T.H.E. (Trying Hard Everyday) Team: Join us!

Good morning team! Man am I stiff this morning. All that walking yesterday really caught up with my back. Took a motrin and will do some yoga here at home to see if I can get it to loosen up a little. Otherwise, Im just busy getting laundry done and hubby packed so he can leave on Monday for Texas. He'll be gone for a week and a half this time, then should be home for a couple weeks before he leaves on a long job.

I have a "not so well kept secret" to share with ya'll about sweeteners. I have some new recipe books from the library and alot of the recipes call for agave nector instead of sugar, so I went and picked some up at whole foods. Ive been using Truvia for about a year now, but dont like the fact that its still a processed sweetener, so I thought "what do I have to lose" and bought a small bottle of raw agave nector to try. Lets just say that if you are a coffee drinker... this stuff is a MUST! Its the consistency of honey... runs about 60 cals per tbs (which is plenty to sweeten a mug of coffee), but you can get different flavors like irish cream, hazelnut, macadamia or plain and it tastes awesome!! There are no funky aftertastes or fat and its RAW, which means its never been processed so any nutrients in it originally are still there. If you havent tried it yet, do yourself a favor and give it a shot. Hubby was a sugar fiend when it came to his 4 cups of coffee in the morning and he told me today "You have to get MORE of that stuff"! You can use it to sweeten a ton of other things too like yogurt and fruit... it really is tasty stuff.

Anyway...

here are my results from the week. Happy I am losing, just wish it were a bit more..

Losingit4good: SW252/GW 200/CW 219.4 ~ Loss .80 pounds
Valentines Day Challenge: -3 so far....8 more to go to reach my 11lb goal

Gosh darnit! I hate this laptop sometimes!! LOL I had a nice long reply typed out then "poof" i bumped the back button and it was gone!... Oh well.. LOL

Misty~ You rock girl!! Im so proud of you for getting on track and sticking to it!! 9lbs in 2 weeks.... WOWSERS!! Happy dance for you BIG time!!!

Ali~ Welcome to our group!! Im looking forward to getting to know you! You sound like you are motivated and ready to rock this! Congratulations on taking the initiative to change and I like yer attitude of Not giving up!! :0) Awesome to meet you!

Lacey~ Welcome to you also! Dont get discouraged at that scale, in fact, my suggestion would be to find another form of measuring your success in addition to the scale. You may not see a loss of weight, but seeing inches disappear too is very cool too! Take your measurements now, then do them again in a month. Dont get discouraged.. we have all been in this situation. Sometimes, It takes a while to reset your metabolism and get things going... once they do, you'll see the numbers change. Also, several factors can make your weight flux in the wrong direction. Like Ali said... lean muscle weighs more than fat, so that is a definite possibility if you are working out alot. Also, salty foods will make you retain water which will show up as a gain... then there is that TOM which is known to make me gain anywhere from 3-6lbs the week before. The nice part about TOM water weight is that as soon as the aunt leaves... you should be back to where where you were, if not lower if you stuck with it. So there are several reasons why, if you are eating right, you can still show a slight gain. Dont let it stress you out. Stress can cause it too.. just relax and know that what you are eating is good for you and that the exercise on top of it is even better and that it IS NOT POSSIBLE to gain fat if you are eating healthy, are within your calories and working yer butt off to shape up :0)

YAY Nita!! Im so proud of you!!! Great job!

As for the hubby being gone for work, I completely understand. It was hard at first for me to get used to mine being gone, now I kinda look forward to it...LOL.. one less mouth to feed at home and when the kids are gone their dads every other weekend.. I get to have all the me time I want. It makes eating and working out a breeze on those days! Mine leaves Monday until Feb 3rd... then hes home for a week and it looks like he'll be leaving again for 2 weeks.

PS. I got a new Wii game called Circus... its a challenge for sure. It uses the balance board and you have to do all these tricks to earn fans and money. If you mess up, it takes fans and money away. It has games like trapeze, human cannonball and pony dancing and some of them are really friggen hard, but Im getting better at it. I figure anything that gets me off my butt is better than nothing at all! ;0)

Guido~ Congrats on hitting that 40lb loss!! 1lb at a time doesnt seem like much when its coming off does it? (I know.. thats usually how things work for me also), In the end all those 1's add up!! Great job!! Stick with it! ;0)

Manda~ Congrats on another 2# lost & gone forever! woohoo!

CC~ Glad you are hanging in there and sticking with it as well! Congrats on yer 2.2# loss you busy girl!! ;0)

Yes, Im posting early. Woke up at 5:30am this morning REALLY thirsty and had to get up to get some water. Not sure why I felt so dehydrated. I have been drinking all my water. Of course, I couldnt just get up and get a drink and go back to bed. The dog decided it was his time to get up and go out also, so after freezin my butt off takin him out and sucking down a liter of water....yeah, dont think I can go back to bed now. LOL My brain is too awake.

ahh well....I have stuff to do today anyway. Plan the menu, organize my coupons, hit the grocery store......THEN I just may go for a swim at the inlaws. They put in an indoor lap pool 2 years ago and I have yet to even put my toe in it because they live about 30 minutes away and its brackish salt water (which Im not much of a fan of). But, free swimming is free swimming and since its indoors its about 85 degrees in there right now it sounds a heck of alot better than going for a walk in the rain today.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Thought I would check in before heading to bed to watch tonight episode of the biggest loser...

Have had a busy last couple days. Yesterday I walked 6 miles, today I walked 7. I cant tell if my feet are sore or if they are just tired, but the good news is that the rest of me feels great. No more sore hips or back. Stretching seems to be helping, but I usually stretch after and not before since I dont think of it until after Im done.

Well within calories with my longs walks.. been eating lots of salads for lunch this week since it was on sale..(woohoo!).

Anita (or anyone else here on the team).. if you get lonely or bored, feel free to give me a call. Since my guy is gone I get bored too!! Im usually up pretty late.. until at least 11ish pacific time which runs I think 2 hours behind ya. Im a night owl and I always have my cell phone handy. My phone number is in my facebook profile and if any of ya get bored ya are welcome to call me and shoot the breeze.... :0) I have free long distance, so I could even call back if thats an issue for ya.. :0) For all you newbies here, alot of us are keeping up with eachother on facebook as well so if you have facebook, let us know so we can add ya as a buddy there too!

See ya tomorrow!

Got a 4 mile walk outside and 30 minutes of strength training in on the wii.... now my arms are as wobbly (sore) as my legs.. LOL
Feels good tho!! Its been a while since they have felt a really good strength training session!

Off to bed, its late and If the weather is nice tomorrow, Im definitely taking advantage of the trail again.