Welcome everyone to the Special K Challenge Group, a place for sharing
tips, celebrating successes, and finding support as you take the
challenge. We hope you all have had a great holiday season and are
preparing for a happy and healthy 2007.

This group isn't going to really begin until after the New Year, but
before then we encourage you to take a moment to introduce yourself to
your fellow Challenge Group members. It would be great to know a little
bit about who you are and your goals for 2007 (whether they are health
and fitness related or otherwise).

Meanwhile, please enjoy the rest of 2006, and we look forward to
experiencing the Challenge with you in the coming year!

I am a 49 year old overweight, stessed-out hormonal female.Fitness
WAS a serious part of my lifestyle for about 7 1/2 years. My
favorite form of exercise was jogging...love the endorphine rush.
During those 7 1/2 years I supplemented my jogging with circuit
training workout videos. GREAT! I was finally on to the right mix. I
cut out alcohol, jogged or did a workout video at least 5 days a
week and basically ate what I wanted. My physical fitness made me
crave healthy food for some reason, so most bad eating habits were
gone. And I slept so much better and talk about good mental
health.Those endorphines are REAL!

This slowly came to a halt in 2004, when I developed bone spurs and
we moved to another state. I tried to keep up the jogging but the
new neighborhood wasn't conducive to "pounding the pavement" and my
feet hurt. In addition, my dog, who always jogged with me got
gravely ill and could no longer go with me and I had never jogged
without him, (he was good for pulling me up the hills, HA!) So I
tried the gym...HATED IT! Always have enjoyed the outdoors and I am
less apt to cut my workout short if I am outside. My route was a 3.5
mile loop around our former neighborhood and surroundings. Outside
tracks are like gyms to me, I also hate them....I'd rather see
different scenery as I gasp for air....it's diversional and allows
me to get my thoughts in order. Tried expensive running shoes for
bone spur sufferers and didn't really like them.

Fast forward to December 2006...So here I am out of shape, hormonal,
tired, blood pressure creeping up a little, poor body image, etc,
etc, etc. My present fitness practice is to half-heartedly put in an
exercise video and do the workout but I find myself choosing the
easiest and shortest ones I have so I can get the workout overwith
sooner and proceed to sit on my ever-expanding bottom and drink wine
and knit or do some other sedentary activity. Meanwhile my
metabolism is grinding to a halt and I am putting on the poundage,
especially around the middle. I have to grunt and groan to bend over
and pick something up. Furthermore, my feet STILL hurt as do my
ankles,right knee and now my hands!!! Will it ever end? HA! Taking
the weight off will help the joints, I'm sure!! But it's also age
and use-related. I am an avid knitter & gardener and my hands are
really paying for it. I think I have carpal tunnel syndrome in my
right wrist but I am in denial right now...except when my thumb
bends in a certain way and I get shooting pains throughout my wrist.
For now I'm avoiding medical attention as they will just want to do
surgery at some time and I'm not ready for that.

So the fore-mentioned is why I am here on this site today. I have
joined the SpecialK group in order to find kindred spirits in my
final gasp to get my health back and to gain self confidence again.
Age gives you a certain amount of self confidence, that is a FACT
but so does a well fitting dress and NOT having to grunt everytime
you bend over! Besides, God willing, I am not through living and I
want to take better care of myself...for me and for my family. And
frankly I'm tired of mentally beating myself up for not exercising
enough and for not losing the weight. I'm ready to start losing...

Hello group Im a male whom just added myself to the group and im
excited. I am over weight by 40 lbs and I have always battled my
weight my whole life. I was told to join a group and here I am.  Its a
new year and its time for me to get myself together . My family has a
history of health issues after they turn 55 so I want to break that
trend and put the chesse burgers and pizza down, and I know its hard
but Im here for support and to help motivate use all .

I am a 42 year old female who has hit a big case of self disapproval. I
am here to share my story because I am finally seeing myself as I
beleive others see me. It seems like everywhere you turn there is a
mirror or a reflection in a window that gives you a false look at
yourself. I don't think we ever truely see ourselves in someone elses
eyes.My family is kind they always say "you're not fat!" Recently, I
have seen pictures of myself that were totally ridiculous! I knew I was
big but I didn't think I looked that bad. I had lost 68lbs and I was
feeling really good. Now I have gained back 28lbs and I am not feeling
happy.I am currently raising 2 grandchildren and working a full time
job along with the normal daily responsibilities. I just haven't had
the time or energy to do things for myself. Now I am gonna bite the
bullet and get down to it. Thats why I'm here, to get the support of
people who share my plight. Its time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am willing to
take any suggestions and start the 2 week challange right away!

Hi,

I am a 37 year old with many female issues.  Taking hormones and not
feeling like moving has put the pounds on.  I am joining this group
to not only loose the weight I have gained but keep it OFF.  I have
started feeling better in the last month and the Dr. gave me the ok
to start excercising again.  I like to be outdoors but the weatherman
has not be very agreeable the last couple of weeks.  I started doing
The Firm again (highly recommend it).  I also got an IPOD for xmas
and look forward to moving my body again.

Can't wait for this challenge to start!

well hello i'm new to this i just had a baby and lately a lot of my
old habits have begun again eating late, snacking in between meals,
i am trying to do better. so that is why i am on the site to get
some help and support from u all. and to work together and conquer
this weight loss journey together. and to the email i just received
u will make it through this and i will celebrate with u when u reach
your goal.

Hello all, my name is Octavia, I live in Okeechobee Fl. I do
private nursing duty for one young man. Got on the scale last night
210 ouch big time no wonder it's hard to bend over and tie my shoes,
my knees hurt from bending and cold and wet weather, I'm sure if I
lost some of the extra pounds they might feel better.
   I don't do anything except work 40 hours come home watch tv and
fall asleep in front of the tv.  There is no other half or kids,
just two dogs, every other Sunday I go fishing with my brother
getting out in his boat and enjoying the water and sun feel great to
me.
   I've been eating 2 bowls of Special K every day, my body doesn't
like milk or any dairy foods so this makes it hard, and most of the
time when I do eat I'm in the bathroom shortly after anyway, I don't
understand why I keep getting fater if my body is being cleaned out
so offten, but I'm not going to give up trying to lose this weight.
   I once weigh in at 120 that was 15 years ago but I would love to
lose 80 lbs so if there is anyone over this way that wants to do
something in the evenings or weekends write back.
    I tried the tapes on tv they work to fast to learn anything, and
my thoughts were if they would turn around and face the wall so it
would make it easier to learn what they are doing would be great,
but you know you don't ever see any really fat people doing the
tapes just skinny ones, makes you wonder if they were really ever
fat or are they just out to make a buck.
               enough said  all my friends call me Tave

Ms. bluecheesemartini,

I am 43, hormonal with sore feet also (Dr. says I have what is called
Morton's Neuroma's in my feet). Whatever! I find that if I am paying
attention, I have pain somewhere, so I don't let that be an excuse to
give up on the exercise anymore. Like you, I am sure that being
overweight causes more problems anyway. So today I went to the gym,
and my whole body felt sluggish. I really wanted to go back home and
take care of some chores there instead of taking time to do something
I really did not want to do! I made myself work out for 1 1/2 hours.
It was tough going all the way through it!!! But I feel soooo much
better now! Don't give up - the alternative feels so much worse! I'm
responding to your message because I am more apt than not to bypass
working out and I am hoping that someday someone will motivate me
back into doing what I need to do to stay healthy! Start out small
but give  yourself a pat on the back for any small accomplishments.
Get 'er done!!!

--- In SpecialKgroup@yahoogroups.com, "bluecheesemartini"
<bluecheesemartini@...> wrote:
>
> I am a 49 year old overweight, stessed-out hormonal female.Fitness
> WAS a serious part of my lifestyle for about 7 1/2 years. My
> favorite form of exercise was jogging...love the endorphine rush.
> During those 7 1/2 years I supplemented my jogging with circuit
> training workout videos. GREAT! I was finally on to the right mix.
I
> cut out alcohol, jogged or did a workout video at least 5 days a
> week and basically ate what I wanted. My physical fitness made me
> crave healthy food for some reason, so most bad eating habits were
> gone. And I slept so much better and talk about good mental
> health.Those endorphines are REAL!
>
> This slowly came to a halt in 2004, when I developed bone spurs and
> we moved to another state. I tried to keep up the jogging but the
> new neighborhood wasn't conducive to "pounding the pavement" and my
> feet hurt. In addition, my dog, who always jogged with me got
> gravely ill and could no longer go with me and I had never jogged
> without him, (he was good for pulling me up the hills, HA!) So I
> tried the gym...HATED IT! Always have enjoyed the outdoors and I am
> less apt to cut my workout short if I am outside. My route was a
3.5
> mile loop around our former neighborhood and surroundings. Outside
> tracks are like gyms to me, I also hate them....I'd rather see
> different scenery as I gasp for air....it's diversional and allows
> me to get my thoughts in order. Tried expensive running shoes for
> bone spur sufferers and didn't really like them.
>
> Fast forward to December 2006...So here I am out of shape,
hormonal,
> tired, blood pressure creeping up a little, poor body image, etc,
> etc, etc. My present fitness practice is to half-heartedly put in
an
> exercise video and do the workout but I find myself choosing the
> easiest and shortest ones I have so I can get the workout overwith
> sooner and proceed to sit on my ever-expanding bottom and drink
wine
> and knit or do some other sedentary activity. Meanwhile my
> metabolism is grinding to a halt and I am putting on the poundage,
> especially around the middle. I have to grunt and groan to bend
over
> and pick something up. Furthermore, my feet STILL hurt as do my
> ankles,right knee and now my hands!!! Will it ever end? HA! Taking
> the weight off will help the joints, I'm sure!! But it's also age
> and use-related. I am an avid knitter & gardener and my hands are
> really paying for it. I think I have carpal tunnel syndrome in my
> right wrist but I am in denial right now...except when my thumb
> bends in a certain way and I get shooting pains throughout my
wrist.
> For now I'm avoiding medical attention as they will just want to do
> surgery at some time and I'm not ready for that.
>
> So the fore-mentioned is why I am here on this site today. I have
> joined the SpecialK group in order to find kindred spirits in my
> final gasp to get my health back and to gain self confidence again.
> Age gives you a certain amount of self confidence, that is a FACT
> but so does a well fitting dress and NOT having to grunt everytime
> you bend over! Besides, God willing, I am not through living and I
> want to take better care of myself...for me and for my family. And
> frankly I'm tired of mentally beating myself up for not exercising
> enough and for not losing the weight. I'm ready to start losing...
>

Hi, my name is Dustine and I am just beginning the special k
challenge. I have a wedding coming up in june of 2007 and I spotted
this beautiful dress I want to have. My goal is to lose 20 pounds ( I
set it small), I now weigh 210. I'm excited about starting this. Thank
you all for being here.
>

I am a 27-year-old wife/mom/student/intern. I have had a LOT of
stress in the past year and the weight has slowly come on. I am 5'4
btw. I was 125 lbs a year ago and by the summer I was 133, and at my
checkup 2 months ago I was 140 :0. I have not been a size 7 (as I am
now) since high school and I am not happy at all. I really can't
believe that it is just slowly stacking on and I know if I don't
take care of it now, it will just get worse.

I am not athletic but I need to be. I really want to get into shape.
I feel tired and I struggle with depression but I don't want to take
meds. I really think the exercising (and yes, endorphins ;) ) will
help my mood. Also, I tried rock climbing (out doors, not at a gym
wall) and I love it. I really want to get out in my area to climb,
try new things, and meet people.

As far as my actual goals, I want to get back to 125, to have good
cardiac health, and to feel good physically AND mentally. I plan to
do the Special K diet and I just got a George Forman grill so I can
cook quick healthy meals at night. (It is really great to throw
chicken/fish/ect on a grill for 8 minutes or so and be done except
for veggies that u can do while it cooks.) For exercise I plan to
run/walk 4-5 days a week for 30 minutes and to do ab/upper body
strengh training 4 days a week.

I am looking forward to this support in the group!

I am a 32 year old overweight women I had a  2 year ago Child and have
been unable to lose the weight baby fat.... I gained over 70 pounds..
and I hate my body. I really need to lose the wieght so I can keep up
with my child..as you know most 2 years are very active... I tend to
get tried and is unable to keep up during playtime. I feel like I am
not being the good parent...So with that said  my intension is to
loose up to 20 punds in the next 3 months.
I look forward to achieving my goal with your the groups help..
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I-

I just joined this wonderful group to have some buddies to chat with
and help keep myself and others on track.

Hello all.I feel like bluecheesemartini. Smile. I'm 54, granny to 6,
and like blue... I see myself expanding more and more. My lower back
hurts, I know in my heart that 20 lbs off would really help every
health problem. I am a receptionist and so I sit at the computer every
day. I have no excuse, my hubby of 37 years, yeah!!, just found out he
is diabetic. So now I sneak candy at work. I know, I know. I am so
tight, I hate to spend $14.00 a week at Weightwatchers, or spend the
outrageous fees at other diet places and I know I would never keep up
the routine at a gym.  So,HELP, let's keep in touch, and try this.

Like bluecheesemartini, I find myself in a similar situation.  I am
51 years old, 5'1", hormonal and taking hormone replacement therapy
and now weigh almost 150 lbs.  I have never been this heavy; not
even when I was pregnant with my daughter 30 years ago.  I have
always been able to maintain my weight at around 120 or less until
the past few years.  After my divorce from my daughter's father 20
years ago, I began dating again.  I have gotten into this cycle
where as soon as a relationship gets comfortable, I start gaining
weight. Then the relationship ends.  I lose weight, meet someone new
and the cycle starts all over again.  At this point, I finally see
what I am doing.  I am in a new relationship, but can tell that my
weight is an issue.  I have great hopes with this man, so I have
resolved to break the cycle!!!  This time the weight is coming off
and staying off.  Within 6 months, I want to have confidence in the
way I look and feel.  Have to get back on the exercise train, but
hard to get motivated. Any motivation I can get from any of you
would be greatly appreciated.  My plans are to take the Special K
Challenge and see what happens and begin exercising again.  I really
have no excuses as I have a treadmill, a total gym and other
exercise equipment sitting around gathering dust.  Wish me luck and
good luck to all of you.

Hi, my name is Denise and I am 37 years old with two boys and now I am
developing an image issue.  I have set a goal to lose 20 pounds and
will start the Special K plan on Sunday or maybe earlier.  Have to
change eating habits and need serious motivation.  I have been looking
into gym programs but still on the fence as to which one plus I am not
wild about going alone, but I will have to get over that.

Hello group! I am a 35 year old female and I'm about 30 pounds overweight. I've
never had
children, so it isn't baby fat. It''s just good old Krispy Kreme/Haagan Daas
fat. I need to learn
to push away from the table, hopfully we can turn this group into a great
support system for
each other.

Hi,

You can do this!  Take baby steps and pat yourself on the back for
small goals that you meet.  Long walks can be romantic, a good way
for you both to spend quality time together and good for both of
you.  Get a pedometor and try 10,000 steps a day.  (I am trying this
too).  Park farther away from the store or the office, every step
counts.
I just got back into my routine yesterday and last night I slept
great and today felt better than I have in months! Last month I
finished taking hormones to put my body into a false menopause
because my periods were so extremely heavy I had to have a blood
transfusion. Drs. are talking hysterectomy soon:( While on the drug I
gained almost 20 pounds in 5 months!  I weigh 127 pounds but I am 5'
tall with a small build.  I have never weighed this much except while
pg with my son and even then I only gained 24 lbs. I am tired of
being tired all the time with achy muscles and headaches. I am also
scared my metabolism is slowing down to the point of no return.  I
want to kick start it again. I am pretty active and athletic but for
most of 2006 I have felt like S#!* and was unable to excercise.
Lets do this thing!!!!  Good luck and let me know how things are
going.

--- In SpecialKgroup@yahoogroups.com, "grifgate94" <grifgate94@...>
wrote:
>
> Like bluecheesemartini, I find myself in a similar situation.  I am
> 51 years old, 5'1", hormonal and taking hormone replacement therapy
> and now weigh almost 150 lbs.  I have never been this heavy; not
> even when I was pregnant with my daughter 30 years ago.  I have
> always been able to maintain my weight at around 120 or less until
> the past few years.  After my divorce from my daughter's father 20
> years ago, I began dating again.  I have gotten into this cycle
> where as soon as a relationship gets comfortable, I start gaining
> weight. Then the relationship ends.  I lose weight, meet someone
new
> and the cycle starts all over again.  At this point, I finally see
> what I am doing.  I am in a new relationship, but can tell that my
> weight is an issue.  I have great hopes with this man, so I have
> resolved to break the cycle!!!  This time the weight is coming off
> and staying off.  Within 6 months, I want to have confidence in the
> way I look and feel.  Have to get back on the exercise train, but
> hard to get motivated. Any motivation I can get from any of you
> would be greatly appreciated.  My plans are to take the Special K
> Challenge and see what happens and begin exercising again.  I
really
> have no excuses as I have a treadmill, a total gym and other
> exercise equipment sitting around gathering dust.  Wish me luck and
> good luck to all of you.
>

I'm new to the group and I was wondering how everyone is doing with it?

i work 40 hours per week and can do the special k challenge, but when
it comes to exercising what kind of suggestions can you give so that i
can do workouts at home, because i dont have the money to join a gym.
susan

Hi Denise,
My name is Trish.  I am 37 and have 1 boy.  I am not extremely
overweight but weigh more now than I ever have.  I want to lose 20
pounds too.  I weigh 127 pounds but am only 5' tall.

Some excercise suggestions other than the gym:  Go walking with or
without the boys.  Play hide and seek outside with them (how old are
they?) Ride bikes with them.  We try to have dance hour at our house
and it can be great fun! I used to try to find time to workout by
myself but found it can be difficult so now my son works out with me.
He starts with the warm up and then I find he gets bored and finds his
own game to play.  He is 5.  I have The Firm workout and it is how I
lost all my weight after I had him.  He is also a late sleeper
sometimes I try to get up before he does to have some time for myself.
This can be difficult though if you work outside the home.  I own my
own business and let a Director run it and only go in to the office 2-3
times per week.  This has added to my weight gain though becuase I have
less of a routine than when I did working full time.  We also find
ourselves going out to dinner way toooooo much!  I have nooo excuses
not to excercise.  My female issues seem to be getting better and I am
no longer taking the dreaded hormones I was on.

So no more excuses, lets lose the 20!!
--- In SpecialKgroup@yahoogroups.com, "jusirie622" <jusirie622@...>
wrote:
>
> Hi, my name is Denise and I am 37 years old with two boys and now I
am
> developing an image issue.  I have set a goal to lose 20 pounds and
> will start the Special K plan on Sunday or maybe earlier.  Have to
> change eating habits and need serious motivation.  I have been
looking
> into gym programs but still on the fence as to which one plus I am
not
> wild about going alone, but I will have to get over that.
>

Hello everyone,  I am a new group member and a new specialk challenge
member.  I was wondering how do you customize your specialk page.  When
I logged in and hit my specialk page it ask to customize page, i hit
that then it says that i am not logged in.  need help


thanks,
Felicia, GA

Hi Folks:

As you may have already noticed, for the moment all messages posted
to the group are being moderated. That means that a message has to be
approved by one of the moderators before it actually gets posted to
the group and emailed out (this process keeps the quality high by
ensuring that no one can spam the group).

I was on a plane this morning so I'm just getting to approving all
the messages posted in the last twelve hours. And there have been a
lot of them, which means that those of you who are set to
receive "individual emails" each time a message is posted are about
to get a lot of email.

Which reminds me. If you don't like to receive too many individual
emails in your inbox, you can easily change your settings to "no
email" (which means that you have to read messages on the group web
site) or "daily digest". The latter combines all the messages posted
each day into a single easy to read email (up to a max of 25 messages
per email; if more than that were posted to the group, you will
receive multiple digests that day).

To change your settings to daily digest, simply:
- Go to http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/SpecialKgroup/join ,
choose "
Daily Digest" (under "Step 2: Message Delivery"), and click "Save
Changes"

OR

- Send email to: specialkgroup-digest@yahoogroups.com (just be sure
to send from the email address that you actually receive email from
the group).

Getting the daily digest would definitely be my recommendation for
this group.

One other housekeeping point I want to make.

Keep in mind (if you are an individual email subscriber) that simply
hitting reply to a message posted to the group will send the message to
the whole group (not just the person who wrote the original email).

So if you want to reply privately to a message posted to the group,
make sure to remove "SpecialKgroup@yahoogroups.com" after you
hit "Reply" and replace it with the email address of the specific
person you want to reply to.

Hey!  It's great to see that we have a guy stepping forward in the
group!  OOOhhh cheeseburgers and pizza..... sorry about the drool.  I
love junk food too.  You should try the veggie burgers - the black bean
is really good.  But watch the bun it can add not needed calories - try
a pita instead.  Load it up with lettuce, tomato, and salsa - hold the
mayo.  Pizza is good too but go for thin crust and veggies only - sorry
no meat lovers deep dish pan.  It's all worth it!  Think about how good
you'll feel as you take off the weight.  My family also has a history
of health problems especially diabetes so I know where you are coming
from.  Good luck and keep us updated on your progress!!

I too have a Morton's neuroma on one foot.  Very painful.  Have tried
everything from steroid shots to therapy to inserts of all types in my
shoes with no success.  Plan on having surgery to remove the neuroma
on the 18th of january.  Hopefully, this will solve the problem and
I'll be able to get back on the treadmill with no pain.  I'll keep you
posted on how it went.

Hi Melissa!
I just want to give you a pat on the back and say "Great Job".  It's
great that you lost 68 lbs.  Don't worry about the weight that you
gained back.  Concentrate on the positive - you're still 30 lbs lighter
than you once were.  Keep it up!!  Start the 2 week Challenge and keep
going!  It's great that you're raising your two grandkids.  Get them
involved in exercising so you are all spending time together.  And
remember, you are still burning calories while you are taking care of
those daily responsibilities.

Hi Tave!
Like you, milk doesn't always agree with me.  May I suggest that you
try soy milk?  If you haven't ever tried soy milk then you may not like
the taste.  If that is the case then be sure to buy the very vanilla
flavor.  I started drinking it about a year ago and I love it now.  Oh,
be sure to make sure that it is calcium fortified since we all need to
make sure that we get enough of that.  Nobody wants osteoporosis!

I'd love to help you out but unfortunately I live quite a ways from
Florida.  However, you have two dogs that I'm sure would love to help
you!  Start small and take them for a walk every day.  That little bit
of exercise for 20-30 minutes a day can help a lot. In the meantime,
keep smiling!  Oh, catch a fantastic fish for me!  You're so lucky to
live in Florida where the weather is fairly mild year round.

Hi!  I'm 35 yo.  I'm currently in my last year of nursing school.  I'm
also a stress eater so while I was once fit and thin, the last 3 years
of college have given me some very full hips and a plump belly.  I
haven't been this heavy since I had my daughter 13 years ago.  I've
decided to do the Special K challenge and restart an exercise program
so that by graduation I can be a size 8 again.  I usually can do quite
well with a diet until exams come up then forget it I am a snack-
oholic.  I look forward to encouraging everyone with their weight loss
challenge.

Ms. bluecheesemartini,

I am 43, hormonal with sore feet also (Dr. says I have what is called
Morton's Neuroma's in my feet). Whatever! I find that if I am paying
attention, I have pain somewhere, so I don't let that be an excuse to
give up on the exercise anymore. Like you, I am sure that being
overweight causes more problems anyway. So today I went to the gym,
and my whole body felt sluggish. I really wanted to go back home and
take care of some chores there instead of taking time to do something
I really did not want to do! I made myself work out for 1 1/2 hours.
It was tough going all the way through it!!! But I feel soooo much
better now! Don't give up - the alternative feels so much worse! I'm
responding to your message because I am more apt than not to bypass
working out and I am hoping that someday someone will motivate me
back into doing what I need to do to stay healthy! Start out small
but give yourself a pat on the back for any small accomplishments.
Get 'er done!!!

--- In SpecialKgroup@yahoogroups.com, "bluecheesemartini"
wrote:
>
> I am a 49 year old overweight, stessed-out hormonal female.Fitness
> WAS a serious part of my lifestyle for about 7 1/2 years. My
> favorite form of exercise was jogging...love the endorphine rush.
> During those 7 1/2 years I supplemented my jogging with circuit
> training workout videos. GREAT! I was finally on to the right mix.
I
> cut out alcohol, jogged or did a workout video at least 5 days a
> week and basically ate what I wanted. My physical fitness made me
> crave healthy food for some reason, so most bad eating habits were
> gone. And I slept so much better and talk about good mental
> health.Those endorphines are REAL!
>
> This slowly came to a halt in 2004, when I developed bone spurs and
> we moved to another state. I tried to keep up the jogging but the
> new neighborhood wasn't conducive to "pounding the pavement" and my
> feet hurt. In addition, my dog, who always jogged with me got
> gravely ill and could no longer go with me and I had never jogged
> without him, (he was good for pulling me up the hills, HA!) So I
> tried the gym...HATED IT! Always have enjoyed the outdoors and I am
> less apt to cut my workout short if I am outside. My route was a
3.5
> mile loop around our former neighborhood and surroundings. Outside
> tracks are like gyms to me, I also hate them....I'd rather see
> different scenery as I gasp for air....it's diversional and allows
> me to get my thoughts in order. Tried expensive running shoes for
> bone spur sufferers and didn't really like them.
>
> Fast forward to December 2006...So here I am out of shape,
hormonal,
> tired, blood pressure creeping up a little, poor body image, etc,
> etc, etc. My present fitness practice is to half-heartedly put in
an
> exercise video and do the workout but I find myself choosing the
> easiest and shortest ones I have so I can get the workout overwith
> sooner and proceed to sit on my ever-expanding bottom and drink
wine
> and knit or do some other sedentary activity. Meanwhile my
> metabolism is grinding to a halt and I am putting on the poundage,
> especially around the middle. I have to grunt and groan to bend
over
> and pick something up. Furthermore, my feet STILL hurt as do my
> ankles,right knee and now my hands!!! Will it ever end? HA! Taking
> the weight off will help the joints, I'm sure!! But it's also age
> and use-related. I am an avid knitter & gardener and my hands are
> really paying for it. I think I have carpal tunnel syndrome in my
> right wrist but I am in denial right now...except when my thumb
> bends in a certain way and I get shooting pains throughout my
wrist.
> For now I'm avoiding medical attention as they will just want to do
> surgery at some time and I'm not ready for that.
>
> So the fore-mentioned is why I am here on this site today. I have
> joined the SpecialK group in order to find kindred spirits in my
> final gasp to get my health back and to gain self confidence again.
> Age gives you a certain amount of self confidence, that is a FACT
> but so does a well fitting dress and NOT having to grunt everytime
> you bend over! Besides, God willing, I am not through living and I
> want to take better care of myself...for me and for my family. And
> frankly I'm tired of mentally beating myself up for not exercising
> enough and for not losing the weight. I'm ready to start losing...
>





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Hello I Am Kim 34 Year Old Lady With 2 Kids and I Am Trying To Lose 20
Pounds Because I Feel Over Weight And I Would Love To Get Back To Get
Back Get Back To Size 12 Or 10 So I Would Love Some Help With This I
Started To Eat Special K This Morning And I Would Like To Know How Many
Bowls I Need To Eat A DAY