Week At A Time Challenge #6
 

The object of this thread is to take on at least one challenge related to your weight loss goals for 7 days straight. Choose whatever inspires you - a certain amount of water intake, no sugar, 30 minute walks, etc.

I will award accolades for each day you maintain your goal(s) and 7 day winner awards and pounds down at the end of the week. We will begin each challenge on Monday - you can choose a new challenge or repeat any challenge for extra mileage. If you would like to stretch yourself, take on more than one challenge.

We will support each other keeping in mind to stay focussed on our successes and/or challenges of the day and week related to our weight loss. There are plenty of threads where a lot of time is spent on personal stories, so let's try to keep that to a minimum.

mscat-
All that we have is right now.
Yesterday is gone, Tomorrow is not promised, and Someday is not a day of the week!

Week 5 Movers and Shakers
 

To start our week off - Look to the following Pacesetters!
Bonnie :cp: :cp: :cp: Your promises are never empty for us - we are here to help you make those promises a living reality :grouphug: You are human and we are one! :cheer: for your goals this week!
mscat :cp: :cp: :cp:
squiggly :cp: :cp: :cp: everyday you make your goals is another step closer to towards new life - Keep it up - you are doing great!
Haleys :cp: :cp: :cp: :cp: - We will miss you! It is your right to take a break - You don't have to follow a weekly challenge to post - Stop in and let us know how you are doing when you can.
carla :cp: :cp: :cp: :cp: :cp: :cp: :cp: :bravo: Way to go carla! Your commitment is awesome!
Bev :cp: :cp: :cp: :cp: :cp: :cp: :cp: :bravo: Your words are powerful, your example is even more so! You are a blessing to us all.
Sushi :cp: :cp: :cp: :cp: :cp: :cp: :cp: :bravo: You can do the 21-day challenge! You are a star on both sites!

mscat-
All that we have is right now.
Yesterday is gone, Tomorrow is not promised, and Someday is not a day of the week!

Happy Monday all -
Start of another new week. I'm keeping my same goals -- Wed will be difficult as we are going into Chicago (about 3-1/2 hrs) to see the musical "Wicked". Plan to leave here early in the am so very likely will not get my walk. And I've decided that's ok -- Nobody's perfect and if I only walk 6 days out of 7 that's much better than no walking at all. Besides I'm sure we'll have to park 30 blocks from the theater, but won't count that as "official" walking.
Bonnie - I am so glad you decided to stay with us!! And re-assessing your goals is a good idea. I have done the same - am going to concentrate on the positive (the things I DO do) and not the times I stray a bit. We just have to remember that this is a life-change and make it do-able. I did look at your tracker and look how far you have already come!

Haleys - nothing wrong with taking some time to just coast a bit, but do let us hear from you now and then.

MsCat - I'm going to post my fruit/veggie servings every day just so I really focus on the things I should be eating. Will still have OP treats but be a bit more accountable. I have also started watching my portions closer - really got a surprise when I actually weighed what I thought was 3/4 cup of my healthy cereal. I have a scale and measuring cups - and I have 'em to use 'em!!

Carla - you are so close to onderland - can't wait to see you doing the happy dance!

Squiggly & Sushi - good luck to you both. We are an awesome group of women and we can do whatever we really set our minds to. The support on this thread is great ... Bev

Hey ladies!

Time for another week's challenge. I'm really raising the bar this time, so it may be a little tough for me to stick it out. Today I drank my 32 oz of water, and have not yet stopped. I did ALL my laundry and ironong, which covers today's clean/tidy goal. and I'm going to us the 45 minutes of last night's walk that was past midnight as today's deliberate exercise. (Would have done more, but my feet hurt and I've run out of time and oomph.)

I'm not getting the amount of sleep I'd like: my Bigboy gets very loud around 5:30 or 6 am, and doesn't stop yowling and chirping until I get up and talk to him. Since I've been going to sleep around 2 or 3 am, that's not working. I have no idea what to do to make it stop. Between that and the really smelly poops (which he doesn't deign to cover) and his far too rough playing with little Lily, he's lucky he's so sweet or he'd be off back to the orphanage.

Bonnie, glad you were able to swim in a poop-free pool today!

Mscat, Bev, Sushi, Squiggly: Here's to a successful week!

Woo-woo, am I sick of water today! :lol: I'm trying to tough out my goal of 9 glasses, and I couldn't start until 6:30 pm. 'Tis goin' to be a jolly night!

Mscat, how do you come up with things to say to everyone, and always have the most fitting words? You amazing lady, you! :) :angel:

Bonnie, great to hear you decided to stick with the weekly challenge! :cheer: I'm sorry I didn't post anything to encourage you last week, just wasn't up to it... It is a great idea to re-assess your goals, especially when we need an re-adjustment period after a vacation or something. I'm sure you can get back to meeting the old ones in no time! :) Just take it one thing at a time!

Haley, hope you'll still drop by and tell us how you're doing. :)

Bev, enjoy the musical! I can see how it might be hard to go for the usual walk. What do you think, perhaps you could set a different challenge for Wednesday only, something challenging but also suitable to what you've got to do on that one day?

Carla, kudos for upping the bar, you can do it! Go girl! :cheer: If Bigboy is a bird (hope I got that right!), it's natural that he gets up with the sun... And I certainly know what you're going through. The only tree at my old place was next to my window, and every spring it took me weeks to learn to sleep through the 5 am awakening call of the lovely birdies... which would get through closed windows and earplugs! Perhaps covering the cage with a piece of cloth would solve the problem? The bird would still get the air, much less light and hopefully he'd sleep longer.

I hope Squiggly joins us this week as well. :) Good luck to everyone!


ETA, it wouldn't hurt to post my own goals, right? :lol:
Here they are:
- not to forget to take the stupid iron supplement
- drink at least 2.25 liters of water every day and not eat after 7 pm
- exercise: gym each day (fitness class or workout) OR a home-based workout if I really can’t make it to the gym; try the treadmill at least 2 times (10 min.); skip rope (at least 2 times for 15 min.)
- keep on working on my sleep schedule and posting get up and bed times (goals: get up at regular times, bedtime 10:30 pm)
- re-start 21 Day Challenge
- keep my August goals in mind (and work at them) - they're posted in 20-somethings forum


Last night I didn't get to sleep until 3:30 or 4 am or so, but I woke up at 1 pm, which is progress. Tonight I hope to be asleep by midnight. Things should be back to normal in the next few days.

Today we went for a hike/walk in a distant park by the shore and spent about 3.5 hrs there. I'm counting as exercise, equivalent to 2 hrs of walking. At 6:40 pm I sat on a bench and had my last food of the day. It was not a proper dinner, and I've only eaten twice today, so I hope I can last till the morning.
There were no toilets in the park, so I couldn't drink my water, which is why I'm trying to drink all of it now. Just about 1.5 glasses left...

I had my iron, got an idea for the 21 Day Challenge and got a start on my August goals. Just need to finish the water. Tomorrow I'll tell you how many times I had to get up during the night! :lol:

Sushi, if Bigboy were a bird, I would follow your advice in a second. But he'a a big grey tomcat I just adopted, and he makes a sort of loud chirping noise when he wants attention - which is usually when I'm asleep or busy. When I'm available to play or cuddle, he's usually asleep or beating up his 2-month old co-adoptee Lily. They're both adorable, but more trouble than I expected. (I haven't had a cat for almost 20 years, and the last one was an outdoors cat. This is an entirely different story.)

Good luck with the new goals, Sushi, Mscat, Bev, Squiggly, Bonnie. And Haleys too, if you're out there lurking.

It's Monday Night ladies - still struggling with points - Water was not good today either, but I am going to resolve that before the night is over.

Bev - :cp: I have to go to the store and stock up on fruits and veggies so I can follow my plan. I am soooo jealous of you. I love Wicked - I play the CD so much my family is sick of it and probably won't go with me to see it. Count your walk from the parking lot - I have walked downtown Chicago!

Sushi - :cp: good for you - hang in there. That water will get easier.

carla - :cp: you really inspired me - I am starting a home/office organizing business and really need to start with me! So I took my before pictures and totally reorganized my linen closet.

Bonniebelle :cp: Awesome progress on your goals.

Have a great night.

Monday report - walked 40 minutes and drank 48 oz of water and 12 oz Crystal Light. Ate 7 servings fruits/vegs - tomato juice, field greens in my sandwich, watermelon, small red potatoes, squash, peach and more watermelon - total 23 pts (used 1 flex pt) but just couldn't resist that 2nd serving of watermelon!

Everyone have a good Tuesday -- Bev

Mscat - sorrry, but I can't take credit for the inspiration. But I would love to hire you to sort me out! Actually, I find it much easier to do "purges" of other peoples stuff than mine. Somehow I just look at the mess and feel defeated. Masybe if I do it a tiny bit at a time. I think today I'd better clean the guest bathroom (litter box room). In fact I'll have to clean everything a lot more now that the cats are trailing litter and hair everywhere. Goals met yesterday, nothing yet for today.

Tuesday Morning Inspiration
 

Good luck does not just randomly appear. Good luck comes to those who attract it.

Live this day as if it is the most precious and important day in your life, and you'll make yourself lucky. Seek ways to provide real, lasting value to others, and you'll make yourself lucky.

Be anxious to learn, to explore, to hone your skills and you'll make yourself lucky. Live with patience, discipline, integrity and a commitment to truth, and you'll make yourself lucky.

Focus on the positive possibilities, and you'll make yourself lucky. Take the actions that will manifest the best of those possibilities into reality, and you'll make yourself lucky.

There's no limit to the amount of good luck you can enjoy when you take the positive, productive actions that will bring it your way. Make yourself lucky, and experience for yourself how great it can be.
-- Ralph Marston

Are we not lucky that we have this website and each other? Have a great day!

mscat

Monday up 1:15 pm, bed 11:35 pm
Tuesday up 7:50 am, bed in a bit ;-)

I was actually up at 6 am, had breakfast, but then got scared of the treadmill and didn't go to the gym (not a treadmill fan here).
Water was great today, I didn't even notice that I drank almost 2.5 liters until I added it all up! :cb: Toilet trips weren't as annoying. Yesterday I had all my water within just a few hours, and by the 8th glass I had to run every 5 minutes... thankfully only had to get up once at night.

Had the iron, worked on August goals, ate dinner at 5:15 pm. 70 mins. of skating for exercise and got off several long stops to walk to work. 21 Day Challenge restarted, veggies eaten and I'm having the YUCKY herbal tea right now (supposed to drink it in the evening).


Carla, you're not the first person telling me their cat likes to get up early! :lol: May I borrow him for a bit? :) Does he ever snuggle on your pillow? :)

Today I met all my goals! Drank more water than my goal, tidied out some boxes of papers (well, reduced four boxes to one box - I'm definitely not "there" yet...), and went to a gym this morn to do 20 min elliptical and 10 min rowing machine. Yahoo!

Sushi, it sounds like you're on top of your goals. Good for you.

Bonnie, you may find some of those "new" pounds will vanish as the salt and grease or whatever works its way out of your system.

Sushi and Bonnie, I would gladly lend you my Bigboy. Especially when he lets off one of those silent-but-deadlies. Gas masks mandatory. Which means I'm glad he doesn't snuggle on my pillow... Besides, I seem to be a little allergic to his fur if it gets too close to my face, so it's all for the best. He's available for rental any night between 11pm and 8am. (Actually he's becoming cuter and cuter as he settles in. A big, handsome, affectionate goof who loves to have his big head rubbed and scratched.)

To all my fellow posters: Please don't hesitate to tell me when the cat stories get old. After all, this IS a weight loss site, NOT Carla's personal cat chat site. I won't be offended at all. (Sniff, sniff,....)

Night Ladies
 

It's Tuesday night and I am not too well on my challenge. I agree with Bonnie - falling off the wagon - hard to get back up again. I have been lazy today - did do a little Richard Simmons this a.m. but I am still working on water.

carla :cp: for consistency and I am crediting you with the wonderful idea of tidying up one thing/area a day. Yesterday the linen closet for me - tomorrow the home office!

Sushi :cp:

Bonnie :cp: Congrats on the weight loss!

Night all! mscat

Mscat, sorry you're having a tough time climbing back on the challenge horse. I'm sure it'll all fall into place before too long. I must say that while I do like the idea of drinking a fair amount of water, I'm not convinced that huge quantities do much apart from filling our tums and keeping us hydrated. I have a feeling Richard did more for you than the water would have done. And don't forget those 7" from a week or two ago!

I would LOVE to take credit for the tidying idea, but in fact it was Redballoon on the 21-day-challenge thread. (Render unto Caesar and all that.)

I hope you all sleep well (Sushi!) and wake up refreshed and thinner.

Mmmmmm. Mac and cheese...... Get thee behind me, Bonnie! (er, I meant to say Satan)

It's Wednesday afternoon and I have been home all day because we have men working on our garage addition - I was able to work out for 40 minutes on the treadmill :cb: and drink 2/3 of my water and eat well today. I am on track :cheer:

carla - you are so sweet to give accolades to Red - I acknowledge you for sharing the idea here.:thanks: I missed that post on the other challenge. It has helped me immensely - today I got my jewerly boxes (and baskets) cleaned out and reorganized! BTW - my big boy kitty - scratches on the furniture, bed, chairs, carpet :fr: in the morning until I get up and feed him. What a punk, hence his name, Punk!

Bonniebelle :woo: congrats on your losses! Thanks for your support.

Sushi - :wave: hope you got some rest and doing great today!

So far today I've drunk my minimum water and done a 50 minute bike ride this morning. No cleaning done yet... I'll have to find some 15 min chore to make my goal! Maybe MY bathroom - it's not as daunting as the cats'...

Mscat, you're awesome, right back on track. I think most cat owners use them as alarm clocks. Marble (from another thread) has two huge cats that bang on the mirror and run thru the vertical blind slats to get her out of bed. Punk sounds like a good name for yours!

Bonnie, I am so glad that I was right about "fake" weight gain! You go girl! (Just don't do it too often - it won't work every time!)

This morning I was up early (of course) and decided to go for a bike ride before it got too hot: terrific! It rained lightly, and the air had that smell of rain on dust. I rode along the canal, and boats were going thru the locks at my turn around point. I really, really, really have to get out in the morning more often. This is such a pretty city. As I rode I mentally composed a really lyrical post about the experience, but a brain fart came and erased it, so this is all that's left.

Where is Sushi? Is she fast asleep somewhere? We all wished her a good sleep - maybe it was a little too much sleep mojo all at once?

My apologies for the long-ish absence...
The power went out just as I was typing up my post yesterday evening. The maintenance didn't return our call, so it was a hot and uncomfortable night, ugh. This morning it turned out that the fuse blew, but we didn't have a replacement anyway. I'm glad the computer is ok and that the food didn't spoil, yesterday was a grocery shopping day! I had to call a friend and ask to give me a ring this morning to make sure I woke up for work...

Carla, you might have been right about the too much sleep mojo! :lol: I just couldn't wake up yesterday morning! I finally got up at 12:20 pm - that after getting up at 6 am and walking into a wall, taking 5 mins. to realize that the alarm was going off at 8 am, my boyfriend's three attempts to wake me up (the last time he tried, I apparently didn't say anything - I do remember trying VERY hard... he says we also had a conversation earlier, but I do not recall...) :lol:
That made me miss the 7 am aerobics class and my Pilates class... but I still went to Aquafit and skating, and those two turned out to be BIG TIME workouts, so I did get lots of exercise. I was tired all day - the heat is back...
Met other goals as well, but unfortunately the power went out just as I was waiting for the water for my herbal tea to boil... so I'll have to re-start the 21 Day Challenge again. I ended up messing up later - out of frustration and tiredness we had a midnight dinner Thai takeout dinner, and I ate every single bit of the eggplant dish. Don't even know how many calories that was -- one serving is about 363 calories, but how many servings is a standard restaurant portion? :?:

So I messed up yesterday, but I'm determined to be back on track today. :)

Mscat, great to hear you're back on track, I knew you could do it! :cheer: I think it's hard to jump right back on the horse after we fall off... my own experience confirms that - better to take it in 2 steps. :)

Carla, I know that you took the "15-minute chore each day" idea from Red, but still, you're the one who inspired Mscat and now Bonnie. I'm usually pretty good with tidying things (can't sleep unless I've put things away and set everything out for the morning), but I'm thinking I might challenge myself to do something about the dirty dishes more often... It's my boyfriend's area, and he gets upset when I do them (makes him feel guilty), but sometimes he struggles, and I really dislike when dirty dishes pile up... Have you tried using Fly Lady? It's a bit too much for me personally, but there are lots of good ideas there - perhaps you could find some ideas for 15-minute tasks? Oh, and great job with those 4 boxes! :)

Bonnie, great to hear the pool has been poop-free recently! And kudos to you for planning the calories - way to go! :) :cheer:

Bev, hope you enjoyed the musical and that Wednesday went well for you!

Thank you for your thoughts and good sleep wishes, everyone! Have a great rest of the week! :)

Sushi, what is Fly Lady?

Try www.flylady.net, just don't get put off if you're overwhelmed. :) Look for stuff that might work for YOU. :)


I might add that I am all good today challenge-wise. :)
Hope everyone is doing good too! :) :cheer:

Quickie!
 

Hey ladies - doing well on points today and water! No exercise because my back went out again - very uncomfortable. Will try to get my bonus goal in tomorrow. The scale did not move afterall - but I am ok with that for now. Have a great evening - hope to talk more tomorrow!

Bonnie, did your clean laundry ever ripen enough to be folded and put away? i know I let everything that needs to be ironed gain some basket experience before I attack a huge pile all at once.
I live in Canada's capital, Ottawa. It's fairly small as cities go, and apart from the climate it's great. Very safe, lots of bike/walking paths, a canal running thru the middle with boats in the summer - and in the winter the canal is almost totally drained to make the world's longest skating rink. The bike paths along the canal are great for walking or running in winter, except if there's a lot of ice. In the winter some parkways in the nearby Gatineau Park are closed to cars and groomed for Xcountry skiing. Winters are very cold, but if you're active outdoors they're actually more fun than the summer! One of the things that I really enjoy in summer is the fat groundhogs munching away in the grass along the parkways and even highways. They're so chubby and sleek, and, unfortunately, far too often flattened by traffic. I could go on and on, but you're probably already sorry you asked...


Sushi, I visited Flylady, and have already made my kitchen sink so shiny I never want to use it again. I must say the idea of 15 min per day, every day, should work in the long run. I've signed on and hope to get lots of ideas for short but useful chores. (I also like the 27 things idea. Might do it tomorrow.)

So today I drank more than my water goal, swam for at least 20 minutes and went for a 30 min stroll, and cleaned the sink. So today is on target!

Must go now: the cats have been on a rampage, and there's tidying to do and mice to dig out from under the furniture.

Good morning, Ladies! :) :cheer:

9:30 am on a Friday morning here, I'm at work and I'm feeling sooo good! The workout yesterday was really great - I attended a class where we did exercises for the abs and thights, and this time it wasn't nearly as hard as it was in the past. I also picked up a 9 lb bar (last time I nearly passed out under it, but yesterday was great) and 4 lb weights (heavier than before). I also did 10 minutes on the treadmill, which sucked, but I did do it. And I slept great despite going to sleep a bit later than planned (just love night-time chats).

I know I haven't posted my bed & get up times, but can't remember the details at the moment. I have them noted down at home. Got up at 7:30 yesterday and 7:20 today though. :)


Mscat, sorry to hear your back gave out, ouch! I hope you get better soon. Just take it easy for a few days. :grouphug:

Bonnie, hope you're having a good day. I know full well about not being able to fall asleep... ;) I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a clean pool for you all the time! :)

Carla, great to hear you've already found Flylady useful! :cheer: There are some great ideas there indeed. I couldn't do the whole thing though... maybe once I have a house, family, work and self to take care of... for now I can handle things with my own systems. Hope the cats let you sleep today. :) But then it's actually it's not such a bad thing for them to wake you up if you get to exercise a bit. :)

Sushi, it's great to hear you sounding so up. It puts a different slant on everything, doesn't it! You really do a lot of exercise: I noticed your August goal of 3600 was already half-achieved on the 4th!

Fitlady does have good ideas, but the avalanche of emails could get annoying. But I don't have to do everything, do I! As a matter of fact, I'm typing this lying in bed in my nightshirt with no shoes on. ;) The cats are settling in and are either quieter or I don't hear them any more. I'm still getting up by around 7 or 7:30 (remember I'm still on holidays), which is actually a good thing. Once I get back to work I'll be up a lot earlier.

Have an enjoyable day!

:lol: At first I was like, where did Carla get 3600 from? Then I noticed I had made a typo in my signature! It sould be 360 minutes out of 1500. :lol:

Chilling in bed mmmmm... I like that too. :) When I'm in bed because I want to, not because I don't feel like getting up! :lol: I'm an avid bed reader. :)

I didn't sign up for Flylady emails, but I've heard it can be overwhelming. How are you supposed to get the stuff done if you have to sit read email? :lol:


Anyway, I think we're doing a great job getting this thread out of focus... ;)
So here are a few pertinent and more focused inspirational quotes to get us back on track... :)


<i>
Goethe:
Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded.

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

Thomas Fuller:
That which is bitter to endure may be sweet to remember.

Samuel Johnson:
The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.

Marvin Phillips:
The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!

Plato:
The first and the best victory is to conquer self.

Vincent Lombardi:
The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything.

Anthony Robbins:
The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your talent to produce outstanding results.

Roger Bannister:
The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.
</i>

Hey ladies! I figured I'd drop in to say hello and good job to everyone who's been keeping to their goals! It's been a bad week, bad food, no exercise, bleh. But, I think I needed this. I had planned to go to the gym yesterday, but it didn't happen, so I'm just going to finish out this week and try to eat healthier and start my exercise on Monday, I think I just needed some lazy days. Hope you're all doing well, not sure if I'll come back for next weeks challenge or not.

Friday Report
 

Hey Ladies! Have had a good day - on track with points - struggling with water but it's only 6:30 Friday evening. Going to try (iumph) getting on the treadmill this evening - but I have my 2 hour bellydance class tomorrow - so I might skip it. Back is feeling a lot better but I don't want to hurt again before class.

Bonniebelle - :cheer: for your exercising! Hang in there with the calories - we all have days like that (boy - do I know about that!)

haleys - good to have you drop in :wave: hope you are enjoying your break and join us next week - pick an easy - already established challenge and just hang out with us. We miss you!

Sushi - :cheer: for your goals and :thanks: for those awesome quotes! I got the focus!

carla - :cheer: for you on your accomplishments - You are doing great here and on the 21-day - you are my idol!

Have a great night!

Good morning ... I'm back!!! Sorry I've been MIA for the past few days, but just haven't taken the time to post.

Wednesday was great -- I did get up and take a 35 min walk before we left. "Wicked" is just wonderful. Make your family go with you, MsCat! I think that women/girls will enjoy it much more than guys ... but it is very much worth seeing. I did use quite a few of my Flex Points (am not going to confess how many!) but didn't really do that bad and I did count/estimate them which is a step in the right direction.

Got up and took my walk on Thursday morning and had a very low point day with plenty of fruits and veggies. Had to work all day and was soooo tired -- I'm an ol' lady and not used to those midnight bedtimes.

And then yesterday I just blew off my walk. I am SO MAD at myself!!! It was foggy in the morning so I got started on some things around the house and just never put on my shoes to get out the door. Ate well again though - made a Crockpot Ground Beef casserole thing that was full of vegetables and also had blueberries, strawberries and watermelon. Next time I make the casserole I'm going to use 1/2 the meat -- will be much lower in points and I think just as good.

Did my walk first thing this morning so am back on track -- thank goodness. Have proved to myself that "I'm not going to do it later" so won't try that again!

MsCat - sorry to hear about your back. Hope it is much better by now.

Bonnie - you are doing so well. I really doubt that you will ever go back to your old habits. I know that even when I falter a bit, it's always in the back of my mind that I'll do much better tomorrow (or the next day!) I just feel so much better that I won't give up completely.

Sushi - good job on your exercise. You are one of my motivators!

Good to have you visit, haleys -- just enjoy your time off and come back to us one of these days.

Carla - am glad your kitties are settling in. My pup is growing up too -- no more middle of the night "pit stops" and he'll actually cuddle down and sleep pretty late in the morning now. Maybe that's not such a good thing!

You guys are shaming me into a "sort & organize" mode -- so I'm off to start in the bedroom. Will probably take me all day!!!

Everyone have a good Saturday -- Bev

I'm really tired, so just dropping by...
I did 16 laps in the 50 yard pool before my Aquafit class yesterday, it felt awesome. And this morning my boyfriend said "Let's have a scrumptious dinner tonight" - and we had Thai style broccoli with rice and and chicken, tomato-parsley-onion salad and vegetable samosas (baked). Delicious and healthy. Just wanted to share my recent achievements. :) And now I want zzzzz... back tomorrow. :) :grouphug:

Quickie Check-in
 

Working w/DH on house projects all day yesterday and today - sooooo sore - I think this counts for bonus exercise goal! Barely stayed under points yesterday but bombed on the water goal. The jury is out on both today - we will see!

Bev - where did you sit at the theater? I am looking at orchestra row R and trying to decide if it is worth the money or if I should just go for the loge or balcony. What do you think?

Bonnie - :bravo: for being in a position to give away fat clothes! I am soooo jealous - you go girl!

Hello Sushi, carla, and haleys - Talk later!

Time for a weekly progress check... :) :cb:
I've already worked out my goals for next week,and I'll post them when Mscat starts the new thread on Monday.

And here is how I did:
- iron and water goals met; no food after 7 pm goal missed on Wednesday
- 21 Day Challenge re-started (twice!), Day 3 completed; working towards August goals
- daily exercise goal achieved in one form or the other; did run on the treadmill twice for 10 minutes (Thursday and Sunday), skipped rope once only, but for longer than 15 minutes
- bed schedule: Monday up 1:15 pm bed 11:35 pm, Tuesday up 7:50 am bed 10:30 pm, Wednesday up 12:20 pm after many tries to wake up bed around 11 pm, Thursday 7:30 am up bed late because of pains, Friday 7:30 am up bed around 10:45 pm, Saturday up 11:30 am bed 1 am, Sunday up 2 pm (eek!) bed by 10:45 pm

I consider Wednesday missed because I really didn't have to have Thai takeout at midnight :o :lol: For other days, I'm giving myself a pass. :cheer: My sleep schedule wasn't as good as I had expeced, but I really worked on getting it on track. Pains got in the way - read below.

The past 3-4 evenings I had those awful pains in my side... I had them a few times before, but I thought it was a form of stitches caused by walking too fast too soon after eating (used to get them in childhood all the time). But on Thursday evening I got them so bad I couldn't move and the pain was just unbearable. On Friday they came again, not as strong, but lasted longer and we almost headed to emergency. We turned back because the pain stopped and there was nothing to go with. Yesterday I had the pain for about half an hour, but it was rather slight.
Any ideas on what this might be? I had a physical not too long ago, all my blood work is up to date and fine. I tried researching this on the net, but can't really come up with any explanation. The pain is at waist level on my right side - usually right on the side of the body, sometimes at the back, and sometimes it feels like two daggers piercing the front and the back. It feels like there is a square block of something in my side. From time to time it goes to the pelvic area, and then it recedes in the side.
My boyfriend things it might be the amount of water I'm drinking, or that it could have to do with my diet. :?: We did research on kidney stones, but pretty much eliminated that eventuality.
I'll be seeing my doctor in about 3 weeks, and I can't get an earlier appointment. So I'm just wondering if any of you might have an idea as to what this might be...

What else about me... had a rather lazy weekend, but at some point today I decided to hit the gym. Ufff, the elliptical was tough - it's been a while since I did any equipment-based workout. I also ran on the treadmill (yuck!) and skipped rope (whee). The gym has better ropes than the one I have at home, so I think I'll skip at the gym more often. And I've decided to change my goal to a minimum number of skips. Easier to keep track of than time, and gives me a better idea on how to push myself more.
I've already told you about the scrumptious dinner my boyfriend requested yesterday. I'm so happy I was able to make something we both were happy with - tasty, healthy and took care of my vegetable challenge. And I learned a new quick way of making delicious broccoli, so that's yet another incentive to eat it more often.


Mscat, you totally should count the home project as exercise! I'll be moving at the end of the month and putting some of my stuff into storage, and I'm already trying to figure out how much exercise I'll get carrying, loading, unloading my stuff and running up and down the stairs. :lol: Hope you're having fun with the projects!

Haley, it was great to have you drop by. Do join us next week, even for a small challenge - you're missed, and the more of us, the easier it all gets! :) Cheers!

Bonnie, don't beat yourself up for missing a day of exercise, it can happen to anyone. :) Just be a good girl from now on! :lol: How cool about the clothes!!! You go girl! :cheer:

Bev, awesome that you had so much fun AND got exercise in on Wednesday. :)

Carla, you're being missed! Hope the cats are being good!