Once again on the run. I maybe leaving town for the weekend sisters want to go on xmas shopping and stay overnight. Getting things in order just incase.

Hello. I am here but not! No time to write now. I am running late. Will try to get a post in tonight and catch up! Alas, my resolve flew the coop last night...and with it Day 8 of my challenge. So, it's a groundhog for 8 again today. Shad, I did my crunches etc. yesterday morning at the gym. I think they will wait till tonight today. There is no daily winning. It's the total number of "good" days to New Year's that will determine the winner. You are now one day behind. Hope that I, too, will have my down days.....don't put any money on it though!

Day 16 today! (have yet to do the abs today though, might sneak them in while DH is mowing!, he is likely to have some stupid comments if he sees me madly crunching... LOL)

Hola! Day 3 done! Hey Derry, it gets easier as the days go by. Harder to give in, isn't it? I have resisted 2 nights of strong munchie urges thanks to this challenge. Don't have a lot of time though, I'm really tired. Good night!

I completed Day 4 - and first thing in the morning.
Well, not really first - it was raining when I got up, so I dealt with my email first, and then went for a bike ride. Still, I was done by 9:30 am, and did it feel good! I did 10 minutes, about 3 of which were fast walking. I'm so SORE though!!!

It turns out I can run for longer than I thought I could, but it's very difficult to add those extra 30 seconds each day. So I'm going to modify my challenge a bit... make it something of the kind that if one day I ran 5 minutes without rest, then the next day I need to run for at least 5 minutes and 30 seconds before taking a rest.

Hi there!
Day Five, check! Another gold star on my chart. Today will be day 6, I'm on a roll! Maybe those darn rolls of fat around my belly with start to diminish a bit if I keep this up? : )
Today is a weekend and a day where we usually set aside normal routine a bit and have some fun. I'm a bit worried about what I will be eating, but I will get in my exercise!
Linda

Morning all,
Yes Red, I did get through all my exercises last night. It was a close run thing tho'. Today, I vow I am going to do some early and then it won't be so hard last thing at night. Todays exercise is the Body Balance class at 10.30 this morning.

I got up early this morning to watch my beloved All Black team whip the Poms in rugby. However the match was not broadcast on tv as advertised. So there I was at 3.30am trying to decide what to do for the day. The answer to that is to go back to bed and read for an hour. Maybe the replay will be on at 1.30 this afternoon. I will just have to find out won't I? Haven't heard any news broadcasts yet but I'm hoping for a good victory. Aren't all of them good?

Today is Day 10 of my challenge. No pause day yet but I am going to have to up the water intake from yesterday. I did pass the required amount but only just and only by drinking a whole bottle just before bedtime. Exercise is fine, food is fine, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Well it aint that good either. Time to get it all back into perfection status again. Ha that's a good one. Perfection from me!

I know the feeling of the look vs the actual, Red. I've had the odd bloke like that too! Actually when I first came to Aus. I used to think how good looking most of the blokes were. Tall, good skins, nice proportions etc. etc. Didn't take too long to understand that there was little between the ears.

Well before any Aussies come baying for blood, I'm off to start the day. An hour in the garden before it gets too hot and then back to my bedroom to cull the wardrobe and clean the floors and get rid of some of the extraneous boarders that come in for the summer. By the time I am finished there, it will be time for gym. See ya.

Yesterday was Day 9 of Creak, Day 8 of Detox. But today Creak croaked. I just find it too hard to get in the exercise on a travel day, using my energy for dragging my suitcase and multiple plastic bags full of impulse buys to and from the airports. And then unpacking and tidying and recuperating cats and all their paraphernalia, and going out for coffee with a friend and... and... Hmmm. Maybe I'll rethink this: it may all add up to 30 minutes after all, which would be like challenge CPR. Today is Day 8 of DETOX, which is going very well. No wine or chocolate (or other candy), and still no white flour since I added that one in. I'm seriously considering one of those no white food challenges - it makes it pretty hard to overeat. Maybe for a week-at-a-time challenge first.

Red and Shad, I'm pretty impressed by your little contest. I really need some floor exercises - dieting will eventually reduce the weight, but only exercise will firm up all that fluff. Not that that's enough to get me down there doing pushups. Yet. It bums me out, because even the replacement jeans are only so-so: the ones that looked fantastic on me were tight in the waist and gave me huge, billowing, quivering bulges of blubber around the middle, so I had to let them go.

Sushi, running outside may seem more demanding because you're probably going at it a lot harder, and of course the ground is uneven which is both more demanding but better for your legs and feet. Be careful not to increase your time or distance more than 10% per week to avoid injuries.

Mez, girl, you just shop til you drop. Great exercise!

I had a message from Marble, who is able to do a few things now and hopes to get back to work soon. Less pain, perfect albeit swollen nose, lawsuit looking good.

Red, when you screw up your challenge in Hong Kong are you going to start a new thread? It sounds like you're planning a well-lubricated little trip. Ah, to be young and able to live with those mornings-after. I was in Hong Kong twice years ago, before it was returned to China, and loved it, especially silly touristy things like the Star ferry and the cable car to Victoria Peak and all the great food and old people doing tai chi in the park so early in the morning and just wandering around. I'm very envious.

Shad, I think it was you I made fun of some time ago for talking about laying "pavers". Well, the joke's on me: I was just watching one of those reno shows on the tv, and an American clearly talked about choosing dark coloured pavers, so... Oops.

Ice, you're just flying thru your challenge, making some of us look foolish and slow...
Derry and Apple off to a strong start too.

No rants today. Maybe tomorrow.

Carla, traveling is exhausting as it is. If your suitcase is heavy enough, you should count the day as complete. And step it up tomorrow, do a little extra to cut the edge off the doubt...You're doing to well to stop!!!
Red, sounds like you have quite an obstacle ahead of you. I have to say I would definately cave in that situation. Be strong!!! But we do need a new thread....
Shad, sounds like you have the exercise bit all figured out! Way to go!
Derry, glad to see you are cruising along! I knew you could do it!!
As for me, day four is done. Right now I am battling those late night munchies again, but I feel motivated enough not to give in.
Remeber a while back we were discussing keeping in touch with friends and family? Well, that has inspired me to contact 2 friends. One I haven't spoken to for about a year and the other it's been 25 years!! It is great to hear from them again.
Hope everyone is having a nice weekend

No I didn't get to see the game. Boo Hoo. I know the score and I'm told it was a good game. I missed the live match because of daylight saving. New South Wales has it and Queensland doesn't. So I should have got up at 2.30 and not 3.30. How blonde can I get. To tell the truth, I was surprised that Japan did not get the World Cup. Sour grapes in Aus says that it will be a traffic nightmare and a sellout situation because our stadiums can't fit the requisite number of people. However if Helen Clark can't persuade the 'old farts' in the IRB then no one could have. Maybe they should have sent Korizumi and the funny haircut to match up with Helen and the funny haircut. Those two must have a great sense of humour. You would need it to get around the haircuts. No one came around shooting up the house. I even wore my tee shirt which proclaims - I support two teams. New Zealand and any team playing Australia - went to gym in it, went to the shops in it and no one said a dicky bird. Crikey where have all the biters gone?

Right I have done the exercise, drank the fluids and had a couple of glasses of vino, and done the exercise. I've also weeded the garden, hung out 4 loads of washing, brought it back in and folded it. (the ironing can wait) cleaned my bedroom, the laundry, the loo and the bathroom, culled my wardrobe - there are 3 bags of clothes to go to the goodwill bins, had dinner and cleaned up. Oh and I have made lunch and breakfast for tomorrow so I am ready for the start of the new week. I'll shower after I have finished here and an early night is called for. I'm trying out a new gym in the city tomorrow so I need to catch a train around 5.30. That means leaving home not later than 5 to get to the station.

Carla - there are pavers and pavers. One is a thick concrete block and the other - well come to think of it, maybe the other is not much different. Don't know what you call them in Canada, those who indulge in the physical activity of layer the aforementioned concrete or clay blocks are called pavers or tilers or sometimes landscape architects. The objects can be pavers, tiles, bricks, or as the Brits call them pavieurs (sp??) By the way I am with Red and Apple, travelling sounds like exercise to me. Just make sure you don't sweat over the Manolo Blahniks. They can't take water of any description.

Red, why are they getting at you because you are going to HK? Hey we are allowed time off for good behaviour at Christmas and Easter. Not that we are being too good mind you but you can have time off as required. I bet it is because they are jealous that you are going to HK. Well I am going to Adelaide. Not that Adelaide can compare but hey, that's where I am going. Won't put on weight down there - DS1 is a vegetarian and doesn't deviate. It's probably going to be eggplant steaks and tofu delight. Just as long as it is not Brussel Sprouts I shall survive.

Derry - you are going well on your challenge with the stars. Keep it up.

Sushi, I did a run outside yesterday (Saturday) morning and it is much harder to do that than to do the same time on the treadmill. On the treadmill you just have to put one foot in font of the other. No brainer. Outside you have to look where you are going, sort out your speeds, work out whether you can run uphill or prefer going down, look for doggy doo doo's on the footpath and also watch for the unexpected loose dog or that which will trip you up. Yesterday I got a **** of a fright when a wallaby came bounding across my path. I certainly wasn't expecting him - and yes it was a him.

Anyway, better disappear and sort out the clothes for tomorrow, ensure I have a wash bag with shampoo and soap and stuff and lay out the gym gear for an early start.

Day 9 done and finished.

Hum, I have just worked out that today is day 10 and not day 9 - well hallelujah.

Night all.

Good morning (or evening in some cases). I did give myself a star for yesterday, but barely. I forced myself at the end of the day to do 20 sit-ups and 20 leg lifts. I could have done better, but I was tired, wiped out and really not feeling awfully well. In fact, I took a two hour nap in the afternoon.
I didn't eat well, but my challenge is a movement one so I was able to still count it and today, day 6, I think I must challenge myself to add more movement.
It's hard to take a person who is a basic slug and get them to move.....
Linda the slug

good morning challengers!

friday was day 8 for me- 1 hr of circuit training

yesterday day 9- walk for 30 min in the am
walk for 30 min in the afternoon

hope everyone is having a great weekend!