Val, I'm sorry to hear you are having such problems with your ex. That must be hard. I'm impressed that you stayed with your good food choices and exercise today. I hope you have a good night and a better day tomorrow.

Joan to answer your questions, I think of it as a weight problem although my knees and legs hurt that would classify me as having a health issue. I remember Halloween bending down and putting iup my pumpkin light (they go on the ground) and my knees hurt so bad I didn't get up. I notice myself having to alter the way I get up and down cause my knees hurt so bad. YOu got me thinking about the question and your right it is a health issue although i still would answer weight. Did I answer your question?

Val I would not take that from your ex. is he the father of your kids? were you married to him? No man has any right to make a women feel like that. I would have a straining order put against him. I know what will a piece of paper do? Bujt you have to do something. Congrats on your walking. that is excelllent.

Andrea, I have yoga question for you? My knees hurt and my back achs. I go to a chiro for it but I was wondering. All that stretching ans stuff will that help my back feel better. I know that when I stretch it out I do feel better but I was wondering if there are back exercises that would help. The funny thing is the video your talking about I own it and would you beleive it still is wrapped . I am going to unwrap it and do it tongitht You got me wondering if doing it before bed would make my back feel better in the am. I am going to give it a try. I also have a yoga tape called step by step instructions. which should i start with?

I got to tell you guys, today I went outstide and pulled everything out of my van, threw out a bunch of stuff and vacuujmed my van and windexed the inside. It looks so nice (for now anyway) it was such a nice day to do that. I got to say even if your not exercising to be outside at least were not eating!!!! gotta go clean up my house for now..talk more later...

By the way I am keep score of the weigh in day and so far its
2 for friday
1 for monday.

Andrea you mentioned one time not being able to do yoga after eating. why is that? how long do you wait? is that all exercise or just yoga?

Hi Karyn!

That's funny that you already have that yoga video and still wrapped in the plastic. I say, try it out! Can't hurt, that's for sure. Also, if you check around, you'll see that it's a highly rated yoga program, in a big part because of it's awareness of different fitness and flexibility levels.

I would have to answer a big YES to your question about whether yoga would be a good exercise to help with your back pain and such. I can attest that it has helped me in this way. It strengthens your core muscles (back and stomach), yet stretches them too, so that they stay supple and toned, not all bunched up and tight. I definitely notice less pain getting up in the mornings since I started doing yoga, and I can sit up in the morning without pushing on the bed with my arms, which I've not been able to do for some time.

Click HERE for one of many articles I found on the internet about yoga helping back pain. This article is from www.Spine-Health.com

In general, you shouldn't exercise on a full stomach, because it's harder to digest your food when your body is competing for blood flow. It's not necessarily dangerous, but it could make you feel sluggish during your workout or possibly get cramps. It's better to wait half and hour or more depending on what you ate. A few carbs, like some crackers or half a bagel shouldn't stop you from working out right away, but a big meal with more food types might cause you to feel like you're dragging around a back pack full of led while you workout!

Following is a copy of something I found on the internet (sorry I can't remember where I got it ) regarding waiting for food to digest before exercising:

Depending on how heavy a meal you have, you should wait 30 minutes to two hours before exercising. The bigger the meal the longer you will need to wait. If you just eat a light, high-carbohydrate snack like a few low-fat pretzels, you should be ready to exercise immediately.
The best type of foods to eat before exercise depends on the time of day you work out.
If you exercise first thing in the morning some fruit or a small amount of juice and water should suffice. If you exercise mid-morning then a breakfast high in carbohydrates will help give you the energy you need to get through your workout. A bowl of oatmeal, wholegrain toast and jam are good choices. If you exercise in the late morning before lunch, you may want to try eating a light snack before working out, and a carb- and-protein rich lunch such as a turkey sandwich will replenish your body stores after you exercise. People who work out later in the afternoon, from noon to 3pm, probably don't have to eat anything before a workout provided they have eaten lunch and breakfast. However, if you exercise closer to dinner, a light snack, like a pot of yoghurt, will provide a lot of energy. If you exercise after dinner, just make sure to wait an appropriate amount of time depending on the size of your meal.

Do what works for you.
The above recommendations are guidelines. Each individual is different and has a unique digestive system, so you have to experiment to see what makes you feel best during your workouts. Some days you feel great if you work out immediately after a meal, whereas other days you might get cramps and feel nauseous. It varies from person to person day to day.

Hope that helps! I also hope you enjoy your yoga tonight!

Karyn, remember the wonderful thing about yoga is that you can modify it to make it work for you. I have a tape where most of the poses are done on a chair, and as your body gets warmed up, stretched and stronger, then you can begin to do anti-modications, to get you working towards the core pose. Last night, after three months of yoga, at least twice a week, I finally got into a side plank, not modified. I held it for less than 60 seconds, but it felt wonderful and it was proof that I am achieving my goals. Even the instructor noticed the big smile on my face.

Wow, Momadance! Congrats on achieving that side plank pose unmodified!! I know what you mean about that feeling of accomplishment when you finally do a pose without modifications. I moved from the 1/2 modified workout on my dvd to the 1/4 modified and I felt SO accomplished! And, I could feel another shift in my strength and flexibility. Yoga is such a wonderful way to fitness! I love it.

Hi all, are we weighing in today?
If so I'm down 2 this week!

I bought a belly dance dvd called the goddess workout. I did it yesterday! It was really fun and it was a workout! My arms are so tired! I didn't think it would be such an arm workout. I tied a pareo around my waist for lack of anything better. My 3yr old son also tried to do it right along with me. It was so cute! I haven't gone to the gym the last few days because my 1 yr old isn't feeling good so I will do the dvd again today. It is a 3 dvd set with beginner to advance with different workouts and it was only $19.99. It's by delphina.
If I do the goddess workout enough will it make me a goddess???

Hi all. I weighed in this morning and I'm down another pound from when I last posted a weight loss--I think two days ago. So I'm down to 187!

Joan, sounds like you had fun with that belly dancing video. Were you able to follow along alright? I may have to try that one out and see if it's any easier to get the moves down. Not this week, though. The scale was my big splurge.

Congratulations, Joan, on you 2 pound loss! That's awesome! We're doing it!

Well, I have to go do my yoga. I planned to last night after the kids were in bed, but I fell asleep putting the youngest down. Then I woke up later, around 1:00 am and finished my journal entries and a couple of posts here, and THEN tried to do my yoga, but my little guy woke up when I was 1/3 of the way through, so I had to stop. UGH. And then he kept me up most of the night, chanting my name and then not saying anything when I would ask him what he needed. Then he'd chant, "Mommmeeee, Mommmeee, Mommmmeee..." all over again. Here's what I wanted to do to him: I had the most disjointed night of sleep I've had in a while. I'm kind of tired this morning.

Oh, and when I woke up I went to let the dog out and there was a starling flying around my back patio, flying around and banging into the many big windows. Poor thing. Worse, when I opened the door to let the dog out, my cat hustled right out, too and got that poor bird. The bird managed to fly away from him after awhile and I tried to rescue it, but it is still flying around bbanging into things trying to get away from me. I saw that it is bleeding from the beak, though, so it probably won't survive. I feel especially sad, because I know there is a family of baby starlings nesting in the eaves of my house near my bedroom window. I hear them in the mornings making a pretty racket.

Oh well, I've opened the doors to the patio. Maybe the bird will be okay.

Sorry for the depressing post. Talk to you all later.

Well, I have got lots going on here at my house now (we are finishing a room upstairs and the Heat and air people are here), so this will be a quick post. I have done my walk this morning. I have got to drink more water today. I know I am not getting enough. I just hate it though!
Congrats to those who lost this week! I will weigh in again on Monday. I am a scale freak, so I am TRYING not to weigh all the time. It is so hard not to!
Oh, I think I may get the Yoga video you all were talking about! I would love to have something lilke that and I have always been curious about yoga. Why not! It isn't belly dancing (darn it!) but it is something different!
I hope you all have a glorious day full of weight loss! I will be back later.

Karyn--Did you try that yoga tape out last night? If so, what did you think?

The moves on the Goddess Workout DVD were pretty easy to follow I just can't shimmy and step at the same time. Oh well, maybe it will just take time.
Right now I will just have fun with it. I can't wait till my belly gets smaller so I can wear a pretty costume. I may stick a jewel in my belly button just to freak my mother out!!!

Thanks for the kind words and suggestions yesterday. Yes, I was married to my ex for 11 1/2 years and he is the father of my 2 youngest kids. I will try to make this as short as possible ( I could totally write a novel about everything that has happened, and sometimes it is so wierd to look back on some of it, it almost seems like it happened to someone else) about 4 yrs ago he became involved in drugs. I tried to help him get help but he would not. That is when things really took a turn for the worse. I told him I wanted him to leave and I wanted a divorce, he refused to leave and began destroying everything I owned...literally. By the time I could get an order of protection against him I had nothing left, no clothes, no childhood mementos, no toilettries, he tore wallpaper off the walls, cut up the mattresses, used some tool to put gashes in the walls and furniture, I can no longer count the flat tires I've had, urinated in my hair conditioner, scratched up the paint on my van, put water in my transmission which then cost me $1,700 to get fixed, etc. My order of protection against him expired March 24th. I went to court to get it renewed and the statute reads that you cannot have one for more than 18 months consecutively and I have already had mine that long. He finally pled guilty to burglarizing my home in Jan. 05 and was ordered by the court not to have any contact with the children because of some phone conversations that I had recorded of him telling them to do stuff to tear up the house and my vehicle and throw out my clothes. The thing that got me going yesterday was that after I had dropped the kids off at school, I had forgotten something at home and went back to get it and there he was I have had to change my cell phone # which is provided to me by my workplace and my home phone # which he has already managed to get the new # at home and calls me every day and leaves me messages. Yesterday it was some song lyrics saying "it's not over, no not yet". I have also found out that he did the same things to his ex-girlfriend of 5 years when they broke it off.

Anyway, that is my story, I am very devoted to my kids, they are the sunshine in my life and have had to weather alot of this stuff too. They are beautiful people.

After I went home yesterday I played catch with Leiren and Seth for about 30 min. and at about 10pm went for a mile bike ride.

Weigh in day...I vote for Monday but I don't really care I will participate no matter what day is decided upon. I also liked that Andrea posted measurements and I will try to do the same thing!!

Joan I also would have answered weight, but I know that my extra weight has caused my feet to ache and lower back problems so health too!



CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE ON DOING SUCH A FANTASTIC JOB!!!

I still haven't gotten up early enough to do my yoga but I will!!!! I walked 2.5 miles at lunch and have a 2 hour softball practice with my daughters team that I help coach tonight. So I should be burning calories like crazy!!

Joan--I think you are already a goddess, but if that workout makes you feel even more like one let me know so I can buy one for me!

Kim--how is the SB diet going? When you move into phase 2 let me know because I will definitely tell you what good recipes I've tried. You will be glad you bought both books!!

Gotta get some work done, chat with you all later!! Hey what about the chat thing?

I can't remember who said something about including measurements when we weigh in each week. I almost forgot about that--so I just measured myself, and I've lost an inch off my chest, and inch off my waist and an inch off my hips since last time I did this!! Yay! So now I have the following measurements:

Chest: 40"
Waist: 35"
Hips: 46"

Yippee!

I know we haven't settled on a weigh-in day, and I actually did it today, but if everyone wants to change it to Monday, I'm ok with that, too.

Somehow I missed Joan's post asking whether we consider our excess weight simply a weight issue or a health issue. In any case, I would have to say I consider it to be both. Physically it has caused me some minor health issues: sore joints, poor sleep, etc.. But more importantly to me, I see my extra weight as a mental health issue. When I feel depressed or stressed, I tend to want to eat more and unhealthily, and so I gain weight. I feel even more depressed when I am carrying around so much extra weight, yet am not doing anything about it. So I am more depressed, and continuing to eat more, creating a vicious cycle, of course. I'm tired of my emotions being tended to in such an unhealthy way. I'm tired of my emotions controlling me! Now, I'm trying to address not only my weight, but also other areas of my life which are not in balance. It's all inter-related, you know? Anyway, that's a little of how I feel about it.

Joan, congratulations again on your 2 lb loss! That's awesome!

As for your belly dancing, well, I had to laugh when I read how you can't shimmy and step at the same time. THAT is definitely something I can't do! I will keep trying, though and see if it gets easier. And I love your jewel in the belly button idea--the thought of your mother's reaction IS kind of funny!

Val--the story of your ex is shocking. Really. I feel for you going through so much stress because of this guy. And I feel badly for your kids too. You are so brave to just keep living and living well. Great example for your children. They need to see you strong. Good for you! Keep after it. And as you grow nearer to your goals for weight loss, you'll be able to so many more things with them. Isn't it a great feeling to know that the sky's the limit as far as our dreams go! By the way, you are a BUSY woman! You bet you're burning calories!

Marina--I didn't see your question about being tired, either. I haven't been more tired than usual, unless I stay up too late the night before. In fact, I seem to have more energy. Still, by the time 8:00 rolls around, I AM tired of dealing with little kids all day! By then, no matter how much I love 'em, I'm so ready for THEM to be in bed!

Karyn--Any word on that job?

Oh, I forgot...I wanted to share what I had for lunch with you all. It was so yummy and fresh tasting! I particularly like this kind of thing when it's warm outside, but it was good today, too:

I spread a whole wheat tortilla with 1/3 cup of hummus, then I filled it with a cup of spinach, 1/4 of a big, beautiful orange sweet pepper sliced up, 1/2 a roma tomato sliced up, 1/4 sliced avocado, about 1/3 cup sprouts, a squeeze of lemon and salt and pepper. Then I folded the bottom of the tortilla up, the sides in, so that there was an opening on top (simulating a pita, I guess!) and then I enjoyed the heck out of it!