Copago> Steal away! Today's workout was harder. Imagine that!

Pitegny> It's those non-scale victories that keep you moving towards the pounds lost victories

Stolen! And just finished lol I did it inside though so did the 'jogs' on the elliptical machine and the running 25m exercise I did as a weight lifting one and afterwards I did a 3km walk. So thanks

I have probably mentioned it before but there is a Nike exercise app for smartphones that is really good and I guess it does similar kinds of things to your boot camp circuit.

I should tell you about Friday's Boot Camp circuit... I'm STILL sore!

We still did the 5 minute jog around the tennis court, then we had the 6 stations, but they were

1. Burpees (start from a standing position, put your hands on the ground, then put your feet out behind you, like in a push-up position, then bring the feet back in, and then stand, and repeat as quickly as possible)

2. Reverse push-ups from a sitting position on a bench (start from a sitting position, keeping your hands behind you on the edge of the bench, legs can be straight out in front or bent, move your butt off the seat and do push-ups using the bench)

3. Ice skater (using the lines on the tennis court, jump sideways between the lines, as if you were skating - jump to the right and bring the left foot slightly behind you, right arm extended out, left arm crossed over your middle, then jump to the left and bring the right foot slightly behind you, left arm extended out and right arm crossed over your middle. Repeat as quickly as you can, as if you were ice skating)

4. Push Ups

5. Squats with a jump in between (squat, and as you come out of the squat, propel yourself up, jumping as high as you can, and repeat)

6. Planks (in a push-up position, hold your body as straight as you can, as if you were a board/plank. if you can't hold it up on your toes, you can go to your knees, still keeping your arms stiff, but raise your toes off the ground so you are resting on your knees and using your abs to keep your body stiff)

Our second round of jogging was a little different - we had to run from one side of the tennis court to the other side, and bring our feet up to kick our butt. On the way back, we had to skip. We did that, back and forth, for 5 minutes.

Then round 2 of the torture... I mean stations!

Our third round of jogging was done by skipping sideways, back and forth across the tennis court. Going in one direction, you lead with the right foot, and then going back in the other direction, you lead with the left foot, so both sides get a workout. We did that for 5 minutes.

Then we had round 3, and 90 seconds at each station instead of 60 seconds. Oi!

Finally, a 3 minute jog to cool down, and then stretching.

No wonder I'm still sore...

Postal hasn't been online in over a month. Does anyone know how to get in touch?

When we exchanged a few messages via FT private mail, she said the only place she can read the forum messages is at the library. If she is still having the walking problems, she may not be able to get there. She did not answer my last message. I was also wondering how she is doing.

Same result as last week, losing another 1½ pounds this week, for a total of 20. I feel a plateau coming soon! Now at 19 stone 9 pounds.

So sorry my weight watching buddies!

I turned out to be very much sicker than I thought I was. March 7-14 I was in hospital. My diabetes was out of control due to not being able to take my medications. I had to have IV fluids, and all sorts of things.

Just got cleared from my doctor Friday. Not the way to do it, but I lost 14 pounds.

I know now if I can't ingest my meds for more than one day, I need to call my doctor right away.

I have to take a slow recovery. Moderate exercise. This virus has been sweeping through our neighborhood. Because I have a depressed immune system, I was sicker than most.

I can't drop a note in forums unless I'm in the library, but I can on the regular board.
I have a very simple internet player, very limited.

Anyway, thanks for not forgeting me, I'll try to chime in more often.

Hi Postal - Sorry to hear that you were so ill, but glad that you are getting better. Fourteen pounds down is great, but what a hard way to do it! I hope that things will settle down a bit more. It is nice to have you back.

The 1½ pound rate per week sounds good to me. Keep up the good work.

Good to see you back, postal! We get worried when we don't see someone regular for a while. Glad you're feeling better.

Dave> I agree with pitegny, 1.5 pounds is a perfect average for losing each week.

Well I was expecting a weight gain this week, after enjoying myself on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with chocolate etc. But I was pleasantly surprised to find I am Nine Stone 11 and a half pounds , a gain of a quarter of a pound this week! I think the secret to my success this week is being really good from Tuesday to Friday, then immediately getting on the "diet wagon" yesterday.

Excellent news Jane. I hope to follow suit.

The Easter bunny chocolate was not good - plus .6 kilos - over a pound up. I will have to start back again seriously this week for sure. Between the final bathroom renovations and US taxes I have not been walking every day, which also doesn't help. I hope to have better news next week.

There are at least two nights a week I don't eat until about 20:15, but I don't push it past that. Those are the two nights I walk the mall...Tuesday and Thursday.

I have had a couple of customers notice that I've lost some weight, and it makes me feel good to hear it.

We'll see what happens on Sunday!

I guess using pitegny's Weight Watchers terms, I "sped" this week by the smallest of margins, by losing 2½ pounds this week, and am now 19 stone, 6½ pounds. I'm hoping this doesn't slow my progress though, and I start climbing again...

Since I had to have some maintenance done on my car, I had to walk to get something for lunch, and I had a couple of books to sell at Half Price Books, so did that while getting the stuff done on the car (it was a 90,000 mile service interval). In the 1:00pm hour yesterday, I took almost 1200 steps in a ten minute timeframe, and that may be why I went "over" the two pound mark this week.

I'll be continuing the downward trend, but plan to "slow" it back to about 1½ next week...will see what happens!

Great work Dave! You are really sticking with it! My last few weeks have not been great. I need to refocus my attention (the speeding ticket was deadly for me).

My significant other retired two weeks ago and it is having a little bit of a negative effect on my dieting. We are eating together at both lunch and dinner and although I try to be good, I linger more over lunch and therefore eat more than I was doing before. When I was on my own, I zipped in, had my salad and headed out. I'll have to find a way to balance my eating needs and not being rude by popping up from the table when he is only part way through his meal. He has also been doing some baking and I have not resisted. Toss in a little wine with some of the meals and it is understandable why the scale is not continuing down.

I will knuckle down and try to show some progress, if not this week, then next!

Not doing the weighing this week. A young friend of mine, who worked with both myself and my husband, lost her husband suddenly, leaving three very small children. I am very sad for them and not in a mood to think about myself. I'll be back soon.

Sorry to hear that and hope you can help her in any way you can.

Another week gone by, and another drop...this time by two, to register 19 stone, 4½ pounds.

Next week's weigh in may be a challenge, so if you don't hear anything, it's because I will be on vacation and not as easy access to a scale.

Nice result Dave, keep it up!

So sorry to hear about your friend, Pitegny.

I am so sorry to hear of your friend, Pitegny. Sometimes these things come along, and we realise that losing weight isn't all that important - though it is in the long run.
I've had two rather heavy weeks, eating-wise, and I've put on a pound and a half in two weeks - making me Nine stone thirteen pounds (getting closer to ten stone! ) so I am hoping to have a really, really good week this week.

Since I started my weight loss, at 21 stone 5½ pounds on December 1, I am now down 2 st 2 pounds overall, for a total of 30 pounds! I don't normally do a mid-week thing, but with this being a big interval, I couldn't wait until Sunday. I just hope I can keep it down while on vacation starting Friday.

Back again. The last ten days have been emotionally draining. The life of my young friend was torn to pieces in a heartbeat. She has three young children under the age of five. Her husband, who we also knew well, died while on a business trip to Tanzania. Handling formalities from a distance was incredibly difficult for her. Fortunately she has a strong network of friends here, and their family members have been arriving from around the world. Each of us has been trying to help in small ways, spending time with her, preparing food, doing airport runs. It has been constantly in my mind and, even having lost a sister in an accident many years ago, cannot begin to imagine what it is like for her.

I have not walked and, worse, have nibbled throughout the week on the muffins and other food we prepared for her. I am up a little - .2 of a kilo. It may be another week or so before I return to the dieting as I will be doing more baking this week for them. Cooking, baking and tasting are irrevocably linked for me. I am trying to avoid a major upswing, so that is already something.

Dave, your progress is amazing!!!! I wish you a good vacation and hope you can keep it down. I hope your week is good also Jane.

I lost 1 and a quarter pounds this week, which I'm very happy with, making me nine stone eleven and three quarter pounds I hope to try and have another steady week, before my trip, the following weekend
It's good that you're trying to avoid a upswing, pitegny, it can be so hard sometimes.
Well done to all!

Congratulations Jane! You are doing great. I held steady this week, no gain, no loss. I have not been very motivated these last few weeks, I need to put my mind to it again. Once the momentum is broken, it is hard to get going again.

I was out working in my herb garden today, which is good exercise. We had one of the coldest winters on record here this year and I lost a lot herbs, even a huge rosemary plant I have had for more than 15 years. I visited our local garden centre yesterday to restock herbs and ordered a few of the less usual ones on the internet. I look forward to being able to cook with the fresh herbs and flowers again.

There is still a little snow on the mountains behind us and we have not yet had what they call the Saints de Glace or Ice Saints. It is a period around 11-13 May when traditionally there is a late frost. Since the Middle Ages, people in this area have waited until after the Saints have come and gone to fill their beds with tender plants. I am tempting fate with all but the most fragile herbs.

I Dave and Jane lovely vacations.