Penny, that is too funny. I can just picture all of you hiding the peach pie.
Judy, the post from the young man was great. I always know when I fall off the wagon (not just trip a bit) the first couple days are the worst. Once I'm past the first day, day two is easier, day three even more so and on.
Today was day 2 since the wagon drove over me and it is better. I'm a little hungry but that's ok. It's not a bad feeling.
Judy, I envy your cherry blossoms. I still have snow in my yard (the northern sides that are shaded). But this afternoon I sat outside on my swing in the sun (yes with sunscreen and it was after 5:00). Blizzie and I sat swinging for about 40 minutes. It was beautiful out. Nothing like overlooking my pool - ok it would be better if the big black winter tarp wasn't covering it). A beautiful hummingbird visited too.
Well, that's my night check in. I'm going to try to check in the evenings to say if I won that day. I'll probably check in the mornings at work. Why not?
Today has been a good day. I woke up a little late, feeling tired and creaky, but I'm pleased that I took 25 minutes to do a little Cardio Salsa, which perked me up and worked the kinks out. I'm eating on program today, so I'm pleased. I'll put in more exercise time this evening. Thursday morning I need to be at the office very early, so no AM workout tomorrow.
Penny, nothing is sadder to me than a bad dessert . At least you hadn't had your hopes up! When I was a kid we had a neighbor who was so generous, but her food was disgusting. Mom always smiled and made her pack it to go, then we'd toss it in the garbage after speculating on how she managed to ruin every dish she touched.
Marie, you'd like it here today. It's in the 50s but very bright and sunny, a great day to sit on the swing with a lovely doggie. I like thinking about "winning" a day, I'm going to definitely use that. I've been doing that in my log around going off program in the evenings. The next morning I look forward to writing "Stopped" to show that after dinner and maybe a thoughtful snack, I didn't go back for more. I was conveniently not writing down the extra evening food, even when I was good about noting everything else..."oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive" ourselves!
I made a commitment on stickk dot com (yes, two 'k's), to get down to 210.5 before Memorial Day (today I'm at 218.5). A email buddy from another thread has agreed to hold me accountable, and my mom has signed on as a supporter. The site gives you the option to pay a fine if you don't meet your goal, but I don't think I need that motivation. Check out the website, it's very cool.
I have so much work to do, I can't bear it and I'm going home! Take care.
Hope everyone is doing well today! I'm on program, except for too much sampling at Whole Foods while running lunch-time errands. I got up early enough to do 30 minutes of cardio, much to my surprise. Oatmeal and a hard-boiled egg for b'fast; half an apple, string cheese and a few nuts later; afore-mentioned free nibbles; and large bowl of tofu-veggie soup for a late lunch.
Marie, I hope that your seat on the wagon feels even more comfortable today. I won my battle yesterday, no nibbling after my dessert of an orange and a single block of dark chocolate. The chocolate was 1/3 of a serving, so about 65 calories.
Marie - Glad to hear you've managed to jump back on the wagon. I'm still chasing after it but hope to hop on soon! Your garden swing sounds relaxing, I'll have to look into getting one for our new patio. You'll be swimming laps before too long. Let's hope it warms up soon.
Judy - I'll check out the website you mentioned, I need all the motivation I can get. Don't worry about the Whole Foods samples - I heard that samples don't contain any calories
I just got home from helping organize a multi-family yard sale fund raiser being held tomorrow at a friend's house. I'm so pooped out and will have to be on duty most of tomorrow too . We have so much stuff, so I'm hoping we'll make mucho bucks. I took in two car loads of stuff from our place - mostly things our son didn't take with him. I got a bit teary giving away some of his sports stuff and fishing gear as they brought back lots of memories of when he was little. He wasn't attached to any of it, so we figured why not get rid of it and make some more space. I'm sure whoever buys it will make good memories with it too.
Eating hasn't been too good the last couple of days with my busy schedule and the stress of trying to fill jobs where people cancel at the last minute. That's one of my pet peeves when people commit to something and make some last minute excuse - causing the usual core group of a few "worker bees" to do most of the hard work. Guess I'm just grouchy from not getting much sleep the past few nights. I'm really looking forward to a low key weekend.
Hi all, things are going very good. I won yesterday and today. I can count today even though we haven't had dinner. Basically I win if I can get past the morning munchies and immediately after work. So day 4 was pretty easy. All and all, I think my seat on the wagon is getting my big butt's imprint. Perhaps the butt will finally shrink again.
Penny, I bet both Judy and I can understand the irritation of the core worker bees doing the work. That always happens at work. "Ooooo let's do this..." becomes "Oooo you do this..." So share your frustrations. Just don't let the frustrations lead to a bigger butt.
Judy, I love sunny and 50's and cherry blossoms. I think that's the only thing I miss from living in Virginia. Oh and that fun Virginia Beach - an ocean that you can swim in unlike the one a few hours from my house. Good for you on the orange and 65 cal chocolate. I've been surprised how inexpensive oranges are (calorie wise as for low cal foods I could care less about the $$$). They take so long to eat and they are so yummy.
So today I swam. No, not in my beloved pool. KFalls has a public/park pool that has lap swimming (and open) for $4 a time. It's geothermal heated to 84 degrees and I decided 2X a week to go until my pool is swim-able again. I did 30 lengths in a pool a little less than 2X my pool. So I did pretty good. I have the weakest chicken wings (aka arms). First length I could feel them. I just calculated the distance and it was .42 miles. I think I'll figure ou how many extra lengths to get to .5 mile for next week. Anyway, it was sunny and 60 degrees and the pool was warm. It was quite wonderful. I also doggie walked this morning. And staying on track food-wise, I'd say this was a good day.
Hi all, just a quick check-in. Day 5 was just fine. I won against the food enticer. I walked the doggies this morning, had a busy day at work. Co-worker got me a skinny sugar-free mocha from starbucks and that was yummy. I think I'll probably go skiing tomorrow morning even though I have to go by myself. DH has to work.
I hope everyone else is doing great and is still on the wagon, cruising along easily.
Marie
Hi everyone (or in the case lately just a couple of us). Things are good. I went skiing today by myself and dd 15 runs - a bit more than normal but I could just ski up to the lift and go. And I was in a speed demon mood so I was going a bit fast. good thing I wear a helmet. Now I'm BBQing a turkey outside (and it snowed for the first 2 hours - started after I'd started the brickets). Day 6 is going great calorie wise. Even skiing I haven't gone over. Yeah!!!
Marie
Marie - Good for you doing all that skiing. Are your new boots working out well? Your bbq turkey sounds delish and you'll probably get several good meals and sandwiches, etc. out of it. Sounds like you are firmly back on the wagon again. Today was better for me too and I'm looking for ways to trim more calories, for instance having 1/2 slice of toast with breakfast and saving the other half for a snack later. I'm also going to cut out my daily latte as that adds another 100 cals., plus any cookie I may be tempted to have along with it. Also, I'm eating a lot more lower carb veggies.
Judy - I hope you're having a nice weekend.
Today I put my winter coat on and went to Home Depot to get some spring flowers. Everyone in line was rugged up like it was mid-winter. The high was 45 deg. today but it was really windy so it felt more like 35 deg. I placed the new flowers on my new flower bed and dashed back inside to avoid the downpour. I'll have to wait to plant them till the weather clears up (if ever, it seems). We made $750 on our garage sale, so all the hard work was worthwhile. We put up my 10'X10' tent as it was pouring with rain. People still came in droves, though, which was good.
Sorry, ladies, something happened to Friday afternoon's post, and with so few of us, it's noticable! I'm having a good weekend, feeling very strong and focused, and winning every day.
Penny, your sale was awesome! Good luck with tweaking your program. You will be blossoming along with your new flowers soon! Seems like you should be able to have a whole slice of toast, at least. How about compromising and buying more thinly sliced bread?
Marie, you're kickin' butt as well. Your energy level sounds really high. I would love to have a little outdoor space again, I'd rush right out and buy a grill! I had one years ago, when I had access to a deck, and loved grilling steaks and seafood.
Yesterday I pulled out a video I haven't done in ages, Pilates for Dummies. There's things I absolutely can not do, like side planks, but it's good to push different muscles from time to time. I did my yoga video this morning, and really enjoyed it. For a while I was doing it sometime in the evening, but that sorta fell off. But once again I'll try to find room for it in the rotation; cardio and weights will still be the priority.
It's been a rainy weekend here. Yesterday I ruthlessly sorted through my clothes. A few size 22 pants still fit well, but most of my pants are 20s now, and one is an 18! I tried on some very nice slacks at the mall yesterday, size 18, and they were a bit snug but not a bad fit. I'm going back with my discount coupon this afternoon to buy them. I would be delighted if I'm "mostly" an 18 by the fall--that hasn't been true since...so long ago I can't remember when. My hips and thighs are very resistant to change .
I'm venturing out in the rain later to scope out an apartment. I think this coming week will be a bit edgy at the office, which I'm trying to see as an "opportunity" to work on my grounding and meditation skills.
Judy, an apartment??? I thought you were house hunting. You made me chucke with "so few of us". I was beginning to think I had a daily journal not a forum. I'm glad you both posted. Great job on the 18 and 20's. You have come so far. Make sure that apartment has outdoor space for the BBQ. There's nothing better (so few dishes to clean up...).
Penny, great job on the garage sale. I did one once and it was miserable. Now I donate everything to goodwill and take the tax deduction. I'm a believer in smaller portions to lose weight. Most "diet" foods taste like garbage and aren't worth my calorie budget. So I get 1/2 slice of bread. I get Judy's point as well with the thinner ones. Just remember if you do that that the topping is still a full one (unless you go dry). I like the toppings best.
I'm trying to decide what to do for exercise today. I didn't feel like driving 80 miles to go skiing so I stayed home. I was going to doggie walk but now it's sleeting out. So maybe I'll do like Judy and pull an old exercise video out. Hmm, I don't know. Vege-ing sounds so good too.
Day 7 is going good. It's 11:25 and I've had 325 cals so far. That's pretty good. I so much want to lose the fat again. Finally I feel like I really want it again. I hope nothing derails me. I get off track so easily.
Well, time to decide what to do for the day. I was streaming Dancing with the Stars and watching both episodes from this past week. I love watching dancing. This is the first season I've watched and I'd love to know how to do it. But my DH has 10 left feet and hates dancing.
Hmm, what to do... Maybe work on my website??? I just don't know.
Marie
Oy, I'm having a real Monday-like Monday! I overslept by a lot this morning, and I've felt behind all day. But I was determined to work out anyway, which I did, for 45 minutes. No problem staying on program--protein shake for b'fast, 1/2 apple and lox for AM snack, big salad for lunch--and I will have my afternoon snack late, because I'm going to a reception after work and don't want to nosh. My plan is to only stay long enough to be polite, and to bypass the alcohol, since I'd like to get a short workout in this evening.
Marie, I'm interested in buying a "home" but probably not a house, more likely a condo or a coop. The place I saw was okay, and relatively cheap for DC ($225k for a small one-bedroom apartment in an old building!).
Today I'm going to change my official weight under my avatar: 216.5 lbs, and counting. I will give myself a dancing carrot when I reach 215, a number I've snuck up on twice this year but never quite reach. Resistance is futile, as we say on Star Trek!
Penny, I hope you're relaxing after your big weekend. Oh, I agree with Marie, diet options are rarely worth eating. I figured out that one of my favorite things about some foods is the condiment or spread, and sometimes a taste of really good jam or BBQ sauce will take away my hankering for a big ol' scone or a slab of ribs.
Judy - I hope your house (or condo) hunting goes well and that you find the perfect place at a good price. Way to go on the smaller pants . You're doing great! I decided to eat my usual piece of toast for breakfast and will cut out my morning snack instead as I'm generally not all that hungry before lunch.
Marie - I also don't like "diet" foods, like low cal bread, etc. I couldn't give up my yummy sprouted 20 grain bread. I didn't realize you went so far to go skiing - you must really love it.
I'm starting to record my food on my on-line log again. It really doesn't take too long as I have just about every food combo and meal type entered by now. I've always managed to lose when recording everything. I figured I could get by without doing it, but it seems I really need to record everything to keep on track.
I checked the board earlier today and no one had posted. I was quite happy to see you two had visited. My Monday wasn't bad. Not fun, but I'm getting our Student Info Systems ready for merging this summer. We have 11 separate databases that schools have had their own free rein on - doing their won thing. We're going to a district database (my doing, I admit) and so I have to start making all the fields the same for the conversion. So for the next 2 months, I won't be having loads of fun. But it'll be worth it, especially for me in the long run.
I doggie walked this morning and listened to a book by Tami Hoag. I've never listened/read her books, but a long time ago, in the internet infancy, she and I were on a message board on Prodigy. I write novels and I was on that board. Actually I write manuscripts as I have no desire to be published. I've finished about 12 manuscripts and haven't written in years. Part of the reason I bought my Macbook was that I wanted to write again (I couldn't write on the bipolar meds and since I dumped them almost 2 years ago I couldn't use that excuse). But when I needed a new audiobook, I saw hers and it sounded interesting and it's set in Minnesota. I know all of the places and she's quite an interesting author. BTW, I started editing a manuscript as a way to get back into it and my minds wrapping around the idea. Today I floated back to my fiction world and ideas are starting to form... That should help the next 2 months on the database conversion.
Back to the diet stuff - so I exercised and Day 8 is right on track. My jeans are more comfy and yesterday I shopped till my fingers dropped at Kohls dot com... Bad me, I was going to wait but I didn't order bigger spring clothes, just more and so I'm excited. I know the capris will fit as they're the same style as my Levi jeans.
Judy, make sure that condo has a deck. There's something about going outside, especially in the spring, just to absorb nature. I can understand the condo route - if I didn't have hubby, I certainly don't have the skills or strengths to maintain a rural property. And go 215!!! You won't stop short this time. We're all on track. How cool is that!!!!
Penny, I started loggin on my cellphone (windows mobile) with a diet tracker software. It's so easy to log and I started on Day 1 (last Monday). It's made the difference. I still refuse to weigh as I get obsessive, but I told myself to log no matter what I ate, that the number didn't matter. Voila, I stayed at 1700 or less. The mind games I must play with myself...
Ah, I lost my post again, too much "multi-tasking"!
Penny, what website are you using for your log, is it the one they won't let us say here, but whose name is something like "Flicker Persons"?
Marie, it feels so good to buy smaller clothes. I can't wait to buy smaller fall and winter coats and jackets. It's exciting to hear that you're getting the itch to write--you are truly a woman of many parts.
I'm on program today, but will need to switch to a liquid diet until after I go to the dentist--my newly tightened upper partial pulled a capped tooth complete out!
Well, my first post was longer and much wittier, but I must run to catch the bus.
Marie - You are a lady of so many talents! I have always wanted to write, but couldn't decide on a subject. I'd like to write about my childhood and early adulthood as it might be cathartic, but it might also stir too many memories....
We have a Kohl's now and they have so many great deals, especially at the end of a season - they practically give stuff away. It's good that you can shop online. I'm a bit leery of buying clothes without trying them on, but if you're pretty sure about the size, that's definitely the way to go.
Judy - The online site I use to track my food is Spark People (no spaces) dot com. They have a very good database and you can make "food groups" (meals) and also keep a list of "favorites". It makes it very fast to enter foods once you have your meals entered. There are also thousands of foods in their standard database. You can also enter custom foods from ingredient labels.
It sounds like we're all back on track - yay!
I feel much more in control now that I'm carefully counting my calories. I've also cut out my daily glass of wine or gin & tonic as that adds a couple of hundred calories I really can't afford (and also weakens my resolve!) I'll still enjoy a drink on the weekend.
. At least you hadn't had your hopes up! When I was a kid we had a neighbor who was so generous, but her food was disgusting. Mom always smiled and made her pack it to go, then we'd toss it in the garbage after speculating on how she managed to ruin every dish she touched.
. We have so much stuff, so I'm hoping we'll make mucho bucks. I took in two car loads of stuff from our place - mostly things our son didn't take with him. I got a bit teary giving away some of his sports stuff and fishing gear as they brought back lots of memories of when he was little. He wasn't attached to any of it, so we figured why not get rid of it and make some more space. I'm sure whoever buys it will make good memories with it too.
I walked the doggies this morning, had a busy day at work. Co-worker got me a skinny sugar-free mocha from starbucks and that was yummy. I think I'll probably go skiing tomorrow morning even though I have to go by myself. DH has to work. 
I tried on some very nice slacks at the mall yesterday, size 18, and they were a bit snug but not a bad fit. I'm going back with my discount coupon this afternoon to buy them. I would be delighted if I'm "mostly" an 18 by the fall--that hasn't been true since...so long ago I can't remember when. My hips and thighs are very resistant to change 
. 
You have come so far. Make sure that apartment has outdoor space for the BBQ. There's nothing better (so few dishes to clean up...).
I like the toppings best.
