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

[pjlla]

Reading a bit, little time to post.

Down two pounds this weigh in

Going away for the weekend and this is my plan to stay on track:

Getting on early because I am leaving for NB today and may not have internet again til Sunday.

Plan for staying on track:

a) Bring lunch today. And I did. I was telling myself, couldn't do it, get something out, cannot have your ice pack in the car all weekend (I am not going back home til I get back), etc.

That is the eating disorder talking and I have a fridge at work for Pete's sake!

An invitation to disaster is what it was, an old trick. I resisted it. Took a Smart Ones dinner and some OP fruit, pudding and snacks.

Do not plan to eat out, my sister will have dinner ready when I get there.

b) Try to work out at a Goodlife gym in the morning.

c) Plan out what I am going to eat at Montana's (our supper stop) and stick to it. Order first. Will have some treats, but will not have the fattiest things on the menu and portions similar to those of a lumberjack just because others may be ordering. Order first!

d) Drink water, coffee, tea or (a little) diet soda only.

e) No chips or chocolate bars (still on my 30 day ban of the latter, don't care for the former anyway).

f) No in between meal eating given the larger meals.

g) Chart, chart, chart! Going a way for a vacation is not a vacation from healthy eating, period!


This is a direct quote from my WISH journal.

If not back on til Sunday, have a magical weekend folks.

Linda

Excellent plan! Sounds like you will be successful!

QOTD Fri 9/30 I am usually on the TM at home and watch TV- FOX bus or news, old classic movies, shows I dvr'd last night...

QOTD DISNEY We drive, a little under 3 hrs, so we try and get there around lunch time. We ck in, usually thr room won't be ready, and head to a park for lunch. We go by time of year, which day of wk to avoid the big crowds...no one set routine. TL and mini golf, if at BC we might go to the pool, dole whips at mk are always worth the trip!

We leave 2 wks from today and I am just getting "The List" together. Pulled the suitcases out of the closet, cking what we still need. I keep alot of items we use together in one bag so that's a start. I've been trying to buy more shorts,t's,polo's, for the boys because thats all they wear all yr and most everything is already jeans, long slvs, sweaters in stores. I found nice shorts of mine in the closet, I finally fit in, that I haven't worn in ages! Yah! I like this shopping in my closet.

I've even been sitting out by the pool for about 45 min the past couple days each just to get some color . I am going to do that again today if I get a chance, the weather calls for a "cold front" coming in where it will only be a high between 85 and 87 for the next 4/5 days! I will stil be able to hit thw pool for the HH mini challenge.

I can't wait to be able to turn off the air and open some windows! Just the drop in humidity the past couple weeks makes it feel like fall to us. Time for Halloween decs to go up!

SO lucky to be so close to WDW! on your "cold front" of temps in the mid-80's! But I understand about the humidity. It has been unseasonably humid around here for early fall and I am sick and tired of everything feeling slightly damp!

I am feeling very smug right now . We had our free lunch Friday at work, and they actually had a buffett from IHOP laid out. Pancakes, French Toast, Omlettes, Sausages, Bacon, Sliced Meats, Rolls, Salad and Fruit. Well, I am a sucker for IHOP and a good old fashioned breakfast...but I stayed onplan !

I took a goodly amount of salad and fruit. Also took a roll, few slices of turkey and tomato. Had to forgo the salad dressing, but the salad was OK without it. The sandwich was great, and the fruit was delicious. Since WW has veges and fruit as zero points, I had a great lunch for 6 points! And manged to walk through the whole line without grabbing anything I shouldn't eat!

Yesterday, we had Arby lunch boxes for a meeting and I stayed on plan with that as well ! Ate half of the sandwich for lunch, and then took the rest home and had it for dinner. Also ate the cookie, but I had been careful all day, and only went a couple points over for my entire day!

And the scale rewarded me this morning for being good yesterday, which further inspired me today! Two very strong days, feeling really good about that , so had to share with somebody!

Carol

Definitely a WOOHOO week for you!!

QOTD1: No. I am a "quiet" person and I definitely don't want anything sticking in my ears! I'm afraid I'm going to have to break down and get something, especially if I am forced to run at the Y. Don't much care for treadmills, but with bad weather on its way, guess I'll be using them. I forced myself to run today after my walk. Really did not want to. Definitely showed in my slow pace, but I did it!


Way to go!!

QOTD2: We arrive at WDW late afternoon/early evening so usually just head to DTD after checking into our resort. Then we hit rope drop at whatever park has EMH! And now I'm humming "ah, those good ole days are gone" from Beauty and the Beast. No WDW trips in the works. sigh

Thanks for being our coach, Nancy. And thanks, Gretchen for doing it this week.

WIN is so weird. Gained 0.25 inches in a couple spots yet lost over an inch in my hips. Ah, well. Better to lose there than gain! Sometimes I wonder if I'm not hitting the exact same spot each time. A tattooed line that appeared just every three weeks for the minutes I do it would be nice!

It's been a crazy week this week...I've gotten a lot done, but not much computer time & no dis time .

I was down 2 lbs this week which is not what I would have hoped, but more than I expected given that I am really NOT focusing on diet at present, my metatarsalgia in BOTH feet and plantar fascitis in BOTH arches is flaring, so even my walking is suffering. I wake up every morning feeling like I have a golf ball under the balls of both feet and with arches aching.

I leave next Thursday for a nephew's wedding in Iowa. I am flying ABQ-Dallas-KC and meeting my DSis from FL in KC then I am driving us. All she can talk about is that this is a vacation for her and all the places we need to EAT! She is diabetic, like all my siblings, but does have desserts on vacations, so this could be a challenge for me.

When I get back, I can begin to really focus again, and, although I have all the materials, I am toying with the idea of re-re-re-re......joining WW again. Or at least doing it on my phone.

Not sure I will be back here before I leave, but I'm sure gonna try! I am about to post the October Exercise challenge! GET MOVING!!!!!!! If I can walk 3-5 miles/day at 5500-6500' with my current feet issues, ALL of us can do SOMETHING! Do an exercise tape, pull weeds, mop a floor, vacuum, march in place during commercials.....just MOVE!

to all losers, maintainers & gainers!

I'd be happy to chat about WW with you if you decide to rejoin.

I saw the October exercise challenge this morning and thought...."that is waaaay ahead of schedule" and then realized....DUH... it's October TODAY!

Had a good day today. Still not feeling great but Sudafed is my best friend right now. The good news is that the congestion and general ickyness makes me not very hungry. Went to volunteer at DDs school this morning and we were serving Sno Cones so no temptation to indulge-- I don't like sno cones. Next month we are handing out Brownies and I don't really care for those either so I should be okay then. I check the kids in so I am sitting down at the opposite end of the food so that makes it easier too.

After a friend and I went to lunch at Ruby Tuesday. She was "inspired" by my weight loss and joined WW. She is doing great. Had the Turkey Mini's minus the buns, side of zucchini and a salad. We did both each have one of those amazing little biscuits. It is a good thing they are very small and they only bring one for each person!

I've had those turkey mini's sans buns once or twice myself. They are pretty tasty! I don't make turkey burgers at home because of DS's poultry allergy, but it is definitely a nice change from beef. Don't you LOVE the salad bar at RT? My only complaint would be their dressing choices. I end up using oil and vinegar.

I forgot to take something out for dinner tonight so we may do pizza. I bought these Thin Crust shelf stable Pizza crusts at Costco for an "emergency" so tonight may be that emergency! Since I had the biscuit today I will have to find something else-- don't want the extra carbs from the crust. I think there are some leftovers I can scrounge up. I am pretty full from my late lunch anyway. May just have mushroom soup.

Makes me realize I should be thinking about dinner myself! DD may be having a friend over for the night and I haven't even given dinner a passing thought! May end up splurging on take-out pizza for kids.... not sure what DH and I will eat. Sometimes he has a weekend carb splurge, sometimes not.


I made an egg casserole yesterday morning that didn't turn out too great-- I think I overcooked it. I told DH last night that the unfortunate thing was that it made 8 servings so I have 7 more days to eat it. He looked at me like I was crazy and said "you know you can just throw it out--it's okay" . I told him that I had used a whole lot of eggs, veggies and Canadian bacon and was not throwing all that expensive food away! Not to mention the time I spent making it.

That is the way I think too! I end up "doctoring up" things that haven't come out too well and eating them myself if the family won't! I HATE to waste food! I make myself the strangest concotions and "casseroles" from leftovers sometimes.

How about a little cheese sauce or something to help the egg casserole??

:

Hello, Hello...
I spent a couple of hours yesterday and more time this morning cleaning out Colby's room. Closets, toy boxes, everything clean. Put the summer clothes away and took the winter stuff out. Good to have that done. I also scrubbed the Main Bathroom. When everyone got home today we all power cleaned and got the house looking pretty darn good if I do say so myself. Nick's party is tomorrow night so I think I'm in good shape. Bowling in the morning for all 3 boys then I'll get home and get cooking. I'm doing a pasta bar with breads and salads. I've got a veggie platter and fruit platter as well as chips with hummus and salsa for appetizers. Hopefully it will be pretty easy to pull off without too much stress.

HOpe the party goes well! It is so nice to hear that the whole family can pull together and get the house cleaned up. Most of the time I am on my own with that stuff. DH would rather stab himself in the eye with a pencil than clean... and honestly, as for the kids, sometimes it is just easier to do it myself! But I definitely recruit them when I can.... they can unload the dishwasher just fine!

When I got to the store, they were only $9. Not sure why they were so expensive online. The funny part is, they were on one of those locked hooks. Seriously?! They are $9 rubber ear buds!


$9 isn't bad. I usually see them fo about $15 and up.... which is why, when I saw the ones at staples for under $5, I bought two pairs!
***************
It's amazing how much money you *don't* spend when you take only a certain amount of cash to the store. I only bought two things that weren't on the list-one was WW Smart Ones Strawberry Shortcake. The other was a package of those frosted sugar cookies I love so much-miniature sized. 2 cookies = 3 points, where 1 big cookie = 5. I opened them at the store while we were waiting for our last housemate, and they were not "Deliciously Soft" as the package advertised, but hard! I should have returned them but I didn't. I ate about half the package tonight...

But I also went to Zumba and I'm pretty sure I broke even on the points. I didn't know if I was going to make it there; grocery shopping got delayed and I had another sinus headache, but I forced myself to go ("You need to be a good coach and set an example!") and there were only a few of us there so that was cool.

Glad you were able to balance out "calories in and calories out".

Looks like WalMart has come through again! I've been consistantly checking the site to see if Deathly Hallows Part 2 will be released in the 2-Disc special edition format like Part 1 was, and it will be! I don't think it's fair that I can't watch special features cause I don't have a Blu-Ray player, so I'm really glad they consider folks like me! I'll be making a special trip there at like 8am on the morning it comes out.

I'm going to Yoga with my housemate Emily tomorrow at 11am, so I'll post the QOTD before that.

Nancy thanks for a great week!!!

Fish is not that hard to prepare. I can grill it or pan sear it in less than 20 minutes.
I had a good week as far as workouts and eating but work was a continuous nightmare. As for the weekend we are going to go for a family run and then watch some football.

QOTD 9/30: I actually do not listen to music during workouts anymore. I use to when I would run, however I started running around 4 am in my neighborhood and we do not have sidewalks so I'm on the side of the road. So not listening to music allows me to be aware of my surroundings.

I find that when I run/walk around here (also no sidewalks), I get spooked really easily if I am wearing my earbuds and have the volume really loud. I don't hear the cars coming up behind me. So I end up keeping the volume low or using just one ear bud. If I don't, I am constantly glancing over my shoulder! Do you wear a reflective vest or anything like that? I have a vest and I carry a small penlight. It would be easier to have something that clipped on, but this does the trick for now.

Our arrival day consist of checking in, walking around the resort, swimming and Downtown Disney.

Hope everyone had a great week and an even better weekend!!!

Tim

********

Happy "still dark o'clock" friends! DD actually got a RIDE to swim this morning. I still had to drive her to the meeting spot (about 15 minutes from home) at 5am, but I did NOT have to go all the way to the Y and be social with other parents before the crack of dawn!

Of course, I'm a morning person and also the type who "when I'm up, I'm up", so I didn't bother to go back to bed. Instead I hit the Disboards!

I'm trying to resist eating breakfast though.... eating this early makes for a really long morning!

I still have to keep my eye on the clock though... need to leave here about 7:40 to pick her up and then straight to DS's soccer game.

Need to go check a few things on the internet. I don't get much "internet play time" other than Dis time, so I'm gonna do it now. I hope everyone has a delightful Saturday!.....................P

 

[mikamah]

I am feeling very smug right now . We had our free lunch Friday at work, and they actually had a buffett from IHOP laid out. Pancakes, French Toast, Omlettes, Sausages, Bacon, Sliced Meats, Rolls, Salad and Fruit. Well, I am a sucker for IHOP and a good old fashioned breakfast...but I stayed onplan !

I took a goodly amount of salad and fruit. Also took a roll, few slices of turkey and tomato. Had to forgo the salad dressing, but the salad was OK without it. The sandwich was great, and the fruit was delicious. Since WW has veges and fruit as zero points, I had a great lunch for 6 points! And manged to walk through the whole line without grabbing anything I shouldn't eat!

Yesterday, we had Arby lunch boxes for a meeting and I stayed on plan with that as well ! Ate half of the sandwich for lunch, and then took the rest home and had it for dinner. Also ate the cookie, but I had been careful all day, and only went a couple points over for my entire day!

And the scale rewarded me this morning for being good yesterday, which further inspired me today! Two very strong days, feeling really good about that , so had to share with somebody!

Carol

Sounds like you did great. Those are some challenging works lunches to deal with. I don't know if I could have been as strong with Ihop. Love them.

Good morning everyone!!

I didn't answer yesterdays qotd. I don't listen to music when I run/walk. I like to be aware of cars around and such, and sometimes I do the track at the park while ds plays, so I want to be able to hear him.

When we go to disney we try to get an am flight, so we usually get to the hotel and drop bags, have lunch in the food court, and head to a park. On our first trip, my ds and niece were 4, and we had planned to meet the others travelling with us at AK, but they saw the pool, and wanted to swim, so we swam and got to bed early and got to MK the next day first thing.

I tracked all my food and drink yesterday and am doing ww points. I haven't been good about keeping track of the drinks, but had my morning coffee with creamer, and had a coffee at work too, so that was 4 extra points, that I will usually not track, so the HH is a good reminder for me.

I'm off to get some laundry done and do some cleaning. It's looking like a showery weekend here, so if I get the house cleaned up this morning, it's much more relaxing just hanging around, rather than hanging around and thinking about all I should be doing.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

 

[donac]

Good morning

I had a great sleep. Dh and I both slept till 6:30 before the cat got creative about wanting breakfast. She got up on the bed and started pawing dh's face. I got to feed her and her sister.

We don't have anything planned for this weekend. It is cold and damp and yucky here.

QOTD We have done it 2 ways. Get an early flight and then hit the park after we check in. Or get a very late flight check in and hit the park the next morning. It all depends on when we can leave and when we can get a good price for the flight. When we drive down we try to get to Ga or nothern fl the night before. Then we get up really early to head down and check in.

I think I will do some cleaning around here like Pam. It will make the rest of the weekend better.

At 10am on d-cot.com/live they are having the opening ceremonies at DW.

Happy 40th. I am thinking about making some mock Dole Whips for dinner. I will let you know how they come out.

Have a happy and healthy day.

 

[bellebookworm9]

GOOOOOOD MORNING!!

QOTD: To go along with the Healthy Habit challenge of keeping your mind sharp, What was the last book you read?

One week from today, we'll be at Epcot for the Food & Wine Festival! We plan to spend a little bit of time in Future World and then most of the afternoon in World Showcase. We'll take an afternoon break and come back for dinner at Sunshine Seasons and more time in Future World.

DQOTD: What is your favorite World Showcase country? Why?

I'll be back later with my own answers and replies.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Good Morning. Still fighting allergies and they are winning today. Going to be a do nothing day I think. DH is painting my living room-- YAY!

I have a 2 pound loss! That actually just gets me to where I was when the Spring Challenge ended but a loss means I am going in the right direction so that is encouraging.

That is all the excitement we have going on here. I may check back in later. Need to figure out what is for dinner.

GOOOOOOD MORNING!!

QOTD: To go along with the Healthy Habit challenge of keeping your mind sharp, What was the last book you read?


DQOTD: What is your favorite World Showcase country? Why?

I'll be back later with my own answers and replies.

Sheesh, not sure I can actually remember the last book I read! I love to read and have a huge stack that I need to read but just haven't gotten to them. I know it was a mystery-- I like light and fluffy mysteries--no sex or gore, no intricate plot lines that make my head spin, just light and fun. There are several series that are crafting or cooking related that I enjoy. My favorites are the Tea Shop and Scrapbooking Mysteries by Laura Childs. Maybe I should pull one out to read today since I am not going to be doing much else.

I haven't really spent a whole lot of time in World Showcase-- at least not like I would like to. But I enjoy something in all the countries so I can't pick a favorite.

 

[lovetoscrap]

I keep forgetting I wanted to share on here a website that I have been using to try to get more organized and keep my family organized too. It is www.cozi.com . I am using the Flylady version (where I heard about it). It is pretty cool! I have been experimenting with different Ipod apps for calendar, grocery list, to do list, menu planning and all that other stuff I need to keep track of. This has been great!

It is online but there is an Ipod app that you can use offline like when you are shopping. I am a little wary of the fact that it is online in cyberspace but I am not putting much in the way of personally identifiable information on it--no last name, no specific locations. Because it is online anyone in the family and log in from their computer like at work and see the calendar, grocery list, to do list etc and add to it. It is working great for the kids. I have a To Do list set up as MENU and list my meals for the week. I think that if I put a specific date on them it would put it on the calendar but I haven't tried that yet. You can set up multiple shopping lists like one for the Grocery Store, one for Costco, one for Target, one for the drug store etc...

You can make a list of online recipes you want to try by pasting the link on a list and it will make a clickable link so it is easy to go back and find it. There is also a Journal feature which you could use to track your foods if you want.

There are a lot of other cool features-- like you can integrate the Flylady tasks into it so they are automatically on your calendar, make reoccurring appointments, send reminders to your email or your phone and a bunch of other stuff.

I tried a lot of things but couldn't find anything that I like that works and automatically syncs between my computer and my Ipod, this one is great! It is really ALL the features I have been looking for in one place. And I love that the kids can put the app on their Ipods (we all have touches) and have our schedule when they are away from home if they want to make plans.

This has been my unpaid endorsement of the day!!!

 

[aamomma]

QOTD: To go along with the Healthy Habit challenge of keeping your mind sharp, What was the last book you read?

DQOTD: What is your favorite World Showcase country? Why?

Last book was Pearl (book 2 in the Dakotah Treasures series) Yes, it was sappy, yes it was predictable - but I like to read happy endings

Norway is my fave. I have so many memories and cute pics of my DD's with the Princesses there, my DH and I also have Norwegian ancestry (lots of pics in front of the Viking ship) and Maelstrom is such a hoot!!!

 

[bellebookworm9]

Happy "still dark o'clock" friends!

Ugh, tell me about it. I woke up at 9:45 and it was still really dark here. It's also really cold (like 45) and misty rainy.

Happy 40th. I am thinking about making some mock Dole Whips for dinner. I will let you know how they come out.

Oooh, yes, please do tell. They sound delicious!

QOTD: To go along with the Healthy Habit challenge of keeping your mind sharp, What was the last book you read?

DQOTD: What is your favorite World Showcase country? Why?

I'm still in the process of reading the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. I'm currently reading "Plum Spooky", and then I'm going to re-read "Sizzling Sixteen" and "Smokin' Seventeen" which are the two I originally started with.

It's hard for me to pick a country too! I really like the show at American Adventure and the movie in France, but I really like the UK pavilion as a whole. The music is great, the buildings are cute, the Mary Poppins I met there last time was awesome, and I have some great memories from 2007 of watching the WS Players do "Camelot". And of course, WS as a whole has IllumiNations.

Just got back from Yoga and it went well. I'm going to take a nap now though because it always tires me out!

I was making my oatmeal this morning, went into the pantry to get my almonds, and saw an outline of a mouse in the snap trap. I said, "aaaah there's a mouse in the trap" and my housemate Wyatt went in with rubber gloves, pronounced it dead, and threw the whole thing in a bag and took it out to the dumpster. Apparently it was a gory death, there's even a drop of blood on the floor. So one mouse dead, possibly more to go, and we're still waiting for the exterminator.

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

QOTD Latest Book... rereading Joel Osteen, It's Your Time it's positive and uplifting

DQOTD Fav Country in Epcot... Germany-the kids always love the trains, pretzels and chocolate Mexico-the rest inside,the ride,looks lie a small village Japan-the shop with earls,origami,toys,Teppan Edo, candy lady...
My family has always loved it there, even when the kids were young.

 

[glss1/2fll]

QOTD: Last read-for-intelligence book I read was Nobody Nowhere by Donna Williams (I think that's the name). Now I am just reading the Friday Freebies on my Nook, they are usually stupid and I archive them before finishing the book. Although Carved in Bone was the last one I read and I liked it all right. About a forensic scientist in the south. Gretchen, I also love Stephanie Plum. Just pick them up at the library and I don't think they have the latest one yet.

QOTD: I don't think I have a favorite country. Although we love WS it never seems like we spend enough time there. Last trip we really focused on the streetsmophere so saw tons of great performances. (Thanks Steve Soares--did I get the name right?!) I had also thought about getting a pearl from Japan, and we were there, but once again not enough time!

So this morning, I got up to say good luck to DS1 as he headed off to take the SAT. Then I went back to bed and woke up at 10 o'clock! How did that happen? DH also woke up and I told him, "It's 10. I'm supposed to be at Costco right now after a run and a shower!"

Yesterday I picked some apples from our tree. I had a box on the ground and as I placed the first couple in, the dog trots on over, sticks his head in the box, and takes one out. Munch Munch Gulp I was laughing as I scolded him. He came over again but only picked up the ones on the ground.

Have a super weekend!

 

[jillbur]

It's a chilly, rainy day in Pittsburgh for my friend's wedding

I didn't get out to exercise this morning but am determined to hit the gym in the hotel tomorrow morning as long as I get a good sleep after the wedding festivities!

If it's not raining I may take a jog in Point State Park and check out the city a little more before heading back home to reality!

QOTD: To go along with the Healthy Habit challenge of keeping your mind sharp, What was the last book you read?

The last book I read was The Help. I loved it. I have a pile of books stacking up and need to find more time to read.

QOTD Disney: Favorite country?

I don't think I have a favorite country. We love them all! I especially love all the different drinks and desserts Hey, it's vacation!


Hope everyone else in the northeast stays warm! This weather is just ridiculous! Happy Saturday!

Jill

 

[JacksLilWench]

Hello! I am going to be your coach for this week! First off, some reminders:

PM your weight to Sue (dvccruiser)
PM your Healthy Habits Points to CC (cclovesdis)
PM you WIN measurements to Sacha (satorifound)

QOTD 9/30: I always listen to music when I exercise. It keeps me going, and helps me keep a stride. Do you have an exercise playlist? What are some of your favorite songs to work out to?

Disney QOTD: On your arrival day, what do you do? Do you rush right off to the parks (which one?) or do you hang around the hotel and pool?

I wish I had an exercise playlist, haha. I walk with a friend of mine, and we talk while we walk. She does most of the talking, and fortunately we're able to really book it while we walk. My other favorite form of exercise is dancing, and there's usually an AWESOME playlist for that, haha!

When we check into the hotel, this time around we ate and went straight to the parks...bad idea. We were exhausted for the next three days! From now on, we plan on checking in and playing by the pool or walking around DTD.

QOTD: To go along with the Healthy Habit challenge of keeping your mind sharp, What was the last book you read?


DQOTD: What is your favorite World Showcase country? Why?

The last book I read was called "Jackie Ethel Joan: The Women of Camelot" It was really good! It was all about the Kennedy wives and their personal struggles within their marriages and personal lives. It really gives light to a lot of what was happening in pop culture at the time. And I loooove me some history books!

Hmmm, my favorite WS country...I would probably have to say France. Something about it always draws me in!

 

[lovehoney]

Nice, sunny and cool day here. Started in the mid 50's and should only be 86 for the high. So much better than the 97 we had 2 days ago! I did my 3 mile walk, while I watched the sun come up.

I had a pretty bad week food wise and that was discouraging. After my walk this morning I feel ready to tackle a new week!

QOTD: I am currently reading The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King - A Nonfiction Thriller by James Patterson. It's not great but a King Tut exhibit is opening here in 2 weeks and I want to be prepared.

QOTD: "It's a toss up between England and Japan. I love them both!

 

[ougrad86]

GOOOOOOD MORNING!!

QOTD: To go along with the Healthy Habit challenge of keeping your mind sharp, What was the last book you read?

One week from today, we'll be at Epcot for the Food & Wine Festival! We plan to spend a little bit of time in Future World and then most of the afternoon in World Showcase. We'll take an afternoon break and come back for dinner at Sunshine Seasons and more time in Future World.

DQOTD: What is your favorite World Showcase country? Why?

I'll be back later with my own answers and replies.

A bit embarrassing. The last book I read was The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan. It is actually a book series for young readers. I tend to pick them up since my son reads them. But before that I read a book about mathematics that started out interesting but had me asking my son questions before I was done. I have been plowing through a bunch of books as best I can - have not bought any new one since our Borders closed , but am trying to read the ones I bought in the last days.

In Epcot, toss up between Germany and Norway. I am of Germany ancestry and we lived there for a couple years when we first got married. DH is of Norwegian ancestry. He was quite upset when they took down the ship! We have ate at both places and I liked Germany, Norway was just OK, but I was not feeling too good that day. Have not tried the school bread everyone raves about though - it looks way too rich. I like the shopping at Japan, China and the UK though! And we do like eating at the Rose and Crown.
Hard to choose just one thing!

 

[tigger813]

Of course, only time for skimming:

Currently reading Mockingjay! Not sure what to read next.

Favorite World Showcase Country: I don't know if I have a favorite! I love the drinks in Mexico and France and UK. I love the movie in China and Canada. I love the ride in Norway. Kids love to eat in American Adventure and we love the Voices of Liberty.

Been not so good today. Had nachos for a snack. Just finished my 2nd drink. Brian made haddock for supper with fries. We're watching the first Percy Jackson movie all together.

We have church in the morning followed by another soccer game. Ash's team is now 3-0. Another shut out today with no shots on goal. We're probably going to have Chinese food tomorrow for supper while watching the Patriots game. Gearing up for another busy week. Hoping to do a corn maze on Saturday and then Brian leaves Sunday morning for Orlando.

My client from work who started on the Herbalife products had her first weigh in today and lost 5 pounds in 6 days! She was so excited. PM me if you are interested in checking out ichange which is a free site similar to fitnesspal.com. I have been using it for 25 days and loving it. Hoping to get up and take a walk before church in the morning or hop on the elliptical. I didn't do exercise at all today. I'm just enjoying time with the family. We love cooking together! Gotta start planning out the next few weeks for when Brian is away and then when I am gone.

Time to just cuddle with Izzie! I hope to not fall asleep early tonight!

TTFN

 

[SettinSail]

QOTD: To go along with the Healthy Habit challenge of keeping your mind sharp, What was the last book you read?

DQOTD: What is your favorite World Showcase country? Why?

The last book I read was Betty White's book If You Ask Me...

I'm reading the latest Janet Evanovich book now. I mentioned to my boss that I was on the waiting list still at the library for it and she loaned me her copy

I like England with the cute miniature train and the double decker bus. (do they still have that?) I can't really remember what is in each country other than a restaurant and souvenir shop

Had a good day. Lunch with my Mom and my one sister who is still spealng to me. Went shopping and got a black cocktail dress to wear to a fancy wedding next weekend Also got 2 pairs of Clark shoes for $100 I can only wear certain kinds of shoes and love my Clarks. Also got some new underwear.

Grocery shopping and got all the ingredients to make chilli and some soups but ran out of time to do any cooking so will do that tomorrow. Supper was kind of a disaster as we tried to cook flounder on the GF grill. It completely fell apart so we mixed it in chunks into rice and a bag of frozen veggies and ate it that way. It was um, okay. The tillapia did much better on the GF.
We'll have to bake the flounder next time.

We are getting ready to watch the UNC-ECU game here. That's pretty much it for out Anniversay Day. We don't normally do too much to celebrate because we are so cheap DH did give me a cute card and I forgot to give him one

 

[satorifound]

Last chance to get your WIN measurements in for this period

I have started tabulating percentages but I wanted to give everyone one last chance to get them in. Good luck everyone!

 

[kollerbear]

Hi all-- I've been totally MIA this week, and I will go back later tonight and catch up reading all of the posts! I just figured that posting something right now while I'm waiting for dinner will make me more accountable later!!

Last Sun. and Mon. I made two decisions that will have a big impact on this challenge, and I've been trying to catch up, at least, with Decision #1.

Decision #1: My DBF and I decided on Sunday that we want to go at least mostly vegan. At the time, I knew it would be tricky, but I've done a TON of research this week and have discovered that going vegan will be a LOT more difficult than going vegetarian was, for a variety of reasons. Mostly, it seems that in order to get enough protein and nutrients, the majority of our calories will have to be from whole foods, not only cutting down on sugar and refined carbs but seriously cutting down on them, switching some oils for nut-based sauces, etc. Things I'd never though about before. It is totally going to change the way that we cook, and I have to learn a lot of new techniques and things to make sure we're getting enough protein, calcium, iron, iodine, etc. etc... some things I probably should have been more cognizant of as a vegetarian, too. But I'm REALLY excited. It will force me to eat much more healthfully, just as a matter of course. Has anyone here been vegan and can offer any words of wisdom or favorite recipes? I have to say, one of the things we are most nervous about is "veggies on a plate" syndrome, which is something that we run across a lot in vegetarian recipes--that is recipes that just throw every conceivable vegetable in there without thinking about whether they taste good together, are texturally complementary, etc.. While we like variety, we'd rather eat more of 2-4 vegetables per meal that are really delicious than 7-8 veggies that just kind of taste like we poured the crisper drawer on our plate. So we're trying to find good recipes that show some restraint (we don't like to spend an hour cutting up veggies before we start cooking), are super flavorful, and really high in protein and nutrients.
Oh--and we made the Cuban Rice and Cilantro Lime Rice from Skinny Taste the other night--wow, best vegetarian rice and beans I have had. So good.

Decision #2: I was working on my biography for the fellowship I got, and I realized my hobbies (which they'd asked us to include) were a little lame... so I put "aspiring runner" on there, and then thought, well, duh, most people can run, even for 10 seconds, you don't need to ASPIRE to run. So to look impressive I put "training for my 3rd half marathon" on there. UGH. TALK ABOUT BEING ACCOUNTABLE. Hahahha. So when I meet people at the beginning of Nov., I will have needed to pick out a race, and will need to be training!! Haven't run in yeah... about 10 months. SOOOO.... I gotta start! Yayya!

Anyway, I am going to go and eat dinner now, but I will be back to say hello to individual people and such and respond to some of the QOTDs.

Thanks for listening!!!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

QOTD 9/30: I always listen to music when I exercise. It keeps me going, and helps me keep a stride. Do you have an exercise playlist? What are some of your favorite songs to work out to?

I rotate my music to keep it interesting. My latest additions are "Got to Get You Into My Life" - The Beatles, "Dancing Queen" - Glee, Womanizer - Britney Spears, "Tonight I'm Lovin' You" - Enrique Iglesias, and "I'll Fall in Love Again" - Sammy Hagar.

Disney QOTD: On your arrival day, what do you do? Do you rush right off to the parks (which one?) or do you hang around the hotel and pool?

Well, I usually arrive for a race, so I run off to the Expo and get my goodies! Then I explore my hotel, and Downtown Disney if I'm not too tired.

QOTD: To go along with the Healthy Habit challenge of keeping your mind sharp, What was the last book you read?

The last book I finished was The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer. Right now I'm reading The President and the Assassin by Scott Miller. Since I know that left most of you wondering, the president in question was William McKinley, and the assassin was Leon Czolgosz, and the year was 1901. I get most of my "intelligent" reading ideas from "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report". I am a history geek, and it comes out in my reading selections.

DQOTD: What is your favorite World Showcase country? Why? [/COLOR]

I don't think I have a favorite World Showcase country, I really enjoy visiting most of them. I've recently become partial to the caramel in Germany, and I like the chocolate mousse in France. My favorite "country" ride is in Norway, and I like the Welsh Dragons in the U.K. I just realized most of my favorites in the countries include food or drink

I just had a heck of a week at work, and I've been reading but literally not had a moment to post. I've been working 10 hour days, and then trying to keep things running at home before I collapse each night. Anyway, it's going to be better after this week, and I can't wait to get back to feeling like I can work on me -- not to mention the fun I have chatting with everyone!

Tracey -- We're having chili tomorrow. It's all ready to go in the crockpot. I'll be enjoying it at half time. Go Patriots!

Jill -- I loved The Help! I haven't seen the movie, I'm going to Netflix it when it comes out.

Nancy -- Thank you for the fabulous job you did coaching! I only answered one or two in the forum, but I thought about each one and found them to be very helpful.

Gretchen -- Thank you for being our coach this week! I am enjoying all the fun questions, I can't wait go back and read everyone's suggestions for music, I'm always looking for new workout songs!

I'm going to take my book and head to bed. I'm Tivoing the Dr. Who season finale because my ds was rotten earlier and he lost his tv privileges, and I'm such a sap I'm going to wait for him to watch it.

Everyone have a wonderful night, and Happy October -- It's a new month, who's going to wait for the Great Pumpkin?!

Maria

 

[my3princes]

We survived the party!!! All went well and there was tons of leftover food which I sent home with guest (yeah me). Now we're watching jeff Dunham and chillin'