Good morning, fellow W.O.W.'s!! Welcome to Week 2 of the Challenge! Everyone got your groooooove on?

I had high hopes of going to the gym this morning, but I have a banging headache... which will limit my time to post here, as well (hurts to look at the screen - ow!). I don't feel so bad about missing gym time, though, because I went Saturday AND Sunday; a day off today is okay!

Starting my day off right - with WEED:

W - 96 oz
E - day off today - although I will be hauling more boxes around in preparation for the move...
E - 1200 calories
D - Daily goals: get to work early, get files off of desk (slowly but surely), pack more boxes. Daily Affirmation: Setbacks are only failures if you don't learn from them.

Have a terrific, healthy day everyone!

Week 2 and feeling grooooovy!

Well, my headache's gone away... but I feel kind of all-over icky today. I don't know if it's because TOM arrived today or what, but I feel disgusting... totally don't feel like eating anything. I wonder if the Japanese food we got yesterday is causing the problems? I had sushi, but I also got soup with it - and the soup was disgusting. I'm normally a very adventuresome eater and scoffed at DH for making a face when he tasted it, but after I tried a bit of it, it seriously it tasted just like the swamps around Cape Henlopen smell (think salt marsh/dead fish smell). It might be purely psychological, but I have brushed my teeth no less than five times since last night and still can't get the taste of it out of my mouth. It was like swallowing a big mouthful of hot, stagnant sea water. I feel all pukey - and although my tummy is growling, I just can't think about food.

Gonna be easy to stay at 1200 calories today...

*~*~*~*~*

I forgot to mention that last week I signed up for the Discovery Health fitness challenge, just to see what it was all about... it's pretty neat! Of course, I'm not learning many new things there (we've got all that business covered here!), but they do have some helpful tools there like an exercise chart and food diary that you can download and print out. I'd been looking to find an exercise chart where I can track my weight training/cardio progress, and this seems like it will fit the bill. If you get a chance, check it out - neat stuff, and big kudos to Discovery Health for making education and tools for healthy living widely accessible to everyone - for free, even! - through the power of publicity and media. Nice to see a big corporation dedicated to the greater good for once.

Suz, you poor baby. I hope you get feeling better soon. I signed up for the discovery fitness thing too (I forgot about it), I havent had much time to mess around with it yet, I have to get back to see what its got.

I came home from work last night and it looks like a tornado hit my house. I swear DH must have dirtied every dish in the house cooking dinner, and my kids just dumped all their toys out and spread them, there is barely a pathway. <SIGH> a mothers (and wife's) job is never done. <SIGH> At least I will get some extra calories burned by doing so much cleaning!!!!!!

I love mondays, It is so much easier to start over on Mondays(for me anyway) I am way to pumped up for my exercise program that I created for myself which is about 65 minutes long:
20 minutes on exercise bike
15 minutes weights,
10 minutes on treadmill,
20 minutes stretching and Pilates. The times are long enough to get a decent workout, but short enough so my kids dont drive me crazy while I do them. (Seriously when I get on my exercise bike Tommy acts like he does when I leave for work) I also designed a new eating plan for myself:

Breakfast 9:30 Protien shake made with Fat Free Milk and coffee
Snack 12:00 cup of Light Yogurt or fruit and carrots
Lunch 2:30 Lean Cusine (or any low cal premade meal) and a salad with light dressing (I love the salad spritz, but I am not much of a dressing fan anyway
Snack 5:00 1 oz of cheese or tbs of peanut butter and an apple
Dinner 7:30 Chicken breast and broccoli with 12 baby carrots and a couple peices of toast or some brown rice or a cup of Pasta of some sort.
Snack 9:30 1/2 a cup of ice cream or a banana with a table spoon of peanut butter

Its about 1400 calories per day. once I get my groove back on with watching my calories then I will start to cycle again. I am excited that I have this planned out!! of course the times are all relative, I am not going to be that strict, its just my Plan. Wish me luck!!!


~~~~
Weed
W*120
E*65 minutes
E* 1400 calories
D* Clean up after Tornadoes Thomas and Makenna and and do dishes. Take 5000 steps at work (5 hour shift today), and talk my old walking partner into starting up again!!! That would be so great for us!!!

Hi there everybody.

Suz, the only thing that soup sounds good for is to pour it over stuff that I am overeating to make me shut my mouth. Wow, you're descriptive, as if you don't have enough job titles you could add food critic as one of em.

Okay, what in the world is Discovery Health Fitness Challenge??? I haven't a clue as to what you girls are talking about.

Jeni, i like Monday's too. A clean slate, a fresh start, another opportunity for improvement.

Went to the doctor this morning. Well for the first time I couldn't wait to get on the scale. I'm down over 70 lbs from when I was there last in September. That's the good news, although I already knew that. After years of being obese, I never, ever had high blood pressure AND NOW I DO!!!!!!! With no explanation.... This sucks big time and she's putting me on medication. I"M NOT HAPPY. And the lump in my stomach that I thought was the size of an egg, she says is more like the size of an ORANGE. So, yeah she felt it , I was not imagining it. About 20 months ago, they found some uterine fibroids that were small, so perhaps there's a chance that that's what it is. So, I just made an appointment with the gynecologist for next Monday and we'll take it from there. I'm sure she'll order an ultrasound and I'll just have to wait and see. FUN, FUN, FUN.

Had my weigh - in today. I'm down 1 1/2 lbs. Nothing great, but I guess not terrible. I will most certainly take it.

And my condolences to Holyterror (and myself too. I'm also a huge lifetime Cowboy fan) What an unbelievable, horrible end of a game. Just HEARTBREAKING. Too, too much to comprehend, trying not to think of it.

W- Drink it
E- Do it
E- not too much of it

Have a great day everyone.

Hi ya'll....

Yes, HolyTeror, I'm terribly sorry too about the end of the football season. I'm not so much a Cowboys fan as a PHILADELPHIA EAGLES fan...so i won't gloat too much....yesterday was a good day at our house. Actually I personally could care less, but we are an Eagles household. Don't tell my DH but I love my Browns but yes, I know, they are terrible....ha ha

Suz, how is the move going? It's a wonder you can still find time to post! I loved that first month in my new house, I swear you feel like you are on vacation....but its FOREVER! And YES it is okay to take a day off from the gym, esp since you'll be knee deep in boxes.

Robin...sounds like a dumpy day for you... Sorry about the blood pressure thing, you're right it does seem odd, but even people who live on carrots and water can get high blood pressure too. I get it too-isn't it weird, being overweight you never had that problem and NOW you do? So strange how our bodies react. BUT perhaps today was just an isolated incident or "white coat" syndrome, was this just one episode of high BP and your MD jumped all over it or has it been a pattern of creeping up? Same thing happened to me with my thyroid--it was always fine when I was big then I've lost and the last check showed underactive thyroid (again AFTER the wt loss!?!) and the recheck was in the normal range....so maybe you have to look at BP over time, not just one reading....oh yes and about that stomach lump...yikes...I was imagining it up higher, I wonder how I got that impression? Fibroids SUCK!! I had to have one removed several years ago, before I had my kids, let us know how the u/s goes. I have a friend who goes to her GYN every year and BEGS for a hyster....LOL

Jeni-your plan sounds RIGHT ON....I hope this isn't a dumb question, but does the coffee go into the breakfast shake or do it drink it on the side? LOL I couldn't figure it out, but coffee might make a yummy shake too. Sounds like you're back on track with exercise, my kids won't let us exercise either, that's why I go to the gym, and when DH gets on his treadmill, the kids whine that they want a turn. Robert can actually walk on the tread at a reasonable pace for a LONG time...its too cute...even Rachel goes on it, VERY slowly with the lock on so she can't make it go too fast.

OMG the SOUND of that soup turned my stomach! LOL

Well crap, I don't have time to tell you guys about my weekend, but I'll be back after the gym...tonight is the OHIO STATE game...GO BUCKEYES! It's a big deal around here, I think DH is going to BW3 to watch it, so the kids and I are on our own for dinner. Talk at ya'll later xoxooxxoxoxo Michelle

I was at the doctor my second or third week into this weightloss thingy back in Sept. and it was high then too. So, we let it go that time. I was hoping 70 lbs less would have helped it, but noooo, it's actually a bit higher. It was 150 over 95. She said it's obviously not weight related. Did she say just what then it is related to------------no? The lump is above my belly button. So that just might be too high for a uterine fibroid. But that's the first place we're gonna look. Oh joy. Of course she was nice enough to mention that these things are rarely malignant. Good to know. Of course she doesn't know what these things actually are.

Very cute Michelle, your little kiddies on the treadmill. I guess it's never to young to start good habits, eh?

Bye, for now.

Yea, Michelle mine love to get on the tread too... Tommy gets on it while it is off and runs back and forth.

Robin, OMG how scary for you! But at least you found it, some people would never bother. You knew you were doing great on the weight loss!!! But I know stepping on the doctors scale is more OFFICIAL. My blood pressure has always been on the low side but after I started losing it went up too, that is so weird.

Michelle, I make my 1 cup of ff milk blend it with 1 scoop of powder, then pour into my cup, what is left over I dump into my coffee to give it a bit of flavor.


I got most of my house cleaning done So now it is time to put the baby to bed and get on my bike. A bit later than I wanted to, but I gotta do what I gotta do!


Happy healthy day my friends

Okay, make me the third among us whose blood pressure went UP after losing the weight... it seems so counterintuitive, doesn't it? I wonder if it's just a temporary thing because our bodies are going through so many changes right now? I nearly fell off the table when the doc told me mine was 142/90 - mine was always on the low side, 118/68ish. Doc thought maybe I was just mega-stressed that day. Seems to be leveling off now - when they checked it at the gyn, it was still higher than it was before I started to lose weight, but I wasn't in the "danger zone" any more. OH - and my doctor also told me that the numbers for what is "good," "borderline" and "severe" have actually been lowered by the medical experts who create those standards - so where you might have been "borderline" before at your blood pressure, at that same blood pressure you might actually be considered "severe" now.

Robin - maybe your BP's high because of, oh I don't know, stress? After all, you're going through some stuff with your family, plus you have a mysterious lump on your belly, plus I think you said you're up to your eyeballs in work-related paperwork and all that stuff... that would put anyone's BP through the roof. Anyway - I do hope that things get better for you, and soon.

Michelle - I live deep in the heart of Eagles country... and I mean DEEP. Around here, you're either an Eagles fan or you pretend to be one, because if you're found out to be anything but, look out! Poor Cowboys fans have it especially bad around here. I'm not much of a sports fan myself (I like hockey, but the Flyers are awful this season, so I'm not even bothering with it), but I will admit that I got wrapped up in the whole T.O. drama!

Jeni - you sound so psyched and motivated and READY to start again - awesome!! Your plan sounds great... and I know you can do this. Keep it up!!

*~*~*~*~*

My stomach still feels funny. DH thinks that maybe the soup was bad. I mean, we all know it was bad, but he was thinking that maybe it spoiled or something, and that is what is making me feel so icky. Wonderful.

I got my Rx filled for my new birth control yesterday... it's the birth control ring, which works very similarly to the Pill in that it is a three-week controlled release of hormones - except I won't have to deal with popping pills every day (nice!) plus it's supposedly more effective. I was reading through the information that comes along with the medication, and I noted that one of the side effects is weight gain. GAAAAAH. I've been on the pill now for twelve years... I wonder, even though I'm switching to a similar method with slightly different hormones, could I still gain the weight?? I admit I'm scared... I don't want to backslide, I've worked so hard...

House stuff is working my nerves, too. DH hasn't packed a single box, and there is still so much to be done! Today I have to chat with the lawyer, and I also have to line up homeowner's insurance... fun.

I think my blood pressure is rising. Maybe WEED will help me chill out:

W - 96 ounces
E - it's a gym night! Going to aim for an hour of cardio, weight training, and then a nice long session in the sauna.
E - 1200 calories (I will just keep reminding myself of the Swamp Soup)
D - Daily goals: call lawyer, call insurance guy, call buyer's agent, call inspector, confirm appraisal scheduled, take care of myself today. Daily affirmation: I am surprised and impressed with myself at how much I have achieved and am capable of. (that felt good to say!)

Okay girls - deep breath - new day! Get into your groove and have a great day of good choices!

OH - and to respond to Robin's question re: the Discovery Health Body Challenge...

The Discovery Health Channel (Discovery Channel subsidiary) is offering a free program on their website to help America lose weight and fight the obesity epidemic. It's actually a very nice program with lots of sound advice and tools for losing weight and living more healthfully (which I already get from this wonderful site and all you wonder-women). However, I went there today and went into my personal fitness/weight tracker and there was all kinds of stuff listed in there that I didn't put there - like, for example, in my fitness tracker where I had very diligently listed my cardio activities, I found an entry for an hour of rugby playing??? (I don't play rugby!) So I think that the trackers might be a little screwed up. BUT they do have a downloadable fitness/weight/food diary that you can print out to write in, which I fully plan to do and take with me to the gym so I can record my weight training/cardio progress.

I'd post the link, but I'm not sure if that's against the rules or not - but I will tell you that I'm sure you'll find it if you Google the Discovery Health National Body Challenge.

Good morning ladies.

Thanks Rowdy for the info on the Discovery Health Channel thing, I will check it out. Can't have too much info as far as I'm concerned. Suz, I don't think you need to be concerned with weight gain by switching up your birth control. Different method, same hormones, no weight change. I think. Any boy oh boy, that soup just keeps sounding better and better. Yuck. And just wondering, when do you think you'll be making the big move???

Jeni, you do sound like you're back in the game and absolutely pumped. Hmm, the Cowboys, Jets and Giants all could've used you this past weekend.

And Michelle, I know ZERO about college football, ZERO. How'd your Buckeyes do?

I am in a lousy mood. Just feeling blah. I was doing soooo well with the exercise for about a 10 day period and now these past 3 days have been horrible. It gets me crazy. The food I've been great with. I suppose the food is an in-activity, and the exercise is an ACTivity, so it's just easier for me to pass it up. But when I do, I feel so lousy. As if I've blown an opportunity to better myself and lose weight. I know I can't be expected to perfect all the time, but to go from so much to practically zippo is just not acceptable. I've reprogrammed my brain as far as the food goes, why can't I do the same with the exercise? This lump thing is definitely taking its toll on me. I'm not sure why I'm calling it a lump, it's enormous, growing in leaps and bounds, now it feels like a baseball. I can't get it out of my head or should I say stomach? At best, I'm looking at surgery and I'm frightened. For the surgery itself, the outcome and knowing I won't be able to exercise for at least 6 weeks or so. I'm trying to not get carried away, but it's hard. As for the blood pressure, I'm going to have it checked again at Monday's gyno appointment and see what she has to say, before I fill the prescription. It was 120 over 70 for YEARS. In Sept. it was 140 over 90, yesterday 150 over 95 - NOT GOOD. But, yes I do think they have lowered the standards at which they treat. NEvertheless, it is disturbing to me.

Really don't feel like doing my WEED today, yup I'm gonna pass, I won't bow down to peer pressure. Let's just say I'd like to eat well, drink well and exercise some. And get in a better mood. Well then I guess I did cave in after all.

Have a great day everyone.

Robin, I know the idea of surgery is scary, but maybe you will be able to find something to do exercise wise (like lifting 1-2 pound barbells) I am sorry you have to go through this, the waiting has to be killing you. I hate the whole doctors thing you go to one, they send you to another, then you go to another and they don't do much communicating between one another. I can't imagine the stress you are going through.

Suz, I know weight gain is a side effect for most birth control methods for women. When I went on the Pill I gained about 10 pounds, but It came right off after my body got used to the hormones. Good luck with all the house stuff, its moving very fast isn't it. When we got our house it seems like it took forever.

*_* *_* *_* *_* *_*


I did so good yesterday!!! I am proud of myself, I didn't even WANT the fried foods at work. I got in most of my workout here at home, then my friend and I went walking after work last night!!!!! I ended up eating just over 1300 calories my water was a little short I only got in 70 oz but I think that is okay, at least I drank some.

Weed for today
W 120
E 65 minutes (lofty exercise goal, but I think I can do it!)
E 1400 calories
D clean up after the tornados that hit my house (again) get ready for tonights storm and tomorrows. . . . .SNOW! yep its supposed to snow, I hope we get 12 inches and work closes and I am stuck in the house with no where to go but to snuggle the tornadoes and my husband!!!

******

Over the weekend I saw the main cook do some things that turned my stomach while at work. First has anyone ever seen the Breakfast club??The one girl (what is her name) draws a picture then scratches her head so the dandruff falls to make it look like snow.....So the cook scratched her head like that and then started cooking without washing her hands. (also no gloves which disgusts me) Now this particular cook does things that EVERY single person that has ever worked there gets grossed out by(like coughing with out covering it), when the boss says something she lies about it, and when I say something she runs to him telling him that I made her cry. <shaking my head> I LOVE MY BOSS he is the greatest person you will ever meet. he has owned the business for 31 years this year and, well he is just getting old and doesn't want to deal with it, and the Managers both Laugh at me when I complain, okay not laugh at me, but they don't want to say anything, so that leaves me (the main cook and I DO Not get along, and she isn't new she is going on 16 years there). Well to finish this LONG story I left a note for my boss and explained to him what happened and told him that I just cant handle it anymore. I don't know if it is because my kids and I just suffered for an entire month with one illness or another, but I can't handle it anymore. So my boss told me to write something up, A reminder of how important washing hands is and when and how to do it. And he would post it and make sure to explain it to everyone. I was so happy he listened to me this time. I know he doesn't want to lose me, and if he didn't do anything about it I was going to have to quit. He is going to have a talk with the cook and insist she follows the health codes and wear gloves (he thought she wore them because she does when he is there). I was so glad he gave me that responsibility.


OOOHH I forgot to tell everyone, speaking of my job and loving my boss. Here in WA state we have a high minimum wage it went to $7.93 in January. (I make more than the minimum by the way) but My boss decided to give me a 4%(+) raise!!!!!! OMG that comes in handy. I got my first check of the year and it was more than I thought it would be by like $50 so I called him and asked him to check on it. He doesn't just give a percent but he rounds to the nearest nickle so that made a $0.40 raise.

wtg jcatron on the raise

Good morning ladies, that's a stretch for me, whatever.

Yes Jeni, congrats on your MUCH DESERVED raise!!!!!

I'm gonna try and make this brief. Got a phone call from my Dr. yesterday afternoon. She got the results of Monday's blood tests. Throughout my adult life I had always had cholesterol levels in the very low 200's. Which for being as obese as I was was truly a blessing. And I wanted to keep it that way which is why I started this lifestyle change in Sept. My health was my main goal. In May of 06' my cholesterol was 205 and in Sept 06' it was 203. I thought for sure with my weightloss it would be in the 100's. Nope. It shot up 185 points to 388 in 4 months, something the Dr. says she has never, ever heard of in all of her years of practice. Yet alone in someone who has lost over 78 lbs. I feel as if the wind has been knocked out of me. She has no explanation and no way of knowing how this happened. I can't help but wonder if I've triggered some kind of mad thing going on in my body. Which is kind of ironic because as I said this whole weight loss thingy was to IMPROVE my health, not watch it deteriorate right before me very eyes. And so darn quickly to boot. We are doing a retake on Monday morning just to be certain it wasn't a lab error, which is HIGHLY doubtful since all my other numbers were fine. If the retake confirms the numbers, she will put me on medication as those are alarmingly high numbers. My bad cholesterol is EXTREMELY high whereas it used to be excellent. I'm trying to keep my chin up and stay calm, but it's not easy. I am miserable and frightened and frustrated and ............ Moving right along.........

Actually managed to do better with my exercise and water intake yesterday. Eating was very good as well.

W - Drink it
E- Do it
E- 1200 calories or so
D- Keep it together, some how, some way. Just not quite sure how.

Thanks for listening to me. Have a great day.

Oooohhhhh Robin...



Whatever you do, don't despair or lose faith... the changes you are making to your body ARE good, and you ARE doing an awesome thing for yourself by losing the weight. Sometimes, the body just does weird things chemically, inexplicably and without rhyme or reason. A good friend of mine who was not overweight, ate all the right things and lived a healthy, physically active lifestyle actually had the same thing happen to her. Nobody could figure out exactly why, but she treats it with Lipitor and is fine now. The things that are happening to you just happen to coincide with your weight loss... I'm no doctor, but I don't think that your current health issues are a result of it.

You are going through so much right now... and it's no wonder that you're scared and upset and feeling like you're at a loss. You've been busting your butt so hard and doing a great job eating and living healthy, and this truly is a kick in the teeth, all this health stuff. But you know what? None of that is your fault! You're already doing an amazing job of losing the weight, eating right and living actively, which is just what the docs would tell you to do. You've got those doctors helping you out, every step of the way... and you've got your faith. Between the knowledge of the doctors and the kind of strength that only G-d can give... you're going to work it out and get this all sorted.

I believe in you.

Robin, I agree with everything that Suz said. Let your doctors take care of you, and don't blame your weight loss. Your weight loss if anything will Help you, recover quickly. I am hoping that it was just an input error and it was supposed to say 188.