Hi My Name Is ...

Tenaj, I have taken a Zumba class, it is a great workout and alot of fun. We don't have a wii, but maybe now is the time to get one!!! You are all having such warm weather out east,warmer than here for sure. Be careful with that yardwork, but have fun with Zumba.

Dear CookieMonster, please remember this, you have every right to rant and be sad, go with it and then remember that tomorrow is another day and things will get better. You are still new at this and you have been through so much. I promise better days will come.Everything you are are feeling right now is normal. You will have good days and then bad days, and then the good days will outnumber the bad days. Support groups are wonderful, good for you that you are going. There is nothing better than chatting and being with other women that have gone through the same things. It sounds like you are really on track with exercise and nutrition. Do you belong to Weight Watchers??? You are a survivor and you deserve to be in Happy Land always. Hugs, Kathy

Good morning all!

CookieMonster, hang in there....I know I have felt & still feel the way you do.  I definetly have more better days now.  I haven't seen a MD in 2 weeks!!! There was some days I saw 3 in 1 day.  You still have sutures!!!! Kathy gave some lovely words of support & I can do no better. Just know we are here for you as best as we can be....who knows, someday we may all meet in person!!!

I am loving this part time work as I am done with work (or should I say paying work) for the week.  I am going to do some strectching & then take a bike ride this morning.  I will do my best to eat healthy. I am out of my delicous dark chocolate blueberries & if I go to Costco today I will skip that aisle...at least for this trip. LOL..

Have a great day & thinking of you all.

(((hugs)) Janet 

Hi ladies. I am in Wisconsin with hubby. He has a one day recertification and I tagged along. Took off 3days from. Work. It was a long drive but fun. I am now relaxing in hotel room while he is in session all day:). I'm gonna take a walk soon. They have a lovely main street with shops to check out and a coffee shop. I wil try my best to be good:). Take care all.

Hi Kathy, glad to hear your weight is back down!!! I knew the water would work. What is the 17 day diet? Did you start it yet? Took a day off from exercising, busy doing some errands.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Hey ladies - my motivation is severely lacking right now. Stress and nerves and stuff, hopefully it'll improve soon. Happy weekend - I should get lots of exercise walking around tomorrow at DS' soccer tournament.

Sorry I've been absent, I've been pretty busy.

Good day ladies, CookieMonster I hope you are resting & enjoying your weekend. Sometimes deep breathing exercises can help you relax from stress. Put on some relaxing music & spend 5-10 minutes doing breathing & light stretching & that can help with stress & feeling better.

Haven't done much for aerobics this weekend. I've been doing lots of spring chores & cleaning my mom's house, we just put it up for sale. My mom passed 3 years ago next month & our children don't look like they will be around here for a while, so it doesn't make sense to keep paying for the upkeep & I don't want to rent it. Anyway....been busy with that.

Kathy, the diet sounds good, keep me posted on how you like it & if it works. Enjoy your Sunday.

Jaytee & ATeamNana: thinking about you & hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Mind if I join in? I posted a few times on the 'Let's post our daily exercises' thread, but that only works if you're exercising....

I'm pretty petite but and always had a few pounds I could afford to shed. Until about 5 years ago I had been fencing pretty regularly, and that's amazing exercise, so that helped so much. In 2004-2005 I managed to lost about 10 pounds by going low-carb (I think it worked because if I was reducing my bread and rice intake, I couldn't justify candy bars or ice cream at all!). Little by little it came back, but when I injured my knee, that killed the fencing and I couldn't go to the gym regularly enough to make up for it.

So here I am 3 weeks pfc and about 8 pounds higher than I was a year ago (and was struggling to maintain). It sounds like this is a great place to come to talk about good eating and exercises successes - and challenges. I might try Weight Watchers, as I have little self-motivation in that department. I'd be open to other suggestions. I think now that I'm not going all "Monk" on my germ fears, I'll feel better about getting to the gym a little more often. 

Hellooooo, Ladies!

I'm 1/4 of the way through Optifast. I've lost 14 pounds so far on the program, but am down 30 pounds from my original high of 204. Three more months (and 40 more pounds) to go.

The first week of the fast we were told to not exercise at all until we got used to the diet. (Low BP, etc,) THEN they gave us all pedometers, and if that weren't enough, assigned us to teams (I'm captain of the Red Team) and each week we report how many steps the four of us on each team have taken.

We are taking a virtual walk to NYC (We're in Cali) and I have to say we're doing pretty good! At first we sucked, because the first week I was in bed most days with TE pain, but later on, that little plastic box glued to my side (pedometer) developed a voice. I SWEAR I hear it whispering "Get in more steps!" "Go for a walk" "Get your butt in gear!" There is also a guy on our team who always has the most steps because he walks on his treadmill while watching TV. I think he balances me out.....

Next week I meet with my trainer at the gym - at the Rehab Hospital - for a reevaluation. This diet won't work unless we exercise. So at least DH and I are walking. And I SO want to do Zumba! Is there a "Slow Motion Zumba for Seniors?"

And yesterday, we went to the bike shop and ordered me a new bike! An adult trike - wooHOO!

I have a balance disorder, and a few years ago, had a bad fall off my mountain bike. Haven't been back on since. The bike should be here in a week - can't wait!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend....supposed to be 95 degrees here today!!!!

rachelvk - One of the smartest investments we ever made was purchasing the Food Sucker. I believe its' proper name is FoodSaver.

It's a machine that vacuum-seals food into freezable, boilable, microwaveable bags.

For example - DH will barbecue two dozen chicken thighs. We put two cooked thighs into a bag, seal it, label it, and throw it in the freezer.

When it's time for dinner, the bag goes into some warm water to thaw for maybe 30 minutes, then into boiling water for ten minutes. Tastes wonderful and fresh!

I've also made big casseroles (WW recipes) and divided them up into individual servings and frozen them that way. Once frozen, we take them out of their containers, and repeat the steps above.

You can even poke holes in the frozen bags and microwave them.

This allows us to have fresh, home-cooked meals whenever we want.

DH once took some of my Mexican Lasagna on a camping trip. While the rest of the guys were busy trying to set up their stoves or get the campfire lit, DH had his pot of water boiling, and ten minutes later was enjoying a delicious casserole!

We got ours at Costco, but they also sell them at WalMart.

Hi Rachel - <waves>  Good to see you here. Lost of friendly support here and gentle encouragement!

Re: fresh vs. frozen veggies - as I understand it, there is little difference health wise between them so if it's easier to do them on late nights, I say frozen is find and definitely better than skipping the veggies altogether.

Weekend cooking is good, then you can freeze leftovers and dole them out for lunches and/or dinners throughout the week.

Hope you can manage to get to the gym or at least get walking for some exercise. I try, but some days are tougher than others.

Blessings - congrats on the success so far, I hope that it continues for you! I'm sure that it will.

Welcome Rachel, you will get lots of encouragement here, these ladies are awesome!!!

Kathy, sorry to hear about your cold, this time of year is tuff. Lots of warm tea, and some vit C always help.

ATeamNana sounds like you did great with the eatting while on vacation. I don't have much wil power when I go away. I get right into spoiling myself!! lol ......maybe now that I admitted it, I'll be better next time.

Blessings, congratulations on your weight loss!!!! Whoooo whooooo!!!! Keep up the good work!

Hi CookieMonster & Jaytee !!!! Hope your day is going well.

I've been doing the Zumba on wii......not great technique but I am moving a lot & having fun. It's been good to do something different besides the bike & treadmill. I am moving different muscles which is good to mix it up. I can't help but think that if I had eaten like I do now 10 years ago, I wouldn't have to try & loose the weight now because I would have been thin. I guess my age, being put into menopause & taking femera are slowing everything down. BUT....I'm not giving up!