Yay osuche! Glad you are having a good day ... and thanks for your well wishes, they must have done the trick ... seems it was just a one day thing and other than feeling a little weak, I'm doing great ... the up side is that yesterday I had little appetite for most of the day so my calorie count was under 1600 ... that doesn't happen very often!!!

maddy, hope the legs are feeling better ... I know about that pain from several years ago ... when I was in better shape then I am anywhere near today ... we had 4 fire alarms in three days - 2 in one day and had to trapse down 11 flights of stairs each time, hate to say this, but when the 4th one rang, I stayed at my desk and waited for the announcement that it was a false alarm ... found out after the 3rd time that a new group had moved into the 8th floor and their smoke alarm had a hair (or rather popcorn) trigger. It took me days for my knees and thighs to feel ok again! :)

11 flights????That's what they make firemen for :D to carry my fat ass down the stairs :D

My thighs finally feel better, I'm not wincing when I have to walk down the stairs at my condo.

I wore my gym pants when I went out shopping today and noticed that fresh out of the dryer they are too big (they are stretchy cotton). So I picked up a new pair of really cute nylon capri pants today - they have a bit of stretch to them. I quite like them :)

I also stocked up on some Kashi cereal and granola bars that were on sale - which meant I needed to clean in the kitchen. I came up with two shopping bags full of food that need to be donated as they are no longer part of my eating plan. I also cleaned out my coat closet today (it doesn't actually have any coats in it) and my next project is going to build shelves in half the closet so it can be part pantry.

I'm envious of ^^^'s space. :) I also probably need to clean out the kitchen, too...in my case, I have it a LITTLE better, since I have two helpers who might eat the "bad" stuff. Regardless, maddy, I'm definitely glad to hear that you're not hurting as much.

As for me, I was still able to walk this morning after going to the gym twice yesterday, so I did what any insane woman would do--went again today. I did 3 miles on the treadmill and some ab crunches with this cool thing they have (I'm going to have to see if I can get one for home, 'cause I *really* like it)...and then decided to be ambitious and did 10 minutes on the elliptical. I KNOW that that machine was sent from hell to torture me. Of course, I had to do it in two, five-minute intervals, and STILL my heart was begging me for mercy. I am trying to keep in mind that, eventually, I'll build up my stamina, but it's frustrating, as I'm not a patient person.

A little rant I found on a blog this weekend that I think some of us (if not all of us) can relate to on some level ....Fuck You Scale

*nods her head in understanding*

Lmao

I can't get to it :(

Click the "skip this ad" in the top right corner....then I saw it. :)

OK, this is maybe one of my silly little advances in this process: A week ago I was asked if I would give a talk to a group of people today ... for 10-12 minutes ... talking is easy for me, no fear of public speaking whatsoever, but I was hugely concerned about having to stand up for that long ... when I first started this process, standing in one place was a maximum of about 2-3 minutes and then my back would feel like it was seizing together - very painfully and my knees would stiffen totally so that my next couple of steps would be like me being a toy soldier ... no bend whatsoever, but I would have to move to get to a place where I could sit down so I wouldn't soon start to cry from the shear pain of it ... (I know I can be a bit of a drama queen sometimes!) Well all week long I've been practicing, spending 10-12 minutes standing upright (not always without some walking as well) trying to do it at least 2 times a day ... except yesterday when I wasn't feeling well enough to do so ... I gave my talk today and had no problem getting through it!! YAY!!! :)

I don't even get that.

Congrats fzzy! Feeling better, isn't that the main reason we are all doing this???? It is becoming obvious that you are making big progress especially in the "feeling better" area!

thanks Lil ... somedays it feels like I'm making no progress and then I'll realize that some specific thing is different and better ... I love those moments!

Ending today on the high side of my calorie count, but that's only 1 day of the Fri, Sat, Sun grouping where that is the case this week ... that's very positive for me! :) Happy monday everyone!

OK. So I'm up a lb this morning, and I am still waiting on the $%&# period to start. I've been crampy and feel bloated, but see no progress yet. And in 3 more days I go back on BC. So who knows???

I've been right around 2000 calories, and probably will be again today. No matter how much I starve myself during lunch, we're headed out to dinner with friends and I know that means t-r-o-u-b-l-e. :D

The positive side is I am still off of the arthritis meds, and that is starting to look like a very permanent change.

((((fzzy)))) ~~ 'grats on a great weekend!

I'm very excited today ... yesterday's advance was great, but it wasn't something that was on the top of my list to get fixed, I knew it that over time my ability to stand upright for longer periods of time will increase ... but I've been getting a little discouraged because I didn't feel like I was making any progress in a particular area of my body that I hate and of course it's the slowest to have any positive change (always the first to expand when I'm not eating healthy though :( ) to be specific ... the lower abs and belly area ... today however, even though I'm starting the particular belly bloating of the week before my visit to the hut ... I reached a milestone in my progress and I'm so HAPPY! Up til this point, all my progress in that area hasn't been visible really and hasn't even been noticable in the fit of my clothes ... but from this point forward it will begin to be .... YEAH! Thank you so much everyone for your efforts in this process we are going through together .. and thank you for your gentle and caring support of me and others! :) Doing the happy dance so everyone close your eyes ... it's not a pretty sight ... but one day it will be! :)

I'm glad to hear of your victory in the "battle" fzzy, positive reinforcement is incredibly powerful.

Excellent news on the meds, osuche.

As for me, I really wanted to get back on the treadmill today, but I'm not. I'm absolutely exhausted today after a very restless night of sleep and a long day at the office. I'm charging and updating my iPod overnight and will get on the treadmill tomorrow night.

My weigh in was not accurate this morning, so I'm trying again tomorrow. There is no way possible I gained two pounds yesterday!