Hi,

I am so happy to report my difficult day was just that... ONE difficult day , I was back into my walking the very next day, food and exercise journalling is going great.

Julie - Thanks for your encouraging words...yet again . Go for the full 10# for the Labor Day Challenge, I'm going for 14#, and will be satifsfied if I make half of that. Planning your meals in advance and shopping accordingly is the way to go. As for the song, thanks for the memories, I adore Cat Stevens!

Elisha - Thanks for your support. My difficult day was just one of those where you need 48 instead of 24 hours to do everything you need to do! You are so right about how we look at tomorrow being another day for us to get back on track! Those tomorrows added up to a whole month for me .

Mel - Well done with breakfast! Do you notice any difference with your eating pattern through the day?

Jaymi - Could your 2# weight gain be muscle? Just a thought. Keep your chin up chickie .

Tens4life - Welcome! 10# is doable if you believe it is. You are so right about achieving more when you are concious of everything you put in your mouth. We all lose our motivation at some point, but keep checking in with us and you will find support, encouragment and motivation to achieve your goals.

That's it for me, have a great day everyone, will check in with you tomorrow!

Lucia

Evening ladies!

Motivation level: 9

You betcha! Wowee, huh? Anyway, calories are at 1356 or so (way low for me), 30 minutes on the stairclimber, just climbed out of the shower, I'm feeling pretty good. I found out something really awesome today: my BMI is down to 29.9, which means I am no longer obese! Yay me! Granted, I'm still fat, but I'm getting closer to my healthy range, which is definitely a good thing.

Anyway, my mind is totally gone this evening, and it's taken me about 20 minutes to type that one paragraph, so I'm just going to call it quits. Have a lovely evening ladies!
~Elisha

Oh, and welcome tens4life!

Julie--You'd better be on track tomorrow or I'll find that tazer!

True happiness is impossible without true health. And true health is impossible without exercise. ** --Vic Tanny

Morning chicks!

Motivation Level: 6

Not too bad. I'm not going to get to do much with it though. I've got to go in for my business manager training all day long, which is ok. Stuff I need to know. However, that means I have to leave early and I'll get home late, since it's over an hour away. And lunch is being provided at the mall food court. I'll try to find something healthy.

Tomorrow is my happy day off, which means exercise! And cleaning my house! Ugh... anyway, time to get ready for work. Have a great day everyone!
~Elisha

Hi ladies -

I'm not having a good day at all. I am so incredibly unmotivated it is ridiculous. It stormed all day so I never got to do my walks at work. I usually do 2 fifteen minute walks - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Now that I'm off work it is humid as h-ll! I can't imagine getting outside to walk right now. And its supposed to rain later. I have more excuses than the law allows, I know. On the bright side, my eating was pretty decent today. Not wonderful but decent. I journaled everything, which is the first step towards success for me.

B - 2 special k bars (90 calories each)
S - grapes (120 c)
L - cheese/crackers (180 c)
string cheese (60 c)
S - 1/2 yogurt (85 c) - I tried a new flavor for me (orange & cream) and it was gross
1 serving of malt balls (190 c) - my true weakness, but I've accounted for them & only took out one serving and put the rest away (yay me!)D - wing dings & salad (maybe a serving of baked fries but I'll try to do without it)

Lucia - thanks for the welcome. Glad to see you are in the same weight range as me. I'll definitely be looking to you for motivation because I won't want you to leave me behind!

I know I need to do some strength training too. It increases metabolism & thus helps you to burn more calories. So can someone please tell me why I'm not doing it? Help me analyze myself!!! I think a part of it is that even though intellectually I know it works, practically I don't see how it does. Does that make any sense? Its crazy but its like not liking to travel via airplane because I don't understand the laws of aerodynamics. I'm so ridiculous, even to myself. Why can't I just trust that it works and just do it. Cardio workouts make sense to me, and thus are (usually) easier for me to invest the time in). Strength training? Another story altogether. As I'm typing this, however, I've decided that since my chances of going out for a walk at this point are slim to none, the least I can do is some strength training. For crying out loud, I can do that while watching tv!! As you can see, I am totally exasperated with myself today. One would think that I am completely satisfied at 175lbs and honestly I'm not.

I'll check in later and let you all know how I did.

Michelle

Hi Chickies,

Smooth sailing again today . I read once where it takes six weeks to form a habit, I think my food/exercise journalling is starting to become a habit, as I have just about hit the six week mark. Feeling very good!

Elisha - I loved the true exercise quote! I've kept a book where I write inspirational sayings and quotes since I was in high school, and that quote is going in there . Good luck with your business manager training.

Michelle - Hope your day gets better! I had one of those last week where I didn't exercise, but like you, my food intake was good. Don't beat yourself up about it, I have finally learnt not to. In the past, if I didn't exercise, I would have eaten as I pleased, I used to think if I wasn't doing one, then why do the other! That way of thinking is slowly starting to change for the better. I had noticed we are in the same weight range. We could each be the motivation the other needs!

Check in with you tomorrow,

Lucia

Actually I did end up exercising after all! I did the 2 mile WATP dvd. It has probably been a year since I've done the WATP workout. It was like having a brand new video again! Woo hoo!!!

Michelle

I am so proud of myself today! I knew it was just a matter of getting my poop in a group, so to speak! So Here's the lowdown:

Exercise first thing this morning-2.5 miles WATP! Yes! Could have done more but had too much to do around the house! I made several trips up and down the steps, though!

Food eaten:
B-1 cup Smart Start, 3/4 c lowfat milk,
S-3 SF/FF peanut butter wafers, 1 string cheese
L-1 cup cottage cheese, cucumbers & onions with 2-3 T. homemade low fat sourcream dill dressing, 1 oz. deli turkey/ham
S-1/2 cup lowfat milk, 1/2 cup choc. milk! (probably not the best choice, but better than a candy bar at this point!)
D- 3 oz roast beef & veggies (pot roast), 3/4 cup brown rice
Snack at VBS-1 cup apple juice and a bite from oatmeal cookie
Snack at home- 1 T. peanutbutter & a smidge of margerine. l bag lowfat popcorn w/ some (about 1 T) parmesan cheese sprinkled on it!

I wanted to stop for icecream on the way home from VBS tonight, but didn't! Yea me! I know after looking at this that I need to get more veggies in during the day...something to fill the void. I have lunches made for the next week. Made a yummy turkey & cheese wrap w/ cucumbers & red onions which I cut in half for two lunches this week. Will take some fruit as well! Need to get some Zone bars and some other misc. stuff (like cooking spray) this week!

Water I have drank at least 4-16 oz. glasses today and I'm sure more with the small drinks here and there throughout the day I have gotten in my 80 oz. I wanted. I need to keep better track of that~!

Well girls, you are all doing great!

Elisha-Hope your training went well! Loved the quote today! That hit a nail on the head! I have some quotes to share but I'm too lazy to go down and get my purse, so will do it tomorrow!

Lucia-You are doing what you need to be doing! Good for you!

Tens (Michelle)-Sounds like you talked yourself right into that exercise you needed! Good for you! It's hot and muggy here today too! It makes me crabby! Maybe the strength training you could look at from a different angle. You are looking at it now from the eyes of a pure fitness person. One of the things about strenghtening for me is that it makes me feel, well...sexier! It accentuates my muscle tone and therefore I *feel* thinner! I don't have the fat hanging from all my parts, if you know what I mean!!! I love the way my arms start to feel and look after a couple of week of simple toning! Do you have weights or bands or both or what? Weight Watchers has a really simple routine with weights (you don't need much to get started) on their website. It's basic, but it works! I noticed a difference (when I was doing it...I'm lacking some motivation in that department too!) after a week or two of doing them! Good luck!

Jaymi-Hope your day was all you wanted it to be and that your sis and you were good to each other! Your workout with DD sounds fabulous! It's a start. Don't beat yourself up over the little things. Try leaving the weights on the floor, or does she pick them up from there? She's just a typical little girl who's curious and thinking she's helping you! She wants you to be happy, really! She just doesn't know it yet!

That's it for tonight chickies! I'll catch you all tomorrow night! Oh, before I go...goals for tomorrow:

1. Bring enough food to work so I don't hit the vending machine or anything else that gets in my way when I'm hungry or get that 3pm urge to eat whatever is in sight!!!!!

2. Drink water at work. Fill 20 oz. syrofoam cup with ice and water twice before leaving work! Drink 16 oz at home before leaving in am.

3. WATP 2 miles in AM.....GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF BED EARLY!!!! GO TO BED NOW SO YOU CAN!!!!!!!!!!

4. Be gentle with myself but stay focused!!!!

Hey all you runway models!!! Since most of you are on the same Labor day thread as I am, I’ll save you the repeat.. And give you my goals for tomorrow, and a little comments!! ( You are special and you know it.. Clap your hands!!!! .

Lucia~ could be muscle… my legs don’t look.. As bad! But I doubt it.. I have been eating chocolate like I would die without it!! So it’s probably my fault!! Thanks though, you made me feel better anyway.. You’re a sweetie!!!

Elisha~ you are doing amazing.. And those quotes are amazing also!!! I love them!!!

Michelle~ you are doing great!!! You are here right!! That is one step for making your day better! Don’t worry, I’m having a whole bad week!! And it’s all my fault.. Things will get better chickie!! Believe me!

Julie~ you are doing great too!! I love it!! I’m getting left behind here!! I know this isn’t a competition.. But I wanna do good like you all are doing!! I wanna get better, because I know from all of this hard work.. You all are gonna see some spectacular results!

I’m soo proud of all of you!!! Those are tears of joy.. Because I’m soo proud and happy to be a part of this group! You all are awesome!!!

Here are my goals for tomorrow, and I will add more whenever I need to!

I will do better with my diet..
I won’t let chocolate get the best of me,
I will put what’s important first, and what’s materialistic and worldly last.
I will be a better friend and support to my friends on here, in TX, and
my family!
I will exercise at least 2 times a day… again!!!
I will reach my goal, and I will keep it off… forever!!!!!

Ok, here's the rundown for today:
Work sucked, but at least I learned a few things I needed to know and got to leave early (even if that was because my trainer was being nasty).
Calories were about right, but only because I had Diet Pepsi for dinner.
No exercise.

Julie--Way to get back on track! No tazer for you, but I think you may have to find it for me! And about typing my name, believe it or not, I've been known to type "Elisah" a time or two myself. That should tell you a little about my typing ability--and I'm trained as an editor/tech writer!
Go get those quotes for me--email or PM them to me and I'll post them one at a time. I have to ration those quotes, you know!
Oh, random thought... what ever happened to those daily affirmations you were talking about a while back? I think it was before you went on vacation.... Those sound like a good idea too.

Jaymi--You're such a cheerleader, so enthusiastic and encouraging. I love it! And you're doing great with exercise! It always seems that I can manage either food OR exercise, but not both. I think that's just the way it works. Our bodies can only handle so much.

Lucia--I keep quotes all the time too. That's why I have so many to post! Now all I need to do is exercise for 6 weeks and I'll be all set!

Michelle--I go through those phases too, but then I think of all the skinny people with flabby muscles, and I don't want to look like that. Part of the reason I want to lose weight is so my body stops jiggling all the time--I want to be tone and buff, and that requires muscle! Of course, I never do my strength training either, so I'm really not the one to talk. I keep saying, "Once I get some more of this fat off I'll start worrying about my muscles." Now I'm thinking, "wasn't I the one who just posted that little rant about putting things off until tomorrow?" I know, stop using excuses, Elisha.

Ok, time for sleep now. I've been awake for too many hours. See you all in the morning!
~Elisha

Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? --Matthew 6:25



I'm not generally much of one for Biblical references, but even I have to admit that sometimes they strike a nerve. While looking better is all well and good, we have to remember that we're not just trying to improve our bodies, we are trying to improve our lives.

(I admit, that little snippet of wisdom was specifically aimed at Yours Truly, as looking better is my main motivation.)

Howdy chicks!

Motivation level: 8

I'm feeling pretty good today. Already exercised (20-minute walk up the hill), water's good, food is good, everything's good. I'm headed for a shower, then more self-tanning, then figuring out something for dinner. Chicken, for sure, and maybe some spicy rice or something.

Anyway, I'd better get busy! Have a great evening, chicks!
~Elisha

Hi ladies!

Major good day here - if I must say so myself! It was 95 degrees and 100% humidity when I got off work, but GUESS what I did???? A full hour of powerwalking at the park! OHMYGOSH!! Once I got going it was like I was a cruisin' machine. It felt so wonderful. Why in the world would I ever stop walking when it makes me feel this good? It would be totally different if I didn't know the benefits of exercise or had never felt those wonderful endorphins (is that what they are?) being released during a great workout. But I HAVE felt that feeling and when I feel it I swear that there is no way that I would ever want to give it up. But despite that, I'll go for weeks without doing any serious exercise. Just goes to show you the power of an exercise slump. Well anyway, onward looking....

My food today was okay. My calories will be decent but no veggies. Plenty of fruit though.

Jaymi - I know how you feel about the chocolate issue. I am a fellow chocoholic myself. I have some every day and when I'm doing good I just work it into my food plan. Controlled quantities. I just refuse to give it up. I love it too much and life is too short The challenge before me is to eat it because I just love it and it tastes good and I want it, and to not eat it to fill some void or for comfort. Of course that challenge has been before me for years......

Has anyone used the calculators to figure your daily caloric intake? Do you believe the # that the calculator gave you? Did you try it? Did you lose weight? Why am I asking all of these questions? Because I have a hard time trusting them. Every calculator that I have found online has me eating over 2000 calories a day. Some will be between 1600-2000. I just think that's incredibly high. My new calorie counter book has the calculation at

target weight x activity factor = calories needed each day

activity factors:

20 for very active men
15 for moderately active men or very active women
13 for inactive men, moderately active women, and people over 55 (this is where I am)
10 for inactive women, repeat dieters, and seriously overweight people

Since my first target weight is 165, to achieve this goal I should be at 2,145 calories a day. I'm not too confident in this number. I remember years ago they told you to take your target weight and multiply it by 10. That would put my daily calories at 1650.

Help!!!

Michelle

Michelle: Different calculators will give you different results, and none of them may be your actual metabolism. The calculator on 3FC says that my body currently burns 2548 calories per day, and at my goal weight of 150 I will burn 2158 per day. The diet tracking software that I use calculates my metabolism based on my weight versus my intake and exercize, and it says I burn over 2900 a day. Before I started using that software I always figured my metabolism was sluggish and that was why I never lost weight. I imagine you could calculate it the same way, but it would take a while. Track all of your calories for a week, then subtract 3500 for each pound you've lost, then divide that number by 7, and that's your metabolic rate (approximately). I guess you could do that for any number of days, I just used 1 week as a random example. If you don't want to go to all that trouble, use the method you've found, but I would say to rate your activity on a scale of 10-15 (the general range for those metabolic rate calculators) and go by that instead of the number it tells you.
I know what you mean though--2158 seems high to me. I'm trying to keep mine under 1700... right now it's lower, as I'm trying to get down below 200 this month, so my software is budgeting about 1400-1500 calories per day. The way I see it, any number below the number needed for your ideal weight will get you down to where you want to be, it's just a matter of how fast you want to get there. Don't starve yourself though, you have to have enough calories that your body doesn't think you're starving. You probably know that though. Just pick a number that seems reasonable to you, I guess.

Whew... that was a little long-winded of me. I've finally got the hang of this calorie counting thing, I guess I feel like an expert now.

Today was good, and as planned. Dinner was chicken with sauteed peppers and onions and some rice and vermicelli mixture. I'm at 1182 calories right now, which is pretty low for me, but I'll have some popcorn or crackers or something while I'm watching tv in a little while.

Ok, that's it for me tonight. Have a wonderful evening everyone, and I'll see you in the morning.
~Elisha

Just to let you know what kind of day I had, here I am! You can read about it in the Labor Day challenge forum!

Food: (had too many snacks between meals and not the right kind!)
Exercise: Got in a mile+ tonight after I thought I wouldn't get in any! Yea!
Water: Drinking my 90th oz. right now!
Journal: Here I am!

Michelle: You be careful in that heat and humidity! We don't want you keeling over from dehydration! Hope you take lots of water with you! I'm sure you do! I know what you mean though about the exercise feeling good and why would any of us NOT do it???? We know it feels good, so why stop!? I think because it's not a "habit" yet...at least not for me! I need to do it for 2 months without fail and make it a habit as part of my life (you know, like eating...always seem to find time for that, huh?) As far as the calories go, try checking out the Zone. You don't count calories, but it balances the food you need to eat to keep your blood sugars from dropping! And they use a measurement to get you into the right "Zone"! Just a thought! Counting calories is ok and I did it for quite a while, but it just leaves me with too much freedom to eat the wrong "empty" calories! And don't even get me started on the chocolate conversation! I'm all about that!!! So, keep doing what is right for you and you will be fine. Way to go on all the work you are doing!

That's it chickies. Itg's off to bed I go! I'm whipped tonight and have to get up to do my miles in the morning!!!