[Leigh]

Originally Posted by Liam

I think this is a good opportunity for me to share Leslie Sansone with everyone—she has changed my life, and she certainly won't hurt yours. I discovered her at the library, when I found a book called Walk Off the Pounds. A DVD was included, and the low impact, marching in place program appealed to me immediately. It took fifteen minutes for me to walk a mile with Leslie, and she added leg lifts, side-stepping, kicks and more to strengthen the core while giving me a good cardio work-out. I renewed my book as many times as I could, and finally had to let Leslie go back to the library. Earlier this month, I found her at Wal-Mart, and for under $10 I have her Fast & Firm! 4 Really Big Miles DVD which has 1, 2, 3, & 4 mile workouts on it—I am up to the 2 mile work out now and I look forward to being able to do 4 miles daily, which takes less than 45 minutes. Her philosophy is all about moving, and other than a DVD player, no special equipment is required. I enjoy walking with Leslie a thousands time more than I like walking on my treadmill, she makes it fun, and for less than an hour a day, I am getting stronger, losing weight, and gaining my flexibility back, it truly is a simple way to lose weight.

For more info, check out her website: http://www.walkathome.com/

Liam,

I think she sounds like she is worth looking up; I have not been to a library or a bookstore in so long so I may just have to take a look one day to see if I can find her book or DVD. Part of My problem is I make excuses as to why I can't; I wake up at 7:30 every morning to watch My sister and am pretty much up all day until bed which is usually about midnight or so. I can very easily get up and go for a short walk in the morning and then one at night but I have a hard time getting motivated to do so. I'm gonna learn, and if anyone wants to start up a buddy system for support I think it would be a great idea ........... what does everyone think?

Originally Posted by Gentle Tiger

Checking in.

two weeks since last soda. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. Drink the bloody, I mean delicious water. It's great surely no one will pick up on the sarcasm! I'm doing it. Going to get more after I submit this post.

Oh yeah, I jumped on the scale this morning. -6lbs. Not a lot but it's a start in the right direction.

Keep up the good work everyone. You all rock!

I'm terrible for drinking alot of soda and while I was going without it I just couldnt take the cravings any longer and caved; now I'm in the process of trying to limit My intake again and slowly ween Myself off of the sugary stuff. I know how hard it is for Me to do that and its going to be a true challenge but I know that My friends are here if needed and thats what counts!

I know even for Me that before if I had only lost 6 lbs I'd have been pretty upset with Myself but I've gotten to the point where I know even just a pound or two lost is an accomplishment .......... thats a pound or two that I had before thats gone, and thats the entire goal right? I'm also not a fan of water and to stomach it sometimes just does not work for Me but I bought two bottled waters today on sale for less than $2 so I figure this is a start right?

Originally Posted by Medusa

Dear Diet Coke Drinkers (and you know who you are!),

Let me tell you a little story 'bout a girl named "Ang"
She drank lots of Diet Coke and it had her feelin' BAD
When up one day, she drank some H20
And figured out that water was the way she wanted to GO!

/Cheeserific!

Seriously, aspartame is not only addictive but is banned in almost every country except for the United States. The caffeine in Diet Cokes is also a no-no for folks with blood pressure issues.

When I decided to go cold turkey off of Diet Coke, the withdrawal was worse than when I quit smoking. Not even kidding.
I was bitchy and moody for about a month, had headaches, didn't sleep well, and alllll kinds of other issues.

I craved it almost every day and realized that my 12 Diet-Coke-a-day habit was way more serious than I had thought if the withdrawals were that bad.

I am now 5.5 months "clean" off of Diet Coke and feel a lot better. No more shooting pains in the kidneys, no more dehydrated skin and hair, no more heart palpatations from too much caffeine.

Now, I drink water, unsweetened tea (usually only when we go out to eat), some fruit juice, 1/2 cup coffee every morning, and the occasional Fuze or diet Vitamin Water. That's it. No sodas.

Water is worth it! Get it down however you can. Add Lemon or lime, try it with ice and without, use straws, drink it in bottles. Figure out how you will best be able to stomach it and get it done!

I'm not a Diet Coke drinker however even just drinking the amount of Pepsi that I drink on a daily basis is not good either. I have problems with My feet swelling, My back being sore most days, dry mouth, acid reflux, knee pain ~ which I'm sure has alot to do with what I drink. I have two bottled waters beside Me, and picked them up half an hour ago (before I read your post) but its a start ~ I can handle water cold alot better than I ever could warm (YUCK) so its gonna come down to keeping the water cold in the fridge and making sure I grab that first before anything else ........ its gonna take some getting used to but its worth it

Originally Posted by Anya/Georgia

Hi All. I have not written for a few days. Many of you saw my "Dear" post about my cock-a-poo Jani going into respiratory failure and I had to make the very, very difficult decision to put her down Saturday 8/6.

I am pretty much consumed with grief and it has totally taken my appetite away so I am an not having difficulty with my eating. For a couple of days I started thinking: "What's the point, who cares, I don't care" but I did not give into it.

I have made through the craving for sweets-think it might be 8-10 days by now. I am not allowing myself to think about them or I will be lost, I am just too vulnerable right now and am just looking for a reason to make myself even more sad and miserable than I already am-eating sweets would do it for sure. I could then throw in self-loathing for good measure.

I found that I can't go down the stairs at all as my knee gives out but for some bizzare reason I am able to walk upstairs without too terribly much pain. I about die on the 3rd flight but have now made it to 4. I don't know if it is enough to lose weight on but I feel better about having done it for the 3rd day in a row.

Regards,

(((((((((((Anya)))))))))) Aww sweetie I didn't read this but I'm so very sorry that Jani is gone but I'm sure that she is in a better place watching down over you. I've lost pets before so I know how devastating that can be, and I'm sure that your little one would want her Mommy to take care of herself and know that she is worth it. I know its so easy for grief to throw us into such a tailspin that eating sweets or drinking something unhealthy is the easiest thing for us to do when we are sad. You have friends here, if you need us don't hesitate to lean on us and know that we will be here for you anytime you need a friend to talk to