New week, new resolve. I am going to do more exercise. There was a fascinating article in the paper at the weekend which talks about how FAT and OBESITY are not nearly so dangerous as we are led to believe. The key is to have good cardio health, to be fit. I am inspired by this as it makes sense to me. I have often thought that in spite of being fat I am actually relatively healthy. I eat very well and do loads of gardening.

I am not saying I am going to stop trying to lose a little weight, but I am going to stop scaring myself with the thing about how I will be ill if I dont lose weight. I am going to focus on exercise as a way of increasing my healthiness, not just a way of losing weight quicker.

OK, so I am going to walk up to the allotment every day. That is about a twenty minute walk, maybe fifteen mins? and with there and back, plus an hour or so gardening.....well, it cant do me any harm can it?

The old cat had to go to the vet again today. Poor thing. He has lost loads of weight, about a quarter of his (already depleted) body weight in about four weeks. He has not been eating. But the vet is hopeful that he might perk up if he goes on a drip for a couple of days. The bloods are being analysed this morning to see if it is diabetes or kidney problems. Oh dear.

So I am off for my walk!

interesting article clovey, i agree wit you despite my weight my blood pressure and blood levels have always been good so i feel i am a healthy person. good luck with the walks each day!!

not much going on here yet, will get ready for work then all the fun begins, baseball game tonight for ds if it does not rain.

i am experimenting with new wt loss programs haven't found one i really like yet but i have been doing some reading, i am not sure i was meant to be on the beach for the rest of my life. in the time i have been experimenting i lost a few more lbs finally!! i was starting to think the scale would never move.

hope you all have a great day!!!

Good morning, Clovey, Jodi and Chicks to follow. What a strange weekend with no Message Boards! I actually got more done than usual. I think I am addicted to the Net and should swear off it for a day or two. Sure! Sure!

Clovey, your poor kitty! I hope the vet can make your him feel better soon. The quick weightloss sounds like diabetes to me - our Libbydog had it and lived another two years with insulin. Good article on health and weight. I am coming to the same conclusion. Walking and gardening ARE good exercise. Hmmmm...maybe I can move my veggie garden twenty minutes away.

Jodi, sometimes just changing the plan can result in weightloss. I think our metabolism gets stuck in a rut sometimes and needs a good shaking! However, fries are not a healthy change, I keep telling myself!

We evaluated 27 dogs on Saturday but passed only eight. Pit Bull#1 didn't even make it into the building because of aggressive behaviour towards other dogs and #2 didn't even show - probably needed for a drug deal! What a long and tiring day! I logged 5007 steps just working with these pooches and walking around the hall with them! Some real sweeties and some that were completely unsuited for therapy work. Owners just don't get it sometimes!

Yesterday was strange with no 3FC. I had a lovely nap in the morning after Church and got a few big things off my ToDo list in the afternoon. It's a rainy and miserable day today so we'll be indoors except for Hersh's trip to do treadmill. I might get my taxes done! No Kevin today because it's hard to build a patio in the rain and no Sarah for gardening either. We have a visit from a nurse this afternoon and that'll be "it" - I hope. I'm not anti-social but I do get tired of a constant parade of people around!

Omelet of an egg, 2 whites, mushrooms and zucchini is on the menu this morning. Want to join me? It's too wet for the deck but the kitchen is cozy. Help yourself!

Ohhh, Clovey. Your poor cat! I hope the vet can make him more comfortable. The walking plan sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately, my garden is literally, a "kitchen" garden.

Hi Jodi. I agree with Ruth that a change in the plan shakes up the metabolism. I wrote last week that I thought I was MSG sensitive which resulted in some changes in the diet although I have remained OP. Anyway, I've been dropping lbs. since I started eliminating some things and adding others.

Ruth, evaluating those dogs sounds fascinating; I wish I could have been there. I hear what you're saying about the parade of "company". I swear there's always someone at the door when you live in the country.

Gloomy and cold here this morning. Maybe a good day to strip the beds and catch up on some neglected corners. I missed 3FC over the weekend too; there was a real hole there...........................Jo

So busy. Glad all is well with you early risers!! Gotta get to work. I'll check in later. I lost 4 pounds this weekend, if that's any indication of how busy I was!!

Hi there Jo, Jodi, Caity and Ruth, thanks for all your good wishes for Baldrick (the cat). Still waiting to hear from the vet what she thinks is best to do.

Well, I did walk to the allotment and it only took about 12 minutes each way. I gardened for around two hours, so that must be good exercise. Quite a lot of not very strenuous writing 'courgette - yellow taxi' and 'Sunflower - Red Sun' etc on labels, but even so. And I did put out a row of peas and that involved creating a complicated thing out of chicken wire and bamboo, so that was more exercisey. But I feel great for using my feet instead of my car, and feel resolved to do it at least once a day through the next six months. In high summer I will do it morning and evening for the watering routine.

The thing with gyms is that I get bored bored bored, and I resent all the sweaty men huffing and puffing on the machines next to me, and the huge bank of TVs churning out endless mindless drivel (rantrantrantrantrant). But this commitment to outdoors exercise might just do it. We will see.

Have just been invited to France for a long weekend and cant decide whether to go. As I get older more and more of my friends are buying little houses in France (cheap, rural, good idea), and I keep getting invites. Dont know whether to accept this one. Not such a bad problem to have is it??

By the way Jodi, I agree that a change can be as good as a rest on Diet Highway. Personally I really like the Beach, and it makes me feel great to be on a healthy version of it (ie cutting out the Splenda (yuk), red meat and eggs and putting in extra lentils, beans, and blueberries). But there are times when I need to shake it around a bit to get the scale heading south.

xx

Had a super long post and it disappeared, so I am just going to write a shortish post.

I am on day 8 now and doing allright. I have almost lost my cravings for sugars I think, but I will stay on phase 1 until the 14 days are up.

I signed my life away on Friday night by signing my mortgage... I am starting to feel like a grown-up I am still not moving until July 16th and I am getting antsy... We have soooo much to do though before the move.

Anyhoo have a good day!

Ali

I just wanted to check in with everybody. I fell off the wagon this weekend. I had been pretty religious about the SBD for weeks but my weight loss had really stalled. I am back with it again today. Perhaps this little break will cause it to work better again.

Unlike some of you, I don't feel particularly healthy and I am sure my weight has a lot to do with it. I have chronic back pain and not as much energy as I should have. A few pounds less has got to help that!

Anyway, I can't tell you how nice it was to log in and see all of you chicks here again! I did try over the weekend when they were moving the server -- really made me realize how much I appreciate all of you!

SoCalLady: My family is plagued with health problems that are exacerbated by weight (diabetes and high blood pressure and Gall Bladder problems), and I know my blood pressure has gone down since losing weight, so for me losing weight is important to my health (I have reactive hypoglycemia which is technically a pre-diabetic condition). When my mom lost weight she noticed a huge improvement in her back pains etc. My energy levels went up loads too.

Take care!

Ali

Hi chicks sorry it has been awhile but what a STRESSFUL week I had last week. Started off with someone trying to sabtouge (?) my business. Then I had all this crap to do for school as well as my little dancers....... as well as doing my taxes.... ( that is my own fault leaving things to the last minute.) Then to top things off TOM is only a day or two away I have had PMS to bad that I could rip off someones face as well as being so bloaded if I was poked with a pin I would blow up. So forgive me for not being around and needless to say I have been stress eating like mad. I will check in again later I need to get the kids cleaned up they are finishing lunch and I have to get the two little ones down for a sleep the it will be movie time for the older ones.

I left the beach for the forest on Sunday. I'm back on plan today, but its been hard.

Just a quick hi and bye.......got a cortisone injection in my shoulder for a chronic problem and it still hurts a bit from that. Hope everyone had a great Monday!