hi all -
Thanks for the support. Yesterday I walked 4 miles and drank 6 bottles of water. I also had a yogurt, some low fat crackers with laughing cow cheese, a healthy choice meal, a slice of pizza and some frozen grapes. Today I got on the scale and I am back down to 158.8 which is what I was for my big date. I am hoping to break 158 by friday. I know i can do this is I try hard.


Pen- have fun on your picnic it sounds like a great time.

cac- I have trouble calorie counting because alot of things I dont know the calorie count. However, when I was doing it 1200 calories was alot for me in a day I rarely go over that. I tried uping protein and thats when I started gaining. I am going to go back to what was working for me.

Nikki

Hi Everyone, The weather is finally lovely here! It's in the mid 80's today witha slight breeze. My granddaughter (aged 3) spent the night and she and I went to the park and went for a walk this morning. My husband will stop and pick up our grandson on his way home from work and we will take him to baseball practice tonight and mcKenzie and I will take another walk. So, I should get my exercise in! Eating wise....not too bad...althought I think I have gained a pound. I don't think a slight varation in weight is unusual, and is to be expected. I just want to watch it and make sure it doesn't go over that!

PenPal, I had shin splints recentally too! Very painful and put and end to my walking for exercise for a couple of weeks. I spoke to our rehab Dr. at work and he showed me some stretching exercises to do that really worked. Just calf stretches that I had neglected to do! Really makes a difference! And HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!! Sorry you have to spend it alone, but you can celebrate when hubby gets home! Mine is coming up in August! Our 40th!!! Where do the years go?

Marie, Your vacation sounds fun and well deserved! Hope you enjoy every second! I don't think I could do the Turbo Jam either. Looks like there is some kicking involved, righ? I can't kick, my back would be right out! I really liked the Tye_Bo tapes but couldn't do them! Now I just walk and lift weights.

Judy, I still haven't started doing my Yoga tape but i'm looking forward to it. Flexability is easly lost and something I need to work on. It does take time and we may not get it all back, but it's worth the effort to try.

Niki, Just do what works for you. people are very different, that's why there are so many different diets and exercise plans out there. I find that if I eat too few calories I stop losing. My mytabolism slows down.

Take care all, Freda

Aieee, what a day. Must be that 666 thing...an overstressed co-worker had a bit of a meltdown, so I've been walking around on pins and needles trying not too make too much or too little of it. Everyone at my job is lovely, I've rarely seen anything unprofessional or wacked out here. So I can't complain, since so many people struggle all the time with office politics or with people who just aren't right.

I've been eating on program--just had a good snack of sliced carrots with guacamole, yum-yum! I did a short form of Marie's favorite workout at home this morning, and had my first long walk in months on my way to work, 55 minutes. The weather's a little cooler than usual for this time of year, so I wasn't too terribly sweaty at the end of it. This is what I was supposed to be doing 2-3 time a week since early April, so it feels good to finally add this to my schedule. I don't know how close I'll be to my June 8 goal, but my clothes fit better so I know that something's happening.

Penpal, how cool to have hummingbirds in your yard! I first saw them when I visited California was I was a child, and I couldn't get over how unreal they looked hovering in the air like bees. They also had lizards and mountains in CA, which made me very envious of my cousins.

Carol, I think you made great choices on a very stressful day. I certainly wanted to ditch my brown-bag lunch today and treat myself, but I went out for a stroll instead. It takes a while to learn new patterns, doesn't it?

Nikki--go, go, go I totally agree with Freda, no one thing works for everybody, you have to go for what gets results and still feels healthy for you. I like coming to this site because it reminds me that I always have options and tweaks, and that I can find a way to get from here to there.

Freda, I have the Gaiam/Living Arts "Yoga for Weight Loss" tape. I can't do all the poses, but I still enjoy trying. I'm bad about stretching after doing cardio on my own, but the yoga feels like a whole stretching routine. My mom says she's interested in 'chair yoga,' so I'm looking at a tape to send her.

Keep up the great work, everybody!

judy

Hi Everyone. I hope your day was good. Mine was good even though I was at work.

Yesterday was great. We weren't able to see the movie because there were no matinee showings, but we rollerbladed for 8 miles (about 1 mile too far - I was dragging), did some grocery shopping, and then had a picnic with Subway. It was great. I was tired the rest of the day, though. And we pulled the winter cover off the pool and got it ready for the year. It still looks strange to me since DH hasn't put up the diving board. But there's progress. Hopefully the solar heater will heat the water up by the weekend. It was 75 degrees yesterday afternoon. I like it about 85 but would swim at 82. So we're getting there.

I got a few more WATP DVD's yesterday. One is a 1 mile Yoga walk. Has a warm-up 1 mile walk and then about a 15 minute yoga stretch. So I did that this evening. It was pretty good. I'd already done 3 miles before work. So I guess I'm exrecised out for the day. Tomrrow DH and I are going rollerblading after work. So that will be cool.

Food is doing good. I looked on my database and the average calories for the month of May was exactly 1400. So I'm right on target.

Nikki, good for you getting on track. I knew you could do it!!! I totally agre with going back to what works for you individually. I've tried all kinds of diets and the only one that I succeed at is counting calories - logging all of it into my database. I can't cheat if I see it in black and white. For others, that would be dreadful. It's an individual thing.

Judy, I'm very impressed with your Jamming. Me, I'm a walker and starting to become a rollerblader again. I hadn't done it in 3 years so I was a bit scared for the first few minutes.

Carol, good for you staying on track with a stressful day. I understand being out of the office - the work doesn't take a "vacation" and start to pile up. Luckily for me, my summer vacation will start in a month and I'll probably take 4 weeks off.

Freda, I'm glad your weather has improved. So has ours, enough to open the pool. I really thought summer had skipped us this year. Sounds like you had a wonderful time with your DGD.

Penpal, Congrats on anniversary. That's quite a milestone - 37 years. Even though DH was helping your DS, it's still pretty exciting. I definitely want to see Over the Hedge. But this weekend I'm taking my DH to "Cars". He's a car addict and Nascar fan so I thought we'd go. So I guess the Break-up is on the back burner for now.

Well, I will chat with you all later. Have a great night (or morning if I'm the last poster of the night).
Marie

Nikki thats the nice thing about journaling you can look back to see what you were doing at that time. Exercise wise and intake. Glad your on a roll again sometimes sharing ideas with others gets us motivated or rethinking of the best way to do things that work for us. Dieting is so individualized things work differently for different folks. Good luck sounds like your doing fine. Freda must be we are on the wave I had my 4 yr. old grandson overnight his dad is working out of town for a few weeks. So we are sharing him with the other gram. We have him the most but its no problem. My daughter works nights at the paper. Those little ones are exercise by themselves. Judy I wish I worked in your place wacked out isn't the word for some of what goes on. Keep up your good work and goals will be met. I have been doing better with my eating but did have a couple of chicken wings! I am in hopes my gardening work helped work them off. Every once in awhile I need to give in a little at least I felt in control and didn't over do. Marie keep up the good work. I only wish I had vacation time but of course I can look back at the Hawaii pictures and be grateful for the time I had. That was super! I have had such a busy work week and 3 hrs. of training yesterday to keep up with upcoming paperwork changes for the gov't. Oh! I have friday off and if I don't work late or take something home its not good for me to be off one more day. I might just have to take something home for my own benefit no pay.

Marie - Rollerbladding 8 miles WOW! I always wanted to learn to roller blade. Now with 2 bum ankles I'm not sure I could.

cac- You sound busy that is great. When I'm busy sometimes I forget to eat !

Judy- A 55 minute walk you go girl!!!!

Freda - keeping up with the baby has got to have you exercising more.

As for me I walked 3.5 miles yesterday and drank 6 water bottles again. I also ate real good. Today I am still in the 158's . My aim is 156 or 157 by Friday I will take either. I plan to walk another 3.5 - 4 miles today and stick with the water and eating.

catch you all later
Nikki

Ahh I did not make my 5 lb goal... I think about losing weight everyday but I never lose any I am going to Europe in 3 weeks and I know it might bedifficult as I will be there 6 weeks, to work out... so i guess that may mean I might have to put my weight loss on hold again Idont want to but I need to knwo some creative ways to get my body moving while Im out the country

Intrigued- I am sorry you did not meet your goal. I would sugest going on walks and hikes through Europe as exercise. Where exactly are you headed?

Nikki

Wow, Intrigued, a trip to Europe, how fun! I'm sorry you didn't reach your goal, but as someone's signature says, "It's only a failure if you don't get up again," so don't let it keep you down. I have friends who go on bike trips and walking tours, so they're more active than they would be if they were at home.

Just checking in quickly to say hi to everyone. I've been real busy the last couple of days helping DS move into his apartment. Now he can do his OWN laundry! With all this upheaval it's hard to stay on track with my eating, journaling, water, etc. Tomorrow things should calm down a bit and I'm determined to get back on track. It's great that our DS's place is quite nearby, so we'll see more of him. It's lucky he found a good job around here in Engineering as they are few and far between these days.

Hi everyone, sounds like Nikki is back on track. Way to go on the walking and the water. I'd cross my finger for the 156/7 on Friday but then I couldn't type.

Judy, I agree with your advice. Walk, walk, walk while on vacation. That's what I plan to do. I'm going to bring my rollerblades too, but walking is my main staple of exercise.

Intrigued, sorry about the missed goal. Trust me, when you're really ready to lose those 5 pounds, nothing will stop you. So for now, fight not gaining and that's progress itself.

Penpal, I know that when my DS graduates next year, he'll be moving away. No software engineering jobs in Klamath Falls. Ha, there's barely any jobs here. So you're lucky. Your DS moved away for a few years and is coming back. Mine stayed for college, then will leave. Next year, you'll see my sad face.

Carol, enjoy your son's visit. I bet you'll have a great time. I definitely think gardening is hard work. My butt muscles always hurt after weeding and the such.

Work was good today. I've been working on a new website and I got the pages to search the database and return only certain records. I was quite happy. It's a lot more complex dynamic site then I've done in the past, so this was way too cool. My brain was fired by the end of the day, but I'm learning. And it worked!

After work DH and I went rollerblading again (definitely hard on the ankles, Nikki). We went 5 miles and 2.5 of it was into a 20 mph wind. Yikes, what a workout. DH is military and is told to exercise and 5 hours can be on work time. So we met after I got off and he did his PT (physical training). It was nice to see him midweek. As we're rolling along I told him I'd gotten up early and exercised already in the morning. He thought I was nuts. I'd say I'm obsessed. I've got my goals...

Well, time for my evening snack. Talk to you all later.
Marie

Marie - Way to go on your roller blading !! That is great that you can do it with your hubby. This weekend I am going to get my boyfriend to go on a walk both nights.

Penpal- Great news that your DS can stay close.


As for me. I am pretty sure I will see 156 tomorrow. If I do that is the lightest I have been in 5 years. I walked 3 miles yesterday and plan to do 3 today and 3 tomorrow which will put me over the week goal. I'd rather put my goal lower and exceed it then make a high goal and not make it.

Have a healthy one
Nikki

Hey, there--

Nikki, we will celebrate your big milestone! This morning's weight is the same as last week, so I'm still 3 pounds higher than my goal for today. On the other hand, I'm five pounds lighter than I was three weeks ago, so I'm not complaining . I'll set another goal this weekend. I have three days of stressful meetings next week, and travel near the end of the month, so I might focus on behavioral goals as opposed to pounds. I've been peeking at the Success threads lately, and that's keeping my spirits up despite the slow progress.

Marie, I'm so impressed that you rollerblade! It looks like so much fun. I'm glad to hear that work is going well. I would think that being in IT would be pretty stressful.

Penpal, won't you miss doing your son's laundry?

Intrigued--I had another thought. I travel a lot, and since I enjoy doing video workouts, I'm thinking of splurging on a mini-DVD player so I will have absolutely no excuses!

Carol, a stray chicken wing never hurt anybody, although the chicken involved might dispute that opinion.

Bye--judy

Judy- i can't wait to celebrate it. Here is hoping for 156 tomorrow my fingers are crossed. being 5 lbs lighter is always good. If you wanted to set a goal you could join Marie and I in our goal for July 17th. Our goal is 10 lbs each but you could set your own goal for that date.

Nikki

That's one good thing about him moving into his own place. I never cease to be amazed at the amount of laundry one guy can produce in a week! Still, it's a lot less than when he was playing sports in High School. Come to think of it, I AM a bit nostalgic about it already!

I hope everyone has a good day. Tomorrow's my weigh in day so I hope I haven't gained with all that's been going on this last week.