Need to Lose 100 LBS -Robins Thread !

Good morning everyone.

Happy Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day
When : Always November 7th
National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day is today. Lucky you....lucky me.
Chocolate is a vegetable, made from cocoa beans. Almonds are good for you, as they help to improve your Cholesterol levels. So, bittersweet chocolate with almonds is goo for you, right!?
On this special day, we will not question this logic...will you?
Happy National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day!!!

“All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you.” ~Wayne Dyer Quotes

Tom

Friday Fitness - Made it through spin class this morning without feeling like I would pass out. I feel so much stronger than I did even just a month ago. In most of my fitness classes I can almost keep up.
In the back of my mind I have this thought that when I get to 200 I will be able to do everything. The truth is I may be able to but not until I get my body in better condition. Far too many years of eating what I wanted and doing nothing but lay on the couch.

Car trouble yesterday and am without wheels today - I am in luck as the repair is less than $400.00. But this means the customers I was supposed to see yesterday will now get done on Sunday. So I lose another day off. I have taken only 2 days off in the last 4 weeks. Pity party please.

@Kah68 - I hope your birthday was wonderful.

@tlh0407 - I hope you savor every minute of your time this weekend.

@Helenatrandom - good luck with the celebrations, you can do this.

@grammywhammy - Wonderful news about your husband, I hope things go smoothly for both of you.

Check in - Food 5/5, Fitness 5/5
Love to all
Lori

Friday Fitness: Got my cardio and weight training in early this a.m. I love working with my trainer because....I HATE EXERCISE and she makes it more fun/forgettable by diverting my attention. I know that sounds bad, but I think I was a sloth in a previous life. Growing up I was very active, but you had little choice in those days. We walked or rode our bikes everywhere. After chores were done, Mom would turn me outside with the order to "Go play!" But in adulthood, as my body grew older, fatter and creakier, I became more sedentary. Now if I could skate, cycle and play like I did when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I would again "Go play!"

Tom: Thanks for the heads up! Besides chocolate and mint, bittersweet chocolate and almonds in their many forms is another favorite of mine. Best of all, to anyone out there in the Chesapeake Bay area, is Wockenfuss Chocolates' dark chocolate "pistachio" cream confection--made of green tinted ground almonds (marzipan) and coated in dark Peter's Chocolate--they are the best EVER! Wockenfuss Chocolates are locally produced and sold in one of their 7+ locations and on-line. I have 3 lbs. hidden away for Thanksgiving and Christmas and plan to sample a few on those two "free" days. Mmmm-mmmm!

Lori: I am so impressed with your progress. Especially with your spin class! WTG!

Barbara: FYI, I am about to clean out my veggie bin. Can you guess what I'm doing next? Sorry about your stove. Guess it's time to put it out of it's misery.

Ellen/RobinsEgg: Glad to see you are doing so much better. You are doing so well with all your goals, too. A big pat on the back is due.

November All-In Challenge:
5/30 (hopefully 6/30 by tonight) under 1350 calorie goal, 1/30 200 cals over
7/30 cardio, 3/30 weight training, at 11 a.m. 5600 steps and plan on making 10,000 steps by tonight to make it 6/30 10,000 (I forgot I didn't make it on my rest day)

And, believe it or not, today the scale said I was down another 3.3 lbs!!! Got on several times to verify. It's either feast or famine with that scale, but I'll take the loss!

Hang in there everyone. We can do this!

GrammyWhammy>Marsha

Hey guys-
Just a quick drive by to catch up on posts and check in. We had P/T conferences last night. I managed to keep the day pretty light in anticipation of a higher calorie dinner plus drinks afterward. Dinner was decent--catered from Portillo's but I avoided the bread and pasta. However, I had one drink more than I had planned b/c we ended up staying out at the bar much longer than I'd anticipated. I still would have been within 100 calories of my goal, but (Thursday Truth) when I got home the DH had brought home Wendy's and I ate a Jr Cheeseburger. Still not a terrible day (was over by about 300 calories), but I'm counting it as one of my 3 allowed.

Today I'm tired and cranky, but I only have 2 classes left. Will check back later to do personals.

@Laurie…good luck in your swim meet and have fun getting back to your climbing. I’m just wrapping up TOM and it’s frustrating what it does to my weight. GRR

@Helen…November is a month of birthdays for me too. My husband’s was on Tuesday and he picked Spaghetti and garlic bread (mmmm….garlic bread!!!) for his dinner. Tonight is my sister’s and she has chosen Indian Tacos. Luckily I don’t care for them, so I will be having regular hard shell tacos instead which will be lower in calorie. She also picks a donut cake which I don’t care for either so I won’t have much in calories for that. My other sister turns 40 the day before Thanksgiving so we’re going to surprise her the weekend before by driving out to Minneapolis and celebrating with her.

AFM: I didn’t quite get through everything yesterday. I still need to do my bedroom and at least four more boxes before Saturday at 5:30. I’m hosting some of my girlfriends for supper and I’d really like those things done/organized before they come as this will be the first time 2 of them have seen the house. After a full day of cleaning, I just couldn’t get myself to the gym and it didn’t help that my sister had to work late so she basically ran out of time too. The plan is to make it there on Saturday morning so I’ll still get in my 4 workouts this week.

Fitness Goals.

• Friday - rest (other than continued cleaning)
• Saturday - Jenna's Workout
• Sunday - cardio at gym
• Monday - Thursday (1 day will be Jenna's Workout, 2 will be lifting, 1 will be rest)

Household goals.
• Get through 5 packed boxes. 1 DOWN 4 TO GO
• Go through my closet and put away summer clothes and donate items.
• Bake/decorate Buttermilk cake with Maple Bacon Frosting
• Paint Emma's dresser.

ALL IN CHALLENGE
Calories -- goal 27/30
-- current 5/6
Workout -- goal 4 per week
-- currently 3 this week
Water -- goal 25/30
-- current 4/6

oopps the icheyhol got me but it sure tastes good

Friday fitness hello all.
I did a build a bigger booty fitness blender workout. I'm starting to really focus in eating more calories. Just the right ones. I have a heart rate monitor and I burn crazy cals throughout the day when I weight train. Gotta get my sodium under control though

Which brings me to Saturday. I enjoy going to eat with friends and family on the weekend so it makes it hard for the sodium. My goal? Plan ahead so that I can eat accordingly. And drink lots of water. My nag for the week is that my awesome jacket fits even better this year than it did last year

Good morning everyone.

Happy Cook Something Bold Day
When : Always November 8th
Cook Something Bold Day is today.
According to it's creator, Wellcat.com, Cook Something Bold Day is designed to encourage us to cook something bold and daring, that will fill up the house with warm, "homey" odors. It is celebrated in the month of November, as houses are closed up for the winter, and capture the cooking smells.
We hope you cook up a storm today, and have a very happy Cook Something Bold Day!!!

“First we form habits; then they form us. Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you.” ~Robert Gilbert

Tom

@niki—good job looking for the positives!

@getit—sodium is so tough when eating out at restaurants. Love the use of the jacket to motivate you. I’m also very motivated by great fitting cute clothes!

@laurie—nice that you got back to climbing. My kids were ok, but now it’s a 4-day weekend for them—Monday is institute and Tuesday off for Veteran’s Day—so next week they will be bonkers. Hope your dad is still improving. Good luck at your swim meet Sunday.

@tammy—LOL

@teresa—enjoy your day off!

@tracy—there’s nothing like having company over to get my house spruced up. Sounds like you made a lot of progress.

@marsha—wow, the scale is really on the move for you—awesome!

@kelley—so sorry I missed your birthday. Happy belated!!

@lori—yes, being lighter helps with a lot of the exercises, but overall fitness is also so important. It’s amazing though how quickly you can build up stamina and strength even after years of being sedentary. The body truly is an amazing machine!

@barbara—with this new version of the threads, there’s no easy way to scroll back. I just open a word document and flip back and forth between screens to type personals as I read.

@helen—great job staying under your fat grams. You will get through the birthdays. If you know you will eat the pizza, I would log it and then plan the rest of your day around it. Don’t starve yourself beforehand, and be realistic about how much you think you will eat—1 slice or 3?—and then stick to the plan. If you plan for one slice, make sure you stop there. (I know—easier said than done sometimes).

@kaye—glad to hear your foster grand is getting the help he needs.

@alison—good to see you back!

@all of the roasted veggie lovers—I’m with you all! My favorite is asparagus with onion and garlic. I also toss in a bit of olive oil (like a TBS for a whole big batch). Yummy!

Friday Fitness:
Not so good this week, but I’m definitely off to the gym this morning!

Saturday Success:
I’ve managed to stick with my calorie goal despite a really crazy, busy week. Even my one day over I was still well within maintenance. My reward this week is that some jeans that were feeling a bit snug fit much better when I wore them yesterday.

Tonight I have a gala fundraiser. No idea what’s on the menu and it’s an open bar, so this will definitely be my 2nd of 3 allowed overages. Again, I’m not going to go hog-wild or use it as an excuse to eat everything in sight. Still going to make good choices and try to limit the overage as much as possible.

November All-In:
Under calorie goal: 6/7 days (goal is 27/30 days)
Workout: 1/7 (goal is as much as possible)
8k on Thanksgiving Day

Grading Goals:
1. 6/66 AP journals
2. x/60 Thoreau essays
3. x/60 M1948 Vocab

Exercise Goals:
Sun--walk gunner DONE (barely)
Mon--walk gunner ? meeting, but not sure how late NOT DONE
Tues--walk gunner DONE + gym DONE
Wed--walk gunner NOT DONE + gym NOT DONE
Thurs--rest day P/T conferences
Fri--walk gunner NOT DONE
Sat--walk gunner + gym

Posting early because hubby is having a guys' pizza and poker night, and I am vacating the premises. Eldest daughter and I will probably go to the movies and dinner.

Saturday Success: Well, really it's an NSV from yesterday--I shopped my garage and it was fun! I have plastic containers and portable closets of various sized wardrobes. You know, from yo-yo-ing up and down the scale. Well, I'm swimming in my size 22-24 clothes, so I packed them up and went searching for something a bit smaller. I found some lovely classic suits and skirts a size or two down, and they fit with no alterations needed. Yippee! Now if only I can find some slacks and jeans out there I'll be fine until Christmas.

November All-In Challenge:
6/30 (hopefully 7/30 by tonight after eating out) under 1350 calorie goal,
1/30 200 cals over my goal.
8/30 cardio, 3/30 weight training, 7/30 days 10,000+ steps (at 1 p.m. today at 7100 steps). 6 lbs. lost since 11/1.

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to hit 10,000 steps. Last night at 11 p.m. I was walking in place in front of the TV to get the last 700-800 steps in. And yes, I did a bunch of laps around the kitchen table too. When I watch TV at night, I try to get up every single commercial break to do a chore in another part of the house. It's getting old.

jconst: What is an icheyhol? Enjoy your family dinner tonight. Mmmm, fresh apple pie. Without the crust, it can be a nearly healthy dish.

getitamb: Your post made me laugh. A bigger booty fitness blender??? I'm looking for just the reverse, I think, like a big booty shrinker!

skinnyjeans/Karen: So you're living your user name--skinnyjeansbound! Congrats on your NSV.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

GrammyWhammy>Marsha

Jt- that is funny about the garland and lights. I am sure kittens are having a ball.

Grammy- Have fun shopping in your garage. Now, the trick is getting rid the clothes that are to big but oh so fun.

Skinny- Hope the Gala goes well.

Today was a good day and I had a nice swim this morning. Tomorrow will be the meet the only issue is that we are leaving at 5:30 am. The reason for so early is that there is a Bay Bridge run and we need to cross the bridge to get to the college before it goes to one span and traffic gets backed up. The meet is about 1.5 hours away. The good news I will be swimming a total of 5 events, I am entered in 2 relays plus the other 3 events. Tomorrow I start working towards my next goal of a triathlon. It should be a good but long day.

Hey Guys!!! Boy, I don't even know where to begin. I haven't been on here in weeks and feel completely disconnected. Shame on me!!!

After I got back from NYC with Laurie and Karen, work got a little crazy. I had 6 days in Orlando attending two conferences. During this whole time, I've also been contemplating another major life change and it's happening!!! Yesterday I gave my resignation and will be leaving Capriotti's. While I've enjoyed my time there, I really miss my family and friends on the east coast. I really want Cyrus more opportunities to spend with my parents. Being the only grandchild, I want them to spend as much time with him as possible. Right now, it cost me $1,000 every time to fly to Tampa plus we lose a day of travel due to the time difference. So. . . I've been keeping my ears open and luckily something opened up. I've accepted the position of Sr. Supply Chain Manager with Honey Baked Ham in Alpharetta, GA. Yes, I'm moving back to Atlanta. Woo Hoo!!

My final day with Capriotti's is Friday, 11/21. I fly to Atlanta on 11/28 and start on 12/2. Everything is happening super fast. I've already arranged for my car to be transported on 12/1. Movers are coming the week of 12/9 to deliver the week of 12/15. Cyrus will stay in Vegas with my sister to finish the semester on 12/19 then fly to Atlanta just in time for Christmas. He'll start school there in January. I'm actively looking for a house to rent in Atlanta. Luckily, I've got an awesome realtor friend looking at houses for me. She's looking at a brand new house that looks great. If it looks like the pictures, I'll probably put down the deposit to hold it for the mid-December move. There's so much going on, but I'm so excited to be heading back.

With that said, my focus has not been on MFP that's for sure. I completed the 6-week boot camp and was so proud of myself for making the commitment. I lost 27 lbs. Woo Hoo!! Unfortunately, I just couldn't sign up again since I'm leaving in 3 weeks and I've got a TON on my plate right now. I've only gained 3 lbs, which isn't bad since I haven't exercised one bit in the past 2 weeks and eating hasn't been all that great. I'm changing all of that next week. Even though I have 3 weeks left, I'm going to start walking again and eating better. I feel too good and miss the consistent exercise and clean eating. It was so much better for my body.

Again, I'm sorry I've been MIA lately. I'm going to go back and read some past post. I feel like such a bad friend and not following your journey too. Miss you guys and I promise to jump on here when I can to catch up.

Susan

Good morning everyone.

Happy International Guinness World Records Day

When Celebrated
Always on November 9th
About the Holiday
International Guinness World Records Day is a day to try and break a world record. The first edition of Guinness Book of World records was released on August 27, 1955 and soon became Britain's number one best seller. Some world records include the biggest bubblegum blown which was 20 inches. The tallest living man was 8 feet 3 inches. The longest finger nails were 28 feet 4.5 inches. To see all the world records visit

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/explore-records/

“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” ~Dr. Denis Waitley

Tom

I've been off the map for several weeks. I love the All-in Challenge idea. I need it!

Susan-Congratulations on the new job! I hope the move and change of schools all goes smoothly.
Laurie-Your Swallow Falls before and after pictures are so inspiring! What a transformation. The most important point is that you are now so much more fit and able to enjoy the hike more this year!
Toots-I hope that Finn continues to improve. What a blessing for him to end up with your family and be able to get all the help he needs.
JTConst-Your new kittens are super cute!

November All-In Challenge:
I have been MIA for the beginning of November, so my goals will be based on what's left of the month.
1. Check in with the thread daily.1/22
2. Complete my food diary daily. 0/22
3. Exercise 3 days per week. 0/9

@robin--I agree that it's tough to get rid of the larger sized clothing. When I first started this process I put them in bags in the spare room, but left them there "just in case." However, after months of not needing to delve into that bag, I was confident enough to donate them. Since then, I'm much better about getting rid of stuff and have had no regrets. I figure if I start to gain weight, I'll notice it and do something about it if I'm uncomfortable in my clothes--so far that's worked for me.

@susan--great to hear you are moving back to Atlanta. Try to stay sane over these next few weeks.

@marsha--congrats on moving into some smaller sizes. Isn't shopping in your own closet so much fun?!?!

Sunday Share:
The gala last night was a lot of fun. I didn't over-indulge with food. Tried to stick with mostly protein (chichen and beef) and veg for dinner. I did have one wedge of roasted potato and a very small serving of some bow-tie pasta. I also had a very small piece of cake they served for dessert--I'm talking a really tiny sliver and it was the perfect amount. Though I was good with food, I drank way too many calories of "ichyhol" as tammy would say. I stuck with captain and diet, but there were many of them. Then I did indulge in one Cosmo at the piano bar we went to afterward.

Speaking of booze, there were a bunch of raffles to raise money and three friends and I pitched in $10 each for a few chances to win a huge shopping cart full of liquor, and we won it!!! Hundreds of dollars worth of liquor, wine, and beer--crazy amounts!. The only one of us with a car there fortunately has an SUV, so we loaded it up and will meet tomorrow to divide it. Most of it is stuff I don't even drink, but I will take stuff I know I can give to friends for the holidays, or as hostess gifts when I go to dinner parties and such.

I need to grade now, so I will check in later for the November challenge.