Kim, you're very welcome for the cyberhug. Best wishes on your new reduction plan. I often use kickstarts myself. I believe they really do help get the weight loss momentum going.

Hope, I'm such a veggie lover that I'd go nuts without my 5 servings of low carb veggies daily. I'm not even talking about balanced diet or health when I say that--I just love veggies. One of my granddaughters (not the one who lives with me, thank God) thinks I'm from your home planet of Annoy the Crap Out of You. When she acts like that I put her in her place by telling her "I love you, but contrary to what you believe, my world does not revolve around you." I believe protein actually helps speed up metabolism and helps burn fat, so there is a difference between eating 1250 calories of protein or 1250 calories of carbs. It's also supposed to give us more stamina for exercise if we consume some 25 minutes before exercise, but personally, I can't tell the difference.

Mike! Wow! At first I thought you were standing next to someone else in the same Mardi Gras photo--then I saw the line down the middle. What a difference! Kudos on all the hard work you've done to get your bod looking like it does today!

Darlene, I'm so happy you enjoyed your first day on the new job! I hope you got some good rest.

Crazigerl, thanks for explaining grabbing the 100 calories, so I didn't have to backtrack through all the posts. You did great on getting back down to an average of 1600. I think once when St. Peter got his finger caught in a hole he was plugging in the bottom of his fishing boat he yelled, "Jesus Christ!!!!!" He covered well by telling spectators he was just calling to his friend for help. So try that approach to giving up swearing for lent--and tell anyone who hears you that you were just praying. Hey did you notice in Mike's side-by-side photos of himself at Mardi Gras, that he gave away a whole lot more beads to the gals this year? He and Tori may not be "married" too much longer. I don't eat cottage cheese as much as I used to, but I love it. I'll have to try to remember to check that sodium content next time as I am pretty sodium sensitive. Did you make it through last night on your "I want something" without eating? I was the same way, did eat, but it was on-plan strawberries with a little sour cream and artificial sweetener.

Agreed.

Shaking your girls burns calories? I should be much skinnier then, mine shake all the time except when I work out, cause put the boob crusher on 'em.

No, the sunrise thing doesn't figure into Lent, as it's all about the 40 days and nights Jesus spent in the dessert fasting and praying. The sundown fasting rituals that I'm aware of are Ramadan and Passover, although I'm sure there must be others the world over.

I'm with you on the sodium issue this week, I just made a custom food for some beef jerky I bought yesterday, steamy poopy nuggets on a bun Batman, 590 mg a serving (and let's face it a "serving" ain't much)!!!

To all you Zumba'eers congrats. I tried it at home with a video. What I found out is that age has stolen my rhythm and coordination. I was lost a lot more than i like to admit and ended up marching in place a lot, lol. Someone brought up old aerobics stuff. Who remembers the two girls is blackleotards bouncing up and down doing high impact aerobics with all these weird camera angles? It was gosh late 70's maybe early 80's.

WooHOOO!!!!!
The scale moved. Just a pound but I'll take it. I have been at the same weight for almost three weeks. So I am so happy to finally see the scale move because I have been busting my ass lately at the gym. I'm there two hours. One hours of weight lifting and an hour of cardio. I can feel the clothes getting looser but the scale hadn't moved and that was bumming me out. So YEAH ME!!! Now I feel motivated to continue with the hard workouts I have been doing.


Hope everyone has a great day. Keep at it. Even when it seems bleak determination and staying the course eventually pay off.

lol. The boob crusher I like that. I myself go for the racerback underwire bra, with a high impact sport bra over it. I swear it's so tight it affects my breathing sometimes but otherwise the girls get crazy.

This from a man that invited a challenge, consequently receive a fair and reasonable contest invitation, so when he finds himself behind, he covers himself head to toe in beads (by either taking off his shirt or encouraging others to do so, not sure which really) and parades through the neighborhood serving boiled shellfish? Really? Okay I'll amend, you can wear a purple jingle belt in your utube Zumba video.

Yeah, I wear about that same contraption, cause the girls get crazy dangerous. I'm afraid I'll give myself a black eye or a bloody nose or worse... I can just see the headlines, "Woman dead via blunt force trauma to the head".

Yes, I remember that video, LOVED IT, mostly because I can actually do all the moves. I still have a couple of videos from the early 80's, they make DH laugh like a hyena. He usually makes comments about the big hair, not the big thighs, but I'm sure he's thinking it.

Great job on getting that scale to move. Mine is up a little today, but I think it's from my sodium intake yesterday, it was like 500% of the R.D.A., so today I'm going to drink lots and lots of water, and hopefully tomorrow the scale and I will kiss and make up.

Congrats!!! It's not "just a pound." It's a pound!!! The scale finally moved!!!! Yay!!!!

I remember old school aerobics, all of us in body suits and tights doing knee lifts to Olivia Newton John's Let's Get pHysical. Those were the days????