Ok, Barry! Thanks for the new thread! You gave me a start for a sec! Thought we were being e-stalked! by a masher !!!

:LOL:

Ok, pontification from Amarantha: I've been inundating the board this weekend and it's helping me focus! Lots of bad things in life right now, but, say I, why add extra poundage to the general negativity! So I'm doing the No Guilt Challenge, the Five Pound Challenge, and my personal Moon Initiative ... in which I invoke Artemis the Huntress to track down and destroy (nonviolently) things in my life that are keeping me from success.

By my rules (with the averaging and exceptions), I'm on Day 9 of this block, which is one-half of my Moon Initiative (Blue Moon=3 weeks, Green Moon=3 weeks)! The good thing about the averaging and exceptions is I CAN'T LOSE! I'm always a on the Royal Block!

On another thread, Kaylets mentioned that sometimes she thinks she treats others better than she seems to treat herself ... in the food sense, as in she would go out and buy the best for a meal for her family and friends, but put any ol' think in her own body! Amarantha thinketh that is a point well taken ... and it goes beyond food, methinks! Sometimes we allow others to devalue us ... we to their negativity about us or about the world in general and we absorb it like so much ... and it swelleth within and poisoneth our lives and how can we succeed at the weight loss journey or at any other thing with this swelling negativity hampering our thoughts? So Amarantha voweth to be as selective with thoughts from others that she accepts as she hopeth to be with food from the outside world that likes to sneak in on the coattails of Bob the Brazen Blob, who hath many tricks to rob of fitness folk of their good muscle tone and insert in its place vials of rubbery fat, until we haveth no mental or physical strength left but knoweth it not until we need it! Then the fat hampers our movements, weakens our brave hearts and stops us from donning our designer jeans! (P.S. Bob the Blob should not be confused with Bob the Builder, who buildeth up the human spirit and deltoid muscles by applications of honest labor).

Well, Amarantha thought she'd share all that. She hath NOT been drinking, just needs a nap!

Babette/WN Arabella: Thanks again for the new thread and for letting all know you still hover among us!

Good Morning My Darlings!

Much as I love the summer, September always seems to be full of possibilities. Fresh starts, time to take stock and get it together. New books and fresh air, walking to school... Smell those pencil shavings!

I had a wonderful hiking trip to Fundy Park. We stopped at the Hopewell Rocks on the way: Huge, fantastic formations carved out by the highest tides in the world. Archways to walk through and various shapes to walk around, all on the ocean floor - another few hours and they would be under 15-20 feet of water.

At Fundy, we hiked for 3 hours both days, along the coast and through woodlands. The second day, part of the trail was along a river. Just beyond a waterfall, the river was all huge boulders, at fantastic angles, that we had to clamber over as part of the trail. Incredible! The rocks there were all carved out too, like Henry Moore sculptures. And there were a couple of big stone bowls that were full of water that probably would have been warm from the sun. Next time I'll take my swimsuit.

Another part of the trail featured tons of blackberry bushes, all heavy with berries (too bad they were about a week away from being fully ripe!) My SIL and I talked about going back next year - a week later! We could have gotten enough berries to freeze for the winter.


Amarantha I do thank thee for thy most gracious gifts of bananas! (BTW, is everyone having problems displaying images, or is my computer just futzing up?) I admire thy steadfastness greatly and do intendeth to emulate thee in that respect, henceforth!

I am so proud of you for deleting the garbage sent by your ex-friend. I think I would go one step further and block their e-mails. Who needs to invite poison into their lives!

You are a WONDERFUL person!

Queen Punkin of Friday, I was v. happy to read the news about your free tree trimming -- just the kind of thing I imagine happening, sort of like when I was a kid and had to tidy my room. I would gaze out the window, imagining that fairies would come along and clean my room when I had my eyes averted Hmmm... I begin to see that this approach is not working for my weight-loss efforts....

Kaylets, BIG CONGATS on meeting your 5-pound challenge!!! Wooooo-hooo!!! And you know what, looking back over the threads I can see how you did it. Perseverence and consistent effort. Hmmm... must try something similar. I loved your epiphany about feeding others better than oneself.

Eydie, WTG on the moon challenge success to date. I don't understand what the deal is on finding it hard to drink all the water. As a rule, I just do it and have no problem, but every so often it seems nearly impossible. For some reason, if I'm not feeling well I find it particularly hard. And that's when I need to drink it the most, of course.

SO. My challenge for today:
< 35 points

>3L water

3 mile walk, 2 circuits (done!)

tai chi class

at least 7 fruits and veggies

Have a wonderful day, Blockettes. Love to all!

plain & simple - just to exercise everyday When I walk on my treadmill is is probably the single most motivating thing that I can do for myself. I really feel like I did something that day. & ya know when I do it early a.m., it's a great positive boost for the day.

Hi All! I think that this is lucky day 13 for me so my moon challenge is going well. [knock wood!] I think for my aerobic exercise today I'm going to mow the grass which has miraculously grown overnight from the long-awaited rain.

Congrats, Kaylets, on meeting your goal! And yes, whu can't we consistently extend to ourselves the same courtesy that we give to others? Why is that so easy to forget?

FALL IS COMING! I love it--my favorite time of year. Just now seeing the first signs.... looking forward to walks in crunchy leaves and hot thick soups. [eating the soup, that is, not walking in it! ]

Seems Amarantha has gone to the Imperial Spa without telling anyone and she is napping by the pool, so I, Elbertine Pep, her personal trainer, will just post a quick update that Amarantha's weight loss day is going well, indeed, though there was that PB cup on the ride home from the mountains. I told her not to eat it, but she ignoreth me!

Babette/WN Arabella: Thanks for your kind words and for coming out to play! Sadly, September where I live is among the hottest months, but I have a plan to make this the best September ever! So I move at a pace to achieve my objectives. P.S. I don't see any way to actually block my "friend's" emails. I can reroute them to the delete file before they reach my inbox, but I find myself wanting to look in there and open them. So far, I haven't. This stress is not good for either of us, so I intend to leave it alone. You are doing great on all fronts, Babette!

Jagmom3: Congratulations on being consistent with your a.m. exercise. Doing anything at the same time each day is hard for me, but I'm always trying to do at least one a.m. workout, then one later in the day, but it's hard in the morning sometimes. Good for you!

Eydie: Congratulations to you on your Lucky Day 13! Hope you enjoy mowing the grass. That sounds like fun, actually. All we have in my area is Bermuda grass, aka crabgrass. You don't mow it, you weedeat it. Of course, we have rocks, dust and caliche soil, too!

Good morning, Blockettes!

I didn't quite meet my challenge yesterday. I spent the day madly trying to get caught up on things that I was behind on because of my frantic end-of-month. All day falling behind, because I took on too much: get the house cleaned up, take my mother out to do her errands, do the shopping, banking, the laundry, finish a project for a client, do my billing, and a couple of rewrites.

I've got to get a little more realistic. I set myself up for failure that way and feeling like I've failed is a bad feeling - esp. when I start the day full of hope and energy! Today I'll try to cut back on the plans. Also not feeling well, so that doesn't help.

My sister called yesterday to ask if I'd decided whether or not I was going to take a painting class with her. I was undecided, not sure if I could spare the $120. or the 3 hours a week (for six weeks). Shortly after she called, I got an editing assignment that I wasn't expecting that would more than pay for the course. I may take that as a sign... You know, I throw out this reason that I can't do something I want to, and the universe sends me the means to do it! Plus, the classes are in the afternoon, which is my less productive time anyway. So... I think I'm going to do it.

Yesterday I skipped tai chi because I was tired and had just gotten home and still had stuff to do. Today, I plan to do yoga and fit in a set of tai chi somewhere. I'm going to walk around the harbour to a gallery later and check out a guy to write about in a column, "The Creative Spark" - about the creative impulse and process.

Amarantha, what email program do you use? Most of them have a blocking utility, which would result in your "friend" getting the messages back as "undeliverable." So s/heshould stop sending them, if s/he's half-way sane? The thing that always strikes me about people who feel the need to do things like that is how unhappy they must be. I think the urge to create more unhappiness in the world speaks of a truly miserable state of mind.

Eydie, I am v. glad that you are not walking through hot, thick soups, even though the resistance would up the calories burned

SO. My challenge for today:

< 35 points

>3L water

3 mile walk, yoga, 1 set tai chi

at least 7 fruits and veggies

Let's make this a good one , Blockettes. Love to all!

Howdy!

Ooooh, it feels like I haven't been here in a loooong time!

Babette - Hopewell Rocks sounds incredible! There's a tiny cave in San Francisco that's similar to that. It's by the old Sutro's ice rink ruins and if you go at high tide you can't go through it to this beach, but at low tide you can walk through and there's this great beach on the other side.
Congrats too on the project that'll fund your painting class. It does sound like a sign...

Eydie - Wonderful job on your moon challenge! I'm looking forward to those hot soup days too. Matter of fact, I think today I'll start my list of what I want to make and between now and the beginning of October I'll start stocking up for my cook-fest! I love fall!!

I'm issuing my own challenge today... I will be abstaining from chocolate and my weigh in dinner (aka the oink-fest) until at least the first day of my vacation (Oct. 8th). I'm realizing that my forward progress is being hampered by these two things - so they must go. The exception to the chocolate clause (no, not a chocolate Santa) is Pria bars and Slim Fast. Neither of these are trigger foods for me. No more Fast Breaks, Reese's peanut butter cups, and M&M's. The days of eating most of a Domino's pizza, a monster cheeseburger and other greasy ickies are done with... I'm looking forward to being able to fall asleep Monday nights without feeling like I'm going to be sick (why do I do this???).

So, that's all for now.... off to work!

Terri

Punkin, so nice to hear from you! You are so wise about the sacrifices you have to make to do this thing. I am trying to get my head around the same concept I was just thinking the other day about how sacrifices have changed over the centuries . Oh for the good old days, when one could make a sacrifice that didn't involve giving up anything of one's own. Not that I would want to sacrifice a goat, or anything...maybe a few mosquitoes...some fruit flies....But I would feel guilty, anyway. Oh gosh, I am rambling big time. In any event, it seems that sacrifices now involve giving something up, more's the pity. I shall be on the alert for items in my diet begging to be sacrificed.

What I really popped in to say was -- oh, yeah, Hopewell Rocks is fantastic!!! I suddenly realized that I could show you -- ain't technolgy grand!

http://www.thehopewellrocks.ca/

Ooooh Babette! It's beauuuuutiful! Thank you for sending the website - those arches are huge! *sigh* one of these days...

Funny you should comment about my sacrifices - go check out what I just posted on the 5 Pound Challenge thread. I found an article in my Costco Connection this morning (before my "no more chocolate" post) that just reconfirmed exactly what I felt when I decided all this. In a snipet, it's about understanding and accepting tradeoffs. If you want something bad enough there's going to be things you can and can't do or have to reach that goal. Interesting stuff...

ok, back to work!

Terri

Yo! Drive by post! Babette, thanks for posting the website where you hiked ... I'm going to go there in a sec! What a great idea for a challenge it would be to have a virtual "hike" around the world or somewhere ... Mars, if we'd like! We could ante "miles" we earn by either performing a certain exercise or MAKING A SACRIFICE (no maidens or goats) or ... and race each other or something ... anyway, it's a thought in case we run out of challenges!!!

Amarantha runneth late, to do list won't get done but her main challenge is to save those slimfast calories for before the late meeting she covereth, then have no food at least until midnight, which she counteth as tomorrow!

Punkinseed o' Friday: I saw some of what you posted on 5-pound thread before computer crashed and I had to run away. Will go back and see rest tonight. Congrats on your challenges; I think you are right, and Babette also, there is no way to lose weight without sacrificing something (e.g., calories and/or time to exercise). I think sometimes Amarantha thinketh a good fairy will come along and wave a magic wand and she can lose the pounds she desires without cutting back on food (e.g., dieting) or exercising. I think this is a common misconception in the media and among some people ... that there is a magic formula, that it is rocket science, that we just gained the weight though we do not overeat and we exercise faithfully and some deux ex machina will float along sometime and right this injustice. Ain't gonna happen!

Yipes! It's late and I need a nap. This board goes on and on until 2 a.m. sometimes and then I have a long drive home.

AAAAAAAAAACK!!!!

Do you all remember my "phone friend" that I've been having the flirtation with???? I just hung up with him - he told me he was cranky from not eating and some "other stuff" and said he'd email me. I just got his email saying his divorce was final and that he just felt tired and worn out. For some reason this is intensely personal to me... and I responded like-wise - very personal - and it feels weird to be crossing this little client-contractor relationship line (we've danced all up and down said line though over the last few months or so).

I haven't had this feeling in my stomach in YEARS - it's so unfortunate that he's literally 850'ish miles away... Even my Mom, who I work with, says she thinks he calls just to talk (she doesn't know about the phone calls I get from him just asking how my day is going).

I just had to share before I freakin' explode.

Crap, I feel like I'm 16 again...

Terri

Good for you, Punkin O' Friday! Be 16, explode!

Hello all!!

Q Babette- thanks for the link, so gorgeous!! And to think how many times I passed up opprotunities to see wonderful things because "sounds like a lot of walking" or some other lame excuse.
and yes, yes, yes, we set the bar way too high for ourselves. I agree. Either we have no concept of time or think we can do more than 3 people put together.

Q Punkinseed-- How exciting!! Do you think he's seeing anyone closer to home? we need to know ALL... How long was he seperated-- who ended it--- and what does he do for a living?? was this the lonesome millionaire?? Is he a songwriter ?? (Sexy tractor??)

Empress A- Sounds like the Board are boring. Good luck - I'm afraid I'd be 'creatively' writing just to stay awake.

Queen Eydie-- Yes, you are so right about how extending courtesy, even compassion to ourselves. But my thought last weekend was to the physical aspect. I know to stop putting gas in my car that makes the engine knock or stutter--- I know that I have to keep the gutters clear or water gets under the eaves and then other problems develop.
But why did it take me so long to realize that I need to take the same care of my body. From food, to execercise, to rest, to posture--
And even better-- while doing all of this, why do we believe the only "right" way to do all of this is in a way that's almost like a punishment. I disagree. We like to say, we have made a lifestyle change, that we are on a journey. My guess is that most of us would choose the most enjoyable way to travel. I know where I'd like to go, what time of day, what types of restaurants, size room, etc,etc.

I havent thought all of this thru ( as you can tell) but its exactly as Babette described, an ephiphany. A lightbulb has turned on.


9/11/2002 is here in just 7 days. I still can't believe what happened a year ago.


take care all

Good Morning, Blockettes!

I did pretty well until dinner last night and then I just picked at dinner while "tidying up" and ended up stuffed. Then DH suggested a stroll around the harbour and I felt like I had a big rock in my tummy. Maybe next time i'll know better?


Kaylets, I love the car metaphor! I remember someone coming up with the idea that eating more than you need is like filling the gas tank and then when that's full just keeping on putting gas in. It's actually kind of like putting the nozzle in the window or the trunk or something, huh.

Your Punkinness, ENJOY! I still remember that frantic, dizzy time with DH, about 13 years ago. Not sure I would go back to it, but it sounds like this guy is a sweetie and you've got a nice start to something potentially goooood!

Amarantha, you are the most divinely creative Emperess ever! Love your idea for the miles/virtual hike/etc. Do you write creatively as well as the pay-the-bills stuff? I think the world needs access to your vision!

My new challenge is back to the basics, which I know eventually pays off:
>3L water
exercise pretty much every day
at least 7 fruits and veggies
eat only when hungry and only at the table when alone


Let's make this a great one, Blockettes! Love to all!