No Beer, Day 4 completed, 2 pauses left.
Stretch for at least 5 min, Day 0 completed, 2 pauses left.
Still not stretching, but I'll leave it up there for a bit longer, just in case I feel inspired.
Also doing pretty good on the "stealth" calorie limit, so I think I'll add that.
Keep cals to 1200-1500 daily, Day 2 completed, 2 pauses left.
4 days in a row that I'm all alone???Is there a new thread up that I seem to have missed??

No Beer, Day 5 completed, 2 pauses left.
Stretch for at least 5 min, Day 0 completed, 2 pauses left.
Keep cals to 1200-1500 daily, Day 0 completed, 2 pauses left.
Right after I posted yesterday, I let myself loose, and today has not been much better, so I'm starting over with the cals.

Hi everyone. Things have been a mess and I'm sorry I have not had the discipline to be here following any kind of a plan. Had a diverticulitis attack, house damaged by the ice/snow/water to the tune of $23,500 and a family member is having neurosurgery next Monday. Plus, on top of this, we went away for a weekend and had two family birthdays.
I'm just blown away.
But, here I am today and here I wish to be.
I can't say if I will continue here and be accountable but I want to dry again.

Yesterday was Day 1, round 3 of Dancing Days are Here Again.

With all the busy and scary times that lie ahead, is there truly a reason why I should not take care of myself? If I do not take care of myself, I might become ill and then where will I be? So, I need some form of exercise each day, it's what we all need.

Today is also day 1 of Round one of the new challenge: "Just 'cause you have Diverticulitis, it doesn't give you the excuse to eat the wrong foods" An odd challenge name but it is important for me to continue to remind myself that though I am not well (Diverticulitis) that I must each in a healthy way that supports my body. Sadly, I cannot have whole grains right now, but I can choose fruits and veggies that are tolerable for me. I can make have lean meats and proteins. I can try.

Hugs to you all, hope things are going well.

No Beer, Day 6 completed, 2 pauses left.
Stretch for at least 5 min, Day 0 completed, 2 pauses left.
Keep cals to 1200-1500 daily, Day 0 completed, 2 pauses left.
Derry, I hope you are feeling better. Do you have bouts often? Stay healthy! Isn't it important to watch what you eat with this ailment? So no excuses you are right!! I am sorry to hear that the winter has been hard for you. Will insurance help you out with the damage costs? Anyway, keep on dancing!

Apple, I blew it today. : ( But, at least I am here again and talking with people who might influence a positive outcome for me. I have to get back on track.
Yes, eating right is very important with diverticulitis. I'm scared, to be honest. I've got to do this right.
Tomorrow is another day and I hope I get with it.

No Beer, Day 7 completed, 2 pauses left.
Stretch for at least 5 min, Day 0 completed, 2 pauses left.
Keep cals to 1200-1500 daily, Day 1 completed, 2 pauses left.
I at first thought I was going to juice fast yesterday, but by the time dinner rolled around, well, I just needed some comfort I think. It was still low calorie and healthy. ;)
I started Boot camp again, 5:30 am ughhh, but it's a great way to start the day.
Wow 1 whole week, no beer. Almost no alcohol at all actually. And I no longer feel the craving either. Last week-end was tough, but I did it. I guess my ultimate goal with drinking is social only. Maybe some dinner wine.
Derry, you can do it!! Do you need to follow a high fiber diet, or a low one? I don't remember which. You should check out the Mama Mia sound track, Abba is great dancing music. We played it at boot camp today. :carrot:

No Beer, Day 8 completed, 2 pauses left.
Stretch for at least 5 min, Day 0 completed, 2 pauses left.
Keep cals to 1200-1500 daily, Day 2 completed, 2 pauses left.
So I weighed myself yesterday and it was depressing. *sigh*. I had been avoiding it for that very reason. I know that just because I am not drinking beer doesn't mean I'm going to melt off the weight. It will probably take a good 6 months or so. Still.
Red, I hope you are OK. I hope I can help by sending good wishes your way, and stop smoking!!! Really, you will be fine, you always are! Just don't make it harder for your self than it already is....:hug:

No Beer, Day 9 completed, 0 pauses left.
Stretch for at least 5 min, Day 0 completed, 2 pauses left.
Keep cals to 1200-1500 daily, Day 0 completed, 2 pauses left.
Well, I'm in bad shape. Week-ends can be treacherous I suppose. Still, I'm pleased with 9 days. I will try to keep it going, but 11 days with no pauses might be a far reach. The other 2 challenges, I don't know about. I'll start over the calories, try to stretch but....
I have been running a bit more and I'm taking a boot camp. I'm 7.5 miles shy of 300, so by Wednesday I should make it!!! I've been hungrier lately because of the increase in exercise, and thats what gets me in trouble. I have to control that somehow. Well, I hope everyone out there is OK. Please pop in, I'm lonely!

I've been fairly good about this, but I want to be more strict with myself, so I'm signing up to do a 21-day challenge:

EXERCISE 30+ MINUTES EVERY DAY for 21 days. I've never done this before in my entire life (kid you not), so I'll give myself two pause days -- working out 19 of 21 days will be hard enough. I'm not counting about 45 minutes of walking I do every day just to get to class.

Counting today as Day 1: an hour of flow yoga. Tomorrow I'll be going to fencing practice (~90 minutes).

Fencing didn't work out, but I did make time for about 30 minutes of fast walking around campus and calisthenics back in my room. Might try to squeeze in elliptical later. Day 2 completed, 2 pauses left.

No Beer, Day 0 completed, 0 pauses left.
Stretch for at least 5 min, Day 0 completed, 2 pauses left.
Keep cals to 1200-1500 daily, Day 0 completed, 2 pauses left.
Beer challenge over, on hold. May need to rethink these challenges....One thing I have been pretty good about is running (hit 300 miles!!:woohoo:) so at least I'm doing something right.
Welcome Lackadaisy!!:welcome3: You've picked a great challenge! And mixing it up with lots of different work outs should keep you from getting bored. Good luck!!
By the way, the pause days don't count in the 21 days, if you take 2 pause days you need to get to 23 days.

Hello! Hello! I'm here and I'm "alive" but not all that happy. I'm in the middle of a diverticulitis attack and any efforts I have made are just dismal. I've been sick and unhappy.
But, I need to do this and climb back.
So, the only thing I can do as far as weight loss is exercise and food has to be put aside for awhile as I can't eat the kind of foods that promote weight loss right now.
So... I will come up with something and try again. Just wanted to say where I was with it all.

joining the mini- challenge
 

Not sure if I'm doing this the way it was intended, but as a newbie, I'm going to make a very "easy" challenge for 21 days. My goal is to increase my water intake to 64 ounces/day. Should be doable, but sometimes, even the simplest is elusive.

cutmeinhalf, good idea to start off with. I'm going to join you, I can do that and I can add 5 minutes of some form of movement as well. Just 5 minutes is all I'm going to try.
Have been so sick, almost went to the emergency room last night but decided to give it a day to see. Diverticulitis is one mean thing. Eat a few things that are too much fiber and it triggers the attack all over again. I have to heal and be careful.
Going to make homemade chicken soup, I think, today. That might help me. Going to live on soft foods for a few days and see what I can do.

So, for me, today is day 1 of the "take it easy" recovery plan

Glad to see the tread is still active! I hope Red is Ok out there!!!
My challenges have fallen to the wayside and I feel like I am gaining weight by just looking at food! I'm sure if I wrote everything down I would clearly see that I am just eating too much. I think that will be my challenge, keep a food and exercise journal for 21 days and then take that to my doctor if I still feel that something is fishy. (I have a thyroid issue that might need a prescription increase) I really feel that all the exercise I've been doing should at least keep my weight steady, but not so. So here I go!
Daily food & exercise journal, Day 0, 2 pauses allowed
Hi Derry, How long do your bouts usually last? That sounds so terrible. Feel better soon!!
Cutmeinhalf, You chose a great challenge! Good luck!

Hey Red - saw the news this morning about the earthquake. Thinking about you and hoping that you are ok. Be careful and be safe :hug:

Hi Red - I just learned about the earthquake and the tsunami. I hope you are ok. My thoughts and prayers are with you and those affected. Stay safe. :hug:

Red, are you ok? Prayers coming your way!!

Hi Red,
I hope you're OK.
Stay safe.

RED!!! I was already worried about you, and now this!!!! Please let us know you are OK as soon as you can! My prayers are with you and your adopted country.

I just heard from Red. She is still ok, but she says things are very scary over there...between the nuclear power plant leaking and instability, and the continued earthquakes/after shocks. I will post here as I hear from her.

Thank goodness you heard from her! Red, my thoughts are with you. It's the middle of the night here and I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking of you and got up out of bed to be here on this thread as I know you are over there.
I wish I could find a way to reach out to you other than here. I wish I could help you and others. My thoughts and prayers are centered on this situation.

Anything more from Red? I am so geographically challenged, I don't know where she, and her horse, are in relation to . . . well, to make matters worse, I don't even know if the tsunami affected the whole country, or just certain parts :o

Jolly - I have not heard from Red directly, but she has posted a bit on Facebook. She was supposed to have work today, but the trains were shut down to that area today. Also they are experiencing rolling blackouts, rationing electricity, and shortages of certain items in the stores - toilet paper, bread, batteries. I'm not that great at geography, so I don't know if the entire country was hit by the tsunami. And I don't know where Red's horse is located. It sounds like the hardest hit areas are north of Tokyo in Sendai, and in the Miyagi prefecture (wherever that is), and a few of the nuclear power plants north of Tokyo are having serious issues. The areas immediately around the power plants have be evacuated...but if they have a melt down, I don't know if that will impact the entire country.

We should keep Red and all of Japan in our thoughts and prayers. She is ok now, and hopefully will stay that way.

I hope we hear directly from her soon. I feel so badly for everyone over there. What a mess.

Hi Derry,

I heard from Red directly. She said for us not to worry about her. She's safe. Tokyo is just experiencing some inconveniences...rolling blackouts, food and water shortages...but other areas of the country have it MUCH worse, including entire cities where tens of thousands of people are still missing. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

I spoke to Red on facebook last night. They are having some power outages and there has been a stampede in the grocery stores in Tokyo. However apart from the fact that she has a fever, she and the cats are okay.
Sendai and the Miyagi Prefecture (Japanese version of a county or province) is several hundred kilometres north of Tokyo. The nuclear power plants are north of that again. The tsunami did not hit Tokyo - apparently only Sendai and that area and points north of there. There was rumours that the island of Hokkaido had been very badly hit, but I have heard nothing further.
There is not much we can do for Red or for my other friends in Chiba and Sendai from whom I haven't heard. I am trying to see if I can send up a care parcel of things that she or they can use. Meantime sit back and if you pray, do so, otherwise think some kindly thoughts. Those people are going through ****.

Thanks for posting, Shad. I'm glad you got to chat with Red.

Hi Red - I'm so glad to be able to connect with you via email. I know you're going through :censored: right now, and I want you to know I'm here for you. :hug: :hug: :grouphug:

Just send Red an email and I am praying. Love and hugs to you and all of those who are going through this over there. I donated at church yesterday and also through the Red Cross. I hope there is Godspeed in getting aid to those who need it.

But, I do want to say a few things about things here. I'm still not well. The Diverticulitis is taking it's toll on me. I cannot get regulated with my diet and because I've been feeling so lousy, exercise is not happening.
But, I want to try and hope for better days coming.
I want to come back here and report some successes to you all. I will get there.

Red, my thoughts and prayers are with you. I hope you find some viable options soon.

I just got done with a final project for school. This was after my grandfather's funeral this week :( I need to shovel out from my mess, and get back on track!!

My grandfather died from old age (he would have been 90 in July) and complications from heart disease. He had his first heart attack in his early 60's, and needed 5 bypasses. His brother died of heart disease in his 50's. My dad had his first heat attack in his early 50's. I don't want this family legacy. I bought some heart heatlh cookbooks, and a red dress bracelet to remind me, and I am coming back here to get accountable!!

Starting tomorrow, 4/4/11
1) Follow menu, level 3
2) Follow exercise plan, level 3
3) NO SODA, level 3

Hope to hear from everyone, as we encourage each other to be the healthiest we can be! :wave:

Red, I just want to say that no one would find fault if you had a little "pity party" going on and were unable to fulfill any challenges. If you want to just come in here to "whine" a little bit, it's OK by me. I feel terrible about what you are going through as well as the people of Japan.
Just to be a little upbeat, I did walk today. I've forced myself to do some walking and some form of exercise the last 5 days in a row. I guess I could make that a challenge here but I feel kind of defeated as well and kind of like I'll be unable to keep up with it. But, I so need to do something.
Keep the faith!
Linda

Hi everyone! Red, I totally understand how all this can seem trivial in hard times. Just remember that we are here for you and you can always check up on us for some laughs and support.
I thought I'd start a new challenge, since I see that Jolly is back too! I found a web site called Lose It! It's also an app for i-phones and other i-stuff but I don't have any of that technology so I'm just using the web site. It's just a calorie counter. You plug in height/weight/goal and desired rate of loss. It give you a calorie cap and you log in what you eat and how much you exercise. Now I am VERY skeptical, because even when I am trying to keep below a calorie cap I don't allow myself MORE calories when I exercise. I don't know, maybe thats why I never stick to it for very long. But it makes sense. But I also think my metabolism is different, maybe because of my thyroid, I don't know. So I have a Dr.s appt scheduled in early May and I want to follow this plan until then. If it works, great. If not, I can ask my Dr. what might be wrong. So. I have done this for 2 days now.
Lose It! Log, Day 2, 2 pauses allowed.

I know its only been 3 days, but I am feeling doubtful....
Lose It! Log, Day 3, 2 pauses allowed