Today I went to the ortho and got a cortizone shot in my painful lower back. Am hoping it will do the trick.

I had asked my family doctor if I could take some nsaids (I take an old one, Daypro) She said no... not so close to surgery. When the surgery nurse called today to get more info... I told her how I wished I could have used the Daypro. She said I could have taken up to two days before the surgery. Grrrrr That would have nipped this back pain in the bud...so to speak. It's frustrating. Hopefully, the shot will help.

I've been struggling with my food. It's hard for me when I am feeling pain or very stressed out. I'll keep trying.


thanks for your support & wisdom and caring. I'll post again before my gallbladder surgery on Wed. morning.
__________________

Beverly, you are kind of my hero for even *thinking* about sticking with your plan through all the stress and pain you're dealing with. You are a strong, strong woman. I hope your back feels a little better today and that the surgery isn't weighing too heavily.

I weighed in at 209 this morning for the third day in a row. I bought some bananas this week, which I NEVER eat because carbs are scary, and I'm wondering if they're stalling my weight loss. Will skip the banana for my afternoon snack and have some almonds instead and we'll see tomorrow morning.

I'm on day 20 of my Whole 30 challenge and it's still going fine, other than the fact that I'm not losing a whole lot of weight. I know it'll come, it's just that patience isn't my strong suit. Also if I can just get down to 208 that will mark 10 pounds lost and for some reason that seems arbitrarily important to me.

Then there's the fact that I'm going to Florida next month with my family, and while I know I won't miraculously be able to fit into all my cute, smaller spring clothes, I'd like to feel comfortable chasing my niece and nephew around all day, at least. I'll be staying with my parents part of the time and dieting at their house can be kind of a nightmare, but hopefully my well-meaning but clueless dad won't try to insist on sushi and pizza every night. (Though I might make an exception for the sushi. It's honestly the best sushi I've ever had, and sushi's my very favorite food.)

Beverly, you are one amazingly strong woman. Thoughts of staying OP would not be on my radar screen if I were in your shoes. Hugs to you, I hope your back pain subsides and Wednesday's surgery is relatively uneventful aside from the great outcome.

Caroline, I've been feeling the same way about bananas lately. I love them, but are they evil?

I stayed OP yesterday, but today is a struggle. I have conjunctivitis and it appears I'm allergic to the eye drops. I'm crabby and uncomfortable and trying very hard not to soothe myself with comfort food. I'm going to try to go for a walk while I wait for my appointment time to roll around.

Monday
Coffee
Oatmeal

Salad with cilantro, black beans and roasted corn
Popcorn

Parm crusted chicken
Mashed potatoes
Green beans
Baked Apple with granola. (yup, it was fantastic!)

I hope everyone has a great day today.

Weigh in 215.5

B: coffee, egg+egg sub, pumpkin, clementines
L: WW tortilla boca burger, tomato, spinach, banana
D: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, blueberries
E: circuit, zumba

Just keeping my head down, walking into the wind.

BBL for personals

Good afternoon ladies!!!

Whew, what a morning...lemme get to personals!

To everyone~ Thanks for all the 'woo hoos' on the working out! I knew you'd understand me having to post that major victory! Thanks so much!

Penguin~ Ah shoot...I wonder if RedBox has it? We ditched Netflix a long time ago, we'd end up having the movies forever and not watch them or something crazy like that. There's no way hubs would go for a vegetarian diet--ever. He's a carnivore. We don't eat a lot of red meat at home other than ground beef in spaghetti so he's already used to our main source of protein coming from chicken. I need to branch out though. I'd love more fish but there's few that I like and I'm not the best cook ever...I have a limited menu which I need to change up! Was just at Target last night and didn't see Sun Crystals, I'll check Meijer when I'm there next. I hate those skinny instructors who've never been my weight too--Denise Austin is #1 on my all time Loathe List. Ugh! I just want to beat her with the DVD case! LOL Of course I love the instructors in my DVDs now--Hunky guys and girls who don't wear make up or look super cute in adorable workout outfits. Just super strong, fit people working the heck out and sweatin' just as much as me. Of course they're way better at it, but Tony (the main guy) just says, "It may not be pretty, but keep at it! I don't care what you look like, if you lose balance or can't keep up, I just want you to do your best and KEEP MOVING!" which makes me want to kiss him a little.

Mandy~ I love, love, love H&H and hope she starts posting again soon! I miss her! Enjoy your wonderful dinner tonight! I'll be living vicariously through you if that's okay.

Mahtha~ Man, I dunno if I could work out to a mean Wii game. I wonder if you can adjust how harsh the Mii trainer is? Press 1. for ultra tough and insulting Press 2. for moderately harsh and less insulting Press 3. for a half hearted attempt at keeping you motivated Press 4. for a giant warm hug

thistoo~ $12 for a SALAD? For the love of Peter, Paul and Mary! Holy cow...that's nutty! I see H&H stuff all over the web, references, pics, phrases...she's quite comical and I believe she's writing a book too. I'll definitely be getting it...if it's ever available. Hang in there with the weight loss--you'll hit that 10 lb mark! I'm the same way with hitting a new decade--once I do that I'll really feel like I'm making progress, it's silly but that's me I guess. Are you eating enough calories? You know I had to ask.

JustWant2~ I scored some lemon yogurt last night--the last one too--and I thought of you. It was Target brand so I hope it's yummy. Is it wrong that my mouth is watering after reading your post and that I just ate? LOL You have a menu that's way more varied than mine--I gotta step it up!

BeverlyJoy~ Aww, I'm so sorry your back hurts so bad! I hope that the shot helps with that. Do take it easy after your surgery too and keep us posted on how it goes! Sending you lots of quick recovery vibes! Don't beat yourself up too much about the food, just try to focus on feeling better and know that we're here cheering you on!

DixC~ WTG on the loss!!!

Well ladies, as I sit here typing I am very happy that my fingers are still able to function normally without pain...because every other part of me is so SORE!! I'm pretty sure I'm gunna have to take some Motrin or something before bed so I can move when I wake up tomorrow. HAHA! I worked out AGAIN today! Woot! Today was cardio and it wasn't quite as horrifying as yesterday's workout. I do need some new shoes desperately, and to move my workouts down to the basement. Working out on carpet stinks! Unfortunately that means I need to clean the basement and move the dvd player down there and I'm sooooorrrrrre and don't wanna even look at the stairs let alone go down them. LOL Perhaps the hubs can do it for me?

Had a busy morning today! I got my workout in as soon as the kids left so that I could hop in the shower and run to the girls' kindergarten class for their Valentine's party. Holy cow was that crazy! One of the moms brought in tons of delish looking cupcakes--OMYum!! Thankfully I was waaaaay too busy making hats with 5 year olds to even consider it. Good thing too because they were HUGE and chocolate and homemade...MMMMM! So yeah, that was my morning. I'm kind of glad I had to help out, I think that I'll just workout out when the kids leave and that way I'm not trying to drag myself out of bed before dawn like I used to. Yay!

Well, I've rambled on long enough and I need to email my mom so I will say goodbye for now. I hope you ladies are having a wonderful day and that you're drinking your water like good girls! See ya later!!

HAPPY GIRL!

i decided to do my weigh in today since hubby and i are eating heavy stuff tonight and i will probably have a major bump on the scale in the morning, and i get to chart another 3.1 pound loss for the week! yay! my favorite part of weight loss. the very beginning (or a restart after a little while off plan)... when the weight falls off like leaves in an autumn breeze. that puts me at 6.2 pounds in 2 weeks. wheee!

gotta go finish dinner prep now, but i had to share!

Tues Feb 14 Happy Valentines Day!
B= 1 c cereal, 1c strawberries, 1/2 c milk, vits
L= salad {feta, olives, carrots, red onion, dressing}
S= apple + PB
D= stir-fry { rice, veggies pineapple}
S= choc cupcake
S= chips and bean dip
E= 40min cardio, 10min UB, 5min stretch

Hubby brought in 2 cupcakes after dinner! Which probably means I ate back more cals than I burned off!

iDream, I actually got my start in DVDs with Denise, I rented a beginner VHS from the library of hers for several months in a row, then bought a DVD of hers. I did it for a few months then found a exercise forum devoted to workout DVD's and found other workouts to try. Now several years later I still have that first DVD, but I agree Denise can get on my nerves quickly but she's very good when you are just starting out and failed PE. We've been talking about adding more veggies to our diet for years so this took some time to develop, more than just watching the movie. I"ve been eating high protein/low carb for a while so this is a radical change for me. but basically I've tried everything else, lol. P90X? What do you think of Core Syn?

Beverly, I hope the cortizone shot works for you. Take care of yourself!

Guess what? ONE day without a banana and I'm down over a pound. My body is so crazy. The scale said 207.8 this morning. I'm officially down ten pounds!

So no more bananas for me, but I don't even really like bananas, so that's okay. I was just trying to push my calories up to keep up with my fitness plan. Though I am wondering if I've been sleeping so much more lately because I'm losing weight; last night I went to sleep at 9:30 and slept straight through until 5:30. I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning, and seeing that I dropped a pound overnight makes me wonder if I was tired because of the actual weight loss. You actually lose the weight while you're sleeping, right? I think I read that somewhere, though I have no idea where. (I should have stayed in bed! Maybe I'd be down another half pound!)

I have no idea. My brain is just as weird as my body. I don't really understand science, but it's sort of fascinating nonetheless.

I spent yesterday craving chocolate, probably in part due to the amount of candy being passed around work yesterday. But I only have ten days to go on this challenge, and I'm not going to blow it just for some chocolate.

iDream, I do P90X too. Tony and I have a close, personal relationship after two years of faithful workouts. You'd think I'd be a lot thinner! Truth is I only kept up with the strength training part during my regain, though, and I attribute it to a) not gaining more and b) not looking as heavy as I am. At least I didn't lose all my muscle tone.

Plus Tony's from Rhode Island like me so I love him even more.

Penguin, my sister damaged her back pretty badly with the Core Synergistics workout and refuses to do it anymore, but that's one of my favorites. It's hard, but it works. I hope your cupcake last night was delicious! I have been dreaming about cupcakes as well as chocolate since I've been PMSing, so I will live vicariously through you.

BeverlyJoy, keeping you in my thoughts today and hoping for a speedy recovery from your surgery.

Everyone else have a great Wednesday! I'm on brat patrol tonight while my sister and her husband take my step-nephew to see Shrek: The Musical, but as soon as I get the little ones in bed I'll get in a good workout on her spin bike while I watch Idol on their big screen. (They have a movie theater in their basement. I am the official Poor Relation.)

That's enough out of me. I'm already late for work, but I'm kind of nauseous this morning so I'm waiting for it to pass before I get in the shower and make it worse. I really need to learn not to take my multivitamin on an empty stomach.

Good morning ladies!!!

Mandy~ WOO HOO!! HTG girl!! Congrats on the loss! Hey, send your Autumn breeze my way would ya?

Penguin~ Oh I totally agree with her being very motivational--especially to a beginner. She just kinda just makes me want to punch her in her ever perky face sometimes. Core Syn is crazy. That's the first workout in the Leans program and it makes you wonder what the heck you've gotten yourself into. As I mentioned yesterday--it was a train wreck. I like the workouts though, one thing you can say is--you never get sick of doing them because they're anything but boring. Today I get to do shoulders & arms and...dun, dun, dun...Ab Ripper X...YIKES! Even when I actually had abs that was a killer workout, I can't even imagine how ugly it's going to get today!

thistoo~ Congrats on the drop! Wow, who would have thought that a little ol' banana would cause you so much grief? As for losing while you sleep...it seems that way but I dunno if it's really that way, could be, but if it is--then I got jipped last night! I went to bed at 7:30--no joke--slept through until 5:30, woke up when hubs' alarm went off and went back to sleep until 6:45 and was UP .8 lbs when I weighed this morning! Not fair I say! Not fair!! Grrr

Well, as I just metioned, I'm up .8 today and for no good reason too. Heck, after cardio yesterday I KNOW I didn't go over my cals yesterday and I'm not sure what happened but I'm irked. It could be the bowl of soup I had for dinner...lots of sodium and I retain water like a camel! A month ago I would have just said, 'forget it, I quit!' but no...I must stay focused and keep eating right and exercising even though it'll probably kill me today...Abs today among other things...ACK!!

Our dear friends will be here tomorrow afternoon--heaven help me to stay on track! Thankfully my friend is dieting too so there won't be too much temptation I hope...although she's also promised to bring pomegranite (did I spell that right?!) martinis with her...uh oh...must limit myself to one lone night of drinking and acting silly...just one! Alcohol is not much of a temptation for me, unless it's with my bffs and it's yummy , other than that I rarely touch the stuff anymore.

Well, best get on with my workout! Tony honey, here I come...try not to kill me k? It's been a long time since my abs have seen the light of day and we don't want to terrify them right out the gate k?

Have a fantastic day ladies and be sure to Drink Your Water!!!!!

Good morning everyone!

I got my new scale and feel like I'm starting over again. Up a little, but the scale? Water? Those damn bananas? Carbs in general? I haven't maxed my points on any day, let alone gone over.

Yes, that! I'm not ready to throw my hands up (OK, I'm secretly hoping for one of those crazy, outta nowhere losses by Monday since I have been a verrrryy good girl.)

Must. stay. on. track. Magic fairies seem to be otherwise engaged.

Beverlyjoy, prayers for a speedy recovery after today's surgery.

Mandy, DixC, and thistoo congrats on your losses!

Tuesday:
Coffee/lowfat milk
fruit salad

veggies
pasta
shrimp

beef/musgroom gravy
mashed
wax beans

Have a great day, everyone!

I'm alive!! In total awe of my fomer self who could do 50 mason twists at the end of Ab Ripper X as I struggled to do even 15 of them, but I did my best and I'll pat myself on the back for that.

mahtha~ Hang in there girlie!! You CAN and WILL do it! Scales be darned, you WILL DO THIS!!

Okay, workouts were longer than I thought they'd be (or hoped? LOL) so I gotta jet and get the girlie Qs!! Have a great girls!

BeverlyJoy~ Mahtha's post reminded me--here's to a quick recovery! Be sure to take it easy hun! We'll be thinking about you!

Okay, peace out chicas! Drink Your Water!!!!

Hello everyone!

BeverlyJoy, keeping you in my thoughts and prayers

For some reason I have been wanting to eat more for the past couple of days. I just keep reminding myself of all the reasons that I want to lose weight. Monday and Tuesday I allowed myself some additional calories. Just a couple of hundred, enough to slow weight loss but not enough to gain weight. I think allowing myself those additional calories have actually made staying on plan more difficult. I am thinking about food that I did not even consider last week. I gave myself an inch and now I want to take a mile, Time to take myself in hand and stick 100% to my plan!

That happens to me every time I let myself go off plan. It's amazing how slippery that slope can be for some of us! Good luck taking yourself in hand; I have faith that you can do it!

I need to do the rest of the laundry today. Its overcast again. I'm planning some cardio and LB .

Dad's Bday is tomorrow so I invited my parents over to the house Saturday to make dinner for them. At Christmas Dad was talking about a meal that his mom used to make called Pasta Fazul, which he had seen in a cooking demo on TV recently so I found a recipe and am making that.

Caroline and iDream, what drives me crazy about Core Syn is that the more you do it the harder it gets so I felt like I was never improving, which got discouraging. I did the X several years ago but subbed in other cardio, I knew that much of Tony would drive me nuts.

iDream, S&A was my favorite. I keep saying I'm going to pull out the weight workouts some day and just do a week of those but I never do. I did the Lean rotation but didn't like it very much. If I ever do the whole thing again {not likely} I'd do the Classic or a 'halvsies' Double. I did Ab Ripper once then subbed in other workouts also.

Caroline, since I switched to the 'plant strong' diet I've been dreaming about veggies, I can't say that's ever happened before. This is the week of TOM and I realized usually I'm walking around screaming I NEED CHOCOLATE but not this week. I can't see how the plants are responsible for that? I was never good at science and I don't pay much attention to it and everyones conflicting opinions. Great job on your 10lbs!

Time2lose, what is it about us that we just keep demanding more? Are our bodies trying to work against us? When will it end! Good job sticking to the plan.

Mahtha, I hear you. Its like our bodies are hooked up to a random program that changes every day. Even if we have two perfect days, it seems like we'll get two different results. One good one bad.

Motivation on a hanger:

I bought a hot pink dress at lunchtime! I have two weddings to go to in May. I tried this dress on before (in boring black), but it was a little snug. Today, I found it more than half off and I have 90 days to return it if it's too big when the weddings roll around