I did it! Today I started the mini boot camp. Up at 4:45, on the spin bike at 5:35. And it was great! (Apart from the ab work, of course. Carla has a long way to go before she has any discernable abs...) So I think the next month will be good for me. I'll also be spinning at the new place (starting tonight, in fact).

Weigh-in was good too: down three to 193, actually just under. So if I keep it up, my Easter goal of 183 should be achievable. It's just the pesky eating part that's hard. At least with plenty of work contracts ahead and getting up early for exercise, the temptation to indulge in a glass of the grape is much weaker. I hope.

My challenge for the week: at least 30 minutes exercise or 10000 steps every day. And of course, in bed lights out by 12 midnight.

Up to 137.7 lbs this morning... ...hopefully it the salt - I had some salty foods over the last few days... So I'll weigh myself again in a few days to check. I'd hate not to meet my Valentine's goal.

My mind is still not entirely made up re: challenges for this week. No food after 7 pm and in bed with lights off by 10:30 pm of course, but I want to do more than that. Need to come up with something soon...
So far, Monday was ok with the two above, so that's a good start.

I hope everyone is doing well. What a great start of the week. Didn't do my rice diet full op but I did get an extra bellydance workout this evening.

carla for 3lbs down! You go on those goals for the week - they are awesome but definitely achievable. We know you can do it!

Sushi you are doing great - hang in there. You are going to have a great week.

I haven't weighed in yet - will do it in the a.m. Good luck to everyone with their weigh-in's.

Hello Ladies
Two days of no food after 7 pm and getting to sleep by 10:30 pm behind me. Tonight I'm going out with a couple of friends from work, and we're going to eat out. My challenge will be to keep the food reasonable.
The scale was a bit better today, but still not good... I don't know what happened.

The good news is that I met my running goal last evening - I ran to the end of the dirt road and all the way back in 17.5 min, and a bit more to round it up to 20 min. That was about 3 kms, and I'm proud of myself. Moreover, I got to the end by 8.5 min, which is a minute less than I've been doing the past few days, so I ran at a quite good speed!
Today I was up at 6:35 am and went for a 13.5 min run - Day 8 of my running challenge. So that's going good. But I must do more to get those pounds back off, and I'm out of ideas for some reason... which is really stupid!

Well, no trouble meeting my bedtime goal last night! After the am boot camp and an hour spinning at 6pm, it's amazing I didn't fall asleep on the couch. I think in future I won't do both on the same day... Not so good on the exercise today. I had a nasty headache all day, and used that as an excuse to do zip. But as of tomorrow it's work, work, work, and I should meet the goals easily. (Famous last words...)

Mscat, I've seen belly dancing, and it's quite a workout. Maybe you should weigh in right after a session and before you rehydrate...

Bonnie,where are you? Firmly in onederland, I hope?

Evening all! It has been a phenominal day. I had a great day at work taking care of a problem that has been looming over me for the last two months. Went to my Toastmasters meeting and hosted another Landmark Forum introduction and we had 50% enrollment! Best of all I had a STI moment during the meeting - I served meatballs, wingdings, and my favorite Hawiaan sweet rolls. I stuck to my diet and ate grapes!

I didn't lose any weight (didn't gain though so it's back to phase I for me - the rice, rice by-products and fruit stage. DD is doing it with me and she stayed OP today as well. I also got in a 25 :treadmill: workout at 6:00 this morning.

Sushi for two days meeting your goals!

carla for Monday's goal! I agree with you on the bellydance workout -the one I teach on Monday is pretty lightweight compared to the two hour workout with my instructor. She works the class for an hour with isometrics followed by an hour of bellydancing!

Have a great evening everyone! Where are you Bonnie, pebbles, Selina, Fishwoman, aicre?

Yes, exactly, where is is everyone else? We miss you!

Night out was fun! I had some Spanish food, two small chocolate fudges from this one store where they make them by hand or something, really really good and, unfortunately, a chocolate slushy, which I could have gone without. But overall it wasn't bad, there was no food after 7:15 pm or so, and I was in bed on time!

This morning I was thinking that I'm so used now to going to bed by 10:30 pm that it's not really a challenge anymore... I'm tired by 10 pm at the latest, fall asleep fast and sleep well. No food after 7 pm is quite fine too - I just need to be conscious of what I'm doing. So I really really need something more, something new, some bigger challenge. Still thinking of what it could be though...

We are missing so many this week???? If you are out there - please check in and let us know you are ok.

Great day - really pushed the envelope with the diet until . . .late this evening. I had a grueling workout with bellydance class (our instructor is trying to make us into contortionists!). When I got home I was starving so I fixed myself an outstanding fruit smoothie. Unfortunately, I think the strenuous workout made my body cry out for some protein (That's my story and I am sticking to it!). So DD and I each had a small piece of rotissiere chicken with the skin removed! I was actually elated. Who da thunk the day would come when I would feel that a piece of skinless rotissiere chicken would satisfy me as a "cheat." We are definetly breaking our addiction to food which is one of the things this phase is supposed to accomplish.

The scale also moved today!!! but I am reserving changing my ticker until next weigh in day.

Sushi - good for you - isn't great when are challenges become ways of healthy living for us. I am looking forward to the day I can go to bed by 10:00!

Have a fantastic Thursday!

Alright, I've got STI moment to report! Instead of sitting on the bed reading or whaterver, I tried some stability ball exercises! I enjoyed them, so I'm going to challenge myself to do them every day.

Mscat, don't worry about the chicken even if it wasn't part of the diet menu. Like you said, it satisfied you, and that's a much healthier cheat/treat than anything else!

Tuesday, in bed and asleep before midnight (which isn't that big a challenge right now. Yawn.) No discernable exercise - woke up with a crashing headache that stayed with me much of the day. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it...)

Wednesday, up at the crack for a slightly less enjoyable boot camp, in bed by 11, lights out. Finished work early so spent much of the afternoon resting. But a good day eating according to the diet doctor rules which I had been ignoring...

I realized yesterday that over the past 4 - 6 weeks I've gained and lost enough pounds to have gotten exactly nowhere. So I've "put on my big girl panties" and have decided to try to eat acording to the rules for the month of boot camp. Since I know life will intervene, I'm allowing myself one "free" day per week, and I know that if I eat that way and keep up the exercise, I'll drop a few pounds. At boot camp there are mirrors on some of the walls, and seeing my bulk is both discouraging and motivating. Somehow I don't "feel" as big as I am, and the truth hurts.

Sushi, choosing a stability ball over reading on the bed? Sounds to me like a victim of the body snatchers. Somewhere in your apartment there's a pod with the real Sushi inside mainlining chocolate and sushi rolls, staying up late and lolling on the bed in front of the TV. No, wait - that's ME in that pod!

Mscat, what do you suppose has happened to the rest of our small but valiant crew? Maybe problems posting since the move? I know some people on other threads are still having difficulties. Oh well, they'll get here when they get here. I just hope nothing dire is keeping them away!

Tonight after work, spin class again. And I'm kicking myself for not opting for the 6 am class, since my internal clock (and my hungry cats) had me awake at 5. I'd already have finished my exercise for the day!

Time to get some bfast and then creak off to work. Ouch.

Wooohooo!!!
Insanity has been stopped and results have been seen!!!

I've been doing great with bed time and no food after 7 pm all week, and I've been sleeping great - I now fall asleep very fast (something I'v always had trouble with) and sleep well. Today (Saturday) I was awake and rested before 7 am! But frankly speaking, this has only been easy because of my current life style and schedule. I'm living a very structured and quite stress free life at the moment - no pressures, no deadlines, no school AND work, just a full-time job I can forget about when I'm not in the office. It'll surely get much harder in a few months, or even sooner.

I've been doing the stability ball exercises for 3 days now, and I'm loving them! Yesterday I stayed home with a sore throat (can't do a call centre job with a sore throat! ), and I got LOTS of exercise in. I'm also going to do "midriff moves" as my weekly challenge from now on - they're really tough, but really effective. Basically, it's 3 minutes of three types of crunches and you can really feel them! In addition to all that I've got my running (15.5 min this morning!!!) and I'm starting a new 21-day challenge and making it tough. I've been feeling very motivated the past couple of days, as you can see! And I'm happy to report that it's already paying off!

Carla, you must have something wrong there! The last time Sushi sat in front of the TV for more than 5 minutes and not during breakfast was... umm.... when? Can't even remember... No time for TV and to be honest, I don't really enjoy it, never have. I grew up without a TV and only have access to one now because of my living arrangements.

Anyhow, off to update my exercise diary. I shall copy it into our weekly thread at the end of the month and then you'll see, haha!

Take care Ladies

Again yesterday, got my exercise in (a one hour evening spin class). I was also in bed lights out by 11, but had trouble getting to sleep. Maybe the afternoon naps?

This morning, day 3 of 12 boot camp sessions. It was great, much better than last time, with variations on the tougher ab and arm exercises so I could at least partly do them. I seem to remember that abs strengthen pretty quickly, and hope that's true even at my age. I'm even getting used to the early wake-up, which fits in nicely with and reinforces my present wine ban. Next week I may opt for spin classes in the early morn on Tues and Thurs instead of evening, just to have a consistent wake-up time all week. And for now, I have the weekend with no exercise classes - except, of course, for getting my 10,000 steps in. But I'm in a long stretch of work, no more half days in there, so may find it hard to maintain this rhythm.

Gotta go - coffee with my buddy who's going away for 2 weeks starting tonight. Sniff. I'll be lonely. Maybe a nice desseet to drown my sorrows...

I ended up going to bed late on Saturday. I was watching the Olympics - I had never seen the opening ceremonies, and this time around I had the opportunity. Still, I didn't last till the end!
Saturday and Sunday went good, only today I might have had too much food - certainly more than over the last few days. I didn't overeat, but ate more than I usually do (and I don't eat much). Hopefully that won't affect the scale. My boyfriend wanted to have a nice dinner together, so I made a chicken/seafood/broccoli Thai red curry.

Good night for now, I'll be back tomorrow to post my challenges for next week.

Sorry everyone I've just been very busy this week...This should be my last week of managing two stores so hoping my life will get back to normal but I do need to go in today on my day off to help catch up on some stuff......I've been doing good this week...eating great no cheat days and only missed 2 days of exercise all month...can't wait for weigh-in tomorrow...

everyone seems to being doin great...I will check back in later today..

again sorry I've been gone