Good to see everyone is still rockin' and rollin'! I went to the oncologist today and got the all clear for another 6 mos. I avoided these appointments for 5 years and yet the apprehension today was the worst I've had before a visit...probably because of the scare I had over the summer. Now if we can just get the insurance to pay for the brca testing it will be all good! The dr also confirmed that I've lost 8lbs since my last visit in may, so I guess what I'm doing is working. It just seems like the progress has been oh-so-slow! Especially when I see lambchop getting ready to run a marathon and icu swimming those laps, and everyone is making such great progress towards their goals!

Thanks everyone for your support and kind words on my weight loss.

I have tomorrow off and will be busy running errands and doing chores. My boyfriend said he would take a nice walk with me. I think I want to go for a walk at the park near us. I was thinking of bringing my camera and taking some photos of the changing trees.

wlw - progress can seem slow at times, i try to have all sorts of mini goals, like percent lost or my bmi or figuring out how long ago I was a certain weight. Hang in there and keep doing what you are because you certainly have good progress.

marie - I am a numbers person too. Great idea to figure out the calories saved in weight loss.

icu - swimming is just so good for you. Growing up I swam competitively and I can really appreciate the great distances you are swimming.

lampchop - I like the way you are thinking. Creating change and developing new habits is a big hurdle to jump.

onmyway - spending time and exercising with your DD sounds great.

nell - hello there, nice to meet you.

Today I did Full Body Squeeze DVD with Tracey Effinger which I bought from Borders with a 40% off coupon. I did better in the legs sections than I did in the arms section. I was a little surprised that I didn't recognize much from the Power Squeeze I previewed yesterday. I expected thte shorter workout to be pulled from the longer one. I'm not sure I 'got' all of the little movements right there seemed to me to be a lot to keep track of.

Lambchop (Deb) has sat on her bottom for way too long and is a porkchop! It's not like i'm out there running miles yet, it's a slow paced build up I'll be doing

Yes, porkchop (a nickname my sister gave me years ago)....is working her way into wanting to be a lambchop -- hehehe

LC - Nice nickname for your sister to give you.

Patch - Good job on mixing those workouts up.

Hydra - Enjoy your day off and your walk.

WLW - Good news on being cleared for another 6 months and on the 8 lb. loss.

I thought I would drop by and say hello!

I just finished a 3 hour midterm for accounting on monday. I am so determined to get exercise and do this class. When I got my degree online, I gained so much weight with all the work to do, I had no time for me, or so I thought. This time, during this 12 week class I am NOT going to gain weight. I just don't think it would be worth it. I sure appreciate my down time now that I am swamped again.'

I have been walking and doing work out tapes and watching/journaling my food. My biggest problem still and it seems forever is night time grazing. If I didn't do that, I would not have any problems! ;(

I am with you all in spirit and after this class is Over I promise to be more of a participator! 6 more weeks. It will fly!

Okay, off to take a morning walk! Keep it up... this is a wonderful support system.

OnMyWay, a special hello to you!

dmc

Lamb, I life food smells. They don’t trigger me to eat them. When the office staff brings in doughnuts, then know to bring the box in my office so I can have a few cheap thrills – sniffing the goodies. And sis is mean. I only know you as lambchop.

Penguin, YEAH on the glasses front. There was no way you should have had to give them up. BTW, I love my progressives – on the rare times I actually use my glasses.

WLW, last Thanksgiving when I complained to my dr. about how slow the weight was coming off, she said to do interval training. I didn’t take her advice until March and the weight loss speed increased dramatically. Nearly to a point where it’s in a normal range for most people. Before I was lucky for 2 pounds a month. Now I range 5-6 pounds a month although I think that will slow with as I near goal. So, try the interval training.

Hydra, your walk (now today) sounds like fun. I love being outside enjoying fall colors. We have pine trees here so there’s no change. But when I’ve gone up to Tacoma, it was beautiful.

Dmc, good job on refusing to gain weight while going to school. Enjoy your walk!

Two of the non-pull harnesses came in the mail yesterday. YEAH!!! Kodiak didn’t pull at all and Sasha… well Sasha is Sasha and pulling is her game. It was better and I hated the halti collar (goes over their snout and looks like an odd muzzle) so at least it is gone. I think when the mediums arrive (backordered), it’ll work even better. Regardless, this morning was a pleasant walk.

Countdown is on. Two days until DH is supposed to come home. Yesterdays planes arrived (aka took off from the Boise base) which means 1/3 of the jets have returned. DH said 4 more should be arriving soon from today’s batch. If they all take off, then he gets to come home. If I could type with my fingers crossed…
Marie

Today I had one of those 'Goldilock's' workouts. It took me a few trys to find the 'just right'.I finally did do Firm's Cardio Dance Slimdown. This is my go-to fun cardio; this also represents about the most complex choreo I can do. Sigh. Most of my efforts at dance end up looking more like kickboxing and this is no exception, but this one is fun and has saved me from skipping a workout several times.

April rolled in something yucky in the back yard right before I left this morning so I cleaned her up as best I could while wearing 'good clothes' but I decided I had to give her a bath after my workout. Guess what time it is, Furball????

Hi, Ladies.

I am BACK. I am so done with being off the wagon. I am so ready to shed this final weight. I DO NOT want to gain anymore weight back. Here are some small things I can commit to, to move in the right direction.

Tonight I will:
-- throw away the candy corn. Yes, the 2 unopened bags, plus whatever is in the open bag. Good bye.

Tomorrow I will:
-- exercise
-- make a dinner plan for Thursday - Sunday
-- go grocery shopping

In the next week I will:
-- buy new batteries for my food scale

I have just been so busy lately between work, parenting, and chauffeuring, that I have let my bad habits creep back. My big challenge is dinners. The boys seem to have all their activities scheduled during dinnertime. No wonder there is a demise in families sitting down to eat together... My oldest son's basketball practice got cancelled tonight; if it hadn't, that would be Mon - Thur that something was scheduled during dinner (taekwondo for DS1 and basketball for DS2 on Monday, cello for DS1 on Tuesday, basketball for DS1 on Wednesday, Taekwondo for DS1 and basketball for DS2 on Thursday). I know when I was a kid, we did things too, but I guess they were after school or on the weekend. We were always home for dinner and always ate as a family. Even with all of 3 of us doing sports in high school. Ugh.

Exercise? What's that? I haven't exercised in probably 3 weeks. Part of the problem is that that Pride & Prejudice is incredibly boring. I think I could like it if I were snuggled next to the fire. But on the elliptical?? No. But, I got a new book, some Harlan Coban novel. His books are always easy reads but good thrillers. Not having a good book is just an excuse, but the great books definitely did motivate me to get down to the basement.

Oh, and on top of all the normal life things keeping me busy, my cat got into rat poison sometime overnight Sunday/Monday. My boys found a block of it at the top of the basement stairs, which meant my cat found it and brought it up. That was a nice little diversion... but fortunately it looks like he should be alright. Phew!

I hope everyone is well. ICUWishing glad to see the turtle gone Marie how wonderful to spend time with your GS! CruiseCAT looks like a great hike! OnMyWay thanks for shouting out to me! LambChop you're doing great! Penguin I'm sorry these glasses are such an ordeal! Hydra, DMC2009, WeightLossWanted, PinkiePie aka Velveteen, PresMaggie, and Any Folks I've Missed, nice seeing you all again and I'm looking forward to re-engagine.

good to see you back newleaf, sounds like you've got a plan!

marie: interval training sounds like a plan but I'm still pretty limited on what I can do. the herniated disc causes leg and hip pain and I have bursitis in the hip as well. I'm trying to get to where I'm comfortable on the elliptical etc again, then I'll be able to intensify my workouts. right now it's mostly walking and stretching. I do have to commit to regular workouts other than the regular walking and jumping on the treadmill on my lunch break.

DONE It would take a major act of desperation to get the candy back, involving climbing into the 30-gallon trash can and tearing through the assorted bags of garbage down at the bottom. I can say with utmost confidence, this will not happen.

Newleaf: way to go!

I got a laugh at the visual on this one.

It reminds me of a show that was on a couple years ago about a group of people with eating disorders.

Stay away from the trash can!!!

WLW - congrats on the all clear!

Hydra - i hope you got the walk in the park in...and it felt great

Cruise - she said it in jest, not thinking about my weight--- but in a fat girl's mind, it stung - now i can laugh about it years later

DMC - hope the midterm went well - can you replace your grazing with a favorite drink to sip?

Marie - (the nickname) we were kids, we're great friends toady...food smells, oy, think i just have to be at this longer-- i'm finding i'm excited because restaurants aren't hard to go to at all - I hope the harnesses work out well for you...and hope DH is home soon

Penguin - LOL, my coordination is like yours, it's not pretty, but it gets the job done!

NewLeaf- Congrats on making small things you can do -- yes you can, yes you can!!! I think I have Promise Me or something by him, i'm about half way through, but haven't had a chance to continue it...same author

---
I'm down another pound - yesterday i did my week 3/day 1 of my c25k, and at the doctor's on Tuesday - we found out that the last 4 pounds that came off were all body fat!

Hair colored, cut, highlighted -- so happy to lose the gray - I feel like myself again only better.

Marie - thanks for the doggie offer! I know you'd never break up the pack, though - and I don't have the advantage of having a behaviorist nearby to help. I see that ticker flying off to the right ... 70 pounds! I hope you're beginning to draft your goal story, because you can motivate a whole lot of Chickies to keep going! I'll be hoping for your DH to get back to you, on schedule!

Patch - hope you can resolve that computer virus. It wasn't that long ago that you were having appliance gremlins - ugh! Nice to hear that you're finally getting some relief with the vision saga, and maybe, just maybe, the next set of lenses will be the final chapter (crossing fingers!).

WLW - Yay for the health clearance! Insurance is such a wack-job industry - you'd think it would be in their best interest to pay for a test that would help you figure out how to manage your risks, and that one is a biggie. Good luck! I look back through my journal, and I only lost 10 from May 1 - so you're not the only one plodding along!

hydra - did you have a terrific day off yesterday? Any good pics?

lambchop - stuff like that nickname makes me glad to be an "only". I'm sure you gave her a good one in return???

dmc - hang in there! You're over a 1/3rd of your way to goal!

newleaf - welcome back - we've missed you! You won't miss the candy corn.

Went swimming again last night - DS made it through his hour OK too. It was a little crowded and for a while I ended up swimming with some of the HS men's team. I've got a lot of work to do before I can keep up with those guys! I'd have to say 4 days in a row on plan; it will likely be Monday before I see any scale movement again, due to that mf***r TOM. Grrr.