alibee

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport . We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy.. And I mean, he was really friendly.

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

One of our buddies had this question on the blog a few days ago but I could not recall who it was…????  I ran across this on ”Prevention Magazine” website :

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Don’t Be a Lightweight

For lean–not bulky–arms, grab the 20-pounders

By Marianne McGinnis , Marianne McGinnis is a former Prevention associate editor.

New proof you’ll tone faster–not get bigger–if you trade your 3- and 5-pound dumbbells for a heavier set of arm exercises: In a Central Michigan University study, women who worked one bicep by doing 3 sets of about 5 curls with heftier dumbbells gained around 55% more metabolism-revving strength on that side over 10 weeks than on the opposite arm, which lifted lighter weights about 24 times in a row. Next time you do arm exercises, pick a dumbbell you can lift only 6 to 8 times per set and say good-bye to jiggly arms.

I received this new exercise via email this afternoon and would like to share it with my buddies.

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have
plenty of room at each side. With a 5-lb potato sack in each hand, extend your
arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can.
 
Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.
 
Each day, you’ll find that you can hold this position for just a bit
 longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato sacks.
 
Then try 50-lb potat o sacks and then eventually try to get to
where You can carry a 100-lb potato sack in each hand and hold your arms
Straight for more than a full minute. (I’m at this level).

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each of the
sacks. 
 
 

Just wanted to  say hi and to congratulate all of you on the many pounds that have been lost and hope never to be found again. I started  out with a bang but now can’t seem to budge a pound, or so my scales tell me. But, I am feeling so much better , have found unharnessed energy, am eating so much  healthier, learning a lot about myself, have gained so much info with tips from all of you,  and benefited from  so much inspiration and friendship. 

And, I  have come to the conclusion that I must be patient and  if   I  can’t freeze my butt off  by the end of winter then I will just be patient and melt it off this summer. 

Stay healthy and happy this  weekend.

Have noticed on the blogs that so many of our Buddies  are so busy with their families, helping others, working hard at  their jobs, and just are not able, it seems , to find  time for themselves. I sent  the following story to one of our Buddies but want to pass it on to all.

The story is told of a 19th century explorer who hired a group of local men to carry his equipment  through the jungle. The explorer was anxious to arrive at his outpost and so was hurrying the men along. But late in the  day as they neared the  outpost, the men stopped.  The explorer ranted and raved, pleaded and cajoled, but the men would not be moved until they felt ready to go on.  He asked if they were tired out but that wasn’t it.  “Then what are you doing?” he said.  One of the men answered for the  group and said, “We’re waiting for  our souls to catch up with us.”

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I ran across this  story while in the waiting room at the hospital two years ago when my husband was very ill and I was trying to be with him plus taking care of everything at home and everything was closing in on me. That one sentence…”waiting   for our souls to catch up” helped me through  those trying times. It was then that  I realized in order to be a caretaker for another I had  to first take care of myself.  Now  when I get ahead of myself in worry and stress I stop and wait for my own soul to catch up.  Just felt the need to pass this on in case anyone else, in this busy, busy world, feel the same way at times..

The author of the story is David Grippo, Kansas and also editor of “The Caring Place”

Have had ups and  downs on the ole weight machine called the SCALES  (better yet, call it the “stress machine.”)  Getting on the scales is more a measure of emotion than weight…if it iregisters down a pound of so, the day starts off slam, bang, great BUT if it registers up even the slightest,  it’s darn the diet’s not working and  the positive feeling flies out the window in a split second.  So……………a week ago instead of letting the scales rule my world, I look in my  full length bathroom mirror, stark naked and I evaluate my own self image. I note that with  my riding my exercise bike each day  and restricting my food intake, my thighs  are looking a  bit thinner, my waist  is shrinking, as my waist bands are not quite as tight, my shoulder and hip  bones are starting to   And, that is the proof that it is my persistence, not  the scales,  that has caused my loss of a total of  five pounds at my necessary weigh in this  morning. I know five pounds doesn’t sound like a lot..but, it sure makes me feel a lot better as it is five pounds less out of  my “Packpak” than it was yesterday or the day before, month before,  year before!

Each day is a small step forward and am going to keep one foot in  front of the other and keep on a truckin!….I  can, I will, I am Woman….hear me yell!! .”

Yesterday, I needed a change of pace,  got boxes of memories out of my closet with the intent of reorganizing.  No organizing got done…..I laughed, I cried as I read letters our kids had written  to us…the letters made full circles…there were the little I love you, Mommy and Daddy, kind of notes;  the being at camp homesick notes, the high school venting notes, the homesick college notes,  the on my own first job notes and then back to the  I Love You Mom and Dad notes.  It was a wonderful afternoon.      I have been eating less each day it seems and expect one of these days will see the results. It is coming off hard and I would guess Mother Nature has used that new Gorilla Glue to keep the fat stuck on my old bones.  This time I am so much more patient and my  eating habits have changed considerable and  I  do know sooner or later that big “Whoooosh” will come.  Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was I.

This morning  was weigh in time and  the moment of truth.  The scales told me I had gained a pound back rather than losing. Not going to let it upset me……..I knew when I signed in it  wasn’t going  to be an easy battle and one little setback is only going to make me that more determined.  Sometimes,  Iguess we have to take a step or two backwards in order to get a running start.

I look at it this way, I have four pounds less to carry around. As I explained  to someone last week, my can of Butter Flavored Crisco  I have in my cupboard has 3lbs listed on the label, so according to that I am carrying one can, plus one pound less  around with me today.  That adds  up to a big plus!

 And, so I need to evaluate my position and march forward tomorrow to fight this great  Battle of the Bulge!

Have enjoyed reading all of the blogs and admire the efforts of each and everyone…we are all going to be so healthy and soooooooooo beautiful in a few months!

Woke up around 1:30 a.m. and  saw lights at  our neighbor’s house across the way and knew that she had passed away. She has been battling pancreas cancer since late last summer.  I will miss the tapping at my kitchen door,  her head poking in the door and asking if the coffee is on!  She was  a good friend, a good neighbor and will be sadly missed. 

Am not my ususal laid back self this morning and needed to busy myself.  So, decided it was time for me to learn the JPEG technique so that I could add a picture to my blog page. It took me two hours and a lot of “darn it’s” but I succeeded. And, so hopefully, alibee now has a face.

The sun has finally decided  to shine today after a blizzard, winds, and  school closings  the past two days.  Weather forcast says warmer weather on the way.

Hope all of you are doing well…..I can hear all of those pounds dropping !!!!

alibee

Am feeling great and am inspired to lose, lose, lose.  Just did a mile on my st.bike.  My husband has to walk a lot and while he is doing that I try to do some time on the bike.   We are sort of the Jack Spratt type of family.   He had surgery  which requires him to eat and gain weight and I have a weight problem so need to lose.  Sure  makes  planning meals complicated!

Today I really feel that I am back on track, I feel great, the sun is shinning, skies  are  blue and  life is good.

Have a great  day all of my buddies……….