New You ~ April 15

...we paid/filed our taxes in February... I suppose I should have started back then!

Anyways, here's the mid-month thread! Who's out there???????

I started a new wekk of Points today. I came in fine for last week, although I'm really going to try to make some better choices this week. (A Nutty Bar and a Diet Coke does not equal a healthy six-point lunch! )

Aunt Flo is gone, so hopefully she took some of the junk-food cravings with her.

I'm going right now to do some strength-training for my arms...this will only be twice for the week, instead of three times, like I need, but it's still better than once (or none, right?)

I've been trying to get at least 15-20 minutes of direct sunlight every day, too...not "tanning," just exposure. It's been in the mid 50's this week, and windy, so jackets are still required...I just need to be in the "brightness" of it...it makes me feel better!

Do something to make youreselves feel "better" today!

Blessings,
Lenora
Love nurtures, develops, cares for,
Shelters, comforts, and makes a home for us.
~Laozi

I know that sounds like a negative comment but it's just plain true.

We went out for supper last night to celebrate DS's and my birthday, and I went to put on a camisole that I always used to wear(even when chubby) and I could not wear it. Somehow I thought I was just holding my own at my chubby weight but I must have grew some.

That does it! Really! I'm sick of this . I'm real busy right now and have a hard time thinking of any kind of exercise routine but I *could* at least see if I can make some wiser food choices.

I've decided I don't just want to lose weight, I want to be *skinny*. Just for a day. Ha Ha! I'll settle for 50 lbs of course, I'm just cranky with myself today. There is absolutely nothing getting in the way of my being fit except for myself.

GGRRRRRRR!!!!!!

PS:thanx for the new thread Lenora

Aunt Flo must have been and gone from your place already Hope, but it sounds like she's hovering!! Fat AND cranky?? Definitely sounds like her usual MO!

Thanks Lenora. In addition o the problem with our threads sliding off the bottom I think we need the freshness of a new thread every couple of weeks to really keep us motivated.

d'you think we can try throwing out some challeneges over here too, see if we can get ourselves motivated for the summer?? I remember Lenora mentioning swimming practice, so maybe it ought to be something which gets us a bit more presentable for that. Losing 50lbs by June just isn't on the cards. Unless you're aiming for June 2006! Something smaller and doable...

Maybe moisturising more often so our skin doesn't show all the winter dryness or burn too easily. Moisturising once a week after bathing. Legs, butt, belly, arms, shoulders and face. Has everyone got some kind of SPF face cream at least?? I know - I'm very bad about this. I have eye cream and antibiotic cream (for my spots which are mercifully few now) and yeast cream (for that braline problem), and aqueous cream (for my other sensitive dry patches) and fancy hand cream, and ... well so many damn creams. I try to remember, but it only works when DH isn't around, and he's going to be around a LOT more soon. So pick the day of your most leisurely bath - perhaps Saturday or Sunday night, or if you're good at preparing for date night - and include some creaming in that. Feet too - which will soon be regularly on show in sexy sandals. Not good with dry heels!

keeping a jar of multipurpose cream on your desk isn't a bad idea either, and anywhere else you might absentmindedly rub some in - by your seat in front of the television is another good one.

I do this to remind myself too! I'm used to wearing shorts and t-shirts (and sandals) year-round, but I wonder whether I might get more self-conscious when I'm back in the UK. Maybe not this year but after a British winter I should be back to my palest level yet. Not that anyone would call me tanned, but after nearly 10yrs I would say I'm less white!

get moisturising for the summer reveal ladies!

Kerri.

I'm sitting around munching on Nabisco (that's Christie in Canada, Hope) ginger snaps. They don't help my nausea a bit but sure are yummy.

I'm still in the eating-what-I-can-stand and walking-when-I-can-stand phase. Maybe that will improve in a couple of weeks, maybe not. We'll see.

I suspect you're a bit moe prepared for that than most first-time pregnant ladies, thanks to Crohn's - I found a few similarities. How're you doing with the Crohn's anyway Becky, because I couldn't quite imagine dealing with the two at once, so I was wondering last night how that side was doing.

actually it's not that far off what I'm doing either but I don't really have a good medical excuse, and it's not doing me much good. I added together aching all over, bad throat and a little sneezing and decided I might have something nasty, so I took a couple of tablets and went to bed this afternoon. Again! Actually I slept from about 10pm till 7am solidly, despite a short nap yesterday afternoon. Maybe it was just the comfort of having DH with me (and not being kept awake by his jet lag like the last time he came home). I still feel like a zombie. It's getting hard to even know if I'm healthy or sick any more and my Coke consumption has risen recently - staying hydrated on Ribena alone isn't going to work in this horrible sultry weather. It's like a living thing settling round your shoulders - nasty!

But at least I'm not amongst the 22% of people who don't eat lunch... at the moment. That could change since we ran out of boiled eggs today. I hate having to think about lunch for DS and myself.

Two glasses of Coke and I'm yawning my head off. Isn't the combination of sugar and caffeine supposed to have me bouncing off the walls?? That's why I buy it! I've never had problems sleeping through caffeine though; I could probably sleep through almost anything if I tried hard enough!

the New Me is still a long way off over the water I'm afraid guys...

Kerri.

I didn't want to be posting back-to-back with nothing to say, yet here I am anyway.

Anybody bother to moisturise?? Maybe something easier... How's about everyone drinks a cup of herbal or green tea at some point today, depending on hat you've got in the cupboard. Just one. Does that sound manageable??

Everybody got a tub of vitamins or other supplements somewhere?? Have you stopped taking them?? Wellt ake them now, but just think of the joy you'll have when you can finally throw the tub away. But make sure they didn't expire already.

can you tell I'm more in a decluttering mood than a New You mood?? I'm trying to declutter excess moisturiser and dietary supplements, so things are getting used far more regularly than ever. I've got some slightly overdue gummy bears next to me that are supposed to be children's fibre. In terms of gummy bears I expect they just lose their efficacy rather than becoming poisonous, so I'm getting through those.

I've also been decanting leftover odd bits of shampoo into a single bottle so I can see what I really have left to deal with. I don't recommend mixing strong colours, but if you've got whites and clears thy'll camouflage nicely in somebody's shampoo or shower gel. Same with leftover conditioner - you can even put that in the shampoo. I did up a cocktail for the kids which is just a slightly lighter bubble gum pink than normal!

not sure how this fits New You, but ummm... maybe if you clear old icky products from your bathroom you'll feel like a brand new person! I know some of you have done this not too long ago, so you get to feel all virtuous. If you buy creams and soaps and stuff, USE THEM. Otherwise you're just cluttering. If it made your skin itch throw it away.

off track... lots of babbling all over the site this morning... I'll get to the real decluttering later!

Kerri.

I thought I'd best chirp something just so you all know I'm exercising my butt off. Not any kind of planned routine for me at this point, but just trying to get mega yard cleanup done. Rake, rake, rake....it must be worth something.

I have no idea how I'm doing with the eats. I know I'm not doing any major grocery shopping right now, so I'm not giving myself much opportunity to buy treats. No treats=no munching. We have been eating out(lots of fast food) quite often though. Quizno's is my vice, and I'd much rather have a toasted sub than I would a burger, but I'm not sure how Quiznos stacks up on the calorie/nutrition count. If I like something it's usually a bad thing.

I'm really working at using up product right now Kerri. I tossed a good deal of old stuff I hated, and am working my way through what I could'nt toss. Why do we save this stuff for occasions anyway? It's dumb! I think I'll pop myself into the shower now and have a nice salt scrub and do some major shaving. Legs, pits, arms, they all need help. My feet could use a filing and creaming too.

I need a haircut bad. I have a wedding to go to on July 2nd, so am trying to hold off on the cut and color until the 2nd week in June. I may cave and go for at least the cut soon. I can always have it trimmed when I get the color done. It's almost the end of April though, maybe I can hang on.

Now, for abit of medicinal cereal before I have that shower. Is everyone remembering to eat something before 10am????? It does set the tone for a wiser choice day .

Water up gals, it's time to skinny into those bikinis soon . HA!!!!

I'm sure you must be burning more calories than you're taking in Hope, certainly more than you usually do, so that's gotta be good news. Not much golfing from you yet this season... you must be quite upset about that, if you could find the time and energy! But I'm guessing raking uses more calories than a leisurely walk aorund the golf course.

I'm just sweating my calories off. The weather's very hot and close here, so I move a lot faster when I drop DS at school at 12:30. Unfortunately I then come back and spend most of the afternoon in a flopped out state recovering. This too shall pass. I know it will because even if the UK has a miraculously hot summer it will still be less humid than here, and it's the humidity that really saps my strength.

I'd love to tell you all something really inspiring, but right now I just wanna have a nap, and that's really not the kind of inspiration I was going for!!

It's 9:40am and my stomach and Hope are both telling me the same thing - eat! There's a convenient banana outside with my name on it which might tide me over till my early lunch.

Kerri.

Hope, quiznos is one of my favorite's too for a good sub. Subway is trying to change, but their toasted subs are just not the same. On LA Weightloss you can still eat at Q's...but no sauce usually and no chips, so what's the use, right! They say you can have any of the salads w/FF or light dressing, the honey bourbon, sierra smoked turkey or turkey light sandwich all w/no dressing. That's not so bad.

Peace,
Michele

I have one very simple goal in sight...

have at least one 'other' drink before I've dropped DS off at school and come back panting. I normally drink my tea shortly ater waking up, but realised that I don't often have any other drinks in the morning.

So that's it. Very manageable, but quite important I think.

Kerri.

I'm at 11 weeks and started showing on Sunday (overnight!) so am slightly less nauseated and a lot more uncomfortable. The Crohn's/UC/ whatever it is has been acting up the teensiest bit but I think that's from school stress; I made the effort to get extra sleep yesterday and feel better now. I need to go take a nap since I haven't been able to sleep much at a stretch.

off the homepage already, and the other thread's already gone!!! I guess we must have had a busy week on the boards.

I had to check my blood pressure today because I felt funny... it was very low with a very high pulse (101!). So I spent part of the day feeling like I was constantly out of breath and this isn't the first time in recent days. I have a nasty feeling it's excess blood loss and I'm not going to go into that except to say that Flo isn't to blame and maybe Becky would understand better than most. So again I need to be more careful on my medication, though I have been doing quite well recently. Better than I was.

Meantime I give myself permission to eat some extra crisps (chips) and gulp down chicken essence if need be, as well as lie down if the room starts spinning! Right now it seems to have worked and I feel human again. Better check the pressure. DH decided we're taking the machine with us, and his brother can buy a new one for the parents since he's so rich (and we're not!).

Since I don't feel like eating much recently I'm drinking more - wonder whether that's also responsible for the low blood pressure, plus it's been unbelivably humid here and my home is NOT cool! I ate well yesterday, but not much at all the previous two days. Probably too hot to eat.

Kerri.

...and the only things I can remember eating today are a bowl of Frosted Flakes (no milk) and a couple of tortilla chips with a bit of salsa. I hope that bodes well for my moment on the scales in the morning!

MIL is home from the hospital....nothing new to report...and I'm still buried under school papers. This, too, shall pass.

This, too, shall pass.

This, too, shall pass.

This, too, shall pass.

This, too, shall pass.

Yep...that about says it all!

Blessings,
Lenora

You REALLY don't want to have a fast pulse from prednisone.

Frosted flakes with no milk?

I feel very not-well today, so am still eating what I think won't make me feel worse, sometimes succeeding and sometimes not.

I've been off the pred for nearly a year! Just Pentasa and supplements mostly now.

I think the fast pulse might have mostly been from te surrounding clutter. There again, the kids could do nasty things to it today, and it's generally a HORRIBLE Monday so far. Too horrible to even detail. And it's just getting warmed up!

Kerri.

sorry... got it now. You're certainly right about that! I really don't want to start playing with the steroids up and downs again... Maybe I should find the fattest, spottiest picture of me on steroids and put it up on my computer desktop as a reminder!!

first drink and first tablets about to go down...!

Kerri.

Looks like I'm going to have to just accept slow weightloss until I have time to realy get into the habit of conscious exercise. The scale is down another half-a-pound, which is good; but in reality is just making me miserable. I feel like it takes an awful lot of attention for not-so-much in the way of results. BLEH!

On the bright side, my complexion is really doing wonderful! I've been consistantly using a three-step cleansing, toning, lotion program for a while now, and have added a micro-scrub three days a week. My skin looks better than it has in decades (if you don't count the little lines around my eyes and across my forhead...which in reality don't bother me a whole lot!)

Becky, yes, "no milk!" I don't like it and it doesn't like me, so I generally don't eat dairy! I've found that a measured bowl of sweet cereal makes the perfect snack, as it crunches, has enough sugar to taste "sweet," and only has about 100-120 calories a serving (less than a regular cookie!)

I've gotta go get ready for school...must "dress" today, as I have a presentation this evening in "Professional Issues in Education." ...we've been pounded with snow since Saturday night, and my good winter coat is at the cleaners

This too, shall pass!

Have a great day!

Blessings,
Lenora
Love nurtures, develops, cares for,
Shelters, comforts, and makes a home for us.
~Laozi

can we try going weekly maybe?? Or at least when we drop off the homepage we set up a new thread perhaps...

I've had a brilliant idea for a challenge that EVERYONE can manage so here I go with a new thread to throw it at!

Kerri.