hey alibran! u are doing great!
i totally relate to how u feel about the "the bike-with-the-arms". out here it is called the armargo. i hate it. but ur attitude has motivated me!

Wow. That's all I have to say! You're doing such a great job on the exercise! And true, having the time makes it a lot easier (with not working yet) but it still takes the drive to actually go and do it, and you're doing awesome!

I lost a lot of my weight just by changing my diet, and now I'm getting into the exercise and so it's hard for me. Seeing your elliptical at level 6 was like omg! I can do level 2... I haven't tried anything harder yet because level 2 is plenty hard if I want to do it long enough. However, I don't do the elliptical often enough to improve on it.. so... that kinda puts me in a rut!

I find it really inspiring how you're increasing your exercises and doing great at them. Makes me realize that I need to step it up some. I was slacking a little last week. At least today I made myself do level 2 on the bike, which is really hard for me, but I took it 5 minutes at a time and everytime I finished that 5 mins I thought to myself... yeah I can do another 5.. next thing I know it's 30 mins later! So, I know I need to believe more in myself and just push it harder even though it feels like I'm in hell

I'm glad you're feeling really great! Exercise really does make you feel great and puts you in a great mood for the rest of the day.

Keep it up, you're doing so great!

Isn't that the GREATEST feeling!!

Your exercise plan sounds fantastic

I just found out today that my beautiful boy is going to have to have most of his teeth out. He's got something called odontoclastic resorptive lesions, which basically means his teeth are disintegrating from the roots outwards. Apparently it's really painful, but he must have had it for ages and he hasn't shown any signs of it, apart from a bit of discomfort with his mouth sometimes when he's playing, and I always thought that was because he'd bitten something sharp.

I know he's only eight, and that isn't that old, and the vet checked his heart and said he's fine, but I'm still worried about the anaesthetic. And we've only been here a few months, it's a new vet who I don't really know, although he seems nice, and he took his time talking to me about what would be involved. I've thought about taking him back "home" to the vet he's known since he was a kitten for the operation, but it's a 3 hour drive and I know that wouldn't be fair on him either. He's a good traveller, but a 3 hour journey when he's still feeling weird after the anaesthetic would be horrible for him. Why couldn't this have happened before we moved?

Isn't it amazing how you can go from feeling so great to feeling so low? I know it isn't a major operation. Loads of cats have their teeth out and they're fine, but I'm so worried about him. I just wish it would all go away, but I know it won't. If I don't have the operation done, it will just get worse. L says we should be glad that it's just teeth and nothing worse, but that doesn't make it any easier.

At least I don't feel like eating.

Geez, I'm really sorry to hear about your cat...
I feel for him..
I'm sure that you'll find the best thing to do in the situation though.

I hope to wish you the best! We're fellow Spring Fling Challengers
Juliette

I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty's teeth - but it is a GOOD thing to have done.

I had a cat that I should have done this for - and didn't. He lived until he was 19 and probably would have lived much longer - but the teeth decay caused blood poisoning.

He'll be ok - and have a much healthier life in the long run because of what you're doing for him!

Aw! it really sucks about ur cat! hope he gets better!

Just wishing you all my best wishes with your kitty situation.

Thanks, all of you. I feel a bit better this morning. It was just such a shock yesterday. I only took him to the vet to have his claws cut, and asked the vet to check his teeth while he was there because it hadn't been done for a while. It felt like I went in with a healthy cat and came home with a sick one. But nothing has changed for him. He still slept all last night snuggled with me on the bed like he usually does, and he still tried to stop me getting up this morning. And I'm sure he'll want me to go in the garden with him when I come back from the gym, just like usual. I'll phone the vet later to book the operation. For the moment, I'm just trying to keep things as normal as possible.

Keeping things normal sounds like a good plan. And after the operation, life will get back to normal soon

Well, I booked him in for his operation next Wednesday. With Easter in between, that was the earliest the vet could do it. So, until Tuesday night, when I have to stop feeding him, I'm going to try not to think about it at all. That gives me 5 days of totally normal life

My workout today felt like one of the best ever. I increased the speed on the treadmill slightly - up to 3.7mph now. My speed crept up a bit on the bike - close to 17.5mph. The elliptical is still on the same level, but I think I was going a tiny bit faster than I have been. AND next time I do resistance training, I'm going to have to increase the weight on some of the lifts because they're getting way too easy. So, that's all good.

And the weather here has been lovely again.

It's update day for me tomorrow. I don't think it will be as good as last week, but I'm confident I'm going to see a loss.

Poor kitty cat - hope you're feeling better and getting in some snuggle time with the baby....

We always get lots of snuggle time. He's basically getting everything he wants at the moment - food, cuddles, play - whenever he wants it. My partner says he needs to make the most of it, but it will probably carry on long after the operation. We've always said he's the most pampered cat in the world, but I think it's really true at the moment.

First time in here.

Hope all is well today, and sorry about your cat! Hope things work out for the bet.

I also hope your cat is ok, and I hope the surgery goes well.

Good job on your exercises! At this rate you'll be fit in no time!