Hi Everyone! Well my Tommorrow is today, but it already could have been better. I started off the day in the teacher's lounge and there was a big batch of muffins-I ate one without giving it any thought. Then it hit me....I start my "mindful" eating today. So now I am mindful of what I ate and will watch nore closely the rest of the day....supper is Liver and Onions...one of my faves-but I'm sure my kids will have objections! Have a great day all!

Hi Ladies,
Welcome back to all those that are coming back, good to have you!
Looks like everyone is doing good. I am doing good and am still OP. The excersise is going good, those Ab scrunches bout kill me but it will be worth it! Its those and the arm weights and the elliptical tonight for me!
Aphil~ good to see ya again, I think you had most of us wondering! Thats good that you are keeping busy though. Ive always noticed that keeping busy keeps your mind off eating, so try to stay as busy as possible
Amie~ any luck on getting the advice on how to take care of the turtles? There must be a website or a petstore you could check into. I bet she's loving those though! And you know I know what your talking about when you talk about hanging skin, you and I are built the same unfortunately, I dont wish anyone to look or have what I do, but we will get all skinny, I have faith in us
Oh and to everyone if you like a good love story, The Notebook, is a great movie! I was crying in the end and I looked over and my fiance was to, he was sniffling and tears coming down he said he hates being that way but like I told him, "its because you have a heart sweetie!" that usually makes him feel better. I told him I love that he is sensitive, you dont find that very often now a days!
Almost time to go home Hope everyone has a good evening.

Lori

Geez guys...I was only away from my computer for a couple days... Did it really seem like it was that long????

Ladies-the creams I use are "firming" lotions. All they do is help with the elasticity of the skin a little bit. They will not do anything for a bunch of loose stretched skin as far as getting rid of it, or shrinking it away...but they give it a better "texture". In my case-the skin on my tummy after over a year of use feels "firmer" and not so "loose" on my body. Keeping stretch marked areas massaged and supple with cream of any kind helps to minimize the "road map" appearance as well. The lines from the stretch marks are still there-but they aren't as "ridgy" in texture next to your regular skin-they blend in a little more.

I did strength training for an hour yesterday...and I had the 2 hour beginner's dance class last night that I am helping to teach. Today is cardio day.

I am still chained to the sewing machine...as I will be until mid April. I have so many costumes going-and upgrades on already finished costumes. (Jason's Star Wars stormtrooper armor is in a zillion pieces getting a new speaker system and new cooling fans in his helmet, and new attachments for the calf armor pieces)

Yes-I do find that the business does help with the eating. I haven't even had time to weigh in for about 2 weeks. I may not even weigh in for a few weeks more!

Well ladies...back to the sewing room/armor engineering/costume blueprints!

It's Thursday, so I'm here

Idealperson, welcome back!!!! so good to have you here again!!! I don't remember seeing your photo avatar before, you are movie-star beautiful!!! for real!! We will certainly help you, gosh, I need help myself :lol

Hi jacklyn!!!! and sikence!!! and hi Carol, yes, I saw that you had also seen that other thread, lots of good stuff there.

aphil, phew, now you know what kind of stress celebrities always go through, LOL! you get this cult status and we are all wondering what you are doing!! good luck with all your costuming work!

hi amie, I had little "painted turtles" when I was a kid - the only advice I can give you is NEVER EVER EVER keep their little dish/home in direct sunlight on a warm day (BIG SAD FACE) this was 35 years ago, and I STILL feel guilty over what happened.

Lori, hi! my bruises don't hurt, but they're sure ugly. What a nice Valentine's Day you had! and I wish all guys would be man enough to show emotion like that, he's a keeper for sure!

debbie - HI! I'm so sorry you're missing your son. and if you're getting grief about helping your daughter. But thank you for hating me LOL!!!! j/k!!!!!

Want to hear of my work suck-i-ness for this week? One of our full-time ladies is out for two weeks with chicken pox. and another full-timer just told us she is quitting...she MIGHT give us a week, but I think she's going to blow after tomorrow afternoon. And this weekend is Presidnet's Weekend, one of the biggest skiing weekends we have in winter. I am just devastated. I was barely holding onto control at work even before losing TWO full-tiimers. I do have today and tomorrow off, but I HAVE to go in to do some things, "off-schedule", stuff that I just haven't been able to do when I am on schedule there. AND I'm not allowed to get overtime. WTF???? sorry for my abbreviated cursing. If I get over 40 hours, I'm supposed to carry it over to some week when I have Under 40 hours, so I don't receive time-and-a-half. They want to squeeze all work possible out of you, but don't want to pay you for it. GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

okay, deep breaths

It's relatively late in the morning for me so I gotta exercise! Have a great day, and SO good to hear from those who haven't been around!!!!!!!!!!

Hello everyone!

I am new to this forum, but not to dieting! I have tried about everything...South Beach, Atkins, weird fad diets, etc. They worked for me for awhile, but then I get fed up not being able to have certain things (like a slice of bread) without regaining my weight back. The only thing that has ever truly worked for me is counting calories and fat grams. Two years ago I was 315 and went down to about 190...not I am 275 ish. I think that the reason I regained so much is because I went crazy on the diet and was overly exercising and eating only cucumbers or an apple every 2 days. Plus, I had started a parttime job that was around food that I had been denying myself for so long so, I just started binging. It didnt seem like I was gaining much at first, but then around my wedding (June '04) I realized how big I had gotten. My husband is the same way. We tend to be food junkies and I think that at times he really enjoys having a snack buddy! We have really talked it over and he wants to lose so badly and so do I, so we just are ready to get serious. I know that he wont take the time to count calories, but I think that if I can offer him a daily menu and SHOW him how to count his calories and fat it will work out ok. Also, we are planning to do some exercise, such as walking for 45 minutes after work. I really enjoy jogging, but I am going to wait until I get in better shape for that! Anyhow, I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello to everyone!

Hi, does anyone remember me? I was here (briefly) before christmas threw me head first off the wagon. I don't it was Christmas so much as being at home and not being absolutely in control of every single piece of food that enters the house. At university I just avoid buying the foods that I know are gonna set me off, so my splurges are just when I go out. Like Monday .

Anyway, I'm pretty much back on track with the help of my trusty food journal (read: scrappy orange exercise book) and I just wanted to say hi . I hope everyone's ok and that I'll speak to you soon.

Frances
xxx

Afternoon Ladies,

No sense of adventure~ I rememeber you, and welcome back. Good idea on the food journal, they are definately a good thing to have. I go into fitday.com and have one there, its free and I dont have to write, I dont like writting, hehe.......

And welcome Rebelridegirl, good to have you here! Thats great that your hubby is willing to do this with you! The walk in the evening is nice to do, gets you out of the house, I cant wait for warmer weather so I can go walking again and hiking, I miss it! It is so much easier I think when you have the love, support and company of your spouse/BF/fiance.

Holly~ that dont sound right on your job! You shouldnt have to think about work let alone have to go there on your days off!! I would be POd to. I usually take a 15 min lunch break and today I questioned my check cause it was low on hrs and the bookkeeper told me that the boss told her to dock us for a 1/2 hr pay even if we were only taking 15 minutes because it was a state law. Well my coworker and I looked it up online and it only said that you are allowed a 30 minute lunch if you work 8 hr days, not that it was a law and you had to. So to say the least we brought it up to our boss and he will be refunding us our money for the past MONTH.... She was giving us our pay until he looked at the timecards a month or so ago and told her to do that, and neither of them said anything to us! So let me tell you we were a couple discrundled (sp) employees this afternoon So anyways I kinda know what it feels like to work and not get pd for it. And thank you for the kind words about my fiance, I think hes a keeper to Those poor turtles, I think I know what happened

Well last night was fun, it was the arm weights, ab scrunches and elliptical. I better get that tape measure soon, cause I have only been loosing like 1/2 lb a week, but maybe it has been in inches, so I need to get myself measured so hopefully that is what has been going on and it will make me feel better knowing that just because it hasnt been weight loss it has been inches lost!! It can just be a little discouraging when your doing all this and you dont see results on the scale Tonight is lean turkey burgers (sm) and toss green salad. My kids actually like them. They never seace(sp) to amaze me

Aphil~ That cream your taking about it is for cellulite? Sounds interesting! Jasons Star Wars storm trooper outfit sounds interesting to! I wish I had the patience to do something like that! I would look at it there in the zillion pieces and just leave it and go try to buy one Could you post pics when this is done, and maybe some of the outfits you make? I would love to see them.

Well you all have a great evening.....

Lori

Lori-you really can't "go and buy" a movie quality stormtrooper costume. Lucasfilm has licensed Star Wars costumes (think "Halloween quality") but nothing that rivals the real thing. All of us costumers we make them ourselves...real labors of love.
Since our costumes are not licensed-we can't really "sell them" either. You can't get into trouble for having one, and wearing it...but if you are making a ton of them and selling them you can...does that make sense? However, they have begun to embrace us and have us work at conventions and movie premiers and all that for them. Lots o' charity work as well.
You can see my work definitely! Jason's armor is finished-but we are just redoing parts of it to improve the cooling fans, speaker system, etc. You can see his armor at www.bloodfingarrison.com (the Indiana garrison of troopers-the group is worldwide!) and check out the member gallery. He is "TK-8120". You may have to fish around a little-but his picture is there, and his profile if you click on his picture. I'll be up there soon as my officer costume is completed. Yeah...we are SERIOUS costume makers.

No-the cream I use is not for cellulite. It is firming lotion-and they have a zillion brands. I like Jergens and Nivea best. It is for smoothing the skin, and making it more supple (like younger skin-the older you get the skin tends to get thinner and more hangy-well-think about the skin on the face, arms, and neck on a 20 year old compared to a 70 year old woman.) The cream helps *a little* with keeping it supple after weight loss as well. It won't remove extra skin from large weight loss, but it helps the texture of it some. It isn't a miracle worker...but I have seen small improvement-enough to keep using it.

rebelrider-welcome! I found that calorie counting works best for me. I try to eat healthy 98% of the time-with lots of fruits, veggies, lean meat, whole grains, etc. but since no food is "off limits" on occasion if I want a small scoop of ice cream or a slice of veggie pizza-then I can have it and not feel guilty. I just keep my calories in line.

Well, I better go and hit the sewing table again...I have lots of work to do!!!
Aphil

Good morning Aphil and Lori along with anyone that hasn't posted yet
It sounds like those costumes are really something! My grandmother is a seamstress and I have seen how very time consuming (but enjoyable) that can be. I think that sewing can be relaxing and it really gives a person a sense of accomplishment.

Last night I felt so awful...my husband decided that since next week is my birthday we shouldn't "start a new diet" until the following week. He has some good points, we are pretty much broke until next Friday, but I still think that we can get some lettuce, tuna, and some cheaper healthy things from the store and at least get started on something. I just feel like if I have another week "off" plan I will go nuts. I have felt more pudgy this week, so I'm sure that I have gained a little. When I gain it totally affects so many aspects of life. I just can't do that another week. So, whatever he chooses to do is up to him, but I have to get under control. Also, a co-worker of mine and I are going to start walking during our lunch break, even if it's only 15 minutes, and walking after work really should help me feel better.

Anyhow...sorry if this is gripy...have a great FRIDAY everyone!

Hi everyone!

What a group there is now! Yeah - we're all going to get slim and trim together in time for summer and shorts-time! Woohoo! !!

It's nice to have a big group of likeminded folkes to share your trials and tribulations as well as your successes with! I myself, have been plateaued at 199 for the second week. Am uping the exercise by an extra day a week and lowering the cal intake by 100 cals per day to see if we can't moooove that scale (and these size 16's right up to the attic !)

I hope everyone has a super weekend.

Take care,

Morning everyone!!!

I woke up in a fantastic mood today! I had a nice dish of cut up fresh strawberries and banana this morning with my coffee for a light breakfast...and I am getting ready to hit the sewing machine to finish another dance top. I have so much to do on that arena.
I have a few "secret" things in the works professionally-dance and costuming wise...I'll let you all know if I can get myself hooked up with some cool things in the future. There are a few people I am trying to get gigs with or contact with-we'll see how that goes.

rebel-I know how frustrating that it must feel to be "ready" to start a healthier lifestyle and your boyfriend wanting to wait until next week. If money is tight until payday don't worry about the food part of it so much. It will help get you in gear to walk with your co-worker this week to get into the habit of exercise, and maybe start drinking more water this week. You can always start somewhere. You don't have to start changing everything at once. If he wants to wait until next week-it doesn't mean that you have to!

I get a similar thing with my in-laws. They are always after me at family events/birthday parties/holidays to eat things I shouldn't. They say "It's just ONE day!" Yeah...and when you add the 2 Thanksgiving dinners we have for different sides of the family, the 6+ Christmas gatherings we have...and a child's birthday party we have every year in December-that is 9 days of blowing off my healthy eating in a one month time span. (From Thanksgiving to Christmas) That is 1/3 of the month!!! So much for that "one" day, huh???
I choose ONE Christmas gathering to eat badly at each year...so it IS just one day. The rest of the time I bring a diet dessert, and stick to baked turkey and the veggie tray.

I hope everyone is doing well. I am doing cardio today. I did an hour of strength training yesterday, and walked a mile after. Today will be a longer cardio day.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!
Aphil

Hello ladies!!
welcome rebelridergirl! aphil had good advice about maybe just "starting" with drinking extra water, or doing some exercise, as opposed to grocery shopping for healthier stuff. Hope you like it here as much as I do! (and your post wasn't gripe-y at all, wait 'til you hear me whining )

aphil, I am excited with you about your deals cooking up! Hope they're rewarding in all ways

Hi Del!I haven't commented yet what a cutie your avatar baby is!

I'll echo your sentiments about us trying to get smaller and fitter for summer, when we live in t-shirts and shorts and such. I remember one of our past ladies, tryin'hard (who lost 100 pounds and was maintaining it for years) who gave me the mental "UGH" feeling when she said we should imagine a hot sticky day, and NOT want our thighs rubbing together. Now that's motivating

I have a little relief, on Saturday I had to tell my "winter job boss" that I wouldn't be able to do any part-time work for them this summer. I worked 8 to 10 hours one day a week for them last year, while working 5 days at my summer job, and it was TOO MUCH!! He was pleasant and understanding about it, didn't try to pressure me into changing my mind. He did ask if I could spare 3 or 4 days one particular week, when the general manager plans to be away. I said, I'm sorry, I could give you ONE day tops.

I try to tell myself I'm a tough biker chick, but I sometimes cave when I think I'm going to disappoint someone. But this is the same owner who doesn't let us have lunch breaks, doesn't let us have a floodlight on outside after dark when we walk to our cars, wants to cut our hours or cut our pay when business is slow,etc. He is absolutely just looking out for himself, so that is what I have to do for ME.

I went to my favorite second-hand shop on Friday, and didn't get as much goodies as usual, but still alot! a pair of l.i.e. jeans, three tops, and a belt, for $8.00. Despite my fashion makeover last year, I'm still so pathetic when it comes to clothes I don't need nice clothes for work, in fact, they get trashed pretty quickly, so I'm still a jeans and t-shirt or long-sleeved henley shirt girl, lol! and it's extra pathetic that when I wear something new to work, even though it's second-hand and nothing fashionable, a co-worker notices right away

Hello to everyone else, hope some of you have off tomorrow (we're getting another 4 to 8" of snow, YUCK)

Hello ladies

I am doing good for a Monday. I had a good weekend with my mom shopping on Saturday. I never get to go out and shop like that. I got my self a pair of Old Navy cargo paints with the draw string and 3 shirts. I also got my DD 3 spring sets and some shoes at JcPenny. I am a little disapointed in my self I just had such a busy weekend and didn't exercise at all! Friday was my day off so that was fine and I got in at 9:30 PM.....Then Saturday I was gone all day shopping and didn't get home and done with dinner till like 8:30. I was so tired after walking that Mall all day that I just skipped Then Sunday, after letting the house go Friday and Saturday, I spent all day till 8:30 PM cleaning ! I was so tired after I just went in bed and did my nails while I watched "Desprate House wifes" I really ment to work out Sunday at 8 PM but just gave in to my self. I think the day of mall walking and then cleaning all day Sunday was at least some exercise. I ate well all last week and through the weekend. But I had two no no's, Saturday night I ate a big plate of sesame chicken that I split with my mom and last night I ate two home made cookies after making a batch for the family I felt bad but I have been doing good. I weighted in on Sunday morning and I was so mad, I was back at 157.4 ?? It is so dissapointing to loose so slow then with the least little thing a pound is gained back.....Maybe it was water weight It has been a challege having my family down here to keep my work outs on the weekend since that is when I get to spend my time with them. My main problem is I am not a morning person. I get up at 8:30-9 on weekends and then sip my coffee and eat in bed for another 45 min. and by the time I am up and dressed it is heading towards 11 AM! It is hard to get up when I have to get up so early all week and my DD and DH also sleep in. If I could get right up and work out early I would be so much better off.....

Here is to a new day and a new week

Aphil, you have me wondering?? What is this gig your trying to get

HI Holly~ Good for you for not giving in to this boss. It sounds like it was something you needed to do.

Hi to all of you and I hope everyone is OP this Monday and we are all thinking about summer coming fast and getting this weight off by then! It is slow going but a lb is a lb and as long as we are not gaining it will come off, with some hard work.

Amie

Oh my!!!! Sometimes the week goes by so fast, I just don't get time to write....I am afraid this will be a bad week (not eating, but just work and life!) too!

Well last week I did not too bad eating, but had some ups and downs on the scale....nothing too bad though. Went out of town for a few days and made decent choices, but could have been better.

But the bad news was last night....went to a party...all and anything you wanted to eat and drink at a VERY nice restaurant. Well I did have a few drinks, but I didnt eat all day so by 7:30 I INHALED my dinner....and ended up eating much more than I have eaten in weeks. Afterwards I was so sick I just went home and went to bed.....Then spent the day with a food hangover.....blood suger recovery or whatever it is. Ate fruit and salad today and some soup and a lean cuisine.......PLUS worked out with my trainer.....and I NEVER should have told her about the prime rib and the turtle cheesecake.....she made me pay.....Oh well...on to a better week of eating healthy choices!!!

Lilybutt

Hey everyone,
It has been awhile since I posted here. Actually, I tried to post one day and the computer had an error or something, so all of that typing for nothing. Anyhoo, I have not been working out like I want to because of being too busy. I'm watching what I am eating and it's not toooooooo bad, but combined with not exercising, I'm not doing too well. I am drinking enough water, probably more than enough and making sure to take my vitamins, but I need to get back to working out. Maybe Thursday night? HA HA that's sooooooo long from now. I'm still doing pilates, but it has been 5 days since I lifted or did cardio. I bought a new pedometer to count my steps,but the darn thing doesnt work or something...I walked to campus, around campus, back from campus, to campus again and it counted 139 steps...hummmmmmm