Healthier Lifestyle Thread 25th August till 31st August

[Rod]

Hey.........

It was a nice day for a work day. Since I worked from home, I got to sleep an hour longer and I just basically rolled out of bed to my computer and started work. I'm not really a good candidate for a home office job. I get distracted too easily and wouldn't get enough done. I kept wandering out to see what Sakai was doing, or noticed some dust on somethng and took care of that. I did get some work done, but certainly not enough. So, I'm glad I have an office to go to. At least when I'm in the office, I concentrate on working without distraction! Charlie wasn't able to meet for lunch as he was involved in a big sale, so I ate alone, but when he did arrive, we were able to enjoy a cup of coffee together, before heading to the gym. We had a very productive 3 hour session. I have to comment about when we were doing unassisted chinups and dips. A much younger man who obviously has been working out for a long time (can you say perfect physique? - He can!) asked if he could join us. At one point he commented that he felt so old at the ripe age of 38 and that he sometimes felt like he was 60. We thought it was funny, since Charlie is 60 and I'm almost 54 now, so we kind of gave him a hard time about the age comment (kidding of course) and then we told him our ages and he just about fell over. He said he would have never ever guessed we were "that old" and that he had seen us working out so hard over the last couple of years and he really admired how hard we work. Anyway, it was a really nice compliment.

After the gym, we went for Sushi, then coffee and we split a donut at Sbucks. Tomorrow, we're not going to the gym. We'll go to a movie in the afternoon (Charlie's choice since I made him see Dark Knight, which he hated). I hope he doesn't choose a movie with subtitles (he loves them), but if he does, I'll go without any complaints. We're having dinner with friends tomorrow night. They've been really good friends of ours since we moved to Tampa in 1995 and he has had stomach issues, and now she's waiting to see if she has breast cancer. Makes me realize how lucky we are to be in such good health (knock wood!).

Have a great time camping Marcy!! I figured it would make you sad to hear about someone losing so much weight and then putting it back on. For some people, surgery is the only option. But I know that will never be something you'll need to do and for that I'm grateful!

Your Vizsla is just beautiful vizsla!! If we were ever to get a dog, it's one breed we'd certainly consider.

Yay for being down Gecko!! Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to weight loss! Keep up the good work!!

Enjoy your Aunt's wedding dragon!!

Yummm......Raspberry beer sounds good Skippy. I had a Sapporo with Sushi tonight! Enjoy your walk with your cousin and the barbeque Sunday!!

I hope hubby feels better soon Linda. 108????? Good Lord that's hot. And people say Tampa is hot. It's never broken a 100 degrees in Tampa's history. It's just hot for a looooooong time down here.

Tacorie, having a gym buddy is a great way to keep each other motivated. There would be times I didn't want to go, or Charlie didn't want to go, but we'd push each other to stay on track and at the beginning it really really helped. Now, I can't imagine not going, but getting started takes some discipline to be sure.

I hope you get rid of the virus on your computer DeeJay and Kudo's for doing so many squats!!

OK....that should do it for me for one day. Have a great Saturday everyone!

 

[Rod]

Was just about to shut down when this caught my eye on Yahoo...........For anyone trying to lose a few pounds hopefully this will help explain a few things about weight gain/loss:
________________________________________________________

You just went away for the weekend and you came back to find that you gained 5 pounds over the course of 3 days. In your disbelief, you quickly curse the Weight Gods for being so cruel. Sound familiar? This was me last weekend. A little jaunt to Montreal, eating at decadent cafes, packed it on quick. This inspired me to discuss the seemingly unbalanced equation of weight gain vs. weight loss, the facts that surround the issue and how losing the 5 pounds feels so much harder than gaining them:

FACT 1 - It is Simple Math: To maintain your ideal weight, you need to eat as many calories as you burn in one day. The balanced equation looks like this:

Calories Eaten = Basal Metabolic Rate + Physical Activity

If what you eat equals more than what your body uses, you will gain weight. In the situation of a vacation, it is likely that you eat more unhealthy food than normal and possibly get less exercise, resulting in an imbalanced equation, with a higher number of calories on the eaten side than on the burned side. That imbalance over the course of a few days can easily represent a few pounds. (To assess an approximate of how many calories you need, click here.)

FACT 2 - A Pound is a Pound is a Pound: One pound of body mass represents 3,500 calories. Regardless, if you are trying to lose a pound or gain a pound, the pound will always represent 3,500 calories. So, if you eat 3,500 calories more than your body requires, you will gain 1 pound. Similarly, if you eat 3,500 calories less than your body requires, you will lose 1 pound.

FACT 3 - Exercise is Weight Discriminating: Whether you are 120 pounds or 175 pounds, you will gain one pound from eating 3,500 calories more than you need. Unfortunately, this doesn''t hold true for burning calories. How much you weigh actually dictates how many calories you burn per hour. The more you weigh, the more you burn, and as a result, the easier it is to lose the pound...sound crazy? It is true. Check out the Calories Burned Chart .

FACT 4 - Aging Contributes to Weight Gain: As if aging doesn''t contribute enough to unfavorable things, it also contributes to weight gain. As we get older, our metabolism slows down, requiring us to need less food and calories. If you don''t modify your caloric intake as you get older to reflect this change in metabolism, you will start to see weight gain.

The Bad News: Unfortunately, eating an extra couple of unhealthy snacks or drinking a few extra glasses of wine can happen in a blink of an eye. However, the time and energy required to burn off those calories takes a lot more effort. We have provided a chart on what 1,000 calories looks like on both sides in the chart below (remember, it is 3,500 calories that make up a pound).

The Good News: Whether it is rapid or slow weight gain that you have experienced, losing the extra weight can be tackled through two avenues (and should be): calorie reduction and exercise . Choosing to lose weight through both calorie reduction and exercise will accelerate the process. If for seven days you burn 200 extra calories through exercise and reduce your food intake by 300 calories each day, you will lose that extra pound. Further, it is a lot easier than trying to either reduce your caloric intake by 3,500 calories (which is physically impossible) or burning an extra 3,500 calories during exercise (which takes a ridiculous amount of time and energy).

What you Can Do: Assess whether your weight gain was a rapid gain due to atypical behavior (E.g., vacationing) or a longer-term gain. If it was a rapid gain, there is a good chance you will lose the weight by returning to your normal habits. You might have to be a little strict for a day or two, but you shouldn''t feel like a major overhaul is in order. If, however, you have gained the weight over a period of time, assess your habits and think about what has changed in your life. Have you stopped exercising? Have you let your eating habits go? Have you hit a milestone birthday? Once you can assess the reality of your situation, remember the equation: to maintain balance, burn the calories you eat.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Forgot to mention one amusing (hopefully easily fixable) thing that has come out of my recent workouts: My hair is pink. I first noticed it yesterday when I was drying my hair to go to my closing and I was truly baffled, but then I realized that it was dye from the super cheap pony tail holders I got at Walgreens a couple of weeks ago. Five for $1.99 -- what did I expect?!? I''ve washed my hair MANY times over the past two days and it won''t come out. I have a hair appointment anyway tomorrow morning, so hopefully she can fix it, but I really have no idea how long my hair has been pink and/or how many other colors it''s been becuase there were blue, green, purple and orange in the package too. Nothing like a little wacky hair color to throw off that ultra conservative image!

 

[Linda W]

Dee, It can only happen to YOU, ha ha ha ha ha. Now I had better check my hair because I use pony tail holder too.

Hi Rod: It was another scorcher again today too. This hot weather really makes me feel sick. Poor Rick with his cold, it makes him all the more uncomfortable. The boys and I were in the pool. We only go in, when the sun shifts a little, so it isn''t too hot out in the back yard for them or me. My daughter also joined us. Glad you and Charlie had a great dinner and enjoy your show tomorrow.

Have a great time camping Marcy. Wish we were joining you. I image it will be cooler then it is here.

Have a great Saturday all, I will check in tomorrow. Oh, I broiled steak for dinner, it was really tender and delicious. We had that with salad and zucchini. Poor Rick couldn''t taste anything.


Linda

 

[Skippy123]

Hi all, my cousin and I walked 4 miles this morning and when I walked in the door I was so sleeeeeepy so I went back to bed. Hubby is watching some guy movie. I have things to do, probably do some work, and I get to see my little goddaughter tomorrow morning! Have a great Saturday.

The mornings are getting cold here, boo and then it is dark at 8pm!

Rod, yay to beer, I have not tried that kind! Is it good? heehe Rod thanks for that info, I am love info like that!!!

Dee, eek, hope it gets back to norm.

Hi there Linda, love to see your tee hee's, hope hubby feel better soon!

 

[panda08]

Hi Everyone!

With Skippy''s encouragement, I thought I''d hop over to this forum and introduce myself.

I''m 33... about to turn 34 at the end of next month. Ever since I hit my mid-20''s, I''ve been struggling with my weight. I''m constantly fighting the battle of the bulge and see sawing between 120 to the high 130''s. I''ve discovered that my body has changed with age, that I can no longer just skip a meal to maintain, much less lose, weight. And although I''ve never been a fan of exercise, I''ve come to the realization that it''s something I need to incorporate in my life in order to effectively fight the bulge.

Sadly, my greatest downfall is that I LOVE to eat. I''m a huge foodie and love trying new restaurants/cuisines. I love all the carb-o-licious stuff that just goes straight to my belly

And the worst part is that I have NO portion control.

My weight has been creeping up since I started dating my sweetie 7 months ago, much to my chagrin. At least I can say it''s because I''m happy. But my pants have become increasingly tight to the point where 90% of my wardrobe no longer fits and I''ve started to live in my sweat bottoms and empire waisted dresses.

I felt guilty that I wasn''t dressing up anymore and I wanted to look cute for my honey.

About a month ago, I hired a personal trainer with the hopes that she would motivate me. At first, it wasn''t working. I wasn''t changing my eating habits, wasn''t really into it and was basically paying someone to get me off the couch three times a week. I thought, at least I was doing that. But a week and a half ago, when I peered down at the scale and saw that I was about to crack 140, I knew that I had to get my butt into gear. So this week is the start of the new me! I worked out 6 times this week, three times with my trainer and the other three times I did cardio at the gym. I''ve been been eating more veggies and fiber, less carbos and exercising portion control. I''m hoping to drop about 20 pounds and be healthier and stronger!

So that''s me in a nutshell. It''s great to hear your inspirational stories!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday all! I went to my colorist this morning. She was like, "Hey, great to see y--what the hell happened?" Long story short, she got out as much pink as she could without literally stripping all of the color out and then redying my hair to my natural color. It still a little pink, but I'm hoping it will fade over time. Oy.

Did 52 mins (600 cals) on the elliptical this morning. I was worried about being late to meet a client so I cut it short. And OF COURSE the client was 20 mins late, so I could have finished my usual work out. Oh well, 52 mins is better than nothing.

Must go take a nap now... so tired today from getting up early for my hair appointment...

ETA: We must have been posting at the same time -- Welcome Panda!

 

[vizsla]

ohh you should really consider a vizsla, they are wonderful dogs.. high energy for sure - but there is no dog i can't handle after her... and she was a rescue from the humane society!

so i have to say how jealous i am of you skippy!!! i heart the southwest/west so very much.. and i long for the days of beautiful sunsets!!!! we, unfortunately (or fortunately:0 live in the midwest.. far away from anything pretty... i've always thought we would choose location over family.. but now that we're heading into our mid-thirties... we're questioning that...

so.. today was football saturday... college football is HUGE in our city.. so DH and i took advantage of the awesome weather and headed down to campus... of course i just had to eat pizza and drink beer and then i started feeling guilty.. i told hubby that i felt bad and he said 'why do you work out then?' i replied.. 'i work out to look better'. and he said 'but if you can't enjoy one day then what's the point of working out'. i thought about it and decided he was right.. i work out and look after what i eat 90% of the time.. if i can't let go and just enjoy drinking beer and eating pizza, what is the point of working out if you don't ever enjoy it?.... anyhoo.. our 'team' won and i had a great day! tomorrow i'm going to run but today i had fun...

hope everyone is having a great weekend!
congrats again to all of the marathon workout'ers

 

[vizsla]

and LOL about the hair deejay! i have dark brown hair so i don''t think i can relate to you blonds ...but think.. you could totally start a trend a la katie holmes and her pegged jeans you just need the paps to photograph you coming out of nobu or something

and totally boo about it getting dark at 8! i go into serious midwest depression mode after ''fall back'' ugh.. that''s in like a month... boo boo!!!

 

[Skippy123]

It hasn't reached 80 degrees here; I hope tomorrow it doesn't rain so we can have our barbecue for my family! I am tempted to go for another walk but will just do it tomorrow night. So friends of ours sent their son to a sleep over and want us to go to the movies with them tonight. I told hubby to go with them; I am so lazy today I don't want to go to the movies, and it isn't a movie I want to see. Anyone ever just rather stay in? hehe Gosh, I sound like a bad friend!!

Hubby and I had a nice arugula salad, w/English cucumber, bleu cheese and Gorgonzola chicken w/mushrooms for dinner. Dessert was the new chocolate mint pudding, just like a girl scout cookie! hehe

Oh and only 60 calories!!!


Geckodani, I do weight watchers too. I had no clue how many calories were in the beer so I counted it as 3 pts; I was so snacky yesterday. Thank goodness I don't have that problem today. Thanks for the recipes!!! I love the plumeria in your avatar!!! so pretty!

Dee, I use to swim a lot but my hair is so dark I don't think pink would ever be noticed in it. I loved the 80's I agree, you need to peg your pants, you would look super cute! hehe You make me laugh dee!

Linda, yummers, your dinner sounds good! hehe

Panda, yay, for joining us, you are so adorable, glad you are with us!!! Yay for a trainer, sounds like you are doing well, maybe count calories? I am close to your age so I hear you on the metabolism slowing down. Missing meals slows down your metabolism because the body thinks it is going into starvation mode and then grabs hold of the calories at your next meal so you want to avoid that. I hear you on loving carbs, I am taking baby steps to change to more protein like eggs, turkey, low fat cheese in my salads, nuts, lean meats, beans, and avacados. Well I am very glad you joined us!!

Vizsla, the southwest is gorgeous, I love the sunsets! hehe Where would you want to move to? Which state are you in? ooooh, pizza and beer, sounds like the day I had yesterday! hehe YUM!!! Yay for your team winning, college football is the best!!!

Marcy, you are missed!!

Have a great Saturday all

 

[geckodani]

Dee- Oh no! Poor hair - I''m glad she was able to get most of it out.

Rod - Thanks for all the info!

Skippy- So of course I change my avatar right after you said that, LOL. The Gecko is Hawaiian too.

 

[geckodani]

Panda - I just found this thread the other day, and it''s already encouraging me. Welcome!

Skippy- I used to do WW. I have blood sugar issues and was encouraged to do South Beach. I like it. I think, LOL!

 

[Skippy123]

Well this evening hubby and I went for a walk and my cousin took this picture, the clouds looked pretty cool over the moutains, it rained earlier today and our walk was nice and refreshing!

Geckodani, glad you joined this thread and thanks for the recipes I will have to try them!!!

 

[Linda W]

Skippy that is a beautiful picture. Is that near your house?



Linda

 

[Lorelei]

Yoo hoo Panda!! Welcome to the thread

I am have been doing well with eating and cardio, Hubby and I have a building project to be doing at home, so that should burn a few extra calories as I will be his assistant!

 

[geckodani]

Oh wow! Skippy that photo is to die for!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Hi friends, I did level 1 of the "Biggest Loser''s Cardio Max" today wow I am REALLY, REALLY out of shape! I did it but I was sweating and it was hard. I also bought "30 day shred" so I think I am going to rotate them. I would love to say I will do it everyday but we''ll see. Hope everyone is having a great Sunday!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids! I went over to the gym with the intention of doing an hour on the dreadmill but since I was the only one there I decided iit was a good day to do my circuit thing (which is a bit of a PITA if there are a lot of people milling around using the machines). I might have gotten a little over zealous on the ab machine because the right side of my lower back is a little sore right now. Oh, and can you say THREE HUNDRED SQUATS!

I was pretty good yesterday... until the HH just happened to mention those damn hostess cupcakes that are still lurking in our pantry. So OF COURSE I had to have one...

That was 180 cals I did not need.

We're going to dinner at a Mexican place tonight that does a $25 appetizer/entree/dessert menu. I usually eat the appetizer (always the crab cake) and the dessert (always the most chocolaty thing on the menu) and bring home almost all of whatever I have for an entree so I'm trying to be very good until then.

Tacori, good for you for diving right in with those videos! I would love to do something like that at home but (a) I don't know how to turn our TV on, and (b) the floor where our TV is has no door on it so I don't know how I would keep the mutts from being right underfoot. I have this vision of accidentally kicking poor Oscar and having him tumble right down the stairs...

 

[Dee*Jay]

OH!!! An exciting new squat! The HH and I took the monsters for a family W-A-L-K and I told him what I did at the gym this morning (at the same time while he was off for a leisurely 20+ mile run BTW... ) and he said, do you ever do them like this? And demonstrated on the curb with one leg up and the other lower. (He also did this thing where he lifted up his lower foot and brought his knee to his chest as he stood up, but that is just a leeeeetle too much for poor balance challenged Dee!) Well that is just a whole new world o' squats! I came home and tried out a hundred on each leg using the bottom stair in our entry way. How much fun is that!

(Yes, I know, I have a *problem*...

)

 

[Skippy123]

Okay, just a quick check in; there is a change of plans for dinner (instead of bbq) because it has been raining (pants weather) off and on all day. I am making a heart healthy spinach lasagna and the family gtg will be indoors. I had a fabulous time this morning getting together with my friend and her daughter (my goddaughter), my sis and her son! Kids are too funny! At around lunch time we went and saw Hancock and I forgot to eat lunch so I better go do that now before I fall over. hehe Talk to you later.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Dee, you are funny. I figured the videos are easiest for me with the baby.

So my back is *really* sore. Does that mean I did the exercises wrong?

 

[panda08]

Thanks for the warm welcome! I''m looking forward to participating in this forum.

Skippy - Oh, I''m sorry your bbq isn''t happening! But your spinach lasagna sounds tasty. All the things you mention eating with your family sound so good. Are you posting recipes elsewhere? That pic of your walk is SO beautiful. That would definitely inspire me to get outside more often. I don''t generally count calories. I may try it when I plateau. Do you find it hard to count when you''re eating non-packaged foods? I always had a hard time with that when I tried.

Dee*Jay - Wow! You''re the queen of squats! I need to follow your example. I do them with my trainer but certainly not as many as you''re doing. I did an interesting one yesterday. It''s sort of like going around a clock. You cross over your right foot in front of your left foot to the 11 o''clock position and squat (or lunge, I guess), then you put your right foot in front at the 12 o''clock and squat, etc. until you go to the six o''clock position and back around and then switch legs. I definitely feel it in all sorts of places today!

I found this new flat bread at the store last night... it''s called "flat out". 90 calories, whole wheat, with 9 grams of fiber per serving. It''s large enough for a good size wrap sandwich. I spread some hummus on it and it was delicious! I''m always trying to look for a good carb alternative because I find that if I cut carbs out entirely, I''m just fixating on wanting it more!

Had brunch this morning with a girlfriend and my honey. Lordy, I wanted some hash browns but passed on it in favor of mixed fruit. Had an egg white scramble with sausage, spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms. I probably could have skipped the sausage but since I gave up the hash browns, I thought it would be okay to treat myself to the sausage.

Hope everyone''s enjoying their long weekend!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone. We got back from our camping about 11 am this morning. We had a blast except for me falling off the last step coming out of our bedroom in the 5th wheeler. Yep, I fell down. I hit where I am most padded - on my butt. I am pretty achy, sore (and getting more so as the day goes by) but nothing got broke or sprained. This actually forced me to do something I''ve been thinking about doing anyway - to see if I can get up off the floor. My friend was really freaking out and wanted to go get Marty but I just slid over to the couch and got up on it with no problems.

We did get in several evenings of star gazing in. We saw some very cool galaxies and planetary nebula. I went for several long walks yesterday – both times Marty came with me so that made them more fun.

Lorelei, I am glad you are enjoying some nice cat fights and a good soapie while walking on the treddie.

Vizsla, I love to drink filtered water. I get teased a lot I am like the little girl in Signs. I tell them it works – do they see any aliens? Your dog is a cutie.

Geckodani, congratulations on being below 200 pounds!

How exciting.

Dragonfly, I hope you had a super time as a bridesmaid. We will be anxious to see your photos.

Skippy, I love your new avatar. Another great way to display your gorgeous studs. I thought of you when I was out taking my “Skippys” this weekend since you love to go for your daily walks. Your cousin’s classes sound interesting. The sunsets have been lovely here as well but it’s because of all the smoke in the air. I love your photo. It’s so pretty with the clouds and mountains.

Linda, 108? I’d melt. Actually it probably wouldn’t bother me as much as most people. Yesterday I baked some frozen waffles in the oven for us for BF and left the oven on which Marty discovered about 2 pm (about 5 hours later). D’oh! I drained one of our propane bottles almost completely – it’s a good thing our 5th wheeler has 2 of them. He came inside and said “Boy it’s hot in here” and I said it feels good to me. I hope Rick feels better soon. It was pretty nice camping. It was in the 70’s during the day and 50’s at night.

Tacori, good job resisting cookie cake. That is great your DH wants to diet with you and you’ve found a workout buddy.

DeeJay, it sounds like you did one too many squats. Glad you were able to catch yourself. OMG at your pink hair. I know you have blonde hair that is lighter than mine but that reminds me of my green hair. In my post college – hanging out at the bar days – some of me and my friends sprayed our hair green (with green hairspray) for St. Patty’s day. They were all brunettes except me. Needless to say they looked fine the next day and it took about 3 weeks for my green hair to go away. It did fade out more each day.

Rod, LOL at that guy making a comment about feeling 60 and you guys surprising him with how old you are. You are as old as you feel and act. Sadly I act like a child sometimes and feel like an old achy person right now. LOL! Oh well, the achy person will get better – there probably isn’t hope for me acting more mature.

Even in my darkest hours I always knew I would never opt for the surgery. A lady that reached out to me on Sparkpeople was really struggling with losing and gaining weight has lost over 50 pounds now and she swears it was me that helped her get there. I keep reminding her she did it herself but I guess I had the right answers to help her find her way. I am very proud of that but even more proud of her. Thanks for the great post on weight gain and loss.

Welcome, Panda. It sounds like you are starting to follow a new path to a healthier you. Good luck!

Take care and have a great Labor Day!
Marcy

 

[Rod]

Hey.......

Never got a chance to check in last night after dinner with our friends. We actually never made it to a movie yesterday either. It wasn't a nice day weather-wise. With Gustav brewing off our coast, we've had two pretty dreary and really windy days. We just had lunch yesterday at our little Saturday deli, then coffee at Sbucks, a quick trip to Macy's to see if there was anything super on sale for the holiday weekend (there really wasn't anything I couldn't live without), then grocery shopping. We did meet our friends for dinner last night and we had a great dinner at Timpano's, which is a favorite of ours and we really enjoyed being with our friends, BUT........we did get the news we were hoping NOT to hear, which is she does have breast cancer and we're pretty scared for her. She also took a test which supposedly accurately predicts the likelyhood that cancer would reappear again in 5 - 10 years and unfortunately, she tested very high. So, she'll be having doses of radiation and chemo pretty agressively over the next couple months. Please send PS dust for our friends speedy recovery and clean bill of health.....OK?

Today was a super windy day. We had to move our patio furniture to ensure it didn't blow away. And the wind was with the hurricane hundreds of miles from us. I can only imagine what the wind would have been like if the storm was closer. Yikes. Still, we had a pretty normal Sunday. Breakfast was not outside. Lunch was at Panera. I had a bowl of low fat veggie soup and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I was just craving one. Then coffee, followed by a very long and productive workout at the gym. Dinner was baked chicken, steamed broccoli, and fresh corn on the cob. It was really good. Charlie has to work tomorrow, so I'm not sure what I'll do with my day off, but I don't think I'll do the gym as I worked out super hard today and need to let my muscles rest.

DeeJay, I loved the pink hair story! And go DeeJay with all the squats!!

I'm sorry for another scorcher Linda. I hope it cools off soon. I hope Rick is feeling better today.

Wow a 4 mile walk is great Skippy! Sorry the barbeque had to move inside, but I'm sure everyone enjoyed Skippy's Famous Spinach Lasgna!! The pictures, BTW., is absolutely B E A U T I F U L!!!

Welcome Panda!!!! BTW....skipping a meal to lose weight is NEVER a good idea, so I'm glad you can't do that to begin with. It sounds like staring at the scale gave the motivation to put you in better control of your diet and fitness goals. Let us know if we can help you. One thing you'll notice many of us do, is be honest about what we ate and did. It's sort of a daily confessional and by golly it works. So keep up with us and tell us how things are going for you. You'll find us a really supportive healthy family!!

vizsla, I think your comment was a reply to mine about considering a Vizsla someday? Right now, we're kind of cat people and we live in a highrise condo, so I'm thinking it would not be too fair to house a dog in a condo without a yard, particulary one as spirited as a Vizsla, but if we ever think about owning a house with a yard again, then maybe we'd get a dog. How wonderful that you rescued your's from the humane society!!

Hey gecko.....You're welcome!!

I hope the building project goes smoothly for you and hubby Lorelei!!

Tacori, the fact that your back is sore from your workout is a likely indicator of weak core muscles. I used to see a chiropractor 3 times a week and haven't seen one in over 2.5 years now as I've worked really really hard to strengthen my core muscles. Everyone here knows I'm a HUGE proponent of Core Strength Training and I really recommend you go to Borders or Barnes and Noble and get a copy of a book by Mark Verstegen called Core Performance Essentials. It's a great resource and will really help you.

I'm sorry you fell off the last step Marcy, but glad you had a blast otherwise! I'm sure you gave that lady so much inspiration to lose her weight and think it's wonderful that you could help offer her encouragement and advice!

Since I'm off tomorrow for the holiday, I'll have to remember it's also the start of a new week. The last 3 day weekend, I kept waiting for responses to the thread and completely forgot it was a new week.......LOL

I hope you all have a terrific Labor Day tomorrow!!

 

[Linda W]

ACK Marcy!!!! Those steps coming down from the bedroom are dangerous aren''t they? I have fallen twice on them and my grandson''s have taken a few tumbles themselves. I am waiting for Rick to be the next victim. Both times my foot just slipped out from under me. I hope your tushy won''t be too sore.

Rod: It is cooler today, hoooooooray. Hope it stays that way for a few days at least. It was 85 today. I am also sending tons of fairy dust for your friend. I know chemo isn''t fun, I hated going through it, but it is best she does what her doctor wants her to do. I will be praying for her to beat this horrid disease. Please tell her, we are all sending her our best wishes. Your lunch and dinner sounded delicious. Rick is feeling a lot better and thank you for asking. Say HI to Charlie for me.

Tacori: Glad you started exercising, it is hard to get started isn''t it? I hate to admit it, but I have stopped walking, due to this rotten hot weather. It is still hot even at night. Once it starts cooling down, like today. I will start up again. At least I get some exercise fooling around in the pool with the boys. HA!!!

Hi everyone have a great Monday, oh and Skippy, hope your spinach lasagna turned out wonderful.

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi All! Happy Labor Day!

I''ve been so out of the loop with this thread -- it''s hard to catch up. I''ve just skimmed the last few pages, but I haven''t had time to sit and read through everyone''s news.

Tacori -- I''ve read about the two workout discs you mentioned. I''ve never done anything like that at home, but they seem pretty popular here. Maybe I''ll check them out.

So I weighed myself a little while ago and the scale said that I''ve lost a total of 8 pounds. The number on the scale was the lowest it''s ever been, and part of me isn''t sure it''s accurate (especially after the weekend I''ve had). I indulged a bit too much over the weekend. On Friday night my husband and I went to a wine bar for dinner, and we had a great time. We sat on a couch while we ate and we listened to the jazz group that was playing. I had a turkey burger for dinner, and then we split a dessert sampler later on. It was soooo good! On Saturday, we went out to lunch and to the movies, and we had pizza for lunch. And it wasn''t veggie pizza.

Total splurge. And then yesterday, we went out to lunch again, and I had a gyro appetizer with yogurt-cucumber sauce on mini pitas. Yeah, we need to reign it in a bit, don''t you think?

I don''t regret the weekend but yeah, we indulged a little too much. Back on track today though! I did go to the gym both weekend days -- so at least I kept up my exercise routine.