Tree72 Member

I haven't dealt with this myself, but I've watched my roommate deal with it. She got a slow-growing bacteria through a minor cut on her skin and had to take antibiotics 3 times a day for six months (after being hospitalized and on IV antibiotics for a week). They can really do a number on your digestion. She did lose 35…

Glad to see you're back and re-committed to making healthier choices for yourself. Remember, it's ok to take time to take care of yourself. You need to do that so that you can have the energy to do everything else in your busy life and take care of others. You can do this!

Hey, I didn't even know this was today's challenge and I've already done 30 (with 15lbs) at my noontime workout. I'll try and get the rest in tonight when I get home.:happy:

Congratulations! That's a huge success. Glad you found your motivation. Now that you have started, the momentum will only build and lead you to better things.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I may have to give the bikes another chance. I haven't tried them in months, but maybe they would work better for me now that I'm a bit more fit. Also, I may have to look into running shoes again. I have some very nice cross-trainers (New Balance 1011) with a good insert that work…

Well, I work with a personal trainer twice a week, and she switches things up a lot. One workout this week consisted of two sets of backward and then forward lunges (half the length of the gym, probably about 20 to 25 reps each way) with a 20 lb barbell. That was followed by three sets of: 15 reps on the Smith machine with…

You can definitely do chili and pasta sauces in the slow cooker. You could also do a ground beef version of stroganoff. And there are lots of variations on meatballs that can be done too (in marinara, in teriyaki sauce, in a brown gravy sort of Swedish style, Albondigas (a Mexican meatball soup)). You could do…

Thanks so much for sharing. I definitely want to try this one.

I have to completely agree on the tortillas. I love them. They are fantastic for making a breakfast taco and wonderful on taco night at dinner. Other things I always keep on hand now: Kashi cereals reduced fat cheese eggs Dr. MacDougall's soups (http://www.rightfoods.com/) berries (fresh and frozen)

I'm not a big ham fan, but one way my mom used to fix it that I really liked was in a casserole with cauliflower and cheese sauce. You just lightly steam a bag of frozen cauliflower (or you could use fresh that you've cut into florets). Cube up the ham steak. Put the cauliflower and ham into a casserole dish and pour…

Welcome! This is a great place to find support and some good information. Wishing you well on your journey.

Thanks so much for sharing your story and pictures. It's definitely inspiring. Keep up that great work and you'll be in Onderland before you know it. :happy:

Congratulations! I think that's a great victory. It's often harder to just have one cookie or a small serving of something than to avoid it altogether. And making sensible choices, like "I can have one cookie today", is so much more realistic for most of us. Way to go!

Add me to the only washing it every 3 to 4 days. My hair is very long and there's no way I could wash it everyday without majorly damaging it. If I've had a very sweaty workout, I just hold the bulk of my hair (usually in a braided bun) out of the way and let the shower run over my head to rinse the scalp.

I go to the gym during my lunch break, so I only have a limited time. I will generally do cardio for 30 to 45 minutes depending on what else I need or want to do that day.

Congrats! It's such a nice feeling when someone just randomly notices how your efforts have changed your appearance.

That looks like a great lunch; lots of interesting flavors happening. Thanks for sharing. :smile:

On weekday mornings I do plain rolled oats (the cook in 5 minutes kind), but on weekends I'll do steel cut oats (they take 20 to 30 minutes to cook). To either I add one of the following: 1/2 cup berries (whole blueberries or sliced strawberries usually) and a dash of cinnamon 1 tsp brown sugar and a dash of spice (some…

Err, no, sorry, just plain old Dungeons and Dragons, the paper and book version. We had a pretty good session last night. My spirit shaman is finally level 13. Happily a lot of our group are more focused on getting healthier at the moment, so "bad" snacks are a rarity. And since it's a my house, I can provide healthy…

Welcome! This is a great place to find support and lots of helpful information. Wishing you much success. You can definitely get toned up and feel great going to the beach.

Congrats! It's those little realizations that can make you really notice how far you've come. Thanks for sharing the motivation.

I used to always get neck aches and headaches when trying to do sit ups too. I found that doing crunches rather than full out sit ups helped. My abs just weren't strong enough to pull me all the way up without me compensating and straining something else. So, my advice would be to take it slow and concentrate on tightening…

My biggest time-sink is definitely WoW. I've been playing since shortly after release and plan on continuing for the foreseeable future. I also play a few games on the Wii, mostly Wii Fit Plus, but occasionally Boom Blox or Guitar Hero if friends are over. One of my house-mates just got a PS3. So I imagine I'll be helping…

Do you take measurements? I tend to go through cycles. I'll lose pounds consistently for two or three months, then it will slow down a lot. During that slow down time I lose inches. That usually last about a month or so for me, then I go back to losing pounds. Also, have you changed how you are eating at all? You body may…

Thanks so much for sharing your amazing and inspirational story with us. And thanks so much for sharing the photos too. It's so great to see an example of how being fit with some very nice muscle definition can be beautiful on a woman.

During the worst of the allergy season for me (December to February here) I try to avoid being outdoors as much as possible. But if I do exercise outside, the things that help are to minimize exposure to the pollen as much as possible. So when you are done exercising, be sure to shower and change clothes as soon as…

Lately I've been doing meat and veggie breakfast tacos on a low carb tortilla (10g carbs, 7 of which are fiber). You can do all sorts of tasty combinations. I think my favorite so far is mushrooms, shallots, and steak.

Great job. You've done amazing work in such a short time. Congratulations.

Congratulations on your wonderful success!

Congratulations! That's the best kind of success.:smile: