Sistahs of the Traveling Tee

{ Still here...honest }

2009-07-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

Hey ladies,

No I did not fall off the face of the Earth! Sorry. The last week of my 15 day challenge was a bust. With the last week of school and getting ready for camping...well you know how it goes. My Challenge was not a totally bust though. It did get me back onto the track I want to be on though. So starting yesterday I got back at it. My challenge for myself now? To workout 5-6 days a week. Through the summer it will be much easier for me to workout on a regular basis. I plan to workout first thing in the morning on the days that I am not working. The days that I work will be my off days unless I get the energy to workout in the evening. I am happy with that for sure! Hope everyone is doing well in their own journeys. I will be checkin' in hopefully daily...if not at least a few times a week. On a side note...I have a few pics from our camping trip posted on my blog if you are interested. I think I might post a few more too...

Hi Everybody!!!!

2009-06-28T18:16:00.001-07:00

Hi! My name is Anne. Thank you for the wonderful welcome, Jen!

I am 38, a SAH mother of 4 (ages 18, 16, 9 and 6). I am naturally slender and until about 10 years ago, I ate anything I wanted and banked on the fact that it would just magically disappear off my frame.

Then something happened. I dont know if it was my age or the third pregnancy... but I put on about 40 pounds one year... and kept it for another 9 years.

But last spring, the most magical thing happened... I got the flu AND an impacted tooth. Between the two, I didnt eat anything but pudding and mashed potatos for 10 days and dropped 10 pounds! Best diet ever, right?

Not really. But I was able to keep the weight off and lose another 8 pounds over the year.

So now I am about where I want to be. Why are you here, then, Anne????? Well, I jiggle. And not just my boobs and my butt, but my arms and my neck and my thighs! And my ankles are thick. And WHERE did this pouch on my stomach come from???

UGH!!!!!

So starting Monday, I will be changing my life! And it is going to be painful, too... I do not handle change well. First, no more cookies, Pepsi or late night snacking. Second, no more sleeping until NOON. and Third, exercise!

Sounds easy until you realize that up until this point I have used the term exercise to mean anyone but me. I do NOT exercise. I dont even walk around the block. I cant stand to set foot in a gym and I cant keep up with all the dancy videos. I dont just avoid exercise, but I am also a HUGE clutz with no rythm and no physical aptitude. You know me... I am the woman who sits half-way up the stairs at work, laughing because she just tripped UP the stairs yet again! You know me... I am the woman who only rearranges her furniture once every 4 years but still walks into things about 10 times a day.

So please join me in my struggle to get toned. I appreciate any support and assistance you can give me... because every comment is just one more little push to get me moving! Hold me to it! Dont let me quit.

Anne

Update from Adrian

2009-06-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

Ladies - you have inspired me! I have been in slackerville for way, way to long and it's time I got back with the program. I figure if I have to post everything I eat, maybe it will embarrass me enough to make some better choices. I don't do "diet food" per se, because it just horrifies me to eat all that stuff. But I can make some better choices - smaller portions, less high-fat food, and more fruits and veggies. Plus exercise is a must. In a typical day, I get no exercise at all, so even a few minutes a day is an improvement.

Today was my first good day in quite a while.

Breakfast - 1/2 cantelope and bowl of cereal
Lunch - Beef vegetable soup and a handfull of jelly beans
Snack - 2 BK Burger Bites (my son was supposed to eat one, but it had mustard so he wouldn't eat it so he ate my apple fries instead!)
Dinner - Some noodles with about an ounce of steak and some veggies

Got on my Wii Fit for the first time in 3 months and did a 20 minute workout. Yay me!

Update from Deborah

2009-06-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

It's so good to see all you ladies back and doing something. Every little bit helps and counts.

I want to eat super healthy but it's very difficult. I love my sweets and bad food too much. I just want to eat yummy all the time - especially because I am still feeding the baby. Hannah is almost 10 weeks now.

Anyway - today I am going to see how long I can go without milk and sugar again. Sugar is a poison ( ie very, very, very bad for you ), and even though I know it, I always want to add some to my cuppa's and cereals etc... So no more cuppa teas or coffee for me - so I might have a headache before the day is out. LOL.

Every little bit counts. :)

2009-06-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

Hey Ladies....

I've been power walking around my block the last couple of days. But I'm kinda messing up my crafting schedule. This happens all the time I try to add in a new "hobby"... ack.... anyways, good job Tracy, keep up the great work, welcome Anne and Welcome Back Maria - you can do it... we can do it....

~jen~

{ Day 8 & 9 }

2009-06-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

Well Day 8 was a no go...I just felt too lousy. However, I am not gonna beat myself up about it. I was sick and that was that...onto day 9...

Day 9
36 min walk outside

Still feeling a bit lousy today, but managed the walk and feel good about it. I am dealing with a busy week this week...last week of school, MIL still very ill, heading out camping for two nights on the 28th and 29th and trying to get the house and trailer in order for that! I sure hope I can keep sane this week!!

onto day 10...

SparklePeople

2009-06-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

Hey Ladies. . .I joined SparklePeople last year but never used their tools. . .how about we all join SparklePeople and use their tools to keep track of our fitness and weight loss progress.

My profile name is "Cardinspired". LOL! Not very creative. I should start a new profile. . .nah, that's okay. . I'll just keep that profile name.

Let me know if you joined and I'll add you as a friend. I have no friends yet.

Anyway. . .if you care to join in: Click Here

Have a great Father's Day ladies!!

Maria's Week 1

2009-06-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

Today "mentally" is my official day of my weight loss journey.

The goal today was to prepare myself for the real day which is tomorrow. LOL! I went grocery shopping. . .bought a bag of turkey burger. One patty is only 110 calories. . .with bread and a tomato, together it'll be less than 250 calories. Not bad for lunch. I also bought salmon burgers. . again, 110 calories. I needed quick meals for lunch that don't require a lot of prep but still low in fat and calories.

I also bought a lot of veggies. . cauliflower and snow peas for my pork tofu dish which will be dinner for tomorrow. Cabbage and potatoes for my beef soup for Tuesday's dinner Wednesday's dinner will be chicken long rice.

I bought green tea for my drink. . a gallon worth for the week. I was suppose to buy the diet green tea but I picked up the wrong container. That's okay. . an 8oz serving is only 80 calories. I didn't buy any soft drinks. I'm cutting out soda from my diet.

I didn't buy any snacks. I'll cut down on my snacks. Instead I bought fruits . . apples, oranges, etc. The fruits will now substitute for my snacks.

No weigh ins for 1 month. I don't want to get discouraged.

Here are my goals for the week:

Diet:

Eat 6 small meals a day
Focus on healthier meals for dinner
Drink at least 4 glass of water to start off with and increase with time
Listen and read the "spiritual weight loss" program that I bought to help me deal with being on a weight loss program
Reduce my plate to 1/4 the size or reduce my plate portion to 1/4 of my normal size.

Exercise:

Walk for 1 mile 3x this week then increase with time

That's it for now! I'll update my goals next week! Wish me luck!

Maria

{ Day 7 }

2009-06-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

Day 7

Went for a walk outside with the family yesterday...not sure how far or how long...it was at least 20 mins, but not sure if it was 30. I started to not feel well Friday night and was not feeling great yesterday, but forced myself out for a bit of a walk at least. Not too sure if I will get in a walk today or not. I am feeling quite lousy today, but we will see how I feel after dinner...I will try and get myself on the treadmill, but maybe not...I won't be too disappointed in myself if I don't. I know they say you should not workout if you have a fever and I have felt one on and off all day...I will update one way or the other though.

I am very proud of myself to making it through a whole week of 30mins a day though...go me!! :0)

{ Day 6 }

2009-06-21T14:11:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the late post....

Day 6
31 mins walk outside
again not sure how far it was...

onto day 7

New Member: Anne Alagna

2009-06-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

Aloha Ladies....

We have a new member - her name is Anne Alagna..... welcome Anne!!!

Starting Over Again

2009-06-20T10:34:00.001-07:00

Hiya Ladies! Okay. . .I've been resisting, avoiding, ignoring, denying. I actually bought a CD pack of this "spiritual weight loss" program a few weeks ago and I haven't opened it yet. Mentally, I could not get myself to take the leap into trying to lose weight again. I've been feeling "defeated" and sort of was heading in the direction of "just accepting" my chubbiness. I've tried so many times and failed. I'll lose a few pounds but then the effort is so mentally and physically draining that I start to lose my momentum and finally, just give up!

I think this will be my last effort. I know I sound negative but I can't always keep "trying" and never really accomplishing anything so either I do it 100% or just accept the fact that I'll be at this weight forever.

So. . .I'll start my weight loss journey tomorrow on Father's Day. It'll be a test for me. We will be eating at a yummy restaurant and I will eat a small portion of my meal and not go nuts! Time and time again. . .food is my "frenemy" and exercise is my true friend. Unfortunately, food is such a fun friend. . . .much more so than exercise. LOL!

Anwyay. . .wish me luck, ladies! Hopefully, this time around I will reach my goal!!

Hope you are all doing well! Keep up the great work, Ladies. I'll be here more often now that I've resolved my "issues" and am ready to work hard to reach my weight loss goals!

{ Day 5 }

2009-06-18T14:38:00.001-07:00

Day 5

44 min walk outside
not sure how far it was as my step counter is not all that reliable, but I know that I am pooped!

The past few days we have been hit with thunder storms and good down pours. So today it was sunny and I managed to get out for a walk. Although, the last 5 mins of my walk I was watching the lightning and hearing the thunder coming. It's on its way. My body is definitely feeling some wear and tear from this week. My hips are screaming at me. I bought some Tylenol for joint and muscle pain. It worked really well, but it was suppose to last 8 hours...not! Thinkin' I will be taking some more soon!

onto day 6...

Today I walked.. and a video to share....

2009-06-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

Ladies, today I didn't get a chance to do my Tahitian workout, but I did some power walking for 20 mins... but I think I could've gone a lot faster. LOL...

Anyways, here's a video to crack you all up, as it always has me cracking up - maybe we can each order one to lose weight?!

{ Day 4 }

2009-06-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

Day 4

30 mins treadmill
1.45 miles

Got home from work...ran upstairs...changed my clothes...went down to the basement to workout before the kids got home from school!

Onto day 5...

{ Day 3 }

2009-06-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

DAY 3

30 mins treadmill
1.44 miles

I am so glad that you are doing this with me Jen. On a day like today...it would have been soooooo easy to back out. I was feeling a bit tired today and my legs were acky, but I did it!

onto day 4!

6/16 Aerobics

2009-06-16T08:20:00.000-07:00

Good Morning, aerobics was started at 6:30 am for me. Great time since the kids are still asleep. This Tahitian Dance workout thing is hard. But I've got sooo much love handles, that I'm just going to stick to it, and hopefully see some changes around my waist.

For breakfast, I'm having a cup of fruits, with cool whip - LOL... not too much cool whip. Just a little to taste.

Have a wonderful Tuesday sisters....

Hugs,
Jen

{ Day 2 }

2009-06-15T21:36:00.001-07:00

30 mins treadmill
1.44 miles

Felt good tonight to workout. I thought I might be tired and stiff, but I felt really good!

Onto Day 3...

My 1st Day doing aerobics....

2009-06-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Tracy (and others),

I worked out and did aerobics this morning. Thank you for putting it out there for me to join. I did some Tahitian Aerobics. It's a DVD that teaches you Tahitian dancing at the same time, working out. (click on photo for $$$$ and ordering details). I tell ya what, my entire body hurts, and is soooo outtah shape!!! I think it was perfect timing to start this again too, because I went to my Dr this morning, and she gave me my blood test results. The statistics weren't bad, but they weren't that great either. My cholesterol level was at 173%mg, and ideally it should be below 200%mg. But apparently, my previous count was at 155%mg..... that's not good! LOL... anyways, time to get my butt into gear. I hope that the Tahitian work out is something fun that'll tone my opu (belly) and firm my butt. I also have to work on my eating habits. Food in Hawaii tastes toooo good to pass up... but I will have to get a hand on it.

I hope you are doing well and survived your aerobics today, Tracy. If anyone wanna join us... we are here!!!

Hugs,
Jen

{ If you are out there? I need ya! }

2009-06-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hey ladies,

Okay...so I stepped on the scale today...not sure why, but I am VERY disappointed in myself. I am not going to give you the numbers, but I will say that it was 50 lbs more than I was 5 years ago! I am so not happy with myself right now! So...instead of beating myself up...I have decided to give myself a challenge. I would really love it if someone would join me...I could really use the support!

I am challenging myself to 30mins of aerobic activity for each day of the rest of June. So that is 30mins a day for the next 15 days. I started tonight, but would love it if someone else would join me. If not, I hope no one minds that I post each day...to keep myself on track.

Day 1 - June 14
30mins Treadmill
1.44 miles

Checking In and Update

2009-05-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

Hi Ladies,

I have had Miss Hannah - 8pound 10, on the 16th April. So now I am hoping to lose the extra baby weight that I put on and a bit more. :) Not sure how long it will take though.

I only put on an extra 4 kilos with the pregnancy - so that shouldn't be too difficult to remove.

Hope you are all doing well.

Anyone else got an update?

Here is Hannah at 2 weeks.

It's Week 6, I think

2009-02-24T07:49:00.000-08:00

Hi Ladies!

Okay, I cannot keep track what week I'm on already. LOL! I think this week starts my 6th week. I have to confess, I slacked off last week but I did manage to lose 1 lb for a total loss of 10 lbs. Do I look 10 lbs lighter. . .not sure.

I'm actually back to where I was last year. I had gained 7 lbs since we started this blog. Sad. . .but I finally did lose it.

Do you know what the real motivator for me to lose weight? Well, when my family came down during the holidays. . .they had this "shocked" look and my aunt commented "you got big". LOL! Argggh. . .I KNEW they were going to comment on it because the last time we saw one another, I was 25 lbs lighter. On a short person like me, 25 lbs is like 50 lbs on a tall person.

Because I anticipated their surprise and comments, I didn't feel bad but I was a little embarrassed that it looked like I had "let go" of myself. My cousin standing next to me looked like a twig. Seriously. Age has not affected her metabolism. They felt that because I wasn't working, I had gained weight and I didn't like the fact that SAHM sort of gives off this misconception that we sit around on our butt, watch soap operas, and munch on snacks all day.

It could be true but not in my case. I am a lot more sedentary than I was when I was working. As an RN. . .I could not even sit for a minute. I was basically on my feet walking the unit all day so yeah, comparatively. . I am a lot more sedentary but I don't believe that being a SAHM is the cause.

Personally, it's the sense of being comfortable of who I am is the cause. . .when I was working, I didn't want to look unhealthy. . .it's hard to be convincing to patients to be healthy, to eat right, to exercise (especially because I worked in a women and children's hospital) and telling diabetic patients the importance of a healthy lifestyle if I looked like "I" needed the advise. LOL!

When I became a SAHM, I could be whoever I wanted to be so my appearance sort of took backdoor to everything else. Well, I'm thinking of returning to work this year and well, I now have to think about my ability to be hired and appearance has become somewhat important again. Argghh.

So. . .for this reason, I have to be able to at least lose some weight so I can look okay on interviews. It's weird that our appearance plays an important role in our ability to be hired . . .shouldn't it be based on your qualifications? Unfortunately, the world is what it is and I got to accept that so. . .I'm back on my quest or journey to healthy living. . .actually, journey to skinnyville! LOL!

Anyway. . sorry for the life story. I'll be back next week with my progress!

I walked.... snicker

2009-02-23T17:45:00.000-08:00

Ladies, I finally got my big tush off my computer chair n' walked around the block. I did it twice today. Took me 25 minutes (entirely). I didn't feel any strain at all... lol. It's a start... Cy was being pushed on the stroller - we went around twice because after the 1st time around, he asked, "can we go around again?!"... I said, "what?!"... he goes, "I'm not tired, please?!". So around the block we went again. I hope I can do this (again) on a daily schedule.

Hugs,
Jen

Lost 3 lbs from Last Week

2009-02-12T11:59:00.000-08:00

Hey Ladies! I have stinkin' awesome news!! I lost 3 lbs from last week! OMG! I weighed myself today and I couldn't believe it! I had to step on the scale like 3 times before I was positive it was correct. . .so in one month, I lost 9 lbs!

The funny thing is the only thing I've really done was exercise 3x a week. . .approximately a mile each time and reduced my serving size by 1/4. I had read that way back in the 50s, the plate size was almost 1/3 to 1/2 the size of what our plate size is today. The article said a great way to lose weight is to just use a smaller plate so that you put less food on your plate but still appears that you are eating a lot. That's what I've been doing. I also stopped going for seconds and when we eat out, I don't eat an appetizer, soup/salad, my main entree, and dessert. What I've done is if I have appetizers, I don't have soup or salad or vice versa. I also "share" my dessert with my husband or daughter. I don't order my own dessert.

I have not stopped eating food that I like. . .just reduced the amount I eat. If I'm using a big plate, I just reduce the serving size by 1/4 of what I normally would eat. It's not hard to reduce the serving size because I'm still eating foods I love.

When I've exercised, I always try to meet my goal or go a little further but not too much. I've been slowly increasing the distance or the time by a few minutes and I'm now walking for about 28 minutes to 30 minutes. I started off at the beginning of my 4 weeks at 20 minutes.

I'll see if I can keep the weight off but I won't beat myself up if I gain a lb or two. I'm just glad that I've been progressively losing weight and that is all I can ask for!!

Hope you all are doing well! Hey, Tracy. . .how are you doing? I hope you are doing well and Ellie, hope you are doing well too! As for the others, hope you'll stop by here soon!!

Maria

You don't want to know! ... lol

2009-02-03T18:56:00.001-08:00

HELLO GALS (((HUGS)) and Happy New Year to all.. OH my gosh so much going on with me..job cutting hrs (my DH), germs, and weight gain,, ahhh what a way to start the new year huh? lol Needless to say weight loss has been the last on my list right now. The weight that I lost.... gained it all back again.. Have I even tried to go back and get into my grove not at alll and here in NY the weather is BLLLLLLLLLLLLAHHH which makes me feel just like that.. Then all my kids have been sick back to back to back needless to say Chocolate and fast food has been my friend and I am sooooooo ready for Spring so I can start to see green instead of everything covered in white! lol.. and that my friends is what is going on w/me in a Nut Shell! LOL>. I know my post isn't too chipper sorry about that hopefully soon enough I shall post a happy post saying SPRING has finally Sprung so I can start on the road again! :)

-Ellie

Progress Report Week 3

2009-02-02T23:16:00.001-08:00

Hi Ladies!!

I guess I'm the only one here nowadays. . .well, except Tracy!! Hi, Tracy!! Hope all is well!!

Well, on my 3rd week. . .I again lost 2 pounds for a total weight loss of 6 lbs in 3 weeks. Surprising! I do feel 6 lbs thinner. It's encouraging but I have a long way to go. I hope I continue to lose 2 lbs each week but I highly doubt that'll happen. I think my weight loss will slow down as I go unless I step up my exercise. Argggh!

This week I decided to hop on the treadmill instead of eliptical machine. I have increased my speed and distance. I'm now walk for 25 minutes and yesterday I walked 28 minutes for 1 1/4 mile. I've continued to reduce my plate serving by 1/4. I think this is really helping me to lose weight. It's much easier than counting calories or eating food that I don't want to eat.

I may reduce it by 1/3 and see what happens. I also have stopped eating snacks unnecessarily such as potato chips or randomly picking up something to munch on.

I will continue to increase my walking each day. I'll report my progress next week and that'll mark 1 month on being back on my weightloss journey! I hope I lose 2 more lbs but we'll see!!

Hope you all are well!!

Week 3

2009-01-28T21:08:00.000-08:00

Hey Ladies!! Monday started my 3rd week of this journey I'm on!!! I hopped on the treadmill today. Honestly, I didn't want to but I did but when I was done. . .I was happy that I did. I increased my time to 25 minutes and a little over a mile. That's my new goal. I started off at 20 minutes so I'm increasing my walk time to 25 minutes.

How did I do last week. . .pretty good. I actually lost one more pound for a total of 4 lbs in 2 weeks. No way. . .you're kidding, Maria!! No I'm not. I can't believe it my self. This is the most I've lost in a short period of time from all other numerous times I've tried to lose weight. I'm not sure what it all means.

What am I doing different? Well, I'm not starving myself that's for sure but I've stuck to decreasing my plate by 1/4 of what I normally would eat. I also avoid finishing off my whole plate. I would always leave a little bit on my plate whenever we eat out. Rather than eating 5 buffalo wings, I would eat 2.. . and so on. Another thing I've changed about my eating habits is rather than eating an appetizer, I would eat a small plate of salad and not do both.

I still have yet to meditate or do yoga so I'm really not doing well in this area. I will, if anything, will do it tomorrow.

I have continued to exercise 3x a week and I think that's a good amount for now.

Anyway. . .I'll update y'all next week!! Hope y'all have a fabulous week!!!

Progress Report

2009-01-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hey Sistahs! Anybody else back on the wagon besides me and Tracy? Just wondering. It's been really quiet here . . .LOL!!

I just wanted to let you all know that I worked out on the elliptical machine for 3 days in a row, 20 minutes each and I reached an all time high of 1000 rotations! I also can go through a whole 20 minutes without stopping. That's an accomplishment for me because when I first started last week, I had to stop basically every 5 minutes because I couldn't handle the pain. LOL! It does get easier. . .well, just a little. . . as you get used to it.

I may hop on for one more day this week and give it a break for the week. I don't want to burn my self out before I even really started.

I lost one pound this week and I still have until Sunday to lose another. We'll see how it goes. In total I've lost 3 whole pounds! That's the most I've lost in 6 months. I actually gained 7 pounds from last year so I actually have 4 more pounds to lose before I can get back to my starting weight from last year. So sad but oh, well!

Anyway, if any one else is working out or what ever. . .I'd like to know how you are doing.

Yay, Tracy!! You are on your way . . .I'm glad you're working out. This year, let's meet our goals okay. It's been almost two years since I've started on my "Journey to Skinnyville" and not once have I even come close to any of my goals.

I think we can do it! We just need to stick to the program!

Maria

Starting on My Second Week

2009-01-21T08:02:00.000-08:00

Hey Sistahs!!

Just a little update on my 1st week progress! LOL!

I hopped on the treadmill 2x and 1x on the elliptical machine, each for 20 minutes last week. I started off this week (yesterday) on the elliptical machine, again for 20 minutes. I have to say the elliptical machine is much harder to work out on than a treadmill. My daughter decided to join in and exercise 3x a week with me. Unfortunately, she has gained 10 lbs in the last year and no longer can fit any of her jeans.

I did eat a salad meal last week and have reduced my intake.

I am proud to say that I lost 2 lbs for my efforts! LOL! I don't know if it's water loss rather than fat loss. . .we'll see if it stays off. If it's fat loss then it should remain off if I continue to exercise and reduce my intake.

I did not meditate or do any yoga . . .not even once last week so I think that'll be something I'll focus on this week. I also was not very good with my water intake. I haven't gotten into the habit of drinking water so that's one of my goals this week.

Goals for this week:

Start off with 5 glasses of water and increase to 8 glasses.
Continue my exercise routine and reduced meals
Meditate and do yoga at least once this week.

I'll check back in next week and let you know my progress. Hope you all are back on the wagon!! Stop by and update us with your progress. Have a wonderful week, ladies!!

First Day on the Treadmill

2009-01-14T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hey Sistahs!!

It was my first day on the treadmill and I have to say I exceeded my initial goal of walking 1/2 mile in 20 minutes, I actually walked one whole mile in 22 minutes!! Awesome! I planned a very low goal for myself because I wasn't sure what my fitness level was.

I have a funny story to tell you all. . .

When we were at Disneyland for the 5 days we were there. .. .well, I had brought along my boots (about 1 inch heel) and forgot my walking shoes. For the whole time we were at Disneyland, we were in the park walking and standing most of the time. . .sometimes we were at the park for 5 hours straight and would return a few hours later and be there for 2 to 3 hours in the evening.

My feet were KILLING me. I cannot begin to tell you how sore they were. We walked miles and miles throughout Disneyland and stood for hours. Arrgggh! But. . .I did it. Everyday I would endure the pain. It's not fun walking miles in boots with a one inch heel . . .boots are not meant for walking that much distance.

I had blisters, my legs and feet were cramped, it was so0000000 painful but I endured. . .all for Disneyland. I refused to buy walking shoes while we were at Disneyland. . .I had two nice walking shoes that I left at home and I wasn't going to buy another one.

Anyway. . .after the painful adventure at Disneyland. . .honestly, walking on my treadmill today was a walk in the park. I could have gone further as a matter of fact but I didn't want to burn my self out early in the game. LOL! Seriously. . .I could have ran a mile on the treadmill and it would have been a breeze compared to the dreadful experience with my feet at Disneyland.

I think this is the reason why I exceeded my initial walking goal. It was a great first day of walking!!!

Just wanted to share that story! LOL!

Update from Deborah

2009-01-13T16:00:00.000-08:00

I've gained 5 kilos - LOL. The pregnancy is going good. I can't wait to meet our newest little baby.

Hope you are all doing well.

I'm Back!!

2009-01-13T14:03:00.000-08:00

Hey Ladies! I'm going to give it a go again! This time, I'll try to go on some sort of schedule!

My goals are:

Walk on the treadmill 3x a week, starting off at 20 minutes with the goal of walking at least 1/2 a mile for the first 2 weeks.

Increase my walking to 3/4 miles in 30 minutes the 3rd and 4th week. From there, I'll see how I progress.

Meditate/Yoga once a week for the first 4 weeks.

Eat under 1500 calories and eat at least one fruit/veggie meal 3x a week.

Drink 8 glasses of water. Starting off a 5 glasses and increasing as I go.

Reduce my meal intake by reducing my plate portion. I'll cut off 1/4 off my plate! LOL!

This will be my goal for the 1st month. I'll modify it less or more depending on what I can handle.

How about any of you? Any of you going to try again?

Good luck and wish me luck!!

P.S. I'll check in once a week and let you know my progress!!

Big Wave Hello

2008-10-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd come and give a little update.

We've moved and are in our new house. I am almost finished unpacking. :)

Little baby is doing fine. I am just starting to get a little bump.

I've also continued to lose a tiny bit more weight. I'm down to 65.1kg now.

Hope everyone is doing well, haven't checked the blog just yet, but will soon.

{ DAY 5 }

2008-10-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

Yup...managed to get in DAY 5 yesterday. Woohoo for me!

DAY 5:

35 Min Treadmill
1.85 Miles

So I managed to meet my goal for Week 1. I am very pleased with myself. Next week will be a challenge as it is gonna be a stressful one. My oldest has to have dental surgery on Tuesday and I am very nervous. She has never been put under for anything and I am just nervous about her pain and bleeding afterwards. I am sure everything will go fine...just a Mommy worry. But she is also feeling quite ill today with a pretty high fever again. Just hope she is better tomorrow otherwise they may not do it. And the reason she is ill today is the reason they have to do the surgery! Can't win sometimes.

Hope you all have a great week!

{ Day 4 }

2008-10-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

One day closer to my goal of 5 days this week!!

Day 4:
35 mins Treadmill
1.85 Miles

I can't even begin to express how pleased I am with myself. Today again was a bit of a struggle...but I managed to pull my sorry butt out of bed at 5:45AM. I have vowed to do the early mornings on the weekdays and take the weekends off. Since I started on Tuesday this week, I plan to workout tomorrow. But I will get up 1 hour later. And then Sunday I will take off. And since it is my Bday on Sunday...well I think I deserve it!

Be sure to head on over to my blog before Sunday. Jen has added another $10 to my Blog Candy giveaway!! So you could win $25 from Littlec's plus a few extra goodies from me too!

Have a great weekend all. :0)

{ Day 2 and Day 3 }

2008-10-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

Sorry forgot to post yesterday, but...

Day 2:
35 mins Treadmill
1.86 Miles

Day 3:
35 mins Treadmill
1.85 Miles

I will tell you all...it was a struggle to get up at 5:45 AM this morning. Today was my day off. I lay there for quite sometime having a mental struggle with myself. 'It's your day off...you can always workout later...you know you won't, just get it over with...' But I forced myself up and I felt sooooo good that I did it!

Hope you all are having a great week...oh...I am having some blog candy right now on my blog...head on over!!

{ DAY 1 }

2008-09-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

I did it!

Got up at 5:45AM and did 35 mins and 1.85miles on the treadmill this morning. Go me! I have a question. Does anyone do yoga at home? I am thinking that I need to try some yoga, but can not afford to take classes. So I need a good DVD for beginners. Something for relaxation and flexibility. Can anyone help me out with a recommendation?

Onto Day 2...

{ Calling all Sistahs! }

2008-09-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

Are you there?? Cause I really need ya!

I had started to get back on track. Nothing major...3 days a week working out. That lasted 2 weeks and then last week? Nothing! Not a thing! And I am paying for all this lack of excersise! I am getting sooooooo FAT!!! Seriously...almost none of my pants are fitting! So I HAVE to get back on track.

Starting tomorrow morning. I am going to be getting myself up at 5:45 AM again to workout and have a shower before everyone else is up for the day. Last time I did this...I lasted about 3 weeks before I got burned out. Well, I just have to push through it this time...I don't have a choice! So, I am gonna need some moral support here ladies. I need to know that someone is out there. Anyone else willing to check in daily with me? Cause that is what I really need. I have to workout 5 days a week...no questions. So hopefully tomorrow there is someone out there!

Until tomorrow...

OK sooooo I am back on the wagon..

2008-09-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

I am back on my plan. Finally after getting lost in life for a few months I have gotten back on track. My hubby and I purchased a treadmill and I am working out on it daily. I am feeling great and I am going to lose the weight.

I decided to make a fresh start with a new look so I went and got my hair cut the shortest it has been since elementary schoool.. Huuumm... Looks good tho and I am happy..

I am really bad a posing so I know it's a lame pic but it is still the best of all of them.. LOL

Yesterday I actually mowed the lawn and worked in the yard for over two hours and it felt great! I have more energy and stamina now that I am back on plan.. Why do we torture ourselves when we know that eating right and exercising make us feel so darn good..?

Well I am off for now. Hope you all are having a great weekend...

Take care... Until next time.

Giving it another go...

2008-09-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

Good Monday to you ladies!...

Soooo I have decided I can't just want to lose weight I need more reasons just cause I can't fit into my cute jeans anymore! lol. I was looking into why I really need to acutally better myself its not about the weight right now, I see there is loads of stuff going around in my life and stress and what not sooo I thought what could I do that could benifit me and help me with my whole being..and so I researched and found Bikram Yoga... NOW if you have never heard of it well let me tell you what it is.. and what is going to happen to me I WILL BE DYING IN A HOT ROOM FOR 90 MINS! LOL..

we will do 26 poses with 2 breathing techiques.. My BF is saying Ellie you hate to be hot you will sweating like you never have sweat before...so I've heard and I have seen.. hmmm but I still want to give it a go..sooo I will try it on Wednesday.. Hopefully I wouldn't be passing out! lol... I plan on going after the boys are picked up for school and then I will go give it a try.. what is the worse that happens I hate it and never come back but I gave it a go right.. so that is what counts. I want to focus on me right now I know if I learn AGAIN how to center myself it will help w/my life all around... SO girls I will keep you updated.. GULP and see if I really can handle it..

here is a little video I found of many that I said ok that is GOING TO BE SOOO ME! lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chuNZAcagCE&feature=related

Off to start my water again.. HERE I GO!!!! :)

-Ellie

Finally getting there!

2008-09-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

I had my WW class today and I had a 2.8 pound loss today. I was SO pleased because I have just not had a lot of success in my WW journey this time around.

It's totally my fault because I just haven't been following the rules at all. Not that I've been eating crazy or anything, I've been eating very reasonable portions and adding in more vegetables and stuff, but just not paying attention to the points and drinking my water and having the FIVE fruits and veggies you're supposed to have.

But this last week, I decided to buy a bunch of Lean Cuisine and WW entrees that I've been trying to have for at least one meal a day. I like them because they are tasty and it's a very specific amount of points, so it helps me to track rather than trying to estimate the points from a regular meal. Also I've been HUNGRY which is a good sign for me. When I start feeling hungry several times a day, I know I'm on the right track.

Plus I've found a good exercise video that I really like. It's a step video by Kathy Smith and even though I don't have the proper kind of step for it, it's still a good workout just doing it on the floor. So I'm hoping I can stick with it and have another good loss next week. I would love to get to a point where I can really SEE the difference!

Adrian

No Nothing Yesterday or Today....

2008-09-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

Hmfp! Sorry.... I took 2 steps forward on Monday, and 4 steps back yesterday n' today.... LOL... I was up since 12 a.m., so I didn't get a chance to actually talk myself into walking. I'm eating Cheetos, and already had a large cup of Pepsi. I think I'm in Heaven..... for now. Tomorrow - I will try and get back on track again.

Jen

I Power Walked Today.....

2008-09-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hey Ladies...

Hip-hip-hooray!!! I FINALLY got my booty into my walking shoes, and did a 15-minute power walk. I took my dog Ceasar with me, went up the street, then came back - in 15 minutes. I thought it was a good warm up. Anyways, just keeping this short - just wanted to let you all know. I hope I can keep up this 15 min power walks daily.

Hugs To All,
Jen

Back to Walking Again

2008-09-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

Hey Sistahs! I did it! For the past two days, my daughter and I did our walk. Yay. It actually felt great. We both walked about 1/2 a mile. . .it's much harder to walk outdoors than on my treadmill because my neighborhood have a lot of hills so even 1/2 a mile is a hard workout. Well for me, that is. It's great to walk with my daughter because we're able to chit-chat as we walk and it makes walking so much easier.

My shin hurts a bit. . .it always hurt when I walk. You'd think my calves or thighs would be the muscles that hurt but nope, it's my shins. I think I have a bad habit of walking on my toes rather than my heels so when I walk, I put a lot of strain on my shins. I experience the problem after walking up hills. Maybe my feet are too small for my body that I can't walk properly. LOL! I have really skinny ankles relative to the rest of my body! Too funny but it's true. Right now, I think the only skinny part of my body are my ankles.

Anyway, I think I'm going to take a walk again tomorrow. Today, my husband came along with us and he was nice enough to walk at my pace and not his. Hope y'all have a fabulous Friday!!

I'm Back in the Game!!

2008-09-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

Hi Sistahs!! Gosh, it's been a while but I think I'm back in the game! My daughter and I decided to make a committment to walk or ride our bikes 3 times a week. We were discussing the fact that we've gained at least 20 lbs since moving to California. . .in my case, more than 20 lbs and we just don't know what happened to us! LOL! We've both turned into slugs . . .our favorite past time is to sit on our butt! When we were living in Hawaii, we were so much more active. Moving to California changed our life routines and unfortunately, not for the better weight wise.

So. . .with that being said, we're starting our first walk tomorrow! Yipee! I really look forward to doing something with my daughter even if it's just walking. I told her that walking will be our mother/daughter time together because she's not into crafting. I've been trying to get her to craft with me but she is not at all remotely interested so I think walking will be a good thing for us.

Anyway. . .I look forward to posting on here again and I do miss all our interactions. We started off with such enthusiasm so it'll be nice if we all could get going again. What do you think? Are you game?

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!!

OK Sooooo I am stuck and failing....

2008-08-20T17:07:00.000-07:00

I have been a bad bad bad sistah.. and I need some help.. As you all know I had to go on 4 ten hour days over the summer and I stoped focusing on my weight and exercise.. well I can't seem to get back on it again.. HELPP!!!! I am still here but failing miserably.. I am craving M&M''s and chips and can't seem to leave them alone. I plan to get focused again... SOON! Just wanted everyone to know I am still here!

Tina

Just a quick update

2008-08-19T02:47:00.000-07:00

I've got good news, and bad news.

The bad news is that I don't know how my dieting is going to go over the next few months.

The good news is that I am pregnant. :)

Jello Diet

2008-08-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

Aloha Ladies...

I haven't forgotten all of you or this bog, just been super busy with summer, kids and the store business. Just thought I'd drop by and say "HI", and "I'll be back"... eventually. In the meantime, I am on a "Jello Diet".... no, that doesn't mean I'm eating only Jello, it means, everything I eat turns my belly to Jello.....LOL!!!! I have to admit, I've had a Pepsi here n' there, especially on most stressful and hot days, and I think today is going to be one of them - 45 minutes to be exact, because that is when my timer goes off to tell me it is cold (I've got it cooling in the freezer). I hope all of you are doing great. I've read about the sistah with the gallbladder stones..... my heart goes out to you girlfriend....OWIE.... and a special thanks to Tracy that is keeping positive while everyone is putting themselves down. If this losing weight thing doesn't work - at least we have stamping and scrapping to fall back on. =0)

Hugs n' Smooches,
Jen

Not a great week for me

2008-08-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

This week was the Stampin' Up! Convention and if you've ever been in a Convention situation like that, you know it wasn't a good week for me. You're running from early 'til late and they give you those boxed lunches and a few snacks and that's about all you get, so I'm always hungry at night after the session. Then, I was going out to dinner every night with my on-line group, Utah Divas, so I ate quite a bit more rich food than I usually would have, so I wasn't too surprised to see a 3 pound gain on the scale this morning - sigh.

I was also really dehydrated because I didn't bring a water bottle, so I'm trying to get my fluid levels back up. I've got 4 more days until I have to weigh in again, so I'm hoping I can work hard and come in with a loss. My goals are to drink all my water and eat my veggies.

I'm also going to get my thyroid checked this week. I've been on thyroid medication for 20 plus years, and they check it all the time, but I saw a message about thyroid symptoms and I've got most of them - dry skin, thinning hair, sensitivity to cold, muscle soreness, decreased libido, waking up tired, constant fatigue, concentration problems, brain fog, and trouble losing weight. So I'm going to see if the doctor won't up my thyroid medication and see if that helps.

Bad,Bad Sistah!!

2008-08-03T06:25:00.001-07:00

I know I know I have gone SOOOO MIA you guys might have forgotten me!!! SOOO SORRY guys but I left and I'm still trying to catch up when I got back Convention for Stampin Up was going on sooo I was glued to SCS to find out what was going on.. ALL I know is that I started to save because God willing that is where I will be next year!!!! Maria you coming with me??? :)

As far as my diet and all of that.. well lets just say.. HMMM got to start again.. LOL.. OHH that went all out the window.. BUTTTT I wouldn't give up.. BUT I will start fresh again on the 15th, why that date well its still too nuts around here so I know that is how long its going to take me to get back and focus again....

Oh and Canada ROCCKKED I loved it ALL!!

Here are a few pics :

My Super Isaac he is ALWAYS cold and the blanket keep falling so this is what we had to do to keep it on! lol

Me and my Sassy

My Boys! (Ramzees & Isaac)

This was by the Parliament we were walking and walking and found a whole other world it seems and this was one of the things we found! lol

Well I am off as I am suppose to make a card for my SIL and my brand new neice Chole!!! I can't wait to hold her!! :)

Gallbladder Flush

2008-08-03T00:35:00.001-07:00

Ok ladies, now I know this sounds a little gross, but it isn't that bad really.

I had gallstones. So the doctor gives me a referral to go and see a surgeon. I go home.

Do I want surgery? No. Is there any other way? Yes.

So I decided to do a gallbladder flush.

I spent a week having a ton of apple juice ( 2 - 3 times a day ). Then on Thursday night I have some epsom salts at 6pm, then another lot at 8pm. That cleaned me out, that's for sure. At 10pm I have half a cup of olive oil and half a cup of lemon juiced mixed together. I scull it down and quickly jump into bed on my right hand side and lay very still for half an hour. After that I just settle down and go to sleep. I get through the night just fine. I wake up just fine. I go through the day just fine. Then just when I thought it hadn't worked the call of nature comes. Out comes a heap of gallstones. Wow - was I impressed.

So if you end up with gallstones, you can save yourself a trip to hospital and surgery with this natural and easy method instead.

Woohoo, Maria Where Are You?

2008-08-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

Hi Sistahs! I've been MIA and sorta, kinda MIA with my weight loss journey. A little over a week ago I decided to reorganize my craft room in its entirety and it's been a major work out lemme' tell yah! I think since I've started, I've walked up and down my stairs at least over a 100 times. Despite the workout, sadly I have not lost any weight. As a matter of fact, I gained back the 2 lbs that I had lost. My diet has been quite sporadic as well. There's days when I stay on my weight loss course and there's days when my brain says "what diet?". I've been very wishy-washy and a bit ashamed of my wishy-washiness.

It seems when I am busy, my diet seem to go out the window. Losing weight requires my full attention and dedication and when I have to pay attention to something else, I don't have the will power to stick to any sort of weight loss program.

My friend from Hawaii will be visiting me in 3 weeks and I'm really bummed about my weight. I KNOW she will be shocked by how much weight I've gained. The last time I saw her I was about 25 lbs to 30 lbs lighter. Arggghh! I don't think she'll recognize me.

Maybe if I color my hair and buy new clothes she won't notice my weight gain too much!! LOL! Yeah, right! It's weird that it's so important to look presentable. . .I guess it's because she knew me from back when I was skinny. I, typically, don't give a rat's behind if people think I'm a bit chunky but here I am worried about what my friend will think. I know she won't think anything badly of me but at the same I feel sort of embarrassed about my weight gain. How vain, huh?

Anyway. . .maybe I can lose at least 5 lbs before she visits me. Hey, 5 lbs is better than nothing, right?

Looks like you other sistahs haven't been posting either. . .are y'all busy too? Anyway, come on let's get back on the wagon, girls. I promise to work harder if you do too! Hope y'all are having a wonderful weekend!!

Maria

{ Getting there...}

2008-07-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

Hey ladies, Just thought I would check in and let you all know that I am actually doing pretty well this week. My week is almost over and I have managed all but one day this week. I was feeling lousy on Wednesday and skipped my workout, but have managed to do it all the other days. And just to prove it here is a photo for ya! ;0) That was 30 mins and 1.66 miles on the treadmill. Which is my average most days. I did that on Monday and Thursday. Tuesday I did 30 min Taebo video and yesterday we took the kids to the pool. You don't really realize how much your muscle truly workout at the pool. But my legs were pretty tired after swimming yesterday. Especially in the lazyriver, trying to walk through the current...it's a good workout for the leg and ab muscles!! Hope you are all having a great week!

I AM a Successful Woman

2008-07-25T10:02:00.001-07:00

I am still kind of stuck in a rut about my weight loss. I'm doing a lot of the right things, but I'm not doing them with much enthusiasm because I'm not seeing the results I expected. I think I'm still stuck in my "Not Fair" attitude and I know that is not going to get me anwhere.

I am a big fan of The Secret and other similar positive thinking philosophies. I think it's fascinating that you can change your results simply by changing your thoughts. However, changing your thoughts isn't always easy, especially when you've had a lot of negative experiences in a certain area, like dieting.

And negative thoughts can bring about negative experiences as well. I find that if something doesn't make sense to me, it probably is brought about by my negative thinking. For instance, if I'm doing all the right things to lose weight and it's not working, or if I'm doing all the right things to manage my money and I'm still broke all the time. That doesn't make sense, so I feel that there have to be other factors involved.

I've been trying to say a positive affirmation to myself - "I draw success to myself in everything I do" but I keep hearing that nasty little voice in the back of my mind saying "Yeah right". So I'm trying to counteract that voice by making a list of all the things I HAVE been successful at. Maybe it would help you to make a list of all the things you've been successful at too.

Here goes:

I've stayed married for 25 years - not an easy job

I've raised 3 boys successfully - not one of them has ever been in any kind of trouble (so far!)

I've been in the same job for 17 years - again NOT an easy job!

I've been in the same church for 11 years and contribute lots of time, money and effort into it

I've managed to keep my SU business afloat for 5 years without spending my own money to meet my minimums

I've managed to keep all our finances together, keep the all bills paid, and enable us to afford our dream home and still have money in savings for college & retirement

I've improved my housekeeping skills to the point that I can teach classes on it to other Messy Mom's like me

I'm a good driver - haven't had an accident in more than 20 years and have only had 3 tickets in 35 years
I've manage to keep good relationships - even with difficult people
I've run my own blog for more than a year. I'm posting more often than I expected, almost daily and I'm getting new readers all the time
I was a successful Ebay seller for more than 5 years - I completed literally thousands of transactions successfully
I did well in school - I was on the Honor roll and started taking college classes at age 15

There's more, but that's all I can think of for the time being. Now, if I can do all of these things, most of which weren't any harder or any easier than losing weight, there's no reason in the world why I can't say with honesty and feeling "I draw success to myself in everything I do".

I'll keep you posted as I lose the weight.

Adrian

Is Dory Trying To Imitate Me?

2008-07-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

Hi Sistahs!!

I haven't been around for the past week! Sorry about that! I think it's an avoidance thing for me. Well, the picture says it all. . . .Dory is imitating me! LOL! Just laying on her fat butt! Too funny. This is what my cat do practically all day. . .she just lays around by the glass door and sort of lay flat on her back. . .that's the reason why she is so CHUNKY! Did you know that sometimes cat sleep with their eyes open? Well, my cat does. . . she's actually sleeping in this photo. You know she is because her eyes sort of rolls around while her eyes are open! Weird.

So. . .where have you been, Maria? Have you been a bad girl? Well, sort of. I was doing fine walking on my treadmill but my feet started to hurt so I took a break for a day or two. To work out a bit, I decided to clean out our waterfall and pond in our backyard and about a day later, I noticed that I had difficulties walking when I applied pressure on my left leg. Apparently, I had pulled a muscle on my left calve. . .I think it was because I was twisting around a lot when I was cleaning the pond. I couldn't step on my left leg without a terrible pain shooting up my leg.

Well. . .so that sort of sidelined me for the past week. Argghhh! It's all better now. I'm going to start walking on my treadmill again starting tomorrow. How is everyone doing? Are y'all keeping up with your diet and exercise?

I do have good news! I lost 2 lbs but I think it's primarily water loss. I have to check back in two weeks to see if it stays off. . .that's the true test. I check the scale only twice a month so it just may have been a fluctuation of my weight.

Hope y'all are hanging in there!!

Maria

{ I am back...so sorry for being gone so long! }

2008-07-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hello ladies,

We actually got back on Wednesday, but we have not really been home much at all the last 3 days. I promise to checkin more regular now. Hubby is back to work today for the next 3 weeks before his next round of holidays and our next round of camping trips. So hopefully over the next 3 weeks I can get into some sort of routine...cause GOD knows I need to!! I plan on getting on the treadmill today. I think I will work on a week at a time. I keep setting these long term goals and then getting EXTREEMLY disappointed with myself when I screw up a day or two. So here it is ladies...I am laying it out here, so in the hopes of keeping myself focused and knowing that you all know what it is, will hopefully keep me extra focused!! ;0)

7 day goals:*at least 30mins a day of some type of aerobic excersise(treadmill, walking outdoors, badminton, swiming, weight training, etc)
*drink as much water as humanly possible
*no eatting after 8:00pm each and every night

Now, that does not seem so bad does it? I think not.

Just thought I would also, share a few pics from our first camping trip with you all...just to show you what we get to enjoy up here in Canada. ;0)
Have a great day ladies!!

Hello everyone!

2008-07-18T17:28:00.001-07:00

Well I haven't been focusing on my weight loss at all. I must admit, I just can't seem to get back on track. I have about 3 more weeks of 10 hour days. I hope that I can get myself back on track. So I just wanted to stop by and say hi!

Tina

Withdrawals or Hormones?!?!

2008-07-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

Aloha Sistahs,

Sorry - I have been in a slump. Ever since I got FIRED from TAC. LOL!! I actually deserved it, and am happy that it happened, because I'm actually fired up and want to go FAR with the Little C's store. Anyways.... the reason for my title of this post.... lately I have been so irritated... with myself, because I haven't had the chance to get out and walk, and get some fresh air. I don't know if it's withdrawals from not having any pepsi..... or hormones because Ms. America is right around the corner... it's times like this that makes me wanna have a tall, cold glass of PEPSI!!!! LOL!!! Ok, after I get out of this slump, I'll be back on my feet walking... thanks for hanging in there with me.

Hawaiian Hugs,
Jen

I want a recount!

2008-07-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

Oh girls! I'm so frustrated and disappointed. I had my second weigh-in at Weight Watchers today. I was expecting a really good weigh-in because I'd had a really good week. I tracked all my foods, I stayed within my points every day, and I even drank most of my water, although I did skimp a bit on my exercise. But no luck - I gained almost a pound. Since I had only lost 2 pounds last week, that brings my net total for TWO WEEKS of being really good to one.whole.pound - grrrrrr!

That really bugs me because I was hoping to get off to a good start. Usually during the first two weeks of a diet, I do the best and usually lose at least 3-5 pounds. It's just frustrating! However, I do feel like I can see at least a little bit of a difference. My pants don't feel quite so tight. Today I'm wearing my size 16 capris instead of my size 18's and they feel pretty comfortable.

It's silly that I let a number on a scale upset me so much. I need to just focus on the progress I'm making and the habits I'm building and let the durn scale take care of itself. It's not like it's ever done anything good for me!

I think I just need to change my thinking and start thinking POSITIVE, POSITIVE, POSITIVE. My negative thinking gets to me every time and I know it can affect my weight and make me eat things I shouldn't be eating and not do the things I know I should be doing.

Anyway, I just wanted to whine a little and I knew you all would understand....

NO FAIR
NO FAIR
NO FAIR

There - I'm done!

Adrian

Helllooo anyone out there??

2008-07-17T05:42:00.000-07:00

Hello my sistahs!!

I guess we are all super duper busy bees.. I know I am (OK I always say that! lol) But hey I got my new SU goodies yesterday afternoon and so I had to clean the whole house including my closet! (GASP) I have a HUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGE walk in closet and well it can get scary sometimes..I can really hide in there if I wanted to! So I tackled that and the rest of the house the only reason I did it was so time would move along until UPS came! LOLLOL SOOOO sad right! but the house is clean! LOL I woke up this AM saying OH MY I'm achy.. MAN I'm getting old! lol BUT wanted to come and over here and say HEYYY.. I haven't weighed myself and wouldn't until I get back from all my vacations I said I will try to watch what I eat but not stress too much. As long as I keep moving I think I'm ok I am going to Downey Park On Sunday although its looking like its going to rain.. EVERYONE cross your fingers and toes for me it doesn't. and then Next Friday I am off to Canada!!!! SOOOO I am in vacation mode for now but when I get back its serious work! :) lol

HUGS to all and hope everyone is doing great!

-Ellie

Todays Weigh In

2008-07-14T17:07:00.000-07:00

Yay - I weighed in at 66.9 kilos. Getting there. I'm still juicing etc... I still haven't had any sugar, milk, coffee, tea, biscuits, chocolate, and cake.

Deborah

Breakfast Anyone...

2008-07-14T06:20:00.000-07:00

Ok I went on my trusty WW site so I could find something else to make, what I love about WW is if they have a recipe its EASY and I LOVE THAT cause I am not no Chef so if I can throw some stuff together and get something yummy well then I AM SUPER DUPER HAPPY.. so I love eggs and said hmm I wonder if I could jazz it up and found this recipe..

Breakfast Enchilada

Ingredients

2 sprays cooking spray
2 tsp olive oil
2 medium scallion(s), chopped
1 small green pepper(s), seeded and chopped
1 medium tomato(es), chopped
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
4 large egg white(s)
2 large egg(s)
1/2 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp cilantro, fresh, chopped
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
4 medium whole wheat tortilla(s)
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1/2 cup salsa, medium or hot variety
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Coat a shallow baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add scallions, green pepper, tomato and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. Add egg whites and whole eggs; cook until eggs are scrambled, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in cheese, cilantro, salt and black pepper.

Place a tortilla on a flat surface; spoon 1/4 of egg mixture onto center of tortilla and roll up tortilla. Fill remaining tortillas with remaining egg mixture, then place tortillas side-by-side in prepared baking dish; lightly coat with cooking spray.

Bake until golden brown and tortilla ends are slightly crisp, about 10 minutes. Serve with sour cream and salsa spooned over top. Yields 1 enchilada, 2 tablespoons of sour cream and 2 tablespoons of salsa per serving.

I made it while brushing kids teeth and changing diapers and getting kids out of pj's into play clothes... sooooooooooooooooo YOU CAN DO IT!! :)

MAN this was soooo yummy! :)

-Ellie

My weekend

2008-07-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

I had a pretty mellow weekend. I've done pretty well on my eating with one glaring exception. I have done my exercise, but not as much as I could have on a weekend. On Friday night, I got my nails done - pretty french manicure, my first. I couldn't find anything else I wanted for dinner, so I had a big ol' bag of steamed veggies - cauliflower and brocoli with a bit of butter and a bit of cheddar cheese sliced up in it. I miss my veggies. Whenever I would go visit my Mom, she would always cook me up a nice bowl of steamed veggies. My family doesn't like them for the most part, so I don't cook them as often as I should.

Saturday I got up and taught a make up class for my Messy Mom's class. I'm really enjoying these classes. These ladies have some real issues in their lives and it's nice that I can provide some ideas that might help them out. Plus I made a little money, which is nice. I made more in one week than I make in a couple of months with Stampin' Up! and it was a whole lot less work.

All I had time for before class was a quick biscuit with some butter and some Ligonberry jam - I love it, I get it from Ikea. After class, I took the boys to the mall for some lunch. I got a taco salad, which was a bad choice for me. I can NOT not eat the darn shell. But I only ate less than half of the salad and about 1/3 of the shell, so I figure it didn't do me a lot of damage. I still had about 13 points left for dinner.

Dinner was where I had the big breakdown. My husband had been working all day and had gotten paid well, so he decided to take us out to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. That's a rarity for us so I decided to enjoy myself. I had a bucket of crab and boy did I enjoy it. I dug into it and ate every bite of it. I never do that, but it was so good and I figured I had the 13 points, plus my 35 bonus points, so I figured that would cover it. I skipped the potatoes, only ate a bit of the appetizer and had ONE bite of the chocolate cake Tony ordered. So I enjoyed myself without doing too much damage.

Today has been pretty good. We were in a hurry for church this morning so I grabbed a quick piece of banana bread with butter. For lunch I had a WW entree, some peaches, and some rice pudding. So I still have almost half my points left for the rest of the day. In the meantime, we're off to the movies. I'm going to bring a WW bar so I won't be tempted to have any popcorn.

Have a good day ladies!

Adrian

Weekend Run Abouts!

2008-07-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

Good evening my ladies (well for me it is.. 9:45pm here)

Well today was another full day.. I really am loving summer cause when its cold its just to hard to go out and about like I like to.. MAN I hope this weather sticks around till mid. Oct.! LOL Hey I can dream! LOL.. any hoot.. had to get up earlier to get Isaac and Gabi ready as we had to go drop them off at my MIL so I could teach at my LSS class today so we had to leave at 8:30 and Chris(DH) drooped me back off at 9:30.. I showered, printed out my class and off to the bus stop I went:) then got off my bus and walked my 1/2 mile to the LSS..Then came home didn't have to walk back cause one of my students drove me home! lol BUT then since I had no kids what did I do.. CLEAN! lol I put my smooth Maxwell on and got to work.. I was so happy with how my house looked.. SIGH.. I said hmm lets see how this will last... Then chatted w/Jen for a bit HI JEN! lol.. then I was going to go to Wendy's to get a salad before the kids came home BUUUTTT my SIL brought them and we hung out for a few... OH darn forgot to take a pic of my little nephew OHHH I want to eat him.. Tomorrow I will (we go to my MIL's on Sundays)

So what did I eat today lets see For breakfast I had a ham and cheese on wheat and OJ.(note to self need to get WW cheese cause its only 1 pt. and reg. cheese is 4 and need to change from Ham to turkey)

For Lunch.. BAD GIRL had a double cheeseburger from Wendy's HEY it was free my friend treated me to lunch! lol

Dinner: Hubby brought home some wheat wraps so I ate one with cheese and lettuce and mustard with a Sprite Zero.. and NOWWWWWW I'm getting ready to hide in my room.. AHHHHHHHH

Hope everyone had a good day.. I actually have another class tomorrow so I guess I will be walking to the bus stop again and doing my 1/2 mile walk again! lol.. Then I will get picked up so we can go to my MIL...

Ok enough of my rambling.. Night,Night everyone!

-Ellie

Friday...

2008-07-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Nothing.... sorry Sistahs... and we're having Fried Chicken tonight for dinner. I'm going to forget about this watching my eating habits thing for tonight, and crunch away!!!

What I've been up to...

2008-07-11T16:30:00.000-07:00

Hello my lovely ladies. Well got on the scale.. hmm NO LIKELY what I see.. STILL THE SAME!! GRRRRR but whatever.. I am going to get started really on the ball AFTER I get back from my mini vacation.. (we are suppose to leave on the 1st of August)So yesterday was OH MY GOSH an adventure.. I was so tired when we got back that I even almost took a nap today! GASP (if you know me the only reason I nap is cause I'm preggo.. NO I'M NOT! LOL) We had to go from my house to bus station to the train station to Penn Station( 45 mins.)Meet up with my mom take the subway 1 stop to catch the other train that will take us to the other train that we needed to get to Conn.(that ride was 1 hr. 10 mins.) all the while trying to keep 3 kids from going nuts... FINALLY we got to where we needed to go( when we got off the train we had to walk like 6 blocks) We had to go to the Passport office to renew my oldest son's passport.. why did we have to go all the way there..Because the city office didn't have any appt. ava.!!! AHHHH so after we finished that.. Well we did need to get home right.. so we headed out.. I was soooooooooooooooooooooooo HAPPY to get home I CAN not tell you.. That counts as a workout right??? LOL..

coming home.. hmm you think Ramzees had enough? lol

My mom with Isaac

Ms. Sassy well being Sassy (train was moving so I tried to mess with the pic to save it! LOL)

Tomorrow I am teaching a class and when I get off the bus You guessed it I have to walk.. I have to walk 1/2 mile so Maria I will be thinking of you darling! LOL.. I'll be saying.. I think I can, I think I can... lol..

Oh and right now I want one of these.. SHOOT I deserve it.. Friendly's Anyone??? lol

LOL LOL.. I know I am so bad! LOL

-Ellie

Update

2008-07-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been going so good this last fortnight that today I finally relaxed and had some take-away. Hubby and my oldest son convinced me because I was hungry ( and that it was my birthday ) so I consented to a Hungry Jacks burger.

I don't know why, but it tasted yuck to me. And I know we're not supposed to mix dairy with meat ( they put cheese on the meat ). So now I'm thinking - I should not have had it.

So back to the drawing board for me.

I still haven't managed to get out and get any exercise. LOL

Deborah

OK so.. Still struggling

2008-07-11T13:11:00.001-07:00

Ok I am really trying (Well maybe not too hard) to try to hang on to my weight loss goals during this time of having to work 10 hr days but it is soooooo hard. I plan to try to use our Wii Fit this weekend for at least an hour a day. Too darn hot and our weather is too crazy right now to try to walk or ride a bike. So Wii Fit it is. I love the step aerobics on there! So as for my food.. NO More pizza this weekend..EEK.. My dh took our son and his girlfriend to Warp Tour in ST. Petersburg and I ordered Pizza with our youngest. I know not all pizza is bad but I had 2 slices, and a couple of cheese breadsticks, and a piece of cinnamon sweet treat.. EEEK.. Woozer..... Hold on wait a minute.. Did I say 1 hour on the WII more like 3 to burn that stuff off. OH by the way I have had 3 glasses of sweet tea too!... I am really bad.. Someone come and tap my forehead and tell me "you coulda had a V8" Oh well back to the drawing board. Wish me luck..

Until Next time

Check out My Hard Work!!

2008-07-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

Hey Sistahs! Well, I walked on my treadmill the other day and I wanted to show you the treadmill panel! It shows that I walked for 26.44 minutes, walked for 1 mile and burned 118 calories! Whoohoo! This was my second day to walk one whole mile and for some reason it was harder the second day. My foot ached from my one mile walk the previous day. I barely could make it to the 1 mile mark but I stuck it out.

Yesterday, I decided to take a break walking on the treadmill to heal my foot a little and instead finished up the garage! Whoohoo! My kids helped me clean up and we even mopped the concrete! LOL! I am soooooooooooooo HAPPY that it's done and we can actually hang out in there. We have a 3 car garage and we use the garage for storage and as a gym area. Our cars are parked on our driveway. Poor cars. Anyway, I did get a bit of work out sweeping, mopping, and putting away stuff and just finishing up the garage. Below are the "before" and "after" pictures!!

The picture to the left is the mess we had to clean up. The picture to the right is how it looks now! Yay! We were so overloaded with stuff that we haven't used for years that it was taking over every little space we had in the garage. Do you see my stamps in the back? LOL! I opened up every container and removed stuff we haven't used for years and dropped them off at the Salvation Army.

We had blankets, comforters, dishware, and tons of stuff that we haven't used since moving from Hawaii to California. Anyway, I worked hard for the past few weeks a few hour at least 2 to 3 hours a day and I'm so glad we're done. It was taking a lot of my time so it's a major relief!!

Okay. . .it may not look like much but trust me it was bad! To the right of the garage, there were more stuff scattered all over! The only thing I didn't clean up was my husband's messy space! In the background, there's a drum set that we can now play with! The picture to the right is how it looks now!

Now I can exercise in a clean garage. There's also a stereo and TV set up so we can watch TV or listen to CDs while exercising! It's in front of the treadmill but I forgot to take a photo of it! Right now I'm working on painting a picture for the garage to sort of "pretty" up the garage a little.

My goal today is to drink 8 glasses of water and eat my Nutri-system food for lunch. Anyway, hope y'all are having a wonderful day!!

Maria

I'm a rule breaker!

2008-07-10T22:39:00.000-07:00

I think I've finally figured out some of my problem. I HATE rules! You name a rule and I'll break it.

- Speed limits - nope

- No internet at work - ya kiddin?

- Be somewhere on time - nuh uh

- Follow a doctor's orders - never in my life

- Return movies and library books on time - yeah right

No wonder I have such a hard time following any kind of diet plan. I don't think I've ever had any kind of a diet that I didn't cheat a bit on the very first day. It's not like I'm scarfing down cartons of ice cream and boat loads of cookies or anything, but I'll have a little pat of butter on my veggies, or sugar in my tea, or I won't drink the water or something. Just something to make it my own deal.

It's like every time I see someone who obeys every little rule and does exactly what someone else tells them to do, they're a sucker or they're dumb or something and I just don't want to be like them. But then what's the point, I'm just hurting myself and how dumb is that?

Oh well, I never said I was smart, did I??? Any other rule breakers out there? Maybe if we can at least figure out the cause of our weight problems, then we can start figuring out some solutions....

Adrian

What I Have Been Up To....

2008-07-10T09:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, sorry for not updating for a couple of days, Sistahs. A lot of craziness has happened for me the last few days. This past weekend, I got a letter from TAC - so that's been on my mind a lot, and most of you all know where that went. On Monday, instead of walking - I tidied up the garage. That helped me think clearer about things, and then I went walking on Tuesday. Here are the pictures I took during our walk out. The 1st picture is what I see when looking down at my feet... yep - that's my big belly. The 2nd photo is a photo of myself looking down again, but this time - sucking in. LOL!!! It's my GOAL to look down and see myself as photo #2 instead. As you can see - I can now see my legs...LOL!!!! Oh yea, and that 1st bump you now see is my boobs. How funny that when you loose that tummy flab, your boobies will perk up. So come on ladies... isn't that GREAT motivation?!?! Eh, you know what I heard? I heard if you "suck in" or tighten your tummy while doing your walks or aerobics - it'll help with you work up those ab muscles.

Ceasar my doggie came along on the walk with us (as usual)... he's so cute, because if the walk becomes too tiring for him, he cheats an jumps into the lil' basket behind the stroller.... lil' stinker. LOL!!! He's so dang tiny, isn't he? Look at him in photo #2 - so thirsty - gotta lick his nose.... LOL!!!

On Wednesday, we decided to head to the pool, so that was the only exercise I got. I know, not much of an exercise, but it had to do. Today, I hope I can get out and go for a walk before doing my errands.

May you all have successful achievements this week.... keep on going, girls!!!

Jen

It's A Brand New Day

2008-07-09T07:36:00.000-07:00

Hi Sistahs! It's a brand new day! I'm starting on my Nutri-system diet today. Yay! I won't be on a strict diet meaning, I won't eat the Nutri-system for every meal like I'm supposed to. I'm just going to eat it as a substitute for heavy meals. I will continue to eat regular food in conjunction with the Nutri-system diet.

These sort of diets aren't very "healthy" because they are very low in calorie and that is the reason why you lose weight. The problem with these diets is that once you start eating "normal" again, you just gain all the weight back. It's important that while on these sort of diets, you learn to prepare your own low fat, low calorie meals. If you don't. . .well the weight loss is temporary.

I went to Costco yesterday to buy the Fruit and Vegetable drink that you posted Jen but they didn't carry it at Costco. I will have to stop by Sam's Club some time this week. In the mean time I bought 2 jugs of V8 - the fruity tasting one and it is YUMMY! It's a great substitute for fruits and veggies. I mean it's not the same as eating the real stuff because you don't get the "fiber" needed for a healthy diet but it sure helps if you hate eating veggies all the time.

I did really good with my walking yesterday. I walked on the treadmill for 25 minutes at 2.5 speed for a total of 1 mile. Yay! It was an awesome workout. I didn't walk outdoors because it is still in the 100s here. Yuck!

Anyway. . .I plan to walk a mile again today on the treadmill. I want to walk outdoors but it's too darn hot.

Hope y'all have a wonderful day!!

WW Recipes

2008-07-09T04:57:00.000-07:00

Ok I thought I would share some recipes with you guys to get you going... I HATE having to follow instructions to cook (from a book or such) What I know how to cook I guess I just learned cause my mom made me cook since I was 10.. but thats another story! lol... These recipes are just to easy and so yummy not to do it!! :)

Ok are you ready...:) Oh and guess what NO HOT STOVE to make these!! YEAHHHH...(I left the points value just in case someone wants to know lol)

Cranberry-Nut Turkey Roll Ups
Spread two medium low-fat whole-wheat tortillas each with 1 tablespoon whole-berry cranberry sauce and 1 tablespoon fat-free mayonnaise. Top each with 3 ounces thickly sliced deli turkey breast, 1 leaf Romaine lettuce, and 1 teaspoon chopped pecans. Roll up and serve.
POINTS value: 4

Bombay Tuna Salad
Drain a 6-ounce can of chunk white tuna packed in water and place in a bowl. Mix with 1/4-cup fat-free mayonnaise; 1 celery stalk, thinly sliced; 2 tablespoons minced red onion; 2 tablespoons sliced almonds; 2 tablespoons golden raisins; 2 teaspoons curry powder; 2 teaspoons lemon juice; and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place a bed of Boston or Bibb lettuce on each of two plates and divide tuna between them.
POINTS value: 4

Melon & Berries with Poppyseed Dressing
Combine 1 cup diced watermelon, seeded or seedless; 1 cup diced honeydew melon; 1 cup sliced strawberries; and 1 cup raspberries. Toss with 1/4-cup bottled low-fat poppy seed dressing. Serve over 1/2 cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese.
Serving size: 2 cups
POINTS value: 5

Ceviche
Toss 4 ounces sea scallops, thinly sliced, and 4 ounces skinned red snapper filet, diced, with 1/2 cup fresh lime juice in a medium glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate until the fish becomes opaque, about 1 hour. Drain, then toss with 1 large tomato, diced; 1/2 medium avocado, pitted, peeled, and diced; 1 small red onion, minced; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro; 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice; 3 dashes hot pepper sauce; salt to taste; and ground pepper to taste. Serve immediately, cold, on a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce. NOTE: Ask for sushi-grade fish at your market.
Serving size: 1 cup
POINTS value: 5

Chunky Roast Chicken Slaw
Pull 6 ounces of white meat off a store-bought roast chicken. Mix with 1 small Napa cabbage, finely shredded; 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and shredded; 1 celery stalk, thinly sliced; 1 small shallot, minced; and 1/4-cup low-fat ranch dressing.
Serving size: 2 cups
POINTS value: 5

Two Bean Chili Salad with Smoked Chicken
Drain and rinse one 14 1/2-ounce can French-style green beans and place them in a large bowl. Toss with 1 cup canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed; 6 ounces chopped store-bought smoked chicken breast; 1 tablespoon cider vinegar; 2 teaspoons chili powder; 2 teaspoons olive oil; salt to taste; and ground pepper to taste.
Serving size: 1 1/2 cups
POINTS value: 6

Thai Summer Rolls
Soak 6 Thai rice paper wrappers (available in the Asian aisle of most supermarkets) in warm water until soft, about 10 seconds. Lay them flat on your work surface and top each with 1 large cooked cocktail shrimp (about 1 ounce), 2 cucumber slices, 2 tablespoons shredded carrot, 1 tablespoon minced scallion (green part only), and 1/2 teaspoon hoisin sauce. Roll to seal in the filling; serve immediately or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
Serving size: 3 rolls
POINTS value: 4

Mozzarella & Tomato
Thinly slice two large beefsteak tomatoes. Layer the slices with 4 ounces thinly sliced part-skim mozzarella and 12 basil leaves. Sprinkle the stacks with 2 teaspoons aged balsamic vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Serving size: 1 1/2 cups
POINTS value: 4

Optional: Accompany each serving with 4 ounces cooked large shrimp, drizzled with a splash of white wine vinegar.
POINTS value: 6

Chef's Orchard Salad
Place 1 1/2 cups mixed greens on each of two plates. Top each set of greens with 1/2 peach, pitted and thinly sliced; 1/4-cup blueberries; 1/4-cup small red seedless grapes; 3 ounces thinly-sliced deli roast beef; and 2 tablespoons bottled fat-free vinaigrette. POINTS value: 5

Cantaloupe Soup with Basil & Crab
Puree 2 cups cubed cantaloupe with 1/2 cup mango nectar. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and stir in 1 small shallot, minced; 6 basil leaves, shredded; 3 dashes hot pepper sauce; and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Chill at least 2 hours. Top each serving with 3 ounces cooked lump crab meat, picked over for shell and cartilage.
Serving size: 1 1/4 cups
POINTS® value: 3

ENJOY!!! :).. See how I love you gals... LOL

-Ellie

Park Bound..

2008-07-08T13:11:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon Sisthas!

I just got back from running about and having fun at the park.. Let me tell you its HOTTTTTT in NY today and its not like the temp is high its the sun beaming down. like WHOA! lol... I had jeans on cause I didn't know Hubby was going to take the kids to the park after we ran some errands if I would have known I would have grabbed my camera too! But any hoot we did what we had to do and then Hubby started driving at first I said where the heck are we going.. and when the kids ask me that question I always say infinity and Beyond..so what do you think hubby told me.. lol..

So then we go about and I see we are going the park.. and he had the boys swim trunks in the back and got them there without me knowing!.. So I got my workout again AND this time I got to get on the swings as DH kept Gabi busy it was fun and a good workout for my arms!

Now everyone is relaxing and I am about to go make some dinner..Lets see what I come up with...My MIL sent some Haitian Chicken last night so I think I just have to make some rice and I'll eat that with more salad then rice and I am going to be good...

Today was a good day.. Hope everyone had a WONDERFUL DAY!!! (((HUGS))to all.

-Ellie

Getting Serious!!

2008-07-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

Hey Sistahs,

The photo above was taken 6 years ago and I am striving to return to my old self!

Since coming on board on this blog site, I've been sort of getting my feet wet, sort of getting over my denial, sort of wanting but not really doing anything substantial to shed the weight. I've been a serial dieter since July of last year. I started on a major healthy journey at about the same time last year and really worked my butt off to shed the weight. Within 4 months I fizzled out due to disappointment.

I really, really worked hard and barely lost any weight. I religiously counted calories, read books, exercised (walked, jogged, strength training) 4 times a week, ate healthy. . .everything that one can do to become healthier and lose weight. I was obsessed with my scale and that was my downfall. I lost over 2 inches all over my body but the scale barely moved. I couldn't figure it out and because I didn't see the scale move, I didn't recognize the fact that I was actually getting thinner.

To make a long story short. . .my focus on losing weight was the very reason why I gave up. The point is. . .after reading a lot of books. . .it's not the scale that is important but how you feel and how you are actually shrinking in size. That is the lesson I learned. I actually moved down one pants size but for some reason I wanted more than that. I wanted the scale to move down with my pants size.

Well, I started on a Nutri-system diet at the beginning of the year because I was tired of counting calories. Unfortunately, I didn't stick to it because I was in a state of denial. I wanted to ENJOY losing weight, not suffer through it. LOL! Unfortunately, losing weight is a struggle. . .not a joy ride, otherwise, we would all be skinnier!

So. . . .here is my declaration:

I will return on my Nutri-system diet for 1 month but not eat it religiously like I did the last time. The deprivation was the killer so I will be less harsh on myself and be less strict.
I will gradually return to counting calories but not be fanatic about it.
I will start to incorporate a healthy diet. . .cooking lower fat dishes, eating smaller portions, reduce binge eating, etc.
I will walk at least 15 minutes to 20 minutes 3 to 5 times a week and gradually increase with time.
I will incorporate one workout session a week (Pilate, yoga, aerobics) when I become comfortable with my walking.
I will incorporate one strength training a week (resistance, weights) when I become comfortable with my work out sessions.
I will be more patient and limit getting on the scale to twice a month.
Drink 8 glasses of water a day!

I needed to declare my goals because without them, I wake up and do what I want to do, when I feel like it, and many times I don't do anything.

Anyway, hope y'all are doing well and getting healthy! We can do it, Sistahs!!

Maria

Hello all, I'm trying to stay on track

2008-07-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

I started my journey on May 3, 2008. My husband usually goes to the gym with me so time goes by pretty fast. I was doing really good getting to the gym about every day and then.... Vacation hit. I went away for a week and watched what I ate and only gained about 3/4 of a pound. So that was great! Well it is summer and I work for a school district and we are now on 10 HR days. So needless to say I haven't been able to get to the gym because by the time I get home I am EXHAUSTED!! So when I do make it to the gym I feel like my heart is going to explode out of my chest. Gotta call the doc.. might need to adjust my meds.

OH I am rambling... Let me say I will be 38 in November and need to lose about 70 pounds. My goal is to lose it by April 2009. I don't want to lose it too fast because we all know that it will come back on really fast if you lose it fast! I joined sparkpeople and at first (Before the 10 hour days I was doing well at tracking.. Well now with 10 hour days you could say my tracking stinks... I really do try to watch what and how much I eat especially since I am not tracking it but I know that I am not doing as well as if I track. So.. My goal this week is to track my foods for the rest of the week starting in the morning. Anyhow.. Well I best be going because I am a rambling again.

Take care of yourself!
~Tina~

Doing...

2008-07-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

NOTHING!!! that's what I've done today.. Well I'm lying I keep checking Stampin Up to see if my status of my pre-view goodies has changed.. NOPE still just "closed" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! lol Then I look outside Cloudy and muggy yet AGAIN.. so I'm scared of going outside but I said to the kids I will go to the backyard with them around 3:30 (its 2 pm now) if it hasn't AND I'm also stalking the Mailman cause I ordered a CD that I think I have bought oh like 4 times already!(its either been scratched,borrowed and never returned, or lost in a move! lol) lol But my Mailman must really hate Monday cause he ALWAYS comes SOOO late on Mondays! what's up with that??!!
Oh and Gabi said thank you for all the comments! lol..

Other then that I did nothing have done nothing.. and looking for something to eat.. although thanks to Deb I want Pizza! LOL LOL...

I am going to start up my workout tomorrow, I'm going to do my Hip Hop Abs.. let me tell you if you want to laugh while you workout this is the CD to do it.. I laugh cause of what I am doing(trying to do the dance moves) BUT I LOVE IT.. even Isaac tries to do it with me! LOL.. I highly recommend it I got mine on Amazon. com I think for like 5 bucks(used) (its 2 CD's) plus shipping not bad for what I am getting AND you NEVER do a crunch on the floor but you do give your ABS a workout :)

OK well I'm off to check out the window and see if the mailman has come yet!!

HUGS!!

-Ellie

Homemade Pizza

2008-07-06T20:13:00.001-07:00

I don't know how many calories I can save by having homemade pizza, but it's got to be a heap healthier and better for me than a take-away one. :)

First, we make the pizza dough. Here's what I put in the dough.

1 and half cups of water
3 tablespoons oil
4 and half cups of plain flour
1 and half teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 and half teaspoons yeast

I put all the dough ingredients into the breadmaker, in that order, to mix it and get it to rise.

An hour and half later I pull the risen dough out of the breadmaker and divide it into 3 parts.
Then I start to roll each part out as a pizza base. I sprinkle a little more flour on the board so that it doesn't stick.

I put a tomato based pizza base on the rolled out dough.

Then I add: cheese, tomato, capsicum, mushrooms, and bacon - and then lots of cheese.

What it looks like just before hitting the oven.

What it looks like just as I pull it out of the oven. Yummy~!!

No Exercising For Me....

2008-07-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

Aloha Sistahs,

Unfortunately - I haven't been doing anything this weekend to boost my metabolism. I did however manage to avoid Pepsi this entire weekend of BBQ's. But with all the foods and goodies that were available to eat - I am SO SURE that I gained back that 3 pounds I lost during the beginning of last week. I'm going to stay away from the scale for now. Hope you all had a blast this weekend. I'll be posting some photos of our event on my Pieces of Me blog on Monday.

How'd you all do???

Hugs,
Jen

Wishing and Hoping

2008-07-06T14:46:00.001-07:00

Hi Sistahs,

I feel like my cat Dori right now (as shown in the picture). . .

Just a little story about Dori. . .about 6 years ago when we were still living in Hawaii, we had bought a new house and a few months after we moved there, we noticed a kitten that was hanging out in our backyard. We didn't think anything about it. She looked about 6 months old when we first met her. She seem to always be in our yard and was looking a bit thin so we started to give her milk and a bit of food just to keep her going in hopes that maybe she would find her way back home. Well, she never seemed to leave . We created a poster of a lost kitten and posted it around the neighborhood but no one claimed her so we decided to keep her.

She was always an outdoor cat because quite honestly, I did not like animals in our house. I'm allergic to animal dander and I just didn't like the idea of having cat or dog hair in our house. Well, after 2 years of living in the outdoors (which Dori enjoyed immensely), she got injured and had a bad infection. After we brought her to the vet and got her healed, we were afraid that she may hurt herself again so she became an indoor cat and she never again stepped outdoors. It's been little over 3 years now that Dori has been an indoor cat.

As shown in the picture, every day Dori would sit at our backdoor and stare out the glass door. We know she misses being free to roam outdoors but she's been declawed and we cannot allow her to be outdoors without having her claws. A cat's claws is their defense and also allows them to climb and save themselves if they were to fall off something.

Why the story of Dori. . .well, as the picture shows, she has this look of longing to be doing something else rather than being indoors all the time. You know, whenever she looks outside through the glass, she seem to be seeing how her life used to be. Well, I sort of feel that way. . .I sometimes look at pictures of the old me (skinny self) and I wish I could somehow be like that person again. Not that the person I am today is doing badly. . .life is actually quite good but I would like to feel energetic and confident about how I feel and look. . .like how I used to be.

I used to enjoy dressing up, doing my hair, and feeling healthy and energetic. Not that vanity is the core of my longing to lose weight but rather the feeling I had when I was thinner is what I am striving for. I actually like not caring about how I look. . .getting ready to go out is a snap because I really don't do anything to myself to make my self look more presentable. I really like that part of it. I'm sort of a "wash and wear" person now!! LOL!

Anyway, I just wanted to share my little story because when I saw this picture of Dori, it sort of just made think of how I feel about gaining weight and wanting to lose it.

Hope y'all have a wonderful day!!

Maria

Weekend in Evanston

2008-07-06T07:43:00.001-07:00

Hi Sistahs,

I'm the new girl here. Sorry I don't have a picture yet, but I'm having a hard time finding a picture with just ME in it. I take all the pictures, so I'm usually lucky if I'm ever in one!

I'm so happy to be part of this blog and I know it's going to be a big help to me in my weight loss journey. I just started Weight Watchers - again! this week. I think it's probably my sixth time around with them. I know that they work, but I just hate to follow all the rules, so I don't usually do very well with them. This one is at work, so I'm hoping I can hook up with some weight loss buddies there and that will help me keep it together. We have a wonderful duck pond out back and I would love to have a buddy or two to walk around the lake with a couple of times a day.

This weekend was a bit of a challenge. First of all, I tweaked out my knee somehow the other day. I took a bit longer walk than usual and by the time I got home it was really killing me, so I haven't been able to exercise for the last couple of days. Usually I'm really good at doing at least a little bit of exercise. You can see my ticker - I've almost walked 200 miles out of my 500 mile goal. Of course, that's taken me more than six months to do, but compared to where I used to be, that's a LOT of progress!

The other challenge is that we took a bit of a mini vacation to Evanston, Wyoming this weekend. We just wanted to get out of town for a bit and that was the furthest we were willing to drive with these gas prices. It's about 80 miles from us and they had a little fair, a rodeo, and they have a horse race track. We had a really fun time, but my good food choices were pretty limited. But I managed to stay within my points and only used 3 of my bonus points - woohoo!

Hope you all have a great Sunday!

Wow so thats how a Truck Running over you Feels....

2008-07-05T15:14:00.000-07:00

Well Happy Belated 4th! Yesterday was a FULLLLLLLLLLL day for us. To start off we actually got to go to the park I wanted to take the kids to and here is a little bit of what we did...

Gabi was NOT having it.. She DID not like that water all on her! lol So she played where it was dry... As for the boys well...

Here is Isaac striking a pose! lol

Dh and Gabi.. shhhhhhhh he doesn't know I'm posting this pic! LOL

Lil Ms. Sassy on the swing where it was nice and dry! lol

We stayed in the park for a good 2 hrs. After the boys finished playing in the water we headed to the other side in the park where they have 4 different playgrounds according to age but we went through all of them! I even played on the swings :)

Let me tell you it was a bit cloudy but it was STILL HOT! After that we headed to our annual Family BBQ where I would have some pictures had my camera not died! lol.. But at my Cousin-in-law's house they have a pool and another playground set up for the kids so guess what Boys were in the pool and I was running after Gabi.. She made me carry and put her down the slide I don't even know HOW many times! (yes good for my arms BUT MAN am I sore today! lol)

Needless to say I was SOOOOOOOO TIRED from all the running around I did.. WOW.. I think I only ate like 1/2 a hamburger because of it!!!

This AM I didn't even feel when Hubby left for work and when he got home today he said MAN Gabi and the boys tired you out huh?! LOL.. YESSSSSSSSSSSS they did.. so today I have done NOTHING but try to re-coup.. I actually was trying to find my mojo and a little bit visited me so I have to go post on my poor lonely reg. blog! lol..

I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend. (((HUGS)) to all!!!!

-Ellie

{ Bad girl today }

2008-07-04T20:43:00.000-07:00

Yup, that was me. No workout for today. I woke up with the alarm at 5:45 AM...but was feeling extreem PMS! I had bad cramps and a headache. I rolled over and set the alarm for 6:40 and went back to sleep. I had planned on working out when I got home from work, but the girls had a Bday party tonight, so there was no time. Oh well...tomorrow is another day, I suppose. I promise to get up tomorrow for a walk before work! But then we are off to go camping Sun and won't be back until Wed. I will check in tomorrow before we leave, but you won't be hearing from me for a few days. I am gonna try my hardest to be good while we are away. Try and play lots of badminton and maybe some tennis. We are also gonna try and take the girls for a hike or two.

Hope the American Sistah's had a great July 4th!!

Tracy :0)

Brekky in Australia

2008-07-04T17:34:00.001-07:00

Here's my main brekky in Australia this morning. Not much, I know, but I'm keeping full with all the juices that I'm making, so a big brekky isn't needed.

1 piece of wholemeal bread, a little - a real little amount of real butter ( must be more than 80% of milk fat ). I chop off all the white on the egg because I don't like it.

As a side note I weighed in at: 67.6 kilos this morning, so I'm doing well. :)

Deborah

Curing Ulcers with Cabbage

2008-07-04T17:22:00.000-07:00

Today will be my 3rd day of the cabbage treatment, and so far I've had amazing results. From the very first glass I noticed that the pain subsided immediately, and now just beginning my third day I have NO pain at all. None. Now that sure beats doctors doing their thing.

Here's some photos of me juicing my cabbage this morning. :)

First: I peel off all the outer layers that look like they have anything resembling insecticides / chemicals etc... or been damaged or dirty.

So then I have a clean ( but small ) cabbage. Normally I get bigger cabbages, but it's just timing that this one turned out a bit small.

I chop it in half. I used one half and saved the other half for about lunch time.

After I chop half of the cabbage up I start popping it in the juicer. I got about 2/3 of a cup - the cup holds 375mls.

So I add 2 little green apples to help sweeten it and fill the glass.

The finished juice: It isn't particularly yummy. Ok - it's actually quite gross to drink, but since it's taken all my pain away I don't mind. :)

Deborah

Happy 4th Sistahs!!!

2008-07-04T17:17:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th of July Sistahs!! Hope you are all having a marvelous day. I took the day off from exercising today, nothing, nada... LOL!!! We went out to eat at Sam Choy's, and I ate an entire steak. What a pig. LOL!! But, it's to celebrate and honor our country... there! LOL!!! Tomorrow, I will be back on track again.

Well, I hope you are all having a grand day...

Big Hugs,
Jen

Happy 4th of July!!!

2008-07-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hey Sistahs!! Happy 4th of July, y'all! Well yesterday we had a little BBQ. . .pictured is my husband and my son BBQing. I was going to take a picture of myself but I was looking pretty ratty!! LOL! Not to be vain but I was looking at my worst!

I have good news! I was able to get a good night sleep. . .well, I did sleep at 2:30 in the morning but that's a far cry from sleeping at 6. Yay! I also was able to get at least 6 hours of sleep. Yesterday, I took a walk on my treadmill. This was the first time I hopped on the treadmill for a long time. I managed to walk for 20 minutes on 1.7 speed. I forgot to check the distance but I think it's about half a mile. I prefer to walk out doors because my treadmill is in the garage and my garage is a MESS. It reminds me that I need to finish up cleaning the garage and I'm in the "avoidance" stage right now.

My husband BBQ'd ribeye steak in mesquite marinate as well as Jack Daniel's BBQ marinate. Yummy. I was a good girl and I only ate 1/3 of my steak. Unfortunately, I ate fresh guacamole with chips as an appetizer. . .which y'all know, avocado is quite fatty. . .even if it's good fat. . .still fatty.

Today, we'll be heading to the winery and joining in the 4th of July festivities. My daughter is volunteering for the community events so we'll be meeting her there tonight to watch the fireworks and perhaps eat dinner at the restaurant. I'll take a few pictures tonight!!

I'll try to fit in another 20 minutes walk today on my treadmill. The temperature here is over 100 degrees already. It's hot, hot, hot!!! I can't walk out doors today which I prefer to do.

Anyway. . .hope y'all have a wonderful day!!

{ Day 2 with you all! }

2008-07-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

Good evening ladies. It is a late post for me too. I worked today and then we took the kids to see Wall-E. It was cute. Very different...I think a lot of the humor was lost on my girls, but they still liked it. ;0)

Okay so... I am hurtin' today!! I did some strength training yesterday. I did an old tape I have. It is a strength training video made by Susan Powter. It is about 45 mins and works all muscle groups. My hamstrings and triceps were screamin' this morning!! But it is all good. And then I got up before work to do 30 mins on the treadmill...about 1.66 miles. And today has been a good day for eating as well. So all in all a pretty good day.

I hope all of you US girls have a fabulous July 4th holiday weekend!

I will try and post some pics on my next post...promise!

Tracy :0)

On the Road again..

2008-07-03T18:24:00.001-07:00

Hello my lovely ladies.. Its 9:30 pm and nows when I got a chance to post cause its been a long day today although really what did I do??...Well I did walk to my bus stop to go to the bookstore! YEAHHH I love going to the book store I did find one of the mags. I was looking for online it was 5.99 and was going to order it then they wanted 7.50 for shipping! WHATTTT HECK NO.. and so I went on my little trip then came home and took the kids into the backyard to play.. No video today got some pics though! lol

This is what our Sky looked like today.. I loved the clouds although it was HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTT

My feet walking me to the bus stop! lol

Well girls I didn't have the best dinner either (see what happens when I don't cook! lol) I had Wendy's today! lol Ate a Double cheeseburger w/a Dr.Pepper.. it was soooooooooooooooo good! lol.. I know,I know.. but I had a craving for it and I have learned one thing if you don't have it you will do TRIPLE worse later on.. so for today I'm a naughty girl! lol oh.. sniff,sniff.. still no sign of my mojo... SNIFF,SNIFF.. will I ever stamp again!! :( :( :( :(

Night,Night ladies.. Tomorrow Hubby is off since its the 4th I told him I wanted to take the kids to the park where they have a sprinklers so they can play lets see if we actually get to go as we have to go to a family BBQ in the evening..

HUGS to all!

-Ellie

Walking To The Park & What I Had For Lunch

2008-07-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Sistahs... I walked today to the park with the kids. Stayed at the park for about 20 mins, and then headed back home. Cy was asking for the park yesterday, and we didn't end up going - instead, we went swimming at the pool. Hey! Doesn't that count as exercising too?! Well - guess what?! I brought my jump rope along with me to do some jumping at the park. When we got there, I did about 10 jumps before I started feeling a lil' trickle of pee coming out. Yea! I have got to work on my Kegel Exercises too... I really wanted to do more jumps, because my SIL has told me how she's gotten a lot of weight off doing that. Maybe I'll just keep the jumping at home, since I can easily run into the house, should I have an accident. Cy4 took the pic of me jumping in action - my hair came unraveling down, and my glasses is practically at the tip of my nose. LOL!!! Oh yea, and the 1st layer of what you think may be flabs is actually my boobs.

We got to the park, and the kids played on the jungle gym. I took a picture of it with Cy in the upper section of the gym. Do you see him? Doesn't the jungle gym look pretty pathetic? I am so irritated to see the vandalism on park property like this. You know, if these kids were just slapped in the head by their parents at an early age, they wouldn't find the need to write on property that don't belong to them. It's so sad. Actually it's gross. Well, maybe I will have to walk to the park that is a lil' further.... Ok enough of that sad jungle gym. While resting, Ceasar was a lil' thirsty - so we gave him some Gatorade. It was so cute when he looked up, because he had a lil' red on his mouth making him look as though he is wearing some lipstick.

Check out my Bentley Baby Stroller... LOL!!!! Actually, I like to refer to it as my 4X4 - it'll goes places that my lil' umbrella one doesn't.

After dropping CY4 off to school, we headed to Sam's club. We're stacking up for this weekend's festivities. Man, I sure hope I don't go gaining all of that 3 pounds back during this weekend. The locals here in Hawaii are always looking for reason for BBQing... and this weekend is a HUGE CELEBRATION!! So... I will have to control myself. Anyways, I picked up lunch at Sam's, which I got some sushi (California Roll with Tobiko on the outer layer), and Sashimi (Raw Fish). Don't mean to gross anyone out - just wanna share. This is Japanese food... and from what I've seen, most Japanese ladies are skinny, so the food that they eat must not be too fatty (unless of course she's been busy with some Hawaiian food...LOL!!).

Ok... hope you all have a wild weekend, enjoy they company of your family and friends, and enjoy the food too!!! But not too much....

Aloha,
Jen

Drinkables....

2008-07-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

Sistahs, as promised - here is the drink I was talking about that I purchased from Sam's. In just 1 oz (2 TBP) it is nutritionally equivalent to 5 daily servings of over 40 fruits and vegetables. If you're like me... and don't really care to eat eat eat eat eat fruits and veggies - then I'd say check this drink out. It also fills me up and I don't have to eat breakfast at times. The taste is as though you are drinking a vitamin - which is quick n' easy. Sam's sells it for $19.99 - it's a large bottle that'll should last you 2 months. Refrigerate to stay cold, and you're good to go!!!

Ok, let me know if anyone decides to pick one up for themselves.

We're heading out the door to take our walk.

Toodles!
Jen

OMG!!!!!

2008-07-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

Have you seen!?!??! My ticker has moved!!! It's now 175 and before it was 178!!! Sistahs, this is working!!!! The drinking of water, the giving up of Pepsi, the drinking of fruits n' veggies (i drink this supplement thingy I bought from Sam's - I'll share this with all of you in a later post)... Holy Crap!!! (Oh yea, I have more of that too!!), I just can't believe that I'm dropping some pounds!!! When I got on the scale today, I had to go back several times to make sure it was showing me the correct info. LOL!!!!

This morning, before I went on my walk, I headed to Walmart to pick up a pair of walking shoes - it was CHEAP... $15!!!. Yea, all this time - I was walking in slippahs (slippers/thongs). It wasn't hurting me, but I started noticing that the sun was tanning the outline of my slippahs on my feet. LOL!! Ok, this morning's walk was refreshing with my new shoes. I was just Cy n' I. CY4 had a field trip this morning, so I dropped him off early. My walk lasted about 35 minutes. Legs still store. Cy wanted me to go the way that "Dora The Explorer" is hanging out on the porch. Yep - Dora has been sitting there for so many years now, her hair is already purple. I'll share a picture of her tomorrow, if we walk that way again. The photo I have to share with you is the 2nd hill that we usually walk up - and the hill that really gets my legs shaking. I swear, I cannot wait til' the day comes where I don't even notice any pain in my legs. I will be so happy - knowing that I am continuing my journey for all the right reasons.

Anyways, before your walks - do you gals stretch?

~Jen

Big Hello to Everyone

2008-07-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

Hi, just a quick introduction to say hi and that I'm really looking forward to being part of the group.

I have just recently returned to a raw food diet - for the most part. It gets a little difficult when I see the rest of the family eating the most yummiest stuff, but I'm hanging in there.

I've got about 20 kilos to lose, not sure how much that is in pounds. I'm in Australia. I'm mostly doing it for health reasons.

I used to eat all the wrong foods - and it's costing me considerably with my health, but hopefully with prayer and acting wisely with my food I can make a full recovery.

I don't get out much as I homeschool and have 6 children. Only 5 of them live at home though.

I've got a camera and will try to do show and tell when I remember. :) I was even thinking I could take some photos of the meals that I do cook. :)

Deborah

{ Hello All! }

2008-07-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

I justt wanted to make a quick post for today and say hi to you all!! I am so excited to be a member of your little group...hopefully we will grow...not us personally but the number of us! ;0)

I will give you all the quick version of my weightloss journey. I have been overweight/obese most of my life. I had lost about 65 pounds once before I had kids but it all came back and with friends. After the birth of my second daughter I decided that enough was enough and I wanted to be a Mom that my girls would be proud of. I joined WeightWatchers Online and in 1 year and 1 week I lost a total of 85 pounds. I went from 235pounds down to 150. The thinest and happiest in my life. I did well for a few years and then my Grandfather went into Hospice. I was sitting there day after day with my Uncle and did nothing...and ate...well after he passed a few months later I just let things slide and over the past few years I have put back 30+ pounds. I have been slowly trying to get things back on track. My goal at this point is to workout at least 30mins daily and to stop my nighttime snacking. Those are my big goals at this point. I find when I have to 'check-in' with someone it helps to keep me more focused...so I will be posting daily with my workout for the day.

Anyway...looking forward to helping you all out and hoping you can all keep me focused too.

We can do it together!! ;0)

Maybe I will post some old pics for ya later...kinda of a motivational tool for us all!! ;0)

Insomnia

2008-07-02T16:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, Sistahs! I feel like that lady! Argggh! I've been suffering from insomnia for the past week or so. I mean serious insomnia. . .I'm not sure what is wrong but I haven't been able to sleep. Unfortunately, throughout the day, I'm dead beat tired. Basically, walking around like a zombie. Thank God for coffee!

Suffice to say, I did not take my walk yesterday! I took my son to a job interview. . .which happen to take longer than I expected then returned home just in time to cook dinner. By the time, I was done, it was too dark to take a walk. I thought after a good night sleep, I'll start my walk in the morning. . .well, that's until insomnia hit and I was up aaaaaaaalllll night. I didn't go to bed until 6:00 in the morning. I woke up 3 hours later and now, I feel like a bus hit me.

So. . .what did I do during my all nighter!! I went blog surfing. Yup. I clicked on blog links after blog links and stumbled upon this blog site: Click Here Wow, her blog site is powerful. It's about her journey after her husband committed adultery. She writes her stories so eloquently. . .I almost could feel her pain. Anyway, I love reading about drama! LOL! Not enough in my life so I have to live through others! If you decide to read her blog entries, be sure to read from the beginning. I'm still working through her blog but I read a big chunk of it last night. Poor girl. . .I feel really bad for her.

Okay. . .sorry for the non-weight loss post. Just sharing!

Hope y'all did better than I did with your walks!

Maria

Supermarket Adventures

2008-07-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

Hello my dear gals!

So I just got back from my walk and am in the middle of cooking dinner (Its 4 pm here) Gonna make rice,corn,beans and BBQ Chicken.. YES I can eat it.. I can only have 1/4 cup of beans,1 cup of rice, 1/4 cup of corn and 1 piece of chicken and loads of Salad with Zero Sprite.. (GOT TO LOVE MY Weight Watchers!)

Any hoot today I though I would try something different.. I have VIDEO today! YEAHHH although you can't see me you'll hear me! lol

So here is my little adventure to get what I need to cook today :)

To get to our Supermarket its a 20 min. walk we actually ended up taking the bus since I got a 20 lb bag of rice! lol But all in all it was a beautiful day! :)

-Ellie

Hot n' Humid Day

2008-07-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

Oh Sistahs... the day was so hot n' humid. Even though we walked early this morning, thw sweat.... ack, was just dripping. My legs (upper thighs) still hurt, but I shouldn't be complaining, I have been walking less than a week. My calabash nephew (small kine half/half - or friend's son) called me on Sunday and wanted to come over today. He lives right down the way of our walking. So guess what?!?!! I told him, ok - get on your walking shoes... we will be by, and we will all walk together from your house to ours. Sistahs, we left the house 8:30 a.m., and was back home by 8:50 a.m. That was a 20 minute walk. So funny, because my nephew goes, "I didn't think you guys would actually make it here walking..." LOL!!! You know what that means - that means he thought we was going be lazy last minute, and drive there instead. LOL!!!!! But we fooled him, eh?!?! Well... the 1st photo is of the slight hill that I first walked up. I am actually looking back at where we started - which is at our house (with the 2 huge palm trees). 2nd photo of Cy enjoying his ride to my nephew's house. And 3rd photo of us taking a break before heading home.

I don't dare get on the scale yet.... how about you gals?! When should we check? Every 2 weeks? I had Taco Bell Nachos for lunch today. Yea, that was pretty pathetic of me to do that. Ok then... I'll just take a longer walk tomorrow.

Keeping My Head up and tummy tucked in....

Jen

I'm a Rock Star!

2008-07-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

Hey Sistahs!! I'm a Rock Star!! LOL! What are you drinking, Maria? Well. . .I know energy drinks aren't all that healthy but I've never drank "Rock Star" (tried Red Bull) . I wanted to see it if it'll give me a bit of energy. No worries. . . it's sugar free! LOL!

Well, yesterday I didn't take my walk as I planned to do ! BAD GIRL! Sorry. . .BUT, I did clean my "whoa, supa messy garage". The picture of my garage was taken 2 weeks ago when I first started on cleaning it . . .I want to do a big reveal when I'm done so I didn't post a current picture! LOL!

As you can see my garage is a major mess and I, seriously worked out yesterday. I carried containers, bent up and down pulling things out of the containers, putting them back on the shelves. . .much more of a work out than walking. So. . . .forgive me, okay! LOL! I did bust my buns!

Today's goal is to actually "walk" for 30 minutes. I promise. Oh, I didn't drink my 8 glasses of water either but I managed to take in 5 glasses. I need to work on drinking more water!

Hey, Sistahs. . .maybe at the end of each of our post, include our goals so we know what each is doing! What do you think? You know. . . like this:

Goals: Walk for 30 minutes, drink 8 glasses of water

Happy Walking, Sistahs!!

Tuesday's Hot Walk

2008-07-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

So its 2 pm here in NY and we just back from our Walk and we left at 11 am.. what the heck were we doing right?!! Well I couldn't help it I walked to the bus stop...

with my trio....

The bus stop is I'll say 8 blocks away from our house and with this heat it feels like 15! lol
So off on the bus we went and headed to M's and I am so proud of myself all I got was adhesive! LOL.. ok ok.. so I got me a bag of Werthers-Caramel Chocolate but come girls they are new and when I was looking at them one of the girls that works at M's said to me OH those are SOOOO good has the right amount of everything so How could I say No?? LOL LOL

I am going to treat myself 1 a day hey I can't quit my chocolate... NEVER!!

BUT look what I got after I went to M's for Lunch

Aren't you proud of me :)

So all in all I did good as when I got off the bus we had to walk again! We walked by the park which has a pool so guess where we will be going tomorrow....

For now Gabi is napping I am eating my salad and the boys ate their lunch. Once Gabi is up we will go to the backyard so the boys can play with their water guns to cool down..

I am really loving this Maybe I will look good in September for the first day of school! LOLLOLLOL..

-Ellie

It's Monday!!!

2008-06-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Sistahs.... this morning, I was ready to go at 7 a.m. Monday's are kinda hard though to get out because the house is such a mess from the weekend tornado, I just want to tidy up. Well, I'm glad that I am making CY4 walk with me, because he was ready to go too. But, we didn't get to leave our house til' 8:30 this morning. I decided to go twice around our block. That took about 20 minutes. Oh, but the great thing about today's walk was this.... ok, don't gross out, but by the time I got back to my house the 2nd time around, I had drips of sweat coming down my neck, and going into my chi-chi area. LOL!!! That means I'm sweating some fats off... YEAAAAH!!!! I have to remember to drink water and make sure I hydrate myself tho'.... so that is what I have also been doing - taking in more water. CY4 took a picture of me and Cy while walking on the street. I wear this same outfit everytime I go walking. No gross out - I wash 'em when I get home. But because the sun was heaping hot - oh girlfriends, when I took off my clothes - you would think you actually had Xray vision and was looking through my clothes, because the sun surely cooked the skin outside of my clothing - and it looked like I was still wearing my clothes. LOL!!!! I better put on some sun screen.

Ok... so the wedding last night. Girls... I had 2 glasses of wines last night, we had 3 choices of dinner selection to choose from - which was Chicken, Salmon or Filet Minong. They all sounded good, but I went with the Salmon. I didn't even finish the whole thing - I was bummed about that, I wanted to get a doggy bag, and take it home. But because it was a wedding, I didn't want to - make shame, ah?!. It wasn't a traditional Hawaiian wedding, Maria.... so unfortunately, I couldn't pig out - well actually that was fortunately, right?!?! But thank goodness, because if had Hawaiian food - oh my!! I think my ticker would be going west instead!! LOL!!! Well, I'll be posting more about the wedding event on my crafty blog. I know you'll get a kick out what I post then.

Ok girls... don't stop striving to get up an MOVE!!! Keep motivated, and if you don't want to walk, do something else... maybe get a jump rope and do some jumping for at least 15 minutes. I think that will totally count towards a 20 minute walk. My SIL jumps rope, and she says that it really helps her get her heart rate up. Man, do you know how long it's been since I've jumped rope? I think it was back in elementary. I told her.... who me!?!?! LOL!!! We'll see.... I already have a jump rope... maybe I should use it.

hugs,
Jen

Sistahs of the Traveling Tee

{ Still here...honest }

Hi Everybody!!!!

Update from Adrian

Update from Deborah

{ Day 8 & 9 }

SparklePeople

Maria's Week 1

{ Day 7 }

{ Day 6 }

New Member: Anne Alagna

Starting Over Again

{ Day 5 }

Today I walked.. and a video to share....

{ Day 4 }

{ Day 3 }

6/16 Aerobics

{ Day 2 }

My 1st Day doing aerobics....

{ If you are out there? I need ya! }

Checking In and Update

It's Week 6, I think

I walked.... **snicker**

Lost 3 lbs from Last Week

You don't want to know! ... lol

Progress Report Week 3

Week 3

Progress Report

Starting on My Second Week

First Day on the Treadmill

Update from Deborah

I'm Back!!

Big Wave Hello

{ DAY 5 }

{ Day 4 }

{ Day 2 and Day 3 }

{ DAY 1 }

{ Calling all Sistahs! }

OK sooooo I am back on the wagon..

Giving it another go...

Finally getting there!

No Nothing Yesterday or Today....

I Power Walked Today.....

Back to Walking Again

I'm Back in the Game!!

OK Sooooo I am stuck and failing....

Just a quick update

Jello Diet

Not a great week for me

Bad,Bad Sistah!!

Gallbladder Flush

Woohoo, Maria Where Are You?

{ Getting there...}

I AM a Successful Woman

Is Dory Trying To Imitate Me?

{ I am back...so sorry for being gone so long! }

Hello everyone!

Withdrawals or Hormones?!?!

I want a recount!

Helllooo anyone out there??

Todays Weigh In

Breakfast Anyone...

My weekend

Weekend Run Abouts!

Friday...

What I've been up to...

Update

OK so.. Still struggling

Check out My Hard Work!!

I'm a rule breaker!

What I Have Been Up To....

It's A Brand New Day

WW Recipes

Park Bound..

Getting Serious!!

Hello all, I'm trying to stay on track

Doing...

Homemade Pizza

No Exercising For Me....

Wishing and Hoping

I walked.... snicker