Welcome Freda!

Congrats on the registry anniversary, Meg. Just think, your lifestyle will be analyzed and put out there in research to show people *how* to do this maintenance thing. And we get your wisdom right here right now without slogging through research papers!

Lily, unbelievable about your DH's XW.....I am proud of your son right along with you. You have raised a fine man.

I think that I would be a blueberry protein pancake. Yumm!

As for eating before exercising....most mornings when I run at 5:30 I don't eat or drink first. But if I am not running until 8, then I will eat a small something between 6 and 7. I would be too hungry to wait until 9 or so.

Ah, the truth comes out! Lol. Just kidding. That woman must be... oh, I can't write those words here.

Welcome Freda!

I forgot all about oatmeal! I guess I would be a chicken breast with a smattering of the foods I mentioned - fiber cereal, oatmeal, carrots, heck, a whole garden of veggies, yogurt, eggs & egg whites - all stuck to me. I would be a very different collection of food than I was 11 years ago. Now I'm picturing myself walking around with a salad skirt, an egg white hair-do sculpture, berry necklace...

I made it to the gym yesterday, and my last belly dancing class of the month. No one else showed up, so I got my own private lesson, which was pretty neat. A friend gave me a batch of figs, so I stayed up too late canning several batches of fig preserves. I made 1 batch of low sugar/splenda for me (I figured out 22 cal per tablespoon), and the other batches were lower sugar than called for in the original recipe, but tasted very sweet to me. I'll give them away as gifts.

Tonight my boyfriend is taking me out for my belated birthday dinner, and a friend and I might go diving if there are any extra spaces on a scuba trip. I haven't been diving in forever, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. What are everyone's plans for the weekend?

Lillybelle--Read your idea about returning to college. Do it! Do it! Do it! My husband returned to college in his late 30's when we had two small children. He now has 10 years behind him in a new career. I returned to college 3 years ago to do my doctorate. I just completed my final course and will begin work on my dissertation in August. It IS do-able; no one is ever too old to return to college! Our oldest graduate, at the college where I teach, is 84 years old! She wanted to keep her mind working! For me, I hope attending college will be worth it--anyone have a reliable crystal ball? Like you, our income was too high to get anything but loans, so my husband and I look at my education kind of like buying a new fixer-upper house. We didn't have the income to stretch to pay for my education, so it's all loans. Sounds stupid but I've been in education for over 20 years and would like to move to a warm locale for the final 15 or so years of my career life--the doctorate appeared to be the way out. Over the past 3 years of my classes, we've wiped out most of our debt (except mortage) knowing that loan payments will be tough with other debt to pay. I truly enjoyed the classes. All the other students were also full time workers, some of us had children the same age, and it has been a great experience for me. Hope you go for it!

Meg--so sorry to hear about your grandma.

My week has been thankfully uneventful. I went away with my hubby for 3 days and ate off plan as well as on plan. When I went to weigh in, I was prepared to gain 5 lbs (and thought it was worth it). Who can figure out scales? I lost almost 2 lbs. I'd tried to incorporate more movement when we went out, so one day, we shopped at an outlet mall for 3 hours...one day we went to a park, guess it worked.

I'm thrilled to be back home and able to return to working out at my fitness center. This morning, I did a water aerobics class and then decided that I had an errand to run a bit over a mile away that didn't require a car but would increase my exercise. I walked to that errand and back. The weather was gorgeous, so not only did I walk, but I enjoyed the sun! Great way to exercise! Sadly, I have to still push myself to exercise each day. I really don't enjoy it, but I know I enjoy the end results of it, so I have to push myself. I recently read an article by the biggest loser winner--Ali. She said that when Jillian wanted people to lose weight, she put them on the stair climber. I'm thinking the outdoor stairs of the football field stadium are looking like a great possibility in the not too distant future for me.

All--I've been following the recipes. They all look so great! Thanks for posting them!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Hi everyone,

I made it to the gym again today (that's 8 days in a row for me). My workout was good. Then this afternoon I went with DH and I played 18 holes of golf. First time I've played golf in at least 4 yrs. Funny thing was after not playing golf for 4 yrs., I wasn't any better or any worse than when I used to play everyday. LOL. DH is a good golfer and he tries to "teach me" but I usually ignore him and do it my way. Anyway, even though we had a golf cart, the way I hit the ball, I got pleny of walking in.

goalsuccess, I am planning on returning to school. It's just something I feel that I need to do for myself.

midwife, thanks , I am very proud of my son. I truly think that the military helped him grow into an outstanding young man with good morals and principles. Of course, I do credit myself some too with raising him right. Locally here they are announcing a soldier of the week on the radio each week. I sent in a story about Shane. I hope he gets picked. Maybe if his story makes it on the radio, I will have to tape it and send it to him.

My only plans for the weekend are more workouts at the gym. Yardwork . Maybe another round of golf. Tons of laundry.

Hi everyone!

I need to catch up on reading everyone's posts because I haven't been to this thread in ages. I just wanted to pop in and say Hi while I have a chance.

I'm about two weeks away from my due date, and I'm currently big as a house and just waiting to see my little baby. I have a big decision to make about whether I'm going to have a planned C-section (for various reasons I won't go into) or not, so please keep me in your thoughts this week because it's a really tough call. I'm supposed to let my OB know by Friday and then we'll probably schedule it for the next week if I decide to go that way.

After the birth and my recovery, I hope to make it back to 3FC as much as possible to get this weight off again!

If I am what I eat, then I'm a big chicken. We eat A LOT of chicken--I am the woman of 1,000 chicken recipes. I'd also be raspberries (when they are in season, which is from April to January out here in CA, I eat them literally every day) and nonfat Greek yogurt (something else I eat literally every day, sometimes twice a day). Oh, and oatmeal/oat bran and high fiber cereal--I eat those foods every day too.

If I work out in the morning I don't eat before I go. If I eat before working out, it needs to be at least one hour before, otherwise the food just sits in my stomach like a lump for the entire workout. And I'm not a morning person, so getting up early enough to eat one hour before heading to the gym is not going to happen. Plus, I read somewhere (and you know if you read it on the internet, it must be true ) that it's better to work out in the morning before you eat because it forces the body to use stored energy (i.e., fat). If you eat before working out, the body uses the energy that is more readily available, which is the food you've just eaten.

Megan: Fig preserves--yum! You can send some my way. Actually, I'd love to get your recipe, just in case my friend whose neighbor's fig tree overhangs her year gets another bumper crop this year. Assuming I can manage to not eat enough to make the preserves . I figs!

goalsuccess: How awesome that you lost 2 lbs while out of town. That NEVER happens for me. You must have made excellent choices.

Lilybelle: I can't believe your DH's XW! How crazy ! I thought she wasn't paying child support because she couldn't afford it. I suppose your DH would never consider suing to have her wages garnished (I assume she works to support all this plastic surgery). And it sounds like she scheduled Shelbey's trip so that Shelbey would have to take care of her post-op. Nice!

Meg: I'm glad I don't have to take iron supplements. I'd have a tough time working those into my diet too. Do they really need to be taken with a full meal. A lot of times, the directions for medications just say that because they don't want you to take it on an empty stomach. But maybe you take them with a piece a fruit.

Lisa, I am so excited for you! Have a lovely birth, whatever route this litte guy needs to take into the world.

Blue, I could eat raspberries every day too.

I am having a refined carb hangover this am. How often do I have to relearn this lesson? Usually I am ravenous for breakfast, but I had to make myself eat this am. It is easy to see how poor food choices reduce the desire for breakfast, and no breakfast increases the chance for poor food choices later in the day. It is insidious!!

I have my food packed for my day (and night) at the hospital and will have a nice OP day.

Lisa, I'm getting very excited for you too. Can't wait to see pic's of your new little bundle of joy.

Blue, DH and I have an appt. with DHS tomorrow to start garnishing his XW's paychecks for child support. Her problem isn't lack of money. Her problem is total selfishness. She is a Director of Nursing in Las Vegas and makes about $90,000 per year. There are no other minor children that she is supporting. If she can afford PS, she can afford to help support her child.

I played another round of golf with DH yesterday. I shot an 85 for 18 holes, better than my 92 on Friday. I'm not a horrible golfer, just not consistent. I did Par several holes but also had some triple bogies. DH went to play again today with his buddies. I was invited, but declined cause my arms and shoulders are sore. Today will be treadmill and swimming at the gym starting at 2PM.

I had my official W-I yesterday. Down 3.4 lbs. since last Saturday. All this working out and eating POP is starting to show some improvement for me on the scale.

Last night DH and Lacy shared a large pizza. I refused pizza and made myself a grilled chicken salad. I wasn't even tempted by their food. Of course it smelled good, but knowing how hard I've been exercising, it just wasn't worth it to take a chance that it would undo my progress. Yippee.