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

I'm loving the support you get from everyone around here, great stuff ))

Hi I'm 38 going on 30... I would love some new buddies that actually comment, offer support and advice... I'm all for offering friendship, advice and support but would actually like some feedback occasionally ;-) xx

I have another 40/50lbs to lose before I'm happy!

Only looking for friends that offer support and comments etc... as I will do

@ron - sorry to hear about the perils of the Indian visa office. When do you get to go to India? Well done on the continued loss - and both NSV's. I particularly like the one about carrying a weight upstairs - it is sobering to think about what extra weight we lug around that we don't need to.

@chickyjd - welcome! As Ron says, stick with this thread and you'll find all the support and encouragement you need.

@jehan - thank you! I think the furniture moving did burn a few calories and we've got the last bedroom to paint this week so I'm thinking that will help as well. Good luck with continuing with C25K.

So, I've lurched cheerfully through my birthday on Friday then a pub lunch with husband and friends yesterday (Ron: I too am disappointed but the treacle tart was so, so nice. Hadn't had treacle tart for years and it just had to be done!). I openly admit I haven't been good the last two days but going to get back on the horse today. We are going over to see other friends today but I'm going to volunteer to drive home so that will solve the question of whether to have one of those calorie laden glasses of white wine and I will aim to get on the cross trainer when we get home (probably while husband is watching the Canadian Grand Prix!).

Another whole week off work coming up - more painting and decorating to be done. And the electrician is finally finishing off his work on Tuesday which will be a job well done. And then we have my father in law coming to visit Thursday through Saturday so a busy week ahead.

Have fun all!

@Ron, isn't it such an interesting revelation of the weight lost when you look at it as not part of your body anymore? It's funny, a friend and I were having a conversation last night, and she was telling me she had been encouraging a friend of hers who has lost 60 lbs, but was feeling defeated in the area of exercise (she apparently has some health issues that make it hard). My friend said to her "go pick up my son". Her son is 8 years old, 60 lbs. The other lady didn't but the point was, look at that kid, realize THAT boy weighs the same as the weight lost. How much harder would it be to exercise with the kid strapped to your back? I guess I was really needing to hear that message, since it came from you and my friend.
Sounds like the Indian Visa office is "fun" to deal with... Hope it all works out for you!

@Jane, glad you had a good birthday! And of course, during birthdays, you're allowed to do as you like :bigsmile: Also, I'm a little jealous, two weeks off work! As an independent contractor, I can't afford to take time off :grumble:

@Chickyjd, feel free to add me, I try to keep up with all my friends, commenting on their successes

@CptnCanary, welcome! Yep, we're very supportive around here.

@Jehan, how did running w5 go? Sorry to hear your little one is sick, it's always so hard for the parents and little ones when they're sick.

@Steph, hope your little girl adjusts to her own room soon! I hear that can be a tough transition. I don't have any advice to offer though, since my boys slept in their own rooms from birth (I couldn't sleep with them in the room, I woke at every little sound they made!).
Were you able to find workout time yet? Are you going to continue going to the trainer?

Well, I survived my son's birthday party, pizza, cake, ice cream and all. It was a fun and very exhausting day. Had 8 kids between the ages of 2 and 9 running around my house and yard for 5 hours yesterday! But since I got my 5 mile run in first thing in the morning, the rest of the day I just didn't need to worry about calories, other than getting enough! I was too busy getting ready to sit down and eat lunch. And Connor was very please with all his gifts, especially his bicycle that my husband's parents got him. We saved that one for last, and he didn't want to have cake after that! In fact he cried when we made him sit by his cake to sing Happy Birthday. LOL!

My younger sister is getting back on the weight loss bandwagon. She asked me my weight yesterday when I was giving her some clothes I'd shrunk out of, and when I told her, she said I was still about 3 lbs heavier than her! But she's a clothing size up from me. She had been working out with me a lot when I first started, but she's slacked off lately, until her husband decided he wanted to lose weight. When we started, I was a whole lot heavier than her and up one clothing size from her. I guess I've built up a lot of muscle to be smaller than her in clothing sizes and still be heavier.
Since she's back on the wagon, tomorrow I'm going to be taking a walk with her in the afternoon, I'm glad because I haven't gotten to spend much time with her lately :happy:

Well, have a good Sunday everyone!

HI everyone...

@ron2 - carrying around 2 loads of boxes equivalent to your weight loss is indeed an eye opener and even great inspiration. I've read posts in MFp where they were showing how much weight they lost in terms if items, such as a sacks of rice, flour, etc.


@steph - How was your night off? preparing for bday party for the little ones can be both physically and emotionally draining. So rest, because you earned it..

@janey - sounds like you had a fab time. good luck with the rest of the painting jobs...


@meg - you actually burned thousands of calories for all the running around. great to hear that the party was a success...


Well for those asking how the W5 went. I still haven't done it. I was supposed to run last friday. But it suddenly rained and my hubby decided to watch a local band. I wanted to squeeze in an hour of running last weekend but things got out of hand with family and friends all wanting to spend the weekend with the two kiddos.

Hopefully, it won't rain tonight. Still excited to see if I could survive W5....

Happy MOnday everyone..

@Ron/@Meg/@Jane – I am currently working on obtaining my “British Status”, a.k.a. watching Dr. Who. I checked on Netflix, but we only have access to a couple of seasons pre-Tom Baker and a couple of season with Tom Baker. The Canadian Netflix has a lot of catching up to do!

@Ron – I think it's great when people meet goals, mini-goals, NSVs, or even are just feeling better about making positive changes. SO, let's celebrate BIG!!! Congrats on all of your accomplishments thus far and those to come! Great post on “carrying” the extra weight. It's a huge eye opener for sure!

@Jane – How is JM treating you? Happy belated birthday. The trip sounded wonderful!

@Meg – Glad to hear the new shoes are treating you well! Sounds like you are outrunning yourself. Great news on signing up for the 8K. Glad to hear the banquet went well. I haven't hung around theatre types for quite some time, but I do remember some very, um, risque parties to say the least. I will keep my fingers crossed that the bookkeeping job comes you way. Yup, muscle is more compact and weighs more. I used to dread putting on more muscle because I wanted to get the weight down, but have since realized that being healthy (even if it means I weigh a little more) is definitely the way to go! Great job!

@Steph – I did try sending the heat, but not sure where it all went. When I wrote that we were at 42C/108F and then a couple of days later we were down to 17C/63F. Hopefully some it made it out to you. So happy to hear that you will be going home for a few weeks!!! How exciting! In the past I was always surprised by how quickly I lost muscle/strength, but I was equally surprised by how quickly it all came back. You're doing great! I hope your little girl adjusts to her new room soon!

@Renae – Nevermind painting my toes, I am looking forward to being able to cut my toenails without resorting to crazy acrobatics. Lol Glad to hear the cleanse went well. It sounds like you are definitely back on track! Love your enthusiasm!

@Penny – I hope you find a suitable place to live soon! Also, hope that you are feeling better now!

@Lachesis – Waving hello!

@Jehan – That is AWESOME!!!! Way to go! I hope your little one is doing better! Fingers crossed you don't have rain tonight!

@Cptncanary – Welcome!

@chickjd – Welcome! I think we're all going on 30. lol Feel free to add me, if you'd like!

@ron/@jane – Okay, I'll bite (pun intended!). What exactly is a treacle tart?

I am officially back on track today. I was more on hold than off the tracks, but either way, it's go time! I have a new mini-goal and lots of motivation, so here's to going full-steam ahead!

I don't think I've mentioned it, but we have community gardens and a few of my friends and myself decided to rent a plot. None of us are gardeners and by some miracle so far it is all going well. I do expect some comedy of errors at some point, but for now we forge on. The plot is 20 feet (6.1m) by 25 feet (7.6 m). We had first considered the 20 feet by 50 feet, but are now very thankful we started small. Lots o' weeds with this never-ending rain. I will keep everyone apprised of any crazy antics.

I am curious, does everyone have access to a movie rental place/machine? We used to have Rogers Video and Blockbuster Video. Rogers closed down their video rentals about 5-ish years ago and now offers limited rentals through their cable service only. And, Blockbuster lasted about 2 years here after going under in the U.S. We no longer have any means to rent movies. I never gave it much thought until my friend from Australia was visiting and asked if we could rent a movie and I was at a loss of what to do. I have recently signed up for Netflix, but even that is limited. Netflix Canada only have about 3000 active titles, whereas Netfilx U.S. Has over 30000. (Or at least I am told; I do not have access to the U.S. Site...) Anyways, I was just curious.

I hope you all have a wonderful evening!! Keep up the great work!!

@renae - congratulations on finishing your juice fast. Yup, I could use all the motivation I need. my scale went up a pound or two. So I'm planning to trying to keep my calories under control and to burn more calories this week. Last week was just plain blah.

@meg - if only my little ones could start riding a bike..I'll be burning calories and entertaining them all at the same time. My first born who is 18 months now, is starting to like riding on bikes. We went to the mall yesterday and I let him sit on a kiddie bike, very bad move for me. When I picked him up, he was crying to the roof and wants to get on it again. He's starting show his tantrums. Good thing he stopped crying when we carried him out of the store. Kids!

Nothing much to report today. Will check in again tomorrow.

Hope you all have a great day/night....

@Meg – We do not have any red boxes or similar, but I have heard of them. I just looked up Amazon Prime, which we now have in Canada, but it doesn't include streaming videos/television shows and a few other things... I'll have to check at the library. It is doubtful they will have the older series, but hopefully the newer ones. Sounds like you are having some very pleasant days! Hopefully you have better luck evening out your tan than I ever have.

@Jane – Treacle Tarts sound amazing! At first thought I was going to run out and get the ingredients for the recipe, but then thought better of it. I would eat the whole thing for sure! Maybe I'll try them one day when I have better control. Lol As for JM, she'll be waiting for you when you have the time. You'll have to keep us apprised of your garden as well! Remember to take pics of your house before and after! It's always great to go back and see how different a little paint (or otherwise) can change the look and feel of a room. How exciting! Here's to hoping there is no screaming with/for/or at the father-in-law; fingers crossed!

Another rainy day here, but I have it good authority that the sun will be back sometime next week. I shall keep happy, dry thoughts until then. Hope everyone had an excellent day!

Been having it rough lately, and fell completely off the wagon. Dad had a heart attack again, ended up having to have open heart quadruple bypass surgery. He's recovering well now. After that, my husband's great grandmother passed away. Trying to figure out what we are going to do when our lease is up, if this new job my husband is supposed to get (that comes with a free apartment) falls through or isn't ready in time. But! I finally got my head out of my @$$ (excuse the language) and decided to get busy again. Especially since I started my online summer classes this week. School is now going well, and in the past week and a half, I've lost 2.6 lbs and gotten back down to 190 even again. Let's hope things continue to look up for us. Still waiting to hear about that job...

@Didifournierb – Welcome back Old-Newbie!

@MartialAngel – Hang in there Hun!

@Steph – Holding on to as much sunshine as I can! Are you getting enough sleep? I find sometimes when I am super busy my sleep is sacrificed and it shows on the scales with bouncing numbers. I know you are super busy, but hopefully it will even out soon. Either way, so glad you are spinning!!

Great news – they have Dr. Who (2005) at the library. Seasons 1 through 6. No-So-Great news – I am number 148 on 18 copies for season 1 and who knows what position for the rest. It may take awhile before I achieve Honorary British Status. But, I am working on it!

I wish everyone an excellent evening! Hug a loved one!!

Apologies all, this has been a stupidly busy week due to having a half day course each day from Monday through Thursday and of course I had to do my normal work at the same time while trying to book myself half way across India, a trip to Germany, the first two weeks in July, and another UK one next week. I have another visit to the Indian Visa Centre on Monday, so I'm hoping for better luck this time having now read their...er.....less than excellent....website from end to end. As a colleague said to me, hundreds of people get Indian visas every week so I shouldn't have any more problems as I have complete documentation now. The weight continues to come off and I've left 50 lbs behind and am moving onwards to Onederland which I hope to reach somewhere around my birthday in October but in any event well before Christmas.

@_tru - glad to hear you're working for your Honorary British Status, and I feel sure you will enjoy the experience!

@Renae - try to get onto the high cocoa solids dark chocolate, it is not so many calories and you need a lot less of them to get that chocolate hit!

@Diane - welcome back, if that is the correct terminology :happy: glad you found us again!

@MartianAngel - it sounds like you've been having a rough time recently, hope things pick up for you, but well done on the weight loss.

@Steph - Steph you're doing a lot better than you think I'd like to bet. Don't put such high pressure on yourself when you have so many things to juggle at the same time. Just look at your ticker and take comfort from that, 94 lbs is huge, give yourself some credit!

@Meg - Utah's the Mormon state is it not? My only experience with Mormons was when I was in my late 20's on a solo visit to Florida, I stayed with my Mum's cousin in Ft Lauderdale, and her daughter, of an age with me, was a Mormon so I hung around with her and her Mormon friends, and I have to say, despite the fact I smoked and drank, not one of them criticised me in any way and they were just the nicest bunch and great fun! It's always a consideration being away from your family though (something I have had to live with for many years) particularly when you have young kids. Good luck on that, hope it works out the way you would want it to.

Hope everyone has a great Friday and a peaceful weekend with lots of strenuous exercise (except me, I have a note from my Mum saying I'm to be let off excercise!) and lots of lovely pounds slipping off into the dark hole of weight loss :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

New blog post this morning - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ron2e

@_tru - air miles I tend to use up as my Mum and one of my sisters and her family live in South Africa, in fact I'm planning a trip out there in September for her 90th birthday which will use a stack of air miles, though my sister tells me my Mum is in denial and doesn't want to be 90...........! To be honest I enjoy travel and I would happily go back to most places I have been and stay for a bit. Particularly as most of my trips only give me a very limited view of the country as I am either in airports,offices, hotels, and restaurants, or travelling between so little time for the tourist bit. I'd love to go back to Zambia where I did a lot of adolescent type growing up, and I haven't been there for over 30 years, but would probably be disappointed, going back is not always a good experience. I have learned that it is not just a place that sits in one's affection, but a place and time, and the time cannot be relived! Places I haven't been that I would like to go include Russia, China,Japan and Australia and New Zealand (We have relatives in the final two). Iceland looks very interesting from what I've seen on Top Gear but too cold generally for me, brrrr! I don't know anything about Jillian Michael's 90 day but it sounds painful - good luck with that

Enjoy your weekend all!

Sorry just realised I mentioned 'Top Gear', another must watch British Program (though there is now an American version though I find that a little anodyne).

@Ron - I'm hoping my husbands comment was just a passing fancy, due to being allergy symptom free for a few days! LOL And yes, Utah is known for it's Mormon population. Don't know any personally, but have had a few door knockers try to convert me (not ever gonna happen BTW). Hope your next visit to the Indian Visa place is more successful! Apparently, we are October birthday buddies :happy: You mentioned the American version of Top Gear, so I thought I'd mention my connection to that show... lol, a girl I grew up with is now living in LA and working on the crew of that show. Can't say I've ever watched it though. American or UK version. And along the line of TV/Movies, when the next Transformers movie comes out, be watching for a part that takes place at a nuclear plant cooling tower(s). Not sure exactly when it's coming out but it's been kind of the gossip around my neck of the woods because that nuclear plant is very close to where I live. I actually used to ride my bike there when I was kid (never actually got used, so it was safe).

@Tru, my husband was telling me how beautiful it was there, and he showed me some pictures he took. If I could move my whole family there, I think I might go for it!
As far as JM goes, just yell back at her! That's what I did when doing the 30DS :bigsmile:

@Jane, glad your FIL's visit wasn't scream inducing :happy: Sounds like it went well really. Lamb curry sounds delicious! And yes, have your mum nearby when it's time for babies it definitely a plus! For my firstborn, my mom was living in Minnesota going to art school (btw check out her art! www.debranortonfineart.com) and she had to fly home to be with me for the first couple weeks after the baby was born. She had finished art school by the time my second was born, and she came over every day to help for at least a week. It was great.

Well, TOM seems to have left for now, and so instead of remaining at the same weight, I suddenly dropped a pound! Thank goodness! Seems like every time TOM is around, I get stuck in the same spot. Literally. Weighed in every day as usual, and every day the scale said 237.0. And yesterday my food choices were pretty terrible, and I was feeling kind of down about that, and then I hop on the scale this morning and ta da! 236.0 LOL.
So right now I am waiting for my hubby to come home and then I'm going for a 5 mile run. Yippee! Since he was gone all week, I couldn't go out running by myself, so I didn't run.
Have a good weekend!

@Ron – What a wonderful use of your air miles. I have all of 3, so I won't be flying anyone or myself anywhere anytime soon. South Africa is also on my list and/or Kenya. There are a couple of interesting photography workshops that are a pipe dream of mine. Unfortunately they are very expensive, so I may have to travel Africa sans photo tours. Happy birthday to your Mom! I think 90 is awesome! I agree with you totally on the time and place theory. I had some amazing times working in remote areas because of the people and the point we were all at in our lives. I can't imagine living in any of those places now on a full-time basis and especially without the amazing company and “carefree-ness” that we had. Australia and New Zealand are also on the list, but those are far, far off – in all respects: location, time, and money. Iceland cold? I guess that's all relative. We're aiming for June, so that should help. If I am not mistaken, I have seen an episode or two of “Top Gear”. Is it a show that reviews cars? In particular, I think I've seen an Aston Martin episode and a Bentley one.

@Jane – I'm glad there is a light at the end of your decorating tunnel. You must be so excited! Glad to hear that the visit with the FIL did not require any yelling what-so-ever. I feel torn right now towards Ms. Jillian. I mean, I love the workouts and I am actually looking forward to them, but I also kind of feel as though I am getting tortured. Per Meg's suggestion, I did yell back and that seemed to help a little. However, my neighbours may start to wonder what the heck is going on. Lol

@Meg – Oh, yelling at JM is so therapeutic! I can't wait to visit Utah. Another friend of mine just posted pics of Zion and Bryce parks. Breathtaking!!! Ahhhh, so glad you have a wonderful Mom who could and is there for you. Ooof – TOM does some terrible things to me. Instant gain of 5 pounds, nothing moves for a week of so, and then sudden drop of 5-ish pounds. At least I know not to get discouraged, but still frustrating all the same. I love that you put these two sentences together “I'm going for a 5 mile run. Yippeee!” I hope to one day feel the same way about working out. I hope you had a great run!!

We made a trip to the garden today to do some weeding. Oh, so much weeding. BUT, most of our veggies are making an appearance now. Except for the beets, they seem to be a shy lot. I am looking forward to seeing the plants progress and to get some produce (it'll be awhile yet). I must admit though, the lettuce does look a little alien poking out ever-so-slightly from the dirt.

I live in the 'burbs, although you wouldn't know it with all the wildlife around here. As I am typing there is a robin on the fence and a couple of bunnies in the yard. Last night there was a skunk and from what we can determine a fisher. I personally seem to host a sanctuary on my property – ducks in the window well, starlings in the soffits, mud wasps in the stairs, robins/grackles/mourning doves nesting in the trees, bunnies living under the tree, many frogs/toads, a now-removed wasp nest (I'll try to find the pic) and I'm sure there's more I can't recall at the moment. I always joke with my dad that a mongoose will show up anytime now. We definitely don't have them here, but I am sticking to that story.

The “Man of Steel” finally released here. I have been told it is a must-see! Has anyone seen it? How did you like it?

Off I go. Have a wonderful evening!

P.S. Steph – I hope you are well and getting some well deserved rest!

Oh my - you guys have been busy here. I'll read up when I have a few more minutes.

I hope everyone is ready for a successful week!