Evening ladies.
Today wasn't bad. I got in a 20-minute walk up the hill, though it was kind of slow today. I got a nasty stitch in my side and it just would NOT got away. Haven't had one of those in months. Calories came in a 1459, even with the ice cream social at work (first month in a long time we've reached our credit goals, so they threw us a party). I hate ToM, and that's all I have to say about that.
I was thinking that I'd really like to do something tonight, you know, go out and have a beer or two with some friends. But all of my friends are busy, I don't really like beer, and I've got about $3.50 left to my name after my very first car payment ever! and gas money for 2 weeks (which really isn't that much, because my car gets an awesome 43 miles per gallon!!!). It's ok though, because this was my last crappy paycheck from my crappy part-time position, and the next one will be a good bit more.
So instead of going out I'm staying in, painting my toenails, self-tanning (I LOVE the Lancome Flash Bronzer--no streaks! I swear!), considering a face mask. If I can decide on a movie to watch, I might do so. Yes, I know, my Friday nights are just pack full of fun and excitement, aren't they?
Anyway, that's it from me tonight. Have a lovely evening everyone!
~Elisha

Hi guys! I am hoping it is o.k. for me to join in. I started my new challenge on July 5th, and I am not going to be able to be successful without some support. I have been here on the previous challenges (a few of you know me), but I had to take some time off due to my crazy life. I desperately want these last 20 pounds off- darnit!! So... here goes...

My goals are: Drink my water, exercise at least 5 days/week, stay OP with WW, and do some light strength training. My DH is doing this right along with me, although he is doing a limited carb thing that I just can't seem to do. But, he is happy and motivated, and that is what counts!!

I just can't tell you how wonderful it is to be back and see all of the familiar names -(Lucy, Jennifer, Julie - I have missed you all soooo much, and I have been sending you positive thoughts!)

Today was a pretty good day for me. We ate out mexican tonight, and I got the shrimp fajita stuff, but didn't eat the tortillas, and I only ate 2 chips - that's amazing for me!! I exercised for 40 min. this morning - some low-impact aerobics. I am craving chocolate like mad - ugh!! Maybe tomorrow that nasty old craving will be gone!

I hope you all have a terrific weekend!!

Lisa

Jennifer, thanks for explaining cottage doubles. Now I rememer seeing them advertised before. They don't sell them in the commissary (limited space) but I have a good lowfat cottage cheese that I buy which I think I'll have for breakfast today.

Well, I've had a good week. With the exception of Independence Day I've stayed within my calorie limit and walked every day. Yesterday about 15 min. into my walk it started raining and DH got in the car to come find me and see if I wanted a ride back home. By the time he found me the rain had let up so I finished my walk and was even able to add an extra lap for 20 more minutes.

We're going food shopping today and I have a list ready. I hope the commissary has replinished their supply of Splenda. It seems like they always run out of the pourable kind and sometimes it takes them a couple of weeks (or longer) to get new stock in.

I think my healthy eating/cooking habits are rubbing off on DH. He has finally made the switch from 2% milk to skim. That is MAJOR for him because he is uber-PICKY. He also said he is going to forgo the chocolate bars and gummi bears on this shopping trip too. YEAH. I doubt I'll ever be able to break the veggie barrier, but I'll keep trying.

I'm saving calories today because we're going to a Fish Fest tonight. YUM. I believe I'll have some calamari if they have it. YUM. I guess its time for breakfast - HA HA.

I don't feel like the pants-o-meter has started registering yet. I have to resist the urge to jump on the scale because my weekly weigh in day is Mon. morn. The pounds are just melting away - NOT. The Labor Day goal of 10 pounds seems fair enough but sometimes ...... arrgghh

Keep up the good work everyone, and have a great weekend.

Yea! Lisa's back!!!!!!

So happy to have you back Lisa!...Really! Maybe you can find me the mojo I have been looking for since I got back back from vacation last Monday!!! LOL! Actually, I am taking a break this weekend and starting in full force on Monday! Just can't seem to get it all together (same ole song and dance, you know!! )...But I promise on Monday things will be different!

I haven't been consistent with exercise in a few weeks and it's starting to show in my legs. They are feeling, well..jelloish!!! So I KNOW I have to get back on the exercise band and then the eating will be easier, I am sure...or maybe it's visa versa! Who knows! I just know that when I'm eating right and exercising, I feel so much better!

Glad to have you back with us, girl!!! We missed you soooooo much!
Big Hugs!

Hello everyone! Hey Lisa, I'm looking forward to getting to know ya, and glad you joined in!!!! Jenn, Lucy, Bonnie, Julie, Lucia... and everyone else I missed. Luv U chickies!! Today is weigh-in day. I gained 2 lbs!! I wasn’t looking for a loss, since I hadn’t exercised like I was supposed to and I definitely hadn’t eaten right. Plus the 3 lb loss for last week. But I’m not disappointed really. I am a little in myself for not working as hard as I should have, but it’s not the end of the world. There’s always tomorrow. Today so far, I’ve exercised 60 minutes with Denise Austin on hips, legs, thighs, butt, and a little cardio, yoga, and pilates. Then I exercised with my step tape that came with my step…(53 min) that was a JOKE!! It was ADVANCED step!!! I barely did most of the moves, I just did the basic steps or added on somethings I remembered and kept going!! It also had abs, and weights too. That was pretty good. Now I’m good and tired. It took a lot of extra work between popping my daughter (because she kept trying to pick up my weights or jump on my back and my stomach.. Etc.. ) and fussing at the darned dog!! But I did it. I’ts been soo hard though. My daughter didn’t go to sleep until after 1 am, and at 6:45 this morning she pops up all bright and early. But I know from experience that if I don’t exercise in the morning… it won’t happen. I have to cook a big dinner today. BBQ Ribs (oven), dirty rice, potato salad, and macaroni. Everything will be made with an extra effort to make it healthier of course.. But I can’t even imagine the calories in that meal. My hubby is working today, and we don’t have much money, so I need to make sure we have something to eat instead of going out to eat. Anyways that’s about all I have time for today. I’ll try to come back & comment later… but I need to get started before time fly by as usual. I hope everyone is having a great day!!!!

Ahhh....weekend time! I slept in, and it feels sooo good not to have to go into work. Hubby's got a few appointments, so I'll be puttering around trying to keep myself busy, and out of the kitchen where I can be tempted to pick.

I did get up and do 1 mile of the WATP tape this morning, so I already have some exercise in for the day. And at the tail end of PMS, I'm down a pound, which is also good!

Today's plan:

Brunch:
caffeine free diet coke (and lots of it)
1 strawberry yogurt zone bar

Dinner:
here's where I'll be misbehaving...hubby is bringing home PF Changs' chinese, so I know it will be crispy honey chicken, brown rice, and garlic noodles. I'll have plenty of room in my #s that I won't be going totally overboard, but I can totally sit down & eat an entire order of those noodles myself, which is NOT a good idea.

I will fit in another workout at some point today, even if it's just 1 more mile.


Bonni- mornings are the worst for me, which is why I have to do all the prep work in advance. Otherwise I'd end up skipping breakfast, or eating a huge bagel or McMuffin on the way to work- both not good. You'll beat this playeau, yet.

Lucy- still can't wait to see the cake pics when you are all done. Hope grandma is doing well, and you have a good weekend.

Elisha- your Friday night sounds more exciting than mine- I did some cleaning, putzed around, and was in bed by 10:30. Such an exciting life once you're over 30! LOL.

Lisa- I'm soooo glad you're back with us! I missed you! Welcome back! I think we all had a pretty crappy June, and need to get our acts in gear. That goes double for me! Did you bring the tazer back with you?

Abroad- can you get splenda shipped to you? Poop- I just checked their site, and where they used to let you order directly off the site, it looks like that's gone by the wayside. I'll have to keep digging...find another way.

Julie- take the weekend, and come back refresed & ready to get things started. I hear you on the jello legs- with 6 weeks of little exercise (more like none whatsoever) I swear I could watch the legs atrophy & the thigh expand...not a good feeling! LOL.

Have a great Saturday, chickies....catch you later!

Ehh... yesterday was okay. Today is going to suck, I can already feel it. I'm in a crappy mood and still sick and have nothing to wear that makes me look or feel good... ugh. I'm just having one of those days. I hate this.

It's so easy for everybody who wears a size 6 (of my friends, which is most/all of them) to tell me that i don't have very much left to lose... right. I'll never look like any of them, and they're perfect. *sigh* Just having a crappy day, I guess. Blech. I'm going to sit in my closet and wish I had money and a store that sold clothes that made me look and feel good, and end up looking like crap and wearing ugly clothes that don't fit me right 'cause that's all I've got. I r having a very bad day, here.

I'll check back in later, I guess. Calories are non-counting today and I'm probably going to get drunk tonight. I'm not driving, and it's my best friends' bridal shower and bachelorette party. And then I got depressed because I didn't even -get- a bachelorette party... nobody cared, and even when i said hey let's do it this day, nobody showed up and so I cried myself to sleep and it sucked. So I'm having a bit of past depression stuff from that because it made me so sad... and I just want to go take my stupid diet pills and make myself feel better. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow, probably... I hope everybody else is on plan today. I've already written it off...

Whew!! Here it is 10:30 on Saturday night, and I just got a chance to sit down here at the computer!

Miss Elisha - Your Friday night in sounded like paradise to me (I have 3 children - all boys- ages 6,4, and 2!) Needless to say, not much private time for me!! BTW, what kind of car did you buy??

Julie - You sweetheart!!! Thank you so much for the warm welcome!! It is so great to be back. Just see what staying away did to me - I gained weight like crazy (not a good thing - remember how I rode that exercise bike in order to lose that weight??). *Sigh* I just know that on Mon. you will emerge a new woman and start shedding the pounds like crazy!!! We can do this thing. We can.

Jaymi - I am so proud of your exercising! I am impressed. Reading your post made me get motivated! Were you the one that said you drank Kool-aid with Splenda?? Can I mix up a batch of the regular kind of Kool-Aid and then add Splenda to it? That sounds yummy to me.

Abroad - I hope you get your Splenda! And, the pants-o-meter is just totally shutting down on me, and I don't like it a bit!! Maybe next week we will both see a difference .

Jennifer - Good going on the WATP!! We have PF Chang here, and I heard it was great I love chinese! Yes Maam, I sure do have the tazer, all charged up and ready! Who's the first victim?? (It probably needs to be ME ) LOL!!

Lucy - Here's a huge ((((((hug))))) coming your way - did you feel it?

Did I already say how glad I am to be back????

Talk to you chickies tomorrow!!!!

Hey Lucy - I can't wait to see the pics of the penis cake. When I was in college my roommates made one for my birthday and we ***took provocative pictures *** It was a hoot, but mine wasn't filled with ~cream~ HA HA. I know the gals will get a kick out of the whole thing.
Miss Elisha - please do tell, what kind of car gets 43 MPG??
Hi Lisa Girl - welcome back
Jaymi - where in SC are you located? I'm from Myrtle Beach and Columbia.

The Splenda should be back in stock next week and I going to get a 'back-up' box so I don't have to ration like I'm doing now HA HA. I'm having the urge for chocolate and really wanted to try the Fudge Brownie recipe I found in the South Beach forum but I will have to settle for SF/FF pudding in the meantime.

Oh yeah, last night we went to the Fish Fest and met up with my DH's co-worker and his girlfriend. They are in their mid twenties and we aren't. When the girlfriend turned sideways I couldn't see her so I got to feel both fat and old at the same time - fun Oh well, the calamari was good and I only went over on the calories for the day by 200 so maybe it will trick the metabolism into cranking up a bit.

I have to complain a little. It is supposed to be summer right now but I'm cold. It has been overcast and rainy all week. Last night I had to wear a jacket - YUK I hate jackets. I really miss the sweltering heat and humidity of the east coast, USA. Twice this week I had to do at least part of my walk in a drizzle. sigh...

OK - enough complaining. Later today we are going to visit an animal farm that boards your pet when you are away. I need to go ahead an make a reservation for next month when we'll be out of town. Should be interesting.

Hope everyone has a relaxing Sunday. bye for now

Morning ladies!

Welcome Lisa! It's nice to meet you!

Let's see... yesterday. Calories were a little high, because my best friend invited me over for a dinner or pizza and tortilla chips and guacamole. Didn't eat much pizza, but I can't say the same for the guacamole. Another one of my weaknesses. Hey, at least avocados are the "good" fats, right? I ended up around 1886, which really isn't terribly bad, and I still have a bunch of calories in my "calorie bank" so I'm not too worried. I just HAVE to work out this evening.

As for my night of pampering... that's really not too uncommon for me. I never go out, and no one is ever at my house, and I really like to pamper myself. I mean, I work in a cosmetics department, what else would you expect?
I actually tried using those little pampering things as rewards to meeting exercise goals, but it didn't work out too well. Why break a good habit just so you can use it as a reward? Better to keep the good habits I DO have! I have a feeling tonight will be more of the same, only watching HBO (Six Feet Under, the best show ever to be on television!) instead of a movie.

And as for my car, it's a 2003 Toyota Echo. She's not brand new, but she's incredibly cute, and she's all mine and I love her. Her name is Sophia.
I know, I'm a dork. I don't mind.

Well, it sounds like I'm in a good mood today. That's... well... good. Ok, off to work. Have a wonderful day everyone!
~Elisha

Hi everyone - I feel like I'm crashing a party here but that's never stopped me before. I love the friendship that you all seem to have formed so I'll keep crashing. Sounds like the motivation and enthusiasm continues. Jaymi, doesn't it seem like twice the workout when you have kids and pets to work around. Always a struggle to follow the tape without killing someone or yourself! Way to go - I usually give up half way through after stepping around little ones for the 100th time. The week is going well for me - I have done well with the program but need to focus on the exercise. I start classes tomorrow for the next 3 weeks which will keep me away from snacking - in-laws are coming at the end of 3 weeks though which will mean the stress level will be sky-high - house will be a pit, I will be exhausted, not a good time. Anyway, losing that thought for now! Have a great day and thanks for welcoming me in.
Pegi
139.4/137.4/121
How do I add a picture like all of you have?

Thanks Lisa & Broad...

Yesterday wasn't -that- bad... I'm a little tired right now but that's to be expected. It was pretty fun, actually. I saw a ton of my old friends that I hadn't seen in 4-5 years and it was good... got intoxicated pretty decently for the latter part of the evening and it was hilarious. We ended up going (15 of us mind you) to a local Mexican restaurant (which is always PACKED with people we know in this small town haha!) and took my friend with 8 penis-shaped balloons tied to her wrist... And made her open up all of the x-rated stuff we got for her in the place. It was awesome, and we embarassed the waiters like mad. But well worth it.

Anyway so yep. Hardly went over calories yesterday, really. I didn't weigh today (hubby's sleeping still) and so I dunno if I've screwed myself too horribly over the past few days or not. *shrug* It'll be okay, either way. I start my new job, which will have me totally active for a good 8-10 hrs per day, in a couple of weeks. Which means I will do my normal workout of 20 min every day (probably at night heh) and be on my feet walking and stuff all day, which is wonderful. As crazy as it sounds that I want to be on my feet all day and do retail customer service , I really do! It's like a huge chunk of time where I don't have to think about feeling bad for being stuck on my butt in a chair all day.

Anyway today we're both actually home together, and the animals miss us like mad. I think we're going to go visit grandma in the hospital for a moment or two, and then take the dog out for a nice long walk somewhere. She misses us...

Anyway sorry about that totally random depressing post yesterday... what's with that anyway? I hope you guys have an awesome day!

Wow- it's already 2pm- where did the day go? Well, I know where some of it went....cleaning, and other household duties. Now that it is getting ready to pour, I figured I'd get a post in, before we sit down & go thru the sales paper & make our shopping lists for the week. Oh joy!

Last night, I did get another 1 mile in around 8:45...then I had to re-make the bed (stripped beds & did a lot of wash yesterday, too) and was up & hyped until after 1am. Got the blood pumping & then my body didn't want me to settle down. LOL.

I slept in until 9am...then kinda hung out in bed until 10. Hubby had gotten up in the wee hours of the morning, and then went back to bed & I didn't want to disturb him. I grabbed one of the WATP DVDs to put in the computer here in the guest room. I'm used to exercising in our room, where the air conditioner seems to funnel the most cold air. Plus, we have a ceiling fan that I put on hurricane force, and it keeps me pretty cool. Now, imagine a room with sunlight streaming in, in 90+ degree FL weather....the ceiling fan in here does not work...and me sweatting up a storm while I did 3 MILES!!! It was the WATP 4 mile express DVD, and I figured I'd stop at the 2 mile...then, since I was feeling pretty good, I pushed on for the 3rd mile. At the end of the 3rd mile, she started to slow down the pace, so if I really wanted to spend the entire day panting, and beet red, I could have pushed for the 4th mile. But 3 miles in under 42 minutes is pretty darned good, in my book. Woo Hoo!

Brunch today was crispy honey chicken, and 1 cup of garlic noodles. Since it's covering 2 meals, it's probably a little over my #s for 1 meal, but I'm still more than ahead of the game. Dinner will be something light, I'm sure. And depending on whether or not I do more exercise tonight, I might not want anything hot.

Lucy- Sounds like you had a great time last night. Can't wait for you to upload those pics...I'm glad you embarrassed her in public, too! LOL.

Lisa- Ok, time to get back on the bike, chica. Or I'll make you turn the tazer on yourself. LOL. Just point your bike south, start pedaling, and you'll be here in FL before you know it. Then, drinks on the beach, for sure! C'mon down!

Abroad- You know, there's just something evil about those tiny little 20-somethings...I'll hold them down while you kick them in their tiny, splintery shins. I call them "kindling" because you know you can snap them like teeny little twigs. And of course, they've never had to work at it. Grrr...I could go on for days!

Elisha- as our resident beauty expert, what can us sweatty chicks with sensitive skin use for daily, or twice daily cleaning. I know after a workout, my skin is so red, the last thing I want to do is use something abrasive, but I'm getting some dry patches & dead skin from the weather, plus the exercise. Any product suggestions? And any great pampering items that are must-haves?

Pegi- You're not crashing a party at all...you're just getting started with the group. Some, like Julie, Lucy, myself, and Mary, have been doing this since February or so. We add new faces each challenge, and it only makes the group stronger. We've got so many amazing ladies here- in 2 weeks, you will feel like you've known us for ages-- at least that was the way I felt. These are the people who accept us at our best, and worst...and know what we're going through. And please, if you have other buddies on the site, invite them over to join us- there's always room for more chickies!

Jaymi- sorry to hear your schedule has been so hectic. Maybe come post right after your morning exercise, while you are cooling down? sit with a big glass of water, check in, and cool off? And first person to complain...well, you know what I'd tell them to go do with themselves. I have to con myself as well- have to finish my first glass of water in the morning before I can check in from work. It's been working...hope you find something that works for you. Miss seeing you as often as we did, but I know it's tough.

Ok, chickes...hope everyone is having a great weekend! Catch you later, or in the morning!

pssst, Pegi- I sent you the instructions in a PM- let me know if you have any problems with it, ok?