Judy awesome on your loss. I love sales and will try to fit in a couple this weekend. With all my camping lately I haven't hit as many sales as normal. Last weekend I bought some lovely outfits for my grandaughters and a couple of shirts for the little guy with tags still on them. Yes thats the way to pick up reasonable stuff and hardly used the kids in the area I frequently sale have more than they ever need if you know what I mean. Well you keep up the good work on your diet and exercise. Tired is so right that is great news and something to be really proud of you deserved a special treat!
Tired sorry to hear your guy was sick. I think its something going around. As I was at a site yesterday and the little boys mom had to pick him up with a 101 fever. We all don't need any of that no do we? Good to hear you are feeling better too! Get back on your feet quick! Green Tea helps with everything sip a cup and think of all the good things in life. You will feel better!
Marie hope your doing well and keeping up with all your projects and changes.
Today I have to go to the dentist I chipped a tooth eating corn. Go figure! Well I was just at the dentist the day before that chipped. Lucky enough they got me right in. I really like this guy. I spoke to my son in Hawaii last night. The gas there is 4.00 a gallon. He said it cost 75.00 to fill his work truck. Boy things are costly. We talked about cutting out cost other ways. Less driving when possible and grocery cost. Buying sale items etc. He has lots of fruit trees in his yard. The mangos, tangerines etc. are just about ripe. I said that would be fun just to go out and pick them. Bill wishes he could send some but there are lots of regulations. Their flowers are beautiful but to send them you can't just do it they have to also come from a special place to enforce the shipping laws.
Well I am off to work. Yesterday my calories were a bit up as I purchased lunch with the girls. Not that I do that often. But I had a 58 chevy. It is a club sandwich I did throw out some of the bread and wiped some of the mayo off. But all in all its more cals than I needed. Today I will work on making good choices again.
Have a great day everyone!

Carol, sorry about the chipped tooth. At least the dentist got you in really fast. I would love to go out to my yard and pick fresh fruits. I can do that with strawberries but I'm sick of those.

Tired, sorry your son was sick. I hope he feels better.

Judy the jazz festival sounds like fun even though you went alone. And congrats on all the weight loss, you are doing so fantastic.

Today is the last day of the prednisone. Thank goodness. It has really warped my mental well being. I'm irritable and apathetic about everything. I'm not sure it's worth easy breathing to be so grumpy. I think it would be more worth it if I felt all the way better. I'm still down in my peak flows but I never want to be on the steroids again.

I had yesterday off and we went across the mountain to costco and lowes. Now we're broke. Oh, well. Nothing new there. We did go out to Olive Garden and that was tasty. I had Chicken Parmesan and no dessert. It counted as lunch and dinner so the calories were fine.

Well, that's about it. I'm too blah to write much more. Talk to you later.

Just a quick hi to say thanks for all the pats on the back! I'm feeling pretty good. Didn't have time to walk this AM, had an early meeting, but I've been EPP and heading to Curves in a few minutes. I think I veered a bit this weekend because I'm in such an eating rut--and I do ove to eat!--so I'm trying to remember to change things up a little. I didn't have time to make the salad with left-over grilled salmon that I planned to bring for lunch, so I packed the salmon and lots of frozen Asian veggies, and my coworkers were envious. Who knew!

Marie, I hope the blahs are almost gone! Have you had energy for any of your creative arts?

Carol, it's so nice to have a dentist you like, isn't it?

More later--judy

Hi Judy, way to go on getting right back on track. We're both going to make our Christmas goals with room to spare. The blahs have lifted a bit. I refused to take the last dose of prednisone because I was so miserable. The asthma is okay but not good. I've only used the abuterol twice today. Once because of an attack and once because I was bound and determined to exercise.=, so I used it first. And I did exercise - I rode the exercycle. I didn't push it at all, heartrate stayed about mid to upper 90's, so that the asthma wouldn't be too bothered. But I feel better having exercised.

I plan to work on either stained glass or knitting tonight. I don't want to vegetate like I have the last few nights. I recorded 2 shows for nocturnal viewing (I'm still not sleeping). One is House, which I like. The other is Bones, and I think it's based on a series of books by Kathy Reichs so hopefully I will like it.

Work was okay - the blahs had me most of the day but I started to perk up after 2:00 (conveniently it was when I took an Excedrine (with caffeine)). Hopefully I didn't bark at too many people today. I swear I work with some idiots.

Well, that's about it. I will chat with you all later.

Hello everyone! Well I am in a great mood this morning because I got out the white square and was down a lb. . I just got rid of Tom he is such a pain. Well I figured out afterwards just think if you hadn't eaten this or that you could of lost more. Well a loss is a loss and this girls not complaining. Maybe its the start of some movement. I have been trying to reduce my intake not a lot but some. Most days I make it. I think having variety in foods makes a world of difference. Judy you also had mentioned something similar. I think it helps us not to be bored. If we try there are alot of tasty things with lower cals etc. and with some creativity wow! It can make a world of difference. Lately for lunch I have enjoyed some veggies steamed in the mico. w/ garlic powder, ground pepper and my laughing cow cheese. It ends up tasting like veggie parm. and seems to meet my needs. I just take fresh veggies broc, carrots pre cooked, red pepper, caul. and any others on hand. Put a little water and garlic powder, pepper dash of salt mic. for 4 min. put my laughing cow on and its lunch. I add a piece of fruit and I am set to go. Check it out girls it might be a quick lunch or dinner for you when your in a hurry. I only get a half an hour lunch. The dental appt. went well no shot just fixed it and out I went.
Tired hope your feeling better.
Marie we will continue to work on the christmas goal. We will all be hitting our deadline if we continue to work hard at it. I think routines and new habits will make the world of difference. After doing things for awhile they become more natural to us. Your trying so hard with your health issues and new lifestyle keep up the effort it will pay off. I also love chicken parm. its a real favorite.
Judy keep making those lovely lunches. My coworkers call me Martha I am not sure these days how that sounds? But she has always had a way in the kitchen and house doing good things. I try to eat healthy at work so many of them eat junk food and its easy to get into that stuff when they have it. My cals were up yesterday as a friend bought some popcorn and it was like 180 cals a serving. Well needless to say the stressful day didn't help and my hand kind of fell into the bag two times! At least I knew enough to stop at that.
Well gotta go I have an all day conference at the Holiday Inn. Wellness At Work not this should be interesting huh???????????????????????????????????? 8 HRS WORTH!

Hi all. Good to hear that everyone is doing well.

Good eating day:
kashi bar for breakfast
salad for lunch with orange
pasta broccoli and low cal choc. bar for dinner
total cals: 1500 or less
lots of water

Take care.

Good Morning! Just checking in to get myself off to a great start. I hope everyone has a wonderful day.

Hello everyone! At my conference yesterday they tapped into overall health food etc. It was interesting enough I guess but I really didn't learn much just confirmed what I already knew. But we are suppose to eat 2 1/2 cups of veggies a day, 2 cups of fruit. That is part of the new pyrmaid. She also mentioned eat less move more well yah!At any rate she was about 105 soaking wet. sBut she did have some good info..... They also had a great speaker on stress and reduction. He had some interesting points.
Humor is something he said we all need lots of as it is a big stress reducer. So if your stressed get some comedy in your life. Interesting day!
I didn't do to bad for calories at the conference we had no breakfast other than a sm. apple. I ate a good lunch w/salad veggies, chicken br. passed the desserts and had fresh pineapple, melon. But I went to the casino for crab legs last night oh so good! My friend is having surgery on friday so we were out for a fun evening. I won a 45.00 and the dinner was free so we had a good evening. I had a piece of blueberry pie but only ate the fruit part. My friend laughed and I said gotta make choices!
Well hope you all have a great day. I just packed my lunch mozz.,,tomatoes, peppers and salad dressing, croutons, apple. Going out for dinner again on friday so I need to do a bit of preplanning here. She did mention to find wiggle time in your schedule for exercise. And exercise should be what ever you will enjoy walking, biking etc... no set thing, start finding 10 min. at least a day then inc. it as you go along.

Hi, all--

Forgot to check in earlier, and I have dash off to a meeting in a minute. But I wanted to say hey, Carol, Marie, Tired...Leslie, Alipea, Roll and other MIA, hope you're doing well.

Yesterday and today were both good. Not enough exercise, though. Will go to Curves later tonight, and do the long walk in the morning if the rain holds off.

Keep it going--judy

Judy I need to exercise more also. I just need to get it in that crazy schedule. Work has been crazy this week and I am ready for a break. Lots of reports all due and training for 8 hrs. just killed me. I am making some head way though and should be caught up today to at least a normal basis. This has been nuts! The full moon I think had something to do with it lots of extra issues to deal with and 24 peoples lifes plus my own families wow! The pressure is on! Sounds like your doing well keep it up!
Tired , Marie , Leslie and Skinny Butt are you all out there? Hope your doing fine!
Hey something different for lunch yesterday. I took crispy little cukes and cut them in spears and wrapped pepper turkey around them. I though they were quite good and no starch. I try to keep a lot of variety in my diet so I don't get bored. My friends are visiting from Florida and we are all going out for dinner tonight. So I am trying my best to preplan my meals. Breakfast = bagel w/ff c.c. / coffee blk.
snack= apple 80
lunch= cukes, tomatoes, mozz., peppers w/ plain yogurt, cuke , garlic dip.
Snack= apple 80
Dinner out

Hi all. Just checking in. I've been doing fairly well - not as good as I should - just have to keep my mind on the goal which is 150 by next June. I'll shoot for 165 by the holidays that's about 15lbs. Here goes. . .

Take care. I'll check in again tomorrow.

The snail continues to inch along the trail...this morning the scale said 227.5, which was really motivating. So now I'm 5-6 lbs away from my Columbus Day goal of 222--it's neither too ambitious nor too easy, which is the best type of challenge for me. After so many stutter-steps and side-steps since the spring, it's a relief to have real momentum.

I'm a little nervous about the Pilates class, which starts Monday evening. I stopped by the facility last Monday evening, to see what it was like. It's a community center, so there's lots of kids and adults playing baseball, basketball, field hockey, etc. I'm 47 years old, but I felt just like I felt back in junior high school--fat and out of place. But that's how I felt when I first started going to gyms for adults a few years ago, I got over it, more or less. I can do the same thing here. I have to remind myself that everyone is too busy doing what they came to do to spend time judging other people, particularly ones who are heading off to separate rooms for classes. It's amazing to me how ingrained this stuff is, decades later.

Carol, I like your recipes! It reminds to look at the threads where creative people like you post interesting ideas to keep your taste buds happy, so you don't feel deprived or angry because you're just not enjoying your food. I just can't stick with a program that makes you eat stuff you don't like. Most mornings I have a fried egg for breakfast--yes, fried in a little butter. I almost never eat deep-fried anything, and I'm generally making low-fat choices, but I don't like eggs fried with Pam, and I refuse to eat foods I don't like. So far, so good....

Hey, Tired, I'll glad to hear that you're doing 'fairly well.' One of those diet guys promotes the 80/20 plan, which says if you stay on program at least 80% of the time, you'll lose weight. No one can be perfect all the time! So if most of your choices most days are good, you'll keep moving ahead on the journey.

Today I'm going to Curves. I'm not really having breakfast first, just some kefir, so I can treat myself with a salad from Chipotle after the workout. Then I'll stop by the library, and go grocery shopping. I have more purging to do in my home office this weekend, and some volunteer stuff to catch up on. I hope you all have a great weekend.

judy

Morning all, it's good to read everyone has been doing pretty good. Judy, I know that feeling of feeling fat and out of place. I don't think it ever really goes away as we age. It a big reason to lose weight. You're doing so great so just keep telling yourself that. The pilates class will be fun. Enjoy the salad for lunch.

Tired, glad that you're doing okay.

Carol, I'm glad your crazy week is over. Did you have fun going out to dinner? I admit when I go out - it's so seldom - that I don't worry too much about healthy choices. I like what Judy said about 80/20. I strive for 95/5 with that 5 being times of going out and really having something I enjoy and wouldn't make at home.

I had a bad week and didn't feel like posting. Work was irritating but overall I was just cranky. This morning is better and since I don't have to go to work, I think it'll be a good day. I did start exercising on Wednesday again. The asthma is still no good, but it is better. I thought that would improve my mood, but it didn't. I think I should have lost weight considering how much I didn't want to exercise. Instead, I think last Sunday's number on the mean scale was just a fluke. So after weighing a few times this week at 192, I moved the slider back up this morning. I guess I'm pretty stuck there since I've been there for a couple weeks (except the 190 last Sunday). I think the scale has made me a little cranky but mostly it has been work and my kids. DS2 decided to not go to college until he goes to basic training in January. Instead he took a job in construction so he can earn $$$. I don't think he has a clue how hard he'll have to work to get those $$$. He's 5-6" and 120 pounds. He's totally clueless. I let our benefits dept know that he won't be a fulltime student so he's getting cancelled off the medical/dental insurance. So now he'll have to pay for that. So much for the extra $$$ - I told him he has to buy med insurance and that we won't pay a cent of it or medical costs. Dumb boy...

DS1's GF listened to me when I asked that they ask for a week extension on staying in the house that they're renting. The room isn't done - it will be this coming week - and she called and got the extension. DS1 said no, it wasn't possible. Another dumb boy. Just where did he think he was going to put all his stuff??? At least GF thinks about more than just herself. DH was quite relieved they weren't moving in this weekend. He's going to sand the walls today and then spray the texture tomorrow. Then we can paint the ceiling and walls. Then we can put the laminate flooring down and voila, it'll be done. I will be happy when that's the case. Oh, DS1's GF also asked if they should get a storage locker - I said yes if all their stuff won't fit in the room. As I said, she thinks about more than herself. DS1 just figured he could store all the extra stuff he has throughout my house.

Break to chat with DS2... Just had a good conversation with DS2. It's the first good one in a while. I actually said something positive about his choice of new jobs. He's currently working for an inconsiderate employer (they have him working till midnight on Fridays and then at 8:00 on Saturday mornings) and I said that it'll be nice that he'll have a regular schedule with his new job. I think he was shocked that I said something nice about his choice. We talked about what to do for his birthday on Tuesday. We decided that we'll go out to Applebees and have DH meet us there (DH hubby works swings so he'll just have to take a long dinner break). We'll invite DS1 and GF but I don't think they'll be able to make it. So at least he has DH and I instead of just me. So my baby will be 19. I'm sure getting old.

Eating wise, I'm doing good. No reason for a 2 pound gain since Sunday, but I think I was dehydrated on Sunday from drinking tea all day on Saturday (since tea is a diuretic). Exercise wise, I've exercised for 3 days in a row and DH said that we will take the puppies for a mountain hike this morning. We haven't gone in 2 weeks because of the asthma (the mountain is so dusty since we haven't had rain in 3 months). But yesterday it rained a little, enough to make the dust level a little less so I'm excited to go out. I'll use the abuterol before we go.

That's about enough since I rambled for so long. I will check back later.
Marie

Hi all. Judy, I know how you feel about the gym. It's been a while since I've been and I've gained, so I'm hesitant to go. It's the only way we'll lose though and like you said, people are more concerned with their own plans than looking at a 40 something like me.

Marie - you sure are busy! I can't believe all that you and your DH have done in the past month.

My clothes are tight, but my schedule and class are conducive to weight loss so there's no excuses. I'm feeling good too so here goes. I've got to lose the weight I gained at least so that I can fit into all last fall and winter's clothes. The next size in the store (yes I thought about buying new) are too big.

Off to see "Constant Gardener" tonight. Judy, I'll let you know what I think. Take care. - M

Girls girls now don't let anyone ever stop you from feeling comfortable at the gym. You have every right to be there too. I did have a time when I felt uncomfortable going and so I started with something simple that I knew I could do. Then watched the ones who had been going for awhile and picked up ideas from them. There all so into their self at the gym they hardly know anyone else is there. Are you kidding me they flex in the mirror check their muscles. I say ignore the world around you go in and do your own thing before you know it you'll be comfortable. Maybe if time allows you could get there during a slow time so you would kind of feel the place out. But like I said don't let your feeling even know their very real stop you from going. Your both wonderful people and your not asking anyone to be your best friend in fact I find their all into themselves that they hardly know anyone else exist. Put yourself into your own world and mind set and go do it!!! I would love to go with you for support. Let me know how it goes. Remember your worth every little change you make in your lifestyle.
The visit with our friends from Florida was fun. We ate out on Fri. I had what I wanted no dessert though. Then saturday I had lunch out with them again but I had cuban blk. spicy bean soup in a bread bowl. I didn't eat all the bread but it was great. Then for dinner I made a pita sliced in half w/ a thin ham, onion slice, provolne cheese, tomatoe slice, garlic powder, pepper baked in the 350 oven for 20 min. Oh so good. Next time I will use whole wheat pita. The store didn't have the sale kind I used onion pita. Check it out easy and good! Yes I do love to cook and my friends call me Martha I hope not in every way! Sunday we got together for a picnic and to say good bye. We had a nice time. I did good not over eatting and I did have some portions just to have a taste of potatoe and mac. salad. But it was my lunch and dinner. So overall not a bad weekend of eatting but added some extras in but in moderation. I hope to see my scale move again this week now that would be nice. I am going off to buy some new sneakers after work tonight, and taking my gym clothes so I might start my jumping back into the gym thing. I really would like to start going in the a.m. again. So we'll see depends on my day today. Work has been so stressful lately. I have a lot of extras going on with a client and my heart gets in the way sometimes making my life more stressful. I guess thats why I got into this field was to try to make a difference but the system is tough and rules aren't always set in a friendly way to help people. Oh well gotta go to work sorry for venting so loudly.......
Tired you hand in there I know you are going to get down there! I set a mini goal to lose 5lbs. by Thanksgiving. I can look at it a bit easier when its smaller amts. to reach at first. Then I would love to take off 4.5 more by christmas. We'll see if I reach it! It took me a year to keep off my 10. But if I lose this amt. I will of reached my goal and just need to maintain.
Marie you have a very busy lifestyle that must help you burn some calories for sure. I also went through the ins. thing he can get his own ins. but it will be based on his income. I am not sure the name of the program. But it might not be in your area?
Judy have you tried poached eggs? Thats my favorite but not runny, and with dry dark rye toast. Then I dip my egg in. Oh so good. I gotta go have breakfast have a super day.