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

[DopeyDame]

Dona - great reminder about looking at the leaves! I took DS to a toddler craft/nature time at our local nature center yesterday and it was amazing! The colors were so beautiful and the weather was just perfect - sun shiny, 60s. Couldn't have asked for a better day. (And he did it all in UNDERPANTS! We are almost at potty trained. Yay!)

Monday QOTD: Before DS, DH and I travelled a TON and we loved every minute of it. I can't wait until DS is ready for some bigger trips. My favorite vacation is a tie between Queensland Australia (Great Barrier Reef, Rain forests, cute towns - it was AMAZING!) and Slovinia (what an incredibly pleasant suprise! That place is gorgeous and a lot of it is new a revitalized after the wars and communism, etc. We expected an "interesting" experience, and instead we got fantastic nature, beautiful historic cities, and some of the best food and nicest people I have ever met. If you ever have the opportunity, Slovinia is not to be missed.) Highest on my 'if money were no object' list is Africa - Kilimanjaro and a Safari, in particular. The money tree in my back yard doesn't seem to be doing so well, though, so... that trip may have to wait a while.

Tuesday QOTD: Chipotle for lunch. Not great, but will have half rice and extra veggies and chicken bowl. Yumm! Dinner will be tough. There is a Family Hot Dog Meet and Greet at our church that we're attending. Not sure what they'll have besides hot dogs. I may just share a hot dog with DS and then eat a salad or something when I get home.

 

[pjlla]

That's one of my favorite movies too!

When you said you didn't like Zumba I was going to ask if you knew beforehand that they don't use verbal cues. When I was looking up reviews of the Wii game before I purchased it, that was a complaint. But apparently that's part of the concept is visual focus or something. Our instructor at school doesn't really use verbal or hand cues, except when she wants to do something in double time.

When I took Zumba at the Y a few years ago, she always started a bit slow and walked around to make sure that everyone was understanding the moves. This Zumba-thon was full out, "SHAKIN' WHAT YOUR MOMMA GAVE YOU" Zumba.... no intro, nada! Even if I could have kept up, my body doesn't move like that any more!!

Very sad to report that my parents had their 14 year old dog Chrissy put to sleep earlier today. She had been going downhill since I was there and they made the decision yesterday. The vet came right to the house. My mom emailed me and I called the house before reading the email. They aren't up to talking tonight.

The girls are taking it hard. Izzie has been off and on crying. She drew a picture of herself with Chrissy and Ashleigh was also drawing a picture of Chrissy a few minutes ago. I emailed Izzie's teacher. I found a book that I will read to the girls tomorrow called The Tenth Good Thing About Barney. She was a very special dog that could not have been more loved by two people. It's hard for them but they did the right thing as apparently yesterday she couldn't get comfortable.

I've been awake since 4:30 this morning and don't know how much longer I will stay up. I need to go put more laundry in the wash.

TTFN

I know you had talked earlier this year about the dog and her declining health. It is so sad that you parents had to go through this now, with everything else that they've had to deal with lately. But it was nice of them to do what was best for Chrissy. And very nice of the vet to make a house call.

The WISH Biggest Loser Fall Challenge Week 8 Superstars!!
#10- 0.59% - wickey's friend
#9- 0.71% - EDuke98080
#8- 0.74% - cobbler
#7- 0.76% - jillbur
#6 - 0.79% - aamomma
#5- 0.90% - Disneywedding2010
#4- 0.96% - dvccruiser76
#3- 1.02% - akhaloha
#2- 1.03% - BernardandMissBianca
and now
The WISH Biggest Loser Fall Challenge
Week 8 Biggest Loser is:
#1- 1.25% - Rose&Mike

GREAT JOB to all of you Big Losers, and most especially to my good friends Buffy and Rose! I KNEW you had it in you!! Numbers 1 and 2?? WAY TO GO!!!

Pam- We're going on the Podcast cruise next summer! Just praying nothing goes wrong to prevent it from happening!

Finally slept past 5am. Of course when I was awake at 5am I should've gotten up to work out. But the state of my house right now, especially the downstairs makes it impossible to workout. Hopefully tomorrow I can do something about that.

Maybe some coffee cake last night. Not sure what to have for supper tonight. Izzie has her check up today and then Ash has dancing. Tomorrow will be nonstop cleaning until I have to take Izzie for a quick dentist appt. Looking forward to Friday off with the kids and getting ready for my Usborne booth on Saturday. I have several things to do to prepare for that.

Ash is finally up and dressed!

TTFN

Podcast cruise.... I think that will have to be explained to me. Is it just folks who listen to the podcasts or folks who DO the podcasts or both or what?? Do they do podcasts while on the cruise? Anyhow, any cruise sounds like fun to me!

:Hope things settle down a bit for you. Is it sunday you'll be in our neck of the woods? Ds had ccd at 830 right near the Y, and other than that, I'm on call, so we have no plans.


It will be this Sunday that I will be there. Not sure about times yet. I'll send you a PM when I find out. The power outages around here last week put a hitch in all of the planning and such.


I got up this morning and did 30 min wii fit free step while I watched the news. I have ds's parent teacher conference at 7:50 so I need to get moving. I had a good eating day yesterday, went grocery shopping, and did not buy any junk. I made roasted brussel sprouts last night with chicken, and bought cauliflour, red pepper, red onion, and sweet potato to make later this week. If I have it in the house, it's so much easier to eat healthy. And I love vegies roasted.

Have a terrific tuesday everyone!!

Mmmmm... yummy stuff in the house! I bought the most delicious apples today! I bought one and ate it at the register before buying a big bag because I am sick of buying lousy produce. But these are SO GOOD! I'm going to have another for my afternoon snack!

And another big BL congratulations to aamomma who met her goal and is now joining the ranks of our maintainers! What a wonderful accomplishment!


Wow.... how did I miss this? CONGRATS to aamomma!!!!!!


Pamela, can't wait to hear how your robotics guys do this week-end! And not so patiently waiting to see Rapunzel still, please . . .

Sorry.... I'll try to get it up today!


Today I meet with a new running coach and have parent teacher conferences, too. It's middle school and high school parent teacher conference so it's first come, first served. That should be interesting! I know I can contact anyone that I don't manage to see by email but I'm hoping to meet them all. I'd like to hear their thoughts on boys and their organizational skills although DS is much, much improved.

Have a great day all!

Good luck with the new coach and with the conferences. Haven't heard about our middle school ones yet, but I have one scheduled for HS.

I am running late! But I still have to finish icing my knees/foot/ankle. I did 60 minutes in the pool this morning. Still not my favorite thing, but I'm getting used to it. And I think it's a pretty good workout. I wear the float belt and "run" in the deep end. I actually think it's helping my form a little.

Have a great Tuesday!

Another big WOOHOO on being the BL this week!!

TUesday QOTD- What's on the menu for today?

YOu had to ask that today, of all days??

Well, breakfast was a baby bel cheese and a cran-bran vitamuffin and an apple with a cup of coffee in the car.

Lunch was a low carb pita, cut in half and toasted. Covered half with a serving of hummus and a bit of taboule and spread a tablespoon of natural peanut butter on the other half. Washed it down with some plain seltzer. Not much time for anything else.

Dinner..... we are going in 6 different directions tonight (which is tough, considering we are only 4 people ), so it will be a bit of this and that, here and there! I'll let you know what it turns out to be after the fact.

B: scrambled eggs with peppers, mushrooms and onions made in 1 tsp olive oil
L: homemade bean burrito (veggie refried beans and low-carb tortilla), peppers, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, sugar-free strawberry acai jello
S: celery, blueberries, 1 oz. roasted almonds
D: grilled chicken, brown rice, green beans, sugar-free dark chocolate jello pudding

Is it time for lunch yet? I was a little down (in mood, not weight ) and only ate half of my breakfast, so I'm feeling the hunger a little early. I'm going to hold out until noon though!

Maria

You can finish your breakfast late or add a morning snack you know.

Hugs to you

*********

Happy Tuesday friends. It is a beautiful day here! My morning bible study walk turned out to be just two of us, but it was a beautiful morning (albeit a bit muddy). I was concerned that the trail would still be snow-covered, but it was not.

Working straight out on robotics paperwork and such here, so not much time to chat. I'm going to try to take a minute to post the Halloween picture of DD. I'll try to pop on later tonight to chat.............P

 

[mackeysmom]

How awesome to take you niece and nephew on their own special trip with auntie. Such wonderful memories they will always treasure. Was one of them with you for the elevator rescue? How scary. Nice job on the loss.

Laura, that was quite an exciting story about Kidani! I actually prefer staying at Jambo house, even though the DVC rooms are a bit smaller. I love the animals. 4.5 pounds in two weeks is a great loss!

Luckily the elevator fiasco happened during an "adult" trip - I don't know if I could have kept my cool if one of the kids was with me!

I stayed at Jambo House once years ago, but that was before DVC so it was just a standard room. My Kidani Lodge experience was in a gorgeous 2 bedroom unit - so it would be comparing apples to oranges if I had to choose between the two.

Monday 11/7/11-QOTD- Where was your favorite non-Disney vacation? If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world, money no object, where would you like to go?

Hard to choose - I loved my trips to Cape Cod because they are so relaxing, I loved my trips to Vegas because they are so exciting, I loved my trips to Hawaii because they were so tropical - I don't know if I could choose a favorite. Each is a favorite in their own way.

I would love to take one of those train rides through Canada - I saw it on a travel show once and it looked so beautiful. I think it was Northern Canada and goes from one side of the coast to the other.

We have a new place called Sweet Frog that is like that. I had never heard of it or the concept. I just stopped in with my kids one day and was like what the heck?!! Great business concept though-- it is pretty hard to judge how much you are getting when you put it in the cup so more than likely it is more $$$ for them. I was disappointed they didn't have any truly small cups to make it easier to judge/control portion size better.

I thought the same thing - they only had one size cup and it was larger than my head.

Good luck with Friendly's. Last time I checked they did NOT have any NI on their website or available in the restaurants. I even contacted corporate but didn't get a very satisfactory answer. Curious to see if things have improved at all. I find that to be BY FAR one of the hardest restaurants to manage.

Thankfully they chose Panera, but I decided that if I had to go to Friendly's, I'd choose either a BLT or the appetizer cheese quesadilla. I figured those would be the easiest to guess points/calories.

Very sad to report that my parents had their 14 year old dog Chrissy put to sleep earlier today. She had been going downhill since I was there and they made the decision yesterday. The vet came right to the house. My mom emailed me and I called the house before reading the email. They aren't up to talking tonight.

So sorry to hear that. I lost my Mackey in April and it is still difficult to talk about.

The WISH Biggest Loser Fall Challenge Week 8 Superstars!!
#10- 0.59% - wickey's friend
#9- 0.71% - EDuke98080
#8- 0.74% - cobbler
#7- 0.76% - jillbur
#6 - 0.79% - aamomma
#5- 0.90% - Disneywedding2010
#4- 0.96% - dvccruiser76
#3- 1.02% - akhaloha
#2- 1.03% - BernardandMissBianca
and now
The WISH Biggest Loser Fall Challenge
Week 8 Biggest Loser is:
#1- 1.25% - Rose&Mike

Congratulations to all of this week's losers. I begrudgingly gave up my reigning BL clippie but am determined to get it back at some point.

TUesday QOTD- What's on the menu for today?

BF - FF Hot Chocolate and a banana

Lunch - my own homemade brocoli/cheddar soup (a Panera recipe that I've tweaked to make low fat)

Dinner - I go to the chiropractor every-other Tuesday. There is a great pizza place a few doors down and once a month I treat myself to two slices. They make a delicious pizza that has tomatoes, red onions, and little chunks of fresh mozzarella on top - no sauce, just a litte olive oil. I usually get one slice of that, and one "regular" slice. I'll throw together a little salad from home to go with it.

Snack - I always pop a bag of microwave 100 calorie pack of popcorn with a little olive oil spritzed on top while watching The Biggest Loser.

- Laura

 

[pjlla]

Here is my Rapunzel.........

Her braid reached her ankle! But it got really heavy and she didn't make it through the day with it on. But I was really happy with how it turned out!

If you notice, her sleeves were removable.... she started the day with them, but had discarded them by the evening.

And of course, here is my Death Eater, for all you HP fans.

TTYL..................P

 

[lisah0711]

I am running late! But I still have to finish icing my knees/foot/ankle. I did 60 minutes in the pool this morning. Still not my favorite thing, but I'm getting used to it. And I think it's a pretty good workout. I wear the float belt and "run" in the deep end. I actually think it's helping my form a little.

Sorry about the icing but at least it is helping your form! And another big for you being the BL!

TUesday QOTD- What's on the menu for today?

Breakfast was a tall gingerbread frappucino . . . I know, I know but I needed something light before seeing the trainer and it was only 260 calories and very, very tasty.
Lunch Ethnic Gourmet Pad Thai with Tofu.
Dinner Five spice pork with bok choy that DH was going to make last night but didn't
I will be within my calorie range for today for sure!

B: scrambled eggs with peppers, mushrooms and onions made in 1 tsp olive oil
L: homemade bean burrito (veggie refried beans and low-carb tortilla), peppers, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, sugar-free strawberry acai jello
S: celery, blueberries, 1 oz. roasted almonds
D: grilled chicken, brown rice, green beans, sugar-free dark chocolate jello pudding

Is it time for lunch yet? I was a little down (in mood, not weight ) and only ate half of my breakfast, so I'm feeling the hunger a little early. I'm going to hold out until noon though!

You always have such yummy sounding food, Maria. Glad that you are feeling better.

( And he did it all in UNDERPANTS! We are almost at potty trained. Yay!)

That is an exciting for sure!

Pamela, your daughter looks lovely as always and her costume was so beautiful. Such nice workmanship and attention to detail! Thanks for posting!

Laura, enjoy your pizza!

 

[SettinSail]

Hello friends! Here I sit in front of the computer when I should be exercising! Something about this change in routine has just thrown me for a loop. For 10 days DS has Driver's Ed after school and I just find myself sitting around enjoying the alone time when I could be getting something done!

QOTD:
Breakfast: regular cheerios and skim milk
Snack: grapes and cocoa almonds (YUM!)
Lunch: Ham & cheese sandwich on thin, red pepper strips, yogurt and um a few doritos
Supper: Frozen breaded fish fillets and frozen fries--not the healthiest but something family enjoys

Kathy & Pamela - I like that plan! I really need to shoot for on-plan EVERY day until Thanksgiving. Good luck with your teacher conference Kathy.

Congrats to all the biggest losers and esp Rose! What an inspiration for the rest of us! Thanks Sue too for all you do. I personally LOVE seeing how close I am getting to my goal. Well, I'm not acutally getting that close but I love to see my progress I mean

Lisa, I was going to get a Shark but a friend at work convinced me the Haan was soooo much better. I asked on the Budget Board too and got a lot of hearty recommendations. I think it's OK. I don't think it's worth more than the $49 I paid for it and I'm glad I didn't end up paying close to $90 like I planned to. I'm new to the whole steam mop thing so not sure. I didn't see any steam coming out although I heard it hissing and when I touched the floor it didn't feel hot either. I think it did OK. The hardwood floors in this house need to be refinished and the grout is shot in the tile floors so they don't look a whole lot better when I finish but any obvious messes came right up. I definitely need more than 2 pads. I had to wash them and let them air dry before I can do any more rooms! Good luck with your conferences. Fantastic to hear that DS is much improved with organization! Any Mom tips to share or did he achieve this on his own?

Pamela, love the costumes!!! you did a great job on Rapunzel! I love to read about your busy days. You do not waste a moment!

Tracey, sorry to hear about Chrissy but it sounds like they made a wise choice. I don't know how/why my parents held out so long but thankfully their 18 year old dog recently passed away. I think I told you when you were here. The poor dog was incontinent, blind, could hardly stand or walk, didn't hardly eat at all but they let nature take its course.

Looking forward to watching BL tonight. I always feel energized and recommitted after watching it. Have a great evening all. It has been a beautiful day here, 73 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. I won the football pool at work and got $50

 

[akhaloha]

TUesday QOTD- What's on the menu for today?

B: Oatmeal with cinnamon, protein shake made with coffee
L: Homemade chicken curry with brown rice, green tea
S: Greek yogurt with berries, green tea
D: Salmon, baked sweet potato, grilled asparagus
S: Homemade zucchini bread (only if I get my workout in tonight!)

 

[pjlla]

Breakfast was a tall gingerbread frappucino . . . I know, I know but I needed something light before seeing the trainer and it was only 260 calories and very, very tasty.
Lunch Ethnic Gourmet Pad Thai with Tofu.
Dinner Five spice pork with bok choy that DH was going to make last night but didn't
I will be within my calorie range for today for sure!

And it all sounds so yummy!!


Pamela, your daughter looks lovely as always and her costume was so beautiful. Such nice workmanship and attention to detail! Thanks for posting!

Thanks! You can't see all of the detail of the dress, but whatever. It wasn't nearly as detailed as I had originally planned on making it.... ran out of time, of course. But she was happy with it.

Laura, enjoy your pizza!

Hello friends! Here I sit in front of the computer when I should be exercising! Something about this change in routine has just thrown me for a loop. For 10 days DS has Driver's Ed after school and I just find myself sitting around enjoying the alone time when I could be getting something done!

QOTD:
Breakfast: regular cheerios and skim milk
Snack: grapes and cocoa almonds (YUM!)
Lunch: Ham & cheese sandwich on thin, red pepper strips, yogurt and um a few doritos
Supper: Frozen breaded fish fillets and frozen fries--not the healthiest but something family enjoys

Kathy & Pamela - I like that plan! I really need to shoot for on-plan EVERY day until Thanksgiving. Good luck with your teacher conference Kathy.

I'll join you to committing to EVERY DAY OP between now and T.giving! I've had a few splurge days since I made the original 80% committment (actually, I committed to 90%).... nothing out of control, but not as good as I would like. It would be great to be down another 2-4 pounds before T.giving.


Pamela, love the costumes!!! you did a great job on Rapunzel! I love to read about your busy days. You do not waste a moment!


I waste far more time than I should on silly stuff, but I do accomplish a lot every day! After Bible study today I stayed to help clean up the coffee tables, so I got home a bit late.... then I spent the early afternoon finishing up some typing and such for robotics (and of course, catching up here..), made all the beds, picked up around the house, wiped the kitchen counters, scarfed down some lunch ....... then dropped off some paperwork at the other coach's house, picked up DD at school and then DS from his student council meeting. THen the 45 minute drive to the chiropractor (appts for DD and myself). Grabbed DD a chicken salad sandwich from Dunkin Donuts and dropped her at the Y. Home again at 5:45 pm.... made tuna for DS (still having trouble chewing), and grilled chicken salads for DH and myself (very yummy, if I may say so!). And now..... I CAN STAY HOME FOR THE EVENING! DD is getting a ride back into town after swim and she will have her ride drop her off at the school where DS is practicing (basketball) and DH will drive them home!!


Looking forward to watching BL tonight. I always feel energized and recommitted after watching it. Have a great evening all. It has been a beautiful day here, 73 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. I won the football pool at work and got $50

First of all YEAH on the $50!!

Second of all.... I know how you feel about watching BL. I was going to make a comment the other day to some folks who seemed to be struggling to stay OP. I was going to suggest that they surround themselves with BL type information and inspiration. For example, in addition to watching this season of BL, I am also watching ALL of the previous seasons, in order, on Netflix.... mostly while I am on the TM or doing things like folding laundry.

I try to do a bit of reading EVERY DAY about healthy eating, exercise, and/or weight loss.... Weight Watchers magazine and Fitness magazine for starters (since I get both of those). Then I try to read books about different types of "diets" and all kind of health/weight loss related books (DD is currently reading my copy of "Master Your Metabolism" by Jillian Michaels). While I don't agree with all of the plans, I find I learn something new in all of them. I've read the Flat Belly Diet book, Dr. Phil's Ultimate Weight Loss Solution book, a few of the Bob Greene books (he was Oprah's fitness expert), Richard Simmons autobiography.... and many more I can't remember!

I keep healthy cookbooks in the cupboard, I keep my food journal right out on the counter (along with my WW points booklet and my points slider), I mark my BL coaching dates on the calendar. And, of course, I try to pop on here every day!!

I just basically try to surround myself with constant reminders about being healthy, eating right, and exercise.

B: Oatmeal with cinnamon, protein shake made with coffee
L: Homemade chicken curry with brown rice, green tea
S: Greek yogurt with berries, green tea
D: Salmon, baked sweet potato, grilled asparagus
S: Homemade zucchini bread (only if I get my workout in tonight!)

That all sounds delicious! I haven't made my chicken curry in a while and I am missing it!

****************

Evening friends! I am actually home ALONE and don't have to go out again tonight!! That rarely happens! Dinner is done and cleaned up! I would like to scrapbook, but I'm a bit tired.... I may just fold the last load of laundry and make a cup of green tea and grab my book. We'll see.

Ooooo.... just had a thought! I'll make a cup of green tea, grab my laptop, and spend some time on Ancestry.com! Sounds like a plan!

I'll see you tomorrow.............P

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Drive by post again. I just don't have time for my peeps right now!! I'm sooo sorry!!!!

WOOHOO on number 2!
The no soda is still going strong. I'm sure the kids will want to drink it again but I'm going to stay away if I can. Next up for December is fast food. That has gotten out of hand.
I need better ideas for lunches. Panera just isn't cutting it anymore.
And I need to lay off the macchiato's. Since I've laid off the soda I have increased the macchiato's which are mostly milk. Way to many calories in a day. I'm thinking of cutting back to 2 times a week, right now I'm probably near 5-6.

Trying to find time to work out. I need to get back into some kind of routine again. Right now I'm just trying to stay above water with school commitments and waiting for news on Grandma. The school stuff deadlines have been stepped up so I can pass that off to someone else when the time comes.

OK, DD is ready for bed. This time change has really messed up her schedule.

NIGHT ALL!!!

 

[cobbler]

Saturday 11/5/11 QOTD- When you go to disney-WDW or DL where do you typically stay, in the parks, out of the parks? value, mod, deluxe, dvc? What do you like best about where you stay, and if you could stay any where else, where would you stay? If you haven't been yet, where would you want to stay?

I have a thing where I want to stay at all Disney owned resorts on property so we are making our way through the list. So aside from the new Animation Resort coming online we have done all the values and mods. I don't care for the values, just not my thing. Maybe because I'm the only girl in my family and I need space Now we typically stay in 1bdrm DVC

I apologize if i repeat any questions that have been asked before.

Monday 11/7/11-QOTD- Where was your favorite non-Disney vacation? If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world, money no object, where would you like to go?

I have two. I LOVED Arches National Park, it was so awesome!! I also LOVED London!! I want to go back to London in the worst way. I am making plans to try to get back to London again. Something that is more of a pipe dream and a real far out wish is Japan. I don't eat fish (can't stand the taste) and I'm allergic to shellfish so I'm not sure how I would survive.

TUesday QOTD- What's on the menu for today?

I really overslept today, I think I am coming down with something so I missed breakfast and had a Quiznos sub (turkey, mozz, & pesto) small sub and chicken noodle soup. For dinner I had some mac and cheese and spinach and berry salad with lemon vinegarette dressing.

Funny story... Oldest DS asked youngest DS if he liked spinach. Youngest DS said he hated it because it was gross as he is inhaling the spinach salad Youngest DS is 10. So after he's done eating, we tell him it is spinach and he looks at me and says I tricked him. But he went back for seconds

Congrats Rose&Mike!!

BernardandMissBianca I know, the eating out for lunches is hard to stop. I finally bought stuff for lunches that I knew I would like and I would fix and eat. This is my first week trying it out and so far successful. I had Quiznos today but I didn't buy - my mom wanted to go. I think we can be successful!

tigger813 That is so sad!!! My puppy is 11 and I dread the day that this going to come.

mikamah WAY TO GO on the exercise and not buying any junk!!

pjlla Very cool costumes!!

No workout for me today, I had intentions of running but just couldn't do it. I went to bed after class last night with the worst headache and sore throat. I got up this morning and looked very pale and was so tired. The headache is gone but the throat is still minor sore. I feel like I could just sleep. I really did wonder if something was starting to come about yesterday because normally after my workouts I am red faced, yesterday I went up to take a shower and didn't have much color in me. I thought maybe I pushed it to hard but maybe it was because I was coming down with something.

Will do something tomorrow even if it's walking and yoga.

Have a great evening all!!

 

[dvccruiser76]

I got up this morning and did 30 min wii fit free step while I watched the news. I have ds's parent teacher conference at 7:50 so I need to get moving.

Hi Kathy Love the Wii free step.

How did the parent teacher conference go?

Sue, thanks for being our weightkeeper and congrats on being a superstar this week!

Today I meet with a new running coach and have parent teacher conferences, too. It's middle school and high school parent teacher conference so it's first come, first served. That should be interesting! I know I can contact anyone that I don't manage to see by email but I'm hoping to meet them all. I'd like to hear their thoughts on boys and their organizational skills although DS is much, much improved.

Thanks, it's amazing what joining a gym can do for you

How did your parent teacher conferences go?

Here is my Rapunzel.........

Her braid reached her ankle! But it got really heavy and she didn't make it through the day with it on. But I was really happy with how it turned out!

If you notice, her sleeves were removable.... she started the day with them, but had discarded them by the evening.

And of course, here is my Death Eater, for all you HP fans.

TTYL..................P

Nice work!




Hello everyone, just got back from the gym and figured I'd pop on and say hello before hitting the showers, so off I go. Hope everyone is having a great week. Hugs to anyone that needs one

 

[tigger813]

Evening all,

Watching BL with Brian who now has a really bad cold Hoping to head to bed in the next 40 minutes so I don't end up sick.

Talked to my mom this afternoon and tonight. Today has been very tough for them both but they know it was the right thing to do. My mom said she may get the ashes tomorrow.

My sister had a great idea to help them celebrate their 50th anniversary especially with losing Chrissy yesterday. She posted their address on FB and asked all of her friends to send them anniversary cards. My mother LOVES to receive cards so the more we put it in their mailbox, the better! I have contacted some of my friends and a friend of theirs from church to get lots of their friends to send cards and make their day extra special! If you would like to send your wishes to my parents, just PM me and I will send you their address. You can include on the card how you "know" them.

I am also going to make an iron on of their wedding photo and make them each a special sweatshirt. She loved the one I made for her birthday so I thought they might like this as well. My sister is also looking into renting a limo to take them to the concert they are going to on their anniversary.

Gotta look into that now!

TTFN

 

[mikamah]

And another big BL congratulations to aamomma who met her goal and is now joining the ranks of our maintainers! What a wonderful accomplishment!

Congrats AAmomma!! Such a fantastic accomplishment we are all striving for. You are an inspiration.

Wow! You must have been tired to sleep through that!

I wish I could say it was because his sax playing is so smooth and relaxing, but I think the time change was just catching up with me. lol.

Today I meet with a new running coach and have parent teacher conferences, too. It's middle school and high school parent teacher conference so it's first come, first served. That should be interesting! I know I can contact anyone that I don't manage to see by email but I'm hoping to meet them all. I'd like to hear their thoughts on boys and their organizational skills although DS is much, much improved.

Hope the parent teacher conferences went well. First come first serve, with how many kids? Sounds like it could be a bit of a cluster. Hope it wasn't too bad. How was the new running coach? That is so great you are seeing a coach to help with your training. You so deserve it.

I am running late! But I still have to finish icing my knees/foot/ankle. I did 60 minutes in the pool this morning. Still not my favorite thing, but I'm getting used to it. And I think it's a pretty good workout. I wear the float belt and "run" in the deep end. I actually think it's helping my form a little.

Glad you're putting the icing high on the priority list, and taking good care of yourself. 60 min in the pool is great.

TUesday QOTD- What's on the menu for today?

breakfast- banana, two slices cheese, 4 saltines
lunch-chicken, stuffing, brussel sprouts, grapes.
dinner-chicken, stuffing, brussel sprouts.
snacks- afternoon apple, evening-1/2 cup ice cream.

B: scrambled eggs with peppers, mushrooms and onions made in 1 tsp olive oil
L: homemade bean burrito (veggie refried beans and low-carb tortilla), peppers, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, sugar-free strawberry acai jello
S: celery, blueberries, 1 oz. roasted almonds
D: grilled chicken, brown rice, green beans, sugar-free dark chocolate jello pudding

Is it time for lunch yet? I was a little down (in mood, not weight ) and only ate half of my breakfast, so I'm feeling the hunger a little early. I'm going to hold out until noon though!

the sugar free dark chocolate pudding sounds great. I haven't bought pudding in a while. Hope your feeling better tonight.

Tuesday QOTD: Chipotle for lunch. Not great, but will have half rice and extra veggies and chicken bowl. Yumm! Dinner will be tough. There is a Family Hot Dog Meet and Greet at our church that we're attending. Not sure what they'll have besides hot dogs. I may just share a hot dog with DS and then eat a salad or something when I get home.

Hope there was more than just hot dogs available, but I like your plan to share and then have something healthy when you get home. Just nothing healthy about hot dogs.

YOu had to ask that today, of all days??

Well, breakfast was a baby bel cheese and a cran-bran vitamuffin and an apple with a cup of coffee in the car.

Lunch was a low carb pita, cut in half and toasted. Covered half with a serving of hummus and a bit of taboule and spread a tablespoon of natural peanut butter on the other half. Washed it down with some plain seltzer. Not much time for anything else.

Dinner..... we are going in 6 different directions tonight (which is tough, considering we are only 4 people ), so it will be a bit of this and that, here and there! I'll let you know what it turns out to be after the fact.

A little of this and a little of that isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially when it's you. Hope you're evening wasn't too crazy.

Lunch - my own homemade brocoli/cheddar soup (a Panera recipe that I've tweaked to make low fat)

ooh, that sounds delicious. I'll have panera's occassionally, but try to stick with the black bean of chicken noodle. Would you share the recipe? Or is it on the BL recipe thread? I'll check over there.

Here is my Rapunzel.........

...P

She looks so adorable, what a beautiful costume you made. And ds is very frightening. Very impressive costume skills you have there pamela.

Breakfast was a tall gingerbread frappucino . . . I know, I know but I needed something light before seeing the trainer and it was only 260 calories and very, very tasty.

Some times you just need a frappucino. Think of the calcium and protein in the milk. Really, it's not a bad choice.

Hello friends! Here I sit in front of the computer when I should be exercising! Something about this change in routine has just thrown me for a loop. For 10 days DS has Driver's Ed after school and I just find myself sitting around enjoying the alone time when I could be getting something done!

Kathy & Pamela - I like that plan! I really need to shoot for on-plan EVERY day until Thanksgiving. Good luck with your teacher conference Kathy.

Looking forward to watching BL tonight. I always feel energized and recommitted after watching it. Have a great evening all. It has been a beautiful day here, 73 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. I won the football pool at work and got $50

Sometimes relaxing during your alone time is better for the soul than exercising. I'm sure it's even better when ds is a teenager. It has been beautiful here too, but it's a little sad to come out of work at 4:30 in the dark. On plan til turkey day!! YOu can do it. Lisa and Maria are also in on the fun.

B: Oatmeal with cinnamon, protein shake made with coffee
L: Homemade chicken curry with brown rice, green tea
S: Greek yogurt with berries, green tea
D: Salmon, baked sweet potato, grilled asparagus
S: Homemade zucchini bread (only if I get my workout in tonight!)

mmmm, zucchini bread sounds great. I haven't had that in a few years, but had a recipe that used a can of crushed pineapple, so it was pretty low fat.

Evening friends! I am actually home ALONE and don't have to go out again tonight!! That rarely happens! Dinner is done and cleaned up! I would like to scrapbook, but I'm a bit tired.... I may just fold the last load of laundry and make a cup of green tea and grab my book. We'll see.

Hope you enjoyed your alone time.

Drive by post again. I just don't have time for my peeps right now!! I'm sooo sorry!!!!

WOOHOO on number 2!
The no soda is still going strong. I'm sure the kids will want to drink it again but I'm going to stay away if I can. Next up for December is fast food. That has gotten out of hand.
I need better ideas for lunches. Panera just isn't cutting it anymore.
And I need to lay off the macchiato's. Since I've laid off the soda I have increased the macchiato's which are mostly milk. Way to many calories in a day. I'm thinking of cutting back to 2 times a week, right now I'm probably near 5-6.

Whoo hoo on #2, and no soda!! Do you do starbucks? I do love their passion fruit iced tea, and with half the sugar, it's not too bad.

Funny story... Oldest DS asked youngest DS if he liked spinach. Youngest DS said he hated it because it was gross as he is inhaling the spinach salad Youngest DS is 10. So after he's done eating, we tell him it is spinach and he looks at me and says I tricked him. But he went back for seconds

That's so funny. How dare you trick him like that.

Hi Kathy Love the Wii free step.

How did the parent teacher conference go?



Hello everyone, just got back from the gym and figured I'd pop on and say hello before hitting the showers, so off I go. Hope everyone is having a great week. Hugs to anyone that needs one

The conference went just fine. DS is really doing well in school, and not having any issues, so it was good. She goes over all the work they do in class, and showed me how he scores, and they do occassional testing similar to mcas to get them used to testing that way. She did say ds will start to be silly, but he knows he shouldn't, so he's looking at her, and if she catches his eye, he will stop. Really, I feel very blessed he's doing so well.
How is the gym? Was it Boston North you joined? When Michael was at ccd, I walked and went down to the bike path and walked down to 114, and then came out by the gym and back. The path is nice and quiet, but I wish it was paved, and not gravel. It doesn't feel great on the feet.
Congrats on being in the top 10 too!! And thank you for all your hard work as weight keepre.

My sister had a great idea to help them celebrate their 50th anniversary especially with losing Chrissy yesterday. She posted their address on FB and asked all of her friends to send them anniversary cards. My mother LOVES to receive cards so the more we put it in their mailbox, the better! I have contacted some of my friends and a friend of theirs from church to get lots of their friends to send cards and make their day extra special! If you would like to send your wishes to my parents, just PM me and I will send you their address. You can include on the card how you "know" them.

I am also going to make an iron on of their wedding photo and make them each a special sweatshirt. She loved the one I made for her birthday so I thought they might like this as well. My sister is also looking into renting a limo to take them to the concert they are going to on their anniversary.

Such a nice idea for their anniversary. I'm sure they will love the shirts.

Good evening friends,

I seem to have napped through much of the biggest loser, so figured I'd catch up here before I go to bed for real. I work tomorrow and then I have a 4 day weekend off. Ds has no school thursday and friday for veterans day, and a teacher workshop day, so I took the days off too. Of course I can't help thinking this would be a lovely time to go to wdw, but it wasn't in the cards this year. I guess it will be a great weekend for cleaning and organizing the basement and raking the leaves.

Night, night, sleep tight.

 

[buzz5985]

So glad you made it home after that scary drive. I don't know how you work 19 days in a row You are a Super Woman![/COLOR]
Maria

No Super Woman here. Finally done, 20 days straight. It absolutely killed me. 10 years ago - it wouldn't have phased me. So for my first weekend off in 3 weeks - I cooked, cleaned and shopped. Poor DS turned 15 on Monday - told him we would celebrate this week. I have Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun off to get ready for the holidays. Then I have to hit the pavement again for work. Just found out I have training in January in OK.

You guys with the braces and the NHS inductin and the sports practices are freaking me out just a little. DS is only 2, and he's wearing me out - I hoped once he started school things would calm down. Apparently not!

No it get's a lot worse. Stay away from hockey Sept - April, 5 days/week. But now DS is a Midget and it's a short season - already done, and I miss it. LOL Contrary lass.

Hi Everyone,

My parents and I have been without power since early Saturday night. We are estimated to have it back by Sunday night. I am staying at my sister's and BIL's for the night. They just got Internet back earlier today. Luckily, they never lost power!

After a lot of toiling, I decided not to have Healthy Habits for the upcoming week. I do not know how long I will be staying with them nor how long my house will be without power/cable/phone/Internet. I do not feel right posting HH and then not being available to answer questions.

Please, please PM me your results for the week ending today. I will post them as soon as possible.

Have a great week everyone! I will catch up when I have Internet at my house.

CC

I am late - hope you are OK, power back on etc.

I've been taking a few one-day courses at the local community college (powerpoint, photoshop, etc.) in order to strenghten my resume. Tomorrow is Intermediate Excel. Since these classes are held in a computer lab, there are strict "no food/no drink" rules. I normally drink about 100+ ounces of water a day, so that will put a kink in those plans.

Laura

I love my local community college courses - I have taken a range from landscape design, to photography. But most of those are 6 week courses. Met a lot of great people.

I apologize if i repeat any questions that have been asked before.

Monday 11/7/11-QOTD- Where was your favorite non-Disney vacation? If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world, money no object, where would you like to go?

My dream vacation - and the only one in my family that has it - is a photographic safari of Africa. Actually Adventures by Disney has the perfect one for me. LOL If needed I will go alone!!! My favorite vacation is probably my honeymoon trip to Ireland. We would love to go back and bring DS. Other places we would like to repeat for DS is - Alaska, the "Grand Circle" (Grand Canyon, Four Corners, Mesa Verde, Zion, Bryce, etc.)
We would all love to do Hawaii.

TUesday QOTD- What's on the menu for today?

Coffe, cottage cheese, apple for breakfast
Honey Wheat roll, roasted chicken, lettuce, tomato, chipolte mustard, salad with Ken's Lite sundried tomato dressing for lunch
Homemade Turkey Meatball soup for a snack.
Dinner was a chicken, broccoli stir fry on rice vermicelli. Added some Oyster sauce - new recipe - will not repeat.

Evening all,

Watching BL with Brian who now has a really bad cold Hoping to head to bed in the next 40 minutes so I don't end up sick.

Talked to my mom this afternoon and tonight. Today has been very tough for them both but they know it was the right thing to do. My mom said she may get the ashes tomorrow.

My sister had a great idea to help them celebrate their 50th anniversary especially with losing Chrissy yesterday. She posted their address on FB and asked all of her friends to send them anniversary cards. My mother LOVES to receive cards so the more we put it in their mailbox, the better! I have contacted some of my friends and a friend of theirs from church to get lots of their friends to send cards and make their day extra special! If you would like to send your wishes to my parents, just PM me and I will send you their address. You can include on the card how you "know" them.

I am also going to make an iron on of their wedding photo and make them each a special sweatshirt. She loved the one I made for her birthday so I thought they might like this as well. My sister is also looking into renting a limo to take them to the concert they are going to on their anniversary.

Gotta look into that now!

TTFN

The ashes of my Dog Bonnie sit on my TV stand, along with a picture of her. She was 18, and the hardest thing DH and I have ever done in our adult lives was call to make that appointment to put her down. We have had to make other tough decisions pertaining to our parents, but that decision about the dog was the hardest.

***************

Congratulations to all the losers and maintainers. I hope to make it to the boards more than I have the past month.

Janis

 

[buzz5985]

I noticed there has been some mention of hot dogs on the board. I think I have found a good alternative. The brand is Al Fresco, Uncured Chicken Franks. On a scale of 1 - 10 - I would rate the product an 8.

Ingredients: SKINLESS CHICKEN MEAT, WATER, AND CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF SEA SALT, SUGAR, NATURAL FLAVORS (INCLUDING CELERY POWDER), GRANULATED GARLIC, EXTRACT OF PAPRIKA.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 FRANK (43G)
Serving Per Container 8

Amount Per Serving

Calories 60 Calories from Fat 25

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 3g 5%

Saturated Fat 1g 5%

Trans Fat 0g

Cholestrol 30mg 10%

Sodium 330mg 14%

Total Carbohydrate 0g 0%

Dietary Fiber 0g 0%

Sugars 0g

Protein 7g

Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 0% Iron 2%

*Percent daily values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:
Calories 2000 2500

Total Fat less than 65g 80g
Saturated Fat less than 20g 25g
Cholestrol less than 300mg 300mg
Sodium less than 2400mg 2400mg
Total Carbohydrate 300g 375g
Dietery Fiber 25g 30g



Calories per gram
Fat 9 Carbohydrate 4 Protein 4

I also enjoy the Al Fresco Chicken Sausage. I found them at my local Market Basket. The hot dogs are a package of 8 for $3.69. The sausages run about the same for 4.


Janis

 

[donac]

Good Wednesday morning.

Only 1 more day and then a nice long weekend off.

Kathy I really wanted to go to DW this weekend off also but it was not to be. Dh will try painting the back dormer of the house and I want to get some quilting done.

Wednesday Pampering of the Day

Find a quiet place for 5 minutes and read something. It could be inspirational or it could be fluff. Just 5 quiet minutes.

Off to get ready for school.

Have a happy and healthy day.

 

[tigger813]

Morning all,

Well, day is not starting off as planned. I went to wake Ash up and I could tell by the look on her face that something was wrong! She said she woke up in the middle of the night and felt like she was burning up. So, I felt her head and grabbed the thermometer! 101.9 headache and sore throat! She is absolutely miserable! She is rarely sick! She had her flu shot yesterday so I hope it's not a reaction! She's got a cold cloth on her head and took some motrin! Her throat looks ok but I will check again later and if necessary take her to the dr or CVS for a throat culture! Knock on wood, no one in our house has ever had strep! Going to keep Izzie away from Ash. We'll probably watch some Christmas movies and do some house cleaning. I have to run a few errands after dropping Izzie off so hopefully Ash will be ok for the few minutes I have to be out. She wants some popsicles so I will stop and get her some. Poor thing is sweating like crazy too! Going to be a long day!

TTFN

 

[jillbur]

Thanks for all the well wishes for my mom. She came home from the hospital yesterday. She apparently does not have pneumonia, but had a massive asthma attack. She's never had one before so now she is set with inhalers just in case. I try so nicely to encourage her to get healthy and lose weight, but she always has excuses. Well, I got a little meaner about it in the hospital and told her she wouldn't constantly have health problems if she was thinner and ate better. I guess she has to want it, though. It's sad to watch her make up sorry excuses. She even tells people she's still carrying baby weight. I AM ALMOST 35!!! Grrrrr...well, hopefully she listens to me and my sister and her doctors get more forceful with her instead of just suggesting she lose a little weight.

Sunday 11/6/11 QOTD-There's been some talk about the scale this week, so lets continue on that subject. Do you have a love/hate relationship with your scale? Do you weigh yourself everyday? Do you only weigh once or twice a week? What time of the day do you weigh yourself? Do you feel your scale is really accurate and want to recommend it to others? Share your advice when it comes to the scale.

I weigh myself everyday. It seems to keep me in check. If it creeps up, I will make sure I am OP and when it creeps down, I celebrate! I always weigh myself in the morning before my shower. I didn't think my scale was very accurate, but I weighed myself before going to the gym yesterday and weighed myself at the gym and it was 0.2 lbs off. So it must be accurate. I think it's a sunbeam and it does body fat percentage and all that good stuff.

I apologize if i repeat any questions that have been asked before.

Monday 11/7/11-QOTD- Where was your favorite non-Disney vacation? If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world, money no object, where would you like to go?

It's hard to pick a favorite vacation other than Disney. We love to travel, but haven't been to any countries other than Canada and Mexico. I want to go so many places it's hard to pick. In the US I want to go to the Grand Canyon. But, if I could go anywhere, I'd do an around the world cruise so I could see everything! Or Australia if I had to pick one place.

TUesday QOTD- What's on the menu for today?

Breakfast~slow cooker oats
Lunch~2 meatballs on a bakery bun and almonds
Dinner~Hamburger on the grill and homemade mac n cheese.


It took me so long to catch up from Saturday that I fell asleep last night! I need to catch up on sleep from this weekend. I'm off to work...just found out yesterday I have 2 IEPs due ASAP. Nice of the school district (not my school) to even tell me the students had IEPs! So every free second today I will be typing those up. Hope everyone has a great day. This is our last nice weather day. Tomorrow it's supposed to drop 47 as the high. Friday is supposed to be a high of 44 and my boys are in the Veteran's Day parade! Yikes! I think it's supposed to go back into the 50s after that, but I'm wishing I lived in the south!

Enjoy!

Jill

 

[aamomma]

Hello, everyone!! I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words and encouragement. I don't post often, but I rarely miss reading along. It really keeps me focused on what I'm supposed to be doing, and why I'm doing it!! Have a great day

 

[mikamah]

No Super Woman here. Finally done, 20 days straight. It absolutely killed me. 10 years ago - it wouldn't have phased me. So for my first weekend off in 3 weeks - I cooked, cleaned and shopped. Poor DS turned 15 on Monday - told him we would celebrate this week. I have Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun off to get ready for the holidays. Then I have to hit the pavement again for work. Just found out I have training in January in OK.

I bet you're exhausted. Enjoy your long weekend, and be sure and take a little time for you too.

I noticed there has been some mention of hot dogs on the board. I think I have found a good alternative. The brand is Al Fresco, Uncured Chicken Franks. On a scale of 1 - 10 - I would rate the product an 8.

I also enjoy the Al Fresco Chicken Sausage. I found them at my local Market Basket. The hot dogs are a package of 8 for $3.69. The sausages run about the same for 4.


Janis

Thanks for this. I'll have to look for them next time I'm shopping. I love the Al fresco chicken sausages, but never noticed the franks.

Kathy I really wanted to go to DW this weekend off also but it was not to be. Dh will try painting the back dormer of the house and I want to get some quilting done.

Wednesday Pampering of the Day

Find a quiet place for 5 minutes and read something. It could be inspirational or it could be fluff. Just 5 quiet minutes.

The whole being a responsible adult stinks sometimes doesn't it. We can pretend wdw is too crazy busy with all those Jersey folks and we wouldn't want to be there anyway.
Thanks for the pampering this week. I haven't been reading lately, and need to finish up a book, so I'll do that tonight.

Morning all,

Well, day is not starting off as planned. I went to wake Ash up and I could tell by the look on her face that something was wrong! She said she woke up in the middle of the night and felt like she was burning up. So, I felt her head and grabbed the thermometer! 101.9 headache and sore throat! She is absolutely miserable! She is rarely sick! She had her flu shot yesterday so I hope it's not a reaction! She's got a cold cloth on her head and took some motrin! Her throat looks ok but I will check again later and if necessary take her to the dr or CVS for a throat culture! Knock on wood, no one in our house has ever had strep! Going to keep Izzie away from Ash. We'll probably watch some Christmas movies and do some house cleaning. I have to run a few errands after dropping Izzie off so hopefully Ash will be ok for the few minutes I have to be out. She wants some popsicles so I will stop and get her some. Poor thing is sweating like crazy too! Going to be a long day!

TTFN

Hope it's a quick virus and she's better soon.

Thanks for all the well wishes for my mom. She came home from the hospital yesterday. She apparently does not have pneumonia, but had a massive asthma attack. She's never had one before so now she is set with inhalers just in case. I try so nicely to encourage her to get healthy and lose weight, but she always has excuses. Well, I got a little meaner about it in the hospital and told her she wouldn't constantly have health problems if she was thinner and ate better. I guess she has to want it, though. It's sad to watch her make up sorry excuses. She even tells people she's still carrying baby weight. I AM ALMOST 35!!! Grrrrr...well, hopefully she listens to me and my sister and her doctors get more forceful with her instead of just suggesting she lose a little weight.
Jill

I'm glad she's doing better and is home. I could have written this post a few years ago with my mom too. It is so hard to see, and frustrating that you can't help her, and she has to help herself and be ready to change. Maybe the scare of being in the hospital will help her. I remember trying so hard, and being so frustrated with my mom at one point when she wasn't doing what they doctors told her to do. I wrote her a letter, and said that I loved her and I pushed her because I wanted her to be here for a long time, and I would be there for her, but I needed to step back and let her handle her medical issues in her way. I think it helped both of us, her to see where I was coming from, and me to realize it was not my place to try and fix her. She was a grown woman, and she needed to make her own decisions, even if i didn't approve. I was her daughter, and not her mother. It is so hard. A big hug to you and your mom.

Hello, everyone!! I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words and encouragement. I don't post often, but I rarely miss reading along. It really keeps me focused on what I'm supposed to be doing, and why I'm doing it!! Have a great day

Thank you for the inspiration of your success too.