Just checking in. I don't know why I am resisting exercise....but I am. Gotta force myself. I have not been consistent. Hit and miss isn't going to get this behind in shape. I've been staying within my calorie range but the weight isn't moving so clearly I have to MOVE IT! :tread: to lose it! I'm just having a protein shake and I am definitely....DEFNITELY.... getting on the treadmill within the next hour. I feel so good when I exercise and a sense of accomplishment....feels like that familiar self-sabotage coming up from below my conscious radar. Gotta fight it.

Everyone around me has been sick too and I feel like I'm coming down with it. Have been pouring in anything that boosts the immune system so hopefully I can ward it off.

My birthday is actually tomorrow but I've had a few treats this week already so I don't think I'll be indulging in anything else. My husband has been renovating our basement into a new studio for me and hopefully it'll be done (or nearly so) by the end of the weekend. That is so much better than anything I could eat. :D

I came across a Booker T Washington quote a while ago, "There are two ways of exerting one's strength; one is pushing down, the other is pulling up." My previous strategies to lose weight have come out of guilt and shame for what had become of my body....pushing down! This time I'm trying to focus on doing better, being better from a place of gratitude for this blessed life I have....pulling up. Even though the progess is slow and there have been a couple of backward steps I really feel better about it this time. I have to remind myself that this is a marathon not a sprint and the difference this time....I KNOW I'll do it.

Tomorrow I'll be 38...and I know my issues with weight are coming to an end...I can feel it in my bones!

Lisa stay healthy. Robin, you're doing great - don't let that cake situation throw you. Kim run on. Kelly keep it up. Sandra and Loren (wherever you are) we're here to support you. Thank you all for the encouragement and support you've given me.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

To Sherry
 

Happy Birthday Sherry!!! :hb: :hat: :gift:
Love your quote and your new strategy!

I know that I posted last, but just wanted to say that I am having a great day today. I woke up early, did my 3 mile WATP video, made breakfast for my son and his friend, did my devotions, then attended an awesome church service. I've spent the afternoon watching movies with my son, and now I'm getting ready to go to work. If I can make it through 12 hours in the ICU, I'll be off for 4 days in a roll. CAN'T WAIT! We're going to have a good week... I can feel it.

Thanks Kim. I hope this great day turns into a great week for you! :D

Happy Belated Birthday Sherry!

How did everyone's weekend go? Mind was good for the most part. Had yesterday off and when dh woke up, he felt like crap. He's coming down with the flu. And you all know what guys are like when they are sick. So I had to listen to his moaning, groaning and coughing all day long! LOL Poor guy.

I've done pretty good this week with my eating and exercising. I slipped up on the weekend with that dang wine. But other than that, I'm very proud of myself. And I should be. I got on the scales this morning and I'm down 2 lbs from last week. :bravo:

We got a crappy snow storm over night so first thing this morning I was out shovelling the snow from the driveway and the sidewalks. Not exactly what I wanted to do before breakfast! But I'm counting that as extra exercise for me today!

Well I'm off to my breakfast.
I'll check back in later.

favorite quotes
 

Since Sherrie posted a quote I thought I'd share some I have collected. I printed these off and now the paper sits on my treadmill. Keeps me going!

-Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality.

-Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can.

-Never, never, never, never give up. (Winston Churchill)

-Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live.

-The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!

-The first and the best victory is to conquer self.

-The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It's your mind you have to convince. (Vince Lombardi)

-The groundwork of all happiness is health.

-The time for action is now. It's never too late to do something.

Well, everyone is feeling a bit better around here. I'm still well so maybe I won't get sick after all! I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I did not stick to healthy eating this weekend and I did almost no exercise. Not only did I fall off the wagon but I think it ran me over! Today I got back in the game though. I had my eggs, turkey bacon and grapefruit for breakfast. Lunch will be salmon & broccoli slaw. Got to get my veggies and protein in! I'll get some walking in while the little one naps this afternoon.

Keep up the good work everyone! I would love to see some more quotes!
Lisa

A little something from Dr. Phil
 

This is a chart in Dr. Phil's weight loss book. Its pretty shocking but makes it real.

"The information in this chart is based on typical calorie counts of foods
and beverages, as well as on scientific studies of the caloric cost of
specific eating behaviors. Results may vary from person to person. Annual
weight gain is based on calculating the estimated yearly caloric cost of
each behavior, then dividing by 3,500 calories (the number of additional
calories it takes to gain one pound.) *These figures have been rounded up."

EATING BEHAVIOR --- WEEKLY CALORIC COSTS -- ANNUAL CALORIC COSTS --
POTENTIAL WEIGHT GAIN PER YEAR

Eating second helpings (200 calories per helping) three times a week -- 600
extra calories a week -- 31,200 extra calories a year -- 9 pounds

Habitual overeating, every day, 380 extra calories a day -- 2,660 extra
calories a week -- 138,320 extra calories a year -- 40 pounds*

Eating a super-sized bagel (4-1/2" diameter, 323 calories), three times a
week, rather than having a small bagel, (3" diameter, 156 calories -- 500
extra calories a week -- 26,000 extra calories a year -- 8 pounds*

Eating Big Macs (or equivalent, 570 calories) twice a week, rather than
choosing a small-size hamburger (260 calories) -- 620 extra calories a
week -- 32,240 extra calories a year -- 9 pounds

Eating one glazed doughnut (290 calories) every day at work during your
coffee break - 1,450 extra calories a week -- 75,400 extra calories a
year -- 21 pounds*

Drinking a cup of whole milk (150 calories) twice a day, rather than having
skim milk (86 calories) -- 896 extra calories a week -- 46,600 extra
calories a year -- 13 pounds

Drinking one regular soda a day (144 calories), rather than having a
calorie-free soda -- 1,008 extra calories a week -- 52,400 extra calories a
year -- 15 pounds

Snacking on 15 to 20 potato chips a day (150 calories) -- 1,050 extra
calories a week - 54,600 extra calories a year -- 16 pounds*

Eating bowl of regular ice cream (280 calories) five times a week, rather
than having a bowl of nonfat frozen yogurt (160 calories) -- 600 extra
calories a week -- 31,200 extra calories a year -- 9 pounds

Bingeing twice a week (1,000 to 3,000 calories per binge) -- 2,000 to 6,000
extra calories a week -- 104,00 to 312,00 extra calories a year -- 30 to 90
pounds

Eating out at fast-food restaurants five times a week compared to having a
healthy meal prepared at home (56 extra calories per fast-food meal) -- 280
extra calories a week -- 14,560 extra calories a year -- 4 pounds

Snacking while watching television, five hours a week (136 extra calories
per snack) -- 680 extra calories a week -- 35,360 extra calories a year --
10 pounds

Nighttime eating, five episodes a week (270 calories per episode) -- 1,350
extra calories a week -- 70,200 extra calories a year -- 20 pounds

Drinking three beers at Happy House once a week (146 calories per beer) --
438 extra calories a week -- 22,776 extra calories a year -- 6-1/2 pounds

If you couldn't tell I love to collect all kinds of information! Lisa

Kelly-way to go with the 2 pounds!!! That is awesome!

Lisa- Right after that wagon ran over you, it ran over me. Girl, I have been hitting the chocolate the last 2 days. We ate girl scout cookies all night at work last night, and I've been eating Dove chocolates today. Wish I could blame it on TOM, but I can't this time. I did do 93 minutes of cardio after work this morning, but I don't think it touched the calories I consumed. I'll be back on track tomorrow though. Loved the Dr. Phil info and the quotes!

Kim, That wagon feels like a monster truck! I have been at the store almost everyday and discovered that Dreyers ice cream makes a Thin Mint ice cream. And why do those nasty little girl scouts sell their cookies in January when everyone is on a diet?! UGH!

Yesterday I did some pilates and did some free weights for my arms. I also did something I haven't done since high school.....I ran....a half a mile! LOL. I know that is not that much but when you are soooooo out of shape a half a mile is really really really far! It felt pretty good too. I'll see what I can do today. I also weighed myself and although I haven't lost any more weight I didn't gain any either. I guess that is good. Doesn't seem like it but I'll take it!

Kelly, congrats on the 2 pounds! Its amazing oh good two pounds feels.

Sherrie, I hope all is well and you haven't gotten sick! I also hope you have found some motivation to get in that exercise you were looking for!

Keep up the good work! Drink you water...it really does make a difference!
Lisa

Good morning!
 

I hope everyone is off to a great start for the week. :) I did okay for the weekend, but not great. However, I didn't eat any sweets, candy, or pastries, so I did pretty good. I didn't get to go for as many walks this weekend because it rained part of the time. But I did go for a walk on both Saturday and Monday. The weather was beautiful yesterday, and both my DH and I had the day off so we went for a long hike in the country. :cool: Walking up hills gets the heart pumping. I didn't do very well at all with my water intake though. I really have to work on that. I just hate having to go to the BR all the time. :mad:

Thank you all for the support with the issue of the peer pressure from the coworkers. If anything, I think it's made me more determined this time.

Happy Belated Birthday, Sherrie! :balloons: I'll be 38 this year, too. It's amazing how our bodies can change once we hit 30. But this year will be changes the better for both of us.

I love the quotes and Dr. Phil stuff, Lisa. The binging twice a week hit home with me. I used to get stressed out and then binge on pastries, telling myself that I'll start a new diet tomorrow. Several years of that caused me to gain this weight. But no more! :no: :no: :no:

We had my mother-in-law and her husband over for dinner on Saturday. And for the first time, it really bothered me to watch someone else overeat. My mother-in-law needs to lose quite a bit of weight, too. She knows it and is always saying things like, "I haven't had a greasy hamburger in a while, so I'm going to treat myself." or "I haven't splurged in a while, so I'm going to eat some of this cake." Even though, I know she probably had had something just as bad the day before. I had tried to make a healthy dinner - crock pot herb & garlic chicken with vegetables, a salad, a little bit of pasta, and some lowfat biscuits. She ate two of the busquits smothered in butter and honey, not to mention the huge amount of other food that she ate. And I think I recognized myself too much in her because it turned my stomach to watch her eat like that. Anyone else feel like this now, too? But it did give me incentive to work harder at my own eating habits.

Well, have a good week. Small steps up make it easier to get to the top.
Robin

I did not fall off the face of the earth, I promise!
 

Robin, glad you were able to enjoy some nice weather. I know what you mean about watching other people eat. For me I watch people at the grocery store. I see what things they have in their basket. People with tons of goodies, sugarey cereal, breads, ect. usually are over weight too. It is what all those skinny people are carrying around that I'm really interested in! Lots of veggies and fruits seem to make up most of their basket with maybe one sweet treat. Somewhere I heard that skinny people tend to be picky people. I'm not picky at all. I'll eat just about anything....and look at me. I have tried to be a little more picky about food. Maybe its working and maybe its not! Just gotta keep on going!

Sandra, glad to see you are back! School issues can always be stressful. Even though my son is in middle school I seem to be in contact with atleast one teacher on a weekly basis. I always ask myself....will it ever end?! Even if you aren't eating great try and get that water in. If you can tackle one habit the others will fall into place and soon you won't want to eat the bad stuff....even if it is TOM! Keep working girl and post more often....we missed you!

Lisa

...just have a quick minute to fly through. Whatever truck ran some of you over made a trip north too cause I also fell off the wagon and got run over by it.

I'm feeling rather unmotivated lately as some disturbing news over the weekend has me eating away my stress like usual. I'll get it together but am not going to beat myself up over it. This week looks to be complete write off for me but that is a relative term. Even when I'm off plan I'm not as off as I'd be if I didn't pay any attention at all. Baby steps....

Thanks to all for the birthday wishes. Congratulations to all who've stayed on the wagon, to all who've fallen off and got back on, and to anyone struggling but running to catch up with the wagon. That takes care of all of us right? :D

Have a great tomorrow!

I've had such a lazy day today. I haven't even exercised, but I've only had 35 calories so I'm not doing too bad.

Lisa-Great job running the 1/2 mile. I couldn't run 1/2 mile the first time I tried to run. Running burns lots of calories though. Keep it up, you're doing great!

Robin-Good job refraining from pastries. I haven't noticed anyone else overeating here lately except for me. Hopefully, I've got things under control now though.

Sandra-So glad to hear from you. We missed you! Sorry to hear about your friend.

Sherry- I forgot to post to you earlier for some reason. I had pizza tonight, but didn't eat as much as I used to. I used to eat 8 pieces. I love pizza! It's probably my favorite thing to eat. I ate 5 thin crust pieces tonight, but that's all I've had besides a granola bar. If I don't eat anything else, I'll be doing O.K. It could be worse anyway. Well, girl, that wagon is gone. Tomorrow is a new day. We don't have to write off the whole week. Let's start fresh tomorrow together. We can do it!