From my blog:
Looking in the Mirror
There was a time, when I couldn't pass a mirror without looking in it. It was a sign of insecurity because I was overweight, but I had to keep making sure that my face was still cute. Now, I can hardly stand to look into any mirror these days. But now I take dance lessons. In front of a WALL OF MIRRORS. The first day, I did everything I could not to look at myself. The second day, I looked at my self a little, but concentrated mostly on my feet. The third day, I worked up the nerve to watch myself dance--from head to feet. You know what I saw? Me having fun. Laughing and joking around with my instructor, without feeling self-conscious. At least not too self-conscious to have all that fun. That's a sight I haven't seen in a long time.

The more dancing I do, the more exercises I do--these things will bring out the me that I want to see in the mirror, and I'm not just talking about my body. I have lost so much by letting my fat rule my life. Looking in mirrors is just one of the many things that I have stopped doing over the years. I don't go on trips, I don't hang out with friends. Can't even remember the year of my last date. I do not want to wind up as the old fat lady with cats. Even if I end up alone at the end of my life and have a house full of cats, at least I can be the thin and healthy crazy cat lady.

Originally Posted by 13039

Cathy... you will be at goal before you know it! so what are you doing to lose all of this weight? whats your plan of attack...in this battle of the bulge? whatever you are doing it seems to be working...! keep up the great work!

Now I only have 1 pound to lose before I'm at my mini goal. & I hope, hope, hope I'll lose that this week. I eat 2 eggs for breakfast or a sandwich with turkey, for lunch a diet bar and for dinner soup & All with some kind of fruit. & lots of bottled water!
Also, I exercise every night to the Healthy Brides Boot Camp workout DVD after dinner. & I walk a few miles a week. So far I haven't slacked on any of this. Sometimes I have some fatter foods for dinner, but I work them off. I've stopped my late night eating too.

Ekrika, I agree with the rest of the team when they say most of us find forums easier than reading everyone's blogs. But, sometimes it is hard to keep up with what page you left off on and what's been said since you've been gone. Like April said, thank you for being honest. That's what we need. We need to know what our members like and dislike. But, sometimes we wont be able to change them. Julie did put you on our roster by the way. I hope that helps.

Hello everyone,
Thought I would post really quck before lunch, chicken, veggies and 1/2 a potato. I am doing pretty good although bummed emotionally with the earthquake news on. So sad really but China showed such great get together and help that I really respect it.
Everyone seems to be doing well. I know we will be hitting our goals soon. For me, 5.6 to hit my next mini goal so that will probably be in two weeks, so excited!!
Sandy, heheh, I teach English to non native speakers so I have learned how to simplify many things! Although PMS was a bit harder to do since I had to be careful since I have a few male students.
I am excited to the fact that I am very close to signing up with a new school > Got sick of all the noney problems with my college. Them not paying me for two months was the last straw so I will be changing. Higher pay, less distance, less hours and 12 months contract, all much better then my currennt job. I love my college students but I need the money and such more.
Everyone have a great day!
Rachel

Hello everyone! Sorry I've been scarce-- we had the flower lady come last night. Gosh was that a headache!

I also seem to have developed a rash... hmmm...

Other than that I'm doing much better this week... Yesterday I had a salad for lunch and it was sooo delicious! I bought chicken from the deli and cubed it over top of a light caesar dressing.

I'm going to be scarce the next few weeks... (Until June 8th probably) due to graduation, etc... So bare with me. I'll still be sure to check up and weigh in, though! Just not too many comments I'm afraid.

hi everyone,

i haven't been feeling too good the past couple of days. i think that my husband and i have a touch of food poison. if anyone has ever had this would yall let me know what felt like when you did.

other than that i am having a good diet week. no walking though, i can't go to far from the toilet.

see yall later

Annie..food poison lets see...i learned from my hubby and niece that lived with me ...that food poison is very predictable..it hits about 6 or 7 hours after you eat...crazy throwing up...and diarrhea ...it only lasts for i think 24 hours....dont take anything to stop you from doing either of those things...you have to get it out....drink lots of water..stay hydrated...and well..you will probably lose a little weight too! hope thats all it is ...and hope it ends soon! my prayers are with you and your hubby!!

Joy, sure will miss you ...but..im so proud of you! First comes School , then comes marriage...then comes a baby in the baby carriage! Girl..you look Amazing...hope that fiance of yours is getting into shape too....! have fun girl...stay focused, stay active..sounds like you are doing so much better at work now...see and you didnt have to quit...you are an OVERCOMER! we will be thinking about you ....and i will keep you and your family lifted in prayer too!

Julie..so glad all went well at the docs office...i bet he was blown away with your progress! you are a poster child for weightloss without pills or surgery!! you inspire us all! whens the next challenge? i need it! oh and by the way...Roster looks AMAZING! thanks!!

Tres, thanks for posting your blog...i mat not have even been able to read it if you hadnt....it is very touching...i am so proud of you for going to these salsa classes..and enjoying them...you are well on your way girl...to being that thinner Tincabelle who will be ready to date..again! just imagine..you and him...dancing SALSA together!! something to look forward to....your a beautiful woman..with a beautiful heart....you will be out there ready to find him soon....it helps when we love ourself...and sounds like you are starting to love yourself...perhaps for the first time....KEEP IT UP HEARTBREAKER!

Rachel, i always enjoy reading how life is going for you way over there on the other side of the world.... so glad you werent in that earthquake....its nice to see everyone pull together in a crisis like that...but, the lives lost.....God, that is so painful...i just could never imagine...a scene such as that..to actually be there...would be very disheartening.... im so happy that you have a new job...that pays better and pays more.....im sure those college kids will miss you...but, the ones that will be getting you will be tremendously blessed! cant wait to read your future posts...telling us how you like your new job! how are you and your hubby doing? how are the kiddos? hope everything is great...and keep up the great work HEARTBREAKER!!
LETS DO IT HEARTBREAKERS!!

The Breakfast Routine

By: Reader's Digest

Ten ideas for a healthier meal.

There's a reason they call it the most important meal of the day. Not only is breakfast the first food and drink your body has had in more than 8 hours, but studies find that what you eat for breakfast influences what you eat the rest of the day. Additionally, people who eat breakfast are significantly less likely to be obese and have diabetes than those who don't.

The most important tip we can give you is to eat breakfast every day. Without exception. This one action alone can make a huge, positive difference in your health. But a doughnut or oversized muffin won't do it. The key is to choose energy enhancing, health-invigorating foods. That's what we'll focus on in the tips ahead.

1. Be consistent with your portions. For most people, a perfect breakfast has three components: one serving of a whole grain carbohydrate, one serving of a dairy or high-calcium food, and one serving of fruit. Together, that would add up to roughly 300 calories. A high-protein serving (i.e., a meat or an egg) is unnecessary but certainly acceptable, as long as it doesn't add too much fat or calories to the mix. Here are a few winning combinations, based on this formula:

* A bowl of high-fiber, multigrain cereal, lots of strawberries, and low-fat milk
on top.
* A granola bar, an apple, and a cold glass of milk.
* A cup of nonfat yogurt, fresh blueberries mixed in, and a slice of whole wheat toast with a fruit spread on top.
* A mini whole wheat bagel, spread lightly with cream cheese and jam; a peach; and a cup of yogurt.
* A scrambled egg, a whole wheat roll, fresh fruit salad, and a cup of low-fat milk.
* A low-fat muffin, a wedge of cantaloupe, and a cup of latte made with skim milk.

2. Have a bowl of sweetened brown rice. Consider it a takeoff on prepared cereal. Brown rice is full of energy-providing B vitamins, as well as a great source of filling fiber. Cook the rice the night before, then in the morning, put it in a bowl with a spoonful of honey, a handful of raisins, a cut-up apple, and a sprinkle of cinnamon for a unique yet delicious treat. Don't like rice? Try any of the cooking grains: barley, rye, red wheat, oats, buckwheat, quinoa, or millet.

3. Pour a cup of fruit smoothie. Simply whir a cup of strawberries and a banana in the blender, add a scoop of protein powder and a cup of crushed ice, and you've got a healthy, on-the-go breakfast filled with antioxidants. Toss in a cup of plain yogurt, and you've just added a bone-strengthening dose of calcium. An added bonus: You've just crossed three of your daily fruit servings off the list.

4. Use organic eggs. They're not much more expensive than regular eggs but are much higher in all-important omega-3 fatty acids, shown to benefit everything from your mental health (reducing risk of depression) to your heart health (reducing risk of atherosclerosis and atrial fibrillation), says Fred Pescatore, M.D., author of The Hamptons Diet and a physician at Partners in Integrative Medicine in New York City.

5. Sprinkle on a teaspoon of ground flaxseeds. It could be over your cereal, over your yogurt, over your smoothie, or over your eggs. Next to fish and organic eggs, flaxseeds are one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids.

6. Use Benecol, Take Control, or Smart Balance instead of butter. These newly developed soft food spreads contain heart-healthy plant stanols. Just 2 tablespoons daily can significantly lower your total cholesterol level.

7. Have lunch for breakfast. Instead of butter or cream cheese, top your morning (whole wheat) toast with 2 tablespoons tuna prepared with low-fat mayonnaise. The tuna is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids and an excellent source of energy-boosting protein. For the same healthy boost with a bit of variety, try lox or canned or smoked salmon (they also seem to go better at breakfast).

8. Sprinkle a whole wheat burrito with 2 ounces grated, low-fat cheddar cheese and broil for 3 minutes. While it's cooking, peel and eat an orange for valuable vitamin C. In this one small, quick meal, you're getting vitamin C and other antioxidants, calcium, fiber, and enough appetite-satisfying protein to sustain you for hours.

9. Make your own granola. Most store-bought brands are filled with sugar and fat. To make your own, mix 2 cups rolled oats with 1 cup dried fruits and seeds and a little brown sugar. Toast 3-5 minutes in a warm oven and store in an airtight container. Not interested in do-it-yourself? There are a few store-bought brands with reasonable sugar and fat levels, including Nature's Path and Familia.

10. Pour a bowlful of Kashi GOLEAN Crunch! With 10 grams of fiber, it will put you well on your way to the 25-30 grams of fiber you should be eating every day. Plus, studies find that people who regularly start their day with a bowl of cold cereal get more fiber and calcium, but less fat, than those who breakfast on other foods. Another study found that people who ate two bowlfuls of high-fiber cereal every day spontaneously cut the amount of fat they ate by 10 percent. Don't like Kashi? Other high-fiber cereals include Raisin Bran, Multi-Bran Chex and Wheat 'N Bran Spoon Size (8 grams), Kellogg's All-Bran Original (10 grams), and General Mills Fiber One (14 grams).

i know im posting ALOT ...today.. but, if i dont i may forget...to later...AND YOU HAVE TO CHECK OUT THE PHOTO JOURNAL...YOU SHOULD SEE LINSEYS NEW PICS...SHE IS A WILDCAT...SHOW HER SOME SUPPORT..BY CHECKING OUT HER BLOG THAT HAS HER PICS....AND IF YOU HAVE SOME PICS TO SHARE WITH US ON THE PHOTO JOURNAL PLEASE DO!!


Cutting Back on "Bad" Carbs

By: Reader's Digest

Ten ways to make low-carb healthy.

Thanks to the popularity of low-carb diets, nearly half of Americans say they are watching the amount of carbohydrates they eat. If you're among them, we're providing these 10 tips so your carb control is healthy and wise!

Bear in mind that there is a huge difference between Cheese Doodles and oatmeal. Both might be categorized as carbs, but their benefits are on opposite ends of the health spectrum. In the last chapter, we detailed the benefits of “good carbs.” Now it's time to explain what a “bad carb” is. Here's the simplest answer: white flour, refined sugar, and white rice. More broadly, any food made primarily of a carb that has been processed in such a way as to strip out ingredients that hinder quick and easy cooking. Why are refined carbs a problem? Easy: They digest so quickly that they cause blood sugar surges that lead to weight gain and other health troubles.

Here are some ways to avoid troublesome carbs while still getting the fuel you need for good health. Carb-counting meets common sense, right this way...

1. Tell the waiter to hold the bread. At almost every restaurant, your meal starts with a basket of rolls, breads, and crackers made from white flour. If it's not put on the table, you won't eat any. Or, if you really need something to nibble on, ask if they have whole wheat varieties.

2. At Chinese restaurants, ask for brown rice, and limit how much you eat to one cup. In fact, some Chinese restaurants have started offering to swap a vegetable for the rice in their combo dinners, knowing that many people are on low-carb diets. At home, always cook brown rice instead of white. Brown rice hasn't been processed and still has its high-fiber nutrients.

3. Instead of bread, use eggplant slices to make a delicious sandwich. Broil two thick slices of eggplant until brown, then add mozzarella and tomato, olive oil and basil to one slice, suggests Nicole Glassman, owner of Mindful Health in New York City. Top with the other slice of eggplant and broil again until the cheese melts.

4. Wrap your food in lettuce leaves. Yes, skip the bun, tortillas, and bread slices and instead make a sandwich inside lettuce leaves. Glassman suggests going Mexican with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese, salsa, and chicken; Asian with sesame seeds, peanuts, bean sprouts, cut up green beans, and shrimp with a touch of soy sauce; or deli style with turkey, cheese, and mustard.

5. Buy old-fashioned snacks in kidsize bags. Truth is, pretzels, tortilla chips, potato chips, and cookies are mostly bad carbs, made primarily of refined flour, sugar, salt, and/or oil. You want to remove as many of these foods from your daily eating as you can. But if you can't live without them, buy them in small bags--1 ounce is a typical “lunch box” size--and limit yourself to just one bag a day.

6. Break yourself of your old spaghetti habits. Almost everyone loves a big bowl of pasta, topped with a rich tomato sauce. The tomato sauce couldn't be better for you; the spaghetti, however, is pure carbohydrate. While spaghetti is fine to eat every now and then, for those sensitive to carbs or wishing to cut back on their noodle intake, here are some alternatives to the usual spaghetti dinner:

* Here's the easiest choice: Switch to whole wheat pasta. It is denser than traditional pasta, with a firm, al dente texture similar to what you'd get in Italy.
* Grill vegetables such as eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, and onion and slice them into long, thin pieces. Mix up and pour your spaghetti sauce over the vegetables for a delicious and immensely healthy meal.
* Substitute spaghetti squash for the pasta. Boil or microwave the squash until soft, then scoop out the seeds and pull the strands of squash from the shell with a fork.
* Top with your favorite sauce and a grating of real Parmesan.
* Try healthy whole grains as a replacement for pasta. Spaghetti sauce goes better than you'd expect on brown rice, barley, chickpeas, and such.


7. Cut up 1-ounce portions of cheese and divvy up 1-ounce portions
of nuts into tiny snack bags. Now you have a handy snack at the ready.

8. Eat potatoes boiled with the skin on. The effect of potatoes on blood sugar depends on how the potatoes are prepared. No need to unspud yourself completely! Also, new potatoes tend to have fewer simple carbs than other types of potatoes.

9. Eat lightly of the new low-carb products. More than 1,000 low-carb products were introduced in 2003, but the FDA has yet to publish any guidelines as to what “low carb” really means. Instead, many new “low carb” foods are to carbcutting what “low fat” cookies were to fat-cutting: just a new way of pitching foods high in calories and low in nutrient value. In fact, Consumer Reports found that many packaged low-carb foods are actually higher in calories than their regular counterparts. For instance, a serving of Keto's low-carb Rocky Road ice cream has 270 calories, almost double the calories found in many regular ice creams and twice as much fat.

10. Think lightly of the new net-carb measurements. Many of the low-carb weight-loss programs are trying to get their followers to use “net carbs” as the measurement of choice for the appropriateness of a carb food in their diet. This is a measurement of the “bad carbs” left in a food after you adjust for those carb ingredients that don't immediately affect blood sugar. The folks at Atkins Nutritionals say the proper way to measure net carbs is to subtract fiber (as well as sugar alcohols and glycerin, when applicable) from the total carbs listed on the nutrition facts panel of a product. But that's just their version, and that's the problem. “Net carbs” is not a regulated or standardized measurement--manufacturers can define it how they want, and say what they want on product packaging. And there is no science to say that tracking net carbs offers any unique weight-loss benefit.

Hello everyone!!! Sorry I've been absent last few days.

New goals for the week are:

1. Workout 6 days

2. 3 spinning classes

3. Veggies

4. relax

5. support my buddies