Team Donald – Biggest Loser “No Excuses” 2012 Challenge

Good Wednesday morning everyone.

Report got written yesterday. We were so happy to finish it. Now to proof read it.

I have a little problem at school. I have several students who parents will email guidance or me about a minor problem their child is having. I feel that these are juniors and seniors in high school who are taking a college level course and they should be able to email or talk to me. What do you guys feel about this?

Teacher opinion here. Juniors and Seniors taking college credits SHOULD be responsible enough to take care of this on their own. Parents of Juniors and Seniors generally ARE NOT READY to allow the students to take this responsibility.

I would recommend that you go ahead and answer the questions with a little side note of your wishes that in the future that these conversations/questions are directed from the students. And then I would perhaps place these expectations clearly in the literature/guidelines that is provided to these students/families when signing up for these opportunities. Clear expectations that you can reference can be very helpful. Just my oppinion.


I have to think about the qotd. I can't think of one thing that made me decide I wanted to lose weight except for getting on a scale one morning and not liking the number on it.

We have a delayed opening for the students so we can do some professional development. It will not be a fun day. We want to set up websites for each department but the person who runs the school website is in the math department and he feels that we are taking his job away from him. It should be fun.

Hope everyone is doing well. We will be joining threads with Team Mickey in a couple of days.

Have a happy and healthy day.

Take your time on the QOTD.....I purposefully made sure to save some of these really thinking questions for the end of the week. It is good to think!!!!

My bump was when my dad became ill and I realised that this man who I loved more than anything wasnt always going to be here and there was nothing I could do to change that but what I could do was make every moment count and to give him what he always gave me- my love and my time! I have a very spread out family and I want to be around as much as possible for as long as possible so I think I owe it to them to take care of myself. My dad took great care of himself everyday by just being moderate. He didnt know the meaning of the word diet:rotfl: but he didnt eat junk either:thumbsup2 Fresh food, home-cooked, moderate exercise, loved to laugh, married his best friend (they celebrated 55yr s 2wks befored he died and he sent me to get flowers:love:) and always did a good turn when he could! Can you tell he was/is my hero:worship: He was a true gentleman and I miss him but I will go crunch a carrot now whle I dry my tears and make a renewed effort to be healthy so that I can see my kids grow and have families of their own:)
Sometimes I need to be reminded why I started taking steps to be healthy and why its so important to me so thanks for todays question (even though you made me cry I wont hold it against you:rotfl:

Thank you for sharing. We all have different things that have given us that push and being able to identify and share this shows to me that you are well on yuor way to success. You have an anchor!!!

Sorry I made you cry. Thank you for not holding it against me! BUt what inspiration.

No I don't think that you killed the thread.....it has been quite slow all together this week. We should see a few more come along soon.....I hope.


Looks like several folks on TEAM DONALD could use some extra pixiedust: Great job on hanging tough and sticking with us even when times are tough! :thumbsup2

Christopher, great job coaching this week! :goodvibes You've come up with a great and unique twist on the QOTD and that is not always easy to do. I commend you! :cool2:

I'm looking forward to the merge on Friday! See you all soon! :yay:

Thanks Lisa. It has been a challenging week for the Donalds. We seem to few lately and those that are here have been facing challenges along the way.

I had some fun putting together the questions this week. By week 12 we have shared so much with each other that I knew I had to approach things from a different angle.

Looking forward to meeting some new folks next week when we merge. So what do you get when you cross a Mouse with a Duck?
 
We missed you too Kathy! Oh, you bet I am on the deck every morning this week!!! Everything is swept and the chair are set up. I put the wind chime up yesterday and cleaned off the electric grill! Today I will put up the solar lights and start to plan my window box plantings...and maybe start my herbs! Can't wait for spring!!! I will think of you as I take the first sip!
Thanks Karen. I still can't believe it's been so beautiful for so long in march. I cleaned the porches and furniture and have had dinner out there all week. I need to get a long baby gate so the dog can be out with us off the leash. We just hook her leash to the table leg, but I know if I continue that she'll pull that table off the porch one day. My special treat was sunday I didn't have to do the driving to baseball clinic, 3 of us share duty, so a friend stopped by and we sat on the front porch and had a beer.

It's so hard to get on the computer when it's so beautiful outside. So, if I don't have time while at work (during my lunch break), I probably won't be on until later at night. I'm hoping this weather stays around and we have no more cold weather days. I can't wait to get out and mulch. I am thinking of using a company like TruGreen for my backyard (it's fenced in and we spend all our time out there). I hate to use chemicals, but DH and I have tried on our own and it's not working. I need to get rid of weeds and grubs and need a hardy grass since the dog tears up our yard. Maybe I'll call around this week and try to find a more environmentally friendly company.

Jill
My lawn is a mess too, and now it's worse with the dog who loves to dig. I need to do something with it this spring. We sit more on the porches, but it's still nice to have it look decent for the neighbors. Luckily none of my neighbors are the perfectly manicured yard types. I think it's hard since there is usually a pretty strict waterban going on, so we all tend to go brown early in the summer.

With all the great weather we have been having - I have been going to a local forest to walk. The road is paved, and it has hills, gasping for breath hills - or there are hiking trails also - but this time of year too much mud. I do take the stairs at work - until my knees start to bother me. I go to the farthest bathroom at work - my building is 1/4 mile long. Dh walked in on me while I was vacuming the other day. I was kind of dancing and vacuming fast - he told me I was going to throw my back out or break a hip. LOL



The origianl Guinness stew recipe I had from Cooking Light called for Guinness draught. Not the Stout - but I noticed they have another recipe on there that calls for Stout. I had never eaten a parsnip before I had that stew. I really like them.

Check your dog for ticks - we pulled 6 off of Patches yesterday and 2 today. They weren't attached - just walking around. We do use Frontline Plus, so I was surprised to see so many. Just a heads up. Check yourselves too.

Janis
I've never had parsnips either, but thought they were like turnip which i dont' like, so never tried them. Thanks for the tick warning, I saw it on the news last night too. Did you go to Breakheart? I need to check that place out. A friend of mine loves it there too. We've been to the beach a few times with the dog, and she's so funny and afraid of the little waves in beverly, she'll probably freak when we take her to big beach.

For the QOTDs this week, I thought it would be interested to take a look at some of the characters that play a supporting role, a minor role or even a bit role in a Disney animated feature. Sometimes we can gleam quite a bit of wisdom from one of these characters if we take a moment to think about it.

QOTD Monday March 19 Gurgi from The Black Cauldron

Gurgi was always on the search for Munchies and Crunchies. When you get those urges to eat something right away, what have you got on hand that fits into your plan that you can grab? Do you plan for these sudden urges? Do you spread your meals out in small increments throughout the day to avoid these situations?
I often will find myself searching the kitchen, and coming up with nothing, which means I did well shopping and not buying the junk. If I buy baked chips and I get into the craving mode, I can not control myself and will eat the whole bag, so I try not to do that. I will pick up a couple small bags of chips for ds once in a while, but have been better about not bringing it in the house. I always have apples and bananas in a bowl on the kitchen table, but they aren't usually what I'm looking for. I do buy the Golden grahams smores bars for a chocolate fix at times, or some frozen yogurt. The other treat once in a while I'll pick up lucky charms for an evenign snack. But then ds wants it for breakfast, so it's not a great thing for me to have in the house. At work, we used to have lorna doones shortbread cookies for the patients, and I would have several packs throughout many days, but they got rid of them, and graham crackers and saltines don't have the same appeal to me, so I'm usually controlled at work.

Morning friends! Sorry I didn't get to pop in yesterday. DD's swim meet went just fine, but no PB times for her. For some reason the end of this season isn't going really great. And she swam anchor for her team's "A" freestyle relay and feels like she lost a place for them (came in 2nd in their heat) because of a lousy turn, so she is beating herself up about it. She is trying hard to PROVE that she deserves that "A" relay place and is afraid that she blew it for next year. We'll see what happens this summer.

This was her last regular season meet of the year. Next weekend is YMCA New Englands at Harvard and that is it for the season. It makes me realize that starting this fall everything will be her "last". Her last home team Invitational, her last Bobcat Invitational, her last Regionals...etc. I cannot BELIEVE she will be a Senior. So grab your babies, toddlers, elementary kids, and junior high students and HUG THEM TIGHT! Because the days go slowly, but the YEARS GO QUICKLY and they will be gone before you know it!!

I have two loads of laundry to fold and with today's nice weather I should have done another load of towels for the line, but I haven't. Tonight's dinner is in the crockpot. I wanted to make a "real" chili using stew beef instead of ground beef, but I couldn't find a recipe this morning, so I am winging it. Wish us the best!

It looks like a beautiful week around here! Temps on Thursday are predicted to possibly hit the 80's! I'm excited to open some windows and enjoy the sunshine.

The girl that DD has been carpooling with to swim this season is officially done swimming (this week's practice is only for the kids who qualify for next weekend's Y New Englands), so I will have to drive DD all week. That said, I think I will plan to do some walk/runs outside while she is swimming this week. The practices will probably be shorter, since they are still tapering and that means it doesn't make sense for me to drop her and go home. There is a nice quiet neighborhood next to the Y and it is a great place to walk and run. So you heard it here first! I WILL be walking/running outside this week during the evenings.

Well.... .off to get something productive done with my morning! TTYL..........P
That's so hard to see dd do well but be so hard on herself at the same time. I hope she can realize how well she really is doing. Sounds like another busy pjlla week ahead. I saw harvard and thought it would be fun to come into boston and visit you, but my cousin is coming from arizona this weekend. Is it this weekend, or the following one?
My old furniture was beat up pretty bad, so we pay 10$ each and the town will pick it up. Jordan's said they couldn't even move old furniture for you, so you needed to have it out of the area you wanted the new stuff. Ds and I had fun dragging it out. And we found some treasures in the couch- the missing tv and wii remote, 3 knitting needles, multiple pens, army guys, bakugan, it was quite the collection. :rotfl2:

I'm in a mood today...no idea why. Maybe just a bad feeling...my mom just called to tell me that my Godfather was just put on life support. He has straggled with Lupis and heart complications for years and it looks like it is really catching up to him. It doesn't look like he will last the week...

I'm sad but so grateful that I have had him in my life for this long. He was on deaths door 14 years ago so I feel as though the past 14 years have been a blessing.

Happy Monday!
~Karen
So sorry about your godfather. It's so hard. Sending prayers your way, and hoping he is comfortable and you and your family can find peace in the situation. :hug:

It appears that I may have killed the thread......so few people coming along to write. I guess the merge is coming at the right time. I just hope it is not my questions that have sent people running.

It has been a little tough being so far away today while my family and friends gathered for my godfather's funeral. But I am doing all right. I have now gotten tot he point of not having an appetite. So I am not sure which is better.....craving things I can't have or not eating enough calories. Hmmmm.

Time for me to head to bed. Will be back tomorrow!

Christopher
You are so NOT a thread killer. Your questions are so fun and well thought out. I remember you joined our little group of Donalds the week I was coaching, and I am sorry I haven't been here more to join in the conversation during your week. You are doing a great job as coach.
Big hugs to you. I'm sure it's been very difficult being so far away from your family during this sad time.:hug:

Now let's get to the good stuff. Who were our superstars of week 11?

The WISH Biggest Loser Spring Challenge Team Donald Week 11 Superstars!!
#10 - 0.44% - buzz5985
#9 - 0.54% - Disneyluvr
#8 - TIE - 0.63% - akhaloha & luvpoohandcompany
#7 - 0.65% - #1hoosierfan
#6 - 0.73% - liesel
#5 - 0.74% - ougrad86
#4 - 0.80% - dvccruiser76
#3 - 1.17% - D73
#2 - 1.19% - jillbur

and now
The WISH Biggest Loser Team Donald Spring Challenge Week 11 Biggest Loser is:
#1 - 1.48% - belledreamer

!
Whoo hoo!! Congratulations everyone!! especially Belledreamer!! I'm noticing most of the top losers are the more frequent posters too!! Definitely a correlation!!

And a big congrast to Sue our weighkeeper for being in the top 10, and a huge thank you for all your hard work and time!!:woohoo::flower3:

Instead, I lost 3 lbs!Who would have guessed that eating more calories can actually help you LOSE weight?!

tumblr_ltg7ex9KZR1r2eofno1_500-1.jpg


SHERLOCK!
:)
Congrats biggest loser!! It is amazing how sometimes we need to eat more to lose more. Our bodies are very efficient and need the energy to burn the fat.
I never would have guessed sherlock could be so cute.

For the QOTDs this week, I thought it would be interested to take a look at some of the characters that play a supporting role, a minor role or even a bit role in a Disney animated feature. Sometimes we can gleam quite a bit of wisdom from one of these characters if we take a moment to think about it.

QOTD Tuesday March 20 Edna "E" Mode from the Incredibles

Edna: This is a hobo suit, darling. You can't be seen in this. I won't allow it. Fifteen years ago, maybe, but now? Feh!
Bob: Wait, what do you mean? *You* designed it.
Edna: I never look back, darling! It distracts from the now.


How are you living in the now? Do you look back at all? for inspiration? determination?
What challenges in your life distract you from the now?
I try not to dwell on the negatives in my past or my present. I look at the bad stuff as learning experiences, and realize that everything that happens and how you deal with it is what makes me who I am today. Sometimes my bad memory is a good thing, so details from the past that may be upsetting are dim, and the good things far outshine the bad. I guess that is a selective memory.

Quiet morning ahead of me as my first class is ona field rip ad then I have planning on a Tuesday until lunch. Afternoon I normally have 4 lessons but will only have 3 as I am excused to go and attend a funeral service for the father of 2 students. So could be an emotional afternoon.

Christopher
:hug:Rough week for you. Sending good thoughts, I hope everythign went ok at the funeral.

This month is hard for me. I do spend a lot of time looking back. I miss my friend who I used to work on the shows with. I also think of a event that happened at my school several years ago that I just can't let go. This has gotten me a down quite a bit in the last few weeks. It does not help since I don't feel like working out. I wish I could move on. I hope I can learn how to.

Have a happy and healthy day.
:hug: Hugs to you. I'm sure your friend was a good support with the event that bothers you so too. Hang in there. :hug:

My energy just seemed zapped lately

I have a full day today at my new school and then spin tonight...hopefully my energy will return. I'm upping my water intake to flush out the yuckies!!!!
I'm sure all that is going on with your godfather is very emotionally draining, and you need to be good to yourself and patient. I think some extra porch/coffee time is in order this week.:hug:

:Oh well, it's spring break. Played some guitar hero, mario, and life with my brother and his friend yesterday. What can I say, we're children. And I have an addiction to anything Mario & Luigi.

I'm sure today will be consisting of more video games, Star Wars, Disney planning, and calorie counting. Ahhhh, that's the life.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!
Sounds like a great day!! I just found the lost wii remote, after buying a couple new ones for christmas, and thought when my sil comes to visit, we can play some mariocart. I always lose, but it will still be fun. lol.


*Logs onto the boards with head hung low in shame* I'm a terrible team member. I've been gone far too long to explain away, and really have no explanation for my crazy absence. I'm sorry. BUT. I am back now and the good news is, I only fell off the wagon this past weekend (it was my birthday and I went to the beach and ATE. A lot.) I promise to be a good little Donald from now on!! Starting right now!
!!
Welcome back! It's good to see you and your jack avatar back!!;)

put on a dog tag for me which I totally love and am wearing right now.

Would have taken a pic of me wearing it, but my hair is quite literally a rat's nest right now due to all this windy weather. Looking forward to chilling out and relaxing for the rest of the day.

Have a good day fellow Donalds!
What a nice, fun reward!!

One thing that I find is distracting me lately is worrying about my Father. I am lucky that he has the money to be able to afford a great Assisted Living facility - but his dementia has worsened over the past 3 months - it's just really hard to watch. I felt really lucky when my phone rang last night at 1:15 AM with a reverse 911 call from our local police department that a 67 yo man with moderate dementia got away from the Care facility he was staying at. It's about a 5 minute walk from my house. The next thing I see is flashlights in my backyard, about a dozen police combing the neighborhood. Helicopters searching. As of now - they still haven't found the poor guy. My heart goes out to his poor family.

Janis
I hope they found that poor man. At least it's not our typical winter temperatures this week, he stands a better chance. So sorry about your dad too. Dementia is so hard to watch him slowly slipping away. :hug:

For the QOTDs this week, I thought it would be interested to take a look at some of the characters that play a supporting role, a minor role or even a bit role in a Disney animated feature. Sometimes we can gleam quite a bit of wisdom from one of these characters if we take a moment to think about it.

Mary and John from WALL-E

Mary: [Mary is looking at the stars outside the Axiom while other passengers pass idly by] Oh! So many stars! Ah.
[she sees WALL-E and EVE flying around outside]
Mary: Oh! Hey! That's what's-his-name!
[backs up, bumps into John]
John: Hey! What the-?
Mary: Look! Look, look, look!
[she shuts off his chair and screen, making him aware of his surroundings]
John: Huh? What?
[sees WALL-E and EVE]
John: Hey... I know that guy! It's uh, uh... WALL-E! That's it! Hey - WALL-E! It's your buddy John!
Mary: [simultaneously] Hey! Hi, WALL-E!
[John casually puts his right hand upon Mary's]
John: [looks down, somewhat surprised; looks up at Mary, smiles] Hi.
Mary: [smiles] Hi.


Mary and John were going along in their "normal" sedentary lives until WALL-E literally bumped them "off track". This bump opened their eyes to the truth around them. What was your bump? your wake up call? your WALL-E? Has that bump been strong enough to keep you on track or would it e helpful to have that bump revisit you now and again?
My big bump was about 6 years ago when my mom had a cardiac arrest, was in the hospital and rehab for a couple months, and had such a hard time. I was pushing 230 at the time, and watched her and saw how much harder everythign was on her because of her weight, diabetes, lung disease, and I said that september that i was joining ww again, and I was never going to give up. There have been many ups and downs along the way, but I have not ever gone back up to my high weight then, and am much more active and healthy than I have been in a long time. It was a bump that was strong enough to keep me on track with the love and support I have gotten here. I watched my mom for the next 3 years go through her own ups and downs with her health, and in helping her to try and get healthier and more active, that helped me also.

I have a little problem at school. I have several students who parents will email guidance or me about a minor problem their child is having. I feel that these are juniors and seniors in high school who are taking a college level course and they should be able to email or talk to me. What do you guys feel about this?
.
I'm thinking that the kids should be the ones handling the little issues, and if they do not get anywhere with the teachers, then parents should get involved. Especially at that age. I think there are many parents out there who micromanage their kids well into adulthood though, and this could just be that type of parent.

My bump was when my dad became ill and I realised that this man who I loved more than anything wasnt always going to be here and there was nothing I could do to change that but what I could do was make every moment count and to give him what he always gave me- my love and my time! I have a very spread out family and I want to be around as much as possible for as long as possible so I think I owe it to them to take care of myself. My dad took great care of himself everyday by just being moderate. He didnt know the meaning of the word diet:rotfl: but he didnt eat junk either: Fresh food, home-cooked, moderate exercise, loved to laugh, married his best friend (they celebrated 55yr s 2wks befored he died and he sent me to get flowers:love:) and always did a good turn when he could! Can you tell he was/is my hero He was a true gentleman and I miss him but I will go crunch a carrot now whle I dry my tears and make a renewed effort to be healthy so that I can see my kids grow and have families of their own:)
Sometimes I need to be reminded why I started taking steps to be healthy and why its so important to me so thanks for todays question (even though you made me cry I wont hold it against you:rotfl:
:hug:This is so beautiful. Thanks for sharing and thanks the cry this morning. ;):hug:

Hello to everyone I missed this morning!!

I woke up on monday lighter than I was on friday for the first time in a long time. :thumbsup2 I hope that means I've turned the corner back into the wagon for good. I was thinking Easter is in 2.5 weeks, and I'm 5.4 pounds away from ONE-derland but if I stay focused, that would be a great reward!! So that's my goal!! And to do that I will write every bite, and run/walk 3 days a week with the dog.

I am only working 10-2 today, and then poko and I will walk to pick up ds from school, and head to the beach for a picnic supper.

Have a wonderful wednesday!! Hope the sun is shining on you all!!
 
ok I think I've killed the thread:scared1:
You will be glad to know I'm no longer sobbing and am instead eating my healthy lunch so that I can live life to the full:cool1:
Hope my last post didnt annoy anyone- I am just having one of those days-forgive me!
Hope you all having a good day:)
No, no, no, you never could annoy us with your beautiful post. Some days those emotions come flowing out of us and truly inspire the others we share them with. And I often have one of those days, and am always available for a good cry. :hug:

Looks like several folks on TEAM DONALD could use some extra pixiedust: Great job on hanging tough and sticking with us even when times are tough! :thumbsup2

Christopher, great job coaching this week! :goodvibes You've come up with a great and unique twist on the QOTD and that is not always easy to do. I commend you! :cool2:

I'm looking forward to the merge on Friday! See you all soon! :yay:
Hi Lisa!! So excited for the merge friday!! Thanks for the pixiedust!!

. So what do you get when you cross a Mouse with a Duck?
A trip to disney????? Even google didn't know!! I hope you post the answer before I leave for work!!
 
No, no, no, you never could annoy us with your beautiful post. Some days those emotions come flowing out of us and truly inspire the others we share them with. And I often have one of those days, and am always available for a good cry. :hug:

Hi Lisa!! So excited for the merge friday!! Thanks for the pixiedust!!

A trip to disney????? Even google didn't know!! I hope you post the answer before I leave for work!!

Thanks for all the :hug:Kathy. Dont know what came over me today. Sometimes grief hits me like a sledgehammer but there ya go-at least I am lucky to have had such a great dad in the first place:) My youngest is off school today and spotted my tears and asked me why? When I told him he said "its all very well for Granda to go visit his family in heaven but we liked it much better when he was here with us on earth didnt we mummy?" How is it that a 5yr old can hit the nail right on the head lol. Think I'd better go tidy up before I start again:rotfl2:
Thanks again:)
 


No, no, no, you never could annoy us with your beautiful post. Some days those emotions come flowing out of us and truly inspire the others we share them with. And I often have one of those days, and am always available for a good cry. :hug:

Hi Lisa!! So excited for the merge friday!! Thanks for the pixiedust!!

A trip to disney????? Even google didn't know!! I hope you post the answer before I leave for work!!

Uh oh.....I am afraid this was a question and not a riddle......Hee hee. Now I feel like the Mad Hatter.

I guess I was wondering if we will have a new team emblem when we merge the mouse and duck threads or if we just become the Biggest Loser Thread.
 
*Logs onto the boards with head hung low in shame* I'm a terrible team member. I've been gone far too long to explain away, and really have no explanation for my crazy absence. I'm sorry. BUT. I am back now and the good news is, I only fell off the wagon this past weekend (it was my birthday and I went to the beach and ATE. A lot.) I promise to be a good little Donald from now on!! Starting right now!



I live in the now because I have no time to live in the past! I must say I look back though, for inspiration to do better in the future. The challenges that distract me from the now are my short-sightedness. I worry about what will happen when it's time to go to lunch- will the cafeteria have something healthy to serve and a good sized salad bar? Or will it be burgers and fries (which got me into this mess!) It has definitely improved though (my thinking, not the cafeteria food!) being on this thread and having a support team like you guys

I promise to log in tomorrow and be more diligent from now on, Scout's Honor!!

Welcome back!! Good for you for staying on the wagon and happy late birthday! :goodvibes

Not yet. I'm still watching Season 3. But I'll definitely be getting the last season soon.

I've never seen Merlin or Psych, but I've heard they're both really good.

Ah, the new season of Doctor Who... Which episode are you on? The season finale was really good. Saw it coming; but still really good. ;) I think they only have the first season of Sherlock on Netflix, but you'll really enjoy it once you get a chance to watch it. And the guy who plays Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch...OMG! It's worth watching just for him!

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

Good day so far today. Really slow day at work so I got to go home early!

I did promise myself I would treat reward myself today for reaching one of my weight loss goals and since my latest favorite thing is Sherlock, I got this picture:
put on a dog tag for me which I totally love and am wearing right now.

Would have taken a pic of me wearing it, but my hair is quite literally a rat's nest right now due to all this windy weather. Looking forward to chilling out and relaxing for the rest of the day.

Have a good day fellow Donalds!

I do not remember the last episode I wathced, actually. The one where Amy kept seeing Rory dying but it was someone playing a trick on them and they kept getting seperated. I think I was DISing :-)rolleyes1) so I might have missed a few things. I should probably watch it again.

Hehe. Oh, that's just another reason to watch a good tv show! :goodvibes I will have to try and start it soon.

I bet it's cute!! Congrats on your reward!

Congrats on your breakthrough. That is a hard lesson for most woman to learn - you need to eat more to lose.



I always try to live in the now - unless I am mad at DH and bring something up from 20 years ago. :rotfl: One thing that I find is distracting me lately is worrying about my Father. I am lucky that he has the money to be able to afford a great Assisted Living facility - but his dementia has worsened over the past 3 months - it's just really hard to watch. I felt really lucky when my phone rang last night at 1:15 AM with a reverse 911 call from our local police department that a 67 yo man with moderate dementia got away from the Care facility he was staying at. It's about a 5 minute walk from my house. The next thing I see is flashlights in my backyard, about a dozen police combing the neighborhood. Helicopters searching. As of now - they still haven't found the poor guy. My heart goes out to his poor family.

Janis

:hug: So sorry about your father.

I certainly hope they found the man, I'm sure his family was very upset.

For the QOTDs this week, I thought it would be interested to take a look at some of the characters that play a supporting role, a minor role or even a bit role in a Disney animated feature. Sometimes we can gleam quite a bit of wisdom from one of these characters if we take a moment to think about it.

Mary and John from WALL-E

Ah. Mary and John were going along in their "normal" sedentary lives until WALL-E literally bumped them "off track". This bump opened their eyes to the truth around them. What was your bump? your wake up call? your WALL-E? Has that bump been strong enough to keep you on track or would it e helpful to have that bump revisit you now and again?

Many things that add up overtime. Weight, photos, how I feel physically. I turned vegetarian and have no desire to smoke, drink, or do drugs and then I kind of realized if I'm willing to never have any of those things for my health why am I allowing junk food to shave years off my life? Some people that I know say "I am going to die eventually I am going to live eating what makes me happy. I like cake so I will eat cake and other junk" and I think to myself, is eating junk everyday worth the 2-5+ years that it could take away from my life being unhealthy/overweight/obese? No way! I can find healthy and delicious things to eat and be happy. Eat to live not live to eat.

Something else, when I first started counting my calories, I realized just how much I was eating and it became obvious why I gained weight back. So much of it was really high calorie foods. I could eat a whole box of macaroni and that was about 1000 calories! And that was just for dinner! Now I eat only 1 serving of everything and I still feel full and it's about the same amount or more than what I used to eat.

I also like a challenge and when I have my goal set on something I have to complete it or feel like a failure, so I think with that mindset it's hard for me not to suceed. One of the reasons I think I failed last time I lost weight was I didn't have a continuous goal. I maintained for a couple of months and then let go because I didn't feel like I was accomplishing anything better. This time around I want to race, be able to do a pull-up, a push-up and continuously increase my goals so I always have something to work towards.


I have set a mini goal of 275 pounds which I am 72% to reaching. Once there I reset the goal marker and go again. The smaller goals help keep me motivated for sure.


I hope you are enjoying your days off. I love Mario and Luigi too. Still my favorite would have to be Luigi's Mansion for GameCube. Just love vacuuming up the ghosts. Have you played that one?

Christopher

Mini-goals are great! I set my first goal for this challenge, a reasonable one and then I just keep moving it down. Defiitely is easier!

Thanks! Yes! I love that game, although I always jump a few times when the ghosts pop out of nowhere!

Good Wednesday morning everyone.

Report got written yesterday. We were so happy to finish it. Now to proof read it.

I have a little problem at school. I have several students who parents will email guidance or me about a minor problem their child is having. I feel that these are juniors and seniors in high school who are taking a college level course and they should be able to email or talk to me. What do you guys feel about this?

I have to think about the qotd. I can't think of one thing that made me decide I wanted to lose weight except for getting on a scale one morning and not liking the number on it.

Have a happy and healthy day.

That's a tough one. I'm actually really surprised so many parents step in like that. My mom would never email any teacher, it was always my problem, my responsibility. I think the kids, especially at that age, should be talking to you, but I'm not sure how you would approach the parent about that. I hope you can get it sorted!

Hope your day goes well!



My bump was when my dad became ill and I realised that this man who I loved more than anything wasnt always going to be here and there was nothing I could do to change that but what I could do was make every moment count and to give him what he always gave me- my love and my time! I have a very spread out family and I want to be around as much as possible for as long as possible so I think I owe it to them to take care of myself. My dad took great care of himself everyday by just being moderate. He didnt know the meaning of the word diet:rotfl: but he didnt eat junk either:thumbsup2 Fresh food, home-cooked, moderate exercise, loved to laugh, married his best friend (they celebrated 55yr s 2wks befored he died and he sent me to get flowers:love:) and always did a good turn when he could! Can you tell he was/is my hero:worship: He was a true gentleman and I miss him but I will go crunch a carrot now whle I dry my tears and make a renewed effort to be healthy so that I can see my kids grow and have families of their own:)
Sometimes I need to be reminded why I started taking steps to be healthy and why its so important to me so thanks for todays question (even though you made me cry I wont hold it against you:rotfl:


:hug::hug:
A great post, and a great reason why you should be healthy!

Looks like several folks on TEAM DONALD could use some extra pixiedust: Great job on hanging tough and sticking with us even when times are tough! :thumbsup2

Christopher, great job coaching this week! You've come up with a great and unique twist on the QOTD and that is not always easy to do. I commend you! :cool2:

I'm looking forward to the merge on Friday! See you all soon!

Thanks, cannot wait until we merge!!

Sounds like a great day!! I just found the lost wii remote, after buying a couple new ones for christmas, and thought when my sil comes to visit, we can play some mariocart. I always lose, but it will still be fun. lol.

My big bump was about 6 years ago when my mom had a cardiac arrest, was in the hospital and rehab for a couple months, and had such a hard time. I was pushing 230 at the time, and watched her and saw how much harder everythign was on her because of her weight, diabetes, lung disease, and I said that september that i was joining ww again, and I was never going to give up. There have been many ups and downs along the way, but I have not ever gone back up to my high weight then, and am much more active and healthy than I have been in a long time. It was a bump that was strong enough to keep me on track with the love and support I have gotten here. I watched my mom for the next 3 years go through her own ups and downs with her health, and in helping her to try and get healthier and more active, that helped me also.

Hello to everyone I missed this morning!!

I woke up on monday lighter than I was on friday for the first time in a long time. I hope that means I've turned the corner back into the wagon for good. I was thinking Easter is in 2.5 weeks, and I'm 5.4 pounds away from ONE-derland but if I stay focused, that would be a great reward!! So that's my goal!! And to do that I will write every bite, and run/walk 3 days a week with the dog.

I am only working 10-2 today, and then poko and I will walk to pick up ds from school, and head to the beach for a picnic supper.

Have a wonderful wednesday!! Hope the sun is shining on you all!!

:hug:
Wow! You are so close to onederland!! You can do it!

Hope you have a great day!

Thanks for all the :hug:Kathy. Dont know what came over me today. Sometimes grief hits me like a sledgehammer but there ya go-at least I am lucky to have had such a great dad in the first place:) My youngest is off school today and spotted my tears and asked me why? When I told him he said "its all very well for Granda to go visit his family in heaven but we liked it much better when he was here with us on earth didnt we mummy?" How is it that a 5yr old can hit the nail right on the head lol. Think I'd better go tidy up before I start again
Thanks again:)

Wow, sometimes kids just say the perfect things, don't they? :hug:

Hope you have a beautiful day!

----
Morning Donalds!!

I did rest yesterday, I promise! Now it's time to get back at it today! :goodvibes

Typed up our entire WDW schedule last night. Took awhile but got it done. It made me start thinking. I was planning on letting loose on vacation and if I gained some weight fine. Now, I'm thinking, it took me 3 months to lose 10lbs. If I gain 5lbs, it'll take me another 1 1/2 months! I absolutely do not want that! Luckily, now that I'm into a routine the fruit and veggies will be at the top of my list, so maybe I will even come back lower after all the walking!

Hope you all have a wonderful day and make great choices! Only 2 days until weigh-in!
 
Mary and John from WALL-E

Mary: [Mary is looking at the stars outside the Axiom while other passengers pass idly by] Oh! So many stars! Ah.
[she sees WALL-E and EVE flying around outside]
Mary: Oh! Hey! That's what's-his-name!
[backs up, bumps into John]
John: Hey! What the-?
Mary: Look! Look, look, look!
[she shuts off his chair and screen, making him aware of his surroundings]
John: Huh? What?
[sees WALL-E and EVE]
John: Hey... I know that guy! It's uh, uh... WALL-E! That's it! Hey - WALL-E! It's your buddy John!
Mary: [simultaneously] Hey! Hi, WALL-E!
[John casually puts his right hand upon Mary's]
John: [looks down, somewhat surprised; looks up at Mary, smiles] Hi.
Mary: [smiles] Hi.


Mary and John were going along in their "normal" sedentary lives until WALL-E literally bumped them "off track". This bump opened their eyes to the truth around them. What was your bump? your wake up call? your WALL-E? Has that bump been strong enough to keep you on track or would it e helpful to have that bump revisit you now and again?

I've had two. The first one was the scare with my blood pressure being so high. I still don't know if it was just a fluke that it was so high, but just the possibility of it already being in the 150's and being only in my 20's was enough to convince me that it was time to do something. I just wish I hadn't waited so long.

The other is actually one of my relatives who is extremely overweight. Can't get out of a chair without help, has sleep apnea, doesn't want to eat healthier food (a.k.a. 'Rabbit food') and while he see the need to make a change, he has no desire to do anything about it. While I'm grateful that I never reached that point with my weight, every time I see this relative, I'm glad that I made changes when I did and it really makes me see how far I've come already.

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

Could the weather be any nastier today?! :umbrella:

Had the intention of running more errands today, but with severe thunderstorm warnings until tomorrow and tornado watches until later this afternoon, I decided to come back home and hibernate today.

Only ate a Fiber bar for breakfast; not good when you're trying to up your calories... :sad2: But remembering that I'm trying to up my calories, made myself a whole wheat cheese quesadilla with some light sour cream and homemade pepper jelly. YUMMY!

Not much planned for the rest of the day. Feeling really sleepy right now, so I may catch a cat nap with the cat before trying to go to the gym. I really want to get back in touch with the guy who did my personal training session to tell him that I've lost 6 lbs since the last time I saw him. ;)

Happy Hump day Donalds!
 


Thanks for all the :hug:Kathy. Dont know what came over me today. Sometimes grief hits me like a sledgehammer but there ya go-at least I am lucky to have had such a great dad in the first place:) My youngest is off school today and spotted my tears and asked me why? When I told him he said "its all very well for Granda to go visit his family in heaven but we liked it much better when he was here with us on earth didnt we mummy?" How is it that a 5yr old can hit the nail right on the head lol. Think I'd better go tidy up before I start again:rotfl2:
Thanks again:)
Aw, so precious. Kids are just amazing, and such a big comfort during those sad times too.

Uh oh.....I am afraid this was a question and not a riddle......Hee hee. Now I feel like the Mad Hatter.

I guess I was wondering if we will have a new team emblem when we merge the mouse and duck threads or if we just become the Biggest Loser Thread.
lol, guess I'm not very serious.:rotfl: When I googled it, I saw milk and quackers, and didn't get it, but read further and it was what do you get when you mix a cow with a duck. :rotfl:
hmmmm, what do you get when you mix a mouse with a duck, I'm guessing double the inspiration and support!

Typed up our entire WDW schedule last night. Took awhile but got it done. It made me start thinking. I was planning on letting loose on vacation and if I gained some weight fine. Now, I'm thinking, it took me 3 months to lose 10lbs. If I gain 5lbs, it'll take me another 1 1/2 months! I absolutely do not want that! Luckily, now that I'm into a routine the fruit and veggies will be at the top of my list, so maybe I will even come back lower after all the walking!
I've been to wdw 6 times during this weight loss journey, and really do let loose, but with all the walking, may come back with just a few pounds, but when I come back, I make a pledge for day one to get back on plan completely, and that little gain will usually be gone by the next week. I do try not to eat fried foods, and to get my water in each day, but it's vacation, so I do eat quite a bit, but you will do so much walking around, it really does make a big difference. So where are you eating when you're there? Love to live vicariously through others.

Not much planned for the rest of the day. Feeling really sleepy right now, so I may catch a cat nap with the cat before trying to go to the gym. I really want to get back in touch with the guy who did my personal training session to tell him that I've lost 6 lbs since the last time I saw him.
Hope you had a nice nap with the kitty.

Good afternoon!! I walked the dog to pick up ds, and ds said he needed to chill after that walk home in the heat, so I had a few minutes. We'll head to the beach for a picnic shortly, so I'll go pack us our supper.

Have a nice evening!!
 
I am still here! I've just been lurking lately and not really posting. I'm not really sure why but I just felt a little overwhelmed I guess and kinda feeling like I didn't have anything to contribute.

We've been having a lot of problems with our DS lately, so that and all the craziness at work getting ready for the state testing in a few weeks has left me feeling really down and vulnerable emotionally!

But somehow through it all I have continued to slowly loose. One pound at a time will get me to where I want to be!!

I have hit my dreaded weight of 184! Dreaded because for some reason every time I diet I have never gotten below 184. I get there and then I start to gain and go up and down but never past 184! So now I am determined to finally get past that number
 
For the QOTDs this week, I thought it would be interested to take a look at some of the characters that play a supporting role, a minor role or even a bit role in a Disney animated feature. Sometimes we can gleam quite a bit of wisdom from one of these characters if we take a moment to think about it.

Mary and John from WALL-E

Mary: [Mary is looking at the stars outside the Axiom while other passengers pass idly by] Oh! So many stars! Ah.
[she sees WALL-E and EVE flying around outside]
Mary: Oh! Hey! That's what's-his-name!
[backs up, bumps into John]
John: Hey! What the-?
Mary: Look! Look, look, look!
[she shuts off his chair and screen, making him aware of his surroundings]
John: Huh? What?
[sees WALL-E and EVE]
John: Hey... I know that guy! It's uh, uh... WALL-E! That's it! Hey - WALL-E! It's your buddy John!
Mary: [simultaneously] Hey! Hi, WALL-E!
[John casually puts his right hand upon Mary's]
John: [looks down, somewhat surprised; looks up at Mary, smiles] Hi.
Mary: [smiles] Hi.


Mary and John were going along in their "normal" sedentary lives until WALL-E literally bumped them "off track". This bump opened their eyes to the truth around them. What was your bump? your wake up call? your WALL-E? Has that bump been strong enough to keep you on track or would it e helpful to have that bump revisit you now and again?

Just being sick and tired - of being sluggish, tired, knees that hurt, feet that hurt, etc.

Oh what a shock to receive a call like that in the middle of the night. Hopefully he has been found and all is well.

My grandmother was just placed in assisted living with beginnings of mild dementia. I see how it is really tearing my father apart. Big hugs to you and way to go for keeping on your journey.:hug:

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Wednesday is here!!! Let's get over the hump!!

Be back later to seehow things are going.

Christopher

It's really hard placing them in Assisted Living. Taking their independence from them. The hardest part was feeling guilty all the time for placing him. Could I have done more to keep him at my house?? Alarms, extra locks, etc. But then I hear a story about someone that "wanders" away - and know I did the right thing.

The gentleman in question was finally found at a bus stop in Haverhill. He was visiting a friend. Now what you need to know is Haverhill is about 25 miles from Wakefield.

ok I think I've killed the thread:scared1:
You will be glad to know I'm no longer sobbing and am instead eating my healthy lunch so that I can live life to the full:cool1:
Hope my last post didnt annoy anyone- I am just having one of those days-forgive me!
Hope you all having a good day:)

I have been crying watching the Biggest Loser!!! I think it's the hormones!!!!

Good Wednesday morning everyone.
I have a little problem at school. I have several students who parents will email guidance or me about a minor problem their child is having. I feel that these are juniors and seniors in high school who are taking a college level course and they should be able to email or talk to me. What do you guys feel about this?

I agree. But you can't stop the "helicopter" parents.

Thanks Karen. I still can't believe it's been so beautiful for so long in march. I cleaned the porches and furniture and have had dinner out there all week. I need to get a long baby gate so the dog can be out with us off the leash. We just hook her leash to the table leg, but I know if I continue that she'll pull that table off the porch one day. My special treat was sunday I didn't have to do the driving to baseball clinic, 3 of us share duty, so a friend stopped by and we sat on the front porch and had a beer.

My lawn is a mess too, and now it's worse with the dog who loves to dig. I need to do something with it this spring. We sit more on the porches, but it's still nice to have it look decent for the neighbors. Luckily none of my neighbors are the perfectly manicured yard types. I think it's hard since there is usually a pretty strict waterban going on, so we all tend to go brown early in the summer.

I've never had parsnips either, but thought they were like turnip which i dont' like, so never tried them. Thanks for the tick warning, I saw it on the news last night too. Did you go to Breakheart? I need to check that place out. A friend of mine loves it there too. We've been to the beach a few times with the dog, and she's so funny and afraid of the little waves in beverly, she'll probably freak when we take her to big beach.

I hope they found that poor man. At least it's not our typical winter temperatures this week, he stands a better chance. So sorry about your dad too. Dementia is so hard to watch him slowly slipping away. :hug:

They found the gentleman in Haverhill at a bus stop.

I go to Breakheart every weekend the weather is nice. I go to the Wakefield entrance and do the short 2 mile loop. Nice hilly walk. You can google and find a map of the place. Near the Saugus entrance is a dog park - but it's very small. When Patches was only about 6 months we brought him up to Hampton Beach. He freaked when he saw the horses. :rotfl:

OK - did anyone watch the Biggest Loser last night?? Conda and Jeremy have got to go. :confused3 It was a fun show - they went to Hawaii and learned how to surf with Bethany Hamilton (the girl that had her arm chomped off by a shark). She is such an inspiration - loved the movie about her too - Soul Surfer.

Brought Dad to his 6 month check up. We thought maybe his sugar was off and causing his recent confusion. But his diabetes is well maintained, cut his cholesterol meds in half, may be taken off his high blood pressure meds next trip. So the added confusion/delusions are just the advancing dementia.

Janis
 
I've been to wdw 6 times during this weight loss journey, and really do let loose, but with all the walking, may come back with just a few pounds, but when I come back, I make a pledge for day one to get back on plan completely, and that little gain will usually be gone by the next week. I do try not to eat fried foods, and to get my water in each day, but it's vacation, so I do eat quite a bit, but you will do so much walking around, it really does make a big difference. So where are you eating when you're there? Love to live vicariously through others.

Have a nice evening!!

I wasn't worried about it but then I realized how long it's taken me to get this weight off and I'm not sure how much damage 11 days at the world is going to hurt me. I don't eat fried foods, unless it's fries at a restaurant, but we made up a menu and things we were possibly going to order to get an amount for food money and I have veggies burgers and vegetarian tofu salads on mine. I'll have a couple of ice creams, but hopefully I can drag myself over to the fruit carts a couple times instead! :thumbsup2

We have ADRs for Via Napoli, Garden Grill, Mama Melrose, and Ohana's. Those are probably going to be the worst as I'll be eating the most there. The rest are just CS which I'll be getting salads or vegetarian burgers. I'm sure when I get there I'll be having too much fun to want to eat! :woohoo:

Could the weather be any nastier today?! :umbrella:

Had the intention of running more errands today, but with severe thunderstorm warnings until tomorrow and tornado watches until later this afternoon, I decided to come back home and hibernate today.

Not much planned for the rest of the day. Feeling really sleepy right now, so I may catch a cat nap with the cat before trying to go to the gym. I really want to get back in touch with the guy who did my personal training session to tell him that I've lost 6 lbs since the last time I saw him. ;)

Happy Hump day Donalds!

It's STILL raining here too. I went outside once in rainboots and jacket to get the mail and that was it.

Hope you made it to the gym despite the weather!

I thought I'd let you know that I sat down and started Sherlock today and I loved it!! The cab driver in A Study in Pink seriously creeped me out. Although I am a little sad they only have season 1 on netflix and the fact that there is only 3 episodes is a problem for me. :laughing: I'm so used to 13 episode seasons, and 3 is not enough for me! I finished The Blind Banker as well, that one was pretty intense!

Of course, anything by Steven Moffat is going to be good.

After I finish my workout I will be watching the 3rd episode. :goodvibes

----
Okay, okay. I had 2 reese's cups today! It isn't really a confession, I woke up late so I had some extra calories and I haven't had a reeses cup in several weeks so I added it into my day and still have plenty for a healthy dinner. I was out of my 50 calorie dark chocolates I usually eat and they looked so good! It was quite delicious if I say so...:goodvibes Although I'm pretty sure those are not worth 210 calories on a regular basis. I'd much rather have my yogurt and granola for my snack!
 
Hello Team Donald! I want to apologize for not replying tonight and not getting on the dis yesterday or today. In fact, I wasn't on a computer at all until now. With this gorgeous weather, getting to the gym, and going to swim lessons yesterday and church tonight, I've had no time. So, I wanted to check in and I will get all caught up tomorrow with replies for the QOTDs and replies to people, too. I hope everyone else is enjoying this beautiful weather and getting some outside exercise! Enjoy it and I will be back tomorrow!!

Jill
 
For the QOTDs this week, I thought it would be interested to take a look at some of the characters that play a supporting role, a minor role or even a bit role in a Disney animated feature. Sometimes we can gleam quite a bit of wisdom from one of these characters if we take a moment to think about it.

Mary and John from WALL-E

Mary: [Mary is looking at the stars outside the Axiom while other passengers pass idly by] Oh! So many stars! Ah.
[she sees WALL-E and EVE flying around outside]
Mary: Oh! Hey! That's what's-his-name!
[backs up, bumps into John]
John: Hey! What the-?
Mary: Look! Look, look, look!
[she shuts off his chair and screen, making him aware of his surroundings]
John: Huh? What?
[sees WALL-E and EVE]
John: Hey... I know that guy! It's uh, uh... WALL-E! That's it! Hey - WALL-E! It's your buddy John!
Mary: [simultaneously] Hey! Hi, WALL-E!
[John casually puts his right hand upon Mary's]
John: [looks down, somewhat surprised; looks up at Mary, smiles] Hi.
Mary: [smiles] Hi.


Mary and John were going along in their "normal" sedentary lives until WALL-E literally bumped them "off track". This bump opened their eyes to the truth around them. What was your bump? your wake up call? your WALL-E? Has that bump been strong enough to keep you on track or would it e helpful to have that bump revisit you now and again?

My WALL-E was a picture of me in Epcot in 2007. I'm sitting in front of the fountain in France enjoying a reeeally good glass of champagne...and I didn't even recognize myself in the picture. I thought "Surely, I'm not that round all over, right?" But sure enough I was! It jumpstarted me into eating healthier and exercising. Five years later, I'm still not quite where I want to be (I have fallen off a time or two...or six :headache:) but I haven't given up yet and don't plan to anytime soon!! If I find the picture I'll post it (in all actuality, it's not a bad picture, I just don't like the way I look at ALL!)
 
I thought I'd let you know that I sat down and started Sherlock today and I loved it!! The cab driver in A Study in Pink seriously creeped me out. Although I am a little sad they only have season 1 on netflix and the fact that there is only 3 episodes is a problem for me. :laughing: I'm so used to 13 episode seasons, and 3 is not enough for me! I finished The Blind Banker as well, that one was pretty intense!

Of course, anything by Steven Moffat is going to be good.

After I finish my workout I will be watching the 3rd episode. :goodvibes

YAY! I'll make a Sherlockian out of you yet! :goodvibes

You'll totally love the 3rd episode, especially the end. Benedict and Martin really work wonderfully together as Sherlock and Watson; it's hard for me to imagine anybody else in those roles.

Haven't been able to watch Season 2 yet since it's not available on iTunes yet and I don't have BBC, but I'll PM you a couple of Season 2 clips I found online that you'll probably like. ;)

The end of season 2 will break your heart... :guilty:

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

So I did catch my cat nap with the kitty today and was able to get in a little over an hour at the gym. I also saw my trainer there this evening, so I had to tell him about my 6 lbs loss since the last time he saw me so he's was very pleased to hear about that. :goodvibes

The 25th anniversary cast of Les Mis was starting when I left so I hurried home and have it playing right now. Beautiful musical; I don't why people give Nick Jonas so much grief of playing Marius. He really did a beautiful job with it.

Gonna finish watching the show then heading to bed. Good night all!
 
For the QOTDs this week, I thought it would be interested to take a look at some of the characters that play a supporting role, a minor role or even a bit role in a Disney animated feature. Sometimes we can gleam quite a bit of wisdom from one of these characters if we take a moment to think about it.

A Fly from A Bug's Life

Fly: I only got twenty-four hours to live, and I ain't gonna waste it here.

So what will you do with your next 24 hours before weigh-in to make sure it is not wasted?
 
Good THursday morning everyone.

Had a busy day at school. Our department meeting went well and there were not too many problems.

My classes were tough since the periods were shorten and I had to get a very important topic across to the students. My head was spinning by the end of each class. I will see how they did today when they ask their questions.

I came home and took a short nap. I feel like a cold is coming on but I am trying to avoid it. I don't have time for one until next week.

After dinner I worked on a quilt top. This afternoon I have to pin it together and maybe start to quilt it.

For the QOTDs this week, I thought it would be interested to take a look at some of the characters that play a supporting role, a minor role or even a bit role in a Disney animated feature. Sometimes we can gleam quite a bit of wisdom from one of these characters if we take a moment to think about it.

A Fly from A Bug's Life

Fly: I only got twenty-four hours to live, and I ain't gonna waste it here.

So what will you do with your next 24 hours before weigh-in to make sure it is not wasted?

I will be working today to help finish costuming the anniversary show. I know I will be running around like crazy tonight. After school I will be up and down pinning the quilt I am finishing. SO I guess you could day I am just moving as much as I can.

Have a happy and healthy day.
 
Aw, so precious. Kids are just amazing, and such a big comfort during those sad times too.

He really made me smile yesterday (as always) even though we both shed a few tears we were able to talk about all the things we loved best about "Granda". One of his favourite things was that they watched Toy Story together when Granda needed a wee doze:rotfl:. My poor dad-I think that was the closest he got to watching a "western" with my youngest:rotfl: My dad loved a good cowboy movie. :)

lol, guess I'm not very serious.:rotfl: When I googled it, I saw milk and quackers, and didn't get it, but read further and it was what do you get when you mix a cow with a duck. :rotfl:
hmmmm, what do you get when you mix a mouse with a duck, I'm guessing double the inspiration and support!
:rotfl::rotfl:
I've been to wdw 6 times during this weight loss journey, and really do let loose, but with all the walking, may come back with just a few pounds, but when I come back, I make a pledge for day one to get back on plan completely, and that little gain will usually be gone by the next week. I do try not to eat fried foods, and to get my water in each day, but it's vacation, so I do eat quite a bit, but you will do so much walking around, it really does make a big difference. So where are you eating when you're there? Love to live vicariously through others.

Hope you had a nice nap with the kitty.

Good afternoon!! I walked the dog to pick up ds, and ds said he needed to chill after that walk home in the heat, so I had a few minutes. We'll head to the beach for a picnic shortly, so I'll go pack us our supper.
Sounds like a fun day-I'd love to go for a picnic:)
Have a nice evening!!

I am still here! I've just been lurking lately and not really posting. I'm not really sure why but I just felt a little overwhelmed I guess and kinda feeling like I didn't have anything to contribute.

We've been having a lot of problems with our DS lately, so that and all the craziness at work getting ready for the state testing in a few weeks has left me feeling really down and vulnerable emotionally!
:hug::hug:
But somehow through it all I have continued to slowly loose. One pound at a time will get me to where I want to be!!
Good for you for staying with the programme:thumbsup2You will get there eventually:)

I have hit my dreaded weight of 184! Dreaded because for some reason every time I diet I have never gotten below 184. I get there and then I start to gain and go up and down but never past 184! So now I am determined to finally get past that number
You can do it:cool1:

Just being sick and tired - of being sluggish, tired, knees that hurt, feet that hurt, etc.



It's really hard placing them in Assisted Living. Taking their independence from them. The hardest part was feeling guilty all the time for placing him. Could I have done more to keep him at my house?? Alarms, extra locks, etc. But then I hear a story about someone that "wanders" away - and know I did the right thing.
Dementia is such a tough illness-I used to work as a nurse and saw so many families torture themselves when making the decisions around care but sometimes there simply is no better way:hug:I have already told my kids they are not to feel bad if I need to go into a care home in my old age (mind you they will probably still feel guilty). My teenager told me I'd better treat him nice so that they pick a nice one;)

The gentleman in question was finally found at a bus stop in Haverhill. He was visiting a friend. Now what you need to know is Haverhill is about 25 miles from Wakefield.
:scared1:


I have been crying watching the Biggest Loser!!! I think it's the hormones!!!!

Your probably right:rotfl2:

I agree. But you can't stop the "helicopter" parents.



Brought Dad to his 6 month check up. We thought maybe his sugar was off and causing his recent confusion. But his diabetes is well maintained, cut his cholesterol meds in half, may be taken off his high blood pressure meds next trip. So the added confusion/delusions are just the advancing dementia.
:hug:
Janis

For the QOTDs this week, I thought it would be interested to take a look at some of the characters that play a supporting role, a minor role or even a bit role in a Disney animated feature. Sometimes we can gleam quite a bit of wisdom from one of these characters if we take a moment to think about it.

A Fly from A Bug's Life

Fly: I only got twenty-four hours to live, and I ain't gonna waste it here.

So what will you do with your next 24 hours before weigh-in to make sure it is not wasted?

Well today I have not 1 but 2 sick kids off school and I've been up since 4am coughing/wheezing. I have had to start a course of antibiotics and steroids to try and keep my asthma under control so fingers crossed it all improves as the day goes on;) I had planned to do some gardening work and to head for a walk but now thats been shelved and I will be staying put and dishing out ice-lollies and paracetamol to keep temps down all round:headache:
Good luck to everyone for tomorrow-I'm not hopeful this week but we shall see!
Have a great day:)
 
Morning Donalds!!

I did rest yesterday, I promise! Now it's time to get back at it today! :goodvibes

Typed up our entire WDW schedule last night. Took awhile but got it done. It made me start thinking. I was planning on letting loose on vacation and if I gained some weight fine. Now, I'm thinking, it took me 3 months to lose 10lbs. If I gain 5lbs, it'll take me another 1 1/2 months! I absolutely do not want that! Luckily, now that I'm into a routine the fruit and veggies will be at the top of my list, so maybe I will even come back lower after all the walking!

Hope you all have a wonderful day and make great choices! Only 2 days until weigh-in!

I am in the same conundrum regarding my upcoming vacation. So I too have been trying my best to plan the exercise while on the ship and "where is best to eat" for my WDW days. I think I have chose a balance that will allow me to enjoy myself but not go completely overboard either. I think the best thing I am now armed with is an awareness and sense of keeping myself accountable. If I see the numbers start to slip, the exercise will increase and the No-No foods will decrease or be eliminated.

I've had two. The first one was the scare with my blood pressure being so high. I still don't know if it was just a fluke that it was so high, but just the possibility of it already being in the 150's and being only in my 20's was enough to convince me that it was time to do something. I just wish I hadn't waited so long.

The other is actually one of my relatives who is extremely overweight. Can't get out of a chair without help, has sleep apnea, doesn't want to eat healthier food (a.k.a. 'Rabbit food') and while he see the need to make a change, he has no desire to do anything about it. While I'm grateful that I never reached that point with my weight, every time I see this relative, I'm glad that I made changes when I did and it really makes me see how far I've come already.
I thnk that family/friends that have suffered due to wieght issues is a string encouragement for many people. I thin kthat it has been expressed by many of the team.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Could the weather be any nastier today?! :umbrella:

Had the intention of running more errands today, but with severe thunderstorm warnings until tomorrow and tornado watches until later this afternoon, I decided to come back home and hibernate today.

Only ate a Fiber bar for breakfast; not good when you're trying to up your calories... :sad2: But remembering that I'm trying to up my calories, made myself a whole wheat cheese quesadilla with some light sour cream and homemade pepper jelly. YUMMY!

Not much planned for the rest of the day. Feeling really sleepy right now, so I may catch a cat nap with the cat before trying to go to the gym. I really want to get back in touch with the guy who did my personal training session to tell him that I've lost 6 lbs since the last time I saw him. ;)

Happy Hump day Donalds!

Hope the weather did not keep you off track too much of the day. Did you find the trainer and share your news??

I am still here! I've just been lurking lately and not really posting. I'm not really sure why but I just felt a little overwhelmed I guess and kinda feeling like I didn't have anything to contribute.

We've been having a lot of problems with our DS lately, so that and all the craziness at work getting ready for the state testing in a few weeks has left me feeling really down and vulnerable emotionally!

But somehow through it all I have continued to slowly loose. One pound at a time will get me to where I want to be!!

I have hit my dreaded weight of 184! Dreaded because for some reason every time I diet I have never gotten below 184. I get there and then I start to gain and go up and down but never past 184! So now I am determined to finally get past that number


Glad you are still around and glad that you have posted. Yes 1 pound at a time is the way to go!!!

Stick with us, we will support you and celebrate that elusive 183. It's just waiting for you!!!


Just being sick and tired - of being sluggish, tired, knees that hurt, feet that hurt, etc.



It's really hard placing them in Assisted Living. Taking their independence from them. The hardest part was feeling guilty all the time for placing him. Could I have done more to keep him at my house?? Alarms, extra locks, etc. But then I hear a story about someone that "wanders" away - and know I did the right thing.

The gentleman in question was finally found at a bus stop in Haverhill. He was visiting a friend. Now what you need to know is Haverhill is about 25 miles from Wakefield.



I go to Breakheart every weekend the weather is nice. I go to the Wakefield entrance and do the short 2 mile loop. Nice hilly walk. You can google and find a map of the place. Near the Saugus entrance is a dog park - but it's very small. When Patches was only about 6 months we brought him up to Hampton Beach. He freaked when he saw the horses. :rotfl:

OK - did anyone watch the Biggest Loser last night?? Conda and Jeremy have got to go. :confused3 It was a fun show - they went to Hawaii and learned how to surf with Bethany Hamilton (the girl that had her arm chomped off by a shark). She is such an inspiration - loved the movie about her too - Soul Surfer.

Brought Dad to his 6 month check up. We thought maybe his sugar was off and causing his recent confusion. But his diabetes is well maintained, cut his cholesterol meds in half, may be taken off his high blood pressure meds next trip. So the added confusion/delusions are just the advancing dementia.

Janis

I have not been watching the BL USA. But I have been watching Biggest Loser Australia. Drama there too! Seems the nature of the reality show now a days. But I still do find the show inspirational.

It's STILL raining here too. I went outside once in rainboots and jacket to get the mail and that was it.

Hope you made it to the gym despite the weather!

I thought I'd let you know that I sat down and started Sherlock today and I loved it!! The cab driver in A Study in Pink seriously creeped me out. Although I am a little sad they only have season 1 on netflix and the fact that there is only 3 episodes is a problem for me. :laughing: I'm so used to 13 episode seasons, and 3 is not enough for me! I finished The Blind Banker as well, that one was pretty intense!

Of course, anything by Steven Moffat is going to be good.

After I finish my workout I will be watching the 3rd episode. :goodvibes

----
Okay, okay. I had 2 reese's cups today! It isn't really a confession, I woke up late so I had some extra calories and I haven't had a reeses cup in several weeks so I added it into my day and still have plenty for a healthy dinner. I was out of my 50 calorie dark chocolates I usually eat and they looked so good! It was quite delicious if I say so...:goodvibes Although I'm pretty sure those are not worth 210 calories on a regular basis. I'd much rather have my yogurt and granola for my snack!

Being aware of the calories before you eat them is a major step in the battle. You know how to adjust your day based on that and area ble to make a choice. Also knowing that they are not worth it all the time is a big step. I did the same a couple weeks ago with a Snickers.....

Hello Team Donald! I want to apologize for not replying tonight and not getting on the dis yesterday or today. In fact, I wasn't on a computer at all until now. With this gorgeous weather, getting to the gym, and going to swim lessons yesterday and church tonight, I've had no time. So, I wanted to check in and I will get all caught up tomorrow with replies for the QOTDs and replies to people, too. I hope everyone else is enjoying this beautiful weather and getting some outside exercise! Enjoy it and I will be back tomorrow!!

Jill

We look forward to hearing more from you. It sounds like your reasons are valid and not excuses at all.

My WALL-E was a picture of me in Epcot in 2007. I'm sitting in front of the fountain in France enjoying a reeeally good glass of champagne...and I didn't even recognize myself in the picture. I thought "Surely, I'm not that round all over, right?" But sure enough I was! It jumpstarted me into eating healthier and exercising. Five years later, I'm still not quite where I want to be (I have fallen off a time or two...or six :headache:) but I haven't given up yet and don't plan to anytime soon!! If I find the picture I'll post it (in all actuality, it's not a bad picture, I just don't like the way I look at ALL!)

I applaud you on being able to hold onto your picture as a reminder. I can honestly say that I recall throwing away pics of myslef that I did not like. Hmmmm what does that say about my state of denial at the time?

So I did catch my cat nap with the kitty today and was able to get in a little over an hour at the gym. I also saw my trainer there this evening, so I had to tell him about my 6 lbs loss since the last time he saw me so he's was very pleased to hear about that. :goodvibes
Ooops, negate my question from earlier!!! Good for you!!!

The 25th anniversary cast of Les Mis was starting when I left so I hurried home and have it playing right now. Beautiful musical; I don't why people give Nick Jonas so much grief of playing Marius. He really did a beautiful job with it.
I agree. I was pleasantly surprised at how well he did in that role. I was shocked when I first saw that he was playing it but enjyoed it none-the-less.

Gonna finish watching the show then heading to bed. Good night all!

Good THursday morning everyone.

Had a busy day at school. Our department meeting went well and there were not too many problems.

My classes were tough since the periods were shorten and I had to get a very important topic across to the students. My head was spinning by the end of each class. I will see how they did today when they ask their questions.

I came home and took a short nap. I feel like a cold is coming on but I am trying to avoid it. I don't have time for one until next week.

After dinner I worked on a quilt top. This afternoon I have to pin it together and maybe start to quilt it.



I will be working today to help finish costuming the anniversary show. I know I will be running around like crazy tonight. After school I will be up and down pinning the quilt I am finishing. SO I guess you could day I am just moving as much as I can.

Have a happy and healthy day.

Hope you are able to fight the cold completely and that you do not hav eit linger at all.

It sounds like you have quite a few exciting sewing projects going on. And hey if they keep you moving to burn some extra cals before tomorrow, then they are enjoyable and beneficial.


Well today I have not 1 but 2 sick kids off school and I've been up since 4am coughing/wheezing. I have had to start a course of antibiotics and steroids to try and keep my asthma under control so fingers crossed it all improves as the day goes on;) I had planned to do some gardening work and to head for a walk but now thats been shelved and I will be staying put and dishing out ice-lollies and paracetamol to keep temps down all round:headache:
Good luck to everyone for tomorrow-I'm not hopeful this week but we shall see!
Have a great day:)

I hope that you are feeling better soon. Having a cold and cough to keep you up sure does not make a day of focusing on healthy living very easy. Stick to ice cubes instead of the ice-lollies (Popsicles for our American friends). And you never know what the scale will say tomorow. You may get a surprise for the good.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Sorry for my delay in writing today. It was Student led Conferences today and I had to get to work early to set up and then went pretty much straight through the day with the conferences. But they are over and another big check on my list of TO BE DONE BEFORE VACATION hurdles.

My answer to the QOTD I guess, is that I will really ensure I give my all on my gym visit tonight and I will make sure that I get all my calorties. No skimping in hope of a reduction. That never works.

Hope all are well as things are REALLY QUIET on our last day as Team Donald.

Christopher
 
For the QOTDs this week, I thought it would be interested to take a look at some of the characters that play a supporting role, a minor role or even a bit role in a Disney animated feature. Sometimes we can gleam quite a bit of wisdom from one of these characters if we take a moment to think about it.

A Fly from A Bug's Life

Fly: I only got twenty-four hours to live, and I ain't gonna waste it here.

So what will you do with your next 24 hours before weigh-in to make sure it is not wasted?

I am going to stay on track with my food, drink plenty of water, get in some exercise and laugh!
 
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-------------40!
not reporting in for 1 week-----3
not reporting in for 2 weeks----4
not reporting in for 3 weeks----4
Excused--------------------------3
weigh ins-------------------------26
gains-----------------------------2
maintains------------------------5
losses----------------------------18
new or returning members ----1



Biggest Loser Fall Challenge Week 11!
This week’s group loss = 20.0 pounds!
Average percentage of weight lost 0.39 %
Total group weight loss so far 486.5 pounds!


AWESOME!

Retention Rate (compared to the 72 participants we had sign up for our start week on January 1st)
40% (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 11?

The WISH Biggest Loser Spring Challenge Team Donald Week 11 Superstars!!
#10 - 0.44% - buzz5985
#9 - 0.54% - Disneyluvr
#8 - TIE - 0.63% - akhaloha & luvpoohandcompany
#7 - 0.65% - #1hoosierfan
#6 - 0.73% - liesel
#5 - 0.74% - ougrad86
#4 - 0.80% - dvccruiser76
#3 - 1.17% - D73
#2 - 1.19% - jillbur

and now
The WISH Biggest Loser Team Donald Spring Challenge Week 11 Biggest Loser is:
#1 - 1.48% - belledreamer

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 belledreamer!!!


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! :

Congrats to all the biggest losers!



This week's winning team with 33.47% is Team Mickey!!

Team Donald weighed-in losing 15.84% for the week!

Additional stats for the week!!!!

BernardandMissBianca won for Team Mickey with 2.54% this week and was the overall Biggest Loser!!

Congrats to belledreamer who was Doanld's Team winner with 1.48%!

Team Donald lost 20.0 pounds this week
Team Mickey lost 17.7 pounds this week

Team Donald leads the Total Weight Loss with 486.5 pounds and Team Mickey's total weight loss to date is 406.3!!!
Both teams together have lost 892.8 pounds!!!! Amazing!

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

Have an OP week :goodvibes

Great job by both teams! I can't believe merge time is here!


QOTD Tuesday March 20 Edna "E" Mode from the Incredibles

Edna: This is a hobo suit, darling. You can't be seen in this. I won't allow it. Fifteen years ago, maybe, but now? Feh!
Bob: Wait, what do you mean? *You* designed it.
Edna: I never look back, darling! It distracts from the now.


How are you living in the now? Do you look back at all? for inspiration? determination?
What challenges in your life distract you from the now?

I do look in the past for inspiration. My challenges are eating healthy when DH and kids want burger King for dinner. But, I think back to how far I've come and chug along.


Mary and John from WALL-E

Mary: [Mary is looking at the stars outside the Axiom while other passengers pass idly by] Oh! So many stars! Ah.
[she sees WALL-E and EVE flying around outside]
Mary: Oh! Hey! That's what's-his-name!
[backs up, bumps into John]
John: Hey! What the-?
Mary: Look! Look, look, look!
[she shuts off his chair and screen, making him aware of his surroundings]
John: Huh? What?
[sees WALL-E and EVE]
John: Hey... I know that guy! It's uh, uh... WALL-E! That's it! Hey - WALL-E! It's your buddy John!
Mary: [simultaneously] Hey! Hi, WALL-E!
[John casually puts his right hand upon Mary's]
John: [looks down, somewhat surprised; looks up at Mary, smiles] Hi.
Mary: [smiles] Hi.


Mary and John were going along in their "normal" sedentary lives until WALL-E literally bumped them "off track". This bump opened their eyes to the truth around them. What was your bump? your wake up call? your WALL-E? Has that bump been strong enough to keep you on track or would it e helpful to have that bump revisit you now and again?

Honestly, I'm not sure one thing was my wake up call. I realized that once I had children, I wasn't putting myself first. At all. My whole life became about my kids (and DH and work). So, I realized I would be so much happier and healthier if I made time for myself and took care of myself. This is what started my love for working out at the gym and eventually running.

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

Okay, so I made it on, but now have a lunch meeting at 11. I did read through the last couple pages to get caught up, but don't have time for replies right now. I am going to the gym at 4:30 and my kids have swimming lessons at 7. Hopefully, I can find time after they are in bed to check back in.

Christopher~thanks so much for coaching this week. I have really enjoyed your QOTDs! And, it's so nice to have a man's perspective on things!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Jill
 

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