Yeah, the scale issue is a tough one. I don't think I've figured out what works best mentally for me. I was weighing twice a week but now I'm going to switch to once a week. I'm tired of going crazy every week over the numbers.

You get your butt to the gym! Hmm, that was me trying to be a drill sargent for you... how'd I do?

heh heh. pretty good, keep it comin'

I made it clear to Rob no Easter candy this year -- so his friend in England sent us a box of Cadbury stuff today, yikes. I'm going to have to print Jill's story and just read it again and again.

I have my first EVER cavity! I'm going to the dentist on Monday and I'm SCARED! I've had all my wisdom teeth pulled, and that was pretty painful, and I had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics.. unpleasant. But for some reason I think that cavity's are much more scary..

I can't even believe you've never had cavities. You are one lucky dog. I had tons when I was a kid. When I had my wisdom teeth pulled, I had them totally drug me up so I didn't feel anything. Usually the novacaine takes away all pain. I'd say if you still feel anything after that, let the dentist know and they'll give you more.

I loved your icon dialog.

Oh man! It's really tough staying op when there are great bakers in the family, that's for sure.

I can't even believe your dentist *slapped* you. Wow, if that happened nowadays, that guy would probably be in jail, sued to bankruptcy or both. Rightly so, too.

In case you still have residual feelings of being bummed out about going up a little on the scale (seemed like the most comforting icon I could find there)

btw, it's true, my bil was laid off because of outsourcing. He's in the financial field, not marketing. It's a tough time economically speaking right now. It's nice Howie has you to buoy him up when the stress of the job kicks in. I'm sure he appreciates that.

We went to the Y yesterday and took a tour. We both felt good about it, so I'm joining April 1. It's funny, because the girl who showed us around, who looked about 110lbs, was huffing and puffing going up and down the stairs a lot more than I was! She said she got to use everything free because she was an employee, but she never used anything and never exercised! ha. Rob's going to go with me the first few times using the guest passes to coach me (and to help me get over my "gym fear...").

I have my sweats now too, and wasn't that thrilled how I looked in sweats, but hey, gotta keep my eye on the prize. Just have to get a combination lock and I'll be good to go.


How about a Spring challenge? (A suggestion from the woman who completely flubbed her Easter challenge!) Hey, never surrender, right?

Here's a quote for the day:

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

LOL you are funny...I know, I have been busy sewing, and, I sew it all by hand, which takes me a while, but, it relaxes me and I love it. I have always been artistic...LOL about the experience at your Mom's too. Boy, I know how that can be...Have a good one!

hey everyone, hope you are having a great Saturday so far...not feeling too good one this end, very crampy today...UGH! Anyhoo...A challenge? Sounds good to me, when will it start? Details details. My best friend likes the look of our group so she will be joining us either tomorrow or Monday she said. I am so glad I found this site. Everyone here is really nice. Well, gotta go check things on my site, and get busy ...have a great weekend, and fill me in on the challenge!

Alright a Challenge, eh? I like the idea of a Spring Challenge... but we need a start date and an end date! Mother's Day! May 8th! Or... Memorial Day? May 30th! I believe thats an American Holiday.. here in Canada we get Victoria Day May 23rd. What do you gals think? The START date will be April 2nd! Not the first... on April fools day, I don't know why.. but it just seems wrong to start on that day. So my thoughts are, 2 months seems like a long challenge time.. but does mother's day have any significance? Does it really NEED to though? Tell me what you think!

Diana - I'm not having the best Saturday either, well I shouldn't say that, I'm just feeling tired because I got woken up too early this morning. I *need* to get a good workout in, so I have to focus my energy on getting that accomplished today. 1 hour of tae-bo is my goal today.

Kimberley - I always get my name spelled wrong.. infact, most people can't even say it properly! I figured it was better to ask.. My brother is sorta in the same position as Howie, my brother is very worried about being "laid off" because of downsizing or something along those lines. My brother does computer programming (I think?) at amazon.com, he's looking to make the move to Google in the next couple of years though, time for something new. I can't imagine a job like that, working late, on weekends.. etc. My brother tends to get a lot of flexibility with his job because of the hours he puts in, so he often can start work at 11am. I'm so very used to working shift work, never allowed to come in late, and often expected to stay late, but very rarely because of overtime.. man, I am SO ready for a grown up job!

I'm going to go catch the last few minutes of What Not To Wear in Paris... can you imagine? Oh my..

-Aimee

Alright!! I did it!! 1 hour of tae-bo, and my butt is SO SO sore!! But I'm done

-Aimee

Tae-bo...Ouch. I originally asked what it was exactly, but have since looked it up. Sounds painful to me, LOL!

Looking forward to meeting your friend, Diana.

I went over last night by about 450 calories, and today by...Well, you don't want to know. Started out just fine, but we decided to have treat night. We didn't pig out, just split a medium pizza, but it was still two days going over. Tomorrow I plan to eat very low-fat stuff and maybe only do 1100 or 1200 calories to make up for today.

We took my MIL to the YMCA today - she enjoyed the heated pool a lot! I goobered up my knee again in my big 1-mile walk around the neighborhood yesterday, plus I couldn't swim still, so I didn't do anything today. I don't normally on the weekend, anyway, but it was sure weird sitting and reading a magazine at the Y while they swam. Funny, now the Saturday Evening Post is of interest to me, with its articles about health. Am I getting old?

My mom read my smiley dialogue above (I e-mailed the link to her) and got a kick out of it...And got the point.

Kimberley - Tae-Bo is pretty tough, I can definitely feel it in my body... I enjoy the burn and the challenge. Not for the un-fit, I'm barely fit enough to do the whole thing.

Thats great your mom was able to get the point in a nice way And yes you are getting old, why are you not reading Cosmo or Glamour? I'm way too into fashion and looks sometimes. Mmmm... pizza.. I had a cheese burger, small fries and medium coke from McD's tonight. And, this is pretty funny, I sat down with a bowl of low fat pudding, and ended up eating ALL of it, like a whole Jello Pudding box, thats supposed to serve 4! I'm never gonna get skinny at this rate! And I totally undid any of the good of Tae-Bo by doing that.. Tomorrow is another day.

-Aimee

I had an induction at our local Council gym today, with a very fit (and quite cute) instructor, helped pass the time!!! He was so encouraging, and has got me working really hard. I went on the cross trainer for the first time, boy I didn't know I had muscles in the backs of legs, but I do now!!!! And I swum for an hour, and I have almost done my 10 000 steps. What did I do with my time before exercise???? Oh yes, I remember, watched tv and ate a lot

It will great to see your friend, Diana.

Mother's Day sounds good for the challenge. Then we can do a summer challenge. I just found out that I'll be seeing a few relatives on the 4th of July that I haven't seen in YEARS and wouldn't mind being skinnier.....

Wow, Kylie, you're kicking butt. If you can remember, how did they start you on the first day when you originally went to the gym? I'm wondering how much I should initially do.

The Y here has tae bo classes and other classes as part of the membership. Hmmm. Think about the pudding this way, if you hadn't done the tae bo the pudding would have made a bigger impact.

Seems like every few months I get some minor injury or hurt that stops me from exercising for a couple of days, then my week gets thown out of wack. Once I got strong cramps in my upper legs from marching in place too vigorously (!). This past summer I was walking in Coney Island and did something painful to my tendons. I'm still working on totally getting rid of that.

Hey Dragonwoman. When I first started at the gym this was my routine

6 minutes bike
6minutes treadmill
2 x 12 chest extensions (resistance bands)
2 x 12 squats (with the fit ball)
2 x 12 rowing arm movements (resistance bands again)
6 minutes bike
30 seconds bouncing on the trampoline x 2
2 x 12 bicep curls (resistance bands again)
2 x 12 arm raises (resistance bands)
30 seconds stepping on the aerobic step x 2
6 minutes treadmill
5 minutes cool down on bike

My new instructor thinks it would be better if I did all my cardio at once and then my resistance work at the end, so I will try that for a change.

Thanks, I printed that up. The only things I might skip because of my size are the fit ball squats (I can see me ending up sprawled on the floor with that one!) and the trampoline (I won't even go there). They really had you do a big variety.

There was so much equipment at the gym I wasn't sure where I would start. I like the idea of the elliptical and treadmill. They have a whole fitness room filled with resistance equipment (did look a little intimidating since everyone in there looked kinda buff). I work out with 5 lb weights now 3 days a week for about 15 to 20 minutes, so I have some muscle and tone to the arms.

Thanks again. Marge

Goodmorning Gals! I am in ROUGH shape this morning, a little sore from the Tae-bo, combined with my boyfriend being up from 2:30am until 5am with his sore wisdom teeth, I don't know how I'll make it thru the day. Today more than ever it's important I stay on track, because one little slip, and I'll be looking at a gain. I find when I don't sleep well I gain 1-2 pounds, ick. I made this mistake of getting on the scale this morning, it's amazing really how much our bodies can fluctuate. I had JUST woken up, and when I got on the scale it said I was 263, so thats 6 pounds up! I know it's not true, but I'm addicted to the scale!!

So we all agree on Mother's day? We can do monthly challenges, I find it easier to do a challenge thats only a month long.. easier to see the end, yah know? I have to get my butt in gear, I'm taking 2 weeks this summer to go spend at my mom's, on the beach... with everyone I knew from high school being there.. how scary is THAT? I was pretty tiny in high school... eek!

I am off to work, wish me luck to not fall asleep in random spots like the bus, lunchroom or skytrain!

-Aimee

Well, almost 11:30am here and I'm still chillin' in my pajamas Jeff's in the shower, so when he gets out it's my turn, then we're gonna go see The Ring 2. I LOVE scary movies (takes a LOT to actually scareme, though--haven't seen a really good scary movie in a LONG time)!

Yesterday was so fun. We to the train in to DC and went through the Air & Space museum, the Museum of Natural History, and walked through the sculpture gardens. So, lots of walking for me! I can feel it a little bit in my hips, but my legs and knees feel fine, so that's good. It was also a good food day all day--that is, until Jeff decided we should make milkshakes last night. Low-fat vanilla with frozen strawberries? oh no, that would be too easy...Wal-Mart didn't have any low-fat ice cream or frozen yogurt, so we got regular FAT vanilla ice cream, which we blended with some skim milk, reduced-calorie chocolate syrup, and peanut butter. SOOOO good! At least I didn't go overboard...I had enough to fill one coffee mug (a regular one, not a giant one), so I figure I only had about 10oz of it. Up until that point, I had been pretty on-track for calories, so I suppose it could have been much worse, plus I did all that walking, so hopefully it'll balance out.

I LOVE Tae-Bo! When I was in college, I had a roommate who would work out with me (nice to have a buddy to keep you going), and we would do the 30-minute tape every day Monday-Friday religiously for like 3-4 months. I remember we tried to do the 1-hour advanced tape after doing the basic 30-minute tape for a few months and it kicked our butts! Then I discovered that there was an Intermediate tape that was supposed to go between them in that particular series--no wonder!

As for a challenge, maybe we can do one of those ones where we earn points for stuff? That way, even if our scales don't necessarily reflect it, we know we're making healthy choices for our bodies. Points for drinking enough water, exercising, staying on-plan for food, etc. I think a month is the perfect amount of time since it takes 21 consecutive days to develop (or break) a habit (or was it 28 days? either way, just under a month). That way, those of us not drinking enough water can try to make it a habit, those of us who binge at night (*raises her hand*) can try to break the habit, etc. Just a suggestion...I always get disappointed if I just say I'm going to lose x amount of pounds this month and then don't meet it.

Alright, enough babbling...time to yell at Jeff to get out of the bathroom so I can take a shower! Have a great Sunday everyone!!