Crime girl - you FREAK!! this is a great group to freak out in! You'll be in great company any time it happens I'm glad you're feeling a little better. Good luck on the midterm and don't sweat the small stuff. You're doing a great job!!

Red - 4 days in a row, huh? That's GREAT! Maybe you can rub off on me some? I haven't been all week - yet. I'm going tomorrow.... I'm glad you're feeling tighter too! Isn't that GREAT feeling!!!!!

Stormy - I had chocolate cake this weekend too. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped - so now I still want chocolate cake! Ug. Good for you for not freaking out and just hitting the gym. After all, none of us got to our current weights with one cheat a week - or even two or three.....

Shannon - I'm glad you're here! Lurker huh So you had us all pegged before you even got here Well you're one of us now You're right, the people on this board ARE great! I couldn't make it without them!! I have two dogs and one of them (the only one with a tail) is sitting by a rubbermade box wagging her tail - only everytime it hits the box she scares herself. She still hasn't figured out it's HER OWN TAIL! That poor girl is scared of everything!

doingmybest - wow - have a great vacation!!!! That sounds wonderful!!! We look forward to hearing from you when you get back!

okay guys - I had a LONG day. Longest in my history as a massage therapist. Good day just very physically taxing. I need to ice my arms and get a hot bath to soak the sore muscles! Talk to you all soon!!

Oh, eating has been good - except that I'm having Boar's head salami right now - I can't help it!!! I need to cheat on something...at least it's not sugar I will allow myself this kind of junk THIS week only - while I get back on track. Exercise has not happened at all!! I am going to the gym tomorrow and kick starting myself back into gear.

Also, am getting a soil analysis and organic seeds for my garden. I'm DETERMINED to have one this year! I love fresh veggies from the yard! Best kind See you all later tonight.

Shan-Yes it is me who does Tae Bo. When you have a minute can you find out the name of the bootcamp DVD from your brother? I have one by The Crunch that I love but I would not mind another one.

Doin-Have a great time on your vacation. Enjoy every minute of it.

Red-it is great that you have been to the gym 4 days straight. Does this gym have a swimming pool?

GH-take it one step at a time. Also get back to that gym, it will make you feel so much better. Last night I met a massage therapist and I thought of you. My first connection with one since we moved to Nashville so now I'll have someone to refer my patients to. Maybe I should get a massage first before I refer people to her.

CG-hang in there...do you have a daily countdown to graduation?

Stormy - I would HIGHLY recommend you get a massage from her first! I keep working on people that have had bodywork before and they have never had textbook stuff done to help their pain....like checking glutes when there is low back and hamstring pain - or checking pecs when there is scap pain! There is a huge range of training and we all fall somewhere inside of it. I just hope I fall closer to the effective end. My best friend finds a new massage therapist every 3 months when she ships to a new job location - only 1 out of 6 has treated the areas that are most effective in rehabbing muscles, creating lasting improvement and getting rid of pain - and all have been recommended by hospital staff! (she works at hospitals).

I hate to talk bad about my field but I'd also hate for you to send people to a therapist and have them not be treated as well as you expect! This is your field too though - you're probably more experienced in that area than I am!! And I haven't found a PT here either - so we're kind of in the same boat with different paddles

okay guys - I have to get to bed. I watched WEST WING - CRIME GIRL And now it's time for beautiful sleep!!! Tomorrow comes way to soon!

Hello. I am new here and stumbled upon your forum by accident. You are all very encouraging. I look forward to reading more posts. Keep up the good work!

Subpremeprincess -- Welcome! Come on in and chat with us. We'd love to hear from you. Wow, look at you go with the weight loss! Congratulations. We would all love to hear how you've done it. We need all the inspiration we can get!!

Hi there. I made it five in a row at the gym!! I am on a roll. Hope I can keep this up more or less. I feel tons better. Spring was in the air today and I felt great. Tomorrow it's back to cold and rain and it looks like I'm going to be rained out of riding. That always puts me in danger of depression for not being able to go see my horse but let's hope I can keep up my great attitude and get through any down times.

Crime girl -- like I said before I am glad you stopped in for a post. Good luck studying and I hope you will at least stop in here to say hi occasionally!

shanberg -- How are you doing? It must be hard always writing at work. That's where you write from, right? Can you sneak in writing time or are you not watched or doesn't it matter? In any case, I'm glad you can write to us. I know we all love hearing from you. Thanks for your suggestion for a table that fits on a chair. That would be rather neat but it's OK, I can get a foldup table. I have a few of them but they're all low to the ground. I saw a tall one the other day fairly nearby but don't know how I can get it home. Well, I do know but I just hate putting out any money right now. I will just have to improvise and I do know a way. I just haven't gotten round to doing it. Thanks so much for your offer though

grasshopper -- yup, isn't that awesome!? Five days in a row to the gym! I do feel so much stronger and fitter. I have more energy again once I get into it. I think getting off sugar is doing it too. What's your dog without a tail? Was it docked? I guess so, right? There are no tailless dogs naturally are there? I have two tailless cats, Japanese bobtails. I mean, they have tails, just very short ones! Hope you got some rest. Massage therapist work must be really tiring. Good exercise though, right. You must have very strong hands, arms, and torso, no? Your garden sounds great! Good luck with it.

stormy -- no, the gym doesn't have a pool but that's OK as I don't like to swim. It's just so much bother and I'm not very good at it. I'd much rather swim in a pond or lake I guess. The chlorine is very strong here and really hurts my eyes and throat. Do you like to swim?

*****

Well, I should be doing some work but I'm tired. Going to turn in soon. Drinking night tomorrow night. I will try to restrain myself. Sunday and Tuesday I have to meet people for drinks as well. Sunday maybe I can get out of. Tuesday is a must. Drinking is an important part of work here, the socializing is really an offshoot of business and if you want to cultivate connections you have to take part. No problem there but it's a bummer when I was just getting revved about the weight battle again. Alcohol is a real downer even if you have fun. After all, it is a depressant and it is a poison. Ugh, I used to have so much fun drinking. Oh well, I will concentrate on making the people feel happy without chugging myself, maybe. . . maybe. . .

HI everyone,

LGH-I will get one from her first. She works at a very popular day spa here in town. How is getting back into your routine coming?

Red- I love to swim. I am a water baby. I rather swim in the ocean than a pool though. I was just thinking of it to relieve some pressure off of your knees. Running in the water is VERY effective. It gives about 12-30% more resistance than regular running. Be careful with that drinking. Major empty calories. You saying that about drinking and business reminds me of an old episode of Seinfeld. All of these Japanese men get drunk and it is hilarious.

Supremeprin-You have done AWESOME. Tell us your secret! Wow! How long has it taken to lose that much? Are you working out too? Welcome and please try to post so we can get to know you. WE have had several people join us in the last couple of weeks.

How is everyone????

Things are okay for me. I am having a really stressful time at work. It is making me very irritated, so I am having tobe very, very careful with what I say. I get mouthy when I am irritated and I don't hold back!!!

Little Grasshopper - That story about your dog was great! Made me laugh! Dogs are sooo funny!!

I wish I could grow a garden-I have such a black thumb!!! I planted some plants last year on my vacation. All but two of them died! I am going to have to replace them! Some of them died right away! Poor plants!!!

Stormy - The name of the tae bo dvds are Billy Blanks Bootcamp. You can get them at billyblanks.com. It costs 49.95 for the set (plus shipping)...came to 55.00. He was very excited about it. He is starting it full blast on Monday (it didn't arrive until Tuesday of this week). I looked in the box and the resistance bands looked very well made!

Red - Wow! You are really kicking serious bootie with the gym!!! You go girl!!!

I do my writing from work. Luckily, nobody hangs over my shoulders or anything. I can pretty much hop on whenever I need to. The afternoons are a little hectic when everybody starts getting back in. I tend to have a high traffic volume through my office-people needing help or just stopping in to talk! I have such a tight budget that I can't afford internet at home. Not to mention my pc is extremely old and would take forever to load!!! I'd just end up shooting it!!

Can you still go visit Heidi even when it rains? You might not be able to ride her, but seeing her and giving her a little love might keep the depression at bay!

Subpremeprincess - Welcome. Great job on your weight loss!! Drop in for a few posts when you can!! This is a great thread!

Okay, gotta go do some work for a while. Will check back in a little later. Have a great day!

Tootles.

Shan- I hope your day is going by a little better. Hang in there! Thank you for letting me know about those tapes. Once your brother starts them let me know how he likes them. Like I said I may be interested if it is different stuff than his old videos. I'll check out the site.

Good morning. Restless night last night. Kept waking up. Sign of overtraining I know but here I am again planning to get to the gym before work this morning. I have other work I should be doing at home but I'm on a roll and just want to go. It's so hard to put the things I WANT into my life while doing the things I HAVE TO do in order to keep the things I want. Not fair. Not fair! But I CAN do it all and I WILL.

Bad dreams last night too were making things unpleasant. Work-related and how they had written me out of the schedule, just like that, no notice, no explanation. I heard they heard I was thinking of joining a publisher's and so they figured I didn't need the job. It is so like them that it could well have not been a dream. I was pissed off in my dream because I wanted to leave on my own terms and the reason I stay now is because of the money. If I can find something to replace it I will be gone! Anymore, it has sunken to new depths of absurdity. We had formed a union and I was reading the minutes from the last week with top management and I could not believe (well, actually I believe ANYTHING at that place now) and it was just insane. They are true idiots and there is no hope for that paper. I want to go in and scream to them they have killed the paper and it used to be a good one. They are literally killing it allowing it to become a rag (not that it was anything great but it had its days and I was there then). I think I was saying that in my dream too so you see it was all real stuff too. Ah well, I was thinking yesterday that whereas a month ago (or less) I was still feeling nostalgic and sad about leaving the place, now I truly don't care. I have lost affection for my coworkers as well. Funny, how circumstances really show what a person is made of. I think I had sunk so low recently but now I'm on my way back up and I am going to use the power I have (and that is GREAT) and pull myself from this place. Something is helping me, I think mostly discipline. I am getting more and more of it. Wish me strength!

Oh yes, yesterday I had a good lesson in that my teacher only had to tell me to keep my head up twice! I have a habit of tilting it down when I ride because this is a habit when I'm thinking. It affects your back muscles, which have to stabilize you and keep you torso totally still. I hadn't realized just how much it does affect you but when I was jogging on the treadmill I finally realized it. It was much easier to run with the head up and the back steady. So I did it on the horse and it must have been what she wanted because she didn't have to correct me. Hurrah! Small progresses.

**********

stormy -- that's right. I remember now you said you love anything with water. Yes, swimming would be good for the knees. Even riding the bike is not the best for me because I am often sore in sensitive places from the saddle (on the horse) that the bike saddle hurts. I wish I could run in the pool, or just tread water but all the pools here are very shallow. They make them that way I guess because it's cheaper. There are deep pools somewhere I guess for athletes but they are rare and I've never seen one and couldn't go find one, it would be too far. Really, they are really shallow. I'm only 5 feet and the water only comes up to my chest. I know about the empty beer calories and you know it's really putting a damper on thoughts of meeting up with people tonight. I arranged this meeting (and next week's) when I was still in my pigging out phase and it sounded great. But whenever I go off sugar I find I don't want to drink at all really and that's where I am now. Oh well, I'll just try to have some nice conversation. A beer or two will make that flow more easily. I have to be really careful though on the way home because with the alcohol in me my resolve plummets and the tempting convenience stores are all around. Wish me luck please!


shanberg -- Sorry to hear you're having a lousy day. You sound like me these days at the office. It's sad. I used to be so quiet and contented-like. I put up with lots of **** but it was never like this these days. Maybe you're in a similar situation and need to move on. Any thoughts in that direction? I can visit Heidi when it rains but really I think I will just have to buckle down and do the work that I've been putting off these past few days because I've been determined to get to the gym. It's a long way out to the club and eats up tons of time. Sometimes I do work on the train but it's probably not worth it. I will get by. Hope you feel better.

Just listening to what has become my favorite song of late, "Counting the Days" by Collective Soul. Love the chorus . . . I see myself rising from my rut, totally empowered, totally rockin'!!

". . . Counting the days (yeah)
Until some freedom can scream my name
Counting the days (yeah)
Until the gods break these chains. . . "

The next song on my iTunes list is Janis Joplin's "Half Moon." We're just past the half moon now and last night as I was walking home, I get into my neighborhood, which is full of little shops in narrow streets. As I walked past a shop I saw a young father holding his little girl in his arms and at the same time I hear the shop people across the way asking him, "What are you looking at?" He was pointing into the sky and I heard him reply, "the moon. The moon is out." And sure enough I look up, knowing it was a half moon and there it is hanging big and bright in the sky. He'd been showing his little girl the moon. Pictures of life caught passing by. I thought, what a great dad, what a lucky little girl. . .

Red-what a sweet story about the little girl and her dad. It reminds me of when I was little. I would look up at night and say "Look it's a pizza moon". They would tell me over and over it is a piece of moon not pizza. I am sorry that work is not going well. So many people are not happy with their jobs. I hope that things work out for you. I am glad that you are going to the gym on a regular basis. Hang in there tonight during your beer drinking meeting. Try not to go overboard. Like everything keep it in moderation. I have friends who smoke when they drink. Only when they drink. Sounds like you are tempted to eat. Usually when I drink I do not like to eat. I just like to talk and unfortunately drink more. You have worked hard so don't go crazy! Try to enjoy yourself!

Hi everyone!

Shannon - I hope your day got better! It's hard when you really really want to say something but can't! I'm not that great at keeping it inside either...I can but that usually comes with not even dealing with whatever is wrong at the time - it's all or nothing sometimes

Stormy - I love your pizza moon story! Very cute!!! I use to love to eat "pie Rust" They told me again and again what it was called but I said it the wrong way for so long that I couldn't change it....You asked me if a picture had made it on the board yet - It hasn't. I took my camera and 2 rolls of film with us this weekend and asked BF to take ONE picture of me - that's all I asked and he kept that darn camera for 2 days and didn't take one picture!!! I've been distracted lately too and have forgotten to get one taken. I'll work on it. It's still the best hair cut I've ever gotten and total strangers ask me about where I got it done. Wal-Mart

Red - You're on quite the gym streak!! I'm glad you're feeling so pumped and motivated!!!! We have this stuff here called "butt butter" that cyclists use. I use to use a ton of it when road riding!!! It was the greatest stuff in the world but it probably preventing something different than you're experiencing, huh? It was to prevent rubbing. Keep you from getting "saddle sores" - I got ONE and was a religious butt butter customer from that day forward!

Well guys - I'm beat. Did work out today and did a lot of scouting around for my garden. Found a little old man with a tiller - he is coming out next week (I think) to till the ground for me - now I have to get all the stuff I need mixed into it ready to go! We have clay here but I'm told it's a bit different from clay everywhere else. I didn't know this - but I'm glad I asked someone because if you do what it says to do for clay in the books you'll turn you soil into really dry, hard stuff that no plant can get through.......or so I'm told. I may have bought the world's best sales pitch? Anyway I'm very excited and even bought some seeds today. I'm ordering the rest this week. I'll have all kinds of stuff growing Talk to everyone soon! Meri

Umm HI, I hope you all remember me. No time to catch up, just snuck into work to see how bad my inbox is (102 emails!!) before monday. I had a wicked holiday.. the Velvet Revolver concert was supreme.. as was meeting Scott Weiland and Slash.. yep that's right!!! he he he he he he he

Well just had to share. I hope you are all well. Welcome to all the newbies. I'll try to catch up properly on monday my time unless it rains and then I'll come in and do some more computer stuff...
Take care
Tiff
(p.s i can't believe no one missed me! lol)

Finally...it's Friday!!!

I'm sorry I didn't post again yesterday afternoon. I started one, but kept getting interrupted, so I just gave up!

My day was terrible. I tried to do something to help out a team leader and instead it back fired and he got in a little trouble. Not a lot, but I still felt awful! He said it was okay, and I know it is, but I still can't help but to feel very guilty! I felt so bad I had two chocolate cupcakes from the machine in the break room!

Red - I cannot believe you remember your dreams in such vivid detail. I can never remember mine! Sometimes I can remember feelings, but not details.

Great story about the moon. I used to have a telescope when I was a little girl and I would spend hours sitting outside staring at the sky. At one point, I wanted to be an astronaut...until I found out how much math they had to take! That ended that dream right quick like!!

Hope your drink nite went well...what do you drink? I work for a Budweiser distributorship, so I am a little curious about what everyone drinks!

Stormy - I'll give you the 411 on what my brother thinks of the tae bo dvds! He is supposed to start them on Monday. They looked pretty good to me, but I've never done tae bo!!!

Little Grasshopper - Glad your garden project is working out so well for you. My boss has a garden every year. She always brings in the extra veggies she has and they are always so tastey! She and her husband work it all summer. They always have an abundance (her husband gets a little carried away with the number and types of things he plants! good for me, bad for her!!). Are you doing just vegetables, herbs, or a combination of both?

NBK - Glad you are back! Glad you had a great time!! When you say you met Slash, do you mean slash the guitarist from Guns N Roses? Does he still have all that hair??

Good luck getting back into the swing of things! Hop on whenever you get the chance and let us know all about your trip!!

Gotta go. Got get the computer set up to recieve orders. Then am having lunch with some of my guys! Will check back in this afternoon...if I can get left alone long enough!

Tootles!