Weekly Workout Thread 31st Dec till 6th Jan

[Rod]

Hey Everyone!

Happy Happy Birthday Golden. You must be a super special person since your bday is the same as mine!!!

Mara, I''m glad nothing happened to you and Greg during that bad storm. I saw footage while on the elliptical today and wow, the wind and rain and the flooded roads and bridge closings. It was like you guys sort of had a hurricane.

Kimberly, I''m so sorry about your sisters accident. Glad they weren''t hurt badly and I hope your sister doesn''t suffer much with the fractures. I''m sure it was very frightening for her for sure. Glad you and your elliptical were reunited too!

Thanks tdiddy! I do think I''m certainly in better shape at 53 than I was at 40!! A five mile run in 40 degree rainy conditions. Oh my

. That would be way too cold and wet for me, so congratulations on that for sure!!

Marcy, you should never apologize for recognizing the amazing accomplishments you''ve made. I thought of you this morning. We have a health and fitness supplement in our paper every Saturday and they always highlight someone who lost weight and today''s highlight was a lady who has lost over 100 pounds and she commented how exciting and proud she is about being able to do things like walk around a mall that she couldn''t do before. Anyway, it made me think of how incredibly proud you should be about what you''ve accomplished!!

Hey Skippy.......It is so frustrating when you type a long post and it disappears. Did you try typing Ctrl and V after you typed Ctrl and C?

We had a very nice day today. After our bout of cold temps it has warmed up nicely, so we enjoyed breakfast on the terrace this morning. Then we had cars washed and headed to the little deli for a quick lunch, followed by Starbucks and then the gym for a nice long and productive workout. From there, we had to run home and change for dinner as our reservations at The Palm were for 6:30. I had jumbo shrimp for an appetizer and a 3 lb Nova Scotian lobster for dinner. My dinner was fabulous. Charlie had a garded salad for a starter and fresh Atlantic Salmon stuffed with lump blue crab and topped with two jumbo shrimp. His dinner was good, but not outstanding, which was unfortunate. We didn''t have desert as we were both too stuffed and their deserts are really large enough to feed a table of six and overpriced anyway. And after having chocolate cake the last two weeks in a row, I didn''t need the calories on top of everything I had eaten anyway.

Tomorrow will be a normal Sunday, including a good long workout at the gym in the afternoon. I''m thinking of grilling filets at home for dinner tomorrow after our workout at the gym!

Thanks again for the Happy Birthday wishes. Sleep well everyone!!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone. We went to the outlet mall today. I ate unusual things today but I doubt I went over in calories too much. For BF I had a cc bagel with a little cream cheese and for supper I had some steak, some French fries and some peanut butter pie.
We went to look for an 8 x 10 area rug for my husband’s office but no one had them in stock or they were hundreds of dollars. We bought a griddle for my stove top. I have a ceramic top stove with a bridge burner so I wanted a griddle for it. We found a really nice one but we never checked the price. It was $179 – it better make the best pancakes and grilled sandwiches in the world! LOL! But the best part of it is that it has diamonds in the non-stick surface. That must be what attracted me to say - ooh this griddle is nice.
I spent some time today trying on anniversary rings to wear with my wedding rings. I can''t decide if I want to keep my current wedding rings, add an anniversary band or get a new wedding set that sparkles more. I really do love my wedding rings but the only thing that really sparkles in it is my solitaire. I miss the sparkle I had with my original wedding ring set that included an anniversary band. I liked the 5 stone, prong mounted bands with my set but my husband likes the channel set bands with it. Decisions, decisions…
Mara, you are so right that our perception of our weight is a little skewed from reality. I still don’t have an ultimate goal in mind, I just know I want to continue to loose more. Right now I want to loose at least 35 pounds more. Good idea to get your coat altered to fit. 10 degrees sounds pretty cold.
Kimi, I’m not the crying type either but I think I would cry if we were in a car accident. Thanks for understanding why I mention the small excitements I discover on my journey.
Skippy, sorry to hear you lost your long post. I am glad you had a lovely walk with your husband today.
SDL, when I started teaching online I had dialup and I lost files I tried to transfer all the time. It’s not fun. It sounds like following WW online is more suited for you. My mom likes going to the meetings but I have no idea what their meetings are like.
Golden, my mom does the points with WW and really likes it. I like a lot of their frozen entrees and their frozen giant chocolate bars.
Rod, I am glad you had a nice day and your birthday dinner was good. Sorry to hear Charlie’s wasn’t that great. Cooking on the grill tomorrow sounds great. I brought home the other ½ of my steak from today so I’ll warm that up and my husband will cook a pork chop on the grill for him. I am glad you guys don’t tire of my excitement; that is nice you thought of me when you read the article about the woman who lost 100 pounds. It is exciting to have a whole new world open up for you.
Have a great evening.
Marcy

 

[monarch64]

Evening WWTr''s! Just a quick check-in tonight...we did not get to go to the museum as planned this morning...poor little Daisy was puking up a storm this morning after we gave both dogs their morning bit of dry food and we didn''t just want to leave her in her crate for 3-4 hours by herself. She''s fine now but it''s always kind of worrisome when they''re throwing up like that. So the museum trip has been postponed until next Saturday...maybe the weather will be better then as well. It''s nice and warm here (well, 40''s today), but rainy and gloomy...I''d almost rather have clear skies with a lower temp but no precipitation if I''m going gallavanting around the Chicago lakefront, hee hee.

We did make it to lunch with another couple this afternoon at our favorite Mexican place. We hadn''t seen them since before the holidays and it was nice to catch up, we exchanged a little christmas gift and had a nice time sharing a pitcher of margaritas and various appetizers. DH and I had to come home and take a nap...we can''t handle alcohol during the day, apparently, LOL! Tomorrow is a Sam''s Club stock-up day and hopefully a nice long walk outdoors since the temps are supposed to be in the 50''s! Rain, schmain, if it''s that warm I''m taking advantage and going out anyway!

Rod, your dinner tonight at the Palm sounds fab...god I''m envious of you people who live in warmer areas where fresh seafood abounds.
SDL, I would''ve wanted to throttle the cheerleader woman at the WW meeting also. I would''ve been making the finger-down-the-throat face at her and rolling my eyes liberally... Your recipe for shells looks great, I must copy and paste it into my recipe folder for future reference! Yum!
Kimi, Hope your sis is feeling better after the accident and makes a quick recovery. Sad to hear, but glad she is doing ok.
Marcy, I''ll be over for pancakes tomorrow morning, hee hee. I am officially the worst pancake maker in the world, i think...I always give up after the first few I burn and DH takes over. I''m not much good at figuring out when the griddle is the right temp. Perhaps I need an electric griddle thingie? Nah, I''ll just let DH do the cooking, it''s his forte and not mine for sure.
Mara, good thing you have a coat for that Minnesota trip, it gets COLD up there! will you be downtown most of your trip? If so they have walkways from building to building so you don''t have to spend a lot of time walking outdoors, which is really nice. If you get a chance to go out for cocktails the Millenium''s bar is really nice, great martinis and cool ambience. There are a bunch of other random pub-style restaurant/taverns in the dt area also, you''ll have no problem finding something to dine on in the city. Hope your coat isn''t too expensive to alter...$70 sounds about right for a wool coat with lining.


Ok, see you all tomorrow, hopefully I have a good workout to post about!

 

[Mara]

Glad to hear you had a great day Rod...!!! Golden Happy Birthday as well!

Golden, in terms of recommendations to eat, if you just read what a lot of people write, you will get some suggestions I am sure. Also some great websites for healthy eating are www.eatingwell.com and www.cookinglight.com has some great recipes too. For snacks I like the 2% mozz from TJ's, light n'fit yogurts, fresh fuji apples, 100 cal popcorn packs, 100 cal cookie packs, and mini m&m packs. I also love Balance 100 bars in the peanut butter crisp, 100 cals, 5g protein, 5g fiber and a great pick me up in the afternoon. I eat a lot of Luna bars too, most are 180 cals, 10g protein and 3-4g fiber with not too much sugar. In the mornings my breakfasts consist of scrambled egg whites with a fat free english muffin or a high fiber wrap, and sugar free oatmeal (or low sugar quaker) for a snack before lunch. I typically eat small meals all day, so I eat at about 7:30am, then 10:30am then 12:30pm. Then around 2:30pm and 4:30pm and then dinner around 7:30 or 8pm. Oh and you should check out the WWT Healthier Recipes thread in FHH as well. It might be on page 2 or 3 by now as it's been a while since it was updated but there are a ton of recipes in there!

Skip, sorry to hear you lost the long post, I hate that! I typically copy everything I write right brefore I hit submit, just in case I lose it, I can paste it back in and try again. It's a hard habit to get into and sometimes I forget and don't copy and of course that's when I lose it but most of the time it's good.

Monnie, unfortunately we'll not be in Minneapolis...or downtown. We'll be in a little suburb town...it's pretty tiny, we have been out there to visit this company before...we go about 2x a year if not more as they are a huge partner of ours. The hotel we stay in is pretty nice at least, it was totally remodeled and it's pretty modern and every room has an LCD and the gym is passable. Last time they were putting in a small Sbucks and offer a pastry/continental breakfast thing (with boiled eggs, yogurt, pastries, bagels, toast, cereals, so not so bad!). Last time we went into Minnesota and went to the Science Museum and ate at a really fab steak place right around the corner, so that was fun. Not sure what we'll do this time...but they are planning some stuff for us I'm sure. Hopefully INDOORS. Oh and I don't think we'll be outside much as our hotel is close to the building we go to, and we park right outside and just go in. Oh and I know they have a Panera around where we'll be so if I am desperate for a healthy lunch I know where to go.

Marcy!! Our ditzy mailman stuck someone else's People in our mailbox today (some other address on a street I have no idea where it is!) and on the cover was a big spread on HALF THEIR SIZE! I totally thought of you and YES you need to send your story into People once you reach your goal!! These are all women and men who were 300+ lbs and are half their size now basically. One couple was 500 lbs and 400 lbs (male and female) and are now like 180 and 150! There are a ton of amazing stories in this issue, so I'd go buy it if you can. It's the Jan 14th weekly issue.

So this morning I did Zumba and then we spent the entire rest of the day in the house as it started raining then storming again. But definitely not as bad as yesterday, we did have some thunder and lightning but not a lot of wind, mostly just rain and dark skies. We took down the rest of the Xmas stuff downstairs and packed away our display tree. I also spent a good amount of time installing security software on my machine and cleaning out a lot of old images and things, finally was able to free up a good amount of hard disk space on my poor overloaded machine.

Then we met my parents for dinner at one of our fave mexican places. We haven't been in a while so it was good to visit. We had the nachos for appetizer and then I got grilled chicken tacos and only ate one of the tortillas. Whole beans, a little cheese and sour cream and guac. While at dinner I was talking about wanting to try this natural tart yogurt place that I have read about on Yelp but haven't gotten to visit yet. My sister said she was there today so we were talking about it and afterwards I thought I *have* to try it! So we drove the 10 min over to it from the restaurant and I got a small split with natural plain tart and a MANGO tart which was just SO YUMMY. I got fresh kiwi and blueberries on top. They also have a blueberry tart which I tried but the mango was amazing. They have a sugar free plain as well with Splenda so I might try that at some point as well to see how it tastes.

We came home and played Scrabble and I ate my yogurt...yummy!! Now I'm playing around online a bit and then we'll go to bed. I think tomorrow morning we are going to head out for breakfast as we have been craving some pancakes and there is this new breakfast cafe place that opened about a mile from us...they have another location in downtown Willow Glen, the original location has been there forever, and is only 'okay' so we are interested in seeing if this new place has a slightly better chef. Though it's a little hard to ruin pancakes, knock on wood!!

Anyhow, hopefully it won't rain as much tomorrow and we can be more active outside than today. Hope everyone had a great day!!

 

[Mara]

Oh and Monnie, so sorry to hear about Daisy...Portia has also been a little under the weather with a stomach issue of some sort..it started on Dec 30th and she is kind of on and off with loose stool (so unappealing I know)...thing is she is acting fine, playing, eating, drinking, everything. But then she''ll have to go to the bathroom like NOW. She''s had two mini accidents in the house, one right after Greg took her out and she went, so we''re just keeping an eye on her...and the vet today told us to give her some pepto to hopefully calm her tummy. They can also do a stool sample check for bacteria (I was thinking maybe she has something preventing her stomach from calming), so on Monday if she is not better I will have to drive up there with it, fun times!! Hope they get better soon....at least she is not moping around which always stresses me out even more because then I really know she doesn''t feel well and I feel helpless. But she is acting pretty normal at least.

 

[monarch64]

Mara, I snuck a quick post onto your WW thread...thanks for the well wishes for daisy, and I hope Princess P is feeling better!

SDL, your recipe was very appealing to me as a veggie, but I have no problems with healthy recipes I can make for DH, bring ''em! And of course WW is great for most people who want to attend meetings, I think it is just a question of personalities and whether you benefit from group meetings like that or you do better with keeping track through a journal of your own or online. You''re like me, I would rather come here and know that I''m accountable without all the hoopla of real life meetings, I think. That is just not fun to me, nor is it motivational, I guess. You''re going to do great, your plan looks wonderful and you seem really committed, plus you''ve been posting here and holding yourself accountable already, which is fab. You''ll be a skinny minnie in no time!

 

[Lorelei]

Blast, had computer issues over the weekend, Hubby has just fixed it but we have lost email details which is a major pain. I think I am ok for most of them except for Coda and Kaleigh, if you are reading this, could you email me please when you get the chance? Thanks!!

Rod and Golden, I hope you both had wonderful birthdays!!

Foodwise is going well and I have discovered a method of making a shake which really fills you up and helps with a sweet craving, from ex model Victoria Nixon.


Into a blender or food processor, add;

Half a pint of skimmed or low fat milk - a little less than 1 cup US.
Ice
half a frozen banana, or fresh, or it is even fine without nana.
low sugar hot choc mix ( Swiss Miss works), enough that you would use for a large mug, dissolved in a little hot water.

Whizz until blended and foamy. It isn't the best and richest flavoured shake you will ever have, but if you are having a sweet chocolate craving, it hits the mark nicely!

 

[KimberlyH]

Happy Birthday Rod and Golden!!!

Morning WWTers!

Golden, ditto Mara''s suggestion for foods, the Healthier Foods thread is a great place to start, as is cookinglight.com. Most of my dinners are CL recipes.

We had beef stew last night, it was the first time I''ve ever made it, and I just kinda threw stuff together and it came out great. I''m a recipe follower so the fact that I did it without any guidance was pretty exciting.

The Chargers are in the playoffs so we''ll be hanging out close to home today so John can watch the game. It''s still raining her and should for the duration of the day, so that''s not such a bad thing. After the movies yesterday I picked up another book, so I''ll probably spend part of the day reading. I made some orange pecan muffins a few days ago and J is really liking them, has been eating them for breakfast, so perhaps I''ll make a different kind today.

We''re going to go out to dinner tonight, a nice way to wind up the week, and my vacation.

Have a good one, everybody!

 

[steph72276]

HAPPY BIRTHYDAY ROD AND GOLDEN!!!

Just a quick check in to say hello. Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Did a 3 mile run yesterday and ate really well. Went to our fave sushi place last night for a delish dinner of miso soup and spicy tuna rolls. Andrew ordered a tuna roll and ate 2 pieces of it, so funny! He told the chef who we know really well "that was the best sushi in the world!" Just about to head off to the grocery store for some more heatlhy food and I am going to run tonight when the sun starts going down. I weighed yesterday and no change, ugh. Adam has lost 11 pounds since Christmas doing the same thing I''m doing. But, the dress I wore to our rehearsal dinner 5 years ago zipped up with no trouble this morning, so I am feeling pretty good! I know it will show up on the scale soon with all I''m doing, but it is frustrating at the same time. Anyway, everyone enjoy their weekend!

 

[ljmorgan]

I haven''t posted much, but this week has been a good week for me! After a week of getting lots of good cardio in, eating pretty clean all week, and a bit of strength training... my period has returned after not having it for 2 months. I don''t know if the exercise kicked my hormones back into gear or what, but I am happy!

Since this weekly workout thread often has discussions on food, how do all of you feel about whole foods? For instance, you can lose weight eating TV dinners, canned vegetables, and low fat dairy. In the past I have included a lot of TV dinners and skim milk/low fat yogurt. Last month in Newsweek there was a huge article on the "fertility diet" where they studied what women ate in relation to their attempts to conceive. Now please take everything here with a grain of salt, because we all know that these "studies" change nearly every day it seems! One of the shockers of the magazine? The more low fat dairy the women consumed, the lower their chances of conceiving. The researchers were surprised by this and after looking into it, gave the idea that low fat dairy has a fat/protein content that is altered, and the way it is skewed by removing a lot of the fat is that low fat dairy contains more male hormones.

Here were the parts that interested me:

1. Women who consumed the low fat dairy had lower chances of conceiving -- the researches recommended whole milk and dairy, which contains a natural balance of hormones, fat, and protein
2. Women who consumed a lot of protein had lower chances of conceiving. The researchers also noted that women who got more protein from plant sources as opposed to meat, had HIGHER chances of conceiving.
3. Women who ate more refined carbohydrates lowered their chances of conceiving.

I think that these findings aren''t just valuable for women trying to conceive -- to me those findings represent ways of eating that are more healthy for our bodies, so that our bodies can function and do what they are supposed to do naturally. If you''d like to read the whole Newsweek article (it''s long -- but interesting) it''s here.

So my husband and I have been talking -- do we try to kick out a lot of processed foods, and switch to whole milk? Just this week we were presented with the opportunity to join a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) that purchases RAW milk from an Amish farm in our area. The farmer has milk, cream, yogurt, makes cheeses, and also sells his own organic beef, pork, and chicken. The prices are higher than the grocery store, but is the health benefit worth the bit of extra cost? I discussed raw milk with my mother, and she thought the idea was too scary. But one thing that I found out about raw milk makes me think. Apparently, people who are lactose intolerant and cannot drink milk from the store, are supposed to actually be able to drink raw milk. Why? Because milk straight from the cow contains enzymes that allow our bodies to break down the lactose in milk. During pasteurization, these enzymes are killed, and lactose intolerant folks can''t drink the resulting milk. That makes me wonder -- what else does pasteurization do? Does heating the milk to ultra high temperatures kill other things that are good for me? At the same time, I''m aware that raw milk carries more risk that pasteurized milk (although, I did read this week that two men recently died from listeria in pasteurized milk... are we ever safe!)

So what do you think? Do you think food can play a role in conceiving a child? Do you think that processed food interferes with our bodies activity? Is raw milk, and organic produce/meat worth the switch? I am just interested

 

[Mara]

morning all!!!

steph, yay for things zipping up fabulously!! oh and i read something in the people mag recently about how men have such an easier time losing weight doing tiny things than women do and it''s attributed to the fact that they are just plain larger than women, and inherently carry more muscle than women do. so that is why it''s so much easier for them to lose weight than women who are little natural fat storers.
lindsey, i saw that snippet of info vs whole milk dairy vs low fat as well. i do think that processed foods do have some ability to mess with us...in the ''old days'' all people had were whole foods, and now with all this processing, it definitely changes the chemistry of the product so why wouldn''t it change how our body responds to it? it''s funny though because you have all these different research findings that all say different things. like whole milk for fertility...but low-fat or non-fat milk helps you burn more fat (calcium actually)...so it''s like darn well do i want to conceive or be thinner LOL! it always seems like when they find one thing out, another makes you go hmmm. but yeah i have heard of doctors also recommending to women to alter their diets when trying to conceive. much less on the processed and more on the natural from earth kinda stuff. the less hormones in your body that aren''t YOURS, the better.
monnie, i think i saw you recently on tPF posting re: your burberry, i love hanging on there & checking out all the fab b-bag stuff. can''t wait to see what you get next!!
lorelei your shakie shake sounds yummy!! sucky computer issues, hope they are all fixed.

so got up this morning and thought about heading out to try that new cafe, but then i thought well i have blueberries in the fridge and lemon buttermilk pancake mix and eggs, so why not make our own fab breakfast that i know is going to be 1/2 the cals and fat of whatever we will get at this diner. so i made us blueberry lemon pancakes with ff milk and egg whites, and omelets with 2% cheese (egg white for me) and yummy hawaiian coffee. and all for much healthier! and we were able to chill at home with princess P and listen to jazz and play online and read the paper in the comfort of our own home. i love a good cafe breakkie sometimes but just not today. plus we may have dinner with our neighbors tonite so i was thinking, well do i really want to eat out 2x today? not so much.

the sun is peeking out and the sky is blue, for how long who knows. we may try to take a walk/run with portia today, poor thing didn''t get to leave the house much yesterday what with all the pouring rain. other than that, we''re just going to finish cleaning up the house and relax a bit!! i wish weekends were much longer.

 

[Skippy123]

I need a little rainy cloud emoticon. hehee Well my cousin and I went for a walk and all of a sudden it got dark and rainy so we got 2.75 miles of walking in, yay for something and an outdoor shower so now I don't need to take one!

I hope we get snow or lots of rain; we are pretty dry so I hope the rain keeps up. Kimi, I got your book "Sharp Objects" and it is chilling from page 1. I will read it today since it is nice book weather!!!

Kim, have a nice dinner out!

Lindsey, interesting info.
Happy Birthday Rod and Golden! Hope you are having a Sweet day, you sweeties!!!

Rod and Mrs. Salvo, a new episode of DHW's is one tonight, yaaaaaay! See Rod, ABC knew it was your Birthday so they are showing a new episode for you!!!

Steph, yay for the workout!

Mara, I love rainy days and a good book! I did the control c but by accident didn't do it at the same time and couldn't undo the c I typed, bleh, oh well. Yum to a yummy breakfast! Hope Portia feels better soon, poor pup.

Marcy, yay for doing so well! Your griddle sounds nice!

Monarch, I hope your pup feels better, poor Daisy. Hope you get a workout in.

SDL, I love Weight Watchers too. I love etools, have you tried the recipe builder where you type in your recipes and it spits out points? Thanks for the recipe, you rock!

Lorelei, I love your posts in rocky talky, you crack me up, lol!!!! Yay for the workouts!

I thought I would list my favorite low cal WW items

Double Fiber Nature's Own bread, 0 pts and something like 12 grams of fiber
egg beaters 1pt w/lowfat cheese 2pts
Trader Joe's lowfat string cheese, 1 pt
WW yogurt , 1pt
Fiber One Chocolate chip bars, 2 pts
WW soup, 0 points (the recipe is in Mara's healthy recipe thread)
Boca Basil burger 2pts and oh so yummy!
Raspberry's 1 pt
Turkey pepperoni (7 of them) 1 pt
94% Healthy Popcorn 100 calorie I think is 1 or 2 pts.

Have a great Sunday all

 

[jas]

Happy Birthday Rod and Golden!

 

[golden]

Thank you for all the Birthday wishes, you all are so sweet!
Happy Birthday to you Rod!!

I am down another half a pound, so total, I am down about 2-3 pounds and this has not been in a while, so I am really excited over these few pounds!! The first day I was sick did give me a head start though, so I am down a pound from that starting weight.
My mom made me a really yummy pancake and scrammbled egg breakfast, which I included in my points.
The problem I am still having- eating 2 meals a day. Since I have been sick and sleeping late, I only eat 2 meals a day. I really want to be eating breakast lunch and dinner with small snacks inbetween. That is going to be my goal for this coming week.
What do you reccomend for cold cuts so sandwiches- ham? turkey?
I will have a small bite of ice cream cake tonight, I will feel bad if I don''t, it''s tradition!!
Is everyone ready for Desperate Housewives tonight??? I CAN''T wait and then the premier of cashmere mafia.

SDL- did you get one of those points sliders? I have to try to get one, I can''t see how they will give me one w/o being a member. I have no problem buying it from them. I am also confused on how many points I should be eating. I read 20 in the book, but then somewhere else I read 25. I think 20 would be really low calorie wise.

 

[steph72276]

Golden, I don''t watch too much TV, but I''m a huge DHW fan and can''t wait till tonight!

 

[jas]

Golden, I would think of alternatives to cold cuts if you are sensitive to sodium...they can pack a whomp. However, not all of them are bad...

I do get the thin sliced turkey and put it on a wrap.

I''m a wrap gal -- I tend to throw whatever last night''s dinner was in a wrap and add (depending on the meal) a little bit of very flavorful cheese, some lettuce, dried cranberries, salsa, etc. Really good for using up that last bit o'' chicken.

I''m all for eating a normal portion of cake on your birthday, and the daintier sized portions the rest of the time. But that''s me.

Skippy -- I''ll do a rain dance for you!

Mara -- Hope Madame Portia is feeling better. She''s a sweetie pie (I adore Westies -- she''s a Westie, right?) I actually have Zumba workout tapes and love them in my rotation. Sounds like the class is even more fun!

Lindsey -- interesting material. I always want to be a bit of a stinker with those articles and write snarky messages to the scientists like "Did you factor the couple actually having relations?" But that''s why I have the reputation I have. It''s also why I''m banned from most nutritionists'' conventions.

Steph -- Whoo hoo on the dress!

Lorelei -- I''m sorry the gremlins got to your computer!

Marcy -- Blingie griddle? Excellent. Keep us posted on the ring decision!

Yesterday I did a good 25 minutes of upper body work on the Bowflex and then ate fairly well for the day. Made some CL pork chops which were tender and moist. Phew!

Did a major shop today and am surprised at the healthier choices DH and I are making. Although he and I need to grow up a little and stop snickering when there is high-fiber cereal in the cart. Especially if we''re eating it. You don''t want to know what he calls that stuff.

I am down 1.5% body fat, which is really great!

Had Orientation for Second City and I am officially jazzed about the whole thing.

Remember when that parent at conferences told me that her entire family had discussions about how they thought I looked like a vampire (a "nice" vampire)? So my newly engaged brother (who''s the baby in the family and has his moments of thoughtlessness, although I love him to death) made a toss-off comment about how my wedding makeup was "goth".
So I''ve decided to commit to this Vampira thing once and for all.

Does blood have a lot of calories?

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy B-Day Rod and Golden!!!

Totally crazed right now--will write more later. (This real estate slow down rumor is a MYTH!!!)

 

[Rod]

Thanks for the Birthday Wishes Everyone!! I hope you had a great Birthday today Golden!!

We had a nice day. It was really a pretty normal Sunday. Beautiful weather permitted breakfast on the terrace, then we went to Nordstrom's as Charlie had gotten me a couple gifts for my birthday, but he bought the wrong sizes, so we went there to return a couple things. Then lunch at Panera, coffee under the "oak" and a nice long workout at the gym. It was funny that I had to remember that I can no longer put in 52 when I start the elliptical. Now I have to remember to enter 53, which I did, but it didn't seem to change anything on the calories burned or what max heart rate I should be. Then we bought a nice filet for me and some tilapia for Charlie and fresh Silver Queen corn and fixed a nice dinner at home. We split a mini (really pretty small) pineapple upside down bunt cake we bought at Panera earlier. It was actually really good and just enough.

Just finished watching DHW and it was a really touching show tonight. Charlie's watching the new show, I think it's called Cashmere Mafia?

That is a rather expensive griddle Marcy. I'm sure the diamond finish will make everything taste better!! LOL

Glad you enjoyed lunch with your friends Monnie. I hope Daisey feels better soon too!

Not sure when you're going to Minnesota Mara, but stay warm. Our corporate headquarters are in Edina, just oustide the city and I always dreaded going there in the winter. It's just too cold for this Florida boy!! I hope Portia get's to feeling better too.

Lorelei, that shake sounds really good. I do get my chocolate shake fix after a workout as I often have a protein shake after a long workout. We use Muscle Milk Protein Powder, one cup of fat free milk and about a 1/2 cup of ice cubes in the blender. It comes out think and chocolatey!

Yay for your stew coming out so good Kimberly!!

Sounds like a good run and great Sushi Steph!! How cute that Andrew thinks it's the best in the world!!

Lindsey, I'll leave the conception advice to the ladies. I would think our reliance on processed foods has to have something to do with the health issues many people face and whole foods must be better for us in the long run.

Sorry you got caught in the rain during your walk Skippy. When it's warm out that can be OK, but not when it's cold outside.........brrrrrrrrrr. And yes, wasn't it nice of ABC to send a new DHW on my Birthday??!!

Jas, er Vampira, blood is likely a bit too high in sodium dear, and you'll just end up looking bloated

Sleep well everyone!!

 

[Kaleigh]

Can I sneak in here and wish Rod a very HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY??

Sounds like you and Charlie had fun!! All the best to you!!!

Lisa

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone.
Rod and Golden, I hope you had MARVELOUS birthdays!
We did some shopping today and then cleaned out our spare bedroom and got the treadmill set up again. I will try to use it tomorrow. My husband runs on it but I will try walking on it. I also moved clothes from my side of our closet to the other room so my husband can spread out his clothes in our closet. The spare bedroom closet is small but has more room than I had before.
We took down our Christmas tree today and took care of all of it. The computer room looks HUGE now.
My scale said 179.8 this morning so I did finally make it in to the 170’s. Woo hoo. I don’t recall the last time I weighed this little – probably about 16 to 20 years ago. Wow.
Well, I bought an anniversary band today. I tried on some ideal cut bands yesterday but they just didn’t blend in well with my ring (style, etc.). So today I upgraded a pendant at a jewelry store at the mall to a ½ ct. 5 diamond bar set anniversary band. It looks pretty good with my wedding set and I can wear it alone when we are camping. I need to return it to get it sized next week; they are backed up from Christmas so I will wear it for a week before turning it in.
SDL, it sounds like you are all set to get back in to the WW routine. I love the 100 calorie snacks too. They are great.
Monnie, sorry to hear poor little Daisy was sick this morning. I am relieved to hear she is okay now. I hope you get a chance to take a nice long walk in the warmer weather. I did have issues with my pancakes today. I turned on the bridge burner but forgot to turn on the back burner. So the front 2 pancakes were fine, the 2 in the middle we ½ done (then I figured it out) and the back ones were still dough. My DH got to eat first. They did turn out good once the griddle was hot. Rats! My husband likes to cook too but I usually do most of the cooking.
Mara, thanks for the info on the People magazine. I will go pick it up. It would be interesting for me to read their stories and see the pictures. I am glad the sun came out there today. That storm is moving in here tomorrow so we’ll probably get some snow. Your yogurt sounds great. I hope Portia gets better soon.
Lorelei, rats to having computer issues. Your shake sounds terrific. I’ll have to try one of those.
Kimi, your beef stew sounds great. We actually went out to eat today too. We had a small order of nachos and I ate ½ of a hamburger with about 6 fries. I ate the other ½ of my hamburger for supper and I’m starving now. I’d best eat something small or I’ll have trouble sleeping tonight. I am starting work on school tomorrow too. Sorry to hear your vacation is over.
Steph, that is great you had a 3 mile run. Yippee for your dress fitting great.
Lindsey, I don’t worry so much about low fat food but I avoid most fat free food. Once I saw that a lot of it doesn’t event come off a knife in the dishwasher I decided I didn’t want it in my body.
Skippy, sorry the rain shortened your walk with your cousin. I’m like you though, we can sure use the moisture here too.
Golden, congratulations on loosing more weight. You are doing great. I try to eat 5 to 6 times a day with 3 of them being around 100 calories. On weekends we tend to only eat 2 meals so I eat more at meals and don’t eat the 100 calorie snacks. I bake a few pieces of chicken breast and slice them up for sandwiches and sometimes I eat peanut butter. I use the SL 110 calorie wheat hamburger buns for sandwiches.
Jas, I’m with you on your birthday you should have your cake and eat it too. I loved that the griddle I bought has diamonds. I asked my DH if I should run it through my US. Tee hee. I did get a ring today; I posted some pictures in SMTR. Yay for being down 1.5% body fat. So should we start calling your Buffy?
DeeJay, that is wonderful you are so busy with your real estate business.
Rod, I am glad you had a lovely day on your birthday. I must agree that I did get a pricey griddle; once I remember to turn on both burners I may even enjoy it. I’d better for that much money anyway!
Have a great week.
Marcy

 

[Rod]

Oh Lisa, it''s so nice to hear from you and thank you so much for the birthday wishes!! Your friend, Rod

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Happy Monday everyone.

It was my first day back with my Jujitsu instructor since early December.
The 25 minute boxing workout was energizing and we worked on new Jujitsu
techniques (I won''t go into detail...but if not done correctly could cause problems).
Like Rod, I''ve never felt better. He''s 53. I''m 51. The best part is when I tell people that my "kids"
are 24 and 23. Honestly, it''s so important to stay active, eat healthy, surround yourself with
positive people and get enough sleep. Not that difficult.

Keep up the great work in 2008...see you again soon.

Jeff