Everyone seems to be doing well. I really like these short term goals. I am also looking forward to reaching my end of summer goal

I am focusing on exerscise this week. I am stepping up what I require of myself. My goal will be to do 20 crunches 4 days this week and to walk 6 times. This means I will probably have to walk more than once some days. I plan to walk at least 20 minutes, not much I know but it's better than nothing.

I am editing this at about 6:40 am on Monday. I got up at 5 and walked 45 minutes this morning. I decided to break out the old pedometer, I used it when I was doing my best, maybe it will get me back on track. I got 4,000 steps in my walk this morning. Seems like alot, I wonder if this thing works LOL. I also did my 20 crunches. I am thinking that in order to increase how many I do I might try to do 20 in the am, 20 at nap time and 20 before bed. For right now if I get in the extra 40 I'll feel proud of myself, but if I only make 20 four days this week I will be pleased.

I weighed in at 5 this morning...my weight was the same. Yesterday was a BAD BAD BAD eating day. I made rice krispie treats under the pretense that I was making them for the kids to eat for snack this week. Yeah right, DH and I ate the ENTIRE pan. Then we went to my inlaws for hamburgers on the grill and s'mores. The weekends kill me! As does this atitude I have about getting back on track on Monday. If I eat poorly on Wednesday I think I've screwed up the whole week, and tell myself oh well I'll start over on Monday and I eat my way through the rest of the week. I need to gain control of that.

Well I have a few emails to catch up on before the kids get up. Hav ea greta day everyone. I am looking forward to a new week

~misty

Good Morning all!! I survived the weekend and now i get to start another week. I did really good with my water but went a bit over with food, but not horribly. I am ready to get back down to business and write down my food and keep up with the water. One of my daughters is graduating from Kindergarten this Wednesday, so that mean a reception afterward and that means desserts. I will do my best to be good (or at least save up enough points to have a bit of fun!!) Have a great week and I will check back soon.

Hey there Tish Ann you must have posted at the same time I did lol. Congrats to your daughter! Time flies doesn't it?

Today I bought fit day software. I had told myself no more money spent on weight loss books, dvd's memberships and stuff. But I think it was worth the money. I walked at 5 am, did 20 crunches and an upper body routine. Then during the kids' nap I did a 30 minute trouble spot toning dvd. After dinner I was about 400 step short of 10,000 so I took a quick brisk walk to get those last few steps in. So I am at 10,596 so far. It was a good day. I ate well and feel satisfied. I might have a cup of decaf coffee or tea after my daughetr goe sto bed to wind down. Then I am planning on walking again at 5 tomarrow.

Been kind of quiet aroudn here, how is everyone else doing?

Well have a good one!

I know I'm joining the week late, but I guess it's better late than not at all. I've decided that weekly goals are probably the only way I am going to get through this. ((I'm very scared!!))

This week I will not drink any soda. Regularly, I can drink about 4-5 diet sodas a day. This completely replaces my water intake. For the last two weeks, I have been cutting back on soda with the end goal of cutting it out completely. I will drink at least 128 oz of water daily.

In addition to my no soda/water instead goal, I would like to start keeping a food journal so that I can document everything that I am taking in. I know that I should have done this right away, but I was just too embarrassed to start. I didn't want to know what I was eating. Now I want to be able to identify where I'm slipping up and be held accountable for it.

My final goal for the week is to go out for a walk at least three times. I've been making excuses for WAY too long. Now that I have workout clothes, walking shoes, an iPod, a lot of music, a dog and live literally right next to the biggest park in the city, I have absolutely no excuse not to go out. Unless, of course, I can think of another excuse. ((I'm kidding!!))

Misty: What kind of pedometer do you use? I got one a couple weeks back from McDonald's which (obviously) was a piece of crap. I'd never considered using one before, but I'm intrigued. I like the idea of being able to identify how far that I've walked. Anyway, I want to get one, but I'm not sure how to know if it's a "good" one. Any suggestions? Good luck with those crunches. If I get in 10, I'll be proud.

Tish Ann: Congrats to your daughter! Good luck with the reception tomorrow. It's good to have things like that pop up every now and then. It makes for real-life challenges that help us to grow stronger in our journey. No matter what, Thursday is another day to shine.

Have a great week!

Hello all!

Ekka- I got my pedometer as an x-mas gift. My mother in law used one in this health program at the school she teaches at. So she bought everyone one for Christmas. I don't think it was real expensive $10-$15 maybe. It's a see through blue color by Sportline, seems to work pretty well for what I want. If you go through the whole process of measureing your steps over a given distance to calculate your stride and stuff it will track distance. I didn't do that. Steps are good enough for me, plus I know about how far I walk when I do walk. I've read and heard all over the place you should aim for 10,000 steps a day. I know you can get them with alot more bells and whistles, I guess it's like most things. My advice, start with an inexpensive but reliable low-mid range one, and if you want more bells and whistles after you know you will really use it, then upgrade.

I got up at 5 and walked again. I went abit further today. I almost slept in b/c my knee hurts. But I said...no get up and try 15 minutes. I told myslef I could quit atfer 15. I did 50. And I feel much better for it! I am debating doing a video this afternoon, my abs hurt, the toning tape I did was abs, butt and thighs. So maybe I will be happy with the walk. If it's nice I will also walk with my neighbor tonight. This time lugging two kids.

I really like fit day. I like all the charts and stuff. Even though I have only done it two days lol. I am a very visual person. While doing WW I did my own graphs and stuff in excel. This is SO much easier! Plus it fits into Dr. Phil's keys. There is a place to measure mood, so you can see trends in emotional eating, a food log and exercise log, goal setting (it gives you a warning if your goal is more than 2 pounds a week so you keep it realistic). Some of thier activities are a bit different (butchering animals..hey I know people do it, but still...) and they really could of added more walking ones or made it more customizable for speed and distance (makes some of the other activities seem a bit weird, since they only have a hadful of options for walking). But over all I am happy with it. I liek the journaling and the diary. I wish it synch in with my palm pilot (which I neve ruse anymore). My sister used balance log and she could synch it to her palm and pc so she had it on the go.

Well have a good day everyone!

Hey all! Well it is graduation day for my daughter...<sniff-sniff> I am going to try not to cry too much. This week has not started off well, but now I know why. I have had the munchies all week and have tried to eat anything that is not nailed down. TOM showed up this morning. 3 days early. But, i will do better now that that is out of the way. I have though, been keeping my water intake up. I also did do my walking DVD this morning (2 miles), so it has been okay thus far today. Great job, Misty on getting up with the chickens and walking. I am up that early, but it is only to get hubby up and off to work. Good luck on the DVD's and your new program. Well, I have 5 kids in a kiddie pool and i should probably go check on them, take care and i will write again soon.

Tish Ann-I hope graduation was nice. Great job with the walking and the water!!

Eating has been good for me this week. I did 30 crunches yesterday, but did not walk. It was rainy in the afternoon and I needed some sleep in the morning. Unfortunatley I slept again today. So I think I will try to take the kids for a walk today. I only have my two and the girl I babysit. The little boy went with his mom to NJ, the little girl stayed home with her dad. So I am thinking I will either put the girls in the stroller and back pack my son (probably the best workout and the fastest walking) or I will let the little girl walk and put my two in the stroller. She is four so she can walk a ways, just not sure how far and it will be really slow so not sure how much of a workout it will be. But my son weighs about 21-24 pounds depends on the scale and the day (don't we all know how that goes?), and back packing him and pushing a double jogging stroller with some where in the neighborhood of 70 pounds sounds liek a case of heat stroke waiting to happen LOL. Well either way I am gonna get in some exercise!

Have a great day!
~misty

It's been one heck of a week (so far)! My aunt passed away (heart attack) on Sunday morning. I don't think it really hit me at all until Tuesday when I realized that I had to go to the funeral the next day. The funeral was very nice, but also incredibly sad. My family is very close-knit, but also very spread out across the country. We don't see each other very often. When we do, it is rarely at the same time. You just don't expect things like this to happen. My aunt was an identical twin, so it is very hard to reconcile illusion that she is still alive when I see her sister. Several times at the cemetary, I thought that she was with us and realized it was instead her twin.

I don't feel like I have as much stamina as I did on Monday or maybe I have more. We'll see how the day goes. Seeing all of my beautiful cousins and second cousins really encouraged me to get my body moving for sure. I felt incredibly out of place, because they are all at a perfect weight. They were all very kind and happy to see me. They didn't treat me any differently than they did five years ago when I was 100 lbs lighter, but that didn't stop me from feeling funny. Pffft!

I purchased a pedometer online Tuesday. I hope that is as good as the article at the NPR website said it is. Apparently there are five different tiers of pedometers, ranging from absolute crap to research quality. The absolute crap ones (tiers 4 and 5) are not very accurate for anyone. The mid-range ones (tier 3) are good, but not for obese people. The others (tier 2 and 1) are good for health promotion and research grade respectively. I purchased a New Lifestyles (Yamax) Digiwalker SW-701 which calculates steps, distance and calories. It cost about $31 with shipping included. I think it will be a sound investment. However, I have to admit that I haven't been out for a walk yet this week.

No soda yet this week. I started my food journal this morning. I didn't eat much of anything for the last couple of days. The weekend is just around the corner. I'm praying that I find my bearings before that.

Tish Ann: Good job with the water intake and walking!

Misty: How did your walk with the kiddies go? Sounds like one heck of a workout no matter which way you spin it! I often wonder how mothers are overweight with the shear amount of energy they have to put into their children!!

Hello! It has been hot and miserable here in Michigan. I hate humidity!!! I have been drinking a lot of water and crystal light. upwards of 128 oz. I haven't been eating too much, i think when it is warm you just don't feel like eating, or exercising. Graduation went well, I only had one piece of cake and one scoop of ice cream. My daughter looked so adorable with her cap and gown on. It seemed like yesterday that she was just a baby. Any way... I hope, Misty, that you didn't get heat stroke schlepping around several heavy kids on your walk, talk about resistance training!!!
Ekka, I am so sorry for your loss. I know how it feels to walk around in a fog and not have a death become real for a while. I will be praying for you. I too, feel like I stand out in a crowd, I hate it. Every time i see a picture of myself i cringe, I am determined to get fit and healthy. Well, if I don't get back on here today, Have a great weekend everyone!!

Good morning all!

I tried posting yesterday but the site went down. I lucked out, the girl I watch left early. I got to walk with just my two in the stroller...WAY too hot though. We went at 11 am. It was just too miserale to be on black top. I like my 5 am better...except the 5 am part. But we went the full 2 miles. The hills were KILLING me, but I felt better for it.

So I am right on track with my goals this week! I love my new software, I don't feel as restricted as I did with WW. I was feeling so hungry on 26 points. I liked WW though b/c the numbers were so much LOWER, and for the math challenged like me it was easier. But I like the pc journaling, it does all the adding for me. But I know WW and it's hard not to think in points.

We got all our errands ran last night. But didn't get done until 9 pm, and we hadn't eaten yet. So there was no way I was taking two grumpy babies into a restraunt at 9 pm. Luckily, I had fed them chicken and fruit at 4 and got them a pretzal at the mall. So we grabbed McD's for DH and DD, after I told my husband there was no way he was feeding a two year old PIZZA in the car. But he had already grabbed 4 slices of pizza in the mall. I didn't want fast food, but I also didn't want now cold pizza. I had only eaten 3 ounces of chicken breast and 24 teddy grahams ALL DAY. So I chose the less of the two evils and ate two slices of pizza. Still leaving me well under 1,000 calories for the DAY, not good either.

Ekka-my thoughts are with you and your family. I am a very sorry for your loss. Like Tish Ann I can relate to your feelings of self consciousness in a crowd. Especially in a group of people who knew the thinner me. I am always excited to see my cousins, but as the day gets closer I start to dread it b/c another year or two has passed and I am the same fat me. And they of course are thin and beautiful. But they are always kind and in the end I enjoy thier company. When they leave I regret that I didn't relax and enjoy myself as much as I could have b/c I was so focused on my weight and thier reaction to it.

Thank you for the article! I was going to post to you that I did not recommend the pedometer I have. It's ok but, there are days like yesterday after walking the same route I always do it only registered 900 steps. I didn't expect it to work well, it was probably only $10. Like I said it's like most things you get what you pay for. I used it b/c it was free to me.

It does NOT work on my hip. I guess the reason some don't work for obese people is the extra cushioning at the hip makes it less reliable. But Dr. Phil's fittness expert said NOT to wear it on your hip, instead wear it on your sock or shoe. At least that's what my mother in law said the show said, LOL. It sounds like you got a good one though. I have seen ones that cost $100 and that to me is just silly for what I do and what I want out of it. I really hope yours works out for you. For me it's like a game, trying to get to that 10,000. A really good motivator!

I doubt if I will buy another one right now. I just spent $30 on my new software, and $187 on my new jogging stroller. My husband encourages me, but gets a bit tried of the constant weightloss "must haves" that never get used. DVD's, dumbells, TREADMILL, food, books, memberships, etc etc. So I'll put these things to good use for awhile, and then maybe as a reward I will get a better one in the future. For now, in general, it does what I need it to do.

Tish Ann, we're having the same miserable, hot, humid weather. I must say Tuesday though was very nice, it was 85 but we've had a great breeze. The rest of the week rain has threatened but only came in small amounts, which just increases the humidity. Hopefully it gets better in Michigan. At the end of the month we will be there for my family reunion and then maybe we'll go see DH's cousin. I was hoping to go to the Detroit zoo, but I doubt we'll be able to fit it in.

I am glad your daughter's graduation went well, I bet she was excited . Sounds like you did well too! GREAT JOB! You enjoyed yourself and the occasion, but sounds like you kept your goals in mind SUPER JOB!!!

Well I should get going. The dad of the girl I watch asked if he could pick her up at the same time today. I said sure, no problem and after he left I began to wonder, same time as yesterday's ealy pick up, or same time as usual.....hmmmm? LOL. So I guess I'll just have her up, dressed and fed and we'll go outside to play so then if he comes she's ready lol.

Have a great day everyone

I joined late, but so far this week I walked for 45 min on Mon, Tues and Wed. I also waitressed on Sat, Sun, and I will tonight too. I NEED to start adding strength training, so my goal is to work on my arms and my stomach 3 times a week for 45 min. I also will watch what I snack on at work.

Those are great goals Gitterdone!