The A2K (virtual) Weight Loss Club !!

Happy (& healthy) birthday to you, Clary!

Thanks for those wishes! I had a wonderful party, ate and drank all I wanted, last seen with a complicated cocktail with many types of rum in it in one hand, a glass of champagne in the other... and feel surprisingly human today. Left health behind a bit but happy was there in spades!

About three weeks ago I started doing cardio for the first time in....pretty much ever in the gym. Been lifting weights for about 8 years now, but never did cardio. Got to a point where I was getting out of breath doing weights....15 minutes on the eliptical 3 times a week, and it's made a big difference in my workouts.

Good for you, Slappy. I hate doing cardio, but it does make a big difference.

Happy belated birthday to Clary!!! Well done on your 65s.

I've managed to not gain any weight over the holidays, so far. I made 20 dozen assorted cookies and gave over half of them away. I'd managed to stay out of them until last night. Anyone who enters my house shall leave with a plate of cookies.

Good for you for adding the cardio, Slappy. I saw a girl fall off of an elliptical yesterday at the Y, which just reinforced my feelings about sticking to the treadmill and the exercise bike.

Good luck getting rid of the cookies, JPB. I baked some and got rid of them asap. Next time I might try baking some I don't like...

I'm hoping to keep losing over the holidays. Won't know til next Wednesday, as the meeting today was cancelled.

Slappy--

I appreciated your thread on Gluttonous Genetics.

JPB--

You deserve high praise for refusing to gain weight over the holidays--cookies, notwithstanding.

Mac--

How very cruel to cancel a meeting in the height of the Holiday Season when will power needs some reinforcing. Fortunately, you are a woman of your convictions.

Thanks, Noddy. They cancelled because they figured no one would be at work today. (Which is pretty much true.)

I'm thinking about going to a different meeting, but I'm not feeling very motivated. Maybe I'll go to the Y instead!

Thank you, Noddy. I holiday weekend down, one to go. Then comes a two week gap before birthday festivities, and then Super Bowl parties in early February. I'm hoping to complete a two-week intensive program during the last two weeks of January. I'll be more than ready to hit the gym and pay closer attention to what I'm eating after three full weeks of holidays and parties. In the meantime, I'm exercising, eating semi-well, and trying to maintain.

Mac, whether you lose this week or not, there's no doubt in my mind that you will see a lower number on the scale in the near future.

Thanks, sweetie.

Wow...it's not very difficult. I'd think it would be easier to fall from a treadmill. I like it because there's no pounding on the knees, but it's a good workout, still tougher than the bike.

I focussed my Boxing Day shopping on some new stuff to wear to Belly Dancing classes, as well as the Egyptian Folk Dance class I'm going to start going to in January. The shopping/elbowing/sprinting was an exercise program in and of itself.

Bought a stretching program book today in the sales. I definitely need to do more stretching on a daily basis. Today's the first day.

One of my colleague's needs a work-out buddy in preparation for her wedding. I'm mulling going to wedding bootcamp classes with her. Mulling. It seems a bit too intense right now.

Wedding Bootcamp?

Do I want details?

Presumably pelvic floor aerobics and champagne opening thumb exercises.

I wish.

Nahhhhh - they're working on perfect arms and shoulders for their strapless dresses, great calves and thighs for the garter pull and toss, a bit of cardio to get through the planning and event, crunches and crunches and crunches so they have teeny-tiny torsos so they can wear teeny-tiny dresses.

One of our other colleagues joined the gym to buddy R at wedding bootcamp class. After the first class, she was sore for 4 days - and she's darn fit to begin with.

The bride-to-be? After this past week's class, she couldn't lift her feet or speak properly for a coupla hours after she got back to work. She's probably still sleeping that class off.

Sounds like murder!
I saw some beautiful bellydance gear in Tunisia and thought of you; so cheap, too!

What women suffer for their art!

And after the ride into the sunset....then what?

And I'm starting this year 3 lbs less than last year which means I've been carrying approx the same weight for two years.

The goal is to get down to 170 and stay there. It seems to be about 7 lbs out of reach for the long term. So, one more time, here we go again.....

JPB--

Check out: http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=89089

Two hundred choices a day--seven pounds gone in a year.

Thanks, noddy. I've been reading along with that thread and making notes. I was in a mini panic in October when I stepped on the scale and saw 178. I always gain 8 - 10 lbs over the holidays and flipped out over the idea of climbing into the mid 180s. I'm quite happy with the fact that I'm at 177.5 today, meaning that the changes I made during Nov and Dec worked. Now I need to stick with it and make minor additional changes that I can live with longterm to get my baseline back closer to 170.

I've got a birthday coming up in a couple weeks, followed by an annual Super Bowl party, followed by Valentine's Day, etc. These things always seem to be focused on food. In the time between these events, I'm planning on doing a better job of sticking to my exercise regimen and work on the reducing the mindless eating that I do. For the events themselves, I'm planning on doing what I did for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years - eat, drink, and be merry, all within moderation.

JPB--

Can three holidays in six weeks cancel out 39 non-holidays in six weeks?