Mamakat - You crack me up girl!!! Glad to hear that, once again, the woman in the relationship was right :) Glad your DH isn't leaving until tomorrow, we should have cooled down to 109 then...today took a pic in my car with it saying the temp was 119. Some HOT commutes lately and breaking records all over the place with temps

HSMom - Thank you :) I definitely recommend Insanity to anyone willing to throw themselves into it. They have a disclaimer about if you have knee issues, blah blah... but I am doing it with severe RA and even through a flare without it damaging anything. For the record... salt makes everyone's water balance wonky, :lol:

Diva - Holy cow on the 400 workouts!!! Dang girl, you must have DVDs from all walks of workouts! :lol: That's hilarious! I did Tae Bo and liked it a bunch... the Bootcamp ones too. So if she is interested, I say let her do those... they are fun

DD and DH went to the school to get her viola for orchestra, so I may end up being on my own for the workout tonight. It's ok though, a chance to use the whole area to kick some butt with Shaun T :) I have heard people pick on his grammar, but I tell ya... any man who has a body like that, can talk ANY way they want to... just sayin' :rofl:

Hi Everyone! :wave:

Itsmyturn Awesome job on those measurements! :bravo: Did you hit it hard today? I think Pure Cardio is easier than the other workouts. Did you see that one of those workouts next month is 85 minutes? WHAT???? Dang, just bring me a bottle of oxygen, please! I saw where I can sub Insane abs for Cardio Abs, and one of the other workouts for the week between the first and second month. I might need to look at those workouts before I try them. Insane Abs sounds worse than Cardio Abs. :rofl:

Linda Weight loss is a learning process. It's amazing how many calories are in some of the foods we used to eat. Also, I think someone else mentioned it here, but it's amazing at how little food we actually need. Good job being accountable.

Mamakat I don't get too many comments. Maybe they are intimidated when they walking in and I am punching with weighted gloves and doing round house kicks. :lol: Most of the guys that know me come by the door or window and do crazy jumping around moves. I always warn them that if they don't watch it, that they are going to hurt themselves. I got offended by a customer one time, though. Even when I was very heavy I still worked out. A customer came in and asked if I sold those DVD's (on Ebay, etc). Hmm, I guess he didn't think that I was actually doing them. :p BITE ME! :lol: Well, I don't know about your NYC pictures, but I do know that I can tell a difference in your avatars and pictures that you post. You look fantastic, and you know it! ;) That's all that matters.

Berry I'm glad you got through yesterday. The next few days will be tough, but you know what to do. Great job getting right back on plan.

HSMomGoingDown I know you are fasting, but good job on your weight in. I'm glad you were able to see a number that you haven't seen in a long while. It does feel good.

Serenity Great attitude about the downward trend. Sometimes it takes longer. Nothing wrong with that (since it only took me 3 years and 4 months :lol:).

Crystal Good job hitting the gym this morning! :carrot:

Total Approx 1470 Calories + :coffee:

Breakfast (395 Calories + coffee)
spritz oil in pan
egg 70 cal
egg whites from carton 60 calories
Vegetable of choice
1/8 cup feta cheese 40 calories
Rudi's Whole Wheat English muffin 130 calories
1 teaspoon jam 20 calories
juice 75 calories
coffee w/sugar and cream

Lunch (375 Calories)
Rudi's 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Flatz 100 calories
3 Slices Hormel Natural Choice Deli Turkey 60 calories
Honey mustard/Lettuce 25 calories
Oikos Strawberry Greek Yogurt 4 ounce container 90 calories
1 Apple 100 calories

Dinner 700 calories
Grilled Sirloin 400 calories
3 orders steamed broccoli and a few carrots 300 calories

Exercise:
Insanity Pure Cardio
Insanity Cardio Abs

Diana - I fell a day behind you when we took Sunday off. So tonight was Plyometric for us. Yes though, totally hit it hard. DD kept having toe cramps, so she became a cheerleader instead of work out buddy, but that still works for me :) I over-pushed a bit, but dang after I cool down it feels SOOO good :D !! I did not see that one of them was 85 mins... omg... pass the oxygen over here when you are done with it please? :rofl: I only peeked at one video for month 2, it scared me so I stopped peeking. Hoping I feel stronger by then so I can even come close to handling it, :lol: I think after we get through round 1 of this, I will take a month off to do running and such again, then hit it for round 2. Everyone I talked to said they saw AMAZING results month 2, but even bigger during a full round 2

Good Morning, Everyone! :wave:

Calories for the day: 1470 + :coffee2:
Weigh In: 148.6 (TTOM)
No Change

Itsmyturn Good job on the workout! I think the shortest workout is 55 minutes, the next one is 68 and the other is 86 minutes. The shortest is 10 minutes longer than what we are doing now. Are you saying, instead of going into month 2 you are going to run for a month and then pick back up on month 2?

Good Morning Everyone,

ItsMyTurn Is it an AZ thing now to take pics of your cars thermostats? My longest friend posts daily, if it's high, on Facebook. Luckily for DH, most everywhere he works is climate controlled or should be as that's what he's there for. He stays with his dad, the official hub in AZ for their company and he has a pool. It's a mini vaca sometimes. His brother is a percussionist in the Symphony so sometimes he even gets to a show while "working". He just got a deal for reworking a downtown building that the city is super excited about. So he's all stoked for now...soon he'll be complaining that the contractors are idiots...that's his norm, happy, complaining, stressed and back down to bored the project is over.

Diana Thanks, I know you're right. I just get cranky sometimes...he lost 50 which is amazing but dog gone it, I lost over 100! Maybe, just maybe, those posts will come after another 50 is gone. I'm going through a weird stage right now, I guess. I know I've lost the weight and inches. 24 to 12 is amazing. Men's 2XL to Junior's L is awesome. Even maneuvering down the isle of the train was a different experience...I didn't hit anyone with a big butt...I don't even have a big butt anymore. But I still see so much fat that sometimes I think stupidly, I haven't lost anything. This is where friends would come in and scoop me out of the funk, if I had friends :lol: SO thank you for scooping me up. :D

HSMOM Thank you for saying I'm inspiring to newbies. I found I like that a lot. When I started this in 2010, I was very alone in the journey. My family has always been restaurant eaters and junk food junkies and no one wanted to change for a year. Watching them eat candy and junk food was the hardest thing ever...but then little by little they started changing. We don't eat out, hardly ever, anymore. I never buy junk food for the kids, that's DH's treat. It used to be McD's nearly every week for the kids since they were babies and now it's a weird treat once a month or two even. DH has changed to eating like me and my youngest has started walking on her own and eating a better diet. My eldest is lucky if he gains an ounce...we think he's part alien. All this was because I started to do something healthy for myself and it's been an honor to be a role model (I don't get that chance often)...so thank you for saying that, it was a nice thing to hear. :)

Serenity How on earth didn't anyone know about you FIL getting hit by a bulldozer? In our town (it's actually a city, but I grew up in Phx, now that's a city...it's hard to think of this tiny place as a city...anyway) that tidbit would have started on one side of town and made it home for dinner. They actually print that kind of stuff in the daily paper. I never understood the men's thinking process...I'd be like, I got hit by a bulldozer and survived, I'm amazing. :D

AFM Yesterday was busy busy busy. I did several loads of laundry, boy was it needed. I colored my hair. I worked out for 62 minutes burning over 400 cal. I shaved my head and showered (of course) then I drove across town to buy the rats their food. By the time I was back home, I was exhausted. I really do not know how you all do it day in and day out.

DH is on his way to AZ which means no coffee in bed :( I have to go put my food into the crockpot, DH prepared it last night, but the actual pot was in the dishwasher. I hope I can manage this :p While I'm downstairs, I will make me much needed coffee. I tweaked my meds last week and they have clearly brought me back to life. I'm up and working out again, I'm socializing with the family and I'm awake more than asleep...all good things. Now if I can just get my writing back all will be great. I haven't written in over 2 months now. I've been editing a little though, just to keep me in the game.

I hope you all have a wonderful and healthy day!

Morning all - well, the weight keeps coming off. Down another pound this morning. I'm VERY happy to learn that at least 5 pounds of my weight gain was water weight! We'll see if there's more or not.

My face is beginning to clear up too now that I've dropped the carbs back down - with fruits and veggies being my only carbs - no grains.

What's funny? I'm totally itching to bake bread! Yet I don't eat it. Isn't that odd?
Going to a double class tonight of BodyPump and BodyStep - that should be interesting. I'll have to go VERY light in the weights as I have no idea where to start with being out for so long (basically out of strength training since mid April due to an injury and then replacing gardening and building that stone path for exercise). But, it's allllll good - I'm back on track! Three days back on plan and it's getting easier every meal. yay me!

Question for everyone: They were talking about Fifty Shades of Grey on the radio this morning. I have heard so much talk about this series that it has piqued my interest. I think a poster in this check-in was reading it at one time. I don't recall who. Anyways, I looked at the reviews at Barnes and Noble and they vary greatly. Most of the ratings are one star or five stars. :lol: Anyone here read this series? Hey, I am just trying to be hip, happening, and keep up with the times. Don't want to be left out. ;) Is it worth reading or not?

CyberCrystal it is! The other day my daughter had a slumber party and people canceled. So we have 2 dozen (well I think 1 left) of Krispy Kreme. They are calling my name. I did have one I think Saturday? I can't remember and I am pretty sure I posted it...but they are going to go stale. My kids thankfully are not huge junk food eaters and in the past I would eat them to avoid it ESPECIALLY when hungry. But I try to remember I have my fruit, I have my protein shakes and my salads when I'm hungry for snack stuff...so far being prepared has helped. It's just a habit. Like brushing my teeth I always exercised and now I'm adding the habit of NOT thinking about food because I have the right foods there to eat (although keep in mind I am at home so it's far far easier IMO).

ItsMyTurn it started in 1987 with a Callanetics VHS tape...and then by the time I found Collage Video and Video Fitness...I became a hoarder to a point. There was a time when I had literally shelves in a room filled with them. I try to cut down, but I do keep ones I enjoy (like the original 6 Firms and Standing Legs) and the original Tae Bo Live ones...I got rid of a lot in the past 2 years. And you know I'm so tempted for Insanity. But really I know I'm not close to ready so it will be something I try AFTER I get down to probably 140 if I feel ready...but I'm tempted by Les Mills's stuff too...decisions? Well knowing me eventually I will try both. It's a sickness.

MamaKat I don't know. He does road construction and I guess he just didn't tell people. He gets picked on a lot (nagged really) so he keeps a lot to himself. It's sad, but it's the way it is. He is a talker to me though. Everyone else in the family says "he never talks" but I think that's because they cut him off or judge his POV constantly, I'd shut up too then.

Diana it is amazing how little we need and I'm trying to make nutrient dense choices versus just eating. My mom's and inlaw's side of the family think food should be always enjoyed and eat as much, as often as possible...but they ALL (except for FIL until recently) have huge disabilities that really started in their early 40s/late 30s. I think seeing that growing up and now more so as I am 42 I get scared. My SIL is 50 and has to have someone bathe her because she can't move well and all sorts of stories like that. It's sad.

As far as 50, I tried reading it but it just seemd boring to me (the free part on Kindle).

Yay Melissa! I totally bet the bread thing has to do with the trip. I love the smell of bread, really I love to knead it, I find it therapeutic. But I have not made any since we bought this house (May 2011) mostly because the kitchen is smaller than I'm used to and I'm too lazy to want to move stuff, but also because I'm avoiding it.

Calories for yesterday, the 14th, were 1526, yoga 55 and cycling 25..maybe more as the stupid power went out and I just wasn't paying attention to where the clock was LOL.

Diva I never thought about using my calorie app being kinda stealthy because
it will look like I'm just messing around on my phone, good point. Good tip about the
veggies first, I'll have to try that. I'm finding that I'm eating way more veggies and
fruits since I'm being conscious about the number of calories I'm eating. Can't beat
the fruits and veggies for low calorie counts! I actually used all of a package of
green onions without having the last few rot in the fridge. woot!

ItsMyTurn 119 - Yowza and I thought it was plenty bad in Texas (lived there
most of my life before moving here). Even if that's a dry heat there's nothing that
can make 119 feel good. Hope you hang out in the A/C a lot! I would be doing
videos inside in that weather for sure!

Mamakat I love that your kids and family are all slowly heading towards your
example!! I have three boys who are all still young and I really need to get my rear
in gear and start setting a better example for them. My dh also loves his snacks and
junk food, so it's time for a change for all of us. I'm hoping that once I start
getting results, the hubster will join in too. He's already eyeing the MyFitnessPal app
on my phone with interest.

BerryBlondeBoys You are awesome to be back on track so quickly after a trip! Major
props to you!

Diana About the 50 shades phenom, A friend of mine said it was basically pron
(switch those middle two letters around) with an SM bent? Definitely not my cuppa
so I'm going to be out of touch and uncool on this one :smile: Good luck deciding
if you want to check it out. It's rare that I read any adult books now though, so
I'm pretty much out of touch in more ways than just that. At least I get to do some
great read alouds with my kids. We recently read a juvenile fiction book about the Irish potato
famine that was just great. Gotta take my reading where I can get it.

I'm going to post my yesterday food log and todays scale reading (down! yeah!) in
another post. I'm sure the scale zooming down is just because I'm going from eating
horribly to paying attention, but it sure does feel good!

So this morning I stepped on the scale and whaddya know, 214.4 awwww yeah! There's
a 4 in that number. wooo hooo... :carrot:

Here's what I ate yesterday. Diana I LOVE your breakfast meal in your
posts and I'm completely stealing that after Ramadan. Feta and eggs mmmmmm...



Breakfast 377 calories
Oatmeal - 1/2 cup dry - 150 calories
Frozen Pineapple tidbits - 1 cup - 93 calories
Sugar - 1 TB - 46 calories
Whole Milk - 2 TB - 19 calories
Chicken Corn Soup - 1 serving - 69 calories

Dinner 436 calories
Chicken Salad - 1 serving - 162 calories
Honey Wheat Bread - 1 slice - 70 calories
Seedless Dates - 1 date - 12 calories
Whole Milk - 1 cup - 146 calories
Rooh Afza Syrup - 1 TB - 46 calories

Snacks 521 calories
Fresh Watermelon - 3 cups diced - 240 calories
Raw Almonds - 9 almonds - 61 calories
Falooda (milk dessert with pistachios, almonds, agar agar, sugar) - 1 serving - 140 calories
Coca-cola - 1/3 bottle - 80 calories

Daily total - 1334 calories

Well, I knew it had to happen sometime. I'm trying to work my down to water only
but I consider 1/3 of a bottle of coke a victory coming down from multiple sodas
a day! Sweetened drinks are my kryptonite. But my kids were having cookies and
seeing that one cookie was 160 calories I avoided those. Yay! Small victories. :D

HSMom it is small victories. I LOVE soda. I specifically love SUGAR ladened soda. I don't care for diet soda, but I will drink it. I know it's not good for me, but for *now* I think that is what I have to do to get me where I need to be. It's the same with the frozen entrees. For DECADES I thought "people that use those have no idea how to use portion control/have unlimited funds/can't cook/are lazy" whatever. Well I'm literally eating those words as I have tried on my own, I know how to weigh AND measure, and I wasn't losing or it was SUPER SLOW. One thing I've learned is how little I need. Like a few weeks ago we went to this spaghetti thing and honestly I was full very VERY quickly. There was some other food thing that happened a few weeks ago, now I can't remember what, but I was like "no that's enough" and it was probably 1/4 of what I would eat NON-plan mode and 50% of what I anticipated eating. To me those are small wins when you don't think that hard and it's natural to eat that way.

Now I have a little NSV. A lot of movements I do in my yoga classes and just general are like clasping my hands behind my back palms touching. Well with my shoulder issue AND my weight that wasn't happening. I also felt bad because years ago when I was a personal trainer I really did NOT get that these people were not doing it because they COULD NOT do it. So anyway I apologize to any clients for that. That said I CAN GET MY PALMS TO TOUCH NOW. It's hard and what not, but I think losing the weight freed up some back fat, as well as obviously increasing the mobility/flexiblity there from the workouts, so yay! I did it last week and then yesterday, but today I remembered during the practice that I could not even remotely come close to that November 2011.

Hi Everyone!

Mamakat I'm glad tweaking your meds have helped. Great job tackling that busy day, yesterday!

Berry Did you make it to the double class tonight. That sounds tough!

Serentiy I agree about the health of our family can be scary. We want to stay in our best health. There is a genetic health issue on my Mom's side of the family. My grandparents lived into their 70's. My Mom passed at 69. Three of her siblings died between 36-50. My Mom passed at 69. We don't have a history of long lives, so it's scary for me. Thanks for your thoughts on 50 Shades. Congrats on your flexibility!

HSMomgoingDown Thanks for the info on 50 Shades. It doesn't sound interesting. I think I will pass. Drinking only 1/3 of a soda is a victory, for sure! Congrats! I love my morning omelet! :D

Total Approx 1515 Calories + :coffee:

Breakfast (395 Calories + coffee)
spritz oil in pan
egg 70 cal
egg whites from carton 60 calories
Vegetable of choice
1/8 cup feta cheese 40 calories
Rudi's Whole Wheat English muffin 130 calories
1 teaspoon jam 20 calories
juice 75 calories
coffee w/sugar and cream

Lunch (375 Calories)
Rudi's 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Flatz 100 calories
3 Slices Hormel Natural Choice Deli Turkey 60 calories
Honey mustard/Lettuce 25 calories
Oikos Strawberry Greek Yogurt 4 ounce container 90 calories
1 Apple 100 calories

Dinner (745 Calories)
Grilled steak 400 calories
asparagus 100 calories
collards 100 calories
ricotta cheese 105 calories
mango puree 40 calories

Exercise:
TF Fire 45 EZ
Insanity Cardio Recovery

Diana - Nope. What I am saying is doing the full 60 day program once... then take a month off for the running and such... then going in for a full 60 day program again (round 2) to see improvements made. With Insanity you have to allow your body a break between the rounds due to the wear... so I am going to take a month after the first time through it all.. then do it all again... such a masochist sometimes :lol:
As for 50 shades: I read only the first one. It was poorly written and didn't really do it for me. It was supposed to be all kinky about a sub and dominant, but honestly.. it's just spiced "vanilla" writing and from someone I would question their education on writing. My point of view, not worth it. I kept wanting to edit it and reconstruct the wording, :lol: That takes away from the "story". If poor writing doesn't bother you, then you might like it, but not for me - too bad too, I honestly was looking forward to it

Mamakat - It's not "the thing" to take pics of thermostat from anything I know, but I don't have much of a social life either. I did it because my friend kept telling me she wanted out of Maine due to the humidity right now. I told her not a good time for a visit, our hottest part of the year, better to wait a month. She kept arguing saying "it can't be that bad".. so I took a pic to send to her phone, :lol: She replied within minutes saying she thinks she can wait :rofl: Sorry no coffee in bed for ya :)

Berry - Glad to hear the weight is falling off

Diva - you totally cracking me up girl!!! :lol: I only laugh cause my father had a thing with vhs tapes for the longest. One day my mom cleared them out on him and he was like a lost puppy - although he never watched his. You are 20 lbs lighter than I am right now, so don't worry about fitness level with Insanity if you want to try it :) Sounds like you have a variety to do now though :lol:

HSMom - Yes, once it got over 106 in the evening, I stopped my outside running and tennis and started Insanity. Inside with my a/c :) During the day I spend over an hour commute one way to work..with a/c... and the whole time at work, I suck up the company's a/c :) When I am outside I am in my pool or have my misters on... that helps quite a bit actually. We cooled down to 109 today since it stormed a LOT last night. When I woke up a lot of the roads in my town were flooded... was tricky to find a way out of town to get on the Interstate to go to work :lol: Roads were dry by the time I got back, but the greenbelts are all still flooded - looks kinda cool actually.

Tonight I was exhausted and opted out of doing schoolwork knowing it may bite into my weekend in turn... but no way I would have been able to do progress and retain anything. I made strawberry shortcake (dream whip topping made with almond milk) for dessert tonight, that was nice :) Then it was Insanity time. Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs. Barely able to keep eyes open now, so shower and off to bed. Have a great night all!