*** Supportive Friends -- Looking to Release 50+ Pounds ***

@meg - agree - where's everybody gone?? We need to keep going strong - we can do this. Is this the 5k that your husband is doing with you?

@ron - must make a pleasant change to be travelling within the UK for once. And as for your question about a spring or summer in this country - it's just horrible at the moment. Poured with rain and a howling gale all last night - it's not unreasonable to want just a little sun! Not sure it's the weather for the pink shorts either:laugh:

Lost track of my logging a bit this week. I start really well in the morning but lose focus on it in the evening. Not sure why - work is getting really busy but that shouldn't affect my logging at home in the evening. Going to log everything that I plan to eat today - log it in advance then I just have to tweak it if things change.

Happy Wednesday all!

@meg - well, if he's going to beat you then he'll be there at the end to cheer you on! You must be really excited at the prospect of the race - it's such a brilliant thing to do. Don't worry on the weather too much - rain is a shame but if it were a really nice sunny day it might get too hot which wouldn't be much fun either!

Would love a dog but right now we just don't have the lifestyle for it and it's not fair on them if there is nobody around with them during the day. We have two unspeakably mad cats - and thinking about it that is plenty enough to be going on with! And the whole 'do we want to try for children' conversation is rearing it's head at the moment so, no - I should stop thinking about dogs!! And remind myself that if the answer to that is yes, which it is although it terrifies me, then this is one of the reasons that I need to get healthier!

Anyway, enough rambling about that! Working from home today in a desperate attempt to get some peace and quiet and actually get some work done Electrician came round on Tuesday to finish the work in my husbands office so we need to get all the furniture back in there today then that will be two rooms completely decorated and done - woohoo:drinker:

Just got home. Whoopee!! No travelling till Tuesday/Wednesday next week, long enough to get rid of the retained water and get a true weight figure. In between trousers (pants) currently so they're either too tight or slipping down. Great fun...........not!!

@meg - well done on the 5K race, I still know I'd die if I even walked that, but I am improving, I just feel so much better and more healthy by the week. And I'm sleeping a lot better. In between trousers (pants). We have five english cocker spaniels, my wife is a hobby breeder (one litter every two or three years) so they are all home produced. We've now had dogs which have been born, lived to a good age, and died, all in the same house. Our oldest dog is 14 years old and he has just today had a tooth removed under general anaesthetic. We were worried, you always are with dogs this age, but he's apparently in generally good condition so the vet wasn't worried. He's back home now but quite spaced out poor thing! He'll probably sleep till morning now with a brief waking period to eat (nothing puts these dogs off eating!). I would definitely recommend having a dog, I have lived with dog(s) all my life literally, my parents had a dog before I came along, a German Shepherd and I remember playing with her when I was very young, she died when I was four. If you do decide to go down that route, just choose carefully, make sure you see a litter with its mother and avoid 'puppy farms' like the plague.

@jane - yes, nice to be in the UK for a change, the weather is nice this afternoon, I had a lovely drive back, traffic quite light, and I got to wear my sunglasses! You're right, you need to have the right lifestyle for a dog and any reputable breeder will want to know the puppy is not going to be abandoned while all in the house go off to work! As for children/dogs, I've had both and would definitely recommend dogs, they're much easier than children :happy:

Yay!! Another two pounds gone since Sunday morning!! The usual travel syndrome, I was away Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Friday morning I was actually 1.6 lbs UP on last Sunday (high salt, water retention) spent most of yesterday at home drinking normally and making numerous visits to the toilet and this morning I am 2 lbs down (or 3.6 since yesterday morning's weighing! Just goes to show the weight value of water). And people are beginning to notice, a few people commented this week or asked if I had lost weight.

This was going to be a lot longer, but I decided to put it in my blog instead as it became reflective about my journey so far. You can read it at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ron2e

@steph - welcome back! Of course we are pleased to see you back. So sorry to hear things have been hard - you've taken a lot on with your little girl and going back to work and you are perfectly reasonable to want and indeed need some you time. Agree totally with Ron - sit down and talk to your other half, let him know how you feel and hard this is for you. I can't relate as I don't have children (yet!) but I've known plenty of new mums who struggle like this to get time for themselves. So, talk to your other half and keep coming back here - there is great support on this thread (as you know better than me - I'm a relative newbie to it ). Sent you a friend request - we are all here to look out for each other.

@ron - congrats with the further loss. You clearly know very well what works for you and what doesn't and you know the routine of travel and home time. And a few more days off before you travel again which is good. Hope all went ok with your dog and his tooth removal and that he's back to his happy self!

Having a quiet weekend - been a busy week! Not exercised as much as I should this week and feeling really stiff (whether that is a result of lack of exercise, I'm not sure!) Either way, have done my session on the cross trainer this morning in a quest to get started again.

Will check back later - have a good day folks.

@Steph, welcome back! I'll send a friend request :happy: I know life can be incredibly busy with little ones around, but you definitely need make sure you get your "me" time. Like Ron & Jane said, talk to your husband. I wish I had done that when my oldest was little (he's 9 now), I ended up a couple times out of pure frustration locking myself in the bathroom (and having a huge emotional crying fit) just to get away from it all. Not the best way to handle things. These days I usually just tell my husband where I will be and when he might expect me back. No choice on his part... and he's ok with that.
You've come so far with your weight loss already, don't give up now!

@Ron, tried to read your blog, but it's marked as private. Congrats on this weeks loss! I bet it's nice having people notice and say something now. I'm getting that some too these days. In fact, last Sunday at church I got a lot of comments, between my cute new dress and how I managed to fit in my new cute dress. :bigsmile:

@Jane, glad your weekend is quiet at least! I had a busy week as well.

I've started reading a book on fitness, something I NEVER anticipated I would do. It's the New Rules of Lifting for Women. Seriously considering taking up weight lifting, as it burns much more fat apparently. But it would be in addition to running, I could never give up that.
Well, in about 20 minutes, I'm going to head out to run the 5K, I'll report back in with a pic and my results later today! Have a good weekend everyone!

@meg - I've got the New Rules for Lifting book as well and it's one of the reasons I've got into the Jillian Michaels DVD's as she uses weights (admittedly I am only using the 1kg weights but will build up in time). Everything I've heard is that weights build muscle tone and help with fat loss and general better all round health so I would go for it (sorry Ron!!). Hope the run went well today and that the weather wasn't too bad for you.

@ron - the knees comment made me laugh. People do pick out the strangest things to focus on! I read your blog post - very inspiring. I think the fact that it is such a complete lifestyle change is the point that so many people struggle with (me included sometimes). I absolutely recognise that I'm not on 'a diet' but sometimes changing my thinking and attitude is hard. I liked your chocolate reference as that is something that I've been noticing a lot recently - things that I have previously loved the taste of suddenly seem over sweet and leave me feeling lethargic and heavy. So anyway, enough rambling - liked the blog and made me think again about how I view this whole journey.

Now that (hopefully) the temperature in the UK has climbed a bit I've managed to get into the garden today - planted out some tomato plants, lettuces, herbs and broccolli - that along with the strawberries, raspberries and blackberries that were already here when we moved in should provide some good food later in the year. We are a million miles away from being self sufficient but there is something so satisfying about eating something that you grew yourself - and knowing that it is free from all the nasty stuff.

Baking sea bass fillets with lemon juice, rosemary and couscous for supper tonight - getting hungry just thinking about it

@wlhepburn - course you can - welcome! We try to be positive - life is too short to be anything else:happy:

@wlhepburn - anyone is welcome who pays the entrance fee :happy: And that is the resolve for mutual support.

As Jane says, life is too short........ and she knows a thing or two! Positive is the key word. We can, and WILL, lose weight.

@jane - sea bass fillets sound delicious, I love sea bass. Tonight I died and went to heaven for a short visit - about a dozen Scottish Langoustine tails (they were whole but I pulled the heads off being that sort of a person!), cut down the middle and grilled for a couple of minutes along with some queen scallops and a pile of garlic butter and lemon. I had nothing with them, they didn't need anything more. I actually went slightly over tonight, first time EVER, but you know what, I don't care! That extra 31 cals was worth every penny :drinker: Plus I had some delicious Sussex raspberries from Waitrose. Not as good as the Scottish ones, but I would say that wouldn't I (being of the Scottish persuasion), but delicious none the less and well worth the 41 calories which pushed me over the cliff. I used to be very much a meat person but I am becoming more and more fishy the older I get and could eat seafood ad nauseam. Anyhow, glad you liked the blog and if you gained any value from it, I'm more than happy.

Hello everyone!

Well, it was a good week. Work was fine and home remains good. My waist is definitely down nearly 2 inches which feels interesting. I really didn't realize the belly was that full of jolly jelly!

NSV: I broke the 15 min mile barrier in my before work exercise session this week. I was so shocked because I didn't know I had it down until I stopped...Lol! I set it to 6 and just went for it at the beginning until I had to take it down to 2. This seems to have set the pace which got the mile in at 14:49. That was so cool! I think if I stay on track, I should make goal weight in under a year. I'm not rushing anymore and that's a relief. I'm including the vacation and holiday bounces that may happen.

@jane - you are right...there isn't too much better than a home grown tomato. You can eat those standing in the sun in your garden just like an apple! Or at least I can. Many store tomatoes taste like nothing. I hope you have a huge bounty!

@meg - my,my you are that girl! Yes, the one who has the handsome guy and can run 3 miles without stopping in 40 minutes no less! I bet you love being that girl...and you deserve it! Hard work is paying off. Keep going!

@ron - the fat knees comment was very very funny! People are weird in a strange yet strange way...Lol! 40 lbs on the gone forever pile is something to be happy about.

@wlhepburn - welcome back to this island of sanity!

Well, the weekend has been lazy. Our weather continues to be unusual in NC. It's been much cooler and wet than I can remember in years.

New cool things that I like: Arctic Zero, Nike Training Club app, and almond meal cookies. Please share any cool fitness things you encounter.

Have a good week!

@Ron, I think it would take a heck of a lot to tear me away from my man! But thanks for the offer.... :blushing:

Damn! Hopes dashed again!! Still, on the upside, it means I can hang on to my wife for a little while longer............. (It would cost me a fortune to get rid of her. As I said to her on our 30th, if I'd killed her instead of marrying her I'd be a free man now :explode: )

@skatergirl33 - welcome! This is a great thread - glad you found it inspiring. re: the tracking of food - I can't speak highly enough of it (doesn't mean I always do it as well as I should but hey - we can't be perfect all the time!) Stick with the tracking and mix the exercise up a bit - that way you can still run but do other things as well to take the pressure off your feet.

@meg - congratulations on the run yesterday - you did so well and lapped all of those sat on the couch! The Jillian Michaels DVD that I'm doing with weights is No More Trouble Zones which is a variety of exercise routines - the majority of which require weights (or tins of baked beans if you don't have proper weights:laugh: ).

@rdcphone - yep, that's the problem that I have - if left to my own devices, none of the fruit and veg that we grow would ever make it into the house for cooking with. Particularly the raspberries and strawberries! Talking of apples, I think there is a small apple tree in the garden as well but not sure - looking forward to finding out. It all makes it sound like a huge garden and it's not - a bypical new(ish) build in the UK with an ok sized garden - but the people before us have designed it to make best use of the space.

@ron - you are so right not to be bothered by the odd 30-40 extra calories for a one off day - sounds like your supper was good enough to make it worth it. You are of scottish persuasion? Where abouts are you from?

Well, I've got my session in on the cross trainer today - did the High Impact Interval programme which I have heard is better all round for you than just the standard programme. Did a 32 minute session and was pleasantly surprised by the calories burnt. Going to get back to the fitness DVD's tomorrow - I no longer have the excuse that all my husbands office is in the room whilst we decorate and my earlier weekend achiness (spellng?) is easing - so no excuses girl, get on with it. We have a friend coming round this afternoon (an Arsenal fan who wants to watch the last match of the season without his daughter grumbling about how boring it is!) and I've made ginger cake - as long as I only take a small slice, I should be able to get away with it. Have a great Sunday everyone!

@skatergirl33, welcome! How long have you been running? I've been at it a couple months now, and you probably saw my pics from my first 5K ever yesterday Have you tried different shoes to see if that helps with your feet hurting? I had a pair of Nike's that I started in but my feet were hurting too, so I got a new pair of shoes that were wider (I have "square" feet lol), and they are so much better. No foot pain now. The brand I ended up with was Adidas.

@Ron, hey, 30 years! That's great :happy: My hubby and are among very few people these days who can say their parents have been married that long or longer (his for 39 years, mine for 36).

@Jane, good job getting your workout in. You should have room for a piece of that ginger cake. Have fun watching your game! Have to say, I am not a sports fan at all, so I'm really thankful my hubby isn't either! Otherwise I'd be like your friends daughter, complaining that it is boring... lol. Although... hubby gets into the video games a little too much sometimes. That does get boring.

Well I had a little NSV this morning, along with a scale related one as well. 1 lb loss today, yay! And the NSV was I pulled a shirt from the "it will fit someday" section of my closet, and put it on. And apparently someday is today. This shirt is pretty much brand new condition, however, it's about 3 years old. I bought it the last time I lost weight, but it was still too snug to call comfortable. So it sat in my closet. And the best part about this, it's a size Large. No X! Granted, it's a t-shirt, so it's kind of forgiving, but it is a fitted one.

@meg - 32 years actually. Can't say they've been the happiest of my life, as I said earlier to Steph, my wife's post natal depression drove a big wedge in our relationship which has never been healed. But I was determined my son would not suffer being from a broken home so we stuck it out and now we've reached a sort of arrangement which would be very difficult to break. If I'm honest, and we had no children, I would have given it five years max. But there you are, and on the bright side, we could be making two other people unhappy right now :happy: Sorry if I sound cynical, but I am! Probably got a lot to do with my overeating and previous low self esteem. (Fortunately work has given me that back at least).

@Steph - Glad you're feeling better. You stick up for yourself, I know marriage is a compromise, but if you compromise too much you only become embittered, not a good way to go. Better to get it out in the open and stake your claims.

Hey everyone!

@meg - oh my, running backwards sounds tough! You are really doing great with the progressive nature of your exercise. Really nice!

@stephanie - going farther than you did in October sounds like the right direction. I bet if you keep asking for help with the family, you will get it. My husband had to be asked real real often at first and now he does the laundry every week without prompting...this makes me happy and that makes us all happier! Lol!

@ron - my in-laws have been together over 52 years...my father-in-law says he's still trying to "learn" her...never give up! Also, your being Scottish sounds interesting...you should tell us more about that culture....

@jane - I can't wait to hear about the bounty. Take pictures if you have any vegetables that come out interesting in shape. In NC it is common to have contests about fruits and vegetables that look like famous people...Richard Nixon is a common winner...Lol!

Well, we cleaned the house and did our usual stuff for the weekend. We are both looking forward to some days off soon. I got my workout in late last night. I forgot I changed my days off from sat/sun to Thursday and Sunday. So, I had to jump up and get on the treadmill at nearly 9 pm to get it in but I did it. Felt victorious for doing that. I have a early morning project meeting that prevents me from working out on Thursday. I'm not a morning person really but need to do exercise first thing to be sure to get the time at least five days most of the time so I adjusted my days.

Have a great week folks!