kathy~ wow! you are back with a vengence! Sounds like you've had your hands full with the move--and you've already settled in? wow! There must be a new trend with the "push me to exercise" thing in our posts! Seems like a lot of us need some extra motivation to move our booties. You are three pounds down and those are gone forever, YAY! Now get out that treadmill and get going! Stay strong at the races--remember that burger is going to stop feeling good just as soon as you eat it, but your weight loss will feel good forever.

photo trick: The trick to putting up lots of family photos is to make a "photo wall" and use the same style or color frame and put up the pics in a grid pattern. Cut out pieces of paper the same size as your pictures first and tape them to the wall to check the layout before you hammer. Takes extra time, but totally worth it. Also keep your spacing the same all around the pics--that's really key. I finally just painted all my frames with a black enamel and they look good!

sandi, i'm glad katrina missed you. y'all have had so many hurricanes this year.. what is going on? usually there are just a couple. all the way to "k".. geez!
that's great you have that extra motivation to stick with it kayelle. i'm sure you will an inspiration to all those students.
mel.. hope everything goes well your mil visit. try not to dwell on it too much. melissa is right about the "hot coals on her head thing." i do that, and it's great.. but i wish i could dump *real* hot coals on her head sometimes .
well, i am still waiting to hear back about my interviews. that guy from wednesday told me they were hiring two people and interviewing four (wouldn't have time to interview very many.. the interview was three and half hours!!). so i have a chance at that one. on tuesday, the caltrans lady said they were interviewing people all day and half of the next day . well, if i don't get either one, at least i passed my insurance test yesterday. i can definitely do that, although i would rather do planning or gis. i am not much of a salesperson.

when dealing with MIL's smile and nod as you keep repeating it's only ___ days, It's only___ days and let her eat all the ____ Word we are not supposed to say on this board.. My inlaws are fantastic, my MIL is a bit strange but aren't we all??

Kathy welcome back
Kayelle- that is so awesome, showing kids it can be done and they can get healthy.

Cadwell- Good luck on the job interviews. I could never "sell" anything..

Thanks for the pep talk everyone! I do need to exercise and I was getting into it but then I slack.. so I set some goals for myself as I just felt I was slacking, setting goals and posting them makes me accountable.
this weekend will be quiet and calm- we have NOTHING planned at all for once!
Warning: Long story ahead:
I have found a yummy food that is good for you - due to an emergency, I ended up at work till 2 and had no lunch as I was planning on leaving at noon. So I ran to the grocery store down the road to grab something. I was in line at their deli going to get a turkey wrap . I stopped dead in my tracks as I read the nutrition label on a wrap even w/o cheese it was like 300 calories and had 12 grams of fat... the wrap(bread) itself had like 7 fat grams.. and it was made with PHVO and the second ingredient was SUGAR arrgh! so I saw a display for the Toufayan brand Pittettes ( mini pita breads) and they had whole wheat with real whole wheat( not white flour hiding under wheat )- no fat ,NO PHVO, no sugar etc.. so it's like 140 cal for 2 of those babies and no fat and 3 grams of fiber... so I grabbed a tossed salad with lots of veggies to go and a can of tuna and a lofat ranch packet and headed back to work. YUMMY i am now addicted..Then I had the sweet munchies this afternoon after work so I got out some ff cottage cheese and added a couple sliced strawberries and a bit of pineapple we had left over- first I spritzed the pita with that pump butter and sprinkled a mix of splenda and cinnamon on the outside, nuked it for 10 seconds , added the cottage cheese & fruit inside and it was really good..
I am sure I am the last person on earth to find this baby pita bread but I had to share this with everyone just in case!
I am off to go ride the bike- then I am cleaning out the hall closet-I can't stand the mess anymore besides it'll help me NOT munch tonight

Night all
Sandi

Hello all,
My new most favorite food which I could eat for 2 meals every day is this
Put all the veggies you like- a big handful of salad greens, green peppers, cut up tomato,mushroom, sliced onions, etc fresh basil salt and pepper, and if you eat meat, some tiny slices of salami or thinsliced sausage, in a small frying pan with a bit of olive oil. Cook it on a slow heat till it looks wilted and hot. Beat an egg real good, pour over the veggies, add 2 cubic inches or cut up hard cheese and let the bottom set. Then put it under the broiler till it starts to lightly brown. Be careful taking the pan out of the oven cause the handle wil lbe hot. Let it cool a bit.
If I make that for a very late morning breakfast, I don't need to eat again till supper time. According to Fitday, the egg and olive oil is 91, cheese 123 and a small fresh sausage patty is 48. I don't count the veggies, so I round it off at 275 calories.
I think it's so filling cause there is a lot to eat and a lot of protein.

Tomorrow is our weekend at friend's. I am determined to stay OP. But I am worried,but I keep reminding myself that WI is 3 days after Sunday. Whose idea was weigh in every Wed. Was that you Melissa?
Laura

I think it was LOL that way we would have time to get rid of any ugliness over the weekend.
Melissa

Thanks Melissa. It was a good idea and it helps to keep me straight.
What I really need tho, is about 10,000 anti anxiety magic pills. Then I wouldn't have to worry so much about my kids and my mom and the state of the world. Then food wouldn't be an issue and I would be thin. But then I would have a real addiction and that would be worse. So I guess I just have to stay OP.
Laura

Today was Allie's first day at preK and it was bad but turned out good. Soon as we started to leave she SCREAMED and her legs and arms were flailing and kicking as the teacher tried to hold her. I went down the steps and just cried, hubby held me and then went back up and tried to calm her down. We ended up leaving with her screaming in the room, me crying in the car. It was frustrating because there was this other mama there, sitting on the classroom floor holding her little girl like life was going to end any second and bawling her eyes out and of course the girl was terrified and screaming. Allie didn't start crying until she saw that...then she got scared. i wanted to yank that woman up by her hair and tell her that she was scaring her child...how can you expect a child to feel safe when you are bawling like no tomorrow? We got a call in 20 min. saying Allie was still screaming and we needed to come calm her down, take her home, something. When we got there, dreading it and not sure what to do, she was fine! We saw through the window in the door that she was saying the pledges and was just fine. So, we hung out in the hall for awhile so she wouldn't see us, and the teacher came out and told us she was fine the second they said they had called us. When we went to pick her up she was so excited and just chattering about everything and she can't wait to go back on Monday. She loves her teachers and cried she wants to go back tomorrow lol It worked out, though it started out bad.

Oh, the bawling mama ended up taking her little girl home and said she'd bring her back Monday. What does she expect to happen on monday? That girl will be worse since she got her way today...and Monday is just drop them in the breezeway day, parents don't go in **Sigh** some people.

I ate reallly good today, and that surprised me with that drama. We took the kids to a little place nearby for hot dogs and ice cream after picking Allie up. I ordered a large salad with grilled chicken strips and it was GREAT and I am craving another one already. Then i didn't eat anything else until supper, and had a Lean Cuisines meal and that's it. I am still a bit hungry so might have another Lean Cuisine before bed...way under my calories so it's okay.

No exercise yet, it's been a crazy day, but I'm going to make myself do just one mile so I can keep up my streak...almost 2 weeks straight with exercise every single day!!! I want to see how long I can keep it going, so just doing 1 mile gets the date on the log and it continues.

I see we are all needing a shove to exercise....Let's get our booties moving ladies. i want to see the scales dropping coming Wednesday...and pants along with it

Theresa

I'll post my exercise first since we seem to have a recurring exercise theme here (which is good! we all need it!) I ran 1.4 miles straight! Longest run yet, but I think my heartrate was up a little too high--I didn't feel bad, but when I checked it on the little sensor thing at the gym, it was high. I also walked a bit and then did a little on the eliptical. i was short on time, so I didn't get all of my weight training in, but I did 25 reps for legs, biceps, triceps and abs. My shoulders and legs are already sore! I'm going to do more abs and also back work tomorrow. This has been my first week of my beginner "boot camp" training and I did well! Next week is the same and then it starts to get harder. eek!

I went out tonight with my closest friend-we've known each other since kindergarten. I knew I was going out, so I had decided not to obsess on calories while we were out, but I still think I did okay, considering. We had tapas instead of dinner and we even avoided fried stuff and split seared ahi and steamed buns (hee hee) and mashed sweet potatoes. Like a miniature dinner! I also had two cocktails at dinner--vodka tonic, not even red wine which would at least have some health benefit. Later we had coffee and then split a cookie...and I couldn't even eat my portion! I was so proud of myself!

I got my 1 mile in to continue my streak last night and then crashed. Needless to say, allie had no problems going to sleep, she was completely wiped out! When we had our talk time at bedtime she told me a whole bunch about school and the way she phrased things was so adorable, just melted me. For example, she said they had a flags and got to "pledge-a-leech to God" LOL Pledge Allegiance is apparently something we'll have to work on.

Mel, happy shopping all we had to get in way of supplies was her backpack and hand sanitizer and wipes to go into the classroom supplies. The school provides the rest...and believe me, we are paying them enough to provide the rest. I don't complain about the cost though because it is a very good school..their waiting list should attest to that. I wish they did have a better orientation day for the kids though, like kicking out mamas wailing all over the floor GRRR that lady annoyed me, she was scaring so many kids besides her own. I seriously believe Allie would have been fine because she didn't cry until she saw that lady.

Theresa

Theresa- i am so glad everything worked out with the little one. It's so hard on us Mom's to see our little ones go thru any stress. They usually do just fine(even if I think it'll all fall apart w/o me )

Mel have fun shopping! I love to shop for my kids- they wear uniforms to their school so i don't have to buy school clothes but we have to have everyday clothes too. my "little bits" looks so cute in her white shirt with the Peter Pan collar and her navy blue skorts or jumper and her navy blue tie (and she "accessorizes" with her matching head band..)

Posting execise from last night: rode ebike for 15 minutes and then did old fashioned video on leg lifts, squats ( the ones where you take a kitchen chair and almost sit on it - just until your butt almost touches the edge of the chair but doesn't- OWWWW) and then some attempts to do different types of crunches, and some different curls and other just "old fashioned" muscle workout -to cool down(sarcasm) i rode for another 10 minutes so I got in about 40 minutes of moving..Melra- i decided music may help so I downloaded classics (later I will burn an Mom's music cd) I am so stuck in the 70's & 80's with rock or what they called 80's "hair band music" ( Bon Jovi etc..) drives my kids crazy- although my 12YO old likes country and the little one likes kelly clarkson & Hillary Duff etc.. I like old fashioned rock from the 70's & 80's.. -and it really helped on the bike riding.. I will get a pedometer when we go to super target today. I wasn't going to do anything today but we are out of cereal and other things you can only get at Super Target. Must avoid little ladies trying to give me free samples- And I did get the hall linen closet cleaned out- good will is getting a big bag of donations today!

I am going to try Laura's yummy food invention Sunday morning.. i really like getting exercise tips and food ideas from everyone. It helps me step out of out of my comfort zone and try new things. thanks all for supporting me in my time of slacking!

Everyone sounds like they are doing great. I haven't been able to check in this week due to schedule and painting but finally read the last 6 pages that I missed. I just want to say WAY TO GO!!!!! to everyone. Sounds like there were quite a few of those tough days where we used to reach for the sweet stuff. I'm proud of all of you for reaching for the healthy instead. I think it shows that everyone is making lifestyle changes instead of just "dieting".
I have been painting all week besides working and attending some classes and meetings that were required for my job. I resisted all those lovely cookies and donuts at the meetings and drank a diet coke with a slice of cheese instead. That was hard because there was no hubby or sister to remind me that I really didn't want that double chocolate chunk cookie!!! It has paid off though, in spite of not being able to go to the gym I move my ticker down 2 lbs. WHOOHOO! I think I'm going to fall a little short on my mini goal but at least I'm closer than I was a month ago.
Keep up the good work everyone and keep on being LOSERS!!! LOL (ya know what I mean!!)

Just had to tell what just happened to me. We have an Umbrella cockatoo that we are keeping for my sister while she's in graduate school. This bird has a large vocabulary and loves to talk. Every morning she says "Hello pretty girl" to me when I come in. Same thing this morning. Just a few minutes ago I walked into the room and she says "Good morning sexy girl" My DH burst out laughing, turns out he's been teaching her to say it secretly as a surprise. Boy is my sister going to be surprised when she gets back home!!!
Anyway thought ya'll might need a laugh. Back to the paint I go!!

ROFL that is funny! All my bird does is give me the sexy whistle. Well I did get my walk in (as if Joshua would have it any other way). Today is house cleaning and laundry and if my ex %$*%$* sent the child support that is way overdue will make a grocery store run. That is always good for lots of calories burned. Been OP all week and feeling good. Looking forward to weigh in even though TOM arrived yesterday. No wonder I have been so moody lol Keep up the good work!
Melissa

theresa it sounds like that "bawling mama" needs to go back to prek. jeez what is wrong with people? sounds like allie is going to do fine though .
it's awesome that everyone is staying op. what are tapas mel? i don't know, but they sound good.
i just had some bacon. nobody saw that, right?
well it was only 70 cals anyway. i haven't had bacon since may. it's actually not as good as i remember. maybe that is because i cooked it way way way too long.
grrr. well i have another interview on mon. it's a follow up interview at the same place from wed. i am this weekend.
i really need to get to the gym tonight. does anybody else like creamsicles? the 25 cal no sugar added creamsicles are my new best friend.
gosh it is so hot here.