Cyn – congrats on the night out!!! My husband would LOVE to get me out to something. And, owie on the foot! Hope it is better! Good luck with the craft bizarres! I would love to do that. But I don’t have time to focus on making anything right now. I need to focus my “spare” time on cleaning my scrapbooking space! Your scrapbooking project sounds like fun. What an awesome gift idea. And, I totally agree on shopping the local stores. You get so much more personal service. And, they are fun to visit!

Million!!! Congrats!!! You have been working towards this for so long!!!

Lindy – you have made so many changes for the good recently!! Congrats!!! Stay strong! And awesome on tripping over your clothes!!! It’s a wonderful feeling when those sizes don’t fit anymore! I’ve been able to donate quite a few of my larger sizes already. Woohoo! Congrats on the weight loss!!! You beat your estimate! That is awesome!!!

Neon – Awesome on a good day!! Your breakfast sandwich sounds quite yummy! And your conversation is impressive. I love talking to people who have similar backgrounds!

HoneyBee – just keep going!

Rat – Sorry that evil kitty scared you! It’s so hard when you know they are nearing the end. Lots of quality time and loving is definitely in order.

Shadow – Congrats on the successes on C25K! Awesome! Baked onion blossoms sound yummy. My favorite barbecue is Montgomery Inn Sauce. It is a local restaurant in Cincinnati and they have bottle the sauce and sell it in some groceries. I love it!!!

Catherine – oh, no! Good luck! I hope they treat you well!

Snuzbee – welcome! Congrats on braving the pool. It is hard at first, but it gets easier!

Jacquie – Good for you on your 30-Day Makeover! Keep us updated! I like the Walk Away The Pounds video. It is a good one. Not that I have done that recently…

Voodoo – Good job! Stay active!

I have been very busy. This week my daughter had Vacation Bible School. My son had Swim Team practice. So those were my mornings. A friend with 5 kids needed me to watch them three times this week for various appts. So there were most of my afternoons. And we had two Swim Meets this week. So that was two of my evenings!! And, my parents are back in town. They snowbird to Florida, so we now have them local for the next couple of months. They have their own house, but are in the process of trying to sell it to find a condo. Not a fun time.

Eating is fine. I know that I'm not getting enough calories. I don't have much interest in eating. Last night I went out with friends to California Pizza Kitchen. Fabulous!! Had a pasta dish (you can switch out and get whole grain pasta) with asparagus, spinach, tomato, and garlic. And added shrimp. YUM!! And now will be eating it all day. But, I can eat so little, that I tend to not eat. I would imagine I get 300-500 calories a day. And, my scale is showing it. I'm not losing the way I should be.

I went for a swimming workout on Wednesday. It was fabulous! But, I haven't done anything since. Want to go to the pool this afternoon, but hubby and kids are going camping with Cub Scouts this evening through tomorrow evening. So, we probably won't make the pool. But, I am going to take a pool class tomorrow while they aren't home. I need to start fitting this in!!!

And, I want (need) to spend time cleaning my scrapbooking space. It is horrible. I want to scrapbook but can't find anything!!

Hugs to all!!!

Hi everyone! I hope your Friday is going great.

I've been keeping myself pretty busy and am doing a lot less sitting around than I used to. I did another round of C25K today and it was even easier than the last time. My legs are definitely stronger, and I'm not getting really out of breath, either. Today was the first day the I didn't touch the handles on the treadmill at all. The last two times, I was using the handles during my walking intervals. I was planning on repeating week 1 of the program, but I think that maybe I can progress to week 2 after all.

The scale hasn't moved all week. Well, it does go up and down during the day, but every morning it's the same. I need to watch my calories more closely, I think. I've been slacking off a little. However, I am losing inches. I really need to write down all my measurements so I can track my progress, but I measured my hips last week and was at 59", and today I'm at 58", so I am losing, even if the scale isn't moving. I figure I'm probably gaining muscle at the same rate that I'm losing fat. We'll see.

Lindy - I am so happy for you! You're doing great! It's so great that you surpassed your minigoal. Keep up the good work!

Over - Have you ever been to a restaurant that had those big onions that are cut to look like a flower, and you pick off the "petals" and dip them in a horseradish dip? They have them at fairs a lot, too. They are super delicious, but deep fried. I have a kit for making them, and I tried baking them instead of frying, and they come out great! I made my dip with light miracle whip instead of mayo, so the whole thing is pretty guilt-free. Oh, and there's all kinds of jelly out there! My parents always bought strawberry jelly, but I've also had grape, apricot, raspberry, and mixed berry jelly. Strawberry is my favorite!

Ratkitten - hugs to you and your cat. I'm glad she is still feisty! That's the way it should be when your old. Feisty to the very end.

snuzbee - welcome! There are some amazing ladies here, as you've probably already found out by reading through the threads. I'm so glad I have them all here to inspire and support me!

basket - I haven't tried too many barbeque sauces, but I bet that Montgomery Inn sauce is amazing! I love when restaurants bottle their sauces, because they're always so good! A local restaurant down here in PA called the Windsor Inn sells their hot sauce, and it is amazing. They only sell it at the restaurant and their "wing stop" satellite restaurant though. It's kind of funny that your parents head down to Florida, because my parents have been talking for the past few years about moving to Hawaii when they retire. In some ways, it would be cool to be able to go to Hawaii anytime I want and have a place to stay, but then again, where am I going to get the cash to fly out there to visit? Oh well!

wow - there's a lot of chit-chat going on in here! Please forgive me if I leave some people of of my replies - I'm still getting used to this.

Jacquie - Good luck on you new approach! I'm interested to hear what types of raw foods you will be eating. I like your "no lazy days" rule. I always seem to convince myself that I need to take two days off a week and do nothing. Which is dumb! I should at least do SOME type of activity. I'm working on it..

Ratkitty - So sorry that your dear kitty isn't doing so well. I'll keep you both in my thoughts.

Over - I've lost about 40 pounds since Feb. I just got below 300 and I have been stuck here. I keep gaining and losing 1 pound. I guess I need to mix it up a bit. Good luck with your C25K! - that seems pretty cool. I think once I lose a bit more I would like to try it. Right now jogging is a little too rough on my knees. Stay strong with your nephew in the house!

Sharon - Congrats!

Lindy - Amazing work! I'm so proud of you!! I agree with Neon - make the next goal 25 pounds and celebrate more often!

Cyn - I was wondering if that A-team movie would be any good. I think I probably wouldn't like it since nothing can be better that the original show!

Shadow - Good job losing those inches! Those baked onion blossoms sound wonderful...

As for me - things are going well. Went swimming again this evening. There were two very irritating people in the pool though..lol It's a huge pool and there were only 4 of us in it. Leave it to me to find someone to bug me. Two of us were in our own lanes swimming laps. These other two people were chatting to each other the whole time and would hang out in the shallow and then drift to the deep and talk the whole time. Totally fine - until they drift into my lane! They hung onto the wall at the end of the lane that I was swimming in - for like 15 min. I had to go to the other side of the pool and commence swimming again. No big deal I guess...Just bothered me! lol I also went with my mom to take her dog to training class. It was pretty fun - our doggie enjoyed playing on the agility course.

That's all that's going on with me! HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

happy Saturday!

Yes I am up early again I swear if I could sleep past 8am it would be nice. But I have always been an early riser ;0)

LAst night I started a little mini album for my aunt. Her Birthday is next friday. Last year on her birthday, Michael Jackson died and everyone was calling her and telling her about it and FORGOT about her birthday. It is sort of a joke now..all year we have been saying we are going to have a remember MJ day lol. Sooo I am making her a little album with pics of her kids and grandson. It is made from toilet paper rolls. I seen a post on youtube and said I have plenty of those. I wil post a pic when I get it done. Its great cause I can use all my left over scrap papers.

We had planned on going to San Diego for the 4th of July. BUT I have no one to watch the pooch. I really need to find a good boarding place for her. It is really sad that I live around all my family..and help them out all the time..and just ONE can't help me for 3 days. My brother literally could walk to his work from my house. It would take prob 30 min but nope! I must remember this next time they need something which will be soon I am sure.

Ok..off to make more pages of the album!

Just wanted to let you know that my sweet psychokitty went to sleep peacefully a little after noon today. Her kidneys had failed and she was losing weight rapidly. Her last day was serene and was spent outside sunning herself on the walkway while ignoring a nasty mockingbird.

Sad hugs,
Ratkity

Ratkitty sorry abot Ratty but she died in the sunshine knowing she was loved SO much. xxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxsharon

Rat - no words for you - just hugs. You're a good pet owner and the evil ratkitty was well loved. Thinking of you today

RatKitten, I'm so sorry for your loss. I know what it's like to loose a loved four legged family member to kidney failure. She lived a long happy life with you.

ahhh Rat..I am so sorry **hugs**

I'm sorry about Ratkitty. Hopefully she is terrorizing one of my passed basset hounds right now.

Ratkitten - I'm so sorry evil kitty is gone. I'm glad you know she got to enjoy her last hours. I'm crying for you. I understand your heartache. Been there many times. I've had to explain to my daughter that this is the down side to having pets. We love them more than anything in the world, but we know we will outlive them. {{{hugs}}}

Shadow – glad you are staying busy. That’s the quickest way to control the eating! Definitely track your inches. It’s exciting to see!

Over – I had RNY surgery March 30. Can only eat very small amounts at a time and rarely actually feel “hungry.” Which is a good thing. Stick with the C25K! Good to focus! And, good luck with feeding the empty leg. My son is only 9 and he is already turning into a garbage disposal!

Snuzbee – congrats on going to the pool! I can’t believe how rude those people were. I thought it was an unspoken, but well understood, rule that you don’t get in the way of anyone swimming laps! Especially at the end of the lane! Good luck!

Cyn – TP roll mini album? That’s a new one!! I look forward to seeing your pictures! I can’t believe no one will watch your dog. That is terrible. Focus on the creative outlet.

I have spent much of the day sitting around on the computer. Which has been kind of nice. Not the part about not doing anything. But the part about being on the computer. And my daughter has been hanging out, too. My husband and son are on a Cub Scout campout. I asked my daughter if she wanted to do anything today and she chose not to. So, I've been getting some stuff done around my desk and doing some research and playing some games.

But, I also have been snacking. Nothing major, but more than I usually do. Gee. Think there's a tie-in between hanging out on the computer and snacking? Yup! Problem is, since I haven't done anything, I'm tired. Funny how that happens. Oh, well. I did do a little cleaning up last night and today. Need to do more. But, at least part of the kitchen table is usable, again!

I was so sorry to hear of this, too. They are not with us nearly long enough...

OOW, one thing that worked for me when I was staying in a certain calorie range was to remember that it's only a range. There may be days when you can stay in your 1800 calorie range, that's perfectly ok. However, you have an option to eat more (healthfully) if you are still hungry and not filled after consuming your 1800 or so.

As for C25K, if you don't want to get to off track, you can do some of your days inside and then re-do them outdoors (if you want) when the rain clears. It's easier on the joints to exercise inside, but on the downside there's a lot less space to run in. However, if your goal is 'time' and not 'distance' then that option could work for you.

Lastly, about your nephew... I don't think that you have to get more unhealthy options because its economical (although I certainly understand!). Have you checked out the Foods forum? There's a sub forum called Shoestring Meals or Meals on a budget (something similiar). Perhaps you could peruse that forum and find some ideas. Also, this may be a good opportunity for your nephew to learn portion control and to learn how satisfying 'filler' foods can be.

Ratkity, hugs to you!!! I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. I'm very glad to hear though that she enjoyed her last day awake and went to sleep peacefully!