:party: Yay! Way to go!!! I second the ones who say to take as many weeks per level as it takes. It DOES get easier.

I don't think it's too much, but listen to your body. If I dropped anything, it would be the extra walking. I think the yoga, weights, grass cutting, etc... are important cross-training exercises.

People are stupid and need to learn to keep their mouths shut. From the mom of a dd with a facial port wine stain who has been asked how she burned/scraped/bruised/hurt herself. We don't get that many truly hurtful comments, but have received enough that I have stories to tell. I voted yes, but because of all my research, I don't know how common I am.

Buy it now so you can use it. One of your activities is in a week and one within a month (approx..depending when in July.) With being stretchy, swimsuits cover a wider range of weight than regular clothes. And the styles you picked, even more so. The skirts are more forgiving than just briefs.

But the changes you are making ARE dietary changes. :). Not everyone has to go on an all-out, totally new, throw everything out and start over, way of eating. If you cut out sweet drinks, watch your portions, and consider bad vs. better choices (twinkies or an apple?) you are cutting calories. My dh has a friend who took up running, but refused to eat better. He ran marathons while very overweight and with a humongous gut. After a few years, he and his wife went on a "diet" and he finally lost the weight. He does still run, which makes his weight loss, statistically, more likely to stay off.

I wanted to add to my previous post. I do think the exercise you listed is a good start, especially if they are things you enjoy. I've lost 60 pounds. Much of that was done by counting calories and walking and walking and walking. So, you can lose weight without fancy equipment. However, since your thread title was about "well toned", it made me think of overall toning and desiring light muscle development. As much walking as I did, I didn't see much muscle development until I added weights. So, that was why my thoughts went that direction. I've been doing lots of reading about how to maintain weight loss. I am determined not to yo-yo back up. Weight training is highly beneficial in this aspect, also. It has to do with muscle boosting metabolism and lots of other fitness jargon that I mostly forgot. I just lift weights to keep weight off.

My honest opinion is that you at least need some basic weight gear. But you can buy a few hand weights, exercise bands, etc... for not much money and they take up little space. It doesn't have to be big, expensive equipment. Some dumbbells, in a few different weights, will go a long ways. And what I read (and my experience) is that you can't really expect to lose weight mostly through exercise. Exercise will often make you more hungry. Unless, you change your eating habits, you will just eat more calories. I find that exercise(ALONE) will keep the weight off, but not lose the weight.

The ones here definitely get good customer service training. They are very polite, helpful (visit tables to do refills and collect trash, etc...). When the drive-through line is long, they send someone out with a headset, to visit cars in line and take orders to speed things up. My kids don't like their chicken, so we rarely go there.

Um... Yes you do???? We ask them for the same things we ask of Sonic. I actually find Chick-Fil-A to be the only fast food restaurant that consistently stands our for friendliness and helpfulness, no matter which one you visit. And they don't accept tips. As with most restaurants, the speed and friendliness of Sonic definitely depends on which server and which store. At our old house, even the kids knew it as the "Slow Sonic"

:iagree: I guess I'll hit the drive-through line, instead of parking, to avoid any future question. It's faster, anyway. I just like parking to get everything distributed to people.

That stinks I avoid the ER, if at all possible. We have a pediatric urgent care, near us, that did dd's stitches. A different urgent care handled older dd when she got a metal dog brush stuck in her foot (THAT was nauseating!) :grouphug:

Well, I did a little googling. I clearly remembered an article, years ago, saying the local Sonic workers were paid minimum wage and tips were not counted on in the same way as other waitresses. I found a few things that said, due to franchising, it does depend. I did find a current "help wanted" at the local Sonic that boasted of good tips. Now, what I run into is... 1. I don't carry much cash. At all. A handful of change, usually. If we buy food there, I use my card. There is not a tip option at Sonic. At sit-down restaurants, we always leave a tip on the card. 2. If we buy drinks at happy hour, we spend $2-$3 on drinks. So, how much tip is appropriate on that amount? Hand them 20% and call it an excellent tip?

Oldest--Mr. Brown Can Moo and I Love You Stinkyface Youngest--Big Red Barn, Eric Carl bear books

Dd's resulted in 6 stitches by the urgent care doctor. They used a topical anesthetic that they globbed on, covered with a plastic seal, and left it for a bit to numb up. They said they didn't want to glue it because that area moves so much. Like I said in my last post, the stitches were easy. Flushing the wound seemed to be the most painful part. The way the skin grew, it is even farther under her chin now.

My dd did that last year, at 5. She slipped at a splash park and fell against a bench. Cleaning the wound seemed to be the worst part. By the time she got ice cream, she was over it and, now, tells the story without being upset by the ordeal. :grouphug:

Will you have penalties for withdrawing from the 401k? Those need to be weighed in with interest discussions. But I will say it's an option I would consider. You have to look at long-term, but you have to make it through the present to get to long-term.

Do you know if the crew will be the same? When we moved, we tipped at the end. But, we had the same crew all day. I would probably tip today and Friday. ETA: But I would adjust each amount to be half of what is expected for a full move. Ours was a year ago, so I don't remember amounts. I googled, at the time, to find typical percentages. ETA #2. Oops. Just saw the other post.

OK. Here, I think, is a picture of my new "do".... Interpreted by my stylist from the Zooey Deschanel picture. It's a subtle difference, but I like it.

I love it. My hair is still long, mid-back. The long layers and the bangs give it a style. But the bangs are still long enough that I can braid them or pin them back to work out.

Have the adult leaders ever told the kids, one way or another, that they could talk to them confidentially? Forget that mom is your friend. If this was a random youth, with parents that you didn't know AT.ALL. Would you be as conflicted about telling the parent? How much of your dilemma is because you are good friends with the mom? Those are the two questions that keep coming to me. What a hard situation. And I think your leadership needs to come up with a policy. Because this type of thing will come up again.

I love the Zooey Deschanel cut and stole it to take to my haircut today. I also really like the colored tips. One thing I like is that, if you hate it... I think a fix would be easy.

You beat me. This is what I was going to suggest. As a type 2, managing with only diet and exercise, dh would not eat a baked potato. But, my understanding is that Type 1's can really eat anything and just adjust insulin?

Yay! Now that that's over, I hope you have a relaxing visit.

Ah... I just read the article. I'm not in a place where I can listen to audio.

From the article... It sounds like they were picked for various reasons.