:ginger: Happy Thursday, ladies! :ginger:

Here I am, popping in to say hi to you all before I tackle some shopping this morning to get more gift-wrap supplies, and to get ingredients for Christmas cooking. I'm getting my house cleaned, and wrapping gifts in bits and pieces ... so the house looks like pure CHAOS!!! :devil:

The last three days I've done pretty well with the calories, ranging between the 1500 I aspire to (during the holidays) all the way to 2000 yesterday ... but that's okay because I was eating probably TWICE that before this week! :o I'm definitely eating healthier as well, getting in some of the good citrus (it's a great year for it, it seems!) and drinking lowfat buttermilk as a snack.

I've done an official walk plus a lot of Mall-walking. I plan to do another long walk this afternoon ... The weather is very moderate, good for walking, though I don't really like moderate weather for Christmas, for Pete's sake!

Snow, thank you for the welcome! We'll all survive these holidays, maybe not lose a lot, but at least keep our heads above water, right, girls? :)

Have a great day, everyone! :tree:

Thursday Thursday
 

Hi all:

yes--finalizing some xmas stuff--got some pecans on sale to make pecan pies next week--the hubby has already broken into those--I have abstained. Yesterday the eating was okay--not great but okay. I am hanging in there with some maintenance eating which is okay for this week. After my birthday dinner on Sat night I may try to go another week on diet--we'll see. I definitely will be on plan for after xmas!

Nina-good luck with your saturday! :dust:

Magnolia--sounds like you are doing pretty good! great with the exercise--that really makes a difference.

have a great day everyone!

Good morning ladies,

Sounds like we are all still hanging on during this holiday season. The treadmill was calling my name this morning so I did 30 minutes then did my upper body weights. I am really starting to see some muscles in my arms and legs. I didn't even think that my thighs had muscles but know I can see two muscles. That was a big motivator for me so no more binging right now and back to healthy eating. I am going to stay on track this time. I don't know if I will make it to my goal but I am going to try.

card: You did really good at giving that food away. I have a friend that is always trying to sabotage me as well very quietly. She always wants to go eat at places that sure my old favorite foods that are greasy and fried. I have outwitted her and go on Saturday night because that is my cheat meal.

magnolia: One down and more to go!

sno: I can agree with you on that. I used to hate going to a band rehearsal for my friend in college, I just wasn't that into. Everyone else thougth I was crazy, not me I would have much rather been doing something else. Good idea on taking a walk.

I have set a new goal for myself with about 18 days remaining in the holiday season. I will not go above 210. There, obviously with effort I can maintain weight. BUT, I will start to lose in 2007. There is just too much going on right now for me to seriously focus on what will drop the pounds on me. So my resolution for the new year is to experiment with foods to see what will help me lose and what makes me stay at 209 and 210. There I took the pressure off myself. I will still have to watch what I eat to maintain, but I will not be stressing if I do not lose for the next few weeks. I have been having a really hard time with my boss again but the 20th is her last day until January 9th. And she doesn't work Mondays, so if I can just get through 3 more days of her without telling her what I think of her I'll be ok. The other person I don't get along with at work is also off for a week and a half on the 20th, so I could have a very merry christmas yet. AND last night I finished all my shopping for the second time. If Christmas doesn't come soon I'm going to put us in the poor house. I just keep shopping and shopping, but it is better than eating and eating. I was really stressed out on Wednesday night but instead of binging I went present shopping. I was very proud of myself.

magnolia - that is a great way to get ready for Christmas, if you try to do it all in one day you'll just get frustrated. Way to go on keeping up the walks, you'll do fantastic.

Snow - I know what you mean about not watching dh. Go for your walk. After a few more years, if she is still around, the other guys girlfriend will probably not be so eager to watch. Yes it is great to do at the beginning but after awhile lets face it, you have things to do as well. And it sounds like you are doing really well with your eating. Keep up the good work. And for sure get comfortable shoes, exercise needs all the help it can get as far as I'm concerned.

dolly - I remember when I had muscles. It will give me something to work towards in the new year. Keep up the exercising, you are doing a marvelous job.

40 - teenagers can always be counted on to remove food. Thank goodness for teenagers during the holiday season. The rest of the time they really are quite stressful though.

Well off to get ready for work. Only 10 more days until Christmas ladies. so you know you all have better things to do than eat all those goodies.

:tree: Happy Friday Everyone:tree:

Maggie sounds like your house is in the same state as mine. :hohoho: I was wrapping, writing, baking and tiding till 11:30 last night but was in good spirits for the most part. I actually got to the gym from 6-8:00 yesterday evening. I kind of took a mental health break from christmas prep. and it worked wonders and I think I actually accomplished more than if I had skipped my workout.

I like your mind set and goals for the next couple of weeks Card. I've relaxed my expectations and my goal for the this holiday season is to just squeak into the 160's even if it's only 169.9 I'll be happy.

Dolly you've got to love it when all your hard work starts to pay off. :carrot: :strong: I love muscle definition. I makes me think of being able to wear a bathing suit comfortably and long for a tropical vacation.

Happy Birthday Sno:woo: Hope you have a wonderful day and awesome dinner.

I probably won't be back until Monday am so have a great weekend ladies.

Nina

Good Morning Chicks,

Only half a day at work today so I am excited. This afternoon some friends and I are driving to Houston to go to a Christmas concert and have a nice dinner. This will be relaxing for me and then tomorrow off at full speed. I will be doing all of the holiday baking, package wrapping, and cleaning the house spotless and lets not for the mountain of clothes that need to be washed.

Card: I am with you! If I just maintain until the 1st I will be happy, it is just too hard to try and loose and not get in the Christmas Spirit. I will eat sensibly but still have a few treats because Christmas is not Christmas without my Mom's forgotten cookies. I am going to keep up my exercise routine though because that keeps up my energy level.

40: Great job getting to the gym! I am sure you got more done because you planned ahead and made a schedule. When I plan ahead I always get more done.

Everyone have a great weekend!

:wreath: Happy Friday, ladies! :wreath:

So good to see everyone's posts this morning. Seems that most of us have concluded that we will enjoy our Christmas season, being content to *hold the line.* I know it isn't realistic for me to think I'll lose any more (by the way, I have dropped five pounds since starting Monday :dance: BUT that is mostly water, I know!) If I don't enjoy the holiday food IN MODERATION, then I will feel sorry for myself, like I'm missing Christmas, and it DOES only come once a year! :hohoho:

Dolly, your drive to Houston for a concert and dinner sounds so much fun! Enjoy yourself to the max. What kind of music will you be hearing?

Nina, you are right about the exercising giving more MORE energy to do everything else. I worked all day in the house yesterday (no walk), then we went out for dinner (light one) and shopping. The first thing I'm doing after *computing * this morning is going for that long walk!!! Keep up the good work!

Snow, :gift: :woo: :hb: :balloons: :queen: Have a smashing, fabulous birthday celebration. Many more happy and healthy ones, lady! :hug:

Card, just enjoy your holiday season and hang in there. On January 2, we can all hit the ground running, and it will be much easier then. We're all in this together!

Well, ladies, off to walk the walk, and get on with the day's many, many chores! You girls have a wonderful, festive weekend! :ginger:

Maggie

Magnolia,

The concert is with the Houston Symphony and the choirs from Lakewood Church. Joel Osteen will be narrating the performances.

WOW! Good for you, Dolly! That should be fabulous. Joel Osteen is a great speaker, isn't he? The music should be awesome. I am jealous! :)

Okay, girls, I've just walked the walk! That is two long walks and one mall-walking session in five days. Much better than the nothing I was doing! :D

Cheers!
Maggie :santa:

Good Morning Everyone. I got the flu. Can you believe this????? A million and one things to do, and I get sick on a weekend. Not even on a weekday when I could call in sick but on a Saturday. Unreal. Well at least I am not hungry. I think it is going to be a tea and crackers day. My tummy is doing flip flops like mad.

Snow - Happy Birthday!!!!!! Hope you had a blast.

40 - Great work on getting to the gym. It pays to make time for yourself to keep you from feeling overwhelmed.

Dolly - hope you enjoyed your concert. Sounds like you are in for a busy weekend.

Magnolia - Great work on the lost weight. Even if most of it is water weight it is still a scale moving in the right direction. And walking is so good for you. It makes me feel like a million bucks.

Well I hope you all have a great day. I am debating whether I want to go back to bed or if I want to tackle the housework. Maybe I'll just work very slowly today and if it doesn't get done, oh well, there is always tomorrow. Or maybe the housework fairies or elves will show up while I'm napping and I won't have to do any of it. But probably not, they have been conspicuously absent for the last week.

Card, so sorry that you have the flu ... what horrible timing for you. Only thing worse would be if you had woken up with it Christmas day! I hope you will feel better very soon. :hug:

Had a maintenance day with food yesterday. Ate a reasonable dinner out, as we shopped. Enjoyed myself, but no big splurge, just held the line.

Well, I just wanted to wish you all a happy Saturday, and encourage you to do eat as moderately as you can but don't sweat it. After all, it's Christmas. :hohoho:

Now on to wrapping, cooking, cleaning ................ :dizzy:

:ginger: Maggie :ginger:

:rudolph: Hey ladies :rudolph:

Happy Sunday! Bad behavior with food here yesterday; not horrible but not good. Today I must take a long walk so that I will have three in for the past week

Dolly, how was your concert and hearing Joel speak? What delicious dinner did you eat out??? Snow, I hope your birthday celebration was terrific, and that you enjoyed getting another year younger!

Christmas soup is done, and I got more presents wrapped. Today I'm trying a new cookie, and plan to eat much more moderately. Everybody, have a good one! :ginger:

Maggie

Feelin much better today. Cleaned the house. Have acquired a taste for rice cakes. The day is good. The fairies didn't show up yesterday to clean so I just did it myself.

Magnolia - way to go on the walking. Keep it up.

Well off for a bath and then some tea. Hope you all had a great weekend.

Sunday
 

Hi all:

well good to see everyone posting--it is so hard to do this thru the holidays and if we can eat with one scrap of sanity it will be a good thing!

I had a blast on my birthday--and was taken out for lunch, spa, dinner etc. Got cake, candy and more cake. Oh well--it only happens once a year, right?

I plan to stay sane for the next 5 days and then off to my family for three days and then back to reality. My plan is to just work not to overeat and to get back on plan as quickly as possible after the holidays and to keep up walking everyday--which I did except for my b-day--I was actually going to walk but I ran late and had to go out to dinner!

Thanks for all the lovely wishes and for keeping me sane through the holidays!

Take care

sno

211, with a week to go until Christmas I had better start watching my intake a little more closely.

Snow - so glad to hear you had a good time on your birthday. And yes you are right it does only come once a year.

Well I am off to work, where I will not snack today. So I hope you all have a great day.