Hi

Well, I never did get an invitation, so I just logged in with Auntie Ann's password and invited myself! Hope you guys don't mind. And, since I was in there, I changed the links on the sidebar from "Edit-me" to a couple of health sites that I like. On one you can read articles about health, on another, you can look up info about nutrition and on the last, you can watch some videos about nutrition and health.

I am having an OK food and exercise week. I couldn't go to the gym Monday or Tuesday because I had to stay with the kids because D wasn't feeling well. Wednesday I went to the gym. Thursday I played basketball and today I spent a long time hiking down to a park and back with Alia strapped to my back. If I'm lucky, tomorrow I can go play ultimate frisbee in the AM.

Hopefully next week will be back to a "normal" routine and I can get to the gym more. Keep up the exercising everyone!

I have to agree with April and Tammy; one of the hardest things in this whole process is that I LOVE food! I can eat a lot more than I should and I have to consciously stop. One thing that has helped me in this area is a book Deanna read about "calorie density." Some of you may have heard of it. It's based on the idea that you choose foods that have a lower calorie density whenever possible. In other words, a pound of carrots has a lot less calories than a pound of ice cream. So, if you absolutely have to have chips, have some salsa with them because the salsa has a lower calorie density and hopefully you will be full on less calories. For me this has helped with breakfast. I used to eat as much Golden Grahams and Cocoa Pebbles as Gma and Gpa could fit in their shelves (with a little help from Steve) and I just can't eat pure fiber for breakfast, so I go with something in between - Frosted Mini Wheats! Still tasty, but with a far lower calorie density and higher fiber density (making me feel fuller) than those sugar cereals. Now, whenever I have a snack, I try and think along these lines. Of course, I'm not always successful, but it helps.