Happy Monday, everyone!

We had a nice sunny weekend here in Portland -- a real treat for September. This weekend is supposed to rain -- I'm not sure how I'm going to keep my "outside every weekend" program going in the rain, but I guess with GoreTex, anything is possible .

I had Andre all day Saturday -- took him to get a new pair of glasses -- 5 year old boys sure are tough on eyeglasses! He has broken 3 frames so far -- the last time, they didn't even last thru 1 day of kindergarten. The eye glass person recommended Flexion frames - which I have as well -- I can vouch for their strength -- I managed to roll over on mine in the middle of the night when I was camping and they survived. Whether or not they will survive a 5 y/o is another story!

Sunday was hiking day. I was going to go up a trail on the north side of Mt Hood, but there is a forest fire up there. I was kind of surprised because this fire started in early August and it is still burning! According to the internet it won't be fully contained until mid-October. I always thought they put them out faster -- who knew! In a "note to self", I decided that in the future I should bring my guidebook with me when I go on a trip in case I have to go to plan B. However, I have a whiz-bang GPS with topo maps of all the U.S., and I remembered that there is a trail that leaves from Timberline Lodge that I've wanted to go on. So, I ended up hiking to "Paradise Park". It was quite pretty -- not too many flowers except by the streams, but the weather was awesome -- clear, not too hot, not too cold -- which was good because the trail was pretty brutal -- a lot of ups and downs.

Work is still kind of "eeeh", but I have my new exercise routine all dialed into my calendar. It is kicking my butt -- I am sore most of the time -- but I guess that means it is working!

I'm glad my ramblings were useful -- I got the inspiration from a blog titled "Escape from Obesity" -- in case you want to check out the original inspiration .

Have a good week all!

Hi folks,

Awfully quiet here, where is everyone? Ruth, how come you disappeared?

DH didn't get his MRI done yesterday. Fifteen minutes before the appointment, the imaging center called to say that the doctor had not done a preapproval with the health insurance and that the appointment would have to be rescheduled. That was rather irritating because we were almost there and its an hour drive for us. Not their fault since the doctor's office didn't do what they are supposed to do. We went to Lowe's instead.

I made it to the fitness center last evening. I did 30 minutes on the treadmill doing my interval work. This time I did a slow jog at 3.5 mph for my 60 second intervals and was able to do the 60 seconds and jog for each interval. For my final one, I did bump it up to 3.9. Yeah! My goal is to be able to do my jog intervals comfortably at 4.0 and then move on to the next week's. I may be on week 1 for a while. Then I did 10 minutes on the elliptical. I wanted to do more but needed to go to the grocery store before heading home.

Today, I've got all my healthy food packed for the day so no reason for unhealthy munching.

Elaine - Your new exercise routine sounds like it should blast off more pounds. You'll probably be seeing a big difference in your hiking and bike riding too as a result. Hiking in the rain might be fun.

Better get moving. to all!

Woo hoo! I was able to jog for 60 seconds last night with 90 seconds walking for 20 minutes. I think this is the most jogging/running I've done since I was in my early 20s! Now I am on Week 1 of "Couch to 5k" .

Alive and lurking.

Hi everyone,

What a beautiful fall week. I love the cool evenings.

Not much happening here. I worked out at home last night. Thirty minutes on the spinner. Tonight I'm headed to the fitness center after work. I'm moving into crunch time on the studying thing so I'm keeping a low profile.

Food has been good for the last two days. So !

Elaine - Great job on making the 60 second intervals. Do you use their podcasts?

to all!

Terri, I don't use the podcasts -- I'm running on a treadmill so I can see the time pass by via the display. I did google the podcasts tho and found that there's a tool you can use to make your own interval-running play-lists. If I get off the treadmill and outside, I'll be giving that a try -- that way I can use my own music !

Hi Ladies!
How is everyone doing? I'm tired, but good. I spent Thurs/Fri traveling to Boston for work. Sat doing a garage sale and going to the gym, Sun running around doing I don't remember and Mon/Tues in a training class for work. I'm just feeling a little run down at the moment, but life is great!

I've gotten my exercise in everyday except last Thurs due to the trip. Food has been pretty darn good too. My period is hanging around this week so the scale is moving a little up/down. Hopefully by Friday I'll still have a decent weigh in.

Yesterday when I was getting dressed I decided to try on a pair of jeans that were hanging there with dust on them because I haven't fit into them in the past 3-4 years. Guess what!?!?!? Yep! I slipped them on and they were comfortable! Wore them all day...after cleaning up the dust!

So, last night I was at the gym doing cardio and my super fantastic trainer was there. We were chatting and he said he wanted to ask me something. I got a little nevous and then I was speechless when he said he'd been in touch with a writer from the local paper and they wanted to feature me in a Getting Fit column!!!! He feels that I am so dedicated and have made such changes in a short time that I can be inspirational! OMG. I know it's good for his business too, but I'm fine with that because I adore this man. So, the writer emailed me a bunch of questions today and I'm going to meet with a photographer one day at the gym. It should be published at the end of the month. Talk about motivation....I'll be out there for the public to read about. I'm going to focus on the follow up article I want a year from now!!!

I have to get back to work. I wanted to pop in, say HI and share.

More later....have a happy and healthy day!

Barb

lurking
working
trying to stay op!

Good morning ladies, How are you all doing?

Terri, Hi, I am still around, mostly lurking like Lilion. I am having to change my way of eating yet again. I get gout in my big toe so I am trying to figure out just what I can and can't eat. Add high cholestrol, high blood pressure, diverticulosis, IBS, and who knows what else to the list and it gets hard to Eat anything! Oh yeah, and am prone to yeast infections under my breast! I have about decided that sweets are the only thing left!

Having said all of that to Terri, I have to say that I think I have brought all of those ailments on myself over the years with my poor eating habits. The older I get the more problems that arise. I can't go back and do it all over again, but I can sure encourage all of you younguns to get with the program before it is too late to change what can be!

Barb, congrats on the weight loss and the article on your progress, cool! You will post a copy when they do it right?

Elmay, whew! You make me ashamed of myself. I think I have done a lot if I just clean the house. LOL! Way to go girl!

Heather, Hi, Breathe deep.

Have a super day! Ruth

Hi folks,

Work is a bit of a firedrill here today. But in a good way.

I've done cardio work for the last three nights. Last night was at the fitness center. All I had time to do was 30 minutes on the treadmill. But I did the C25K intervals work which kind of kicked my butt last night.

Tonight, I've got yardwork to do and try for 30 minutes on the spinner.

Barb - That is so cool about your committment, drive and results. How fun is that about the column! I can't wait to see it!

Ruth - Never too late to make positive changes. Even us youngun's have lots of things that we can't go back and undo and a lot of damage to our bodies too. But we all have to perservere and keep working at this at any age. You can do it!

Heather & Lilion - Miss ya!

Elmay - The music really helps get through the 60 second intervals. If I tried to make my own, it would never get done. Keep up all the great work.

I gotta get on a call now. to all!

Hey Chickies! What's shaking?

Thank you for your encouragement on the article. I'm still a little overwhelmed, nervous about having my story out there...but I'm also proud! I just sent of my written questions to the writer. All I know now is that a photographer is going to meet me at the gym one day and the article will be published at the end of October. I definately share it when it comes out.

This has been a rough, rough emotional week for me. How do you all handle your stress and emotions? I have always been a sappy, sensitive, mushy, gushy gal, but even more so now. My trainer assures me that some of it is related to the new hormones that my body is producing. I also know a lot of it is my period. I'm feeling better today, but sometimes I wish I wasn't such an emotional person. There is also a small part of me wondering if I'm dealing with some depression. I don't know that I ever really grieved the loss of my parents and dealt with a lot of the infertility stuff. I don't know. I'm up and down right now.

Aside from all of that I did have a good week with food/exercise and I'm proud to announce another 3.4 loss for a new total of 36 pounds!

Last week I thought I managed to hold of a head cold but it seems to be trying to get to me again. Ugh. The last thing I want is to be sick and tired.

Terri/Elaine - Great job on the jogging and the Couch to 5K. I will join you in that one of these days. One goal that I have for myself is to run a 5K in honor of some special people in my life who are fighting breast cancer. I have a bit before I'm ready to tackle that.

What's everyone else up to? Come out of lurkdom and join the fun. We are all here for each other...friendship, motivation, encouragement...whatever!

Have a happy & healthy day!
Barb

Hi guys, new here.
BarbPA, whats your secret for dropping so much weight so fast??? Kudos to you on a job well done and congrats on the interview.
Nice work to everyone on getting their exercise in. I need to get my butt moving tonight and get my 30 mins. done, eeks!

Good Morning!

Hi bigmomma - WELCOME to the group! No big secret here...just lots and lots of hard work. I joined a gym, hired a personal trainer and made my health a priority! I am eating around 1600-1800 calories per day consisting of a balance of fats, carbs, proteins. I log ALL my food on Fitday.com. I am strength training 3 days a week and doing cardio 6-7 days a week. I also spend a lot of time chasing my two small children (3 years & 19 months) around. I'm just being smarter and wiser. It's not easy, but it's worth every moment! For me, the best thing I ever did was finding my personal trainer. I know it's not for everyone, but I am so fortunate that I found someone I really click with. He's not just helping me for an hour in the gym, he's helping with my nutrition and is a huge emotional support to me! You can do this! We all can! The support and encouragement here is fantastic!

I don't know if anyone is into smoothies or is adding ground flax to their diet, but I made a yummy smoothie this morning:
1/2 c Unsweetened Almond Breeze (found with soy milk)
1/4 c Tropicana Light Orange Juice
1/2 Banana
1/2 c. Strawberries
2 T Ground Flax seed
2 packets of spenda
Ice

Blend and enjoy! It was so yummy! Only 170 calories!

Have you guys found Hungry Girl? Fun site! I get the daily emails and bought the cookbook. Lots of good ideas!

I'm outta here for now. I'm sure I'll be back. We are just hanging around the house today and watching football. I'm hoping the kids will both nap so I can sneak out for a pedicure!

Have a happy & healthy day!