissfully falls asleep again. So sweet, yet so not conducive to my sleeping.

Cheer up Carla! I am sure today will be a better day!

Hey, Fish, today is in fact a better day. Sorry about the rant yesterday. (It's been two and a half years since my marriage exploded. Methinks someone is definitely in need of a really good you-know-what.... ) Anyway, it's amazing what a good night's sleep will do. Not that you would understand that, thanks to your puppy...

No report today on challenges; back later.

Morning all.

I never got in to record yesterdays progress. I got through the day (8 I think - I really must go back and sort it out) but failed miserably on Reds crunches challenge. So provided Red has done her stuff, she wins that one. I'll be back to try again tho'. I find if I don't get it done first thing, then it is not likely to get done unless I am going to the gym that night. Oh well, back to the drawing board. Drat.

Carla - sorry to hear about the jerk who walked into you, the rude salesperson (although I found it hard to believe you actually bought something from her) and the bad mannered jerk at work. You did not have a good day at all. I understand the value of a good nights sleep - so will Fish when she gets the puppy sorted - I was stuffed on Wednesday, did a straight 8 hour sleep and whammo, the world turns again in the right direction. This morning after another good nights sleep, I managed a run around the suburbs. Ran most of the 50 minutes it took. Now I am sitting here with a towel wrapped around me and eating a couple of eggs and talking to you lot. The sky is a brilliant blue, no clouds, the sun is shining nd the temperature is a balmy 24 degrees C. It will get hotter since it is only 6.57am but hey at the moment it is great. Could life be better. Could this be endorphins speaking?

Okay, time to move along. My allotted 10 mins is gone. Hello to all of those who I have mentioned. Hope the challenge is all going well.

Speaking of gone, I am missing Red Balloon. She wasn't in last night and hasn't been here this morning. Hello Red.

Shad, here I am envying you - all those endorphins and balmy temperatures. Just so you know, I didn't buy anything from the dingbat salesgirl. I walked out, but came back later, spoke to the manager about her need for training and courtesy, and THEN bought the pants. And I'm about to go back today to exchange the dowdy jeans.

More later - I have a free afternoon here in sunny (cold) Calgary and must get outside. (I'm still rather on edge, maybe some exercise will smooth me out. If not, I can always go torment that poor unsuspecting sales girl...