Thank you,Lori! I am so happy and you are right, everything is getting big, pants, skirts. I will definitely will need to go shopping soon  I am going to the gym today again,  these lost inches it's great motivation.

So,now you are babysitting, it's a full time job. Your daughter is amazing, she is back to work already, although just for 2 days when the baby is so small, wow. My girlfriend's baby is 3 months old now and she had a hard time to leave him before. It's getting better now, because she needs to work,she gives private piano lessons and she is gone only for couple hours. There is one thing i wanted to ask you, you have two kids. My girlfriend has a problem, she reads books about the baby all the time, different books and follows everything they say. For example what she can eat or can't. Is it really so necessery to follow everything that doctors and books say?

Today is much cooler, it is 75F in the morning and later will be 87F. It's much much better.

I wish you good luck, Lori. And you will burn calories being with 2 years old one. You will get into the gym when you will get time, don't worry.

Enjoy your trip, Alison!!!

I am against following doctors and books when it comes to babies. They are a good guideline but each baby is different. All doctors have different opinions as well. Ask ten doctors when and what a baby can eat and you will get ten answers. I feel it is best to feed babies on demand at least the first few months, they will let you know when they are hungry. Why wake a sleeping baby to feed them, if they need to eat they will wake up. So thats my opinion, I hope that helps.

I think you are right about the two year old making me burn calories, so I'm not to worried about it. Right now both of them are taking a nap, when they wake up we might go for a walk.

It has cooled down some here too, but still in the high 80's(less humidity). Tonight we will go watch Pa's softball game. I do laps around the park while watching the game, this time with a ten pound baby attached to my chest.

Keep up the good work and thanks for the motivation.

Alison I thought you were already gone. Enjoy your trip and bring home motivation from the pageant contestants.

Thank you, Lori, that really helps. I will tell this to my girlfriend, she is being ridiculous finding the new things that she thinks she can't do or eat.

Wow, walking with 10 pound baby it's just like doing weights in the gym That will be your workout.

have a nice day

Leila

P.S We will have weight in tomorrow

Good morning,

I didn't loose anything this week, i am the same as i was last week, 143. I don't know what that happened but probably there are reasone  i don't know about. I really didn't think that the weight will just come off so easy. Besides i lost all these inches, so i hope i do something right. Although i am a little upset,but i have another week to workout more and eat more. I think maybe i didn't eat enough, it sounds funny.  I ate just about 1200 cal, maybe i need to eat a little more. Did you change your calorie intake when you lost couple pounds, Lori?

I am going to do workouts at home, i bought couple dvds and of course i am going to the gym.

Leila

Hello,

I lost 6 ounces, I guess better than nothing. No Leila I didn't go down on my calorie limit when I lost a few pounds. When I started I was at the 1200 limit, and you are not supposed to go lower than that so I stayed the same.

I know how it feels when you go a week and don't lose anything, but like you said the inches count a lot. I didn't measure myself like I was going to yesterday, but I will later today. This morning I was at the gym by 6:30 a.m., I did 40 min of circuit training and 30 min on bike.

I hope you do well with the dvd's. I never had any luck with home workouts, I can never finish a whole workout. I know I should do them and I will build up endurance, maybe someday.

No great weight loss this week, lets see what next week brings. I feel like my body doesn't want to lose any more, I'm stuck around the same 3 pounds lol

Hi Lorri,

Well, not very good feeling, but there is another week, you are right. Wow,that was really early and you had good workout too. Hopefully next week will bring your the numbers you want to see on the scale. I like DVD workouts, first of all i can't find what i want in the gym. I am really tired of going to the same classes week after week. At home i can do one today and different tomorrow, i was buying them during last couple years, so i have 6 or 7 different. I still want to buy Jane Fonda workouts, i used to like them and i saw her two new DVD workouts on Amazon.

Today is hot again, although in the morning it was 71F, i can't believe that  it got so hot now. I just came from lunch, went to the mall, it 's a good exercise too, to walk for 30 minutes.

have a good week-end

Leila

Hi,

I went to the gym this morning and had a good workout on treadmill, almost 1 hour. I feel really good about that. Well there is another week ahead and i need to work harder so i would loose more weight.

How are you doing Lori?

I'm doing good Leila. I feel so much better when I hit the gym, I'm glad to be motivated again. Had swordfish on the grill for lunch today, it was delicious. We are planning on going out to dinner tonight, so I am trying not to snack today. I am thinking I will get a  salad with steak tip,  will  be able to have a drink if I don't get a starch.  ( I like milk drinks, so I have to be careful)

Glad the are keeping up the good work. Sounds like you are used to the new lifestyle, and that is great. Is your goal still 137? I'm almost to my goal, but it still seems like I will never reach it lol  Only a couple more pounds for me, then I will really concentrate on more toning. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, talk to you soon. I wonder how Alison is doing? I bet she is having a lot of fun.

Hi guys, I'm back!  For some reason the internet wouldn't connect from my hotel room, so I couldn't reach you guys.  We had a great trip, I did really well with my eating, I think ( hard to count calories whenyou're traveling).  But I'm not going to weigh in until next week!  I really want to be a solid 126, and I don't thin I'm there yet.  Sounds like you guys are doing great, Lori's back in the gym and taking care of the little ones, and Leila, you will be crowned Miss Most Inches Lost.  Can you tell I've been around pageant girls?

I have to tell you guys, I was in the hotel pool with Mackenzie, feeling pretty good about myself with what little weight I've lost, when suddenly there were about 30 of the most beautiful, skinny young women all jumping in the pool and drinking and partying and it was just crazy.  And I knew they weren't the pageant girls because they were all rehearsing up in the ballroom.  So guess what?  They were HOOTERS GIRLS!!! Can you believe it?  They were having some kind of Hooter's Calendar Girl convention!  I just wanted to sink underwater and never come up! No - it wasn't that bad, it was just that they are these perfect Goddesses (there wasn't a real pair of boobies in the bunch, by the way) and it was a little hard to be around them. 

I was able to execise just twice this week - can't wait to just be in the groove and going 4, 5 times a week.  Also a huge whole foods just opened up about 2 minutes from my house - I'll be able to get some really nice helathy products there that I haven't been able to get at my regular grocery store.  Glad to be back online with you girls, and I'm so glad everyone's doing great!

Glad you had a good time Alison. They had fake boobs and they were probably very young, so don't let them get you down. Leila has been doing great with her workouts, and I am back on track as well. I'm really surprised I didn't go over my limit today, I just put everything in and I was very happy. We went out on the bike today ( harley) and I had a frozen mud slide at lunch time and then 2 drinks at dinner time. I couldn't believe that I was still under 1200 hooray!

I don't know what a whole foods is, but I'm glad you have one. Tomorrow after the gym I will be going food shopping, have to reload the fridge with healthy foods. Hoping to go to the gym, come home and shower then do food shopping all by 10:30 a.m., as we will be heading out on th bike for the day again.

I have to tell you guys a cute little story, because it made me feel so good. We were on the bike and my other half kept turning around and looking at the back of the bike. I asked "what are you looking at" he said " nothing" yet he did it again. So I asked again "honey what are you looking at now" and his reply was " First I was making sure you were still there, then I was checking out your skinny ass". He isn't very good at giving out compliments so I was very excited about that. A few words can really make you feel good about yourself, I think I smiled for an hour straight after that.

Alison you will have to share share some pictures of Mackenzie with us, she is so adorable.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend girls, I'll be back on sometime Monday.

Lori

Hi girls,

I am so glad that  you, Allison is back, i really missed you. That's wonderful that you had great time. Thank you for my title ,i can say you have been around pageant girls. Yes  i lost couple inches here and there, hope that next week i will loose some more weight. Anyway, i feel much thinner, maybe it sounds funny for you. But comparing to my weight couple weeks ago, now it feels different. I know that you felt really good about yourself, Alison. But you shouldn't compare yourself to these young "skinny"girls. They are young and their turn to worry about everything they eat will be there  for them later.Besides, as you said, their boobs were not real.I remember myself when i was in my 20s, everything was much easier,i mean loosing weight. As for my weight goal, these 10 pounds is my first goal and i am almost half way there. As soon as i will reach this goal, i am going to have another one to loose 10  more pounds.After that  i will be maintaining and toning. I have the Whole Foods store not far from my house too and i love it.  You really can buy a lot of healthy stuff that you can't find in grocery store. So, that's great.

I am glad for you,Lori. You are back on track!!! And i know how compliments can affect you. It makes you feel really good and also makes you exercise more,it's a great motivation. You did really good staying in your calorie range, Lori. I heard that the last pounds are the most difficult to loose, so just be patient and you will be there.

have a great week-end, girls!

I hope to see pictures from your vacation, Alison.

Leila

Hi guys - thanks for the encouragement.  You're right, those girls were young and they probably worry over every little carrot stick the put in their mouths.  So I'm on my "workout every day" kick this week to see if I can jumpstart my motabolism.  Since I'm eating right, it should work.  I worked out this morning with my neighbor.  She runs and bikes and is in really good shape and she said that the class is challenging even for her!  So I guess I'll see on Friday.

I was feeling down and stuck there for awhile, but I seem to be back and motivated again.  It's a good feeling!

Lori - Congrats on getting an unsolicited compliment from your honey!  I know that's a really good feeling!  Also, Whole Foods is this amazing organic grocery store.  They have tons of ready made foods (soups, dinners, salads) as well as every holistic remedy you could ever want.  It's pricey (right, Leila?), but really wonderful..

Have you guys ever heard of Ellie Krieger?  She's a nutritionist with a weekend show on Food Network.  Her recipies are delicous and really low cal/healthy - when I make her food, my husband really loves it.  I just thought I'd recommend her to you.  Her recipies are free on the food network site, but she also has a lovely cookbook out.  I also do those assembly meals every few months, like Simply Suppers or Let's Eat.  Do you guys know what I'm talking about?  If you have never done this and feel tired of cooking, I highly recommend it.  They usually have all of the nutritional values on their websites, so you don't have to guess at the calories.  Just though I'd share! 

Alison

Hi girls,

I like Ellie Krieger and i started to watch her programs on Food Network when she started there. I have two her books and i cook a lot of her stuff too, especially i like her desserts. That is true that there are calorie value with every her receipts.

We actually buy a lot of groceries and other foods in Whole Food store,there are couple that are located  around our area. I use for backing only whole wheat pastry flour that i buy there, besides they have different kinds of flour. I like to bake my own bread,so i have 5 or 6 different kinds of flour at home.

I am going to the gym today after work. Yesterday was under my calories, so i was snacking on fruits.

Alison, did you take any pictures you can share with us?

Leila

Alison I am glad you are motivated again, I just went through the same thing. I'm glad that when we hit that mood we decide to come back, some would quit. Sometimes it just seems like to much work, but it is so worth it in the end. I never heard of Ellie Krieger, I will have to check her out. I appreciate you sharing that, I'm looking for new low cal meals to cook. I don't know what an assembly meal is either, fill me in on that please. It must have been nice to work out with a neighbor, that can be really good for motivation.

Leila 5 or 6 kinds of flour, wow that is crazy. I never bake, I don't think I even have regular flour in my house. Do you have any EASY recipe's (sp*) that you can share, for low cal desserts? I think that it is great that you have been getting a work out in every day, that is awesome. I did go to the gym this morning and will be going tomorrow morning as well. My cousin has Wednesday off so we are going to Hampton beach for the day, I will get in lots of walking on the beach and skip the gym.

Have either one of you girls ever had tofu? I don't even know what it is. Is it good, easy to cook, tasty? Any info on that would be cool, I really don't have a clue what it is. I guess I should look it up on line, but don't feel like it right now lol I rather have the opinion of someone that actually tried it any way.

I feel really funny even asking this but do you girls log anything for activity besides actual exercise? I saw on here some where that some people log house hold chores. I wouldn't do that, but today I scrubbed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees, and it felt like a work out. I looked it up and you actually burn a lot of calories doing that. How do you feel about logging extra things? Should I just leave things as they are or log when I do heavy work around the house?

Wow this is a long post. I will be looking forward to all the new info, thanks girls. Have a great day. Oh I thought of another question, but I will ask that next time, I don't want you girls to think I am question happy lol

Hi girls,

Yes, i have couple recipes that i can share with you. Actually if you substitute usual all purpose flour to whole wheat pastry in some dessert recipes you will cut a lot of calories. Besides there is no difference in taste. Tonight when i will get home, i will sent you couple recipes,Lori.  I have a great book " Whole grain backing" where you can find all different international breads and desserts that you can bake using all kinds of different flours: rye, buckwheat,wheat, wheat pastry. Of course i have a bread machine to help me with bread making but i should tell you that it helps also in making just a dough for anything you want.  To tell the truth, i don't like tofu at all, for me it's something artificial and it doesn't have any taste at all ( for me).You know, all people are different. What is strange that i can't eat tofu, but i love misu soup, it's Japanese tofu soup, but i never eat tofu itself. As far as i know not many people like it, it's you hate it or absolutely love it. You should try it, i think,maybe you will love it.

Ellie Krieger really has pretty good dishes and desserts too. I think that for now she has only two books and i have both. Besides i watch her" Healthy appetite" on Food Network on Saturday mornings. You can get all her recipes on the website with calorie and nutrition information.

I had a great workout yesterday but at first i was tired and really didn't want to go. But then i decided that i have to go just for 30 minutes if i can't stay longer. As soon as i get there and started with my ipod, i forgot about being tired. It's a great motivation - music. I agree, it's not easy to come back to the gym after the break, but it's great that we do come back.

I didn't put any activities except gym before, but couple weeks ago i started to put long shopping hours,or running upstairs and downstairs with loundry basket . I also put my cleaning in the house last Saturday, because i really felt like i burned calories doing that. I would log in all hard work that you are doing around the house. And i started to do the same thing.

I have a question too  Did you, girls, try to analyze the recepie on the website? I don't know what i am doing wrong, but when i put in the recepie, it always says that  there are items that it can't analyze but it gives calories information anyway. How do you do that?

Have a great time on the beach, Lori. And walking on the sand is a very good exercise.

Have a great day, girls!

Hi girls!  made it to the gym Monday and tuesday, but had to go back to the car dealership this morning and was there til 1:00.  Phooey! 

Lori, let me see if I can explain meal assembly.  It's a new concept, but it's catching on fast with busy, exhausted women who are so tired of planning, shopping, chopping, cooking and cleaning up dinners.  I think in Boston (that's where you are, right?) there's one called Dream Dinners.  You go  online and look at the menu they offer for that month and pick which dinners you want. Then schedule the day/time you'll go to assemble the meal.  Each meal serves 4 to 6 people, but they allow you to split your meals so that they serve 2 to 3.  When you arrive, they start you at a station where all of the ingredients for your first meal (say it's chicken dijon, for example) are all chopped and ready for you.  And the recipe is right there, so you just measure out your ingredients into a ziplock back or foil tin, double wrap it and put it in the freezer.  Then you move on to the next dinner you've chosen, and so on and so on.  It's all fresh ingredients, just like homemade, but I get 20 meals done in about 2 hours (that's 10 meals divided). They give you wine while you're assembling and do all of the clean up for you.  All I have to do is cook it at home, throw some salad together and we're all happy as clams.  It's not as healthy as Ellie Krieger, but the calorie counts are all online so you can adjust.  I only started doing it because Mackenzie eats differently from us and I always cook, rarely do take out, and it was like cooking a mini thanksgiving every night.  It helped me get my sanity back.  I don't cook those dinners every night, but it's nice to know they're in my freezer when it's going to be a busy day.

Ok - long post.  More later! :-)

Ok - I'm posting again 

Leila, I'm just like you!  I don't like tofu either, but I love miso soup.  tofu's just too rubbery for me.  But it's just soy, and I do eat a lot of soy burgers, chicken patties, so I think I get the benefits.  And I'm so happy that you like Ellie Krieger, too!  I haven't done any of her desserts, but now with the whole foods nearby I will.

Lori - if you want to try a few Ellie recipes I would recommend: Baked shrimp with tomatoes and feta, and spaghetti with turkey meatballs in spicy tomato sauce.  So good!  I'm sure Leila has a few favorites as well. 

I did want to tell you guys that I'm trying very hard not to stress eat right now.  Here's why:  We just found out that my hubby is going to lose his health insurance.  Our Cobra cost to keep the insurance going is 1300.00 a month.  Yeah.  That's a lot of money.  And we have to do the cobra because my husband has a pacemaker in his heart and no one will insure him! I also found out today that we have termites in our attic.  We are covered for termites, but not this particular kind of termite, so that will also cost.  And the car was about 1500.00 of fixes.  Whew! I'm not on a pity party at all, but I think I might be looking at a serious life change here.  I might have to get a job with a corporation just to get us health insurance that we can afford.  I don't want to dump on you guys, but all of my girlfriends are in the same industry as my husband and me, so I can't talk about it with them.  I'm a fighter, though - I'll make it work!  I just don't want to gain 20 pounds in the process because I'm so stressed.  I'll just ahve to run off all of my anxieties, right?  Thanks for letting me vent!

Alison

And one last thing:  When the termite guy was in the attic, he put his foot through our ceiling, because he was like 300 pounds.  Now we have a big hole in our ceiling! Crazy life I lead :-) ok - I'm done for today! 

Hello girls,

I am sorry to hear about your problems, Alison. I hope you will find another insurance and  other problems will be solved too. You just hang in there, don't let yourself to start  emotional eating because you are stressed. Eat fruits and vegetables as much as  you want, there is no big harm from them. But i know when i am stressed or nervous, i  want to eat sweets, pies, cakes,chocolate. But now i just eat fruits instead when this happens. I wish you good luck, Alison.

I went to the gym yesterday after work, had pretty good 30 minute workout on the treadmeal. BUt it was hard to eat my calorie limit, so i ate just 1200  and went to bed.

I have never heard about meal assembly, we don't have anything like that here in Maryland. But that sounds really interesting. I tried couple of Ellie's desserts: Ricotta Cheesecake with fresh raspberries, apple muffins ( the recipe i printed from the Food Network),whole wheat pancakes with strawberry sauce. Then i tried Tuscan Vegetable Soup and Turkey meatballs. By the way, that's the name of her book that i have: "The food you crave".

Leila

Hi everybody,

It's hot again, 92F today and on week-end will be 95F. I have a day off tomorrow and will have a long week-end celebrating my birthday. But i really don't like this heat. I missed gym yesterday and probably won't go today, it is too hot there. I am afraid they have problems with air conditioning again. I will do my workout tomorrow at home with dvds. And  i will do weight in tomorrow too.

have a nice day

Leila