Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks. I've been so busy both at work and in my free time (what's that again?).
Weekend before last, I had a wonderful trip to New Jersey to visit my 92 year old grandmother. She even remembered me! I spent most of my time with her in the nursing home (a very, very nice nursing home). I also spent time with my cousins and aunt who live there. All in all, a very nice weekend. Except coming home. The airline lost my luggage and they still haven't found it. The suitcase contained clothes I typically wear to work, my workout clothes, curling iron, shoes, etc. When I got home, I spent the next few days shopping to replace everything. My DH also had his company holiday party the weekend after I got home, and I had bought an outfit while in New Jersey because I didn't have anything to wear. And of course, like all the other clothes, the brand new outfit was lost too. Aaargh. So I also had to shop for a new outfit for the party. Luckily, I found a nice dressy pantsuit that was on sale.
I've also been going to the gym a lot, thanks to being in that "biggest loser" contest at my local gym. Despite the fact that I'm exercising a lot and eating on program, the numbers on the scale aren't showing my progress. We took measurements at the beginning of the contest, so I hope that when we take progress measurements this weekend, I'll see some results. In the contest, we have group personal training sessions 3 days a week -- that last approx. 90 minutes each. We're also encouraged to use the gym on our "off" days. We also have to journal everything we eat each day and turn our journals in each week.
Last week, I went to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. And on Saturday, I shoveled show for an hour -- which is a victory in itself because, thanks to my asthma, in the 3 years we've lived here, I haven't been able to be much help to my DH when it comes to shoveling.
This week, I've gone to the gym on Monday and Tuesday, and I'm going again tonight for my personal training session. I'm planning on going either tomorrow night or Friday or both, and I have another personal training session on Saturday.
In the personal training sessions, we do some cardio and then it's mostly strength training and core exercises. Lots of Pilates moves, lots of using the exercise ball, and using dumbbells.
I know that I should be "feeling" the endorphins from all this exercise. Mostly I just feel exhausted and a bit sore. But I'm really, really glad that I'm doing this. What's also cool is that the local paper did a story about the contest and came to one of our training sessions. And a photo of me using weights with the help of the trainer got on the front page (granted it's a small town paper, but I still think it's cool).
I hope you all are doing well. Again, I apologize for not posting for awhile.
Jolly -- Good luck on your first day!
I'll try and catch up with everyone's posts very soon.
Another successful day on the treadmill. I woke up a bit late, so I only had 50 minutes, as oppossed to my usual 60, so I got in 2.70 miles. (Red, that is the reason sometimes the numbers are odd--I have a very tight schedule in the morning, and if I wake a little late or if my son wakes early, I don't get my full hour in on the treadmill.)
It's taco night at my house, so it's all about healthy choices tonight. I have lettuce, olives, tomatos, black beans, cheese mix, jalepenos, avocados, onions, salsa and 93% lean beef. I bought the low-carb tortillas for myself, as they are low calories, low fat, but high in fiber! 0 points for those of us on WW. I have chips and regular tortillas for the boys, so they can have those. I just gotta watch how much beef I put on mine, but it should be okay.
We are having a big birthday celebration at work tomorrow, so I might either weigh in the morning or wait until Saturday. We'll see how it goes. I just know I will be having a slice of pizza and a small slice of cake. I want it, I've planned on it, and I shall have it.
Jolly: Good luck on the first day of work! I'm so excited to hear how it goes.
Michelle: Your schedule sounds busy. I hate it when they lose my luggage also. It usually turns up, right after you really need something that is in there! Great job on your gym membership and your success. Don't measure it by the scale, measure it by how you feel.
Red: That is right, no more fence-sitting. I loved what you wrote about "rewards" for a good day on program. I do the same thing. Why not reward myself with something other than food? It's something for me to work on!
michelle, good to hear from you. I'd forgotten all about you and that gym challenge. Yes, that is fantastic to hear you've been going there and celebrity you! in the newspaper and all! I'm with chachee in saying don't rely on the scale here. Take pictures of yourself (revealing ones) and see the difference. Muscle weighs a lot more than fat for the space it takes up. People who work out are HEAVY! Made of gold!
Chachee, I understand about the numbers now. Good for you. Your determination is an inspiration.
Good luck all. I've got to run. Will try to check in later. Derry, how are you? Jolly, how'd work go?
Hello everyone! I am back from Hawaii. We had a nice time. The weather was a bit rainy but never too bad to keep us cooped up. Hot tubs are just fine in a light drizzle. The last 3 days were perfect, so we left with that AAHHHhhhh..... feeling. I may have even lost a pound but I need to see that number again to confirm it. I was not as self conscious as I thought I would be too. That was a pleasant suprise. I think the atmosphere just relaxes the usually uptight brain....
Back to business here. My DH will be away for a while in Feb, so I should be able to diet a bit more seriously. I like that there is no longer a dead line for my goals. I wanted to look good for Hawaii but from now on it's no big deal, no hurry. So 5 pounds in Feb should be obtainable and rewarding.
Anyone read Martha Stewart? There's a spread on chocolate this month. A 6 layer chocolate cake that looks SOOO tempting. I know if I tried to make it it would turn out as a big blob of cake and frosting that might taste good. So I 'll just drool over the pictures.
Well, I'm looking forward to checking in with everyone a little more often. See you tomorrow!!
Apple Blossom, welcome back. Your trip to Hawaii sounds just great, ah, so relaxing. . . . I'm picturing myself there now. . . Heh, don't go talking about chocolate layer cakes and such around here!! What are you trying to do to us!?! We have a whole bunch of chocoholics around here. I know a better reason for not making that cake than being worried about it not turning out!! Turning out, is that any reason not to just dig in with both hands and eat the whole thing?!
I hear you on the "no deadline" pressure. Sometimes deadlines work for you, sometimes against. Good luck on knocking off 5 lbs by March! OK, it's off to the gym for me.
Hey all. I apologize for not catching up with everyone. Seems like I only have time for fly by typings these days. Michelle, Apple - glad to hear from you. I started my part time job last night. The people were nice. I enjoyed it. The time went fast. So it should work out really good. What a relief. NOw, to get my butt in gear with eating right agian and working out. I did not make it yesterday. i just seem to keep coming up with excuses. Like I was on the computer too long . . . . I'd better go. Have a great day, and will try to check in later.
Heh jolly, I'm glad to hear the new job sounds enjoyable. What a relief for you. I sure hope you can find the time and energy to do all the things you want.
I've been doing pretty well with things. Eating is so-so but exercise is better. I am sooo sore now. But I'm on a roll. Think I'll try to get some long, long walks in. That seems to be one of the best ways for me to burn fat. Fast, long walks.
Well, I'm pretty tired. It's Thursday night here. Am turning in soon. Hope to see some more life on the thread!
Hi guys, couldn't post yesterday as the only time I was on line, this site was being upgraded. Couldn't read what you all had to say, either, so I've got some catching up to do!
I hope you join me in the Lenten spirit, it's not all about religion for me, it's finding a "reason", I guess, to take control of something that has been controlling me.... and chocolate has truly been controlling me, as alcohol does with an alcoholic! No way will it beat me, no way!!!!
Chach, great that you will be thinking about this too. Maybe we can all do this together as kind of a challenge and pick our one "downfall" item and give it up for this time period. It's a reflection time, for me. It will be awfully hard to do, but I might find that it's easier after a few days. Heck, years ago I gave up smoking and it was a mind over matter thing for me, this too can be? I love this!!!!
I tried the cinnamon ww cereal recently and I did like it, I found it almost too sweet, believe it or not. Someone at a meeting suggested putting a "serving" into a zip lock bag and taking it along as a granola trail mix kind of snack to "tide one over" throughout the day. You can count the points for it, but take bits of it and eat it by hand when you are hungry. I've not tried that, but it sounds interesting.
Yesterday, (so what else is new around here?) it was snowing and I was on a comfort food binge thing again, yet I listened and learned at this week's ww meeting. I made one point a serving soup, and I made 2 point each bran muffins, which were really good and filling! I love the filling thing. I had my high fiber soup and bran muffin for lunch and didn't leave the table still hungry for a change. I really liked that!
Chach, I just LOVE that diva vs. slug thing. May I copy and paste it (giving you credit, of course) to another thread I am on. It's just great!!!!
You know what my diva name is..... drum roll please..... Frisky High! No kidding. I had a cat and a dog, Snooky and Frisky, so I like Frisky better and lived on High Street, so here I am the new diva, Frisky (sounds like a porn movie name or something???).
I had this mental picture reading your post of the left side of my brain, Linda and the right side of my brain Frisky having quite a "discussion". Being a Diva porn queen person, Frisky is VERY overbearing and Linda has given in to Frisky at this point and has decided that in order to be the true diva inner person she must conform to what Frisky is saying, or suffer really bizarre consequences (only Frisky knows what these might be - ha-ha!!!).
Jolly, good luck with the surgery. Hope it all works out for you.
I, also, started my journaling again and felt pretty good ending the day yesterday eating well and healthy, drinking all my water and also doing a workout and getting on that treadmill.
Hi to Michelle, Apple, etc.
Anyone hear from Raven? I'm worrying!
Salutations!
Frisky High
Welcome back Apple! Hawaii sounds wonderful. So does that chocolate dessert...mmm....chocolate....MUST RESIST! I enjoy making a lot of those things and giving them to my hubby to take to his work so I'm not tempted. Can't say that I read Martha Stewart--never really got into her and her "perfect" life.
Derry: What a wonderful name! Frisky High!! I love it. Please do share it with your other thread. Glad to see you back. I liked your conversation with Linda versus Frisky. Muffin just wants to come out, so I am constantly fighting the battle with her. I've been thinking of the lent thing. See, this is hard, because I leave for vacation on February 18 and won't return until March 7th. Is that when lent is? Let me know. I don't want to commit to it and then know on vacation I'm going to be back home, eating my favorite foods that I haven't had in two years, because I haven't been home. Hmmm..
Red: I love long walks. I can't wait for summer to arrive up here so I can get back into them. I mapped out the route for me to walk this summer and it's about 2.5 miles with lots of hills. Oh, it sure burn those buns in no time!
I did 10 minutes on the treadmill, 20 minutes of weight training, and 30 minutes of Taebo this morning. I'm pooped! I did it because I knew I would be having pizza and cake for lunch. Small portions, but trying to combat it before it strikes.
Chach, thanks! I'm going to cut and paste your post and put it in my WW General thread called "Let's Support Each Other...". Please do stop in for a visit anyone here, you are welcome!
At any rate, I just got off my treadmill. I didn't have time this morning to do my exercise for the day and my NEW (as of yesterday) re-newed committment, which truly alligns itself with what Chach had to say yesterday is that I should make the effort, even if it's not in the morning.
I have this "thing" that I prefer my workout/treadmill time in the mornings and if I am busy in the mornings, then I skip it. Well, that excuse won't work from now on! I did it, a true NSV!
Lent is from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday, so if you look at a calendar, it should tell you. I believe Ash Wed. to be 2/9 and I'm not 100% sure when Easter is this year (hate how it changes each year!).
Ah-ha, so the truth comes out, one could NOT make a committment to give up a certain food for Lent if one were to be on vacation???? Hmmm..... I guess I probably might not be able to fulfill a goal like that, but I don't know. Maybe you could do this on all time that is NOT vacation time and give yourself a true vacation from it and pick up when back? Might work.
Chach, you leave on my birthday, where are you going?
Linda
To Chach and all, I cut and pasted the post I made to the other thread, it includes a quote from Chach (you are so cool Chach!!!) and my own thoughts, just had to share it here too! What fun!!!!!
Hi everyone, my buddy Chach from another 3FC thread made this post.... I cut and am pastedit here. It's just so true and fun. I'll tell you more after you read this.
Quote from Chachee:
For Jolly and anyone else who is struggling. Here is what I sent to a friend this morning.
From one slug to another, I'm saying to myself WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF? You know, when I eat badly, I make excuses. Oh, I ate an unhealthy lunch, so I'll eat unhealthy for dinner. Oh, I had a stressful day and I'm upset, so I'm going to have
chocolate. You know, I'm tired of making excuses for myself.
I guess what I need to acknowledge is that there are going to be tough days, probably more than the good or easy ones. How I choose to deal with those struggles are exactly that...a CHOICE. I've been choosing to be about 50% with this weight loss plan. Why? It's not that I don't want to succeed, it's just that the glutton inside me knows how good food tastes and wants to much to continually eat that way. Why doesn't the inner diva in me fight that glutton and win? We all know diva can kick glutton's ***.
I was thinking that we were in the same place. Kinda at the "Ugh" stage after a bad week. Heck, we can overcome this, we've gone through worse before. It's just a matter of working harder and doing what we know works.
I love being the slug. It's comfortable, relaxing and familiar. I'm going to work on being the diva. Putting myself out there and making myself adhere to the right way to live. Choose to make the right choices, so in a month from now, when I see all my family and friends, they can say "Holy crap, you look awesome.". I gotta....it's my destiny to be healthy and gorgeous and a great role model for everyone I come into contact with. It's just gotta be that way.
I walked over to the fridge here at work and CHOSE my carrots over my yogurt. I CHOSE to fill up my water cup instead of taking a diet soda from the fridge. At lunch, I will CHOOSE the low-fat dressing over the ceasar dressing I had set aside for my salad. Small choices all add up to big changes.
I'm also choosing my new diva name. I'd doing it the same way I was told by a friend that you come up with your drag queen name. You take the name of your childhood pet for your first name, and the street you lived on growing up as your last name. My diva name is:
Muffin Evergreen--gotta love that!!
Any other divas out there with me???
Whew, that was my pep talk for the day. I'm pooped!
Love,
Muffin Evergreen
__________________
If it is to be, it's up to me.
So, this is me, Linda, again..... Here's to Chach
Thanks for that great post..... now MY Diva name is Frisky High, can you belive that? I have been picturing Linda and Frisky in my brain, kind of this left side of the brain and right side of the brain thing... both sides are battling each other all the time. Linda, so often, has been dominant, but Frisky has suddenly come into her own!!!!
Well... I chatted about my Diva this morning at my quilt group and we had a ball laughing and talking about our Diva names. Now, I am committing to making a Diva Quilt!!!!! Frisky, by the way, is size 5 and she looks like Farrah Fawcet Majors used to look on the old Charlie's Angels TV show. She is very athletic, unlike Linda, and she is so smart in terms of making the right choices. She likes to wear boots and often dresses in VERY smart clothing and takes the time to do her make up and likes very much to show off her excellent body that she strives very hard to keep in great shape. She might be 50, but she looks 30!
She is also a big diva bully and Linda will have NO SAY in what to select for food choices much of the time. Divas are such bullies! At any rate, Frisky refused to allow Linda to have cream in her take out coffe this morning, Frisky MADE Linda select skim milk instead. Frisky also said, that being a size 5 she hasn't got much "room" for snacks and Linda was not allowed to have the WW 2 points chocolate caramel bar that was in her purse. Linda felt much better having the snack bar in her purse, but once she thought about it, after a 2 point bran muffin and 1/2 grapefruit for breakfast, she really wasn't all that hungry, after all. Frisky prefers to "nibble" as she is truly not that hungry, so if she desires a small snack, perhaps she'll have carrots, or maybe an apple. She knows fruit is good for her and she knows that it makes her skin look better and might keep her looking more lovely and beautiful for longer in her life, she likes that as she is quite vain.
But, Frisky is also a huge exercise buff, so she made Linda get on the treadmill when she finished lunch today, Linda ordinarily gets "lazy" and won't be on the treadmill or exercise unless she can do it first thing in the morning. On quilting days, Linda uses that as an excuse to not work out as she's got to get up and get rolling a bit earlier. Divas NEED their exercise as they know their "to die for" bodies are in need of constant up-keep!
So, Frisky is quite the taskmaster, kind of even a dominatrix (sp?), gosh her name even sounds like a porn film star.... so I guess it goes along with the territory!
We are on a weight loss journey, let's "enjoy the ride" and have some fun, guys!!!!!
Bye for now,
Frisky the darling Diva, aka Linda
__________________
Linda in NH
Derry Daughter
Location: A beautiful and peaceful place in the woods
Posts: 8,905
S/C/G: Stuck/Working on it/Good 2 Go
Height: Fun Size
Hi girls. You've had some great conversations that I've only caught a bit of on the drive by, will take a lot of catching up.
We will be moving into our new house this weekend - even tho the only furniture we have is a bed on the floor and 2 bar stools. It's been horrible in this apartment. The people upstairs are REALLY noisy and I haven't had a good night's sleep in a month. At this point I am near the cranky, walking dead. So we are getting out of here early and we can make do until the rest of our stuff comes the 7th of February. It's only about a week and a 1/2. I am sooooooo glad to be at the point of wrapping up this whole ordeal.
My diva name is Lassie Komensky. Sounds more like a bouncer or an accordion player/yodeller than a diva.
Looks like we are going to have to do some wiring to get the house in technical shape for cable TV and Internet service so I probably will be out for a bit - should be back before Valentine's Day tho.
Good luck with your challenges, my apologies for not addressing you all - but will soon - I promise!
Hi, just wanted to check in. Good news, 1 pound down!! Bad news, did some stress eating and had 3 beers. So maybe today was not perfect but we're on the right track.
My diva name is so lame it's not worth mentioning. And she doesn't speak to me. Its this other guy who I have trouble with. Where do you think the chocolate cake comment came from? Sorry about that by the way, but someone else had mentioned chocolate.....
Oh, apple, of course I was just kidding about the cake comment! Yes, I don't have a great diva name either. Like I wrote, I heard it was the way to make a porn star name and you can use any combination of middle name, first pet name, or street name you grew up on in any combination. We had a dog before I could really remember it so I could use her name or the first cat I remember and the same with the streets, a first one I can't really remember and the one I was at for all my life in the States. -- Sandy Brownsville, Jeanne Purrkins, Sandy Hilf, any combination of those names. I can't decide. What do you think? Derry, I really love the way you are using the diva to keep Linda in line!! OK, gotta run. Stealthing here.
Apple, I'll just bet you can come up with a diva name and use it in some fun way to help. I think something really clicked with me that I need to "enjoy the ride". We are on a life long journey and this has got to be a lifetime committment for me to lose this weight and stay healthy and be happy with myself. So, Frisky, needs to be riding along with me, at least for now, as she needs to be the ruler as Linda is weak and loses control.
I think I like Sandy Purrkins for you, Red! That sounds like someone who REALLY has control of thier life and has "attitude". Divas have attitude for sure!
Frisky has really been "with" me and has even gone as far as to tell me to sit up straight and keep my posture "looking good" this morning. She is also craving something "spicy", as wild divas do, for dinner tonight, but she wants those killer abs and thighs, so she won't even think about the Mexican take out place (Taco Bell) with all those calories and points. Frisky will find a good low fat, but filling recipe and make dinner exciting! Ole! She might even dress for dinner in something RED and think spicy thoughts.
Seeing as Frisky is quite the wild diva, she might save enough points to have a glass of wine, but make absolutely SURE she has done her work out and planned that wine into her day. She will know how much to have and to stop when she's had the one glass. She might even add seltzer, and lime and lemon juice and make her own San Gria to go with the spice of the night!
Happy, hope we hear from you sooner than Valentines day and best of luck moving in!
Linda/Frisky
Good for you. Your determination is an inspiration.
Heh, don't go talking about chocolate layer cakes and such around here!! What are you trying to do to us!?! We have a whole bunch of chocoholics around here. I know a better reason for not making that cake than being worried about it not turning out!! Turning out, is that any reason not to just dig in with both hands and eat the whole thing?! 
I'd better go. Have a great day, and will try to check in later.
Catching up on Thursday
So maybe today was not perfect but we're on the right track.
who I have trouble with. Where do you think the chocolate cake comment came from? Sorry about that by the way, but someone else had mentioned chocolate.....
