Ohh, I can so hear you on this one...I have been amazed at how much more I am able to do - who knew I could sit criss cross applesauce style on the floor without needing a special machine to extract me from the position and pull me to standing again!

It sounds like you had a nice relaxing weekend!

We NEED weekends like those

Heh - thanx well dont go into my diary anytime soon - Im going through some bad funk and it is all negative - LOL - we will comunicate through yours - Im glad to read how well you've been doing exercise wise and how you feel you can and consider doing more than you have before - you are so growing girl - it is fun and amazing to watch - Im glad im on teh side lines cheering you along...

M2M

I haven't sent back my special extraction machine yet! I would like to though!!

Cerella

How could you be inspiring if you had no times of struggle?

I'm really impressed at the changes you have made in the past few weeks, and I think your attitude toward "not caring" and "not counting" is great. You'll be happy to know that there is almost no alcohol remaining after sherry is cooked, so the only thing you would have to worry about is the small amount of sugar it would leave. I'm pretty sure you were still on target, but if you don't want to count it and can still feel good about it, then I'm all for that, and proud of you!

BTW, the "Walking to where you take your walk" idea? Brilliant!
I've been doing that a bit when I am out looking for places to go hike, too!

Keep making your poor doggie miserable; it's good for you and good for her, too!

Qjay

It's so nice to see your post in here again!

It's funny I haven't thought of myself as making great changes - just trying to keep in the spot where I'm doing the best I can with what I know at the time and what I can manage at the time!

I just love to celebrate any improvements I notice. One day I'm going to go back through my thread and put them in a list. Well I might not have to do that because I'm mostly still quite aware of them at the moment.

I have a no sugar policy (except for that jam I have at breakfast), so anything that adds sugar isn't on the plan. Only I don't actually think every little bit matters any more. That could go on my list - I like knowing that I can, occasionally, have a little of something I really want to have - usually for traditional reasons, without it knocking me back into out of control eating.

Hehe. Your light's on. I like that.

I think a list of your celebrations would be great, and I bet there are a lot of them that have been left to the sidelines without you even noticing; now you'll have to either admit I'm right, or prove I'm not

I still have to be very careful about eating right, and I feel like I really dodged a bullet with the food yesterday; cravings are such a danger for me, even now.
The really rough part is that I still like eating large amounts of food, and I still have a hard time not clearing my plate; it just feels like a waste of money if I don't eat everything. The good news is that I am still ordering carefully if I eat out, and I am still preparing my food carefully if I am home, and I am eating intuitively and just counting it all up at the end of the day. I have a notebook to help me with that, too.

I just love going out hiking so much! I can REALLY feel the difference in my knees, too! Tell me about your knees, I like hearing about "healthy knees"! lol

hey felici...I havent been on here in monthes! I just wanted to say hi! glad to see you are still here and doing well. Have a great day!!!

Good Morning Felici,
I hope you have a great day

HEH - I need to keep that in mind ... LOL ...and me and that word inspiring get me everytime - I dont see it

I think it would be good to go througha nd list I think of that at times when I am stalled in my progress or negative and dont feel like continuing to move forward...Ive given up alot and changed alot - I think you have a great idea Felici

I don't want to exaggerate. My experience has shown me that I can feel just fine, like now, and this doesn't mean cravings won't come back and do some damage. I still think I need to be very careful. I’m very alert to a heap of things that could be issues for me. I just don't feel nervous about birthdays and Christmas and variations to my routine in the way I was when I first started here. I think I still need to have plans for them but they take less thought because of the other times I’ve already dealt with similar issues.

My own latest plan for incipient cravings now is that I don't dismiss any little bit of nagging as "not really a craving yet". I just go "Yuck you might turn into a craving. You are enemy food. NO WAY are you controlling me! How could you? I am much more powerful than you. Gross. I hate you. You're disgusting. You make me feel sick. Ugh. My stomach is turning over. You're the kind of food that ends up making me feel like vomiting afterwards I can't even bear to think about you. Oops. Can't look at that stuff, it's gross. Slide away eyes...." LOL. Well I did it to icecream a couple of week's ago and the little annoying niggle of interest just disappeared. I don’t reckon this will stop me enjoying a little next Christmas though!

I don't actually have healthy knees either.

God I love the difference between these "not healthy knees" and the old "not healthy knees" though. These ones have some mates to help them out - muscles!!

Thanks. Great to see you back - and it's terrific that you haven't gained either. I hope we'll get to see you here till your loss is done this time.

Me too! Ummm... I mean, "Thank you, I hope you do as well!" Actually I mean both those things!

Tomorrow should be good. I have work at a school where I worked today and I used to go a lot. I'm glad their registrar has noticed that I'm available to them again. It's a bright friendly place with a good bunch of supportive teachers. Most of the time, I really enjoy being in the classroom in the role I have. I just wish I could come home and the hours would still be there for me to do everything else I like doing too.

I have thought about the list quite a few times. I also saw that TomO wrote one something like that the other day when he was feeling frustrated about a plateau he's on and thought then that it was a great idea for something to do when things don't seem the best.

I will have to go to bed tonight without checking all the new entries I can see on here. Drat.

It would be pushing my luck to check any further now. I know my patience gets all crumbly without sleep and that's not really fair on the kids. I hope I'm not missing anything!

Breakfast ~9:00 2 weetbix, 1/3 C diced peaches. 1C lowfat soy milk. 1 boiled egg. 1 slice wholemeal toast with minimal margarine and strawberry jam. ½ glass tomato juice. 1 C coffee with 40 ml Hilo.

Snack 10:30 Medium sized pear. 1 coffee with HiLo milk.

Lunch 12:30 2 Salada crackers, 1 chicken thigh, 1 box V8 vege juice. 1 coffee with HILO milk.

A bit of a weird way to eat. I had a late call to work and grabbed a bunch of stuff that didn’t really go together. It tasted ok though.

Snack 5:00 ½ Salada cracker.

Exercise: 8:10pm 30 minutes. Nice local walk with the dog. It was dark but I didn’t care. Unless I made it a routine I don’t see that there’s much risk. It was hot and so outdoors was good.

8:45 pm ~ 30 min Original low impact aerobics routine with 750 gm weights and no tape. (I kind of watched Desperate Housewives). I think I probably do a few more when there's no tape, plus I added a few extra stretches at the end. This routine is not too strenuous now but I thought it would be good to help keep my sore thighs moving.

I'm actually pretty excited that I've learned to do something like this that I can pretty much fit in regardless of the weather and lack of access to the DVD or video player. I have wanted this for a long time. It gives me more sense that I can guarantee a minimum amount of exercise.

I never did get that mini trampoline, but I still might get that too, because then I could also try for a more intense workout regardless of the weather and without worrying about who else is around at the time. I found out there are new ones that are so cheap that it wouldn't be too big a deal. In a couple of week's maybe.

Dinner 9: 30 140 gm tinned red salmon. 100gm tin corn. 1 small microwaved potato. 1 tomato, carrot, capsicum, sugar snap peas, baby squash, cucumber.

Water: ~1500 ml Yesterday’s Bedtime: (?)12:30

On plan:106 days. Achieved food target: 88 days. Exercised: 90 days. All goals: 7 days.

Something is wrong with my right wrist. I will see a physio about it tomorrow. In the meantime I am not using weights and not chopping veges!

Hopefully they will say it’s nothing and just get on with it. Hopefully they will not say I’m a bloody idiot for being careless about the weights (like I have been saying to myself! )

Breakfast ~9:00 2 weetbix, 1/3 C diced peaches. 1C lowfat soy milk. 1 boiled egg. 1 slice wholemeal toast with minimal margarine and strawberry jam. ½ glass tomato juice. 1 C coffee with 40 ml Hilo.

Snack 10:30 1 coffee with milk.

Lunch 12:30 2 slices wholemeal bread, 1 chicken thigh, a handful of sugar snap peas. 1 pear.

Snack 5:00 ½ Salada cracker.

Dinner 7: 30 375 gm Velish provencal vegetable soup. 125 gm grilled roo steak. 100gm baked beans.

Exercise 8:45 ½ hour local walk. Moderate speed.

Water: ~1500 ml Yesterday’s Bedtime: 1:00

On plan:107 days. Achieved food target: 89 days. Exercised: 91 days. All goals: 7 days.

I hope you get that wrist diagnosed soon - there's nothing worse then having a wrist, but not using it

Seriously, I hope it's better soon

Thanks M2M. It works fine, but it's reminding me how much I need it!!

I bet it is! You never know how often you use a body bit until it hurts and you can't use it!