Good morning girlies!!!

Brrrr!! It's chilly today!

Jess~ thanks hun!!! Man, you sound crazy busy! It's so great you have enough cash to buy yourself a new car!! That's awesome! Hey, could you pretty please give me your etsy name again so I can stalk your store? I know you'll be closing here soon for a bit, but I forgot to fave it.

Roxy~ sorry to hear you're still not back to 100%, you're doing the right thing though, not pushing yourself. You'll be back to normal sooner if you just take it easy. Congrats on the too large hoody!! That rocks! And I'm with ya hun, I hope the ol' brain catches up soon! Not that I'd ever become anorexic or anything--I love food way too much for that--but I would like to finally feel like I've made it, ya know? On the whoosh!! That's awesome!

Shari~ Hi right back at ya hun!!

Nella~ heya hun! Listen, that sodium weight will be off in no time, but you're right--you need to get your head back in the game! If getting into your old clothes was your goal then I wouldn't say anything, but I know you set your sights higher than that. So get back to it girlie!!! You know you can do it, I know you can do it, everyone here knows you can do it--so DO IT!!!

Tummy~ yeah, Tony makes me smile and he's not too shabby to look at either so that's always a bonus! I think that's what got me through Kenpo this morning in fact (I was beyond tired this morning!). I'm with ya on the sizes. Size 6 didn't seem too outlandish to me, I mean once upon a time I was able to wear a 5 so a 6 wasn't all that far off. However, a 4?! Now that's weird and foreign territory for me. I'm still convinced that sizes have changed and that the 4s I'm wearing today are equivalent to a size 6 or 8 from when I was a kid--ya know? Oh well, whatever...I guess it's all just part of the journey huh? We'll figure it out. Have fun decorating for the holidays! We (I) put the tree up the second dawn breaks the day after Thanksgiving!! Well, maybe not that early, but it's up by the end of the day. We decorate it on Saturday night--that way everyone is home to help with it.

MsP~ you know I love your psycho babble! I've also read that our brains don't see our new thinner selves as quickly as we're changing. Something about when we look in the mirror, our brains recall what we used to look like because it's what it's used to seeing. It isn't until we've been thin for a while or until we see pictures of ourselves that our brain finally plays catch up. That could be why so many people have those 'Enough is enough' moments when they see a picture of themselves at their biggest--our brains aren't seeing how big we really are, but rather some past us that it remembers. I really need to find that post and post it here because I know I didn't do the information justice! I hear ya on being cold! Man alive--I'm constantly cold! My hands especially! Brrrr! I'm not complaining though--not one bit. Congrats on the loss and have fun making pies today! And don't you worry one bit about getting through this weekend! You'll do fine, and like you said, if you gain, you gain. No biggie--you'll get back on track. Heck, it's not like one weekend of off plan eating is going to derail you!! After all, Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrating food and it happens only once a year (or maybe more if you have multiple places to go) so it's special. Just have a great time and you'll be fine!

Molly~ Girl it's been too long! Glad to hear you're doing well and congrats on the loss hun! Don't burn yourself out too much and make sure to relax during your mini break from school!!!

Mystical~ awww, your post made me all weepy! I get all uber sentimental at Christmas and you talking about missing your daughter and grand babies made me want to give you a big ol' . Wait a sec...you're a Grandma?! How did I miss that? You don't look old enough to be a Grandma!! No way, no how!!! You sound like you're doing wonderful! And productive to boot!! I really need to re-organize my cabinets, but it's not happenin' anytime soon! Hope you have a great week hun!

Jellofer~ aww, I'm sorry you're having such a rough time! How'd you scratch your eye? I hope it heals ASAP!! Don't fret about the numbers on the scale, you're doing great! Once you're 100% you'll be knocking those pounds outta the park in no time!

Mom~ breathe in...breathe out...breathe in...--Wait, you don't need that! You're insanely on top of things this year!!! And if you need to--DELEGATE woman!!! You sound like you've got a great plan but you forgot one thing...enjoy yourself and relax!!!


*yawn* Aww man! I am beeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!! I don't know what's gotten into me, but I've been staying up late lately. Used to be normal for me to go to bed at 2am, but since I started this journey, I've made it a point to go to be no later than 11:00 (but usually closer to 10-10:30). However, between sewing and just winding down from the usual mayhem, I've been staying up until midnight! And when the girls decide to have a rough night--like last night--it makes for a horrible night sleep! I might have gotten 3 hours of broken sleep last night. So when hubby woke me up I wanted to beat him. I had every intention of staying in bed, but I managed to haul myself up. Imagine how irked I was when the scale greeted me with a .2 lb gain. So, I headed downstairs for a bit of Kenpo to melt that .2 lbs off. Stupid scale.

Anyway, so that's been my morning. I was really hoping to hit 130.something today, but if I can manage it by tomorrow I'll be happy camper. It's just .6 teensy little pounds--I can do it right? Lots of water today, lots of veggies and NO processed anything! (I had frozen veggies AND a cup of soup last night--'healthy' soup, but soup nonetheless so lots of sodium )

Got another 3 blocks sewn and attached to the first 3 blocks--only 3 more sets of blocks to go and then I can start the sashing! I really want to have the sashing done by the end of the month. Wish me luck! Then comes the crazy scary part! I plan on machine quilting them! I've only ever hand tied quilts (the whole 2 other ones I've made--which were baby quilts so uber tiny!) so machine quilting scares the bejimminies outta me! Plus, these are large twin size quilts and I have no idea how to manipulate the quilt so that I can fit it in the machine and, and, and...ACK! I'm freaking myself out!!!

Okay, breathe in...breathe out...breathe in...



Well ladies, not much else to report here. I may or may not have to make a batch of sweet potatoes for tomorrow. I made some for hubby to take to work yesterday and he came home with quite a bit so I may just put what's left into a smaller dish and bring it. Otherwise, it'll end up going to waste and I can't have that. So all that's left for me to do is rolls tomorrow morning. Our Saturday Thanksgiving plans have changed--turns out my bil & sil and their girls won't be here--the kids are so bummed! But that also means I don't have near as much cleaning as I would have otherwise. I mean, the adults aren't going to be going into the playroom now are they? And we don't need to clear out the basement so the kids can play down there or anything, so I'm kind of happy about that. Whew! That means I can spend that cleaning time on sewing instead!

Okay, well, enough from me! It's time for a shower and then kitchen clean up! Hope everyone has a wonderful day and don't forget to...

Drink Your Water!!!

Today's playgroup day for me so I'm off and running, literally from the moment I get up, but run is done, breakfast, check, child is dressed and fed and lost 1.2lbs, check that off too because I'm down to 144.4 this morning, woohoo. My body likes to make me wait for my 2lb weekly loses, it's pretty consistent but it's some weeks it's same weight for 6 days then lose almost 2 lbs in one day, silly body. I'll try to catch up later but we have more decorating to do so maybe tomorrow am.

Congrats on the loses ladies, that's fantastic and Happy Thanksgiving, is it tomorrow?

Good morning ladies! Thanks for all the support and I WILL be back on my plan on Saturday, and my behind will be at the gym. No excuses!

Sandye - You are a machine! You amaze me every day with the amount of things you get done. I think you should bottle your energy and sell it! That 0.6 will be gone in no time!

Tummy - Goodness! Goal is so close for you!!! Have fun at playdate!!

Ms.P - Yay!!!!!!!!

LTTG - I know the stress of Turkey day! My MIL is a terrible cook, so I am preparing almost all the side dishes and deserts and bringing them with us. So needless to say, I'm pretty cranky this week staying up planning/ preparing stuff. But just think, it'll be all over soon and then it's Christmas and we get to do it all over again!

Mystical - Have fun decorating for Xmas. Blast some holiday tunes and dance while you decorate. Even though your daughter is far away this year, I'm sure you all will have a lovely holiday.

So, that's all I have time for right now. Gotta do some work at work If I don't get to check in later Everyone have a GREAT Turkey Day!!!!!

Gekster - As Ms. P already said. I壇 suggest switching over on 12/1. Congrats on the loss!

Nella - I am sorry about the blah and I hope the gym helps take it away. Just remember that the new clothes will be even more fun than the old ones

Tummy - That dang pig flu is a scary thing and no fun at all, do as much as you possibly can to avoid it. Thank you for the encouragement.

Ms. P - You do all the pep talking you need to do. Whatever get you through this time of year, besides your pep talks pep me too, so I like them. Phantom fat huh? I like that name for it. Congrats on the great NSV and on your new smiley.

Miss Mallee - Congrats on your loss and on getting things going again.

Mystical - You cleaned and reorganized all the cabinets in one day, I couldn稚 do that, I壇 get fed up and have to put off some for another day - good job! I am sorry that you will be missing your daughter, at least we have modern technology and you can maybe have a webcam chat with them or something.

Jellofer - I am sorry you have another health problem, I hope they are all gone soon. Congrats on the new decade!

LTTG - I知 sorry about your lack of assistance. I would be making some of the guys help if I were you. I hope you manage to get enough of it done for you to be happy about it.

Sandye - You know very well that the slight blip with the scale is just because of not sleeping well and sodium. I hope the quilting goes well, I知 sure they are going to be gorgeous.


I知 down again today to 186.6, 1.6 left to go for my November goal. I think I can! I think I can! Lots of Thanksgiving prep to do today and I知 also working on a major house cleaning. I知 not sure where I got the idea that it was a good plan to clean the house like this during Thanksgiving, but I知 getting tons done. I wish everyone good luck with staying whatever level of on plan you have chosen for yourselves tomorrow.

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving ladies!!!

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to post this, but I'll give it a go (I keep getting a 'server is too busy' message)!

Tummy~ love your checklist! Congrats on the loss hun! Hope you had a great day yesterday!

Nella~ ahhh, if only I were the machine you think I am! While I've been sewing, the house has been getting messier and messier...well, sort of--it's not horrible or anything, but I certainly have some cleaning to do before Saturday! Speaking of Saturday--I'll be looking for your Back on Plan post that day!! We're going to hold you to it girlie so don't even think about slackin'!!!!

Roxy~ you must have gotten the cleaning idea from the same place I got the quilting idea! Crazy women we are huh? Congrats on the loss!! Woo hoo! 1.6 lbs is easy peasy girlie, you can do it!!!

Well, here we are...it's the Big Food Day!!! Are we all ready? Just take it easy today and don't go bonkers on the food and we'll come out okay! I know I've said that all bets are off today as it is a holiday devoted strictly to food and all, but...I will be exercising as much self control as I can. Still going to eat my non-diet sweet potatoes, still going to indulge in some pie, but I'm not going to go bananas. Why? Well, 1. it would be wrong and 2. I hit 130.8 today!!! I'm tickled! I got my 130.something!

So, I won't let that 130.8 get buried under Holiday weight! No way! I'll give myself a pound at most to gain today, but truthfully, I'd love to maintain this number! Wish me luck!

In quilt news...

Both quilt tops are now finished being put together. One has the side borders on already too! Just need to finish up the borders and then I can assemble my quilt sandwich and start pin basting them! I'm not stressing about the machine quilting anymore--since these are far from perfect, I doubt that having less than perfect quilting is going to wreck them in anyway. Plus, I'm giving them to 3 year olds--like they're going to even care right? So, I'm now looking forward to trying the quilting! Still kind of wondering how I'm going to keep the whole quilt on the table in get through the machine, but I'm sure I'll figure it out--people do it all the time right? Right!

Okay, well, I need to get going. I have rolls to make! Hope everyone has a wonderful day and don't forget to...

Drink Your Water!!!!

Yup, I keep getting that server busy whatnot as well. So I'll hope...

Sandye - I do like my to do lists, lol Great playgroup, always nice talking to grown ups! Way to go finishing your quilts, almost and not even December! You're a holiday role model for the rest of us. And omg 130's that's awesome and goal number 2! I'd say that probably came at a good time to make sure you mind you peas and carrots today, haha, I'm funny sometimes.

FGG - I hope your turkey plans work out and I find that too, we just like to take on ten thousand projects at once, just to see what we can do! Enjoy your family time.

Nella - You're right, it's right around the corner, I've never made it to a weight goal before so I'm pretty excited! I'm also really excited to concentrate on some fitness goals without worrying about having to balance my food intake with my exercise so much, I can just eat what I burn and be done with it, I'm looking forward to figuring that out. Have a marvelous thanksgiving and Saturday it is

Well delightfully, I'm down another 0.8lb today, it's my recovery week weight slide when my body is not using every spare calorie to fuel exercise, it can let some go. So now at 143.6, only 3.6 left, but I made November goal so that's awesome all on it's own.

Hope everyone enjoys some wonderful and peaceful time with their friends and family and we'll catch up tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you !!!.. I have not lost anything this week at all Grrrr.. It just drives me crazy but I will keep on doing what I am doing I will eventually get there right. Oh yeah I do have a question for all of you. If I haven't been getting enough water in will that slow down my weight loss? I have been so busy lately I keep forgetting to drink.

iDream Yes I am a mother of 3 plus a step son and I am a grandmother of 2 beautiful grandsons they are 2 1/2 and 7 mos. I just turned 40this year my daughter made me a young grandmother LOL

I am so excited about our Christmas this year in our new house things are going very well.. Thanks for all the great vibes.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day with friends and family my oldest son will be in a Christams parade this weekend can't wait to see him in it.

I'll check in later

Howdy Everyone!

Sorry I've been MIA but we've been busy. I'm having a bit of a sleepless night here so i'm up at 3am and typing a quick message to you girls to share a huge NSV I had today. While at my dad's house we were playing around with a pulse oximeter they had lying around (looong story there) and so we were comparing heart rates... My resting heart rate was 59-62 beats per minute! Everyone else was 88 or better and I so remember when my resting heart rate would be embarrassingly close to 100 bpm... so I just had a huge moment when everyone looked at me and said "woah, go you!" Hooray!

I hope everyone in the states had a Happy Thanksgiving and everyone else just had a fantastic day. I'm going to go log some time on the treadmill since my restless legs don't seem to want me to sleep... I'll tire these suckers out one way or the other!

Good morning ladies!!!

Tummy~ You are just so, so, so close to your goal! Isn't it an awesome feeling? I can tell ya, it'll take some time to wrap your head around it when you get there too! You'll be there in no time flat!!! You've done such an amazing job hun! So, are you going to revamp your goal and switch to fitness stuff then? I'm excited to hear all about your new goals and watch (and learn) from you when you start the maintenance part!

Mystical~ still can't believe you're a Grandma! Young one or not--you don't look 40!!! You sound amazing btw! It wasn't too long ago that you sounded down right gloomy and hopeless about your weight loss. What a difference now! You sound upbeat, chipper, optimistic--I love it!! As for the water--hun, you know what I'm going to say! LOL I don't know the specifics, but drinking your water does help you lose weight. So not drinking it could definitely stall out your loss, at least it makes sense to me that it would. Do try to get that water in hun--you need it!

SG~ Ahhh, restless legs--I hate it when I get that!!! Haven't had it in a while (but watch, now that I've typed that I'll get it!) but when I do it drives me nutso!!! Congrats on the awesome NSV!!! That's fantastic!! Now I want to know what mine is! Hope you managed to tire out those legs hun and that you got some more rest!

Well ladies, I did the impossible (well, to me anyway)!!! I maintained the 130.8!!!!! Woo hoo! I kept my portions small and didn't go back for more even though I really wanted to . I indulged in 2 good sized pieces of pie (pumpkin and some rockin' pecan with cool whip! Mmmmm!!) and then called it quits. It really helped that 'dinner' was at 1:30 so I didn't eat anything else until 8pm (apples and Kashi) and then I went to bed at 9:00--I was sooooooo tired!!

So I'm stoked! I didn't blow it!! I have one more Thanksgiving to go and then I'll be in the clear until the week before Christmas. That'll be tough--my dad & step mom will be here for a week and I've got all my holiday baking and stuff on top of holiday celebrations and general guest induced goodies and such. Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

On today's agenda--cleaning, sewing, workout and thawing. I need to get the house spic and span, get the quilt tops completely finished and thaw 2 turkeys so that they'll be ready for Saturday. Oh, and shopping!! I'm hitting some Black Friday sales online Old Navy has their jeans on sale for $15!!! Can't beat that with a stick!

Well, I hear one of the girls rustling around--time to get going. Hope everyone has a fantastic day!!! And don't forget to...

Drink Your Water!!! (*ahem--Mystical, I'm talkin' to YOU!!!*)

Holy smokes, Batman! I just realized that I am halfway to goal! Just thought I'd share

I hope everyone (in US) had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and everyone else had a nice Thursday too!

I managed to gain just .4 yesterday, so no regrets. I had one small piece of pie. I've come down with a nasty cough, and I'm all puffy, so that weight gain may just be water. I haven't exercised in over a week , what with the T'giving prep and feeling bad. I am going to attempt ST today, but no cardio.

My two youngest DDs did some sisterly bonding (they are seven years apart and as different as night and day) last night and hit the outlet mall at 11:00 pm. I am not venturing out (I don't care for crowds ), but will start my shopping via Amazon. I hope you all have a great weekend, and put down the pie!

Morning Ladies,

It's awfully quiet, kind of like a turkey coma or something. Anyway's hope ya'll had a great Thanksgiving and I enjoyed watching that parade with the dd too, it is quite the spectical my goodness.

Mystical - Water consumption can totally slow you down, all that extra stuff that's burning off has to get out somehow, and sweat and all the metabolic functions and bathroom stuff are all fueled with water. It's like a fire without oxygen so drink up and 10 glasses a day is recommended for weight loss and active ppl.

SG - That is incredible, it funny too how some ppl think they are super fit and then you show them how it's done. I've been tracking mine since July as one of my monthly checks and I find it incredibly motivating, just think of all those extra heart beats we'll have that we won't before!

Sandye - Goal is such a crazy thing, I'm going to pick up a super scale on Monday in the city that does fat %, water % and some other fun stuff so that I can hopefully get a better read on things. If not 100% accurate at least I can see some trends over time. I just hate new scales, there's always the chance they will weight you higher, lol. Oh well that's why I waited so long to get one. I'm thinking there's somewhere around 7-10lbs of fat that I'd like to take off but I don't necessarily want nor need to get to 130lbs either. I'm going to aim for 21-24% BF and we'll see where that lands me weight wise and I'm not terribly opposed to building a bit more muscle but not too much or it will hamper my endurance efforts. I'm hoping for a daily caloric limit of about 2000 in the beginning but with the HRM I'll be able to alter that to ensure I'm eating up to my training levels. Starting on Monday, with my p90x being all done, yeah, I'm going to lower the STing to 2x a week, maintaining the weights/reps I've been doing to maintain and concentrate on steady state cardio to pull the last of this fat off. So blah blah blah, lol. That's the plan today, but it is subject to change without notice. And congrats on maintaining through one holiday. With that under your belt I bet it feels so nice and more empowering to take on the next one on Saturday. I'm proud of you

LTTG - Congrats to you as well, it's so nice to survive a holiday and not have to wish you had it back to do over. And half way to goal, my goodness, that's fantastic and must feel a whole lot better than previous months, kudos to you!

I need to go jump on my bike, dh didn't get home from work until 7am this morning so my run time wasn't available but that's how it goes some days so I'll swap for the bike today. Speaking of that I better get going if I plan to get that in before lunch.

Down another 0.6lbs today to hit 143 on the nose, holy crap that 80lbs, I just realized that typing it, lol. Sometimes those things escape me.

I had a marvelous NSV the other day and one I didn't realize was going to be so meaningful, it kind of snuck up on me. Every year we take our own family picture in front of the tree for family and us, just a cute little shot with a timer, nothing fancy. But once we'd finally got a good one and I was putting it on the computer, I realized that this is the first year I'm the same size, ie "normal" as my dh, I don't look like this huge bloated version of myself, that I always secretly thought people had no idea why he was with me. He had always dated thin, athletic girls before me and I wasn't his "type," chubby, geeky and bookish. What dh thought of me never bothered me because, well, we live together and love each other and all that jazz but I always hated how it "looked" as superficial as that is. So this year, we're all happy and healthy for the very first time and it shows in the pictures, even though a 3 year old can not sit still to save her life.

Alrighty, have a great day ladies!

Turkey day went well, now if I can control myself with the leftovers. Still have 2 lbs to go for my November goal, I'll try to get some walks in the next 3 days.

Good afternoon girls! Just thought I'd check in and give a progress report since it keeps me accountable and such.

Mom~ I'm all done with my workout if you need to call and chat about Christmas stuff now. Still can't believe K & K bonded! Whoa! And congrats on being half way to goal! Slow and steady wins the race right? Right! I'm so very proud of you for doing so well!! And congrats on the teensy gain--it could have been a lot worse and it sounds like you handled Thanksgiving perfectly!

Tummy~ Turkey coma None here! I'm just going to come out and say it--as for the turkey...I can leave it. Not a huge fan of it. However, in recent years I've become quite a fan of sweet potato casserole--now that stuff is the bomb! And dangerous!! So I'm avoiding the fridge like the plague. I was wondering what you'd be doing once you wrapped up the P90X--you're going to have to share your workout routine with us so I can figure out what I'm going to do. Only one month left! It's been fun and I'm super glad I got it! Congrats on the loss--inches! You've got nothing but inches to go hun! You can just about touch that red tape if you stretch far enough!! And 80 lbs!!! on the panties hun!!! Just so insanely amazing! Lastly, congrats on the pic too! My hubby's overweight and 6'2" so I never looked bigger than him per se, but I always felt gianormous so this year it was a treat to see our pics and not cringe looking at myself!

Krista~ good luck with those 2 lbs!! We're here cheering you on! Stay away from the fridge and when you do partake of left overs--mind your portions!!!!!

Okay, well, here's my progress report:

Kitchen is mostly clean--just need to clean the sink (can't right now since there's turkeys in there) and mop the floor. I'll mop tonight or tomorrow morning so that it doesn't have a chance to get trashed again before guests arrive. Downstairs bathroom is clean too as well as the living room.

No sewing yet as I've been busy cleaning all morning.

Got my workout in and just ate my lunch so that's out of the way. Just need to clean the dining room--or at least organize all the crafting/Christmas mayhem better so that it's not an eyesore.

Well, in leau of a snack, I think I'll have a second cup of coffee and some homemade gingerbread biscotti! Mmmmm!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic day!!! I'm off to refuel with some caffeine (the girls have been killin' me lately at night!) and perhaps work on the quilts a little. I really want these bad boys finished and on their beds ASAP!!!

Okay, really going now. Have a great afternoon all!!!

Sadly I am back up to 279.4, but that is much better than it was day after Thanksgiving. It was up around 5lbs! I think it is a lot of water retention due to salt and carbs from the dinner. I didn't feel like I over ate so it is nice to see it falling back off. In other news, I am getting a Body Bugg! Costco is having an awesome sale on them so my boyfriend ordered one for me. I cannot wait for it to get here. I think having a much better idea of how many calories I am using will allow me to see how much I should be eating and feel more comfortable with more calories in.

Ok ladies I had my weigh in this morning and there is no change at all, I am going to make sure I get all my water in this week and see how that will effect the weight loss I really do believe that just might be my problem thanks for all the support. I have made a spreadsheet to put on my fridge so I can mark every time I get a glass of water so I can make sure I am getting it all in every day. My goal is 10 glasses a day. Wish me luck