I prefer it, actually and I would if it didn't cost more than ground beef in my area. I used to use it all the time, but unfortunately, I have to shop according to my wallet right now.

I have the same problem, SS--the turkey is usually more expensive. It's one of the few treats I allow for myself, though, at least for now.

maddy--the monitor really *is* cool. I think the specifications for the petite version are listed (maybe 6-3/4" wrist?) in the details. All I know is that I'm on the third hole in. :) I feel much more comfortable about how many calories I burned today than I normally do--in fact, the treadmill I had to use today (which doesn't have a heart rate monitor/input for weight) showed me as burning at least 100 calories less than the monitor on my wrist.

LOL I did 5 minutes :D My thighs are burning like a bitch from playing with the damn thing yesterday.

Lil, 5 minutes on the elliptical is better than 5 minutes on the couch :) You will be amazed to watch your stamina increase.

Thanks IAKG! I'm going to order one tonight. I think I'm going to go with the more pricey regular sized one though to be safe. I know my wrists are getting smaller but I think my wrist is closer to 7" if not slightly over.

SS, I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner out and are finding ways to modify what you are eating on a budget. Also, a loss is a loss no matter what it was you were losing - and it's a great jumpstart motivator.

As for me, I only did 20 minutes on the treadmill tonight but it was a hard 20 minutes. I need to build my endurance back up.

Yesterday I thought the mountains were "fun". :D

oh! and about turkey, I like to think to a certain extent the $$ is worth it because you don't have the shrinkage like you do when the fat escapes from the ground beef. If you buy regular ground beef you can basically say you throw 20% of it away. I know $$ can be awful. You can always buy a turkey breast and then make the butcher grind it :D They hate that :D

*thinks ^^^ is going to have a lifted butt and toned up body in no time*

maddy's right...your stamina will come, Lil. I mean, I'm up to 4.5 miles at a time now. Not only that, but to keep my heartrate in the right range, I was doing 3.6 mph today on an 11% incline off and on. It's nuts. :D

I had a salad at a restaurant this weekend and it's super simple and very low in fat/ calories.

Baby spinach or mixed greens
craisins
walnuts (could do almonds)
orange sections (could do the little canned things)
feta (could do the reduced fat or even blue cheese)
raspberry vinaigrette (fat free or reduced)

was simple and yum!

Lil, I've found that I really enjoy adding fruit to my salads. I will usually add mandarin oranges, strawberries, or apples. I don't know why I never considered this in the past.

You all are doing great!!! Today was a bit out of control for me .. I think I'll be ending it about 500 calories over my range .... it's the day before my visit to the hut and history seems to be showing me that this day is out of control ... though I at least control what type of things go into my mouth because I don't have anything really bad for me in my house and am tooooo lazy to get up and go buy something when I'm comfortable at home .... so it's a "controlled" out of control ... luckily it is just the one day each month so far, so I'm trying not to get too upset with myself about it ... just don't seem to be able to motivate myself to stop the eating on this one day each month ... but I'm going to keep working at it anyway! :)

great job on the workouts Lil and maddy and all others who keep at it! :)

According to the scale (%$#@*&) I've gained 5 pounds this week :(

I guess I found the 5 SS lost :(

I hate to rejoice immediately after ^^^, but I lost 3.5 lbs this week.

I know that IAKG has mentioned the Wendi Plan here earlier and I'm a believer now. It's where you alter your eating so that you have high and low days. The idea being you kick start you metabolism and your body doesn't know how much it is getting so it keeps "burning" at a high rate. I had a really high eating day this past week and it seems to have done the trick as far as kick starting my metabolism back up.

Grats maddy! I can be disappointed in me and happy for you at the same time :D

Can you post some information on this Wendi thing?

Absolutely. Please keep in mind that it's somewhat based off of WW. But a point is approximately 50 calories (the calculation is actually a combination of calories, fiber grams, and fat grams).

Wendie Plan

I'll beat maddy to the punch. Hopefully this will give you some information, and there are more resources out there, of course, if you do a search:

http://www.stormpc.com/ww/wendie_plan.htm