Team Donald – Biggest Loser “No Excuses” 2012 Challenge

[luvpoohandcompany]

It was a very hard night in my house.
My DS cried for almost 2 hours and finally got to bed. I am now going to bed but will be back tomorrow.

I'm so sorry

Today was not an uneventful day. They moved up my colonoscopy and endoscopy to wednesday (was supposed to be in feb) because my stomachs been bothering me so much. Well that means i needed tomorrow and wed off. I fel really awkward telling my boss i would need the day off, the day before because well, i work in retail, they need someone to cover me. But he was ok with it and figured it out so that i could have the days off.

Now i'm all nervous. This ain't my first rodeo, I've had a colonoscopy before, and i just remember the prep being AWFUL. I'm just so nervous about it. I'm taking the miralax with gatorade which ive heard doesn't taste too bad but im really worried about getting nauseas and im just so terrified about being nauseous. I'm thinking of calling the doctor and seeing if i can take an anti nausea medicine before hand but they will probably say no. So I'm very nervous about that, and i'm also very nervous and the day of, because i'm terrified of needles and the thought of the IV is freaking me out. I know this is just my anxiety getting to me but its freaking me out.

Any words of wisdom or anything to help calm me down would be greatly appreciated!

Just wanted to wish you luck I'll be thinking of you.

I went to bed at 10:30 and fell asleep almost instantly, only to wake up around midnight because I was freezing. I haven't been able to fall back asleep. Technically I don't need to be up until 5:15, so I'm playing on Mom's computer until then (mine's packed). We're heading out to the airport at 6 and stopping at Tim Horton's-I'll probably get a yogurt parfait and bagel.

I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me from the fall challenge through now, with the application process, the waiting, the excitement over getting accepted, and the waiting for two months to actually go down.

I hope I will be able to meet some of you if you come down to visit, and I'll let you know where I will be working as soon as I find out. In the meantime, I will be posting a lot of blog updates and dining reviews (for today at least) and both those links are in my sig. If you want to see even more pictures, you can friend me on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/gretchenf1

Cant wait to hear all about your adventures. Good luck

 

[jillbur]

The WISH Biggest Loser Spring Challenge Team Donald Week 1 Superstars!!
#10- 1.80% - luvpoohandcompany
#9- 1.90% - cjdj4
#8- 2.02% - grumpyskirtgirl
#7- 2.17% - mommyof2Pirates
#6 - 2.20% - donac
#5- 2.49% - pjlla
#4- 2.56 - GoofyPedsFan
#3- 2.60% - klmrph
#2- 2.99% - Mary.Poppins
and now
The WISH Biggest Loser Team Donald Spring Challenge Week 1 Biggest Loser is:
#1- 3.46% - frndshpcptn

Congrats to the top 10 and all of Team Donald!!

This week's winning team with 50.22% is Team Donald!!

Team Mickey was not far behind with 50.20% for the week!

Additional stats for the week!!!!

Buckeye Fan won for Team Mickey with 3.63% this week and was the overall Biggest Loser!!

Congrats to frndshpcptn who was Donald's Team winner with 3.46%!

Team Donald lost 103.3 pounds this week
Team Mickey lost 102.2 pounds this week

Team Donald leads the Total Weight Loss with 103.3 pounds, can you believe how close the results were this week?????
Both teams together have lost 205.5 pounds!!!! Amazing!

Keep reading, keep posting and most of all keep losing and continue learning!!!!

Have an OP week

WOW! I can't believe how close this was! Keep up the good work everyone!

It was a very hard night in my house. We took our kitty (really 12 year old cat) to the vet. Hagrid is giant kitty who is so loving and wonderful...but he has not been himself for a couple of weeks. He has been pacing around, hissing at our other cats at times and then went to the bathroom in our living room the other night. We finally knew he needed to see the vet. After a long series of tests, the vet told us that the numbers who his kidneys are having problems. He is at the vet tonight and will get IV fluids all day tomorrow. Tomorrow night he will come home until Wednesday morning. Wednesday morning he will go back for more IV fluids. Wednesday afternoon they will test again and if there are no changes, we will have to put him down. We are all sad but my DS is totally devastated. Hagrid sleeps with him every night and follows him everywhere. It was a very sad night with many tears. Even if Hagrid responds to the IV treatment, the vet could not tell us how long he will make it after that.

My DS cried for almost 2 hours and finally got to bed. I am now going to bed but will be back tomorrow.

On a positive note - I am proud of all of us for the great first week of being here for one another!

Night everyone!
Jen

Oh, Jen, I am so sorry for the pain. Pets are so wonderful and it's always so hard to see your kids in pain. Hang in there.

Any words of wisdom or anything to help calm me down would be greatly appreciated!

Can you listen to music during the whole procedure? Maybe that would help relax you. Listen to some Disney music and let it to take you to a happy place

I went to bed at 10:30 and fell asleep almost instantly, only to wake up around midnight because I was freezing. I haven't been able to fall back asleep. Technically I don't need to be up until 5:15, so I'm playing on Mom's computer until then (mine's packed). We're heading out to the airport at 6 and stopping at Tim Horton's-I'll probably get a yogurt parfait and bagel.

I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me from the fall challenge through now, with the application process, the waiting, the excitement over getting accepted, and the waiting for two months to actually go down.

I hope I will be able to meet some of you if you come down to visit, and I'll let you know where I will be working as soon as I find out. In the meantime, I will be posting a lot of blog updates and dining reviews (for today at least) and both those links are in my sig. If you want to see even more pictures, you can friend me on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/gretchenf1

OMGSH Gretchen! I can't believe you are leaving today!! Have a great time and keep up posted on all the fun you're having (and any inside secrets ). Safe travels!

Good Morning Team Donald!


Tuesday's QOTD: Share what you eat for breakfast. Feel free to share your on the go ideas, quick breakfasts or what you have when you have time to make something better.

One of my favorite (and filling) breakfasts is slow cooker oats (recipe is on allrecipes.com). It lasts me all week. I also enjoy cereals (Kashi and Fiber Plus). I usually don't make hot breakfasts on days I work, but on weekends, I do make eggs and toast or english muffins. Oh, and if I need something really quick that I can eat in the car, Kashi frozen waffles are good too. I don't need syrup so they are perfect for on the run!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I went to the gym last night for the circuit training class and, of course, since it's January, 5 new people were in class. We were usuing the weight machines, so the trainer tried to bunch them together so we didn't have to keep changing weights constantly. We ended up with 13 people and we did 3 rounds of both upper and lower body exercises. It was such a good, tough workout. I was even a little sore before bed and took 2 advil. So, I am feeling so good this morning after an awesome workout and being OP all weekend and yesterday! Plus, I saw my sister this morning and she said my thighs look thinner I still haven't seen a change in clothing though, but I'll take that compliment!

I just wanted to check in and congratulate Team Donald for the great job this week. Let's keep it up through week 2 and until the end!

My students have manditory counseling everyday and on Tues and Thurs, it lets me have an extra 1/2 hour of planning time , so I will be back later to check in.

Have a great Tuesday!

Jill

 

[pjlla]

Good morning friends! Sorry I didn't make it back here yesterday to finish up my read/replies. The carpeting installation was yesterday and it turned into a CRAZY day! The installers showed up and I was still mid-packing and I was NOT a happy camper. We ended up just SHOVELING everything into the kitchen and downstairs bathroom.

Then the installers just put all of the furniture that they could into the kitchen. I was under the impression that they would move it to the lawn and/or garage. But of course, once the kitchen was full, there was no way into the room to get food or drinks! And DH and I hadn't had lunch yet. I was able to quickly grab a bowl of quinoa and veggies from the fridge to microwave for me and loaded a plate with hummus and carrots and cheese for DH. Then mid-afternoon I was able to "scale" the mountain of stuff and grab a couple of apples from the fruit basket. But that was it.

While they were installing downstairs I cleaned DD's bathroom and started picking up DS's room. DH was working at home and was on a conference call in our bedroom (he set up shop at my scrapping table.... ) so he didn't even want me in the room! The only other choices were the kids' rooms or the upstairs bathrooms. I suppose I could have filled the tub and had a nice relaxing bath!

By that time it was time to run around grabbing kids and running errands to the library and such.

Anyhow, by the time the installers left, we put SOME of the furniture back (enough so that we could access part of the kitchen and use the kitchen door to the garage), then it was time to drive DD to Rainbow Girls and try to figure out what we were going to eat for dinner. There was NO WAY I could access the stove/oven or pantry yet, so I got DD a sandwich at Dunkin's on the way to Rainbow and grabbed salads for DH and myself from our local pizza shop on the way back.

I was crazy cranky lady from all of the stress (I can't STAND messes.... they make me NUTS) and DH hates ANY kind of projects around the house, so it was not a fun place to be last night.

Anyhow, the new carpet is beautiful and soft and squishy! The majority of the furniture is back in place. The new entertainment center that I bought in July that has been sitting in my dining room waiting for the new carpet is now in its proper place and looks great!

Most of what I need to do today is just putting away boxes of "stuff" and cleaning out clutter. It will be another crazy busy day, but I'm sure I will feel SO accomplished when it is done.

No workout yesterday, but I"m sure I burned the calories moving boxes and cleaning! Heck, I made 8 trips up and down my stairs just to put back the dining room chairs.... and countless other trips up and down the basement stairs.... plus lots of bending and lifting and carrying. I barely stopped moving from 4:30 am yesterday morning until 9:30 last night (other than driving).... I was exhausted!

Off to try to catch up just a bit!..........................P

 

[jenanderson]

Today has been really crazy and its been tough to stay with everything, but I think I actually did it! DH and I had to run all over the place getting parts to fix my car, and ended up having Subway for lunch. And I really struggled to drink all the "required" water today, it was so cold and all I really wanted was coffee or hot cocoa, especially when the snow started.

Sounds like you had a busy day yesterday. I am hope that your car is all fixed!

Wow! Over 100 pounds in one week! Disney is magical!

It is magical!

Wow a team loss of over 100lbs, that's amazing! So proud of everyone this week. Great Job and Congrats to the top 10 losers for the week.

I was so amazed when I saw the number! We should all be proud of ourselves for working so hard to live a healthy life!

Here are two that I keep on my desk at work:

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
-Steve Jobs

"There are no extra pieces on the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle."

- Deepak Chopra

Wow! Together we lost the weight of a 12 year old (I just asked my son how much he weighed.) Way to go everyone!

I LOVE your quotes...I also have the one by Steve Jobs up at my desk. I would actually like to have it put up on the wall of my classroom (I thought that would be appropriate since I teach an iPad class).

I just looked at my 12 year old and think how cool that is that we lost that much all together! Way to go team!

Oh and I loved all of your quotes that you all shared. I am trying to think of somehow using some of them creatively on my office walls at work. I am a huge quote person and I think it would be cool to do something like that. Any ideas please feel free to share.

I think it would be so cool if you used the quotes in your office...I don't have any ideas of what to do but if you come up with something, you will have to share it!

This week's winning team with 50.22% is Team Donald!!

Team Mickey was not far behind with 50.20% for the week!

Additional stats for the week!!!!

Buckeye Fan won for Team Mickey with 3.63% this week and was the overall Biggest Loser!!

Congrats to frndshpcptn who was Donald's Team winner with 3.46%!

Team Donald lost 103.3 pounds this week
Team Mickey lost 102.2 pounds this week

Team Donald leads the Total Weight Loss with 103.3 pounds, can you believe how close the results were this week?????
Both teams together have lost 205.5 pounds!!!! Amazing!

Keep reading, keep posting and most of all keep losing and continue learning!!!!

Have an OP week

Another big congratulations to EVERYONE on BOTH teams! It is so amazing how close the results are and I am totally impressed with the effort that everyone is putting into this!

I just wanted to share a Facebook quote from Newark, NJ mayor Cory Booker:

You cannot find what you do not seek. You cannot grasp when you do not reach. Your dreams won’t come up to your front door. You have got to take a leap, if you want to soar.

Have a wonderful evening and make good choices!

Another great quote! Thanks for sharing!

 

[jenanderson]

To Laura, Kristina, Quasara, Trina, Shannon, Janis, Dona, Kathy and everyone else who has said such kind and caring words about our kitty...thank you. DS got up today and started crying again because Hagrid was not in bed with him. We knew it was going to be a rough morning. The good thing is that after a few minutes DS was able to pull himself together and get ready for school. He is excited that Hagrid will come home tonight and understand that this might be his last night at home with us.

Today was not an uneventful day. They moved up my colonoscopy and endoscopy to wednesday (was supposed to be in feb) because my stomachs been bothering me so much. Well that means i needed tomorrow and wed off. I fel really awkward telling my boss i would need the day off, the day before because well, i work in retail, they need someone to cover me. But he was ok with it and figured it out so that i could have the days off.

Now i'm all nervous. This ain't my first rodeo, I've had a colonoscopy before, and i just remember the prep being AWFUL. I'm just so nervous about it. I'm taking the miralax with gatorade which ive heard doesn't taste too bad but im really worried about getting nauseas and im just so terrified about being nauseous. I'm thinking of calling the doctor and seeing if i can take an anti nausea medicine before hand but they will probably say no. So I'm very nervous about that, and i'm also very nervous and the day of, because i'm terrified of needles and the thought of the IV is freaking me out. I know this is just my anxiety getting to me but its freaking me out.

Any words of wisdom or anything to help calm me down would be greatly appreciated!

Trina - We will be thinking of you. All medical procedures make me nervous so I feel for you. I think Kathy gave you some great words of practical advice and wisdom. I hope you can find some things to take your mind off of it all and that the whole thing goes smoothly for you.

A couple of my favourite quotes/motivational thoughts:

I am worth it! I am strong!

If you a break dish emptying the dishwasher, you don't throw the rest on the floor - so don't let one mistake become a disaster!

No one ever got fit from staying cozy and comfy.

If hunger is not the question, food is not the answer.

Shannon - I love all these quotes! Thanks for sharing!

I went to bed at 10:30 and fell asleep almost instantly, only to wake up around midnight because I was freezing. I haven't been able to fall back asleep. Technically I don't need to be up until 5:15, so I'm playing on Mom's computer until then (mine's packed). We're heading out to the airport at 6 and stopping at Tim Horton's-I'll probably get a yogurt parfait and bagel.

I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me from the fall challenge through now, with the application process, the waiting, the excitement over getting accepted, and the waiting for two months to actually go down.

I hope I will be able to meet some of you if you come down to visit, and I'll let you know where I will be working as soon as I find out. In the meantime, I will be posting a lot of blog updates and dining reviews (for today at least) and both those links are in my sig. If you want to see even more pictures, you can friend me on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/gretchenf1

Gretchen - I am going to friend you on Facebook when I get home tonight! I can't wait to hear all about your adventures and know that you are going to have the time of your life!

My meeting yesterday went okay. We had it on a Monday instead of Tuesday so this one person who hasn't made a meeting was there. All she talked aout was union this and union that. I was ready to tell her to leave. I did tell her at one point that we are not talking union here but what is good for the kids and communication with the parents. Now if the inservice tomorrow goes well I will be happy. We are trying to have all the faculty set up simple websites so the parents could know how to contact us, when our extra help is and our grading policy. I won't be able to be involved since I have to go to another for something else. I feel like it will be okay.

I have to get moving. I have to pick up some pictures from Walgreen. A friend's husband died yesterday and he did our renewal of vows for our 25th anniversary. I found a couple of pictures of him so I am printing them out. I will drop them off this morning on my way to school.

Morning Dona! Sounds like your meeting yesterday went as well as it could. Glad that you are feeling okay about it all. That is so kind of you to put together the pictures that you found of your friend's husband. How sad. I am sure your friend will appreciate your thoughts and effort.

I wish I could be your nurse and we'd talk about disney and you wouldn't even know I was putting that IV in. Good luck!!

That is so kind Kathy! I bet you are a wonderful nurse!

Good morning all!! I love love love breakfast, I can't go without it. It doesn't matter if I get up at 5 am or 10 am my tummy says "feed me!!" So I do! Here lately I've been eating oatmeal and a little mini orange, those cutie's. But I like cereal and I also like to fry up an egg and put it on a piece of wheat toast. Yummy. Another favorite is Coco Wheats. My kids won't touch it, but I grew up on that and seem to associate it with snow days, so it's a good feely food for me

Sounds like you get a good start to your day!

I realize this week with the puppy and morning walks, I have occassionally been missing breakfast, or just having a banana on the way out the door, and realize I need to make it more of a priority. This morning I had 2 pieces of canadian bacon and 2 eggs fried in pam. I'll have a banana as well. I definitely crave less snacks during the day if I have eaten a breakfast high in protein. I like eggs most ways, but often will hard boil a bunch for the week. If I make scrambled eggs I'll use one whole egg and 2-3 egg whites.
An english muffin or sandwich thin with scrambled egg cheese and salsa was a favorite I need to go back to. Some days i'll have a greek yogurt with a banana or other fruit. Bananas are so easy, we tend to have one every morning.
I've also been known to have leftovers for breakfast, chicken and vegies, and give the same to ds. I'm not a strick breakfast type food person.

I am in the same place as you are Kathy...missing my breakfast. I had never even thought of boiling up a bunch of eggs for the week. This is going to be my goal for next weekend to help be sure I have a better start to my day! Thanks for the idea!

 

[jenanderson]

I'm so sorry

Thanks. You guys are all great with the support!

Oh, Jen, I am so sorry for the pain. Pets are so wonderful and it's always so hard to see your kids in pain. Hang in there.

Thanks Jill! I think it is hard on my DH and I to watch how sad the kids are more then anything.

Can you listen to music during the whole procedure? Maybe that would help relax you. Listen to some Disney music and let it to take you to a happy place

I think listening to Disney music is a super idea!

One of my favorite (and filling) breakfasts is slow cooker oats (recipe is on allrecipes.com). It lasts me all week. I also enjoy cereals (Kashi and Fiber Plus). I usually don't make hot breakfasts on days I work, but on weekends, I do make eggs and toast or english muffins. Oh, and if I need something really quick that I can eat in the car, Kashi frozen waffles are good too. I don't need syrup so they are perfect for on the run!

These are all great ideas. I might have to try to slow cooker recipe because I really like oatmeal!

Plus, I saw my sister this morning and she said my thighs look thinner I still haven't seen a change in clothing though, but I'll take that compliment!

I would love it if someone said my thights looked thinner!

I just wanted to check in and congratulate Team Donald for the great job this week. Let's keep it up through week 2 and until the end!

My students have manditory counseling everyday and on Tues and Thurs, it lets me have an extra 1/2 hour of planning time , so I will be back later to check in.

Have a great Tuesday!

Jill

Glad you get some extra planning time. I know how much I love mine!

Good morning friends! Sorry I didn't make it back here yesterday to finish up my read/replies. The carpeting installation was yesterday and it turned into a CRAZY day! The installers showed up and I was still mid-packing and I was NOT a happy camper. We ended up just SHOVELING everything into the kitchen and downstairs bathroom.

Sounds like you had a crazy day but made the most of it! Good luck finishing it all up today so that you feel better about having an organized house!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Didnt have time to answer this when I was on earlier-hadnt realised the time and had to run get my youngest from school. I made it with seconds to spare- bad mum that I am

My favourite on the go breakfast is a banana and cereal bar (normally ww) but normally we sit at the table for breakfast as a family and weekdays it tends to be cereal and fruit juice! I do make my own granola which I love and it has lots of seeds and dried fruits and some nuts in. It feels like a real treat to me and puts me in a good mood for the day

On Sundays I usually grill a slice of bacon and have that with toast.
Easter Sunday is the only day I eat an egg for breakfast and then its the chocolate variety Maybe theres a reason I need to lose weight

If I'm visiting my mum in the morning I only eat fruit or 5 almonds for breakfast because I know she will have wheaten bread/scones or some other bakery treat at her house and I find I can keep OP this way and not hurt her feelings by refusing something shes made for me

 

[pjlla]

Good Morning Team Donald!

I will come on later this morning to reply to people and check in to see how everyone is doing but wanted to get our QOTD posted.

Ask yourself, can I give more? The answer is usually Yes.

Motivational quotes can really help us get through a difficult day or a challenging week. They can inspire us through a hard workout and remind us why we are working so hard.

Monday's QOTD: Share a quote that motivates, inspires or helps you through on your journey to a healthy life.

Well, I enjoyed so many of the quotes you all shared, but I'm afraid I can't come up with anything too exciting right now. The first thing that popped into my head was the old stand-by of "Nothing tastes as good as SLIM feels."

From John Bingham on running, "The miracle is not that I finished, but that I had the courage to start." Two years ago, if you ever told me that the following year I would be running and do a half marathon I would have said you were out of your mind. But I did it. And for all the race I have done, I am always in the back of the pack, the bigger the pack the further from last I am, but I love the WISH motto, "Dead last finish beats Did not finish which greatly trumps Did not start." So while I don't want to be last, and haven't been yet, I would still cross that finishline with a smile and be proud because i had the courage to be out there at all.

I love both of those!


Well, I didn't stick with my plan at my nephews b-day, and had a second piece of pizza and a sliver of cake with ice cream. Definitely better than in the past, but not what I want to be doing. Funny how it sets you off on a bad roll sometimes, and when I got home, I found myself looking in the kitchen for something to eat, but not even being hungry. I took the dog out for a walk instead of eating, and then later had a banana and yogurt. I'm off for one more quick walk, and then need to make a salad for lunch. I hardboiled some eggs for it too, and picked up some taboule.

Have a marvelous monday everyone!!

Glad you were ble to get back on track when you got home. It must be something in the air right now or the full moon because I have been having trouble this week too!

Many years ago, I found this little poem on a plaque and I still love to read it today:

DON'T QUIT...When your luck is down, And your world goes wrong, When life's all uphill, And the road is long, Keep your spirits high, For through thick and thin, You must carry on, If you are to win...Never mind if things hold you back a bit--You'll come out on top, But you mustn't quit.

And I love the line from Biggest Loser the other day: If you arn't moving, you arn't losing!!!

I love those! I loved it when Dolvette told them that second quote!

S
I totally had the same feeling on saturday after we went to dinner and I splurged on some fried things (kept in my calorie range) but when I got home I found myself wanting to eat whatever. I ended up have a cup of soup for 60cal and then just going to bed to avoid continuing to eat for no reason. Isnt it crazy how the brain works.

Sounds like you did great!

Today is a new day and it sounds like you have it all under control again. Good job.

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

Today is off to a good start. I am amazed that I am no longer craving my morning fast food breakfast. My mini bagel and banana is my new thing. It is a great feeling.

Today I have a lean cuisine for lunch with a orange. Dinner will be a BLT sandwich with turkey bacon and a side salad. Today is supposed to be my rest day for exercise. I have done something every day since last tuesday so I am in need of a small rest. Ryan has bball practice tonight so it works out well.

TTYL

You're doing great!!

Good Morning Donalds...ok, almost afternoon! Busy morning at school with my students but a last minute cancellation was a blessing...I accomplished so much more! Another meeting at 1:30 but a healthy lunch in the middle Now that the dining hall serves G-F bread AND cold cuts, I am in heaven! They even have one soup that is G-F!

My weekend was filled with sleep and good friends...no, not together. I had a final lunch with my friend Roz who is due with her first baby on the 16th. She is going to be ultra busy so I wanted to take her out to celebrate before her arrival. She is such an inspiration...her words and support mean so much to me I can't wait to meet little Emma next week...ok, we hope next week!

it's back to spin class for me tonight!! I broke my leg 2 1/2 years ago and I still have had difficulty with my ankle December was absolutely terrible with pain...I really needed to rest it so I did. I feel good about tonight but I will be taking it easy....just to get back in the swing.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day...oh, and the snarky thing...not on this thread!!! I have "met" the most supportive people here!!!

Nice of you to take the time to visit with your friend before she becomes a Mom!

Hope the spin class went well and wasn't too tough on the ankle.

OOOooo was somebody being snarky?? Honestly... it all of the months I've been doing these challenges, I have YET to find a snarky comment made by anyone! I will admit, sometimes I am giving some "tough love" when I comment on someone's food choice (I try to only give an opinion when asked.....), but never snarky (I HOPE!)

Home today. DD woke up in the middle of the night sick. Stuffy nose, headache, and sore throat. So we stayed home today.


Ugg. Hope she can get some rest and get better quickly.


"The man who moves mountains begins by moving away small stones." - William Faulkner.

I Love this quote because it applies to so many things in life. Most things worth doing require us to eat the elephant one bit at a time, and it applies to weight loss too. If we lose a pound a week in 50 weeks we will have lost 50 lbs. No-one loses 50 lbs. in a week. You just have to keep moving the small stones (or lbs.) away one at a time until you have moved the mountain (or met your goal).

Great way to look at it!

My quote

The greatest wealth is health.
– Virgil

The only way I am going to enjoy my wealth down the road is to get healthy. My DH and I are working our tails off to make our future great and I want to enjoy it.

Just completed week 1 of C25K - I redid one of the days to make sure I was ready to go on to week 2, which I will do day 1 wk 2 on Wed this week.

That is a terrific quote! Just ask anyone who has/is sick.... if you don't have your health, nothing else matters much.

Not having a great day mindwise, but staying OP. Had to really talk myself out of having a another ice cream last night (I have one a night as a treat), and was successful - just went to bed . Woke up this morning, walking down the stairs, grumbling "I don't want to be on a diet". All morning I have felt put upon (even though I did this to myself), because I have to do this. But I have not given in, continue to be OP, and took a walk before lunch to get my 20 minutes in. I may be tired, only got 6 hours sleep, so that might be what is bringing this on.


Sorry you've been feeling this way. I've felt like this from time to time during this journey. I try hard to remind myself that I am NOT on a "diet".... that I am making strides and permanent changes to my eating and exercise habits to ensure a long, healthy life. I want people to be amazed at me when I am still touring the Disney parks all day long on my 50th birthday and my 60th birthday and my 70th birthday and my 80th birthday! No wheelchairs for me, no ECV for me.... just two strong healthy legs/hips/knees, a strong core, and a slim powerful body to propel me along.

Glad you were able to push past that feeling and say OP. Try to get some more rest today.

The walk helped. It was cold and brisk outside. I am eating my soup now and it is snowing. I also told two of my friends how I feel, but the fact that from my heaviest last week I have now lost 5 pounds! Not sure why I should feel sorry for myself!

But I still do.... Gotta make sure to get a good night's sleep tonight. Thanks for letting me vent.

Loaded some apps, will have to take a look at them. Loaded one for the C25K, but with my knees, I kinda doubt I can actually do it. I have to get my shots (a series of 10, 5 in each knees, over 5 weeks) which are excrutiating, but let me run (well, walk fast) around Disney almost pain free. They lasted about a year-and-one-half last time, hope they do the same this time.

Back to work!

Carol

Prayers that those shots give you the relief you need and you can be starting C25K soon! And honestly, I typed all that stuff about strong legs BEFORE I noticed your comment about your knees. Hope you don't take it the wrong way.

Hi everyone,

I thought about this today - I really, really like the routine of coming online at lunch and posting on this board. It helps keep me accountable and the support here is just so encouraging! So thanks everyone!!

I had an ok eating weekend (splurged on some vegetarian spring rolls and pasta)- but went for an hour and a half walk and then an hour of ice skating to get in some good physical activity. I'm hoping my Leslie Sansone DVDs arrive today.

My boyfriend and I went out for a sweet snack last night. He got an ice cream sundae and I got a decaf iced coffee. It was sweet - but without most of the calories! I felt really good about that choice.

Having a great bowl of chicken and rice soup for lunch and I have bell peppers with light ranch dip for my afternoon snack. Colorful and delicious! Dinner will be veggies and possibly a turkey sandwich?

Hope everyone has a strong week!
Joslyn

Excellent choice with the coffee. And I'll bet you'll agree that the GOOD FEELING you had about making the right choice lasted FAR LONGER than the "good food feeling" would have!

Monday's QOTD: Share a quote that motivates, inspires or helps you through on your journey to a healthy life.

I have several favorite quotes. Here are a few:

I may not be there yet, but I am closer than I was yesterday.

Someone who is busier than you is running right now.

DISCIPLINE is doing what needs to be done even though you don't want to.

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

Loving reading everyone else's quotes!!!!

Monday's QOTD: Share a quote that motivates, inspires or helps you through on your journey to a healthy life.

Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality ~ Ralph Marston

I love this quote. I have never applied it to weight loss before, but it seems fitting.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. (Henry David Thoreau)

On my Disney mug - If you can Dream it, you can do it.

And finally from Bob Harper - Excuses don't deliver results. Put in the time. . . Believe in yourself. Trust the process. . . Change forever.

Janis

These are all SO GOOD! I want to print them and hang them all over the house!!

Here we celebrate our progress and recognize our superstars.


Biggest Loser Fall Challenge Week 1!
This week’s group loss = 103.3 pounds!
Average percentage of weight lost 0.8 %
Total group weight loss so far 103.3 pounds!


The WISH Biggest Loser Spring Challenge Team Donald Week 1 Superstars!!
#10- 1.80% - luvpoohandcompany
#9- 1.90% - cjdj4
#8- 2.02% - grumpyskirtgirl
#7- 2.17% - mommyof2Pirates
#6 - 2.20% - donac
#5- 2.49% - pjlla
#4- 2.56 - GoofyPedsFan
#3- 2.60% - klmrph
#2- 2.99% - Mary.Poppins
and now
The WISH Biggest Loser Team Donald Spring Challenge Week 1 Biggest Loser is:
#1- 3.46% - frndshpcptn

WOOHOO for us!! We totally rocked this! Congrats to EVERYONE here on Team Donald.... both those on the list and those who continued on this journey EVERY SINGLE DAY!! And I'm thrilled to see myself on the list. Probably the only time it will happen for this challenge, as I only have a few pounds to go and they will go slowly, but exciting to see, nonetheless.

This week's winning team with 50.22% is Team Donald!!

Team Mickey was not far behind with 50.20% for the week!

Additional stats for the week!!!!

Buckeye Fan won for Team Mickey with 3.63% this week and was the overall Biggest Loser!!

Congrats to frndshpcptn who was Donald's Team winner with 3.46%!

Team Donald lost 103.3 pounds this week
Team Mickey lost 102.2 pounds this week

Team Donald leads the Total Weight Loss with 103.3 pounds, can you believe how close the results were this week?????
Both teams together have lost 205.5 pounds!!!! Amazing!

Keep reading, keep posting and most of all keep losing and continue learning!!!!

Have an OP week

Amazing stats! We should be SO PROUD! And HUGE thanks to Sue, our amazing weight keeper!!

WAY TO GO EVERYONE!!! Wow, one week can make a difference!!!

I just wanted to share a Facebook quote from Newark, NJ mayor Cory Booker:

You cannot find what you do not seek. You cannot grasp when you do not reach. Your dreams won’t come up to your front door. You have got to take a leap, if you want to soar.

Have a wonderful evening and make good choices!

Another excellent quote.

Alright - I had just done replies to everyone here and for some reason it all disappeared on me! I should go back and try to redo it but tonight I am shot so I will just do my post and then head to bed.

It was a very hard night in my house. We took our kitty (really 12 year old cat) to the vet. Hagrid is giant kitty who is so loving and wonderful...but he has not been himself for a couple of weeks. He has been pacing around, hissing at our other cats at times and then went to the bathroom in our living room the other night. We finally knew he needed to see the vet. After a long series of tests, the vet told us that the numbers who his kidneys are having problems. He is at the vet tonight and will get IV fluids all day tomorrow. Tomorrow night he will come home until Wednesday morning. Wednesday morning he will go back for more IV fluids. Wednesday afternoon they will test again and if there are no changes, we will have to put him down. We are all sad but my DS is totally devastated. Hagrid sleeps with him every night and follows him everywhere. It was a very sad night with many tears. Even if Hagrid responds to the IV treatment, the vet could not tell us how long he will make it after that.

My DS cried for almost 2 hours and finally got to bed. I am now going to bed but will be back tomorrow.

On a positive note - I am proud of all of us for the great first week of being here for one another!

Night everyone!
Jen

I'm SO sorry to hear about Hagrid. Prayers coming.

Jen, I am so very sorry to hear about your kitty! I work in the pet industry, and my store has a vet and animal adoptions so I hear these kinds of things all the time and its always so hard. My thoughts are with you and your family.

Today was not an uneventful day. They moved up my colonoscopy and endoscopy to wednesday (was supposed to be in feb) because my stomachs been bothering me so much. Well that means i needed tomorrow and wed off. I fel really awkward telling my boss i would need the day off, the day before because well, i work in retail, they need someone to cover me. But he was ok with it and figured it out so that i could have the days off.

Now i'm all nervous. This ain't my first rodeo, I've had a colonoscopy before, and i just remember the prep being AWFUL. I'm just so nervous about it. I'm taking the miralax with gatorade which ive heard doesn't taste too bad but im really worried about getting nauseas and im just so terrified about being nauseous. I'm thinking of calling the doctor and seeing if i can take an anti nausea medicine before hand but they will probably say no. So I'm very nervous about that, and i'm also very nervous and the day of, because i'm terrified of needles and the thought of the IV is freaking me out. I know this is just my anxiety getting to me but its freaking me out.

Any words of wisdom or anything to help calm me down would be greatly appreciated!

Sending prayers out immediately.

Congrats to all the losers!
Congrats to everybody who is sticking with this!

Thanks to Sue for putting the results out!


A couple of my favourite quotes/motivational thoughts:

I am worth it! I am strong!

If you a break dish emptying the dishwasher, you don't throw the rest on the floor - so don't let one mistake become a disaster!

No one ever got fit from staying cozy and comfy.

If hunger is not the question, food is not the answer.

I especially love that last quote!

I went to bed at 10:30 and fell asleep almost instantly, only to wake up around midnight because I was freezing. I haven't been able to fall back asleep. Technically I don't need to be up until 5:15, so I'm playing on Mom's computer until then (mine's packed). We're heading out to the airport at 6 and stopping at Tim Horton's-I'll probably get a yogurt parfait and bagel.

I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me from the fall challenge through now, with the application process, the waiting, the excitement over getting accepted, and the waiting for two months to actually go down.

I hope I will be able to meet some of you if you come down to visit, and I'll let you know where I will be working as soon as I find out. In the meantime, I will be posting a lot of blog updates and dining reviews (for today at least) and both those links are in my sig. If you want to see even more pictures, you can friend me on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/gretchenf1

Well... you're probably already in FL as I type this. Sorry I missed your departure post until now. I will try to get onto FB today and friend you so that I can keep up with your adventures!! Very, very best of luck in your new exciting journey ahead!!

I have to get moving. I have to pick up some pictures from Walgreen. A friend's husband died yesterday and he did our renewal of vows for our 25th anniversary. I found a couple of pictures of him so I am printing them out. I will drop them off this morning on my way to school.

Congrats to all our winners this week. Congrats to Team Donald for having the highest total.

Have a happy and healthy day.

Nice of you to think of those photos. Was he a Pastor or JP??

I
Trina, like all you do with your healthy lifestyle, you can do this. I would call the doctor and tell him you are worried about being nauseous because it happend before, and he should be able to get you something for nausea. If he won't and you do get nauseous, call back during the prep. The prep by far is the hardest part, and most patients tolerate the miralax so much better than the old prep. The main complaint i hear is it is so much fluid to drink, but it really is tasteless. Hopefully you'll tolerate the volume since you've been drinking all your water right? And don't be afraid to take the prep over a longer periiod of time, for instance if they tell you to take 8 oz every 15 min, but it feels like too much, take a break and go back to it, take smaller amts the important part is getting it down and keeping it down, and really if it takes longer, it is still going to work.

IVs make many people nervous, and when I am putting one in someone who hates them, I try to talk to them about anything non-medical, do you have kids, any vacation plans, what do you do for work. Just to get their mind off it while I'm getting ready, and definitely work on slow, relaxing breathing, close your eyes and take a slow deep breath when they are going to do the needlestick which should only take a couple seconds. Now once that IV is in it shouldn't be too long before you get the wonderful, relaxing drugs that will put you in the awesome twilight sleep for your procedures and then you'll be waking up in recovery. I hope everything goes really smoothly today and tomorrow. If I can be of help in any other way, please shoot me a pm. I wish I could be your nurse and we'd talk about disney and you wouldn't even know I was putting that IV in. Good luck!!

If I EVER need this procedure, I am TOTALLY coming to MA so you can be my nurse!!

Good Morning Team Donald!

Happy Birthday to Donna (Disneyluvr)! May you enjoy your special day and have a healthy year ahead!

First of all, thanks to all my friends here who posted positive thoughts for our dear kitty. We will be hoping and praying that he comes home tonight and then that there is some response to the fluids. I really appreciate all your support because it was a very sad night.


Prayers for your family and Hagrid will continue today. As I was reading your post I was busy scratching my sweet kitty under the chin as she snuggled in my lap this morning. Makes me realize how much I would miss her company. Sorry you are dealing with this.

As usual, I won't reply to everyone until I am set up for the day but will be back on real soon! I always like to post our QOTD so that I catch as many people as possible when they get on in the morning so here we go!

We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A healthy breakfast boosts your energy and helps you lose weight.

Eating a good breakfast does more than cut the risk of bingeing later on -- it revs up your metabolism, provides energy for your body and brain, and is a key strategy for weight loss and maintenance.

Even knowing this, many people still skip breakfast because they struggle with what to make or feel they do not have time to eat breakfast.

Tuesday's QOTD: Share what you eat for breakfast. Feel free to share your on the go ideas, quick breakfasts or what you have when you have time to make something better.

Well... the answer to that has definitely over the last few years. The more I learn about healthy eating, the more it changes!

For a while I was all about what tasted good and stayed within Points..... Special K, light english muffin and PB, scrambled eggs, quick oats, instant grits, homemade light muffins, yogurt, lowfat cottage cheese with fruit.

Then I tried changing it to something healthier.... Kashi cereal, whole wheat english muffins with natural PB, egg whites, Vitamuffins, fruit, rolled oats.

Then I tried dropping most of the less healthy carbs from my diet.... so I switched to mostly veggie egg white omelets (sometimes with light cheese, sometimes without), lowfat cottage cheese, greek yogurt (without sugar), berries, occasionally steel cut oats or hot oat bran cereal, or a piece of flaxseed/oatbran pita with natural peanut butter or almond butter.

And now I'm trying to incorporate a less animal protein based "diet".... so I'm trying to forego the egg whites and cheese most days, but it is getting tough! Now my morning selection is usually a homemade fruit/veggie juice, steel cut oats, brown rice, quinoa, or a homemade "pancake" made with a bit of Fiberone pancake mix, flaxseed meal, oat bran, and applesauce. I need to start trying to make some smoothies with my homemade juice, almond milk, and hemp protein. Not sure if I will like them or not.

I'm not quite at the point yet where I am ready to eat beans or hummus for breakfast.... Today I broke down and had a three egg white patty on a bed of sauteed spinach. But I will try to make that my only animal protein today (although I may make my red, white, and green chicken chili for dinner.... I'll try to stick with more of the beans and less of the chicken).

For a super quick, on-the-go breakfast, I still grab a Vitamuffin and apple or piece of cheese.

C
One of my favorite (and filling) breakfasts is slow cooker oats (recipe is on allrecipes.com). It lasts me all week. I also enjoy cereals (Kashi and Fiber Plus). I usually don't make hot breakfasts on days I work, but on weekends, I do make eggs and toast or english muffins. Oh, and if I need something really quick that I can eat in the car, Kashi frozen waffles are good too. I don't need syrup so they are perfect for on the run!


I need to get that recipe! I haven't tried steel cut oats in the crockpot yet, but I hear lots of good stuff about them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I went to the gym last night for the circuit training class and, of course, since it's January, 5 new people were in class. We were usuing the weight machines, so the trainer tried to bunch them together so we didn't have to keep changing weights constantly. We ended up with 13 people and we did 3 rounds of both upper and lower body exercises. It was such a good, tough workout. I was even a little sore before bed and took 2 advil. So, I am feeling so good this morning after an awesome workout and being OP all weekend and yesterday! Plus, I saw my sister this morning and she said my thighs look thinner I still haven't seen a change in clothing though, but I'll take that compliment!

I just wanted to check in and congratulate Team Donald for the great job this week. Let's keep it up through week 2 and until the end!

My students have manditory counseling everyday and on Tues and Thurs, it lets me have an extra 1/2 hour of planning time , so I will be back later to check in.

Have a great Tuesday!

Jill

WOOHOO on thinner thighs!!!

Okay friends.... time for me to get to work on this disastrous house! I'm not even sure where to start. Probably in the kitchen. Still can't open the pantry because of the boxes in front of it. But I am trying to eliminate a tall bookcase from the office and everything in the boxes came from there.... so I need to find a new home for most of the stuff. It may involve buying a new smaller bookcase or reinstalling some shelves I took down when we brought in the big bookcase. But I realized that the bookcase was just becoming a catch all for TONS of unneeded/unused junk. Thankfully two big boxes of stuff either went into the trash or to the thrift store (well, at least the thrift store box made it to my car!). And some of the stuff (school supplies) found a new home in the kitchen closet. So now I just need to find a home for about two large boxes of stuff....

Off to pour a cup of tea and get to work!....................P

 

[JacksLilWench]

It was a very hard night in my house. We took our kitty (really 12 year old cat) to the vet. Hagrid is giant kitty who is so loving and wonderful...but he has not been himself for a couple of weeks. He has been pacing around, hissing at our other cats at times and then went to the bathroom in our living room the other night. We finally knew he needed to see the vet. After a long series of tests, the vet told us that the numbers who his kidneys are having problems. He is at the vet tonight and will get IV fluids all day tomorrow. Tomorrow night he will come home until Wednesday morning. Wednesday morning he will go back for more IV fluids. Wednesday afternoon they will test again and if there are no changes, we will have to put him down. We are all sad but my DS is totally devastated. Hagrid sleeps with him every night and follows him everywhere. It was a very sad night with many tears. Even if Hagrid responds to the IV treatment, the vet could not tell us how long he will make it after that.

My DS cried for almost 2 hours and finally got to bed. I am now going to bed but will be back tomorrow.

On a positive note - I am proud of all of us for the great first week of being here for one another!

Night everyone!
Jen

I know I'm a little behind, but...I will be thinking about you, your DS and your kitty today. It's never easy to see a loved one go through something like this- whether they be human or furry

Now i'm all nervous. This ain't my first rodeo, I've had a colonoscopy before, and i just remember the prep being AWFUL. I'm just so nervous about it. I'm taking the miralax with gatorade which ive heard doesn't taste too bad but im really worried about getting nauseas and im just so terrified about being nauseous. I'm thinking of calling the doctor and seeing if i can take an anti nausea medicine before hand but they will probably say no. So I'm very nervous about that, and i'm also very nervous and the day of, because i'm terrified of needles and the thought of the IV is freaking me out. I know this is just my anxiety getting to me but its freaking me out.

Any words of wisdom or anything to help calm me down would be greatly appreciated!

Oh No! I hate that for you I wish I had some advice as far as prepping- but I've never had one so I can't really be much help there. Have you ever considered getting one done with general anesthesia? It might be worth a look. At my hospital, they start your anesthesia, you go right to sleep, and then they can start your IV. They do it with pediatric cases all the time. Feel free to PM me if you need anything- either here or on Facebook! Actually FB would be better- I'll be at work today and can ask the CRNA's any questions you might have. I'll be thinking about you!

I went to bed at 10:30 and fell asleep almost instantly, only to wake up around midnight because I was freezing. I haven't been able to fall back asleep. Technically I don't need to be up until 5:15, so I'm playing on Mom's computer until then (mine's packed). We're heading out to the airport at 6 and stopping at Tim Horton's-I'll probably get a yogurt parfait and bagel.

I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me from the fall challenge through now, with the application process, the waiting, the excitement over getting accepted, and the waiting for two months to actually go down.

I hope I will be able to meet some of you if you come down to visit, and I'll let you know where I will be working as soon as I find out. In the meantime, I will be posting a lot of blog updates and dining reviews (for today at least) and both those links are in my sig. If you want to see even more pictures, you can friend me on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/gretchenf1

I hope you stay til this September, because that's when I'll be there!! I Just added you on Facebook too

Good Morning Team Donald!

Happy Birthday to Donna (Disneyluvr)! May you enjoy your special day and have a healthy year ahead!

We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A healthy breakfast boosts your energy and helps you lose weight.

Eating a good breakfast does more than cut the risk of bingeing later on -- it revs up your metabolism, provides energy for your body and brain, and is a key strategy for weight loss and maintenance.

Even knowing this, many people still skip breakfast because they struggle with what to make or feel they do not have time to eat breakfast.

Tuesday's QOTD: Share what you eat for breakfast. Feel free to share your on the go ideas, quick breakfasts or what you have when you have time to make something better.

My usual breakfast is a slice of wheat toast, topped with a slice of reduced fat cheese and a scrambled egg. Mmmmm, so yummy! I add a little variety in my K-Cup selection, so I don't feel like I'm limiting myself. (I love my Keurig!!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So last night, I worked out a little bit on the "new to me" elliptical trainer my boss is giving to me. It works great! I'm actually staying at her house right now, and it's total motivation to be a CRNA. She lives in this beautiful home right on the lake, and has some amazing doors open to her. And she's so incredible to let me walk through a couple of those doors with her! I've gotten to see several things I wouldn't otherwise have been able to see and do without her guidance. Plus, her dogs are the cutest little waggers ever

So since I did elliptical last night, I will do 20 minutes of pilates today before I go into work and will take my walk with my walking partner tonight.

Don't forget to watch The Biggest Loser tonight at 8pm!! Go Team Pink and Emily Joy!!!

 

[lisah0711]

Congratulations to Team Donald on your win!

It is amazing how close the teams were but especially amazing that we all lost over 200 pounds!

And congratulations to all the Team Donald superstars and especially the Biggest Loser frndshpcptn!

Jen, sending you tons of good thoughts and for your precious kitty.

Trina, sending lots of good thoughts and to you too!

Shannon, nice to see you!

I was crazy cranky lady from all of the stress (I can't STAND messes.... they make me NUTS) and DH hates ANY kind of projects around the house, so it was not a fun place to be last night.

Ah, domestic bliss!

 

[jillbur]

Good morning friends! Sorry I didn't make it back here yesterday to finish up my read/replies. The carpeting installation was yesterday and it turned into a CRAZY day! The installers showed up and I was still mid-packing and I was NOT a happy camper. We ended up just SHOVELING everything into the kitchen and downstairs bathroom.

Then the installers just put all of the furniture that they could into the kitchen. I was under the impression that they would move it to the lawn and/or garage. But of course, once the kitchen was full, there was no way into the room to get food or drinks! And DH and I hadn't had lunch yet. I was able to quickly grab a bowl of quinoa and veggies from the fridge to microwave for me and loaded a plate with hummus and carrots and cheese for DH. Then mid-afternoon I was able to "scale" the mountain of stuff and grab a couple of apples from the fruit basket. But that was it.

While they were installing downstairs I cleaned DD's bathroom and started picking up DS's room. DH was working at home and was on a conference call in our bedroom (he set up shop at my scrapping table.... ) so he didn't even want me in the room! The only other choices were the kids' rooms or the upstairs bathrooms. I suppose I could have filled the tub and had a nice relaxing bath!

By that time it was time to run around grabbing kids and running errands to the library and such.

Anyhow, by the time the installers left, we put SOME of the furniture back (enough so that we could access part of the kitchen and use the kitchen door to the garage), then it was time to drive DD to Rainbow Girls and try to figure out what we were going to eat for dinner. There was NO WAY I could access the stove/oven or pantry yet, so I got DD a sandwich at Dunkin's on the way to Rainbow and grabbed salads for DH and myself from our local pizza shop on the way back.

I was crazy cranky lady from all of the stress (I can't STAND messes.... they make me NUTS) and DH hates ANY kind of projects around the house, so it was not a fun place to be last night.

Anyhow, the new carpet is beautiful and soft and squishy! The majority of the furniture is back in place. The new entertainment center that I bought in July that has been sitting in my dining room waiting for the new carpet is now in its proper place and looks great!

Most of what I need to do today is just putting away boxes of "stuff" and cleaning out clutter. It will be another crazy busy day, but I'm sure I will feel SO accomplished when it is done.

No workout yesterday, but I"m sure I burned the calories moving boxes and cleaning! Heck, I made 8 trips up and down my stairs just to put back the dining room chairs.... and countless other trips up and down the basement stairs.... plus lots of bending and lifting and carrying. I barely stopped moving from 4:30 am yesterday morning until 9:30 last night (other than driving).... I was exhausted!

Off to try to catch up just a bit!..........................P

You're always one busy lady! I too, need organization in my life. Clutter drives me crazy. Maybe when you're done at your house you can vacation at mine and help me get it in order? Christmas really threw me off this year and I still have a few boxes left to put away. Then, maybe I can get my dining room back to what it should look like!

And, I am so jealous of your new carpet. I have wanted carpet for awhile, but now with DS8 needing braces, we are putting it off again One day I will have all new carpet!

Jill

 

[belledreamer]

Tuesday's QOTD: Share what you eat for breakfast. Feel free to share your on the go ideas, quick breakfasts or what you have when you have time to make something better.

Unfortunately, I have been guilty of missing breakfast, instead eating 2 peanut butter crackers or a handful of grapes... And I always regret it later because by lunch, I'm starving and struggling not to scarf down my food.

But when I do have the time to make breakfast, I like wheat toast with some scrambled eggs and fruit. I also like Special K cereal (the one with the chocolate) so I can get my sweet fix without feeling guilty. Or if I'm heading to work that morning, I sometimes go to Smoothie King. I've been there so many times, they pretty much know me now.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Did my exercise last night on Just Dance 3 and my cat, Jenny (a.k.a Mimi), decided that she would watch me work out. I think I may have mentally disturbed my cat. She stayed for a while; watched me dance to "Take On Me" then got tired of it and asked to go out.

To live the life of a cat...

 

[melmar136]

Jen, so sorry about your kitty. I have 2, one is almost 16 and the other is 14. The 14 year old is not in the best health, so I know it won't be too long until we are in the same boat, and I am dreading that day.

happy Bithday Donna!

QOTD: During the week, I mix a 1/2 cup Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds (my favorite cereal besides the sugary kids' stuff!) with 1/2 cup Special K Protein Plus (for the extra protein), and then have a banana or orange.
I have it every day when I get to work, and for some reason it never gets old!

 

[donaldandpirates]

Tuesday's QOTD: Share what you eat for breakfast. Feel free to share your on the go ideas, quick breakfasts or what you have when you have time to make something better.

I have just discovered Chobani yogurt. That stuff is good!!! I've had that for breakfast today and yesterday along with a lot of fluids -- usually really watered down 100% fruit juice. I'm still trying to kick the soda habit, so I'm not yet able to do a lot of straight water. I also enjoy Fiber One cereal, oatmeal sweetened with honey, pancakes (homemade so I can control the sugar).

 

[RemembertheMagic98]

Thoughts and prayers to you Jen...I hope you get to spend a bit more time with your kitty...

Trina - hang in there!!

Gretchen - Have a safe trip to FL and keep us all in the loop on your travels and fun!! Color me green with jealousy!!

Tuesday's QOTD: Share what you eat for breakfast. Feel free to share your on the go ideas, quick breakfasts or what you have when you have time to make something better.

I am addicted to Chobani greek yogurt...all flavors with 0% fat....when they have a sale at Stop and Shop I buy about $25 worth...

That's my weekday breakfast...Chobani and some kind of fruit...I like pears this week. My weekends tend to vary...G-F pancakes with skim milk, egg whites with a G-F bagel...or I have a protein pancake that ROCKS: In a bowl mix: 1/2 cup instant oats, 1/2 cup liquid egg whites, 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese, 1tsp vanilla extract, cinnamon to taste (I use 1tsp). Heat up a pan and use a 1/4 scoop to plop the mix onto the pan. Cook like a pancake. I serve this will blueberry flavored agave as a syrup. TONS of protein and yummy

Good morning friends! Sorry I didn't make it back here yesterday to finish up my read/replies. The carpeting installation was yesterday and it turned into a CRAZY day!

I am jealous of your new carpet!!! I sooooo need some new flooring! So sorry it was crazy, but it sounds like you are off to a great start today getting things back to normal!

Unfortunately, I have been guilty of missing breakfast, instead eating 2 peanut butter crackers or a handful of grapes... And I always regret it later because by lunch, I'm starving and struggling not to scarf down my food.

I hear ya! I was in that pattern for months!

So last night, I worked out a little bit on the "new to me" elliptical trainer my boss is giving to me. It works great! I'm actually staying at her house right now, and it's total motivation to be a CRNA. She lives in this beautiful home right on the lake, and has some amazing doors open to her. And she's so incredible to let me walk through a couple of those doors with her! I've gotten to see several things I wouldn't otherwise have been able to see and do without her guidance. Plus, her dogs are the cutest little waggers ever

So since I did elliptical last night, I will do 20 minutes of pilates today before I go into work and will take my walk with my walking partner tonight.

Don't forget to watch The Biggest Loser tonight at 8pm!! Go Team Pink and Emily Joy!!!

Sounds like a great night in a really beautiful house...and some puppies to boot! I love things that are "new to me"!!

*********************************
I did it...back to spin last night and my butt is killing me today! Why do they make those seats so small....ok, maybe it's that my butt is so big
Anyway, I took it easy and still burned 580 calories so I didn't feel as bad for the slow pace. I will hit the gym again tonight but I think I need to get my core back in shape with strength training machines....at least give my butt a break The plan is to be at the gym every night this week...but it is supposed to rain and I hate going to the gym in the rain....no, I don't melt (as my mom would ask) but it just seems to be tougher to get there in the rain.

On Thursday I have a job interview. I'm excited and nervous and hopeful all rolled into one! AND I still need shoes for my suit! The commute to this school would be more difficult but the pay would be significantly more and I would be running my own office again...something I have missed at this school. So, I am prepping today...

Off to the races! My 11am student canceled so I have a few minutes to catch up with you all and get some much needed coffee

Have a great day Donalds and make great choices!

 

[cjdj4]

Day 2 home with DD She has a really bad cold. Thanks to everyone who hoped she felt better. I am climbing the walls. I have been on Pinterest non-stop. It is addicting. I never take off from work unless she is sick or I have a stomach virus. I hate to feel unproductive.

The one exciting thing is my new scale came yesterday. I love it. Here it is: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032TNPOE/ref=oh_o01_s00_i00_details

The WISH Biggest Loser Spring Challenge Team Donald Week 1 Superstars!!
#10- 1.80% - luvpoohandcompany
#9- 1.90% - cjdj4
#8- 2.02% - grumpyskirtgirl
#7- 2.17% - mommyof2Pirates
#6 - 2.20% - donac
#5- 2.49% - pjlla
#4- 2.56 - GoofyPedsFan
#3- 2.60% - klmrph
#2- 2.99% - Mary.Poppins
and now
The WISH Biggest Loser Team Donald Spring Challenge Week 1 Biggest Loser is:
#1- 3.46% - frndshpcptn

Thank you Sue for all your hard work! Congrats to frndshpcptn! I am psyched to be in the top ten Great job everyone!

This week's winning team with 50.22% is Team Donald!!

Team Mickey was not far behind with 50.20% for the week!

Additional stats for the week!!!!

Buckeye Fan won for Team Mickey with 3.63% this week and was the overall Biggest Loser!!

Congrats to frndshpcptn who was Donald's Team winner with 3.46%!

Team Donald lost 103.3 pounds this week
Team Mickey lost 102.2 pounds this week

Team Donald leads the Total Weight Loss with 103.3 pounds, can you believe how close the results were this week?????
Both teams together have lost 205.5 pounds!!!! Amazing!

Keep reading, keep posting and most of all keep losing and continue learning!!!!

Have an OP week

Wow we won! So Cool! I love that both teams are doing well and so close. Awesome!

It was a very hard night in my house. We took our kitty (really 12 year old cat) to the vet. Hagrid is giant kitty who is so loving and wonderful...but he has not been himself for a couple of weeks. He has been pacing around, hissing at our other cats at times and then went to the bathroom in our living room the other night. We finally knew he needed to see the vet. After a long series of tests, the vet told us that the numbers who his kidneys are having problems. He is at the vet tonight and will get IV fluids all day tomorrow. Tomorrow night he will come home until Wednesday morning. Wednesday morning he will go back for more IV fluids. Wednesday afternoon they will test again and if there are no changes, we will have to put him down. We are all sad but my DS is totally devastated. Hagrid sleeps with him every night and follows him everywhere. It was a very sad night with many tears. Even if Hagrid responds to the IV treatment, the vet could not tell us how long he will make it after that.

My DS cried for almost 2 hours and finally got to bed. I am now going to bed but will be back tomorrow.

I am so sorry to hear about Hagrid Your poor DS. I hope the vet can fix Hagrid up.

Any words of wisdom or anything to help calm me down would be greatly appreciated!

Sorry, I have no words of wisdom I will send positive vibes your way though.

I went to bed at 10:30 and fell asleep almost instantly, only to wake up around midnight because I was freezing. I haven't been able to fall back asleep. Technically I don't need to be up until 5:15, so I'm playing on Mom's computer until then (mine's packed). We're heading out to the airport at 6 and stopping at Tim Horton's-I'll probably get a yogurt parfait and bagel.

I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me from the fall challenge through now, with the application process, the waiting, the excitement over getting accepted, and the waiting for two months to actually go down.

I hope I will be able to meet some of you if you come down to visit, and I'll let you know where I will be working as soon as I find out. In the meantime, I will be posting a lot of blog updates and dining reviews (for today at least) and both those links are in my sig. If you want to see even more pictures, you can friend me on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/gretchenf1

This is my first challenge, but I am guessing you are working at Disney for the college program? You are going to have the time of your life. Enjoy it!

Good Monday morning everyone.

My meeting yesterday went okay. We had it on a Monday instead of Tuesday so this one person who hasn't made a meeting was there. All she talked aout was union this and union that. I was ready to tell her to leave. I did tell her at one point that we are not talking union here but what is good for the kids and communication with the parents. Now if the inservice tomorrow goes well I will be happy. We are trying to have all the faculty set up simple websites so the parents could know how to contact us, when our extra help is and our grading policy. I won't be able to be involved since I have to go to another for something else. I feel like it will be okay.

Ehhh! I hate that! I do a lot of PD and I HATE contract stuff. I am in the union, but that does not mean don't have a mind of my own. Do what's best for kids, the end.

. I was able to quickly grab a bowl of quinoa and veggies from the fridge to microwave for me and loaded a plate with hummus and carrots and cheese for DH. Then mid-afternoon I was able to "scale" the mountain of stuff and grab a couple of apples from the fruit basket. But that was it.

There was NO WAY I could access the stove/oven or pantry yet, so I got DD a sandwich at Dunkin's on the way to Rainbow and grabbed salads for DH and myself from our local pizza shop on the way back.

You did great given your limitations. You should be proud of your choices.

Tuesday's QOTD: Share what you eat for breakfast. Feel free to share your on the go ideas, quick breakfasts or what you have when you have time to make something better.

I have to admit I am one of the ones who rarely eats breakfast. I am just not hungry. I used to make myself eat a banana until I got sick of bananas. Sometimes I eat a special K bar. Yesterday I tried a slim fast shake for the first time. It was pretty good. I might start drinking them for breakfast. I always drink 3-4 cups of coffee with real half and half (I am a coffee snob). I guess I should work on this.

 

[frndshpcptn]

Here we celebrate our progress and recognize our superstars.

Reminders:
-after 3 weeks of no reporting, you are dropped from the challenge – can re-start at any time, though
-if anybody knows they will miss weighing in, just PM and let me know and you’ll be marked excused


First some stats

MAINTAINERS:
(staying within 2 lbs of their maintain weight is successfully maintaining!)
# of Maintainers Reporting In & Successfully Maintaining: 0

LOSERS:
Current Participants-------------74!
not reporting in for 1 week-----8
not reporting in for 2 weeks----0
not reporting in for 3 weeks----0
Excused--------------------------0
weigh ins-------------------------66
gains-----------------------------3
maintains------------------------19
losses----------------------------42
new or returning members ----2


Biggest Loser Fall Challenge Week 1!
This week’s group loss = 103.3 pounds!
Average percentage of weight lost 0.8 %
Total group weight loss so far 103.3 pounds!

AWESOME!

Retention Rate (compared to the 72 participants we had sign up for our start week on January 1st)
89% (this includes the Losers, Maintainers and Excused people!). Let's keep sending those weights people!


Before the weekly superstar list comes the disclaimer. I am human and I make mistakes. If you have any questions please contact me. For your reference this is the magic percentage of weight lost formula - weight loss for the week divided by weight for last week times 100, that gives us the percentage. Now let me test that with my numbers for week 1, click, click, click goes the calculator. Yes, that agrees with the percentage on the magic spreadsheet. (btw if its been more than 1 week between weigh-ins, then the % loss is divided by the number of weeks, to keep everybody on the same basis)

Now let's get to the good stuff. Who were our superstars of week 1?

The WISH Biggest Loser Spring Challenge Team Donald Week 1 Superstars!!
#10- 1.80% - luvpoohandcompany
#9- 1.90% - cjdj4
#8- 2.02% - grumpyskirtgirl
#7- 2.17% - mommyof2Pirates
#6 - 2.20% - donac
#5- 2.49% - pjlla
#4- 2.56 - GoofyPedsFan
#3- 2.60% - klmrph
#2- 2.99% - Mary.Poppins
and now
The WISH Biggest Loser Team Donald Spring Challenge Week 1 Biggest Loser is:
#1- 3.46% - frndshpcptn

Quote from Dare2Dream: How is your week going? Are you OP (on program)? Are you exercising? Drinking that water? You know what to do to make the magic happen. Get on the wagon. We are all here to help you on the journey. We can do this one day at a time. One bite at a time.

Have a healthy day!
Congratulations frndshpcptn!!!

What a great week you had. Keep up the good work. We have a very special clippie reserved for our weekly Biggest Loser. Wear it with pride this week! :

This is our weekly reigning Biggest Loser clippie. We have the large version

or use this
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/data/500/31040weeklyBLsmall1.jpg
followed by

or we have a medium version

or use this
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/data/500/31040weeklyBLmed.jpg
followed by

and we have a small version

or use
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/data/500/31040weeklyBLsm.jpg
followed by


Thanks to ohMom-Molli for these clippies. They were used for a previous BL but we can recycle. Don't they look great!

WOW!!!! This is so exciting!!! Thank you for making my whole day!! This really gives me the encouragement to stick with it and keep going!!

 

[BMC423]

Just jumping over here to say HI! & Congrats on a great week one!

 

[klmrph]

At work today so I quickly skimmed through the posts and WooHoo!!!!! Team Donald - let's keep it up

Just had to share a story from work yesterday. I am a pharmacist and I was ringing out a guest who was buying Lantus insulin for his diabetes and it was expensive - almost $130. He made the comment on how he wish he could go back and taken better care of himself years ago. He looked good now, but a little too late.

 

[trinaweena]

Thank you everyone for your kind words, thoughts, and advice! I'm still nervous but i dont think anything is going to change that. I did call the doctor's office and the receptionist was quite rude, and asked me why i thought i would be naseaus and told me that i shouldn't listen to other people and i would be fine. they said to call them if i did feel that way during the prep. I guess I'll just have to drink the stuff and hope for the best.

I just had my clear broth, I'm so hungry, but I guess that's to be expected. I don't start drinking the stuff till 3. So not looking foward to it.

Again thanks for everything I will check back in later and let you know how it goes