Hi everyone! I just wanted to share some great news - I just received my acceptance letter into the D.C. Bar! I will be sworn in in mid-November! I didn't think there would be any reason I wouldn't be accepted, but it is nice to get the official word. Plus, I applied back in March.

at the start of Day 3...
 

Its me again. I just wanted to congratulate Fish!!!! That's awesome!! :cb: :cp: :hat:

I have had a really bad headache today. :coffee: But I'm not sure it's the caffine. I think I might have a sugar problem too. The headache came after eating 2 :cookie: :cookie: I think my next challenge will be no sugar. I also think it will be really really hard, but I might be able to do it if I'm riding on the success of this one!! Hey, there's some positive words coming from me. There is light at the end of the tunnel!!!
Thanks again for helping me through this fog I am in....
:grouphug:

Congrats Fishwoman on your acceptance

Red – I guess I sometimes get caught up in replying that I forget to mark my days here. Today is Day 3 – so far so good. Thanks for the workout for my bat wings. I’m going to give them a try.

FishWoman – CONGRAT!!! :bravo: :dance: :dancer:

Sorry so short everyone I have my grandson and I can't take an eye off him. If I have him with my on the computer he bangs the keys. TTL

My new challenge
 

Just stopping by long enough to declare my challenge. It's going to be an exercise challenge again. I'm going to expand on my ab workout. In addition to doing my full ab routine, I'm going to add pushups, squats, and lunges. Time for serious toning.

Have a great weekend all!

Sometimes I just get so annoyed with myself. (And with the rest of the world too, but...) Right now I'm sitting in my nice little hotel room, trying to justify paying $10 a day for a few hours Internet in the evenings, plus the cost of the network cable I ended buying - the one provided by the hotel is too short for me to use the laptop on my bed, so I went out and splurged on a 12-footer. Whoever said size doesn't matter? :lol:

As I said in my short post earlier, I'm starting to realize I may have been a little too quick to drop some meds I was on. Once I realized they might be part of the reason for the excessive sweating, I was so done with them! So now I'm a lot dryer, but everyone around me is walking on eggshells and sweating bullets because they never know when I'm going to blow another gasket. So far I've been fortunate, in that my worst tantrums have turned out to at least be about real issues. (It's a little embarassing when I pull out all my best sarcasm only to realize I was in the wrong from the getgo...) But UPS DID lose the Gazelle, and the hotel Internet WAS impossible to connect to, and there really was no one answering the help line....

Tomorrow I was supposed to be working; it seems they can get by with 5 instead of 6 of us, so I've asked for a free day (good for the client who saves $$$, and for me and my colleagues as I get to rest and regroup.) I go home on Mon after a day's work, and then have to work 2 days very understaffed, which means more money but always wipes me out. So I'm glad to get a break now. Maybe it's my advanced age, but I really didn't expect to take so long to get back to "normal" after what really was pretty minor surgery. :(

Things seem to have been pretty busy on the thread: Mez working on batwings, Marble taking advantage of my absence to try to kill herself (no doubt wanting to start a new challenge at the same time as me ::D:,
Fish BEING ACCEPTED TO THE BAR!!!! YOU GO, GIRL!!!!!,
Red eliminating everything but oatmeal and gravel from her diet :rofl:, apple suffering from the blues but hanging in there, ... I'd love to mention everyone else, but am using a very skittish IP and it won't let me "go advanced". Now I think I know what happened to last night's post...

I think I'll finally start the challenge once I get home from this little trip. I'll ponder on it overnight, but think it's time for some big guns to come out. And soon my nose will stop being fragile, and I'll get some energy back, and I'll be home with no excuse... (Speaking of which, dinner out was absolutely scrumptious. I really do have lovely friends who treat me so wonderfully. Sniff, sniff.)

My apologies to those of you I didn't mention, Chaps, Curly, Friend, our many new members... And by the way, Red, as far as the dreaded 2's are concerned, I very much fear that ship has already sailed... :shrug:

:( I'm slacking.
 

I'm still doing good as far as eating. And I'm walking ALL day...ATLEAST 8000 a day. But I'm so tired when I get home that I don't get around to getting on here. So I'll make this challenge simple. Post here EVERYDAY with the number of steps that day. Simple enough. I give each and every one of you permission to kick my behind if I slack off again LOL.

Day One Finished
 

This morning I started the new challenge. I didn't jog because it's raining like mad, so I made it a big strength training day. Did the abs, lunges, squats, and then focused on arms. Up until today, I have been doing pushups on my knees. Today I did ten of those, and then thought I would try "real" pushups. Holy mole', what an eye-opener! So much tougher!! But I did three, and that's a great start.

Mez - I hear you about the bat wings. After losing a bunch of weight, I had resigned myself to the flappy skin which remained, and just figured that unless I can afford surgery, I will have to live with it. *BUT*!!! When I started the situps and saw a huge reduction in the flappiness around my torso, I realized that all was not lost. That is really what is motivating me to start working on my arms, because I know for a fact that it can be helped. Red is totally right about the triceps, I highly recommend giving that a shot for a couple of weeks.

Marble & Friends - I think the biggest thing that throws new exercising hotties such as yourselves off the track is starting too big. It makes tons of sense - you get all motivated and you want to do it all in one day. We have all done that. But just like weight loss is best done slowly, starting exercise is best done slowly. You might not feel it too much at first, but that's great, because you will keep at it! You can do it, youcanyoucanyoucan!!

Fish - Congratulations on the bar, that's fabulous!

Redballoon - Early rising. Yes. I am finally at a point where I don't even think. I hear the coffee pot brewing, then I hear the alarm, and I just get up without even thinking. If I stop and think, I will talk myself into staying in bed, when I'm in that non-rational state between sleep and awake. Oh, by the way, next time I'm in Tokyo, I'll gladly eat cold oats with your horse!!

Everyone else, have a great weekend! Beat those challenges into submission!

Hey Chaps, I owe you a big thank you :thanks: - your comment about situps helping the "flappy torso" (I just love some of the expressions around here!) hit home and I think situps, Red's :drill: bat exercises, and some pushups are going to be in the next challenge. I've never been so fluffy in my life, and it makes me look a lot fatter and older than if I had nice firm fat. :sumo:

So far today I'm both proud and embarrassed to say it's almost one pm, and I'd probably still be dozing if the phone hadn't rung. So I'm needed at work this aft after all, but in the meantime I've rested well and feel so much less tense. I think a nice big breakfast will be just what I need to keep me going all day. I'm pretty hungry :hun: , but for FOOD, not junk.

Later gaters, :)

day 17
 

ok back to business... chai and I are heading out for a nice 3 mile walk... then i am gonna come home and be lazy and read all my nutrition books i checked out this morning.. i bought a tae bo dvd i will try that out tonite and do some time on the 'zelle


so day 17 done!

hmm..to pause or start over...
 

Chaps...but what's the excuse if you've been exercising regularly for YEARS AND YEARS? (oh it must be old age?)

Ah-HAH, Ms. Carla rises from the ashes like a Phoenix.....her nose is perfect and her tummy flat from all that abdominal work while she was recooperating....

My back is feeling better every day, I've been stretching it and applying heat. Hopefully by Sunday I will renew my challenge and get past the single digits....

have a great weekend everyone!

The tracker-RED
 

yes I myself would like to know why my weight will not move down faster...

becz... I am walking a total of 5 miles a day, I go to the gym everyday and work out for 1 hr...

as u know i dont eat white flour, sugar, potatoes,rice or pasta


heres my weights... as u can see in the graph i was stuck on a plateau.. when my weight went up.. i moved my tracker up,, when it went down i moved it down... so it probably seems like it has been on the same numbers now for a while..

Well, curly, you are losing, just very slowly. It looks like you'll have to cut the amount of food you eat. It's the same as me. I can cut all the junk out of my diet but as long as I don't reduce the overall amount of food, the fat won't come off. It's simple arithmetic. What's not so simple, of course, is doing it and I'm not in a rush, because, probably like you, the healthful eating is the priority. But since you were wondering about why your weight doesn't come off, it's simply that you're still, for YOU, eating too many calories to create a deficit. Good luck! It's what I'm working on too....

i eat 1200- 1300 calories per day, but like u said i am not going any lower becuz this is forever...

Day 1
 

Posting to say hi. :)

8,459 steps today. YAY!!!

Gotta work tomorrow, even though its SUPPOSED to be my day off cuz we have a birthday party to do. SO oh well. Atleast its not ALL day.

Day Two Complete
 

Finished Day 2 of adding pushups, lunges, and squats. Man, there is nothing quite like jogging 3.5 miles, doing a series of leg exercises, and then having to walk up 5 flights of stairs when you get home. Oh, and it's 46 degrees outside.

Carla - "nice firm fat" - bwahahahaha! That cracked me UP! But soon it will be replaced with nice toned muscle. Who gets the last laugh then??

Marble - Oooohh, I didn't know you were not just starting. I guess that's what I get for coming in partway through a conversation. Well, glad to hear you are feeling better, anyway!

Redballoon - Yes, I will take it easy if this challenge starts to make me feel too sore. I know that I don't need to prove anything to anyone but myself. And besides that, I have earned two pause days, so I think I'm in pretty good shape. I hope you got to sleep in today!

Have a great day everyone!

home at last!
 

day 18... walked 3 miles

Yesterday was day 5! And today stands a very good chance of being day 6 as I still have 700 calories to work with for dinner.

I will say hello in more detail tomorrow. Everyone have a great evening!

I failed already. I did very good the first 3 days then the weekend hit and I had to work.And it just went all do down hill very fast. Good luck to everyone on reaching you goals.

Crd43123, there is no failure on this site, just new beginnings. So pick that dejected little chin up off the floor and plan for a new day 1 tomorow! We've all ben there, in fact I'm there right now, planning to restart later this week. The important thing is to never feel defeated.

apt pupil!!
 

To try and not succeed is not failure. Failure only comes when you do not pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start again. Believe me if I took into account every single time I did not finish something I started, did not kick into action again, did not get it right the first time, I would be a blubbering mess in the dunces corner. Take the opportunity to work out where you went wrong, awol, astray and decide that it will not happen again that way. If you learn from your mistakes, you can then start to make extremely creative mistakes when you've run out of the mundane everyday mistakes we all make.
Do not despair. Just start over. We are are here kicking you back up to your feet again.

Have a good day everyone.

Day 2 Complete
 

Hi peoples. Bad day. Bad headache and just don't feel right. Hope I'm not getting sick. Had to do a birthday party today. Didn't go as well as we'd hoped. Only walked 6,254 steps today. Going to bed in a few. Have a good night ladies.

Chaps - I'm hoping that weights will help me out with those bat wings. I really need to do abs and such. Your talking about what it has done for you is very inspiring! Thanks so much for sharing sometimes I look at myself and think nothing is ever going to change!!! I know that isn't true but at time I get down on myself.

Red - I'm Sooooooooooo Sorry I messed up my challenge ONCE AGAIN!!! It was my vitamins! It seems I always seem to forget them. I could take them right now but it's to late and I need to have something in my belly before I take them.

Fish - GREAT JOB!!! All that hard work has paid off! I'm so PROUD OF YOU!!! HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY

Hey Mez...have you tried stashing cashes of vitamins in critical places? Keep a two day supply in your purse, in your glove compartment, if you have 2 cars in the other car too! Some next to your bed.....maybe it will help! And maybe some single serving crackers or fruit if you have to eat when you take them. I am not a big vitamin person myself, but I've been taking a multi lately because of my funky moods. Thought maybe it would help.
crd- I've restarted I don't know how many times. I might hold the record. I can't seem to keep the %#@!!* beer out of my hands. Although, here I am, about to complete day 4. I think it's 4 anyway.
I'm feeling a bit better, allthough I was really grumpy with the kids around late afternoon, my witching hour...
Carla-I've been trying to come up with a good adjective for my fat. I think fluffy is a pretty good one! There is definately a difference between fluffy fat and firm fat....

Heh, guys. I'm off the challenge again. Feeling really bored and unmotivated with the whole thing and am thinking of taking an indefinite break....think you can handle things alone?

I for one would be really sorry for you to just disappear off into the ethernet Red. However I know only too well the feelings of loss of motivation. Here one week, gone the next. Can you compromise and come back just to check on the kiddies. I'm sure we will forgive you for not participating.

In the meantime don't go overboard with the bad stuff.

I just checked up on your numbers and I have put them in my cell phone. I will ring you next week from Mizunami. Thanks for all you have done for me.

Thanks, Shad. In times like this I really just need some support. These past couple weeks or so, probably in the absence of some of our regulars, I have felt just like I'm in here rooting for people but no one is rooting for me and my damn challenge is so hard I need a lot of support. I CAN do it without it and do, but I don't sustain things without it. I go off and do other things and that involves no work. Recently, even though sometimes structure helps hold us to things, things have felt more like work. I'm tired and I supposed I am sick of myself and the fact that I can't seem to do anything unless it's all or nothing. That's the kind of person I am and I don't think it's going to ever change. I don't know....I'm just tired and bored and looking for change....and tired of trying to make people come to life..not here, but at work. The place is **** and the people are all down in the mouth and I am sick of it. It's not conducive to a challenge or ANY kind of success. I could tell them I won the Pulitzer and they'd just shrug...

Red: I hope that soon u will be feeling better and come back...

This thread that u started has kept a lot of people motivated.. or got them started exercisng every day.. I know for myself that there were many days I would have talked myself into not exercising had it not been for the fact that i didnt want to start over.... & the support was a great boost for me as well.. thank you

you have helped a lot of people... and i would hate for u to leave us.. but i can understand how u feel if u just need a break..hugs..

Thanks, curly. I'm just tired and low and probably just looking for encouragment myself, which I haven't been getting or haven't been getting enough of. I suppose it's like you, others don't realize how hard it is to make it through the days and I'm not one to moan about it when I have done it. I moan when I'm not doing it. Usually, when I'm not moaning it's because things are so tough that I've got my teeth gritted shut and am just concentrating so hard on getting through that I don't have the energy to do anything else. If I did, I would fall off the wagon...or I would soon...and that is what has happened. Things are just soo tough now in my life yet I know the challenge is keeping me from hating myself when I have time to reflect. I need to stay on, really....it's these times that are so hard...I guess I'm just feeling misunderstood and ignored....I really am a kittycat needing attention...

Alright! I made it through the weekend and stayed under goal! Yesterday was day 6 at 1482 calories!

Red - I am sorry you are having such a rough time right now. You are always so supportive to all of us here. I think (speaking only for myself) we just assume that you are on top of everything and don't necessarily need our encouragement. We don't mean to ignore you :^: we just thought you had everything under control with your mega-challenges! As Shad and Curly have already said, we would hate to lose you, but completely understand if you need a break.

crd - don't give up! The last two weekends I blew my challenge and had to start over. This is the first weekend I actually made it through and kept under 1500/day. And at 1482 yesterday, I just squeaked under. I forget who posted this thought earlier, but it was amazing. It was something along the idea that we are not failing even if we don't make 21 days in a row, because everyday we are trying.

RB!!! I'm not expecting you to be Ms. Sunshine constantly, but want you to know that you are a born LEADER....and we depend on you to keep us on the path of challenge and perserverance. (Consider your fur stroked and pick your tail up).

My work schedule is not permitting me to have a life..on my one day off yesterday my down-time was invaded by the contractor finishing (almost) my new room...referred to as "the meditation sanctuary" or insane asylum at this point....

I'm waiting for Coach Carla to join me in a new challenge.....if I don't slit my wrists first....

Red! Baby! Say it ain't so!!!

I know - you're just feigning defeat to push me back onto the wagon. And it has worked. Right now I'm sitting fluffily at the airport enjoying one last calorific hurrah. And tomorrow I'll be home getting to know my new (virgin) Gazelle, trying to eat properly and get my mind right. (quote from Cool Hand Luke, I think). Maybe you can't hear it but I'm also humming the chorus from Love Me Tender: "For dear RB, we love you, and we always will.... somehing something... all our dreams fulfill...". (Already getting some VERY strange looks from the proper business folk in the lounge, but will launch into the King singing "Don't. Don't.... etc etc ...This you can believe, we will never leave you, baby - don't say don't..." Okay so it doesn't really fit, but you get the drift. I promise faithfully to shut up about my blankety-blank nose and post faithfully, responding REGULARLY and not just when the spirit moves. Speaking of which, as of Tomorrow (note capitalization), new challenge: no more spirit moving this fat chick for a while! Much as I love that wine, it sure does make the blues worse. So while there may be more components, I at least pledge to take the pledge. (Would it help if I tried to sort of co-host for a while? So you don't HAVE to always find the time and the positive stuff to say to us whiners? I'll be an extremely pale imitation, but will put my laptop where my mouth is if that will keep you with us.)

Confession time: I did NOT coin the expression "fluffy" - it comes from our own dear Mez, another essential part of our little group.

And Marble, if you were waiting for Coach Carla, wait no more. I have sharpened my whip and added some spurs that go jingle-jangle-jingle, and tomorrow is day 1. I'm sipping my last sips of nectar as I type.

Well, I'd better eat my soup before it's time to board. No real food :carrot: - even for a price - on flights under 2 hours. And since my car is at the airport, I need to sop up those last few golden drops....

Fish, marble, carla, thanks. I'm just in a bad way, with everything seemingly continuing to fall apart around me. Your words help and carla, you make me laugh, which is the kind of medicine I need, not the always laughing for others I do constantly (not here, at work and stuff). Let's see how it goes.

Go RB, Go RB! :carrot: :cp: :cheer: :cheer: :coach:

I'm truly sorry to hear that life is being so *pissy* toward you....don't worry, everyone will pick you up and carry YOU for a while...hang in there, the planets are just out of alignment....(and remember.....Jesus is coming, so look busy)! Feel free to vent as needed, someone always answers. I'll dig out my best phrases that usually can make others snort their coffee outta their noses....

I had a terrible experience this weekend at work....one of the docs. I hadn't seen in 4 years was visiting...(4 years ago I weighed in at 135#). He said "Oh Hi Marble, WOW HAVE YOU GAINED A LOT OF WEIGHT!!!" as*wipe that he is, and I responded by making excuses...I ahould have slapped his lips off!

I can guilt anyone into doing anything...OK coach-carla....tomorrow please report 5 mins. of gazelle-riding and dust off those weights. Don't worry, I'll drink wine for you tonight....... :devil:

The sugarhigh party is over...hopefully the withdrawal will be easier. We will complete the next challenge before US Thanksgiving.

fall apart umm lets see any day now they will be laying us off at my job,

last week they turned my electric off cuz my bill for one month was 500$, ( my dad felt sorry for me and paid the bill.. but i have to pay him back)

yesterday someone stole my cat,

to fill my oil tank for heat this winter it will cost $600 so for now i have no heat ..sigh cant get too much worse for me.. BUT i am not gonna give up!

Someone stole your cat????? How awful! Yes, the other stuff is awful too. $500. for one month electric is really high (mine is like 135)...down here you can get on a budget plan where the bill is the same every month except for once a year, where they owe you or you owe them.

Heating oil is very high, but some of the companies are locking in a lower price for regular customers here. My mother has oil, but mine is gas forced hot air.

Are you making plan B for another job? sometimes, just having things in the works in the event of disaster helps.

(i do this weird thing where I hide $$ from myself, so if there is an emergency, I don't panic so badly)