Hi Everyone

Della, good article, I have been practicing "mindful thinking" since the fall and it is a really good thing to do.  It has made a difference in many areas of my life.  It is a learned way of living that is not accomplished overnight, but well worth the effort.

EcoBroker is a certification that gives me the education and knowledge for Green Building/Real Estate.  Building to or changing existing homes to be more energy efficient and leave less of a footprint on the world, less waste, use more sustainable products, etc.  You learn about radon, mold, water, electric, just a lot of information.  It is very interesting and becoming very big here.  The conference in Boston I am going to on Wednesday is all about "Green Building/living".

Have a good night everyone.  Betty

Good Evening Everyone!  Welcome to our little group djmommy.  I'm very glad you are joining us.  I think you will enjoy our group too.  Everyone's supportive and no one is judgemental.  We all fight out own battles and cheer each other on.  Hope you feel better soon.

Della I agree that working out six days a week is best.  Sunday is out of the question for me, unless I want to set the alarm and get up early, which ain't happening on a weekend if I can help it.  The other six days I can manage.  I have noticed that if I miss just one day thru the week, the rest of the week is twice as hard to get motivated.  

Ro, Wow, a 25 minute jog.  I'm still working with the tenth of a mile strong walk/tenth of a mile jog.  That challenges me to the max.  I can't imagine 25 minutes of jogging.  Screaming muscles and all, it's still amazing.

Betty, I'm glad you and your husband had a wonderful evening out.  Congratulations on sticking with the meal plan.  Nothing wrong with going to bed at 10:00.  That's my bedtime all week long.  I used to hop out of bed before the alarm went off at 5:45am and hit the floor running, rested and full of energy.  Now I toss and turn all night, burn up then freeze.  The alarm always wakes me up now and "hopping" and "running" are no longer part of my morning equations.  I have traded them in for groaning" and "staggering".  Now that's getting old.

I thought I was having a typically rough Monday right up until lunchtime.  I went to Wal Mart to pick up a few things and was loading them in my car when this nice elderly gentleman walked by.  I didn't know him, but spoke to him anyway and asked him how he was.  He smiled and said he having a good day for a man who had just driven through a carwash with one of his windows rolled down.  We had a good laugh.  Funny how a complete stranger can brighten your day isn't it.  Just wanted to share that.  Have a great evening everyone.    Cheryl

Good Morning Everyone, well I am trying to get used to the time change.  I love it at night since it stays lighter longer, but the morning ughhhhhhh I am with you Cheryl I do not jump out of bed any longer.  And if I am not waking with a hot flash I need to "pee". Oh yes 6 months without TTOM well other than the misc. things that come with it, cramps, moodiness, water gain, I have a full blown TTOM this week.... well that explains the sudden weight gain so I guess I am happy about that...  gotta love being a women.  So I won't weigh in till next week on Friday, going to give myself the time to get back to normal.  "Whatever that is"!

I have been doing good with my goals this week.  Drinking my water, eating well and nice size portions, I am making sure I do not have anything in my house to snack on that isn't good for me, and it IS driving me a bit crazy this week.  I am behind on my exercise this week though.  Hubby is now taking Mondays off so it throws my schedule off.  I love having him here "he works too much" but I have to get him to start exercising with me.  We did go for a walk yesterday though "brrrrrrrr".  I plan to go and exercise shortly before my day gets going.  Have a busy one again. 

Have a wonderful day everyone.  Betty

Good Morning Betty and Cheryl,

LOL I have to laugh at your entry Cherly cause I feel the exact same way.  I was always out of bed by 5:30 Every Morning.  Now I drag myself out at 7:00 and I do mean DRAG.. LOL And like you Betty if I'm not tossing and turning or burning up I'm in the bathroom.  I'd like to know why I'm retaining water so badly when I'm spending A WHOLE lot more time in the bathroom???

Cheryl: to answer your question WATP DVD is a floor routine.  You march or jog in place at an ever increasing pace. plus leg lefts, kick backs, side steps, and then she adds in working out with weights.  I love the entire routine.

Well must get to work now.  I'll chat with everyone later.  Make it a good one!!!

Della

Good Evening Everyone,

 This has been a day for temptations, and I'm sorry to report, I wasn't 100% successful in dealing with it.  I had the munchies all day at work and wondered why I was so hungry all day long.  My breakfast and mid-morning snack were just as usual but by 11:30 this morning I was considering eating my computer.  It was a high pressure day, big potential and current accounts that needed attention "10 minutes ago" and it all hit my desk at the same time.  I thought that it couldn't be stress because I felt genuinely hungry.  Now I'm wondering.  I did eat about 175 - 200 calories of Reeses Pieces (I had resisted them all week but blew it today) about the same time I completed the harder tasks.  So...which was it; hunger or stress?  Also, hubby is down with the flu and the dogs and I have been sleeping on the couch so that  (A) we won't disturb him and (B) I won't get contaminated by him.  The couch is great to sit on but not so great to sleep on.  The other bedrooms are on the other side of the house and I don't want to be that far away from my husband encase he needs me to get something for him.  I have slept even worse than usual and "usual" is bad enough.  Maybe it's just a combination of everything.

Enough venting!  I do hope that everyone else has a great rest of the week!  Cheryl

Hi everyone... Thanks for the welcomes..

Wow did I end up sick. I went to the doc and got a zpack.Finally feeling human again. I could hardly talk. It floors me though that I can look back and see how much I still do even though I am sick. This evening I actually started to feel human again. 3rd day on meds.....I am glad I went to the doc. I kept on thinking it will just clear eventually. My dh was the one who kept on saying GO TO THE DOC...Ok he was right.

Not much to say I just got back from a musical for my ds. So I need to get them in bed. I will read the entries hopefully tom.  I have a lot to catch up on here and at home.

I hope you all are doing well. Hello to everyone. 

Good Morning Everyone,

I hear you Cheryl about sleeping and food.  Of course since I have TTOM this week I  am craveing snacks but trying to stay within my calories.  But I too had Reese's eggs the other day mmmmmmm went over my cal intake that day, I bought them for my grandsons Easter basket, he will have a couple less.  Also, I have not been sleeping well, waking a lot and tons of dreams and to top it off I wake up sore like I didn't move and stayed on a side or arm or whatever too long LOL oh are we a group.  Sooooooo I feel for you.

Glad you are getting back to normal djmommy.  question for you and maybe it is the age in me I don't know but what is "dh" & "ds"...I can only asume your family, husband, kids??? Sorry I just don't know.

Della I think I may get that DVD.  I don't really do them but maybe once a week to change things up would be good. 

Me I am doing just okay this week, since not sleeping well and have TTOM I am having coffee in the afternoon and a not so great snack "cookies" I do have just a couple but as we all know the calories are high so even a couple throws off the count.  I have been very good with the bowflex exercises increasing the amount I do and faithfully doing them each day, plus my sit-ups, but I have not gone on the treadmill once ugh.  I did go to the trade show Wednesday and walked for hours so that counted, and took Mom out yesterday and walked for a couple hours shopping but it's Friday and the goal of going on MORE well that isn't happening.  Oh well today is Friday and the start of my new week.  I will not weight myself but will start fresh.  I have been busy all week and today and tomorrow are no exceptions so I am moving a lot that is good.

Every day is an opportunity for a new beginning! Have a wonderful day everyone.  Betty

Happy Friday!

Would you mind if I joined your group?  I started CC in Feb, I'm 46is and would love to lose 40 lbs.  It doesn't seem to be as easy to lose the weight now as it use to be.

Good Morning All,

djmommy, sorry to hear that you have been feeling so bad.  Maybe when this weather breaks, alot of this sickness will disappear.

Welcome becwhi.  Happy to have you with us.  I agree with you totally.  Loosing weight was so much easier 10 years ago.  So was working out.

Betty,  so sorry that you are having the same sleeping problems as I am.  It does make things rough, especially as the day wears on.

 I have just about convinced myself to get a wii.  I was back and forth between that and an elliptical.  I have a feeling that the elliptical will get old fast, whereas, the wii always changes.  Plus, in May (I think) they are coming out with a wii Fit game that includes yoga, pilates and all kinds of different stuff.   I have played my son's and it is really fun and you work up a sweat fast.  Plus it is something my husband and I and the kids if they are visiting can all do together.  I am just desparate to find something fun and motivational to do.  I have a kazillion dvds, treadmill, stairclimber and weight bench.  They all make me feel great after using them but I just don't enjoy doing any of them that much.  I doubt the elliptical would be any different.  Some of the dvds are fun but you can't do the same routine everyday.  Do any of you have a wii or heard anyone talk about using it for a workout?  I would love the input.  Cheryl

Hi Everyone-Welcome bechwi.  We just came through one heck of a blizzard (pictures posted in my gallery).  Wind and snow like I've never seen it before.  More on the way next week.  I don't know where we're going to put it.  WOW! Lots and Lots of calorie burn this morning and more to come tomorrow. .

Must get back to work-just wanted to pop in and say hi!!! Weigh In tomorrow

Has anyone else noticed a weight gain the day after  a particularly strenous workout?

Della

Thanks.  I haven't totally figured out how to post things on my site or how to set up a profile so here's a little about me.

I'm 46+, married for 26 years come March 27th.  I have a Daughter 25, and a Son 23 as well as a beautiful Granddaughter 5.  Both of my kids are in school and will be graduating June 6th.  Yeah........ 

About 5 years ago I weighed 255 and lost 70lbs but in the last couple of years have put back on 30lbs.  I really need to lose 40 to get to the goal I have yet to reach.

After getting on the scale in January I decided that I really needed to get serious about my health and do something about it.  I found this website and can't believe all the tools available.  I started logging everything I eat and have logged all activity.  I started doing aerobics and my elliptical in December. 

So here's my dilemma. I'm 5'8" and currently weigh 207+ lbs. (I'm lucky I have the height to spread my weight around)  I've calculated my calories at 1500 to lose about a pound a week at the sedentary level.  I do  aerobics 5 days a week for 20 min. weights 3 days for 20 min. and the days I don't do weights I do my elliptical for 20 min.  On Wednesdays I do Yoga for 45 min . and Sunday is my day off.  The first two weeks I lost 7 lbs but have not lost anything since Feb. 14th.  In fact yesterday I got on the scale and gained 1 lb!  I'm not sure what's going on but It's very frustrating.   I have upped my calories to 1700 on workout days.  I don't eat a lot of processed foods, except for the occasional Lean Cuisine at lunch when I'm in a hurry and don't have time to fix something to bring to work.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

I'm normally a very positive upbeat person so I hope this doesn't sound to whinny but I'm really looking for some support now.

 P.S.  As soon as I figure out how I'll complete my profile.  Any advice on how to go about that? 

Good Morning everyone, 

Della, I have not noticed a weight gain after a strenuous workout, hmmm maybe I don't do strenuous workouts hahaha, I would think the next day is too soon to have muscle gain weight.  But I have wondered after you shared the weight training and women our age information, I have upped my weight training if you have too then that might account for some gain.  I have to look at your pictures, our snow is all gone it has only been raining here, again today, feels like April.

Cheryl, I have heard some good things about the wii, some friends have bought it and say it is a great workout.  Hey if you are having fun and moving around I'd say it would be better than one more workout machine...

Welcome becwhi.  You fit right into this group.  I really don't have any words of wisdom for you.  It seems very normal for us to go up and down with our weight, it is what happens normally but I think our age does not help.  Couple things to remember, our body gets used to what we do be it exercise the food we eat etc. so you do need to change things up every three weeks or so.  Also, it doesn't sound like it but be sure not to eat too little, sounds weird but if you do not eat enough calories (and again it sounds like you are doing it right) your body will go into starvation mode and keep everything you eat.  And it is normal to loose more in the beginning, going back to your body gets used to what you do, and just a little each week or so after that.  One more thing since it is so normal to go up and down each day weigh yourself at the same time first thing in the morning, and don't do it everyday it is hard on you, pick a day once a week instead.  You don't need to be upbeat here all the time this IS where you can vent and we will all understand.  As far as your profile you go under "settings" I think, to do that on your home page somewhere, just play around and you will find it and other things too, you can't mess things up. 

Me I am 48 with a daughter 25 and son 23, step sons 29 and 30 and a 5 year old grandson also.  I was very close to my goal weight the 5 pounds were holding out for two months, now I am afraid it is a bit more, but no worries with the support and tools here I can get there.  This past week with TTOM, I am afraid I have gone back to some of my old habits ~ not eating breakfast, snacking, and larger portions, it has been a tough week, but I am going to go back to logging in my food and exercise again, it keeps me honest, not ready to count in my head yet I do not think.  I am afraid to weigh myself ughhhhh but am waiting till next week when I am back to normal without TTOM...

Other than that I have been so busy with work, I am showing a bunch of homes today, can't wait till tomorrow my only day off. 

Have a great day everyone, Betty

Betty... such good advice on the TOO LITTLE calories!  I really thought I'd mess things up so much when I realized yesterday that I hadn't eaten until 3pm!!  I simply was not hungry and was involved in a deep-seated battle with a bush and vine LOL!!

becwhi... Welcome to the group!  Is Yoga hard?  I had a DVD in my hand at the same time I bought my Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds one, but thought about all the poses and that I might very well get stuck and not have anyone to help me get out of the poses LOL!!!!

Della... The weight gain after a hard workout is called Building Lean Muscle!!  You go, girl!!  It's honestly OK!!  The BEST thing to do is find out the actual precise figures for your body.  Go to GNC and get a Accu-Measure plastic Caliper (about $15).  It will tell you how to figure your actual body fat %, then from there you're going to find out how much of your body is actually muscle, the goals you need to set, etc.  I thought, based on charts, that I was needing to be at 145 pounds.  Well, 2 months ago I used the Accu-Measure and found out at THAT point I needed to be at 148.  Well, during that next month I exercised and added some weights and my body fat% went down, but my lean muscle went up.  Good thing is... when lean muscle goes up, your weight goal may actually go up as well!  Now my weight goal is actually 152 pounds since I've replaced fat with nice lean muscle.  And I must say... tooshy's looking quite a bit better ROFLOL!!!

Cheryl.... OMgosh.... the Wii is AWESOME!!!  If you do it like you would actually do it (Bowl, Baseball, Tennis, Golf) you will use muscles you never thought you had!  Beware... you can actually bowl from the bathroom and make a decent hit ROFLOL!!!  My daughter found that one out.  Oh brother....  But!  When you do it right... it's a pretty righteous workout!!!

Well... the scale was good to me this week in the sense that I didn't gain after not drinking enough water and actually eating more calories than I usually do!!

I DID do a tremendous amount of work in the yard by removing bushes and vines, and did the Leslie Sansone Walk Away The Pounds DVD 3 days this week (with hand weights I might add... Woooo Hoooo!!!).  I looked in the mirror and my thighs and booty are actually more sculpted this week.  That DVD was exactly what I needed for the inner thighs... it makes a great addition to my already awesome weight loss program!!

This is so funny.  I took my B12 Lipotropics injection yesterday morning and then went out about 10am to start on the yard and honestly wasn't hungry at all until about 3pm.  I'm really bad about NOT eating.  My hubby said "You are like a woman on a mission to get this all done in 3 hours... we have 2 weeks until the new fence goes up... SLOW DOWN!!"  But I had sooooooooo much energy.  I thought "Dang... I'm going to be sore tomorrow" but woke up this morning feeling really good!!  So I'm off to do a few loads of laundry, change the sheets, vacuum the house, dust.... oh!!  And to EAT BREAKFAST FIRST!!!!
Have a great weekend!!!        ~Ro~

Good Saturday morning all,

becwhi, sounds like you are doing everything right.  You already workout way more than I do.  It has been over two months since I set up my profile and I can't remember how I did it.  But, if I can do it, you can too.  Just search around.  If you want to read any of our profiles, just click on our avatar and that will take you straight to us.  As for myself, I will be 50 yrs old on May 2.  Married 30 years, two sons (28 married and 24 engaged) and one daughter (25 married & pregnant with our first grandchild).  I started out at 193 lbs and, as if this morning, weighed in at 176.5.  I am 5'9". 

Della, those pictures you post of your snow were awesome.  It may be old hat those of you up north, but, here in Kentucky, if I looked out my window and saw that much snow, I would faint.  Our world here would come to a screeching halt.  Our governor would declare a state of emergency!

Betty and Ro, thanks for the input on the wii.  When I played my son's, within 5 minutes I was sweating as much as I do and the end of my kickboxing dvd.  I must have been a sight to behold, especially on the boxing game.  I looked around and my husband had his face buried in a pillow, trying not to laugh out loud.  Months later, I heard my son talking to one of his friends about different wii games.  He said "Mom even likes it.  Man you should have seen her." 

I weighed in this morning and am down another 1.5 lbs.  Got a new haircut this week so I no longer look like a dust mop with legs, comfortablywearing clothes I haven't been able to get into in over a year, energy to burn instead of heaving for breath after one flight of stairs and I'm getting complements on my appearance from friends, family and coworkers.  This thing is really starting to pay off.  Ro, I am going to look into getting one of those calipers you were talking about.  I had just been going by my scales and I know they aren't accurate in measuring body fat.  They said my fat % was 28.5 when I was 40 lbs overweight!  Yeah..right.

Have a great weekend everyone.    Cheryl

Thanks all, I'm already feeling better.  It's nice to know there's others out there in the same boat as well as someone to vent and or get advice from.

Revins, We have a Yoga Instructor coming into my work every Wed.  No it's not hard, I find it very relaxing and it seems to work out a lot of my kinks.  It makes for a nice break in the week.

I'm giving my self today off as far as calories go.  I did work out this morning but this afternoon I went to a wine tasting.  Even though we only got a 2 oz. pour for each wine it added up.  I tasted 9 different wines from Spain and Portugal., all wonderful I might add.  I couldn't bring my self to dump any out.  So, now I'm home drinking a TON of water to clear it through my system.  I can already feel myself swelling up. 

Anyway, I've decided that I can't look at the scale for a couple of weeks.  I'm driving myself crazy.  So I'll keep doing what I'm doing and change up my workout.   Eventually somethings got to give (you'd think).

I'm slowly figuring things out around here but I haven't figured out how to add friends to my list. 

Have a great Sunday!

Good Morning Everyone.  Sorry I couldn't post yesterday but we spent nearly 4 hours shoveling snow.

Weigh in today: 202.6-no difference

bechwi: you wrote my story.  I'm 5'8" current weight is 202.6.  My weight has fluctuated wildly since December 2, 2007.  I'm 46 (47 in August) 3 children.  2 girls ages 22 and 14; 1 boy aged 16.  My 22 was married December 2006 and gave me my first Grandson December 2007.

I have the same questions about Yoga.  I've never tried it and honestly don't understand it's concept to help lose weight. ?

My diet consists of roughly 1500 calories a day.  I workout 5-6 days a week with: Aerobics (60 minutes) weight training (30 minutes).  When the weather cooperates we walk 4.83 kilometers.  I prefer to work out after supper.  

Betty: I really enjoy the walk away the pounds work out.  I also use Slim in 6-which is a really strong aerobic workout and floor exercises.  Lots of leg lifts, crunches and squats.  Kind of hard on my kneess and back-so I only do that workout twice a week.

Cherly: I've heard the same things about the WII-been thinking of investing in one myself.  Anything I can do that will burn fat and help me build stronger bones and muscle I'm all for.

Ro: How does the Caliper measure your bodyfat %?  Don't you have to measure your upper arm?  If so my upper arm has the "permnant" WAVE factor so I'm not sure I'd get an accurate reading.  Am I understanding the concept of the caliper??

Well it's a beautifully sunny Sunday here and I'm in the middle of cooking the traditional Sunday Dinner here-so I best get back in the kitchen.  Chat with everyone later.

Della

Good Afternoon Everyone,

well it is a dreary Sunday kinda misty out.  But Hubby and I just got back from a walk.  I have had a good start to my week this week, Friday I exercised on the bowflex and treadmil, Saturday the bowflex and showed houses ALL day around 6 hours ughhhhh, my but hurt by the time I got home from all the driving.  And today so far a walk.  Drinking LOTS of water and back to logging in my food and exercise.

Della I love your discription of your "arms" I hate those things and they just sort of "appeared" one day.  No matter what I do I can't get rid of them.  Oh well. 

Well everyone have a good Sunday.  Betty

Hi Everyone,

I will be 48 in a few weeks.  My birthday gift to myself is to concentrate on losing weight seriously for the first time in many years.  I would like to join.  I am sure I need a lot of encourgement.  I'm 5'2" weighing in at 263.  I wish to lose 100 pounds by my 50th  birthday.  If I can then look out Vegas here I come.

Hello jennyjo.  Glad to have you with us.  I wish you the best of luck on your journey.  We all need encouragement, and you have come to the right place to get it.  This site has been a tremendous help to me.

Sorry that I haven't made a post in a few days.  It has been hectic at work and at home.  In the evenings, I'm whipped.  By the time I was able to settle down and do something for myself last night, I had 30 minutes to either do a workout or a computer session and I chose the workout.  Kinda proud of myself for that.  I went way over my calorie limit yesterday and not proud of that at all.  But I'm back on track today. 

Have a great day and a great week everyone.   Cheryl