Stilltrying
I'm about 90 miles north of NYC, in the Hudson Valley, in a tiny little town called Town of Clinton. The weather here now is crystal clear and there is only the slightest bit of color. My brother is in Cambridge MA. Where are you?
I stayed OP today, but I'm not sure if I will WI tomorrow. First I need to try on a pair of pants that were tight, and if they feel better I will WI. I just can't face disappointment when I have been OP almost all the time, and my transgressions were just a few calories at most.
Laura

Tomorrow is WI and I am going to have a gain. I can only cross fingers for staying the same again I overcame binging one night, but I just feel fatter...and TOM is over so that isn't it. I haven't been counting out calories, just kind of guessing and that is NOT working for me! Back on the ball of actually writing it down come tomorrow. I'm just not ready to go without the little paper to keep me accountable I guess.

I haven't done my gazelle tonight because the kids were extremely fussy and not wanting to sleep tonight and I was about to pull all the hair out of my head piece by piece dealing with them both Now I just feel drained and just want to go to bed, but I will stick with my goal of 2 workouts a day and just get on and do 1 mile. Only 14 minutes, it won't kill me...came here first to declare to everyone that I'm going to do it, then I have to

Night everyone, catch ya on the scales tomorrow.

Sandi **hugs** stay safe and dry.

Theresa

Theresa-Fitday is really good for counting calories. If you want to plan ahead, you can put everything in in the morning. Then if you have calories left over, you can plan a treat for the evening. It helps you to know where you are as the day goes by.
Another way is to go from supper to supper, and go easy on breakfast and lunch to bring your numbers in line. I am so good a deceiving myself, that I find that fit day keeps me honest. I can't forget that little snack of 20 sugar coated peanuts, or a spoonful of peanut butter when I am making the boy's sandwiches, and I have to account for it someway.
Laura

Hello Everyone,
I am new to this as of today, my name is Michelle and I am a 29 yo mother of 2 who is married and work a full time 2nd shift job. I am looking for some motivation to take off the weight. I have been about 20 lbs overweight for a couple years, since the birth of my child. The latest thing I have tackled however is that I quit smoking 4 weeks and 2 days ago. It has made the weight loss very hard. I need some online buddies to keep me motivated. I currently go to the gym twice a week (most weeks), and I have recently started riding my bike to work 2-3 times a week. The problem......can't quit eating the horrible food, and dont push myself hard enough at the gym. I'm looking forward to someone to talk with.

Hi Michelle and welcome! Congrats on the quitting smoking-that is something I still need to do. We are a very active group and very supportive. I truly don't know how I would get along without these gals! We also have a weekly email that I send out so if you would like to be included in that also, please PM me with your email address and I will include you next week as I have already sent it out for this week. We are here and from all time zones, so you should get a response quickly regardless of the time. Looking forward to getting to know you.
Melissa

I'm going to log back on later to catch up with you ladies, but I just wanted to let you know I am over an hour into September's exercise goal (30 min. Mon., 35 min. this morning). Hopefully, I'll be able to at least double or triple that by the weekend.

I am still struggling with bad food choices, but hopefully once I have the exercising under my belt, things will get easier in that area too.

Gotta grab a shower for now. I'll be back later to read some of the recent posts.

First of all, great big hellos to all the new posters on this thread! I gotta say again that I am so thankful for this group--even when I'm not posting I can just pop on and read something and it helps me to stay focused. Yay us!

melissa~you might just take me off the e-mail list-I've only been checking it like once a week and you wouldn't believe how many I have piled up in there now. I think it's just easier and more fun for me to jump on the thread. I hope I'm not missing too much with the e-mails!

WI today...down 1 pound so I'm happy, but I also don't trust that scale. I moved my ticker anyway and I'll doublecheck it later in the week--hopefully to confirm the loss!

I had a great workout last night and I was really proud of myself especially after the weekend sloth I had become. I really pushed myself on cardio and I also did strength training--my minutes are added on my signature.

Can't wait to see how everyone else is doing!

Good morning everyone and welcome Michelle!

Yesterday was my youngest son's 20th birthday. He's in California getting ready to deploy to Iraq and hubby had a business meeting last night, so I was home alone and feeling pretty sorry for myself. I had to go to the office and pick up a file and before I knew what had happened I was in McDonnald's drive thru ordering a M&M Flurry. (Icecream is like frozen Prozac, ya know? ) Anyway, I could hear Scarlett saying "Fiddledeedee, I'll think about it tomorrow...because, after all, tomorrow is another day." Well today is here and I'm proud to say that I jumped out of bed and put on my walking shoes and walked for a whole hour! I feel better and ice cream is no longer on the menu!

Goood job brushing off and getting out for a walk Suzy. Got your mind back in the game, all you can do.

Welcome to the group, Michelle. You'll find lots of encouragement and support here. You can say absolutely anything on your mind, this is a great group to vent or scream out in excitement, whatever is in your head.

I didn't WI this morning I didn't want to know how much I gained, then I was late getting Allie to preschool and forgot about the scale and ate breakfast and drank a bunch of water, and by then it wouldn't be fair to weigh. I will just wait and do it next week. A gain would put my head in the wrong place anyway, so it's probably best.

I am totally back on track, gals. I feel like my brain has magically been plugged into my body and I am focused again. I just felt "blah" the last week.

I am having pain in my lower back on the left side and don't know if I twisted something or if something else is wrong. I am kinda taking it light today, but am about to go do my yoga. That is gentle so should be okay. The rest of my AM workout is WATP 2 mile dvd, but I'll see how the pain is when I do the yoga. I was fine last night, woke up in pain I hope it gets better soon because I get cranky without exercise. I'm going to add up my minutes so far and put it in my signature.

Theresa

Gotcha off the emails Melra and congrats on the pound lost!

Suzy-good for you-get back on that wagon and go go go!

Jeanne good job excersizing-the food choices will come-determine to do it!

I was thrilled to move that ticker down! Exactly 100 more pounds to go LOL. Today is Joshua's first day of school. I took him to meet his teacher last night and he even hugged her when we were leaving-which is a huge biggie. She actually wrote down things I told her. His lunch is really late, like 1240 or something and this child eats at 11 come **** or high water. So she said they would have their snack at 11 to help fit into his schedule. I was very impressed with her. I think he is going to do really well here and that makes me happy.

I am off to make pancakes for my little man's first day of school and look forward to reading your emails.
melissa

hello from the wind and rain capital of the world.

Melissa- i am so glad that your son has a great teacher. a good teacher can mean a lifetime of good experiences in their students. it makes them want to learn. Congrats on moving the ticker down- that is awesome!

Suzy- i think you did good by exercising and Not ordering 3 mcflurries! or fries and a mcflurry! with all of the GWTW references I think I will dig out my copies and either read the book or watch the movie depending on power - we have power at work but my house is dark for now- should be on in a hour or so. GWTW is one of my all time fav movies.

Welcome Michelle I couldn't be where I am today with out these wonderful ladies!

Jeane YAY! you exercised and I agree food choices will come -1 day at a time.

Theresa- I had the worst pain in my lower back on the R side for days and thought I had pulled something But I went to the dr's for my monthly check up ( yes I have to go monthly for my liver check) and he said to test me for a UTI and I said But it doesn't hurt to go and he said well maybe it will soon and sure enough I had a raging UTI and I feel great now.

Hi to everyone I missed!

I am not weighing in today either. I am so stressed over this stupid storm-it's just kinda sitting there getting stronger right off the coast where I am and ARRGH I mean is it going to turn and Hit us or what kinda rain are we gonna have? things can I work tomorrow??-do the kids go to school?? I know it's little compared to N.O. or Miss. But I hate not knowing what this storm is gonna do. Storm surge is around 4-6 feet now and it's gonna get worse. I am glad I do not live on the beach.
I had 2 hot dogs for breakfast- Healthy choice ones but still - and a banana- I am drinking lots of water , stressed and I just want this to be done and over.
Thanks for all the hugs and best wishes-I'll keep checking in as I am able to.

good luck with the storm, sandisuze--hope you stay safe and sane!
theresa~The minutes you've already logged exercising is inspiring! I know you don't want to get on the scale, but is it possible you've lost inches and can measure? (I don't remember your last posting for measuring, so it may be too soon?). In any case, hang in there because if we all stay focused that ticker will move!
melissa~so glad your son's got a quality teacher. I'm so happy for you on your loss!
suzymc~I'm always most vulnerable for cheating when I'm alone--there are dozens of drive-thru temptations within a few blocks of our neighborhood too. Shake it off and get back on track!
michelle~I love that you have already quit smoking and are riding your bike to work! I wish I could, but I wouldn't be presentable after all the sweating and panting! If you want to push yourself a little, have you added any weights or anything to your gym workouts? This is the 3rd week I've been doing regular routined strength stuff and I have already noticed a difference in muscle definition, endurance and inches.

I tend to agree with jjeane that exercising seems to make it easier to avoid bad choices on food. I work really hard to burn a couple hundred calories, so why do I want to make it harder by snacking? If I'm having a really hard time, I think about how many minutes I have to workout to get rid of that donut or whatever, and it helps. It also helps to just never buy the stupid things in the first place! I still haven't pinpointed what it is that makes me cheat or makes me want to cheat, but I'm working on making those moments fewer and further between.

Sorry I don't have enough time right now to respond to everyone! Won't it be rad at the end of the month to see our collective weight loss?!

Sandi ~ Gone With The Wind is tied with The Wizard of Oz for my all time favorite movies...I'd be hard pressed to choose between the two!
I just saw the weather and Ophelia is starting to sound like it could be a very nasty storm. Stay safe!

Melissa ~ Sounds like Joshua is off to a great start...I hope he has a great first day of school! Congratulations on that one big pound lost! You're getting there...keep it up!

Theresa ~ Glad to hear that you're back on track and feeling better...hopefully your back will start feeling better and you will be 100% soon!

I've pretty much figured out that exercising in the morning is the way to go for me. I seem to have a lot more energy and I know get more accomplished on the days that I get right up and go for a walk first thing.

Melra, I was surprised when I added up my minutes as well. I have a personal goal of getting through milestone 5 of my virtual walk, so need to go a bit over 100 miles this month. So far I have done 19, and it hasn't even been a week! I am happy with the exercise, but still the weight is coming off so SLOW. I only lost 3 lbs. last month and I walked exactly 100 miles Shows how horrible my eating must have been.

I am noticing a trend where I stay the same the first 2 weeks of the month, then lose the last 2. Don't understand it, but something hormonal must be going on...and that is when I have TOM, first week usually. As for measuring, I am doing that the first of each month. For august, I lost 2 inches on the waist, 1 on chest, and 1/2 inch on thighs and hips. So, not bad I guess for only a 3 lb loss?

Melissa keep us posted on your little man. I hope he does well and that school is a great experience for him...and for you!

Sandi, ummmm I don't want a UTI I hope that's not what I have. I think I just slept wrong because Tyler woke up at 4 and when I got him in bed with me he was laying crooked so I just laid crooked too...what hurts now is the side that was down and twisted just a bit. I'm an idiot and didn't put it all together until hubby said "maybe ya slept wrong?"

I'm doing good so far and feeling good. I haven't exercised because even the yoga hurt a little I'm going to try to do the gazelle tonight and excuse myself from the second workout...don't want to make anything worse. If it doesn't ease up I'll have to call the doctor. I am known as the one who never goes to the doc unless absolutely necessary. I have been in NC almost 5 years and have seen my "new" doctor only 3 times! Twice to confirm pregnancy and get referral to the OB/GYN and once for an ear infection.

Theresa

theresa~just curious, are you doing anything with weights? you could add a couple of sets of low weight -like 3-5 pounds--for biceps / triceps and work on some muscle tone to boost up your metabolism.

Sorry you guys--I feel like I'm just saying the same thing over and over, but I'm really trying to control myself from totally dorking out over how excited I am! I started this "exercise boot camp" thing 3 weeks ago that mixes 5 days of cardio with varying intensities with 2-3days of weights/strength training. I gotta say, that adding those weights in there has made an incredible difference in the way I feel. I'm using light weight, but I increase the repetitions or number of sets. I can't see my muscles (yet!) but I sure can feel them and I've only had one day when I thought I overdid it and was sore. I had been doing 2 days a week, but now I'm moving up to 3 days of strength training--it's a 10 week "bootcamp" to kind of get my engine revving and then it tapers off into a maintenance thing.
Okay, I'll shut up now about the weights...