Kate, thanks for the name of the pedometer. Congrats on the weight loss. Adding exercise instead of trying to eat less and less is the way to go. You mention drinking water and nothing else. Did you drink soda in the past? I've been cutting back on soda and trying to drink more water. It's something simple, but I feel like I'm doing soemthing good for myslef so it's working.

Lola, how much are you waling these days?

A friend of mine has cut out all sodas and drinks water. Since she doesn't like water though, she has started carrying around these "Crystal Light" tiny envelopes of flavored something or other...she pours one into her glass of water. She swears by it. Course she also has it with her banana pudding, chocolate cake, or other assorted desserts...no, she hasn't lost a pound...but at least she's drinking water now instead of sodas as you all call them. I call them Cokes.

JJ

Hi, Dotsie: I walk a minimum of 5 miles daily on the weekdays and have upped it to 10 on the weekends...come rain or shine. Spring & summer are best because I can do it in the evenings and not worry about personal safety. I have signed up for guided walking tours on the weekends in August. People meet up and trek by foot from town to town via the English, Scottish and Welsh countryside. Rambling is another word they use for it. My first walking tour will be from Bradford Upon Avon to Wells. There are layovers along the way at some towns and villages for breathers. Have you heard of the walking pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain? I would love to do that some day.

I just had a great idea....Wouldn't it be neat to have a Singing Walking Club? You could advertise for people to meet at a certain place, then have everyone sing songs as they walked...hey, they did it in the Army, why not now? Course then again, if you need your breath to walk, that might not work...but it WOULD be fun!

JJ

Hi, JJ: They actually have them but they're called processions. Not entirely singing to Montezuma but still singing...albeit hymns.

How cool is that? I love the idea but as fast as I walk, I doubt I could share the vocal cords with singing AND breathing! ha! But it's just the greatest idea...I have this visual of people all singing as one voice..sigh.

JJ

Yes, JJ, it is even beyond cool. You'd be surprised how one discovers the voice and manages to sing along. I go to Fatima, Portugal every year. Each night from 13th May to 13th October, the teeming pilgrims process for a Rosary which on the average is a 2-hour stroll. It could be raining on some nights and pilgrims go about the procession in raincoats. And because one processes amongst thousands, bodies encased in plastic or synthetic could really steam even in the open air (think body wrap here). Lots of weight shed on those nights..and tears for some. And yes, it is breathtaking and uplifting.

This isn't the same thing, but there is a "singing" that takes place in a small area outside of Nashville, Tenn called Diana Singing. Thousands upon thousands of people go and take blankets, lawn chairs, whatever, and stay all night and sing together as one voice. It is a once a year thing. I've never been but my parents attended when Daddy was alive, and of course, not ill. They always came back so comforted and happy. Mostly hymns.

JJ

Our church literally reverberates with the sound of the voices singing hymms in unison. They have two huge screens on either side so everyone can see the words on the screens and join in. It will actually take your breath away.

Hey Ladies--just checking in. Down 13 pounds today--YAY!!! Still, can't help but wish it would burn FASTER! FASTER I say!! I feel like cursing out every one of those dang fat cells--tell them to get out of my body! Well, I guess the cells stay, but I hope they start shrinking faster. You know, I wonder about the actual process of it all. We know what happens when we eat a lot--we digest it, a form of it stays and some becomes fat, and we pass the rest. So when we burn those calories, where do they go? Do we sweat them out? Of course, with all of the water I have been drinking, I sure have to use the restroom a lot more--I wonder if they are released that way. Anyone know exactly where those stinking, godforsaken calories go? And why can't we target exactly what parts of us they leave? I sure wish my belly would shrink faster--I HATE carrying my fat in my tummy! I am losing weight, but my tummy doesn't look much flatter--maybe after another 10 pounds or so I will see a difference. I KNOW this is possible--I saw a woman about 20 years older than me at the mall--she was returning a size 6 dress because it was too big now! She had lost weight for her daughter's wedding and needed a size 4!! Dang it--I used to wear those sizes a long time ago--feels like eons!! I am far from it now--but maybe I can get closer--and maybe one day I really can be that tiny again! Ladies, is it me, or did sizes change? At my tiniest, right around 100 pounds, I wore 3s and 5s and sometimes 7s. I guess if I was that tiny again, I would wear 0s and 2s!! I am amazed when I see people heavier than I used to be wearing sizes smaller than I used to wear--what's up with that?!! Oh--BTW--this midwestern girl detoured through the south and picked up a taste for sweet tea--that is my vice, and the one I am trying to avoid at all costs. I keep reminding myself that I USED to drink tea without any sweetener or sugar--I should have never developed a taste for it. So, that is why I drink water only--I hate carbonated drinks because they make me feel gassy and bloated, and I began only liking tea when it was sweet as syrup! THAT is probably why I gained so much weight! So only water for me--and maybe one day I will once again develop a taste for unsweetened tea--never did like any artificial sweeteners, either. Water for now, and midwestern iced tea with NO sweeteners when I develop a taste for it again. I am really beginning to like plain water now, so we'll see if I develop new tastes in the future. I snack on fruit now and love it so much more than my previous snack choices--I think you really can change your tastes with practice and time. Good luck to us all!