Starting the topic - be back in a bit

Good morning everyone,

Sorry about not checking in last week. On Wednesday I went down to my mom's to help her put her house back in order (she had just had the downstairs re-plastered and painted). We were getting it ready for a baby shower for my sister in law on Saturday. Yes, my family loves to cut it close, we are horrible procrastinators. I had thought I would check in with all of you before I left but the early part of the week got away from me.

I will go back and read last week's post later.

The scale was horrible today. But I am not to worried about it. I had had a In and Out burger and Fries for lunch and then ate popcorn for dinner. Today I am going to be downing the water.

My exciting news is I went shopping this last week and I bought 2 pairs of pants in a size 14 down from 16. The first pair I bought the regular 16 without trying it on and when I got home I tried them on for my mom and she said they wer to big. It was a real confidence builder to hear my mom say that because her motto has always been "better I tell you than everyone else thinking it". More often than not growing up that was said when I loved something and she didn't. I then returned the big ones for smaller size and went to a different store and had to buy the 14s in a totally different style of pants too. So I guess the exercise is working even when the scale doesn't show it.

I'm sorry I rambled on and on about my pants, I just so excited

I'm looking forward to reading all of last week's posts and getting caught up with everyone. Anne

Anne,

Sorry to hear that the scale was horrible but way to go on going to a size in pants!!!! Actually, although I do tend to emphasize the number on the scale, the best measure of progress is how our clothes fit - much less fickle results than the scale, so wooohoooo!!!!!!

I'm reporting a 0.4 loss this week - yup, the same number the third week in a row. Yes, I was a tiny bit disappointed because I was expecting more of a loss, but I'm glad that a) I saw a loss since it was at the end of TOM b) it was the third week I lost in a row and c) I saw a loss, period! I guess 0.4 seems to be my number.

I had an OK weekend - not too bad but not as good as during the week. I have my doctor's appt this aftenoon and I know the scale isn't going to show what I was hoping for so I'm pretty sure I am in for a lecture. I guess I'll have to see what the cholesterol numbers are like.

I didn't exercise yesterday - Saturday night we went to see "All About Schmidt" but it wasn't playing at the first run theaters anymore so we went to this small place that I swear, hadn't redone their seats since 1950 - terrible back support! I thought I have worked out the kinks Saturday night but yesterday morning I woke up with a very stiff back so I just took it easy and used the heating pad. That last night plus a muscle relaxer worked pretty well - it's not 100% but it's a lot better. I'm planning on trying a little bit of cardio this evening followed by a little yoga just to keep it limber.

Have a great one!
Judy

163.6/156.4/135 and 39/240 workouts
(0.8 towards "lose 8, feel great!")
First 10% by the end of March!

Hi Everyone,

I was having PC difficulties last week, and was thus awol. I'll have to read back and see how everyone's been doing.

Anne- way to go on getting into a smaller pants size!! Judy is right, loose clothing is a better indicator than the scale!

Judy - yippee for another loss! That's terrific! Good luck at the doc's. Sorry to hear about your back after the crappy theatre seats - what did you think of the movie? Not what I was expecting, but brilliantly acted, IMO.

TOM arrived this morning, and has put an end to a PMS week of gluttony. I was insatiable all last week, and was eating at least an extra meal a day, plus snacks. I thought of food pretty much morning, noon and night all week. Today I've hardly given it a second thought. I must force myself onto the treadmill tonight, and pick up a few dumbbells. I could cheerfully go to bed instead.

Have a good evening...

Good Morning...

Just a quick note to report that I did indeed use the TM last night, and then did a chest, shoulder and back workout.

Have a great day!

Karen B - glad to see that you computer problems have been solved! Way to go on getting on the TM last night and doing a strength workout. I'm glad to hear that you are out of the PMS woes - mine we bad this past month too.

I had a pretty good day yesterday starting with my doctor's appt. He looked at me and asked me if I had lost weight! I told him I had lost a few pounds and was working on the rest with WW - I never did get on the scale (phew!) My cholesterol numbers really showed improvement, including cutting my triglycerides in half from the last time I had the test! I credit adding in the whole wheat pasta and cutting down on the cookies, etc., and having more "natural" (for lack of a better word) snacks. My HDL still has to be higher though. He asked if I exercised and I laughed and told him how much I do. He asked if I could add more cardio and I said only if I didn't want my knees to last, so we decided that we would tinker with my medication (Karen - you might know of this) - cutting down on the dosage of Zocor (which cuts down on the liver producing cholesterol) but adding this new stuff, Zetia (which works on the absorption of cholesterol). In any case, I was very pleased with the whole visit. After work, I did a step workout and felt OK back-wise - not great but I was glad I moved. I did OK snacking too and banked 1.5 food points. I have a dentist appointment this afternoon so I should be home earlier than usual - if so, I think I'll try to do a little yoga.

Have a great one!
Judy

Judy, congrats on stringing tose losses together, that's quite a feat! And a big congrats on the great cholesterol report. I hope the new med works out for you.

Karen B, Glad you got the puter aproblem fixed and good for you for the fantastic workout.

Anne, woohoo to you! Love to go shopping to see what size I can get into!

My weekend in Ft. Lauderdale with sister Michelle was quite productive. We put a bid in on a townhouse in Boca Raton and found a site for our first workout center. We should hear sometime today from the franchisor if it is approved or not. Ver exciting stuff! Overall I did okay eating over the weekend, but only had time for one walk because we were just so busy. Returning to San Antonio last night was terrible--big ice storm. Mine was the last plane in before the airport shut down and we had to wait forever for luggage because the belt on the unloader kept freezing. When I got to my car it was covered in half an inch of ice. San Antonio is not set up for this kind of weather. Everything is shut down until this afternoon when hopefully the ice will melt and the roads will open. I have hardly any food in the house, so it should be easy to stay on program today. I'll open a can of soup for breakfast! Hope everyone is having better weather than I am!

Hi gals,

First of all, congrats to everyone on their losses and looser clothes!

Just a quick flyby to report that I am taking a "bye" this week from weighing myself. Last week was a horrible week at the office, and I worked all kinds of crazy hours and ate just about everything that wasn't nailed down. It wasn't pretty.

BUT, I'm back on the wagon this week and will weigh myself again next Monday, if not sooner.

S.

166/159/135

Hi everyone.

Sorry I was missing yesterday - I got caught up in a book I was reading and that's where my free time went!

Anne - Sorry to hear about a bad trip to the scale but Woo Hoo on a smaller pants size! That's terrific. I'm a horrible procrastinator (although noone else in my family is) so I was lauging at your 11th hour redecorating at your mom's.

Judy - Congrats on another loss and especially congratulations on a good doctor's visit. You must have felt so good! I hope you've got all the aches and pains worked out from your back.

Karen B - Glad you're back among us this week! We missed you. I'm sorry to hear that PMS hit you so hard, but it sounds like you're back on track. Good for you for getting on the TM and doing a workout, even though you didn't feel like it.

Karen C - How exciting - finding a townhouse and a place for your workout studio! Things are really moving. I'm glad you got back to Texas safely. Here's hoping the ice is all melted.

Sabrina - I've taken a bye week or two in my day. Sometimes it's just not worth being bummed out by the number on the scale. I hope that this week is less crazy for you.

I had an ok weekend. We had Chinese food on Saturday, but Sunday I really had a few snacks rather than a meal. Today I signed up for the SELF challenge. I've signed up the past couple of years and haven't completed it, but I'm hoping that, if nothing else, it jump starts my exercise program and gets me eating better. Today's been a pretty good day. Tomorrow, I'm back on the bike, even if it kills me.

Have a great day.

Carla

Hi Sabrina, good for you for jumping back on the wagon, that first step is the hardest.

Carla, glad to hear about the self challenge, tell me more. Sounds like something I might be able to do.

I heard from the agent and our offer on the townhouse was accepted, woohoo! Now I just have to figure out some way to get it financed, which may require some creative thinking since I don't' have a job!

The roads were still icy this afternoon so skipped doing grocery shopping but am managing to find lots of good OP foods. Hope everyone has a great OP evening.

Karen C - glad to hear you had a good weekend but sorry to hear about the ice storm. I think those of way worse than snow storms - very scary. As for weather - it's cold here in NY and they are talking about another snow storm tomorrow into Friday - the report right now is still sketchy though. Congratulations on your offer on the townhouse being accepted and good luck on the financing.

Sabrina - sorry to hear that you had a rough week last week. Glad to hear that you are back on the wagon though.

Carla - Way to go for signing up for the SELF challenge! I have a feeling that this is the year you'll complete it. How did you find having a few snacks instead of meal on Sunday? When I've done that, it's been hard for me to stop but I am finding things are much more controlled with having at least one snack in between all my meals (the "eating like Rita"). I'm pulling for you to get back on the bike - I think it should help the stiffness.

I had a good day yesterday. I even got an upper body weight + abs routine in since I got home on the early side from my dentist's appt (which was disappointing in a way because we both decided that trying to fix this crown just wasn't going to work long-term so I'm being fit for another one next week - no cost to me though). That makes 40 so far for the year so I am right on target on my goal of 240. Dinner was yummy lf chicken sausages from Costco (Aidell's) which were delicious and filling but boy are my rings tight today!

Have a great one,
Judy

Hi all.

Karen C - Congrats on having your offer on the townhouse accepted. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you'll be able to find a creative way to get it financed. The SELF challenge is something that SELF magazine does each year. It's a three month challenge to exercise regularly and eat better. Each month of the challenge they present new goals. For instance for the first month, the exercise goals are to do three 30 minute cardio sessions, 2 20 minute toning/stretching and 2 20 minute strength building sessions a week. I don't remember all of the diet goals, but one is write down what you eat. Easy enough for us, right? You submit a log of your sessions to them each month, either on-line or via paper, and if you complete the challenge you're eligible for prizes. You can also call a toll-free number each day for tips and a chance to win a prize. This year they've added on-line journals for tracking your exercise minutes and your eating. You can check it out a SELF.com.

Judy - Bummer about having to get your crown totally replaced, although not having to pay for eat eases the pain. Good for you for getting in that workout and being on target. You will be glad to know that I did indeed get on the bike today and, since I'm here typing this, it evidently did not kill me. :-) Can't say that I was loving it - in, fact when I hit the point where the exercise high kicks in, all I felt was "Ok, I'm hating this a little bit less". I know that high will kick in again soon and I do feel better for having done it.

Alas, my trip to the scale was not a happy one. Up 2 pounds and I know I really deserve each one. So, back to the basics: water, journal, fruits, veggies, and milk. I'm debating on whether or not to postpone my doctor's appointment next week. We'll see.

Have a great day.

Carla

Carla - sorry to hear about the gain. It's good that you know it's time to get back to basics. As for the doctor's appt., does he have to check levels of the bp medication? Would you be endangering your health in any way if you postponed? If not, and you think postponing it will help you get back on track (it helped me) then I don't see any harm. On the other hand, if there is any risk to you than don't. Good for you for getting on the bike. Ya know, it would be great if you ended up liking exercise (and here comes the tough love) but ya' don't have to like it - ya' just have to do it (said with {{{{HUGS}}}}. How was your knee afterwards?

I had a so-so day yesterday. I was planning on taking a rest day from exercise and did. I don't know what it was but I was just very snacky yesterday evening. Tony bought the mini chocolate chips so I could make more meringue cookies and I snacked on them too much - I counted the points but basically ate up any banked points I had. I'm planning on earning some activity points after work though and will make sure to pick up my knitting tonight.

Have a great one!
Judy

Hi Judy, sounds like you're doing great, don't let a few snacks get you down. Sorry about the crown, it's a bummer having to sit in that chair for me at least. Congrats on your uppper body workout. Hope you're not getting another snowstorm. I saw on the morning show today how bad it's been this year.

Carla, thanks for the info on the Self challenge. I'll check it out. Good for you for exercising. Sorry about the weight gain, but great attitude. Stick with it!

Okay day yesterday foodwise, just too busy to do any exercise. I went nonstop and today doesn't look much better. The good news is it seems I won't have any problem getting a mortgage. The bad news is it takes too much time buying a house. Have a great day.

Hi everyone.

Judy - Sorry to hear that you had a snack attack, but good for you for not going into a deficit. That's what those banked points are for - as a security blanket for those rough days. Yeah, I know that I just have to exercise whether I like it or not. But it would be good to enjoy it while I'm doing it. You make a good point about postponing the doctor's appointment. Since this is a visit to check that the BP meds are at the right dose, etc., as well as a check-up on my knee, I think I'll keep it. I don't think it would be particularly harmful to postpone it a bit, but best not to test that theory out.

Karen C - GOod news that you'll have no problems getting a mortgage. Yes, buying a house can be time consuming. But it's a great fresh start.

Most of those two pounds were gone again today. Most likely, the bulk of it was water. Plus I did some really late night snacking on Tuesday, so that might have been part of it. At any rate, I ended the day at my minimum points. While I probably could have spent some of those points in better ways, one thing at a time. I'm on track today, especially with water. And, I hopped on the bike again. I know that if I just stick with the bike another couple of weeks, it will become habit. I'm hoping the SELF challenge will keep me motivated to do so. I supplemented my workout by burning some calories laughing at Robin Williams, who was on The View this morning. My whole body was shaking, so I know that had to do me some good. :-)

Have a great day everyone.

Carla
271.4/269.4/140