Biggest Loser--Fall 2011 Challenge for Losers & Maintainers!!

[SettinSail]

Thanks Shawn. It went way better than I expected. An NYC trip over thanksgiving sounds awesome. I'm not from new york, but we stayed at the doubletree suites in Times Square when we went, and we're not big hotel type people, so my advice is to utilize the concierge of the hotel. We made our plan to go to the museum of natural history one morning, and then leave late afternoon to do the Empire state bldg, so we stopped at the concierge at 9 am-ish to ask which trains to take, and she asked us our plans, and told us to change them, do the empire state then, and then the museum for better crowd control, and we were like the first one's up to the empire state bldg. We just walked through what looked like miles of chains for the lines. Don't know if the Top of the Rock is similar and quiet in the morning, but it might be good to look into. Have fun planning. And that does sound like it's from Santa's Village. We've not been there before, but I htink it is in Jefferson. How cool.

We wanted to stay at Doubletree but it was WAY expensive!! Hmm, hadn't thought about museum of natural history, they would love that, I'll put it on the list

lol. you posted twice while i was posting once, you posting maniac.

That's me No posting all week and 2 posts in 2 minutes

Nope, Shawn, we are all a bunch of lazy, slug-a-beds who are just now getting over here this morning.

Glad that you are getting to the end of your boxes. I know that you will feel better after they are all unpacked and put away.

Your trip to NYC sounds like fun! I bet that you will get lots of good suggestions from our NE WISH'ers. Too bad that the Statue of Liberty is closed. That was one of the things that we did when we were there a few years ago. We saw The Lion King and also the Naked Cowboy. And the Empire State Building at night. The Museum of Natural History was amazing but that may be too tame for your freshman.

I think he might like the Museum. I've had my picture taken with the Naked Cowboy but DH/DS have never been to NYC. I've only been once when it was not Summer, and many times during the Summer months.

Hope you enjoyed your lunch and thanks for the article!

shawn! now why oh why would you come to nyc on my freaking DUE DATE! lol! i'm thrilled you're coming and totally would have inserted myself into your weekend of fun! maybe we can catch up when it's closer and see where i am. i'd love to come meet you we can talk bojangles kathy is right in that using a concierge is very helpful - but i definitely can help you too the rockettes? skip them. Zzzzz. from what i've heard from friends in the theater business, rock of ages is the way to go. my girlfriend works on spiderman and even SHE hates it.
i definitely recommend the red bus tour! we've taken it a few times when we've had visitors from out of town and it's great! i could go on forever so let me know what you guys are interested in and i'll help you plan

What was I thinking !!!??? Bad timing on my part for sure Would love to meet you if there's any way you are up to it Thanks for the offer to help plan, I will try not to bug you too much I've jotted down the red bus tour and will google that for tickets. Wish I could bring you a milkshake from Cook-Out

QOTD: let's keep it light today - do you have an upcoming vacation? where and when is it? if you don't have one coming up, when was your last one?

We're going to NEW YORK CITY

shawn When are you getting into NYC? They blow up the balloons the night before in Central Park. I have never seen it but my sister and her family went a couple of times and had fun. Call now to get a time for the 9/11 Memorial. YOu can't just walk in. I agree that you should do the top of the Rock early in the day. If not you could spend a lot of time on line. The tree may be up in Rockerfeller Center but it will not be lit. Try Broadway.com for tickets. You have your choices of evening or matinee.

We arrive at JFK at 9 am Weds morning. I've read mixed reviews on the balloon blow-up, heard it was awesome and heard it was very crowded and hard to exit once it's over. You have to stand in a fenced in area? Thanks for the tip about the 9/11 memorial, did not know that.

It is interesting to hear about your bunion surgery. That may be in my future one day, I have a huge one but I've heard to resist surgery as long as you can. Congrats on the great weigh-in

Gretchen, I hope you like the spring rolls. That is a real favorite in my house. I like the vegetarian ones and we all love the chilli sauce you dip them in

LTS, sorry you are struggling. You are smart to re-evaluate and make changes Good luck.

Laura, I am also sending good vibes your way I know you are disappointed about the job but I seem to remember you saying you didn't think you would fit into that environment from what you saw so maybe it's a good thing. I hope something perfect for you is right around the corner

 

[dvccruiser76]

Evening everyone,
Just updating my spreadsheet and wanted to send a little reminder that you have until 8 PM tomorrow night to send in your weigh-ins.

Please keep em coming

 

[SettinSail]

My boys and I went to Topsail Island this summer with my sister's family for a week (DH couldn't go because of his school and work schedule). We've been to tons of NC and SC beaches and really enjoyed Topsail. Our house was oceanfront and beautiful. Maybe we'll go back some day, but we like to try new places (and Disney).
Jill

We Topsail. One of our favorite beach destinations!

Shawn--what a fun trip! I have always wanted to see the parade. We went to NY when DS was a freshman in high school and had such a good time. We stayed at the double tree at times square--I think it was the double tree. We took a bus tour that showed you entertainment landmarks. It was really fun! We stopped at Rice to Riches on the tour--so good! I also highly recommend Gray's Papaya if you like hot dogs. We also took a bike tour of central park and did the empire state building and the sony museum. We took an architectural tour of Rockefeller Plaza--which was really cool. And we went to a Mets game and toured Columbia. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. We were only there 3 days but we crammed a lot into those 3 days.

Your trip sounds great. My DS will be the same age as yours was when you went. He is very excited. Like I told Kathy, we wanted to stay at DoubleTree, they had very good reviews but could not afford that at Thanksgiving. Thanks for all the suggestions!!!

 

[dumbo_buddy]

shawn - i might be able to get you into the 9/11 memorial for free. my dad works down there for the gov't and my uncle is one of the top guys in the fdny. let me see what i can do.

gretchen - oooo! 12 days!!! can't wait to hear all about it!! i just came back from WDW and already i'm ready to go back! i'm sad to not be doing the marathon this year in january but i'll get 'em the following year!

rose - great, now i want gray's papaya. lol! i used to go to the one on 86th and lex with my dad every weekend after gymnastics class. one time when i was in college my mom, dad, my boyfriend at the time and i went to see ringo starr and his all star band at the beacon theater. the place was full of hippies in their 50s and 60s. so we totally fit in. lol! anyway, my dad met us at our seats since he was coming from all the way downtown. he came in with his suit on and his briefcase. sat down, opened the briefcase and there were the 2-for-1 grays papaya hot dogs. lol! hey, he was hungry and didn't want to pay $10 for some popcorn at the theater. too funny.

 

[DopeyDame]

well friends i'm totally behind today on the QOTD! had an exhausting evening and a headache all day. yuck. feeling better now though.

QOTD: let's keep it light today - do you have an upcoming vacation? where and when is it? if you don't have one coming up, when was your last one?

i know our friend liesel is in hawaii right now! that sounds verrrrrrry nice right about now!!

Perfect QOTD for me today! We just got back from a week in Walt Disney World on Wednesday. It was awesome, of course. It was my DH, 2 year old DS, parents, 2 sisters, and 2 brothers-in-law. With 8 adults, needless to say DS was one spoiled little man. I was also terrified there'd be all sorts of toddler or adult drama, but it was great - no meltdowns from anyone, just lots of fun family time in the happiest place on Earth. Needless to say, it wasn't a very healthy trip, but I tried to indulge in moderation, and didn't end up gaining any weight, so I'm perfectly happy with that result. Now it's time to really buckle down...

 

[donac]

Shawn Bunion surgery is not what it was years ago. Find the BEST surgeon you can afford. I went to one who is also a runner and has done surgery on an olympic runner. I had the surgery on Friday. Was on crutches till Wed when he told me I could use a cane. My toe was moving within the first few days. I was on strong aleve (prescription strength) for 5 days and after that it was regular aleve. My only time I was realy in pain was saturday. The first script said every 8 hours and another one that I got at the hospital said every 6 hours. Once I was on the 6 hours I was much better. I did have to go to physical therapy. I was scheduled for 10 session but that would have cut into the time we went to DW so I only went 8 but I also had full mobility by session 8. Less than 2 months after surgery I was in DW. The dr had approved it. He had been to DW about 2 months before I had surgery.

 

[SettinSail]

shawn - i might be able to get you into the 9/11 memorial for free. my dad works down there for the gov't and my uncle is one of the top guys in the fdny. let me see what i can do.

Shawn Bunion surgery is not what it was years ago. Find the BEST surgeon you can afford. I went to one who is also a runner and has done surgery on an olympic runner. I had the surgery on Friday. Was on crutches till Wed when he told me I could use a cane. My toe was moving within the first few days. I was on strong aleve (prescription strength) for 5 days and after that it was regular aleve. My only time I was realy in pain was saturday. The first script said every 8 hours and another one that I got at the hospital said every 6 hours. Once I was on the 6 hours I was much better. I did have to go to physical therapy. I was scheduled for 10 session but that would have cut into the time we went to DW so I only went 8 but I also had full mobility by session 8. Less than 2 months after surgery I was in DW. The dr had approved it. He had been to DW about 2 months before I had surgery.

This is very encouraging. 2 years ago I was scheduled for surgery and cancelled it. Went for a 2nd opinion and was told I could put it off for maybe 3-5 years but continue to come in for regular evaluations. Of course, I haven't been back since then! Most of the time I don't have much pain with it but getting a pedi today and having it manipulated by the girl was killing me! I just don't want to be worse off after the surgery and no longer be able to run/walk/exercise like I can now.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Gretchen, I hope you like the spring rolls. That is a real favorite in my house. I like the vegetarian ones and we all love the chilli sauce you dip them in

They were pretty good! It was certainly an experience though. I had mostly vegetables with a bit of angel hair pasta and shrimp in mine.

gretchen - oooo! 12 days!!! can't wait to hear all about it!! i just came back from WDW and already i'm ready to go back! i'm sad to not be doing the marathon this year in january but i'll get 'em the following year!

I'll definitely be doing both a dining report and a trip report, so keep an eye out for those!

 

[satorifound]

Last chance to get in your WIN numbers. I am going to tally them all up tonight (Monday). PM me your new totals.

 

[donac]

Good Monday morning If you have the kind of day I have it is going to be a busy day. But then again it is Monday and it wouldn't be MOnday without being busy.

First day of Math Team today. I also have my junior field person coming in today. What was I thinking. I spent a couple hours last night grading my calc kids first test. I have a couple of students who missed class on Friday coming in early this morning to make it up. I should be interesting when I give this back today.

Off to get some things done/

Have a happy and healthy Monday

 

[dumbo_buddy]

MONDAY MONDAY! la laaa la la la la.

omg can we say woke up on the wrong side of the bed today? my lovely unborn child has decided to not let me sleep past 3am anymore. i get it kid, i know i will not be sleeping once you're born. so cut me some slack and let me sleep now! wah!

QOTD: i've read about how sleep is SO important to a healthy lifestyle. "they" are always saying that a solid 8 hours of sleep really helps in your weight loss effort. personally i think it's because if you're sleeping you can't eat. how many hours of sleep do YOU get each night? are you a good sleeper? a problem sleeper?

me? i'm a terrrrrrible sleeper. always have been. it's come to the point where my poor DH sleeps in the guest room now. he snores SO badly and i just can't sleep so i'm constantly hitting him to get him to stop and still not sleeping. so instead of neither of us sleeping at least he can get some sleep. i was on lunesta for a while long before i was pg with thomas and that seemed to help a little. but then i was pregnant, bf'ing for 20 months and then pg again so i can't take any of that. i certainly believe that if affects my weight. when i'm tired in the morning i don't think about eating a healthy breakfast. and if i skip breakfast that means i wind up binging on crap the rest of the day. another one of those vicious cycles!

have a great day everyone! let's get this week started on a healthy note! have a good breakfast! i'm having some cheerios with a banana and some grapes

 

[bellebookworm9]

QOTD: how many hours of sleep do YOU get each night? are you a good sleeper? a problem sleeper?

I used to require 8 hours a night, now I find I can get by on 6-7, but I try to catch up on the weekends. I've always had trouble falling asleep; when I was younger and my ADHD was sooo much worse than it is now, I was on meds to make my brain "shut off" at night so I could sleep. After that I tried melatonin for a long time, and now I take a different med, which works like a charm.

 

[mikamah]

MONDAY MONDAY! la laaa la la la la.
QOTD: i've read about how sleep is SO important to a healthy lifestyle. "they" are always saying that a solid 8 hours of sleep really helps in your weight loss effort. personally i think it's because if you're sleeping you can't eat. how many hours of sleep do YOU get each night? are you a good sleeper? a problem sleeper?

Oh nancy, you're cracking me up with your jokes, but I'm sure it's not a funny to you. Maybe this baby will be one of those you hear about that sleeps through the night from day one. But if not, I'm sure you'll figure out how to dis and feed the baby at the same time.

I'm usually a good sleeper, and get 7-8 hours most nights. Even if I go to bed early I tend to wake up at that 7-8 hour mark. I agree if I'm tired, it's easier to grab something quick, rather than planning a healthy breakfast or making a good lunch to bring to work.

QOTD: let's keep it light today - do you have an upcoming vacation? where and when is it? if you don't have one coming up, when was your last one?

April vacation we're planning to go to Niagara Falls. Though my brother, sil and niece are going over MLK to orlando to do seaworld and universal, and invited us, so if the fall brings a busy time to work, and i can get some extra hours, we'll see about that, but I doubt it. But I want to go. Omg, here I go again. DS has a 4 day weekend off over Veterans day, and a 3 day weekend his b-day weekend dec 4th, so I'd like to do something one of those weekends, a quick overnight trip, someplace close and cheap. Once football season is over, I'll have more free computer time to virtual vacation plan.

Oooh ooh pick me!! We are down to 12 days! Wednesday is our double digit dance day.

Whoo hoo!!! Love the anticipation as much as the trip.

Good morning everyone. THanks so much for the race congratulations. I'm feeling pretty good today, really just a little stiff when I first get out of bed. Back to the grind today. We ended up going to Connors farm yesterday and doing the corn maze, which was very cool, but it was so hot here, we were sweating. Then we got cider, and only one cider donut each.

Sue-Have you been to connor's yet? There's so much to do in the back of the farmhouse I bet Dylan would love it.

Got to get back to tracking again. I'm like a broken record, but I know it will help. That and having not food in the house because I didn't feel like grocery shopping is helpful. I think I'll push it off another day. I have chicken, carrots and potatoes for dinner tonight, and ds will buy lunch tomorrow.

Keep up the good work everyone!!

 

[tigger813]

Hi all,

So excited that I'm ahead of myself for the week already. I was up a bit yesterday but I did well with food yesterday plus running the 5K in the humidity! Just going to keep it up. I'll get in a few miles at soccer practice tonight. My thighs are aching this morning from the run yesterday but otherwise I feel great.

Brian and I are home together today. He's got to learn the morning routine with the kids for when I'm away. We're watching CSI from last week. Hoping to get some more cleaning done and maybe a nap.

QOTD: Our next family trip is PCC3.0 next June! Can't wait.

QOTD: I try to get at least 6 hours. I got a lot Saturday night and about 7 last night.

TTFN

 

[AUdisneyDad]

QOTD: let's keep it light today - do you have an upcoming vacation? where and when is it? if you don't have one coming up, when was your last one?

Our last trip was during Labor Day weekend. We went to Destin, FL which turned out to be when a tropical depression came through and dumped about a foot of rain. SO we spent a fair amount of time in the condo.

QOTD: i've read about how sleep is SO important to a healthy lifestyle. "they" are always saying that a solid 8 hours of sleep really helps in your weight loss effort. personally i think it's because if you're sleeping you can't eat. how many hours of sleep do YOU get each night? are you a good sleeper? a problem sleeper?

I usually sleep between 5.5 to 6.5 hours a night. I find that if I hit 6 hours I'm good for the day. I wouldn't say I'm a good sleeper but I'm pretty close.

Tim

 

[DopeyDame]

QOTD: I usually get 7-8 hours of sleep a night, most nights. If not, I'm just a cranky person to be around. I'm like a little kid. Keep me well rested and well fed, and life is AOK.

I need a little advice - what kind of non-perishable snacks do you like that are healthy? My biggest time of struggle with grabbing crappy food is at work. I'm in front of the computer, get bored, so I go to our kitchen, that is conveniently stocked with soda, klondike bars, cookies, chips, etc., etc. Not good. So I need to start bringing in snacks for myself to just grab easily. I know I won't be responsible or organized enough to make something for a snakc each day, so I'm trying to think of some good items I can buy a stack of and just keep in my desk drawer. any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[JaxJags08]

QOTD: i've read about how sleep is SO important to a healthy lifestyle. "they" are always saying that a solid 8 hours of sleep really helps in your weight loss effort. personally i think it's because if you're sleeping you can't eat. how many hours of sleep do YOU get each night? are you a good sleeper? a problem sleeper?

I've been really bad over the past 6 months and only get between 6-7. I feel like I really need 8 to feel good during the day. When I was younger (before kids) I always said I operated best on 10 hours

I woke up early and did my 1st day of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. It felt good to be exercising again. Afterwards, I had a yummy breakfast of steel cut oats with fresh peaches

 

[lovetoscrap]

Good Morning

QOTD: i've read about how sleep is SO important to a healthy lifestyle. "they" are always saying that a solid 8 hours of sleep really helps in your weight loss effort. personally i think it's because if you're sleeping you can't eat. how many hours of sleep do YOU get each night? are you a good sleeper? a problem sleeper?

This actually does affect me! If I am up at 7am then I am definitely going to eat more than if I sleep in until 9 or 10. I also drink less coffee when I sleep late.

I am a sleeper-- and totally not a morning person at all! I am not much of a night person any more either though! If I had my way I would probably sleep until noon or later every day, but I usually make 9am my absolute have to get up time, and is about the "natural" time I wake up if no alarm is set. I go to bed around 11:30 and usually am asleep by 12am or 12:30. My kids school schedule is earlier now so I have actually been waking up around 6:45 and getting in the shower around 7:30-- that is really early for me! I fall asleep pretty easy but if I am having a night where I have trouble I take a Melatonin and that usually helps.

But, I don't sleep well at all. I have bad allergies and even with meds and shots I am congested all night long and have been for as long as I can remember. I usually have to get up and go to the bathroom every time I go through the sleep cycle and get to the light sleep period. I am able to get up and get back to sleep with no problem-- a lot of times I don't even remember that I got up, but I know that it affects my sleep quality.

Quiet day today, I don't have anything on the schedule so I am going to get some house cleaning and laundry done. I planned about 2 weeks of meals last night so I need to finish up a grocery list and send DH after work. I actually don't have anything on my calendar until Friday so that is why I decided to try to stick to no/low carb this week. If I have no energy or am not feeling great I don't have to be anywhere so I can just lie down.

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

QOTD Sunday - trips...

You can see on my ticker I have 2 WDW trips coming! The first is 2 nights at OKW then 4nite Dream cruise and 3 nite at BWV for F&W. The cruise was booked May 2010 and was supposed to be for May 2011 but health problems pushed it back until now. This has worked out well because we still got to do a land only vaca at BCV instead of cruise. This was during the last week of F&G and Pixar weekend. We had a great time.
I am hoping to do the MNSSHP as well this Oct. We haven't gone in a couple years.

The December trip happens every year. I love it. We tour the hotels for the decs, the MVMCP, go see all the gingerbread houses, Osborne lights...We actually enjoy the little bit of cold weather(50's at night) we sometimes see in Orlando in Dec.

QOTD Monday-Sleep...

I haven't gotten enough for years. Not solid sleep anyway. I am always the one that was up with the kids, still am at the slightest sound. DH can sleep at the drop of a hat and sleep thru a hurricane. I've told the DRs this and they say try this,that...and that helps but then I can't sleep without it. Fast forward to now...meds make it so if I don't get 8/9 hours of sleep I am a groggy wreck. I still can't get to sleep to early-the mom in me needs to make sure boys are in,then I can relax. I sound like LTS now. I just wake around 9 and get to sleep aroud 12/12:30.
I think sleep totally affeccts weight. I eat more when I am tired. I look for sugar-can't have caffine. I have more and stronger cravings when I am tired.

 

[lovehoney]

QOTD: i've read about how sleep is SO important to a healthy lifestyle. "they" are always saying that a solid 8 hours of sleep really helps in your weight loss effort. personally i think it's because if you're sleeping you can't eat. how many hours of sleep do YOU get each night? are you a good sleeper? a problem sleeper?

I need sleep. Somebody in my household always wakes me up too early. I'm not sure if the dog or DS(2- next week) wakes me up more and then usually once or twice a week, ds7 wakes me up. I usually get about 4-7 hours a night, but never restful.

I've had 2 sleep tests, one said I had periodic limb movement and the other said I had sleep apnea. I've tried different masks for a cpap but I just can't get used to it.

I throw in a nap 2 or 3 times a week or I think I would just go off the deep end.