**CLOSED** Skinny Chics & A Rooster **CLOSED**

Congrats, Tami! That is a LOT of weight to drop in one week. I can understand that you would be over the moon happy.

**********************OCTOBER CHALLENGE********************************

Mt. Kosciuszko-Australia

Mount Kosciuszko is a mountain located in the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park on the border between Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. With a height of 2,228 metres (7,310 ft) above sea level, it is the highest mountain in Australia (not including its external territories). There are two options for The Seven Summits for this continent. We will be doing Mt. Kosciuszko which is the highest mountain on the Australian continent and was the highest summit for Australia on the original list created by Bass, not Carstenz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya) the highest mountain in Oceania and on the same continental plane as Australia, which was chosen as the highest mountain by Messner. Some climbers do both of these mountains, so that no one can dispute they finished the challenge.

It was named by the Polish explorer Count Paul Edmund Strzelecki in 1840, in honour of the Polish national hero and hero of the American Revolutionary War General Tadeusz Kościuszko, because of its perceived resemblance to the Kościuszko Mound in Krakow. Mount Kosciuszko is not particularly difficult to climb. There is a road to Charlotte Pass, from which it's an 8-kilometre (5 mi) walk up a path to the summit. Anybody with a modest level of fitness should be able to walk it. As many as 100,000 people climb it every year. Until 1976 it was possible to drive through Rawson Pass to within a few metres of the summit. The walking track to Mount Kosciuszko from Charlotte Pass is in fact that road, which was closed to public motor vehicle access due to environmental concerns. This track is also used by cyclists as far as Rawson Pass, where they must leave their bicycles and continue onto the summit on foot.

Our activity that will take us to the summit of Mt. Kosciuszko will be…..WATER!! For every glass of water you drink we will move 1 foot up the mountain. However, on Thirsty Thursdays we will get 2 feet for every glass we drink! A glass of water is 8oz. and will include herbal and green tea and flavored water but not juice, soda, black tea or coffee. This is our Nurture Summit and we will be nurturing our bodies by hydrating them. The standard rule of thumb is that you should be drinking half your body weight in ounces of water every day. It is my hope that in the course of a month we will all develop the habit of drinking enough water every day. Please be smart about this and do not try to down 12 glasses of water in one sitting. Your body is not able to process that much water at once and you can become ill.

Jane
-- I did say *air* cheetos, but honey, if you want the real thing they make a puffed version that's actually lower calorie (I didn't say low calorie teehee) than the original. I'll ship you a couple bags. Send me your address. I'm already sending Twinkies to a friend in Bristol, I made the mistake of having one in my bag when I visited him, and the little weed head ate it and has been whinging at me ever since, so every year on his birthday I send him 2 boxes So seriously I'll send yer crack over I got no problems with that.
-- Here ya go, pick your poison.. They have a BAKED version http://www.fritolay.com/our-snacks/cheetos.html

Lexie
-- Glad you're working out again, I know it's hard to do it when you feel like you're not taking care of hubby & the kids. But if you're not around anymore who's going to take care of them then? Don't forget honey, doing this for the long run to be healthy and happy and he knows that. *HUGS*

Staci
-- Stop eating back your damn calories. Or your nutrients. Dammit. When you log your exercises it adjusts your nutrients as well as your calories. *slaps your hands* Put down the food. Be happy, eat what you eat. If you're full, walk away. Don't make me post pictures of Sudanese refugees to you. Seriously though. MFP ****s with you by adjusting everything with nutrients and calories. So make sure you know what your 'baseline' is, and then know what you've met/not met for the day regardless of your exercise and then you won't fret.



Renae
-- Oh the grease of evil doom. Yeah I know. I can't stand that smell either anymore. I think next time I fry anything, I might actually do it on the back patio so the house doesn't reek for 3 days afterwards. Or Pine-sol the kitchen floor the day after, that would take care of it. That **** killz everything. And not only can I do sit-ups, but SportDoc said I could do elliptical or RUN in the thing... I might try and marry that man if he wasn't already married to my neurologist
-Sounds like you had a great/but busy weekend. And while it wasn't ZEN, it sounds fun, and that's just as important. All that exercise you did, not because you had gym time scheduled. But because you had, **** TO DO. And you could do it all because you could move faster and farther (even if you ended up smelling like a randy woodchuck).

JJ
-- Love your work on the challenge so far. Really well done. Kudos. I got my costume (it's actually a dog costume) at Petsmart believe it or not, was 19.99. Yeah expensive but the little *kitten* is going to look cute as ****. they had tons of costumes at petsmart and not all were that expensive all sizes and shapes I had no idea what a big deal it was HEE HEE!

Staci
-- I'd tell you that I'd send you dad's old chainsaw from Ohio, but I have no idea what condition it's in. it might be more broken than your hubbies. I know it's older Then again I doubt it. Dad loved tools like a crazy man. Taught me the same disease, maybe it's hereditary If you don't have one by the time I'm home for Christmas, I'll take a look for it.

Greg
-- Man glad someone is having a good day. Thank ****. If everyone was doing as crappy as me. The world would be a miserable place Congrats on your long walk my dear. 5 miles is awesome! That's REAAALY far! I hope you do go ice skating! I haven't been since uh, yeah it's been that long Have a good time!! & enjoy your after dinner walk

Tami
-- wow some loss there!! Congrats! Keep up the really great work :)D If you keep going you'll lose that weight by Oct 21 no problem.

Julie
-- Yeah no temptations is great. Problem is, husband who doesn't diet brings in all kinds of ****. A womans will power is only so strong. At least I can count on him to power through those 1/2 gal of ice cream in 2 days or less, so they're never around when I want one. He's now mowing down my Weight watchers toffee ice cream bars. I'm like really dude? I swear gonna harpoon that man.

Becky
-- Loki has sharp teeth, and pointy claws, and he already thumped me in my thyroid. We feed him people crab. Yes $10 for a 1lb can of crab. He goes through 1 can a week, plus a 2 lb bag of people shrimp from costco, $15. Plus all the Hills science diet he wants to eat. (Because when you eat shrimp and crab, really are you going to pork on the kibble? No.) And he's LOUD. and ANGRY when the crab runs out. He'll, make DO with the shrimp. But let it be known, his majesty, the Lord of Mischief, DEMANDS TRIBUTE be PAID. If not in crab. Then blood. Oh not mine, he's never bitten, clawed, or even scratched me. But a mammal will die. Pigeons, Geckos, mice, if it moves, it's on the list. He is 17 inches long, (not including the 15 inch tail) He stands 15 inches tall at the shoulder, and weighs a solid 14 lbs 6 ounces. he has a 'slight' fat roll but he can still climb the 6.5 foot walls in the yard in a single jump at age 11. So, I say, go for it me bucko. I ain't sayin ****. The day I can jump up 30 feet straight up one leap, we'll discuss his diet. Until then.. Crab on my man. (And I almost got him the DEMON suit, but I figured that was tempting fate just too damn much.)

---

I'm going to outfit everyone with bingo wings in shirts Glad you ordered one, I swear you will love it. They're like crack. You can't own just one.

---

And have you tried to use Stevia to sweeten it?
:blushing:
And thank you

So the best NSV of the week is... My new Sports Medicine Doc says I can use the Elliptical with the CAM Walker on.
Say what? Yes? Are you serious? STFU!

*does a little dance*:bigsmile: :laugh: :bigsmile: :laugh: I would have hopped off the table and kissed him but A) there was a student doctor in the room and It's my Neurologists husband and I like her.

So I stopped in the PT clinic and re-upped my gym memb for Oct... I'll do the scuba next month I HAVE CARDIO TO DO DAMMIT! Boom chickka chickka boom chickka chickka ... (yes I did just give up going to Hawaii for a month of elliptical, **** yes)

*does a bigger dance*does the big hip dance all the way to the other room and back*
Yes I'm that happy. ;D

the 100lbs gone is nice, but... CAR-DI-O ;D

JJ – if not the basket…put him in a back pack or baby carrier on your chest! That would be great! I hope you enjoyed your day off yesterday and that today is extra nice for you! And thank you for everything you have been doing for the challenge…it is going to be great! I have been reading all your descriptions, but I know that I won’t be able to keep them straight. Is there going to be a summary before we start, explaining what type of activity we have to do….or should I be taking notes? If you are looking for costumes, I saw some at Old Navy. Their costumes are usually pretty well made and pretty cheap.

Greg – great new profile picture! And don’t stress about not replying to us…I am still surprised that you wanted to be in our group. But, then again, what man wouldn’t want to be surrounded by lovely ladies?!? The skating sounds like a great goal, I am sure you will make it!

Tami – great loss! Keep it up

Julie – Yay for the IRS! (did I just say that?). Sorry you have had a funk…I have visited that town several times! I hope you get out of it soon. 111 pounds? I knew it was over 100, but can I say WOW! Your are a weight loss machine!

Steph – I love going to wedding shows! And that is super exciting that you are renewing your vows with your family in Canada in August…just imagine the dress! You are going to look amazing! Are you dress shopping? You have to! After losing all this weight, you are going to be one hot looking wifey!!!

Cynthia – you are right. I have to do this for me so I am here for them all (that is exactly what he said). But, it would be so much easier not to go! But, I am starting to feel soreness in my legs again, and I had forgotten how I missed that little bit of pain. I made it to the gym again yesterday, and I am sore now, but I know that it was worth it. I just have to keep taking it day by day and get through one day at a time. I will try and get my hubby to take some pictures of me and my boys this weekend to share.


I had another good day yesterday...day 2 done! I am really tired right now, but I am just getting going and I know I will be fine. I was on the treadmill and I wanted to stop because my legs were so sore, and I could feel all sorts of muscles in my legs because they were killing me! But, I didn't get off. I just walked at a fast pace and a descent incline for 60 minutes. Then I jumped in the pool with my boys and swam some. My legs were cramping up some and my boys wanted me to play with them, so I was only able to swim 8 laps. But, that is better than nothing.

I hope you all have a Terrific Tuesday!

Cynthia - amazing work! 100lbs is brilliant. I'd want to announce it in sky writing!
Don't tempt me with the cheetos. It'll never be a pretty sight... :-)

Bobbie, I loathe hate and despise that moment when a transaction is denied. It's excrutiatingly embarrassing. It happens quite often at the automated tills here (you know, the checkouts where there's no staff, you just check out yourself). You'd think that wouldn't be too painful, but the electronic voice that's always bossing you about at those tills announces really loudly "YOUR CARD HAS BEEN DECLINED!" in a manner that captures the attention of everyone in the shop....
And yes, I think it was the chester cheetah variety my sister buys, air puffed. They're fab.

Sorry, I'm really rubbish at managing to write something to everyone. I can't keep it all in my head long enough to remember what I want to write! It definitely doesn't mean I'm not reading or don't care, though!

I keep forgetting that MFP adjusts all of my macro nutrients when I exercise so while it all looked okay after dinner now that I have logged my exercise it doesn't look so great. What do all of you do about getting them all in? That is my focus this week with my eating. I also dodn't usually eat all of my exercise calories (some of them usually but not all of them) so that messes withthings a bit too.

It depends which ones you're looking at. I think it's important to hit your iron and protein up a bit, and your fibre to go alongside the protein, to fuel your exercise. But you probably don't need to worry too much about the others. I try to eat over on protein and iron before I put my exercise in. That doesn't mean I hit the targets that it sets once the exercise cals are included as they (and indeed the exercise calories themselves) are completely unrealistic. But I reckon that it's enough to feed the exercise I do do.

Good morning everyone! I woke up crabby and am really trying to change my attitude this morning before I totally ripsomeone to shreds here at work. I decided that at least for this week I am going aim for my baseline for my macros (those set when I am eating just 1200 calories) If I can do that this week then maybe I will aim for increasing my protein and fiber next week. Wooohoo for making a plan! Okay, I'm scaring myself I better go.

*******************************OCTOBER CHALLENGE********************

Vinson Massif –Antarctica

Vinson Massif is the highest mountain in Antarctica, lying in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, which stand above the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located about 750 mi (1,200 kilometres) from the South Pole and is about 13 mi(21 km) long and 8.1 mi (13 km) wide. At 16,066 feet (4,897 m) the highest point is Mount Vinson, which was named in 2006 after Carl Vinson, long-time member of the U.S. Congress from the state of Georgia and a key supporter of funding for Antarctic research.Vinson Massif was first seen in 1958 and first climbed in 1966.

During the summer season, November through January, there are 24 hours of sunlight. While the average temperature during these months is −30 °C (−20 °F), the intense sun will melt snow on dark objects.

The first group to reach the summit was on December 18th, 1966 and was part of the American Antarctic Mountaineering Expedition 1966/67. The expedition was sponsored by the American Alpine Club and the National Geographic Society, and supported in the field by the U.S. Navy and the National Science Foundation Office of Antarctic Programs. Ten scientists and mountaineers participated in AAME 1966/67. All members of the team reached the summi,t the rest on December 19th and 20th. An expedition in 2001 was the first to climb via the Eastern route, and also took GPS measurements of the height of the peak. Over 2000 people have currently climbed Vinson Massif, due in great part to its inclusion on the Seven Summits list.

Our activity that will take us to the summit of Vinson Massif will be….Running, Walking and Swimming! For running and walking we will be using the unit of measurement of 1 mailbox length. In my neighborhood, there are 2 mailboxes per block and I already said 1 block was 330 ft (100m) , so the distance from one mailbox to the next will be equal to 165 feet (50m) and there are 32 of them in a mile. (Thats right, I just totally made up a unit of measure. See Oliver Smoot for why I can do this.) I like this because when I first started running, that was how I measured myself.....just make it to the next mailbox baby! So 1 mailbox = 1 ft up the mountain. For swimming, we will be measuring with lengths of the pool. 25yd pools are most common in the US for home pools, so I am going to use those pool lengths as our measure. 1 length = 1 foot up the mountain. If you are swimming in a bigger Olympic sized pool, then 1 length = 2ft up the mountain. If you are Staci and swimming in the ocean for a triathalon, then 1 mile of swimming = 64 ft up the mountain. We have been walking/running/swimming through all of the challenges, and since this is our Endurance Summit, lets keep on with these great, easy and cheap forms exercise that have formed the base of most of our exercise programs!

Tami – So happy about your 10.4lb release!! Holy Awesome!!! You are motivating me big time!

Julie – Good news about the tax man! Sounds like you’re ready to set a new mini goal? 115lbs lost? How many will you drop before the holidays? You got this – keep it going.

Staci – sounds like it’s time for a little self talk with Stac? Tell her she’s got this far, she can go that last few miles. We’re all rooting for her. I’ve started reducing my cals this week too. ps - slap that chip ***** - LOL It's a pet peeve of mine at home when I see 5-6 bags/boxes open and they're reaching for the "NEW". All the more reason not to buy that crap! and Yaaa for salmon - love it with fresh lemon.

JJ – so we have Biking, Dancing, Exercise, Water, Running, Walking and Swimming. OMG – I’m already tired. Thanks for organizing this. I’m assuming the spreadsheet will have line items for each?

Steph – Sending good vibes that HM DH finds employment soooonn!!! You need one less thing to stress about. Since you know about these challenges coming up then PLAN for them. You can do it!!

Cyndi – A Randy Woodchuck – you always make me giggle. Ya – I did stink but you’re right – it was an awesome workout. And it saved us some serious $$$ on winter fuel. It’s great that you can exercise with your fashionable boot. You should kiss that dr just to see his reaction (and to provide us with another great story). Loki sounds very spoiled! Hell – I don’t get to eat crab and shrimp once a month and he’s getting it every week?!! No wonder he doesn’t harm you. He knows not to bite the hand that feeds him!

JJ – love the grand poobar hat you found for Loki – seriously funny! And a pirate dog costume – LOL The only thing missing is the eye patch but you can always draw a black circle around one eye like the dog “Petey”on the Little Rascals.

Lexie – Nice workout. You’re working so hard – it is worth it!! I’m looking forward to next months challenges so I can mix things up a little. All this walking is starting to make my legs quite fatigued. I need to get some core strengthening in too.

Bobbie – How did your room come out? It must be nice to have everything fresh and new?!! Nice reward for all your hard work!

Greg – stick around – we can offer you tons of secrets that will make your wife think you’re the cat’s meow. Start by sanitizing the bathroom once in a while. Pay close attention to the little whiska’s you fella’s tend to ‘not see’ after you shave. Oh ya – nice job on the walking – I know what you mean about walking with a partner. I like my solo walking time too! I love your long term goals. You’re doing great for someone with a pea sized brain – you crack me up. Funny how men think they can use that as an excuse – we’re on to you!

Still haven’t visited Mr. Scale this week? I’m thinking I might be ready tomorrow morning for a check in. I’ve eaten very light for 2 days and walked a lot. I’m enjoying the protein drinks too. I’m mixing half a Special K vanilla shake with ½ light rasp yogurt and a couple of ice cubes (130 cals). Throw it on the bullet and chill it in the freezer for 30 minutes. It really stays with me for 3-4 hours. I’m hoping that changing things up for a few days will get things moving again. Those empanadas added 3lbs overnight.

~keep it skinny