This be just a continuation o' the previous July journal to reflect Am's new mood and to help her refocus on her diet and fitness goals and issues. This is a repostin' o' the July journal's last post!

Muse for the day here at the spa where the Am Will Lose Weight this Month Committee has moved for a conference and retreat (yay): At a meetin' o' her many diet minds this a.m., Dieter Am 'n the Minds agreed that a new spirit o' relaxation 'n freedom had come upon all o' them 'n all in Diet Am Land this pleasantly coolish morn' in the very hot place we dwelleth.

All agreed that sometimes t'is hard to see the things that are weighin' us down 'n interferin' with peace 'n mental clarity in the life o' a dieter lass, but now that cloud seems to have passed 'n Am hath sailed away into the land o' diet repose where all will be easy 'n she will enjoy this journey, site 'n journal, although she's stoppin' in at BOOTCAMP several times a week nevertheless to hedge all bets!!! :coach: :whip: :lapd:

Bootcamp has been established at the west end of the island next to the fab state-o-the-art fitness center soley booked for the committee's exercise pleasure.

Calorie Watcher and other members o' the Am Will Lose Weight This Week Steering Committee have pledged to stay alert for the rest of the week and to try to get out of their work commitments in the city so they can stay on through July.

Because, ye know, comrades, t'is like this:

AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK!

Yes, indeedy!

Am's Little List:

Sunday, 1480, 90 min walk

Monday, 2200, 40 min walk w/weighted vest, 10 min jog, 50 min walk

Tuesday, 1440, 20 min walk, 40 min weights

Wednesday, 1445, 30 min jog/walk, 60 min walk, 30 min walk (evening)

Thursday, TBD, 35 min weights (will update in yoga and walks later)

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD

Am's Little List:

Sunday, 1480, 90 min walk

Monday, 2200, 40 min walk w/weighted vest, 10 min jog, 50 min walk

Tuesday, 1440, 20 min walk, 40 min weights

Wednesday, 1445, 30 min jog/walk, 60 min walk, 30 min walk (evening)

Thursday, 1420, 35 min weights, 10 min yoga, 20 min walk

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD

Hi, Amarantha:

I am always happy when you drop in for a little visit at the Richard Simmons Forum. You are more than welcome at any time.

I can see that today has been a good day for you. Just keep plugging along.

And of course please keep smiling -

Hi Am,
I see you are still doing great!
Keep up the great work!
I wish I knew how to write like you. Have you ever thought of writing ? I bet you would be good at it, book, write for a paper,who knows.
Have a good Friday!!
...Hugs, Millie

Huzzah, Millie! Thanks for stoppin' by Am, the Continuin' Saga! :wave: I sent ye a pm, hope that is ok!

YouTube - Braveheart In Defiance Of The British Tyranny! BRAVO

Over the top I know but fun for a little motivation ;-). Better to do today than never do at all. Keep up the fight.

Am, There is a feeling of relaxation and freedom when we are no longer bound by the chains of food for comfort. When we break free there is so much more that we can experience that food can never provide for us. Just yesterday I broke free and hope that I too will find an island of peace and tranquility as you have.

:laugh: I love this, Jump! Thanks! "IN DEFIANCE!!!" You bet! I am and always will be! As it says in my sig, amongst other things: "Let no man say it cannot be done. It must be done and we have undertaken to do it!" :cheer2:

YouTube - Braveheart In Defiance Of The British Tyranny! BRAVO (http://youtube.com/watch?v=WLrrBs8JBQo)

Over the top I know but fun for a little motivation ;-). Better to do today than never do at all. Keep up the fight.

Thanks for your words, CJL! I am going to come to your journal and read about your day yesterday as sounds like ye had a breakthrough.

A further muse on the use of food for comfort (this is not in disagreement with ye, CJL; I'm just pontificatin' on my own beliefs on that issue.) I actually do believe, and many argue with me and that is cool as we all have our takes on things, that for me at least a valid use of food is comfort, or more specifically to control mood. This to me is a very basic reason that human beings (and other animals) eat and that it is related to our deep survival instincts (ever notice how our furry pets seem to find the most extreme pleasure and happiness from a dry ol' Milkbone or a silly little Kitty Temptations square :laugh: ?). I think with people (me, specifically) it is related to many complex issues, including physical ones like a need to manage blood sugar effectively, which is highly related to mood.

To me the operative concept is "control" ... control of the use of food for different reasons as it is needed to help in the management of my life.

This is not to say that one can't find comfort in a glass of soymilk as opposed to an Overload candy bar (think those are off the market this year, probably a good thing for Amarantha as they have 390 calories per serving :laugh: ), t'is a matter of the right prescriptive sustenance to do the job and not perverted food (such as Overloads, fried ice cream, fried Oreos ... or any Oreos, they are useless ... etc.).

My most recent experience with the proper use of "candy" to alter mood was a slight detour from the Black Lagoon (my deadline day) on Monday to the grocery where they have Cerritos candy (a local candy maker), where I ALWAYS only allow self to buy the prescriptive amount of three dark chocolate creams (180 calories, believe me, I know). Before I ate the three C's, I was hot, climbing the walls, blood sugar too low and not able to drink orange juice (mentally just wasn't going to do it), miserable, deprived and not able to concentrate. Ate the candy, felt human (although still miserable, deprived, not able to concentrate, but there it is, that's life).

So the idea for me is always "CONTROL" and "COMFORTING ITEM OF LAST RESORT" ... if soymilk would have done it (sometimes it does, I LOVE the stuff), I'd have had soymilk.

This technique works for me, with the RULE THAT MUST NEVER BE DISOBEYED, that when a policy has been made concerning a comfort food (such as "ONLY THREE C'S CANDIES BOUGHT AND IMBIBED AT A TIME AND NO GOING BACK FOR MORE FOR A FEW WEEKS! X-( ) has been made but it feels as though I am going to cross that line, I start to discard the offending food and I ban it altogether. :keys:

Muse over! Thanks for helpin' me to focus that thought for myself, CJL! :wave:

Am, There is a feeling of relaxation and freedom when we are no longer bound by the chains of food for comfort. When we break free there is so much more that we can experience that food can never provide for us. Just yesterday I broke free and hope that I too will find an island of peace and tranquility as you have.

JoJo!!! Thanks, friend! Your visits always make me smile!!! You are doin' great as usual, I see from the Richard thread!

I swear I'm going to do the Foodmover thing again for awhile someday. I really did enjoy it!

Wish Richard would do a Foodmover game for the DS Lite (my current favorite toy). They do have a weight loss coach "game" but it's not suited to my program. The foodmover would be perfect, with Richard as the game narrator and when one had finished all one's eating, an exercise video could be unlocked and then when one did that, Richard could say, "GAME OVER. YOU WIN. SEE YOU TOMORROW!"

Huzzah!Hi, Amarantha:

I am always happy when you drop in for a little visit at the Richard Simmons Forum. You are more than welcome at any time.

I can see that today has been a good day for you. Just keep plugging along.

And of course please keep smiling -

Am's Little List:

Sunday, 1480, 90 min walk

Monday, 2200, 40 min walk w/weighted vest, 10 min jog, 50 min walk

Tuesday, 1440, 20 min walk, 40 min weights

Wednesday, 1445, 30 min jog/walk, 60 min walk, 30 min walk (evening)

Thursday, 1420, 35 min weights, 10 min yoga, 20 min walk

Friday, TBD, 50 min walk (will update if there's more but bod is advising not to do the weighted vest walk planned for today, so we'll see)

Saturday, TBD, TBD

AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK! IT IS WRITTEN!

Am's Little List:

Sunday, 1480, 90 min walk

Monday, 2200, 40 min walk w/weighted vest, 10 min jog, 50 min walk

Tuesday, 1440, 20 min walk, 40 min weights

Wednesday, 1445, 30 min jog/walk, 60 min walk, 30 min walk (evening)

Thursday, 1420, 35 min weights, 10 min yoga, 20 min walk

Friday, 1435, 50 min walk (unexpected work day, could not get any further exercise in except for walkin' on the job)

Saturday, TBD, 30 min walk (more later)

THIS BE A REVISED CROSS POSTIE WHERE DIET AM WAS PONIFICATIN' 'BOUT EXERCISE and she wanted to have access to it here, 'n t'is just somethin' she was diet musin' on this a.m.

" ... I am a formerly avid but SLOW (best thing I ever did was 90 in my age class ... don't ask, lol ... in Pat's Run two years ago, haven't done a race since, although I entered a few but had to work, so gave up) sort o' wannabee runner. Some health concerns came up that kind of slowed me down to a walk and a jog ever since but the little flame is still within me that, HEY, I WANNA BE A RUNNER, even an old one, 'cause it'll be awhile before I build to REAL running, just don't have the ooomph (just the flame lol). I do run a little here 'n there. I like to run.

I like it that even extremely elderly people can and do excel in the field of marathon running, and while I will never be them 'cause they're especially athletic in some cases (Budino), mayhap I shall have a fun race sometime, somewhere.

In the meantime, I've learned to be happy to call my run a "jog" and to enjoy the funky, fun and relaxed (kind of college professory in a small New England town way) sound of that, which takes the pressure off me to "run" and just let's me jog/walk, easy jog, jog fast, jog long, jog short, jog intervals, jog and think, jog and talk to the neighbors or, more importantly, jog for pleasure and walk if I want to.

AND THEN OF COURSE THERE IS THE WALK!

Ah the walk. Some think that walking is not really exercise.

I so digress from that opinion. :laugh:

Walking rocks. It is the mother of all exercise, both the most basic form of locomotion for humankind from prehistoric times to the present (a car is NOT the most basic form of locomotion, surprisingly).

Walking IS exercise and anyone who thinks they cannot get fit and manage weight with walking as their prime form of exercise should give it a try.

Hmmm, you can walk for pleasure, walk to relax, walk to think, walk to the store, walk with a pedometer, power walk, walk with a weight vest, walk with handweights, walk/jog or jog/walk, run/walk, walk/run, walk as the cardio component of another exercise discipline program (such as strength or resistance training, yoga, Pilates, dancing, golf ... which is also walking, or many others that I can't think of now).

Walking is spiritual if you want it to be (there are these monks who do a walking meditation thing), walking is social hour if you have a walking buddy (I used to have one, that was fun), walking is "me" time if you walk alone.

You can mall walk and shop at the same time or walk the mall first and look at the things you'll buy later, or mall walk and buy nothing. l..."

Transmission ends. Diet Muse returns to cave to further contemplate the meanin' of Diet Life and live off three peas a day.

:cruise:Am's Little List:

Sunday, 1480, 90 min walk

Monday, 2200, 40 min walk w/weighted vest, 10 min jog, 50 min walk

Tuesday, 1440, 20 min walk, 40 min weights

Wednesday, 1445, 30 min jog/walk, 60 min walk, 30 min walk (evening)

Thursday, 1420, 35 min weights, 10 min yoga, 20 min walk

Friday, 1435, 50 min walk (unexpected work day, could not get any further exercise in except for walkin' on the job)

Saturday, 1480, 30 min walk, 30 min jog/walk

:cruise: Sailin' 'round 'n 'round in the Saturday Spa Lagoon here at Diet Island 'n meditatin' on tomorrow's CEREMONY O' THE GOLDEN SCALE O' DIETARY JUSTICE! Jimmy B's music be a' playin' in the background, o'er by the spa gym where Buff Trainers Bobette 'n Juliana are gently teachin' a yoga class 'n the sound o' green 'n gold diet parrots be a'heard in the background meldin' with the gentle swish o' diet palms blowin' in the diet breeze, seemin' to say ...

AM IS GOIN' TO LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK!

Hi pal: You certainly are getting really close to your goal of 125..
way to go lady :)

Thanks, Lulu! Hugs!

Hi pal: You certainly are getting really close to your goal of 125..
way to go lady :)

You're six lbs away! You go girl!

Thanks, Whoopee!!!! I appreciate your visit and encouragement. Have a great Sunday!

You're six lbs away! You go girl!

Am, I really enjoyed your thoughts about using food for comfort and pleasure.
You brought up some important points. I too believe that food can bring comfort and pleasure in a healthy way. I think some experience difficulty when they limit their source of comfort and pleasure only to food or when the dependence on food is extreme.

I also enjoyed your thoughts on walking and how one can experience walking in so many different ways. I find walking to be energizing and yes spiritual...
Spiritual in the sense that I tend to experience the moment more fully, whether it be my thoughts and feelings or the beauty of nature around me.
I love the tranquility and the beauty of nature and my favorite walks are in the mountains. I love to experence what others fail to notice in life and espeically nature's treasures. Yikes....sorry for the hikejack....got caught up in the moment.

"Hear ye, hear ye, at the Ceremony o' the Golden Scale in Amarantha's Diet Land this faire Sunday morn', a disappointment briefly was felt by the crowd when all ceremony participants (including Am, Am, Am 'n Am) thought that the prophecy "Am Will Lose Weight this Week" might have been false, as Am only maintained weight this week.

However, an emergency meetin' here at Diet Spa Island (in the Coconut Milk Bar) o' the Am Will Lose Weight This Week Committee took place 'n the guest speaker was none other than Am's old friend, Diet Wise Woman, who explained that an interpretation of the results was needed. Briefly, she averred that a "MAINTAIN WAS A GOOD THING" as it meant the bod was seeking equilibrium as the dieter/exerciser was doin' such a good job o' balancing calories 'n workin' towards that healthy weight goal, so that the prophecy: "Am Will Lose Weight This Week" could technically be applied to maintenance as well as loss, although not, of course, to gain.

So everyone felt better 'n vowed to enjoy a cruise to Good Eats 'n Calorie Controlled Treats Island marketplace this afternoon. Everyone did yoga and went for a little jog-about with Scary Exercise Fairie, who is noticeably more relaxed now that she's livin' at the Spa. :cruise:

The committee created a PLAN FOR SUCCESS IN THE COMING WEEK: 1) Follow roughly the same diet and exercise plan but add 10 min of yoga on a few days; 2) follow roughly the same diet plan but possibly bring cals down a tad; there are no food or calorie restrictions, however, as the Calorie Control Police Special Island Squad is located six islands away and says they have better things to do than to :cruise: over to Diet Am's Spa Land to make arrests all the time, so Calorie Watcher should just take notes and report back later. 3) A business luncheon must be attended on Friday and the Emergency Food Committee who oversees possible chances to overeat in restaurants reports that it will work out a strategy before then.

Everyone joined hands and sang, "Kumbya ..."

Diet Wise Woman uttered a new prophecy over the group: AM WILL (REALLY) LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK!

No hikejackin' done, CJL, I appreciate your visits and thoughts. My favorite walks are in the desert, although as I learned in April, I have to be more careful when I hike that I'm physically ok before venturing out. :) But I also love the excitment of city walks ... actually, guess I like to walk just about anywhere.

Thanks again for your support and encouragement.

Am, I really enjoyed your thoughts about using food for comfort and pleasure.
You brought up some important points. I too believe that food can bring comfort and pleasure in a healthy way. I think some experience difficulty when they limit their source of comfort and pleasure only to food or when the dependence on food is extreme.

I also enjoyed your thoughts on walking and how one can experience walking in so many different ways. I find walking to be energizing and yes spiritual...
Spiritual in the sense that I tend to experience the moment more fully, whether it be my thoughts and feelings or the beauty of nature around me.
I love the tranquility and the beauty of nature and my favorite walks are in the mountains. I love to experence what others fail to notice in life and espeically nature's treasures. Yikes....sorry for the hikejack....got caught up in the moment.

Just in, the Am's Little List Committee, posted the new list for the comin' week 'n then hopped aboard the sloop waitin' in the harbor to take the spa guests on their Treatabout 'n Shoppin' Expedition :cruise:

Am's Little List of Day of the Week, Calories, Exercise (excluding lifestyle activity)

Sunday, 1710, 20 min jog, 10 min yoga, 120 min walk

Monday, TBD, TBD

Tuesday, TBD, TBD

Wednesday, TBD, TBD

Thursday, TBD, TBD, TBD

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD

Hey Amarantha,
Wishing smooth sailing and calm seas this week!:cruise: I realized I've never really been in the dessert much. When I was a college student I did visit Tucson, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and the Saguaro National Park. The most fun I had was driving up to Mt.Lemmon and playing in the snow wearing shorts! I have hiked in the Badlands in SD in the summer and I'm lucky I didn't have heat exhaustion!

Thanks for the visit, CJL! I have never walked on Mt. L, don't live near there but have visited. South Dakota is lovely, although I have not been there for years. Have a good day!

There's a possibility this will be a rest from exercise day, the Am Will Lose Weight at the Spa this Week Committee is monitoring the situation minute by minute as Black Lagoon (work deadline day) takes center stage with its necessity to keep calories in check. Huzzah!

AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK! :cruise:

Hi AM,
Looks like you have still been doing great!
I hope I can do as good as you have.
Sorry I have been missing, my internet went down Thursday night and I just got back on line tonight, So of course I had to come to DT and let everyone know why I was missing. I am sure glad that does not happen much, I was about ready to pull my hair out,ROFL!!!! Even the tech people where losing it,lol.
Hope you have a great Tuesday!
...Hugs, Millie

Hi, Millie!!! :wave: Glad you are back online. Computers are a pain, but don't think we could live without 'em anymore. Sometimes I'd like to try, though. Have a good day!

The Concerned Citizens for Calorie Control sent Dieter Am a wee note this a.m. noting that though she is doing better than last week during the first few stress filled days, the average should not creep up anymore and that dietary virtue 'n rectitude should apply even whilst enjoyin' diet spa life. :cruise:

Dieter Am sent a wee note back to the concerned control friends 'n thanked them for their concern and assured them there is always method in her madness 'n all things are well during her stay at Diet Am Spa off the Tiny Isle o' Dietary Dreams somewhere south of Belize in Parrothead Land where she's NOT wastin' away in Margaritaville 'cause Margaritas have too many calories 'n alcohol consumption in general causes a loss o' inhibition in Dietin' Folke that is not consistent with slight calorie restriction in the lifestyle, so Am, though not a prude or opposed to other's activities and tastes abjures alcohol except vanilla extract. (An aside on alcohol consumption in the life of individual dieter folk).

Dieter Am feeleth that all things in Diet Am Land should be guided by Dieter Am 'n all the diet folkettes residin' somewhere in the neighborhood o' her mind 'n spirit. So she applaudeth self for two good calorie controlled days in which she swam across the Black Lagoon without eatin' into the 2000s 'n her goal be SO in sight! Huzzah to Am! (Signed, Am!)

Am's Little List of Day of the Week, Calories, Exercise (excluding lifestyle activity)

Sunday, 1710, 20 min jog, 10 min yoga, 120 min walk

Monday, 1695, rest day

Tuesday, TBD, 20 min walk (will update, do weights later)

Wednesday, TBD, TBD

Thursday, TBD, TBD, TBD

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD

And, of course AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK! :spring: :flower:

Hi Am,
I see Dieter Am is doing better this week. I just love to read your journal, it is so cute! keep up the great work lady!!! You will get there and you are so close. I know the closer you get to goal the harder it is to take a pound off, but I know you will do it!!! I have faith!
Have a great Wednesday!!!
....Hugs, Millie

Huzzah, Millie! Ye said a mouthful re that lil difficulty o' each pound close to goal bein' hard won but also there have been good long periods in my journey of maintenance at a higher weight before making the current run to ultra goal.

Took another semi day off exercise, just did a little circuit training to add to my small walk this a.m., working in the Black Lagoon most of day tomorrow, always a problem as I eat more there than here.

In very odd mood, no desire to binge or overeat, last meal just eaten, so here's the little list:

Am's Little List of Day of the Week, Calories, Exercise (excluding lifestyle activity)

Sunday, 1710, 20 min jog, 10 min yoga, 120 min walk

Monday, 1695, rest day

Tuesday, 1440, 20 min walk, 20 min weights/circuit training

Wednesday, TBD, 30 min walk (will do more and update, on road today)

Thursday, TBD, TBD, TBD

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD

And, status firm: AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK! :cheer2:

T'is early morn in Diet Am Land 'n all creatures great 'n small who inhabit the spa here on Diet Am Island are afoot 'n restless as muchly needs to be done and so the Am Will Lose Weight this Week Steering Committee held a brief meetin' in the spa coffee shop verra early. No real business was transacted as some members of the group wanted to go to Market Town Square on Diet Main Island :cruise: on the next ferry to buy a new television set (don't ask, the dog chewed off the cord) and some others said they had a trip planned to actually WORK :( over in the Black Lagoon.

Since all these items called for FOOD, the committee decided to take an early walk and then take the ferry :cruise: to the market to buy the TV ('cause without a TV, Am gets depressed and when Am is depressed, she doth NOT lose weight 'n the committee is DEDICATED to the fact that AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK above all other goals, so ...) and to buy FOOD that will not fight the AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT COMMITTEE mission, which is, ye guessed it:

AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK!!!

Everyone drank some calorie free hot chocolate 'n sang one chorus o' 'Kumbaya' and one chorus of 'Sail away, sail away, sail away!!!'

AM, Sounds like a busy day! Sorry about your TV! I enjoy watching TV. It is a good stress reducer. Unfortunately I have paired eating and watching TV with relaxation. Last night I ate fresh raspberries savoring each one and eating them slowly. I am considering a goal of not eating at all while I watch TV. Thank you for your support in my journal. I needed your words of wisdom today! I hope you have a great week! You are almost at goal and you will reach it. It is exciting that you are so close. I am cheering you on!:cheer:

Am, You were posting in my journal while I was at your journal. Hey great minds think alike!:laugh: Because of your post I am reframing my attitude.
My pictures will be there for my motivation....no longer to prove to others what is in my mind and heart...or what I once was. When I do reach my weight goal again, I will not be a carbon copy of who I once was...I will have grown and continue to evolve as a person. It would be nice if others understood my journey, but my success does not depend on them and their opinion of me. My success will be determined by my dedication and perseverance to realistic goals. If I experience a detour that does not mean failure, but an opportunity for growth. Sometimes it takes the insight of another to bring perspective to a situation. You have brought light and focus to my journey and like a camera you are a click away. Thank you so much for taking the time to share...it really helped me today to gain a proper perspective.....in other words I am pumped and ready to start moving!

Hi AM,
Sorry to hear the dog chewed on the TV cord! I have a puppy about 6 months old and I caught her tring to chew on my Laptop cord. Well you guess it, that cord is now up to high for her,lol.
Hope you had a good day at the Black Lagoon!
You are just doing so great and I know you will get there to goal, I don't know why the last pounds are so hard to take off, but you will. That a great way of doing this weight loss, tring to mainten for a while along this path.
Hope you have a great Thursday!
....Hugs, Millie

Huzzah to Millie 'n CJL!!! :wave: Thanks fer the visits!

CJL, I had to struggle mightily to train self not to eat while reading or watching TV most of the time, but I allow self time to do both now and then, planning it ahead, so that I get some of the old relaxation that used to give me but don't retrain self to do it all the time. I had a really hard time with the Harry Potter books because when I read one of them while I was eating Morningstar Farms veggie bites (the mushroom ones they don't make anymore :( ) and ever after, I seemed to want to eat those whenever I read Harry and, hey, there were how many books? :laugh: I decided that was a valid use of food for me as long as I limited it to Harry and one or two servings of the veggie bites and then I either had to stop reading or read without eating but maybe drink a diet soda, the latter alternative usually won the day as I couldn't put Harry down.

Re TV, at the present time I only eat an occasional regular meal (no seconds, no desserts) while watching Biggest Loser OR Rick Steves' Europe or Rick Steves anywhere he happens to be. I am very careful not to transgress that rule and this makes it easy, for instance, I like the Bert (Burt?) Wolf travel series very much but I never have a desire to eat during this program.

So for me, it's a matter of just setting down the rules while recognizing the pitfalls.

Lol, Millie, yea, the cord is now up high and before I went to the Black Lagoon, I gave her a whole assortment of different chew bones and moved her blankets (she has three) far across the room and when I came back the TV was unmolested and she was STILL in her nest of blankets chewing on the toys.

She's really a good dog. I am crossing my fingers for tomorrow night, which is the next time I will work.

Reading Jillian Michael's Making the Cut; I've lost weight using her Shred and this is a kind of book version of that with an eating plan (an excellent one). I may play with it if I continue to plateau.

Am's Little List of Day of the Week, Calories, Exercise (excluding lifestyle activity)

Sunday, 1710, 20 min jog, 10 min yoga, 120 min walk

Monday, 1695, rest day

Tuesday, 1440, 20 min walk, 20 min weights/circuit training

Wednesday, 1510, 30 min walk

Thursday, TBD, TBD, TBD

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD

And, status firm: AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK!

Am, I am continuing to learn from your experience and wisdom. I have a habit of eating while stretched out on the couch in front of the TV rather than sitting at a table because sitting hurts my back.....uummmmm.... funny, I can sit at the computer and type. When I eat at the table I find it boring and not very relaxing. Now doesn't it sound like it would be better then for me to sit at the table. It takes the relaxation out of the picture and limits the time I eat.

I agree with you in regards to planning. I think that as long as we plan and are aware of what we are doing, we will be alright. The rules provide boundaries and structure which limits mindless or impulsive eating. I usually rebel against rules, but I think I can provide direction for myself and follow it.
Have a great day. I am facing the metal beast this morning!

CJL, I always eat lying down :laugh: for the same reason, I need to stretch my spine as much as possible, so that's a good relaxing period for me to do that. Then I get up and pace around slowly as an aid to digestion. :) There's no right way or wrong way to do things in weight loss, really (IMO), at the end of the day, it's about calories in/calories out. However that is achieved is up to the individual but there are a lot of healthy tried and true techniques that can get us there when consistently applied (unless you are Amarantha and it takes 75 years to reach 125 from the 140s :laugh: ).

Once more in Diet Amaranthaland Island Recreational Spa 'n Fitness Getaway, the Am Will Lose Weight This Week Steerin' Committee held a breakfast meeting as trips were planned to the main island for shopping and a brief scary trip to Black Lagoon was on the night agenda.

Posted on the sign outside the meeting room was "Am's Little List of Day of the Week, Calories, Exercise (excluding lifestyle activity)" and it had already been updated with a nice workout for the day.

"Yay," said Exercise Fairie. :cruise:

Am's Little List

Sunday, 1710, 20 min jog, 10 min yoga, 120 min walk

Monday, 1695, rest day

Tuesday, 1440, 20 min walk, 20 min weights/circuit training

Wednesday, 1510, 30 min walk

Thursday, TBD, 20 min weights (tb, 2 X per bp, fairly light & fast), 40 min jog (cleared medically now to jog/run so will work this in more often)

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD

Committee members as always linked hands 'n sang two choruses o' Kumbaya 'n the ever-popular AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK!

Hi Am,
Glad to hear the puppy stayed away from cords, they are so sweet and just love to play. I have to make appt to take Miss Daisy in to be fixed, I know she will not be a happy Camper over that. She loves to go to the vet. because the vet always give's her a treat at the same time she is getting a shot. I said smart Vet. Miss Daisy loves to eat.

Keep up the good work, you will get there! Don't you just wish if you kicked that sacle then it would move,lol. I know when I lost the last time I had a week here or there and the scale did not move I get p*s*ed and would say you dam scale, I will show you,lol. I bet if anyone saw or heard me would think I was a fruit cake :laugh:!
Keep up the great work my friend it will come!
....Hugs, Millie

Millie, Am HAS been known to kick the scale. lol But it doesn't help. :)

Your Miss Daisy sounds cute. My girl had her operation last year and was jumping all over the place within an hour of my bringing her home. :laugh: I am glad that is over. I changed vets since then. My little one is very shy and does better with this new place because of their attitude to her. I moved the cats also.

Thanks for the visit. I am getting ready to go work a meeting.

Am, I wrestled with the metal beast and I won yesterday. After going to Scales Annonymous I was able to ignore the scale all week. This is a path of which I have never traveled. Usually when I weigh myself it looks more like a step class getting on and off.... getting on and off repeatedly to determine the exact weight. I have discovered that the power is not in the number but in the attitude and choices we make. As a weight warrior I have challenged him next week and with war paint on my face I expect to win another round.
I hope you have a great weekend!

I admire you for being able to eat lying down, the minute I lie down it is ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

:laugh: It's one of my few talents, Jump! :)

I admire you for being able to eat lying down, the minute I lie down it is ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Congratulations on your victory with that ol' Scale Demon :lil:, CJL. Yea, he'd LIKE us to hop on 'n off all week whilst he plays with our mind, but ye were strong and yet brave to do your one round with him just for the data.

'Cause, CJL, that's all the number really is, data. We need it, we can use it, but it does not define the success of the weight management week we've just walked through. It's just one parameter.

And, hey, if that guy gives you any trouble, just do what I do, threaten to turn him into a lamp. He really believes he can be turned into a lamp and he behaves better. :laugh:

The Scale Demon isn't the brightest bulb on the tree. :lil:

Am, I wrestled with the metal beast and I won yesterday. After going to Scales Annonymous I was able to ignore the scale all week. This is a path of which I have never traveled. Usually when I weigh myself it looks more like a step class getting on and off.... getting on and off repeatedly to determine the exact weight. I have discovered that the power is not in the number but in the attitude and choices we make. As a weight warrior I have challenged him next week and with war paint on my face I expect to win another round.
I hope you have a great weekend!

Updated from last night: Am's Little List

Sunday, 1710, 20 min jog, 10 min yoga, 120 min walk

Monday, 1695, rest day

Tuesday, 1440, 20 min walk, 20 min weights/circuit training

Wednesday, 1510, 30 min walk

Thursday, TBD, 20 min weights (tb, 2 X per bp, fairly light & fast), 40 min jog (cleared medically now to jog/run so will work this in more often)

Friday, 1495, 30 min jog/walk, 30 min walk w/weighted vest

Saturday, TBD, 120 min jog/walk :coach: :cheer:

Am's Little List

Sunday, 1710, 20 min jog, 10 min yoga, 120 min walk

Monday, 1695, rest day

Tuesday, 1440, 20 min walk, 20 min weights/circuit training

Wednesday, 1510, 30 min walk

Thursday, TBD, 20 min weights (tb, 2 X per bp, fairly light & fast), 40 min jog (cleared medically now to jog/run so will work this in more often)

Friday, 1495, 30 min jog/walk, 30 min walk w/weighted vest

Saturday, 1685, 120 min jog/walk

:beam:

You are so consistent. Exercise, watching your calories you just are doing it. If a person is always looking for motivation I think they will never find it and they you do it will disappear as soon as it arrived. Consistency is something that is made a habit by the doing when you are in the mood or you are not.

keep on trucking:)

Hi Amarantha, I am back! :)

Huzzah 'n thanks be to the wise 'n kindy Jump who is always so kind to Am 'n a huzzah 'n glad-ye-are back to Ms. Aria, also a verra consistent lass who inspireth Am always to be the same. The rationality o' both ye visitors always helps me out. Thanks! :wave:

'N NOW COMES THE CEREMONY O' THE GOLDEN SCALE, wherein Am 'n her cronies (known collectively as Am, Am, Am 'n Am) hath enjoyed a fleetin' but pleasant moment in the sun with a POUND DOWN (did we doubt it would happen, well, yes we did but we soldiered, soldiered, soldiered on :cheer2: ). Will post the new plan (t'is the same as the old plan) 'n the LIST anon! Woo hoo! Or, as Am preferreth to spell it, wu hu!

Congratulations on the one lb. down. When you get so close to your goal those pesky lbs. are mighty hard to get rid of.

Keep up the good work!.

Yea, those pesky hanger-on pounds that love Am so well have learned to survive very well despite Am's determination to send them out in the world to find work, JoJo! :)

Thanks for postin' ... I just saw that your DH is home and all is well. Huzzah!

Congratulations on the one lb. down. When you get so close to your goal those pesky lbs. are mighty hard to get rid of.

Keep up the good work!.

At the regular Sunday afternoon Am Will Lose Weight This Week Steering Committee meeting, the Analysis of the Week Ahead Subcommittee reported on some ideas for the Am Will Lose Weight this Week Ahead:

1) Though "better" mentally and emotionally at the moment, Am sees a little anxiety croppin' up in the forecast that could derail her healthier eating and calorie control project. The plan is to buy an umbrella and not lose sight of the project at hand, which is, of course, as always, Pinky, "TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD :laugh: !!!" Failing that, the plan is for Am to lose weight this week.

2) Far better physically since adding back the beloved jogging and jog/walking (two distinct breeds of the same species of Am Cardio that tunes the heart, braces the spirit and makes Am smile and pretend she's a marathon runner), Am will follow approximately the same exercise program, but possibly stay at her current Sunday level of a 20 minute jog/walk as a rest day, had planned a second cardio session but the rest seems worthwhile as well. It is remotely possible but not probable that Am may do a short weight workout after the sun goes down, just for fun and relaxation. See No. 4 for more details.

3) Yoga may or may not get done this week; Am's not really into it and what Am is not into would seem better held for a different week. But may do yoga.

4) Two strength training sessions are important and these will probably be done as last week, light and fast in circuit fashion, but as always, Am's mood and instinct guides the strength training. If weights are lifted tonight, that will be extra and Tuesday and Thursday will continue to be weight days, with cardio also, ever cardio as Am desireth to strength cardiovascular, as always for health reasons.

5) Lifestyle activity continues to be as important as formal workouts in Am's health and fitness plan and aids in weight management.

6) Depression is the enemy of good weight management principles. Am refuses to open the door if depression comes around here and tries to get in.

7) This week, candy should not be an issue as EAS Carb Control Shakes seem to be taking the edge off the desire for sweets. These things are GOOD!

8) Also taking the edge off is the new South Beach Living On the Go Tide Me Over (fascinating product name) powder for water. This has 30 calories per serving, inulin fiber and protein from whey and tastes clear and light, with a half serving being enough for two huge glasses of water (it's for bottled water, I just make it by the glass since I work at home so much). This is quite filling actually, kind of highly processed, but what isn't?

9) Saturday night promises to be a stressful work night and the Stressful Work Night Subcommittee has agreed to work on a plan of action to avoid stress eating at that time so that Am's Sunday morning Ceremony of the Golden Scale will not be a bust.

10) There isn't a number 10 but it's a nice round figure!

Am's Little List of Day of the Week, Calories, Exercise (excluding lifestyle activity)

Sunday, 1545, 20 min jog/walk

Monday, TBD, TBD

Tuesday, TBD, TBD

Wednesday, TBD, TBD

Thursday, TBD, TBD, TBD

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD

MANIFESTO: AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK!

Any Diet Island inhabitant who doubts the truth of the manifesto will be banished to Not Losing Weight this Week Drab and No-Fun City on the Mainland, by order of the Manifesto Committee. Be there or be square.

Congratulations on your 1 lb loss, Am! :rose:

I appreciate the congrats, Aria! See ye! :wave:

Congratulations on your 1 lb loss, Am! :rose:

Hey way to go on the one pound gone. It is soooooo much tougher when you are close to goal. You have got consistency nailed.

Thank you, Jump! :wave:

I am really needing the encouragement today and appreciate the visit!

Hey way to go on the one pound gone. It is soooooo much tougher when you are close to goal. You have got consistency nailed.

At a meetin' o' the Am Will Lose Weight this Week Steering Committee, the Rational Mind Subcommittee reported that things are lookin' a little irrational in Am's brain today, although for some reason work in the nonvirtual world seems, for a Monday, to have been finished somethin' like eight hours early 'n Am is chillin' with a glass o' ice water, havin' already had dinner, which didn't taste good, in fact nothing tasted that great all day 'n despite some stressful work problems, Am did not desire to have a binge, so we are wonderin' if Am is mayhap not well.

On the life front, Am found that Little Canine Beastie had escaped from yard this a.m. and now Am is confined in home and home office 'cause it's hotter than the planet Vulcan out there and Little Canine Girl is confined with Am and going out only on leash until source of the escape can be found as Am's Little Queen is a princess and not one o' the street canine gang of which Am approveth not, but small dog wisheth to join up 'n have fun and thinketh Am is borin' and no fun. Hmmm, THIS is not makin' Am desire ice cream. What is happening?

The Rational Mind Committee suggests that it is the heat or that the food choices o' Am today were rational and tasty and so the Rational Body doth not desire more.

There is no lust even for Diet Coke, just ice water.

Anyhow, it is not yet late night but Am has made the decision that she probably isn't going to eat again, so she be a'postin' the wee listie:

Am's Little List of Day of the Week, Calories, Exercise (excluding lifestyle activity)

Sunday, 1545, 20 min jog/walk

Monday, 1610, 60 min jog/walk

Tuesday, TBD, TBD

Wednesday, TBD, TBD

Thursday, TBD, TBD, TBD

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD :cheer2:

Hello AM,

it took me a little while to find your thread. I must admit that you have a very creative style of writing.. I take me hat off to you and gives you a bow for using words well.

I am pleased that you are working on getting slim, trim, fit and gorgeous.. keep up the good work.

Best from Melly

Don't kill yourself. I like how you just take a piece at a time (need to do that myself), you don't kill yourself with a massive one day workout. Lots get burnt out that way. Steady as she blows.:)

Hi, Melly!!! Glad ye found my journal and I appreciate the visit and support! :wave:

Re writing, I write for a livin', a separate portion o' life but necessary, I guess (makin' a livin') but the diet journals aren't really writin' per se, just fun and my diet motivation, just conversation 'n spewin' forth o' all the diet creatures in Am's weird head in order to hocus pocus focus on the all-important (to me) journey to weight management, fitness 'n health. If this were writin', guess I wouldn't be here as t'would be too much like work. :laugh:

The journey, methinks is about more than just a number on a scale, but t'is all one thing.

If that statement maketh no sense, t'is because Am's brain be absent tonight. Solitaire on the DS Lite beckons soothingly soon.
*****
Muse on the journey, in general, not in response to anyone or anything in particular but on why Am just typed that it is "all-important" ... is it, she asketh, really all-important.

Yes, it is. Life to Am is infinitely better at the physical place wherein her spirit now resides than it once was.

She'd do well, sometimes to remember that and not get any ideas 'bout too much pizza.

Muse on pizza: Ok, Am DID have a South Beach Living highly processed but calorie controlled, low glycemic (sort of) pizza for lunch today, first in a long time. It was very good, just right for a frozen pizza in Am's mind, much better than Am's own recipe for pizza on a whole wheat tortilla. What's the muse on this? Sometimes processed is ok, Am will eat this again this week, dang the torpedoes and full speed ahead.

Muse on Diettalk: Am liketh those little sayings that come on to the top of the screen whenever Am enters the site. Right now, mine is sayin', "Shouldn't you be going to bed soon, Amarantha?"

Couldn't have said it better myownself.

Muse on Monday: Right now, at 10:38 p.m. on most Mondays, Am would still be workin' on deadline stuff for that "work" previously mentioned and would not be going to bed for another hour. Oddly enough, THIS Monday, work finished very early 'n Am has been wanderin' 'round the universe like a lost ship at sea :cruise: for hours thinkin' how relaxed she should be feelin' but instead wanting something to eat (this is a diet journal so Am always gets back to THE DIET) but not really wanting to eat, so she's drinkin' ice water with South Beach Living on the Go Tide Me Over protein/energy water powder stuff, very good, fiber, protein, almost no cals.

Hi, Jump! Thanks. I was ramblin' on to self a moment ago and ye came in!

Ye are very sensible. I like your advice, keeps me feeling grounded.

Nay, Am will never kill self literally or figuratively (can't spell that). She has a goal in mind to live to be 120 (and she's serious). Gotta take it a piece at a time to get that far, so steady as she goes.

She's just verra unsettled tonight. Must be the monsoon. (That's what we call this season where I live, means a lotta wind and rain in the desert).

Don't kill yourself. I like how you just take a piece at a time (need to do that myself), you don't kill yourself with a massive one day workout. Lots get burnt out that way. Steady as she blows.:)

The Tuesday meetin' o' the AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK STEERIN' COMMITTEE is the favorite o' the week as it follows (and sometimes oddly coincides) with the Amland Tuesday Weight Workout all by self in home gym with only Am, Am, Am 'n Am in attendance and this day was inspired by happenin' to have Margaret Richards' exercise PBS show playin' on the TV when waking up for the second time, as woke up a lot durin' the night, posted AM'S WEIRD DIET MUSES here a couple o' times :laugh: .

Anyhow, the voice o' the turtle (whatever that means) is in the land 'n BTW, Am is back from Diet Spa Island 'n livin' in Diet Town Village Square, where the AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK committee will be focusin' a lot o' its Diet Am Mission Work for the upcoming fall season, although, yes, t'is not fall anywhere but in Diet Am's heart 'n she 'n the committee are thinkin' ahead to the annual HAGO THE HALLOWEEN HUT DIET CHALLENGE, Hago bein' a diet witchiepoo 'n beautiful HAG who lives in the Deep Dark Dilemmatic Diet Woods in a HALLOWEEN HUT, so they call her Hag o' The Halloween Hut:pum::harvest: ... anyhow, fall be on the way 'n this fall, the committee has decided, Am really will reach her goal in time for a special fall wedding she is slated to attend (not her own, thank goodness).

So plannin' for the fall event is taking place and details may be announced to the Diet Am Town Village Community Council in August or September, possibly a steerin' committee will be formed in August and a new journal publication launched by Diet Am Publications, Ltd.

The committee passed a resolution that on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at least, this week, workouts will be easy, relaxed and fun with the option to make them short and divide the work to be done into segments, which burns more calories throughout the day anyhow through the principle of extended burn, plus Am is recoverin' from some setbacks and needs to work the bod more carefully, so this is the time to go for those divided workouts again, which Am has not been doin'.

The meetin' closed with a resolution to go shoppin'!

Am's Little List of Day of the Week, Calories, Exercise (excluding lifestyle activity)

Sunday, 1545, 20 min jog/walk

Monday, 1610, 60 min jog/walk

Tuesday, TBD, 40 min weights (to be updated if more done)

Wednesday, TBD, TBD

Thursday, TBD, TBD, TBD

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD

AM WILL LOSE WEIGHT THIS WEEK!

Hi Am,
Sorry I have been missing again! I had a friend here all weekend and had a great time.
I see you are still doing wonderfull! Keep up the great work lady, you will get there!

Have a gReat Wednesday!
...Hugs, Millie

Hi Am! :wave:

Huzzah, Aria! :wave: Hi Am! :wave:

Hi, Millie! That's great that you had a friend for the weekend. Sounds like fun! Thanks for comin' by!

Hi Am,
Sorry I have been missing again! I had a friend here all weekend and had a great time.
I see you are still doing wonderfull! Keep up the great work lady, you will get there!

Have a gReat Wednesday!
...Hugs, Millie

As it be Wednesday, the Am Will Lose Weight Steerin' Committee decided to meet up early for a jog/walk 'round the neighborhood 'n lightly discuss issues, which include more trips to the Black Lagoon for work early the rest o' the week AND Saturday night, so a plan was made to DIG IN HEELS 'N REFUSE TO OVEREAT IN RESPONSE TO ANY OL' THING AT ALL.

A decision was made to table the issue of walkin' with the weighted vest until another time in the future as Am needs to build up exercise strength a little more before resuming.

The meeting ended with a sprinkle o' whey powder in a large glass o' water just to see if that was a viable way to get some protein in the body. Not bad. It was decided to post the list and take a rest before work.

Am's Little List of Day of the Week, Calories, Exercise (excluding lifestyle activity)

Sunday, 1545, 20 min jog/walk

Monday, 1610, 60 min jog/walk

Tuesday, TBD, 40 min weights

Wednesday, TBD, 60 min jog/walk

Thursday, TBD, TBD, TBD

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD :cheer2:

HALLOWEEN IS COMING!!!

AM, How's it going? You have been so supportive and I want you to know how much I appreciate it. Having the objective feedback and support helps me be more realistic and grounded. Your determination serves as a reinforcement for me....it is a reality check. Intellectually, I know I must plan and persevere, but my emotional side just keeps waiting for weight loss to happen without responsibility or accountability. Ahhhh, it is amazing to see how the thought process translates into written word and how a different meaning is attached when one looks objectively in terms of validity rather than subjectively experiencing the moment.

Question of the day: Does being existential mean fully experiencing the moment or being fully cognisant of the choice in the moment?

Hi, CJL! :wave: You are very supportive also and I appreciate it.

Hey, I also like the idea of waiting for weight loss (and other stuff) to happen without responsibility or accountability, but I am aware that life doesn't work that way, so I soldier on. :cheer2:

Good question on existentialism, too early for me to have any thoughts on that, though. :)

Actually, not experiencing much in the way of thought right now, beyond the need to muster organizational skills to perform task list for day.

It helps to listen to Jimmy Buffet sometimes. :cruise:

AM, How's it going? You have been so supportive and I want you to know how much I appreciate it. Having the objective feedback and support helps me be more realistic and grounded. Your determination serves as a reinforcement for me....it is a reality check. Intellectually, I know I must plan and persevere, but my emotional side just keeps waiting for weight loss to happen without responsibility or accountability. Ahhhh, it is amazing to see how the thought process translates into written word and how a different meaning is attached when one looks objectively in terms of validity rather than subjectively experiencing the moment.

Question of the day: Does being existential mean fully experiencing the moment or being fully cognisant of the choice in the moment?

Hi Am,
Hope you are having a good day so far!
I think today I am going to take a little from your journal and refuse to eat anything that is not good for me or healthy! I love the word refuse!
I see you have already had your meeting of the weight loss and you are soldering on, good for you! Your determination will get you far.
...Hugs, Millie

Millie! Glad to see thee, lass! Hugs back at ye 'n thanks fer the visit!

Yea, we must ever soldier on, no choice, do we, except to go backwards and we don't want to do that, ever. :cheer2:

Hi Am,
Hope you are having a good day so far!
I think today I am going to take a little from your journal and refuse to eat anything that is not good for me or healthy! I love the word refuse!
I see you have already had your meeting of the weight loss and you are soldering on, good for you! Your determination will get you far.
...Hugs, Millie

... yea, verily, it IS! I know no one believes it but t'will come. What will come?

Why, the HAGO THE HALLOWEEN HUT CHALLENGE! , of course.

The August Precognition Steerin' Committee for the Hago the Halloween Hut Challenge will be formed within WEEKS!

Diet Hag herownself is currently lyin' on a beach somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, but she's booked passage on a plane out o' there 'n Diet Village maidens have converged on the Halloween Hut to give it a thorough cleaning, including throwing away of some suspicious objects labeled "PB CUPS" that looked like diet contraband (which is illegal in Diet Village).

Film at 11.

Am's Little List of Day of the Week, Calories, Exercise (excluding lifestyle activity)

Sunday, 1545, 20 min jog/walk

Monday, 1610, 60 min jog/walk

Tuesday, 1790, 40 min weights

Wednesday, 1485, 60 min jog/walk (a.m.), 20 min walk (p.m.)

Thursday, TBD, TBD, TBD

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD

Good evening AM,

I see that you are still busy with the Diet Committee.. I could do with a Diet Committee to help me make the RIGHT decisions in life as well.. maybe they would be kind and extend their services to problems outside of dieting too.. one can only hope.

My news: I didn't win first division in the fifty million Lotto, but I did win the sixth division - all of twenty dollars. Now there is the big dilemma of what to spend the twenty dollars on.. a new book, pay some some money off my lay-buys, a little treat off ebay. Decisions Decisions Decisions..

You and your Diet Committee have been voted as good samartians for lending people support in the treads of Diettalk..

Hurrah for AM and the Diet Committee.. from Melly

Huzzah, Melly!!! Congratulations on your $20 win! Hope you find just the right way to spend it!!! :cheer:

Said Diet Committee has called off the mornin' meetin' in favor of everyone goin' to the gym 'n gettin' their workout done so they could catch the early boat :cruise: to the Black Lagoon (nonvirtual world of work 'n anything else Am really doesn't want to do these days).

Committee members got a dmail (diet mail) that a meeting will be held later in the Healthy Weight 'n Fitness Cafe on Virtuous High Diet Compliance Street in downtown Diet City following the Black Lagoon chores. Everyone was warned not to overeat at snackie time this mornin' as Healthy Lunch Time would be delicious so they'd want an appetite.

The topic for discussion at the meetin' will be the formation of the upcoming AUGUST HEALTHY WEIGHT MANAGEMENT PRECOGNITIVE HAGO THE HALLOWEEN HUT CHALLENGE.

If that makes no sense, t'is 'cause Am's brain is not around when she has to work this early.

Am's Little List of Day of the Week, Calories, Exercise (excluding lifestyle activity)

Sunday, 1545, 20 min jog/walk

Monday, 1610, 60 min jog/walk

Tuesday, 1790, 40 min weights

Wednesday, 1485, 60 min jog/walk (a.m.), 20 min walk (p.m.)

Thursday, TBD, 5 min yoga, 10 min walk, 45 min weights (heavy, slow)

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD

Soundbite: The Am Will Lose Weight this Week Committee and the Hago the Hut Halloween Diet 'n Fitness Challenge held a late afternoon meetin' today 'n decided to jointly hold a Pre-Pre-Hago Diet Challenge Event this week, consistin' of a STREAK o' the Excitin' Am Diet Club's favorite party game :party: , the 1500s or Less Calories In a Day Hooray Game. All participants will seek to create the best THREE DAY STREAK possible on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of eating in the 1500s or below.

Film at 11.

Am's Little List of Day of the Week, Calories, Exercise (excluding lifestyle activity)

Sunday, 1545, 20 min jog/walk

Monday, 1610, 60 min jog/walk

Tuesday, 1790, 40 min weights

Wednesday, 1485, 60 min jog/walk (a.m.), 20 min walk (p.m.)

Thursday, 1540, 5 min yoga, 10 min walk, 45 min weights (heavy, slow), 30 min walk (night, mostly for brain not body, oh wait, they are the same)

Friday, TBD, TBD

Saturday, TBD, TBD

The Streak: Day 1 :check:

HAGO AWAKES! BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID!

Hi AM,
Sounds like you had a busy day today. Glad the diet committee let yall go to the gym. Sounds like Halloween is going to be fun to hear about.
Keeping those calories 1,500 and below I bet will help to get that dum scale to move! Will keep the fingers crossed for you!!!!! YOU are SO CLOSE!!! It will come when you are not looking!
Have a GREAT Friday!
....Hugs, Millie

Thanks, Millie!! :wave: Yea, it will come, I've never doubted that. Hope Am is not too old to enjoy it, though. :rofl: See ya, lass!

Wow, you are so focused. I can see how you have lost over 117lbs.

Hi Am,
I am laughing so hard that I am crying :rofl:!!!!!!! I am sorry but that was so funny,ROFL!! I hope you are young enough to enjoy it to,lollol!
Soldier on, you will get there!!
Big hugs at working so hard to get there!!!
....Have a great Saturday!....Hugs,Millie

Hey AM,

I like the idea of a "Three Day Streak"! It is easier to commit to a short amount of time than to look at our life long weight journey.(Of course our jounrey is made up of one step at a time and one day at a time.) For many, the weekend is an especially difficult time because of social events and unstructured time. It is a perfect time to "streak"! When the plan is there along with the focus it creates an environment to lose. Having three healthy days provides a foundation to build upon. Great idea...I'm gonna start my streak today! Happy Streakin' to ya!

Thanks, Jump! That's what I am tellin' to those pounds between me 'n the goal: FOCUS, GUYS! We can do this! :laugh:

I accept your compliment modestly but with recognition that it is the truth. I HAVE applied a lot of focus to this weight loss/management process because it could not have been done without it and I knew that from the outset.

Things keep happening that tend to derail Amarantha but if anyone in the universe thinketh that she will stay derailed forever, please see quotes from FDR and Good Queen Vic in Am's signature here at good ol' Diettalk! Huzzah!

We soldier on. :cheer2: Sort of like the postman, the one who isn't deterred from appointed rounds by rain or sleet or dark of night.

Film at 11!



Wow, you are so focused. I can see how you have lost over 117lbs.

Hugs, Millie! :) Lol, I am entirely sincere in that hope. :laugh: Thanks for stoppin' in, ye have a great Saturday also!

Hi Am,
I am laughing so hard that I am crying :rofl:!!!!!!! I am sorry but that was so funny,ROFL!! I hope you are young enough to enjoy it to,lollol!
Soldier on, you will get there!!
Big hugs at working so hard to get there!!!
....Have a great Saturday!....Hugs,Millie

Huzzah, CJL! I like to break things up, also! Streaks are fun, I do them often, even in non diet things! Ah, but I WISH my weekends were free of work, but often (like this week), they are my busiest workdays and my hardest times of wanting to binge are on workdays. I do great on days off, when I get 'em, which is not often, actually (haven't had a vacation of more than a few days in years).

AM'S WORLD TODAY IS FILLED WITH STRESS, LOOMING PROBLEMS, WORK ASSIGNMENTS SHE DOTH NOT LIKE AND A CRAZY IDEA THAT SHE WANTS TO EAT HOSTESS CUPCAKES (not sure where that last item came from, just some "words" Am had with someone yesterday, the oddest things make Am want cupcakes). BUT TO REPEAT A PREVIOUS POSTIE, if anyone thinketh that Am will be deterred by all this angst, please see Am's sig quotes from FDR and the stern but right-on (although certainly not slim) Queen Victoria! :D

Am resteth her case.

Hey AM,

I like the idea of a "Three Day Streak"! It is easier to commit to a short amount of time than to look at our life long weight journey.(Of course our jounrey is made up of one step at a time and one day at a time.) For many, the weekend is an especially difficult time because of social events and unstructured time. It is a perfect time to "streak"! When the plan is there along with the focus it creates an environment to lose. Having three healthy days provides a foundation to build upon. Great idea...I'm gonna start my streak today! Happy Streakin' to ya!

At a meeting of the Hago the Halloween Hut Challenge Steering Committee, held in conjunction with a morning walk, committee members discussed the nature of Hago (aka Hag o' the Halloween Hut, because she lives in the Halloween Hut in the Deep Dark Dilemmatic Diet Forest somewhere in the secret heart of Diet Amland).

Well, now, not much is known about the early life of Hag, sometimes also known as Diet and Fitness Hag. It is left to the Gentle Reader to fill in those details. Members of the committee, however, are dedicated to the proliferation of Halloween Hut Diet 'n Fitness Challenges each autumn in the Land o' Diet Am. They know how powerful a diet 'n fitness hag, Hago really is and how she can stare motivational life into the embers o' a dying fire as the gold 'n yellow leaves stir 'n swirl in the brisk autumn air outdoors.

Since Am ACTUALLy resides in a desert land, there's not much in the way o' brisk autumn air nor swirly gold leaves to be had in her external, nonvirtual environment (although if one goes to the right place one can still see cotton and corn baled and fields of ripe pepper, interspersed with the newest housing tracts going up that threaten to displace the landscape into nonexistence, but Am digresseth) so this challenge can proceed whenever Hag arrives home to the hut from her annual virtual ('cause no nonvirtual vacation is available to Am either) vacation.

Hago is known to be on her way and she's a little ticked off 'cause the committee has decided to celebrate a REALLY long Halloween Challenge season, startin', they think, on the first Sunday in August, mayhap, but we'll see after the Ceremony o' the Golden Scale o' Dietary Justice. Due to her irritation, Hago may be in a mood to create the most ambitious Halloween challenge in her Halloween challenge career.

Or she might mellow out (she IS a hag, after, all, one of the most mature aspects of womankind, so she's bound to be givin' the upcoming initiative her utmost rational consideration).

Following the meeting, the committee members did yoga and watched as the first imaginary autumn leaf shivered and stirred on a nearby tree and then fell off.

Film at 11.

Am's Little List of Day of the Week, Calories, Exercise (excluding lifestyle activity)

Sunday, 1545, 20 min jog/walk

Monday, 1610, 60 min jog/walk

Tuesday, 1790, 40 min weights

Wednesday, 1485, 60 min jog/walk (a.m.), 20 min walk (p.m.)

Thursday, 1540, 5 min yoga, 10 min walk, 45 min weights (heavy, slow), 30 min walk (night, mostly for brain not body, oh wait, they are the same)

Friday, 1440, 5 min yoga, 40 min walk (for pleasure only)

Saturday, TBD, 90 min walk, 15 min jog, 30 min yoga

The Streak: Day 1 :check:, Day 2 :check: , Day 3 TBD

HAGO IS ON HER WAY! ALL AMLAND INHABITANTS NOT SERIOUS ABOUT REACHING THEIR WEIGHT AND FITNESS GOALS SHOULD RUN AWAY FORTHWITH!:harvest::bghost::pum::beam:

Hi Am,
I get to post here because I am very Serious about reaching my goal!!!! Lol. Just joking, but I am serious about losing!

Hope your stress gets better as the day goes on!
You are doing so good that you will not let anything get in your way! Good for you!
Have a Great weekend!...Hugs, Millie

Am, I hope some of your stress is ebbing out to sea. Stress can either make one more focused and determined or it can take away your drive and ambition if allowed. Knowing you Am, you create a mind set in which you may visit stress, but you do not allow it to derail you. You are a very determined person who keeps moving on.

Speaking of mixing things up....I try not to be a creature of habit. Each day I try to make it different than the day before. I resist routines. When I worked my day was very scheduled by the clock. When I left the 9-5 scene, I left behind schedules, appointments and wearing a watch. I only look at a clock when it is absolutely necessary. I find my body has rhymn with nature that takes me where I need to be. I know working fulltime does not allow that type of freedom, but we always have the freedom of how we look at life and what our perspective is. I hope you have a better day!

Huzzah, Millie! :wave: Yea, friend, to be honest, if not modest, ye are right. When it comes to weight management and fitness, though she sometimes temporarily sc*ws (can I say that word on DT?) up, she doth not let much get in the way at the end o' the day (rhymes). You will not do so either, Millie, Am's crystal ball has foretold that ye will move steadily to your goal and then there is the fun of maintenance, which is the mode Am is in this week as her bod has decreed it! Wazoo! It is all good!

Hi Am,
I get to post here because I am very Serious about reaching my goal!!!! Lol. Just joking, but I am serious about losing!

Hope your stress gets better as the day goes on!
You are doing so good that you will not let anything get in your way! Good for you!
Have a Great weekend!...Hugs, Millie

Huzzah, CJL, thankee fer the visit, lass! I hope all is well with thee today. Yea, I also like change in general, although habits, if they are good ones, are always welcome in Am's life.

Stress is always with us, it is a part of life. In reality, Am does not seek to run from it 'cause never has it (or much of anything else, to be honest) derailed Am, perhaps someday something will, but for now she is status quo, a wreck but a stable one. :laugh:

Thanks for thy support in this journal, which Am is closing as t'is now officially autumn in Am's mind (hey, I KNOW it's still summer where some people live, or winter if one is in Australia or New Zealand or nearby ports o' call there, but in Diet Am Land, t'is AUTUMN, the Halloween challenge commenceth! Wazaoo!

Am, I hope some of your stress is ebbing out to sea. Stress can either make one more focused and determined or it can take away your drive and ambition if allowed. Knowing you Am, you create a mind set in which you may visit stress, but you do not allow it to derail you. You are a very determined person who keeps moving on.

Speaking of mixing things up....I try not to be a creature of habit. Each day I try to make it different than the day before. I resist routines. When I worked my day was very scheduled by the clock. When I left the 9-5 scene, I left behind schedules, appointments and wearing a watch. I only look at a clock when it is absolutely necessary. I find my body has rhymn with nature that takes me where I need to be. I know working fulltime does not allow that type of freedom, but we always have the freedom of how we look at life and what our perspective is. I hope you have a better day!

With a whoooshhhh o' cool autumn air Hago the Halloween Hut (aka Hag o' the Diet Halloween Hut) returned to Am Diet Land this mornin' 'n led everyone in a yoga session and a long walk 'n talk 'bout removin' negative and intrusive things and people from the lives of all Diet Maidens named Am.

A ceremony o' the golden scale was performed in the Deep Dark Diet Dilemmatic Woods wherein Hag resides 'n all Diet Amaranthas, Hags, Crones, Fairies, Goblins, Sprites, Wise Women, Fitness Queens, 'n everyone else seekin' the physical, mental 'n spiritual perfection that Diet Am strives for found they have maintained from last week.

A magickal cry of WAZOOOO arose from Hag's lips 'n joy reigneth in the land over the maintain and some other things and the autumn diet season was officially proclaimed, with its THREE MONTH (ending on Diet Halloween, OCTOBER 26) diet 'n fitness Am challenge. Everyone went back to Hag's Halloween Hut 'n had breakfast.

This journal is closed. Thanks to all who posted here in kindly support o' Am's summer initiative.

Autumn is HERE! Wazoooo!