Hi Folks! I love coming by and seeing all this positive energy and progress. Even with setbacks and challenges, everyone's here to move forward.

Annie, what a fantastic NSV! Big Bravo!!

There's open call for Biggest Loser this weekend in many cities, including Cleveland, just an hour away. I'm considering it. They even accept video applications, deadline Sept 4. Pondering...

For those of you who are following my plans with Gabe, he was supposed to go off to the trainer who will start him for me this week, but the trainer called to say he'd be injured and would be running a month late. So, Gabe won't be going off until September now. No problem, since I'm still too heavy to feel comfortable riding him, and I can still do a lot of work training him from the ground.

HUGS to all! Off to work... I HAVE started walking with a friend at work, zooming down the halls, up one stair case, down the other...

Valerie -- Good to see you!! We miss you in the exercise thread!

Hi everyone,

This week I've had a little bump up in fitness level, which is nice. Nice to feel progress and an increased energy level.

Yesterday was not the best eating day. It wasn't a total binge fest, but I overate.

I've been reading all about this Kashi Go Lean Crunch and how many love it. It was on sale, so I picked up a box. Went a little overboard eating it out of the box last night. I woke up this morning craving big stacks of pancakes and french toast with butter and maple syrup. The sweet breakfasty taste of the cereal brought out a craving monster. In reading the package, I see they list "dehydrated cane juice" fairly high up on the list of ingredients. That is code phrase for SUGAR.

I don't know about you, but for me, breakfast can set the tone for the entire day. If it's high in sugar or fat, it sets the cravings in motion for the rest of the day. I feel less full and want to eat, eat, eat.

It's interesting to see how quickly I can slip into unconsiousness when it comes to eating. Last night, I went to an event. I ate beforehand, and vowed to skip the goodies at the event. I knew it would be hard at this type of event to regulate myself, and I wanted to be networking, not avoiding and stuffing myself at the goodie table. During the event, several waiters passing hors d'ouevres came by, and I said no. But, then, another one came by and I grabbed and ate the thing before I even realized what had happened. No biggie, it was only one treat, but the point is that in a nanosecond I had slipped into unconsciousness about food.

Today is another day and I am off to a good start, even though the pancakes and french toast cravings have morphed into cravings for huge bowls of pasta with pesto cream.

Have a great day everyone!

Hello All!

I’ve been lurking around without posting for about a week or so… just not too much going on here, working out like a dog and trying to cut back calories. It was frustrating for a while because I hadn’t really seen any major losses on the scale, although my clothes are fitting better and you can really see the difference in how toned my body looks. Finally yesterday I had a mini-meltdown (went wayyyy overboard on the calories, though luckily there was nothing too fattening in the house and I was too lazy to go out and buy anything binge-worthy), and I didn’t exercise… and this morning I saw a big loss on the scale. This shows me that the fact that I am not losing normally is because of the exercise, and that is not something I should change… I just have to be more patient I guess.

Well exciting things going on this weekend… tomorrow I’m going to the NJ State Fair with my friend Alex, I’ve been looking forward to it for a while now so I’m getting excited!! It’s like this big farm show basically, with rides and piglet races and all kinds of fun stuff. I wanted to go with my boyfriend, but he won’t be home from Alaska until Monday night, bummer. But on Sunday my mom and I are both spending the whole day at the spa for massages/swimming/Jacuzzi/steam room treatments, so that’s going to be fun too, and I’ll get to see my bf on Tuesday night… can’t wait to see what he has to says about how much 3 weeks of workouts and dieting has changed my bod!

It’s actually funny that my current bf has this idea that I always cheat on my diet and that I’m not capable of actually sticking to it, because my ex (who I dated for 2 years during a time that I was losing a lot of weight and really staying strictly OP), used to always tell me he admired my dedication to my diet, because I never ever cheated at the time. I’ll bet my current bf will change his tune when he sees me Tuesday night!

All the before and after pics that have been posted are such great inspirations. I don’t have a really good “before” pic because I never allowed pictures to be taken of me at my highest weight… too embarrassing. I have one from 200-some-odd pounds though, so maybe I’ll post that as my before and get some current ones up for you ladies to see.

Love to everyone, have a great and OP day!

Just a quickie before I run down to the caf to get lunch . . .

Battle - There is a HUGE difference between the regular Kashi GoLean and the Crunch version. The Crunch version does the same thing to me. It is so sweet and crunchy I just want to snuggle up with the box. The plain version is tasty, but not overly so and does not create in any way the same effect for me. I hope your noodle craving passes.

Debbie - you owe it to yourself, you are working hard!! you wouldnt tolerate your work paying you low wages would you?

Valerie! go to the open call, they are only expecting like 300 people per city! its a great way to let the casting directors see who you really are!! video doesnt always come across well. - trust me im working in casting!

Xean: I hope you get to go to Argentina. How exciting!

Debbie: Great job on walking on the treadmill. You could very well be retaining water. Hang in there.

Jilly: Hope your move goes smoothly

Val: Go for it! I think you should go to the casting call. I would love to see your beautiful smiling face on TBL! Great job walking too. Just more time for you to be with Gabe and continue to loose more weight before you ride him!

Battle: Good job upping your fitness.

Bodytoo: Have fun at the state fair.

As for me. I went to my ultrasound this morning. It was kind of tickley on my tummy but I don't have any gallstones and my liver and everything looks great. I then went to the metabolic testing thing. It took 20 minutes which is 10 minutes longer than normal. Who knows why. lol. You just sit in a recliner with your feet up and breath into a tube thing the whole time. My matabolism came out normal. After that I had to do their workout per my surgeon's orders. He wanted me to work out 1 or 2 times before surgery. Man what a hard workout. It was Natalus machines and they make you do them at a snail's pace. My muscles feel like jelly. lol. She set my legs at 250 pounds to lift and my arms at 80. The tummy situp one was a killer. I managed to make it through and am kind of looking forward to going back again after surgery.

I hope you are all having a wonderful op day. I will be at a birthday party tomorrow at 2 p.m. then at 8 p.m. I will be driving into Spokane WA to pick up another one of my nieces for a week long visit. I can't wait to see her. I managed to loose the 2 pounds I gained plus 1 more so I am down 1 more pound. NO more cheating for me period.

Blessings all,
Annie

BattleAx -- I love the Go Lean Crunch, but I DO have to be careful with it. There have been times when I've overeaten it. I suppose I should consider banning it but won't unless I think it's a big problem.

Debbie -- So many things affect weight loss, so it's hard to say why you aren't seeing a loss -- it could be water retention, for any number of reasons, or something else. Patience my dear! Give it some time!

As for the minutes, yay for reporting it!!

Hi all!

Valeri, go for the open call!! Too exciting.

Battle, I do the same unconscious eating as well.

Yay on the loss Booty!!

Deb, for my crazy body, it takes 7 days of consistent working out to get rid of water retention that the initial workout causes.

Annie, keep up the great work!!

*wavies to Wyllenn, Princesspuff, Nancy,and anyone else I might have missed!*

Ready for my news??? I got MAJOR exercise today.. not for just swapping out a dead AC unit for a live one (ugh.. not good on the back) but for trying out NEW bicycles. I got bit by the new bicycle bug. It's similar to the new car bug. I haven't had a new bicycle in 15 years, so I thought it was time for one.

I didn't mean to buy one TODAY.. was just gonna go out and check out the competition. OMG.. I rode 5 different bikes in this humidity and heat for 2 hours! But I found one I liked!! I get a pro-fit next Friday after I break it in a bit. So exciting. If I wasn't so dead, I'd go out right now.. hehe. No one has prolly heard of this bike, but it's called a Jamis Xenith and it's black and silver. Tis made of carbon fiber. It's soooooo purdy! Forget mowing the lawn tomorrow.. I'm gonna RIDE! *wh000sh*

Hugs and Luv,
Ratkity

PS.. I've been logging my exercise in my book, but been lax putting it on the thread... no worries!! It'll get there

[edit PPS.. don't ask the cost of new bike.. my credit card was smokin' afterwards!!!]

Ratkitty -- That's awesome about the new bike! I hope you put in lots and lots of miles on it!!!

BattleAx - I heard you on the cereal thing. I pretty much never eat cold cereal for breakfast anymore. It's just not satifying enough. I would say 99.9% of the time I include protein in my breakfast, usually in the form of lowfat cottage cheese or scrambled eggs/egg white (I usually do 1 egg with 3 whites). And I have a serving of oatmeal with that. It's a big breakfast for some but I find I am very satisfied with it and it's pretty much my staple breakfast. Now, if I could just get so good at lunch, dinner, and snacks, I'd be making faster progress.

Annie - Oh, I will not be going to Argentina this spring break. That is just the next one they are doing. I would say the earliest I'd be able to go is the spring break following in 2009. Still....it's a possibility and something to look forward to. I am glad your ultrasound and your metabolism tests were normal. You have been pretty much a model patient so far so I really hope you are rewarded with fabulous results from your surgery.

I went shopping at Target this evening and found the neatest thing for my lunches at work. They were by all the regular food storage containers. It's a brand called "Fit and Fresh" and I bought a "salad shaker" that has a dressing dispenser in the lid where you can measure out your dressing but keep it separate from your salad until you are ready to eat it. The you just open it and it drains onto your salad, shake to toss, and you have your salad. It's a pretty big container so if you like to fill up on salad, you can make a decent-sized one in this. The lid also has a removable ice pack in the lid in case you don't have access to a fridge at work. I also bought the "lunch on the go" container which also has the ice pack and then separate areas for your entree and side items. It's pretty neat. They had several other products as well but I thought I'd try these and see how I like them. Here is a website that shows their products if anyone is interested.

http://www.fit-fresh.com

Xena -- I have that salad container!! It works pretty well, but you have to be careful when you turn the knob to add the dressing -- sometimes things get in the way. I used it a lot last summer. This summer I have been eating lunch at home a lot.

Good evening all,

Well, this week wasn't a bust. I did well every day, except today. Friday evening is DH and my date night, and we generally go out to dinner. And we did. And then ice cream. So, I don't think I blew the week, so I am pretty satistified.

I am a tiny bit frustrated, because I am on antibiotics and prednisone again for a sinus infection (last time was thirty days ago). The prednisone is giving me leg cramps....but hopefully it doesn't make me hungry. On the good hand, although our bathroom remodel isn't complete, the jacuzzi tub is in (hubby is in it right now). My turn is next!!

That's it for now anyway. Need to make the menu for next week and the grocery list. The menu is a life saver for me, because I know what we are having at all times. And I am getting better at sticking to it.

For all of you overheating....hopefully weather will break for you soon.

For you struggling, I wish you find the "secret" to get focused (then share it with me).

For you doing great, you rock!! Keep it going!

OK, now that's it for now.

Real...