Good morning sunshine!

Well, today I am back at work after having from April 21st off on annual leave. A whole 10 days off work including the weekends. It felt like such a long drive into work this morning - I was so bored! It takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to drive to and from work. I think I might get a language tape and make use of the time. Would like to brush up on my french. Oui! I think I will!

Anyway, today is the first day of my new workout program. Tonight is 45 mins cardio and weights for back, shoulders and chest. As it is getting darker earlier I think I may leave work a little bit earlier and get the walk in first and then I can do the weights afterwards. I am a bit paranoid about walking the streets at night - bit silly really.

OH is away for work this week. I think he flys out tonight and then gets back on Thursday night, so 3 nights away. As selfish as it sounds, I look forward to the quiet time with just me and the dogs. The dogs love it as it means they can sleep in the bed with me

Maja - How is the job! I hope you got in some sleep over the weekend.

Stephie - Did you see my plan I put up? Be interested in your thoughts I hope you are feeling better and your work went well on Sunday.

Sushi - What state are you in at the moment? I swear it was about 5 degrees this morning here in Perth and you should have seen to poor doggies little faces when I put them outside as I left for work. Not happy they like their creature comforts.

Teahoney - How is your ankle? I hope you feel better since you last updated us

Stephanie - Where are you? I am getting worried about you girl. Give us an update on the job, etc.

ETA - I just realised I didn't have breakfast this morning completely forgot.

I really slacked off towards the second part of the month resulting in just making my goal if i end up going to the gym tonight. I guess i can blame it on my new work schedule but in reality it didn't get in the way. So BOO to me.

My results for the month of April 2006:

Total * Cardio 790/800 + Miles 40/40 | Flexibilty 300/300 | Strength 435/400 | Water 76/100

Total * Minutes 1525/1500

Anyone else at the last stages of sculpting on here? I'm stuck.

Daisy Boo - I did get some sleep in but i also went out every night and didn't get home till about 2-5 am! I did notice how tired i got though. It's a weird change.

Hello Ladies

The week is not starting good... I wanted to get up early, but couldn't wake up till 10 am... bummer. It sucks when Monday is like that. I ended up feeling tired most of the day and hardly doing anything productive. Well, I did do laundry, and got in touch with the other employment agency and the booked me for a preliminary interview for Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed please please please that they have a job that I can get very very fast!

I also lasted 30 minutes on the stationary bike, went for a 50 min. walk with the dog, and went to my 1.5 hr Ashtanga Yoga class after a very very long break (the last time was in mid-March).
I'm not counting walking towards my exercise goal, as it's just too easy and doesn't require any effort from me really - I love going for long walks. So I'm posting 120 minutes on the 20,000 Minutes in May thread, and it's the first post, and I'm shy... ops:

By the way, where is the April exercise challenge thread gone... I can't seem to find it...

Daisy, I'm in Vic. I don't think it's been that chilly here just yet... but I'm finding it hard to get used to it being just 14-15 degrees during the day. Right now I'm sitting in a top, track jacket AND a fleece, and I'm still cold...

Maja , even though you feel you slacked towards the end of April, you still met your goal, and that IS important and impressive. Be proud. I do know how you feel, but do give yourself credit.

Sushi Penguin - Good job on the 120 minutes for the first day already! I wish you luck at the job interview on wednesday. I stickied the April Fitness Challenge again, I'm sorry, I didn't know it went all the way to the second page already.

Hi everyone,

Oof I am tired this morning. I had a fun weekend but drank a little too much. Isn't that always how it goes? My old roommate moved out Friday so I moved everything I own across the house Saturday, hauled furniture, cleaned my new bathroom, etc. Sunday bad weather was predicted so instead of the river party my friend just had a party at her place, the highlight being a game of bocci ball that we decided to take out of her yard and go around the neighborhood with. My knees are aching a bit despite (still) no impact cardio. I still haven't seen the trainer at the gym - she's never there when I'm there. I only made 924 minutes of exercise in April. Doh. I wish there was a pool I could use - anywhere - in the whole county - but there's not. At least my play will keep me busy this week, we open Thursday night. I think I'll go to yoga this afternoon.

Daisy, wanting to have time for yourself is not selfish. Congrats on not smoking for 3 weeks. You are doing great! Keep it up!

Maja, you did great with your exercise in April! Don't be so hard on yourself, look at everything you've accomplished.

Sushi, good luck with the job search.

isn't it great when the new month starts on a monday? i had a good weekend. i worked out again on friday and saturday. i took off yesterday because i was sore and worked out the rest of the week (also, i didn't want to walk to the gym in the rain).

friday my bf had the day off so we ran errands (farmer's market!). last thursday i picked up a vegetarian brochure just for the heck of it and for recipes and well, i haven't been eating meat for over a week. honestly, since my bf is a carnivoire and so is my family, i thought it would be hard, but it's not. the hardest part is cooking the meat that we already have for him. i feel so much better. in general i feel so much lighter, and i won't go into details, but you can imagine. i will continue to eat fish and drink dairy and eat eggs (mabye eventually i'll cut out them out), but i haven't even eaten fish yet. i think it's really helping with my diet because i while normally we'd have meat, a starch and veggies, i now have the starch, then i have two servings of veggies.

so yay to new beginnings. my biggest challenge this week will be tuesday at the baseball game (i see beer and peanuts in my future), and saturday my sister and my bf and i are going shopping (about two hours away). they both have been craving fried chicken, so i see mashed potatoes and coleslaw in my future. i'll try not to be too much of a pain with my eating so i may pack some snacks.

i posted my goals and this month i will attack them. i probably made last months, but i didn't do a great job of recording. i'm better with my posting and tracking recently.

hi guys
i'm glad to hear that so many people had great weekends i did too..i went to nyc with my brother to visit my cousin, and it was super fun. i ate a ton of food i wouldnt normally eat (pizza, mexican, ice cream) but i actually ended up losing a pound and half over the weekend from all the walking! it was fun and made me miss being home..i can't wait to be there!! after seeing those wonderful numbers on the scale this morning, i have been even more determined than usual to make this a good week. i only have a few weeks before summer, but then again i only have a few pounds left to lose!

daisy, great job on not smoking. you make it seem so easy!! you are definitely an inspiration

megan, i kind of like those monday when you wake up tired because of so much fun!

chicago, i love making vegetarian recipes but i find it hard to find good protein sources. are you using anything non-traditional? i would love some new ideas!!

Hello All!

I'm kind of just going to start this month in hopes that I can continue on working out at least six times a week. I did pretty good in April, I made 1400 minutes, the most I've done ever, so that's a good thing.

I'm looking forward to a great month. It's going to have to be, because it's almost bikini season. I think that is pretty good motivation.

Everyone Happy May Day! Have a great day/week!

Well I was about 200 mins short of my goal for last month *pout* but I am so proud of myself for a. getting that far and b. keeping track of it. Usually I punk out of the challenging because I forget to log my workouts and just generally get lost. This weekend did not go so well for me workout wise. I was going on a run and my puppy cut up his paws pretty bad. Had to come home and did not have the heart to leave him so ended up staying around the house with him. He is a bandaged up and cannot be left alone or he will chew them off. We are getting him a cone today so life will be back to normal. Today I have to work, then need to get a run in as well as my new strength program. TOM is just about done and I am happy to see 3 lbs gone...and relieved they were just water.

daisy - I did see your plan, I think it looks great, hard but great lol.

maja - Hun you just started a new job, don't be so hard on yourself at least you hit your goal unlike slacker me lol.

sushi - good luck with your interview on weds, I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

megan - I have never played bocci ball, what does it entail?

chicago poster - you just gotta bring your strong willpower with you to that baseball game and to shopping. Just try to think of the big picture...short term indulgence is so not worth sacrificing your long term success.

miss michelle - Its so refreshing to see someone who is like ' I ate a little too much this weekend, but I worked it off.' too many times we see posts of people just going downhill because they ate *gasp* ice cream lol, glad to hear about your loss.

spill - Oh yeah I know all about bikini season, I am right there with ya sista!

Well after 2 days in a Uhaul truck, very little sleep, and two consecutive days of packing and unpacking, I'm back in the US. I can already tell that being back with my dad and stepmom is going to be tough in more ways than one.... first thing to be hit is the diet. For breakfast they routinely have danishes or sticky rolls, and there's actually nothing else in the house. They don't seem to eat lunch, and the only snacks are cashews. There are currently two brown bananas on the counter. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I'm going to have to change quite a few things around here... Gotta get this weight off!!

Still haven't heard about the job I'm supposed to be returning to. Have to continue making myself known over there, calling and generally being annoying. My boss has already filled out the paperwork which says "Jaime is who I want to work with me." Now it's in the hands of the HR woman, and she seems to be working on everything but my personnel action file. Grrr. I really need to start working!

And my fiance goes away tomorrow afternoon, back to Brazil. At least it's only for 3.5 months, instead of 18 like we thought it might be. We're going to plan a small (10-15 people) wedding in the fall out in the country... it will be very pretty. We can't afford much more and it's just a bad time for planning anything elaborate.

So summer should be a little stressful.... I'm just going to try to concentrate on doing what's best for me and my body and work towards getting healthy!

I feel so out of it right now.

I got back last Tuesday night but basically all week I slept. Then this weekend was husband stuff. He had some practices for his jetski race and mechanic stuff. Fun fun. The worst part was I just could NOT get back into the swing of things as far as diet and exercise. I worked out a couple times but today was my first cardio since I've been back. And the food was horrible. Yesterday I ate probably 800 calories in various forms of chocolate. Today I threw it all out except a chocolate guinea pig my sister had specially made for me. Soooo the eating and exercise are finally back under control. Now to set up some goals and get involved here again. I missed you all!

Daisy, whenever my husband leaves I get really lonely the first day or two but as soon as I start to enjoy it he's home again. So take it from me and enjoy the WHOLE thing. Husband's need to take longer trips.

spill, don't remind me. I can't get away from bikinis living at the beach!

Oh, Daisy Boo, your avatar makes me want to move! Haha... I'm back and finally things are looking better. I'm trying to accept that I'm in control of my own personal happiness and well-being. So, I'm hoping I'll be able to look after myself a little better. I'm starting the Slim in 6 program, and thats exciting. I've done the workouts every now and then, and I always really "feel" them. Its almost SUMMER! I was not anticipating it earlier, but now I can't wait! Thanks for all your kind words guys! I really appreciated it! You guys in this group are just so incredible. You all inspire me!

it was so hard to get out of bed this morning. i was actually 30 mins late for work. its been weird but the past few nights i have had a lot of trouble getting to sleep. tossing and turning, my mind still wide awake. hopefully once i get some exercise going it will exhaust me enough to get some proper sleep.

i didn't end up getting the exercise in. i stayed later at work and got home after dark. i ended up sitting down and trying to design my back garden. sounds like i might be able to get it ready for spring planting from what OH has said. i can't wait. will definately have to take some before and afters of that.

the one thing i really need to work on, apart from getting in more exercise, is not snacking after dinner. i will have dinner around 7.00pm and then maybe an hour later have a low cal hot chocolate - and that should be it! but then around 10.00pm i get hungry (or bored perhaps) and have cheese and biscuits. i have to conquer this emotional eating.

tonight will be a gut busting workout - i can feel it in my bones

britomart - danish pastries are my weakness. sounds like heaps of changes are in store at your parents. you can do it! be strong and stick to your guns! a small fall wedding sounds lovely - i would pick that over a big showy wedding anyday.

stephie - you did fantastic with your workouts in April - i was very impressed. sorry to hear about your puppy. i hope he recovers soon. those elizabethan collars look horrible, but at least he can't get to his feet.

spillthebeans - 1400 minutes is huge! i only hope one day i will be doing that much in a month.

missmichelle - thanks for the encouragement. i had a dream the other night that i had a cigarette and when i woke up i felt so guilty - like i felt i really had one and regretted it. thankfully it was only a dream i feel good, but still get a little narky when stressed or pushed to far. just taking it one day at a time . . .

chicagoposter - well done with the vegetarianism. i hear you on the bf carnivore - mine is too. i hadn't had a steak in about 10 years before we started seeing each other. just a word of advice - keep an eye on your iron levels as it is very easy to become anaemic without that red meat in your diet. lots of leafy greens and perhaps a supplement wouldn't go astray. i have started thinking about cutting more meat out of my diet.

megan - i learnt bocci at christmas. just a little bit addictive, i must say!

sushi - well done on a great start to May. well the leaves are officially falling now so we are definately into winter. mmmm, i love winter. as a point of motivation i am going to remind myself that over a period of may to september i lost 20kg in 2000. i will do it again and then some!

maja - you made your goal and that is fantastic. things get in the way - that's life. but the fact that you still made your goal is a great achievement.

where is heather and stephanie?

isn't she a hottie! i put that picture in my little oroton key wallet and have been looking at it constantly as a reminder of what is possible.

so glad to see you back

Another month hopefully I will do much better this month. It seems like I totally got lost somewhere in the middle. Next month is my sons's b-day party and I would like to be in the 180's. I'm going to work extra hard to pay attention to my eating and excercise.

Going to start visiting more often I notice it makes a world of difference.