Congrat's JJ...I just adore reading good news....you are really on a roll now...keep up the great work!!!

Yuhoooooo....just dropping by tonight to say my lbs have not changed since last week, however, I have lost 7 1/2 inches! Wuhoooo!

Thank you girls for checking in on me... I'm going to Mom's later this week and she said, "I'll cook you something." Oy! I said "NO! NO! I'm bringing my food Mom, but thanks!" ha! They always want to feed us....Bless her heart....

Marg, when is Lent?

Nancy, thank you girlfriend! I've got to where I live for Tuesdays. That's weighing and measuring day.

JJ

Marg, I admire people who can stick to their guns during Lent. I dont'think I ever have.

Goergia, you go girl. Seven inches is awesome. Keep up the good work.

Dotsie, I must confess, I don't give up anything for lent because in the past I was never able to stick to it either.

JJ, seven inches?...........great!!!!!!!!!!

For some reason Lent seems to be the only time I can resist and give up certain things. Its like I keep thinking, God is gonna get you for that, if I mess up during Lent.....Say does anyone know where the name Lent came from or what it means?

[ January 18, 2006, 04:13 PM: Message edited by: chatty lady ]

Lent is of Germanic origin and means "season of spring." It refers to the lengthening of days as reflected in the Anglo Saxon word for March. That word is lenctenmonat.

I have been going to the gym since September 6th and have dropped three dress sizes. I have a few tips. No diet has ever worked for me long term so I don't diet now. I always thought you just had to exercise and diet, lose the weight and then go back to the old lifestyle NOT!!!
I now have a new attitude. How do I manage to keep going to the gym? because I do it for me. I want to be healthy and live a long life. I don't want to have a walker or be in a wheel chair in my 60's. When I first started working out I could not do my shoes up without putting my foot up on a chair and then I was out of breath. It's all about baby steps. I go on the treadmill for approx. 30 minutes a day. When I first started I could hardly do 3 minutes.
Now I run for 10 or 15 and walk fast for the rest. I also lift weights and go on the stairmaster. I tell myself that it is only an hour of my time to feel great. Anyone can find an hour. The trick is the gym is close to my house. I bring my cd player and listen to fast 80's music that really gets me going and the time flys. It also lifts my spirits. I drink protien shakes for breakfast which fill me up. I also keep protien bars on hand in case I get really hungry (usually in the afternoon) and want something bad. I also don't eat white anything, sugar, rice, bread, pasta etc.
All these things work for me. Also reading fitness magazines, looking at fitness websites, just getting as many tips as possible. If I do screw up, which I do now and then I don't beat myself up. I just start over the next day. I also take vitamins, supplements and eat flax seeds.
Katebc

katebcca,
I like your attitude. And I also agree with it. Anybody can find one hour to stay healthy. I only use 30 minutes of my day and look what its done for me! I also agree with what you say about slipping up. In the past I've thought, "oh gosh, I've failed, might as well give it up." That was the past. I haven't slipped up yet, but if I do, so be it. I will just start back the next meal, or next day, right where I left off.

This is something I am doing for ME. And that makes all the difference in the world.

JJ

GIRLS!!
I have marvelous news...for the first time in years, lent begins on March 1st AFTER my birthday! This means I can actually have a piece of my birthday cake. It's a time for serious discipline and self-examination and really, I don't cheat and I tend to tick-off those who are trying to shove cookies and cake in my face. "Oh, just one won't hurt." Like heck. One means I'll want another one and besides, after what the good Lord did for us, I think I can give up a few crumbs of chocolate cake. BUT it "ain't" easy! You always want what you can't have.

And JJ, I know what you mean about moms. Bless their hearts is right. My mom is a GREAT cook and when I eat at her house, the words "portion control" come to mind...over and over again!

Anyway, hope all is well with all of you. It's a beautiful day in Northern California and I'm going to out and enjoy the sunshine for a few minutes.

JJ amd Kate...I couldn't agree with you more...the key to successful weightloss is coming to the realization that that we are doing it for ourselves...I was a yo-yo dieter for 20 years ...gaining and then losing the same blasted 30 lbs..but always for a particular reason...a wedding..a vacation...a reunion...I'd diet my head off and once the event had passed and the incentive no longer was dangling in front of me I'd fall back into my old bad eating habits...weekly stops at Cinnabon, Dairy Queen, and other "emotional eaters" hangouts...my epiphany happened while moving Daddy to his new apartment after Mommy died..after only 2 trips up the steps carrying boxes my heart was thumping in my chest and I could barely breathe...it scared the stuffins out of me...after seeing a cardiologist who put me on the South Beach Diet I lost 35 pounds and began to feel energized and healthier than I had in years...i like feeling that way and I never want to feel the other way again...so now when I pass by Cinnabon or Dairy Queen I don't even feel the urge to stop...because my emotional fix comes from my ability to jog around the park easily with nary a huff or a puff...the added bonus to feeling healthy is a thinner body and being able to zip up my jeans easily...a few short years ago I had to lay flat on the bed and suck in my belly before I could coax that zipper up the track..so...the point of this long winded tale is...weight loss is a personal choice for ourselves..to make us FEEL better...and if the end result makes us look better then that is simply the icing on the cake (lowfat angel food cake of course!)