Weekly Workout Thread 27th Aug till 2nd Sept.

[mrssalvo]

Morning all...

So despite have the neverending 24/7 bouts of morning sickness, I decided I had to get up and do my sat. magic mountain walk with my girlfriends. We had a great time as usual and the weather is just a touch cooler, was mid 70''s at 6am so that helps too. Starbucks was good too. also, just FYI, starbucks has changed all of their drinks to 2% milk instead of whole. so now, if someone wants whole, they have to ask for it. they told me it''s part of their new trying to be healthier/ have a healthier image.

anyway, getting ready to take the kids to the pool to enjoy the last few weekends with real summer weather. i hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing 3 day weekend!!!

 

[KimberlyH]

mrs.salvo, you are so awesome for working out even while not feeling well!

Marcy, that fifth wheel is HUGE!

I got in a great workout this morning, hooray! I''ve exercised every day except Thursday this week. The scale is holding on to those pesky two pounds, but I''m not going to worry about it.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

 

[Mara]

wow marcy that is one big fifth wheel! what do you guys do with it, drive it around and visit things?
yay for a good workout kim and mrs salvo...!

morning all...it''s going to be another warm one here but not SO bad, just about 90-91 rather than 96...funny but i checked the suburbs of philly where we might move and it''s only like 85 and lower humidity than here which is kind of funny. greg is like ''see that area is fabulous!'' hehee.

we just had breakfast (cereal, sprouted wheat berry toast, coffee) and now are going to get ready to head out for a hike. i wanted to go earlier so it wasn''t such a scorcher but we ended up sleeping in which we both needed. so we''ll just do a 4-5 mile jaunt...the area is mostly shaded which is great. we''ll be sure to bring water with us as well.

then this afternoon finally getting new shoes. and i need to go shopping and find a cutie laptop tote...i''m on a mission. hopefully i won''t come home with too many other non-laptop-case-clothing-goodies as i am prone to do....hhee. my closet is starting to seriously get maxed out on space.

i also want us to make a decision this wkd on the chaise/chair/ottoman we want to get to go downstairs so we can get rid of this half dying ficus tree thing we have there...greg thinks he wants leather for downstairs but he may not love the one that i like, so i want us to go to C&B to walk around the upstairs furniture portion and see what he loves so we can just go ahead and do it...and get it ordered. hopefully whatever we like is a stock piece which is 2-3 weeks vs 8-12 for ordering. i''m over the ficus!!

have a great saturday all!!!! enjoy the summer.

 

[marcy]

Hi friends and WWT''ers.
It was a year ago today I started this long, incredible and sometimes hard to believe journey.

In looking back on how it has changed me and my life it truly boggles my mind. I haven''t found it hard to stay focused on diet and exercise. I do not struggle to make sure I eat right and don''t really "blow" my diet. Sure, I sometimes go past my 1200 calories but even the next meal I am right back on track. I continue to walk more and do stretches and basic exercises. In addition to the very obvious outer new me; the inner me has seen dramatic changes as well. I am much happier, less prone to stress and anxiety. I find myself becoming more like the old Marcy. Life is good and I’m glad I can share my new life with all of you.

I had to go turn in my heart diamond solitaire ring this morning to be sized up. The enhancer i wear with it fits fine but the solitaire is just too tight - strange they both measure "6" on the ring wand. I had a good laugh when I picked up our dry cleaning; I''ve been missing my sweatshirt for about a week and when we turned it in with my husbands shirts to be pressed we handed them the sweatshirt as well. I bet they thought we were nuts! LOL.

Mara, yeah to getting some great new workout shoes. I hope you have a great, relaxing long weekend; you deserve it.
Katebar, thank you for the link to the help loose stubborn pounds.
Skippy, your family reunion camp out sounds marvelous. I am glad 5th wheelers are no long as pricey as a house. We got about 1/3 off the sticker price on this one; they have the 08’s on the way. Ours is a 39 foot toy hauler. It has a 12 foot garage at the end. The bedroom has a queen sized bed that slides out. There is a full length closet in the bedroom with some drawers opposite the bed. The shower, sink and little PS’ers room is up with the bedroom. The kitchen / living area is open. There is a small couch and a dinette that slide out and the kitchen is on the other side of it. There is a queen size bed over the garage and one that drops down from the ceiling in the garage. The garage is to store our telescope, binoculars (sized of a large gas grill) and other assorted astronomy gear. I can’t wait to try it out next weekend. I am sorry to hear your allergies are bad; May and September are my worst hay fever months so I feel for you my friend. I hope you enjoy a lovely walk this evening.
MrsSalvo, I am sorry to hear you are having morning sickness. I hope you feel better going for you walk. Enjoy the pool with your kids today.
Have a great Saturday.
Marcy

 

[Skippy123]

Yay Marcy for your 1 year anniversary of eating right! KUDOS!!

Enjoy your 5th wheel, maybe it is those RV's that are crazy expensive. It has been awhile since I looked at them. Sounds nice and luxurious!!!

Kimi, yay for a great workout! I love the morning for working out; too bad my allergies are nutty early in the morning.

Mrs. Salvo, kudos on working out doing the magical steps. I hope your morning sickness goes away soon; I am impressed you are working out. You poor sweetie.

Mara, have a great hike

Tonight Hubby and I are going for a nice walk. This afternoon we are going to Ecco our new gelato place for a small gelato, yippee.

Have a great day.

DeeJay, I hope you sell LOTS OF HOUSES this weekend

Rod, have a great time out at the Palms tomorrow.

Mara, this ring made me think of you so I took this pic. hehe I am not sure if you saw it already; I posted it in hangout but I know you have been super duper busy w/your launch.

 

[Independent Gal]

Hi Guys,

Can I join you here for a bit? I don't know what's wrong with me. I've just been on a crazy eating binge lately. Maybe it's all the stressful changes in living situation and uncertainty about my career... but whatever it is, I've put on about 6 pounds this summer and I'd like to say "IT STOPS HERE!" before I put on another 6. Know what I mean? Especially with that clingy wedding gown sitting in my closet.

I keep making bad choices. Yesterday I had a work thing that was really stressful and someone said somethign upsetting and then I ate some ice cream... before dinner. Then I went to a reception, drank two scotch and sodas, ate a few canapes, and only went for dinner around 9 with some friends and my houseguests, where instead of having a nice light supper, I had a HUGE meal of the most fattening stuff on the menu... for the second night in a row.... even though I wasn't really hungry.

I'm finding myself snacking more than usual, and I'm pretty sure it's 'comfort eating'. I don't usually do that, so I want to break this before it becomes a habit.

Can you guys keep me in line? How does this work? I report my successes and confess my failures? And then when I get back to my normal weight I get that diamond from Graff that Skippy posted above? I could live with that.

 

[Mara]

lol IG...no you need to get in line for that 8.82c ...that puppy is MINE BABY. well maybe in some other life. thanks for posting that skippy, i did indeed miss it in the other thread...hmm think that''d be too big for ''daily wear'' ?? hehe. welcome IG...am i losing it or did you post in either last week''s thread or earlier this week asking to join? i had this weird sense of deja vu reading your post.

anyway how i guess how it works is,you work out or eat right or both...whatever floats your boat, and you post here and we kind of keep each other honest. well unless it comes to gelato or ice cream because i think we all have a little weakness there...hehee. but really this is just a safe haven to post about what your goals are, things that have worked for you, ask questions about what has worked for us, post what you eat, workouts, etc. it''s just like a blog is the way i think about it. and we learn more about other PS''ers too.

i hear ya on the overeating sometimes or eating things when you aren''t really hungry. i love going out to eat and just plain love food so it''s always hard for me to try to remember to make the right choices and/or stop when half full kind of thing. i think that is a serious learned behavior that can take a really long time to perfect. what i would say is don''t beat yourself up for choices you made in the past, just make a vow to do better next time. and maybe start with small steps to being more healthy. do you have vices you can cut out like coke or desserts or less sugars in your diet? eat a lot of white flour foods like rice or pasta? making small changes can add up...and i don''t think cold turkey is really the way to go for someone starting out. with just 6 lbs to get back on track, you might just have to make a few ''better decisions'' per day to get rid of those 6 lbs then keep them off. you can also add in some extra exercise per day, even just walking 1m per day (15 min at a brisk pace) will help you...extra activity is great and it doesn''t always have to be intense cardio.

so my update...we went for our hike. so it''s about 90 outside...and it was HOT hiking, but luckily the path we take on the wkds is pretty shaded most of the time, because the times we were in the sun we were baking. at about 1/3 in i felt like i was flagging and really tired (we hate taking water with us so we hike without it then just guzzle when we get back but i should have taken some with us today) and we were going to shorten it a bit but then somehow i got a 2nd wind and we kept going til the turn like we typically do then turned and came back. it took us about 1.5 hours if not a little longer, our pace was a little slower today due to the warmth...and we did about ~5.2 miles.

came back home, showered up really quickly and now having lunch...which is TJ''s egg white salad on a slice of sprouted wheat berry toasted. also had a bit of the smoked chicken breast for some extra protein. cold green tea...and i have a small bowl of honeydew for a treat but i am kind of full (thanks to that monstrously dense wheat berry bread) so i might save it for later.

in a few minutes i''ll hopefully meet up with our neighbor and hit the shoe store for new running/walking shoes...interested to see what they recommend now that i am hiking more but still use them for the gym...and then greg and i decided to drive up to the coast and half moon bay where it''ll probably be like 65 and foggy...haha..and just get a bit of a break from the heat here. it''s about 94 right now and we have the air on 81, whew. i don''t like A/C really but there are def about those 15 days or so per year here where we feel like we have to use it. if the house gets above 85, we put the air on...but other than that we are pretty heat tolerant. some of our friends keep their houses at 65 and you go visit and you end up wearing a sweater. hehee. that''s like the arctic freeze!! so we''ll have dinner at this place we like on the coast...it''s this tiny hole in the wall fish place that is really good and simple. typically i get fiish and chips but that doesn''t really work on the lower GI thing...so i guess i''ll actually be forced to try one of their grilled fish options *gasp* hehee. and i am sure they have steamed veggies. i am going to get their famous yummy clam chowder which is actually non-dairy, it''s more broth based...and really yummy. it has potatoes and stuff too which are not in my green light on the GI thing but whatever, i figure like 3 little squares of potato aren''t going to make me a carb crazed maniac. (famous last words?!)...

sevenwires thanks for posting that article..and kate thanks for posting that link, i do want to check it out to see how these people are eating. i want to stress AGAIN that this lower GI diet thing that i am personally doing, is not about cutting out all carbs. that is not the plan and that is not what i am doing. i am still having like 1-2 pieces of toast/bread per day, it''s just the super nutritious type. i cannot cut out all carbs or lower them too much because i do work out a fair amount and i need energy. i am still having carbs in my morning cereals, veggies and fruits, but they are the more complex, takeslongerforyourbodytodigest, ones. my afternoon nuts have carbs too. really, i have cut out more sugar than ''carbs'' necessarily...but really where i think i see the true success in this plan for someone like me, is that by cutting out most sugars and white flours, i effectively get rid of my BIGGEST PROBLEMS with indulgences. namely the donuts/cupcakes/cakes/cookies and the sourdough/white/breadbasketatdinner. just cutting those two things out entirely takes care of like 99% of my bad food vices. so this type of ''diet'' is successful for me in terms of dropping some weight quickly but not starving myself or being extreme. but i can''t sustain it forever as we all know.

soooooo once this 2 weeks is over (this wed)...i am probably going to see what the nutritionist says but i plan to still try to stay on the lower GI thing during the week and then let myself have smaller splurges on the wkds. maybe only something like ''bread once a weekend at a restaurant'' and then the other night i can have a more splurgy dessert. but not bread AND dessert ... or something like that. something where i feel like i can indulge but not overdo it. however in my mind i know that those restaurant desserts are just a caloriefest of craziness. probably more than most of my actual dinners. so then i think why bother? i can just have slow churned or real gelato for a ''true'' splurge.

so, we''ll see what the gal says. but anyway, i don''t feel deprived on this diet which is good, nor am i lacking energy at all. i actually would rather not do the whole 3 days with hardly any carbs and then one day of heavy carbs, i prefer to be more consistent in how i eat...because otherwise it is too mentally consuming long term to be like ''okay what day am i on?'' hehe. with my work and life schedule the way it is, i need things as simple as possible. but yeah if i was trying to get off a big plateau or still had like 20 lbs to lose and it wasn''t going anywhere i might try something like the cycling thing to see if it worked. it sounds interesting for sure. but so far this thing is working fine for me, i only had 5 lbs to lose to get back to ideal weight and 1.5 of them are already gone.

time for some resting on the couch before going off to get the shoes...hope everyone is having a fabulous saturday and out enjoying themselves!! rod is your lobstah dinner tonite or tomorrow?

 

[KimberlyH]

Welcome, IG (feeling the same deja vu as Mara).

So we haven't gone out to dinner at all this week and decided to splurge at lunch for the second time...we went to Carls Jr., it's my once every six month or so fast food weakness and I enjoyed every bite.

We're having tri-tip and veggies for dinner. Yummy for the tummy! And I'm so enjoying football, even if my teams' offense is lookin' like an a bit of a disaster.

Happy Saturday all!

 

[Independent Gal]

Thanks for the welcome Mara! I wonder if I DID post askign to join. The thing is, I was thinking about it last week, but don't remember actually doing it... Maybe I did! Or maybe you and I are in some kind of cosmic synch.... maybe the Graff rock is functioning as a kind of medium ...

OK, I am pledging that tonight I will eat LOTS of salad with a little dressing, low fat veggie burgers with no bun and a delicious roasted potato. NO DESERT. No more snacks. Then it's 300 calories of cardio tomorrow morning (that's 30 mins for li'l me). Hold me to it, OK?

I'm also going to re-join sparkpeople.

My goal: lose the 6 pounds by October 5th (5 weeks-ish).

ETA: I just checked and I DID post last week! Weird that I didn't even remember. Well, I'm actually a pound heavier now than I was last week and ended up doing almost no cardio this past week either. So, now I'm sticking to it! YES! I'm determined!

 

[KimberlyH]

You can do it, IG!!!

 

[Skippy123]

Mara you and IndyG are cracking me up.

I think we should start community ownership on that puppy!!!

Indy you did ask on pg 3; the only reason I remember is because I forgot to welcome you and then later welcomed you. Indy I ALWAYS do that stuff. I will think about something and tell my hubby and then I will tell him again because I couldn't remember if I just thought about it or actually told him about it so I am glad I am not the only one that does that. hehee

Everyone is welcome to join and the more the merrier

 

[Independent Gal]

Thanks! But wow. That really scares me that I forgot like that. It was probably the shame of the continued overeating / not exercising. I better go back to page 3 and see all the welcomes and stuff that I never responded to (or even read!) Bad PS''er! Bad bad bad!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 9/1/2007 6:11:00 PM
Author: Independent Gal
Thanks! But wow. That really scares me that I forgot like that. It was probably the shame of the continued overeating / not exercising. I better go back to page 3 and see all the welcomes and stuff that I never responded to (or even read!) Bad PS'er! Bad bad bad!

lol, I do it in real life all the time. Don't feel bad!

ETA: Indy can you chop up some celery, carrots and cucumbers? Those help me for snacking.

 

[Mara]

lol indy....no worries, the mind is the first thing to go, i am sad to report. it happens to me all the time!

mmm just enjoyed 10 tamari wasabi almonds...i am loving those things for a quick small snack for about 80 cals, 1.5g fiber and 3g protein.

went to the shoe store with my friend and i, the ultimate consumer, walked out with 2 pairs of shoes. but it really does make sense, because i am splitting my time evenly between gym/street walking and hiking. so i got some trail shoes that are from my road shoe brand...and they just offer a bit more support for my toes and heel than the other shoes do, and i got some new road shoes from the same brand as before, but these are just a slightly higher end more cushiony/flexy model. i really like the mizunos i got from these guys last time so i figured why change a good thing. they had me try a few other brands and shoes but i kept coming back to these. so i'm jazzed to try out new shoes tomorrow. also this way my road shoes won't get all icky and gross like they did from hiking, and the hiking ones are a darker blue with grays so they won't show the hiking dust as easily as on the white road ones. my old shoes just got destroyed esp from the trail.

then we hit up trader joes and i got some new sausage, chicken and turkey sausage mixed with garlic and herbs and also a chipotle pepper chicken sausage from the same brand as the spicy chicken one we have been eating this week. there are all these other flavors to try, love it. the links are only like 170 cals with about 19g protein, no sugars..yum! i also got some new egg white salad containers and some new luna bars, strawberries, milk etc. so in case i don't get to the market again until like tues or wed we'll be fine with foodie items.

anyhow about to take off for dinner on the coast, hope everyone is enjoying a lovely evening in our various parts of the world/US...enjoy healthy dinners all! (or splurgy ones with no guilt?)

 

[Rod]

Hey Everyone!!

First, WOW Marcy. That ''home away from home'' looks impressive. I''m sure you''ll have great adventures to tell us with that for sure!!!

Good for you taking a walk through the magic stairs Mrssalvo, particularly when you didn''t feel well. How long does morning sickness last? Anyway, good job!!

Fantastic that you''ve worked out so much this week Kimberly!! You go girl!!

Welcome IG. Yes, you are now part of the WWT brother/sisterhood. And that means you confess our sins and you profess your accomplishments and we either applaud, absolve or advise you........LOL Welcome, just kidding. We are a terrific group of people who all came to this thread with one common goal and that is to live longer healthier lives. To that end we do all help and support each other. But, to me, we''ve become a family in a way and the support this family has shown me over the last year has been so comforting and important to me. I hope you get whatever it is you hope or need from us.

Yay for new shoes Mara and I hope you and Greg finally decide on the chair/ottoman too!

Today was a really decent day.

I did get to sleep in a bit longer which is nice. We had our usual breakfast on the terrace, but there''s a low spinning above and it''s very unusual for us to have rain and thunder in the morning, but we had an early morning thunderstorm and it pretty much carried through the afternoon too. Not that we had rain all day, or clouds all day, but we''d have a shower, then the sun would come out, followed by another round of rain. It felt like a sauna outside as a result.

I had my appointment with the Geico adjuster at noon. It went really well. Actually oddly well. As I mentioned yesterday I already met with and scheduled the repair at the body shop. So, I had an actual breakdown by minutes of what the body shop intends to do and the exact cost. So, I figured the adjuster would either agree with their cost basis, or disagree and write a check for a lower amount. What I didn''t expect was that the adjuster felt the body shop was undercharging and they actually wrote a check for $100 more than the body shop quote. I thought that was unusual, as the body shop guarantee''s their estimates and that meant they would honor the quote and fix it for what they told me. Now, when I drop off my car for the repair, I''ll be letting them know they''re going to make more money than they expected. Geico''s quite a company as far as I''m concerned. And based on this experience I will likely change to them in the near future.

Then we went to the "uber" men''s store where we get our more form fitting t-shirts, and they were having a 30% off t-shirts sale for Labot Day, so we got a t-shirt and they were also blowing PF Flyers (I don''t know if you remember PF Flyers, but they were the coolest sneakers, but really pricey) out the door. We each got a pair of $110 pair of flyers for $39 a pair. Way cool!!

From there or course we had a quick bitel, then headed to the gym for what turned into a 3 hour workout today. It was really nice. The gym was virtually empty, save for the always present ''uber'' boys who are always there regardless. But we had no waits for any machines and I even got my favorite elliptical without having to wait at all. I''m actually sore tonight as I decided to bump everything up a notch and increased weights and reps all around. We''ll workout tomorrow and Monday as welll.

Tomorrow night''s Lobster night at the Palm. Woo Hoo, I can''t wait.

That''s about all I can think of. I hope you''re all enjoying a terrific holiday weekend. So far, we are!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone. Yes our trailer is huge. We needed a toy hauler because we have a really big telescope and a really big pair of binoculars. I will post pictures for you. My husband has been putting them in the back of the truck but they weigh a lot and he was worried about hurting himself or breaking them; so really 1/3 of the new trailer is to haul the scopes around. The living area is only about 2 feet longer and 2 feet wider than we had before but we have more storage inside as well.
Kimberly, I am glad you had a great week of workouts. Those pesky 2 pounds must just like you, huh? I love football too, I get a lot of knitting done watching games.
Mara, we usually only take our trailer to the mountains for telescope observing but I think we’ll start taking some trips with it now. I hope you found a nice case for your laptop. I always want something pink but never can find anything nice in pink. Have fun chair shopping. I will be interested to see what the nutritionist suggests for your next step in your program. Good for you getting 2 new pairs of shoes. I like Mizunos too.
Skippy, thanks for the kudos for my 1st year. I looked for some sparkling wine in the refrigerator but we didn’t have any to celebrate so we had some chocolate slow churned instead and I didn''t weigh mine - I''m living on the edge. LOL! That ring is amazing. I need to go find your other pictures. I hope you guys had a wonderful walk this evening.
Inde, I too am having déjà vu too. Welcome and welcome back. Sorry to hear you had a stressful week and ate too much. Maybe get rid of anything you might overeat for awhile. I keep 100 calorie snack packs around everywhere to help me avoid temptation. I like the nice, controlled portions those offer. Good luck with your goal of 6 pounds by October 5th.
Rod, I think I will enjoy camping more than I ever have before. Our old trailer had a 30 gallon water tank. Our new one holds 110 gallons so I can shower whenever I want. Woo hoo! Thank you for the great description of our PS family; I agree we are all very supportive of each other. Maybe the body shop will refund you the $100. You and Charlie could have a very nice dinner on that chunk of change. That is great you got some more t-shirts and new shoes.
Tomorrow I will be lining all the drawers in the trailer and starting to move things in to it from out old trailer. I’ll be glad to go back to work on Tuesday – it’s easier. Ha Ha.
Have a great Sunday!

 

[marcy]

Here is the 20" scope. It is about 8 feet high the bottom box at the bottom is over 3 feet square. The box weighs 250 pounds with the 20" mirror in there (it is about 3 inches thick).

 

[marcy]

Here are our 10" binoculars. We owned a telescope with a 10" mirror and a former student''s neighbor donated the same telescope to our astronomy club so my husband took the two 10" mirrors and made this pair of binoculars. It is about the same size as the very large gas grills.

 

[Skippy123]

Mara, I hope you found some killer shoes

Kimi, have a safe trip to see your wonderful family!!!

Marcy, that stuff is awesome and big! hehe Wow, that scope, how do you use it; do you set it on something? I never seen one like that before. When did you start your astronomy career?

Rod, I love lobster, crab and shrimp. Enjoy!!!! Yay for a kill butt workout! Glad you car is getting fixed.

Boy, our NM sagebrush (a weed) is making me nuts and killing my allergies! I might have to start working out at the gym; I loved all the fresh air this summer but it is starting to kill me and it peaks mid Sept!!!

I walked only 3 miles last night; it got dark quick!!! I will walk this morning! Happy Sunday all! I am going to dinner at my friends house for my goddaughters 1st birthday

she is so cute. I bought her super cute jeans and a sweatshirt that says "Adorable" a book and some spending money. hehe

Have a great one!

 

[neatfreak]

Things are not going so well today. Not only did I take the past 3 days "off" (I say "off" because I did walk a few miles each day and ate ok anyways) because I thought I was coming down with something, but yesterday, during my "off" walk with my dog, we went to the dog park. Normally this is a great, fun, trip. But yesterday something was possessing all the big dogs (mine included) and they were going NUTSO. One slammed into me, stepped on my pinky toe, and I think broke it. And the worst thing is that I had no $, no cell phone to call anyone, and my fiance and best friends are OOT anyway. So I had to WALK a mile and a half home, with this stupid toe.

It''s throbbing this morning. I called the nurse on call with my health plan and they said not to come in, just to elevate, ice, and keep it "buddy taped" to the next toe. But this means I can''t really work out for the next few days at LEAST. UGH!

With only a month or so till my wedding, I think this calls for drastic measures on my part, so low GI "diet" here I come. If I can''t work out, I am going to at least keep my eating really clean.

Sorry for the whining, I am just so mad!!!!!

 

[Phoenix]

Neatfreak, sorry to hear about what happened. Hope you get better soon. Hugs.

Well, I havent' been around here for a while, mainly because of my mum' s death and the subsequent drama with my dad. I am back!

I have news for you WWT'ers! Whilst I was in Vietnam on a biz trip a few weeks ago, I was let in on a secret by the Managing Director of the company I was reviewing. Now, this lady is a grandmother, she's about 45 and does not look a day older than 30! You can't even tell that she has a grandchild! Her secret, she said is this herbal drink that not even many Vietnamese know about. She said that this drink, completely plant-based, flushes out the fat and the toxins in your body and helps you to lose weight, esp. if you drink it straight after a meal. She also said it helps you to sleep. So, me being an accountant and an auditor, was totally skeptical, but thought "what the heck, I am just gonna try it and see". She told me where to go buy it as not many places sell it, because not many Vietnamese know about its health benefits. So I got the hotel chauffeur to go buy me several large bags on my way to the airport.

I've been drinking it twice a day since I got back and miraculously, I've actually lost weight (well, I lost my appetite a bit when my mum died, but regained it quickly. In fact, during the last week, the stress from my conversations with my dad made me binge - constantly, and it was alll really unhealthy food, chocolate, booze, lots of meat, lots of starch). I am now down to 109lbs and I did not even go to the gym once in the past 10 days. Miraculously too, was the fact that my love handles from the sides of my waist have completely disappeared. My tummy bulges out a bit from the lack of toning exercise, as it always does, but the excess fat from the sides has definitely gone. On top of all of this, I don't suffer from insomnia any more. I know it really sounds too good to be true but I swear to everything I've said.

I am thinking of bringing this drink to S'pore first and try and market it here, but I need to have it tested in a lab somehow to make 100% sure that it is completely herbal-based and it does not contain any harmful chemical. If this really were true, then I think I've found the answer to what a lot of women have been looking for. Hooray!

[PS. If this post is in violation of PS rules, Admin, pls would you remove it, thks.]

Lien

 

[KimberlyH]

Happy Sunday All!

Marcy, that''s one big telescope! I can''t do anything but watch when Notre Dame is playing, if it were any other team I''d work on my cross-stiching. How are you feelling in your svelte body, my little champion? Those two stupid lbs. must like me...darn it! I will get rid of them.

Neatfreak, I''m so sorry about your toe!

So we BBQed last night and I ate well, a green salad, a small piece of tri-tip about 1/4 a sausage and some corn. Dessert, a mocha cake, looked good but I passed. Between three of us we went through 2 and 1/2 bottles of wine though. My friend kept adding to my glass, I kept dumping behind her back but I probably ended up drinking 3 glasses of wine...it was way too hot for that much alcohol and I did not feel so hot when I went to bed, I feel good this morning though.

I''m not sure if I''m going to my parents, my mom has a sore throat and I can''t get sick so I need to call her and see how she''s feeling this morning before I trek up to their place.

 

[marcy]

Skippy, the scope is ready to go in the photo. You look through the eyepiece which is at the upper left in the picture. Now you see why I have to climb a ladder to look through the telescope. The binoculars have the eyepieces on the top in the middle. I was always interested in the stars but got really involved when Halley’s Comet was visible in 1986. I was one of the founding members of our local astronomy club that same year and started teaching astronomy at our local community college in 1989. My husband got interested in it when he went out to star party with me after we first met. Have fun at your goddaughter’s 1st first celebration. She will be “adorable” in her new outfit and I am sure she adores you as well.
Neatfreak, how awful to hurt your toe and so close to your wedding. I hope it gets better soon. I’m confused; did the nurse say you shouldn’t go to the doctor to see if it’s broke? Good luck with the low GI diet.
Lien, I am so sorry to hear about your mother. My thoughts are with you.
Kimberly, those 2 stupid pounds should be pretty easy to trick so I’m sure they’ll go away soon. I am feeling pretty darn good in my new skinny body. One of my friends who had not seen me since last year saw my husband leaving Lowes last night and finally realized the lady with him was me. She said she’d never have recognized me otherwise. Your BBQ sounds fun. That is too funny you were dumping out the wine. I get really hot when I drink wine too. I’ve just reached a point where if I am too stingy with my calories to drink alcohol. I guess I would rather eat something - ooh there''s a surprise!

We have been working on the trailer. My husband is finding all sorts of little things that need fixed on it. We will probably take it out next weekend and the following weekend. I am going to line the drawers and cabinets today and start moving stuff out of the old trailer. I’ll get in lots of exercise walking from the back yard to the front yard. I made waffles for breakfast and we’ll have steak cooked on the grill with rice for a late lunch early supper.
I hope everyone has a great Sunday.

 

[KimberlyH]

Marcy, wine is one of those must haves in my world, but not as much as I consumed last night. My friend was born/raised in France and has been drinking wine since forever so she has a much higher tolerance than I do. John thought I drank a lot more than I did because he didn''t see me dumping. I can imagine how suprised and impressed people are when seeing you for the first time in a while. You impress me and I haven''t ever even met you!

I am going to my parents, hooray! Have a great few days guys.

 

[marcy]

Kimberly, thank you for the very nice compliment. I really appreciate it. Have fun at your parents.

 

[Mara]

happy sunday all!!

neatfreak so sorry to hear about your toe, ugh that is so not fun. i know you can''t really work out but you CAN do things like leg lefts or butt lifts, ab work and arm work with weights...just nothing that requires you standing kind of thing. but i would keep up with resistance and muscle training because even though it''s not a lot, it feels better than doing nothing, i tried to do this when i was down for the count back in jan of this year with my weird ab problem and i felt better for at least trying to be active. and i think clean eating is a great idea, i also did that when i couldn''t work out and i only ended up gaining 2 lbs in a month but that was mostly because greg''s mom visited us and we ate out like 5 days in a row straight, 2-3 meals a day with desserts and a ton of bread, so i was actually happy i didn''t gain more.

kimberly, your bbq sounds yummy, a lot like ours typically. we might bbq tonite after the big art and wine in downtown SJ but i don''t know...i am feeling kind of lazy so i am thinking we should just go get dinner downtown. i would love to go to this steak place that we adore, but will have to see how my willpower is holding up. thai might be safer (then i can get their waterfall beef salad which is like a big lettuce, cucumber and tomato salad with lemon juice and evoo and they put grilled beef on top of it, yummy) also because i don''t like rice and they don''t have ''bread'' persay whereas the steak place has amazing sourdough and tasty dessserts. i am going to have a grilled chicken kebab today at the festival because i have been craving one all summer, they are these huge kebabs with grilled chicken on them and we share one. yummy. this is one of the last festivals of the year so i am like i better get my chicken kebab in now just in case!

lien i am sorry to hear about your mother but glad that you found something that works for your weight loss. i am really not a fan of that kind of thing though. i just don''t believe that there is anything that can ''melt'' away fat without exercise that is actually not harming your body in some way. even if a scientist tests it out, who knows what they will find from it in another 5 or 10 years. also something that you drink that flushes toxins out to me is just screaming ''damage to organs'' or something along the lines later. our bodies are really efficient at doing their job and while i believe you can flush out bad things that maybe are left behind sometimes, i''d prefer to do it with lots of fiber and clean eating rather than a drink. but that is just me..and i''m glad you are reaching your goals.

rod, you crack me up about your uber tshirts, the funniest thing is that those pictures you posted, those look like regular tshirts to me...i''m like how are these super muscle tshirts? i was expecting tight-o spandex or something hehe. but regardless, you and charlie look fabulous in your pictures and i love how prominent your leg muscles are!! very fit indeed. enjoy the lobstah tonite for sure. we are also kicking around the idea of taking our friends with us tonite to the lobster shack...we were like jeez we can''t forget about that place, we loved it last time.

skip, i did get 2 new pairs of shoes...i posted about them a little up above, i am excited to try them out today. sorry to hear about your allergies, totally no fun! marcy...those sure are some big scopes! what do you guys do with them really?

so last nite we went up to the coast and had dinner, the amazing thing is that typically this place we go to...while sometimes it can be crowded, we typically don''t have to wait more than 10-15 min. well last nite there was tons of traffic in the small town area and driving up the coast on Hwy 1 and we were like jeez was there a festival or something? we get down there to the restaurant area where this place is and it''s TEEMING with people. we were like uh oh. we snagged a great parking spot, amazingly and i ran in to put our name in. 1 hour wait, yikes! so we walked around the pier there and then back into some neighborhoods to just kill some time...about a 30 min walk total. came back and waited around another 20 min and then we got seated. at that point i was pretty hungry and i just love their sourdough bread so i was like okay as a reward for having to wait (lol) i am going to have some bread!!! but i was pretty good and just ate the outsides (crust part) of 2 super thin pieces..with some butter. and then i had a cup of the non-dairy clam chowder and a dungeness crab louie salad with italian balsamic dressing on the side. poured off most of the oil when i set and just used the spices really. it was very tasty and i was just nicely full when done...which is a nice difference from our regular evenings there which consists of fish and chips, clam chowder, the bread, and sometimes a fried app. i really did want fish and chips but just reminded myself that the bread was a splurge so i was good. when we came home, i had my slow churned ice cream for dessert. overall i was still at only 1650 cals for the day, so the bread wasn''t a real splurge but it was since it''s the whole white flour thing. greg got fries with his dinner and i was tempted to try a few but didn''t because i thought ''well you know what they taste like, do you really need to ''try a few'''' hehee. i love keeping myself honest.

this morning it was cereal w/berries, hazelnut frangelico specialty coffee for a treat, flaxseed toast...i have become obsessed with mixing the cereals for breakkie. it''s so funny. i used to be really into mixing it up for breakfast and looking fwd to trying new recipes, esp on the weekends but the last month and a half it''s like all cereal all the time. and i don''t get sick of it! well not yet. i am surprised because typically my ''obsessions'' with food (like this) only last like a few weeks before i really need a change and every night i think okay tomorrow something new? and then i think mmm cereal.

i''ll go for a 2-3m walk soon and then do some things around the house for a while...our house is finally spotless and back in order after the few weeks of neglect with traveling and all that, it feels so good and our windows are clean which i just love. i would get them cleaned monthly if i could! then this afternoon our friends are coming by and we''ll walk over to the downtown art and wine which is about .75m. hopefully it''s not too hot today, aka 89 would be better than 94! but still hot. then we''ll figure out dinner later as well. tomorrow we are going with my parents into SF to do some fun touristy yellow GPS car thing then have dinner which should be really fun but a long day. also they closed the Bay Bridge this weekend for repairs and work and so who knows what traffic will be like, it''s a huge thing to have it closed. we are considering taking the train to just bypass all the drama.

not sure if i mentioned this, but my grandma has a treadmill she wants to get rid of and i said we''d take it. i just have to find a place for it in the house...which is the tough part as i am really picky about ''home decor'' and i don''t want it in any visible areas to anyone coming to visit which means it has to go upstairs but the rooms there are smaller, it can go in the office but we''d have to rearrange the furniture a bit and the office is the hottest room in the house which won''t be fun for when i work out, but beggars can''t be choosers i guess!! but i am excited about having something like that here so that if i want to use it i can...and i can further hone my burgeoning ''running skills'' on it. hopefully we can get it in the next week or two. it''s not some fancy model or anything, but hey if it moves and works and counts time and mileage, then i''m good. hehee.

anyway, hope everyone is having a fabulous sunday morning, love three day weekends!! enjoy all.

 

[Skippy123]

Lien, ditto what Mara says. I too am sorry about your mom.

Kimi, have a great trip!

Mara, Whooooo HOOOOO on 2 pairs of shoes!!! I bet they are fantastic

Yay for a nice dinner.

Neatfreak, I hope you feel better soon!

Oh Marcy, I see; thanks! hehe

Rod, I too thought your t shirt was going to be tight-o spandex.

It looks nice!!!

Ugh, I gained 2 1/2 lbs!!!! YUCKO, I think I was naughty 2 days. I know I will lose it but I am a little mad at myself

On a good note; I walked 4.5 miles. Yay!!!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday all!

Last night we went out for Mexican with one of my clients. It was good but not great and I was sad that I had to waste all those cals on something that was only OK. Oh well, I guess I had to eat something...

Today the HH and I lounged in bed until after 11:00 (

) with the pups. (Well, OK, there was a quick walk about 6:00, but everyone climbed right back in bed.) Then we all had breakfast and I''m waiting for my food to settle before I had off to the gym.

The one and only MUST on my "to do" list today is working out. Beyond that I *might* go to Starbucks to read the Sunday paper, but we''ll see.

The HH has headed off to the lakefront to go for a run. The good weather here won''t last forever so he''s trying to take advantage of it.

Stephie, those 2.5 lbs aren''t real, and they''ll drop off in no time flat!

Mara, I''m jealous about your new treadmill! Even though my gym is a very short walk away I''m convinced I would work out more if I had something actually in my house.

Marcy, where are you going to take the first trip with the 5th wheeler?

Kimi, on Friday night the HH and I went out and I had more wine than I usually do. I didn''t exactly have a hangover yesterday morning, but it certainly reminded me that I''m not as young as I used to be, LOL.

Lien, you''ll have to keep us posted on the magic tea.

Neatfreak, YOWCH! I once had a frozen chicken fall out of the freezer and break one of my toes so I (literally) feel your pain. Take it easy, you deserve it.

Rod, wow--a check for MORE than the quote to fix the car? If I wasn''t so 1000% in love with Travelers I would call these people up and talk about switching!

IG, LOL on forgetting that you posted. I swear, sometimes I am senile at 36...

Mrs. S., good for you for getting a nice walk in! And I''m so excited about Starbucks changing over to 2%. I just checked the website and you can choose 2% now as an option to check out the cals. Woo hoo!

Katebar, thanks for that link. I''m going to check this out.

Hello Jeff!

Sevenwires, this carb cycling concept is pretty interesting. Thanks for posting all that!

Dixie, I had lunch with one of my clients yesterday and she''s doing Jenny too. She LOVES it and has lost 8 lbs already.

Monnie, are you getting an extra day off this weekend?

tdiddy, how is your sister doing?

Gail, I know what you mean about tracking your cals keeping you honest! For some reason I just feel so "accountable", even if it''s just to myself, if I have numbers on a page.

That''s all for now kids. Off to worship the elliptical!

 

[tdiddy]

hi everyone!

thanks for the kind words for my sister. she''s taking it pretty well and is looking at it as an opportunity to get her consulting company really off the groud - which is her "dream". so maybe it happened for a very good reason. the other plus is that she feels like she has time to train for the marathon with me now. which is awesome for me. i''ve done marathons both with and without a training partner, and it''s usually more fun with (unless you are going for time). we plan to hammer down a new gym this week since we lost our free membership. the last few days I have been running and using our clubhouse that has a decent ellipitical. tomorrow i have to run my long run, so that will hold me over til i can join a new place this week.

mara - nice that you got a free treadmill. i am going to buy either a really nice elliptical or treadmill for my house in the next year so that i can be doing something active when i watch TV....may as well be moving while i''m doing it. it''s one of the few occasions where you can really multi-task. i just had a ceiling fan put in that room b/c it was so hot and it''s a dedicated workout room - i''m with you on the home decor.

marcy - i cannot believe you came so far in a year. seriously amazing!

rod - love that you found your fav tshirts on sale! that''s always fun.

IG - welcome (again....hehehe)!

i''m off to a BBQ. this weekend is a big one in cincinnati. they have a huge fireworks display down on the riverfront in the city and it seems like everyone goes. you can actually see some of it from my community, so we''re going to "party" around here and skip the crowd.

enjoy your sunday everyone!

 

[jas]

Hi all! A quick check in -- my eating has actually been pretty good the last few days...I''m allowing myself to eat anything I want, but am eating very slowly and very small portions...so the weight has maintained to the tenth of a pound! Whoo! Exercising was for naught last week, minus one day on the Bowflex. That should change as school starts this week, which throws my whole life into more of a routine!

Going out to a great seafood restaurant tonight, so unless there are Kamikaze bowls of melted butter sauce that attack my plate, I should be ok. Yesterday took some out of town guests to one of the local Greek restaurants. The portions were supersized, but OH SO GOOD. Fortunately, the fabulous conversation kept me from eating too much too fast, and we brought home about 3 pounds of lamb crepe (not a delicate item!) and a slab o'' spanikopita the size of a city block. It''s going to be our lunches for a week! Am actually off to Bowflex now.

I wish I had interesting life updates, but it''s just been one of those weeks where I am way to intimate with textbooks and more than one search engine.

Has it really been that boring at the JAS house? Ok, well, no -- I vacuumed out my car yesterday, DH installed a ceiling fan this morning and the puppy barfed last night AND this morning. So, it''s been THAT boring. I know how jealous you all are.

Just promise me that if someone ever writes a biography of my life, that information will be edited.

It is simply glorious here, weather wise, and I hope DH and I will be able to walk to dinner. Tomorrow, familial Labor Day activities, which will hopefully leave me no time to panic over the first day of school with Zippy.

Talk with you soon! Keep taking the long view on eating for a lifetime!

Oh, and Skippy, I really wonder how my ring got to LV.