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

@alliek23 - welcome to the thread! You've certainly come to the right place for support and motivation - stick with us and we'll try and help you along! What are you doing at school? Nice to have a fellow HR person here - I've recently moved over to a Learning and Development role which gives me a very different view of the world - the UK world of HR that is!

Ron - sounds like you had a good time in India - well done for coming back in one piece! And congrats on the continued weight loss! What sort of body fat analyser are you going for? I got a set of Weight Watchers scales that measure body fat - not totally sure how accurate they are but they certainly seem to do a job.

Meg - hope your litlle one is feeling better now. Good luck with the race at the weekend - hope to see some pics!

Happy Tuesday all - hope everyone is having a good week. We are experiencing something of a heat wave here in the UK - lovely during the day but I wish it would cool down so that I can get to sleep at night! Predicted to last until the end of the month apparently - can't complain, it's doing wonders for the tomatoes and beans in the garden

@alliek23 - Welcome, you will find plenty of support here!

@jane - I've ordered this one - http://www.withings.com/en/bodyanalyzer - should be with me today. I've also pre-ordered this - http://www.withings.com/en/pulse - to go along with it, though that is only released in the UK on 16th August so I'll have to wait for a bit! They're probably OTT but I am a gadget freak and I think I deserve a little treat!

@_tru_ - glad you like Rory, he was an awesome guitarist! I have a boxed set of CDs loaded in the car. Don't like the sound of pickaxes, rather shoot them!

Well, India was a blast. I have to admit that I was expecting not to like it but it was great, the people were friendly and welcoming and the food was much better than I had hoped for, very tasty. I look forward to going back for another visit, probably in six months or so. The Indians have a quaint old english saying "I will do the needful" (I will do what is necessary) which my colleague and I hijacked, so when he went for a smoke he was "doing the harmful", meeting in the bar was "doing the drinkful" and so on :laugh:

Now I'm back down to earth with a German project, probably over there week after next but still to be arranged. This is a difficult time of the year with lots of necessary people on vacation so it's either work around them or wait. Next week is travel in the UK for two days so not so bad.

Life is good, and getting better with every ounce lost!

Forgot to mention, I've posted some more pics on my blog.

Ack! Feels like forever since I've posted in my favorite thread!

@Steph, you're so close to that 100 lb mark that you'll be there in no time! And hopefully the DOMS aren't too terrible. Have a fun weekend with your cousins!

@Ron, I took a look at the India pics, looks like a very interesting trip. And you've been "doing the needful" really well lately, congrats on the weight continuously falling off!

@Tru, love the quotes you've been posting lately! And I hope your skunk incident wasn't too stinky...

@Jane, glad your garden is doing well in the heat, has is cooled down for you yet? My little guy is all better. I did take to the doctor on Monday, she said he had something called torticollis, a virus of some sort, but it goes away in a couple days. Common in little kids, but not very contagious, which is good, because he was around a bunch of other littles right before he got sick.

@AllieK23, welcome! This is a lovely bunch to hang out with :bigsmile:

I'm trying to prepare myself mentally for the 8K race tomorrow. I know I'll probably be one of the last runners in, which I'm fine with, I'm just hoping I have the strength to run the entire thing. Been having a little trouble with my right calf/heel.
One thing I have discovered, I am not ready for minimalist running shoes. At least the pair I got was only $22.50, and I'll hang on to them for when I've lost more weight, and maybe go do some trail running.
My 9 year old comes home today from camp. A friend of mine from church was working there as part of her job this week (my hubby actually used to work with her, he hired her for her current position with his tribe), and she texted me some pictures during the week, so I was able to keep up on how he was doing, which I was really glad of.
After my race tomorrow, going to go visit a friend, and see the house their in the process of building. Hope she doesn't mind me showing up in my running clothes!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

To those having problems sleeping in the hot weather, I learned from living in Africa there was only one solution outside of air conditioning. Firstly, don't wear anything (other than your sleep monitor!) to bed, secondly pull back the covers/duvet/whatever and lie on top of the bed uncovered. This will seem a little strange at first as you feel vulnerable, but as long as you have checked the closets and under the bed for monsters you should be OK. You will find in the morning, at some point you will have pulled the covers up as the night got cooler, you seem to be able to regulate your temperature even though asleep. It never fails for me and I have been doing it for many years in hotter temperatures and higher humidity than we are having currently. A quiet fan set on very low just to disturb the air can also help.

@Jane - Pimms jelly sounds interesting but isn't there a lot of sugar in it? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

@Meg - good luck with the 8K, I do admire your determination! Just don't overdo it, if you have problems with your calf/heel, pat yourself on the back for the bit you've done and retire gracefully rather than give yourself a more permanent injury!

@Steph - glad to see you more positive and getting back to your 100 lbs under! Kettlebells sound like an affliction "The doctor has diagnosed a severe case of kettlebells, so I have to stay in bed for a week".............

After having to return my Withings WiFi scale which was clearly faulty after less than a day, I am very pleased with my new Omron analyser scale which is consistent in its measurements, agrees with my previous scales to the fraction of a pound, and confirm that my weight continues to drop. The minor downside is it doesn't have the WiFi capability so I've got to manually enter my measurements onto MFP!! I guess I can count the calories that takes as non exercise........... I'm also getting used to my new Fitbit One and really like the apps and website that go with it so I'm sure this is going to help my motivation, not that that's a problem at the moment, but you never know!

Hopefully going to have a quiet weekend, apart from doing some expenses for work and possibly a visit to the bottle bank, I have nothing major I have to do which makes a change!

Wow! It has been awhile since I have been on here.

Ron has been having an affair with his FitBit. Meg ran 8000 miles and back again. Jane is kicking butt as always. Steph is swimming her way to Australia. And AllieK23 has entered the mix. Sound about right? lol

Glad to see that everyone is doing so well!!! I have been busy with life. All good things, just too many at once. Finally, after many false starts, I have started the project at work for which I was originally hired (over 6 years ago!), so much learning, training, and brain overloading going on. Keeping up with eating healthy and moving more as much as I can. Unfortunately, the hot, sticky weather does not help for motivation.

Great (and odd) NSV for me (and possibly Mr. Red Shorts?). I have been feeling much better about myself which in turn shows as greater confidence. I went for a walk yesterday morning and Mr. Red Shorts came running past from behind. About 20 minutes later he came running from the other direction and just as I was about to say hello, he motioned to me, smiled and said hello first! Swoon! His smile melted my heart. I had a 2.5 second love affair with him. Alas, it was not meant to be and he jogged out of my heart as quickly as he ran in, but it made my day all the same!

Our garden is crazy filled with veggies now - beans, peas, carrots, beets, and lettuce. Still waiting on the peppers and tomatoes. I had forgotten how tasty fresh veggies from the garden are. I'm so in love with produce again!!

I have not had anymore skunk sightings, but there has definitely been some spraying going on. Thankfully not at my front door. There is still a little smell lingering and with the heat it really isn't pleasant. Eesh!

No sure if I mentioned, so please forgive me if I am repeating myself... I purchased a little bird bath a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't sure if it was being used. Everytime I looked, no birds. Then one morning I looked out and Yay! a Gold Finch flew in to drink. He came and left several times (or perhaps it was several of them?). And, there was also some bugs/insects/bees that were coming in to drink as well. Not as crazy about that, but at least it is being used. And THEN, the Robin. He cam and perched himself on the edge and there he stayed. He didn't drink or bathe, but certainly staked his territory. He was there for about an hour. Crazy Robin, bird baths are for everyone! lol

So, here's something. I don't have an exact answer (and never will), but I do have a theory. Let's play 20 questions and see what we can all come up with...

Scenario: I woke up this morning and ventured into my garage. There, right smack dab in the middle of the floor, lay my work safety goggles. How did they get there?

Have a wonderful night!! xo

Hi all! Will read the updates properly later. Fab weekend away with the family. Being at my cousins who cook delicious meals and serve dessert with lunch and dinner always reminds me that moderation is the key. Yummy food and the scale stayed the same so I happy. Preparing for a scorcher today which means the girls at school will be miserable. Roll on Wednesday and the end of term. Busy week as have little girls first birthday party on Saturday (makes me a wee tearful the idea) and nothing prepped yet..except her presents have arrived. She's been playing in the enormous amazon delivery box. Could
Probably safely return the toys she's so content with the box!! Have a great day and of your some place hot get your water in!!!

Good grief it's quiet on here, has everyone gone on vacation except Meg's pants? That's a wonderful NSV Meg, I must look out my old pants and see if it is as obvious!

I've had one of those weeks so far, away from home Tuesday/Wednesday, back last night but today has been wall to wall teleconferences (which I absolutely hate, they are such a time waster mostly!) so I haven't had much time to post. Next week will be worse as I am in Germany from Tuesday to Friday.

My Fitbit has calmed down a bit, but it seems to give me calories it doesn't want me to eat which is a bit baffling. It adds them in to MFP then moans at me if I actually eat them..... I also find it too sensitive monitoring my sleep having me waking up multiple times per night, whereas on my phone sleep app which sits under my pillow I usually sleep through and this seems to tie in to my own impression. I certainly find I'm sleeping less now than I used to and sleeping better so I'm unconvinced. One other problem I have found is I have an app to record when I am driving so I don't get any false readings. This works as far as the Fitbit app is concerned on both the phone and the web, but it keeps giving me badges, like yesterday gave me a badge for climbing 50 sets of stairs whereas I'd only climbed four as shown in my dashboard, the rest must have been driving up and down the hills on the way home!

Oh well, back to work, the day hasn't finished yet..................

Keep going all, you're doing so well. I'm very proud of my friends :bigsmile:

By the way my beard hasn't grown, my new profile pic is my baby, an orange roan english cocker called Mischa. Home born and bred!

Hi All- I am a newbie here- just starting out and could REALLY use some encouragement along the way- please feel free to friend me I also want to get started running- bought some shoes- woot! I've been walking or being active every day this week. Love y'alls posts here. Very motivational to see all the tickers with your weight loss .

@Angel, will send an FR :bigsmile: Let us know how you do with running. Are you going to do C25K?

@Jane, a weekend alone sounds kind of nice! Hope you find something fun to do. And get a good workout in.

@Ron, cute dog! The fitbit is making life interesting for you isn't it? I thought about getting one, but decided for the HRM instead, only using it for runs and other vigorous exercise. And I wish I was on vacation! But as an independent contractor, I usually say, "vacation? what's that?". I'm just glad every weekend is 4 days for me!

@Steph, that's always true about kids and boxes! A couple weeks ago my husband brought home a huge box from work, it's currently in the backyard being used as a fort or something. Hope the birthday party goes well! The first is always fun and a little sad too.

My crazy few weeks are over, thank God! Back to life as usual. Mostly. Hubby's been out of town this week, lucky man has been in San Diego, but he's coming home today, yay! And, I had to let my babysitter who normally comes on Thursday's go, simply can't afford to pay her :grumble: And my mom-in-law has backed out of babysitting as well, which makes trying to work with two young boys at home somewhat interesting.
Going to be running my next 5K on Saturday morning. Haven't been able to do much running this week with hubby gone, so I'm interested to see how it goes.

@Jane – Sounds like you are getting along famously. So glad things are going so well for you! Hope you had a wonderful weekend alone.

@Steph – When are you coming to Canada? The humidity has pushed out for now, but I fear it will make it's way back soon. Happy birthday to your little girl. And first steps too! Yay!

@Meg – Wow! Those pants really do show how hard you have been working! So proud of you! Congrats on the 5k!

@Ron – I am not familiar with FitBit. She wakes you up at night? What is the purpose of that? ..... Um, was the 2.5 second love affair with Mr. Red Shorts that deemed me “crazy”? lol

@Angel – Welcome aboard!

@Ron, again – It really is a whirlwind romance, isn't it?

Oh geez, it was in here somewhere.... I find I cannot sleep in the buff. I am much hotter naked than clothed. I don't know how that works, but it is what it is. Try just sleeping in light cotton pjs. That's what works for me. Or cranking the A/C, but that can backfire, as furry pets tend to migrate closer to you at night. My cat really is a portable heater.

So, I took the plunge yesterday and went back to a full-on brunette. I have been a redhead for quite sometime and had forgotten how I looked in brown. Loving it! Although, next time I may have to go a bit darker.

Off to the garden today to pick peas, beans, and carrots. Also to see how the tomatoes are progressing. I am convinced they are just teasing me now. Every day, still green.

Off to be crazy (thanks Ron!). :laugh:

Happy Sunday!!